The logline for No Tail to Tell had me eagerly waiting for the release but the first two episodes fell flat. And the beginning of the third didn't help.
I watched both episodes of No Tail to Tell. First one was so-so but by the end of the second - not so good. I want to see more but the plotting/story telling feels off or flawed. The female lead is a bit weak but I'm blaming the script itself. I had been looking forward to this one. I enjoyed My Roommate is a Gumiho and the premise for this new one sounded intriguing but....
The sentence is a bit confusing. "As a result, she was sentenced to two years in prison with four years of probation." It seems to mean she's going to prison for two years and then will be on probation for four years. Probably would be better to say - She was sentenced to two years prison suspended for four years. In any case she did not go to prison.
The problem isn't what Sota did or did not say about his grandfather, but with the mind set of "some Korean netizens" who can't understand times have changed. He and we can respect that people have to live in their own times and sometimes have to choose from among bad choices as best they can.
Tallyrand's comment about the Bourbons - They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing -comes to mind
Yes, the Japan's militarists of the WWII era committed a great many atrocities but keep in mind that the Japanese civilians at home suffered hugely. The Americans firebombed some 67 cities condemning hundreds of thousands to death by fire.
This backwards looking moralizing among descendants has zero value and does no good.
Hi, you pretty much wrote a review here yourself. Have you posted this? Your grasp is really good- better than…
Have you gotten to Doom At Your Service yet? I wrote of long review analyzing the main themes and which is full of spoilers. However, anything in the first episode I regard as open and just set up. The actor who plays the girl in the hospital, God, also plays the young teen of the lead in Glory. I got stuck on the first episode of Glory for months because I couldn't get past the torture scenes. Note that in DAYS God's son, Doom aka the Devil, is plotting against his mother to end not only her but the world along with himself. He says repeatedly that she knows everything already, but he still tries. The point I want to leave you with going in is to realize up front she really does know everything and the whole detailed goings on are her manipulations to achieve her goals for her son. My favorite scene of the series starts about 39 minutes into the 7th episode. I just finished Flex X Cop and it was excellent, very entertaining despite some issues with subtitles. I finally got around to watching because a second season has been announced. I noticed in your queue you're planning to watch Kurosagi, which means Black Swindler. Note that Netflix has two versions. Kurosagi is the newest from 2022 and The Black Swindler from 2006. They tell essentially the same story with different aspects emphasized and several changes in the plotting and a few twists. If you like the one from 2022 you'll probably like the 2006 version. It's different enough to be entertaining to compare the two. Take care, Otiose
Hi, you pretty much wrote a review here yourself. Have you posted this? Your grasp is really good- better than…
Sorry to hear about your illness, but as you point out it can have a double edge - in your case you discovered Asian shows. In 2006 I had a near death experience but as bad as it was I learned much about the why etc of the illness and came out of the experience healthier. That's when I stumbled upon a TV show called 'Dead Like Me'. I ended up writing two novels before I put it away.
Glad you're doing better now.
I also stopped reading reviews before watching although I do occasionally sample but only those with no spoilers. Once for 'Destined With You' it seemed so bad I went to the reviews and found one that said it got better at episode 7! I watched but not too impressed.
I noticed you watched Cinderella and the Four Knights. An interesting one with a Cinderella theme is Cinderella at 2 AM. It's a bit different probably explaining its lower rating.
I tend to stick to K-dramas. I've yet to find a C-drama that I can express enthusiasm for although I'm watching one called 'Copycat Killer' from Taiwan that shows promise.
Lately I've sampled some Japanese fare that's not too bad. The Japanese shows tend to have acting that is exaggerated and that's exacerbated by some cultural habits that can be off-putting to an international audience (e.g. me). Having said that I did like Kurosagi TV shows - Kurosagi and The Black Swindler, and Tokyo Swindlers was watchable. The Baby Assassins comedies are also easy. As is Shiawase Kanako no Koroshiya Seikatsu (Happy Kanako's Killer Life), another comedy.
Hi, you pretty much wrote a review here yourself. Have you posted this? Your grasp is really good- better than…
Hi Fifty, My purpose in contacting is that I noticed in your review that you only watched Bulgasal once, and from reviewing your list of watched shows and ratings it's clear we share some same preferences. So I encourage you to give it another go.
My first time watching I floundered at ep 1 or 2, and didn't try again for a few months. And first time through I was thoroughly confused and got more confused reading online explanations of key questions, all of which triggered an in depth bout of multiple times watching. And things mostly sorted themselves out with the exception of that one question - why MSU stabbed DH at the 600 year point? It's very possible that to a native speaker of Korean the answer is obvious.
Bleak/sad endings can be a downer, no doubt. But sometimes a story calls for a certain ending. There are many stories including K-dramas where the writer/director seems compelled to deliver a feel good ending. As bleak as the first ending for Bulgasal was given what came before all three had to die. That final ending in which they jumped into the future was perhaps a bid to relieve that bleakness with a promise the two lovers from a 1,000 years before finally got their happy ending, but it did beg the question about Bulgasals lacking souls etc. how did they reincarnate.
Some shows have layers to them that only reveal with rewatching. It's OK to not be OK is one.
My Name I put off for more than a year because it looked to be a woke girl boss inspired boring show, but I tried and was impressed with the character development and interesting plot twists. The hero starts in a black and white righteous cause for revenge but during her journey she finds things get grayer and grayer.
Doom At Your Service is another. There are several major flaws in the set up of that universe as to how it works etc, but the writer layered a lot of meaning in story. I wrote a review identifying the three main themes I saw at work. A young woman has three months to live because of a terminal brain cancer, and the Devil (aka Doom) shows up with deal.
Another short series is Way Back Love which packs a huge emotional punch. I've only seen that one once and recently so I'm saving it to watch later. It's about two people who had a quirky friendship which they couldn't quite connect on. He dies and six years later appears before her as her Grim Reaper to tell her she has one week to live. The embedded but obvious question is if you could come back from the dead how much would you be willing to sacrifice for someone you loved? The writer did not back away from the needed ending.
My first time through watching this I found it intriguingly confusing. After a few more watchings I still have one unanswered question, but resolved many others. This story is at bottom a thousand year long lovers' quarrel, an originally small misunderstanding between two 'monsters'. It's a quarrel with curses thrown around that gets escalated piling one misunderstanding on another and dragging the humans around them into a destiny trap generation after generation of reincarnations. The focus of the present day story is how that tangled mess gets unraveled, and the curses ended.
One key to remember is that there is only one soul among the three main players, DH, MSU, and OET and that soul originated from OET. The special web of curses entangled all three and they were all fated to die together.
Another is that there's plenty of evidence handed to the viewer (and obvious after more than one viewing) that a human who was once a Bulgasal has extraordinary powers. DH 600 years ago has unusual abilities to kill monsters. It's more obvious with MSU who twice survives lethal attacks. One occurred in an early episode (E3 1:05) when DH was rushing back to the laundry factory to stop a human monster from killing MSU with a knife. The second is much later (E12 minute 43) when MSU is waiting alone in a car in a remote woods for DH to find OET and return.
Despite his pain from the dark hole curse OET did not want to regain his soul and become human again. He therefore connived to ensure that DH (from 1000 to 600 years ago) never grew up. He couldn't kill him directly because he feared such an attempt would trigger the return of his soul, so he would find DH and begin killing humans around him to trigger them to kill him. MSU during this time sought to protect DH.
At 600 years DH managed to grow to adulthood and lead a campaign to kill monsters. He had those extraordinary powers because he was an ex Bulgasal. In that confrontation why MSU stabbed him and took OET's soul into herself is an unanswered question for me.
During present times MSU reincarnated into twins, one held the memories and deep seated desire for revenge, while the other lacked the memories but did have those special powers of an ex Bulgasal. The first one died, but the second lived long enough to meet DH and start a hate to love conversion. Remember 1000 ago these two were the original Bulgasals.
Not to depress you amnesiaa but when you rewatch it pay close attention to the conversation among several reapers that Ram U overhears and the question he asks. He overheard his colleagues talking about a reaper, Ms. Park, who was 'vanished' meaning she no longer exists. Ms. Park interfered in her daughter's death and the punishment was to be automatically extinguished from existence. Ram U didn't just go away after he stopped Hui Wan's death. He deliberately and knowingly sacrificed himself to allow Hui Wan another chance to live the rest of a natural life. Notice towards the end Hui Wan questions Ram U closely and he evades not giving completely truthful answers about what's going to happen.
Great review hitting many good points. I liked how the ending was bravely telegraphed. I held off the final episode for a day to think about that set up, that they made the coming ending clear, but did it anyway because I suspect they wanted us to confront head on an ending that wasn't going to be a traditional happy wind up. In this case the reaper sacrificed his afterlife existence to give his love the inspiration to carry on with her life.
I first saw Park Eun Bin in Extraordinary Attorney Woo. And since then I've seen her in Castaway Diva, and Hyper Knife. And no scandals.
She clearly is in control of her career and keenly careful in picking her roles. She followed up the meek naive Attorney Woo character with a role that showcased her singing talent, and then followed that with her playing a psychopathic serial killer. So no stereotyping will happen.
I'm revisiting this quote from BIZoom last year in which she commented on her inclination to return for a second season.
Park added, “I personally think that since the drama has been loved by so many people, I will need to have a much greater determination than when I first joined ‘Woo Young-woo’ in order to meet the expectations. In addition, I feel like we’ve wrapped it up well in a treasure box now, and if we have to open it again, I’m a little worried that the beautiful crystals in it will be damaged,” she said honestly.
It is extremely unlikely that any second season will come close to the positive impact (i.e. high ratings) that the first did, and she is careful about each step. I doubt that she will elect to step into the Attorney Woo role just for a big paycheck. The script would have to impress her mightily to induce her to revisit the role.
However, the owner of the EAW rights is AStory and they have publicly confirmed that they signed a contract with the screenwriter Moon Ji Won to write a second season of Extraordinary Attorney Woo. However, production has been delayed because Moon Ji Won is committed to directing her film "Deaf Boys," and will only be able to begin work on the script after completing that project.
Until we see Deaf Boys released there's no hope of anything getting off the ground for a second season.
I have mixed reactions to Seo Yea Ji's return, mostly positive and I look forward to seeing her new drama. I first saw her in It's OK to not be Ok with Kim Soo Hyun. After her scandal broke my first reaction was that the role for her wasn't so big a stretch. And Kim Soo Hyun seemed as anodyne and safe (from scandal) as an actor could be. The context for this judgement changed with the suicide of Kim Tae Ron and the swirl of charges and counter allegations regarding her relationship with Kim Soo Hyun broke publicly. This is a personal reaction but I can look forward to watching Seo Yea Ji again, but not so for the deceptively anodyne appearing Kim Soo Hyun should those allegations be proven accurate.
I had been looking forward to this one. I enjoyed My Roommate is a Gumiho and the premise for this new one sounded intriguing but....
Tallyrand's comment about the Bourbons - They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing -comes to mind
Yes, the Japan's militarists of the WWII era committed a great many atrocities but keep in mind that the Japanese civilians at home suffered hugely. The Americans firebombed some 67 cities condemning hundreds of thousands to death by fire.
This backwards looking moralizing among descendants has zero value and does no good.
I wrote of long review analyzing the main themes and which is full of spoilers. However, anything in the first episode I regard as open and just set up.
The actor who plays the girl in the hospital, God, also plays the young teen of the lead in Glory. I got stuck on the first episode of Glory for months because I couldn't get past the torture scenes.
Note that in DAYS God's son, Doom aka the Devil, is plotting against his mother to end not only her but the world along with himself. He says repeatedly that she knows everything already, but he still tries. The point I want to leave you with going in is to realize up front she really does know everything and the whole detailed goings on are her manipulations to achieve her goals for her son.
My favorite scene of the series starts about 39 minutes into the 7th episode.
I just finished Flex X Cop and it was excellent, very entertaining despite some issues with subtitles. I finally got around to watching because a second season has been announced.
I noticed in your queue you're planning to watch Kurosagi, which means Black Swindler. Note that Netflix has two versions. Kurosagi is the newest from 2022 and The Black Swindler from 2006. They tell essentially the same story with different aspects emphasized and several changes in the plotting and a few twists. If you like the one from 2022 you'll probably like the 2006 version. It's different enough to be entertaining to compare the two.
Take care, Otiose
Glad you're doing better now.
I also stopped reading reviews before watching although I do occasionally sample but only those with no spoilers. Once for 'Destined With You' it seemed so bad I went to the reviews and found one that said it got better at episode 7! I watched but not too impressed.
I noticed you watched Cinderella and the Four Knights. An interesting one with a Cinderella theme is Cinderella at 2 AM. It's a bit different probably explaining its lower rating.
I tend to stick to K-dramas. I've yet to find a C-drama that I can express enthusiasm for although I'm watching one called 'Copycat Killer' from Taiwan that shows promise.
Lately I've sampled some Japanese fare that's not too bad. The Japanese shows tend to have acting that is exaggerated and that's exacerbated by some cultural habits that can be off-putting to an international audience (e.g. me). Having said that I did like Kurosagi TV shows - Kurosagi and The Black Swindler, and Tokyo Swindlers was watchable. The Baby Assassins comedies are also easy. As is Shiawase Kanako no Koroshiya Seikatsu (Happy Kanako's Killer Life), another comedy.
Anyway, take care, Otiose
My first time watching I floundered at ep 1 or 2, and didn't try again for a few months. And first time through I was thoroughly confused and got more confused reading online explanations of key questions, all of which triggered an in depth bout of multiple times watching. And things mostly sorted themselves out with the exception of that one question - why MSU stabbed DH at the 600 year point? It's very possible that to a native speaker of Korean the answer is obvious.
Bleak/sad endings can be a downer, no doubt. But sometimes a story calls for a certain ending. There are many stories including K-dramas where the writer/director seems compelled to deliver a feel good ending. As bleak as the first ending for Bulgasal was given what came before all three had to die. That final ending in which they jumped into the future was perhaps a bid to relieve that bleakness with a promise the two lovers from a 1,000 years before finally got their happy ending, but it did beg the question about Bulgasals lacking souls etc. how did they reincarnate.
Some shows have layers to them that only reveal with rewatching. It's OK to not be OK is one.
My Name I put off for more than a year because it looked to be a woke girl boss inspired boring show, but I tried and was impressed with the character development and interesting plot twists. The hero starts in a black and white righteous cause for revenge but during her journey she finds things get grayer and grayer.
Doom At Your Service is another. There are several major flaws in the set up of that universe as to how it works etc, but the writer layered a lot of meaning in story. I wrote a review identifying the three main themes I saw at work. A young woman has three months to live because of a terminal brain cancer, and the Devil (aka Doom) shows up with deal.
Another short series is Way Back Love which packs a huge emotional punch. I've only seen that one once and recently so I'm saving it to watch later. It's about two people who had a quirky friendship which they couldn't quite connect on. He dies and six years later appears before her as her Grim Reaper to tell her she has one week to live. The embedded but obvious question is if you could come back from the dead how much would you be willing to sacrifice for someone you loved? The writer did not back away from the needed ending.
Take care, Otiose
One key to remember is that there is only one soul among the three main players, DH, MSU, and OET and that soul originated from OET. The special web of curses entangled all three and they were all fated to die together.
Another is that there's plenty of evidence handed to the viewer (and obvious after more than one viewing) that a human who was once a Bulgasal has extraordinary powers. DH 600 years ago has unusual abilities to kill monsters. It's more obvious with MSU who twice survives lethal attacks. One occurred in an early episode (E3 1:05) when DH was rushing back to the laundry factory to stop a human monster from killing MSU with a knife. The second is much later (E12 minute 43) when MSU is waiting alone in a car in a remote woods for DH to find OET and return.
Despite his pain from the dark hole curse OET did not want to regain his soul and become human again. He therefore connived to ensure that DH (from 1000 to 600 years ago) never grew up. He couldn't kill him directly because he feared such an attempt would trigger the return of his soul, so he would find DH and begin killing humans around him to trigger them to kill him. MSU during this time sought to protect DH.
At 600 years DH managed to grow to adulthood and lead a campaign to kill monsters. He had those extraordinary powers because he was an ex Bulgasal. In that confrontation why MSU stabbed him and took OET's soul into herself is an unanswered question for me.
During present times MSU reincarnated into twins, one held the memories and deep seated desire for revenge, while the other lacked the memories but did have those special powers of an ex Bulgasal. The first one died, but the second lived long enough to meet DH and start a hate to love conversion. Remember 1000 ago these two were the original Bulgasals.
I first saw Park Eun Bin in Extraordinary Attorney Woo. And since then I've seen her in Castaway Diva, and Hyper Knife. And no scandals.
She clearly is in control of her career and keenly careful in picking her roles. She followed up the meek naive Attorney Woo character with a role that showcased her singing talent, and then followed that with her playing a psychopathic serial killer. So no stereotyping will happen.
I'm revisiting this quote from BIZoom last year in which she commented on her inclination to return for a second season.
Park added, “I personally think that since the drama has been loved by so many people, I will need to have a much greater determination than when I first joined ‘Woo Young-woo’ in order to meet the expectations. In addition, I feel like we’ve wrapped it up well in a treasure box now, and if we have to open it again, I’m a little worried that the beautiful crystals in it will be damaged,” she said honestly.
It is extremely unlikely that any second season will come close to the positive impact (i.e. high ratings) that the first did, and she is careful about each step. I doubt that she will elect to step into the Attorney Woo role just for a big paycheck. The script would have to impress her mightily to induce her to revisit the role.
However, the owner of the EAW rights is AStory and they have publicly confirmed that they signed a contract with the screenwriter Moon Ji Won to write a second season of Extraordinary Attorney Woo. However, production has been delayed because Moon Ji Won is committed to directing her film "Deaf Boys," and will only be able to begin work on the script after completing that project.
Until we see Deaf Boys released there's no hope of anything getting off the ground for a second season.