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A pleasant surprise
So this show being announced was actually what kick-started to me start the anime in the first place. I'd just finished the Arabasta Saga when this came out and even then there was a little spoiler that I got — they revealed something a little earlier. It's not a deal-breaker, but this is just a note for someone who wants to start this but isn't all caught up on the source material and other adaptations.Other than that, this was actually a great watch, but I wouldn't recommend it as someone's FIRST venture into the world of One Piece.
The plot moves super fast compared to the anime. On one hand, it's great because I'd definitely felt like fight scenes were too drawn out in the anime. But the downside of condensing them in the LA and leaving out a lot of side characters resulted in the opposite: I don't think all the battles had the emotional weight and physical stakes they were supposed to.
I also think a lot of character development was lost because of it; sometimes characters would change their minds or have motivations that weren't fully explained, or character relationships to each other wouldn't be too clear. If I hadn't already known the details, I probably would've been a lot more confused.
Still, this was a really good live action adaptation. The set design, character design (especially for Buggy!), and cinematography are all fantastic. The acting was also pretty good, though I definitely needed some time to adjust myself and reconcile the LA versions with their anime counterparts.
I absolutely hope they continue making more seasons.
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Romance, friendships, and growing up, together
This surpassed my expectations in every way and it's definitely become one of my all-time favorites. As a light-hearted coming-of-age youth romance...it's pretty much perfect.The dialogue and plot progression is one of the most natural I've seen in ANY Chinese drama. There were no conflicts that were overdramatized; misunderstandings were extremely understandable, realistic, and were solved quickly and with the best thing of all: communication.
This brings me to my favorite part of the entire drama — the two main leads. The chemistry was top notch and I absolutely loved both their personalities. They were independent and true to themselves throughout the entire drama, both were intelligent and yet fun and chaotic at the same time, and both stood up for their own beliefs and supported each other through things. And yet, they each had flaws and struggles — they were just both very three-dimensional and well-rounded. They went through character development both individually and together and the relationship was really healthy and still gave me so many butterflies. They're now one of my favorite couples EVER.
I honestly just love the entire cast; there was definitely less time spent on their subplots (which is to be expected) but the other side characters in their friend group really grew on me as well. I know I'll miss that entire group now that this drama is over. Best of all, there's no evil second lead, disapproving parent, mean teacher...there's just no villain or annoying characters at all and any interpersonal conflicts they ran into really felt realistic.
Overall, I'd really highly recommend this drama. I'm not one for rewatching things but this is one that I would 100% revisit from beginning to end. And I'd love it all over again.
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The Heartbreak of Nostalgia
This has all the markers of a cliche romance coming-of-age story, but they managed to pull every emotion out of me while doing it.The chemistry between the main leads was 100% there and I absolutely loved the warm and fun relationship that they had; it truly felt like seeing two high schoolers falling in love, with all the silly things and stressful decisions that usually come with experiencing love at that age, for the first time.
The ending is a little vague and leaves some open questions, but it really doesn't bother me that much when I think about the construction and perspective of the movie; either way I didn't expect it to hit this film to hit this hard but it did and I think it'll go down as one of my favorites.
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A comfort watch
I would definitely consider this a good watch — it had a lot of depth in different themes such as ableism, family duty, guilt, friendship, vulnerability, and more — and it handled them all with a decent amount of eloquence. I do have some issues with some of the way some arcs went, such as the reasoning for a child to choose staying by an obviously abusive parent, or how two people would reconcile.Despite the things that I did like, in some ways this felt very cliche and that was what worked against the drama the most: the romance. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the relationship between the two leads — for most of the show the communication and support between them was top-notch, and I really loved seeing the different types of families and parental roles in the show too. It was the second lead part of the romance for me. I really liked the second lead character actually, but only as an individual or as a love interest for the second female lead. I felt like any feelings he had for the FL just felt like he was going through the moments to fill the necessary cliche — there was no chemistry there and the only purpose it served was to kick the ML into action; whereas he's typically a pretty layered character with his family background and attitude, I felt like these scenes actually flattened his character development a lot into the cookie-cutter SML.
Other than that, I also felt like it was hard to relate to the main female lead; I do appreciate that she never comes off as overbearing, stupid, or annoying like the leads in dramas like Playful Kiss or even A Love So Beautiful, and she's even pretty mature sometimes, but there were definitely some lapses where I wish the drama showed her growing up more and becoming more independent without it being related to schoolwork or being related to the male lead's growth.
Overall, would say that this is a really light-hearted and fleshed-out show despite the times it delves into cliches. The romance is definitely pretty innocent and implicit (I believe due to the lead actress's age) but I have no problem with that because the support between the leads and the way miscommunications were never dragged out was just super refreshing.
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This review may contain spoilers
Cute but nothing new
This was a cute no-brain kind of watch, one that never got too heavy but also didn't explore everything it could have with its friendships and family dynamics.It's a little short — about ~30 minutes per episode, and for that reason there wasn't that much time and I felt like development was a little thin. The plot was a little predictable as well, and ultimately nothing really stood out.
One thing that kind of bothered me as well was the way they handled transphobia when there was an entire plot point revolving around the FL getting bullied for it.
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Fun action, but not very deep
Overall I still quite enjoyed this quite a bit, but it had the potential to be a lot more. Being a huge fan of Train to Busan, I kind of couldn't help but compare and it felt like the stakes never really rose in #Alive.There were a lot of mini "deus ex machina" moments where things just seemed to happen and save the main characters, or they just seemed to be able to fight back: plot armor, if you will. And suspense could have been handled better, I felt like the loud music was kind of a giveaway that something was about to happen, and even silence could have had more of a feeling of anticipation.
I liked the relationship between the main characters but the FL was not really developed — I wanted to know things like why she was so good at making those gadgets.
Some things were also just kind of predictable. The social media/web aspect was a little less of the story than I expected and kind of seem unnecessary altogether.
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The definition of rom-com
Even though I went in knowing this was a rom-com, I can't help but feel like I was hoping for a little bit more of everything.Firstly, I've never had so much trouble suspending my disbelief. The whole contract situation felt just odd, and the lack of logic honestly made it hard for me to become emotionally invested in this drama.
While I appreciate strong female leads, I was definitely hoping for more fire between the main leads. We got some at the start, but the main female lead tolerated a lot from the guy that I wish she called him out for. I really didn't feel the relationship between them, but I appreciate that there was no crazy misunderstandings or noble idiocy break-up.
In fact, they were a lot more solid than I expected, and maybe that's one of the reasons also felt like I was waiting for a climax conflict that never really came. Of course, we got all the cliches: the jealous ex, suspicious stock prices, a disapproving family member, fake news...but none of it really hit me as much as I wish it did.
I still enjoyed watching it as a little fun thing to do while multitasking, and one thing that I actually really liked in this was the sismance. In fact, the main FL's best friend was probably my favorite character out of them all, and especially towards the end with the emergence of a side-ship, she had the kind of fire that I thought the main lead was going to have. She stuck by her friend no matter what and their little domestic conversations were so wholesome and fun to watch.
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I don't know if it's the amount of mystery/thriller books I've read or what, but the ending seemed a little predictable to me, and I guess I never really got the climactic moment I was hoping for.
I was also a little annoyed by the female lead throughout. She wasn't ditzy or stupid, but I honestly didn't think she was very smart or strong either. It got annoying when the show seemed to be LOUDLY ADVERTISING her as a strong character with dialogue like: "Wow, how are you not afraid at all?" or "Don't do such fearless things." when she always kind of did nothing in the actual moments (and her trauma was something I thought would be part of her character development, but it didn't really). Also: the first episode had her as someone who grew up "with a sixth sense," but as the drama went on, suddenly she lacked peripheral vision and hearing and couldn't even tell when she was being tailed by 30 men in black suits...
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There's the quirky female lead who starts off strong but then ends up chasing after the cold, jerk male that simply treats her like garbage.
There's the annoying second female lead who is also basically there to interfere in the main ship — and along with that is the double standard where she's blamed for everything despite the main guy also being at fault.
And then, there's that second male lead who is always there for the main girl, the one that just steals my heart and would have been such a more intriguing main character, rather than just the poor sap who the main girl cries about her heartbreak to — despite knowing the guy already likes her.
With that being said, this drama could have had a lot going for it, if only I didn't dislike the main male lead that much and how the female ran after him. The premise is intriguing, with the intersection between historical and modernity.
I also think this drama was in dire need of more bromance and sismance. The lack of bromance is understandable, considering they're rivals and all, but the girl had a beautiful group of friends around her who never got more backstory or the opportunity to be anything but "the friends." Thes same could go for the lady teachers/servants that the FL had — they could've been more, but we only got to see a little bit of that at the very last episode.
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This review may contain spoilers
They are the CUTEST
The chemistry between the leads is FANTASTIC and it's hands down the best part of the drama. I was giggling and kicking my feet the entire time.I have a love-hate relationship with Esther Yu's performances — she's great but the aegyo is often so over-the-top. Here, though, it fits well for the most part, though there are some subplots that are quite cheesy. He Yu absolutely sells the bad boy (with a soft heart) persona.
The only hiccup this drama has for me was the big conflict that lead to the main couple going no-contact for years; while I like how the female lead's bubbliness came through while dealing with it, the angst leading up to the separation just didn't quite land and was more frustrating. It's already one of my least favorite tropes, but especially since the drama already started with the main characters reconnecting after not communicating while they were younger, utilizing a similar trope the second time just didn't really work.
Ultimately though, this was a highly addictive watch (especially in the first half) and I hope we get more of this archetype of ML in the future — they're really hard to come by but I eat it up every time.
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Beautiful cinematography but frustrating plot
The first thing I noticed about this show is that it's filmed beautifully. The cinematography and lighting are really gorgeous, and the music really adds a nostalgic tone to everything.I was really seated for this one at the start. This drama is very reminiscent of bittersweet Asian first love romance films, where we often see innocent couples grow up and become jaded from everything life throws at them. It's fine as a movie plot, but dragged out over 26 episodes...it really does get quite miserable, unfortunately, and I can only take so much before I think "yeah, these two should not be together" and we should all just move on.
I also think we spent so much time inching through every single repetitive conflict, but ended up time-jumping through the biggest changes, and that we should've paced it out a bit more so we got to see more growth in our characters before the end. The same goes for the second ship, who are intriguing in theory but ended up giving me whiplash. The third couple I just didn't care for at all, and I think their appearances in the present timeline actually took me out of my immersion.
Ultimately, I feel very mixed on this one. I didn't hate it; it's beautifully filmed and the characters are flawed and raw in a way that cdramas don't often depict. But I don't think I'll be recommending this to anybody, and I don't think I'll ever touch this drama with a ten-foot pole, because like I said...it was kind of miserable.
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I was invested in the kidnapping mystery and I liked the reveal around it — the way it played out was kind of anticlimactic but the reveal was good. I kind of wish there was even more built up and that the plot was carried better, as I wasn’t too fond of the ghost-of-the-week style and was craving a loot more of this plotlinne.
Other aspects of the drama like the romance fell flat for me. I’m just not a fan of the cold CEO / ditzy poor female pairing and this drama kind of took it to another level. Also, maybe I’m just DUMB but the dialogue between the main leads whenever they talked about their relationship was so weird all the time and always went way over my head.
The last few episodes really felt like they were dragged out longer than they had to be, especially with the addition of a new character and a supposed obstacle to the romance.
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I’ve seen this film before
I think there’s definitely an audience for this out there — if you are a fan of fantasy mixed into real life and adult romance (think Goblin, Legend of the Blue Sea, My Love From the Star, those classics) I think you’d really enjoy this.For me, it was just okay. I think I prefer my romance a little more down-to-earth and conversational; a lot of the more flashy scenes where they were saving each other didn’t really have a strong emotional impact on me and felt borrowed from the aforementioned classics, while the more domestic scenes where they were talking to each other or working together were stronger but not enough for these characters to set themselves apart from other dramas.
Additionally, and this is absolutely personal preference, I think I’m just not the biggest fan of linking saeguk and modern plots with the past lives and reincarnation premise. It’s been done to death (See Goblin, and most recently A Good Day To Be A Dog and The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract) and I just can’t find it in myself to care that much about their past story, since that’s all it is: past. Our non-immortal main characters have lived different experiences. I understand how it adds a level of angst to the leads (as if destiny works against them) as well as upping the stakes (from basic company politics, for example, to actual death) but it always just feels like a tangent.
With all that being said, this was just okay. I didn’t care that much for the modern plot about the company, but also didn’t really find the backstory to be all that memorable. The main characters are likable enough; Dohee is strong, and Guwon is a convincing demon that balances between being heartless and hilarious, but overall they’re both kind of cookie cutter characters.
This ended up being sort of “I started it so I might as well finish it” kind of show for me.
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This review may contain spoilers
Frustrating
This one already got off to a rough start for me, and as it went on it only got worse.I actually quite enjoyed the past timeline. The way the main romance started was a little too easy and full of coincidences for me, but I actually appreciated the conflict in their relationship being about money, and I thought both of them had valid perspectives. The FL did not want to become dependent on someone else, and the ML wanted to take care of someone he cared about. I thought both of them had very good points and it's actually a really realistic conflict for a new relationship when two people are from different financial backgrounds.
But it feels like we just never move on. The characters double down on, and we rehash the same issues over and over again. The leads just take turns doing noble idiocy. The love rivals are all irritating. The leads make up, but it's clear the issue is not actually addressed, especially once we get to after the time jump. The FL is still so tight-lipped and non-communicative, we just get episodes of her getting close to the ML but then rejecting his advances. And the ML is still so stubborn and pushy about rekindling their relationship despite her constant rejections. What the show advertises as his perseverance just looks to me like disrespecting boundaries.
I think the show just tries too hard to convince us the leads should be together, instead of writing actual character development to show so. Each episode is full of lines about how they are fated because they had the same survey response, or because they had the same childhood toy, or because they met again. But the way the characters actually act just tells me the opposite — that they should not be together.
I did not care for the second couple either. The teacher-student trope is already something that I find deeply uncomfortable, and it's weirder because the drama doesn't address their power dynamic at all. Her thing is playing hard-to-get and he gives us nothing.
The third couple, surprisingly, was my favorite. They had very little screentime but they were cute and that was all I needed.
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Warm
A very warm show about dealing with grief. The short runtime is kind of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it really made the most of its time — the pacing was steady and we wasted no time. On the other hand, I'm not sure I could fully connect to the characters; they felt more like archetypes or representations of their themes. But this was still a pretty sweet watch.Was this review helpful to you?
