Chatriel

Second watch

I just got through my second watch of this, and after watching probably 300 C-/K-/J-/T-dramas, I have to say that the acting in this show is some of the best, in my opinion. Not everyone was perfect in every scene, but I didn't question the actors' reactions any more than I would have questioned the reactions of people in real life. And although there are a few plot holes, I personally have enough imagination to fill in the blanks.

The kids totally stole my heart in every scene they were in, and made the entire drama worth watching. While their delivery sometimes lacked emotion, anyone who's been around young kids knows that's often the way kids speak, so it was believable. And their crying scenes were on point, especially when the boy was chasing after the taxi. I hope he got an award for that scene alone.

My original rating was an 8.5, but I bumped it to a 9.5 this time around. Of all the shows that I've watched, it's rare that I WANT to watch a drama more than once, and even rarer that I actually DO it. But this show is definitely worth it.

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Just some thoughts...

There are already plenty of reviews for this drama, so instead of an actual review, I'll just write some thoughts that may or may not ever be read. Just because. LOL

--Is it really really good acting, or do I actually, truly, hate the mom??? Also, I hate that she never understood that she was the cause of her son's moral deficiencies.

--The plot twist. I wasn't expecting a plot twist. How was I not expecting a plot twist?? I was truly surprised. And honestly, it was informational only....they would have been fine without it. But it did give some justification to the motive.

--I never did understand the relationship between Yu Ji Hyuk (ML) and Lee Suk Joon (Lawyer/HR). I got a sense that there was a familial relationship, but I was never sure.

--Yu Hee Yeon was adorable! It's nice to have a genuinely good character occasionally. Not to mention, intelligent and helpful, with no ulterior motives.

--Poor Baek Eun Ho. He was so clueless throughout the entire thing. I felt so sorry for him.

--Yu Ra's bodyguard/driver/secretary.....he looked so betrayed in the last episode. Not to mention his reluctance to murder people. His role was pivotal in saving some lives. I thought he deserved a better ending than to be left standing in the parking lot.

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Great story!

This is a short drama, but it somehow relayed more story than the 35min x 8eps allowed, with still enough time for flashbacks and bloopers at the end of the last episode. I enjoyed it thoroughly, with my only complaints being that 1) the school bully is 38yrs old irl, and looks it, 2) the adult versions of the ML's look too dissimilar to their high school selves, and 3) the psychiatrist should have had a brighter personality. I had to suspend belief on those matters. Other than that, everything was "gucci" in my opinion. Even the pseudo-supernatural parts have a basis in reality, whether it be actual physical reactions that science has yet to explain, or simply psychological results from changes in the body. (Here I refer to menstrual theft as well as cellular memory. Because hormones make us do crazy things, and genetic/ancestral memory is a thing, so why not cellular memory?)

Despite these things, the drama itself was an immersive, emotional, and overall feel-good story. I didn't even hate the bully as much as I should have, as it seemed to me that he had a depth that was left unexplored. But nothing is perfect, in dramas or in real life, and things aren't always what they seem or what we think they should be. I think that the actors played their characters well, and I liked that the drama didn't have abusive parents or teachers, and the friendships/relationships between the characters were real. Especially the grandma. They boys' love for her made me smile.

I loved this drama and I highly recommend it!

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A love that never falters

This drama was about a love that never falters. Throughout the entire show, the main characters are confident in themselves and their love. Once they actually get together, they do not doubt each other. They believe in themselves, each other, and their abilities. They believe in each other's strength and fight together to ensure that they will be together in the end. The drama they face together, with the support of their friends, results in a happy ending. The writers even gave all the characters redeemable qualities which may be unrealistic, but made the drama easy to watch. The visuals were stunning, especially the ML's bedroom eyes. (Sorry, I'm shallow like that sometimes. LOL) I enjoyed the difference in this drama, in that it started from the end and told their backstory. So while you know how it's going to end, you have to watch to see how it got there.

Personally, I could have used another 8 or so episodes focused on the side characters as well. I would like to have seen more of their journey.

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A trip through Hell

I'll keep this short and sweet.
Spoilers ahead:
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Question: How do you make an entire movie, quite literally, around the twitch of a hand?

Answer: You throw in some dinosaurs, a pack of hungry wolves, some battle scenes, a game of chess, a clay pot, a trip through hell, some fabulous CGI, and an amazing cast of actors!

I personally thought part 1 (Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds) was a better movie overall, but there are many who disagree. Regardless, both movies were very well done and deserve to be seen by those who occasionally enjoy a bit of the fantasy genre. I'd hope they would continue with the plans to make a part 3 and 4, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen, sadly.

Are you still reading? Why?? Go watch!!!

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My new favorite

This was the sweetest, most heartfelt BL I've watched thus far. Although it only has 8 episodes, and each episode is only about 15 minutes long, it was enough. I don't think making it longer would have made it better. The script had everything it needed in order to tell the story well. The acting itself, the movements, the emotions, the dialogue, all seemed genuine. The mini-game at the end of each episode helped to show the background of the characters and assisted with story progression, while adding a fun element and keeping the show from taking itself too seriously.

The story centers around Lee Wan, who confessed his feelings to his best friend, Shin Ki Tae, directly after their high school graduation. After the confession, Wan runs away without giving Ki Tae time to process the confession. Lee Wan completely removes himself from Ki Tae's life, leaving Ki Tae searching for him for the next 7 years. Upon reencountering Lee Wan, Ki Tae wastes little time working his way back into Wan's life, leaving Wan to make decisions that will affect whether or not they have a future together.

This drama helps to raise the bar for K-BLs, and for BLs in general. With a total run time of approximately 2 hours, I literally doubled my watch-time by rewatching each episode at least once as it aired. It was well thought out, well written, well directed, well edited, and well acted. (Too much? Am I gushing?? LOL.) I highly recommend this series.

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Just some thoughts...

I've completed the show and glanced through the other reviews. I think that there are enough reviews that give fairly good synopses (I had to google the plural for synopsis...never had to write that word before. Lol). Anyway, I just wanted to leave some of my own personal thoughts on the drama.

I thought that the actors interpreted and delivered their roles well. I was disappointed, though, that while I could feel the friendship, and even the love that the main leads had for each other, I didn't see any actual passion in their love. And while that's ok in real life....many have love and friendship in their relationships and that's all they need...I didn't think that it translated into a good love story for a k-drama. Basically that means the chemistry just wasn't there in my opinion.

What I did enjoy was the relationship between John Jang and Park Ji Wan. I would have loved to have seen much more of them on screen. I thought their chemistry was amazing. Or maybe it was simply the story of the underdog getting a win. But, tbh, although she was portrayed as such, I never considered Ji Wan as an underdog because she was the prettiest female in the cast...again, my opinion.

Also, Dae Hwi. Idk, there's something about him. As a kpop fan, every time I see him on screen, I have a habit of screaming "Dae Hwi!" LOL. (Idk why, it's just a thing. He impressed me on something he said once, and made me a fan.) So, although I hadn't looked at the cast, within the first 2 minutes or so of the show, I was yelling his name in excitement. And the fact that I loved his character just made me like him better. He portrayed Sang Woo, who never gave up on his ideals and never betrayed his principles, regardless of the situation.

(My daughter also pointed out that Choi Si Won was also an idol, and it made me wonder if I'd missed any others.)

The drama overall held my attention fairly well. I thought they could have done better with the "Kingdom of Love" show that much of the drama was based around. If that had been a real show on television, I'd have skipped it. I loved Yu Reum's supportive parents. I loved the friendships that Yu Reum had. And the relationship between Dae Shik and Hye Jin is something for everyone to strive for. Dae Shik is such a loveable character, and his attitude is everything.

I was disappointed that they didn't do anything with the camera exposure of Chae Ri's one night stand with Jang Goon. And there were a few more storylines they could have gone with, and chose to ignore or edit out. So my satisfaction wasn't quite fulfilled.

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Someone please give these actors better scripts!

I'd read comments about how awful this show was, and I thought, "It can't be that bad, I'll judge it for myself." And well....I just want to know who let this drama happen?? Why didn't the director stop this?? Do the writers still have jobs??

The acting was pretty dang good. Especially since they really didn't have anything to go on. I've seen much, much worse acting. But the dialogue, what little of it that there was, was pretty bad in a lot of places. Not all of it was horrible. And there were some life-lessons they tried to address. I appreciate that they made an attempt to deal with problems such as depression, family, friends, relationships, and a few lgbtq+ issues. They just weren't dealt with very well.

I had issues with several of the storylines and plot devices. The sister's storyline was total BS. Taking the kid away? I had sympathy towards her until she did that. The aunt telling Rose to push Dr. Yang out of his job? Nope. And Dr. Pun....I just don't even know what to say about him. I liked him even though he was unprofessional, pushy, and disrespectful at times--I've never seen someone be respectful and disrespectful at the same time, but this character managed it,-- but some of the things he did were, in my opinion, verging on sexual assault....luckily he never pushed it that far. And then there was the flash forward, and for a while I wasn't sure if all of the scenes from that point on were future scenes or if they were flashing back to the past again. It just wasn't done well.

I feel sorry for the actors. Most of them were really good, especially considering they had all those long pauses and drawn out scenes. But there were production issues, sound issues, writing issues, etc. The actual story had such potential. It was simply wasted in my opinion. This was one time that I agree with the comments.

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Live Action Manga

I am disappointed that this series didn't turn out better. I think the actors did a fine job with what they were given. (I even have a little crush on Masayan.) But just because this was adapted from a manga doesn't mean that we should be looking for the manga characters to come to life. It should be the same storyline, but with life-like characters. I will admit that this was done better than some manga adaptations, but still didn't hit the mark. Onoe was still an OTT character and Motoharu was still the cool, unaffected focus of his affections, as in most manga stories. With some realizations, communication, and the help of the side characters, they were able to work things out for a positive ending, but getting there simply felt like a chore. It was a bit choppy. There was character progression but I'm not sure where it came from.

I will not be rewatching this series in it's entirety....but I may go back and rewatch parts of the last couple episodes, simply because they were cute. But probably not.

I would like to see these actors in other non-manga shows though.

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Worthy of a rewatch

I appreciate so much about this film. The acting, the dialogue, the attempt at reality during the love scenes. I really, really liked it. I am one to gloss over missteps, mistakes, and plot holes in order to enjoy the effort put forth by the cast and staff. I understand that it's all acting. It's fantasy for our enjoyment. Mistakes will be made, people will have opinions, and not every thing is for every one. But this is honestly a pretty dang good story.

For you (me) to completely understand what actually transpired in the story, a rewatch or 2 is necessary. I watched this as a movie on GagaOoLala as opposed to the original 'shorts' that it was released as. Watching it in the original would probably have helped with the (however slight) disjointedness of the show. But other than that....after watching a second time, I understood much better about the pulled punches, the slight hints here and there, the noticing of the med kit, etc.

I am glad that Strongberry read and replied to the reviews. That shows me that the company is willing to find out what the public thought about the show in order to continually improve their productions, as well as giving the public what it wants to see. (I do not expect for Strongberry to read or comment on this review, as it's been over 5 years since this came out, and people/companies have to move on, but that's not going to diminish my respect for the company.)

I recommend others to watch this....and then rewatch it for a fuller understanding.

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When you’re watching a drama and out of your mouth comes the words “We need a hero……!!!” you know you’re waaay too into the drama. ...

Ryu Su-Yeol is a renowned detective in the Anti-Corruption Department of his Korean police agency, known for his ability to solve cases and resolve matters to the satisfaction of the police commissioner. Due to trauma in his past, he unknowingly developed an alternate identity. This identity, named "K," has a hero complex and wants to punish the bad guy, regardless of the law. But K also acts as Su-Yeol's savior again and again, as Su-Yeol can't seem to keep himself out of trouble while chasing criminals. K also has a good instinct for identifying others who are noncorrupt, and pushes Su-Yeol to help keep those people safe. Su-Yeol faces his past, as well as the reason that K was born, when a psychopathic psychiatrist, a corrupt official, and a drug ring all tie together to create havoc in Su-Yeol's life. Su-Yeol and K work together to solve crimes and keep themselves and others alive.

While I never really understood how the drug ring tied into the psychiatrist except by chance, I can't be sure if that was because of plot holes or because of language barrier/translations. Regardless, I was a little confused by how everything tied together. Also, the level of physical violence and blood was unnecessary to the story. Although some violence was definitely required, it could have been toned down and still have told a good story. Still, it held my attention. I never had to skip through scenes.

My favorite scenes were the ones with K. He provided comedic relief and Wi Ha-Joon played this character amazingly. He and Lee Dong Wook had a very interesting chemistry (a true "Odd Couple") and played off of each other well. I don't think another actor could have effectively pulled off what Wi Ha-Joon did in this series. I would guess that Wi Ha-Joon improvised some scenes and reactions, as they seemed too good to be scripted. The rest of the actors were well cast also, and they worked hard to fulfill their roles.

While I liked this drama, I also think that it could have been shortened to a 6 or 8 part mini-series and still have been effective. Either that, or lengthened to 16 episodes to explain better some of the reasoning behind certain actions. The acting itself and the 'edge of your seat' situations will maintain a good rating from me.

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Within the world of a comic

This is a rom-com/drama about Dan Oh and her relationships with other characters of the high school comic that she finds herself a part of. She and a few others become self-aware and are able to realize that they are more than the setup that their writer established for them. In order to change the story to better reflect the self-aware characters' thoughts and wishes, they work together, or sometimes against each other, to make the needed adjustments.

The drama had a lot of potential, and, as is, would have been fine with half as many episodes. If it had to be 32 episodes, it would have been better with more story line. Instead, the same few scenes were played over and over as if the viewers needed certain points drilled into their heads. You could almost skip the entire middle of the story and not miss anything. Personally, I didn't mind too much, simply because Rowoon, Lee Tae Ri, and most of the others, are pretty to look at. But I did get tired of seeing the same scenes. Even within the story, Dan Oh was tired of it. And the brooding faces of a bunch of rich, angsty teens got tiresome as well. It was a breath of fresh air when the final episode moved them on to a new (university) comic with the same characters but a whole different vibe. I wouldn't have minded if there had been more university episodes and fewer high school episodes, just to see the cast play more of their new characters.

I did love the premise and the way the comic world was portrayed from the viewpoint of the characters. In between each "stage," it was like a director yelling "cut" and the self-aware characters would retreat from their setups, while the ones who were not self-aware would continue as their characters were written. I did not understand how the characters within the comic had access to a previous comic, but....plot holes within plot holes, I guess.

The OST from this drama is amazing in my opinion. These songs will stick with me longer than the drama will.

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And now for the unpopular opinion

I've said many times, and I'll say it again: I am very easy to please and can overlook a multitude of sins when watching a BL. Even still, there were definite problems with this series. It was almost as if it were a 'choose your own ending' story, but they forgot to put in the options. It seemed experimental. You never really knew if the ending of each episode was going to continue with the next, or was it going to be a completely new story. If parts of it were supposed to be imagination, they forgot to include the dreamy, cloudy edges in the scenes. Maybe the writers were waiting for opinions from viewers after each episode, and if the viewers didn't like it, the writers started over....?

However....most of the acting in this was pretty dang good. Jeff Satur (Sean) can act. Period. I'm glad he finally started to get better roles (ie KinnPorsche). Gun Tieosuwan (Valen) was extraordinary. Same for Ohm Napat Utsaha (King), at least if it's a dramatic crying scene (since he didn't get to do much else.) For the most part, the rest were also really good, and would have been better if they'd had better direction. The long pauses while talking, the extra-long stares into each other's eyes, the staring out at the ocean....I mean, all that can happen, but not as many times as they put these poor actors through. If you're filling up a time slot, that's not the best way to do it. The most naturally acting cast was the older generation, which is strangely surprising in my BL experience. (You would think those with more acting experience would be better actors, but rarely have I actually seen that in a BL.)

I watched it all and didn't skip, although there were a few times that I thought about it. I actually liked watching the acting. I actually liked most of the story. The actors did a great job portraying emotions. There were parts of the story where the reactions were more realistic, like when the characters refused to listen to explanations. (Lets be honest, when you're angry and hurt, you don't want to hear explanations.) There were legit, real kisses. There were believable touches and intimate moments. (I think it was in part 1 where it showed a flashback of Peat lounging against King's arm while reading a book that literally shocked me, because it was such a natural thing to do that you rarely see it on screen.) (And the scene where Valen is kissing Kaitoon before Atom started banging on the door....I wonder if they were still acting at that point....)

There is enough left unresolved that they could do another season, and I wouldn't mind watching more. I would ask that they clean up the direction and production a bit. But I can honestly say that those 2 scenes I mentioned are some of the most memorable that I've seen in all 150 or more BL's that I've watched. And the last scene, the last few seconds of the show, past the credits... many people didn't like. But it was everything to me.

And I love listening to Jeff Satur's voice on the soundtrack!

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Match+Mix+Ryu

My opinion, + mild spoilers

I can honestly say that this was the weirdest chemistry I've ever encountered in a BL. I know it's just acting, but onscreen, the 3 of them belonged together. The chemistry between just (any) 2 of them didn't really work. It was awkward. The 3 of them together, when they weren't competing, was amazing! I felt like I was watching friends who had grown up together and cared deeply for each other rather than people who had just met. There were jealous moments, but a lot of times when there should have been jealousy, it came across to me that they simply cared more about each other than they did themselves.

That being said, when Mix was feeling sorry for himself, I should have wanted to kick his butt. Somehow, instead, I just felt sympathy towards him. That says a lot about the acting in those scenes. As far as the rest of the acting, I think they would have done better with a better script. They were so limited, with everything literally being in-house, that it was a "make the most of it" script. To be honest, the best/most natural thing I saw in the entire drama was the initial kiss.

This is the first drama I've seen where, due to the chemistry of the characters, I was rooting for some type of poly relationship. After the first couple weeks of living together, they should have been looking for another place to live that didn't have a 2 person limitation. The happiness of the final scene and the possibilities ahead made the whole series worth watching. I assume there's not going to be a season 2, so in my head everything works out the way I wanted.

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Glad I persevered

I admit that I did a lot of fast-forwarding through the first half....ok, more than half of the show. The part with the teachers was unnecessary. The photography club was unnecessary. The side characters were just fillers. This could have been done with half as many episodes if they'd focused on the main characters. I read the comments before starting the show, and about 2 episodes in, I thought, "Ugh, I agree with the comments, this is bad." But I'm glad I persevered, because at some point I stopped fast-forwarding. By episode 9 or so, I was actually interested. Mind you, it shouldn't have taken that long to become interesting, but still....and even then, I had some negative thoughts, but the show resolved well in my opinion. The acting became much better. The story became much better.

The English subs never got better, and there were times it required some interpretation. For instance, the bar scene in the last episode was one of the best scenes in the drama, but the subs were so bad that I had to rewatch after I figured out what they were trying to say. That is very distracting when you are trying to enjoy interesting and pivotal scenes within the drama.

There were a few characters in the show that had some outstanding acting, especially with what they had to work with. And honestly, there really wasn't much chemistry between the leads. Despite this, I think they pushed hard to make it work the best they could.

Overall, I'm glad I watched this.

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