Why did I watch this?!

I did not enjoy this movie. I was very intrigued by the description which makes the movie sound like something it just wasn't. I wouldn't recommend watching this unless you are a fan of the actors and you're willing to support them through tedious plots and bad narratives.
This movie fails in my opinion, not by being fundamentally a bad concept but somewhere in post-production something went wrong. The editing of this movie is tragic but I can't even blame the editor because the plot is complicated and the movie is trying to be so many different things at once that it fails to truly master any of its concepts perfectly. The cuts are jumpy, it goes from one scene to another without any logical connection or flow. It's just like separate paragraphs cut and pasted together. This makes the movie disjointed and messy. Mainly the issue is that the movie was trying to be an arthouse aesthetic movie, palace intrigue movie, erotic obsession movie, a commentary on power and corruption, and a revenge plot all at once and each of these would have made a good movie if they had just focused on one thing and centered the plot around that but no, they had to do it all at once and it made no sense. There were also some very questionable cinematography choices, and I wouldn't bring something like this up if they weren't so bizarre that it actually affected my enjoyment of the story. Some scenes have gorgeous framing and very symmetrical setting but then sometimes the camera is on the wrong person during conversations and it just really ruined the emotional impact of the scene. (Like when the king accuses his mother of attempting to kill the king and when he does this, we don't see her reaction and there's just this awkward silence before she starts talking and it's so wrong because I'm pretty sure the actress was acting her heart out for the reaction they didn't show!)
Obviously, the script had major issues. As I said, it had too many complicated plotlines that all get the bare minimum effort put into them and so they're all so cliche and disjointed. This also means that the characters don't get enough space to be developed. Especially the two mains; THE concubine and her former lover. Both are such cardboard characters with so little time put in actually developing any personality or clear motivation for them that they are as unknown and one-dimensional at the start as they are at the end. Also, the lover was barely in the movie, he was so pointless and he honestly didn't deserve any of the things that were done to him. I think the writer should pay for emotional damage to their own character!!!!! The king gets a better development though it could've been better? Like I said: the bare minimum.
What was good in the movie was the set design, the aesthetic they were going for, and the choreography. The movie looks pretty? They do try to make it look smarter than it is (and what it was, was just softcore p*rn barely masquerading as a historical drama) but it was such a wasted effort. I don't remember the music so I'm thinking it was either so good it became invisible or so inconsequential that I didn't remember any of it.
The acting...could've been better? Some parts were overacted in my opinion. Others seemed confused about what they had to go for, so they just went with blank stoicism, which might be to some viewers' preference but I only like stoic performances if the eyes can communicate the deep emotions and there was none of that here. I don't blame the actors though, they were hardly given anything to work with.
Lastly, what I just hated about this movie were the excessive, gratuitous, pointless sex scenes that were very explicit and numerous, and maybe if they had made those a little more tasteful and MUCH shorter, there would've been more time to develop an actual plot for the movie. I don't know, just a suggestion.... (I know why they put them there but in the absence of a cohesive plot, this was just in bad taste)
Overall, I wasted precious time watching this movie and I regret the sequence of decisions I made that led me to watch it. I think this story should have been a tv series, (a miniseries maybe,) instead of a movie but given the number of gratuitous sex scenes in it, I can see why they chose to make a movie instead.
Please go watch something else if you want to watch a good movie. If you're here for the nudity or the actors, then go ahead and watch it!

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Life imitates art and art imitates life

I wasn't very impressed with this. I somehow expected more drama, intrigue, and obsession from this. I think for me this film falls short of executing what is otherwise a very interesting premise. It's partially due to the ambiguity of the narrative but it's not just that. There's also the fact that the film's intrigue is amped up too high because the actual film fails to deliver its meaning at certain points so it's both ambiguous and vague.

Plot: An idol rapper is (for some reason) doing a super moody theater production with a famous theater actor known for his method acting. This whole thing seems convoluted because theater is too prestigious for idol actors like...seriously! But whatever. After initial disinterest and rebellion, the young idol slowly becomes interested in acting as he watches the seasoned actor. He tries to imitate the method acting technique and soon, things get weird!
Btw, the idol coming from a group called "P2S" is so gauche...Korea, please do better. Seriously...

Plot: So I could not understand the narrative from watching the film. It was so vague, choppy, and scattered for me, that I ended up reading the plot summary on Wikipedia in order to figure out what was happening in the film. I have since read some interesting interpretations of this film which partially succeeded in redeeming some aspects for me but for the most part, I could not understand why characters went from one point to another. Basic details of the plot were so convoluted and unnatural that I also failed at suspending my disbelief and spent a good amount of the film distracted by technicalities that made me feel second-hand embarrassment. Like how are they getting away with making a racy theater production about a gay affair?! It's been seven years and Korea can barely accept a TV show with a gay character in it, in the year of 2024! And why is an idol actor doing theater to begin with?! And why is everyone so chill about the bizarre behavior of these men?
That said, it wasn't all bad. The plot has a cyclical nature and that's so interesting. We're thrust in the middle of a script reading with no context of the drama's plot. We slowly figure out that the drama is the final, bloody moments of an affair gone wrong but we have no idea how the characters got there. Then we see the actors going through a process of living as the drama's characters, becoming them in every way. It's a self-fullfilling prophecy. The actors' attempt to embody the characters sets into motion a series of events that eventually come to precede the events of the drama they are supposed to act in. Real life becomes the cause and history of the drama's events and the drama is the cause and catalyst that brings about the incidents happening in real life. It's actually brilliant! There's also a seriously interesting point made about sincerity and bravery and it's completely entangled with the queer representation in the story which makes this an exclusively queer narrative, impossible to recreate with any other type of dynamic and that's so amazing. I love that!
But I didn't really get all this from just watching the film. I only put these together with the help of other people's analysis and reading the summary! So while I think the idea is great, I think the execution of the plot was sloppy.

Acting: and that brings me to the second point. I don't think the acting was great. It was too much and too little in different scenes and only hit the mark occasionally. I know there's supposed to be ambiguity in the story and we're not supposed to be totally sure if the characters are being honest or pretending but for that to be shown, sincerity and insincerity need to be contrasted against each other. Here though, characters are unreliable and vague all the time! I could never grasp a normal behavior standard for them to measure their abnormal behavior against. So that led to more confusion.

Production: I think the main issue of this film is directing. A better director would have directed the actors better, established the world order better, chosen the best shots, and made sure the editing was immaculate. Then this movie could have been a 10. I really think a better direction would have fixed everything. And that's odd because I believe the director wrote the script too so they should have been the perfect candidate to make this. I wonder why it fell short a bit.

Rewatch: Not really. It wasn't that interesting though it wasn't awful. Once was enough.

Overall: If you're curious, just watch it. But it's not a personal recommendation, for me.

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Actions speak louder than words.

Objectively a great show, this show falls short of a 10-star review because 1) That's for shows I actually loved and enjoyed every moment of and 2) The storytelling falls short of delivering the proper emotions at parts.
I also feel very conflicted about whether I should recommend this or not. The thing is the production level of this is amazing. The cinematography, set design, lighting, make-up, clothes, directing, and acting are on par with the best of the best, I believe. It's a naturalist style, to a fault! Every character, situation, and interaction feels, painfully, like it was plucked from a real moment. And from episodes 1 to 6, I loved that world so much, that I wanted to open the screen and crawl into it and live in the characters' lives. The show just makes Japan look lovable!...and then episode 7 happens.
For the record, I don't think the show is "ruined". They didn't "mess up". The plot works. The doomed, terrible fallout is logical and expected. It's just that that moment feels like a balloon has burst and suddenly the rose-colored glasses are off and you see the grimy, messed gore of the show's underbelly. Nothing in life is that clean, easy, and straightforward forward, and as a show that feels more like a documentary in its realism than a scripted scenario, it was bound to fall apart as magnificently as it did. But just because it's logical and true to style, doesn't mean I enjoyed sitting through it. This was so upsetting. Maybe because it felt so real, it hurt more than your average drama. It was devastating and I felt so much distress during the final hours of the show. So how can I just consider the technical part when the emotional part was so scarring and dissatisfying?

Summary: The story follows three friends. Meiko, a girl with a hardened heart but a deep fear of abandonment, Makki who is the poster child for a manic pixie dream boy but who is actually hiding his fear of being left behind under a sunny personality so people around him don't feel burdened by his sadness and won't leave him, and Eiji a spineless but kind university student who I would like the punch very very hard in his soft face but that's not related to the plot. Meiko has sworn off relationships, and Eiji has recently discovered he's gay. He falls for the INAPPROPRIATELY younger Makki and Meiko who is lowkey 100% also in love with Makki just sort of settles for supporting them and hangs around like a really lovely third wheel. Things fall apart later. Of course they would...ugh!

Plot: I could probably write a whole essay on this show's plot. It's low-key brilliant but it's also so frustrating. So you end up wanting to acknowledge how brilliant it was but being too pissed off by everything that goes down to be able to appreciate its greatness. That's why you would see a lot of reviews either praise what a great show it was but avoid talking about the details or people ranting angrily at how much they hated this and rating it suspiciously low. I'm here to tell you both are valid reactions. I also feel like throwing the metaphorical show out of the window from frustration but also give the crew a standing ovation. Frankly, I'm only just leaning towards praise because I didn't like Eiji's character much and liked the fourth (mysteriously kept out of my summary) main character who shows up way too late into this show. Now if I wanna get real deep into it, this is how I would review the plot. There are two issues with the plot:

1) The core of this story lies in the name of the show: More than words. In order to understand the plot, the characters, their motivations, and their ridiculous choices, you need to pay attention not to what the characters say with their words but what they say with their actions. Characters say they want something but don't really mean it. Others say they don't want someone but actually do. Other characters just don't say much but show their feelings with their actions and ultimately the tragedy of this story comes from the fact that even the characters miss each other's silent pleas. It's beautiful but also...it wasn't totally well delivered? Some bits of the editing work to the detriment of the plot. They manage to trivialize certain dynamics or underplay the importance of certain connections to the point that until the end, I'm still not sure who feels what and how much. And not knowing this, affects how you see these characters. This works especially against the relationship between Eiji and Makki which in addition to having a very imbalanced power dynamic, also suffers from the fact that I could never be totally sure just how committed one was to the other. Meiko is our POV character for most of the show and she herself knows there's a deep part of Makki and Eiji's relationship that she can never gain access to (and she desperately wishes to insert herself into it! Gosh!) But because of this, it just feels like Eiji and Makki are really good friends who are randomly living in the same house! Now, in retrospect, this may have also been due to an unreliable narrative situation involving Meiko's perspective of things (and how she wanted to make it SEEM less deep than it was due to personal...guilt) because, in the last 3 episodes of the show, you get ALL that when Makki is the POV character, lol (and honestly? that's when I started to feel nauseated watching this because a 16yo should never date a 22yo because that clearly fcked up his perception of intimacy and it was just painful to watch during those last few episodes AAAAA) Anyway, I'm getting off track but what I'm trying to say is, I could never trust Eiji's feelings, not the whole time throughout the show and he just irks me, that creepy mf.

2) The second arc is too short. So turns out, this show is an adaptation of a manga called "More than Words" and a partial adaptation of another manga called "In the Apartment". With MTW being the prequel to the main story of ITA. Unfortunately, though, this show is 80% More Than Words and only includes one arc of In The Apartment. Mainly because that's when the narrative set up in MTW reaches its conclusion and this being more focused on MTW, they probably added the extra episodes for clarity. But, In the Apartment is a nice story too! It's not as raw or lovable as MTW, but MTW was actually a mirage so that's why it was too good to be true, anyway. ITA is more realistic in its gloominess but less so in its characterizations because we only get a very very summarised glimpse of it. To be honest, I would have loved it if this show had 3 or 4 more episodes so that we could see Makki's character recover a bit from the messed up indoctrination that his former relationship left on him. He was so flawed and beaten down by the end, I wanted to just sit and cry for the kid.
I also have to talk about the characterizations because, despite her selfishness and bad choices, I really liked Meiko's character too. All the characters are so flawed but so well-written. Even though I want to sucker punch Eiji, I still appreciate his characterization. It's so brilliant. And of course, I feel deeply sorry for Makki because we just don't see enough of his interiority but what little we glimpse of him through the eyes of others is so intriguing and interesting. And that brings me to the next point:

Acting: The acting in this show is wonderful! Usually for me, Japanese dramas are a hit or miss as frequently they have this cartoonish, cutesy, over-the-top acting that I just hate. I simply hate it. There was none of that here. Maybe, some background characters had a bit of that but the main cast was so good, so natural, so level-headed, and so realistically awkward in their performances that I just can't praise them enough. Such a wonderful cast. I love them. They made the characters FEEL complex, like real humans.

Production and music: I already said how wonderful the production is. I will just add that the credits are so beautiful too. So smart. Also, the music on this show is amazing. This is how you score a show! SK and China please take notes...please! I am begging!

Rewatch: Hell, no.

Negatives: There is a freaking minor/adult relationship in this show. It's never properly addressed as being weird and I know, it's not legally wrong in Japan since I think the age of consent is 13?! But still. How do I say this... this must be how the relationship is in the show because the show may not say it but as you watch, you can literally see the bad education and emotional scarring that such a relationship left on the minor. The show doesn't mention it but it's there! Right there! Especially if you have seen this in real life, you will know the signs and they are there and it's heartbreaking. I just wish we got more of the show so we could see more of that aftermath and maybe some form of recovery because no minor deserves to be taken advantage of like that and then just be left to fend for themselves. (now if you'll excuse me I'll go cry)

Overall: I don't know if I should recommend this. I would have recommended it if I'd written this while watching episode 5 but...I've seen all 10 and while I know it's a good show, the lingering emotions I feel after watching this are not what I would like to share with you all. Dive in at your own risk!

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Lingering Regrets

Well, that was depressing.
So how do you differentiate BL from queer art? Because...I see people refer to LGBT films and shows from Asia as BL as if the type of queerness is different from Western ones?! That's a bit weird. Gay is gay everywhere, no?!
Anyway, this is a story of sexual awakening in a crappy era in Taiwan and it's appropriately heartbreaking. You can't really expect all daisies and roses from an era where political and social upheaval are piled on top of dominant prejudices. It's not a cute, fluffy story. So the plot and the characters' characterization are appropriately bleak and raw. It's tragic and heartbreaking, not just due to the circumstances but also because of the regrettable choices made by the characters that make life even harder for them. Then, it is no one's doing but theirs.
I enjoyed this but the experience is bittersweet as the implications of the timeline and the story speak of lost time, irreversible mistakes, and regrets that haunt the characters 30 years into the future. But it's done very well so it feels satisfying to watch the story develop.
That said, I did not love the movie from start to finish. I found the conversation scenes with the priest to be stilted and unnatural. They felt too much like preaching and it made the whole thing awkward. I also disliked the flash-forward in the end; not because of the positive or negative ending but because it felt like over-explanation in a way that was not very graceful. There seemed to be too much conversation. Or the camera was following where it was not meant to go? I don't know, it just didn't feel connected to the rest of the film. It felt like a totally different movie and while I liked the atmosphere and aesthetic of the past (not just visually but the cinematography and the direction choices too) the modern bit felt like your run-of-the-mill indie film...I just didn't like it. It felt like there was a break in the film's flow. Maybe if they had maintained the vibes, I would have liked it better.
The acting...well, actually I watched this because I liked Tseng Jing Hua in a different project and came here for that so I knew the acting was going to be good. But the rest of the cast was great too. I really liked Edward Chen. They kind of break your heart throughout the film.
Music is a big part of this film and so they paid special attention to it. It pays off.
Would I rewatch? I would rather not, to be honest. I hate stories about regret the most. They make me so anxious. So once is enough!
Overall: I guess you can watch it if you don't mind a little heartbreak. It's not a feel-good film but it's also not high-art...still, I think it's worth a watch, for sure. The quality is genuinely high, the story is touching and the acting is moving. You wouldn't feel like you wasted your time. It will be well-spent watching this.
P.S.: A bit of an unrelated tangent but this movie just proved to me once more that with proper crew and budget, Taiwan can save us from certain bad adaptations and censored content...just putting it out there.

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Could use more kisses, tbh

Watching this I realised I barely remembered the show, actually. Now, I'm not sure if this had extra scenes and that's why I didn't remember those or if I just forgot big chunks of the plot...we might never know!
So my enjoyment of this show/movie is a 10 but if I'm 100% honest the quality is at 8.5 stars. Some plot points don't make total sense to me and sometimes the never-ending onslaught of tension feels a bit suffocating but I like the overall drive of the narrative and the upward development of the story. The plot doesn't feel stuck and the writers always find a way to push the characters forward even when the plot reaches a standstill. I also just find the romantic plotline so cute. This is how you do enemies to lovers! Don't let those tiktok fantasy fanatics trick you! Enemies to Lovers was always about petty crap like the initial tension in this story and this show/movie is a great example of how you develop such a plot in a cute and satisfying way. It's such a wholesome story with the right mix of tension, fluff, and humor that you will feel comfortable revisiting it over and over again.
The acting here is also better-that-average. They are obviously new to all this and still learning but I think they both did a good job. Lots more to learn for sure but they still did such a good job here. Better than most K-BL actors. This one really stands out. The supporting cast were great too. They endear you to their characters and though we see them for a limited time, they all feel fleshed out and real.
Production did such a good job. There's a podcast out there somewhere which explains the use of color theory in semantic error. If you can find it, it's worth a listen. The editing is also good. At 2 hours and 57 minutes, this is officially way too long and it took me a whole day to finish it(...I don't know why the math is mathing like that) and yet, I would say, it's worth it. I swear the show didn't have all this detail, somehow the flow of the story makes better sense here? Hmmm...odd!
I would also say this is a rewatch-worthy movie. It's romantic. It's cute. It's fluffy. It's a feel-good film to revisit when you're down. It's like a bite-sized feel-good pill.
Overall: I highly recommend it. You can also watch the show but I feel like this one is more convenient. Especialy for bingable reasons. No need to go to "next episode" like a procastinator's version of walk-of-shame.

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Revenge is best served in 12 episodes!

I didn't initially have any interest in watching this drama but then a recommendation from a friend led me to give it a chance and I'm glad I watched it. It's such a deliciously satisfying story of revenge and payback.

Summary: Woman gets betrayed. Woman dies. She transmigrates to ten years earlier. Woman gets revenge!

This is a very fun show to watch. It's super satisfying too. Though episodes 12 to 16 just nosedived into hell and I can't even pretend to like that bit. The ending was extremely cringe too. This show should've been 12 episodes and finished with an elegant ending but then they dragged it on with silly subplots for way too long. It was embarrassing. However, the run from episode 1 to 10 was probably one of the most satisfying arcs I've seen in any show. Is it a bit cliche? Yes. Are the actors the best ever? Probably not. Was it a total rip-off of Perfect Marriage Revenge? Sort of? But that's actually a good thing! So if you enjoyed that one, you will definitely love this one too.

The acting was also pretty good. I mean, the main actress was a bit melodramatic and her acting is a bit wishy-washy but the secondary actors were worthy. Like the best friend? She was one of the creepiest characters I've ever watched! BOA is a terrible actress though. Whatever she does...she should just avoid acting. That was so embarrassing. I don't get what the director was thinking with that casting.

Also honestly? I actually watched this twice! So it's one of those rare shows that I consider worth a rewatch.

Music, I only noticed one use of music in this and it was the extremely satisfying use of No More Dream at the end of episode 6. I jumped 50 centimeters up in the air. I'm not even exaggerating. My leg hit the table and I had a nasty bruise afterward. Production-wise, it looks like they worked a lot but honestly? The fashion and general vibe of 2013 is all wrong. Just watch one 2013 show and you'll get what I mean! The fashion follows all the current trends and it's almost like halfway through, they forgot that this was set in the past. The only thing they kept diligently correct was the phone.

Overall, I'd say if you want a wish fulfillment, revenge story with over-the-top fashion and an interesting plot, then go for it but be ready to get really annoyed after episode 11.

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So this is a show that clearly should not have been cut in half because the first half on its own really doesn't deliver any cohesive narrative at all and is just a prolonged rising action. Then again, it's sort of good that it was separated because if it wasn't, I would've had to consider the mediocrity of the first half with the quality of the second and give it six stars which is really not the rating it deserves. So ultimately it works but it comes at a cost. Because I don't see why anyone would naturally pick up season 2 after finishing that first season even though it would be a good choice to watch the second half.

Plot: Season 2 doesn't have the majority of the pacing and goals issues that season one had. In fact, it's so good at setting small stakes that not only do the first two episodes have a separate revenge-style agenda set for the main character but the final episodes also have a clear sense of risk and drive. While the main character is still an unpleasant dumbass, the show is finally more at pace with it and it comes across as an inside joke between the viewers and Death than just a badly written MC. Plus, the emotional connections that season 1 lacked are here galore and it can really get to you by the end of the show. I actually liked this part a lot. I guess the issue was always a pacing problem but I give the writers some credit, it feels like a difficult plot to balance. There was still plenty of melodramatic violence and I want to say some was gratuitous but at least this time it worked with what the plot was trying to achieve.

Acting: I feel like maybe this half also had a stronger cast? They brought the characters alive and sure, we had more time to connect with these characters (thank goodness!) so it was easier to have emotional investment in them but the good acting helped too.

Music and production: Same as season 1

Rewatch value: Hmmm still none.

Negatives: The MC really is an absolute idiot! So it didn't ruin the show this time but he does frustrate a lot. And the jump from episode 4 to 5, there is such a dramatic shift from fighting death to revenge plot that I was a little skeptical at first but it was well-executed so it wasn't so bad. But they sure took their time to make a very simple point!

Overall: This half was actually good. I know it wouldn't be a meaningful show without the first half though. So this is a conflicted review. I can't tell you to watch the first half because I really disliked it and 50% is a lot of a show to tolerate for the longest build-up. But if you're willing to sit through that, this half of the show was very enjoyable so definitely keep watching. I mean, it's not a top ten show of the year or most loved or anything for me but it was watchable.

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Shorter doesn't mean good

I'm so irritated by this show because it started with such an intriguing and interesting premise and it kept the suspense going for a while before everything became too complicated but ultimately, it had such a cop-out ending that it just made the whole thing underwhelming. I feel like with a better production, not more expensive but better as in better direction and story development, and a better conclusion, this show could've been basically a perfect suspense mystery.

Watch if you like:
1. 10-minute long dramas
2. Gaslighting used in the correct context of its meaning
3. Infidelity plots
4. Sad endings
5.Unreliable narrator stories
6.Mystery/Suspense

Summary: A woman has an accident and afterwards has some trouble with her memory. She then suspects that her husband and best friend are cheating on her. Things get worse when she begins to suspect a deeper scheme at work: that her husband may just be trying to drive her crazy in order to get rid of her!

Plot: Honestly, the plot started so interesting. It was actually mysterious and intriguing and I just feel like the production quality was low and they struggled to perfect the delivery in certain scenes but otherwise, it was good. And to be fair to the creators, the last 4 episodes wrap the story up...it's just that they do it in the dumbest, most convoluted and ridiculous way possible! There is one very simple issue with the completed arc of this story and it's the fact that the linchpin that holds the whole show together is something so unrealistic and illegal that this show can't even exist in the realm of fiction. It's just so dumb that I want to scream at someone about it. But I also don't want to spoil you so -_- Anyway, I would say, it manages to stay afloat but the ending ruined it. It was the equivalent of "it was all a dream" and we all know that's lazy writing.

Acting: It wasn't great. They manage...sort of...but not really!

Music: It was adequate.

Production: Again. I think this show could've thrived in the hands of an auteur director. A lot of the scenes look like they were filmed for a TV ad or some other super low quality purpose but if they had been filmed with intention by someone who knows proper cinematography, symbolism, etc. they would have had high emotional impact. I would actually love to see a better remake of this.

Rewatch: No.

Conclusion: I don't really recommend watching this but I also think most people will enjoy this if they give it a chance and the concepts of the story are among those that usually interest them.

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Grey is the new black!

While watching this show I realized…there are an awful lot of shows about prisons, aren’t there?! Anyway, Prison Playbook is one of the many prison shows out there but don’t get tricked by the ominous concept and poster, this show is not a violent, grimdark view of the place where the deviants go to rot. This is decidedly a comedy-drama about community, empathy, and self-betterment. The story is centered around friendship and hope and it’s full of quirky characters that will steal your heart.
Yes, yes, I’ll admit it…I did start watching this show for Jung Hae In, guilty as charged (!), but he didn’t show up until episode five (really, six) and by then I was already invested in the show so that just goes to show how entertaining it is.

This show is way too famous for me to recommend it so I’ll just get to it. You should watch this show if you like :
1. Orange is the new black
2. Prison life stories
3. Ensemble shows
4. Comedy
5. Bromance
6. Slice of life
7. Barely-there romance plots

Plot: The plot is naturally very good. The story is interesting from the start…sort of. I didn’t love the first episode but it slowly gets better. While the main plot revolves around Je-Hyuk, the show is rather decentralized with side characters getting fleshed out subplots of their own. But all those plots would be nothing without the great character work in the show. The strength of this show lies in its ensemble cast and the idiosyncratic antiques of each character, their past, and their uncertain futures. The plots grip you because they rely on the viewer’s investment in the betterment of the characters and what happens to them. Thus, they only engage and entertain because viewers care to know about the characters. A lot of the subplots were meaty enough to be their own shows. For example Captain Yoo’s subplot, while a nightmare-fuel in its own right, could easily be a miniseries of its own. The other subplots may not be able to carry a whole show as easily as Captain Yoo’s plotline can but they too had the potential to be standalone. Yet as subplots, they do not feel overshadowed or underdeveloped. This is mainly due to the amazing character work that has been done. While each character is in focus for a short while, they are all so well developed that they managed to deliver the maximum impact while they can and when they are not in focus, fade perfectly into the supportive position while maintaining the personality and history that was developed for them in their central plot.
The show also has a bizarre flashback format that is a bit disorienting but you’ll get used to it. Romance is not central in the show but what little of it appears, is endearing enough to capture the heart. I would even say the show has one of the cutest romantic exchanges I have ever seen but I won’t spoil it for you!

Acting: Everyone did an amazing job. As I mentioned, the supportive cast is very well-written and engaging and thankfully each actor amazingly brought them all to life furthering their impact.

Music and production: Music was there. Nothing exceptional but not bad either. The production is also good. The show stays in small prison sets for the most part so there's not a lot of variety. I don't really know what prisons in South Korea look so I can't attest to its realism or anything but it looks real enough? The technicalities were all good to my unprofessional eyes too.

Rewatch: I don’t have time to rewatch shows but it’s a good show to go back to.

Negatives: There are a couple of things that bothered me in the show. One thing was how the sexual assault that triggers the plot was treated. I understand that the sister is not the main character and therefore her plot is not central but she had enough screen time that it would’ve made sense for them to at least deal with it a bit. However, the show never even verbally acknowledges the character’s trauma from the event. The thing is only mentioned in regards to how the main character, her brother, felt about it all. Even she is shown to be feeling guilty for causing him to go to jail but showing no sign of PTSD as a result of the event. Speaking from experience one would know that the trauma of sexual assault never just fades away without actively dealing with it. It festers and affects anything from relationships and intimacy to simple daily functions. A little reference to her struggles would’ve been nice. Secondly, this show is the first kdrama I have seen that has a gay character not as a joke but as a fleshed-out human while also not being a BL show. Yes, the character is funny and has some special antiques but he’s never made fun of for being gay so you can imagine my disappointment when he is the only character whose arc ends negatively. Moreover, the only other queer-coded character in the show just happens to be the only “villain” who stays evil throughout the show and is never redeemed. So yes, basically what I’m saying is that the show treats its not-straight characters very badly and I’m a bit bothered by that. That said, the show is still good and right up to the end, that character’s plot was very well-written and he is one of my favorite characters of the show. Thirdly, the romance of Je-Hyuk and Ji-Ho had me squint my eyes a bit...like being into someone you knew when they were a kid and you were grown up?! Sounds fake but okay...

Overall: A really good and heartwarming show. I really needed something that celebrates the better part of humanity while ironically dealing with the worst humanity has to offer. It’s a hopeful show that tugs at your heartstrings in a good way.

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Ok but isn't that a bit of a drastic decision to make over a cancelled wedding?!

I would love to have a conversation with the scriptwriter of this show. I would love to know how they read THAT book and came to the conclusion to write...this show! lol
It's like if someone read Jane Eyre and ended up adapting it as a musical about learning the alphabet.☉_☉ That said, this is not a bad show or anything, it's just that the similarities to the source material are very slim, including the genre and I also wonder if this was meant to be this dark and elegant and highbrow from the start or if the show just changed themes as the high profile names started to get attached to it...you see, this show has every single cliche element of an average rom-com kdrama!
If I told you a show has:
1. Fake, contract marirage
2. Childhood connection
3. A crazy evil second female lead
4. A stalker with evil superpowers following the Fl around
5. A gloomy male lead with a tragic and sad backstory
6. A romance with a murder mystery subplot
7. Meddling auntie neighbour
8. Quirky tomboy best friend and baby-crazy, secret investigator friend
9. A small event in the FL's past leads her to some drastic career choices
What show would come to your mind?! 'Cause I think so many average Kdramas can come to mind...and the answer here is actually The Trunk. But then this show couldn't be further from your typical kdrama! It's so atmospheric, dark, and the production quality is off the chart!
...but I would say the plot is not as great as the rest of the show. For one, it's slightly melodramatic. If you squint, there are so many plotholes and a lot of choices and actions make no sense. And while I think the creators worked hard to preserve the essence of the novel's message, I think they lost a bit of its nuance in favor of adding flashy plotpoints like abusive parents and homophobia and actual love stories. That said, I like some of these additions and overall, the whole thing works and these details aren't really the main attraction of this show anyway. Because the main point is...
The Chemistry. Holy meow! First of, I think dramaland citizens generally over exaggerate the chemistry connection of actors on popular kdramas. Two actors will do the bare minimum but because the trope is a popular one, people will see natural chemistry where there is none! So many times, I see people just say two actors have chemistry because they're both the two most attractive people on screen in a show. That's not chemistry...that's buying into the show promotion bs, dearies! Actual chemistry means the actors seem to have this magnetic field between them, that even when there are so many others in a scene with them, it's like the two of them are swaying to the same wavelength. Their eye contact seems to hold secret conversations btween just the two and the actors just naturally play off of each other's acting choices. And that's the thing! You have to first be a good actor, to then make actual choices about your acting and then have an equally good actor play against you with their equally dynamic and responsive acting choices! It's...it's a big deal! Not everyone can do it! but my god...Gong Yoo and Seo Hyung Jin sure can! The best thing about this show was how the two of them managed to make the bare minimum plot work! You know a show is good when it gives you the illusion that you have just witnessed two soul mates reunite when the characters just barely had two positive interactions! That's sorcery! That's skill! That's admirable. And this show manages to do that so it's worth a watch for only just that if literally for nothing else.
Which, of course, it's not the only attraction of this show. Jung Yun Ha's acting is another part of this show that adds to its worth. I hope she wins some awards for this. She deserves the recognition. She was so good, she brought Seo Yeon to life and what an interesting character because she was so unhinged and disturbing in some ways but she was equally valid in other ways and I was so conflicted if I hated her for some of her actions or wanted to defend her for some of the other actions. To manage to capture both empathy and disgust, she sure showed some great skills. Granted, the character is very well-written too. Overall, the whole cast is really good but the four main ones stand out. This was my very first Gong Yoo show and guys...I get it. I GET IT! Who is this man?! How is he this charming?! How can someone so unconventionally attractive capture the viewers so quickly? He's too good! A bit dangerous! I wanna see more! lol
In addition to an amazing cast, the production, set design, lighting and special effects in this show were so good. This looks like a drama one would like to watch because it's a feast for the eyes...though in a drab way! There's no explosion of colors or textures. The whole thing is in earth tones and everything and everyone is so subdued but that's sort of the point here. So it's like...having a fancy dinner made of one ingredient! Well, maybe three ingredients.
Also this show is going to get the rare honor of having THE BEST soundtrack of any kdrama ever. It was so good, that 10/10 stars is actually for the music. I loved the music so much I sat through the credits just to listen to it more. Well-played, for a show with a music producer as a main character.
Rewatch: Yeah, no...
Negative: Why do Kdramas have weird pauses when they wanna make high quality dramas?! It doesn't make any sense why people pause so much in their conversations. Also...so many plotholes, so many unnecessary baits that lead nowhere, so many character moments that were abandoned halfway through...lol the script could have been better. hehe
Overall: This is a rare case of me enjying a show with a subpar plot as I usually care the most about plot but this show was too good in other aspects that the weaknesses of the plot are almost forgivable. This would have been a perfect 10 if the plot was a bit better. Highly recommend it though.

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Hell is other people.

Happiness is a tv show about the inherent horror of having to quarantine in close proximity to other people! Initially, I refrained from putting this show in my To-Watch list because I thought watching a show about quarantine while I’m stuck in quarantine for the nth wave of the covid pandemic, might be a bit too much on my psyche but I am glad I ended up watching it. It was worth it. Weirdly validifying too. Like, yeah, I have to deal with jerks in my quarantine too. Thanks for acknowledging my struggles!!!
Let me give you some rundown: this is not a zombie apocalypse show, nor is it a survivalist show. This is a show dedicated to the complex and unexpected developments of human behavior and psyche when people are forced to stay put in one place due to a crisis. A study of humanity in high-stress situations which is also sprinkled with jump scares, actions scenes, zombie attacks, and so on, yes, but those are the conditions that provide for the real goal of the story: The plague is humanity!
I really enjoyed this show, even though I hate gore and thriller stories and never touch zombie stories. They really scare me because to me nothing is worse than twisting into a monster that no longer has the ability of human thought and control. It’s just terrifying to watch a human distort their body in all the wrong directions, snarling and groaning and making grabby-hand gestures, okay?! But this show was so graceful about it. Because it showed all the ways that humans can lose their ability to think and control their worst urges and instincts while looking perfectly normal. You really don’t need to be a zombie to suck the life out of the people around you! The real zombies are the bad company! (I love all these ah-ha! takes I can have about this show! lol) I just love how this show displays just that.

You should check this out if you can handle:
1. Zombies
2. Humans acting like monsters
3. Seriously. There’s some heavy psychological deterioration displayed in this show
4. Effortless chemistry and romantic dynamic that is super subtle and not overly-emphasized
5. FOUND.FAMILY. (YAAAAAAASSSSSS!)
6. Quarantine shows
7. Thrillers, horror, jump scares, gore and blood
8. People being stupid
9. Regressive narratives (no one is really having a personal growth here in that cathartic way that hallmark-level romcoms will provide with convenient monologues and stuff)

Summary: The story follows three characters: Yoon Sae Bom, a special task force member who after a difficult childhood is desperate to have a home of her own™, Jung Yi Hun, her best friend, and an ex-baseball player who is now a detective and is desperately and secretly in love with her, and Han Tae Seok, a Machiavellian out-hire in the military in charge of containing and managing a new and bizarre disease spreading through Korea. Long story short, people are becoming zombies. Sae Bom and Yi Hun have just moved into their new, fancy little apartment and want nothing but to live a happy life but all that is put on the back burner when their entire apartment complex gets quarantined for being the epicenter for the disease. What comes after is just…human horror!

Plot: If you’ve had the displeasure to come into contact with a little story called “The Lord of flies” then you’ll have a general idea of just what this show is trying to achieve. A definite nod and modernization of that same premise, this show is the most current concept out there, dedicated to all the terrible ways that quarantining and having to stay in closed spaces with other people can just suck the life out of you! The show puts a bunch of characters with personal motives and unique kinds of hidden skeletons in one apartment building where as time goes by, everyone just transforms into a more exaggerated version of their initial vices or rise to the occasion to reveal hidden depths. It’s all about the study of human behavior. Because from the get-go the story presents the zombie situation as a disease, then the show is not about blowing zombie heads off for brownie points but instead, it constantly goes to lengths to highlight the humanity hidden behind their situation. This distinctly differentiates it from a zombie apocalypse story. Because it’s not an apocalypse. I think the whole thing is an allegory. Although the show mentions covid by name, really the zombie disease is also covid. From people who refuse to follow health protocols to those who want to get out of the quarantine even though they have nowhere to go, to the essential workers who have to go out against their better judgment, to those who are just looking to make profits from a dire situation, it's all so familiar and real. The show goes to some dark places about humanity and if you can handle those stuff, it can be so interesting.
And to top it all off, even though this is not a romance show, there is such a dynamic chemistry between the leads, and their harmony with each other and their deep love and care for the other is what carries the show. It’s just a sweet treat in the heart of an upsetting story. At the same time as this, I'm also watching a show, explicitly marketed as a romance and that's just giving me nothing while this show's barely-there romance plot is so profoundly lovely.
I also want to add that the side characters are all so interesting and the more you watch them, they all reveal more of themselves and become more defined in a way that encourages you to care about some and just hope the others die in the most violent way possible... (Plot twist: the viewer becomes a zombie in the process of watching jerks do jerk-stuff!)
Lastly, the show does a great job of highlighting class divisions and social caste systems. I’ve come to notice that Kdramas are particularly good at telling stories about class and this show is another good example of it. There are so many detailed nods to it here and there and it was morbidly delicious to watch it all unfold.

Acting: Everyone did an amazing job in their roles. The show had clear main characters and those guys were awesome with Han Hyo Joon and Park Hyung Sik having some of the best chemistry I’ve seen all year but the show is also an ensemble affair so it matters that the supporting cast members are good in their roles as well. I think they achieved that for sure. This might seem like a super random shoutout but Hong Soon Chang was a delight in his role as the elderly neighbor. His character was not even particularly likable but his manner of speech and body language were just so natural and interesting that he felt like an actual person you can meet in real life. I really enjoyed his screen time.

Music and production: The music was very good. It helped elevate the emotions of that every moment without being too predictable The zombie attack theme was so heart-throbbing but also it wasn't just the same horror movie beat. The music also stopped in all the right places so as to add to the gravitas of certain moments. The production was also very good. It just looked very nice and cool and I don’t know, I liked it.

Rewatch: I don’t really rewatch so probably I won’t but at least I can acknowledge that the 12-episode run makes it accessible. I usually lose interest in kdramas around episode 12 of 16(Unless they have 20 episodes, then I’m fine!!!). That’s where I pause a lot of them, check out my on-hold list, lol. So, it was a great delight that this show ends right before I could get bored/irritated.

Negatives: Um, I saw some people nag that the show’s premise is not realistic and ask for a scientific explanation of the disease…sweetie, it’s a drama...about zombies!!! It’s not a scientific article! It’s all fake. Zombies are fake, sorry if that’s a shock so…don’t expect realistic science from it?! Idk, I can’t believe this has to be said. The characters do stupid things, they are mean and evil occasionally and bad stuff happens a lot and there’s probably a good amount of plot holes but none of it will really affect your enjoyment of it if you are inclined to like this. There’s also the matter of the ending. I already said this in a comment but this is a petri dish story. A bottle episode, if you will. The plot doesn’t care about the cure, it cares about the humans in that very specific, simulated situation and ends right after the situation is no longer held together. It might feel a bit like the ending is left open without a closure. So just prepare for that.

Overall: This is more like a long movie rather than a short show. It has the same beat and flow as a movie and it’s also just a very interesting story. I wanted to give it a lower rating, a 9 or a 9.5 but ultimately, I really did enjoy watching it. It does infuriate at certain points but that’s kind of the point. I think this show captured our very bizarre and traumatic times by creating an even more bizarre and traumatic allegory and I appreciated that. I also liked that, ultimately it had a heartwarming message. At one point in the story, one of the characters says that they won’t catch the disease because they haven’t done anything wrong, and that is very ironic in many, many different ways but it also brings up an interesting concept; that bad things should and will happen to bad people. Not necessarily. Not really. But it sure does feel good when you watch good people overcome bad things just because they are good.

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I knew this was the gay year!!!

Finally! Finally a 2024 kdrama worth 10 stars! And it's such an atypical, unconventional drama! I had been waiting for a drama with a gay lead that wasn't just a low-budget. web drama for ages. We've had some really good short, low-budget dramas like Sematic Error and The Eighth Sense but they were still very basic BL shows. Now, we finally get a quality drama with queer characters that is on par with the best-produced kdramas out there. I love it. While the show is still shorter than the usual 16-episode kdramas, this is unlike any "BL" content we have seen from Korea, so far.

First of, as always, I don't like calling this show BL because...I don't know, I associate that tag with a very specific kind of storytelling: no significant female characters, laser point focus on one conventional (sometimes toxic, sometimes overly heteronormative) romance, no plot or character development beyond fluff or whump. This is not that!
We have a very touching story here, following a young gay man in modern South Korea, who appears to be cynical about the probabilities of finding love in the modern age but who is secretly a hopeless romantic, desperately hoping that he can find love. Only to fail over and over. And then when he finds it? He can't recognize it for what it was: rare, imperfect, precious love.
Our main character here is imperfect, messy, and so real. There is no euphoric character development but you can see his personality and world-view change as the story progresses and his experiences shape who he is. Just like real life. I love the whole cast of characters as they are all well-thought-out and developed, in such ways that make the world of the story richer.

Acting: The acting in this is so good. Still, none of the cast members stands out as much as Nam Yoon Su himself who truly knocked it out of the park here. He went out and beyond bringing the character of Ko Young to life. He was so perfect, it didn't even feel like he was acting. He was just so natural that you would think he is Ko Young and has been for all his life. That said, everyone else was so good. I can't pinpoint any cast member who didn't do their part. Everyone was great. Just A+ performances. Jin Ho Eun makes you fall in love with his sincere and open-hearted Gyu Ho, too. So devastating!

Production: Finally! Finally, we get a queer drama with good lighting and camerawork! I could shed tears! Oh, how I have waited for this! The production level in this show is great and I truly appreciate it. It really adds to the watching quality.
The music choices were very specifically designed to match the storytelling and so while I didn't always like every song, I thought everything fit perfectly in the scenes they were used in and that's a bigger compliment than "I liked the song" in my book.

Overall: If you like good shows, watch it! It's a sort of slice-of-life drama with imperfect characters and heartbreaking plots that are beautifully brought to life thanks to the high-quality production, good writing, and stellar performances.
(And honestly? 16-episode dramas are overrated! They all sucked this year, anyway!)

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