Interesting topic but lacking in acting, storytelling and execution .
Subjective Gut Rating - 7.75I wanted to check this out to see what's all the buzz about. It's usually not my type of drama but it's still an interesting watch. However, Netflix disappointed me in not translating all the text messages or even some of the IG posts.
A few quick notes instead of a full review:
1. Park Gyu Young is really pretty in everything she wears. But acting is only so-so.
2. No chemistry at all between the leads. I would not call it 'slight romance'...more like no romance.
3. Oppa is hot but he's as bland as a white sheet of paper. Is Kang Min Hyuk usually this bad, or is it just this drama?
4. Lee Chung Ah also looks very expressionless in her portrayal of Yoon Shi Hyun. Sometime is missing from her portrayal of a rich, high society wife.
5. All the other ladies aka e-celebrities are over-the-top and loud, but I guess that’s all part of their characters and the makjang-like portrayal of these influencers.
6. It is interesting to take a peek into the glamorous world of these social influencers. Not sure how exaggerated everything is.
7. The reveal of the livestream is interesting but rushed and not executed well.
8. The reveal of @bbbfamous is disappointing. I would never have guessed it’s that person. The drama is not giving us much time to hate or pity this character.
9. The shoe scene is indeed iconic and memorable.
There’s so much potential to the plot, but I find the acting, execution and storytelling lacking. I probably won’t recommend this unless you really like this genre and this topic. Of course, if you want to turn off your brain and check out the lives of these rich fake celebrities and enjoy all their glamorous lives and fashion, it could be fun.
Completed: 9/10/2023 - Review #351
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It's just perfect.
I don't have NOTHING to point out as a fail of this kdrama. It just brings all I need, all I wanted to say to people about the internet world, the luxurious celebrities around the world, the hateful communities. All this has been shown, perfectly. The OST, the scenes, the acting, the storyline.It was sensational, everything extremely well done.
It was the best kdrama this year (of the ones I've seen)
I guess the moral lesson of this story is something humanity will never learn, but people like me who identify with Sei Ari (or those who understand what this "fiction" wants to show), we can live in peace away from it.
I was obsessed with this story, now I miss it lol
But I'm very satisfied with how it ended, and most importantly: with what this story showed people, I hope they can understand and learn from this """fictional""" story.
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All about spoiled brats?
So, are influencers really like that? Rich wannabes, using each other to get ahead, rich spoiled and bi*chy? The drama seemed more like a campaign to promote Instagram lol…I liked the idea of showing the bts of influencers. However it portrayed such a poor side of these catty bratty females with so much time on their hands to backstab one another instead of working hard to promote their brands. The plot and storyline is classy and very up-to-date with our times now, but again the execution was too one-sided- the FL against the world kinda theme. The twist at the end was quite predictable, but generally it was quite engaging.
Couldn’t stand the character Chae Hee- it’s like all her script was just basically bitching, shouting and yes having an overdose of narcotics. Seriously? I started skipping more of scenes where she was off ranting. The romance between leads were not the main focus, evident but not much real development.
To watch or not? Yes definitely, but no real essence.
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Binge watched in 2 days. Gripping, romance could've been a little better
And it only took 2 days because I had work in between XDThis was such an addictive show! Of course, there are some areas for improvement, like the romance, background info/backstories and better character development, and even how some episodes sometimes felt repetitive. Even the pacing could have been improved, because the first few episodes moved slowly, then everything kind of all happened at once for the last 2 episodes.
What is it with k-dramas and their wonky pacing? Will they ever get it right? Even a series like Celebrity that wasn't aired weekly but dropped all at once still suffered from this.
BUT!
All in all, I love shows like this where romance is secondary (just that...this could have used more screen time it, especially when the leads had pretty good chemistry). We don't get any lovey-dovey scenes, I often questioned if they were even dating, and what is the reason for them liking each other...? Besides....attraction? Because...they don't have any scene where they really sit down and connect////it's more like, enemies/i find you alluring but am playing hard to get/am too prideful to admit it kinda thing.
But I don't hate it. I don't regret staying up to watch this either. I actually don't mind the twists it took, nor the ending—just wished the ending had another 20 mins of run time or so.
I'd make some comment on the social commentary it makes on influencers, (or the fact that this 'Gabin society' was out here wilding with the top member having only 300k followers?? LIKE ? talk abt reality check ur acting like this w only 100-300K?)
BUT, I believe other reviewers have done a fine job at expressing this in words better than I can. I just especially love the final ending, and the choice Ah-ri made at the end. And it sends a message for those in the real world too (or at least, what u shud probably do).
Overall, I recommend!
(But please....wish there had been more romance scenes....oh well!)
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This review may contain spoilers
just finished watching and...
well, there's many things to consider about this drama. let me focus first on the acting/music.acting in an overall (all the actors together) is 7. because of (don't kill me) kang minhyuk and lee chunga...please I'm not hating them!
there's scenes where Yoon Si-hyeon (Chunga) could have more emotions instead of a sad + tired face. i don't know if she was supposed to make this face bc of her character or what, i just couldn't go with it. BUT!! in fight scenes she was good!
about minhyuk, never watched any drama with him. I met him because of CELEBRITY and i must assume that i didn't have a good first impression of his acting... Jin-Kyung (Minhyuk) was serious all the time, so, yeah...couldn't go with it too.
okay, about ost: loved the outro song and a background music (it's one that has dadada, it's so badass) and i loved the intro as well!
now, story: the final plot was really nice. using deepfake to fool the bad people was really smart. but they could've shown the bad girls trio end. how they ended up? prison? poor? how?
and what about A-ri? apparently she didn't came back to social media but what happened to her? plus, what about bbbfamous? what happened as well? she recovered and got to prison? received psychologic treatment?
this doubts made me give 6.5
but, the story made me realize what i already knew, we are able to make a person famous living like a parasite on them but we are able to bring the same person down, wich is patetic and sad, to be honest.
oh and i can't forget, when bbb famous said all of that things before jumping out of the damn window, i realized: damn, envy kills people's souls!
enough of philosophy
i wouldn't re-watch because i don't re-watch dramas and i wouldn't recommend to someone, cause there are dramas from the same topic, but better.
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The grass isn't always greener on the other side...
This is the first Kdrama I have watched in a while and honestly this was a good binge.This was captivating and really intriguing drama. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, the drama really encapsulate that phrase. The glamorous, envy-worthy yet mysterious life of public figures is really in interesting subject for a drama specially since it focuses on a specific type of public figure that we all know too well, Social Media Influencers.
The backstabbing, betrayals and mooching off of other people, trying to stay relevant, putting on airs, horrible behavior, fake-ness and being arrogant though exaugurated in the drama for storyline purposes felt soooo real. We always see dramas/fights in tik tok, youtube, instagram to twitter and a lot of the issues brought up on the drama including the use of substances are not too far off in reality and I think that's what makes this drama quite an intriguing and exhilarating to watch.
The revenge and the twist was entertaining, I honestly didn't expect that reveal and damn it got me. Though I was a expecting more for the revenge.
Is the drama perfect? No, but it was a good watch and honestly worth watching.
How about the acting? It was good, I love some of the cast members though there were character mannerisms that annoyed me but not too much.
Would I be rewatching this? Maybe, I would definitely watch most of the revenge and the satisfying ending to some of the character's I was really annoyed with in the early parts of the drama.
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What I enjoyed and disagreed with about this Korean drama. Should you watch it? That's up to you!
Some might agree, and some might disagree with what I'm about to say. But it is my opinion.This drama had an amazing start. I loved the suspense and characters. The last episodes weren't as good as I expected. Why is it that in most K-dramas, when the "villains" get caught, they commit suicide? Why is it that drug users are seen with their hair platinum just as they are about to be caught? I feel like some of the authors just use it to cut it short and focus on the main characters, but I would like to see the process of the "villains" being thrown in a jail cell or anything. I understand that maybe that's not what most audiences are into.
I was a bit disappointed and thought it was unnecessary when Joon Kyung got into the car accident. Wouldn't you have checked the traffic lights or if the truck had a problem, like maybe the brakes didn't work, and if so, wouldn't you attempt to swerve to the right or to the left so that you wouldn't crash? I wonder what happened to the truck driver—did he die?
The mom started getting on my nerves in some episodes; it felt like she was the one obsessed with money*1 and was blaming Jeong Sun (Ari's friend) for b*llsh*t.
I could feel that it did have that based on the real-life theme, etc., etc. And if you like that, then maybe you should watch it.
I loved the soundtracks; they were sweet and nice to my ears.
Would I watch it again? Probably not. It was great, but for me, it's meant to be a one-time watch.
It is my first time sharing an opinion about a drama. And I understand that I don't know anything about cars. I definitely didn't expect to write a review, so I didn't write down the moments I was confused or disappointed by something. And because of that, I'm trying to remember everything and blast it into this review. Haha, sorry!?
*1 Well, there's nothing wrong with being obsessed with money; after all, they were rich in the past, and it's hard to start living differently, but the way she was talking, it was as if she was the biggest moneymaker there. We all know the most money was Ari's.
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This was so good
맙소사 이 kdrama는 너무 꼬여서 서스펜스를 감당할 수 없었지만 실제로 그것을 좋아해서 몇 에피소드를 건너 뛰었습니다 woah. 이 Netflix와 같은 kdrama가 더 필요합니다.I'm short I really loved everything about this kdrama I loved how everyone was so flustered of her Livestream it actually remindede of the kdrama named "The Glory" I genuinely hope we see more kdramas like this I want to spoil it so bad but I won't I hope you all have a nice time watching this kdrama I think I like thrillers now. I don't think I'll watch it again but this kdrama has climbed up toy top 5. 안녕
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It had some potentials but didn’t hit the mark
They tried very hard and put a lot in this drama. But the drama was so scattered with just showing luxury stuff that there was no room left for character development.It was really cool to see many influencers and celebrities in this short drama, so they must have had spend a lot in making it. Problem with that is that so much is shown but they it stayed in the shallow. There was no room to go emotionally deeper into the characters of why the main characters fell in love with each other. Even when they were together it still felt cold and distant.
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Good but not great
Hmm... I don't quite like the drama but I don't hate it either. This is one of those dramas that focus a lot on the behind-the-scenes of a celebrity world (in this case influencer), the rich and the famous. To a certain degree, I am happy people are putting so much light into "what you see on social is really not the full truth" but at the same time, I find this narrative a little overused.I agree, to this day, people are still obsessed over materialism, trying to reach for what other people have, but this kind of plot has been infused in way too many dramas in the modern world. It's to a point where I kind of guessed the ending.
The investment put into the set, costume, cast and production is really good. As expected with drama of this genre, they put a lot of thought into the fashion and makeup. I guess if you're into trends and fashion, this would be a pretty good inspiration.
The parts where I feel kind of "meh" is when the FL stood out of the crowd (several times) apparently "portraying authenticity" by standing her ground and not be bullied, only to end up catching the Prince Charming's attention. Pretty Cinderella in a place where she doesn't belong, sounds familiar isn't it? I find her contradicting herself pretty often too. She would voluntarily attend most of these social events where people she obviously dislikes would be present only to showcase her displeasure and disinterest at being there. It's as though she would purposely go to these events to pass a message, "You rich people are fake and think too highly of yourselves. I am a woman of strong principles who is real and different from all of you" and then catwalk out of the event venue.
Honest thoughts? Cool, yes. Overrated, also yes.
They were kind of hasty towards the end, too. This "-bbbfamous" was built up from the beginning of the drama. You would think it is someone very important or familiar, expecting a major plot twist only to reveal a very minor character. The message I've gotten out of this plot is pretty thought provoking though. These haters behind the screen, how twisted their minds must be to care so much about a stranger, putting so much effort, energy and time just to hate a person. The lives they live and the things that they go through, for them to create so much negativity in their heads, must be horrible. The fact that people find more comfort in bringing other people down than rooting for the people near them is quite scary.
I like the message they are trying to bring out but it's quite mediocre in general
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Somewhat disappointed
To be honest I didn't even know about this show until I saw the edits on Han Junkyung's character. And after watching the show Kang minhyuk was the only person that I liked. Let's hear my thoughts in details...Acting...
All the actors did their best to portray their characters and they succeeded. It's not like some jaw dropping acting but yeah they weren't bad. They were decent, like how they are supposed to be.
Character....
In terms of character design... what can I say... nothing fresh, nothing new... Infact the two main characters seemed like those old school drama main leads.
The character Han Junkyung, his attitude towards other people seemed really impressive but when he is with Seo ari, he becomes like those typical old school drama chaebol ML who, the moment he gets his eye on a poor but charming (in his eyes) FL, he is gonna be stand by 24/7 to help her and be her knight in shining armour. (Yeah... So creative ?)
The character of Seo ari didn't impress my either. Her character is like those typical FL as well, who for no reason has to raise her voice and fight for justice. I mean seriously... This troup is way too old that it has become boring now. In my opinion, she just seemed to love trampling on rich people with her words. The only think positive about her is that she is not pitiful doormat type.
Yoon Siyeon... For her character, the writer could do so many things... Until the last ep I thought there has to be some dark side of her... But the writer just left her the way she was. She seemed so bland and depressed... (I know her circumstances may be the reason for that depression.. but still it was bland) It seemed like her only purpose in this drama was to help the FL who she just met recently.
The other characters were not so special, typical villains who tried to harm the main leads, that's it. One thing I wonder, why do the have make the addicts go full platinum blonde in the finale?(like Lee Sara in glory)
bbbfamous... Whoa! That's the character that I am the most disappointed with. The whole series there was a tension about who this character is... But what did we get? Some random character who just dropped before the finale? That's just lazy writing... Not a plot twist at all. Me as a viewer didn't connect with her at all. She just seemed like an unknown random psychopath. If the writer wanted us to be surprised then you have to give that character proper screen time, so that we viewers will think that 'Yeah! There's that girl too. I didn't even realise that.' But what did we get! Before this revelation, I thought Siyeon was bbb... (That would be quite surprising plot twist, in my opinion. She had some grudge against Seo ari because of her entanglement with Junkyung and also the power to know the secrets of other influencers. That would make so much sense)
BGM...
Background music was okay.
Rewatch value...
I would rather watch other dramas on my list.
Overall, it's not a bad kdrama... There is enough drama to keep you want to watch this drama. But the ending just didn't meet my expectations.
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10+ plot holes and 0 character development
i am always sceptical of netflix original series since they’re usually trash. so going into this show blind, i didn’t have any expectations AT ALL! but it was surprisingly intriguingfrom the start, it was implied that seo ari was supposed to be dead. but she went live on ig one day and we were left wondering if she was really alive. i was mostly curious about why and how she died, how she survived, and i also wanted to know bbbfamous’ true identity. those were my motivation to complete this drama.
although i found this drama quite entertaining overall, there were many plot holes in the story especially towards the end that i could not simply turn a blind eye to. there were also a lot of montage in the beginning, where the PPL came in. it was awkwardly obvious lol
furthermore, character development was nowhere to be seen in this drama. ok, our fl did have a tiiiiiiiiny bit of character development. but the others? they were just too busy with themselves and their follower count.
moving on to the one thing i hate the most from this drama: the characters were screaming, yelling and throwing things every time they had the chance. it was not a makjang drama, so why were they acting like that? chaehee was the character who contributed the most scream and yell in this drama. she was extremely annoying and childish. all she did was complaining and wining *go away negative energy* or were those the side effects of her drug addiction? *eye emoji*
anyway, i was surprised when it was revealed that ari’s bff was one of her haters. but i was even MORE surprised seeing ari accepting her lame excuse. unless ari was a saint, it made no sense. if i were ari, my feelings would have hurt hundred times more than the hate comments written by netizens. because not only that she left hate comments, she had an exclusive hate account for ari. what a snake!
the romance between ari and joonkyung had so much potential tbh. but since the focus of the drama was not romance, i couldn’t ask for more
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