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Overall it was fantastic, although with a horrible ending
Discounting the last 0.5episode out of the 20, I would've given this a full 10/10 with the amazing acting, costumes, OST, perfect combo of romance and comedy, and of course the chemistry between the two leads.However, the ending of this greatly dashed all my expectations and thoughts of this being the best kdrama ever. We were introduced to the 'queen' who struggles with gender and identity crisis as the male chef possesses her body, with 19.5 amazing episodes exploring the challenges he comes across and developing his relationship with the king upon excepting himself in a female body. This was quite an interesting gender twist and I found it incredibly refreshing.
BUT THEN in the last 1/2 of ep20, he is cruelly kicked out of the 'queens' body and returns to his Republic of Korea era, without any warning, without any chances of getting closure before departure, with the original soul of the queen coming back into her body.
While this may seem to be a perfectly happy ending, I ABSOLUTELY HATED IT, why? While Bong-Hwan (chef) returns to Korea, alone, probably traumatised, and ripped away from all his newly developed relationships with the people in the palace, So-Yong (aka real queen) comes to replace and pretends to be him, reaping all the gains from his efforts. Even the king himself notices the lost of 'something' as he so vaguely put it, with the ending being a big let-down for me with 1000 questions unanswered such as if SY is ever going to come clean about BH, or if BH truly accepts being kicked out despite portrayed as being very very very happy after returning.
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Took some time to warm up to, but it's a nice story
I admit, it was quite difficult at the start, it was so cliched, and neither of the main leads was really likeable. FL was made out to be a huge flirt and acts inappropriately in public, but you quickly learn of her story and she becomes a great character. She's sassy, confident, competent, honestly just overall amazing, and her son is super cute too. Then comes ML, he was a huge jerk, arrogant and bossy and inconsiderate to everyone but his son. I rather disliked him for quite a while, until he started to act a bit more like his age further into the series.Now let's talk about side characters - I love FL's sassy work friend, she's the absolute best. The arc with her boyfriend (SuTian's brother) blaming FL of ST's death? That was messy and didn't make much sense. The fact that he held a grudge against a stranger purely because of what others think they saw? Wow. But then I guess that plothole can be explained with his character being naive and slightly brainless since he's the puppy gold retriever type, and also for an excuse to have FL and ML have further relationship developments. I'm quite happy to say there was no SML syndrome for me in this series, I love SML, but it was obvious it was never going to work out and neither was FL stringing him on. SML has his own girlfriend, and she's cute, persistent, talented, and a beautiful ball of sunshine, she's perfect for him. ML's assistant also deserves a shout-out, he has the toughest job out there serving ML, and yet he's doing such a good job as a wingman too.
The plot? It's quite good. I enjoyed watching the cohabitation and coparenting slowly develop into something more. But honestly, FL is likely the most unlucky person in the world, it seems all the unfortunate things keep happening to her. But our girl is strong and she got through them all. It's definitely not all cute and fluffy like some comments/reviews made it seem like. If you're looking for cute and fluffy, Hidden Love is the way to go, this series was not fluff, it was more like sharp barbs and electric zaps between the main couple. But I grew to love their relationship as a family, and I swear the star of the show here is their adorable son.
The main antagonis here is definitely the two-timing Head of GC soab, he really is a disgusting piece of *, but his sidechick is nowhere better. I honestly like his wife, the daughter of the CEO or whatever of GC. She's sick of him and his cheating, but unlike how we usually might see the main wife getting humiliated and bullied by the cheating husband, here instead we have a girl boss who couldn't care less about him and holds power over him instead. It's honestly quite refreshing. His obsession with FL is just gross, but props to the actor for making me hate him so much
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Great story, but riding on Blood of Youth's tailwind
Watching this after BoY gives it an interesting perspective as we know what these characters will turn out to be like in the future. But I feel that this series is relying too much on this fact to make the story interesting.To start off, the plot is your generic wuxia with great friendships, amazing fight scenes, romance of course (though I feel they went too far with this). The plot was really slow to begin with and felt like there was not really a main storyline, this would especially be the case if one has not already watched BoY. I felt that I was only interested in continuing watching Dashing Youth because of my knowledge from BoY, and I was intrigued to find out what led them to become as their future selves. If not for BoY, this would have been a generic wuxia series, albeit with many many dashing youths.
For bromance lovers, this is a must-watch. I must say, I did not feel a lot of genuine tension between any of the couples, and yes, this includes Ye DingZhi and WenJun. The tension and relationship between YDZ and BLDJ, on the other hand, is top-notch, as are BLDJ and SKCF. It feels to me like all the men in this series are good at two things only - 1. fighting, 2. love at first sight. And I must say, they really do fall head over heels purely with one glance, with YDZ as an exception of course. YDZ and WJ's romance might be the most authentic, but then again I do not love this couple since I am quite annoyed at WenJun and her indecisiveness and lack of ability to think things through most of the time.
Now let's talk about some characters - the 8 young masters from the Academy are all unique and quirky characters, which makes sense with it basically being a criteria to be accepted as a disciple by Li ChangFeng. LCF himself probably is my favourite character from the series, he's snarky and funny, yet damn powerful and intervenes at the perfect times. We never did find out how he was doing, but assuming that he has rid himself of his immortality, he would probably be growing old with his lover at one of the corners of the world. BLDJ, ML himself, in my opinion, is morally perfect. He is able to see between the black and white sides, and has the ability and courage to forge his own path. He is an admirable character, which makes this series even more exciting to watch. I also enjoyed watching Prince LangYa himself in action - there have often been mentions of his valour and bravery in BoY, so it was intriguing to finally get to see how he earned his admiration and title.
Things I was looking forward to but didn't quite meet my expectations - there still seems to be some gaps between the plots of DY and BoY which has remained unsolved. I have also put this in the discussion as a topic, but how exactly did YueYao and Lei MengSha die? How did BLDJ end up as he was in BoY, an irresponsible drunkard who wishes constantly to forget his past? Honestly, of the 3 city lords, only SiKong ChangFang is actually doing the work, poor guy
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Cute, simple, fluffy, and kinda unique
So I went into this not thinking much seeing the comments that seem to dislike it more than liking it. But I ended up actually loving this cute and short series.So we get ML, the popular and nice, Mr. Perfect; and we get MC, the not-so-successful, the cute one with low self-esteem. But what really shocked me was their relationship dynamic was really refreshing, MC is surprisingly straightforward, and there was no beating around the bush with these two. There was no unnecessary drama, just a really heartwarming and realistic story of a boy who loves another, and a boy who learns to accept that love.
There was talk of ep6 being simply a filler episode and wasting time in such a short series, but imo, I really like that episode, and thought it quite necessary too. It gives context and background to ML's story, instead of the series revolving mainly around MC and his pov.
I really like ML's acting, he manages to bring the character alive with his expressions and actions. MC too did very well in his role. And of course, we can't forget our favourite Haruna, boy everyone needs a wingman like him.
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Cute high school love triangle, with beautiful character development
I usually hate love triangles as there is often lots of unnecessary drama, but this series was exceptional in the way of portraying the love triangle as a chance for them to grow and change for the better. Da-on with his pushover people-pleasing personality, learned to love himself first. Tae-Kyung learned what love is, and the importance of friends. And my baby Shiwoon learned to properly express his feelings and communicate with others.I love the side characters, Lee So-Hee (could be counted as the antagonist) is portrayed as someone who's arrogant yet extremely confident and brave in pursuing her love for Da-on. She made mistakes, but she learned from them and became a better person because of it. Namgung is that one friend we all need, always supportive care-free, yet gives the best advice and helps the most behind the scenes when it comes down to it. And their teacher is seriously such a ray of sunshine, and so supportive of his students too.
Would I say this series was perfect? Not exactly. But it is an amazing story of friends, love, and growth.
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Short, sweet, bite-size happiness
A lovely short story about 2 boys finding what love is, one with deep emotional scars, and one who heals them. They truly do complete each other in such an endearing and adorable one.One thing I love the most about this series, is the amount of communication and talking they did. Ryuuji manages to coax Amane into being his true self, and talking about his past wounds. He really listens, and only listens, and that's enough for Amane, having someone who tries to understand him.
I love the confession scenes, it really show Ryuuji's character when he puts such deep consideration into Amane's feelings. It wasn't a simple rejection nor acceptance, he accepted his confusion yet at the same time embraced his feelings for Amane. That for me was just beautiful, and one of the most nicely done confession scenes.
The whole series is just fluffy and cute, except when we deal with Amane's past scars. I wish we had more time with this cute couple, and could've explored more of the development of their relationship after they got together, but then again, that's not the point of this story is it?
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Too draggy, a bit disappointing
Giving it 7 was me being nice, I had high expectations mainly due to the extremely high ratings of 8.6, but was very unfortunately disappointed.I wasn't really even emotionally invested in the Main cp, and that's a huge flag for me. They really do lack communication, lots of unnecessary misunderstandings happening, lots of explanations that could've saved them from danger. But they were cute in a way, and it's my first time watching a BL with fantasy tropes, which was pretty interesting. (though it wasn't done nicely at all)
The fantasy bits were just confusing (slight spoilers) - e.g. why did the sister look for Phaya instead of Tharn? She could've explained everything to her ex-sister instead, but she chose not to for reasons unknown. It could've been a lot more cohesive, but instead it adds only confusion to the plot.
Now for the 'police' plotline that underlies the entire series, I found it pretty unnecessary honestly. Them being a police didn't add to the main focus of the series - aka Phaya and Tharn's relationship. It would've made no difference even if they weren't police officers, except maybe they would've gotten into a lot less trouble and danger.
Now for the ending, the most unsatisfying part of the show. Why the hell did they shorten the reunion to 2 minutes. That was just unacceptable. They decided to cut out everything that would show us the dilema Doc had to go through, Tharn trying to explain his love for Phaya. Just everything important was cut out. All we got was 2 minutes of Tharn and Phaya reuniting happily, and Doc the sea-dragon leaving. Why did they cut out all the emotional parts, the conflicts, the important scenes?? I could never understand this.
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Super cute, and definitely worth watching if you like OffGun!
This may be the first time I started a series because I like the bts chemistry of the main characters, and I don't think this series disappointed at all! It was quite sad seeing many people not enjoying OffGun in this serious, and I can definitely see why. But I love their chemistry, and the absolutely hilarious comedy (not everyone will enjoy comedy of course), and I love the friendship groups of both leads.Prem's grandma is an absolute cutie, and need I mention the couple who everyone thinks overshone the main cpl Dynamite and Firefy! They really have such a great story and I enjoyed their relatinoship as much as Ten x Prem, although I won't say I liked them better, cuz i seriously love OffGun.
The premise of the show is supposed to be 'cooking', and I do think it's cute that we have a foodie x passionate chef pairing, that's always such an adorable trope! But admittedly the premise doesn't really add anything relatively important to the plot. But I did go into this mindlessly just to watch the sweet moments of the couples, hence why my rating is probably a lot higher than others.
But overall, I would definitely recommend this if you want some sweet OffGun / Dynamite x Firefy moments, they're definitely worth the time!
PS: Ten's step-mum is actually quite likeable despite her knack to cause trouble for Ten
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One of the best ones yet
This is truly a great series, from the plot to the characters, everything was executed beautifully.I love the main couple, although I was a bit confused when they started falling in love, but sometimes love is just a mystery, I thought it was beautiful and very cute. I like how ML wasn't actually hidden in the dark, that he has his own guesses about MC's character. Second cpl is so cute too, though a bit more angsty in my opinion.
The plot twist was interesting, although my gut instinct actually told me this would happen from miles away. I was a bit confused about the motive of this character, and I wish they would've expanded on it a bit more.
Overall, i think the setting of the plot is very interesting, i haven't come across any plotlines like this, especially in bls dramas. And i especially appreciate how they perfectly executed their relationship, without it being purely explicit, sometimes just a glance and a hug can show a lot more than being super intimate.
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I liked it, but the ending ruined it
I've been scrolling through comments, and noticed that some are disappointed with how the 'mystery' bit was over-advertised. Good thing for me, I didn't watch any of its advertisements and jumped straight into it, so I wasn't expecting much of a mystery in the series. The mystery, if any, really wasn't done well, so fortunately it isn't something that I was expecting or looking out for. I had already expected the 'twist' for the curse from miles away, not sure if anyone else did too.What I liked, was how both MLs actually acted like their age, they cried their hearts out, they're irrational, stupid, and do idiotic things. But I love how their relationship developed, from hating and suspicion, to curious and trying to understand each other. As a person who always puts others before myself, I actually relate a lot to what the characters are going through.
I'm sure something's going on with the side couple, not sure yet since i'm only on ep7, but I'm hoping they'll manage to open up their hearts to each other, something that every character seems to struggle to do so, considering they are in such a prison-like school.
Ep9 - ok the side cpl is seriously lacking some bravery, but its fine i can wait for them - as for Akk, I've been reflecting on his actions, and honestly, I realised that what he's been doing is literally a crime, at least assisting in one. I originally thought his intention was to 'protect the school's honour as head prefect', but now it's obvious his motive is also to obtain the scholarship for university, and he has to get on the teacher's good side to do that. That is selfish behaviour, and he's essentially spreading lies and causing fear around school for personal motives. That's really not right.
For main the couple, I thought they could turn out really sweet after Akk sorts out his feelings, so far he hasn't done so even after Ayan bares his heart. Although I can't say they are a good couple, Ayan has his ulterior motives in wanting Akk to confess to his crimes, and he keeps forcing Akk to do so, not even attempting to understand or comfort him despite knowing how conflicted Akk feels. I also dislike how he loves jumping to conclusion and assuming Akk is always the perpetrator
Ep10 - yep the couples are finally set, and then tragedy descends of course - seriously why is the school expecting students to act like friggin investigators in a murder mystery, they're really not right in the head
Ep11 - i'm so triggered sorry Thua is a little bish how dare he tattle on their relationship, that's such a foul move - also did everyone get hit on the head and experience a 180 personality change in this episode??
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This is the closure I needed
S3 for me was the perfect 'end' to the Gokusen series. It seems that Yankumi's way of teaching has finally been accepted , and she manages to not get fired for once in her life time, and surprisingly her yakuza background never came to light either.Sawatari really deserves some applause for his character development, and Kuma is literally the perfect role model for Yankumi's current students.
What shocked me the most, is that things really did escalate more than they did in s1 and s2, and I love the freshness it brings. Mind you, I do sometimes skip over Yankumi's speeches as she usually utters the same words pretty much everytime, but I gotta admit that her fighting skills seems to be much better since s1.
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Don't worry, you won't be disappointed!
I was a bit hesitant starting this season, as I noticed the plot seemed really similar to s1. But it was actually a lot better than I had expected! No doubt s1 is still better imo. Obviously, we still have our naive and passionate Yankumi with her class of delinquents. But I love that the class in s2 just slightly differs from those in s1, and it just makes it all the more better.We still have the cool and collected class leaders with their group of 5 friends, but instead of only 1 (Shin in S1 ma boi), there are actually 2 here, which I found quite interesting. And unlike Shin they seem terrible at keeping secrets too, which really made me crack up hard a few times.
I love that Kuma made so many appearances throughout the season, really proves that Yankumi still has connections with her past class, although Shin's still missing TT
Overall, I really love the story, it may be similar to s1 with her jumping into action for her students and all that dramatic life-speeches, but it still gives me the same warm fuzzy feeling, so don't hesitate and start watching it!
PS I actually love how Head Teacher seems to be accepting Yankumi's way of teaching, this is some great character development!
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Unexpectedly love it so much!
I've never watched any other genre apart from rom-com/romance, and this was such a thrilling surprise to me, the fact that I actually enjoyed the entire series so much!This is a really really old series, so you can't expect much from the quality, it's slightly blurry and not very visually appealing, but the acting, the storyline and the overall warm fuzzy feeling just knocks this series right out the park!
I love the chemistry between Yankumi and the entire 3D class, the students all of their own stories, and the teachers have theirs too! Yankumi is a really great teacher, and it was lovely to see her being the only teacher who cares to actually teach the 'bad students' of 3D. The love interest of Sawada Shin was obviously there, but there was 0 romance since he was still underage. But i do know they're a thing in the original manga.
Yankumi can sometimes be seen as being very extra and over-the-top, but only someone like her, completely thick-skinned and shameless and even naive sometimes, can pull off being such a great teacher to the 3D students.
Overall, I have loved this series so much! I'm considering whether to watch s2 and s3, since I've seen that their plots are quite similar and perhaps repetitive, but I'm convinced that I should at least give them a go. So see you guys there!
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Very unique plot
Starting off, I'll just say that I've never watched a series where FL actually associates so closely to another guy - LuoYao. It was a very very adorable relationship and I even got confused momentarily to whom the ML was. But it was interesting how this prior relationship actually means something to the plot, and not just a simple stepping stone to FL and ML's relationship.I love the exploration of family dynamics. Mostly seen through the family interaction of FL with her long-lost parents, it's interesting how its often a lot more difficult to maintain a good relationship within a family, but even so, they still love each other greatly. Family interaction is less seen in part 2, with more of the politics going on, so I quite treasure the scenes which explore FL's relationship with her family members.
Another thing I really liked, was how this was one of the rare series where the Monarchy wasn't trashy and stupid. The King was incredibly wise, and took care of his children, and especially so for LingBuYi. The Queen and the Royal Consort are both noble women, and they do not act stupidly like many royalties in other series like to. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said by the prince and princess, but then again, it wouldn't make sense if all the royalties had really acted as their noble title suggests.
FL and ML's relationship develops more in the latter half, as FL used to harbour suspicion towards ML, and did not like him due to his nature of being a war general. Personally, I did not think they're relationship got off to a great start, with both ML and FL having quite conflicting personalities. But I look forward to its development in Part 2.
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A bit of a letdown
So I went headfirst into this series after watching beautiful edits, and obviously having pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, it did not end up as good as I had thought it would be.The 8 episodes did not give it enough time to flesh out their 'Mono n Probe' relationship, and I felt like the love they claim to have, is not entirely clear whether it stems from obsession, or curiosity, or just because they believe it is their fate. There was no clear feelings of romance between the 2 leads, and I thought what came the closest to being romance would be when Probe was teaching Mono about colours, again is that really romantic?
I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, thinking that it would develop more before the end, but it never really did.
I do give it that the settings of the story is quite interesting, and the actors are fitting for their parts. But it was very rushed, and many scene was choppy and lacking congruency.
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