Reviews

there is no communication barrier that cant be crossed . . .

Beautiful drama that shows the connection between hearing and hearing impaired person. Like hearing person, every hearing impaired person is unique and different thereof it's a matter whether we try to understand their thought or merely just to understand their words

Specific comments are below:

[Acting]

Definitely one of the best part from this drama. All casts acted tf out here. Shout out to my favorites Meguro Ren and Kaho. Both of them really did wonderful job conveying themselves in sign language. Their expression, gesture, and body language r perfect. Kaho is an experienced actress so I expect that much from her, but I am surprised at how good Meguro is. It's amazing how he make it so easy for viewers to tell what Sou feels just by looking at his expression. He made me smile when when he smiles and made me cry when he cries. To be able to act is one thing but to be able to do it well without speaking is definitely on another level. I hope all the casts receive deserving awards for this.

[Story]

Surprisingly, I found that story development is the weak link from this drama. The acting, directing, scoring are all beautifully done except the story line. I felt like the writer is too greedy to pack as many as life lesson in this drama it affects the plot development. I do agree that side characters r important, but to flesh out all side characters in such details requires longer episodes to make the overall story line to flow nicely, if not it makes the transition between each development choppy n rush.

I also found that minato-tsumugi relationship to be redundant. If sou-tsumugi was planned to be end up together, it's better to just focus on them from the start. There r a lot of hurdle between hearing n hearing impaired person that can be fleshed out to build their relationship instead of the cliche love triangle. Herein, minato-tsumugi relationship doesnt bring anything to the plot other than unnecessary drama.

But I am still grateful that this drama attempt to give us a glimpse about the beauty n the struggle of silent world. The other good thing is the writer has done a good job to make flawed yet relatable characters. I may not agree with what they have done but I can understand where they r coming from.

[Overall]

This drama is not perfect, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Rather than romance drama, I would categorise it as slice of life. The conflict presented here was something that we may overlook before so it open up a new perspective for me. The visual n aesthetic r also very pleasing in the eyes. Overall this drama feels like a warm blanket, it gives you a calm fuzzy feeling rather than excitement

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I wasn't expecting to be wowed by this lakorn (especially since it's the end of the year) but To Sir, With Love proved me wrong. It's probably the best I've seen this year and exceeded my expectations. I got into it because I saw that Film, who only starred in boy/girl dramas before, was actually going to be in a BL and was curious to see how it would go. I'm very glad I took that chance, otherwise I would've missed out on a very well acted and well produced show.

1. Story
The story was complex, engaging, and had great pacing. It was very obvious that a lot of care went into how it was edited and delivered. Having this sort of LGBT+ plotline set in a historical time could've easily gone wrong, but it wasn't the case here. The historical aspect greatly enriched the story and provided much of the character's justification for their actions. It was also quite unpredictable, and major actions actually had major consequences. I think what really made this stand out was how it was really a lakorn made for a modern audience; even though this is set in an older time, there are modern ideals that are cleverly interwoven where it didn't feel out of place and greatly appealed to me as a viewer of today. 

2. Leads 
Before I get into Tian and Yang, I just want to say that I consider Li (T's mom), Jao Sua Song (T's dad) and Chan (Y's mom) to also be the main leads, and would actually put Jiu and Ying Pin as 2ndary leads. Because without them, there would be no richness in this drama and no believable way to move the plot forward. When I saw that P'Pok would play Li, I knew she would kill it and boy she didn't disappoint. She is an amazing actress, able to pull off so many emotions and make me simultaneously empathize and hate her. Her look when she found Tian and Jiu together made me laugh for days. I adore her and she looked so fab in her Chinese outfits. Jao Sua Song was a surprise since I didn't expect much but his voice is so enchanting and he is surprisingly level-headed, intelligent and can admit he's wrong (can we pleaseee have more dads like this in Thai dramaland). I didn't like Chan as much as the first two but she was a convincing antagonist and it was enough for me.

I thought that this was Film's finest acting to date; previous dramas I've seen him in were just okay. Here he conveyed Tian's sensitive and gentlemanly manner so flawlessly and pretty much acted his pants off as Tian. Yang's actor was also good, although his role was written so well that it would've been hard for him to mess up. The brotherly relationship between Yang and Tian was a major highlight and mood booster for me while watching this, and I'm glad they both stayed loyal to each other till the end.

3. Secondary Cast
I don't have any complaints about the 2ndary cast; all acted well and added to the plot. I liked that Ying Pin wasn't your typical flower girl, but was sassy and intelligent. I also like that Jiu wasn't just a cold assassin, but was willing to open his heart and be desperate in his love for Tian. The rest of the cast, from the house servants to the members of the Five Dragons Association were fun to watch and really lit up the world inside the lakorn.

4. Romance
I wasn't sure if the drama could carry out a convincing BL love story, but I was wrong and the romance hit me in all the feels. This is the kind of love story I love where the two leads meet and there's a spark, but it's not until they get to know each other that the spark becomes a firework. Although this was a love story between two men, I liked how the focus was more on how they were just two people who fell in love, irrespective of their gender. This couldn't have gone so well without the two actor's commitment to the roles, from how you could see Tian light up when Jiu was around, to Jiu doing things for Tian that suggested that his love for Tian was deeper than we thought. I think my only gripe with this is that I felt like there was some missing info for how Jiu accepted being with Tian despite both being men; there wasn't an internal struggle shown that I'd expect men of this time to have, especially when being gay was unheard of.  Regardless, well done to Film and Jam for maturely and beautifully carry out a convincing love story. 

5. Overall
This was a visually appealing drama, from the vibrant colours and patterns in the background, to the clothes that everyone was wearing. The music was amazing (I have Ice and NuNew's songs on my playlist) and played appropriately. This was a wonderful watch with great storytelling, acting, romance and much more. I highly recommend you give it a go and I will certainly re-watch this on my own time.

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Beautiful heartrending nostalgia

The pangs of first love is hard to forget...
The story is nothing new. In fact it's more cliche ridden and superbly tropey but one have to greatly appreciate how they were masterfully utilized to not only tell a tale of love but also of life.

- ACTING:
I was initially invested because of takeru satoh as I loved him as kenshin. The trailer with him giving that yearning look and hikaru utada's first love really sold me to watch this but I am simply blown away by the superb acting of the whole cast especially the younger versions of haruimichi and yae. Although they were playing each other's older and younger versions they managed to bring their own refreshing element in their acting which was brilliant.
-CINEMATOGRAPHY AND COLOR PALETTE
The director and ALSO the scriptwriter knows her shit for sure. Much of the story was elevated because of how impressive the cinematography, lighting and colors presented a beautiful backdrop on the story, the characters emotions, their journey, their trials and tribulations.
-OST
Last but not least, the ost. Since the whole story was inspired by a song it took the centre stage and accompanied the viewers as we glide with the characters in their journeys. The whole ost just stayed with me like an aftertaste. There were some English songs in there which in my opinion were unnecessary.

The CONS
-Rushed ending which I understand is because of 9 episode limit but I wanted it to be a little more. It was pleasant but convenient.
I felt there were some loose ends that were not tied properly as well, some plot holes that were not explored properly. I also wanted more angst and heartbreaking scenes between the adult haruimichi and yae as they start falling in love with each other all over again.

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in my opinion - The BEST historical drama I have ever watched (and it isn't exaggerated)

I admit I came to this drama because I have nothing else to watch over the holidays. I finished most of the Korean and Chinese dramas. My go-to dramas are usually heavily comedic that don't have complicated storyline nor melodramatic elements. However, for the rarest time, I went out of my comfort zone and actually tried watching this drama.

I came for nothing but I was actually surprised of how good this drama is. If I could give this drama a 12, I would.
A little introduction on the FL and ML:
- Cheng Shao Shang (Nai Nai) was abandoned by her parents from an infant. Her parents fought in the war leaving Nai Nai alone and she was (technically) raised by her evil grandmother and aunt where she was sent to a village faraway alone and often starved.
- Ling Bu Yi (Zi Sheng) was raised by an emperor. His only reason of living was revenge and hatred. When he was a child, he saw his clan got massacred - including his uncle. He swore by living alone and remained unwed - until he came across Nai Nai coincidentally.

What I like about this drama is how intelligent FL is and able to stand by herself without expecting help from anyone. When she got bullied by people who has higher status than her, she always have ways to bring revenge, whether it's little tricks or straight up shamming them.
I also love how ML always comes to rescue to help and support FL. In the story, FL was illiterate and doesn't know manners because she grew up by herself over the past 15 years. Everyone looks down on her including her own mother, but I love how ML loves her for who she is and how she is.

The scene-stealer for this drama is the royal trio (which are: Emperor, Empress, and Imperial Consort). I love how the emperor is very comedic and wise at the same time. He genuinely cares for ML, maybe more than his own children. I also love the empress, who I think is the kindest character throughout the drama. Apart from all, I think my favourite character in the drama is the imperial consort. Her badass character is actually one of the best supporting character I've seen so far in dramas.

I used to think that Mr.Queen was the best historical drama I've ever watched, however, my opinion changed after watching this drama. I usually dislike dramas that have more than 35 episodes because I thought dramas that comes with that many episodes usually have many unnecessary plots. However, this drama is worth all the 56 episodes (and I actually watch all of them without skipping).

For the rewatch value, I watch this drama 2 times non-stop (I finished all 56 episode and rewatch it again the next day because I couldn't find any decent drama after watching this). Thus, I give this drama a 10 for rewatch value.

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Meh...

Just my opinion: season 1 was far better than this season 2. However, I even felt season 1 became weaker with the "beach" plot. Everything before the beach was perfection. It still was an amazing 1st season though and kept you on your toes. This season however, had new characters I didn't care about and way too much dialogue. It sidetracked into back stories so often that it became a drag. The suspense of the 1st season was gone. There were whole episodes where the main character, Arisu, isn't even in them. The story was just all over the place, with some characters never seeming to die no matter how many bullets hit them or how much they bled out. The best games were with Chishiya especially the prison one. The rest of the games were meh and it seemed like there were less than previous season. Also there's a fare bit of male gaze moments that weren't needed such as a cheap crotch shot of a character in a school girl uniform. Then again the whole 1st game could be seen as one long female gaze moment. So I guess it balances out? As for acting it was average to below average. I know Kento has a lot of fans who would probably want to wring my neck after saying this, but I find his acting hammy. Very handsome guy no doubt, but he's not the best actor amongst the ikemen actors of his generation, not by a long shot. The fl that plays Usagi and has starred with Kento in many projects isn't much better. Lastly, I found the ending in this season very underwhelming.

This gets a 6/10 from me.

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Feel Good Drama.. I enjoyed the drama..

First episode I felt bit westernized.. But I was totally immersed in the drama since episode 3.. Drama got better with every episode.. Pyo jieun and Ji woomin flashbacks were so cute.. Leads have a great chemistry.. ML character is realistic.. You might misunderstand the lead characters initially.. but you will understand them in the later episodes.. Every character is so loveable.. I loved the friendship between main casts.. Also production for fashion shows are so good.. It's a eye candy.. Got to know what happens behind the scenes of fashion industry.. I strongly recommend..

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I binged!

It was a great watch and i did watch it in one seating, usually happens when you are watching something good. It has its dramatic moments but overall it was quite an uplifting show. As much as it was a romance story between Minho and Soobin's character it was also very much a story of the four friends. I love the from start to finish the friendship between these four never wavered. Even if they all were dealing with their own problems they never fail to show up when the others needed them. I also love how even the side characters in this show great, i find myself rooting for them as well. Over all a great watch. Give it a chance people!

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It won't change your life

It took me 3 hours to finish episode one, and I get what people are saying. I had a feeling this wouldn't be good since Netlifx postponed the premiere a few times, so my expectations were low and I wasn't disappointed exactly. Also I'm a big fan of both Minho and Soobin, so...

The story is goofy and so are the leads. It reminds me a bit of Record of Youth (which I dropped), and it is very Netflix-esque. It doesn't feel like you're watching a korean production, and that wouldn't bother me if the plot were good. It's just young people living through the fashion world. They talk about exes, drinking and sex. Not in a Lovestruck in the City way (VERY underrated drama), but more like "they gonna be posting clips of this on tiktok" way.

You can watch it quickly (specially dubbed) while doing your chores, like me. You can also skip lots of parts. It won't hurt that much, but it won't change your life either. Minho looks so handsome and Soobin is always good, assuming the character is supposed to be the way she's portraying it.

Will I keep watching? No. There are way too good dramas on my plan to watch list. I'm sorry, Minho.

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Good but not great

Its a visually dazzling spin on the concept of Chinese alchemy combined with wuxia /xianxia drama structure.

The cgi, action choreo, world building is breathtaking. But the plot has been made overly complex with twists that doesn't hit very well, the overall schemes are quite flimsy and can be seen through if the characters were given more common sense, filler episodes with filler scenes and draggy pacing got boring pretty fast. Female lead being declawed and just being reduced as a maid and not to mention the "love quadrangle" made me go wtf a few times.
But overall it's a very unique and different genre for south Korean dramas and I can respect that. The acting is solid especially Jung so min which I think kinda saved the series for me. The production set takes huge "inspiration" from Chinese historic/xianxia dramas to build gorgeous daeho but as a non Chinese or non Korean person I don't think it's my place to nitpick in that.
The ost is a banger for me as well. Would like to see how they finish this off in the last 10 episodes.

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Cat and Mouse Game Continues

I will keep this short, S2 does not disappoint and it is SO GOOD. S2 is just as high octane as S1. I watched S1 and the original Money Heist Spain so this is a well loved series. Yes, the plot is absolutely over the top and the rationality of some of the decisions and situations are questionable but they do a good job keeping you on the edge of your seat and there's no time to be bored. The plot twists and turns in many ways with some completely unexpected, the viewer doesn't get lost and its a testament to the story tellers doing a good job with the execution of the story. The actresses and actors were top notch in their acting and played their parts very well, the back story development of some of the characters keeps you emotionally vested in them and when some don't make it, you feel the loss. The cinematography is top notch, there are slow motion bullet effects in some of the action sequences.

Very worthy watch!

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Season 3??!

I think this might be my first time watching something and not complaining how everything turned out, because they left me no room to complain, everything was just too perfect and precise, I'm also glad they showed us the ending, told us what really happened, the fact that they all died for 1 min is so... I don't have any word to express it.
They gave us answers yet at the same time didn't, but it still felt comfortable and ease.

I love the fact that there will be season 3 as well, and more answers to our questions and WHAT THAT JOKER CARD REPRESENTED?!.

I'm sure it's not about the ones who survived death aka(game world, meteor attack), it's not about Arisu or any of them individually, it's also not about the cast and directors, there is more to it! that Joker card that was left alone on the table while all the other card flew away cause of the wind, it means something, the music and the look on jokers face 🃏 they all showed that there's more to it, and I really can't wait to see more!

also, the deja vu's are really amazing 😭 ai'm glad of how everything turned out (even tho some deaths were super sad, and Ann is in a critical condition but I know her surgery will go well).

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nn

I wouldn't expect that I would watch this series, when I first found out about it I said I would watch it but then I started to doubt it. I ended up finishing it tonight and It was great. one thing that bothered me was ploy, ton, nuea. at least nuea at the end moved on. i hope I'm not the only but I really did like Vee, i heard that many didnt like his character but I did really like him not honna lie. I cried a lot when Mark and Vee broke up, I cried my HEART out but after all happy ending, and when Vee spooned Mark, I smiled widely. it was a good BL and I do recommend it but don't watch it just for fun, be ready cause there is lot coming

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One of the Better Korean Drama of This Year

Even with this series' very short time lived, it has been able to do what some K-BLs this year haven't -- actually be memorable. And whether that's because of the story or the fact that their animals -- welp, I'll never know. Choco Milk Shake is an endearing mini-series with an irritating filter, but some much-appreciated good-looking men.

Let's Dive In.

I've said this before with Meow Ears Up, and while animal metamorphosis isn't really my thing, I'm able to look past it if the story itself is at least decent. This series teeters on that line, but I think it was good for what the length was. it suffers from its in's plot a little, but it's obviously because of the time frame they had.

Most scenes were entertaining, except when they were at the cafe doing presumably nothing but wiping tables that nobody sat at and talking. I don't know if anyone else had this problem, but there was this very irritating filter that made everybody as smooth as possible and pale as shit. Other than that, I have no other problems with the production. Obviously, this was a low budget since we only had maybe 2-3 different settings, but it's good where it is.

Onto to the characters. Milk was probably the only one with some depth to his character. Everyone else was a bit one-dimensional, but again, it's not a bad thing considering everything else about the series. I didn't see Milk and the cafe owner thing happening, but I'm not disappointed. They are more so just really good actors, but I wouldn't say their chemistry was jaw-dropping or anything of the sort (although, they know how to kiss, geez-la-wheeze). Jung Woo and Choco I would say are in the same category, but maybe just an ounce of better chemistry, or at least that's what my heart thought when I couldn't stop smiling at Choco's laugh when Jung Woo was tickling him. Also, the height difference is amazing, along with Jung Woo's smile.

Overall, it was a good watch. Somewhere halfway through I forgot about them being animals, but nevertheless, they'll eventually leave again to -- animal heaven...? I like to forget this aspect of the show, ngl.

Ratings:

Story: 6.5/10 - Animals thing is weird but it works. The story is simple but it works for this series. it's memorable because of its plot, and it's endearing because of the characters.

Acting: 8.5/10 - I really liked it. Few hiccups here and there, but it's good. Milk really stands out the most.

Music: 5/10 - too enthusiastic for my taste.

Recommendation Value: (I don't rewatch so I change it to recommendation value): 7.5/10 - It's good, One of the better watches from Korea this year.

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