Best TVB Drama of 2023

I was skeptical in watching this drama at first because it was literally the same cast of "I Got The Power" and I thought it would be like another boring terrorist cop drama. But when I started it, I couldn't stop.

The drama essentially revolves around this fictional anti-terrorist police force that consists of 2 groups: one heavy-duty-guns-out-SWAT-team group and some office-workers-but-still-know-how-to-fight group. Every couple of episodes, there is a new crime case to crack with different guest actors each story. I can't attest to the accuracy, of course, but I love how they incorporate a lot of real life moves that the SWAT team members probably would execute in real life. The fight scenes were also so intense and well done, and the operations always felt so smoothly run, from start to finish.

I wish we got more back story on why Ruco even started being bad. I'm genuinely curious. The ending was very rushed, with Ruco's death being so lackluster. You would think the biggest baddie of the show wouldn't die without one big final showdown or villainous deed. TVB loves those jumping before the fire explodes scenes lol. But his role was truly fun to watch. And his sidekick was a good plot twist!

Overall, really well executed drama that kept me entertained. The police and story arcs brought a lot of nostalgia to good old TVB dramas. Please write more quality dramas like this, TVB!

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From bored skipper to an emotional wreck!

This is probably the most memorable and favorite time travel drama I have ever watched.

The story starts off with the main girl missing her boyfriend who went missing (most likely died) in a plane crash. She ends up time traveling back in time to become a girl student who looks like her, who has a classmate friend that looks just like her boyfriend! I thought the two female characters' stories were separate, but everything end up being more interlinked than expected. Any move from this past would ripple and affect the main girl's current timeline. And, she wasn't the only one able to time travel!

The beginning, like the first 8 episodes, were really boring. They played that oldie cassette song WAY too much. The acting felt unnatural, and there were too many of, what I thought were filler scenes. Turns out, I WAS WRONG.

The first half may be boring, but every scene, even the cassette song scenes, was actually pivotal in the time travel timeline! I am actually super impressed by how the production team came up with everything. I also change my mind about their acting with the last 5 episodes, as I realized how great they were in playing multiple characters. Except the uncle's acting. Plus, their CHEMISTRY got me in an emotional wreck every time I felt they were separating. Another title for this drama should have been "How to Fall in Love With Li Zi Wei in 13 episodes" cause UGH, what a perfect character. I loved him in the timeline with the younger HYX.

Suicide, depression, and other medical illnesses were explored here with even a touch on LGBTQ, although that was quite random. I loved how they were inserted in subtly and bittersweetly.

In what started off as me nonchalantly watching and struggling to feel for the main girl's tears and longing for her mans in the beginning, I UNDERSTOOD and felt everything she was feeling by the end. Heck, I miss her boyfriend too and I was literally crying with her. And I love how I was able to do that because of the way this drama was executed.

Because of how many intricate details were placed in this drama, I'd look over the boring parts and applaud the overall storyline and beautiful casting and chemistry.

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We need more solely actor variety shows!

I never knew how rare actor variety shows are, until people mentioned it. This was the best short variety show I watched. Every episode was packed with activities, and fun scenes, I never felt bored once.

I came in only having watched Itaewon Class before, but the stars from the other dramas are either star studded or up-and-coming. You will grow to get to know every member, for the most part! Especially Hwang In-youp, a true scene stealer ;) I don't think I ever laughed THIS hard in my life, until that flying chair episode. The horror stage episode was already hilarious enough.

I loved how raw the progression of this show was, from how they interacted when everyone first met. It felt like the first day of school again. I also didn't notice how long it's been since the cast members of each show saw each other either, so it's so sweet how natural and comfortable they all still felt around each other. You never really watch actors behind the scenes nor know how they are outside their shows/movies, so it's so interesting how we get to learn their different personalities through this show. I even became a fan of some actors through this show.

Only in Korea are actors able to interact with their fans through a restaurant event. The last day was dedicated 2 episodes, which may feel draggy, but so worth it seeing this rare sight of fan and actor/actress interaction!

Seriously, respect to every cast member for their work, that it's cool to see them interacting in a regular setting. They all genuinely seemed so sweet, and I love how they have this special bond through their director. And now, newfound friendships.

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Fluffy typical lighthearted Chinese romcom

When will I ever fully finish a c-drama??

This edition, I tried out this e-sports romcom, since shuai ge Xu Kai is in it. While I give props to myself for watching 11 episodes, I soon had to skim my way to the end. The episodes felt really mundane. Game, competition, go home, and that cycle repeats.

There's some life lessons I managed to sneak a peek at, like how pro gamers are public figures too, and they can't have control of their privacy. Teamwork was also prevalent. I didn't expect random Korean throughout the drama, but there was plenty of Korean dialogue in here.

The romance was...disappointing. The chemistry is off the charts, let me clarify. But, the girl is very stiff. She was avoiding her feelings for him the whole drama. She was also pretty much "threatened" into the relationship with him (red flags!). Even when they were dating, she was really nonchalant with him, and meanwhile, the male lead becomes SUPER forward. Like hello secretly horny ass, can we take a moment to process this change in personality first? He was so cringe. Again, cute chemistry as actors. But the characters, questionable.

The only amazing thing about this drama, I would think, is the side characters! I love the rest of the e-sports team. They add a lot of comedy relief to the whole drama, that the drama would not nearly be as good without them.

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Best dating show I ever watched!

The first season was amazing. And just when I thought nothing could beat season 1, season 2 came and swept me in my feels!

In order for the show to be so good, the cast has to have good chemistry, with the willingness to share their vulnerable feelings with us. Not only do they do that, but the production crew does an amazing job in capturing these feelings . Everyone has their own personalities, their own reasons for acting in certain ways, and it's fascinating to see how everyone grew in a month living together: new friendships, new relationships, wrapping up old chapters to start a new one in their lives. I am so thankful for them for sharing.

I felt like everything about this show was oddly perfect? It's very coincidental how the puzzle pieces just slid into place. The ones who didn't expect to be in relationships surprisingly have one with the cast members who came in later on. There were a lot more interviews this season I felt, so it was really interesting to see everyone's POVs. I find the cast in this season fun, yet also super mature! They are super understanding of one another's feelings despite the fact that those feelings were probably hurting them. They recognize and acknowledge the same flaws people in the comments be pointing out. And although there was an unexpected mishap with the beginning cast, the newer members who came in blended in so well with everyone! Everything just felt so smooth!

As much as I love the new romances formed, I love the friendships between the cast just as much. I LOVED their getting ready in the morning moments, especially during their Jeju trip, where the girls are gossiping and supporting one another in their room. It's so heartwarming to see the guys rooting for Haeun on the side.

The EXchange team is amazing! They really outdid themselves with this casting and the way things turned out. I will definitely be having a hole in my heart without the feeling of waiting for a new ep on Fridays anymore. I will miss this cast, and I hope the couples are continuing to flourish!

Also, the music has been consistently bomb, since the first season. The music team be working hard in finding these fitting songs to get me in my feels. Also, that theme song? That's probably going into my top most listened songs this year.

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This drama is good..if you watch in 2x speed!

If you're into time travel, this was a solid show that offers exactly that concept. Personally, I found the constant back and forth and calling every night over the phone redundant and confusing at times since I have to remember what that character did in that timeline, but the production team does a great job in contrasting the colors and also including the date on the side of the screen for us.

The pace is super slow for the first 10 eps. Yes, 10 eps too many. There was too many unnecessary slowww scenes and back and forth. A lot of the drama could have been avoided if they were smart about certain things, and while you may tell me "but that's why this drama exist!", I will tell you I have seen dramas where the plot is just solid and doesn't have me annoyed at all these plot holes! How hard is it to straight up just say what you want to say on the phone instead of saying "There is one thing I must do. I have something to say." You have one minute on the phone and you really want to drag it. Now imagine this happening for 10 episodes.

The mom was the most aggravating character due to her constant running away to protect her daughter bs, and the female lead wasn't the smartest. Good thing the mom and daughter both redeem themselves towards the end. Once it reaches episode 11, everything starts pacing really well. I particularly enjoyed the action! It got me making frowns and on the edge of my seat without even knowing it.

The cast is phenomenal, and I would like to give a shoutout to the side villain who be doing the most and the girl best friend. Her expressions and crying felt so real! The mom's acting was phenomenal too.

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Cool concept, but better yet, an amazing cast!

The chemistry between every cast member, especially the ladies is phenomenal. They never fail in making me laugh. It is refreshing to see male guests stay quiet instead.

The concept for this show is guessing the fake set among 3 sets (restaurants, companies, houses, etc). I thoroughly enjoyed guessing together with them, but I cannot sit through a movie-length hour waiting for the answer. They drag it out too much with showing all 3 of the sets, and it starts to get repetitive. My favorite part of each episode, besides the nerve-wrecking ending reveal of course, is the games they play to get the hints! I can watch them play games the whole ep if I could. The cast members are so funny, and I love when they get R-rated :)

While I don't see this is a binge show like other variety shows, this is definitely a show to watch whenever you're in need of a good laugh or mood. Will be watching Season 2!

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A mess that's finally over - I think

The second part of the season is where we finally get to the meat of everything - the action. With that being said, the drama was very chaotic. The focus this season is on all the side characters. For one, we see the bullying gang all get their fair share of karma. Honestly. they are all a screaming mess. There's not one scene we saw where they weren't cursing one another off.

Dongeun is becoming more of this almighty main lead with plot armor who's just conveniently there at every scene, watching her plan unfold successfully. If you're wondering how she plans all this, not much is shown. We just watch and accept!

The storytelling is unique, in that in jumps back and forth a lot to convey something. I particularly like the landlord backstory the most.

Luckily, this time around, I watched the whole drama in 2x speed. Otherwise, this drama would have been another slow burn.

I can see Netflix milking another season with the cliffhanger. But they also really tied a ribbon with this ending the way they concluded it with even the random romance.

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Had good potential, but tried a little too hard

After seeing the wonderfully raved reviews, I let myself into the school romance arc again to give this a shot. Right away, I felt Our Times (Taiwanese movie) vibes, with the vintage school life and then the flash forward to present day with a different main lead cast.

The scenes between the main couple were not developed enough for me to feel anything towards their story. This is a typical love at first sight romance, which makes it even harder for us to feel. And although they looked cute together, the main guy had no personality. And the other guy? Felt like a completely random dude who was thrown in to have a cute trio effect. I also had trouble distinguishing the two men at one point.

Worst of all, some things didn't make sense to me. It was weird the friend called the main girl silly to mistaken the name of the guy she likes for his friend. So did the friend know his name was switched too or what? Cause it sure didn't seem like it. The friend and the conflict was more interesting than the entire romance plot. I would rather watch a movie about their interesting dynamic than this, in my opinion, because a main girl lying about her personality to her best friend the whole time doesn't sound very healthy.

And that ending! It was super out of the blue. I felt like the movie wanted to throw a angsty dramatic factor in for kicks, as if the train scene (1999 version of airport scene) wasn't enough. Not every movie needs to end in tragedy for it to be good, especially when it doesn't add anything to do so!

I think I get the direction the director was going towards, with the nostalgia for the 20th century, the youth, the common friendship problem, and the melo thought of what could have been in the next century. But, it was just done in a rather mediocre way that leads an empty confused place in viewers' hearts after watching.

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To escape the island with your love or leave alone?

Dating shows usually aren't very good. They feature superficiality and cringe flirting, but I guess that's why I like them. They're so bad, that I can't help but watch more.

Like everyone said, it's really interesting to watch how people flirt in real life. I would have enjoyed it more if these people were actually your average every day people, but most of these people seem to be rich or own businesses.

The beginning ep was really boring but the episodes soon picked up when we moved onto the spice of not knowing who someone would end up picking to go together to Paradise with. It's also interesting to see love triangles develop so quickly in real life! Luckily, South Korean shows are tamer so don't expect much catty slapping or drama here!

All the cast members were interesting, but I found the additional characters unnecessary. Netflix needs to stop doing that. It's not fair to the new people coming into the island when everyone already had started developing feelings and camaraderie. You're always going to get the same "They're new, I didn't establish a deep connection with them" lingo, Netflix! Netflix might think that was needed to spice up the show, but have faith in your cast! Se-hoon really carried the show, in my opinion. He sparked main character energy in this show, leading a whole k-drama of his own in here.

The panelists/commentators were funny and awesome. No one was overly biased and everyone was respectful and commented the right things that made the show all the more entertaining. It felt fun like you're cheering on the cast together with them!

I do hope in future seasons, instead of spicing up the cast, Netflix focuses on spicing up what happens on the island. Playing games and going to Paradise each night is eventually going to get repetitive.

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Everything but the romance was good!

I am watching this now, after realizing I may have not finished this drama. After watching this now, I get all the nostalgia back from the green flag Awesome Sis (Tavia)'s family and her relationship with her detective co-workers. I always love HK dramas for their natural chemistry. Every scene with them felt as if I was in the scene too with them, all happy and smiling.

The cases were decent, but nothing that got me on my toes. The cases get progressively more serious. I remember this one scene scared me as a kid, but now it's like child's play.

One major flaw would be the guys of this drama. Toxic men be getting their way here. Gordon is your player who flirts with every girl and Kingsley King (what an iconic name) is a big wimp who can't even protect his girlfriend in front of his fam MULTIPLE times. How can both just end up getting the girl just because they want them? Sorry doesn't cut it, especially when Awesome and Nickole have expressed how hurt they were because of them. Letting men get their way is not the message to be sending here, but Asian countries love that male dominance and toxic masculinity. The ending literally sucked because of that. Don't know what's up with the dating, to breakup, and then straight to marriage.

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Romeo and Juliet - Korea Edition

I heard great things about this drama, and it lived up to the hype!

At first, I was bored by the North Korea beginning segments with Seri being there. I had to watch it in 2x speed. But things quickly started picking up around episode 10. I then felt hooked into the action, the romance, and the cast members, especially the lovable comrades. Them entering South Korea reminds me of the drama Rooftop Prince, and they had such funny cute scenes!

My favorite part of this drama is the cast. Everyone was chosen so well, with such amazing chemistry and acting skills. I also watched this after the main leads got married, but after watching it, I am not surprised they did. Their chemistry was off the charts. I was cringed by the cheese at first, but when it got to the melodrama of the romance, I could feel the love and longing seeping through their expressions. And they are such a beautiful matching couple, I just kept admiring their visuals! Seri was also surprisingly not as annoyingly damsel in distress as I thought. I wasn't a fan of her at first, but she proves herself to be very confident and smart!

My second favorite part is the music. There is some Disney magic music going on, as I felt the feels with every soundtrack playing.

The storyline was standard. It's a very interesting concept to see into North Korea and its way of life though, as fictional as it may be. The second lead couple and their story was really just filler. They didn't really link with the main couple. They also really brush by a lot of plot holes, but this drama is expected to be super unrealistic anyways, from the moment Seri crash lands in North Korea.

I'm going to miss this cast, its music, and its feels. It was unbeatable!

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A bingey heart fluttering summer watch

RELEASE the official Something's Wrong OST!!!!

I didn't expect to binge through this drama, especially since I saw a comment saying they felt like they were losing braincells watching this. While the drama was cliche, the cast members played each role so well. Their chemistry was natural, and I was surprised at how many rookie actors there were!

1. Min Ho's sadboi simp behavior throughout the whole drama was hard to watch. I am not a fan of forced kisses, and I wish if they were to show us the best friends turned lovers trope, there was more development for Joo Ah's feelings. I feel like she felt forced to like him back. But both have amazing chemistry together! The karaoke scene felt so Disney-like.
2. The girlfriend Ji Min has a lot of problems. She kept blaming her bf for her own personal issues, and I don't like how they resolved their story. Ha Neul is just another simp.
3. What was the point of Hwang Bo and Min Ho's older sister relationship? Thought there was going to be something there, but I guess it was just for us to paint a better picture of the older sister's background.

This drama drags the plot out and at the end, glosses everything with a youthful romantic message of chasing your love. If you focus on that solely, this drama is super bingey!

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All of Us Are Dead? More like All of Us Are Crying!

Just don't watch while eating! Not recommended!

I wasn't going to watch a zombie drama given how gory I heard this drama was. But the thriller surprisingly got me hooked! I was gasping, wincing, and sobbing pretty much every ep. What an emotional rollercoaster!

It's only the start of 2022, but already this show is too good to be able to top. Some thoughts I have though: I thought we would get a redemption arc for this girl student just for her to get eaten in a horrendous death. What an evil writer-nim! Cheongsan literally carried the show the way he dashed like Sonic everywhere. He's easily my fave and deserves better. It's a shame he had to like his childhood friend. Please, can we just get rid of the flour sack he kept dragging around? She needed more support than a grandma the way she kept needing assistance for everything!! Does she think she's a princess?? I have never met a more pathetic, useless, and irritating looking female "lead". What is she leading?? She has literally done nothing in this show except cry and give cringe lines.

Done with rant. Other than that girl, this show was amazing!! Props to all the zombie actors!!!! You have my respect.

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One of the best variety shows ever!

At last, I have finished the whole Crime Scene series!

Personally, Season 2 is still my favorite season and had my favorite cast members, but the cast this season is still solid and the old cast guest-starred. I started Season 3 several years later, so this might have lead to my high expectations. While the cast was still fine, the cases for some episodes were very unrealistic/boring. I expected a better motive for murder for some of these cases. Still, the cast are super intelligent but there isn't as much banter/joking around as with the old cast.

Nonetheless, I will always love this crime concept, and I will forever love this show.

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