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Promising start but could have more episodes for character development
If you like Xu Kai, you can watch through all 28 episodes. You can watch how devoted he is to the female lead. His acting is still on point and he expresses his feelings quite well done! For other actors, they are good as well.The story synopsis and first few episodes looks really promising and it is enough to make you continue with the rest of the episodes. It was through the middle of the show where the story started to get complicated with new characters introduced. and then boom, we have reached the last episode.
This drama focus on too many side characters with little explanation and until now, when I watched the last few episodes, I have so many questions I need to ask lol. Ending feels like "Wait, that's it??? Shouldn't you be giving me some explanations? I cannot guess!" "Are they just stuck in the other realm forever??!" Honestly this ending needs so much explanation!
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Your usual sweet romance drama with smart cute male lead and normal clumsy female lead
I was not expecting myself to finish this whole series... But i like this female lead and ended up binge watching all 24 episodes in a few days. This feels similar to the Korean drama "This is my first life" and even the FLs looked similar as well.Story for the main leads were at least wholesome, everyone got their happy ending, but I feel that they can at least elaborate more on each character's development. Some supporting characters are cut off suddenly at some point (of course I will not miss them but I am equally invested in their life lol). No third parties or rivals... It really is just your typical romance drama.
If you are bored and are into romance genre, do give this a try.
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A show so relatable
Initially this drama was not on my watchlist for a lot of reasons... No romance being one of it lol. But it is only 12 episodes, so I decided to give episode 1 a try. AND I watched all 12 episodes in a go lol. It was sooo relatable and the pace, cinematics are just amazing. IT IS A MASTERPIECE.The synopsis sounded so dry and not interesting... Yes, it was really slow paced... BUT I cannot believe a slow paced drama made me want to continue every episode and bawled my eyes out towards the end.
The first episode probably warned me that this is not about sweet romance with the suicide of the best friend and the overall dark cinematics. But it did not warned me that it will be so relatable and I will get hooked on it.
I am 28 this year and this is something I believed every person experience midlife crisis should watch. Talking about struggles in a big city far from home, to friendships, suicide, mental health, relationships. Basically very real life in general. After crying, I am going to think about my future lmao.
Story 100%. Acting 100%.
I only know Zhou Yu Tong but was surprised everyone else was great as well.
Everyone, do give this drama a chance. Especially if you have hit midlife crisis.
There are heavy topics on mental health and suicide.
If you need help, do reach out to someone, or even message me. We are here for you.
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Perfect if not for the last few episodes
As an avid mountaineer, I was very excited about this drama. Jirisan is added to one of my mountaineering plan. :)To me, the CGI was not too awkward. It is really kinda similar to how you look out from the mountains at dawn. Everything is just greyish lol. I just wondered if they just filmed this on gloomy days but that did not take me off from continue watching.
Stellar actors, great concept and cinematics. The only regret was the storyflow from episode 13.
When you start watching it, it takes some time to get used to the past and current events, but it is fairly easy to tell from the screen on the timeline. Plot builds up from the middle, so it actually took me a few episodes + adjusting to the timeline to understand what is going on.
But when you advance to episode 13 where they start to introduce the scenes from 1990, it is where the confusion starts. They did not really introduce the characters well, and everyone looks different compared to the 2021 scene. O know people do age, but it is tough to follow up all the backstory in just 1 episode. Until the last episode, I am still unsure who is the real killer. I had to rewatch from epsiode 12 to understand.
AND, they did not explain how the leads are healed??? That is still a mystery! How can Yi Gang be able to CLIMB a mountain after being wheelbounded for 3 years at least? Physio + treatment takes years to even return to the normal. And Hyun Jo suddenly waking up after 3 years in vegetive state and being a ranger again. I am not sure, this feels not too logical to me LOL.
Conclusion:
This is basically a drama about how they caught a killer who disguises murders on Jirisan as accidents for revenge. Everything else is just a filler which does not even make much sense. :upside down smile:
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It will be better as a movie
If you watch the 4 episodes in x2 speed, you would not even find any differences! There are practically nothing much to talk about...Firstly, it is really slow paced and flat. I felt let down by the expectations from the trailer lol. It was supposed to be a heartfelt, healing drama at least, but it turned out to be tiring to watch how the both leads struggles with their emotions- one overly obsesses girlfriend, and one noble idiocy boyfriend... And they did not talk about their feelings out for the whole 4 episodes??! Not even until the last 5min...
Secondly, bad comical moments? Not sure what the main lead's role was supposed to be, but it seemed she was a girl who placed love above everything. All her actions makes her feel like a compulsive stalker. Perhaps for comical effect, but it is already creepy how she chased the guy and tried to ask him to join the trip after they break up. Also the male lead clearly loves her but it really gets me cringing that he do not speak up / the female lead is too dense to know something must had happened etc.
Third, no character growth! Until the last episode, I am not sure who ever changes but everyone just seemed the same and misunderstandings are still everywhere. Ok, this will be normal in the real life but not in dramaland please. I want to see character development in a drama. Andddd I do not get the role of the guide lol. What is he trying to do exactly. It is like he is still trying to run away even at the last episode. I feel there are more stories to the characters that can be explored!!!
It is such a waste for the actresses and actors. It could have more potential if it was longer, or it can be just a movie, which will be decent. One good thing is probably the cinematography and sceneries. I feel like exploring jeju again.
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Story felt rushed, but still a heart warming series on friendship
Binged watched s1 again before starting on s2.This gives more backstory to what happened in s1, and also dive into details of s1 - from Ji Yeon's illness to Ji Goo's backstory and director's Kang.
First 10 episodes progress great with the introduction of new characters. But the sudden fight between the 3 girls were too unneccessary. It took just 1 episode from the fight to reconcile bt perhaps thats how they will wrap up this season with a happy ending I supposed?
But overall, its still a good drama to binge at night after a long day of work. The comedy is still 100%.
Would be better if it has more closures to each character's backstory tho. It seems like its just a filter lol.
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A drama with revelations every episode!
None of the episodes were boring! I started off skeptical of this drama because it states based on true story, but since it is by OCN, I decided to give it a try and I do not regret! The story is real and not drama-like - those who are impossible to be alive is not alive - not a plot twist where the lover suddenly revive etc. And the actors portrayed it so well with their emotions!The first few episodes started steady and it builds up your suspense while solving all the cases of the missing bodies (like solving one missing body case per episode). Pacing is kinda similar to Mystic Pop Up Bar! The later part of the show reveals the plot and you will be surprised how it is so unpredictable yet it makes all sense in the world lol.
You can feel the sadness and happiness here when Wook found his mom, and the fear of him not wanting to meet his mom in the village (because she was dead yet he keeps resenting her unknowingly). And they do not drag! The characters eventually reconcile after 1 episode and kept the main focus.
Though I felt the ending is kinda rushed and possibly a open ending of what is with the powers of the middle aged man and Wook... Hoping for a season 2 or a sequel of the ending explained!
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Amazing time travel drama
In summary, a time travel show with no loop holes.The story is just perfect. There's no love triangle, villians were punished and a potrayal of kinship in this drama.
I loved everything about this show - from the storyline to execution to how they wrap up the story.
The pace was slow, I will recommend to watch 3 episodes to get hooked.
But towards the end, everything connects and it makes so much sense!
It is a masterpiece!!! Especially there's not much shows worth catching in 2023.
I rewatched episode 1 again right after the ending and this can be a loop.
Not to mention, the music choice is 100%. You need to watch it!
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One of those drama which makes you guess every episode!
And you can never guess it 100%! I like how it makes me want to continue watching this drama even though I read countless spoilers and reviews. It is one of the rare case of most drama where you need to watch to feel and understand the whole story. Kudos to the scriptwriter, director and actors, they did a really good job to portray the character development in the whole show.It is heartwarming, tear-jerking, you feel like you are solving the issues together with them as a audience. It has been a while since I had this feeling. And the best part? What you thought was going to happen will be a surprise!
Try at least watching the first 2 episodes and episode 3's preview and you will know.
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Hajimete Koi wo Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi
2 people found this review helpful
The music is nice too. I am addicted to Black Number's Happy Birthday. The lyrics fits so well too!
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A Masterpiece
Was expecting this to be a show to kill time, but I ended up getting hooked by the story and concept.The pace is just right, the plot is smart.
It contains the concept of kinship, friendship, genre of comedy, suspense, thriller, mystery and slight bormance in 12 episodes.
It dives to the main plot straight ahead - which is how he got into an accident and woke up after - they filled the gap pretty quick. Also, when you think that the plot is just to solve last wishes of the deceased, I was wrong, it leads to a real investigation and the execution is just so brilliant. If you understand Chinese, it is even better as they do play around with the words and it creates a deeper meaning at the end of each episode.
Rewatch value is 10/10. It is similar to someday or one day, rainless love in a godless land. You got to watch several times to understand the deeper meaning. It is just smart, so if you are looking for an intellegent, short drama, this can be one.
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Unexpectedly educational too
Watched the first episode out of curiosity as the synopsis and rating does not stand out.Was expecting it to be some short romance Japanese drama but I didn't expect each episode to be almost an hour! Kinda of wish it has more episodes so the character development can be further developed, especially the side characters' romances.
Other than story (was just typical), what I love is how they also educate what happens during a flight. Explaination of what goes behind a scene at the airport, what could go wrong during a flight. Though the probability of bad occurance during a flight may be too exaggerated, but things were still learnt along the way. I have that additional 1% knowledge on planes now thanks to this. I won't be so demanding on flights anymore. :')
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Not what you expected
Usually I tend to skip Japanese drama of similar genres but I saw a comment about a plot twist and decided to check it out. Turns out the ending was not cliché! The plot twist was sudden. You got to watch till the end to catch it. If one just drop the first few episodes, they would not know about the ending, but I would not say it is a rushed ending. But I don't think you will drop the first episode as there's some hints of strange happenings, and it makes you want to continue watching the unveil.Actor's acting was alright, there's only 2 main characters in the drama and others were more like supporting roles. No romances between them both.
The pace was good for this 6 episodes of 20mins each. You can just treat it as watching a movie!
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Not for the faint heart
First, the show might be gore for the faint hearted. Shooting, dead people, slashing and exploding bodies...However the plot and games are nice to watch. It is similar to Japanese dramas like Liar Game, Kaiji - the protagonist has no choice but to join in a cruel game to fight the way out using brains and guts...
What is different for this are the friendship elements. Where participants learnt to trust and battle together in this twisted game.
Worth watching! Pacing was good and games are well thought of. One should also note that this series will have a second series, so the ending was not really an ending.
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Great start but a questionable ending
I was looking forward because of Song Kang but I had to say, I ended up watching for the supporting characters. You can see much more character growth from them then the leads. To be honest, it was suffocating to watch Han So Hee's character in the show. She was portrayed as weak and hesitant through the whole show, even till the ending. I get that this is her intended character, and she is a really good actress but I cannot get over the negative vibes on her. The interaction between the leads are really depressing. I get that Jaeon is toxic too in the original story. But they both just looked too depressing.Even at the end when they decided on a happy ending, So Hee's face don't look too happy? She looks too unfocused or uncertain about it. And it makes me think that this is not an ending, but just another episode. They did not elaborate more on the closure. I was kinda disappointed about it. I rather they leave the mood at them going separate ways or make it vague this round.
It was the supporting characters' development got me watching. I really love Yoon Sol and Ji Wan's part. From the first episode, you can tell from Yoon Sol that she see Ji Wan differently, and I was rooting for their relationship and each realizing their feelings. Also for Bit Na's. Although they had their happy endings, it felt so natural that it is not a closure because it is the last episode, but more of like, it is the beginning of a new chapter. I really like how the supporting characters' stories are portrayed.
You should watch it, for the supporting characters more.
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