Having a stressful day? Watch this one.
There aren't many shows like this. I can't believe how much I could relate to all the characters in the dorama. We all go through those times when we do some silly things. Sometimes it is funny and sometimes embarassing but we all relate to those clumsy moments. I remember the anime version of this one and to watch Yuta, Dori , Maito (all my favs) portraying these characters is a chef's kiss.These are about 25-30min. episodes each and you will be smiling ear to ear while watching them. It is pure stress reliever.
I wish I could watch more dramas like that.
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When a drama suffers from Kdrama hangover...
I have to get it out of my system before anything else... Does anyone know how far this drama is following the original book? Because there is no way this could be an adaptation of a best selling book. It feels more like a story written by a teenager on Wat*pad. I mean we all grew up watching Tokyo Paradise/Paradise kiss series and after that we were all inundated with such type of dramas. So originality wise it is just...that!If I could ignore all the messed up (forced) scenes, there is no way I could ignore all the scenes where everybody almost touches other person's nose even for a normal conversation, it just doesn't work well all the time. For the first time in the history of dramas I am only watching it- not for the story, not for the chemistry, not for any particular actor...it is only and only for FL and her bestie's scenes. I mean they have more chemistry than anybody. This show is waaaaaaay far from reality. It is like a dream school of a teenager. That dimly lit computer lab somehow setting the mood for everything but studying. That mean girl and her gang following ML for no reason whatsoever, (talk about being completely black or white characters), overdramatic teachers who just let you do whatever you want.
I genuinely need some outwardly powers to complete this drama with all my brain cells intact.
Watch it if you are into old fluffy kdramas/jdramas of early 2000s. Music is good, except for some weird cuts I really liked cinematography especially in the beginning. The dialogues will definitely give you cringe attack. Rest is...just...aah...up to your patience level.
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That's how you make a live action drama
I went in without much expectations to be honest and the sole reason for that was all the prior adaptation disasters that we were forced to witness. But this one made me believe that if you go all in with a good budget, a stellar cast, and amazing production team and most importantly give the due respect to the original work and take all the best things from it instead of changing the plotline at your whims and pleasure then the result would be something like this one.From acting and dialogue writing to amazing background music and wonderful CGI, this had everything that all the One Piece fans needed in their lives. Every character fits perfectly. There are no other actors that I could imagine would suit the roles so well as this cast did in this adaptation. Plus the CGI and the background score made this adaptation a huge success. After an amazing first season you won't be able to wait for more.
I would definitely recommend this one to all the manga/anime and non anime fans for sure.
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Forced chemistry but good story
Gyeonseong creature takes us back to one of the hardest and struggling phase of Korean history and mixed it with an appealing sci-fi plot and created a perfect recipe for mass entertainment. ( Read summary for plot you will get the basic idea) From cinematography to cast everything is well thought and I am sure it was something that people who are sucker for some more 'stranger things' and 'sweet home' would like to watch.First episode started with a bang especially the opening that already set the tone for the drama and you will find yourself at the edge of your seat from the suspense and the horrifying things that the army was doing to create their biological weapons and the tension between the two countries and then we are introduced to our main leads. FL: Cold, bold and have a mysterious aura. ML- Typical perfect, rich, know it all character but obviously with a difficult past. I love both of them however the more I loved their scenes separately I did not find myself feeling any chemistry between them whenever they were together. Even in the first meeting, that chemistry building looked very forced ( some people might not agree with me). That slow motion scene just took me out of a perfect action moment that was going so well. ( very typical Kdrama scene). I do not know why but ML is one of my favourite actors but here I just couldn't feel anything for his character same goes for FL. Like I really couldn't connect with his or her character throughout. I had nothing to watch so I continued watching it. I don't think this show needed romance arc but it garners more audience with that subject matter so why not... anyways that is just my opinion. The creature created good suspense in the beginning but the moment they showed it...it wasn't really that much frightening tbh. The mother and daughter arc was really good though and I really enjoyed the performance of all the side characters . And they could have explored their characters a lot more but they remained just side characters. There will be a second season and it remains to be seen how it will turn out. Overall it was a good drama no doubt but predictable after some time. Not much for a re-watch but yes definitely a one time watch for sure.
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You won't lose anything if you skip this one
This comment might not be your cup of tea so...beware!Honestly I have been waiting for 'love beyond the grave' and ended up getting this one first. Despite everything I tried really really hard to watch this but it is beyond me how people are going crazy for such a bizarre show. (I mean yeah...there is nothing else to watch anyways) Aurthur is pretty much what he was in 'Lighter and Princess' (I really liked that one though) just change the timeline and make it magical. This type of roles suits him and I am only watching it (to a very large extent) just because of him. His cold demeanor and charming personality goes well with this character and visual-wise he is perfect for this role. Such characters do not require mind boggling acting anyways. As for FL I have seen her only in 'I am Nobody' and I really liked her in that one. If you could deal with first two episodes of that show then you are definitely in for a treat there. She played emotionless/lazy/robot like character there and it woked pretty well. The problem in this one is that she is still giving that vibe here. It usually happens when one character is emotionally restrained the other fills that gap by being a very strong level headed or bubbly or reckless sort of character. She is none. I have heard enough about chemistry here but this much chemistry is pretty much in every single drama if we go by the same rules. There are some desparate attempts at comedy and many lovey dovey scenes but I am not sure how to continue the show when there is nothing in the story to hold my interest. Side characters are completely forgettable as well. You can almost skip all of their scenes and believe me you won't miss anything. CGI is not even worth discussing. If you want to compare it then it is pretty much 'Love between fairy and devil' all over again minus CG and music. It was my fifth attempt at it where I failed miserably to continue it further. You can give it a try if you are LBFAD or main characters' fan but it is pretty much that... don't expect anything else.
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How to butcher a good show...
First of all " SLOW CLAPS FOR EDITING"People giving it full rating while I am still stuck to the episode astonished where everything came to light about ML amd that very episode which was supposed to be the most important one, for which every single viewer was waiting from the beginning...was butchered in such a way that you feel like- " Did I miss something? ". Tbh it felt like I missed many episodes in between due to all that censorship cr*p. Why make a show in the first place with that setting if it will be ruined ultimately.
Sigh* ( Finished ranting)
I loved the starting of the show. The storyline for instance was pretty unique. A dowager falling for eunuch and the revenge plot. Though it didn't come as a surprise for many of us...but they didn't really hide ML's true identity for long. I was really hoping for few twists but... Anyways it was pretty obvious from the get go. I loved the way Dylan portrays his character. He looks gorgeous but his acting makes the most cringe worthy scenes bearable. FL too was pretty lovely ( she kept reminding me of Bailu a lot probably because of same voice dub artist). She was portrait smart and quick witted unlike many characters we see in historical dramas. ( Though there were moments, where same old cliche of FL ruining the plans in the process of helping ML, were used a lot). Second leads were really good in their characters. Her maid though... She was most annoying one at times but that is just how her character was written😪. The actress did really well and she is really cute too. I loved second lead's bickering a lot. Now comes our antagonists. Our double faced emperor was the one who really stood out for me. I mean his acting really deserves applause. Because he really made sure that my blood would boil with his actions 😂. He was really good the way he portrays timid yet conniving person in the beginning. The other empress ( she was in LLTG) ...I love her already. I knew she would be good...I just wished she had more screen presence. Storywise it could be really great if they didn't chop many important scenes. It felt I skipped many scenes. All the anticipation that I build for the identity reveal fell so damn flat. I wished they developed their characters a little bit more ( I am no expert) but ML's behaviour changes dramatically the moment he fell in love. Just like many dramas. Revenge becomes secondary for him now that he loves someone. I wished FL could have become his inspiration to develop his character yet it all ended up in a cliched way. There are more episodes to come yet I already feel like I have watched enough. This censorship just ruined the drama for me.
If you wanna watch it for the leads then go for it they did their best but don't expect it to be like Love between fairy and devil or Love like the galaxy. You will be utterly disappointed.
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Waaaay better than expected.
I jumped into this without much expectations tbh but it really surprised me . I started enjoying it more with each episode. So the question is whether one should binge watching this?? Answer: YES YOU SHOULD. If you like light hearted stuff.The story is pretty simple and the subject matter is something which one might have watched or atleast read somewhere. (In my case I read many mangas with this kind of story ). Here the FL accidentally summons a devil lord not devil tbh a bad guy...umm...not a bad guy either. I mean atleast that's what synopsis says. ( He is not had tbh he is more like a smart dude). Seriously unlike other dramas usually ML would take atleast 4-5 episodes to understand the new reality or adapt to a new world but here my goodness he went straight to a place where he would get all the information he needed. LIBRARY!
Hahaha...and in one day or night he read everything from ancient to modern and understood science and all new discoveries. That's... really impressive. I wish I could have that sort of photographic memory. Sigh*
All the decisions ML takes are really smart he is not just handsome man he is rather connvining at times and knows how to deal with FL in his own ways. FL on the other hand is your nerdy sort of naive girl which could irritate few people at times but I forgive that because the actress really did a great job in portraying her character or maybe that type of role just suits her. She is adorable.
I must point out that all the actors here are really good. There are subtle actions which one can pick up if you are into acting and stuff that they have done remarkable job in portraying their emotions. Not for a moment you will think...yeah that is little extra.
Though this show is little weak in writing but what can one expect different from such a typical storyline. I mean anybody can guess what will happen in the following episodes pretty easily. Another thing that I liked was the second leads though there are some issues with their decision making (probably weak writing again) but they are good actors and unlike other dramas where you will see besties of ML and FL are usually ends up being a thing as if its mandatory. Here SL have no such relationships. One more person need special mention that is FL's mother. My goodness she was gorgeous and I still think she should be FL's sister or something not Mother. But well...
As I said I have certain issues with the writing but what irked me most is the writing for FL. She like a pendulum. At times she is portrayed like a strong athelete and after some time she will be like damsel in distress and the next if the scene requires her to be stronger she will again revert back to her strong self. The FL is oscillating between strong and weak and not sticking to her character which is an athelete atleast she can remove her heal from that crack herself...you will know what I mean if you will watch.
Okay now that I have get it out of my chest...this show on the positive end is pretty enjoyable ( not to nitpick about silly things ). It is fluffy light hearted and you will keep on smiling till the end. And if you are into the dramas with beautiful cast then it will definitely be your cup of tea. Overall I did not get bored watching the show for a single moment at least for now. So go watch it and share your thoughts as well.
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Disclaimer: Not for soft hearted people!!!
This drama is setting a mark for extremely dark dramas. If you are looking for morale in characters, or perhaps have ignited a hope that things will turn better and everything will be all sundry then extinguish that hope. Here are only characters with no morale or sense of justice and the rest of the good souls will only be manipulated to meet a very deadly end. So if you are more into that sort of things then this might not be your cup of tea because its characters are outright EVIL.I have watched FL in many dramas where she had played badas*s characters, bubbly characters or the ones where she is extremely kind hearted one. This one is something else altogether. I am sure it is gonna be one of the best dramas of her life.
I am not saying such dramas haven't been made before or such characters have not been conceptualised before ( The Glory, Penthouse, The Mouse are few such examples) but it is extremely different in a sense that all the other characters are as hopeless as the FL. In simple words- with no morale or principles. How unhinged a human being could be? This drama's FL will surely set a mark for that one for sure.
The intro was more than enough to set the tone and few minutes in and I was taken aback by pure chaos that happened in the first four episodes. The music adds to the whole chaotic plot but the acting of every side character including the main characters are worth your time. This could have been a great drama if they hadn't deviated so much from the original webtoon storyline. Plus the ending which ultimately plummeted its ratings. They could have done so much better if they really wanted to go with different ending than the original. Unnecessary death in the name of sacrifice, looked nothing but stupid which brought nothing to the FL's arc.
It is definitely not the ending I was expecting especially the way they started the show. It was one chaotic drama that fizzled out due to weak writing towards the end. To conclude -You will be left unsatisfied with only bitter taste.
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A silly mix of different genre
While writing a script somebody might have asked- so what genre would be good? Drama, thriller, romance, comedy, fantasy element, slice of life, etc., and the producers were like- YES.The makers have utilised every possible thing to make the show appealing. The concept is not new and we have seen many dramas with this plotline. What drives the show is its thriller part, at least for me. The story has many loopholes and there are many questionable coincidence that happens out of blue and some scenes look over exaggerated and they look really silly but the actors are the reason that you would forgive it all. The comedy part is not bad but the law cases are not intriguing enough and I find myself skipping those scenes most of the time. All the actors are superb and it's been a while since I last saw Jin Hyuk in a show plus all the veterans in here are really good. Overall it is a decent watch that one might see if there is nothing in particular interesting to watch.
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Most realistic modern Cdrama
I am sure now, if Leowu chooses a drama it is going to be great without any doubt. His acting is so realistic and mature despite his age surprises me at times but given he was working in this field since his childhood days makes sense but what surprised me a lot was acting of FL. I have seen her dramas before but this time it felt so refined. Excluding the tennis bully guy who felt little extra with his character (or maybe his character was written in such a way that it felt little overboard) rest of the cast did an amazing job in the drama.It has been a while when I last watched a sports drama and enjoyed it thoroughly. The story is pretty simple but you will find yourself engrossed in their struggles to achieve their dreams in their respective feilds. The show is very encouraging and portrays a good deal of struggle faced by women in corporate world without any filter. Office setting looked really realistic for the first time in a Cdrama. However just like any modern drama there is a catch. Whenever FL's stepsister's scenes came into play it went back to the cliche rich guy poor female storyline with the same modern Chinese drama vibe that we are all familiar with. Nevertheless I enjoyed the second lead but if I skip all their scenes I don't think it will have much impact on the main storyline of the drama. I loved the interaction of all the badminton players and their dynamic was superb. I came to enjoy amazing acting of ML but stayed for realistic vibes and encouraging storyline of the drama. The efforts of the actors to portray a realistic sports world and their hardwork is mind-blowing. Special mention for dialogue writers. I loved main couple's interaction so much. At times it felt hilarious but deep in so many ways.
Even if you are a sports drama fan or not I am sure you will enjoy this simple, realistic amd sweet drama just like me.
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Highly recommend!!!
I was not expecting this drama to become one of my favs of this year. From the very first episode I was laughing so hard. I was not expecting it to be this funny but the moment I saw credit roll on the screen in the middle of the episode, I knew it this was my type of drama. Their is no dearth of humour in this one. Quite a contrast and definitely a much needed relief from all the open/sad ending dramas and the serious ones that have been in vogue recently.Acting wise I am very impressed with Esther here. I think this type of role really suits her well. Though I loved her serious role as well (my journey to you) but she fits perfectly in these types of roles. Her chemistry with Ryan Ding is outstanding. After Moonlight this is their second collab and as expected they are amazing in their roles. Their interaction will make you laugh throughout the episodes. Production value from costume to CGI is top notch. I can re-watch this type of drama numerous times and would recommend it to all the reincarnation/transmigration genre fans to watch this one. Storywise if you were a fan of 'Romance of Tiger and Rose' then you would definitely like it. Even if you think the plot has been used so many times in webtoons or anime or in dramas I would still recommend you to watch this one for its amazing cast. Even if you are not the fan of the cast you should definitely watch it for its amazing comedy. You will not be disappointed.
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Liu Yunning and Zhao Lusi- I waited for this duo since the Long Ballad
I won't go as far as declaring it a masterpiece or the perfect drama of the year. Cdrama tends to go down the drain towards the second half most of the time which was the case here as well. Story wise, the premise was really good, though it depends on your personal preference for me I found myself skipping a lot especially in the second half. In the beginning it felt quite a mix of Novoland pearl and Princess Agent. The torturous life of FL and her evolution from a slave to an independent strong woman is what reminds me of the other two shows. Plus I am a sucker for a strong female sort of storylines hence I continued watching it despite everything. ML on the other hand looked like a jerk, snobbish and a typical cdrama ML but he was more than that. The more you watch the more you understand his pov. His own experience and the way he represented a life that was not full of roses to FL made his character more grounded. He never helped her in things or showed any affection to her, never bend his harsh rules for her or showed leniency whatever may come. His reasons were simple. 'You won't find kind hearted people out there so one should be strong enough not just physically but mentally as well to deal with a world like that without expecting someone's help.' That was the biggest contrast between him and the SML, who showed her a world full of kindness and goodness shit and what not. I understand him to some extent but would not agree with his ideologies of kindness returns kindness. This only works only in some cases but rest of the time it is pretty much what happens with FL during her business ventures in the beginning.Side cast in my opinion was not explored enough that I would find myself thinking about their characters. Except for another tomboy female (Shijie) I do not think there was anyone worth remembering. Her character though was strong and tried to portray an antagonist which people could sympathize with but she felt little extra at times and I couldn't feel much sympathy for her. Music was good and costumes were beautiful. l am Not a fan of CGI here they could have done better there but overall it was an intriguing drama. And obviously with one of my fav CPs. I wouldn't say it has much re-watch value but it is definitely a one time watch.
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It is a very questionable drama
I am pretty late in reviewing this show because I recently came across it and without even realising I binge watched all the episodes despite it having so many questionable moments and morally grey decisions on the part of our two main leads. It is a story about two couples who are in existential crisis because they are sort of cheating their partners but do not want to admit it at the same time yet still yearns for each other but still would not come out clean with their other halves. Sigh*I mean this drama would have been something else if the story was not involving the main leads but their partners, then it would have been a revenge drama and then they wouldn't have justified their actions like that. The first two episodes were honestly...hard to watch, and I thought where is this going? How am I supposed to like a ML who is like THIS! But story took another turn and he told his side of story after SO MANY episodes (it took him some time aright) but you are still like...meh.
The SFL, she was so pathetic to watch. I mean generally I despise such clingy sort of characters but at least actress did justice to the role. Despite doing so much for ML she was like a third wheel all the time and I did not find anything likeable about her damsel sort of behaviour who just want to remain a wallflower all her life willingly and for what? (A man who hadn't talked to her properly in the last10yrs.)
SML on the other hand could not even do that either. His acting skills weren't really great to emote anything to begin with and they even tried all their best so that viewers could hate his character yet he was the least intersting character in this whole drama. Storyline had so many flaws and too many coincidences that began to irk me after a while but it was a 2019 drama so I thought from that perspective as well...it was the time where such dramas were in vogue. (Forced relationship sort). Now you may wonder despite everything why did I watch it? It is simply because of the acting and chemistry of main leads. They could have done so much to make it all seem alright, we would have hated the second lead from the beginning but they spend so much time showing how good they were and that ultimately made main leads look pathetic instead. The best character was FL's best friend/roommate. She was a total blast I just wished they shouldn't have tried to mould her into normal standards towards the end and should have tried to give her an arc but the drama was only about main leads so...rest of cast did not matter.
It had so many flaws and frustrating prolonged sequences yet the main actors held the attention throughout the drama. I just wish they could have given more substance to story than making it only an angsty torture.
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Serious concept but no emotion
First of all the concept of the movie is pretty serious and giving it a low rating doesn't mean anybody takes it lightly. I don't know about the anime or manga from which it was adapted but I really didn't feel any emotions in this one. I didn't connect with any character. Acting wise it was okay...I guess...no one in particular from the main cast striked me as someone I would remember for long... however all the guardians in the movie were really good. I really don't know what kind of situation or pressure one goes through to even decide that this life is not worth living...but if I connect all that to this movie I didn't see anything that would make him take such a step. Or maybe they didn't show as much back story as it needed to connect to the viewers to understand and feel his pain for taking such measures. ML's family didn't look like a family in the first place. Everyone felt awkward around each other. Nobody really talked or behaved like a family member, no matter how estranged, there should be something to make the viewers believe that they were part of a family. Brother doesn't give a damn to explain anything or give more attention, spend more time or anything to ML even after the incident , yet he says he was there it was ML who didn't look. Except for his friend I don't think anyone felt close to ML and her role wasn't much to invest in either. You can give it a try but it was not my cup of tea. It felt it was missing the soul.Was this review helpful to you?
It is everything what we need in a revenge drama.
Song Hye kyo is a queen and she has proven this yet again especially after all those dramas that came before it and she was taunted for her acting. I felt her every emotion in this drama. Her pain, agony, guilt and her efforts to hold back her anger. It was a long journey for her character to achieve what she wanted and unlike many dramas where it all ends with revenge, I loved it that she felt remorse for everything. That makes a difference between a pure evil and a pure hearted human being. I couldn't hold back my tears in which she remembered her past when she was not involved in bullying.The story continues from where we left and it felt great to see karma hit all those bullies who made her life a living hell. But big applause to all the negative characters of this drama. Their acting was so good that I hated them to the core. It was satisfactory the way it ended. The music was great, cinematography was mesmerizing and as I said acting was top notch even those adorable kids.
Now that I have said all the good things, it's time for all the negative points.
First of all I felt no depth in all the negative characters. They were just pure evil. There was no grey side in them. I could understand if they had some traumatic past that turned them into this kind of people but we don't see anything that could explain their psychotic behaviour. The same goes for the man who killed ML's father. I mean the REASON!!! It was so dumb that I still cannot digest it. If he had some sort of past with him or anything along those lines I could atleast teeny tiny bit understand that behaviour but seriously 😒... Correct me if I am wrong but as far as I have read even Psychopaths don't kill someone who tries to save their lives. I dunno perhaps I was expecting little bit more from his story as he looked pretty interesting character and could add extra depth in ML's story. ML's character was fine and pure relief tbh whenever he came on screen it was like a fresh breath in all the dark and emotional mayhem of FL's life.
Another psychotic character was FL's mother. I just can't....sigh. Why just WHY was she so damn annoying. Not an ounce of love towards her very own child. What was the reason? Nothing! She just doesn't care at all. I really thought towards the end she might change. I thought when she will see her scars and all she would change just for once but ...nope no character development.
I didn't see any guilt in any negative character in this drama.
There is one more thing that I found really unnecessary and people might not agree with this. But I really want to point it out because it seems that it has become a trend in many Kdramas to have all those s*x scenes. I just don't see in what manner do they add anything in the storyline. Not that I find it bad or something but I am so tired seeing naked people in most of the western dramas these days already. Coming from an Asian family these kind of scenes are big no if you want to watch shows with your family. I love watching kdramas with my fam and just because of such scenes I just can't do that.
To conclude it all it is definitely one heck of a drama that you would not like to ignore. I am so happy that Song Hye kyo chose this role. She was amazing in this.
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