Reviews

Why what his drama split in two?

I reviewed the first half of the drama, and it was for the entirety of the drama. So, here, I'll give the Cliff's Notes version of my thoughts.

My recommendation would be watch it and decide for yourself, since everyone seems to have loved this drama. My rating is based on my feelings and does not reflect the actual quality of the drama.

Excellent cast. If you've been watching Korean dramas for any period of time, these faces will be familiar to you. I would have liked for some of the stories to have been more in depth, to develop the characters a little better. This drama was a Who's Who in drama land.

The concept was interesting. Some people had a problem that it seemed to be an anti-suicide PSA, but to me it was more about how choices we make affect others.

My biggest problem with this drama was the overabundance of violence. Many of the characters were not well developed, because of the number of bodies that he inhabited in eight short episodes.

But again, I will say, this is all just my personal opinion. Watch it, you'll probably like it.

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Not for me

I'll say up front that you should give this show a try yourself and come to your own conclusions.

This was a really hard one for me to rate. My rating is based on the way this drama made me feel. I found myself unable to separate my feelings from the overall intent of the show, thus the low rating. As I feel I have to say so people don't attack me, this is just my personal feeling/opinion. This rating serves the purpose to remind myself what I liked and didn't like about the drama.

Story: Very interesting concept. I thought the way the story was woven together, with people's lives intertwined, was well done. As you go further into the story, we find Yi Jae inhabiting bodies of people that he's encountered before. We also see that his downward spiral was the result of his first encounter with someone's death. This drama embodied the concept of "every action has an equal and opposite reaction". I thought the story became more meaningful when it was personal, concerning his girlfriend and his mother. I just couldn't get past all the evil/darkness/bullying/violence. I probably would have enjoyed it more if time was taken to develop some of the characters more, to see why they became the way they did.

Acting: Can we just talk about the cast? I'll admit, that's what drew me to this drama. Each person was excellent in their own right, but the standouts for me were:
1)Kim Mi Kyung as Yi Jae's mother. I love this actress in everything she is in. Here, she embodied someone carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders after her son's death. Her slightly stooped posture, her slow, mincing gait, and her facial expressions (or lack thereof) showed us that she was walking through the world by herself, after losing the person most important to her. I felt her despair. Watching her face, her flat affect, a lone tear running down her cheek, it seemed that it was all she could do to just keep living.
2)Seo In Guk as Yi Jae. I'll admit that he's one of my favorite actors. Here, he hit all the emotions (even if there were only brief moments of happiness shown in flashbacks). Anger, fear, frustration. Watching him moving from hopeful to hopeless, wow.
3) Kim Ji Hoon as Park Tae Woo. Sociopath? Psychopath? His portrayal of an evil man masked as a successful businessman just gave me all kind of creepy vibes.

This was filmed in a very dark way. I understand that it was part of the whole experience, but some scenes were so dark, that if you watch it in a well-lit room, you won't be able to see what's going on. So, watch it in the dark.

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Unexpected TRAP

First I fall for the bosses and part timers. I mean I'm a Im Joo Hwan fan and he doesn't have many big shows all the time, so this was perfect. But later you get a warm feeling with the regular costumers and their interaction. And just like that you get to season 3, craving they have a season 4 in South America ????
This season had a very special spice, as many costumers were Japanese or descendant. When you know that there is always a bit of a friction between these two nations, interaction like this, makes you forget about past conflicts and has a spark of hope that, us new generation, can change much hate among nations.

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Very disappointing

The script seemed promising, but it offers nothing, apart from the performance of a few young idols.

PLOT: 2 FL, arrive, with the same name but a different personality and past. They decide to exchange their profiles. How will they integrate?

PROS:
+ debut of young idols on screen :)
+ Good OSTs
CONS:
- zero story: we get lost in childishness, lies and hypocrisy. And it lasts for 22 episodes (15 minutes, fortunately :)
- The FL is maddeningly naive!!
- Acting skills to improve for everyone
- no chemistry within the CL (together in the finale, only).

=> Lots of skipping... Series that won't help these idols make their debut :(
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Le script semblait prometteur, mais il ne propose rien, hormis la performance de quelques jeunes idoles.

PLOT: 2 FL, arrivent, avec le même nom mais une personnalité et un passé différents. Elles décident d'échanger leur profil. Comment vont-elles s'intégrer ?

PROS:
+ débuts de jeune idoles à l'écran
+ Excellentes OST (idol's drama :)
CONS:
- story nulle : on se perd en enfantillages, en mensonges et en hypocrisie. Et ça traine sur 22 épisodes (de 15 minutes, heureusement :)
- La FL est d'une naïveté exaspérante !!
- Des acting skills à améliorer pour tout le monde
- pas d'alchimie au sein du CL (together dans le final, seulement).

=> Bcp de zapping ... Série qui n'aidera pas ces idoles à faire leurs débuts :(

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Interesting characters and well-written story.

A serial murder case has been happening around the people acquainted to the employees of a local supermarket, intriguing these employees to secretly start investigating the case. They tried looking for clues among the various items purchased by their customers. As more suspects appear, their spectrum of suspicion widens, messing the teamwork among themselves.

"The Killer's Shopping List" is unique and well-written, it's only 8 episodes. It was amazing since the first episode. It was funny and bright, yet it was smart. From the opening scene, it sets up the story and the characters so well. Starring Lee Kwang Soo as Ahn Dae Sung, an intelligent employee of MS mart, owned by his mother Jung Myung Sook (Jin Hee Kyung).

I am not a big fan of murder mystery, but this drama was enjoyable. Comedy and crime sounds like a weird mix of genres, and there were a lot of seriousness, triggering topics around the cases (child abuse and trauma), but somehow they were able to bring comedy through the characters. They're also not one-dimensional characters, they have their own personality. As the plot reveals what they're individually dealing with, it makes them feel more human. I was grateful and relieved with how they handled a trans character. What I didn't like is few other characters that felt a nuisance because their behaviour and choices were annoying. As far as investigation goes, they didn't lose the momentum although by the end the culprit was quite obvious. The ending was satisfying, a surprisingly good watch!

-Feb 2024, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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Wow!

I did not expect this drama to be so good. It was interesting from the get go.

The female lead pretty much carried the whole show, it was focused on her story and suffering.

It also included her relationships with:
It began with her ill-fated one-sided relationship with Zhong Ye Lan, who she tricked into marrying her.
They she ended up tangled with Zhong Xi Wu, who just controlled her life and decided to make major decisions that included life and death. (Spoiler alert: The real him did seem a bit different than the dream control freak)
She also met Hua Rong Zhou, who was greenest flag, her confidante, savior, and a person who loved her without asking for anything other than her company.

I didn't expect the ending. It was a bit abrupt and I want to see more of FL's journey once she wakes up. Hopefully, there will be a season 2.

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Constant lack of communication

The premise of this sounded really interesting and I got through all of it. But there were some things that were pretty confusing and not good.

Main issues for me:
- Constant lack of communication mainly on the FL side. Some is to be expected, it’s a drama but she made bad decisions one after the other to the point I questioned if she was 12 years old.
- this could’ve been 16 episodes without losing much. There were too many repetitions, boring business conversations and dramas no one cares about.
- the damn phones always interrupting everything. Could have been a paid actor by the way they were constantly interrupting almost every relevant scene and development and it seems no caracter ever heard of silent mode or simply not picking up the phone.
- the SFL. This character is just completely atrocious. Always giving bad love advice when she has a terrible love life herself and when it all goes wrong “well, nothing we can do now, it’s the way it is, focus on a different guy”. No redeeming qualities. No growth.
- The Second Love Interest. Where did this sudden love interest even come from?? Why was he so fixated on her? Why climb a tree?
- Continuity issues. At the start she doesn’t know what he looks like because there’s no photos online and he is so illusive there’s only a picture of half his face, in the middle suddenly everyone knows what he looks like, even her mom because he’s so famous?? Also in his house she sees he likes The singer and has her albums, then later is talking to him like she never hears he likes her??

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The best of Wang You Shuo

I have to admit that I’ve watched this series over and over since it’s been out. Even with new Xu Kai series. I rather rewatch this. Rong Yu was played very well. He did a great job. I literally still cry at the same scenes each time I watch it. It makes me wish there was a real man out there like this character. Prior to this I was watching Journey to Destiny which was also really really good. But I have to say. This role of Rong Yu just won my heart. The integrity, the confidence, the person he is just is so addicting. I really hope there’s a season 2. I would love to see what happens next. I think it should include more of Rong Yu thoughts. His voice and everything was done really well. Because of this I searched for other shows he was on. And apparently I’ve seen some. But never truly noticed him until this role. Prior to this it was Xu Kai’s role in Ancient Love Poetry that I was addicted to. But Wang You Shuo did great!!!!

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Cultural Ignorance of the introduction

I dont normally post reviews but I felt like I had to say something about the cultural ignorant intro into the story. I have not actually watched the rest of the show, because it is a medical drama, and while something about doctors' noble profession and their day to day lives is fascinating, I cannot stomach the scenes of a medical drama. I dont have an iron stomach. Yet I start medical dramas only to end up quitting quickly.

It starts of with the FL and her fiancee, as Doctors Without Borders. They drive in a Landrover like car towards an isolated, mountaneous region. The indigineous people there seem to be muslim, from several shots of the women's headscarfs. I was guessing 'Where is this?' It looked for me a bit more like more central Asia, rather then really dry sandy countries like Yemen or Jordan.

The international doctors, including the female lead help a heavily pregnant woman with an impartum (?). The men wear ethnic clothing (Afghanistan?) but the pregnant woman being helped wore a Western t-shirt and sweatpants. In the operating scene, the fiancee advises the FL to remove the women's womb, that that is the safety thing to do and to protect the women's lufe. The FL doesn't listen to his advice. After the operating scene, the fiancee asks why she didn't listen to him, doesn't she knows that that was the best option, and the FL responds that she knew that removing the womb was the safety option, but that before operation the heavily pregnant woman (with a hijab on, representing Muslim faith) was holding a "talisman of scriptures" (Quran?) and according to the FL, was CURSING anyone who would take her womb away (!!!). The FL goes on that even in poverty and war, that "here" in this clan, the worth of a woman is defined but birthing as much babies as possible until they could they anymore, even if it threatens their life. I don't know if they were in a fictional place, or if was really representing an existing country (war and poverty: Yemen or Afghanistan?) but I just really didn't like that. I felt like that was a really stereotypical primitive view of poberished uneducated Muslims. I know that in some Muslim faith cultures, more people have bigger families because they are very family oriented and see children as blessings. Even if some majority Muslim countries have bigger families, and in war and or poverty, not everyone has access to birth control but I know no country that where women's ONLY value is to constantly get pregnant and pop out tons of babies.

I dont like that. After I dropped this drama, I saw another drama highlighting racism from a white antagonist towards the Asian fl, calling her 'black haired yellow skinned'. If you don't like people being racist towards yourself, then why portray woman in another culture in this drama in such a primitive stereotypical way?

Just my two cents here ^

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The main weakness of the story is that the main characters are not well paid, Especially Hwi. Hwi in the first episode is a psychotic character who does not have a good life situation; a pitiful character who is supposed to be next to the female main character. But all of a sudden, in the later episodes, he turns into a calm and pleasant character who has good control over his behavior. It seems that the process of these two returning to normal life and becoming interested in each other should have been a little more complicated.
Honestly, considering the rating , I expected more. It was low in terms of realism and believability. For example, the neighbors slandered Ming Kyung and quickly realized their mistake! and similar cases.
The secondary characters are more pleasant, especially the women's association and In Ja. Baek Ji Won with his charismatic personality makes the audience interested in continuing to watch.

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This story catch my attention,after BF series im already eager them to have another series. We fans already wait long enough, the pilot is really good having a time travel series fascinate me more the chemistry between the male lead emphasize there role greatly. And the second couple having this it's interesting for me about there story i hope you give a worth and spicy scene especially the main couple, having to finish BF series is really sad but i have a high hope for this series. I will support you all until my last breath.,hopefully this series will be released already??

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SLOW BURN AND SLOWLY KILLING ME

Hm… i have watched MeenPring series which is MDGO before and it was alright and I thought this series could do them justice but MY GOD!!! This series is boring. I am sorry but the series have good actors but plain and bland plot. No heartthrobbing scenes much and sex scenes are okay not the best but it was alright. This series could end within 8 episodes but I dont know what is going on with the unecessary lovey dovey scene without purposes???

The conflict between Ai and his mother is not resolved too. Just hanging on a thread without any closure. Boring. I dont know why but MeenPring always got the most boring series. The pattern of their series are the same. It was good but not good enough for 12 episodes long. Could have just shorten it to 8 episodes. Cause after episode 8, i started to yawn and its getting boring.


In a nutshell? Good actor, boring plot, no character development, no plot development, unecessary lovey dovey scenes, side pairing development sucks and no closure plot.

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Well done crime drama / mystery

Unusual in that it's only 6 episodes, and the conclusion wrap-up is only minutes long. Usually these dramas last 12 or 16 episodes with a full hour devoted to what happens to each character. Here this was extremely abbreviated. The main story drops several hints pointing in the right direction to figure out who was behind the crimes without giving anything away. The separate arc involving the two detectives is particularly well done and arrives at a satisfactory conclusion. Of course, rewatch potential is for following closely the early hints leading to the conclusion. The best measure of a series is the urgency felt to watch the next episode and I found myself looking forward to each next episode.

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