Yiran’s portrayal is absolutely captivating; his face is stunning, no doubt about it, possessing an ethereal quality that commands attention in every scene. He brings a depth and nuance to his character that is truly commendable. Similarly, Duling is super adorable, exuding a charm that is both endearing and powerful. Her acting, moreover, is remarkably mature and impressively refined for an actress of her apparent experience. She navigates complex emotional landscapes with grace and conviction, delivering performances that resonate deeply with the audience. Both of the main actors, Yiran and Duling, did a genuinely great job, demonstrating exceptional talent and an undeniable on-screen chemistry that forms the emotional core of the series. Their performances alone are a compelling reason to watch.
However, despite these many strengths, there's just way too much going on with that whole convoluted "game" or intricate power struggle between Zhao, Yanfang, and Deng Yi. This particular subplot feels overly complicated and, at times, unnecessarily dense, overshadowing other more engaging aspects of the story. The constant maneuvering, backstabbing, and intricate schemes involving these characters often detract from the main narrative thrust and can be difficult to follow without intense concentration. Honestly, some episodes tend to get a bit boring, feeling prolonged and sluggish precisely because they lean too heavily into this overly complex political intrigue. They are missing that spark of humor, a much-needed injection of levity or wit that could break the tension and make the viewing experience more enjoyable and less mentally taxing. A touch of comedic relief or simply less convoluted plotting in this specific area would undoubtedly enhance the overall pacing and audience engagement.
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RESEÑA <3
Este K-drama ha sido una de esas series que te atrapan desde el primer capítulo. Tiene mucha intriga y tensión, siempre dejando preguntas en el aire y consiguiendo que quieras seguir viendo un episodio tras otro.La vi con mi novio y nos pasó exactamente lo mismo: nos enganchamos los dos desde el principio. Cada capítulo se hace muy corto porque la historia avanza constantemente y cuando termina uno te quedas pensando: “venga, uno más”.
Uno de los puntos fuertes es la relación entre el trío protagonista. La química entre ellos es fantástica y es imposible no cogerles cariño. Tienen momentos muy bonitos, de amistad, lealtad y apoyo mutuo que hacen que conectes emocionalmente con los personajes. Hubo varias escenas que me hicieron llorar porque están muy bien construidas y consiguen llegar al espectador.
Además, el reparto está de 10. Todos los actores hacen un trabajo increíble y logran transmitir perfectamente las emociones de sus personajes. Y como extra, ¡sale P.O, lo que siempre suma puntos!
Lo mejor:
* Mucha intriga y suspense.
* Personajes muy carismáticos.
* Relación preciosa entre los protagonistas.
* Episodios que se pasan volando.
* Finales de capítulo que te dejan con ganas de más.
* Reparto excelente.
Valoración: 10/10 ⭐
Una serie muy recomendable si te gustan los dramas con emoción, misterio, acción y personajes a los que acabas cogiendo muchísimo cariño. 💙📺
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This review may contain spoilers
Definitely one of the top indie/sleeper hits of this year
The whole series was top-notch from beginning to end. A couple issues notwithstanding, I'd definitely recommend this series to anyone that likes a good story and good action.My only issues with this series was I didn't like that Peem died for the red string. Peem, Dean and the dad were all at the funeral. Any one of them could have taken the hit for the red string besides Lene. Dean was a childhood friend of Lene, and though I know it wouldn't have made sense for him to die in order to take Lene's place, he makes about as much sense as Peem, in that, he had nothing to do with the story, besides being a decoy for Lene's plan. The dad should have been taken Lene's place, because deep down she still cared about her dad. It's why she didn't outright kill him, when he had the gun on Rann. I get why they chose Peem--he was like a big brother to Lene and his character was only there for the revenge on the dad for Lene's mom, someone he saw as a mother figure. I get that, but still if the dad was going to die anyway, why not have him be the one to take the hit for the red string? This point, and the horrible ADR and song choices in the episode six love scene are why this series gets a 9/10, instead of a 10.
Besides those issues, I really liked this series. The chemistry between the actresses who play Lene and Rann was top-tier. Mie, the actress who plays Lene, very much gives me Faye Peraya Malisorn vibes. She is what would happen if Faye and Freen had a baby girl. Her acting , especially her facial acting is very good, something that many praise Freen for, and she has that opposing, commanding presence of Faye. I've seen Ava, the actress who plays Rann, previously in a series named Love Sea. She was good in that series, so I figured she would be good in this series, and I wasn't disappointed. She's able to play a character who's somewhat vulnerable on the outside, yet has a strong inner strength with just the right amount of believability, so that the character feels very grounded in the story and that's a big plus.
On the whole, this series is definitely up there with shows like Heart Code for top indie/sleeper hit of this year. This is following in the vein of other indie shows that are showing from of these bigger production companies how it should be done. Great job to the actors and production of Love Beyond Dreams and to Me Mind Y.
P.S. I can't wait to see what Me Mind Y has for Miephat and Ava next. I hope they can get another series going soon.
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This review may contain spoilers
Not much to say except typical Ao3 y/n plot.
Another K-bl and I keep on complaining on the same things. Korean bl clearly doesn't understand how to make their stories realistic and I do not like it. Basically the whole club being sold to a big ent company is a fun idea and very creative how they thought of an 'idol ish' football club. But this is just giving the typical 2010's harry style fanfic. Do Ji being a fan and everything and then randomly his 'idol' shows up...I fucking love sport bl's, especially when they use a sport that isn't overused like basketball. I used to play basketball but I'm tired of the amount of times they use basketball as sport. But, soccer however, is never used. It's very original for a bl to use soccer as a sport. I really love this.
I love how Yoo Gang was an idol just like some other members because they just added some scene's I found funny/recognisable. Like how Yoo Gang Jae does the complete opposite of what he says in interviews. And I'm giving an extra point because EXO FIRST SNOW DANCE. And why can these actors dance this good?
I'm gonna be honest, with so many players everything started to get really confusing. They kinda all exist and it's hard to remember their story lines because they're being thrown at us. Also, it wasn't clear to me which role who had, especially on the field. Like who does defence and who is where?
A very slight thing that I won't count for my review this time, maybe I'm not right but the music in this sounds VERY ai generated. The English sounds so weird and the beats make no sense. It could just be lowbuggeted music but there's something off from it. Another thing, which I also won't change my final rating is the English translation. It was irritating cuz it covered my whole screen whenever they pulled out their phones. It's okay because this was the translation company fucking it up but it was really annoying how I had to pause it to be able to read what was going on.
What confused me the most is no training and no practice match? This is just really weird to me. I get that they had limited budget because this is a low budgeted series but like the only practise I've really seen is tricks? Like cool but when are you actually gonna practice? Especially for the 'idols'. Yes, they had like 1 match in the beginning. The whole plot was all over the place like what was going on bro? The time skips were so fucking unnecessary and just typically Korean... Not only that, the romance was lacking, barely any chemistry and it took fucking 8 episodes for a little romance? I liked Do Ji U and Yoo gang together but the side characters? Don't even understand what happened there.
It's low budgeted, which I genuinely don't care about but it's still mid. Low budget doesn't mean it's mid and could be really well if they just thought about shit. Like location and timeline.
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This review may contain spoilers
Duang with You is overhyped and overrated, but it was fine I guess..
Disclaimer!! This is my opinion, and let me know if you disagree or agree!
So first off, I want to start with Duang's character. The show makes him out to be a person who is the "golden retriever" in the relationship, but it just didn't do it for me. I found his character sometimes annoying and frustrating. Why? He's supposed to be a college student, but acts like he's five. I get that might be his personality, but why are you sticking out your tongue like a dog? Honestly, the only time I found his behavior funny was when he was actually making a joke, not acting like he was immature and a baby. I'd honestly would have liked to see more of his serious side and vulnerable side, but there were only two moments, so I guess not? I might seem like the fun police, but I don't find it funny when an adult acts like a baby. Leave that to the millennials.
Next, I want to get into Qinn's character. Opposite of Duang and his "golden retriever" personality, he is perceived as the "black cat" of the relationship, but as it didn't work out for Duang, it didn't work out for Qinn either. I found his character to be not self-centered, but ignorant. Qinn gives Duang permission to pursue him and doesn't even show a slight interest in the first 5-6 episodes. I also found it stupid of the writers to set up the beginning like that just for Qinn to not give the slightest shit and get annoyed every time Duang popped up. He didn't even start being interested until episode 5 or 6. I know his character is closed off because of his past with the trauma and ex-crush, but come on. Couldn't you just reciprocate with just a "I like you back, but I don't know how to show it" or something along those lines? I would have liked that, but Qinn just didn't do that.
Now, the whole plot was a good idea. An extroverted college art student pursuing a career as a cold jazz singer who also went to his college. It had potential, but due to the writing and pacing, it felt odd. Qinn not recepricating til episode 6 gave off that Duang was a creep and stalkerish. I know it was not like that in the show, but if you think outside of the show. Even when they did get together, it felt like they weren't. I don't know.
The relationship aspect of it was ehhh. As I said throughout this whole review, it took a while for Qinn to warm up to Duang. We finally got them together in episode 6, I'm pretty sure. Oh wait, WRONG! Qinnn's ex comes in and fucks up shit. Not like there wasn't shit going on, but it was unnecessary for him to try to win him back now, when he could have done it before Duang came into the picture. The whole ex-plot line was in early high school, and the main plot line was in early college. Correct me if I'm wrong, though. The ex would have had a lot of time to make up with him in that crunch of time before Duang came in. Also, the way Duang handled the ex coming in just had me like, what happened to the Duang who apparently "never gave up" and just became sad. Pmo.
Qinn's trauma and backstory were not well done, as they could have been. As I said, it was a good idea, but they absolutely didn't handle it well. As a kid, the babysitter his parents got "abused" him, not like hitting, but tried to make Qinn eat dirt and yelled at him. Kinda off putting and bold. That is very traumatic, and I understand why that would make him the way he is, but I wouldn't think that it would make him socially distant in a relationship. The scene where he yells at his parents for not being there for him was fine. I liked how Duang comforted him and calmed him in his arms, a moment where I didn't find Duang's character immature. THEN, in the next scene, Qinn's mom is rubbing him and hugging him? What happened to being mad?! The parents and Qinn didn't even go into a stage where they were trying to find ways to get back with him; the writers just skipped it. Another issue with the pacing.
The side story with Jamie Marvis. I don't wanna say I hated it, but I just was kinda confused. They were meant to be a sexy and intimate couple. But instead, they got barely any screen time, and had no spicy scenes, while Qinn and Duang had multiple, and didn't seem like the couple to do that after they got to be in a couple and be emotionally intimate first; however, they didn't. A side note to JamieMarvis is the English-speaking. I didn't hate it, but found it unnecessary and kinda cringe. Although they are following the novel, so I guess go off kings. I would have liked to see more of Jamie being inspired by Duang and trying to get Marivs to be his actual boyfriend, but their trope was friends with benefits, so.
The acting was okay. Nothing jaw-dropping, the only "good" acting was when Qinn was yelling at his parents. When Qinn acted sad, it didn't feel genuine and just felt like ehhh. What could I say about Tee Tee's acting and Por's? They could improve, but this is their debut series, and the acting was alright, so I can't be mad. Not to mention, they were in a singing group first, so I can't be harsh with them.
Overall? I think this series could have been written better, acted better, and honestly? It is kinda overhyped and overrated for a series with a mid-plot. I've seen better shows that are so much, well, I wouldn't say better, but in my opinion, with elements that Duang with You just didn't have.
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Boring
Typical evil stepmother: check. Typical girl defies all odd to become top tier: check. Typical come from nothing warrior boys to become big man's aides: check. Fight for the throne: check. Good character actually a bad character: check.I was looking forward to this for the ML. Sadly, even he can't save this show from itself. It's so full of cliches. None of the characters really stand out, even the ML is boring. Really dont understand the positive reviews.
Sadly, I won't watch the rest, it's too painful to watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
For being a Lakorn this was GOOD.
What I liked:*That they didn't like each other right away. That they bickered. Omg the accidental kiss! had me giggling. The way he teased her specially after the FM, so exciting.
*The brother and FL plot was freaking unique as heck because usually its very taboo to even fully mentioned it, but in this case everyone knew, and he didn't hide to act on it.
*The kissing scenes and bed scene, why did I like it? at least in the lakorns that I have watched they second couple or the villains have more action than the leads. They are Snooze Feast.
*That the villains had people giving them a hard time, that they just didn't get away with things.
*That it had overall a unique plot and it wasn't a copy of a kdrama or Cdrama.
*HE even if many didn't agree, I loved that she moved away from the big city and looked for a peaceful life and used her money for good. That they end up together. Many didn't understand why he did the things he did specially the revenge part, but I understood his reasons. The people who didn't get it maybe don't watch revenge dramas. Innocent Man just to mentioned one drama I can compare, the lead guy also got near the daughter of the man who married his ex and make her fall in love with him to take revenge and the whole drama was about revenge because well hellooo is a revenge drama, it's main plot and purpose is to show us the revenge! it's not a rom com or conventional romance. So is not rare that a ML uses someone to take revenge even someone innocent and later they fall in love and stay together. For me it was expected.
What I didn't like:
*The whole thing with the EX!!! I understand he wanted to also get back at her but how he went about it! if you know you know! and I hated the writer for their scenes together.
*The acting at times wasn't great, Mint which I love had some great scenes, but some fell off. Same with Nine.
PS: I have watch many lakorns and usually I rate them super low because they are messy No plot development, One dimensional characters and the romance sucks but This wasn't like that, at least not that bad hahaha. So that is why I say This for being a Lakorn was GOOD, hence Good not amazing hahaha
I would definitely rewatch this and only because of the romance.
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too many episodes
This is basically a slow moving poorly written version of the epic masterpiece Bad and Crazy starring Lee Dong-wook (a shop for killers and bad and crazy) released in late 2021, some serious high octane, heart pumping adrenaline action. Takes the view of a weird wild ride Adventure. Dong wook plays Ryu soo-yeol, a morally wayward inept detective. I didnt even realize he had a split personality until like three or so episodes in, Because K, his alternate personality is played by a completely different actor named Wi Ha-joon (midnight movie). who wears a motorcycle helmet for a bunch of scenes. This also makes the seemingly innocuous psychiatrist the evil villain, operating under two distinct different names in an attempt to erase their pasts. Unfortunately its way too long, clocking in at one hr plus per episode and a mind numbing twenty episodes. a few miscasts, chairman dad who looks like an old gramps and not that great of an actor. had to fast forward his scenes and the FL is suppose to be some high flying circus performing acrobat. Instead circus scenes dont showcase any of that. Only a troupe full of bubble blowers. what lame spaz wrote that rubbish? Anyway Bad and crazy is a tight fast paced 12 episodes. A must see!!!Was this review helpful to you?
A heartwarming and comedic cooking show.
The male lead is so lost in the sauce of depression that he hallucinates his own “System,” complete with a fully functional navigation UI to help him become a great cook in the military. At the heart of this show, the male lead’s gradual process of making friends through his cooking within a small military unit is the best part of this show. It’s truly heartwarming to see him form new friendships from episode to episode. The soldiers in this unit aren’t the friendliest bunch so it’s nice to see their backstories, which change your initial impressions of them. The enemies-to-friends trope is very well done here. The male lead’s steady growth as both a cook and as a person recovering from loss is really good.Was this review helpful to you?
Romantic Drama
This is one of those series that seems to have a repeated storyline like many C-dramas. It is a mix of other c-dramas from the past. All good actors, a good story but I always find that more than 24 episodes is too much. It could end sooner than watching all 30 episodes. It is finally a sweet romantic comedy with some life experiences.Was this review helpful to you?
A BL That Actually Has Me Invested in the Story
What I really like about this series is that it has a compelling storyline beyond the fact that it's a BL. I'm genuinely curious about what steps he'll take next in his quest for revenge, rather than simply wondering when he'll fall in love with the other lead.There are so many unanswered questions that keep me hooked. Is the bunny actually Sun? Does the director/partner, Jay, have his own hidden agenda? And in all of this revenge, what exactly is Jay's motive?
That's why I'll be watching this weekly. My curiosity simply won't allow me to wait until all the episodes are released before finding out what happens next.
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Perfect Crown Review - ZyKuu
"A mere title does not define the King" - The story was very detailed and clear to follow, rarely any holes in the writing and I felt as if the plot thickened with each episode. The show did an amazing job at having multiple antagonists and creating issues that had our leads constantly alert. I was very intrigued with how a society functions with a constitutional monarchy set in place and might I add it was very well executed. Seong Huiju, Lee Wan, Yun Irang, and Min Jeongwoo are the most beautiful set of leads I have ever seen and they put on a pinnacle of a performance on top of that. Seong Huiju is a very fierce and hardworking but compelling character. Her chemistry with Grand Prince I-an was phenomenal and their dynamic was captivating. The on screen presence between the two is stunning and their relationship was so attracting. Grand Prince I-an is a noble person who carries a quiet burden with him as he has a lot of trauma built up due to his upbringing. Queen Mother is a selfish character who insists on carrying out plans to her avail. Her chemistry with Grand Prince I-an was the strongest chemistry between two actors in the entire show as their scenes were always filled with the utmost tension. Prime Minister Wan is by far the most compelling character as you witness his character development evolve immensely from start to finish. Seong Huiji, Grand Prince I-an, Queen Mother, and Prime Minister Wan all have special dynamics and the chemistry between any two of these four leads was flawless. This was the epitome of casting for me. Everyone was perfectly assigned to a role and the characters are all so loveable. Choi Hyeon and Do Hyejeong were spectacular in their roles and they had quite the relationship that was innocent and adorable. Aide Choi and Ms.Do had similar roles and tasks regarding their jobs, and it was cool to see how they approach their work differently. Seong Taeju is the brother of Huiju and Han Dayeong is her sister in law. They are a cute couple that Huiji learns to lean on them as the show progresses. Side note, Dayeong is so beautiful. The OST is amazing as there are many songs that are enjoyable, in addition the instrumental pieces are nothing but poetry to my ears. The art in this show is phenomenal and they managed to show this through the outfits, buildings, scenery etc. Overall, this drama was nothing short of a beautiful experience and I am beyond pleased to have seen this show.Was this review helpful to you?
'Forbidden Crush' the actual name of this drama
I stand by the fact that 'Crush' is a bad name for this drama, and there were so many better options. There is nothing inherently wrong with this drama, especially with it being a shorter one. The acting isn't bad, but don't have high expectations. There are three overused tropes in one show here, and yet somehow, you still find yourself wanting to make sure there is a happy ending. I do like the female lead, I think she is a good actress, and I'd like to see her in better roles. The main couple does have good chemistry, but it's nothing new and different. Good timepass.Was this review helpful to you?
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After all obstacles have been overcome hapiness prevails
This was a great drama, a true rollercoaster of emotions. I was mad, but i also cried a few times, it also had a few sweet moments. It's toxic, but in the last two episodes that explains itself, he was so hurt that it litterary made him mentaly ill.A BL with the most awful parents ever!! And the siblings weren't very nice either and they were also very controlling.
Then put two mains together, one without a backbone and one with a very strong personality and you have a recepi for disaster.
Beautiful visuals and good music.
The mains had great chemistry and good kisses.
The second couple didn't have much chemistry, but that was because the actor that played Cheng Yi Chen, didn't do very good job in acting. And his kisses were so bad! Such a shame because his co actor did great in acting and in kissing.
I recommend watching this!
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Good but terrible FL
This is my first review in MDL. I like the story. I watched it because of Lin Yun Rui. But I almost gave up just after watching 10 eps because of the FL's wooden acting. She almost had the same facial expression throughout the series even when she is happy, angry, sad, hurt, overwhelmed, shocked. I wish they put diff actress for the role.Was this review helpful to you?
