myrnskees

So Sad It's Over!

I went into this drama not really thinking I'd like it as I don't typically lean towards dramas with fantasy elements. However, I couldn't not give it a try with such a star-studded cast. As expected, I really loved watching the performances by both Rain and Kim Bum in their respective characters as well as the chemistry that they showed in their transforming bromance. I also really appreciated the character transformation of Cha Young-Min throughout the drama, which added a touching aspect to the drama. This drama made me laugh and it made me cry all at the same time. I did find that they probably could have cut out a few of the surgeries that came through, but I guess it's still a medical drama at the heart of it. It would have been nice to see some more character development of some of the secondary characters in lieu of more surgeries, but I suppose that's not the path that they wanted to take. Overall, I'm really sad now that it's all come to an end, but I'm glad that I gave it a try!

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In my quest to find another drama for the family to watch, I came across the positive reviews of this one and boy, I was not disappointed! This drama took twists and turns without compromising on the character development or storyline. You think you know the answer only for it to take you somewhere else. Each cast member did such a good job portraying their character, and for once, the ending of a drama didn't leave me feeling dissatisfied (of course, I wanted more, but that's a different story). It can be a bit slower-paced, but the details are so intricate and well-done. Definitely give it a go if you enjoy murder mysteries!

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I went into the drama not realizing there were only 8 episodes, so it was a very quick watch for me. I also like to watch everything on 1.5x speed so it went by super quickly. The acting of the drama was great and the main leads did such a wonderful job. It was action-packed and exciting, but was also able to bring out the tears (and honestly, I don't cry much, if ever!). However, don't go into it thinking too much because, after I finished it, I started thinking and then realized that there were so many things that didn't make sense. If you don't mind blood and want to watch something quick and predictable, then would definitely recommend.

Below are my --spoilers-- and the things that I really didn't understand / like about the show:

1) the romance -- okay, I guess almost every k-drama out there has to have a romance line, and while I liked the chemistry between our ML and FL, there was a lot of development that was lacking. considering our FL's backstory, i would assume that she hasn't experienced much romantic love growing up, and so for her to initiate a kiss and then jumping so quickly into sex didn't really make a lot of sense to me. maybe i am overthinking how someone in her situation would react, but i definitely think there were better ways to go about this. also not very happy with the fact that han sohee wasn't even aware of the fact that there was a bed scene before signing on. feel like they added it in to get extra views but it was pretty unnecessary and if determined to be necessary, could have spent a bit more time developing their loveline.
2) the undercover cop storyline -- they spent so much of their time making you hate our FL's father only for us to learn later that this whole time, he was just an undercover gangster. even if FL might have been young when her father went undercover, you would think that she would have been aware of the fact that her dad was a cop. or maybe i just have the timeline wrong? not entirely sure but seems like a lot of things could have been dealt with differently if she had known. i guess then the story wouldn't have come about but it just doesn't really make sense is all.

Anyway, there's probably more but I'll stop for now. I think the drama was short enough that you can get through it without thinking too much about it and still enjoy it but if you're expecting something out of this world and unpredictable, perhaps something else would be better.

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I personally don't like body-swapping tropes, but our two main leads did such a good job of portraying their counterparts' character that I actually had to remind myself while watching that body swapping doesn't exist in real life! I absolutely love how they were able to pick up the minute details to really make it believable that they're in each other's bodies, so a big round of applause to the both of them.

While there are only 26 episodes to the series, there were parts of it that felt a bit dragged out to me. I ended up watching a lot of the drama on 2x speed so managed to finish it rather quickly. It's otherwise easy to watch and the acting is great, so would recommend on those points alone!

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Still thinking about the Qiao family

[ spoilers only at end of post ]

I stumbled upon this drama by chance after seeing it pop up on my Douban app while looking for something new and I am so glad that I did! It's been about a week since I've finished watching this title and I am still thinking about the drama and wishing that it were just a little bit longer (can they please do a sequel of them in 2020 LOL)

Prefacing this by saying that I normally do not seek out dramas that aren't happening in the modern era but thought that this one would only be spending a little time in the 70s and fast forwarding to now but that wasn't the case at all. Within a span of 36 episodes, you really get to grow up with the Qiao siblings, watching them go through each phase of their life. I will say that the timeline of the drama is a bit confusing to me. There were moments where I thought maybe a few months had passed, but it was actually a few years. However, there is no real indication to when certain time skips might happen (particularly when all of the siblings are older and they are no longer being played by a different actor because of the age).

The acting of this drama blew me out of the water as they really brought me into the story that they were living. While I'm not a fluent Chinese speaker and was watching this without subtitles, I was still able to grasp onto most of what was happening simply with just watching the body language and listening to the tone of how they spoke.

My family and I sped through the first few episodes very quickly but my mom was also reading spoilers on Chinese sites while we were watching as we were behind and so she was tempted to stop when people started talking about how the drama was becoming nonsensical and stuff; however, we pressed on and I'm so glad we did. I do think the drama ended a tad bit abruptly as there was a LOT that happened in that last episode, but it at least tied everything together well and wasn't one of those endings that leaves you feeling unsatisfied (even if I do selfishly want more).

The side characters also add a wonderful touch to the storyline and didn't feel overbearing or unnecessary. However, nothing can beat the love and care that these siblings have for one another. An emotional roller coaster but a lot of fuzzy warm feelings that come from witnessing such a bond.

If you haven't watched yet, you might want to skip the below because ~SPOILERS~. And if you have watched it, I would love to know your thoughts on these random thoughts I had while watching the drama!

1) For the longest time, I had no idea what the point of Qi Qi's character was, though, now that I've finished the drama, I can certainly appreciate his character a bit more and the purpose of why he's necessary. However, I honestly still don't understand the plotline of having him knock a girl up and having a baby. Was it to force him to mature quicker? Didn't really understand the point of this but maybe there's a nuance I didn't understand.
2) I would love to better understand how these characters decided to get married because it felt like there was no chemistry that built up between the characters that would make me believe there was love between them. However, perhaps most of it is a marriage of convenience? And also maybe why those marriages ended up in divorce?

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I had originally showed the teaser of this drama to my parents to get them to watch it, but they were completely uninterested. It was only after a series of failed attempts at other dramas did they finally agree to give it a try. I would say that they liked aspects of it, but they were also fine missing large chunks of the drama which my sister and I sometimes just watched on our own. My personal agenda in watching this was because I really wanted to watch another Kim Bum drama, and I thought he did a great job in his role! The cast as a whole were really great, and it's also so fun to see their dynamics off-screen as well. The plot line isn't always the most exciting, as things can get a little technical with the law and all, but I did enjoy seeing them in action in the courtroom. There were at times that I thought the writing felt a little all over the place (trying to shove in sub-plots that diverged from the main plot), but everything thankfully ties together well in the end.

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Better than Expected

I was really excited about this drama because the cast was just !!! However, I got a bit nervous when I started seeing all these posts complaining about Jisoo's acting. Note that I've actually never watched her in a drama but like her as a whole! I actually found her portrayal of Seo Mirae to be quite good! Perhaps it was a character that suited more of her style.

The storyline was fun, and I enjoyed the use of the VR "game" in the storyline. However, at some point, I did start to fast forward through more of the VR storyline (mostly the secondary characters) just because I wanted to see more of the main couple's storyline on my screen! Honestly, the relationship was so cute that it had me wanting that for myself as well.

The pacing of the drama probably could have been better (i.e., some of the conflict in the latter episodes probably could have happened a bit earlier so that we could have a more developed storyline after the fact). It felt like the last two episodes really tried to pack a lot in, and some of the earlier episodes probably had more fluff than it needed. The 10-episode length, however, would otherwise have been good as it might feel draggy if it went longer.

All in all, I quite enjoyed the drama (and stayed up late to finish it). I also love Seo Inguk and Seo Kangjoon and might go digging for some of their older stuff as my next drama!

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Hooked at first but didn't deliver to the end

I downloaded this drama for a flight and was hooked after two episodes (unfortunately, my third episode didn't download so I had to wait until I was at my destination before continuing on with the series). The premise was captivating, but as the plot went on, it seemed to lose itself in its intricacies. At a certain point, I couldn't tell if I was just thinking too simply and missing the hidden elements of the plot or if things just fell flat. I'm glad the series was short so I wouldn't say that I wasted a ton of time but am actually quite surprised at how high the ratings are given it was somewhat lackluster.

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I read the positive reviews and heard about how popular this drama was getting that I decided to see for myself what the fuss was all about. The storyline was intriguing enough, and so I began. I was hooked for much of the first half, but by the second half (as the drama and angst kicked in), it started feeling a bit repetitive. By the last third of the drama, I was skipping through many of the scenes or watching it on 3x speed. There was too much unnecessary drama added in and the ending felt so rushed. I felt like there were better ways it could have ended - it almost ended in a way that felt like it could lead in to a second season though I hardly believe that were the intention. All in all, the acting was excellent, and the characters were generally likeable. I just felt like there was something more that I was wanting that I just didn't get from the second half of the drama. All in all, still a good watch, but not one that I'd necessarily need to watch again.

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Great Start but Fell Flat

I went into this drama not knowing what the plot was but quickly found myself binging episode after episode. However, at some point (and as with many Chinese dramas), I started to feel it drag - unfortunately, I didn't really pay attention to which episode I really started feeling this, but I mostly had it playing on in the background while I did other things.

By the latter part of the drama, I was jumping around in the episodes, mostly skipping the parts related to their work. I'm certain there was a reason for all of this to be part of the plot, but it didn't catch my attention at all and I thought it could have been condensed significantly.

Aside from the main characters (+ FL extended family and coworkers), most of the side characters were pretty unlikeable and, by the end, pretty much irrelevant. Also, I do love a time-skip but it was a bit wild that they suddenly had multiple time-skips in the last episode. I thought things could have been cut out in earlier parts to perhaps spread this out a bit into two episodes. Anyway, by then, I was already watching the drama at 3x speed and just trying to complete it.

I'd be curious how the storyline compares to the book it is based off of. Song Weilong is always nice to look at on the screen, but in the end, the drama felt somewhat disappointing / lackluster.

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Wanted to Like the Drama More

I originally picked out this drama for Wang Anyu as I really liked him in Romance in the Alley. However, after a few episodes, I ended up dropping it. I picked it up again when I decided I wanted to try to continue practicing my Chinese and thought that this would be an easy watch to keep in the background and just get used to listening to them speak.

This drama was very surface-level, and despite certain tensions / issues that the characters had to deal with, all the problems seemed to be resolved fairly quickly and easily (or perhaps just left unresolved and not dealt with properly). The middle episodes didn't seem to provide much in terms of development, and I really struggled to get through them. I don't really think things started getting all that interesting again until the last three episodes and then it just kind of came to an end.

I've read many reviews about issues with the fact that Liu Haocun doesn't really do kissing scenes. I don't personally find fault with that as not every drama needs that but this drama did end up coming off as more of a slice of life, coming of age drama than a romance drama with a name that seems to highlight the passion between the two leads. It did leave the drama feeling much more cutesy than passionate, which is fine if that was the intention of the drama. However, for much of the drama, it didn't even feel like FL even liked ML.

Again, I have no background on what this drama was adapted on but just based purely on entertainment value, I was left wishing for more.

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I honestly picked this drama up because I wanted to practice my Chinese listening skills. I've generally liked Tan Song Yun's dramas, so I figured I'd give this a go.

The storyline revolving around a female pilot trying to make her way in the aviation industry was incredibly intriguing and not one that I've seen before. There's something about seeing a workplace setting portrayed in detail in a drama that adds additional interest for me. Both leads (Tan Song Yun and Wang Kai) do an excellent job in their roles. I'm also a Liu Chang fan so quite enjoyed having him on the screen as well.

At some point, the story did start to drag a bit, which I find to happen quite often in Chinese dramas. It probably could have finished in fewer episodes, but won't complain about the great actors on the screen.

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Mouse came highly recommended to me after I had finished Beyond Evil. Perhaps because of this (and its stellar cast), I had incredibly high expectations for this drama. Unfortunately, the drama failed to meet those expectations.

The premise of the drama is incredibly unique, and the acting throughout is absolutely stellar. However, there was just way too much going on and too many twists it tried to take that it ended up becoming tiring. My parents, who have a hard time keeping track of characters as it was, got even more lost than I did. I think the drama could have done just as well even if it had been simplified, but instead, the second half of the drama seemed extremely dragged out and almost boring. Honestly, the last episode was stellar and they probably could have cut out 5 episodes before it and just gone there (okay, not actually, but you get the point). There are also certain cuts that are really sudden, and I kept thinking there was something wrong with my stream but it seems like that's just how it's cut.

It's a drama that started off well and ended up well, but the middle was a bit of a mish mosh to me. I'm still giving it a decent star rating because the acting really was magnificent, but unfortunately, it won't be a drama that I immediately think to recommend to others.

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What a heartwarming drama! I'd passed by this drama on Netflix many times but seeing the high reviews on MDL made me decide to give it a go. The cast did such a wonderful job in portraying their characters, especially Park In Hwan (the scenes in which he forgets who he is are so believable that I had to remind myself he was acting!). I do wish they had Chaerok work on his anger management though. Even though he does usually mean well, his attitude would totally be unacceptable in my eyes, especially towards someone so much older. Overall, I loved the development of the plot and the characters, and appreciated that the ending really tied everything together rather than leaving things feel like they were unfinished.

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