noona

"Loneliness first begins with love"

This story is about how the love between a married couple has grown cold until one day, the husband dies. The wife having grown used to the empty marriage, feels numb to his death. But on Christmas day, the wife stumbles into a worm hole and travels back to the past. She gets to meet her husband from 15 years ago, the day they first met. This is where the story starts.

The story deals with the idea of rushed marriages without proper communication, what it means to take something for granite, what's more important than living, and what would you do if you knew your fate? This movie deals with may complex layers of love and yet it shines in all the slow moments. Sincere and shy interactions, dialogue full of life, and characters that you grow connected to. This is a beautiful love story of romance and life.

I also want to mention that this movie had one of the most compelling intro scenes I've ever seen. It felt sudden and that was the horror. One second, he's thinking how it makes sense for death to come suddenly, but his final thought is still "Please, wait." (not a spoiler it happens within the first minute of the movie)

For the movie to end with a love letter is the most beautiful cycle. For the ending to not be grand, to not be as extravagant as time travel, but to be as simple as spending every day together - loving all the details, all the small moments, and treasuring each one as grand.

"Good morning"
"Good night"
"Welcome back"
"I'm home"
"Thank you"
"See you later"

Love is in the details

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This was a movie that started off like a normal and basic Japanese movie, but it then turned itself around and created this sort of atmosphere that just pulled you in. It got better and better as I watched it. The acting was good, but the story and script is what really made me love this film. The words they spoke were beautiful and had underlinings of so much emotion and depth, it's easy to tell that the writers are really wise and intelligent people. The chemistry between the leads doesn't jump out at you or anything, but there is obviously some deep feelings between the two. I could feel their emotions well, more so during the last half of the movie. The cinematography was also amazing, it showed the city and parts of nature in gorgeous angles. I recommend this movie for anyone that likes a deeper story line that extremely original and breathtaking.

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I tried watch it this once, but stopped because I thought it was a bit too sketchy. I tried it again and really liked it. Lee min ho is a really good actor and he shined in this. He played the character extremely well. I wasn't a huge fan of the female lead though, but that's probably just from her unlikable character. The story was good; it was intense, slow, and bittersweet. There was action in this that was well choreographed and that seemed real. I also liked how it delt with a realistic storyline by bringing in higher ups in jobs, bad orphanages, and twisted people.

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This was a very touching movie. The acting wasn't the best, but the emotions felt from the characters were very strong. This movie should have won awards, it takes a normal realistic story and makes it beautiful. The female lead had s talent of making one feel just as she is. The male lead portrayed the character perfectly. Their relationship was so real and could be felt through the screen.This movie was beautifully sad and a most watch for anyone.

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I was skeptical about watching this because of the ages of the leads, but it was perfectly okay in how their relationship was. They both needed someone and they became irreplaceable existences to each other. The actors showed the character's love so well that I could feel exactly what they were feeling. The actors are worthy of awards, they were so good. The story was realistic and deep, diving into people who grow up in the tough world. The youth of the characters allow them to make mistakes and grow, but they stayed true to who they were in the beginning. This is now my favorite movie, the best I've ever seen. I never feel this much for a drama, but it was portrayed so well that it was undeniably perfect. Please watch this.

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Twisty, Clever, ,Sympathetic & Passionate Story Telling

I don't often rate series above an 8/10, but this show is an amazing 9.5/10. This is one of the pieces of fiction where you can tell that the creators truly cared for their work. This series shows passion, hard work, intense effort, and care and sympathy for people with all of it's nuance with each victim and perpetrator.

This show is simply amazing. This is one of the most well written crime series I've ever watched. The series starts with a twist in the first episode and continues with twists and turns within each character and case. But these twists aren't complicated or convoluted, they're so cleverly detailed and well written that they make so much sense and wow you as you learn each one. These twists serve a purpose to add layers to each victim and perpetrators story. These twists also allow you to gain sympathy not only for the victims, but for the perpetrators in some of these cases. The cases aren't black and white, everything is gray. These cases that the ML investigates leads to the connecting case which deals with the ML's childhood trauma where his family died in a fire. Typically the final case or the connecting case tends to feel empty by the end, but the writers maintain the twists and complexities, adding layer upon layer all the way to the end. I've watched hundreds of crime series/movies/books, but never have I been surprised so much. The twists are soo good.

The tone of the show changes often. The 28 episodes didn't drag on as the genre of crime and overall tone continued to become more and more interesting. The show starts seemingly simple, but adds more and more complexities as the story goes on. My favorite out of the cases dealt with Nu Na, it is one of the most intriguing cases in fiction I've come across.
It was extremely fascinating how the series dealt with trauma as well. The ML doesn't experience something horrific then turn out perfectly fine. We get to see how his trauma affects him, alters his perception on life, and how he faces the cases and characters in the show. We get to watch him face his physical and inner demons. The psychological aspects were extremely fascinating with each character as well.

I especially loved the casting for Zhu He and found his stage presence to be perfect for his role. Siyuan felt like an odd choice in the beginning, but I eventually really enjoyed his acting.

So the reasons why you should watch this amazing series:
-Complex ML
-Tone changes that keep you interested
-Interesting psychological concepts
-Well written and complex cases
-Clever twists
-Passionately made by it's creators

The only reasons as to why the show doesn't get a solid 10 from me is because
-why do the cops let a college student investigate/see classified information at the police station
-how does the ML manage to balance school and all the cases?/ we only see him go to school in the first few eps
-the ML's empty friends who he only recently met that suddenly become ride or die besties
-I feel like there could have been just a little bit more to the ending

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A trash fire plot with sincerity and heart-a weird hidden gem

Sweetest Taboo's central plot is the series of taboos and messiness of the characters. We're talking absolute nonsense like affairs, major age gaps, evil moms, terrible fathers, and many more. But in actuality, it's so much more than that. This show is about messy and flawed people and their growth. Lin and Kata are one of the healthiest couples I've ever seen and it's somehow between very flawed characters. These characters are messy, but honest and communicate everything. They get emotional, fight, then look at things from the other's perspective, realize where they were wrong and correct it and apologize. Throughout the show there are many fights and growth as they learn to become better people and better romantic partners. I typically get bored when characters get together early on, but more than half the show was about the couple's journey once they started dating and I was sat for the entire thing. I loved their relationship and it's honestly weirdly one of my favorites now. I will miss seeing their fights and makeups.

The FL Lin is a terrible messy person, but even toxic people can slowly change when they're encouraged, taught, and given time to grow. Kata aids in helping Lin become a better worker, sister, mother, and lover. He is an upright person who stands up for public justice and policy in an applicable way for the people way and that mindset is reflected in how he treats everyone around him. I fell in love with him the first scene I saw him in. That smile is adorable and he was the sweetest loving person the whole show. Lert was a great driving force as well raising Lee and always being there for Lin. Even the messy mom Kate grew on me whenever she wasn't acting like a psycho. The show has so many toxic characters, but they receive consequences for their actions and the loving people around them help them to change.

This show could've been terrible made up of only scandals but somehow it had so much heart, sincerity, and kindness that really showed how wise and genuine the creators of this show were. If you want to see messy characters change, see a couple learn to love each other through many trials, or just want a dramatic show with more than dramatics, this one is for you. Plus you will likely fall in love with the ever beautiful, ever kind, gentle, and adorable Kata played by Mikey.

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Cliche but with complex characters that add nuance (with some interesting psychological aspects)

This feels like your average college romance, but then the FL ends up being a complex character that adds a lot of dimension to the story. The FL deals with trauma (bullying), anxiety, panic attacks, there are hints of an ED, and she deals with compulsive lying.

The plot plays out like a coming of life romance with one dimensional characters until suddenly it's so much more. The story revolves around the FL's psychological issues and how her past reflects on how she acts in her relationships, whether it's friendship or romantic. You learn that she was bullied for her appearance and for her habit of lying. I would've enjoyed seeing more of her past and how she managed to become a cheerful girl. I also think it would've been interesting for them to explore the fact that she dropped an extreme amount of weight. There are hints of an eating disorder and that would've been an interesting aspect to dive into since her appearance was part of her bullying and that kind of internalized hate could cause her to be anxious about her current body/may still about body dysmorphia.

The ML was raised by neglectful parents which caused him to internalize his emotions to the point that he doesn't show affection, sadness, or anger clearly. But he's always able to see when other people are struggling, react empathically, and never pushes away affection. The ML's best friend is often hanging on his shoulders, sitting in the ML's space, or just placing his hand on the ML when he's talking to him. The ML never initiates, but always welcomes when his friend does this; he is afriad or simply not used to showing affection because he was never taught how or felt safe enough to do so. Through the show and seeing the FL's struggles and her reasoning with lying, he learns to widen his perspective on his life. He begins to grow after getting to know the FL, he begins to act like a warm child; he begins to show more warmth for others, holds love in his eyes, acts clingy/cuddly, and is open about his sadness and loneliness. He even begins to open up more to his best friend emotionally/communicative.

The plot is straightforward and cliche, but the characters come with trauma and past's that have shaped them. They feel like "real" people that face their struggles and learn how to be better versions of themselves as they learn about each other. They learn to view themselves differently and in turn it helps them to care more for themselves, their friends, and for each other.

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Appearing cliche but comes with nuance, complex characters, and a great main couple

This is genuinely one of the most high quality jdramas I've seen. It has great pacing, talented actors, clever sound design, beautiful/detailed shooting locations and sets, an emotionally intimate couple, and nuanced characters interacting with the concept of why lies are told.

The casting choices for the leads were perfect. Both are very talented with their eye acting, showing warmth, surprise, sadness, and lingering eyes to show attachment. The ML is great with physical comedy as well. Typically when jdramas try the same physical comedy that works in anime, it doesn't mesh well and comes across off and cringey. Yet the ML had extremely exaggerated body language and expressions at times, but somehow he makes it feel loveable and true to his character. I like that the story took the typically shy and kind FL and gave her personality reasoning and nuance. Her shyness and quietness comes from trauma and isolation as a child. Yet she remained strong enough to continue caring for others. But her shyness doesn't equate to weakness, she uses her courage to speak up, fight when needed, quick in moments of emergencies, and is no damsel in distress.

I love the the mutual respect and admiration the couple have for each other. It's a slow burn romance, but not a slow burn relationship. Their friendship is beautiful and warm filled with encouragement, honesty, attentiveness, and lots of the ML's lingering warm eyes as he looks at the FL with adoration and respect. One of my favorite quotes from the show is when the ML says to the FL "having someone like you around is truly a blessing."

I can't wait for a second season!

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"I like waking up to a blurry world."

As humans we're not supposed to deal with so much stress, tragedy, and death, it's more natural for us to lose our empathy and sympathy to protect ourselves form feeling too much. We become saddened by death until we're saddened enough to not have enough energy to care. Just as over-consumption makes us lose our ability to enjoy, desensitization makes us become less human. Now we have become zombies.

We are Little Zombies is about a group of kids who grew up in a dark world, not knowing what healthy parental love looks like. Domestic abuse, parental neglect, parental insertion and jealously, bullying, and no support lead these kids to close themselves off. When their parents die, they don't really know how to feel, display their feelings, or what right they have to certain feelings. With parents they hate, but can't help but love, how can they decide what to feel? Instead the shock, the tragedy, the lack of tragedy cause them to become "zombies."

The story plays out as the main character Hikari lives through video games. So the movie is filmed as it their lives are made of stages and save points. A group of kids meet at a funeral and go on emotionless adventures trying to find their emotions as adults fail to understand or protect them and as other adults turn the children's experiences with tragedy and death into something to capitalize on.

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"Let's not live by days, but by seconds."

Will Love in Spring is more of a story of life rather than a simple romance. It's a journey that includes the different people you meet in life and how everyone has value. It's a story of flawed and lovely individuals, different forms of relationships, and how our experiences shape us no matter our age; we're people that consistently change. The characters in this feel like real people, they are some of the most well written three dimensional characters I've seen. They have trauma that follows them the whole story rather than it being used as a plot device.; they have unresolved complexes and flaws that only make them feel more real. They have personalities shaped by their trauma, they have intellect, wisdom, and faults. It's about loss and grief and how that changes how we value life and the people that are a part of it. It changes how scared and how bold we may be to chase after happiness. It's about how love and loss affects grandparents, mothers, fathers, spouses, siblings, and children. Will Love in Spring is a lovely and unique story of life, romance, friendship, family, and the affect that loss has on ourselves.

One of my favorite quotes is between two of the grandmas in the story.
"We started with holding each other's tiny hands, now we're holding each other's wrinkled hands."

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This movie was a collaboration of Japan and Korea, and whenever they work together, it ends up a masterpiece. This movie was extremely original and I was pleasantly surprised with how it executed the mixtures of gorgeous scenery and intricate stories. The acting could have been better, but the actors fit the characters very well. I think this is one of those eye opening movies that make you have different views afterwards. This in now one of my favorite movies.

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Wasted potential with the highlight being a complex FL

The best part of this series is the complex FL. We watch her deal with trauma and the repercussions of her trauma with PTSD, touch aversion, sleepwalking, and very low self-esteem. We get to watch as she deals with the horrors of a terrible family and how she remains strong and unafraid to stand up for herself, but still face the long-term effects of her past. Her trauma isn't just a empty plot that the writers put in without consideration of how terrible it can truly be. The FL is the highlight and honestly, I would've loved to see more time spent on her working through her personal issues. She is a complex, multi-dimensional character that we get to watch grow and learn to love herself. I enjoyed her character more than the romance of the whole show.

The romance was perfect, warm, but empty and quite lackluster. The ML is a really flat character who's only character trait is being in love with the FL. In the Hidden Love his character was full of life, humor, warmth, and love for everyone around him. In First Frost he has a best friend who is super friendly and caring and many other friends as well, but yet he constantly ignores them, is rude to them, and doesn't show his care for them at all. His best friend even begs him at one point saying that he really needed to talk to him, but he shoved him off because he wanted to be with his girlfriend. This ML was just empty outside of the romance.

The romance was the main genre, so of course, it's one of the most important relationships in the show. But..what about the FL's best friend? She is always there for her, forgives her when she leaves her/dumps her and is always there for her even when the FL doesn't have the emotional/mental energy to be there for her. Yet the FL mentions multiple times that the ML is the only one that loves her and that he's the only family she has.

The secondary couple was cute, but they didn't fit the tone of the series at all. I would've watched them if they had their own show because they had more natural chemistry than the leads, but I skipped during First Frost.

So all in all, the FL was the best part. The romance was warm, but empty.

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