michelleoc

Toxic all the way around

What I liked: ML - seriously handsome. Some of the intimate scenes were really well done.
The rest: This show could be a poster child for the kinds of relationships to avoid at all costs. ML - verbally, emotionally, and to an extent, physically abusive. He took manhandling the FL to the next level.
FL - foolish, no self-esteem, weak (she keeps telling him no, and then gets caught up in the moment. No means no, people!) Bed hopping between ML and 2 ML - I can't even describe how much I hated this. That is not romance, that is being a slut. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and at that point, all the hate I had for the ML was replaced by hate for the FL.
2ML - weak and kind of creepy.
2FL - crazy and VERY creepy.
Bartender - over acting much?

Having sex when you aren't even dating just really bothers me. I like a good romance, and this diminishes the feelings the characters have for each other.
Characters saying "I love you" when they haven't dated or spent any time together. Let's call it what it is - lust.

It was like watching a train wreck. I didn't want to watch it, I couldn't look away, then I was disgusted with myself for wasting my time on it.

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Time I'll never get back

Same female lead as the first season, which is good, because she is just precious. I like her acting, and I like her character. She's very spunky. She's down on her luck but she's no one's door mat. I always enjoy watching strong female leads that are likeable.

Different actor for ML this time, and I wasn't buying him as the ML. Expressionless and he seemed very uncomfortable. I didn't find his acting totally believable, but that may be partially due to the script.

However, the rest of the actors (other than his secretary) were really overacting. It is really hard to take people seriously when they scream and stomp and act like babies.

I watched this because I felt like I needed to finish both of them, but I can't recommend either.

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I wished they'd tightened up the writing and made it one season

I was frustrated with the way season one ended and I think that may have somewhat colored my response to this season. Sadly, it felt like more of the same, with nothing new. The village "family" was pretty much the same, but granny redeemed herself for me in episode 10. The rest of the time she was overacting.

WHAT I LIKED:
The main couple were so cute together! I got extremely tired of the 10 minutes of being together and then the rest of the episode being apart. It seemed like they took turns being noble. "I'll leave to save you." "No, I'll leave to save YOU!" It got to the point where I was just thinking, here we go again.

But the scenes where they were together were wonderful. A couple of excellent kisses, some hand holding, and an absolute plethora of longing looks. The chemistry was wonderful. Let's be honest, Kim Min Jae is gorgeous and he's got that wide-eyed, stunned look down to a science. He also cries beautifully. There was one scene where he came back to the village by himself, someone tried to talk to him, and he looked devastated. A couple of tears coursed down his cheeks and he just walked away without a single word. That was so powerful.

The last episode was cohesive and very enjoyable. I think that's the main reason my score is as high as it is (I realize I'm in the minority on this one. Remember, this is just my personal opinion.)

Cameo appearance by Woo Do Hwan. I loved him in Tempted and was thrilled so see him here, even if his scene was so brief.

WHAT I DIDN'T CARE FOR:
The gay storyline.
The princess - poorly written and cast. She looked SO young and she was just so immature, all I could think of was a teenager trying to get her own way. Thankfully, she didn't hang around long.
The 2ML. I know, I wasn't supposed to like him, but I felt that the writers waited until too late in day to explain his motivations.

I'm glad I watched this show, if only to get closure from the open ended first season. It seems like the newest trend is having multiple seasons, which makes no sense to me, because so many of the shows are draggy in just ONE season, so now they are just extending that feeling of watching paint dry.

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What is with the music!?!?!

The biggest problem with this drama was the overbearing music, dubbing, and English translation.

Music - it started out when they were playing a Christmas song and the scenes had nothing to do with Christmas. The music didn't fit the story at all and there were so many times that the music was so loud you couldn't hear the people talking. The loud music that they kept playing reminded me of circus music, it was very jarring. I don't care for the voices that they use when they dub Chinese dramas, and this had the added problem of the words not synching with the speaking. This wasn't in all the episodes, but did happen during a few episodes in the middle. Then the English translation had issues, some of the translated words didn't make any sense at all, added to the multiple times that "him" should have been "her".

The story had potential as far as I was concerned. I love me a good destiny story. I couldn't quite decide if I liked his memory loss story line, maybe it just went on too long.

This drama had a very sweet and detailed ending. I appreciated that the story lines were wrapped up nicely and not rushed.

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Never answers the question, is magic real or not?

The music and the singing were very good. That, for me, was the highlight of the whole show. I felt as if they wrote the songs and then thought, "wait, now I have to write a story around the music" and didn't actually know where to take it.

Watch this in a dark room, because it is filmed in a very dark way. Actually, the whole story, as well, was a lot darker and more disturbing than I thought it would be, especially just basing it off watching the trailer. There's quite a bit of sadness and evil in this.

I had a difficult time believing Choe Sung-eun and Hwang In-Youp as high schoolers (of course, I'll always suspend disbelief for him!), and really, neither of their characters were very likeable. Ji Chang Wook as the magician - I'll admit I was glad to see him again, especially since I haven't cared for his last couple of dramas. He did what he could with the role, but I didn't find it well-written. He wasn't mysterious as much as we never knew what his deal actually was.

I'm glad it didn't have any more episodes, because I was glad when it was over. I'd suggest giving it a try though, because most people seemed to like it a lot more than me.

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Easy to watch

If you're looking for an enjoyable watch that doesn't take too much thought, this might be for you. I didn't love it, but I also didn't feel that it was a complete waste of my time. I appreciated that the FL was not a typical doormat and that she spoke up for herself. The ML was a tortured soul, reflecting on a tragedy in his past and unable to move forward. They were cute together. I certainly wouldn't say that their chemistry was off the charts, but I could somewhat believe in them as a couple. I do have to say I was bothered by his constant referring to her as "idiot", and that she was willing to put up with it. The whole thing was pretty "fluffy", without angst, and the fact that it was only nine short episodes was a bonus as well.

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I'm apparently in the minority, not liking this one

I didn't feel an emotional connection with the characters. He was flat throughout most of the show, he felt robotic to me. His personality was the same, no matter who he was dealing with. I didn't care for the side stories much, I watch K-dramas to get away from all the sex/language that is found in American/British shows, so between one couple living together and the other girl talking about all the guys she's had sex with, that was a turn off for me.

Lack of communication really frustrates me. The breakups because they don't talk to each other (mostly her fault) were maddening. I could, to a certain degree, relate to the progression of their relationship, but unfortunately by the time that happened I really didn't care for him at all.

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One of my absolute favorites

This was an exceptional show. This is the only show that, while I was watching it, kept telling myself it was practically perfect in every way. I don't rate very many shows a '10' and one of the criteria for a 10 is my ability to re-watch the show. This is the one I keep going back to, especially after I've watch a disappointing drama that's full of all the Asian cliches. I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed with the ending, but even that couldn't lower my overall rating for this show.

Story/writing: This show was unbelievably well-written, with a unique storyline. My emotions ran the gamut throughout the series, one minute I'd be laughing, the next I was in tears. This had SO MANY of those wonderful lines that made me think, "Boy, if a man said that to me, I'd totally fall for him!" I loved the nod to Secretly/Greatly and the cameo of Kim Soo Hyun - so clever! The director/writer must have some kind of mind meld going on, because this show was so well-executed, one scene flowed wonderfully into the next. I loved how they had the extra, different scenes at the end of each episode. My favorite was in Ep 1 when he saw her in a tree and was listening to her talk. That small smile, you could tell he was already smitten. The scenery was spectacular (especially in Switzerland) and I loved how the destiny aspect of their relationship kept being revealed, a little bit at a time

Acting/Cast: Everyone owned their role. I could not imagine any actor doing a better job in any of the roles. Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin - their chemistry was palpable! Their chemistry was so good, it's going to be hard for me to see them in shows with someone else! Hyun Bin - At the beginning, he was all about being a soldier and I liked the softening of his character once she came into the picture. Son Ye Jin - her character could have been someone completely unlikeable, but the way she played it, I could see how her family background/dynamics had colored her life and it was such a treat to watch her become more human and playful. Seo Ji Hye as Seo Dan was beautiful to watch. So cold and unapproachable, but there was something that you just had to like about her. Kim Jun Hyun did an excellent job as Alberto, another person that redeems himself as the story goes along. The soldiers in the platoon - what a treat! They each had their own personality trait and they melded so well together. I think the majority of the comic relief came from these guys and they were a hoot. The North Korean ladies - wow, between the script and their acting, they moved from being ancillary secondary characters to being pivotal to the story. Their communications with each other, their strength in adversity and their growing in closeness with each other as the show progressed was a joy to watch. I MUST give a special shout out to Jang Hye Jin, who played Seo Dan's mother - she was spectacular and brought so much humor and heart to the part.

The OST was perfect. The piano music, the songs that sometimes were just the music, sometimes with words. I've always known that music connects with our emotions, but never more so than in this show. I think we have to give a lot of credit to the music for drawing out our emotions, because without it, I don't think I would have cried nearly as much!

My only complaint about this show was that they made such a big deal about their couple rings and never taking them off, then when they found each other at the end of the show, they weren't wearing them. I realize that those scenes were shot first, but with CGI the way it is, you could have just added the rings.

I think the biggest testament to how much I liked this show, other than how many times I've watched it, is the number of times I've recommended it to others. Everyone I know is always looking for something decent to watch, and I tell them, if they are willing to read subtitles, they absolutely cannot go wrong by watching this show.

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Lovely, healthy relationship

Again, I'm going against the majority on this one. It's my personal opinion, and a lot of it is based on how forgiving I can be of a script and the way it was handled.

What I loved:
The main couple. First, they are both just beautiful. Their acting was very natural. There were a couple of obligatory misunderstandings that seemed to go on too long, but I loved watching them together. There was an even division of labor in the relationship, they were both willing to put in the effort to make it work. The ML was wonderful, in that he wasn't your typical, cold CEO-type. He was warm and caring and wasn't afraid to show it. I can't think of another drama that I've watched where the ML smiled and laughed so much, which of course made me smile. I loved the affection they showed for one another, - lots of hand holding and hugging. The first kiss, as usual, was your typical open-eyed fish kiss, but they got better after that. We got to see their married life, which was a treat.

If the drama was more focused on them, this probably would have been a 10 for me. However, there was so much I just couldn't get past.
-The 2ML. There was so much wrong here, I don't even know where to start! First, he wasn't a good actor. He was wooden, and it seemed like his primary job whenever he was onscreen was to stare. He had absolutely no personality. Why did she like him initially? They never spoke to one another! I, personally, struggle with forward women, but she declares she likes him and she's not going to give up, saying he'll change his mind. Again, why did she like him? We are supposed to get the impression that he's always liked her, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what his deal was. I didn't find him attractive and he had no personality. Every time he was on screen (which was WAY more than he should have been) his job was to stare. I never was able to figure out what his deal was, but that may be due to my second issue-
-I fast forwarded through SO MUCH of this drama! There was way too much business talk that was too technical and very boring. I also felt like propaganda was at work in a big way. Look how good we are because we are Chinese. Our companies are better and we are more advanced than everyone else.
-So many characters! Family, friends, illegitimate family, rivals. Add to that, everyone seemed to have multiple names, so when people were talking about someone that wasn't there, I was hard-pressed to figure out who they were talking about. I should have drawn up a flow chart.
-Long scenes of skylines, long scenes of watching the movement of traffic. There was an awful lot (at least for me) of stuff that could have been cut out of this to make it shorter and tighten it up. Do Chinese dramas have to be a certain length? There is so much waste in them.

If you want to watch a healthy relationship, and you have more patience than I do for unnecessary characters and scenes, you will definitely enjoy this show.

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Strong comedy that fizzled out halfway through

There was a lot to like about this show:
-Over-the-top comedy. Kim Young Dae, especially, has such good comedic timing, as well as expressive eyes.
-Wonderful cast. I felt like everyone was well-cast and everyone played well off of each other. The comedic chemistry was on point with everyone. The 2ML (Kim Woo Seok) was wonderful at displaying longing for the FL, and I LOVED the friendship between the king and his trusted guard.
-The storyline. A Joseon story with a modern twist. When they re-enacted scenes from another drama, I about choked on my own saliva! The FL was a liar, liar, pants on fire, but you couldn't help but like her. It was really fun to see her get stuck in situations and how she worked her way out of them.
-Music. Beautiful and well-placed. It wasn't overpowering. I especially loved Kim Min Seok from MeloMance.
-Rewatch. No, for a couple of reasons. 1) I have too many other things to watch, and 2) I usually watch the swoon-worthy scenes if I re-watch anything, and the leads romantic chemistry was lacking for me.
-Costuming was lovely.
-I always like to see actors that I have seen in other things, and there was a lot of that here.

What I didn't care for that much, and these are all just personal preferences:
-I didn't care for all the sexual innuendo.
-The kisses were seriously lacking spark and the FL's lips were never aligned or involved.
-With each episode being over an hour long, the show was just too long. I felt there was a lot of stuff that could have been left on the cutting room floor.
-I fast forwarded through most of the storyline with the author and his cronies writing/selling the erotic books. It just seemed so out of place.
-Multitudes of bad guys (excellently played, but still). All I kept thinking about was it appears that royalty in the Joseon era was either stupid or they had absolutely no power. To have that many bad guys in the inner circle of your cabinet and not have a clue for over seven years?
-It switched from flat out comedy to full on melodrama and then never seemed to find its footing again. That may have been just me, disappointed that I finally found a good comedy and then they switched genres on me.

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Unpopular opinion here

My rating of this show was all over the place. Started out good, but hated the FL. I asked my "watching buddy" how long she was going to be irritating - she was truthful and said for quite awhile. She was right. The whole middle part dragged for me - how many times do we need to hear the discussion about the age gap? I was just getting ready to power through with the help of my fast forward button, when, at about episode 20, things turned around. That raised my rating again.

I'll start with the things that bothered me. I know I'm being picky here, but when you add them up, I was irritated more than I was enjoying.
1) For the love of Mike, Chinese dramas don't need to be that long! Get a good editor and tighten it up. If I have to fast forward a lot, that lowers the rating.
2) The FL was terrible (for me) through multiple episodes at the beginning. Yelling, pouting, bitter, she had it all. Then toward the end, when he asked her to marry him, she acted like she was mad...what was that about?
3) Costuming - FL was constantly running/walking in the streets wearing stiletto heals. Short or short, short skirts with high heels - just no. Clothing with ribbons hanging off of them - dangerous in a workplace. ML wore, for the most part, baggy oversized clothes (to make him appear young and immature?). ML's boss - greasy unkempt hair and his clothes were terrible!
4) Stalker girl went on for entirely too long. She should have had a restraining order against her.
5) We finally get rid of the stalker girl, and then the evil company president comes along. Why did she want to discredit him anyway?
6) Too much drinking, decision making when drunk, etc.
7) Too repetitive with the age disparity.
8) Her dressing her three-year-old son like a girl was strange.
9) The final scene, when they are panning the camera through the house, wasted potential. I was hoping we'd get to see them together when they were older, with white hair. I kept expecting that, then it was just done.
10) Attorney that she had been interested in, kept putting her off...why? Then when he knows that she's moved on, he suddenly said he loves her. Then he keeps trying to convince ML that he and FL shouldn't be together.

However, on the other side of the coin.
1) The leads were so cute together.
2) The ML was absolutely adorable, and that smile! He reminded me so much of Seo In Guk.
3) No evil parents, how refreshing!
4) I almost cried when she got the text from her MIL to be. I loved how excited she was to know that they were together.
5) The stalker redeemed herself in a great way.
6) No unnecessary breakups. Once they finally talked to each other, they were able to resolve issues maturely.
7) I love that the ML had loved her since they were children. The scene when he was 15 (that she didn't remember) was beautifully done. And I like how he never wavered.
8) Child actors were good.
9) Thank you SO much for giving us time with them together. The whole suffering through tons of episodes of the couple being apart, just to get together in the last 15 minutes, is SO overused.
10) The girl friendships - the three of them were always looking out for one another.
11) This is totally random, but I keep thinking about it. In one scene, the three friends were outside walking, and the married woman had a cup of coffee and was doing a great job of acting like the cup was hot, switching it from hand to hand. Normally, you can totally tell that there is nothing in the cups they are using.

So, at the end of the day, if you have patience for unlikeable characters, and you don't mind a lot of filler in each episode, give this one a try, you'll probably really like it.

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Loved it!

I didn't read anything about this ahead of time, and I'll be honest, I've no idea why I suddenly decided to watch something about traffic cops! I am so glad I did, though. I watched it on Hulu in the US.

First, there were multiple different cases in every couple of episodes, with an overarching mystery that is woven through each episode and finally solved at the end.

I LOVED the TCI team! They all made significant contributions to each of the cases, and you could tell they had a lot of respect for one another. I'm not a big fan of Lee Min Ki - he's the same character in each drama of his that I've seen. He did his usual job, and I really liked each of the other characters. They managed to make the two women smart and competent without being witchy. There were three actors that really departed from other works I've seen them in - Kang Gi Doong, Oi Eui Shik and Lee Yoo Joon. Hats off to them, especially Kang Gi Doong - wow, he was a piece of work!

I found the public service announcement at the end of each episode very interesting, with statistics about hit-and-run, drunk driving, etc.

The car chases were excellent.
No romance - thank you!
I'm not a big fan of shows that have a second season, but I'd be up for a season 2 from this show!

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Heavy on friendships, kind of light on romance

I'm just going to say that this show made me smile a lot. The FL's character was a walking, talking disaster and got into the funniest predicaments. Going into college in her 30's and realizing that it's not like she imagined, until a rag-tag group of young adults invite her into their circle. I loved watching all of them together.

Hirose Alice as Sayako was wonderful. I loved watching her character grow into herself, becoming someone she always imagined she'd be.

Michieda as Shunsuke as Tako was very good as well.

As for the romance, the two of them were so cute together and my heart cried when they broke up. I thought the breakup went on entirely too long, but they moved naturally back into their friendship/relationship after years apart.

It's only 10 episodes, and the time flew as I watched. Give it a try, I bet you'll enjoy it.

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Almost wore out my fast forward button

What I liked:

1) Cui Yi Xin as Quan Quan. What an adorable little boy!! He was absolutely the highlight of the show. I didn't like his tendency to call his parents by their first names, but his interactions with them were cute.
2) The main couple, when they weren't fighting. They were sweet together, not fire chemistry, but no fish kisses.
3) We got a wedding!

Not so much:
1) Wow! So much extraneous stuff. I didn't care for the two side couples. This one went on entirely too long
2) The sleazy sexual predator males.
3) All three women seemed like they took turns "playing" their boyfriends. Stupid reasons for breakups (2nd couple), stalker (3rd couple), the FL decides arbitrarily that she doesn't want to see the ML anymore for no apparent reason and makes him jump through hoop after hoop to try to win her over.
4) Dubbing. A couple of the ladies sounded like Minnie Mouse on helium.
5) The doctor has liked Min Hui for years, then suddenly he likes the irritating woman that has been stalking him.
6) Small, yet irritating thing. They weren't wearing their wedding rings in the scenes following the wedding.
7) He went to another country for six months to have surgery, but she didn't go?! However, their reunion was cute.
8) Way too much "we're together", "we're breaking up", we're together.

I realize I'm in the minority here, but I can't recommend this one, except for the little boy.

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