Reviews

The show had perfect pacing!! It did such a great job discussing trauma and toxic relationships. This is what I wanted to see for Mr.Plankton. I see that many new directors of this genre are doing abnormal camera shots and music which is great because it's good to see something new. Though I disagreed with some of the characters, especially the original wife, I sympathized with everyone. I loved how the writers addressed being apart of the LGTBQ in a non cliché way(I even think the female lead friend liked her). It made the movie feel real. I thought the first wife would kill herself, but I'm was glad she stuck through. This was really a solid 8.5. This genre is hard to execute well, but the director in my opinion did a good take on it. I loved that the leads were not the typical lovey-dovey couple — that would be unrealistic. Everything about this drama was raw and real, not forced at all in my opinion.

Reading other reviews, I understand why people would think it was dull or drawn-out, but I think it's because they went in with high hopes. I went in knowing nothing, and I guess I was in the perfect mood for this drama.

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Watch as blindly as possible!

I added this drama to my list about a year ago or so solely because Park Boyoung, if she's in it I'll watch, literally anything no matter what it is or what it's about. I knew this was based on a manhwa by the same author of Moving, another 10/10 series, and I planned to read tje source material, but I never did.

I came into it confused, not really knowing what was going on, scared and anxious, pretty much like one of the characters in the series. Every thing about this series is absolutely perfect, the dialogue, lighting, sounds, ambience and the subtle foreshadowing kept my eyes glued to the screen the entire time.

My advice, watch with as little information about it as possible, pay close attention every single detail is important.

There's a post-credit scene in the final episode, be sure to watch, it's awesome!!

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I loved it but writers failed on the ending

I’m a Zhao Lusi fan. She has always been appealing but lately her acting been more mature and effective. This pairing with Liu Yun Ning was the highlight of The Long Ballad , so happy they are matched again here.
This is one of the best Chinese series, I have yet seen. Excellent acting, the production values were awesome. The storyline was very exciting. I saw it with english subtitles so the script appeared to be good,although my main complaint is the ending.

SPOILER;
I would have liked to see a “Jane Eyre” take. Mr. Rochester is not a pure hero lead, so cannot have an idyllic ending. The same for Yan, who will torture and kill in order to achieve his revenge. Mr. Rochester, blind but content surrounded by his family… Can you imagine Yan ending the same?
Instead, the last scene is a distance shot of a caravan with a voice over. -Boring and confusing. Maybe, this leaves a season 2 opening?

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Watch it at your own risk

So i just finished watching this drama while i binged it for two days.

Overall i liked the story and the actors, they did so good, their chemistry was just good. I really enjoyed it, but would never rewatch it.

Pros or things i liked in this drama:
- His acting while he was blibd, pretty much better than a lot of other actors i have seen
- The sweet moments between the leads, including his jealousy, her "stupidity", their childishness and their love in general.
- How she fell for him regardless of his past and his condition.


Cons/ things I didn't like:
- the lack of communication sometimes, like girl instead of asking him who was that wonen tell him your dad is sick and you need to leave, it was so stupid it made me shout behind the screen lol
- he stalked her, forced kissed her, never even told her he love her, and ordered her to marry him .. and she accepted all?? eehh??
- the ending made no sense to me at all, wdym her friend died and she is paranoid? they just threw this even in the middle of the episode and never solved it? i don't get it
- so many things were skippable in the drama like the plot of her friends who cheated on her and ended up gettjng married? i just couldn't swallow that and watch them. Besides that the autistic kid eho came to their house? what was the reason for it? You telling me an autistic kid flew all the way to another city to stay with them? heeh??
- the soundtracks sonetimes were so random, especially during their romantic moments, it sounded like a horror backtrack lol.

I can write more things but I guess it's enough since this sounds like rant more than a review lol.

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Review ep1

was really angry with William's character, but it's ok because he's literally in idol survival mode. I really loved Est's character, he's so handsome! I love his acting.
I'm very proud of my Lykn boys (fan since before the series was announced☝️) them acting and singing is everything, I'm 100 times more in love.
(Tui and Hong's girl here🤭☝️)

a mention to Ciize and Samy who are shining as always! (gmm please value the women in the company more. we love them) 🌸💖

Was that song made for the series??? What a good song, I loved it so much! Add it to Spotify now!!!

So far I've loved it a lot, this series came with a lot of potential, I hope everything works out. I loved the acting, soundtrack, photography and everything else.

I love MARS, omg!!!!!
(don't disband, please! 🥴)

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Other than encouraging you to go watch this, I don't have much to say. Maybe I'll update once I've finished.

But for now, I just want to say how amazing it felt to start a drama and instantly love it (it's been a while since that's happened to be, excluding rewatches). And I already see myself wanting to rewatch this in a few months, despite how stressful it can seems sometimes, because I truly just want the main 3 characters to be happy and experience freedom in their own ways.

The relationship between the brothers and the child is so wholesome and loving, and I think that is enough of a reason to pick up this drama

<3

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The most romantic "bromance" out there

I don't remember the last time a drama made me have so many mixed emotions. At times I absolutely loved Killer & Healer. And at times I couldn't stand how stupid it felt. This uneven quality of the show made it difficult for me to rate it, but I ultimately still gave it a strong 8.5, hugely due to the absolutely enchanting, disarming and beautiful "bromance" between two main characters. However, they are not the only aspect of Killer & Healer worthy of appreciation.

Let me start with the things I disliked, though.

The biggest issue I had with Killer & Healer was that the entire police-vs-criminals plot was lacking in logic.

The police force would get an unconfirmed info about possible opium hideout, they'd barge in without an actual strategy what to do once they're inside, kill off almost all of the criminals and then be disappointed that they don't make any progress in their investigation. Well, how about keeping the witnesses alive? Going undercover? Having trusted informants?

Throughout the entire drama there were multiple situations when supposedly secret information got revealed because a person *forgot to close the damn door*. This happens not just once and even to people who are supposed to be big crime masterminds. It was especially hard to swallow when happening to Jun Bai - an otherwise mostly intelligent villain, who - for whatever reason - decided to discuss his criminal activities without closing the door to his room despite having an opera singer as a guest moving around freely in his villa.

And don't even get me started with the whole Yue Lou-goes-undercover mission, when San Ye (previously super vigilant about exposing his identity) reveals his true face to his archenemy from just two days ago. Like, what??!!

These are just some examples at the top of my head. There were more, but I didn't really wanna sit and make notes on everything I disliked, especially since I pretty much decided on suspending my disbelief and charging on, watching (or looking the other way ;))

Another qualm I had with this drama is the numerous deaths in the final episode. Most of them felt completely unnecessary and made me scratch my head, wondering what was the goal of the creators. How was I supposed to feel when Chu Ran is sitting terrified, yet keeping her veil on, her vision blocked completely for no reason I could think of, doesn't ask who entered the room and then proceeds to stab this person (who turns out to be her younger brother) without uttering a word of "who is it?". Why the brother, who previously kept on talking and talking didn't speak up to her at all?

Even more puzzling is why was his death even happening, when as audience, we didn't even get a story arc of Chu Ran suffering because of what she did, grieving her brother, questioning her life choices, wondering was it worth it to risk herself so much for a man who might've never loved her... We get none of that, because Chu Ran gets shot and dies herself 5 minutes later 🙃
And we're not even halfway deaths in this episode, btw.
The sheer amount of deaths would make a viewer somewhat numb, and it's even worse when half of them are pretty underwhelming...

Now, let's move on to the things I liked.

A huge redeeming quality of this show are its characters. Although they sometimes take some "damage" from the bad, let's call it "event-writing", most of the time they remain real and somewhat true to their established values, experiences and motivations. This pertains to both, male leads as well as side characters. I had no problem empathizing with them, because the show did a great job at making them feel human, with complex personalities. A couple of times I caught myself nearly-crying (and I actually ugly cried once) during the emotional developments, focusing on relationships other than the main love story.

The aforementioned includes the big villain as well, who had probably the most intriguing personality of all the characters. And that leads me to another aspect I enjoyed...

The villain himself. A good cops-vs-criminals story needs a powerful villain figure. Jun Bai aka San Ye is a very compelling "bad guy". He is composed, elegant, charming, intelligent and also ruthless and cruel. Still, he is capable of love - as shown by his feelings for Boss Yu - however the love he gives is terrifying, suffocating and borderline sadistic. Yet, he is still powerless in the face of his own obsession as ultimately it is still Boss Yu who holds the power over Jun Bai's heart.

Of course, an important aspect of the show is the "bromance" between two main characters. I call it "bromance" in quotation marks, because there is nothing bro- about the relationship Yue Lou and Yu Zhi share, aside from them sometimes referring to themselves as "xiong di". I can honestly say that I've yet to see another "bromance" cdrama that managed to create such an obvious romantic relationship between two male characters while still passing censorship (well, maybe Stay With Me could be a good contender, but it was marketed as a BL to start with, at least internationally). From the looks they give each other, to the looks the people around give to them, to the not-so-subtle comments they make about their relationship.

And the blatant display of the real nature of ML's relationship is not even the best part.

The best part is how beautifully their relationship is written. How reciprocal is their affection, how much they respect one another, how willing they are to sacrifice for the other person, how they take care of each other, lift each other up, trust one another and so on, and so forth. All of that is accompanied by a chemistry that I can only describe as sizzling (courtesy of two actors portraying the characters). Though, to be precise, the show somehow manages to fill their shared scenes with both, affection and tension simultaneously.

Ok, on to the final aspect of the drama I wanted to praise, and that is acting. It was simply really solid, coming from almost every character that mattered. There were also some exquisite performances, like e.g. the final moments of Zhao Jing Ming, being "interrogated" by San Ye. Zhang Jun Jie really acted his butt off in that scene. On the other hand, Mao Zi Jun and Ian Yi capture the essence of two people in love so well, it comes off fantastic and natural on screen.

All in all, Killer & Healer is a really enjoyable watch that can be at times frustrating as long as a viewer intends to keep their brain on while watching ;) but is capable of enchanting its audience with vivid characters and exploration of their relationships, the bromance between MLs being one, but not the only one of them. Despite its shortcomings, I intend to re-watch it in the future and I wholeheartedly recommend it to others.

EDIT: Oh, and just for the record. This drama has a female lead as well, but make no mistake - she is not here just to serve the purpose of making this show less gay, as it's often the case with such Chinese "bromances". Even more so, she is a full-fledged, complex character herself, with a complicated family background and her own struggles and ideals. She does fall in love with one of the male leads, but it is always very clear that - while they become close friends - she is never his priority and he never sees her in a romantic way.

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How to tell a story and flip it up but not mess up?

The Beginning:
The show starts out very mysteriously, leading the viewer to believe it’s a horror story. We are introduced to most of the characters and their perceptions of the surrounding environment (innocent students walking in a dark valley, a man chasing a noisy dog, etc.). It initially feels like a horror story about a dark valley and a light shop at the end, but it soon turns out to be much bigger than that.

The Middle:
The story takes another turn when we begin to catch glimpses of the relationships between the characters. While it still carries a horror vibe, there’s something different about it. A distinction emerges between the characters, with one seeming completely normal while the other feels off (dead vs. alive). This marks a major turning point, as the story shifts from being about a dark valley and its horrors to focusing more on the characters themselves.

The End:
As we gain deeper insight into the characters and their relationships, we begin to understand why the show is called Light Shop. Throughout the story, we encounter people who experience near-death situations and perceive a dark tunnel with a light at the end. This imagery helps us grasp the deeper meaning of the light and what truly keeps everyone alive. It’s not just their will to live, but also the love and support from their loved ones that pushes them forward. The theme revolves around forgiveness and moving on—or, in some cases, choosing to stay the same. We also see two different sides of people who experience near-death situations: one who struggles to live with reality, and the other who uses their new perspective to help guide both the living and the dead.

Post-Credit:
We are introduced to new characters, possibly referencing those from the drama, Moving.

Overall:
Great acting from all the characters and excellent storytelling. My time was not wasted.

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Personally I think it was very good because the actors who play the roles of Jack and Joker played them very well and knew how to handle the emotions that are transmitted in the series,
however I think I would have liked to have more development of the love story and not so much on how to solve the past but as the story of the past I think it could have been better the story of the love of the two of them. Also I know they said that the plot is not focused on the love of the two of them but it's a romance series so it has to be focused on their love and not so much what is the plot of the series and look I would have liked much more if they had played more with guns and type of violence style of having guns and in this one there was more mild violence.

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Yah! A Woman Blows Her Top

Park Bo Young plays one of the great funny heroines, Tak Dong Kyung (DK), who, liberated by a prognosis of brain cancer doom, blows her top at her horrible boss. "Yah!" , best described a a pragmatic expression of extreme annoyance on steroids, effectively freezes the recipient in his/her tracks. Love it. And she keeps on breaking out of her good-girl place.

Really really great script. Phooey to the critics. Huge themes, huge reversals, very tight very funny dialogue. Four main sets, the office of the editing co, the cafe at ground floor, a huge man's living room in gray and stone which MM attaches to one wall of DK's yellow and pink (with red accents) rooftop apartment and the hospital.

Seo In Guk as Myung Mal/Kim Sa Ram/Doom (MM) and the adorable Dawon as DK's younger brother, are the foils to Bo Young''s performance. MM is an embodiment of a word like doom used to describe a person's allotted (i.e. semi-ordained) lifespan and fate combined. He is not a helpful Grim Reaper guiding souls, but more like a fail-safe for death's prerogatives (similarly to the Greco-Roman Nemesis).

He is DK's "doom" and she is his fate. A 6 ft. tall black-clad wish-granting boyfriend with a bad temper and a webtoon editor fall in love, perfect. She ends up facing a choice between the entire world being destroyed or her boyfriend ceasing to exist, but NB. this choice is governed by a contract which MM/Doom made with her while in a self-destructive mood.

DK also gets to meet God, or at least the god of this world, who describes herself as the gardener of the Garden and MM as a butterfly. The metaphor is shifty, but the hospital is the scene of much of the action, the lovers meet there, the family unites aroung DK's illness, and god in her current incarnation is a child with a heart condition.

Dk does go into the noble self-sacrificing mode (its all my fault blah blah blah) for an episode but it doesnt last too long. Luckily the 2couple-plus-a-spare are the actors Lee Soo Hyuk, Kang Tae Oh and Shin Do Hyun, who all should get respect and better roles than they have had so far. They are brilliant here.

A Studio Dragon show with the composer Lim Ha Young. The writer is Im Me Ah Ri (beauty Inside).

On my top ten best ever kdramas list as of 12/24: Goblin, Hwayugi, Because This Is My First Life, Just between Lovers; the K2, Run On, Doom at Your Service; Tomorrow, Alchemy of Souls (earliest to latest) and Mr. Plankton .

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A Messy GL But Memorable One

The plot is overall good, but the side plots are left unsatisfied or incomplete. It also educates about the issues of LGTBQ+ couples in Thailand, advocates for marriage equality, and normalizes romantic relationships between women and women.

The acting is cringey, but bearable.

The OSTs are enjoyable, though some of the songs’ styles are a bit outdated.

The cinematography is horrible, making it uncomfortable to watch with its weird angles.

Lastly, the production has good attitudes and intentions towards the series, but the overall quality has a cheap look to it.

My Opinions:
Although my rating for GAP is low, GAP is gold. It was the first series that open my world to GL series with better representation, compared to the one I had saw. It has unique charms to it that makes it addicting and fun to watch, despite its flaws, and it is an all time favorite of mine.

Also, one thing I love the most about this series is Freen and Becky’s chemistry that is overflowing out of the screen.

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Half a drama

So many weird feelings about this drama. Initially my heart skipped a beat when I heard the FL wake up to Deep Purple blaring out her phone speakers. Yes, the Japanese love DP Mk.II as much as I do. But that's as far as my love affair went before it became as flat as the nine episodes that followed. I came back several times after finishing it to ponder where Nagisa-san went wrong. The flaw was in the storyline and the writing... but where?

An uncompromising workaholic is suddenly surrounded by eligible bachelors the moment someone strong-arms her into contemplating marriage. She says yes to everyone and everything and then tries to blow them off. In order to achieve that she digs herself a hole of lies that are lame and annoying with no redeeming comedic value. Her choices occupy a spectrum between romantic and transactional but even the most romantic option is at best a mildly enamored 5/10 on the passion scale. Her love life gave me more anxiety than entertainment value. It was like watching a stock market ticker. It doesn't have a happy ending. It doesn't have a sad ending. The bell goes DING! and you can breathe out as you've broken even for the day. That kind of ending.

And here's what I finally figured out: What I watched was half a drama. This drama ends where a typical J-drama contract marriage story begins. The nature of the relationship that the leads enter at the end needs, well, a whole other drama to fill in and complete the story. The half-assed recap "special" only left more questions.

Should you watch it? With a drama that features so many well-acted nice people and green flags I really want to like it and recommend it for the characters. Unfortunately, even as the characters develop, the whole principal arc goes sideways and disappears into a parallel universe. I'd really like to say that you should watch it but... well... meh, do as you please. I dunno.

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