Jinxxa_Wolf

Quirky & Sweet

EXTRAORDINARY ATTORNEY WOO (2022) was a wonderful Kdrama, filled with memorable characters, as well as having a beautiful, moving and inspiring story (and sub stories). The Autistic heroine Attorney (Woo Young Woo) is really such a memorable character, and one of the few representations of autism in females that I've seen.

This series was such a heartfelt drama depicting a brilliant young woman with autism whose passion for justice and upholding the law, is not held back in the least by her limitations. Quite the opposite, in fact. It's wonderful to watch her overcome any and all obstacles, grow as a person and ultimately thrive.

This Kdrama was really sweet and so full of heart. It's so endearing and entertaining, unforgettable. A wonderful, heart-warming watch!

Read More

Thoughtful Culinary Experience

MIDNIGHT DINER (2009-2014) was an excellent Japanese series about a small diner open from midnight to seven a.m. in the morning (12am-7am). The diner is visited by all sorts of interesting, bizarre and sometimes even shady characters, all with their own backstories, reasons for visiting the diner, along with special memories associated with their choice of dish. Some are Yakuza, some gay night club workers, some are struggling enka singers, but all have stories to share.

Along with the many character's stories that are gradually revealed as the show progresses, this series also features cooking and many different Japanese recipes, making this a unique experience for food enthusiasts, as well as culture aficionados alike.

This is a very mellow and simplistic series, but one that has a very quiet, heartfelt and thoughtful atmosphere to it. I really enjoyed this and can thoroughly recommend. I must say however, that this show is for adults only as there is some light nudity present and the content can sometimes be risque and emotionally heavy. Overall, this series is a gem and I will be looking forward to watching the sequel series as well.

Read More

Low-Key Revenge J-Drama

BURN DOWN THE HOUSE (Mitaraike, Enjou Suru) was an interesting Thriller / Mystery Revenge J-Drama series, but ultimately felt lacking to me. It started out with thrilling promises and a darkly intriguing premise, a mysterious house fire that tore a family a part and a girl seeking revenge and redemption for the life that was stolen from her, by a conniving future stepmother. This series seemed so fascinating but ultimately didn't really live up to the promises it made. It moved slowly and the "thrills" just weren't really there for me.

"Follows Anzu Murata, who— thirteen years after the home of the wealthy Mitarai family was burned in an mysterious and devastating fire— infiltrates the house of the Mitarais as a housekeeper in order to reclaim the house and family that was taken from her."

Overall, it was a cool series, but not quite as interesting as it had initially seemed it would be. I frequently felt distracted and uninterested as the series went on and its slower pacing came unexpected for being advertised as a thriller. The acting, settings and visuals were really good and the main character Anzu Murata was likeable and relatable as well. It was still worth a watch, but just expect something a bit more mild for the thriller genre.

Read More

A Sweet & Funny J-Drama

ONLY JUST MARRIED (Tonin kodoke ni han wo oshita dake desu ga) is a sweet J-Drama Romcom that was worth the watch. Firstly I must say the male lead definitely under preformed here, in my opinion, and was just a huge let down. I don't really know the actor but he almost sunk this love ship. He was very hard to stand, with a few little instances of being "meh-okay" sprinkled throughout. Maybe it's just me? The female lead, however, (Akiha Ohkado, played by Nana Seino) was awesome, totally lovable and really grows on you though, so she definitely stole the show. She made it worth the watch and made it highly memorable. She's definitely an upcoming name to keep an eye out for in future years. Just loved hero much! So fun, quirky and genuinely down to earth.

Even though the male lead frequently grated on my nerves, the show was quite pleasant besides, with an assortment of interesting side characters as well, a few great settings and some cliché, but still enjoyable sub-plots. Overall, a good watch and pretty enjoyable show, mostly for the female lead's sake. The romance was alright in the end. =)

Read More

A Political-Societal Drama about Elites

LOVELY VILLAIN was an interesting slow-burn Taiwanese thriller Drama. It felt like a slower-paced, socio-political drama mashup of "Stepford Wives", "Mean Girls", with commentarial undertones of the Korean movie Parasite. Don't be fooled into thinking it's merely a slice-of-life drama, about family life in a wealthy gated community. This series focuses heavily on inter-social-political relations and elistist power struggles. While the pacing of this did move a bit slowly, it certainly was intriguing and got better with time.

"While posing to be her rich upper class sister, Han Zhenzhen, moves her unhappy poor lower class family into an prestigious high-class community where she can't help but get involved in the power struggle for the position of community Chairman among with her female neighbors."

This series is all about politics, motivations and power. Rich vs. Poor. Upper Class vs. Lower Class. Psychological and political intrigue. The struggle for power and dominance drives this thriller. Alliances, factions, who to trust. The position of power is the "Chairman" or head of the community. The Chairman is given power in government and there is a brutal warring for this position and privilege. Not only power but title, reputation and prestige as well. A heirarchy ladder within the elitist group of wealthy people. Overall, this was a interesting watch and I'm glad I gave it a chance, as the intrigue developed over time and it gave a lot to ponder on.

[NOTE: There are some triggering images and themes, i.e. Suicide. Bullying. Rape/Sexual Assault. etc.

Read More

A Love Triangle Between Two People

FALL IN LOVE was a short and cute romantic Cdrama with an interesting premise and likeable characters. Joey Chua playing Jing Zhi Xia, as Aizhe Hotel Director, was especially cute and memorable and in my opinion easily outshines her romantic love interest, the cold CEO of Fu Group, Fu Ze Yi, played by Kaizhong Xiao, who at times felt a bit (intentionally) bland, especially when in character of Fu Ze Yi, as opposed to Fu Zu Lin "Lin", his sweet musical alter ego. Of course, this was purposeful and I understand the reasoning behind it given the story. However, he eventually grew on me by the end and he did a good job of portraying dual character personalities, I must say.

The underlying story itself, however, was interesting. A love triangle between two people, is not something commonly thought of, but is what makes this series intriguing. While covering some underlining darker themes, (i.e. Trauma, repressed guilt, mental health etc.) the story is fairly light, comical and too often veers into predictable trope territory, which made the show less enjoyable for me. The darker elements were only rarely touched upon, not until the ending segment, while the cheesier trope scenes consist of much overused dramatic moments such as the male lead catching the female mid fall, right before she hits the ground or accidentally falling into a kiss, which to me felt outdated and corny. This series could have easily done without those overwrought scenes. The story concept, however, was brilliant and compelling, even if the handling of it wasn't always done perfectly, though the series definitely got better and more exciting as it progresses. So I recommend patience.

Otherwise, this was a fun little show. Something light hearted to watch between more stressful serious shows. Worth a chance, but nothing overly groundbreaking. The buildup and ending was very satisfying and there definitely were some scenes that were really clever and well imagined.

Read More

A Teen Body-Swap J-Drama

SWITCHED is a Japanese drama. Although rated M for mature, it did seem more aimed at teenaged audiences. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and I didn't mind the silliness amid the darker subject matter. However, I tend to agree with many reviewers about the offputting techno dance music feeling jarring and out of place in this drama. The sound director really botched this one up. I understand anime's usually fly with this kind of music and this series was inspired by webtoon/manga, not sure if there's an anime yet, so that kind of explains the vibe they we're going for. Even still, it was kind of obnoxious, even for a teen series. It just didn't fit.

Overall, this was a good series, not the greatest due to some predictable, and slightly problematic writing and the aforementioned music choices. Was worth a watch and had some good messages about living in another shoes and what not. It was entertaining, but had a lot of wasted potential, I felt. It only scratched the surface of what it might have achieved, and I'm not sure why it didn't go deeper. Still, it was worth a view. Definitely a well made series.

[NOTE: Kaga rocked!]

Read More

A Slow Burn Mystery

INFLUENCE was a very interesting Japanese mystery drama. Japanese drama's often have a very tasteful, classy and tender sense about them and this one is no exception. An author is contacted by a mysterious woman, in order to share her past story, in hopes of becoming a subject of the author's next novel. The mystery woman tells the story of three girls, one being herself, in their younger years, who were involved with each other at some point in time and ended up committing a string of exchange murders.

This drama was very well done and although slower paced for a mystery thriller title, it was very compelling and really brought you into the characters experiences in a realistic way. It was a very beautiful and moving story that keeps you on edge and ever guessing. Kudos for also being a femme-centric series, as well. Definitely memorable and worth the watch.

Read More

An Entertaining Ride

RISKY was a short Japanese drama that slowly became more of an more intriguing series as it progressed. While not a super fast paced series, it certainly had it's moments of dark suspense and offered a good few twists along the way. The drama was well acted and framed and the story line itself was rather compelling, keeping the viewer on the edge until the ending. The cinematography itself was good as well, adding to the darker atmosphere.

I felt a bit let down with the ending myself, however it wasn't the worst. I just felt it could have been much better. While the acting was all very good and believable, the main female lead grew to be a bit dislikeable, and it was a bit hard to root for her in the end. Otherwise, this was an intriguing series. Great to try if looking for a short Japanese suspense drama. It's only 7 episodes long. Worth a try.

Read More

A Charming, Cooking Slice-of-Life J-Drama

THE MAKANAI: COOKING FOR THE MAIKO HOUSE was a gorgeous, heartfelt JDrama series I recently stumbled across and it really left an impact. It was tender and sweet, with overall charming aesthetics, and very delicious meals prepared throughout as well. This felt like it went way above and beyond other similar Slice-of-Life cooking dramas I've seen, the quality itself makes it almost a new genre. It was very tastefully done and beautiful to watch.

The sweet simplicity of this drama suprisingly draws you in, despite it being slower paced. The story was sweet, kinda slow-burn and yet still very captivating. The acting was really wonderful as well, so very organic and natural. The atmosphere in this series was very unique and hard to describe without making it sound dull, which it really wasn't! There is a very natural, genuine, calming, peaceful, gentle and sentimental ambience of this show. Loved the atmosphere. It really stands out as a chill Slice-of-Life series. Super refreshing.

Read More

A Historical Spy-Thriller Drama

THE WIND BLOWS FROM LONGXI was some real next level greatness, in my opinion, though I am a fan of Spy Thrillers, Historical C-Dramas, as well as many members of the cast. The writing, including the story, subplots, characters, and dialogue were all top notch amazing! I'm not sure why this hasn't gotten more 10 star ratings. Cinematically this series was simply stunning to the eye. The writing made it an intellectual mental feast. The acting was incredibly brilliant and realistic.

Taking place in the Three Kingdoms Era (224 AD) (during the Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu contention), this spy thriller was a very unique series. Chen Gong (Chen Kun) as the Shu spy also known as "The White Emperor" and Feng Ying (Yuan Nie) as the director of Shu's Intelligence Beareau, as well as Xun Xu (Yu Bai) the Shu spy called in to fix things, after the spy channel in Wei was infiltrated by Wei counter-intelligence. The mysterious Wei spy is called Candle Dragon and everyone seeks to find their identity. And what an intriguing, thrilling ride it was.

I highly applaud the acting, as everyone was excellent, but especially parts played by the masterful Chen Kun (Chen Gong / White Emperor), Yuan Nie (Feng Ying / Shu Intel Director), Yu Bai (Xun Xu), Yi Sun (Di Yue), Angelababy (Miss Liu / Liu Ying), Zhusheng Yin (General Lin Yan), Guangjie Li (Prime Minister Zhuge Liang), and Xiaochen Zhang (Libationer Huang Yu). There are so many others as well. The cast was superb!

This series really became immersive after the first few slower episodes, meant to set the stage for the highly complex strategical story. Through the course of the series, the mystery gradually unravels and the tension builds, leading to an intense outcome. This series was excellently casted and acted. The characters are really well written and motivated. The story was super intriguing, although it may prove a little more slow burn for those uninterested in a historical spy story. After watching this one, I found myself longing for more. The mere 24 episodes this series consists of is quite short for a Chinese Drama, especially one with such epic premise. Normally a Chinese historical epic might be 80+ episodes. I hope we'll get a season 2, quickly!

Overall, this was a fantastic watch. Excellent writing, direction, and acting, and stellar cinematography as well! It made it that much more appealing. This complex series was seriously worth the watch and hopefully there will be more coming. A must watch if you are a fan of C-Drama's, Historical Spy Thrillers, and the Three Kingdoms Era. Even more so if you are fan of Chen Kun, as am I, as he is masterfully brilliant here. It was a highly enjoyable series. Hope to see more. Brilliant!

Read More

Meh. Mixed Feelings.

DOUBLE FANTASY. So, I have really REALLY mixed feelings with this one. Double Fantasy is a really difficult series to rate and review. At only 5 episodes long, this Japanese drama is really more of a mini series. It's quite short and deals with some pretty heavy / difficult subject matter in such a short time span. Not sure if it was enough time. I'm still not sure if it accomplished what it seemed to set out to do or even how I feel about it...

The direction of the drama feels unsure whether the creators wanted the audience to empathize/identify or dislike/disapprove of the main lead Natsu Takato (Asami Mizukawa) a reserved and well-esteemed screenwriter, who struggles with secret lusts and desires outside of her seemingly perfect marriage. After living in fantasy simply isn't enough, Natsu suddenly pursues multiple experimental extra-marital relationships and the plot gradually grows weaker as the series progresses. It really seemed as if the writers lost not only interest but a clear sense of direction as well, at many points in this show.

Natsu, while a well acted character, is portrayed as bored, unhappy, indecisive, ungrateful and pretty much selfish in most of her life choices. If the series was meant to be a feministic anthem, surely she'd evolve into greater independence and a stronger sense of identity rather than slip into gradually more toxic and unhealthy situations. Rather this series felt more of a critique of feminism, or drawing parallels between mental illness and the feminine search for identity. Notably, Natsu spirals downwards rather than upwards...

The main subject matter is really about sex, identity, pleasure, morality, fidelity, marriage, affairs, freedom, convention, society, mental illness, feminism, etc. It has a Mature, NC-17 rating, and has quite a few unnecessary sexual scenes throughout and can be somewhat explicit at times. To me though it wasn't intended for the purposes of being arousing or pornographic but to show a realistic story of a woman going through a potentially serious life crisis, dangerous obsessive behavior and mental health issues. Honestly, at times the sex scenes felt mostly unnecessary and a bit jarring from the melancholy, introspective atmosphere of the series, and there were quite a few scenes that were just downright uncomfortable and cringe to watch, detracting from the overall mood. Had to skip through some of those.

Personally, I'm not one for watching shows centered around extra-marital affairs. Frankly, it's just not part of my honor code nor my cuppa tea. To each his own, I guess. That being said, I do appreciate honest portrayals of damaging lifestyles, that offer realistic glimpses into consequences of such behaviors as well as the inner psychological mindset driving such behaviors. So, while I never related to and rarely sympathized with the character of Natsu, I did really enjoy Asami Mizukawa's portrayal of such a deeply flawed and confused character. Sadly, there weren't many other memorable characters for me.

But, where the story suffered and failed to reward the viewer, in terms of relatable characters and meaningful storytelling, the cinematography at times was really well done and there was a deep tone throughout. I do feel that if the director had focused more on the psychological, introspective aspect of Natsu and her struggles and less on pointless somewhat pretentious scenes of eroticism it would have been more compelling, at least for me. The ending was much too abrupt and open-ended for my liking also. Overall, this was mostly a miss, besides a few memorable scenes here and there. Hardly can recommend.

Read More

Outbreak at Hyosan High

ALL OF US ARE DEAD was a great and intense S. Korean zombie series. While it definitely held true to the gory nature of the zombie genre, it was also laced with a lot of unique characters and backgrounds. I was initially worried that the larger cast might make it less relatable or moving (ie when someone dies and you never got to know the character or their motives, therefore there feels less connection and empathy with the audience) but thankfully, you do really start to get an idea of everyone before things go down and during as well. It's actually the opposite case when you actually care a lot for many of them and then they start to die and it really yanks at the heartstrings.

The director / writers really did a great job at portraying the vast array of different characters and personalities and you really start rooting for some right off the bat. Many of them have their own struggles in their personal lives and the series gives you glimpses into their lives and the drama going on all the while amping up the tension and stakes as the zombie plot escalates around them.

There are some difficult and dark subject matter in this as well, aside from the violence, gore and zombie cannibalism, (such as bullying, humiliation, sexual harassment, cruelty, teen pregnancy, suicide, assault, adult language etc.) This series is pretty mature and graphic in nature and not for younger viewers. And yes, being a zombie show there's lots of violence, blood, gore, biting, eating people, self defense etc.

Overall, this was a great adrenaline fueled watch and sadly not an hopeful one at that, as many characters do die, but what do you expect from a zombie apocalypse? Not sure if there can be another season, but hopefully. Really enjoyed this one.

NOTE: It says Season 2 coming!

Read More

Korean History + Medicine = Quirky Fun Drama

POONG, THE JOSEON PSYCHIATRIST was definitely an interesting series and I was happy to watch it. Loving Historical dramas featuring heavy medicinal themes, I found this one to be pretty top notch.

The plot itself was very intriguing and compelling. Yoo Se-Poong is a royal physician who gets wrongly expelled / banished from the royal court in a messy political conspiracy after which causes him to set out on a journey of redemption, self discovery and acceptance, all the while healing the souls of others in his new life as a physician / psychiatrist in the small, fascinating Gyesu Village. He meets new friends along the way, as he shapes his new life and finds new hope to carry on his existence.

This was a very quaint, entertaining series that I was glad to try. The whole cast was pretty great and the show features a tangled web of political intrigue, medical cases and a whole array of intriguing characters. Overall, this was a really great watch, albeit a bit slow at times. Would recommend to those with an interest in light-hearted shows about history and ancient medicine.

Read More

A Thing of Beauty

RED SLEEVE is moving historical romantic K-Drama, a thing of beauty, that was very well acted and visually/cinematically stunning. While not perfect, the drama definitely leaves a mark. Red Sleeve is based on a novel of the similar name, The Red Sleeve Cuff, written by Kang Mi-kan, that conveys the story of a court romance between the royal King of Joseon, who believes his duty is to his country first, above love, and a court lady who wants to protect the life she has chosen for herself, and how they come together against all odds. A beautiful tale, excellently told.

Red Sleeve is absolutely gorgeous to watch, with some of the highest quality visuals you might see in a K-Drama. It's also a fairly sweet story, well acted, well casted, and with great music to boot. The drama is a great short series that I happened to stumble upon one night while looking for an entertaining watch. And entertaining it was, though it was perhaps a bit on the slower side in terms of pacing.

My main complaint, given that it is a more serious drama, is that I wish that it relied less on cheesy cliches and fairytale-ish tropes. Notably, as well, there were some uncomfortable themes of unconsentual interactions that were not really to my liking, no matter how true the story may be. Be all that as it may, the show is definitely worth a watch. The heroine was pretty awesome and realistic. I really enjoyed her actress, as she portayed her character with a good balance of intelligence, tenderness, and strength. Will definitely watch more that she acts in the future and can's wait to see where she goes. Certainly a star to watch out for. Overall, the series is quite lovely and memorable. It was a great watch.

Read More