sasharama

Anytime is good to start MAKING OUT.

let's get the conclusions out of the way, shall we?
Is it worth it: I think, yes.
Is there a happy ending: ..kinda.
Is this the best thing you'll ever see: probably not but it's definitely not bad.

Plot: a modern girlie has an accident on her way to work and is catapulted into a fantasy land where she needs to survive.
While trying to survive and squeeze out some fun she meets the most powerful lord of said land and starts serving him. Will there be a love story ahead of them?

OBSERVATIONS:
When I started the drama it give me somehow "love between demon and fair" vibes. They have a lot in common but also differ also a lot.

Let's me tell that the first 12 episode were a blast. I had so much fun. The premise is interesting and our FL is really funny. She brings her "modern slacking" attitude into this fantasy world and is trying her best to do as little as possible because even against the odds, she just want to enjoy life.
I found my self laughing at different times when she said she just wanted to "rot in piece". In a specific scene she is watering a flower, but she does it in such a silly way , I couldn't hold my laugh .

At the beginning our ML is so confused by her attitude , he thinks she is some kind of mastermind scheming something nefarious. Meanwhile she is just thinking about eating and sleeping 🤣.

Talking about the ML, he is of course our Dark Lord, locked up in a tower and used as a power bank by his enemies.
His character is cunning, smart, and despise the unimaginable trauma he's endured his whole life, he is able to better him self and save the world.

POSITIVES:
✅The actors have good chemistry. They are believable as a couple even though the have a cute vibe more then a "passionate" love.

✅The drama is never boring (except the last maybe 3 episode). Even though sometimes the plot is not the best I never found myself skipping scenes. The drama doesn't really give you "strong "emotions, but its still able to hold your attention and keep you coming back.

✅tha acting. Both Arthur Cheng and the FL (sorry don't remember her name) give solid interpretations. Unfortunately there are still some moments I didn't quite like. Arthur Cheng is too much dependent on "smirking faces" and the FL is sometimes weak when it comes to really emotional scenes. It was a bit a hit or a miss. She was really good in some scenes and bad in others.

✅If you like kissing scenes there is plenty here.

NEGATIVES ❌
The things I didn't like have mostly to do with the plot but not only.

❌ After the first 12 wonderful episode, we get, I kid you not, 5 episodes of them making out. It was really weird.

❌ Sometimes the plot just plots. At the very beginning the FL is basically a servant and the Lord has no reason to keep her alive, but he does anyways because the plot required it.

❌Kissing scenes come at random times and are sometimes even "confusing.
What I mean by that? At a certain point the ml is suffering and the FL is alliviating his pain by using her powers. To make it work they have to touch foreheads but she randomly starts making out with his unconscious body, then gets dragged into his "soul world" and keep making out. When her spirit is back, Arthur Cheng has no clothes on, which he just had a minute prior. I kept asking myself: did they bang? It was really confusing.
Kisses are a staple in this drama and there is plenty of them, but after a while they are really repetitive. Same stale position. They feel performative. There werent any passioned ones giving the fact that they love each others so much. I appreciate more skinship in Chinese drama, because there is usually a lack of it, but I wasn't particularly moved by them to be honest.
Sometimes is seems that they make out to cure each others wounds.

❌Magic inconsistency: the magic in this world is sometimes confusing. Characters do stuff one time but not the other. Examples: it is established that they are able to fly, but in a scene where a mountain is exploding, no one thinks of flying away? Really?

❌ Characters are dumm. One of the Lords is this drama is cunning and evil. He's being scheming his whole life while Sima Jiao has been locked away for 500 years. When he gets out, a mountain with hundreds of people locked up is found and they all believe is was sims Jiao who did it. Guys.... He s being away for 500 years. Any doubts about who did? Why should he even do it? He is basically a nuclear force him self.

❌How did Liao best friend come to the immortal realm is there is a barrier for demons? How? How was she even conceived to begin with?

❌Instead of showing something, they make the characters give a long ass explanation.

❌The demons who are treated basically like salvages are way better "evil antagonists" than the Immortals.

❌ Why do the men cry with only tear coming out of their eye?

❌I feel that the third arc in the mortal realm was totally unnecessary. I saw many times that in this genre, they try to portrait the "love you in 3 lives " but I don't get why. The dynamics were repetitive. I am one of those weirdos who is totally fine with a tragic ending. I think It would have being better if they ended things when Sima Jiao died the first time.

❌The ending. It was kinda of meh. The whole drama the FL is certain she is dead in the modern world (I don't why), but in the third act, she starts having dreams about doctor saving her, which means she will go back to her right time line.
The drama ends with her and the ml meeting again, but I kept wondering if this is just a fortunate case or if sima Jiao was also a modern man who ended up in a fantasy world. Is it not clear and I guess it was by design. It was kept vague enough to make you wonder.
❌Secondary characters are really weak . The little snake and the best friend were just there. There weren't interesting enough to make me care.

❌Arthur Cheng performance when the FL was dying was pretty underwhelming. She gave a much more heart wrenching performance when he died.

I could go on but that will be just me ranting over details.🤣

To draw conclusions I think this is still a solid watch. Some emotionals scenes are there (the little boy asking for soup in exchange for his blood made my cry), even though this is not a "sweep me out of my feet "drama, it still manages to keep you entertained.

The love story is good, the scheming and battlling are entertaining. Definitely watch it if you like the genre just don't expect a once in a lifetime experience.

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ok if you never watched a teen age drama before.. otherwise....

If you never watched a coming of age drama you can watch this, if you did?
Run...fool.

This drama is not "bad" but it's not great. It was created in laboratory with all the right check marks:
Sweet main couple✅
Funny second couple✅
Quite ml ✅
Bubbly FL✅
Group of friends with useless characters ✅
And the list goes on and on...

Plot: a girl befriends a guy believing he was the repiant of her deceased brother heart.
We found out he's not the receiver but they already became"friends". So... let's keep rolling I guess..
They obviously fall in love and yada yada yada.

Positives:

I liked the plot device of an organ receiver as a way to connect 2 people and 2 struggling families. Unfortunately this point also goes into the negatives because we don't explore the theme that much.

Female lead. Maybe I'm a biased but I liked this actress in any single one of her drama, even the bad ones.

The "non toxic vibes" of this drama. It is really light-hearted.

Negatives:

Too formulaic.
We hit every possible point of a generic teen age drama. There is nothing original here at all.
The point where they start to "like each other" doesn't make really sense.

The FL starts looking at the ml "differently" after a philosophical speech about COMPUTER PROGRAMMING. What?🤣
He on the other hand finds her annoying but gets over protective all of a sudden.
I don't know man. I feel they develop real feelings at a reasonable pace but their initial "sparkle" is senseless.

The love "rivals" add nothing to the story.
Both the FL and the ml get the attention of someone else in the very beginning of the drama but their story line gets killed immediately. What's the point?

The drama tries to involve the other 2 members of the squad into the plot by making them fight. We as the audience never cared about these 2 background characters...

I'm dropping this at episode 17. I saw the same story many times and this drama is the embodiment of "go girl, give us nothing".

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a never ending agony

the premise looked fine. I love this kind of Chinese dramas. war, magic, love and beautiful costumes but this one is not really a gem.

at the very start the first episode is particularly cringe. the cgi is questionable and looks like a show for kids. the dragon and his pals animations almost made me stop watching but I endured and it got a bit better along the whole show.

unfortunately the bad cgi is not the only problem.
the characters are frankly uninteresting or particularly unbearable. this only one I really liked is the shadow demon. he was funny, a bit ambiguous and a good mix of bad and good. the other characters are all forgettable, even the main leads. the male lead character (go watch love in the clouds!!) was the "standard" archetype and the female lead was unbearable at times and annoying at others.
I will admit that the characters improve mid drama compared to their "cartoonish" self in the first part.

the drama set up is probably the main culprit.
40 episode were hard to shallow. I skipped forward like crazy for the last 10 episodes.

there was a lot flashbacks, repetitions.. one character states something and then another one repeats the same exact thing.
"they say you can find the dragon in the valley".
" so.. you are telling me we can find the dragon in the valley".

the audience is not brain-dead. no need to treat us like that.

pathos was a big issue as well.
we are supposed to be immerse in a very convoluted scene, life treating scenario and then puff... 3 seconds later everything is fine, those who died are alive again.
this show is unable to create suspence... everything feels weightless.

the music compartment is also a big "what the hell".
in the first half of the drama the wrong songs are playing at the wrong time . you are in the middle of a somber scene, the music is playing a festive theme.
I think they also added the pornhub intro in the funny skits.. but Im Not sure it is the same.

as well for other things mentioned before, it actually improves in the second half.

I wouldn't recommend this one. there are better dramas out there especially if you have to invest 40 episodes!!!

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i liked it very much but I wish I liked it more

hotel del Luna was on my watchlist for a while. finally I decided to give it a go reading the wonderful review and let me tell you, It was worth the watch.
even though I liked it some things still bothered me.

first of all... del luna hotel. I know Italian and some Spanish... del Luna is definitely the wrong preposition. but this is just nitpicking for the sake of being annoying 😅

the story is really compelling. a bunch of resentful soul run a hotel helping other souls with their departures and unfinished businesses on earth.

the characters are pretty much all likeable, even the grim reaper who made me laugh out of the blue with his expressions. I don't know why. I just love him.

the staff member were initially marginal but got more flashed out towards the end. the last episodes I cried like a fountain.
unfortunately during the series they don't get that much depth. only the final episodes give us the real juice about them.

the main star is obviously IU. great performance and marvelous outfits even though I sometimes struggles identifying her angelic face with a 1300 old resentful soul. she looked too innocent.

the human manager was ok. I didn't dislike his character but I didn't love him. he was very Plain in my opinion.

i liked their initial relationship as manager and hotel owner/mentor but I didn't completely bite their love story. they didn't have THAT chemistry. they looked more like pals than lovers.
I think the love story, which we get literally crumbs of, was completely unnecessary to the plot and that's coming from someone who watches mainly romance.

the other characters were just there. especially the best friend Sanchez. we know nothing about him and then bam... he gets strucked by tragedy. i don't know.. they could hace done way more with him or others.

the manager mother story was also kinda meh. why bring her up anyway?

speaking on the drama itself I must say that the music choice was great.
the aesthetic was pleasant.
the only thing that annoyed me a bit were the long ass transitions. too many effects, camera changes etc.. a hug would last 1 minute. I skipped a lot.

end....
I was emotional but not gut wrenching as goblin. I compare the two because they have a similar Story/vibe
they both leave you with a somewhat open ending but goblin was just better.

this drama leaves you also with many questions.

why does the hotel need to disappears? do they have to build everything from ground? who will be the next owner?

if a resentful soul stays too long on earth the entire staff of the hotel should have become an evil spirit...
etc etc.
it is a good drama don't get me wrong but I wishing we got a bit more.

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Absolutely loved it!!!

I didn't know what to expect cause "martial art" dramas are usually a hit or a miss, too silly or too serious but this one is a gem.
I loved every minute of it and never got bored. The adrenaline is high until the last episode. Not getting filler episodes or endless flashbacks felt so refreshing.
The acting was good especially the main FL. The ml was a bit stiff but I think this was his choice regarding the character more than a lack of talent.
Music was funny, entertaing.
The story revolves around rong, a martial art prodige who get kidnapped and later saved by a misterious man. She manages to get back to her home but while kidnapped she lost her memory and hires this misterious man to help her out while gaining back her lost memories.
There is a twist because our protagonist is actually someone from our time but that doesn't impact on the story that much until the very last episodes.
This drama is the perfect mix if you are looking for action, a bit of comedy a cute love story and pure entertainment.
Definitely recommended.

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dropped after 2 episode...

Dropped after 2 episode
I get that this kind of drama are expected to be silly but I really can't keep seeing the same cliche over and over.
Girl gets dumped by her boyfriend, guys is looking for a girl to show off to his parents in order to be left alone.
They start living together thanks to an offer from the real estate. A free rent house in exchange for some ig posts. Who wouldn't say yes?
But then we get to the weird part. They obviously sign a contract because this is a fake relationship. As expected the guy tried to sound cool and states "don't fall for me girl".
So far so good but then... The same night he starts kissing her and asking when they are going to have sex because even though this is a fake marriage, somehow he expects to have sex.
She is a bit reluctant but then agrees. This guy is a creep. She entered this relationship because quote"she is sick of love and doesn't want to suffer anymore" but ends up overthinking about this guy and if he can fall for her.
Of course she is the usual damsel in distress.
Not funny, not cute, doesn't make sense. Just skip it

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this is ridiculous.

this drama makes no sense. we got two guys that are so madly in love they yell at each other because they don't know how to express their feelings.
first male leader is a doormat. basically he doesn't care about being bullied. he has zero self estime and ends up "falling in love " (obsessing) over a guy for basically no reason.
he thinks this guy helped him out in some way but that's just in his mind.
then we have the cool kid. he's an asshole, a bear only capable of yelling. they basically develop a slave/master relationship.
there is zero development between these two but we are suppose to cheer for them?
they obsess over each other for years and end up together like magic.
I don't know. in the last episode I laughed my ass off cause it was just so cringe. the guy licking the other one finger was really weird🤣
no romantic scenes, no kissing.
if you are looking for that kind of stuff Feel free to skip this drama.
Totally not worth it.

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don't watch if you have a brain

I watched this drama for basically 2 reasons:
1) I wanted some japanese listening practice
2) I am a masochist.

if you reached season 2 you probably already watched the first one and let me tell you... they are basically the same thing.

we meet again naochan and ueharakun and nothing changed.

NAO is still a dumb, selfish obsessed girl that acts like a 10 years old kid.
uehara Kun is still a bear incapable of expressing emotions, still treating NAO like shit and caring only about himself.

I get that these two are the main characters but I find them so unlikable. everyone is in lobe with them for some reason and surprisingly everyone is a better match for them than the other lead.

NAO has no live. she only thinks about uehara Kun. even when talking to other people the things she says are said bevuase ahe is thinking of uehara Kun. basically, she doesn't care about other people's lives unless is something she can apply to herself. she has an idea of how a romantic relationship should look like and uehara Kun, unlike other characters, is unable to give that but she persists for some reason.
she is basically fixated on her first love and that's it. there is no other reason for her to like this dumbass.

uehara Kun is incapable of having a romantic relationship. he struggles to show affection even after almost 2 YEARS OF DATING.
he never thinks about NAO unless someone is getting closer to her and remembers she exist. basically it is a possession thing.
he only treats her kindly when she is already on the ground and other people tell him NAO is struggling.
at least unlike NAO she seems to have a resemble of a life outside of nao.

the other characters have little screen time but could potentially be more interesting than the main couple.. but sadly... they get involved with these 2 dummies.

the drama is boring, repetitive and the most annoying part is that there is no doubt they will end up together even though it doesn't make any sense.

I know I know, it is a shoijo manga and I'm not the target audience. I get it. but I still think there is much better stuff out there for young kids. this drama is just dumm and frankly far away from educational or being a "coming of age story". there is nothing to learn from these two.

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this drama...made me mad!

I was really enjoying the first half of the series.
it all takes place in a school where Bek ho rang, our protagonist, is an "insta celebrity" and has many eyes on her. she doesn't seem to be that approachable and often spends time alone while her peers idolize her or just straight up criticize her out of jealousy.
one day, someone from her past start threatening her to reveal something about her past and she freaks out but decides to join the school radio club to find out who This person is.

so far so good. the series starts hinting at something really "horrendous" that happened in Bek ho rang's past but when in the last 2 episodes the truth starts to come out.... I got really mad.

spoiler:
Bek ho rang was the victim of a bully.
and that is where I got mad.
first of all the "bullying" was not cool , of course, but is was not so horrendous as described.
during the series she meets her supposed bully and doesn't fling a bit.
admitting that she was bullyed would save her sooooo much trouble but she just lets people's mind run wild about what happened. so much so that people think she is the actual bully.
I get to a certain degree that it is humiliating to admit something so personal but Bek ho rang brings it to such an extreme that it made me mad.
she pushes away her only friend and stops talking to her because of that, she lets everybody talk shit about her, believe that she is a bully, she lets her comments online run wild which is insane since she is an actual Influncer and has contracts and cherry on top, people usually get expelled for this kind of behavior..
I don't really get it.
the second bully (yeah there is another one) is bat shit crazy and no one does anything to stop her.

at the end, the drama is not that bad but it's not that good.
I'd say the best characters are actually the secondary ones.
it's a cute story about a girl becoming more welcoming towards others but .... it's nothing groundbreaking.

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UNBEARABLE !!!

Plot: a movie star is the ambassador of a mobile game. Her fans find out that she actually sucks at playing, forcing her into looking for a tutor able to make her look like a pro player.
Fate brings her old highschool crush back into her life as her sensei. Will they rikindle their relationship?
PREMISE🗯️
I really liked the premise of the show. Two ex school mates meeting again after years , living totally different lives. I expected to see two worlds collide and fight to be together in their own way. I waited invane unfortunately..

THE DRAMA🗯️
It seemed that this drama had in mind how to set things in motion but not how to develop them.
After the initial clash, once the main couple gets together the show becomes unbearable to watch.
There is nothing here to watch and enjoy. It is basically episode after episode of two people dating. I kid you not. I dropped this on episode 28 and the last 10ish episodes are literally them dating, hugging, introducing their respective partner to other people.
There is no conflict, no development.
The characters are supposed to life different lives, which they do, but it never brings anything interesting to the screen.
THE CHARACTERS 🗯️🗯️
At the beginning of the show we are introduced to our protagonists.

MALE LEAD🗯️🗯️
I think they did a good job with the male lead.
I loved that they actually showed his work instead of just giving him a title and never show what he actually does. Unfortunately they gave this part "too much* screen time. It wasn't boring to watch, but it wasn't particularly intriguing either. If you don't care about that you'll probably drop out of the drama even before I did.
His is only the characters that has an actual backstory, conflicts and worries.
on the other hand he's also a very boring character and frankly bossy.
I liked his "struggles" but I didn't like his personality. the only thing he was good at was the flirting.
I particularly disliked they way after rejecting the FL, he just came back and became pushy.
He even said things like "my expectations were higher"(meaning he though she would throw her self on him), that in some way he "blamed" her for asking him out when he wasn't ready.
Something about that interaction really rubbed me the wrong way.
You can come and go as you please but she has to immediately fall for you? No thank you.

He is also an asshole to his ex. In one scene we see them talking and he literally says "I expected to date you not expecting to ever reciprocate your feelings". Excuse you?? What does that even mean?
In highschool he rejected our FL saying "I can't date because I want someone that can walk with me all the way" but than he says that to the girl who became his actual girlfriend?

FEMALE LEAD🗯️🗯️
The female lead is adorable. This is my first time seeing dilraba play a joyfull character. I always see her fighting monsters 🤣 she did a good job. Unfortunately, her character is paper thin.
She has no story. All her scenes, expect for the initial tournament, revolve around the ml.
She has no backstory, no struggles, no conflicts. Her being a star plays no roll in her development. There is never an issue with fans, paparazzi, a scandal, beef with actors. She is just a golden retriever without a care in the world.
The only part I really like except her personality , is that fact that when the ml chickens out , she does not wait for him. She is not swayed by his sweet words and actually stands her ground. It was refreshing to see in a romantic drama, where female leads usually give in immediately.

THE EXES🗯️🗯️
At he very beginning of the drama we are introduced to both the ml and FL exes. It looks like they were there to stirr some drama but they actually disappear from the screen the second after they are introduced. Why even bother having them in the cast?

STUFF I DISLIKED🗯️🗯️
❌there are too many flashbacks, especially Flashbacks of scenes we just saw. They literally replay the moment a few seconds after it happened.

❌Too many slow motions scenes. I skipped so many scenes of them just looking into the void and looking sad.

❌the amount of times someone says that the ml is good looking. Oh boy... It was in insane. We are talking about dozen of times. Maybe a hundred.
❌The kisses were bad. Static and lifeless.

❌Nothing happens in the show.


THINGS I LIKED✅✅
Female lead personality. Surface level but cute.

The moving story of the ml collegue and his sickness.


I would recommend this drama only if you like watching couples date (even though they are apart for most of the show).

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UNWILLINGLY FUNNY.

This is drama that takes itself to seriously and by doing that achieves the exact opposite. this was unwilling funny. I laughed my ass off at the absolute ridiculousness.🤣

PLOT:
A girl meets a man and falls in love with him just by listening to his voice. She then traced him down and start courting him. Will they end up together?

THE ROMANCE:
The ridiculousness starts right from the very beginning.
This girl meets a man in a hair salon. He is washing her hair and chit chatting with her.
She is suddenly so mesmerized by this 2 minutes long interaction that she literally stalks him, finds out where he lives and keeps showing at this unknown man's place.

He isn't any better though. this little girl shows up constantly and instead of sending her her way, he basically "tolerates" her presence for no reason.

She even keeps showering at his place many many many times.
She is thirsting over this man constantly and the drama emphasises this by showing little gestures, like he drinkinkin a beer, with exaggerated appeal.
I kid you not , he drinking a beer looks like a fricking commercial.🤣
Moving forward it is clear that these 2 like each other but there is actually no reason.
She tells us he is a mysterious man which he is not. He is just a quiet dude and pretty boring to be honest.
She on the other hand wants to be taken seriously by this guy but dresses and behaves like a 5 years old.
In my opinion he is kind of a creep. In the drama many AGE APPROPRIATE women show their interest in this man but he chooses the most childish, barely adult one... Kind of sus if you ask me , especially because he emphasises he wants someone "willing to stay and not date him out of a wimp". Sure. I am positive this 5 years old looking 19 years old is absolutely adamant and has her life all figured out.😬

THE DRAMA:
As said before , the drama takes itself too seriously. Never ending shots of these 2 longing, crying.
Some "artistic choices" made me laugh. In one scene the main guy is looking at fish in an aquarium and by the way the camera moves, it looks like he is making out with said fish. I couldn't hold it🤣🤣
Later on we see a painting she made of him and it was so cringe I laughed once again.
THE CHARACTERS:
What to say. He main lead is boring as hell and the main girl is basically an unlikable brat. She has guys falling for her left and right, but she treats everyone like shit. I bet if she was ugly noone would talk to her because she is very rude to everyone. Her mom, her nanny. Her CHILDHOOD FRIEND. everyone.
The actors:
I didn't like the characters but the actors were fine. At first I had the feeling I already knew the main guy and later I figured out he was the guy from the first METEOR GARDEN. what a throwback guys.
Conclusions:
I am dropping this drama mid way because there is nothing that interesting to keep me watching. Sure, I might find other hilarious stuff, but 11 more episodes of this might be the end of my already thin patience.

Should you watch it?
Give it a try. You might find the story compelling or surprisingly hilarious like I did. You never know

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this drama made me nostalgic!

I love rom coms... unfortunately when I want to watch Japanese ROM coms I always end up disappointed. if you click on any modern title you get a bossy ceo, a naive office lady and a super boring drama.
watching this reminded me of the good old days Japanese dramas.

this is a funny , cute and romantic little story.

ironically even though time has passed this feels way more modern than current drama. people talk freely about sex, homosexuality, cheating.... it was liberating!

of course there is also the downside. this product it's clearly from a different "era" and some jokes are straightly misogynistic, but this comes with the territory.
it wasn't so bad because the characters are portrait a some "old school" dudes and in the end they are not as bad as they seem.

the female lead is cute, goofy and has a heart of gold.
I really liked the friendship she has with her 2 besties and through their plot lines we explore divorce, cheating, the burden of being a care taker and so on.

for such a small drama there are a lot of themes to explore.

on the romance side, I loved the relashionship between Sakura and hirito. they are really cute together and I am happy with the ending.

unfortunately along the way I learned that the actor for hiroto has passed way. it was very sad to read about it but I'm happy his work is still being appreciated.

the characters are engaging, enjoyable and feel real.

if you , like me, struggle with modern Japanese dramas this will probably bring back good memories.

definitely recommended.

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the Man Lead is the problem!

let me start by saying that I like the actor.
I saw him in "the day of becoming you" and he was great! my issue is solely with his character in this drama.

the plot:🗯️🗯️
nothing groundbreaking here. two childhood friends falling for each other.
I like this genre and have no issues with the story.

what I didn't like:
1) many drama in this genre usually start from the early school days and then slowly move towards adulthood and work life. after seeing this drama specifically, I think this should always be the case.

our 2 main protagonist constantly, and I mean CONSTANTLY, talk about their past together, what happened, specif episodes etc and the drama then shows us the exact same episode and how it played out. the same scene are also included at the end of every episode.
to me I was kind of irritating. you either tell, or show. this constant back and forth was frankly annoying and totally unnecessary to understand that they are close friends. we know it. it is pretty clear.


2) this drama is boring as hell. stuff happens if course and I wish they focused more on that than spending time repeating the same conversations over and over again and constantly go out for lunch.
they spend half of the drama eating.

3) the ml. he is the main reason I'm dropping out.
it becomes clear pretty soon that he is love with his friend but he stubbornly denies it.
on the other hand he gets super jealous and is constantly in his friend's business.

the scene that made me dislike him so much is when he is playing badminton with his group of friends and gets so jealous he literally strikes his other friend head with the ball and doesn't even apologize.
that scene made me so mad.
his is just a simp and a brat.
his whole life revolves around being a butler for his lovely friend.
the worst part is that she thinks it's totally normal. this guy does everything for her and it never crosses her mind that normal "best friends" don't behave like he does.

I am kinda of mad because I actually liked the other couples of the show. the married couple is hilarious, the tech guy and the influencer are interesting too. unfortunately I cannot bring my self to continue watching because the focus is of course going to be the main couple, which I dislike.

the setting was interesting. the female lead works for a bank and we see a more "corporate" environment while the ml works for a media interpose. I was genuinely invested in the story until these 2 made it unwatchable.

it's really a shame.

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Is this drama boring? YES, CHEF!

PLOT🗯️🗯️
our story opens up with our poor shin su. Our girl died 3 years ago and is about to turn into an "evil spirit". In order to leave the earth peacefully she has to let go off her grudges, in her case dying as a virgin.
To reach her goal she possesses the body of na bong, a shy cook.
The plan seems to work out until they both fall for the same guy and some inconsistencies about shin su's death arise.

Premise🗯️🗯️
Definitely interesting. Following both a human and a ghost as their "lives" merge was interesting, at first. Primarily because shin su is hilarious.
I liked her character very much.
She is funny, resilient and has a heart of gold.
We grow attached to her even though we already know she is dead and we'll have to let go of her.

On the other side there is na bong.
She is a very timid girl with only her grandma on her side. She wants to follow her dreams and become a chef even though her self esteem is on the ground.
She is connected to the spirits which she sees since forever. That influenced her upbringing and the way she interacts with others.
Even though I understand where she is coming from, I couldn't care for her. She is just so bland a nervous ball.
She looks afraid of both humans and ghosts. For a screen character she is not much Interesting.
Even her love for the chef isn't that much moving. I don't even know if she likes him or just admires him. Seeing her writing about him in her diary came out of no where to me.

The male interest in the drama is this cocky chef. He is a good guy at heart but a bit irritating.
When the love story takes off I felt bad for him, na bong and shin su. That love story doesn't feel real because when he bonds with na bong, she is actually possessed by shin su. Basically he is falling for the ghost without knowing it.
Talking about him specifically I didn't feel any type of way. He's kind of annoying and to bland to move the needle.

The love story🗯️🗯️
To be honest I find the love plot the weakest point of the drama. I wished they focused more on the mystery, the underworld etc.
As said before, the love story didn't feel authentic because the chef is dating the ghost without knowing it. Na bong is boring as hell and he only starts having feeling for her when she is possessed by shin su.
The love story itself was kind of boring. At the very beginning there is this sort of hint at a love story between the chef and his old friend. It felt quite useless to me.
When the chef and na bong get together they feel like father and daughter. They interactions Never scream "unresistable love" even though they talk about liking each other sooooo much and solo deeply.

I'm currently on episode 12 pondering if ditching this drama would be the best thing.
The only thing keeping me interested is the actual mystery around the police guy.

There is also some plot inconsistency.
The spirit lady can see shin su at every corner but doesn't realize the police guy is an evil spirit nor does shin su. She meets him multiple times but never suspects anything.

At the end of episode 12 they address the fact that the chef fell for the ghost. Good for you na bong.

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unfortunately..NOT INTERESTING ENOUGH.

Plot: Xiao le and yi lan are childhood best friends. They share every aspect of their lives:issues, achievement, familiar problems.
Xiao le is trying to find his way in life without giving in with his father's expectations; yi lan instead knows what she wants to do. Her first love is playing cello just like her mother did. Unfortunately his father is not on her side.
We follow them as they navigate their problems through highschool and adult life.

Observations:
I liked the initial episodes of the drama. There is nothing groundbreaking here to watch but the atmosphere was nice and the characters were cute. I particularly liked the town/ school setting. It was a bit darker than usual school settings. It looked like they went to highschool in forks (twilight's)🤣.

I think the main issue in this drama is that everything is surface level.

We never get into anything too deeply.
Music is a main focus of the drama or at least this should be the case.

I'm still not sure about what kind of school they attended because they were involved all in music on some level, but it looked like a regular highschool instead of a conservatory.

Music is never discussed or shown except for the reoccurring "sorry, I gotta go play cello".
The fact that everytime someone is singing or playing an instrument another track is playing in the background takes you out of the moment.
I get that the actor may not be able to play, but you can cut the camera away from their faces and let a real musician play.

Maybe it was a budget issue, but it didn't help with setting the right tone in certain scenes.

Building momentum was also a big issue. The drama cuts short important or emotional scenes. They cut right in the middle of a scene, they never linger too much to actually make you feel the tension and that has an impact on the romance as well.

I found their love cute but how they got together was frankly a mess.

They jump from being distant, to being cold, to being together, to feel at ease with each other in the blink of an eye.

The whole "senpai" moment was "meh". Yi Lang starts liking him over nothing, confesses her love, than changes her mind. Right after she rejects Xiao le but wants to keep him a friend. She then sees him for a millisecond with a girl and gets jealous and right after starts to look at Xiao le under a different light.
They kiss accidentally and basically get together.

It was a mess and I didn't enjoy it at all.
If she was so adamant in rejecting him first just show me how she comes to terms with seeing him as more than a friend. Let the jealousy build up a bit.

The moment they get caught kissing by their respective parents was weird.

The whole drama we are shown that Xiao le parents are absent from his life , but suddenly they are everywhere and play the role of "comic relief" with yi Lang parents? Totally out of character.

Aside the main couple, the drama focuses also on the love story between the sad ning Ning and Xiao le's best friend.
this love story makes no sense from the very beginning.
Ning Ning was mean for no reason.
Her life revolved around cell even before she dated that guy. She never had time even in highschool but she uses this as an excuse to be a bitch towards her boyfriend.
He did absolutely nothing wrong. Always by her side, secretly helping her , never being a burden and always showing a positive attitude.
She on the other hand kept everything inside, never talked to him about nothing, never found time for him. He was the one always making plans for their couple and she saw it as a nuisance.
To add insult to injury she is the one breaking up with him asking "what is your plan? You need a plan". Girl, he was the only one being pro active in this relationship. He deserved way better.

The third female friend is on and off on our radars. Poor girl she is a third wheel in this drama.

This drama is not bad but it is not super interesting either.

My favourite part was the male lead character and the overall friendship of the main couple.
Everything else is just there for the sake of it.

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