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The ultimate sweet romance.
You think you saw unproblematic, cute, heartwarming and wholesome dramas? Let me tell you, none comes even close to Hidden Love. It’s an ultimate sweet romance.Easily the best aspect of the show was how natural and real everything felt, and I’m not talking about just the romance. The relationship between the siblings? Exactly how it usually looks like in real life. The friendships? Hilarious and relatable - both for guys and the girls. How people act when they are drunk, sick, sad, happy, shy, excited - both the way it was written and then performed was just… natural, and that’s the best compliment a drama can get.
Still, the highlight, the core, the true beauty of Hidden Love was the blooming romance between Sang Zhi and Duan Jia Xiu. What started as a teen crush, turned into one of the most healthy and balanced relationships I have seen in any drama ever. Getting into the show I was afraid how they would handle the age gap. 5 years is not much, but it is not little considering the age Sang Zhi was. The writer did not disappoint.
What I loved the most about the relationship was the fact I could see true partnership between the leads. It was not an older guy just taking care of a younger girl sacrificing everything for her happiness. They also did not make Sang Zhi this unrealistically mature, 20 acting 30. They became each other's emotional support, they handled issues in a mature way while still believably presenting characters in their early and mid twenties. They also delivered some good kissing scenes, no fishes to be found on set ;)
And you know what’s great? The leads were amazing as a couple, but they were also great as their own individuals! While there were moments I found Sang Zhi’s behavior too sweet for my taste, it’s simply impossible not to love her. She was emotionally strong, empathic, driven and supportive. Then we have Duan Jia Xu - honestly too good to be real, and that makes me feel depressed. Good natured, patient, protective. But I also appreciated his own arc and the depiction of the loneliness he was facing.
What’s more to love? The sibling dynamics between Sang Zhi and Sang Yan. I’ve got both comedic and touching scenes. Yes, they might have fought a lot, but they also cared for each other deeply. And honestly? The bickering scenes between them were some of my favorite moments in the drama.
One thing that caught my attention production wise were the outfits picked for the characters. Not only did I love the slight couple matches Sang Zhi and Duan Jia Xu were wearing (even before they became a couple, their colors always matched), I also literally wanted to steal the whole wardrobe from Sang Zhi.
The acting from the whole case was so good it got me jealous watching. Jelly for the romance, the friendship, the family dynamics. It all seemed so real and so wholesome. I knew Chen Zhe Yuan is a good actor after watching Our Secret, but he was so much better in Hidden Love (even though I did not think it’s possible). Zhao Lu Si's little mannerism added to the realism of the character she was portraying and I could not stop smiling while watching her performance.
Anything I did not enjoy? Not that into the “debtor” story, or rather the closure it got. With how serious it was introduced, I expected something more to happen for it to end. I was also completely not interested in a love story of one of Sang Zhi’s roommates.
Overall, for modern romance fans, this is a golden standard. I’m extremely pleased I’m ending 2023 with this drama. Nothing better than entering the new year with a new found crippling loneliness after seeing the most perfect couple in dramas history.
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Simplistic symbolism and how being a teenager is actually hard.
A rare case when my brain sees all the flaws, but my heart says: I don’t care. The whole show has a great juvenile charm to it, and the sloppy storytelling and in your face symbolism just adds to it. Sure, I strongly believe that with a few different directing choices this could easily become one of the best BL shows up to date, but even as it is right now, it’s truly enjoyable.Yes, the setup on the surface is painfully stupid. We are sold the story of this abusive authoritarian school and students fighting for their rights, but what is presented is 3 students not wanting to wear uniforms. Is it that simple? No. It was never about uniforms, it was about self expression and more accurately sexuality.
The uniforms and the rules were supposed to represent the norm in terms of sexuality. Following the rules in school meant following social norms. Suppressing your sexuality to fit with what was established and deemed as "normal". The whole show is a commentary on the conservative and outdated ideas and how they harm the youth. It’s a great subject with a idea on how to present it, but not as good of an execution.
The storytelling was not detailed enough. We are presented with a wall of rules that were established, yet we actually know about only two. What are the others? No idea. What consequences are the students facing if they break the rules? No idea. There is the curse, but that’s it. Where are the parents? The whole adult side of the show is ridiculously unbelievable.
On the other hand, it made perfect sense why the teens were being “overdramatic” - they are teens. Suppression of individuality at the time when it's most crucial to figure yourself out is not really a small thing. The Eclipse did a great job to make me sympathize with the issues these kids were facing and how big of an impact it has on them. From the point of view of an adult, my initial reaction was: why are they so dramatic? Just be patient for the next few months, graduate and move on. But that type of thinking is the issue - if they are told to follow the rules and not question anything now, how will they learn to fight for their rights later? Their actions as teens will shape their behavior, motivations, personalities later on. Nothing really changes as you grow up. First you are told to do what your teachers say, later you are told to listen to your professors. Then you need to follow your bosses instructions. That’s why it’s so important for the youth to ask questions, debate, reflect on the problems and issues and not just do what adults tell them.
For the characters, the leads were phenomenal - both in the writing and portrayal. Seeking validation and purpose. Sticking to the role one obsesses over, because it feels like it's the only thing that defines who we are. The fear of being seen as disappointment. The drama also touches on the subjects of depression and suicide. How we should not judge one’s struggles based on our own standards. How we should be patient with others, because we cannot know and truly understand what they are going through.
What I appreciated the most was the takes on coming out and accepting your sexuality. It’s not the “I don’t like guys, I only like you”. It’s not “everyone is either gay or loves gay”. None of the unrealistic scenarios here. It often takes time to figure yourself out, it takes time to accept what you find, it takes time to then admit it to others. In that aspect I could not like the relationship between Akk and Ayan more. Not to mention one of the best on screen chemistry I have seen in ages.
For the acting, I've been a fan of Khaotung for some time. Realistically speaking, he is one of the best that Thai BLs can offer. I rewatched some scenes simply because of his performance. Thank god First was cast as his co-star, also delivering a solid portrayal.
Production wise I don’t really have complaints. I think some of the setup and directing ideas were too big for the production team, which led to a few questionable and ridiculous takes, but damn the show was pretty.
Overall, I liked it a lot. Yes, the setup and the way they decided to present some serious issues was questionable, but I still believe it was better than the majority of BLs out there. The biggest problem was the transition from rules at school being the issues, to how they relate to the overall social norms and homophobia - it was too jarring. You get the idea behind it all, but you still feel like it’s a bit too disconnected from each other.
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“It hurts because you seem so comfortable leaning back into sadness.”
Butterfly instead of white rabbit, magician instead of Mad Hatter, magical world and a lot of unresolved emotional trauma - get ready for it all. The Sound of Magic delivers both the enticing fantasy and the harsh reality.A lot of the things I liked about it, the details in the created world, were the result of the hard work of the webtoon writer Ha Il Kwon. The best examples are the names of the main characters - 아이 (child), 일등 (first; if we add his surname to the mix, it would literally mean I am first) that represent the internal conflicts the characters were facing. Seems on the nose? Maybe, but it fits the story and the approach they took with presenting it.
Ai was forced to grow up fast because of her family situation. Her dreams, hopes, wishes were all focusing on gaining money, as she believed being poor was the reason for her misery. She viewed every situation in her life from the perspective of her financial situation. She did not want to believe in magic, since for her, magic symbolizes hope for better life. All the good things end, like waking up from a beautiful dream, so why even start when you are deemed to be disappointed at the end, when you are back to unfair reality?
Ildeung follows the path his parents picked, doing his best to stay at the top. This takes a toll on his mind and his body. He realizes how trapped he was, yet he wasn’t sure if he is brave enough to stop chasing after the future his parents chose, and try to find his own path. His whole arc was built on small things that might seem like non existing issues, but in reality can take away your sense of individuality and self-worth: things like his dad not calling him by his name, but “Na Jin Man’s boy” - first he is his parents’ son, then he is himself.
Both main characters do not know how to be happy, feel free, make personal choices, act like children their age. And this is the story of them slowly freeing themselves from the cages they were locked in.
It’s hard to talk about Ji Chang Wook’s character without diving into spoilers, since we are mostly kept in the dark about who he is and his past till the end. That adds to the thrills though, creating that mystical and magical aura around him, making the viewers question if the magic is real till the last moment. I was invested in the simple question: who is this magician?
What I also liked about the show is how it spoke about the faults in adults while also not truly making the adults into villains (mostly). Some of them were annoying, sometimes acted unfair or selfish, but most of them were not evil, they were just humans.
The performance from the cast was great. Yes, some movements and facial expressions during the musical numbers were rather cringe and awkward, but it happened only a few times. I was quite surprised by all the emotional scenes, since they all hit me hard (yes, I cried), especially any scene with Ji Chang Wook in the second half - been a while since I enjoyed his performance so much.
Visually they did more than I ever expected. A few times the special effects, especially in terms of the motion, were slightly off, but nothing that would take away from the stunning pictures created.
A lot of the songs had stage-like performances that just sucked me in and I could not take my eyes off it. The A Curse of Asphalt scene was especially breathtaking, even though compared to some other songs, it had a more simple approach. Yet, with how instrumental, lyrics, vocals, visuals, set design, arrangement, all fitted perfectly like puzzle pieces, this song became my favorite performance.
Were the musical aspects all that perfect? No. Some songs just felt awkward with how they were placed in the story, at times feeling unnecessary. I understand why it became a musical-like drama, some lyrics had a really strong message and the performance features added to it - which would not be possible to achieve with simple dialogue. That said, at times I would skip a song or two as they felt redundant at that specific moment.
Speaking of music - all the instrumentals are to die for. Some melodies reminded me of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland movie (2010) - which fitted the theme perfectly. Even the sound design at times surprised me - taking into consideration the place the songs were sung in and mixing the vocals according to it.
Overall, I truly enjoyed it a lot. Had some questionable choices, acting and directing wise, but I still believe it’s a solid drama. While at first I was not sure about making it into a semi-musical, after seeing all the episodes, I understand the value that was added with some numbers and I appreciate the rather bold move they took with it (let’s get real, musicals are not exactly a mainstream genre loved by all). Ending review with a quote that I loved:
“Flowers don’t bloom on smooth asphalt, but on bumpy dirt”.
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Mediocre male characters that still somehow made the fans fight.
For a drama that on the surface, on paper seems to present many interesting issues, fun plotlines, entertaining characters - this was a massive fail. With all that was technically going on in the drama, the fact that “which male character should the female lead end up with” was the hottest topic among the viewers shows how unengaging everything was.Here’s the thing, I actually enjoyed it at first. Do Hae Yi was refreshingly bubbly and shameless about her love for money. Her enthusiasm and energy seemed realistic and fun. Loved her interactions with all the characters and was curious about a potential character development and possible change of priorities in her life (or at least some adjustments). For the most part her character was painfully stagnant, just to start hiding things and being less straightforward in the later episodes. They tried to fix that in last few episodes, but it was too little too late.
Characters wise, it felt like a huge waste of initial set up. More or less none of the characters got any development. They started and finished on the same note. We got some small changes of personalities in some side characters, but the mains were completely forgotten. The writers suddenly remembered they should do something about the main cast in the last two episodes, so everything felt rushed.
I knew we would get a typical love triangle, but with the addition of the mystery, I thought this would actually be an interesting watch. How wrong I was. The love triangle was painful to watch, since none of the male leads was that good or interesting. One, while interesting as a character and having quite a well built story around him, had an unhealthy obsession over Hae Yi. The other had the personality of a white wall and no depth, which made him simply uninteresting. Can believe we all had arguments about these basic boys in the comment section. It did have a great set of supporting characters though.
I honestly don’t want to even talk about the mystery aspect. It went from tense unknown, to barely existing, to murder thriller levels of ridiculousness. The culprit was a clown and their reveal made most of the audience question the writers’ choices. I never felt less interested in the “bad guy” reveal and the fact we had to wait so long to get any answers about the motive added to the issue.
An aspect I actually truly loved about the show were female friendships and support. There were no unnecessary catfights, no random jealousy - far more support, understanding and encouraging each other. Especially from Hae Yi and Sun Ja, and Choon Yang and Jin Hee. Honestly, I would not mind if they put more focus and gave more screen time for the mothers.
On a completely subjective note, one of my side ships failed and it made me sad. The potential behind that couple was amazing, and it was dropped for the more obvious and less complex one.
I did enjoy Han Ji Hyun’s performance. She was the only memorable part of the show. Making such an exciting, hype and enthusiastic character still feel realistic and not cartoonish couldn’t be an easy job, but she was able to achieve a believable result. Yes, the character was annoying in the second half, but that’s on the writing not the acting.
Another performance that caught my attention was Baek Ji Won as Hwang Jin Hee - Sun Ho’s mom. Her comedic addition had an underlying sadness and desperation to it, and I loved that this complexity was shown even in the limited screen time.
As for Bae In Hyuk - oh boy. I feel bad for him. He is not a bad actor, but anyone who watched Cheer Up would probably assume he is. I honestly believe the issue was the writing of Jungwoo and not the acting itself. Portraying a character that is so poorly written is just extremely hard.
Production value was high, but what’s the point when the story was not?
Overall, the show did not really deliver the cheers, nor the romance, nor the mystery. The friendship between Do Hae Yi and Joo Sun Ja was amazing and one of the limited saving graces of the show.
The show just left me frustrated. It had great potential to be a fun, light teen drama about coming of age, building friendship, learning how to give and receive help. How to believe in yourself, but also believe in people around you. And yet they wasted a good 80% of the time on useless, boring love triangles and mess of a bullshit mystery.
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30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii
22 people found this review helpful
Adachi does not see much value in himself. He compliments and admires other characters' traits he himself also has. He is smart, nice, polite and hardworking, but if you asked him, he would deny it. With his newly discovered magic powers of reading minds (who knew getting bitten by a radioactive spider is outdated, and staying a virgin is a new way of gaining that superhero title), he slowly, but steadily starts to see how others view him as a worker, friend, or love interest. It’s quite interesting to see how, only by internally being faced with others unfiltered thoughts, Adachi gains the courage and confidence.
Kurosawa, damn boi. The wrinkles killed me. You are reading a review written by a ghost. That smile could stop a war. Not gonna lie though, I did find him creepy at first. But when you accept the fact we also say a lot of over the top and weird shit in our minds, to never be spoken out loud, he is kind of relatable. I truly appreciated how, even though he truly liked Adachi, he didn’t want to force anything on him. He was fine with just being his friend and supporting him. He also struggled with some internal issues that are a focus of one episode. Thanks to that, we can see him in a different light, that makes him that more charming.
I wasn’t crazy about the 2nd couple. Wataya Minato looks 16 at best and Tsuge Masato looks older than any other character (though we know he is 30). The comical and over the top behavior just didn’t click right with me. Not to say Asaka Kodai is a bad actor, he aced that over the top act. It’s just not something that I enjoy in shows.
The acting overall was top notch. Akaso Eiji truly portrayed the confused and low self esteem Adachi well, and love was literally radiating from my screen every time Machida Keita showed up. His facial expressions were so on point, I had to rewatch many scenes, just because I was so amazed by his skill.
The show itself is more than just a rom-com. It touches on issues like self love and self esteem, prejudices, standards forced by society that some might not want to follow and the idea of following and giving up on your dreams.
Why not 10? I have to say, the last episode was quite disappointing. I felt like the events that happened in episode 11 were barely addressed, the explanations given were just easy ways out of the complex situation. Not to mention the last scene, that should just not exist in the first place. It just showed the limits of what actors could have done, set either by themselves or their agencies.
Overall, it was an extremely good watch. I went crazy over Kurosawa because he is the best boi on the planet and I would fight anyone on that. No doubt I will rewatch the series (I’m writing it as if I haven’t rewatch all the eps every week already) and enjoy everyone’s performance.
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Fun, exciting, engaging and entertaining - just a bit diluted.
I would be lying if I said I did not have a fun time watching. So Hee was as unique as always, Ji Yeon as crazy and Ji Gu as grumpy. Their friendship was still the best and strongest part of the whole show (till one specific scene). Compared to season one, it also focused on them outside of their friendship, so we’ve got less group drinking moments, but instead could see them interact with other people more.One thing I liked was the fact Kang Buk Gu did not really feel like the main character. I don’t think he had more scenes or importance than for example Kim Sun Jong, which I don’t complain about since he was never a character I looked for while watching the episodes even in season 1. It might be something that others dislike though.
The issue I had with this season is how disjointed it felt. First two episodes don’t fit into the timeline at all and while I understand they had to give a proper closure to the events from season 1, I am not sure they handled it in the best way storytelling wise. And the similar “individual stories not quite connecting together” feeling lasted for the whole duration of the show.
Some episodes were truly great, some were nice, some were not memorable at all. The quality fluctuated a lot. As a whole it was less funny, less moving and less entertaining. It’s still a great drama though, far above the majority of comedy shows. It just pales in comparison to season 1.
The arc this time was them as individual people learning how dependable they are on each other, and how it does not always have positive effects. I understand it on paper, but I think it was not quite well presented in the show itself.
Then, there was one side plotline that was the biggest issue for me. Without giving any spoilers of what happened, the events just made me question why these 3 girls are even friends and how did this friendship last so long. We got an unsatisfying conclusion to an extremely complex problem. The writing of this one side plot was so bad, I actually lost any interest in ever rewatching season 1 and 2. I just cannot see the friendship in the same light anymore (more about it in a comment below).
Performances were amazing - great continuation of the phenomenal deliveries from previous season. It truly feels as if the actresses were born to take these roles.
Overall, you can sense that this season is different and I think the change of the director is obvious. Personally I preferred how Kim Jung Shik handled the story. Season 1 was my first 10 in 2 years. While season 2, while I don’t regret watching, I would not exactly recommend others to check out.
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This review may contain spoilers
That awkward quality I kind of liked.
I don’t know how to verbalize my feelings about this show. It’s not good - it’s drowning in awkwardness. The set design at times looks awkward, the acting seems awkward, the writing is awkward and so is the directing. Somehow, that awkwardness was strangely charming? I feel like I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons.For a short show like that, it tries to tackle a bit too many issues and ideas. Stalking, unreciprocated feelings, coming out. I appreciate the more serious takes - it’s hard to be a female, because there will always be a creep with weird ideas. Gossips about your sexuality can be harmful and scary, especially if you are still figuring things out. All that was there, but just surface level type of a deal. Still, with a lot of, if now most BLs being “everyone if either gay or loves gays”, this show being just slightly less pink colored glasses view was nice, even if barely explored.
The thing I like the most about this show is how dramatic and over the top about the most basic things RoA was. Him being all “you have no right to worry about Ji Woo” when talking to Yu Na. Damn boy, she is his friend, she has the right. Or when he did not even let Ji Woo confess his feelings with his “you might never get another chance of someone you like confessing their feelings to you”... what, is he going to die the next day? Does he have one chance in life to be in a relationship, and if he passes it, that’s a done deal - he stays single till the end of his days? Where was the logic? Why so dramatic? They did not set up ANY reason for him to reject Ji Woo… it just came out of nowhere.
When he dropped the “He had to suffer like that. It’s all because of me” I turned into a question mark. What the heck is this child talking about? What suffering? How were you the cause of said non-existing, completely made up by your imagination suffering? People gossiped for like two days, long term no one cared. Not one person. And then he went “He’s in pain because of me” SURE HE IS, BECAUSE YOU REJECTED HIM! The poor boy has a broken heart. I literally cried from laughing when he started to say Ji Woo’s feelings for him are just an illusion. My dude, you are the one creating issues and problems for yourself that have no place in reality and never happened. That whole scene was just a gold unintentional comedy.
Not to mention how he left school all dramatic, last month before the semester ends, when he literally had just that semester left to graduate. What an emo kid move, I have to appreciate it.
The side romance between the student and the teacher got me wheezing. It’s not like it’s wrong - she is an adult after all, he is her teacher for just one class for one semester. It was just so painfully awkward, because this guy here teaches about relationships, love, romance, family, and yet he can’t handle one female student having a crush on him, looking so awkward. Especially in the last episode, I died a little bit during their scene.
It’s hard to talk about acting. Some scenes were truly natural. The double date scene was so fun and cute. The four actors have an amazing and natural chemistry. Then more dramatic and emotional scenes happened and sadly, the quality dropped. Delivering a realistic crying scene is not easy, I get that, but none of the sad scenes in this made me feel sad.
Production and directing wise, it felt like a project of a student with amazing potential, but not yet polished skills. Some shots were truly nicely done, well planned camera angles and lighting. Some… were shaky - both literally and in quality.
Overall, my brain told me to drop it, yet my body was clicking to watch the next episode at the same time. I just cannot explain it. I had a lot of fun, even though it made little sense. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed it? All the things I ranted about in the review were actually the reasons why I liked the watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Preachy with questionable lessons and toddler love story.
Can’t believe I watched a whole show with a cloud of flies as the villain. Why did he do what he did? Because he is evil. Why was the war happening? No one knows, it just was. Why was the leader of fairies wanting to keep the war going? Why not I guess, they just hate each other.Here’s the thing, if you take 10 random viewers of the show and ask them to describe in detail what was the plot of the show and motivations for all the characters, you would get a description of 10 completely different shows. Why? Because all this drama had was a framework of the plot, but no substance inside it. There was little to no world or character building, no proper set up, no proper conclusion, no details of the magic system and rules how it operates. The drama just lacked… writing.
I could potentially still enjoy it for the romance, if the romance was good. It was not. I just cannot get behind the weird toddler with grown up man romance. Here me out - I have exactly zero issues with childish female leads, there are quite a few dramas with them that I enjoyed, but I am completely against child-like female leads. There is a huge difference between a character behaving in an immature fashion, and a character behaving like a child, and sadly the Fairy was just an annoying toddler.
Possessive and toxic love story? Sign me up, but not when it feels like a romance between a father and his minor kid. I do not care if she matured in the last 6 episodes - too little too late. This whole pairing freaked me out for a good 30 episodes.
Orchid just ain’t it. Girl was dumb, loud, irresponsible, pretentiously good (sorry, but a guy colluding with evil for 30k years and getting so many people dead because of his delusional love was not just a small mistake). While Dongfang Qing Cang was truly hot during many scenes, I still could not enjoy the character to his full potential because of the context of his romance with the little flower. Out of all the characters, the two I truly enjoyed were Die Yi and Dear Daddy Devil’s little brother.
Yes, the performances were strong. Esther Yu was perfect for the role of the most annoying child female lead and delivered all the proper expressions and lines needed. The emotional scenes were great and I actually really liked her in the last 3 episodes. Dylan Wang ate the role. All the pain and suffering, all the confusion about the new emotions he was feeling, all the internal and external dilemmas he was facing. Not to mention both Esther and Dylan did a phenomenal job with the soul switching scenes (even if I did not enjoy them, I am not going to deny the acting skills needed to deliver them).
Production value was great, at least in terms of special effects and most of the set and costume designs. There were few extremely cheap looking additions to few dresses and war armors, but overall - for sure more beauty than trash. Truth to be told, it kind of felt as if they used 80% of the budget on the aesthetics.
As for the soundtrack, can we talk about that one song that sounds like an anime intro that felt painfully misplaced in the story? Too many tracks were completely mismatched, and while they sounded like nice tunes, they did not fit the scenes at all.
Overall, I am just happy I survived this watch. I hated the preachy narration at the end about how love can cure us all, when literally the whole villain story and all the wars happened because of one dude’s delusional love. The writers need to reread their material before they write dumb conclusions, really.
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Countless misfortunes with Disney solutions.
Idol: The Coup opens with quite refreshing, more accurate depiction of idols and the Korean music industry as a whole, but ends on an over the top, makjang note. And yet, I truly loved the show. Somehow, it convinced me to ignore all the flaws and only focus on the true entertainment and emotional connection I have made with the characters. And for that, I am thankful.The drama tells the story of Cotton Candy, who are deemed as "'망돌(망한 아이돌)” (mangdol - failed idol). Both the company and the members themselves gave up on trying to succeed, with Jenna, the driven leader, being the last person who still tries her best to make the team overcome the issues and survive in the industry.
Each member has her own traumas, hardships and obstacles they need to face, and as the drama progresses they learn how to trust each other again, how to work as a team, protect and support each other.
Idol: The Coup truly takes the viewers on a whole journey of “hate to love”. At first, you might despise the majority of the characters, just to end up loving them and rooting for them by the end of the show.
It’s also the first drama with an idol driven plot, where the songs are truly good, and something I could see in a music show. Both, the songs that are suppose to be part of the fictional groups’ discographies, and the songs that were only used as a soundtrack easily found a place on my playlist, with few favorites being: “Home”, “Honest”, “You Can Cry”, “Fly Up”, “Pray” and “Remember Me”.
It would be a crime to write this review and not mention the amazing chemistry between Jenna and Jae Hyuk. This dynamic was extremely entertaining to watch. While at first it might seem that Jae Hyuk holds all the power, each disagreement they had, leaves the viewer thinking he was the one who lost and was more affected by it. It became a battle of wits and determination, over one character just abusing another.
The acting was not outstanding, with some idols struggling to connect to the emotions and truly deliver the lines in a natural manner (I’m looking at you Kim Min Kyu and EXY), but overall, none of the performances were truly cringeworthy, and the few miss-deliveries became a charm of the show too. Maybe I am biased, maybe I just convinced myself to love even the bad aspects of the drama, but at the end of the day, does it matter? It was a fun watch, whenever it had or had not had any issues.
That said,
If you want to watch idol romance, this ain’t that. While the female and male leads have amazing chemistry, and many viewers wished to see some kind of feelings spark between them, it never crosses the line of hints and future possibilities.
If you want to see a realistic portrayal of idols’ life, this ain’t that. While the first 3-4 episodes did a good job showcasing the struggles “failed” idols might face and the industry trend to see the idols as replaceable assets and not human beings, at some point, the amount of tragedies happening to Cotton Candy reached a ridiculous number. The solutions were coming out of nowhere, just as the problems were showing up with little explanations, and at times, as complete contradictions to what already was established in the drama. That said, the issues themselves were not unrealistic, but rather the fact they all happened to this one group in such a short period of time.
If you want a wholesome drama with nice characters you can root for from the beginning till the end, this ain’t that. There were moments when I wanted the group to disband, there were moments when I totally understood why they were failed idols and maybe they should not work as a team. I went from “let them disband”, through “I’m an ot4 stan”, to “I don’t care if it will make no sense, these babies need a happy ending”. The characters are truly flawed, but you might end up loving them despite their shortcomings.
Overall, what a ride it was. Idol: The Coup has countless flaws, and yet it made so many viewers enjoy it and get excited for more episodes. The idea of one hour and thirty minutes long episodes scared me, but when they went down to just one hour, I was truly disappointed. Each episode made me want to see more, and wish for just a few more minutes of the content. I got addicted to this soft idol makjang with fun, but frustrating characters, over the top tragedies and Disney solutions.
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When the daddy turns dad, and the thriller turns makjang.
I went into this drama for the most shallow reason ever - Yoo Yeon Seok looked extremely hot in the trailers being all possessive and domineering. And since that was my only expectation, I’d say the drama did not quite meet it. It gave me other things to enjoy though.Was it a fun watch? For most of it. The middle part became a bit too repetitive, and the ending went straight to fancy makjang territory. Some twists were more predictable than others, but overall it was a rather engaging watch. Did the plot make much sense? Not really. I mean, the majority of the characters did not even have half of the working brain cell and watching them making the wrong decisions over and over again, and being so painfully blind to the most obvious things was probably one of the most entertaining aspects of the whole drama.
On the top of that clownery we have Baek Sa Eon - for a smart guy he was really dumb. Did I care? Nope. Why? Because he was hot. Yes, that was my reasoning. Baek Sa Eon during the first few episodes was THE hot possessive toxic oppa and for that I am grateful. Whenever he went just the right amount of unhinged when something concerned Hui Ju, I went - yes! The angst, the low-key anger issues, the suits and them hands (the production team knew what they were doing with all the close ups of his hands). Exactly the guy you love to watch on the screen, and would avoid in real life. And then he did 180 in the second half and I became convinced that the perfect husband was cosplaying as toxic oppa.
Hong Hui Ju was honestly a placeholder. She had a few great moments here and there, but at the end of it all, she was just an overcooked potato. Which is fair - with the amount of trauma and abuse she went through, if she had more of a spine, she would leave. Since she stayed, we should not be expecting her to give us much spunk. Being in danger was her full time job, and saving her was Sa Eon’s life mission.
Surprisingly, the characters I got really attached to were Sang U and Yu Ri. The investigative duo with such fun chemistry. Waiting for Netflix to contact me, because I have the plot for the spin off of them already planned in my head. The way he became so conscious of her presence, and she was so oblivious about it all is my type of a connection.
The villains were villaining, but they were also so generic I did not really care for their shenanigans. So much happened plot wise, and yet it kind of still feels empty? When the Phone Rings had an extremely strong beginning, and lost its focus half way through. The issue might have been how packed the plot was -, they did not really have time to explore on a meaningful level any of the plotlines. One thing happened, and we moved to another thing - nothing felt developed, nothing had a proper closure. All had a closer, but none truly had THE closure.
Performances were mostly great. Yoo Yeon Seok aced that silent anger and concern. Whatever scene he was in, he delivered. On the other hand Chae Soo Bin… I know she is a great actress. I loved her in all the previous titles I have seen her in, but this role was just not it. Would I dare to blame the directing? Yes. Even though I thought the drama went downhill in the second half, her performance got so much better. First few episodes she was just a surprised big eyes victim with no facial muscles working.
Production was fine. As I already said, I'm grateful for the close-up shots of Yoo Yeon Seok’s hands. Some of the editing was questionable - too much repetition of what happened in the previous episodes - the viewers do not have goldfish brains like the characters, we do not need constant reminders.
Overall, what I thought would be a fun wattpad-esk romance with an entertaining dynamic between Sa Eon and Hui Ju, turned into a family mystery makjang with low level of brain energy. Still had fun though.
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Missed opportunity
I am sad. This show had such an amazing opportunity to mix crime investigation with supernatural elements, and they decided to ruin it by adding tons of boring plotlines that had less than satisfying conclusions.Imagine this, the show focuses on Lee Hwa Sun, as she tries to catch the serial killer that murdered her husband while the “end of the world” is happening. Instead of giving us paralel plotlines, make it more procedural - her meeting different types of survivors in different places while investigating. Keeping it rather simple is the way to go with a short format like that.
What we actually got were boring characters with typical stories, and literally no valid resolution for any plotline. Props for the writers to be willing to kill the characters, but even that was not satisfying at all, since I was not attached to any of them.
The whole mutants/zombie/alien deal: don’t waste screen time on plots trying to figure out what it is, if you won’t deliver any answers. How about redistributing that time to develop the characters more so I can actually give a shit about what is going on?
Conflicts resolution? Let’s just find a cheap way to either write it off, or deal with it in one clean way, no matter if it’s just lazy writing. ALL the conflicts (and I truly mean ALL) were resolved in the EXACTLY same way.
What was the purpose of Yoo Tae Han even existing in this show? No idea. He had no personality, no clear motivation, no goals, no nothing. He just showed up whenever convenient to help the “good guys”.
It’s hard to even comment on the acting, when the majority of the characters had little personality or were the typical stereotypical assholes. Song Sang Eun did the best and had the most diversity of the emotional performances from the whole cast.
Overall: Honestly speaking, it’s not a bad show, but it’s just amazingly frustrating because it could have been so much better. We do not get fresh and fun new concepts that often, so for it to be wasted like that does not sit well with me. I watched it being mildly entertained, but I kept thinking how every scene and plot line could have been easily improved.
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Cat and dog dynamics done in the best way possible.
For the main couple, this is close to perfection. Simple story that presents both enemies to lovers and friends to lovers trope, depending on the perspective taken.The relationship progression between Shu Yi and Shi De was really well paced. It didn't feel rushed, the milestone moments were happening at the right times, and never felt out of place. The dynamics between them sold the show. Both Shi De and Shu Yi have this trickster quality to their actions, which makes We Best Love that much more entertaining. The plot could be simply described as: two main leads getting closer to each other, one step at a time.
Speaking of the cat and dog dynamics, Shi De reminded me of a Golden Retriever with his warm and patient demeanor, and Shu Yi was like a small cat - playful and curious. Seeing them interact with each other just brings happiness to my heart and a smile on my face.
Shou Yi was one of the characters I was the most curious about. Sadly, if his story gets any more depth, it will happen in season two. That said, him being the relationship MVP for Shu Yi and Shi De was one of the funniest aspects of the show. I never enjoyed someone being such a busybody as I did with his character.
Being perfectly honest, some side characters were unnecessary, or rather, they got unnecessary side plots. Some of the scenes and developments came out of nowhere since there was not enough screen time to dive deep into the side plot progression.
The production value was amazing. I especially appreciated the transition scenes, which are usually extremely generic, but here they became either pretty or fun screenshots (shout-out to best supporting character - Mr Skeleton). Music wise, I cannot remember one song. On one hand, it means OST was not that memorable for me, but on the other, it also means they were fitting for the scenes they were used for, since I was not bothered by them.
Overall, amazing chemistry that, at times, almost set my laptop on fire. On point acting, especially from Sam Lin - boy shocked me in one scene (good acting always gets me overexcited). One of the nicest and well paced BLs that tells a simple yet extremely engaging love story.
See you in season two!
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This review may contain spoilers
Eye candy and empty calories…
Fast food entertainment at its finest. Highly addicting, but you’ll feel hungry 30 minutes after finishing the meal, realizing you just ate a bunch of nothing - empty calories. Was it fun? Sure. Was it actually good? Debatable. Saying this drama is a quality one is like saying McDonald’s is a healthy meal - false advertisement. That said, there is a reason we all crave fast food from time to time.Starting from the good aspects - Xue Fang Fei. It’s impossible not to love her. Even the villains appreciated how smart, cunning and brave she was. Seeking revenge without abandoning your morals and principles, when the people you fight against have no true honorable values that hold them back is not an easy task, and yet she managed to achieve that. While her goals were important, they were never more important than people in her life. She never took the easy road that could unnecessarily hurt others. What I appreciate the most about how her character was written: she was strong, but still presented in an extremely feminine way. Beautiful, loyal and smart, empathic, emotional and caring.
Her revenge turned seeking justice arc was quite well developed and paced. Her plans were realistic enough, I never thought she had some superpower type of skills (excluding her playing zhiter - that’s some borderline xianxia magic) - she knew her strength and the advantages people around her have, she understood the strengths and weaknesses of her enemies and acted accordingly to what was most beneficial. The risks she took were understandable and the ways she survived all the crisis made sense in the context of the show. Great female lead to follow throughout 40 episodes.
Princess Wan Ning - the way I went from hating her to loving her. By the end of the show I would love to see a drama from her point of view - filled with pain, helplessness, tragedy that leads to her becoming the villain, because no one cared for her when she was the victim. Her arc is for sure my favorite and feels the most completed. Fang Fei’s tragic past truly did not feel that tragic when we got the full picture of what Wan Ning had to go through and how she was used and abused. Her resentment and selfishness started to weirdly feel justified, even if at times directed towards wrong people.
Shen Yu Rong is not a character I loved, but it’s for sure a character I loved to hate. In my eyes, he was the true villain - weak and pathetic, not wanting to die, surviving like a cockroach - and for that I am grateful. What a consistent and delusional pain in the ass this man was, it’s impressive. Blaming other people for his mistakes, for the decisions he made, till the end not willing to face his past. His obsession over Jiang Li made perfect sense - it was his way of erasing his mistakes, living as if they never happened, starting from the beginning, clean slate.
The visual presentation - how stunning! The way they shot the movements, how they used the costumes to their full potential, how some moments honestly became breathtaking - especially for the female characters. There was something graceful in how the camera framed women.
Then we have the acting. Wu Jin Yan and Li Meng easily stole the whole show. Somehow Wu Jin Yan was able to present both immense strength and vulnerability at the same time. Li Meng was just mesmerizing as the egocentric princess broken by her traumatic experiences. When either of them showed up, they just made you focus on the screen.
On the other hand, the men in this show served nothing, but looks. Duke Su was delicious to look at, but sadly he was mostly talk and no action. For the majority of the show he truly did nothing except fly around and flirt with Jiang Li. While her revenge was detailed and well presented, his felt like an afterthought.
Ye Shi Jie, while cute, with some of the prettiest eyes I have seen, was painfully underdeveloped. What’s the point of showing he has feelings for Jiang Le, when it leads to nowhere? Other male characters were just a way to push the plot forward by either randomly saving the day, or annoying ruining the plans.
Seeing how technically speaking the politics of the show had a major impact on the plot and the characters, they were boring and lacked detail for me to care about. I did not care who is against whom and why, who has more and who has less power in the court, who is safe and who can be killed - they started to explain the big picture way too late for me to even pretend it’s engaging.
The biggest issue I had though, was the structure of the show - everything seemed uneven and mismatched. Jiang Li is this tragic heroine who lost everything and is set to seek revenge, but then we find out she did not really lose nearly as much as they present at first - everyone came back from death, her included.
First episode presented a makjang level of drama, and then it never lived up to that crazy hype, slowly becoming more tamed and boring. And what’s more that became tamed and boring? Duke Su. At first presented as this domineering and extra in his entrance man having a national emergency level of extreme fire chemistry with female lead, to them lead to nothing - these two were taking their sweet time with the romance. This was such a slow burn romance, it barely moved. The candle kiss traumatized us all. They led us to believe we will get some proper romance, and what we’ve got was an eye staring contest between Jiang Li and Duke su every episode.
They also had a really weird way of introducing characters and villains - there was no subtle set up for them. Out of the blue we are getting scenes with a new threat we are supposed to fear, but I’m like: who is that and why should I care?
Last two episodes were full clownery. I never laughed so much watching scenes that are supposed to be moving or tense. Some highlights include Jiang Li saying she can do archery, when she held a bow twice in her life. Another one was the random cheap death of two guys working for Duke Su - why did it even happen? Why did the war even happen? They never presented it as a major threat, so why even make it a last minute plotline?
Overall, it was fun and disappointing at the same time.
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Great moments rather than a great story.
This could have been a perfect warm, cheerful, positive and destressing show with some fun and quality characters and great messages and dialogues, if it only had a solid direction of the plot. But it turned out to be a bit of a mess, with few gems here and there and a lot of unresolved frustration for me.At first, they set the stage perfectly. We know who the main characters are and what their goals are. Who they need to fight against and what are the stakes. And then it all gets sidetracked and everything loses focus as we get more and more not well established side conflicts that are resolved in a half-assed manner.
Instead of truly diving deep into these underdogs trying to survive and strive in the company, keeping their webtoon team on board, we got a lot of random side stories and problems that were loosely related to the overall plot. Honestly, it’s the first time when the villain did not have to do anything, because the issues kept showing up even without his involvement. Things started moving forward in that aspect only in the last few episodes. Quite a weird and not engaging plot progression, if you ask me. Overall, there were just too many side plots and characters, so nothing felt truly developed and all conclusions anticlimactic.
The good point in how some messages were delivered was the fact the viewers get the "lecturing" and life lessons WITH the main character, and not delivered BY main character. Thanks to that, it never came across as preachy.
Onto the characters, On Ma Eum was amazing, until she wasn’t. Extremely optimistic and hardworking. What's important - she did not think things would just go well, she believed she could work hard to make them go well. She bet on her work, not luck. While she is a bit stuck in her "positive" world and attitude and fails to instinctually see how other people might have different approaches, once confronted, she tries to understand other people and act according to the new information.
Where her character failed was any and all interactions with Shin Dae Ryuk. Calling her approach as “ignorant” would be a compliment to how it truly went. On the surface it was all cute, nice and uplifting, but by the end, I just wanted this girl away from this child.
Seok Ji Hyung and Jang Man Cheol were amazing seniors and great mentors. I appreciated how I got no romantic vibes from Ji Hyung and Ma Eum. I loved to see their mentor-mentee dynamics. They tried to stir the pot with previews, but I learned not to trust them early on. I think we as viewers are conditioned to see romance everywhere, so even deep, platonic relationships seem to hint at romance for us.
Goo Jun Yeong might have seemed like this asshole cold main lead, but he was actually quite cute and harmless. He was straightforward with what he said, reacted well to people guiding him and took suggestions and advice to heart. He was far more open to new things than I thought he would be. It’s true that he had his ups and downs, but that’s what made him an interesting character.
All that said, with the great cast of the main characters, the one that truly stole my heart was Shin Dae Ryuk. It’s literally a crime how such an interesting character with such a complex background was not more of a prominent figure in the show. That wasted potential just makes me sad, and the conclusion to his story - mad. I don’t say it a lot when thinking about dramas, but this was truly offensive. It was so bad, I cannot even simply dismiss it as an ignorant take.
I don't have that much to say about the acting - everyone did a great job. Kim Se Jeong's existence is just unfair to us all. Not only is her singing just phenomenal, but she is also an amazing actress. She is so natural, no matter what role she takes. Also, the scene stealer, show stealer and hearts stealer - Im Chul Soo.
Production wise - typical kdrama. It was not breathtakingly beautiful, but it had some great moments screenshot worthy. Can’t remember one song, so that sums up the OST quiet well.
Overall, it was a nice watch. You know how there are some books with amazing quotes, but when you have to talk about the plot, you have barely anything to say? This drama is similar.
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별-똥-별 - quite a fitting description of the quality of this show.
Fun, entertaining, sometimes clever elements, with a crappy core.What’s good? What are the reasons I somehow finished watching it? Everything except for the love story of Han Byul and Tae Sung, and both plot lines surrounding male lead. None of these 3 things work well - poorly written, with ridiculous resolution and out of the blue miracle ways out of the problems.
The convoluted way they tried to tell us the story of Han Byul and Tae Sung was some next level of bad presentation. Rom-coms are not thrillers, you do not need 10 different plot twists to make it exciting. The worst part of it was the fact, this type of non-linear storytelling made it close to impossible to understand the characters at the beginning, which led to me simply not caring about them at all.
The three semi-mystery plot lines, with two being part of a larger picture? Extremely unnecessary. The setting was all that needed to happen for the show to be interesting. Everyone wants to know what the behind the scenes looks like. What type of problems the actors face. How much of that glamorous life is try? What about the ugly side? The “mundane” celebrities life is interesting enough, no need to add over the top plotlines.
Not to mention, they were simply not well integrated in the story. Instead of showing bits and pieces of it throughout the show, they dropped larger portions here and there and it messed up the pacing. I don’t even want to talk about that Disney resolution, or lack of any closure for some.
That said, I did enjoy the main couple when they interacted with other characters. Han Byul and her gossip time with Ho Yeong and Gi Peum? Fun. Her friendship and working relationship with Yoo Sung? Interesting. Tae Sung with his manager? Adorable. Him bickering with Soo Hyuk? Some of the best comedy bits of the show. It amazes me how well these two worked with everyone except each other.
I just feel like their relationship was too juvenile. They presented some middle school type of behavior I just did not connect with. And it’s not like it’s impossible to show a sweet, cute romance - they did it with the side couple. Yes, it was over the top cute, but that’s who the characters were from the start - adorable, so it fitted the overall picture.
They also showed a more mature and chill approach with another side couple - a lot better paced even though they had 1/10th of the screen time compared to the mains. All the supporting plots showed me there is a skill and good writing hidden in the show, but somehow they failed to use it for the most important aspects.
I definitely enjoyed the few small commentary bits on the entertainment industry. Some were presented in a more serious manner, some leaned towards comedy. Sh**ting Stars has also one of the best “breaking the 4th wall” scenes I have seen in dramas for ages. I replied that one scene many times - perfectly executed if you ask me.
Performance wise, it varies depending on the actor. Probably one of the worst performances in Lee Sung Kyung’s career. She delivered close to nothing. The lines felt flat, the crying scenes evoke zero emotions. She presented little to no variety in her facial expression. And I know for a fact she can do better, she did in her other dramas. She is not an amazing actress, but should be capable of leading a rom-com.
Kim Young Dae did fine. I enjoyed his more emotional scenes, he did a good job portraying the vulnerability of Tae Sung. At the same time Tae Sung was just a poorly written character, so it’s not easy to judge the performance of the actor.
Most characters did not have enough depth for the cast to truly showcase the skills they might have. Yes, Yoon Jong Hoon delivered the sweet hard working senior, Kim Yoon Hye was the cute and innocent junior, Park So Jin did an amazing job as a journalist with some internal conflicts and Lee Jung Shin was able to make the arrogant and distant lawyer more approachable and fun. But that’s it. The characters don’t really serve more than these short descriptions.
The production value was nice. Quite a number of scenes had an aesthetic appeal that supported whatever was happening on screen. Talking about the production, we cannot ignore the initial wave of criticism surrounding the uneducated and ignorant depiction of Africa. I still believe this just shows how lazy the writers are (honestly, the same problem happens in all countries, and is not limited to Korea). 15 minutes of google search is too much work for them. Finding a more appropriate way to present a specific plot line? Why waste time, when you can apologize later if it gathers some bad press.
Overall, it was painfully mediocre. I enjoyed following some side relationships (be it romantic or platonic) and plot lines, but close to nothing concerning the main two characters was good. They just put random events and ideas together, and did not spend enough time to figure out how to present them in a cohesive way. The show just did not flow well.
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