Reviews

Pretty Interesting and Different

The 18+ rating on this is definitely needed, as there are very adult scenes and themes, though sometimes the NC scenes weren't necessary to the plot and therefore could have been left out. Some characters got more than others for no particular reason, as well. The series almost gives off softcore porn vibes at times, just without the nudity, right down to the music, but overall it's very sex positive in the way that we see different characters who all have different relationships with sex, sometimes bad and sometimes good.

The pacing was a bit slow to start, the story didn't really pick up until the 3rd or 4th episode and there's quite a few characters to keep straight at first. I thought the plot was interesting and the twin infiltrating his missing twin's friend group to find out what happened to him reminded me of the Not Me series, though obviously the plots are very different.

I liked the focus and handling of the sex work industry and how we see both good and bad come from it. i liked some of the couple dynamics a lot, particularly Puen/Aob and Prom/Nont, but some characters felt a bit under-developed to me, namely Keen, and I would have liked to have learnt more about Prom as well, though i adored him anyway. One thing i found super odd and kind of distracting was the frequent but really random use of english between characters that wasn't really intrinsic to the story or the plot, especially when none of them were fluent and everyone spoke thai natively, it was a bit jarring to have half conversations spoken in english for no reason.

Read More

Embracing Makjang

Yes, it might be overhyped and not everyone will like this type of storyline plot. When diving into this drama, don't take it too seriously. I haven't been hooked on a show since Goblin.

Despite some reservations about the ending, I found it ultimately satisfying and realistic. This show delves into a variety of themes, including romance, raw emotions, and the complexities of relationships, all portrayed with a sense of authenticity. The character development throughout the series is particularly noteworthy, showcasing the willingness of the characters to reconcile, rebuild, and communicate. The importance of apologies, declarations of love, and the ability to harbor deep feelings of resentment while still loving someone are all depicted poignantly. Additionally, the original soundtrack brings the emotional depth of the show to a new level.

The dynamic within the Hong family undergoes a significant transformation, transitioning from a state of abundance to one of scarcity, only to find solace and support within the humble Baek family. The portrayal of relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, and siblings underscores the idea that our lives are shaped not only by our individual actions but also by the connections we form with those around us. The show beautifully illustrates how the people in our lives will grieve and mourn our losses because of the love they bear for us.

Moreover, the cast did a fantastic job portraying each of their characters, including the villains, showcasing their talents and adding depth to the narrative. The chemistry between the main leads... makes most of us who love the show more delulu than SML.

Read More

Barely Advertisable

At the surface it may seems it's the type of show that goes through workplace cases one after another, while that was slightly true initially, but it was just a drama themed around an advertising agency, or so I thought, initially. After the introduction, the drama began with an advertising assignment then followed by a bigger one with more tension, stakes and clever plays, however, this all happened in the first half while the second half became a regular melodrama/power struggle in a corporate setting, no more advertising assignments. This was unfortunate because the second half couldn't carry the same impact, especially the last 4 episodes. Ah In & Han Na & Young Woo had a great dynamic between each other and those around them. On the other hand, Han Byung Soo was the worst character, his character didn't fit any scene, he lacked a good dynamic and story given that he was close to the female lead, even the actor himself was out of place and a big mismatch to his task. The personal stories were a hit or miss, take for example the female lead story, the writer put little to no effort into her childhood/trauma, everything started and ended with a few scenes which led to a weak resolution to her trauma. It was really disappointing in this specific case after building up her trauma and problems for so long. Han Na and her secretary might be a highlight for some but Eun Jung and her child were a highlight for me. The final wrap up felt a bit strange after just 1 year time skip, an obvious uncalculated afterthought for the sake of it. The drama offered a decent package with a lot more potentials on the table but it also left a lot more to be desired.

Read More

the untamed walk so word of honor could run

Watching this because people recommended this after watching the untamed, and boy oh boy, I ENJOYED THIS DRAMA SO MUCH. I also am very pleasantly shocked by how... Lax... The censorship for this drama went, compared to the Untamed? Dont get me wrong, things that are too much (with chinese national tv standard) will still be censured. People said it's because the marketing was so low key and the untamed hog all the attention so this got away with barely a scratch.

WoH has all the elements i want in a drama; romance, found family, soulmate etc. I adored all the characters, from the leads to the extras. But I find the back and forth between the leads a little bit stilted(?). One day they are lovey-dovey, the next they are having big fight, lao wen went berserk, and then he went back as if nothing happened. The pattern is like a husband who left the house with a fuming wife inside! That is SO CUTE. And dont make me start on cao weining and gu xiang. They are THE BEST BEST PAIR OF CUTE CP.

The chemistry between gong jun and zhang zhehan is also top notch. zzs as the aloof but soft-hearted assassin with wkx as the clingy psycho... They are match made in heaven.

Read More

A Capitalist Happiness

Having a plot around mothers competing on social media over whose life is the happiest is such a dystopian sad present we currently live in. The concept itself was limit testing my cringe-o-meter really hard but luckily the mystery plot took over after 2 episodes. This drama was very similar to Green Mothers' Club (2022), it started with a group of housewives/residents living in their fancy neighborhood until it turns into a mystery plot after a few episodes. The mystery itself here was limited, swinging between who's the killer and digging up the past, however, it wasn't enough to fill 16 episodes and was often stretching each event really thin. Most of the characters were trashy which made it hard to sympathize with when they were given a turn over and a resolution. For a plot around who done it mystery, usually we get a handful of suspects with good motives but in this drama most of the suspects had a weak motivation and their attempt to play innocent was rather unconvincing. One thing that bothered me was how the drama never addressed the big daughter properly after her initial introduction and purpose, which was kinda important for the narrative. In fact, most relationships between the characters were given a half-arsed follow up and resolution, leading to an unacceptable wrap up.

Read More

Mediocrity and I'm really being truthful

Generally, it was badly executed. The story was so drawn out I lost interest in after the 4th episode but just pushed myself till the end for everything to be revealed cos I wanted to see justice being served and bad people punished and thank god that happened. I'm just sorry I wasted a whole Saturday on this. I was skipping things like crazy from how unentertaining and repetitive it all was. There are so many repeats of past events it's incredibly annoying and unnecessary - like all the time I can't stress this enough. So many lousy "dramatic" moments that just drag on and on and on, dramatic music, slowed down camera work oh my god I just wanted it all to end.
Everything from the start is just full of plot holes and disregarding facts and the truth, trying to put emphasis on everything being the mother's fault (FL) 'cos she didn't close the front door and not on the man who ran over her child and admitted he left him on a playground to die and the judiciary system acting like all of that isn't important just made me really annoyed by the plot from the first episode. Just everyone acting as if that isn't important and no one saying anything about it made everything ridiculous to me. Seounyul (Eunwoo's character) wanting to harm the FL even though his father killed a child, didn't get him to a hospital and showed absolutely no sincere remorse is what made me mad watching the drama the whole time. I understand he wanted revenge, but he could literally see his father in court not even acting sad by what he did. As a child, if my father accidently harmed someone (moreover a child), I'd be disappointed if I didn't see him being devastated by what he did. These things sadly happen when people really unintentionally hurt someone, but there's a difference when they're absolutely heartbroken by what they did (even though it had been an accident) vs. when they act the way Seounyul's father acted.
I wish they developed the FL's character a bit better. At times, some things just felt so lacking, but I can let that go since she's a really good actress and is really just portraying a mother that lost her child.
Other than the plot, actors were all good. Some of the minor leads could've been better - Cha Eunwoo's childhood friend, her acting was lousy all the time. Suho's brother was meh okay I guess and at times Yuri (FL's adopted sister/manager) wasn't spectacular.
Cha Eunwoo did good. I think his acting is always like okay, not anything special, but he's good and I think he improved in the last two years especially. I just hate when directors put emphasis on his looks. Like all the scenes of him working as a mechanic and all that are just pointless and add nothing to the plot but to attract female viewers and his fans who just won't admit that those scenes really have no meaning. Like you're honestly telling me we need scenes where's his pushing tires, checking the oil and being very clumsy at it mind you, trying to repair some car as if he knows what's he's doing. It all just looked done so poorly and forced to show him being this 'hot attractive handy man'. I've seen many directors do that in dramas he stars in and even though it's maybe less here, I wish it didn't happen at all and that they just focus on the story, the characters' development and the actors. I'm not his fan, but I know he's expressed many times that he's burdened by his looks and would like people didn't always point it out - I've seen him and his group members on different variety shows and the hosts always focus on his looks which obviously makes not just his members uncomfortable, but makes him uncomfortable the most. It's a blessing, but a burden at the same time since the Korean society is so fixated on looks especially.

Read More

Aged Way Worse Than Milk

There's an obvious case to be made around the exploration of the ups and downs of being a young adult, but this drama was an excruciating exercise in superficiality, offering nothing but a hollow shell of what could have been a worthy experience. From its cardboard characters to its cringe-worthy dialogue and moments, the drama failed to maintain an attractive hook, opting instead for a glossy, saccharine portrayal that felt more like a caricature than a digestible imitation. The stories were equally pretty shallow as well, its attempts at drama fell flat, overshadowed by its overwhelming lack of substance, conviction and commitment between most of the characters, relationships and dynamics. Its surface-level approach with everything left no room for any proper investment to be had. By every metric possible, the 2nd season was a significant downgrade to what was an already struggling piece. Yoo Eun Jae was undeniably the weakest link in season 1, recasting her actress to someone who's struggling to play it, made things 10 folds worse. The replacement was trying really hard to mimic the original while the actress facial expressions, fluency and intonations were the polar opposite. It doesn't take a blind man to be appalled by the comparison, not like the original was any better. Unfortunately, things got even worse, her continuous story, background, conflicts, motives, and character writing were a nauseating concoction of utter literary incompetence and creative bankruptcy, a slap in the face to anyone with even a modicum of taste. To be fair, both Ye Ri & Eun Bin brought a much needed improved performances into the 2nd season, their characters as well had a better fit. Overall, the drama was a disappointingly bland and forgettable entry that failed to leave any lasting positive impact. If you care, streaming services like Netflix cut off any inner songs/tunes/humming/reading-lyrics-out-loud, the first episode is +3 minutes shorter than TV.

Read More

Aged Like Milk

There's an obvious case to be made around the exploration of the ups and downs of being a young adult, but this drama was an excruciating exercise in superficiality, offering nothing but a hollow shell of what could have been a worthy experience. From its cardboard characters to its cringe-worthy dialogue and moments, the drama failed to maintain an attractive hook, opting instead for a glossy, saccharine portrayal that felt more like a caricature than a digestible imitation. The stories were equally pretty shallow as well, its attempts at drama fell flat, overshadowed by its overwhelming lack of substance, conviction and commitment between most of the characters, relationships and dynamics. Its surface-level approach with everything left no room for any proper investment to be had. By every metric possible, the 2nd season was a significant downgrade to what was an already struggling piece. Yoo Eun Jae was undeniably the weakest link in season 1, recasting her actress to someone who's struggling to play it, made things 10 folds worse. The replacement was trying really hard to mimic the original while the actress facial expressions, fluency and intonations were the polar opposite. It doesn't take a blind man to be appalled by the comparison, not like the original was any better. Unfortunately, things got even worse, her continuous story, background, conflicts, motives, and character writing were a nauseating concoction of utter literary incompetence and creative bankruptcy, a slap in the face to anyone with even a modicum of taste. To be fair, both Ye Ri & Eun Bin brought a much needed improved performances into the 2nd season, their characters as well had a better fit. Overall, the drama was a disappointingly bland and forgettable entry that failed to leave any lasting positive impact. If you care, streaming services like Netflix cut off any inner songs/tunes/humming/reading-lyrics-out-loud, the first episode is +3 minutes shorter than TV.

Read More

For a second I thought this was a Korean movie even though there's a 20 episode drama out there. I thought it was the guy who played in Uncanny Counter which led me to Netflix to watch it. I had to do a double take when I heard Japanese so I went and did a little research and learned it's not the guy from Uncanny Counter but I watched it because it showed some fighting scenes.

I'm always drawn to movies and dramas that have fighting in it for some odd reason...

Anyway, this movie lacked purpose for me. I had to stop it at one point and have just now finished watching it.

It started off in the middle and stayed that way until the end. I had no idea who the City Hunter was, how he came to be, and why was he called the City Hunter.

Then there's the reason for this movie....a female is looking for her sister so I'm guessing the City Hunter was a PI with skills.

I got the gist of people getting enhanced drugs that was supposed to be banned from a certain war and a union is trying to bring it back and weaponize it but why? What's the purpose?

This was an almost 2 hour movie with so many plot holes that I'm wondering how did it make it to where it gets to be on Netflix?

The comedy was overly done. I didn't laugh at all. The sexual innuendos were unnecessary. The plot was weak...

Come on Japan...you can do better!

Read More

Two young heterosexuals, a kiss that has the power to change lives and a rooftop

When we try to answer the question "what is the reason to love?", we will always be surprised to realize that there really is no reason at all. Through images, music, words and silences, 'Heart... Not a Reason', the 2020 Thai short film, describes this situation, while immersing us in the passionate and secret love relationship between two young heterosexuals, who fall in love after kissing as part of a card game in which they participate.
Toey and Puth, which is the name of our narrative heroes, are two strangers who meet for the first time after their respective girlfriends, May and Ploy, meet again after some time, and decide to introduce their current partners and go on dates double.
During the course of the evening, between plates of food and drinks of alcohol, the four young people agree to participate in a card game, in which the losers must comply with the punishment imposed by the winner.
With the chemical universe behind a kiss, Toey, played by Scott Pannachai Keatkaew, an actor we know for his role as Pent in the LGBT+ themed romantic series 'What the Duck' and 'What the Duck Season 2: Final Call ', and Puth, played by Book Sikaphat, an actor and singer known for appearing in the drama 'Risk Lust Love', also experienced a very deep exchange of sensations and emotions that gave way to love. In other words: knowing each other allowed them to know themselves.
The character played by Scott conveys the image of a person with a confused heart and no confidence. In truth, Toey searches for true love, and what he has searched for so long he finally finds in Puth. He likes how Puth cares about him, pays attention to him, with specific actions such as preparing dinner for him or surprising him on his birthday with a cake. And all this causes Toey to fall in love with him even more.
For his part, Puth is one of the people who gives himself over to love completely. He can't help but fall in love with Toey. While your brain asks you to get away from him, your heart takes you once again to meet him. Puth doesn't want to hurt Ploy, and that's why he hesitates whether or not to continue his secret relationship with Toey, but he can't resist the feeling that has arisen in the center of his chest. It will be very difficult for you to end the relationship with the person you love. While your mouth says one thing, your feelings say the opposite.
However, Puth's girlfriend has also fallen in love with her friend's boyfriend.
Both actors well convey anxiety, restlessness, nervousness, euphoria... all those common and frequent symptoms in people who feel in love. While I see the characters looking at their cell phones, confident that the message is from the other, or how, shyly, they avoid each other's gaze when they meet in public at the shopping center or at the door of one of their houses, I seem to see fluttering the famous butterflies in the stomach, feeling the sweat soak their hands or listening to the beating of their hearts.
The rooftop scene is memorable, as both characters are able to express their feelings and show the incredible chemistry between the two.
The viewer will be able to see how the power of an unexpected and involuntary kiss provokes in the two young people not only that desire to kiss that has a scientific name: filemamania.
The story will surprise us by discovering that nothing is what it seems: while one thinks that they have just started a flirtation, that they feel nervous being close to each other, suddenly we will understand that between the two there is already a deep loving relationship and both they have reached the point where they debate whether it would be right to continue the romance or break up.
The good production, beautiful images, delicate editing, structured script, and a credible well-told story would only be missing a tender and melancholic song. And we have that too, because the short film, in addition to provoking reflection on how no one should be blamed when you fall in love, since no one can control your feelings and your heart, seeks to convey the real story that happened and allowed Book Sikaphat to compose the song "Hua Jai", from the Sikpat Book, which tells the story of two friends who fall in love and how the feeling that arises between them causes the change of their friendly relationship into a romantic one.

Read More

Natural 10

My Mister... It's not easy to express how good this masterpiece is. Just WATCH IT.
It is, by far, the best k-drama I have ever watched.
Every character has its own consistent arc. And those arcs interact in such a beautiful way that, little by little, well, a magnificent show unfolds.
The actors, too, obviously know this is no ordinary drama : chemistry abounds. The soundtrack is almost too memorable. The photography is mesmerizing. Every frame is beautiful.
The direction is brilliantly ambitious. With slow, long, scenes. Close-ups. Banal humiliations. Every-day frustrations. All turned, by some kind of magic, into the most moving piece of work I can remenber.

Read More

What a masterpiece: a brilliantly acted out and feel-good piece of work!

Every recommendation list I ever saw, I always saw this show. Now I know why.


I actually started this once, saw the first 2 episodes (not completely) and as soon as I saw her walking towards the weight loss clinic, I gave up thinking it’s the same old fat-shaming crap. Two years later, I dedice to give this show another chance as it still keeps popping up on every single list I see. Started it from the very start once again, and oh my god, I binge watch the whole thing over two all-nighters. It’s safe to say, I absolutely loved it. Every single aspect of this show.

I usually don’t leave comments/reviews. Where I have, they’re usually pretty long and detailed. But when I sit down to jot down my review for this, I’m lost. What do I ever say? I can’t find faults. The acting by ALL the actors is supreme. I love the friendships this show focuses on, whether it be between the girls or the leads. I absolutely love the romance, NJH and LSK have such a great chemistry, cannot even beging to describe without swooning. I love the team spirit between the weightlifting team and how they celebrate together and are there for one another. I also love the family bonds that they depict in this show. I mean, can we find anything not to love in this show? And it’s safe to say, I also love the character who one might even come off as evil at some point. Every body has given their absolute best to this show and I’m all for it.

One thing I would like to touch upon is the aspect of body positivity that this show promotes, which hilariously having misunderstood was my reason for dropping the show. I love how the weight loss clinic does not play into the otherwise usual unhealthy trope and focuses on healthy ways of losing weight. We often forget the kind of impact pop culture and media has on youngsters, so it’s good that the show did not propogate bad eating habits or anything of that sort. Yes, the gymnastic team scenes were hard, but hey, I’m not one to comment on the requirements of a sport. Even when we see Bok Joo bothered by her appearance, she never once dehumanises it and explains the ask of the sport well so that there are no misunderstandings. That is one aspect I appreciate about this show. Also love Joon Hyeong for loving Bok Joo for who she is, how she is. They spread so much positivity around and how he lifts her up when she feels down about her own self, love it!!!!

Just one thing I didn’t like (not dislike but just didn’t like as much) was the OST. It just didn’t stand out for me. Like, usually a song holds to much importance for me. I am a fan of some shows just because of the OST. However, in this show, I can’t recall a single tune. They acting, the story and everything was so fun and engaging that I just never caught the OST which goes to show it wasn’t very engaging for me. For me personally, that’s a let down because I’m a total OST person and hence that’s one place where I can’t give marks.

A definite recommendation from my side, all you rom-com fans (and others) should definitely give this a try. The show is very light-hearted and feel good even though it touches upon few deep issues. A must watch for all k-drama lovers (or not) for sure!

Read More