PHope

I was really looking forward for another drama with Kyungsoo, who was really good in his other works. Plus, Bo Gum was an additional bonus, as he can really adapt to his role and he plays the childish roles really well. However, the drama felt a little stiff, as it got stuck into boring plot twists. The background story was interesting; a guy returns to Korea in order to find his brother, who had been kidnapped by their father's killer. However, the drama was almost like a medley of Dexter and the mentalist, with a genius man who ends up working with the police tries to find the serial killer that harmed his family. The killer's shots in the prison were annoyingly repeated over and over in each episode. In addition, the drama was tiring and boring, and the romance was really weak. So, 4 out of 10, only for the good performances of the two actors mentioned.

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Maybe I'm being too generous towards this drama and I'm giving it a 3.5 out of 10. Because there were too many down sides about this drama. First of all, the story: a girl, who's a vampire, tries to hide her true identity in her high school. That's season 1. Season 2 is about the same characters, only they are now living in the past. After that, we move on to the last season (each season is about four episodes or so, as the drama has only 12 episodes!). In the 3rd season, we are back in the modern world. Okay, the concept was good. I particularly liked the second and the third season (well, half of it), as they were quite interesting. The first season felt too rushed, and, as I was ignorant to the fact that the drama was divided into three seasons, I was surprised that the story was concluded in episode 3! An other thing that didn't work for me, was the band concept. I thought it was childish and too unrealistic, not that they weren't talented, but to get to be idols?? In addition, the performances were so so. The female lead wasn't good, especially in the first season, but got a little better towards the end. The second male lead was surprisingly good, and I liked his story and his whole appearance of this bad boy vampire. The male lead was good as well, but that was expected. The costumes were really nice, and, surprisingly, the special effects were realistic enough. So, 3.5 out of 10.

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Not Good Enough

Korean Drama " King The Land " is a romantic comedy with two strong leads.

The drama has a smooth start, with a story that brings back nostalgic feelings for the old Korean romantic comedies that ruled the last decade and even before that. The romance is sweet and the banter between the leads is adorable and entertaining. The friendship was also an enjoyable factor.

However, everything went downhill when the two leads got together, which happened early on. Thus, the drama was left to deal with romantic dates, traveling abroad, and some family drama, which at least kept things interesting here and there but was too predictable to be able to save the drama.

Other than the boring plot, however, the performances kept being strong, and the main couple had chemistry.

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

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Miss Hammurabi is not exactly a law drama. It has cases and it is about judges, but it focuses more on the characters than the plot. Those characters are interesting, with rich backgrounds, that usually explain the way they act in the current time of the drama. Through the show, we learn more about them and more about their lives, as they start to develop relationships with one another. In the end, we get friendship, romance, strong office dynamics and a nice conclusion. So, it is inevitable that the performances were good as well. Go Ara has a way to express deep emotions in her every drama, and L has finally grown to a mature actor with flawless performances. So overall, 6,5 out of 10.

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So, I've made it so far (12 episodes) and finally I convinced myself that it wasn't worth my time (plus way too many and more interesting dramas were out too). Radio Romance came out in a period when only few dramas were out and probably one or two of them worth watching. And with a cast full of stars, you kind of being forced to watch it. But, the first episode said it all. The pace too slow, the performances so so, the story boring, the romanct weak. When the background story kicked in, I told myself that this was it, the drama was taking off finally. Alas, that never happened. Turned out, that twist was boring too. Okay, the whole drama wasn't as terrible, but, for me, it's a drama that I wouldn't recommend.

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Good Enough

" Theater : A Love Story " is an ambitious movie.

Filmed as a theater play and narrated by the main lead, it shows the love but catastrophic relationship between two people who kept the plug on the relationship way too long. And, honestly, their good times were far less than their bad ones. The male lead was self distractive, dragging the girl down with him. The latter could have done better, but, apparently, she just didn't see the harm that she was receiving from him.

So, on that aspect, the movie was great, as it presented a more realistic take on a love story. However, while watching it, it felt like something was missing. Had it be the lack of intimacy between them (they looked more like roommates than lovers), a climax to their toxic relationship, or a burst from the female lead, the whole film felt that it was moving on an andante pace and without a proper introduction or pre-phase to the events that were happening.

That said, the leading lady was hands down, the best thing that the movie had to offer. Not that Kento didn't do a great job in this one, but she was just delightful, emotional, entertaining, relatable, and just amazing when it came to her performance. Also, the ending was brilliant and masterfully handled.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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" No Longer Human " had two elements that worked great : the cinematography and the performances.

The lead actor was amazing, with a top-notch performance and flawless acting. The rest of the cast did great as well, as expected from a stellar cast of notable and popular actors and actresses. However, the movie had too many characters that were overlooked, and overshadowed by the main ones.

Another factor that the movie handled perfectly was the cinematography. From the scenery with the flowers, mount Fuji, the cherry blossoms, to the era-appropriate settings and costumes. The camera work was brilliant and the overall result was just like reading a book.

However, the story was weak. Even though it is based on the popular and renowned book, the movie felt like it was focused on the main hero and his love for women. The ending was a bit confusing with the final scene simply erasing what had happened to the rest of the sequence. So, storywise, the movie didn't handle the material as well as they did with the cinematography and performances.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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" Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo " was okay in the beginning, but got way too cliche towards the ending.

First of all, the medical cases were pretty good. Sakura, the female lead, was a good nurse, as she cared for her patients and she did the effort to get to know them and specifically assist in their needs. The medical cases themselves were interesting and, some of them, very emotional. However, they got less and less towards the end, as the drama focused more on the couple rather than their profession.

Now, for the love story, at first, it was okay. The male lead was enough cold and "evil" to keep things interesting and create strong dynamics with the female lead. However, straight from the start, she came over to him, claiming that she loved him (even though they met once in the past) and in a way demanded that he should love her back, or date her. And the most annoying thing of all was that everyone actually had the same opinion and kind of pushed her to keep pursuing him like that. So, that approach felt too extreme and just not okay overall. But, passed that, the romance was a bit rushed at some point. Like, they were trying to fit it in while the medical cases took place. Still, that wasn't a deal-breaker. However, the drama started getting cringy towards the end. Especially the last episode was way too cheesy, using many of the well known tropes. Now, the drama was based on a manga, so keeping that in mind, it can be excused for some of the plot choices. However, the story was not well presented, and, as a result, the drama seemed too cringy.

In any case, it was light and kept things entertaining for a good part of it. But, I wish that they had time to develop the other couples too. So, overall, because the performances were good from everyone in the cast, and Sakura was cute, 4 out of 10.

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I've picked up this drama because it was one of the popular ones and everyone had only praise to share about it. It did took me a while to finish it, mainly due to the episoded being more than one and a half hour long, when the standard length of a k drama episode is about forty minutes to an hour. The length, fortunately, didn't make it boring or tiring. Though the story was kind of odd at first, as I couldn't make sense of what was happening or why the lead character ended up in prison. Things got clearer after the first episode. The story itself is okay, without too many twists and just enough drama to keep it interesting. It doesn't surprise in containted but, if you love slice of life stories with the comedy element to lighten up the drama, this is a drama for you. Finally, the performances were really good by everyone and the soundtrack just perfect for this drama.

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Stary night is a so - so drama (I actually think that so - so is the only appropriate phrase for this drama). The good thing about it is that it's quick and easy to watch. It actually reminded me of Bridgit Jones (a milder and less funny version of it). Some of the love stories were interesting and there was chemistry between the two lovers. However the office drama was not that good and actually confusing a little. To be honest, I couldn't figure out what was happening till the third episode. But it's a fast paced drama with only 20 minutes episodes. The performances were okay; the leading lady wasn't that good, but the guys were good enough. So 4 out of 10.

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Not Good Enough

'' Hierarchy '' is a school melodrama that is more about the cinematography than the story. In other words, is more about looks than substance.

The story is pretty basic, makjang style, with some rich kids terrorizing the poor students while dealing with their own personal drama. Still, there were some interesting elements at the start of the drama, with some intriguing plotlines.

However, as the series progressed, the story got more and more loose, getting boring to boot.

As for the romance, or love triangle, it was boring and the leads didn't really have any chemistry.

Also, they tried hard to make the rich kids look extra, but they just ended up not looking like teenagers, but rich makjang housewives.

At least the performances were enjoyable.

So, overall, three out of ten.

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Honestly, I only watched this one for Do Kyungsoo, as he's one of my favourite actors. However, here, his performance was really bad. Maybe the whole romantic concept isn't his thing. But the story didn't help either. Sure, the main story sounds very interesting, but the final result was bad. Maybe the execution was poor, and that kind of ruined the drama. Okay, I've been too hard on this one, so I may add here that there were some cute parts. But, overall, the performances were so-so to bad, the story was not good, the music is easily forgetable and this drama gets 3.5 out of 10 from me.

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