Reviews

uhm....

Watch this for my alphabet challenge. And stay watch purely just for it, if not for the challenge I already dropped this. Haha… It's a messed up plot with a lot of holes….

Story about Joke & Jack. Joke is a young man from a wealthy family who feels unappreciated because he has a better brother. To release the stress from his dad, Joke decided to do some stealing and ended up making a name as Joker.

Jack, on the other hand, is a young man who grew up in a poor neighborhood. He tried his best to live his life day to day & free from debt.

One day, Joke met Jack in the bar where he works at. Few days later, they met again while Joke in the scamming action. By accident, Joke’s entangled Jack in his action. Felt guilty, Joke surrendered himself to the police, resulting in him being imprisoned.

Jack on the other hand, because of all the circumstances that happened after Joke scamming, forced him to work for the loan shark boss as debt collector.

Fast forward to 5 years later, Joke is finally free from prison. The first thing he does is look for Jack to ask for forgiveness. Joke never expected Jack to change into a cold man because of his job for the boss. But soon, he’ll learn that it's all only on the surface. Jack never really changed for these 5 years, he was still the same kind guy that Joke knew.

So the story forth is about Joke trying to get closer & be friends with Jack. So, what will their story become…?

That's pretty much the story without giving the spoiler. The only good thing about this drama is the relationship between Joke and his dad. And also Jack’s funny and warm grandma. Oh I love this old lady...

In the end it's an interesting story on paper, but there are so many holes in the plot. So just watch this if you are wondering, but I suggest you better search for something else.

Below I'll write about the messy plot I'm talking about in the beginning. But that also means SPOILER ALERT!!! Read it at your own risk.












==================================================
SPOILER ALERT!!!
==================================================
One of the worst stealing scenes in the drama world. They did give us warning about the fact it's not like this in the real world. But oh come on… Can't you come out with a better one than these messy holes…

These holes alone take up a huge chunk from my score. Because if it's only about how they messed up in the stealing process because of one stupid thing, it's still better. But this one… OH MY GODDDDD!!! Really stupid.

Joke, try to rob the bank. He can easily go to the bank manager room, take the money from the safe inside the room & just give it to Jack…

Or like when Joke and the gank steal the ring for the boss. Ugh that really one big messy plot, start from planning till the execution all big headache for me to watch it.

The only better execution of the stealing plot is when Joke and the gank steal the jewel. That's quite smooth. But unfortunately still close up with the stupid escape.

Read More

hm................ do not recommend

This isn't gonna be a super detailed, well-written review but wtv <3

I actually really enjoyed the first part of this drama! They got together pretty quickly (like within an hour of meeting each other LMAO and then obv got married).

I don't love a slow burn (I'm addicted to the dopamine I get from super fluffy dramas lol) so I was pretty happy that their relationship/feelings developed pretty quickly (wouldn't say it was super rushed tho).

The first part of the drama doesn't really have a lot happening other than showing their developing relationship (and PUPPIES!!) and it was superrrr cute with some good chemistry between the leads. Sooo I was expecting this to be a nice, relaxing, healing drama but NO! no.... T_T it was not a healing drama at all.

A bit over halfway thru, the most confusing, out of left field plot twist happens and it was all down hill from there... it didn't even make sense!! I'm trying my hardest to describe it without spoiling but I might have to a little (so stop reading if u don't want minor spoilers)

But basically, two of the main antagonists have a complete personality switch out of NOWHERE ("we were treating you terribly and making your life hell because we actually love you sm <3 and we want the best for you :D") be so fr...

And THEN one of the things that gives me the biggest ick in dramas happened.... the leads forgave them immediately and pretended nothing happened (the horror!!) and then they all became BFFL' s... The End...

Despite that, I kept watching, hoping that the fluff that dramas usually have in the last few episodes would redeem the show for me at least a little bit.. but NO u_u ... they decide to introduce an entirely new conflict/angst plot in like the third to last episode and they rushed through it sooo bad (it was so confusing and unnecessary?? I have no clue what was even happening. I checked out fr lol). But still... I had a sliver of hope for a cute ending with maybe a real wedding ceremony and them living happily ever after.. but it was soooo unsatisfying that it put me in a bad mood the rest of the night LMAO.

I really don't recommend this drama lol. If you reeeally wanna watch it, I can only recommend the first half.

Read More

Beautiful Secrets, Wonderful Lies

98 episodes of extremely depressing and miserable content. Everyone is lying at some point even the 2 leads who hide information at times. I don’t think we saw any kind of beautiful or wonderful live until the final 2 episodes which means, this show is overvaluing itself lol. Jin Woo is my favourite and his character is hilarious as the show develops.

The mothers all need to do one, I don’t think I’ve been as annoyed at 3 grown women as I have in this show. Especially the blomde witch. The writers seemed to be trippin all over the place, logic was thrown out the window. Don’t get me started on the hospital staff, like hello do you do your job or do the relatives do it for you?!!!

I was so frustrated throughout this drama I was about to give it 1 star but I bumped it to 6 for my guy getting a happy ending.

Read More

Romance without over the top drama and with actual character growth

A comfort drama through and through. If you are looking for intelligent dialogs, developed characters with feel good moments and lots of cliche, this is it. It’s Romance at it’s finest. Not murder-mystery, not fantasy. Just Romance. And like all good Romance, it makes us imagine and dream about what is possible and learn new things while at the same time hearing a story we have heard countless times. There were so many scenes that are examples of emotional maturity and development that make us feel proud of the characters and wish a little bit more of that in our own lives without leaving the feeling that is too “cookie-cutter,” or text book right. The characters are not perfect but they show up because they want to and that feels genuine and possible. The cast has chemistry and the main actress has perfected her acting style, whatever she does, regardless of liking it or not, it is obviously a choice, intentional. And if I had one word to describe this kdrama this would be it: intentional. Beautiful photography, beautiful script, beautiful chemistry, beautiful soundtrack. A 10/10. And I would hug it if I could. Be aware, this could be boring for you. I does not mean it is not good. There are no surprises, it is predictable in a meeting an old friend kind of way. The most surprising thing is actually the lack of an over the top, unnecessary and torturous drama based on misunderstanding. If you like that, maybe this is not for you. We actually see various examples of healthy relationships. I will definitely watch it again on a rainy day with hot chocolate.

Read More

I NEED MORE!!!! o_o

This isn't gonna be beautifully written or anything so bear with me lol. There's also only 6 episodes so far so I'll have to update once it ends.

I have never ran to write a review so quickly o_o It only has 6 episodes so far but I binged all of them at once and I almost cried when I got to the last one
I'm going to be honest, I usually watch dramas for a cute ML and really fluffy romance (im sensitive and can't handle too much angst/unhappy endings lol) but something about this story has me hooked. Tbh the premise isn't anything that hasn't been done before but it's so entertaining and well done imo

[Things I love about this drama 6 episodes in]:

- FL is AMAZING! I'm used to them making FL meek and kinda weak (not all but common) but Dou Zhao is strong, smart and is one step ahead of anyone trying to take her down. it's sooo satisfying watching her topple her evil stepmother's cliche plans to ruin her lol. Not to mention how absolutely STUNNING she is???

-It's still really early on so there hasn't been much if any romance yet but tbh I can feel the chemistry o_o One thing that usually sells me on a drama is how good the ML is at expressing his emotions thru his eyes. You can see the tension between them even if it's just a little bit so far (i'm excited to see how their relationship progresses).

-No idea if this is true but imo I'd say it's pretty high budget?? The costumes are really nice and FL looks amazing in every scene lol. Tbh I don't even need the ML, I'd watch 30+ episodes of just her hehe. The sets are nice and I think it's shot pretty well.

-The friendship/sisterhood between the FL and her cousins <333 I LOVE GIRLS <333 also!! she has two female bodyguards which I love.

Please please pleeeease let this have a happy ending Read More

No more people-pleaser

I really enjoyed how the main leads experienced lessons in their lives, how they stumbled upon major realizations via stand-up comedy, and how they were willing to expand their horizons in order to find true freedom!

I like romances, but this drama ends with the beginning of great possibilities among equally-devoted men. I found the ending to be innovative, positive and uplifting.

I like how the red dress plays a role in this drama. It makes an indelible impression.

I didn't laugh so much at the stand-up comedy, although I thought the comedy routines were witty. Some of the antics were funny. I felt very strongly about the bad, lazy colleagues!

As a whole, I found this drama inspiring, how one oppressed woman found her own voice to tell the world, "Here I am! I can finally be my true self!"

Read More

Queen of (fake) smiles meets King of hearts

I have been low-key following Kim Se-jeong since her Uncanny Counters days and then her breakout role in Business Proposal. She has certainly been kept busy with starring roles ever since. To be honest, a couple of them are cash grabs by production companies while others are earnest attempt to recreate the magic of BP. However, none of them have the recipe for the special sauce.

This one started promisingly. KSJ was given a strong role and she literally came out fighting (hwaiting!). Our OTP ticked all the boxes but it is a weird chemistry. It is like watching a commercial for Chinese herbal medicine. You know the one where they have the voice-over to tell you that this concoction will reduce your inner heat? Well, the ML is that personified. It is very nice to have a boyfriend that truly gets you but it is something else if all you do is cry together or meditate to gain inner peace. What about unbridled lust?! OBTW, there is a bit of skinship but other than a couple of nice kisses, it is all rated PG.

The 2CP is cute and they try to shoulder some of the load. They do occasionally steal the scene but they need more heat as well. There are glimmers of hope but in the end, they are just mirages.

Once you put that in perspective, the rest of the show is just your typical backstabbing business shenanigans and standard village mischief. Bumbling village head meets loud and nosy ajummas. All done with workman like efficiency but nothing too angsty to disturb your karma.

The ending is sugar overload. Oprah Winfrey would be proud. My teeth are aching just thinking about it. And that, chingu, is the fundamental problem with this show. You are not sure if you have watched a drama or attended a wellness retreat.

I did enjoy the show but I probably won't remember it in weeks to come. That is a shame as the cast did their best and the plot is decent. Good enough to be above average but that's a mighty crowded place.

Read More

Zhang Chu Xuan's talent wasted in this badly written drama

I am a fan of Zhang Chu Xuan after watching her in 'Captive Love from the Mob Boss' and 'After Flash Marriage, CEO Gu's Secret Identity Revealed'. I picked up this series because it appeared on my dashboard and watched it without reading synopsis. Oh boy, what a disappointment. I pushed myself to finish this vertical drama because of its short running time.

What I liked:
1) Jiang Nuan Nuan's smart move - It's good that she knows her worth in her family's company. I like that she negotiated her terms with her father when applying for a role there then asked ML for advice on legal agreement.

What I disliked:
1) Mu Ting Xiao characterisation - One of the worst ML in Cdrama. I know he has trust issues but I hate the way he treated FL Jiang Nuan Nuan by posing as his cousin. In the last conflict scene, he didn't help to untie the ropes binding Nuan Nuan's hands. Instead he confronted the villain - that's quite selfish.
2) Jiang Nuan Nuan characterisation - She's not a goody two shoes based on her rivalry with her sister but damn she's a doormat. She allowed ML to order her around.
3) The romance - There was too "push" in their relationship even when the series had reached 1 hour 45 minute mark (total running time is 2 hours 15 minute). I don't understand how they could fall in love with each other when they barely communicated. I couldn't sense any warmth or desire when they finally got together so their kissing scene felt awkward.
4) Acting - Quite bad and soulless especially Li Hao and the actress who played his father's current wife / girlfriend. Even Zhang Chu Xuan's acting was subpar.
5) Subtitling - I watched this on youtube and gosh the subtitling was bad. Nuan Nuan claimed that she killed somebody but there was no follow up on that so was the attacker killed or stabbed / injured only?

Favourite scene:
When Jiang Nuan Nuan asked for help from Mu Ting Xiao regarding legal agreement

Read More

It was very challenging to rate and review Brewing Love. The tone and plot of the show varied wildly from one episode to another. There were episodes that I adored and gave five stars and others I could barely finish. What really worked in this drama was the main romance. Min-ju was a dream man. He was so gentle and caring but also very determined and flirtatious once he decided to pursue Yong-ju. He had several lines that made me burst into tears at how beautiful and compassionate they were. The episodes that revolved around the two of them really worked for me.

What didn’t work was the majority of the rest of the plot, as well as the pacing. The beer storyline would have been okay if it had been minor but it took up so much time and was not interesting to watch. A lot of the character development and backstory felt like it was missing, even for the leads. Some of the side plots had potential and then felt like they either fell flat or were completely brushed past, like with Min-ju’s traumatic past and mental health, or the relationship with his dad. The second couple started off okay, although it was hard for me to get on board because the actor just looks so young, but their storyline felt very disappointing at the end. The way they addressed his backstory felt very clumsy, and their relationship felt very rushed and inauthentic. I really like Yong-ju’s grandma and wished the show had gone more into their relationship.

Brewing Love was very odd because the first few episodes were incredibly boring but then there were some great episodes in the middle. It felt like the show had maybe had a rough start and then hit its stride, but then I also felt that it got very boring again at the end. The show felt all over the place. It was disappointing because there were some episodes that were fantastic. The male lead was such a green flag and it was interesting how they flipped a lot of gender stereotypes with their relationship. There was a lot to like in the show, it was just very inconsistent.

Read More

ITS OK TO NOT BE OKAY!

Such a cutie drama! Ugh, the beginning & middle episodes were my favorite. LIVED for yoon minju & his delicate, acts of service, noting the small things & going after what he loves. UGHHH IT WAS SOO CUTE when he fell for yongju & didn’t hold back. I LOVE EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT MEN!!!!! Why was he perfect?????????? And hot af????? Ughhh the way yongju felt safe with him and can cry with him. And how he made her a better person. And how he takes more care of her than she does to herself. he’s beautiful. everything i need in a man. AAAND my sejong!!! i love her always!! she seemed so genuine in this drama… i wonder if irl she is really like yongju. i’ll eat up any drama she’s in. CHARACTER BUILDING WAS THERE!!!! Love love love. Yongju being so tomboyish idk got kinda cringe at points. And the villagers annoyed me… BUT THE SIDE COUPLE!! Aw so cute i loveeeeeeeeeee how different they are but fell for each other!! wish they had more lovey scenes… i felt most of them were so bland but they HAD SM POTENTIALLLLL……… awesome tho! love the talk on emotions!!! YOONMINJU MY HUSBAND

Read More

a drama that worth your time to re-watch

Just finished the drama 2 weeks ago and currently re-watching the drama second time and reading the novel at the same time. The song is great (Smiling and watching the wind rise, a constant thought, a thought and may time flow are the 4 songs I like that most)and the story is great (maybe the reason is that I personally like the Chuanyue genes) the casting was great particular like (Bambi Zhu and Chang DanDan). The drama is somewhat follow the novel but with few twitches on timeline and names. Of course there are some scenes that cannot be put in the drama particular at the beginning lol

Read More

A Finely Tuned, Wonderfully Acted Drama

I rarely cry during dramas but this one brought me to tears a few times. It is not traumatic rather it treated its characters sympathetically and humanely without flinching from the difficulties they were experiencing. Full disclosure, I'd read the manga and was amazed by how closely this drama aligned to both the scenes in the manga and the characterizations. I loved that about it. Both lead actors were so authentic that I never doubted their intentions or jumped out of my suspension of disbelief. The side characters were overall positive and sympathetic and the filming was quite lovely especially the summer days on the roof when Kohei feeds Taichi.

I've seen a few reviews on here that were unhappy with the lack of romantic development but, as with the drama, I found Taichi's acceptance of his own feelings and of Kohei to be slow and sweet and realistic. I highly recommend this drama.

Read More

So so boring

I believe the main issue with how bad it was is the story telling. Everything is a sequence of a sequence and it's not a causality, you're only told the cause when you're no longer interested in knowing. The situations aren't revealed, they seem to be tailor made to fit a very explicit and simple narrative.

I was expecting it to be at least average but it wasn't. It's boring, long, without a purpose and, as the episodes amount, it becomes unbearable.

I don't know how to put this, but at some point it seemed like ¡ncest. The leads look very physically alike, they could be siblings in real life. To add to that, they build a very strong and long friendship relationship without any signs of romance. They were raised like siblings, treat each other like strangers and then go back to behaving like siblings. It's like things just happen without a rhyme or a reason. Then they show you the reason but it feels like something they made up to account for what happened. It doesn't feel true.

The acting was too plastic, fake even. Over exaggerated fights and screams, they looked theatrical instead of believable. You can't portray truth if it isn't mildly believable.
The paramedic could be young at heart and like and maybe believe in superheroes without acting childish or speaking in a childish manner.
I don't blame the actors for any of this, actors do what directors and writers assign them to do.

There were some interesting themes but they weren't properly developed and I find that sad and a waste.

Something that has been bothering me is how Korean dramas portray the ownership of a restaurant as something the owner does themselves and by themselves. You can't physically be the cook, the dish washer, the waitress, etc of a restaurant. Restaurants are businesses, they need profit. You can't have two tables and say it's a restaurant, it won't have enough turnover to even break even. You can't have the same person who's cooking tending to the tables. Has anyone in the kdrama world ever worked in a restaurant or been in a restaurant and looked around? This is not the first kdrama that portrays restaurants in this manner. If, indeed, Koreans have to do all those things by themselves, then I guess that's a part of why they have a mental health crisis, because it's physically and mentally impossible to run a restaurant or even a café without staff.
Yes, this seems a very petty thing to have an issue with, but the little things are what makes a story believable or not. If it really works like that in South Korea, storytellers should be criticising how that's not sustainable or ideal, because it's not.

I'm leaving this review here because this platform seems to have a problem with real opinions that don't put their favourite media on the same pedestal they do.
We can only build better media by being honest in our opinions.

Read More

Wow! Buckle up....You're in for a Ride

After 7 episodes:
The major theme--the children of terribly ambitious parents who grow up trying to please these selfish parents but realize how damaging it has been to their lives. In the end, the two main leads try to fix their wrongs into rights so they can be happy with each other. It's a wonderfully romantic story that is set in a thriller/mystery/political corruption drama that really keeps you glued to the story. I love that the main leads are able to express their love for each other in an adult manner. There is no stupid, juvenile embarrassment when expressing affection. It is real, and the actors do a superb job expressing the characters love for each other. I don't know what will happen next, and that is a BIG part of the appeal. The suspense is huge!

After 4 episodes:
I just wanted to post quickly and say that THIS Kdrama is good!! It's got the best hook that grabs you and won't let go. Mystery romance with maybe a psychological thriller twist that makes you want to keep watching to see what happens next. Great acting by the cast. They are supremely evil, mysterious, timid, intense, comedic, and all sorts of divinely abnormal. The mothers are vicious. They all roll together to take you on the ride of your Kdrama life. We need to get a poll/wager going on who the real 406 is.

Read More