AV with training wheels
I can't really explain why I watched this. Between episodes of Racket Boys and My Holo Love, neither of which I adore, I started browsing random crap on MDL and found, well, about as random crap as random crap gets. I've no idea if it's been subbed in English pero lo encontró con subtítulos en español and that's good enough for me.Since it does say "ecchi" in the listed prequel title, it's a bit of yeah well, what was I expecting and why was I not paying attention. My only excuse is that My Holo Love really numbs the mind and I was side-watching sports on another screen. But mostly I think it was because the 6.2 rating and picture of a gravure idol felt like a challenge.
So it's less about the plot and more about the fact that it features two women in their 20s who look very nice in lingerie and a handsome guy who takes his shirt off maybe twice. I used the fast forward button a lot since most of the dialogue featured their friends giving the couple of virgins, and then beginners, bad sex advice, and most of the sex was in the dark or behind an aquarium. Much of the discussion about the lead couple's sex life took place between the office, nomikai, and the yoga studio as a matter of public interest.
Assuming that I was looking for something light and dumb to watch between episodes of something else, I was right on the money. The only thing lighter than the, uh, action was the plot. It's not that you expect to "read these things for the articles" but this is thin.
Should you watch it? Well, unless you have a thing for live action adaptations of manga with ladies whose measurements were intended to get every man's attention in a crowded room, probably not. No, make that definitely not. Or even good God, no!
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A little of everything, not enough of anything
This is the sort of drama you sort of watch while doing your taxes. The romance was light and conducted at arm's length with stereotypical Japanese reserve. Age differences were mentioned and then forgotten. The leads were nice and seemed to work together well. I really disliked the SML. He struck me as controlling and manipulative even when he was being sincere and I expect that this character could trigger some viewers. None of the other characters mattered. And if someone put a comedy tag on it they made a mistake.It's an unambitious production. The cast are experienced and competent but not much was demanded of them. The sets, directing, and photography were good enough but will win no awards.
This drama checked the boxes but has no highlights. At a self-aware 10x23 minutes (counting the final episode as two) long it could have been condensed into a mediocre movie without much effort. Really, if you want to enjoy it at all you should summon your inner gourmand and treat it as food porn. The imam bayildi will impress you more than the plot.
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Mercifully short
This is a reject from the "I watched it so you don't have to" department. It's "This is so bad you gotta see it" material.The script lurches forward randomly trying to condense a bad 16-episode rom-com into 40 minutes of airtime. I could not figure out if there was a love triangle that tripped my gaydar or if it was straight up BL with some random chick thrown in to confuse things. Based on the last episode I think it's trying to be heterosexual.
The acting is only charitably described as such. "David Shin" has one acting credit. It should remain that way for all eternity. The other two were far from that bad but they won't be passing my auditions any time soon.
The music was taken from a tape of insurance company hold music that one of the producers probably stole from their day job.
Bottom line: I gave it one point for being mercifully short. You should absolutely watch it and prank your friends into watching it, too.
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Perhaps the greatest work of one of the greatest masters
I do understand that this work is on MDL more for completeness than for its fanbase, which is why it's rated lower than Divorce Attorney Shin. It should still be given the respect it deserves.The basic plot of Ran is similar to King Lear: one ruler, three heirs, tragedy ensues. It's set in approximately 16th century Japan.
For me this is a film with no flaws. Kurosawa-daisensei had a huge vision and a tremendous eye for detail. The casting was perfect. The acting was inspired. The sets and costumes were nothing short of spectacular. The battle scenes were sweeping and raw. The intrigue was both credible and unbelievably well executed.
The truth is that I don't have enough superlatives to describe Ran. "Epic" doesn't even begin to cover it. But so many prominent critics have studied it that my opinion serves only to introduce viewers who may not know about it.
If nothing else, watching this film is an art history lesson. I first watched it as a teenager and it was one of the works that opened my eyes to what cinema as an art can do.
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This belongs on your list of police dramas to watch
Cops and teamwork, always a winner, right? Pretty close in this case. The good cops are pretty damn pure and the dirty cops are as "Signal"-level filthy as can be. If that's how you like them, "Crash" is indeed a winner. The only thing that really detracts from the experience of watching it is Disney's 14 minutes of farkin' ads per episode.The story is fairly standard but well put together. I liked the traffic setting, which placed the action outside and on the road a lot. The character writing is not wholly original but damn well made. It really has everything you expect from a Korean police drama. The pace is fast but the plot does not leave the characters behind. In fact the development of the storyline and that of the characters are unusually well balanced. If anything suffered, it was the car transmissions that were asked to do impossible things in reverse. I'll have to ding it a bit for wrapping lines up a bit too early and leaving the final episode hanging around like an awkward epilogue. But with everything else packed pretty tight into 11 episodes they did leave their options open to use it as a segue into a second run.
The casting was near perfect, heroes and villains alike, with one notable large fly in the milk. UNPOPULAR OPINION: Lee Min-ki still can't act his way out of a wet paper bag. This show was an opportunity to shine for many of the male actors as Heo-Seong-tae and Ha Seong-kwang were perfect fits for their roles. Hyo Ji-won and Kang Go-doong played one of the most perfect ever pairs of despicable, overprivileged little turds. On the other side, Kwak Seon-yeong looked like she was having the time of her life in her role. Overall (except for That One Guy who has no idea what "fun" looks like) everyone looked like they were having *fun* acting in this show.
I'll recommend "Crash" to anyone who digs a cop show where the good guys are Good, the bad guys are Bad, and the car chases are wild and absurd.
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Good enough but not as hot as the original
It's a show about honest realtors without qualifying who exactly they're talking about. Despite the fact that Nagase is now more honest than he was on the first season and remains the nominal "Honest Realtor," in reality he has been surpassed by his sidekick. I feel like Tsukishita is the real star of season 2. The character with the most heart and the caring personality is not only skilfully acted but has now been endowed with the grit and knowledge that she lacked in the original series.I like that there is still zero romance surrounding Tsukishita. That lets her character grow without diversions and distractions. Nagase isn't so lucky. The weird relationship sideplot with Emamoto only got weirder. And the rest of the cast didn't improve. The whole Minerva cast was shallow and vindictive for reasons that still make no sense. I had hopes for Hanasawa-san but her progress was mixed. And Kamiki must have been rescued from the villain reject dumpster behind Disney studios. All of them are too easily let off the hook as far as I'm concerned.
I think that this show survives and thrives on the guest characters more than it does on the main ones. Until episode 9, that is. Episode 10 is a hot mess that pulls a multi-year project out of thin air for the real estate drama but mostly sets up annoying cliff hangers for a third season. Maybe in season 3 the Tokage character will find his place. So far he seems to exist for the sole purpose of making Millennials sound like boomers when they talk about Gen Z.
Season 2 is a step down from the original series but still stands up alright by itself. If you liked the original you should watch it.
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The Com runs out long before the Rom
I thought I'd found something entertaining and amusing. Something that might actually be a rom com. I made it as far as episode 8 before I figured out that this script was going nowhere interesting and that I was not invested in any of the characters. Halfway through I thought I could make it work if I treated it as a farce so I tried to enjoy it as such. It devolved into a pointless, ordinary drama. This was not what I was promised. It was less about hijinks and more of a joke at the expense of my time.Maybe I could have made it until the end but I really hated what they did to the FL. I liked Jeon Jong Seo a lot in the beginning. I love that she has that touch of RBF to make her look like a woman you'd regret messing with. But then her character went from hustling underdog to being hated by everyone as she was tossed around by a pair of rich kids. It doesn't matter whether their intentions are romantic or not. She comes out of it looking like some chaebol plaything from a past that we'd like to forget.
Dropped and pass.
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A trip to the sperm bank
Let's call things by their name. This is not a romantic comedy. It's barely a romantic drama. The Netflix publicity poster that has three men following a woman like she's a bitch in heat is misleading. It's even less funny than that. There are no hijinks and no hilarious misunderstandings. The supporting cast is led by a mother who pays lip service to supporting her daughter while she channels every social prejudice.It's nothing more or less than an infertility melodrama. If that's what you were looking for, stay. Otherwise I cannot recommend it.
There are three men involved. One man looks like he lives in eternal sorrow and puts on a happy mask. One man looks like he's having a sad, incestuous fantasy. And one child doesn't even know why he's part of the conversation as we watch another woman pursue him for most of the series. It's not even a love square with three men urgently looking to deposit their seed. It's a meat market with a selection of goods about as appetizing as a Soviet supermarket shelf. In the end she buys whatever's available on any shelf and it's half a pound of ersatz mortadella.
Jang Na-ra did her reputation no harm in this role. She was given little to work with and made it look like a lot. The male leads were given crappy stories and struggled to rise above them. Park Byung-eun demonstrated his uncanny skill for looking pathetic in a role that wasn't good enough for him. The supporting roles were generic and bereft of standouts.
As another reviewer correctly said, I felt catfished.
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Queen of Tropes
Let's start by saying that I'm not a sworn enemy of tropes. Euripides and Shakespeare used them all the time to good effect in similarly dramatic works. QoT *almost* uses a million of them to good effect. The problem is that they wore out by episode 12. After that you have to get to the bottom of the barrel to keep the bad guys getting badder and the good guys, um, gooder. By the end, in which all just deserts are served and loose ends are tied up, the tropes are about as appetizing as a bar rag at 3 am.As others have said this show is carried by the acting. The leads' performance is nothing short of spectacular. I can find no fault in the acting, production, or directing, all of which maximized the middling potential of the overambitious script that they were given. I've spent enough time on sets to recognize the brilliant work of the crew in scenery, lighting, outdoor settings, everything. And I couldn't get enough of Berlin.
This is not my usual style of show. I didn't even like CLOY. But it caught my attention. The only thing that held back QoT's binge potential for me was that it was emotionally INTENSE. I rarely watch anything twice but understand why others would want to do so. For all these reasons I rate it highly.
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