Completed
Forever and Ever
0 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 7.5

Warm and comforting

First of all, I know that my ratings are all 7's and 8's, which many might think is low, BUT if you look at my other reviews you'll notice I have never given anything a 10 because I feel like giving everything you like a perfect score makes it lose its meaning.

Overall this is a great, heartwarming drama. I don't care much for the family politics and stuff about the ML's research lab, but I can't say that it's bad or poorly written, as it's actually just fine. I just didn't care about it as I mainly wanted to watch this to heal my heart after One and Only (as most people did). On its own, this is actually still a very cute drama; their awkward interactions are squeal-worthy because it just makes the romance feel so genuine and honest. It's like high school awkwardness but with adults, but not in an infantile way. They are both mature adults who understand the world but are new to romance, so it gives me the warm fuzzies. Great for older people like me who aren't really into high school romances but still love the innocence of first love romance.

Obviously there are characters that you dislike (Zhousheng Chen's mom), but there are also family members you adore like the grandma and Zhousheng Ren. The kind supporting characters also heal your heart.

As a sequel to One and Only, the connections are very subtle, especially if you are not fluent in Chinese (as I am not). I actually had to read Cyn Lynn's blog for episode recaps as she draws more attention to the connections: https://cyn-lynn.blogspot.com/2021/09/forever-and-ever-recap-and-review.html

That being said, the connections do make everything all the more sweet, so it's still very nice.

Overall the drama does have some angst, but not within the main couple's dynamic itself, which is the most important. Their previous lifetime was so sad, they let nothing stop their love now that they finally can be together in this lifetime.

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Completed
Perfect Marriage Revenge
0 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0

Good

I really love that it kind of felt a bit like soap opera like Hollywood kind of drama but in a way that's really works. like it's not cliché or like super dramatic even the OST reminded me of Indian dramas. anyway, I think there's a perfect drama, like a quick drama that was a perfect mix between a good love story and a revenge story that isn't kind of annoying and super intense. It was perfect in the sense that it was light-hearted. The Leads also had perfect chemistry. They were believable as a couple. I wouldn't say it was like emotionally invested but it wasn't really taking me out of the story so that was good overall it was really a good drummer because as soon as they've finished it like even before I finished it looking for another drama that I had similar vibes to it. Before like I even finished episode 12 so like that's how I knew I really want her. Anyway the mean girl is really pretty I just had to say that. It really pains me to say this but even the step mother was really really pretty like I was just like wow she's really pretty but she was so annoying and I hated her so much and that's how you know like the actress was really good. I think overall agree characters portrayed with you and I enjoyed it a lot.

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Completed
Love Class Season 2
2 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

Confusing Start but Thoughtful Ending

The first episode will have you in shambles, forewarning. I was given the impression that this would be the continuation of season one but it is not. Instead, Love Class Season 2 is the tale of three college couples, all with their own distinct story and conflict. But the only reason this series can't get much higher than the score it has now is because of the ample amount of editing errors that are just so unlike what I've ever seen come out of Korea.

Let's Dive In.

It's unfortunate that the first two episodes are so confusing and don't have a good start-up to the story at all. We're thrown into their stories without even an introduction to their person or who they are or what they do. It gets better by the third episode, by then, I can't remember names, but I can at least figure out who will end up with whom. And the story by the end is actually pretty nice -- it's all wrapped up in a neat bow and given proper resolutions. As well as the plot within the middle being very intriguing, keeping me super enthralled and ready to watch the next episode.

My favorite couple were the cafe cuties, Maru and Minwoo. Kwanghee's (Maru) incredible acting abilities was the reason I was so thrilled with this pairing, so I'm so excited to see that he has a lot of impressive projects lined up for next year. Anyways, I think this pairing worked so well being of their personalities and how they clashed so well together. Maru is super outgoing and bubbly, doing anything he can so that Minwoo won't keep getting bullied by the cafe owner anymore. and Minwoo is just quite the opposite, obedient and to himself, not letting himself share his feelings with Maru until it becomes unbearable. I like that once they get together, it's just that, not some unnecessary conflicts thrown in at the last minute. They're just happy and in love and can kiss (thank god)! And thankfully the friendly female character was able to end up with someone too.

Onto my second favorite couple, the TA and student, Joohyuk and Sungmin. Their story was pretty easygoing and just super sweet. They have a one-night stand that ends with both of them not being able to forget about the other and so they further that relationship by teasing and scheming and some miscommunication, but in the end everything works out. I loved Joohyuk, I loved how he really went for what he wanted and got the TA to fall for him so hard. The moment Joohyuk walked into his office, locked the door, and kissed him leaving without anything else to say?? Oh, I was hooked. Again, once they got together, they were just happy and cutesy and I liked them a lot. Also, Woojae (Sungmin) is gorgeous to look at so that doesn't hurt either.

Not onto my favorite couple that would gotten number one had it not been for the drop in chemistry and the god-awful kissing: An and Hyun. I hate that they ended up being my least favorite couple because they seriously had some great connection and tension build-up from the get-go. Even the flashbacks to when An was Hyun's tutor were so full of tension that I couldn't wait for them to finally get together. And then they do, and it's like all their chemistry drops to the ground. For one, their kiss was so terrible that I don't know how the director approved of it, especially seeing how intense Maru and Minwoo's kissing scenes were. And then they proceeded to kiss maybe 3-4 times after that and it's so gut-wrenching to watch that I just started closing my eyes. That's when their chemistry drops too, and it just feels off and not genuine. For them to also be the main leads, someone should've taught them how to kiss or just not have them kiss at all if it was going to be that bad. On top of that, An's stalker "brother" plot had the worst ending ever. He just suddenly doesn't want to stalk An anymore after years of doing it...? Okay...

Now onto the reason why this series is getting a low overall score from me: the technical/editing errors. I'm not a nit-picky person by any means, but oh my gosh, in each episode there was some type of technical issue that I started just screaming in my room each time I notice it. The amount of times you could see the boom mic had me wanting to reach through the screen and tear it out of the frame. Who edited this? How could you miss something so evident like that? The laziness and sloppiness in this department is embarrassing, and I've never seen this in any series, let alone a Korean series.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - harsh start, but by the end, it's really good. The main couple weren't as poignant as the side couples, so, you know, that's not good, along with the rushed stalker storyline. And then continuous editing errors threw me off completely. But I loved the side couples a lot, so a 7.5/10 will do.

Acting: 8.5/10 - Kwanghee stole the show! So excited to see him in future projects. everyone else did decent too, but Hyomin and J-min's acting was probably closer to the mediocre line.

Music: 7/10 - wasn't distracting so that's good. Also like how for certain scenes (cough cough, Maru and Miinwoo's beautiful and very crisp-sounding kiss) they didn't play music and let the moment be, which is why I wish that a lot of other series would do the same thing.

Recommendation value: 6/10 - Eh. It's cute and not terrible, but some things are better than others. Wouldn't be the first K-BL I'd recommend, but they're all hot, so why not?

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Completed
Love and Redemption
0 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
59 of 59 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

Sometimes the series is predictable but the characters make it very alive and the message is good.

The series seemed to have many episodes but it didn’t take too long to watch them.

I’ve really enjoyed the series, especially the first part of the story where the setting is only being introduced to the viewer and the characters are presented. I love how the ML and FL develop their relationship later as well, but, again, in the beginning it’s the best. Even though the actors are not teenagers they’ve managed to show us exactly this teenage type of the first falling in love, naïve and breathtaking at seemingly simple matters like hugging each other or sharing one’s treat or punishment with someone.

As for the continuation of the story, it becomes darker as the plot unravels but it is a good thing, too. Even though it is definitely a fairy-tale, it presents the world as if from a realistic perspective; the ‘good’ characters who claim to be saving the peace turn out to be as good as villains opposing the main character. The work actually shows the very familiar classes of the immortals, mortals and demons and the later are not unambivalent villains (as usual). But no one is black or white. The ‘good’ side-characters always err saying they mean well; the villains have their right to bear malice but their means cannot be forgiven. Only ML is somehow always right, poor Si Feng, the world simply doesn’t deserve you yet.

The elderly people are mostly shown as old fools talking big but actually giving the villains all morals rights and opportunities to succeed. They are really irritating at times but the concept is somehow refreshing; it’s not that the script is poor and that is why the deeds of the characters seem ridiculous but it’s the kind of a take-off. The five schools of Dao and martial arts meet their well-earned ending; those who have been corrupted just die out, those who have been blind and stubborn to accept somebody else’s but their own reasoning - in the end begin to see clearly and find strength to face up to the reality.

On the other hand, the negative characters are generally smarter and more developed in terms of personalities. Their motives are clear, too, and even can make audience sympathize with them sometimes as their situation is historically sticky. (The demons are being oppressed by the ‘good’ peoples and want to survive or to become the rulers of the world to stop hiding.) But the means they choose as well as their blinding greed make sure they meet their wages of sin in the end.

The challenges the characters meet are also realistic; learning to love and trust in spite of the hearsay and other people’s judgment, choosing from the unspoken (in terms of sacrificing the lives of the close ones or preaching peace), dealing with treason, abuse and neglection.

Sometimes the plot seems too predictable, though, recollecting all the typical plot turns and clichés. At times there are also too many characters for one arch of the story although they don’t do much. The pace of the narration is uneven, too, with its ups and downs. The ending of the next-to-last part of the story (where the true identity of Si Feng and his fellow students was discovered) was the strongest and the last part was more predictable and sometimes even ridiculous. Probably it is because the whole story is rather long and it was hard to make it function as one solid work.

The series are full of characters and some of them are irritating, funny and adorable or influencing the plot only accidently. Anyway, I like the portrayal of the Snake who is being huffy, loyal, boyish, sneaky, hungry and reasonable at the same time. He is a very lively teenage immortal and has a well-rounded personality although he appears only in the middle of the story and is not a main character.

The role of the Heavenly Lord is the most controversial. Indeed, he is needed to move the plot and to make Si Feng suffer but the motivations of the Lord Hao Chen are jumbled as he has two identities. Probably it would be better and more dramatic to show that the ideas of Hao Chen as a deity and as a mortal were opposite to one another. He could as well had lived as a mortal without knowing much about the purposes of the glass vessel they were protecting and only catch glimpses of the past-life memory. He could also have competed for Xuan Ji’s love and manipulated her not to keep her from learning her identity but to make her his obedient puppet (a younger fellow student and a future wife) forever. Obtaining the senses would give Xuan Ji critical thinking as well and Hao Chen wouldn’t want it. Anyway, we are shown a corrupted and later reclaimed Lord which is an interesting decision, too. Liu Sue Yi portrays such a complex personality brilliantly. It is just that the plot motivation is shaky; the character is either mad or corrupted by very strange evil 'darkness' in his soul.

As for the main characters, they are the most enjoyable part of the story. Not only Yuan Bin Yan and Chen Yi look very cute together and act really great. Their characters undergo the most serious character development.

Zhu Xuan Ji is deprived of her six senses since birth that is why she is so childish and doesn’t understand people’s feelings and intentions. But unlike many other FLs from other stories she is not as stupid as a coot; she is even quite insightful. Without even knowing what the world is like she develops several family-, friends- and even love-relationships. She acts theoretically and even though seldom seriously mistakes while the ‘wise’ characters with all their feelings and room for moral growth keep making wrong decisions and doing cruel things to their close ones. Zhu Xuan Ji reminds of a child; an optimistic, open to everything new, brave and innocent little girl. Indeed, sometimes this childish behavior gets in the way with logic and we might want a more mature character. But again, here it is not a Chinese cliché of the FL but a solid personality. How could she have matured by her twentieth birthday if she was learning the world since the middle of the story? How can she not be confused when she learns that the truth of one close person contradicts the truth of the other? In the beginning, of course she seems more likable as she supports the ML and then is a bit irritating when she doubts Si Feng, too. But her approach is understandable and can be justified by her being really confused between the new sensations and her Shaoyang sect members. I wish her confusion was more emphasized as many watchers don’t understand and blame her for her behavior. In the end, she repents and thus breaks the ‘spell’ of the glass heart. This is what seems very fairy-talish in this story but at least the message from it is positive and clear. Genuine care and devotion are able to warm even a cold heart.

I was really impressed at two things. First of all, how Si Feng never held a grudge against her no matter how hard it was to firstly explain her what the feelings are and then faced all those pieces of injustice he had to suffer through the fault of Xuan Ji’s sect family and Xuan Ji herself. And secondly, how different Xuan Ji was from her previous reincarnations. Actually, I don’t really see why exactly it happened. Maybe, it is all a game of fate (or the plot). Maybe, Si Feng was so much more capable of winning her love than in the previous lives. And maybe she didn’t drink enough water of forgetfulness in the beginning of the story and some of the memories were still there. The nine previous lives were adorably painful and I was really fond of how Si Feng’s unconditional love and Xuan Ji’s cruel indifference were shown. She was not wicked or black-hearted! She was just hollow, never able to understand the true intentions of the people beside her. I did not understand how that little trope of a bloody stamp on the ML’s cheek in those nine lives could be logically explained (why was she doing it again and again if she did not have the memories?) but I totally loved the aesthetics of it.

As for Si Feng, he is the only ever upright person in the story, the character who is ready to suffer physical and moral pain over and over again but will not betray his feelings. In the very beginning he was mocked for his ‘friendship and love’ motivations when they seemed as a try of a schoolchild to socialize; but he actually proved how deep and noble his devotion was. Indeed, many times the other people did not deserve the sacrifice. Si Feng is very stubborn in receiving all kinds of punishment for others but he never becomes malignant. He is quite realistic in what he should wait from others and in the beginning, he even does not expect much from Xuan Ji, knowing she cannot yet love anyone. That is why his image is so emotional; he becomes overjoyed when he gets more than he expects, and shortly after he suffers greatly when the hopes against all odds are smashed by all kinds of accidental misfortune. I particularly liked the moments where Si Feng is the only one to state the ugly truth right up front. His poignant words to his tortures express an intelligent person who has grown up and sees the bigger picture while others prefer being deceived. He is also capable of some schemes to overplay the evil characters and it also demonstrates his intellect. It is a good thing he is a promising apprentice not only because of power given him from his birth but due to his diligence and being quick on the draw. On the other hand, I like his identity of an extra powerful golden-winged bird as an explanation of how a person can be that strong to survive so much physical torture – otherwise the plot would seem totally unrealistic.

I’ve enjoyed the aesthetics of the series, too. As for the clothes, natural sights and magical signs Si Feng creates – they are great and pleasant to watch. Some things seem too simple, though, as I was watching a series some years after it was aired. It is also very funny to see the Heavenly realm with so much boredom and so little people to live there and to defend it. The devil-may-care (well, at least the devils do care here!) and lazy Emperor as a motivation of all ruckus happening is one more doubtful decision for me. Can it be a satire on the bad administrative?

All in all, the series has been good. Sometimes it seems predictable but the characters make it very alive. The things I enjoyed most were the path and personality of Si Feng and the ambiguity of Good and Evil in the story.

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Completed
My Fair Lady
0 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 6.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

A good story with a bad focus

This has a good story but a lot of time is wasted on irrelevant events or irrelevant characters leading to less time for actually interesting characters(mainly ML and FL) and character development moments. That's the gist of my whole review, but if you want to know more read on.

Story: The premise is good but the execution is bad. That is to say, the baseline story of a rich spoiled princess turning over a new leaf due to interactions with a crude, blunt and down to earth man and then turning over a new leaf, is actually quite a good premise. This premise offers a lot of room for character development, lot of opportunities for actors to tap into their acting prowess and lot of areas for writer or director to include some heavy emotional scenes. But, sadly, what we get is severely lacking and nothing close to the possibility.
9/10 for premise but the story we got was nowhere near, so 7/10 for story.

Direction: I found it lacking in a lot of areas. Too much time is wasted on side characters and the events that should have taken more of episode time are rushed instead. Pacing is not the issues, proper management of screentime is the issue. Music is good but badly placed. Just playing a song in background doesn't create the ambiance. To create a specific atmosphere you have to play the right part of the song at the right time with a right pace, a lot of other KDramas are a good example of that. The drama seems to also struggle on whether is a melodrama or not. Its the duty of direction to realize the potential of a story, but sadly that's not the case here.
Direction gets a 3/10.

Production: Not lacking but nothing extraordinary too. I found costumes lacking at some place.FL's wardrobe was good but ML's wardrobe could have been better, it definitely was in Secret Garden. Cinematography is decent, they could have used more locations though. In this type of story, tbh, production's relevancy is very less.
7/10 for production.

Acting: I started this because of YSH but, tbh, his acting was erratic in this one, sometimes off by miles and sometimes quite on point. YEH on the other hand acted quite good and carried this. I loved her portrayal of a rich spoiled heiress. Her transformation into a confident and caring person was also quite good. That's not saying that YEH's acting was perfect, I still spotted minor mishaps here and there, but most of them were not noteworthy. My biggest problem though was chemistry between ML and FL. As other reviewers have pointed out too, chemistry between ML and FL felt lacking, and that's not a skinship problem but the actual chemistry was lacking. I don't know if that's due to bad direction or acting.
6.5/10 for acting.

Characterization and Character Development: This is the area where this series should have excelled and it does but not without some problems. The story presents a great chance for character development spread throughout the 16 episodes, but, sadly, character development only happens in a select few episodes where if you have completely missed the other episode, you would have missed nothing. Characterization also falters at points where a character's decision or slowness will annoy you a bit. I would say direction failed the story massively in this area. Still, due to good base storyline and decent acting this area is still satisfying to watch.
8/10 for Characterization and Character Development

Music: As I said before too, OST is decently good but badly placed. Also there's not much variation in OST.
6/10 for Music.

I started watching this for the story and ML (YSH). I continued watching this for FL (YEH) and character development.
Overall its a decent watch, sad part is, it could have been much much better.
Final rating, 6.5/10

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Completed
My Dear Gangster Oppa
5 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 6.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

Good Source, Poor Adaptation

I've read and really enjoyed the manhwa this series is based off. The manhwa is short, only 45 episodes, but really well done and sweet.

This series started fairly faithful to the source material. The first few episodes were my happy place. I've never had 45 minutes fly by so quickly. I loved both Meen and Ping in their roles (but, please, someone teach Meen to throw a proper punch prior to any other gangster/thug/fighting roles in the future!) and thought their chemistry and dynamic worked really well here.

The problem came in when someone decided they needed more plot than the source material contained. The source is sort of a quiet, slice of life-ish vibe. They invented the Boss (Paiboom) and Kenji for conflict and plot that, quite frankly, the original story didn't need and that was poorly executed in the series. Every single issue I have with this show somehow feeds back to the inclusion of this "plot." Tew made stupid decisions because of it. It was poorly fleshed out, decisions within it were poorly justified (if at all) and it was rushed to the finish line to fit within the 8 episodes we had.

The one deviation I really liked in this adaptation was Wahl. Am I supposed to dislike him? Yes. Did I? Nope. Almost never, actually. He is far more unlikable in the manhwa, actually. In the manhwa he never has actual romantic feelings for Guy's character but this inclusion makes him more sympathetic and turns him into someone with feelings he isn't facing or comfortable with rather than just someone who enjoys being the center of his bff's world and has overbearing reactions to being worried about him. I also give a lot of credit to Winner for how he handled the character. He made Wahl likable in a way that he probably shouldn't have been. (Am I the only one who wants a Wahl spinoff with the cute guy in class in the last episode?)

Overall, the first half of the series was cute but the last half I could have done without. I wish they had kept Tew's character as a self-made gangster who was his own boss. His minions, their reactions to their boss smiling at his phone and their adoption of Sanghwa (Guy's character) was so fun and cute. I really missed seeing that in the adaptation. I wish they kept the tension of Guy getting over his crush on Wahl and Tew being happy over having a friend and slowly realizing he didn't just have friend feelings. That focus would have suited the series (and the leads) better than the forced conflict.

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Completed
A Journey to Love
6 people found this review helpful
by Nisha
Dec 14, 2023
40 of 40 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

highly recommended for those who like strong female lead + team work + action.

highly recommended for those who like strong female lead + team work + action.

Personal Opinion : An interesting story series full of action comedy. Costumes, sets, and camera work were all very good. Everyone's acting was good, especially Liu Shishi's acting, expression is great! In short, Just looking like a wow?.

I think the speed has been bumped up a bit to reduce the runtime, which I noticed at first. But after the 3rd episode, I got so immersed in the story that I didn't think about it anymore. Overall its an enjoyable series, I was never bored for a single minute.

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Completed
Dinosaur Love
0 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

Not good but not horrible

This series has a lot of bad reviews. There are several reasons and I agree with most. But overall, this was cute. You just have to ignore the bad acting, the cringey dialogue, the horrible editing, and chopped up story.

I didn’t really see any chemistry between the leads. Maybe in one scene. This is my opinion but Dino was not a good kisser. It was like he was chewing on Rak. Plus the tongue was just gross. I didn’t see any passion.

Story was choppy. It had more drama in the beginning with the attempted rape and the cutting which was shocking. But that ended quickly. Never figured out who Sim was. Why include him? And Tart was obviously there to add drama and it didn’t work. He was too likable. Suea turned out to be the wise one, believe it or not.

Overall, bad, but I’m glad I watched it. If you look past everything and watch it for entertainment, it was actually pretty cute.

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Completed
Huang Shu Da Ren Jie Yuan Ba
0 people found this review helpful
by Bali
Dec 14, 2023
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 2.0
This is a cute short drama set in historical times that is just for passing time. The cast’s acting skills were weak and the drama needed more time to create events cohesion. It is a short romantic comedy and the leading couple had a nice chemistry that seemed as they had fun in the making of this drama. The leading couple carries out the drama since it is about the developing relationship between the ninth lord Cang Lan Ye with two personas in one body: human and demon (played by Cavan Wen) and Ye Luo, a girl with supernatural powers that came from the future (played by Lu Fang Qi) and how they fall in love as they encounter and fight the antagonists in the story. As said before, this miniseries is not to be taken seriously but it is fun and entertaining.

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Completed
Castaway Diva
1 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.5

A Drama That Inspires You

this drama is not your typical romcom drama.. this is more of a healing slice of life, it's beautiful and the characters shine through the pain ...i think when you go you should be expecting that so go in in the mood for a healing slice of life rather than a romcom

Most reviews I read about it and most comments made me think this was gonna be terrible but it was such a blast I’m so glad I still watched it and didn’t let the bad comments make me biased

in the dramas defense : i don't agree that the name and trailer are misleading, they fit the drama perfectly and stayed true to it pretty well and you understand that there gonna be some trouble ( melodrama and a dark side to the story from the trailer ) , but then again i agree the synopsis is kinda misleading but like from the first and second episode it explains clearly what the drama is going to be and it become clear where it's going... a drama about a castaway survivor who ended up stranded on the island trying to run away from her violent father's abuse and the boy who was going to run away with her who also was a victim of his father's abuse and then searched for her for over 15 years while hiding behind a different name wasn't magically going to somehow be a corny, funny romcom and not have any difficulties/dark side along the way

A drama that inspires you.. the drama truly inspired me and i appreciate what it actually is , i saw the beauty of it and it truly teach you something .. the story here is beautiful. heartwarming and inspiring . it has a message to tell. actually quite a few messages

i cried so much watching this drama it always had a tear falling down my cheek . always in my feels, always rooting for the characters
it makes you realize how you can give without expecting much in return , how you can love and give unconditionally, how some times you finding a meaning in life , doing so , genuine connections here were beautiful and meaningful and they can teach you something

the amount of character development you see in this drama for certain characters is just so good and so worth it , the acting is so excellent and i thibk this drama is better binged thank goodness i waited

and just like that the second half of the drama won me over in ways i can't explain it made the drama go from a 7 to 9 for me , it was very beautiful and well made
after such a perfect satisfying finaleee in such a long timmeeeeeeeeeee and now the 9 nine feels insufficient i so it's def a 9.5

and mok ha is incredible truly precious one of my fave female leads

the acting here is brilliant on behalf of all the cast, the ml did a lot of good acting with his eyes .. so expressive

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Completed
My Dear Gangster Oppa
2 people found this review helpful
by JFD
Dec 14, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 4.0

Disappointed potential

A Thai BL in a Korean formatting… giving a little more spice/drama and quick story progressing. Shorter episodes and number of episodes.

The story seemed as a freah and new premise that we have not seen before. The trailer looked amazing and the CGI elements looked very well made. However, as the story progressed it bacame more and more cliche, which might not be a bad thing for some. I’m just disappointed it didn’t deliver what I expected from it.

Overall, I personally found it quite boring and it has no particular rewatch value for except maybe to watch selected scenes again. The writing became very predictable and fell into old tracks instead of trying to surprise us. I have not read the source material, so this might be expected for the ones who know if the producers were true to that or not.

The acting could be better for some of the cast. Particularly emotional scenes seemes a little forced and unbelievable. But it is far from the worst performances I have ever seen in a BL. My main challenge with the series lies with the, to me, perceived underdeveloped characters. The heroes were the classic heroes and the villains were the classical cartoon villains without any depth. With the shorter and fewer episodes, side characters were given too much room in my opinion so there were no real time for character maturing.

Also the background music choices were at times a little strange. I did think based on the amazing CGI in the first episodes made me belive that the production had a better budget than it did have.

All in all, its a sweet watch that I would recommend to people, but not in my top 10 for 2023 as I initially thought it would be sadly.

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Completed
My Dear Gangster Oppa
2 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.5
Story 3.5
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Pretty Dissappointing

Man this really didn't do much for me. After the first two episodes this show became a bit of a let down and I really struggled to enjoy it at all. I was hoping it'd improve as I kept going, but unfortunately I was left disappointed. I'm all for slightly silly premises and fun romance tropes, but the execution left me pretty bored.

I'll start with what I liked because I don't love being super negative, but it's a short list.
I enjoyed the initial progression of Tew and Guy's relationship, they seemed like they were actually becoming friends, and it was nice to see characters develop a friendship first. I also liked the moments when Guy stood up for himself and began to try to have a life outside of Wahl, it was a nice message and well-handled.
The overall concept of online friendships developing into full relationships was nice too, and I liked that the gaming group continued to return to the story.
Unfortunately, that's pretty much all I liked.

Honestly, my two biggest issues were the plot and the production quality. While the general idea of the story is not bad, and had some interesting elements, the execution was at best, lack-luster, and at worst actively grating. The ending especially felt like a really cheap way to generate more drama the villain's motivations were pretty weak and the way everything played out was somewhat nonsensical. It was really just boring to watch, which is sometimes worse than being actively terrible.

I simply couldn't make myself care about any of the characters, including the main couple. Their romantic development left a lot to be desired for me and the acting didn't move me at all. Tew never explained himself and faced very little consequences for his actions, while Guy just had 0 personality. He was a loner who played games and was in love with either his friend or his boyfriend, that's it. I did like how he navigated his feelings towards Wahl, and how he wanted to become a person outside of him, but that was the only time I was really interested in him as a character. Tew's backstory was... a lot, but I could've overlooked it if the rest of the show had been stronger. There were also like 0 repercussions for him lying about really serious stuff or the breakup, it was just all magically fixed, Guy is better than me I guess because that would've given me major trust issues. At least the initial lying about his background plot had some teeth but that was pretty much it. Their chemistry was okay, better in some moments then others, but it often didn't really feel like they were that into each other.
As for the side characters... none of them were particularly interesting and I didn't care about them much at all. Wahl kind of sucked and while he did improve by the end I just couldn't make myself like him much, which is too bad because I'm usually a huge side character guy. Guy's gaming crew was alright and had potential, but their lack of depth made them pretty uninteresting. The less we talk about Kenji the better.

As for the production quality, there are ways to shoot a show cheaply and still have it look clean and polished, this show misses the mark entirely. Lighting is not consistent from scene to scene, or even within scenes. Sometimes two shots side-by-side will have completely different lighting and colouring. It's incredibly jarring and makes the show feel messy and low-quality. The special effects were... nothing to write home about, and the makeup and hair were rough sometimes as well. Although I will say the leads usually looked good (aside from Tew's scars, I literally don't want to talk about those). The audio was pretty rough as well, very inconsistent, often muffled or way too quiet. There were some scenes that could've been easily dubbed over to fix this as well and they just, weren't. I'm sure the production team wanted to make a competent show here, but it felt like it was either rushed or lazy and with all the above issues it was just unpleasant to watch.

Overall, even if you're just looking for something easy and a little fun to watch, this isn't it. At best, you'll be mildly bored for about 8 hours.
Bad shows are one thing, sometimes it's fun to watch super trashy shows and yell at the characters, I'll watch shows even if they make me mad because they're entertaining enough to get me through. I'll take trashy romance and a nonsensical plot over boredom any day.

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Completed
Yu Yu Hakusho
12 people found this review helpful
by Kabe
Dec 14, 2023
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 9.5

Great Fighting Scenes

Honestly didn't really know what to expect going in, but I had a lot of fun watching this. The characters could have done with a bit more fleshing out, but we got the gist of most of the characters' motivations. I think the main thing that stood out for this drama were the fighting scenes. For the most part they looked really cool, held the tension and kept me invested. Overall, to me, the story doesn't seem too deep, but it was a really entertaining watch, and I didn't even notice the time passing by as I was watching.
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Completed
Sweet Home Season 2
2 people found this review helpful
Dec 14, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

Super dissapointing

I was really looking forward to S2. I saw some people complaining about S1, but I enjoyed it, so I had high hopes for S2. One of my biggest problems with S2 is how difficult it is to understand what is going on. They decided to do a time skip, and one of the characters was really hated, but as a viewer I was left confused. Why were they treating her that way? The viewers have to wait way too long to get an answer to this. I don't personally see how keeping that a secret for so long helped the story develop lol. This isn't the only time they use flashbacks in order to answer some questions. I think they relied on flashbacks way too much. Also once we know the MH-1 twist...felt like they put that twist in there last minute based on what happened in S1.

For how long the fans had to wait, you would think it would've been written better. Also, there was way too much emphasis on the military. Too many new characters that I did not care for. The new monsters also didn't make sense considering what we know about how monsters are created. It was just unfortunate.

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Ongoing 1/40
The Last Immortal
10 people found this review helpful
by Lilo
Dec 14, 2023
1 of 40 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 6.5
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 5.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.0

Hope if gets better

I have watched 3 episodes so far. It is definitely entertaining to watch and light hearted, which means there will be some heart breaking scenes to come. I have seen multiple dramas of ZLS and find her to be very funny and not afraid to be herself. However whenever she plays the innocent, playful girl, she likes to pinch her voice. Not a fan, maybe that's what innocent sounds like to some people but it just sound fake.
ML'S acting is okay as well. Hopefully it gets better! I'm not sure but some actors doesn't even attempt to move when flying. They just stand there with arms open and everything else is done by the crew. The back drop also looks VERY fake.

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