Reviews

So, squid games.

I've taken a lot of time thinking what to write on it. Everyone who has watched it has absolutely loved it.
I absolutely understand the hype-the cast, the cinematography and the directing deserves the appreciation.

In the beginning, it absolutely hooks you. The games, the adrenaline rush, human dying in a wink.

The sneak peak into the background of the characters contributed so much into the understanding of the different characters and their reasons for doing the things they do during the game.
The relationships they forged, the various games, the music; everything was going well...
Until.

Until it fizzled out.
It could have done with 6-7 episodes with more compact writing - after episode 6, it went downhill for me.
1. The reasoning behind the game was unconvincing and washed out. (Maybe the fact that after episode 6, I knew who was the mastermind, it took away the shock element and the surprise that I should have felt).

2. What was the purpose of the inspector? (Yes, I do know he will be in the next season), but what was his purpose in this season?
The reunion with his brother, again, didn't surprise me. Was the reunion supposed to be surprising? Or was Lee Byung Hun playing the brother supposed to be surprising. I felt that it was latter.

3. Gi hoon's characterisation was a bit flat for my liking. He was afterall -a son who'd not hesitate to steal and gamble and an irresponsible father and I don't know when he developed a moral compass!!
There is also this glorification of GH and vilification of SW that i have seen around and I do not agree with.
Maybe it was intended, maybe not.

Having said all, I would be eager to watch a season 2 of it, to see where it all culminates.

And I'd like to know the secret of the inspector's phone. The battery lasted hella long.
Mine drains out after 12 hours!

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The drama is very good but not excellent, I didn't find a story or script in the subject
The series is about group ofpeople and these people are either poor or have debts that they cannot bury, so an organization run by rich people decides to play with the feelings of those people and drag them behind their need for money.
These people are taken to un island where survival games begin
These games are childhood games that were played pin Korea in the past, if you lose in them, you will be executed
In the series, you can expect what will happen, especially when you know the game, you will know how the events will unfold
This drama show the dark side of the people, and they can do everything for surviving even killing each other, or frind betray his friend, killing people with cold blood
Play with them like they are nothing
This is really sad to see humans do things like that ...

For me, the series was fun, but there is no story in it, like I am watching some kind of entertainment TV show
It's not the best Korean drama i see...... there is a lot of Korean or Chinese drama are amazing than it

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Willie Wonka Run Amok

Oh that beloved Willie Wonka, inviting kids on a great adventure in a colorful, magical playland with the promise of a wonderful lifetime prize! And if terrible things happen to the other kids, does that stop the fun? Does everyone insist they be allowed to leave immediately? Do the parents resort to violence to save their children from a possibly terrible fate? Why no! There's a prize to be won and the terrible fate is only possible, not certain. Besides it's the other guy who's most likely to lose.

And thus, Hwang Dong Hyuk pays homage to a treasured children's tale and turns it into a gory story about beleaguered, debt-ridden adults in Nightmare Joseon who receive a golden ticket (actually a business card, because, you know, adults) to play in a game that could forever change their lives. Like the kids at the Chocolate Factory, the Squid Game contestants sign a contract with murky fine print and the fun begins. It doesn't take long, however, for the players to stop playing against the house and start playing against (and preying on) each other. After all, the rich and powerful can never be rich and powerful enough to allow the unwashed masses play against them indefinitely. By sheer numbers alone, the unwashed would eventually become the conquerors. In order for the rich to continue to win, they have to ensure that the masses turn on each other. And the masses do. They always do. Even in children's games.

Seong Gi Hoon is a ne'er-do-well chaffeur from a small town who has had a hard time at life. A failed marriage and failed business ventures have left him a middle-aged, debt-ridden, deadbeat dad who has no qualms about stealing money from his hardworking and sick, elderly mother for a day of betting on the horses. When his luck at the racetrack goes pear-shaped and he learns that his mother needs surgery, it is only with the most minimal modicum of shame that he demands that his remarried ex-wife give him the money he needs. His ex-wife's new husband acquiesces with one small caveat: Gi Hoon can have the money only if he agrees to stay away from his family (including Gi Hoon's 10-year old daughter). Drawing the line at losing access to his child, Gi Hoon refuses the money then meets a mysterious stranger in the subway who invites him to join the Squid Game.

The other contestants (both friends and foes) in the Squid Game have sad and sorry stories similar to Gi Hoon: an old man dying of a brain tumor, small-time loser gangsters, embezzlers, fraudsters, desperate immigrants and pickpocket defectors from North Korea. Whenever one of the contestants dies from the rigors of the game, they are placed in beribboned coffins that look oddly reminiscent of the last-minute gift from an arcade claw machine that Gi Hoon gets for his daughter's tenth birthday (the present inside the gift box is a nice little foreshadowing touch as well). Although the brutality of these games hearken to the Hunger Games and Stephen King's The Long Walk, these contestants are here totally of their own free will (as are the contestants in another dystopian/art-imitates-life classic, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?") and all of them can stop the games and leave at any time if the majority of the contestants vote to do so.

One of the flaws of this story is that the contestants have nothing more than the masked host's word that the winner will actually receive the cash prize. Unlike with Willie Wonka (and other dystopian tales)--where the media and the public were aware that a major prize was involved so that there would be some accountability--the contestants of the Squid Game are whisked away to a private and secret location and don't even know who their host is. Even the gun-toting Oompa Loompas at the funhouse are masked. The contestants don't even know if the money they are shown in a giant piggy bank is real money, or if the stacks of cash are only blank sheets of paper with real legal tender only on the outside. They are willing to put their lives on the line simply on the Squid Game's host's word that they could win a life-changing prize.

Another flaw is the incredible stupidity of some of the players, even in a game where they have bet their lives. In real life, people can make some incredibly poor choices, but some of the choices the contestants of Squid Game make are beyond the pale. Trusting your opponent when it is clear it's his life against yours, annoucing your game strategy to all and sundry, being fine with killing a whole bunch of people one day, hesitant to kill a solitary person the next. Some of the players obviously have a code, it's just really difficult from game to game to ascertain what that code is. There are no heroes in this extended voluntary death match, which is why it is so strange that the screenwriter is so determined to make it appear that there is one.

The imagery in this series is impressive: the bright, primary colors, the children's playground, the baggy costumes of the guards that evoke blindly obedient Oompah Loompas, the maze of staircases the contestants tread to each new game. Behind the colorful and child-like facade the brutality of the games is revealed and the hardships began. The contestants are given adequate food at the start of the games, but with each subsequent game the food becomes less substantial. The area where they take their rest literally shifts beneath their feet and becomes dangerous and hostile. Bit by bit, the contestants are stripped of provision for their basic needs, peace and security and eventually their humanity.

There are traces of Snow Piercer and Battle Royale in Squid Game as well. Westerners, rich Americans in particular, are portrayed as effeminate, obnoxious, sex-obsessed VIPs who bet on the games and desire to make Asian men their bitches. The acting abilites of the men who portray these VIPs is terrible (as is the stilting dialogue) and I am not sure if they couldn't secure better casting for these roles or if they wanted to portray Westerners as incapable of competent acting as well. Nevertheless, the message of contempt for the West is not subtle.

The eventual winner of the Squid Game becomes disillusioned with money and the workings of the world after his victory and in possible foreshadowing, adopts a hairstyle and hair color strongly reminiscent of Batman's violent counter-cultural revolutionist, The Joker. He learns more about the game as he prepares to take an important journey and once again, the Squid Game changes his life. In subsequent sequels, will the victor find out that like Willie Wonka, the master of the Squid Game was manipulating his life all along? Or, as in Snowpiercer, will he outsmart, outplay and outlast long enough to view the Squid Game as a lesser evil for the good of society and be chosen as the new master of the game? Will elements of another dystopian tale, The Watchmen, factor into future sequels? After all, as today's billionaires show us daily with their ability to circumvent laws and achieve what only the gross natural product of whole countries could heretofore do, money is the new superpower and without it, the rest of us are just desparate contestants in a never-ending, Everlasting Gob-stopper of a Squid Game.

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Great Cells, mediocre everything else.

You know the storyline is in trouble when the writers revert to poop jokes like five year olds...
I know this is a favourite of many, and it broke my heart a bit to drop it because the cells really were fantastic and if they had their own show I'd love it! But unfortunately, the cells were never meant to be the main characters of this drama, it's a love story between two flesh and blood people and it isn't a very interesting one. We have misunderstanding after misunderstanding, an Evil Other Woman and of course, the famous poop humour. All these "delights" can take up half an episode, and that just makes the overly long episodes seem even longer.
No show can survive on only a cute gimmick, there has to be good writing involved. Sadly, the writers concentrated too much on good lines for the little cells, and the main couple was left with second hand scraps. And that's my cue to run far away from this drama.

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Okay I'll be honest. And list down the key points...

1)I love love loooove Fang Yilun with every fiber of my being that the entire time in this series I kept stressing to my mom how Alen looks gaunt and should be the one eating those steamed buns and in the buffet scene...
But of course that's just me being a willful Fang Yilun Fang
(and this is irrelevant to the series review, but I'm just saying... *shrugs*)

2) I like how this show subtly gave a statement that girls can be gluttons too and that's okay. That girls can be boyish or ravenous, crass and shameless... and they can still be a leading lady in their own love stories.
That the girls are not the "stereotype" leading ladies with barbie looks and stick figures, going on and on and on about dieting and losing wait because their imaginary reflections say they've gotten a few pounds in their skeletal figures...

3) I also liked how they emphasized on a lot of social problems that has become a social norm when it shouldn't be. Like the toxic fan culture, irresponsible gossip broadcasting etc., These are things that need to be represented, because it's real and it's a problem.

4) However, there are some part of the plot that will make you feel conflicted and bothered. Like the ending, for example. It's as if the ending was rushed. Yi Ran suddenly reveals what Liu Nian did in the past. Then Chumo drives out. To where? Then Liu Nian was shown to be going out as well with a plane ticket(so assuming he went to the airport to fly to the out the country... Presumably to where Chumo is)and that was it. As if it explains the ending.
But there was no character closure. Did he continue music? Or did he proceed in medicine? Was he in Mainland this whole time and never went back to America with his family?

There are a lot of sub plots and character plots that were left hanging. And yet, the last half of the series went out of their way and placed a lot of slow motions to emphasize both the romantic aesthetic and the dramatic scenes. (=... =) There was so much dead air and dull scenes that you'll find yourself fast forwarding and skipping a lot... It didn't feel progressive no matter how good the plot story was and the character roles was. (@@,)

As much as entertaining it was and how beautiful the music plot was, the production felt subparto the actor's actual abilities.

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Try to be wise but not enough.

Though there're many aspects of this series that I give low grades, I don't think it's worth my time to scrutinize all of them here as it'll be too much, so I'll just talk a bit only about one point out of the aspect that annoys me the most which is the story. To make this genre works, outsmarting the viewers is the most important. This story already tried to do so, but it was still not wise enough, not thorough enough, not good enough. I'm not satisfied that I foresaw the answers to 3 games plus the overall plot while the characters struggled too much to find them and even intended to overlook some of them so that they could show that they had to struggle. There're a lot more to criticize about the story, but it's too messy to clarify it in a short time and I don't consider this series worth that much of my time.

I think I should also mention that I came to watch this series after watching Squid Game. They both are in the same genre broadcasting one year apart, so it's difficult to not compare them while watching. Squid Game is smarter, more unexpectant, more succinct. There's much clearer of the system design of the story's circumstance thus more convincing. The editing is more skilled. The production as a whole brings a new taste to its own genre. It's more surprising and exciting to watch. Though I'm not that satisfied with the acting of Squid Game esp. in the early episodes, when comparing to this one, Squid Game is still more impressive.

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Light and easy to watch

The plot of having no senses at all such as sense of smell, taste and touch etc. is a refreshing idea to me. It is very easy to watch and follow through. first half of the show focuses a lot on the romance aspect between the main leads and they definitely do have chemistry. FYI the male lead actual age is 8 years younger than the FL but it does not bother me at all. They look cute together. Its my first time watching Bu Guan Jin as the main lead and I'm impressed by her acting. I especially found it cute and funny at her exaggerated "crying" act.

The comedic part of the drama is also very well done which often bring laughter and smiles. FL is especially good at acting embarrassed which i really like hahaha. Overall there is nothing much to complain about this show. It is a good watch between angsty drama to calm your heart. They separated only once through out the drama because the ML actually is the one that "killed" her parents. I like it as it only took less than 2 episode to clear the misunderstanding and they are back as the loving couple again.Their love throughout the show is strong and trust me you will definitely smile at their loving moments especially when the ML teases her.

The ending however is kind of abrupt which make me think there is another episode left which made me double check and realise it actually ended. Supporting cast is not bad as well but the main focus of the show is the 2 leads. This show failed to keep my interest level high throughout the show but it is a good enough drama. I will wait for Dear Diary as i would like to watch another of Bu Guan Jin show. Her acting shine in this drama, and male lead did a great job as well.

kudos

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Good enough

Korean Mini Series 'Zombie Detective' is a smooth blend of comedy and mystery. The drama uses the zombie situation of the main lead in the most hilarious way, from his tries to imitate being human to him advertizing the make-up product, to his relationship with the leading lady. Everything was well done, not overstepping the borders of ridiculous, and keeping a nice balance between comedy and action.

The mystery, in addition, was a nice touch that kept things going for a while. The small cases weren't plenty, but they were enough to get things more entertaining and give time to the main plot to slowly mature.

The performances, finally, were all great from everyone in the cast.

So, overall, 7 out of 10.

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Good Enough

Chinese Drama 'Word of Honor' was interesting at first, quickly, however, changed sides.

The drama starts strong, with the introduction to the world, the mystery in hand, the political powers as well as the characters. The mystery element was pretty intriguing and even the villains seemed twisty and shady. However, after the first part, the drama took a more domestic turn, opting for a slice of life focus, forgetting about the matter in hand, adding a few specs of the characters' past here and there and pretty much letting them play little house on the prairie for a big chank of time. The villains were toned down too, and the main one was simply too tamed to be that horrific bad guy who will keep things interesting. The ending, finally, was rushed, but emotional, especially since the second couple was the main source of entertainment in the second half.

So, overall, 5.5 out of 10.

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Good Enough

The third season of the extravaganza of the drama 'The Penthouse: War in Life' was not as good as the rest of the seasons, as it was mostly a repetition of what had happened, with overplayed twists and a thinly stretched main plot.

The revenge plan and the conclusion should have come earlier on, however, they dragged it so much that it ended up tiring to watch. At least, this season didn't hesitate to eliminate many of the key characters, but they didn't give the chance to pay for their crimes at the same time. The ending was just too cheesy when it came to the fantasy element, which was unnecessary, and questionable, when it came to the result, but nevertheless, still a letdown.

But it did have some good moments too, like the short exploration of the main villain's past and the raise and fall of Seo Jin. The performances were mostly enjoyable.

So, overall, 5.5 out of 10.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama 'Sweet Home' has awful CGI, but it makes up with the on-point atmosphere. The settings, the costumes, the music, the performances, everything is and feels perfect, as the group of residence is trying to survive. However, this season felt more like the introduction, as we start to get to know each character and bond with them, without, nevertheless, getting too deep into the mystery of what is happening and why and how to move forward. Still, this season sets strong foundations for those to come.

In addition, everything is well constructed, with enough screen time for each character and each storyline. The pace is also perfect for the action element of the story. Finally, the performances were all quite emotional.

So, overall, 7 out of 10.

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well paced, motivational drama ! worth watching

this is now one of my favourite dramas of 2021, i didnt expect to enjoy it as much as i did!

i loved the cast, the leads chemistry was great both before and after they started dating. the character of chu li was especially my favourite, her passion and motivation to do what she loves and what she believes is right honestly really motivated me haha, she is vedy confident in what she does despite having to be put down by miao while he was still there. she never gave up on others and her character is how i hope i am irl.

i didnt find there to be boring episodes, i think it was well paced in relation to the number of episodes it has. if i had to comment on one thing i didnt like about it then it would be the girl who tried to get zhou chuan to date her even though he has a gf and she was literally right there - feel like this is so overused in dramas but it only lasted a few eps so wasnt a big deal lol

good drama to watch if you want something light and romantic but also focuses a lot on the work life and family/friend relationships. there are no breakups and there was one misunderstanding but it was solved pretty quickly!

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I am only watching because the leads are good looking... so far.

They tweaked the storyline a bit to match Thai market.



So far i don't care about the stories, i just kind of enjoy the scenes of the FL and ML. It's my first Thai series, though kind of shallow, it find it entertainjng.



I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series. I'll ad more to these after completing the series.

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