Outdated yet bittersweet
Romantic comedies have been both a topic of interest and ridicule over the years. It is ridiculed by those who find it to be a candy-glossed version of reality. It is praised for its heartwarming rendition of romantic fantasies that feel wonderful to witness on a silver screen. Bang Woo-ri’s ‘20th Century Girl’ is a bit of both. The movie seemed to be alternate of Twenty Five Twenty One, with a small change in the end.The eye to detailing in the film is well done. We are in fact taken on a ride down the memory lane. As heart-warming as the 20th century romances looked like, relationships were also marred down due to lack of cell phones. Relationships were forgotten, first love rarely became last love, friends lost touch and the yearning.. never ending. The climax of the film is a painful example of how things were different back then.However, the film quite stretches itself way more than it should. Quite unlikely for a repetitive culmination of that kind, it’s indeed the climax that works in favour of the film. Although the whole movie felt cliched, it does have some old school vibes and the feeling of first love being a teen.
In short, 20th Century Girl is a one time watch. If you’re a nostalgia merchant and if you dig yearning and doomed romances, the film would work for you. The biggest quip of 20th Century Girl is that its just another forgettable love-story that banks way too much on yesteryear love, since we have seen a few of this kind in dramas over the years, with more effectiveness in the story.
My Rating : 6.5/10
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Enjoy the time till it lasts.
Twenty-Five Twenty-One is one of those series that has tropes of other romantic K-Dramas, but is more concerned with characters and story revolving around them, rather than meet-cutes and overbearing romance.Twenty-Five Twenty-One is a show About aspirations, conundrums that young people often face as they try and figure out who they are and what they want their life to be; the pressure to have certain ambitions and a life plan mapped out ahead of you.
Kim Tae Ri as Hee-Do was amazing as the main lead, comical yet mature at times, jolly yet serious about her ambition. That makes her a well written character. Although I do think that there should have been more backstory for Baek Yi Jin since he is the male lead and we heard a number of times about his part, but didn't actually encountered even once.
The story was well developed, even with the supporting characters and the constant shift between in the chronology was well maintained. Twenty Five Twenty One is a show that combines many elements such as romance, drama with comedy but above all a coming-of-age story. It's a story of youth that sees life in various colours and makes us believe that certain things may not be forever, but it should be enjoyed until it lasts..
My Rating : 9.5/10
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Too melodramatic, lacking actual depth
Hospice melodrama If You Wish Upon Me has spent a lot of time showing us the end of life’s journey – admittedly through rose-tinted glasses. Beginning and ending by the ocean, If You Wish Upon Me reminds us that it is not merely an end-of-life drama, it is a cycle-of-life one, too.The show had more surprises in store – we realised that not only had we witnessed the start of Gyeo-rye’s redemption story, we had joined Tae-sik midway through his own. Tae-sik is the beating heart of Team Genie, always eager to lend a hand or an ear. But behind his crinkly smile was a long story of woe, filled with tragedy and bad decisions.
All of this may be fitting, but the drama is not perfect and had problems. There was no character depth except Geo-Rye and Tae-Sik. The other side characters were merely a helping hand to the show, without exposing their backstory to the audience. The character of Yeon-Jeo felt like that she only mattered in so far as how she affected the male lead. The pacing was very slow and at times the story felt dragged at some moments. The contrived plot and sentimental send-offs made for a series that occasionally lacked the sincerity to convey the story it set out to tell.
My Rating : 6/10
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Journey ends where you expect it to
Ghost Doctor doesn’t have any heavy romance involved. This is a supernatural bromance between a star surgeon learning to shed his arrogant nature and a cocky young resident doctor learning to, uh, embrace the privileged circumstances he was born into on his way to the top.Started watching the show due to Kim Beum, but Rain was terrific as well. The importance of doctors, and saving every human lives is well portrayed in the show.
Although it may feel a little stucked with the narrative in the midway, but the last couple of episodes makes it up. Ghost Doctor ends where you expect it to and the familiar journey has been comfortable and to some extent, memorable.
My Rating : 8/10
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A simple plot wih some good action sequences, ending lost the hold
Netflix delivers a knockout punch with its barnstorming early summer K-drama series Bloodhounds, the tale of two fresh-faced pugilists who go up against the vilest loan shark that Korean screen entertainment has offered us in years.The drama takes place at the height of the pandemic. Characters wear masks in most locales, and check in to buildings with QR codes; sporting events take place before empty stadiums.
The storyline doesn’t delve into much social critique profoundly. The initial backdrop is set up as the launching pad (the pandemic scenes adding relatability) for the action that follows. Therefore, the series is more serious about how the action fleshes out till the end, and it’s not bad either because the show is equally aware of what it’s doing.
The last two episodes take a jarring turn. There’s no denying the fact that the cast adorably wins you over within the first few episodes, but the final ones go a little south. I would’ve definitely given it a higher rating depending on how much I initially enjoyed the series. However, the last two episodes turned out to be a let down in some spaces, especially with a main character suddenly out of the last 2 episodes and letting the antagonist live, even with an aggressive fight that we witnessed at the end.
My Rating : 8/10
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Fate can be a powerful thing
First Love is what the kids these days might describe as “a vibe”. The nine episodes Netflix series is based on two songs by Hikaru Utada– “First Love” and “Hatsukoi. First Love delivers those feelings of giddy young love, of painful separation, long absences, and sudden reconciliations in spades. It’s at least a couple of episodes too long, but it’s impressive in its construction, visuals, performances, and emotional power.This series spans over 20 years and tells the story of Yae Noguchi and Harumichi Namiki, two highschool students who fell in love in the 90s, but are then separated due to unusual circumstances. As a kid who was born in the 90s, it especially hits closer due to the flashbacks of the 90s era and how love used to happen in those times. A very good series under Netflix, First Love will feel like a slideshow presentation of young love, how it blooms and bundles of emotions that becomes a part of it.
My Rating : 8/10
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Opposite to the title, the drama is strong
Weak Hero Class 1 is a high school thriller series that follows the story of 3 students who doesn’t care about anything else, and somehow gets involved in constant fights due to bullying.Most of the school centric dramas are romance, which becomes monotonous watching after a certain point of time. Weak Hero Class 1,however, is a thrilling, yet sobering portrait of young students and the different struggles, difficulties and momentary joys they experience while growing up in a society that, too often, neglects and pushes them aside, that successfully stands out as one of the best dramas of 2022.
With just 8 episodes, the pacing is superb and the action sequences were well crafted. And perhaps what the series does best is to show the immeasurable toll such violence and abuse can take on one’s physical, emotional and mental health. Especially for teenagers who may be experiencing other types of abuse, hardship and struggles outside of the school walls as well.
School violence is certainly not a new theme for a K-drama. But Weak Hero Class 1 is able to take that familiar topic and present it in a way that focuses more on the characters, particularly the victims, and show the unfortunately lasting effects of such violence. The best part of the drama were the 3 leads who had an amazing chemistry on screen and their change in characters once the events turned dark.
Adapted from a webtoon, Weak Hero Class 1 is engaging, highly effective action packed school based drama. The finale teases a 2nd season and yes I am very much intrigued to see what happens next.
My Rating : 8.5/10
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Zombiecalypse nightmare
All of Us Are Dead is South Korea's latest entry into its esscalating body of undead mayhem (Train to Busan, #Alive, Happiness).
All of Us Are Dead pulls no punches and unleashes a savage and seemingly never-ending assault of fast-running zombies on an unfortunate squad of students who've managed to survive the first wave of a zombiecalypse. With 12 episodes running 1 hr long each, it gets a bit exhausting at times due to continuous gore and violence, yet it sticks to the basics and delivers a positive outcome, although there's nothing new.
All of Us Are Dead's zombie action is never not impressive. Whether it's giant chaotic crowd shots, massive ensemble brawls, or tricky "oners," this is massively kinetic storytelling that will drain you as emotionally as it drains our heroes physically. Likewise, there are dozens of instances involving astounding body acting.
All of Us Are Dead may not offer up anything exactly new in the realm of zombie carnage other than its somewhat cruel and unrelenting nature, but sometimes that's enough to pull off some damn effective survival horror.
My Rating : 7.5/10
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Nostalgia feeling with feel-good breeze
A romance drama about two grown adults who had their documentary shoot 10 years ago and relationship thereafter, which ended eventually. After 10 years, it happens once again and yes it feels nostalgic in every way.The best thing about Our Beloved Summer that catches the eye is the cast. The charms of Kim Dami and Choi Woo Shik, who radiate youthful energy, fill up the screen, and the chemistry between the two naturally leads the story. The drama emphasizes the images of summer and thanks to this, the play’s overall atmosphere is full of freshness. Also it might feel relatable to many viewers' teenage life they lived.
The cast, whether be the lead or the supporting, had a great connection. The soundtrack is soothing and melodious which fits the setting of the drama. The story had depth, but it was fairly executed, if not efficiently. Also the supporting characters weren't given much exposure as one would have thought. Although it doesn't come close to other feel-good romance drama (like Hometown Cha Cha or When The Weather Is Fine), Our Beloved Summer manages to hold itself through freshness and nostalgic moments of reminiscing the good old teenage life.
To summarise, Our Beloved Summer ends itself as a dama that conveys the sweetness of love and the freshness of youth at the same time. It's effective enough to catch viewers' attention with it's fair, if not excellent story and screenplay.
My Rating : 6.5/10
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Worthy effort of being enjoyable, but not memorable
The Sound of Magic was one of the more eagerly awaited k-dramas of 2022, that had something different to offer than the rest of the shows.The drama could have offered more, had it not been restricted to 6 episodes. It has lovely visuals, solid performances, impressive song-and-dance numbers, and oodles of charm. Although what I would have loved to see more in the drama was the narrative, which I felt was not much effective.
The Sound of Magic has six episodes, and while they’re long, it sometimes feels like 10 or 12 would have better served the show’s ambition. Nonetheless, the drama is an enjoyable watch, if not memorable.
My Rating : 7/10
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Cathartic, but a bittersweet ending
Queen of Tears is a K-drama of two halves. The first, composed of its early episodes, is an innovative take on K-drama romance. The other is a chaotic second half that squanders much of the potential of its beginning. The Netflix hit ended Sunday with a global audience that exceeded the wildly popular Crash Landing on You.In terms of chemistry, the leads were a perfect pair. It’s like they were crafted from the cosmic dust of perfect on-screen couples. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for other characters and sub-plots on the show, which are more disconcerting than fascinating.
Plotwise, the series started losing its charm in the second half as well. The amount of scenes that felt repetitive and the back and forth between the main leads only showed the lack of creativity of the writer. While the show we ended up with remains compelling, even fun, to the end, the decision to dispense with its profoundly tragic and emotional core makes the endeavor more rote and, at times, even boring. The series never recaptures the rare thrill of its early episodes, but nevertheless had a sweet ending that will surely be a satisfactory element.
My Rating : 7.5/10
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Folklore occult horror that shouldn't be missed
Exhuma is an enthralling, unique exploration of intergenerational curses, national history, and spectral hauntings. Kim Go-eun easily carries the dramatic load and Choi Min-sik gives his role a grizzled, weary authority. The journey moves viewers from the ghostly to the monstrous with meaning and history behind the horror, and while there are thought-provoking elements at play here there’s also a desire to deliver big, creepy, gory, beautiful thrills. The inclusion of rituals and ceremonies with historical influences craft a tangible world the story exists in, not necessarily adding undeniable plausibility, but certainly introducing disturbing situations steeped in beliefs and tradition.My Rating : 8/10
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Concrete description of human nature when in survival mode
Concrete Utopia doesn't do anything particularly new for the dystopian thriller sub-genre, but it’s consistently engaging and well-executed. is an emotional force of a film. Not concerned with the disaster itself or the spectacle it could employ to focus on the moment of tragedy, the film offers epic landscapes but always keeps an intimate eye on the people in the high rise.Concrete Utopia presents a disturbing picture of humanity that dribbles into the absolute worst when the social structure is dismembered and survival becomes the only need of the hour. Talking about the direction, Uhm Tae Hwa did a good job in capturing raw human nature in every possible way. The cinematography and acting, especially by Lee Byung Hun, were also enthralling.
Concrete Utopia is a gripping, disturbing, and powerful representation of the worst of society, yet equally showcasing the best qualities in humans and how hope, community, and decency will always exist through the dust and devastation.
My Rating : 8.5/10
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Blends the story of love and thriller in a well executed drama
Happiness, as the name sounds, isn't all about happiness though. This thriller drama sees an apocalyptic world where virus has created a havoc and residents of an apartment are surviving for their life.Happiness had a decent story with a very good production and overall visuals. The soundtrack though, was the best part in the entire drama. The music tuned to the perfect rhythm along with the key moments in the series.
Not forgetting about the leads who gave a commendable performance and maintained romantic chemistry among themselves. It might not be a part of my Top 5 drama of the year, but it was a very well made show which blended multiple genres/aspects and delivered a convincing result.
My Rating : 7.5/10
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An innovative concept, but finished a bit hastily
Squid Game had one of the best concepts, with mystery around few people who participates in a game with millions to win. The story is simple yet creative and it works most of the entire series.The start was strong, with violence and bloodshed during the games which built an intense environment to leave us guessing what would happen next.
The story went through well with a good last episode as well. But it still felt that it was not finished as it should have been ended, with an open ending hinting for Season 2 (Although I would have preferred this to end in a single season).
My Rating : 7/10
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