Reviews

A lot of GO

This is basically a mix of Queen's Gambit and Haikyuu. My favorite thing is that I literally have no idea how Go works or what each move means (even after finishing the show) but I still really enjoyed this show! The competition is great but falls from the biggest part of the story, friendship. ShiGuang and YuLiang are literally Hinata and Kageyama, always pushing each other to win and improve. ShiGuang and ChuYing are like two brothers bickering about stupid stuff but always there for each other. I don't really like to criticize these dramas because they are obviously just a fun watch and I had a lot of fun watching ShiGuang's journey of GO. Very motivating, inspiring, and a great watch!

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Love what YOU want to wear

Kikazaru Koi ni wa Riyuu ga Atte, imo is a contemporary art piece in its own right. The slice of life drama does a great job in depicting the issues around the current digital society and clearly states the messages it wants to say, while also allowing some lines to be blurred as life and relationships are never clear cut. This drama talks about dreams, being honest and comfortable with oneself and alright to lose yourself to nature once in a while. I recommend this feel good drama to anyone looking for a Romance, Self-Empowerment, Slice of Life and/or Food show to watch at night.

Quick Story/Plot
The show revolves around characters living in a sharehouse with each having their own goals, ambitions, lifestyles. The members learn to accept each other's individuality and bond together through their differences. That said, the story is mainly focused on the FL and ML.

The FL and ML are polar opposites. One is a influencer for an interior furniture design company where she has strict times where she needs to make social media posts about the company and her life. The other is a minimalist where he does the bare minimal to retain the current lifestyle he is having and does not force aything. Upon meeting each other one day and later as sharehouse-mates, they begin to bond through their differences and fill each other's gaps.

Quick Acting/Cast/Characters
- The FL is a PR influencer for her company, where she makes regular updates on social media at 3 separate times in the day. Being an influencer, she has set expectations in needing to wear fashionable clothes, make interesting posts and constantly be active online. She had a 7 year unrequited love for her CEO where that feeling/ goal shaped her to what she is today.
- The ML is a laid-back genius chef who runs his own food truck. He sets his own business hours and lifestyle and does the bare minimal to get by and does not force anything.
- SK is the mother of the house, where she wants to start part 2 of her life after divorcing at 50 and wishes to study/travel abroad.
- TH is the cousin of the ML and a 24/7 online counsellor. His role in the show is more the emotional support where characters come to him to talk about their concerns and feelings.
- HA is an artist with a 'sensitive' personality where she tried for 10 years to win a competition or be recognised. People often misunderstand her due to her cold shoulder, but it is just how she thinks or interprets the situation.
- HS is the CEO of the interior furniture design company where he travels the world to collect unique items that can be sold at his company. He is essentially the FL's life and professional mentor.

*All characters have great chemistry with each other. Fitting casts for the show.

Music/OSTs
Although there wasn't many OSTs or music tracks, Fushigi OST was quite memorable.

Rewatch Value
One watch-through would be enough, but quite memorable. Maybe short clips in the future.

Why my final rating (9.5)
The show was a 10 rating, but once again this Japanese drama fell victim of an ending that could have been way better or clearer. If more time was spent on shaping the final message and wrap up, this show would have been a top 10 list for me. Overall, the show was a great watch watching the characters develop overtime, leave behind the expectations set upon them by society or themselves and come to understand that sometimes good food with close ones is all you need! If you like a show where the FL/ML couple understand and support each other unconditionally, this will be right up your alley.

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A Grueling 16 Episodes

My first review, but I simply could not get over how much I disliked this drama without writing one; it felt like my civic duty, so this is going to be ranty. I watched the first 5-ish episodes thinking it would be something I could get into despite a bit of a rocky start, but then it very quickly plummeted downhill. Like a previous review said, this should've just been a movie and we'd all be happy. If you like noona romances, honestly just skip out on this one and watch "Romance Is a Bonus Book" instead.

I will preface this with the fact that the very, very thin lifeline that kept me watching was Wi Ha-jun as Jin-a's little brother who didn't even show up that much in the end, but as a lot of people are saying, the one good thing about this drama is the actors. Although, what drama these days doesn't have good acting? So it's not that big of a compliment, especially considering they had an incredibly shitty story to work with.
As I said, I liked it at first, but around episode 6, it starts getting excruciatingly long and boring, with plenty of scenes of characters being sad in solitude without any talking- I started skipping after a while because I knew nothing was gonna happen. The characters felt like they didn't learn from their mistakes, and I ended up hating the main couple after the fourth conflict. The conflicts felt contrived and so easy to resolve that I couldn't suspend my disbelief for it; the show is so needlessly melodramatic. The ML was extremely pushy and the FL lied so much that when she said "she's grown as a person," I had a hard time believing it. I will be frank, it did not feel like they were in love. I kinda liked the scenes where the FL hangs out with her friends, and I wish they showed more of that and less of her with the ML because soon enough their cutesy scenes made me want to barf. No one's conversations go anywhere, the mother was controlling and abusive to a cartoonish degree, and the amount of time they spent on her crazy ex was, well, crazy.
Speaking of crazy, it felt like the soundtrack had only 3 songs in it. At first, I thought the music was nice, but then the sheer amount of times they played that same "sometimes it's hard to be a woman" made it start sounding like nails on a chalkboard. If I ever heard that song again, I'd probably lose it completely. You could not pay me a million dollars to rewatch this.

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Gangs, Drug Lords, and Revenge

Going into this show, I was a huge fan of the director because of my love for Extracurricular. This show is a great follow up. First of all it's bloody, violent, and vengeful; and I'm almost impressed with how much I enjoyed it. The acting is top quality: this the 3rd drama of Han SoHee that I've seen and she is just amazing at playing her character with conviction and goes above and beyond what you expect. Park HeeSoon is beautiful to watch and I loved every single scene with him in it. Lee HakJu stole the show, honestly I loved his grey character and how he portrayed it, he had me scrambling trying to figure out who's side he was on.

Some criticisms I do have: fight scenes start out great but later on shaky camera is induced and it starts getting a little messy. Plot was great but can be predictable, I already figured out a lot by the 4-5th episode. The relationship between JiWoo and PilDo, loved the friendship but didn't really want the romance (it felt kinda shoved in and more like a pity thing).

Overall it's heart pounding binge that will keep your attention for at least a few hours. Can't wait to see more from Kim JinMin!

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I think I like this better than The Devil Judge

A complex story without being convoluted. This has the right formula as it has a ML who's a bit rough around the edges but definitely with a good heart. And a FL who's a sweet loving daughter with a power punch for those who deserve it.

Actors played their role really well, even the supporting characters and their subplots were entertaining to watch. There's not much character development in here. They are who they were even from the start. Take the ML for example, he was a nice and wise kid turned into a crafty and a bit unconventional lawyer. A FL lawyer who's not weak and helpless but with a caring heart and a steel core. I also like the familial loyalty and love shown in the show. From a child to their parents, a parent to a child, to brother and sister relationship.

Action packed crime/mystery series with enough romance, drama and comedy to make the story interesting. And the best thing, this has a happy ending. Justice is served. I wouldnt mind if theres a second season.

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Solid. Try to watch it on a binge.

Interesting short series. It could have dragged on with fillers (e.g. more about the budding love story, more about the past of the dad, more about stuff in the high-school, more about this and that), but the author and/or movie maker decided for the more compact version.
Some stuff is predictable (e.g. who killed the dad), though one must wait a sec to find out the motive behind.
Gladly, I didn't see much product placements. I am sure that people better versed than me in that field would have noticed more than the few cars, and other items, which I noticed.
Last but not least: for several episodes one is left wondering what the title means until ... (won't spoil it).

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Enjoyable but........

Coming into this, i already knew what to expect.
I remember watching this wayyy back, stopped at ep 2 and didn't pick it up again till last Friday. .

All and all it was fun to watch but there were characters that were written in such a mehh way that i had a trouble accepting them even towards the end.
One that really annoyed me to the core was her sister.
Her sister being aggressive towards her and treating her like shit through majority the drama. Boi i was pissed. Her jealousy was way beyond how it should be???? Why was her character written so badly?? Though there were redeeming points towards the end, i still didn't like her. Meh.


All in all the sweet moments of the FL and ML were cute and that's the only thing that made it fun for me. I loved that the ML was not the usual type who gets triggered w/o knowing the whole story. He understood where she was coming from and that's all that matters to me.


What i hated was the "let me treat you badly, let's break up for the better" thing. I really really am not a fan of that. Like hunny, when will these writers realize that it doesn't make the story better. I would personally appreciate a story where the FL and ML will be willing to work it out TOGETHER. Not apart. I mean let's all be mature here.

Aaaaaanyway, that's it for me. It was a fun ride. Just not something that i would pick up to watch all over again.

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Can't Complain

Looking for some light BL? LOOK NO FURTHER! Classic BL K-Drama is always something short, sweet and to the point. Which is nice but let's face it.... Korean BL needs to make their BL longer lol ANYWAY
This show was a little basic with the triangle theme but I overall still liked it. It had some super cute and blushing moments and I'd recommend to someone wanting something light and fluffy, with enough romance to show it's still BL. This definitely isn't my favourite Korean BL so I'm fine without a S2 but it looks like there's gonna be a movie.
*There's visuals for miles (obvious bonus)
Enjoy...

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A hidden jem that you die laughing and crying from a definite "10".

You really have to watch this drama i just Binge-watch 8 episodes and want more.
There are some serious issues at hand, but at the same you cant take it too seriously. The ML is hysterical as said he's good with money, but not with language and his one liner. The FL is book smart but not street smart in anyway I'm enjoying the chemistry between her & ML especially when they start with a contagious laught you just gotta giggle. I really dispies the cousin Si hyung everything about him yells "Dirtbag" and never appreciated what his uncle did for him. Then we have the obnoxious fraud Na gong joo who is an intern(working with Si hyung) and Lied about her work back round and always degrades the FL of what she owns and wears. I like Ahn kil kang who plays the ML dad and has a stepmother & step brother just like cinderella lol. His SB convinced him to loan 2 million dollars to an art gallery like an investment. Now back to a new storyline at least for me. Its about small food store that grew to be conglomerates and an art gallery owner who meet at the airport (Netherlands). After spending a day together and weird/funny things happened they realized that he is the wrong Mr. Jin. They cant find the Art expert so he stays with her next day finds out the other guy went to the pig farm gala and had a ball so all was good. He suppose to meet her, but forgot where and see her crying and tried to catch up. He returns home and thinks hes crazy to see her everywhere. He learn the owner of the gallery died so he goes to collect his money and finds her there. The story continues of him spending more time/money to help her keep the gallery open, but there are people trying to make her sell it. TBC

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Excellent!

I really loved this. A few things that really stood out for me were the actors....not only naturally gorgeous but very talented and skilled and did a great job with their roles , the soundtrack -definitely some takeaways here, the winding plot line, lots of philosophical ponderings, and the views of Tokyo.
My only real criticism is that the ‘other two’ female characters - Naoko and Satomi - had no personalities to speak of whether that was how they were were written or some other flaw but it did affect several storylines negatively in my view. On the flip side Ito Kentaro and Ishibashi Shizuka were not only adorable and believable but I thought really showed great skill and gave depth of character to their roles that was much appreciated.

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This is a great series but....

This is a great series but....I didn't like it. Seriously, I didn't like the ending and yearned so much for this series to be something it wasn't... a Typical BL. So I'm addicted to happy endings and can only tolerate light drama.
Enough about me. This is real life stuff and equally heart wrenching in it's passion and realism. Both actors did a great job portraying their flawed yet likeable human characters. There are many brilliant scenes which include the entire framing of the series. 1st scene and last scene. I oh so much wanted this to be something it wasn't, which is not a bad thing thing. I needed a bit of reality to make me appreciate the happy- happy BL's I usually watch. A great piece of work here. Congrats to all involved in the making of this series.

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SOLID 10 **********!!

I don't rank a lot of shows a 10 because there is almost always room for improvement.

The Bond, however, is one of those rarities. The acting/storytelling/visuals/soundtrack all solid 10s. All of the actors were awesome in their roles (the 5 children as youngsters to teenagers to their adult selves, were awesome) each character did a fantastic job portraying their characters, whether they were protagonists or antagonists. Excellent casting by the casting folks!

Family is the story here. Relationships between the five Qiao siblings over a 30-year span of time...romantic relationships, work relationships, friendships are all there too, but it's the sibling bond that is the centerpiece of this lovely show. The story isn't always lovely, it's messy, frustrating, irritating, crazy, heartbreaking, silly...all of the things/emotions that define family dynamics.

This is a slow-burn type of show. Things happen slowly, as things often do. Some things don't get resolved with a storybook ending, just like in real life.

It will take me a long time to get over The Bond. I absolutely loved everything about it.

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