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
Was this review helpful to you?
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"
Was this review helpful to you?
Average Rom-com
This is a pretty standard kdrama romcom. Personally I felt like it was only okay, though to some degree that may be because I am not a big fan of comedy and this has a lot of pretty silly stuff in it.For me though there were still a few standout aspects:
- Uhm Tae Goo (ML) portrayed his character with more depth and nuance than many male leads bring.
- Yang Hyun Min (ML friend) brings a huge amount of comedy to the show, while also a lot of heart. The writers really gave him stuff to work with and he made it work.
- Im Chul Soo (antagonist) also brough tons of depth and nuance to his character. He was very vibrantly portrayed.
- All the gangster friendships are very wholesome and nice to see male friendships handled like this.
- Moon Ji In (2FL) is a character I enjoyed though she doesnt get that much screentime, I felt like her character was very realistic and had character
To be a bit critical of some things:
- The female stories are largely brushed aside. In a lot of ways, the FL is just a centerpiece that the actors revolve around, and doesn't actually get to be the focus of the story very often
- The FL and her main antagonist get their resolution basically off screen, another failure to focus on the female stories going on
- Way too much slapstick stuff for my tastes. The ML not being able to handle drinking was utterly absurd. The main antagonist (while entertaining) was also hard to believe he could maintain his position or power while behaving the way he was.
- The romance didn't feel warranted, they mostly just like each other because they have history together, they don't really have anything in common or vibe that well together, which in a situation like this makes it feel like he only likes her because her innocence represents something he lost. Which would be a pretty shallow reason to love someone.
- The final episode was a very weak ending, just a lot of filler and checking boxes
Was this review helpful to you?
Fun and beautiful fantasy movie
I really enjoyed this film, it is saturated with high fantasy and wonder. The setting is very much xianxia, with sects of cultivators and flying on swords and the whole works. They really portray cultivator magic much more than most shows in this genre.The main 4 actors are all amazing, giving strong performances and making me want desperately to have more time with their characters.
Unfortunately this is a film and not a show, so the time passes much too quick. Also it seems that this is only a part of the story it is based on, but they never made the rest of the films, so the ending is pretty abrupt and not entirely satisfying.
Was this review helpful to you?
Charming Cozy Ghost Drama
This drama was very enjoyable. A lot of it is a very typical ghost drama plotline, there is not anything very unique about the plot. But in many episodes I found that the writing was very well polished, an attention to detail that many dramas do not have. Many dramas just force in a trope even when it does not make sense, but this show seemed to care that everything makes sense. The twists and emotional arcs are very well thought out. The performances are also very good. The side stories are especially rich.One criticism is that the final arc has some odd pacing. I am not sure if it was "bad" pacing, but they make some strange choices to reveal things before going back and showing stuff leading up to it. In a way, a lot of surprises are not a surprise because they show you the reveals so early before building up the tension. I am not sure if those were bad decisions, but I would say this is not a drama where you will be guessing a lot. There is some suspense, but it is pretty light.
Was this review helpful to you?
Okay drama but paced for web
Pretty straight forward drama that gives you exactly what you would expect from a light romance drama.Unfortunately for me, shortened web dramas like this just don't have the depth to really dig into emotionally. It feels more like an outline of a story that just hits the main scene beats, rather than taking the time to flesh out the characters.
Also, "web drama"ness quality-level, means a lot of the plot points or situations don't make sense if you think too much. Does it really make sense that a CEO is renting an apartment right next door? A lot of things like this the audience is expected to handwave because "well its possible and it sure would be cute if it happened!"
In the end, the show isn't bad if you accept what it is, and it presents itself as exactly what it is, a light short web drama. If you turn your brain off its a cute show.
Was this review helpful to you?
Early review notes
Jotting down some notes early; I have only watched about 15 eps so farOVERALL:
The good is very good but the bad is so annoying that multiple plotlines are begging to be skipped. And skipping without dropping is not something I normally do.
THE GOOD:
Everything is beautiful. The costumes. The sets. Everything is boldly colored and elaborately designed. Visually a joy to watch.
Lots of magic. This is fully fantasy, magic is everywhere. The fantastical world is rich and detailed.
The FL gives an excellent performance, taking the role seriously and infusing nuance into the portrayal.
The FL's character writing is much stronger than this genre usually does. She is portrayed as smart and determined, and it isn't just lip service -- it is SHOWN in intuitive ways. She figures things out alongside the audience. She makes strategic decisions and plans based on her knowledge. While there is still a "beauty and the beast" dynamic, (most of) her situations are not just being damseled, she actually has a lot of agency, and even when she doesn't, she still acts appropriately based on the established strength of character. A very refreshing portrayal of FL strength, without just "claiming she's a general" and then failing to show it in practical ways.
A few standout performances by the support cast.
THE BAD:
Rushed romance. Not just for the leads, all the romance plotlines are just suddenly "love at first glance" without any support or transition from actual experiences/scenes.
Obnoxiously over the top humor. There are entire groups that just behave incomprehensibly stupid, which is both frustrating that their motivations and choices constantly don't align, but also that it seems to be just draped in dumb comedy to make it more palatable. It fails. The worst part is that we linger in these situations for very long scenes and return to repeat them frequently. Spending this much focus on entire scenes of people we don't care about and doing things that are not enjoyable to watch, is exhausting.
The 2ML is a very attractive actor that only does 1 note. Perhaps it is the writing's fault for giving him nothing to work with, but either way it quickly goes from being annoying to completely frustrating to watch the same exact loop over and over and always have 1 expression ever on his face.
Was this review helpful to you?
Cute and quirky
Very cute and has a lot of fun with a lot of interesting ideas.If this had been fleshed out into a proper series, it would have been amazing.
I started thinking that someone should just edit this into a single video, but some aspects are actually tied to the episode format with actual interesting ideas. If this was a project to explore film/storytelling concepts then the creators are going to do amazing things.
Minus half a point for the abrupt ending :(
Was this review helpful to you?
Cute cute cuuute
THE GOODThis show is so cute!
The actors have great chemistry.
Many of the little moments feel very organic, as though the actors were allowed to experiment and try things.
The costume styling is all super fun.
Some nicely impactful and emotional moments and personal growth. Especially for the leading characters. Also some more complicated topics about love and life and flaws are engaged, if only briefly.
Each episode is engaging and has its own stuff going on. Nothing drags and nothing feels like filler.
Having a secondary couple at an older age range is nice for those of us getting too old for the new-adult age range of the main leads.
The music is really well utilized, pairing with emotional moments and then calling back to the familiar melodies. This soundtrack is going to stick with me for a long time.
THE BAD
To be honest, some of the writing and directing is not very polished. Sometimes character motivations just don't seem very thought out. If all the cuteness and vibes weren't as great as they were, then I probably would have been more bothered by this.
Not a lot of depth to many plot points. In general, many of the plot points, and character arcs are somewhat lacking. Again, this seems to work as long as you are enjoying the show as "light and fun", but a more serious viewing would probably find things to be a bit superficial and breezed over.
There are some moments where it feels like they should have done another take, which contributes to the overall feeling that this production was a bit amateurish. I gave this aspect a pass because it seems to be a tradeoff for the more organic moments that we got -- they seemed to favor letting the actors feel out the scenes and just find things that work, rather than mapping out and performing specific expressions and gestures.
Typical for this genre, people who do bad get the lowest possible consequences for their actions. Nearly no accountability.
THE NOT FOR ME
This show focuses heavily on the new-adult aged leads, who are arguably portrayed as being even younger and more childish than their characters ages, which are already very young. They are like barely 20 and styling themselves as tween influencers.
This is oddly combined with the 18+ rating which is ...heavily utilized. There is a lot of focus on ...spicy scenes. Which is fine for the audience that is looking for that, but is odd when this is broadly a very "cutesy" show (Watch the title sequence and tell me if you expect graphic sex scenes). Other shows in this genre usually make a clearer choice when focusing on very young couples to limit the love scene portrayal to some degree, or to focus those scenes on the older couples instead, but this show doesn't bother doing that at all.
Was this review helpful to you?
Cute and cozy couple
This show was amazingggTHE GOOD
The main couple's chemistry is amazing.
The show spends tons of time focusing on the coziest moments. This is what I'm here for, and they gave me LOTS.
The secondary couple is also amazing. Both amazing actors and portrayed really complex/nuanced characters. Their future work as leads is going to be incredible.
We actually get some complex and imperfect characters and treat their problems in an earnest way. I really thought I would hate you the whole time, and I ended up caring about you so much ^_^
THE WHATEVER
Omg there was SO much PPL it had to be an actual record. But also I never really minded it because its just like "watch your favorite cozy couple be cozy and use a product" so like I am happy to do so.
There is some crazy melodrama plot points. Some iffy things and some things that are wild but then never revisited.
THE BAD
This genre has a bad habit of not actually giving satisfying resolutions to the people who do bad things.
The age gap is a bit icky. Just the young one is a bit too "cusp of adulthood" for an age gap relationship imo. It didn't help that the older actor is actually even older irl PLUS her characterization was "cold" so she comes across as even more mature PLUS they actively lean into the age gap dynamic
Was this review helpful to you?
Amazing Female Lead
The female lead is amazing in this.The male lead is terrible in this. Just very flat performances combined with writers making him the most useless character.
Some of the other characters are good but for nearly every single one, the plot will ruin any investment you have in them.
Was this review helpful to you?
Better than many
This review is mostly for my own personal tastes. If you are curious, you can look over the GOOD list for some highlights, but the BAD list is very much focused on what doesn't suit *my personal* tastes, rather than actually being bad.The high level overview is that this is a really well done show, but I personally am not a big fan of intrigue/politics/power dynamics and those things are very much the center of this drama. For me, the romance is not well done and the slice of life moments are weak, which means I probably won't finish it.
THE GOOD:
The FL absolutely kills in this. If she was more centered in this drama, I would have been in love with it.
The cinematography is very strong. Many things are done very well, especially the action. And as a bonus, it seems like they were willing to be a bit artistic and add some personal style, so things are not just "standard" the way every other drama directs/edits things. Love to see productions that are innovating.
The action is very well done. Especially the FL, has got to be the most convincing action sequences I've ever seen from an FL. As well as being just dynamic and engaging choreography/camerawork. For a taste of that, you can simply watch the first 10 minutes. It is immediately intense and captivating. The rest of the show doesn't quite get that intense again, but still some cool scenes.
The costuming is gorgeous. Bold colors and elaborate detailing are all a joy to look at. Each character gets distinct and thought out color palettes in their wardrobes, just A+.
Some excellent supporting actors. Especially the doctor and the ML's right-hand man. I hope they are both being noticed, because the whole time I am thinking they should be leading actors, they are that vibrant.
THE BAD:
For me, it is just really frustrating to keep seeing the same "I'm bad and actively cruel to the FL" Beauty and the Beast tropes, especially when they are not well supported with motivations.
That dynamic is doubled down with another tired amnesia trope. So in addition to abusive behaviors we will get endless gaslighting. Just exhausting writing choices.
It is such a common plot at this point that there must be an audience that likes this, but just how long do you have to watch a show for anyone's motivations to be clear? 10eps 20eps? It is way too long that you ask me to "just sit through it" for some distant payoff, that in my experience is rarely actually that profound. Maybe this one is different, but I will probably never get far enough to find out.
Did I mention unnecessary abuse and gaslighting? Sure, well, lets add to that pile that the "strong FL" (Who the FL portrays very well) is just continuously declawed by the writing. So far she is just a victim over and over again, and even when she does have a heroic moment, she will still fail at the last moment so the ML can swoop in and take all the glory. Just very heavy-handed heteronormative writing, despite centering on "women can do anything even be a general". If you want to write a damsel story, just write a damsel? Setting up the FL as a strong and independent person and literally cutting her ability to fight and making her a "happy prisoner" is actually infuriating.
Okay that is probably enough to remind me of my general feelings, should I ever try to come back to watch more of this. There is also just a lot of weak writing and convenient writing (forced misunderstandings, characters doing things for no reason other than to cycle back to another pass of "oh he's a bad boy, but not REALLY", etc) But I don't think I need to go through all of that. Just stuff that is annoying if you aren't into the specific sub-genre.
Maybe I will be back, because the FL is really cool and I am still a bit hopeful that the doctor gets a more detailed arc. But probably not, unless I want something in the background that I can ignore 85% of.
Was this review helpful to you?
If you're looking for light comedy
Flash review--So the reception on this one is pretty mixed, and I will try to summarize why I think that is, as well as what I personally cared about.
*NOTE: I only watched 3 eps
OVERALL
If you like silly comedy and aren't going to take things too seriously, you may have a lot of fun.
Personally, I am not a big comedy person and have a hard time turning my brain off, so this was not for me. The rest of this review is about what I personally liked/disliked. So like, don't just take my opinion man, there is nothing wrong with liking what you like. Go have fun, hopefully the above review can help you make the decision as to whether its a good fit for you
THE GOOD
Suzy is pretty much good in this, maybe some things could be a bit better but I don't think she is a problem in this.
Her grandmother and the surrounding community are great. Both in being interesting to watch and what the writing does with their setup is interesting and potentially really important portrayal related to mental health and diversity.
The ML is hot. His acting is probably fine but, for me, the writing made him the focus of my problems with this show (See below)
THE BAD
The writing is just sloppy and half-hearted. Especially when it comes to the ML's motivations and behavior as well as the fundamentals of how magic works and what it means for the characters in the story. I had to turn my brain off and then turn my brain off again. And I still dropped it, because it was that pervasive.
The comedy is very ...well, I struggled (and failed) to think of an accurate way to describe it that wasn't mean. I don't want to bully people who like this type of comedy, but my eyes have limits to how much they can roll.
This show doesn't handle any topic with care. The flippant use of cultural stuff around genies is a pretty obvious issue that many people are accepting. But perhaps less talked about is the cartoonish portrayal of an actual mental health condition. It barely reflects the actual Antisocial Personality Disorder, and (as far as I watched) constantly plays it for laughs about the "psychopath". I am still a little hopeful that the rest of the show at least does SOMETHING good with the topic, which may actually be the case from what I saw about the community accepting her and raising her, but the comedy seems to mostly just play it for laughs.
Was this review helpful to you?
Mediocre Fantasy
Very mediocre drama. Watched ~11 eps, may put it on in the background to see where it goes, but spent more time being confused and frustrated by the writing than enjoying myself.The good:
- As a fantasy production it is pretty decently put together. Not poorly produced, decent effects, decent filming angles etc
- There are some characters with charm, though a lot of this falls apart when the writing muddles their personalities and motivations. I feel like the actors were probably good, but the scenes and arcs that were written for them just failed their characters
- If you want to watch a show with intention to heckle it, turn on comments and there's a stack of people just laughing at it or tearing it apart
The bad:
The writing is really frustrating in its lack of consistency and its lack of respect for character motivations.
The FL:
Her characterization jumps all over the place, is she clever or an idiot, is she strong and willful or a baby. She doesn't feel consistent at all. In theory she starts out as having grown up on the streets among younger street kids who she takes care of, but as soon as she is off the streets she becomes the ultimate spoiled child. There is no sense that she has street smarts, she is completely gullible, and she acts like a total dependent child - there is no sign at all that she used to shoulder all the responsibility for a group of kids. She is shown to have never relied on anyone when she was homeless, but immediately just becomes completely dependent on every man we encounter once the show starts.
To that point, the FL is regularly portrayed as child-like when around any men, while they are almost universally portrayed as interested in her. It really gets to be pretty creepy with the grooming and possessive vibes, to a degree that even many xianxia "cutesy" FL's don't come across this bad.
Eventually as we forget that she was ever a street kid, and accept her new baby persona, the writing still can't stay consistent. Will she suddenly be willful or will she just let people push her around? Will she suddenly inexplicably be competent and powerful or will she just be mowed over? Will she make the absolute dumbest decisions just because the writers need to set up a misunderstanding plotline, or a persecution plotline? It all just jumps all over the place, and it makes it really hard to stay engaged and invested.
The ML:
Is a wooden block at best, but seems to just be grooming and keeping the FL isolated and we are meant to take it as romantic? Ew.
Other characters:
Too many love interests, basically every man we encounter, and almost all of them give no reason to care or root for them. Personally the most annoying is these romantic interests are regularly just totally disregarding the FLs autonomy. Tons of wrist grabbing and talking over her and "pushy flirting" which is really gross.
Basically no women anywhere. The only other woman in this show is the "bully" who also will be portrayed just as inconsistently in power and authority just suddenly ramping up, despite her also being new to the cultivation world.
Was this review helpful to you?
