what is stopping you?
This is the first drama I'm writing review for, BECAUSE MY HEART ACHES SEEING HOW NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT IT.This is one of the few dramas without ANY cliche/cheesy romance, yet really warm and heartwhelming. Not a romcom, but surely enjoyable.
Has a very netflix-y vibe and only has 8 episodes of ONLY 25 MINUTES! It won't even take much time JUST WATCH IT. The actors portrayed it so well, I promise you won't regret (if you are a lover of cringey things, i can't assure but....)
ps: if you are here watching Be Yourself, yes you're in the right path.
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great show but you must put yourself in the kdrama mindset
this is a really really good show..it deals with a lot of real life issues.. no matter how old you are.. some of these things are real...
yes its true.. u probably wont like anyone in the drama for the first half of the drama.. even maybe till the 6th episode.. except the male lead and his best friend..
and even more so if your not in the kdrama mindset.. (ie suspend real life thinking.. ) then you probably would hate EVERYONE except the forementioned male lead and best friend...
but if u can get past reality (or just suspend it) and just listen to the story and see the growth of all the characters.. it really becomes a joy of self love.. self discovery and acceptance.. of who you are and what your limitations are.. whether its real or imagined..
the acting from the male lead is great.. the fl lead is decent.. was the chemistry between the two.. depends.. on how u see it.. its not lovey dovey.. and in my opinion. it shouldnt have been.. its acceptance. that.. your partner may be lacking in areas.. but.. u still consider them.. wonderful enough to be with.. as in real life
the music was good..
the support cast was fun and good.. though.. the sister.. i just wonder why they wrote her.. in.. headcount..? :)
really really good show.. yes.. it has its issues and yes in real life..what some of these characters did.. should be and would be despicable.. but.. thats why i watch kdrama.. to escape real life.. and to suspend my belief in reality for a few hours at a time
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This drama is so sweet it’ll give you a toothache.
Just a giant ball of enjoyable fluffiness and I’m here for it.Not only is this drama full of cutesy love but it's also just fun. The dynamic of this cast is so well done. The friendships are believable and give you the feeling that they actually love and care for each other. Even though I picked this drama for the romance I really enjoyed watching them hang out as friends and doing what real life friends do. Terry Liu is awesome in this. I want his character (Deng Hao Ran) to be my male best friend or brother. Then there's Liu Yu Cheng (played by Zhai Xiao Wen) who is quite possibly the best wingman I've seen in a long time.
I tend to skip through a lot of 2nd/3rd storylines but I did very minimal skipping here. I found all the couples likable and enjoyable to watch.
**Small Spoiler**
There’s no evil evil characters. Even the short lived love triangle is adorable and served its purpose without the theatrics.
Also, it's only 22 episodes so it's not full of dead storylines just to pass the time. The romance of the 3 couples and the friendships throughout the group of 6 really filled in the time well.
Would Recommend.
Would Re-watch.
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Waste of tym ...don't watch it
I watched it till 5th epi bt it couldn't tempt me to watch futher ...i think the storyline was very slow n weak as it was very hyped i stared it i am uterally disappointed ...i wasted my tym although the acting of actors was very gud i couldn't deny that fact ....better not to watch thid in my opinion............................................................................no hate bt honestly i didn't lyk it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Enjoyable Youth drama mixing Friendship and Love
The drama tells the journey of a band of friends from last year of high school to University and work life for some of them.1/ STORY:
The story is nice and a good balance between friendship and love. The unrequited love part is the most important anyway and it is a little hard to take but the good thing is that no matter how disappointed the characters can be regarding their Love situtation, they don't forget to be understanding and to support their friends and help them go through difficult and tough moments. All the episodes go at a good pace and make the drama a roller coaster of emotions. It is really heartwarming and fun and emotional.
The ending is disappointing though. It feels rushed and the writers mismanaged the time. They left 2episode to tell the events of them meeting again. They basically threw the two leads together in a maelstom of situations not cute nor very enjoyable and closed the story with a far-fetched cranky manner. Happy ending anyway.
2/ CHARACTERS:
- Lu Shi Yi : a troublemaker at first but grows into a reliable friend and he is allways true to his feelings. It is like he never doubted them and he was always there for the FL.
- Xia Xiao Ju : Pathetic at times but adorable in her efforts to pursue her love. Loved her bickering with the ML. She is lucky he is a patient guy because most guys would have never waited so long for her.
- Cheng Lang : Mr perfect but he has a sad part. He is as great judgement in friendship as he has bad judgement in Love.
- Lin You : She could have been the worst and she is quite annoying in her Love relationships but she is also honest in friendship. She has an interesting trajectory.
- Qiu Le Tao : Looks the plain and bland girl at first but it is all the contrary. She would not be given the stick easily. Loved how things ended for her.
- Huang Jun: Great friend. Bad Lover. Didn't like how he hid things and found excuses.
- Bao Xiang Xiang : chubby dumb guy turned into a boss.
Supporting characters were fun for most of them.
3/ OST:
It was OK. Nothing annoying. Just well adapted to the scenes.
4/ REWATCH WALUE:
It was better than expected and the drama is a roller coster of emotions. But the love triangles last very long. It would prevent people to rewatch.
5/ OVERALL:
It was good. Each episode is fast paced entertaining and you always want to know what happens next. The ending is too rushed and lacklustre because we don't see what sparkle finally put them together. It like they all schemed against the FL so she has to make her choice. But ok, it is a good watch.
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Did the script writer ran away after 32 to make such a horrible end with 33 ??
Don't watch episode 33, it will make the whole series a crap... After episode 32, just live with your imagination of a perfect ending, because the makers have no brain or imagination, they are so dumb to end it in the most disastrous way.DONT WATCH 33, after 32 live with your imagination if you want to make worth of the time and effort you put in to watch these episodes.
The chemistry is really good between the ML and FL and very interesting episodes but when it reaches to 32 don't know what happened to the creativeness which was used, at 33 it a hard stop without explaining a lot of question, about the car accident case, false baby claim, mother in comma, the most important question is with the ML and FL. So frustrated after watching episode 33.
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Add this to your list if you are new to Chinese/Asian drama
This is a very beautiful piece. The story itself is wonderful, this has a mix of martial arts, traditional, and such. The cinematography, editing, special effects are excellent. The characters are well portrayed and are a visual -- makeup and hairstyle. The ending was worth to wait and watch for.I definitely recommend this to watch if you are a beginner in these types of drama or simply have nothing to watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Great potential, yet overhyped
This kind of series is new for a Korean series, but nothing special in it.Japanese has a lot series that has a plot like this such as liar game, as the god says, Alice in borderland and the list goes on and on.
As for western one we have Saw, Hunger games, Maze runner (maybe ?). and so on.
I get that the director want to picture how adult play like a kid for fortune in cost of a person life in a very realistic way. but they have no idea of what kind of game they should play, so they choose to copy it from any other series with a little bit changes. here is my break down.
First gathering :
everyone sent to the game with their own consent by calling the number from the invitation number yet still asks "why should we trust you ?". really ? wtf ? you should've ask that before give your consent on the phone. AND surprisingly nobody asked "what will happened if i lost the game ?"
1st game Red/Green light game :
70 %+ of the scene copy pasted from as the god says. first they gathered the player, when the game started some random people gave zero shit about the condition and just play the game and get killed. after that everyone scared and scream and the game field become a massacre field, then a 4 eyed smart guy that get a trick to beat the game and save the day .the first game is the best example of copying and rephrasing a bit of your friends homework, good job Mr.director.
Second gathering & game restart:
everything f up. everybody scared, half of the participator want to go home and try to make a vote to stop the game, which supposed to be happened in the first gathering but no lets just vote after everyone is dead. realistic my ass.
2nd game The sugar cookie game:
I cant even call it a game, but okay lets just call it a game, everyone solving it with a brute force method nobody use their brain except for the MC and the noisy crazy girl. very realistic indeed. but at least it came from Korean culture which makes it unique I will give this game some point.
Night time war :
They changed from "game" concept to "survival" . people start kill each other just to win. the plot hole is nobody know that time that there will be only one winner or even they wont know if killing each other will make the game easier/faster
3rd game Tug of war:
Decent game not very unique, no Korean culture included. this game is just an easy answer for "what should we play next. the trick to beat the game is ridiculous. I get that they want to picture brain over brawns. but did they actually did a research about this ?.
The cheating mess and the police investigation :
this plot used for season 2 possibilities. in my opinion its too weak considering how its end.
4th game marbles :
Also a decent game, and an easy option, but they give some Korean culture in here so the game is pretty much unique because you can play however you want. and i love how the characters grow here. the mc who neglect his mother start to care for the elderly more, the 4 eyed guy that struggle to keep his sanity losing his shit, and the girl who lost trust in people found start to trust someone.
5th game The stepping glass game :
I'm not Korean but I'm sure I've seen somewhere about Kids hearing old story about knocking the stone before you step to make sure its safe. so some culture included but surprisingly nobody does that until the last guy that know something abt the glasses. nobody even try to check the step with whatever they bring such as jacket/clothes or anything that can be used. nobody use their brain, where did the "brain over brawls" go from 3rd game ?.
3 last survivor :
I love this one. it pictures how they change after all of the game. the selfish girl became a pure hearted girl, the selfish gamble addict guy became a very caring guy, and the prodigy 4 eyed losing his shit
Last game, Squid game:
No game explanation, as a non-Korean I just see it like a 2 guy fist to fist fight. no meaning, no culture, nothing. ironic considering squid game is the title yet it was the worst game in the series.
The winner :
the after game , messed up mc losing his shit. classic drama. not bad, but not good either.
Conclusion :
A great potential series with a lot of "but" and " it could be better". not a very interesting series, I found myself fall asleep out of boredom few times. I don't know most of the actor/actresses, but i think they are good since i like how they potray the change of the characters during/after the game. None of the music stuck i my ears or get into my daily playlist, not the song/singer is bad is just the song choices for the theme or placements could have been better.
worth the watch ?. yes if you just want to Netflix and chill and love this kind of genre, no if you want to watch a really interesting psycho series.
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That's a good one!
Dramas can teach more than one can think and one can find solutions to the lacks we seem to be programmed to live with, with the idea that finding a way out is impossible.What I will say is, first you are not responsible for your childhood traumas and when you are aware of them, work on not feeding them. It takes time but surely, you'll discover your real self.
Second, love is a beautiful thing and if you have an incurable disease or difficult condition, it does not mean that your genuine person cannot love nor be loved but, nobody knows the day and the hour, live the fullest possible being happy and making others around you smile too, there is nothing to loose at that level.
Third, when you love, it's ok. Love does not hurt, only we, do that to ourselves and each other. There is nothing bad in being authentic and real because those are attributes and part of the nature of Love.
Love is not a state of feeling but more a state of Being that we use feelings to decode.
Each time there is a lesson to learn in order to grow and and uplift yourself in a K drama, go for it.
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Cute, Cringe, Cinderella with a twist...
This drama starts of as a combination of Boys over Flowers and Cinderella and turns in to some kind of High school sports drama with a dash of murder mystery... Reminding me a bit of Clueless mixed with a K-drama that i can not remember at the moment (other than Bof). For those of you who are in it for the fluffy cliches this is definitely a fun to watch, easy to binge kind of drama that ill have you cringing, laughing, oohhing and ahhhing, and oh no you didn't.. .The female lead is sweet, smart, sophisticated and pretty sensible... if I where to just stick to adjectives starting with an S, but honestly she is bad ass cool and I love her. The male lead is very typical broken guy turned good and hits all the right spots for those of you who happen like that trope whether you are ashamed to admit it or not. The found families and friendships here are great but I do feel that I should have waited until the second season was released because I am aching to see how the story unfolds, it ends with a hint of a (predictable) cliffhanger.
So entertainment wise this is a 9 or even a 9.5 quality, message and other stuff a 7 so I settled for 8,5 stars. Again this is for those who like fluff and cliches If you hated The heirs or Cinderella and her 4 knights you will probably hate this too.
Best of luck!
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Just dont watch Season 3
Season 3 is just rubbish and a fail season. They should’ve ended penthouse at season 2 but instead they continued with season 3 which doesn’t make any sense. It’s like they just created more horrible and evil things to just continue with the story.This is why we should never prolong a series just because of the ratings. Story should still be the most priority of each writers but instead they were blinded by the ratings.
So just please don't watch season 3 you’ll just end up regretting it.
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Definitely Watch it Today
One of its kind... and breath in fresh air would be perfect description for it. While exploring c-dramaland you may notice... it hardly tries for out of the box, and this one is out-out-of-the-box, a bit of darkness, humor sprinkled with unusual romance definitely worth trying out. And this couple it worth it all!Suicide being very sensitive subject, it was carefully handled, the couple dynamics and their journey together is unique. In the start the characters might be not likable but with time being, you warm up with them, they feel so real maybe coz of their flaws or three dimensional characterization.
It's dark-comedy, and very consistent. There are even some comedic peak moments, but then it's not just a rom-com, it's much more than that. Direction is amazing, tbh beyond my expectations... there are so many creative ideas, sometimes they create humor or add a bit more in story, even the color grading fits the vibe. Even ost was awesome... with great acting, what we need more?
It offers you a heartwarming story... when you'll cry, laugh and feel every emotion.
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