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Great heroine, amazing friends-to-lovers story but a bit rushed ending
A great rom-com and sport drama with one of the best heroine ever! I loved the relationship between the 2 main leads: it was an exceptional friends-to-lovers romance captivating all along the show.The personality of the heroine was amazing: she made the show for me! The hero was also really swoony with some moments that make your toes curl! The second couple story was interesting as it gave an interesting counterpoint in terms of adult romance within a group of friend. Their evolution is nice to follow as well. The actors' acting was great, above all Park Seo Joon who is radiating pure charisma and brilliant in his more emotional scenes.
The main negative for me that decreased my interest on the show were a couple of secondary storylines which I feel did not bring added value to the main plot. Especially in the last third of the drama, I would have preferred we spend more times with the four main characters to develop deeper and conclude better their story arc (in terms of relationship, professional achievements and dreams) rather than on the storyline of the owner of the building. The last episode would have been much more satisfying in that case, rather than feeling a bit too rushed because of that specific narrative arc taking so much place.
Overall, despite this, I was quite satisfied with the ending and still think that it is a series worth too watch thanks to its spunky heroine and its jaw-dropping hero.
I would recommend this to people who like a strong heroine, friends-to-lovers trope and are looking for an addictive fun romance with some (quite unexpected for the genre) deeper moral around dreams and adulthood.
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Tale of the Nine Tailed: An Unfinished Story
1 people found this review helpful
No plot but cute instants with our favourite cunning fox
This very short length series of 3 episodes of 10 minutes shows some "slice-of-life" moments of the best character of the series "Tale of the Nine Tailed": that is to say Lee Rang.Kim Bum is as always a delight to watch and he acts with a nice sensitivity given the shortness of the episodes.
There is not that much of a plot but it is lovely to see this very cunning fox interacting with 2 of his favourites "pets" (Ki Yoo Ri and Kim Soo Oh) and showing care and love for them.
I would not necessarily recommend this to people and it is clearly not a "must-see" unless they have seen the parent series and like a lot Kim Bum's character.
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Sport rom-com with a slow burn heartfelt romance that gives you all the feels <3
This drama tells the story of 2 students at a sport university who are trying to become professional athletes. This is a super addictive rom-com with an amazing pacing. Sometimes, romance scenarios can feel a bit dragging (especially toward the end of a series), which was not the case here. The writers clearly managed to spread in a natural way all the content of their multiple plotlines in order for the building of the romance to feel totally genuine during the full 16 episodes of the show. This is a romance with a heartfelt slow burn that will for sure gives you all the feels.I found the chemistry between the female lead and the male lead exceptional. Their friendship evolving into something more was really cute, fun and also incredibly sincere. All their little gestures towards each other were properly convincing and heart-warming. Nam Joo Hyuk performance as the main male lead is fantastic. His puppy look when chasing after the heroine can only make the viewer heart melt.
However, I was less impressed by the secondary characters who were not very interesting. Except for the three friends of the female and male lead, I had no sympathy at all for a large part of the secondary cast. The secondary female lead was awful but at least the actress did a great job incarnating the role. On the contrary, the secondary male lead role could have been much more exciting but was overall disappointing due to the actor's acting which felt very flat.
Generally, all the adults 'storylines (the families of the heroine and the hero, the professors and coaches..) were clearly not the most captivating part of the series. I found myself a bit annoyed as they were often creating more trouble / pain for the leads than helping them. Still, some of the conflicts created allowed growth for the characters and great acting from the two main actors, so it was all worth it at the end.
I would highly recommend this to people looking for an amazing romance with a well-executed friends-to-lovers trope and who appreciate a slow burn story.
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A gut-wrenching youth drama! The "Weak Hero" trope done right!
An excellent drama carried by brilliant actors with such a good and realistic acting. The story is portraying the strong friendship between young people confronted with the violence of the world around them...whether at school or in their entourage.The episodes are short (about 40 minutes) and fast-paced; and yet at the heart of the action are more contemplative moments, full of sincerity with a sensitive OST giving an almost "old-school" feel. The brutal scenes are filmed skilfully and seamlessly, the strong images leave an impression of discomfort, the story is simply gut-wrenching: be prepared for a turmoil of emotions!
The trope of the hero who gets his ass kicked, the narrative of the weak who confronts the bullies, and who gets up to face adversity are here highlighted in a masterful and credible way. The spectator can only tense up in the face of certain situations and fears (often rightly) for the safety of the protagonists. The uncertainty regarding the survival of these characters to whom the viewer has become attached is one of the greatest strength of this show.
I would recommend this to people who like to read GTO or The breaker, love well-built youth drama and that are not triggered by topics such as bullying, domestic abuse and scenes of exacerbated violence.
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Cute behind the scenes, with a fair share of fan service
This SP is a compilation of various behind-the-scenes of the series Revenged Love.I do wish it was more complete and encompassing the entirety of the show, however it seems to focus mainly on the first half of the drama. Hopefully, the production release more of those snipbit of the shooting process but I would not hold my breath for it as the drama suffered during its run of a lot of external pressures.
That being said, those BTS truly showcase the strong chemistry of the cast as well as how fun it was for them to film some of the scenes. I would strongly recommend this to people that have enjoyed the drama and are curious about the making.
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A feast for the eyes, epic tale not without flaws but worth it for the journey it will take you on
I was expecting a lot from this Chinese Wuxia drama : the fact that Tian Jia Rui had one of the main role in a series directed and written by the very talented director Edward Guo really hyped me. Overall, it successfully managed to keep up with my high expectations and likely set the bar super high for any other future Chinese wuxia drama I would watch.I loved the story thematic with the narration focusing a lot on the concept of dream and reality, it was truly an epic tale supported by an impressive production value. In the middle of a lot of action, mystery and investigation, the heart of the story is foremost about companionship and found family, as well as different kind of love. The evolution of the relationships between the characters (especially between the two main male leads but also with some of the secondary roles) was probably my favorite part of the show.
The costumes and the cinematography were impeccable. A real feast for the eyes, with a lot of details and superbly impactful. Every set felt so real, rich and purposeful with a minutiae that I rarely encountered. You can really feel the director vision and specific touch when watching the drama and that's something that completely fascinated me.
The acting was another strong point : the cast was pretty good with a great dynamic with each other. This for that matter can be witnessed in the ending generic of episodes which consists of them dancing together on a choreography on one of the main song of the drama. I was once again super impressed by Tian Jia Rui : he got even better than in "My Journey To You" despite the challenges inherent to his role, from "Didi to Gege", very different from his debut one. I got very attached to the main characters (and even some of the more minor ones) and it is a proof of the overall good performances of the ensemble cast. In addition to Tian Jia Rui, I will keep an eye on the future work of Neo Hou and Yan An. The acting of this trio was on point, together or separately in addition to be such eye-candy.
Of course, the series is not without flaws. I wish the lore and powers were more consistent and that there had been less magical objects conveniently appearing for the sake of the plot. I also found the shift in tones a bit jarring: especially in the introduction arc, there is some over-the-top humor that felt a bit flat and strange in the middle of the angsty parts. It fortunately got smoother and more balanced as the story unfolded. The script also took time to set up the stakes, with some situations and storylines being a bit repetitive in the first part of the series.
Other than that, some of the fight sequences lacked of rhythm and dynamism: they were all beautiful but sometimes to the detriment of the pacing (or even the logic) of the conflicts. Editing could also have been better regarding transition between scenes or even between episodes. The OST was quite good (with maybe one of the song being overused) but music was a bit abruptly inserted into some sequences. I'm pointing it out because all the remaining of the production was so flawless that those minor flaws were even more striking.
I would recommend this to people looking for a Chinese Wuxia drama with a super strong cinematographic vision and high production value, good acting and gripping story featuring different kind of love. Shift in tone was a bit unbalanced at first and introduction arc could have been better paced, but once the set up of the relationships between the characters is done, you are in for a captivating journey that will tug at your heartstrings.
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Way too predictable mystery, same flaws as the series but beautiful context + location
The story is centred around a singular mystery and I appreciate the fact that there was enough content in terms of plot for a full length movie. I also really enjoyed the context and location in which the characters are evolving.However, I anticipated all the revelations of the scenario, nothing came as a surprise and the resolution of the mystery was super expected from the get go, which tempered heavily my enjoyment of the story. I found the teaching moments provided by the main character interesting in their content but it was too heavily given without any subtlety, for me to really resonate with it.
Acting was okay for the main roles but with some really weak points for some of the support parts. I also regret to have seen almost no Garo, as it is the interactions of this character with the hero Totono that were the best part of the drama to me: it was totally lacking here. I am super happy to have found back Hagiwara Riku in a support role and I am curious to see more of Hara Nanoka as well.
Soundtrack was okay, with the generic song that I like from the drama, very slice of life in a way and less overpowering than in the main series. Production was very good with some beautiful landscapes.
I would recommend this to people that loved the drama Don't call it Mystery. The qualities and flaws are consistent between both series and film. Therefore, if you enjoyed the drama, you will likely enjoy the movie as well. On the contrary, if like myself you had already lukewarm feelings for the drama, the film will definitely not change your mind.
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Painful to watch, I had moderate expectations and was still very disappointed and annoyed
This BL series is a sequel of Bed Friend but focusing on the side character of "Jade" and his romance with his new intern "Mai". Unfortunately it was super disappointing, Bed Friend was full of flaws but rather entertaining. But here it is really catastrophic, I was pretty annoyed during my watch.The biggest issue with the drama is coming from the shift in tone vs its parent series. The director has chosen to make The Middleman's love a really over-the-top comedy. The story feel simply empty and the main character "Jade" is written as very dumb and not likeable at all. The character just does not feel like a real human but rather a caricature.
I was really not impressed by the acting of Yim... In the role of Jade, he is overacting a lot and screaming most of the time, making his character properly insufferable...To his defense, he was not as bad in other dramas I saw him playing side characters in (even when playing the exact same one in the prequel of this), so a lot of it might have to do with the director choice. To be honest, I'm not sure if another actor would have done a better job given the material to play and the overall tone of the series for which the director seemed to want to go for. The other characters felt a bit transparent compared to him and are not interesting. The main couple of Bed Friend has almost nothing in the scenario to play with, which makes them unfortunately kind of purposeless.
The series remain very platonic with almost no advancement for the main relationship during almost 7 episodes. The two main male leads are just running in circle...There are some hot scenes in the last episode but even though they were well filmed and that the chemistry between the actors Yim and Tutor is pretty good, I did not manage to be invested and believe in it. It did not feel organic or in line with the characterization done so far...
I would not recommend this to people as there are much much better BL series out there. Unless you really like one of the actor and/or over-the-top comedy as well as you do not mind overacting, I would suggest to do yourself a favor and avoid this at all cost.
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Very cute in some aspects but lacking too much in storytelling, pacing and developments
The premise of this BL story was pretty interesting with one of the male main lead needing any kind of physical touch with the other main male character to "block" the supernatural element of the show. It has been done before but not necessarily in that context and so I was pretty intrigued on how the relationship was going to evolve starting from there..Unfortunately, I found the overall story a bit boring, it remained quite superficial in a way with lot of questions not really addressed. I must admit that one of the protagonist was really written as pretty dumb (in an annoying and not -at least to me- endearing way), making it kind of difficult for me to understand why the other was so whipped for him (and also so quickly).
Despite those flaws, there are cute scenes that are worth the watch, there is a really good chemistry between the main actors with quite good acting...Some of their kisses were simply beautiful in a stiring way. I quite enjoyed the introduction as well as the last third of the story (even though the ending felt clearly too rushed) but there is clearly a saggy middle which dragged down the story for me. It is a bit of a shame that I felt there was so many issue in the pacing and storytelling given the short duration of the show.
I enjoyed the soundtrack, it gave some fun and almost cartoon / spunky vibe that created a good atmosphere. It will not necessarily remain in my memory but was really nice to hear during the show. The production value was standard for a university romance. They could have pushed more the horror vibe but decided to go for a comedic tone which I understand given the storytelling they were going for. I would have prefer the choice to be much more angsty to amp the stakes but it is a question of preference on the direction I wanted the show to go into...And it did not happen.
I would recommend this to people looking for a short BL romance with a fantasy element and cohabitation trope. If you have enjoyed drama such as "The Master's Sun" or movie such as "Marry My Dead Body", you might enjoy this because they share some similarities (either in the concept or the humour). I find it lacking in terms of story as well as relationship development but there are quite a bit of very lovely-dovey moments.
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Hot ML could not save writing crumbling apart and annoying/badly acted FL
What started at first as a hot thriller with an enemies-to-lovers married couple and some mystery, fell quickly apart as the writing crumbled with no proper characterization and a lot of plot armor for the characters.Even if I cannot deny the fact that the male lead was very attractive despite (or thanks to) all his caveman manners and possessiveness, he got less interesting as his motivations and choices became more absurd with some noble idiocy move that I disliked a lot. The female lead was an even worse main protagonist, that had almost no character growth. She felt like a carpet for most of the series, being dragged by the events with very little agency, wanting to help but concretely being carried by others all along the drama.
Regarding casting, Yoo Yeon Seok delivered a solid and hot performance. Despite the cringy lines he had to say and the writing sinking deeper and deeper, his acting skills shined through the screen. I unfortunately cannot say the same for his counterpart Chae Soo Bin. I was super disappointed and even irked by her acting. She had a vacant / empty expression or a sad kicked puppy look for almost the total duration of the series. Her character is written as passive and quite timid, so maybe she is not the only one to be blame for it...But she did not manage to insufflate any life into her performance making it I feel even worse than what was written in the scenario.
The production value was quite good. Nothing extraordinary in terms of directing and making but good enough for the story to be told. In addition to some support characters that I wish we had seen more, the soundtrack was the saving grace of the drama, I enjoyed it a lot overall.
I would not recommend this to people as I feel there are better thrilling romance out there. Some of the more steamy scenes are good but all that surround them is clearly not worth it. At first it was entertaining but very quickly it fell apart because of the crazy writing and insipid heroine.
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Queer chronicles of a gay guy living and loving in the big city of Seoul : a raw and poetic journey
This is clearly one of the most qualitative BL that I have seen so far, not necessarily one that I would easily re-watch but one that really left a strong impression on me. It is drastically different from what I have seen in the genre, as it provides a deep dive into the life the central character of the story, almost like a chronicles of his life. It can be seen as a slice-of-life with a lot of dramatic elements put in a realistic but at the same time poetic way.The main character is a writer who in a way narrates his life to the viewer, which really give it a different flavor to most series. His relationship with his mother as well as with Kylie were central pieces of the story to me. The romantic interests in the series were more like passing boats into the hero's life, not the main focus but bringing up so many thoughts as he evolved through the various relationships. The ending felt bitter-sweet and made sense given all that happened to the hero and the way the storytelling was built from the start. I would not have minded an additional episode to better round it up tough.
Casting was very solid overall with the main actor clearly being the strongest part of the series. I really hope to see him in other works because it is his performance that elevated the watching experience and made me care that much for the character he portrayed. The cinematography was pretty good: the apartment of the hero was a character in itself evolving with him as he went through various life events, the OST was also very fitting to the drama and there were quite a lot of very memorable scenes that were filmed super impactfully.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a different kind of BL story. It is more of a chronicle of a life rather than a standard romance. Of course, I have nothing against fluffy and butterflies romance or angsty tales of passion but here it is a different proposal both in terms of content as well as storytelling. The good writing, the very deep topics relating to what's happening in real life as well as the interesting arc of the main character arc strongly resonated with me and make it worth your time. If you enjoy BL such as 'I Told Sunset About You' and 'The Eighth Sense', I think you should give it a shot.
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I had low expectation and this S3 still felt like a let down...
Did the world need a sequel of Squid Game ? Since the ending of S1, I have been adamant that it was unecessary and I definitely maintain my opinion after watching the conclusion of this series with the disappointing Season 3. In terms of writing, the script definitely a less strong point of view than S1, I feel that a lot of the "life lessons" from the original show were lost. The surprise effect was not there and even if there were a lot of impactful scenes, I felt that most of the characters made irrational decisions more for "the gag" of it all than driven by proper scenario build up.In terms of characters storylines, if the police officer was the most useless one, it was the "hero" journey that disappointed me the most. I did not feel the character growth and I was pretty underwhelmed by Lee Jung Jae's acting in this season 3. It felt very one note. To be fair, it is probably more due to the poor writing, preventing the actor to demonstrate any range of acting because the lack of room for growth with his character... Next to him, the other main cast did a solid job, especially Yim Si Wan, whose character's storyline was definitely the most interesting of this season and whose acting deeply impressed me.
The main positive of this season resides in its strong production value and overall visual. The layering of the child games and the bloody murders are as striking as ever with deaths litteraly wrapped in black boxes with pretty pink bows. I was amazed at all the details in the decors and the way some of the games were featured.
Despite all its flaws in writing, I would still recommend this to people that have watched season 2. If you have just seen Season 1, better stop there as it can live perfectly well as a standalone...However, if you have watched season 2, it is kinda a must to watch season 3 as those two are immediately connected and probably splitted in two for commercial reasons rather than anything else.
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Unrequited love with a lot of miscommunication issues : deeply flawed but I liked it...
Usually I'm not a big fan of clueless characters and of miscommunication issues...Here though, despite its many many flaws, I quite enjoyed this series. Could it have been better ? Certainly. Did I like my experience watching the drama ? Yes.The writer took a beloved trope of mine : "friends-to-lovers", and mixed it with another painfully enjoyable one "unrequited love". This mix is an enticing one to me, pretty fitting for my angsty preference in terms of romance. Unfortunately, the writing never managed to really hit the mark with its storytelling. There were so many missed opportunities in terms of narrative arcs, as the writer seemed to not know what to do and kept the characters stuck in the same place for most of the series.
In addition to featuring beloved tropes, the drama made me discover Jung Je Hyeon who played Ji Hun, one of the main three characters. It was his debut role and he is clearly the main reason I enjoyed that much a series that otherwise could have made me mad of frustration. Here, I was fully onboard, even with the character being seemingly pretty obtuse. He played him in a smart and layered way, and I'm very curious to see what's next for this actor.
The biggest flaws of the series to me was not even the lacking writing but the bad and very repetitive editing. There were so many repetition of scenes. The production crew seem to think that the viewer had a goldfish memory, making them repeat ad nauseam the exact same filmed sequences already showed in previous episodes. It is a shame because a series of 8 episodes of about 25 minutes does not require that many flashbacks and repetition in the editing. Using the episode time better, either by developing more the characters, or just adding angst / fluff / jealousy, would definitely have been a wiser choice.
I would recommend this series to people that enjoy unrequited love stories and that have a high tolerance for communication issue and painful unnecessary longing. I honestly enjoyed myself quite a bit despite the big writing and editing issues thanks to the beloved central tropes of the story and my fondness for one of the character.
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Completely missed the mark in terms of romance & chemistry - disappointing
Unfortunately, I did not adhere at all to the romantic aspects of this rom-com...There was so comedic moments that I enjoyed but also a lot that felt flat to me and after the chaotic introduction to the main characters, I never went on board with any kind of romantic feelings they had for each other.I blame mostly the story itself rather than the cast as I like a lot Kang Ha Neul and even more Jung So Min...On paper, this pairing looked so good but in reality, their chemistry was very average mainly because of the set up of their characters themselves...In any case, that suck that I was unable to enjoy any of their skinship as I was truly confuse at why those two characters would ever fall back in love...It was really unconvincing.
It is also disappointing how unlikeable most of the side characters were... The only exception were the mother and sister of the female lead (respectively played by Jo Min Su and Hwang Se In) who were both the most enjoyable part of the movie with a great comedic timing.
I would not recommend this rom-com unless you are a fan of one of the cast members. I feel that really the romance was completely lacking with an ending that felt like a cope out. There were some fun scenes that I enjoyed but some comedic aspects felt also strange in the context of the story.
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Not my type of show but I learnt interesting stuff, pace of stories could have been better
It took me almost 7 months to complete this variety show. I must preface this review by admiting first that "Mystery concept" variety show are not necessarily the ones I gravitate towards the most. I always have trouble to get into the reenactement of crime/mystery because even if the stories are interesting, cast reactions (or rather over-reactions) often leave me with an uncanny feeling. It is also quite odd when they play games right in the middle of it.Indeed, the viewer knows that everything is fake, so it is a bit cringe or strange to see over-the-top acting by members of the show. The idea might be to immerse the spectators as if they were watching a theatre piece, but unfortunately it often produces the opposite effect as I feel quite distached. The rythm of the show was super strange: each episode felt king of sluggish, especially in the middle. However, they often managed to have good endings with some rush and thrills at the end of a lot of the episodes but not enough to make me anticipate the next one.
That's said, and despite all the flaws that I perceive and point out, there are positive aspects as well. First of all, I especially liked the fact that I learnt quite a bit regarding contemporary history and various South Korea news items from different period of time. There is an inherent repetive aspect to the mecanics of the show but I also found that they managed to bring enough variety in the stories to not feel too monotonous. Guest cast members (to be fair mainly Choi Yeon Jun who I like a lot) were also a good way to change a bit and renew the dynamic of the episodes.
I enjoyed the main cast: they had a good chemistry together but it somewhat lacked in terms of balance. I started this show for Lee Jung Ha but honestly the whole actors gang ( Lee Jung Ha, Cha Tae Hyun and Oh Na Ra) were my favorites. The others members Yoo Jae Suk, Yang Se Chan and Jennie do the job properly as well. It is clearly more a colleagues relationship and felt not as genuine as some other shows I have seen.
I would recommend this to people that enjoy Mystery Variety show concept. If you are fan from one of the member of the cast or if you are interested by miscalleneous news items you might also want to give it a shot despite its shortcomings (repetitive mecanics as well as relatively bad pacing of the episodes).
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