Reviews

If you're into a completely badass characters this drama is for you!

Honeys is one of the best jdrama that I've ever watched it's rare to find a jdrama with a badass characters. This story is about three sisters who works as a debt collector in Honeys-shark loan organization. What's great about these three sisters is that they make sure that the borrowers would never miss having their money collected by these badass women. Every episodes have different kinds of clients who borrows money from Honeys.

I can say that I love the actresses who played the role in these drama: Yu Takahashi the sister of Maryjun Takahashi seems at first glance she is very similar from her sister and her acting skills too! I hope Yu can have her main lead role because she proved that she nailed as a badass role in this drama. I also commend the acting skills of Kato Konatsu and Sayaka Kakehashi because both of them are cute but at the same time they show their badass side! Lastly, Yumiki Nao always steals the show because of her costumes and colorful wigs she wear every episode that I always look up on her cute style! I hope she will be given more main lead roles!

The clients are the depiction in real life about Japanese people who always used to borrow money from creditors or loan sharks. As witnessed that every person have its reason to borrow money it can be bad or good. Lesson learn for every each one of us is to not to rely on borrowing money from the shark lones. We should prevent ourselves from overspending money from unecessary things. We should learn how to value money but in a right way. One must work hard rather than depending on loan sharks and creditors.

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How far are you willing to go to satisfy your dreams

The concept of the drama is nothing new, but the team did a great job in executing this drama to almost a perfection. Even though some parts of the drama was somewhat predictable there were some great twists and turns too. There were games to play and mysteries to uncover. And there was also the heartwarming or heartbreaking backstories and interactions to balance the whole thing. What is one willing to do survive? How much is one willing to change in times of crisis? And who or what were controlling things behind the scenes? The story progressed very smoothly with no dragging and flashbacks to slow it down.
The atmosphere created in the drama along with the somewhat childish but eerie music was a huge part of the drama. The attention to details was a pretty good touch from the production team. The casts were very good and did an amazing job in my opinion.
Overall it was very refreshing and fun to watch. If you don't mind some gores and deaths in drama then it is one of the best dramas of the year for sure.

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Love Conquers All (in the end)

I’ve just finished watching Queen For Seven Days and now, an hour later, am still shaken by the beauty of its ending and the extraordinary character poignantly played by always superb Park Min Young. If anyone fantasizes about being a royal or serving a royal court, this drama should disabuse them of that notion. Early on, I thought that the old adage ‘Love Conquers All’ was not true in the face of power politics but by the drama’s touching conclusion, my faith in the power of love was restored.

Even more than Yeon Woo Jin, who played the Grand Prince, later the King, Lee Dong Un as his older half brother, the tyrannical King Yeonsangun, was more impressive, creating a three dimensional character of a tragic and fatally flawed son, brother, and ruler. I don’t often cry but his death scene, reconciling with his brother, and seeing his father, the late King calling to him, brought tears to my eyes.

Perhaps it was the intent of the writers but Yeon Woo Jin came across as weak, compared to his wife, and without benefit of reading history, one might wonder what kind of King he became. But his beloved Shin Chae Kyung, taught him both the meaning of real love and gave him the power to endure to the end.

All the parts are well acted, in particular Yeom Hye-Ran (who often appears in dramas with Park Min Young) as Lady Shin’s nanna, Jang Hyun-Sun as the loyal to a fault Vice-Premier and father of Lady Shin, and Do Jiwon who plays the Dowager Queen.

I’ll have to be a contrarian on the soundtrack. Even though the songs chosen are beautiful and well sung, modern pop songs don’t fit - for me - a historical drama. The music should reflect the sensibilities and aesthetic of the time portrayed.

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The best jewel in life is love, family & friendship.

At first, I didn't have high expectation looking at the actors in this drama. But it's a very short episode, you can finish it in 1 day.. I try to watch and surprisingly I love the story and the acting.

Both ML & FL are charming. I love how FL seems arrogant and domineering from the outside, but the more you see her, the more you know that she is so lonely and soft.

After knowing what she's been through I can understand why she become that way.

I love the ML the most. He looks cute, but actually very mature and dependable.
The way ML & FL gradually fall in love to each other is very natural... and I feel it's so romantic and adorable. Both ML & FL's profession are totally different yet can be connected. Jewelry and Flower.. what an interesting combination.

I love the office story side as well.. it's not too heavy, but we learn about friendship and loyalty through all the FL's subordinates.

This drama also bring another story about love-hate relationship between brother and sister.. but it's totally make sense.

I'm a bit confuse with the extra ending.
But here I share my assumption.

Since the ML's background is a very kind and warmhearted guy, I feel he is being chosen as an experiment subject by certain party to go to parralel universe or another dimension and meet the FL. That's why he become the main character that has some power to make "changes" in everyone's life, especially FL through his kindness and flowers.

Without realizing it, they have a mission to make the FL heart beat become "zero", that later on we know it can be happen when FL can solve all the misunderstanding with her brother and her father, also at the sametime to find her true love.
The higher or faster heart beat here means the bigger problem that stimulate FL mind to lose control and at some point the more harder for her to come back and wake up in reality.
That way.. the ML has been sent to meet her there so she can dealing with her issues. No wonder only ML has such power to make FL calm and heartbeat can be slowing down.

I just can say the extra ending was made the whole fantasy story to be more realistic. Since we finally know why the FL can has a unique power to see her heartbeat rate.

Well, it's a parallel universe... every impossible can possibly happen. No wonder she is not a normal human there. However, the whole experiment are using both ML & FL's background and memory, that's why they can still remember each other after when they wake up from the "dream". The heartbeat rate become "zero" is like a sign for "mission completed", and the end of the story for both of them in the parallel universe (dream), to make the story over and going back to reality. I guess it's an experiment about "finding love" or "matchmaking project". We will see if there is second season of the story that probably will explain it to all of us.

After all... the drama title conclude the whole story. "The Only You in My World", means the main characters (both FL & ML) that actually still remain to love each other no matter is just happening in a dream or reality.

I don't think the extra ending is not necessary thou since the genre of this drama is fantasy.
But well.. overall I like the story. It successfully teach us about the meaning of love, friendship and family. It was sweet and funny as well!

P.S. Because of this drama, I will be more appreciate flowers and plants starting from now :D

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Interesting storyline

Rough start, but improved a lot!

The male lead has no senses, and after an accidental meeting with the female lead, discovered that he could feel and smell while touching her. He practically forced her to stay by his side, and thus the scriptwriter had to build uup the story and at parts, seemed draggy. (funny but not rally funny). The overall story started to improve as the main leads fell for each other and had to overcome many obstacles to stay together.

On the overall was quite a refreshing storyline, had a happy ending albeit an abrupt one. ?

What I liked
- cast and acting were spot on, especially the main leads and villain
- soundtrack and ost were ok
- the "familial" bond among the FL, her master and her fellow disciples
- production quality
- costume designs and attention to detail

What I didn't enjoy
- it was over so soon and abruptly ?
- wasted too many scenes on second male lead and his indecisiveness towards the second female lead

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One of the best youth drama!

Started to watch this with zero expectations since I've never heard/known any of the casts before and it turned out to be one of my fav drama ever. The plot kind of reminded me of my high school days. I loved the cast and ost the most. I'm actually quite surprised with the ML, not only he's good looking but also natural in acting. The chemistry between the leads is really good and their matching fits are the cutest. I would love to see them in the same project again. I do totally recommend this for those who like light, sweet and fluffy romance. It will warm you heart no doubt! Worth watching, definitely 10/10.

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This! What a gem

Update:
just finished the last 2 eps.
very happy with it, brought out all sorts of emotions and took me back to past memories.
loved how much Yumi’s cells always tried to do what’s best for her, always rooting for her, and it makes you realize how you should actually treat yourself :)
again, this show is so relatable.
it’s probably the most realistic take on relationships :)

I really enjoyed this. highly recommended.
can’t wait for season 2! ♡
__________

I’m very picky with kdramas. I’ve been watching them for a long time already and ive seen all sorts.

so i couldn’t believe there’s still one that would manage to surprise and fascinate me.
this is it. it’s so refreshing & relatable. so addicting.

it seems like such a simple slice-of-life story, nothing much going on, but the way they showed the inner workings of the mind through the cells’ interactions is actually deep & profound. it made me reflect a lot on my own experiences & thought process.

i wasn’t a fan of kim go-eun (didnt like her in goblin)
but here the acting/role is spot-on. music is perfect.
and the cells- they’re the life of the show! every character is done so well. they’re hilarious.

i know the story is based on a webtoon which i haven’t read. can’t compare, but i really like this. such a pleasant surprise. watch it.

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I have this weird love-hate with this series. Despite its flaws, it’s still one of the better palace intrigue stories out there. So I put it on my “guilty pleasure list” and endure the bad for the sake of the good.

To start with the good, this has all the elements of the addictive story. You see many nasty palace denizens plotting against our heroine, Wei Yingluo. Just when you think Yingluo is trapped, she turns the table on her enemies and knocks them down ten notches. It’s very gratifying to watch, especially when it cycles along at a steady pace, using a formula that feeds into the addiction center of our brains.

The near fatal flaw with this series is its absurdity. Case in point, Yingluo exacts revenge on a consort by throwing molten iron on her. Someone else adds fecal water to the iron so it will infect her wounds, ensuring to a slow and painful death. Since bacteria could not possibly survive in molten metal (a thousand plus degrees temperature here), the entire scheme is ridiculous. Equally ridiculous is the lighting rod scheme that struck the right person at exactly the right time. These are the kind of things that defy logic and insult the viewers’ intelligence. But we can still enjoy the show, as long as we accept it for what it is: mindless entertainment.

Years from now, people will still remember the show for its costumes. The muted color palette is very pleasing to the eyes. The traditional kingfisher feathers, velvet flowers, and the embroideries are beyond beautiful. The designers create a very distinctive look and authentic feel that sets this far apart from any other Qing era series. The set pieces are luxurious, too, although some of the rooms look sterile and not lived-in.

Notable performances are from Qin Lan and Charmaine Sheh. Qin Lan has depth as the gentle, virtuous empress who is actually broken on the inside. Charmaine is a master at facial expressions and the slightest shift in her smile alone can convey so many different emotions. Her Xian Fei is technically the main villain, but she is extremely sympathetic. I find myself rooting for her half the time, simply because life is cruel to her and she has to be cruel to survive.

The weakest link here is our leading lady, Wu Jinyan. She is given an interesting character, one that is clever and loyal, but with a ruthless streak. She comes across as this reckless girl who shows an attitude to her masters and pushes the boundaries of rules and etiquettes. In the strict Forbidden Palace, this attitude would get her killed a thousand times over. I have a hard time believing she’s that lucky or smart enough get away with it every time. Wu herself doesn’t have much range or subtlety to her acting. When she tries to act playful, it comes off as stilted. Worse, she has “dead fish eyes,” eyes that are large but mostly expressionless. However, she does look unique in period clothing and seems to have potential. Charmaine was awful in her first series, too, and look how far she came now.

The men’s acting are fine, nothing memorable in a story dominated by women. Fu Heng is your stereotypical second male lead who loves our heroine devotedly and unconditionally, as if there are no other good woman in the world. I’m glad they didn’t make Qian Long a jerk or a fool easily manipulated by his wives.

So after watching so many women fighting over one guy, we have to ask: which of his wives does Qian Long really love? No one, I suppose. As Qian Long himself said, his father trained him to be good ruler, and a good ruler cannot rule with his heart. He was raised not to care much about any woman. That’s why he greatly favors Yingluo, because she is the only wife who does not demand his love. She puts no pressure on him and does her best to amuse him. She asks only for gifts and favors - things at are easy for him to give. Does that cheapen their relationship? No, because there is real affection there. For Yingluo, the emperor represents the practical, while Fu Heng represents the ideal. You can marry a Qian Long, but good luck finding a Fu Heng in real life. That man only exists in dreams.

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It's nice to watch a series that makes you sad, not angry. There are no villains here, just people with a lot of emotional baggage trying to figure out their own lives. The story is sweet and bittersweet. Just get your boxes of tissues ready. And maybe some hot tea, too.

These days we don’t often see a love quite like that of Chengyan and Zhan Yin. Both were somewhat mentally-disabled, but they were the most charming dimwits ever. They were simple to the point of almost childlike, so their families felt the need to protect these two lovebirds from themselves. This interference ultimately led to tragedy. Stephanie Hsiao and Jonathan Chen played off each other really well. They can’t seem to keep their hands off each other, so much so that I wondered if they were dating in real life.

Sunny Tu was actually very pretty, but they made her Kaiyan so matronly that she looked like Chengyan’s mother instead of her twin. Her hair and outfits were very unflattering. Her looks mismatched with Louis Lin, who was painfully stiff and awkward here. There was supposed to be a romantic tension between the two, but it seemed like Louis and Sunny were trying their best to avoid having to touch each other.

Shi Yu was such an underrated actor. His Tianwen could’ve been so much more if the writers gave him a chance. On the outside, he seemed silly and superficial, until the scene where he was holding Chengyan’s baby and a single silent tear slid down his cheek. In that one moment you understand the depth of his feelings for Chengyan, even though he never said it out loud. That alone was the most unexpectedly touching scene, and Shi Yu hit just the right note without overdoing it. It was simple but more moving than watching Zhan Yin rolling on the ground and crying his eyes out.

The mood of this series is perfectly captured by its wistful theme song, ‘Red Bean’ by the legendary Faye Wong. It reminds you that everything has an end, and neither meeting nor parting is forever. Tissue, please.

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I was told that I would love this drama. But I didn't realize just how much I would love it. It truly feels like a manga come alive and it's so mesmerizing. The fights, the cinematography, the bonds among the characters - and especially Cobra, Yamato and Noboru.

And to the surprise of exactly no one, Iwata Takanori's Cobra is my favorite. There are so many characters, so many gangs and gang members, but he's certainly the lead even though he doesn't have more on-screen time than the others and even though Yamato is undoubtedly H&L's heart, Cobra is the centerpiece. The founder of Mugen first, then the leader of the Hoodlums, when he enters the scene you sit up and notice. When Cobra enters a fight, everyone starts paying attention because he doesn't do it often so when he does, it means something. And when it's then revealed at the end that he has done all this for Noboru... wah!

Also, I love the parent figures of the Hoodlum gang. Both women, Yamato's mother and the bar owner, love the boys - and especially Cobra and Yamato - so much and I love that they are not all "don't fight" or whatever but simply "do the right thing". I think that the Hoodlum gang is the one closest to living a normal life in SWORD.

Yeah, I have much, much, much love for this drama. It hit the right spot at the right time for me!

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