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Sex jokes, poop jokes, pee jokes - that's the content you will get.
This is one of the movies that left me wondering why it was made and why did the cast agree to do it. It does nothing to their career, there was no way on the planet they got paid a lot for it, as the budget itself seems limited, and not much probability of it becoming a hit.You know what the movie is mostly about? 3 people sitting down and talking about the most boring things ever and making awful jokes. Anything even remotely connected to horror happens in the last 15 minutes. I saw no real comedy in it either. It’s just full of nothing.
Sure, the performances were nice and the cast was solid, but what’s the point when the writing had nothing to offer?
Overall, just don’t bother watching. It's juvenile humor and poor storytelling.
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Way to strip a plot of any suspense by revealing everything from the start.
Welcome to the world of one of the worst storytelling examples in the history of horror. Why did they decide to show so much of the background and context of the supernatural events, when the unknown is the vital and most important part of any horror movie?My brain hurts so much. I feel like the only people who put any effort into this project were the actors, and I honestly feel bad for them.
The level of ridiculousness? Unimaginable. The pacing? PAINFUL. The remake of the game takes about 4 hours of gameplay to complete. They tried to fit that into a 1 hour and 30 minutes movie, and they failed. Since there was so much to show and tell, there was no breathing moment, no time to build the atmosphere and the suspense - I was bombarded with information, action and poor CGI.
There were so many laughable moments. They literally introduced, explained with dialogue and flashbacks, and concluded a whole new past plotline 7 minutes before the movie ended. I think this tells you a lot about the writing and pacing of The Labyrinth.
Do yourself a favor and just watch a whole playthrough on youtube or play the game yourself - the story makes more sense, there is a better suspense and even the graphics for the phone remake are better than any CGI this movie gave us.
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Low-key intense.
I was extremely invested in the characters, but not nearly enough in the plot. I was not that interested in the events themselves, nor the past crimes and investigation, but I did care how they affect the characters. With that, I have mixed feelings.There is no denying that the core of the plot are the characters and their relationships. How far can you go for people you care about? What are you willing to sacrifice? What kind of person will you become by the end? All these questions have been asked countless times in the span of these 10 episodes. I did not quite like all the answers, but that’s life - some things work out, some don’t.
For a show that tries to link a few cases and stories from different timelines in a one cohesive story - they did quite a good job. The plot was not hard to follow, I could clearly see how seemingly unrelated situations were in fact the aftermath of a larger problem. The drama even managed to deliver quite a plot twist/revelation in the last episode that I did not predict - maybe I just stopped my brain from even going in that direction?
Saiai has an amazing cast of characters played by skilled actors, who were able to portray them in an engaging and convincing manner. I might be playing favorites, but I’m totally in love with Kase Kenichiro. This character truly stole the whole show for me.
What’s also worth mentioning is the soundtrack. When the Saiai theme song starts, you know shit is about to hit the fan. I’ve gotten chills quite a few times when the first few notes started.
Overall, it’s a truly solid drama that is carried by the characters. It does not necessarily mean the plot and investigation itself was bad, it was just not as gripping as the relationships presented. I don’t even know when, but the characters creeped into my heart and at some point I stopped caring about the plot and just wanted to see them safe and happy.
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Nothing Happens, Vibes Occur - Sponsored by Photovoltaic Panels.
Nothing happens, but it’s still somehow interesting. That's a long story short of how I would describe the drama. It just flows in an even pace filled with either fun, lovely and heartwarming interactions, or rage inducing ones. But the plot is barely there. It’s mostly about characters and their interactions - vibes fueled. And the characters were not even that outstanding.Starting with our male lead - Lin Yu Sen who was so perfect it was kind of boring. I am extremely grateful for that initial light pity party he was having and a tiny bit of mischievousness from him towards the female lead. That said, I don’t really have issues with him having less presence than the female lead. For me no matter the drama, one of the leads will always be more of the focus. I just wish he was a bit more than a supportive boyfriend. Even his own personal struggles seemed more like a way of showing how inspiring and encouraging Xi Guang is. Uplift women in dramas, yes. But you don't have to leave men behind.
Nie Xi Guang on the other hand was actually a well written female lead with solid, but realistic character development focused on finding her own path, drive and goal in life. She slowly learned how to stand up for herself and speak honestly about her grievances - she was never a doormat, but she for sure gained more sass with every episode. As for the flaws - questionable taste in men at least in her younger age. I do think she was a bit too old for this level of fascination over the second male lead and how long it took her to move on. Especially taking into consideration how he treated her.
And here comes the cherry on top of the dama: Zhuang Xu, so annoying he became my favorite character. Yes, I hated him to the core, but at the same time when they kept him hidden for a few episodes I missed him. Mr. Audacity Wood stole the show for me and both the external conflict/misunderstanding and his internal issues were the most interesting aspects of the plot. Honestly though - where did the audacity come from? So little self confidence, so much self-doubt and victim complex, yet the audacity unmatched by the rich cold CEOs.
For more supporting characters we had the initial friend group which was rather basic. We did manage to get one amazing scene showing that at least one of the girls was truly Xi Guang’s friend, but overall they were there to fill the shots.
Work colleagues were better personality wise, but even they slowly vanished and lost their individuality. This drama never had friendship in its focus and that’s slightly sad. Out of all the relationships outside of the leads, one that was the best developed and shined the brightest was Xi Guang and her little brother.
We also got the standard family drama. On Yu Sen side the “competent male lead versus incompetent rest of the family” shenanigans. Glad it never developed into anything more than a side story that made a comeback every few episodes for a few minutes. On the female lead side we had the dad with too much unfounded pride and his evil (and also incompetent) girlfriend with a daughter (who was also incompetent - as you can see everyone, but the leads and the people they liked were incompetent).
How was the romance? Nice. And take it as a compliment. There was no ridiculous drama and angst between the main couple and even the initial misunderstanding did not lead to outrageous twists. Their whole relationship was based on both great communication and the underlying conflict based on misconception/misunderstanding - and it did make sense, somehow. There weren’t any massive ups and downs - this is for sure not a rollercoaster of emotions. More like a nice walk along the riverside accompanied by rustling trees, singing birds and the newest, most advanced, best in the world, innovative, groundbreaking and saving global climate Chinese photovoltaic panels.
So yeah, let’s all agree this drama is as much of a cute romance as it is an ad for a specific branch of the Chinese market (and just a tiny reminder that China also excels in neuroscience, in case anyone forgot). Maybe 20% of the business related scenes actually had an impact on the leads and their development in terms of their character and career, the rest was just long ass explanation how amazing PVs are, how China is going to be pioneers in that market, how it all works and what kind of profits and benefits it has. An ad. I skipped all these scenes and I’m not even sorry.
As for the production, I am convinced from episode 23 they changed people involved in filming and editing the show - the improvement of the quality was so obvious. The first 22 episodes were rather empty, simple and lacked depth and definition. From episode 23 be it use of light, framing scenes with forefront blurred objects, colors - everything was so much better, richer.
For the acting I mostly want to talk about Zhao Jin Mai since she stood out amongst her co-stars. The way you could feel everything Xi Guang was feeling. My favorite scenes were for sure the few confrontations she had with people in her life and how she firmly stood her ground, simply because there were so many emotions behind what she was saying. These were not just a “girlboss” badass moment. You could also feel all the disappointment, frustration, resignation, sadness and frustration. These scenes on one had made you proud of her, but also sad for how long she was keeping it all in not allowing herself to truly express her feelings.
Song Wei Long was fine. I guess that's a compliment. I feel like his acting is really reactionary - he acts on cue without being immersed in the character he is portraying.
Then we have Lai Wei Ming. I have no idea why he was so all over the place, since I know he can do better, but I lived for the sick pathetic vibe he gave me. It just added to the frustration and rage I was feeling when he was on screen. No idea what kind of tips the director gave him, but it did not work, but at the same time somehow worked. And that styling - dude looks like he was one foot in the grave the whole show. They did him dirty.
Overall, I feel like this is a drama you can enjoy in two cases: you truly adore the “nothing much happening, all we have are vibes, but these are good vibes” dramas, or when you are in a specific mood for a slow pace sweet romance with just enough plot to make you stay till the end.
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The thing that I loved about the directing was how all the cases were linked together - each chapter had a scene we already saw in a previous story, but from a different perspective.
Chapter 1 - Room 504 - The Writer
One of the weakest plots of all the 5 chapters. While the small details in the background added to the eerie atmosphere, overall I was not impressed. The story was not scary at all, but I have to appreciate the acting from Lee Chang Hoon, who played a driven writer on the edge, because his writing has not been going too smoothly lately. I could feel his frustration.
Chapter 2 - Room 907 - The Pharmacist
The best of all the chapters. From the interesting story, to the creepy visuals - I was sold. The setup for the plot reminded me a little bit of P.T., with the radio station giving news about the murder. The loop of the characters’ actions and the corridor shots that made it seem as if I am there observing the situation, made this my favorite part of the movie.
Chapter 3 - Room 708 - The Salesman
Annabelle, but creepier. Except for the "companion" making me uncomfortable, there is not much to say about this chapter. The pictures created for some scenes were nice, but overall it was more entertaining than scary.
Chapter 4 - Room 604 - The Student
Trigger warning for gross body horror. Pimples and a lot of weird stuff happening to the face of one of the characters. Rather nauseating. That said, the body horror was quite well made - no complaints on my part about the effects and makeup. The story is rather simple, and focuses more on the visual aspect of it.
Final chapter - Room 1504 - The Caretaker
Had one of the scariest scenes from the whole movie - the elevator moment got me on the edge of my seat. The Caretaker concludes the story is a coherent way that makes sense, while leaving a door open for a possible sequel.
Overall, The Grotesque Mansion is just a simple and easy watch. Good for an evening when you might be a bit tired and you want to be entertained, but without forcing your brain to do any work.
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So many timelines, so little development.
I want to start with - I really did enjoy the show a lot, I hyped it at the beginning like crazy and got quite a few people to watch it too. That said, I cannot act as if it had no flaws. In fact, it had many.Started as a fun and entertaining rom-com delivering some well established cliches in a refreshing way, with just enough angst to keep you invested. And next? It turned into its worst nightmare - poorly written development making the last few episodes lose the initial charm. The fate of many dramas in the past. The fate of many dramas to come.
Truth to be told, I have no idea how to write the review in a way that will point out all the issues I had, while also delivering the clear idea of the fun and joy I felt while watching. The drama is honestly mediocre, but it’s such an excellent presentation, you just forget and ignore how mediocre it is.
The plot was messy, with little explanation of how anything works. Time travel had close to zero rules truly established, the villain had literally nothing going on for himself and I feel like the yellow umbrella had more personality than him. He had no business being so important to the plot with this little fucks put into actually writing it in engaging and coherent manner.
Kim Tae Sung and Baek In Hyuk were pure sunshines, but it’s a joke to call them main characters (and they are named as such even on namu.wiki). The supporting couple was painfully unnecessary and the whole drama had overall too many filler scenes and flashbacks of things that happened even in the same episode.
And yet it was fun and adorable. The chemistry between Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Yoon was amazing from literally the first scene - they aced the romance, comedy, drama. Lovely Runner is filled with scenes that will make you smile and laugh and lighten your mood. The down to earth comedy driven by the characters’ personalities and daily accidents was probably one of my favorite aspects of the show. Even though I felt like the characters were not truly complex and well developed, at the same time I fell in love with their quirky personalities. Seon Jae and Tae Sung? Surprisingly great and fun chemistry. Now I wish to see the two of them in a drama together as close friends.
What’s more to love? Amazing soundtrack with many uplifting and moving songs. Sudden Shower (소나기) just melts your heart when you listen to it. With a great soundtrack goes beautiful visuals - loved the set design, lighting, camera angles. The drama also had amazing timing - turning some romantic and dramatic scenes into comedy bits with a fun presentation. So many things worked, so what didn't?
Ryu Seon Jae is technically the main character, but the writing matches the supporting ones more. Where is the development? Where is the rich characterization? Where are the flaws and personal goals? Why is he Haru 2.0? On paper he is perfect, but would I want a man like that in real life? A person with little to no individuality, whose whole existence revolves around me? That’s how Seon Jae is presented. He is a 1+1 deal with Im Sol and that’s it. Yes, he is good looking, yes he is adorable with his loser charm, he is dedicated, killing viewers with his puppy love towards Sol. But I need more from my lead characters… I need some spice with that sugar.
Sol is not much different, so at least we have equality here. Everything she does is done for Seon Jae’s benefit. I get it, it’s a plot driven show about preventing the bad thing from happening - it does not mean they cannot use some screen time to develop the characters a bit more beyond what the plot needs them to do. Why are they giving so much screen time to a side romance when your main characters are 2-dimensional plot puppets even half way through the show?
And it’s not like the plot was well developed. As I already said, time travel has no rules established except how to get back in time. The crime/mystery part is laughably bad with ridiculous conclusions. 80% of the show is just cute and fun moments, and there would be nothing wrong with that if the drama did not try to pretend as if the reminding 20% were interesting and important. Make it 12 episodes and switching a crime to depression and we would get top quality heart warming healing rom-com. You could feel how they did not have enough material for 16 episodes when they started to show flashbacks of events that happened maybe 20 minutes ago in the same episode.
Acting wise I overall loved it. There were a few moments when I found Kim Hye Yoon’s performance not quite convincing, especially during a few lighter romantic scenes - the smile was just too much, it did not seem real. Something about her being so excessively happy did not vibe with me, as if she tried to convince me she is happy with her smile instead of showing it with her eyes. But these were truly just a few moments and overall I truly loved her as Sol. When you think about it, at least in some aspects it was in fact noona romance. Byeon Woo Seok did an amazing job too. Loved how he could be both cool and charismatic and a dorky loser and it made perfect sense.
Overall, often after I finished watching the episode I had this thought: wow, that was really a filler episode, but I had so much fun. It’s happy and bright, overdramatic with its mystery when the mystery is shallow and barely working for this plot. I had a great time watching, but I would hesitate to recommend it.
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This review may contain spoilers
I was promised angst, what I’ve got was clownery... kind of.
But I still enjoyed it quite a lot. The core of the show were the relationships and these in most cases they aced. For such perfect writing of the main characters, how come it did not move me on any deep level? The answer is easy - failed villains and unnecessarily complicated politics.One and Only is a love story that was created and led by tragedies. The stepping stones for the relationship development were in most cases linked to bad events happening to the main couple. The tragedy led to sweetness, which led to more tragedy. Honestly speaking, Ren Jia Lun and Bai Lu had more on screen chemistry just looking at each other, than many other couples with full on romance going on from other dramas. The tension, love and care was so intense, I did not even need anything more than stole glances, a few hugs and not straightforward poetic love confessions. Their bond was so meaningful, it needed no reassurance .
As individual characters, I failed not to love them, even though they both possess the traits that for me is a big sin - they were too good, too trusting and too naive. Usually, this would make my blood boil, here - I completely did not mind. The fact that everyone told me to be really for the angst might have been the reason I was not annoyed too. I knew they would have a tragic ending one way or another, and it was obvious that their good nature would be the reason for their demise, so I just accepted that fact and watched in peace.
This was especially evident with Zhou Sheng Chen. He had a really bad habit of giving people chances to redeem themselves, when it was obvious some of them were unredeemable. He took too many chances with too many people, and some of these encounters and good deeds literally led to his death. Still, it’s impossible not to love the guy. He had a personality of a warm smashed potato, yet… he was perfect. How loyal he was to his people and the country was commendable.
Then we have Cui Shi Yi - the adorable angel. I don’t think I have ever seen a character more pure than her. I found strength in her innocence? She was for sure a passive character - she went with the flow of the things happening around her, barely ever taking any active steps herself. Sounds awful right? Somehow it was not. Somehow it was perfect and I loved her as a character a lot. Yes, we all love our badass warrior princesses, but sometimes a more realistic approach is much needed and just as charming.
We also have some extremely fun and memorable side characters, and few… existing with little to no personality. My ultimate favorite, the one and only mr. Sexy Monk, aka Xiao Yan. He was truly perfect - and by perfect I mean he had some interesting personality, he was good and moral, but not completely selfless and overall smoking hot. I also loved Feng Qiao with her badass fluff. That’s kind of it? I feel like many side characters were rather one dimensional. There were “the good guys” and “the bad guys”, but in many cases, they presented little if anything as individual characters.
Talking about presenting little to nothing - what a joke the villains were. The clownery was amazing. They be killing all the good guys, all the skilled people, and then being surprised the country is falling apart. What did you think will happen when you made THE ARMY your enemy? What did you think would happen after killing the only dude that was able to defend the border for years? It’s not like Liu Zi Xing had any plan formed on what to do next, after getting power. What a joke. I am truly curious how his brain works and how he perceives reality, because the level of denial he presented was truly something I struggle to understand.
Still, he was the best of all the clowns we’ve got. There was also Queen Dowager who showed up here and there to cause the issue for the main couple, but had nothing going on for herself and was just boring. There was one Prince that got involved because “power”, but he was also painfully stupid. Not to mention Yang Shao… this guy. What did he even want? What was his goal? Why was he on that side? What motivated him? We don’t know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
As I said at the beginning, the villains were the reason the emotional impact the show showed has just felt flat for me. The ending of Zhou Sheng Chen and Cui Shi Yi was tragic - truly it would be hard to make it more sad. But, since it was a result of constant extremely dumb decision making on everyone’s side (both the good and the bad guys), I could not make myself care. Last episode, I truly hoped everyone would just die (except for the monk), some side evil dude would win, and the whole country would burn and collapse. It was that ridiculous. I mean… 24 episodes and they changed the emperor 4 times - what the heck. It was never needed to go this nuts in the last few episodes. Having one, well written and presented villain would do the trick. You can get the same angsty result with less shit happening on screen.
Plot wise, not that much happened in the show - the main couple got to know each other, the main couple fought the evil guys, and the main couple died. Seems like nothing, yet because of the presentation, it was not boring. Sure, I skipped some scenes in the second half, simply because some characters felt extremely empty, but overall, I enjoyed the watch.
The amazing cinematography and some great directing choices had a lot to do with it. An aspect that I loved about One and Only was the fact, the director let some scenes breathe for a while. Lingering a little bit during some emotionally impactful scenes, with nothing but visuals and music was a great idea. Grounding the emotions, instead of skipping between the scenes as soon as the narrative was done. The show had this poetic quality to it. Not to mention, it was beautiful. Cui Shi Yi suicide was a whole ass cinematic experience.
The acting, ladies and gentlemen - Ren Jia Lun and Bai Lu are a class of their own. To be able to present so many emotions and so many raw scenes, with the plot barely happening, and most of the interactions being so tamed - they deserve an award for it. Saying I am amazed would be an understatement.
Overall, the first half was perfect. Middle dropped in the quality, but was still fairly enjoyable, but the mess that we’ve got by the end just took all the emotional impact away and left me crying from laughing so hard. Am I evil? Heartless? Soulless? Or were the events poorly established because of the weak writing of the villains?
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Calming, uneventful charm.
Nothing really happens in this movie. It’s a bunch of random stories and at times completely out of context conversations between characters you know close to nothing about, and somehow it was truly enticing.After finishing the movie I truly wished there was a guy like Master with his small diner somewhere in my neighborhood. The small sanctuary after the hard day of work, that sense of a small community the regular clients created.
It would be a crime not to talk about the amazing aesthetics of the show. The camera angles, the lighting, the editing and directing - it all created a beautiful movie that was just pleasant to watch.
The acting left nothing to desire. With characters that are not exactly well defined, it might be tricky to truly present them as unique individuals, but Midnight Diner made it. All performances made me believe these are the people I could potentially meet on the street myself. Normal, relatable people with their normal, mundane lives.
Overall, I have no idea why I liked it so much, but I did and that’s what matters. A movie about technically nothing, yet it never felt boring. I was engaged from first to the last scenes.
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I have no issue with pure fluff dramas, but they have no issue being this long.
I think this show is actually kind of like Chinese medicine - you won’t get spectacular results, but it will sooth your mind and heart. But it also somehow left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.I do think this is a rather nicely delivered and healthy romance and great chemistry. The progression of feelings between Su Ye and Xi Fan had such the right pace. I enjoyed Xi Fan’s friends. Loved her family. Even though I am not convinced with the practice of traditional Chinese medicine, I think they did an amazing job with balancing it with western medicine - showing the pros and cons of both in the larger picture (and not claiming TCM can cure cancer or something). And if the drama was truly just them falling in love and some background progression at work, with less characters, that would in fact be a great drama for me.
Sadly, I think my biggest issue was the fact it was not really a pure fluff feel-good type of a show. Both leads had to deal with truly serious issues that were negatively impacting their lives, but these issues were introduced, not developed and then had a quick closure. So I could neither just chill watching the drama, nor I could get in depth about the themes they were introducing. Because they never truly explored these conflicts and issues and just glossed over them, the whole show just felt flat.
Then we have the difference in quality of writing between Su Ye and Xi Fan. One was a layered character with real flaws, real struggles and nice development (Xi Fan), one was stagnant with no versatility, too perfect to exist (Su Ye). By all means he felt like a supporting character for Xi Fan’s story. And while I was also in love with him at first, at some point I wanted to see a little bit more.
The acting was great. I wouldn’t say I was especially amazed by any of the performances (it’s not the best of the year type of situation), but they for sure satisfied me. The chemistry between Zhang Ling He and Xu Ruo Han was refreshingly natural.
Production wise, I for sure loved the little addition of herbs description at the beginning of each episode - took screenshots of every one of them. I do think they overdone the slow motion candy sweet romance styling for some scenes though.
Overall, I know many people loved it, so did I at first. But the drama lost me somewhere in the middle and I never got back on the hype train.
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If I had to describe the plot in just a few words I would say: Fight against the supernatural evil, and the one hidden in humanity, that leads to bettering oneself. The format is repetitive, it’s undeniable truth. They dealt with one evil spirit, a new stronger one showed up. How come it’s not boring?
At first, the cases are simply a background for introducing the characters, creating a team work and So Moon’s dive into a whole new world. Slowly, the past connections between different characters are discovered, and the background plot starts to take a forefront position. The progression from the simple procedural plot to uncovering the past mystery and dealing with the main villain is perfectly gradual, and speaks of the great pacing The Uncanny Counter has.
The core of the show are the characters. The cast is pure perfection, and whoever was the casting director, they should get a raise. We are presented with more or less four teams: high school friends, Counters, Yung partners and the evil assholes. Each group is well written and portrayed, and even the villains are charming in their own twisted ways. I still wanted to see them dead, but I was also curious about their next actions and shenanigans. The loyalty among the young friends, the protectiveness of Counters, the moral dilemma the partner’s faced - all that made me love each and every character.
The acting is top notch. Jo Byung Kyoo is a true star of the show. His acting made me cry, scream, laugh, hit my head on my desk… He was So Moon. Kind, smol, positive, but also flawed character, that was willing to slowly learn, mature and improve himself. Easily in my top 5 favorite characters of all time.
Each and every actor committed to their roles completely. I honestly did not feel that even one scene or expression was off. I was especially surprised by Kim Se Jeong's performance. I knew she was a good actress, but she improved so much with the few roles she had previously.
Production value was everything I could wish for. It is a mainstream kdrama, high quality of visual aspects is expected though. The directing of the fighting sequences was well done, making them exciting to watch. Some of the stunts in the first episode felt slightly off, but they quickly improved and became way more natural.
I’m not gonna lie, I did not pay that much attention to the soundtrack as I was watching the show. I was completely “distracted” by the plot to notice what kind of music is being played in the background. That said, I usually don’t care that much about the OST, unless they are extremely bad, not fitting or painfully overused. After listening to the song as I was writing the review, I must say: they are good. Each has a completely different feeling and emotional quality, but they are all making me want to listen to them on repeat.
So what are the flaws? The biggest one was the slightly anticlimactic ending. With all the set up, I was expecting a bit more. Tiny, convenient plots that are either added or forgotten, like Moon, at some point, is never shown attending school. We just don’t see him going there at all. Never to be addressed nor mentioned. He is still a student, he wears his uniform… but he ain’t even close to being in class. Then we have the introduction of Oh Jeong Gu close to the end that felt out of place and useless.
Taking into consideration how well crafted the story and characters are, I was able to ignore the flaws. These cons barely moved the scale, since the pros were that good.
Overall, damn yes. This show had such an emotional impact on me, there were moments when I had to pause the episode, since I was scared/not ready for whatever was going to happen. I loved each and every character. I was curious about the plot and how the team would deal with the obstacles they were facing. There was not one boring episode, and even though I am fine with the given conclusion, I would not mind a possible second season.
*Trigger warning: severe bullying. It’s pretty bad guys, especially in the beginning episodes.
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I am quite honestly annoyed. It was an easy 10/10 for me at the beginning. The story was simple yet effective in making me excited and interested. I cared deeply for Praewa and was anticipating all her "evil" shenanigans. But then they added so many plots and background stories for characters I couldn't care less about, it went downhill quickly.
If only they kept it as simple as they presented the plot at the beginning: revenge with pure chaos and death. Let Preawa win, let everyone die. Focus the mystery part of Preawa finding out the real culprit of her misery. Why do we need the "past events" story? It brought NOTHING to the plot, was dumped on me in the last episode, and I was like: cool... But why? What exactly was the purpose of it?
Truth to be told... the last episode was just bad. Amazing letdown compared to the rest of the episodes. The ending was neither shocking nor exciting. They definitely did not construct the story well enough for me to think "wow... yes, this makes total sense, why I haven't seen it coming" as the last few scenes happened.
Best part of the show? Ticha Wongtipkanon and Nene Pornnappan Pornpenpipat. Truly aced the roles given. Preawa looked mad AF and I believe every scene she gave. Nene surprised me a lot in the last episode, being the saving part of it. I also appreciate how daring they were with some graphic elements.
Overall, I don't even know. It's hard to judge a show that had an awesome beginning and tragically bad ending. On one hand, I want to recommend watching the first 4 episodes and drop after that, on the other hand... What's the point of watching just half of the show? Do with that information whatever you like, but don't get too excited while watching at first, because the letdown will be massive later on.
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Roy Chiu is extremely good looking and I legit got distracted by his beauty a few times.
The movie did exactly what I expected it to do - entertained me. The plot is fairly simple and they explained the lore of the ghosts enough for me to understand what is going on. The funny scenes made me laugh, and the emotional ones made me feel things (though I'm easily moved, so this is an extremely subjective statement). I enjoyed all the characters and random English words thrown by them.
I must say, the way the movie was filmed and edited was exactly my type. From the beginning I was enjoying the aesthetics of it.
Any flaws? The final scene between the big bad guy and the hero was... extremely anticlimactic. It was built up well. I could see that male lead is trying to outsmart the villain, while Hsueh is dealing with, let's say, trauma. Sadly, what followed was weak. With how entertaining the movie was, I expected some epic fight by the end.
Overall, a short, fun movie for a relaxing evening with which you don't have to strain your brain too much. If you are searching for pure entertainment based on some crime/supernatural elements, go for it.
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Female lead was dumb, the police were dumb, the friend was dumb, even the villain was dumb - don’t let people fool you into thinking it’s some tight cat and mouse chase with a brilliant killer who outsmarts everyone. It’s not hard to outsmart idiots. It does not make him a genius.
What’s good? Acting and editing, some directing choices. I liked the shots presenting the world from the eyes of the phone user, and then from the angle of the camera. We never really think about how much our phones see, as we assume the camera is off. So it’s creepy to see how much one could spy on us, if they had the access to the camera itself. Overall, there were many pretty shots, they knew how to make it visually interesting.
As a side note about the “social commentary” - I am so tired of this “phones are dangerous, be careful how you use them” topics. How about showing what the true issue is: lack of laws and procedures when the cyber crime happens, lack of police involvement when the crime is being reported, worst case - ignoring the reported crime because “nothing can be done”. Criticizing the government and police for the lack of protection of the citizens should be the focus, not “people use phones in irresponsible ways and depend on them too much”.
Overall, what a waste of time, even for Im Si Wan fans.
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Refreshing concept with basic execution.
Honestly speaking, I don’t even have much to say. I’m not the biggest fan of the reincarnation trope, but it is something new in the BL genre, hence I gave it a try.As I said, the idea behind it is fun - not only do we see the reincarnation trope, but also a new twist to it - female to male reincarnation. How many interesting ideas for plots and conflicts we could get out of it! Do we get them here? Not really, and the few we get are barely developed.
Yeon Seok was quite a fun character in a constant mode of panic for various reasons. I did enjoy Jin Gun’s performance, even though sometimes it became a bit too comedic for me. On the other hand Jeong Ha Yeon as a character just did not catch my attention at all. Jeon Chang Ha acting in some more emotional scenes requires improvement, but overall, I was not mad about his delivery.
Overall, I don’t regret watching it, but I could do without it too. It does not really bring much to the table.
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Not scary, but disturbing.
More than once I asked myself: what am I watching? Either because the scenes were truly graphic and they did not shy away from some triggering scenes, other times the picture they were framing was simply funny in my eyes. I think that's the unique quality many Japanese horror films have: they just go for it and see no limits.To some extent, the story led nowhere. Did I mind it? No. From the beginning it was more about questioning what will happen to the characters next, and not where they will end. As we all know, usually horror stories are not that nice to the main characters. That said, the plot was still at times confusing (especially closer to the end) and some stories were for sure not explored enough. Given we only got 25 minutes for each episode, I still believe they did a fairly good job with the plot.
The thing that amazed me was for sure directing and editing. I was in love with the style the whole drama was shot in. They committed to show the gore and violence and some of the worst sides of humanity. The sounds and music used in it were PERFECT choices.
The acting, damn it was good. Ririka's performance was especially to die for. Truly believable and raw. You could feel all the emotions Kiyomi was feeling, though at times I would rather not be able to see and understand it all.
The goal of this show was not to scare, but to make you feel uncomfortable. There are no jump scares, but we did get some long scenes showing the most despicable acts. As I watched it, I questioned how bad these people are and how much their actions are influenced by the supernatural.
Overall, I would like to say trigger warning for rape and gore. If you expect some cheap jump scares followed by loud sounds, this ain't for you. If you are grossed out by gore, this ain't for you. If watching serious abuse is too much for you, this ain't for you. It's a good show, but the target audience is rather small because not many would enjoy watching it.
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