alon-luna

***SPOILERS***

I thought this wasn’t a bad sci-fi spin-off, but one’s liking of it would depend on how much he/she compared it to the anime…which is kind of inevitable if they watched both. The special effects and fight scenes here are entertaining enough, even if not Hollywood level. They basically took the premise from the anime and explored what would have happened to an entirely different set of characters in a different country. One good point of this version is that it is very female-centric. The main alien character Heidi was strong and interesting. The main antagonist Joon Kyung could be frustrating at times but surprisingly made the right decisions when needed- which showed that she experienced some kind of growth and wasn’t as stubborn in her beliefs as to be close minded or inflexible. It also explored themes outside the anime, not just of how aliens could be good, but of how people could be just as evil and corrupt.

One thing that I preferred in the anime were the fight scenes, which had better choreography and more tension. I felt like you could sense the danger for the main character Shinichi Izumi more when he encountered one of the parasite hosts and had to fight it out. They were able to explain the traits (advantages and disadvantages) of each host better depending on how he/she was taken over.

Also, I preferred how, in the anime, Shinichi got stronger as a person and grew through his interactions with ‘Migi’ the parasite. In the live action Korean adaptation, the main host Soo In was dormant when Heidi was awake, and vice versa. So they didn’t get to interact directly or learn from each other on the same level. I don’t have a problem with shy characters like Soo In, but for this kind of show, I kind of wished that she grew in bravery or confidence just a little, much like her male counterpart.

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Short, sweet and easy to watch. All the characters are likable here and so are the relationships. The male lead Tae Moo and female lead Ha Ri have this adorable chemistry and I like how both of them are not just foodies but also work in the food industry...the parts where they would come up with fusion recipes for Korean cuisine, from the brainstorming to the food tasting, were pretty entertaining. The sismance between Ha Ri and her best friend Young Seon, the second female lead, was also another highlight- they had a great friendship and a lot of hilarious* scenes together.

It’s funny how this show manages to be self-aware and poke fun at itself. The grandpa character actually watches a drama called Be Brave Shin Gumi which is filled with all these rom-com/kdrama cliches and tropes, and then later on a lot of the events in that drama would happen to the characters outside* the show…only that they would handle themselves a lot better than expected.

The characters and relationships aren’t perfect but they are very communicative and understanding of each other. Ha Ri starts off with a false identity in the beginning and Tae Moo is naturally very upset when he finds out, but she apologizes to him without any hesitation. Tae Moo unreasonably asks his assistant Seung Hoon (the second male lead) to go an a blind date when the latter is already dating Young Seon…but when realizing his mistake, Tae Moo not only apologizes to Seung Hoon, but to the both of them.

The only things I didn’t like were how the grandpa became antagonistic towards the main couple when he found out about them, because I was expecting him to go against the stereotype (given how he criticized Be Brave Shin Gumi!) but he disappointingly didn’t - at least, not until the very end. The second male lead Seung Hoon was also a bit weak willed and inconsistent, although his relationship with Young Seon works out later. A third party comes in between them in some of the episodes but refreshingly, she also turns out to be a likable and supportive character.

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The male lead (Pha) is kidnapped when he is a child and forced to live as a bandit. When he tries to be different and educate himself, he is punished and one of the people closest to him is violently killed. From that point on, he doesn’t really go against his evil stepfather (Seua Phan, the head bandit) anymore. In fact, his kidnapping of the female lead (Nampeung) is basically him carrying out orders. Pha is a pretty good fighter and even has superpowers…but unfortunately, he cannot, and does not go against the established power hierarchy in his ‘bandit village’; he doesn’t go against or speak against his evil stepfather until the very end of the series. Seua Phan is the most powerful character here because he dabbles in dark magic…it’s what he uses to keep the village hidden from the police, to teleport and to even to win a fight. I’m not sure why, for all his powers, he couldn’t have the bullet wound in his leg cured, but I let that slide.

I get that a traumatic experience can affect one for life, but it’s normal to hope that that the main heroes and heroines of these stories can somehow overcome and conquer them. At some point much later, Pha indicates that he wants to work with the police, but he doesn’t really do much to bring it about. Despite the fact that Nampeung is forced to be there against her will, she still falls in love with him, but she doesn’t have much choice- he is after all, one of the few good men left in that place and doesn’t touch her or force her to do anything even though he pretends (has to pretend) to. It is disturbing that, if a woman in that village is unmarried/unclaimed, she is sold off to rival gangs and treated like an object.

The hero and heroine do get along and like each other for the most part, but there were times they had these frustrating conflicts because once Nampeung realized that Pha was the same as her (meaning, forced into the same situation as her) she would try to convince him that they could escape, but he simply wouldn't hear of it.

He took care of the people under him but his delusion of being a caring Robin Hood protecting his people forever and ever, was a false one. The people under him may have been safe, but the ones under his evil stepbrother and stepfather certainly weren’t. It took a lot of convincing from his dumbest, most annoying underling that he couldn't live like that forever that finally made him relent, reunite the heroine with her parents and try to work with the police and surrender.

There were things that I liked in this drama. The main couple were brought together in an objectionable way, but they got along and had a good relationship for the most part. The actors playing them (Mike and Mookda) had a good and natural chemistry. Mike does well in these physical, macho roles whereas Mookda is very charismatic, spirited and reminded me a lot of a Disney princess. There was a lot of good sismance, too. I like Nampeung’s friendship’s with Namking and Phikun.

This is one of the few dramas were I grew to like the female antagonist. The only thing I didn’t like about Grachao was how she tried to attack Nampeung…but other than that, I really felt sorry for her. She suffered a lot and had no one to protect her. It’s actually a little unbelievable that she didn’t die after all that happened, but I’m glad the story developed her further and gave her a happy ending.

The special effects and fight choreography weren’t much (think early 1990s standards) but they were entertaining and fast paced. I like how they incorporated powers and a bit of Thai folklore here and there. The forest ‘monsters/zombies’ were well rendered and they reminded me of the mythical creatures in a lot of SouthEast Asian tales.

The second male lead (Lieutenant Praothep) started out as very useless but turned out to be a strong character.

The story had a lot of potential. If I were to rewrite it, I would make it so that both Pha and Nampung were undercover and worked together instead of Pha trying to do everything by himself and being very uncommunicative and untrusting of everyone.

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Overall, this was a pretty entertaining watch. I thought it would be just another Squid Game or Battle Royal knock off, but it wasn't. What I found interesting was that even if there were many similarities between these shows, Alice in Borderland was definitely its own thing.

I loved the puzzle games and the variety of challenges; I am not a gamer and I don’t play cards but they explained the rules in a way that could be understood by anyone. The show also used different areas of an abandoned cityscape very effectively for its background. It was refreshing how the game backgrounds would switch from an abandoned building to a hotel to even a beach resort.

The male lead was pretty smart and capable; it was a lot of fun watching him come up with last minute solutions when it seemed that he would lose. Despite being a very good and pure character, he also knew how to trick people, which came as a surprise but very handy for survival. At first, I didn’t like how he seemed to be the only smart character but it turned out that there were other characters (like the mysterious Chisaya) who were just as intelligent and could come up with their own ways to win.

I heard somewhere that the female characters were shallow in comparison but I didn’t think so. All FLs here were very strong, likable and had different capabilities. The parallels between the main FL Usagi and the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland was represented well, in that they made her a mountain climber who was very good at parkour; she also provided a very good motivation for the ML. Kuina, who gave the initial impression of being a beach bum, turned out to be a very capable fighter while Ann was not just the Mad Hatter's henchman but an intelligent forensic researcher.

One of the things I didn’t like is how the characters would sometimes have these overly long, philosophical discussions which really didn’t serve any purpose, It made some of the episodes (and the game that was ongoing) boring. I liked the challenge with the King of Clubs for example, but it could have been more exciting if they trimmed down these overly long conversations between ML Arisu and the king. I am not sure why they did it, it was as if they were trying to make the plot deeper than it had to be and I felt it was unnecessary.

Another thing is that, while I don’t mind the violence, the level of injuries the characters got (particularly in the last episode) was too much that I really could not understand how they survived. While I am happy that they did make it, it seemed impossible, given how brutal the fight scene was.

I am also not sure about the final challenge with the Queen of Hearts and how she was able to make the ML lose hope at first. Even at the very end, I wasn’t sure what the whole point of Borderland was…was it created to punish people who did wrong things in the real world? Two seasons have already passed but many important points weren't cleared yet. I heard there was going to be a third season but to be honest, I kind of worry that they will stretch the plot out too much and ruin it. It was exciting to see the joker card at the very end but there is a danger of ruining a good thing when it takes too long to come up with a proper conclusion.

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Most of the Thai dramas I watch are spicy melodramas. Every now and then, I find something I enjoy that makes an impression on me, such as Kluen Cheewit. I wouldn't list The Girl from Nowhere as one of my favorites, but this is definitely one of the lakorns I like because I feel that the over-the-top behavior of the characters actually works here. I don't think the stories are meant to be realistic but that they are supposed to show an exaggerated version of human depravity in extreme situations.

Something about the atmosphere in these stories, along with the main character, reminded me of a horror manga by Junji Ito. I thought Nanno was very charismatic and that the actress playing her (Chicha Amatayakul) was very entertaining. She reminded me a little bit of the Joker or Harley Quinn, only that her character mostly toys with those who are in the side of wrong. I don't think she's meant to be a good character either, but maybe a chaotic neutral.

I also like how the cast of supporting characters, from Claudia Chakrabandhu (Thank You Teacher) to Teeradon Supapunpinyo (Pregnant), performed well to the point that I didn't mind when Nanno was offscreen. Another thing that worked in this type of drama is that each episode had a different story and sometimes one story would take up two or three episodes, so they didn't have to be watched in order. The whole experience for me was like watching a horror anthology comic come to life and I don't even like horror.

There were certain plot points which dragged some of the stories down a notch. I liked Wonderwall for instance, but I could easily find a solution to the problem which didn't involve one of the characters wishing everything away. Some episodes in the second season were also boring and repetitive. Overall, the first season seemed better than the second...although there were some good episodes in the latter, like Minnie and the Four Bodies. I don't mind the introduction of Yuri as a rival for Nanno in the second season but I got kind of annoyed that it had to end in a cliff hanger!

Another thing I dislike is the series' old-fashioned attitude towards cheating in relationships. I felt that the writing would often blame the women involved but put the guy-in-between (the one who actually cheated) on a pedestal. There were some situations, like in the BFF episode- where a guy would send flowers to two girls at the same time and in the same room (his girlfriend and the girl he was cheating with), but the story seemed to blame the women involved without questioning his behavior.

Other than that, I think this is one of the better lakorns. I feel pleasantly surprised that Thailand decided to make something like this because I feel that Japan ought to be the one doing it, given all the content they have in their manga to base it on.

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This came highly recommended to me a few months back but I shied away from it after hearing that the first two episodes were pretty violent. I'm glad I changed my mind because while it (the violence) was difficult to watch at first, it wasn't quite on the level of Squid Game, which I was able to enjoy.

There is a rebirth aspect in this revenge drama that reminded me of Green Rose- an older classic, a re-interpretation of the Count of Monte Cristo and also one of my favorites. The melodrama here is turned up a few notches because it is a makjang but once I had my expectations set, I was able to enjoy everything and take all the melodrama with a grain of salt.

I think the cast was pretty strong here and that every actor/actress did a good job, even the ones with minor roles including the child actress.

I'm glad the main actress chose this role because she is mostly known for playing glamorous, leading lady types and this drama allowed her to try something different. I liked her controlled performance throughout because this restraint created an even more powerful effect during those scenes where she finally had to erupt and get emotional. I also like how she had help from several other, like-minded characters, namely the supporting female lead who was just as abused as she was and also the male lead who played her love interest. One of the tropes here is that they were all broken people who supported each other because they could see eye to eye and because the regular justice system couldn't help them like it should have. I'm also glad because it seemed (even for a melo), realistic for me that she couldn't do everything by herself even if she was clever about some things.

There is one part of the plot that I feel was handled poorly and this is how she got revenge on her former high school teacher. I felt that it was silly and that the guy could have just walked out of the room full of flowers if he was so allergic! Other than that, I liked the drama, even if it isn't something I'd rewatch.

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This one’s a classic and I feel that many of the tropes from shojo manga or even romantic k-drama (plain cinderella surrounded by a bunch of good looking guys, rich guy/poor girl, evil mother in law, etc.) were inspired from this. In other words, it’s got everything people either love or hate depending on their personal tolerance or liking for these old tropes.


The male lead is very controversial. He’s downright mean in the first few episodes and almost does something unforgivable in the fourth episode (something I wish they had removed because the story would have worked just as well without it, IMHO) but I could see what the writer was trying to do with him…he’s a big sweetheart and probably one of the most devoted and unwavering MLs by the 30th episode onwards; almost like an entirely different person but it takes awhile for him to get there and maybe for others (understandably) a little too late.

The relationship between the ML/FL only work out here if* the viewer likes the trope where one character transforms after going through a lot of changes. I was loving the ML/FL by the latter episodes but again, it took a long time to get to that point and there’s a lot of angst a viewer has to wade through, brought on by their social status differences and his meddling evil mother.

I’ve seen several versions of HYD/MG. It was a huge hit when it aired in my country; in fact, it started the asian drama wave in the 2000s. I think this might be the best version because of how closely it follows the manga. It does something better in that it manages to soften the characters even further and inject more sweet moments between the ML and FL, which I didn’t see much of in the HYD comic. I could actually tell that they liked* each other here, compared to other versions where they just bickered most of the time. It also handled the amnesia arc from the comic very effectively…I didn’t like that trope.

Also, casting is on point for all the characters here, especially the F4. I’ve always thought Lee Min Ho from BOF and Bright from the Thai F4 were too soft and pretty to be Domyouji/Dao Ming Si..but they would have been perfectly cast as the 2nd ML. IMHO, only the Japanese, Taiwanese and now the Chinese versions cast the ML right. So far, the only San Cai/Tsukushi I like are the ones played by Barbie Su and Mao Inoue. The one here is just alright. It’s a nice touch that they made her a chef.

The only thing I didn’t like about this version were the episodes that focused on a made up character named Zhou Caina, who was not part of the comic..and also the last episode which seemed rushed and out of the place.

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I really enjoyed watching this light and fluffy romantic gaming series. It was fast paced, didn’t drag and the leads had good chemistry. I’m not a gamer but I was able to feel the stakes for the characters every time they had a challenge, won a game or suffered a loss in their tournaments.

The ML/FL were adorable. I think this might have the funniest ML I’ve ever seen in awhile. He had this way of cracking a joke, insulting someone or being very sweet towards the FL with this deadpan expression which made the situation really funny. The FL was even more expressionless but it didn’t bother me; I think it’s because it made her seem calm and in control when she was gaming…and also because she had many funny scenes herself and her blank face made it more laughable. The other team members were also very likable and had good interactions with the leads. It’s great how there were episodes that focused on some of them and their back stories; it fleshed them out better.

There’s an OW here but what I like about this drama is that it doesn’t create annoying situations where the other party fakes something which causes unnecessary angst, separations and stupid decision making from the leads. ML basically tells her point blank that he isn’t into her and she respects it, which is how it should be. There’s also an OM at some point but it’s mostly played for laughs and all the characters are very respectful to each other.

One criticism I have is that the gaming is a bit confusing because the camera doesn’t zoom in enough and when it does, there’s no indication who is playing which character. They make use of characters from a real game called Onmyouji Arena, but the thing is that the characters here tend to look similar…it’s not like Street Fighter where the characters look distinctive. One remedy for this would have been showing a small picture of the real player when a character appears.

I think I might like this even more than LoveO2O but I liked that one as well, for different reasons.

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WARNING: major spoilers

This is a good romantic drama but only if you don’t mind a bit of filler/fluff/slower episodes, which is the reason why it took me awhile to finish this. I know a lot of people like a slower pace which is fine, it’s just a matter of preference. I thought the chemistry between the leads was pretty good despite the repetitiveness of some scenes. They were pretty believable as a couple. The only thing is that once you see them get to the solution where they are finally able to leave North Korea…you might roll your eyes and wonder why they didn’t do this in the first place and why they had to go through much harder routes. Also, the main bad guy was ridiculous at times. The actor did fine, but there was a scene where he is shot several times at close range and still doesn’t die like he’s superhuman or something. When I thought about it, I felt that they should have made his commanding officer the main villain instead since he was just following his orders.

There’s a good bromance between the four soldiers under the ML and also some sismance between the elderly ajummas who befriend the FL. All heartwarming.

I also liked the second FL. I felt sorry for her at first…I normally do not* like this type of love triangle. Actually, I don’t care for love triangles in general but the worst are the ones with two females and a male (usually written by male authors but there are some* exceptions) mostly because I do not like how the female characters are written in these stories…but in here, given that the ML had an arranged marriage with her and this is North Korea we are talking about, I felt that what happened after made sense.

Some might not like the rosy depiction of North Korea, which I understand. I’ve had some conversations with some South Koreans about this, and some of them have expressed wanting to have a peaceful relationship with NK…not sure if this is the reason for how NK is depicted here. But if you want to see a realistic depiction of NK, this is not it.

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I'm not a gamer but I really enjoyed this drama. It was pretty unique in how it showed the characters in both the gaming world and the real world- I've never seen anything like this before. The main leads had chemistry, there was bromance (among the male lead and his buddies), sismance (among the female lead and her buddies) and most of the characters (even the antagonists) were either likeable or managed to redeem themselves in the end. The relationship between the main couple here was cute and believable. One criticism I have is that the main male lead was too robotic. I liked his character and his relationship with the FL a lot but...he just didn't seem human. I don't think it has to do with how 'perfect' he was. I've seen a lot of dramas (Korean dramas, Chinese dramas, Japanese dramas etc) with perfect leading characters and this never bothered me if the story was well written. But in here, ML didn't seem to have any emotions except for being smiling, confident or blank faced.

The FL had moments were she felt bad (ex: when her friend grew angry with her etc) and moments where she appeared to be a normal human girl (ex: giggling with her friends, getting upset, feeling unhappy, etc)...but I never witnessed the ML here go through any human emotions like that. It was pretty weird...like watching a mannequin walk and talk. There are a LOT of other MLs (ex: Ye Hua from Eternal Love, etc) that fall into the 'perfect male' category but for some reason, even Yehua who happens to be an actual god seemed somehow more human than Xiao Nai. I think they should have given him scenes were he shows just a little bit of vulnerability. Another thing that bothered me was how all the employees in his company were male, save for the FL. I wouldn't have minded if they had thrown in a few female programmers. It would have made it less unrealistic.

Still, it was a pretty good drama. There were serious moments but nothing too angsty and its overall lightheartedness made it a fun, relaxing watch.

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I was pleasantly surprised that the romcom and time travel aspects went well together, but the serial killer scenes were a bit off due to the abrupt shift in tone- the scenes would go from warm and sunny to cold and overcast with menacing background music in one instant. The villain was also flat and caricature-like, but given that this was just a plot device to keep the leads apart longer, I didn’t expect an interesting antagonist as if I were watching an actual thriller.

It wasn’t a deal breaker though, and I found myself enjoying this for the most part. The female lead was spirited and charismatic, the male lead was lovable and warm hearted. They had a cute, adorable chemistry.

I also like the creative way the drama used time travel, like when the female lead blurted out spoilers to be able to pause time so she could get from one location to another. Im Sol's determination to protect the male lead, Sun Jae, was endearing and admirable, but it could get frustrating at times; the results of her efforts would tell her time and again that trying to change certain events would only make things worse, but she kept making the same mistake. Then again, I understood why. If you knew your loved one would end up getting murdered, I guess you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from trying to prevent it either, even if your efforts were in vain.

This is a female centric show, but I don’t think of this as a flaw, more like a preference. If you want to see something that has an equal focus on both the leads, or is male centric, this may not be your cup of tea. Most of the story is from the female lead’s point of view and you only get bits of Sun Jae’s perspective later. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a preference for one trope or the other, but if one automatically dislikes a drama because of that one aspect/trope, it might be more practical to just choose another drama that has what they like. There is no point in watching a sports drama if you hate sports, anymore than it being counterproductive to watch a detective story if you hate that genre. I have my own set of preferences and tropes which I normally go for, but if another drama didn’t have what I liked but was still good, I wouldn’t rate it badly either.

Regardless of a drama being female centric, equally focused, multi-perspective, or male-centric…I want a drama to be good at what it does (be good at what it's trying to do), entertain me, be fast paced and have likable characters.

I think Lovely Runner succeeds for the most part. The plot didn’t slow down from beginning to end and while the leads were an odd couple- not just in terms of how they looked together but also how opposite their personalities were (manic, headstrong female lead, shy and vulnerable male lead) they were likeable and sweet together.

My main gripe is that I dislike the drama's over-the-top, slapstick humor. I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the jokes and gags, which were exaggerated. The male lead’s father getting stuck in the bathroom for a whole day because he was too weak to open the door... the second couple (the female lead’s brother and her best friend), were excruciating* in their courtship. They would jump into ponds in plain sight in the middle of the their school campus to avoid being seen, hide in lockers and cabinets, talk in extremely high pitched voices even a deaf person could hear…the toilet humor incident they had which got the best friend to like the brother...I felt that these scenes were plain unfunny and just added filler. They did more to detract from the drama and did nothing to enhance it.

The female lead herself, while spirited and charismatic, was a bit grating at first; she was way too over-the-top for me (shouting at the top of her lungs, etc), especially during her “high school” days, however, she gets better and mellows down during her college years. I don’t particularly care for her voice. I was trying to pinpoint what exactly bugged me about it. I’ve watched many an anime and asian drama with an annoyingly voiced female lead (ex: Orchid in Love Between Fairy and Devil, Sang Zhi from Hidden Love, etc) but they didn’t bother me…finally I realized that it’s because these female leads have high pitched girly voices which fits their age/character type.

The actress playing Im Sol has an old lady voice which doesn't sync with her appearance. It was like watching a 70 year old woman (with a syrupy sweet voice) talk in the body of a 30 something year old. The scene were Im Sol dresses in a monk’s costume with her face covered where she warns Sun Jae not to become a swimmer…I could really imagine an old woman as the embodiment of that voice.

The actress can’t help it though. It's her natural speaking voice and that aside, both she and the actor did fine; their performances weren’t extraordinary or anything like that. I could easily imagine another actress or actor playing them, but they delivered well and entertainingly. The rest of the cast were alright. There’s also a love triangle here, but it’s mostly played for laughs. I think the story does best when it focuses on the leads.

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