allase

I do not understand the hype

I will cut to the chase. It was not bad, it was a nice series to watch to pass your time but the reviews make is sound like it's a masterpiece. The only unique aspect this series had to offer is the stories of the secondary characters. However, in classic kdrama fashion, they decided to focus on the main characters' romance instead of them. That wouldn't be an issue, if the main storyline was strong or if they managed to smoothly play in the main story but I found their story the least interesting, the only interesting parts of the main male protagonist were almost brushed off and resolved out of nowhere so it felt predictable and rushed. Instead the producers decided to cram in many overused clichés that offered nothing to the story. The 3-4 minute blatant Domino's pizza ad in the middle of the last episode was the cherry on top... you knew at that point the creator didnt really care to make a nice story. Dissapointing, because it could have been so much more.

Both main actors are amazing (and beautiful), great acting but the chemistry was not fully there.
As mentioned previously the stories of the villagers were incredible, they dealt with so many different issues and it left me craving for more.

Read More

That was unexpected

I went in thinking this was another Kdrama with maybe some social messaging for Korean beauty standards that would end up being cliché ...but boy WAS I WRONG

The series took an 180 degrees turn. I will keep the review spoiler free, so all I am saying is that if you are a fan of Korean cinema; Park Chan-wook , Lee Chang-dong, Bong Joon-ho type of Korean cinema you will like the Mask Girl.

BE CAREFUL this a very VERY heavy series which if you can't stomach, sure it is just not for you, but the production had no fault. Actually describing it as "no fault" is a disservice ... the story was impeccable, the director used masterful techniques, that helped the narrative without seeming gimmicky. Above all it was an important commentary on Korean/modern society.
It should not be left unsaid that the actors were all astonishing , even smaller roles or even child actors, it was shocking how well they performed. For example Junyoung, I've only seen him in romcom and knew him from his idol fame days but his acting made me google more of his roles.

I hope this becomes a new classic and is appreciated in both the domestic and international market, so we can see more productions like this one with such high quality.

Read More

Most overrated drama of 2025

Revenged Love was a hot pile of garbage with the occasional good scene / plot line here or there.

24 episodes of a ridiculous story and a plot that went from one place to another with no consistency,
some parts of it were enjoyable and had potential but it was ruined so quickly by over dramatic twists.

I do not know if I should fully blame the actors but they felt so robotic, I partially contribute this to the dubbing. I understand that it is often a standard practice for Chinese dramas but the audio mix was so horrible it took me out of most scenes.

The production in general follows the Chinese trend of having clearly a big budget that was utilised badly. The result was obvious in some nicely but uninspired filming of scenes, combined with horrible editing and childish writing.

Sure all 4 main actors were cute and it had some "spicy" ( sorry but some were so cringe ) is that all it takes for people to rate dramas 10 these days?

P.S. Forgot to mention that the main couple did have some chemistry but ... their emotional connection was so weird, super violent guy, sexually abuses a poor guy that has such low self esteem that emotionally attaches to him YIIIKES is this love ???? sure ...

Read More

In need of better writers

"Destined with you" suffered due to it's subpar writing.
The plot was intriguing and fun but the way the episodes were written was so done messily the viewers didn't have time to really sympathise with the protagonists/fully engage. But the superficiality of the script was saved by some funny moments and ... the actors. To my surprise despite the negative comments I've heard, Rowoon so a joy to watch, he never felt awkward and he excelled in comedic scenes.

Despite not being a great drama I didn't really find it boring, I only felt pity that it could have been so much more.
Still, not a bad watch 6.5/10

Read More

Nothing spectacular

There is nothing spectacular about this drama, but at the same time nothing exeptionally bad.
It was a fun premise, cute couple, interesting side characters.
Truth been told regarding the main characters eventhough they were interesting, their story dragged out for no reason.
The drama would have benefited from being 6-7 episodes shorter.
The story would have been concluded beautifully in just 10-11 episodes if they compacted some scenes... there were too many boring unessesary scenes but the drama was saved from being overall boring since each single episode had it's funny sweet and endearing moments.

Read More

80% Scout 20% Love

Based on the description and the reviews I wrongly assumed this was mainly romance focused.
To my dismay the main focus of the drama is the scouting aspect which I found utterly uninteresting. The episodic storytelling , is one of my least favourites in K-drama. Each case never led us to the development of the characters or progression of a main story but it felt like unnecessary fillers.

Now for the romance ... I understand that not every relationship starts as a passionate love story but this one lacked chemistry and spark. I understand the CEO falling for the caring secretary, but we never saw his perspective, it never felt like this relationship offered him much OR THAT HE EVER WAS INTERESTED IN HER; it was more as if he had a saviour complex and wanted to save her from her own incompetence. Speaking of incompetence how can she be such an emotionally unintelligent person and work in recruiting ? That's the number one requirement to be successful in that field.

Too many coincidences , too much office/scouting drama and not enough LOVE.

Read More

Realistic fanfic

Doona! is like a fanfic I would have read when I was 17 that I would obsessed over, rereading multiple time to relive it's beautiful written moments.
The drama does seems like an ode to Suzy; written by an obsessed fan daydreaming of an outlook from his mundane life. Despite the extreme implausibility of this scenario, all the relationships depicted in the drama are written very realistically. That's the charm of Doona!, you deeply empathise with all the characters, their deeply flawed personalities and their struggles to navigate through love and life. A beautiful story, wrapped in stunning visual cinematography.

Sidenote: While watching the show I kept wondering if this was a manhwa which it actually was, I am so glad for the rise of webtoon and manhwa. The best sprouting grounds for aspiring Korean story tellers these days!

Read More

Not your usual sageuk

(Quick review: Worth the watch, good chemistry, ok acting, solid drama 7/10 )

I am perplexed on how to feel about The Red Sleeve because it was also never clear on what it wanted to show us.
The drama starts as a normal Sageuk love story, bright and opinionated servant girl meets the prince in disguise. They banter , they bond, the first sparks fly.

It seems like there is a genuine connection from both sides but we are quickly introduced to the palace dynamics that would deem their love story doomed from the beginning(?). She realised their relationship would have never been as that of two equals; even if she likes him, at the end of the day, he is just the king with all the power. The logic was also that if the prince (later king) pursued her, she would be unhappy due to his other duties and concubines. FL told us; she will suffer and it's better to not have him at all, she would rather live a simple life with her friends.

But the problem is, they never really showed us her suffering after they got together, we assume she had to follow a protocol that made her feel trapped? They only hinted at those parts and showed us that the king no matter how much he loved the FL he would put his duty first.

Which I get, from our perspective all these people are slaves. Even the royals were prisoners of their own device never truly free. It was pitiful, however if the FL was still a servant what difference would it really make? We saw her being abused under a capricious master, being in immediate danger, being wrongfully accused and unable to gain her independence or build her own family. As a concubine ,the king was loyal to her, still adored her and treated her with dignity.

So being a slave is more free from being trapped in a gold cage? If that's what they wanted to show they should have done a better job to showcase it. Also, during the scene of her death we saw her beg the king to ignore her if they meet in the after life. She showed immense regret. And then what do we see at the end? Them meeting in the after life ( or whatever it was ) ... being all lovey dovey .

So did they want a cautionary tale about the power dynamics and a feminist ode that women would never be free if they do not have independence or a love prevails all romance ?

Read More

Big confusion

I first watched Big when it was airing and I have rewatched it twice so far.
By that you can tell there is something bringing me back.
So many aspects of these series was done right. Acting was impeccable and the plot was intriguing as well as all the side characters were developed nicely with their own unique stories. Characters like suzy's or the family drama was all not too much for me, even-though those thing usually tire me out in other kdrama.

They have even done the impossible make me root for that weird age gap relationship.
It should have been a huge no no but with the way they explained the relationship it made sense ( it helps that i am also not a details person so i assume that their gap was never more than 5 years even though probably it was more ) Anyways besides that, it had great dialogue and nice flow, until the final few episodes that it got all over the place.

and the ending ... the ending would have been ok if it was explained a little more, I would like if they could have dedicated the last two episode instead of dancing around to show the guys after switching bodies. I would have liked to see the heroine interact with Seo Yoon Jae, and even the two guys interacting with each other.

More than anything they SHOULDNT have done the cop out move and show Gong Yoo at the end. If you are confident in your scrip why show the older actor again? There is no way Kang Kyung Joon grew up so much in 1-2 years that his appearance changed so much ( that's what I heard ppl claim it was a simple " oh KKJ grew up and looks more like his brother " ... yeah no thats a cop out they should have shown Shin Wonho , that's who the drama convinced us after 16 episodes Gil Da Ran fell for.

Read More

Not a big Thai BL fan, this was a surprise !

Years, I have been struggling with Thai BL, their production seemed always very amateurish and rushed.
However thats not the case for Top Form AT ALL.

Top Form feels like a carefully crafted passion project; from the direction to the cinematography and the music it was very artistically filmed. To my understanding this was adapted from a Japanese source material and I have to admit even while watching it I thought that it gave the subtle sensitivities of Japanese filmmaking. But it never felt like a copy, it was more like a beautiful pair of the best aspects of both cultures. The main actors were good but Boom stands out by far for his impeccable acting. His ability to convey emotions was mesmerising. To my disbelief he hasn't been a protagonist in as many titles as he should. A true tragedy.

Top Form was a triumph and the industry should learn some lessons and try to prioritise quality over quantity.
Easier said than done when, BL dramas are produced as easily consumable fast food that fans would eat up if the main guys are attractive.

p.s I still rated it 8.5/10 because it had some potential for further improvement in the scenario

Read More

You either love it or hate it

If you plan to watch this movie with the mindset that it's gonna be the typical Korean romcom
this movie is probably not for you!
I went in with no expectations but I enjoyed every second of it.

This movie is one of the most realistic depictions of modern relationships I have ever watched.
Don't expect any grand gestures or a romance that will make your heart flutter.
But despite that and what some other reviews say, it was never boring.
The plot kept me intrigued, while it injected a lot of comedy that made me laugh uncontrollably.

The plot twist was AMAZING, but its not a very vital part of the story I would have enjoyed it, with or without it.
It just introduced an extra layer to the story which I found fun but not ground breaking.

Krystal was so natural in this I loved her character !!!

*spoilers from here*
This movie is more about the emotional needs and expectations within a relationship and what happens if they are not met.
Nobody was a bad person and they both tried to make it work. The ML was not insightful to realise the hurt he caused by the daily stressors that put a huge dent in their relationship. The mundane state of most relationships was not the fault of either of them cause if both people don't actively try to improve it, it could only lead to sourness. The romcom ending would have been for the ML to meet FL at the airport and for them to have happily ever after but it was already too late, the FL realised that the trust was already broken and she already found comfort in someone who meets her needs.

To people who said that this movie was about cheating ... I never though either of them cheated, they just naturally developed a connection with two different people, but if you watch back neither of them had a slight interest in taking things further and developing a romantic relationship with the 2nd leads. Only after they broke up they tried to move on.

Read More

Better than expected

My friend suggested Brush up Life and I will forever thank her.
It was such a nice break from pointless and predictable romance dramas out there.
The story is so unique that got me hooked from the 1st episode.
Be warned, there is 0 romance , and it mainly focuses on the bond of these school friends.
As a woman in my mid 30's it was extremely relatable and thought provoking.
Even though I did get frustrated by the main protagonists choices sometime, I understood that this is a realistic portrayal of a person that is flawed, she obviously made many mistakes. Also, coming from a different culture some of her choices to become better person were definitely ... interesting. I saw some other comments here criticising the drama for being too "western" and falling victim of western ideologies; I think this person was watching a completely different drama.

This is a beautiful depiction of Japanese society and beliefs but at the same time it contains universal truths about relationships and the meaning of life.

All the characters, even side characters were well built and were very realistic; just humans trying their best to navigate life to the best of their abilities.

Read More

Come on guys ... whats with these high ratings ?

Obviously ratings and reviews are subjective ... but 8.10 stars ?
I think some of you have a completely different rating system for bl cause most of them are so disappointing.
But if you analyse the drama it has was too many flaws ...
From the bad plot, bad writing, badly written characters, plots that go nowhere, mid acting, occasionally bad audio.
It's just not a good show.
Did it have good moments? Sure, it was fun sometimes but at the same timeI had to fast forward many scenes especially FirstKhao ones. Which was a pity, initially they had so much chemistry but the script killed all the excitement and chemistry with their bad writing.
So what kept me watching? Joong! He was incredible, he was a breath of fresh air and hi acting was incredible ! I can't wait to see him in more projects

Read More

Refreshing but still was missing something

I was really perplexed on how I should feel about Run On. It was one of the few dramas that indeed tried to appeal to a more mature audience as it tries to portray a more realistic depiction of relationships. But these attempts are not always successful and it does falls into kdrama stereotypes that do not fit the realism it tried to create. That's why it always felt lukewarm.

The slow pace was times enjoyable but at other times, infuriating. I appreciate it tried to not just focus into the romantic relationships but also into friendship , family dynamics etc but why do I feel some relationship should been given alot less screentime than others. Some scenes didn't move the plot or didn't built any emotional background so they felt unnecessary. And on the contrary some of the most interesting plot were resolved out of nowhere.

Overall the acting was surprisingly good BUT ... why was Siwan the worst actor out of the 4 main protagonists ? I honestly expected it to be the other way around. Not that he was bad, just very one tone (maybe that was the directors instructions for the role?)

6.5/10

Read More