What happens if you order Queen of Tears from Temu

I wanted to love this show, I'm a fan of the actress. She's so cute and she and the FL of Queen of Tears both appeared in Lovestruck in the City. This show, however, was not the better of the two. The comedy and cringe is just so bad. After watching over 100 K and C dramas by now, I have gotten used to it. But by and large, many of the newest shows, especially those that are financed and backed by netflix have learned how to properly tackle serious dramas. This doesn't mean we've dropped the comedic laughter; it's just been sprinkled on that it becomes an enjoyable but brief escape from the mature scenes we are starting to get used to. It's important not to forget the audience that put your genre on the map. We owe a lot to these tropes. But sometimes, a drama is trapped in that purgatory of staying perpetually in that cringe state. Sadly, this happened here.

It was incredibly hard to get past the 3rd episode. Not only is there so much cringe, but many scenes literally turn cartoonish. Now remember that this is the same writer from Bong-soon, so you could say that I'm used to this. But even Bong-soon didn't go this far off the deep end. What's worse is that there is no chemistry between the leads. And so many things aren't explained. We have no idea what line of work the ML actually holds. We learn he provides a sort of amusement park for the wealthy. They're allowed to be "kids again" or such. It's never fully explained, and the plot holes pile on after this. If this is truly a wealthy class escape, why do we barely see no more than 10 characters visiting the place at once? For better reference, think of King the Land. It does a much better explanation, and it is literally doing the same thing here. But like I said, Dreaming just seems to perpetually stay in the comedic side, without properly explaining scenes.

There's also the miscommunication trope here. The ML simply doesn't want to reveal his feelings. In fact, he doesn't do so until the last few episodes. By then, it's already too late, and I found myself relieved that the show was nearly over. In another instance, his mother comes back briefly, and we get a somewhat confusing story on why she left in the first place. His parents reconcile immediately, despite a 20 plus year gap and even more questions left unanswered. If you're as confused as I am, imagine watching it.

The only savings grace, like I pointed out earlier, is the female lead. She's beautiful. You can tell she tries her hardest with what little she can work with. Sadly, there are just too many things working against her. Anyhoo, in conclusion, if you can handle large amounts of cringle with an incomprehensible script, you might find something here to pass the time. But there are far better dramas out there, even mediocre ones that respect your time.

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Perfect example of a series being carried by a good looking Male lead. Please beware.

I feel so bad. I've reviewed some titles lately and many of them were terrible. The crazy thing is that I've seen some incredible shows lately, yet I've never had the time to review them. The Atypical Family, King the Land, Queen of Tears, and Perfect Marriage Revenge, These are some of the best K-dramas I've ever seen and my personal list for best shows of the past two years. And the reason why I've never written a review for them is cause I'm immediately rewatching my favorite scenes over and over. I go back to reddit and watch the episode recaps and usually I get to see people share the same love and excitement I had for the series.

But when shows don't respect your time and they can be a complete miss, that's when I feel the need to write. Lovely Runner is one of those examples. Despite all the love for the shows above, I could not get away from people recommending Runner or at least including it on a "must watch" list. So let me keep this sort. My verdict is this, it's a poorly written show. It tackles extremely sensitive subjects with juvenile intelligence that doesn't make any sense, given the plot.

The Fl is extremely dim-witted and childish. Which makes no sense given that she's supposed to be approaching her mid 30's. She gets the chance to save a friend but makes it a completely linear goal, void of intelligent thought. With how sensitive suicide has become for it to be a subject in a drama, the approach from this show baffles me. Our FL gets the chance to save her friend, but she can't openly state what the future will be. That's fine. She's actually 30, so she could comfort her friend. Become his friend. Openly talk to him, allow him to express his feelings and learn whatever darkness he has, right? Well, she doesn't do that. Instead, she becomes a 15 year old high school girl with a one way track of thought. She forces the ML to avoid anything to do with his future career. Becomes overprotective with no communication as to why. No character buildup to demonstrate how or why she cares. No chemistry. Do you understand how confusing irritating that can be? So I go online to reddit and I'm relieved to see so many others agreeing with how annoying she is, but also her intelligence. Why do they love each other? There's no clear answer, no writing to explain, no chemistry to show. It's just... bad. If you have ever watch Run On, you'll remember how strange and dimwitted the ML was. This show has the FL equivalent perfectly.

There really isn't much to say beyond that. I mean, the writer does throw in a serial killer and why not? Let's just throw in another trope when the others don't even make sense or help. As for the ML. Well, I'm a straight man, but even I can admit when another man has won the genetic lottery. He is handsome, there's no other way to put it. Has everything. But I've watched many of his past shows, there's a reason he's been playing support for the past decade. He's not a bad actor, I just strongly believe you need something more than a baby face to be a lead. And this guy just doesn't have it.

Suicide is nothing to balk at. It's a tough subject that demands slow caution and careful writing. I'm not suggest the show doesn't respect the subject itself, it just shows that the writer doesn't understand it. Never use it as a plot device when you don't know how to properly approach it, especially in 2024. Along with that, I just can't recommend this show. Dropped.

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So much potential, so much waste.

I'm going to keep this review short but also spoil some of the stuff, so please beware.

This isn't a completely bad show, it's just horribly written and many of the scenarios make very little sense. Let me say this, the FL has a future. She is destined for stardom, maybe not on the big screen, but she's got what it takes to be a memorable tv actress. Love Alarm is by far the most horrendous k-drama of the past decade, but the actress continues to impress, no matter how horribly written her character is or the plot itself.

My problems with Lovely Liar lie within the plot itself and the chemistry of the characters. The ML is new. If you have ever watched alchemy of souls, you'll notice that he looks at the floor a lot in a gaze or glance. This is not by design, but probably just something he was told to do. He's a singer, so acting is not his forte. He does the same thing in Souls, and he had very little lines. In Lovely Liar, he's also a quiet and an almost introverted character. So, I'll cut him some slack, but there are so many plot holes. Why didn't he realize that his ex was being abused by her father? They were dating for two years in high school, and he never once met her father? He never knew she was dirt poor? So much of that makes no sense given how close they were, or at least how close they appeared to be. I can understand why her brother made her believe that the ML was her only dream and perhaps her ticket out of the hell she was in, but for the ML to be completely oblivious is just incredibly questionable. Next, why did he tell his mother that he killed his ex? I can understand that he was traumatized, but if you follow the story, he's a very bad liar. So why would he confess to something he didn't do and completely ruin his mother's life by forcing her to make a deal with a police chief? Yes, what she did was wrong, but she was trying to protect her son. But why did he confess to something that wasn't true and completely throw his life along with hers under the bus? It makes absolutely no sense. And was the perp gay? If so, why did he marry and have kids? How did he become a CEO in his 20s??? LOL, you can see how silly this gets. Also, his ex's brother is a complete psychopath, and it is understandable to some extent, given that his sister was actually murdered. But the guy legit almost killed another person and stabbed him. Yet somehow, he was able to walk out of jail, get release and be at his sister's funeral after her body was recovered. I cannot make this stuff up. And while these issues are some of the biggest, these are just the tip of the iceberg. One final straw for me was that the FL somehow managed to avoid an explosion while standing 5 feet from it and also lose her powers of lie detection. Again, I cannot make this stuff up.

Granted, I'm not expecting the writing and the plotlines to be perfect. But please, do not belittle the intelligence of your audience. It's 2023, you cannot create characters with distinct personalities and just have them do 180's to make suspense. You cannot bypass realism for comic book plot armor. You cannot ditch logic and expect the audience to be captivated by inconsequential drama.

Anyhoo... I'll leave it at that. But don't say I didn't warn you. If you still want to see this drama, by all means. If there's one thing I can say again, is that the FL is a pure delight to watch. Her character here is flawed and she has very little to work with, but she is far and away the best reason to watch.

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One of the cringiest C-Dramas out there

I don't mind cringy, I've watched Boys over Flowers after all, but this drama was really hard to watch. I had to watch it at twice the speed, for fear I'd give up entirely. The acting, the writing, the lack of common sense in so many areas is just mind boggling. The supporting characters are all extremely dense. Save for a few that serve a general purpose, none of them get a redemption ark. None of them have character growth. Only the female and male leads seem to have any kind of chemistry. Everyone's acting is also crap. Literally every scene, it feels as if everyone is reading off the script for the very first time. Then there's the cring and overly dramatic scenes. In one episode, the FL ignores the ML for half the episode because she saw him riding a bike with another girl. No communication, no talking, just pure dramatic toxicity. There's also no attention to detail. In one episode, the FL somehow enters a NATIONAL programing contest just ONE day prior. No knowledge of programing, just a gifted mind for math. If that doesn't make sense, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Having watched K-drams and C-dramas for almost a decade now, I know what to expect when it comes to the tropes of these shows. Yes, there is a cultural difference. They refuse to give up on a tried and true audience that never gave up on them. So long as k and c dramas continue, we will see the tropes in all their glory. But k dramas have long passed that and tried to break barriers and allow new audiences to enjoy their differences. So yes, cringy love and seeing a FL fall into the arms of ML as she "trips" will be there regardless, but C-dramas seem to be stuck in purgatory with the old fashion ways. The results are half hearted dramas that lack realistic and convincing acting and writing that really engages ANY kind of audience. This is what Forever Love suffers from.

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One of the most horribly written characters and plot I've experienced in a K-drama.

You can only do so much, even with a talented cast. I came into this show after watching the female lead in another show titled "Female Historian," I thought we would get the same caliber of acting and plot, but boy was I wrong. For some reason, the male lead is written as an extremely dimwitted and dense character. It's almost as if they decided he was born at 20 and just barely learning social development skills. Granted, most k-dramas take this route, but it's usually a lead character who is anti-social and only opens up when a female lead piques their interest. In this case, the male lead himself is just dense af. There really is no other word for it. There are numerous cringe-worthy lines, along with awkward writing and meetups that it becomes an abomination by the 6th episode. In fact, the sixth episode is perhaps the worse written of them all.

To make it worse, the male lead acts in a robotic manner with a puzzled "why am I here" look 90 percent of the time. It's infuriating cause there are moments where he acts in a normal manner and stems to be a person who does more for others than himself. The problem is that information is withheld within characters. No one says why they're doing what they're doing, or gives corrections to rumors (except for his fake actress relationship), but instead, hold back info that is counterproductive to their social lives. It makes absolutely no sense. Then when the characters revert to a pre-social development stage, it's when you seriously want to throw the remote at the screen.

For what it's worth though, Ms. Seo or Dan/Dahn is perhaps the absolute best reason to keep watching the show if you must. Her beauty, story, and acting come together for what little material she has to work with. Her love story also overshadows the main leads. To have found this actress is the only reason why I'm glad I checked in.

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What could have been.

I know i’m not familiar with Taiwanese dramas as I am with Korean, but bear with me as I felt they followed the same formula to a certain extent. Keep in mind that Autumns Concerto was released one year after Boys over Flowers. So it’s hard to gauge the impact it had on this series, if it had any at all. This is all before the “me too” era. To cut to the chase, this drama had so much freaking potential, but by the middle half, it goes completely bonkers.

There is so much to digest here, and there might be a few spoilers, but there was just so much wrong with this show. The main character forces himself on the female lead at least 4-5 times. So much is glossed over, as if it’s normal. There’s attempted kidnapping, murder, attempted rape, prostitution, and so much more. All of this seems normal, despite little consequence until we get to the 30th episode where things get more absurd.

The FL almost never expresses a full thought that bears emotion and weight with what she’s faced in life. She’s frail and timid, never allowing herself to say what’s on her mind. This starts to change, a little bit, but I kid you not, by the 29th episode. The formula every single character uses then, especially the FL, is to lie. And boy does everyone lie. Lies upon lies, upon withholds. We never get complete answers from the FL, no matter who asks, especially when it mattered. The solution is to keep lying while thereby creating more needless drama. During 2008, I think producers and writers felt that this kind of path gave the viewers an inclination to keep watching. This doesn’t work in the digital age and I don’t think it did much then either. If you watch only the first 10 episodes of this series, you could say it’s almost among the best. The brain tumor storyline was done insanely well, but it’s the only saving grace.

So many of the extra side characters are useless. The “best friend” male is an utter train wreck of a character. He has no money. No title. No completed education. Instead, he tries to solve real world problems with his fist and manly facial expressions. It’s almost a joke by the 29th episode. At one point a character says this exact line, “I don’t know how to explain how absurd all of this is.” A line used by the ML’s would be wife, who decided to keep a recovering amnesia patient in the dark so she could have her happy fake fiancé. By the time you reach that line, you realize how fitting it is to tie the whole series down.

If it weren’t video speed pro, I wouldn’t even had bothered.

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One of the worse dramas attempting to mirror grief.

I'll try to keep it short. The drama tries its best to tackle grief and show how different individuals overcome and experience hardship. The problem is that it simply isn't realistic. The coping doesn't involve professional help, but rather toxic traits that include pill-popping, destroying lives around you to feel better, and being stuck in a time loop of self-destruction. Now, many of these things can be real for us, but the show does little to really address problems head-on. People don't give full answers, there is little context to justify the pain sometimes and the approaches to cope are never healthy.

The first 6 episodes are actually very well done. There is little drama, the cringing is kept to a minimum, and every character shows promise. Then, with little context or reasoning, it just goes bonkers and many characters attempt to destroy their own lives. In one episode, the male lead experiences ghosts of the dead and voices in his head. This isn't grieving, it's a mental disorder and borderline schizophrenic. The crazy part is that this is never addressed again in any other episode, nor do we see those ghosts again. If you're having trouble understanding me writing that, imagine watching the show.

Overall, your time would be much better spent watching virtually any other drama.

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I'll keep it brief. Any show that tries to redeem a rapist is unworthy of being watched. Period.

The headline pretty much says it all. I feel so bad for the male and female leads. Despite crappy writing, there is something special between them. From what I understand, the writing team went through a transition halfway through filming. What we ended up getting was an even bigger mess. As an American, I can understand that the redemption process is different in every culture. However, rape and rapists, are universal subjects that aren't allowed legroom to overlook. The writing team tries its best to redeem the second male lead, which might be the worse written character I've seen in a decade. If you're an anti-feminist who believes in redemption no matter the sin, this might just be right up your alley though. Otherwise, avoid like the plague.

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