Blkittykat

Food and Love

There's something incredibly beautiful about watching two people already in love developing their relationship, handling issues together and just being incredibly in love. It's even better with food.

There isn't anything to say when asked what I didn't like, it's just that sort of wholesome vibe you get when you see a couple who've been together for a while and are just comfortably in love now. Yes, they have their issues big and small, but you get to watch with the confidence that there isn't going to be some overly dramatic, long drawn out fight. You can watch with the confidence that the only overly dramatic moments will be their reactions.

Above anything else, it tackles a lot of relevant and personal issues with a lot of nuance and sensibility. I loved seeing that.

A really sweet movie and a worthy sequel.

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It's a wide universe..

First off, with the sheer amount of stories, they probably should have aired two episodes a week. It is an anthology, but several characters appear in multiple stories and there is a sense of continuation to them all. They are set in the same universe after all.

While there wasn't anything extraordinary about these stories, some of them were mildly interesting, others were plain boring, and some seemed borderline criminal (before they changed the synopsis), but something they all had in common was the fact that the premises were kind of interesting. This seemed like a set of pilot episodes to determine which one would garner the most attention and love, that would then be developed into a full length series, like an En of Love type of deal. Fair, but considering they had neither the airtime to fully develop most stories, nor the fact that they didn't realise if they weren't going to fully develop it, there wasn't a need to extend it for as long as they did just to fill the runtime was a huge misstep on their part.

That isn't to say that the anthology didn't have it's moments. I enjoyed several stories that had the hints of a good plot, solid acting and most importantly, potential to be done better, in case they do. While the rest didn't lack in potential, they failed to capture my attention because of repetitive and boring scenes, weak acting and poor execution.

I would definitely watch stories like Marry Go Round (although that's mostly for the leads), You Are My So(ul) Mate, Lucky Love and The Camp Fire if they were developed into full length series', as is. As for the rest, even though I'm interested in seeing if they would be remade, it'll take a great executional overhaul for me to give them a try.

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Mirror mirror on the wall..

Why weren't you used at all?! I genuinely thought the mirror would play a bigger role than simply making all the characters dream, but I'll let it pass because they did actually use it to set up the story.

I Wish You Love is the story of Pond, who takes extreme pride and caution in his looks and the way he presents himself. Naturally, he has a huge collection of mirrors and takes extremely good care of them. When he accidentally breaks one of his mirrors and obtains a replacement from a second hand store, he discovers that he can see his old junior Marwin in his dreams.

Initially terrified and later curious, he visits Marwin in person and finds that he's sick and confined himself to his house. Seeing all this, he decides to help Marwin step outside and hopefully fulfill some unresolved wishes he has.

The rest of the series pretty much follows all the things Marwin wants to do, and them doing it which is sweet yes, but.. that's it. It's difficult to create emotional depth and a steady story in two episodes, but it's definitely possible. While the message they tried to get across with all the scenes was obvious, it only managed to be displayed in bits and pieces. There was a lot of time wasted on unnecessary scenes, heavy dialogue that didn't quite cut it and a plot that was half baked to give room for another plotline. This is the kind of story that required either a longer runtime or more episodes, but in a bid to keep it interesting and short, they messed up the execution.

They tried to do the best they could and you can see they put some effort into it, but unfortunately it was just missing that spark that takes it from an okay story to "okay, this story is heart breaking and amazing".

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Pluto, Black Holes and Revolutions

This was actually a pretty poignant little story, just like the previous miniseries in this anthology. A story about separation and fledgling feelings, done in a different way than expected.

The story is from the POV of Tod from Pisces of Love, his experience since he moved to Khon Kaen at the beginning of the previous anthology, and his memories involving Nick, his tutor in Bangkok, and someone he left behind. Through flashbacks and narration, we see the events that transpired from the moment they first met to the moment they separated.

What's incredibly obvious is that they're both very important to each other. Nick definitely sees Tod as a younger brother, and whether Tod sees him as something more is left upto ambiguity. Regardless, they have a huge significance in the other's life. The ending is bittersweet and kind of open, since this was more of an exploration of their feelings and thoughts more than anything, it made sense.

A good miniseries, slow at times and not really one that has a plot per se, but compared to the way they marketed this, I'd say it's a relief they took this approach.

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Over a bowl of hot soup, let's warm our souls and heal our hearts

Watching this miniseries was like getting a hug. Stories about people healing and finding new purpose in life over good food always holds a special spot for me, and this was no different.

Meen and Jeng go through this journey after Meen breaks up with his, for the lack of better words, POS ex boyfriend, and after a few fights and arguments, they find common ground over Jeng's signature dish. With each bowl they share, they flirt and they fight, and they start to figure out that there's something there. The story could have been developed way better with more episodes, there is the notion of wanting to pack an emotional punch and provide proper backstories and emotional arcs for the characters, but it's hard to do with 2 episodes.

Nevertheless, there was definitely a lot of special things about these episodes, and the prospect of the two of building a loving relationship after a few hardships and just a few days together really solidified the depth of their bond. A beautiful story

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A cute tourism ad, that does what it should

For 6 short episodes, each under 10 minutes, there isn't much to expect, but it does what it needed to do while giving us some cute, and some genuinely romantic scenes that pull on the heart strings.

The series itself is an anthology of stories promoting tourism and sustainability in Thailand, and they did a wonderful job merging the values with the story without making it seem too much like an advertisement.

The stories themselves are short, there isn't much backstory, but you can feel the connection between the leads and they're really cute. There are some sudden changes in genre, but that episode ended up being my favourite.

A short and sweet series.

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The Pursuers

Why was this a series though ? It was more like a director's cut of a movie than it was a series. In fact, it felt like the sequel of a movie that hasn't been released.

The biggest drawback of this is the fact that the series begins from the middle of the story. All the characters are introduced straight away and you're expected to know the backstory. If I hadn't read the synopsis before I had started, this would've been even more confusing than it already was.
In addition to being confusing, because I couldn't figure out what exactly were the motivations and interests of each character, the episodes were a little slow. Watching them do things they have reasons to do, but not knowing what they are, is frustrating.
The last episode did clear some things up, but I was left wanting more. Especially more backstory, since this wasn't a case where the mysterious happenings will have a proper explanation, no, the story here just happened.

The action sequences were pretty good, full of violence and gore, as expected from the director after The Witch. Same goes for the acting, four episodes isn't a long amount of time to set up a plot and character development, but most of the actors did a great job.

But for audiences sake, BRIGHTEN YOUR PRODUCTIONS! Seriously, increase the brightness of your screen while watching because I couldn't see half of it no matter how much I increased the brightness.

It isn't necessary to watch The Witch (either movies) because this can be watched as a stand alone series, but there were a couple of references to some characters and storylines from the movies. I would be curious to see if and how they can bring all these stories together, because albeit confusing, the premise is interesting.

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He will show what is real justice

What is this impenetrable line that holds the balance between justice and vengeance? What is the guarantee that the line forever exists? What happens when someone toes with the line? You know that a drama is intricately complex when it asks these types of questions. And as it may be, the audience may begin to ponder over these very questions, perhaps more as the drama moves along.

Vigilante tells the story of Kim Ji Young, a prospective police officer who adopts the identity of a Vigilante to punish those who have been let off lightly by the law, perpetrators who continue to commit crimes, in an attempt to provide a sense of safety to not only the victims of the crimes, but to the general public.

The drama is efficiently character driven, and there is not one character who is morally white or black, most of all our Vigilante. He is surrounded by characters with an equally ambiguous moral compass, a journalist who cares about ratings as much as the vigilante justice system, a vigilante fanboy who's values don't nearly line up with those of the actual vigilante, and a police officer who serves his own version of vigilantism to catch our dark hero.

When each character performs what they believe is right, a web of chaos is created wherein everyone has to now perfect unprecedented actions to achieve their goals. Beneath it all though, the leads have a common goal, the crux of it all: Justice. While their methods may differ, their morality may sway, they strive to protect the public by performing their own form of justice. This creates conflict and leads to confrontation between the characters where everything they believe in comes into question, until it finally bubbles up to create the complicated connections between the characters.

There were some interesting questions the drama asked, all the while blending it with the quintessential K Drama thriller vibes. Most importantly, the story was gripping and there were no scenes I would categorise as filler/unnecessary. I believe there is much more complexity to the story than they actually showed, sort of like barely scratching the surface, and it will be interesting to see the story play out as a result of Ji Young's state at the end of season 1. Overall, a very solid series in all aspects that I would highly recommend to those who want to get a glimpse of sweet, sweet justice.

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Truth or Dare? (I DARE you to watch this series)

Once again, the advent of the established pairing has brought along the loss of plot. Not that there was much to begin with, considering this was more And Then There Were None - with none of the nuance or intrigue. And you add to that two children with their pretend walkie-talkies as your leads? That's a formula about to blow up so quick.

The trailer made it seem like all the romance in the entire series was packed into it, even Joong and Dunk said so.. Now I know that they were made to lie! They said that romance was apparently only a tiny part of the story, the rest of it was a crime thriller. Their words had as much truth, as the story had mystery. And now I feel kind of weird having compared the leads - Kamin and Jade - to children because they behave more like teenagers. I hope the connection is made without having me spelling it out. Teenagers in love?

Everything in this story is BANG! BANG! BOOM! Including their attraction, which happens for no other reason but a shared trauma of hair in the eye. IYKYK, but if you don't, let's just say they never had to wear sunglasses because their hair provided excellent protection from the glare. They meet in episode one, are in love by episode four, and with just ten episodes, it's not a lot - but remember. This is supposed to be a crime thriller.

The writers clearly forgot that because having Joong and Dunk flirt on screen while all the other characters get killed off is.. well it does kind of sound like a plot I'd weirdly be into.. but no! There's a plot and time, and this wasn't it. The leads are introduced as two people dedicated to their jobs, it took them ten episodes to find the killer. Instead they just flirt inappropriately, everywhere they go. And you may ask, "But what is the place where you flirt appropriately?"
Not anywhere, anytime they did.

You are assigned to a high prolific murder case, where the victims are literally being picked off like flies, yet! It's the perfect time to play boyfriends and buy each other terrible fridge magnets.

Of course, to make up for the lack of any plot, we get weird segues to drug cases that, may or may not be related to the murders, no, that definitely was not an attempt to get Joong shirtless or have Aou and Boom make a cameo (the best part of the series by the way). (The cameo, not shirtless Joong, we got a lot of shirtless Joong).

To cap it all off, by all means, the big reveal was so hilariously predictable, I was actually gagged at how badly done it was because no way I was able to guess it in the second episode. Yes, I have watched my fair share of thrillers but ask anyone, I'm not the best as putting the dots together. If I was able to get it, we know the writing was laughable.
And after all of that, the conclusions for every single character made me so furious, genuinely, I haven't gone into the details of the "thriller" much (because again, it's not really a thriller), but the characters involved in that part of the story were actual trash on earth, and none of their actions got any consequences that we could see. Instead we got the hallmark of BLs, a beach trip.

I'm not even angry or disappointed, because in retrospect, that neon yellow poster told me everything I needed to know. They clearly tried to take this way too seriously and I say they should have leaned into the silliness. If it was truly meant to be as silly as it was, I would have loved it! (that's a lie, but who cares). But if you're going to be talking about serious topics or dealing with sensitive issues in your story, at least have the people dealing with it take it seriously. There's a lot going on this story, like I said, it was insanely fast paced, with many characters but no one really managed to make an impact. I actually called the leads by their actors names until the very end, that's how bad it was.

The writing, editing, all choices made here were definitely not done with any consideration.

Maybe there is something to be said for Joong and Dunk's chemistry though, they've had good chemistry for a long while but not enough that I believe your first meeting has you at odds and by the second encounter you're practically salivating at their thought. I did not buy the romance, or the mystery, anything they were trying to sell me.

Because again, I'm not angry or disappointed, I'm just. Numb? I got a few good chuckles and an Aou Boom cameo out of it, and I'll take it, even though it's not enough. And even if you enjoy buddy cop comedies and you've always shipped the buddy cops, I wouldn't recommend this to you.

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This Love Needed Only Basil ♡

Simplicity at it's finest. This is one of the best examples I can think of when it comes to that phrase, because with the most basic of plots, they created something so entertaining.

The key was to it was introducing all characters, all storylines and possible conflicts from the get go, that way, we knew what we were getting. Sometimes, new conflicts are introduced to shake things up but thank goodness none of that happened here, sure it was predictable, but it was also consistent. No unnecessary misunderstandings, no extra drama because the script said so, yes please and thank you!

The story was well fleshed out, there was a lot going on with the competition, the sneaking around, the ex girlfriend and more, but every one of them seamlessly revolved around the restaurant. I especially loved the cooking sequences and scenes involving the competition, watching Oab become more understanding and patient, Plawan gaining skills and finding his passion, the good dynamics in the kitchen the more they worked together, it was great to see each character grow in their own ways as the competition grew.

The characters were also written very well, like any good series, there was a fair share of characters who required character development, others who were introduced for the sole purpose of creating conflict, but every single one of them had more to them than just being a plot point. They were complex and sometimes difficult to understand, but good people nonetheless, which was evident in the writing.

And the CHEMISTRY! So good.
Plawan and Oab's relationship was certainly the less confusing of the two, they were obviously attracted to each other and as their relationship progressed, the introduction of conflicts only showcased why they made a good pair. They understood the other person's stance, and even if Plawan had to pout a bit, they communicated with each other much better than I thought they would. Even after the deal was revealed, it was clear that they cared for each other very much.
JJ and Methas on the other hand were a tad bit confusing at times (a bit more screentime I think could have resolved this), but a good couple nonetheless.

While the series itself wasn't a huge revelation, it's certainly worth talking about. Uncomplicated, heartwarming and swoon worthy, it's definitely worth a watch.
But I do have one question: why weren't any of them wearing chef's hats?!! Like ew- no food in my hair.. ugh.. no hair in my food please! For a guy who wanted his kitchen and restaurant spotless, this certainly went over Oab's head, didn't it?

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Highly ambitious, but faltered along the way

The Sign has everything I adore in a series: romance, mystery, action and that infallible touch of mythology, which is my weakness. Under these circumstances, my rating should be higher, also considering the story is interesting, the plot is airtight (plot holes are one of my peeves), and the chemistry genuinely chemistry - fies.

Not that this is a bad rating, but again, I would generally rate something like this much higher. So let me explain my thought process, starting with the mystery/action aspect. It's solid, it truly is. Albeit slightly predictable and simple, it was consistent. I genuinely loved that they solved multiple cases that umbrella - ed as one big case, and as far as I took note, there were no loose ends or plot holes. Every case they worked seamlessly tied up with the major case through the players, and it even seemed like they would link the mythological aspect to this plotline.

That's where I was wrong. Let's clear this up first: I know it's difficult to incorporate mythology/history into a fictional account. It requires tons of research, poring over books, journals, documents, and so much more. I also understand that when you're working with mythology and history, it's a difficult situation to maneuver, (especially when you're talking about two major characters who's stories have wide and varying interpretations). But there's still room to work with. Without giving away too much, let's just say I expected more. They promised grandeur and complexity, but what we got was absolutely none of that. The entire mythological plotline was tied up to the romance between the leads and not much more.

Which then leads us to.. the romance. I'm going to be completely honest, Billy and Babe, they have chemistry. I did say the chemistry chemistry - fied, and I wasn't lying. They have a hot and cold relationship in the beginning, which I'm going to chalk up to a genuine plot point, it was understandable. Even when you felt they were being bratty, frustrating or just a teensy bit hypocritical, they turned the situation around pretty smoothly and soon. It's really too bad we didn't get to see enough though. This is a totally subjective opinion, but they spent so much time focusing on solving the cases, and the mystery of their past that there was barely any romance. At least for me. And I know it's ironic because I said I appreciated the well developed story, but I wanted romance as well. That's more of a me thing, but I just wanted to mention it.

Let me segue back to my rating now, because despite the positives, I did kind of end up saying they could have improved upon it. That is the reason for my rating.
The truth is, I genuinely enjoyed watching the series. The plot was innovative, the characters were endearing and you all know that I already have a slight bias because of the mythology plot they used. When you watch the series, you can tell they put a ton of effort into this. The cast, the crew, everyone. But I just wanted that little bit more. Again, that's a me thing.

While I do wish they had changed a few things, tied up the loose ends that inevitably cropped up, it was a decent series, and truly one of a kind: I don't see a lot of mythological BLs and it was a rare treat in that sense.

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An afterthought - I mean the season feels like an afterthought

The announcement of a third season itself felt like a capitalisation effort if I'm being honest - on the back of it's own popularity because the finale of season 2 of Alice in Borderland, except for a tiny bit, didn't really leave much to interpretation. I liked that about it. I was confused sure, had a ton of questions but I was satisfied with the ending. So when it was announced that it's coming back for another season, I thought 'yeah.. alright.. maybe we get some answers'
But now I'm just disappointed that I didn't anticipate my disappointment.

Firstly, and again, it's not like there was room for much interpretation except for that very last scene in the previous season finale. But I do appreciate a show that can end satisfactorily and still leave a bit to the imagination. Revisiting that plot over and over again kind of takes away the shock factor because you know what's coming.

I was going to watch it anyway though, and surprisingly, it held up so well! The story picked up perfectly from where it left off, the premise was quite exciting because all the characters, old and new, were now back in Borderland playing against the Joker, in a seemingly no structure, no rules situation - which I loved. It is the perfect embodiment of the joker card condensed into a plot.

The new characters were surprisingly very immediately likeable (which I've found is quite rare in sequels), the games once again had me on the edge of my seat, sometimes even made me cry (because we all know what goes down in them) and just watching Arisu on screen again was nice because I love Alice in Borderland. With each episode, the story just kept clicking into place and I was so happy. Finally! A sequel that felt fresh and innovative.

That thought lasted four episodes. Longer than I thought it would but not long enough. Because with every other scene, this season was starting to look more and more like another show I know. One that Netflix released just a while ago, one that I would rather not talk about. Not a huge deal in the massive scheme of things, but unfortunately, this is also where I started losing interest. They did manage to reel me back in with the final game, but wow. That finale..

I did not like that finale. Because I did not sit through five good episodes to end it with a debate on the crisis of existence. It left me with so many questions, and not any that I could answer myself. By the time it was over, I repeatedly asked myself 'that's it?'
Because all that happened, felt like it needn't have happened. The way they concluded it just felt so unsatisfactory and that's when I realized that right from the beginning, all the returning characters were behaving very uncharacteristically and at the end, I had recieved no answers to my questions from season 2.

This finale was not it, but even worse was the very last scene. For the love of all things good, let's not make this a habit. I'll once again mention the show I will not mention because they pulled the same thing months ago. LET'S STOP MILKING THE COW.
We do not need a remake. We do not need another sequel. Let's just not. This season itself felt like an afterthought, we do not need more.

This was a strange experience - I enjoyed it, but I'm still not satisfied. I loved seeing more, but I don't think the story needs to be developed any more! While it was nice to see all the characters from the first couple of seasons again, I hope they don't revamp this plot.

For six episodes, this was mostly enjoyable. If you enjoyed the prequels, chances are you will enjoy this season as well. You might also be just that bit disappointed, but it's fair.

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Try, try again - A Miracle in Us

I think I spent half an hour trying to come up with a catchy hook that could perfectly describe The Winning Try in one sentence - and based off of this preamble you can see I failed. That's because this drama invoked so many different feelings and emotions in me, joy, nostalgia, sadness, anger, frustration, ecstatic overload, hope, several of them together, and sometimes all at once.

I always say it's the miracle of sport, to feel these many emotions in a short span of time.. I've never seen anything else do it quite like sport does.

The Winning Try follows Ju Ga Ram and the rugby team from his alma mater, Hanyang High, as they begin a new year with a new coach in the form of Ga Ram, and all the chaos he brings with him. They are shaken up, first, because no one expected Ga Ram to return to rugby after a doping scandal three years prior, when he was a player - but most of the shake ups come when the rugby team realizes that their coach is smart, passionate, determined, and maybe just a bit of a dork.
Suddenly, the man who was once treated as an outsider even by his own team, is an integral part of the proceedings, he is their heart and soul.

He's bringing in new players, techniques, pulling all his cards to ensure his boys get the best possible chances of being miracles (something they say, I did not make this up), miracles that are going to win the national championship.

The lives of the rugby team aren't the only ones shaken up by Ga Ram's arrival - the entire school, including his ex, his former coach, former principal and former friend, all feel the impact.

I love this series. I love it. But there were so many things I didn't love about it. As a collective, I've rated it high, but honestly, the high rating is only because of the rugby team.

I love those guys. Along with Ga Ram, they are the heart and soul of this series. Again, so much emotion, so much at stake for each of them, but they learn how to put everything aside - just to come together as a team for their dreams. By the end of the twelve episodes, I was in awe of how much each of them had grown. And we did get to see all of them, this wasn't a situation where one of them is the star player, no one else matters - no, no. They were a team. They fought, argued, threw punches, felt jealous, but all that was just one percent of everyone they went through together.
This is why I seek out sports dramas - the human connection formed through teamwork and bonding is something else. I loved every single minute the rugby team was on screen.

However, the further we went into the story, the less focus they got? My rating just for the rugby storyline is high, maybe even a 10, but if I factor in all the other filler scenes we got that actually took away from the team's screentime? My rating would be much lower, lower than my current rating.

These scenes added no real depth or value for me. The entire shooting storyline for example. Half of the characters were not required for the plot at all. We had Bae I Ji, shooting coach, player and Ga Ram's ex. It should've stopped there. Instead we had another shooting coach, two players, a corrupt vice principal and a corrupt education minister (?). And their roles were relevant to the plot when they were hindrances to the rugby team, but soon it branched off into its own, unnecessary storyline.

So many scenes that could have been devoted to the rugby team - instead I would say around one-third of the story focused on all the wrong details. My rating nevertheless remains high.. but oh.. so much I wish they'd done instead of what we actually got.

The acting on all fronts, nevertheless, was brilliant. I sound like a broken record, but, especially Ga Ram and the team. Haven't even mentioned their names yet for all the times I've referenced them, and here they are - Yoon Seong Jun, Oh Yeong Gwang, So Myeong U, Do Hyeong Sik, Kim Ju Yang, Pyo Seon Ho and the maknae, Mun Ung. All seven of them were played by actors who gave performances of a lifetime, so much passion and heart, so good. And Yoon Kye Sang.. my god. No one else could've portrayed the bold and enigmatic Ga Ram better. All the actors were simply brilliant.

The production value was obviously high, and the music! So good! Felt very refreshing and pleasant to the ears.

I love this drama - and highly recommend it. Absolutely do. I was moved to tears almost every episode if that says something. Because sport really does move you, doesn't it?

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Chaotic, heartwarming and entertaining

A truly underrated series if I may say so. Based on the synopsis alone, the actual emotional depth of this series is barely depicted.

A wager between roommates to set one of them up with their crush after a round of Never Have I Ever, leading to outlandish schemes, team work and tons of chaos, but what also followed was an unapologetically sex positive series that highlighted consent, pleasure, sexuality and much more. All while keeping comedy and romance at the forefront, giving us the perfect mix of emotions.

Both the pairings in here have my heart, so different in dynamics between the pairings and between the people in each pairing, and they worked so well together. Communication, honest conversations, trust, they had it all. Above all, it was just how much they understood their dynamics with the other person in the relationship. It may have been frustrating as a viewer and sometimes even for the characters, but there wasn't a single moment where each of them didn't make it a point to visualise a clear picture of what their relationship was like at that point. The chemistry was dazzling and the angst, oh the angst. You can't help but root for them.

And I mean all of them, because the bond between the four of them was highlighted no less than the romantic relationships. What may have started out as a bet, eventually developed into a kind of brotherhood where they could always go to each other for advice, talk freely and trust in the fact that they would always be there for each other. All the supporting characters were no less, each of them had their own distinct personalities much like the leads and it was chaotic and fun to watch all of them interact.

This was thoroughly entertaining, start to finish, and it is truly underrated with well written characters, a solid story and not a single scene that I had to skip. A gem indeed.

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To me, today

I found this because I very recently watched another adaptation of the same story, started it because of a recommendation, kept with it because of how interesting it got and finished it with a greater appreciation of just.. feeling appreciative.
Because despite being a story about second chances, it was always about taking chances on what you want.

The story is creative and crisp, the plot is solid and moves at a brisk pace, and doesn't feel too dramatic, even with the fantastical setting. The leads are characters you can root for, and they have great chemistry. It's a complete package and a good drama.

But I have watched this story before. The adaptation I watched was the K Drama, Marry My Husband and naturally, I couldn't help but compare the two. There were some things I preferred about the K Drama, and some aspects that were better executed here, in the J Drama. Both solid in their own right, but asking me, this is the one I would recommend before the K Drama.

Firstly, because the story is much more consice and palatable. One thing I really didn't like about Marry My Husband was the amount of filler scenes they had, and cutting out a lot of the stuff from the latter half in this version really helped with the story.

Second, the characters. I think with the exception of Tomoya (Min Hwan in the K Drama), I preferred how the characters were written in the J Drama. At points, I would say I preferred the character writing here completely to that of the K Drama. Misa was much more feisty and pro active, Wataru felt less like a caricature of "perfect human being", Reina was much more devious and cunning, and Tomoya was so incredibly pathetic as a character.
The way all of them interacted with each other was also so much more believable than in the K Drama, all of that felt highly dramatized and here it was quite representative of how human beings behave at times. The actors themselves did so well, like I said, for the most part, the character writing was much better here, and every actor took the brief and ran with it. The performances were incredible.

Third, the CHEMISTRY. Sorry but, Park Min Young and Na In Woo had zero chemistry, but luckily, Koshiba Fuka and Satoh Takeru brought it! Overall, the J Drama would be the version I prefer and would recommend.

You win some and lose some though, and there were tiny things like Lee Yi Kyung's portrayal of Min Hwan or Lee Gi Kwang as Eun Ho and his impact on the plot that I missed here. Plus, a couple of aspects I think they could have bettered upon - particularly the last few episodes. There were some moments that felt completely out of character for so many characters and though it can be likened to impulsiveness and emotion, I just didn't understand those actions. And one that really, really disappointed me? The ending! Not the actual ending but the ending our antagonists got. Without spoiling anything, it just didn't make sense to me and I wish it had been executed just a bit different.

There is however one thing that disappointed me in both versions.. the romance. Why you ask? I just didn't buy it. I had a hard time believing either of the couples in either version were really that into each other that they would sacrifice themselves for each other's sake (like the dramas were clearly trying to tell us), but I never felt that soulmates level connection anywhere.

That was a long drawn out comparison to say that you can watch any version you'd like but my recommendation is this one here. The overall impression this made was a lot better and even without comparison, it has a great story and message.

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