Thrilling [Edited]

A truly amazing drama that constantly left me wondering what's going to happen once. As much as I try to predict the next episodes, It always surprised me with their unpredictability and mysteriousness. Every character has their unique characterization especially Gong Hye Won, Jamie Layton, & Lee Ji Wook but everyone is outsmarted by the protagonist mostly, Do Jung Woo, and Moon Jae Woong who is the anti-protagonist for the most part of the story until the true villain surfaces. Jung Woo always is shown to be very calculative regarding his plan and is prepared with a counter-measure if anything goes wrong.

I really love it when a story has many smart/strong characters and potential ones while many other dramas intend to have a weak and gullible character especially the FL. Even though everyone gets fool by Do Jung Woo, it's not entirely their fault because he is a mastermind and everyone he fooled has had some form of a deep relationship with him.

Gong Hye Won is a smart and hot-tempered Officer as described in the synopsis but there is more to her character. She is aslo shown to have a feeling for Do Jung Woo who happens to be using her along with the entire group. Gong Hye Won finds out about it but didn't want to believe it until a certain event. But the intention of Do Jung Woo is not that clear as well because even though he seems to be using his team and many others to take down the foundation that started the whole child experimentation. He does seem to genuinely care for his team especially Hye Won and Jamie because the show tries to emphasize that there could be other possible reasons for his recruitments of them other than their relationship to the foundation.

Although the plot is not romance-driven, you can actually feel the intense feeling Do Jung Woo and Gong Hye Won have for one another every time they are face to face or shown to be thinking of each other. The ending also tries to hint it a little bit. I have to say: this drama was simply impressive from the beginning to the end.

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Pure Entertainment!

Putting aside the controversies revolving around this drama in particular. This is one of the entertaining drama of all time. Of course, there are flaws to it as well like the depiction of "Reggae Boy" and ML being too kind or obsessive; he can't seem to be able to leave his Gf (SFL)and is always saying sorry even if it's not his fault. But it's sense of humor and character interactions are top-notch. It would have been better with more kissing than the slight peck at the very beginning but then again, I heard they deleted those scenes due to the controversies of the age difference between ML and FL. Personally, I don’t see why that should matter at all since they are both adults and they don't seem to have a problem with it. It was also really nice to see ML's mom redeemed herself as she realized her son being happy was more important than being with someone just because they are rich. I love the moment in the end when ML tells his parents, he wants to live with them even though they are not in the perfect circumstances. All things considered, this drama really had a lot of funny and touching scenes with some life lessons.

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Satisfying.

One sentence to describe the entirety of this Chinese Fantasy Drama would be: Zhi Zun Bao (reincarnation of Monkey King) travels through time again and again to save his lover but find oneself meeting his fated one without realizing it until the very end.
This drama has a lot of plot holes like time travel to different times which sometimes didn't make sense (no causality) and Monkey King having girls showing up that love him but almost everything comes to pieces at the end of the story. I always love the story of the Monkey King who is powerful and mischievous but this drama really showed me another part of him which was romantic. It also has a lot of humorous moments; I had fun watching them.
I found episode 55 on Youtube which was an extended episode about the modern world, but I don't recommend it because it's kind of confusing and leaves the show on a suspenseful ending which episode 54 (end) doesn't. The very first episode also hints at how the story will end!!

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Fight against destiny

“God creates big frame of fate. it’s human who acts accordingly. it’s also human who goes against it. it only takes one thing to change the game. Courage! ” - Courage (ep 16; 1:03:20).

This quote pretty much summed up the whole story with a little twist. ML is a Cupid while FML is a human but somehow their fate gets connected due to prayers and courage (also a deity) in the past. ML is weaken from Cupid to human with some of his power remaining while FML passes away and is reborn in modern days. Then we see them going against their fate to be together. For more details, I highly recommend watching the shows to figure it out.

There are also side stories with others Cupid and killer running rouge which I felt like serve their purposes but stretched out the shows for a bit longer than necessary (plus a little repeated flashbacks). As usually, cops are more interested in people personal lives than catching criminals. Overall, this shows has great writing and amazing ending with good storyline, romance, comedy and little bit of thrills. Last scene was really amazing.

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Affection || Family || Love || Regrets || Vengeance || Redemption

Story:
1000 years ago, there was a pair of Bulgasal, a monster without souls who cannot die unless both pairs are killed concurrently, living in the mountain and promising each other to always stay together. However, female Bulgasal developed feelings for human children because she couldn't have her own, compelling her to abandon the male Bulgasal couple (other-self) temporarily. As the children grow up together with the female Bulgasal and their human adopted mother, they lived happily even when they find out about the female Bulgasal true identity until they witness a murder happening.

Ok Eul Tae killed his younger brother because his father had lost all confidence in him as he was dying and was attempting to make his younger brother his heir. Ok Eul Tae then discovers the already grown-up human children and attempts to murder them, only to be stopped by female Bulgasal. He realizes she is a Bulgasal and puts the blame on her causing all sorts of misunderstandings to take place. Ok Eul Ta's father and his soldiers try to slay the female Bulgasal, but they are unsuccessful since she is immortal. They intended to decapitate her and imprison her until the male Bulgasal arrived and slaughtered everyone. This led to misunderstandings between the two Bulgasal pairs. The guy intended to protect her from harm, but she despises him for murdering and cursing the ones she holds dear. To stop him, she stabbed her own heart in an attempt to kill herself and her pair but she fails when Ok Eul Tae takes him away to gain similar powers.

The male curse Ok Eul Tae with a dark hole in his chest, and steal his soul in a promise to free him from the curse if he turns his reincarnated human self into Bulgasal. 600 years later, The male Bulgasal is born as a human called Hwal with the Bulgasal curse. As a result, his mother dies and his father abandons him, and he is later adopted by Dan Geuk, a general and Dan Sol's father (Ok Eul's father in the past). Hwal marries Dan Sol after a few years (one of the human child female Bulgalsal raised). Hwal had two children, one of whom was born blind (the other kid raised by Female Bulgasal) and the other of whom died prematurely due to his curse. Therefore, Hwal avoids growing close to his blind son in order to show him love and affection, as his father had done to him. He eventually regrets it. Hwal embarks on a mission to break his curse, slaying all monsters along the way until he finally meets the female Bulgasal who has survived the event that occur 1,000 years ago. Hwal does not kill her the right way because he remembers that she had saved him in the past when he was a kid. However, due to Ok Eul Tae killing everyone to convert Hwal back into a Bulgasal in order for him to keep his pledge and be free of his curse. Hwal believes it was the female Bulgasal who did it, so he sets out to find her to avenge his dead wife and children. Little did Hwal know that the female Bulgasal would steal his soul and turn him into a Bulgasal but she tells with that she will be born again as a human. So the cycle of revenge begins again.

Fast forward to the present time, Hwal meets Sang Min (a female Bulgasal who has reincarnated as a human) to seek revenge but discovers the existence of another Bulgasal (Ok Eul Tae). He also encounters other humans, including Shi Ho Min (his reincarnated wife), Nam Do Yoon (his reincarnated blind son), Detective Kwon (his reincarnated adoption father), Miss Lee (shaman), and others. Then, it's just the process of finding the truth of the past. While they are doing so, we learn that Ok Eul Tae has developed into a true monster who is willing to go to any length to stay immortal and relieve himself of his curse. WE also find out that he has joined hands with another human (monsters in a past life) to kill the female Bulgasal reincarnation so he can stay alive. When Hwal realizes Nam Dong is secretly assisting Ok Eul Tae, he warns him to leave before harming him. He later discovers that Nam Dong is his reincarnated son and that Ok Eul Tae is using him, so he saves him from being killed.

Despite the fact that Hwal has turned into a monster, we get to see a more human side of him. Even though he has avoided being close to Miss Lee because of her past life as a shaman who led others around him to harm him, their relationship is comparable to that of a father and a daughter. When Miss Lee is murdered, Hwal realizes Lee Hye Su is like his daughter and regrets not becoming close to her, just like with his blind son in the past. The cycle of abandonment and regrets continues. There is more to it than resentment and grudge, there is a deeper meaning behind those causes, such as family, love, and regrets. After the past is revealed (this is in the very end but there are a lot of things happening before it's revealed), Hwal makes the decision to assassinate Ok Eul Tea and himself. Many people, including Detective Kwon and Sang Min, die in the process. Then we flashed forward to the future (8 months, 6 years, 30 years, and 50 years) to find that the survivors, Shi Ho min and Nam Yoon, have their own big families. We also see Hwal and Sang Min reuniting in the future, 50 years later, in the old house they lived in with others while searching for the truth. ......my summary ending is rushed just like how this show ends. XD

The actors did a great job executing their roles, and the directors and music director did a fantastic job as well, but the script was rather weak. It started out great and had a lot of potential, but then it got too draggy out, and boom. Suddenly, we get a rushed ending. Overall, Brilliant performances, amazing cinematography, compelling OST, an amazing concept of Bulgasal (curse and reincarnations), and a great blend of genres.

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Suspenseful Ending.

Just as the name suggests, this is a drama about 'falling in love' because the love in this drama is never resolved. The story is about three protagonists who are childhood friends: two boys and one girl. The boys are like the polar opposite, one is super popular and is always rejecting girls (misunderstood as a psychopath) while the other is timider and always is getting rejected by the girls he asks out. The girl, Shi Won, seems to have a crush on Pa Rang (timid guy) while Shi Eon (popular) seems to have a crush on the girl. As the story starts, Pa Rang seems to be super reliant on his friends especially Shi Won, Shi Eon, and Kim Geon to take away his fears of being alone because he has separation anxiety. However, as the start progress more and more, we can also see that Shi Won and Shi Eon are reliant on Pa Rang to get rid of their loneliness as well but don't seem to realize it because Pa Rang acts [or shown) as the 'glue' of the group to his anxiety. Even though Pa Rang asks Shi Won out, he ends up getting rejected due to Shi Won thinking that he is just asking her out as he did with other girls (no true feeling). Although Pa Rang and Shi Won had a feeling for one another since childhood, they end up 'failing in love' because they don't really express it to each other. It's the opposite with Shi Eon who finally expresses his feeling to Shi Won after 10 years but he also fails in love because Shi Won doesn't accept his feeling even though she seems to have a feeling for him as well. In the end, Si Won realized that she didn't have to take care of Kang Parang all the time because Kang Parang could take care of himself and Shi Eon shows more of nice sides. The drama also ends with Pa Rang building up the courage to be more independent but he still has his fear while Shi Won and Shi Eon go to their classes. The main point of this drama is self-realization because the theme of love is never resolved in this drama as it ends without anyone ending with each other but they do come to a realization about themselves.

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One of the best.

I had been stalling this drama for a few months until I finally decided to watch it. I was afarid that it would be way too similar to other historical drama in terms of politics, betrayal, and the ending but it was slightly different. This story is basically about legendary "face painter" Jing Shu who happens to meet another legendary character, Lue Ying and then they develop their master-servent relationship into lovers eventually. Even though, there isn't that many "face painting" drawn in the drama but when it was done, it did try to highlight the reasons why. I also like how this drama puts a lot of emphasis on the relationship between characters because it was the relationship that either made a character support one another or betray them.

Lue Ying and Jing Shu are one of the rarest couples shown in the drama, they were very cute together and determined about one another barely letting any misunderstanding happening between them. Even though there is a lot of moments or even that can cause the separation between Lue Ying and Jing Shu, it actually rarely occurs.

I believe the drama ends at episode 49 while episodes 50-53 are just flashbacks of Jing Shu, adopted father.

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Atrocious

One of the drama that started out with an amazing concept but fell down rapidly. It also have a dumb FL [great smile though] which I’m tired of and K-dramas need to stop making almost 80% of the FLs so brainless. She easily reveals ML identity to the killer, I get that she didn’t know about the killer but who just reveals another secret that easily which is even unthinkable for a detective who are always working with highly confidential information. After that, she can’t even remember that and put the pieces together. Then she has the nerve to tell the killer how he will die. What a way to give more chances to the killer who is forensic experts. Similar issues with ML, I feel like he was better off working alone desperately than with detectives who are half the time his blockage instead of being a help. And what were the writers thinking when they give too many plot amors to the killers? Like damn, detectives get outsmart every single times and are clearly shown to be lacking skills in investigations. Like the detectives can’t even find any traces or evidences after ML grandpa has been murder in his bathtub when the killer literally was splashing water with blood all over the place. Making a villain smart is one thing but its another thing when you have to make others stupid just so the villain can get away. I’m surprised it had an happy ending considering how it was filled with so much tragedy and despair since the first episode. Feel kind of bad for the killer, I feel like he could have live as a normal person if he met someone kind enough to change his life for the better good similarly to how FL changed ML life [ML predictions changeable cause of FL). Society really do creates more inhuman beings than the inhuman creating another one.

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Victimize

The theme of first love got ruined in this drama. Where is the causality of time and experiences? One word to describe this drama, “Victimize.” Both the characters and the audience are victimized into watching such nonsense. It started out well but took the wrong path. The main boy gets tossed around by people around including his sisters and himself. He is the victim but he has no clue as to why it’s happening to him. The lead girl pisses me off so does the Lead boy for being stupid. How did he become successful with such a weak mind? It said it was based on a real story and but now, I have my doubts.

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How to tell a story and flip it up but not mess up?

The Beginning:
The show starts out very mysteriously, leading the viewer to believe it’s a horror story. We are introduced to most of the characters and their perceptions of the surrounding environment (innocent students walking in a dark valley, a man chasing a noisy dog, etc.). It initially feels like a horror story about a dark valley and a light shop at the end, but it soon turns out to be much bigger than that.

The Middle:
The story takes another turn when we begin to catch glimpses of the relationships between the characters. While it still carries a horror vibe, there’s something different about it. A distinction emerges between the characters, with one seeming completely normal while the other feels off (dead vs. alive). This marks a major turning point, as the story shifts from being about a dark valley and its horrors to focusing more on the characters themselves.

The End:
As we gain deeper insight into the characters and their relationships, we begin to understand why the show is called Light Shop. Throughout the story, we encounter people who experience near-death situations and perceive a dark tunnel with a light at the end. This imagery helps us grasp the deeper meaning of the light and what truly keeps everyone alive. It’s not just their will to live, but also the love and support from their loved ones that pushes them forward. The theme revolves around forgiveness and moving on—or, in some cases, choosing to stay the same. We also see two different sides of people who experience near-death situations: one who struggles to live with reality, and the other who uses their new perspective to help guide both the living and the dead.

Post-Credit:
We are introduced to new characters, possibly referencing those from the drama, Moving.

Overall:
Great acting from all the characters and excellent storytelling. My time was not wasted.

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Dwelling emotions!!

The only characters i like are Tae sang and Chang Lee: true brotherhood. All others are trash. I wanted some random nice girl to pop up at the end for Tae sang. “Don’t let momentary pleasure or happiness confused with real one.” - by who? Me?
This quote summed up the most of the story.
True/pure love destroy by selfishness. Tae sang is a great character that has every qualities people would die for yet he fails in love . He did get together with FL at the end but it was not as before. SFL sacrifice at the end made me like her more than FL.

This story truly sticks to its title. “When a man’s in love”, he will do everything for the girl he loves.

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Unique, insightful, and Inspirational drama.

A fantastical drama that truly deserved an happy ending. What a journey it was both for the characters and the viewers. Like any other families , this one had problems and worries but as time flew by, the problems didn’t disappear but through stronger relationship between the families. They were able to overcome it with ease. There are lot of good lessons in these drama. However, 2 of them stood out: true leaders and discipline. To maintain, develop, and prosper a family is true leadership and discipline. Grandpa had it all while other characters slowly grew to learn these 2 things/other facts. This was only one of those long drama that was really worth our time investment.

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Decent

The only reason why I gave it a high rating is because it has a lot of slice of life, comedy, and emotional moments. Otherwise, there are a lot of plot holes like the Minister rebelling for a prince who is never shown in the drama [Prince Yeonwoo] and the whole father-son dynamics, like they really need to sit down properly and talk instead of blaming. The romance aspect was very intriguing and it keeps you wondering how it will end till the very end. Both ML and FL are shown to be capable and smart which is pretty rare in drama where one [usually FL] is totally oblivious or dumb. even while knowing everything. I felt sad for the king as his love for FL was sincere and he never actually got have autonomy until the very end but ML and FL deserve one another as they genuinely fall in love over time. Other characters had their own version of a tragedy which was mess up because it feels like the plot was all over the place.

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Warm

This is a very heartwarming drama, I really enjoyed every episode of it. The family and friendship dynamic are amazingly shown in this drama that really made me remember all of my precious high school memories. Forgiveness is one of the themes you can get out from this drama as it revolves around many misunderstandings and lies ( or concealment of the truth & framing). There is a love triangle here but it doesn't affect the drama in a negative way. Although I'm not sure if it was an image of Jung Won or Hae Sung really came back at the end, either way, it would have been a good ending as the writer did use like 3 or 4 episodes to prepare us for it a tearjerking moment.

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Wholesome

This drama was amazing, I really enjoyed it from beginning to the end. Although the story can be predicted at time.
Disclaimer: I’m mainly focusing on Kang Hong and his mother but there are also lot of other interesting characters, relationship, and events.

Story:
"The Good Bad Mother (2023)" is a heartwarming drama that delves into the complex dynamics of a family, exploring the relationships between the main characters and the challenges they face. At its core, it highlights the transformative power of love and the pursuit of redemption.

Cast:
Main Lead (ML) - Choi Kang Ho: A very complex character who is initially seen as cold and ruthless character, and holds a lot of resentment towards his mother but is kind, empathy, and hardworking man who is devoted to his family (parents) and wants to take revenge. He carries a burden from his past and struggles to reconcile with his mother's actions.
Main Lead (FL) - Lee Mi Joo: A compassionate and understanding woman who supports ML through thick and thin. She stands as a pillar of strength for Kang ho.
ML's Mother - Jin Young Soon: A flawed and complicated character who is haunted by the death of her husband and being powerless. Hence, she is forced to be very struck with her son. However, She seeks forgiveness and redemption but struggles to make amends.

Two Adorable Kids - Lee Ye Jin and Lee Seo Jin: ML and FL's children, who bring joy, innocence, and confidence to the show dynamic.
The rest of the character were also great and unique in their own ways. All of them were truly relatable characters. The good and bad mother was focus on all of the family in the show

Ending:
As the series progresses, the audience witnesses the transformative journeys of the characters.
Young Soon embarks on a path of self-reflection and seeks to make amends for her past actions (being super strict). Through her persistent efforts, she begins to repair her relationship with her son and becomes a source of support and guidance for him.

The drama concludes with a hopeful note, highlighting the power of forgiveness and the strength of familial bonds. It has a profound message about the complexities of motherhood, the capacity for growth, and the enduring power of love.

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