Reviews

Great Cast. Simple Story. University Life. Falling in Love

I've read and heard many disparaging remarks about Phuwin and Pond's acting ability or lack thereof, so I want to briefly touch on that. Bullsh*t. They are both great actors at least by Thai standards. Acting is craft open to interpretation so I am definitely not pushing my opinions down anyone's throat.

I did read one review that said Phuwin relies on acting tricks. I've taken acting classes and I've seen many a series or a movie where even the finest actors awarded with high acting awards use tricks. Its part of the business and its also something directors direct actors to do to get their vision across. Is it murky. Depends on your own take.

Unless a person is aware of foreign acting classes and what and how they teach or what they are expected to convey via workshops and director notes or writer input one can not actually judge. But again it is only opinions.

About We Are. This is a simple story and even the simplest of story have complexity. Each couple here have a certain dynamic.
PhumPheem: They are not in a relationship yet. But their attraction is evident. It's simple. With the appearance of Title as Kluen we will see.
QToey: A seret backstory where their love started without even meeting with one having more information than the other even if it's not a wealth of information. WINNYSATANG are delivering a great chemistry and their acting improve with each episode.
TanFang: This one for me is the worse because one seems less than caring and the other cares too much. They are a good ship so I hope their on screen coupling becomes more than one sided. Tan is so over the top. He's hilarious. While Fang is very aloof.
ChainPun: Nothing much just a couple of intense stares and ear nibbling. Cute but they are not getting enough screen time.

These are my opinions and mine alone. I shall not argue about them with anyone. It's an enjoyable series. But it is GMMTV I wouldn't expect Shakespeare or something more deep. It is Thai BL so it is what it is.

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A wasted potential

Okay so, I just finished watching this show and, I had some things that I wanted to share.

I'll start with my rating and how i felt about it then i'll explain why
To me, this show was a 7/10. It started well, the premise was interesting, the settings were too, actors were great, I liked how they made us hear inner thoughts of 3rd floor and made him the narrator of the show, I liked the dark tone of the series, the dark humour etc...
Until, I think it was episode 7th or 6th, I don't remember which one, after that, it went downhill. I didn't like were the show went.
In case you just clicked to see my review despite still not having seen the show, i'll not go into more details, but if you watched it, you know what i'm referring to.

Anyways, to me, the ending wasn't good. And usually i'd say that I didnt like it, not that it wasn't good, but here, I think it's just wasn't good. Hear me out

This show is pretty much a human study made into a drama, or the other way around it, you know what i mean.
It's meant to show us that people would literally do anything for money and honestly, I think it's true, to a certain extent.
But the show failed there and let me explain why. SPOILERS AHEAD DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THE SHOW YET!!

Like I said, if we go from "people will do anything for money" we shouldnt have good or bad guys, but just people trying to make money and be done with it. And if the show actually had done that, I wouldn't have had any issues with the ending.
But clearly, there was good and bad guys here.

I'm sorry but 8, 6, 4 were clearly bad guys. If i wasn't writing a review, i'd use more rash terms, trust me.
Those people were straight up enjoying the mess that was happening, they were enjoying making other people suffer, show little to no remorse except for maybe 4.

3rd and 2nd floors were the good guys. They had many opportunities to take revenge but didn't. 3rd refused everytime to do harm whenever possible, didnt even grope 5th in the challenge and got tazed instead.

7th was a more nuanced character, I think his character was really realistic, he was just trying to get by I think, he wanted to survive and that's why he allianced with the top floors but you clearly could see he had remorses and wasn't feeling good about it.
So not a "good guy" per say, not a bad one either, just a realistic dude, I mean being put in his shoes, i'll probably have acted like he has.
He was the best character to me.

So, we have good and bad guys, but the show want us to make us think that people would be willing to do anything for money, but clearly, it's not the case, 2/3rd floors had clear limits and principles.

Now that we've etablished that, let's talk about the ending.
I don't have an issue with 1st floor's death. I think it makes sense.
I like the fact that 7th floor gave money to 1st floor family, that was touching.
But that's it? 8 is not going to get punished beside the fact that she went to jail for what she did to a gallery art?
6 sent flowers and now is piss chilling being rich?

Not a semblance of happy ending?
Since we had good guys and no happy ending, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I guess that, is very realistic, in real life, things rarely ends up happily. And I hate that. I just do.

I think it's cope to say that the ending wasn't bad.
They wanted to be original with that bittersweet ending but honestly, it felt very weak.

You can agree with me or not, I just wanted to share my opinion about the show.

I hope that you'll like it though :D
Thanks for reading this. Have a good one.

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Deserves a FAR Better Rating. Flips the cliches.

This movie is a perfect example why I can't trust the ratings on MDL. I've been extremely disappointed by numerous highly rated shows. But here's a super low rated movie that was better than all of them put together, if you like occasional dark stories. (TW: there is some very dark material, but probably not what you're expecting.)

I can see people getting put off by the awkward gratuitous sex scene at the beginning. But it isn't graphic and doesn't last that long. Honestly, if you took all the sex scenes out I would give this a 9.5. Normally I like a few but these kind of felt out of place and threw off the film's pacing.

This isn't your cliche vampire story. I've never seen a setup and portrayal like this. The aspects of this vampire feel grounded in reality, unfolding how you might without anything outlandishly supernatural. The vampire is very much innocent and almost childlike. He's easily the most moral character. Meanwhile the humans are rife with immorality. I wouldn't call this a Romance, it's way more Psychological. There's definitely some yandere tones in here, and I'm here for it because it's fascinating. (another reminder, it gets dark)

It's rare for me to like media where I can't empathize with the main character. But I understand his motivations, and I just don't see stories like this with a flipped script, especially in the vampire genre, and it's LGBTQ to boot.

The production value is high, the acting is convincing, the story is captivating, the characters are compelling but dark. There's not that many sex scenes and they're less than 30 seconds. The movie is worth it.

you can watch it on myreadingmanga.info. slightly higher quality than youtube.

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A good adaption

Condensing a large body of work into a short runtime is never easy, but Golden Kamuy does a good job adapting the first five episodes of the anime into a cohesive story. This success is largely due to the strength of the original writing. As I mentioned in my review of "Teasing Master Takagi-San," a well-crafted story can work in any medium, and that's evident with Golden Kamuy. The characters and situations are well-written, and even during slower moments, the characters keep you engaged.

While the film presents a cohesive narrative, it sacrifices some emotional depth and character development. There is less time for characters to build rapport through casual interactions, as the story quickly moves from one set piece to the next. As a result, the relationships between characters may not resonate as strongly with first-time viewers compared to those familiar with the anime, which provides more background.

The film flies by even at a runtime of over two hours, and you're engaged the whole time. Overall, while this is a good film and adaptation, I would recommend experiencing the story through the manga or anime for a richer experience.

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I have a recommendation for you

This was a small budget film, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I do think that if you're looking for an adapted manga J Drama you'll be better served by seeing Cherry Magic, which came out the same year:https://mydramalist.com/69463-30sai-made-doteida-to-mahotsukai-ni-narerurashi

It handles the struggle to understand someones feelings and the evolution into closeness with them with a great deal of elegance and humour.

I'm not saying "Don't watch this" because if you like Japanese comedies this fits into that. But it feels dated already in 2024. Cherry Magic doesn't.

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In a class by itself

I don't have sufficient grace with words to express how excellent this series truly is. It will break your heart and make you smile and sometimes laugh out loud. The story is well told and very well acted. Each of the couples, especially our main couple (both present and past versions) embodies these roles in ways I cannot explain other than to urge you to watch it for yourselves. There are elements of bittersweetness and joy threaded throughout and it's lovely to witness. I lost sleep watching this series, I cried so many tears, I laughed until my stomach muscles ached, I signed in happiness and contentment, and I was sad and a bit lost when it was over. But well satisfied. I cannot recommend this series highly enough. In my opinion, it's one of the best examples of filmmaking I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. Until We Meet Again is a worthy way to spend more than a few hours and you will not regret spending that time in the least. I promise.

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melodramatic view into mind of adult working population

My Liberation Notes - 8.5/10 [above average] - kdrama

I had been postponing watching this drama for a long time, mainly because the description on MDL didn't seem interesting to me.

Now I can finally share my opinion on this drama.

This drama follows the life of a family living on a farm outside Seoul. It explores their problems with work, friendships, human relationships, and their struggles to reconcile their great ambitions and youthful expectations with the mundane realities of daily life.

The whole drama serves as a mirror into the minds of people tired of troubles of daily life.

This drama is often compared to the kdrama My Mister, though I personally think it's a grade lower. Nevertheless, it's still a nice drama to watch.

Plot - The story follows three siblings as the main leads:

One brother who is angry at his poor life situation and aspires to be rich.
An older sister who wants to find a husband before she hits menopause.
A younger sister who is very introverted and feels suppressed at work. She meets a mysterious man who interests her.

Genre - Slice of life, melodrama, romance

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How far will you go to reach your (money)goal?

A good written thriller that is a reflection of how society works. I first thought this was a reality show, little did I know. As soon as I saw Korean actors I knew it was based on a webtoon.

In the first episode when they needed to change their clothes I thought will it be something like Susunu Denpa Shonen? Although I think certain stuff have been inspired by that show. 8 totally different people (who are a representation of society) will be living together earning money by being in the show, everything is being recorded (and aired as well), yup just like our capitalistic world.

If they want to extend their time there they have to ‘earn time’ so they can earn money (by participating). But soon they find out they have to find different ways to earn time, which includes behaving is ways that are usually not acceptable/ethical. It drives people to the edge just to survive for the money. You see how greedy human beings are and how their “higher status” makes them behave and look down on others. Just like in society were having more/earning more money makes you have a higher status and power.

It is a very interesting psychological thriller that makes you guess what everyone’s motive is for acting in a certain way. I was blown away by the first 4 episodes and after those episodes I was wondering how everything will enfold. Overall very well written script and 8 episodes were enough to get the main message, but I also have so many questions unanswered.

Similar shows: El hoyo (Spanish movie), Squid game, Night has come, Happiness (Korean movie), , Alice in Borderland (Japanese series)

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Insurance Fraud

It's the type of drama with episodic cases where these cases occupied the majority of its run, however, half of the cases were bland and generic, these were only tolerable because of how the characters were handling them. While the cast size may have been small but they were active enough to keep things moving. Each character had a brief personal story that was brought up at some point along with the cases, just like the cases, these were also a mixed bag where some of them didn't fit or translate well. The drama was casual and light; hence, the comedy, which was alright but the fart jokes weren't funny, as always. Finally, they really wanted to add a bit of romance between the three leads to have something for the cast to banter around, but that was an unsuccessful maneuver.

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“I see you clearly”, and I saw it all very clearly.

“I see you clearly”, and as I sat down and started watching this show, I saw it all very clearly.

I saw the beauty of nature, the breathtaking environment, the cultural heritage of the herders, the kind and warm-hearted Kazakh people and the ever changing times.

It’s a simple plot, but it’s beautifully told, with sympathetic depictions of the common minority folk and richly nostalgic evocations of rural life.

What a wonderful slow, character-driven story with its dreamlike quality, yet so detailed and personal that it captures and connects stunningly with so many lives.

I still have the lingering feeling of being intimately acquainted with the people living in the isolated yet beautiful landscapes of Altay.

The music score was just perfect and poignant; on more than one occasion I found myself shedding tears for the beauty of it.

I highly recommend this, and I am extremely grateful to the person who suggested it to me, as it is deserving of recognition and praise.

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Out of Tune

It's probably one of the worst non-makjang daily family drama out there. Which is really tough to get this low for a family drama but somehow they did it. You may divide the drama into 3 sections 50 episodes each, the first 50 episodes was a regular family drama with somewhat smooth progression, the second 50 episodes the drama created an impossible predicament, the last 50 episodes everything got out of control in the worst possible way. Not much more to say about the first 1/3, however, the problem it created in the second 1/3 was a big stretch when it comes to creating tension and conflict, it spent the next 100 episodes, including the ending of the drama, without overcoming what it created, what kind of writing is this? The last 1/3, every relationship became extremely complicated and unreasonable. At that point, it was impossible to salvage the drama. Even the female lead became totally irrelevant in the last 1/3. It was blatantly obvious what was happening with the writer, she was extremely disorganized and incoherent after the initial batch of episodes.

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Money

The formula of daily makjang is well known and typical but this one follows after the cheap and factory produced ones. You can tell by just looking who are the cast members. No disrespect to the cast but this is what you might call a leftover cast. At the very least, they could've brought a male lead that's a little bit more flattering and more lead-fitting-persona. Being a lengthy 150 episodes, it wasn't surprising to stretch everything as thin as humanly possible. While it is also expected to have a negative IQ writing but it's really painful when clear real-world laws are blatantly twisted just to push whatever narrative they want. Anyway, there is a lot to be said but everything can be boiled down to this drama being shamefully bad because that's what Ajummas like to watch.

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Odd, very odd

This is one of those dramas that is a little bit hard to rate the story is odd, really odd, the overall messge seems to be good something about world peace and stuff... the directing is a bit over the top and to quirky fro my taste leaving with just a little bit to much second hand embarrassment and the need to fast forward...

That said there where a lot of fun K-drama jokes, a decent cast and pretty things to look at.

It is also a drama that may change the way you look at chicken (any type of chicken) for all eternity, or until you have seen enough other dramas to overwrite the damage this drama made.

As for if it will have you longing to eat chicken or never want to eat chicken again will be left unsaid by me.

So basically this is a true k-drama mix of everything odd, prepare yourselves for some quirk and over the top odd stuff and I am sure this can be an okay watch. While it did have a bit to much over the top for my taste I can appreciate the oddness and individuality of this so if you are fine with that stuff and looking for something different this is actually a pretty decent place to find it.

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Exceeded Expectations

This is one that does a good job with blending drama/horror, humor, and tear-jerking moments. I've been holding off on watching this for quite some time because this is a genre/plot that usually isn't done very well. But happily, it became one where I continued to look forward to every next episode until the last.

The main crew of the cast had fantastic chemistry with one another- one that makes you smile with them, cry with them, and root for them. The plot flow was done really well and there was enough "houses to sell" stories in addition to the main underlying story to keep it satisfying. (Sometimes feel tricked with other series where they start off with one or two individual stories and then just drag the rest of episodes into the main one.) It isn't the most complex plot you'll come across but it also isn't an overly simplified one. There are some plot holes but a perfect plot with heavy attention to detail isn't something that should be expected too much for a supernatural genre.

There is a light layer of corny such as the FL always being dressed in black and the ML being dressed mostly in white, etc. But in this case, it works well as it's part of the charm. It is quite difficult to be able to smoothly incorporate a natural lighthearted feel for a plot with multiple darker undertones, so the higher score for the series is well deserved. The only distracting negative was the very obvious ad placement/marketing in certain scenes where it took it a bit too far with the selling of the drinks/snacks/skincare. Nevertheless, highly recommend for anyone who is looking for a balance of emotional triggers.

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