6
Problematic
This is the first (I think) and worst mental-illness/psychiatrists focused drama! It's common for the patient to crush over their psychiatrist and fall in love, because they are mentally unstable and vulnerable, but once the roles are flipped and the psychiatrist is the one imposing their feelings on the patient then there's a big problem at hand.The first obvious problem is for a psychiatrist to fall in love with his patient. It would probably be less of a problem for a doctor in another field but not a psychiatrist, a professional dealing with mentally vulnerable people. With all that being said, I could easily turn a blind eye to the whole ordeal if the drama was comedic/light/romance and never took the serious and professional route, of which this drama tried so hard to go for. The second big problem, there was a blatant attempt to stir the narrative in that direction while disregarding any coherency at the same time. We can clearly see an example of that right from the beginning in episode 1 with everything happened with the cop incident.
This drama had nothing to offer other than a pretty cast. Anyway, they failed miserably in handling the concept and ended up producing a very poor product. A disgrace to real professional psychiatrists!
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Failure is an option
For a slow drama to work you need a tight and controlled storytelling otherwise it will turn into a tasteless picture of which this drama fell into constantly. This notion was only amplified further by poor character writing, poor plot devices, and poor attention to details. The writer must have been utterly delusional thinking she was writing something "good". The final blow was delivered with cutting down the number of episodes. On the bright side, it ended early!Was this review helpful to you?
Big yikes...
Just from watching the first 5 episodes the story was too thin and I was wondering how this will keep going for 103 episodes. It seemed impossible. The answer became apparent 20 episodes later.These relationships were seriously fucked up and what made them frustrating is that the characters over complicated everything on themselves to create "the" story. That's one of the worst ways to write a story. Everyone is fucking everyone, everyone is pregnant, everyone is lying, everyone is swapping DNA tests, everyone is swapping partners back and forth, everyone got a baby, everyone is the father and everyone is a sociopath. At the end, everyone hanging around with each other like nothing happened after all the vile acts against humanity and the nastiness they went through. I can't even!! Both the writing and the actors failed to show remorse.
Finished the drama and the frustration and disgust didn't wash off. To get through this, you'll need a strong stomach.
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Definitely overrated.
Misty - mist - fog - tunnel, they were trying to be artistic and poetic for the ending but it didn't land at all, comically over dramatic hideous ending. Excruciatingly slow, not only the pace but also as if it was shot in slow motion 0.8x speed. Style over substance with this joke of a script. I wish they kept it pure murder mystery rather than adding a political angle to it. Speaking of mystery, there is hardly any, quite predictable and linear.The actress Jin Ki Joo doesn't fit her character, she doesn't look like an anchorwoman unlike the female lead who had a perfect portrayal of an anchorwoman. The detective always looked exhausted and about to fall asleep. Give the man an energy drink or something! I swear Lee Kyung Young plays the exact same character and have the same energy in every drama he ever been in.
With all that being said, it's mediocre at best.
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High potentials, fails to deliver!
Let's state the obvious, the comedic moments weren't good, it always felt forced. I assume they wanted to do that to lighten the mode? It took what felt like an eternity to kick start the story. Teasing the viewers constantly about the "tape" for the entire series was kinda annoying. How many times you can save Ha Ram's life became a personality trait for the male characters in the drama lol.When you over complicate a story, things get out of hand real quick really fast. Maybe dedicate some of the budget to hire a team of skilled veteran writers instead? Many convoluted plotlines were brushed off eventually. Half of the death cases weren't interesting. The last 2 episodes in general contain some serious unsalvageable nonsense. The writer turned off her brain and started writing willy-nilly. Starting from the beginning of episode 13 there was a big disconnect with the story and the momentum.
Abysmal ending. The ending goes into my list of "I'm a special quirky little writer so I'mma pull an ending out the depths of my ass". They tried to make it "poetic" but ended up shooting themselves in the foot. The writing department was really lacking and barely functional that by the end it leaves you with nothing but pretty visuals. This is a real case of a drama that had high potentials but fails to deliver.
In conclusion, it got a visually appealing atmosphere, good enough cast, and it's entertaining enough to be passable. Definitely doesn't deserve the hype. The series was from Netflix I should have known better. This is a 5.75/10 on a good day.
P.S. Kim Won Hae is always a treat to watch.
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It's just good
Excruciatingly long and pointlessly slow until the last two episodes where they speed up everything, yet the last 2 eps were underwhelming for an ending, especially the last 30 minutes wtf was that! It's full of fillers and mundane conversation. These conversations don't contribute in any meaningful way other than prolonging the series, if they were to serve a comedic purpose or to further develop the characters then sure keep them going. Also, 25+ hours of workplace abuse/politics is utterly exhausting and mind numbing. Massive missed opportunity to utilize this "empty" time to present a better story. Most of the drama is focused on Geu Rae & Sang Shik while the side stories are brushed off and barely given any attention.Nonetheless, it's a good package but not as good as I was expecting. Looking at ratings/reviews my expectations were too damn high.
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Real Estate Scam
As per design, this is the usual love square quarrels from the 2000s, following the blueprint precisely but with one major unforgivable flaw. It's expected from this formula to have a loose story not adhering to reality, common sense or logic, in one way or another it blends and enhances its entertaining value to push forward the narrative and dynamics. However, this drama went beyond what the viewers may deem passable in that regard with how they snowballed the setup involving the FL's friends, and her friends existence in general, pure atrocity. I refuse to believe that the writer spent more than 1-2 minutes thinking about the initial setup. Admittedly, the cast is what kept it alive and watchable, from the main leads to the elder cast, absolutely excluding the duo friends. The resolution and the romance in general felt quite distant from the characters, probably because they held it off for too long before establishing a clear communication between the leads which only happened in the last episode. Overall, the drama was just alright.Was this review helpful to you?
Our Gloomed Youth
The story kicked off with the female lead getting falsely accused of murder and the prince is connected to the incident. So how would they structure the drama around this narrative? They had the female lead spend most of the drama hanging around the prince waiting for something to pop up for the story to move again, which didn't happen until the last few episodes. Unbelievably long and draggy for little to no story or character development. Everything can be summed up with 6 episodes without compromising anything from the narrative. The romance and the secrets were too delayed to care about, instead of laying them out evenly. Which made romance redundant by the end. Aside from the initial few episodes, I don't see anything appealing in this drama.Was this review helpful to you?
A cheap flick
Went from promising to disappointing real quick. Cults and hypnosis/mind-control is the worst combination to make a mystery/thriller/horror drama. It gives the writer an unlimited pass for a lazy writing and this is what we got here. The cast was alright tho.Was this review helpful to you?
Lazy
Soulless and dry. Not a good office romance. All men were creepy and cringe while women were selfish and entitled. Not to mention the dead chemistry with all of the three couples. The story was practically dead on arrival. Painful progression and dreadful execution.Was this review helpful to you?
YIKES!
It's exactly as bad as the synopsis made it sound and its execution was 10 folds worse. I feel sorry for older cast such as Ahn Nae Sang and Kim Hee Jung to have this drama in their resume. The entire drama was disastrous enough but the leading cast was the worst part of it. The actors/actresses themselves and their respective characters were failing and stumbling every step of the way with no chance of recovery.Was this review helpful to you?
Shit
Sometimes there are few selected dramas that shouldn't even be submitted to the network for approval and this is definitely one of them. My soul has been drained out from this abomination and I don't feel like writing too much. It's impressive how one writer can fuck up this hard. It takes a talent! This drama is classified under "rage bait kink" and "fucky wucky ending" labels, it's manufactured that way. This drama is a waste of carbon emissions. If I'm not clear enough, you're very much highly recommended and advised to absolutely turn around far away from this cancerous tumor.Was this review helpful to you?
Who in their right mind made this awful soundtrack at the ending of each episode? Who thought making a mix of violin and dubstep would be a good idea? Have mercy on my ears!! My biggest problem with this drama is the pacing. It took about 20 episodes for the story to be fully set up but it turned to an awkward slice of life fighting inside the kitchen with minimum development related to the culprit identity until the last chunk of episodes it picked itself up again. The cast was fine but both female leads were lacking in many areas. Both in regard of their performance and character writing. Anyway, not a fan of the ending either.
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The Aries Maidens
The drama turned out to be very different from its initial premise, setup and introduction. Things were changing too frequently and taking a different direction at every turn, this can be both a good and a bad thing. The Aries maiden, horseback riding, school dynamics, and the 'dark family secret', all became irrelevant after a few episodes. The main focus was on the love triangle with the pseudo delinquent guy. While the transition wasn't necessarily bad but I wish they kept exploring the initial elements, especially the Aries maiden dynamic and horseback riding. That Aries theme song definitely stuck in my head. One thing that stood out was how everything was interconnected which allowed the drama to draw all kinds of parallels between what was going on. The writing was surprisingly good and multilayered which saved the drama with the change of directions, however, it still has its flaws with handling many of the side characters. The biggest misstep was the inclusion of that one male teacher, it was very unnecessary, it didn't fit any part of the story and done more harm than not. Despite some problems here and there it was a decent drama from the 80s.Was this review helpful to you?
A Handful of Missed Opportunities
Beautiful Life (2000) was an emotionally charged drama that struck a familiar chord reminiscent of other ones like it for its textbook depiction of love, loss, and resilience, but it wasn’t without its flaws. At its heart, the story was anchored by the chemistry between Takuya Kimura’s charming yet understated portrayal of Shuji and Takako Tokiwa’s luminous performance as Kyoko, a woman whose physical limitations were treated with admirable sensitivity for its time. The drama’s beauty lay in its quiet moments, Kyoko's defiant joy, Shuji's evolving tenderness, and the unspoken melancholy of ordinary life brushed with rising pain. However, its emotional power often bordered on manipulation, with tear-jerking sequences and swelling musical cues that risked reducing a nuanced relationship to a mere tragedy. Fortunately, this was only most applicable to the last 3 episodes. Additionally, while the drama broke ground by portraying a disabled FL in a leading role, it sometimes leaned into idealized tropes, framing Kyoko’s struggles more as narrative devices to drive Shuji’s growth rather than delving deeper into her agency and identity despite being a leading character. The pacing, too, occasionally faltered, with melodramatic stretches that risked to undercut the rawness of its central theme. In a different world, I would love to see them continue exploring the relationship without the terminal illness element since it was somewhat cut short to accommodate for the writer's predetermined plan. On another note, a few things were planted but neglected and ended up being underutilized. For example, it was foreshadowed multiple times how Shuji was the son of a famous hospital director/CEO and coming from a family of doctors but that didn't play a role later on, nor the anticipated involvement of his family which remained anonymous. Many things were either missing or unfinished at the cost of fleshing out the story and its characters just to reach the highly emotional familiar moments. For all of its shortcomings, Beautiful Life captured something universally human: the poignancy of love in the face of fate. It was imperfectly told and profound, a drama which, even as one wished it had dared to be bolder, lingered on in the heart, at least for a little while.Was this review helpful to you?
