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Not as good as Part 1
I loved Part 1 but Part 2 honestly didn't quite hit the same way. There are still some great scenes, but I had a lot of trouble with the pacing, and the romance moves to a pretty frustrating place. There's like 3 separate subplots (near-death experiences and all) crammed into the last three episodes alone, and we seem to skip over a lot of important moments to get there.I will say that with all the dramatic scenes we get, Zhao Lusi and Wu Lei's acting really get to shine. They have wonderful chemistry and even though the plot itself might be frustrating, I can't lie — the angst is very satisfying to watch.
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Surprisingly fun and light-hearted
I had been putting off watching this one for a while, worried it would be too confusing or heavy. But Part 1 of this drama was actually so funny and light-hearted. The family dynamics are really interesting to watch and the romance was delightful and full of tension.It does have the same issue that I have with many historical cdramas — that 95% of women characters are portrayed as villainous and manipulators , but it helps that the main character is headstrong and intelligent; she's one of the most refreshing parts of the show.
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Cried way more than I expected
I went into this one expecting a light-hearted school drama but this one turned out to be a surprising tear-jerker.There's some inconsistent pacing with certain arcs taking a lot of episodes and other arcs flying by way too fast, and the way the time travel works — by starting from scratch every single time — does get a little repetitive and frustrating sometimes. But ultimately, I found this drama extremely heartfelt; the leads are both likable and adorable together, and the male POV that we get is so touching and memorable.
It's true that the ending leaves a lot to be desired, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the show at all. Will be watching the film next!
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Warm
A very heart-warming story, with lots of side characters that ended up really growing on me. The story is deeper and more concrete than a lot of Thai BLs I've watched, and that made me really connect to the characters a lot more. There's romance here, but also a very warm feeling of found family and friendship.There ARE a few things that were a little frustrating, particularly in the last few episodes, where the drama goes for conflict instead of communication. It meant the ending and final episode is a little rushed, but ultimately I'm satisfied with the character arcs.
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Pretty cool
This was actually quite enjoyable, from the world-building to the set design to the dynamic of their little group., but it does become a bit cheesy at certain times both in the plot and in the acting — especially when it comes to the international side actors who are clearly not as skilled as the main cast.Was this review helpful to you?
Sweet but also depressing — but in a way that many Asian movies turn out to be.
I did enjoy this one and it was sweet and heart-warming at certain moments, with great performances and lessons. It did end up being a little more cliche than I'd expected though; given the blurb, I did not expect the plot to revert to some of those same tropes we've seen so many times before in other Asian media.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Light-hearted, but might've been better as a drama.
Not really my type of humor (which seems to be often my issue with the comedy genre, especially those from Taiwan), but it has a few fun moments and a decent story.Pacing-wise, it feels very bloated for a film and the tone jumps around a lot — I often thought this might've worked better as a drama paced similarly to Oh No! Here Comes Trouble, which sort of did a better job of balancing different tones and exploring its characters.
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My heart
I've previously watched the Taiwanese movie and drama so I already knew what the plot was, but there hasn't been a version of this story I haven't cried at. I've got a soft spot for the Taiwanese film just because I watched it first, but this one still tugged at all my heartstrings and made me shed tears.Was this review helpful to you?
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Sweet nostalgia
I'm not sure if it's just me but as much as I like youth romance movies, my enjoyment is almost always hampered by the addition of a really depressing and dramatic third act, which we sometimes, like in this movie, know is coming from the beginning. While I thought the story was sweet, it's also another instance of "maybe it would've been better in drama form," and we would have more time with these characters, like in the Reply series.Was this review helpful to you?
Sweet little sports drama
For something that came in the early 2000s, this drama is surprisingly down-to-earth and grounded. The leads have fantastic chemistry and I really am a big fan of the fun little banter that they have, while also having very mature conversations.There are some moments here and there that do show this drama's time — some lines that don't age too well — but ultimately I found this show pretty sweet.
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Confusing
I absolutely loved the first season — it hit all the emotional beats and had a fantastic balance of political, social and emotional arcs. I was really looking forward to this season, and while I think it has some really strong moments, it ultimately felt more confusing than anything to me.There are a LOT of characters and I don't think any of them really stood out to me; it doesn't help that the timeline seems very muddy. The arson incident is not really given enough weight that clarifies exactly what happens "before" and what happens "after," and I also just missed the journalism and legal fall-out we saw in S1. This season seemed to go for more of a political perspective, but it didn't seem to be tied to the incident directly, and was instead just there as a more general backdrop.
Ultimately, I still liked a lot of the social commentary this season tried to give, but I don't think the story was told in a very memorable or clear way.
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Aimless
It was pretty obvious after watching S2 that seasons 2 and 3 were basically one season split into two parts, and now that we've seen both of them, I felt like the set-up didn't end up paying off.I can kind of see what they're going with the nihilism theme, but it ultimately feels a bit shallow and not very coherent. There were a lot of character arcs that were randomly cut off because the story went for the route of everyone having to die, and side characters with originally really interesting roles, like the detective or the guard, ended up being really underutilized. It also felt everything started revolving around the baby once it was born — a trope that's always been a pet peeve of mine.
In terms of games, I think my favorite in this one was the jump rope because of its simplicity — I personally enjoy where there's no ill will in the game itself, and death only happens in terms of failure, which is when people start to sabotage others. The Keys and Knives one is a little too on the nose for me.
Ultimately, I think the first season is still the best. The second and third feel like a rehashing of it, with characters and games that are far less engaging.
And yes, the VIPs are still horrible.
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Bittersweet
A touching and beautiful story, but one that I wish was a drama with longer screentime because it felt like we just scratched the surface of their friendship.The story is pretty strong but it's still slightly hampered by the same issue a lot of older Japanese movies have — an overly dense and twitchy female lead who seems to have little personality beyond ultimate kindness.
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Good themes but confusing
This film has several extremely emotional scenes between the leads that absolutely blew me away, but as a whole, it feels very janky and choppy.There's not a lot of development between the characters in between the big moments, and the timeline just feels really unclear, as if we're jumping from scene to scene instead of experiencing the passing of time. I found myself pretty confused about what had happened between the characters and how long it took.
The acting is pretty good, but I think the script needed more tightening.
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Didn't click for some reason
Ah. I was really hoping to love this one considering all the glowing reviews, and one thing I do appreciate is that it doesn't do the Hollywood thing of thinking action = excitement. The CGI is fantastic for its small budget, and the film actually takes its time setting up its characters and the world, and Godzilla is more of a vehicle for their development. It just...didn't really work that well for me.Was this review helpful to you?
