ilovedramas293

I don't think his recent scripts after AOS have been that bad, but they're just not for everyone. I think he's more interested in taking on challenging roles than the norm. Both his characters in Last Summer and Dear Hongrang are very challenging to depict well, but he absolutely nails it.

Last Summer is pretty niche with the time jumps back-and-forth so I can see why people were confused and disliked it, but I think it had a great story going for it about two people learning to let go of that guilt and pain and healing together, embracing what they feel for each other, rediscovering themselves and building on that and finally choosing love and acceptance for each other despite their imperfections. The show made it clear from the beginning that they are telling a story of two flawed people who fell in love with each other, broken by a shared pain and guilt, characters who act based on emotions therefore always making wrong decisions.

Dear Hongrang was very good too, but it missed on a couple things which are completely at fault of the writers. The real reason I saw it didn't get much praise was just cause of some disturbing moments people didn't care to understand or look past. It was dropped for mostly petty reasons.

Quality doesn't always mean graphics. I'm the complete opposite. I'm happy with a drama as long as it's story is interesting enough to make me commit, even if the quality of the production might not be great. However, for me, the village part was really the best part of the show and everything that followed afterward fell flat. And the capital part was the worst of the worst, which I maybe also had too high expectations for. They clearly went all in for first 15 episodes to get people hooked and then what ever. The rest of it felt really off. I really can't praise the second half at all. I kinda regret starting it, cause then I felt too deep in not to finish it. There were so many scenes they could have cut to keep more impactful scenes that would build the story better. Like what was the point of Changyu’s friend’s crush on her? A lot of stuff felt pointless.

Imo the quality got noticeably worse after the village part.

Now, I'm super pleased with the finale and drama as a whole! However, only minor flaw for the ending I'll mention is that after having researched the time period of this drama, I dislike the severe lack of historical context in the finale. I realize this is because the writers really wanted to spend time at the end tying everything to the sequel Tree with Deep Roots, but I feel us SFD fans deserved more.

There was no time spent mentioning Taejong's accomplishments as King, or the reasons for his tyrannical actions. It only briefly mentions the main accomplishment of his son (Sejong the Great) in developing the alphabet, but Bang-won (Taejong) also promoted press, education, commerce, military reform, new offices for the people's concerns, etc. It's mainly Bang-won's story, so I just wish he got a little more recognition for his feats in the finale. I also feel that the actions he took for the throne are justified. He contributed far and most out of all his other brothers to his father's takeover, as well as supported him from behind the scenes by even agreeing to go to Ming for him where they respected and treated him as a Crown Prince. If he had got the throne from the beginning, like he deserved, none of the horrible things he had to do for it would have had to happen but Sam Bong stood in his way and in reality, Taejo was love-blind towards his second wife and her sons. Taejong (Bang-won) is considered as one of, if not the most, charismatic and powerful kings of all of Joseon history right behind his son (Sejong). He even allowed citizens to write him feedback, which is amazing, and should be seen more in modern politics. Also remained close to Wonkyung until her death, making medicine for her, even though he didn't love her. They had a very interesting deep sense of comaraderie and sense of partnership towards one another that I felt should have been explored further. The main reason he had her brothers killed was because they were close to Taejong's oldest son and setting him up to be a figurehead that supports the Min clan, plus Taejong's wife asked her brothers to throw one of his concubines and her new-born infant out in the frigid winter weather without a blanket for which he decided to not have her deposed, but her brothers punished. It's also said that it's because Taejong took out so much of the opposition, aka his in-laws, and his son's in-laws which is why Sejong (his son) was able to rule so well and focus on other matters to focus on the lives of the people. Taejong even ended the 20-year massacre of the Wang dynasty (previous royals) after he took the throne, claiming it was ridiculous to get rid of all the previous royal descendants including children, and that he'll protect them. The worries he had over his son reading books was also because he wanted to protect his health. Bangwon essentially had the best of intentions, but his ambitions got the best of whatever methods he chose to do to win. The more I read about him, the more I love him..

In reality, there was a pretty happy ending between the two. They were lifetime partners until the end, and Taejong tended to her and loved her until she died, making medicine for her.. They had a very interesting deep sense of comaraderie and sense of partnership towards one another that I felt should have been explored further.

The end of this drama just rushes and doesn't show much about Taejong (which is a huge tragedy), because they focus too much on Sejong and the invention of Hangul to tie this to the sequel Tree with Deep Roots.

Finished my 5th rewatch in less than a year! I'm still left feeling empty after the 50th episode. No other kdrama will ever compare to the rush and thrill I get watching this. Please read my review down below if you're not sure whether to watch this. I guarantee you'll have the ride of your life.

It's not a big deal. They all look the age they're playing.

Quality falls of hard after the 15 episodes or so. Just save yourself the trouble if you don't like it already.

Comparing Brad Pitt to ZLH seriously makes no sense to me. Brad Pitt was an excellent actor from the get go. He wasn't popular for his looks, anymore than he was for the range he displayed as an actor. Even the worst films, he could just carry them with his acting. I really doubt ZLH could do that. I did think he's a decent actor in POJ, but that's really all there is. There's nothing special about his performance that would make me think "You can cut back on the story and the direction, but I'll still watch this." POJ's story fell off hard for me after 20 episodes or so and it was agonizing for me to finish the rest when I was too deep in. It's like they spent everything on the first 15 episodes to give people the illusion the quality would stick for the rest, when they clearly cut back on everything else.

I don't know about Douban, but this drama is literally mentioned everywhere online. If you check on MDL alone, it has a ridiculously high # of ratings compared to alot of the other top-rated cdramas. It's also breaking a lot of records like it's the first chinese mainland drama to hit top 10 on netflix, getting 3B+ views over it's run as of 2 days ago, crossing 100m views per day, etc. It is extremely and unusually popular internationally, and a lot of the comments I see mention people who are just now getting into cdramas or this is like their 5th cdrama so far.

All good! I haven't checked out any other ZLH series yet. I'll probably check out The Best Thing sometime soon.

That's not how it goes with all long Chinese dramas. If the story is good, 40 episodes is nothing. For example, I also love TXW in New Life Begins like you said. I never once felt like that drama was a waste of my time at all. I actually wish it had more episodes. Also, he's not in New Life Begins. I'm not sure what you mean by "his role."

I got into the first 15 episodes or so and I regretted it. You saved yourself.

I feel like this has gotten too popular because this is the first cdrama newer fans are seeing and because of Zhang Linghe (and yes this is his best look). Most just seem to rate it high because of the actors, but honestly, the story had so much potential but went straight to trash (sorry for my harsh words). The village part was really the best part of the show and everything that followed afterward fell flat. And the capital part was the worst of the worst, which I maybe also had too high expectations for. They clearly went all in for first 15 episodes to get people hooked and then what ever. The rest of it felt really off. I really can't praise the second half at all. I kinda regret starting it, cause then I felt too deep in not to finish it.

To each their own.

One of the best YAI films. I really loved Dong Joo. Both of them are fantastic duo-leads with brilliant performances. The story is actually much more unpredictable than I expected, which makes it very interesting, and some of the more wholesome moments hit very strong. The comedy bits with the church and Wan Deuk's crush really made me laugh. Calling this "Punch" is pretty misleading, since there's not really much action, and whatever sports action there is becomes just a medium for the MC to find an outlet for all his street fighting and aggression.

kisskh if you don't have prime. It's a really great movie

Kinda only watched it for YAI. I liked his parts, but the chemistry with the FL was not there. I don't mind age-gap romances (I love Secret Love Affair), but neither the writing or the acting in this were able to sell their relationship to me. The other couples were sweet, but nothing special to watch.

This is an incohesive mess.

A refreshingly grounded take on zombie thrillers, utilizing pretty much a single location (apartment block) to great effect, creating a “shelter-in-place” scenario during a zombie outbreak. There's only two leads, but their performances are excellent, and the steady build of tension and horror is palpable. YAI kills this role. I kinda felt like this whole thing was a movie about how young people cope with anxiety and how they use new technology to communicate with each other. It's pretty obvious the MC is a shut-in or NEET, but I think the zombies represent the anxiety he feels trying to deal with other people, who he feels want to harm him. Very interesting film, with zero melodrama. Third act could have used some more fleshing out though.

This movie doesn't focus on the actual survival aspect of the zombie story. It's never meant to be unpredictable. The whole thing is a metaphor for how introverted people see the outside world, especially if they suffer from anxiety or trust issues and/or have difficulty socializing in person. Unfortunately, I think this didn’t quite reach people given how they portrayed it.