So I guess it mostly just boils down to the mental age/maturity of the characters. Some times the younger characters in question despite being adults, act creepily too young compared to their ages and the age gap in process just ends up looking creepy and awkward. Also, the power dynamic that is constantly being mentioned which also just comes off as wrong. As long as it's focused on their personalities that they fell in love with and not the age, age gap romance are fine and like any other romance, but that's the problem. Rarely do people are able to handle such stories without making it look creepy. More writers should keep that in mind while handling such age gap stories.
Really like this post as Stranger is definitely one of my favorite kdrama out there. I found Tunnel and Defendant not so entertaining though. I guess those two were too melodramatic for my taste.
Unpopular opinion: Defendant does the best job at holding the audience's suspense and move them with melodramatic…
For instance let's talk about the first few episodes.
1. His friend would never have been able to be the prosecutor in charge of his case as they were colleagues once, it’s a common protocol. 2. Joon Hyuk with held evidence which is a crucial part of any case, for which he should have been removed from the case immediately and a retrial would have to be redone. 3. Even if he confessed to the crime, it’s the responsibility of the officers in charge to verify that. Also, one of the information that he gave them was false, there was no body in the suitcase they found, enough to re-investigate and once again verify the evidences. 4. Cha Minho brings Jeong Woo back just like that, a DEATH row convict with his one command. How in the world is that possible. No matter how powerful you are, there are some things that you can't control without going through someone high up in charge.
There were just way too many things wrong with the law part of this drama.
Unpopular opinion: Defendant does the best job at holding the audience's suspense and move them with melodramatic scenes. But apart from that, it relies way too much on plot conveniences to move the story. It keeps on recycling scenes and repeating them again and again and again, which gets exhausting pretty quickly. Also, the law part of this drama does not make sense even a bit. There were just way too many things wrong with it, it's like the writer did not have much idea about how the law works, they just kind of dive in to (further explained in the spoiler). The acting by Ji Sung and Uhm Ki Joon was what held this drama up. They killed their parts.
These are just my own personal nitpicks this time: but people were acting way too emotionally that it started to really get on my nerves. I really had to skim through half of the run time of each episode. All of them were professionals but acted like they had no idea what they were doing or what kind of situation they were facing.
One of the few beautiful actors and actresses who actually know how to act and not just rely on their looks. Plus she knows how to draw people in with her beautiful voice and how she delivers her lines.
Money Game is an ambitious drama that is brilliantly directed accompanied by stellar performances by the entire cast. Money Game introduces many interesting points and characters in their story. The characters are complex and written with many layers and thoughts. Though the most confusing thing about MG surprisingly isn't the heavy economical aspects and politics, but rather the goals of each of the characters.
We are going through a confusing journey without a single idea about the destination itself. It also doesn't help that one of the major conflicts in the series between major characters just gets resolved very abruptly. The characters change their attitude and intentions rather quickly and it gets harder and harder to get attached to them as they keep on changing their principles and do things out of character.
When we go to another episode we will question whether it's the same character we saw in the previous episode. The writer seemed to get more and more confused with the direction they should take on the story because it seemed like they just couldn't decide and kept running around in circles.
Also, Yoo Teo is an alluring man no lie, but Eugene Han seemed like a manipulative and creepy character throughout the entire course of the series. No matter how much of a hard childhood he had, it still does not excuse the things he had done. I was surprised to see just how many people were willing to ship this messed up of a human being with the female lead. The only reason he had taken a liking to her was that she was a different person to all the people he had interacted in his life. It was more of a need for support and reliance than romantic feelings, even if he himself might have mixed that up.
Unfortunately, Money Game just wasn't able to choose it's destination and ended up being a jumbled mess. Definitely worth a try for the stellar performance that the actors deliver and the brilliant direction it serves it's audience. That's all.
I have to say, it was really clever to incorporate zombie into a historical themed story. The concept itself is…
For a moment there I was pissed that they decided to give power to that little kid. I was like, they went through hell and back just to give the throne in the end? Just what? But then I realized that having the prince sit on the throne would make him unable to investigate the resurrection flower because of the state affairs and such. They would have to change the character focus in the next season otherwise, which would suck. It was clever of them to handle the story like that keeping future plans in mind.
I have to say, it was really clever to incorporate zombie into a historical themed story. The concept itself is unique and interesting as heck. The amount of budget and work that went into this was incredible, every one of the actors were brilliant. I don't think I can point out even a single actor that did a bad job. Kingdom is just a one of a kind zombie movie or series ever alongside Train to Busan.
I hope that they are able to hold on to that thrill even in season 3. I am looking forward to it.
This is an absolutely brilliant show. It might as well be on par with Stranger in terms of the best political drama out there. It might have been predictable in some sense, but it still managed to keep the viewers glued to the screen and to keep them expecting. Par Mu-Jin is a unique character. He is a good man as emphasized several times by the characters, but he isn't a pushover by any means. He knows when to refuse and when to exercise his power all while maintaining his own principles without breaking them. He is the most consistent character with the most brilliant character development.
The side characters also had as much depth and time to be fleshed out and be viewed as an equally important and integral part of the story. The situations that were presented were truly anxiety-inducing and made me think of the worst.
The cinematography and the soundtrack were gorgeous. Really added to the experience. All in all Designated Survivor is a brilliant show worth investing your time in to -- if you like political shows.
The original so far has 3 seasons, I would definitely love a 2nd season. This show is just too addictive and amazing.
Did you finsih it? So will she improve? I'm on ep 5 but she's still annoying as ever.
I have it on hold for now, no idea if she improves or not. I mostly started this seeing how highly rated the 2nd season is. I can't even get past the first season because of the FL.
The main problem of this drama is that it drags too much. I can see why some people might have dropped it earlier and gave it a low rating. It picks up the pace around the 8th-9th episodes. The first few episodes are hard to get by. All in all, this is an extremely slow-paced crime, investigation drama. You really need to be patient with it.
365: repeat the year is mostly about the execution-style rather than the characters or the story itself. It's predictable and doesn't really try to be too overly ambitious, but still entertainingly serves its purpose. The first few episodes until episode 8 were truly phenomenal, after that, when they give us 'someone' that we need to 'doubt', it kind of falls apart. The cat and mouse game isn't that entertaining and mostly one-sided.
Some of the characters were really interesting, while some of them were.....just there to serve their purpose. The lead characters were amazing though, their chemistry was really good, and it's one of those few times the female lead is the smart one rather the male lead. It was really nice to see Ga Hyeon being witty whenever she was on screen. Even though there wasn't any obvious skinship or romance between them, the chemistry was oozing. The subtle hints and gestures were better than a thousand skinship scenes.
Lee Shin was perhaps the most conflicting character, I honestly couldn't understand her till the last moment of the series. I couldn't like her nor dislike her.
8/10. It's easy to understand and quite straightforward while still being entertaining.
As expected of a female writer, she knows how to characterize her female characters without making them seem like an emotional mess but still with their fair share of sympathy and strengths. Most male writers just don't know how to write female characters.
Every time I get excited for a season 2 of a drama, it turns out the cast changed. What's the point of a season 2 if that's what they are gonna do :-/ The original cast is part of the reason why it got as popular as it is.
The one thing from the get-go that stands out in this drama is the protagonist. He isn't your run-of-the-mill hero. He is someone more on the dark grey side, doing questionable or even downright messed up things.
"You can't win a fight without getting your hands dirty" - Na Yi Je
This drama is a war of wits, who gets to check-mate the other. Na Yi Je and Dr. Seon are constantly fighting to get the upper hand compared to the other. Both of them and the people surrounding them are cunning and intelligent, the story is gripping with more and more secrets being revealed at every point. The writers keep things fresh.
The actors are BRILLIANT, the cast does their job phenomenally well, Nam Goong Min is such a versatile actor, his micro expression changes to fit the mood and atmosphere, not missing a single scene is incredible. I have to say the same to the other actors as well, especially Kim Byung Chul. His psychotic expressions were on point.
Overall, Doctor Prisoner is a unique take on the revenge plotline, with a more dark take on it regarding the protagonist. You can't always face a fight by being on the white side of justice. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your humanity to gain something.
1. His friend would never have been able to be the prosecutor in charge of his case as they were colleagues once, it’s a common protocol.
2. Joon Hyuk with held evidence which is a crucial part of any case, for which he should have been removed from the case immediately and a retrial would have to be redone.
3. Even if he confessed to the crime, it’s the responsibility of the officers in charge to verify that. Also, one of the information that he gave them was false, there was no body in the suitcase they found, enough to re-investigate and once again verify the evidences.
4. Cha Minho brings Jeong Woo back just like that, a DEATH row convict with his one command. How in the world is that possible. No matter how powerful you are, there are some things that you can't control without going through someone high up in charge.
There were just way too many things wrong with the law part of this drama.
These are just my own personal nitpicks this time: but people were acting way too emotionally that it started to really get on my nerves. I really had to skim through half of the run time of each episode. All of them were professionals but acted like they had no idea what they were doing or what kind of situation they were facing.
We are going through a confusing journey without a single idea about the destination itself. It also doesn't help that one of the major conflicts in the series between major characters just gets resolved very abruptly. The characters change their attitude and intentions rather quickly and it gets harder and harder to get attached to them as they keep on changing their principles and do things out of character.
When we go to another episode we will question whether it's the same character we saw in the previous episode. The writer seemed to get more and more confused with the direction they should take on the story because it seemed like they just couldn't decide and kept running around in circles.
Also, Yoo Teo is an alluring man no lie, but Eugene Han seemed like a manipulative and creepy character throughout the entire course of the series. No matter how much of a hard childhood he had, it still does not excuse the things he had done. I was surprised to see just how many people were willing to ship this messed up of a human being with the female lead. The only reason he had taken a liking to her was that she was a different person to all the people he had interacted in his life. It was more of a need for support and reliance than romantic feelings, even if he himself might have mixed that up.
Unfortunately, Money Game just wasn't able to choose it's destination and ended up being a jumbled mess. Definitely worth a try for the stellar performance that the actors deliver and the brilliant direction it serves it's audience. That's all.
I hope that they are able to hold on to that thrill even in season 3. I am looking forward to it.
The side characters also had as much depth and time to be fleshed out and be viewed as an equally important and integral part of the story. The situations that were presented were truly anxiety-inducing and made me think of the worst.
The cinematography and the soundtrack were gorgeous. Really added to the experience. All in all Designated Survivor is a brilliant show worth investing your time in to -- if you like political shows.
The original so far has 3 seasons, I would definitely love a 2nd season. This show is just too addictive and amazing.
Some of the characters were really interesting, while some of them were.....just there to serve their purpose. The lead characters were amazing though, their chemistry was really good, and it's one of those few times the female lead is the smart one rather the male lead. It was really nice to see Ga Hyeon being witty whenever she was on screen. Even though there wasn't any obvious skinship or romance between them, the chemistry was oozing. The subtle hints and gestures were better than a thousand skinship scenes.
Lee Shin was perhaps the most conflicting character, I honestly couldn't understand her till the last moment of the series. I couldn't like her nor dislike her.
8/10. It's easy to understand and quite straightforward while still being entertaining.
"You can't win a fight without getting your hands dirty"
- Na Yi Je
This drama is a war of wits, who gets to check-mate the other. Na Yi Je and Dr. Seon are constantly fighting to get the upper hand compared to the other. Both of them and the people surrounding them are cunning and intelligent, the story is gripping with more and more secrets being revealed at every point. The writers keep things fresh.
The actors are BRILLIANT, the cast does their job phenomenally well, Nam Goong Min is such a versatile actor, his micro expression changes to fit the mood and atmosphere, not missing a single scene is incredible. I have to say the same to the other actors as well, especially Kim Byung Chul. His psychotic expressions were on point.
Overall, Doctor Prisoner is a unique take on the revenge plotline, with a more dark take on it regarding the protagonist. You can't always face a fight by being on the white side of justice. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your humanity to gain something.
9/10.