ColourMePurple

Enjoyable but Original is Superior

Don't get me wrong... A Time Called You is well-made and visually wonderful but there are several ways in which it cannot beat the original despite a great effort. I suppose fans of the original, like me, can be happy that they didn't ruin it which is very common with remakes. So that's always a plus. Hopefully everyone will also go and watch the original drama - Someday Or One Day.

One of the strongest points of SOOD was the OST. Both the theme song and the main song - Last Dance by Wu Bai, are magical and memorable. Unfortunately, Gather My Tears can be described as nice at best but not worthy of being THE song that makes magic happen. It doesn't give me goosebumps the way Last Dance did. It's unforgettable. And it was the highlight of the original. However, I didn't get the same feeling from Gather My Tears. Last Dance was also meaningful to the story and elicited nostalgia. 'A Time Called You' made it seem like a song that happened to be liked by MinJoo and it wasn't the highlight of the scenes. Or at least it didn't come across that way to me. That itself took away the essence of the drama.

The main plot is essentially the same so I won't spoil that but there are a few other differences that I'd like to highlight from memory which count as spoilers. This review might be more appreciated by those who have watched both versions.
- One of the basics, they changed from the original is how the FL discovers the photo of the 3 friends. That was unique in SOOD and tied a bit more into the destiny theme perhaps.

- One big moment that stood out was when the FL, Han Jun Hee first arrives in the body of Kwon Min Joo, she is so shocked to see Koo Yeon Jun. That was supposed to be an impactful scene but it didn't feel that way. It was one of the FL's weakest scenes in my opinion.

- A memorable FL's dialogue from the original is her highlighting the age gap between her and the school boys which also added to her awkwardness at seeing her fiance's face. every time Something this show glossed over.

- They changed the way the ML meets the child FL of the past. The original encounter was far more memorable from the perspective of a child. I wish they hadn't changed it.

- There were times when I didn't see much difference between Jun Hee and Min Joo when it should have been more blatant. Alice Ke, in the Taiwanese drama, was masterful in that way. But Yeo Been's final scenes with her counterpart matched the emotions of the original's actress very well. I appreciated that a lot.

- Comparing the male actors, Ahn Hyeo Seop did a good job and there were moments when he really shined but Greg Hsu had bowled me over (considering I didn't think I would like him initially). He was far more charming and cheeky and one could see why he was popular. AHS's character didn't stand out as much to be a popular guy. I also felt his hairstyle wasn't great. However both male and female leads fit the ages they were portraying well.

- The lame jokes scene was just immensely better in the original. It felt terribly flat in this Korean version and lacked soul considering how important it actually was.

- One of the reasons I was keen to watch the Korean version was for Kang Hoon. Although I feel his character was given more importance here than the original which I liked, the original had a bit more heart. His hearing disability was inconspicuous and forgettable for the most part. The original depicted his liking for the FL far better. You could also understand his pain better in SOOD.

- The ML's accident was quite different from the original though I wasn't really upset with the change.

- Koo Yeon Jun and Tae Ha (Rowoon)'s moments together was an interesting take on the original story.

- The show failed to highlight Min Joo's attacker and his obsession the way the original did. It was a bit muted.

- The weakest points of the original was the ending so it was good to see A Time Called You address that which required SOOD to release an additional clip. Though it would have been nice to have a little bit more.

It's been over a year that I watched Someday Or One Day and I'm glad I could not recall all the details especially towards the end so I could enjoy A Time Called You a lot more rather than just comparing scene for scene. But I would always recommend the original before this one and it will always be one of my most favourite dramas. Watching the remake just made me want to rewatch the original again because that's how impressive it is.

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Terrible direction with a rape to romance trope

This show was recommended to me so I was initially excited to watch something new (Omegaverse) even though I had minimal prior experience with such plots. And for a first experience this was a really disappointing one.

The story revolves around 4 people or at least it is advertised as 4 main leads with 1 of them (Gao Tu) getting minimum to no screentime (so don't get invested). The original source (which I hadn't read but got plenty of insight on during the course of the show) had potential and the director could have improved upon it. Not only did they not improve it but there are so many scenes that simply make no sense if you have never read the original novel. It means the director did not hope to attract any new fans with their work. For example, the intro to omegaverse is rushed, the new vocabulary is never explained (which a good storyteller can do during the show), crucial scenes that were supposed to depict darkness are shot in extremely bright lights with those lights in clear view, unable to show passage of time which also leads to confusion, etc.

Regarding the rape/noncon trope - this truly got to me. Not only because these things make me uncomfortable but because it is normalised in this drama through omegaverse. "They can't help themselves" is such triggering messaging. Worse is one perpetrator is supposed to be in love with the victim and can see his love interest is in pain but is enjoying that and even laughs at their misery. The other doesn't know who his victim is and is victim blaming them for seducing them. I truly don't care that it is fantasy. To me this omegaverse felt like an excuse to normalise rape by using pretty and handsome faces.

Red flag characters. Both Hua Yong and Shen Wen Lang are toxic. Though I have enjoyed BLs with toxic characters too, the problem is again normalising it rather than calling it for what it is. All's fair in love and war? No. That's an excuse.

Hua Yong is an extremely manipulative character who has no trouble lying to the man he loves. All he cares about is the end result. Think stalker who succeeds in his goals. If you have never been stalked, let me say that it can be very harrowing and distressing and not at all romantic. Though the stalking is a bit downplayed, it is one of his most minor sins. The manipulation and lying and rape are far more egregious sins. He could have been the character you love to hate but it's more terrifying that he is portrayed as heroic and lovesick, rather than insane. Romaticising this character felt shocking since they are never really apologetic or empathetic.

Shen Wen Lang is horrible but nothing compared to Hua Yong because he is portrayed as a dumb guy who reacts on emotions and makes decisions as per his ego and arrogance. He constantly makes Gao Tu feel horrible about himself and want to hide and protect himself. SWL is also supposed to be caring but he simply is incapable of expressing it. Though he has some softer moments as opposed to Hua Yong.

The only characters I liked were Sheng Shao You and Gao Tu, who became my favourite despite barely given much of a presence. He still managed to make an impact. Shen Shao You has the most range of emotions in this show. Though he has his arrogant moments, ultimately he is a caring, nuturing and protective person. To be honest, I think Gao Tu deserves someone like him. These two characters don't really interact with each other.

ABO universe - in this universe, because men can get pregnant, 2 men being with each other is considered normal just like a heterosexual couple. What is considered abnormal is 2 of the same kind like two Alphas being together. So it doesn't really deal with the issues that real life LGBTQ couples face. Instead you have class issues where the rich look down on the poor, the alphas look down on omegas, etc. Again this isn't explored much on how society deals with these class injustices because it causes a character to hide themselves for their whole life.

There are few moments of humour that I enjoyed. The opening theme song is beautiful too. These are the main positives in my eyes.

The finale was extremely lackluster and anti-climactic. It simply didn't feel like a finale. Imagine watching this show spanning months and you don't even get a satisfying ending? When you have 16 episodes, you don't get to make excuses of not having enough time especially when you have time to add in supporting characters in the end that don't really support the plot.

Final thoughts - this show could have been made well but the director did not have the presence of mind on how to depict their source material. They invested a lot into locations which are grand but the scenes especially romantic ones are more or less slow or really blurry shots (no passion from the characters nor the director). The characters all speak slowly, mostly dispassionately and everything seems quite toned down. I haven't seen the other works of these actors so I don't know if it is them or that is the direction they were given. But I'm going to blame the director since it is their reponsibikity to get the required emotions out of their actors. They just wanted everything subtle. Whether it is pain, fear, anger or love (exception being SSY).

Bottom line - Quite disappointing. If you are fans of the main couple, you might have a better time watching but otherwise, not something I would recommend.

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Stupidity With A Scalpel

I enjoyed only the first 5 episodes. Last 2 were decent. And I cursed the female lead for 7 episodes straight.

The show revolves around a forensic doctor, a police officer and a serial killer. Unlike most thriller dramas involving serial killers where there is a cat and mouse game along with the suspense of who the killer could be, this drama decides early on to tell us exactly who the killer is. This was a big drawback for the show to lose it's biggest mystery element. Worst is the female lead who is an expert in forensic analysis leads to leave all common sense behind and go after the killer on her own. This of course leads to disastrous results because she is in no way or form equiped to handle him. Her lack of judgement leads to the delay in catching of the suspect and she gets herself and others hurt in the process. Her actions were so senseless and frustrating that it took away any joy I had when I first started this show.

I wish I could blame the lack of good subs for my poor perception of the drama but nope. It was Dr. Seo Se Hyeon, the female lead. I truly hate when dramas make a lead female character incompetent for no understandable reason. The female lead is supposed to be the hunter with a scalpel but sadly she fails in her attempts every single time because she cannot calculate nor plan for multiple factors. She is supposed to be unfeeling yet her actions are driven by pure emotion rather than a sense of self -preservation or justice.

I genuinely struggled to watch the middle episodes and had to resort to 1.5x speeds.

The male lead playing the cop was decent. But again, his team leader is dumb and an obstacle to any progress he tries to make at solving the case. Maybe they didn't want to make the case easy to solve but it was ridiculous.

The only other positive I can think of the opening theme which I quite liked the graphics of.

Not something I would ever consider rewatching,

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Hidden Gem!

I came across Learning To Love by pure accident. Initially I was not expecting anything since the story of a host and a teacher didn't seem to be able to offer much. I was also not impressed with Raul, actor playing the the male lead. If you find yourself feeling that way while watching ep1, don't quit. Give it a chance and keep going.

As I continued to watch, the ML started to grow on me and I was invested in the story. The FL was the main reason I was curious at first. How would she tackle issues related to her students, how would she deal with this host and this conservative society? Is this going to become a cliche story? Will I be convinced by their pairing?

But even with all these doubts arising in my mind, I was intriguied by the different characters.
The fiance for instance - you will love to hate him.
The overbearing father - such a typical conservative man.
The friend - is she really acting in the FL's best interest?
The mother - she's putting up a facade.
ML's mother - why does she act this way?
But all these characters bring so much to the story as a whole and before you know it, you find yourself immersed in their story and being able to relate to or at least understand so much.

My journey from not liking the ML (first impression) to wanting to give him a hug and being able to relate to how he is struggling just shows how talented this actor is and how wonderful the storytelling truly is. With Minami (FL), from not seeing the potential in the character to cheering for her again shows that there is more than what meets the eye in Learning To Love.

The title is actually beautiful because the characters end up acting as each others support system and they not only learn to love but also learn to grow. The story is simple but with so much depth that you can't help but love it. It is among the best shows I have seen this year!

Learning To Love made me emotional several times and the OST just adds to that. The two songs that you can hear often are My Castle and Spiral. They are so beautiful that even with a language barrier, they make you feel so many emotions.

I have already recommended this drama to 2 friends and both have been enjoying it so I hope more people will give this a chance because it really deserves to be experienced by many more people.

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An engrossing magical journey that will also bring tears to your eyes

This was a xanxia drama that I had been waiting for for quite some time and for the most part it doesn't disappoint. I'll explain this point towards the end. It is fun to binge and visually quite splendid! I'll elaborate why I loved the show as well the few areas it was lacking.

VISUALS:
Starting from the theme song, which I believe are hand painted scenery and a thing of beauty! The costumes are incredibly beautiful, detailed and luxurious. The CGI is spectacular as is the world they have created. I loved the fight scenes and was happy there was so much of action involved.

STORY:
The series has a very strong start. The world of Till The End Of The Moon has many layers and each layer is unraveled as the episodes go on. Even if you find yourself a bit lost, the show will reveal things in stages. And of course, if it still gets confusing, you can always ask all the incredible fans of the show. One thing that you should keep in mind is that there are 3 main arcs where the story is set. And each arc has it's own significance. The plot includes A LOT of suffering on the male lead's part so be prepared for angst, frustration and pain. It is also the reason why you feel attached to the character. YES THERE IS ROMANCE! I don't want to give anything away.

ACTORS:
The main leads have incredible chemistry and it is very easy to get attached to the male lead's character even though he plays the role of an anti-hero. His subtle emotions are just enough to get your attention and understand his emotions. Even though I have not seen other dramas of the male lead, this series has given me pretty good insight into his acting capabilities due to the range of the character that he had to portray and it has made me want to look into his other body of work. I also loved that the female lead in this series is a strong and determined woman who is also gentle where needed. There are so many other characters in this series and each have made this show a success. Another favourite character of mine is Pian Ran who is a crafty and jovial fox.

MUSIC:
The theme song, that is currently stuck in my head though I don't understand Mandarin is quite melodious as are many other songs in the show. I rarely notice a show's OST unless it is ACTUALLY good and this show has amazing OST that is worth looking into.

The few negatives that kept me from giving this a 10:
- Because the series was cut short, some parts of the later episodes are confusing. Not enough to lose your interest but it is still sad that there are any negative points to mention at all.
- For one part in a later episode, the editing was a little bit of a mess and I wasn't feeling it. Though it is not that important a portion. Just found it a bit funny and not up to the mark.
- There is a moment in the dream arc that I found a little confused about and it would have been nice if that was resolved a little better.
- The ending... I kind of saw it coming but I still wish it was done a bit differently. I don't regret watching the show but the ending might be controversial.

Overall, the show is sensational. It's all you will be able to think about and it will whisk you away into it's world. Give it a go and have fun!

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A slow journey with gradual build-up and a face plant end

One of the rare times that I'm dropping the rating of a show post the finale. Adamas isn't for everyone and I'm most likely included in that list. The show had a very promising start and suddenly started to drag it's heels at the beginning making it a hard watch.

I was excited to see a dual role but by instantly separating the twins and shooting scenes separately for most of the show undid that excitement. It might as well have been played by 2 actors. The camera work that excited me at the very beginning of the series was no where to be found. The writer twin spent majority of his time roaming around the mansion repeatedly which I would just watch at 2x speed. At the time, I found the role of the prosecutor twin more exciting. But soon that too felt like it was heading nowhere.

Most of the excitement starts around episode 9 onwards. By then a lot of the secrets about the mysterious Adamas are exposed. The people fighting the bad guys all seem to be helpless and powerless despite their status and connections. It is frustrating to see them failing so badly at times and you have to wonder why they have no result to show for all the work and manpower they've put in.

There was a rare opportunity to wind everything in a positive and thrilling way but it was a disaster after disaster for the good guys. In fact, episode 14 may have been the best episode. The ending leaves you scratching your head and wondering what happened? The satisfaction that one might get from watching a crime drama is nowhere to be found here. Do some bad guys get punished? Yes. But it's so underwhelming. And one of the characters realises, "truth holds no power". This is the entire theme of Adamas.

Acting and production is good quality but if the story telling fails to enthrall you, the hard work of the cast and team is meaningless.

SMALL SPOILER:
They tease an open-ending and if just makes you think, do I want to put up with that again in the second season? Probably not, in my opinion.

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High Octane Drama

I have been looking forward to Duty After School for quite a while and it's quite the adrenaline rush that I was seeking!

Managed to binge the first 6 episodes over 2 days. The first episode took time to build the story and get to the aliens but once they started to come, they just kept coming! The series is more of a thriller than a horror but it did make my heart race in one particular episode and I almost didn't want to look. This is for those who are a bit weak (like me) when it comes to scary movies and shows.

The characters are interesting and developed slowly but not in great detail which might disconnect viewers. The focus is on one particular class in one particular school. And at times I thought, is this the only class that survived? They could have used a few more extras to represent a proper school.

Story is interesting and exciting though there are some moments where I felt common sense was lacking. Like trying to retrieve a key from behind a cupboard when they could have tried to use some kind of stick to extend their reach but didn't. Moments like those felt quite frustrating. But on the positive note, some characters show growth and others show weakness which is especially important in a real crisis. No character can be strong all the time so plus points for that realistic take.

The CGI is pretty good. The aliens are visually beautiful, almost flower-like. Reminded me a bit of Stranger Things. And the added aspect that they are intelligent besides not understanding much about them is what adds to the fear-factor. It was a good touch.

There is plenty of blood and gore though it is not too gruesome. And mild comedy and other light moments to balance out the series.

All the episodes end on a crucial point which is the perfect recipe for a binge watch. I just dislike splitting up shows for no good reason. It makes less sense that as this series is just 4 episodes short. For this reason, I can't give it a rating higher than 9 as I don't know if I'll enjoy the ending. But taking it's flaws into consideration, I'll give it a 9.

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Second half better than the first

When I first started watching Unlock My Boss, I was slightly disappointed because it wasn't as interesting as the promos made it seem. It has some comedy elements but not much. It's more of a mystery revolving around what happened to CEO Kim Sun Joo and how did he get stuck in the phone. If you can speed through the earlier parts of series at 1.25x, you'll start to really enjoy the latter half of the show. But because of the slow nature, I am not giving it more than an 8. That's the criticism, now onto the stuff I enjoyed.

Loved the male lead, Park In Sung, right from the start. He's a good guy and he certainly charms you as the series progresses. Same goes for the female lead, Jung Se Yeon. She has a tough exterior due to the nature of her work but isn't a bad person and we see that right from the beginning when she exchanges shirts with the male lead after she spills coffee on it accidentally. They make a good team. They have good chemistry too but the romance is hardly there, if at all. Mostly towards the end because rest of the time, it is too intense for anything to happen.

Then there is a 3rd character, Ma Pi, who was an interesting addition. We delve a bit into his background and his interactions with the male lead brings out a new side to him as the story progresses. He is also involved in several action sequences which were fun to watch and at times a little hard as well.

There is also a cute girl, Kim Min A, who is the young daughter of CEO Kim. Scenes involving her were sweet and tugged at your heart strings.

Of course our CEO in the phone is pretty cool too. And it's nice to see some comical moments involving him.

Coming to the main plot, I loved that our heroes were clever and their work towards the answer was bearing fruit step by step. To be real, the conspiracy was fairly obvious as you get to know the characters. But it was still enjoyable to see how the leads slowly unpack everything with limited resources. The show, unlike other kdramas, doesn't leave everything for the very end.

I loved the little things too:
- The way each episode is "unlocked".
- The integration of AI and VR tech especially Baro the robot.
- The little jokes and moments of positivity. This show is not a depressing one even though there are some sad moments.
- The interactions of every cast whether good, bad or grey really made this show a good watch.

I know a few people were upset with the way the show was ended but if we're honest with ourselves, that was the best way it could have concluded. There was no need to draw things out and we can imagine how things could have gone further. All the important aspects were shown.

If you can be a little patient with it, you'll have fun!

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Enjoyable except for the ending

I did enjoy the show overall especially towards the beginning but I didn't enjoy the finale. It felt a bit lacklustre to me. It is also predictable.

But if I stick to everything other than the last 2 episodes, I actually loved it quite a bit. I do miss the guest actor but the male lead performed the double roles well. The female lead was also good as well as the supporting characters. The comedy wasn't bad despite it not being what I usually enjoy. The fantasy historical genre was a good mix. I would have rated it higher if there were more impressive fight scenes.

The best thing about the show is the chemistry between the leads. But you won't see much romance in this. I also loved the ghost of the well. She was my favourite side character till the end.

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Funny and entertaining with a bit of a drag towards the end

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching The Forbidden Marriage a lot. It had a strong start and I'm glad I watched it. But somewhere in the middle it lost a bit of it's steam and funny moments and felt like it was moving far too slowly for my liking.

The comedy is amazing at the beginning and I loved it a lot and I can't say that for many shows. It has a lot of references to other dramas and present world situations which is where the joke lies since this is a HISTORICAL setting. Later on, the jokes were very subdued though they still managed to make me smile.

The romance is good. The story is predictable so you are just in for a fun ride. Yes, there is a love triangle and I did actually like the second lead a lot so I was partially rooting for him too. Both male leads and nice. The main male lead did a wonderful job with his role playing a man who is broken to one is who more capable of being a leader. Kudos to him. The female lead is fiesty and charming as heck. It's lovely to see her in a completely different role than where I first saw her in Mouse. I love when actors take different kinds of roles. That's when they stand out the most for me. So the only thing I didn't like is that she was more subdued towards the latter half of the show. Guess you can call it "growing up".

There have some actions scenes but it's limited. There are plenty of dramatic scenes and mystery which I enjoyed.

The big finish was great. Just what we deserved but I just wished for a few more scenes of romance. A happy ending nonetheless. If, at times, I didn't find it too slow for my liking, I would have given it a 10. Either way, it's between an 8.5 - 9 for me which is still great.

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Action-packed entertainment

This is one of those rare shows where I couldn't wait for the next episode! It is a crime drama with action, comedy, heartwarming moments and you can't help but applaud every character for their performance.

The story introduces a male prosecutor, Do Be Man, who reluctantly joined the military to only make money by throwing cases. During the first episode or so, you might destest the male leads actions but don't give up on the show.

Soon he is teamed up with a new female prosecutor, Cha Woo In who appears naive and helpless but Do Be Man doesn't quite buy it. He turns out to be right because she part-times as a red headed vigilante to fight bad guys that the law can't reach.

Eventually she manages to get him to team up to take down the entire unjust and corrupt authority figures in the military. The entire process is exciting because the female lead has been given equal relevance in the show which is rare to see. She can hold her own both in fights as well as the court of law. And the male lead is flexible in both guiding her with his experience in the courtroom as her senior as well as following her lead in the fight against justice behind the scenes. A very healthy relationship is seen between the pair.

Besides the strong female lead, we also get to see a strong female in a negative role that manages to scare even the men. Not only is she strong physically but also cut throat and an intelligent adversary. It was a wonderful portrayal!

A third strong female was Do Be Man's aunt who played a police captain and also provided many light moments in the show.

One thing that truly impressed me is that the show doesn't shy away from presenting the negative aspects of the military that can plague any institution like corruption and bullying and how the military court is required to be impartial in order to serve justice.

A final bonus is that not only does Do Be Man's sound like doberman, a breed of a dog, but an actual doberman also features on the show adding more joy to the wonderful show.

There are many other wonderful characters on the show that add to the brilliance of it through their depictions of positive, negative and grey characters. The show might seem predictable but the journey has many surprises in store and will make you rethink your position on some of the characters and situations. Please give it a watch!

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Immensely dull in between

When the series started, it was great... for about 4 episodes. I loved the comedy, the breaking of the fourth wall, the genius straight-faced confident female lead and the idea that it was the male lawyer who was the emotional one was also a great change of pace. I also liked the involvement of the SML cop character. But the story sharply declined after that with nothing happening and everything like I was enjoying about the series had turned into the most dull plot to the point that I kept falling asleep while watching it. There was no chance of me speeding up the show because there was a lot of complicated points being discussed which I would have then missed.

It's only from the 12th episode that the story really picked up again. It was funny again. The breaking of the fourth wall was back and the story was FINALLY moving forward. And even though I loved the last four episodes as well, I was just annoyed the entire time before this because I couldn't recognise the show. I really wanted to see things through and I'm glad I persevered because it has a satisfying ending.

I get that they wanted to build up the story, the suspense and the drama but from episode 5 - 10, it was a struggle. 11 th was good at first and then had a boring second half again. This caused me to avoid watching the drama and I fell back and only when I read that the show finally picked up did I finally binge the remaining 6 episodes. So the team basically is struggling throughout this time and it feels like there is no momentum to the show. I feel like many episodes can even be skipped as you won't miss too much.

This drama would have been better as a 10 - 12 episode series rather than a 16 episode one and then my rating for it would also be far higher but considering how difficult it became for me to continue, 7 is fair on my part.

Some additional points to help you make your decision - I liked the mystery element despite the overcomplicated story; there isn't any romance but there is a some good teamwork and friendships established; the actors did a good job and there was no character that I hated though one of the "kids" was slightly annoying.

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Stripped everything that made ORV good

They turned Dokja into a nervous loser. I could have accepted various other changes but ruining Dokja's character from an unabashedly confident, strong, incredibly smart on-the-go thinker, and strong-willed character who LOVED Three Ways To Survive The Apocalypse (TWSA) into a weak-minded, loser-ish, selfish man who hates TWSA? And on top of that they used his trauma to turn him into becoming a murdeous bully. Why? They also got rid of his main trauma. My heart actually broke with the way he was portrayed in the movie. I admired Dokja in the webtoon and that's why so many things made 0 sense in the movie.

SPOILERS/COMPARISONS

Dokja's reality is now the novel that he alone read which is what gave him his confidence and even arrogance in several instances. He never lowered himself to anyone. Not the Dokkaebis, not the constellations (which are barely given importance in the movie whereas they are crucial in the webtoon), not even when he faced the protagonist Yoo Joonghyuk, whom he admired in the novel. In the webtoon, he challenges Joonghyuk to throw him off the bridge. He also NEVER calls himself the prophet but let's Joonghyuk think whatever. And because they got rid of the fourth wall skill, he couldn't block off Junghyeok's lie detection in the movie. The fourth wall is an incredibly useful protective skill for Dokja and I don't understand why they decided to get rid of it. In the movie, he is practically shaking while talking to Junghyeok. Their back and forth in the webtoon is so good. The movie ruined it.

In the novel/webtoon, Dokja levels up his skills extremely quickly because of how in-depth his knowledge is of the book which impresses constellations and their curiosity gets them to sponsor him a lot of coins which just does not come across in the movie and is not given importance. His actions also shock the constellations and that is why BiHyeong agrees that Dokja is impressing them and decides to strike a deal. But in the movie, Dokja has not been impressive in any way. In the train, he is so timid he allowed his boss to take control of the ant box. In the novel, he is the one in charge of the situation and gets everyone scrambling for the insects. He leads the group in every scenario which gets them to trust and respect his leadership. Like telling them to leave the train as soon as possible and run across the bridge. This is why he gets so many constellations who want to sponsor him. And he knows that tying himself to a sponsor early on isn't wise which is why he rejects the selection. In the movie it is Lee Hyeon Seong who tries to escape the train and not Dokja guiding them. They don't explain why he rejects picking a sponsor and barely goes through the list. Can fans of the movie really say they were impressed by Dokja at that point?

Dokja having the fourth wall also helps him to offset the memories of his past haunting him. He also understands the importance of having companions because he read the novel. Because movie Dokja hates the novel, he has no foresight into the importance of his companions either. He even becomes selfish at crucial moments wanting to abandon them and survive alone and his survival comes across as more luck and not active use of his knowledge. The original Dokja also works hard to help them grow their skill set and become more powerful. Movie Dokja is like - oh btw you can use coins to power up.

Honestly I could complain about his rescue of Hui Won (leaving her to breath poison gas), not being able to expose the mayor (who is now a monster for some reason) of killing people for coins and how coins "spill" out rather than directly being transferred to the killer, the kid (Gilyeong) being so much younger than in the webtoon and Bihyung shooting lasers from his eyes. But it's not as important. But little things build a character and they took everything away from Dokja that made him Dokja. Also getting rid of Heewon's backstory of being SAed? This is what explains her anger and her seeking justice. Sang Ah became an average healer instead of a brilliant woman turned assassin.

On top of that they even tried to make Junghyeok a horrible person in the movie when he asks Dokja to ditch the kid while they are surrounded by monsters. Nothing of that sort happens in the webtoon. If anything Joonghyuk tries to get the kid to team up with him. They made him into such a lackluster character. The guy who is supposed to be a looker by the way.

Gong Pildo was also a big character but I can let it go because they didn't have enough time to set up every character.

Also the use of guns in this movie is ridiculous especially for Junghyeok. Even Lee JiHye should not have been using guns. But then they removed any connection to constellations.

The final fight, as everyone said, did not exist in the webtoon. The closest is the lesser dragon disaster which was way above their level that the Dokkaebi acknowledges but in the movie the Dokkaebi is like, yeah let's make this harder. But the situations were entirely different. It was really funny when Junghyeok lay charred to death because if he dies, he actually moves to a parallel timeline and Dokja has 1 less hero in his. But in the movie, everyone dies. Half of those characters were not supposed to be there in this fight. This is the problem when the movies decides to spend all it's budget on a star-studded cast. The director changed the plot so much in order to give everyone importance in a limited time. So now the main character is a shell of himself with no redeeming qualities or useful skills besides strength and even that he seemed tired at many points of the movie.

All that remains in the movie is a lot of different action sequences to wow audiences that have never read the source material and are missing much enjoyment from the original plot and true character of Dokja. Because you could have gotten action from any action movie and disaster scenes from any disaster movie.

I don't normally hand out 1 stars but the director chose to forego the whole OMNISCIENT READER part! They could have made a movie using elements of ORV and called it something else. That would have been better than reducing this incredibly detailed and complex story with great character arcs to action and CGI.

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When Drama Gives You Depression

Unlike most people, I couldn't enjoy this drama at all. I felt miserable throughout barring a couple of episodes. I laughed maybe once or twice. It took me 4 months to complete because it was my personal hell. Perhaps a bit too real for me. I was desperately hoping things work out for them but some misfortune or the other kept coming into their lives. They struggled so much and I just felt sick to my stomach watching helplessly.

The actors were all great since I could feel their emotions and connect with them. Perhaps connected too deeply that it triggered a lot of negative emotions in me. I was reminded of some of my personal struggles as well as my mother's. Because of how sad it got, I had to watch at double the speed and it still didn't prevent me from crying buckets. One beautiful thing that I did love was Park Bo Gum's character's love for IU's character and standing up for her and being there for her always.

This is not a direct critique at the show. It is just not something I could enjoy. I'm glad I made it to the end despite how awful it made me feel. Not something I would recommend personally but I probably won't need to seeing it's popularity.

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Sweet but could have been better

Being a remake of a cdrama, naturally this series will be compared a lot to the original. The Thai remake is far from being a perfect adaptation but in many ways, I find that to be a good thing.

One of the aspects that I disliked in the original is that I grew tired of how many episodes the series had and how long they kept the main leads separated. The SML had more of a presence in the original. Though he was a better character than this version, it still irked me to have to wait for the leads to find each other again. This was the biggest negative of the original for me. Made me feel like watching that series was pointless. But because the Thai version has cut down episodes to 16 instead of 41, I quite enjoyed the pace of the series.

The other thing I disliked in the original is the FL's brother, who original was a wonderful character and I loved the siblings together, turned into a massive hypocrite regarding his sister's relationship. Though the brother's character was not as fleshed out in the Thai, at least you don't start to hate him. At least I didn't. He showed growth towards the end.

The negatives of the Thai drama are that the chemistry is not great between the couples. The best moment was when the FL got drunk. And no, there is no RAPE scene or non-consensual sex happening in this show. All will be cleared regarding that situation if you continue watching.

My favourite secondary characters were the office staff. The leads also did a good job considering the script.

I loved the OST - I'm Missing You. It's really beautiful!

Hope people give this version a chance.

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