8
Why was this not a movie?!
What a lovely 30 minutes I spent. I haven't felt a short story impact me so much before that long after I finished watching it, I still can't forget about it!So aside from the brief synopsis, lemme tell you why you should invest your 30 minutes in this short film:
- Available for free on YouTube with subtitles
- Super cute & super fluffy romance
- Park Hyung Shik & Han Ji Min
- Brilliant acting
- Learn the importance of understanding the lives of people with physical disabilities
- Understanding the necessity to make the world more easily accessible to people with physical disabilities
- Learn to feel happy and grateful for all the little and big things in your life
- Feel grateful for your body no matter how it is
- Feel light-hearted & happy (there's no crying involved here.....but I still cried)
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Wholesome Dog Movie with a Twist
A classic Japanese Slice-of-life that will serve you all the wholesomeness in a cup of tea with some teary-eyed cake on the side! Something to watch on an Airplane ride or during dusk with some coffee or over the kitchen counter while you prepare lunch.While there are several "Life of a Dog" movies out there, this may be the first time I've come across the life of a Guide Dog. No need for dangerous situations where the dog heroically rescues the owner's baby from a burning house. The daily life of a blind person is an adventure in itself. You are not only observing Quill's life but even witnessing the feelings of the foster parents, the trainer, the blind people, and their families.
Quill is shown as an oddly stoic personality that gets energized with compliments that make him quite a charming Guide Dog. He's lucky to have had the kindest people around. Don't all dogs have this aura of getting out the angel within us?
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A Quickie Fluffy & Light Adult Romcom
>> The plot is nothing new but it's a great way to spend 2 hours. Especially if you recently watched something heavy, you can use this drama as a cushion to feel light again.>> The initial 5-10 minutes of build-up was so boring that I wanted to drop it (probably coz I didn't read the synopsis). But all of a sudden the build-up made sense, and I was drawn into the storyline and interaction and chemistry of Han Eun Seong and Kim Rae Wan.
>> The emotions and dialogues of the characters are quite realistic. It's not childish and fluffy but very mature. And yet, the whole show gives off a very fluffy vibe ~
>> The direction is amazing! Some scenes stretch for nearly 5 minutes without any shot-change and they pulled it off skillfully.
>> I don't really understand why Kim Sung Joo and Kwon Do Woon are in the poster because their parts are very less and only there to give a boost to the lead couple.
Side Note: Lee Yoo Young's Frech accent is so accurate and dead-sexy!
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The right balance of Adventure, Drama, & Bromance
[Spoiler-Free]Just gonna give a few pointers that are less-spoken about since so many folks have already said good and bad things about The Untamed
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Good points:
(1) Although comedy is not the main genre of The Untamed, the humour, banters, and silly side of many character's personalities make the show very light to watch. If you're a cry-er, you will cry. But it won't feel heavy on you and your mood won't go down after watching any of the heavy scenes. I believe this is not easy to accomplish for a director but these folks managed it and I love that!
(2) It's taken from a BL manhua and simmered down for releasing publicly. So there is an element of bromance that is so perfectly balanced that it all depends on the perspective of the viewer. If you want to see Brotherhood, you will see brotherhood. If you want to see BL, you will see BL. If you want to see deep friendship, you will deep friendship. The chemistry between Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo is so much better than any of the regular couples I have seen. If this was a proper BL series, they would be my favourite couple. Actually, they are my favourite couple nonetheless!
(3) If you are a fan of animes like Naruto, Dragon Ball, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, The Last Airbender, you will definitely feel similar adventure vibes from this show. Following on their journey through thick and thin was super fun.
(4) Wuji, the theme song. I fell in love. It's sung by the lead actors too. I have been listening to Korean songs for 2 years but never tried learning the lyrics even once. But this song was so beautiful that I had to learn it by heart and sing it out loud. Even if you don't watch The Untamed, do listen to Wuji.
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I have not rated this 10 for 2 reasons:
(1) The plot involved the use of many magic/spiritual items or techniques. Certain fight scenes heavily rely on how the magic works. I felt that it was sometimes explained in detail and sometimes I didn't understand how it worked and got lost in the logic of the magic. There were moments where magic worked conveniently for the fight but I couldn't understand anymore as I got lost. Even though this is not the agenda of the show, as the premise is circled around magic, a decent explanation would have been preferred.
So here it lost half a point.
(2) This is actually my first C-drama. I was aware that Chinese dramas acting/directorial skills cannot be compared with K-drama, but I still have a little expectation. There were moments where the acting was exceptional by the lead actors as well as the side actors. But it JUST didn't hit the mark sometimes. That plus the action scenes were decent. Production was focused more on the beautiful sets and costumes, but they could've actually spent a little on animation and graphics to depict the action scenes better.
So here it lost half a point.
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I'm nitpicking so much because I loved The Untamed. I loved Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. I loved Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo. I loved it a lot more than Kdramas tbh. I was a Cdrama skeptic before this. Now, I cannot wait to watch more (^_^)
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Food, Flavour, Fashion & lots of Bittersweet Melodrama
FEELING:Love is Cursed truly makes the viewer feel that love is cursed. The plot is focused on 3 characters, Nao the FL, Tsubaki the ML, and the Evil Mother-in-Law. The relationship between the lead couple is riddled with misunderstandings and pride. It swings like a pendulum smoothly from bitter to sweet to bitter to sweet to bitter to sweet and so on. The sparks and tensions began since their childhood and lingers throughout the show. It was truly fun and frustrating at the same time.
SWEETS:
We cannot NOT mention the sweets! The whole premise is about sweets. In every episode, we see the leads create and present a fashionable sweet. I say fashion because these aren't typical sweets for them. It's ART. The sweets are not only beautifully crafted but also hold deep meaning based on the theme of each presentation.
CASTING:
Great casting! The leads are adorable and have a knack for portraying broken-heart faces. The support characters suit their roles too. But the main recognition should go to the evil Mother-in-law whose evil radiates 300 miles away ~
PRODUCTION:
I loved the production of this show. Despite having a modern-day setting, almost every character is in a traditional Yukata or Kimono. The entire set of the main sweet shop Kogetsuan is completely traditionally styled with paper doors, tatami mats, wooden verandas, and bonsai-styled gardens.
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A Warning To All Parents & Guardians
Overall: Quite a simple short movie, low budget, small cast, but definitely got me worked up. Makes you wonder how there is always a dark bleak side even in the happiest neighborhood.It depicts the worries of a single parent and how the fear of her daughter's safety follows her in her actions and her dreams (or nightmares rather). It truly represents the reality of what every parent/guardian goes through for their children and how they must never stop thinking about their child's safety no matter what happens or who they may be with.
Cast & Production: The acting was on point and all 3 actors played out their part well. The production was simple and realistic.
[SPOILER-ISH but not really]
The Ending: Some folks may find the ending vague. Some may consider it kinda indie or artistic so the viewers can make their own assumptions. It certainly leaves you hanging no matter what your perspective is.
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Most Accurate Depiction of Realistic Thoughts, Actions & Reactions (+) Superb Acting
3 thoughts about Coffee Prince [Spoiler-free]1. In real life, if you are holding your lover's hand playfully, you don't touch slowly, looking into each other eyes, blushing the whole time while your heart thumps loudly and intense music plays in the background. Instead, you randomly touch them, put your fingers in between theirs out of sync, slap each other, smile a bit but not the whole time, and just look away and lose your attention.
These are the kinds of small actions and reactions that are portrayed throughout all 17 episodes and it made me admire this series so much due to such an accurate depiction of realism. I truly admire the director for their great work!
2. Love is usually not the most epitome emotion for each person. In fact, very few people can keep love above all else. Coffee Prince made sure to not ruin the viewer's hopes with unrealistic romances while showing various storylines of different couples.
3. It wouldn't be so well displayed, of course, without the brilliant performance by each and every cast member. Especially KUDOS to Gong Ji-Cheol for taking us through each and every complex emotion. It almost felt like he went through it personally.
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This review may contain spoilers
MAJOR SPOILERS - Complaints about each couple's storyline
How I wish story should've or shouldn't have been:(1) 1st Couple - It seems that Du Yanxi has been planning to take revenge on his dad for a long time. Maybe he didn't have a plan at that point but he could've given reasons to delay any marriage till he figured out a plot. If he happened to marry someone else instead and didn't fall in love with the wife, would he have allowed her to go through the same?
I don't dislike his character; he's flawed, but still a decent husband. He doesn't need to be the perfect ML. It's his whole plan I'm not a fan of. And why keep Shou Hua in the dark? Why not just tell her about your childhood trauma and plans so she can be better prepared? She might have actually helped you plot a better revenge plan that this coz she's so smart and cunning.
Also, a small point - they could've shown his reaction when he found out about the initial bride-switch that took place. That could've set a better context to his initial reaction to Shou Hua on their wedding night and not shown his character like an outright demon.
(2) 2nd Couple - Would've been nice to see some kind of quick backstory to how these 2 got married in the first place. It obviously seems to be arranged but how did the poor Li family from far away manage to even connect with the richer Fan family and arrange this? How come the Fan family even agreed to this marriage?
(3) 3rd Couple - I think the only thing I wasn't particularly happy about was the pretend-kidnapping stunt he pulled-off. It was cute but I felt like Kangning wasn't angry enough or scared enough about it coz imagining to be in her position of being picked up and sold off to traffickers is pretty frightening. Her sister Fuhui had a proper reaction of crying and relief. Any person would have this reaction even if it's your crush in front of you.
(4) 4th Couple - They're definitely my 2nd favourite couple in this show. But why go with the Amnesia trope? 😑 It felt lazy to me. Very Lazy. And it felt so odd to see a cold-hearted Hui Shao to be force-smiling. I thoroughly enjoyed the cases they solved together. But if they wanted a reason for the both to hang out and solve cases, they could've done so even without forcing Amnesia. Just a normal fracture or injury would do. And I definitely feel he should've told her at one point about his trauma with his sister (this was the most tragic plot in the show IMO).
This is what should've happened - Give him a fracture instead of Amnesia, make her take care of him. She starts noticing and reading through his cases and gives unsolicited opinions which he would start to appreciate gradually. Later he starts asking for her opinions upfront. Show the other 4 sister's involvement also when required. Definitely show the BIL Alliance. If she's not around, he would start to miss her in a friendly way. Along the way, he informs her about his past which makes her understand his behaviour. Now that he's opened up to her and feels vulnerable around her, slowly and steadily, make his heart melt for her.
(5) 5th Couple - I'm sure a lot of people agreed that this plot started well and ended in the garbage bin. Firstly, the violence was funny in the beginning, but it was starting to get a bit too unrealistic. It took me a while to understand that the dad had a concubine so I kept confusing her to be one of the sisters. I think her character should've been presented gradually or atleast make the audience aware that she's one of the evil ones. I get that they wanted character development for Yang Xian but it could've been done while they were rich too. The explanation of why the King Majesty decided to make his consorts poor was very weird. If they wanted to go with this plot, they could've atleast established a romantic relationship between Leshan and Yang Xian. We never got to see this till the very end. They had a chance to show affectionate scenes when he would visit her at her window but that didn't happen either. No hug, no kiss, only a stick to beat him with. (Even the 6th couple got a long hug)! It feels like they only wanted to show this as a funny couple but there was definitely chemistry brewing between the 2 that the writers SHOULD have exploited that but they never did and we all truly missed something good.
Oh, and that whole adopted sister of Yang Xian - completely UNNECESSARY. They didn't even use her for a Jealousy Trope.
(6) 6th Couple - Before getting into the plot, in my personal opinion, I find Qiongnu to be one of the most beautiful of the sisters. She has a combination of a pretty face, cuteness, sweetness, and elegance. Therefore, I feel the casting of She Cong was not the best. Their looks did not match at all. Forget everyone else for a moment, his looks did not even remotely match his own twin sister Kangning! Infact! The side actor who was casted as She Cong's right-hand man or his guard actually looked much better suited AND his sharp features could even match with Kangning's while complimenting Qiongnu's beauty.
Now getting to the plot, like someone rightly mentioned, we were truly robbed of a decent love story here. Only 1 singular uno scene. Realistically, if you knew each other before adolescence roughly 10-15 years ago, it's odd to suddenly have romantic feelings for each other. Even a single episode that was dedicated to this couple to establish some affection or atleast some respect would've worked.
They could've even showed a scene where he gets along with all his sisters and BILs but they only showed him hanging around Leshan for Yang Xian to feel jealous which also felt incomplete.
And why was it never mentioned that Qiongnu was promised to Madam Li's son when they were children? I just assumed she was an orphan who was rescued by him and so she was adopted by Madam Li due to pity and to honour her son's "death". This whole time, she was her to-be in-law. That changes the dynamic completely.
Now, aside from this, that whole plot about the case of 200 children and some priestess getting kidnapped, the whole scene with the King, She Cong and Shen Huishao (and what I'm assuming was the 4th consort who is now a priestess)...... I don't know why was this included nor did I understand how it impacted the story at all or for whom they had written it. It feels like this was part of a larger plotline that was cut out but because it was linked to Yang Xian and Leshan's scene, they left it I guess.
(7) There's no 7th couple and I know I'm asking too much now but I feel they could've done something small for Chun Lai. She was also quite pretty and cute.
I enjoyed this show alot, which is why I have so many complaints 😂
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This review may contain spoilers
Very good show (But! last 2 episodes were rushed)
If you want to enjoy this show, you cannot be a perfectionist, and you will have to keep some logic aside. If you do so, you will be guaranteed to like TKEM.Character Development:
All characters directly jumped from one feeling to another without any explanation. Basically no character development.
They had too many elements to explain. They put their feet in all directions like profound timeless romance, evil villain, mixed-up timelines, past characters, the logic behind how the magic works but none of these were completely justified because those last 2 episodes were rushed and they could not explain everything and close it with a cute ribbon. Because the show was good for 14 episodes, my rating for the show won't be dominated by those last 2 episodes.
Chemistry:
Also, there was no chemistry between the lead couple throughout. This was because there was no scene that showed any initial spark between them.
People out there are saying that Kim Go Eun should not have been cast with Lee Min Ho. You can even say the other way around that Lee Min Ho should not have been cast with Kim Go Eun (#psuedo-feminism). Kim Go Eun is really pretty and I definitely felt she looked so much better with Kim Kyung Nam.
There was also some good amount of bromance. But even that was one-sided!
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