Reviews

Were You Not Entertained??

Watched it on a whim. I had it on my list on Netflix for a while and just had never been in the mood for it but then the other day I was just craving K-Dramas so I decided to watch it. I was watching a C-Drama I had paused for a while but then just needed to watch a K-drama for whatever reason and this helped to scratch the itch a little. Now I want to watch more K-dramas lol.

I liked it. It kept me captivated enough to finish it in 2 days. Would have been quicker but I had to work lol.

The acting was a bit meh at times but not enough to ruin the story. I'm assuming that is what they were looking for for certain characters, a monotonous complicity with their lives.

I think the FL's character was pretty boring when she wasn't doing anything. It was weird like they would say she knows how to get people's attention and we'd see her smiling and laughing with random people but then in the scenes that drive the story forward, she seems to lack personality. I was thinking maybe they wanted you to not be able to guess what she was going to do next so she would just look blank at times, but I don't know.

My favorite part was definitely those crumbs of romance they threw to us. That man said "I like you, please like me back" and you expect me to not be sat for their scenes?? This rich, successful, unproblematic man who only wanted to protect the FL, you want me to lie and say it was lackluster because of the lack of facial expressions??? I will not stand for this slander lol. But seriously, I love Kang Min Hyuk. He was a supporting character in a few of my first K-dramas so I can't hate him. He's too adorable and I was so surprised to see him in this show. Let alone as the ML.

But honestly, I judge TV Shows and movies based on how much I like them. I am not someone who looks for an underlying message or needs some kind of huge complicated plot to be satisfied. I just watch things for their entertainment value. Was it fun? Did I get bored? Are the FL and ML characters I can empathize with? I really only binge-watch or read when the thing I am watching or reading gets me hooked to the point where I can't put it down. When a show constantly makes me want to keep going and finish it in one sitting, that's enough for me.

K-Dramas have been disappointing for a while now and while this was not a show focused on romance (my favorite genre) it was a very fun world to dive into. I would recommend this, it's short and sweet.

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A great performance from the actors, but spoiled by a poorly written story.

PLOT: ML, a playboy who wastes his life in France, returns to Korea for his grandfather's inheritance. He only inherits 1 old bookstore which he transforms into a cocktail bar, with the help of the FL. She dreams of becoming a great French chef. Through her love, she will little by little heal the ML of the guilt that gnaws at him. But romantic rivals and family relationships will pose multiple obstacles.

PROS:
+ very good actors who bring the story to life. It's a very good role for Sung Joon, but I wasn't totally convinced by Lim Ji Yeon's performance which lacks micro-expressions. On the other hand, the CL shows great chemistry and there are many scenes of kisses.
+ an adorable kitten (✯◡✯)
+ Characters are not one-dimensional. They are all bruised, damaged by life, complex.
+ the most consistent character in this series, the one who has the most realistic-intelligent behavior, is Lee Shi Won. The actress shines throughout the drama.

CONS:
Above all, the story is poorly written, with:
- unnecessary and annoying characters and narrative arcs: the Thai prince and his music group for example; the FL's brother, a lazy person looking for easy money; etc.
- The ML's behavior consumed by guilt, OK. But he hurts the FL, by being totally submissive to a visibly super selfish and manipulative FL2. Suicide blackmail is poorly handled, not convincing.
- FL2 has typical toxic behavior, as does her mother. And the ML's family watches him destroy himself without doing anything, without saying anything?? Seriously ?
- The behavior of FL2's mother is not credible. Why would you want to find someone responsible (especially a 16 year old kid) for an accident? Her final apology is not acceptable either.

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PLOT: Le ML, playboy qui disperse sa vie en France, rentre en Corée pour l'héritage de son grand-père. Il n'hérite que d'1 libraire qu'il transforme en bar à cocktail, avec l'aide de la FL. Celle-ci rêve de devenir un grand chef de cuisine française. Par son amour, elle va peu à peu guérir le ML de la culpabilité qui le ronge. Mais les rivaux amoureux et les relations familiales vont poser de multiples obstacles.

PROS:
+ de très bons acteurs qui font vivre l'histoire. C'est un très bon rôle pour Sung Joon, mais je n'ai pas été totalement convaincue par la performance de Lim Ji Yeon qui manque de micro-expressions.Par contre, le CL montre une belle alchimie et il y a de nombreuses scènes de kisses.
+ un chaton adorable (✯◡✯)
+ Les personnages ne sont pas unidimensionnels. Ils sont tous meurtris, abimés par la vie, complexes.
+ le personnage le plus cohérent dans cette série, celui qui a le comportement le plus réaliste-intelligent, est Lee Shi Won. L'actrice brille durant tout le drama.

CONS:
Surtout, la story est mal écrite avec :
- des personnages et des arcs narratifs inutiles et gênants : le prince thaï et son groupe de musique par exemple ; le frère de la FL, fainéant qui recherche l'argent facile ; etc.
- Le comportement du ML rongé par la culpabilité, OK. Mais il blesse la FL, en étant totalement soumis à une FL2 visiblement super égoïste et manipulatrice. Le chantage au suicide est mal traité, pas convaincant.
- la FL2 a un comportement toxique typique, sa mère aussi. Et la famille du ML le regarde se détruire sans rien faire, sans rien dire ?? Sérieux ?
- Le comportement de la mère de la FL2 n'est pas crédible. Pourquoi vouloir trouver un responsable (surtout un gamin de 16 ans) à un accident ? Ses excuses finales ne sont pas acceptables non plus.

=> Une belle performance d'acteurs, mais gâchée par une story mal écrite.

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as much as i love this kdrama, i do wish that there could’ve been a different ending.. i didn’t really except the ending but i was kind of happy that they are alive but i wanna know what happens next like i just wanna see a happy ending where they’re like free! this kdrama also kinda had me so frustrated like some mafias were being so obvious and i was surprised that they didn’t see these like little hints the only person that i didn’t really except to be a mafia was da bum tbh LMAO but i will say that this kdrama had me come with so many theories and connections and it was fun to just notice like the little clues and some of the characters death got me so sad this had me entertained for a while and im just wishing that there’s gonna be a season 2 like i just wanna see a happy ending ?

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The Best Show of 2023 By Far

Yeah, I said it. Not that I've done a very good job keeping up with K-dramas in 2023, but regardless, I really do think Death's Game captures everything beautiful, intricate and powerful about K-dramas. Right from how tightly written every episode is, to the complexity of each character (no matter how long or how brief their appearance), to even the subtle threads that weave the fate of each reincarnation in the show together- for better or for worse.

There's nothing much more to say about it, really. The message about suicide was a touch preachy, I'll bite, but in the context of South Korea's suicide epidemic and tightly knit society/family structure, the PSA that life is worth living if only so you can try your hardest for the people who love you makes technical sense, even if it's not an opinion I personally wholly subscribe to.

Acting-wise, you really can't get better than this. Aside from our (brilliant) main characters, every cast member played their role with such conviction, heart and enthusiasm that there wasn't a second I was unconvinced by the naturalness of their character and the situation they were in.

And what would you know, it also made me call my parents up after a long time and catch up. Powerful stuff, indeed.

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So I watched this drama in continuation to other voice series. As much as I loved thriller genre, I must say this was not as good as other seasons. Especially after Do kand Woo death. His death in previous season was highly disappointing. His character was so good and complex that I loved watching him. One thing that I found absurd in Voice seasons was that nobody shot the actual criminal in the series but they shot a police officer in the head with the intention of killing him. His mental state was not good, but it was not taken into account.
Now coming to this season there were so many stupid mistakes in first few episodes tht I was literally banging my head on the wall. Ths mute sister of the ML made so many stupid mistakes in order to get killed. The main villain and the concept behind it was good but somehow I was not that impressed with the story line as there was no mystery in it to solve. It became repetitive and boring after a point of time. I didn't like the male lead much but let's hope they come up with a better storyline in Voice 5.

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one of the best rom com ??

8,6/10. Ini drama buildnya bagus sih, karena dari awal dibuat bener2 kocak. Comedynya lebih masuk di gw & jujur lebih banyak nyengir sm ketawa di sini daripada di wfkbj. Plotnya juga realistis. Acting menurut gw gausah diraguin lagi... banyak scene iconic yg dibuat sm aktor & aktris di sini ?‍♂️?‍♂️?‍♂️ OST-nya yg Good Morning - Kassy itu surprisingly sering gw puter dulu jaman2 2018 ????? kerasa bgt jatuh cintanya denger lagu itu wkwkwk. Kurangnya ini drama cuma di ending sih jujur ? gw kurang sreg sm plot di eps 15-16. Apalagi ending. Jujur ga ngerti sama endingnya ?????? tapi gw anggep aja itu happy ending yg sesuai ekspektasi ??

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Suffers from the Chinese Drama Syndrome

I have now watched around a dozen Chinese Drama Series and only managed to finish 3 of them while dropping the others mostly midway through. The Chinese have a remarkable propensity to pull off a "Game of Thrones" in nearly every one of their Dramas. Only 1 of the Dramas I watched managed not to completely ruin everything towards the end.

This is not the one!

To be fair, it started incredibly strong with an engaging Story, interesting Characters, good Actors and an overall good "feel". The first 20 Episodes just flew by and would be easily worth 9/10 Stars. The next 20 Episodes were a little bit draggy and it could not keep up the momentum but it would still have been worth 8/10 to me. Its the last 10+ Episodes that really jump the Shark in ways that I cannot accept, ignore or forgive. I would consider 3/10 as a very generous rating for those.

But lets get through the Categories shall we? starting with the least important (to me).

MUSIC: the Intro is brilliant and fits the Series very well. It has a memorable Tune and gives the whole series a unique Character. However, it is completely countered by the Outro, which is an abomination I could not wait to skip. I dont know what they thought when they introduced that song into the outro but its just ear cancer to me. Also, there were some background music during scenes that was so annoying that often times I though that my Sink was defect and water was dropping from it. The 5 Stars are all for the Intro while the rest is either unnoticable or straight up bad.

ACTING: some great some pathetic! The Actor that plays Sima Yi is the clear Winner here. He does a great job overall and is only let down by the Story towards the end. On the other Hand, some Actors were so over the top "dramatic" that it bordered on comical and the actor playing the Emperor was just annoying towards the end.

STORY: This is based on the Historic Events of the Three Kingdoms Period. Arguably one of, if not the most Interesting Period in Chinese History. So the Story is based on very solid Foundation. Lets not forget though, based on History does not mean "historically accurate" and this series is clearly not historically accurate and takes a lot of creative freedoms, which sometimes works, sometimes doesnt.

The whole Twist with switching off the Emperor is interesting at first but becomes actually a weak point towards the end. The "holier than thou" attitude of the imposter should have better been left to Cartoons and simply looks misplaced in this Series. His actions are laughable and can only be accepted by those who are unknowing in Political Reality. I dont mind having a "cartoon character" in Cartoons but since this Series is clearly not a Cartoon, it just doesnt fit. There is a reason why History celebrates those who had little to no compassion and killed whole Countries. Thats the Reality of life. Jesus was compassionate, he ended up tortured and crucified, Gandhi was compassionate, he was shot, Luther King was compassionate, he was assassinated.....those are no accidents.

This gets even worse later in the Series by the Actor that plays the Emperor (they could have easily replaced him with a cuddly animal and nobody would notice the difference), who I would suggest should take the role of a piece of driftwood next time.

The "Romance" between him and the Empress is LAUGHABLE!!!!! Its really really cringe and catastrophically bad. We are supposed to believe that she is an Empress under constant threat, he is someone who replaces the Emperor and later even becomes a major Player but the two are so full of "Teenage Angst" that they cannot even touch each other.....riiiiiiiiiiiiiight! This is clearly targeted at said "angsty Teenagers" and does not make any sense in the series overall serious tone. The writers even go so far to insult us viewers by suggesting that their chastity was because their enemies would use it against them (they were in laws and that was supposedly a problem). They were living in the same Palace, in the same room, sleeping in the same bed. Do you really think once this came out people would care whether they really slept with each other or not? do you really think once it comes out that he replaced the Emperor this would be their main Problem? Its just insultingly bad.

On a positive Note, I liked nearly everything that was Sima Yi. Even his Romance. However, they even managed to ruin that by letting his Wife die in what must have been the most pathetic, forced, idiotic self sacrificies I have ever seen on film.

CONCLUSION: I am really thinking about watching Chinese Dramas only half or 2/3 max. The way they manage to ruin everything in the last couple of Episodes is nothing short of remarkable. This series is like a Gift wrapped Turd, as long as you only see the packaging, its great but the more you open it, the more it stinks.

Such a shame, there was great potential!

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deep psychological analysis ,detective

Its a very good detective story with great pleasure and would be glad for season 3! Thank u ) !
Separately, I would like to immediately note the unsurpassed performance of Cho Seung Woo in the role of Hwang Shi Mok
He perfectly played the role of a man who had undergone brain surgery and did not experience any emotions afterwards. It’s physically difficult simply because we react in one way or another to some events, details in our lives every day, and even with complete indifference, at least some emotion manifests itself momentarily, throughout the day, and it’s very difficult to maintain the same facial expression, let alone for the whole day or even for a couple of minutes! Or not to react to anger or someone’s attacks, it’s difficult not to respond as emotionally as your opponent in the event of a dispute, despite the fact that you are a prosecutor and “in front of everyone.”
I'm sure it was also a little difficult for the actor to “maintain” the same facial expression throughout the entire series! But he coped with this role perfectly! In the 2nd season, I asked myself the question, “maybe it’s the actor himself who is “without emotions’ that he plays so well .. or plays himself?”), but this was the first time I watched the series with him, so I can’t judge yet! But I really liked his performance. I started watching because
Lee Joon Hyuk thinking that he would play a “good detective” .. and even when I realized that he wasn’t because his character is a “vile prosecutor”, I still didn’t regret watching it).
This detective story may seem boring to some because there are not many events, it is not so dynamic, but this is its feature!
Each episode shows how a person who has undergone brain surgery, who is completely (or partially) deprived of experiencing emotions (as well as feeling the emotions of other people), struggles with that every day, trying to solve problems relying only on his logic and “ 6’feeling”, so to speak... how It was said in the series itself that people who have undergone brain surgery are not always completely devoid of feelings... although it was also shown as sometimes Hwang Shi Mok
could not understand when people talked to him about “feeling angry/embarrassed/embarrassed.”.. he simply did not understand what it was and how it was, while those around him did not understand him, considering him strange.. (except for those who knew about his past).
What's amazing about Hwang Shi Mok's character
He could clearly see when the suspect was lying or hiding something (which suggests that he still had empathy after the operation) and he solved all the cases better than other prosecutors and investigators. He was always one step ahead.
This series (like all cinema in principle) is useful because you can better learn to understand people, understand that behind every facial expression there can be a lot of different feelings hidden, since people express their feelings differently in the same circumstances.. it’s interesting to watch the detective’s thoughts and his analysis of those around him in an attempt to find the truth.. it shows a deep psychological analysis of individual characters, their actions, motive.. I love it, I really liked it!))
I’ll make a special note about the music! It was chosen just perfectly and is very compatible with the theme of the series itself and the events developing in it

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We are Korean Gobolin

Gobolin could have been shortened to a 8 episode story. There was a lot of fluff and misunderstandings which end up extending the runtime a lot.
The best part of the show was the ghosts stories. Some of the characters/world building was pretty inconsistent but the show doesnt really take itself too seriously anyway so its fine. Its mostly a fun watch with some emotional highs and lows. The forshadowing and symbolism throughout the show is pretty well done. Dalkom coffee and subway making their return in this show as well.

Sometimes the way the scenes were cut were a bit disorienting wtih them having several cuts in a row for a pretty simple conversation. The music and ost in the show is pretty solid. Really enjoyed the music especially with dramatic scenes.
The slice of life story contains other elements like mystery, romance and manage to blend them well into the show. The only complaint is that there was a lot of unecessary things that happen due to lack of communication.
Some characters actions are also very convenient for the story and are essentially just to advance the plot. The lore of the story is also somewhat inconsistent/doesnt really make sense. Characters being inconsistent to their lore was probably for irony purposes, but was kinda silly.
The acting was very good overall, carrying a lot of the emotional scenes. Especially when the show itself is mostly humour. +1
If the show ended at episode 14, it would have been peak. -1
Because of the scene where they threw out a plate of food because someone put too much spice on it. -1
Ghost stories epic. +1
Dramatic scenes were dramatic, sad scenes were sad, funny scenes were funny.
Good stuff. Very enjoyable.
Overall, Gobolin.

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it doesn’t end in an HEA

OK, so I’m all for realistic endings, and not not everything being happy roses but I really do come to the stories to escape life and although I think this was cinematically done really well and gave us a realistic ending it also felt almost like a slap in the face because his friend is a really bad person and she doesn’t get punished at all. The show just ends, and then his mom ships him off because she is also homophobic.

I think this has great potential if there would be a season two, and we would get more of an ending.

I didn’t see any of the reviews at first that said it didn’t have a happy ending so I went in thinking that we would get one so it’s my fault for not looking further into the series before starting it

But for anyone who likes their stories they have a happy ending. This does not have it, so I would not start it if you are someone like me.

that being said I love YinWar.

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One of the best K dramas I have watched

I enjoyed watching this show from start to end, it's rare to see a drama getting better and better with each episode, characters in the show are used well they are not in it for the sake of it, cast did well especially Lee Joon gi was at his best in this drama.
Relationship between ML & his family, his sister and fake mother in the sense some scene we feel she is actually the mother she even had a good interaction with Ml's daughter, it was hard to say one character is pure evil except the real baddies in the show. Even that cop character ie friend of FL he was interesting his character was not in the show for the sake of it, each character in the show that is important to the story were used well.
I enjoyed it so much watched it 3 times and still planning to watch whenever get time and feel to watch.

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Bom, mas teria sido melhor!!

eu gosto da história, mesmo ela se perdendo da metade pro final, o que me impediu de amar ela e se tornar favorita foi o fato que pegaram a história do passado e ficaram repetindo em vários episódios, isso ficou muito chato. E só depois percebi que era a "visão" de cada um, mas se o cara lá era senhor da montanha, como ele não conseguiu ver oq a amada dele fez? enfim a maluquice.

Me apaixonei de verdade pelo Eunwoo, ele tem uma atuação fantástica e consegue transmitir tudo de uma forma leve. A atriz também super apaixonante e encantadora. Não teve um que odiei, gostei até dos "vilões".

Enfim, tinha tudo pra ser bom, mas infelizmente se perdeu como tantos outros.

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The perfect slice-of-life drama for me, 10/10

There are no "big" events in this drama or scenes that would keep you on the edge of your seat. It is just a show about four characters and the people around them in their jobs and lives. This is just a simple drama, but why do I rate it a 10/10? The answer is the flow. The way they tell and show each character's story will connect you with them. Individually, they are all strong, independent adults in their 30s, but once they got home and were surrounded by their loved ones, you could see how vulnerable and gullible they were and how much they needed each other. This hits close to home.

As someone who is still young, I always imagine what will and could happen when I turn 30. And this drama answered those questions. A lot of things could happen; you will mature, grow, struggle, and meet a lot of people who could help you or ruin you, yet you will still find yourself like the old you. In short, there is no big difference between your 20s and your 30s; you just have to embrace change.

Definitely worth watching and recommendable.

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