Bali

This is a great lighthearted romantic comedy with some dramatic moments set in a historical era. The plot is easy to follow and the actions scenes are well choreographed. There is some mystery, good storylines for supporting characters, great friendship around the leading actors, and a steadfast romance for the main couple. The main leads have great chemistry, their romantic interactions are suave and well done, and it’s great how they love to tease each other. Although the last episodes feel a bit rushed, it doesn’t take away from the overall sense of entertainment. Great drama, enjoy it!

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This is a great melodrama with a mature love story of two individuals that, in spite of the fact that they are deeply in love with each other, they seem to be destined to be lonely, unhappy, and miserable. The storyline is clichéd but the leading actors are the force that drives this drama to successfully tell a story that is full of despair, mistrust, longing desires and, at the same time, is full of loyalty and determination from the male lead to hold his family together. The story telling using flashbacks in a back and forth manner instead of long sequences can be bothersome at times but it works with the overall somber tone of the drama. The leading couple has great chemistry together and their body language and facial expressions bring the characters to live in a way that the viewer is left feeling every bit of their pain and raw emotions. The drama is not perfect, the leading lady can be annoying and frustrating with her lack of trust on the male lead that was constant and steadfast with his decisions and feelings, but, at the same time, even if her decisions are misguided, she truly believes that lying and leaving him was for his benefit. The drama is not perfect, some resolutions are overly dramatic and the end feels rushed and lacking; but this is a drama that is excellently executed and worth watching. Enjoy it!

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This is a good romantic comedy with a nice slow burn but well delivered romance. The acting is not the best but, somehow the leading couple managed to keep the excitement of their affectionate relationship development until the end. The drama has weak supporting characters and the misunderstandings are senseless. Even so, the drama exudes cuteness, a candid second female lead, and a steadfast love from the leading couple. The drama is not perfect and it does have the pointless three year separation where the “Cinderella” comes back as a very successful business woman, but it has a fast pace and it is entertaining.

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This is an absolute delightful drama, although not perfect, it really delivers on the romance part of the plot. The second couple is almost unimportant in the development of the story and some supporting actors lacked enthusiasm portraying their characters. The drama is the typical contract marriage where a bickering couple, Yin Sichen (Wang Zi Qi) and Gu Xi Xi (Wang Yu Wen), is forced into a contract marriage. Little by little, as trouble finds its way into their life, they start to appreciate each other and fall in love. Misunderstandings don’t last long and, although the poorly acted antagonist kept her antics almost all the way to the end, Yin Sichen and Gu Xi Xi’s love and reciprocal protection make the drama worth watching. The leading couple has very good chemistry and the drama is realistic presenting a young couple in love that is crazy about each other. The drama has plenty of loving, playful, and skinship moments that escalate naturally into a true adoring and affectionate romance. Enjoy it!

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This is a good romantic comedy set within a historical background. The drama is light on content and, although there’s some push and pull on the developing romantic relation between the leading couple, their love is strong, honest, and protective; especially from the leading male towards his wife which maintain her strong-minded, stubborn, and, too many times, troublesome decision making. If the writers would have decided to stop her flip-flop from a straightforward and trusting wife to an impulsive spoiled brat that only wants to get her way in spite of the heavy consequences that her husband had to counterstrike continuously, this drama would have been a great romantic comedy since the leading couple has a lovely and strong chemistry. The supporting cast provided some good comedic tones to the drama that lightened the tone and storyline. The drama has some plot holes and editing issues (how did they get out of the sinking sand?) And to top it all, after the happy ending, there is a senseless bonus scene that shifts the leading couple to modern times. Still, taking everything into account, the drama is entertaining!

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The drama “Time Flies and You Are Here” is one that could’ve been better if there were less misunderstandings and, as another viewer pointed out, the discourse, especially when the leading lady was talking about women’s rights and inequality, sounded incoherent and weird. Liang Jie’s acting as Xie Xiao Man, a crusader for woman’s right to educational, political, and social involvement, was weak and unimpressive. The action scenes were well choreographed and the strong and faithful relationship between Zhao Xiao Qian (Joseph Zeng) and Zhong Zi Yan (Fan Zhi Xin) was fantastic. Overall, this drama would have been better if not for the misunderstandings and awkward chemistry among the leading couple.

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Endless Love is not a romantic drama, it is the story of three main characters (Seo In Ae, Han Kwang Hoon, and Han Kwang Chul) who lost a parent at the hands of the unscrupulous Park Yeong Tae and their endless determination to avenge their parents and bring the perpetrators to justice. This drama fails at presenting a love story but it achieves to present social and political events, atrocities, and the abuse from those in power against individuals that fought and strive to bring during democracy in Korea. The acting from some of the main characters could’ve been better with the exception of Jung Kyung Ho as Han Kwang Chul whose endless love for Seo In Ae (played by Hwang Jung Eum) could move mountains but was never reciprocated by In Ae who had an endless love for Han Kwang Hoon (played by Ryu Soo Young). Overall, Endless Love is not about love and the ending, although it shows closure for all the important characters, is insipid and illogical.

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This is a nice miniseries that needed longer episodes for plot development and chemistry. For such a strong argument that the leading male will always bring misfortune to the leading lady, there’s not much indicating that, after he comes back, there was a resolution for the ill fated relationship. The acting was subpar and everything happens without gradual evolution, even the romance, in both past and present settings. The music is lovely. Overall, this is not terrible, but the plot was rushed and there are many unanswered questions that leave the viewer with conflicting feelings at the end.

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This is a good movie for those that have not seen the58 episodes drama Eternal Love (Chinese adaptation from the novel "Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" by Tang Qi Gong Zi). The movie is fast paced and there’s not enough time to give the story prior to the movie’s plot about the last part of the love story between Bai Qian, the youngest daughter of the Fox King, a nine-tailed fox, and Mo Yuan, the God of War. The actors did a good job delivering their characters but, given the fact that since it is a movie and their past interactions were not presented in full, everything was hurriedly compressed and the essence of their love and tribulations to finally be together was a loss for the movie and the actors. Still, great CGI’s and costumes! As mentioned before, this movie will be more enjoyable to those that have not seen the drama. Enjoy it!

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First of all, this drama is a great watch if the viewer understands that, although it is not perfect, it is enjoyable! Second of all, it is a comedy and, although it has its critics saying that it is not historically accurate, the show is a fictional story about a queen named Liu Jin Feng and how her funny, witty, smart, and loving character wins over those around her. It is true that the show has some gaps or inconsistencies in the storyline to include a supposed assassination attempt on the king that is never shown and the fact that the romance developed almost nonsensically and with little to no intimate chemistry. Besides that, the show has a zealous villain (Wang Dong as Liu Xie [Grand Chancellor / Jin Feng's father]) that does a fantastic job delivering his character which keeps the viewer guessing and expecting the moment in which his true character will come to light; a fantastic second male lead (Bai Shu as Yu Chang Ya) that has a great and super cute chemistry with Jin Feng; and last but not least, the magnificent and funny Jin Feng's mother ( Wang Wan Juan asYong Fu). The drama has very nice incidental music and a charming dance routine that leaves you smiling at the end of the drama. Overall, the drama missed the potential of becoming great but it is good enough to keep you entertained. (As an afterthought, I found it irritating that the director didn’t take the opportunity to ask the leading couple to earnestly show better intimacy. I have seen Li Hong Yi doing better intimate scenes in other dramas but he fails to deliver real romantic feelings as the king Yuan Yun Zhang. The leading lady might not be considered a drop dead gorgeous woman, but she’s not an ugly duckling. She seemed to have been more comfortable in her character than Li Hong Yi in romantic moments but, I must say, they had a cute and fun chemistry.)

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This is a disastrous historical palace drama with a very poorly executed romance plot. Although the leading couple, on the long run, will do what is right for one another, the female lead is insufferable and selfish for most of the drama duration. This drama is packed with the most ridiculous obsessive and delusional antagonists that, at the end, just got little or no admonishment for their crimes. There is basically no characters development in this drama: the antagonist learned nothing and kept their delusions until the end, the female lead was absurd, and the male lead was constantly at her beck and call trying to make her happy. All in all, watch this drama only if you have time to waste!

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This is a drama to watch while waiting for a great one to come. As other viewers stated, the first part of the drama is really nice to watch as the female lead cruises through her sister’s way of life as a celebrity and tries to remain true to herself. The female lead basically carries the entire drama and does a pretty good job alternating between the two characters that she plays. The “elephant in the room” is the choice of the two main male leads that need to work on showing the right facial expressions. Huang Sheng Chi (as Chen Mo) didn’t show the right emotions as someone deeply in love with Xia Mu and their romantic scenes fell didn’t stir the right emotions; the same goes for Hu Wen Zhe (as Song Ci) that had a creepy expression through the entire drama, but at least, had better romantic scenes with Meng Gui, which was really not a nice person after all. Also, the writer’s choice of turning the leading character (Xia Mu) into a cruel and selfish person toward her love interest was exhausting to watch. Overall, if the viewer wants to see an actress performing two characters relatively well, then try this drama; for the rest, it is not something to rewatch!

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This is a very nice and well written romantic comedy in which the actors did a great job bringing their characters to life. The lead couple has very good chemistry and, although there are not enough romantic scenes, the best ones were the ones where she’s imagining the love scenes! This is an arrange marriage story where the couple fall in love slowly, not because of their physical attraction, but because of their intellectual prowess, mutual respect, and a deep sense of civil and personal responsibility that made them develop a deep love and admiration for each other. The drama is a comedy for the most part but it really touches the heart of the viewer with the overall great sense of love and protections toward the leading lady from her great friends and family. The leading lady, just by been herself, gains the love and respect everyone that gets to know her bringing about the real worth of a human being. The story really embraces the true meaning of friendship, love, honor, and marriage. Enjoy it!

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This review is for part 1 and 2 of the Japanese adaptation of their own series based upon mangaka Yoko Kamio’s “Hana Yori Dango”. These dramas are two of the about 13 adaptations for “Hana Yori Dango”. Although it is a nice adaptation, the characters are presented in a somewhat comical and satirical form with slightly exaggerated facial expressions and voice intonations. This is a lighthearted version and the chemistry among the leading couple was just lukewarm. There are some dramatic moments and some sweet moments in which the leading actors performed quiet well but, the breaking up cliché got really tiring, to say the least. For both dramas, the ending is nice and sweet.

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