scenophile

When I first started watching this, I was honestly expecting a horror/thriller. And yes, there were a lot of moments that had me at the edge of my seat — who's going to make it and who's not? The stakes always felt so high.

They got me so invested in all the characters and fleshed out the character development for pretty much everyone, which is really hard to do in a simple two hour movie. I was really emotionally connected to all the characters and yes, there was a lot of crying.

Essentially, this is so much more than a zombie movie. Yes, there are zombies and they freaked me out, but the story was so much more about human nature. There's a lot of social commentary about how the homeless is treated, about selfishness, about how easily distrust is sewn between one another...I felt a lot of references to Macbeth and Lord of the Flies when I was watching this — but with ten times the emotional impact.

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A slow burn

It took me a long time to get into this — I rarely watch historical dramas, much less something so heavy, so I had a lot of trouble with the character tree and not really understanding what the backstory was.

About 25 episodes in, however, I really started to hit my stride. I was really interested in how the different plots would unfold, and especially in the tension between the main characters Mei Changsu and Jingyan as we gradually got a few identity reveals — none of them disappointed.

Overall, I ended up really enjoying this one and would probably enjoy it a little more had it not been for the ending, which I understand thematically but still feels tacked on. It always feels kind of underwhelming when a drama adds a mini plot after the main one is over. It feels unexplained and rushed, and I really will just…pretend it doesn’t exist, to be honest.

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A Painful Drag

I was really excited for this one and I know it had gotten huge but goddamn. This was insanely painful to watch.

The main plot of the story is comprised of characters never communicating with each other, whether it's between family members or between the main leads. The family members don't treat each other with respect or talk through arguments — it's just yelling.

As for the romance, I've seen my fair share of nosy second leads but good god, the main leads just made it so EASY. The second leads barely had to do anything before the leads made assumptions, got jealous, and stopped talking to each other. Even after they got together, the relationship was comprised of keeping secrets or "not having the chance to tell each other" things until they found out through other means. It just all got really repetitive and was even more annoying because everything felt self-inflicted.

I also just hate the way they wrote the female characters in this drama — it was like the writers kept forcing their male characters to "take care" of them by making them immensely illogical and childish. Whether it was just being angry at the idea that two people in a relationship need their own space, or just trying to play hard-to-get to the point of messing with the other person's feelings, I just really despised how the women were portrayed. The main lead was really childish and overreactive, and the side characters were the same. TLDR: Nobody communicated. Ever.

Overall, this was an irritating watch and it took a long time for me to get through it — I know Xiao Zhan and Yang Zi are A-Listers but the chemistry was mediocre and the plot really dragged everything else down.

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Nuance and Cinematography

This is hands down the most nuanced and most fleshed out version of Hana Yori Dango (that I've watched), and for a drama that seems so chock full of cliches and out-of-the-blue plot developments and cliches, it felt like F4 Thailand was the most cohesive of them all too — I never once felt like things were underdeveloped or came out of nowhere. Side character arcs were all given their time and space.

I really love how modernized this is in terms of all the tropes; HYD is basically a hodgepodge of all the tropes but F4 Thailand managed to pull them off without making them seem tired and annoying. The bullying, insecurity, economic class, familial pressure themes were kept really consistent throughout the entire show even as different characters come in and out.

I do think the vibe of the show was pretty modernized as well — older versions of HYD added a really dramatic layer to some of the scenes and I was glad that everything just felt a little more realistic (as realistic as HYD could be, at least). Gorya was a really likable protagonist who used her brain a lot and didn't rush into things without thinking. Thyme's character development was done really well. The downside, and I don't know if this has to do with the fact that I know the story, but it's that I never felt as though the stakes were very high.

I have to admit that HYD was never my favorite drama so there are some arcs that I wish weren't included but of course they were, and there were other arcs like Kavin/Kaning that I wish had gotten more time to be developed.

I also think that for the most part, the actors did a great job — but you could definitely tell who was experienced and who was a rookie; I felt as though I could feel Bright and Win's emotions with my entire soul, but when other characters were crying or breaking down, it sort of just felt like acting.

Overall, definitely the best version of HYD out there; I think a bigger HYD fan might enjoy it but I admit it was never one of my favorite stories anyways. Even then, I felt like cinematography throughout the entire show was beautiful and I really liked that there were even mini tropes that were gently subverted in small scenes. The OST is beautiful and these are pieces of artistry that anyone can enjoy.

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Thought-provoking and masterful storytelling

This is the type of movie that starts out quiet and funny, but spirals down into something more scary and dramatic, all without being jarring. The subtlety was one of Parasite's best traits, and it's why I couldn't stop thinking about the symbolism, the theories afterwards. I've found so many small hints that I missed while watching it and now it just blows my mind more

The cinematography was beautiful. My favorite was the montage of the family carrying out their grand plan for the housekeeper, but throughout the movie you could tell that every scene was thought-out and its message about the distribution of wealth and elitism was depicted brilliantly in the cinematography alone.

Overall, Parasite was so cleverly made, and all the characters were very realistic, and the movie sets up people on both sides without vilifying anyone. The music was also edited in really well — when things were about to happen, the music got sinister and I felt nervousness. In the moment, though, there was nothing that really made me feel surprised. The epilogue and ambiguity of many plot points are things that you grow to appreciate, but it's a movie that you have to think about afterwards.

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Brilliant characters and backstories, but confusing antagonists

I loved how character-focused this show was; though the multiple flashback-only episodes might seem long, I think these episodes actually turned out to be my favorite episodes in the entire show. All the parents have such interesting backstories and the romances add so much to their characters. With the characters so fleshed out, the relationship dynamics are all really strong, particularly the familial themes — in all three families.

Where the show sort of hiccups for me is the actual action plot. It starts out very promising, with one antagonist leading the charge as they work their way through the super-powered people. As we get more information about the parents' backstories, however, the drama introduces more and more antagonists. There are more layers to the South Korean government, and then there's North Korea, and I feel like the main mission is never really clear. The antagonists get some last minute flashbacks and developments too, which I couldn't really bring myself to care for because it was just too late and the characters were too minor.

I commend this drama for pursuing a style and genre I don't think kdramas have ever ventured in before, but I wish the conflicts were a little more focused.

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Peak enemies-to-lovers

Oh, it's been a long while since I've seen a drama do pretty much everything right. THIS is how you do enemies-to-lovers. Yes, the leads have banter from the start and I thought it was just going to be annoyance-to-lovers, but they really ramped it up in the next few episodes and damn. We get actual violence and real betrayal. Yay!

The chemistry between the leads is fantastic, and I think this is one of the few instances where the romance arc weaves into the bigger plot perfectly. As much as I like some couples, it feels often out-of-place to have a "dating" episode where everything is sunshine and rainbows while the plot is put on hold. Instead, we get to see the leads communicating and working together to solve the mystery and catch the bad guy and that just means so much more. I'm just so impressed with the writing from start to finish; the setting and premise are creative and original, and even the subplots and mini-cases were impressive, and the show did an amazing job of raising the stakes and keeping them high.

I don't have any many criticisms about this drama, and if I do they're pretty minor; the transitions are just a little weird — it's like the show made it really clear where the ad breaks are, and the drama fades to black at the most inopportune times, like during really tense scenes. It's a really small thing but it did feel jarring sometimes.

Other than that, fantastic watch. I'm not a rewatcher but I think I might make an exception here.

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A slowwwwwww burn

So this drama requires one big thing from its audience: patience.

It starts out slow; a lot of the early episodes are focused on establishing setting — the competitiveness of and within academies, how it clashes with public schools, etc. We see our main female lead, a star academy teacher, get caught up right in the middle of it, and its only after all of this do we get a little glimpse of an interaction between her and the male lead. It looks like a lot of people had already dropped the drama by then, and those people missed out — the chemistry between them is FANTASTIC.

But I don't blame them. The unfortunate truth is that the academy setting and plot just...isn't that interesting, despite how well-written it is. We've seen similar themes in other dramas — pressure on students, overbearing parenting, backstabbing coworkers — and honestly, those dramas were right to do it with more flair and flamboyance. While I appreciate how down-to-earth and realistic the conversations and lessons are (There are some that are truly heartwarming, like seeing a teacher rediscover her passion), there's really only one A-plot, and it really does start to drag. There's only one thing going on; we're spending too much time on it when I'd rather be with the main leads, or even getting more depth for our second leads, who end up really underdeveloped.

The melodrama-style editing doesn't help the slowness; while the melo vibes of the show really work towards the drama's favor when we're just spending time with our leads and watching fall in love and be in love, it also means we linger on the other academy-centric moments, and I find myself zoning out when an academy lecture scene about the history of Korea (or something) goes on for ten minutes, or even if the antagonists are having some really long, drawn-out conversation.

By the end, it feels like the main plot is a little underwhelming for how much time we spent on it, and I wish we'd spent more time just seeing our main leads happy or even just doing something different, something that's not lecturing or eating dinner (lol).

Honestly though, the main leads are absolutely golden. The chemistry is amazing, I love love love the communication and the tension between them, and their little flashbacks were so cute. It's crazy that they're the the main leads and it still feels like they didn't get enough screentime together. We just needed this drama to be a little more romance and a little less everything else.

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Great, but not as great as S1

This was still really great and captivating — I couldn't wait to see how the mystery would turn out now that we were getting into who was behind the killer, and it definitely felt like the villains and the good guys were going head-to-head and you didn't know who would have the upper hand and where. There was a lot of great tension whenever they had to sneak into places or were trying to work undercover.

I think the way the story plays out is just okay though; it doesn't quite feel as fleshed out, and there are reveals that I was looking forwards to that ended up being sort of underwhelming.

The best part of this season, however, is absolutely the trio of Ren Fei/Lian Yan Dong/Ji Si Qi. They hit this perfect balance of being in law enforcement and working outside of it, while giving off this "found family" feeling. I REALLY wish we got more of them, whether they were plotting or having an awkward meal together.

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Inferior to the prequel

On a surface level, I don't think either this film nor the first film were that unique — the premise and plot development is all relatively expected. But while Part 1 had a really powerful screen presence from its main characters, Part 2 opts for a more cliche, unspeaking "fish-out-of-water" superpowered lead, who doesn't really stand out from the overwhelming number of side characters (there like like four different antagonist groups) who all have the same "badass bad guy" personality.

The plot itself does feel less directed. Whereas there was a clear goal in the first one, this one felt much more passive; we spent basically the entire movie waiting for the bad guys to catch up to where our main characters were, siting still.

With that being said, as someone who understands both English and Mandarin, I did not really enjoy either of those groups. The English sounded fine, but the acting was not good, and it was very annoying to hear "Chief! Chief!" every other line. The Mandarin just did not sound good.

I think the final thing that just made this film feel more unserious was the special effects. There was something very nerve-wracking about all the Part 1 fights being up close and personal, even though everyone had super strength. It made everything scarier and bloodier. In this one, they opt for something in the vein of what the kdramas Strong Woman Bong-soon and Strong Girl Nam-soon went for — people getting punched and flying back 500 feet. It feels more comedic and doesn't at all match the serious tone the film seems to want to go for.

While I didn't dislike the main character, she was just...fine, especially in contrast to the main character from Part 1. In fact, it was amazing how much screen presence Ko Ja-yoon had when she finally appeared, and I realized I'd rather have gotten a story about her journey to getting where she is now, rather than time jumping to her return.

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Captivating...but too much girl-on-girl hate

So I didn't realize, before going into this, that there was a supernatural element to it. It definitely added a lot to the show's intrigue and made Nanno a very (satisfyingly) overpowered character, though I found I had to suspend disbelief several times. The anthology aspect of the drama also added a lot to that, knowing that she would win and everything would start over in the next episode.

The downside of an anthology, however, is that there are always stronger and weaker episodes — and in this case I think the show front-loaded its stronger ones. My favorites were The Ugly Truth, and Social Love, with maybe Lost & Found as an honorable mention. The weaker ones were the three at the end before the finale: Trap, Thank You Teacher, and Rank.

I'm also a little mixed on the themes. While I enjoyed the variety in the stories and they do cover several different topics, from class/wealth disparities, to social media, to beauty standards, there's one running theme that's very frustrating to see, and that's girl-on-girl hate. 90% of the episodes have girls attempt murder to set up SA situations with either Nanno or other girls over a boy's affections, and it's a little frustrating that so many plots resorted to this instead of finding new character motivations and exploring other aspects of dark human nature — of which there is much to explore.

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Slow burn of everything

It took me a while to really understand the world-building of it all, but once you do it's so rich I wish I could live in this world and just explore it on my own. The characters are by far the best part of the entire drama. The chemistry between the leads is great and the development of their relationship is gradual and believable.

I enjoyed the balance between funny moments and darker plotlines, but the pacing did feel really slow. I don't have a problem with the romantic pacing — after all, slow burn romance is my favorite — but plot-wise I noticed that it took multiple episodes to just get to the next thing. My interest in the secondary and tertiary characters went up and down but for the most part I enjoyed the romantic subplots and how it intertwined with the main story.

I do, however, think that we didn't have to see so much of the villains and their schemes. It started to get a little repetitive and not only was there really no need to follow every tidbit of it, but I also felt like I craved the feeling of suddenly seeing that our protagonists had been outwitted by worthy villains, and it was impossible to get that if we already saw it coming.

Nevertheless, this was a great watch; if I ever rewatch any part of it it'll 100% be Janguk/Mudeok scenes.

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Second half dragfest, but a satisfying conclusion

The drama kind of lost its way in the second half and got draggy — I loved the first few eps and “alternate universes” we got but then it became just about chasing down this single package and a character who was just wayyy too tight-lipped for all the wrong reasons. But what an excellent way to end.

In a way it was a lot more simple than I expected; there were no redemption arcs, no being forced to work with a bad guy against a bigger, common enemy. The heroes just did their thing, the bad guys did their thing and that was just kinda it. I’m actually okay with it because redemption arcs are hard to pull off and in the end we got a satisfying “heroes win, bad guys lose,” clean-cut conclusion.

My favorite element is probably the hints of "found family" that we got especially at the end where we saw the leads come together — I really wish they had shown more of it throughout the drama but either way it was really satisfying character growth for both the lead characters.

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Everything a youth revenge drama should be

This is exactly what I wanted from a youth revenge drama — the story was nerve-wracking, the cliffhangers were intense, and the chemistry was top-notch. There is the perfect balance between intense scenes and quiet moments you would expect from two teenagers who were lucky enough to find each other despite all the tension and uncertainty in their lives.

I watched each week's episodes with bated breath and I think the pacing was fantastic as well, with bits and pieces of the story being unveiled each episode. The communication between the characters was both intriguing and satisfying and there's even very subtle layers of social commentary around law enforcement if you squint.

Would definitely recommend.

NOTE: I think it's also necessary to say that this drama is not at all an accurate depiction of DID and there are problems with the "evil alter ego" trope — this is still a great watch but everyone should keep that in mind.

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