PHope

Not Good Enough

The Korean Remake of the Chinese hit drama " A Love So Beautiful " fails to deliver, as it was too short and too cheesy.

The story centers around high schoolers who are feeling the first specs of love. The first part of the drama is actually dedicated to their youthful years and, failing, however, to pass down a nostalgic feeling that most of the school dramas do, especially when they are placed in the past. The second part of the drama focuses, on the other hand, on their adult lives and that's when the drama starts, with the main relationship being tested and sometimes skips that weren't handled smoothly.

I guess the main problem that this drama faces is its short episodes. They try to have small cases per episodes, but the actual story can't be developed properly due to that. Another minus that appeared was the cliche of many situations that arose. From the old camera work to the cheesy romantic gestures, but, especially, to the female lead's reactions to everything that were beyond childish and ended up being annoying, the drama is just too predictable and not because its a remake. Come to think about it, the original was closer to the melodrama premises, with a focus on their adult life, family problems and more grown up drama. On the contrary, this one is more immature and gets boring easily.

At least the side characters were interesting and added some entertainment here and there when it was needed. The performances were pretty good from everyone in the cast as well.

So, overall, 3.5 out of 10.

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" My sassy classmate season 1 ", even though the description says that it will be more of a romance, it was not. But, for a comedy about youngsters that deal with school problems and the angst of growing up and becoming an adult, the drama was good enough.

The first episodes had some random editing, which almost ruined the drama for me, but, after those disastrous episodes, you get to know the characters and love them. They start bonding as well and becoming friends, which was pretty touching. However, some episodes were boring and some of them had over the top events taking place. But, the overall feel of the drama was fun and fresh.

So, overall, five out of ten for the first season.

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" 4-gatsu no Kimi, Spica " was a really good rom com.

As a shoujo manga adaption, 4-gatsu no Kimi, Spica was really good. The romance was nice and over the top adorable, with sweet moments and a nice love triangle. Even the twist towards the end, though cheesy, it was nice. The friendship of the two boys were really good too. The characters' chemistry was pretty intense too. So, yes, the story is predictable, but it is cute, sweet, enjoyable and entertaining. The performances were really good too from all actors and actresses.

So, overall, eight out of ten for this manga adaption.

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" Graceful Family " was enjoyable.
The family drama was solid and there were enough twists and intrigues to keep things interesting. The performances were pretty decent too. Probably the best part of the drama was the characters. Sure, some of them were cliche evil characters (see the stepmother) but overall the main ones were strong. The clash of the two main ladies was well orchestrated too. However, the male lead was overshadowed and his story had only some screen time towards the end of the drama. Also, the romance, although subtle, it was not necessary as it didn't really have time to progress. Finally, the ending was pretty good.
So, overall, seven out of ten.

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My sassy girl started weak, had some good parts in the middle, but
eventually, it just got more boring. The plot was interesting at first,
even though the first few episodes tried to mimic the original movie
way too much to the point that they looked ridiculous. The whole
disposed queen, though, and the princess's secret were okay, adding
some thrill to the plot that else was tiring to watch. The couple were
more comical than had chemistry. It's a same because the actress was
seriously good in please come back mister... Not that this performance
was bad, but it didn't have anything special. In addition, the script
didn't help the actors much. The funny parts were few, even though the
whole drama tried to keep a light mood. In the end, I can't say that I
didn't fast forward some parts that were just boring, or that it didn't
take me more than it should to finish it because I kept postponing
watching it. so, 3 out of 10.

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This drama started okay, though you do not expect those scenes in a k
drama (not that I minded, but it was a surprise). The story is okay,
kind of interesting, especially when it came to the little boy's real
family (the boy was adorable by the way!!). But then, from episode 10
till the end (thank the production that made it only 13 episodes long,
there would have been zero point in dragging the plot for another 3
episodes), the episodes were a few new scenes and everything a repeated
parade of flash backs, from everyone's point of view. That was my main
problem with this drama. Actually, the performances weren't bad, and
the love triangle had it's moments. So, 4 out of 10.

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Samurai Marathon is apparently based on a true story, or, at least, on true events. That is why the movie was just a bit ... I wouldn't say boring but it lacked intensity. Usually, with samurai movies you expect action scenes that can take your breath away, wonderful speeches about greatness and deep emotions. Here, you get nice characters, but a flat story.

The action scenes were okay, but just a bit boring. The characters, moreover, were interesting, but they were too many to follow and that's why the movie couldn't handle them and they ended up falling through the cracks and disappearing.

The performances, as expected, were brilliant. The movie was packed with Japan's big names (I mean Sato Takeru was one of the leads and that is enough reason to watch this one).

So, overall, six out of ten.

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Major warning: Do not take the tragedy element too lightly. This story is so strong, packed with emotions and dancing, relaying the message of freedom and breaking down the barriers that are set for you by society. Each character of the swing team was unique, fighting their own demons and trying to survive through impossible situations. The plot was original, yet it followed lightly the pattern of a war drama movie, with the ending devestating, breaking down the "the hero's passion can do anything" protocol that other war movies follow. The performances were splending as well. The actors and actresses displayed great emotions and painted the drama beautifully. Another note is that their dancing skills were realistic, as they didn't display extrordinary, out of the blue, talent. Rather, they seemed to enjoy themselves and improve their skills under the circumstances that they were under. Also, the soundtrack was to the point! My only concern about this movie was the presentation of the events when it came to the pace. Other than that, this one is a really powerfull movie.

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What's Wrong with Secretary Kim is just an okay drama. It has a cute approach to the story, that also involves some mystery about a kidnapping and a chilhood drama, but they kind of overeploit that theme and it got tiring towards the end. The romance, for me, it was so so. There was chemistry and everything, but the script didn't help to create the right mood. In the end, the romance scenes seemed forced to be funny when they weren't. The performances, in addition, were nice and enjoyable at least. The side stories interesting as well. Overall, the drama is just a cute romance drama and it doesn't really have any originality in it to make it the great drama that most viewers claim it to be.

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Maybe it's because I'm watching this one after a while, but for me, it wasn't as great as it is expected to be. Maybe I was expecting too much out of it. The story is okay, with the big case with the vilain and everything, but it gets tiring after a while. The drama uses cliches like amnesia as twists, but overall, it was just okay, with a so so romance, as the characters didn't have chemistry. The cases though were interesting to follow, but often the main story took over and left them in the premisses to fill in the gaps. Now, the performances were okay, especially from the actor that played the bad guy, who was excellent. So, 5,5 out of 10.

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Good Enough

" Twenty Twenty " is an okay drama for its genre. It handled the story smoothly, keeping the pace hectic throughout the length of it. However, even though the drama wasn't boring because of it, it missed a lot of its charm, especially when it came to the love story. The romance on its own was kind of interesting, but felt undeveloped and rushed. The chemistry wasn't built and the love triangle was also half baked.

The family drama, however, was pretty entertaining. The male lead's was overlooked at times, but the main one, between the mother and the daughter, was spot on. The second lead's story was disappointingly left unconcluded.

Finally, the performances were okay. Wooseok did a nice job, but the character he was portraying, for me, was contradicted by his image. The leading lady was just there in the first part of the series, but she nailed her dramatic scenes. The side characters were delightful to watch.

So, overall, six and a half out of ten.

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Yet another popular drama that I didn't really like. Here's the reasons why:

-The couple lacked chemistry. That didn't aid the romance and made the drama weak when it came to romance.
-I didn't find it that funny.
-It was too long and for that, the plot was forced to spread too thinly.
-Some twists were repeated and the element of surprise was lost because of that.

However, I did like Hoo Ja, who was the best part of this drama. It was nice to watch a smart, dynamic woman take charge for a change, even though she was the bad guy. Shiwon feated Jung Kook's character as well.

So, overall five and a half out of ten.

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