Kate

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Coming of age, becoming your own person.

What I looked for was a shallow feel good fluff slice of life, what I’ve got was so much better. Be it in terms of romance, character development, the depth of storytelling or the quality of presentation - it went beyond what I expected. As much as I enjoyed the romance, the portrayal of the hardships these characters had to go through and how they supported each other was what truly won me over.

The complexity of abuse and neglect - difference between physical and emotional abuse, direct and indirect, intentional and unintentional behavior. Truth to be told, both Jin and Haruki were abused by their parents. One could argue Jin was “only” neglected, but is that true?

In the case of Hirukawa Haruki it’s really clear - he was psychically and emotionally abused by his father, who used him as a relief for his own issues. Fueled by his grievance about divorce, sense of abandonment and alcoholism, he channeled all his anger, hatred and sense of incompetence into abusing Haruki. It was awful to witness, but the scene that actually broke me was when Haruki blamed himself for his father’s death. This is the true horror of abuse. It’s not the bruises, it's not the physical pain, but the way your personality, identity, confidence, self-value shatters. When you start blaming yourself for others’ choices and the consequences that follow.

I also do not want to give any slack to his mother. There is no way on the planet she did not put two and two together that his father was abusing him. She just did not want to acknowledge it, even to herself. The lack of interest in her own child’s well being was just sad to witness. She cared enough to make herself feel good and blameless in this situation. She failed as a parent as much as the father did. And it’s not just her neglect about Haruki’s current situation, but what led to it in the first place. The fact it was Haruki who thought he needed to protect his mother and her new family, instead of him feeling like she should go to her for help tells you all you need to know about their relationship and her role in his life.

Minase Jin’s family situation does mirror Haruki’s. Even if initially it feels less severe, long term it has similar consequences. Here we have an abusive mother and neglectful father. From one perspective his family situation was worse, because it did not seem like neglect and abuse. When your father beats you up, people know it’s wrong. When your mother tries to control every aspect of your life and emotionally guilts you into obedience, how do you even explain it to people? When you say you are scared to leave, because your abusive father might actually kill you, people understand your fear. But if you say you are scared of making your own decisions and being disobedient to a parent, because you fear disappointing them - that’s so much harder to grasp for someone who looks at your situation from the outside. People won’t say that you should be grateful to your father for beating you up, because he did it for you and he had good intentions. But people will try to convince you that your mother is dictating your whole future and telling you to not have friends and only study for your benefit. Abuse that does not seem like abuse is scary, because in most cases you won’t get external validation for wanting to get out of it, you won't get support or understanding.

And I think we see it in the drama - after Hirukawa Haruki’s father dies, he is able to chase his own dreams, build a stable life, reach his goals and set new ones - find his identity and thrive. On the other hand Minase Jin still somehow lives his mother’s dreams. We know he got to the university of his first choice - was it his first choice, or was it his mother? How much of the path he is taking is what he wants to do, and how much is it him appeasing his mom and just going with her plan for his life? This is one aspect of the show I wish they explored more - Minase Jin family relations in adulthood.

For romance, I’d say this is the perfect example of meeting the right person at the right times - the plural here is important. Usually I am completely against the couple breaking up when tough times come, to lessen the burden on their partner, but here it just made sense and was the correct choice. They were extremely young, inexperienced in any and all areas of life, confused about who they were and what they wanted. What they both needed is alone time to explore and to grow and I think staying in a romantic relationship at that time would only become another cage that stops their progress. The deep feelings they had for each other would lead to them always prioritizing the other person and that’s unhealthy.

They were the source of each other's strength in the dark times, but without some growth and exploration as individuals, the support they gave each other would turn into co-dependency. That’s why I was fine with them saying their goodbyes as teens, and meeting again as adults. I wished the transition between these time periods was a bit smoother and better presented, but I am for sure not against the idea of separation itself.

For the production I especially want to talk about the make up for the injuries and bruises. Whoever was the make-up artist, they need a raise - these were truly well done. It’s one thing to half ass the job when the story does not center around abuse - throw that red paint and call it a day, sure. But for a plot where the injuries are in fact important, they are used as a tool to progress the development of the relationship between the characters, a way to portray the harsh reality Haruki was facing, you need to put more effort, and effort they put! Truly amazing work.

What’s more, the drama had its poetic flavor mostly delivered by Jin and that tone quite well contrasted the expectations put on him and the strong opposition to arts his mother had. I feel like this was another way of showing the internal conflict and confusion our main character had to deal with. Getting a glimpse of his writing style in his novel we can see that he does enjoy arts, that he has an artistic soul in him that was squashed by his mother's expectations. That directing choice just made me appreciate the drama more, even if I am not exactly a poetic person myself.

Acting wise I highly doubt anyone can have any real criticisms. Be it the chemistry between the leads, the fluffy moments that brought a smile on my face, the abuse and hardships they faced that made me want to punch a wall, the development and growth they achieved that made me feel like a proud mom - they cooked, I ate, no crumbs were left.

Overall, I went into it expecting fluff and a cute slice of life. What I’ve got had far more depth and realism. It presents a surprising quality of storytelling for a short drama dealing with such complex subjects. You understand the full picture of what the characters were going through, and how they overcame all the obstacles without each and every moment of their existence being spelled out.

Read More

We are patterns seeking creatures.

And when you mix that with religious fanaticism driven by guilt and fear, you are on a highway to hell.

Revelation for sure falls stronger on psychological thriller than supernatural horror. It’s not the scares, but the mystery that is the focus point of the movie. How far will Min Chan go? What will be his next action? And who will suffer the consequences.

The movie shows how religious belief can literally alter your perception and find patterns in places they don't exist. The way Min Chan saw Jesus literally everywhere from mountains to altars, angels in the sky - all to unconsciously convince himself he is on the right path and everything that happens is the god's will. Just to take the responsibility off of his back.

While I appreciated the fact we witnessed how easy it is to slip into religious fanaticism, I wish the introduction to the main character was a bit more elaborate and detailed. Not everyone spirals so bad when faced with the situation he was facing - what made him go so far? What internal and external factors led to that outcome? It’s something this story did not explore enough.

Surprisingly, what I enjoyed a lot was the fact that Seong Min Chan was actually not the smartest guy, I would even call him dumb. I mean… googling about the potential legal consequences of the crime you just committed is literally helping the police and prosecution with the investigation. And that was just one of many idiotic decisions and actions he made.

Acting wise - great. What else to expect from this cast. Obviously the most spotlight fell on Ryu Jun Yeol and oh boy he delivered. The psychological change his character went through from beginning till the end was so well portrayed I wish this was a short drama and not just a movie. On the other hand, some of the supporting actors kind of missed the mark, especially Moon Joo Yeon as Min Chan’s wife.

As much as I liked the production, somehow I wished the “holy images” he saw in random things were just slightly more vague. At the same time, I feel like they kept being more clear the more obsessed and delusional he became. Maybe it was just a visual way to present how much his perception is being affected by his mental state.

Overall, it was a weirdly light watch? Taking into consideration how serious the crimes of the criminal were, how far into delulu Min Chan went, I did not really feel that tense - more on the side of curious and entertained.

Read More

Dark version of a Scooby Doo adventure…

…just with real supernatural elements and no shady imposters.

Let’s get some facts straight - this is more of a movie in parts, than a show with episodes. It flows well as a binge watch and would be even better if it was not cut into pieces. There are no real cliffhangers between episodes, no designated events and parts of the plot happening in the episodes - it’s best to view it in one sitting.

It’s a bit of a group possession, supernatural phenomena, just a hint of psychological aspects since (as always with shows like that), it’s all rooted in the negative emotions and the vulnerable minds. Each character is facing some kind of trauma or is driven by greed and selfish reasons, which makes them more prone to get affected by what is happening in the town. And that’s how the big baddie can have its fun.

The plot is extremely simple, everything gets explained in a way that’s easy to follow. For some it would be too simple. I rather have this than clusterf**k of plots. That said, this show might be boring for quite a number of people and I totally get it.

The acting was… hard to judge to some extent? Most of the main cast did amazing. But then there were the monks and I just could not get on board with their delivery.
I especially enjoyed Shin Hyun Bin’s and Kwak Dong Yeon’s performance - vastly different characters with different delivery, especially during the emotional scenes, yet both convinced me with their acting.

Production wise, they truly tried to bring the old classic horror elements in it, but they were painfully misplaced. The dramatic violin, the low color saturation, less cuts between frames, longer shots often following the movement of the characters, slow zooms in and out - all clearly stylized to mimic the old horror vibes, but somehow the whole picture just seemed off. The old styling sadly feels too artificial and not organic at all. That said, that directing and editing did not survive more than 2 episodes, and the rest of the show was kept in a more typical k-drama fashion.

I’m sure it was not intended, but with dramas and movies like that, they always give me the soft criticism of performative religiosity vibes. Everyone is religious, but not many actually believe in what their religion says. Picking and choosing what parts of their faith fits their lifestyle and personal opinions. That’s why when the Buddhists warned the town, no one cared and no one believed - that includes some of the monks themselves.

The random rap soundtrack at the end of all episodes (also a bop if you ask me) reminded me of Sweet Home with the random songs that at some point started to strangely fit the story.

Overall, just have low or no expectations and accept whatever this throws at you and you will enjoy it. This was a rare case when even though I found a lot of senseless things, I was somehow not bothered. I think the biggest issue people might have with the show is how simple the plot is and how slow the pace is. Chances are, if I watched it in a more hyped and energetic mood, I myself would find it boring.

Read More

It took me 2 years to finally watch Sotus S, and I quite regret not picking it up earlier. It's not exactly your typical BL - the romance here is not the main plot, but rather means to showcase other underlying plotlines and issues around the theme of becoming an adult and struggling to adapt to a new environment and responsibilities and accepting yourself and your feelings.

I heard many people complaining how it does not have enough kissing/hugging/etc., but it made perfect sense for me as it was. I liked the realism behind their relationship and how unsure about himself Arthit was presented. How scared of other people's reactions and opinions he was. Most BLs show, as if everyone is cheering for the gay couple, they have fan clubs and ship names. This was closer to reality and made the story more moving.

The whole Arthit arc was amazing and Krist did a brilliant job portraying all the emotions. When he cried, I wanted to cry too, when he smiled and was all cute and shy, but in love, I had fireworks in my brain ;) That said, because the whole focus was on him, other characters and plotlines suffered quite a lot. All the side couples were there, but not developed. They were mostly happening off-screen and it was hard to follow them and get engaged, since we could not witness the development.

That said, I still believe it was a good follow up after season one. I have watched the whole season in one sitting, so I guess it must have been entertaining for me.

Read More

10 episodes long exposition of the plot that should happen after the last 4 minutes.

I am honestly not sure how I feel about this show. It had an interesting premise, some nicer plot twists, but nothing was set and built properly - neither the sci-fi elements, nor the world presented, or the characters we followed and there was no conclusion to it all.

The biggest issue I had with this show was how the plot was paced. The first 5 episodes felt like nothing more than a too long exposition. Everything that happened in the first half could have been summed up in max 3 episodes and we would not miss any context nor important information. Then episode 6 felt like the plot would finally move forward and we would slowly start getting some answers, but in episode 7 to 9 we went back to big nothing. It was simply impossible to give a satisfying ending with that set up, and we ended up with no answers, more questions and new characters introduced in the last 2 minutes.

We literally spent more time watching Seo Kang Joon look at his screen at work, than some of the main characters’ scenes combined during the first half of the drama. Know your priorities, guys. Use your screen time wisely. Don’t waste 10 minutes of the screen time in the last episodes for the lovey dovey stuff, when you still gave the viewers zero answers for all the questions you presented.

The idea of time travelers setting up a device in the past that will protect the Earth was interesting. How the present people knew enough about how Grid works to operate it and make it run, but could not truly grasp how it was built to use the technology for other things.

I understood the desperation to find the inventor, not only because of the circumstances and the crime committed when the Grid was set, but also for the knowledge they possess about future technologies. How much could the Earth change in the present if we understood the scientific and technological discoveries of the future? Sadly, this was never truly explored, just hinted with a few lines side characters said here and there.

A lot of characters were rather useless. Song Eo Jin is the main character, but did he do anything? No. They could literally remove him from the show and nothing would change. His character was not essential to the story and the few things he “contributed” with could have been done by literally any other character.

Another issue were the characters - a lot of them either had no personality or barely any personality, clear motivations and reasons for why they do what they do.

The acting was fine. A lot of the characters were so bland it’s hard to judge the delivery. My favorites were Kim Sung Kyun as Kim Ma Nok and Jang So Yeon as Choi Seon Wool.

The production was good. They did not try to overdo special effects - added just the right amount in the scenes that truly needed it. Loved the whole set design and scenes that were happening in the “alternative” present times. I feel like it showed a realistic portrayal of what could potentially go wrong without going over the top.

Overall, I would not recommend it. I would say it’s a slow mystery with just some action and sci-fi elements, mostly present in the last 2 episodes. They waited too long to start explaining things, so at the end everything was left to interpretation and the few answers we’ve got felt rushed. I don’t think I will ever move on from the disappointment the last episode was.

ps. They did not announce from the start it will have 2nd season, so I am judging it as a stand-alone production. And as such, it sucks.

Read More

Every change begins with the word if, followed by the will and small first step.

This is for sure more of an office slice of life with romance, rather than romance set in the office. Rather than the story leading to romance, the romance is part of the greater self-discovery and development journey of our cute protagonist - Kano Akihito.

The thing is - I went into this completely blind not even knowing there will be a fantasy element (imagine my surprise at the end of episode 1), but no matter the set up it became clear to me this is Kano’s story and everyone else is there to highlight his improvement and growth, and I was all in. At first I was scared that the parallel world would hinder the romance and make me not invested in the plot, but romance is honestly not the goal here, but rather a result of a character driven story. It’s the cherry on top, not the main course.

There were many important life lessons in it, but two that for sure I enjoyed the most were:
You should not compare yourself at the beginning of your journey to someone who is miles ahead of you. You underappreciate your own abilities and also the other person’s hard work to achieve what they did.

Often how people treat you is a direct reflection of how you treat them. Taking the initiative and the first step can help you form close bonds and dear friends who will help and support you no matter what. You can all learn from each other and grow as people. Instead of staying in the vicious circle of being distant towards people because they are distant towards you, and them being distant towards you because you are acting distant towards them - take that first step to close the gap and create a healthier environment.

That said, even if the romance was not the highlight, it was still great. I cannot just ignore the height difference - even if it does not play an important role in any of the scenes, and it’s just existing there quietly, it’s enough for me. I also love how obvious to us the dynamics between them is, and how oblivious to it Kano was. But that’s the charm of the drama - we can witness how Kano figures out that words can be used for communication between people, not only powerpoint presentations for work. The love story in it was honestly great. It’s all in small gestures, unspoken worlds, stolen glances. It’s about taking care of the other person, not wanting them to suffer, wanting to support them and lessen their burden. It’s slow and gradual, but it’s well executed. Wish the change of heart was a bit better presented though. With Kano I kind of get when and why, but I don't fully feel it.

Acting wise I loved the performances of both leads. Kano Akihito as this slightly neurotic salesman and Ogami Seiji as the stoic and what seems like a perfect senior. But it’s more than meets the eye - they both had their insecurities, hesitations, and fears. They both thought they made the right choices to help the other to later find out it was a misunderstanding and misstep for both of them. Especially big props to Nakagawa Daisuke with his dual performance, which had to seem close enough that it could be the same person in parallel words, but also different enough to justify the set up in the first place. Also, his tiny pinning moments? Amazing.

Overall, what a pleasant surprise. I went with the idea that fluff office romance will be enough, but instead got food for thought, soul and heart.

Read More

Beautifully shot basic story.

A perfect historical drama for a novice, who never saw any. It combines all the most popular, but also cliche plot lines, without being too gruesome and heavy with tragic stories. We have smart and moral Crown Prince, pushover king, evil ministers, sus Queen and "queen to be", childhood connection and sweet romance with just enough love triangle to keep it going.

That said, for someone who saw a fair share of period dramas, this was just not enough. The plot was amazingly predictable, the political schemes were underdeveloped in favor of romance, which was a pain of itself. The whole middle part was barely anything more than Won Deuk and Hong Shim being awkwardly cute with each other.

The show being so focused on romance was the biggest problem for me, since I felt close to no chemistry between the leads. I'm not the biggest fan of Nam Ji Hyun, and this show just made me more sure why. While she is a good actress, and her delivery is great, I feel like she never had a good chemistry with her co-actors up till now. Not once watching her drama I was interested in romance, because I never felt the sparks on the screen.

Acting wise, the whole cast did an amazing job. Do Kyung Soo's role was not the most challenging, but his performance was great. The highlight of the show were his scenes with Kim Seon Ho. If the show focused more on them working together to discover the ploy of the bad guys, and develop the political background a bit more, this would be a fun watch. Make the plot happening in the village a lot shorter, come back to the palace quicker and truly dive into the conspiracy part - that would save the drama.

I also wished we saw more of Moo Yeon. His character had the most depth behind his actions and sacrifices, and it's a shame it was not used to its full potential. His connection to all the characters made me curious about his future and the choices he will make. I wanted to know more about how he deals with the situation he is in, and what will be the end result of it.

One thing that the show aced was scenography and cinematography. Truly stunning views and scenes, that made me take screenshots all the time.

Soundtrack wise, I do not remember one song from it. They were fitting for the situation, but not memorable.

Overall, there are plenty of better historical shows both in terms of romance and political schemes. I have watched the whole second part in 1.5x speed, since the show was directed in an extremely "slow" way. Everything seemed slow: the shots, dialogues, action... 1.5x speed truly did not feel that fast. It's a shame, since the cast was outstanding in many ways, but the predictable and not well balanced writing made the drama average at best.

Read More

If you want to watch it for the romance, I would recommend changing your mind,
If you want to watch it because you loved the Sungkyunkwan Scandal, don't bother.
If you want to watch it, because you like the comedy aspects cross dressing scenario brings, this ain't for you.
BUT, if you want to watch a light, fun and unproblematic show without much melo that will just simply make you happy and entertain you, this one is a perfect choice.

The best aspect of the drama were the characters and their friendship, and I don’t only talk about the main cast. The drama focuses on the relationship between Wen Xi, Cheng Jun, Lei Ao and Le Zuan - who they are and what their convictions are. Each of them lives a vastly different life, yet together they were able to create this light and cheerful chemistry on screen. We follow them as they navigate and try to change the current school system by challenging the school president (ma boi best boi Zhi Sheng) and trying to uncover the truth of the past events.

Compared to other historical shows, or even to the Korean version, this one stays away from heavy politics and all the branches of corruption. We still get the basic storyline, but it's not nearly as overwhelming as it sometimes happens in similar productions.

As I said at the beginning, there is barely any romance. Did it bother me? Not really. At some point I started laughing and questioning if we will even get any romantic scenes before the show ends. Still, the interactions between the characters were entertaining and amazing to watch even if it was heavier on friendship rather than romance for the majority of the episodes. No painful second lead syndromes. They didn't feel that much pain, so I could watch with a calm heart too.

Overall, the show is just extremely pretty and PG. Jing Yi is cute as Wen Bin and stunning as Wen Xi. Wei Long is purely adorable and his smile can melt any heart. Richards Wang, even though he plays the "strong" guy, made me want to protect him, as his character was just so pure. Wen Jun fitted his role perfectly, guiding and uniting the characters and being the voice of reason. The set and costume designs were beautiful too.

I started this drama with zero expectations, and this might be the reason why I enjoyed it so much. Even the flaws were charming. The last episode was slightly disappointing, but that also just made me laugh and be like: sure.. makes no sense but I'm okay with that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Read More

Oh, the lovely second lead syndrome and the pain this show brought me.

Lonely Enough to Love, also known as Dating is Annoying, But I Don't Wanna Be Lonely (which is a superior title, and that’s the fact) had a great, funny and exciting beginning, but lost its way half way through.

It started as a simple romantic comedy that exaggerates the clichés making them more of comedic scenes. It was a perfect watch after a day full of hard work. I could just laugh and enjoy the “easy to follow” plot. Later they introduced many side plots, yet none was explored enough. Instead of giving each tenant one dedicated episode, they gave a few scenes here and there, but by the end, I was not sure what their stories were truly about and what the writer wanted to tell me through them.

The love triangle was painful to watch, since I adored Hyun Jin, but could not relate nor truly understand Kang Woo. Both him and Na Eun had a complicated relationship with their parents, but it was presented in such a messy way, I kind of don’t really understand what is going on and where they are standing and what they wanted to do with it.

There is not much to say. It had great potential, but it was mostly wasted. Most characters were interesting in one way or another, but nothing was done with it. The whole show felt like just an introduction to the story.

Read More

The plot was painfully predictable, the romance did not grab the attention, most of the characters had nothing innovative going on for them and the villains never felt like a real threat. And yet, somehow... I love this drama. I could not explain why, but I was interested from the beginning till the end. Everything just worked well and made me anticipate the next episode.

One of the best parts of the drama for sure was the acting. Dare I say, this was the best Seo Jin Goo’s role. While I am sad we did not get more scenes with the mad king (boy he was an amazing character and interesting to watch), Jin Goo's emotional scenes as Ha Sun were just as captivating. The duality in his performance left me in awe. I also appreciate that we as viewers could easily see which character we were currently watching on the screen. They had distinguishing characteristics, so I was never left in confusion.

That said, the whole show was stolen by Haksan, the loyal Chief Royal Secretary. The most complex character in the drama, with an amazing development and true depth. The internal and external conflicts he had to face were heartbreaking and made me cry more than once. I always anticipated his scenes and wished there were more of them, even though he was already one of the main characters. Kim Sang Kyung truly aced the role.

The weakest parts of the drama were romance and the villains. While Queen So Woon might have been a loyal and nice person, there was not much to her character, except for being the support for Ha Sun.

It was interesting to watch the villains try to win, but from the get go it was obvious they had no chance in this fight. All of the battles were too weak and they lost too easily and quickly.

All things considered, somehow this drama worked perfectly and was a true enjoyment to watch. Would recommend watching it for sure and I'm extremely happy I decided to try it myself.

Read More

The most preventable outbreak of zombies ever.

The fact it all started because rich folks found a suspiciously looking fish and decided to eat it anyway. What could possibly go wrong? Apparently many things.

Was it anything more than a fun zombie movie? No. Was it a fun zombie movie? Yes. And that’s completely fine. The action scenes were actually good. The fighting seemed realistic at least in terms of choreography - punches, kicks, using whatever you have around you to defend yourself. We did not see people flying and doing 4 pirouettes before kicks for aesthetic reasons.

The make up and special effects used for zombies were also fun. Especially the final stage of mutation, which I wished happened earlier. Blood and gore was mostly realistic except a few extremely obvious cgi splashes here and there. The move was dark enough though to ignore them.

The plot was nothing more and nothing less than “trying to survive”. What stood out for me is the fact we from the beginning start with the post-apocalyptic set up caused by climate change. There is no unnecessary time wasted on setting up the world, explaining the changes that happened because of the zombie outbreak - the world looks like it survived 3 zombie wars before we even see the first zombie anyway.

What’s most important - the characters are good. Yes, Sing was a bit too indestructible, still interesting to follow. The fact Mark is good looking does help too. That said, the best character was for sure Buddy. It’s a child so of course he makes a few extremely dumb choices, but they are in the realm of my understanding based on the shock this tiny human must have survived.

On the not so great side - what was that right before the credits roll scene? That makes no sense. It’s a clear way to set up the second movie (which I would not mind watching), but it could have been done in a better way. Based on the fact our lovely ML left the mutated fish at his house, and it seems like theft is common, we can assume the fish was in fact eaten, and now people eat each other even outside of the hospital - aka perfect setup for the bigger, more epic zombie sequel.

One major complaint - there was a moment in the plot when non-infected people started fighting with each other, while they were also fighting against zombies and it made exactly zero sense. Why are you fighting guys? More brains, less muscles please. And these slow motion close up punches? Stop.

Overall, it was fun. Requires zero brain power, keeps the tension high for most part. The characters are well grounded and likeable, you do want to see them survive, which is always a plus for a horror movie.

Read More

Enjoyable, but not groundbreaking.

Realistically speaking, I knew where the plot was going since episode 2. I did not mind it and I was ready for an exciting ride. While it was entertaining, the show lost me a few times.

Plot wise, I’d say that’s the glow-up I enjoy watching - when with a new hairstyle come deadly skills and not rich boys. Yoon Ji Woo’s story is quite a chaos filled with questions: who did what, why and what will she do about it? We follow her on the journey of discovering the truth behind her father’s death, which became her sole life mission. Observing her trying to fit into two completely different worlds - crime driven gangs and justice and revenge driven police, made me binge watch the whole show in one sitting.

Honestly speaking, none of the characters had true depth, nor novelty to them - I’ve seen them in similar stories. You know what the characters will do, before they do it. That said, it does not take away from the entertainment value. Action genre was never a plot focused deal for me, I just want to get my blood boiling with fun fighting scenes, countless backstabbing and revenge. My Name delivered in these aspects fairly well.

The strength of Han So Hee’s performance were her physical abilities - the fighting scenes looked really good. We could see her using the skills she learned at the beginning throughout the show. While she nailed the action, some of her emotional scenes fell flat and I could not connect to her character.

Park Hee Soon served us an outstanding performance. It’s not often for me to feel bad, or rather feel anything towards a character like Moo Jin. For making me feel things, I thank Hee Soon.

Production wise, it’s Netflix, of course it’s good. Personally, I didn’t like some of the editing, especially around the training and the undercover beginning - it was too much too fast. There were also some weird choices made by making the camera go out of focus in some scenes.

Truly enjoyed the soundtrack. Just a few notes made me feel excited and ready for some bloodshed. They perfectly supported what was happening on screen, elevating the overall quality.

So, what did not work out? Not enough backstory of Ji Woo’s father. We did not really get to see him do much, either in terms of his daughter nor his work. Some flashbacks here and there are not enough for me to understand why he was such an important figure in so many people’s lives. He was the catalyst of the whole plot, but at times I didn't quite understand why.

Some turns the plot took were truly ridiculous and brainless. “Okay, it makes no sense” was the only response I could give. Some plot lines - unnecessary. I hoped the writing would emphasize more on the internal conflicts Ji Woo felt - girl was dealing with a lot.

The ending was so mediocre I could not stop myself from feeling disappointed. It’s not an open ending, but since they did not really explain many aspects surrounding Ji Woo, it felt like it. The plot is finished, there is not much that could potentially be explored in another season, so what now? Why couldn’t they give some proper closure?

Overall, I loved the fighting, the connection between Ji Woo and Moo Jin and their dynamics, the visual aspects of the show and the performance. The writing could be a bit more polished - cut some parts out, develop some more. Would recommend it if you feel like watching an action flick and want to be entertained. If you are looking for more, you might be disappointed by the plot.

Read More

When the daddy turns dad, and the thriller turns makjang.

I went into this drama for the most shallow reason ever - Yoo Yeon Seok looked extremely hot in the trailers being all possessive and domineering. And since that was my only expectation, I’d say the drama did not quite meet it. It gave me other things to enjoy though.

Was it a fun watch? For most of it. The middle part became a bit too repetitive, and the ending went straight to fancy makjang territory. Some twists were more predictable than others, but overall it was a rather engaging watch. Did the plot make much sense? Not really. I mean, the majority of the characters did not even have half of the working brain cell and watching them making the wrong decisions over and over again, and being so painfully blind to the most obvious things was probably one of the most entertaining aspects of the whole drama.

On the top of that clownery we have Baek Sa Eon - for a smart guy he was really dumb. Did I care? Nope. Why? Because he was hot. Yes, that was my reasoning. Baek Sa Eon during the first few episodes was THE hot possessive toxic oppa and for that I am grateful. Whenever he went just the right amount of unhinged when something concerned Hui Ju, I went - yes! The angst, the low-key anger issues, the suits and them hands (the production team knew what they were doing with all the close ups of his hands). Exactly the guy you love to watch on the screen, and would avoid in real life. And then he did 180 in the second half and I became convinced that the perfect husband was cosplaying as toxic oppa.

Hong Hui Ju was honestly a placeholder. She had a few great moments here and there, but at the end of it all, she was just an overcooked potato. Which is fair - with the amount of trauma and abuse she went through, if she had more of a spine, she would leave. Since she stayed, we should not be expecting her to give us much spunk. Being in danger was her full time job, and saving her was Sa Eon’s life mission.

Surprisingly, the characters I got really attached to were Sang U and Yu Ri. The investigative duo with such fun chemistry. Waiting for Netflix to contact me, because I have the plot for the spin off of them already planned in my head. The way he became so conscious of her presence, and she was so oblivious about it all is my type of a connection.

The villains were villaining, but they were also so generic I did not really care for their shenanigans. So much happened plot wise, and yet it kind of still feels empty? When the Phone Rings had an extremely strong beginning, and lost its focus half way through. The issue might have been how packed the plot was -, they did not really have time to explore on a meaningful level any of the plotlines. One thing happened, and we moved to another thing - nothing felt developed, nothing had a proper closure. All had a closer, but none truly had THE closure.

Performances were mostly great. Yoo Yeon Seok aced that silent anger and concern. Whatever scene he was in, he delivered. On the other hand Chae Soo Bin… I know she is a great actress. I loved her in all the previous titles I have seen her in, but this role was just not it. Would I dare to blame the directing? Yes. Even though I thought the drama went downhill in the second half, her performance got so much better. First few episodes she was just a surprised big eyes victim with no facial muscles working.

Production was fine. As I already said, I'm grateful for the close-up shots of Yoo Yeon Seok’s hands. Some of the editing was questionable - too much repetition of what happened in the previous episodes - the viewers do not have goldfish brains like the characters, we do not need constant reminders.

Overall, what I thought would be a fun wattpad-esk romance with an entertaining dynamic between Sa Eon and Hui Ju, turned into a family mystery makjang with low level of brain energy. Still had fun though.

Read More