6
Generic Lustful Men
Imagine a love triangle that’s less about romance and more about how spectacularly uncomfortable and contrived things can get. A plot that goes absolutely nowhere for a full fat 11 episodes. A blind man could recognize and see the outcome of this empty mess at first glance. It was unbelievably obvious from the beginning that Tsubasa will refuse to choose between the two. Well, it was also obvious this wasn't meant to be serious drama comedic, light and playful play on the given situation, however, the execution was the farthest thing from displaying such needed attributes. The storyline teetered between laughably implausible and downright tedious. It's a joyful love story, yet it lacked love, logic, joy or likable characters. The male characters were too damn one-dimensional, they make cardboard cutouts look like complex psychological studies. I've seen more emotional depth in a traffic report. All things considered, the dram was still not as bad as Nakayama Miho's other project "Suteki na Kataomoi (1990)".Was this review helpful to you?
Dead End
This drama proved to be much worse than expected and ended up being my least favorite Nakayama Miho project thus far. It’s a 90s slog that moves at the pace of a drunken snail trying to cross a busy freeway. It got some charm buried under all the emptiness and shortcomings, but you’ll need an archaeological dig to find it. The plot was full of second-hand cringe distilled into indigestible form and the lack of chemistry was shocking and deadly with all of her male co-stars! The supporting cast fares slightly better but they were clearly there just to pad out the runtime. To be fair, it’s not all bad. The drama did occasionally capture the bittersweet pain of unrequited love but those moments were few and far between, and they were buried under so much fluff and filler that you’ll wonder if they were worth the effort.Was this review helpful to you?
Fairies, innit?
For 100 episodes sitcom, it needed a bit larger cast with a few more plotlines. This is why there was some irrelevant guests episodes in the middle parts. After these parts, there was also a weird shift happening. They removed the canned laughter and promptly replaced the mother fairy with a grandmother with no valid explanation. The character replacement wasn't good and messed up the dynamic with the fairies since the grandmother had the opposite personality. Some other characters also promptly disappeared but with no replacement. Most of the material involving the younger cast members was mostly bad, however, the rest managed to make up for that. On the bright side, the twin brothers, fairies and Tae Hee had a good dynamic going on. Some running jokes were pretty decent. Cha In Pyo and Hwang Woo Seul Hye were a great choice to play their respective characters. The wrap up could've been better but it was decent as is.Was this review helpful to you?
Too Sexy to Stop
Sexy, unique, provocative and silly. It's quite rare to have a drama with adult rating let alone a long running sitcom. What makes matter ever rarer than it already is, the consistency of the adult theming in a long running format. Usually, these type of shows drop the rating to +15 or something after a few episodes. Basically, the typical bait and switch tactic. The current video quality is super scuffed, unfortunately, I don't see this show getting a proper quality release as it was even neglected by its broadcasting network. Although it had a decent variety in stories and characters but it needed more consistent plotlines running from start to finish. It also needed a better introduction because it threw us right in with barely any introduction of the characters and setting. Anyway, while it had a handful of shortcomings but it offered something new and entertaining.Was this review helpful to you?
Too Sexy to Stop
Sexy, unique, provocative and silly. It's quite rare to have a drama with adult rating let alone a long running sitcom. What makes matter ever rarer than it already is, the consistency of the adult theming in a long running format. Usually, these type of shows drop the rating to +15 or something after a few episodes. Basically, the typical bait and switch tactic. The current video quality is super scuffed, unfortunately, I don't see this show getting a proper quality release as it was even neglected by its broadcasting network. Although it had a decent variety in stories and characters but it needed more consistent plotlines running from start to finish. It also needed a better introduction because it threw us right in with barely any introduction of the characters and setting. Anyway, while it had a handful of shortcomings but it offered something new and entertaining.Was this review helpful to you?
Too Poor to Love
The endless chase of money. It started off with a catching premise with some predictable routes that didn't seem to be enough for a full story in 11 episodes package, which is why they had episodes dedicated to some cases at work. These cases affected the story negativity and caused delays that pushed the main story as far as the last 20 minutes. As you may read from the synopsis, her ex began working at the same company but he has a girlfriend who wouldn't reject his poor status which caused a lot of pointless back and forth. His girlfriend didn't offer something worthy to the dynamic of the trio. Instead of some of the cases, I wanted to see better side characters with stories integrated into the main theme. It was an okay drama but it doesn't have much to offer.Was this review helpful to you?
Would Rather Be Homeless
It was really not good. The extreme hyper reactions, interactions and acting were unsettling. I'm familiar with this style from Japanese movies/series themed around life/family but they went totally overboard in this one. It was just too forced and fake at every step of the way, even for a theatrical play. The synopsis talked about entrance exams but that was mostly just for the setup and setting while the rest was about some family problems and cheap affairs baits which all were poorly written from start to finish. Due to the lack of any interesting merits, I found myself examining the 90s set design more often than not.Was this review helpful to you?
Watch 1985!
Compared to the original, this remake was a total flop in every aspect without a single redeeming quality. It's significantly shorter than the original to the point it could only present general outlines of the story, stripping down all the details and relationships. The cast was questionable and their performance was a disappointment. Even the production value is incomparable to the original that came in the 80s! The split personality showcase was just comical here, as well as the FL's relationships with those around here. This remake did nothing but tarnish the original work. Perhaps, it serves as a good example for a bad remake and even a more generalized example to the severe literary and artistic decline of Jdrama in general.Was this review helpful to you?
Mi Na, Did You Change Your Profile Picture Again?
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Too bored to date
They should've removed the boyfriends from the equation and made it about life in general, otherwise it was cheap in its current state. A new profile picture every episode with no change/growth/development between each. Each episode was just a long montage of speed dating a new guy. Nothing connected or clicked in relation to her life. The main character herself wasn't appealing to begin with. Her personal life beyond the relationships had little to no role despite having an introduction that indicated otherwise. There was an attempt to do things differently for the last episode, especially in regard to her childhood, but things were more or less the same. On the bright side, it was shot nicely.Was this review helpful to you?
Too sweet, no salt...
It's surprising this drama managed to go on for 10 full episodes considering the bulk of its content. The drama had a sloppy poor blend of workplace setting, food and a love triangle. The office related events were the worst as these were extremely generic auto generated fillers just to give the illusion that it's a workplace setting. The food scenes were okay at best but nothing stood out even the food shots. The romance was just bland and weird, it was only there because they didn't have anything else to do or show for a story, not even if they were aiming for a slice of life/episodic formula. If anything, they should've cut its runtime in half and double the focus on food.Was this review helpful to you?
Love Affair Agent 47
Most of the episodes kinda played out in the same way. They got a client, they ran through typical scenarios avoiding getting caught, then end the episode with a close call just to succeed in the last second. However, they did try something different for episode 6 which was much needed to shake things up. While the concept of the drama is provoking but they generally kept it safe without too much risk, it would've been better if they were more daring. All in all, the drama oozes mid 2000s scuffed vibes. I was expecting Ma Dong Seok to be more of a stand out character but I guess this wasn't the case earlier in his career.Was this review helpful to you?
Love Marathon
The anthology brought something special to the table, for the most part. Each episode offered a unique take on romance with a decent story. These weren't just focusing on the thrill of falling in love but also having a rhyme and reason behind them. Cinematography was decent and the low angled framing shots from the 90s are always appreciated. The cast was absolutely stacked, it was only possible because this project came early in their career. I don't see this happening again even with new emerging talents but only time will tell. The pacing was decent for 2 episodes per story, each had the space to unfold and progress reasonably. Nonetheless, not everything was sunshine and rainbows, some stories were a total flop in all aspects from romance to writing, acting, characters and vibes. Case in point, story number 4 "Open Ended" was the worst one and a poor addition to the anthology. On the flip side, the stories "Sunflower, Rose, Miss Hip-hop and Mr. Rock" were amongst the better ones.Was this review helpful to you?
Too single to rent...
Any aspect involving the older cast was much better than every aspect that involved the younger cast, from story to characters, cast, writing, acting, dynamics and overall existence. It needed to have better pacing, things were moving too fast for the last episode. Either extend it a bit or pace it properly, although the latter is preferable since it had loads of slow parts in the middle. The drama had an interesting introduction but I wish we had a proper follow up to the owner's story. It would've also benefited from having a more diverse types of characters with better complementary qualities.Was this review helpful to you?
Scandalous-less Scandal
No matter how I look at it, it was disappointing for the wasted potential it had. Thanks to its higher content rating, the drama had less than PG themes and more provocative ones, such as, as stated in the synopsis, teen pregnancy, as well as prostitution and sex. However, it handled each very loosely and didn't stick to any of them for more than a couple of episodes, especially the main selling point, the 'mom scandal,' but all of that didn't measure up to how outrageous and maniacal the ending of part 1 was. My theory is, they had issues in the production and had to split it into 2 parts, as well as giving an exit to Jung Hee Jung from the cast for one reason or another. They gave her character a very extreme resolution. Not only that, but the other characters had little to no reaction despite being friends and roommates for the whole series. She didn't even get a single mention in part 2.Moving on to part 2, things got worse and made me question, was part 2 even planned in the first place? I think the screenwriter must've been changed as well. They pretty much changed the content rating to 15, as close as possible, while neglecting the previous themes. There was no longer a consistent story but rather whatever events each episode would have, mostly a slice of life and a hint of storylines to follow loosely. They had the opportunity to craft something properly like the daddy issues, teen mom, and sex worker finding love, but, obviously, the drama did the bare minimum throughout the entire thing. I still can't believe they let Ha Na exist maniacally without doing anything with her after what she had done. The ending wasn't as bad as part 1 but it's still a bad ending for part 2 as well.
Looking into the whole series, it was somewhat serviceable with a decent cast but with glaring wasted potential. It's unfortunate because we rarely get such shows nowadays. Even shows like LTNS (2024) are weak with their delivery and themes. I guess such ones are reserved for the movie space to avoid the higher-ups parental control, not drama shows where they have to kneel down to broadcast and streaming bigwigs.
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Scandalous-less Scandal
No matter how I look at it, it was disappointing for the wasted potential it had. Thanks to its higher content rating, the drama had less than PG themes and more provocative ones, such as, as stated in the synopsis, teen pregnancy, as well as prostitution and sex. However, it handled each very loosely and didn't stick to any of them for more than a couple of episodes, especially the main selling point, the 'mom scandal,' but all of that didn't measure up to how outrageous and maniacal the ending of part 1 was. My theory is, they had issues in the production and had to split it into 2 parts, as well as giving an exit to Jung Hee Jung from the cast for one reason or another. They gave her character a very extreme resolution. Not only that, but the other characters had little to no reaction despite being friends and roommates for the whole series. She didn't even get a single mention in part 2.Moving on to part 2, things got worse and made me question, was part 2 even planned in the first place? I think the screenwriter must've been changed as well. They pretty much changed the content rating to 15, as close as possible, while neglecting the previous themes. There was no longer a consistent story but rather whatever events each episode would have, mostly a slice of life and a hint of storylines to follow loosely. They had the opportunity to craft something properly like the daddy issues, teen mom, and sex worker finding love, but, obviously, the drama did the bare minimum throughout the entire thing. I still can't believe they let Ha Na exist maniacally without doing anything with her after what she had done. The ending wasn't as bad as part 1 but it's still a bad ending for part 2 as well.
Looking into the whole series, it was somewhat serviceable with a decent cast but with glaring wasted potential. It's unfortunate because we rarely get such shows nowadays. Even shows like LTNS (2024) are weak with their delivery and themes. I guess such ones are reserved for the movie space to avoid the higher-ups parental control, not drama shows where they have to kneel down to broadcast and streaming bigwigs.
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