ViewCan
Toronto, Canada
This review may contain spoilers
Don't read this if you haven't watched the show to the very end.Everything about the show was good. The political drama is excellent. The dedication and resourcefulness of Capt. Ri and his father are amazing. The settings are realistic, the plot is intriguing, and the acting couldn't be any better... But it all collapses in the last episode when the writers and producers decide to do what all soaps do - kill off some character - There are many impossible incidents shown where the lead character escapes death, so why couldn't they keep Gu Seung-Jun alive? His character had made a 180 deg turn from being a con artist to a caring person who had helped Yoon Se-ri escape and given Dan the solace she needed after being rejected after 10 long years by Capt Ri, all for a South Korean woman who accidentally came into their life. And what was behind showing Seo Dan as an unfortunate woman whose first love ditched her for Se-ri after 10 whole years of love and hope, and whose second love literally died protecting her.. What had she done to deserve such sadness?
There is also the other weird ending where Capt Ri and Yoon Se-Ri have to spend the rest of their lives meeting for 15 days each year. That itself is disturbing, but that is understandable and probably inevitable considering the utterly impossible political situation between the North and the South.
As Yoon Se-ri's character says towards the end when she lands with her parachute in Switzerland.. "... In life, it's only the end that matters.. " And in Crash Landing on You, the end was disappointing.
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Each episode shows the story of one of the diner's guests. Sometimes, the Master plays a role in helping them resolve their issues. He gives them advice to problems which they otherwise would not seek from anyone else. The setting appears to be uniquely Japanese, although I have never been to Japan. I like it when the short episodes have happy endings, but sometimes the endings can be sad or tragic. Master takes pride in his cooking but he doesn't go beyond his small diner and try to establish a big restaurant, being content with his small diner. There is something to be said about a talented person not giving in to ambition, and becoming just another a business manager.
There appear to be two versions of Midnight Diner, one suffixed - Tokyo Stories, and one without. I'm presenting this review of Midnight Diner as one series, for all episodes.
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His brother Ke Wei-Chang and Li-Er's romance is also interesting to watch, with her father Tian Li's objections to it all. The appearance of Xiao Xing changes it all. Bao Ge and Nai Nai have a the key role in setting up the main relationship and both were very funny to watch. The parents in this case are not shown as against the setup, honoring Nai Nai's wishes, but the scene when circumstances change and separation looms is hard to digest.
A very good series ! Everything clicked together in place.
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Marital relationships
Unlike the typical romantic drama, this is an un-romantic one. It is vaguely based on the movie Unfaithful with Richard Gere and Diane Lane, except without all the adult sexual themes and murder of that typical Hollywood movie.The theme of the show is the gradual estrangement of the wife from her husband, for various reasons. Not all of them reasonable.. And when she meets a book store owner whom she falls in love with. It is sad to see the husband lose his wife and his child at the end.
Overall, a very good show. We saw this in 2020. And when we went to go over it again this year, it was gone. Gone from Netflix, never to be seen again.
Netflix has been doing that to more and more shows. I hate it when that happens. Now there is no way to see it again. Isn't it sad when in this day and age, you see something and all you have to remember it is your own memory of it?
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Wild Chives and Soy Bean Soup: 12 Years Reunion
1 people found this review helpful
Story in 2 parts
The first part, in their teens or high school years was done very well. There was too much of parental expectation stuff, and of class differences in Korean society.The second part, which has a reversal of fortunes, was not done too well. For one thing, I don't understand why they had to change the actors. People don't look completely different from when they are 18 and when they are 30. But the initial part of the story was touching and that is what I will remember this story for.
There was also a sad episode where the only reason for their separation was a note that was not delivered. Eventually, both of them thought the other had ditched them, all because of an undelivered note and a misunderstanding. But then, so many dramas are based on minor misunderstandings..
As so often happens, I went to re-watch the drama, and saw it has disappeared from Netflix. I will probably never see it again.
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Pleasant, short story
One of the shortest I've seen. As I later read somewhere, this was more of a drama school exercise, than an actual drama. But whatever it was, it was pleasant, and quaintly memorable. Nothing really happens, except a newly setup barber shop struggling to get customers, eventually finds some.. I watched the show on Netflix, but when I went to watch it again, it was gone vrom Netflix. Netflix has been doing that to more and more shows. I hate it when that happens. Now there is no way to see it again. Isn't it bad when in this day and age, you see something and all you have to remember it is your own memory of it?Was this review helpful to you?
The young artist's lunch time sticky notes are very interesting. The leading lady's commitment to save her team's jobs is touching. The second leading lady's love reunion is heartfelt. The team's desire to help out their boss in her time of need is very convincing.
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This review may contain spoilers
A radio show that initially exposes a gangster but then after understanding him more, portrays him in a good light. This is one of a few such stories where triad characters are shown in a good light. While Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Meat, Hollywood cheat all the time but the Great American PR machine keeps people in a drug-induced adoration of their products. This show is a bit like the Godfather where an ex-don's son legitimizes his father's business.The romance is secondary to the show. The leading lady's childhood friend's confession of his love to her and her rejection leaves you feeling sad for him but life goes on, for the others at least, and he finds love in the arms of a rich girl who falls for his simplicity.
The struggle of a radio show to find advertisers and keep itself afloat is shown very well here.
The opening and closing theme of the show with Annie Chen, the RJ says Hello Wei Ni hao, is among the most pleasant ones I have seen anywhere.
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This drama sort of grows on you. The recurring theme of Shi Bo Hai's spirit being sent out to help and protect his girlfriend is difficult to understand and of course painful to think about, but the light-hearted presentation makes it palatable. He Bu Fan and Xu Man Man's unlikely romance is the underlying theme of the show. The lead actress, though shown as clumsy at the beginning, and undergoing many professional and personal setbacks is shown to grow more mature and understanding over time. The two other parallel stories of Bo Hao and Xin Ping and He Bu Fan's brother make for some very interesting and stressful moments that the lead story alone would not have fulfilled.
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Wen-di will melt your heart. This was our first Taiwanese, and indeed our first East Asian drama and we have got hooked on ever since. Tang Xiang Xi and Wèn Zhen Hua's unlikely roles blend so well together. Zhen Hua's character is beautifully scripted and even better played. His shock at having lost Wen-di is palpable. Fang Jing Zhu and Xiang Xi's slow and unlikely romance makes you want them to be together. Ying Fan (Amanda) is lovable and funny as always. Xiang Xi rebuilding his relationship with his estranged father is very touching. Jing-Zhu's family is a very reassuring theme throughout the series. The only thing that is sad about the show is the talented artist Yong-Jie's loss of hearing. One would have thought she would be paired with Zhen Hua since he would be left alone after Tang Xiang Xi gets married but it was not to be. The return of Wen-di's mother is disturbing at first but the reconciliation is good.One wonders what might happen to Wen-di after the two fathers begin living their own separate lives, but the show leaves the future to your imagination. I think it may be time for Wen-di to begin living with her mother with Wen Zhen Hua always being there for her.
Overall this is a story that can be watched over and over again and will still make you smile each time.
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Must see for its nostalgic value
For anyone who grew up in the pre-internet, analog era with music cassettes and cassette tape recorders, and families huddling around the TV waiting to watch that weekly show, this is a MUST see. It will take you down memory lane, no matter which country you grew up in. The 80s were all the same, not just in S.Korea.An interplay of neighbourly relationships, this drama harks back to an age where people in a neighhourhood helped each out, shared lives, shared food, even shared wealth amongst each other.
The last scene is a true tear jerker, as you realize, just as in your own life, that that bitter sweet era is over, changed forever by the modern, internet driven world, where a nobody like me can write a review online about a foreign show, an era that is never to be seen again.
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Tear Jerker, Comic Tragedy
This is an apparent comedy for most of the 20 episodes but slides into a tragedy so rapidly in the last, you cannot help but become a part of the story and be touched by the pathos of it all. No one can forget Sun-ah's eyes in the closing scene, as she talks to her husband she loves so much, and tells him all about their son.Some really good scenes. The church was excellent. I found the story line inconsistent, and thought it was a farcical comedy, and the light way they dealt with such a serious theme keeps one hoping that the farce would all work out in the end. But as with Korean dramas, they just like to keep it all too tragic, all too real in the end. You have to respect the makers to have created such an ending.
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Yet another excellent performance by Chris Wang! Makes you wonder why he quit acting in 2015. Maybe he had too much of it and was burnt out. Truly a star of Taiwanese theatre.There are many social messages in this story, as with many Taiwanese dramas.
There is the message about cherishing love through the years and decades as in the case of Papa and Mama Chen. There is the message of discrimination against people with HIV. There is the message about awareness of Alzheimer's disease. There is the message of parents giving up grudges for the happiness of their children, something which Korean parents can and should learn from, and there is the main story of Sheng-ren not giving up on his childhood dream of meeting his Angel, You-Ai who had saved him, and there is the message of You-Ai's mother who is the wise, caring matron of the household who binds everyone together, the message about young graduate who chooses the entrepreneurial path rather than being a typical good student and then not finding any job after college, an all-too real theme worldwide, and the message about women learning to be independent and not having to depend on their husbands who may have stopped caring for them.
The Happy House Inn is wonderful to watch all throughout. The stories of You-Ai and her two sisters are interesting even though You-Xing's divorce will disappoint you. Ying-Ying and Long-Shi's story is the happy thread that runs through the later part of the show.
You can watch it over and over again. Thanks to Netflix!
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The story itself is quite fictional where an obese man is transformed into a handsome fit man by a plastic surgeon. But if you look past the medical miracle it is a very sweet story. As always it gets very sad towards the end but they recover happiness at the end.
There is also the element of medical politics which is sad to watch, as one sees qualified and expert surgeons being played by directors for business. But then, plastic surgeons are all about entertaining rich customers' vanities more than any other kind of medical doctors.
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The settings, photography and direction were truly wonderful. Son Ye-Jin's acting was as usual, the best.
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