A drama which is true to every character’s motivations.

This drama showcases the spectacular unravelling of what appears to be a picture perfect marriage.
Sun Woo and Tae Oh’s married life begins an irreversible downward spiral when Sun Woo discovers that he has been cheating on her; a game of cat and mouse, revenge and one-upmanship ensues between the devastated Sun Woo and the self - justifying Tae Oh.

The actions of these two eventually led me to not root for them as both are equally flawed and grey characters. Initially Sun Woo has the moral high ground as the wronged wife, but soon enough some of her actions become morally questionable. In her quest to best her ex husband, Sun Woo makes some very questionable decisions and is only concerned with winning the war.

The other characters are very well fleshed out, and I was especially impressed with the skillful handling of the relationship between Ye Rim and Je Hyuk; the ebb, flow and final ebb of their marriage is realistically exposed.
Da Kyung, the mistress who became a wife, had my sympathy sometimes, I suppose that’s a testament to the excellent acting in this show. In fact Da Kyung’s handling of Tae Oh is way more impressive than Sun Woo’s.

This drama also depicts women’s role in society quite well. In the beginning Sun Woo was shunned after the divorce, and even before that her friends kept secrets behind her back. Tae Oh’s secretary is a divorced mother of one and has been relegated to the fringes of society, she is ineligible to mingle with her peers simply because she’s divorced.
Sun Woo is at one point criticized behind her back for standing up for herself and not letting Tae Oh get away with his shameless actions.

The acting in this is brilliant by each and every cast member, for me that’s the biggest draw of this show, the self assured acting ensured that I was always fully engaged and duly impressed while watching the show.

I understand that this is an adaptation of the BBC’s Doctor Foster. The Korean version is less conniving and mean spirited, it has an element of emotional softness if that makes sense.

The two victims of this saga are the two children Joon Young and Je Ni.

What I didn’t like so much was the way the show used dramatic music and sound effects to ratchet up the suspense, ultimately this turned out to be overkill because of the trajectory the show ended up following.

The ambiguous ending was a bit meh for me, show was strong throughout so it would have been great to end on a strong note.

There were some unanswered questions like who killed In Gyu? I didn’t like the way Hyun Seo was discarded abruptly from the storyline, it would have been great to see how she was faring at the conclusion of the story.

The ost is good, I noticed and appreciated the music but it remained unobtrusive.

After watching the first two episodes, I was convinced I’d give this drama a 10, but ultimately it turned out to be a 9, and the majority of this score is for the phenomenal acting.

Definitely worth watching.

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A story about running out of time

This drama is quite harrowing and angsty, so much angst. The love story, although beautiful, was not enjoyable for me because of all the angst and the looming extra character in the story namely, HIV/AIDS.

Masaki's rebellious and wilful teenage antics led to her contracting the HIV virus, her behaviour after her diagnosis is very trying, annoying and frustrating; this can be attributed to her young age but I think she never improved as a person, even after life threatening experiences she just never seemed to learn from her mistakes and experience, her outlook never improved. This is the biggest negative of the drama, it's more than just the bad, whiny performance of Fukada Kyoko, she was also just very badly written.
Masaki's question that she asks in episode 1 is " is there anything you shouldn't do for something you really want to obtain?" This right here, sums her up perfectly.

The brightest and most enjoyable part of the story is Keigo, played by Kaneshiro Takeshi; his acting is just brilliant. He embodied Keigo's initial detachment and subsequent emotional struggle beautifully and with so much feeling and fervour. I did find myself pitying him more than I pitied the female lead which is testament to his great acting as well as the stilted nature of the female lead's trajectory.

The handling of the AIDS issue was somewhat clumsy at times. The social ostracization and family stress was well depicted, but show failed to handle the intricate details well, especially pertaining to physical intimacy between the leads.

Overall, I did enjoy watching this drama, however the sticky points were too much for me to ignore.

Music is ok.

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Forgive, let go, begin anew.

This show is good to look at with great scenery and sets. The overall production is well put together.

The story is nothing new in Thai dramaland, it has revenge, family feuds, corporate trickery, forced marriage etc etc. Overall the theme is about forgiveness and moving on after people have wronged you; each character has to process some wrongs or perceived wrongs that have been done to them and learn to forgive and let go.

The cast is good, Ken is never disappointing and I discovered a new fave in the form of Nune. I've never watched her before and I was duly impressed by her performance here, she's a refreshing Thai female lead with spunk and mental fortitude.

The other cast members are ok, although I must say the plot of this drama is quite thin so it was draggy and repetitive in the middle, the beginning is excellent though.

Overall it's a pleasant watch but doesn't leave much of an impression.

I scored it 7 out of 10

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STUNNING cinematography, grandiose scale and sweeping music.

This drama has the BEST camera work and camera quality I have ever seen, especially in the outdoor shots. I'm pretty sure there are some photography courses out there which feature the camera work in this drama, the visuals are breathtaking.

Chuno is a drama that addresses the moral questions prevalent in the Joseon time period, chief among which is the issue of social hierarchy particularly with respect to the concept of slavery. The social justification for slavery is based on Confucianism and Buddhism; one seeks primarily to effect an ordered society by emphasising societal rituals and traditions, and the other is mainly concerned with purifying the individual; neither of the two directly address the moral ramifications of slavery.

It's against this backdrop that the story of Dae Gil the slavehunter is played out. Jang Hyuk is the shining star of this drama, his acting in this role is powerful and convincing, simply riveting. Dae Gil's quest for his lost love Un Nyun played by Lee Da Hae, is long and arduous, and it's this quest that kept me riveted for the first 9 episodes, the constant question of "will they meet or won't they" was addictive from the beginning, however at some point I began to feel as a viewer that the drama was yanking my chain and I lost some patience with the storyline.

There are several side plots going on around Dae Gil's quest and eventually the plots coalesce into one main plot, there are the political issues of the royal succession, the machinations of government officials with differing agendas and motivations, the competition for business between different slavehunters.

Overall the casting in this drama is strong; Dae Gil's brothers in arms Wang Son and General Choi are wonderfully portrayed by Kim Ji Suk and Han Jung Soo, I enjoyed the camaraderie and genuine bond shared by these three characters.
The character of Seol Hwa was a breath of fresh air infused into the above mentioned trio.
The female lead Un Nyun, played by Lee Da Hae, I found insipid for the most part, I don't know if this had to do with societal norms of women being dependent and soft, even if this is the case the way her character is depicted is incongruous within the setting of the drama. Un Nyun is always perfectly coiffed, with not a smear of dirt on her or her clothes and in the beginning she wore an all white outfit, she's even wearing makeup and lip gloss! This character for me is the biggest fail in the drama, her lack of expression and docility didn't work for me, there are moments when she expresses emotion, but unfortunately these were executed late into the drama and by that time I didn't care.

The second male lead, Song Tae Ha played by Oh Ji Ho presented a similar dilemma for me in that I found it really hard to understand why he did anything at all, there is a definite lack of character development, this may be due to the fact that his character wasn't given much meaningful dialogue.

The villain, Hwang Cheol Woong played by Lee Jong Hyuk, became irrationally villainous from one day to the next, his motivations were unclear even if his circumstances were well documented.

This show developed a pattern ( around the 14 episode mark onwards) of the main characters failing to communicate with each other, I suppose this is a kdrama staple to extend dramatic tension and to create antagonistic situations based on ignorance of facts and misunderstandings; however in this instance the device was used too often and affected my enjoyment of the main love storyline.

Personally, my expectations were disappointed by this drama, not because things always have to work out neatly but because the route the show took to get to it's ending was ultimately frustrating and annoying.

I've given this show an 8 out of 10 because I appreciate the large scale of the production as a whole, including the sweeping music, and also because Jang Hyuk is phenomenal in his role.

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"the wall was blown into the next stratosphere"

The statement said to Sena by his mentor encapsulates this wonderful enchanting drama that took me by surprise. I've long been meaning to watch more Japanese Dramas, and have decided to make a concerted effort this year.

Imagine my surprise (pleasant) when I, rather grudgingly pressed play on episode one, you know concerted effort and all that. Granted, episode 1 to 5 were engaging enough for me to continue watching but I wasn't sold on this drama until episode 6 onwards. It's a story that literally takes you by surprise; the impactful moments crept up on me and I found my eyes welling up during seemingly innocuous scenes; for example the two mismatched wine glasses sitting on the makeshift crate coffee table with the bottle of Bordeaux became a symbol of Sena and Minami's budding feelings.
It's a very well crafted, incremental story of two people who appear to be very different falling in love with each other and monumentally changing each other in the process.

The acting is superb by the two leads, I found the lead actress's performance a tad irritating in the earlier episodes, but she improved in latter episodes. Kimura Takura dazzles as Sena, he has a naive, reticent quality yet he is also emotionally strong and mature; the actor managed to encapsulate these different characteristics into one extremely likeable package.
The female lead, I believe is supposed to be more complicated and a little bit unlikeable as she is the one who, although she's older than Sena, has the most growing to do.

The cast overall is so good, I enjoyed Sena's mentor/professor as a constant stabilising force in his life. The other pairings were not very well developed and the relationships seemed undeveloped at the end. However there is an epilogue at the end of the last episode which may shed some light on the final pairings of the supporting cast.

I loved loved loved the soundtrack in this, the songs by Cagnet are beautiful and spot on, they have a 90's feel but can very well stand their ground in 2020. The show is interspersed with lovely piano music, and this juxtaposition of the different music genres is genius. Music is 10 out of 10

In actual fact this is a drama and cast that can stand their ground in 2020, it's not often that you come across such unaffected performances.

Never mind about the 1996 date of production, just watch this drama, its really worth it.

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amorous ghost hijinks meets murder mystery meets HEART...

This is one very rare drama in that the second half was a whole lot better than the first half. This is not to say that the setting up of the story in the earlier episodes wasn't entertaining, it was hilarious; however the show didn't balance the story equally enough between the two female leads. Episodes 1 to 10 devoted way too much attention to the relationship between the ghost and the male lead, a lot of the romantic progression, the little moments that mark a blossoming love relationship were shared with the ghost instead of with the real life person Bong Sun; This was incredibly frustrating. From episode 11 onwards show picked up momentum and sailed to a very smooth ending.

The acting is what makes this drama special, the actors appear to have had a fair amount of freedom to express their roles, this is especially evident in the staff dynamic at Sun Restaurant, I enjoyed the warmth and camaraderie of the whole crew at the restaurant, it felt organic, never forced or practised.

Park Bo Young gives an impressive performance as Bong Sun, she has incredible range, from the shy and reticent Bong Sun to the brash and feisty Soon Ae to the new and improved Bong Sun, she encapsulated them all effortlessly, she's definitely a new favourite of mine.
Jo Jung Suk is such a great actor, so convincing and effortless, the chemistry he had with his leading lady is so natural and warm, they were never awkward, always warm and engaged, such a joy to watch.

All the other supporting cast is great, especially the shaman lady.

This is a solid drama if you're willing to overlook the rather aimless beginning; It has wonderful emotional payoff in the last episodes with an extremely satisfying ending.

I didn't notice the music that much, the instrumental pieces are appropriate where they're used.

Overall 8.5 out of 10

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Live your life with unconditional love not fear.

This drama is delightfully fresh, charming, laugh out loud funny and touching.
I got some definite Sam Soon vibes because of the seamless blending of hysterical humour and heartfelt, grown up sincere emotions; not to mention a spunky and delightfully emotionally messy female lead who's always at 100% not 89%.

I love the message that this drama portrayed, about living life to the fullest, unconditionally, and doing things that you won't regret on your deathbed. Different kinds of love and human relationships are showcased in the drama as represented by the main story as well as all the side stories. I especially love that the characters, including the leads were flawed and on a path to growth and improvement, there's no one character that's perfect. The journey to being better is what makes this show special.

The love story is exceptional in the age appropriate way its handled; I especially appreciate that the characters are grown up and behave as such, they talk about everything that normal couples talk about. I was very impressed with conversations the lead couple had about their sexual frustration, when they would sleep together, when they would move in together etc; this was refreshing as it's so rare to see this in a kdrama; the skinship is also so realistic and natural, the kisses and hugs were some of the very best I've ever seen in any drama.

The acting and cast is great. Eric Mun's taciturn and closed off turn as Park Do Kyung is spot on, he was adorably stiff and it was such a pleasure to watch his character gradually open up and allow himself to feel love and live life fully.
Seo Hyun Jin's unabashed, wholehearted portrayal of Oh Hae Young was the life of this show, she was the perfect foil for Do Kyung and the two of them were magic on screen.

The supporting cast is impressive in this drama, all the side characters had fully developed stories and they didn't taper off at the end, something which I really appreciated because I've watched many a drama where the supporting cast stories are abandoned towards the end never to be picked up again. So well done Show for being consistent.

The drama may have been a tad overdramatic around episode 8 and 9 with too many tears and angst, I felt it was drawn out unnecessarily, and overall there was way too much self medicating with alcohol among many of the characters, the alcohol consumption is epic! My final criticism is with Oh Hae Young's mother, I found her to be too much, considering that Oh Hae Young is 32 years old, she was over-protective and meddlesome. I get that she loved her daughter but I just think maybe she made Oh Hae Young too sensitive with her constant hovering.

Anyway criticism aside, special mention has to go to the OST which was absolute gold; all the songs are amazing and catchy and appropriate.

I adored the vibe of this show, there's just something about it that's so unique; it's very well worth the watch, you will not regret.

Overall score is 9 out of 10.

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This drama is just very well done from start to finish, it never drags and is well paced. Plot exposition, progression and resolution are excellently executed and move seamlessly from one point to the next. My only negative comment regarding plot progression is that the passage of time is not clearly delineated, it's not clear how much time passes throughout the drama especially in the final two episodes I wanted to know how much time passed between the time Jo Min Hyuk went to Armenia and the end of the drama. This doesn't take anything away from the drama, it's just something that niggled at me.

The story is intriguing and very engaging, there's never a dull moment. There are so many aspects to this story:
1. the relationship between Kang Yoo Jung and Ahn Do Hoon which is the foundational plot point;
2. the relationship between Jo Min Hyuk and his pregnant girlfriend;
3. the Ahn family dynamic which is actually the breeding ground of Ahn Do Hoon's selfish, non accountable nature;
4. the dynamic of Kang Yoo Jun and her single father;
5. The dynamic of the Jo family which is multi - layered with suppressed resentments;
6. the hate to love relationship of Jo Min Hyuk and Kang Yoo Jung, a relationship whose progress is beautiful and swoon worthy;
7. The dynamic between Shin Seo Yeon and Jo Min Hyuk;
8. the dynamic between Shin Seo Yeon and Ahn Do Hoon;
8. The prison dynamic;
9. the prosecutor's office dynamic;
10. the corporate shenanigans;

I understand that this was a first script for the writer, it's unbelievable how well this story is constructed especially for a first time script writer. I will definitely look into other dramas from this writer.

I could add a few more plot points but these are the essentials, It seems like a lot but when you're watching it's not, it adds to the excitement and pace of the story.

The acting is excellent. Special mention must go to Bae Soo Bin, he played the reprehensible character of Ahn Do Hoon to perfection, his intensity and progression from a man who wants to do well in life to a man who will do anything to save himself is fascinating to see, like a trainwreck in slow motion.

Special mention must also go to the male lead Ji Sung playing Jo Min Hyuk, he delivered some swoon worthy bars to the female lead with such heartfelt sincerity that I was blown away; this is the first time I've watched a Ji Sung drama and I will definitely put his dramas on my ptw list.

The female lead's story played by Hwang Jung Eum is a tear jerker but ultimately hopeful and good; she is able to showcase the character's essential selflessness and goodness while still injecting some badass no nonsense when its required, I appreciated that she stood up for herself when it was necessary but didn't lose her inner core of gentle goodness in the process. I initially questioned her decision to handle the hit and run the way she did, but ultimately her character was consistent and this became the story the writer wanted to share.

The character of Shin Seo Yeon played by Lee Da Hee is sufficiently annoying and one dimensional, the character is not fleshed out enough for us to care about her motivations.

The rest of the supporting cast is great, especially Ahn Do Hoon mother, there's many a time I wished I could shake some sense into that woman!

The music is excellent and perfectly suited to the scenes where it is applied.

Overall rating 10 because it is so well scripted and acted, with minor to no plot holes.

Rewatch value is 10, I rarely rewatch dramas with suspense in them, but this one has such a wonderful OTP and supporting cast I will definitely revisit it at some point in the future.

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the power of gratitude

I'm not even going to say too much about this drama, it is simply beautiful and demands to be watched and appreciated.
This drama is about the redemptive power of simple gratitude, how the words 'thank you' have the ability to change your outlook and ultimately your life's path, no matter what your circumstances are.

The cast as a whole is superb, there are no stars here, just a well rounded ensemble of gifted storytellers, such is the power of this story that stars like Gong Hyo Jin and Jang Hyuk, although they delivered wonderful performances, they still managed to blend in with the other relatively unknown cast seamlessly.

I do. however have to give special mention to Seo Shin Ae and Shin Goo; Seo Shin Ae's precocious portrayal of Bom is stellar and amazing, she elicited tears and laughter in equal measure and was an absolute joy to watch.
Shin Goo's portrayal of Mr Lee or grandfather was awe inspiring, he injected such pathos into his character that I was completely engaged whenever he was on screen.

This drama is amazing and is definitely worth watching, you will not regret it. It reminds me of why I watch Kdramas in the first place, it is so full of HEART.

I give it 10 out of 10 in all categories. SIMPLY SPLENDID!!!!!

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This is my first Lakorn review and the third Lakorn I've watched. I really enjoyed watching this, it was fast paced, with amazing dialogue and interactions between characters, it never got boring or draggy and that's a huge plus for me.
Thanks to this Lakorn I've discovered Weir, what an emotive, charismatic and overall charming actor he is! I'm so impressed.

The story is nothing special, your run of the mill angsty "ahjussi" romance with a liberal sprinkling of noble idiocy (OMG the female lead was on another level!!) a serious lack of communication between our OTP and crazy, shrill, obsessive women who can't live without the male lead. Despite it's unoriginal premise, this story is immersive and all encompassing, there were no weak links; this is especially true if you watch it at face value and take the story as it's being portrayed without adding your own opinions and social norms to it, that's usually how I like to approach a drama, and I've realised that with Lakorns especially if I get hung up on issues such as women being treated poorly for example, I will never be able to watch them. So I take everything with a pinch of salt always keeping in mind that it's not real life.

The story had a solid progression and showed the main couple falling in love in a believable way, there was good character development especially for the male lead, and the female lead's family members. All the villains got what they deserved and that was very satisfying.
The most deplorable character in my opinion was Khun Burut, the female lead's father, his actions were cowardly and self serving, and I found it particularly galling that his family welcomed him back with open arms and total forgiveness, I mean??????

The acting and cast was good. The standout performance for me was of course Weir, the male lead. His portrayal of Sayomphu was wonderfully done, he came across as damaged, proud, arrogant, confident, sweet, caring and vulnerable all wrapped up in the most manly and aesthetically pleasing package, he was in a word "amazing"
The female lead for me was a problematic character, I found her "goodness" self-defeating to the extent that she was harmed so many times when she could have stood up for herself. I also didn't like the way she refused to fight for her man, she just let him do all the work and took too long to take his hand and walk with him, her prejudice ran very deep I suppose. In the end her love was very steadfast, I just wasn't crazy about her lack of passion in all things.

The supporting characters did their job admirably. Wantanee and Vi were especially tedious and pathetic, with their entitled one sided love, it was quite ridiculous to behold.
P'Saard was played exceptionally well, I just have a small criticism that it took her so long to become a mature and helpful mother and stepmother.
Special mention to King!!! the most loyal sidekick that ever was, I cried when he died.
Vi was kind of admirable for a villain, but technically she wasn't even a woman scorned, so I found it difficult to understand her motivation, except to conclude she was just plain delusional; Wantanee had more basis for her bad behaviour because she was actually Sayomphu's mistress.

Music is great, Weir and Preaw each recorded a song for the drama and they're both quite good. Of course there is the ever present urgent and insistent instrumental music which seems to be a hallmark of Lakorns and I don't particularly care for it.

Overall I give this drama a 9, I normally would have given it an 8 but I was so thoroughly entertained and completed it in very short order and this counts for a lot. There are some very highly rated dramas which I struggle to complete even though I know it's an excepitionally made piece of work, so ultimately it comes down to a purely subjective feel and connection that I have for a particular drama.
It's still early days in my Lakorn journey however this is well worth a watch.

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"through your love, my heart will recover"

This drama is amazing, it delivers fantastically on all fronts!!

At first glance it's just a rom com, but upon further scrutiny it is a commentary on South Korea's entertainment industry, while at the same time documenting the first love of man child Dok Ko Jin.
The love story between Dok Ko Jin and Gu Ae Jong is very well paced and delivered with comedic flair ( there are plenty of laugh out loud moments) and a lot of HEART; one minute I was laughing out loud and the next I was going Aaaaw! with a decided sheen in my eyes. The two leads are absolute perfection with a very outstanding performance by Cha Seung Won whose portrayal of Dok Ko Jin is unique and engaging; even when he veers into crazy territory in the earlier episodes he still manages to make it believable and never ridiculous. This is really a story about his coming of age (at his big age) because he's a top celebrity at the absolute peak of his industry, with all the conceit, arrogance and over confidence that accompanies such fame; Even with all that, he has the indefinable naiveté of someone who's led a lonely life with no real friends, only colleagues and doctors because he spent so much time in hospitals growing up; he's never unpleasant though and remains lovable and relatable throughout.

The story has some beautiful metaphors for the love between the main leads, case in point the potato flower that Jin nurtures so lovingly and coaxingly.
The cultural commentary drama centres on celebrity and the entertainment industry, which can actually be said to be an additional character in the drama along with the fans. The two leads navigate their love amidst the restrictions placed upon them by this industry and all its accompanying rules. The drama also explores the idea of a celebrity's image being worth something eg. money, power and influence, the idea that a good image has the power to erase negative perceptions, and the idea that a good image can be traded between parties to achieve a tangible goal.

This drama has the best finale I've seen in a drama so far, we get to watch a solid hour of our OTP's married bliss, something that is quite rare in Kdrama rom coms; usually we're left to imagine the wedding and the happily ever after or sometimes we'll get about 5 minutes.

The cast is excellent all round. I like the portrayal of the second male lead Pil Joo, he could easily have been one dimensional but managed to come across as genuine and empathic; his character is well fleshed out and he serves as a plot driver rather than just a deterrent to the OTP.

The OST is great, the songs are just good enough to let the story shine without stealing the limelight; having said that I must add the songs get even better on subsequent viewings of the drama. I am guilty of rewatching this drama more than once, it's definitely one of my sure fire pick me ups.

Rewatch value for me is definitely a 10.

Overall rating is a 10, it's a keeper!

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synchronicity comes full circle

This drama is outstanding and has earned its place as one of the greats. It is incredibly rich, incredibly layered and ultimately incredibly satisfying.
It showcased all the typical kdrama tropes while still remaining fresh and addictive; the tropes I identified are: impossible love, chaebol family, cohabitation, a past, barely remembered meeting between the leads, arranged marriage, fake engagement, truck of death, riches to rags, adopted love child, sibling succession wars, fate or destiny; I'm sure there are many others.

This is a story about love in all its different facets, romantic love, familial love, love between friends, love between co-workers, love of your immediate community, love for your country and finally love for oneself. On the flip side the drama also explores destructive love for example the love of money, power or revenge.
Ultimately the drama strives to portray a love that is protective, selfless, healing, enduring, patient and a love that seeks to build it's object up rather than tear it down.
Jung Hyuk and Se ri's love and to a certain extent Seo Dan and Gu Sung Jun's love shows that as long as your heart is open and you're looking outward toward the object of your affection and putting them first, then your love will be rewarded, it will continue to grow and your life will be enriched as a result. I also particularly loved how Gu Sung Jun found his humanity in North Korea and I applaud the writer for not romanticising him by allowing Seo Dan to fall in love with him just as he was.

The cast and acting are what makes this drama special, not just the leads ( who are truly outstanding) but the entire cast kept this drama exciting, relatable and so heartwarming to watch; there is a commitment to the narrative that is evident in this show, each actor is so diligently and charmingly immersed in their role that as a viewer you cannot fail to be captivated.
The village ahjummas and the lovingly dubbed 'ducklings' literally steal this show with their sometimes hilarious and other times poignant and heart tugging performances, I truly adored this aspect of the drama and was never impatient to get these characters off the screen.

The treatment of the North Korea aspect was handled in a very sensitive manner, I appreciate that the writer depicted North Koreans as normal people who live their lives working hard and loving their friends and families just like any other people on this planet, this is important because oftentimes North Korea is caricatured and stripped of any normal commonplace attributes.

I also enjoyed this drama because I could always make sense of what I was watching, and all the nods to other kdramas and kdrama characters in the form of cameos, guest appearances or references were truly appreciated.
Although this is a drama with many goodbyes, each goodbye led to another level of love where the characters discovered more of themselves and what they are capable of enduring.

I do have a small criticism to make, I personally think that the synchronicity of the main couple's story regarding their first meeting in Switzerland and how this plays out throughout the drama is a little too neat and pat in the way it all just falls into place at the perfect moment. I don't know that's just me, kdramas love their fated love stories.

A lot of people have expressed some dissatisfaction with the ending, but in my opinion the writer and production team were probably very conscious of giving us a politically correct resolution which didn't appear to advocate anything illegal or insensitive. I think as viewers we are free to flesh out how our main couple navigated the rest of their lives.

The music is great in this drama, I think the placement of the music improved as the drama went on, especially with regard to the tracks with lyrics, not the instrumental pieces.

Overall 9.5 out of 10

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A story about the redemptive power of love

This drama elicits strong opinions from viewers, whether positive or negative. I fall into the positive opinion camp.

I love how well the story is written, it is tightly scripted and out of the few lakorns I've watched, it is the best written so far, it even beats some kdramas and cdramas that I've watched in that the intention of the show is fully realised by the end of the story, the story doesn't meander here and there, it's just straightforward and clean, this is so rare in drama writing.

The story itself, the disconcerting and uncomfortable aspects of it, were written in a way to illustrate the end goal of the story which is that love is an action, it needs to be demonstrated, it's selfless and it has the power to transform a person's life and literally heal their heart. Love is redemptive.
The show did a pretty good job of showing this from start to finish. I don't like to enter into debates about social issues, abuse, evil deeds etc, I take what a drama is trying to communicate to me and if the story is told effectively then good, if not I drop it, simple. Sawan Biang is a story very well told.

Another reason why this drama succeeded in communicating its story so well is the acting. The acting is phenomenal!
Ken Theeradeth as Kawee is so amazingly nuanced, his facial expressions, his body language, the tone of his voice are all communication tools that he uses to great effect, sometimes he didn't even need to say anything and you could see that he was hurting, conflicted, crying out for some affection and attention. Ken's portrayal of Kawee is so good that even though he does such hateful and hurtful things to the people around him and especially to Narin, as a viewer I harboured inordinate amounts of sympathy for him, I got where he was coming from and why he was lashing out, I may not agree with his methods of lashing out but I got him, and that's what the writers are communicating: cause and effect.

Anne Thongprasom's rendition of Narin is so poignant and heartfelt, I felt all her emotions, from innocent carefree confidence to fear, bewilderment, pain, disbelief, hate and love. Her acting had a self assured realism that just grabbed you and wouldn't let go. The combination of Anne and Ken is what made this drama even halfway watchable, in the hands of lesser actors this storyline and premise would have been a complete disaster.

Other notable cast mentions are the actor who played Kid, (Kawee's father) and the actress who played Leela (Narin's sister and Kid's wife)
Kid appeared to be so clueless in the beginning to the extent that I despised him for the way he raised his son, but in the end his character self actualised and came full circle, his steady character was a perfect foil to the more volatile Leela and Kawee.
The role of Leela was expertly portrayed, I found that Leela was suitably complex in that she had an old wound that never healed, a hurt and pain that she never resolved, as a result she seemed all over the place and was vindictive and spiteful. In the end though she also came full circle and realised the unhealthy part she played in the awful events that took place between Kawee and Narin.

The other supporting cast was good and helped the story along, they weren't just annoying nuisances as you will find in many Lakorns.

Overall this drama set out to tell a story about a damaged, childish, spoilt and destructive man who during the course of his destructive behaviour fell in love, dug deep and resolved to humble himself and make penance for his wrongdoing, and this story was well told.

Overall score 9

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Revenge always has unintended consequences

If you enjoy tortured and angsty love/hate stories then this is the drama for you. Before and whilst watching this drama, I read a lot of blog posts, reviews and comments about it and fully expected to hate it because the common consensus was that it was distastefully rapey with an incredibly unsatisfying ending. I actually concede both points with the exception that although the ending is unsatisfying (who doesn't want to see a happily ever after all tied up with a huge cheerful bow?) it was entirely suitable for the story, it was a logical conclusion to the trajectory of the drama.
The story of Shao Qian and Tong Xue is very complicated and quite uncomfortable to watch especially in the first half. It's quite easy to find Shao Qian repulsive ( as much as Hawick Lau can appear repulsive) at first, but in my opinion as the story unfolded I understood him better and was able to see his motivation and where he was coming from; this in no way excuses his methods of avenging his father but illustrates how he coped with the grief in his personal capacity. I believe that dramas tell us a story and we should't really try to translate such scenarios into real life situations because clearly there's an element of fantasy, make believe, entertainment and general "acting" in a drama; we should rather learn the lessons or take away any useful nuggets of wisdom that are highlighted. In this regard I took away the following life lessons:
1. Don't hurt another person in order to assuage your own pain, this will inevitably backfire
2. You can't make a person love you merely by willing it so
3. You can't manipulate someone into loving you, if they're not inclined to do so
4. You can't really decide who to fall in love with, it just happens
5. Revenge is ultimately a cold and unappetising dish period.

The acting was very good. Hawick Lau as Mo Shao Qian was sublime, he embodied the role being fierce yet vulnerable, unfeeling yet yearning, ruthless yet compassionate; he was such a complicated paradox, a very well written and very well acted role.
Ying Er as Tong Xue was suitably naive, vulnerable and a bit dim at times; flailing helplessly in the fiery pit which is Shao Qian's world; in the end though she became braver as she realised that she actually loves Shao Qian, it was special to observe the little nuances of her burgeoning love for him, all the more significant because in this drama the main couple never actually openly profess their love for each other, it's all done with subtle gestures and actions, this made it so poignant for me.
Mu Yong Fei was diabolical, the very definition of an obsessed lover, except her love story with Mo Shao Qian was one sided from day one, she is the saddest character as she exhibits no growth throughout the drama.
Her brother Zhen Fei was such a darling, so rational and fair it was mind boggling to see the family he came from. he is the peacemaker the one person who actually saw the situation from everybody's point of view and attributed accurate rationale for everyone's actions.

The music was wonderfully evocative, Hawick Lau's "a thousand mountains" is beautiful and there's some great piano pieces which were employed at just the right moments. Although there aren't a lot of musical pieces in this drama, the ones which are there are used very well; so music is a 10.

Overall rating 8.5. I think the criticism of this drama is in my opinion exaggerated, the scriptwriter achieved a well balanced story, it's definitely not a fairy tale so the ending is appropriate. There's an analogy that Shao Qian' mother tells him about hyacinths, that in order for them to come up with new blooms you have to cut off the old bloom. this explains the relationship between Shao Qian and Tong Xue perfectly; in order for them to have any hope for a future together, they first have to cut off their connection because it was founded on anger and hatred, they have to reboot and hopefully come together in the future to start afresh; this is a very hopeful ending indeed.

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Material success versus true happiness?

This show is definitely worth the hype and record breaking ratings. It's tightly scripted, compelling, multi faceted with an ensemble cast of drama veterans who deliver very convincing performances.
The social satire is well portrayed with some excellent acting and dialogue, it may appear high brow on the surface but I found myself watching back to back episodes once I got into the stride of things; this is due to the excellent script which is cleverly written with little to no loose ends.
This show tends to reveal information in an unfolding manner, so every episode peels back a new layer and facet of the story and characters and I think this is what keeps it so entertaining. You don't get the whole story at once, as each event unfolds new tidbits are revealed to keep the viewer fully engaged, so the pacing is tight and consistent. This is where I think the OST was used to maximum positive effect; the song "We All Lie" was so very well applied, every time this song played I knew something was about to go down, this was so exciting to anticipate.

The entire adult cast of this show is amazingly skilled, I enjoyed the fact that they were in the spotlight for a change since these actors usually play supporting roles, they really shine whilst bringing their characters to life and all their skill and experience takes centre stage. Each family was so clearly defined that it didn't take me long to figure out who's who.

The Show's social commentary about the parents' and often children's unhealthy obsession with obtaining top grades in school is delivered in a theatrical and sometimes over the top fashion and this is what gives the show it's special identity and uniqueness, the social satire and dark comedy aspect of it, showcasing the characters' ambition, greed and pretention.
The power plays and stringent adherence to social hierarchies contributes much into how the characters interact with each other.

At the end the Show adequately conveys character growth and plot resolution, I think the last episode went a long way to show us how each character was now living and behaving after mending their ways so to speak.

Overall this Show is bold and I think it achieves what it sets out to do, I thoroughly enjoyed it because it's so polished and very expertly written and acted. Bravo!

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