inmyrare

good angst at the cost of butchering the female lead

i started this show sometime in may.......it took me 7 months to finish this?!?!

i would have given this show 4/5 stars but they completely ruined it with the last few episodes.
they had good angsty enemies to lovers/doomed love moments but that all came at the expense of butchering the female lead.

we have a good setup and backstory for our lead's journey, him being the devil lord who killed the whole world and her being the pure spirit sent back in time to save the world. we had a good opportunity to see a complex and conflicted journey of falling in love and deciding to choose your own path.
i felt like there were too many filler scenes/storylines which could have been avoided to give space for our lead's to develop a bit more strongly.
like yes we get it tantai jin has had a bad life, his life is epitome of miserable and this pain is what activates the devil lord, so yes we can see his reservations about love and everything. but li susu is supposed to have way more reservations and feel more complicated. she has to see the face which killed everyone she loved and try to prevent the ruin of the whole world, that too alone. we should have seen more of her being conflicted about what she feels towards him, her wondering if she is making the wrong decision by loving him etc. instead we spent a lot of time seeing tantai jin's pain, which yes is needed but i felt like it went on for too long.
tantai jin's character is consistent and his changes makes sense according to his journey. but li susu changed drastically at random points just to get the plot moving. this is very evident in the last few episodes i.e the part after she exchanges her divine essence with the evil bone and reawakens. she was so serious at first, ignoring tantai jin and separating from him for world peace and then she is suddenly very playful with him and then gets drunk and misses out on an important mission. she was conveniently missing from the episodes at the end where major stuff happens, i think we have an episode where she is only present for 10 mins. her life as ye xiuw with tantai jin was also confusing cause we never get a clear idea on what her plan is and every time she is around tantai jin she acts 'cute' (almost baby-ish). we never get a true sense of what she feels about him or whether she is thinking about her duty. her trying to save xiao lin (which then leads to hell) was sooooo confusing to me. even if u want the story to revolve around tantai jin only, li susu needs to be a strong and consistent character cause she is the main reason for his change. also i kinda hated the way the devil lord was so easily re-activated....like wdym li susu time travelled and did all that with no help for it to not matter that much

the angsty parts were good, especially ye xiuw's death. the lore is pretty good and well developed.
them not being able to stay together in every iteration of their soul is insane. matter of fact NO COUPLE got to stay together. everyone died at some point. my least fave might be ye bingchang and xiao lin, they did add much to the story and bringing them back didn't do anything. they should have brought my girl pianran back though

the cgi was not that good to me and at certain times and many of those battle scenes were not needed imo. the ending is good for such a complicated story

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did not live up to its potential

it had an aspect of play a game to live which is similar to squid game and those types of dramas but i would have loved it if they had truly leaned into the games side.
instead we have 8 episodes with so many characters that we don't know much abt a weak setup for s2. we see samut solving many of the puzzles but we don't see how or why, like is he super smart or has life experience for him to get the answers so quickly? we just see him quickly solve it with no thought process or explanation. we get to know the backstory of some characters like mamay and kaen but the rest are just placeholders. we don't know anything abt pie and she does not have any characteristic beyond mark being the center of her world.
imo aom was too much of a perfect angel, i would have burned the school down if i was left in a game and lost 30 years of my life, that too because of my best friend.
the ending was extremely weak. its like the writers realized that they have not developed all of the characters equally so they will throw something ambiguous and set up for a s2 that will never happen.
this show needed more episodes, less main characters, more depth and more focus on the games for it to be great

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what a toxic masterpiece!

one of the best gmmtv series i have seen. that too with a female ensemble cast.
the murder mysteries (and all the other ones) were so intriguing. i was never able to guess who it was going to be. the ending too truly shocked me. almost all the characters had a great storyline. the actors did a great job.
the show truly did something unique. a friend group which is not trustworthy or dependable at all but people are willing to risk their lives for it. the romances were also nicely brought up (and broken down)
Aye's ost too hit the right spots. those lyrics with those scenes?? chef's kiss.
they did their best to make things believable and have some logic, though occasionally u could see the lack of budget and plot holes. but those are ignorable
one change i would have liked is for the narrator to be the actual character. the narrator here was someone who was not part of the cast. it would have hit better if it was the character itself.

i hope gmmtv does more projects like this, especially with such a female centric cast. they have so many talented actresses under them, if they don't want to make gls at least cast the girls in shows like this

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Could have been good if more effort was put in

A very interesting idea but this needed a bigger budget to be good.
Some parts were weird and some were intriguing. They didn't know what to do with Mew's character. One second he is all over Erng and ignoring Fahsai, the next second its the other way around. The other characters were a bit boring too.
I lost interest in the alien thing way before, it didn't help that all of the alien stuff felt like props made in an art class. Its also definitely a choice to cast a dark skinned person and put them in braids to portray an alien. Could have made them green atleast.
Good acting by the cast.
I appreciate gmmtv for trying something different but come on, how will it be good if u don't invest in it
p.s: notice how this a space themed show and both the female leads ended up starring in gls which are also space themed 🤭🤭

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Hit so close to home

i had my eyes on this film ever since its announcement since my girl Tu is in it and all the acclaim it was getting making me even more excited to watch
i was engrossed the whole 2 hours of runtime, never once did i feel bored. the story moved well along and was told with so much love.
i had recently lost both of my grandmothers that too within a month of each other. both of them had become so sick for quite a while that they had become the shells of the people they used to be. this movie reminded me a lot of who they were, the loving and comforting people they were, always welcoming and waiting for my return. i hope they are resting well and i was able to give them back at least a bit of the comfort they had given me

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A short and sweet romance drama

I clicked on the 1st episode because i wanted to watch something short and i got hooked on the first episode onwards. Its a story told quickly yet briefly in 8 eps of two people reconnecting and falling in love. I liked the pacing very much. Since it was short they didn't pull all the annoying cliches. All the characters were so simple yet complex people. I loved the romance and even the angst we got from the ex-bf. Even the side characters were well done, they were fun to watch on their own and when they interacted with the leads. The only annoying thing would be the last conflict they put in but even then it felt a bit different from usual romance drama. The solution also felt good. There were no unnecessary misunderstandings or arguments, even the one argument they had became an opportunity for them to see each other's pov.
I'm glad i decided to watch this, I really enjoyed it. If you are looking for a short simple drama to make you smile I would recommend this to you

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I never thought I would be able to complete a 40-episode drama but here I am, thoroughly enjoying and loving all the episodes.
it is such a beautiful show and Hua Zhi is one of the best female characters I have ever seen. the story of a group of women abandoned in a conservative and misogynistic society but they trample it all and rise.
Hua Zhi was one of the least-liked members of the family but she proved reliable and led everyone to success. all the women in the family unlearning all the internalized misogyny and classism. zhi also remained kind to every person she met throughout the series. even certain male characters who are not 'heroes' are empowered. this a feminist show if u ask me.
the romance was nice between all the couples even though it was not a focal point of the show. some plotlines and couples were rushed at the last few episodes.
the only complaint i would have is that the main lead was a bit too expressionless. the show would have been way better and the romance could have hit harder if he was expressive at certain parts.
I'm very happy that in the end the women continued what they were doing before and didn't go back to their old ways. it's also quite sweet and smart how 'hua' means flower and its connection with the title

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a drama filled with grief to the brim

each and every episode was filled with sadness, there was no escaping it.
to begin with the positives, the acting was great. each cast member did their part perfectly. ohm and tu were great in their characters. even the children were amazing. the set and production were good, every home was unique and felt like someone was actually living there. the costumes were also specific for each character like kongkwan's bows, zo's tomboy-ish dressing, plu with his beanie etc
the plot was interesting on paper but it was not executed very well. i did not get what they were trying to do.
from the past scenes itself it seemed like no one noticed mai or luk that much. after the death, everyone was quick to fight and move away. if they were this good family as they said they would have solved it as soon as it happened. luk's reasoning for going to jail was also weak and selfish, u are willing to go to jail so that his 'reputation' will not be tarnished but u are willing for your whole family to be harassed.
all the adults in this show needed therapy, especially santi, mai and phukao's dad. the dad was horrible. how are u going to ignore your child and abuse him while he is alive and then when he is dead u drink yourself to oblivion and ruin your family. phukao was an absolute asshole. his family falling apart wasn't kongkwan nor her family's fault. his home was already broken. him playing the victim, acting as if people hate him meanwhile he was full-on harassing kongkwan physically and emotionally. the sudden 180 in his behavior after that one jail conversation was so off too.
also how did no one bat an eye at mai and luk's relationship except mai's step-mom???? luk was a teacher and he was a student. even if he failed many years in school, luk would still be much older than him. this is literally pedophilia. also why is she, the adult, making the teenager find a place to live and money????????????
the romance between the 4 felt very forced. the family/brother-sister dynamics were too strong. there was also a lack of chemistry between ohm and tu
the show would have been better if they focused on the 4 of them and their healing and grieving together. there were barely any scenes with them together, especially zo and kongkwan. they said they are sisters but we saw them hang out about 3 times only. it would have been more fruitful to see them learn to forgive and unlearn the hate they learned from their parents.
zo and her dad were the best family in the whole show, they are the happy family which everyone overlooked

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i went in expecting it to be very bad but this is actually decent?
the only reason i watched this was for dew and i watched majority of this in 2x speed so i can't make a fair review on this
the first half is meh but the second half really picked it up.
they could have shown his condition more seriously. they made him a complete man child for quite a while instead of showing how he really struggles with his condition. the romance also felt a bit rushed. they could have taken some time to show them growing closer to each other. once they started dating it was fun to watch them.
a whole negative point for that makeover, she was so damn cute with her glasses and curly hair but they made her look like every other office extra. and the ad placements omg, so many of them every 5 mins, so many unnecessary scenes just to promote the same brand. if i eye rolled every time they did an ad placement my eyes would have fallen out the socket
the other plots were done well, the brother bond and the mother's finding were all done well. they even gave me a quick sip of a love triangle too. they also used an evil female character well here.
the last episode was so good, they wrapped up everything perfectly.
compared to many recent gmmtv series that i have seen, this seems well made, like a decent effort has been made (might be all the sponsorship money from the ads)

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the romcom was romcom-ing, until it didn't

the show began so well, with great characters and storylines but they lost everything in the middle.
this premise of the drama is fascinating, a rich boy trying to hide his sexuality seeks help from his best friend, they get into a fake marriage, his brother opposes and in his effort to stop the marriage he falls in love with his fake sis in-law.
first of all do-han didn't even feel like a main character, he was barely there on the screen and when he was there the same situations happened. they didn't dive into his issues and insecurities even though he is a major character. he also didn't feel like a-jung's best friend. for such great friends they barely hung out.
jihan and a-jung's chemistry in the first episodes were great, amazing i would say. they had great banter and good chemistry, a good combo for enemies to lovers and a forbidden love trope. even the angst was there. but once they got together, everything was lost. they became so lovey-dovey and didn't disagree on anything. the spark was lost. i still don't understand why they broke up after giving everything up.
there was a lot of lost funny moments. jihan finding out that dohan was gay could have been a really funny moment but they made it so dramatic. jihan could have been worrying so much abt the heartbreak a-jung will have if she found out- musters the courage to say it- and ajung being like 'yeah ik'. it would have been so fun given ajung idgaf attitude.
all the side plots were so boring and unnecessary, so much build-up for the mom's death for the big reveal to be the fact that the father is involved.
so this can be added to the list of dramas that could have been great

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Idk how u all get past that age gap

I can't believe these pedophilic shows are the most hyped kdramas
I'm baffled at the whole show having a highschool student as its fl with a male lead who is 900+ years old. Yes, he is going to be older than anyone he meets but they could not have made her a college student or something. If their aim was to have a helpless yet cheerful fl they could have done that but no. straight up child and she was childish the whole time. Its said that she is 19 but a 19 year old in school is no way mature or 'legal' for grown ass people to date. The creators clearly wanted a literal child to be the main lead for the show. They even end the show by reincarnating her as a school girl.
The Grim Reaper-Goblin-Sunny arc was the best part of the show. Their story, how their pasts are connected, how they don't remember each other yet they cross each other's paths were all done well. The show should have been about the grim reaper and sunny's romance with the goblin being the 3rd person narrator and ji eun tak being someone they all mentor/brings them together. A found family trope if u may

The lore was good too, it was interesting till the last few episodes where it seems like they let go of the buildup so that people ended up together. I didn't drop the series for the sole reason of finding out the story, not because of the main couple.

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a drama i will hold close to my heart

i cried at every episode and could not stop
what a story, truly heart breaking
a story abt women and their hardships, true love, a mother's love, the father's love, the dreams and aspirations we all are made of them
to think that aesun's mother's love and determination for her child led to the betterment of two whole generations of people
don't get me started on aesun and gwansik's story, two people giving up their dreams to be together, how they grew up in their love for each other, how they broke toxic cycles to let their children grow. to the very end they were amazing
i even loved geum myeong's story. a eldest daughter's guilt, responsibility, love and the ultimate urge to be your own person. her having enough love for herself so that she could prevent herself from falling into the dangerous cycle that her mother tried so hard to keep her away from, i cried for hours over this.
this drama reminded me so much abt how we all are just humans trying to survive life, trying to not be a burden, trying to give our loved ones our best. i feel like crying every time i think about it.
truly great

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Addicting but the last 2 episodes make it lose its spark

Binge worthy crime thriller

We have the suspense and solid plot points, good acting and cinematography to make someone sit and watch episode after episode but it loses all the suspense it builds up by simply revealing the culprits in the 11th episode. We didn't have a well planned reveal, it was like writers were like 'oh we are at the second last episode? let's reveal the killers and end it'. Making a random side character the real killer is getting boring now. I was suspecting the prison doctor at one point because how he was highlighted. I think we could have subtlety hinted at the real criminals.

Even the reasons also felt too dumb, killing someone cause they won't apologize? I get the message but for the buildup it had it was boring. Even the prosecutor's reason for being so fixated on An YunSu felt too simple.

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my style of drama

i love this!!!! give me 10 more!!!!

this is how u make a show about demons (all shade to my demon). she was truly demonic and did demonic deeds. the premise was also good. it was very satisfactory to see the criminals get punished. the gore was good too. sometimes the violence was too graphic but still it was good.
THE ROMANCE. this is what i want from dramas. the way do-an is slightly interested in her in the beginning then he hates her, to following her to expose her and in turn actually liking her and understanding her. bit-na becoming his source of comfort and her becoming so WEAK for him. perfect. the angst? amazing. wish we could have had more but still im happy.
park shin-hye absolutely rocked this role. her expressions and fits were amazing. 10/10 performance.
i don't know if a season 2 would work well though. one of the main reasons this was fun was because there were 2 chases happening, bit-na with the criminals and do-an trying to prove its bit-na whose doing it. it wouldn't be fun now that do-an will have to protect her instead of arresting her

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