Weak Rehash
The good:- The main character gives a great performance.
- The music is well suited to the rich emotional themes of this series.
The bad:
- Most of the charm of S1 is left behind. No mc fight strategies. Characters are not very unique. Conflicts are not interesting.
- Netflixification: 8x 30 minute eps is just not enough time to flesh anything out at all. To make it even worse, most scenes feel like they are intentionally milking the clock. You wont see anyone even reach for their phone until it rings 3 full times. Everyone talks incredibly slow, which at first seems to be for dramatic effect but at some point its just not done well, and gives the impression they are just filling time.
- Nothing new or original at all. Especially if you watched S1 and Study Group and any other basic bully dramas then there is absolutely nothing new in this, and nothing done especially well in comparison to other dramas.
- A new friend group is just inserted without much premise, and immediately just have the same camaraderie as S1 friends, which feels forced. Nobody in this season feels real/interesting.
- Highschool students played by fully adult actors is jarring.
- Bullies and thugs are all flat cardboard cutouts.
- Not a single female character in sight, other than his mom.
- Relationship with his mom is touched on but not explored at all. Barely any backstory or context for any of the characters.
- Most new characters are terribly overacted, somehow both cartoonish and also bland.
- The new friend played by a major actor is very forced to try to fill in as Suho vibes, which just feels derivative. We are also supposed to believe he is some kind of powerhouse, but he just looks like an idol.
- The fights are all just brawls, where everyone keeps their hands at their sides and just trade hits to the face while refusing to even try to block. I guess they don't need to block since punches to the face barely faze anyone
- This whole season feels like its mocking the mc whenever he fights. He will grab so many pens and just get them taken from him and endlessly whiff. He actually seems to have gotten much worse at fighting, so the entire season we just watch him get beat down. I don't think there was a single satisfying "hero" moment in this entire season.
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Great FL performance, mediocre mystery
The good:- The FL performance is excellent. A unique and interesting characterization, just tons of aura
- The FL wardrobe is also excellent. At times it felt like he sheer number of wardrobe changes she goes through in the early eps was unnecessary, except each outfit was so good we just say thank you and ignore the plausibility
- The FL and ML relationship in the middle arc was pretty good
The bad:
- Everything about the mystery in this is both very obvious and handled super heavy handedly. Just every beat it feels like the writers are yelling at you "ISNT THIS SUSPICIOUS!" Just a total lack of subtlety
- Something about the broader cast felt weird, I am not sure if it's a result of being a disney production, but it felt like a lot of the bigger named actors in support roles were trying too hard to like "be an amazing actor". I am not sure how to convey this quality, and it may have been more a result of the directing trying to emphasize those side actors and imply maybe we should suspect them or something, but whatever it was kept taking me out of the scenes.
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Mixed review
Flash review--So apparently if you are a fan of the source material you have to hate this. But if you aren't then you may have fun.
THE GOOD
Pretty fun action
Some interesting setting/story stuff. Some very creative things, and calling it "scifi" or "superhero" doesn't seem to encompass that aspect well enough. Perhaps pushing into creating a new subgenre or at least some new ideas for scifi
Some of the emotional moments landed well. This actually is the big difference for me between it being bad and having been worth a watch.
THE BAD
Way too much CGI, and the CGI looks cheap. Regularly stuff doesn't even look like it belongs in the scene, it is more like its just animated on its own and laid on top of a background.
A lot of the action doesn't even make sense. Just punching stuff because its cool to watch bricks flying, without considering if the character has a reason to punch that. Maybe this aspect is "fun and cartoony" if you are just eating popcorn
Way too rushed. This is clearly an episodic plotline, with separate plot arcs that happen in each location, that should have been an 8 episode series, but just forced into a 2 hour runtime. We could have actually cared about these side characters a lot, but there isn't space to flesh them out enough
That forced pace was also costly when this includes a lot of unique setting things, and its all just kinda forced at you or mentioned in a gestural way without actually establishing anything. Without clarity about the "rules" of the setting, it is hard to feel like overcoming any conflict is "earned"
Yet another kdrama that thinks a bullying plotline is the greatest way to build a hero. But of course it doesn't even handle it well.
Oh and the final fight is corny as hell, empty calories of CGI fighting
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Very mixed bag
THE GOODAbout half of this show is well written and treated with respect for the viewer. It actually feels like if a writer or director just made a strong effort and changed like 15% this would have soared from a 5/10 to a 9/10. Sadly big problems do more damage than the strong foundation on this one could stand.
The main romance is mostly well handled. Not like very deep or nuanced, but pretty good. It is nice to see fully adults leading romance dramas.
Refreshing to not have many of the usual overdone GL tropes. Since there's thriller plot we dont bother with the usual tropes.
...the friendgroup vibes are pretty good
THE BAD
Honestly there is a lot of bad
Most side characters are utterly flat, written with no nuance or depth and acted as though it is highschool theater. This is constant and it is a majority of the characters. It is so painful, that this aspect alone begs you to drop the show every single episode.
Massive plot holes at every turn. Pretty much everytime the thriller plotlines would reach a head, the reasoning for what happens just falls apart as though the writers are just slapping together the idea of what a cop show plot would do there. Glaring issues.
Nearly no character who does evil stuff gets any consequences. And there are so many characters being utterly corrupt and doing atrocious stuff. Zero justice here.
Fundamental misogyny in the crimes, just never addressed? In a GL? Why do these shows use so much of this stuff and just never deliver a moral?
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Cute FL and nothing else
Take the short episode length and number of episodes as a warning.The good:
- The FL is great
- The visual and music production is actually pretty strong
The bad:
- The plot makes no sense. It is really really bad in how much you have to turn your brain off
- The ML is an actual bad person. He does multiple actually bad things and treats people badly for no reason. He has no redemption arc at all, not that you can really redeem some of the things he does. And the writers just force a sudden romantic arc out of nowhere, but of course even when he's being portrayed as romantic, he's still treating the FL like an object as if you can just kiss away her objections to actually evil things he's doing
- The plot jumps around as if there are tons of missing scenes and editors just didn't care. This makes the pacing absolutely terrible, and the continuity regularly falls apart.
- The premise is never fleshed out at all, dont come here looking for anything interesting about a girl trapped in a tv show, it is used a little and then has almost no bearing on the plot at all
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Lovely quick binge
The episodes are very short, which makes the show an easy binge. The short eps definitely let to a more brisk pace and maybe less depth to be explored along the way, but it still managed to be of a quality level only slightly below a full length drama, and still a large step above other "short ep web dramas".The lead, Gia Ge, is absolutely fantastic in this. The camera loves her and her gaze can just hold its attention in a very powerful way. The plot has beats of romance, revenge, melancholy, beauty; and the show handles each with vividness and care and emphatic emotional impact.
The only criticisms I have are there were a few plotlines that get kind of dropped, or at least not as resolved as I would have liked. But everything still made sense in the end, so it was mostly just the short length not having a lot of room for more, and the writing decisions to be only... somewhat bloodthirsty ;)
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Great characters and disappointing writing
The characters in this are really enjoyable; vibrant and expressively portrayed, I really found myself caring about so many of them. We get something like 4+ romances so we get an assortment of types of couples. Unfortunately the writing and pacing are just really rough and the vast majority of time is spent avoiding real plot and just circling misunderstandings and lying and hiding from each other.Was this review helpful to you?
Amazing portrayal of the main characters
The good in this is very good. Amazing even. Shockingly good, considering its a mini show with 15 minute episodes.THE GOOD
And the good that I am referring to is the main characters. They are acted extremely well, a league above expectations. Their characters are also written very well, it has been a while since I've seen a drama engage characters with this much complexity and nuance, walking a fine line as the story teeters as to what is actually happening and what will unfold.
This was probably created as a feminist drama, but it does so in a very well handled manner -- nothing is forced, nothing is just a message. The feminism is merely a willingness to not follow the usual tropes and let women have focus in a story.
THE BAD
Okay it would be disingenuous to give this a glowing review with no criticism. This mainly falls into 2 aspects:
1. Almost every character other than the leads, is poorly acted. They remind us that this is just a short mini show, and not a full production. Sometimes they're campy and maybe that can be fun, but often they are just bad, one note characters being overacted.
2. A few times the writing just jumps or forces something to happen and it feels like it just skipped the editors. It wasn't TOO bad (except one frustrating writing choice) but it also displays that this show is just a quick mini short, and not a full production.
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A beautiful start and then terrible writing
First, a warning. The summary is completely misleading about the tone, and is completely missing major, core parts of this premise.This is a very hard show to just give a rating. I got like halfway through and it was sitting at 9+ in my mind. A show that makes me that invested in the characters, and has me crying at how powerful the moments are, normally has a guaranteed MINIMUM rating of 8+.
Shows that make me angry enough to think about dropping, normally get a MAX 7.
My spoiler-free advice is, if you get to a point in the early-middle of this where it feels like "this is actually a nice place to wrap the story" -- JUST DO IT. There are 2 big points where I had this thought, and I wish that I had. Everything that comes after is just so dumb and disrespectful to the characters, while adding NOTHING to the story. There really is no loss to dropping early.
THE GOOD:
The leading actors give amazing and rich performances.
There is a trauma aspect to this plot, that is handled better than many... until its not.
hrm, thinking about what else to say, it really is just the leading actors and their (initial) characters that make this good to me, it seems
THE BAD:
Major, plot altering decisions are given no basis in character motivation. It is so jarring that it (more than once) seems like entire scenes are missing.
The men in this are completely controlling and end up being a large focus, and despite them being bad and harmful in their decisions, they never receive any consequences or even are portrayed as their actions having been bad. They are literally thanked and apologized to instead. Gross.
The bad people (except 1) receive absolutely no consequences. This is actually disappointingly typical in this genre, but this show is notably worse about it. Actual horrible person who does horrible things never even apologizes, and just suddenly becomes trusted and relied upon. I still get sick even thinking about it.
And the things that make me want to be sick go on. Just idiotic plot choices, forcing characters into situations just for angst or whatever. The entire second half is both gross and poorly written.
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This review may contain spoilers
Style but no substance
THE GOOD:The second couple is amazing
Lookmhee is an amazing lead
The soundtrack has some bangers
Lots of rich people style
THE BAD:
Nothing to care about. Characters have almost nothing compelling about them at all. Most don't even get a setup. Most won't get any motivations for why they do anything at all. Which is especially rough when there is not even any transition into people getting together, just *blast music* and start making out -- that's all audiences want right? :(
Tons of SA scenes and references treated completely flippantly. Some writer really just pulls the same card out every time to make someone "wronged" and feed the tension. Or worse, it isn't even treated like a big deal. Roofies? Screaming r*pe just to get your way? These are things that THE LOVE INTERESTS do to each other and never acknowledge as wrong.
The writing in general is very bad. Which is extra painful since the story centers on the premise of its business and conflict plotlines, which requires writing. Regularly characters act in inexplicable ways just to move the story along to the next scene.
Whole plot points are just dropped. Why was her mom sobbing? Is it really okay to roofie someone you love and never tell them and never apologize? Is it okay to beat your kids and threaten the life of their best friend if being a dad is "hard"? Another dad is going to gaslight his daughter into thinking he's dying so he can manipulate her but we just never acknowledge it or come back to it. The list could go on, but at some point the reviewer is putting in more energy than the writers ever did.
Especially disappointing is the writing for the FL, without a proper setup or motivation, she just comes across as entitled and immature. Her whole thing is that she wants to take her dad's job right out of college with zero experience, lmao, and wants to force people to accept it in one go by getting this deal as proof that she "deserves" it. She will go on to do nothing at all related to the business the whole time, other than trying to seduce one competitor. And for some reason make a whole point that she won't work with anyone because it will diminish her "accomplishment". The entire accomplishment this show is centered on is just picking a number for a bid.
Once the characters start fighting, the reasons for it are thin and don't even bother to engage the majority of the wrongs they actually did to each other. Each side mentions 1 wrong and thats all we will go on for 3 or 4 breakups. And for whatever reason one feels like she is way more wronged, even though she really isn't.
All around just no reason to care about the characters or the plot.
Well except for the second leads, I would watch a whole show about them. Too bad they get dropped for the entire middle arc. In fact the leads become so self involved that they don't even ever find out their assistants are dating. Can you imagine ending a show and not even bothering to include the leads ever even finding out about the second couple? It's not like they're strangers, they are your best friends and assistants. Was this even a romance drama? Just whiff whiff whiff.
The sound engineering at times gets carried away trying to be "cool" with some kind of styling for what it thinks suits rich/nightlife themes of this show. It can be quite jarring.
Villains are all one note performances. Get used to that face they're making, because they arent going to change expression ever.
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Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!
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Very cute little romance
Flash review--THE GOOD
Very cute romance
Pretty fun supernatural concept
Both leads are excellent
The FL is absolutely adorable but also a very refreshing (and needed) perspective.
Once you love this, there is so much more content! There is a movie with the same actors, as well as 2 "bonus episodes" that are great.
THE BAD
Way too much circular angst. Tons of time just spent watching characters living in their own heads and freaking out about their own thoughts. It isn't fun to just watch someone have anxiety for so much of the runtime. And because that is the focus, very little actually happens, other than the main plot.
The FL is not in nearly enough of it.
The BFF is really obnoxious. The overacting is so over the top I nearly started skipping his entire plotline. Weirdly, if you watch the bonus features about his plotlines, he isn't like that nearly as much in that.
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Great leading couple, everything else is background
Flash review--THE GOOD
The leading couple is everything in this. Their portrayal. Their chemistry. The way they treat each other (except--). Just a pleasure to watch.
Some fun magic.
The FL characterization is just fun.
The 2ML is a cutie both in appearance and his characterization
THE UNREMARKABLE
Pretty much everyone else in this are painted in shades of gray. And it kinda works? Like, it mostly just forces the focus to stay on the leads and that is great because they are wonderful
But seriously, almost any time there's another character, I'm like "who is that" followed by "why do i care" but blessedly also followed by "oh good they're offscreen again quickly, back to the leads"
THE BAD
There is some really unpleasant plot stuff about halfway through. And unfortunately it isn't brief, it drags on for multiple episodes, way longer than it needed to.
Multiple times the FL is sidelined or has her agency removed. Really frustrating, especially when she's carrying the series.
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Both better and worse than I expected
Flash review - low thought, rapid fire notes, mostly for my own future referenceI was recommended this like many people, as the pioneer Thai GL. I set my expectations accordingly and I would say it was both much better but also worse than I expected.
# The good:
- The production quality was good, totally modern and on par with other dramas imo. I expected it to be more low budget, but that wasn't the case at all
- Freen is top notch in this. She knows how to work the camera and always looks like she is in her element. She has an incredibly wide range and gives significant depth to the smallest actions and thoughts of her character
- The friend group and similar types of characters are tons of fun. And often saying exactly what we're thinking and moving to impact the plot for the things that as an audience member, I want to yell at the main-type characters
# The bad:
- The top of this list has to be the writing. Lots of premises are paper thin or make no sense or characters make decisions that are just to feed the melodrama. At best stuff makes no sense, at worst its regularly infuriating
- A pattern with many of these shows, but possibly the worst in this one, is characters being portrayed being actively, viscerally bad. And then no worthwhile redemption, just flip and we are supposed to forgive. Really unpleasant stuff, which feels like the writers just doing stuff to get an emotional reaction, and then not bothering to treat it seriously
- Seriously, add a second bullet and just repeat that. Just disgusting stuff in what would otherwise be such a cozy drama. I'm avoiding spoilers, but more than one character got me so mad I almost stopped watching
- A lot of het romance tropes that I like this genre for not being attached to usually. But the control/communication stuff is all handled in ways that are pretty typical of hetero romance dramas. I guess we have to not hold it against this one, since it was pioneering these issues, so it probably needed to "stick to the expected" a bit more, than the later Thai GL dramas have had to.
- I don't want to say Becky was bad... but it really felt like a student actor or something. Like you could tell she was reciting lines, or "acting happy" by forcing smiles. It.. was awkward, especially for a main character. And especially next to Freen who seemed so good at not only acting natural, but expressing nuanced things
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So cute and funny plus magic!
This was so cute and funny and the chemistry is popping off and the comedic timing is on point and the story and fantastical lore is really fleshed out and interesting. The whole cast did an amazing job, actually impressive how many engaging characters they crammed into this short runtime. Really deserved a much bigger budget and production, but even small, it still has its charmWas this review helpful to you?
Interesting blend of scifi and fantasy
The thing about this movie that really stood out was the genre blending. We have futuristic aliens, the modern day earth, historical earth, AND historical fantasy magic. Most projects would have done one or the other, but this movie fully embraces all of the genres it uses. There is magic. There is scifi tech. The is aliens. And all of them have lots of fun.The main criticism for me, is that the plot is a bit jumbled. It doesn't seem willing to commit to a main character, and by the end of the first movie the story has suffered for it because the emotional investment in any individual character us a bit thin. There are some good emotional beats, just personally I would have liked more, and with the amount of time we spend chasing side characters or lingering on bits (that were not as funny as they seemed to think), it feels like there was space to make the actual plot more focused than it ended up being.
One last comment is that this movie does not stand on its own -- only watch it if you are planning on watching the sequel afterwards. This should have been titled "Part 1"
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