Reviews

Exactly what I wanted to see from the first Korean musical drama !

Now I have to mention that I’m a very big fan of musicals , therefore when I first heard news about this drama coming out I was already very excited and had many experiences and I proudly say that THIS DRAMA JUST EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS .

If you expect romance or any of that kind , better just don’t watch it because it won’t deal with that .

Even from the start , I had a happy surprise to see that they immediately started the drama with a song , which I extremely like and added to my playlist.

The life of the three main characters was very relatable to me , I just immersed myself in the story . Each character had their own pain and backstory which was not very known to each other at first .

The magician helped them heal and find themselves while he also kinda healed himself through them . I did not expect such a story for him and I also have to mention that the little details about Bella were extremely emotional, beautiful and well done .


I think this drama balanced everything very well , from magic , psychological problems , music . I was very satisfied with every single little detail and have no complaints whatsoever.

Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you have to completely forget your child side . Do not let people dictate the way you live your own life , some people can live doing things that they dislike all the way through their lives , meanwhile for other people that would be just as bad as death ..If it makes you unhappy , it can kill you inside .

Now let me end this review with a quote that stayed in my mind , from this drama of course :

‘’ No one in the world is crazy . They make you into a crazy person little by little if you don’t fit society’s standards’’


10/10 ! Recommend and with big rewatch value ✨ 🎩

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Sorry if my review sucks, I've never written one before T^T.

This was the first ever Taiwanese web series I've seen and let me just say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was a pretty basic one for the boys love genre, which was step brothers falling in love. Although the plot was quite basic, it sure as hell did entertain me. It just added so many cute elements that I had to keep watching and I'd scream every time a new episode was translated. The actors weren't bad at all for a web series. Their acting was very natural unlike some bl dramas where the acting would start off super awkward. The music was nice in my opinion and they did a great job with it fitting the mood of a certain scene. I would definitely watch this series again, especially as a pick me upper. My only complaint is that it was super short and I wish that they made these episodes a bit longer. Overall, this series made it on my favorites list and if you're a die hard fujoshi like me, I really recommend it.

P.S. I heard that the officials of the web series are going to try their best to have a second season for the series because they got so many requests from the fans. *crosses fingers*

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There was so much more I wanted to see …!!

It’s been a while since I really wanted to talk about a show like mentioning all the complaints I have and really just wanting answers to the questions it left me with ….for this drama was really gonna get a 9/10( the highest I give ) if I hadn’t completed it (cuz it has really really amazing 1st half )... I share the same opinion with people who say the drama did not do well in the second half and I have my reasons ...and trust me I genuinely wanted to rate it higher “but” …

The first half was really amazing ....and the expectations I had were sky-high ...for how the things around ML were ...that was one of the most realistic portrayals I have ever seen
Even though the FL wasn’t really realistic as a psychology student throughout the show ...I could easily ignore it because I know certain things need to be a bit unrealistic for stories to progress.
As for the acting, it really was fab ..!! kudos to the cast ...for making me smile like an idiot I really enjoyed those little comedic moments ....
The major issues I have are only with the second half ...or you can say the sky-high expectations I had, hurt me. And that is the sole reason for the drop in ratings...

After they were finally together one of the major plot points according to me should have been about wu yan seeing Cheng Yin(her friend) ….They wrapped it so quick as if they were in a hurry to catch an express train ….okay even if you did not show how Nian Qin helped Wu Yan in dealing with her trauma ...makers could have at least given a proper goodbye conversation to them ….not to mention I felt like Wu Yan was done with and had stopped seeing Cheng Yin around ..long before we got to the last ep...there was no journey in her doing so ....which I really wanted to see …

(This one might just be my pure sentiments)...so when they said that ML helped FL land a job at the local radio station ...he helped them secure her dad’s chamber and other things...I really felt that the FL had no achievements of her own and she was okay with that not to mention she looked happy ...look romance and all is fine but if someday someone tells me that whatever I am doing and all the problems I felt I had dealt with on my own were actually resolved by someone else ...my world is probably gonna rip apart ...even if I am thankful that things went the way I wanted them to ….even then I still wouldn’t want this to be true ...all the experiences all the struggle ...all those little achievements I own have made me who I am ….and I will really not be able to behave the way FL does if I hear what she heard....

Unnecessarily bringing the kid Xiao Jie ...again no sense of closure ...look I really liked how they brought the issue of Autism and how they gave us a small talk about music therapy ...but again ...they did not have to bring the issue back ( kid coming to visit them) if they did not have time to deal with it ...I really felt like the kid’s character had so much potential ….they really did injustice with the plot there.
And that call from ML’s stepmom ...visiting ML’s family(last eps) ...doesn’t it seem like a waste of time for I don’t think any of those events contributed to the story. Is it just me who felt like that ??
Maybe they explain more in the novel, but they will be counted as fillers when the drama is concerned.

The second couple - they could disappear from the show and I wouldn’t even realize they did.

Clicking pictures and prying into her personal life ...don’t even get me started even if the ML did not see those pictures the fact that he knew those pictures existed is enough ...makers need to know that there is something called privacy and you need to respect it...if I say more probably this review will never end …
ML’s childish behavior ...nowhere romantic ...okay let’s be honest no one in real life would want to date a stalker …just imagine someone who’s handsome, rich, and high key obsessed with you….the last quality alone is good enough to not date him. The show tries to explain his obsession and behavior....even when I know his story and am someone who can even justify villains I still couldn’t convince myself to justify his actions. At some point I was like - what’s wrong is wrong ....there is some basic respect you show towards the other person which is a must.
Maybe I was looking for some scenes of him struggling; it would have added to the depth of character. Makers could have worked it way better.

The last ep....if you look back the last few eps feel like a thriller’s first few eps ...things happening here and there with the audience just staring at the screen like ...makers you need to calm down ….breathe, drink some water...and let us breathe too....with ML’s identity revealed...FL having stomach ache ...them rushing to the hospital and show ending with them having a kid ...happily ever after ...please don’t tell me I am the only one interested in knowing how and who revealed his identity ...and am I the only one who can’t come to terms with that happily ever after cuz there was so much to explain and explore.

The OST’s and background music - just amazing. It adds so much to the drama ….if they had replaced the entire existence of second couple with more songs ...I’d probably rate the show 10/10 ...lol

I still think that I have a lot to talk about but I’ll save it for the future...also no matter how many unanswered questions the show left me with and how many times I felt like things were going wrong…. I really want to say ….I am happy that I watched it ...and even if I knew they were going to crash I would still want to have those sky-high expectations again …

And here are some beautiful lines from the drama ….
“No matter how regretful one is there is no turning back ...there are no do-overs in life.”
“Using up all your might to bid goodbye and to forget, only to realize how helpless you are. Do you think this feeling is beautiful?”
“Everyone has their own life and happy moments. I just have to grasp my own.”
“I love you not because I need you, I need you because I love you.”

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Plot set-piece driven rather than character-driven

Any story needs to be about characters, and the plot driven by the characters. What I mean by that is that a characters' nature or past trauma, etc. needs to drive how they behave and and react to things. For example, if a character was bitten by a dog as a child, he may have an irrational fear of dogs - and maybe falls in love with a vet. That's organic drama rather than artificial external crises or relying on very implausible misunderstandings, which is one of the laziest sins in writing.

The way characters behave in this series make no emotional sense, because the author wants to get from point A to point B, and so that determines how the characters behave. Points A & B were almost always just tired cliches that were not integrated into the plot and did nothing to advance it but were rather just there to be there. A couple of examples:

- The Past Connection. This appears to be irresistable to BL writers (actually a lot of Asian drama genres) - a past connection between Souta and Mahiro serves no plot purpose - it's just there to be there, and as a result it leads to Souta implausibly not remembering Mahiro, because if he did remember him, that would complicate the plot. And so he doesn't.

- The Restraining Hug Fom Behind. Mahiro thinks Souta is leaving, but it turns out that instead he's staying forever. Does that make him happy? No, he gets upset and tries to leave. Why? Why would that upset him? It wouldn't. But then Souta wouldn't need to grab him from behind to prevent him from leaving.

- The Implausible Misunderstanding. Souta drives four hours from Tokyo and arrives at just the precise moment - it couldn't be one second earlier or one second later or the misunderstanding wouldn't have happened - to see Souta hug his boss, who Souta assumes is Mahiro's boyfriend, despite the fact that he knows them both, the boss has actively encouraged Souta to be with Mahiro, there is zero evidence that they're dating, and it was clear Mahiro was upset, so it is clearly a comforting hug, not a romantic one. But the writer needed to insert the next cliche, and so Souta has to misunderstand, and for no apparent reason decides to become the boyfriend of...

- The Interfering Woman. Ugh. I don't even want to dwell on this, but it chews up an enormous amount of runtime.

The end result is two unrelatable and unpleasant characters who behave inconsistently and are annoying.

The acting is OK. The Souta actor is pretty good, Yutaro is one-note and has no presence or charisma. There is almost no chemistry whatsoever. Mahiro behaves like the wife of an alcoholic in an abusive relationship - he actually recoils from Souta every time they're near each other, and he just looks afraid all the time. Souta manages to express some repressed longing, but it's still not convincing. There is no romantic chemistry between them, and certainly no romance. They barely even touch each other, at least not on purpose.

A positive is it's well-filmed and the setting in the countryside is lovely. Well, Souta gets naked sometimes, and he has a nice body, so there's that, I guess.

Another positive is the Taiwanese store owner, who is an appealing character and causes a plausible (!) misunderstanding when he reads a note that contains kanji characters that mean "former coworker" in Japanese, but mean "ex-lover" in Mandarin, which leads to the series' best comic moment.

Overall this was a total waste of time, and a disappointing squandering of an interesting premise and a strong start. But it goes nowhere, is frustrating to watch, and is way too long for the amount of "plot" in it. I would skip it.

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A simple and ordinary story told with the most imaginative way

 Stories with many plot-twists, complicated storytelling are most of the times what we are looking for because they can easily catch our attention. However, a simple story can be good if it’s done right and in a creative way. That’s the case with “Yumi’s cells”.

“Yumi’s cells” is a romcom but not a common one. It’s a light drama that everyone who loves romcoms can see and enjoy. If you have a bad day, “Yumi’s cells” will bring a smile to your face and brighten up your day. To be fair though, “Yumi’s cells” is not everyone’s cup of tea. The things which make the story enjoyable and unique can also work the other way around. Let’s see what these things are.

The story

 “Yumi’s cells” tells the story of Yumi and her brain cells. Yumi is an ordinary girl, living an ordinary life. We are basically seeing Yumi’s love life and her daily struggles. There’s nothing special about Yumi’s life, nothing extreme or mind blowing is going to happen, so why is this story special? Here is where Yumi’s cells come into the picture.

There are plenty of stories where biological functions of the human body were explained as actions of small creatures living inside the human body. These small creatures can be portraying cells, organs, emotions and so on. In Yumi’s cells they are portraying her cells. Through the cells we see Yumi’s thoughts, emotions, habits, how she is making her decisions and literally everything about her character.

The whole philosophy behind cells’ actions is very creative and well written. Cells' thoughts and actions are very natural and spontaneous and it’s quite amazing how the impact of these is working on Yumi. It feels accurate and at some point, very realistic. Thus, the watchers can easily relate with Yumi and feel all kinds of her emotions and understand completely the cause of her actions. Apart from this, there is also a very funny perspective about the cause of many behaviors and also allegories of some body functions that makes the story really funny and enjoyable.
 
The Webtoon

The story is based on a webtoon by the same name, written by Donggeon Lee. The webtoon contains 512 episodes and the original run was from April 1st 2015 to November 13th 2020. The drama’s first season consists of chapters 1 until 206 of the webtoon. As I have read the webtoon, I have to mention some differences that make the drama good or bad at some points.

The storyline hasn’t changed much, the milestones of Yumi’s life are all there. One main difference is that they have cut many scenes from the cells and added more to the humans. That way, the screen time between cells and humans is balanced which is a good thing cause the story focused more to Yumi and not to the cells like the webtoon. They also cut some episodes from webtoon that were fillers. Thus, the story is more fast paced than the webtoon.

However, cutting many scenes is also a problem as it destroys the natural flow of the story. The story is moving way too fast and it doesn’t leave any space for the relationships’ dynamics to develop. That’s why some situations seem a little bit rushed or/and forced.

A personal negative about the cutting scenes is that many of them are my favorite parts of the story. I was excited to watch these particular scenes on the drama but they never appeared so it’s only logical that I was sad and disappointed about it.
 
Another difference is that they reconstructed some scenes by combining two or three different chapters of the webtoon as the please, without chronological order. They also added some extra scenes that haven’t been on the webtoon. This was expected to happen, as it happens all the time with the webtoon adaptations. Some of the episodes that have many changes are 5,6 and 7.

I don’t mind changes, if they don’t affect the story and the characters as much. There is one thing that bothered me, a lot. They made Yumi a liar and that pushed her into very awkward situations, many times and, of course, created unnecessary drama. Yumi is a very honest person and that destroyed her image a lot.
 
 
The production

Making a live action for the Yumi’s cells wasn’t an easy task. That’s because they had to mix live action with animation which is very risky. Fortunately, I think they combined these two genres perfectly. 

As I said before, they cut many scenes from the cells and added more to the humans so there was a balance between the animation and the live action. That way, the watchers didn’t get tired of the animation scenes. The scene transitions between the animation and the live action were also very well executed and discreet which also helped the viewers to get used to the animation. The first two episodes will feel a little off but after them, you will enjoy watching this combination.  

The animation style that has been used is 3D animation. Before watching the drama I had my doubts if the animation would turn out bad or good. After watching the drama though, I can say that the animators have done a very good and detailed job and I was very satisfied with the result. The only reason to dislike the animation I think would be because some people generally don’t like animation or are experts and see all the errors a common eye like mine can’t see.




Overall, Yumi’s Cells is not the romcom we usually get to see in dramaland (especially in kdramas). It had some flaws and I wasn’t fully satisfied with the adaptation but I’m happy that now more people know about this unique story. I hope in the future we will see more romcoms that won’t follow the usual clichés and give us something fresh and beautiful, like Yumi’s Cells did.

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Tragic, epic, visually impressive.

"The Slave Hunters" is a cinematic-style KDrama, almost like a movie for the big screen. (It would definitely be an experience on the big screen.) In any case, "The Slave Hunters" has a lot to offer during ist 24 episodes.

There is strikingly selected staging of the landscape. Korea presents itself self-confident with its countless riverscapes and deltas, its mountains and coastal regions. The viewers visually accompany the protagonists on their long journeys across the country.

The accumulation of well-trained, well-structured torsos of the male actors is also characteristic for "The Slave Hunters". There's a lot of work involved, and it's appropriately staged here in numerous shots. Why not?

In connection with its sporty mimes, "The Slave Hunters" also comes up with a variety of brilliant, sometimes spectacularly choreographed fight scenes. Above all, Jang Hyuk once again sets quite a monument with his versatile martial arts skills.

The KDrama also presents - if you like - some Joseon-style parkour. 'Chase' thus gets a nicely invigorating touch. (Side note, in case you don´t know: Parkour is a special form of athletic movement art - a mostly urban steeplechase that has become fashionable in the last few decades. Individuals choose the most effective way to get to their destination, and that's hardly ever the predetermined path. Rather, the urban or natural landscape is re-perceived with regard to potential obstacles and evaluated as to how these can be creatively overcome on the individually chosen route, for example by jumping, somersaults or the like.)

The KDrama also stresses the subject of fatal love triangle in its complex emotionality. Eventually, there are also more love stories in the side plots. Yet, to be honest, the romance aspect should not be your reason to watch... The complicated dynamics might drive you crazy at times, so does the rigid play of the ex-and-again-general.

After all, the story mixes a good pinch of humor with profound wisdom. Surrounded by all the muscle-packed, fast-paced spectacle, the question of how a just society can be achieved is examined, i. e. whether it can ever be achieved at all. As soon as people gain power, won't they always tend to turn their fellow human beings into slaves, chattel or lackeys? And: will a changed political system change the people? Or do people have to change for the system to change? As a premise it is stressed that slaves are also human beings, e. g. that it actually starts with an attitude, that one should not deny any human being to being a human being - certainly not according to their genetic origin. "Slave Hunters" historically refers to the beginning of socio-critical Yangban movements against practiced slavery.

At the same time, the KDrama shows life under simple/poor living conditions - unembellished in all coarseness, e. g. ugly, blustering, brutal, unkempt and uneducated, but still warm-hearted. On the other hand, the fine silk clothings and the well-groomed, educated demeanor of the nobles and officials cannot hide their emotional coldness and corrupted souls.

All in all: It is not surprising that the KDrama in average thrilled more than 30 percent of the South Korean population and received numerous respectable awards and even international nomination. Above all, Jang Hyuk, for whom his role seems to be tailor-made. He fights, jumps, sprints, barks, laughs, cries, digs into the deepest depths of his soul and on top of that presents profound street smart and wise philosophies.

"The Slave Hunters" has a charm of its own. It´s tragic, epic, visually impressive.




---------------- Side Note: --- historical background ----
The historic frame refers to the time of King Injo in the 17th century as well as his son and Crown Prince Sohyeon. As a result of the submission after the second Manchu invasion in 1636, the Crown Prince (together with his wife and other officials) went to Shenyang practically as a hostage of the Qing. He spent his time there working diplomatically on peaceful relations between the Joseon and Qing dynasties.
His commitment also brought him to Beijing, where he became familiar with Western culture through his acquaintance with Jesuit missionaries. However, his father did not like Sohyeon's diplomatic commitment and open-mindedness at all. He feared that after his return and accession to the throne, he would want to reform Joseon with Catholicism and Western values. Prince Sohyeon's sudden death is interpreted by historians as deliberate poisoning. There is some evidence that his own father was behind this. Sohyeon's wife was executed for treason and only the youngest of his three sons survived their exile on Jejudo.
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Ugh

The long ballad was indeed very long and very stale. If you are looking for an epic love story with a lot of romantic chemistry, an interesting plot, and meaningful character development, you won't find it here.

The story started out strong. FL and ML met each other under interesting circumstances – playing football. Shortly thereafter, FL lost her family to a revolt and was forced to flee her home. Unfortunately, the story kind of got lost within itself after that.

Changge was like the perfect Joan of Arc warrior princess. As a young woman from a privileged background, she was great at everything, including sports, sword fighting, and military strategy. The fact that she was perfect was her one major flaw. There was no room for growth. I enjoy strong female characters, but Changge's flawlessness and acting superior with mostly everyone made her overbearing. She couldn’t be beaten, making her extremely one dimensional. It was not convincing that all of her superb skills were the result of her uncle training her as a child.

While the drama started out strong, the story later took a strange turn and lost all focus. At the beginning, Changge swore revenge against those who instigated the revolt and killed her parents, but she ended up moving around different places and doing things completely unrelated to her original goal. The fact that nobody could figure out that she was a woman was pretty comical. All it took was for her to wear men’s clothes for everyone to suddenly become blind to the fact that she had a bump on her chest and round hips. What's worse, later in the show the revenge plot was completely abandoned and now we had a brand new end boss completely unrelated to Changge.

Yueyan ended up to be my favorite character because she went through the most intense character development and overcame all the difficulties on her own. Her and Hao Du was also my favorite couple because there was so much contrast between them - he was cold and calculating and she was timid and soft. The show did a good job at showing his growing feelings for Yueyan and his inner struggle trying to deal with them.

Half-way through the show, a slew of minor characters started appearing out of nowhere and served no purpose other than existing for Changge and her interests. Then, everything got really stupid. People kept insisting that women couldn't lead, women couldn't participate in politics, women were fragile, but there was this 14 y/o princess Tujia running around signing treaties and fraternizing with grown men without anyone saying anything. She'er was the leader of the wolf division and a good fighter, but he spent a big chunk of the show crying for mommy and being absolutely useless. Many decisions were stupid and made no sense. The crown prince's friend was a traitor and participated in Changge's abduction, but for some reason that was never addressed. Sun got arrested for killing him and no explanation was given. The fact that a member of the royal family got kidnapped wasn't even mentioned. And this type of nonsense continued until the very end. Nobody communicated anything. The show also didn't do a very good job at juggling between different character arcs. Characters would disappear for several episodes at a time making us kind of forget about them.

Explanations for certain plot lines were mediocre. It was never clearly explained why the revolt happened, why Changge's mom wrote the letter, to whom, and what was in it, or why the uncle killed her dad. The only take-away was that the emperor uncle didn't kill the mom.

The romance was underwhelming. It wasn't only because Changge and Sun had no romantic chemistry, but also because watching them together was like watching two dudes interact. They were just hanging out. The one kiss they shared was blurred out and we were forced to watch birds. I don't care that the writers intended it, it looked stupid.

The acting was very mediocre. Although she is very beautiful, Dilraba does not strike me as a very good actress, and, Leo Wu needs to work on his acting skills. I haven't seen him in anything other than Love like the Galaxy and the Long Ballad, and I wasn't impressed with his portrayal of stoic brooding characters. Zhao Lusi and Liu Yuning stole the show for me.

Bottom line, the drama was too long, the plot was too convoluted, and the romance was too stale.

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Anit-BL

What will happened if you realize that you are living in a novel? All of us have dream about it no matter if it’s a BL, Henti, Superhero, etc. But this new show brings a new light of many people, including myself, about the consequences of been in one, especially if you didn’t have any options or power to pick the novel. I honestly was wandering how they will start with this BL, well, antibl. The introduction is very clear with many funny scenes that we are all familiar with. It’s so hilarious that it feels like this show is making fun of how expected things can be in a manga or any bl novel. And we all have thought about it of; how cool would it be if somehow, we get transported to a novel.

We find ourselves following Inukai Atsuhiro (the Mob = extra character in a movie, or any show) in his everyday routine of anitbl and how he strategies in order to fight the world! Yes, it’s him against the BL world.

The most important question that I have about this BL or Anti-Bl is, how is he the only one that knows he is on a BL world?

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Well, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Unfortunately there are two: 1) the re-telling of Tin&Can story with mixed up timelines, and 2) the chemistry between Tin&Can. Well, the re-telling was an odd choice. I’m not bothered by it, but other people are. I have seen many loosing interest in this series because of that reason (and also because Saint isn’t part of the cast). Starting from zero with Tin&Can while showing us Ae crying through 3 whole episodes makes no sense. It’s not like they tried to reboot everything and make a stand-alone series. Also they wasted 6 episodes with the re-telling without providing something new and exciting. Some of the scenes they had to re-act were not as iconic as the original ones. I liked some of the new scenes, but they didn’t change the story at all. It just feels unnecessary. The characters changed a tiny little bit with Tin being more soft and vulnerable and less arrogant and dangerous looking (which also seem to disappoint many) and Can being a bit softer and more mature. But yeah, not a big difference. It's not like in DBK where they changed Kao's character so much he was unrecognizable (I'm still salty about that). So let’s move on to the second elephant: The chemistry between Tin&Can. I thought the chemistry was so great (much better than in s1) and that's why I looked up the actors (what I rarely do). I was surprised to see how close they are in real life. They seem to have personalities that resonate well together and that explains the great chemistry. But this chemistry vanishes completely when they have to kiss. You can feel through the screen how much Plan hates it, and that makes me sad. It’s not like I get some homophobic vibes from him. I highly doubt Plan would do any better in those scenes with a woman. I have seen him kissing a girl in another series (if you can call that a kiss) and it was even worse. He did well in the famous couch kiss at the end of s1, so I really don’t know what’s the issue suddenly. Maybe they shouldn’t cast two guys who are good friends? Watching them kiss makes me rather uncomfortable. Sometimes I prefer to look away, which shouldn’t be the case. It’s not their fault if their „couple“ becomes so popular, but perhaps they should just stop doing those roles when they don’t feel like it. I highly doubt they are so poor that they need the money. That said, I think the director’s decision plays a role too. Kisses were purposely not shown. They didn’t even kiss when they had sex. That’s a first, really. I’m pretty sure I have never seen a bed scene without a kiss. Enough negativity. Despite Plan being the mood killer I have to compliment him for his acting. He has to play the ugly, stupid monkey which isn’t easy and requires some courage. In fact I have never seen a similar character in any other BL series. He is not just there to look handsome, he has to be lively, crazy, cute, funny, sex-hungry (lol). It’s not an easy role and he does a good job. I’m really into the character when he appears on the screen. But yeah, at the end of the day the whole series feels so uninspired. I feel awkward watching it. I giggle like a little girl (like I never did before, I will admit it), I laugh, I shake my head, I feel embarrassed (really embarrassed like I never did before either watching any other BL), I have to look away, I hold my breath – it’s a whole EXPERIENCE. And then I’m sad, because it could be so much better and I know they messed it up. I wish they had done a better job (better writing, better intimate scenes) and I wish more people would love it. I didn't even mention the other couples, because I feel it's a waste of time. They don't have enough screen time, aren't very exciting or they are just toxic. Tin's background story and the issues with his brother aren't well told or well presented. I'm just not a fan of the writer. If not for Mean&Plan who are very charming, I highly doubt I would bother watching this.
EDIT: Since this series ended I have a strange feeling in my gut. For whatever reason I don't want to think about this series anymore (and I will not rewatch it). Hearing about questionable behavior of the cast towards the only gay character in the show (Earth) isn't helping either. This really was a train wreck.

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This is a Rant...BUT

I went into this with zero expectations. I tried watching the first 2 episodes because AvenueX mentioned that the cgi was beautiful. I thought it would be just another 'xianxia' trope, and truly wasn't expecting to like it. But then, right from the very beginning, the visuals were so f****ing beautiful. Qin Lie's fight with the beast was okay, what I stayed for...was the visuals of Yushi. Her trekking through the heavy snow in the dark,... It was like a scene straight out of some high-quality hollywood production (Think Snow white and the Huntsman or Witcher) . And the intermittent shots of Du Shao Yang being asked to marry a woman, who we know from the way it's shot...is Yushi. And that was it,...the rest as they say is history. I couldn't stop myself from immediately bingeing through all the released episodes. Though I have to admit, that I basically fast forwarded all scenes of Qin Lie and Song Ting Yu. The visuals were truly the best part of the show. The different realms, particularly Ling Burrough, the Frost land, Purple Mist Sea, and the Netherlands. And of course the ost. The song that plays every time Qin Lie is in a fight with the odds stacked against him, and yet he manages to come out just fine, and grows even stronger in fact....I loved that song. Trying to figure out Qin Lie's feelings for Yushi, and the Gao Yu -Yushi- Qin Lie triangle was also pretty interesting. I was even considering to let Yushi and Gao Yu get married, before the scriptwriters forcibly blackened him. I honestly couldn't understand why Yushi was so set on QL, that she completely ignored the other man who basically worshipped her- Gao Yu.
The story was okay, but they could have done so much more with it, there were so many possibilities....I'd been soo looking forward to Wu Chun and Gong Mu Lie's story and yet they turned it into this completely meaningless nonsense, They basically stalked each other for a long time, and thus automatically fell in love...like seriously? Did the scriptwriter suddenly lose his brain? And I hate the ending. It was like going back to square one after 36 episodes. It felt so meaningless. The least they could have done, was provide an epilogue at the very least. The acting was okay I suppose, but yes Cheng Xiao could have done so much better. I know that the character of Yushi is supposed to be cool and calm at all times, but she just seemed wooden to me. And I know Cheng Xiao could have done better, because Wu Chun seemed so much more alive and real.
I suppose this is turning into a rant now, but I'm seriously disappointed at what they did with the script...I had soooo much expectations...Even so, I'll definitely watch this again, because the visuals are truly breathtaking, and you should watch this drama, if for nothing else but that.
There are so many negatives points about this drama, and logically speaking it's merely an average one. And yet as I'm writing this review, I realize that despite its many flaws, I still love the show.

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sweet seaside romance

Overall: a refreshing seaside romance series. 5 episodes about 20 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala.

Content Warnings: maybe something at the beginning with a side character but it didn't bother me at all, past death

What I Liked
- the characters felt realistic instead of caricatures, how both of them were confident in some ways but guarded in other ways
- flashback that hinted about why Amane was jaded about love and then the reason was shown in episode 2
- caring/sweet moments
- how Ryuji sought communication
- that Amane took risks to stay true to himself/what he wanted
- production value

Room For Improvement
- don't think physics would agree with what happened around 10 minutes in episode 1 lol
- it was only 5 episodes we definitely could have used more

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I want the main leads together in another show!!!

This is was great show. I wish it would've been longer than 12-13 minutes. The ML is an asshole but it's been so long since i have seen such characters in dramas.. it's my guilty pleasure😝

The Acting was GREAT. The cast is top notch. The chemistry between the main leads is the main thing that keeps you watching this drama till the end.

i LOVE the OST.

The ending scene of two years later didn't even make sense so i will pretend it did not happen. But i wish FL would've known the truth about the actual culprit of her family's death and the true villian is zhou zichen. BUT THEN AGAIN, she would've been guilty of killing the ML and kill herself out of guilt rather than loving ML too much to stay alive. So i guess it made sense for her to die first.

And this way... FL actually is the one that kills ML... and i so wanted this to happen. ML deserved to die from FL's hands!!!!

I hope we get to see both main leads together in another show, probably a modern day office romance drama! Their chemistry is reallyyyyy good and they'll look even better together in Modern day dramas!!!

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The basic premise does not stray from the power politics Korean crime dramas habitually highlight, but what sets Confession apart is its execution.

From the get-go, Confession was promising. The first case was exciting, given the unpredictability of the suspect. And so that path led the characters to other, overlapping ones, and they led to the final destination. The writer gave liberty to the audience to explore various scenarios along with the characters. Next thing you know, you are invested in the plot. My favourite occurrences happened in the court - it was a pleasure to see Choi Do Hyun / the lead cleverly handle affairs. Sometimes, particularly in the first half, you would expect the plot to go another direction, and may even want that to happen (like myself), but the second half ensured me that the writer knew what they were doing. The pace was maintained - it may have slowed in the middle, but not unnecessarily. The characters had connections with each other due to a single event - it's nothing new in kdramaland. yet it was impactful. I had a few complaints with regards to how distant the characters felt, but my worries were eased by episode 11.

I was torn about how I should rate the acting. The actors were not given roles that were complex, but they were not simple either, so I was satisfied but not won over. I was about to settle with 8.5, but one performance stood out to me, and I believe I will not do the actor justice by being greedy. He had a small role, but it has left an impact on many, including me: the suspect in the first case, played by Ryu Gyeong Su. He stole the spotlight. He was the character I was most drawn to, and I anticipated his appearance each episode. Of course, the main cast did good with what they were given. Lee Jun Ho was persuasive in his composed portrayal, and others stayed true to their respective roles. What I appreciated was the female leads' harmonious teamwork, and their guts, especially Ha Yoo Ri.

I liked the instrumental they used. It could be loud in certain instances, but I liked how it added to the moment and nature of the drama. The OSTs were not played, so I have no comments on that.

I am not sure if one would rewatch it, knowing all the progressions in plot. If you are someone like me, you might want to watch Choi Do Hyun being a smartass in court.

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