Why Am I Here

Vincenzo Cassanova is The New Standard

This series is totally exceptional! Honestly, it is rare to find crime drama like this nowadays. The story is outstandingly well written. The tense is high from the very first, and yet the writer manages to keep it up for 20 episodes (additionally, each episodes are very long). It constantly brings us through a roller coaster journey of a war between two "mafia gangs". We are trapped in curiosity of how Vincenzo manages to solve a problem, how Han-Seok will respond or what will come next against Vincenzo. It is good that the writer depicts Vincenzo as an experienced mafia with full of knowledge while his opponent is just a newbie gang trying to act as a mafia, surrounded by people who also doesn't have any knowledge about mafia. Vincenzo is a thoughful and strategic person whose unstopabble and rarely makes mistake.

Song Joong-Ki and Jeon Yeo-Been play both main characters excellently. But apart from them, the other leads are having more oustanding job. Taecyon deserves a shout out after playing a character with two full contradictory personalities, a total dumb intern and a heinous psychopath. Kim Yeo-Jin also plays her character excellently, being a person who is ruthless and greedy. She really gives the spirit to Myung-Hee as someone who doesn't ever want to stop before getting what she wants. Jo Han-Chul depicts a goofy but opportunistic law firm director. Last but not least, Kwak Dong-Yeon does a really great job picturing someone who is stuck between his desire to do a revenge and threat received from his brother. Additionally, the character of An Gi-Seok is totally hilarious.

On the contrary, I am pretty disappointed on how the writer depicts Hong Cha-Young. I am expecting her to become furious and ruthless after losing her father and promising to Vincenzo, but to me she is still too delicate. As the result, her act is occasionally covered by the heroic acts coming from the Geumga Plaza residents. I was expecting to see a show between two partners against the evil, but what we actually get is Vincenzo and his gang fighting against the bad.

Unfortunately, even the unrealistic premise has the tolerance limit. The scene of Vincenzo being saved by the pigeons is total garbage. It looks like this scene is secretly added by an intern. Also I heard that originally this series is set to be 16 episodes. We can notice the story quality drop for the last 4 episodes, even though it's not destructive.

The soundtrack is good, even though they rarely play it. Moreover, I totally enjoy the scores. It sounds like an elegant opera. To conclude this review, this series is incredibly masterpiece. I may take a while for us to see something like this again because maybe Vincenzo is the new standard of this type of KDrama.

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Romance is A Bonus, Second Half Mess is A Destiny

Marry My Husband. The title seems intimidating. At first, I was thinking that I may get a story full of intriguing and complex marriage. It isn't wrong though. However, the writer packs the story so well that makes it lightweight and easy to watch, yet not missing out the point. The lead Kang Ji-Won gets a second chance to fix his miserable marriage and life. Park Min-Young does a savage job in this role. She takes us into the journey of her second life. We already know the ending, and now she comes prepared. But everytime she does something, she always makes us guess: Will she cause a better outcome? Will the ending change? She brings us into this circle and makes us keep wanting to see the outcomes more and more. We keep wondering, will the villain suddenly regret? And the answer is always a no. Yi-Kyung and Ha-Yoon potray these villains excellently. They all seem innocent from the surface, but once an evil will always be and evil. It may need to take a life for people to change, but going through everything only make them more and more vicious. It is all a really enjoyable story... until the writer stupidly adds Yu-Ra in.

The addition of Yu-Ra is no difference than hopelessly adding a serial killer to a romance story. The stories around her seem hyperbolic and unreasonable even in this kind of fantasy genre. The way she messes up with Su-Min's family does not make sense. Same thing with the threat to Eun-Ho. How does he come into her mind? Eun-Ho barely knows Ji-Hyuk! It is just like a hopeless premises that need to be added for the sake of episodes number. Like there is a straight road, but they decided to take a turn to an unpleasant gravelly path. This show might be better if they focus on the main goal and packed into 12 or 14 episodes.

The overall story is pretty good. Although I think Ji-Won should push Ji-Hyuk more to find out his goal. Because she knows that the reason she get the second chance is to get a revenge, so there must be a reason for Ji-Hyuk too. However, Ji-Hyuk always reluctants to discuss about it. And everytime that happens, Ji-Won annoyingly just gets over it easily. The story then hit by a hurricane, again, after Yu-Ra appears. Every character suddenly has a sixth sense, as they all know other people's secrets and what other people are planning.

On top of that, this is a really good show since it is kinda easy-to-watch. It tells us not to be blinded by other people try to sugarcoat everything in front of you. You need to be more cautious, take a step back, see clearly and look wider. When you feel betrayed, fight it. For me, this show is categorized under incorrect genre: it is more like a thriller. Romance? It is a bonus!

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Romance Show with Misunderstanding-fest

This is one of the classic 2010s kdrama romcoms. It has almost of the essential elements, and it's not my liking. This show started with a bizzare interaction between a lawyer, Kwon Jung Rok, and an actress turned secretary, Oh Yeon Seo. Jung Rok was so cold and harsh to her earlier, and it's really painful. However at some point, he turned warmed towards her. Both Jung Rok and Yeon Seo have a great character developments throughout the show.

To bring more surprise, the best performer in this show was Jay Kim who play the villain Lee Gang Jun. Both Dong Wook and In Na were doing a good job, but I couldn't find the whatsoever glofied Goblin-chemistry (I haven't watch Goblin). Both had several flat and wooden moments. The supporting casts were all great, adding humor to the show.

Writing is a bit a problem here. Compared to other works released around the time, I don't know where to put it. A lot of shows have more swooning and butterflies moment, and a lot of the other brought heartwarming feelings. This one was quite mid, not funny enough for comedy, not swooning enough for romance. Instead, they built the story on a pile of misundestandings, which is the thing I hate the most. I don't understand why Se Won hid the news of Gang Jun's return from Jung Rok, and I couldn't understand the reason why In Na didn't tell Jung Rok about her plan to return to acting. Judging by the personality, Jung Rok had zero tendencies to respond outrageously or something like that. To add more pain, they started all this misunderstandings sh*t very early, like from episode 7. These misunderstandings were already too much, that such story about Lee Gang Jun return was unnecessary. It only added more burden and shifted the vibe too far. The peak is the ridiculous 'I love you so I have to break up with you' moment. At this point, I had enough after holding so much ridiculousness from like 7th episode, that I had to drop it.

It's still a good one time watch. I don't know whether you'll enjoy it, but I don't think you'll find it if you're searching for a swoon-full 2010s kdrama.

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The Momen You Give Up, It's Game Over

This show is not my cup of tea, but it ends up in my top 5 kdramas of all time! WHAT THE HELL! This show is, despite has a heavy theme, packed in a very lighweight way. It's really fun and easy to enjoy, like living our highschool life again. A very well pictured students life, full of joy, tears, hardships and pain. The message about living your life and keep fighting to overcome your difficulties hit so hard. Thanks to Ha I Chan comedy is very very hilarious here. They were able to keep the comedy for like 11 episodes, and it was getting heartwarming after that. They didn't even need to add any cliche, just use a simple premise of highschool life (and a little absurd situation of triangle love, watch it yourself and you'll understand). In conclusion, they've successfully shift my laugh into tears and vice versa, in a quick time. It also brings awareness towards people with hearing imparment and their hardships. The soundtracks are excellent too. It very rare to find a complete package like this.

Shout out to all the main leads, what an outstanding performance! I won't believe if Choi Hyun Wook says he was acting, he was basically reliving his old school days. Shin Eun Soo didn't even need to speak, her expression were enough to talk for her and made us understand how she feels. Character developments were really really good here. The chemistry between them is another level, even with the other Watermelon Sugar member! Another good additions to the package!

Now into the things that are off. I don't like the fashion job on this show. Between 1995 and 2023, there should be a big difference in fashion. In this show, everything looks the same, especially the girls. Looks like they were all having the latest hairstyle. The first two episodes are very slow and heavy, I can understand why a lot of audience dropped this early. The final episode is very underwhelming. I wish we could see more about the present reunion, and let them talk about the "missing" story. Also how come almost everyone forgot about Ha Eun Gyeol being in the part of their 1995, when that could be the best part of their life?

Should you watch it? Yes. Should you rewatch it? I rarely recommend a rewatch BUT THIS IS A MASSIVE YES! I solely think the reason why Eun Gyeol and Eun Yu returned to the past was to "relive their missing highschool moments", so you should too!

VIVA LA VIDA, LONG LIVE LIFE!

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Could Be A Hit If The Mystery Hit on Point

Let me tell you, this show is supposed to be great. The mixture between idol, mystery and romance is really fresh. The mystery itself is good, especially the twist at the end. The idea of the mystery involving idol, complicated relationship, ambitious officials; these all are perfect elements for a crime-romance show. The storyline also very focus and straightforward, no need any silly side stories. Unfortunately, the execution looks missing something. They failed to turn this combination into something big. It's not totally fail, just SO SO CLOSE to be on point.

The mystery is supposed to be the hotshot of the show, but it lacks sparks. I feel the murder case is dragged too long for nothing. It takes 11 episodes to resolve the murder, and the resolution is quite easily earned. The romance is just great, but I think it's because the highlight of the show is somewhere else. Some characters are left behind, especially Chung Jae.

Not much complain on the cast side. Jae Young and Soo Young were doing great, and their chemistry as well. Jae Kwang, Hee Jin, Hyun Jin and even our father Kim Won Hae all did well. However I think Jong Woo's anger looks a bit unnatural.

Weakest point of the show is the mystery resolution. Judging by how wet Hye Ju's hair and coat at that time, I don't think she was able to mop the scene squeaky clean. Also after that she searched the whole room for her earring, like she dropped fingerprints everywhere. What was the police doing??? Also it's bothering me how Se Na easily trusted everyone around La Ik, she trusted his manager, reached Hye Ju for attorney, etc.

For a show that involves a boyband, the soundtrack is little underwhelming. Overall it's still a good watch, but don't expect fluffy romance or complicated mystery.

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Masterchef®: Season Joseon

This is my first ever historical K-drama. I have zero knowledge about Korean history, so I might have missed out a lot of historically incorrect things. Bon Appetit, Your Majesty is mostly a belly-tickling food showcase. The original concept is good. Everything about the food is excellent, the visual of the food presentation, the cooking process, the reaction of the "customer", the explanation of the cooking process. The concept is very similar with Masterchef show: Chef Yeon Ji Yeong gets a challenge to cook a dish with a concept, serves it to the judge(s), the judge tastes and comment the dish and the cook gets to explain the dish and cooking process. The political side looks very confusing to me with no knowledge in Korean history, but some on screen explanations are quite helpful.

The casts are quite good. YoonA and Lee Chae Min are doing a good job, although it's not something extraordinary. The Ming Chief Envoy somehow has the worst Chinese accent compared to his colleagues.

However, the pace is extremely slow. It takes 5 episodes for the Ming Cooking Competition. Unfortunately when this pace applies to anything else, it becomes painful. They use the receipt of request-cook-serve-judging phase pattern almost the whole show. After repeating it a lot of times, the tone and vibe switch drastically after episode 10 and with such pace it's not appealing at all. Also it turns a bit makjang after episode 10. All about the cookings disappear too after this episode, and it becomes like another show. The final episode is a massive letdown. I don't care if the king goes to the future, but those grenades are ridiculous!

The soundtrack is quite okay. Watch this show if you're quite okay with a slow pace.

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