XingBack

it should've been Captain Jang focused

this was like a westernized korean movie, or a koreanized western movie?
the cast was so "diverse" that the only koreans were the 5 mains with 2 "guest roles" and so it felt like the mixed A listers with C listers and they lost alot of substance by casting "basic" foreigners.
though in some ways I did appreciate the "inclusivity", man I wish I knew/tried to audition as Pierre or the cop Kim Taeri threatened ;D


Storywise it was pretty basic too, they went with the -cheap- easy way out and chose a really simple "heartwarming" approach by adding a kid and tbh I am a sucker for adorable babies that need protection which leads to familymance, but the backstory for Tae Ho really ruined it.
I don't know how they tried to make him seem like a hero when he was a horrible person.
he used to kill people for UTS until he met the baby he adopted but he lost all of his money and statues and he turned into a drunken gambler. he even mistreated his daughter to the point he pushed her away to her death. (and before that he took her with him to his gambling business) and from that I really didn't care for him anymore and his affection for
Kot Nim seemed like a cheap attempted to redo his lost "dadness"




now for the good:
uncle tiger was the real hero and "unexpected" sweety. honestly between him and taeoh, he was enough.

Captain Jang was EVERYTHING! not just because I love kim taeri but again she was another "element" they tried to replicate in taeoh which was the "cold" doesn't give a sh*t but is secretly a soft UWU and a dangerous killer they needed.
I so so so wish the "main" storyline was about her! they robbed us of a great backstory and the best "momance"! like why did she try to kill UTS's boss? how did it really work out? who was she working with? there was so many unanswered questions ;(

Bubs was a cutie and again what was her relationship with captain jang? cuz when bubs was dying captain jang tried really hard to save her and the end face was a dream "casting ship" between kim taeri and Kim Hyang Gi whom I think really look alike (which again goes back to what was their relationship, why did they "look" like sisters)

Kot Nim was an unexpected surprise for me, I really didn't know what the main plot was about until I watched it xD but as soon as I did I knew EVERYTHING that was going to happen and that's how shallow it was



I watched this with my mom as it aired, so since I knew nothing I theorized with her and I really said dorothy is the reason Mars is green and UTS lied that she's a bomb and wants to destroy her so earth isn't revived. and that was literally it... that was all clear as soon as she showed up in their ship, though their 1st meeting was funny and cute it was too obvious..

no need to talk about the great cinematography or the CGI, it was obviously amazing and way better than american movies. and the plot too tbh was better than the avengers so I don't want to be too critical about the shallowness of the plot ;)

and actually a rewatch is a must cuz one can focus more on captain jang ;)

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This drama got better by each ep. That doesn't mean it started as a 10/10 and became a 20/10.
It literally started at point zero. They went through all the revenge setup cliches that it was agonizing to watch, BUT it improved alot as it went by.

My favorite part was Yi Seo. I'd not have watched this if it weren't for her and I'd have totally missed this cliche yet rare gem. she was everything, strong, independent, she stood up for herself, she had alot of aegyo and though she was not "perfect" she did grow and improve as time went by (also she could easily kill someone and get away with it xD)
But the 2nd fl had her own charms too. They were both like parallel opposites. One was driven, and one took things slow, a little too slow :)

SRY is actually my 2nd least favorite male lead type (the 1st is of course the jerk).
He was naive. Stubborn. 1 minded. Driven by revenge. a little hard headed like a rock, BUT he didn't let that ruin or control his life, tbh this might be the most rational revenge plot ever xD
His stubbornness and 1 mindedness was also his charming point. He saw the good in people and he gave them a chance without being fickle about it. He didn't let others sway him but he did listen to the voice of reason.
This was not a romance drama nor was it a love triangle.
Sure they had a love line, and the usual 2 fls and 3 mls (ie the double triangle), but there was no rivalry. No hate. No angst. No one fought for attention, everything just happened naturally and -a little too- slowly xD.


I wonder which points were made by the drama writers and which parts where done by the webtoon writer. The development of the plot seems like a kdrama move while the well layered characters feel like a webtoon move :)
this was not plot driven or character driven, but the characters saved this from becoming another useless drama..

the ost here was gold, Lee Chan Sol, Gaho, Ha Hyeon Woo, SONDIA, Kim Woo Sung, Kim Feel and the others all set a great mood throughout the drama~


I don't rewatch dramas so it's always either a 1 or 10 :)

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I'm physically and emotionally drained.. my head and my heart hurt...
the 1st half is all bright, hopeful and sweet, yet I couldn't help but tear up every time they smiled.. why? because this is a war movie... by the 2nd half, I couldn't stop crying..
I am so proud of actor Do Kyung Soo, that was not kyungsoo, that was 100% Ro Gi Soo.. and I love him....
I'm proud of all of actors, and everyone who was involved in making this.. they all draw you in and just pull you in their universe.. there were times I stopped breathing because I was so involved with the story... and I had to repeat the last 20mins a few times.... a 10 is not enough for this...
tbh, I never want to rewatch a movie like this, but at the same time, I really need to rewatch this again ;)

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Basic and underwhelming

It’s like, a “mystery” that gets solved in two seconds

they think they're being "smart" by the "plot twists", two faced people that fool the law, but they're so obv, i mean why would they even take the case if that person wasn't the villain xD

for the first case, he fooled the people by claiming he "was repenting". but yeah let's say the law would've put him in jail for a year and he'd come back, but so many things that happened was eyeroll worthy
And the victim is too scared to leave her house cuz he’ll kill her so she chooses to stay alone, won't open the door for the cop who said he'll help, but opens the door for a random stranger claiming to be sent by that cop



for the second case, everyone believed her, and ml comes with her record that she killed her previous husband after he becomes blind, so yeah when there's three mysterious accidents, it starts to make fun of the law




so, the fl is being like death note's light, she is murdering ppl and creating fear with her way of exposing it like a serial killer
And then they add romance to make it look fluffy...

Yes she’s taking rightful revenge, but she also “killed” two not bad ppl without evidence, and she leaves bodies for fun..

So it can create the same chaos as death note, ppl don’t know she’s a demon judging villains cuz it’s her “role/job”, same with dramas like no way out, others would think “ah I can kill a murderer too” and start killing and judging cuz the law won’t

So they’re adding the romance to make it lighter and never go that far in their actual plot..

and this demon judge character, is so over animated, extremely comical, they had to make her so comical to lighten up the role but the over exaggerated facial expressions and extremely high pitched voice just makes it annoying
I don’t wanna compare her to IU but HDL was exactly the perfect balance, she seemed evil and scary but it kept a good comedy while still allowing her to be cute yet mythically believable as someone who’s lived for so long


After a while, she stops “judging” and it became another boring mystery chase for the worlds most obvious serial killer and satan
They had “three” big side plots:
Fl being chased by the demon that would kill her if she cried
Ml finding the serial killer
Fl finding satan

First one, even tho they killed another poor demon for it, she was “spared”
Second one was tied to the third one, the big scary demon she had to hunt, that was solved in two seconds
And they made such a big deal on all and how she didn’t want to kill the serial killer cuz the victims deserved justice

Just for him to run away from the law and her having to finish him off….


They were also talking so much about how if she didn’t kill the serial killer, she’d die… again for them to let that go
And they give her three years to enjoy her time with ml, just for her to leave him and occasionally meet him
And then she’s given yet another chance that if she killed xx amount of ppl, she’ll become human

So, she can be a murderer judge, have feelings, kill ppl and leave marks like a serial killer, get romance, and the chance to become human when



That demon who just loved a human was killed off, real bitna was left in hell without any justice, and PSH wasn’t the real justina, like if she’s allowed to become human, she should have her own face of nara


So yeah I really hated this, they had so many big scary hard to achieve plots, and half were skimmed over while the other half were forgotten…

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so slow so pointless

is this the result of "fangirls only care for the male lead so the fl is ignored as a human"?
she's so obsessed with him, she's practically a saesang. she idolizes him so much but worse she belittles herself more. "he's too good for me", "there's no way he would like a lowly person like me", "he's a star that I dared to sit next to" like girl chiiillllll

in skip beat, Kyoko idolizes Ren as an actor not as a person, and when she thinks "how dare I like him" it's becasue she has issues with love in general. she didn't want it to change her so she was more reluctant to like him.

here, this is just a mess done for fangirls. your oppa is hot and everyone love him.. I mean yes, my oppa is hot, jun was the best part, after he started to chill and show his cute side that is.

again, who even stans a cold jerk? I personally like my idols because they're humble, sweet, sometimes awkward and dorky, on the screen of course, they might be calm and chill with their friends, but in front of the camera and worse in front of the staff they all need to show their "respectful" side

there was an older idol maybe from suju that said if you don't greet the staff with kindness you won't make it long in the industry


but in dramas they always like to show idols as jerks, and worse the 2nd fls are obsessed with a guy that clearly is not interested. girl you deserve better!!!

ALSO, THE WORST part, the car accident.. she was just STANDING there, she was not in danger, she was not kissing someone else, she was just there, what a dramatic waste of time.. then her overreaction in the hospital, like again girl chill

the only things I liked were jun's smiles, the 2 members who supported him and Ri Ah's potential love interest Jae Woo (?). atleast that girl knows self worth and she cares about her dream, plus the guy is sweet from the start and he's cutely awkward when he's trying to show interest


and that's the button line, a guy mistreating you, yelling at you and judge you "for your own good" is not a love interest, that's the horrible misconception of idolized male leads and the hallyu wave..

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Start of a new era

First of all Imma be incredibly biased and say kim taeri deserved more screentime, she was amazing ❣ everyone was but I'm biased~

I think just rating "plot" isn't enough so I'll break it down
*Fantasy elements: 8/10. Alien stories have been done to death. But it is new in kmovies and better yet it was mixed into historical elements
*Cgi: 8.5/10 it was pretty cool, tho the cats were the least believe 🤣
*Storyline: 7/10. It was predictable, from the villains to "who" might be the new controller (?)..
*Background and built up: 7/10. Adding kids feels like a safe choice to make it more sympathetic, and easier to not build too much world setting before the movie starts
Like gaurd/thunder started the movie by just continuing their work from before the movie starts, so there's less emotional attachment. But with a kid, who becomes the adult we're rooting for, it's a safe way to act like a build-up and growth
*Childhood connection: 7.5/10. If we were forced to have a cliche fine, it was cute cuz mureok was a cutie xD tho I was redisappointed by their obvious attempt at big twist
*Action scenes: 9/10. It's been a while since Action lost it's thrill, car chasing, fist fighting are just a mashed up scene of boom boo pow pows. But this was fun

I was a bit lost on the mages, I mean if aliens exist why not magic? But also one fantasy is enough, tho again their magic vs aliens fight scene was fun

Space sweepers had more flashy cgi and world building. Tho main plot was a cheap safe choice of "kid sympathy". So here there was more story content but less world build up

Even when we realized yian is gaurd/thunders kid, we don't know how she lived 10 years alone in a historical world after being a modern world kid. She was alone, no family, no money. More depth would've been nice. Especially since they showed her going there as a 10 year old. Since the kid looks like taeri I assumed she lived in modern world then in 2032 she went back to the past

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I prefer the mom/daughter scenes, I don’t hate the cuteness of the cheesy romance, but the stupidity in the angst
When I first watched it I thought it was gonna stay the same but they did add different variables
Tho I’m not 100% liking it but atleast they changed things


the fl talks in too much of a baby voice, the mask thing lasting for 4eps was too ridiculous it’s so shear!!, I hate when characters suddenly freeze and don't say anything because the writer can't write a solid reaaction, everything feels so dramatic but also so flat


I like the ghost personality more xD and the 2fl villainess is so cheesy, they're just keeping her around, and their big evil ghost is in love, it's so cheesy

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it did kept getting worse , if that’s possible

It’s like a love triangle between dad/mom/daughter
And that’s cute but so brushed over

Daughter fl and rich hidden son are also so basic with zero chemistry


And speaking of chemistry it’s like the dad and daughter are strangers
He is a horrible dad, money doesn’t change that
And the mom isn’t that much better cuz the daughter carried the husbands place
It’s like she’s the daughter, the mom, the husband and the friend which is a huge burden


So the dad should step up and try to win over his daughter rather than rekindle an old love, he chose to fall in love and marry and fell short in his responsibilities as a husband and a dad, he just wants to be a lover



Like the dad's other relationship added to it all....
Hooking up with their now ironically neighbor, and almost having a kid... like they could’ve legit lived with their own sibling and not know...

Also the mom is right, that relationship is over and only an idiot would think about rekindling a failed relationship
But worse is the neighbor getting excited the mom said she doesn’t want him back, so how will this end? the parents deciding to be "cool" and friends, and he ends up with their "neighbor aunt"?
legit the thing that should’ve happened was to rekindle the relationship with his kids but...

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the editing really lacked in classifications, the connections, and explanations, also the end end, half of it was recaps and the other half two waited until it was their turn then went on a goose chase, like..

i liked the teacher cast so i wished they explained more

like what was the connection of the game and the blood camp? did the teacher make it so kids got into debts? and make the admins/debted kids do her dirty work

like the archery game, the bullied girl didn't just hit back for revenge? it was to manipulate the games, so were the bullies in it, or was the bullied girl forced into revenging for money? same with the blackmailing teacher, and the guys the villain had where were they later

and the necklace was obv important, but they went around and around and only mentioned it at the end like an after thought..

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Honestly the epilogue was more interesting than the same old cold traumatic lone wolf vs the world bit

So imagine why her (minus annoying kid and death/ie corporate struggles), meets search www (minus great sismance/ ie business setup) meets black dog (mainly in struggles and instability, and supporters)
A realistic office drama. No ridiculous bullying, not much hustle and angst, but promises nice tension 😏
Great female lead, lacking side characters and missed opportunities on www like sismance
And hopefully the mature hints of subtle romance is here to stay cuz we really deserve a normal romance between two equals tho the casting shows that one isn't here to stay, hopefully 2nd ml is
And good final ost
but it didn't meet it's full potential

They hit the jackpot with lee boyoung, hopefully eventho it's so male centered, eventho it is their plot line of "using her as a female face of the group to get what they want", I hope she can shake their world, and maybe do not make it a women vs women and give us budding friendships and they delivered a bit
Eventho the other 2 fls are og foot actress and a mong actress
Also, I hoped the relationship with her obvs sizzling friend was more than just a guest role crush and he turns into a lover without him needing to be the main lead

ahin isn't evil, tho she's playing them before they play her, she still has other women's interests at heart
Lol giving her the same exact backstory as mother 🤡 mom was like stop watching sad traumas🤣
This went from a 10 to an 8😴
Ml and 2ml, plus practically every guy beside her 3 "friends" are all so petty and childish

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It was good, different but draggy

This is kinda metaphorical, depression that he can’t remember his happy moments
Can’t sleep so she can’t gain money cuz of stress
Shy that can’t look at people cuz the eyes are the window of the soul
And I guess she was so full of herself that she put herself down

but the execution is a bit too slow, it took me three months to finish, I mean it wasn’t frustrating or bad, but it wasn’t amazing either


So like what I said before, it was symbolic but they could’ve done it so much better

For exam the sister’s story should’ve moved faster, especially since it took her one ep to fully shed the remaining weight, and her whole story was about self love so going back to the cheater was the worst part
and her cuteness with "the uncle" would've been a better focus, she never had to let go of her love or what her ex represented.. so it was a waste of time, instead, they should've shown her falling for "the uncle" , and realizing self love and a good relationship can heal


He was never supposed to save his wife, or his hyung, which is annoyingly sad as it was what controlled years of his life.. so his wife did die because of him, when he was always meant to move on with someone else

everything was “set in stone” even every time he went back it was never a choice


That’s why the end sucked, the thing that hurt the dad all this time was going back in time and getting stuck, and we have the mom go and say “I lost something 5 or welp 18 years ago” and the kid poofs and saves him?
Like how risky was it to have a 5 year old go into that fire for his dad?????

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Boring, uneventful and incomplete

Ironic how such a short drama can be so uneventful yet draggy

I understand Korean webtoon have a style peculiar, but i enjoyed Pegasus market and the sound of your heart
This, the comedy wasn’t funny, only one or two things were, and I’d say the be melodramatic reference wasn’t in the OG🤣
anyway this fell on par with school nurse files and glitch, they feel incomplete, with a really basic and cheap world buildup and follow through 🥱
And it ended in a way I hate the most.. going back in time, not giving answers. Like yeah he could’ve stayed another day, and gone back in time and fixed it
Though yeah her dad passed away on his way, was his closure thinking she’s back, and it was motivation for yellow pants to go back.. but a repeating loop, that’s not a happy ending, or any ending, they’re not reliving the happy moments. They’ll relive the chase

And yeah people say you can interpret it as you like, maybe it gives time for the alien to spend “one” or more days, which is 50 and more years, and some can say he’ll remember and stop her from going in.. but I call that lazy writing, open endings are pointless because the writer didn’t want to think more about what to do, the choice and follow through is their responsibility

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better off as a binge

cookie (I mean Kook Hee) as a male lead was amazing, he was sweet, UWU, adorable smile, six pack, considerate and charming and the fl was normal enough with her own career and life

now everything else was horrible, there was no plot, no real planning, no development, just a bunch of random events thrown together, and worse by the end all of the plots were resolved as if nothing happened..

2nd fl's boyfriend issues and 3rd fl's husband problems all sounded so big but by the end they just brushed it off and everything was fine again ;/

cookie was a sweet guy but his traumatic past was a cheap move for conflict, just as cheap as their final breakup ;/ eventhough this wasn't like the usual 16 ep dramas where the breakup lasts from ep12-14, here everything lasted for 5mins...

basically just another romcom in a pile of romcom cliches, but the ml is actually worthy rather than the usual rich jerks ;D

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