Reviews

"We all have the right to choose what makes us happy"

The life that is happening now. There is no frenetic action that leaves you anxious to see what will follow. Just bits and pieces of life. Just, as one of the main characters says, moments that remain to exist forever in parallel space-time, not linearly.
Both female protagonists have a fear of commitment, and both male protagonists strive to experience love.

It's a series that has sadness, tranquility, passion, trepidation, beautiful cityscapes, copious amounts of food, Macau - enchanting day and night, great music that reflects the frozen moments.

A series that looks at the place of relationships in life, of work, of family.

The actors are very real, the situations are not fictional, but ones that can be experienced every day.

Two main couples, lots of additional characters, in the second part of the series they added another bunch of characters whose relationships the viewer follows, but unlike other commenters, I don't think it hinders the series, on the contrary, it broadens the perspective.

Cinematically, the series is very different from the usual Asian series and is more reminiscent of a European series.

Some quotes from the series that reflect the authors' conception:

"We all have the right to choose what makes us happy"

"We all want to make money, but we don't make enough. So not enjoying your life, at the expense of making money, would be a waste."

" Our lives are hectic and every landscape we pass by is a unique little poem."

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Falling in love at a beach while on vacation in the most romantic possible way

** slight spoiler towards the end**
Lovestruck in the city in quite different than other kdramas. It was filmed in a documentary style which isn't very common in kdramas. When i started watching this kdrama I didn't take it too seriously because it started off with a man and woman who went on a vacation by the beach and fell in love. I found it sweet and carefree way of falling in love. overtime when the fl shared her reasons for cutting ties with the ml i couldn't exactly say it was her fault. She had her reasons and i respect her. The first couple looked good togther and was cute. However i had my whole heart for the 2nd couple. They were the cutest. No toxicity or negativity. Both of them were loving and cating towards eachother until the last episode. I will never understand why the directors had to break them off in the last episode. They didnt even resolve that one small issue which they had. Such a pity! The 3rd couple- well i would say we barley got enough information about them to judge what exactly was going on. I guess they didn't get back together for good. I don't understand want went wrong in their relationship for them to end like that maybe rhe girl was too mature? Anyways this show focuses only the 1st couple mostly and towards the end only the 1st couple lasts while the other two don't reconcile.

This show only focuses on love lives than on families and other parts of another person's life. It has nice aesthetic scenes and quite fluffy at times. The episodes are also short so if you want to see something ehich is light and not too deep then you can watch lovestruck in the city. Many people ended up loving it. Incase you like kim ji won or ji chaang wook then start it already.

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Plenty of life lessons

Our blues (2022) is a kdrama which shows he ups and downs of life and potrays multiple stories of people who live and work on the bustling Jeju island. It talks about different matters like family problems, teen pregnancy, depression, misunderstandings between people who were once the closest etc. It gives attention to topics that are not talked about in most kdramas. I love how we get to see in this kdrama that all people have problems in their lives whether big or small. Valuable life lessons for all groups of people can be learned through this masterpiece. I'm sure you'll relate to atleast one of the stories presented. I liked that they approached a new take in the kdrama world and I hope to see more kdramas like our blues in the future. The stories progressively get better. If you want to watch something real and beautiful that will take a turn on the way you see life then i would suggest you to watch this kdrama.

Thanks for reading
Happy new year :)

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"I like guys who smile alot"

Can undoubtedly say that this show has to be one of my best watches from 2024. This isn't your ordinary typical kdrama. Mr plankton is realistic which engages the viewers in an emotional connection with the characters in it. The plot is unique and i have never seen something like this before. Two people with great misfortunes go on meaningful trip. It might not sound too interesting when i say it but trust me once you start this show you will feel its spark and magic. Many people are talking about its ending and a s2 but i think its of the perfect length and the show ended in the perfect way as it is. The actors did a marvellous job performing their roles. The osts matched so well with every scene. Together it was just a magical mix of realism. And i appreciate the directors so much for keeping the show raw and real till the end. I highly recommend it to all. Its definitely on my top 3 kdrama list now. If you have not watched Mr plankton yet please just do. You would love to start 2025 with a beautiful made kdrama like this. Lee yoo mi nd woo do hwan had great chemistry and looked so cute together.

Thanks for reading my little review
Lastly i would like to wish you a very warm happy new year :)) i truly hope this year brings you all goodness and big big joyful smiles

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You will have a higher EQ after watching this !

When it comes to K-dramas that balance heart, humor, and humanity, Tomorrow stands out as a masterclass. The cast is a massive part of why this drama works so well—they’re magnetic, oozing chemistry and handling their roles with an incredible blend of nuance and depth. Watching them juggle comedy and tragedy so effortlessly was a treat, showcasing a balance even seasoned actors often struggle to achieve.

One of the most compelling aspects of Tomorrow is its anthology-like storytelling. Each episode unravels a new story, shining a light on various social issues, making this series more than just entertainment—it's a conversation starter. The social commentary is where this drama truly soars. From bullying to bulimia, comfort women to elderly isolation, and the often-overlooked realities of the celebrity industry, Tomorrow dives deep.

Most notably, it tackles the weighty subject of suicide with unflinching honesty and profound empathy. As a mental health advocate, I was deeply moved by the show's ability to bring awareness to these topics so thoughtfully. The analogy that suicide is like being trapped in a burning building—choosing to jump rather than endure unbearable pain—was handled with such care, making the message resonate deeply. This show gave me a higher emotional understanding of the pain behind these decisions and the importance of compassion.

The sprinkling of romance was another unexpected but welcome element. I’m a sucker for understated, epic romances, and Tomorrow delivered. It was subtle, meaningful, and beautifully woven into the larger narrative without overshadowing the primary themes.

In short, Tomorrow is a drama that stays with you. It’s heartfelt, socially conscious, and emotionally resonant—a must-watch for anyone who wants their entertainment to leave an impact.

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Was it really worth waiting 3 years?

No, but don't misunderstand me was it bad no was it super good no it was a bit in between. Although season 1 was super good, season 2 could really take an example. They were better off ditching the old cast completely. Don't get me wrong the new cast is good too. we have for example; a pregnant woman, old lady, mother and son,... but they could still bring in a new cast to play new games. there were a total of 3 games of which we already knew 1 (green light, red light) and 2 new games (Mingle) and (Six-Legged Pentathlon) if you ask me which game I liked best, I would say the Six-Legged Pentathlon was the most fun. because Mingle's sound already gave me a bad feeling. what had a major disadvantage was that there were so few new games. The entire first season featured six deadly games in nine episodes, while season 2 featured three deadly games in 7 episodes. The first was a repetition which I found very long-winded. each episode lasts about an hour which I thought was okay. I was able to watch this series in one day. I still advise you to watch these 7 episodes because there will be a season 3. Hopefully we don't have to wait 3 years for that. Thank you for reading this far and I hope I was able to help you.

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A beautiful family story!

"Golden Rainbow" it's a drama about family, how it's not about blood ties, but rather the love and the bond that makes a family.

Young Hae has a daughter named Ha Bin, who one day gets kidnapped and loses her memory. She's found in the beach by Man Won, who takes her in as his little sister. Then, they meet Ha Joon, a wonderful man who gives her a new name: Baek Won and becomes their father, along with other orphan children, making a huge and happy family.
Baek Won meets a young boy named Do Young at school, he's sweet and the two become closer with time. Everything is fine, until her father is framed and goes to prison. The children with fear of going to an orphanage run away, losing Young Won in the process. Years go by, everyone grows up, Baek Won became a police office in order to find Young Won and then she's reunited with Do Young, who became a prosecutor.

The romance between Baek Won and Do Young is sweet, the two have great chemistry in scene, but they have a few repetitive moments, their young version was truly better. Do Young is hurt three times because of Baek Won, basically he was always on the ground bleeding and she was screaming for him.
And the whole ending with Do Young shooting himself in the head? A little too much, too dramatic.. it really wasn't necessary, specially because Jung Il Woo it's not very good in dramatic scenes, his specialty is the comedy.

I know it's not right, but I have to say that I liked Man Won better than Do Young. I know it's weird for her since they were raised as brother and sister since a young age, but if the writers showed the truth a little sooner and Do Young's character didn't exist, Man Won would be the better choice, his one-sided love hurt a lot to see.
What really stuck with me was the family's story, Ha Joon's love for his children and how they will do anything for each other.

The soundtrack is really perfection, joining Ali with Ulala Session, it couldn't go wrong <3

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A lighter take on what could’ve been a heavy topic

A synopsis that mentions a diagnosis of incurable illness makes you think it can be an emotional, heavy drama. This is not that. It approaches ALS in a, I would say, more superficial way, by showing light symptoms and addressing what lies ahead, but again in a «scratch the surface» kind of way.

I must also say I found it kind of strange to use ALS as the illness in this story. I don’t have deep knowledge about it, but I do know statistically it is most common amongst men, and from adult age (40+?). Therefore, to have a young woman AND a kid with the diagnosis just seems a bit unrealistic for me, although it might not be completely unheard of.

Besides this, the story contains some familiar tropes: Contract relationship, a love triangle kind of situation, a jealous, entitled and scheming ex, supporting characters’ developing love stories, old stories needing unsolving…

The acting was OK; but not much more. I thought the main couple lacked some convincing chemistry, although FL was quite cute. I kind of liked supporting role Zhan Zi Lin (by Huang Qian Shuo) better than ML.

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A throwback to rom-com excellence

It's been a while since a show felt like a quintessential kdrama rom-com to me, but this one definitely scratched the itch. The romance — both past and present — hit the right balance between serious/angsty and funny, and even when the storyline got very dramatic, it felt very peak kdrama.

As much as I enjoyed most of this, I do think there was one particular standout, and that was the younger versions of the Jiwons; the chemistry for their banter was so fun, and they were brilliant at the sad and heart-wrenching scenes. I loved the adult versions, but their younger counterparts have a special place in my heart.

Overall, it's not anything ground-breaking, and the "same name" premise actually doesn't play a huge role in the drama. It's what you'd expect out of a rom-com, but it's a fun ride nonetheless.

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Poorly executed.

The story could've been good, like the overall story had something that was kind of good, but so poorly written overall. Everything feels too long and there is some stuff that doesn't make a lot of sense. On the last episode you'll be pressing that +10 seconds button. A ton.

Acting was good and the music were simple but really liked it.
Other than that ... Quite ... bland ?
I wouldn't recommand it, but it gave me a good laugh from time to time cause of some unexpected scene I guess, so if you've got nothing to watch, and you're bored, you could watch that and kill time.

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How Much Comedy Is Too Much??

The brief clash in the rain and the final fight were the only decent moments in this drama.. Everything else felt cringe riddled with forced comedy and unnecessary scenes.. Its frustrating to see such a talented cast wasted on this kind of material..

The villain is probably the dumbest.. How can he be fooled so easily by everyone?? Hong Sik is not like the usual villains.. He is dangerous but dumb.. He was even tricked by the arms dealer.. Bit disappointed how it ended.. He was too easy to defeat.. Honestly we were robbed of a satisyfing climax.. And seriously.. Who checks their phone in the middle of a fight??
What was with that random plane door falling??? It felt like a scene straight out of a B-Grade drama..

Kim Nam Gil’s screen presence is truly unmatched.. He is in a league of his own..I think he solely elevated even the weaker moments of the drama..

The camera work throughout was brilliant.. With some truly stunning visuals.. The fight in the rain and the post credits scene fight in the snow were just visually stunning..

Overall this season wasn't as impressive as the first season but i still enjoyed most of it.. I would love to watch another season of them being silly and their absurd adventures but with a better script..

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Music brings high-schooler and paramedic together

This is the 14th installment in this series of short love stories. The location is Fukuoka, Japan, a prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu. I’m proud to say I live in this beautiful part of Japan.

What I like:
The story is well-thought out and presented. The two main leads are great. Shiraishi Sei is cute as a high-schooler and beautiful as an aspiring music performer. Her singing is good, too. And Nishiyama Jun is respectable in his role as a paramedic and handsome fan of Shino, Shiraishi’s performing name. Their by-chance first meeting at the animal park is cute. And the setting in different parts of Fukuoka, particularly Kayoicho Park, are wonderfully filmed.

What I don’t like:
A large part of the two ML’s relationship takes place through Line social messaging interactions. I’d rather possible love interests look into each other’s eye than at smartphones! I want more dating scenes between the two of them. And I think the ending is abrupt and not to my liking. But because of the short run time and the constraints of staying true to the real-life story, that’s not possible.

I recommend this to anyone who wants a well-made, short and sweet drama. You get a bonus guitar playing and singing high-schooler. And you can enjoy taking in the parts of Japan away from the usual Tokyo locations.

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No New Tricks For This Pony

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

Being suspenseful doesn't mean it's good...
Full disclosure: I'm not a fan of the 1st season. I had given it a 4/10.

Acting/Cast: A more recognizable cast this time around. One of my favorite actors is in this season, Yim Si Wan (임시완). I ended up liking his character the most. Actually, I like this season's cast of characters a lot. It's a shame that the the character building was as weak as it was... Everything felt so forced, inauthentic, and rushed. However, the acting is good for the most part (although the writing did hurt it). I would say the main character, played by Lee Jung Jae (이정재), stood out to me as feeling inauthentic with his acting. I liked him in the 1st season though, when he was just an average joe. Now he's trying to be Batman or something. 6/10

Writing: This is the area that really ruins this series for me...and even more so this season. Things happen that just don't make sense logically and psychologically. A huge issue I had with the 1st season is the stupid ass voting system. What are the odds that it would be split 50/50? Can someone do the math on that? Ok...now image those odds happening two more times. It's so dumb. Speaking of dumb, the lead is an idiot. Basically, this season is watching a bunch of people doing every single thing wrong. It's very frustrating. How does the main character get tricked the same exact way? He, of all people, should be the one who should know better. Long story short, this season is a rehashing of the 1st, but done even worse. The shock value of the games is gone, the emotional impact of characters dying is gone, the secondary police officer storyline feels useless, and this season ends abruptly with a cliffhanger. If I would have known that this season wasn't complete, I wouldn't have watched. I would have waited for season 3 (or season 2 part 2). By the way, 3% and The Hunger Games did this plot better. 3% is also a Netflix drama with a similar plot and suspiciously similar scenes and characters. I liked 3% a lot, especially the 1st season, and I can't help but feel like Squid Game is just a poorly executed Korean version. 1/10

Direction/SFX/Music: One thing this drama does right is the cinematography, the SFX, and the iconography (that of which has made Squid Game very marketable). It's nice visually, it's eye-catching, and it makes you want to keep watching. This season had a different vibe from the 1st, however. The 1st season had more of a sense of dread, eeriness, and hopelessness while this season is more...fun? The best way I can describe it, is that it feels like that frozen in bullet time bar scene from the movie The Other Guys. I don't know how to feel about that. 5.5/10

Entertainment Value: So stressful, so frustrating, and then it gets the the point where I'm rolling my eyes at the repetitively bad writing. I can't look away, though. So, I'll give it that. I want to see where they take this story. Also, I'm so glad the VIPs weren't in this season. That was another thing that ruined season 1 for me. The VIPs were terrible...the acting, the dialogue writing...just cringey as hell. I hope they will continue to refrain from torturing me with that mess in season 3 as well. 2/10

Overall, I gave season 2 of Squid Game a 3.5/10. Worse than season 1 in every way except for the more recognizable cast maybe. It is also unfinished, so I wouldn't recommend watching this until season 3 is released. And because it's unfinished, it's harder for me to judge it. 3.5 makes sense for now though, since I had given season 1 a 4 and this season is definitely worse.

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