Kate

Too much drama, not enough variety.

In my eyes, season three repeats the same mistakes season two made. Everything felt scripted, even the jokes and fun interactions between the cast.

While in season two the plot presented at least seemed interesting, and separate cases were for sure fun to follow, here... I couldn't care less. The crimes were not exciting, the games were not entertaining. I was left with close to nothing.

I'm not gonna lie, there were moments when I could not stop laughing, but they were few and far between. More often than not I wished the episode would just end and I wanted to skip some scenes.

One thing that truly took me aback was the amount of violence in this season. Some in the form of jokes and some part of the plot. I get it, it's a crime driven show, but it does not mean we need to witness someone getting killed (mostly shot) outside of the investigation, aka the dead bodies that were the source of cases. Not to mention the recurring "slapping" joke. It was funny the first time, but after that, it was too much.

I still love the cast, some of their interactions were amazing, but the script was weak and the overall flow of the show depended too heavily on it. The best and most memorable moments for me would be the traveling between houses in the last episode. It felt organic, natural, funny and not painfully rehearsed and scripted.

Since there will be no season 4, I am truly confused why they included the last scene in episode 8. They wrapped it all up quite well, just to open a new door that will never be closed.

Unless someone is a big fan of the cast, I wouldn't really recommend watching it.

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A rare case where more jumpscares would benefit the movie.

It’s based on a really simple concept filled with really effective jumpscares, and then made it more complex and took away the majority of the potential jumpscares and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

I don’t think it gives me enough substance to see the potential depth and build that psychological horror of the situation and male lead’s real life circumstances, but since it also took away a lot of the typical horror elements, it also does not quite serve as a good horror movie. It balances between simple, but effective and complex and reflective and does not really hit a homerun in any direction.

If I had to guess? Analyze? I’d say the theme of the movie is dealing with regret and guilt. The loop is not just about checking for anomalies, but also about dealing with your inner struggles. Male lead regretted his hesitation after hearing the news from his ex-girlfriend, he regretted not helping the mother in the subway. He regretted his inaction. Hence the ending somehow makes sense for me. It’s left to various interpretations though, there is no clear cut idea what it means. And that’s kind of how the whole movie rolls - throwing stuff at you without explanation, things that feel related, but not quite. You kind of get the full picture, but not really.

Ninomiya Kazunari did a great job as Lost Man, but I have to say my favorite performance was Kochi Yamato as Walking Man. Be it for his creepy blank expression, or even creepier smile. Or his desperation and regret, fear, anger. Such a tiny bit of the plot, yet such an expressive performance.

To be honest I feel like the movie was both too annoying and not annoying enough. I should feel the frustration of the lead being stuck in the loop, but I don’t feel like he was stuck in it that long… The number of mistakes he made was minimal to what would be expected, knowing how minimal some anomalies are. At the same time I was so annoyed, because he kept lingering a bit too long in the corridor even after noticing the anomalies. What are you exactly waiting for? There is no new development going on - you see something off, you turn around right away. And yet this man was checking them all out as if he was in a haunted house in an amusement park.

It was a decent movie, maybe the issue were my expectations.

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“The TV station needs to use sweet moments between Nubsib and Aey to promote the series, so as to gain viewership.” aka the tale that exposes how even the people behind the BL industry know the quality of the content they create is not good enough to gain the viewers, so they can only rely on cheap tricks attracting delusional fans.

Lovely Writer had a great beginning and the end, with a rather mediocre middle part. Exploring the romantic relationship between Gene and Nubsib in the context of the BL industry was interesting, but the moment the focus moved from that to a childhood connection, it lost the appealing aspect that made me invested in the story.

Gene was also quite a frustrating character. One would think by episode 11 we would witness some character development, him standing up for himself, not being so easily swayed and manipulated. Sadly, that is exactly who he was till the end of the show.

Nubsib was rather one dimensional. Everything about him revolved around Gene. All his goals and motivations were related to Gene. Each decision he made was influenced by what he thought would get him closer to Gene. Sure, their scenes together were extremely cute, they were an adorable couple, but I always wish to see the characters not only as a part of a relationship, but also as their own individuals.

Many character developments happened in the last episode, and I was questioning where most of it came from? We had a 4 month time jump, so I guess all the self-reflection happened off-screen.

I have to say, after I picked this drama again, I started to appreciate the fakeness of Aey more. His “I’m fine, I’m not sad about Gene and Nubsib” live was truly iconic. Him trying to manipulate the situation left and right was simply entertaining to watch. He was the definition of a professional victim.

One thing I for sure appreciated was how the comments fans were making in the show truly reflected the nonsense some fans are saying in real life, for example “How can prime minister allow this” - I’m sorry, but what does prime minister has to do with 2 young gay dudes dating?

It’s nice to see a BL drama drag the problematic aspects of BL industry, even if the topic was addressed only at the beginning and the end of the show. Discrimination happening during the production, the lack of personal freedom for actors, the overbearing and intrusive delusional fans and many other issues that go even beyond the industry itself.

That said, some things missed the mark for me. Lines like “I might look gay, but I’m straight” - I get the good intentions, pointing out that liking feminine stuff does not make one gay, but framed in such a manner it suggest there is in fact something like “looking gay”.

The thing that bothered me the most was the introduction of the past/kids story. It was borderline inappropriate. While just the scenes did not really cross the line, how they were framed was a problem. Adding music typically associated with romantic scenes, Gene saying they will reignite their past affection (if they were not romantically involved, there would be nothing to reignite) and how salty he was simply because a child from his past did not show up to say goodbye. How Nubsib kept saying he was already in love with Gene back then. All that context made it borderline wrong. Gene was a teenager, Nubsib was a child - it did make me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Acting wise, Up delivered what he was asked to deliver and what the audience might want to see. I loved him in the role of Gene, even if at times I felt frustrated with the character. Kao… looked nice? For sure he can sell the confident flirty look, but sadly, I was not convinced by more emotional scenes. Overall, the whole cast did well. My favorite ones were definitely Up and Zorzo.

Overall, Lovely Writer has some amazing elements that were truly refreshing to see in BL. It falls back into some stereotypes and cliché bits, but at the end of the day, it was quite an enjoyable watch.

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Saying I did not have a good time watching this show would be a lie. It's also important to point out that my enjoyment did not come from amazing writing and excellent directing. The show is a mess, but that's why I liked it so much.

It's not the best opening for a series of dramas. Plot wise, we are just left with no answers and more questions than we can handle. As I was watching, I was waiting for the info and the lore, the whole background for the characters to be slowly explained. I wanted to understand the world presented, so when I decide to watch the next installments, I would have a grasp on the background and the relationships/connection between the characters and could fully focus on the plot. Nah... ain't gonna happen. There has been just too much info introduced, but not explored.

I definitely enjoyed some characters. Main lead, Wu Xie, had his dumb moments (quite a lot... probably more than the smart ones), but was still fun and easy to root for. Zhang Qi Ling is the biggest question mark of the show. We know nothing about him. He obviously, for some strange reason, cares for the ML, but it's never explained. I love his overdramatic emo ass and the fun fighting scenes.

Some characters annoyed me more than ever. Wang Pang Zi? Needs to chill. He was too unreasonable and awful with any type of social interactions. The more I saw him, the more I could not stand him.

The biggest problem (which by the end of the day became the reason I enjoyed the watch so much) was the lack of logic behind characters actions. I was just sitting in front of my laptop and asking myself: but why?, every time someone made some dumb or unrealistic decision.

The production value was... questionable at best, but docent in some scenes. Scenes heavy on CGI could make people cry though. Feel warned.

I think this is the case of a show that is bad and confusing, but that's what makes it an enjoyable ride. I truly loved the watch and it was simply a lot of fun. Since there was no point in figuring out what is happening and why characters do what they do, I could just focus on whatever mess was happening on screen and laugh about it. There is just something weirdly endearing about The Lost Tomb.

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I think I’m too old for a nonsense story like that.

The idea of this adult guy going back to school to take revenge on his old friend is quite unrealistic, to say the least. Maybe if I was able to turn off my brain as I was watching, I would enjoy it more. And if the characters were any better.

Kang Bok Soo - the underdog hero with amazing brains (but not really), and some unrealistically good investigation skills. Was Seung Ho cute? Sure. Was the character interesting? No.

Female lead? Amazingly useless. At first she was there to tip the scale and get the misfortune rolling in Bok Soo’s life. After that, she was nothing more than a love interest. Quite frankly, you could remove her character from the drama and not much would change. She is also a prime example why I believe sometimes chasing your dreams is not a good idea, especially when you ain’t that good at the activity. Keep it as a hobby, because at times, you, somehow achieving your dreams, might hurt people you interact with.

Se Ho was an interesting character, but even he failed me by the end, bringing no nuance to the plot. Not to mention his mother has been just your typical mother-villain.

I have to say, I enjoyed the supporting characters far more than any of the leads. My heart broke a few times for Park Dong Jun, I was rooting like crazy for Park Sung Woo, and I wanted to help Lee Chae Min.

The acting was overall good. I am not the biggest fan of Jo Bo Ah, since she kind of acts the same in all her roles. By the end, I was also a bit tired of Kim Yeo Jin’s overacting, but then I cannot be sure how much of it was her decision and how much was she instructed by the director to go for such a delivery of the lines.

The production value was good except for the makeup. I would put better make up on the cast. What was that weird brown smokey eye, they did on Kwak Dong Yeon? Why did Yoo Seung and Ho Jo Bo Ah’s lipstick look as if they had kept it on their lips for 10 years until their lips looked so chapped it pained me to look at them? Someone explain, because I do not understand...

As for the ending, I don’t think it was possible to make it more of a cliche.

I get that this show has some nice wholesome and heartwarming messages, but there are so many better school dramas with the same messages, I see no reason why anyone should try this one. I would recommend watching anything else.

Overall? It would probably be better if I left it on my drop list.

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I shouldn’t have liked it as much as I did. It’s truly not the top notch writing and the characters are quite frankly dumb. But the show has a weird excitement to it, I could not resist. It might be the result of a quite well balanced mix of genres: politics, military, mystery and corruption with action sequences on top.

So how were the plot and characters? The whole team is full of silly little potatoes. The decision making would probably be better and more logical if they flipped a coin. They were all supposed to be professionals and specialists in their fields, or at least close to being them. How could Son Ye Rim just walk around like it’s not a big deal after being exposed to an unknown substance? How come in such a small team so many people have ulterior motives that can at times endanger other team members? How come they truly do not care about any military regulations 90% of the time? I think them being such idiots added to the entertainment value. Who doesn’t like watching people make stupid decisions?

That said, even though the dumbassness was frustrating, I enjoyed the characters themselves. The dynamics were fun to watch and slowly discovering any potential connections kept me more focused on what is going on on the screen.

I appreciated how they didn’t dump a massive exposition in episode one explaining all the details, but they also didn’t leave me in the dark till the last moment. Clues, hints and puzzle pieces have been dropped throughout the show, slowly forming a whole picture. In the process I flipped from loving to hating to loving again many characters.

Let’s talk about CGI. Thank god the crazy dogs only happened at the beginning, because they were laughably bad. I always believed that sometimes not showing the monster is better than showing it with the use of shitty CGI. People are creative, they will fill the gaps.

The pacing was well done, I didn't really feel bored during any episode. Keeping them an hour long (compared to the 1 h 30 min. we get lately) and only 10 episodes was a wise choice. This plot is definitely not something that could have been successfully stretched to 16 episodes. The biggest flop was episode 3, which for some strange reason, did not follow linear storytelling, and we jumped around the timeline like crazy. This made little sense.

Overall, it’s not a smart show. I have no military knowledge, but some of the decisions that have been made were simply illogical, even for me. And yet, I liked it. For some strange reason. It was probably because of the characters and the cast. I wasn’t that interested in Dong Jin and Ye Rim, but all the rest truly caught my attention. A girl needs to appreciate the real stakes too, even though it was painful to watch and it broke my heart a few times.

Also, mad respect for including pictures of dogs with other actors in the end credits of the last episode. Let's all appreciate their hard work.

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Expected more bizarre horror.

After that synopsis I think I expected something more wacky. As someone who went into the lore clueless, with no prior knowledge of the source material, maybe my expectations were misplaced.

They dropped the masterpiece of popcorn with pigeons scenes so early on, everything that followed seemed so… mid. That said, the concept of the curse was extremely interesting - a curse that does not necessarily bring you pain and misfortune, but makes you actively avoid happiness.

The performances were great. Somehow even the overacted moments perfectly fitted whatever scene was happening on the screen.

For the production - while the movie looks stunning, I cannot move past the fact that at least partially the soundtrack was “composed” by AI.

Overall, I guess I expected more? It for sure leaned more towards slow paced dark fantasy, rather than exaggerated horror.

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So mid it’s actually painful.

This could have worked as a short movie - not longer than 40 minutes. There is just not enough to the story to justify 1 hour and 30 minutes.

I actually enjoyed the ritual scenes and the mechanics of getting the answers was quite creepy. This alone would be enough. But no, they always have to give a plot twist that is obvious from the start. They always need to make things unnecessarily complicated, when just a ghost ritual story that leads to scares is enough.

Everyone was to some extent annoying, I wanted everyone dead, but especially Park Ja Yeong - what a menace she was with her no facial expressions and obvious issues.

They did not even do the freaking ritual correct, not even once. Which made the ending senseless.

Overall, sad it was a full length movie, when it could have been a solid short one.

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How to be a bad parent - simple guide.

The way all the adults in this movie were truly awful and selfish - I failed to feel touched by any scenes, I was just fueled with frustration. No, I did not come out of this movie with a thought of how vulnerable deaf people are in society and how they need assistance (which alone is honestly borderline offensive), but rather - deaf people can be selfish and dumb too.

By all means Xiao Ma was a victim of his own demise. How many times can a person make the same extremely bad choice before we can stop feeling bad for them and accept they failed themselves? It's one thing when you once get scammed after trusting the wrong people. But to willingly do it over and over again, put yourself and your child in danger? Wild. He was just a bad parent. Not one choice he made was done for his daughter, but for his own selfish need to keep her next to him, not caring if it's beneficial for her or not.

The mother is not better. I do not care what was decided when the child was born - yeeting yourself out of their existence to randomly come back is never right. The way she did not try to slowly build a relationship with her daughter, gain her trust. Poor Mu Mu was forced into an extremely bad situation by both of her parents.

This movie left me with exactly zero positive emotions and thoughts. Every new development made me more angry.

That said, one thing Mumu delivers is the acting. What a performance from both Lay and Li Luo An. I am not going to pretend like I know sign language, but just from a visual standpoint, the characters did feel natural and fluent while using it - it never felt awkward. The emotions felt real and raw. If only the plot was better and the characters sucked less, I would probably cry alone just because of the emotional performances.

Visually speaking also no complaints. It's not outstanding, I cannot think of any memorable scenes in terms of shots and aesthetics, but I also cannot think of any bad aspects in that area of production. Directing and editing wise, I truly loved the "fighting, but pretending to party" scene in the beginning of the movie. It was adorable and it made me smile a little bit.

Overall, I'm just disappointed. The whole movie gives you the idea that deaf people are inherently victims to be made, naive and vulnerable and they need protection and support. When the truth is the majority of the issues male lead faced had nothing to do with him being deaf, but with him being dumb and selfish.

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Impressive level of blandness.

There isn’t anything wrong with the drama, but there is nothing truly right? No highs, no lows, nothing to truly grab my attention. Such a smooth flight, one might actually fall asleep.

I loved the idea behind the drama - seeing different professions that are related to airports. Usually we see the “glamorous lives” of flight attendants and pilots, but here we saw a greeted variety of jobs. So how come it did not work out?

I think the biggest issue was how all the issues and conflicts got resolved within five minutes of screen time. There was no suspense, no stakes. What’s more, while I understand they wanted to stay true to reality, sometimes cutting short the realistic depiction of procedures is not a bad thing - at the end of the day I am watching a drama, not a manual.

I did like all the characters, but I also disliked how most of them did not need any character development. They were smart, great, kind, and the “bad traits” were simply miscommunication. Nothing to work on. And because of that Kawahara Kasumi became my favorite character - she was the most dynamic in writing - both in external presentation and internal growth.

The production was fine. As most things in the drama. But fine is such a mid level of entertainment.

One thing to appreciate was for sure the acting. The whole cast did an amazing job.

Overall, I will probably forget this drama exists in a month.

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By the end I was filled with a feeling of emptiness…

And I honestly do not know how to explain what it means. I just wanted to feel a little bit more, understand the characters a little bit better, connect to the story a little bit deeper, but it all stopped right before it hit the spot.

How to put it… every new revelation made me disconnect from the plot more and more. Soramame started as an amazing and relatable character, but then was stripped from that mundane context that made me love her so much. Oto stayed frustratingly consistent throughout the show, but by the end some of his choices just made me roll my eyes - why so dramatic? Why can’t you act like a normal adult?

While I enjoyed the mutual pining and I have no issue with slow pace plots, the fact they were able to build misunderstanding on already existing misunderstanding was one step too far. The story focusing on chasing their dreams also lost its charm the moment we found out both leads some really unique skills that most people do not have. Not exactly motivational storytelling if you ask me.

I liked the show a lot, but I also liked it a little bit less with each episode I watched, and by episode 10 I had too many conflicting feelings about it.

Writing aside, the acting was great. I loved how the whole cast was able to deliver such unique and vibrant characters in such an approachable way. Hirose Suzu did an amazing job especially during the more emotional scenes. With that performance you can truly relate to the saying sometimes some of the happiest people are hurting the most.

Directing and editing was great. Loved all the shots during the sunset/dusk and how warm the tones were during them. The set designs were also to die for, made me want to live in the house with the leads, enjoying each day and anticipating what the next one will bring.

Overall, it was an enjoyable drama, but I cannot stop myself from feeling like something was missing.

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I’m kind of amazed. To make such a fun concept into such a boring movie - that’s a skill. It could easily be an easy to digest mix of different short ghost stories based on the new “stigmatized property” the male lead moves in. Why was it not just that?

It became this weird mix of horror, slice of life about unfulfilled dreams and mellow romance. And nothing matched well together. I understand that they needed to set up a proper motivation for Yamano Yamame to even move into these problematic houses, but so much focus on these failed dreams was not needed - it made the initial exposition too long and too boring.

Then we have the romantic undertones between Yamame and Azusa and honey, no one watches horrors for romance. Not one person. It never happened. It’s unnecessary.

And the worst aspect? No development nor closure for any of the actual ghost cases. The actual screen time they spent in these “hunted” locations is laughably short.

The worst crime though? Nao’s acting. She truly needs to tone it down. I have not seen someone this animated and over the top in a horror movie in a while. Girl was determined to use every muscle on her face in every scary shot, even if barely anything was happening to validate such a strong reaction.

Overall, poorly constructed plot, decent editing, mediocre directing, questionable acting.

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One too many twists.

Honestly speaking, I don’t even think the story was bad. the directing though, missed a lot of basic elements.

The scenes simply do not transition in a smooth way. Everything feels so out of place. Random private naked yoga classes turned into kamasutra scenes, a random detective story, which technically makes sense (people are dying after all), but never matches well with the main story. It honestly felt like they stitched scenes together without actually taking into consideration if they create a cohesive picture and explain the story well.

By the end of the movie they present one too many twists so rather than an interesting (though slightly overused) turn of events, it all becomes confusing.

The acting was bad. Lee Chae Young easily did the best, but all the rest of the cast was questionable at best. Felt like the actresses were cast for their bodies and not their acting skills.

Overall, skip, don’t bother watching.
(more about the directing fail in the comment below)

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I honestly feel bad about rating it so low, since it had quite a few enjoyable elements and the first half was exactly what I always look for in Tomb dramas, but there were a few too many flaws that I just cannot ignore.

Starting from the things I liked.
Iron Triangle as one of the best trios ever created. A typical case of characters representing a heart, body and brain, but it never felt limiting in how they were interacting with each other. All of their scenes together were easily the best in the whole show.

Likable female characters with their own goals and ideas. We all know how limited in that aspect are Tomb dramas. Here we got a variety of women with unique personalities and perspectives.

The acting was great. I think Chen Ming Hao is my favorite Wang Pang Zi at the moment. This character is always hit or miss - I either like them, or hate them. Here, he was probably one of my favorites.

Another positive thing was proper lighting. Big props to the team for making the caves/warehouses/underwater scenes look dim, but not ridiculously dark when the viewers can’t see anything. A few more candles or flashlights as the light source is all it takes for the viewers to not question how bright some places might look. The whole production quality was great - the set designs, costumes (excluding Glasses, I just cannot deal with that outfit), camera angles - all working well to create nice pictures.

To the less enjoyable things.
First and second half of the show felt like completely different dramas. Not only did the plot seem too loosely connected, the main cast completely changed. We literally cut from the show the characters we followed at first.

While I appreciate the female characters, I am also a bit sad how all of them were put in the context of being romantic interests. No one watches the Tomb series for romance, this is really unnecessary.

Second half was painfully repetitive and failed to make me care about the plot progression and even the characters safety. I am sorry, but how many times can I watch Wuxie do exactly the same thing over and over again in more or less the same manner in a boring environment, surrounded by barely established characters?

Wuxie being sick. Oh god, too many times it felt like watching a wuxia with male lead being poisoned and coughing blood - so dramatic for no reason, because we all know he is not going to die. My issue was how they presented it as something dangerous, but it never felt really limiting. All the potential issues always showed up after he was done with whatever task he had to accomplish.

While I do believe everyone in the cast did an amazing job, I am also a bit bored with Zhu Yi Long (don’t kill me). There is not enough variety in the roles he takes and his portrayal of them. Sure, I only saw a few of his dramas, but it always feels like a similar character just put in a different context.

Overall, it was not bad, but felt too “all over the place”.

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Philosophical flick with questionable details.

Jung_E is great as a starter for some interesting conversations, but it does not really dive too deep into the topics itself. What could have been a great movie that ends on a question mark, became a bit too mindless and random closer to the end, trying to give a “reasonable” ending that lacks reason.

What worked? It opened the door for many interesting topics to be explored and reflected on - what is free will, can you put a price on it, what makes us human. What I appreciated the most, even though it was not the focus part of the plot, was the conversation about human rights, and how much does it cost to have them - since, even though on less “dramatic” and smaller scale, it’s a sad reality we live in right now.

The acting - amazing. I wanted to hug Jung Yi, slap Sang Hoon and both hug and slap Seo Hyun. Kang Soo Yeon did an amazing job at showing all the strong, but concealed emotions the character felt. Kim Hyun Joo’s performance was simply raw and I loved every second of it - well, every second the character actually showed emotions.

Jung_E was also a visual feast. I am one to always complain about CGI, but here they truly ace it. The robots looked greeted, the CGI created environments were amazing, the blend of special and practical effects was perfect.

All the scenes that focused on the morality of the whole scenario were wonderful. Every time they focused more on the philosophical and psychological aspect of it - great, and I wish the movie kept that going till the end. But no, we need some brainless fighting scenes at the end, because they had to flex special effects. Last 20 minutes truly made so little sense the movie went from 9 to 7.5.

Then we have Kim Sang Hoon and how painfully underdeveloped and underused he was. This character had such a potential to present so much depth. The set up was perfect, the potential emotional reaction could have been great, the dilemma he could have felt. What did the writer do? Said “screw it and put it in the trash” as they delivered some of the most random development for this character, that they tried to justify with one line of dialogue…

I also wish they explored some of the rules a little bit more. They gave a few lines and hints how the world works, but I wanted more to make it more believable. Some small details just don’t make much sense to me, the longer I think about them.

That said, it was still a truly enjoyable watch. First hour I was just glued to the screen. I am a bit biased, because I love the topics concerning free will, ethics and morality. It was a rather slow paced, character focused story that tackled a few too many issues while also trying to entertain people with the unnecessary action.

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