Reviews

toxic people will stay toxic people. Nevertheless,

This will be my first review on MDL, and I'm writing it because I believe they could've done so much better for the ending of this drama. To note, I'm very biased because of the original webtoon this drama was based off, and honestly - it did not do it justice. Webtoon ending spoilers ahead everyone~

The drama follows all basic plots of the webtoon. The ending is where they f//ked up. The show has good music, okay acting (people who constantly dig on Han Sohee and Song Kang's acting skills need to get a life. Seriously, it's like both actors have hate clubs or something constantly whining that HSH "can't act" even after The World of the Married and Song Kang is "just a pretty face" after Sweet Home...) - the FL and ML in this drama don't have extreme personalities. I'd argue that they act with more personality in the drama vs the webtoon.

The original webtoon ends with her never contacting Jaeon again, and ending up with Dohyeok. The entire point of the webtoon is to show that toxic people will stay toxic. Nevertheless,

The ending episode of the webtoon is almost melodramatic, in a sense. Yoo Nabi does not see Jaeon face to face, or look him up on social media to find out how he's doing. Instead, she's at a restaurant (?) with Dohyeok, and turns around to see a guy with a butterfly tattoo on his neck, flirting with a girl.

When I first read the final episode, I got chills during that scene. You see everything through Nabi's POV, how Jaeon's vicious cycle continues. Of course, all art and literature is subjective.

My point is, the "end all be all" for 알고있지만/I Know, But/Algoitjiman is how Nabi sees Jaeon back in his cycle. See, the title applies to so many different moments in Nabi's life. She found out that he wasn't a dater when Bitna told her. She knew that she would've ended up with her heart broken when being fwb with him. But,

I would've preferred the webtoon ending to the drama's ending much more. However, all the drama shows is her going back to Jaeon. We don't know what happens after. So once again, when she kisses him in that ending scene seconds after she said "and I know you're a jerk who toys with other people's feelings" and even during the voiceover says "I know that it will cause me pain again"...

She knows, but

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Real life (and love) is imperfect

I've never bothered to write a review but there are too many negative ones on here, and if I had listened to them I wouldn't have watched this show and would've missed out on something really great. So, let me add another positive one to the mix.

I understand that people feel a certain way, disappointment or frustration - but the characters are human! The flaws of each made the show feel so much more real. You don't live life as a perfect strong lead, a great communicator, someone who knows themselves and what they want. You learn after making questionable choices along the way. This lack of communication and understanding, giving into your emotions, making mistakes, looking your fears in the face, these are all key to growing and these characters slowly stumbled through it all like real, normal people.

**spoilers from here on***

I liked when the show flipped from Nabi's inner monologue, to Jae-On's at the halfway point. You come to realise that we might know what Nabi wants as we've been living in her head, but he doesn't. It changes the way you think of him. Is he really a bad guy for seeing other girls when they were just FWB? Does he even seem to know what he wants when he's trying to find the best way to address the loneliness he grew up with? Nabi is the same.

The symbolism of the artwork, Nabi's character a butterfly personified, the flipping of roles between Nabi/JaeOn and Bitna/Nam Gyu, the sunbaes, the LGBT storyline that was so beautifully and respectfully done, THE MUSIC *claps* *claps* *claps* Amazing.

With the ending....it would've been wrong for Nabi to be with Potato Boy. She never liked him romantically, it was Jae-On that was in her heart the whole time.

I think the ending shows that sometimes you really need to just go for what you want, and they did it eyes open, knowing it could still go sour, but in that moment, they chose each other. They came together not because of fate, childhood memories, dangerous super natural events, they just found the person who makes their heart beat a bit quicker, and they choose to see where it could go. I thought it was beautiful.

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No spoilers Just a review

This drama is so addictive the acting was just impeccable and the chemistry of fair xing and lin Yi is just so real and the story is great it's unproblematic which I like very much and this is easily rewatchable considering the people who made this also did
A Love so Beautiful and Love Equation which are also iconic and amazing dramas and the OST is not A love so beautiful Good But still amazing the only negative thing I can say about this show is it is too short and I know this story is from a book and so is A love so beautiful and love equation which is also written by the same author Btw but what can you do also I hear this is getting a Thai Remake so there's that

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I loved this drama

I have not watched One and Only because I am not fan of tragic outcomes even if this a continuation of this story. Maybe when my heart is strong enough I will give it a try.

*Possible spoilers*
This drama is different for me because it is not cute and fluffy which is the genre I normally enjoy watching. There are lots of tragedy that goes on in the story but it is also mixed in with giddy lovey dovey moments of the main leads. I know that many people in the comments are disliking this series because of the lack of kiss scenes due to the male lead's no kissing policy. I respect that, in fact I think it made more of an impact to me. Even without "passionate" scenes you can see how the couple develops love for each other. Towards the end you can see how Zhou Sheng Chen passionately loves Shi Yi without any kisses needed. I love seeing skinship like the next drama addict but I've watched shows with lots of it but no real chemistry or feelings from the couples. Here you can totally see their love progress and deepen through understanding and caring which is what true loving spouses need.

I have so many things I want to say about this show which broke my heart and mended it but it's so hard to articulate it.

*Spoiler*
The death of Zhou Wen Xing really hit me hard. I felt so bad for Mei Xing as he walked alone after her death and after the wedding of our main couple. I wish they would create a spinoff of him finding love. The actor who played Mei Xing looks like he can handle a main role.

I also wish they would have an epilogue with the couple's children but I guess that 1 full episode of happiness for the couple is already a gift from the usual last 5 minutes.

Thank you for reading.

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Heartbreaking truth on bullying

Bullying is a prevalent problem in many countries and its the bigger problem lies with the fact its a problem that is swept under the carpet most of the time. This drama holds no barred from revealing the impact of bullying has on its victims. The violence and abused shown is acceptable for my end albeit still disturbing on your mind and it's needed to show us that bullying is never to be taken lightly. Jung Haein carries his role so convincingly and he is such a likeable character even though he is not your typical hero but he held his moral grounds where its needed and defend his dignity. Sergeant Park with his limited power did his best to do what is right even though the outcome might not favour him. Lets not forget the comical sidekick Corporal Han , he has the best chemistry with Private Ahn n i secretly wished they can continue on to police academy n become detective partners where they solve the crimes together. The ending surely breaks my heart n i cried over the death sokju, when he asked them what have you done to stop it (the abuses) it hits right to my heart because in real life how many of us choose to close a blind eye to unfairness, bullying n abuse, in a way all of us are guilty of becomimg the onlooker which is the finale episodes title. The ending is tragic but it is the more reason why it tells us change must take place

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Another popular drama that is unworthy of the hype.

This review has mild spoilers but nothing that will ruin the drama for you if you haven’t watched it already. :) I have not read or watched any other media adaptations of Hana Yori Dango and my review is based solely on this version.

First of all, I want to say that I am pretty new to dramas in general and jdramas in particular. Jdramas generally have a very positive reception from me and this is the first jdrama which I’ve rated so low.

Hana Yori Dango was a painful watch. The only reason why I watched it was because it was one of the “popular” Japanese dramas according to the MDL database and with over 40,000 viewers on MDL alone, HYD is no doubt popular. It has a rating of 8.3 which is higher than some of the masterfully written jdramas like “Karamazov no Kyodai.”

With these facts in mind, and because I wanted to watch something popular, I tried Hana Yori Dango.

As described in the synopsis, Hana Yori Dango follows the story of Makino Tsukushi who is the only student at Eitoku who comes from a poor family. Eitoku is attended by children of rich families and its despot is a group of four high-school students who go by the title of “Four Flowers,” abbreviated as F4—Domyoji Tsukasa, the leader of F4 and the heir to the Domyoji World Finance Group; Hanazawa Rui, the introverted son of a large company; Nishikado Sojiro and Mimasaka Akira.

Tsukushi always maintains a low profile at Eitoku but when she stands up for her friend and new transfer student Sakurako, she becomes the subject of ridicule and bullying because the F4 have issued the Red Notice for her.

Following this, Tsukushi is defended on several occassions by Hanazawa Rui and she develops a crush on him but Domyouji falls for her and thus begins the tussle between the two friends.

These are my primary problems with Hana Yori Dango:
1. Badly written Female lead.
Tsukushi is actually quite a nice female lead. She is atypical in the sense that she isn’t beautiful according to societal standards, her manners aren’t polished like other female leads are expected to be and she can throw a mean punch.

But Tsukushi is a bad attempt at writing a strong female lead, so much so that it doesn’t justify the “Strong Female Lead” tag on MDL. Yes, she stands up for her best friend Yuki and also protects Sakurako, but at the most crucial moments luke when Domyouji sends a gang of boys after her to rape her (more on that in a bit) or when a knife was held to her throat, she completely became dependant on Hanazawa Rui or Domyouji to save her.

Tsukushi is a typical example of a femae lead who is strong in a “cute way,” but doesn’t stand up for herself at serious moments like when she is about to get raped.

2. Atrocious Male Lead.
Lets get this clear. Domyouji is an asshole. No, he is.

He is the leader of the F4 and actively causes other students to get bullied and he does so even if he someone mistakenly dirties his shirt. He goes so far as to inhumanely treat Tsukushi by asking her to lick sauce off his shoes. He also bullies three boys by dunking their heads under water, to make them rape Tsukushi and drive her out of the school.

The worst part is that Domyouji had nearly no character development and whatever minor character development he did have, was abrupt and sudden.

3. Romance.
By the end of Hana Yori Dango, each of the F4 members have found their perfect good girl pairings. They don’t have anger issues anymore and are not womanizers. The concluding pairs don't sit well with me at all because the only pair I was truly rooting for were Hanazawa Ruu and his crush.

Even in terms of Domyouji and Tsukushi, their development of feelings was abrupt and the realization of mutual feelings happened only after several cliched dramatic events. Long story short, the development of romance has a lot to make up for.

4. The ending. (Major spoiler)
Hana Yori Dango could have had a great ending in my opinion, with Domyouji’s mother understanding that Domyouji and Tsukushi’s feelings were real. But no, they decided to drag thus story into a second season with a boring ending involving a teary farewell.

It was almost as if a part of the ending had been cut out as a sudden decision.

The final takeaway:
I think the best part about Hana Yori Dango is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It is full of cliches and tropes and it could have been a fun watch but it was just too problematic and I have to draw a line.

A handsome 3.5 for HYD. This was a waste of my time. Rewatch value is the lowest I vould offer on the given scale. I do not plan to watch other adaptations of HYD except maybe the upcoming Thai adaptation because I like GMMTV dramas and I hope they change up the story to reduce these aspects which ruined HYD for me.

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This is Dark Comedy guys!

The series description itself says this is “dark comedy”
Seeing most of the reviews saying the drama is overrated and it lacks the point, telling 10 rated comments didnt make sense...
Well I wanted to clear this out by pointing some of the key points people saying are “lacking”

“This drama is not fully crime concentrated.”

Well the screen writer of this drama is famous for his dark comedy scripts and Vincenzo itself is one of them. If you guys watch this drama expecting only crime, well I say... You might get disappointed.
Each episodes have its own essence of either crime or comedy.
This drama, contains standard comedy with a better crime theme. In the end, its however about the entertainment. With prior said, if you are into comedy, well you will be thrilled by the crime action scenes.

“About geumga plaza tenants”

I read many comments telling that the tenants scenes are just lagging and they dont make it up to the point.
Guys, the main theme is concentrated in the geumga plaza. So how could they avoid tenants?
And in my opinion, the cast did well potraying each characters beautifully.

“Vincenzo is not being overrated”

The cast and crew did an amazing job with this series. The plot,visuals, characters,osts are just “chef's kiss.” Just because it's a mix of dark-com, it doesnt make the drama any less thriller.

“The drama isn't romance biased”

Ofcourse it contains romance scenes but not any fluffy or lengthy.
Ms. Hong and Vincenzo are perfect couples. Their romance is mainly off screen. The story is showing only slightest peeks of their relationship.

If you're expecting more romance scenes from this drama, you may just stop now or might get disappointed in the end.


THIS IS A DRAMA! “DRAMA”
That being said, if you look for perfect logic, then why calling it drama?
Drama is all about dramatic plots and twists... And vincenzo, adds to it.

If you're ok with a drama being less logical,dramatic, thriller x comedy, less romantic...
Then this is recommended for you :')

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I think I preferred the first season to this one. While the first season had its issues plot wise, I felt this was more obvious in this season than the prequel. Perhaps it’s because we had only six episodes that it was little tough to establish many things or there was only so much they could do. Kingdom 2 takes off right at the point when zombies can now attack them in daylight, there’s confusion all throughout but the Crown Prince and his group manage to fend themselves. Along with the zombie attack on the forefront, CP also has to deal with the palace politics and fight to remain in power while everything is done to portray him as the person who has committed treason. I did enjoy this a little bit more because the zombie attack had gotten a little boring. I wanted a win for our team

I don’t know if it’s because it’s a Netflix production, but I really dislike how they leave every show with a hint of another season. While season 2 doesn’t entirely end with cliffhangers, we don’t exactly get closure. There are some aspects which were frustrating in the final episode, the CP’s decision baffled me. And we don’t entirely get to know the extent of the plague — which is understandable I suppose. Throughout the series, my favourite characters remained Seo Bi and Yeong Shin, with the rest, I liked them enough but didn’t really connect much. The rest of the characters, the evil incarnates almost had an one dimensional look so I was glad when the Queen became the forefront towards the end.

Anyway, despite some of the issues and it not leaving you entirely satisfied, kingdom is worthy enough for binge-watching. Definitely a decent watch that will keep you hooked!

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I really wanted to like this drama as but I just found the story stale after the 10th or so episode. Not casting blame on either Pae or Mo who were quite good in their roles but the story could have been concluded in 16 episodes and under.

STORY

We have a story of unrequited love, Pon has been in love with Pim since they were in school. Everyone knows he loves her; from her family, to all their friends and his family. Everyone thinks they are a perfect match, the only problem being that Pim doesn't agree and Pon has never confessed his feeling in fear of ruining their long friendship. Though I am certain that Pim deep down inside has realised that Pon loves her, and she loves him though she won't face her feelings. Throw in an ex-boyfriend keen to get Pim back and that is the basic premise of the story.

One long and frustrating story with a White Angel ML who isn't proactive at all and a FL who is just living her normal life being pursued by 2 men; her ex and her assistant. There is no romancing as Pon does not chase Pim so the story concludes when they get together in the final 2 episodes. They go from being a couple who is not a couple; to an official couple.

So if you are looking for a romantic chase with romance scenes, then this lakorn is not for you. The story pacing was extremely slow and could have been concluded a lot early, but with 24 episodes to fill up; the whole series felt dragged out and had whole stretches where the story did not move forward for episodes on end.

ACTING/CAST

Pae and Mo did a great job and their friendship onscreen was very believable and they had great chemisty. The failure of the story was not due to their acting and the support actors did a acceptable job.

REWATCH

Would I rewatch it again, not really.

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A surprising take on period dramas

Kingdom is a mini series set during the Joseon period with a sudden outbreak of flesh eating arisen dead. The series is slow placed but doesn’t leave you feeling like there’s not much happening. It’s almost emotions driven because you feel the nervousness and fear that the characters feel. in this first season we are given a proper introduction to the zombies and their habits while also getting accustomed to the characters. The series ends on a cliffhanger, I’m glad I watched it only after the second season was out. There are some aspects of the plot that feel slightly weak, but it’s all right. I also liked the cinematography, the focus on the vastness of the palace which isn’t usually this visible in the rest of the period dramas. And also the disparity and suffering between the rich and the poor told visually was stunning.

Overall it’s a good thriller with lots of goriness and killing and some zombie apocalypse setting. Totally bingeworthy!

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Great friendship, draggy unnecessary emotional porn....

This drama has allot of good parts but also ALLOT of draggy emotional lectures that seem to be there to show us how doctors should talk to their patients surrounded by all things that seem to be there so the audience will feel emotional... but instead of emotional it just made me tierd sick and brought out my less pacifistic side... It is ofcourse nice to see doctors actually doing their job in a medical drama, putting the patients and their needs first but it just gets to be to much. The way it is edited and added violins and pianos here and there is supposed to bring out the tears but just felt artificill and had the opposite affect on me. The amount of times people in the drama say thank you or apologize would make a lethal drinking game, that not a single person could survive.

What the drama does well is showing allot of types of bonds and friendships between both the patients, their families and the main cast making way for both extremely slow paced romance, bromance, romance , finding comfort in a person in the same situation at the hospital, etc... The 5 friends are playful, fun to watch and just make you wish you where part of their band.

I love that they make way for the female lead to sing even though her singing is just awful, I love the way they use rain to make beautiful emotional scenes (yes some emotional scenes where done well) , i love the food and I love the camping scenery. All things that almost made up for the annoying never ending lectures.. to be honest friendship 10 stars, lectures 5 stars, romance 9 stars.... becomes 8 stars all together. But in a way I find myself wanting to say I am not mad at the creators I am just disappointed...

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excellent show with an excellent message

Just when I was in desperate need of something actually good to watch, these two words appeared EVERYWHERE, suddenly everyone had watched this show and was talking about how addicting it is. And they were absolutely not wrong. The plot keeps you on your toes the entire time, even for someone who is struggling to watch one-hour-long episodes. While not necessarily "scary", even if the violence was censored, this show was overwhelming in the best way possible, every single element of the show helped me feel exactly what I was supposed to feel, the anger, the sadness, the fear, and for that, I appreciate it a lot. But the most important thing here is the message. Sure, the plot, the production, the actors, everything was on point but the message was conveyed in such a good way that I was speechless. I think that this is a show definitely worth watching, especially if you are a fan of thrillers, this show will NOT disappoint you at all

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What a Beautiful Masterpiece

Indeed the perfect pair of the year. ?
The casts are well suited with their characters.
The dimples of the main leads are kind of distracting.
You will just see yourself smiling because of this show.
I love everything about this show.
SLOW CLAP FOR EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS SHOW COME TO LIFE.
No dull moments in every episodes. It may feel slow sometimes but the FL and ML always saves the show.
The OST are addicting too. It's quite funny and super catchy.

Indeed the perfect pair of the year. ?
The casts are well suited with their characters.
The dimples of the main leads are kind of distracting.
You will just see yourself smiling because of this show.
I love everything about this show.
SLOW CLAP FOR EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS SHOW COME TO LIFE.
No dull moments in every episodes. It may feel slow sometimes but the FL and ML always saves the show.
The OST are addicting too. It's quite funny and super catchy.

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