A Delightful High School Teen Drama
A high school teen drama with an interesting twist of a "Sweet Revenge" phone app made available to really nice, cute girl called Goo Hee. Needless to say, nice, cute girls in dramas are often bullied and on her first day reporting for high school, she meets Ji Hoon on a bus, where she forgot to top up her bus card. Their first exchange was not a comfortable one. However, soon they realize, not only do they take the same bus to school everyday, they also attend the same class. As expected, their familiarity slowly progresses to infatuation to fondness, then (ahem) love.Yes, the story is predictable and nothing new. And yet, the drama garnered sufficient interest from me. The actors were casted well for their roles, the two leads were suited together, the fellow students were mean enough, friends, parents and teachers had enough material to make every episode enjoyable to watch. The fact that it is only 12 episodes helped.
However, the key that drove the basis of this drama is the "Sweet Revenge" phone app 'helper'. The FL just have to tap the word 'yes' and the helper will proceed to take revenge on people the FL is angry with . The helper then send her a note when revenge mission is complete. How nice. As revenge is not a good thing to do, eventually the FL realizes that there are many problems we can solve ourselves. She soon realizes that she need not use the app anymore as she matures in her thoughts and gains confidence in her own decisions. Having a handsome and supportive boyfriend in Ji Hoon is part of that recipe too.
And I was extra pleased to watch Cha Eun Woo. I noticed him since My ID is Gangnam Beauty. In this drama Sweet Revenge which was done a year before ID is Gangnam, he plays 'himself', a member of the boy band Astro. Good looking and charming as always.
Overall, I enjoyed watching this drama. Light and easy.
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A Drama Worth The Watch
This drama took me by surprise. It was not my intention to watch the entire show. Was suppose to be a simple quick check as I was looking to see Lee Sang Yoon's work. However, on first episode, I was already captivated. The story and the love story within was really VERY GOOD.A woman, Choi Mikaela (Lee Sung Kyung), is someone who can see everyone's time of death reveal to her, as an imprint on their bodies and unfortunately, she can even see her own. With 100 plus days to live, she accidentally realizes that her time clock stops, when she is in close proximity to a gentleman named Lee Do Ha (Lee Sang Yoon). Eventually, not only will her time clock stop, but as she consistently is with him and happy, her life span 'extends' favorably. Their chemistry together from hate to love. From discomfort to deep commitment was a tremendously strong performance and one could not help but keep rooting for the FL every time she gains more time.
Obviously, the show went up another notch as we see everyone's life revolving around this couple also had their very own story to tell, The relationships that can be so precious, especially when you know when that person will die. Have we done enough for them, did we tell them what we wanted to say, everything seems so much more urgent, with little time left. The stories as it was told and played out by a very strong cast was touching and did bring out much emotion and self-realization of relationships around me. Furthermore, it helped to also have the "bad ass" fiance, Sung Hee (Han Seong Yeon) who fought tooth and nail to keep Do Ha from Choi Mikeala. Sung Hee kept the frustration, and she definitely kept my attention throughout....nothing better than a really good, bad lady. But, yes, Do Ha only loves Mikaela.
The only "glitch" for me, which I think perhaps also affected some viewers, was at the point when Mikaela realized that when her time lengthens, Do Ha's own life span 'decreases'. Realizing that this transfer of life will eventually cause early death to Do Ha. I would have much preferred that she talked about it with Do Ha, but as the drama would have it, she keeps running away from him without explanation. These few episodes did get on my nerves. But , Do Ha's love, perseverance and commitment to her was perfection and truly warmed my heart.
The message about love in this drama was well written in relation to time. Not a moment to be wasted. This drama is highly recommended. It is not a perfect drama but truly WORTH THE WATCH.
Cheers! K-drama Forever!!
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A Slight Damper
Delightful drama with Jo In Suk, always acting on point and charming. Fun and entertaining with him falling in love with one of his lady chef who has a ghost possessing her (played by Park Bo Young). Unfortunately, I found the " character" of the Ghost (also played by Park Bo Young) more suited to the ML than the FL! So, that to me was the damper in this, otherwise, quite watchable drama.I liked, however, all the other characters in this drama and the special appearance from Seo In-Guk, did make my day (sigh....).
Cheers and K-drama Forever!
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Wow! What A Great Drama
I went into this high school drama expecting predictable childish and playful fighting classroom love story. But, I was pleasantly surprised to watch a really mature and responsible love story of student Zheng Han and Lin Xi. Their chemistry and relationship from start to finish was so consistent and comforting to watch. They did a really good job in showing the natural progression of falling in love in high school, to continuity in university, to supporting each other in business, dealing with challenges as well as parental obstruction from the FL's mother. I could not help but felt so appreciative of what a role model this couple's love story can be to all of us. Not only is Wang An Yu (Zheng Han) good looking and sturdy, but Xiang Han Zhi (Lin Xi) is one of the prettiest young lady I have ever seen for a long while. She has a natural beauty that is so alluring to watch. Both of them make a really good looking couple.Apart from the main leads who were so natural, the entire cast in this drama is so good, I got so immersed, it did not feel like they were acting at all. Everyone had their own story to tell and I enjoyed this drama so much.
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Mystery, Suspense Drama With Delightful Romance
A really good drama to watch overall. I liked that it did not lean in too much on romance and have a really good dose of mystery, suspense and some light comedy. The story of Danurut, a police officer with a sad past (death of his parents at a young age) grows up to be an honorable Deputy Police Commander. Mature and serious in all that he does as he goes through police cases. However, his personal perspective in love slowly changes when he became first curious, then empathized and eventually attracted to the pretty, loud and obnoxious Suam.The entire drama was paced really well and kept my attention without fast forwarding. Everyone in the drama had a good amount of work to do and did justice to the story. Lots of trials and tribulations and how they overcame them. To each, their own set of stories.
In ending, Great Warintorn (Danurut) was really convincing in his role and I found Kao Suppasara (Suam) pretty, with clean innocent face, which is truly welcoming for a Thai drama, as often make-up on the women can be too heavy. Her character appears a little too young to match with the handsome and mature Great, but he managed to hold the leading role very well throughout the drama.
Good watch, you will not be bored.
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Heart Pounding, Heart Wrenching, Perfect Drama - Not To Be Missed!
My first K-drama in 2021. TWOTM popped up on my Netflix and I thought to give it like a 10 minutes trial watch and then move on. To my surprise, I ended up binge watching this magnificent drama in 2 days . EVERY episode was so good on it's own, and then some ........I remembered there was much hype about this drama whilst I was watching The King : Eternal Monarch (TKEM) which released as TWOTM has been airing for a month. Even with the heavy weight draw of Lee Min Ho , TKEM could not kick TWOTM from it's first ranking. And I have to agree, this drama is magnificent.
The acting flawless, the directing was to perfection, a story line meticulously written. Even the music was mesmerizing and drew out all our emotions on point. I felt so tensed whilst watching every episode and felt like I was always on the edge of my seat. Heart pounding.
What a great start to my year 2021. And anyone who has not watched The World Of The Married last year, highly recommend to do so. You will not regret it.
Perfect 10 rating from me.
Cheers - K-Drama "Forever"
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Different But Delightful!
First, I would like to mention that I enjoyed this drama very much. As it is a 41 episode drama, I was mentally prepared to not rush watching it. One thing I do know, with 'long' dramas, not every episode will have me at the edge of my seat. Apart from an acceptable story line, the actors/actresses are very important when it comes to holding my interest. And Go Go Squid did not disappoint in both areas.I liked the content and basis of the story. It was interesting to see how much games and hobbies have evolved from 'hop scotch', 'five stones', hide and seek to high tech e-sports through computer gaming, online singing which provides income etc. With continued efforts to improve cyber security to protect internet abuse and hacking, even games were developed and competitions were started. As the world becomes more and more reliant on internet and people interact through cyber world, China definitely has come a long way and the way of life for the young all over the world has moved to a futuristic spectrum. This drama was able to give me a general understanding of the i-tech world, which I found so fresh and informative.
I liked the characters in the story. The main leads with Tong Nian (Yang Zi) a young and intelligent computer science student and Shangyan (Li Xian) a computer genius, committed in high level e-sports, was an interesting pair. Tong Nian is reflective of how young generation in this century should behave. At 18, she is cheerful, confident, respectful to elders, good in her studies and also independent in her choice of career and direction in life. In Shang Yan, his character clears a lot of mis-conception of people in his field of computer gaming. In their own contained environment, the kids are actually well behaved, disciplined and have a healthy attitude in competing. The only downside is, they could become too introspective in their their thoughts and actions, which was portrayed very well by Shang Yan (Li Xian).
Now to the love story. I liked that Shangyan was attracted to Tong Nian almost immediately in spite of their age difference. He is around 10/11 years older than Tong Nian. As computer gaming geeks do not have much time nor opportunity to interact with the opposite sex, I found his interest in Tong Nian very entertaining. Being an introvert, I liked how he observed her, how he tried to read her thoughts and actions, as if he was trying to understand a character in a computer game. Tong Nian, being the direct opposite of him, "rocked his world", even if he did not know how to show it. When he did, he loved her with care and understanding. Made me swoon.....
This drama has a good mixture of light and fluffy. It also has a good dose of music. They even threw in a song from the band Beyond (HK) in Mandarin version!
However, at the heart of the entire drama, to me, was the deep bond of brotherhood. Shang Yan's start with Solo Team at 18, leaving to invest in K&K (after a mis-understanding a team mate who became Solo team leader) ...... and to their eventual discovery of a path divided which cannot be broken because of brotherhood love, respect and history.
This drama left me with a nice and happy feeling.
Cheers!
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Good Looking Thai
This is my first Thai drama after exhausting myself watching K-Drama and C-Drama. I was looking forward to this new experience. Everything needed some slight adjustment as I was watching new sceneries, surrounding and also listening to a new language. God bless all those who are translating the sub-titles.Thankfully, it was only 12 episodes and unfortunately the production, storyline and acting did not really work on me. The only thing that strike me interesting was how good looking Thai people are. All the men and women have really nice features and that kind of helped me with the process of completing the whole drama. The only person that did a good job was Gypsy Keerati Mahapreukpong who acted as the main lead actor's sister Pa. I felt all her emotions, her fiestiness, her kindness and her mature way to love a man. In fact, for me, the second leads in this drama truly stole the show.
I am going to watch another Thai drama next, to see if I may have mis-understood my perception of this one.
Cheers!
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A Very Intelligent Story On Virtual Game Competition. What We See On Screen, Can Become REAL!
I seriously started to watch this drama because I love Hyun Bin. Then see if he has chemistry with the sweet and pretty Park Shin-Hye and finally hoping to understand this virtual reality game drama is.And I must say, the virtual reality game came top on my list from episode 1. It all started for me, the moment I caught on the complexity of the game where real humans can enter duel with them. All this whilst the gaming company is trying to launch faster than the other competitor. The chase for control, the mystery, the chase to duel to the end of the game is thrilling. Special effects, fighting scenes, pretty cool.
Because of this, the romance became secondary to the Virtual Game plot. The relationship between the two main leads left a lot to be desired.
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A Slow Paced Revenge Melodrama
As a revenge melodrama, I found the direction pretty slow paced. The plot in itself was not anything out of the ordinary, so I did not feel a sense of anxiousness watching this drama.As for the main leads, I could not feel the chemistry from the two of them, even though there were a few good kissing scenes. I think perhaps, the FL acting is too calculated and feels too young. However, there is no denying that Marcus Chang has been acting for a while and he played his ML role well. First time I am seeing Marcus Chang and look forward to his other work.
The only character that had a lot to work on and did a pretty good job is Esther Yang who played Jian Xiao Yue, good friend of FL, Eugenie Liu who played Xin Yu. I liked her role who is on survival mode and has a direct attitude. I felt all her emotions and even as a second lead, she had lots to act right until the last episode. Good for her.
All in all, this drama is not a disaster. However, in my opinion, one could give this drama a miss, unless you are running out of Chinese drama to watch or you want to check out the hot and handsome Marcus Chang. Even the second lead Sean Lee is also pretty cool!
Cheers!
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FIRE!! Someone Call 911 !
I just completed Before We Get Married and truly enjoyed watching this 13 episodes drama. I found every episode captivating in itself.The main cast of four, comprising of Jasper Liu as Chu Ke Huan, Puff Kuo as Zhou Wei Wei, Steven Sun as Li Hao Yi and Nita Lei as Gao Zi Yuan, did an excellent job in taking us through their complicated relationship transition.
Directing and storyline almost flawless. And one must also give recognition to Phoebe Yuan who played Wei Wei's best friend Han Ke Fei, who was a delight to watch, a hardcore BFF who will stop at nothing to care and protect her best friend. I could not help but think of Samantha from 'Sex In The City' when I see Han Ke Fei.
As for the story, we see Couple A - Chu Ke Huan. A good looking, confident man, financially and emotionally prepared for love, unfortunately is in a fading 10 year relationship with Gao Zi Yuan. Whilst Couple B - has Li Hao Yi, a good looking (a little clueless when it comes to love) man, struggling financially and emotionally with his girlfriend Zhou Wei Wei of 3 years.
Then one fine day, Ke Huan meets Wei Wei and through a series of incidents, he falls for her hard, almost immediately. He pursues her unabashedly and relentlessly. In return, like a 'moth to a flame' Wei Wei is drawn to Ke Huan but tries hard not to acknowledge nor accept the fact. Hence, the dance begins. Both with still on-going relationships, which to me had it's challenges but was not beyond repair. But I guess (sigh....), life just happens. It is what it is when it comes to matters of the heart.
I found that the drama was intelligent, realistic and mature with it's approach to love. I liked all four characters and all the faults that came with them. Accepting that there is no right or wrong when it comes to love. The physical and kissing scenes were natural to watch and done tastefully. I laughed, giggled, cried and all other emotions kicked in whilst watching this drama, seeing how the two couples intertwined, evolved and transition in their relationships.
Everything started with a spark, then a flame, then everything was on FIRE! (hahaha)
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Wow, love this drama
This is a truly amazing drama. The director takes us through the journey of memory loss starting from dementia right through the severe stages of Alzheimer of complete memory loss .......Though slow paced, this was not a difficult drama to watch. The brilliant acting of Soon Ae and Kim Rae Won drew me in right from the start. The entire supporting cast did a really good job too. The drama managed to teach us about this little known memory loss disease and somehow gently unfolded how such disease affects all the love ones around them who makes the choice of accepting, understanding, coping and loving the person throughout it's slow degeneration. I could not find a single flaw in this drama and highly recommend to those who seek to understand and educate themselves.
For me it was a reminder that one should live everyday and every moment being thankful and never forgetting to tell the one you love, that you love them. When one is not well, these words are held on to like 'dear life', what more with those who enjoy good health. So always remember to say, "I love you" .... "Salanghae"!
The love story between Seo Yeon (Soon Ae) and Ji Hyung (Kim Rae Won) scores 10 for me on this drama.
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Nice Watch On A Quiet Weekend
I truly have no complaints about this movie. It was entertaining and easy to watch. The plot was also nicely placed giving us a general idea on the role of a gisaeng and in this movie played out towards the end of gisaeng days. It was interesting to watch the love triangle between two best friends in love with one of their boyfriend. The cinematography and the nostalgic atmosphere of that era and time were reflected well.All in all I do recommend this movie for a quiet stay-in on a weekend to watch with your love one.
Cheers! K-Movie forever!
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A Drama Not To Be Missed. A True Classic
I was binge watching on all Hyun Bin's drama/movie of past and recent and this truly magnificent "My Lovely Kim Sam Soon", back in 2005 is still good to watch today, year 2020! It is truly a classic and can be enjoyed any season.It was delightful to watch Hyun Bin's character Hyun Jin Heon (rich heir to a hotel business) and a pretty, confident (slightly overweight) Pastry Chef, Kim Sam Soon's (Kim Sun Ah) relationship start, develop, struggle and end. This became one of the most entertaining, hilarious, romantic show I have ever watched.
Worth every episode your time. The acting was so natural, the script was so cleverly written and the director made every episode memorable. It was easy to feel all emotions and hard not to share all the goodness I felt with you.
A perfect 10 overall score!
Cheers.....K-Drama forever!
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Get Ready For A Lot of Good Looking People and Great Songs!
I went into this drama not expecting deep logic and scrutiny, but more for the entertainment value, enjoying good looking people, romantic love and every character with a story to tell. And yes, this drama delivered all that I was expecting and the songs rocked!Yes, it was nice to watch a bunch of rich kids and a poor maid's daughter all acting out their problems in love and life. The fantasy of having Kim Tan (Lee Min Ho) falling madly in love with Cha Eun Sang (Park Shin Hye) and pursuing her with real deep passionate love can only happen in my dreams! And to have that shared in a drama was appreciated.
Charming bad guy Cha Young Do (Kim Woo Bin), cool Lee Hyo Shin (Kang Ha Neul), irritable Kim Tan fiance Rachel Yoo (Kim Ji Won), delightful couple Yoon Cha Yoong (Kang Min Hyuk) and Lee Bo Na (Krystal Jung) played out their characters so well that it was fun to watch their behavior in every episode as they lived their daily lives. Kim Tan's brother Kim Won played by Choi Jin Hyuk was so natural that they became really good friends even after the show ended.
The only issue I had was how meek Eun Sang's (Park Shi Hye) character was. I understand it can be overwhelming to be surrounded by all the rich kids, but when you have the love of Kim Tan who gave her 110% of his heart and protection, perhaps a little courage would have perfected the entire drama. However, it came later than it should and kind of felt un-comfortable to watch.
But the songs and music were memorable enough for me to remember Kim Tan and the Heirs for a long time!
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