Reviews

Very well done all around.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series and everything about it: the story, the acting, the pacing, the directing. It all came together really well to create another great series to add to the growing Korean BL lineup.

The series begins with an insight to where the story is headed then we go back in time to tell the story of how we ended up there. By the time we catch up, there's still more story to come (including one of the best plot twists I've seen).

This series could have really benefitted from a couple more episodes, just because the story was that good and it deserved more ironing out. That's my main issue with KBL series; they are always so short. Sometimes it's good when the story is less involved and doesn't need all the extra filler. But when they are working with a more complex theme or multiple storylines intertwined, they really deserve a bit more time to have it come together better.

I think this series did a decent job with tying together all the loose ends though just a tiny more explanation or conclusion in some areas could have made this series perfect.

This could have been a 10 from me if they didn't use my most HATED trope ever.. The "I don't love you" excuse for breaking up instead of being honest about what was going on in their heads. I can't remember which series I wrote it in but one of the reviews I did for a series that used that, I said that there's no coming back from a claim like that and it's just as true here. Thank goodness the very next scene is someone stepping in and the couple clears the air and reconciles not even two minutes later so the unnecessary angst didn't linger.

The only other complaints I have for this series is that I wish the "side couple" (if you could call them that) didn't really end up together although they were back to being friends. But the senior kind of allowed his internal homophobia to win which is really unfortunate. It would be great to see a side story or even spin off series that explores their relationship more as I still think they had (have?) a lot of potential.

I wish there was a little more resolution with the father though I get that there were time constraints to fit in the main storyline. They needed to have a serious conversation. The dad get's told off once and he's suddenly a changed man? I highly doubt it. But I just took it to mean it would be a work in progress and that they would eventually come to an understanding, even if we don't see it.

Speaking of things we don't see... I love when a plot twist comes completely out of left field and I don't see it coming while it still fits in seamlessly with the story. I could see people saying there were too many coincidences but I think it was pretty poetic when the truths came to light. (I'm trying really hard not to give it away so I'll stop talking about it now.)

But yeah, I definitely recommend this series. It was full of heart, great storytelling and had a mixture of funny and serious moments that blended well together. The music was a nice change of pace too, giving a fresh spin on a classic formula.

Read More

Avrei voluto una puntata in più

Finale un pochino affrettato. ultima puntata avrebbe avuto bisogno un seguito. o qualcosina in più comunque. sono rimasta un pochino con quella sensazione di...incompletezza...5 minuti risicati di Finale non mi sono bastati. però rispetto alle altre serie questa ha una storia molto ben sviluppata. il protagonista maschile fantastico. mi è venuta voglia di vedere altro. e delle donne finalmente ben scritte e non le solite ragazzine scemotte. Una serie dove muoiono anche i protagonisti... certo un pochino di propaganda per la rivoluzione comunista però abbiamo tutti una storia e la Cina ha la sua ?‍♀️

Read More

Waste of Time

To be honest, one of the worst kdrama ever watched ! The story is very dull and undeveloped with no real ending.
I can understand that the drama is trying to focus on relationship and how it should be handled but with that it lose the purpose of being a drama and become more as educated.

I must admit that some parts it was great and made me want to know what would happen on next episodes but i found my self skipping alot later on as nothing is presented and things are goring with useless circle

Anyway i find it not worth watching at all nor i do recommend anyone to do if you are looking for Love story

Read More

*SIGH* ?‍♀️

Honestly, I don't know where to start here. Literally came to serve mid. I thought the plot was interesting at first and I was naturally waiting to see how I-soo was going to be influenced by Ba-Tang (ngl, I almost call her Bang Tan 70% of the time) and the rest of the classmates in this almost perfect school. I have more frustrations and questions as I watch the drama than I get answers. Namely: (1) what happened between I-soo and his dad? (hopefully we know eventually), (2) why is the lawyer letting him run the school rn instead of waiting until he finishes school, because I don't get how him running the school now works as an incentive form him to want to keep the school? (3) when will the adults start adulting? (4) why does EVERYONE & THEIR PETS want a piece of the school? etc.

I can't tell you why I watched it but I guess I kept hoping it gets better and 40ish minutes of my time every Monday isn't too much time invested. Don't get me wrong there are moments that make watching bearable but it's just not enough of them to save the rating. I guess I am glad they put in the effort and tried acting. idk. I don't know if it was because of the episode run time, or what but very poor execution. Hopefully they learn and grow from this.

Read More

People change and it takes time

Before i start yapping on how everyone should see this drama, I like to point some things out:
1. This is a romance drama and also a family drama. Both have equal weightage and you can't expect the latter to be subtle.
2. Every character grows and it takes time. Its like slow-burn but for character development.
3. Heavily depicts forgiveness, death, and other sensitive topics and teaches how to grow through it.

The reason why I think everyone must watch this drama is because this drama is about growth. It depicts the life revolving around Mai Cheng Huan and Yao Zhi Ming, until their life blends together. The syponsis correctly depicts what is to expect from this drama. In an Asian household, there is bare minimum talk about emotion and morals so growth of any sort in that field was negligible, so to see a family strengthen in that way was quite nice.
Everyone in this drama had a growth, not only the FL but her mom and the ML and his dad. The development takes time so it was understandable to why everyone hated the characters, especially the mom. But honestly, the mom was acting on point to an Asian mom who was meddlesome. Nobody hates the ML for the things he said. Even tho he was stereotypically written just like the mother.
There are characters you can't hate, like the Grandma and the dad. (The ML also, even tho he was rude, he was most certainly right and acted like he had feelings and certainly didn't wait for "someone" to change him)

The overall story was meh~ but it was refreshing to see a strong FL. I absolutely loved the FL. Home girl didn't need a grow-up.
The actors rocked their rocks. I mean yall hated some, got that good acting credit.

In the end, hold on cause ML and FL are cute and their chemistry is also cute.

Read More

For family-drama (with a side of romance) lovers, YES.

I'm actually quite shocked at all the people who dislike this drama, I actually loved it a lot.

In the end, they teach us that, after all, your mom was also once a little girl with passions and dreams. In the end she gave up those dreams to love you and build a life for you. The scene in previous eps where the Mom came back to her old house and cried for her mother really touched me, in her vulnerable moments she cried for her mother who was no longer with her, and whose house she left at a young young age to go to an unfamiliar scary place like shanghai. I cried a lot during the opera stage, Huan was witnessing her mother relive her childhood and unfulfilled passions, which was so so heartbreaking, bittersweet, but extremely touching. As a mother-daughter story with a side of romance, I enjoyed this drama very much.

While the mother was annoying at times, and quite nosy in her childrens' lives, I think everyone had major character development. Their mother learned to live her own life in the end, and love her children from a distance. And her children in turn learned to love their mother even more, because in reality she sacrificed the most for them. Their mother came to the big city, abandoning her dreams, and her kids eventually grew up in an environment where they were able to pursue all their passions. I think they start to realize this by the end of the drama, as they are especially grateful to their mother.

I think through this drama, I have come to terms with my own family's issues. I think my understanding for my parents has grown, especially because I see some of the sacrifices made by the parents in this drama reflected into the one's my own parents have made. I hope I can one day help my mother and father pursue their unfulfilled passions just as Huan and Ming did.

The only storyline I hated was the Zhiming father coming back plot, it was wildly unnessecary, esp if they were just gonna kill him off in the end. But I guess his father's story was important because he served as a major player in getting that evil woman arrested.

While a little more romance may have been good, I was pretty satisfied with the amount they gave us, the haters to lovers development was perfect, and we got quite a big amount of their romance in the first half, which I loved. Big kudos to ZhiMing because the whole drama he had to deal with huan's family drama, which was a whole bunch. At least we know from that that he truly loves her, because tbh idk if I could put up with all of that LMAO.

This drama for me is comparable to the kdrama Live Your Own Life, but I enjoy this cdrama a lot more because they do the family bonding genre very well, and the drama in LYOL is just way too crazy, not to mention the mother in LYOL is way worse than the mother in this drama (LIKE WAYYY WORSE), which I think is another reason I was able to tolerate the mom here. Overall, I would really recommend this drama if you enjoy family-dramas and slice of life! For haters to lovers enjoyers this is also a great watch, just the romance becomes very minimal in the last 11 eps, and more focus is on the family.

Read More

GRAND SHINING ANXIETY

Tbh, I just thought I was signing up to watch another take at W-Two worlds, but this was that but not really. In a GOOD WAY.

The drama has a solid OPENing ? that hooks you from the start. This helps set the scene for the mystery element of the show and quickly raises questions when we are barely settled into the drama . But we aren't given time to process it and we are introduced to our leads and the dynamic between them (which happens to be a one sided crush for our Yoo Ah Young on Woo Bin, not that I blame her) and a very troubling work crisis with an MIA writer. People start disappearing and we meet our second FL, Park Hyun Joo or should I say VERONICA PARK!! ??, who isn't a good person hence Woo Bin needs saving. All our leads and other randomly disappeared people are a thrusted into this novel by our MIA writer whose true intentions and connections to everyone, (and disappearance device) are revealed as we watch. We are taken on a journey of trying to unmask our writer and the people behind it all. The plot twist at the end though, ngl low key didn't see it coming. Played a trick on my mind ??!

The acting is especially good because of the star studded cast, and the dash of anxiety from the plot just makes for an excellent binge watch, especially because we are all at the mercy of the MIA writer until the end. I almost wished it was longer, but I don't know what exactly I would want explored (maybe the disappearance device origins and the people behind it all) because this was done just right!!! Only downside is finding a site with decent English subs. The pace of the drama was good and as for the questionable things I guess we can always chuck up to this being a short drama.

Read More

This wasn’t what I expected

First off I’m a huge fan of Liang Jie and Yitian Hu since Handsome siblings. Though we’re not the couple in the drama they were my favs. So I was excited and expecting this drama. The drama started off good around episode 8-25 it became boring and dragging. The ML wasn’t a simp for the FL like most people are saying. He fell in love with her day one but he should’ve understood her feelings for his best friend would take a very long time to get over. He came into her already occupied life and messed her feelings up. So he was wrong for that.

Secondly, The FL was tiptoeing with the “will she, won’t she?” when it came to her growing feelings for the ML. She knew she was falling in love with him but drew out the hard to get until he gave up. She was wrong with that approach. Then we have the ML ex who he keeps thinking about throughout the whole drama and when she comes back he kids himself, into thinking “Eh, I’m over her.” But as soon as something was wrong with her or the so called kid was supposed to be his. He drops everything for her. He made the already weary FL scared and insecure which wasn’t cool. Nor was it cool for the FL to keep pushing him to her to help. The Model friend was too me no model nor friend. Her relationship with her dad, the modeling world, the other friend was as stale as them glares she gave. The kid sister was super annoying the worse but not the worse of the females. No, that’s the model friend then her. I also couldn’t stand the Older woman and her younger husband storyline. As I felt like they just was there for comedy filter. All in all, the last few episodes felt rushed. Especially the main Lead couple. Will I watch it again yes but not always. Just for the happier times when they finally got back together.

Read More

Laughably bad

I watched this drama exclusively for Moon Sang Min because I loved Under the Queen's Umbrella. This was just terrible.

None of the characters had any b*lls to speak up and tell the truth. Lee Do Han didn't have the courage to tell his brother that he was gay and that the marriage was a sham. Na Ah Jung didn't have the courage to tell her "fiance" that she liked his brother and to Ji Han that the marriage was fake. Lee Ji Han didn't have the courage to tell his brother that he liked his fiance. But, Ji Han still had the audacity to get on his moral high horse and get upset at Ah Jung and Do Han for supposedly keeping things from him after sneaking around with Ah Jung behind everyone's back.

Secondary characters were meaningless and boring. None of the older siblings got their comeuppance for continuously scheming against their younger brothers. Dead mom's husband didn't get punished for causing her death. Ji Han's "first love" was the most pointless and non-confrontational love rival ever. Nobody's actions had any consequences and nothing really mattered. The three main characters made some very strange moral choices and were never called out on anything. Zero thought was put into creating a meaningful story and character development.

The acting was mediocre. Moon Sang Min did a decent job. But, Jeon Jong Seo was terrible. She had one resting b*tch face in most scenes like the drama was a chore for her. Her and Moon Sang Min had no chemistry. Overall, the show was a complete waste of time with zero entertainment value.

Read More

Have fun with smart characters!

General spoilers only. Quite satisfying for one watch. Some of my favorite things of the story were how intelligent the two leads were, that they accomplished things together, and the ways in which the ML went out of his way for and supported the FL. The love triangle set-up was apparent early on but didn't really rear it's head until the last third. It was predictable and a little irritating, but it also served a purpose in this story to underscore a great message. I LOVED that the ML repeatedly said (and followed through with actions) that he respected the FL's ability to make choices for herself, wouldn't stop or deterr her, and would just make himself available to assist in whatever plans she made to help ensure her success. That was his approach to loving, respecting, and protecting her.

There were multiple plot arcs with a pinnacle of crises and resolution, which kept things interesting, moving along, and mostly satisfying. I really enjoy stories where the leads work together and accumulate victories as things go along. The screenplay had weaknesses here and there, but there was never too long of a stretch of it at a time. Some stuff about the wolf clans and magic weren't explained particularly well, and other things required some suspension of disbelief, but I didn't really mind and was able to shrug them off. There's some angst in the second half but I felt the overall tone was fairly light; I was invested in the characters but nothing made me actually cry.

The enemies to friends to more dynamic between the ML and FL was very fun, though it got a little repetitious in the last third as the characters kept holding back. There's a lot of banter, teasing, and playful bickering while working well together. There's also plenty of risqué moments as well as lots of shirtlessness for the ML. There are two kiss scenes right near the end which were okay. They felt cautious but were sweet enough, and lips actually moved a little.

The ML had obvious growing fondness and attraction to the FL, yet at the same time, it didn't feel like there was a lot of romance, especially as both characters kept obscuring their feelings from each other for most of the episodes; I'm not quite sure how else to explain it.

Most of the cast was good and suited their roles well. Jason Gu was so much fun as the playful, teasing, smart, competent, and loyal Yan Qing. He uses a devil-may-care outward demeanor to disguise how thoughtful and cautious he is. My only small quibble with him as an actor is that the moments of most extreme sadness fell just a little flat (felt acted). But there's not many of those moments, and otherwise he was engaging, captivating, endearing, and perfect with this role.

Connie Kang had great range as both Ling Long and Lang Yin. She balanced the drama and comedy of the two-spirits-syndrome really well and made me laugh out loud a few times. She was a tsundere character because of how she grew up, but was morally firm and clever with a mischievous side. My only couple of frusterations with her character were with how the script handled her realization of feelings towards the ML (she was completely clueless for most of it then remained reticent for a good while).

I loved the dynamic of the secondary couple and only wish there had been more of them in the last third. I would have enjoyed a scene of him furthering her martial arts training. The actress playing the SFL was perfect and made her unlikable character at the beginning somehow endearing so when the character grew likeable, I totally loved her.

The foes to friends dynamic between the FL and SFL was great and there was a bit of sismance to it as well (one episode in particular surprised me with that).

I enjoyed the fight scenes; they looked well choreographed and did NOT overly rely on wires or CGI. The CGI of a couple animals was pretty bad but that was a very small part so not that distracting. The music fit scenes well but only one song was memorable for me.

Read More

Truly an (almost) perfect proposal

I wasn't too sure what I was in for when I started this series and you cannot imagine my delight at realising what an absolute gem this little show is.
The cinematography, editing, pacing, and performances are all stellar and create the perfect atmosphere for the somber but sincere tone the script strikes.
For such a short runtime, the story masterfully addresses topics of burn-out, workplace abuse, and even the meaning of life, in a way.
Its central message revolves around reaching for happiness despite life's apparent pointlessness as well as how relationships connect us as humans and tie us together for better or for worse.
Its critique of exploitative workplace culture (specifically in Japan) is perfect in its simplicity and there are several moments in the show which are so genuinely touching and meaningful I found myself tearing up multiple times.

The one thing I dislike about the show are its brief but inexplicable detours into tired BL cliches which happen repeatedly (although thankfully not all *that* often) over the course of the story. Presumably this is due to the source material, but that still doesn't change how uncomfortable and out of place these moments are.
The main instance of course being the scene in which one character forcibly gives the other a hand-job despite repeatedly being told "no" and "stop". Even putting aside how harmful the "predatory gay man" stereotype is, this scene just feels jarring and superfluous. I understand the intent behind it, but this is certainly the wrong approach.

Despite this flaw I cannot deny how wonderful this show is on the whole and how incredibly touching I find its quiet sincerity.
So if you are looking for short, highly character-driven slice of life drama about two people figuring out what's important in life and finding happiness in one another, then I'd highly recommend giving this a go.
Do beware of the SA trigger warnings though.

Read More

An original coming of age drama with moving characters.

Begins ≠ youth is a great coming of age drama with heavy subject matter. Amazing cast of actors. The actors are mostly rookies but delivered strong performances.
The depth in which the main characters are written is commendable. They managed to juggle a big cast while not leaving out any character's arcs. I liked the deliberate slow pacing of the drama. It suits the story.
Works as a prequel and adaptation of the save me webtoon.
Some episodes drag out a lot in pacing specifically 6 and 7. But it picks up afterward. The best episodes are 4, 8,9, 11 and 12.
Overall a very engaging watch. The story is incomplete, so there is hope for a season 2 to wrap up the plot.

Read More

Another C-drama i am dropping this year! what is happening in C-dramaland!?

Sooo where do i start? yes i am about to rant.

1- The first scenes were a huge dissapointment for me, like damn give us some nice CGI.

2- I really couldn't feel the chemistry between the leads and that is the reason why i am dropping this drama, i mean the plot was nothing new (the same plot that has been used and re-used several times lol) and at this point so many things didn't make sense to me (Was i surprised no lol, at least the romantic part could have saved it for me).

3- I don't recommend it, there are better dramas out there, no need to waste your time watching this, hence the rating.

Read More