3
So this drama is, first and foremost, very brave: it takes a topic generally considered yawn inducing - and conceited - and builds upon it one of the cleverest, suspenseful plot I've had the fortune to watch. Because the topic intrigued me, I approached this drama expecting to be intellectually swept away. What I wasn't prepared for, was to have my feelings deeply involved too. This drama is clever, yes, but it's emotionally intense and moving too.
Truth be told, in the beginning I was so confused by the trillion characters, names all sounding the same and genealogy tree that for a moment I thought I had suddenly become an idiot. Should you happen to experience the same, please don't despair: this is like a pile of jigsaw puzzle tiles thrown at you all at once that you start putting together. Once you have glimpsed the main picture, the rest follows on its own. I haven't found a single dull moment in the 24 episodes. I enjoyed the sometimes long political dialogues and didn't want to miss a word. I enjoyed the steadfast growth of each character and the relationship between them all, the marvelous setting, the wuxia-like sword fights.
Mostly, I enjoyed the portrayal of a great King, which naturally leads me to the acting. Among the brilliant performances of all, Han Seok Kyu shines his own light. I was sad to see Song Jong Ki go, as he delivers a great act of a young and fearful king who grows a backbone, but it's his older version I came to love, admire and enjoy the most. Second in my personal enjoyment chart is, hear hear, So Yi/Dam. By general consensus, a female character is considered strong when she opposes the rules, or when she can kick and fight. So Yi's strength, however, is in the brain, which she uses to comply with the rules, instead of opposing them. Shin Se Kyung embodies intelligence and courage in a very calm and effective way. Loved her to bits. Our third lead is the bridge between the passionate vision of a King and the idealism of the woman he loves. His common sense and simple views on life are a paramount addition to the dynamic and while he undergoes a major change throughout the drama, he stays consistent to his nature till the very end.
A character/actors review would be incomplete without the villains. There are moments when you may question who the villains really are. Their motives aren't wrong in the grand scheme of things, but idealism alone won't win a war and their methods go from arguable to unacceptable, mixed as they are with political greed, blind loyalty or personal grudge. Kudos to all the actors, though, for making me love to hate them.
I don't think the music is the strong trait of this drama. It has a few instrumental pieces and a couple of songs which are neither a disturbance nor a feeling magnifier. I must admit, however, that a couple of pieces are quite haunting, as I found myself humming a tone or two while doing totally unrelated things. Whether this is because they were used too often or because they were good, I don't know.
I've long debated about the re-watch value. I don't see myself sitting through the whole drama again in the near future, mostly because a well crafted thriller lingers in the memory much longer than a simpler plot. Ironically, its high quality makes this into a one-time experience. Which doesn't mean I won't go back to it when a considerable time has lapsed. It's an intense journey I recommend to everyone who's ready to invest a good dose of concentration in a drama.
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Hong Kong Express is no exception. The acting is, not surprisingly, brilliant. Tony Leung in particular delivers his nonchalant, ironical and obsessed cop to perfection. To Kaneshiro the honour of the best line in the movie.
The director often uses a tecnique called step-framing, in which a character is frozen in time while the world around him or her moves at incredible speed. The viewer is therefore often deceived as to the real chronology of events.
So, this is a movie about love, but it's most of all a story of solitude, like those frozen characters, who are as lonely in a metropole as little ants in a moltitude of insects.
I gave it a 8 because I need to spare the 10 for "In the Mood for Love", possibly Kar-Wai's masterpiece so far.
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While telling an interesting story, Healer manages to do brilliantly what most fictional works should and sometimes fail to do: create 4-dimentional characters, believable persona whose growth and mutual interaction reach the heart of the viewer. When characterization is so strong, the plot twists - whatever they are - fall to the background, becoming a mean to an end. In this sense, it doesn't matter how many times the same plot subject has been used in a drama: what matters is how this same subject pertains to the journey of the characters. The reason why I was constantly on the edge of my seat while watching Healer, is not because I wondered what was going to happen next, but because I was eager to know how each character would react to a certain event. Will she give up? Will he fall apart? Will that one lie, speak the truth, run away, face the challenge, cry, laugh, rejoice? What would I do, in their shoes?
And every single time I feared the ominous K-drama tropes would sneak into the narration with the usual noble idiocy, nth misunderstanding, petty jealousy or envious triangles, these characters surprised me and made me extremely happy for NOT conforming.
Someone here called this drama "a breath of fresh air" and I couldn't agree more.
This story, while simple on the surface, hides a few, much deeper and more complex subjects. One over all, the roles of adults and how their choices can make the lives of children a living hell. K dramas have accustomed us to adults who abandon their children, or abuse them, dictate them, mold them to their will, silence them. In the best of scenarios, they over protect them. This drama, on the other hand, gives out a different message: adults should give their children the means to fight their own battles, their own way. The same could be said about women, who are the true strong point of this drama. I wish I could write an essay on Young Shin and Ahjumma, but don't worry, I'll spare you the boredom, Suffice to say, true courage and strength are not in the fists.
Healer is also a love story. A sweet, realistic, heart wrenching and heartwarming love story made of little, endearing details. It's the encounter of a young man with a tough shell and a vulnerable soul and a young woman with a fragile body and a brave, unwavering heart. They are so natural together, watching them is a pleasure. I think I fell irremediably in love with them as a couple. I ascribe it to the acting, but also to the brave script, which for once depicts 2 young adults who admits they are attracted to each other physically as well as emotionally. I do not expect a drama to show me anything happening under the sheets, but I'm a little weary of tons of dramas where the girl is shocked by the mere hands touching and calls for a trial. Guess what, Young Shin and Jung Hoo are human!
I've read somewhere this drama had a very low budget, so low that they had to film lots of scenes in a rush and couldn't afford complicated special effects. I grew even fonder of it because of this and wish viewer would stop comparing this show to others which had a lot more money to work with. All the actors give out the impression of truly believing in what they are doing, that's possibly why there's a collective, tangible alchemy keeping the whole cast together. As for the music, I admit at not having liked a particular song in the beginning, but because it was so fitting to the story told, I ended up loving it too. The instrumental pieces were perfect.
As I said, I've already watched this twice. When I reached the end the first time, I felt the urge to go see again how it all began and how it all unfolded. When it comes to dramas I like, I am a serial second watcher and go in search of that lost detail I've overlooked before. I think Healer lends itself very well to multiple watching, because even when you already know the outcome, the journey there still has so much enjoyment to give.
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It had the best potential of all: the ability to create some unforgettable characters. And it truly managed to do so in the beginning, combining a good plot with some seriously beautiful moments, a good dose of weirdness which I'm partial to and great chemistry between the characters.
However, as it sometimes happens with drama crushes, at some point my love deflated. I can't even pinpoint the main reason for this change of heart. It may be the fact that the more I neared the end of it, the more I predicted almost every turn, or because some details became repetitive - and in a drama whose episodes are so short, there's not so much time to lose on the nth flashback. Most likely, I had been waiting for a characters' arc which never truly came, leaving me with that unpleasant feeling you get when, after waiting for hours for an icecream, you finally start eating it and it falls on the floor.
It is, however, a drama fully worth of the time spent on it. As I said, I watched the first 9 episodes with no interruption and a passion I had almost forgotten I possess. While the acting ability of all is not stellar, they certainly compensate with beautiful close-up shots and an amazing collective alchemy among the whole cast.
The music is terrific and perfectly chosen for each scene. I suspect it is partly responsible for my blind love for this drama.
I may rewatch this drama in the future. Not for the plot but for the pleasure of watching these young actors again.
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It's not well known, possibly because it's not studded with the usual idols fangirls swoon about. Sad, because it is wonderfully acted and incredibly original, from the surprising beginning to the absolutely unexpected ending. The pace is slow, which can deter some, but I personally found it perfect, with the exception of a couple of instances by the middle. The symbolism of it captivated me from minute one, and I think this is the most fitting title of a drama ever.
This dorama is a collection of memorable lines and even more unforgettable characters.
Takizawa Hideaki and Fukada Kyoko do a splendid job in portraying their characters: the first leads the viewer where he wants, once liking him, another time hating him, then again fearing him or feel compassion; she, on the other hand, is either love or hate. I usually am deeply annoyed by girly girls all cuteness, pink and seeming candour, but she is so artless, even in her machinations, that I found her adorable. This is not a pretty girl playing cute: cute is her essence, and even in her apparent silliness, there's an unexpected depth of thought.
But who really did it for me are the secondary characters, played by Yosuke Kubozuka and Uchiyama Rina. Terrific acting skills and wonderful character development by both. Not that I doubted it: I still have to see Kubozuka playing a part without doing an outstanding job. And Uchiyama is downright brilliant in this.
The music is another very strong point. Without being a fan of Abba myself, I thought the soundtrack was chosen with sense and logic. I like it when single music pieces identify a single character, to the point you know who's going to be portrayed even though you close your eyes.
In conclusion: I watched this thanks to a Perfect recommendation; I hope to be able to pass on a little of that with my review.
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This review may contain spoilers
Great reviews for this rare gem have already been written, but even without having anything new or original to add, I feel the uncontrollable need to come here and share the joy with whomever wants to read.This drama is brilliant. It's profoundly human, histerically funny, heartwarming, emotional, at times highly gratifying and - given the premises - surprisingly uplifting. Who would have thought I'd enter prison with gloomy anxiety and come out of it with a huge grin of satisfaction, almost wishing they would prolong my sentence and let me stay a little longer behind bars?
The strengh of the script is the wonderful ensamble of characters. They literally invade the viewer's life with their diverse personalities, background stories and antics. I laughed, despaired, feared, anxiously waited with them and never felt bored, even when the events taking place are paramount only for the characters and not for the script itself. It happens when the world of a drama or movie is so well outlined you forget it's fictional.
Fenomenal acting by everyone bar none. Alas, I can't fill up the page with ravings about each one of them: it would take too long, I'd end up being spoilerish somewhere and I'd bore those who haven't watched the drama yet to death. Suffice to say all the actors had the time and the means to shine, both individually as well as a group, proof of their talent but also of an awesome director's work.
Perfect score for the music too. This ost does not exist only to soundtrack the scenes, it also exists in the world of the characters, it's listened to by them, even sung by them, so that we have the weirdest blend of classical music, rap, old korean folk, opera and everything in between. There isn't the usual love ballad played at every turn, until it becomes haunting in a bad way. This soundtrack adds to the story, instead of simply working as a background to the written events. Genius.
Prison Playbook was warmly recommended to me. I'm deeply grateful to all my friends here who encouraged me to watch it and I hope this short review may have the same effect on others. Perhaps some of you are hesitating because of the setting: indeed, there's no glamour here, no super trendy clothes to show off with, no highly dramatic love story, and the goodlooking actors aren't here to simply beautify the set. This drama goes deeper than that, it will make you laugh a lot and it will make you cry, but rest assured you won't regret a single tear.
My only warning: the first episode. Now that I have completed the drama, I could rewatch it with a new perspective. The first time around however, that long pilot felt kind of hard to get through. Hang in there, please. It's worth the patience!
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Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata - Ending Planner
19 people found this review helpful
I'm not implying Saikou no Jinsei has got no plot, but it's not the kind one would run to watch and sit through with bathed breath. This is the story of a family, of their little and big trials. But most of all it tells of what it means to shoulder responsibility for the people we care for.
I may just as well confess that I started this because I wanted to stare at Yamapi. He's a pleasure for the eye in general, but there's a tangible improvement in his acting skill too. I grew very fond of him and all the main characters. I like it when details and hints are rationed slowly, because that's what happens in real life too: we are presented with a family picture, and bit by bit we are offered glimpses of who they are and where they are going.
The whole cast did a brilliant job, and I found myself with moisture in my eyes more than once. I was impressed by Yamashita's ability to convey his feelings here, and I was entertained by his relationship with both his family and Yuki-chan. It also amazes me that I managed to laugh a lot more often than what is expected by the general atmosphere.
I didn't like the music at all. Not only it isn't my cup of tea, I also thought it was very unfitting now and then. Luckily though, it does not overpower the dialogues or the scenes, and it can therefore be overlooked.
Rewatch value is not too high, but if you like family dramas and touching plots, you may give this one a try.
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I was captivated on minute 1 and enjoyed the whole ride till the very last.
The true strength of this show lies in the characterization. I love the speedy way in which each character is introduced, without unnecessary premises: the viewer is immediately catapulted into the birth of this new police division and the methods which are going to be used by the team to solve each case.
The staff members come to life so swiftly and clearly, I was eager to see the next episode just in order to hear them interact with each other. They are hilarious, over the line like any true Japanese character and yet so believable and endearing.
And then there is their BOSS. Yuki Amami is a wonder here. She's determined, beautiful, self-ironic, tremendously intelligent. The kind of woman I'd like to be at forty - honestly, if I could only look like her at 44 I'd be the happiest woman on earth.
Her character is a riot and a model of what I call class.
This is an episode drama, therefore it can be viewed either in one raw or taking time between one episode and the next. I did a marathon because each case left me wanting for more, but there isn't a main sub-plot which requires steadfastness.
I liked the music too: it isn't an unforgettable original soundtrack, but it highlights the scenes with due pathos.
If you're looking for a clever detective story, with some profiling/psychology, lovable, funny characters and intriguing crimes, watch this.
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It left me hungry for more of these adorable characters, and made me hungry for mouth watering food while watching. In short, the title says it all.
The pairing food=hunger may seem obvious, but there's much more to it than what meets the eye. I love the food philosophy as it is portrayed here, because almost each character is defined by his or her way to interact with food. For some it is a simple nourishment, for others, a vehicle to express themselves, the means to capture someone's heart, to force out a smile or the way to forget a childhood of privation.
I was more than once reminded of "Ratatuille", the disney animation film, and the moment in which the merciless food critic savours a bite of ratatuille and is immediately catapulted back to his childhood and the memory of his mother's love.
Food really has the power to stir up memories and rouse imagination.
I came to love all the characters and was impressed by the performance of the entire cast. Granted, Takimoto Miori is basically playing Mio from Ikemen desu ne all over again, but as somebody else wrote before me, she's so adorable I'm ready to forgive her for being still an unripe actress. Osamu Mukai is spot on, and I particularly enjoyed him when he would start talking like a dockworker, rolling his "rrr" and using foul language. But my favourite character is without a doubt Taku with his absent-minded ways and his infectious smile. Their friendship and ties are a pleasure to watch: hilarious, sincere, believable.
The music is great. Every piece fits the scene to perfection without ever overpowering it.
There's much more to say about this drama, but I believe it has to be... eaten, instead of read about. Re-watch value is very high because once you've tasted something good, you definitely want to eat it again, sooner or later.
I may just add that this is a further evidence that reviews and recommendations can be truly useful: I watched hungry! because I trust the opinion of other reviewers here and I'm very glad I did.
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Why I decided to watch The Moon/Sun is a long story which I'm kindly going to spare you. Suffice to know, 20 minutes in and I was hooked. This review is therefore dedicated to viewers who, like me, have never been fond of the genre.
Captivated by the details of folklore scattered throughout this drama, I decided to read up on their historical dependability. I so found out that the Saeguks of the past were all based upon true facts derived from Joseon annals, while the newer productions often deviate from this norm, by either introducing a few fictional facts on a documented background (fusion Saeguks) or creating a fantasy world in terms of characters, plot, even costumes. The Moon embracing the Sun falls into the latter category, so if what you look for is a lesson on how royalty lived in the Joseon era, you'd better forget this drama. This isn't a perfect Saeguk by far, possibly not a perfect drama either. It is, however, a perfect fairytale and in this light I believe it fully deserves the high marks many of us awarded it and the success it attained in Korea.
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The fairytale elements are all there from the very beginning. Prepare yourself for a journey into magic, undying love, friendship, betrayal, hate, tears, laughter, curses and so on and so forth. A childlike approach to the viewing is needed, lest you want to spend your time wondering at its credibility or lack thereof. And because a work of fiction should never be judged outside its narrative context, it is undeniable this story works, and works well. Now that I have completed it, I fully understand the complains of those who wished for a different epilogue for some of the characters, but personally I was prepared to face losses and would go as far as to say they were a necessity induced by the premises of this story.
I won't spend too many words on the acting. Everybody has sang praises for the teenagers' cast, which I second. Nevertheless, the adult cast was outstanding, Han Ga In included – it was truly hard to surpass the grace, beauty and artless charm of the 13 year old Yeom Woo. Han Ga In didn't steal my heart at first but sneaked into it with steadfast progression. She has one of the most pleasant voices I know. I was literally mesmerized by Kim Soo Hyun, but I won't lie: I have a hard time separating my hormonal reaction to my logical thinking, when it comes to him. Whatever the case, he gave life to a multilayered, unforgettable character.
I'd love to talk in detail about each and every endearing character – see on top the Eunuch and Wun – but I fear this is becoming long enough.
I thought the transition from children to adults was marvellously made, and not surprisingly my very favourite scene is the 8 years jump, both on a visual as well as an emotional and symbolic level.
There have been times when I wished they had made use of more open-space sets, but not only I have not enough experience in period dramas to know whether this is often the case, but following what I wrote before, the enclosed setting works well in creating a sort of fantasy bubble out of time and reality.
Little visual details made my day, and I have no qualms in declaring this drama displays the most beautiful letter ever shown on screen.
A huge part of this drama emotional impact is played by the music. Mainly instrumental and with lovely insertions of traditional instruments such as zithers, harps and lutes, it would be perfectly fit for a grand period movie. Notable mention for the minor key pieces, especially 'Like Petals, Like Flames', 'The Sorrow Song of Love' and the enchanting 'Butterfly Dance'. They all play on the viewer's emotion and are wonderfully suggestive of the scene they soundtrack.
As for re-watch value… I am toying with the idea of starting afresh next week. I suppose this says it all.
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This review may contain spoilers
Ugh
After plumbing the depths of my brain in search of a suitable word to express my “enjoyment” – or lack thereof – of this drama, ugh is all I could come up with.Now, before I start my very long rant, a clarification is needed: this is about the second part of the drama, that is from episode 28 to 56. I thought the first was lovely and captivating, so full of promises it made the wreck that followed so much more painful to endure.
Truth be told, a few hints of puzzling directing and editing extravaganzas were given away in the earlier episodes: perhaps I should have doubted my choice when, 5 minutes into the very first episode, our dark hero is given a cloak to wear, he puts it on with whooshing grandeur, only to mount his horse the next second without it! It gave me such a delicious Doctor Strange vibe, with a flying cloak coming and going at its own accord.
Or I should have sensed looming trouble by the 5th time our hero – yes, he again – stood there like a war totem staring in the distance with fixed gaze. Please do not go micro-expressions on me: when something moved, it was clearly from the very natural and irrepressible need of the actor to blink, now and then.
That Ling Bu Yi was in fact a Marvel character under Han dynasty disguise, became more and more evident as the show progressed, what with slow motion sequences of him swirling Niao Niao around (but still staring in the distance) or appearing out of thin air with black guards in tow to save the day and the girl, not to mention surviving the most improbable wounds/falls/cataclysm etc. His acting improves in later episodes, as though he really started to feel his character, instead of just acting it which, as I’ll mention later, didn’t help the mess this plot became.
But, as I said, the story was still to unfold and held lots of promises. Then Part 2 came.
Another reviewer here said perhaps they employed 2 teams for this script and its mise-en-scène, and I second this theory. The A-team was responsible for Part 1 and a few scenes of 2 but then went on a holiday, on strike or sick-leave and left everything else in the hands of a trainee who didn’t know what to do with it.
Let’s address the elephant in the room first: Niao Niao.
We spent 27 episodes learning that this poor girl has been abandoned at birth in the unfriendly arms of the silliest grandmother ever created and an avid aunt. She had to fend for herself all her 15 years of age and grew up to be unpolished but independent, cunning and extremely intelligent. So much so, that when we are repeatedly introduced with other daughters, all of them born and raised the “proper way” and all of them, invariably, bitchy – with two lonely exceptions – I couldn’t help but deduce that if you want a child to grow up well, you need to abandon her, neglect her, starve her and slap her. The authors spent so much energy at creating a galaxy of female villains, young and old, that any analysis on the family dynamics that made Part 1 so intriguing flew out of the window. Was it a way to make Niao Niao shine by contrast? If so, shame on the author, for that’s a dirty trick indeed.
At first she is the epitome of an emancipated and courageous free-thinker, which gives out the false impression this drama were a celebration of female spirit; alas, there are so many quacking, quarrelling, cruel and jealous women around her that she ends up being the odd one out, hence defeating the object. To make matters worse, Shao Sheng herself slowly grows to become irritating and eventually insufferable.
When we finally come to Niao Niao realizing she wants to marry Doctor Strange… sorry, I mean Ling Bu Yi, I did ask myself why. Why? Trumpets…. Because he saved her several times! We know it because her “epiphany” consists on a series of flashbacks all involving him swooping her in his arms like the macho he is to prevent her from being hurt or killed. And yet she clearly and repeatedly stated she didn’t want to be treated like a damsel in distress. We all know he fell in love at first… hand, but I honestly still don’t know why and when Niao Niao fell in love with him. If her motivation were escaping her mother’s overbearing disapproval, then she chose the wrong environment to move to, something her mother and even Yuan Shen tried repeatedly to make her understand, of course to no avail.
Possibly realizing the direction the show was (not) taking, the authors saw it fit to morph Miao Miao (no typo) into the most annoying know-it-all busybody in imperial China. I spent all the early to middle part of this Part 2 expecting her to pop up at every imperial council, palace banquet, chamber, garden gathering, private conversation to speak her mind on the subject and endlessly preach: and I was never disappointed, cause so she did! To further complicate my personal sense of propriety, nobody in the whole imperial court had anything to object to whatever she did or said – except of course the villains, whose sole scope of existence is to annoy Shao Shang and, by default, Super Ling. We know nothing of these villains’ story or upbringing, for all we know they too went through some sort of trauma, the same we are supposed to use to justify our main leads shortcomings. This dichotomy in treatment permeates the whole drama, depriving it of logic and ethic.
The whole palace part was a snoring fest for me, because at that point the format was repetitive and predictable. I am well aware this is fiction, but the idea that an Emperor of China spends all his waking hours, and some sleep I suppose, playing paranymph to his beloved Zisheng is ludicrous. Is he a nice character? No doubt, but isn’t he supposed to also lead a country in his free time? Doesn’t he have other children? Furthermore, everything about his grand schemes of having Shao Shang and Bu Yi “find each other” are comical, rendering the few heart-wrenching scenes bizarre and filled with shall I laugh or cry dilemma. He basically ruins the party by being the party’s buffoon.
And what happened to the pace? I distinctly remember often having a hard time following the subs in part one, so fast they were. Once in the Palace, dialogues became sooooo slow, at times they uttered one word a minute. The whole Empress arc was kind of painful to watch and tedious to read, and I breathed in relief whenever the Consort come into the picture. My watching became a series of: “here we go again!”, “let’s ff this”, “please come to the point”, “you already said that” and, of course, “ugh”.
The love story is the one which paid the highest price in all this, because it too became repetitive, lacklustre and now and then saccharine. How many times can we have these two standing there gazing in each other’s eyes? How many combinations of words can be used to say the same thing?
him - Trust me, I don’t want to control you
her – Don’t patronize me. I am who I am
me – Give me my 40+ hours back
It was incredibly anti-climactic from some beautiful scenes they gifted us with in Part 1. They had a deeper chemistry when they were separated than when they were together, like two positive poles that repel one another. Even their touches, kisses included, looked forced.
Then, suddenly the drama takes a U-turn and becomes gory, melo-tragic, messed up and slightly disturbing. Everyone talks about death, litres of blood are shed and the moral compass becomes so blurred I couldn’t empathize with any of the character. In fact, I started loathing them, mostly our main leads, who at this point I’ll call Brangelina, or Mr and Mrs Smith. “Let’s go save the galaxy, my love, but before that let us bite our arms and do some amusing slaying, just as long as we do it together!” Ling Bu Yi shows his true colours, and they aren’t the shades I like at all. It didn’t help that we have Miao Miao go from “I need no man” to “I can’t live without this man” passing by “You’re all bitches because you don’t respect your men” and other equally contradictory and preposterous statements.
The acting changed too in this Part 2. I’ve already mentioned Leo Wu’s improvement; ironically, his better acting came in pair with Zhao Lu Si losing spark and believability. She was marvellous as a rebel teenager, well blending insecurity and stubbornness; not so as a woman crazily in love. He aced the besotted glance, while she just looked at him as though she was reading a recipe in slow motion – granted, we were told she was a prodigy at everything except reading. I don’t even know what the heck she expected of this guy, at some point I thought she was more blood-thirsty than him and was miffed because he didn’t invite her to the murder fest. Her idea of being equal to her man consisted of becoming LIKE him and do everything together, even those things she had no knowledge, training or experience of. Equally important does not mean being the same. To put it simply, I never bought their galactic love, neither in words, nor in deeds or stance. By the end I felt something akin to aversion for them, both as individuals as well as a pair.
Re-watch? Thank you, but no thank you. The highlights of the drama to me were Shao Shang’s mother, the Emperor’s Consort and the Cheng family as a whole. I would gladly watch a spin off solely focused on them and a love story between Yuan Shen and whomever – except Miao Miao, obviously, who by now will be busy creating an efficient torture device for her deranged man to use.
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Everything about it marks a shift from the usual Korean pattern: plot, lines, direction, editing, photography, ending.
I was hesitant at first because I read too many compare it to Sex & The City - not my cup of tea. But I soon found out that, although the premises are similar - three friends experiencing and openly discussing their love and sexual lives - the general feel of it is completely different. Less stress on glamour and a lot more on internal struggles and doubts, all spiced up with a clever sense of humour and surprisingly GOOD kisses.
I watched the whole show with a big grin on my face. It felt so much like my real friends and I meeting at a bar and talking about ourselves, gossiping about men and their idiosincracy, it was amazing. I love Korean dramas for their exotic touch, situations I would never experience myself because they are culturally too different from my reality; but this drama managed to depict "universal" characters and situations. It felt real, albeit comedic, and as a woman I identified with all of them, on one level or another.
And it's impossible to watch it without talking about it. "What would you do?", "who would you chose?", "did she make the right decision?". All questions one is almost compelled to discuss with someone.
Direction is refreshing too. I thought the use of captures, or episode stills was a very clever choice: expressions are encapsulated in a moment in time and stored away, like a photo album.
The pace is fast and the music soundtracks it with hilarious cohesion.
Overall, a funny, realistic, well characterized drama, which I recommend to every adult. It may not appeal to younger viewers; as for inappropriate scenes, I saw none, but keep in mind I speak as a European.
The final message of this drama is: cherish yourself and your true friends, they won't let you down.
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My review could very well end here, and you'd get the gist. Nevertheless, a simple comparison would be unfair towards this drama and decisively too flattering towards the other two.
There are at least 3 reasons to prefer Sungkyunkwan Scandal (after 4 years I've finally learnt to write this title) to other gender/bender, flowery boys scenarios:
1. The female heroine is intelligent! How refreshing. Not only she has a well working brain, but she doesn't let anyone trample all over her. Her goal in life is more edifying than simply get the guy. In this sense, SKK is way more modern than many K-dramas set in today Asia.
2. Directly related to the above, the flower boys are actually nice people! They overcome prejudice, value friendship and don't go around grabbing the girl's wrist at every turn.
3. Everyone is MUCH better dressed. I'd say colours and costumes are a huge part of this drama's charm.
This said, the drama is not flawless. I believe its main weakness lies in the way conflicts are resolved. While highly interesting and thought-provoking issues are raised - gender equality, homosexuality, eastern vs. western philosophy (Confucius vs. Socrates), the power of knowledge and others, they aren't in any way resolved and at times are very superficially concluded. Mind you, not that a tv-show could ever give us the answers to such essential questions, but even in the enclosed world of the narration some plot threads should have had a conclusion but didn't. We are left to wonder when and how the packet has been so prettily wrapped.
Also, the pace is uneven. The drama is somehow divided in groups of episodes, each developing and in a way closing: the entrance, the tournament, the scandal, the treasure hunt etc. The love story is charming in the beginning, drags in the middle and gets very charming again by the end. I wish they had shortened the angst - which works very well for the male lead who's facing a true conflict, but makes the female suddenly annoying - and given more space to their delightful romantic banter. Even the ending could have been better elaborated and conclusive, had they cut short on the middle anguish.
All in all, however, this is a lovely, funny, feel-good watch. The acting is fine enough, since it has no pretence of greatness. Don't expect stellar performances, they are all a little stony at times, but they look young and pretty, so one is ready to forgive them.
Not surprisingly, my very favourite character here - Yeorim - is also the best acted one. I've sit through the whole drama waiting to see what he would say next and what new outfit he would wear.
Music is, for me, the true sore spot. I appreciated the insertion of modern rhythm on a period setting because the drama is meant to be "timeless". The instrumental pieces are nice, albeit forgettable. The "lover song", on the other hand, got so much on my nerves, my watching partner and I retorted to muting the sound whenever it played (and it played every single time our lovey-dovey pair was together). Have you ever tried watching a kiss in complete silence? Well, don't try: it's terribly awkward, proof that the right music makes up for 50% of the emotion. Since we couldn't have romance+music at the same time, we hummed a tune ourselves.
This review comes after a second watch. I had seen this drama back in 2011, but was distracted by other things at the time and basically couldn't remember a thing. Watching it in good company was a funny and entertaining experience I am ready to recommend.
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If you are reading, it means you're hesitant: please don't be. Don Quixote is a fantastic watch, wonderfully acted, well directed, full of sweetness and serious issues treated with a light touch which is neither shallow nor melodramatic.
But most of all, you will laugh. A lot. Loud.
Yes, I'm a fan of Matsuda Shota and started watching because of him. I had been waiting for his next drama with a passion after Liar Game and prepared myself to be swept away by his very natural charm - and looks, I won't deny it.
He did not disappoint me one bit. He's outstanding: infuriating but incredibly sweet, hilarious but bossy, dense but clever in a very down-to-earth way and just as crazy as the famous hero created by the pen of Cervantes.
But a Don Quixote review would be incomplete and totally unfair without including Sancho Panza in it, brilliantly portrayed here by Katsumi Takahashi. As the synopsis explains, there's a soul switch involved in this drama, so that we see the two actors suddenly changing attitude, accent, facial expressions. The attentive viewer won't fail to recognize the ability of these two actors to wear the clothes of the other. The result is comic and endearing. Takahashi and Matsuda form an unforgettable duo.
All the secondary characters do a splendid job. The Yakuza's family is so improbable you can't help but laugh out loud and all the staff of the child consultation centre grows in depth and characterization.
And then there's the children. Japanese have a true knack of telling children stories, in my opinion. The fact that these kids are all incredibly cute and most of the time talented helps.
I loved the music too. It's in Spanish, as required by the title, and the contrast between the Spanish sunny rhythm and the Japanese architecture and landscapes is so sharp it's brilliant. I also loved the open credit tune with the children drawings, I thought it was a very cute touch.
I will rewatch this drama. Soon enough. I will marathon a second time through it and no doubt be left with the same huge grin on my face.
Highly recommended.
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No doubt it's the best music related drama I've seen. It is so in terms of execution, direction, acting and, last but not least, music. I'm writing this review while listening to "Wake up" full volume.
What makes Shut up flower boy band stand out in the forest of decent to mediocre music dramas, is the incredibly heart-warming portrayal of friendship.
The story is not built upon a particularly eventful plot and I'd go as far as to say that the plot is irrelevant. It is so because what truly captured me as a viewer isn't the storyline, but the collection of unforgettable moments among friends, so perfectly caught by the cameras. There is an alchemy among these young people that is palpable and powerful, sweet and touching, unique and memorable. This is a love story through and through: love for music and romantic love too, but most of all love for friends.
It's also a glimpse on how the music business works, and the picture isn't pretty. Emblematic of its inconsistencies, is the fact that the moment the members of eye candy are given a new, more polished look, is the same moment the seeds of their division are planted. Make rock conform to the business rules and you destroy its intrinsic nature.
Much credit goes to direction and acting. The first is… daring. I appreciated the lack of gloss very much: this is a story about 6 eye candies - in name and fact - however the direction does little to make them look so, focusing on the picture of them as one "body", moving swiftly from one to the other and standing still on tiny details. The result is surprising, as it makes the viewer truly feel for them, instead of being simply captivated by their looks.
The acting is admirable: artless and believable. The last time I've watched such a display of genuine friendship and chemistry among a group of people was in Coffee Prince.
Let me add how adorable the female heroine is. Soo Ah is brave, sweet and honest, without becoming the saint victim I've learned to dislike in so many dramas. She adds a touch of feminine delicacy the drama would otherwise lack.
The music? Brilliant. After so much pop, of which I am no fan, hearing a rock ost was a breath of fresh air. Incredibly well chosen, perfectly executed and just as well used throughout the show.
Highly recommended.
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