You know how when you read a book and the plot is so intense that it's hard not to skip to the end to see how it turned out? Well, that's how this series was.

The worse part about skipping to the end is that you can miss everything in between.

Seeing that I didn't want that I went on ahead and watched the whole series.

This was all about people doing the wrong thing and not owning up to it. Or even apologizing for it.

You can feel the emotion derived from every character in this series. My favorite wasn't the male lead even though I will watch anything he's in. I love excellent Korean actors so please don't get it twisted. My favorite was the good prosecutor. Usually when I see legal dramas prosecutors are weak but this guy didn't cower for anybody.
At one point towards the end of the drama I found myself cheering so bad that I forgot this was just a series and I'm not Korean.

What I didn't like about this series was the constant back and forth. The series could've ended on a better note if the constant back and forths weren't included. By now the very last episode should end with closures but like I said there wasn't enough justice that should've been due. I really wish that was the case because this series would've ended a lot better than it did.

Also the subtitles in some of these episodes were either off, behind, or too far ahead. So if one watches in English be in for a bit of a disappointment when you watch some of these episodes.

Read More

I saw a Korean movie that had similarities of people accidentally switching bodies and it was OK. Korean movies are usually OK in my opinion. I seen about three and it was like a meh for me which is why I prefer the 16+ series instead of a two hour movie.

I liked this one. I almost gave it a pass because the first episode dragged a bit for me but luckily it picked up throughout the rest. It held a steady pace and that's what made it work.

I just have to digress for a moment. Even though I never stepped foot outside the US-Canada and Ensenada Mexico don't count-I have to remember if I ever get a chance to visit Korea to not ever get hurt where I would end up in one of their hospitals. Their security is horrible.

Now back to the series. I always cringe with female Korean actors but I didn't with this series. All of the females portrayed in this series was strong and played their characters well. Even if they were a**holes I still loved the talent they added to the series.

There were a lot of scenarios in this series but a few didn't give the closure I was looking for. In all of the scenarios three were just left dangling in the air and I wanted closure on those.

I liked the aspect of how this was written. It opened my eyes a bit. I'm all for revenge but sometimes if you kill a person with kindness the results will tend to be better than being truly evil.

Again I rely on full closures at the end of the last episode and I will say I gave it a 80% satisfactory rate. This is a lot more than what I usually give last episodes of series I've watched.

Read More

Whenever I hit a Korean action drama slump I go to Youtube to see what's available and sadly all of the recommendations that's offered I've already seen.

I had commented on the Korean's version of 'Leverage Funny Moments' and saw on the side recommendations top ten dramas that had great bromance and Chief Kim was one of the recommendations.
I remembered watching some Korean drama funny moments where there was a excerpt from Chief Kim involving him running into a broom stick male part first and I laughed hard but sadly there wasn't a title for that so I forgot about it and saw that part again in the bromance drama recommendation and decided to give it a try.

I've never been good with names so I'm just going to say I absolutely loved the first five main characters in this series. I'm starting to get use to seeing some of my new favorite Korean actors and since I know they're in it then I know I picked a good drama.

The story line strayed a bit as Korean dramas usually do but I eagerly hit the next button because I enjoyed each episode. I also loved the chemistry everybody had.
I did, however, cringe with one of the characters. If you haven't guessed it, yes it was about a female. Even though her role (Im Hwa Young) was awesome, her high pitched voice was annoying. I couldn't accurately describe it but in one episode Dong Ha's character asked her what's wrong with her voice and if it was broke. The annoyed reaction he gave didn't seem like it was scripted. It seemed like he actually hated her high pitched voice and so did I.

The last episode was one of the best last episodes I've seen from Korean dramas. The writer actually knew how to end it!!
I felt the good byes were very genuine because the cast knew this was the last time they will be shooting a scene together and it was time to move on to another cast family.

I did want to point out though that even though I've already seen 3 dramas with Namgoong Min in it, I felt there were some of the times when his humor was just over the top. I loved the serious moments more than I did his comedic moments.

I'm glad I found this series. Now that I'm done, I hope I can find more that's up to this caliber.

Read More

OK, I'll admit I'm a big chicken and I don't watch horror shows too often and was going to give this a pass but I've been hitting Kdrama slumps lately. I don't do the cliche rom-coms and I avoid dramas that have romance in it. I also avoid the horror genre altogether.

I recognized the main female character from Hello Monster and I liked her. Surprise, I know because I usually don't care for female Korean actresses. They're always whiny, love sick, broke, and stupid. This female had none of these portrayals. As a matter of fact I like female actresses who have mad fighting skills. There's not a lot out there but I'm glad I can find a few.

As I mentioned I don't like horror because if I watch a horror show that show will be incorporated into my brain and it will be the last thing I think about which will lead to nightmares. It messes up my sleep routine tremendously so...yeah.
I jumped on several occasions like a wuss. One particular episode I was watching close to my bedtime that had me jumping on several occasions so I had to stop watching that and had to watch something that made me laugh. I wanted that to be the last thing on my mind instead of restless spirits.

I fell in love with all the characters on here both good and bad. As I say all the time I look for the chemistry with the cast members and this series really had it. I especially loved both the male leads. Their bromance was truly awesome. I wish a lot more guys got along this way.
I laughed, nearly bawled, and was heavily dismayed when the series came to an end. This series was so great I may watch it again even though that's not my thing.

Read More

Before I get into my review, while getting hooked on these Korean dramas I noticed something that always leave me scratching my head. Why do these dramas blur out knives if it's being used but they don't blur out the guns?? I will never get it.

OK, now that I've been wanting to ask that question in all of the dramas that contain action out of the way, it's now time for my review.

There are some familiar faces in this drama that I recognized which is why I eagerly wanted to watch but the main character who I'm not familiar with really stole the show.
I love action and will watch anything that has different types of fighting styles but in my assessment of fighting styles I never seen a drama that had judo in it. I'm not familiar with judo but I guess this form of fighting involves a 'take down' and the main actor did a lot of take downs. It was a meh for me but it still worked. Everybody had some fighting skills that had me squealing like a kid. I don't know why I'm like this but I am. I even liked all of the females in this both good and bad. I will say one female had me quickly reaching for the volume button. I wonder how many takes she had to do and if she was hoarse afterwards! Oy!

I don't know how Korea does it but the casting choices that was made for this series did a phenomenal job. Every episode just kept getting better and better. I even was surprised at the last episode! I was expecting a let down but was truly surprised that it ended the way it did.

They even had a funny part derived from a movie and it's sequel The Kingsman & The Kingsman Golden Circle that had me laughing hard.

I stated that I normally don't rewatch any of the Korean dramas I've watched but I caved and watched Fiery Priest twice. This one could go on my list of a rewatch as well. I love dramas like this and hope to find more like it in the future.

Read More

This was the very first Japanese action drama that I've watched. I love action Japanese movies and have watched a lot in my life time but I had no idea dramas such as this existed.

I don't know who the main character-Kimura Takuya-is and I ask myself how could I not know??? Who needs a weapon when you can do what he does!!

This series did not disappoint me in the least. I could've watched every episode in one day but not knowing what I was getting myself into I only watched a few episodes at night and immediately watched the rest the next day. When I saw a second season was out-yes you guessed it. I was wondering how the second season would fair to this one and that held on it own too!

I never thought I would bawl in these action dramas but there were a few episodes where I was able to hold them back.

If I could find more like these then I'm going to return to being that couch potato I once was when TV was the way it was.

Read More

So this is the second Japanese drama that I watched that I fairly enjoyed. Every episode was different and it had the right amount of twists to last through all ten episodes.

I'm not familiar with the two main characters but they could grow on me.

Ikuta Toma had some serious fighting skills but I was kind of disappointed that he didn't fight a lot. Same with Oguri Shun. He started off bad a** but ended up looking like he never fought a day in his life.

Since finding out Korean dramas existed last year and getting hooked on that, I don't have too many favorite Korean actresses. They all seem to whine, be pretty, stupid and poor. In this drama I actually liked Ueno Juri. She had some good fighting skills. Was tough as nails and was just a regular typical female who didn't take no stuff. I was even surprised by Seino Nana. Her skills weren't shown until the end but I had to rewind her fighting scene as well.

I liked the chemistry this cast had. They got along like actual family and that made this more enjoyable to watch. Toma, though, this guy....he portrayed himself as a easy going dorky guy but when he was angry he was nothing to be messed with.

I get angry about Korea not knowing how to end their episodes but I was disappointed with the ending of this one. I guess I'm too nostalgic and want happy endings in everything I watch. The ending was on point even though it wasn't what I wanted but it was a good 10 episode watch for me.

Read More

There are a lot of Korean dramas where it's just one season. This is the third Korean drama that I watched that had a sequel to.

I watched the first QOM series and I fairly enjoyed that and was a bit nervous about it's sequel.

When I watched the first episode of the sequel I was going to drop it because that episode was all over the place. I was thoroughly confused and was wondering if it was going to stay in that direction for the next 15 episodes. I was very close to dropping it but after the second episode I ended up binging on the rest of the episodes.

Again this series focused on several criminal situations that needed to be solved and I liked the way it was done. What I didn't like though was the last episode. It was a mess. It seemed as if the writer had a hard time trying to come up with a way to end last episode so they threw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that and what was left was a hot mess. I wonder why Korea always have a hard time ending their last episodes in these dramas. Especially if it only have to do with one plot!

It seems that there will be a third QOM because several plots weren't solved in the last series. I hope that's the case because I most definitely liked this series.

Read More

I have been hooked on Korean dramas since July 2020. Didn't know they existed until then.

I love the action dramas and have been leaning on the legal dramas as well. This is about the 4th legal drama that I've watched and every legal drama that I've seen haven't disappointed me.

This one didn't disappoint. Even though it was slow paced, it still was enjoyable to watch.

The cast was great. Unfortunately each drama that I've seen I end up hating a Korean female and yes, I didn't care for the prosecutor who got transferred to another office. I found myself rooting for her twice though.

I laughed a lot while watching this. There was even moments that had me a little jumpy.

There were two scenarios that this episode focused on: the carpenter's ruler, and room 309. The carpenters ruler was solved but not the story behind room 309. I wanted that story to finish out but it was left hanging.

The last few episodes had my blood boiling though. The one thing I can't stand is bullies and the way it was handled was also left dangling.

As I mentioned before it was a slow paced series but there wasn't a episode I didn't enjoy. Now I'm going to be hooked on Korean legal dramas as well.

Read More

I'm just going to say if you like the American TV show of Leverage then you will like this. You got the brains, brawns, tech smarts, and well, the chick isn't a grifter but she can drive. I definitely loved the brawns guy. I loved the chemistry this cast had. I realize the chemistry in most of the dramas I've watched is pretty awesome. If you don't have that then the show won't work.

I definitely watched this because of Kim Won Hae-the prosecutor. He has tremendously grown on me in the dramas I've seen him in. I wasn't too fond of his character in Strong Woman but he played it well. I even laughed a bit at his scenes. He even played a Russian in Fiery Priest!!
I also loved Tae Won Seok. The way he just walked up to people and just slapped them was hilarious!! The main lead and the tech were OK.

Since I've watched the five seasons of Leverage on a few occasions, I could do the same with this as well.

Read More

Fun to watch

I wasn't expecting much when I saw this because I have found myself steering away from Korean cliche rom-coms.

It was fun to watch and a bit cheesy for my taste. I stuck it out to the end just to see if the ending would be good and it was OK.

My favorite was the guy who played the police officer but both he and the main male lead had me in stitches. Even though they were enemies their chemistry was what kept me watching.

Again I hate the way they profile Korean women: poor, pretty, and stupid and that's how they portrayed Do Soon.

The villain was pretty weak but again, I just kept watching it because it was filling my void of Korean action dramas.

Read More

This one was OK

This was only a 12 episode series so I was glad that whatever the plot was, it wasn't going to be a long drawn out plot.

The issues I had was that there was too many loopholes in this series. They didn't delve into the detective receiving vampire like capabilities at all. There was no questions asked and none answered.

There were also episodes that literally put me to sleep. Those could've been the episodes where it explained the main characters skills more but it was like 'meh, he's a vampire let's move on', kind of thing.

It was an OK watch. Makes me not want to watch the other vampire drama that's out there. Can't remember the title but yeah, I will be staying away from that one.

Read More

I tend to shy away from Chinese and Japanese dramas because the actors are so dead! They play these roles as if their lives have been drained and they're using every last effort to make it work.

I wasn't going to watch this drama but another user on here recommended it so I felt obliged to watch it.

It's only 8 episodes so thankfully the plot wasn't drawn out. Something Korea should take note in sometimes.

The characters were great. Didn't feel any chemistry from anybody. I'm so use to that and when I don't get it it makes me change my whole outcome on characterizations and character choices . Two female characters kept squealing over how good the food was in almost every episode. I hate high pitch squealing female voices!!

From the plot you have this mother who envies rich women's lives and will do whatever it takes to live like them. She may have to trample on a family to get there but it will get done.
That attitude was kept until the last two episodes though. With any Asian drama I have now become use to the plot swaying in a different direction which this one did. It sort of leads to a let down for me which lowers my expectations and ratings.

I did not like the father at all! This man had no spine! In my opinion he was the worse character choice for this drama.

I knew there was going to be romance in this! I just knew it but the way it was done wasn't over the top or the cliche romances that I have come to despise in any kind of drama.

The very last episode was kind of a let down for me. I wouldn't call this a revenge or thriller because of that. I wasn't prepared to feel sorry for the wrong doers one bit but in the end I felt a little tinge of sympathy which I didn't want to feel. I wanted that 'Taxi Driver' revenge but alas...I didn't get it.

Read More

Welcome to Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Fire crossover all in one!!

If you ever watched any of these shows then you'll get a gist of how First Responders work except that everything that happens in these dramas are combined into one show.

Each episode have it's own unique plot which isn't over the top. They each have a beginning, middle, and end which I loved but as the episodes got closer to the end some scenarios lasted about two episodes.

Whoever put this cast together is a genius! This cast melded so well that I fell in love with every last character-both good and bad. The connection worked for me. I know I love strong bromance dramas, this one wasn't strong but it was there.

Now the bad part...I can't stress enough how much I despise dramas that involves romance! In this case there's two guys vying for one female and I seriously hate that. I also got a feeling that the main female lead is going become that lovesick puppy I despise as well. This is why I'm giving it a 9. It would've given it a 10 if it weren't for the cheesy cliche romance.

Another thing I hate is that it ends in a cliff hanger. I hate cliff hangers because it either takes too long to show the reveal or it gets left in the air.

It's been a minute since I came across a Korean drama that had me eagerly reaching for the 'next episode' button. Now that I watched this whole drama, I feel like I've lost a life long friend...Till First Responders season 2 comes along, I'll be looking like a lost puppy trying to find a drama that can pretty much match this one.

Read More

What a Ride

I had no idea the ML was the actor from Carter. That movie was disappointing to say the least. I wasn't familiar with him then and after seeing this I wouldn't mind watching anything he's in-if it involves fighting. I can't stress how much I love action police dramas and Korean actors who know how to fight!!

I'm going to talk about the cinematography first. I watched this drama on two different links and thought one would be better than the other. They weren't. A lot of the scenes that happened in this drama were so dark!! I don't mean in a sadistic way I mean in the lighting way. I don't understand what the editors were thinking when this was on the editing floor! It takes a lot of time to get the cameras and lighting set up and I think maybe it was too time consuming to do that. It looks like they filmed the majority of this drama in the winter so it must've been dark all of the time and they had no choice but to film scenes in the dark and tried to use as much lighting as they could. The problem with that was that some of the key elements were lost. If you can't see what's going on you won't know what's going on. You'll be left in the dark...literally!
I just couldn't believe they let all of those dark scenes stay.

Now for the chemistry...I wouldn't say it wasn't there, it was just...I don't know how to put it. I don't want to say it seemed disconnected because it wasn't. It just wasn't as strong as I would've liked it to be. That's just MY opinion.

I liked the fact that this drama kept it's consistency. They even threw in a 'Escape The Room' kind of spiel which reminded me of that show 'Busted'. But this one was better.

I liked the whole cast. There were no sappiness. No dripping oozing romance. Dramas work without the unnecessary fluff.

When they say 'the pen is mightier than the sword' in this drama they weren't kidding. Just like 'Weak Hero Class' I will never look at a pen the same.

Now as usual I always comment about the last episode. I don't know if I liked how it went. Especially in the beginning. I thought some grand heist was going to happen but it didn't. They built it up like it was going to be a 'gotcha' moment only to have it go in another direction. It also irritates me when they need to complete something they do a news segment to wrap everything up. Sometimes it's for the best but sometimes it just make it seem as if the director and writer had no where else to go. It's like that 'deux ex machina' kind of thing.

You also get to learn about Korean artifacts if it was real. I never cared for materialistic things even if it held some kind of history to it. After all they're just objects with a story behind it and nothing else.

I truly liked this drama. Somewhere down the line I will watch this again. I just have to tweak the contrast on the computer to get some of those dark scenes brighter.

Read More