Reviews

It's a strange Drama ? ☕

Beyond Goodbye - It's a strange drama to watch yet you binge watch it coz humans love to suffer? Or find solace in other's misery perhaps.

A very very weird feeling to watch when you want the leads to have feelings but when they do have them you feel like telling them to stop them. Morally it's very non green flag thing. The wife suffered for nothing literally & you will not feel for her or atleast the writer didn't but you'll keep watching it.

Will remind you of some what First Love, which remains the only happy Jdrama in my memories.

The acting was damn good both the leads were fabulous in their roles & the apples & coffee vibe was definitely on point. Cinematography was excellent.

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A Brilliant Journey Weighed Down by Unnecessary Baggage

Rating: 7/10

Watching Itaewon Class felt like a journey of highs and lows. The show had moments of brilliance, primarily driven by Saeroyi's quest for justice and the magnetic character of Yi-seo. Yet, my enjoyment was often bogged down by a frustrating dynamic between the lead, Saeroyi, and his so-called "first love," Soo-ah.

From the start, Soo-ah’s character had potential but quickly turned into an anchor that dragged the plot down. Her loyalty to Jangga, a corrupt company responsible for so much suffering, felt contrived and self-serving. Her lack of any meaningful action in support of Saeroyi, despite her insistence on being torn between him and Jangga, only reinforced her role as an obstacle rather than a genuine character with redeeming qualities. Her “redeeming” arc felt like a last-ditch attempt to add depth, but it ended up highlighting her hypocrisy more than her growth.

Saeroyi himself was a mix of strength and baffling loyalty to Soo-ah. His fixation on her seemed more like an excuse, a veneer over his true motivations, which left him repeatedly choosing ideals over practical decisions. For those who, like me, appreciate well-earned character growth, watching him finally shift focus and recognize Yi-seo was a long-awaited relief. Yi-seo's character embodies everything Soo-ah’s does not: loyalty, sacrifice, and growth.

The show’s strengths lie in its exploration of revenge and resilience, and its critique of class divisions and corrupt corporate practices is strong. Had it let go of Soo-ah sooner or reduced her impact, the story would have been tighter and the character arcs even more rewarding.

Overall, Itaewon Class is a solid watch. For me, though, it could have been truly great if it focused more on the loyalty, character growth, and ruthless determination of Saeroyi’s team rather than a needless love triangle.

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The One and Only: A political drama as the name doesn't implie.

So on episode 15...
Rave reviews and it was highly recommended by somebody on my friends list. I tried hard but this show is not making it for me. I don't dislike it but it's too heavy on politics and too light on the romance so far... For a 24 episodes show...We only get crumbs of torturous romance here and there... I understand that's the point of it but I can't with that pace...
So far I'm hesitating between a ratings of 7.5 and 8 at most... But we'll see if the remaining episodes make me change my mind.

I wish I liked it as much as everybody else but unfortunately no... Too late to drop this though, I've passed the middle mark. Well at least the show is gorgeous. I'll give it that...
But it is S-L-O-W.

EDIT: Hmm... On to episode 18. I've decided I'm going to binge the remaining episodes because I already left this drama without watching a single episode for over 15 days and given where this is going if I don't finish this NOW, it's probably gonna stay on my Watching List until January... Too much backstabbing, too much politics, not enough romance forbidden or not. That's not what I signed up for. So I'll be probably be among the minority that didn't like this drama.

Is it a bad drama? No
Am I enjoying myself? No
Probable ratings by the end: 7. Genuinely good show that I just didn't like for a variety of reasons .

I think it's important to enjoy yourself, so if the enjoyment is out of the window well better drop it... except It was so highly recommended to me that I hang on until now (ep 18) so now I feel that if I drop it, all these hours would go to waste. This being said, I'll watch "Forever and Ever" at some point. I think I'll enjoy it way more than this one. From the few bits I saw on youtube, that one is heavy on the romance as its title implies contrary to this drama which title suggests a focus on a grand love story but actually focuses a LOT MORE on politics.

I'd personally name it:

"Marriage in ancient times sucked especially if you were a woman except maybe the empress who was lucky enough to be a window and could screw all the very young, fit, six packed soldiers she fancied, but don't worry since everyone is backstabbing everyone karma's gonna get her at some point. Also, assholes survive, good people die or live their lives unhappy, so f*** escapism in your romance drama: A political journey."

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A Tale of flawed people with twisted fates, superb acting, but I still dropped it!

Where do I begin? Let me start by saying that this show has been in my watch list like, forever! I’ve kept removing it and then adding it back to the list, without actually watching it. Needless to say, every time I re-added it to my watchlist, it was because of Tan Jian Ci, I love this actor a lot, especially his deep voice. Finally I gave in and started watching this series, my interest grew by episode 5, and I was completely hooked by episode 15. Since there were too many good looking men around the FL, I couldn’t wait to see all 39 episodes, and then season 2, to find out who she ends up with, so I searched for spoilers online. Once i knew how the story was to end, I lost all interest, but somehow still kept watching till episode 30. That’s when I put my foot down and dropped the show. I don’t want to discourage anyone from watching..It is a show with amazing actors, with super good acting, great background score. I’ve not liked Yang Zi much, not in the Oath of Love, and just a little in Ashes of Love, but here I loved her acting, especially when she acted as a man. Zhang Wan Yi acted superbly, but I kept getting irritated with his character who kept spoiling an already spoilt princess, all in the name of making up for failing her elder sister. It was probably his excellent acting that made me dislike an actor I obviously liked before. The only reason I watched till episode 30 was Tan Jian Ci, he lit up the scene whenever he appeared and I just couldn’t get enough of him. I wanted to watch him more, but knowing what would happen to him in the show, I couldn’t bear to watch his tragic end. He was obviously most deeply in love with the FL, but had things weighing down on him, and I loved that he didn’t show his affection much since he knew his feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated by the woman who was madly in love with the wrong guy! It was too painful to watch her making the choices she made. Now for the character of Deng Wei…I love the actor, I do, his character in Miss the Dragon and Till the end of the moon was very likeable, but here, I felt like shaking the guy and telling him to man up for once! I mean, how silly was it for the FL to fall for a guy who could just make puppy eyes at her and shower her with smiles, and coy looks, but was never man enough to take the right decisions, and needed others to stop her getting married to someone else, while he was already married to another! Basically, all lead characters were flawed in this series, which is quite human, but who needs to see flawed characters in a fictional series? We have real life for that right? In fictional world, we need to see perfect couples with sweet happily ever after endings, that one can take heart in and feel good about. If you are someone who enjoys bittersweet endings, this show would probably appeal to you most. No complaints about acting, music, or cinematography, I just couldn’t finish the show once I knew my fav actor wouldn’t end up with the woman he loved, and that she would marry the wrong guy and lose him too!

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Decent series for a one time watch - Very very minor spoilers

This was an interesting storyline and though it's definitely not my favorite, it was a pretty good series. I don't feel like the pacing was always the best, it didn't always flow very well, and it was very predictable in my opinion however I did enjoy watching it. There was at least one twist I didn't see coming right away, I didn't catch on until the episode before it was revealed, so at least there was that.

As for the romance, I really enjoyed the friends to lover's plot. I love that it used the murder mystery to create a mixture of jealousy and genuine concern coming from Seong Hoon. And while the main two actors didn't have the strongest chemistry, it was good enough that I really enjoyed their scenes together and especially of them struggling with their feelings for the other. Especially when it came to Jay! Watching him slowly develop feelings, realize that he was developing feelings for Seong Hoon, panic, and then accept it was a joy. Again, not the strongest chemistry I've seen, but they were cute together. I'm also really glad we got a genuine kiss between the two of them because I was going to be slightly irritated if all we got was two drunk kisses.

I will say, the language thing was done oddly in this series. I get the point of them making some of the characters Thai majors was to explain why they could all understand Jay speaking Thai. However, in my opinion that actually made it worse than if they'd just not explained it. The only reason I say that is because by making them Thai majors it put more emphasis and focus on Jay being Thai. Considering nobody in the show spoke it but him, you wouldn't really want to put even more focus on it. By having none of them speak to Jay in Thai, especially when he is alone with them, made the language part of the series stand out more to me. With them being Thai majors, you would expect them to speak to him in Thai at least occasionally. Same thing with him to them. It's not something I super care about I just thought it was odd.

Overall, this was a decent enough series and, at least in my opinion, is good for at least a one-time watch. It had its cute moments, had its angsty moments, and even had a pretty good mystery even if it was mostly predictable. I don't think this is one I would ever watch again, but I don't feel like my time was wasted either. This was an enjoyable watch.

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And I thought nothing could top Cherry Magic TayNew, boy was I wrong!

I give up guys. I give up. I give up and I am bad down for TayNew chemistry. Regardless if it's a BL or not these two will always create magic on screen. And the production team was not playing either. The subtle shipping throughout the was playing with Polka hearts.

The story, the acting, the cinematography, the execution of the plot in every episode is mind blowing. Perfect amount of jump scare and humour, excellent character design and bgm too. The vibrant pink, purple and slmy green colours added to the spooky vibe perfectly well.
One of the top series GMM produced this year. Hands down rewatachable and enjoyable.

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too much plot

jack & joker is not even close to being a decent show so far cos—them meeting/their past, joke's jailtime, their reunion enemyship and cohabitation were all sped through and barely had buildup. not bringing jack's lack of character development so far cos it's through joke pov rn. there's too many side plotlines cluttering the main heist of which there are two now? which ig are sorta connected and can be excused but seriously though the ring plot is holding on by a thread not to mention the bs sewercide backstory w jack's parents and joke's helicopter dad. their relationship itself has nothing going on LIKE he hates him why? he got scammed and then he let him live in his house (??) and now they're partners? they're faught what once? thrice? so far and have like 3 scenes worth of interaction between, in the same frame and then side couple? useless. no one cares. naive guy, friends with protag vs guy who works for a crook, hates protag/coworker could be interesting if it wasn't at the cost of main relationship. im actually so pissed jack and joker's relationship seems to be going nowhere can you tell? i get that this is action heavy unlike love mechanics which honed into relationships and interactions but i feel this could've been much better if the writers/directors had tapped into yinwar's incredible microexpressive acting along with all the boom pow over the top scenes. the unnecessary zoom-ins, long lines that literally add nothing new, scene and tone switching, shitty loud ass background music.... all in all this is nawt giving elaborate action-heist comedy it's giving medicorely made slapstick gag.

(update) yinwar acting down on the latest j&j episode but what even is the point with this slap things on and see what sticks type of plot :/ not only is too much going on but it's getting repetitive preseries joke betrayal misunderstanding jack forgiving him and now the same shit all over like the theiving plot was fun in of itself and then there's the grandma sickness and jack fake marriage and now the lil girl is in the hospital too? i get that joke's father's a surgeon but sab ko thoosne ke chakar me kuch aur nahi ho raha bas ye character ka struggle phir us character ka struggle with 10+ characters the only screentime of the main couple is when their fighting or fucking which is fun and all but we don't know shit about any of these characters except when vocalised by the other characters which is a WASTE of yinwar's acting talent

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Good lead actors, but their chemistry was off

Cha Seo Won and Gong Chan (the lead couple) seem like capable actors, but their chemistry was off, like they never really clicked as a couple; they didn't feel comfortable as a gay couple. Their -- as others have called them -- dead fish kisses and robotic hugs did not help. Do Woo and Won Tae Min (the side couple) had much more electricity between them. Heck, even the hetero, couple in the last episode seemed more into each other. There are other KBL series' couples that seem so into each other (e.g., The Eighth Sense), they heat up the screen.

Great OST though.

I was also bummed that they did not say the word "gay" at all (at least in the subtitles I saw).

Worth a watch? I guess, but don't expect too much zing from the lead couple.

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Enjoy the Budding Young Romance!

Easter (Earth Katsamonnat) intentionally attends a university in the north of Thailand. He hopes to find a new place to erase the memories of his relationship with his ex, which didn’t end clearly. But he doesn’t think that he would meet with Hill (Pond Ponlawit), his ex again at this university. And it is the beginning of a relationship that will not end in the same way ever. At the same time, his roommate, North (Bas Hatsanat), also faces chaos because he was drunk and caused a quarrel, then woke up with the debt. But it could be more chaotic because the god just sent him a flirtatious and very spoiled creditor, Johan (Maxky Ratchata). The stories of these roommates will be followed by their friends from the Art club, Typhoon (Tonliew Methaphat) and Daotok (Oat Tharathon) with the senior medical students Tonfah (Bever Patsapon) and Arthit (Ngern Anupart). Their friendship in this university and love stories will be memorable notes for a long time.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/11/15/fourever-you-first-impressions-ep-1-to-6/

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Brain Game Done Nicely

I had low expectation before, since its a B level (low budget) drama, made 5 years ago, non romance genre.

But after watching 6 eps, the story is surprisingly so good.... its fast paced, thrilling, everyone is smart, lots of strategies and i have to use 0.75x speed watching it to understand, with lots of rewind, haha..

All the cast are experienced actors and actresses, so everyone acting is online and realistic...

So if you like smart plot, smart ML FL, smart antagonists, chess and strategy game, spy and espionage theme, give it a try.

Its a breath of fresh air after so many fantasy and romance dramas, we all need brain gym a little, dont u think so? Hehe

Dont bother with the era, kmt, or whatever the parties, just enjoy the brain burning plot and actions ;)

Deep Lurk is also surprisingly top 1 on tv drama chart in China now, even with 0 promotion and marketing, isnt it a real prove that its worth watching? :)

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Work-out murder mystery romance done alright

Note: .5 of my rating is me being generous for no reason. I don't know what to tell you, it just felt right.

It was a bit awkward in terms of pacing/line delivery from the side characters, but when they focused on just the two leads bouncing off of each other, it was quite natural. I could buy that they were not only incredibly close friends, but so close they were edging toward the line.

And for a co-production between Thailand and Korea, it wasn't half bad. And compared to past offerings, it was leagues above them. Sure, Jay's entire circle of friends/acquaintances conveniently understood Thai perfectly while he understood Korean, so they almost never spoke the other's language, and thus, conversations were never a hassle for him. But it was honestly SO easy for him to communicate with everyone that it felt like the drama was aware of how ridiculous it was and was playing on it.

As for the "murder mystery," it was pretty ridiculous. But this drama was never meant to be some cinematic masterpiece or truly balance surprising darkness in an otherwise light story like either season of Love Class. No, it was created to be something silly and entertaining. And, you know what? I'm okay with that. Overall, I had a decent time.

I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it. But I won't yell, "You're making a mistake!" if you decide to spend your time watching this instead of something else.

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Kickass FL who has great chemistry with ML

I was in the mood for reversed gender roles so I searched for dramas on MDL with this tag and found 'The Only Girl You Haven't Seen'.

What I liked:
1) Leng Li characterisation - I love her character! She's tough and feisty but lovable. She goes for what she wants and that includes her feelings for male lead He Lian Xuan. I also like that she's brainy - she knows about herbs and uses the knowledge to help people. Wen Mo Yan was brilliant in this role. She kinda looks like Kim Sejeong, a Korean actress and pop idol.
2) He Lian Xuan characterisation - I enjoyed his character too. He is protective of Leng Li but at the same time, couldn't show his full self to avoid trouble with others. His other persona Qing Ru is cool. Wang Zu Yi was brilliant in this role.
3) Romance - I could feel He Lian Xuan's feelings for Leng Li - so genuine & pure of love & admiration. Damn I love it when a woman makes the first move and gosh that scene of Leng Li making the first move is HOT! I also like that Leng Li never resisted He Lian Xuan's feelings - she too never doubted her feelings for him.
4) The comedy - Never expected comedy scenes to be laughed out loud. Leng Li getting back at He Lian Chen and 6th prince was a gold moment!

What I disliked:
1) Transmigration arc - I feel like this plot wasn't well explained.
2) The ending - I understand why the series ended that way but why make it a sad one?

Favourite scene
When Leng Li told He Lian Xuan to "be a man" in episode 5.

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