Kate

Wuxie meets Alien - discount edition.

I don't even know where to start. To say the movie felt disconnected feels like an understatement. We had Aliens that are not really Aliens, prehistorical "animals", discount version of Grave Robbers' Chronicles, biologist that was determined to die, bur failed even in that.

Why does this movie start mid scene. I've got whiplash from the opening scene, to only around half way through figured out the "opening scene" are just random scenes from various moments in the movie - and with that you kind of know how it ends.

As for the production - hard to tell if a lot of it was AI generated or just poorly done CGI. Or both. I'm leaning towards poorly done CGI, because I feel like AI generated models would look better. I'd take poor CGI done by person, over AI generated images any day though.

Overall, there truly is nothing to talk about. We had vague treasure, mid team trying to find it, no explanation, no exposition, no proper closure.

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Vast improvement from the first instalment.

I am positively surprised. While technically this movie presented the same issues I had with the previous one (weird mix of genres, slice of life drama and romance, too short of a screentime in the locations themselves), somehow the directing and storytelling is smoother and it made it all work out.

I think the poster actually quite well presents the ratio of the horror and the other elements in the movie - it's not that scary, there are not that many ghost scenes, any tensioned built is smoothed and mellowed by the more mundane plotlines, that are in fact also entertaining.

Initially I questioned the need of Karin as a main character, but soon the plot became more clear and her existence not only valid, but necessary for the story to unfold the way it did. While I do think some twists and turns were more obvious than they intended them to be, it was still a rather enjoyable watch.

Performances, directing, editing, sound design - all great. No major complaints. Male lead was way too chill about everything that was happening around and to him for most of the movie, but that’s more of the writing than acting issue. If a ghost had hots for me and started to make moves, I’d be gone not only from that house, but also from the country. Just to be sure.

Overall, I’d say watch this, skip the first one. They are not connected plot wise so they can be viewed as different stories in the same universe.

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It was not perfect, but it was perfectly entertaining.

Personally I like my zombie horrors with a dose of humor and I am a Hero delivers. I do think I might have laughed at some not exactly humorous moments too, but that's how you roll when you've seen so many horror movies in your life.

The best aspect of this movie is the fact it has personality. Having a normal guy be the real and grow to be a hero is a dynamic journey I love to see in movies. I do believe that he was too dumb and too naive for too long, but with how the story ended, I can somehow forgive it. What's more, I appreciated how the zombies had these specific behaviors connecting them to their past lives. Big shoutout to athlete, who from zombies' perspective must have been the MVP.

On the other hand, I wish they turned Hayakari Hiromi a bit later in the movie, or let her meet Suzuki Hideo faster. We did not really get to know her that well as full human before she turned, but after the change, she was not really much of a character to follow anyway.

The acting - good. I feel like the only person who truly had to show some skills was Oizumi Yo. The other characters were a bit too flat to requite a high level of performance.

Loved the design for the zombies. The eyes going sideways was creepy and the visible mutation was a great touch. They actually looked scary. Props for all the practical effects that made the movie that much more gruesome.

The action scenes were also great. Some more, some less believable, but I appreciate no one turned into a ninja or professional fighter. They all fought with all their strength and limited skills. That said, there was one scene closer to the end that did feel a bit long and I was really close to skipping few seconds.

Overall, this was such a fun ride. A lot of blood, a lot of killing zombies.

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Detailed presentation of a complex situation.

I’ll be honest with everyone - the only reason one should watch this over a director's cut (which for me is a 10/10), is to later watch the director's cut and appreciate it even more.

Memoir of a Murderer is a story about simple characters in a complex and convoluted situation - both internally and externally. The addition of dementia is such a fresh and fascinating take on the typical serial killer story. What happens when a “reformed” serial killer starts to lose himself in the past, regressing to immoral behavior and not being able to control his urges that were tamed for years? Add another layer of him trying to catch another serial killer while struggling to remember all the encounters and identities of people around him - what a horrifying, but also captivating scenario.

What the movie does perfectly well is confusing the audience - what is reality? What is just a fragment of imagination? What was a lie and what was a forgotten memory? No matter how much you might pay attention, you cannot differentiate between the real and the fake, unless the movie itself wants to tell you the truth. How did they achieve that? Smart directing, amazing editing, trusting the audience and one aspect that made the director's cut better - the conclusion that actually makes sense.

Sol Kyung Gu as Kim Byung Soo? Perfection. The range of emotions and expressions, the chilling narrations and that eye twitch… The performance that somehow made me sympathize with a serial killer, even feel bad for him. Disagreeing with his murderous nature was obvious, but the fear of losing your identity and years of life and memories is such a horrible vision, it was hard not to feel anything while watching the movie.

Overall, probably one of the best serial killer movies I have seen in years, easily top5 of all times. Personally preferred the director’s cut, so if one is not up to watching mostly the same movie twice, skip the theatrical release.

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10% of the writing and 90% of fluff.

It's the most digestible show I have ever seen with close to zero stakes, almost none evil or mean characters, no long term conflicts, every character starts more or less already good so you don't get stressed out by how bad they are and how much they have to improve and since their flaws are so inconsistent, they don’t create much tension either.

That said, it does have a lot of truly good elements. First of all, the relationship between the leads evolve in a really natural and entertaining manner. The bickering is always lighthearted and Lu Si Cheng is for sure not one of the mean main leads. The interactions between the team members are heartwarming at times, and even the relations between different teams made me smile more than once. I also loved the female friendship between Tong Yao and Jin Yang.

One of my favorite things about the show was how it truly did address the toxic fans culture - the idolizing people fans don’t know, seeing them as flawless, trying to control their private lives, living in a delulu land they created in their heads and then getting paranoid and angry when the unrealistic bubble shatters. But, and it’s a big but - I truly disliked how they did not present the same stance towards all public figures. Lines that went similar to: I’m not an idol, I can date, gave the message that idols do not deserve the same level of privacy and personal life as, in this case professional gamers do.

Another straightforward, but fairly well presented issue was the discrimination of women in certain jobs and social groups. They did not shy from showing the unfair treatment Tong Yao had to face especially in terms of the public's opinions and reactions.

Production value was great. The game scenes looked amazing and I loved the design for the in game characters. On a technical aspect, I think they did a perfect job with opening each new episode - added enough scenes from the previous one to make a proper set up, but not long enough that you want to just skip it all.

Performances were… questionable. I was slowly losing my mind with each and every Korean scene. The dubbing was so awful I wanted to cry. The fact that Chinese characters spoke better Korean than Korean characters was just the cherry on top. Cheng Xiao had a few glimpses of potential in a few scenes, but overall the whole performance was mostly a surprised hamster.
Xu Kai was honestly not much better and there was only one scene when I went: oh, acting! That said, I still enjoyed his handsome face in each and every scene.

Overall, the only thing this show had to offer was cute fluff, but sometimes this is all one needs to be happy.

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Logic left the room, but the friendship was nice.

This is such a feel good show, you will end up puking rainbow by the end. When they started to recycle all the trash, all the suspense and anticipation said its last goodbyes and died. They basically told you they are going for a Disney ending and nothing will stop them.

Is that a bad thing? Depends what are you expecting to get out of this drama. Anyone who thinks this drama has good writing, is lying to themselves, but at the same time, I honestly don’t think a good writing was their goal. This is a show that is supposed to have generic motivational messages, generic saint like leads, generic conflicts and generic resolutions and it all presented in a perfect, light, fun and addicting manner that invites you for the binge watch.

There is honestly close to nothing to say about the leads. Both Ji Xiang Kong and Qiu Ying are good, hardworking, friendly, honest, passionate - so perfect it’s boring. Luckily we get some amazing supporting characters to add spice to the mix: Pei Xi, who was the literal MVP of the drama for me. I adored his character and the surprised complexity he presented. Another character I appreciated a lot was Luo Tian - on a rather low key, but he stole every scene he was in.

Story wise, it’s the underdog fighting to get to the top for both leads. They follow exactly the same path - working hard and being passionate, but always facing issues because of the jealous rivals who play dirty. For some strange reason everyone was painfully informant about the dirty tricks and no one cared to actually run a business and bring profits. My favorite unrealistic part? The internal investigation lasted weeks, but consisting only of questioning 4 people, no one knows what tracking IP address is. What I am trying to say - to make the conflict last longer and feel that screen time, to make the leads journey more meaningful, as they have to face more hardship, all the characters in the show - be it good or the bad guys, had to stop using their brains and make all the dumb decisions possible.

As it’s always the case with shows like this, the best aspect was the friendships and partnerships. The number of fun and heartwarming interactions between various characters was a blast to watch. My favorite pairings were Pei Xi with everyone (but especially Qiu Ying and Ji Xiang Kong) and Qiu Ying and Luo Tian. Friendships and mentor-mentee relationships between female and male characters are so underrated in dramas.

The production value was fine. On one hand we had a great set design for different locations, on the other hand, unfitting styling for the characters. One thing I truly cannot stand in dramas is dolled up female characters even if the setting makes no sense for it. Why did both Qiu Ying and Lu Yi Yi look like idols ready to go on stage no matter the circumstances?

Acting wise, I don’t have massive complaints. Taking into consideration the writing, I don’t think anyone could give a better performance.

Overall, it’s a fast-food of dramaland - nice, addicting, something we crave from time to time, even though it’s not exactly good.

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Covid driven horror stories? I guess it can work...

Bad luck is a bitch
I think the first story had the most confusing message. What was I supposed to get from it? Don’t always help people who claim they are in need because they can screw you over? Don’t break covid isolation restrictions by letting strangers stay at your home?

It was fun and wacky and the emo teen magician shaman boy got me dying from laughing, but I’m just not sure what the writer wanted to tell with this one…
Also, excuse me, but why was this story so dark? Damn, I could barely see anything.

Nothing beats meat
Decent story, but I’m not sure I like the black and white aesthetics. It was also way too short to have any meaning or impact. Felt a bit like an ad break. I understand it’s linked to all the fake covid medication and how not following the actual doctors’ advice and listening to random people with their great healing stories can screw you over, but… it kind of felt flat in presentation.

Shit happens
I did not think the title would be literal… I need a white truck of doom to give me amnesia asap. Oh gosh… why? When I thought it couldn't get any more gross, guess what. It got more gross.
The message is there - mistreatment of patients, overworked medical staff, desensitization to other’s suffering - great and strong messages, but why did they have to literally cover it all in shit?

HM?
Job insecurity during the pandemic was a big problem and the consequences are still here and with the current market, I don’t think they are going away anytime soon. The desperation of trying to earn money in any possible way is something many people could relate to. I’d say this story had the most clear direction and storytelling. When you feel like you won’t be able to even feed your child, you would ignore potential dangers with the hope of getting that coin.

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A few too many boobs shots.

That’s your typical, dumb and sexualizing women comedy… That is not funny. Such a dumb jokes I don’t even know how to comment on them.

I was watching and I felt my neurons dying and IQ decreasing. I’m not even against dumb parody movies - which this tries to be. The execution must be good though and the jokes take a jab at the well known cliches in a clever way. This had none of it.

I guess the best part of the movie was the relationship between the brothers. It was well established, had some nice moments and a solid conclusion. The acting was also decent. Not from all the actors, but the main cast did fairly well.

That would be the end of compliments I have.

Sure the scenery and views were pretty and the makeup for zombies was not that bad. But it also was not good enough to recommend anyone to watch the movie.

Basically speaking - you won’t miss anything if you skip this movie.

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While the twists were interesting, the idea behind the movie is not quite clear. Who was the true instigator of all the bad events? How did they even happen? How was the supernatural element present? There were many questions that I feel like got confusing answers.

While the story itself was quite interesting, presenting some twists I did not see coming at all, and making me question which characters are involved and who is the bad guy, I wished they gave us a little bit more detail.

It was a fun and interesting watch, the performances were good, characters; motivation was vague at best, ridiculous at worst. The overall reasoning of the events happening did not have that much reason in it.

Overall, I don’t regret watching, but it’s not exactly something I would go around recommending.

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Horror elements that ruined the movie.

This would be such a good thriller mystery, but the extremely cheap horror ruined it. Samara meets Sadako and the killing hair. The effects and the ghost design were so bad I honestly wanted to skip all their scenes.

That said, the story itself was quite compelling. The writer was able to form a close connection of the tragic story for the female lead and the main victim of the events from the past. The story had quite a few layers and the pacing of showing them one by one was rather well executed.

It’s for sure more of an investigation than a horror though. Majority of the movie is just the detective work and solving the murder cases happening.

Arang, by the end of the runtime, presents a good, unexpected twist (tho if it was that unexpected I am not sure, since I might have just not paid that much attention to figure out the plot for myself).

The acting was great - given for such a cast.

Overall, someone should make a cut version of this movie, removing all the cheap on budget Ring moments.

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Confusing motivations…

I did not really understand any of the characters - the ghost included.
It does have a semi interesting start, that sets the tone for the rest of the movie - desperation and cheap jump scares. Sometimes this is all you need in a horror movie. Why was the female lead so invested in that uni movie was stupid though.

I get that she needed a horror story for her own movie, but with all the effort she put into the “investigation”, I’m sure she would be able to write something herself. Not to mention, was she both screenwriter and the director?

Then there is the ghost lady- why did she do all the shenanigans? They did not really explain if it was curse, vengeance… Sure, I can explain it myself with my little theories, but the movie did not, and that’s my point.

What I enjoyed - build up tension. Honestly believe cutting out all the jump scares would actually make the movie scarier. They ruined the atmosphere with how comedic they were… The pure investigation moments had me invested, but then a typical black hair lady jumped on the screen and I could not stop myself from laughing.

Performances were great. Loved how Seo Yae Ji’s character was so unaware how abnormal her behavior was, calling others crazy, when she herself acted in the most irrational way.

Overall, it was a decent watch. Would be better as an investigation horror game.

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There is nothing truly wrong about it… but it’s not right either.

This should not have 24 episodes… but it also should have more. It makes sense in my brain, truly. On one hand, the show was simply boring because of the lackluster storytelling and constant time jumps - nothing was established well, which resulted in me not caring about anything, so why make it so long? On the other hand, giving it more episodes could potentially make the show better - making the pacing more even, not skipping a few years every 5 minutes of screen time.

What was that “each episode starts a few months later” deal. They literally kept starting from new moments in lives, with no closure to the previous ones. You will literally have to write 80% of the plot in your head yourself, fill all the gaps. It's literally like a YouTube compilation of the drama highlights... but it's actually the whole drama.

The thing is, I would rather watch 24 episodes of behind the scenes, than the show itself. Last few minutes of the last episode, showing some NGs, was truly the best part and I could not stop smiling and laughing.

The characters? I don’t even know. Heon was all over the place, but I blame it on Yo Han’s delivery. At the same time, there were few moments that truly made the character awful… But Sol-i? At some point she is 30 in the show, but acts like a middle schooler. There is no development nor maturing with her character. She acts exactly the same in the opening episode in high school, and fully grown up in the last episode.

Who I liked? Ha Young and Jin Hwan. They were so adorable and entertaining to watch. Seo Ji Soo also did not get enough screen time. I would not mind her becoming part of the friend’s group. She would fit perfectly.

Onto the acting. People think playing an emotionless, cold male lead is easy, but it’s not - it’s an art of its own, and sadly Yohan did not master it. I guess one could say the acting is actually quite balanced - So Ju Yeon was overacting…and Yohan was not acting at all, barely reading the script.

OST wise, except for the intro cover, which was loveable, great and always made me happy, I don't remember even one song.

Overall, it’s just painfully mediocre. It’s basically fast food entertainment.

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When the villain is miles ahead of the heroes.

Saying it was not an exciting watch would be a lie. Saying it was more fun than frustrating and anxiety causing would also be a lie. It was a thrilling ride, but can I say it was enjoyable?

I honestly loved all the characters that were part of the Avalanche. Perfect mix of skills and personalities. Their interactions were genuine, emotional and fun. They were the driving force that made it possible for me to finish the show. What I also liked was how I honestly questioned some of the characters’ motivations and the possibility of them betraying the team. The storytelling was strong enough to make that a realistic twist that could have happened.

Avalanche had also one of the strongest villains I have seen in a show. Truly always a few steps ahead of the team. While it was a good point about the drama at the beginning, at some point I got exhausted with how weak the heroes seemed in comparison. “Can they even win?” was a legit question I was asking myself. The stakes kept rising, and the conclusion left much to desire.

Last two episodes had many turns and twists, for me, maybe a few too many. No denying it was exciting, but a bit more exploration of the aftermath would be appreciated.

The performances were phenomenal. Watabe Atsuro as Oyama Kengo? So evil and so punchable. Great actors know how to make the audience hate them.

Ayano Go and Kimura Yoshino aced the roles. Habu was a fascinating character with so much emotional baggage and how much it affected him was all slowly revealed through the acting. On the other hand Yamamori Michiyo was a character with just as much personal stakes, yet so much harder to read. Kimura Yoshino's portrayal of the head of Avalanche could not be better.

Production wise - great. It was visually pleasing, but not over the top, where the visuals become distracting. I appreciate rather realistic blood and injuries make up.

Overall, it was a tense and thrilling show, but the unbalanced fight between the good guys and the villain made it impossible to to enjoy it at times.

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There were things to love, there were things to question, and there were things to criticize.

Objectively great rom-com, subjectively I had a few beefs with certain aspects. Specific parts and elements were perfect, but they did not quite make a perfect picture. Be in the characters, plot, set up, twist - some imbalances and conflicts just made me roll my eyes a few times too many. I had fun while watching the episodes, but I was never truly excited to start them.

Se Gye was the true unrealistically perfect male lead. His undying love for Seo Ri made all the best men on the planet combine seem mediocre. Handsome, hot, devoted, rich, smart and dedicated, but also willing to show vulnerability to the person he loves. As a romantic interest, he did not have any flaws. The man that no one deserves. What’s more? I adore how the moment he figured out he likes Seo Ri (which did not take him that long), he did not act dumb and was not led by his ego - he acted according to his feelings, did not hide them, did not pretend like he was not interested. Do I want one for myself? Of course.

As amazing as a romantic lead he was, it’s not the same story outside of the lovey-dovey scenes. From the start he was set up to be a masterclass of manipulation and schemes, a fool only to the woman he loves. So why did he keep making the dumbest mistakes over and over again by the end of the drama? You want to tell me that this man with what they claim is a working brain would not take precautions against whatever wild plan Mun Do might have, being fully aware his dear cousin had no issue killing people? Apparently, the moment you drove your enemy into a corner is also the best time to be alone at night in the dark parking lot, asking to be stabbed. He kept underestimating Mun Do without proper explanation, while also writers claiming he can predict every step Mun Do makes to bring him down… so which one is it?

Then we have our lovely female lead Seo Ri - I love this woman as an individual. From the opening scene I knew her story was worth following. Strong, brave, smart. Caring for people she loves. Her strong will to survive and lead a good life was truly inspiring.

I was excited for Seo Ri's scenes outside of the romance. Her slow journey into becoming actually content and confident and not just putting the front as a defense mechanism. Her search for who she was and how to navigate in the “new” world. Her growing career and how she slowly took the spotlight with her sheer talent. Her story was truly amazing.

As for the dynamic between the main characters vs their individual stories… For most of the screen time I did not care for Cha Se Gye as a character outside of his romance with Seo Ri. I did not care about Seo Ri as a character inside her romance with Se Gye. And that clashed badly. I was half excited for the romance scenes, because of Se Gye. Seo Ri gave me the bare minimum, and the last two episodes with grand gestures and sacrifices were not enough. Yes, I loved the last two episodes, but that does not negate the lukewarm romance I’ve got from her in the previous 12… Only in the last two episodes they tried to switch the focus for the leads - we dived deeper into the company politics and schemes on Se Gye’s side, and Seo Ri’s love and devotion to Se Gye. Too little, too late.

Their relationship just felt painfully uneven for most of the drama. She was his whole life, but he was not hers. They made him unrealistically perfect, and made her beautifully realistically flawed. And these two writing types do not match well together. It makes the viewer frustrated with the well written complex character, because they keep hurting the unrealistically perfect one. So when she blamed him for her own mistakes, or pushed him away, I kept thinking - do I even want them together? When he is always the one giving in? It’s kind of annoying to watch. If we talk about character writing she is so much better and more complex. But if you talk about my delulu feels, Se Gye is the gold standard. Love her as a female character. Love him as a love interest.

And I want to state it clearly - Seo Ri’s behavior was valid and made perfect sense. I understand why her character was written like that, why she made the choices she made. Does not negate the fact their relationship did not feel equal up until the last 2 episodes. For quite a big portion of the story she was too self-absorbed. For valid reasons. But one can be right for themselves and that makes them wrong for another person. Too many times she did not learn from her past mistakes at all, did not trust him no matter what he did for her and how open he was. And again, all valid behavior taking into consideration her past, but it's also true that it was all unfair towards Se Gye.

Still, the last episode was so strong, they did make me momentarily forget about that tiny frustration I felt when watching the show.

For the other characters, the two I was especially happy with their developments: Mo Tae Hui and Cha Dal Su. For my girl - I love how they did not let her burn and become the evil second female lead. She fought as long as she thought she had a chance, and when she clearly saw it wouldn't work - she gave up that romantic relationship and entered partnership. I loved that for her. She would work hard for a man, but she would not destroy herself for one. As for Cha Dal Su - obviously an asshole, but in a realistic way. I was scared they would make him oblivious to Mun Do’s schemes, so knowing he was up to date with the shenanigans made me happy.

On the other hand, Mun Do was a huge disappointment. Flat, poorly written, annoying. A lot of things shown about him made no sense. Did he even do any work himself? He kept spying and following Se Gye and Seo Ri personally, as if he would not have people to do it for him. I wish they explored his relationship with his son more - 2 or 3 phone conversations about the kid is not enough to validate his last scene with Seo Ri. It had no emotional impact, because they did not set it up enough.

Moving strictly to the plot.

What I love about this show is how unpredictable it was on a tiny scale. You had all the cliches and they all got a royal twist to them. The scene starts, I recognize the pattern I have seen 938475645987654 times in other dramas, I know how this ends... and then it takes a sharp U-turn. The end of ep 7 and beginning of ep 8 was a good example of that: you expect them to announce they are dating and even if not announced, this coming out in public as gossip. Nope. Seo Ri had a different plan to calm the media and explain the situation. Lead up being exactly what you expect, the conclusion not so much - love it.

On a more technical part of the storytelling and choices made - love how Seo Ri did not adapt to modern time on day one. She kept the speaking mannerisms of Joseon till the end - even if it became less and less obvious. And how Se Gye was just okay with her weird behavior. For the longest time he did not know about her time travel, he just thought she was strange like that and vibed with it.

Sadly, the whole past storyline was a complete flop except for the opening scene in episode 1. Underdeveloped and honestly inconsequential for the modern story for most of the show. They went with "past is mimicking the present" and not "present is mimicking the past" and it completely changed the viewing experience.

Less of the drama flaw, more of a difference in perspectives, but I always feel so conflicted about this whole "scarifying yourself for the other person's life" plotlines... It's hard to call it selfish since the character is giving up so much, but also... it is by all means selfish. Because if they were in the position of the person "dying" they would not want their loved one to give up anything for them. So at the end of the day they are choosing what will be easier for them - give up what's important to you, save the person you love, instead of living alone with the guilt of them being gone. What the "saved" person wants and decides is not even part of the consideration. It’s a well known trope and plot development, so it’s not necessarily a dig against My Royal Nemesis alone, but I wish if the dramas decide to use it, they would present it in more depth, as a moral dilemma it is.

For the big plot twist of Seo Ri from the past actually being the original Seo Ri from the modern times - great idea, mixed execution. I wish they actually set up the existence of said twist better. For most of the drama, the majority of viewers did not even consider the possibility of the twist existing and for me that’s a bit of a failure for the storytelling. It means the twist was simply not set up, just revealed in its full glory when the timing was right. It felt more like a cope to give a happy ending, and not the well developed part of the plot.

I am also honestly shocked how much I loved the last episode. Even though I am 100% confused about the past storyline… I guess that past story has an open ending, we are not meant to know what happened to them. The little “flashback” is more of the imagined ending by the leads, and not a confirmed conclusion. Still, what a solid last episode. I am so used to being disappointed by the last episodes of the drama, I am shocked with my current level of enjoyment. Not gonna lie, the angst desperate era Se Gye went through was everything I needed in life. Seo Ri stepping up and matching Se Gye’s dedication was also something I kept craving to see. The bad guys being published, the good guys moving on with their lives. Loved the details like using the deepfake team from earlier episodes against Mun Do. Little moments that put a smile on my face.

We obviously, as always in any drama in existence, had a whole set of dumb choices from not caring for danger, misunderstandings, miscommunications, saying you will be honest with each other, to lie and hide shit next scene - the usual sins of kdramas. Things we slowly learn to accept, ignore and move on.

As for the performances - bless Im Ji Yeon and Heo Nam Jun. Will start with Heo Nam Jun since it will be shorter - this man knows how to act in love. There are some actors who are so good at showing love with their eyes and micro expressions I could easily be fooled to believe they actually love their co-stars.

As for Im Ji Yeon, this was an extremely hard role to deliver. She truly had to give us everything - tragedy, comedy, romance, mystery. She had to feel strong and imposing because of her Joseon back story, but also vulnerable and delicate because of her modern circumstances. The slow changes in her behavior, mannerisms, way of talking, moving, addressing people. Showing how the character slowly adapts to her situation while not losing the hints of the past life impact. She did not miss one beat, not one scene seemed off.

For the production - this is a typical case of good, but not memorable. Do I remember one moment that stood out because of the scenery, set design, editing, camera work? No. Be it in a good or bad way.

Side note, can we get a new hair stylist for Se Gye. Heo Nam Jun should have his hair either all up or all down - this weird side bangs… not it.

Overall, a really enjoyable watch. A lot of unexplored potential might be the reason I did not rate it higher. I was good, but it could have been great. There are some shows that exist for pure entertainment and nothing would fix the plot to make more than that. But I feel like a few changes here and there could make this drama great.

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When the jokes land but the feelings don’t.

How Dare You was so high on the entertainment value side, it kind of lost me on the emotional impact it could have potentially have. The comedy was easily the highlight of the whole drama, they did pretty good job with the romance (be warned, it is rather slow burn in terms of developing feelings and figuring them out), but with how much the characters had to go through it felt somehow emotionally empty.

Out of the two leads, I do believe Wang Cui Hua’s story was better written and delivered, mostly because it was far more simple, less impactful and with that, blended better into the overall silliness of the tone. Not to say the whole drama was completely emotionally flat, because that’s not true. One of the aspects I loved about it was the internal conflict the female lead had between knowing she is in a fictional world and nothing is real, and feeling emotionally connected and caring for the characters she interacted with, since they did feel real to her. I appreciated how we slowly witnessed the shift in her thinking and how far she is willing to go and use “people” around her, the longer she stayed in that story.

With that, I feel like overall the women were treated better here in terms of writing and development. Xie Yong Er became my favorite character of them all. The best character development and surprisingly consistent writing (with one “small” hiccup). Not gonna lie, there were moments when I wished she was the lead and her story was the center of it all. Maybe because her stakes felt higher than Wang Cui Hua and her plotline had more ups and downs, I was more invested.

As for male lead - his set up would fit better into a show without the “comedy” genre. It was way too traumatic and tragic for the “entertaining idiocy” here, it actually made me feel uncomfortable a few times. Mostly because many things that were extremely serious were shown as a background drop never to be fully addressed nor explored. Maybe I’m just a watcher that focuses and connects to characters too much, sometimes it overshadows the plot for me, but the constant sadness behind his eyes and the lack of proper elaboration on the source of it took away from the fun and comedy that the drama centered around. Still, this is for sure the best role I have seen Cheng Lei in - sad, tragic, silly, fun, sexy, domineering, soft, caring, unhinged, the role truly expected him to deliver everything, and everything he delivered.

Then we have the menace in two personas - Xiahou Bo and Empress Dowager aka probably the weakest part of the writing. Did they feel like a threat? Not really. Rather than being scared for the leads life and well-being, I felt more annoyed with the background shenanigans. At least Mommy Dearest was consistently stupid, but Xiahou Bo was turning his brain on and off whenever the plot needed it.

What was good though, was the supporting cast. The small support system the leads had gave a good feeling of found family trope. While I did not find the stakes concerning leads high, the supporting cast for sure gave me more anxiety about their well-being.

Plot wise, big props for making me question everything in terms of “who is whom, how much they know, and what reality are they from”. It was well crafted confusion and I appreciate that.

Sadly, I struggle with deciding how much of a silliness and illogical things and lack of explanation, convenient twists I can excuse by the plot happening in the trash cheap poorly written novel (as stated by the leads themselves). This seems a bit too much like a cope for me. “This smart character acted dumb this one time, because the writer of the original novel is dumb” is not exactly an excuse I can just accept and move on.

The music was great, but sometimes the placement was questionable. Why are we getting badass fight music during sad and emotional scenes?

Production was great, though for once I wish it was more simple especially in the make up department. Wang Chu Ran’s face was whiter than my white walls.

Overall, it was a fun watch, but I just wish it was more emotionally impactful.
And that ending was awfully crafted.

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