Reviews

good story with mild revenge

●FIRST IMPRESSION
Just reading the synopsis it felt like a typical lakron but it is a mild revenge drama with light romance.

●PLOT VIEW
The plot sounds like ML takes revenge from FL, yes he does take revenge but it is more like giving her an opportunity to change herself. Pimlapat was a spoilt bratty girl everyone pampered her but she doesn’t respect others. she was hardworking but when she stumbles to the bottom she gets trapped in her own wicked job, she gets to starts from the bottom to pay her debts. Ramet letting her work in the hotel shows that he has already fallen for her and he wants to change her for good. He succeeds but the evil character won't let them be happy, that's their job so they create several opportunities to ruin the relationship but as we all know good people always have the best fruit. Simple revenge story with simple character not like the typical lakron with slap/kiss and bitchy fights between the girls.
Also, the ending is very much satisfying as evil people get punished. How many tricks can one play, shows the evilness of Mathavi. She was so obsessed with Pimlapat, that she jumped into all her works and literally stopped the industry to give her work. How can a fashion designer influence the whole industry and by the end all the stupid people got enough brains to see Mathavi wickedness. Her assistants were loyal but still, they took wise decisions in the end. also, the reporters were so stupid to me.

●ACTING/CAST
Kimmy as Pimlapat nailed her bratty role with poise and elegance. Her growth from spoilt to calm and respecting nature was admirable. The tough and sad emotions displayed her wide range range of acting skills.
James Ji as Ramet slayed the shrewd handsome character of the hotel owner. His face just convinces me to whatever role he plays, fits perfectly to him.
All supporting character of the hotel staff were so good and I loved their friendship.

●MUSIC
OST was nice especially the opening track but doesn't ring for a long time.

●REWATCH
I don’t think I want to rewatch this. Just once is enough.

●AFTERTHOUGHT
in the long run what remains with us is our hard work and personality.
The drama shows that we shouldn’t oppress anyone with whatever job they do. Even if they are servers or housekeeping at hotels, they are hardworking and earning for themselves. If a customer has a problem they politely. So why cant the customers. It takes nothing to be polite.

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An excellent adaptation.

No spoilers. Proceed safely. :)

Karamazov no Kyodai is the Japanese live drama adaptation of one of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s greatest novels, “The Brothers Karamazov.” I was highly intrigued yet sceptical about watching this show but I'm highly impressed.

Like the novel, Karamazov no Kyodai revolves around the murder mystery of one of the most loathsome characters that I have seen as of yet, Kurosawa Bunzo, the owner of the Kurosawa Estate. He is openly acknowledged as one of the most hated men in his residential city. His three sons—the eldest, Kurosawa Mitsuru, is a slave to his emotions and often acts foolishly in a fit of passion; the middle brother Kurosawa Isao is analytical in nature and channels his hatred for Kurosawa Bunzo into writing a novel; the youngest is Kurosawa Ryo, he is the kindest of the three and is considered to have the best temperament—they are taken into custody to investigate Kurosawa Bunzo’s murder.

What starts out as a seemingly simple murder mystery, takes us through the emotional and physical torture of the three brothers as children and as adults. The story also stresses how even though the three brothers have been subjected to the same environment, grow up as vastly different characters but still have faith in one another.

Karamazov no Kyodai is a suspenseful plot that combines “the absurd, the surreal and mundane.” It uses grotesque and dramatic but brilliant cinematography to create the imagery that it desires in the minds of its viewers. Characters are always only as good as the actors and thankfully Karamazov no Kyodai has some awe-spiring acting from both its antagonists and protagonists.

With careful usage of dark imagery, soundtrack and strong script, Karamazov no Kyodai throws its convoluted and incidentally mad characters into a convoluted storyline and traces the thin line between hatred that drives one to sin and acting on it; a very thin line which no matter how alluring and seemingly fair, should not be crossed. Brilliant in its execution, Karamazov no Kyodai has managed to convert Dostoyevsky’s novel of more than 800 pages into a compact but impactful drama which holds something new for viewers who have and haven't read the original novel.

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Lovely, pleasant and very exciting. So adorable and cute too.

Such a refreshing take on the "opposites attract" plot. And the actors are really talented. The leads chemistry as the couple is one the most adorable and natural ones I have seen in years.
The writing, DOP is breathtaking. Korea sure is beautiful. This series shows not just Seoul but more of Korea and its small town community's beauty and warmth. Loved this.
The love and friendship is small towns is incomparable and precious.
(I think)
If you enjoyed the Reply series, especially Reply 1988, the warmth and the ups and downs of relationships you would really really love Hometown Cha cha cha.
Shin Min-ah is obviously very beautiful, pretty and an amazing actress. What a versatile actress she is! Wow!
Kim Seon ho is totally love love love. Great actor, amazing and talented. He plays the role of Hong Banjang so naturally, it makes me feel Chief Hong is my next door neighbour and not just a character. Bravo!
All the actors are great here. They are all such a great team. Their amazing work shows in the series itself. So very talented all of them.
Looking forward to the last three weeks of Gongjin.
Thank you!

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Rocket Boys is an emotion....!!!

I really loved this drama. The way it showed the importance of friendship. The trust within friends. If their is anyone who love sports will really enjoy this drama to core. You will never regret watching this drama. If you are not sports lover definitely you'll start loving sports. Every sport is equally important and has it's own grace. Believe in yourself no matter what you do. Never compromise on your dream. Fight for your dream. The people who support you even in your worst are your true friends. The comic timing was also perfect. You'll enjoy the whole drama. I wish to see a season 2 for this drama. If anybody is feeling low I wish you watch this drama. Overall a very good drama. I would suggest everyone to watch this drama.

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Love it!

I won't write about the story line or character details because they have been written many times, so this is just my opinion for the series.

I am not a fan of BL, which is why I have been putting The Untamed and Word of Honor on the to-watch shelf for a long time. I hesitated to watch this because of the BL storyline. But I didn't regret watching these two because they are one of the best chinese costume dramas that I've watched. The best ones in my opinion are Story of Yanxi Palace and Nirvana In Fire, but these two came close.

Word of Honor has all the elements that I like in a drama, good acting, handsome actors, beautiful costume and setting and wuxia scenes. Viewers are spoiled with beautiful colors in the costume, setting and cinematography as well as very amazing sceneries. There are plenty of WuXia fighting scenes in this drama that left you at the edge of your seats. There are also plenty of nice songs in the OST, I like the opening and ending theme and several others. That's why I always click "watch credit" and "play from the beginning" on Netflix for this drama because of the songs.

This drama is a rollercoaster of emotion for me. I felt sympathy for the characters, can feel happy, laughing at several scenes in the episodes, then change to feeling sad for some of the characters. The last three episodes in particular was a rollercoaster ride for me, like I didn't expect that to happen, why did it has to happen like that? Sad, then happy, and sad again.

I have to give a special shoutout to Simon Gong Jun as I thought he did a superb and excellent job as Wen Ke Xing. Huge kudos to Simon Gong!!!! I originally watch this because of Zhang Zhe Han, but Simon Gong stole my heart! He is so expressive and did very well in playing such a complex character. I first saw him in Begin Again, but after watching Word of Honor, I have just became a huge fan of Simon Gong Jun!!!

If you hesitate in watching this because of the BL element, please don't. It's there but it's subtle that I can just pass it on as true friendship and brotherhood. This drama is so much more than that, it is a story of friendship, family, loyalty, heroism and courage that it's very easy to overlook the BL element. It's there but in a subtle way, not "in your face" BL like those in Hollywood movies/series and Thai dramas. I would totally recommend this drama (and The Untamed of course).

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How A Scientist Developed His Relationship With Online Girlfriend

Fall In Love With Scientists ~
A drama based on adaptation from novel "Dang Ai Qing Yu Shang Ke Xue Jia" (当爱情遇上科学家) by Ye Luo Wu Xin (叶落无心).

▪️Main Points
~ Two people get to know in online chatting app and became closed then fall in love to each other.
~ A scientists who fall in love with his online friend, Bai Ling Ling, trying to get closer and makes her feel happy even though she doesn’t know actually he was her real online friend.

▪️Short Synopsis
Yang Lan Hang was a scientist and became a professor at his young age. He leads a research group to make an experiment regarding the seeds and cells. He was handsome tall man who fall in love with his online friend, Bai Ling Ling. They keep in touch in online chatting for 6 years without meeting in real life even at once. Bai Ling Ling was about to graduate from university. Unfortunately, during her thesis presentation, Yang Lan Hang found a mistake in her thesis and causes her failure to graduate. She thought he was the reason she’s failed so she dislikes him and want to revenge. In online chatting, both of them have a great communication and happy relationship. But in real life, they’re keep arguing and became unhappy. Yang Lan Hang knew she was his online friend but she doesn’t know that. Yang Lan Hang was afraid to tell her the truth about him and just want to be her friend in online chatting.

▪️Opinions
~ For me, it’s was a bit unrealistic to fully trust someone in online chatting without meeting him in real life. It even harder to fell in love in virtual world unless we’re already knew beforehand.
~ To keep in touch in online chatting and depending on unreal boyfriend was really hard for Bai Ling Ling. But she doesn’t care about it and relying on her feeling too much.
~ Yang Lan Hang had many chances to tell the truth about his identity as ‘forever was for ever’ to Bai Ling Ling but he keeps it from her and acts like nothing happened between them.
~ Guan Xiaoyu was a cheerful and sweet girl who can make others fall for her. She was closed with Pan Pan and want him to be her best friend but she needs to keep herself away from him if she’s not like him. Otherwise something bad might happen to her.
~ The twin brothers have so different characters. One was a playboy and another one was an introvert man. I think Guan Xiaoyu should be able to distinguish which one was the real Ouyang Yifan since she’s been with him for several times.
~ I think the second couple was more interesting than the first couple in this drama. Even Ouyang Yifan was a bit crazy and naughty but he was kind hearted. He spent his money to buy all the Guan Xiaoyu's handbag without she knew it. He also liked her and changed his playboy character for her.
~ ML and FL after in relationship were more sweet with their fluffy love. They did not hide their relationship and always show their sweetness to others.
~ The development for the third couple was bit late and short. They confessed their love and be together in the last episode. I think their relationship was a bit blank and not really progressive.

▪️Characters Intro
~ I have seen many dramas acts by Jasper Liu. I love his taiwanese drama, Before We Got Married. He was a sweet and handsome actor. He acts as Yang Lan Hang, a scientist who responsible for a research project. He has an online friend and fall in love with her. He was a bit silly when it comes to love relationships but he was a very straight and respectful in his research development.
~ Zhou Yutong acts as Bai Ling Ling who cares about her grandmother. She studying and works at the same time in order to make some money. She was a bit silly and slow in relationships. She did not knew that her online friend was actually her senior, Yang Lan Hang. I hate the ways she’s dressed like boy. She likes to wear a hoodie, sweet shirt and jeans. She also was undetermined which she keeps changing her mind either to further study or to work first. I think she should think hard first before choosing to any ways that’s she want.

The production was doing a good job since it’s showing on how the scientists worked for their research in the lab. Several drama doesn’t show what kind of research or jobs that scientists need to do. They’ll skipped that important parts and only showed the storyline of their dramas. I respected the production works in this drama. It’s really good to see what happened during the research conducted and what’s important things that scientists need to know when conducting the experiment.

▪️Overall
I think the drama was a bit interesting in the middle episode to the last episode. Both ML and FL have great chemistry and also entertaining to see. Even their online relationship more interesting than the real world’s relationship but I think it’s still good.
The show lasted with the scene of epidemic happened in their country. They as the researchers want to develop the research on protection for their life in order to help the country overcome the pandemics. I think maybe because of they were the researchers, so the production want to make the last scene by relating to the latest case.

I am more interest with how Ouyang Yifan proposed the marriage to Guan Xiaoyu. He followed on what she preferred. She want him to propose in front of many audiences. So he came out with the video call with many people to witness his propose to her. She was touched by his ideas and she so happy.

I liked the drama was short but ending with the happy ending for all the couples. It was kind of sweet and great for the audiences to watch this drama.

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Not for the faint hearted

This is the first Japanese drama that I've watched since the classic Ordinary People and Tokyo Love Story. I mostly just watch Chinese drama nowadays, but this one came up in my Netflix recommendation, so I decided to give it a try. Compared to c-dramas, this is very short and I was able to finish it in just one day. It has a 9 scale on a binge-worthiness level, but declines to 2 or 3 on a memorable and re-watch value. The story is interesting and the first four episodes I thought was very good and succeeded in catching my attention and pushing that "watch next" button on Netflix. However, the second part of the show was just so-so and I thought what happens after Arisu arrived at the Beach was weird with the organization, the parties etc were weird and a bit inconsistent and left me with many questions marks, and even after watching the last episode, I still have lots of question marks.This series is definitely not for the faint hearted. There are a lot of blood and violence and I wouldn't recommend it to you if the sight of blood on your screen leaves you feeling queasy. Acting is just sub-par I think. None of the actors or actresses are good in my opinion. They are just so-so actors with unmemorable performance. I don't watch many Japanese drama, so I am not familiar with the actors and actresses, but I am not impressed with their acting.

You might like this if you are a fan of the manga or the actors & actresses and likes gory psychological thriller. As for me? i am only in for the psychological thriller part, but only like 50% of the series, not like The Bad Kids, which I thought was superb from start to finish and still leaves some impression even months after watching The Bad Kids. Acting of the actors and actresses in The Bad Kids are far superior compared with Alice in Borderland.

But, hey, we all have different tastes and opinions.

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I love this kind of story interesting even it's a toxic one but there's no perfect relationship!

Yes a little bit annoying especially the ML that he don't know how to express his feelings toward the FL but if you watch the whole story and focus on it it is a good story at all.From the very day it's start airing I really love it and I can't wait to watch the whole episode There is a scene that irritates you especially Li Man a very scheming ex girlfriend that but I really love their great acting skills especially Bambi Zhu(Xu Zhudan) she's really beautiful and I feel the pain what she suffers I highly recommemd it to everyone that you should watch it. It's worth it from the story itself you can tell that it's almost same story as You are My Destiny but it's different.If your not a fan of Chinese dramas or whatsoever don't watch it we don't need a nonsense opinion towards this drama.By the way I still love it and I always stick to this drama.

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Honestly Blown Away

I'm not really into BL dramas because so many of them aren't made very well or are rushed. You never get to connect to a character and many of the side stories don't add flavour to the show, it just adds some time to make the show longer. (Personal opinion)

However, that being said, this was one of my favourite shows and I really have to commend the writer, director and cast. They all did such a good job of telling this story and got me emotionally invested. It was well paced and they put effort into telling the story of representing the difficulties of coming out in Korea as well as genuinely representing LGBTQ+ love as a real love story.

The only reason why I haven't been a fan of BL is because they put 10% of the effort into BLs as they do on straight love dramas. My point being, I already want to rewatch this and relive the happy, sad and heart-fluttering moments. This is an absolute gem and I hope more shows like this, representing LGBTQ+ love correctly, will come out in the future.

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It's not horrible, but not great either

9/30/2021

It's very hard to write a review of this drama. I don't think it's a horrible drama, but it's not great either. Unfortunately, it did not hold my attention and I have decided to drop it at Ep 33. I enjoyed the first 20 or so episodes, but then I feel that the plot just keeps on repeating. It's quite a predictable drama. Nothing really excites or surprises me. I really want to find out who is the big bad wolf, but I got so bored.

The best parts about this drama are the acting of the cast and our ML and FL. Our leads are fantastic and the supporting cast is great. It's my first time watching Qin Hao, and he's quite charismatic as Prince Peng Cheng. I became a fan of Li Qin after "The Wolf" and she is just as beautiful and awesome here. Shen Li Ge has to be one of the most badass female leads in C-dramaland. She is strong from start to finish. She not only possesses great martial arts skills but is also smart! Our leads make a formidable pair. Their chemistry is not red hot, but is maturely developed with quiet understanding and loyalty. I feel that in the first 33 episodes, they don't have enough scenes together, I want to see more of them.

I do not enjoy the fight scenes. It seems like ridiculous that every time someone kicks or hits, the opponent would fly across the room. Since it's not a wuxia drama, I wasn't expecting too much to begin with. What is up with the random wind/fan blowing to show our FL's flowy hair? And a spin to take off her wedding dress and accessories? I also feel it quite unrealistic that our villain 2FL could get caught so many times, yet she is still alive. She's like this little cockroach that never dies. It's quite amazing actually.

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Silly lil drama that made me MAD

I came in thinking this would be a cute, sweet historical setting love story but ended up wasting my entire evening trying to find redeeming factors to keep going. It's 2 AM and I just watched the last episode to see how it ends (happy ending!) but I've decided not to waste more time on this.

- RANT SECTION -
I am INFURIATED. This is also probably because I started this after finishing two historical Chinese romcoms where the male leads were SO lovely and lovING, but the male lead of this drama is a B-R-A-T. I know he's young, and supposed to grow/mature, but I'm sick of seeing him treat the female lead, who is by all accounts very lovable and sweet, like TRASH. In the span of a couple of episodes, he uses her unwavering love for him (as she believes he is her childhood sweetheart at this time) to frame her as an arsonist, a thief, and worse. He pretends to befriend her but tries to get her off his back the first chance he gets so he can run away to play (in the brothel, casino, or whatever). He yells at her in public, embarrasses her, patronizes her, lies to her, and talks down to her. Just writing this makes me recognize how verbally abusive he was in only the first 6 episodes. This ain't hate-to-love y'all, this just straight up disrespect. And it wasn't funny to me.

At this point of the drama, they're not a couple, but they're "married" because of the female lead's antics. Even so, the male lead has no respect for her as a human being and demeans her (while sometimes acting like he cares in a tsundere way... NOT cute for me anymore). She, on the other hand, is still unwaveringly supportive due to her (misplaced, imo) trust in him.

Some of the reviews I read had reallyyyy high tolerance for him and brushed it aside as bullying, and that he gets better/more devoted to her. This watcher does NOT have time for that. I choose romcoms because they make me happy, and I love watching couples grow to respect and admire each other. I don't care, at this point, if the male lead does that in this drama. It's too late. When I'm a quarter into a drama, I want to start seeing RESULTS. Ooh y'all, I haven't watched dramas in a hot minute but I did NOT come back to watch a show filmed in 2020 to watch the innocent and sweet female lead get yelled at, smacked in the head, and called names by the male lead. I can't even begin to think of the ways he would have to grovel to make me like him...

Also - weird that the show had a couple of bare-chested scenes with the male lead actor. It wasn't... necessary and showed his (lack of) assets. So, um. Bleeding into my dislike of the male lead in general is his voice going super low (although it was also funny to hear). In serious situations, he would be yelling in a low voice but mannn did it sound forced/fake. Maybe that's just the dubbing. By all accounts, his acting was aight (how hard is it to act mean to a woman?).
- END RANT-

I think if you're okay with the complaints I had above, you'll be fine with this show. Personally, I have a low tolerance for characters that treat their significant others like ----.

I read spoilers for the actual plot and it seems fun and interesting. I really like the female lead, despite her naivety and cluelessness (which is low key charming, haha). She's very smart when it comes to autopsies and although I didn't see her conduct an investigation because I stopped watching right when she was about to, I read that she figures out a lot of things and is intelligent. I LOVE the male lead's father character (he's super goofy, with a big red nose and jovial face. Wonderfully casted!) and the second lead couple looked nice as well. I also read (sadly, after I started) that this was more COM than ROM, which is fine, but it's not fine when the male lead is pushing the female lead away and tells everyone she's his servant girl while we're 25% through with the drama.

A happy ending is nice, but this intro was RUINED for me by the male lead. Even if he is redeemable later on, I don't think any amount of groveling could make it okay in my books. I think it's okay that the female lead is forgiving, since that's her character, but I was VERY upset FOR her and I couldn't stomach past the first quarter of the drama. I'm super disappointed, as the jokes were cute and the drama itself seems light-hearted, but when I watch a drama, I need respect from both characters to really believe in their love.

(Note: All the ratings are set to a 5.0 default since I didn't finish the drama, except the music which I enjoyed. Thus, I do not take them into account when calculating overall score.)

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This is my first time writing a review I felt that the cinematography was amazing i loved the contrast with the the content of the show which had a lot of gore and the light background with the games that had light colors, overall the acting and music was great i just really hate the main character I expected some sort of development from him character wise it felt like he only won in the end out of luck he didn't really earn that money, this is someone who literally signed away his physical rights the loan sharks were going to take his organs and they most likely were not going to do it in a hospital so after or maybe during the process of the organ harvesting he could die he was in mortal danger and yet he didn't take that seriously even his diabetic mother wasn't enough to motivate him were it not for his childhood friend killing himself he wanted them to quit together and then what were they going to do financial wise, I felt like that didn't make any sense the writers wanted him to be a 'good' person a little too much most of the other main characters were willing to do whatever it took to survive and he just wasn't the same.

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The drama hits you hard in every pay possible..

This is hands down the best k-drama I have seen till date.
Everything from storyline, acting and OSTs are splendid. Although it has a sad ending but the actions of each character seems justified & leaves an impact in the final outcome.

Cast:
Every character has aced their role to near perfection. Conversation between all the main characters, their respective actions and following repurcussions pace the show in a very balanced way.
Eugene Choi and Go ae shin's relationship and the way of embracing each other is represented in a very beautiful manner.

OSTs:
Each of the songs hits very deep. All the songs are so beautifully composed.

Glad that I watched this masterpiece and it will have a lasting presence in my memory.
Hope to watch it again sometime...

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Everyone who likes school/youth dramas should watch this...

Watched this the 1st time back in mid to late 2020 after watching Intense Love and The Romance of Tiger and Rose because Ryan Ding (Yu xi) was in it.

So about the main reason I chose to watch this drama. Obviously because of Ryan Ding. Loved his role as ML in The Romance of Tiger and Rose and in my opionion he never disappoints. He is a master of tender looks and eye gazes and he does funny characters so well. He's got quirky & funny expressions that he makes w/ his mouth that almost seem adlib and cute. He always makes me laugh. Humor, charm, and playfulness with his FLs are what he is so good at. He easily creates chemistry and tension when needed with all the other characters as well. Don't get me wrong though he is very funny but definately delivers swoon worthy love scenes. This drama was much better than I expected and leaves you wanting another few episodes to explain unsaid parts to the story. There is another likable actor that plays a quiet 2nd ML personality and adds some competition for the FLs attention. The actress who is the FL's housemate/friend is an interesting character that has her own tragic story within the story as usual. The final few scenes, mainly with the FL in them, are sad and it gives you that gut twisting sadness that good dramas create. I started tearing up with the FL as she thinks back all while a touching beautiful song plays in the background that adds sadness and effect.

She returns to a meaningful place she spent time with the ML at & is thinking about him. It made me want to cry with and for her. (She is another underrated actress and I really liked her in this drama.)
I don't want to give anything away and I liked the ending of this drama however, it left me wishing for more explanation as related to the why things were the way they were. Guess I'll be looking for the book to find out more explanation if there is more. I didn't skip any scenes (although I wanted to so I could find out the outcome and if it had a happy ending.) I resisted though!!! Stayed watching & was anxious, interested and curious until the very end.

Want and will watch this drama again!

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