Tharr

A cliche taken to new lows

Oh, wow. They took one well-known premise and put their own spin on it. The premise? Lost memory. Its a cliche that we've seen from soap operas to "big" movies. Somehow losing ONLY your memories that might resolve the plot too soon. The spin? Intensely trying to fix it.

So, visuals. It looks great. From the colour palette, to framing, everything is good. Even the ocasional lens flare look "well thought". As if, while filming the scene, the visual director saw the potential, yelled cut, and modified the framing just a bit, to recreate and include the lens flare in a better way. I don't know obviously, but its something I always do when taking photos, changing the framing because of a last second live-occurrence, it just gave me that vibe. Moving on, the fight choreography is meh/good. Sometimes it works, sometimes it is kinda wonky. And sometimes is a pure joke, because they went for the drama...
Audio. Good sound design. The tracks, the volume, it all works. A couple of ADR involved, but overall its good.
Good editing, especially in regards for the later reveals. Good pacing usually. Good world-building. High production value. Yeah, yeah, the technical aspects are good.

Now on to the "good" parts. The casting, the chemistry, the acting, all good. Character development, charisma, all good. Yeah yeah yeah, I'm skipping all of these. Sorry. Yes, we have some phenomenal acting and such, I know, but sorry (again). I wanna skip directly to the bad things.
The main problem was in the story. I don't know who the screenwriter is, I don't know who the director is, I'm not one to follow and remember such info. But whoever is that accepted this script, did a terrible job. If they stayed with the cliche, cheasy approach, with this cast, it would've been a great drama, or at least very entertaining. But, alas...
It all starts with an expo dump, a doctor dropping "yep, you have the kind of amnesia we often see in the dramas". And I went "oh". I was afraid it was going to be a sh**y one, if they were that lazy from the start. And then what follows is a string of goofy monologues of FL. And it might've been a good approach to storytelling, you know, learning about our protagonist by experiencing the same stuff, at the same time with her. A good example for this, Star Wars ep IV (one of my "go to" examples, yes). You have no idea what's going on, but you find out at the same time with Luke and it all feels natural, while you also get invested in his story/journey. Like I said, a good approach, if it wasn't for the fact that this drama starts the same way as any other asian piece of media, be it drama, anime or a book: with a 1 minute monologue thats meant to be the hook. You know, that "I had no idea at the time what this will be for me" kind of opening monologue and then starting the "real" story. And this trope, in which we see exactly what it happened, renders all the next part null, now you just wanna skip the nonsense and get to the part where our couple meets one another. And then they changed the cliche completely. Instead of taking advantage of her memory loss and make her do manual labors for him, the most funny and easier usage of this trope, nope, in fact they alllllll wanna help in getting her memory back asap. And then they go heavy with the serious backstory. So, instead of a light and goofy rom-com, we got a comedy interwoven with serious and heavy parts. And by serious, I mean serious: blood and torture stuff. It is very hard to balance both acts. And the screenwriter/director/whoever failed in doing so. And its a damn shame because the cast is really talented.

Anyway, back to the story. What follows its a mix of goofy, drama, romance, blood. Yes, exactly that. In isolation, every scene is good for its specific angle, but when mixed together, not so much. And because involves serious stuff, obviously we also have plot contrivances and plot holes. They needed those, otherwise the story would've ended in just two episodes. Oh, right. A movie would've been a better fit, maybe. I'm saying maybe because it has a lot of padding in form of "misunderstanding dialogue", so if you dropped it, all the reasons for the things to happen, they also kinda disappear, too. So, it would've been even harder to make that mix in just two hours, I guess. Anyway. So the story has its ups and downs, filled with that mix. But then.

Starting with ep 8, it becomes sht. Cheap, fake melodrama up to 11. Instead of taking some actions that would end the plot faster but in a normal way (what can pass as normal for this show), every fking action and dialogue is meant to create drama just for the sake of viewers. All the nonsense before, created by talking in circle about stuff and creating misunderstandings? Gone. Now we have the cast only saying words that WILL give the feels to the viewers. Every scene is meant to be "aww, omg, I can't take it anymore, this is so sad... I feel so sad for them...". Even the sound design is for that. It starts playing like its the end of the world, whereas I was "GTFO with your cheap tricks! More on with it already!". By ep 9, I started yawning. Good plans, bad plans, happy times, sad times, I wouldn't care what would happen on screen. I just wanted for it to end already. "Funny" thing: after watching ep 11, I had to go back the previous one, to remember what was it all about exactly. I've seen it, yes, but while trying to remember the events for the future review, I realised I forgot the scenes, I had no idea what word would I use to describe it. Btw, I guessed the "big" thing in regards to episode 11, too. And I mean I guessed it before they dropping the hints all across. Based purely on "lemme guess, the writer will try to make it even bigger by...". Once that idea was out there, I started to notice the hints also. And then, because so far it was still not enough, episode 12 starts with some tense, serious scenes, only to be replaced with comic relief. 5 minutes of pure nonsense... The Marvel/Disney+ slop approach *sigh* And then, because it was STILL not enough, we get that whole nonsense while that piano track plays (I won't spoil it, but it is bad).... I can't even explain how sick and tired I was of this drama. It felt like torture. And when that thing ended and after I saw that the episode was only 21 min in, I almost cried at the thought that I'll have to endure even more. And lo and behold, the first scene that followed was something I was dreading... And I'll stop here.

Well, you get the gist. I hope. Like I said, good cast, fantastic acting, amazing charisma across, good visuals etc. Lots of good stuff, but the story is lacking. The romance and the comedy work purely because of the talented actors, the script and dialogue: sht. And thats for the first 2/3 of the drama, the ending is even worse than that. Oh, a personal opinion: I hated that trio of women. Very annoying. Good acting at times, but still very annoying.
It gets a rating of..... dammit, I think I'll give it a 6 (??) for the acting, character development, technical aspects and such. With just minor tinkering, this drama could've been a solid 7 or even an 8 (ok, maybe not 8, lets not go too crazy here). Alas... Kinda entertaining at times. Even sweet in their own way. No return value for me, I don't wanna experience that lousy ending again. Great waste of casting. Bummer.
Have a lovely day.

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Pfff

*sigh* Yep, it is bad. Really bad. The expectations were low and yet it still surprised me. If someone tells you this is a 10, they are trolling you (or they are paid). Or they have a mental condition... Or they are missing the fact that a review should be about quality not personal feeling. So, again, a mental condition. But I digress.

Visuals. Well, the OP is better, now if feels like a proper show. And very sparse good cinematography. Other than that, bad.
Sound design. Does all the heavy-lifting. Seriously. Dunno who the guy in charge is, but he should get a raise. Fantastic work for every scene, even if the story was sht.
The pacing, dragging. Yeah, yeah, so everything is the same, you get the idea.

The "good" parts. While the first season was silly and you could enjoy the fun, even when the story was sht, this one got "serious" while still being sht. So, there's nothing left to keep it alive.
Lets start with the most obvious ones. The writing is extremely bad, full of red herrings, plot devices, plot contrivances and so on. Just to paint a better picture, I guessed every fkin' thing they tried to do. How? Just by guessing "let me guess, now they will make this happen, just because it would be silly. And here it goes, yep". When episode 3 ended, I was sad because I thought I guessed something wrong, but then episode 4 happened and I laughed. And now I'm talking about who the villain is. And I also guessed what his motivation would be. The simple reasons (the five ones), not all of what we got, there was no way to "guess" all that nonsense. And then I guessed the parts for the later episodes. All the red herring, all those "subverting expectations" failures.
Another point to mention here: the season is full of manipulative editing. Thats the proper name for it, I'm not calling names. For example, when a scene is modified by cutting out some dialogue while first watching it, only to be added later in a flashback, to pretend being a reveal. In other words, manipulating your emotions. And the "funny" part? Not only are they doing it every time for this season, they even added for some scenes that happened in the first episode, to change the narrative. Their would-be defense? "Well, we never saw it so you don't know, it could've happened like that". So yeah, everything changed. And with it, character assassination. Because making a "cool" character acting like a "loser", just to make the scene feel emotional, its exactly that, out of character. Anyway, you get the gist. I wont keep going about it. Just know that it is full and it is sht.
Oh, quick side note. You're a paramedic, a person trained to act under pressure and what do you do in case of danger/emergency? You just stay in place and only turn around, yes? And then just look at that person, zero defensive maneuvers, like raising your arms (something etched in out DNA, something that they even said in this sht show), yes? *sigh*
Another side note. This one make me cringe-laugh. "-Go in US and learn. -No, I'm going there to teach them our forensics methods. No one can compete with Korea's forensics skills in speed and accuracy". You gotta admit: that is funny as hell.

OK, the last 5 minutes or so were really fun/good. This time for real. Too bad the show wasn't full of all that.

To sum it up. Sht season. From the writing, to the editing, everything is extremely bad. And I must repeat myself. If you hear someone saying it is good, they are trolling you. You can enjoy it (I don't know who though, but again, there are people who enjoy hitting puppies, so sure, why not?), but the quality is bad. Since the ending of the previous one, when you can see them trying to make the story more "legit", you can feel that its gonna go sideways. Maybe they wanted higher viewership ratings or something, so they went with the safe approach: emotional manipulation of the simple people. Thats all there is to it.
It gets a rating of 4. Apart from the sound design and some sparse good acting (or even really good, from just a few), nothing works. No enjoyment, no rewatch value etc.

Have a lovely day.

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Fluff, no content

For those who don't wanna read it all: this movie is sht.
I'll keep it simple, because I don't wanna waste more time on it, and spoiler free, so you can still watch it ofc. And I'll say this here, because I must say it again and again. I'll talk about the movie's quality, not the enjoyment factor. Those are NOT the same. You can enjoy bad media, and thats ok (aka "my guilty pleasure"). Just make sure you know it is bad.

Visuals. Meh, or yuck. Like a kid who just discovered the "Contrast" slider, overusing it on everything, not knowing that "less is more". The story happens in a couple of places, all look kinda the same, as setting, same filter plastered everywhere. The colour palette is meh. The cinematography is also meh, when there is any. Just a couple of interesting shots and great visuals. The VFX are meh. Extremely good just for one thing, the rest it resembles what you might've seen in the late 2000s.
Audio. Nothing special, or at least it didn't bother, so maybe thats a plus??
The world-building is meh at best, mostly there isn't one. You're supposed to come with basic knowledge, I guess. The pacing is rushed. Stuff keeps happening. I'm sorry, I meant "no context" stuff keeps happening. Scene after scene, lets go, lets go. Its not a short film by any means, and yet it felt like some scenes were cut, thats how janky the story was. Again, you're supposed to know the myth and fill in the blanks yourself. Character development? Yeah, right. Overall, kinda high production value.

And now the good stuff. The script is sht. OKi, I'm sorry, I should give it the benefit of the doubt. Either the script is sht, either the Chinese people are re****ed. Because thats how the script is portraying them. Oh, thats how it really happened in the old stories? Then the screenwriter should've made a better job! Just to make it clear, you knowing the basic knowledge and filling in the blanks, assuming how the story will end, its bad writing. Period. The dialogue is also horrendous, same as before, banking on the fact that you already know the story.
The acting. Fking amazing for ONE character. Just one. Even with my very very veeery basic knowledge about the myths, when that character started "acting", I was "oh, is that supposed to be X character? Oh, wow". And across the movie, you'll really believe it. The way it talks, the mannerism, everything. Apart from that, one other good actor. And maybe another, but it appears for just a few scenes (sadly, only two scenes, plus a previous one where it just is). And thats all, everything else is sht. Over-the-top acting or just purely sht. From an entire cast, just two (or three) people.....
And now..... Like I mentioned earlier, the script is sht. Plot devices, plot holes and plot contrivances everywhere. Everything is "it just so happens that, it just so happens that, it just so happens that". Why is the story happening like that? Why are the characters reacting in one way or another? "Because thats how we wrote this, don't ask questions. Don't you know how the story is supposed to go? Why are you here?" *sigh* Even just talking about it drains the life out of me, that bad it was...

Lets finish it here. It gets a rating of 4. Barely. For some amazing performances, some visuals, and... thats all(?). Wow... Might you enjoy it? Could be. The re-watching value is low. Skipping scenes, fishing the ones where the acting is good? No, ty.
Have a lovely day.

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Huh, unexpected

For those who don't wanna read it all: not as bad as I would've thought. You can see it once and forget about it. I've seen some critics as to why this one is worse than the first part, but thats wrong and I'll talk about that too, at the end. People got super-hyped by the "cameos" of all the known characters (no matter how sht the story itself was) and now they are sad for different motives. Basically, they went from "oh, wow, I know this one. And this one. And this one!" to "wait, what? I don't know this story, it seems new. I don't like new..." :))
After the sht-show that was Part 1, I wasn't expecting much. But its a lot better. Still not "good", but better. And I'll say this here, because I must say it again and again. I'll talk about the movie's quality, not the enjoyment factor. Those are NOT the same. You can enjoy bad media, and thats ok (aka "my guilty pleasure"). Just make sure you know it is bad.

So. Visuals. Meh. That weird filter is gone, but now its just passable. The colour palette is a bit better. The cinematography is a bit better. VFX are meh. So, basically, those 3 (ok, maybe a couple more) super amazing shots and effects from the first movie are gone, but now we get a lot more mid stuff. Don't get me wrong, still lot of sht/meh, but the ratio is a bit better. Oh, still here, the fight choreography is meh, still lots of dumb techniques and clearly wire-moves. Because I forgot to say that it was sht in my Part 1 review :))
Audio. Meh/decent. Definitely an upgrade. Because now there is one. Also a couple of decent songs.
World-building still sht. New characters appear and you must acknowledge them, no matter what their backstory is. Period. The pacing is a bit better. It feels like a proper story. The production value seems high, again.

And now the main stuff. The script is meh. A lot better, for sure, but it is meh. At least now a couple more stuff makes sense. Yes, still some plot devices, plot contrivances and plot holes, but fewer. Also, some plot points were predictable, you can see what they'll try to do from the first 10-20 minutes. The same for the ending. Being an Chinese movie, I was expecting it. But a very big surprise: there is character development. Yes, I was shocked. And they tried to do it for more than one character. Are they amazing, or even good? No, not really. But at least there is something to be working with. Basically, the story got a tiny bit better, the storytelling got a tiny bit better and some execution got a bit better. But is it good? Still, no. You could call it not boring. If you're watching it right after the Part 1 with and all that "all glitter, no substance" approach, its at least enjoyable. Yes, the Part 1 had 1 extra amazing acting and VFX, for the same one, but the rest was just fluff, whereas now we got a somewhat "decent", if you will, movie.

Lets talk about something for a minute. A lot of criticism is that this movie is not the same as the source. Well, I haven't read the source and I can't say, but: the source and the new format can't and shouldn't be the same. What works in a book, it might be difficult to render in animation. What works in animation, might look silly in live-action. Every format has its pro and cons. A good (I won't even say "great") storyteller (producer/director/screenwriter) should be capable of such feat.
And I'll give some examples for easier tracking. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings. The director (that also had a part in rewriting it) made some changes. Two chapters became an whole arc, the ending got axed, complete character make-over, and so on and so forth. Jurassic Parc. The movie is completely different than the movie, because the director used character development. You would've assumed that the visuals would've been the most important part, but the director understood that a great story must also make us care about its characters. Another example: any movie adaptation of books by Stephen King. It is known the the author hates at least one movie, said they changed his book. Guess what? He make a TV show, the way he wanted to, and it was sht. His way of writing is very difficult to put in a movie as is. Because as I said earlier, what works in a book, it might not be doable for a movie.
And back to this movie. Was a lot changed? I don't know, it could be. Does it matter? No, not really. Sure, a point could be made that if you're gonna change it that much and not resemble the original work, you could just NOT do it at all.

So, to wrap it up. It gets a rating of 5. Kinda meh all-over. Re-watching? No, not really? Enjoyment value? I don't think so. The "fans" will hate it because it was changed, the "normal" viewers won't care enough. So it really is up to you.
Have a lovely day.

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Well, I guess it was entertaining... for a bit

So, whats to say about it? The FL carried the show. Oh, and the scenes with the topless ML. And maybe the 2nd FL a little. And the cameos helped too. But surely there's more.

Visuals. It looks good enough. Normal colour palette. The cinematography is good I guess. Some interesting shots and angles. Lots of good shots when its about emotions going on. I don't know if it was added in post or not, and though it was not a close-up, I even noticed a person sweating, its not something easily notable, but because of the angle and the lighting etc. Yes, I pick on the stupidest of details (like I saw about the portraits in the art class)... So, most of the times: good stuff.

**Personal point. I hate the scenes where the Sun is involved. Episode 6 (?). sunset, they are walking, she sees something, she runs, he "hey, where are you going?", runs after her, next second full dark. Thats like 3 hours in the span of 2 seconds. From the cinematography standpoint, it looks better this way, sure, but that means the writing is at fault. Same for the sunrise scene in episode 8(?). Thats not how the sunrise works! Two hours timeline crammed in 2 minutes of screen time. I'm saying 2 minutes to be nice. More exactly, she is walking, the sky looks like at least 1h (I'm being generous) before sunrise, she stops, she turns around, the sky looks like 30 min before sunrise, in the next second we get a wide-shot and the Sun is already up, it looks like 30 min after sunrise... I know why it was needed and done like that, but it was bad. Another one is about a couple of portraits in the art class having the wrong orientation (one even smiling). And a few other scenes (like an elevator, or football game) where some characters move faster than possible, on or off screen, to catch up to someone. Nitpicks, not problems, I know, but I had to say it. Also also, the thing with her first day of work. I wont spoil it. Knowing what we know later, how the fk did it all happened? Does it involve teleportation? If not, thats a plot hole. And a major one... But I digress.**

Audio. The sound design is ok. Meh OP and ED, nothing special, but on par with the theme, I guess. The rest is better, nice selection for tracks. Also, nice balance mixing, no track will blow your ears off with some loud volume right after a quiet dialogue, or something.
High production value. World building? No, not really. The usual pacing. You wont get a sense of how much time is passing, coupled with a lot of boring (slice-of-life like) scenes. No, really. Horrible pacing and horrible editing, some scenes just keep dragging on.

Now, the good parts. The story is meh. I get that it must have drama, but it kinda goes over the top. Everyone cheating on everyone, all the time, all around and they gotta deal with it. Something usual irl Korea. Ok, fine, sure. Lets pretend its an interesting concept. The execution of that idea on paper is bad. Ok, maybe not bad, just boring. It is all saved by the acting. Good casting. The main FL stole the show. Apart from some scenes, where she is supposed to be sad/desperate/whatever but she can't really do it, everything else is done great. Body language, mannerism, speech, even her face. Any other actress wouldn't have been this geat for this specific role. There are a few other good actors here, sure, but its like having Anthony Hopkins and some random, normal people around. Especially in the first episodes. Her sarcasm, body language, the way she changes her demeanor in one second, all of that will make you love her and want to keep watching the show. That and the other eye candies. Plus, as I've mentioned earlier, the cameos. Talented actors that bring their own fans. But like I said, the script is meh. A couple of plot contrivances here and there. Stuff like that. You'll enjoy it for the actors and for the feeling of "they got what they deserved" payoff in regards of some of the cheaters. Oh, also, expect lots of red herring. Not a bad thing per se, but it gets predictable.
Character development. There are a few of decent ones. Also, a lot of really lousy ones. One-dimension kind of bad. The best of it is the fact that you shouldn't think you know how someone is. There were a few surprises. Both good and bad. And as the story progresses, it changes to worse... A lot of character assassination, one of them culminating in dumb stuff, even saying something cringe like "I realised I wasn't as bad a person as I thought". Like I said, sometimes the writing is horrible, with lots of exposition dump, pathetic dialogue and forced events occurring.
Comedy. Anything decent mostly involves the FL. The other bits are the typical cringy kdrama stuff. Honorable mention, his sisters. Really funny.
Romance. Well, the chemistry is there. Some nice dialogue at key moments, nice acting and it feels like it has a natural progression. Also, even the stuff thats less than romance, involving other cast, is nicely done.

To sum it all up. Uninteresting premise, ok-ish execution, with some plot contrivances and plot holes. All supported mainly by the FL, a few other cast and the cameo ones. Thats it. Apart from episode 8. That was pure nonsense, as writing, pacing, execution. Time has no meaning, stuff happens or it is shown without explaining what that was. Nothing works. Plot holes, manipulative editing, who knows? And it leaks over to the next episode (for example, I checked for two scenes.38 seconds for: ending the call, going back inside or not, paying up or not, convincing the colleagues to leave, getting their coats on, going outside all the way up to the street to find a cab. 38 seconds... Then 33 more until leaving the last 2 people. Exactly what we're to infer how long it takes in a different setting for a person to go from answering the door, inviting some one in, taking his shoes off, walking inside living room. Then, 103 seconds for: leaving the group (already happening), arriving before the building, going up stairs/elevator (because 2508-2509 it usually means 25 floor, right? Also seeing that she is an executive something in a respectable company, something we see in other kdramas, they all try to live somewhere high up. Also also, the view from her window), entering... How tf is that possible? But hey, "drama is needed, lets force it", right? Right). And the next episode, and the next. *sigh* Basically, the second half its not the same drama. The same teleportation plot devices, character assassination, a lot more contrivances and plot holes. But at least its not the kind of drama that has the "fake marriage contract comes to light & creates problems" trope, right? * wink wink* A better writing would've been if the plot was that he had a colder personality and a more "data" approach in his investigations, learning from her how to "understand" people more. And maybe the 2nd FL to have a better role/dialogue, because from the few scenes where she was playful, it looked like she could do it. Anyway....

It gets a rating of 6. Barely. It should be even lower thanks to its progression. Enjoyable for the first half, cringe and full of tropes in the second one. Maybe you'll rewatch it once more, mostly for the FL. Maybe.
I should mention that there's a difference between enjoyment and quality when talking about media. You can also enjoy bad media (my guilty pleasure), and there's nothing wrong with that. This review is about its quality (as all reviews should be), so keep that in mind.

Have a lovely day.

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