This review may contain spoilers
An unexpected turn that left a bad after taste
I want to start with the thing that i like first; ishihara satomi's smile. Even though she usually played a bright, happy go-lucky role, i esp noticed her smile in this drama. It's so blinding, i cant even. Also i like the environmental awareness this drama tries to bring in unique light.Ok, moving on to things i feel lukewarm about; the acting. Ishihara's acting is, as expected, top notch. I could feel her love to ocean, the connection between her, her insecurities, her happiness, it's all up her face. Ayano Go's performance, however, felt a little bit bland. Not bad, but bland. For me good actors are divided into two; those who are good playing the character, or those who embodies the character wholly. Ayano matches the first category. This is not a bad thing, however, i expected more since i love him in MIU 404 and this series is called Koi wo Deep ni. Its about LOVE. And i dont feel none of that between the two of them.
And then things i dont like, the story. Seriously wtf? When Nagisa kept talking to the fish i pegged her as another quirky japanese drama heroine (because there are A LOT of them who did weird things, like nodame for nodame cantabile for instance. I would NOT like nodame if i watched her in my age rn) but then it turned out... I'm watching a fantasy romance drama? And not an oceanographer x CEO drama? This is the reason why i dropped this drama. BECAUSE EVEN THO I SAW THE TWIST FROM A MILE, IM STILL SO SHOCKED BY IT AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY. more like in "wtf did i watch" way.
There are also, a lot of ANNOYING characters in this drama. Like for instances Eitaro the deadbeat brother. Or that youtuber who kept pestering Nagisa. Or the hikikomori researcher who kept suspecting nagisa. Why are the annoying characters HAVE to be annoying all the time? Is it because i dropped the drama too fast? Should i just went on to see the silver linings of these characters???
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
mukbang scene between Kim Seonho and Go Younjung made me stay
lets start from things i like:of course the cinematography and places! the production team went all out with the budget. Now i have a set of places i want to go to when im going to Japan, Italy, Canada and Spain. Also the actors are all soo pretty, esp Go younjung. she has that boba eyes for sure. moving on to the characters, i'm surprised to root for the second ml. it's cause sota fukushi played it really well! His korean accent wasnt stilted or awkward, and he got charming chemiatry with gyj. I was thinking maybe if she met him first, she would like him better lmao ALSO THE KISS! omg my firat mukbang in 2026 rofl
things i feel lukewarm abt: the sudden love lines in supporting characters. why would there be love linr between pdnim x assistant? idc about their scene at all. and his mom marrying without telling her own son? weird but whtv
and lastly, what i dont like abt this drama is why would there be a sudden alter ego plot? It would be better if they stayed d
digging more into relationship between selebrity x non-seleb, how struggling would an introvert interpreter be dragged into her dazzling showbiz world, the obvious power imbalance would make such a DELICIOUS miscommunication that drive the plot REALISTICALLY. But they choose the DID path, in which even the mental illness wasnt even properly showcased and cared for in the end. i feel like her having alter ego is just for the sake of convenience to... what? we could se how pitiful her background is? to make her closer with the ml? thats just so bizzare to me. I almost dropped this drama if only i didnt see their kissing scene spoiler on tiktok.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
WELL.... THAT WAS NOT BAD
but not good either.mahiro takasugi really has this puppy, younger brother aura that made him so non-threatening and in line with chihiro character. I love him in 'cursed in love' and 'kakegurui'. but what made me really stay tune to this drama is Akamine and Kaoru lmao. Nimura Sawa has this flair and flamboyance that NONE of japanese actress has able to pull and instead of being an annoying character, she felt very genuine and endearing. When I saw both of chihiro's brothers, i thought "wow, they really won the gen pool lottery" cos all of them are so fucking HOT!!!!! but Furukawa Yuuta as Kaoru was the one who caught my eyes. i love his extravagance and funny support to chihiro. I look forward to both of these stars work in the future!
aside of the actors' portrayal, the plot itself try to sell "breaking the societal norm and gender role" trope, but i feel like the screenwriter keep going backwards about it... it was pitiful to see how hard chihiro going for honoka in the first half of the episode. also there are a lot useless love triangles here and there. i can't say i enjoy it, but i don't hate it.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
what were those two doing there in the end lol (not talking abt the fl and ml)
pleasantly surprised at how giggly and fluffy i got after watching this drama. High percentage of me enjoying this drama is because of the couple's chemisitry that went thru the roof! mature love is seriously the best. even with the usual aloof ceo/nervous staff combination, the good writing make every characters feel 3d and not cheap imitation of the french counterpart.also all the star-studded cameos! im Indonesian and how surprised i am to learn this drama took place in Bali, heck when I saw Omara (the driver when they went searching for god send cacao) i needed to do double take lmao and akanishi jin? he is so hot ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
Was this review helpful to you?
Magnum Opus of Lin Yi's
Need to take a break from chapter 5 so i can emulate my emotion clearly.What I like about this drama is that it has a very clear theme and you can see the conflict from a far, but the main protagonists cant avoid it anyway, bcs of feelings and whatnot. There is no nonsense plot, everyone serve for a reason.
I love how the male lead do everything for the female lead out of chivalry in deadpan manner, like bringing her bag, paying for her meal and snack, and he did it without expecting anything back. Its like he is doing a bare minimum and every man should take his attitude as example!
Also as someone whos interested in stand up comedy i love how real the female.lead was portrayed. How she has good open mic, writing down jokes material whenevet and wherever, when she bombed the stage, its so well-researched.
Also i loveee how they make this such an adult and healthy relationship between two people. Lin Yi's dramas never fail to amaze me, really. Also the kisses! my god. How i love adult kisses. Adult kisses are good. The cure traumas and cancer.
The cinematography are divine, there are a lot of amazing placements and blockings. My favorite is when the appearance of Mr. He bringing something that is relevant to the plot of the drama. The way he appeared was so logical, gut-wrenching and very sorrowful.
Was this review helpful to you?
golden retriever korean boyfriend, there i said it.
+Reasonable plot, no loose end-couples. Light and funny scenes. Not a lot of unnecessary lines. All of the casts are shining in their own ways, taichi nakagawa is shining in his cynical tsundere CFO character, as well all the supporting charas. Cultural differences as plot device in a natural way (yuri being confused when taeoh called her nuna, etc)-very quick timeline. The mind-reading ability is not used to the fullest (not really essential to the plot). Also i feel like Taeoh manhandled Hanaoka quiet a lot (shoving his shoulders, grabbing his hand)... there are scenes where he got bodily contact with Hanaoka and it feels so... idk maybe im overthinking. also I don't like how passive yuri was... every pivotal moments she decided to not do anything about it and making others around her do the work to nudge her to the right direction. so fucking frustrating.
Was this review helpful to you?
YOUR BOYGROUP SELF-INSERT FANFICTION TURNED INTO DRAMA
I was ready to dismiss this drama because let's be real, the premise of this drama sounds like a thousand of self-insert wattpad stories, so i was not impressed. But apparently, Fumiya Takahashi went viral in my FYP and i decided to check his work a little, and found out tsubasa honda also played in this drama, so i gave it a try.one thing i want to emphasize : DON'T HAVE HIGH HOPES. KEEP IT LOW. AS LOW AS YOU CAN. just. yeah, just make it seem like you only want to appreciate fumiya's beauty throughout the episodes.
Because the first half of the drama are weird as fuck... is it because i haven't watched jdrama with comedy as the genre? but i find a lot of details off-putting. but i ignored it solely due to the fact that i havent been around jdrama and weird things happened, so.
but after we got thru the character introductions and every "that shouldn't have happen, right?" or "what the actual fuck?" moment, i felt slightly impressed by the diversity and depth of the characters in the dorama were presentes. I originally thought it would be a one-man-band where fumiya is the only one who would get the spotlight, but it turned out everyone gets their own cake, and hey, i was pleasantly surprised! their backstory are relatable and heart-warming, it's making me want to know them better.
anyway, this self-insert is not that bad. fumiya's face was what sold this, but i stayed for the characters.
Was this review helpful to you?
I KINDA UNDERSTAND WHY MIKURI KEPT PUSHING TSUZAKI AROUND
HELLO???????? THE LEAD CHARACTERS ARE MARRIED IRL? I NEED TO BREATHE FOR A MOMENT....okay.
this work of akiko nogi is by far THE MOST ENTERTAINING of all of her works ive watched. it's from the way she wrote the main characters issue about marriage, (or the lack of marriage), relationship between two strangers that had entangled in holy matrimony. the romance and comedic relief are balanced pretty well. what i liked the most is that the main character isn't your everyday natural airhead girl who can't stand on her own feet. on the contrary, she was bold, while the male character made me SO FRUSTRATED a number of times, i need time out.
also i watched MIU404 first before jumping to this drama, so the stark difference between Shima and Tsuzaki ARE A FUCKING WHIPLASH. anyway, i can relate with mikuri a lot, but i don't have a sliver of patience as she did, so i would not be able to stand tsuzaki even for a week, so.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
as a aoi marikawa lover this drama is the shitstain of her work....
i cant with this drama. i love aoi in kakegurui, so i want to check out her other works, but this.... this is what i stumbled upon.........the male lead is hot but not that hot, also he is boring, forgettable, and annoying. the female character is also so boring, forgettable, and annoying. if im not mistaken this is an adaptation of a manga, right? their fucking sex scene tho... making me want to fucking pour acid on my retinas.....
anyway. i will pretend this drama does not exist.
Was this review helpful to you?
XIANXIA IS BORING
Lets start with the thing i like; the musical background really is on another realm. The human war cry when female leas marched to war especially, was made so good.Lukewarm things I found in this drama is probably the side characters. I feel no attachment towards them or any of the main characters, really.
Moving to the things i did not like, maybe bcs I just finished "Blossom" which was full eith humane intricacies and monarch toppling that is full wih realism, i find divine being love story to be boring and unrelatable. Zhang Liying, the female leads acting reminds me of Yang Mi. So deadpan with no actual microexpression. You can be pretty and elegant, but also expressive. Is it because of botox?
The CGIs are ridiculous... i can not take the talking birds and phoenix seriously. Also dropping this drama bcs i found i like Mofang more than the male lead... could never let myself be subjected to second male lead syndrom....
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
WEN QING THE BOSSGIRL BECAME THE FORTH DOU YOUNG LADY!
It all started from a tiktok video where Song Mo kept calling his wife "furen" and I joined the bandwagon of "Blossom" watchers. I could say Im pretty damn hooked.the female lead, Dou Zhao, was such a clever bossgirl. And even before the romance started, I have fangirled so hard with how Song Mo-Dao Zhao chemistry on screen. I can feel how even though Dou Zhao has been a strong person by herself, Song Mo wants to be a person she relied upon (the purple martyle euphemism... chef kissss), and even though Song Mo was a violent young general with a tendency to do dangerous impulse, Dou Zhao is able to reign him into so he does not danger himselg. They made me believe love is actually there
Everyone has their own charm and merit to the point I almost shed a tear when one of the villain's life was taken. They were not 100% evil people being driven by hatred, they have motives of their own that do not justify the bad things they do, but I could understand why they do that.
The plot's pacing is logical, the cinematography is phenomenal (i love he first episodes where the director made pretty shot of bells, hanging balls, etc). I give this first cdrama i watched this year a full 10 out of 10.
And i just realized Meng Ziyi played in the Untamed! She was the prettiest in that drama. i always think about her. "I wonder if the Wen girl's actress prosperous now...?" And lo and behold, she always delivered the beat drama! Im gonna be her fan from now on.
Was this review helpful to you?
