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I really liked Lee Min Ki in this because he was so funny. The expressions on his face and the gestures, it's hilarious.
Plus, you do get the "who will she pick" tension, so the final outcome is much anticipated.
Also, the scenes with the cooking made me hungry too, so better bring some munchies.
It's 34 episodes and that can be an investment in time, but it's well worth it.
The only low score I've given is for rewatchablility; not because it's not worth a rewatch, but rather because I only rewatched certain episodes I found particularly cute and not all 34 in a row again.
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This review may contain spoilers
Anti-heroes. Down to earth. Authentic. Harsh. Compassionate. No Cinderella story, yet a love story.
I stumbled across this comparatively 'old' KDrama (2002) because of actress Gong Hyo-Jin. But actually here particularly Lee Na-young and Yang Dong-geun impressed me with their strong and down-to-earth performance. Once again I discovered a little gem of early KDrama art.Rather tranquil. True to life. Authentic. No fairy tale. No Cinderella story. No power games of the mighty, but simple everyday life of anti-heroes. Yes, down to earth. Very. I was delighted. This KDrama - like "My Mister" or "When the Camellia Blooms" - is centred around a quite authentic, ordinary world. Not spectacular. Neither in action, nor in scenery. The story is also not about the rich, beautiful, successful people that are always welcome, but about those who are less noticed (in the media): about ordinary people who didn´t have an excellent education, yet earn their money somehow. It is about a world comparably most people unfortunately live in - about their worries, hardships and, if it can´t be avoided, illnesses, too.
In its centre: a young, inconsiderate, unwieldy pickpocket who is confronted with the diagnosis of brain tumor. It is about the people in his immediate environment: family, friends, girlfriends, police. About a love traingle. About choices in life. Reconsideration, too. That's not really 'exciting'. But touching. Unspectacularly impressive. A mirror of compassion and humanity.
"Ruler of your own World" dates back to the early days of KWave. At the time, this KDrama was not as successful (also internationally) as i.e. the productions of the "Endless Love Series". However, it was highly valued and appreciated in its own country for the authentic story (with comparably hardly in KDrama otherwise frequently elaborated makjang). "Ruler of your own World" is considered the ´best´ serial production of 2002 (vs. "Winter Sonata" as the most ´successful´ of the same year.)
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WORTH THE WATCH 100 PERCENT
It's my first time reviewing a drama, I have been watching C dramas since the onset of the coronavirus, and hands down this drama has topped my list in terms of every aspect, from chemistry to storyline. I swear you will never regret binging all the 36 episodes at one go, cause u will be hooked right from the start. And the kisses, it burns u from the inside, the passion, the hunger, the love, and the sexual tension. My goodness god gracious, It's forever gonna be one the best dramas I have watched. I will rewatch it every time I am in need of some love and fluff and intense romance.WATCH ITTT U WILL NEVER REGRET IT
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Acting/Cast: Perfect! Good chemistry for the main characters. I didn't expect Yoobi to have good chemistry with Minho but they did.
Music: I like that the music also complemented the web drama (Follow Me Down OST from Alice in Wonderland).
Rewatch value: I watched a few episodes again. It's not a long story and not dragging so I can watch it over and over until I figure how to connect the epilogues to the episodes.
Overall, a must watch for those who love light drama with slice of life, school life, time travel genre. I expected a longer episode 10 though but, as with a few of the Kdramas I've seen, most endings seem to make me feel like there are missing elements to conclude the story.
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This review may contain spoilers
Even though what happened is unfathomable, despite all the tragedy, the deeper focus is on hope
A true story. Not the only one of this kind, unfortunately. This one took place in South Korea in 2008 and was filmed in the KMovie "Hope" in 2013. (In the original: "Wish" - the meaning of "Sowon", the name of the eight-year-old protagonist.)This film production, which was shown in neighboring Asian cinemas, too, achieved great success largely through word of mouth. The story is shocking and touching, while the film adaptation laid its focus less on exploiting the crime itself, than on sensitively dealing with how it affected the little girl, her family, friends of family and classmates. It's less about the incredibly unscrupulous, brutal act than about the family's struggle to continue to come to terms with the unfathomable and the consequences on a wide variety of levels - psychological, physical, social, financial, legal, media-related and everyday practical.
“Hope” received quite some film awards. Despite all the heartbreaking tragedy, the KMovie deliberately intents to touch people in a positive sense. The KMovie wants to open up an, nevertheless, optimistic perspective towards a life 'after'. This, obviously, is tough and challenging. Surely it takes time and even more patience. Heart-rending in this context, for example, is the wonderfully authentic portrayal of the massively threatened father-daughter relationship. Unexpectedly, though, some light comes into the darkness. Sol Kyung-gu - in the role of a desperate father, whose daughter is in danger of slipping away from him due to her terrible experiences – apparently did not take off his distinctive costume throughout the entire shoot in order to maintain high contact with the emotions and their intensity the whole time. And Lee Re, in her debut on the big screen as an eight-year-old daughter, also touches the heart, as does Uhm Ji-won, who initially apparently didn't have the courage to take on her role of the mother. She is also deeply touching with her convincing acting that gets right under your skin.
Even though, what happened is and remains unfathomable, despite all the tragedy, the KMovie explicitly focuses on hope. This way, throughout those 122 stirring minutes it is not all grim all the time.
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SIDE NOTE: --- The Cho Doo-soon case ---
The story refers to a rape case from 2008, when a drunken 57-year-old man brutally raped an eight-year-old girl in a public toilet in Ansan. Being as brutal as he was, the girl suffered permanent damage. However, the man (who before had already been convicted of rape, among other things) got away with only 12 years in prison. He consequently kept up his mantra, that being so drunk that day he couldn´t remember anything. This had already helped him in previous cases. Here too, he was given mitigating circumstances due to his age, the influence of alcohol and his mental state.
The rape in Asan was extremely gruesome. (The details were not in so much details explicit in the KMovie and I also do not want to waste any letter for them here, either.) Suffering from her internal and external injuries, the girl was hospitalized for eight months. She took an artificial anus back home. Medical treatment was followed by psychiatric treatment. A year later she was at least stabilized enough to go back to school. But even several years later in 2020, she apparently can handle harmless cartoons on TV only, avoids any news and tough topics, i.e. she is still extremely fragile and unstable when it comes to the issues involving any violence at all.
The investigation and trial in this case from 2008 didn´t get covered in glory. On the contrary. The public outcry was great and extended, among other things, to a petition to the Blue House for retrial. The case also led to a number of legislative proposals being submitted by the Democrats, which would, for example, suggest to imprison repeat offenders of sexual offenses against minors in special facilities for life, or e.g. concern the legal handling of sexual offenses committed under the influence of alcohol. But in the end they didn't go through, nor did various petitions.
Instead, the electronic ankle bracelet was the method of choice when Cho Doo-soon was released in 2020. The cost of continuous monitoring of Cho Do-soon's electronic ankle bracelet during the first 4 months after release only, was estimated by the Ministry of Justice at over 200 million won (over 140,000 euros). In addition, apparently 71 security cameras were set up specifically to protect Ansan's residents from Cho, who still has his wife and his home there…
By the way, the infamous Cho Doo-soon case was also topic in the K-dramas "Taxi Driver 2", "Voice 4" and "Vigilante".
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The main couple has really good chemistry. They suit each other well and their scenes are good. The angst in this romance is about them actually not supposed to be together, it was never meant to be. The butterfly effect has consequences. The second couple are also sweet and the romance plot is a tad angsty, I found myself worrying about the future I knew and wishing for a new future for them.
I have not noticed any big inconsistencies with this taking place in 1989. Even though the brands shown are of later date, I don't look at the brand names but rather the fashion style. I remember well all these horrible clothes, old technology and I feel myself being immersed. I am sure that if you really want to you can rip this show to bits finding loads of errors. I'm just not that kind of viewer. So far it feels like the 1989 that I remember.
All in all a well done drama, with the usual Taiwanese issues (low audio quality and at least one clown character). The extremely cheesy moments didn't bother me at all, I enjoyed them, squealed and cried my way through this very sweet story.
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I think Ishihara Satomi was spectacular as Konno Ecchan. She has that bubbly personality that fits the character. Her laughs always made me laugh, they are so silly and contagious. Her clothes were beautiful and fit her like glove. I love the various hairstyles and accessories she wears throughout the episodes. Since I am a huge fan of nail art, I was a bit disappointed to see that her nails were simple done, nothing fancy. I get that her character is based on a girl who loves fashion, but it was also a bit unrealistic that she wears a different outfit every day, wears a different piyamas every day, and has a elaborated hairstyle every day. Oh well, at least she repeats the shoes...
But more than anything, I liked how hard she worked (even though Proofreading wasn't her vocation) and how her work inspired her co-workers to give it all. Maybe Proofreading is a bit tedious, and I don't think it involves all the research they did, but I wanted so much to work in that Editorial, it looked so much fun. Reading books and researching, to check that all facts were correct. With a calm work group and a nice boss. What more to ask??
There is more romance than I thought it would be, but I wouldn't watch this for it (in my humble opinion, I think she falls for the wrong guy...not that he is a jerk, quite the contrary, he is the nicest, but she has more chemistry with another guy). The beauty of this show is the characters and the the motivation to and for work.
I loved the OP sequence and song, catchy and fun and kinda girly.
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In My Own Opinion
I love watching this show because the Cell Village literally gives visual justice to everyone's thinking and emotions. The story is very realistic and relatable. Of all the dramas that I've watch, (Cdrama, Jdrama and Kdrama) (minus the cell village part) the plot of this story is closest to reality. It shows the different types of relationships a man and a woman can have The Toxic Type, The Long Distance Type, The Friends Attracted to Each Other Type, The Affectionate Type, The Meant to be Type, The One Sided Type and so on. It also shows the ups and downs of man-woman relationship that it's not always rainbow you see and that the reality is no man or woman is overly dedicated to the person they like. Sometimes relationships experiences storm and dealing with it head on is the best solution. Temptation is always there, so GOODLUCK with those one man- woman persona of most of the ML in drama as this one sets a new standard. " THE REALITY STANDARD." I also like that it uncovers the different types of people you will meet and deal with in the work place. It also exhibits the different relationships with other people. The Confidant Relationship, The Colleague Only Relationship, The Like-Hate Relationship, The Superior- Subordinate Relationship, ect. Watching this drama in a deeper perspective, you will find that there is no way the story is light and fluffy. The story of this drama is base on the real experiences of day to day life of real people and that real people I am pertaining to is US. And what's going on our brain and how it thinks, reacts and functions was visually represented by the cute dimensional characters in the drama.Was this review helpful to you?
If I'm being perfectly honest I mostly watched because Go Ara was in it, I loved her character, she was easy to fall in love with. But wow, the rest of the cast floored me. The drama and intrigue was off the charts. Jung ll Woo was amazing, you really felt his burden and sincerity throughout. Kwan Yool was hilarious as well. I also have a soft spot for Nam Ki Ae as Queen Inwon, what a sweety and what a wonderful smile.
I actually really loved, especially toward the end, the relationship between Jung Moon Sung's character Prince Milpoong and Bae Jung Hwa's character Bok Dan. I know I was supposed to hate them but I just felt sorry for them, it just seemed so tragic.
The story was fantastic and you really were on the edge of your seat from week to week. I just loved the ending.
I definitely recommend this drama!
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Masterpiece
To call this show a masterpiece is an understatement. Everything about it is top notch. The acting, the story and the execution. Just wow. Every scene has a significance like the small details, everything adds together.Zhou yu tong, I don't know where to start with her. Her acting is mindblowing, I could feel every emotion of hers. The chem between her character and Jian yi fan is so cute, it the little things that matter.
I like the "mystery" element in here. Eveyone else did a expectiaonal job. Love the relationship between the girls. The emotions were raw.
Strongly recommended drama!!
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Unforgettable Collaborations, a Mastermind Villain, Nail-Biting Plot Twists, and a Beautiful Romance
This drama is one of the best dramas out there if someone is looking for a lot of thrill with nerve-wracking plot twists and cliffhangers and a drama with well-structured crimes as well as investigations then then you have reached your station. One of the best things that makes this drama stand out is how real the drama looks for example here the ML doesn't just magically solves cases but rather goes through various iterations again and again making sense out of the evidence and drawing various plans, this is what that is usually missing from most crime-thriller dramas. Another aspect is that the characters all had their own lives instead of all working on the same case for the sake of the plot always surrounding the ML Instead all had their own share of things to take care of many were investigating other cases many helped ML solve the cases through their own domain expertise which is also different than another other drama out there which made this drama look more like a real-world situation where we sometimes collaborate with someone other time with others, sometimes someone asks for help sometimes you get help from someone, if someone is injured or takes holidays we have their replacements. So for me, it felt more like watching a separate world through the camera lens. Wait there is still a lot more😂😂.The plot revolves around the police department, NFS, and firefighters, and here we see cases that involve all three of them working together or at least called together on sites which later turns into collaborations. Each place has a set of repeating characters which we can consider the main characters yet they can also change given the circumstances It doesn't mean that any of them lack substance rather all will end up becoming your favorite For example here Doha was an addition that I really like his collaboration with ML just makes sense they are a perfect duo just like how we saw Jindo dog and Bulldozer together in S1.
The cases are much more extreme in S2 than in S1 making us think how the hell are they gonna do, whether they will make it out alive or not. These cases will keep you up all night until you complete the whole drama😂😂. There is also slight romance in the drama, not many scenes but it will surely melt your heart whenever you see them together in any scene. Both ML and FL have their own love language and their own way of expressing it. Oh man at this rate I will keep on going all day long talking about them😂😂 let's move on.
This drama also has one of the most brilliant villains who made all the best of the bests in the drama (like Jin Ho Gae, Kang Do Ha, and Yoon Hong, etc.) run around in the palm of his hands. He was the main mastermind pulling all the strings from behind but no one could even speculate even the crimes he drew let alone his identity or his involvement. This man literally used the whole country as his playing field and our character as players to play with. He was always working on many things at once unlike the normal villains who give their all in only one crime until they fail and move on to another, he on the other hand always had his hands full of plans to execute.
Although S2 is a little bit behind S1 but cases shown here are better than S1 and it also has much much better collaborations between the different teams, departments, and characters. The lineup at the end of S2 seemed too overly powered to me where all the best of the best were working together so I don't know if S3 comes out any of the villains would even last a single episode😂. I would really love to see the actors working together again, especially the ML and FL. I don't know if there will be another season or not but all I know is that this drama created a whole different level or standard for other crime thriller dramas to work towards.
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Cops and Robbers
The First Shot 雪迷宫 is a classic cops and robbers crime thriller featuring China's early efforts to combat drug trafficking in the late 1990s. It seamlessly fuses together proven themes of friendship, loyalty and betrayal, and good vs evil; all the elements that make this genre enduringly popular. It is set in a fictional city Halan in frigidly cold Northeast China and is about a newly established anti-narcotics team's early efforts to combat an influx of drugs into the region. Lacking basic knowledge of synthetic drug manufacturing, Zhang Bei is sent to Huazhou in Southern China to recruit Gu Yiran, an expert chemistry professor to join his team. Due to the initial influx of drugs into Southern China in the earlly 1990s, Gu Yiran's familiarity with the habits and tactics of the traffickers proves as invaluable as his knowledge of chemistry.This is a well made drama if you can excuse the meagre, cheesy 1990s look and feel that gets a much needed boost by Jacky Cheung's top Cantopop and early Mandopop hits from the day. It is definitely not Zhang Yimou behind the camera but the camera angles are quite innovative and the spectacularly choreographed action scenes kept me on the edge of my seat. The crime plot unfolds at a decent cadence with a few really interesting and unpredictable twists and reveals. The bromances were deftly written with each relationship: Zhang Bei and Gu Yiran; Zhang Bei and Jiang Xiaohai and Jaing Xiaohai and Liang Jiaju; illuminating different facets of both Zhang Bei and Jiang Xiaohai.
The investigative unit's rapport resonates and carries the story from the get go with every member doing their own small but crucial part in this tightly knit team. The rabidly feisty Mad Dog Yao kicking butt in any brawl only to be too easily subdued by Zhang Bei cracked me up no end. While I appreciate the narrative taking the time to flesh out the important roles, this drama falls into the usual trap of these plot driven stories of digressing too far into too many personal stories of peripheral side characters. It comes at the cost of the momentum of the investigative plot and the narrative sags in the middle. While Lin Boyang is lovely, I wasn't invested in her sweet but trite romance which went on for so long it bored me silly. This would have been much tighter and more exciting as a 24 episode drama.
I was initially skeptical about Huang Jingyu in this kind of super masculine hero cop who carries the weight of his team and the world on his shoulders kind of role. He has done it too many times and indeed there is nothing about the way the character is written or portrayed that makes Zhang Bei stand out from this tired archetype. Yet maybe its his personal charisma or how he just looks the part so perfectly that his Zhang Bei just "works" in bringing all the other roles and performances together. As much as I like Wang Qizi, Gu Yiran is the character that at the end I liked and cared about the least. He is at surface easy going and amiable but in reality he is lonely and guarded and he has his own agenda. Unfortunately I found his obstinate and repeated Lone Ranger stunts so selfish and boring that it overwhelmed my sympathy for his personal trauma. Although he isn't at Zhao Xiaoguang's level of comically terrible, he is also too obviously not a native Cantonese speaker to successfully pass himself off as one. The role just didn't come to life onscreen in a convincing way and was overshadowed by vastly superior performances by Zhang Yu and Qin Junjie. The truth is fate is random and Lele could well have been any one of them and it is this character that stole the show and made me incredibly conflicted; sad, manipulated, scared, revolted and resigned. It is the best written and best acted role; one that stands out among other stellar performances.
As an avid and frequent consumer of the suspense thrillers, this drama has an excellent ending twist that shocked me and then gave me that aha! moment as all the details just clicked into place. I haven't been surprised like this in a long time and I enjoyed it thoroughly. That said, there is nothing that new or special about the story itself, the plot should have been tightened and there were just so many hidden identities that when you put it all together it looks quite implausible. I am happy to I rate this a very entertaining and enjoyable 8.0/10.0
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Definitely not what I expected
When I first found out about ‘He Won’t Kill, She Won’t Die’, the summary made me think ‘oh, just another edgy teenage romance huh’. But I loved what a delightful surprise this was.The plot of this movie isn’t anything extraordinary. The film followed three stories— an unfriendly guy who always tells others to die and a suicidal girl, a girl struggling with boyfriends who never actually seem to like her for who she really is and her friendship with a studious girl, and a determined girl who never gets tired of confessing to her crush despite the fact that she always gets rejected by him. Sounds uninteresting? Well, sometimes a film doesn’t need to have an outstanding story in order for it to be good, and this one is an example.
With a mesmerising cinematography, what this film does capture most correctly is the emotions and the feels of each scene. What makes this film so special is how it managed to execute this simple plot with in-depth characters and a great storytelling. The acting is really good too. This film surely reminded me of why I actually loved watching Japanese films the most.
Overall, a solid 9.0/10 for me. The rewatch value is low because it’s not really the kind of film that’s rewatchable, but not all good movies are worth a rewatch as the first times tend to give you feels that you might not feel the time you re-watch it. Thus, I highly recommend this film to everyone :)
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If you are looking for something different, funny and deep at the same time: watch Pegasus Market! The deepest parts of the show are not precisely in the beginning, but you will be definitely touch when you'll see these emotional parts . Just how life isn't predictable, so is this comedy drama, full with wide and different emotions, be ready to be surprised, to be sad and empathetic and of course to laugh.
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The original Present Perfect is a good film, albeit has a very serious tone. This director showed us how to top up a good movie and not suffer from sequelitis.
Toey is once again in his 'escape trip', and after four long years, Oat decided to show up and reconnect. If I may say, Oat and Toey both somehow managed to look 'hotter' than when they shot the first film. The hotel is the perfect romantic backdrop, and the new character - Jen - provided what i never expected to be a needed lightness to the story. Kenta was cute but a little bit underused.
Yes, the story isnt unique by any means but our connection with the characters kept it engaging. I like the fact that Toey isnt all that selfsih and is self aware of the damage he could cause. I am specially moved by how they handled the situation with Oat's wife. One thing that surprised me negatively is that they made Yumi a divorcee in the end, as i didnt think it was necessary.
Is it a must watch? No, not exactly, its not a waste of time but it is NOTunforgettable. Is it rewatchable? To be honest, no, once is enough. If you're curious, go see the first film before watching this. At least the subscription to gagaoolala (for that month) was made worthy because of this. Overall rating 8 out of 10 stars.
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