16
46
2
1
1
5
This review may contain spoilers
Raw & Edgy Meets Noble Idiocy; The Ability to Make A Choice is a Must for All.
I added this for HY having only seen him in a few costume dramas and wanting to see him in a different genre. I knew Esther but very few of the supporting cast especially the Thai folks. I remember when this thing was filming in Thailand and they had an earthquake but thankfully everyone was unharmed and production soon wrapped. It proved to be an interesting story and glad for the HE as well.
Pros: I'm proud of HY for this role. His story is raw and edgy in regards to the boxing, racing, and the undercover work for both. He really lived and breathe this character you could tell. It wasn't just about the romance, but it was about the story behind it, how his character had basically grew up suffering, because even though his adopted father and family fell apart soon And he had all those hardships in Thailand when they got there that he told the FL in the first or second episode, he chose not to repeat the cycle. He chose a more righteous path which was a lot harder to take and caused him to be hurt so often because he was involved with a lot of the stuff that was illegal. Granted he wasn't the only undercover dude they chose, but this story for him had a lot to do with evolution. He never had it easy until the end and being with the FL and coming to the realization that he did. Everything that happened to him after the crash and learning to walk again and going through that whole time where it was like he had a little bit of hope, and then it was taken from him again only in a different way. But he kept going. Also, very proud with how he dealt with PTSD and other psychological issues. It was very realistic.
The FL basically grows up in a rich and entitled household, where her mother spoils her with a big brother though obviously adopted and not buy blood so when she finds him again as a 19/20 year-old in Thailand, along with her biological father and new family they reconnect and she obviously has feelings for him that it takes him a while, but he does reciprocate. Unfortunately, their romance at that time only lasts a week before his big accident. She, however, is no slouch she does know how to stand up for herself for the most part. Their relationship after the fact, only happens because she reconnects with him due to the fact that They both returned to their city in China, and the whole story is basically about him being the sun, her being the moon because of their names. Their break is that of six years and in that time she gets to grow up and gets a job he gets to finish the education he never got to before and also gets a job, opens the café of their dreams that they talked about for her and she, because of her senior, and now that she works at the observatory finds the café and finds their supposedly lost dog.
I won't go into a whole lot of detail in the story because there's just a bunch of little nuances that people need to watch to understand, but that's the gist. All the characters were flawed, there was not a perfect character in sight and it made it even more realistic. This was a raw and edgy show and so were its characters. Comedy was on point and the chemistry was awesome. Especially after they get back together after the break toward the end, there was a scene or two where the screen was definitely smoking. Though I do have to say the stepmom of FL was a hell of a lot better than her actual mom though at the end her mom did get better come around and treat ML the way she should have when he was a kid. She made her amends in my eyes.
The other thing that I found interesting and very very rare was the fact of how closely the series followed the novel. I'm not a source material reader, but all novel readers when I inevitably asked for spoilers, literally went bit by bit by bit, and it was exactly like that in the series. So that was a huge plus as usually the series deviates heavily from the novel you don't even recognize the novel according to people, but here it really was on point. I felt that every character was necessary. I loved a lot of of those supporting cast like SL, Mike's character was comic relief with ML, Patrick's character, Nana, Crazy Jin or whatever his name was, even Snakey at the end was a good person and no longer a rival to FL. There were others I just don't remember who they were. Even the antagonists did a good job playing those roles.
Obviously location being Thailand, for the most part was beautiful and rich and great where it was, modern drama costumes and ML motorbike riding, OST's were on point. It was obvious everything else was done by professional racers or CGI and that was fine. My only question was was it really HY doing all those martial arts because it did not look like a stunt double to me.
Cons: I mentioned noble idiocy in the title and for sure, I had a problem with that. Though he didn't want to be a burden (post accident with the severity of his injuries) on her life given how young she was at the time and chose to separate himself from her and then cut contact so she could go to school, which she needed to do and what not and he could recover and he could heal, go through rehab and eventually also go to school, he still should've told her the truth. He could've waited a few years, but he should've never hid that from her or taken the ability to choose away from her. Even when they reconnected, it took her walking away and before that telling him well, "what if I had ended up with an abuser and a loser and someone who cheated on me, do you know that by cutting off contact you were also gambling with my future?" That was exactly what he needed to hear. He had essentially no right to take that choice away from her. She was not stupid back then and not only that, but they also lied about the dog saying that the dog was lost and had other friends not contact her. All these choices hurt her badly. Why not give her the dog? Why say he was lost? Even getting her own father, stepmom, and stepsister to lie. A lot of lies that shouldn't have been told and things that should've been done differently.
I don't understand why modern dramas have been cutting intimate scenes like kissing scenes and going straight into after the fact or just they start kissing and then fade to black and next scene? We're not talking about showing them doing the entire deed, but with this series, a lot of the editing was incredibly choppy, especially when it came to that part. Also, the ending was beyond rushed. That last episode shoved so much into it that no wonder they chose eloping sequence as opposed to the actual full wedding that was filmed and was caught by fan sites. They could've spaced it out so much better within those last few episodes but they shoved three episodes worth into one.
Would I recommend it? Yes I would because this drama was definitely different for most modern dramas you see nowadays. The rawness and the edginess of it with the boxing and racing, especially in the beginning how do you thinking fast and furious meets fight club with romance.
Pros: I'm proud of HY for this role. His story is raw and edgy in regards to the boxing, racing, and the undercover work for both. He really lived and breathe this character you could tell. It wasn't just about the romance, but it was about the story behind it, how his character had basically grew up suffering, because even though his adopted father and family fell apart soon And he had all those hardships in Thailand when they got there that he told the FL in the first or second episode, he chose not to repeat the cycle. He chose a more righteous path which was a lot harder to take and caused him to be hurt so often because he was involved with a lot of the stuff that was illegal. Granted he wasn't the only undercover dude they chose, but this story for him had a lot to do with evolution. He never had it easy until the end and being with the FL and coming to the realization that he did. Everything that happened to him after the crash and learning to walk again and going through that whole time where it was like he had a little bit of hope, and then it was taken from him again only in a different way. But he kept going. Also, very proud with how he dealt with PTSD and other psychological issues. It was very realistic.
The FL basically grows up in a rich and entitled household, where her mother spoils her with a big brother though obviously adopted and not buy blood so when she finds him again as a 19/20 year-old in Thailand, along with her biological father and new family they reconnect and she obviously has feelings for him that it takes him a while, but he does reciprocate. Unfortunately, their romance at that time only lasts a week before his big accident. She, however, is no slouch she does know how to stand up for herself for the most part. Their relationship after the fact, only happens because she reconnects with him due to the fact that They both returned to their city in China, and the whole story is basically about him being the sun, her being the moon because of their names. Their break is that of six years and in that time she gets to grow up and gets a job he gets to finish the education he never got to before and also gets a job, opens the café of their dreams that they talked about for her and she, because of her senior, and now that she works at the observatory finds the café and finds their supposedly lost dog.
I won't go into a whole lot of detail in the story because there's just a bunch of little nuances that people need to watch to understand, but that's the gist. All the characters were flawed, there was not a perfect character in sight and it made it even more realistic. This was a raw and edgy show and so were its characters. Comedy was on point and the chemistry was awesome. Especially after they get back together after the break toward the end, there was a scene or two where the screen was definitely smoking. Though I do have to say the stepmom of FL was a hell of a lot better than her actual mom though at the end her mom did get better come around and treat ML the way she should have when he was a kid. She made her amends in my eyes.
The other thing that I found interesting and very very rare was the fact of how closely the series followed the novel. I'm not a source material reader, but all novel readers when I inevitably asked for spoilers, literally went bit by bit by bit, and it was exactly like that in the series. So that was a huge plus as usually the series deviates heavily from the novel you don't even recognize the novel according to people, but here it really was on point. I felt that every character was necessary. I loved a lot of of those supporting cast like SL, Mike's character was comic relief with ML, Patrick's character, Nana, Crazy Jin or whatever his name was, even Snakey at the end was a good person and no longer a rival to FL. There were others I just don't remember who they were. Even the antagonists did a good job playing those roles.
Obviously location being Thailand, for the most part was beautiful and rich and great where it was, modern drama costumes and ML motorbike riding, OST's were on point. It was obvious everything else was done by professional racers or CGI and that was fine. My only question was was it really HY doing all those martial arts because it did not look like a stunt double to me.
Cons: I mentioned noble idiocy in the title and for sure, I had a problem with that. Though he didn't want to be a burden (post accident with the severity of his injuries) on her life given how young she was at the time and chose to separate himself from her and then cut contact so she could go to school, which she needed to do and what not and he could recover and he could heal, go through rehab and eventually also go to school, he still should've told her the truth. He could've waited a few years, but he should've never hid that from her or taken the ability to choose away from her. Even when they reconnected, it took her walking away and before that telling him well, "what if I had ended up with an abuser and a loser and someone who cheated on me, do you know that by cutting off contact you were also gambling with my future?" That was exactly what he needed to hear. He had essentially no right to take that choice away from her. She was not stupid back then and not only that, but they also lied about the dog saying that the dog was lost and had other friends not contact her. All these choices hurt her badly. Why not give her the dog? Why say he was lost? Even getting her own father, stepmom, and stepsister to lie. A lot of lies that shouldn't have been told and things that should've been done differently.
I don't understand why modern dramas have been cutting intimate scenes like kissing scenes and going straight into after the fact or just they start kissing and then fade to black and next scene? We're not talking about showing them doing the entire deed, but with this series, a lot of the editing was incredibly choppy, especially when it came to that part. Also, the ending was beyond rushed. That last episode shoved so much into it that no wonder they chose eloping sequence as opposed to the actual full wedding that was filmed and was caught by fan sites. They could've spaced it out so much better within those last few episodes but they shoved three episodes worth into one.
Would I recommend it? Yes I would because this drama was definitely different for most modern dramas you see nowadays. The rawness and the edginess of it with the boxing and racing, especially in the beginning how do you thinking fast and furious meets fight club with romance.
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