Reviews

A very addictive drama. Priest masterfully built the plot, placing riddles all along the way, and practically giving no clues. In the end, everything was explained and shown. Dorama was swerving like a drunk on the road, back and forth. The ideas are taken from a variety of places, but it turned out to be quite an innovative product.
When they write in the comments, why is so much time devoted to the beauty topic? The author has nothing he doesn't need. Direct quotes from the drama: "God helps those who help themselves", "If you want something, you have to make yourself worthy of it ..." First, we are shown how the heroine and her boyfriend "pecked" for easy money, which can be obtained simply by testing a toy, and got a fatal result... And then the heroine with her own hard work, sweat and blood (and we are shown this sweat, dirt and blood, setups and rivalry) I earned a place in the sun by studying and improving first in the profession of a stylist, then a make-up artist. That's what all this salon entourage is for. In addition, Priest skillfully connected two story arcs, heroines and "villains" through the son of a makeup artist. Otherwise, everything would have hung in the air.
And portals and time travel, there are a lot of dramas around with this topic, it's good that Priest abandoned them and moved on to the usual everyday problems of family and society and managed to do it very interestingly.
The drama, of course, is based on the exceptional play of Liu Hao Cun. The boys are Lin Yi (the eternal rescuer of the girl), and Huang Sheng Chi (an unhappy makeup artist, but good), Wan Yan Luo Rong (a former traitor), Wang Cha Сha (the charming head of the salon and the stylist squad)... - just a pick-up from the actress.
I will not review this, because I have not watched any drama a second time, too many new and interesting things are coming out, there is no time for repetitions.

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Lovey-Dovey Foodies with Chinoserie Songs in the Background

This is a slow paced, feel good drama with a high budget that paid for beautiful scenery, good camerawork and spectacular music numbers. Our main couple is a pair of quiet and talented people: a famous and mysterious voice actor and a promising young composer and singer. I had an amazing time watching the drama and listening to the OST afterwards. It made me want to travel to Guilin and learn how to cook more Chinese meals.

For my personal taste, I would have a like more dynamic in the main couple relationship, even without breakups is possible to make the protagonists struggle with outside factors - like disapproving family, unwanted suitors, etc - and grow as people and as a couple because of it, On Love Me, Love My Voice, everything happens kind of easily and our couple do not even sweat for it. Another thing that I would like was to have more screen time for the secondary couples, especially the tanned, strong but shy older voice actor and the bright, youthful protagonist's best friend. I could not imagine more different people but they were strangely appealing.

If you liked the voice acting theme, I suggest: I Hear You
If you liked the slow paced romance without breakups, I suggest: Love 020

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nice to watch

__*KBS.Drama.Special.2022.E04.Like.Otters*__ -8.5/10 -:kmovie;

nice school romance about two half-adults from problematic families
FL from twinkling watermelon showed quite different personality which was quite nice to watch too.
Truthfully I didnt cared much for ML story at least I didnt found him unique in any way. That kind of character I seen ton of times.
Kinda introvert being carried away by extroverted girl.

__*plot*__ - ML and FL are classmates which dont talk together much and both got family problems and both carry resignation letter to end their school days. Both of them discover it and starts to notice each other.

__*genre*__ - romance

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"Friend Zone": Dive into Love and Laughter

Overview:
Friend Zone, a romantic comedy featuring the real-life couple Baifern Pimchanok and Nine Naphat, explores the classic theme of best friends turning into lovers. Despite a seemingly cliché premise, the film manages to deliver an entertaining and charming narrative.

Plot:
For a decade, Palm (Nine Naphat) has harbored feelings for his best friend Gink (Baifern Pimchanok), who initially rejected his advances. The story cleverly navigates their evolving relationship, incorporating elements of friendship, unrequited love, and the challenges of transitioning from platonic to romantic connections. The plot, while predictable, unfolds with a delightful mix of humor and genuine emotion.

Characterization:
Baifern Pimchanok shines as Gink, portraying a lively girl with a complex background. Her emotional scenes are compelling, showcasing her versatility as an actress. Nine Naphat, as Palm, effectively captures the character's dedication, even if his role lacks some of the emotional depth seen in Baifern's performance. The chemistry between the leads is palpable, contributing to the film's overall appeal.

Acting:
Both Baifern and Nine deliver solid performances, striking a balance between humor and heartfelt moments. Baifern's emotional scenes are a standout, while Nine's portrayal of Palm remains convincing, even if the character doesn't delve into intense emotional territory. The on-screen chemistry between the real-life couple adds authenticity to their characters' evolving relationship.

Music:
The film's soundtrack enhances the romantic and comedic elements, adding a cute and enjoyable dimension to the viewing experience. The music complements the feel-good atmosphere of the movie, contributing to its overall charm.

Recommendation:

Friend Zone is recommended for those seeking a lighthearted romantic comedy with strong chemistry between the leads. The engaging performances, well-executed plot, and delightful soundtrack make it an enjoyable watch, offering a perfect blend of humor and romance.

Overall, Friend Zone proves that even within the confines of a familiar storyline, a talented cast and well-crafted execution can elevate a romantic comedy to an entertaining and heartwarming experience.

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An emotion roller coaster

We're Both Grooms has only 50 minutes screentime but it gives us everything: chaotic moments, heartwarming scenes, family bond, social acceptance and especially education about LGBT+ community and their disadvantages in Japan, which many full-length shows don't even mention just a little bit. At the end of it, after cracking up so many times that I alr lost count, I find myself ugly sobbing about their honest confession and their true intention for making each other happy with the cheering from family and friends. I wholeheartedly wish for their lifelong happiness.

I purely love this one so much and to me it's a 10/10 show bc I don't think anything could be better done than this. 50 minutes of emotion roller coasters ended beautifully with a warm wedding! If you have never watched this one, pls watch it right now. I myself watched more than 10 times!!

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Is it just me? No thanks.

I should have paid attention to the synopsis of this drama before jumping in, I didn't know it was a colonial era drama. Also wtf is going on in here?
One minute people will be talking in Japanese, pretending they don't know Korean, and the next second, they'd switch to Korean without batting an eyelid and continue conversing like that didn't just happen.
The CG for that creature is good though, but the pacing is too slow, ML character is flawed and not well developed, FL lead feels a bit too cold, my screen is frosting whenever she's on. And why is every other scene in this drama a shouting show down? Is this how it was during the colonial days? Everyone shouting to be heard? This drama missed its mark with me. Next time, PSJ.

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Truly fantastic and gripping thriller- had to finish it in one day!

Won't say too much to spoil about this show but its absolutely fantastic. The acting is superb and the twists and thrills are executed so well. I'd describe this show as having three main arcs/segments. Each one you could probably see in another tv show blown up in many episodes but here its tightly packed into one single narrative. Some of it is tough to watch though, they do not hide in some of the more brutal killings and acts of violence.

I only took off a bit for the score due to the rewatch value not being as strong since it would be hard to see this again knowing where the story goes.

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Chemistry between leads is the only thing working for this drama.

If I'd watched this drama in my kdrama beginning fangirl years 14 years ago, I'd have been head over heels. But after coming down that lane this far, this is no longer enough for me. It's too superficial, concentrating on visuals and not an actual story (personal opinion please)
There's nothing that makes me wait for that next episode, and the visuals are getting less tempting by day as a result, please if you read books, this story is not really all that fresh, the trope is saturated. I wish them a good run anyway, and an even better success in their next drama.

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A hidden gem: Now this is how you write a slice-of-life script!

I have to admit that it could be a hit or miss depending on who is watching, but for me, this drama served as a pleasant and delightful surprise, from the pacing, to character development (zero cheesy acting, even the little kid held his own), the OST and ending.
From the abandoned woman who discovered new lows and new highs, to the kid who lost a father and found another, to the woman who realised what she was blindly holding unto for years was not what she actually wanted or deserved, everything fits my preference and I wish we had more dramas like this!
I'm not really into contemporary C-dramas but this one actually surprised me. Anyone knows anymore dramas like this? Please help with recommendations, thank you!

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The writers just had no idea what to do to finish it off

The show was good for I'd say 25 to 30ish episodes, depending on who you ask, where it was a fairly solid show that kept me interested enough to come back each week for more. This was however where the good times ended and every possible nonsensical thing that could have happen happened. Every single character's reasoning ability went out the window and logic or common sense had no meaning in this drama. It was just about getting to the end and filling up time that was left with random fill ins and drawn out plot lines. I get it's a 50 episode drama so there will be a notable amount of filler to eat up 50+ hours of drama time but there was so just so much filler that I found myself fast forwarding for maybe 80% of an episode. It really is bad that a drama pulls you in for months just for you to have fast forward through an incredible amount of it in the back half just to see how it ends to get at least some closure.

Yeon Doo and Tae Kyung's chemistry wasn't terrible for me but it definitely could've been better. At times they were great to watch and at times you couldn't tell that they had emotions. It just seemed like they weren't so much lovers as they were legally contracted roommates (I saw the first review say this and I don't think it could have been more spot on).

There was a few nit-picky things that left for bad taste at the end of the drama like the continued pattern of introducing things to try and spice up the drama and then never acknowledging them again like it never happened. Yeon Doo's career as an instructor after being ended prematurely was completely put on the back burners with her I think not ever once fighting for it until the very last episode where she they just had her end up as an instructor again with no build up to fighting her way back to that position. The insane amount of trauma Se Jin and Joon Ha caused that went almost entirely unpunished where all it took was a 'I'm sorry' the last episode or so for it all to be put in the past. When someone actively tries to ruin your life for months on end even to the point of where Yeon Doo could have miscarried and almost did actually from the amount of stress, it felt insanely light. At least from what I've read, family dramas for whatever reasons tend to let the villains of a show get off pretty much unscathed with at most an apology and just saying they'll leave to give the main leads peace. After making the audience hate them for 50 episodes, letting them have their actions have no repercussions in the end is a pretty big insult to the intelligence of the viewers on how things actually get handled.

This is a drama that although a good start just couldn't figure out where it wanted to go and just kept trying to introduce shock value to catch a viewer's attention. When the reason you come back each week is just to get to the end and see what the writers could ending up coming up with (not in a good way) you probably aren't watching the drama because it captivates you.

50+ hours is a big commitment and if you want to use those 50+ hours on this show I wish you well and godspeed to that fast forward button because you're gonna need it.

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Showing simple normalcy for generations of SK women being gagged&bound by society's endemic sexism

"Kim Ji-young: Born 1982" puts every die-hard Korea fan through their paces: how far does the love for country and culture actually go? The KMovie also does away with any illusion surrounding romanticized and socially idealized yearnings that revolve around the concept of 'in love-engaged-married-happy family'.

"Kim Ji-young: Born 1982" broke the 2 million mark worldwide as a bestseller (by author Cho Nam-joo). It is also considered the most borrowed book in two consecutive years after publication. The KMovie was also extremely successful. In South Korea, between October 2019 and November 2020 around 3.6 million people went to the movies to watch. In addition, numerous prizes were awarded throughout Asia.

Calmly, unagitatedly and almost objectively distant, the camera focuses on the ordinary life of a typical South Korean woman, wife and mother in her 30s. Actually, she doing quite well. We accompany her in her everyday life between laundry and kindergarten, with her (actually quite attentive, loving) husband, with her in-laws, with her family of origin, with friends, with flashbacks of her childhood and at work, and finally with the therapist. This could all be any live of many a South Korean woman. That's not special at all. It's so cruelly normal that it even hurts. By showing simple normalcy, the story also becomes an outcry for several generations of women gagged and bound by society's endemic sexism.

Gagged and tied up by such a conservative, rigid, discriminatory socialization that is literally burned into flesh, so hardly anybody even considers alternative role models and self-images. There is a lack of role models that give women something like self-love and self-confidence that go beyond identifying with role expectations by family and society. Women somehow grow up as prisoners of those restrictive expectations - in a prison with doors, that technically are not closed, yet in practice barricaded by the mercilessly experienced sexism since early childhood. Accordingly, there is a lack of awareness of human dignity beyond gender roles. For women and men alike. And as we all know, such awareness would be the first path to any change...

In this respect, "Kim Ji-young: Born in 1982" holds up a merciless mirror in a calm, objective and non-judgmental manner, which focuses on the great evil that everyone simply takes for granted. Apparently, around 68 percent of cinemagoers were women. At least, the other 32 percent were men, supposedly.

In one of the last scenes, (which, like all the others in the film, gains its power from the simple, unquestioned und yet unbelievable normality) the underlying emotional muteness is finally allowed to speak up - not loudly and rudely though, but objectively subjectively and, despite all the justified anger, consistently in all modesty calmly, too.
In the face of the spilled coffee, instead of accepting the comments and accusations of her social environment with shame, concern and apologetic words, the FL has her outspoken objections. She eventually stands up for herself... actually, you should think, quite simply, as if it were a matter of course. And yet: downright unheard of. Because: Shameless in the best sense of the word... she no longer lets others shame her for what and who she is. She is slowly but surely developing a somewhat healthy approach to her own self-confidence as a person with self-worth and self-love beyond gender - a person who cannot be reduced by tradition to just a family concerned role concept within a hierarchical society. From this, the FL nurtures a new attitude towards those who traditionally believe they have more value in the social ranking.

Just a comparatively small, handy book; just a two hour movie. The story of Kim Ji-young, born in 1982, has sparked a lot of discussion throughout South Korea. The common, everyday (South Korean) madness shown knows how to touch and quietly infuriate. For me in faraway Germany, too, the KMovie wasn't boring for a minute.









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--- Outlook ---

'If everyone would act up like that... where would we end up?' - In this sense, the book and the film also led to a horrified outcry within conservative circles in the country. The main actors in the KMovie, for example, had to endure hateful comments for even taking part in it. Just this factual inventory of normal madness of just about every woman in the supposedly modern, innovative South Korea got conservative minds going...
...on the other hand, women affected finally received the balm of cross-class compassion, which for a moment opened up the space for solidary, cross-generational sisterhood. As insignificantly common and simple as Kim Ji-young, born in 1982, may be, the social impact was equally great - the consistently overlooked, completely disregarded reality that has been systematically carried out for countless generations out of principle and tradition, discrimination against (in this specific case) South Korean women.

South Korean society is already shrinking. Earlier than expected. And much faster than expected. No wonder.
Women born in the 1980s by now increasingly began to feel painful about their corsets. A milestone!
Those who were born in the 1990s and 2000s, some among them started to increasingly openly dare to actively shake up the social corset - simply by no longer accepting their 'certain' female role. Another milestone!
However, there is still a long way between shaking up and breaking out or even redefining. Eventually, women can only take this step together with men, who also urgently need to work on their role models, their attitude towards women and a new social self-image. Only then can the shrinking of South Korean society be stopped - a shrinking that, in my eyes, is an expression of a massive imbalance between innovative, turbo-capitalist high-speed in the global fast lane on the one hand, and an ignorant, sexist conservatism on the other, which acts like a lead foot screwed onto the brakes. Nevertheless, growing forces are apparently pushing for an urgently needed, integral, truly progressive transformation of existing values.

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Underrated Masterpiece Deserving of a Spotlight!

This K-drama is an absolute hidden gem, quietly awaiting the recognition it truly deserves. It's like stumbling upon a treasure trove in the vast landscape of K-dramas, and if you haven't dived into it yet, you're essentially missing out on the VIP section of drama appreciation.

The main couple's chemistry is not just on point; it's practically sparking a revolution in the romance genre. Their connection is so genuine that I'm tempted to start a petition demanding an award for them – they've managed to reignite our belief in love with their exceptional performances.

And let's not forget the unsung heroes of the show – the side characters. They are the real MVPs, adding depth and charm to the narrative. Of course, there are a few annoying ones who could use a crash course in being less irritating, but they're a small hiccup in an otherwise flawless ensemble.

In my book, this K-drama easily earns a solid 10/10. I wholeheartedly recommend it, served with a side of popcorn and a generous emotional investment. It's a journey worth taking, and you'll find yourself immersed in a world where love, laughter, and a few eye-rolls are in perfect harmony.

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Well done. The drama cleverly skewered a number of overused drama tropes. I enjoyed the story arc of each one of the roommates, partcularly that of Lee Eun Jung's, which was moving and poignant. I also loved the Hwan Han Joo character, who is much tougher than you'd think and who has some of the funniest moments. I applaud the drama for casting Ahn Jae Hong as a sought after male lead, even though he doesn't fit the tall, willowly, jawline-that-could-cut-glass stereotype of the usual Korean male lead. Shouldn't all of us choose someone smart and funny like him over Mr. Handsome Arrogant and Smug Chaebol? But this opinion apparently is in the minority in drama-watching land.

Sometimes the humor could be a little slapstick, especially when it involved Im Jin Joo but other parts were laugh out loud funny.

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