Reviews

I had been anticipating this drama for well over a year (before viikii became viki.com and almost impossible to watch a lot of shows), and I had hoped and prayed that I wouldn't be disappointed, and I wasn't. To compare this to other "musical" drama's is insane, because unlike most of those drama's this one actually does follow the theme of "musical".

The story, is as it says it is in most story summaries you read.. but what those summaries fail to mention is that it is spectacularly written, its also about human relationships. And the story had, not necessarily side stories/plots, but background and reasoning, that made you go "Oh so that's why" in a few places, loved that..

Each of the "main" characters, are well thought out, including development. The acting is stellar. Straight up, even the character's you don't like, are so well thought out, that you can't be mad at the writers for making them that way. Every character in this drama has his or her place, take one away, and the drama wouldn't be the same. I was really impressed by the acting. I know most people, would start to watch this for Daesung, but don't. That's all I can say, do NOT start watching this for Daesung, I did, and not that I was disappointed with his acting, I wasn't, I just didn't like his character.

Music, well it is about musicals, so of course the music has to be good, and not only was it good, I was very impressed by how good it was in places.

I will re-watch at some point or other... The reason I didn't give this a perfect 10, but a 9 instead was because, all the way up until the ending the writing and so forth or stellar, but the last episode was just so sub-par to me that I couldn't bring myself to give it a perfect 10.

Read More

Beautiful Forbidden Love

Love Between Fairy and Devil is a xianxia drama, which narrates the story of forbidden love between a devil and a fairy. The drama has everything a xianxia drama has: forbidden love, reincarnation, a cold male lead falling in love with the warm and bubbly female lead making it his only weakness, female lead with hidden identity and more. But what makes this drama stands out from other xianxia drama is that it has a VERY BEAUTIFUL visual sequence, graphics, and cinematography. Love Between Fairy and Devil successfully brought the 仙（fairy） element into their drama, and I think the drama has raised the standard high for the next xianxia drama.

The narrative of Love Between Fairy and Devil is straightforward, about a fairy unaccidentally saving the demon lord and they gradually fell in love. The screenwriter managed to write a very cohesive and compelling story, also with a coherent storyline making it easy for the audience to understand. The drama also manages to seamlessly combine comedy, romance, also angst in the latter part. Every character in the drama also has their own background story with their own personal motive, each character is there not only for the sake of getting the male and female lead together nor just to make the drama plot more lively, but each character is there making their own decision which gradually leads and builds up to the whole drama plot.

What makes Love Between Fairy and Devil distinctive from other xianxia is definitely its art department and how well they articulate it. The drama manages to articulate the vision of the fantasy world and everything that comes with it. It is beautifully and enchantingly portrayed that you would actually believe the presence of such world, where there are pink skies with whales, a pavilion full of flowers, a castle on top of a hill, and more. It has been a while since there is such beautiful and mesmerizing graphics in a drama. You can see that the drama spends most of its budget on its art department, starting from costumes, CGI, graphics, more (IQIYI also offers the drama in 4k quality!).

Firstly, the drama costumes are very beautiful, the costume department puts a lot of thought and effort into their costume. Everyone's outfit is fitting to their character and demeanour. DongFang QingCang’s outfit is mostly black but also with a hint of gold, showing his sovereignty as the moon supreme. Xiao Lan Hua’s outfit is in bright pastel colours fitting with her character and personality as a fairy with a bright and bubbly personality. Other than the main characters, the side characters also have very pretty costumes, such as Chang Heng’s war costume. Moreover, the drama also has very beautiful headpieces, especially for the male characters, which are rarely seen in other historical dramas.

Secondly, the graphics and CGI of each realm, location, and power special effects are rendered so smooth that it resulted in an ethereal and mind-blowing result. Such as DongFang QingCang’s hell flame, when he summoned the dragon, the arbiter hall, and more. The drama is meticulous in every aspect from its colour palette, visual art, CGI, and lighting, everything is well thought. I especially love the scene where Rong Hao and Chang Heng entered the painting, they really ook like they're in a painting, they look 2d, which beautifully reflects the beauty of China's culture.

Thirdly, I also love how the drama sets a certain persona and design for each tribe and realm meticulously. For instance, in the fairy realm, the gods use bright and light outfits and headpieces with overexposure to the lighting. The fairy realm has a very heavy element of the Chinese culture, meanwhile, the demon/ moon realm has a hint of medieval elements in its location, outfits and more. The drama team also paid attention to those small actors/extras like the guards, their outfit is not sloppy, it is fitting to the overall persona they set. Such as the moon palace guards has dark and big outfit which looks intricate!

Yu Shuxin plays Xiao Lan Hua (the orchid fairy), but she’s also Xi Yun, the goddess. I think she did a really good job in acting as Xiao Lan Hua, a character like Xiao Lan Hua can be easy to hate since she might come out as being too fake or too flamboyant, but Esther Yu manages to pull off the character effortlessly. She is able to radiate different energy in different situations but still remembers the essence of her character, a warm and bubbly fairy. Some may dislike her character because she is a damsel in distress, often waiting for others to save her, but it’s understandable since she is only a “lowly fairy” with limited power. Other than acting as Xiao Lan Hua, Yu Shuxin also acted as DongFang QingCang and the goddess, and she's able to pull off the three characters flawlessly. She is versatile, she is able to change her demeanour and articulation according to each character. Yu Shuxin also used her own voice here, I personally love her voice, I find her voice very fitting to the character. I am definitely looking forward to her future work!

Wang Hedi showed tremendous improvement since Miss The Dragon. His acting is much more natural here, he is able to show real expressions and blend into the character. Despite being the moon supreme with no emotions, he’s still able to show slight emotions and show how his icy heart sea slowly melts. I think he did a great job portraying the emotionless moon supreme, DongFang QingCang, through his body and eye language, he is especially good when he is being majestic and when he is attacking others. As he is also slowly transitioning into someone with emotions, he gradually makes more micro-expressions and gestures to show how he’s gradually starting to fall in love, have empathy and more. His crying scenes are also very infectious, you would empathize with him and feel what he's feeling as well because that is how good his crying scenes are.

Moreover, Love Between Fairy and Devil also has a very beautiful soundtrack and background music. The soundtracks are very ethereal and fitting to the drama, it is stunningly beautiful that it will make you think of all the magic, beautiful places and situations in drama. The drama also has notable music scoring, the music scoring used in the drama intensifies each and every scene.

Another special mention to the whole production team of Love Between Fairy and Devil. The actors, production team, and marketing team, all have done a very outstanding job, they are passionate, putting in all their heart into it, thus producing such a best drama! The production team doesn't hesitate to spend money to where it should be spent, such as the special effect, outfits, music scoring and more. The production team also spend a lot of effort and thought on the drama's posters and artwork. The drama soundtrack artwork is STUNNING, unlike other dramas where they just used background or a picture of the couple with some borders and stick the title on it, Love Between Fairy and Devil has some really meticulous and well-thought album artwork. The soundtrack's artwork is paintings of their character with very beautiful scenery, if you haven’t seen it, I am highly suggesting you take a look at it because it will definitely render you breathless.

One thing that I find a pity is that the ending is too rushed, I would love to see more of DongFang QingCang and Xiao Lanhua's happy life :"))

Overall, do give this drama a try! Love Between Fairy and Devil is definitely a top-tier xianxia drama, there isn't any dull moment in it, and the drama will definitely make you hooked and render you breathless.

P.s. do check out their behind the scenes video!

Read More

A shark may not be able to generate suction, but "Shark" can very well do so !

The title "is an allegory and a leitmotif - be it the original title "Shark" oder the sometimes internationally also used title "Don´t Look Back: The Legend of Orpheus".

The latter not only alludes to the ancient legend of Orpheus, but also to Marc Chagall's painting of the same name, which can be found in the KDrama as a leitmotif, too. It basically describes what this is about. As far as the mythology is concerned: Ultimately, Orpheus never gets his great love Eurydice back - even as tries to return with her from the realm of the dead, he unfortunately doesn't manage to do without "looking back" (the condition for the rescue to be successful). In relation to the story of the KDrama, this could mean: the protagonist would have to give up his revenge - his being stuck in the past. And that brings us to the core of the story: revenge.

The original title "Shark" refers to a second leitmotif: Since childhood the protagonist feels a great affinity and sympathy for this particular predatory fish. Ocean sharks must always be on the move. Their mouth remains open so that fresh, oxygen-rich water can reach their gills and they are able to ´breathe´. Not moving means no fresh oxygen supply and thus their certain death. This implies an inevitable activity at all times - consequently they are always dangerous. Ocean sharks are loners, too. At most they join together in groups for hunting. In this respect, the story is set in the world of powerful, highly influential Jaebeol, whose machinations tremendously drive the Wheel of Fortune. They never stop shaping the world at their will, regardless of the cost. The protagonist courageously competes against one of the really big ones (actually against two). There is plenty of manipulation on all sides - as if you were pulling the strings of puppets. Sometimes one might think of vodoo dolls... Police and lawyers are breathlessly chasing behind the events. (It came at a time when bribery and corruption in South Korean business and politics was still more common and taken for granted than nowaydays. It was only a couple of years later that even the head of state was accused of being part of a shocking network controlled by Jaebeol bribery. To that extent the KDrama was just on spot at its time.)

"Shark" offers a fine study about injustice trying to be compensated by vigilantism. However, making amends is not possible. The protagonist's father is and remains dead. Revenge isn't that easy either, because in the course of his chess moves the protagonist stumbles over truths he didn't expect and a love that could get in the way of revenge plans. (Somehow Orpheus is whispering into the protagonist´s ear: "Do not ´look back´!", e.g. let go of revenge and vigilantism...)

The shark (as an animal) may himself not be able to create suction (for breathing), but the KDrama "Shark" can do so very well. The soundtrack sets the rhythm, the melody burns in, the events take their course and you always want to look around the next bend to see what might happen next. Although the good guy is the bad guy, you're feverishly at his side. And on the side of the bad guys, there are the good guys too. What to do with morals...

"Shark" gives practical insight into the early hours of the Jaebeol and their machinations over time. The roles of their long-term companions, who knew them from the earliest hour before their rise as Jaebeol, are also highlighted (e.g. their companions, today assistants, secretaries, drivers, lawyers, etc.). With those they have come a long way and so the know each other, like no other).

"Shark" is more on a tranquil side and maybe less colourful than other KDramas. Both background and heart of this KDrama with its characteristic tinting are set by the tender childhood love - between the Jaebeol´s grand daughter and the driver´s son... The differentiated side plots also keep viewers on their toes. ... It remains thrilling until the end, when open questions are answered.

Mercilessly the wheel of fortune turns, over 20 episodes. The premonitions of the first scenes are set ´today´. Then, in retrospect, the emotional relationship between the protagonists, what happened back then and where they are coming from is portrayed via their youth experiences, before the today´s storyline is picked up again.

Some call this KDrama a masterpiece. I am one of them.
Yet the whole is as often more than its parts. If you are primarily in it for the romance you might be disappointed in the end. Rather against the setting of this love story the KDrama is giving insights into the careers and backdrop of the shiny Jaebeols´ shady practices. In return on this solid drama-soil the emotionally challenging processes of those two ´associated in love´ unfold...

Read More

Never, ever watch this drama, ever

This is maybe the WORST daily drama I have ever watched. I have never written a review before, but I just had to for this drama, For me, daily dramas are cathartic. You know that the good people will get a happy ending and the bad people will get punished. Yes, some daily dramas go off script and the ending can be less than satisfying, but this is the first drama I found enraging. The worst character of the entire series, the one that caused the most heartache and literally had someone murdered, doesn’t go to jail or receive any punishment. She is forgiven, for murder!!! And, the most selfless person in the entire show gets terminal cancer. The romantic plot line was all over the place. First the female lead looks like she is interested in a childhood friend, even though he is a selfish cold prick, IMO. Then, she gets over the friend and is interested in her guardian, the man that raised her since she was six. Okay, that was gross and weird, but I tried to look past it. But then, she doesn’t even end up with him because again, he dies at the end of the drama of cancer. So, the female lead marries the childhood best friend, who she doesn’t even love, to make her pseudo father happy. What???? The whole series was terrible from start to finish and I only finished it because I wanted to see how this train wreck would end. Ultimately, this was the least satisfying daily drama I have ever watched and I would never recommend anyone else watch it.

Read More

Waaaaaaffffeeerrrs!!!! You know how a warm cup of coffee in the morning can wake you up and brighten your whole day? Manhattan Love story is like that. After trying out a few different shows and being in that awkward stage of not knowing what I want to watch next, I finally landed on a good one, Mahattan Love Story. It is a definite cure for drama-slump-idis. I'm so glad that I found this gem of a drama because it's freaking hilarious. It's definitely a good mood drama. If you enjoy smiling, grinning from ear to ear, and busting out laughing then this drama is for you.

Also The story is really creative. Forget love triangles, how about love octagons lol. But it's the characters that make the show. Tenchou, the main character, is a barista who hardly ever speaks out loud. Much of the show is us hearing his thoughts and laughing at his facial expressions. The other characters are also great. Too many good ones to name. But trust me, "I say this from my experience, my life and my soul," Manhattan Love Story was Great!

Read More

Better than expected

I'm on a modern Chinese drama run and they're all flawed in their own way. This did remind of me Kill Me Heal Me. However the split personality aspect is really weird. How that single incident where a boy accidentally scarred a little girl, left such a traumatic impression on 3 individual is kinda far fetched. Not only that, the way her split personality work is kinda weird....she essentially manifest personality every time she's stress...on the spot. He goes out of his way to deal help the FL lead every time she changed personality is also pretty weird. I mean, at one point, he essentially let her run his company...lol...a person with no experience running any company. Oh yes...the FL is very Mary Sue ish btw. She just excel in everything she does despite have no prior experience in this field. Also for him, the way he almost essentially threw away a girl he love when he thought the girl he had injured was another woman...was just weird. Even if you find someone you'd wrong and want to make up for it...how is that supposed to affect your current love life? Oh yes, so the ML is supposed to be a genius heir of a conglomerate that excel in a lot of investment beside his make up company. He sure acts like an idiot at times. He's a miser to a fault and acts more like a kid than a successful businessman. So the point is...people here in this drama operates in extremely weird logics. Also, one of the biggest plot point was her scar. A scar, in which she had successfully concealed with makeup...so how is that such a big issue is weird. I'm telling you...this drama operates in wacky logic.

But if you suspend all of the bad logic in the story, and its true of a lot of these Chinese drama, it's a rather enjoyable experience. I do like the FL's character and personality. The ML's is in his way quirky and cute. The doctor has a really good bromance with the ML. Lots of feel good, cute, and funny moments.

Pros:
- Fun cute romance with lots of cute scene.
- Do enjoy some of main couple.
- Do like the secondary couple with the ML's assistant and the FL's friend/therapist.
- The doctor and the ML's ex coupling is alright but never cared for that pairing. I prefer the bromance between the doctor and the ML.
- The ML's parent...though initially disapprove of their relationship are surprisingly supportive of them later on. Even going along with one of her personality change.

Cons
-As mention terrible logic everywhere. Every time she changes personality, people around her help her by trying to find a way to fulfill her desire. It's an interestingly plot device but the extent they're willing to go along with this...is...just weird if you think about. And EVERYONE plays along.
- Antagonist is alway bad: main one is the obsessive co-ceo of his makeup company I guess. Initally it was the ML's ex but she became her bff after she sacrifice her chance to fix her scar so she can fix her nose.


Despite how much I rant on this drama, I actually enjoyed it quite of bit. And one of the main reason is that they find ways to keep things interesting despite how far-fetch a lot of this scenario is . And they probably played a major role on how much I enjoyed this drama. It's not boring and they main leads are a like-able couple.

Read More

beautiful cinematography & filled with symbolism

Overall: I would call this a coming of age story. It hurt at times, was beautiful at times and worth it in the end (ending spoiler in the comments). 7 episodes that varied between 12 and 23 minutes long. Aired on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-CWu74qAe0yVW9kUOx_UDuBzYdQl4fZ3&si=t4oKRorq2rzxDprd (note that the playlist is not in correct viewing order)

Content Warning: bullying, homophobia, vomiting, slaps

What I Liked
- acting
- production value (cinematography especially)
- symbolism (how blue/red represented each of them, with the artwork and putting/moving that black patterned overlay)

Room For Improvement
- not totally clear on the timeline/how much time passed
- who was the other guy in episode 7
- the beginning voice over was not subtitled and the hard coded subtitles were extremely small/difficult to read though I do appreciate there being subtitles

Read More

Story:

Although the story can be confusing at first since it is very fast paced, it slows down as the story progresses, and makes more sense after understanding the characters. The story is heavier, and has a lot more dept than regular Shoujo live-actions, which I personally enjoyed. There are some touching scenes throughout the movie, especially at the ending.

Acting/Cast:

I was not a huge fan of Komatsu Nana's acting in her past works, but she improved so much in this movie! There are a few parts that are still a bit awkward, but her acting is overall pretty good in this movie. Suda Masaki's acting is always great, and once again, he did not disappoint me. He really embodied the character, and truly won me over by the end. I read somewhere that he lost a lot of weight for this role, and weighed around 50kg, which is crazy for his height! Overall, I really liked the chemistry between them since they have a similar aura.

Music:

I LOVED the music, and I thought that it went well with the movie. I downloaded a whole bunch of the songs after.

Overall:

I honestly love this movie so much. It is fast paced in the beginning, but everything fits together by the end. This is definitely different (in a good way) from regular Shoujo manga live-actions, but the scenes were filmed so beautifully. Overall, I loved the main characters and the chemistry between them.

Read More

I'm not going to be particularly hard on this mini series, because I know it wasn't supposed to be a serious drama. It was just something fun and special for GOT7 fans. Overall, the story was cute, but kind of cliche. Girl meets boy, boy protects girl, someone has to die, etc etc. Don't attack me GOT7 fans, I'm just writing my honest opinion. Isn't that what reviews are supposed to be? Nevertheless, I think that the cliches of this drama were what made it cute. Plus the concept of Knights and Guardians was just too adorable. The ending was kind of rushed though, they didn't explain it well enough and I had to rewatch the end 3 times to understand what exactly had happened. It also seemed like they were trying to squish 3 different endings into one ending, as if they couldn't decide. The ending could've been better. Endings are always the hardest part to write. How does one wrap everything up but also leave the audience satisfied while also wanting more at the same time?

GOT7 is a musical group, so obviously their acting skills are not superb, but I think they did a great job despite the fact that they're singers. JB obviously has experience, but still.

The music was pretty much just all of GOT7's hits and a few others, so I already knew most of them. It was nice to have their songs playing in the background though, made it more enjoyable.

I don't really rewatch dramas/movies/etc, but since this was such a short and sweet series I'll probably watch it again if I have free time.

Although it seemed like I had nothing to say, I enjoyed the this mini-series. The only reason I gave it a 7.5 is because if I gave it a 8+ it would be like comparing it to big shot dramas out there like MLFTS, Healer, Kill Me Heal Me, Pinocchio, etc etc. Don't hate me. If you're bored and there's nothing to watch, this cute mini series will be perfect for you. :)

Read More

WELL WRITTEN ,WELL DIRECTED, WELL ACTED

I can never miss a drama that has Liu Yunning in it. If diligence of an actor had a face it would be him. (Especially for all the hate that he gets for his looks) I just find him stunning from every angle tbh. He has grown so much as an actor since the first time I saw him in long ballad. Shi shi who is FL in here has also done really very well though she is already a big name in this industry but for me this is her best performance so far. Not just the two main leads but every single actor in this drama has surpassed their previous performances.
Moving on to the story...man this is by far the best written original story of this year. Every single scene makes sense, no nonsense. Everything just holds onto the main plot without putting fillers to make audiance have a humorous break in between which is so common in Cdramas. It is good sometimes but it disconnect viewers from the main plot. But this drama really knows how to keep audiance connected without putting filler episodes. I never skipped any scene. Big applause to the writer who made such layered characters as well.
The most important thing...THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER and not just FL but other characters as well especially the one who plays princess. My god! So good! Her character development, her evolution from weak to strong willed girl is something one should not miss at all. People should really write female characters like that instead of making them some bold girl but damsel in distress the moment ML arrives. These girls are CLEVER and SMOOTH in their actions. No dumb actions at all.
Story, acting, direction, song and production everything is amazing. The cinematography kind of reminds me of old shows especially in fight scenes but I don't know it is kind of nostalgic for me. Apart from some fight sequences which are sometimes little slow and with too many cuts, rest was really good. It is not perfect but that is what makes it real. Especially the dialogues. They pinpoint all those things that we viewers always think like " wait a minute why didn't they notice it?"
Like girl pretending to be a boy. They pointed out the Adam's apple part. There are so many scenes that really questions everything that we sometimes forgive them for.
To conclude it all I would highly recommend this show. You won't regret it for sure.

Read More

An unexpected gem.

I expected to like this because I had love at first sight for Tee Khunakorn and sat through Cupid Coach for him. But I didn't think I'd like this because it's really good, which it is.

This isn't a particularly original story - high school students with their blue shirts and all the rest - but there are some unusual aspects and some interesting variations on the usual bag of tricks. It's very G-rated, and cute from beginning to end without ever being cloying.

One refreshing aspect is that both boys are unambiguously gay, and identify as such. Another is that homophobia is not magically absent. It's magically a lot weaker than in real life, but it's presented with more complexity than usual - Q's mother is afraid her son is gay, and at first is resistant, which made the audience hate her, but her motivations are realistic - she's afraid his life will be harder and that people won't accept him, like she saw happen with her heavily-muscled gay brother who I want to climb. Likewise, Q's two best friends are shocked when they find out, which is also normal and realistic, but everyone in the end accepts him without reservation for who he is.

There are no horrible people in this - both female characters are unrelentingly positive and supportive, with one not even having a problem with her prom date bailing to go help their friends. Everyone is capable of distinguishing between what's important and what's not.

All the dialog is excellent and well-thought out, and the humor is actually quite funny.

But most important, the central theme is about communication, and how when there is a misunderstanding, you have to talk it through, not jump to conclusions. The writing skillfully brings all the misunderstandings together in an intrrelated way that reinforce each other without being repetitive, tiresome or (overly) preachy (it's a little preachy).

The twist on the "food on your face" trope is so well-executed and cute that I nearly squealed, and tropes usually make me roll my eyes so hard that I can see behind me.

And best of all, no seme & uke. Both of them are just guys who like each other. They can be individuals instead of being boxed in by articial roles. I think that's part of the success of the couple.

The cast is absolutely stellar. All the actors are charming and have wonderful chemistry with each other, down to Q's friends with his mother and uncle. Tee was good in Cupid Coach, but he's much improved here, with a greater range and more sincere delivery. Bever as X is charming and adorable, and he and Tee have a lot of potential as a couple - I really hope we see them together again. If you've seen Cupid Coach, you know Tee has no problem showing skin or engaging in intimacy.

The actors are all so charming that I even invested in the straight storylines - Toy and Mook are so cute, and the resolution of the awkward Frank & Mild storyline is well-handled and reinforces the don't-jump-to-conclusions theme with a contrasting situation. (It's also subtly suggested that Mild is a lesbian, which is kind of nice but not stepped on or exploited, and makes you think the misunderstanding is one thing when it's another).

It's clear that a lot of love went into this project - I think you'll feel it too and you'll love it right back. But go into it understanding it's 4 episodes. A lot of people had a problem with the length, but sometimes less is more. The pacing is efficient and unrushed, and although there is the get-together-in-the-last-10-seconds thing, the boys have essentially been boyfriends and interacted as such for some time, so it doesn't feel like the letdown that such an ending usually is. I highly recommend this.

Read More

Top Tier Chemistry

Anyone hesitant to watch this drama because of the "fake-sibling" tag, it's not like what you think. Let me help break it down; Shenyuan, played by Zhang Wang Yi is the illegitimate son of the Luo family. He never considered Yining, played by Ren Min as a sister or anyone in the Luo household "family" because of the negligence he faced. He is only kind to her because her mother was the only person that looked out for him when he was young. They both grew up separately and when Yining returned, he approached her with an intent motive. He finds out early on that she is not his "half-sibling". He later notice that he was beginning to look at her in a different way but remained respectful due to their "relationship status". Yining is also kind to him because she feels guilty about an accident that happened when they were young (that's the only memory she has of him). She also feels connected to him due to the similar unfair treatments they receive from their "father".

Their relationship transition was respectfully well-written. ZWY and RM executed their roles well and their chemistry is top tier. Their characters are resourceful and complimentary. I love the dynamics between them and you'll find yourself wanting more of them. They're consistent, know what they want and get what they want.

Overall, this drama is very cliche but ZWY and RM did well on delivering it. They kept me engaged and this is the first time that I bough fast pass for a drama and it's worth it. I hope to see more of them together in future projects. I love their on and off screen interactions.

Read More

Tearjerker

As usual, Roy Chiu delivers! This movie is about a softhearted debt collector that has fallen in love with his debtor.

The storyline revolves around his life as a collector and his life with the woman he fell for. The movie has a very authentic feel to it. Very good cinematography of the poor, urban life-- very realistic to say the least.

Roy Chiu, a vibrant actor brought it and will make you cry in the last 10 minutes of the movie. Apparently, Roy won the Best Actor awards for his role in this film including the female lead Ann Hsu.

I may not want to rewatch this movie as it was painful to do so. But hey, Man In Love is definitely worth your time.

Read More

ambivalence

"Oasis". Hm. I've thought whether I should continue watching or drop the series... I've also considered more than once whether I want to write something about it... My feelings about this KDrama are ambivalent. However, the ´why is this?´ , is why I actually consider it worth mentioning.

Sure, there were bumpy details, like the boys' artificial skin tanning when they were young, but I don't want to dwell on those.
>> The decisive factor for me, not rooting so much for this show, was and is that I really do NOT care so much for ANYBODY in this story. I understand, yes. There is empathy, yes. But sympathy? I couldn't care less. I've never had that before. I actually didn’t care. Neither the love story, nor the incorrigible rival, nor the girl wanting to bring back her father's cinema – this all and more only had limited impact on me. That's why I was tempted to turn my back on the story. Yet, I don't want to deny the actors' ability. I would do them injustice. They did their job fairly well. There are a number of strong moments. But still, maybe they were not the perfect cast? In any case, I would argue that in “OASIS” the character portraits were simply NOT drawn that well. ...In my view, that's obviously NOT the strength of the script...

Then there is the historical context of the series – the rollercoaster ride of the 80's and 90's. In South Korea, they are the neuralgic interface between dictatorship and democracy. But I don't want to dwell on this either.
>> What was decisive for me was that the STORY of the KDrama really mattered to me – whatever triggered the dynamics, the twists and turns. Intertwined with it were indeed countless moments that touched me deeply. Starting with the seed that underlies the whole drama: the fatal loyalty of the former slave not only to his deceased master, who had fought for independence, but also to his son, whom he now still serves as a free man. And then also the fruits that came out of this seed. Plus a lot more. The circumstances, the constraints, the social context that shines through in how it shapes (or had shaped) people, all of this really had me .
The way these forces of time and history run along in the background as a matter of course and keep stirring up the lives of the protagonists at crucial points, I think the script did THAT quite well. (However, I don't know whether it would have worked that way if I hadn't already known something about the political and social context back then.)

Maybe I could summarize: The portrait of how the historical dynamics are intertwined with personal destinies is well done in "Oasis". The character portrait of the comparatively stale protagonists, on the other hand, is less so. This discrepancy, resulting in my rather indifferent experience of the main characters on the one hand, and the emotional force with which the story keeps lashing out on the other hand, is a phenomenon that I have never experienced in a KDrama before. (But I don't necessarily assume that this has to be the same for others as it is for me.)

Eventually, despite the ambivalence, I watched to the end and was always curious to see what would be next. I can't say I regret watching either. But then I wasn´t all that happy in the end - even though I was partially impressed by the showdown, (yet, again, only partially.)



----------------------- Tiny side note: -------------------------------------

Re: 80's and 90's:
In connection with e.g. the KDramas "Sandglass" and "Giant" I have already given some of the political coulors of the 1980s and 1990s. Much of this applies to the historical context of "Oasis" as well. (you might want to check there.) Here, though, the dubious role of the secret service comes more into focus.

Re. Movie theatre:
The dictatorship was characterized by censorship. In addition, there was no freedom to travel. Accordingly, the cinema was like a window to the rest of the world, and generally offered a canvas to dream away from one's own misery, at least for a while. That may be more or less true wherever you look on this planet. But in South Korea at that time certainly more than i.e. in Europe. The role of the ´cinema´ in "Oasis" not only coincidentally represents liberation (struggle - especially of the female protagonist).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Ps.:
Because of this KDrama I stumbled over another one - same title, 20 years older: "Oasis (2003) " or "Desert Spring".
I am grateful for this discovery thanks to the name-connection. Actually I liked that older one (despite the specific doing of that time) even more...
Nevertheless I consider "Oasis" (2023) having its moments, too...

Read More

This drama is somewhat relateable aside from the love lines.
First off, its a typical youth C-drama, female lead loves the popular, smart and handsome male lead.
The character development in this drama is great especially with the female lead, Xia Miao Miao. She was initially a timid and shy girl but grew into a brave, confident, and independent girl because of her friends and because of her beloved Liang You Nian.

Liang You Nian is the male lead of the drama. He's your typical c-drama male lead. He's sweet and nice to everyone except those who ticks him off or trying to get with his girl. You can totally see his glare when someone gets too close to Miao Miao. IT WAS ADORABLE! Back to the story at hand, You Nian is someone who sticks to what he wants to do and this trait of his helped Miao Miao switch her major to something that SHE herself really wanted to do from the beginning. That sparked the change in Miao Miao and how hard working she is in achieving her dreams.

The relationship between the two leads started later because Miao Miao had a crush on You Nian since high school and (spoiler alert) Liang You Nian did as well, however he didn't exactly confirm this until later in university. It was cute when they got together, they held hands, hugged, not much kissing but other than that its adorable seeing them together and working together, etc.

The drama also focused on other couples Lin Kai Tuo, You Nian's younger step brother (its funny because the actor playing Kai Tuo is way older than Kuan Lin(actor playing Liang You Nian). XD Kai Tuo was coupled with He Xin (Liang You Nian's cousin.) I call them the temper couple cause they both have anger issues/temper. hhahaha Another character is Wang Yi Chao and same-grade female character I forgot the name of albeit sh initially liked You Nian.

Furthermore, the drama focused on family issues such as Liang You Nian's family. His father married Kai Tuo's mother. For a while this caused a disruption in the friend between Kai Tuo and You Nian. One misses their birth mother, and the other misses their birth father. As said before, this drama mentioned individual choices -such as majors in universities- if your family wants you to take this major, but your hearts wants something else then follow it cause thats what Miao Miao ended up doing.

Lets just say, You Nian influenced a lot of Miao Miao's choices which eventually lead to an argument I thought was pointless. Anyways, You Nian also said Miao Miao inspired him as well in ways that she never knew she could because she thought he's "too high" for her. It just tells us that You Nian doesn't care if you're not the best looking person, its all about the personality and your actions and what you do with it.

The acting in this drama is not amazing. I just want to say Kuan Lin is not an actor even though he technically acted. He just didn't seem natural whatsoever. His expressions are stone cold aside from his smile - which is adorable but other than that his expressions in acting is terrible. Even the crying part was awkward - it had no feeling to me. The female lead who played XIa Miao Miao did an okay, passable job.

Overall, if you like youth dramas dealing with fashion design, architect, drawing, college life, family drama, friendship then this is for you. :)

Read More