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One word to describe this show: wholesome.
It was just an easy, fast watch. Distressed me completely, but at the same time, each and every episode got me hyped and excited. I was on the edge of my seat more often than not, even though I know nothing about esports. I'm not a gamer and yet this drama got me focused on all the scenes and I was never bored with the technical talk and in-game fighting scenes.Best part of the show? The characters. I truly cannot express how much I liked each and every one of them (except Jia Shi's Team Manager, he can go). Ye Xiu is a dream male lead: mature, kind, driven, honest, hard working. Usually, this level of perfection drives me mad, but here I was just appreciating his existence. It would be hard to comment on every character, as the cast is truly massive, but one thing I can say is: with how unique and likable they all were, I'm sure everyone would find someone to relate to, appreciate and root for. Characters that caught my attention the most were Su Mu Cheng (loyal friend, but also a professional player), Huang Shao Tian (the talkative ray of sunshine), Yu Wen Zhou (the warm, supportive and understanding captain) and Wei Chen (the trickster that stole my heart).
That said, even though I loved the cast and the characters, there were some things that bothered me. One was Chen Guo and the fact, at some point, her constant mistakes made it hard for me to like her (even though by the end of the show I could clearly see how she fits into the picture perfectly). Another was a last minute redemption arc for one of the supporting characters. There was no character development done on screen to validate that.
Some people might feel overwhelmed by the number of characters showing up. I'm not lying when I say new faces were introduced every other episode almost till the end of the show. Everyone often wearing the teams' uniforms helps to distinguish who comes from where, but it still might be a bit too much for people who struggle with large casts.
The plot is simple: a path to glory. We follow Yu Xiu rebuilding his gaming character as he creates his own team and tries to fight his way back to the top of gaming league. While there is little to no development done on the male lead (he truly does not need it), he plays a crucial role in slow changes and the development of his team members. It was amazingly pleasing to watch them learn how to be a team, work together and support each other both in and outside of the game.
What's more to love? I have to applaud the effects in the drama. The game looks amazing. Not being a gamer, I would still love to play it. Even though it was not exactly realistic (the angles shown on the monitors would actually make it harder to play the game and the range of actions the characters could do was also "over the top"), it gave an amazing fantasy cinematic feel. If you ask me, I would love to watch a whole animated show about these game characters and their adventures.
I loved it so much, why not 10/10 rating then?
I had exactly 2 problems with this show. First was the ending. I know for a fact that the majority of people loved it and for those that will watch the show: will love it. Sadly, I am not one of them. It's hard to explain my reasoning, but the twist at the end, even though it made the drama even more wholesome and feel-good, stripped the show from a bit of the additional depth that the "original" ending brought.
Another aspect that made me lower the rating were episodes 32 to 35. I have no idea what happened. I know that the show needed some kind of breaking point and shift in dynamics, but the way they went about it just felt wrong. We saw the characters and their amazing development, just to see them back to their old selves for the duration of these episodes.
Overall, the show is great. The 40 episodes felt way too short, and I would love to see 40 more. I cannot wait for season two, hoping they will keep at least the majority if not all the original cast. The pacing was perfect, as I was focused the whole time I was watching, never feeling bored. The whole gaming industry in The King's Avatar felt like squad goals that I just wished to be a part of.
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I wasn't really feeling the movie at the beginning. Everything seemed confusing, especially the relationship between the main characters. But that was more or less my fault, I wasn't paying that much attention.
The movie kind of plays in front of you, nothing happens, but you are still watching. The plot is the relationship... but not like in rom-coms when there are lots of things happening around the main couple. Here... almost nothing happens. And yet you keep watching.
I don't know what to tell you. It's literally a portrayal of the different stages of a relationship between two normal people. It's life. The characters make you frustrated, confused, and happy. Then the ending and post credit scenes make you cry an ocean of tears. Good stuff.
Weirdly enough... I kind of want to rewatch it…
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Big appreciation to the main cast, who did an amazing job portraying their characters and all the internal and external struggles they were facing. Thanks to their hard work I, as a viewer, found it easy to connect to them and get deeply involved in the story presented. I'm a big fan of Zheng Qiu Hong and Johnny Bai and they did not disappoint in this project with their duality and variety of acting.
Both Bai Qi and Lin Xia are well written characters with smarts and wits, who are willing to fight the bad guys and make sure people they care about are safe. They show great passion throughout many brave acts, and you cannot do anything else but just root for them.
While the romance had great pacing, the overall story felt off at times. There were episodes where a lot happened, and some that felt a bit empty. While I know that showing these daily scenes was also important to develop characters and their relationship, having them more evenly spread throughout the episodes would be better.
The drama was filled with nice side stories, with Shen Zui being the ones that will stick with me forever. I wished we could see a full drama just focused on his character. If you watch the drama, you will know why.
I've got to experience happiness, sadness, anger and many different emotions while watching Fairyland Lovers. It leaves a hopeful message with both main and side stories. The love story was truly moving and made me cry more than once, though I overall do cry quite easily while watching dramas ;)
Overall, I'd say it's an awesome watch for anyone who wants to see some fantasy romance with a brave and strong female lead and caring and smart male lead, surrounded by a diverse cast of supporting characters that you end up loving.
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Truth to be told, I am a big fan of con movies and because of that, it's not that hard to please me, I'll buy everything. That said, I believe there are more or less three types of con movies:
~ "complex con story that just clicks by the end and makes everything clear"
~ "complex and unrealistic con story that is just a pure entertainment"
~ bad con movies
This movie fits perfectly into the first category. The moment you think you understand what is going on and what are the motivations behind all the characters, it twists it all... many times. It also has my favorite element: con artists conning other con artists. This allows me to not feel guilt towards whoever gets screwed and just enjoy the ride.
The movie had my blood boiling a few times, got me to laugh at times; overall, definitely evoked some emotional reaction. It ended on a satisfying note too. The performance of the cast was extremely good, especially from Hyun Bin, Yoo Ji Tae and Park Sung Woong, which should not be surprising. There were quite a few plot twists I did not predict, and some I was happy that happened.
The plot is not some grand scheme that involves x number of important characters. It's kept local, with a smaller cast, but rather than making this less spectacular, it gives this feeling of a bit more realism (if we even can talk about levels of realism with con artist movies) which helped me get more involved in the story.
To summarize, everything is a lie in this movie and everyone is conning everyone. And I enjoyed it a lot.
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So like... nothing really happened.
Or rather, a lot happened, but no one truly reacted to it in any way. It's not like this show has been free of the usual over the top tropes. It's just the characters had little to no reaction to them compared to other series.When I started watching, I was ready for the cute, sweet, unproblematic slower romance, and at the beginning it was more or less just that. Then, they added so many random plot lines to make it more "entertaining/dramatic", but everyone just reacted to them in such an unnatural way, I could not connect to it at all.
That said, Solo is my baby boy. I truly love this kid. He was adorable and, as far as I know, Nut did the best job acting wise. The rest of the cast was meh. I skipped all the doctor and Kim’s scenes. That whole plot line was a true mess. I know many people loved Kao and Phuri, but again... I didn't care that much. They just felt awkward most of the time.
I don't even want to talk about that Disney ending, that made the whole second half of the show a joke. All the characters did 180 as if they were different people, because resolving conflicts in a well written manner apparently is not the writer's thing.
The music was nice though. But this ain't Spotify, I need me some good plot behind that soundtrack.
Overall... the show was so meh and boring I have barely any thoughts about it. The last episode was tragically bad, and even though it gave us a cute ending, logically speaking it made no sense. Solo and Gui were cute and I truly suffered throughout this just for them.
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Just vibes and well delivered pinning with fine flirting.
Kwon Jeong U is the whole show and honestly he deserves better.Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating. There is for sure more to enjoy than just Jeong U, but out of the two leads, he for sure was the one that stole my heart. From the extremely charming personality with actual emotional maturity, awareness of his shortcomings and reflection on his feelings, to the actually good performances that balanced well between the confident facade and the nervousness that came with the new crush. I loved how he knew exactly how much he can tease to keep it playful and not hurtful (and with the number of extremely embarrassing moments Ji Won got himself into, there was content to tease for years).
On the other hand we had a lot of “verbal” set up for Han Ji Won and exactly none of that was shown on screen. He kept on “hiding” from the public, because he was famous, wearing the cap literally everywhere and trying to stay low-key, but… we saw not one person have any really excessive (or any overall) reaction to him. The only people who talked about his “celebrity” status were people he knew, and they all did it in a joking manner. Then there is this “introduced and dropped right away” information about the abuse in his past team from the coach. We saw one google search from Jeong U, him saying to himself “I want to ask, but I don’t want to hurt him by asking” and then… he actually never asks, nor digs deeper… Nothing is done with that whole serious revelation. So why was it even there? Just let them be normal athletes with no additional set up - that would work.
Even if I was not amazed with Ji Won as an individual character, I did like the dynamics between him and Jeong U. I like the teasing and flirting, the push and pull, the amazing fluff they delivered. The angst felt flat and I was getting annoyed a few times, but since I did get a decent conclusion, I can look past that. I love how both of them had the shy and playful era, depending on what moment of the relationship we were witnessing. They were just a great vibe.
And you know what was a great vibe too? Seung Jin and Eun O. And you know what I need? I need them to get the Unintentional Love Story supporting couple treatment - their own show. We know they like each other, we know one knows and one is painfully oblivious to it. And I need them to give me a proper closure, because they hinted at the closure and then the drama ended. And that’s illegal.
As for the production… damn. It was decent for most parts, but some of the editing was… questionable. We literally missed transition scenes. Especially during one moment we start a scene in a confusing time and place, with no real set up. I had to ask a friend if I skipped an episode or something, because that “transition” between plot points made zero sense.
Performances were fine. Truth to be told, Choi Rak Yeong and Kwak Geon Hee did easily the best. I liked Choi Jae Hyeok since he SOLD the fact he was in love with his eyes, and I’m always weak for that shit. I liked Yeom Min Hyeok in most scenes, but I do think anything highly romance driven was his weakness. I didn’t really get that “I like him/love him” feelings. Not as much as I’ve got from Choi Jae Hyeok
Overall, this is pure rom-com vibes, nothing more nothing less.
Ps. Yes, the kisses were good.
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This review may contain spoilers
Do Hyeon Su - the master of gaslighting… himself.
I dropped it in 2020 when it was airing, but that was my mistake - I took the show far too seriously. I should have accepted it for the clownery it was and just have fun with how entertaining it was.I don’t even know where to start. Probably with the king clown himself, Do Hyeon Su. My man was so determined to convince himself he was in fact a psychopath, I was in awe. He was crying and having borderline panic attacks while at the same time claiming he does not feel hurt, guilt, sadness. It amazes me honestly. And then when he finally accepted that he in fact does feel things, he can love, what do we get? A fucking amnesia in the last episode, so he can yet again gaslight himself as a cherry on top of his clownery. I had to pause the episode, I could not believe my eyes.
Don’t get me wrong, on paper this plot is not as ridiculous. A person can be groomed into believing they are something they are not. But that would be an average person for you. And with how male lead was written, he was not average and I think the writer did not actually see how they wrote highly intelligent people, but also conventionally made them dumb just for things that were required for the plot. Examples: he did all that research on mimicking expressions and reading even microexpressions, and yet he did not once googled his actual diagnosis? Not to mention he himself knows he was diagnosed based on lies he told the psychologist. I feel like someone could have literally sat him in front of a world renowned group of psychiatrists who would explain antisocial personality disorder and how he does not fit the diagnostic criteria, and he would pretend to be deaf and blind just to not hear them. And for that clownery I am thankful, because it was one of the more fun aspects of the drama.
Then we have Cha Ji Won, who by all means also had a lot of psychological issues, even if they were not addressed in the drama. Obsessive tendencies? Sure. Lack of understanding boundaries? At times unfounded ideas of her knowing better what other people think and feel? Also true. Maybe because Do Hyeon Su was written with more depth, the female lead felt rather flat and two-dimensional - quite literally. One dimension of her existence was the serious and professional detective, the other was the bubbly loving wife. While on paper I liked that mix (you can be sweet and loving, but also badass - these are not mutually exclusive) somehow there was something uncanny about Moon Chae Won's performance.
The thing is - I like how the character was written. I also think Moon Chae Won is a great character and I enjoy many of her previous roles. Somehow I could not truly connect nor relate to her as Cha Ji Won. Yes, some scenes were phenomenal, but the overall portrayal was lacking…
As for their dynamics - many ups and downs. To some extent I lived for the angst between them, but since I found the setup ridiculous, I was not fully emotionally affected by it. Initial lack of trust and the cat and cat chase (there was no mouse here - they were both hunting) was extremely entertaining, but at some point when they started to work together, the sudden twists and throwback to negative assumption was a bit too much of an out of ass whiplash.
You know who I did enjoy though? Kim Mu Jin. Personally I think he was the best character. Extremely consistent in how he was written, what his personality and skill set was, what were his good and bad points. I love how he struggled a lot with trusting the male lead. How he was rather quick to believe the rumours and what was the explanation to it. Not to mention his amazing one liners. He had great chemistry with every other character he shared the screen with.
On the other hand Do Hae Su was really bland. I don't know if it was writing or the performance, but the hardships she had to face and the emotional distress she kept feeling did not translate on the screen at all. I don’t have much to say about her. She was there to push the plot forward and give reasoning and motivation for other characters’ choices.
I saw quite a lot of potential in Kong Mi Ja and I wish they developed her more. There were just hints of her feeling actually connected to Do Hyeon Soo. It could have been an amazing and heartbreaking internal conflict between her picking her own son, and the son she raised. But as many other things, at the end of the day it just felt flat. Baek Man U gave me nothing.
What’s more to like? The crime team. At first they seemed like such a weird mix of characters that do not fit together, but these differences were actually what kept them driven and in check. I love how loyal they were to each other, and how humane their decisions were.
As for the actual psychopath - what a fucking disappointment. Baek Hui Seong was boring. He was neither intimidating nor complex. Yes, they tried to show how at least to some extent he was looking for acceptance and validation, but the character spent most of the show in bed… no time for proper development. I also cannot get over the unnecessary black eyes of Do Min Seok in Do Hyeon Soo’s visions. That said - his relationship with his son was yet another wasted opportunity. Him trying to mold Do Hyeon Soo into someone like him. Him failing, and yet still feeling some kind of weird protectiveness over him. That’s some interesting aspects that could have been explored.
Quick question, maybe I missed it. But… how was his death ruled as suicide when he literally had his head smashed with a rock? They thought what? He ran into a wall until he died?
Performances wise? Amazing in almost all cases. I already talked about how Moon Chae Won was both hit and miss for me. Lee Joon Gi though? Damn. The way his eyes and corner of his lips twitched when he tried to suppress the emotions he was feeling - amazing, beautiful, breathtaking. I am not even completely mad about that last minute amnesia trope (which was so ridiculous I just…), because it gave us the scene between the lead in the work studio which was probably one of my favorite scenes from the whole drama.
Production wise it was fine? I am so mad about the styling of Cha Ji Won in her 20’. Why did they give her career mother hairstyle (aka exactly the same hairstyle she has in the present timeline) - they did nothing to make her look younger, so the majority of flashbacks just made me feel uncomfortable since I could not immerse myself into the scene. It was just a grown up woman in her 30’ acting cutesy.
Overall, I had fun for the wrong reasons. Kim Mu Jin was amazing, Lee Joon Gi’s performance was perfect, the story was ridiculous.
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The genres that are not quite fitting.
Honestly speaking, this is far more of a comedy drama, and I don’t see many thriller elements in it. The poster presents what the mood of the movie will be far more than the genres listed, so take that into consideration when watching.I have to say, it’s been a while since a movie made me so excited to watch. I was interested in the characters, in the court case, in the truth behind the case. Each element was so well written and constructed, and intertwined into the overall plot, there wasn’t a second wasted of the screen time.
The movie seems like a low key battlefield between the professional judge who forgot the core aspect of her work and a Juror 8, who got himself involved in the case and now simply wants to do a good job with it.
The aspect I enjoyed the most was the character development and clever ways they indicated how and when specific Juror’s started to be more engaged in the case. Especially Choi Yeong Jae, with whom they did a brilliant job.
The acting was amazing. Not surprised with a cast like that. Having great and well established actors playing supporting, and even guest roles made each scene truly enjoyable. Big props to Seo Hyun Woo, even though he did not have that much screen time, his depiction of the defendant was stellar.
Is the movie realistic? Definitely not. I do believe the comedic leaning makes it okay though. It still presents the importance of the job jury has, the potential issues in the system, but also the benefits it might bring, while adding a lot of entertainment with the exaggerated scenarios.
On the other hand, saying it’s even loosely based on the original story is nothing but misleading. The cases are nothing alike, the result is not the same, the behavior of the jury is completely different. It especially bothered me with the last narration on the screen, where they mixed the events of the show with real life statistics - it was simply confusing. Before I did some research, I was sure that part describes the real life case from 2008, which was not correct. Hence I’m not sure selling it even to that extent as being related to real events was a wise choice.
Overall, extremely exciting, interesting and engaging. Has some amazing situational comedy, but does not forget to have good content behind the jokes.
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Saving the human race at the cost of humanity.
Rather than a destination, The Silent Sea served me a direction with countless possibilities and roads to follow. The questions have been asked, and it’s on me to answer them for myself.Personally speaking, I like the shows that do not tell me everything, so I can dwell on the issues myself. Which decisions were correct, which were selfish, which showed humanity and which made the character greedy - The Silent Sea leaves enough room for me to decide on my own.
The dire reality of Earth’s water supply slowly ending was quite a nice and more realistic take on a potential dystopian scenario we might face. Showing us some details on how the nations work around the problem, the inequality in water distribution - both in the case of the quantity, but also quality of water, all that created a cohesive setting that made the mission seem justified, and the risk worth taking. The more I believe the setting, the less I question life-risking decisions the characters are making.
The Silent Sea tackles the topics of social inequality, distribution of necessary resources, corporate greed and misguided decisions that were made in hopes of bettering the lives of others. How far can we go to save the human race? Are we willing to give up humanity in the process? Should we focus on the struggles of individuals when we need to save the collective? But what is collective if not a group of individuals?
Another aspect that I greatly appreciated was the contrast between the individual goals and needs of the crew and the worsening situation on the Earth. On one hand, the contrast might make the personal issues trivial, on the other hand, it showed how important it is to consider these small, seemingly insignificant issues, as they might help us make morally sound decisions.
Moving to the cast and the performances - could we ask for me? Probably not. Bae Doona and Gong Yoo truly aced their roles, presenting all the emotions and dilemmas in the most realistic and subtle way possible. All the supporting cast did their best in bringing these characters to life, and they succeeded. Big props to Lee Joon who moved on from the meme English line “you shouldn’t do that” to the whole English dialogues (obscure references only A+ would know). His performance was for sure one that surprised me the most.
Adding to the value of the show, we’ve got some aesthetic feast. The color contrast between the warm yellow tones on Earth, and cold blue shades on the moon, the space shots, the use of light and shadows - all creating a number of beautiful pictures.
While the scenes taking place on either Earth or artificial gravity were amazing, all the physics in the rest, at times felt… oof. The movement of actors in zero gravity was an obvious wire work that took away from the realism. Some CGI could have either been improved, or the scene completely removed (was that fake lion truly necessary?).
Talking about science… just try not to think about it too hard, especially closer to the ending.
Overall, I appreciated how they did not slam me in the face with the answers, but left enough info in for me to puzzle it all together. Some twists were easier to predict than others (some could have been seen from miles away), but I was highly entertained from the beginning till the end. It’s slow at times, not action packed, but that’s the type of shows I appreciate the most.
There is also one aspect of the plot that made me quite “happy”, but since it is a spoiler, I will talk about it in the comment under the review.
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When you feel like a plot twist is the whole plot of a show.
Let’s start with the setup: When a drama incorporates sci-fi, but does not commit to it. Was I slightly frustrated that time travel was never really explained and no one even tried to ask questions about it? Yes. At the same time, it might be better not to talk about it, if the alternative is us getting some explanation that wouldn’t make any sense. At the end of the day, sci-fi was not the main genre, but rather a tool to introduce main plot and mystery. Not explaining all the rules of “reset” was a perfect way to keep viewers on the edge of their seat, trying to figure it out themselves.What this drama did well was caring for all the characters. While Hyung Jo, Ga Hyun and Lee Shin might be the mains, we also got enough background information and screen time to know and care about the supporting cast. What are their motivations, why they do what they do and where does it lead them. We’ve got the answers for it all.
It might take a while to get used to the fast pace and countless plot twists, but once you dive deep into the style and storytelling, it's hard to get out. Questioning each and every characters’ motives and actions, trying to figure out who is the mastermind behind it all. There are definitely a lot of aspects that make the viewer interested in the story and engaged in what is happening.
Sadly… the plot twists became too much. At some point I stopped being excited and curious about them, but rather frustrated. Oh… we get another one? Cool. How about you chill a bit? There was no point in me trying to puzzle out the plot when the whole picture changed every few minutes. The last three episodes I just wanted to finally find out what is going on and be done.
I was also hoping for some cohesive one big picture created by all the plot lines, but I felt like the two main ones went a bit separate ways.
Overall, it was an exciting ride with a little bit too many plot twists for me liking. I would enjoy it more if I binge watched it. Watching just 2 episodes per week killed the hype. It was a tough beginning and the ending, but the middle part was truly good.
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When Self-Reliance Meets Shameless Flirting.
Proper noona romance. The age gap is decently big - enough to potentially cause problems, but not big enough to make the romance feel weird. What’s more? The characters actually acted their age and certain external conflicts were the results of their past experiences and the maturity levels.One thing I for sure enjoyed a lot was the male lead who gets caught in his own trap. I adore how they handled him falling in love. Initially I kept questioning his motives - is he just using her for peace of mind at work? Was it love at first sight? Is he flirting just to have fun and from pure curiosity, or are his feelings deeper? I knew he was interested, but how much? And the performance? Perfection. I love when we can actually see the attraction in the characters’ eyes, even if the character himself is not aware of it yet.
Then we had the female lead, who was far more reserved - she was burned once, and preferred single stress free life. I like how she was not completely clueless about everything that is going on between her and Katsuragi Yukino - it was less about her denying he likes her, and more about her hesitation to allow herself to be in a relationship. I appreciated how in that aspect the dynamics between leads felt more mature and realistic.
We know Katsuragi Yukino has been in relationships, so if they tried to sell her as a character that is clueless about romance, it would not work. Rather than that they centered the story and the conflict on her self-reliance that she struggled to let go - being alone felt more comforting and comfortable and she was not sure she wanted to and was ready to change.
Sadly, I do not think Nakamura Anne did as much of a good job acting wise. She aced the majority of the scenes, but I feel she struggles with conveying fear - the moments where she should feel scared, whatever the reasons were, just did not land.
All that said, the chemistry between the leads was great. Mizuki shamelessly flirting and Yukino keeping her guard, but also going along with it to not blow their cover, while mentally probably wanting to strangle Mizuki was fun to witness. What’s more, from the start Yukino had the door to her heart closed, but not locked so while she was hesitant, she was not completely opposed to the idea of starting something with Mizuki. That created fun interactions that did not make me feel like Mizuki was pushing himself onto her without her consent.
Them kisses though… With how flirty and confident Mizuki was, and with Yukino who we knew had past experiences (so the “first kiss, don’t know what I am doing” excuse does not work) I do not understand these utterly disappointing kisses. Of course they could have been worse, they did not go fill “frozen surprised fish”, but in the context of the drama and the characters personalities, this just did not sit right with me.
As for the plot outside the romance: the drama added unnecessary spice concerning Mizuki’s family dynamics. At first it served as an outlet to verbalize Mizuki’s internal dialogue and doubts, allowing me to understand the character more. But then unexpectedly another element was added that existed purely to create mediocre chaos that led to nowhere.
For the production, one aspect I truly appreciated was the styling that was in fact age appropriate. Male lead dressed like a typical guy in his mid 20s, the female lead dressed like a typical officer worker in her mid 30s. What dramas sometimes try to do is make the age gap less apparent with the outfits by either dressing male leads into mature fits, or female leads into trendy outfits that were clearly targeted for someone 10 years younger.
Overall, it was fun and a light watch. It was not groundbreaking, it did not try to be more than it set out to be in episode 1 - entertaining rom-com.
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Rule by compassion, not by fear.
One woman show filled with schemes, betrayal, twists and turns that kept me entertained till the last second. With a rather large set of villains and antagonists, you never know who will be the next target and how the dynamics will change. And in the center of that was Queen Im Hwa Ryung with her dedication to keep her sons safe.It’s honestly a strange drama. The same aspects I love, I also thought were flaws. For example - the villains/antagonists. I actually liked many of them, found their motivations and reactions to everchanging circumstances entertaining. That said, they never truly felt like a threat. Which is strange because the stakes were high, people were actually dying. And yet, none of the bad guys felt intimidating - entertaining sure, but not intimidating.
I also loved Queen Im Hwa Ryung and how smart she was. She was great at reading the situations, knowing who works with whom and how to use that information. At the same time, she also knew that showing compassion can form better loyalty and actually set the person to a proper path, compared to fighting them with power and fear alone. But I wished her judgement was at least once wrong. That someone whom she gave a second chance stabbed her in the back.
Then we have the princes - all fun, all lacking depth. Each one of them presented a completely different story, be it being related to taboo subjects of the era, their relationships with their mothers, ambition or lack of it. But at the end of the day the only two princes that actually touched me on an emotional level were Grand Prince Gye Sung finding his identity and Prince Sim So about his relationship with his mother. All the rest was fun, but flat.
Touching on the plot, I feel like this is one of the better paced historical Korean dramas I have seen - it’s fast, but even and digestible. Every episode brought something new to the table, there were no filler plot lines - at the end everything connected, everything was used to create a larger and fuller picture. No actions and decisions existed in the vacuum - they all had a smaller or bigger impact on all the characters. Every time I thought a certain chapter was closed, new information kicked the door open for new possibilities to explain the past event, direct present time and shape the future of the characters.
The drama is listed as historical, comedy, drama, and politics. I am not so sure about the comedy here. It had amazing comedic timing and some of the better jokes I have seen in quite some time, but the overall tone and plot do not truly match the comedy genre. Just because there are good jokes in a show does not necessarily mean it is comedy. On Korean websites it’s listed as a black comedy and I would probably agree that’s a better description.
Acting wise, Kim Hye Soo delivered a phenomenal performance. Saying she carried the show seems unfair to the rest of the cast, since everyone did a great job, but it’s undeniable she stood out so much with her portrayal of Queen Queen Im Hwa Ryung. My second favorite performance probably goes to Kim Eui Sung as Hwang Won Hyung. I don't know why, but his reactions to everything that was happening was so expressive and funny to watch, even though I knew I should not side with him, he was so fun to watch I wanted to just see more scenes of him.
Visually stunning, but not overstimulating. Sometimes I honestly get tired when dramas try to look like a beautiful painting at every frame - it’s distracting. This show knew exactly when and what to highlight to create amazing pictures.
Overall, I just feel like the drama failed to evoke any negative feelings in me, which is strange with how many on paper awful and frustrating assholes we had in the cast of the characters. But I was kind of vibing with them, and found them more entertaining than threatening.
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They not only combined two different fighting styles...
they also combined two different movies into one.Here's the thing: was it entertaining? Yes. Was it good? Ehh. I like both ideas of the plot they tried to fit into one, but you just cannot make it happen in one hour and thirty minutes. "Underdeveloped" was the theme.
Let's start with the story the synopsis describes, the ultimate fan service. The second half is THE Karate Kid movie you are expecting to see. Li Fong being trained by Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso in a painful, but entertaining fashion. All to get him ready so he can defeat "the bully". The core of the franchise is to never give up, always get back up and use that secret move you've been training during montages to give the final blow.
First half thought? Way more refreshing, more interesting and I wish it was used as a completely separate movie (also, it's weird how it was completely hidden from the marketing). It gives a nice twist to the known formula and now the kid becomes the master. Personally I had way more fun watching that part of the plot.
As a whole movie it's not the greatest, but it does have some great moments. Back alley fight behind the pizzeria? Probably my favorite fighting scene - it had that comedy Jackie Chan style to it. Existence of Alan, the most random character in any Karate Kid movie? Perfect. The number of times Li Fong gets his ass kicked by Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso? Pure chaos and fun. The boxing match and training (yes, there is boxing in it) - awesome.
But then we also have the bad. Conor Day was just painfully poorly written. The actual tournament? Barely existed - they fast forwarded all the fights, we saw close to nothing. Ming Na Wen practically being just a guest role was sad - her character could have delivered some good external conflict. Than we have the trauma that was less than a background.
Somehow, because nothing was truly developed I did not feel the grand victorious feeling when the movie ended. You know how Karate Kid movies make you want to learn martial arts? This one just made me want to rewatch previous movies in the franchise. It just did not have that kick to it.
The casting was great. The cast was criminally underused, but still great. Jackie Chan at 71 still has it. Probably on his worst day he is still better than 99.9% of people on their best. Surprisingly Ben Wang delivered probably my favorite version of "Karate Kid" as the leading character. Good personality with real flaws and fears.
Overall, it was fun. I'm kind of sad they did not make it into two great movies, and instead settled on delivering not that well blended mix.
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Love can truly cure everything.
We had love curing depression, anxiety, cancer - this time we take on insomnia! Surprisingly, it did make sense.Not gonna lie, this is not some unexpected, fresh masterpiece, but it has a really calming and… sentimental vibe to it. It does feel like a snippet of a larger story. The characters have far more complexity and depth based on their background and past, that is sadly not shown because of the short format.
We get a lot of answers for “what”, but not many for “why”. We know what the characters are struggling with, but not why it happened, especially with Dong Uk. They hint the fact he feels lonely and somehow unsafe - why though? The whys are the interesting part.
Long story short, it’s a story about two people who provide each other solace and warmth. Story that is well presented - be it pacing, directing or editing. The acting was also really good.
That said, some choices were… questionable. Random new person with dialogues, but no face - why? Then we have the kissing scenes. The actors were obviously not uncomfortable, since we’ve got one “normal” one, so why were the rest so bizarre in comparison - more or less stale shots from behind the back of the characters showing… nothing.
Overall, short and sweet, High mid.
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“Whatever you believe, believe in these boys.”
It's always hard to watch anything that is based on true events. There is no "separating fiction from reality" when the show is supposed to present said reality. It hits hard, it makes you feel more. There is no safety of thinking: it’s just a story, because that story was these people’s lives.The drama perfectly captures the intensity and the tragedy of the events that happened between 23rd June and 10th July 2018. But it also presents how we are capable of great things, cooperation, miracles beyond comprehension. On one hand everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Whenever the plan was formed, they had to change or abandon it, because of the ever changing circumstances. Fate kept punching them down, but they all refused to give up.
The drama made me think about the hard choices that had to be made. After so many days the chances of the kids being alive were slim. But the chances of the rescue team dying during the rescue were high. “I'm not risking lives for dead bodies” - it is an honest question you need to ask yourself... The choices they made led to the boys being rescued.
I also like how the drama clearly presents both the heart and brain are needed to make that happen. Be it conviction, faith, trust - you need that drive that keeps you and your hope alive to even take the action. But you also need science to solve the issues and achieve the goal.
Human kind is the worst, but sometimes it's the best.
About the more technical aspects - I am in awe. What a production. It represented the harsh reality of cave diving in such a terrifying way. The struggles and obstacles these people had to overcome. The claustrophobic nightmare these 18 days were. And with the amount of people involved in the rescue (10,000 people, including more than 100 divers, scores of rescue workers, representatives from about 100 governmental agencies, 900 police officers and 2,000 soldiers) showing how truly big the operation was could not have been an easy task, and yet they made it. They cast just the right people to portray the people involved - no bad acting, no awkward english delivery with non-distinguishable accents. Every aspect of the drama seemed to have a purpose, and the screen time was efficiently used to both showcase the length of the events, but also the press of time they all faced.
Overall, extremely touching, uplighting, but also scary. Even knowing how it ends, I was tense watching each and every moment. I cried, and cried some more. I’ll end the review on the quote that truly touched even my atheistic ass:
"The odds are nearly impossible. But we've all seen statistics be wrong before. We've all seen the power of the mind overcome the power of the body. We all have doubts. We all have crises of faith. We've all had days of rain that never end. But the rain ended. It wasn't supposed to. But it wasn't supposed to start when the boys entered the cave either. Fate has a way of dealing us a hand that we don't always want, challenges we could do without. But challenges can be opportunities. Maybe you don't believe we have an opportunity here. Or maybe you believe it has passed us by already. Maybe you believe the boys died on the first day or the third day. Drowned in the water or got sick or starved. But I've seen a shrine bloom in the jungle, filled with offerings. I've seen Buddhists, Christians, animists, heads bow in prayer. I've even bowed my own. Whatever you believe, believe in these boys."
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