K-Drama 
This review may contain spoilers
The Hardest Person to Forgive is Yourself
This is my first morning daily drama I committed myself to when it started airing back in April. Were all 120 episodes, 60 hours, worth it? Kind of.I enjoyed the main characters, their chemistry, and their conflict with each other. It's not easy to sit through their struggles, hardships, and bad things just happening to them, but they overcome them with the support of their friends, family, and loved ones. Eventually they learn to embrace what has happened and make the most out of it. Amor Fati. "Love of one's fate." This phrase would apply to every character in the show.
The subplots also talk about a few things that aren't portrayed very often in K-dramas, particularly child depression, homosexuality, and family abuse. They aren't easy topics to discuss, but are handled with care in the show.
My only particular issue with the show is how quickly things wrapped up near the end. Although we are given at least a week's worth of episodes for the epilogue to show how the characters are doing later, there was no build up to them. The four main characters receive a nice conclusion, but the side character stories all wrap up in the final episode, leaving me unsatisfied as they felt rushed. The side characters were just as important as the main ones as they helped carry the show to have enough content for 120 episodes.
Oh well. Amor Fati.
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Some of the Best Feels I've Had In a Long Time
This is a story about a father and a daughter whose bond grows stronger from the trials and tribulations of life, whether it be school bullying, financial problems, or unwanted blind dates.The father is a patient and gentle man who will do anything for his precious daughter. He may come off as a pushover to some, but he shoulders a lot of burden and responsibility for his family. He often keeps to himself and rarely voices his true feelings. His quiet strength and loyalty to his friends, family, and beliefs are some of his greatest and admirable qualities.
The daughter is a strongheaded, yet understanding person. She comes off as a bit of a brat at times as she makes rash decisions that end up affecting the family. However, she redeems herself multiple times throughout the drama when she learns from her mistakes and reconciles with the people she's hurt.
The female lead is calm, strong-willed, and extremely caring to those she loves. She is always giving the benefit of the doubt to others and steps in to help when she can, no matter the circumstances. She never involves herself because she wants to benefit from a bad situation, but because she believes it is the right thing to do.
Some plot threads can feel a bit rushed and sometimes they end suddenly. In addition, some of the side stories involving the other characters can be kind of uninteresting compared to what's going on with the main three characters. Despite these flaws, however, the show still manages to create dramatic conflicts, tense scenes, and wholesome and heartfelt moments.
Lastly, the conclusion to the series is quite a rollercoaster of emotions. Compared to most dailies, the last five episodes are some of the best I've ever seen. With all of the tragic revelations and characters confessing their fears and feelings, I've never cried tears of joy and sadness so much in such a short span of time.
If you're looking for a heartwarming story about families who are willing to sacrifice anything for each other with a sprinkle of melodrama, you're looking right at it. I highly recommend this one.
9.5/10
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What Would You Do for Love?
Twins, love, revenge, what else could you want from a Korean makjang? While this does have all of the above with an extra twenty episodes than most shows, it unfortunately falls short on several important key points for it to be a memorable Korean soap opera.LIKES
+ FL and ML romance.
+ FL and ML characters. FL villain. Supporting cast.
+ Heists and set pieces.
DISLIKES
- Lots of overhearing plans.
- Some underwhelming twists.
- Not enough makjang / tantrums / confrontations.
- Greed is bad... okay?
Many revenge makjangs don't have room for romance or love because it complicates the revenge. If the ML doesn't want FL to get hurt, he will get in the way of the plan and it will not be fun to watch. However, The First Man is slightly different because it actually uses the relationship between FL and ML really well.
In fact, they almost can't do very much on their own and need the help of one another, which is the core element of any love story in high production Korean dramas. Props to the writer for making it work, because it's always badass to see ML charge in to fight and save FL, or the FL to make a heartbreaking decision because she loves him. This theme repeats itself throughout the show, as you see the FL matriarch villain, the ML rival, and the FL matriarch villain assistant all show what they would do for love.
The other highlight of the show are the heists. Not exactly like robbing a casino, but there are some elaborate plans the FL carries out and she needs the help of her brother, ML, or the housekeeper. When these plans go down, they're fun and exciting to watch.
Totaling 140 episodes, a lot of plot does happen in this show. However... it also didn't make me feel anything. (I only got invested in the show around episode 30). It might have to do with the fact that nearly all of the plot twists and planning is overheard outside of bedrooms and offices. Almost none of them are discovered by evidence, speculation, or characters predicting their next chess moves. There are also a lot of fake-outs in the early parts of the show, where you think the twin is going to meet the other twin or a family member, but it doesn't happen.
The main focus of the story is actually on the FL matriarch villain. She gets a lot of screentime compared to the other characters. While some of her story moments are interesting to follow, it's clear she is very delulu, which makes her a not so complicated villain to think about it. Usually, when the villain is sad and grieves, it should feel tragic because they ironically caused their own demise. But in this show, I felt conflicted whether or not I should feel bad for her.
Also, in the early parts of the show, the matriarch villain was trying to do evil stuff to FL family, but they took it as a sign of her being a generous sponsor and benefactor. It's pretty funny and reminded me of a villain who unintentionally became helpful. This changes by 1/3 of the show, of course.
The death scenes and the family revelations are gut wrenching and done very well, particularly the two mothers of the FL and ML. The other performances are not as intense, however, because there are barely any heroic confrontations and villain taunting in the show. And so, compared to other revenge makjangs, there is way less hair pulling and slaps. It never really reaches the same level of intensity.
FL and her twin are very smart characters. It's a breath of fresh air to see them actually capable when they are cornered and desperate. Basically, when coincidences start getting too strange, they start to suspect and gather more evidence. There's even 10 episodes or so dedicated to FL twin suspecting her mother, where we think FL twin is a silly spoiled brat, but is quite capable and cunning when she puts her mind to it. However, this does fall off in the last quarter of the show, where many vital pieces of evidence are not anticipated by the characters ahead of time. Instead, they are found by "oh hey, I found a secret CCTV that no one planted or talked about earlier in the show." There is not much foreshadow to these events and little payoff for them.
Finally, according to FL, the theme of the show is... greed is bad? I think the real theme of the show has to do with love, since we see several different characters do extreme things for love. Love is neither good or bad, but it can make people do the craziest things "because" of it.
No shade against the actors and actresses. They are all amazing. However, I personally don't recommend this show, but if you like romance and love in your revenge makjangs, this might be more than enough. However, as I said before, it takes a LONG time before things get interesting, so you'll have to commit if you want the good stuff.
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Wholesome, Heartwarming, and Everything In Between
One of the best dailies out there. It has a great premise and does an amazing job at setting up all of the character relationships and the potential drama and conflicts down the line. The first three weeks worth of episodes (1-15) are easy to binge as the prologue paces itself very well.Some characters are absolutely hilarious and others are downright admirable and respectable. Like most dailies, it will occasionally have characters explain what they are thinking out loud to the audience. However, it also does a good job at showing character and personality through their actions, and the main characters rarely elaborate on the things they do (unless it's absolutely important for the other characters to know). This is very rare to see in most dailies and one of the greatest strengths of this show.
Like most dailies, you have to love the characters to get the most out of it and enjoy the seemingly absurd situations they find themselves get in. Despite the ridiculousness, however, this one is much more wholesome with its themes on family and forgiveness. I highly recommend you give this one a chance if you're looking for a daily to check out!
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Try It And You Won’t Be Disappointed
Your usual Korean revenge makjang soap opera. You should really only watch it and commit if you love this genre, otherwise you’ll disappoint yourself. The show doesn’t do anything new, but it does it really well.The first half is extremely well done. We don’t even get a major incident until episode ten or so because the writers did a great job building up the tension and making you feel really sad for the grieving family.
Another great thing about this drama are the characters and their relationships with each other. I cared much more about the side characters than the main ones. Kang Seung Woo (the FL brother) has a great arc and I was always excited to see him on screen. Hwang Na Ra (the younger sister) has a good redeeming arc. Kim Do Hee (the ML sister) is a character I really like as well. The only downside is that when their arcs are over, they quietly get less screen time. This happened to Do Yu Gyeong (FL best friend).
After a while, around the halfway mark, the storylines start to loop around in circles. When the good guys get a win, the bad guys reset it back to normal the next episode as if nothing happened. For a specific example, the female villain loses her job because of what the good guys did, but then she is still hanging around the company because she was hired by a temp agency to continue working for the company… Yes, that seriously happens. There are very little consequences for the bad guys as it seems they get away with everything until the last ten episodes.
Some parts of the literal story also don’t make much sense. It feels like the writers will pull out random plot points just for the sake of surprise and twists. Designer L and DH Holdings are some of them. Also the ML is a doctor surgeon but that concept gets thrown out about halfway because it didn’t transfer over to a company about interior design. I understand why they ignored his doctor background, but still could’ve been better if they thought of that beforehand.
Lastly, since the focus is on the family and their relationships, there is very little room to have characters that are a part of YL Group. The company is just a backdrop and we learn nothing about the company. This isn’t a bad thing because we can focus on the families. However, it does make a lot of the company conflicts and issues very confusing and underwhelming. (It just seems like YL Group is always trying to secure money and investments).
It also feels strange that even though the bad guys do get a taste of their own medicine, the good guys get away with committing those same crimes? And that’s okay? I don’t think that sends a good message.
And the ending? Don’t worry. It’s worth it.
Overall, there are lots of great characters and they all have their moments. It was a great experience. Despite my issues, I would still recommend this show. Check it out!
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If You Love Makjang, You'll Love This Show!
This has got to be one of the craziest makjangs I've seen. Everyone is unhinged, they all say the meanest things to each other, and I've lost count of how many hair pulls and slaps happened!The biggest highlight is the ML villain. He's extremely over-the-top (in a good way) and absolutely hilarious whenever he confronts the main characters. Then, he has a bit of a human side where, despite the fact you hate him, you also understand the tragedy behind his actions, where he truly believes he has to do these things to survive and achieve his goals.
The other characters are also great. The FL is absolutely terrifying when she goes in a revenge rampage for her daughter. The FL villain is very threatening, yet tragic because of how she was raised. The ML has a strong moral compass and uses it to convince others it's the right way (to a benefit and a fault). Seriously, this show does a lot of things right. The loan shark family is also really funny. Don don don don money money money money.
If you're expecting a bit more romance between ML and FL, you're not going to get it here. In fact, the romance is one of the weakest aspects of the show. However, the revenge elements more than make up for it.
Some storylines do slow down a bit (around episode 70-80), but they pick back up again. Some character goals also don't make much sense initially. However, the strongest part of this show are the characters and their relationships to each other. There were several times I cried during the show (for the plot twist reveals and the sad parts, of course), but I also cried because I was terrified for the characters.
If you find yourself wanting to skip episodes to find out what happens, you are probably better off not watching the show at all. Like many other long-form makjangs, they are all about the journey and the experience of watching it episode-by-episode. If you're not enjoying the experience, don't torture yourself for 60 hours.
Overall, the show doesn't do anything new, but it does it really damn well. I have to give it a PERFECT score.
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Slow, Emotional Vibes
What is life after high school? While most people would go to university and study, Xiao Fang takes a pilgrimage to Wan'an Island to explore his passion for surfing after a heavy break up. There, he meets a couple and must confront his past and identity once again.The film is a deeply emotional and thought-provoking experience. It has very artistic / award critic / indie vibes, so you have to be in the mood for it. Otherwise it'll just be confusing. I recommend giving it a watch (if you can find it), but prepare yourself. It's a slow burn.
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