Reviews

We're all trying here!!

A more apt title I'm yet to see.
A story with no protagonists and antagonists except life, it makes one think perhaps there's really no winning against life, just winning against moments rather.
It had an incredible cast, seemingly effortless acting that moved us to smiles and tears at the same time.
A story that makes on question the brevity and seriousness of life, honestly, why do we live so hard as if we'd never disappear?
A friendship like no other, not conventional but real brotherhood.
To all of us Hwang dong mans, may wel learn to just be human 'beings' and not human 'doings'.

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Interesting Concept

I Hear Your Voice had a really interesting concept with Park Soo Ha being able to read minds, and honestly that was one of the main reasons I stayed invested in the drama. I'm not usually into supernatural dramas, but the concept here was interesting enough to keep me watching. The execution was decent for the most part, especially during the suspenseful moments where his ability actually added tension and emotional weight to the story. The mystery surrounding the drama was intriguing too, and it kept the plot moving even when the writing started to feel weak.

That said, the script itself wasn't very strong. Some plot points became overly dramatic and repetitive, and there were moments where the story relied too much on convenient situations instead of natural development. The biggest strength of the show was definitely the chemistry between Lee Jong Suk and Lee Bo Young. Their dynamic felt natural, emotional, and believable enough to carry a lot of the weaker writing.

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Heirs Was Carried by Kim Woo Bin

Heirs had a terrible script and honestly the only reason I kept watching was for Kim Woo Bin's performance. He brought more charisma and emotional depth than the actual storyline deserved. Every time he was on screen, the drama became more interesting, which says a lot considering he wasn't even the main lead.

The biggest problem with the drama is that most of the characters had nothing to offer outside of the romance. Their personalities, motivations, and development all revolved around who they liked or who liked them back. Once you remove the romance aspect, there's barely anything left to connect to. A lot of the characters felt shallow and repetitive, especially when the drama kept forcing emotional moments that didn't feel earned.

The writing relied heavily on clichés, dragged out misunderstandings, and overly dramatic dialogue that made it hard to take certain scenes seriously. Even the central romance wasn't compelling enough to carry the story. The show had a strong cast and high production value, but the script wasted most of its potential.

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Beautiful Palace Story but a Frustrating Main Romance

Years later I still feel like Sin Chae Gyeong should've picked Yi Yul. He was easily the more sincere and emotionally mature character, while Yi Sin spent most of the drama being unnecessarily cold, entitled, and mean for no reason. It made it really hard to root for the main romance when Yi Sin constantly pushed Chae Gyeong away and treated her poorly.

The script was honestly one of the weakest parts of Princess Hours. So much of the conflict dragged on because the characters refused to communicate, and certain emotional moments felt repetitive instead of meaningful. Yi Sin's behavior especially got frustrating because the drama kept expecting viewers to sympathize with him without giving enough real growth to balance out how cruel he could be.

That said, I did enjoy the overall storyline and concept of life inside the palace. The royal setting, traditions, political tension, and modernized monarchy idea were interesting enough to keep me watching. The atmosphere and aesthetics are still memorable years later, even if the writing and character development didn't fully deliver.

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Short, Sweet, & Silly

Incredibly fun, engaging story that is character driven. Like a comic book, with perfectly tailored villains that contrast the heroes in ways that work for the plot. Each of the main characters have a villain counterpart whose powers and personalities provide the perfect counter. Not only our heroes have resistance to the villain teams abilities, it's their flawed personalities that throw the villains for a loop. This is simply good writing. It couldn't have been just anyone to save the day, it had to be Chae-ni and her rag-tag group of new friends. The characters move the plot forward.

The show is well-written, humorous, while emotional. Even the villains have a tragic stories that create empathy in those who watch. You want them to make the right choice, even when they fail to do so. Along side the tragic stories, there are villain's whose pure evil makes us hate them even more. While it may benefit from an extra episode or two to give us more time to digest some info, the show is definitely worth the watch!

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The WONDERfulls? (Yes or no?)

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Me?
I'd pick the power to rewrite dramas that had so much potential but didn't really live up to them.
Not good?
Then I'll settle for my body turning into superglue every time I lie :(

I've actually been looking forward to The WONDERfools since it was announced, because read the synopsis and tell me it's not fun. I can't even say that after having watched it (we know it happens sometimes) it was super fun! And funny too, I'll admit it took a minute but once they were on a roll, they couldn't be stopped.
Watching three characters who inadvertently received superpowers try to manage it by following around another superhero they inadvertently found while an evil organisation plots the end of the world, set to the background of Y2K? That is fun.
The weird camaraderie between the four leads was a delight to watch, they may not be extremely expressive or outwardly affectionate, but those four cared for each and it was more than obvious.
And.. and..well, I still kind of wish some things were done differently.

To be clear, I am a huge fan of the "superhero saves the day" trope, I enjoy it no matter how outlandish it may be, and I wanted that here. Superhero with a side of relatability.
Even with the concept of superheroes whose powers are not really "super", Kdrama writers really do know only one way to execute, which is neither here nor there. If you're going to go for it, do it. Or don't do it at all! It's clear who the lead was even when there were four leads and I suppose it happens all the time but that's my point. It happens all the time, and why do the writers fear trying something new?
I guess that was my biggest problem - the Hero's Journey (which they clearly followed here) could only really be applied to Chae Ni's character. Un Jeong was the mentor, Son ahjussi and Robin her companions and that's nice, but I really wish the other characters had more depth. I will say they were headed there, and right then, the credits rolled.

Initially I was quite impressed with the balance between the mystery and the comedy, but the more I watched it was incredibly clear that this was a very tactfully marketed superhero series. Think about the story formula for any movie in the genre and it was it.
It is somehow both a Kdrama and a quintessential superhero story and I guess that's exactly.. that's exactly what it's supposed to be, but wait! Imagine the things that you would associate to any and every Kdrama or Marvel movie and they're ALL here lol.

I don't know. I'm just super confused about everything about The WONDERfools, even whether I like it or not and that counts for something, right? It's like for every positive I think, there's a negative I can think of, but right then there's another positive. I'd say the best option is to watch for yourself, pace yourself while you watch and yes, maybe you'll be just as confused as I am.. we can be confused together :)

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Game Show: Performance Face-Offs and Director Challenges

This is a game show featuring performance face-offs, where teams of actors are divided under different directors. Each episode presents a series of challenges, and these images represent each challenge per episode. Sometimes, team members compete against one another for seats and are graded by the lead directors. Other times, teams compete against each other, with the audience acting as the judges.

I had a lot of fun watching this show, which I started primarily for Guo Jingming. Since much of it wasn’t subtitled, it was difficult to consistently gauge the commentary, and I occasionally used a translation app to understand the praise or critiques given by the directors. Even so, I found myself really immersed in the clips and short performances, which I felt were the heart of the show and where the raw talent truly stood out.

Because the episodes are almost three hours long, by the midpoint this became more of a background watch for me. I paid closer attention to the parts that interested me most—such as the challenges—and less to the judging, unless Guo Jingming was giving commentary or performers I liked were on stage. That said, I plan to continue with season two, and I’m excited to see the performers that were cast.

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Hidden Identities and Palace Betrayal

I consider this drama a hidden gem because not many people were talking about it when it released, and it’s still one I rarely see recommended. Some people feel microdramas can’t be executed well, but I think this one proves they absolutely can. It avoids many of the pitfalls that other microdramas fall into, such as glorifying brutality against women or feeling underdeveloped due to weak scripting and production.

I absolutely loved this and easily consider it a top-shelf watch. It’s a hidden identity revenge narrative built around a false eunuch and assassin premise, but it also delivers genuinely hilarious comedic moments that had me in stitches. The villain and adversary dynamics were incredibly well done and made the conflicts engaging while also making me appreciate the antagonist. Add in poignant backstories, palace betrayals, and a romance that truly landed for me, and this became one of my favorite watches.

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Suprisingly enjjoyed it for a long drama

The long daily/weekly Kdramas are definitely not my preference. But I decided to watch this one mainly for actress Lee Se Young. I really enjoyed her character in this drama even if it wasn't the main character. Also the whole drama was actually a fun decent watch as well.

The biggest surprise of the drama for me is the chaebol characters. I've only seen few long Kdramas and the chaebol characters are evil and unbearable. In "Wolgyesu tailor shop", the chaebol family here did not fit much into those two categories as much. At the start, it seems like they're heading that way with the mother and son conspiring together to take over the company from the ML. But as we get to know more of these characters, they lean towards more the comedic silly tone. The chaebol son Hyo Sang does have his moments of living up to the typical evil chaebol figure but he gets the best character growth at the end where the change in his character is noticeably seen. The other members of the chaebol family do go through character growth as well which was hard for me to believe for the older sister and sister in law who were the two worst characters of the drama. But I am glad they went this route for these chaebol characters that the long journey of the drama was worth it. The mother and daughter(Lee Se Young's character) were the best part of that family. I would have liked for them to had cast an actor to play as the father who had passed away but was still mention as important character to the family. Their father built and led their company with his hard work. It seemed like he was an inspiring person the way they talked mighty of him which again is a surprise for a chaebol family. I would have loved to see them throw flashback scenes of their father and the connection he had with his family.

The tailor shop family are a delightful group of people. They do a fantastic job in establishing the 4 gentlemen and their story they go through during the drama. I feel a bit dumb for realizing that the drama was about this until the ending scene. The cover photo of the drama does make it look like all 4 are working in the tailor shop but only 2 did. Dong Jin the ML and son of the father who owns the tailor shop is a strong, confident, and smart person. He misjudges the FL for a person she is not where he's unlikable for a bit treating her harshly but apologizes to her after seeing the truth. This part was an amazing watch to see how his character took a turn from hating the FL to loving the FL. Tae Yang comes from a poor family background. He works multiple jobs. He ended up working at the company where he met his future wife. He leaves the company after finding out how he was hired which was Hyo Sang playing around wanting to monitor what kind of guy his girlfriend Ji Yeon dated before was like. You get your typical messy story of good characters connected with the bad characters that they have to learn to accept each other as family later on. Ji Yeon is Tae Yang's girlfriend at the start of the drama but she cheats on him with Hyo Sang because he's rich and successful. Hyo Won the daughter of the chaebol family has a bright fluffy energy that can be immature. She falls for Tae Yang throughout the drama which was a wonderful watch. Even tho Tae Yang is poor he is a handsome, caring, brave, and kind man. Seeing the chaebol mother being against him dating her daughter but slowly opening up to like him was very fun. A missed opportunity was some deeper background on his sister like relationship with the FL Yeon Sil. A flashback scene would have been nice. The FL Yeon Sil was alright for me. She had her ups and downs tho for her character whether she had grown stronger or reverted back to how she was before she met the ML.

This drama does go a bit over kill with all the weddings that happen. Maybe it's just me and I haven's seen enough long Kdramas with so many couples that need for wedding scenes. Overall the drama is a decent watch with fun characters and their journeys.

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A Disappointing Waste of Jang-Jang

I was ready for something light and humorous, and the poster promised that. The MDL rating was low, but I often enjoy what others don't. It featured the two Jangs together—they're so natural with one another—and I couldn't understand why the rating wasn't higher. Having completed the drama, I wonder why it isn't lower!

The Good:
• Jang Hyuk and Jang Na Ra are always fun to watch.
• I loved the character of Cho Tae Gu. He had put up many walls emotionally, but Min Seo kept crashing through them. Their interactions were fresh and engaging.

The Bad:
• Talk about an inconsistent tone. First, it was slapstick, then it was unremitting brutality. Kang Yu Ra was the sweet, supportive family member who always mediated and cleared up misunderstandings until they were her own. Then, she was dark, sullen, and non-communicative. The drama couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a silly comedy or a dark action thriller.
• Nothing had to make sense. No brain cells were required. In a top secret facility, someone could waltz in, kill off an important witness, and there was nary a guard, security camera, or even a lock on the door.
• I don't believe even one set-up was ever brought to completion. Even Grandpa's love life wasn't resolved. Obviously, they were planning on a second season that never materialized. The viewer was left hanging with absolutely nothing resolved.

I added a half star for the character of Cho Tae Gu. Kim Nam Hee made an unlikable character sympathetic.

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fell flat

Overall: I didn't take off points for the ending, but the way they accomplished it made me feel nothing, it didn't hit like it should have. 44 short episodes, 1-7 are free to watch. Aired on the Shortime app. My invite link (you get a bonus) is https://playground.shortime.app/en/invite/NKNIWI - the code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i). If you do all of the rewards it will take about 2 days to watch the series for free.

Content Warnings: death, illness, manipulation

What I Liked
- the dream in episode 33
- brother kind of redeemed himself

Room For Improvement
- not enough romantic relationship between them, I think one scene was more of a dream
- showed a side character as the stereotypical handsy/comedy character
- if he grew up with sight and then recently lost it, I think his eyes would track where someone was speaking from
- choppy between 33 and 34
- with the 1 guy having a girlfriend/ex girlfriend it felt like a gay for you trope
- no idea why his eyes would be blue at the end? (I looked it up online and it doesn't make sense)

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