Carmey
South Korea
Story.
The plot overall is light. There is no real super mystery/silly plot twist/revenge plan as per the usually Korean dramas. There was a few lost plots in the middle. such as any of the characters actually being athletes.
Cast & Characters.
I really struggled with the female lead. As a character, Kim Bok Joo was really disjointed; it's as if the writers tried to fit her into every female mold there is without any consideration. This, as a character, made her really annoying. She was immature, and very self-centred as a character. Even when she was trying to do something for someone else, it was usually for her own agenda. She really didn't deserve Jung Joon Hyeong. Also, the crying scenes. Good lord, I had to fast forward because they were so bad. Lee Sung Kyung's acting left a lot to be desired with the two facial expressions she had.
Also, why did everyone feel the need to shout all the time? I am still trying to find the value in Jung Nan Hee's character as all she did was shout and cry about how hard things were without her friend. I felt like the show was trying to overall the female friendship aspect with such a character.
Although Jung Joon Hyeong's character didn't have too much depth, he was a very enjoyable male lead and overall had a very precious personality.
Music.
There was quite a few nice songs, especially Dream.
Rewatch Value.
Not much to be honest. There was a few good scenes that you could rewatch but not a series as a whole.
Overall: I think the show is highly overrated. I get why people like it but to me it was a massive letdown.
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A very good live action of a manga/anime
Story- The story is just so dark which makes every episode a little more nerve wrecking. You're always thinking you might not survive next.
- The series is just long enough. It doesn't drag out.
- The series looks at the background of more than one character which was really interesting.
Acting/Cast
- My bias towards Yamazaki Kento means he can do no wrong in my eyes. He is always so good no matter what type of character or what kind of genre he is in.
- Sakurada Dori is also an actor I really like but I barely recognised in this due to the character he was playing.
- Murakami Nijiro is a new actor for me but he had that smirk down perfectly. Like he had the 'I'm superior' look perfected.
Music
- I'm not gonna lie, I don't really remember the music so can't say much,
Rewatch Value
- Given how short the series is, I think it definitely rewatchable.
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On other websites, there is a misleading blurb which advises that Jai Bi falls in love with Xu Xu but she is slow to return his feelings. I think this may be a description for the book (I haven't read the book) as it seems more like the other way around, with Jai Bi is slow to return any feelings.
However, the following is what brought down the rating for me:
-Xu Xu. I feel as if she wasn't written very well. Her conclusions were easily made and obvious which made it hard to believe that she was really needed in the major crimes division.
-Romance. I feel as if the romance wasn't very believable. I just couldn't feel much between until the real end of the series between the leads, like the real end.
-Disappearance of characters. I felt like Yao Meng and Zhao Han were written off which was a shame because I really like Zhao Han.
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Pros:
-The Leads: I really enjoyed the two lead characters. I liked that they aren't consistently interacting and have their own little arcs. An Chu Xia is a strong and likable female lead.
-Short Episodes. With these kind of shows, the shorter episodes are much more suited rather than the longer 45-90 minute episodes that many Asian drama have.
Cons:
-Dubbing. I originally thought that the streams I watched were out of sync but after reading some comments, I realised the voices were dubbed over, although I'm not sure why. It does obviously mess with the scenes in relation to emotions, etc but you can get over it pretty quickly.
-Meng Xiao Nan. Her dubbed voice is really annoying and she isn't a very helpful character or friend. She just pouts and whines a lot.
Overall, the show is light-hearted and humorous and definitely worth a watch if you aren't looking for something too serious.
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Pros:
-Story. I think because I've watched a lot American crime shows where there is a new bad guy in every episode, I found it quite refreshing that the crime stories play out over several episodes. It gave the show a better balance between the personal lives of the leads and the work aspect.
- Fu Zi Yu. He was great, cool and funny and very much needed character in the series.
-Li Xun Ran. He was also great. I thought he would be the standard second male lead syndrome character. But he wasn't. He was a guy who genuinely cared for his oldest friend and only wanted her to be happy.
Cons:
-Female Lead: Jian Yao starts quite likable assistant who is learning on the job from Bo Jin Yan but unfortunately descends into a background character who only cries for 3 episodes in a row and then gets important towards the end again. It's pretty hard to care about her towards the end of series.
-Relationship. I found the chemistry between the leads a little lackluster and thus the romance aspect of the story fell a little flat. I found they had more chemistry in the first half of the series while solving cases than when their relationship becomes more solidified. The relationship scenes themselves were boring.
-English/Chinese crossover. This is a major flaw in the series. The conversations in dual languages did not make sense. Mainly because Bo Jin Yan grew up in America but does not have one conversation in English with the American characters. The same is for Jian Yao, who is supposedly a translator with very good English. Maybe the actors do not speak any English but it didn't really make any sense for all the American characters to understand Chinese. Like one of the random nurses knew what Jian Yao was saying.
Overall, a series with a strong start which by the end may have been a little too drawn out.
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My main issue with the story is the moral ambiguity of the main characters and their actions.
Take one of the first episodes, for example when Dao Ming Si forces himself on Shancai. She is assaulted by him, is very upset afterwards and then she writes him off lightly as a pervert.
I don't think these kind of actions should have a place on TV today.
Further, the shows feeds the idea that it's okay to be treated badly by someone who likes you, for them to treat everyone around badly as long as they make it up with grand gestures.
The actors did their best with the plot and script they were given - for many of the actors, they do not have too many previous credits but are all very watchable.
Overall, the show is toxic. Seeing people fawn over the Dao Ming Si character is worrying - people are buying into the emotional abusive relationship that is shown in the show and writing off what could have been a nice relationship between Shancai and Hua Ze Lei.
I get that people may say, well it's fiction and show be taken with a grain of salt but a show this popular with as many brand advertisements should not be spreading such a message in my opinion.
The only redeeming feature of this show is the random shots of Darren Chen's face throughout the episodes but unfortunately they couldn't help get through 50 episodes only 31..
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-Story - The story was riveting. It sucks you in from beginning to end with the main plot and then there is nice little side plots.
The show is heavily based on both morals and the perception of good and bad.
Despite being noted as a romantic thriller, I would say it's a thriller with some romance permeating through. There is no love triangle (although there is few crushes about in my opinion).The romance is slow and is not overbearing so if you were thinking that you don't want to watch a love story with some crime thrown in - this show is perfect.
The ending is well, a little open-ended which allows you I suppose to draw your own conclusions.
-Acting/Cast - I loved the cast choice in this show. I didn't realise this until I finished watching the show however. It was some of the best acting I've seen in East Asian television.
Park Bo-gum and Seo In-guk had great chemistry.
I'm not even going to lie, I struggled to dislike teen Lee Joon-young because he was too handsome, it was distracting. Do Kyung-soo played the part brilliantly.
I liked that Jang Na-ra's character Cha Ji-an was full of heart but she could be a bit of frustrating character. She does come across as a little annoying and reckless at times. I think the writing of her character was little hit and miss because I felt as if she could have been written to be a better detective - she seemed a bit clueless at times to be part of a special investigation team.
-Music - The music was great and I have listened to Remember by Dream Cloud on Youtube on numerous occasions.
-Rewatch - This is has a lot of rewatch value despite myself not every really rewatching a series. This is because there are so many bits towards the end that you do not expect that come together.
-Overall - One of the best East Asian shows I have watched.
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Story: A lot of the time k-dramas drag, especially ones with a romance story line. This is the perfect length. You have a cute story with a well rounded romance plot and with none of the filler.
Acting: Both leads have great chemistry which meant the banter scenes between them were great. Hong Bin's smile is a delight to see on screen.
Music: The soundtracks suits the series but with with lead OST 'I Just Want To' having a very sweet melody and bridge.
Rewatch Value: I'm not one for rewatching series but this one would be very easy to rewatch, especially if you're feeling down.
Overall: A great series that will make you swoon and fall in love with the lead. It will have you question what you look like on a Wednesday at 3:30pm.
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Story: This show is only 10 episodes but it had the potential to be longer. This would have allowed for a more conjoined story line weaving through as most episodes are stand alone episodes. The story doesn't overly rely on Shindo's genius nor does it overly focus on his autism.
Acting/Characters: Yamazaki Kento is my favourite Japanese actor and is so good in everything he does. His acting of Shindo is steady through the 10 episodes in terms of ticks, etc for the characters.
All the other main actors were great too. I'm not the only shipping Seto and Takayama, right?
When it comes to having the amount of children as this show does, it can be difficult. But every child actor they have in the show is brilliant. They are all really talented.
Music: Music doesn't play a big part in this show.
Overall: The show has potential for a second season which I would really like to see.
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STORY
There is little to no romance in this show which is not necessarily a bad thing.
It's a fun drama which shows the value of friendship over anything else.
I felt like the characters and story could have been fleshed out a little more rather than having full episode dedicated to the alternate universes.
ACTING/CAST
Looking at the casts bios, it's a mix of experienced and fresh actors.
The show's format allows for dramatic acting and I never once found myself cringing at the acting.
MUSIC
As per a lot of Chinese shows, they don't care for ad libbing correctly so all the music related scenes are a little bit of a struggle to watch as the lip syncing does not match the music.
That said, all the music in the show was enjoyable.
REWATCH VALUE
I'm not one for rewatching shows but I would struggle to rewatch this again.
It's a fun feel good show but with the amount of alternate universe scenes, I would not enjoy a second run through.
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This review may contain spoilers
Story- The story is the perfect blend of hospital/work related plot points and the characters personal stories.
- It's not the most exciting show but that is makes it so great. It a comfort to watch.
- There is romance and my first ship in the early episodes of Kim Jun Wan and Chae Song Hwa did not sail. HOWEVER, there is another very interesting romance instead which I did enjoy after the episodes went on.
- My main gripe is the romance between Ahn Jung Won and Jang Gyeo Wool which felt a bit forced.
Acting/Cast
- All the male leads are seasoned actors with Jeon Mi Do being a newcomer to TV acting but a very well known stage actor. All of them were brilliant.
- The training and effort put in to learning each song for the music scenes could not have been easy.
- Kim Jun who plays Ik Jun's son is the most precious.
Music
- The songs are bops.
- From Me to You is my favourite and you all need to listed to the OST version where Jeon Mi Do shows her actual voice which is very lovely.
Rewatch Value
- This show definitely has rewatch value because it makes you happy.
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