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1A hot and cheesy mess.
Though hardly original, this drama's switched bride trope is well executed and entertaining. A very shady prime minister marries his illegitimate daughter Shen Keyi to Wen Ye, a prince and the country's God of War posthumously. As it turns out, Wen Ye is very much alive and full of suspicion when he discovers himself married to his enemy's daughter. Meanwhile Shen Keyi is tasked by her stepmother to steal a jade token from Wen Ye in exchange for her beloved nanny's wellbeing. Their early antics are silly but very funny. It was great to watch an older and jaded general fall for a lively, natural and utterly beguiling young girl. The leads have good chemistry and both actors deliver convincing performances. I also enjoyed the comedic banter between Wen Ye and his two sidekicks.At twelve episodes this drama was hilariously hot and cheesy but by twenty-four episodes it turned into a hot and cheesy mess. The palace plot becomes increasingly convoluted and absurd and both lead's adorable silliness descends into stupidity and melodrama as they navigate multiple obstacles. Ultimately, the much simpler love story between the princess and the guard moved me more. The ending is a bit rushed but it was actually pretty good in the messiest way possible. All considered not the worst drama to watch to just pass some time. I rate it 6.5/10.0
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There is a reason why the tragedy tag is there. The setting of this movie itself is during war, in a war camp where all sort of people is there. The good and the bad people, the honest and the one with ulterior motives. The story itself is unique to me. Usually, movies in a war setting are heavy on tactical or political but Swing Kids focuses mainly on tap dance. When I watched the trailer, it got myself thinking too how did this one ended up as musical movie? The music was necessary to accompany the tap dance. I don’t really know much about American music during war times but it is pleasant to hear. The movie focuses on the hero, Kisoo and how he fell in love with tap dance. How tap dance changed his life, the consequences he got when he accepted his love for tap dance from his fellow countrymen and enemies, and the dream he wanted with his talent. It was a beautiful journey to watch his character development. The other characters are necessary for this development, one leads to the other, and another, until they completed each other. And these characters will be tested on their ideology and loyalty; either to be freed physically or to be freed mentally.
Do Kyungsoo is so incredible in this movie. The way he talked in North Korean accent, the way he potrayed as a bully and the most important is the way he tapped dance. It was so beautiful to watch his character. The second lead for me is the character Jackson. The actor, Jared Grimes, is really into his character, I am so impressed. Jackson is the person that introduced tap dance to Kisoo. The relationship between them is so beautiful, it transgressed language, skin colors and ideology. Park Hye Soo’s English is wonderful and she certainly can tap dance; while Oh Jung Se and Kim Minho completed the comic relief in this movie.
The movie started with a good humor here and there, and later it changed into a serious tone due to a major event in the movie. But the beauty of tap dance is featured in the movie from the beginning until the end. The director is clever to use music as the momentum, mostly the pacing of the shoe’s tap itself, and there are some scenes I literally held out my breath, the tap dances in this movie are that good.
I would love to rewatch it again in the future. This movie is certainly different from the others. Recommended.
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I have to admit 39 episodes are somewhat of a challenge. But after ep1 the director made very efficient use of cliffhangers. Hence, you'll just watch on and on and the 39 episodes just fly by!
Story: A beautiful Chinese time traveller story. Qing Chuan gets zapped back to the Qing dynasty. And we follow her meet the great Emperor and his numerous sons. The story is full of love, hate, revenge, intrigue!
While the emperor's sons struggle for favour in court and for the position of crowned prince Qing Chuan is right in the middle of it all.
I loved how all the Princes were portrayed with different characteristics, worries, goals, dreams, faults. Over the course of 39 episodes there was room enough to develop every character. And while we start out hating some and liking others, the story convincingly takes us to other perspectives, different problems and we may just change our minds about some of them or at least find it harder to judge them in terms of black and white.
The actors were doing a great job. Every single one of them did a brilliant job. Yang Mi (Qing Chuan) was probably my favourite character. She was able to portray Qing Chuan so well with all her different facets.
Feng William and He Mickey were just unbelievable. Playing the two may male leads (8th and 4th prince) they excelled at playing intrigue, ambition, hate, cruelty, love, cold heartedness, softheartedness ... the whole range really.
But the Royal Consorts, Princes, Ministers, Eunuchs, Palace maids ... deserve merit as well. This drama was huge. Not just cast wise. But also as far as locations and sets were concerned and the costumes were so detailed and beautiful. The directors and producers put a lot of effort into this drama and the result truly reflects the passion they must have had making this series.
Sometimes the scipt was just a bit lengthy. And the intrigue was getting slightly out of control. In some episodes you can really feel the artificiality of the script. With the Qing Chuan Doppelgaenger, I really feel that was not a necessary episode.
Anyhow I thought all the tiny side stories of some characters were well interwoven with the plot and made the whole drama richer and more complete.
This was my first Chinese historical drama and I had to get used to the difference after being used to historical k dramas. All in all I think i like chinese traditional clothes better than the korean but that hair ornamentation... phew must have been really heavy. I also liked that the females here were all far away from being silly, naive and spoiled. They were all very believable characters.
A must watch for every one who enjoys historical dramas!!!
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I NEED MORE!!!!!!!!!!!
Man, this short film deserves MORE attention, this is such a treasure. I think strongberry has a big potential series to produce with this, seriously. If someone from this company read this PLEASE do a big series, with a big time of episodes, to develop the story, show more of the Korean culture, food, people, make a Korean dear John, idk, make something big and good like this short film. The actors are very talented, the story is good and makes me curious and makes me want more. The soundtrack is good too. please give fujoshis a good show we deserve after a lot of shorts films and medium dramas.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Chills
I literally get chills on my body whenever I think about this drama, week in week out and unsuspectingly we get wrapped up in the world of Mouse thinking mouse as always been the prey so this will be no different. This drama showed us the different side of Mouse the prey we think it is and then on the flip side the predator it as always been . We have a victim who gets stronger and is hell bent on revenge, another victim who tries her best to move on with her life, a victim/genius who can't provide any significant help and instead gets all the blame, a perpetrator who everyone loves and adore. The first half of this drama present things to us in a way that you can't help but have mixed feelings about the second half. Mouse you have ruined my critical thinking ability forever. The casts are excellent ❤️Was this review helpful to you?
I read from many places that this is kind of remake and ispired by korean drama 'you who came from the stars' even though this is really based on chinese novel series.
I admit, story sounds similar and female lead has similar traits with Cheong Song Yi's character but that's where the resemblance ends. And I'm actually glad that this was different from 'you who came from the stars'.
So we have self-confident actress Tian Jing Zhi (played by Wu Qian) who in the beginning is in distraught by getting dumbed by her childhood sweetheart boyfriend after proposing him. While venting her anger she gets into car crash and accidentally revives immortal Xue Ling Qiao (played by Kim Tae Hwan). Jing Zhi almost died but Ling Qiao with his abilities payed back the favor by healing her.
Ling Qiao, being lived in the earth for 500-something-years and being 'asleep' for 100 years he didn't know anyone and didn't have anywhere to go. The only person he could think of was Jing Zhi and thus he kind of forced himself as Jing Zhi's roommate.
This is where all the fun began, Jing Zhi being her bubbly and hyper self and Ling Qiao being serious and quiet.
I enjoyed the side characters Zhang Xuan Xuan (Shen Meng Shen), Li Yan Zhi (Fu Jia), Ye Chen (Xu Ke). I really wanted writers to concentrate on these characters more but I guess episode duration would have been too long. They were important to the story and all actors did great job representing them. This drama made me a fan of Xu Ke and I hope I will see him in more dramas in the future.
At first I felt in couple first episodes that plot isn't going anywhere. But those couple episodes was full of funny moments because Jing Zhi's character is kind of comical so I enjoyed it. Then plot started to take place soon and I was so into watching this. A little dissappointment was Kim Tae Hwan's performance, who as a novice actor didn't quite convey enough emotions for the viewer to feel it properly.
If you're awaiting some mind blowing romance from the start, you will be dissappointed. Scenes between Ling Qiao and Jing Zhi were sweet but romance evolved kind of slowly.
Main bad guy in this drama you can guess if you have good instinct and have watched this kind of dramas before. For me, I guessed who the bad guy was pretty quickly. But nevertheless, I was enjoying watching this. I felt like there weren't any extra character put there like an accessory but everyone had their own meaningful place in the story.
Only thing that was major disappointment for me was one plot turn happening in later episodes. All except that, I can say I am quite happy with 'My amazing boyfriend' and I hope they will make season 2!
Oh, and music was good too! I think I will go looking for OST ;) And I'm even interested to read My amazing boyfriend novel series if I ever find it translated it in english somewhere.
Overall; if you're a fan of fantasy and romance, this is definetly your drama.
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As If You Whisper tells the story of Bom Soo, an aspiring singer that is stuck doing vocal guides despite his talents as a musician. Then he meets Hyun Woo, a man that's been watching him for awhile. Though the story doesn't focus solely on the romance, I think the happy ending combined with Bom Soo's self realizations is such a wholesome completion. It'd be easy to make this a sad ending, but they didn't.
The music is also great, and the actor worked hard to record it himself. All together it's just a really solid, inspiring production.
I bought this on Vimeo for $6.99USD and I really recommend you do the same if you can. Please try to avoid watching this on YouTube. It's a small production company specializing in queer Korean films (which is a country already lacking in high-quality LGBTQ content). I really think they deserve the support so that they can make more amazing films and dramas like this one. I'm so glad I watched it, and I'll definitely rewatch it.
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No more moons please!
Well, this is getting repetitive...You would think that after giving us Kimmon and Copter and the 15 insufferable characters that Bas has played since he was the original Wayo in the first edition of "2Moons", this company would have said... "ok enough... we did well enough, let's move on". Sadly, season 2 became a chaotic mess when all the original cast left and they had to re-cast, sending fans into distress because some couldn't accept the idea of not having Kimmon and Copter playing Ming and Kit or couldn't accept the idea of having inexperienced newcomers replacing them.
But, we got "2Moons2", with a whole new cast and wasting the first 4 episodes with a reminder of what happened in the original series. This series was not perfect but we got Earth (now called Din) doing a decent job as the new Wayo, Joong who seems to be the most successful of the bunch moving to GMMTV, Nine who now seems to focus on his singing career after being on a Chinese singing competition, and Phoom who was quite subdued in the very mediocre "Coffee Melody". That season ended with Wayo suffering from his picture being placed all over the university by the guy who likes him but gets rejected and then seeks revenge. He runs away to his home and while Pha is kicking the other guy's ass, Joong (Ming) comes and tells everyone that he knows where Wayo is, at home with his father.
Even a this point, season 3 seemed inevitable, focusing on Wayo-Pha and their crisis and also on a secondary character called Suthee (played by Green) who was going to be "The Ambassador" in season 3. But, Mello Thailand/Motive Village (whatever the name is now) messed it up, again... first by creating a music group with all the guys from "2Moons2", except Din... which created an incredible uproar by the fans. Then, more controversies with their contracts and between the company and director Anusorn (who directed the second part), ended up with the whole cast quitting again. Instead of ending the project, Motive Village decided to re-cast for the third time and we ended up with this mediocre series as the third season of an already mediocre project.
Some of the bad things:
1. The plot/storyline: No clue, really... the main character of the this season is Lom, who is Pha's cousin and his "enemies to lovers" story with Tatch. They both argue about being the candidate for the university's Ambassador competition and decide that, whoever has more IG followers by certain date, will be the faculty's representative. Lom lives in a self-pitying world as he always says he is not good looking enough, especially when compared to Tatch, but he has way more followers than him, so he is always trying to make Tatch more popular and in the process, falls in love with him. That part of the plot seems clear... but then we have the other couples from the previous two seasons and we see them quite scarcely throughout the episodes... the Wayo issue from the end of season 2 should have been the starting point for this season but, instead, gets pushed I think until episode 5 or 6 (don't even remember now) when Pha tells Lom how the problem was solved as a 3-minute flashback during the episode.
Kit and Ming, Pha and Wayo and Forth and Beam do not advance their relationships and, instead, we get the usual jealousy, fighting, arguing and tears in the usual BL tropes wasting whatever momentum the couples from part 2 left for the new couples in this season. I mean, we even have Pha and Wayo still arguing in the last episode and suddenly solving things with a kiss and a hug. It seems the director and the writer were set on focusing so much on Lom-Tatch, that the rest of the guys were just a side note during the series... if you watched carefully (unless you fell asleep from the boredom or you quit the show before the end), each couple (Wayo-Pha, Forth-Beam and Ming-Kit) had their "big" argument, their jealousy moment, and their NC scene with some very awkward kissing making it the same dull formula for all the couples all the time. Lom and Tatch being the focus of this season, had way more screen time, way more kissing scenes (a bit less awkward than the other couples), so we got to see the perfectly waxed armpits from Danny many many times. Plus, we even got an extra couple with Toon and Tong (Lom's friends) kissing in episode 12 without much development for their couple.
2. The acting: Yes, I am aware the actors are brand new and QUITE inexperienced... but it was painful to watch. No emotions in sad scenes or angry scenes or any scene whatsoever, no chemistry between them, some of the characters really don't match these actors, and yes, I also know I shouldn't compare, for example, the acting and character development by Nine vs.the acting and character development by Toey (both played Kit) or the cute, naive acting done by Din vs. the cute, naive acting done by Park (both played Wayo), but the chemistry between the couples in "2Moons2" felt a bit more natural than with these couples. Plus, with the reduced screen time that the 3 original couples got, meant we barely had any chance of really getting to watch how each actor portrayed their character... just to see if they brought anything original to the table. Instead, we end up getting Danny (playing Tatch) and Mark (playing Lom) for 85% of the episodes and very few glimpses of the rest. It is a shame that the company did not prepare these guys better for what was definitely a pressure-cooker because fans already had 2 different casts to compare and to choose from.
3. Side characters: If we barely saw the main couples, we had even less side characters with Lom's friends being the ones who got most airtime and the cartoon-like villain we got this season (Panon), that actually has a good twin as well (Parak)... evil twin-good twin, how original! But the bad guy is in love with Lom and tries to get him to break up with Tatch ... so in this Thai BL we got the crazy male character instead of the usual crazy female character. We also have a girl who likes Tatch and is a friend of Lom... she thinks Tatch will ask her out but he never does and then feels betrayed by Lom when Tatch tells her he is in love with him and not her. At least we didn't see the plot get any crazier by having her do something "evil", so we settled with the crazy male character doing all the bad things, then get beat up with his own twin and miss the Ambassador competition.
Good things? I'm not sure... some of the actors had cute moments but good luck finding something else.
In the end, for the third time, this series has been wasted due to poor management, poor writing, poor directing and mediocre acting. I truly hope this is the last season of the "2Moons" franchise because the original was not exactly a masterpiece and the other 2 have gone down in quality ever since.
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SIDE NOTE: Been watching the English Sub, YouTube, 1080p, approx 30 minutes per episode, translated by Yzd_International_Fanclub, thanks guys!
ACTING/CAST: This is quite an attractive cast, and they play their parts very well.
MUSIC: Very good throughout the series.
REWATCH VALUE: Yup.
OVERALL: I'm am AMAZED at the production value of this! The set design and costume design are A+. It's a gorgeous production. I can't wait to watch more!
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A Journey to Love, to Life, to Freedom, to Growth, and to Loss.
(Review has been edited based on new developments): Watched this solely for LYN's first real ML role and he killed it. I've also seen Alen Fang and several others before but they played different genres and personalities so this was nice. But theoretically the possibility was there that it didn't kill ML's character (I will actually start my review in the pros with explaining the ending as I saw it because there's a lot of confusion it seems there). LYN did fracture his foot during the last few months of filming this last year but that's the extent of his or anyone else's injuries thankfully. The rest of the cast for the most part and the story was very well done. Great story though the ambiguous ending wasn't needed.Pros: Ok let's get into this ending. Here's why I firmly believe the leads were still alive (even though we now know officially that they aren't). The entire show we were shown of RY's and NYZ's insane skills and internal power. We were also shown RY's GoT version of Game of Faces mastered by Arya Stark. She was able to have a new face, new voice, new everything and the Fab 4 did too. Like the time one of them pretended to be NYZ who's way taller but the face was there. Or when NYZ pretended to be Emperor Wu, who's obviously shorter than him but it still worked. Not to mention, how many times did RY fake her death? 3 at least? Plus the pill to save from all injuries that QZ gave NYZ during their last parting. Also the antidote to that poison from the prime minister; our man had a lot to hold him over. Why would the show give you all of these extra nuisances if they didn't want you to put 2+2 together at the end? Don't forget the son of theirs at the end. 10 plus years had passed. He was not a hallucination because that doesn't make sense. If CY did have one, it would be of YSS and not some random kid on a horse. Then you have the kid himself; his name is Ning Shi San while his sister is named Ren Lu. Only living parents can give their kids their last names; now first names can be used to honor the dead. He goes into so much detail about his family including confirming that mom's last name is in fact Ren when asked by CY and plus dad doting on sister and includes how his mother can perform a beautiful sword dance and we know RY is awesome at them. No, we didn't actually see them all together, but it is beyond inferred at that point both to me and many others.
None of us saw their dead bodies; but I figured out something fishy when NYZ leaped out got harpooned and then just sat there and people assumed he's dead. I figured he hid in the chaos as per their oath and waited for her. Also, think about it, how fast between his fake death and her deciding to go that same route? She could have waited a bit, but no she did it right away because she knew he was waiting for her and it was time for them to disappear. They knew that if they didn't stage their deaths and flee to seclusion, they'd never make it. Neither were military (though NYZ claimed he was a military chef which explains how he's mastered wine making now); one was an assassin and one a martial arts spy. Another thought; the world's best assassin doesn't escape the explosion that she herself set off? Even though she in the beginning of the show was able to find a corpse to replicate her so even the white sparrows thought she was dead for years? That's high grade intelligence you don't just throw away. That's my theoretical logic. So that is why, I firmly believe (even now, that the possibility is very realistic) both were still alive and living in seclusion until their son brought CY home. I think they may be ready to come out of seclusion and maybe tell those that love them like Ah Ying and maybe even LTG, since they finally got along at the end. I'm sure many people will disagree with me but that's ok.
Now let's get into the rest of this review. Losing the Fab 4 and so close together was very hard. Your heart just broke because this series just did such a great job making you fall in love with these clowns and that was their intention; the comedy, the ball busting, each with a personality of his own. They became our brothers so to lose them so heartbreakingly was hard but also understandable. This series wasn't a happy go lucky, everyone survives one; in actuality just about everyone we love perishes. A Journey to Love, to Life, to Freedom, to growth, and to loss. And it was done well. By the way, what happened to Mr. Du? He literally vanished lol; that was a plot hole.
There wasn't a character from the delegation or many otherwise that didn't belong. Until 40 I didn't think the fruit loop aka LTG was able to mature but even he got his redemption arc though this one I understand. That said I do feel that he was partially responsible for the leads deaths because had he not gone all hot head to try to kill the king of Baipen, they wouldn't have put themselves in such danger. All of the fab 4 deaths were tragic but QZ's probably hit me the hardest because he had hid the burden of CM being his younger brother from everyone and how he mistreated him only to have him die protecting the pompous emperor before he had a chance to get close to him.
Most of the story was of the Wu delegation traveling to An state. But it's also mostly the growth of the princess that we focused on too. She went from afraid of everything to being a badass that went toe to toe with that asswipe An dy. Loved her evolution! CY tamed YSS and though that's not a happy ending, he did end up saving her life. Wu dy came to his senses and cleared the names of Luidohall. So much happened both surprised you and you knew what was happening.
I'll praise the storytelling team as for most of it they did very well. Btw Alen Fang is like the Sean Bean of cdramas; only one I've seen him survive in was TLB lol! The OSTs were wonderful, costumes, sets, the fights were off the chain! Phenomenal! I hope that LTG and Ah Ying truly learn how to love each other not just respect each other.
Cons: I gave it a 9 and not higher because there were several things I had issues with like cramming the meat, potatoes, and the kitchen sink into the last 6 episodes. It went from 0 to 100 quick. Should have been more spaced out with the deaths, war, and of course the ending that everyone is fighting over. Had they used 10 episodes instead of 6 it wouldn't have felt so rushed. We lost 3 brothers in the span of like 3 episodes and weren't even given time to grieve before we got hit with the next one. Was the cripple and his scheme so necessary? Seemed like an afterthought in an already robust chunk of events. Could have been done without.
I'm completely unfamiliar with LSS as an actress and thought though 98% of what she did here was awesome; her upper face still didn't move even in the saddest or tragic moments. She cried but eyebrows and forehead went nowhere. Is this normal or just for this role? It just confused me is all and didn't always jive with what was happening. Absolutely nothing against the actress and I feel she did quite well, just that part for me personally was off.
Of course the rushed and unfleshed out ending was lackluster; it's also why it gave many the unnecessary hope of at least someone surviving. Too ambiguous and poorly executed. In my logic based alternate universe, I'm glad to know the leads are well with kids that NYZ promised RY; but it would have been better to have them reunite as opposed to just that image of the Fab 4 and the leads on horses because that did look really out of place and like CY was imagining them. Because the leads named their kids after two of the brothers, it makes sense that their spirits are watching over the family. That whole ending could have been either not added or just had the brotherhood plus leads as spirits riding in a field and it would have made a lot more sense and a fitting end for this drama without the unrealistic CGI, CY, and even the kid.
Would I recommend it? Totally. However, I do ask future audiences not focus so much on the last 5 minutes of the series but on the series itself because that's what made you enjoy it in the first place. Great job overall cast and crew! Thank you very much!
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A little stretched but fine.
As you're already aware of, Undercover is a remake of the popular UK series of the same name, the makers have also done immense changes in many plots giving extra essence to the major characters. This is rather a political thriller that feels like a tragedy throughout the entire thing and makes you feel sad. Absuse of power, authoritative ruling, corruption, dirty politics, etc. without the consideration of how it affects a common man's life and people's emotions are parts of this drama.Undercover is set up in a premise where a familyman tries to save his lovale family from getting ruined by his own tragic past that he has been hiding all his life out of insecurity that the revelation can break his dear ones apart. To save your time here I suggest you read the plot in the synopsis so that I can jump to my review, haha.
Have you watched the Lee Joon Gi starrer tragic thriller drama Flower of Evil: FoE (2020) which even got multiple nominations at the 57th Baeksang? Well then, Undercover is established on somewhat similar (I would say 30%) premise. Only difference is that the given situations in both the dramas are different but also lead to a tragic result where there seems no door to get out of.
Undercover is emotionally stirring and the brewing conflict between the leads even when they're unware of eacg other's flaws, is what you call the main attraction of the drama. The emotions and beliefs of the leads will leave you worried about the fate to befall on them and their happy family. The greatest message it gives is, even in a regular and perfectly normal relationshp, situation of discovering inadvertent lies, is something hard to overcome and reconcile.
Talking about acting and cast, the cast felt so good though I personally think it could have been better; the children of the lead couple and some people at the NIS as well as in the police force and the Blue House could be better actors. But the lead duo Ji Jin Hee and Kim Hyun Joo were so powerful throughout the series and their chemistry was remarkable though it's the second time playing a couple but it was different given that the characters were intense. Ji Jin Hee has always proved his versatility by playing a number of challenging characters but in my opinion this role is the most difficult. I felt the same when he played the same character in "Move to Heaven" even though he was there in a guest role.
The core concept of this drama is the same as Flower of Evil, sometimes it felt a bit slow but manageable. Back to back tragedies are a bit triggering which might make you angry; at a point everything goes wrong back to back things happening lose the way back to their places that makes one suffocating.
There was a huge character development for both the lead characters and the way it was presented by intertwining and connecting the present time with their individual as well as united pasts. That is one job that intrigued me tbh. The story has been well written and the direction and screenplay has been done nice but let me tell you that you shouldn't expect a lot from it for we have seen similar plots before and all the political tragedies are not new to us either. It's just a story with different elements and a different way of execution that makes it interesting and kept me going.
Overally, it's not a bad show but worth a one time watch. Please give it a watch before you judge. Scoring a gravitating pitch, UNDERCOVER vaunted a solid narrative right off the bat. Coupled with a good cast, it invites you to brace yourselves for the parade of confrontations, betrayals, and conspiracies spicing up its initial displayed story.
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1This is a fabulous show with a lot of depth - one of the best out there
DO NOT BELIEVE THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS. This is one of the best historica dramas out there. The only thing I agree with: the poster is misleading but only a little, because at the heart, it's a socio-political drama. This shows highlights:The foundation of trust and friendship is what matters most;
that agency of women has been hard fought and we are still fighting;
people in power will do anything to keep their power unchecked;
social injustice unhinges people; revenge is never pretty and is a vicious cycle, and one day someone has to sacrifice something to break it.
learning to be humble and thankful for things we often take for granted (freedom to make choices, having enough to eat, having a roof over the head, trusting people around you when anyone could kill you anytime);
And it's about making the right choice. This drama also features one the most FEMINIST heroes that I have seen in a very very long time. It's unbeleivable how beautifully that arc has been shown. His belief in his woman's capabilities is limitless and is a pure delight to watch. He is never the knight in the shinning armor, and only steps in if his woman is facing trouble because of others' prejudices. As Jay Yi beautifully says in one instance "he is a man who breaks down high walls for a woman who is stuck behind it'.
It IS a romance but not the regular kind we see today. It's more a vehicle that moves the narrative forward. Yi Hwan (the Crown Prince) falls in love with a woman he has no chance with - she technically belongs to his best friend (whether she wants it or not, she is just an object in the eyes of the soiety she lives in), while the best friend has this unhealthy attachment to a woman he has never met as an adult, making life truly difficult for the Prince; plus she does not fit any criteria to become his Crown Princess even if she were to be absolved of the murders (The Crown Princes were governed by strict rules of marriage, he had no choice in who he could marry as it was always a politica decision taken by the royal parents; the Kings however were not bound by any of it, they could choose their own Queens if they wanted). Min Jay Yi, duty bound to marry the man her family chose for her, marriage being a contract between families with no place for choice/love, is now an accused murderer on the run and, not only she loses everything - her family, her home, her reputation, her identity, but she also ends up falling in love with the most unatainable man she could imagine.
Hence, they have no chance with each other. But when does heart ever listen to reason? Yes, they never touch each other and totally adhere to the Josean principles of physical space between a man and a woman at all times. But their relationship is so wholesome, beautiful and pure that it harks back to the times when romance was all about yearning and longing. Don't miss their interactions, they confess to each other throughout without saying the actual words and it's beautiful to behold. And their interactions are hilarious at times. He is stuffy, morally upright, naive and insanely competitive. She is fiesty, unconventional, motor mouth but keeps her innermost feelings bottled up because that's how she has been raised. He falls for Jay Yi for the world she shows him outside of his very lonely existence (she is fearless and she drinks haha!), someone he can trust, rely on, beleive in, and laugh with, while she falls for his progressive thoughts, and benevolence. Both are brilliant people and never fail to complement each other for that. Or take each other down a peg when the situation demands.
All of these are packaged into a constantly moving narrative, packed with super funny moments and sparkling chemistry between Park Hyung Sik and Jeon So Nee. The side characters are to die for - Myung Jin and Ga Ram (Lee Tae Sun and Pyo Ye-Jin) are fabulous and the four make an investigative team (Shield team) that eventually resolve the mystery, with each of them bringing something to the table. These four could easily have a spin off show. Jeong Da-Eun as princess is super adorable and a very interesting character. The main villain is one dimensional but at the end, that makes his end supremely satisfying to watch. But it's the backstory that keeps you hooked.
The cast is steller, but Park Hyung Sik is ethereal as the Crown Prince. Not only he is blindingly good looking, but boy, can this man act. He brings Yi Hwan to life, and he does it with just his voice and his eyes. You cry with him, you laugh with him, you feel his heartache, you feel his jealousy, you feel his helplessness and rage at the injustices he is trying to fight . This is an award winning performance and hope he gets recognized for it. Jeon So Nee is a perfect foil to him. She starts ordinary and then grows on you. The fact that she is drop dead gorgeous is a bonus (take her out of the Eunuch uniform, put her hair down, put her in a plain unfashionable white gown and she takes your breath away). She goes through various stages of her performance with aplomb, and absolutely aces it in the emotional scenes (her confession will give you goosbumps and stay with you for a long time). She is an actress to watch out for.
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A Sweetly Delicious and Heartwarming Drama
This drama held my attention from the very first episode; so many deliciously sweet moments that you just could not stop yourself from smiling while watching.The ML (WinWin aka Yan Yue) was perfectly cast. This is the first drama that I have seen him in. I am now looking forward to seeing him in "The Shadow" his next drama. That smile and dimples, everyone will be crushing over him because he is just so handsome. The FL (He Hong Shan aka An Ran) complimented him so well. She was funny, bright, pretty and she did not overly act like she knew everything being that she was older.
The drama was about An Ran who became an entrepreneur for a start-up company she started called "Sweet Games." She was always looking for investors. And you know the saying, "robbing Peter to pay Paul and robbing Paul to pay Peter back?" Well, that was An Ran. She was always short of money, but she somehow would make it work. Enter Yan Yue who was a successful voice actor that had known her when they both went to the same university. He had a secret crush on her, but he never would step to her.
Fast forward and we have An Ran renting the apartment next door to him. Yan Yue knew who she was, but she didn't remember him. So, the day that she rents the apartment she heads to a reunion at the university (as does Yan Yue) and while there she tries to get investors. It does not work out and to make matters even worse, she trips, and everyone sees the tags still on her clothes. Yan Yue was making his way to help An Ran, but her best friend Bei Meng Yao interceded before he could get to her. She helps An Ran to go the restroom where she basically tells her she is fine and that she can go. But you know she wasn't. She gets drunk at none other than a convenience store. Yan Yue comes and helps her home. She shares a kiss with him when she falls and wakes up the next morning in his bed. Yan Yue leads her to believe that something happened because he comes out in his robe.
We also have the ex-boyfriend from her university days that left her but now he tries to come back to get her. You know his situation with the girl he left her for didn't work out, so he is coming back to An Ran. An Ran is smart enough to know and doesn't want to have anything to do with him. At this point, I was a little ticked off by her bestie because she was trying to get them back together and dissing Yan Yue saying he was too young, and she didn't feel that he was the right person for her. He basically told her that it was none of her business what their relationship was and left her sitting at the table by herself. (I was high fiving him for that!)
Both parents of An Ran and Yan Yue did have similar thoughts regarding their relationship. But I was happy to see that the parents were not that forceful in trying to break them up due to the age difference. They both spoke to their parents in a way that they understood that it was no longer up to them to interfere, and they won them over.
Her game does become a success but you she did have those that tried to take it from her by planting a spy in her office and they did a cyber-attack before it was release because people were only using the beta version. Then Yan Yue was taken out of doing voice acting due to doing an audio for a book that the company was not given permission to do. There was a lot of drama here and he basically made a statement that put not only the company but An Ran's company and their relationship out for everyone to bash on the internet. Yan Yue leaves and retires from voice acting. This crushes An Ran but she waited patiently for him to return, which he did. Everything did work out with her company's game, and he got back to doing voice acting again.
The most beautiful part I felt, and my heart was just filled with such love is when I saw him doing the voice over for a book for the children who were blind. It was wonderful to see this incorporated into the drama. To see the smiles and when the one boy asks him if he could touch his face...oh, it just melted your heart. That whole part of the drama is performed so well. Kudos to the writers for these exceptional moments.
The wedding was one which was exactly how you would envision, with their closest friends and colleagues. But the wedding vows of Yan Yue were too much.
Here are the vows of Yan Yue to An Ran:
An Ran, before I met you, my life couldn't be without music. When disputes occurred, I could only choose to escape, I was used to being shackled in my own world by a pair of headphones. I thought I was living happily, free, and fulfilled. Until one day I realized that after falling in love with someone, all those noisy sounds will disappear. And the most beautiful sounds will form melodies. The perfection you gave me is a shore I can't reach by myself. Meeting you and knowing you again, I found I still have the butterflies in my stomach when I first met you. You seem to be the goddess of my campus days. So sunny, so beautiful. Thank you. Thank you for constantly blocking those unpleasant things for me. Thank you for dragging the boy hidden in the headphone cave into the sunlight. In the future, I want to grow old with you, I want to embrace your body, your heart, your dreams, your past, present, and future. An Ran, would you let me stand by your side?
Here are An Ran's vows to Yan Yue:
Yes, I would. Of course, I do. I never thought that I could become someone's strength, I always thought that life is a battle one fights alone. Yan Yue, thank you for resolutely walking towards me. There is a kind of heroism in this world knowing that marriage is hard, yet still longing for it. Now I finally understand this heroism because of you. Because of your love and tolerance, I finally have this courage. Whether our future is dark or bright, I am willing to forge ahead with you. Mr. Yan, would you exchange our missed youth for a lifetime of championship?
Of course, he said I do.
I highly, highly recommend this drama because it is just the stuff that we are all looking for so get yourself a nice piece of sweet chocolate that leaves a lasting taste in your mouth just like this drama will. It is so good!
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Dark, darker - a social study of koreas society.
First for all the fangirls: This is not a BL. There is nothing fluffy about it. It's just dark and darker. A story about loneliness, desire, abuse and insecurity and characters which felt real. When I read the creator behind "Grey Shelter" is doing a new project I was excited because she does not the "normal" stuff. After this series I await "Winter Season" (don't look for it on MDL because it's not there). (Not to be mixed up with the CBL with the overlong title or the TBL :))There are some main-characters: Hyeon Jae is between sides in school, either be bullied or the son of the chairman who's untouchable. He obviously has no friends because he is the son of "the chairman". His father is the devil in human form. The outside recognizes him as a powerful chairman who is always friendly with the people except his son. His "lapdog" is also a very dark man, subservient to his master, packing his son in the trunk/boot because his master said so. This devil uses his wife, Hyeon Jae mother, as leverage to force his son to do his bidding. He's really one of the most despicable characters we have seen on screen. We don't know why the mother is in the hospital but we can assume father went into a rage frenzy. He beats his son on a regular basis. What is even worse, the chairman is the school principal. And of course the beating started far back because he is older than his classmates because he was 2 years in a hospital.
The teacher Gi U, who was forced in a marriage by his mother which only brings him misery and depression. I also assume he is gay from the get go but has never aknowledged this to himself and the pressure from his mom does not help. He wants genuinely help all his students but he can't and parents/teachers are insinuating things which of course never happened.
The school is full of trashy teachers who don't give a rats ass about the students. The head of the teachers is just a puppet for the chairman, ignoring abuse and problems with other students. His mantra is "The chairman will fix it" even when the son is framed, because that is the easier solution for him.
While the story is short and only eight episode about 25 minutes each, we have something like a "side-couple" in this series. They had a fallout of sorts. While one (Seong Won) tries to connect again, the other (Jeong Ha) is keeping his distance or tries to avoid him completely. That cumulates in the most unromantic confession sceme I have ever seen. Jeong Ha has also money troubles because his grandmom is in the hospital (no universal healthcare in Korea) forcing him to do jobs which should never been taken. There is also some background story and a character who was expelled, drug abuses (mental doping) is also a recurring theme.
I won't spoil more of the story here, because this series is easily binge-watched, taking only around 4 hours. Production quality was very good, cinematography is perfect for the scenes, especially for the gloomy ones. All the lead actors do an incredible job and the rest of the cast is also very good. The "love" story is just in the background, but everything connects. Don't expect a fluffy happy end, but it's also not a sad one. The end is quite open-ended there is maybe a chance to get a 2nd season which I would appreciate. This is a very realistic feeling series, so everyone expecting the run-of-the-mill series should not watch this. Also a fair warning for people with mental issues, this series can be very depressing and disgusting. Regardless, it has my recommendation!
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