Brogana Sunfrog

A disappointment all around with a happy ending as bland as cold dry toast.

I had high hopes for this, but it was a colossal let down. It had
1)Disappointing romance
2) disappointing end
3) gruesome violence
4) poor choice of characters to be the Villain,
5) barest hint of romance
6) 8 month time skip

Some dramas are slow to get into so I pushed through the beginning where there is SO much swearing -by everyone
I did not find the butt touching (an ongoing joke) funny-especially with it needing extended contact or more "vigorous" touching.
Too much time was spent on interpreting what dogs feel.
Humor didn't work for me; Male lead physically tossing the female over his shoulder onto the ground twice was not funny to me & certainly did not make him boyfriend material . I've seen the male lead in other things, but here he is not on his game or directed poorly because here he is totally 1 dimensional.
A mind numbing amount of neighborhood old people scenes .
The writers set themselves up to present us with a perfect "gotcha" by having the male lead "win" & get what he wanted while giving the female lead what SHE wanted -[neither of which was each other !] But, no, they dropped the ball . The leads did have chemistry, but it was not romantic and it made no sense that the female would fall at all for the male lead. (he also seemed equally confused that he was supposed to be attracted to her !!) Male lead never got likeable and was laser focused on his job. The tiny bit of character & emotional growth he achieved was not enough to make him romance material. They did a clunky job of forcing the leads into being a couple at the end. The premise for getting the second male lead out of the way was so dumb???The over used lack of communication trope !!!
The viewer is dragged through the mystery of which of the many suspects was the real villain while female lead skipped around as if there was no killer on the lose. Honestly, it was poor writing to choose the villain they did. He had absolutely no real reason, so they Should have made the villain be the Female lead's ex brother in law-who ACTUALLY could easily have had plausible reasons to kill all of the people that died. They drag out the capturing of the villain, and then the toss in an 8 month time skip, in which time the female lead has apparently gotten over her dead crush and is ready to move forward with the one person who is most responsible for his death. No kisses between the female lead and anyone at all in the series and the happy ending served up is bland as cold dry toast.

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Great performances, but :too much family drama & spiciness void of romance

Jung So-min & Lee Min Ki are VERY good as the main couple. Just watching them together is a treat, but what goes on around them frustratingly detracts from any good feelings I developed over the storyline.
There are SO many negatives.
It's A romance , BUT with an incredibly jaded view of marriage: an outdated, unnecessary thing -a conclusion derived from the fact that [ridiculously] ALL the character's parents are in bad marriages ). Which makes the ending completely juxtaposing & baffling.
Too much family drama ,patriarchal fathers, submissive mothers pressuring thier children to get married is the "engine" that supposedly drives their children's dismissal of marriage .
A cavalier attitude towards sex is presented as an enlightened, modern sensibility-(said literally Every generation!) Side female characters pursue sex like a game of cat and mouse while they dismiss romance. Too many- open discussions about sex. Too many scenes of people jumping into bed with each other.
The character's touted generational superior worldview did not actually seem to lead to happiness and thier lives seemed devoid of anything meaningful, making them unlikeable sad people.
I Do like a story with strong women, but don't find it comedic relief for women treating decent men as inferior in a way that's toxic.


The bits that ruin the drama: [Spoilers]


1) girl walks in on her younger brother having sex. (AGH ! NO !!!)
2) BFF#1 whines like a baby & continually coldly bosses around her boyfriend of 7 years
3) BFF #2 carries around a condom in her purse,(just in case) wears no bra & bosses around the guy who likes her.
4) Male lead lived with a girl & got her pregnant 12 years before this story takes place. This IS integral to the plot & it's resolution And explains why he is the way he is - making the choices he makes.... but for me : it's a Nope !

Positives:
ALL the young people & couples grow alot but it's only shown at the very end.

All the younger generational characters decide that marriage is stupid, BUT all the couples get married!!!

I liked the OST but they did repeat one song way to much.

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Plot revolves are suicide & reincarnation> Good Main character chemistry

Family & historical/period dramas are not something I ever watch, so I passed on this series for a few months, but eventually the good reviews & the promise of a happy ending got me curious enough to give this series a try. The first episode almost made me quit because it dealt with suicide & reincarnation which put me off. The whole plot hinges on these 2 things so in order to watch this I had to treat them simply as fantasy elements. The stories of the individuals that were being "helped" in every episode were unpleasantly heart wrenching & unbearably tragic. The over arching story was also extremely sad. What sold it for me & kept me going was not only the acting, but the the chemistry between the 3 main characters. Yook Sung-jae's character was particularly compelling, (like a stray lost puppy). I was satisfied to get an old fashioned happy ending for all 3 main characters. So, although loathed many elements of this series, I really found the family element & the premise of odd people finding their match, & redemption enough to give this a high rating. I typically purchase a series if I rate it highly, but this series is not one that I will watch again, just too much tragedy & heavy drama

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Badly written flaky female lead

24 episodes is too long for this series & the male lead is not extremely appealing (is rather bland in indistinct). I am a fan of female lead & she is always fun to watch, however, her character is unstable & frequently changes her mind. So, one minute she is declaring her steadfast love and the next she is ready to throw in the towel. They try to keep this mostly light hearted with frequent banter and teasing, but though the silly is fun, the female lead is just too inconsistent in her character and it's honestly hard to get invested. Happy ending is a bit odd if you consider that main couple are married in the "dream" past, so if they were to be together in the present, (where they hardly even k now each other)that would mean... ?

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SO much drama, so much crying & the end is ridiculous

OST: so annoying they repeated the main song so often. Some one please fire the wardrobe person that dressed a main romantic lead guy in a shirt that said "sexual fantasies" (in English). One of the girls went about in a daze most the time with her mouth open like a fish & bangs that were a joke, (that none of her friends ever cared enough about her to tell her it made her look like an idiot).I found this series tedious. Soooo many back stories, SO much drama, SO much crying, like it's an automatic bonding thing ? By the end there wasn't one single character that I actually liked. The guys were idiots & were sidelined. All of them seemed un necessary to the girls, like an accessory, (like a purse or shoes.) All the characters were seriously messed up. The end was ridiculous. This was such a waste of time. I don't enjoy shows where it's all about the female friendships & the guys that like them are senselessly devoted. This really isn't deserving of the time it's taking me to write a review.

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Whose vengeance is righteous ? "Heroes" are just as bad as villains.Romance doesn't work.

why the low rating:Song Joong Ki is not the reason ! it's the cast of characters closest around him that foul up the drama. For the first half of the series it was unexpectedly fun -yet the gritty, cold violence increasingly escalates & is very disturbing. The females in this series are all crass, crude, irritating & unpleasant. The good guys are playing the same games as the bad guys, so "good" is a matter of perspective ( who has tortured & killed less ?). Hero's by my definition are not cruel, so this eye for eye vengeful plotline pushed my level of tolerance to it's limit. OK it's fun to have a cool guy going around righting wrongs, but where's the line you don't cross ? Even Vincenzo admits that there is a time when he becomes a monster in order to fulfill his agenda. And the sad thing is that he inspires ( infects is a better word) those around him, putting them all in danger by following his example as well as turning them into deviants.By Episode 14 I just wanted to enjoy watching Song Joong Ki do his snarky cool thing, but the irritating female lead is like fingernails on a chalkboard & you wish someone would "off" her. I have zero desire to see the lead's in a romantic relationship at this point (& that never changed) .I gave myself a week off from watching before finishing the drama- I didn't find the building occupants interesting or amusing & the violence had started to be too much. The rest of the drama was set on driving home the theme that the justice system doesn't work as it should & so vigilantism is the only solution.[wait, by being a torturer & a killer driven by your own moral compass, how are you better than the evil you are trying to eradicate-as you go about unchecked on your self declared righteous "crusade" ?] The last episodes are grim & a blood bath of Vincenzo getting his revenge. They throw a bit of romance in that doesn't go anywhere because he can't stay in Korea & then there is a year time skip with the teaser that there might be a season 2. The ending is unsatisfying & if you step back from the fact that the actor playing the lead is so great to watch do his James Bond sort of thing, then you realize that you don't like the dark character he's playing, who will always be a killer.

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Good really doesn't prevail in this depressing & violent action drama

when I say I completed this, I mean I saw the beginning to the end (but skimmed everything in between.)
Why ?
I watched the first episode & it was depressing. I suspected that this was going to be less action/humor so I Skimmed until the last episode, I watched that & was sad to see that my instincts were right- it was an exhausting drama. I had SO hoped for something more light hearted than Typhoon family, but this is also really really depressing in tone.
Here's what i didn't like:

1) The lead character's romantic relationship...was not romantic, them being together was just lazy on both thier parts.
Character Kang Sang Ung's girlfriend : Kim Min Suk. I particularly loathe this kind of female character. She impatiently takes the lead in her relationships, arrogantly bossing around those she says she " loves" ,(though does she EVER actually say she loves anyone ? )She makes unilateral decisions for her boyfriend as if she's his parent & he is a child. He in turn lets her for the sake of not creating an argument. That sums up their relationship. Feel any romance in that ?

2) The drama highlights & dwells on the normality of the hopelessness of achieving financial stability while living in a city ( in Korea)

3)Lots of violence & whenever good prevails, evil revives itself & the fight starts all over again

There is a "happy" ending of sorts for some characters, (yes, the main ones) BUT let's not forget that the main character will have to hand his curse down to his own child someday, so becoming a parent is not actually all that "happy" now is it ?

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Bickering, Violence, unhinged female, uncharismatic male & a happy ending

This has alot of bickering & alot of violence
The female lead is the central character & plays against type. I'm sure it must have been a challenge for the female lead to play a character who is irritating & unlikeable, with the the intelligence of a spastic puppy (or, make that ;chicken, as they are loud & very high strung !) Male lead 's character is deadpan & bland. The few dramas I have seen him in have him playing the same type of character. Even when he's in action, he still just feels like wall paper (albeit, pretty wall paper). This drama has the feel of the American series x-men, heroes and umbrella academy. I didn't really enjoy it, (though the last 2 episodes pick up in interest &character investment). The bickering, whining, complaining, bad attitudes & selfishness of the 4 leads was not fun or entertaining. That they threw in a last minute romantic moment was ludacris, because at it's best this is a buddy drama & should have stayed that way. This whole drama really feels like it belongs to the female lead, who does manage to convey scatter brained & unhinged. By the time the happy ending comes she has toned down a good bit & ALOT of side characters (that you feel sorry for ) die.
not a rewatch.

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Ending :not satisfying enough

SO firstly : if you like, want, need a traditional happy ending that's straight forward & doesn't confuse you & make you have to use your imagination to get to that happy place, then PASS on this drama!

Sadly, I did not take the the disgruntled & tepid reactions of some other reviewers to the ending seriously !!!!

The end is confusing :
Even by super imposing my own speculations on what actually happens- it didn't work, and it most definitely wasn't enough payoff for the viewer as the end of the romantic, emotional roller coaster this drama puts us on.
*Will put spoiler at very end in case you need convincing.

If you decide to proceed to watch this drama-Keep these 2 sentences in your head :

Do keep in mind that the female lead does most emphatically say that she wants someone nice (so be honest, IS the prince "nice" ?)

Also: the prince is quite taken with the intelligence & wit of his princess's younger sister (so be honest, IS the lead female intelligent & witty ?)

On to the review:

This drama struck me as Very similar to the drama :"Queen & I " which also came out in 2012 !! (BTW : For the most warm fuzzys in that drama :stop watching at the end of ep.14)

Rooftop Prince is much sillier in tone and has a MUCH less satisfying ending than Queen & I.

Speaking of silly :

They went really cheap on the Wigs .The long hair wigs on the guys are SO glossy & also So obviously wigs that you want to cringe when you see that other dramas done around the same time had more realistic ones.

All the sudden the Josen guys can drive cars(where did they even get an ID ??

Things not done well :

Tourism pitch for sight seeing was pretty obvious.

Classic trope : multiple break up/ get back together again (must take into consideration that this WAS released at the peak time of this trope's introduction)

Do the leads have Chemistry ?

Well: they fight like siblings. The female lead is at turns effervescent & vibrant. The male lead is a scene stealer & sells the whole "I am a prince" bit with his voice & mannerisms. (plus he emotes impressively).
But DO they have romantic Chemistry ? They try. The writers, director, cameramen, however have not done a great job for them to make it completely work though.

Take for instance, the kisses:
They are a fail. SO underwhelming & awkward. Can we blame it on a bad director/bad cameraman? I would. They have Him kissing her chin, pursing his lips in a stage kiss & then just a lip press. Nothing of any heat ,(not even later where they are actually able to finally get the lip location right, & are trying to "go at it". -there's just no warm fuzzys.
I
The lead's relationship: Considering what ending we are given-they take thier relationship too far.

The drama should have been 16 episodes & they should have kept the couple at yearning to be a couple but never becoming one.

Side complaint : When they started out in Joseon, it was somewhat believable (set wise) .When the drama returns to Joseon, it is obvious that it is just local places in modern Korea- the lighting, the colors, the location, it was like a re-enactment & looks fake.

***********Spoilers**********

The prince does not actually seem all that upset once he's back in Joseon !

Thankfully they do not consummate thier relationship, but I still say that they took it too far because in the end you have the male lead seemingly stuck in the past with his beloved dead & his wife in exile. There is no indication that he will die & be whisked into the future or that there is any other resolution /portal open to him.
The female lead is presented with what Looks like a substitute for her prince husband in the form of the newly revived CEO that was in a coma but even though he is not wearing his signature glasses, he's left a portrait drawing on a postcard, asking her to meet him. (but come on ! Why did he confidently smile at her even though she ignores him if he does not know her any better than he did when he saw her in the U.S. ?!)

when they do meet up, he suddenly changes appearances: from modernly dressed CEO to robed Joseon prince.

WHAT is that supposed to mean ? we are left to self interpret the short cryptic dialogue as they meet.

SO : in the last shot he looks like the prince
But : since we have never known the prince to draw-who drew the picture on the postcard ?

Can you have 2 souls in one body !? Sorry, that just doesn't work for me.

{the test would be for him eat crabs } !
_______________________________________________________
What other reviewers said that should have been the cue for me to pass on this drama
"bittersweet" / "sort of" happy ending, rather than a traditional happy one. While the main couple does end up together, it's with the understanding that the Crown Prince character is gone, replaced by his reincarnated modern-day self, Tae Yong.

doesn't that make her cheating on her new husband & also short changing Tae Yong as she is just using him as a substitute (though of course you assume he will eventually win her over, being the reincarnation & all)

Me : rolling eyes

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Decent drama with a good deal of sentimentalism

Started this as a "filler" drama & found it more interesting than I expected. I would have given this a higher score but
1) the lengthy farewells of the ghosts at the end of each case were overly sentimental.
2)One ghost inexplicably showed up though there was no needed resolution/mystery to be solved.
Also, it was predictable that a particular ghost was going to show up eventually.
3) The ghost "possessions" didn't always work well in the story & since there was a known remedy it kept begging the
question :"why didn't they use it more!?"
4) One ghost possession had me cringing because of the budding romance between characters - without spoiling- all I can say is that it was a good thing it was a slow burn romance because otherwise the "eu" factor was setting in strong!
5) Leads looked a bit "worn" ( showing thier age in thier faces)-the make up artist mistakenly thought that making thier faces shiny would make them look younger.
6) Female lead looks like she has cheek fillers & they keep putting her in high waisted granny pants that don't make the most of her figure.
An episode or 2 before the end of the series the leads inexplicably look healthier & less shiny.
7) I was hoping for better resolution of the 2nd male lead and his relationship with the leads at the end, but it felt like they might have left an opening for a second season-which I would not recommend as by the end of the drama I was more than tired of the ghost possession trope

all in all the series was pretty well balanced & worth watching but not worth a rewatch

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It's hard to give this a low score when I went to a great deal of trouble to find a copy of it to watch ! The acting was fine. Alot of the comedy : like the multiple shirt ripping/exposing man's chest instances, didn't work for me. For an older movie though, it really brought the creep factor. They do the ghost suddenly in your face really well. I'm not a fan of horror or thrillers & going into this, I had thought that it would be milder on the thriller/creepy side . So the level of creepy influenced my lower rating. I was glad that it had a happy ending, but it wasn't 100% of a warm fuzzy hit because it was contrived, not (completely) chosen. I was dismayed that the male lead only agrees to call his current girlfriend when she threatens to not sleep with him. So, I shouldn't have been (but I was) shocked when 3/4 of the way through the movie the female lead says what she wants to do as a new couple is to have the big 0 (which it's implied they pursue off screen & without further comment). For some reason I was expecting this (as an older movie) to be more innocent & less scary/creepy. So lower score for unrealistic expectations !
Also, a small thing, but some of the music was odd & the song that played at the end (before the credits) was really really weird !!

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Engaging & heartfelt but Rugby IS violent !!!!!

I'm really not fond of Im Se Mi , but she does a credible job here playing her typical "tom-boy" character that's annoyingly disdainful, loudmouthed & physically abusive.

Yoon Kye Sang is infectiously upbeat as the "Peter Pan" man who still acts childish

The Rugby team is endearing

the Rugby itself is horrifically violent -it's more like gladiators going out to fight a fight they know may kill them

SO Rugby hating aside, this was alot more engaging than I ever dreamed it would or could be.

Here are the 3 things keep this from a perfect score:
(Do they really detract, from the drama or how much I enjoyed it ?
NO,......BUT still

****Spoilers****

A) despite seeing a former star player living with disability ( due to a Rugby injury) And knowing that high school players could be damaged for life-Yoon Kye Sang 's character vigorously recruits high school boys to play..& fails to live up to his own ethics & goals . When they are injured he let's THEM decide to still play despite it being against doctor's opinion. Worse, he has been very vocal about changing Rugby to be one that protects the players & teaches them to be better than the generation that came before them when it comes to self care. So, his noble ideals are really a sham. As an adult experienced Rugby player & coach, he should have acted as such when it came to decisions about injuries. That he couldn't notice one of his players constantly in pain- when he had only 7 players to keep track of- & then not insisting in the proper treatment (instead of letting a minor make the decision) was unconscionable as well as failing to uphold his own stated intentions for changing the game for the better.

B) at the end they totally gloss over the fact that Yoon Kye Sang 's character, despite surgery, has a degenerative disease that at best would allow him to engage in low intensity exercise-so letting him continue to coach is pretty un-credible. [They should have brought in the crippled ex star player to co-coach with him-that would have been believable]

C) The question of where Yoon Kye Sang was for the 3 years after his doping scandal is never answered

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Disjointed-felt pieced together with plot holes

I didn't watch the drama of the same title & have not encountered the webtoon, so I had no preconceptions going into it. I see that the female lead is different from the 16 episode series of the same name, which made me wonder why this felt as if it could be just bits & pieces of the 16 episode drama series chopped, spun & thrown at a wall for the end product. By the end I had questions still unanswered. It definitely didn't make me want to watch the drama series ! For me, I would have rather seen the female lead with the second male lead, violent though he may be, at least he was an open book & easy to understand.

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Female centric action comedy had Charlie's Angels vibe but no romance to speak of

if you saw the trailer you've gotten a good sense of what this movie is like. Female centric adventure really has a "Charlie's Angels" vibe with the mix of action & hijinks . I'm giving it a low rating because one of the lead female characters freezes everytime she sees s person from her traumatic past-causing her to basically faint -when she should be fighting. (think kryptonite & Superman) I thought it was a stupid trope. Also, that same female lead will NOT get her romantic happily ever after, (though one of her fellow girl fighters will). I felt like there were some plot holes & even some scene holes. I wouldn't rewatch it. Not horrible, but also, not memorable or all that interesting

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