Kim Yoo Jung and Song Kang: One of the best chemistry I have ever seen in a drama.

Let me first thank the casting director for casting these 2 together. They're just magical in this drama. so much natural chemistry; it never feels like they're acting.
This drama has 1 of the best cinematography I have ever seen in recent years in a drama. The Music. Splendid. Singer Yaori and her song True which is the show opening is so haunting and beautiful. I tend to skip Netflix kdramas openings but I never do it here , it is so good and well done.
Pdnim BRAVO, taking my hats off. I will be looking forward to his other projects.
Kim Yoo Jung: what an acting genius. I already knew what an amazing actress she is but she delivered even more and once again in this drama. Going on in 21 years in the industry at only 24 years old. I cannot wait to see her career blossom even more.
I am so happy that Song Kang will enlist leaving such a great drama behind and IMO his acting in this drama is the best he has ever done it since debut so I very much look forward to his acting career after the military.
Isnt it obvious that if a story is crafted into fantasy, melo, rom/com, it is going to have more or less references of other dramas of the same genre in some capacity by putting their own twist into it? So all the complaints about how My demon emulated from x, y, z in some aspects I just do not understand. Realistically speaking , it is kind of inevitable IMO.
I dont think I have ever seen a kdrama that basically incorporates all genres and My Demon managed to do that which I love so in that sense it is a great original work IMO.

What I loved the most about this drama though was the chemistry of KIm Yoo Jung and Song Kang; just so beautiful. I can keep on raving about it. I love how the writers, directors gave us so many moments between the couple and they had so many screentime together. We literally watched them as a married couple; doing mundane things everyday, how they tackled everything in life together.

I also loved how all the supports character had a specific purpose to the show; they were just not there for the sake of being support characters. The wild dogs, the Leads secretaries , Star Jin, the villains,.......

I have watched dramas from various countries over the years and this show will forever have a special place in my heart and Do Do hee and Guwon lovestory is 1 of the best lovestories I have ever had the pleasure to see. I am happy that My Demon was a HUGE success and I will my Demon Team terribly and I wished we could have a season 2.

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Best Chinese Historical of 2023 and in recent years !!!

Let me preface this by saying that I dont like to reveal spoilers in my reviews so this will be spoiler-free. I would like to first applaud the writers, director, technical team, costume department....all the many people involved behind the scenes who worked so hard to make this drama a success. I love to see people hard work bts rewarded. Now on to the actors. Everyone did an amazing job here. ZhangLihe is a revelation. This is my 1st drama of his and I am now a fan. I loved his acting here and the nuances he gave in his performance. Quite honestly these types of MLs are really not my cup of tea in dramas but I really attribute the fact that I loved his character so much to him, the actor. I havent watched any Bailu dramas since Arsenal Military Academy and she did an amazing job here; I love the myriad of emotions she portrayed as well. The other second male leads and other actors did a great job. The way the comic timing seamlessly blend in a " dark, serious" drama like this is a testament to the actors and also the writing. I love the political intrigue, fight scenes, reverse harem , harem court drama....all of this contributed to make this drama such a good drama. I hope ZLH and Bailu work in another drama in the future because their chemistry in this one was outstanding. I also loved that it wasnt heavily romance focused; dont get me wrong, I love a good romance in a historical drama but I also appreciate the political intrigue. Give it a try, you will love it and I dont even like to follow trends or whatever but the hype that this drama is getting is very well deserved.

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Ryusei stole the show.

I'm a fan of both Tori and Ryusei so imagine my delight when both were in this drama. Ryusei stole the show for me. I'm so impressed and proud of his evolution as an actor. I hated, sympathized, was angry with his character. He made me feel a myriad of emotions watching this: he outdid himself in this one. Tori as the main lead was amazing how he always is and I'm always in awe of his acting. I wasn't familiar with the lead actress prior to this so she did very well too.

Warning from now on it's going to be full of spoilers.

I like how this movie showcased how domestic violence starts. It starts with red flags like being extremely controlling; checking where you other half is at every time of the day and even call their work to see if they left. Also expecting a certain behavior out of them and for them to obey you and suddenly escalate to violence.
My main gripe with this drama is that I completely understand the trauma that the Female lead went through when she was young but when she was an adult, she should have clarified what really happened. The male lead let her stay with her because of the daily trauma she was having at home. It's understandable that he was arrested for being a pedophile but technically he was not. His life as an adult in the public eye was completely ruined because of this and their subsequent meeting, him continuing to be persecuted, her apologizing for continuing to ruin his life when she could have came clean about what really happened. Sure not everyone would believe her but it will at least clear his name publicly. I don't know why she was still protecting her awful aunt and his son by staying quiet and ruining this man 's life..I just didn't like that it ended without this happening. I also have another question about his condition that I'll ask in the comments.

It's an amazing movie....with outstanding performances..... give it a go !!!

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Seven and XK: Best CP pairing in years who produced 1 of the most beautiful C Modern dramas EVER.

I dont even know where to start with this review. Brace yourselves, it is going to be a long one. First of all , I am big fan of Seven and XK individually as actors so them acting in this drama was kind of a dream come true as a fan. It is like seeing your faves finally collaborate on a project. When this project was announced, I was so excited and I knew that ABAY would be very good because they are both very good actors and great people but I have been honestly blown away on how their chemistry was so beautiful on and off screen; they exceeded my expectations by miles.
The GOOD: SO much
1stThe chemistry; Omg they just oozed chemistry every time they shared a scene together and it was so palpable. It didnt even have to be a romantic scene but you could sense their amazing chemistry.
We got so many scenes between the leads and so many romantic moments; this was such a pleasant surprise because I have seen many C modern dramas failing to deliver on that promise.
Han ting outfits looked amazing. The drama just screamed money lol; like watching it, I could tell that a lot of money had been spent on it. I love seeing a very good drama with great budget.
The business aspect of it. Color me shocked that for once I was actually interested in the business side of a modern C drama. I actually loved it and learned quite a bit. I actually looked forward to these scenes as well.
I also did not mind the secondary characters and actually loved their storylines; another 1st for me bc I have watched many modern C dramas where they either spoiled the story at 1 point or they didnt add anything to the story.
Seven's acting. She is already an outstanding actress but she excelled here . I love her acting so much; it is so natural. She is also very good in emotional scenes. The break up scene is 1 of her finest moments as an actress. 1 of the best break up scenes I have ever seen and I really need her to be awarded for that scene in particular.
Xu kai's acting. I have watched a few of his dramas and imo this is his best acting yet; one that shows his best acting potential since story of yanxi palace and Arsenal military. Ive recognized his acting prowess early on but I feel a few dramas he had been in previously didnt showcase that properly. I was so impressed with his acting in ABAY. It is like he was possessed by the spirit of Han Ting.
Cinematography, directing, even the script.
The not so Good:
I dont have anything bad to say about this drama. I loved it so much. I cant count the amount of times I have re-watched it already. I also cant remember the last time I have rewatched a drama this much, that's how much I love this drama.
If I can be nitpicky, Seven's styling was a bit of a hit and miss; She is my fave and she is so beautiful but I wished the styling team was a bit better....like I said some episodes the styling was so amazing and others it was just ok. I really loved the whole styling of her wedding day; honestly 1 of the best styling Ive seen in a C modern dramas.
Also I feel like the show spent a lot time showing how Han ting was affected by the break up (which XK portrayed so beautifully; I kept tearing up at these scenes lol; I really felt his pain) and didnt do that a lot with Ji xing although she was heartbroken as well. This kinds of influenced a lot of people imo to feel more sorry for him even though they were both at fault imo.

Please watch it and you wont be disappointed. Finding a good modern C drama is like finding a needle in a haystack imo. So many of them out there but not many good ones IMO. I dont know when we are going to get such a great pairing (with the best chemistry) and good drama in general. Dont get me wrong, this type of plot is kind of common in dramas but what makes ABAY special imo is Seven and XK chemistry and a good story.
I want them to collaborate again in the future but with Seven not repeating partners, who knows?
Anyways. if you want a good mature romance, lots of chemistry and so many scenes between the leads, a great secondary cast with great storylines that didnt deter from the drama, great cinematography, directing, beautiful ending....watch ABAY :).

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To be an A list actor at the prime of your career & do a movie like this takes some huge guts .

How can I even start this review? Lol. Take me to the day where I watched it for the 1st time. I was SPEECHLESS . Tori? What do you mean this is Tori? And what is he doing in a movie like this ? I couldn't believe my eyes lol. I was going through some of his projects I haven't seen yet and stumbled across this.
What I will commend the scriptwriter of this movie is the fact that it really tried to make the audience think despite literally the fact that everything about this was graphic sex, sex and sex galore. It explodes the psychological reasons as to why someone would want to get into that line of work ( prostitution). Is it because they suffered something in their past and are trying to fill a void, so they have some deep psychological issues that they're not aware of? Or could it be because they just like it and if that's the reason what does it say about them as a person? I know most people focus on the sex scenes ( which are WOW..how do these actors even film this? Lol) which is what 95% of the movie was about but I love psychology so I found that aspect fascinating. I appreciate the fact that it wasn't just gratuitous sex for the whole movie and that we had some sort of plot.
Also prostitution from a man's point of view? We don't get that often.

I love Tori as an actor . He's extremely talented. I've watched many of his projects prior to this so I was eager to find out why he would say yes to a project like this one at literally the height of his career..I was eager to find some interviews about him pertaining to this movie after I watched it and his thoughts about it were so interesting. Kudos to him for always pushing the envelope.

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Everytime I think that I've seen it all , Japanese movies are like " hold my beer"lol.

Rating this 10 Stars solely for our 3 outstanding actors in the main cast. I've seen them in other dramas and wow they outdid themselves here. That doll scene that they keep repeating was 1 of the most disturbing scenes I've ever watched ; just ughh was it really necessary to keep repeating it throughout the drama? So creepy and disturbing. And the sex scene? Speechless...I thought I've seen it all....yes I understand WHY is was presented that way but what comes up in these scriptwriters minds to come up with something like that ? Lol.
Honestly , I almost dropped it at 1 point because it's really slow in the beginning but I'm glad that I stuck through it because it became even more interesting in the 2nd half. What a talented cast. What a story.

Sometimes I love to watch things that are different and new and quite out there and this definitely fits the bill. Give it a try.

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Meguro Ren !!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a fan WOW !!!

I don't even think I've ever watched a movie like this before. It was as if this was a mind trip lol. Was it an anime? Supernatural-ish? Quite honestly it was hard to follow. Meguro Ren is a STAR !!! Electric and so much charisma in every scene. He is IT !!!! It's almost as if he jumped out of anime? He was insane in this !!!I was not even familiar with him prior to this but he gained a fan in me .Loved the Female Lead acting as well. Im rating this high because the Lead actor was everything, cinematography was amazing and I loved the special effects as well. It was well worth the wait ( we were waiting for English subtitles forever lol so thank you to the kind subbers).

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One of the best female lead detective Japanese drama.

There are not a lot of female leads Japanese dramas out there unfortunately and I was so glad to stumble across this one. I loved it. I tend to see Haru dragged here and there for her acting ( idk why because I like her acting in other projects as well) but she did so well here . I appreciated the many veterans actors that were in this drama. I liked the different cases. I didn't care for the gore or 1 of the storyline/case.
They unfortunately did something here that I hate to see Chinese dramas do as well. Cast someone as 2nd male lead actor and then give him so much screentime than the male lead that the latter becomes like a special appearance. I didn't care for the 2nd male lead and unfortunately he had so much screentime than the ML and was assisting in solving the cases . I also didn't like how they brushed off what he did. Just because he's a genius doesn't mean that he's not a murderer. Yet they had the ML ( Police officer)in 1 dimensional role throughout the drama. Now that I think about it, because of this I will slightly drop my rating. By order appearance in the introduction and even cast, he is the male lead then why why have him almost as a guest appearance? I recognize that the 2nd ML has been in a lot more projects than the ML but that is messed up imo.

Anyways, great drama overall. The cases were interesting. The lead actress is great. The ensemble cast did well .. They're not too many Female Lead Japanese detective roles out there and this is 1 of the best ones

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Marriage shouldnt be this hard imo....meh ending.

Love the lead actress; she is such a great actress and this is 1 of her recent works that I actually liked; she doesn't unfortunately always pick scripts that I like but this was an exception. This drama was such a great take on marriage and quite realistic and I love how it presented different viewpoints; yes there is cheating involved but you have to watch to see why it happens and that it isnt exactly like other " cheating dramas".
I would have gave this drama an even lower ranking if the main couple stayed together as a married couple; Marriage isnt supposed to be that damm hard; they were better off as very good friends. Their marriage life was always like 2 very good roommates cohabitating together. They looked more excited about eating together than doing anything intimate; no thank you lol (yet with Reikun she was so passionate ) .I even started fast-forwarding the scenes when they were eating together at one point; irritating lol.
I lowkey wished she gave Reikun a chance; he loved her and I think that she liked him too but she got it fixated in her head that her and husband HAVE to work even though that marriage life wasnt what it was supposed to be.

I hate to do this but I will give it a solid 7.5. I really dont think they needed to have any sort of relationship beyond friendship after their divorce. Love the drama but I didnt like that ending because what is the lesson here? When you watch the drama, I dont think they are fit to be in a long lasting romantic/passionate relationship together. I just think that this ending is a cop out.

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Oh dear..... what's going to happen in season 2???

I can't stand Ayano Go but I can't escape this man as he is in a lot of prominent and great shows. Nevertheless, I put my personal feelings aside and watched the show because of the story and the rest of the cast that I recognize. What a thriller ???. I was on pin and needles in some scenes.What a fantastic cast of actors. Great acting. I didn't care for the the extreme gore in some scenes but I guess it's what it's.
Hopefully it gets a season 2. Lord knows what Harrison is going to plan next ???? I don't even want to imagine ????????.
The FL did a great job. She didn't have too much screentime but I'm glad that she's acting with such a veteran cast of actors ??. Lol at her habit of flicking her hair ??.
Anyways, great show. Great thriller. Great story and great ensemble cast ???.

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The struggle of watching a drama when you can't stand the male lead actor.

I do not like Shohei , the male lead as an actor. I hated the fact that he had so much screentime. I wished I could have just fast forwarded all his scenes; unfortunately , I would be missing the plot. However, I like the lead actress ( loved her acting in other works), loved the storyline, the ensemble cast so that's why I decided to continue watching even though I cant stand the ML..
Not too familiar with the " host world" so this drama was also educational in some kinds of way .
I loved the camaraderie, how we got to hear more about the life of all the hosts and how they ended there. Great acting for the whole cast, great fun drama . I also loved how the FL finally found something to do in her life that she really loved. It's never too late. I didn't care for all the past stories about the FL and ML bc once again I cannot stand the ML and that whole kids-adults storyline first love is so played out.

Very happy for the female lead as she doesn't have a lot of leading roles; she's always a support role in a few J dramas I've watched so this was great ???.
Watch it if you want to see a female lead growth, camaraderie, friendship, learn more about something different ( host).

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The BEST LDK version and cutest love story you'll see.

This is the sweetest young love story you'll see. I also watched so many of these Japanese movies and this is truly up there with the best ones out of them.There's absolutely nothing new with the script. We have seen it thousands times: insecure cute girl falls for " the bad boy " at her school, a love triangle ensue , he begins to fall in love with who she's as a person. This has been done million of times but what makes this movie stand out and so much loved and the BEST LDK version ( sorry Kento), it's the chemistry of Mone, Sugino and Ryusei. Especially the chemistry between Mone and Sugino and the fact that they're still amazing friends till this day ( they're currently doing a TBS program... that's literally almost 5 years after the drama ended), have supported each other projects throughout the years.. just warm my heart. Beautiful love story and well acted. Give it a try. I have been a big fan of these 3 since this movie and loved how each of them are so successful today.

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Best Japanese Rom-Com in the last decade.

What can I say about this legendary drama that hasn't already been said? There's a reason why this drama was a phenomenon in Japan and overseas when it was released. It was Mone 's breakout role and catapulted Sato to international stardom. I watch a lot of Japanese dramas and this drama is really up there with the very best of them ;from the last 3 decades even. Even till this day Koitsudu still top most popular/beloved of most lists least in Japan. The OST obsessed, I still listen to it till this day. The script is not new. This has been done so many times but the huge success of this drama is mostly because of Mone and Takeru electric, amazing chemistry imo. I don't rewatch dramas often but this is 1 of the few I rewatch the most. It's such a beautiful slow burn falling in love story. Amazing cast, cinematography, music...this is 1 of the rare instances where everything came together to create MAGIC ✨

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