Kate

Let them stay bad and cunning - for that I am grateful.

To sum it up: great pacing, interesting and likable characters, solid chemistry, thrilling schemes, problematic gege throwing hands at both his enemies and his lady (which in this drama was perfection, don’t call me out). On the other hand, I was not crazy about how all the romances developed and in some areas, the acting could have been better.

Still, top level of solid entertainment. Thank god I was watching it as it aired - otherwise I would not be able to stop and binge watching all of the episodes would simply kill me - I’m too old for it.

It truly surprised me how much I enjoyed the pity palace drama. Usually I’m barely stopping myself from skipping this type of scene, but here they were some of the best aspects. I appreciated glorious slaps, calling out stupidity even on your own team, backstabbing for survival - it all sounds so dramatic, but in the drama itself, it’s presented in an engaging, but palatable manner.

What’s more to love are all the women in the drama. Variety of the characters, personalities, strength and weaknesses - exactly what I want to see. You don’t just get your typical - smart and cunning, and dumb, but loyal. They nicely mix it up. We get the asshole who overestimates her abilities, we have a smart and loyal friend. We saw women who push their limits and ones that prefer to not push them. We have bad, good and morally gray.

On the other hand the drama lacks quality men. Those that are fun are not developed enough, those that are developed more are annoying. Xie Wei being the only true saving grace. Yes, Zhang Zhe is cute and righteous, but that’s all he is. Yan Lin might be fun and good at fighting, but he is the definition of the “supporting from background while having little to no individuality”. I enjoyed them as I was watching, but by the end of the show I had little to no thoughts about them.

I’m glad plot wise the overall arc was well explained. I understood the motivation of all the characters, why they made the choices they made and what was their goal. Some strived for power, some for survival and some for redemption. I do wish the drama was longer. While they wrapped up everything quite skillfully, I still wanted to see more. Especially in terms of romance.

And that’s my biggest regret. Not even a flaw, since the final execution was done well, it just made me crave for more. All the romance driven plot lines were quite sidelined, so by the end, they tried to put 20 episodes worth of development into maybe 8. I enjoyed every second of it, but I wanted more.

Acting was good. Bai Lue did what she does best. In no universe she could fail delivering a character like that - it’s made for her and her only. Zhang Ling He was great in some scenes, not so great in others. Wang Xing Yue and Zhou Jun Wei both did not really have a space to show any skills - how the characters were written did not really allow that. I’m glad that the whole cast had a great chemistry though - be it platonic, romantic or rivalry. And them kissing scenes… we do not get kissing scenes like that often.

I know many people complained about the make up, personally I liked it. The over the top magical red eyeliner that showed up when Xie Wei turned into his toxic hot gege persona. Yes, the eyebrows for the female characters were… a choice, but after a few episodes I just stopped paying attention to them.

Overall, high level of entertainment. Story of Kunning Palace has such a high binge watchability, it’s actually scary and could be a health risk if you are not careful. It’s both exciting, but approachable - balances well between how dramatic, but also easy to digest it wants to be.

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Step into the right direction, but we are still walking, not running.

On one hand I want to give big props since this drama is a massive improvement in terms of directing, editing, storytelling and acting compared to many Thai bls. It includes genres that are not often used, being more daring and bold in tags. On the other hand the execution still feels sloppy. The pacing was draggy at a few points, the horror aspect slowly vanished as the drama focused more on the romance. There were times where I felt like they tried too hard to be artsy, fancy and serious. And I don’t even want to talk about the conclusion.

What Khemjira does well is create a cohesive and rich in cultural details world. What I mean by it - the culture was an integral aspect of the story, not just decoration. For most parts I understood the strength and limitations of everyone's powers and the impact they have on them and people around them. They also did a good job showing how capable Ramphueng was in action not narration - that’s always a big plus.

What’s more, I actually strangely enjoyed the sometimes questionable moral takes this show presents. Personally I find the idea of Karma that follows you in different reincarnations unjust, but because of that I found the reasonings the characters gave for certain storylines fitting the overall themes, even if I personally disagreed with them.

I also truly appreciated all the characters, not only the male leads. With how much was already happening plot wise, I felt relieved that they did not create unnecessary mundane drama with cheap cliches. Rather than that, they used what usually is an annoying trope for a little bit of a mood change with positive characters that brought a smile to my face (looking at you Phong).

I was also extremely surprised with how good the special effects and styling was. Visually speaking this drama is a feast (yes, Master is a whole damn meal alone, main course if you ask me). Especially Ramphueng - the way her styling and make-up gradually changed, you don’t notice it at first, but by the last episode you see how badly she is affected by everything that happened. With how supernatural was not just a little part, but the driving force, all the magic, ghosts and various beings were presented in a really… tasteful manner? I could see that they took their time making sure all the details matched and it was not some “stock idea”.

On the positive side I have to talk about acting. First my favorite - Green. Her performance was so strong I started to root for her in the second half. The more we knew about Ramphueng, the more I connected to her character. Her delivery was so strong, I could feel every emotion she portrayed.

Then we have FirstOne. This man managed to show so much depth in what could be easily presented as just a comic relief character, I have to applaud him. Be it silly jokes and remarks or truly raw and heartbreaking moments - he aced them all.

Truth to be told, I loved almost everyone in the cast. Keng was able to balance Peem’s stoic persona with deep emotions, Tle balanced the nerdy, but also mature side of Chan well.

And then we have Namping… I am sorry, but for me he cannot act. It was not obvious at first - he does well with simple daily mundane scenes. Happy, surprised, little scared, hesitant, flirty. But when the story took a more serious turn and required to tap into these deep and raw emotions, he failed every scene. He was trying to squeeze these tears, sometimes managing to get one or two, but I felt nothing watching him on screen. His level of reaction was less “life or death” and more “dropped the last piece of pizza on the floor”. He also struggled with switching and moving from one emotion to another. He always pulled that hard cut between being heartbroken and fine.

Though I do think some of the issues with his performance came from directing choices too. There were a number of scenes of him crying, stopping for the dialogue to happen, and then crying again - like the emotions were being paused to deliver the lines. Some other characters also had similar issues - weird pauses between words, weird pauses between replies.

Since I was not convinced by the performance, I did not connect to the character, which led me to truly not care for the overall plot. The only reason I could potentially feel emotional is the reaction other characters would have, rather than what would actually happen to him. This is bad, real bad. He is carrying the whole story, everything revolves around him, everything is connected to him… and here I am not caring about him at all. Boy was the center of it all, but he also did nothing.

Here’s the thing though about the story - with how much the villain went through and with how poorly Khem was portrayed, I kind of was on her side. Sue me, but I will die on that hill.

Another issue I had was the fact they truly did not know how to hold the tension and transition between different scenes that had different moods. They built something up just to break it up with silly jokes and comedy so neither the serious nor the fun actually landed.

Then we have the conclusion, the lack of explanations and the “because it had to happen” as if this would be enough for me to just accept and move on, when the whole plot was built on the mystery of the curse and how to break it. The drama ended and I still do not fully understand the curse… I asked around and honestly no one gave me a proper explanation just “maybe it’s this or that”... The ending was just disappointing.

Strangely I think I have more positive feelings about all the side stories rather than the main one.

Anyway, I'm done, but it feels more like the show is done with me after slapping me in the face with random shit over and over again in that last episode. I was obsessed in the first half, but when my expectations were not met I got more and more disappointed.

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A tale of twisted characters.

I am honestly in awe how refreshing and gripping Beyond Evil was - even taking into consideration how, at times, it follows rather well known scenarios and clichés. The key to its success lies in the versatile characters and dynamic relationships between them.

The plot gives us the same old story of a serial killer on the loose, detectives with personal stakes and bits of political scheming surrounding it. Does not sound that groundbreaking, does it? Thanks to the complex, amazingly written and dynamic characters, the story is not as simple as we might have initially thought.

Each character had their own story, secrets and goals. There were no noble good guys, but we did get a lot of amazingly gray characters and a variety of villains, each of them having a unique reasoning behind their actions and wrongdoings. Slowly we gathered more puzzle pieces that form a complex picture that goes beyond the actions of just one person. I am truly incapable of describing how perfect the set of characters in this show was. They were all so unique and intriguing, I could literally watch them just talk to each other, and it would be entertaining.

That said, the explanation of the big mystery felt flat. With how amazingly the tension was building, how we could not predict which of the characters were involved - the answers just didn’t do it for me. For some aspect, I just didn’t get any explanation. To avoid spoiling the show, more about it in the comment under the review :)

As for the acting, Shin Ha Kyun went beyond what’s humanly possible in delivering us the compelling character - Lee Dong Shik. There are not enough positive adjectives in the dictionary to truly describe this performance - he was simply talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before… you know what’s up. The acting gave me the best type of goosebumps - some scenes were worth rewatching countless times.

What’s more, I genuinely believe this is the best performance we have seen from Yeo Jin Goo. Just the fact he was able to keep up with Shin Ha Kyun and his performance did not feel flat at all, but rather I saw it as gripping and convincing, means a lot.

Of all the main and supporting actors, I did have a small beef with Son Sang Gyu in episode 11 and 12 - the acting was just not right. There was too much going on for my liking. Taking into consideration this was his first role, and he was surrounded by quite experienced actors, I am not mad about the end result and I am willing to let it slide.

The production value was pure perfection. Not one frame felt off, not one detail has been out of place. From camera work, to editing, up to soundtrack - everything crafted in a way to elevate the story to an artistic level. With no hint of exaggeration, Beyond Evil has one of the best soundtracks in the history of kdramas. Choi Baek Ho’s “The Night” is simply a masterpiece.

Overall, it’s a characters and relationships driven drama, with the plot serving as the background for us to understand and enjoy the ever changing dynamics between them. Beyond Evil might not seem as a masterpiece for people preferring fast paced shows, that said, with how gripping and fascinating the characters and performances are, I would highly recommend everyone to at least give it a chance.

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Delivered the sweet, failed with angst.

I liked it, but I did not love it. It was so close to being so good, it makes me feel more disappointed. It gave us so much to appreciate - good chemistry between the leads, THE height difference, interesting set up for the plot and future conflict, decent acting… but then it kind of did not deliver on any of these.

Was the chemistry good? Yes. And if it was not for the supporting couple, I would probably even say it was great. But these few moments we’ve got from Ju Ha and Kyu Sung felt so natural I could not see the main couple in the same light. Good example: both couples had that “one person leaning on the other when they are sitting, semi backhug position” - Ju Ha and Kyu Sung felt like couple, Si Yeol and Ae Jun felt like actors who are playing the couple and are ready to get back to normal sitting position right when they hear “cut”.

Still, the interactions felt mostly natural. I loved how Si Yeol was confidently flirting and how confused, but also happy Ae Jun was about it (living his best delulu life).

Then we had the height difference straight from the webtoon, so big my neck hurt just watching Ae Jun look at Si Yeol. So my question is… why wasn’t it used? Like, ever? There are so many perfect (cliche) moments and scenes that many viewers love, and we’ve got none.

Even the set up was great - scheming idol and a dishonest fan. One would be enough for a great conflict and angst to follow, but these two? What an amazing combination. So where is the angst? The way I almost felt nothing when all the tea started to spill. The way things were set up to be future conflicts ended up as nothing, but a few seconds scenes.

I do believe the issue here was the acting from Kim Kang Min. His performance was fine, but the moment the plot leads more into heavy themes, he just did not deliver. Which was even more evident when he shared the screen with Park Jin Woo who actually aced the sadness and anger.

Production value was good. One of the issues I often have with dramas about idols is how unrealistic the details of their work are (e.g. awards ceremonies in small rooms with barely any people). Here he did feel like a real idol - from merch, songs, interviews, stages, radio interviews. The school also felt like a school, the classroom had students that acted like students. The environment was crafted in a way that made the story feel more real.

Overall, it was almost there. A few changes in the last 3 episodes and we could have gotten a solid show.

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This ain’t a story for a 90 minute movie.

No proper setup, no proper development, ridiculous conclusion - this is what I’ve got from a story that was in fact quite interesting if explored enough.

As a movie it was bad. Honestly close to nothing works. I didn’t get to see the team long enough to care for their teamwork. I’ve got 30 seconds of flashbacks to know about their past, so as individual characters they are also giving me close to nothing. The world built up was just confusing because of how vague it was. Yes, I understand the most basic rules and premises, but with how complex the lore seems, I could as well know nothing.

Ba U is punching demons back to tell, Sharon is exorcising demons back to hell, Kim Gun is there making vlogs - the hell was this dynamic? Yes, they did show us Kim Gun doing some research, but they for sure focused more on him running around with a camera. He seemed quite… useless.

The exorcism scenes were ridiculous. Mix match of everything. It gave me Marvel meets Exorcist meets any fighting focused video game meets every found footage horror.

The best part of the movie? The animated ending scene. And here’s the thing - this would not only work better as a series, but especially animated series. With the crazy aesthetics and over the top drawings? This would be a hit. As a movie, even with crazy CGI, it gave discount vibes.

The acting was fine. The characters were such a stock bunch it’s hard to tell at times if the delivery was good or not. The effects were decent, but there was literally zero creativity behind the design of all the supernatural elements.

Overall, skip.

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The resilience of college students knows no boundaries.

This is how action comedies should be - simple and borderline silly plot, well choreographed exciting fighting scenes, fun comedy and likeable characters despite their questionable circumstance with a tiny bit of positive message hidden deep behind the badass punches. You truly do not need more and you should not add more.

If you read the synopsis you know exactly what you are getting yourself into. Tone wise it’s for sure leaning more towards dark comedy than grim serious revenge, but that’ s exactly why I enjoyed it. Making it serious when you have a college student being possessed by a hitman would be a circus not many people would enjoy.

What I enjoyed is the fact Matsuoka Fumika was not this defenceless baby who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time - she had agency in what was happening, she made her own choices. That said, she also was freaking out about things that were happening, not being able to fully grasp her situation and potential consequences of her actions.

Initially I was not sure Kudo Hideo as a character makes much sense. He is a hitman, murderer. Why is he so… polite? Nice? Would death truly change who he is at the core? But as the movie ended, it actually made perfect sense - be it flashbacks or current dialogues, they explain his reasoning quite well.

Then we have baby boy Kagehara Riku - the least fleshed out of the main trio, but also the one of the best chemistry with both leads. Not gonna lie, I’d love another project with Kuroba Mario and Takaishi Akari - I don’t care about the genre nor the plot, just put these two together on screen again.

What’s more to appreciate? The fighting scenes. First of all I want to give props to Takaishi Akari for actually doing some of them. With this set up they could have easily made her take a seatback and let Mimoto Masanori do all the hard work as Kudo Hideo possesses Matsuoka Fumika. We had a solid number of fast paced, well choreographed and amazingly executed fight scenes done by all 3 leads. I also really liked the transitions between showing Matsuoka and Kudo fighting moments - the flow was just right and the cuts never felt jarring.

I personally loved the aesthetics of the movie too. Contrast turned up a bit more than usually, colors darker, but popping anyway. While a lot of fighting scenes were filmed in “darker” locations, they were never so dark you could not see anything.

Overall, I had so much fun. Was grinning throughout all the fighting scenes. It had a solid conclusion, though I wished for a different, but for sure less realistic one.

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Hit pause on the turning point.

This movie is a gentle reminder that it’s okay to just take a moment to breathe and figure yourself out - be it a day, month or a year. There is no point in chasing after things that do not bring you peace and happiness. Yes, you still need to deal with your responsibilities, you need an income to support yourself financially, but that does not mean you need to desire and want what everyone else strives for. We are all different, with different motivations and needs. One person enjoys a fast paced environment, someone else needs more calmness in their surroundings. There are no right and wrong answers in how to live your life, as long as you are not hurting others.

And that’s basically what the movie is about - Hye Won putting her life on pause as she tries to figure out what she truly wants, and if the goal she was trying to reach so far is what she truly desires. She reconnects to her roots, reignites her old friendships and slowly learns about her mother’s decisions in the past - understanding things she was not able to understand when she was younger.

What Little Forest offers is comfort and warmth. Beautiful scenery and amazing short cooking scenes. A message that simple life is meaningful. That making amends with your past is the way to move forward, even if it means starting from the beginning.

Additionally, we get an amazing cast delivering perfect performances. Honestly speaking, the movie is Kim Tae Ri’s, and Kim Tae Ri’s only. She carries the whole film. She fits the rural slice of life genre so well, I would have no issue watching a full 16 episodes show based on Little Forest.

Overall, big recommendation for anyone who loves a calming slice of life content with few cooking scenes that will make you hungry.

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“Okay, but why?” and “Okay, but how?”

Were the questions I kept asking as I was watching, and I did not receive answers for the majority of them. The only things the movie had to offer were gore and the performances. The writing was nonexistent just like the logic behind the rules of the curse/hypnosis.

There were maybe 2 decent characters, but none that truly caught my attention. Most of the teens were either boring and just there to die in creative ways, or borderline psychos, and the laughable attempt to make it seem like “everyone would act this way in a similar situation” just made me laugh. There is a difference between doing awful things for survival, and doing awful things for survival while also laughing and enjoying yourself.

The ending is just dumb. Makes sense in the most shallow perspective, but when you start to think about it even slightly, it all falls apart.

Overall, they should have used some of the money from special and practical effects of gore to hire a better writer. Unless the source material is also this dumb, then there is no hope.

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When the mains deliver, but the setup is underwhelming…

I’m not gonna pretend like I started this drama with hopes of getting a high quality inspirational tale of overcoming your struggles, finding support in people around you, dealing with your trauma and fears, but I am glad the drama delivered in that area. Why did I start it though? For Lee Yang Seob’s face, and his face only. And here I also got what I asked for - damn he looks fine.

Here’s the thing, My Lovely Boxer is just a drama that completely lacks balance. It switches between a heartwarming slice of life focused on the character development and makjang mafia and I’m just confused why. The whole rigged bets set up was so underdeveloped, overdramatic and distracting, I’m here asking - was there really no better way to force Tae Young and Gwon Sook into working together? Every time the focus shifted towards Kim Oh Bok I wanted to scream “NO ONE CARES!”.

If only we’ve got more information about him, if they actually tried to develop the main villain into a complex and interesting character. But no, he was there as the most cliche and empty plot device and I’m not happy. And he is not the only bad character that sucked writing wise - same goes for Gwon Sook’s father. I am sorry, but his crimes were too severe for an off-screen character development. I’m not buying it. You cannot give a character off screen development and then act as if it’s all good, it’s not.

That said, I did enjoy most of the plots not related to the bets and the father in any meaningful way. The development of trust and support between Tae Young and Gwon Sook was amazing. Her dealing with her past and being strong enough to face it - great. Every friendship she makes - loved it. Wish we'd seen more Han Ah Reum, since for me she was one of the more relatable and interesting characters.

Acting truly varied depending on the actor. Both Lee Sang Yeob and Kim So Hye did an amazing job portraying the main characters. On the other hand, Kim Jin Woo did not impress me with his delivery. Random observation, but there were also two extra actors in the last episode playing members of the rigged bets ring, and let me tell you, that was some high level of wooden acting and robot delivery.

Production value was fine. There were some editing issues - hands positions not matching between cuts, but nothing too in your face. Pretty much a standard Korean drama quality.

Overall, it was a fine watch I don’t regret finishing, but you would also not catch me recommending it to others.

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What a useless husband…

Finished the movie and my first thought was - this would have a different ending with a better husband. Not that he was the only useless character, but his lack of fucks given was surprising.

The movie is almost 2 hours long and they do not try to get rid of the doll for more than half of it. The denial that something shady is happening reaches new heights. The doll be running in front of them, climbing on their backs and we get “I must have imagined it”, baby girl it’s not the case of “seeing movement in the corner of the eye”, this doll was less sneaky than Annabelle. Even Chucky was better at pretending to be a normal doll.

The professionals in the movie were also of questionable quality - the psychiatrist ignoring clear signs of panic and delusion, the police that does nothing except getting in trouble, the spiritual experts that fail over and over again.

All that said, it was still such a good and fun movie. From the opening scenes I thought it would lead more towards serious psychological drama, but it quickly took a u-turn into wacky supernatural madness. Some scenes gave me goosebumps and the “nope, that’s it, I’d be out of this situation yesterday”, some scenes were borderline funny almost bringing me to tears.

If we go by plot points, there are so many separate acts here, but the transition between them and the pacing was well done - it did not feel jumpy, they all connected smoothly.

Acting wise, the biggest props to Ikemura Aoi who played baby Mai.

For the production, I have to say they must have been drunk when they were constructing the face of the doll in the second half. Is it creepy? Yes. Is it hilarious? Also yes. The teeth… These just made me feel uncomfortable.

Overall, it’s not new, it’s not groundbreaking, but it does a good job of delivering the obvious story in an engaging way.

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Nothing is as simple as it may present.

I’m your local overanalyzer - trying to predict the twists, understand the plot and the motivations of the characters before the drama actually explains them is one of my favorite things to do while watching any show. So for a drama to make me give up and just enjoy whatever they throw at me, and it all actually making sense by the end - that’s a miracle. And 3 Nen A Gimi achieved that.

I want to start with the best aspect - Suda Masaki’s performance. He ate the role, he delivered the raw emotions and the complexity of the character in literally every frame. Hiiragi Ibuki is a character you cannot get enough of. He was fascinating to watch. Trying to understand his motivations and goals and if and how “sane” his plans are - all A+ entertainment. The duality between being a strict teacher and compassionate adult never felt like a contradiction.

One could think - how can a drama that takes place in basically one room for 10 days be engaging? Will it get boring? No, it won’t. Each episode delivers a side story of students that are being hostages, while also adding layers to the overall plot. It’s a perfect buildup with many great twists. At some point you won’t trust any new revelation, doubt every scene, as you know there is more to it than the eye can see.

I already talked about Suda Masaki’s amazing performance, but the whole cast did just as well. I was quite impressed with the students - that’s a large group of young actors and actresses, some misdeliveries would not be surprising, and yet we got none of that here Each and every cast member did exactly what the role required of them to do.

That said, even if I loved the overall plot and the performances, I do think one of the last scenes and revelations was an overkill in terms of the presentation. They really hammered the message in my face and there was nothing subtle about it. For a drama that is all about making us “think”, they really made sure to tell you exactly what you are supposed to think by the end, instead of giving the viewers opportunity to figure it out themselves - at least in terms of details and complexity. Honestly speaking, that’s probably the only complaint I have.

Overall, what an exciting and great story with a message that will forever be relevant and something worth reminding us from time to time.

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Zombie flick with lots of laughs and surprisingly moving moments.

I did not expect to cry during a zombie horror comedy, yet this movie surprisingly had a few touching moments and a lot of good comedy.

Flawed family that obviously cares about each other - I am weak for things like that. Add a found family trope to that and you won’t see me complaining. The characters were the core of the movie and they were both amazingly written and perfectly portrayed.

I am honestly not much of a comedy person, but this was amazingly funny. Some jokes were more in my face than the others, but it was all well balanced so I never felt overwhelmed. They were able to keep the light atmosphere without killing all the thrills that come with zombie apocalypse.

Out of all the characters, Hae Gul, Jjong Bi and Man Deok were my favorites, but with how unique and fun everyone was, I’m sure each viewer can find their favorite to root for.

It’s almost a 2 hours movie, but it never felt long. Some might think the set up took too long, as the true action starts well past half point of the movie, but for me it was all necessary. For the characters’ choices to have sense in the last few scenes, we truly needed all that built up. Personally I believe this had some solid pacing - not too slow, not too fast.

Production value was amazing. Honestly beautiful shots. Sometimes I did not know if I should laugh about the comedy or appreciate how pretty the scenery is.

Overall, I would highly recommend it. Great cast, great characters, great story and great jokes. It’s simply a well executed zombie horror comedy.

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Wikipedia pages narrated.

Honestly feel like this season delivered close to nothing. Other installments I have seen were either completely ridiculous so I could laugh about them or had a great and interesting cast of the characters I got extremely invested in. Here they gave me some of these for a few episodes, but the rest was just boring.

I think the biggest issue was the length of the show - this was not a plot to be stretched for 40 episodes. 30 should have been the max they went for. Too many scenes seemed like filler and I was slowly losing any focus and interest. By the last 10 episodes I was completely lost about what exactly is going on, since the story was not told in an engaging way.

Storytelling wise one thing that I was not on board too was the countless flashbacks and side stories from various different timelines. I truly did not care about the majority of them.

All that said, I enjoyed the chemistry between Wu Xie, Qi Ling and Pang Zi. These three together were so much fun to watch. Just them chatting was enough to keep me entertained. They all had vastly different personalities and that’s what made the dynamics that engaging.

The acting was great. The fact they were able to keep a serious and straight face with all the flying fighting scenes and Scooby Doo monsters was impressive. I also appreciate Cheng Yi’s portrayal of Zhang Qi Ling. His version of the character, even though still stoic and detached, was more humane and relatable.

Production value was definitely higher than the first drama in the series. While the CGI still left a lot to desire, the improvement was clearly visible. What I found disappointing was the lack of wide shots of the scenery. They filmed in quite a few beautiful locations and I wished they showed it a bit more. Another aspect that could have been improved was the poor lighting. I understand that tombs are dark, but there are ways around it. Many adventure driven shows and music found ways to introduce more light sources in said tombs, so the beauty of them could be appreciated more.

Overall, I sadly barely had fun.

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Tight writing, smooth pacing, satisfying conclusion.

I went into watching this drama with a lot of reservations and fears - how can they make a 15 episode series about a one day loop in one place and not make it boring? How many versions of the same event can I watch before I take myself out of this journey? On that aspect, Reset surprised me quite a lot.

The writer/director did an amazing job at slowly expanding the shown world - including more people and places - one loop at the time. Showcasing the same event from different angles and perspectives allowed the drama to avoid a painful repetitiveness that is often a problem with time loop stories. The writing was surprisingly tight. Add to that background stories for the characters and you get 15 episodes in which nothing felt like a filler.

Is the plot predictable? Not really. While it’s possible to guess some things not long before they are revealed, nothing is obvious from the get go - what happened, why and who was behind it. They concluded the stories in a satisfying manner, not leaving any plot lines open nor plot holes to be detected (maybe except for the effects time loop had on our main lead). As a viewer, I was able to fairly well understand the mechanics of the time loop thanks to a rather smooth narration and well paced hints and explanations the main leads came up with each repeated day.

If I had to complain about anything writing wise, it’s the police attitude towards the leads closer to the end - with how they were set up, the ending just felt a bit… convenient?

For a suspense show like that, it had surprisingly a lot of heart and depth to its characters. Even though the majority of side plots and background stories of the bus passengers were not explored to a full potential, they still represent a variety of different social issues and struggles - allowing everyone to find a story they can relate to.

The main leads were well written - flawed, but driven young people who ended up on an unexpected journey of finding the truth and preventing a tragedy from happening. I especially enjoyed Xiao He Yun and his character development. Li Shi Qing was more hot headed in her actions and decision making, which led to quite a few obstacles that could have been avoided. That said, the duo worked well together with He Yun being the brain and Shi Qing being the heart and driving force.

Other characters that caught my attention were Lu Di - the adorable Kitten Boy and Zhang Cheng - smart and observant detective.

I have no complaints about the acting. One performance truly amazed me, but stating who it was could be a giveaway on how important they were in the plot, which is not obvious from the start.

Overall, It took me about 6 episodes to truly get into it, but from that point it was an exciting and smooth ride at the same time. They kept the suspense tight, and the pacing smooth. That said, while I enjoyed the plot, I was not really that invested in the characters. Will they die? Will they survive? I did not care, as long as I got my answers.

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Behind the whimsical presentation lies the harsh reality and the promise of improvement.

It’s a good drama, but it's an even better adaptation. They did not try to make it more "realistic" and explain stuff that does not need explanation for the plot to progress. They still keep it whimsical, but they also balanced the teens and adult perspective - it felt youthful, but not really childish.

Is this a teen romance show? Yes. But first and foremost it's a coming of age story that presents U Yeon’s journey of gaining confidence in herself, but also in people around her. As the drama progresses, she becomes more open to new situations, people and opportunities. She learns how to set boundaries, how to voice her opinions, and how to enjoy life. As she changes, so does her relationships with her family, friends and Gi Jeong himself. The path was rough with many ups and downs, but that’s how life is - nothing comes easy, not all resolutions are perfect. Sometimes we take a step forward and then take two steps back.

I enjoyed how at first all the characters seemed like extremely one dimensional perfect examples of empty cliche tropes, but as you watch more episodes you see that U Yeon is not as timid as it may seem; Gi Jeong is not really dumb and carefree; Seon Ho is not perfect and Geu Rin is not as strong as she would wish to be. The adult spirit fingers are not as eccentric and weird - while they enjoy the happy and silly moments in the club, we countlessly see how mature they also are.

The contrast between the teen and adult perspective was probably one of my favorite parts of the drama. I appreciated how Pink, Black, Brown and Khaki Fingers were not moralizing or lecturing the younger members - they let them make their own mistakes, learn from them. They knew when to silently support, when to step forward - what time required serious conversation, and when the youngsters needed joyful distraction.

What’s more to love? All the flaws. So many flaws… Not one character avoided having some annoying trait that made them so perfectly human. The egocentrism, making assumptions, too much hesitation, too much boldness. Not knowing how to set boundaries and setting too many boundaries that lead you to loneliness. I truly enjoyed how at times characters made me so annoyed.

If I had to name any flaws of the plot itself - probably how they handled U Yeon’s family conclusion. A little bit more realism would be preferred - not much, just a little bit more.

Production wise I am happy they did not waste time on explaining things we did not need the explanation for. Who cares who pays for the freaking tennis court in the cafe so the group can have fun themed meetings? How many rooms are there even in that cafe? Who cares? That’s the whimsical aspect that was the main charm of the setting in webtoon, and I am so happy they did not try to rationalize it or make it more realistic for the sake of the drama.

Then we also have a nice attention to the details - little things you need to think about and include on all stages of production to make the characters feel more real and the story more cohesive. For example - how the characters go to the club: U Yeon who had a more shy personality always changing into her outfits in the cafe, and then Gi Jeong being dressed up, no matter how flashy, already on his way not caring for the attention he is getting.

Acting wise - perfect casting. As someone who read the webtoon years ago, I was quite scared if they would manage to find proper actors for all these vibrant and unique characters, but they managed. Not only that, they aced it. The one casting choice I was unsure of was Cho Jun Young as Red Finger/Gi Jeong. The drawing style of that character was far more sharp in facial features, so the cute baby face Cho Jun Young has seemed like an ill fit for me - Gi Jeong was supposed to feel more intimidating than that. Boy, was I wrong. Cho Jun Young ate the role - the way the crazy ass seemed so real and relatable was amazing. Gi Jeong is honestly quite unique of a person, so to make him feel like a teen you could actually see on the street was a challenge.

The soundtrack was nice, but not exactly memorable. Maybe that’s good. The whole drama is rather flashy in all aspects, so an OST that accompanies the scenes well without overshadowing them or distracting the viewers seems like a good choice.

Overall, what a pleasant watch. Could the story be better developed? For sure. Would it be nice to see more of all the side characters’ stories? Obviously. But with the limited time they had and rather challenging source material in terms of tone and setting, I think they did an amazing job bringing this plot and characters to life on screen.

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