This review may contain spoilers
OMG OMG OMG. Most Happy and Best Fantasy drama ever that I have watched in recent times.I was not so sure whether to watch it or not when it started. It started a little bit weird and ended up satisfying almost all of the fans I guess.
This show is just around 6 guys of the great men academy and a girl who accidentally join them by body transformation.
I was not very much interested on the female actress who played 'Love'. But the show slowly started to pickup and made me wait for every wednesday till today and finally I am so sad that this show ended too soon. Please Nadao Bangkok, consider international fans and provide subs for further shows. Anyhow I would like to thank the subbers who had helped fans like us to watch such a great show.
Coming to the characters.
Love - James just nailed and stole the show from the start. How much craze she had on the ML and decided to move in to a college of guys just for him. James was full of love and emotions through out. And he was so clear what he wants and made a right decision at last.
Vier - He was good in his role and all the time the ML need not be the hero, sometimes he can even be an anti-hero. This drama was an exception. We all know that he doesnt deserve someone like love and I felt so happy that he didnt get Love's love. I am not still used Ice's acting even after watching In Family we Trust.
Tangmo - Probably, Jayler's fan base is gonna get increased after this show I guess. Many times we might the second ML was great than the first ML. But this show did a justice for Tangmo's greatness and fans love towards him. He was a perfect boyfriend material and was just totally in love with love and he was the perfect gentleman out of all.
Nuclear - Nothing much to say, but was he was alright.
Good - Such a gooooood brother he was.
Menn - How cute he was.
Sean/Rose - I felt I was not so okay with this character. Bur for captain, ofcourse he was as usual stealing hearts.
And the teacher was so lovely.
Many shows, we see even though the ML dont deserve, they end up so happily after all evil schemes. But thank god and bless the director for giving the most wanted ending and deserving ending rather than usual cliches.
I strongly recommend to watch it and definitely it will put a smile.
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This review may contain spoilers
The premise is not so unique in itself, but choosing to show it as history is what sets it apart. The characters and the politics carry the drama, so if you like that in a series, you have come to the right place.The story progression was paced well, not too slow or too fast. The characters were a major element of the whole story, so their development within the politics was refreshing to see. Each person had their own motivation and was chained to it. The grey area some major characters walk on is worth acknowledgment. No intention seemed incorrect if you looked at in the person' shoes, but the way some chose to carry it out helped differentiate right and wrong. There were those who took some questionable actions for what they perceived as a greater good, and that will make you question what exactly is being a hero; it is established that to remove dirt, you have to get your hands dirtied too, and I think that is a very realistic outlook to it. Moreover, the idea of effect of power on the purest of people is experimented here.
Despite that, I think the writers could have added more to the story - for example using the little group The Chief Secretary was a part of in the final few episodes in more ways. Another reason to withhold my score is the inconsistency of Ha Seon's motivations around episode 11 and 12. The writers added a few throwaway lines that strayed from his character.
The acting was well done. In the words of the real king, the FL was a true Frozen Queen - composed and unwavering in her principles, which probably turned her so cold, and Lee Se Young portrayed felt every bit of it. When it comes to Yeo Jin Goo, he was marvelous as the King, enough so that you believed that Ha Seon and the King to be different people, like the drama wanted us to. Kim Sang Kyung, to me, delivered a great performance as a man consistently struggling with himself I liked the character on paper, and he made him come to life. Jang Young Nam was memorable as the antagonist.
The BGM consistently delivered. Never did it feel as if some external force was intruding upon your viewing experience. It was pleasant to listen to and built moments of suspense, sadness, and even happiness. I think this was actually the part I looked most forward to - the music that accompanied the scenes one anticipated. Music can honestly make or break stories, and here it helped cement the over all presentation. They rarely used OSTs, if at all, but the ones they did sounded melodious.
One would rewatch it to see the character dynamics, and maybe a political scuffle. The team put together a great piece - give it a try if you want a break from the repetitive,. :p
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Discipline, Punishment, Morality and Art
What do I even say cause I am left speechless by the brilliance behind season 2. While season 1's entire premise is moral chastatization of the individual and their place within a systemic cycle of abuse and revenge, season 2 does the brilliant thing of not brow beating it's audience into submission and cutting all that sanctimonious nonsense. It **BRILLIANTLY** highlights that the issue ***IS SYSTEMIC*** and not individual. Such an sentiment I'd like to say in retrospect was undergirding the brilliance of season 1 with season 2 bringing it forth and flourishing it into existence.DP's artistic direction is another thing worth noting. Too often I feel like K-dramas are retreading old ground and it's easy to feel like you've seen every plot line and every trope and every character archetype but goddamn do I have an immense respect for the directors and writers direction with this. An actual critique of the pejorative system facilitating the our society and the military industrial complex. From the Anton Chekhov story line to the gothic horror of EP 4 every single thing is a breath of fresh air. Artistically wonderful with a narrative that is spiritually animating.
This isn't a shallow over exaggerated look at things. From the opening soundtrack and film that shows the gradual fall into disillusionment and nihilism of the world as Jun Ho looks at you dead inside to Nina's determination, hopes, and dreams being crushed by the system just like how a seagull is shot down in Anton Chekhov's play, it's all wonderful. An interplay of art, politics, love, morality, and responsibility.
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Love Letter is an unconventional love story. Many people say it has slow pace but in my opinion it is perfectly paced. It seems boring first (I didn't find any part of it boring) but when story starts to unfolds it won’t seem boring. Unfolding of story is great. The storyline can be a bit confusing at first but stick with it and you will be amazed by it. It is touching and sometimes it is very funny also. You can feel the true love from this film.
Nakayama Miho is wonderful in double role. Sometimes I got confused between her double roles.
Its soundtrack is melodic and perfect.
Highly recommended!! Love Letter is an earnest, pure, sentimental, and undeniably moving film. In addition you can see really beautiful sceneries of Japan.
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I'm writing this few moments after finishing the last episode, while crying still, so forgive me if I'm not 100% rational and non biased. I can say for sure that this is one of the most emotional dramas I've ever seen. It's a beautiful story about friendship, love, human value, ethics and morals.
Although it's a sci-fi show, it totally reflects reality and behavior of human beings under certain circumstances and shows pretty realistic relationships between 'non equal' humans. For those who like psychology, there is a great deal of it in this show as well. For those who like character development, strong emotions, all mixed together, this drama is 100% must see.
I have no heart to criticize anything about this show at the moment, because I feel like I just got off the roller coaster of emotions I will never forget. Good points are too strong to let me pay attention to the minor flaws, so I'll just finish positively, like I started.
I don't know if I will be rewatching this, it feels like I won't forget it so soon, so maybe sometime in the future, and I'm sure I will equally enjoy it.
Once again, I hope the subs will be done soon, because it's a shame not to let everyone enjoy this amazing show till the end. Subs for Algernon, he deserves it <3
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This review may contain spoilers
People jealous of the female lead
Thank God this drama is just 24 eps! 24 eps was pushing it for me! There's way too much going on and too many people in this drama.Su Bei ( FL) is a fashion designer gets framed for plagiarism. Also her mentor? mysterious jumps off the bridge. She goes to Italy for seven years and finally comes back to investigate what happen. She is married to Lun Nan ( ML) who is the CEO of a fashion corp. He doesn't remember his wife because he had an accident, which left him 5 years in a coma.
Su Bei has a bitchy younger sister who's a model. She's a model under Lu Nan's company. Lu nan doesn't buy into her schemes. Lu Nan is a rich, smart and cold businessman. He wants to divorce his wife but somehow ends up being in a contracted marriage to save the image of this company. Thus beginning from what was hate towards his wife to finally falling in love with her. They have some cute moments and pretty steamy kisses.
The annoying part was too many freaking side characters, like Lu nan's adoptive sister. She basically liked her brother and didnt want him and Su bei to be together. She did a lot of things to sabotage their relationship.
2) Su Bei's sister. She's annoying as hell, stuck up, trying drug her sister's husband......Also tried running her sister over with a car.
3) Evil guy - he had a complicated backstory,...He was basically behind it all. He was a wolf in sheep skin. He is the illegtimate son of the Gu family. Gu family is the other major contendor in the fashion industry.
4) Su Bei's so called sister (not blood related but related to her mentor). She ends up being with the evil Gu guy and like betraying her. Like her part of the story is so freaking random and out of place...
Characters I liked
1) ML AND FL 'S SON. He's like the cutest little thing ever, smart, cute and talks a lot.
2)FL'S best friend- she is very faithful to female lead and helps her a lot
2) ML's right hand hand- He's very supportive of the male lead , helping him out.
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Best thing I did that month.Because I didn't knew anything about the drama, I didn't had much expectation but that was a good thing. Because it blew me away. It completely took me by surprise.
Though I really really enjoyed it, it might not be every-ones cup of tea. It's heavy on the crime part of the plot and there are some jaggersons or technical words- which are hard to understand. But once you get past that part it's all gold.
The story. It's a crime story. The good guys taking on the bad. There are some plot holes - like every other stories. But beauty of this drama is that you can never guess what's gonna happen next. Every time I thought 'oh, i know whats gonna happen next' nothing like that happen. Sometimes I had no idea what was going on, until ten minute later.
And it doesn't resolve around the good guys. It shows the 'evil' peoples side too, their reasoning, their plan. A side to their story. I really like that.
This isn't heavy on the romance which I was ok with it, because it isn't a romance story, the lack of that romance tag says it all. But Min Joon and Ha Ri's chemistry was a bit to ....hot. I was screaming ship, ship from the moment I saw them. Another slow romance couple is in there but I'm not going to spoil it. Same is the bromance. It's more on to the brotherly-love bromance and that goes perfect with the story line. Makes more sense.And I really really really liked the ending.
The cast is amazing. There is no point on saying how great they were, because we all know that. I am not going to take a single person apart and talk about them, because I liked all of them. I loved how Woo Do Hwan played Min Joon. I liked Jang ha Ri and Ryu Hwa Young's attitude just made her ten times more sassy. I liked Yoo Ji Tea playing Choi Kang Woo, he brings a different set of emotion to the table. This is also the first time I saw him and I am going to check on his other dramas. Then there is Jo Jea Yun playing soft hearted, ex-gangster cheetah-shi and Kim Hye Sung playing Noo Ri. And Cho Won Young playing JH. He is a really versatile actor. I really liked his last scene.
There are three songs in this drama. All of them are so so good! NiiHwa's song is my jam!!
Totally gonna re-watch it. Have to.
Again I am not gonna tell you that you have to watch it. But if you give it a try it will win you over on its own. So do try it!
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Without beating around the bush, The Tale of Gumiho ( or the Nine Tailed Fox) ‘s beginning did offer the criteria of being a brilliant fantasy show ; a stellar cast, fairly strong scriptwriting from episode one and of course the intriguing plot scenario of a lovelorn nine-tailed fox ( Lee Dong Wook) desperately yearning to be human again and overcoming the emotional scars of his past.
The Tale of Gumiho does certainly have one gift for drama watchers by offering us a stellar cast line-up. Finally seeing Lee Dong Wook reprise a fantasy role again had to be an undeniable selling- point for most drama watchers.
In place of wearing a prim and proper black hat as a certain Grim Reaper, however, Dong Wook steps into his new character, Lee Yeon, by sporting freshly dyed auburn red hair and brightly coloured suits as part of his foxy persona. There is no denying the fact that Dong Wook is undeniably Dong Wook in his performance - with a mixture of a sarcasm , comical wit and angst-driven ambiance surrounding his performance as Lee Yeon, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing this mysterious trickster instead. In a similar manner to Dong Wook, Jo Bo- ah was stunningly brilliant as the female lead, Nam Ji- ah through her heart-driven wit and capability to portray a female lead with rationality and intelligence in the show .
Yet sadly, however, as far as the scriptwriting is concerned both characters undeniably fall short of expectations through how they are dealt with after the opening of the drama. Without revealing too much it’s fair to say that although both characters did respectfully have emotional attachment to viewers through their experiences, some of the cliches that the scriptwriters had included just didn’t live up to expectations for these characters to be more than plot devices. ( Ji- ah’s rationality and intelligence as a lead is seemingly flung out the window by the halfway point of the drama, our main antagonist, Imoogi played mostly by Lee Tae- Ri has little intrigue for
watchers over his motives whereas characters such as the Snail Bride, Taluipa and Hyun Eui-ong who should’ve have had some of the most intriguing involvement in the storyline, were simply played for comical effect instead). By the ending of this drama there was little development or actual intrigue around most of these characters.
On the other hand, perhaps the one thing ( alongside the fairly good OST ) which most certainly can be praised in regards to one element of the scriptwriting, is how they dealt with Kim Bum’s brilliantly sardonic and emotionally complex portrayal as the antagonist- antihero role , Lee Rang.Of course, there is no denying that Rang did step often beyond the points of morality in the drama even from episode one, yet revelations of Lee Rang’s complicated past and his partially morally-guided actions throughout the drama such as saving his faithful sidekick Yu-ri ( Kim Yong Ji) from animal abuse in a zoo, a puppy from being tortured by a group of teenage thugs and Kim Soo oh ( Jung Si yul) from child abuse, adds more intricacy to him simply being labelled as an “ evil” or “ twisted” character.
Surprisingly, Kim Yong Ji’s performance as Yu- ri , also had better characterisation than the majority our main leads as well. As a character, Yu- ri appears at first as somewhat detestable by her animalistic desires to eat humans and to deceive a married couple behind the truth that their daughter is dead. Yet as Rang reveals more about Yu-ri’s past, it soon becomes apparent through her growing relationship with the veterinarian Shin Joo ( Hwang Hee) that Yu-ri is again not entirely an evil character, but simply doing what she must in order to survive. It is only a shame that whilst Yu- ri undeniably had a good character progression by the ending of the show, the circumstances of Lee Rang, Lee Yeon and Ji-ah felt lacklustre in comparison. It wasn’t that the ending of the drama wasn’t good, however, the means in which the scriptwriters had got us to this ending felt rushed and lacking in both emotional investment and intrigue for watchers.
Overall Tale of Gumiho was a fairly enjoyable show, however, it was severely flawed by character progression of our main leads as well as their relationship, and the overall ending deliverance of the drama. Perhaps the two saving graces of the drama were the casting choices and evidently Kim Bum’s performance as Lee Rang due to being a complicated and intriguing antagonist up until the ending , where sadly his final character twist and progression felt too rushed. Whilst Tale of Gumiho is worth a watch, don’t watch it if you’re looking for a masterpiece, as there are certainly better fantasy dramas out there.
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“It’s not about getting better. The next stage just comes...
Then comes another stage, followed by more stages to go”.I don’t think I have ever watched a show that introduces so many interesting topics to think about in such a light and heartwarming manner. The episodes might have been only 24 minutes long, but the impact lasted for hours, making me reflect on my opinions, thoughts and behaviors.
From the opening till the end - it felt both realistic and strangely eccentric and dream-like. Following Ha Jyung on the trips allowed me to take a moment to just relax and enjoy the views and the scenery. The straightforward and honest personality of our female lead added to the charm. I also appreciated how real her character was - a normal person in normal circumstances, taking a break from the busy and overstimulated world.
The wide range of topics tackled in the show included, but was not limited to: reflecting on our past goals and dreams, the role of an educator, adults' involvement in creating certain paths for children, focusing on their future rather than the current happiness, the disagreements and different perceptions generations have, where we always villainize the other side, not seeing the flaws in our own thinking and behavior.
We were faced with questions like: is striving for success correct, or should we just focus on doing what we love, even if it does not bear fruits? Why is it so hard to show interest towards another person and since when saying “I love you” or even “I like you” becomes so hard, that we found new ways to convey exactly the same emotions?
This is not all, and I’m sure each and every person would focus on different aspects, different scenes and different lines - seeing their own unique version of what’s presented in the drama.
Lee Na Young was such a perfect casting choice to portrayal Ha Kyung. On one hand her character was truly relatable, on the other hand she had her own charms and quirks that not many people possess. Creating a character that is both unique, but also relatable is not an easy job.
The production was stellar. All episodes were filmed, directed and edited in a similar fashion, but at the same time, all had specific tricks that enhanced whatever story was told in each episode. Be it adding more blur and slightly distorted shots to create these dream-like sequences, or using first person perspective to make viewers connect to the scene and potential feelings the characters are experiencing. The soundtrack was the cherry on top, making me want to drop whatever I was doing and set on a trip myself.
Overall, I feel like no matter how much time I would spend on writing this review, it would be impossible for me to truly convey how much I love One Day Off. It's a rare clean 10 for me.
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How to be a Family
The idea of a contract marriage, and seemingly a child from a previous marriage, didn’t appeal to me initially. But how the story is being told and how everything unfolds make this drama a very worthwhile watch. All the characters are lovable despite each has his/her flaws, making them believable. A child is always the center of attention, and here this cutie is the most adorable child in recent dramas. What seemingly a fake relationship and marriage that initially try to address the psychological issue of the boy by giving him a complete family that he craves, have become a real outcome as the fake parents fall in love.He (pronounced as “her”) Qiao Yan (Wei Zhe Ming aka Miles Wei) is the CEO of a conglomerate owned by his family and a single father. He loves and dotes on the child, at the same time tries to discipline him like an adult. The outcome is ineffective and hilarious until he meets Qin Yi Yue (Hu Yi Xuan), a child psychologist. Seeing how readily He Wei Fei aka Xiao Bao (Lennon Sun) takes Qin Yi Yue in as his own mother, He Qiao Yan coerces Qin Yi Yue into a contract, with high compensation, to be a pretend mother of Xiao Bao and a pretend Mrs He, for he is a “number” guy who does everything in black and white. Little does he know he falls head-over-toes in love with Qin Yi Yue himself. He misses and thinks of her whenever she’s not around, and he would find ways and means, using Xiao Bao as an excuse, to see her. The interaction is cute and hilarious. The family dynamics are warm and pleasing. What seemingly two very different personalities, he is meticulous and analytical, and she is spontaneous, come together and form an enviable family with a ready-made son.
He Qiao Yan is a person who doesn’t express his emotions very well and openly. He doesn’t understand human relationships and has lived a monotonous life. In other words, He Qiao Yan is a boring person and Wei Zhe Ming captures that 100%. Despite being an immaculate person, I really love how he acts to protect Qin Yi Yue by dropping everything he’s doing and come to her rescue. He Qiao Yan may be a genius in everything but is an idiot in love relationship.
This is my first drama of Wei Zhe Ming. At the first look, he didn’t appeal to me. But he grows on me and by the end of the drama, I find him the most eligible single father to die for. His acting is so convincing with small little facial expressions such as a raise of the corner of his eyebrow, a blur look on his face etc, capturing all the essence of his character.
Qin Yi Yue is disorganized, intelligent and quick witted. Despite being a doctor, she is not very health conscious as she feasts on junk food. She finds He Qiao Yan a weirdo initially but moved by him when she sees his devotion for the child who is not his, and his consideration for her well-being unspoken. Their love development is gradual and solid.
I have liked Hu Yi Xuan’s acting in “Sleepless Princess”. I find her charismatic with an air of freshness and authenticity. Here as a child psychologist, she is soothing and gentle. Even at times of helplessness, she still smiles with tears and resignation in her eyes.
Chinese dramas will not be complete without some tropes such as arranged marriage for economic benefits which is not much different from marriages of the old days among the royals. And of course, there are the side couples who are also the best friends of our ML and FL.
My Verdict
This is a very enjoyable drama most romance buffs will love. I love it myself. It’s funny and light, especially when it comes to dealing with the child. The parent-child dynamics are really fun to watch. Both main lead characters are mature with a tsundere ML and a warm and approachable FL. Although some parts of the editing are lacking, it hasn’t turned into a disaster and ruined the story. Overall, this is a wonderful drama not to be missed.
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Cast is quite young but excellent acting and great directing. Some scenes could have rushed to improve the rewatch value but didn’t bother me.
Like the plot and script as it was very logical and reasonable. No silly dramas due to lack of communication. Really like the way the story flows between the two mothers. Very realistic.
Really enjoyed watching it.
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Pretty but soulless
The Silent Sea seems to have all the right ingredients, from premise to set design to casting, but unfortunately somehow failed to truly grab my full attention.I don’t consider my time with this show wasted at all, I did sit through all eight episodes in three days after all, but this is not a drama I see myself ever coming back to nor thinking about ever again
Visually speaking, this is a very impressive show. Probably the most expensive-looking Asian drama I have ever watched. The CGI definitely didn’t disappoint. And yet, for the most part, the cinematography didn’t leave a strong impression on me. Not implying that it was bad, not at all, I consider this to be a pretty visually stimulating drama, but it wasn’t anything more than competent. None of the shots felt bland or flat per-se but I can’t shake off the feeling, that The Silent Sea just lacked a certain something. Nice to look at, but not particularly interesting. The only thing I can say with certainty is that this show is dark, thematically, but also literally at many parts. So dark in fact, that at many points I was having real difficulties figuring out what was going on. That can be a stylistic choice of course, but I still don’t feel like it was an exactly smart one.
However, in my opinion, the biggest fault of the drama lies in the characters, which I couldn’t bring myself to really care about. For starters, I thought that many of them were too similar in personality. But I also just failed to connect with anyone emotionally. I don’t think that the actors are at fault here, if anything I was more than pleased with everyone’s performance, but it seems like The Silent Sea didn’t leave any room to showcase human emotion. For the most part, I don’t feel like we got to know anybody. There were very few scenes where I got a clear image of the crew’s dynamic with each other. I don’t need media to have banter and funny and witty one-liners every second scene, in a Marvel-movie-fashion, but I still needed something, anything from The Silent Sea that would have convinced me that these are truly individual people with their individual flaws, strengths, quirks, aspiration, and dreams.
Plot-wise I think this show was fine. The premise was what originally attracted me and the twists and turns kept me engaged, but I really do feel like a story can only be as strong as its characters and unfortunately, this drama just missed the mark here.
Please don't read this and conclude that I consider this to be a bad drama, I truly don't but it didn't really leave me feeling anything. It didn't make me smile (which, considering the genre, was to be expected), it didn't make me sad, it didn't frighten me, it didn't even really make me think about anything much.
Would I recommend The Silent Sea? Kinda a tough question. Personally speaking, it didn’t hit the spot, but I also feel like this might come down to a personal preference in genres. If you like science-fiction, violence, and (most importantly) cool-looking space-stuff, I’m sure you’ll have a field day with this. If you’re looking for a more emotional experience, maybe skip this one.
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Uncanny, but in a fluffy way with some important lessons.
First of all, I have to say this had some of the best castings I’ve seen. Lee Jae Bin and Kim Seong Hyuk both embodied the animals they were acting as. Especially Seong Hyuk. He was acting more like a cat than my actual cat does.That said, I think they did so well with showcasing the traits said animals have, it was actually hard for me to get into the romance side of it. Especially with Choco - he was both acting too much like a dog, and was treated too much like a dog for me to ship him with anyone. It just did not sit right with me… The casting was so good, I think it was too good, however weird it might sound. Still, they were able to charm me by the end, I left my brain outside of my room as I was watching, and just enjoyed the sweet moments.
Plot wise, I enjoyed it a lot. That’s a story on crack for sure. I had to stop myself from thinking about my animals being human, because the cringe was too strong. I appreciated this fluffy way of dealing with the topic of loss and acceptance of it. How different characters showed different ways of dealing with it - be it acceptance, denial or a hopeful outlook or just postponing it a little bit to enjoy the company for as long as possible. Not to mention the importance of chasing after things that bring you happiness.
Acting was good. Lee Jae Bin and Kim Seong Hyuk for sure did the best job. I bought everything they sold and have no complaints.
Production wise, initially I did have one complaint - the show felt empty. Few people pointed out how there was never anyone in the café in the beginning episodes. Small things like that take away from the show, as the story does not feel real. Luckily, that “emptiness” became a part of the plot the moment characters addressed it, so the issue was solved in my eyes. Except for that, it was a really good production for a short show like this.
Overall, it was enjoyable. Probably better as a binge watch, like many shorter dramas - would be a good movie. Waiting for that last episode was truly painful.
Milk was my favorite and I wanted to see more of him. Give him a nice short spin-off pretty please!
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I do not say this lightly - TOTAL MASTERPIECE.
I have seen over 400 dramas. I have given a 10 to a drama only ONE time. But I will say unequivocally right now, that this is one of the best asian dramas of all time, and not only will I award it my second 10 ever, but if I could I would give it an 11.Learning To Love stands toe to toe with the heaviest hitters of drama like What Happened in Bali, A Million Stars Falling From the Sky, Meteor Garden, Goodbye My Princess, The Rose, Secret, Que Sera Sera, That Winter The Wind Blows, Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Yanxi Palace, Kleun Cheewit, Chugakusei Nikki, or Rise of the Phoenixes. This is so good it's hard to put into words, but for the sake of leaving a review, I will try not to go on too much and keep this brief... while still conveying the insane degree to which this show is both A) a really effing good watch and B) an incredible work of art.
Where to even start....
The main theme of the story is refracted in a hundred tiny ways all throughout -- each character and each action kind of mirrors possible past or future or parallel lives of the other characters in this incredible kalidescope where you can see how any character could 'there but for the grace of god' be another character, and they all reflect aspects of eachother while retaining a deep and unique individuality at the same time. It's so gorgeous how it's all laid out, and how everything subtly connects to everything else. It's just poetry. Every aspect of this drama transcends the sum of its parts in a myriad of fractals that would be impossible for me to describe in less than 10k words, so I'll spare you. Suffice it to say, it is just so damn good.
This leads into mentioning the cinematography which was classic, beautiful, balanced, powerful. Cinematography that actually added it's own voice to the story, like a narrator's voice in a really good book. Plus, it has that throwback feel we all crave and miss so much from classic asian dramas. We all complain that "they don't make em like they used to". Well, this IS like they used to make 'em. So much so, that when they mentioned "covid" at one point, it kind of threw me off for a minute, because this drama feels so much like one of the really good older dramas.
(And can I just mention here that the ost/bgm is a SLAVE to the story. It serves ONLY to accent the emotions carried in the scene, and it is just as perfectly executed as every other part of this production.)
The characters - all of them - are compelling and SO well-acted. A flawless ensemble, led by two fantastic actors that deftly carry the story and convey so many emotions... this was impeccable casting, and impeccable acting. I haven't been this impressed in a long time. This is where imo it stands above even major classics like Rise of the Phoenixes... Kimura Fumino and Murakami Raul Maito are doing double the lifting compared to Chen Kun and Ni Ni in RotP. I almost can't find an equivalent to compare them to, and they deserve to be considered among some of the best performances of all time.
The vibe of this drama has a very classic flavor, the emotional angst and tension is so palpable, so much happens in each episode, not a minute of screentime is wasted. Gives off an aura of 'A Million Stars Falling From The Sky'. And something really incredible happens as the episodes progress.... the story could end in so many different ways, or it could end on any scene itself and still be really really good. You know what's going to happen like a trainwreck in slow motion, and yet you don't actually know what's going to happen at ALL because there are so many possibilities for where the story could go, and as it hurtles toward it's inevitable ending, you still get the feeling like each new scene will hold some fresh magic in it. You get this incredible blend of dread and hope mixed together indistinguishably from one another, and it just relentlessly ratchets up and up through each episode as the possibilities for how it will end keep multiplying. Every character's psyche is peeled layer by painstaking layer and we are afraid and excited by what we will find at the core of each person. Each character is slowly and inexorably pushed towards their breaking point... the true selves they hide to the world have less and less room to hide... and it all feels so volatile and mysterious as you watch it unfold.
I cannot say enough good things about this drama, and I cannot possibly recc it more to anyone prepared for a serious watch. This is gripping and angsty and a little bit of a hard watch, but so so so freaking good. Nailed the ending. Actors are just so incredible here. So much heart and soul are in this.... it feels like a masterclass in what an asian drama is supposed to be.
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This review may contain spoilers
Seriously don't watch this one. I was happy to find this drama out since it looked like a GL so I was happy that Viki is getting wlw relationships some spotlight as well. But damn I was wrong, I can't believe I survived watching all the 8 episodes. The only pros are that both the female leads acted quite good and that I liked the OST but that's all.
The characters are awful, manipulative and cheating. All the relationships (romantic or friendship) are so toxic it hurts.
I'm not even sure if this can be considered GL since the female leads were always like "we're just best friends" and they had friendship rings and each of them got a boyfriend at the end of the drama. Like what?!
Lesbians and wlw in general deserve much better representation than this sh*t.
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