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First half sweet other half draggy, cringey torture
Never have I seen a drama that had so much sweetness and potential go down hill this badly, why I kept on watching, I thank dubbele speed and skipping... as well as hope of seeing that sweet sweet cat as well as more scenes between the main couple but no she was long gone and those two where not as fun as I would have hoped they would be. This is the first drama I have ever watched so much in dubbele speed, but oddly enough dubbele speed did not feel fast at all, making me wonder if they used slow mo just to fill the time.It did have some nice action scenes good explosions, high speed water chases and a whole lot of helicopter shots (though i think they reuses allot of those too), so if you are obsessed with tanks, helicopters etc this might actually be enjoyable for you.
Characterwise, the leads and one of the second coples where highly lovable, one was so annoying that I struggled feeling empathy with her, others where also pretty annoying. Not to spoil the drama I will mention one character and a very satisfactory scene as a spoiler tagged comment.
The medical stuff was so ridiculous and inconsistent I struggled between the emotions fear and comedy... one heart transplant was postponed and could be planned several weeks away, giving people the idea that hearts are easy to come by while a lung is rushed and extremely urgent... And I will not get started on how the organ is portrayed after it has been recycled...
So if you want to watch this go for the first half it is actually good and if you start feeling that it is draggy then drop it, it does not get any better! I really hoped it would, but no it will just keep on being draggy... but if you find yourself enjoying the second half too all the power to you! It will keep on going that way so you are in for a fun watch.
Just a note the cat, was the best thing with this drama, I want a spin off for the cat, preferably in a new home with other characters.
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Sweet and dangeruos...
Don't judge a series by the first episode and cover ... or you may just miss this gem of a drama.This has it all excitement, fluff, intrigues, insecurity, social issues, corruption, friendship, love a REALLY bad dad and a allot of character development. The drama starts off with a really cheap feel to it in a strip club- mafia oss setting ark and kind of reminds you of some kind of 90s drama c-movie so I nearly dropped it but once passed the first episode I fell more and more in love with the characters. I love the way this drama humanises prostitutes, strippers gangsters and the people around them.
I'm not going to say that this is a top notch production but considering it has non conventional love I guess it is more of a budget issue than anything else.Iit is pretty cool an has a good story with interesting plot twists (some more predictable than others)
This drama probably has one of the nicest/coolest trans representations I have seen on screen showing her as a competent human being beyond the stereotypes with emotions character development and worthy of love while not ignoring the reality these people face.
The way they showed polyamory and bisexuality or should I say more pansexuality did confuse me at times so to be sure not to spoil this I will write it as a comment, though I do not think it is a spoiler you never know...
All in all definitely worth watching.
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Cottoncandy fluff continuously poked by an icicle
To be honest nothing in this drama is great, nothing is perfect, and there is probably only one character that I truly loved all the time. the side characters stand for allot of wonderful friendship moments, great humour but also have some immature and at times annoying tendencies yet managed to stay on my good side for delivering some great lines, fun moments and sweet, sweet love making them great as supporting cast and doing a great job assisting the storyline. This drama shows that boys and girls can be friends as well as some pretty amazing chosen family/friendships. The relationship between the two Gumihos would make any biological siblings jealous.Midway thru the drama I could not have cared less who the female lead would end up with seeing all the options had their pros and cons (sigel, gumiho or bad boy gone soft). Chemistry wise I actually think she had more with the bad boy gone soft than her beloved gumiho. They exchange allot of fun banter and she feels more natural with him. There scenes where a feast for the aye jut enough to make it enjoyable but not to much to arouse sympathy or give me SLS.
While I am a great succer for romance and often fraun upon comedy this dramas stars are all about the comedy and less about the romance. This drama has great lines, though it may not always be sophisticated the level of comedy is still kept above the cringey annoying humor that can be seen in other dramas giving this drama some well earned extra stars)
This drama also had high predictability and ALLOT of wonderful cliches. So if you hate cliches move along there is truly nothing for you to see here. But if you are like me and love seeing them played around with twisted and enhanced then do proceed to watch this cliche feast of a drama.
P.s there is a spoiler in the comment section ;)
Oh and I loved seeing Go Kyung Pyo... even if it was just for a short while so keep your aye out for him and also you may enjoy how they references other dramas when they show gumihos past.
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Artistic and nudity that is right in your face
This movie is pretty artistic, while the explicit sexuall content is really right in your face, with both sound and nudity that would probably put any porno to shame. So this is not for the underaged viewer (honestly it was almost bit to much bor me, yes I am a an old prude) and I recommend you tern down the volume whenever they seem to be on their way to get naked...The story is pretty interesting a guy falls/ becomes obsessed with a guy who is so far locked up in the closet he will need allot of cheese to get him out. the guy is also married and seems to be completely unable to be monogamous (witch is okay if everyone is okay with it, but they do not seem to). The guy who is obsessed goes to great lengths/ forces manipulates and does anything in his power to get physical with the guy in the closet. But tho he is literally sexually assaulting his object of obsession you still find your self feeling sorry for him. That could be because the other guy is a complete *****. I do not like how it caters to the idea tht bisexualls and gay men would be horny guys willing to hump just about anybody. But I do like how it shows the difficulty of breaking an obsession, being the underdog in a relationship as well as internalised homophobia. I feel sorry for every single character in this movie (especially the women). I tried to find a line the underdog says about love not being perfect, good or rational but couldn't find it. but whatever he said it was extremely well said.
The cinematography is very beautiful and they use allot of symbolism at times but for the love of whatever you believe in take this as a warning and not as a relationship goal
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Some great, some good and some plain meeh that failed to ignite the spark in me
Some dramas keep you on your toes, others send you off on an amazing roller coaster ride, or a ride thru the alps with beautiful scenery and exitment... This one has some good scenery, and lovely food shots that may make you feel some hunger but its more of a country ride with a stop to eat on the way then a thrilling ride. I did not feel the it factor, you know the whole wow factor igniting my emotions... yes that is it it did not ignite enough emotional reactions from me to get exited about it.This drama has all the components to make it great! Showing both social issues, mental illness and bad ass female characters that make you competently fall for them. The side characters are mostly great but mid annoying at worst, but have good character development as well as some really good side characters with some really good lines. My favorit line from the whole dram comes from a mid annoying side character that said: unwanted love is not real love, it is violence! But then he spent most of his screen time trying to push people in to the pit of re living their toxic relationships so I can't really say he is as good as that line.
There is a homeless man that is made human, but still annoying and well does not really represent the social issue of homelessness at all except for maybe one line... This had so much potential but just turned in to meeh...
But the sismance, oh the sismance as well as the mother daughter relationship was great. The way they wrote the female lead was just so good, I loved it! incorporating both self blame, shame, moving on,inner struggles, the exterior vs. the interior, fear, regret.... She really goes thru allot and just handels it like a human being. Her boss is just cool, I love that actress and the way she gets these bad ass quirky fun characters that are just filled with great easy humor that is low without becoming annoying.
But then we have the only fat person in the whole drama who could have been portrayed as a competent fun person but instead is portrayed as a smelly less competent stereotypical fat guy. Come on, this is not nice, please stop. fat people are just as competent, lovable and can even smell really nice and deserve respect and love just the way they are.
I did however like part of the dramas take on stalking, mental illness and the need for help while still showing the consequences for the victims of the actions of the persons actions while being on an episode. This is really important to me, yes we need to raise awareness of people struggling with mental illness as being competent human beings with feelings deserving to be loved and further being punished by societies prejades. But rhe people around them do get hurt and should have the right to put up boundaries as well as distance them slevs. What I a ms saying is that it is complicated and this drama does a pretty okay job showing that it is complicated and I loved that about it.
The male lead is also really cool, I love the way he keeps calm more or less in every situation and well he is both nice to look att and does all these nice things that make ones heart flutter... Even though the main couple seems to lack chemistry the interactions and dialog between them is hilarious at times it just lacks that little spark that many other drama couples have. But both characters are well written and really great.. if they only had that spark.
So all in all worth a watch just don't expect to much of an emotional ride...
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Not for your inspiration but a movie demanding respect for the weak
It is not always easy to make a movie about people with disabilities without it being dehumanizing inspirational crap treating people with disabilities as sources of inspiration or using people with disabilities to kick att the weak saying if that person can do it why cant you etc... while often portraying a story with some kind of combination of look att that poor thing (yes i choose the word thing) with wow look he can tie his shoes lets applaud him what an inspiration it is to us all....This movie goes against all that and gets really close to showing these people as actual competent humans with feelings, flaws and needs without ignoring the difficulties and stigma people with disabilities face in their daily lives. I love the name of the place they lived in "House of respect" that is so much more important then all these houses of peace, love or what not.
" The weak must protect the weak"
This was a heartwarming tear-jerking laughter igniting story about true friendship, not against all odds but a mutual friendship where the two people involved perfectly complete each other and the people around them who love them just the way they are. And yes I loved it!
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This review may contain spoilers
A great drama that will keep you wondering even if you know how it will end
This was definitely a ride... I wouldn't say roller coaster but how about a dirve far upp in the alps or any other really narrow, steep and curvy road, the type where you are not sure if the car ahead of you is heading away from you or toward you.Before entering this ride I had been warned that I would end up crying, I think i held on for a long time but towards the end the tears just wold not stop falling down so even my top got wet. But enough about the end, here is more about the way there. This is probably one of the worst love storys ever written, but a great story about deception, betrayal, how power ruins everything and the fragile male ego all in the name of love...
The pace in this drama is really good and consistent. I can really not say i experienced a dull moment, even when I thought it would start getting dull, I was confronted with a new twist and I was back wondering what would happen next. I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out who was good, who was evil and in what order the people (mainly the princes) would die. I did not get a singel one right, mostly because this was a story involving humans that where ever evolving and subjected to change. So even if I was waiting for a sad ending I really had no clue in what way it would end sadly ( you would be surprised over how many ways my mind could come up with).
The characters in this drama brought the 10th century in to the 21st century... With most probably 0 historical accuracy. And I cherish them all. While many dramas use annoying characters for comic relief, here the comic relief came from smart and sweet characters that made for a good balance without being ridicules or annoying, so big + for that.
The women in this drama rock, most of them are evil and scary as hell but all (except for one) had great acting skills and where very convincing int their role. They probably had the least character development though they stood for quite a few twists and I thought for the longest time that this drama would end up being about how men got the credit for the evil deeds of past women (I´m not going to tell you how accurate I was).
The princes different personalities and talents reminded me of boys over flowers but way cuter and in a kind of waiting to die/ kill each other way. It was also interesting to try to figure out who wold be involved in the love star (I have named a love triangel with more then three people for a star, I do not know if there is another term for this, maybe love tangel....but I like star so I´m keeping to it).
IU was amazing all the way! I loved her ok, I did not love all of her characters choices but her acting was flawless and she was as bad ass as always.
The male lead prince no 4, was a typical wounded sole waiting to be rescued, however he had severe trust issues and really did not grasp the notion of consent, but I guess that is to be expected of a prince 1000 years ago but he did make some attempt at gaining consent but really did not stick to it witch was really to bad. He was however mostly kind, and really did go out of his way to protect the woman he loved, and seemed to have a constant struggle within himself protect-own-protect-own her. He probably had the weirdest character development that made it hard for me to love him in the end, so I guess i ended upp feeling sorry for him.
I had mixed feelings about the second lead, I don´t know about you but there is something in the line I am going to love you the way I could not love your (dead) cousin (that was like a mom to you)" just douse not really scream love of my life for me but hey, who am I to judge. He is also the character that surprised me the most and was probably the most interesting male character of them all.
The princess had an interesting character development and was both smart and driven, this drama would definitely have been boring without her. a perfect love to hate character and probably oddly enough the perfect match to the person she ended up with.
Prince no 10 was so sweet and adorable his interaction with IUs character was adorable and stod for the humor in the drama.
The generals daughter was so cool, both loving, funny and reminded me little bit of Do Bong Soon from (SWDBS).
Prince no 13 was sweet but probably had the least character development, this was however not Nam Joo Hyuks best acting.
Prince no 14 grew on me with time and is probably the most admirable prince of them all.
So in short this is a great drama that will let you experience a range of emotions that will most probably surprise you even if you have read this review that tells you that you will most probably cry in the end.
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Love is not really all you need... but its nice to feel loved
If you are looking for something that will make you feel good, have your heart flutter and I don't know make you just all warm inside then back away... and go watch more or less anything else.This is a drama that you watch for its dialog, its monologs, the subtle slightly dark humour, sound of silence... and so on and so on. Beautifully filmed extremely well casted I am not really sure what story this is here to tell or how lovable the characters are but one thing I do know is that this is a drama packed with humans, the type of humans you can relate to, The type of humans that you may even dislike from the bottom of your heart yet still find yourself rooting for them since they are just so easy to relate too and present the more common not so lovable sides to being human that you, or at least I rather not admit to.
Not a single person here is pure, good or positive all the way, nope not even the motherly figure, every one has their flaws and struggles and I may not love them for it but I love the drama for this beautiful display of lacking and overly honest figures. There are several annoying characters that bring out ones angry side (in a good way), but not a single comic relief with too big gestures type of person.
This is a true slice of life presented in fragments with an unclear timeline, even if there are no mind blowing twists ala I am actually your childhood friend, we where separated at birth, he killed your father, let me harvest your organs type thing...
Having the timeline being presented in fragments not knowing what is past, future or present has a dare I say mind blowing affect of keeping the viewers brains activated and curious throughout out the whole drama.
I love the way this is filmed, the angles, the lighting, the huge amount of shots of peoples reflections in some type of surface... I am sure there is a whole lot of artistic symbolism that I may not fully get... but it is definitely there and I like it...
Bingabilaty: high, it can be hard to follow if there is too much time between episodes.
Interesting: 10
Heart flutter: 7
This is definitely my type of drama, but I am pretty sure this is not for everyone as I said most of the characters are not very lovable, the romance is sloooow, and it does require quite a bit from the audience making it more a turn on than turn off your brain type of drama...
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Mouth watering sweet n comforting
This drama is really sweet and offers both adorable cast and mouth watering moments, lots and lots of mouth watering moments....While I admit I do have some issues with some of the highly unnecessary s scenes including a trip abroad that brings nothing to the story but leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. And some slightly over simplified mental issues. The over all feel to this is that they tried to convay some kind of come as you are, you are worthy of both love and a job...
I love the leads and the sides, and even thought there is an episodic element to this it does not take away from the romance and the characters development... So basically this could have been an 8,5 or even a 9 for all the yummy and sweetnes this offers I can not fully forget episode 7 ever happened so I settled for an 8.
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Pretty,Powerful and Evil
This was a pretty powerful binge, one with great a mounts of beautiful blood splatter, explosions, conspiring, evil, more evil and a huge show of evil, more evil, most evil... confused identities, interesting (also confused) motives and very few genuinely good as in evil vs good type of characters.The type that may make you loose hope in humanity as well as wonder if the herbs where better in the past as well as be amazed by the healing power of the young and the fearless.
The build up of the first 3-5 episodes is better then the remaining ones, I am not saying it goes down hill from there. It more of an evening out of the field.
The chemistry between the characters is really good. I love the male lead (not only because he is played by Lee Jae Wook, but also because of the way he is written. Fun, faisty, smart and all round a pleasure to watch. His interactions with the female lead are both playful and will make you go wait what, is this okay?
The female lead has a bunch of moments of bad ass cool, fun, confused done well. But also a few really how can she be so stupid, as well as make you wonder how many lives she (and the rest of the cast) has. That said I loved every bit of her screen time and would love to see her a gain.
All in all en interesting watch, the type to cater to all you romance, gore and evil needs.
P.S This is not a drama that will give you SLS at all... At least not me
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Too small slices of life
This drama has great promise with an amazing cast and not to mention the director and writer who have delivered some of my personal favourite dramas.The acting, dynamics, music, direction, cinematography and stotylines are all pretty decent, fine they just had to add one of my personal pet peeves showing dialog with ghosts and inner younger selves, but tother than that the delivery was really good. The characters are all fun to watch, given they are recognisable from previous characters played yet with a slight twist that shows the actors range. I guess or something like that.
However there where just a few to many stories and to few episodes to fully be able to deliver the emotional roller coster I was hoping for. As they prioritised shots of pretty scenery and pauses before dialog and digging deep in to the minds of our characters. Leaving just a little bit to much unsaid.
Leaving me with a sense of neither feel good nor feel mad, or sad just oh, ok I guess that is life. And to be honest a part of me thinks that was what they where going for. So if you are in it for the feels this may not be the right place to find it but if you want the reals and under-explored this is a good place to find it.
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The story is not as beautiful as the leads but ok
This is one of those dramas that offers great leads, amazing chemistry, golden light for as far as the eye can see making you feel all warm and gooey inside... All with the added bonus of a fluffy can and a fish tank that reminded me of dramas past...It is also one of those dramas that you just you know got though censorship without a hinge, yet managed to keep it kind of subtle compared to others (focus word kind of) somewhere right in the middle of a scale from Road to Patriotic bordom (or Home) to Addicted heroin.
The friendships and side characters to their jobs without becoming to annoying, some twists or moments of affection are hinted just a little bit to much by bad directing. But other than that the sides even have some really good moments.
However I could not have cared less about the business slightly preachy (hens the I am sure it passed censorship well). It just prolonged the episode count and had me lower the score as some of those parts where so boring i almost fell a sleep. Luckily interactions between the leads where never far off.
So a decent watch that made me want to press that next episode button from start to finish, but also had me wanting to skip some scenes.
P.s. I am reallt bias about the two leads, but then again how can you not be with those smiles, abs and delivery of lines.
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Kisses and a bunch of people with hidden agendas
This drama has one good episode, a decent female something and a bunch of really well executed kisses... and well that is about it... As slightly annoying guy has a crush on an amazing girl but gets douped by a guy with a hidden agenda on their way though some misunderstandings and the feeling of trust no one as they may or may not have a hidden agenda but honestly they all just fall flat.I was almost going to give this a 7,5 for the kisses, the good episode and the girl plus lack of issues to complain about but then a whole bunch of cringe happened and dragged down the score. Conversations with parents that had me gaging and just a whole lot of oh come on.... Seriously are they going to throw in that annoying trope. And well at that point I felt a 7 was a kind score.
So what can I say the romance has its good times and again great kisses... but honestly it is just not enough to make this a good or even a watch worthy of your time. But if you do not mind the lack of plot and cringe and have some time to kill go for it or just fast forward to the kisses and the scenes with the girl.
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Blurred lines can be hard to read
This is an interesting story, that brings out a whole lot of aspects making me feel very uncomfortable most of the time as well as thinking what the h*** did that person just say? And trying to figure out how this alines with my personal morals. To be honset I have issues with the leads relationship the age gap 12 years is a real age gap and though he is not under age the whole tutor student part as well as the way she treats him at times like a child other times like a love interest really makes me uncomfortable while at the sam time she has a lot of good to say and parts of me love both of them, as well as their chemistry. So I guess it is complicated in a confusing way.There are a lot of awful just awful characters in this, and the way they talk about hosts, host addiction and power relations makes me guess what yes very, very uncomfortable.
That said the drama is interesting, it kept my attention and told a slightly different story then the usual age gap, boy falls for his teacher... Definitely worth a watch just prepare for moral corruption and ambiguity...
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Could have been great but I guess I am not the forgiving kind...
This drama has an adorable main couple, interesting side characters ans a whole lot of fun and good to it untill we get to the main plot-lines that pretty much killed my interest half of the time.In the begining the drama felt a bit like Gilmore girls meeds Dharma and Greg in a Thai LGBTQsetting, had it kept this mix and added its own fun twist then thi could have been an 8,5 or even a 9. The romance has so much potential and could have been so much more if they focused on the mains relationship and the friends instead of constantly getting sidetracked by anooying plot-lines and awful just awful characters who supposedly have some kind of checter development leading to all being forgiven... And well I am just not the forgiving kind.
The quality of acting varies a lot, and there is a lot of cringe and over acting moments, that said out male lead is more or less perfect in every way. Papa Grace is a bit to preachy and forgiving but such.a sweetheart. Saving this from getting a lower score.
An okay watch that could have been grate, but just wasn't.
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