I decided that I really wanted to watch this not only because it was one of the most highly anticipated Chinese dramas of 2019, but because of the actors/actresses. I really wanted to see ZTao (Boxu) in a drama because I was very curious about him in an active role and to be honest, I enjoyed every second of his character. I loved watching his growth from this misunderstood c-pop star who hid behind his popularity to this soft and funny man who learned what was most important in his life and it was one of the things I loved most about this drama - the chemistry between the two leads.

I loved their back and forth banter that was 100% flirting, but both didn't realize it. Their relationship seemed extremely comfortable and natural, which made me ship them from the beginning.

Sorry, Yu Zi Rui. This brings me to my next actor - Niu Jun Feng who placed Yu Zi Rui. It was the second time I had seen him in a drama and he was one of my favorite characters in the first one. When I found out that he was a major-minor character again in this drama, I had to watch. Especially since he was playing the caring and gentle (first) love interest of our main character. Was I a little disappointed in the character he played? Yea, but I think he did an amazing job playing his character. I loved watching his internal struggle trying to figure out what he thought was most important in his life and what he was willing to do to get there. Similar to Boxu, but almost an opposite result, which broke a lot of people's hearts, but made others full.

Finally, there is Janice Wu. I don't know how it happened, but I somehow ended up watching two dramas at the same time, not knowing she was the lead in both. I love what she brings to every role that she is in and ended up being one of my top favorite actresses. I loved that she played this hard-working woman who was not scared of Boxu and always was true to herself and in her relationships with others. We also got to see her in some down moments, but she always bounced back with the support of the people she built strong relationships with.

I enjoyed this drama a lot more than I thought I was going to, but there were a few things that I couldn't get over. The first being the consistency and the flow of every episode. It seemed as if one episode was cut into 2 or 3 parts, so when you watched it, at the end of these eps were abrupt and in the middle of a sentence. I also wasn't a fan of ANYONE that worked at Star Entertainment. Some people had their moments, but it wasn't enough. I honestly wanted Boxu's contract to be terminated so he could go somewhere else. BUT, Star Entertainment did seem like a family....a dysfunctional family.

BUT, the one person I disliked the most, and idk if she just enjoys playing these types of characters, was Xia Yuan, Zhen Zhen's best friend and roommate. I felt like she was too much. I'm glad she did a lot of growing in the drama as a whole, but she was a mess in the middle and took it out of Zhen Zhen for something he has no power over. Especially when she decided that she was in love with Yu Zi Rui for no reason really, but I appreciate the ending that they gave her and Zi Rui.

Overall, I would love to see Z.Tao act in more dramas as well as continue to watch Janice Wu in the future. I hope they collaborate again. I was also in LOVE with every song in Boxu had written, that was in this drama, and extremely happy that they were real songs by Z.Tao and downloaded them all.

Read More

Family Fun

I really wanted to like this and decided that this was going to be my festive October near Halloween drama. Instead. It took me two weeks to get through the twelve episodes because, honestly, they were a bit hard for me to get through. Which makes me a little uneasy writing this review as the six previous reviews before this one spoke very highly of the drama. This drama was 100% silly "family fun" which isn't my cup of tea.

I loved how this drama was a unique perspective of a zombie wanting to become a human again and basically trying to blend in, not wanting to be caught. He also harbors a small hatred for humans as all movies and dramas that come out, portray zombies as these creatures from hell that need to be brutally murdered, but he soon starts developing a bond with Sunji and her family. I also loved all the random cameos - all the members of A.C.E., one of my favorite kpop groups (Jun & Chan getting the lines in multiple eps), Sam Hammington (who I know and love from Return of Superman), and last, even though she wasn't a cameo, but I love her anyway, Hwang Bo Ra, who plays Sunji's cooky sister. I also LOVED all the music they picked - either the random references to Hollywood movies or when DPR Live's Martini Blue randomly started playing on Sunji's headphones.

The last thing I loved about this drama was the bits and pieces of darkness with all the crimes (a total of 3 main ones). But this also goes hand in hand with why I didn't like it as well. I feel like this drama didn't really know what it wanted to be or the vibe it was going for - one moment President Le is fighting a bad guy off, but literally getting bashed in the head with a trophy over and over again (in any normal drama, he would be unconscious or dead) but a moment later Wang Wey slams into the glass door trying to escape, much as in a scene from a Saturday morning cartoon with sound effects and all. Cut to the next scene, Prez Le is totally fine and minor blood. It was almost like the show was maybe going for a PG Saturday morning cartoon feel and was over the top too cheesy and dramatic for my taste, personally. Some jokes hit, most didn't. Which is fine and cool, maybe this drama was written for a younger audience, but then you have DARK scenes and situations, that are 100%, not PG, but all of them were my favorites.

I also had a hard time because I wasn't a huge fan of most of the characters. This drama was 100% silly "family fun" which isn't my cup of tea especially when the characters don't sit well. They all had so much potential, such as the main characters, and could have been amazing detectives from the very beginning, but decided they wanted to be clumsy in the beginning so they could come through in ep 12 and complete a very simple operation and pat themselves on the back. And this is all my personal opinion. I thought that catching the Christmas/Santa Clause Killer was a harder task than the one in ep 12. I also wasn't a fan of President Le and his agency, but they did embody what this drama symbolized and they also followed the formula of having potential, but only coming through at the end. I think the only characters that I somewhat enjoyed were Sun Young (she is very consistent in embodying one character in all her dramas), her son (he was so cute and randomly always in the right place at the right time), and Sunji's best friend who owned the tripe shop (who always came through with her contacts at the hospital). The two mains were alright - I loved Moo Young's determination to solving cases and finding answers, but it would get discouraged very easily and then want to give up, and I loved how supportive Sunji was with her friends and family and wanted to do the right thing, but she was very clumsy and impulsive and it was very annoying. She was very good at her job and had the potential and the heart to be a detective, but she lacked a bit of common sense. Both characters got better towards the end, but it made it hard for me to personally watch while waiting.

Overall, if you want to watch a PG drama with some dark themes, but covered up with Saturday morning cartoons jokes, and scenes, this would be a good drama. I personally thought that there was a lot of fluff even though this was already super short. I will not watch this drama again, but I am happy that I did watch this. I wish I could give it a better score because of the music and the cameos and all the good promoting, but this was a miss for me.

Read More

Like I said in my first review, I only watched the first movie because I saw a clip for the third in the trilogy and I really wanted to watch it.

And I wasn't disappointed. The third film is from the POV of Momoko, who we met in the first movie. And what I loved about this movie was how we got her background before Kanna's arrival at their academy and how Momoko played a part of all the events that happened in the first movie as well as what happened after.

I really enjoyed Momoko's character - she came off as kind of the bad guy's sidekick in movie 1, but in this movie, we got to learn and understand Momoko and her motivations.

I loved watching Momoko and all her relationships and I was actually heartbroken for her. She had so much personality and needed a way to express her feelings in a world that she was created to be apart of, but kept kicking her down. When she is at one of her lowests, she meets Hibiki, the villain in the first movie, and from there, their friendship blooms. Even though Hibiki has terrible motivations for wanting to kill Kaki, you kind of want to love him because of who he is when he is around Momoko. Especially that scene in the forest towards the end. Also, the cake scene at the very end. I definitely will watch this movie again. The setting is really cool and we finally got a character with some kind of personality.

Read More

We finally have a Tdrama as well as a Puff Kuo drama in my top dramas of 2020 list! I might be biased because I love Puff Kuo and Jiro Wang and believe there should be more dramas with them, but I also loved how it contained all the elements I love in a classic Taiwanese drama as well as having this calmness to it where you might be watching an intense heartbreaking scene, but it was easy to watch. It kind of gave me elements of Love o2o how it was just an emotional but easy watch. Also, I am a HUGE fan of quirky turned emotionless woman that Puff knows how to play so well. You always want to root for her and once you see a smile or two, your heart just melts knowing the quirky girl is fighting through.

I loved all the characters! I was surprised by how the story came together at the end and the characters that we hated throughout, became likable at the end. Everyone was very mature, most of the time, and there was really no "revenge-seeking" even after the hellish childhoods the mains had. I loved the relationship that Zi Tong (Puff) & Fang Zhi Sheng (Jiro) had throughout the drama, even in the beginning when he was trying to break her at work. It came off as harmless fun and he was being a "butthead." But what I loved the most was how much of a boss Zi Tong was. And once they got together, the easiness of their relationship reminded me a lot of Xiao Nai and Wei Wei from Love o2o, which is extremely rare as we don't see a lot of drama couples like this because the director wants to add another level of drama. I think it is a bit tacky, but I still watch it! So when we see a couple like this where the writer doesn't feel the need to add that element, it is refreshing. I also liked how Zi Tong & Fang Zhi Sheng, weren't the only main characters of this drama and got about equal screen time (a little more into the drama) as Tian Lin & Fang Qing. I liked the growth in their story and how adult yet childish it was.

But the reason why I wasn't able to give this a 10-star review was because of the characters as well. As much as I loved this and will rewatch it many times in the future because Fang Zhi Sheng is a dreamboat who is equal parts silly/quirky and Mr boss man who stands up and does everything for "his people," I wish there was more fire or passion in their relationship. I needed a little more. Also, even though I loved Tian Lin & Fang Qing and how Tian Lin's daughter stole the whole show, I got a little tired of Fang Qing. She was one of the oldest characters here and she was acting like a school girl the entire drama.

Overall, it was a really good story about a girl who gave everything she had in order to have one last chance to compete and reach her goal and learned how to trust people again. It was about a man who fought through his trauma in order to heal from an abusive childhood. And it was a story about two unlikely people who reunited and got a second chance at love.

Read More

This drama took me by surprise - I found it randomly after I had written my review on another drama and saw that someone had given it an amazing review. I was stuck trying to find something to watch and didn't want to commit to something super long as well as a quick watch in the meantime to give another on-air drama some time to come out with more episodes before I started. Little did I know, that this drama would become one of my all-time favorite j-dramas and make my favorites from my 2020 list.

The plot wasn't super original, but I also have never watched a "hospital drama" and I think this was a good intro. This was about a high schooler named Sakura who during an important time in her life, ran into Tendo, a resident at the hospital, that introduced to her new passion in life - winning over his heart and studying to be a nurse to get close to him. And throughout this drama, Sakura is still motivated by her love of Tendo and trying hard to win over his heart, but also come to find out that she has a knack for being a nurse. Maybe not in the "traditional" obvious way of physically healing someone that only seems to matter to Dr. Tendo, but realizing that "emotional" healing is very important as well. Yes...it did pain me seeing Sakura being only really good at blood draws and messing up everything else, but once she found her groove, she realized that she did have her own motivation at her job and added her unique flair to the position. In the process, she was "emotionally healing" Dr. Tendo's heart, which broke years prior, unintentionally.

Dr. Tendo's character was the obvious, not super original, brutting doctor who is all about work and healing everyone by any means. Which is good, but he was so wrapped up in healing people physically, he never thought about the person as a person - except for the one outlier, Anrie.

I loved how both characters went through classic character development but in two different ways. Dr Tendo needed to learn how to trust in other people and listen to other's insights, as well as learn that it isn't all about "saving everyone" but helping people live, so they can "die the way they wish." There was this whole scene. Sakura needed to learn to be her own motivator as well as learn that sometimes it isn't enough to just try your best, but the be your best.

But I think my favorite part in this whole drama was the slow-burning romance on Dr. Tendo's side. I felt bad for Sakura for the most part because she already knew what she wanted, and she stayed put, waiting. Dr. Tendo, on the other hand, needed a little more time, which is fine given his situation, but I enjoyed the slow-burning romance because Dr. Tendo needed the time to get to know Sakura and fall in love with every piece of her. And when he did...OMG....his smile was worth the wait. The secret little half-smiles he tried to hide in the beginning were everything. He also never faltered when he was just getting to know her or started to like her a little. He was in completely when he wanted to get to know her. Given, I was a little skeptical in the beginning because of his little put-downs, but I think it was the first thing he fell in love with - her determination and spirit.

I loved the stories of the different people who came into the hospital, that she helped out. The way they helped Sakura grow in her position as well as show her coworkers and Dr, Tendo that she was an asset.

I think the reason why I couldn't give this a full 10 though, was because of the side romances. I felt that Dr. Koichi's "romance" if you can call it that, was random, and was only put in because they wanted everyone to be happy. Not only that, but Nishi Ryusei's crush that turned into romance was also a completely different story or spinoff that could have been executed better. I feel like I didn't know him as a side character enough to root for him. Also, the whole time, I felt that this hospital that everyone worked at, was full of age gapped relationships. Which is fine...but we didn't have a single romance with two people that were close in age. All the doctors wanted to date nurses and it felt a little overplayed that I didn't too much about the minor characters.

Other than that, I felt like the relationship between Tendo and Sakura wasn't rushed nor laggy. One part of their relationship did seem very random and fast, but maybe it was a way for Tendo to tell Sakura that he wanted to pursue her, and no one else, and only thought of one way to do that.

Read More

Have you ever known something was going to be terrible, but decide to watch it anyway? I least I was prepared, which is the long run made it a little more enjoyable. It was so bad that it was actually funny. The main female lead was very stubborn for her situation and kind of airheaded for not realizing that she was an outcast in her family until she is literally being held, hostage. The main male lead was wishy-washy, where he would act like a gruff in front of her, but behind the scenes, he would help her out. It was a weird insta-love for him which is wild, especially after the first wedding scene. Her mother was terrible, yet she seemed to have a little bit of a conscious when everything was going down at the end, but her biological daughter was just batshit insane, where instead of telling her no, she was like, "I don't want my only biological daughter to get in trouble even though I know this is wrong." But it made the movie enjoyable with the extremes. But I hated the ending, where homeboy literally met homegirl so many times and couldn't tell that she was the real maid. What a slap to the face. Was there not a change in her actions or attitude when you got your eyesight back? Or are you blinded, but this time, with love? I lost respect for the main lead at the end of all of this. I would have kicked and screamed before forgiving him.

Read More

Without a fail, when I want to pick up a Taiwanese drama, I know for a fact that anything Puff Guo is in will be perfection. It was completely different than any other drama I had watched in the past and (according to mydramalist online) this is Puff's and Jasper's highest rated drama for great reason. This drama is tied for first place in my heart with my first Taiwanese drama and the first time I had ever encountered Puff, Just You (2013). I've been waiting for her to act in a drama that was more recent (compared to 2013 & 2014) and she did not disappoint. It was amazing seeing her in another drama with Jasper Liu as I loved their chemistry in their first, but I wanted to see them in something more mature as I thought Jasper's character was sweet...but goofy in an unattractive way (to me) while Puff needed to take the stick out of her butt even at the end. I honestly thought this drama, based on all the clips that were posted on my instagram feed, was going to be this story about these two people who were engaged and met, and fell in love behind their partners' backs. Oh yeah and that this was going to be some kind of 50 shades of grey fan fic because it seemed like there was going to be a lot of sex. And I am SUPER HAPPY that this drama was NO WHERE near what I thought. I was scared that I was going to hate it because regardless if you are the main characters and are meant to be together, I cannot condone cheating. Instead, it is about Puff who is in this 3 year secret relationship with her coworker who basically tells her how to live her life, but she is blind to it all because she is in love and doesn't know anything else. Jasper, on the other hand, is in this loveless 10 year relationship (one sided love) where we numbs himself by drinking and and sleeping around. One day they meet each other by chance and Jasper (yes I realize that I've been calling them by their real names, and not by there characters names, but I am already this far so) is immediately intrigued by her and wants to pursue her after her many rejections. We get to follow this odd yet interesting relationship between the two of them; Jasper (Kehuan) teaching Puff (Wei Wei) that she should be treated as an equal in her relationship, while Wei Wei teaching Kehuan to be a strong and courageous person instead of hiding behind alcohol and women. It was interesting and frustrating seeing the back and forth with their characters as I felt like there was never a time until the very end that they were truly friends and able to breath, but when you have Hao Yi and Zi Yuan as partners/exs, you will never get to breath and be happy. Gosh, they were both nightmares. I did love the character development with each character as well as being able to read every emotion on both Wei Wei and Kehaun's faces. It added a sensual touch to the drama, where they didn't have to say anything to know how the other was feeling. Overall, amazing drama, def will rewatch it! I do think that everything timed out perfectly, no matter how much I wanted the two mains to get together...but I appreciate the timing of everything as it seemed 100% realistic and it made both characters come off as genuine human beings who had nothing but love for one another, even after the crazy first episodes of Kehaun being a creepy pervert.

Read More

Now that I have officially finished this drama, I can say that this season was the main course compared to the first season which was basically an appetizer or the background of how these two mains fall in love. But...that isn't really fair to say since it wasn't like an official season break; literally season 2 picked up where season 1 left off as if there was no season change.
We left off in season one with the aftermath of (english name) Mike and Li Yan Shu sharing a drunk kiss. Mike seems to be extremely happy that it happened, while Karen has mixed feelings. Maybe it is because she thinks Mike will be mad at her or maybe it is because she is not used to having close relationships with others. Regardless of that, this season picks up with Gu Jin Yu realizing the truth of why Li Yan Shu left all those years ago and deciding for the 5th (some large amount) time that he is going to pursue her against this grandmother's wishes. Mike on the other hand has finally accepted his feelings for Li Yan Shu and decided to confess in front of both Li Yan Shu and his younger brother Gu Jin Yu that he is also going to pursue her. Unfortunately, his adoptive grandmother/mother has decided that in order to get rid of Li Yan Shu and "show Gu Jin Yu that she is a gold digger," she wants to "introduce" her to someone else. Which brings us to her brilliant idea to convince Mike to start a fake relationship with her. Mike says no, but still pursues her because he is actually in love with her. Throughout this drama, this plan backfires in so many ways especially Mike's relationship with the Gu family and his adoptive grandmother.
We also FINALLY get into more detail about Mike's past that he cannot remember. It was honestly EVERYTHING seeing Mike and Li Yan Shu's teamwork. Like they work so well together. I also especially loved all the secret looks Mike would give Li Yan Shu when she was hard at work trying to connect the dots based on his fragmented memories. I think this is what made the drama so much better than the first for me. As I said in my first review, Mike's smile is EVERYTHING. We only got a few smiles in season one, so season two was a treat when he would smile and laugh and act goofy around her. Of course his germaphobia (that was connected with his childhood trauma) would get in the way most of the time and we got glimpses of old grumpy Mike who came off snooty. But I did enjoy their relationship. She brought a bubbly piece to it so regardless if something in his life was going bad, she knew how to cheer him up. There were actually a few extremely emotional scenes in this drama where Mike cried, and I felt how much love they had for one another on how much they supported each other. Chemistry was through the roof!!
The reason I couldn't give this drama above a 7, though, was because there was a lot of filler in the beginning, it wasn't until the last group of episodes where everything hit the fan. PLUS, for a couple that loves one another so much and is there to support one another, when a little complication arises, they both turn into their old selves - Mike, a cold businessman who shuns Yan Shu, and Li Yan Shu, a sarcastic liar who loves to push everyone away.
But for what it is worth, the last episode ended the way it needed to and perfectly tied up this entire drama. Like seriously, the beginning of the last ep almost had me in tears. Also it was interesting seeing the villains of season 1 some how become misunderstood characters and they form these strong relationships with the main characters. You know how much I disliked her step sister, but once they formed a bond with one another, it was cute and unbreakable, almost like they had been friends for years.

Read More

Have you ever watched a show where you just hated the main character?? This was that show for me. Kim Bok Joon came off a a smart girl in the beginning; it seemed that everyone in her department was just a meathead, while she actually had some common sense, but the more we got into the show, she's proved to me that she was just a different kind of dumb. She seemed very motivated by her dreams, until the day she met the doctor. After, she went on this WILD journey thinking that she would get away with (1) losing all this weight through the doctor's program and still be able to compete without anyone noticing that she was lost a ton of weight, and (2) form a healthy relationship with a man who thinks that she is a classical music major and basically stalking him. Nothing about this was going to end up going well, and I was annoyed that Jung Joon Hyung helped her. I didn't like his character at the beginning. Jung Joon Hyung has a really messed up past and after finding out a huge secret that his "parents" kept from him (and no, not that they weren't his real parents, he has always known that they were his aunt and uncle), he started experiencing temporary deafness whenever he got anxious which ultimately made his swimming suffer. But instead of trying to fix it, he become bored and careless which is why I think he got super involved with Kim Bok Joon's life and drama. Other than that, he is a caring guy who loves his parents and brother, but he doesn't seem to have any motivation with anything else until he meets Kim Bok Joon. Once he figures out that he cares about Kim Bok Joon as more than a sister, this is where the story started to take off for me. Everything up to that point was honestly painful to watch, and til this day, I'm still super confused why Jung Joon Hyung liked Kim Bok Joon so much because she was kind of an entitled asshole (as seemed to be everyone in this drama tbh). But, once you get past that, this drama was honestly a really cute story about first love. And maybe it was because that these two are a couple in real life, but their chemistry was probably one of the best I've seen in a drama. I don't know how I feel about this drama. I think that it doesn't deserve a 9.7/10, but it did have it's moments. Episode 15 was honestly the only episode I enjoyed because shit hit the fan for Jung Joon Hyung. He ended up being the only character I truly liked about this show because even when he was his bored self, he was super bubbly and always cracking a joke and I really enjoyed his acting style. It seemed very personable and I would honestly love to be his friend. Even when he was an asshole, you couldn't help but giggle. Which sounds weird now that I am saying it out loud. Even though Jung Joon Hyung struggled a lot (he decided to take his brother's advice and see a therapist), throughout the show, we always see him taking care of his family and Kim Bok Joon. It wasn't until episode 15 when all of his fears came to light and we got to see him in a completely new light and it was everything I honestly wanted in this show. Not saying I wanted to see him hit rock bottom, but it made his character more relate-able and real and it honestly showed a different side to Kim Bok Joon that we haven't seen before. Then we got episode 16 which was complete crap until the the final 10 minutes. It's like, we went through episode 15 together, and honestly nothing can break you two, and then you are going to play out this stupid scenario and it actually have it get to you Kim? Really? But besides Jung Joo Hyung being a total dork and babe, the ending was really sweet between the two of them at graduation. I am not sure if I enjoyed the last few minutes of this show or if it was because I suffer from "the last episode" curse, where even if I am watching to stupidest thing, the last episode will always make me tear up because...well...it is the last episode!! But it was really cute thinking about if he had never ran into her that day and dropped that lace scarf, they probably would have never "met" and they wouldn't be chasing each other on the grass at their graduation talking about their goals which included winning gold at the 2020 Olympics in swimming and weightlifting as well as getting married

Read More

Literally, the "Taiwanese Black Mirror"

I picked this up as Netflix had recommended it to me, but I ultimately decided to start watching because there were 8 episodes and one of the descriptions said it was a "slow burn romance." Also, Ivy Shao was in it and I was curious to see her in a more "mature" role from Luhan's drama Sweet Combat.

And maybe I gave this drama a higher score than the other reviewers simply because I didn't expect much from it. I didn't want to dive into a longer drama, and the Taiwanese dramas that have been coming out in 2020 have been rated highly on my list.

The acting wasn't all great in the beginning, but once you get used to it, you are more distracted by how intense the situations were and how "ugly" human nature is when people are desperate. It was literally a long Black Mirror episode and I was in it to win it. I literally felt bad for Ivy's character Bai Yong Xin, as I felt that this website targeted all the people she loved, but in reality, it was probably a coincidence so they didn't have to keep adding random people to the story and needed a way to involve the same people in these cases who weren't cops. I think my favorite thing though, was the cute slow insinuated probable romance between Yong Xin & Li Zhong Wei OR what I hope will be a romance in the second season. They were both so funny together and I just want happiness for Zhong Wei. He is a badass nerd that needs some loving. My least favorite person would have to be Yang Nian Jun. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a fan of her fiance either, but for being a therapist, she had no idea how to take care of her problems.

Overall, it was interesting seeing these situations and the products that people ordered off the website, but it wasn't the websites fault and I don't believe them to be evil. Yes, they give you a product that'll give you what you most desire, but at a cost, but it was the greediness of the people who received the product that did bad. And we saw that with two characters who had no ill intent. The website didn't force the author's hand in the first few eps .

Cannot wait for season 2, hopefully, they will renew.

Read More

After reading an article on My Drama List, I was very intrigued about starting this 6 episode drama, but when I finally got around to it, I was not expecting something as creatively different than what I have even watched and was pleasantly surprised.

Even though the drama setting did seem very "Hollywood" and it looked like they were filming on a film set the whole time (I didn't truly believe they were filming in the locations they were in, but at some lot in Hollywood), it was oddly charming. Everyone seemed like they were playing a character, rather than actually being the character....but not in a bad way. It is hard to explain, but as a person who loves watching wildly different films with completely unique styles from the director, producer, and cinematographer, I found this drama to be extremely charming. The only way to describe it...is my relationship with the movie Hail Caesar! with George Clooney and Channing Tatum (the only actors I can remember on the spot.) The whole film seemed very Hollywood (given that it was shot almost entirely on a Hollywood film set and most actors were....actors) and all the actors came off like they were actors playing a stereotypical character. Did I believe the actors portrayal of their characters. No. Did I love the film anyways? Yes. The film knew what it was, and it played to it, and I think it paid off. Much like this drama, I didn't believe in the characters being their characters, but I think that the actors themselves were very charming and likable, and the plot was super intriguing and well done, that I didn't care. I was sucked in within the first few minutes of ep 1.
The funny thing though is that, I didn't realize Netflix had the option of watching the drama in Mandarin as it was filmed, or in a few other languages dubbed. So I watched the first episode in Mandarin, and the remaining episodes in English (British) so it became almost a comedy to me, and everyone was in Asia, yet everyone had British accents, talking in slang. It was cringy and funny, and I had a great time. But I did go back and watch a few of my favorite scenes in Mandarin to see how the compared.

I loved most of the characters. I loved how Li Lan was very spunky, independent, driven, and familial. She would sacrifice herself in order for her family to be healthy and happy. She was selfish, but not in a bad way...in a way where she made sure everyone was happy and thriving while being able to achieve her dream. Also, she knew that she was allowed to be selfish, and other people should be as well, but not when they are replacing their dreams with something that they knew didn't compare. Er Lang was by far my favorite character in this drama from the moment we met him under a piece of furniture because he was "exhausted from housework and decided to take a nap." He was super comedic and driven as well, even if he was a little bit of a butthead in the beginning. I still liked him. Everyone seemed so proper in this drama and it was nice seeing someone as quirky as Li Lan, but in a male role. It's funny though. I had no idea if this was supposed to be a romance drama, but from the moment Li Lan encountered Er Lang, I shipped the pair. Then we have Li Lan's childhood sweetheart Tian Bai. He wasn't a terrible person. If anything, he had to go through and overcome a lot of personal challenges in order to be the person he wants to be, and not the heir to the family after his cousin's death. He wasn't a dislike-able character and would always accompany Li Lan whenever she was in any kind of trouble, but he did have a lot of issues that he needed to figure out himself before leading Li Lan on. Like Li Lan went through a lot of hardship in this drama, but I think Tian Bai was the reason for so much heartbreak. That is why I liked Er Lang. Both men are amazing people - they used their different strengths to help Li Lan and her fate as a ghost bride, but where Tian Bai always accompanied her, Er Lang would take action and him and Li Lan would work together and take action.

I've read a few reviews before writing mine, as well as before I decided to watch this drama, and they all said they same thing. The actor who played Tian Ching, Li Lan's dead husband and ruler of the "Underworld" or the realm of judgement, was flat and didn't compare to the other actors, but it was ok, because everyone else's "imdb" page has rows of experience, while this was homeboy's first drama. Which is fair, but I think he did an amazing job portraying a spoiled heir who had been poisoned and seeking revenge from his killer. It was weird though, because there were some scenes where he was supposed to be this scary ghost who haunts Li Lan, but there were some "tender" moments between them in the underworld, where it seemed that he genuinely cared about her. For weird reasons, but nonetheless, he seemed like he wanted companionship in a world that scared him as well (and it helps if it was someone he cared about in the human world as kids.) I almost felt bad for his character every time we saw him "out of his normal role" and it was hard to fully lean on one side for him. He was a horrible person who did whatever he wanted in order to get what he wanted, but he did seem to have some kind of heart. Even if it was a little one, he had one. If anything, I think his mother was the true villain in this drama, and I wasn't satisfied with her ending. It was almost like she was playing the victim, even though she was the one stirring the pot. She was allowing her son to act a certain way, making him feel like it was okay his entire life, and she had the audacity to act like she was a victim. That he must have been born the devil and even though she didn't help the cause, he was always going to end up that way regardless.

Which is why I am hoping for a season two. The ending of Volume 1 tied up nicely, but it was also open ended where they could and honestly should write for a second season. Maybe...we would get to see Tian Ching become a better person, helping Li Lan with another "life altering" situation because if there is a season two, we will 100% be going back to the underworld, even if not at first.

I 100% recommend this drama to someone who is looking for something completely different from the average romance drama. This drama also has elements of a budding romance, but it is about learning what love is and what kind of love you desire to have for the rest of your life. There isn't one road and love isn't just one thing. Everyone expresses love in a different way and sometimes the love you've always thought you wanted, isn't what you want now. Not that one person's way of love is better than the other, but sometimes you have figure out what love means to you and to find someone who will compliment that.

Read More

No English Subs

I don't know if this is considered a "true" review since I was only able to find this 30-minute movie online with Thai subtitles and had no idea what they were saying, but I still wanted to write something.

This definitely seemed a lot more natural and easy-going and low budget, which is a 180 from the original drama. I loved the calmness of both mains carried with these roles. Bei Bei's voice wasn't as modified in this special as it was in the original, and her voice was a tad deeper which had this calming and easygoing effect. Zhou's character also had this outgoing coolness, but still also came off like a soft boy from the original drama. Also, I don't know why I also loved his long shaggy-ish hair in this.

This movie/drama was also mainly 15-20 minutes worth of flashbacks from the original drama - no idea if they were "past-lives" memories or just filler for the audience to remember what happened in the original drama.

The remaining 10-15 minutes was a cute little story about (this is me assuming based on the footage and not dialog) about two strangers (Zhou Shi Yun was an actor as he kept referencing names of movies; not sure what Bei Bei was - it is assumed she is a doctor, but all she did was perform a mediocre first aid job) who met by chance at a little street market where they were both were pulled in by a snow globe. Bei Bei let's the little girl that is with Zhou have the snow globe and asks them to come to her house to perform first aid when the little girl get hurts. There, Bei Bei and Zhou get to know one another by fixing a barbie lego castle thats gets knocked down and some midnight "power-outage & candle lit" ramen dinner. From there, they add one another on we chat and they, we assume, start their relationship.

Very simple, very sweet.

Not sure if they remember a possible past life since this snow globe seems to have some kind of power. But without the English subtitles, we will never know. Overall, I will give it a 7.5/10 just because I didn't know what was being said. If someone finds a version that has English subtitles, please let me know and I will write another review :)

Read More

This drama was nothing like I was expecting - I kept on seeing this drama advertised via instagram and it honestly made it seem like this silly drama about a celebrity and a middle/lower class woman who accidentally cross paths during an unfortunate incident (kidnapping), and while they are both trying to figure out how to explain themselves and get out of it, they learn about each other's lives and learn to step out of their boxes and realize that not everyone has it easy. That and of course, perhaps falling in love? And, we got that...but we got something so much more and different. This show actually somehow mixed to genres together - a dark story about an actual plot to kidnap and kill Kang Joon Hyuk, as well as a quirky love story. And even though I thoroughly enjoyed this drama, I didn't think that it was done the best it could have been. Maybe it was because there were only 10 episodes, or maybe it was because I felt like some parts dragged on, while other's were really quick. Also, the romance seemed a little Stockholm Syndrome-y to me, but I understand that this drama was supposed to be a funny and quirky and over the top. It was one of those dramas where you needed to accept the situation and just run with it. I loved how secretly dark this drama was, underneath all the over the top acting (which I am not complaining about, it was very fun to watch). I loved how it started off with an internal monologue from Lee Yeon Seo and how it seemed like she did have some darkness in her heart. I loved how as the drama went on, these intros to the episodes threw me off and I actually thought that Lee Yeon Seo might have had some internal darkness in her and she was going to use that somehow while "picking up a celebrity on the street." That's what I liked about this drama. It threw you off, whereas I thought for a second that I was watching the wrong drama, but then it would go into this over the top scene with a panicked Lee Yeon Seo trying to figure out how she got herself in this situation because homegirl really just was at the wrong place at the wrong time, in the wrong mindset, drunk. But later we find out that being there was actually a blessing for Kang Joon Hyuk. I think the theme to this drama was just don't misunderstand a situation - not everything is what is seems at first glance? And because of the darkness of this drama, I loved the build up in every plot, but then, once it hit it's climax, it became this huge thing, that the writers gave a silly solution to. I understand it is a write style to fit the drama, but I wasn't sold. Don't get me wrong, I loved watching this drama and I will probably watch it again, but it wasn't my favorite. To be honest, I was kind of rooting for Hwang Nam Goo at the end, but I also understand that is not how dramas work. But if there was one thing I loved about Nam Goo's part in all of this, is his compassion towards Yeon Seo, and his bromance with Joon Hyuk. The 3 of them, even though they always got into trouble, always found a quirky solution to everything. Yes, the two guys were competing for Yeon Seo, but it was kind of a cute competition. I think out of all the characters in this drama, it was Nam Goo and Mir that were my favorite. Even though Mir was a supporting role, everyone misunderstood him and he was just timid and wanted a friend in this crazy business (going back to things I loved about this drama were Yeon Seo and Joon Hyuk's friendship where she was always trying to "bring him back to Earth" and step in someone else's shoes - especially with the Mir plot) . And finally, I loved Nam Goon because he secretly went through his own character development. Like most of the characters who went through their own change, Nam Goo literally sat down and thought about how he wanted to be be a better person without anyone telling him to do so. Plus, underneath all his "annoying neighbor-ness" in the beginning, he was a compassionate person who always took care of Yeon Seo (in his own way) and when it mattered, he confessed his feelings. He deserved better.

Read More

I wanted to like this so much because of my girl Dilraba, but this show was bad. Entertaining to watch after a long day at work and sitting in traffic, but bad. And I know, I know not every drama I am going to watch it going to be a romance, but don't introduce a romance and then have this HUGE plot twist that breaks them up, and then NEVER address again even after the plot twist was solved in a single episode after. But that's the thing about this show. Literally, and I am not joking, EVERYONE and their mom had cancer in this show. Not only that, but EVERYONE who had cancer somehow got cured by the end, EXCEPT for the moms who died from it. Besides that, the reason why I didn't like this show is that (1) everyone was a TERRIBLE bodyguard except for homegirl who carried the whole team every time and (2) nothing made sense. Literally, the characters would say one thing, and then they would go and do another thing as if that is what they discussed. At some point, I gave up and just started watching the show and skimming the subtitles because either there was terrible writing for this show or the team who translated everything, did a terrible job. Plus, the cuts were terrible towards the end (i feel like this show gradually got wilder and then worse) and the plot made no sense and I felt like this series (at 37 episodes, 45 minutes each) could have been cut down because there was too much filler. Honestly, if more of the plot happened, I would have loved more episodes, but it was just filled with random missions that Firewolf Girl dominated at. Yes, it was important for her character growth, but I really didn't need 10 episodes of random missions in the middle when all I wanted to know was to see White Shark do research on this HUGE plot twist to see if it was actually true and if it was what that would mean for him and Firewolf Girl. But of course, he figures out the truth in the beginning which ultimately affected him more than Firewolf Girl, and then he disappeared from hella episodes and I just wanted to see how everyone would react to his findings. Overall, without giving out spoilers, I absolutely hated Pink Panther, she was extremely selfish and drove a wedge between homegirl and homeboy; I felt extremely bad for Big Bear, even though he was this huge dumb jock who didn't know how to deal with rejection in the correct way; White Shark was ok, I liked his determination to get his girl (especially after that hospital scene), but he didn't know how to step back and let the girl breath; and finally Firewolf Girl was SUCH A BADASS, but he also needed to step back and get a reality check.

Read More

I needed a few days to recover from this drama - I didn't know what to expect as I do not watch J-Dramas often, and I did not read the comic or watch the anime version on this drama beforehand. Plus, I do know that J-Dramas tend to have looser boundaries than other dramas as well as speed up the action since they are usually shorter. And I am not going to lie, I still don't know how to even go about this review, BUT what I can say about it is that for what it was, it was very well done and extremely unique. For that, 10/10. But I won't be rewatching this drama anytime soon or ever.

I first came along with drama on viki as well as because one of my favorite actors, Sakurada Dori, was the male lead in this, so I instantly wanted to watch it. Plus, my roommate had told me she watched the anime and it was instantly one of her favorites. I was also hooked after episode one and decided to binge watch it in a single night. Was that a good idea? probably not.

After watching this drama, I realized that there is a genre of romance dramas that I do not like. Even though the story was very unique and kept me intrigued as the characters represented different types of "scum"-y people, I did not like a single person in this drama. Of course because this is a "romance" drama, I want the leads to get together, and I was a little heartbroken about the ending, but at the same time, they were both terrible people.

Hana had many layers to her which is why I did not like her most of the drama. She was lonely, so her and Mugi formed a relationship with one another, pretending the other was the person they loved. After learning about Akane's secret, she realized that maybe she was similar to her and how she had been using Mugi because she also loved other people showing her affection. After, she decided to start another relationship with her best friend Ebato who was deeply obsessed with Hana and was ok with her using her to fulfill her needs. From my understanding, she thought that she needed to "evolve" into someone else in order for Narumi to love her. Hana then decided that to beat Akane, she would make all the people who are in love with Akane, fall in love with her, without actually having intercourse. It wasn't until the moment where Hana confessed her feelings to Narumi, that she became a little more grounded and realized the type of person she wanted to be.

Mugi...I am still trying to figure him out. He also had so many layer that I am still trying to peel back. In the beginning, we believe that, like Hana, he is in love with his tutor/teacher and uses Hana to fill in his emptiness. Which he does. But later we find out that she actually has this love hate relationship with her. Yes, he hates her because he knows that Akane manipulates men to fall in love with her, but he loves her at the same time. Later, after the audience is convinced that he started to fall for Hana and was getting jealous that she was having relations with other people, he pulls a 180 and he starts to have relations with other women (clearly not enjoying it) as well as reveals to have a complex where he hates Akane, but wants to be the man who changes her into his faithful woman.

Akane and Narumi's story was extremely odd to me. Akane is revealed to be a love and sex addict, never falling in love, but needed affection to fuel her. Narumi seems like a very familial guy who is sweet and caring and "perfect" yet his "flaw" is that because he is so in love with Akane, he is willing to let her do whatever she wants to make her happy including having out of marriage affairs. I disliked how this is the thing that makes Akane full inside and accept his marriage proposal. Like all she wanted was someone to love her and her adultress ways in order to be completely happy. PLUS, my roommate had told me in the anime that (her words) he is only obsessed with her because she reminds him of his dead mother.

I was not a fan of any of the characters, especially Ebato, who made me uncomfortable because of how strong she came on Hana. Yes, Hana was "scum" but I felt like she also felt like she was pressured into a lot of stuff because she wanted to maintain a good friendship with Ebato and because she loved affection. But every time Ebato would come on screen, I would tense up on my couch and tell Hana to run away. Fast.

Then we have the ending. For what it was, it made complete sense. Actually, it was probably the best outcome for all of the characters learning about who they were and who they wanted to be. But the drama decided that it wanted to have a touching final moment for Hana and Mugi where they were finally in a place where they could be fair to one another and were in a place where they could be with one another fully because they had complete love and respect for one another. They were both finally on the same page and free from their own personal scumminess (yes I created a new word), and ready to find true love in others, as they found it in themselves. But they decided it wasn't in each other. I was devastated. I ranted to my roommate who tried to comfort me by telling me that her interpretation from the anime was that, yes, they decided that they couldn't find that "true love" in one another, but only in that moment in time. That they needed to figure out how to love themselves fully before they let anyone else in, and hopefully they would cross paths in the future. So...yeah...that is what I'm holding onto even though these aren't real characters and this isn't a real story and we will never know if they do meet in the future. But I do hope that they cross paths in the future once they are healthier people.

Read More