Reviews

Wasn't Hyped Enough

i understand why people may dislike it somehow but i don't get at all why this series doesn't have any attention at all. the cast (and their acting as well) is amazing, the topic of the show - aliens, space etc - the sci-fi aspect in general is also something new and fresh, especially for thai series & gmmtv. i really like the ost, the colour palette, the editing, the entire visuals and aforecided cast! the plot was kind of messy, especially at the first part of the show. in the last episodes the writing somewhat improved, but still has its drawbacks. the whole thing could be better if it was about friendship and focused on the actual plot alongside with platonic relationships, not involving unnecessary love triangle and romance at all. the plot in general lacked a lot of details, it also shows that gmmtv didn't have enough budget to implement the idea, some characters didn't have "soul", at some points it was boring to watch because of how they just tried to fill the gaps with annoyingly long scenes that didn't even make any impact on how the following events unfolded. despite it all, i really really enjoyed this silly, sometimes illogical, but funny thing, and i think this show unfairly got much less attention that it should have been.

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Messy writing but beautiful couple

Leads are great together. They have good chemistry, love all of their skinship and cute scenes. I just think it felt a little rushed how they got together too fast. Maybe they could've take a little more time to reconcile and we could get more angst and the drama could focus on why they broke up before they make amends. But regardless of that, they were good. But still I think the actors deserved better than this drama for reasons I will explain below.

I'm an advocate for cdramas not having 30 eps or more. It's always a little slow on pace, and this drama was no different. After they get together it's like they went around in circles between his father being an a**hole, their flashbacks together in the past, and chinese police propaganda. Then she gets pregnant and it's all them and their long-distance relationship which felt a little repetitive. It felt like there was no story for real and nothing really happened. I'm usually a fan of these kinda shows where it's more focused on the characters rather than plot, but here it was neither one nor the other. They could've talked other things like why he got into the police (we know it's bc of his deceased stepfather but that is never really portrayed), or her parents' divorce which was done superficially. They could work on this and we would know more abt their characters. The dialogue is the worst. Things are poorly explained, if they happen to be at all. The timeline is a little confusing too. Flashbacks felt sudden and out of nowhere.

ML is annoying. He's too serious, never laughs or softens (sometimes not even with FL) and all characters like to praise him for smth. I mean, it's like he's perfect but not in a good way, more like a robot. And I simply can't forget the time he called FL too innocent and silly (I think those were the words) just cause she's always smiling and in a good mood. It was just patronising. The whole time he acted all macho like he had no weakness at all. FL tried to take some feeling from him but he doesn't loosen.

I also felt there were too many characters and none of them had screen time and space for their stories. It bothered me that:
- We didn't know if Mingyu and Duan Rou got married;
- ML had siblings who never showed up, why say they exist in the first place if they have no part in anything at all;
- That FL's friend who is a doctor had more screen time than he should, there was no need to know his story;
- Mingyu's son was left aside during the drama and it's like his father doesn't care abt him. He just goes from one person to another and must understand everything. He's a kid, he needs security and to be taken care of!!
- We didn't get to see the face of ML's cousin who introduced the leads until the last ep, she was like a ghost, we could only hear her voice, I don't know why;
- Why did ML's parents not divorce?! His father was an abusive father and husband. Even if his father was trying to be better in the end, she still should've divorced. FL's dad cheated on her mother and they got divorced but ML's dad beated on his children (especially ML's sister cuz she's a woman) but that can be forgiven. Ugh!!

Although side stories are usually not that important, they shoud at least be told right. It's like they opened some paths but never took time to finish it. That's just disrespect with the viewers.

All the chinese propaganda was one of the worst things of everything. Cause the couple is really good, I can handle some drama as long as it's abt them. But the show spend some time just showing how SWAT works and it was just boring yn. And sometimes it's played to show how awesome and badass ML is, but I don't really like him, he's too forced.

All in all, it wasn't bad. It was a little boring and the narrative is lost, but the leads form a beautiful couple. If you focus on that maybe it was better than I made it seem. But for me a drama is not just a couple, but also narrative and writing, which here could be way better. Overall rating goes for the couple.

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Worth Your While

Well, I actually didn't expect it to be that good. I was delighted to see Zhou Ye not being the quirky kind of girl she so often portrays. I really liked her as the FL and she easily pulled that of, too. Makes me looking forward to what she will work on in the future. Of course Scent of Time is not flawless, but overall I highly recommend it.

The strong point is the story telling, which is a weak point in far too many dramas. A really unusual, interesting premise and start (or at least one I haven't encountered before). Executed quite brilliantly. All leads are marvellous and a legion of well cast support characters makes it interesting and captivating. Especially as the characters are allowed to evolve which leads to some of the support characters exhibiting some unexpected, rather surprising, but believable behaviours which creates these little moments that make you really fall for a drama. Refreshingly (nearly) no unneccessary drama just for the sake of it. And I have to admit, I didn't see that twist coming. Not.At.All!

And never ever has the sight of a bowl of noodles make me cry that hard.

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Not happening

I watched a Korean drama that I really enjoyed, which raised my expectations for this one. However, despite the storyline changes, it didn't captivate me. The lead actor, whom I usually like, seemed to deliver poor acting here, and I couldn't connect with the female lead either. Everything felt fake."
Those who haven't seen the original story might find it worth watching."
The inconsistency in the portrayal of the mother's escape storyline, especially considering her condition of having Alzheimer's but still being aware enough to conceal herself, seemed implausible and difficult to believe within the narrative

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No Classic for me I'm afraid

Let me start with saying that I have seen many fabulous dramas and though I do appreciate perfection I don't need it to fall in love with a drama. But not only couldn't I find anything to click with, I got really annoyed about the level of dilettantism. This is a really harsh word so let me elaborate.

The overall rather colourful appearance (due to settings, make up and costumes) and the plastic plants wouldn't have bothered me much, hadn't it been for the sheer amount of carelessness. Shouldn't you at least know to check the make up of the face matches the skin tone of the neck and - and I have never seen anything like this before - the ears, if you strive to be a make up artist? Especially the make up of the FL is so wrong, that her ears appear to be staggeringly orange/peach coloured (as does her neck in some scenes). Kenny Kwang looks like he generously uses self tan lotion. Oh my.

Sorry to say, but style, CGI, costumes, settings, editing all nothing to write home about, if you know what I mean. Is it really so difficult to place candles (yes, it's in the background, but ...), that they won't stop dripping as soon as the are lit? Yeah, I know, but there are so many details like this. Call me nitpicker, alright, but if you take two similar vases with flowers to create a setting, shouldn't they have the same amount of flowers and not one of them having noticeably more than the other? And - and this sounds really mean, sorry - some of the costumes actually looked like rather bad cosplay. And have you ever seen a drama, where the lighting in some scenes is so disadvantageous that it emphasizes the bags under the eyes of a FL (in that case the second FL)? Well, here you are.

But all this could have been marginal, if the story and the acting would have swept me away into the drama. The combination of, well, not very good acting, not very good dialogue and a draggy, predictable storyline, seconded by the above mentioned points let me quit in episode seven. I was bored from the start, but a thought I should give it a real chance to change my mind. Nope. Didn't happen.

So, no, I don't recommend. There are so many dramas to watch, better choose something else.

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Uma adaptação gostosinha de assistir

Na época em que o dorama foi lançado, eu estava no meio da leitura do Webtoon. Estava super empolgada, principalmente porque o elenco é muito bom, mas acabei abandonando na metade. Agora que faz tempo desde que li o Webtoon e consegui ver o dorama sem me influenciar demais pelo que eu já sabia da história, foi uma experiência muito gostosinha.

A história tem suas inconsistências, o Seo-jun não tem chance alguma nessa adaptação e isso talvez faça até mais sentido por se tratar de um dorama e a possibilidade de se apaixonar por ambos os leads ser muito nula, algo que só pôde existir no Webtoon. Até hoje não entendo porque a possibilidade de ir a um dermatologista não é explorada na história, já que a questão toda da Jugyeong é a acne, mas gostei de ver como nos últimos episódios ela começa a tratar a maquiagem de maneira menos obsessiva, usando-a quando deseja. Achei infantil a maneira como os colegas de classe reagiram de início ao saber que ela era tão diferente sem maquiagem (o que é risível porque ela realmente não é tão diferente assim sem maquiagem), mas que bom que o dorama seguiu uma abordagem mais "tudo vai dar certo no fim" e acabamos por não odiar nem culpar nenhum personagem, pois todos demonstram uma certa evolução do começo até o fim da história.

Gostei muito da atuação do Eunwoo aqui, sei que muita gente não gosta tanto do seu trabalho como ator por achar ele inexpressivo, até eu mesma já pensei assim, mas sinto que pelo que o personagem Lee Suho exigia, ele foi excelente.

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Sense of Wonder

What a beautiful tender love story. The time travel element was a little confusing at times, but the overall story was well scripted. The 2 male leads had great chemistry and an affectionate respectful relationship. There were enough teasers to indicate a 2nd season.
Warrior Yai has a different perspective than scholar Yai so there's room for the storyline to be complex and compelling. It would be interesting to see a more intense relationship and possibly more physically passionate one with Warrior Yai. Hopefully, we won't have to wait long for their story.

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The only downfall of this show and a lot of slow burning romance (not this was generally one) but it just took them so long to get together and it's like bro lol y'all are feeling the vibe, just have at it, okay? But then I get it because then the show wouldn't have been what it was but I guess I was cool with it, overall, it was a good show, not necessarily complications or toxic minus the forced...stuff. But other than that, not a bad show. Clear, cut, straight forward, the chemistry is sizzling, the side characters weren't bad, I liked the relationships and families and yeah, the music was even fantastic as well. So definitely worth a watch before 2023 ends or even when 2024 begins tbh.

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The most toxic of romances . . .

This drama's addictive qualities, and thrilling action scenes, do not matter, because the main romance is unbelievably toxic and romanticizes the most dangerous of red flags. It's as if the script writers went down the list of 'high risk factors' for murder suicide relationships :

1) Suicide threats and knives: Xie Wie takes a knife puts it into Ning'er-'s hand and invites her to stab him. This you, or I , or both of us attitude where the abuser takes a knife and points it at the other person, then at themselves, then starts screaming 'fine just do it, kill me, kill us' is usually the last step before the end. The show portrays this as showing intense love instead of an intense nihilism.

2) Strangulation and grabbing by the throat: Xie Wie repeatedly grabs Ning'er by the throat in order to force her to do something she doesn't want to do - including grabbing her by the throat and then kissing her. Strangulation and choking threats are huge red flags, mainly because it is a very vulnerable area to attack and often leads to brain injury. Strangulation/choking/non consensual breath play to initiate or coerce sex is often a sign of the same intense nihilism.

3) Drug use: Xie Wie has been using a highly damaging performance enhancing drug to make up for health issues stemming from his trauma. His friends have been trying to get him to stop, but they and Xie Wie insist that only Ning'er's love can and will get him to stop. Usually drug addiction/misuse cannot be 'solved' through a romance, and this belief causes many people to stay in toxic relationships enabled by the drug users family and friends who want someone else to bear the responsibility.

4) Untreated mental health: Xie Wie has episodes of extreme violence and paranoia due to past trauma. Ning'er and other innocent people are exposed to this dangerous behaviour repeatedly. Yet, there is no explanation on how this could be miraculously cured.

5) Romeo and Juliet sense of 'no one understands us': Xie Wie repeatedly claims to Ning'er that only they can understand each other - no one else can. That they are both meant to be forged through trauma and hardship, willing to go to lengths that other people cannot understand. Xie Wie repeatedly snears at Ning'er s love for Zhang Zhe - claiming that he's too simplistic and good for one such as her.

6) Obsessed with revenge, excellent at power games, petty to a fault: If Xie Wie only had this capacity of revenge for political wrongs, this wouldn't be such a red flag, but Xie Wie also shows a pettiness and jealousy towards the other family and friends in Ning'er's life and an inappropriate level of condescension towards Ning'er 's father.

7) Power imbalance in the relationship: Xie Wie is Ning'er's teacher and mentor at various points, and Ning'er s father and others treat him as one generation senior to Ning'er. Xie Wie often orders Ning'er around whether or not she is 'officially' his teacher at various points. Ning'er for various reasons begs him or kneels to him about various things throughout the show, but Xie Wie never puts himself in the humble position. Even when he's backed into a corner, he dramatically and violently seizes the power back.

There's probably a lot more. This is all to say in this modern age, there's no reason to teach people that these red flags are evidence of intense love - they are not. If you ever encounter anyone like this in real life - beware. That intensity is often simply a stalker like obsession and a strong desire for power and control over you.

It's one thing to portray a toxic individual who is NOT toxic towards the main love interest and is inspired by her to change (as unrealistic and problematic as that storyline is), but it's a whole 'nother thing to be directly harmful and toxic towards the main love interest.

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Totally a Romcom to escape reality

If you are stressed enough with your work, your life, or whatever burden you have and you just want to watch a simple romcom, this is totally your series! After work, I don't have enough strength to overthinking about someone's drama. I just want to watch beautiful couple being lovey-dovey. I could assure you there is no love triangle drama, or someone who just want to break the main leads apart. From the very first episode, you already can see they are attracted to each other. Usually, main leads got together around half the whole series (around episodes 16, if they have total 33 episodes). Therefore, I kinda surprised about this series. I even start to questioning, whether there will be a lot of cliche drama since this series have 33 episodes. Thankfully, it is a simple and heart warming until the end of the shows. If you are the type who want to watch plot twist kinda drama, this is not for you though.

The only shortcoming from my point of view is, I don't really like the second leads. I feel like they don't have chemistry with each other.

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GREAT DRAMA

The best drama of all the dramas I watched in 2023. Every episode is very entertaining and enjoyable. Many episodes are funny too. I like the teamwork, brotherhood & love portrait in the drama. There’s no boring scenes and all 40 episodes ended so fast. I wish it has longer episodes. Thought the ending is sad ending NOT bad ending but I don’t regret watching & didn’t feel sad. Only sad the drama ended.
All the actors & actresses portrayed their roles very very well. The chemistry between them are so good. The main leads Liu Shi Shi & Liu Yu Ning are superb.

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A Not Too Bad Fast-Paced Drama

It was interesting to see the evolution of the characters and their relationships in a funny but also harsh way. Of course it had comedy moments, but I would say this drama could be described as more of a "documental" that exposes several mothers' difficulties and problems not always regarding their babies. One thing I liked about it was how fast-paced the drama was: no stalls or boring moments were found by me, it ended exactly where it should've. But it is obvious to me that this kind of topic may not be pleasant for some audiences, I should say. I must also highlight that the acting surprised me, from the protagonists to the supporting roles, they all kept me stuck to the episodes, especially Ms. Jang Hye Jin, who I find to be an impressive professional throughout her various roles, including Crash Landing on You and True Beauty.
Moreover, it could be recognized as a pure K-drama, cointaining all the factors to sucess. If you are extremely interested in the topic, or even not at all, watching "Birthcare Center" will surely be an entertaining journey that you will surely not have regrets of.

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GOOD FOR ONE TIME WATCH

About the story in this series is a bit long what they show in the 22 episords they could that in the 15 or 16 episords.But But But other than this long thing the story is the only thing that you can count on slightly. The story is quite good here that can hang on with this show (only if you want to).There are some plot holes are here tehy does not show how the mudder was done like that.The mystery in this show is not too much deep but kind a runnable.

The acting in this show is not that much big deal.The negative acting of the mother is slightly engcouraging .The acting of the male and female protagonist are not too much to talk about.The actings of the other charecter is so so.

I personally do not have any understading about the musics in those dramas I does not feel anuthing odd so I just rate on the basics of others.

As I already stated in the heading good for one time watch only there is not any too much scenes which too much heart touching but some good scenes are there to watch overall not that much of rewatchable.

Some extra points like Over a big portion they cover the fortune teller part in the as shown in the tags which is okey totally in terms of the show.

Overall speaking first time watchers it quite good.If someone wants to watch it then they should give it a try.

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Beautifully Series

This series is beautiful in every way. the characters and storyline are perfectly set. The actor's chemistry is amazing. This is close to the book and was a great action, character growth, and chemistry. There are two only down parts for me, one the ending was left open-ended which I hate they needed to do a better job with the ending, and two that it was censored without the real beauty of it being BL. It is sad that China is still living in the dark ages and censored anything of BL. This would be a 10 easily if they allowed for it to be fully shown and shown the right way with the beauty of BL. The bromance was nice, but you always felt you were missing the true BL of even a tender kiss would have made all the difference. The two main actors were amazing playing the characters and you felt the growth and development of their love. The books are even better. Please China grow up and stop censoring the BL world and welcome it.

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