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Completed
My Second Aoharu
2 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Jan 11, 2024
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

Optimistic, uplifting, amazing!

It has been a long time since a drama made me feel so many butterflies and actually moved me almost to (happy) tears. I never cry: happy or sad! Never! But this was perfect as perfect can get in this imperfect world made by us, imperfect humans. Maybe this was just exactly what I needed at this moment in my life.

This is the story of Sayako, who, 30 years old, faced with a wall in her life and challenged by a young man met by accident, decides to try to realize her dreams of becoming an architect. After finally entering college, she finds a room in a house shared with 5 other architecture students. Initially she is scared of age difference, but her bubbly optimistic disposition wins everyone and she finds great friends and love amongst them.

Sayako is an amazing character, brave, persistent, refusing to have regrets later in life and therefore doing everything in her power to succeed. She gives us all a great lesson in life: it is never too late to realize your dreams!
The whole cast of characters is amazing: her roommates, her landlord who is interested in her but has trouble showing it, her parents who support her in her endeavour. And of course Tako, the ML whose remarks have shaken her life far beyond the imagined. Just like in many j dramas, there is not one single mean character. Everyone is sweet, helpful, understanding and it is not annoying or boring.

There must have been flaws in this drama: unwillingness to communicate about the crucial decision in life, could be one rare one...but I cannot think of anything major and frankly, I am feeling so good at the moment that I do not want to think about it!

This drama should be prescribed by doctors because it makes you feel good, leaves you with a silly smile plastered on your face and the need to gush to everyone about its effect.

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Completed
The Time of Fever
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Oct 4, 2024
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 6.5
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 2.0
This review may contain spoilers

Teens figuring life out...unsuccessfully!

I was bored by this short drama, beautifully filmed, maudlin but eventually unconvincing! I remember reading the webtoon a couple of years ago and finding the main couple boring and annoying, while the second couple was hot. I really do not remember the details of the webtoon, but these two made me finish it, they had sizzling chemistry and their story was far more compelling than the main one!

This drama on the other hand seems to try to check every trope on the list: childhood friends, zero communication skills, horrible family, moaning in pain while an almost invisible scrape is being treated, hair drying session, noble idiocy, time jump....

It also has beautiful cinematography, everything was filmed in warm and fuzzy yellow tones. The music was just enough there to stress the importance of scenes.

It is the storyline and the chemistry where this drama fails. Teenagers are as they are, exploring their burgeoning sexuality, they are confused and usually act before thinking. The two characters here are the opposites. One has been kicked out of the house by his father for being gay (how does he survive, go to school etc. Is his father still paying for him?)so he is serious and hard-working and has had a crush on his friend like forever. The friend in question has just lost his father and moved to this seaside town. Living with the other boy, he is an idiot, trying to recapture the past childhood emotions and not understanding why he cannot do it. The evolution of his feelings is shown rather smoothly. When he realizes he has a crush on the other boy, he first acts upon it but is confused by the boy's reaction. Then there is the noble idiocy part and the departure to go to med school in Seoul: what happened there? With what money? Why did he become the proud owner of a coffee shop? With what money?

These little practical things are what ruined this drama for me....

The plot lacks substance: we are given some facts and everything else are just dreamy pretty sequences. And being a prequel (which I saw and which does not really fit well with this drama's ending) the ending is open. They should have added another epilogue or an episode concluding their story after another time jump to after the first drama. Their story has a happy ending in the webtoon.

Pretty but empty!

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Completed
Yakusoku: 16-Nen-me no Shinjitsu
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Sep 21, 2024
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 2.5
This review may contain spoilers

Dark and loud

I'm sorry but this is far from the masterpiece. The story is nothing new, the acting is bad, the cinematography gloomy and the music all wrong. In short, not a masterpiece but a correct crime story.

A police detective comes back to her hometown for the first time sixteen years after her father was, in her opinion, wrongfully accused to be a serial killer. Now that she is back, she wants to re investigate her father's case. But even before she could do anything, the murders start again. Everything keeps pointing towards her group of high school best friends. As each of them is suspected, investigated and then released, more and more secrets are revealed.

This kind of second investigation by a wronged son/daughter out to prove their parent's innocence, are a dime a dozen. This one is no different from the lot. I don't know what to say about the plot beside that it is boring: the fact that two people are obsessed by the detective, Aoi, since forever is not very convincing because she is not a likeable character. The problem also lies with the actress who is bad at what she's supposed to be doing, i.e. acting! Coupled with a horrible haircut and wardrobe (exclusively black trouser suits: she wore nothing else throughout the drama!), she's not a character one could root for! She's also thrown into the hostile environment of her hometown's police station, where the policemen who arrested her father still work. She has special investigation superpower: she can visualize the criminal's behaviour just by having a good look at the crime scene. The chief commissioner tasks a detective to keep an eye on her and report back her every single movement. This detective does not trust her at all and is suspicious of everything she does. And even though he realizes that she's not as bad as he was led to believe, he still looks at her (and at everyone else) with a scornful expression full of disgust! That also could be due to the actor who is not particularly appealing when being serious! When he cracked a smile, finally in the last 5 min of the drama, he turned into a completely different person and became very attractive. The magic of a smile!

The writer managed to keep the suspense going though, by focusing the investigation only on her group of friends, it became quickly rather predictable and, again, unconvincing. There is a second investigation in the background of the main one, concerning a phone fraud and involving slight police corruption. Now that I think of it, police corruption seems not to be too frequent in j dramas or at least not as much as in k dramas where practically every time you see a policeman there is a corruption going on. Maybe I am wrong about j dramas: I have not seen many japanese cop shows. The unnecessary ending time skip "3 months later" was cringe inducing bad: it looked like the ending of an US cop show when the detectives walk together with determination into the future....

The cinematography is gloomy: washed of all colour,all in blacks and greys, really oppressive. The music is even worse. Even though the song which played over closing credits was quite good, the becgroung music score was completely wrong for an investigation plot like this one. Soaring violins, menacing loud score going crescendo is not a good fit for this drama. It fits better in a makjang kind of drama. I have already noticed this with j dramas and music: most of the time they do not fit together. Some may say, think outside the box, make the drama stand out but...no! When you hear music so loud it drowns dialogue, so loud you cannot concentrate o the plot, something is very wrong with it! The music is beautiful, don't get me wrong but it does not fit well, that's all.

Not bad but not outstanding either!

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Completed
HEHE&HE
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Sep 20, 2024
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

You've got a friend in me!

So I have just spent over half an hour trying to find out the name of the actor playing Tat/Radar and all I could find are two names: Ajun and Charles without a photo to accompany those....It is often so frustration when there are webdramas like this one, hidden gems which could use more exposure because they are original and fun, and I cannot find any information about it save for what's mentioned on youtube which is not much. I don't speak cantonese but even their wikipedia page (which I translated using google!) does not offer more! Why?

This webdrama is first and foremost a sitcom about two best friends living together. They'd been friends for twenty years, they even tried dating once but without success so they remained friends, closer than lovers, which eventually put strain on their respective romantic relationships. Zik is gay and after his 10 year relationship comes to a close, he seeks solace and a place to stay with Tat (or Radar in final episodes. I don't get different names!). While Zik is messy, Tat is a clean freak and their cohabitation is marked by many bickering scenes because of their differences.

The drama has actually 25 episodes: there is an episode 0. Except for a few last ones, all episodes are about 5min long including a behind the scene part. The originality of this drama is that it is presented as a mockumentary: with characters being interviewed and the single camera filming style seemingly simple and cheap. Well, they obviously did have a very low budget (sound recording is atrocious!), the sets are hideous (but probably realistic, HK way of living in cramped high-rises!) but the writing and the acting are stellar!

The sitcom mostly explores the cohabitation of two men of completely different disposition. But underneath the funny bit, we can also see their relationship changing even though they try to pretend that everything is the same. They themselves seem not to realize the real depth of their connection. Which is is very obvious to the set of support characters gravitating around the main pair: Tat's mother convinced they are dating, the neighbourhood fujoshi and a young man who has grabbed the life with both hands and is exploring his own sexuality in depth (asking Zik for advice), Zik's ex Steven and even the building guard.

Since this is mostly a sitcom, there are no bad characters, some can be overbearing and a bit annoying but that is life. I liked how they included HIV testing into the plot making it important but without panicking.

The plot developed smoothly: from the initial comedy sketches, the slow inclusion of additional characters makes the plot move forward slowly but naturally. Nothing is forced. Kudos to the writers, whoever they may be!

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Completed
Doctor Slump
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Sep 14, 2024
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 3.5
This review may contain spoilers

Alcohol + love = cure for mental health problems?

How do you rate a drama which you just binge watched while perfectly aware of many of its flaws? It was well acted and filmed, smoothly written though the story is often wrong and senseless. My title says it all! I wish depression can be solved by being drunk on a daily basis with a friend/boyfriend you love!

The story follows two doctors struggling with mental health: the first one is depressed due to a burn out while the other one suffers from PTSD after an operation room death. Suddenly they find themselves living in the same building. They used to be high achievers in high school, top grades and popular. They lost touch after school and only now, 15years later they renew their acquaintance.

What I liked:
- the actors all had good chemistry and were surprisingly very convincing as teenagers in spite of advanced age. Were there any special filming procedures/SFX used for those scenes, I wonder?
- funny but supportive side characters
- the FL's ideas for a fun date (I thought she was pulling his leg!)
- the second couple who saved the second half of this drama

What was wrong:
- mental health issues were treated poorly: neither of them, as they were written, seemed really ill but tired, overworked, disappointed. Most of the time, which they spent together, they looked happy and content, because they finally got to rest!
- causes of the mental distress were not treated well: the peer pressure, the cut-throat competition and the horrible gossiping judgemental society were just mentioned without criticism since the things are as they are and apparently cannot be changed!
- the cure for mental health issues, according to the writer of this drama is: rare consultations with a shrink, a lot of pills, enormous quantities of alcohol and love which turned out to be the main ingredient (she solved his PTSD problem just by being there.... Really?!?
- immature adult main characters: 30yr old virgins, being shy, using baby voice etc. The ML , as a teen, was presented as someone who enjoys life, has a lot of friends, goes out and still has the best grades. The FL on the other hand is the opposite: a loner, without friends or life for that matter, constantly studying in order to have the best grades. Basically, they are saying that he is smarter and more competent than she is since she has to study all the time. Even during her unemployment period, she is seen studying while he is only seen studying with his tutor a little bit in high school but never as an adult professional. At one point, after dating for about a year, they sleep together(I think!Or maybe just a lot of kissing...) and a couple of days later when mentioning that night, they become shy and self-conscious. They are over thirty: behave like adults!They are adults at work. But they are actually rarely that in private: they become the 15yr old versions of themselves, which is cute for about 10 seconds!
- the ML's horrible parents: he is definitely someone extremely intelligent, if he managed to make abstraction of his parents and be successful. But even that is only mentioned and not dealt with as it should have been. Or maybe they decided that nothing is to be done, "leopard never changes his spots" so the parents were a lost cause. They should not have left this hanging because those parents caused a lot of misery which they were never called out on.
- drinking practically non stop: the characters spent the most of their time drowning their sorrows. The question arises here: why? They are in treatment, taking medication and yet still drinking heavily. Nobody thinks, the doctors included, that antidepressants and alcohol maybe should not be mixed?
- pacing: the causes of their mental health issues were resolved rapidly and by ep 12, everything was sorted out and they were in love. The last three episodes are just the fluff and dealing with the minor issues of scheduling! I have to give it to them though, they managed to make these empty of the plot episodes, run smoothly. I was never bored and I fail to comprehend why?
- the voiceover: every character gets to do their part of narration which is a kind of cop out instead of showing us their sufferings. Sometimes it was difficult to understand which character does the narration and I stopped worrying about it after a few episodes and just went with the flow not really paying attention to the narration!

I did not drop this drama, I was hooked from the beginning, and I think it is because of the actors only. And even though there is so much wrong with this drama, I somehow enjoyed it and finished it quickly. Maybe it was that I needed some brainless, unrealistic but convincing fun.

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Completed
Bedmate or Bad Mate
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Aug 22, 2024
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 6.5
This review may contain spoilers

Discovering yourself

Bedmate or Bad Mate is a fun little taiwanese bl web drama. I watched the 90min edit on youtube (easier than going through 10 episodes full of BTS footage!). It is obviously a low budget production but what they lack in funds is more than enough compensated by their enthusiasm.

The story is cute though it uses many familiar tropes: best friends to lovers, gay man in love with a straight one, but also "only gay for you but otherwise straight", seme/uke height difference etc. etc. which I thought were things of the past. Their cohabitation was fun to watch, their bickering cute. The straight guy's confusion about his feelings towards his best friend and how he tries to sort it out by talking to customers in a gay bar was hilarious. There were also scenes filmed during Gay Pride parade in Taipei and I was struck by the fact that these two actors looked the most "cliché gay" wearing costumes in the part of the crowd where they filmed.

I could not find out anything about the actors but I did not watch BTS so maybe it is mentioned there though not necessarily translated: I don't know, I am not interested in BTS....I would like to know also if this was based on a webtoon because it seems to be the case judging from the images on their youtube channel.

In conclusion, a short, cute & fun watch.

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Completed
Bad Guy
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Aug 9, 2024
4 of 4 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Exes with a future?

Do you want to be yourself or do you want to fit into little boxes as decided by the society? That is the conundrum Tae Ha faces. On the cusp of getting married, he contacts his ex boyfriend to let him know about it. But that is just an excuse: he is obviously forcing himself to be someone else and that is taking a toll on him. Meeting Jiwoon makes that crystal clear and he cannot stay away from him any more. He breaks off the engagement but that is not without consequences: his fiancée knew everything about his past and was testing him by meeting his ex.

No matter how many BLs and lgbt themed films and dramas asian countries produce, they are definitely not the best indicator of how tolerant and accepting the society really is. I'd guess that there are many in real life like Tae Ha, who is the prime example of such a man: lost between his real yearnings and the instilled notions of what is really acceptable. This is actually a tragic tale: even though they do end up together, the ex fiancées threats promise to wreak havoc in their lives. You know what they say: "Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned!". The ending can be considered open: either they get to live happily ever after or the ex make their lives a living hell (which is easy in the society they live in!) and they end up giving up. We do not know!

I watched this as a compilation on the producer's youtube channel without the18+scenes and frankly they are not necessary. The actors start kissing and then cut to the next morning with them sleeping in the same bed. The rest is left to imagination and most of the time, it is for the best. The make out scenes bring absolutely nothing to the plot since we know they slept together. The only jarring thing I noticed is that they slept fully dressed the morning after: I mean, one guy slept with jeans and a belt on. It must have been really uncomfortable and it made for a less convincing "we spent the night together" kind of vibe!

The actors were good and have decent chemistry. I just could not stop looking at Luke Park, the actor playing JiWoon, who beside excellent acting skills has the straightest and the finest nose I've ever noticed. Production values are the usual korean web drama style: empty sets and hollow sounds but the acting and the writing were good so it kind of balances out.

Who is the bad guy here? Is it TaeHa selfishly looking for his ex boyfriend and subsequently breaking off the engagement? Or is it Ji Woon who cannot or does not want to say NO to his ex? Or maybe both? Probably both on a different level. But still, both...

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Completed
You Made My Day
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Jul 14, 2024
5 of 5 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 2.0
This review may contain spoilers

Cute ad....

Well this was cute but basically plotless! It is an add for some kind of refreshing herbal inhaler. It must be a thai thing since it is the first time I'm seeing this kind of usage (we are all familiar with Vick's inhalers for stuffy noses! This does not seem to have a similar purpose!).

The plot, if one can call it that, is about two best friends (on to becoming more one day soon maybe?) visiting main tourist attractions in Bangkok (as if Thailand needed more promotion with the current overpopulated tourist spots worldwide!) which are beautiful and full of history (and tourists!). Bom and Tar seem to be reprising their roles from I Will Knock You! Bom is cute and sweet and looks 15 (when he is actually 28!). Tar has grown taller since the drama and in spite of being only 19, he looks and acts more mature than Bom. They have great chemistry together and I would love to see them in something else, together: something in costume would be nice since they both looked hot in thai traditional clothes in ep 2 & 3. It is just that Tar needs to fix his awful haircut and they both need less lipstick.

The ads purpose has completely failed for me: I have no wish to buy one of those inhalers and especially not to give it to anyone as a birthday present. But I liked seeing the sights of Bangkok where I will never have the chance (money!) of going....

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Completed
Kahogona Wakadanna-sama no Amayakashi Kon
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Jun 30, 2024
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 4.5
This review may contain spoilers

Fluff and candy

Earlier today, I came upon two reviews for this drama, two reviews with completely opposite take on it i.e. one loved it while the other one found it boring. I did not need more in order to watch it and form my own opinion. Which is between the two: it was not boring but rather superficial, not great but mercifully short, easy to watch and they did not waste time on silly subplots and even sillier misunderstandings between the leads.

But firstly, I would like to thank @Nicksden for the subs and for the explanatory notes!

The story follows childhood acquaintances: japanese inn owner's son and the inn's chef's daughter. They fall for each other as kids but their respective social status forbids them from any closer contact. Until, one evening, he accompanies her home and is seen leaving so a scandal breaks out and he takes the opportunity to offer to marry her and at the same time escaping an arranged marriage. And all of this is only the first episode. Out of six: the next five episodes are a bit slower as they deal with them getting to know each other and dating while newly-weds.

It is a cute, short drama. The leads are nice and as usual there are not mean or evil characters. Well I guess a shoujo manga is for romantic young girls. Everyone is nice: when he overhears rumours about his marriage being fake, he acts upon it immediately and takes her out on a date. There are a couple of "suspenseful" moments: a test meal for her and the visit from the estranged brother for him but even those are sorted out in the same episode they appear.

The plot is not very complicated but I would not go as far and say, as they did in the comments on the drama's page, that it was "an excuse to have hot people kiss a lot and be cute together. they wrote the plot around that 🤣". I wish they did that because if you are looking for hot people kissing, you should look elsewhere! There is a grand total of 4 chaste (=fish) kisses and a bit of skin (ankle, leg, shoulder: him in the shower and one make out scene!) shown throughout the drama with the consummation of marriage left for the last minute of the last episode and under the final credits. I usually do not care about these scenes but I read the comment before I watched this so I paid attention and looked actively for hot people kissing.

There was one thing I absolutely hated in this drama but which is something frequently seen in asian dramas so I guess it must be cultural: women falling over and screaming when they see a handsome man go by. It is the ultimate cringe moment for me! I know that asian cultures put a huge stress on appearance and that the beauty is the most important asset one can have but I am finding it difficult to understand this kind superficiality within such rich cultures.

I did not like the cinematography very much: I watched the first episode in high quality and it was too sharp, to clear and eventually too cold! Other episodes looked better, a bit softer but maybe the video quality was lower too. I don't know but it made me realize that I prefer when the images are fuzzy, not too sharp because it gives the drama (or a film) a dreamy feel and it becomes a vector for our escape from reality. And that's what the entertainment is supposed to be in my book!

One more important thing: I want those star shaped candies. They look so pretty and yummy!

In the recommendation section on this drama's page, you will find two dramas with the similar plot but a lot heavier if you do not enjoy light and fluffy! This one is a perfect Sunday watch: short, sweet, cute and short!

The main actor was a support actor in Utsukushii Kare (and he gave me a severe SLS) and I couldn't help being reminded of that drama every time I watched the intro here because there were yellow bath ducks in it. Did they do it on purpose, or were there yellow ducks in the original manga for this drama too, I wonder?

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Completed
Kake kara Hajimaru Sayonara no Koi
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Jun 9, 2024
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

Cheers!!!

Well, nothing earth-shattering here! Just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, based on a manga romcom. And it is fine! If that's what you're looking for!

I thought I was! And I loved the first couple of episodes! And then I did not any more! It is not that it gets bad but it gets too long and eventually it becomes boring! I think that says something when the drama has only 8 episodes 30min long!

But first I would like to than donsubbers for the subs! Keep up the good work! We do appreciate it!

It is an office romance between an icy straight forward office lady and a people pleaser, handsome but spineless office worker. He is forced to accept a bet involving her, she overhears him accepting said bet. So they start dating, hesitantly enjoying each other's company but still holding back because of the bet. Their respective best friends try to help them out.

I loved the FL: strong, principled, honest and taking no nonsense which made her an outcast though she was appreciated for her professional attitude and her competence. She always managed to keep a straight face while the storm was brewing behind it: the j dramas' favourite trope i.e. the inner monologue came useful here though they used it a bit too much when she was all alone and acting out the very monologue! Those were also the moments when the manga origins of this drama came to evidence: grimaces, gesturing, jumping around, turning eyes...the actress did all of this to perfection but managed not to go overboard so I was not put out by it much (since I usually drop a drama when they go OTT with manga codes, this is a good sign!).
I hated the ML: spineless, wanting to please everyone, boring, flavorless and annoyingly cowardly but, to his defence, he grows a pair by the end of the drama and stands up against the office harassment.

The office harassment was actually the main topic behind the romcom: it is used as an initial motivation for the plot but it is left superficial even though the main harasser is punished, learns his lesson and becomes a better person. It is very unrealistic but I should not expect more from the treatment of this topic here since this is first and foremost a romantic comedy and it is not to be taken seriously.

There are some interesting support characters, like the FL's coworker who hero worships her and then observes from afar her love life cheering her on, the FL's parents: the talkative mother and the newspaper reading absent father(they were funny), and last but not least the chemistry overflowing best friends and hopefully a future couple. They were a spicy couple in contrast with the vanilla main one! Much more interesting but not present enough!

I liked the music: it was the right kind and right amount and it accompanied the story well without drowning it as is often the case in j dramas (at least among those I've seen so far!).

The production was solid but there was one scene in which I found the extras' attitudes bizarre! In the scene the second couple is walking down the almost empty street discussing their friends, they are not speaking particularly loudly so it was surprising to see extras, far away from them stop and watch them: there was no reason for them to do that! I was wondering if they filmed it with real passer bys who stopped to watch the filming of the scene out of curiosity because that is what the scene looked like !

This is an easily bingeable, light and fun drama and you might spend a relaxing moment watching it if you do not expect much!

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Completed
Between Us
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Jun 8, 2024
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 3.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 2.0
Music 3.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Ah that hairline....

Well, this does not stand a rewatch!

I watched this for the first time when it was first released and I loved it. So a week ago, when I was feeling a bit down and not wanting to start anything new, I decided that rewatching this was a good idea.

No, it wasn't!

It took me three days to finish the first episode and than another two to watch half of the second one before finally abandoning it: it was unwatchable.

The story is not bad, the hook up was all PC, asking for consent and all that jazz.

But: the actors may be cute and handsome, they cannot act to save their lives. The line delivery is monotone, the facial expressions non-existent or rather they each sport one single expression throughout the drama: Boun is trying to be cocky and seductive (just cringy and unconvincing!) and Prem has eternally trembling lips and panicky attitude. And they have absolutely no chemistry between them: Boun falling for Prem when he sees him in the first episode comes from nowhere. I guess that's what they call love at first sight and that is something reason, logic and appearance cannot explain.

Then there is the only actress with lines Samantha, fidgeting and grimacing and trying to show shyness and seductiveness but failing miserably. She was painful to watch. Dean with his expressionless face and zero acting talent is a known and expected quantity, while Fluke cries easily and very often.

The production value is standard though they forgot about continuity when it concerned Boun's blond hair: that was the most amusing aspect of this drama i.e. keeping track of Boun's roots!

I have either seen too many BLs now and my rose-tinted glasses are off, or I am a bitter and blind person who needs to have her eyesight checked.

A good watch once but not to be repeated !

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Completed
1 Pound no Fukuin
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
May 26, 2024
9 of 9 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 1.5
This review may contain spoilers

A boxer and a nun...

Finally! I finally managed to finish it! And it only took me three weeks! Truth be told, if it had not been for the Back To The Past Challenge, I would have dropped it ages ago! Not even Kazu's charm could save this for me! Actually, his over the top acting and the zero character development were the main problems I had with this drama. But not only....

The story follows a promising boxer who loves eating and falls in love with a nun. Put like this, it sounds promising and fun. And that it was, for about 3 episodes and then it became boring and repetitive!

Boxer is a young man of uncertain origin: we don't get to know his (or anyone else's ,for that matter!) backstory. He lives in a boxing gym with other boxers and is training to become champion. But he has to keep his weight down so he eats in secret and puts on 10kg overnight which he looses in 3 days. I was really bothered by this weight gain/loss issue: it seemed extreme. But since I know absolutely nothing about boxing, who am I to criticize. It just sound illogical and unrealistic. A very big part of the first half is spent on the boxer eating and then training to lose the surplus kilos. Those kilos were never obvious: the actor himself is very thin!
One day while jogging he bumps into a nun and falls hook, line and sinker for her. She's an orphan, brought up in the convent, kind and pretty. He follows her around, declaring his love, asking her out...ignorant of convent life. He keeps barging in, jumping around, screeching, in short he behaves like a 5 yr old child. From the beginning to the end of the drama. With a 5min break in the last episode when he grows up. But only for 5min!

The side characters are a mixed lot: the gym owner who is oblivious of everything else but her gym so she never notices her own son being bullied in school or the huge crush her chief trainer has on her. The other boxers in the gym are there only to be a bouncing board for the main boxer's musings and problems. We don't know much about them, except for one when he receives a visit from his father and the whole gym starts lying to cover his failure.
The adversaries in the main boxer's matches are all basically the same: scary on the surface but deep down poor boys just trying to survive (family abroad, make son proud or pay debt!). And of course our dieting boxer beats them easily!

They should have made this into a film because here we just have about 6 filler episodes, case of the week type while the main plot remains still, unmoving. Boring and annoying!

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Completed
The Four Vampires
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
May 26, 2024
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 8.5
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Quirky and illogical....

....if you trust the human vampire movies. But, as they say, "Don't trust the human vampire movies!"

There are 4 vampires: three men and a woman who is fed up with living and wants to die but does not know how. So the men come up with different ideas. So this introduction part was interesting but after that I found everything they did illogical to say the least.

So she wants to die but has never tried to go out in the sun? That is THE big vampire trope: sensitivity to sunlight. But she never thought of that? Has she been living in a bubble for over 70 years and learned nothing about herself and the vampire species?
Then one of the guys says that vampires die if they have sex with each other. I find it hard to fathom vampires living for centuries (700yrs!) together and never once trying to have sex especially since they seem to have feelings for each other. So the woman has sex with the guy and apparently it is mindblowingly good but they are both still alive.
So she tries garlic, crosses and eventually sunlight. Nothing kills them.
In the end, they just have to keep on living like "ordinary" immortals.

If you do not try to nitpick like I just did, it is a funny little film I would not mind watching a much longer version since it shakes up all known vampire tropes.

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Completed
Next Door Witch J
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
May 25, 2024
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 1.5
This review may contain spoilers

Cute and superficial

I am a bit torn: this drama is very short and therefore they do not go for in depth character development so I wish they had made it a bit longer. On the other hand, the topic is not interesting and the plot is just a string of predictable moves.

It is a story of two make up influencer who used to be friends but are now mortal enemies. They are forced to work together, so they never stop bickering and throwing snide remarks around. There are two men interested in the younger influencer. Who is she going to choose?

I am not spending my time on different social media, so the very main topic was extremely boring to me. I stayed for the romance but because of the short duration, it was rushed and it sorely lacked chemistry.

This is a web drama so I should not expect much but it definitely looks like an average quality endeavour. Everything is average here: the actors seem to be clones of big stars, the screenplay is undercooked and superficial (even though they put the stress on social media speed and influence but they do not elaborate on it: it is just there, it exists and that's it!), the cinematography is correct though they made an effort to put the FL in spotlight with slight special effects: she sparkles a little bit! The song is annoying!

It is a romcom and nothing more.

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Completed
Imperfect
1 people found this review helpful
by Shasha
Apr 20, 2024
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Friends or more?

A very badly produced and acted short film I saw a very bad copy of on gcinee (don't go to youtube: the sound is off and completely covered by piano music).

The story started like a cliché friends to lovers until the final twist which makes you wonder what really happened. The film is about two best friends: one has had a crush on the other one forever. The other guy is not aware but is very touchy-feely with his friend. Neither dares say anything. One day the second guy's friend, a girl, asks him to help her date the first guy. He introduces them and the first guy, hopelessly, accepts to date her. The second guy just looks at them with yearning and regret. At the end of the year, while they part, the first guy gives the second one a hug which is all but an innocent, friendly hug. And then he leaves. One year later the first guy wakes up in hospital. Was everything just a dream? Wishful thinking? open to interpretation! (Due to poor quality video!)

Another film about friends wanting to be more but not daring to confess to each other. It ultimately boils down to the question: shall I risk losing a friend for a tiny chance of getting a lover? This is always a difficult question, more so in same-sex relationships where the weight of society norms bear down heavily on young people.

The story is interesting but the production is bad. It is an older chinese short film so it must have been difficult to make it. The acting is basic, the editing all over the place, the cinematography non existent.

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