Episode 47 and it just hit me. WHERE THE HELL is old girl? After leaving He Ye and others, is she just taking the LONG LONG LONG LONG way back to her troops orrrrr... seems they writers just forgot about her hahahaha. Anyway, this show is AMAZING and rollicking good "fun". I am obsessed and bingeing it, not ONE wasted second. At the end of every episode, I'm like noooooo already?! Knocked me right out of my historical cdrama slump. It's not perfect, but its fantastic!
Edit: How hilarious! As soon as i mentioned her, TADA! I must be psychic. lol
The inherent evil in some "humans" is just... I don't have the words. I am not sure which is worse, the ones who committed the heinous acts or the ones who let them off the hook because, money and science. Absolutly diabolical shit. This information/occurence in history is also not well known to the general global population and it is a crying shame.
Was looking for a time pass action movie. This one wayyy surpassed expectations, filled with gritty hand to hand fights and high on emotion as well. I actually teared up. Was NOT expecting that. Give it a watch. Like me, you may end up pleasantly surprised.
Humans are despicable and evil. Even though I know this fact, I am still every once in a while blown away by how MUCH depravity, greed and darkness lies in the heart of man.
The movie suggestions below are varied but contain some similar themes at least in MY opinion (sad, bleak futures, capitalism in China and its effects, bittersweet/ill-fated young love etc.) and I loved them ALL! A couple are just random romance reccomendations I enjoyed:
Us and Them Better Days Soulmate (Chinese not Korean one) An Elephant Sitting Still (this is more social drama less romance) Ash is Purest White 20th Century Girl 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days We Made a Beautiful Bouquet Your Name Engraved Herein Under the Hawthorne Tree First Love (Japanese show)
These are off the top of my head. I might edit and keep adding if I remember to come back :)
Not perfect, there was a timeline issue I can't figure out. HOW someone seemed to be in two places at the same time. A few niggles: How people are ordering food in a restaurant where a violent crime just occured - shouldn't that be cordoned off as a crime scene? Other such issues I am too lazy to type out...
Anyhoo, lots of hand to hand combat, which I love in my action movies as opposed to explosions galore.
Loved the wolf pups but it seems they just kind of faded away into the background which was a shame because that hotel chase scene was a banger and I wanted to see more of them in action.
Very believable villain, could have done with better charaterization of the survellance team but still a highly enjoyable action flick.
Really entertaining show. The FL is one of the most endearing, cute, spunky characters I have ever seen in a cdrama. The role was perfect. Loved the leads' chemistry (His disdain for her at the beginning was hilarious), the story wasn't boring though there were some "too much dialogue and slow music" scenes. Those make me sleepy lol. But all in all a fun ride. Enjoyable cast of characters.
8.5 for the drama. Would have rated higher had there been more tension, more time with leads together, a better plot and cohesive storytelling in the later episodes. It felt so lazily written and sloppy during the Hulan/rescue arc. Speaking of, how anticlimatic THAT was and a choppy, hasty resolution.
10.0 for ML. This for me, would have been excellent had they shown more of him. Charismatic, dominant war general (his presence in his armor, oof!) yet gentle and compassionate leader, "master and husband. Every scene with him was impactful.
10.0 for the costumes. The "gowns" the women wore were exquisite.
100.0 for ME, sitting through this. Some episodes were a slog but never did I skip a second. Commendable!! haha
Very weird. I don't mind dark content, morally grey or even pitch black characters. But something is missing here for me. I can't seem to "connect" with the story or care about what's happening, which is a shame because I was looking forward to a good psychological drama. So few availabe these days. Hmmm... on hold, maybe another time it will be more enjoyable.
Gave it an 8. Entertaining and the fight scenes were amazing. Would have been a 9 or more from me, had they shown more than just the leads in the action scenes. At the end of the episodes, the competitor numbers dropped but it was all happening off stage which made it kinda meh.
A lot of wasted potential not showing other contestants duking it out. And Shota Sometani was severely underused; he was one of the more fascinating contenders. Badass with that bow and arrow!! I loved his scenes. All in all, it was enjoyable though a tad undercooked.
Favorite character, hands down, for me, Tsuge Kyojin. Humorous, cavalier, intellighent, sly, with Verrrrry questionable intentions....
An all time favorite of mine. Koreeda, punches me in the gut again and again. This guy. Ugh. Need to send him a doctor's bill with how he hurts my heart. What an absolute, avalanche sized shit show of a predicament to be in. I would make the SAME decision. "Blood is thicker than water"....is it, really?
This isn't even the best of its kind/genre and yet I constantly found myself rewatching it whenever I needed a quick action/sword/historical and couldn't decide on what was available. Go figure. For whatever reason, I find it highly entertaining I guess. I have long ago stopped questioning my viewing decisions and go with the mood of the day, and some days, this was what the doctor ordered. I gave it a 9 for sating my indecisive thirst, always.
I'll give my opinons on some of this. The sex in the car thing, they're just driving around aimlessly, having…
:) Fair. That's the beauty of art, different interpretations, subjectivity. We're allowed to disagree. Funnily enough, I usually lurk on MDl but not comment a lot and have read some of your analyses, comments on different dramas and mostly always agree with you. I guess this drama will be a "one off". haha
Finale:A lot of clunky writing and direction kept this from being an exceptional BL.Why do two Yakuza dudes, presumably…
I'll give my opinons on some of this. The sex in the car thing, they're just driving around aimlessly, having left town and everything they know (their crew, way of life etc.) Make a pit stop somewhere in between hotels, we know this because they eventually DO rent a room..ML is somewhat willfull, immature and irresponsible, spontaneous, playful, has two effs to give, so for him sex in the car was no biggie. In fact he was completely cheeky about it, and you can sense that in the scene that follows.
The BJ part, is probable censoring and maybe to depict his lack of enthusiasm with the act. He is an unwilling participant so there is no joy or animation in the act. Maybe director figured, less motion reflects his disconnect and lack of desire.
The wife/y thing, I know some people who watch BLs hate this but i think it stems from a more dominant (top) partner wanting an affectionate, long term name for his "bottom"/partner and no such word exists except the heteronormative one of "wife" to denote a partner you devote yourself to and want to "take care of" etc. Not all couples do this, but if they do and that's their dynaminc then...
But yeah, it wasn't perfect but I highly enjoyed it. It just needed more polish and tighter writing/more fleshing out. I gave it a 9.
A pretty good show. It compiles alot in 6 episodes and 25 minute slots. Kataoka is a well-written but oh so flawed…
Yep! That's what i got from that scene as well. Which explains his comment in the last car scene about "shouldn't have been born" (paraphrasing). He is a product of a VERY illicit, violent relationship.
Anyone know other high quality Japan BL dramas? I love the way they act.
Cherry magic, School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To , My Personal Weatherman, Life: Love on the Line , My Beautiful Man. For darker, more "heavy subject " dramas check out Happy of the End, Our Youth: After Story
Mlovies: The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, Dangerous Drugs of Sex ( a lot of TWs), to name a few...
Of courese there are many more good ones, and everyone has different tastes, but I think these are great!
Edit: How hilarious! As soon as i mentioned her, TADA! I must be psychic. lol
Humans are despicable and evil. Even though I know this fact, I am still every once in a while blown away by how MUCH depravity, greed and darkness lies in the heart of man.
Us and Them
Better Days
Soulmate (Chinese not Korean one)
An Elephant Sitting Still (this is more social drama less romance)
Ash is Purest White
20th Century Girl
18×2 Beyond Youthful Days
We Made a Beautiful Bouquet
Your Name Engraved Herein
Under the Hawthorne Tree
First Love (Japanese show)
These are off the top of my head. I might edit and keep adding if I remember to come back :)
Anyhoo, lots of hand to hand combat, which I love in my action movies as opposed to explosions galore.
Loved the wolf pups but it seems they just kind of faded away into the background which was a shame because that hotel chase scene was a banger and I wanted to see more of them in action.
Very believable villain, could have done with better charaterization of the survellance team but still a highly enjoyable action flick.
8.5 for the drama. Would have rated higher had there been more tension, more time with leads together, a better plot and cohesive storytelling in the later episodes. It felt so lazily written and sloppy during the Hulan/rescue arc. Speaking of, how anticlimatic THAT was and a choppy, hasty resolution.
10.0 for ML. This for me, would have been excellent had they shown more of him. Charismatic, dominant war general (his presence in his armor, oof!) yet gentle and compassionate leader, "master and husband. Every scene with him was impactful.
10.0 for the costumes. The "gowns" the women wore were exquisite.
100.0 for ME, sitting through this. Some episodes were a slog but never did I skip a second. Commendable!! haha
A lot of wasted potential not showing other contestants duking it out. And Shota Sometani was severely underused; he was one of the more fascinating contenders. Badass with that bow and arrow!! I loved his scenes. All in all, it was enjoyable though a tad undercooked.
Favorite character, hands down, for me, Tsuge Kyojin. Humorous, cavalier, intellighent, sly, with Verrrrry questionable intentions....
Be well!
The sex in the car thing, they're just driving around aimlessly, having left town and everything they know (their crew, way of life etc.) Make a pit stop somewhere in between hotels, we know this because they eventually DO rent a room..ML is somewhat willfull, immature and irresponsible, spontaneous, playful, has two effs to give, so for him sex in the car was no biggie. In fact he was completely cheeky about it, and you can sense that in the scene that follows.
The BJ part, is probable censoring and maybe to depict his lack of enthusiasm with the act. He is an unwilling participant so there is no joy or animation in the act. Maybe director figured, less motion reflects his disconnect and lack of desire.
The wife/y thing, I know some people who watch BLs hate this but i think it stems from a more dominant (top) partner wanting an affectionate, long term name for his "bottom"/partner and no such word exists except the heteronormative one of "wife" to denote a partner you devote yourself to and want to "take care of" etc. Not all couples do this, but if they do and that's their dynaminc then...
But yeah, it wasn't perfect but I highly enjoyed it. It just needed more polish and tighter writing/more fleshing out. I gave it a 9.
Mlovies: The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, Dangerous Drugs of Sex ( a lot of TWs), to name a few...
Of courese there are many more good ones, and everyone has different tastes, but I think these are great!