Watch this only for Kang Ha-neul

This series could have easily been shortened to the usual K-drama length of 16 episodes, but I guess the producers stretched it out to 20 episodes to milk as much money as they can from the TV network. That's why the show dragged starting around Episode 11. The writers should look for another profession.

Gong Hyo-jin, who played the FL, is a terrible actress. She had a blank expression on her face throughout the series or cried that looked so phony. She cried in almost every episode (sometimes several times in the same episode) and whined that she was abandoned as a child. I didn't mind her whining about her sad life for 3-4 episodes, but EVERY episode? It gets old really fast. I blame the writers for this. By Episode 18, I was really hating her - so pathetic and irrational. During Episode 19, the tale of FL's mother's early years, it was supposed to be sentimental and tugged at your heart, but it bored me and I fell asleep. At Episode 20, with every character's storyline wrapped up nicely with a bow, I felt like puking. At the end, the kid had grown to an adult but the ML and FL had not aged - not one single gray hair after being together for 15 years (they met when he was 34 and she was about 1-2 years older)!

All the Korean mothers were overbearing: ML's mother who initially can't accept her son falling in love with a single mother, the model wife's mother who schemed to have her daughter take as much alimony from the baseball player, female lawyer's mother-in-law who is a nag and a bitch. Is this a cultural thing or do the writers hate mothers?

The only acting that stood out as exceptional were from the ML, the baseball player, the dead friend/coworker and the little son. They all showed a great range and depth of emotions. It was good to see Kang Ha-neul, the ML, in a comedic role after seeing him in a serious role in Moon Lovers:Scarlet Heart. I watched this show specifically to see him after seeing his outstanding performance in Moon Lovers but felt his talent was wasted in this show.

I would not rewatch this show or recommend it to anyone unless they absolutely needed to see Kang Ha-neul.

Read More

Watch this show only if you like slapstick comedy

I began watching this series because of the male lead, Park Hyung-sik, after enjoying his performance in Hwarang. He is a pretty boy but must have really needed the money to agree to star in this ridiculous show. There was no chemistry between him and the female lead. They are supposed to be in their late 20's, yet both of them have the mental and emotional intelligence of 15-year old high school teenagers.

The only real adults in the show were the detective friend, the female lead's brother and their father (only after he stopped taking the psychological and physical abuse from the mother). Everyone else in the show were clowns.

It baffles me as to why single young women would venture out alone late at night, knowing that a serial kidnapper and murderer was lurking in their neighborhood. Even the female lead's best friend who was already attacked once by the kidnapper later continued to walk the streets alone - not the sharpest tool in the shed!

The show could have been condensed to 10 episodes, but the director and producers stretched it out to 16 episodes full of totally unnecessary nonsense. I found myself hitting the fast-forward button many times after episode 10 and didn't miss any of the storyline.

I would not recommend this show.

Read More

Vastly Overrated

I had high hopes for this show after seeing the high ratings, but I was sorely disappointed.
First 3 episodes and subsequent scenes with the 3 girlfriends were ridiculous, acting like 13 yr old middle high schoolers.

Lee Sung-kyung (FL) is a good comedic actress, and this show and Cheese in the Trap displayed her good comedic skill. She portrayed something completely different here than in her more serious roles in Dr. Romantic 2. She should really focus on roles that depict her actual age rather than teenage/early 20 roles. As an added note, she cried in almost every episode of this series, just like she did in Dr. Romantic 2 - it got tiring and didn't make me empathetic towards her.

Who I found especially irritating was Cho Hye-jung who played the chubby childish friend of the FL. This was the same type of role she played in Cinderella and the Four Knights. I guess she found her niche in acting by sticking to that type of character. The actress that played FL's other friend was also typecast. She played the same tough tomboy role with an attitude as she did in Itaewon Class. Both of these two friends were also on the weightlifting team but the only things I've seen them lift were hamburgers!
Also, ML's gymnast ex-girlfriend looked 10 yrs older than ML.

Nam Joo-hyuk, who played the ML, normally displays great acting skills as shown in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (filmed the same year as this series), Start-Up, and Twenty-five Twenty-one. Too bad he didn't get to show his range of acting in this show until Episode 15 when his actual birth mother appears.

Around Episode 8, the show got boring. Every scene seemed to be unnecessarily dragged out. Starting with Episode 11, I hit the fast-forward button many times and discovered that I hadn't missed any significant parts of the series. The worst and irrational storyline was the coach embezzling 3M won from the team's operating budget to pay off one of the student's assault charges - such a ridiculous storyline as well as FL's subsequent crying frenzy that lasted way too long. Since the coach was so well-liked, the team and the professor pleaded with the school administration to reinstate her, went on a hunger strike, and FL even left the team for a brief time because she was upset. So the administration reinstated the coach but suspended her for three months with no repayment requirement. Seriously??? Someone who embezzled the team's funds deserves to be reinstated??? In the real world, she would have been charged and put in prison! This show should have been placed in the fantasy genre.

As mentioned earlier, I am disappointed in this show and will not rewatch it.

Read More

Watch "Love Like the Galaxy" instead

The Long Ballad was too damn L-O-N-G!!! It clocked in at 49 episodes, which could have been easily condensed to half that amount. It dragged on unmercifully. There was zero chemistry between the FL and ML.

Zhao Lusi was the only good performer in this show, as she is great in practically every show she is in. I watched this show mainly for her and Leo Wu. Leo Wu's performance was mediocre, maybe because he was young at the time (20 yrs old) and had not yet perfected his acting skills (but see my next paragraph about Leo Wu).

If you want to see a better historical drama with both Zhao Lusi and Leo Wu, I recommend that you watch "Love Like the Galaxy" which was produced a year after this show. LLTG has an outstanding screenplay, costumes, set design and special effects, and all the actors/actresses displayed excellent acting skills. That show is superior to this Long Ballad show in all ways! Although LLTG has 56 episodes, it goes fast without any dragged-out scenarios.

I will not be rewatching this show in future or recommending it to anyone.

Read More

Ridiculous show

Starting with Episode 1, I found this show weird. A naive virginal college girl meets a supposedly 30 year old guy (who looks 23 yrs old) who tells her he loves her and proceeds to bed her on their first meeting. That alone made me think this guy is an obsessive psychopath and rapist. She is flattered by his words and actions and believes she is in love. WTF?

Then in Episode 2, he shows up at one of her classes as a guest lecturer and later pulls her into a private nook to make out. There is something totally strange about this dude!

FL is supposed to be 20 yrs old but she acts like a 15 yr old with a huge inferiority complex. I know 15 yr olds with more common sense and maturity. I can't understand why a worldly 30+ yr old businessman would be obsessed with a cloistered 20 year old college student. Pedophile?

What is the point of this movie? When I thought this show couldn't get any worse, Episode 5 has FL's best friend asking FL to share her boyfriend for one date. Who the hell would agree to that? FL does exactly that in Episode 6! 🙄

In Episode 7, ML is supposed to be on a business trip but when FL is cornered at work by a psychotic stalker with a blade, ML is Johnny-on-the-Spot!

Oh, then there is the familiar estranged parent story arc that gets resolved by the FL who brings the ML and his mother back together in Episode 8. There's nothing special in the storyline of this entire show that hasn't been played out in other shows.

Episode 9 has the kidnapping of the Damsel-in-Distress in which the ML gets injured when trying to save her. This of course results in the obligatory hospital or sick bed scene. Did the writers have a checklist of every possible scenario in a drama? Every episode is so ridiculous and unoriginal.

This is not one of Dori Sakurada's finest works. He is not a strong actor overall but his acting was better in Perfect Crime. He should be embarrassed to be in this series. Also, I want to take a pair of shears and cut his unruly unkempt hair! His hairstyle annoyed me!

I really didn't like any of the characters in this show, and it especially angered me whenever the ML forced himself physically and sexually on the FL. Do the writers believe these acts are desired by women?

There is so much overacting in this show. Also, when the ML kept saying to the FL that she can never leave him because he loves her so much, I felt no empathy or emotions towards the couple. However, when the same words were said by Lee Joon-gi to IU in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, I totally felt the emotions and passion then.

I felt I wasted 5 hours of my life that I will never get back. Needless to say, I will not rewatch this series.

Read More

All Love, No Law

I was initially drawn to this show because I thought it would be a legal drama as it had "Law" in the title. If you're looking for a serious story of trial litigation & legal cases, this show is not what your looking for. It's just a love story about a guy who has been pining for a girl since high school and they finally get together. The two just happen to be attorneys but the law is an afterthought, primary emphasis is rom-com story, then neighborhood friendship.

Weak story, weak plot. Predictable storyline. I got bored around Episode 14. Episode 15 was incredibly lame: police with guns drawn have surrounded the villain who is holding a knife to the male lead, and the police do nothing- they didn't think of shooting the villain then?

The story and acting were mediocre and sometimes over-the-top (neighbor ladies). I was not moved by the performances of the two main lead actors, even their romantic scenes seem passionless. Both Lee Se-young's and Lee Seung-gi's acting skills were better in other shows. Also, Ahn Dong-goo is a pretty face but has absolutely no acting ability. Even though he had one major story arc during the series (the bullied middle schooler), he had only one facial expression throughout the series. The only acting performance I enjoyed was Jo Han Chul, who played the villain - he is so versatile in everything he has acted in, from drama to comedy (Vincenzo, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha).

I would not rewatch this show. Watching it once was bad enough. That's 16 hours of my life that I'll never get back!

Read More

Best thing in this show is city of Prague

The first few episodes in Prague were interesting, but when all the characters returned to Korea, it began to drag. Every episode thereafter had each of the four main characters in self-reflecting, in deep thought and heavy contemplating montages. That got boring, predictable, lengthy and annoying. Around Episode 7, the show really dragged. The storyline did not progress until we discovered who was the baby's father. After that, it dragged on unmercifully some more. I guess this is old-school Korean soap opera techniques. I hit the fast-forward button frequently.

It appears that the only acting the SFL had to do was to cry and look pitiful. She did this constantly in practically EVERY scene in every episode.

The FL was especially irritating in that she kept following and stalking the ML like a crazed fan obsessing over an idol. She generally made a pest of herself. Then when ML finally admitted to her that he liked her in Episode 10, she feels remorseful about hurting the feelings of the ex-boyfriend. Make up your mind - do you want to be with ML or cry about hurting SML's feelings??!! This became worse when repeated in Episode 16.

Men looked like manly men back then in 2005, before the era of excessive plastic surgery on male actors to look like flower boys. I find this very refreshing that male actors looked natural then.

But the downside of this 2005 series is that it is very outdated and the hairstyles reflect that. Also, in the series, the characters have tea in cups and saucers at a café whereas now (over 15 years later), characters have Americano coffees or lattes at cafes.

By Episode 13, the story becomes illogical. FL sees ML with his ex-girlfriend at a hotel restaurant with a birthday cake. FL gets jealous and confronts ML who then expresses his love for only her. The next day, FL meets up with her ex-boyfriend at a cafe. So FL is upset that her ML boyfriend met with his old girlfriend but it's OK for her to meet up with her old boyfriend? Doesn’t make sense to me. Then at the cafe her ex-boyfriend says he is going to win her back but doesn't answer her question as to why he abandoned her in Prague for 5 years. So irrational and illogical. Those soap opera writers were really bad back then in 2005. I'd like to add that this was the scenario repeating continuously throughout the episodes after they all returned to Korea from Prague. The ex-boyfriend felt he had a right to possess FL even though he totally ignored her for 5 years! No call, no text, no letter, and absolutely no contact whatsoever with her for 5 years!

I mentioned that I hit the fast-forward button frequently, especially in Episode 15, because the story just dragged. At the end of the episode, FL and SML are having a conversation that she is going to dump both him and ML because she can't bear to hurt the losing guy. So SML demands that she marry him to make up for his 5 years of suffering for her because of her father's political career, otherwise he will destroy the ML. Followed by more scenes of deep thoughts and contemplation by these 3 characters in this and Episode 16! Needless to say, I probably used up a lot of battery life on my TV remote control by frequently hitting the fast-forward button.

Read More

One of the better Korean medical dramas

When I watched the first episode, I thought "Oh, this is another Gray's Anatomy, with a romantic relationship between intern and superior". Then, with the second episode, it got really interesting.

I absolutely love this show ... from the storyline to the soundtrack to the superb acting. I had never seen any of the actors before, with the exception of the actress who played the Head Nurse, but found all their performances exceptional.

I enjoyed the soundtrack, including songs by Billy Joel, Madonna, Mariah Carey, and Jim Croce.

This is one of the better Korean medical dramas, and I anxiously await the release of Season 3.

Read More

A Hard to Find Gem

I had to really search for this show and finally found it on Tubi TV under the title "My First Time." It's a short series, only 8 episodes, that was later remade as "My First First Love" in 2019.

I wanted to see this show because it stars a couple of young actors who have subsequently become famous since this series played in 2015: Choi Min-ho (whom I loved in Hwarang), Park So-dam (Parasite, Record of Youth, Cinderella & Four Knights), Kim Min-jae (Guardian, Hit the Top, Dr, Romantic series), and Im Yoon-ah.

I loved how the backstory of each character was told throughout the series. The great question was "which guy will the female lead choose?" I won't give away the answer but I admired her for sticking with the guy she initially liked and did not waver.

The story, soundtrack, and acting were great!

Read More

Everyone is a stalker!

First of all, I agree with everyone who rated this show a 6.0 or less. I agree with their observations, so I won't rehash what they have said.

As mentioned in my headline, this show depicts almost everyone as a stalker. It starts with the ex-boyfriend stalking the Male Lead's first girlfriend, then killing her. Years later, the Female Lead meets the ML at his work and begins obsessing, stalking and harassing him. Meanwhile, the FL's film director is obsessed with FL and stalks and kidnaps her. When ML discovers that he finally likes FL, but she has regained her memory and avoids him, ML begins stalking her. Lastly, the ex-boyfriend killer escapes from prison and stalks both ML and FL with plans to kill him. This movie should have been named "Obsession".

Some reviewers mentioned the age gap between the ML and FL. As a news anchor, I believe the ML is around late 30's at the earliest. The FL is a young diva actress who seems to be around mid-20's and very immature. Their relationship due to the huge difference in age and emotional intelligence are unrealistic, in my opinion.

The FL is played by Moon Ga-young, who was excellent in True Beauty. However, this show did nothing to exhibit her acting skills. Also, I feel that Moon Ga-young has cornered the market on crying female lead roles.

I would not re-watch this show and would not recommend it to my friends.

Read More

Boring as Hell!

I started watching this after watching and enjoying other E-Sport Mainland Chinese dramas, i.e., Love 020 and Falling into Your Smile and thought this competition-themed show would be good. Was I ever wrong!

First of all, the Female Lead annoyed me to no end. She wormed her way into the Club facility and then stalked the Male Lead for numerous episodes in the beginning of the series. And what is with her hair style? Is she 5 years old??? Her over-acting drove me crazy!

The Male Lead, who could be considered somewhat good-looking, was emotionally stunted. I guess that's what his character was supposed to be (that is, stiff as a board) but it completely turned me off.

I blame the writers for the poor screenplay and script. I also blame them and the director for stretching this show out to 41 episodes. They could have told the story in half as many episodes. I watched up to Episode 20 then skipped to Episode 40 and didn't feel that I missed anything major, as the plot was predictable. This show was filmed in 2018 and I find that C-dramas were generally pretty bad until 2020 when they showed a marked improvement in storyline, acting and set production. An example of this improvement is Falling into Your Smile, a C-drama in 2021 with superior storyline, acting, graphics, and production quality.

I will not rewatch this show nor recommend it to anyone.
Overall: poor writing and story, poor acting, poor set designs, poor hair designs.

Read More

Cute Story, Mouth Watering Food

When I got to Episode 6 where the ML fell asleep on FL's couch, I thought to myself "I've seen this plot before." I then googled this show and learned that it is a remake of the 2017 film "This is Not What I Expected" starring Takeshi Kaneshiro (an Asian heartthrob back in the 90's). Unlike the 1-½ hour film, this series was able to go in depth as to the background and personalities of all the major characters because of its length of 24 episodes. This made the show more comprehensible.

There was a lot of criticism in viewers' reviews of this series of the age difference between the two lead characters: he was 36 years old and she was 21 years old. In the original movie, he was 36 years old and she was 26-27 years old. The older female age made better sense, given the cooking experience of the female character. I believe the producers wanted Zhao Lusi for this series and made her character 21 years old to reflect the actress's actual age at the time of filming.

I liked the many references to modern western pop culture, such as Marvel's Avengers, Thanos and the Groot dolls in this series. Plus, the opening and ending songs were in English. It appears that the producers and writers want to appeal to an international global audience.

In the last episode, FL's speech to ML's mother was basically the same as the speech the FL said to ML's mother in Crazy Rich Asians at the mahjong parlor. The scenario was the same in both shows in that ML's rich mother initially did not approve of FL, but that last speech turned the mothers' opinion around and mothers then accepted the FLs.

The show also gave me a little Chinese history lesson. In Episode 19, ML's mother brought up Liu Bang and Xiang Yu to the FL. And later, ML questioned his mother as to whether she also mentioned those men's wives, Empress Lu and Consort Yu. I had to google those four historical figures to learn about them. I found that interesting.

I liked all the stars in the series, as they performed exceptionally well. The actor playing the ML, Lin Yu Shen, showed not only his serious dramatic side, but also his comedic side (making canned fruits and working in the food stall). I initially watched this show because I'm a fan of Zhao Lusi, after watching her in Love in the Galaxy and Who Rules the World. She is a great actress who can successfully take on dramatic roles as well as comedic roles.

The only complaint I have in the storyline is when FL goes against her fiance's advice and begins to hang out with ML's malicious younger brother around Episodes 21-23. What part of ML's statement to her to "keep your distance from Lu Zheng" in Episode 19 did she not understand??? To the actress's credit, Zhao Lusi posted a comment critical of her character's actions in this regard.

Nevertheless, I would watch this show again and recommend it to others, if only to view the magnificent gourmet dishes and cuisine.

Read More

Interesting Story & Good Performance by Seo In-guk

Love the fact that they use American and European songs in the soundtrack in addition to Korean songs: She by Elvis Costello, 2 songs by Bruno Mars, A Whole New World from Disney's Aladdin movie, Be My Baby by the Ronettes, Can't Smile Without You by Barry Manilow, Memory by Barbra Streisand, The Winner Takes It All by Abba, My Way by Frank Sinatra, When You Wish Upon a Star from Disney's Pinocchio movie, and even All You Need Is Love (but not sung by the Beatles). The music director of the series must be a Baby Boomer 🤗
(Fun fact: the song She by Elvis Costello was also played in SML Yoon Sang-hyun's prior show in 2010, Secret Garden, in which Hyun Bin was the ML)

Predictable rom-com plot: Rich boy, poor girl, heir to a conglomerate, love triangle, initial parental interference, ML appears out of nowhere with an umbrella to cover FL in unexpected rainy weather, villain confesses and/or goes to jail at the end, FL and ML unbeknownst to them had met when they were children (plot also seen in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, 100 Days My Prince, Cinderella and the Four Knights, Moon Embracing the Sun, Hometown Cha Cha Cha). Nothing is outstanding or unique in this show, but enjoyable nonetheless.

This is the first time I've watched Seo In-guk and conclude that his acting skills demonstrated in this 2016 show have potential. I will watch him in his latest show, Cafe Minamdang (2022) next to see if his acting has improved.

I have previously seen FL Nam Ji-hyun in 100 Days My Prince and feel that she has grown in her acting abilities.

Read More

Was great until the last 2 episodes

While watching, I really liked the storyline and the acting by the two leads, Jo In- sung and Song Hye-kyo. The outdoor scenes in the mountains and sea were beautifully filmed ...Then I got to Episode 15, after ML gets kicked out of the house. Most of Episode 15 comprised of each character separately reminiscing of good times and pining for each other. What a waste of film!

After FL kicked Secretary Wang out of the house for fraud and embezzlement, she then called the Secretary in the middle of the night to see how she's doing. If FL missed the Secretary so much, why did she bother kicking her out in the first place?

Starting with Episode 15 & continuing to Episode 16, I started getting bored. The FL finally watched ML's video but later told him that she can't forgive him but they can talk about things after the surgery. She wanted a blow-by-blow description of ML's feelings while they were together and lying to her. While she's talking, ML began the waterworks from his eyes. By this time, I am bored with his crying. Jo In-sung is a good actor with a great acting range and I was initially wowed by his emotional scenes. But after 2-3 straight episodes of continual crying, I was now indifferent and bored, the emotional impact was now lost on me.

Also, FL slit her wrist, but yet she's eligible for brain surgery 2 days later? Seriously? What hospital allows that without a psych eval? This hospital even performs brain surgery at 9 pm! I guess surgeons in Korea don't work during the daytime and schedule complicated brain surgeries at night ... or maybe they perform easy surgeries during the day and save the complicated brain surgeries for later in the night (with a lot of caffeine to keep them awake)!

This show could have been outstanding, given the vast talents of Jo In-sung and Song Hye-kyo, but I blame the writer and director for the nonsensical episodes near the end. There's no need for me to rewatch this show.

Read More

Fall in Love with France All Over Again

Loved this movie! Great story as well as good acting. I liked that each episode gave an insight into each of the characters' background so we can see why they took the trip (or why the tour guide initially came to France) and their expectations.

Another featured star in the show is the city of Paris and the surrounding areas. It was great remembering the sites in Paris that I visited many years ago. I also got to see new areas of France and learned more French history during the show.

I started watching this show because I am a fan of Choi Woo-shik. In most shows I've seen him in, he's usually acting cute with his boyish charm. This is one of the shows (including Parasite) in which he displays his acting range (e.g., the scene where he is upset that he didn't get the funding for his project).

I would watch this show again and recommend it, especially to those who have already visited Paris.

Read More