Cho Na

"Let Us Share Each Other Fortune and Misfortune" (Ma Hoon, English sub)

The low rating seems due to the poster, trailer, and synopsis give us a false assumption of a light fluffy romcom drama about Flower Crew marriage agency attempt to transform a plain looking street girl to become a noble lady since the King wants to marry her. Although there are plenty of fun scenes but this drama also reveals dark features of social class issues, political struggles, multiple enemies, complicated schemes, several deaths, cruelty, betrayal, deceptions, and riot.

STORY - Since the synopsis is misleading, I rewrite it below:
Flower Crew is a famous matchmaking agency in Joseon era, operated by 3 handsome noblemen: the refined and intelligent leader Ma Hoon, the carefree playboy Do Joon, and the lively fashionista Young Soo. Kim Soo, the son of a village blacksmith, requests the agency's service to marry his best friend Gae Ddong, a former slave, whom he is in love with. Unfortunately, on the wedding day, the groom and his father mysteriously disappear, and soon after that the bride is hunted down by assassins. Out of pity, Ma Hoon took Gae Ddong in. To pay off the wedding expenses she works as an apprentice for the agency, and with the crew she finds friendship and love. What starts as a simple wedding plan become complicated, when Kim Soo reappears as the newly crowned puppet King of Joseon. The crew and Gae Ddong's life are at stake, because the King still wants to marry Gae Ddong despite of political struggles he is facing.

This drama compels me to do a quick research about social status and marriage issues during Joseon era our lovely characters are facing. There are spoilers below so please do not proceed reading if you want to see some surprises straight by watching the drama.

SOCIAL STATUS AND MARRIAGE ISSUES - The royalty and four social classes during Joseon era:

- the royalty - King Lee Soo. Since he wants to marry Gae Ddong but he can only marry a noble lady, The Flower Crew has to manipulate her status to be a yangmin. Outside the noble class, women from lower status can only become his concubines.
The king's marriage is arranged by Queen Dowager through tight selection process. Yoo Soo Yun gets chosen as the other candidates are disqualified, but King Lee Soo releases her by granting her permission to marry another man. Without the royal letter, she has to stay unmarried forever.
After the riot, the Queen Dowager status is stripped off so there is no longer any female royalty elders to conduct the selection. In the end King Lee Soo can choose any yangmin, that's how he gets many marriage proposals from noble ladies.

- the noble class (yangmin), right below the royalty. Consists of the scholars, heroes, and top level government positions.
Their family trees and identities are registered by the government. Ma Hoon owns the noble registration book.
Ma Hoon and Ji Hwa are the real yangmin. Do Joon was a yangmin before but due to family issue his status is moved down, possibly to a cheonmin. Young Soo and Yoo Soo Yun are fake yangmin. Young Soo gets a noble name from Ma Hoon since the real Young Soo emigrate abroad Joseon never comes back. Yoo Soo Yun gets a noble name from Ma Hoon since the real Yoo Soo Yun is deceased but never registered by her father.
Noble ladies actually suffer more stricter lives than women from lower class, due to the Confucianism rules. As a yangmin Ji Hwa will become a possession of her future husband, therefore she insists to at least choosing a nobleman to marry. Her only candidate is Ma Hoon, whose father is at top government level than her father at the second, but since Ma Hoon rejects her she moves up her target to King Lee Soo.

- the middle class (chungmin) - the white collars.
The Flower Crew agency is a chungmin business, therefore the Head of State Councilor/Ma Hoon's father, the Second State Councilor/Ji Hwa's father, and Ji Hwa despise their work as lowly jobs. Ma Hoon picked the office location in the alley, as the business equal for any social class to request for marriage arrangements.
After the riot, the Ma family and the Kang family are stripped off their status, and all their assets are taken for the country. There are possibilities the whole familes are eradicated too, but since Ma Hoon and Ji Hwa helped the King during the riot, they are given amnesty to live and are only moved down to chungmin. Therefore we see in the last episode that Ma Hoon told Gae Ddong that he is nothing and has nothing. We also see Ji Hwa lives in a modest house in the outskirt of town while doing business for survival helping people taking state exams.

- the commoners (sangmin) - the blue collars.
The blacksmith Kim Soo is a sangmin, who can marry Gae Ddong as she is a cheonmin. At first, Ma Hoon rejects his request several times, because commoner's wedding ceremony is simple and Kim Soo may not have much money for the marriage. However he insisted and promised the queen hairpin inherited from his mother as the wedding payment, that Ma Hoon took the job.

- the outcast (cheonmin) - slaves, kisaeng, dirty job workers, street entertainers.
Gae Ddong and Chil Nom are run-away/former slaves and Gae Ddong's brother Kang is a slave. Kim Soo saved her from slavery by telling her captors that she is his wife. She becomes a free cheonmin doing any kind of jobs.
Chil Nom was saved by Ma Hoon, and when Ma Hoon finds out that Chil Nom has sense of fashion and style, he recruited the boy to be a matchmaker instead of a servant and gave him a yangmin name. He is very proud of his yangmin status and berates Gae Ddong at first, although they were from the same boat.
Do Joon is a cheonmin due to impoverished family. He lives at the kisaeng house and plays music to entertain in the street. Ma Hoon recruited him to be an informant for the business, therefore by profession he is a chungmin. At first, Ji Hwa thought he is a carefree chungmin and does not want to take state exam to be a yangmin, but he cannot take it to move up his social status. Only the King can grant him a permission letter to be able to take the exam, hence moving up his social status.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS DRAMA:
(+) No dragging scenes. Subplots and many side stories make this drama interesting to watch, as we cannot guess what the next scene will be.
(+) Superb editing to bring all the important and not so important scenes together on a thrilling ride
(+) I learned about the social class differences connecting to marriages in Joseon era
(+) I learned about the traditional Chilseok holiday and Jiknyeo and Gyeonwu folklore. I will not talk about it here, but check out the link below if interested:
https://asiasociety.org/korea/chilseok-traditional-korean-valentine%E2%80%99s-day
(+) Stunning cinematography. The ones I love especially are romantic scenes where couples are standing on a bridge. It has symbol of Chilseok mythology mentioned above
(+) Beautiful OST. Here is the link in Youtube to listen to the songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q0-rlc5kig
(+) Gorgeous costume, especially Young Soo's clothing
(+) Outstanding make up, especially in the scenes of filthy and bloody Chil Nom

ACTING/CAST
I have not seen all five actors/actresses' other dramas so my evaluation is only based on this drama:
(+) Character Ma Hoon is probably the perfect groom criteria, he has everything: handsome, nobleman, powerful family background, intelligent, resourceful, independent, business savvy, well-spoken, calm, compassionate, open-minded... what else? Interestingly, some comments stated that Ma Hoon is outshined by other characters due to his stoic expression and quiet demeanor. I briefly saw actor Kim Min Jae in Goblin but cannot judge his performance from a guest role, but I think Kim Min Jae is just nailed the Ma Hoon role.
(+) Character Gae Ddong go thru many role transformations: a runaway slave, an ill-mannered tough street girl, a forlorn jilted, a matchmaker newbie, a woman in love, a fake noble lady, and finally a woman of dignity. Actress Gong Seung Yeon brought up every stage of Gae Ddong flawlessly, from a woman crying poor-me to a woman with inner strength
(+) Many said that there is no chemistry between Ma Hoon and Gae Ddong, but I think they have a natural chemistry that grows based on the roles and the drama plot. The ones who saw the BTS scenes witnessed that actually the leads were comfortable with each other. But the story line does not let them to be close to each other easily. It starts with disliking each other from Gae Ddong faking a bride and spreading bad rumors about the agency, to a strictly business related since she becomes a real bride of Kim Soo. Their genuine relationship starts after the cancelled wedding and their feelings bloom once Gae Ddong becomes an apprentice. Still, the return of the groom pulls back their relationship to a teacher-student relationship, especially from Ma Hoon's side, and the obligation to save the King and country. Their chemistry (though pretty obvious), are more thru eye contacts, gifts, encouraging words, and caring acts than hugging and kissing (which there are evident).
(+) Actor Seo Ji Hoon is perfectly chosen as Kim Soo or King Lee Soo, that many shipped for Soo-Ddong coupling than Hoon-Ddong coupling, and get Second Lead Syndrome because of it. The role also goes to many transformation from a blacksmith-in-love, to a concerned and lonely Lee Soo, a broken-hearted Kim Soo, and finally a wise and smart king in the end.
(+) I have thought that the role Young Soo is just a merry-maker similar to Yong-Ha in Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Little that I know that the story written for Young Soo's past is very painful and terrifying, worst than Gae Ddong's past. Actor Park Jin Hoo, despite of his flower boy look and K-idol background, acted amazingly as the fashionista with PTSD, possibly is perfected his long acting career as a child actor.
(+) Character Ji Hwa is interesting as she is a rebellious noble lady who goes against father's will and has her own ambition to go to the top position. Actress Go Won Hee did a great job portraying an elegant yet mean lady, proving that she can take either protagonist or antagonist role in her acting career.
(+) Although in my opinion actor Byun Woo Suk's performance is not as outstanding as other characters, but his Do Joon role pairing with Ji Hwa as the second couple is interesting to watch due to their different social status and Ji Hwa's ambition to marry someone better than Do Joon like Ma Hoon or the King. Besides, what else to say, just watching this gorgeous tall guy with long hair playing music (piano in Joseon dynasty, everyone???) while flirting with girls is a guilty pleasure by itself
(+) The silent war and bickering between the Head State of Councilor and Second State Councilor are delightful to watch and added to the ever increasing thrill. Outstanding jobs for veteran actors Park Ho San and Jung Jae Sung playing the antagonists.

WHAT I DO NOT LIKE ABOUT THIS DRAMA:
(-) Second Male Lead Syndrome for sure because Seo Ji Hoon's handsomeness and acting
(-) There is no or a very little character growth for Ji Hwa from bad to good. She still wants Gae Ddong to die in the last scene when Do Joon asks where Gae Ddong and Young Soo are. She probably does not change her mind because of her love for Do Joon or his words, but more of smart thinking that by telling the fact she will be saved if her father's rebellion fails. but the writer does not give enough time for Ji Hwa to undergo a tsundere transformation adequately.






.

Read More

Tips for First Time Watchers

Watched this drama twice, the first time way back in 2015 and the second time just finished it yesterday to give a 10 rating (rare from me, only for masterpiece performances). Since there are already hundreds of great reviews of this drama, I will just write on tips how to watch it for the first time: for either viewers who love to take time watching one quality drama (slow-takers) or viewers who binge-watch dramas or do not have much time to watch drama (fast-takers).

I was completely confused and raked my brain when watching it for the first time, as this show is not one light fluffy romcom that you can just breeze thru for killing time. For the second time I was more able to enjoy the romance and comedy features, the superb acting of Ji Sung, Hwang Jung Eum, and Park Seo Joon, and the OST.

SLOW TAKERS FIRST TIME VIEWERS:
- Put aside some ample time to watch at least one full episode (1 hour) as this is not the one you can watch 5 or 10 minutes while doing chores to be picked up the rest later.
- For every episode: write down any catchy details as they provide clues for the mystery. You may have to go back watching that particular episode.
- Pay attention of the Cha Do Yun's family tree that Oh Ri On made. There are a lot of members in that family to confuse you on who is who.
- Pay attention of the clippings and pictures collected by Oh Ri On. They provide the past story of plot and characters.
- Pay attention of the introduction of each Do Yun's multi personalities as their appearances shape the plot.

FAST TAKERS FIRST TIME VIEWERS:
- There are so many flashback scenes in this drama you can skip some of them. Flashback of a certain personality or events can be skipped or fast forwarded as they only compile of what you already watched before. But do not skip flashbacks of historic events of 21 years past that are explained by some characters.
- Look for the explanation of the multiple personalities on the internet.
- Look for Cha Do Yun's family tree in the internet. But beware it provides also the important connection that is a huge spoiler of this drama that can take away the thrill of revealing the mystery by yourself.

Read More

She May Either Electrify or Electrocute You

This drama is refreshing, does not follow typical romcom plot. Instead of a cold man meeting a warm woman you get the other way around. Instead of a rich guy and a poor girl you get a rich guy and ..... (I cannot spoil you). Let me entice you with my own synopsis: The female lead Feng Ping has a supernatural power that is like a curse to her. It can cause harm to others under her negative feelings. To control that, she trains herself to be cold and aloof, detaching herself to other people's emotions. In several coincidences, she meets the male lead Jia Nan. A playboy, a celebrity, an actor, and comes from a rich family. Accustomed to women chasing him, Jia Nan is instantly attracted to Feng Ping who does not bat her eyelashes at him. Soon he proposes to her, and both enter a fake engagement with different reasons. Having covered her identity and tragic past tightly, Feng Ping becomes an object of intense spying and investigating from Jia Nan and people around him.

LIKES
(+) The drama gives us many secrets besides the main one (Feng Ping's identity). Starting slow that made me bored and almost dropped the drama, it picked up very well especially after the engagement. I binge-watched every episode afterwards, dying to know the secrets revealed.
(+) The drama tricks us into believing differently on Feng Ping's characters and intentions and reveals the facts little by little
(+) The drama intentionally keeps some secret until the end and never reveals them. Not necessary for the main plot though, just enticing.
(+) The drama keeps us entertaining on the pairings fate. We will not be sure of some of the couples, who ends up with who until the end of the drama
(+) Close knitted Tang family relationship
(+) Some scenes are so hilarious you may want to rewatch the scenes, such as Jia Nan and A Jiu's adventure in the countryside, Jun Hao watching the elevator with the security team
(+) Hilarious jealousy scenes of Jia Nan, since he cannot really ask Feng Ping or get mad at her due to their unique relationship. Instead he lashes on A Jiu, Jun Hao, or Yue Sheng.
(+) Unexpected last dates of Jia Nan and Feng Ping, not with each other but with different partners
(+) Cute final wedding scene
(+) All main and important supporting actors and actresses played their respective roles well.
(+) Actors are eye candies. Choose your own favorite one, lol.
(+) Great acting of actor Richard Wang as the delightful Jia Nan. I watched this drama following his great acting as multiple roles in The Eternal Love 1 and 2. I thought he should play as a main lead in another drama and I'm glad he did here.
(+) Great acting of actress Camille Hua as the mysterious Feng Ping. Some reviews/comments criticizing her bad acting but IMHO that is because of her cold, reserved, and detached woman. Her character growth especially her feelings for Jia Nan is a tsundere-type.
(+) Natural chemistry between Jia Nan and Feng Ping. Started as complete strangers, with Feng Ping being reserved with Jia Nan to avoid gossips and jealous fans. Though soon getting engaged and moved into his house, she wanted to maintained each other private lives. Their chemistry develop from friends to lovers slowly, probably they did not get together until the middle of the drama. Their friendship is sweet, being considerate to each other feelings, although not need to do that since they are in fake engagement.
(+) I am glad that they don't make the character Jun Hao, a long time best friend of Feng Ping has a one-sided love for her, like many drama cliche. I am glad that they make another story for him with Qiu Tian. Jun Hao character is too cute and childish
(+) Friendship and brotherhood of Jia Nan and A Jiu, IMHO even better than the chemistry between Jia Nan and Feng Ping. Especially the earlier friendship started since the beginning and the latter relationship is a slow burn.
(+) Great acting of actor Miles Wei as the invalid, depressed, lovelorn Hao Yun. He really looks like Chinese actor Hu Yi Tian from A Love So Beautiful. But IMHO Miles Wei acting is better. Hopefully I will see him in the future as a main lead of another drama.
(+) The character of A Jiu is so adorable as the cynical and down-to-earth Jia Nan's sidekick.
(+) The character Qiu Tian who is refreshing and completely different than other female roles makes a unique addition in this drama.
(+) Although character Lu Qiao is an antagonist, but IMHO actress Li Ruo Ning acted very good as the jealous, scheming and ambitious Lu Qiao.
(+) Nice OST, notably Call of the Heart (心底的呼喚) by Ro Rowan, Say it again (再谈记忆) by Penicillin, Special People (特殊的人) by Luo Zheng who plays as Jun Hao
(+) Great costumes

DISLIKES
(-) The English sub is autosub. Although we can understand the important issues and the storyline, it will be nice if it's well subbed to enjoy the conversation. Probably because the distributor company Youku main target is Chinese market so the company does not bother with international viewers. Unlike Tencent, for example, that also targets international market. Thus they usually sub their new dramas soon after airing the raw ones.
(-) Typical Cdrama, lots of dragging scenes and conversations.
(-) The coincidences meetings between Jia Nan and Feng Ping in the beginning of the drama feels like rushed and unrealistic, probably due to the story plot to 'engage' them early.
(-) Some scenes can have beautiful cinematography, but unfortunately they were not artfully done. For example the scene where Jia Nan saved Feng Ping during heavy rain in the night. There are other scenes with beautiful nature backdrops like the country side and the beach. It would be great if the production team thought about cinematography of such scenes.

Read More

Not Sure Why the Rating is Low?

First of all, I am not a native Chinese neither am proficient in Mandarin, I watched it raw and I enjoyed it. After 100+ Chinese dramas watched, I can pick up words here and there and the simple story line is easy to follow. For main issues to understand I just google translated it. Anyways, It's a short high school drama (the campus life and campus romance tags are wrong cos the setting is high school). I don't watch high school dramas, but the OTP is so cuuute ❤️ together and they look alike like they are made for each other, lol. Besides, it's only 24 episodes of 12 minutes each, it's a breeze.
So the story is just a high school cliche of a handsome transfer student who doesn't really care about being in school, somewhat lazy but genius. Of course he has to sit next to a cute girl who is typical studious but dumb in math to the point being ridiculed by the teacher in front of her classmates. So the guy helps her and they become fast friends along with others, navigating thru the high school. The story is told as a flashback by the Female Lead. The acting is good, I love the sweet chemistry between the new comers Chen Xiang You (陈翔宇) and Chen Si Yu (陈思宇), and I want to see their acting again in the future. Although, if you are a fan of drama kisses you won't see any here cos China censorship doesn't permit any type of kissing in their high school dramas. The OST is good "Don't Say Sorry" duet by Liu Binhao & Song Xi, see the OST link in my custom list of 2020 Completed Dramas if you want to know. I do not want to re-watch it cos simply it's a high school drama which genre I usually despise.
If you want to watch it raw, see the conversation between me and the first reviewer (I'm the second) to get the link.
So to answer my own question in the title: Easy to guess that people rated low but did not even watch it because there is no (English) sub. Hopefully, in the future some fan will pick it up, cos it's a sweet short teenage romance.

Read More

This drama is actually promising with supernatural genre and intriguing theme: going against fate. Unfortunately, either the original webtoon storytelling is bad (I have not read it) or the script written for live adaptation is bad, the story ends up very confusing. I am sure a good script can fix a bad webtoon story to present it to us the smart viewers, am I not? Because I watched a few dramas adapted from webtoons and they are good.
Nothing wrong with the cast or acting, and I am not a fan of EXO or Suho to defend. I have watched several dramas with idol singers who are newcomers in acting in dramas, but they ended up good (for example Dating Class). In this case, a good director can direct even rookies to act well. Some said that actor Suho has acted in 2 dramas and 2 movies after HAYB (that were filmed in 2016) with better acting skill, and actress Lee Se Young's dramas after HAYB are all 8+ rated in MDL so far.

MAJOR SPOILER:
I am writing this part for people who are curious and confused about the story. So basically ML and FL meet 3 times minimum (unless there is any explanation I skipped). But their romance is supposedly not fated. If they insist then one of them will get hurt, according to the fat guy who is the guardian god of destiny who causes shaky camera scenes making us the viewers dizzy. This annoying god actually makes things happen to destroy their relationship too, including amnesia.
However, I actually suspect that the story writer dictates that the couple is fated because they keep meeting again and they always get revelation from their common dreams. By the end, the final scene is actually shown as hopeful and positive.

Read More

Makjang Against All Odds

This drama is beautiful. One of the fine makjang Kdramas from the 2000s: almost every cliches are in it. I cannot write them here or I will spoil the story. You better watch it yourself. My guess that the rating is low due to it was made in 2006 and the viewers who rated it came from era after this site is established (2011), where Kdramas have shifted to supernatural, Kidols, or time travel theme. This drama gave me heart palpitation. For sometime I could not finish Episode 1 due to the intensity and angst. I feared the female character Eun Seol's life!

What I like about this drama:
(+) The story is not boring. Although the main scheme is revealed in the middle of the drama, there are other plots to come. Even until a few last episodes. You won't get bored.
(+) Emphasize of the importance of family
(+) This melodrama is also balanced with light-humor scenes of the housekeeper and daughter relationship and the sycophant office assistant
(+) Chilling Shin Jun spying on Eun Seol scenes
(+) Touching love pledge and wedding scenes at the church
(+) Strong chemistry between Male Lead and Female especially since they meet very early in the first episode
(+) This is one of a few romance dramas that have older characters who played important roles with lots of screen times.
(+) Outstanding acting of actor Joo Jin Mo as the heartless and scheming Shin Jun brought by past pain and anger, turned to a romantically in love mad man.
(+) Amazing acting of actress Lee Bo Young as Eun Seol. She brought a smooth character growth from spoiled, snotty, but naive, doubtful heiress to hard-working, determined,impoverished, mature woman.
(+) Excellent acting of actress Na Young Hee as Shin Jun's alcoholic and psychotic mom
(+) Impressive acting of actor Han Jin Hee as Eun Seol's overprotecting dad and conniving businessman
(+) Great acting of supporting characters as individuals as well as relationship with other characters (I can say good non-romantic chemistry)
(+) Costume is relatable to modern day fashion. Not many clothing are outdated considering this drama is made in 2006
(+) Beautiful film location in New Zealand

What I don't like about this drama:
(-) Some dragging scenes and conversations, probably typical older Kdramas.
(-) A few unrealistic scenes, for example: Eun Seol length of pregnancy. She was still pregnant (not showing sign) although Shin Jun was released from the prison one year later.
(-) TOO many dialogues with 'what to do' sentences.
(-) Not sure why they have to 'redeem' Shin Jun thru amnesia. IMO it is better without amnesia incident, as Shin Jun will have either revenge or forgive Eun Seol
(-) Too many slapping scenes, especially slapping poor Eun Seol
(-) Excessive application of lip gloss for female characters. Even they put lip gloss on Eun Seol's deceased mother portrait!

Read More

The story starts with promising plot. An alternate modern kingdom of South Korea with nowadays royalties looking for a bride for the young crown prince. The first meetings between Crown Prince Lee Shin and Chae Kyung are adorable. The friendship between Chae Kyung and her girl friends is solid. The traditional wedding scene is extravagant, I love the wedding costumes and traditional ceremony. However, the story soon succumbs into boring conversations within the royal family elders, and between Prince's Yul and Chae Kyung. No wonder Chae Kyung feels suffocated, while her inattentive husband continues his extramarital relationship. It seems like this drama try to utilize actress Yoon Eun He's cuteness and hilarity to pull everyone up, cos everyone else but Queen Mother are boring and stiff. When I looked up the Goong crew in MDL, it seems the Director is also a rookie in directing dramas at that time, whether it's true or not but that may be a reason why this drama is a flop.

Read More

While relationship with wide age gap may not a big deal in some age range and certain culture, may become a hindrance in younger age range and other culture. To my calculation, the adult characters may be: Kong and Kook are both 26, Dao is 22, and Khai is 18. In this drama it seems like the female characters have difficulties getting into a relationship with guys with wide age gaps. Some viewers felt somewhat creepy that an 18 year old player boy can fall for a 10 year old girl, especially since in the drama Khai is not drop dead gorgeous both in her younger or older age. I feel mainly drama plot, cast, acting look more exciting when it comes to Dao and Kook's story, because Dao is romantic and crafty, while Kook is "pretty and bitchy" (Dao's saying, English sub) making the ups and downs in their relationship entertain enough to watch, played very well by Chutavuth Pattarakampol/March and Sheranut Yusananda/Namcha. They both have a great chemistry. In the other hand, it's not so easy for Hsu Thassapak/Bie to create that kind of chemistry with Nichaphat Chatchaipholrat/Pearwah if he is surrounded by a bunch of teenagers running around with school uniforms. Bad editing and choppy screenwriting don't help much, making this 2 relationship stories even more complicated with unnecessary pairings of the rest of Khai's friends. Therefore, though this romcom is light and fluffy, I won't watch again as I will skip lots of scenes and only leave scenes of Dao and Kook, than the drama will be cut to less than a half.

Read More

STORY:
I watched this movie following Sho Hirano's works and since I just finished a long drama I wanted something short and sweet, as sweet as Honey it is. But I think this the movie should actually be develop to a drama that can dig out the past of Onise, Kogure, Misaki, and Yashiro. Also adding friendship development process between those four characters, more jealousy scenes and action spices. Moreover, the drama can develop 9 years of relationship from the first they started dating until they got married.

ACTING/CAST:
Sho Hirano and and Yuna Taira's great acting brought the main characters alive with Onise' red unruly hair and Kogure's short curly hair plus cute sparking chemistry. Supporting actor Yu Takahashi as Kogure's uncle is great as well.

REWATCH VALUE:
Therefore this is a movie that can be re-watch if you have a short time of sweet tooth crave.

OVERALL:
The movie came out of manga that readers reviewed as short and sweet but nothing out of ordinary. Although the manga can be potentially developed to a drama with many aspects of life full roller coaster ride scenes, but the beauty of this movie is the simplicity of youth romance that can be easily forgotten but then re-watch again in the future

Read More

I had put off watching Goblin for a long time as I knew it's epic so I needed a devoted time to watch it till the end.
Goblins becomes the highest standard of my reviews on dramas I completed (mostly for Kdramas).
What I learned from this drama: forgiveness (past events of Goblin/Grim Reaper/Sunny) and that there is timing for everything you encounter in life (Goblin waits for 900+ years for a 19 year old bride to show up in her first life)

Tons of previous reviews posted already, so I will just point out what I like about this drama:
Story: No boring scene, no skipping for me who likes skipping scenes. Side stories of dead people and ghosts are also meaningful and touching.
Directing: Just perfect, won't say much, check out other Director Lee Eung Bok's cinematic work
Editing: Details are woven perfectly, and all related. Pieces of flashback are not boring.
Screenwriting: witty, deep, poetic. Follow Writer Kim Eun Sook for other high quality dramas.
CGI: Battle, fight, and snow scenes of Goblin are epic
Location: Quebec Canada, can't have other perfect location than fall season with French touch
Make up: Can transform one actor/actress to different roles. For examplem Kim Byung Chul as Emperor advisor, modern secretary, ghost, and cameo CEO.
Costume: Classy and stylish. For example: 19 year old Eun Tak does not look poor and childish. Personality symbols thru costumes, for example Shamsin Lady's red dress, Sunny's bright colored clothing, and Eun Tak's red scarf
Cast: Perfect selection for every main roles and supporting casts are not bad either. Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook supernatural roles don't need to talk much but their facial expression shows deep communications. Kim Go Eun's natural beauty fits for 19 year old girl, Yoo In Na's cheerfulness matches Sunny lively personality.
Acting: Lots of scenes with no dialogues just facial expression and physical movements speak louder than many dialogues
Music: songs are created and picked perfectly support the popularity of the drama and songs themselves
Rewatch: perfect, but I will wait for a while until I can spend a large portion of my time to watch it

Read More

Exceptionally Well Done Documentary Film on "Field of Wonder" ONE OK ROCK Live Streaming Concert

This documentary is the last film I watched in 2021, and I was completely blown away by it. My encounter with One OK Rock was many years ago when I found their MVs on YouTube, even before I found the rabbit hole leading to the Asian dramaland. I fell for their high energy, wildness, loud music, plus English mixed Japanese lyrics. I love most of their songs, from the heavier “No Scared” to softer “The Beginning”. I didn’t even know that the latter song is the OST of the “Rurouni Kenshin”, the first of its famous movie installments.

=====

Production: The making of this video is exceptionally well done. Specifically, I love the smooth shifts between their rehearsal and the actual concert scenes.

The subtitle was well done.

Story: The film starts with restless Taka telling us how hopeless he felt when Japan and the rest of the world were shut down because of the pandemic. Their last world tour was Australia tour in March 2020. Everyone was afraid, especially when Toru was contracted with the COVID-19. Forever a visionary, Taka started having this dream to create a live-streaming concert online. Most of the film then spent on how they prepared the concert. However, we also see a glimpse of their personal lives, for example Tomo spending time with his three little boys (the newborn is cutely presented in his father’s arm in the credit scene), Taka visiting his dad whom he once was estranged from, the members playing sports and barbecuing together.

I like the fact they also collaborated with other Japanese musicians and singers not from rock genre to perform together. Especially for the singers, each has their own unique voice and style and blended together harmoniously during the duet and chorus.

I also like the angst during rehearsal scenes on the second and the one day before the concert, when typhoon blasted Chiba, Japan where their live-streaming concert is held. Although there was no sign that the typhoon would stop on the concert day, the group and the team still rehearsed professionally and didn’t lose hope.

Acting: What to say, they’re performers. It was quite interesting to watch a glimpse of their anxiety in performing at an empty stadium, not seeing crowd neither hearing their cheers. However, one the concert started, the band and other performers just loosened up; especially knowing 100,000+ people bought online tickets (totaling to 110,000 live audience).

Visual FX: No complaint, everything was artistically created, like they were making a real movie!

OST: Although this film is not a video of their concert (you need to buy separately for their concert video), but we also hear and see them performing popular songs like “We Are” and “Wasted Night”. Their new song “Wonder” was also introduced at the concert. Taka singing a cappella the last line of “Wasted Night” as the last song gave me goose bumps, and closed the concert impressively.

=====

Lastly, congratulation to Toru who announced his marriage to Japanese model and actress Omasa Aya on 28th December 2021! Now with three of the band members are married, we’re waiting for the last eligible bachelor of the band Taka, to find his life partner!

Read More

Cheesy Childish Cute Comedic Couple

Let me guess why this drama is rate low: many people followed Song Yi Ren as San San in Ever Night and expected that she delivered the similar serious acting here (this drama is aired soon after EN ended). But when you see her as a supposedly 22-year old university graduate riding a scooter to work, pairing up with Jerry Yan who is supposedly a 26-year old CEO with 2 teddy bears in his bed, you know this is a cheesy comedy. Also, almost the rest of the major roles did not act like mature adults at most or some point, probably only the secretary. Good chemistry between 2 couples. Long time friendships (20 years and 16 years) are challenged. And both Song Yi Ren and Jerry Yan can sing!

Read More

STORY
Yep, that's right, since this drama contains mostly of the main and supporting characters being confused with their own loves, other's loves, and to the viewers as well almost until the end you don't know who ends up with who. And that's what heavily spices this hilarious Thai rom-com: love confusion.
There is no strong protagonist as mostly the main leads fights their own confusion, and the suspense from who's dun it mysterious cases happened in the zoo/aquarium is pleasantly spiced the drama.
Besides the confusing plot, the side stories are funny too and the second and third love stories are cute too. The lead and supporting actors and actresses are not only good looking but also know how to act and they fulfilled their roles really well.
The costumes are very beautiful, including the traditional Thai clothes they wear.
The setting in the zoo as well as the aquarium and sea are amazing too.
Non-romantic relationship such as among besties, family members, workmates are well executed throughout the entire drama.

ACTING/CAST
This is the second Thai drama I watched as I followed beautiful actress Preechaya Pongthananikorn (who was also in Gasohug) playing as Toon, a cutey lesbian tomboy zoo keeper turns to a straight beautiful feminine manager. Pongthananikorn acting skill is superb, and has blasting chemistry with handsome male lead Naphat Siangsomboon who plays Matt.
Siangsomboon's acting is brilliant as a guy who has to portray many roles: a rebel son, an overprotective brother, an ex boyfriend to his employee who stole his girlfriend, a workaholic CEO, and mostly just a man who falls in love with Toon when he is not sure what Toon's sexual orientation is and later if she really loves Nat, the second male lead.
As noted above almost all supporting characters play their roles really well, but mostly noted is Sheranut Yusananda who plays the second female lead Rose, arrogant, sassy, rude, but amazingly is lovable. She is no damsel-in-distress second lead as some SFL do to attract the male lead, but instead she plays a heroine that actually a guy calls her for help in some difficult situations.

MUSIC
Entertaining music and sound effects, and actually in some love scenes the music is played while the characters are just gazing at each other, not talking. And for videos with English sub, the words of the songs are on the top of the screen not on the bottom when the sub words are usually put on.

REWATCH VALUE
Definitely a 10, I rewatched some early episodes to get some info for this reviews and right away is entertained and laughed all over again with hillarious acts.

OVERALL
Rak Kan Panlawan or Confused in Love is definitely a light-hearted rom-com with sizzling chemistry and spices of past secrets, work sabotage, wild animals, Thai culture, beautiful sceneries blend together in a drama you hardly can skip.

Read More