Reviews

Romance Drama Perfection!

Disclaimer first: I'm a huge Dylan Wang fan since MG2018, so some bias may occur.

If you're a fan of the 'OMG when will they finally end up together and get over themselves??' - genre, this is the drama for you. The sweet taste of frustration when any of the characters does not speak their mind and/or heart, letting misunderstandings rise and being unnecessarily shy or insecure. It's horrible, but I love it. Especially when these shenanigans are being portrayed so perfectly as here. ALL 3 (or 4, if you count the boss lady and the uncle) have this trick down hard.
It's a drama like a one of those paperback romance novels. Including the hothothot kisses. I will for sure put this one high up on my re-watch list!!

This is the 3rd drama I've seen with Bai Lu and Dylan Wang as leads and I must say they are indeed a match made in heaven. Their chemistry is electric and they are so natural together. Bai Lu has great chemistry with more actors, but this pairing is exceptional.
Dylan Wang is getting better and better, but his best performance is still the 'Tsundere', the on the surface cold and distant man, but when thawed is a big bowl of charm.
This couple is playing the attract and reject game like pro's. I have been yelling at the screen at them en almost cried in frustration. They could have been married with kids in the first 10 eps, but instead choose to listen to horrible advise and their own huge inferiority complexes. Even a monk telling them they're meant to be doesn't help.
The 2nd couple is possibly even worse! 2 people very much in love but both thinking the other likes their freedom more than them and purposely misunderstanding or running away. Aarrrgghhh. I love it. It keeps me continuously entertained and invested.

Even though there's continuous drama, it never gets boring or bland. This is mostly due to the actors, who are so good at emoting and subtext. The best scene? For me the suduction sequence, where FL tries to get ML to sleep with her, but he has no clue, until he literally gets the message.

Does this drama have Red Flags? Ohhh yess. Many. Women as well as men. All of them have their own shade of red.
Does this drama have cliche's ? Almost nothing but. But that's also why it's so comforting and appealing to me. I really miss these kind of cliche's done well. Here they're done perfectly.
Is this drama for everyone? Probably not, but who cares? Give it a try!

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*cue dramatic violin and drums intro*

Ahh, soap operas... who doesn’t love them once in a while? This is my very first Thai Lakorn which, I confess, I only watched for queer romance in a historical setting (with a bonus NOT tragic ending). As soap operas go, this is one of the most bearable ones - no temporary amnesia, love triangles or 100 episodes worth of meandering plot. That is not to say it’s without the signature genre traits: there’s an overabundance of scheming family members and misunderstandings and crying and repetitive conversations but it’s worth it for the gorgeous love story and the unfading bond between two brothers.

When Thailand is offering a gay romance and a soap opera all in one, it would seem a moot point to hope for fleshed-out female characters, right? WRONG. I was pleasantly surprised that women not only dominate the cast (the only men of importance are the three leads) but they are overall, besides glitter and romance, the best part of the drama. The actresses are by far the better performers, each given at least a couple scenes to really shine; the women are different and complex, and every single one is given more depth by the end. Rightfully, it seems that all the budget went into their costumes, while the city this takes place in was relegated to the same three (3) streets. I cannot tell how accurate the dresses were to the time period but they were certainly beautiful and eye-catching.

I only have a few other things to say to convince you to watch this: glitter poison fights, a straight romance that is as adorable as it is watchable, Tian's secret, scissors, women murdering men.

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The male lead is such a green flag!!!!!?

Let’s start with the good part
The male lead!!!Ive watched him in a few dramas but I absolutely loved him here..He played the role so perfectly.The female lead is such a great actress.
The acting was good,the display of emotions were so real.
We definitely knew they would get their revenge,we knew how they would get their revenge..The drama was predictable.But still a good watch.

Now the not so good part
The begining of this drama made me so angry,I almost dropped it after the first 2 episodes..The main leads kept me going.I don’t know who this sound engineer is but ,they could have done better..The drama is just so noisy.From noisy footsteps to thoughts that have sounds..

The show is worth a try.The storyline isn’t anything we haven’t seen before .But the acting was great .

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Love the storyline, not so much the romance storytelling

This is a-3-hour-miniseries of a tragic romance between a genius stage drama writer and an opera singer. "Hymn of Death" a remake of the 1991 film "Death Song," based on real-life events. For those who are going in not knowing the story, trigger warning of suicide! So if you know that suicide is a trigger for you, you need to prioritize your mental health and just not watch this show. Even though it's done implicitly, characters' emotions and the vibe gave me much anxiety. There's a part of it that I wished I hadn't seen it. Thus, rewatch value is low, once is enough.

The visual is very artistic: from the luscious costumes, to the very well done cinematography. Maybe it's just me, but I feel the music feels a bit overpowering, it could have benefited from a lot more quieter moments especially for this genre. The show does well in showing their family dynamics, though I think the romance is far too rushed. The first two hours go by way so quickly, and I'm left with snapshots of their lives. I wanted to dig deeper and explore the relationships and how they develop, but it's just not shown.

Overall, this drama is a beautiful tragic void that left me feeling empty... and that is a good point. I want to feel devastated because I appreciate the characters even more that way. I just think I would like it much more if we were given a little bit more time with the characters, to tackle both a powerful romance and the powerful dynamics between the families.

-Dec 2023, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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Web drama vibes

Hmmmmmmm this gives me web drama vibes. And maybe they could do better. The acting is on top tho. The story is a little bit rush. the detail is not detail if you understand what i mean. i swear to god, they could've done soooooooooo much better. I'm a little bit upset.

And they do like, reverse relationship. Like wedding first, then wedding registration, and proposal (although he proposed with a flower ring before). Not a bad thing tho. I'm glad they show their daughter at the end of the episode.

and why don't her sister stay with her father tho? did i miss something

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It could have been good but the Director did a terrible job...

The pace is too slow with too much walking, crying, torture and abuse. I don't mind good cinematography of ceremonies, but it is just not particularly great scenes of the ceremonies anyway (I have seen much better ones around though it possibly didn't help that the music is censored on Youtube). The 4 episodes after the 60 episodes that I watched on Youtube could have been incorporated into the main series to make the drama series more interesting and make more sense. The actors aren't that bad, but I think the plot, the screen writers and the director did not do the cast justice.

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Twists and turns

This was an interesting story. The Crown Prince died under mysterious circumstance. The royal physicians attributed it to a blood disease. But the Queen believed that he had been murdered. Defiant against all forces trying to stop her, she was determined to investigate. His death sparked off a fight for the crown prince position now out for grabs. The Queen hoped that one of her four grand princes would succeed the Crown Prince. However, the Queen Dowager, Chief State Councilor and other royal consorts especially Consort Hwang, the birth mother of the King's eldest son, were not going to make it easy.

What I like about this drama?

1. The story had a lot of twists and turns, shrouded in mystery. The investigation led to the uncovering of a similar mysterious death of Crown Prince Taein, the brother of the current King. So what was the connection? The sons of the Queen, the grand princes were all underdogs - with skeletons in their closets, unambitious or disadvantaged. The power-hungry, scheming and wicked Queen Dowager was against her as well. It all seemed a losing game for the Queen.

2. Mix of humour. The drama was quite intense. However, there were moments of humorous relief.

3. The cast was good, not to leave out good looking as well. The leads were outstanding.

What I do not like about this drama?

1. It was based on yet another theme of fighting for the throne; a theme that was beaten to death.

2. Very intense and stressful to watch.

3. Not much chemistry between the male and female leads. They were not given much chance to demonstrate their chemistry either.

Overall, I rated this a 9.5 with not much else to nitpick on. Enjoy it...

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The story gets blurred in the middle

Before i'm complaining this drama, i would to say about the good aspect of this drama,
Good aspect:
1. They build base of this story so good, come from child abuse, childhood trauma from each father, but one still getting the positive mind meanwhile the other trying to swallow bitter reality. They empathize their feeling and helping each other. I fall in love with this drama because this background.

2. The positivity seo mok ha have, impossible one's have positive minds like mok ha, but they add reality to mok ha minds so it became possible about mok ha character, she know her dream is so unstable but she still want to try because the hardship of her 15 years will be nothing. Many people want her to stop imagine and pursuing her dream but ALWAYS male lead always being her supporter number one ^^

3. Mysterious Jung Ki Ho, after separated for 15 years, seo mok ha trying to find jung ki ho, a boy that encourage her to pursue her dream, also help her to set her free from her father. How the audience have to guess who ki ho is, with all the hint that seo mok ha get, it's so exciting ^^ I've waited each week just to know about who jung ki ho is.

That's it, that are 3 charming points for me

NOW, time for revealing lacking points + my complain.....

1. The chemistry of leads, actually i can't feel romance feeling in Jung ki ho and Seo mok ha, their feeling comes from empathy right? sharing same hurt feeling from their trauma, guilty, and comfort. But how they falling in love with each other I DO NOT feel that at all, suddenly Jung ki ho said he still loves her for 15 years and Seo mok ha feel same, ikr who is the crazy that still wait for ones if it's not love but HOW?? HOW THEY FALLING IN LOVE?? THEY FALLING IN LOVE BECAUSE THEIR ABUSIVE FATHER?? THEY FALLING IN LOVE BECAUSE THEY WILL RUNAWAY TOGETHER?? THEY FALLING IN LOVE BECAUSE MISSING EACH OTHER?? WHYYYY..... I can't feel at all, this is the most dissapointed part for me T_T

2. Screentime of the leads, scene ki ho and mok ha together to be lovey dovey couple OHMYGOD i can count it with my fingers T_T Indeed, this drama about how mok ha pursuing her dream BUT she have loveline with ki ho, i craving their lovey dovey scene, how they develop each other feeling from teenager's love to adult's love, they didn't explain this at all T_T

3. Love triangle with Woo Hak, i know it will be disgusting shit if brothers fight for a woman, but how woo hak falling love with mok ha, how he know his feeling is dangerous, and how he conclude his feeling is just like a flash, they explained woo hak's feeling in some scene :( i want it to be more little dramatic hahahaha it will be interesting though hahahahaha (ignore this point)

4. I don't know about this, but people made me realize, in the middle of the story, the story move to yoon ran joo, Seo mok ha just to get her dream via yoon ran joo, seo mok ha admire yoon ran joo is undeniable but how seo mok ha is depending to yoon ran joo is just not right, although i enjoyed yoon ran joo story too, but many people not satisfied about this point. the story get blurred about the lead character. Also seo mok ha had struggle about her debut, but she doesn't have struggle after that? climbing chart one by one is normal for rookie artist, i mean why her rival is just eun mo rae? i want more drama about her struggle after debut but nothing, she straight to the top.

Overall, i can conclude the story like this, these 12 episode were divided in 3 part, seo mok ha getting used from 15 years in desserted island to pursuing her dream, revealing Kang Bo Geol and his family identity also his problem with his father, Yoon ran joo achieve 20 million album selling, still the most disappointed part is lacking of lovey dovey part ki ho and mok ha :(

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FINALLY, a strong female lead!

I would have to say that my favorite part of this drama was that the writers took a different direction than they normally take and made the FL smart and strong, without making her a total witch. Sadly, the preponderance of FLs seem to be doormats and/or not very smart. The ML was very supportive, but you didn't feel like the FL needed to be "saved", because she could take care of herself.

I watched this on YouTube and there was only one episode where the sound was wonky.

The ML and FL were cute. I always like when a man has liked a woman for a long time, and this was sweet.

I do have to say that the 2FL's acting was pretty bad.

As usual, the voice dubbing, especially for the 2FL was awful. Why do they always have to use the high, shrill voices?

This was good to watch while trying to pick my next drama.

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My Forever Comfort drama 2023

On June 2023, I'm watching Yoona and Lee Jun Ho in King the Land. But when I saw the trailer of Hidden Love in Netflix, I start watching this movie and stuck with this movie until now.. I keep repeating and still not finish my last two episode of King the Land.. I felt in love with the actor 1st, but when I watch the movie, the actress also very cute.. I start digging their BTS moment and I found that they were so sweet.. That is also the main reason why I still stuck with this movie.

I hope there will be Hidden Love season 2. I love Chen Zhe Yuan And Zhao Lusi acting so much

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Don't recommending to watch

If you love "Strong girl Do Bong Soon", i don't recommend to watch this, and that memory would stay as sweet. The legacy of "Strong girl Do Bong Soon" cannot continue on this second season or this Sequel.

Average story with torture of 16 episodes, and not a single memorable characters in this drama. FL is also a bore character and her family. ML is also not special only villian character has something to offer in this whole series.

In the whole series felt like artificial and story wise needed more improvement,but story shrunk into a mafia, drug, money, average comedy, over forced cuteness. The chemistry between leads not feeling like natural. Despites all negative if you want to try then giving a chance it's all upto you.

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Well...

I rated season 1 a 10 and this would be 9.

So here, while Sweet Home Season 2 maintains the intense horror and suspense elements that made Season 1 a hit, some viewers including me might find that the sequel falls slightly short of the original. Season 1 introduced us to the terrifying world inside Green Home Apartments, creating a unique atmosphere and establishing a strong connection with the characters. In Season 2, the shift to the outside world and the introduction of new characters may be seen by some as a departure from what made the first season so captivating. While Season 2 has its own merits, including increased action and deeper character exploration, those who were enamored with the claustrophobic and intense setting of Season 1 might find themselves longing for the initial thrill that hooked them into the series. Actually, it ultimately comes down to personal preferences, and while Season 2 is undeniably gripping, some may argue that Season 1 holds a special place in their hearts.

Still recommendable and I'll rewatch the two seasons until s3 comes out and it should better be as great as the first season.

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Fake it till you make it

Did they? Both their secrets are still intact at the end of the two episodes, but what was the point since nothing else really happened?

The plot is about two guys who enter into a pretend relationship to protect their respective secrets. And that's pretty much it. They know each other's secrets and they agree to keep those to themselves. A majority of the episodes was utilised to set up their contract relationship, and the rest of it was used to show that the conflict was resolved. It does sound like a well rounded plot when it's put that way, but there was so much missing.

Admittedly, Phol and Pheem do have chemistry, and by the end of the series, they do have an actual relationship that's somewhat endearing. Too bad we couldn't see much of that connection and development though, it was some wasted potential and screen time that they used to display flashbacks instead.

I'm a little disappointed, not going to lie, because I do love a good pretend relationship plot, but the lack of development and the wishy washy dialogues paired with an equally inconsistent story didn't really make for a good series.

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