Reviews

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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..

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

PREFERRED THIS SEASON TO SEASON ONE

I think this is an unpopular opinion, but Season 2 worked better for me than Season 1. Season 1 was more laugh-out-loud funny, but the gross toilet humour and the first male lead’s (Kang Dong Du played by Kim Jung-Hyun) lack of respect for his love interest’s initial rejection made it hard for me to watch so I dropped it.

Season 2 was the best of both worlds - it combined humour and heart. It was way more heartfelt than Season 1 and although it had the same set-up, it worked out better for me. The actors in Season 2 also had better chemistry and stronger lovelines in my opinion.

My only wish was that we got to see the characters in Season 2 have the successful careers they wanted on screen, but I’ll have to canonize that in my head.

A solid watch overall. Time flew by so quickly. It was bittersweet to say goodbye.

Read More

It was frustrating and hard to get through.

It started off pretty decent, got pretty annoying in the middle, and picked back up in the end. The drama was overall frustrating though, especially the female leads character who acted so dumb and clueless through the entire thing. She was always asking how or why and just couldn’t figure things out on her own - very helpless. In the beginning I thought she’d be different but she had no character development whatsoever which was disappointing. They could never make me hate her dad tho! Probably an unpopular opinion but reality check: comic book characters don’t normally come to life so his reaction is very justified considering the situation, although he may have been a little over the top in some things. He always loved his daughter that’s for sure, but he definitely grew in his ability to show it - he just grew overall as a character. And because of how I felt towards him, I hated the ending. I just couldn’t look past what happened to him and be happy with it even though it was technically a “happy ending” for the MCs. It made me feel like I should’ve just stopped at episode 8 when I wanted to 😭 I don’t know, it was a good show and I loved all the twists and mysteries (that’s the only thing that helped me get through since the romance wasn’t that great), but I just can’t fully recommend it without giving those warnings. Obviously that’s just my opinion (which is a very mixed opinion lol), so it just depends on your taste.

Read More

Twin switching : they might play with your head.

What happens when the evil twin impersonates the lover of an heiress, in order to seize a fortune ?

I enjoyed the twin switching and they misled me sometimes. Thinking Zhuo was Yue and vice versa. This story about a race for power and money amidst jealousy and love kept me glued to my screen as it was airing.
I liked the acting and the pacing as well as the story. Although the ending was rushed to my personal taste. But it was still a big surprise.

Pros:
- Male Lead, Leo Yang was great in this drama. I pretty much always recognised who was who between the twins, everytime.
- Female Lead is a strong character, well played by Li Huan.
- Harem : 3 bachelorette 1 prince. That part was hilarious at times.
- Good pacing.

Cons :
- Cliché : the evil grand mother. I wish we could avoid that.
- The ending feels rushed to my taste.
- Some extraordinary/ almost unbelivable elements which make the story a little over the top. But this is a mini drama. I am not watching Agatha Christie. It is sometimes hilarious. I forgive them.

Overall:
A simple plot but a lot of twists and turns, and the drama plays with your mind when the twin are switching and also with the cliffhangers at the end of the episodes.
I liked the drama and I recommend it, if you like to play hide and seek, looking at the ML micro expressions to guess the rest of the story. It is an entertaining drama.

Read More

Values versus reality

This was a very well written series. It had a complex developed plot for only eight episodes. The series presented the dilemma of a palliative care healthcarer.
On the one hand you have the sanctity of life and on the other hand you have the compassion toward continued unnecessary pain in a terminal patient. This is probably one of the few BL series that dares to address a controversial societal issue.

The sexual tension and attraction of the two male leads was palpable. Unfortunately the relationship between the two men was doomed from the beginning. Both the palliative care doctor and the policeman had unwavering convictions related to their respective professions. I will definitely watch this again because the quality of this series was excellent.

Read More

Thoughtfully Made

I'm rarely drawn to fantasy because of its complicated plot and had a slow start with Alchemy of Souls. But as I progressed, I was impressed. The rating doesn't lie! Mu-deok is such a badass, strong, but witty female lead. She stays true to her motive but isn't afraid to show a soft spot. What happened to her at the end is tragic, but hopefully her soul will make a strong comeback in season 2. Jung So-min was the perfect actress for this role, from expression to acting, it's all phenomenal. I will miss seeing her. There were just so many twists and turns, and the story kept unfolding in directions I never expected. It made the binging experience irresistible. The fighting scenes kept me hooked and were flawlessly executed. The story is based off a unique concept and was developed well along with the characters. And of course, the heavy part of the show is relived by our fun couple, Park Jin and Maid Kim. I was so invested in their love story. While the show focuses mainly on fantasy, its multi-genre nature is pulled off well. Fantasy is complimented by mystery, comedy, and romance. Although most fantasy can run up to 30 episodes, AOS has appropriate pacing and manages to keep the story going with exciting moments to unpack.

Read More

Too real humanity

When I began watching this, I have to admit I was shallow. The male lead is just gorgeous! The pace of the series was plodding. I checked " my drama list " for the reviews ratings and was shocked to find how high the ratings were on the series. Out of curiosity I persevered through the entire 16 episodes. I'm so glad I did!

The series was true to its name "Lost ". The entire series had a prevailing sense of sadness and of unreconciled failure. But as the series progressed the complexity of human relations and the ambiguity of what might be right or what might be wrong drew you into the story. It reminded me of a Charles Dickens book. It's repeated silences portrayed depth of both the characters and the story. It was superb!

One of the quotes in the series was "Life without illusions is close to death.". Then, it destroyed the illusions. There was such a prolonged emphasis on reality verses illusions that depression seemed inevitable. But, somehow through the slowness of the development of the story and the development of the relationships , a sense of honesty and possibly hope was created. I think ultimately by the end of the 16th episode the following quote was more applicable:

"Your problem is how you are going to spend this one odd and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over people and circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are."

Read More

Don't know what to say....

I started watching this not for the contestants but for the Judges. Most of the judges are from YG.I love YG Judges cause they're cool and I loved Treasure box and Babymonster evaluation.
Pros ---
1) of course the judges .
2) we get the singing and rapping evaluation too which was absent in I-land .
3) the judges chose the top 12/16 so , trainees didn't get to choose the popular ones over the skilled ones .
4) the voting was about whom you wants as teammates which was who you wants to eliminate in I-land .
5) high production and eye candies.....

Now I will talk about the cons ----
1)when you get skilled judges you expect to see highly skilled trainees too . But was there highly skilled trainees?
Remember they're here in survival show not auditioning so , of course I I will expect some cut-throat compitition.
2) lack of attachment.... don't get me wrong but the unfair judgement in I-land made me attached to the ground. Specially when there were equal number of skilled trainees in Ground and they were desperate...... remember the fire performance? Even the judges were shocked and nearly 6 trainees got eliminated in first round....
But in I land 2 the I-land team is better and the ground trainees looks meh in front of them....
3) Determination ?
If you watched treasure box ,baemon evaluation and even in I land you'll notice the burning Passion in their eyes ....but here more than half trainees are passive....
Final say ...
I won't say this is the worst survival show....cause the production, growth of the trainees and judges are really good and of course good luck to the new group ....

Read More

The bright and dark sides of a thriving riverside city

This is a story of a thriving city. The bright side of this colorful city is its people who are busy with their daily activities and want a happy prosperous life with their families. Underneath this bright side, there is a dark side where the city is corrupted by a small group of people who have unchecked power.

The people are oppressed behind the façade of the prosperity of the city. They want justice. Can they really get justice?

Story and Characters: The main story revolves around Zhao family. Zhao BuYou (ML) started as a low-ranking clerk. But he has a knack for crime-solving. He prioritizes his family over anything. Wen Yue (FL) is an Umbrella shop owner in the city. She used to be an assassin/pirate before. But now she just wants to live a simple peaceful life with her husband’s family. Elder sibling Zhao Mo Er is a naive person who is sometimes very intelligent but sometimes behaves like a fool :D. Younger sibling Zhao Ban Er studied medicine before. But now she is more interested in dead bodies than living bodies :D. Then we have Kaifeng court inspector Gu Zhen who seems like a laid-back character but has a strong sense of justice and doesn’t hesitate to take justice by his hand. Besides these characters, there are many other characters. Every character is different and has their own goal and purpose in the story. The story is divided into different arcs. All the arcs start with a murder or a group of murders. All the things that happen somehow have a connection with our main characters. They solve the mystery behind the murders. While solving the murders they also solve their personal problems and family problems. This seems simple, but this was done very beautifully in the story.

Things I liked:
1. A story of common people: This is a story of common people. This is a refreshing take from the typical palace politics we see in other dramas. I really like this aspect of this story.
2. Family bond: We see a strong family bond in the Zhao family. Like thousands of other families in the city, they just want to live a simple life together. Both ML and FL prioritize their family over anything else.
3. Insight into the culture and inventions of the Song dynasty: Each episode ends with a small history lesson about the culture and inventions of the Song dynasty. This is something new in a drama and I really liked it very much.
4. Strong veteran casts: The cast selection was perfect. They selected veteran casts for the roles according to the demands of the characters. The acting was top-notch for almost all the characters.
5. Beautiful Aesthetics: The dresses, the scenery, the set: everything looked beautiful.
6. ML & FL: I like both Zhang Song Wen (ML) and Bai Bai He (FL). Some might have some complaints with Bai Bai He’s acting in this drama. But she looked wonderful.
7. Society Issues: The drama depicts the common societal issue very beautifully
8. Murder Mystery: I liked some of the murder mysteries.
9. Humor and comedic elements: Humor and comedic elements were well delivered. Some moments were genuinely funny.
10. Ending (spoilers): A happy and very beautiful ending.

Things could have been better:
1. Underwhelming last case: The last case was a bit underwhelming. The main villain was taken down easily. I expected a bit more there.
2. Simple cases: The drama started with a very good mysterious case. But in the later part, some of the cases were pretty simple.
3. Psycho Brother of FL: I really did not like this character.
4. FL character as ex-assassin:  FL character lacked as an ex-assassin. I don’t know, maybe the writer wanted to tell us that living a normal life for 20 years made the FL softer. There was a clear difference in the character portrayal of FL between the young actress and Bai Bai He.
5. Dark theme: Sometimes, some of the murders were too dark. Maybe they could tone down a bit.
6. Plot holes: Well, there were some plot holes. Some things were not explained properly.

My Ratings: 9/10
The drama had its good and bad. But I thoroughly enjoyed the drama and eagerly waited everyday for the next episodes. It is a beautiful and unique drama that is different from many other historical Chinese dramas we see. I absolutely recommend it.

Read More

This is a show to go into blind. I almost never do but I watched this show while it was airing and it had me shook. I started off thinking this was just a kind of spooky show and while I liked the vibe, it wasn’t until after the first few episodes when things started to come together that I was really hooked.

Light Shop had me absolutely weeping for the second half of the show. The characters and their backstories were so well done. The acting performances were all amazing. This would be a great show to go rewatch knowing the entire story to see all the details missed on a first watch.

I found the ending to be a little underwhelming, which is what knocked it down a bit for me. Some things were still left unexplained and I wasn’t clear what the plan for the story moving forward would be. With this large ensemble cast, there were also characters that I cared about a lot more than others and some I really wished had more screentime!

Light Shop was something I had almost no expectations for and the story really blew me away. There were a few episodes in the middle that absolutely destroyed me and were just epic storytelling. It is definitely worth the watch!

Read More