A well-rounded gateway drama suitable for beginners!

I don't know why, but as soon as I finished this drama, it instantly became a favourite that I always looked back on fondly. I really enjoyed the story and the manner in which they wrapped up the drama definitely enhanced my overall appreciation for it. I loved the characters, their development, and their interactions. The story had a bit of everything and was woven together in a way that, to me, made perfect sense—a good balance. At the time I was watching this, I was more accustomed to watching movies with a mix of genres, so seeing the action, comedy, friendship, romance, mystery, and detective elements all fit together didn't feel out of place or overwhelming. The drama also included tropes I really enjoyed, like enemies-to-lovers(ish), hidden identities, slow-burn romance, found family, and a strong female lead who remained consistent despite occasional naivety.

I had previously seen Lee Seung Gi in another drama before this and didn't have a strong opinion of him since I thought his acting was lacking somewhat. However, my impression of him changed here because he portrayed a stronger and more complex character that he handled exceptionally well. As for the rest of the cast, specifically Cha Seung Won and Go Ah Ra, this was my first exposure to their work, and I found myself genuinely impressed with their performances, as I thought they all portrayed their roles convincingly.

Considering that this drama was among the first few Asian dramas I completed, I believe I enjoyed it for what it was at the time. I still remember the emotions I felt watching this! I don't plan on rewatching it in order to preserve those positive feelings because, having seen more nuanced dramas in this genre since then, I know I would be more critical in my evaluation now. I think viewers watching this drama for the first time in 2023 might find it average and not deserving of its higher score here on MDL. However, I'll keep my original score because it had a significant impact on me as a newcomer to kdramas, serving as one of the gateways into the genre and helping me discover some of the tropes I still enjoy to this day.

(Completed: 2016)

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This was one of my first jdramas and I'm not going to lie, it took me a while to finish it (three years to be exact). I had this on hold for so long and finally forced myself to finish it. At first, I found the premise interesting; it was my first time seeing a monk as the male lead! But it eventually became repetitive and overly melodramatic. For such a short drama, there was a lot of back and forth in their relationship, which was unnecessary. I did not like the male lead's character and found him annoyingly obsessive and stalkerish towards the female lead. I did grow fond of Satomi in this drama, though, and she has since become a favorite actress of mine. Here, her character was hardworking and had ambitions but was forced to choose between her future aspirations and a man she spent most of the drama avoiding, so I was not too keen on their romantic development. Sure, there were some cute moments but I mostly finished watching this for Satomi, regardless. It also had tropes I was not a huge fan of, like love at first sight and love triangles. So, if you're like me and don't like those, then this might not be for you. I'd suggest this to anyone who really enjoys both the lead actors and someone who's looking for a light-hearted rom-com to pass the time.

(Completed: 2016)

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You can tell this was a very low-budget web-series production. The progression of the story was very choppy, confusing, and incomplete at times (like what happened to the second couple?). However, the series made huge waves in the genre, which significantly changed how the topic was allowed to be shown in Mainland China (being banned and prompting censorship). This was one of my firsts within the genre as well, and I found the story pretty addicting. Although the main leads' story started out hella problematic, they eventually developed a loving and supportive relationship. I was forced to read the novel after watching the drama to actually understand what was going on. The drama left out a lot, but I'm glad they didn't follow some of the novel's plot points. The leads performed well, and they had great chemistry. I'm pleased to see that they paved their own way in the industry after this, especially considering the backlash they received. Good for them.

(Completed: 2016)

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I think this was the second East Asian movie I ever watched. It aired on TV in the early 2000's and I remember watching it with my family. It was a sweet movie and we enjoyed it. It had an early 90's romcom/melo vibe to it (like Sleepless in Seattle). I don't remember much about the music. But for years what I did remember about this movie was the story, with its parallels to Cinderella and the plot twist which we thought was interesting enough. The ML was also very likable (and cute). I might re-watch it eventually for nostalgia's sake. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a simple romcom.

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After years of looking for this movie, I finally found it on MDL! I saw this with my family, in the early 2000's, as it aired on TV (courtesy of the Omni Channel). I've always remembered it because it was my first East Asian movie and the plot was unique (to me at the time anyways). Overall, it was quite funny and we enjoyed it. However, looking back at it now and after a quick re-watch, I'd say it's really not that good and to only watch it if you're extremely bored with nothing else to watch. The whole premise of the story can be a bit problematic now, especially with how some of the issues were handled (definitely not like how I remembered it). So, I wouldn't watch it again or recommend it to anyone tbh. Definitely not something you take too seriously.

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I originally picked up this drama for its time travel/historical tags and it was one of the first K-dramas I ever completed. A 9 is probably too high of a score because it definitely wasn't perfect but since I have an emotional tie to it, I always remembered it fondly. It also had tropes I really enjoyed such as the stoic one becoming soft for the sunshine (but feisty) one, great character development, found family dynamics, slow burn romances, hate to love relationships, nice ML and strong FL, among others.

This drama introduced me to both main leads and I thought they did well. I'd heard about Lee Min Ho before watching this (some good stuff and some eh...not so much) but this drama made me see what the hype about him was all about. I thought his acting was ok (for sure wasn't the worst I'd seen) but he was very charming so you couldn't help but fall in love with him and his little toothy grin. Kim Hee Sun did a good job portraying a strong/smart female lead who took no flak (most of the time) but was also realistically emotional given the situations she was in. I can see how some might have found her a bit annoying but I thought she was quirky and trying to do her best. I also liked the secondary couple (the king and the princess) a lot too. Their romance was adorable and I liked how it developed into a very supportive relationship. Overall, the characters made it enjoyable. I watched this drama ages ago but can still remember many of the scenes which is a testament to the story, their performances and chemistry (ps. I have the memory of a goldfish so if even I could remember them it's a win in my book).

However, I did find the later episodes very draggy and skipped through some of it. This drama was 24 episodes (each an hour long) which could have easily been made into 16. Some things felt a bit repetitive towards the end. I was also glad they included an epilogue or else I would have rated this a bit lower and not have enjoyed it as much. I don't usually re-watch dramas but I would recommend this to anyone looking for a historical fantasy to watch.

(Completed: 2016)

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Fabulous start ruined by disappointing end

First drama completed in 2024! And what a fabulous start it was until it got ruined by a cliched ending. The first 7 episodes were a solid 9 for me, but sadly, the last few episodes took a turn in favour of unnecessary dramatic flair, making me lower my rating.

Pros:
- I really liked the main characters here! Ayaka was such a refreshing character (especially in the beginning) and I think the actress did really well in her role. Let's talk about the ML, I absolutely loved Togo, esp his hilarious expressions and the sound effects for him. Loved his character development. They were both pretty realistic and relatable, for the most part. They had "hidden caring personalities" but were jerks on the outside until they slowly grew to let the world see it. It was also nice to see the FL fight back with the same indifference/attitude as the ML in the beginning. They had good chemistry and I liked them together. Togo falls first and he falls hard lol I absolutely loved the slow mo "oh" moments when they realize they liked the other.
- There were some very funny parts that made me laugh out loud (during these parts you can tell Yamada was breaking character due to sheer ridiculousness of the scenes but those were my absolute favourites!).
- I liked how there were no second pair to distract us from their development and how they grew to trust and forgive each other realistically. Even the love triangle wasn't really a thing. I'm glad they also choose to focus on the family angle. There was some very interesting dynamics within the family that surprised me because it was different/not what I expected. I did love their families (minus the wacko mother-in-law, everyone else was wonderful). Plus the doggo! That was one hella well trained pupper and his development with Togo was so cute loll
- The attention to detail in the sets was fabulous, especially in Ayaka's home, like that place genuinely looked like it was actively being lived in by a large family with its ghibli-esque clutter. Also loved the growing collection of their pictures in their own home!
- I was really hoping/knew they were building up to planning a same-sex marriage so I was glad they did. I think they brought that in at the perfect time after establishing the importance of accepting all different types of marriages in the previous episodes.
- This was my first Yamada drama and oh boy did he grow on me so much omg I'm excited to see him in his upcoming movie Silent Love! It was already on my list of movies to look forward to and now even more reason to watch it! I did spiral into Hey! Say! JUMP after this and its safe to say I'm a goner. Seeing him dance in "Ready to Jump"??!! excuse me?? NO don't do this to me Yamada TT I was not ready for that
- This was one of the first jdramas I completed after my recent trip to Japan and it was so nice to see all the areas I recognized! I miss it so muchhh! Esp not my guy Togo looking absolutely gutted in front of a spectacularly clear view of Mt. Fuji TT

Cons:
- How did they think they'll get away with not living together tho?? that's wack
- Spoiler alert: Evil mother-in-law is eviling, I don;t understand why no one was stopping her.
- The conflict with Kamiyama unsettled me, like I understand the position he was in but I still think what he did was too extreme for them to forgive so easily? esp when after he did what he did, he literally went and told such a brazen disgusting lie to Togo's FACE??!! I was shook. I really liked him before but this made me see him differently the rest of the drama
- There was a lot of miscommunication or just lack of communication in the last few episodes between literally everyone which was wild
- they really did what I was hoping they wouldn't and had the useless breakup trope, LIKE WHYYYYYY when the evil mil thing started I knew it was leading to this "I'll break up with her to protect her" trope, TELL ME WHYyyyyy, aint nothin but a heartache TELL ME WHY, why they have to have the break-up then the time skip trope TELL ME WHy why couldn't they have had this talk 10 months ago and have saved everyone the painnnnnn, and this intervention with the mother should have happened long ago, I don't understand why they let it go on for as long as it did...like her behaviour? what a slap in the face for Arata
- sighssssss, I'll have to settle for a 8.5 for all this crazy mil/breakup business even tho I was enjoying it so much.

tags/tropes:
Evil mother-in-law, blackmail, lack of communication (in the last couple episodes), contract marriage, ML falls first, break-up, time jump

(Completed Jan 2024)

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Family friendly tear-jerker

I tend to overthink my choices when deciding what to watch, often getting so caught up in choosing something that I end up not watching anything at all! Surprisingly, I made the spontaneous and random choice to watch this one. I didn't recognize any of the actors in it at the time and made my decision solely based on the storyline. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Doh Kyung Soo's compelling portrayal of his character left a lasting impression on me. It was around the time when I was binge-watching a bunch of movies and dramas back to back, and he kept appearing in all of them! I remember thinking, whoa, who is this guy? This was before I knew he was a part of EXO (I knew of the group but didn't recognize its members individually at that time), and I was genuinely surprised to discover that he wasn't primarily known for being an actor, considering how exceptional he was! Needless to say, I became very interested in him from that day on; he's undeniably multi-talented.

I particularly enjoyed the bromance in this film. It delivered on precisely what I was hoping for in this movie —a nice gradual development of their relationship despite being complete opposites. While I highly value character development, I must say that in this movie, it felt somewhat abrupt for the ML. However, I found it realistic enough, considering this was a 2-hour movie and not a full-fledged 16+ episode drama.

The story itself wasn't groundbreaking, and I would describe it as relatively average overall. I wasn't expecting it to be as melodramatic as it turned out to be, especially considering the main genre tagged here on MDL was comedy. However, it was the acting that made this movie memorable for me. Both actors did exceptionally well in portraying their emotions, which made me tear up too, especially at the end.

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good bromance film.

(Completed: 2016)

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I skimmed through this series mainly for the PeteKao parts. This was one of my first experiences with GMMTV, introducing me to a lot of the actors in their line-up, especially Tay and Mild.

In this series, PeteKao were introduced as friends who were secretly dating. There wasn't much angst in their story since they were just side characters, but their relationship was just simply adorable. I was hoping to see more of their story, and the subsequent shows in this series really followed through with that!

I remember Sandee and Thada's 'will they or won't they' relationship being a prominent theme (I was rooting for them to get together). Mild's role and her acting here really impressed me. Comedy relief was provided by June, who, although occasionally going a bit overboard, brought humor to the story and was a lively part of the series.

Otherwise, I don't really remember much about it. Overall, a below-average series from GMMTV as a whole.

(Completed: 2016)

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Decided to write a review for this after watching it many years ago, so I guess I’ll keep it brief. This was one of my first Asian mystery thrillers I completed, and at the time, I thought it was well done ("smart writing with a lot of suspense and mystery" were the exact comments I left in the notes). However, looking back at it now after watching better dramas in this genre, I have to say this was not the best. I think it’s still good for beginners getting into the genre since it's not as intense and can be easily followed. Also, this was labeled as having a strong FL, but that was not the case... she was extremely weak and did absolutely nothing to advance the plot except to make googly eyes at the ML who was nothing but rude to her. The only interesting thing was the whole brother concept, but even that could have been executed better. Doh Kyung Soo (D.O.) as the killer scared the crap out of me, and for the longest time, I couldn't look at him without thinking he was psychotic. I thought he played the role extremely well. The ending was meh; I would've given it a higher score if it were different. Overall, I'd suggest this drama to beginners who prefer a lighter and less intense introduction to the genre.

(Completed: 2016)

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The biggest disappointment of the year for me

I was SO excited and looking forward to watching this for the sci-fi genre, premise and actors ever since they 1st announced it. I was really hoping for it to be a badass sci-fi thriller with a good story but that was not what I got. Since it was based off a popular webtoon, I didn't even entertain the idea that they could go so wrong. It started off really cool but by the 3rd episode, I was so disappointed I had to drop it.

THE GOOD:
- It had an Intelligence/Almost Human (American shows) vibe to it which I was really enjoying.
- I liked how, at first, they made the ML face the consequences for being so emotional during his mission (his wife did just get murdered so it made sense for him to be emotional and they were doing a good job of showing that transition of him trying to come to terms with it).
- The cinematography was great (typical Kdrama-esque with it being very clean and stylized).
- I enjoyed the fight scenes. They were well choreographed and realistic enough.

THE BAD:
- Why choose the MC for Rugal in the 1st place if he's so overly emotional, uncooperative and immature? (apparently there never really was a reason why it HAD to be him)
- Why did the people at Rugal never explain anything to him about what was going to happen (like when he had to escape from the hospital or when they uploaded those images to his eyes...like really, would it have hurt you to warn him or at least give him a little heads up?).
- I was really hoping there would be no romance especially because of the way they introduced the main leads (but I was told later on that unfortunately wasn't the case...)
- The all-talk-but-no-show thing they had going on got old real quick. They kept telling us he's this badass guy whose supposed to be really strong but he got his ass whooped 5 times already?! They kept hyping him up with nothing to substantiate it so I had a hard time gauging his character. It was just not done convincingly.
- The characters all felt very 2 dimensional. I was really trying to give them a chance to grow but I wasn't feeling anything for any of them.
- THE ACTING. For a cast that's as good as this, I was shocked to find the acting was very disappointing and even cringey at times. I was completely thrown off in the scene where the female antagonist witnessed her husband being killed in front of her. I was so sure she was in on it because her acting looked so ungenuine but apparently that really was her in distress. They probably did the best they could with such poorly written characters but even the more experienced actors looked awkward.
- All these things together made me feel disconnected from the story because I kept thinking it could have been done or executed better. It simply made no sense and wasn't logical because nothing was ever explained properly (its the type of drama you have to leave your common sense and logic at the door but I didn't get that memo before starting this so...)

I think this drama could have had a lot of potential if it had been developed properly cause it was such an interesting idea/concept. Since I went in with such high expectations this was a really big let down for me. I don't regret dropping it since I've heard it doesn't get any better. I should probably just stick to reading the webtoon.

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