Kate

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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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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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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Plot written in bullet points.

Why did it feel like chatgpt writing? Nothing was explained, nothing was developed, nothing was truly connected. What happened? Why it happened? Don’t know. Sometimes it’s fine, but only when the horror does not pretend to have a plot, but here - they tried to fool me.

They gave me nothing except for a decent set up. But I feel like I only have bullet points of who the characters are, what’s the background, and what the plot is about - not a full narrative structure. Female lead with trauma - why, when, how? Senior with unexplained past and motives. Granny with vague goals and even more vague past. Rules of the supernatural that no one understands and cares to explore. Ending that kind of makes sense, but also feels not satisfying at all.

They had the cast and they had the budget, so what happened? It’s 2026 - lake lady with long black hair is not enough anymore. With all the innovative takes and twists in the genre you cannot give bare minimum and be happy with the result.

They tried to make it more fresh with camera work, but some ideas were ill-fitting. That fish lens bird view not only made me feel nauseous, but also it fitted more for a kids movie adventure type of a story.

The performances were good, but the writing for the characters was a mess. Example: Han Su In one second be acting like a true skeptic who only believes what she sees, to then be the first one to act paranoid because of the supernatural events.

Maybe I saw too many horrors in my life, but this one was simply below the average. There were two moments I did enjoy - both in the lake with the ghost attacking/trapping/hunting the characters down. Effective scares, too bad the story itself created zero tension.

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What started great died a slow painful death.

I really wanted to love this season, and I did enjoy it a lot at the beginning. I found all the cast entertaining and interesting and what’s most important: everyone actually felt unique. But then we started to get the same annoying drama between the same few people over and over again and I was just done.

There were many production wise choices that made the show less enjoyable. First of all not everyone going to the ex room changed a lot - that’s the thing that usually puts possible reconnection into movement. Then we have the double ex idea that was just shocking as a revelation, but then changed close to nothing in the actual show itself. When they decided to introduce new people was also ill timed and did not allow them to truly explore their options. What’s more, I wish next time they will encourage more dates with a variety of people, especially at the beginning. Make them choose more blindly, for example - pick a person for a date based on the ex letter, not knowing who it is about. Pick a person to go on a date based on a photo they took, favorite movie.

I’m just kind of disappointed. There were not that many romantic and butterfly inducing moments, and a lot of crying and blaming each other, borderline manipulation etc. One of the reasons the first two seasons were so fun to watch was the fact it was less dramatic, more genuine. But this season just pushed the drama to the forefront instead of focusing on the positive connections.

Overall, would not really recommend…

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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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Let me fix it for you: The Bad Mother.

This is such a mid show I am amazed how many people recommended for me to watch it. The only actually truly good aspect of it were the performances.

Long story short we have a bad abusive mother having a second chance to abuse her son again after he gets into an accident. From limiting food, socially isolating, emotional and physical abuse, to literally wanting to get your mentally 7 years old son to get married and have kids (this was such a “low-key” moment in the drama, but for me it was so gross) - her trash actions had no boundaries. All explained by her “good intentions”. And sure, if the story was about her using her second chance to fix the mistakes she made the first time, I would be fine with the title. But she did not, she willingly made exactly the same mistakes and abused her son in similar fashions the second time around too - blessed with her good intentions.

Just make the show psychological drama, rename it as “The Bad Mother” and it would actually be a good show about the consequences of abuse and how much of an impact it can have on a person even in their adulthood. Because there is nothing wholesome about that parent-son relationship and the fact ML felt guilty about everything that happened is wild for me. He needs therapy. Like most MLs in kdramas.

I enjoyed the village and interactions between everyone living there, but even that aspect brought nothing new nor innovative - pick any slice of life set in the countryside and you will get exactly the same content, but without all the anger and frustration that comes from the main plot.

The aspect of the show I liked the most? Friendship between Mi Joo and Sam Sik. Their scenes were easily my favorite and they actually had fun, wholesome and upbeat chemistry going on.

About the crime plot - it was good when it lasted. It started and ended the show. Now that I think about it, it’s like watching 2 completely different dramas. The whole middle part does not really connect that well with the beginning and the ending - be it by themes or tone. Still, the investigation storyline was better than the “mother-son relationship” plot. If I had to pick, I’d say episode 13 was my favorite and yes, it had the least interactions between Young Soon and Kang Ho.

As I said at the beginning of the review - the only truly great things were the performances. Ra Mi Ran aced the awful self-victimizing egocentric mother and Choi Kang Ho delivered solid acting be it as a confident and scheming prosecutor, or confused and cheerful child. I don’t think I have even one complaint about the cast.

The production value was exactly what you expect from mainstream kdrama. They have a really well polished specific flavor to them. They all blend together and have little to no lasting effect on the viewers. They look generic pretty.

Standout soundtrack - Andy Love’s Home and Dry.

Overall, if it was not for the recommendation challenge I would probably not finish it. It does not really have unique takes or plots. And the themes we know are not especially well presented.

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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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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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