Reviews

Too many holes in the story lines.

“Jun Jiu Ling” has all the hallmarks and characteristics of “Goodbye My Princess” – Peng Xiaoran’s (PXR) breakout drama and one of the best productions of 2019. It propelled PXR into the list of A-grade actress and highly sought after in the industry. "Jun Jiu Ling" is a heart-wrenching and sad tale focusing around revenge interspersed with your obligatory romance between the two leads, eternal friendship, love quadrangle, etc. There is nothing unique or ground-breaking about the main theme, and its subsequent sub-plots, but nonetheless, I was excited to watch this historical period drama because it is Peng Xiaoran’s first drama after her highly successful “Goodbye My Princess”, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

At the end of the first episode, I was left gobsmacked. I try not to be utterly critical of the storylines, but some of the scenes just defy logics. These are just some of the disjointed, incoherent and convoluted scenes happening in the first episode alone:
• The female protagonist could walk towards the Emperor without any actions from the guards until she was inches away from the Emperor.
• The doctor and her daughter could walk into the prison at ease and got the princess out of a locked cell room.
• The doctor’s daughter suddenly offered herself as a sacrifice when all of them could escape out of the prison. It does not matter whether the burning building contains a body or not.
• The doctor performed surgery on the princess face and change it to that of her dead daughter. Huh? And she got vocal chord change as well for convenience. And where is the injury?
• The doctor accidentally killed himself falling off a cliff. How convenient. And he only died after having the last words with the female lead.
• A supposedly heart-wrenching moment when the male lead finds out about the death of the female lead becomes comedy gold. It was awkward seeing Jin Han crying the way he did by cupping his mouth rather unnaturally.
• And what about ML meeting FL for the first time. Slow motion flying scene from the top of the roof that looks like a botched job. The flying speed was irregular making it looks like the ML was hoist from the rope.

OK you get the gist. I stopped watching after the first episode. 7 days hiatus and lack of any good c-drama currently premiering forced me to watch episode 2 of "Jun Jiu Ling". Now I am already 30 episodes into the series. But it still has a crappy illogical storyline. On episode 25, Jun JiuLing saved the granddaughter of a minister who killed Huang Ziqing, by giving Wan Qing a drug that stopped her breathing for a few hours. How is it possible for JiuLing to give the victim the drug when she was constantly being stomped and kicked upon by at least two (2) guards during the commotion? And in the next scene, the Emperor ordered Zhu Zan to be flogged 100 times, and after the beating, Zhu Zan’s face looked like he just came out from a facial treatment. It could not get any more ludicrous.

Anyway, I will still finish this costume c-drama because there are no good period dramas currently airing worth my time. Zhao Lusi’s latest costume drama – A female Student Arrives at Imperial College – is equally crappy too. While Peng XiaoRan is the star attraction here, I can’t but think she should not have taken this role. The male lead, Jin Han, is not suitable in his lead role too. Something about his acting is amiss and I just don’t find the two main characters having the chemistry. I just can’t see it after 30 episodes. And what is with Peng XiaoRan make-up. Sometimes, it looks like she has 1 inch of foundation on her face!!!

Since I am going to complete watching this train wreck, my rating is a commendable 7.0/10.0 for this series. I wish I could just stop after episode 1.

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Trope fest but surprisingly sound and good

I always say to viewers that are watching office romances that you have to enjoy the tropes so the drama can actually land. Same goes for school dramas- you have to appreciate the bullying tropes , love hate angles for the school dramas to really land .

That being said - Secret Life of My Secretary is a typical office romance . Mean and ambitious boss who is secretly self sacrificing who has a secretary who is super diligent , embarrassing and reliable. TYPICAL but it goes above that and that was so surprising . It explores with delicacy conditions, forgiveness , patience and the virtue of being truthful and honest whilst outlining the stark emotive differences between honesty and truthfulness.

The main leads journeys regarding themselves and each other were refreshing and the warmness that this drama exuded was very refreshing . The subplots of the office intrigues brilliantly brought out the overall themes and it was very pleasant how this whole drama was handled.

The cast had great chemistry and every story was enjoyable . Particularly loved the second leads romance and the doctor .

However - it was not too swoon worthy but all basic and warm. Lets just say that I am not going to look for Youtube MVs of the couples . The music was also meh . That makes it score a 7.5 but a hot 7.5 leaning to a 8.

If you like an office romance - then this is definitely a handy one to have in your list !

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a healing drama + underrated gem

This drama was so healing that I couldn't help but rewatch a few of their episodes. Of course, there are few flaws in the series but let just say it gets interesting after the 4th episode. However, for me I enjoy every episodes of the series. This drama made me laugh, smile and cry a few times. The story delivered was so beautiful and I wish it had 12 episodes instead of 11 but I like that they could still wrap it up nicely. Somin and Ji Suk brought the best on their characters. Their chemistry throughout the drama was hella cute. This drama is a really underrated gem. <3

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Before you watch Squid Game...

To watchers from conservative countries/religious countries:
Note that Squid Game has an UNCENSORED sex scene in one of its episodes (I forgot which episode) and if you are alone, it's still better to put on your ear/headphones than watching it out loud. Watch it at your own risk.

Here is my review:
Pros:
- Episode 1 - 8 will never make you bored, so I'm sure you can binge-watch it without getting distracted
- Unpredictable side-plot that makes the games more interesting
- Thrilling
- Characters who participated in the games are varied
- Different from Alice in Wonderland, Squid Games don't have those confusing-puzzle-games because SG are based on childhood games

Cons:
- Too many side stories are missing
- Plot holes everywhere
- You can definitely guess who will be the winner lmao
- Unfinished and unpolished ending

WORTH IT to watch for?
- You who are looking for a fast-paced thrilling easy-to-understand drama.
- You who are bored watching romance/comedy-drama.
- You who wants to join your friends' convo about this drama.

NOT WORTH IT to watch for?
- You who are looking for drama with a good main plot and/or plot twists.
- You who are looking for drama without 18+ scenes.
- You who are looking for a long thrilling drama like "Mouse".

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There is honestly no words to describe how much I enjoyed this drama. It’s definitely not your typical Thai drama which is all the more reason I was able to enjoy it.

As always, starting with the negatives which was that loud nosy neighbour. Never have I ever seen a more pointless character than her. I didn’t like her husband much neither but he grew on me which I never expected. Unless you want a constant head and earache every time she shows up I suggest you skip her scenes lol.

STORY
The drama had a Superheroes vs Villains feel to it, something you’d find in American productions. I feel this was rather heavy with the Power Struggle which I hate as I’m not a fan of all that but honestly, it’s not the worst type as it didn’t give me the headaches I normally get which is great because this meant I was able to enjoy the drama to the fullest. I loved the Family and Friendships they were able to incorporate. Whilst this is indeed a comedy, I fully appreciated the sad parts of it because it made it even more special and touching. I wasn’t really expecting the use of two worlds to be as consistent as it was but I enjoyed those parts as well.

ACTING/CAST
I wanted to watch this when I first heard about it as I’m a huge fan of Inter but unfortunately there was no subs until recently. I must say that whilst I did indeed come for Inter, I absolutely loved the cast especially the good guys. Their chemistry was so natural. I think Marisa and Jack’s relationship is one of the best parent/child relationship I have seen in recent years. It was incredibly refreshing and heartwarming I was starting to question if this is really from Thailand lol. Even more than parent/child relationship, I loved Jack and Laila’s relationship. They had the strongest bond I’ve ever seen, even stronger than biological siblings - they protected each other to the death. I thought Laila was the baddest and youngest female lead ever, she was absolutely fearless and selfless. I would talk about Jack as an individual character but even his existence would probably be a spoiler lol. Just know that he was also a favourite of mine. Jack and his friend’s working together gave me really nice team work.

MUSIC
There wasn’t really any music per se unless you call silly background music one lol. One that was just catchy and you kinda clap along to it. The costumes were incredibly beautiful, some also weird but do watch out for CGI that won’t be Grade A.

REWATCH VALUE
I would say that this is definitely worth a rewatch.

Its pretty obvious that I enjoyed this drama, it’s been a few months since that last happened. I would recommend this to those who like the Superhero theme, a cute child, family/friends theme, Action, Suspense and consistent use of two worlds.

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Reminiscent of The Sound of Music

In the beginning, I like this drama very much. But then it became irritating, so I dropped it. I normally would still check the last episode, especially after investing so many hours into this (I see dropped this around ep 40, so imagine how many hours I've put into this) but for some reason with this series I just never bothered.

I read that because this drama was so popular, they decided to extend the episodes. I wish they didn't - that could be why the drama turned so annoying!

The lead actor and actress act well and looks like decent people (I mean, morally). The ML is rich but he isn't a snob, he treats all his employees and friends with respect, which is a really nice thing to see. And how adorable is his youngest son!!!

I like the pairing of ML and FL. Mr. Lee is warm hearted and Ms Park behaves her age (27). I just love seeing the smile on Mr Lee's face whenever he sees Ms Park.

Aesthetically, the leads are not the most good looking people. But they really win me with their acting. Their smile, sadness, their emotions, won me with each passing time.

And I love the theme song! I even searched for it on Spotify and put it in my favourite folder.

The FL's acting has improved by heaps. I dropped a couple of other drama in the meantime (including The Red Sleeve) as I've been busy, but I can't resist to check out this drama everytime a new episode comes out. Well, until when it got too much!

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This is unique, unconventional, and epic.

This is the best drama I've watched...probably ever. I can't get over it!

This is a standout drama for me because of various reasons:

1. The character development of all characters is definitely admirable.
This does not happen usually in cdramas where some characters feel flat throughout the whole drama. I am not only talking about Li Changge, whose character development was significant (and beautiful), but also Ashile Sun and other supporting characters like Hao Du, Wei Shuyu, and Princess Leyan. It was so refreshing to watch a drama where these characters are able to properly assess situations, make characteristic decisions, and act with sense. Also!! They LEARN. I think that's amazing in cdrama land haha. They're able to grow and mature but still remain true to themselves. (aaaa i could write more on how li changge's character developed but this post would be too long lmao)

2. The plot is solid.
I have to say that things just keep going and nothing really dragged, I enjoyed the adventure, twists, and turns. Each episode is aired with a purpose and the story is easy to follow. This does not follow the typical "formulaic" chinese drama plotline where it loses its footing and begins to falter in the middle or latter third. Very dynamic and engaging!

3. I loved the main characters.
Li Changge was such a badass. She is the character other that FL characters wish to be. She is actually intelligent, independent, assertive, she fights (yes, with swords and arrows) etc.! So cool. Ashile Sun is a great leader with a not-so-kind reputation but with the purest heart. He's such a great ML, sincere and flawed. The other supporting leads also stole my heart.

4. I appreciated the relationship between the characters.
You got sismance, bromance, master-disciple, familial relationships, leader-community, friendships, romance etc. These relationships will make you smile and bawl your eyes out. It's exciting to watch relationships between these characters blossom and change throughout the course of the drama.

5. The romance is to die for!!
I loved it. It is such a slow burn romance but SOOO rewarding. I really loved how their feelings developed. Their banter. The intimacy. The sincerity. The connection. But above anything, I loved their mature relationship and how they respect each other's decisions. I did not expect the chemistry between them, I watched this without any expectations and OHMYGOD. It's great. GeSun is my #1 CP. AAAAAAA

6. The focus on other themes.
Don't get me wrong, although the romance here is one of my favorite things, this drama does not revolve around the romance of Changge and A'Sun. It is the story of Changge, and how she solidifies her identity, then learn truth, then discovers her purpose. Throughout her journey, she encounters pretty dark events and ideas that challenge her thoughts. War, social class disparity, pride, and patriotism are some of the themes that were touched in this drama.

7. The music is so GOOD.
Opening and ending OSTs are such jams. The scores are so amazing. It just sets the mood for the scene so well.

8. The martial arts choreography is so fun.
I don't really pay attention to fight scenes but TLB made me. Those were just so intricately choreographed and well excecuted. It keeps me on my toes and so engrossing to watch. The fight scenes were just. so cool.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Long Ballad and I recommend this to anyone, but most especially to those who want to break free from c-drama stereotypes. Or simply to those who are in for a ride. This one's for you.

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As I finished Squid Game last weekend I saw it was # 1 on Netflix. On my tiny little island of all places. Just a couple of years ago people scoffed at me when they found out I was watching kdramas. Squid Game is basically just a korean movie that has been extended to 9 episodes and in many ways I think it is a very typical gory and violent story that you often find in Korean movies. Something that has been slowly finding its way into Korean television in recent years, especially with shows produced by Netflix. And it is clear that a lot was put into this series from what it's visuals, to the choice of actors and the budget etc.

As I said Squid Game was a bit of a typical story from this type of entertainment that you often find in movies from countries like Japan and Korea (like Battle Royal) and for me it was not that original with them and neither did they do something new with this type of narrative. Which may be why there was very little to the story that actually surprised me. even if I really enjoyed watching it. I found it a bit typical and it mainly just reminded me of other such stories that have come before it.

The violence is not for everyone. I can stomach quite a bit of it without it bothering me. I often think the violence in this type of stories goes a little too far but there is a purpose to it in some ways and the story puts a lot of pressure on your endurance as a spectator, because that is the purpose of it. It's hard for the characters, it should be hard on you. You can hardly look away even if you want to and that is one of the traits of these types of stories. And in that Squid Game is very successful.

The story starts off with a bang, but after that is does take it's time to find it's footing but when it manages it toward the middle part the show becomes really binge-able, before taking a slight dip towards the end. The theme of the effects of late stage capitalism and it's grip on our society and the situation that has created among us is very interesting and the story does a good job underlining that.

Really good amount of suspense going on there and some good character moments in between them, although I thought the story never really took full advantage of it's characters as it spent more time on other aspects of the story. It was also a little too noticeable to me that this was written by a man based on how some of the characters were written and it bothered me a bit. I think the choice of actors, who are all great, made the character more interesting than they might be.

I felt the ending was a little too empty which slightly made the ride on this roller-coaster of a story slightly less thrilling. It didn't leave that much behind. I felt I was missing some emotional payoff from the story. I felt like the personal journey was a bit lacking in the end so it didn't stick the landing. And I didn't feel like enough questions were answered in the narrative. It was as if the story was relaying little too much getting another series. And I appreciate kdrams for giving me complete stories in one season.

This is a nine-part gory Korean film. It really felt like it was made with that sort of target audience in mind; those who really enjoy this genre of Korean and Japanese films (as this is one of the most popular genres of Asian films in the west, which I sometimes find a bit sad but I also understand the appeal). It's good gory entertainment and I can see why it is as popular as it is. It's thrilling, violent and addictive while it's going on but it didn't leave me with much in the end except maybe blood and gore.

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Stupid af

Honestly I was so hyped for this one after seeing all the good reviews and everything but literally just wasted my time watching this piece of crap. And I don't understand why a stupid story like this would get so much ratings and good comments.
Lets talk about the story first.. Was it something different? -No. Did it have some twist? -No. Was it based on the same engineering students bs? -fuck yes. But was the acting good enough to coverup for the basic plot? -Nope.
Honestly I don’t care if the story is about students and immature relationships. It's fun to watch if the acting is nice and if the actors have chemistry but in this case they had none.
Bbomb literally walked around like a zombie with straight face and no expressions. He kept on being over protective towards Jin which was really frustrating cause he Didn't even let Jin figure out his feelings. Every time he'd try to take advantage of Jin when he's drunk. Like haven’t we passed that stage after tharn type and Why R U? And isn't it rape of some sort? He was not even a good friend to his circle. All in all I didn’t like Bbomb at all.

Jin was nice. His smile.. So precious. He did his part nicely.
But no chemistry whatsoever.. I felt weird and forced to watch them together.

Another eye candy KEAM. We all know Keam stole the show with his looks and motherly attitude. But the amount of confusion he gave me. Like my guy please decide who you actually like at first lol. Also the way he would act broken for that somewhat creepy smile of Ball made my day lol.
Yeah that's it. The side characters were nice imo. They did Justice to their characters. JAY was such a cuty, also Ultra. I was hoping for more ships but they barely made one lol.
I don’t want a season 2 please. But give my boy Keam his own show. Maybe with Jin as his partner. That would be cute right?

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A drama that will inspire and comfort you..

I love it!!

The story is simple, not complicated but very realistic and inspiring. The doctors and patients relationships are on a different level. The struggles of those who work in a hospitals, not only doctors but also nurses and other hospital staff, are greatly portrayed and they showed how we should appreciate all their hard work.

The stories of patients are heart warming. The families and each individual showed that all of us, great people with power and even ordinary people, have struggles and different stories to tell.

I love their friendship. I love how five of them managed to be friends for a long time. I want to be part the same group where they genuinely love and care for each other. Their meals together are the best. The coffees and stories they shared are wonderful.

Looking forward to another season if ever the Director and Writer changed their mind and renew.

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Cutest Cdrama that I've watched so far!!

I super love love it.

I was hesitant to watch it at first but since I don't have other drama to watch I gave it a try. And it didn't disappoint me. I enjoyed it from first episode to last. Been fed up with Kdramas and Cdramas aalways give me a breakup from other overly dramatic dramas.

I love the Characters, the actors portrayed their roles magnificently. I am so in love with Miles Wei. Hehe. And the child actor who played Xiabao is so cute and loveable. If I am the FL, I will volunteer to be Xiabao's mom. Hahaha. The FL reminded me of Taiwanese actress - Rainie Yang. They kinda give me the same vibes and their smile looks the same.

The story is simple. It has some twists and turns and I love it. They didn't male thing so complicated. The problems are not dragging and every episodes are enjoyable to watch. Love it. Though it is not that perfect but it is surely reccomendable. Go watch it. ?

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I rank this the best Taiwanese BL series!

I've only started watching BL dramas and movies early September this year and funny enough despite me being gay I didn't know the world of BL exists until recently. So then I started binge watching so many Asian BL dramas/movies and I have to say - this is the best one to me so far. And even though this is already my second time watching, I can never get enough of this show!

The emotions and dedications portrayed by Sam and Yu are just so spectacular and touching. I particularly enjoyed Sam's performance in this series. Every look that he gave at different scenes just tell us so much about the deep, hidden emotions that he was having for Yu. The sheepish smiles, at the start knowing that he can only be at most friends with Yu and trying to get as close to him as possible before graduation were just all so relatable. Knowing that you can never get the person you love so much to love you back, you can only smile every time he smiles, you can only wish the best for him and the pain that the main character has to go through is all perfectly displayed on Sam's face.

And then the bridge scene where Yu said he loved Sam too - the denial, the unbelievability made Sam question himself, again all shown on his face. I've honestly honestly never seen such real emotions displayed in acting before and it is precisely the reason why I can never stop thinking about this series.

I saw people commenting on somewhere else that it was not nice for Sam to 'trap' Yu in the health center during that night so that he could get closer to Yu. I disagree. Sam always knew his boundaries very well, you could see that he still cared so much for Yu by cooking him supper and then sitting far away from him just drinking water until Yu called him over. He also wanted to sleep somewhere else from Yu but it was Yu who told him to drag his bed over to sing to him and sleep with him. So you can see how the character he played was a person who respect boundaries and just only trying to get closer to him for the last time before their graduation. He only wished for Yu to become his friend eventually and nothing more. How could you seriously hate this character?

I really hope that I can forget this series totally then keep rewatching it because it's just so fantastic! So to those who had yet to watch it, you MUST watch it. I must admit the first episode contained some cheesy 'inner dialogue' but the story I think properly kicks off from Episode 2. So don't get turned off so quickly, watch it and then watch Season 2. You won't regret it.

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This show is Transphobic

The 13& 14 episodes of this show contains a plotline where the female lead is bullied by the students of her college because of an anonymous post claiming that "she's a transwoman and the two hottest boys (the male lead and the second lead)in the college are pining after her" , this plotline is concluded by the two male leads finding the person who made the anonymous post and proving the the female lead is not a transwoman, and does not address the Transphobia exhibited by the students in her college. This indirectly sends the message that " Transwoman should never dare to date straight men and if they do, they deserve to be bullied". It was honestly disgusting to see a show a show like this in 2020

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