Kate

Thirty-nine is a slow paced, “eventless” drama that focuses on the characters and their relationships, when faced with a tragedy that cannot be stopped, while trying to keep their lives moving.

Honestly speaking, half way through the show I was not sure what exactly happened. Each episode was rather repetitive with just a few details changed here and there. I felt like the drama lacks focus, the core plot that would drive the characters forward. Rather, we had different stories for different characters that seemed separate in their tone.

While the drama does a really good job at presenting the friendship between the three female leads, I can’t do anything about being disappointed with the romance. Son Ye Jin and Yeon Woo Jin have little on screen chemistry, and their characters do not present an interesting dynamic to watch. Chan Young and Jin Seok’s situation is too over the top and makjang like for this type of a story. Joo Hee and Hyun Joon were the only pairing that worked well on screen, had great chemistry and a well built romance that was entertaining to follow, but with each episode, it got less and less screen time.

The disappointing love lines could be forgiven if they were not such an integral and important part of the plot, taking quite a portion of the screen time. Not to mention, realistically speaking, not every character needs a love line of their own.

Since the show tackles so many different issues, most of them are not explored enough. Some of the topics introduced are adoption (relationship between the child, biological parents and adoptive parents, views of the society on the adoptees, identity issues revolving around it), terminal illness (pain it causes the person who has it and their family/friends, accepting the inevitable, different choices concerning treatment or lack of it), emotional cheating and complicated romantic relationships, starting over with new passions and dreams at 39, and honestly speaking, probably more.

Even though the drama has three female leads, it’s a fact that Son Ye Jin stole all the spotlight. Jeon Mi Do’s portrayal of Jeong Chan Young did not leave any room for improvement, especially taking into consideration the complex situation the character was in.
While I enjoyed Kim Ji Hyun a lot, the character was written in a way that required less work. She did amazing with what was given for her, sadly she was often kept on the sidelines. Jang Joo Hee was there to fill the space as a 3rd friend. Which is a bummer, since the history of that character would perfectly fit into the story if utilized correctly.

The production was great, though the story telling itself could have been improved. Some essential information about the characters and their relationships could have been explored a little bit earlier - keeping me in the dark didn’t make me more curious about the plot, but rather frustrated me, since I did not understand the context of the events happening on screen. Another thing that kind of bothered me closer to the end of the show - they did not care about realism. Made sure everyone looks stunning and has full make up, not matter the circumstances the characters were going through.

The original songs, while truly good, were exactly what one would expect from a drama like that. None caught my attention, but they did fit the scenes they were played for.

Overall, it’s a really slow drama with a great beginning that loses the spark around the middle point. It had some great heartwarming moments, but a few gems cannot make this drama amazing. If only the middle part was as good as the last episode, which was truly a masterpiece.

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Noble intentions with lackluster execution.

Is tackling important issues enough to praise a drama? For me, no. The more serious topic we want to discuss, the more work and care should be put into creating the content.

Online bullying and harassment is dangerous, mostly because of two reasons: anonymity takes away responsibility, so people are not afraid to exaggerate their negative opinions, and lack of insight into the effects it has on the victim.

The show tried to convince me, it’s just a bunch of normal teenagers who made countless mistakes, because they were not aware of the negative impact their online behavior had. But it was not true. The Comments mixed online and off-line bullying, clearly showing these kids were aware of their actions, they just did not care about the victims.

The victims themselves were not exactly good people either, barely managed to be called gray, with the majority of them committing criminal acts and bullying others themselves. It made it impossible to connect to them on any emotional level.

The show completely missed the mark by the end, mixing different issues and situations that affected the main cast. Was it online bullying? Was it just bullying? Was it family problems? Was it depression? It never tried to show a full picture, but rather put the whole blame on one aspect. They were aware of the complexity, but they tried to direct our attention to just one thing.

That said, The Comments had quite a number of positive aspects. The cast did quite a good job in portraying the characters. Aye showed a whole range of emotions from happiness through the confusion, ending or anger and sadness.

The production value was also nice. They found quite a few ways of showing us the online activity, some emotional scenes were well accompanied with beautiful aesthetics.

Overall, I appreciate the effort, but I wish they tried a bit more to create a cohesive picture that well presents the dangers of the online world.

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Psychological drama with supernatural elements.

Judging by the poster, I expected horror. Checking the genres, I expected a suspense thriller. At the end - I did not get any of these. It's a well crafted and written psychological drama that uses the supernatural elements to tell the stories of two young girls, and how they confront their past and the mistakes that they made.

Detention serves as a commentary on youth's problems and how they and adults perceive and deal with them. We follow two different stories, set in different time periods, yet resembling each other a lot. Liu Yun Xiang and Fang Rui Xin try to work around the restrictive and outdated school system and the twisted mentality of the adults running it. Both girls had to face family and relationship problems that led them to take, at times really drastic measures.

I loved some characters (the list was really short though), and hated many. Not everyone got what they deserve. There are some triggering themes included in the show, so I would advise checking the tags before watching it. That said, they were presented in a quite realistic manner, showing them as something serious and not easy to deal with.

The production value seemed high. The show is shot in an interesting and aesthetically pleasing way. Some camera work choices perfectly complemented the writing and the plot points happening on the screen. I honestly do not remember any song or instrumental used in the series, but I am confident they were all fitting (would most likely remember if they weren't - one always remembers what they dislike).

The acting was believable and the delivery was ranging from good to great. I only had a problem with Wen Liang's dad. The acting was just quite robotic and not on par with the rest of the cast.

Overall, if someone looks for a horror or a thriller with fast paced plot and a lot of suspense - this ain't that. If someone wants to see an emotionally driven story with romantic elements, that comments on overwhelming pressure that is put on the female leads, family drama and struggling in a constricting environment, with some nicely done horror/supernatural elements (mostly in first and last episodes), then this is for you.

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Touching and heartbreaking stories ruined by business power struggle plotline.

Doctor Detective touches on the sensitive and controversial topic of industrial corruption and the focus of profit with disregard to the health and life of others. Sadly, it adds other plot lines, mixing the stories of everyday people with conflicts arising among the elites.

Honestly, with the heartbreaking cases of industrial accidents, negligence from the companies and the fight for justice done by UDC, why would anyone care about the power struggle of the higher-ups in the TL and the business politics? The TL side of the story should have been nothing more, nothing less than a background story of industrial corruption, without getting too into details about the specifics.

The cases that UDC deals with are based on real life events. At the end of the episodes we get epilogues that allow us to see the truth behind them - with footage, photos and interviews of the victims. Truly touching and sad stories, showing how much work still has to be put into bettering the laws.

The UDC team is quite perfect. We have the members who are driven and bring the spirits up, ones that use their wits and brain to solve problems, some that bring bits of happiness and jokes. Each and every one of them is unique in their own way, but together they make a perfect team.

On the other side, we have everyone related to TL and their fight for the attention of the CEO and future power over the company. And that's where the problem of the drama lies. There was nothing new, interesting, exciting about that plot line.

The acting was definitely amazing. Especially liked the high quality of skills from the supporting cast. The sadness, frustration, anger, fear... all these emotions that the victims felt had to be well presented, for the show to work out.

Overall, I would suggest watching the show while completely skipping TL scenes. The cases taken by UDC were interesting and knowing they were based on true events, adds to the value of presenting them.

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When you make your characters dumb because you have no other idea how to progress the plot. That's the story of this movie.

I just couldn't comprehend how stupid the characters were. They were making dumb decisions for the sake of plot and I could not take it. While in the second half I could excuse the wife and her odd behavior, her decisions in the first 30 minutes have no explanation. Min Ho was not better, probably worse. He knew his wife's condition, and mother's dementia. He was literally asking for trouble when he ignored the problem in the first place.

Last 30 minutes? Literally comedy. I did not laugh so bad in quite some time. Especially one mirror scene - it was gold. The intent was probably to scare me, but ain't with stuff like that. They just... went too far. I always say it with horrors: sometimes showing less is more.

The acting was really good. Especially impressed with Shin Rin Ah's performance. Truly chilling. I mean, it's not that hard to make kids seem creepy, but she was especially good at it.

The movie was shot in a beautiful way. Some editing could have been better, especially closer to the ending, but all in all the quality of the production was good.

Overall, the movie felt lazy. The idea behind it was entertaining and interesting, since I adore all the horror folklore based movies, but the presentation was quite... messy. And I don't even want to talk about that ending.

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The first half was tense and anxiety evoking, the second half was pure entertainment, the last 10 minutes were not to my liking and the last scene was perfect closure taking into consideration the theme of the movie.

The Witness dives into the exploration of Bystander Effect, a situation when individuals are less likely to help a victim or interfere in a situation when there are other people present. Why? Because they assume someone else will help, that there are others, who can take that responsibility on themselves. While Sang Hoon's actions were frustrating, they were also perfectly understandable. Everyone likes to think that if they were in a similar situation they would help. Let me enlighten you: you wouldn't. Most likely I wouldn't. It's easy to be a hero sitting safe in front of your laptop. That's why, even though the male lead's inaction has terrible consequences, I can't really condemn him for his weak and cowardly behavior.

That said, the creepiness and intensity the first half had slowly died, and the movie started to be more entertaining in nature. It wasn't just the killer lurking and hiding in the shadows anymore. The confrontation was approaching, but when it actually happened... It was lacking. I don't think they gave enough reasoning for Sang Hoon's behavior towards the end, but I kind of accepted it because... fun?

The performance of the cast was amazing. The paranoia in Sang Hoon and the desperation in Jae Yup were clearly visible. We haven't seen that much of Tae Ho, but that was the smart choice. The more of him we saw, the less intense and interesting the movie became.

Overall, it's a fun watch. Even though the first and second half give different quality and might even seem like parts of different movies, the ending scene quite well brings us back to the tense and eerie vibe we see at the beginning.

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I have 0.5 brain cell and this show was still too dumb for me.

I don't even know what to say about the plot. Nothing made sense. I am left with just questions. How did she even get into the university without applying? She took part in the tryouts, but no one knew who she was. How was she accepted? I am still confused why Bing Bing's prosopagnosia was shown as him having 3D filter vision blurred af. Or how she was curing him with kisses. Or how he was actually cured of prosopagnosia by having a mild concussion. Or how there were NO repercussions of her attending the university as a boy when she was a girl. Or how the prosopagnosia was not a problem to him unless the plot needed it like 4 times. Or how he could even play hockey with a shitty vision like that. Did the mom have DID? Her personality changed every 5 seconds...

Why does it feel like Fang Qiang Qiang and Fan Kan stole the script from a 9 years old child and pretended it's theirs? I just cannot comprehend how two adults could come up with it. Or they were drunk and wrote it in one evening as a joke, but then they saw $$ so decided to go with it.

That said, Darren Chen is good. He was the most adorable being ever. His acting was also amazing. Quite honestly, I finished the show ONLY for Bing Bing. All the butterflies I felt because of this pretty face. Damn.

Overall, the whole cast did a good job with acting, it's just the script that was painfully bad. It's obvious the writers and producers did not care at all for it to make any sense or even be close to reality. Consistency? Don't know her. Not even one google search has been done while writing and producing it.

One thing that this drama has though, is an amazing ost. I enjoyed a few songs, with Be There For You taking the crown.

I don't know guys. The last two episodes made me want to go and die. While the whole show was a mess I did find Bing Bing and Sang Tian cute and their interactions were fun. But the amount of frustration this show caused is unimaginable. If you are able to COMPLETELY turn off your brain and are in the mood for pure rom com, this will definitely satisfy you. My 0.5 brain cell was quaking with the level of bullshit presented. I'm thankful for Darren's pretty face. Dude is really something else.

As a closing statement, I will leave you with a question:
Why can no one stay truly single in romantic comedies?

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Character development worthy of a drama.

Easily the best season of Single’s Inferno, I even dare to say one of the best seasons of any Asian dating show. You had it all - fun characters, unique characters, annoying characters, hot, cute, smart, strong. You name it, they had it.

I do think a lot of pairings were rather obvious half way through, but the journey to get there had a lot of ups and downs. Be it caused by one and only “Mary Sue”, or personal indecisiveness, curiosity, lack of communication. If you wanted to map all the connections together, you get that “connecting dots” meme.

There were moments when I questioned the sanity of the people in the show, since their decision making skills were… interesting at best. Why did they choose it? Why did they say that? Why did they not explain? Why did they explain it this way? At times I felt like they are working hard to make their own lives harder. And it was so entertaining to watch.

What was best though were the MCs. That was probably one of the most honest commentaries I have seen in any dating show so far. You can clearly see when they are frustrated and annoyed, when they are happy or surprised. They criticize and question the contestants when they disagree with their choices. Their commentary simply did not feel as scripted as it usually does.

Overall, without giving any spoilers - worth watching. I was dropping everything to watch every episode as it aired. I liked the games they were playing - intense. I liked the switches between the “pairings”. I liked how unique everyone felt. Probably the best casting so far.

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Not easy to commit when you borderline force them to speed date in a week.

While a quick seven days of dating might work for a show like Single’s Inferno when the stakes for participants are low and we know they are here for exposure, to give such a little time to a group of people who actually need more space and time to consider their choices is weird. Women in their late 30s don’t really just jump to be in a non-serious relationship, it is a commitment and a week is not enough time to actually make it.

They settled on these seven days? Okay. Use them to the fullest. Give them opportunities to get to know each other in various ways. For example, make them chat through messages without showing their faces and pick dates based on that. We just saw a lot of first dates, but not much actual connection. It was mostly just frustrating to watch.

Only people who literally picked each other almost every time had a chance to get to know more about the other person. Everyone else was confused, and of course they were - they did not know each other much even after the seven days passed.

On the bright side - I actually enjoyed the panelists. Yes, sometimes their takes did not land in reality, but listening to their different perspectives was still a fun. Jang Woo Young impersonating Mu Jin was hilarious. I also appreciate how the “noonas” were actually much older than the guys. We knew early on that at least one age gap is 10+ years, but somehow I thought most people are closer to each other - maybe 5-7 years apart.

And here comes the best part of the whole production - casting Mu Jin. No idea where they found him, but this man is just too good to be true. I am honestly surprised all the women were not fighting over him.

On the other hand, the production failed with the location. I didn’t really like the house - I think the layout did not invite people to interact much. Guys were mostly sitting in their space, and girls were mostly sitting in theirs. Rather than women and men staying on different floors, they should have mixed it up so they would be forced to interact more.

Overall, I loved the idea, I liked the participants and the panelists, but the format just did not work. With the idea of potential conflict and issues that come with large age gaps, they should make sure they give all people involved more time to get to know each other, not less…

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Could have been a music video.

Honestly speaking, the story is so simple and the characters have no depth, this could easily fit into a five minutes music video.

Most of the enjoyment I felt came from the visual aspects of the movie - some scenes were truly beautiful. Sadly, this does not live up to my expectations as a movie spin-off of The Untamed, as it has no wits, silly undertones and comedy, nor the interesting characters. One would think making a spin-off would be a perfect way to explore the side characters and the lore of the created universe. I did not get it here.

It was just a really basic plot with predictable plots and conclusions. The cast did what they could, but the script was just too empty to make the movie exciting.

There is not much to say. In my opinion, this is a skip even for The Untamed fans. It did not bring anything to the table, except from improved special effects. Sadly, that’s not enough for me to enjoy a movie.

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Surprisingly inspiring - a watch for all the young (not exclusively) people. I appreciate how it shows the world is more than just your little bubble, there are many different opportunities, ideas, paths that one can take.

Mi Joo is a true entertainer - capable of turning any situation into a content worth the screen time given. Even if she made a lot of jokes during the filming, it was also obvious she put a lot of work into any task given. I especially liked the interaction between Mi Joo and PD, which brought that fun bickering dynamics that many find fun to watch.

We’ve got to see a huge variety of workplaces, skills and professions. They did what they could in a short format like that, but at times, I barely showed a tip of the iceberg of what goes into a specific work.

Overall, perfect short bits of both entertainment and some (realistically speaking not that much) educational content.

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How to ruin a good movie in 20 minutes.
How NOT to do superhero movies.
How to kill the joy of being alive for the viewers.

...
I was thinking for a few minutes about how to title this review. It was not easy, because technically I enjoyed more minutes in this movie than not. Sadly, the bad ones were... bad. I feel like the writers didn't know if they should keep the plot local and in a small area, or go wild. They tried both and it didn't work out.

I love me some good redemption stories. The fallen human being is trying to better himself, but here it felt a bit flat with an extremely (and I mean EXTREMELY) anticlimactic ending. I'm sorry dear writers, but you can't go "realism" on some parts, but disregard it on others and call it a day (and no, I'm not talking about his superpowers here).

There were many elements in the plot and some characters that were pretty useless and/or under explored. For example:
What was the point of Director Hong? She brought nothing to the movie. They could have simply kept it vague, who the big bad guy/girl is and don't waste time on scenes with her. Use that precious time to explore the father/daughter relationship more.

Why would you allow the media to be involved if the only purpose of it was to inform the main character about what is going on? Not following it by showing the public's reaction made it unrealistic. You want to tell me that a video of a man fighting police with his superpowers would not go viral? That other countries would not get involved? And it could be so easily fixed; make the bad guys "kill the press" by restricting anyone's access to the area where the confrontation took place.

With superhero movies you can either go big or give depth. If you go big - go silly about it, unrealistic, don't take yourself too seriously. Don't give a realistic ending - give a good ending. If you want to give the movie depth - keep it local with a smaller cast. Focus on the relationships between characters, not big fights and special effects. Tone down comedy a bit, make it more organic and natural. This movie tried to combine both of the approaches and it simply backfired.

At the end of the day, the comedy bits were the best. The ending was poorly written and made me annoyed. While I enjoyed watching for the most part, that last 20 minutes made me feel like all I have seen so far has no meaning and it was a waste of time.

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I was quite amazed how well all 3 main relationships worked and how I was almost never angry or annoyed by some ridiculous, easily explained drama.

Phana will come down in history as the best boyfriend. Find me another guy in BLs who asks for permission before he kisses, says they will wait until their partner is ready and then lets them decide when they will take the relationship further (if you know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), wants to talk and communicate with their partner about any situation that may cause misunderstandings, easily forgives mistakes, but first explain how they did hurt him, is not obsessed and possessive by not letting his partner hang out with other boys, understands that friends are as important to their partner as he is. The amount of times I screamed: YES MA MAN YOU DO IT RIGHT!

Not to mention Ben's acting, damn he good. He truly did look like he was deeply in love with his boi. I've got butterflies in my stomach just watching him look at Wayo.

Then we have the imperfect character of Wayo which makes the drama that much better. With how insecure he is, he creates the necessary tension and conflict that make the watching experience more entertaining. I wasn't sold on Earth acting tho. It wasn’t always natural and at times, his facial expressions felt exaggerated and over the top.

Ming and Kit... Another interesting dynamic - shy boy and a playboy. We saw it many times, but here it was a perfection. Ming was not portrayed as an asshole who cheats on his partners and parties all the time. He stays honest to his feelings and tries his best to not hurt others in the process of figuring stuff out. Kit needed someone persistent enough not to give up on him, because it took him some time to open up. I loved how they both learned how to accept each other.

Forth and Beam, my babies. They are the most different from all the previous couples. Their relationship literally sparks in one evening and then they have to figure out how to deal with what happened. Yet again, the key was communication. They were both honest about how they felt, even though they were not on the same page at first. But it helped them navigate and decide what kind of approach would be the best (or rather, it helped Forth decide how to go after Beam).

Can we talk about Park tho, because damn boi got me shook. He was literally just lurking in the shadows, showing up every few episodes causing just slight mayhem up until it all went to hell in the last episode. He was so hard to figure out and gave such an amazing creepy vibe.

Honorable mentions to: Cake for being the best girl ever. She was so amazingly relatable with her funny remarks (how she tried to hint to Ming's ex that he liked boys now, or how she reacted to guys being cute together and trying to cover it up in a natural way). Pretty gang too, such supportive friends! Willing to protect their boi Wayo from all the creeps around.

While some may say this drama was quite cringe, I'd say: that's what I love about it. Some lines were so ridiculous I started to anticipate more of them. It was simply fun and entertaining to watch. In my eyes, all BLs are more or less cringy and that's their charm.

Overall, I finished the whole show in one day/night. Was impressed how reasonable the majority of the characters were. The jokes were over the top, but somehow fitted perfectly into the type of storytelling presented.

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When I was younger, I found supernatural stories extremely scary. Now, as I grew older, home intrusion is far more terrifying for me; it's realistic.

The movie drops us into the plot from both the introduction scene and the first scene with our female lead. We have no time to adjust to the creepiness of it. The anxious feeling increases with every scene shot in that small apartment, making the viewer feel paranoid and claustrophobic.

Kyung Min is not exactly the smartest character ever. She makes many mistakes and jumps to conclusions too fast, but wouldn't that make her more relatable and realistic? That said, the lack of either fight or flight response in some scenes was quite frustrating to watch.

My biggest complain character wise: how lazy and dumb the detective was. The conclusions he came up with made no sense taking into consideration circumstances.

Plot wise, there were few moments that surprised me, small twists I did not see coming. I kept questioning and guessing who the mysterious man is, and always failed with my predictions, every character fitted the creep quite well.

Overall, it was quite an enjoyable movie. The pacing was good, though some work related scenes were not necessary since they did not bring anything new either character or plot wise. Adding some more sequences of the man "intruding" would be better, since these were the most atmospheric and well shot.

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By the end of the drama I hated the characters I loved at first, and loved the ones I hated with passion. And I definitely loved the drama enough to be excited for the second season.

The strongest points of this show are definitely the characters, filming sequences and the lack of CGI and the payoff we get in the last episode. I was amazed with how smart this drama was filmed. Instead of using mediocre special effects, they focused on conveying the special powers and how they work/manifest with creative angles, camera movements and lighting. They worked their magic and it truly enriched the viewing experience . This drama shows that sometimes “less is more” as long as you are smart and creative in your work.

I also appreciated the sci-fi vibe this drama had, from the design of specific scenes, grounding the special powers in the scientific biological changes and even the background music. It all made a coherent picture surrounded by a fitting atmosphere.

The pacing and the structure of the episode made it easy to get to know, relate and understand the characters themselves, but also slowly realize the bigger picture gradually presented. A good portion of the episodes was dedicated to exploring the stories of each specific member of The Gifted program, which made me think of a procedural crime show: one case (character) per episode with an overlying bigger plotline being entwined between them. This format definitely worked for the plot, sub-plots and characters' background, making it easy for me to immerse myself in the story.

The last episode was amazing. It had more plot twists than all the dramas I have ever watched combined. It made me cry from frustration and I did feel exhausted by the end of it, but it was all worth it.

Overall, it was an awesomely done drama with interesting characters and logical storyline. I did not have high expectations when I started watching it, but even if I did, I feel like this would exceed them anyway.

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