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Never knowing who and what to trust
Let Wind Goes By is a finely crafted crime drama with some of the best acting I've ever seen. It's a sad story of 3 childhood friends whose lives and dreams get shattered by unfortunate events, poverty and sheer bad luck. Sometimes it feels like these desolate dramas where the setting and environment play a big role were made just for me. The setting in this is a mining town that is about to be closed down and the inhabitants moved elsewhere. The cinematography is beautiful. There story revolves around two different crimes 10 years apart. These two timelines are well woven together, with more focus on the present (2003) than the past (1994).The 3 friends are so fully fleshed out as persons whose lives and circumstances get out of their own control that we don't get to judge them as either good or bad people. We try to understand them, watch them, and study them, with sympathy. If anyone looks for shiny happy people this definitely ain't the place. The 2 policemen in charge who are also main characters, are just very ordinary humans with their own strenghts and weaknesses. They have no superpowers but just bite into solving the cases and never let go. It's shown how their persistence and passion also takes its own toll on them.
About the actors, Jiang Qi Ming as Liu Bai, Yang Cai Yu as Mei Wei, and Huang Feng Feng as Lei Chugui, are all simply amazing. Such nuanced characters, fully fleshed out. What makes this drama so good is that we really never know what and who to trust in the story. Whether they had a plan or worked things out together or just deceived each other, whilst still remaining each other's closest friends, is what makes up the suspense in Let Wind Goes By. It seems like a small thing but if you're into character based dramas, this one is just fascinating. Very little action or violence shown, which I liked. Even the one near-psycho character, Lei Changtian, admits his own dumbness and impulsiveness. Just when you thought this character was going to be a psycho killer caricature, he sits down and admits he's a typical guy who does jailtime bc of lack of self-control and obsessive compulsive drives.
That the veteran detective starts studying criminal psychology is one message for us watchers from the writer about how much thought went into building the story and characters. And how much they expect us to think, by ourselves.
The downside is that the pacing is slow. I recommend watching at 1.25 speed. And there were some things that were confusing or revealed too late, in the last episode, like what happened with the people in the burned car and who crashed the truck into the guy with a burned face. These things make me rate this 8.0.
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This review may contain spoilers
Lost opportunity
If S2 had been more about philosophy and morality aka humanism and less about bloodbathing that would have been great for the reputation of k-drama. Since this is likely what most people not familiar with k-dramaworld would still watch.I liked the first 2 episodes. Lee Jung Jae's and Wi Ha Joon's characters searched for game organizers and teamed up. Gong Yoo again made a memorable appearance. So, just like in the 1st season everything that came before and after the games was more interesting than the actual games. The suspense from the games was the unpleasant kind that made me want to skip those parts. (But in principle, if I watch I watch and don't skip).
Lee Jung Jae and Lee Byung Hun are such epic actors that I watched mainly for their sake. Im Siwan and Kang Ha Neul made an impression even with smaller roles. Thanos and the shaman were just irritating.
The main issues with S2: why keep this from airing so long and then leave the ending open. Just 2 episodes more would have been enough to wrap it all up. This way the plot holes were immense. If the plot holes are filled up in S3 it's all too late bc we won't remember or care that much. This was the chance they had to make something really worthwhile and they blew it with the open ending.
Open questions and complaints
- why did Gi Hun keep the prize money in his basement (likely to get stolen) instead of using it to save lives? He could have given it anonymously for those in need or a children's hospital. That would have been the best redemption for those who died in the game.
- As Gi Hun wanted to save lives, getting soldiers and fellow competitors shot was not really logical. He could have shot down the money and the killing would have been avoided.
- Gi Hun didn't tell the competitors that when teaming up they would also die as teams.
- The best way for this to end would have been that In Ho would have turned around and stopped the game. Since he got to know his fellow competitors as humans and not just characters in screen.
- why did the players not discuss the possibility that the organizers could never let them get out alive bc that would make the game become public knowledge.
- if S2 had been more about morals and philosophy and less about bloodbathing that would have been great for the reputation of k-drama. Since this is likely what most people not familiar with kdramaworld would still watch.
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A nice drama to watch when you're just looking for a feel good but not silly drama
A heartwarming and feel good drama for us who don't dig much suspense or zombies. There are huge plot holes in this drama but it is still very likeable.The best things are the intelligent dialogue, discussions about psychology, movies and books. The main leads are very likeable, and slowly overcoming their painful experiences as their relationship develops.
The murder plot is in key place in the beginning, but somehow mysteriously drops to the background in the second half. We are introduced to new characters in the latter half constantly, and their stories don't add anything to the drama. So many unnecessary characters that only have about 15 mins of screen time. And they key character played by Yoon Park doesn't get enough time so we're left guessing what he really was made of. Villains are brought to the picture, who have not been introduced to the viewer at all.
So, very lacking in plot development but you'll be won over by the MLs beautiful smile! So sympathetic. FL is a good actress without much chemistry (in this or other dramas).
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How to get over bad hair days
This drama is absolutely wonderful. I don't know why it's not well known, it's on par with the very best k-dramas. There is so much realism and bigger and smaller problems, but all of it portrayed through a very comforting and optimistic lens. (Some issues: crippling social anxiety, gender dysphoria, sexual abuse, a achool bullying past).This scriptwriter is one true humanist. I also loved her previous dramas, Age of Youth, and Diary of A Prosecutor.
All of the main characters are basically flawed but viewed in such sympathetic and empathetic manner, you just grow to love and understand all of them. This is essentially an ensemble and found family drama. The hair salon employees are all equally main characters but there's also a colourful cast of regular customers, each becoming unique, fleshed out characters.
The romances (both the young and the mature) are incredibly sweet. We also get a philosophicizing narrator who is both wise and understanding of bigger and smaller challenges in life so that it makes you feel you yourself are being heard and understood. All of the actors are great, but especially Park Jung Woo deserves to get more main roles. Highly recommended.
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Lighthearted & entertaining ensemble drama for binge-watching
I wanted to watch this bc I love both Taecyeon and Hye Joon. But it was somehow very difficult to get going with this drama.- There's a lot of overacting, the pace is off in the first episodes, it felt rushed. Director does not hold the reins tightly enough. As for the first episodes, I felt I'm watching a "bush comedy" - something delivered by amateurs.However, the drama gets better after some 6 episodes. We begin to see that's its basically an ensemble drama and not just leads with a supporting cast. The plot gets more streamlined and there's less of the cringeworthy humour. There are some interesting twists and turns. Bae Jong Ok as Joy's mother adds weight to the cast and the approach, she's such a great actress.
The ending is very satisfactory and we see this as much about Joy and her insistence on independence as the (mildish) romance. What I particularly enjoyed was how this was filmed mostly outdoors, it gave a welcome airiness (after-Covid) to the whole thing. Also liked the way the ensemble was ordinary folks respectfully portrayed, the palace people incl. king having smaller roles and not so respectfully treated. But I skipped a lot, this is basically for binge-watching.
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A real pleasure to watch
Mr. Queen is ticklish-funny and a real pleasure to watch. I am debating myself whether it deserves a 9 or 8.5. (As if that mattered hahaha). The first 8 episodes were the best for me. After that, it turns into a more typical sageuk where palace politics takes over and it all becomes a bit of a snoozefest. I've watched too many sageuks to have any patience for palace politicking.Shin Hye Sun is my absolutely fave actress, her ability to portray feelings is superb. She has a gracefulness and intelligence that shines through even when she's portraying a badass clumsy-ish guy. Unfortunately I watched the Red Sleeve before this, so I couldn't appreciate Kim Jung Hyun in the king role at all. Most of the time he looked like he was about to fall asleep. He was good in CLOY, but this went far above his acting abilities. But critics tend to praise non-acting aka having a straight emotionless face all through the drama. Bae Jong Ok: I just love her voice. She and Kim Tae Woo had quite boring roles though. Na In Woo was great as the second lead, his character was so well written. Some of the other characters like court lady Choi were absolutely delicious and/or the butter on the bread (the King's friends). Some of the comic characters were just fillers, not very funny or interesting.
This would have benefited from being shorter. Although I do appreciate the humour, there are so many kdramas deserving a higher rating, therefore, 8.5.
One thing that was sheer torture here was the music. Why they chose to pick this style instead of a more contemporary one, I don't understand. Had to be muting the volume all the time.
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The series went downhill and got quite boring with the crime and court and political corruption storylines taking foreground in the middle part. It took me ages to finish this. But the last 3 episodes were again quite good.
Hye Ran was an ambivalent character, she never got treated justly, and still fought and concentrated on her values as a journalist. I was left thinking, that the series overall seemed to see it right for her to be punished for her career focus and ambition in a men ruled world. Anyway, the husband was quite a lame character in comparison.
How Kevin Lee and his wife both played disastrous mind games with people, out of their own petty grudges, could have been foregrounded more in comparison to the politics and media themes. But all in way, I'm glad I didn't drop this although my rating went from 8.5 during the first episodes to finish with 7.5.
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Not a typical teen drama
This is not actually a romcom, it's not very lighthearted or cute. Teen dramas tend to be dismissed easily as just that just bc of expectations. This is neither too dark or too light imo. The theme is rather universal, whether to stand up to fight injustice, or to go with the crowd which is always easier. Very few people can stand strongly behind what they see as right and ethical when the rest just have an easy time not caring. School bullying and burnout due to insane pressures and competition are also rather universal I guess, not only happening in SK. Also the rich/poor divide is strongly accentuated here. The romance thread is nicely executed. In good taste. This is far from a perfect k-drama but worth watching nevertheless.Was this review helpful to you?
You will not get this if you haven't watched Boys Over Flowers
I see so many reviews that assume that this is just the typical teen/school drama. It's not, it's a satire of teen dramas and more explicitly a satire of Boys Over Flowers. When I say satire it's for the lack of a better expression, should say "lovingly made satire" that respects yet is a hilarious tongue-in-cheek satire of BOF. Also, it's not being a cliched rom com, it's an homage to cliched rom coms. There are so many wickedly intelligent undercurrents that only a seasoned k-drama addict (this is the 114th k-drama for me) will get. So sorry, but if you really haven't watched BOF, you'll only get about 20 percent of the meaning. Where should I start? The violin, closing off the school rooftop, the mother paying off poor gf, I could go on and on. Yet I guess you can sill enjoy even if watched as a typical teen or school drama. Because Rowoon is just perfect in this role as the dreamy handsome prince, and the FL can rather effortlessly carry the whole thing since she's present about 90 percent of the time. She's just right and rarely overacts. The other characters have less work to do in terms of development, but the rude 2nd lead is written as pleasingly ambivalent, not knowing himself whether he is himself "in role" or outside of it. And as always, there's no limits to the philosophies and lessons you can make out of the plight of the characters having to be either monotonous robots saying pre-written lines, or struggling to become independent persons. One last thing: the set designer would have earned an Oscar for his/her work. There's so much to look at from the fairytale-like scenes to the FL's home and bedroom. This was really done with the highest level of ambition possible. Full applauds! The weak side of this drama is the same as in most k-dramas: there is not enough material for 16 episodes. It starts to get very repetitive around the 11th episode. It would be just great if the industry could agree on making 14 episodes the standard length. My last word: when you say "cliche" I say "classic ." Like in the Dramaworld series, it is clear here that showing cliches is out of love for them. Personally, I love my classics like a seasoned k-drama lover would.Was this review helpful to you?
Revenge destroys those who engage in it
Excellent writing. A drama that tackles important problems and makes you think. Nearly perfect, imo. Gripping, intense and intelligent (expect those moments when Kim Nam Gil becomes an immortal superhero fighter but after Good Boy we don't care about that lol).Kim Nam Gil and Kim Yang Kwang are perfect in their roles. It's very difficult to make a villain role well without resorting to the usual twisted grinning psycho mannerisms, but Kim Yang Kwang supercedes all that. Remarkably. Kim Nam Gil is back with another emotional, controlled and fully immersed role after Through the Darkness (we will now forget that Fiery Priest 2 ever happened).
I give this drama a rare 9/10. Binged it in 2 days without needing any breaks, without skipping any parts. The reason why this is not a 10/10 is that the Gong and Go gangster crews had too much screen time. They were less interesting, and I think this drama would have stronger without them.
The writer deserves an award for the script. How tackle an eternal problem in a way that makes strong story and experience, is not an easy task. The director created many magic moments and the pacing was perfect.
Some of the most memorable moments and aesthetics: the moment when Kim and Gong lied dying on the floor facing each other. Kim Yang Kwang in all-white in the smokey haze, looking like a god almost, blood oozing from his chest.
The most memorable line: Revenge destroys those who engage in it.
After all the morally questionable revenge dramas this is something that can't be said often enough.
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Interesting premise ruined by sloppy writing
Frankly, I'm glad this is over and it definitely will not linger in my mind unlike more substantial dramas.The dual personality problem promised psychological depth which in the end didn't get explored deeply enough. I was expecting a lot of character growth to take place but it didn't happen.
I enjoyed the first episodes but somewhere around ep 6 the plot went haywire, sidetracked from the main characters and got rather nonsensical tbh. What I liked most is PJH's acting (of course). Also liked the very strong FL lead: more of this type pls! Hwang Hee's acting in the last ep showed an amazing range of emotions. Hopefully his next role is not a villain role. The queen character was unlikeable all the way. The more a drama has purely unlikeable characters the less I tend to enjoy it. It would have been more interesting if Yeon Wol's warrior protectors (Wind Knife) had had a bigger role in the drama. Almost nothing was portrayed about their aims. What was shown came too late, in the last episodes.
The court scheming and politicking was boring. In a purely fictional drama, why give it such a big role. All in all, the psychology of Sajo Hyun / Ak Hee got only a superficial treatment. The damn shaman was a main character when a small support role would have sufficed. No offense to the actress who did great like she always does. 7/10
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Breakfast at Tiffanys's inspired k-drama
Doona is a slice of life drama with a very carefully built slightly melancholic ambience. Fantastic acting from Suzy and Yang Se Jong. This reminded me of Age of Youth, which I like a lot. Especially the second couple. Maybe it was somewhat difficult to relax bc from the beginning it was kinda clear there would be no happy ending. But all the time I when I was watching I was getting Breakfast at Tiffanys vibes. There were definitely similarities, but that just made me appreciate this drama more. Especially Yang Se Jong's character was very similar to Breakfast at Tiffany's male lead, outsider-ish, ordinary and rooted. Suzy's character was unconventional and slighly unbalanced like Audrey Hepburn in BaT. Also, both were tied to a man from their pasts. I really enjoyed this a lot and I think the writer and director created a very good, unconventional k-drama. I'd give a Daesang for Suzy for her role. I know more trashy and popular dramas will get the awards make the headlines, but I guess that's okay, since this was just right for me.Was this review helpful to you?
Quiet and slow drama which is perfect for book lovers
This drama is really different. The main character is the small town, in a sense.There's a quietness and slowness and an overall ambience in this one, it's very controlled in an artistic sense. The drama uses a lot of season metaphors, and as a season it's definitely November with November feelings. Cinematography is beautiful. The drama is slow so I felt it was better to also watch slowly, some 15-20 mins a day. That way I could enjoy the townspeople interactions, and the range of characters. Lee Jae Wook's acting and character were particularly delighful.
What also was really likeable and fun, was the book club, with the old and young members mixing. And the bookshop as a setting, cosy and warm. In contrast FL's house and family were cold and icy.
The two main characters past and traumas were less interesting to me than the townspeople scenes. The drama wasn't really that romantic - I had expected more and the romance was kind of empty (purposefully and in line with the psychology and past of ML & FL characters but still something of a letdown). I didn't fully understand the main characters, especially the ML remained a mystery. This is because we get to learn about the main characters and the two families' past very slowly. The past comes to light mostly in the latter half.
So this takes a lot of patience and it's not for moments when we need entertainment or quick rewards. It's a perfect drama for book lovers and I definitely didn't waste my time putting an effort to watch such a different drama.
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Who is the Wolf King
Crime & action drama that is not boring for a minute. The police are hunting for the leads the Northwestern Wolves gang . WZQ's character is a cop who goes undercover to the gang to find the Wolf King and his mother who also was an undercover police and has gone missing.I liked the fact that the police were as smart and insightful as the gang members in the cat and mouse game. Especially the veteran police chief actually calling the shots was satisfactory to me. Oftentimes the police bosses in crime dramas are just bullies and obstacles.
But overall this drama is lacking in character depth. The first half is more interesting than the 2nd half. Lots of new antagonists appear out of nowhere as older ones are killed off at a steady pace. A high body count in this one.
WZQ acting range is great, and one the reasons why I chose this one. But lots of screentime with close up shots are dedicated to obnoxious villain Fei for reasons known only to the director. The character was not interesting at all and almost became the main character.
I wouldn't whoheartedly recommend this but if you're longing for action and adventure you definitely will be entertained.
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Surrealistic road trip to kill or die for
The theme song of Fearless Blood resembles Jefferson Airplane & Grace Slick's iconic "White Rabbit" with flashes of Ennio Morricone mixed in. And the genre is just this unusual. A surrealistic road trip with hairraising extended gunfight duels, death defying heroism and several rounds of russian roulette. C-noir drama that is an absolutely unique masterpiece. It really doesn't get better than this.The plot: A son of a rich family returns to China tasked with secretly delivering 3 gold bars to the communist fighters and to find his fiance in Shanghai. During the trip, he finds guides and allies who fight on his side - and sometimes against him - as the KMT has already acquired knowledge of his mission and targets the gold with the intention to kill those who receive it.
At the beginning of the trip Xu Tian is just a typical young rich man. He's like a blank paper who slowly matures into a true warrior who unhesitantly fights and kills his enemies.
The main characters of the drama are Xu Tian's 5 guides, truly larger than life characters. These are portrayed by some of the best Chinese actors with immense charisma. Acting masterclass. These characters are colourful and impressive to max. Their fearlessness has no boundaries, hence the title "Fearless Blood".
The road trip covers several stops, towns and villages, and we also get to witness many quirky situations and characters along the way. From train robbers to farmers, this all immensely entertaining. There's humour but it's the low key undercurrent kind. Not black but wanting you to relish this extraordinary tale. The humorous undercurrent is also a welcome relief to the suspense that peaks at regular intervals and really makes you want to take a breather.
The gunfights and duels are of type that we see in classic Western movies: two men staring at each other, guns in their, a stretched moment, war of nerves, who's going to shoot first and which one dies. The directing could not be better. And the cinematography is awesome.
It's just mindboggling how Fearless Blood is not more famous, bc in a just world this would be THE iconic drama that everyone would keep referring to. But the world is cruel, as our man Xu Tian keeps learning.
Watch this epic drama!
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