Reviews

two people being each others light

ill start by saying this drama handled the subject of su*c*de very well for being such a short drama. shows that just a simple encounter can change your mindset and your outlook on life. our ML was there for our FL every time it mattered most.. Haiba was just the light in Mokotos life that she needed and must i say that she was what he needed as well. they were adorable and the chemistry was on point. their little moments were everything.

even if you're not a fan of student x teacher relationships i would till give it a try. it doesn't have those creepy vibes that some dramas have with those tags. this was so well done. just wish it was longer, that's why im hoping for S2! :')

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Wow, is all I can say.

Thriller/Mystery drama's are not something I watch often, but when I do, it takes a lot for me to commit and do it and when I do; I hope that it's worth it. It's been a while since I've watched a mind blowing K-Drama to be honest and I can say that I didn't know what I was getting into when I started Flower of Evil, but I saw a clip and immediately I was sucked in to something I will never regret watching in my entire life.

The synopsis in itself is already a rollercoaster, even though this is similar to a lot of other mystery/thriller/crime dramas; you don't really know you'll be invested into something even more mind blowing and emotionally tolling. You have a man that's the perfect husband, father, worker. You have a woman that's the perfect wife, mother and partner in general. They are both hard working, they met randomly by fate one day and the rest is history, their love is absolutely mind blowing and just plain...impeccable. But the male lead has a past, an unknown one. And unfortunately sometimes, you can't run away forever, especially when your demons are not only haunting you mentally, but then they start doing so physically. So you're going to go through what it's like to love someone but want to protect them no matter what happens, you're going to see that some people will go to the end to protect their own even though it's putting themselves on the line, you're going to see what it's like to be abandon by those who love you most and what it's like to be looked at like a monster. There' s so many ups and downs in this show but it's one of the best journey's I've completely been on. The love they had was wonderful, the characters that helped, the officer team, everything was just a nice flow of things.

Let me tell you, this is one of the best acting I've seen in such a long time. I love the raw emotions you got to witness between every single character; but you're taking so many veteran actors and actresses and putting them into something that they made just pure genius. The emotion and control that Lee Jong Gi has is amazing, the strong, bold character that Moon Chae Won played and the CHEMISTRY the two had, is absolutely everything. There was a prefect balance of their love and the show. The daughter was a fantastic aspect. The bad characters were so good at being bad. The reporter was a nice spice; the sister being added into the twist. The way the detective team carried themselves; if this show doesn't win rewards for the story, the ACTING will for sure win something.

The music was wonderful, I loved the timing that they had. I'm obsessed with the OST that Shin Yong Jae put together for this; everything about it is beautiful, raw and emotional all in one and that's how this show will leave you feeling.

Overall, this show was amazing. It's worth watching and rewatching within seconds. I actually binged this show and woke up just to rewatch the last 2 episodes because I couldn't get enough. The ending was quite bittersweet but I felt the craziest thing while watching it and I've never watched a show where I was so satisfied with the 2nd to last episode that I couldn't stopped there. I was literally so satisfied how this show played out and where it went that I'm absolutely mind blown at this beautiful master piece. My heart ached with the emotions of the characters, I cried and was angry all in one. And that's what a good drama is. One that you cannot stop thinking of and that was this for me. This really made me realize how much I love watching Asian Dramas in general. This was so good.

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Extremely Terrible Story Line

I normally don't write reviews. But this drama is so astoundingly, record-breakingly bad that I had to break my own record and write a review for once. I'm usually pretty generous with my ratings, I don't normally score anything under 7. So giving this a 3 means that I literally cannot stand this drama.

To be clear, I found this drama to be bad from the start. But I pushed through because people kept saying it gets better (also because I can never find myself dropping a drama no matter how bad it is). Unfortunately, it never really gets better. I did find the drama a bit more bearable around episode 26 / 27 and thought I was going to finally be okay with the drama. But then I continued watching and it just turned out to be even worse.

Acting - Okay to start off, I don't really have major problems with the acting. It's not spectacular, but it's decent, watchable. As a fan of Zhao Li Ying though, I have to say her acting in this one is not on par with her own standard. There were some parts when you could tell that she wasn't really mentally there because she was just staring off into space. Just by looking at her eyes, you can tell she has spaced out. And that she's tired. She looks really tired and slightly aged in this drama. Maybe she made her comeback too early, I don't know.

Characters - Oh my God. There were just way too many dumb characters. Apart from Zhou Fei and Xie Yun (and maybe head of Disha Shen Tian Shu) all the other characters are pretty dumb. Li Yan gets the award for stupidest character in this drama. She's just so annoying. She cannot fight, doesn't have any common sense, is extremely naive, always gets into trouble and yet she always insists on tagging along. I'm just done with her. All the other characters feel a bit bland too. I think Li Sheng is the only character who had some sort of character development. He changed, still cannot fight really well and does occasionally dumb stuff but he became a bit more logical and mature I guess. But the other characters? No good character development.

A lot of the side characters like Third Prince and that young master from I forgot what mini sect serve no purpose other than being dumb and creating trouble for Zhou Fei and Xie Yun again and again and again and again. Some characters like the generals are honestly pretty useless too. I feel like they supposedly played some important role in the war or something but I always just forget who they're supposed to be. Zhou Fei's parents are also MIA for most of the drama, so again they don't really contribute much.

Story - This is what I have the biggest problem with. Right from the very start, there were way too many supporting characters with their own stories. There were way too many sub-plots that you can't even make out what the main story line is supposed to be. As the story progresses, they (slowly) start to focus less on the sub-plots but by then, you're so confused you still don't know what the story is. And then you get to the middle and you realize that maybe the story line is about this highly coveted treasure / artifact / god-knows-what called Hai Tian Yi Se. So what exactly is Hai Tian Yi Se? You will only find out in the second last episode because guess what? None of the characters know what Hai Tian Yi Se is either!! Yay, so nice. Is this supposed to make viewers more curious and drawn to find out more? Because it only made me frustrated. Also, I don't know if I missed it or what but they never really explain in detail about the tokens of Hai Tian Yi Se is either. It's like just some casual comments here and there about the lock, about the sheath etc. So here I am, having finished the drama and I still don't quite know what the full 5 tokens are :/ I don't think I've ever been so lost while watching a drama. I'm usually the one thinking "have you guys not been paying attention?!" when I see people commenting asking when something happened or asking to confirm something that has already been confirmed in the drama. But with this drama, I'm the one going "wait what is going on? did they already explain this cause i'm lost and i don't know what is happening". They also casually miss out some stuff like whatever the hell happened to Chu Chu's brother? They just casually forgot about him.
Here are also some of the other stupid stuff that they did throughout the drama + about the drama:

- too many flashbacks that make no sense
- having really really long flashbacks in the middle of the battle???
- talking in the middle of the battle
- escaping but then stopping halfway to start chatting and joking around
- Zhou Fei constantly breaking her blades (this never happens in other wuxia dramas but she breaks her blades like nobody's business)
- Zhou Fei and Xie Yun acting cheeky and lovey dovey when there's dead bodies around them (no, the dead bodies aren't even of the villains. THOSE ARE DEAD BODIES OF PEOPLE ON THEIR SIDE)
- catching up to the villain but not killing them immediately, letting the villain escape so they can wreck more havoc in the future
- DOING ALL THE WORK FOR THE BAD GUYS AND LETTING THEM WALK AWAY WITHOUT A FIGHT WHAT THE HELL

As a viewer, struggling to even make out what the main storyline is, IS THE WORST THING EVER! That is a sign of extremely bad storytelling. Need I say more? (No.)

Music - Personally, I don't hate the OSTs. I might even have liked it if not for the fact that I am so repulsed by this drama that I can't even bring myself to like the OSTs.

Production quality - Yeah the editing is pretty bad. Some of it doesn't even make any sense, like they just cut off the scene without any elaboration or explanation or follow up scene. Also there were some parts when they blurred out the face of the body double?? WHAT EVEN

In conclusion, it's a terrible drama. If eye candy is enough to satisfy you, or if you're just here for the romance, sure go ahead then. But if you don't care for the above two, don't bother watching.

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About the story, from the anime series, the plot was changed. Which I will no longer mention what are the changes are to avoid spoiling the others. The fighting scenes were really awesome. How each scenes were directed was perfect or in detailed. The lighting they have used is well chosen and the places too. You can feel the presence of the past era (which I forgot what it is) to the modern. It's funny though that the cops back then are always too late in the scenes. But it is understandable since there are no cars yet that time.
I can say that this is really worth watching for. Even though I was little sad that there are scenes that I like that wasn't included. I guess they just give emphasize to the important ones. Also, my feelings wasn't totally moved. Maybe because I already know the story that's why I wasn't totally moved.


About actors~ Ohhhhhhhhh!! They are so great! I salute them! They really done a great job especially kenshin!!!! He is so cool, handsome and cute!!! Love him x)
The way he express is just right, love it. Same as the same characters, the expressions are totally right. Although kaoru and Megumi are cute unlike in anime which are matured. Kaoru and Megumi wasn't able to absorb the 100% characteristic in the anime. But they did their job well too :D Sano is not really tall, but with his big muscles I guess that's enough. Anyway, they were really great :D

Music, I love the music and background music. It suits the movie. the sound effects were great too.

Anyway, I give it all 10! It was great~ Worth watching~ ^-^

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I wanted to write a review for this since it's one of my all time favorite dramas. I think it kinda divides opinions and it really depends on the watcher if you like it or not.

The plot... I too, as many others, love the first half of the story more up to like episode 11? but the later half isn't bad either. It just has less happening. Some people say it dragged on and maybe it did, but i didn't really pay attention since i was so in love with everything else in it.

The plot had wonderful details that really showed different sides of the characters. Like Eun Jo; She is basically the evil stepsister and if this story was from another point of view, she would be seen as a complete bitch but cause the plot allows you to understand Eun Jo and all the other characters, and it seems much more realistic. No human is perfect and everyone has a bad side and it depends on how you see it who is the villain and who is the hero/in. And i feel like this drama portrayed that pretty perfectly.

I LOVED the acting. After watching this Moon Geun Yong became one of my favorite actresses of all time. The other actors were all great too, there's really nothing i complain about. And the acting really completed the plot and I got into the story with it. Every time Moon Geun Yong cried I cried with her. If im ever feeling sad and just wanna cry, I rewatch the sad scenes of CS and cry my heart out.

I really liked the music too, i love listening to the ost and remembering this drama. I felt that the music fit the scenes really well

The rewatch value.. hmmm... I feel like there are parts that are really worth rewatching, and then some parts are parts that were necessary the first time but now that you know the plot you don't really need them anymore, but since i dont usually rewatch dramas anyways i think me watching even some parts of this means its really good :) I've already rewatched some episodes like 5 times when i usually only watch them once or twice...

Oveall I gave it a 9 but i wanted to give a 10. It's really a favorite of mine and the first serious (and second ever) k-drama i watched. I think it's best suited for people who can focus on dramas well xD and for people who like sad dramas (you might need tissues!)
And also for people who can see the bigger picture and understand the characters... It made me kinda sad when i read comments that said "How can Eun Jo be so cold?" when all the time i had been thinking "Poor Eun Jo, no one understands you but Ki Hoon".

But still I recommend this drama for everyone to watch :) If it ever seems confusing i'm happy to help ;)

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THOMAS!

Fluff, fluff and fluff filled with so much fillers and sprinkled with a few unneeded NC17 scenes.

This is hard to write - there was a lot of hype and i must confess that i fell inlove with the series in its first few episodes that i kinda overlooked all its shortcomings. It has all the elements of a Domundi series - extra rich leading men paired with very young (immature) boys; the extra super cute boys; and the almost obligatory sex scenes. However, through all the sheen and all the beautiful faces, it is an overstretched storytelling aimed to check all the BL boxes and offers nothing really new.

First let me discuss the good things i loved:
1. The very good looking cast - Thomas, o Thomas, where have you been hiding all this time (he actually caught my attention in that ill-fated The Middleman's Love Story but since he was just almost just an extra there i immediately forgot about him) - this series has poised him to be a star. Kong is just adorable. Do i need to mention how cute Por and TeeTee are? And of course Save ang AuAu.
2. Marakot's Babe!
3. If you put your critical thinking hat off, this show can be really enjoyable - Its just light and easy series to watch. And oh, have i mentioned Thomas?

Now the things that i find a little eyerolling:
1. Teerak is just too bubbly of a character for me - almost like he is living in his own Glinda bubble. This very child-like behavior also makes me think that the guy is not ready for a mature relationship -he is like a 13 year old boy wanting to be an adult all of
a sudden. The kiss-me-on-the-hair antic is ok at the beginning but it turned too cringy and borderlined overacting - imagine having a college dude acting like that in real lfe - it can be really really annoying. Plus, that fake girlfriend angle, can you really imagine Teerak having a girlfriend - the dude is a walking flower dashed with a few drops of mist and with its own ray of sunshine. THe girlfriend angle IS SO UNNECESSARY.
2. Can somebody please tell these recent wave of writers that a teenage-looking boy isnt believable as ultra successful CEOs or high level executives? They just arent. Even if you are from a rich family, it takes a certain pedigree and maturity to actually run a company. Muenfah is still just a baby. Somebody in Domundi has a fetish for hot looking young CEOs, i get the appeal, but a line has to be drawn somewhere - and they didnt have to use the same character type in every show.
3. Mike is too good for this role and too out of place in this series - im sorry to say but he looks too old to portray a college student next to the other members of the cast.
4. The school project exhibition. After making Muenfah an impossibly young college student/business owner the series came up with a story line for Teerak that he and his friends are suposed to present (and exhibit) their big big project - only to come up with Teerak's strawberry eating fox figurines in that snow-filled forest (which by the way they didnt even bother to make a snowy background), Joy's crochet keychains, and Punlee's silkscreen printed shirts. Really? They are college stidents and thats all they can come up with? And they passed with flying colors? Muenfah is closing big business deals and thats the arc you come up with for Teerak?
5. With the materials and footage that they had (and lack thereof) they could have compressed it to an 8-episode series and it will still be an enjoyable compact series. If they really needed to make it a 12-episode series they could have elevated the 2 other pairs to secondary lead status because for heavens sake they already casted 3 (or 4) very good looking pairs but did not utilize them all properly. I would have loved to see more of Real-Hia, Babe-Dom, and my babies Punlee-Klaijai (i could have used more of that flirting scene at the coffee shop).

Overall, its an easy series to watch. I would love to see more from these actors in the future, but Domundi has to spend a little bit more money for good script and extensie acting workshops. Will i recommend? A big-fat YES! WIll i rewatch - just to ogle at those cute boys.

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Definitely enjoyed it way better than I imagined. I was skeptical when I saw Netflix going for it but I decided to give it a try. It follows the manga more closely than other live actions. I wasn't disappointed. The cast were good too... really loved Peng Yu Chang as Lu Xia! My other favorite characters were Qiao Chen, Jia Le, Zhuo Zhi, and the dad. The "female" lead's character is still annoying to me. I mean it's expected but I still got annoyed. The matches were fun to watch I was actually nervous with the team every time they were nervous. I wished they were longer though. They could have gotten rid of those flashbacks and 'inspirational' moments for more match scenes.

Hopefully Netflix has season 2 that would be dope.
Would definitely rewatch it! 10/10 for me considering I binge-watched 40 episodes in 2 days!!!

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Story: A sweet and light love story. The difference? The focus on online games which gave the drama some fantasy element and the interaction between friends living in the campus. If you are saturated with too many complicated love stories, this is the drama that will give you a breath of fresh air. You'll find yourself smiling most of the time. One smile = alluring. Many smiles = Excellent! My congratulations to the writer who also happened to author Shan Shan Comes to Eat - another nice sweet romance drama worth your time. I'm off to re-watch it now!

Acting/Cast: At first I was a bit worried when Zheng Shuan was cast in the role of Wei Wei. The novel described Wei Wei as a beautiful young woman with the perfect body and frankly speaking, Zheng Shuan's not the best around when it comes to having curves where curves should be. The movie version of this drama cast Angelababy as Wei Wei which was closer to the description of Wei Wei in the novel. So, having watched the movie first - I had to adjust to seeing a mediocre-looking Wei Wei in the drama but after a few episodes, it became a non-issue as the story took precedence. The shining star here is Yang Yang. His boyish charm shone through. He alone pulled through the chemistry with his leading lady when Zheng Shuan was a little stiff to start with. Watch out for those scenic and romantic scenes....and kisses! The dialogues were also excellent!

Music: Passable but it is not the music that attracts. It's the sweet love story.

Rewatch value: Highly re-watchable. Lots of sweet scenes.

Overall: Addictive. Sweet. Smile inducing. Makes me wanna re-live my younger days in Uni and fall in love again. Highly recommended.

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Cliche 1 check, Cliche 2 check ….Cliche 453271 check

So whatever you might look for in a typically cliche storyline ….you’ll be offered everything here ...from the very basic…. plot about contract marriage (ofc with a stupid reason) ... a melting iceberg ofc due to global warming (I mean cold ML becoming all sweet and kind …) a strict mother in law (who’ll eventually fall for our kind hearted cinderella) …. a sweet and cute grandma (who obviously adores FL from the very first interaction )...typical side characters….a bitchy SFL (who lives by the virtue- anything and everything for love) ….and a perfect secretary (free with cold ML's in dramaland ….it’s dramalands special combo) ….a bit sad childhood (why else would he be cold ...we need a reason ...ofc we do ...and they give a very obvious one... like always) ...a typical good for nothing FL’s bff (ahh ...or who else would support our hardworking, a bit too dumb and godess of goodness type FL through her very obvious hardships)…and well there’s no way we can forget our beloved SML(the never acknowledged saviour of our damsel in distress) ….after all we’re to suffer too ….

So yaa as I said if you were to ever have a checklist for cliche’s this drama definitely owns a top spot ...but then when we talk of cliches, we talk of execution ...I wouldn’t say it’s a fresh execution ...but I’ll say it’s a decent attempt ….
You know with those contract marriage to love tropes there’s not much scope for freshness ...but still the leads portray a decent chemistry ...with fun moments scattered all the way …you are in for a decent ride …

Have realistic hopes and the show delivers well …hope for misunderstandings ...hope for SLS (second lead syndrome) hope for a not so necessary leap...hope for typical gender role reversal through horror movies and roller coaster rides (that’s the typical way to describe things...I am not a discriminating fella ...both are allowed to be scared...) ….hope for a lot of cute scenes and laughs...hope for fillers ….hope for a cliched drama ...and there you are ...this drama will meet all your expectations ! (aren’t you wondering ….why am I stressing so much on cliches ….bec the drama wouldn’t exist without them...no not even an ep)

The acting ...on point in most cases ...the third couple storyline was neither interesting nor fresh and I mostly skipped through them ….our main couple ...with a fairly high share of screen time ...do deliver and ...our second leads ….yep they do fit their roles perfectly ….but sadly do feel a bit underdeveloped …!

The company/work setup ...well I won’t say unrealistic ….but too convenient !

For the rest...music ….no I am sorry it didn’t catch my attention ...no rewatch value either….cuz the first watch also feels like rewatch ...lol

So well in short if you are looking for a cliched drama ...this one is a perfect bet ...with cute moments and every cliche you can possibly expect ….this just makes a proper time pass drama !
Hope you enjoy watching ...cuz I did too ...for I knew what to expect ….and this became a good watch !

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I felt a little guilty for not enjoying a series that everybody seemed to be raving about but I was honestly so disappointed in this one that I had to check some reviews to see if it was just me. Reading the opinions of others has helped give some clarity to my own feelings and in one case has offered some cultural reasoning to justify what I consider to be character failings however none of these have relieved my pain so maybe writing this will help.

My complaints break down into three groups - OST, plot lines and character traits.

OST: This may be my first k-drama with an all English soundtrack (if there were Korean tracks I failed to notice) and my first thought was how distracting it was watching people interact in a foreign language with somebody crooning in English in your earhole. After many dramas where the OST becomes as ingrained on your memories as the most touching scenes do, I wondered if Koreans watching dramas with more typical soundtracks are just as distracted by the constantly repetitive lyrics. If I never hear any of these songs again in any version I will count myself blessed.

Plot Lines: Every single storyline in this series had an unsatisfactory ending. Whether it be the relationship of the main characters, the friendship between Jin Ah and Kyung Sun, the behavior of Gyu Min or the sexual harassment in the workplace. In each case we were presented with an issue of conflict, there was much angst and aggravation until the worst possible outcome was realised (or forgotten in the case of the ex-boyfriend) - and then after a jump to the future there is brief resolution. I'm actually quite angry that such an important issue as sexual harassment in the workplace was given the treatment it got. I doubt anybody suffering from this treatment would feel inspired or hopeful about coming forward from watching this.

Character Traits: I will concede that in order for there to be drama, there must be conflict. Tropes like bad boy turns good or family disapproves of relationship all require failings of character and as a previous reviewer wrote "If you don't know anything about Korean culture or the passive characteristics of Asian, this drama will seem silly & annoying, and will never understand the reasons behind choices & actions made", I also recognise that these stories are being told through a different set of cultural norms. However just because something is prevalent within a culture doesn't mean it's right or acceptable and although drama as an art form is often about reflecting truth in society, it is also a medium for setting examples for how we could live. Nobody in this drama became a better person. Joon Hee was possessive and controlling until the end and Jin Ah was a compulsive liar throughout.

What I perceived as being a story about an unconventional relationship where true love wins out against negative cultural norms, turned out to be about a group of self interested and morally deprived individuals failing to grow as human beings. Truth in society indeed.

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A promising yet unfulfilled journey

Prior to touching on any unfavorable points in the adaptation, I would be remiss not to praise the decision made by Ahn Ji Ho and Lee Sang Jun to take on roles that break the conventional heteronormative mold. Special recognition goes to Ji Ho, who, having starred in a popular mainstream Zombie drama "All of Us Are Dead," shows immense courage in embracing a non-straight role and sets an example for other mainstream actors. The interaction between these men is endearing. Sang Jun (Seung Won in the drama) is a timid/shy, lovesick admirer, striving to capture Ji Ho (Hee Su in the drama)'s attention. Much like the source material, drama Seung Won's motive for approaching, reaching out to, and confiding in drama Hee Su is to spend more time in his company and reveal his feelings for him

Seung Won: "I don't like Ji Yu"
Hee Su: "Why did you lie?"
Seung Won: "Because I wanted to keep hanging out with you" (chapters 42-43)
A screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/7ElUfSX

Drama Seung Won, too, gently nudges drama Hee Su to confront his true feelings and discover the solace and true love that await him in Sang Jun (Seung Won)'s arms

Apart from Ji Ho (Hee Su) and Sang Jun (Seung Won)'s chemistry, a praiseworthy part is drama Hee Su's compassion. In the first episode (5:10-7:04), he listens without prejudice to a woman struggling with her feelings for another woman. There's something extraordinary about the scene. It's become one of my favorites!

Now, this might be a contentious point. I find that the actors’ and actresses' appearances don’t match the youthful roles they’re playing. Without a doubt, they're good-looking, but they give off the impression of being older and in their mid/late twenties or early thirties. Their seasoned, mature appearances prove challenging to reconcile with their student status. And watching them cosplay as high school students sometimes stretches my ability to suspend disbelief to its limits. An effective approach could've been to set the story in a workplace or university

I can be lenient with these matters, most high school dramas/movies have the same problems. What troubles me is the pacing and the straightwashing or forced feeding of "straightness" to cater to the squeamishness of homophobic mainstream audiences wary of encountering too many rainbows on their screens. The pacing of the gay storyline is sluggish compared to its "straight" counterpart, suggesting an uneven distribution of resources and dedication from the producers. It's not until the seventh or eighth episode that the emotional bond between the gay couple undergoes transformation. The adaptation struggles with maintaining the integrity of the source material, a problem worsened by the presence of a "straight" storyline

The source material doesn’t even feature a "straight" storyline between Chan Yeong and Ji Yu. I find the insistence on shoehorning one into the narrative, and replacing Sun Woo and Yoo Dahm’s (the second gay couple's) storyline, unforgivable. A screenshot of Sun Woo and Yoo Dahm from chapter 56: https://imgur.com/a/OInfwbQ

How mind-boggling it is that we're accused of "destroying" friendships for shipping characters of the same sex who are "just friends" in their source materials when society destroys or hints at destroying man-woman friendships in favor of non-platonic storylines with nary a consequence. Friendships between men and women, boys and girls, are meaningful and don't require a non-platonic downgrade. Chan Yeong and Ji Yu serve Hee Su best as supportive friends. Inserting a "straight" angle between them detracts from Hee Su's journey. This story, "Heesu in Class 2," belongs to Hee Su and his love interest, Seung Won, and shouldn't be hijacked or distorted by a superfluous "straight" storyline

Some might defend the erasure of the second gay couple from the adaptation, citing that their storyline occurs in the second season of the source material. It's a dubious, flimsy excuse at best. The screenwriters were capable of fabricating a "straight" storyline involving Chan Yeong and Ji Yu. It would've been prudent to use the creativity and merge key elements of the two seasons into the 10-episode adaptation. The creative process of converting the Manhwa into a drama enables the combination of two seasons' worth of content into a condensed format. The screenwriters could've reorganized and improved on the timelines, events, dialogue, and character development of the source material. The erasure of the second gay couple is an oversight, considering the wealth of solutions available to incorporate their storyline

Being classmates and friends, Hee Su's acquainted with the second gay couple. Their early introduction in the adaptation could've provided Hee Su with close tangible evidence that happiness in a gay relationship is possible, instilling him with the confidence to pursue his own male love interest(s). Their presence could've contributed to Hee Su's personal growth. They didn't have to be "useless" or "irrelevant"

Those reading might ask themselves, "are you a hater? Do you hold a grudge against the adaptation?" I'm not, and I don't, or I wouldn't have assigned it an 8/10 rating. I believe the adaptation should've gone beyond the bare minimum of keeping one of the gay couples. And I believe everyone has a right to be uneasy about certain deviations from source materials. The sentiment was witnessed in the public's response to "The Little Mermaid" (2023) and "Snow White" (2025), where a simple change in skin color caused widespread disapproval. It's reasonable to also disapprove of changes to gay source materials

Expressing a preference for gay narratives over "straight" ones or questioning the producers' call to accommodate societal prejudices against gay-centered narratives doesn't amount to prejudice or -phobia. Releasing a work into the public domain opens it up to positive and negative feedback. Both are opportunities for the producers to understand their audience better, identify their shortcomings, and grow

That said, I appreciate the effort put into this part-BL/part-gay adaptation. Going forward, I'd like to see BLs exclusively centering gay experiences and relationships

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I've completely lost faith in humanity after watching this drama. How the absolute fuck does it have an 8.9 rating? Are all the happy reviewers some kind of bots that mass rated it with such a high score and sang hallelujah because after suffering through 30 episodes of this shit, I really am confused.

This drama is a total hypocrite. It tells one thing and shows something entirely different. Supposedly, it tells the viewers that it's against patriarchy with the 'girls can be great at computer science too' bullshit. It preaches 'brains over beauty' and all that spirtual crap however, it 'shows' an entirely different story; for this drama, in its core is wholly patriarchal. The main heroine only truly gets acclaimed for her beauty and even though she is supposed to be this smart person with a trillion scholarships, we don't really see proof of her intellect. Sure, she wins a few games against other weak ass females but the moment she goes against a powerful male opponent, she loses which is why her MegaGenius boyfriend has to sit by her and dictate all the moves and only then, she claims victory. Like okay?

The male character is honestly, so overhyped and again, if we really try to find the heroine's contribution to the plot, you'll find none. She is supposed to be this brilliant computer junky and yet, when she does the internship (in a company filled with men) her sole job is to bring food, drinks and matresses to the guys who work day and night. Like??

So even though, on surface it looks like this unique drama with a never before seen plot, in its core, it is still filled to the brim with superficiality.

Now, lets talk about the cast and characters. The main guy is literally a robot. Like, the kid has no emotional depth whatsoever and so clearly the actor didn't have to tire himself by actually acting because all his role requires is to be a pretty but expressionless face. To make matters worse, he's a chauvinistic a-hole. And not in the 'bad boy' way, where you love and hate them, no, in his case you're just annoyed by him. He is literally so perfect and the only flaw he has is the fact that he can't cook. I mean, come on.

To be honest, between his extra hairy armpits, pre-pubescent face and red ears, he isn't really much. Also, what irked me is the fact that he treats his girlfriend like a pet (dog). (No kidding, she actually herself makes the comparison once.) And he's full of himself, sadly, without much basis.
Like the girl is having a fight with her best friend and instead of really consoling her or saying some meaningful shit he says, "She's a very small part of your life, while I'm your everything. From now on, you're not allowed to shed tears for anyone else." Now this is the exact fucking quote, no lie and the braindead heroine actually feels comforted by this. Deceased.

I mean don't get me wrong, I love his type; the cold, uncaring, perfectionist asshole who eventually thaws towards the heroine. We have Simon Bo, Kang Ma Roo and so on but all these characters have different sides to them and they show complex personalities, Nai is the same from beginning to end and I can't believe I'd tolerate a lifeless and boring as hell person like him in real life.

Now, the heroine: Sure, she's cute, quirky and very gorgeous and unfortunately, the only one acting in the show. But soon, you realize that she's recycling her facial expressions, so much that her acting becomes quite monotonous after a while.

Speaking of monotonous, the whole show is dead asf. Here are so irrelevant scenes that you just stare at the screen trying to comprehend why the hell are you being shown this unnecessary shit. The game scenes are depthless. The fighting scenes lack vigor. And I wanted to bang my head against a cactus, everytime the heroine interacted with her friends because all they did was act like juvenile brats and gushed about the main guy. I mean, you guys are supposed to be these tech savvy college students, the least you can do is show an ounce of maturity, but no. Too much to fucking ask.

Furthermore, I think I froze because of all that ice between the couple, tbh. There is no heat or chemistry whatsoever and they remain awkward and detached throughout. The affection seems forced and their union wasn't natural at all. Atleast the guy has one quality; he's an excellent kisser but the girl literally stands like a dead fish in response. No, even a dead fish has some sort of pucker going on, this girl just has her lips in a straight line and proudly shows that kissing her is akin to that of kissing a cardboard box.

For me, romance or basically any sort of relationship can only thrive and grow stronger if two people go through complications and get out of it together. Or if, they do selfless and thoughtful things for each other, no matter how small. Here, everything is rainbow and joy- literally no problems at all- and the best things the characters do for each other is treat each other to meals. That's all. Which is why their relationship is so flat, unrealistic and plagued by stangnancy throughout the show. Tsk, tsk.

The only thing fairly enjoyable was the actions of the hero's friends. Those three made me laugh a bit from their silly antics but that's about it.

Rewatch value? This stuff doesn't even have 'watch it once' value. The drama truly highlights that people will always be attracted to surface beauty no matter how much substance it lacks. This is an absolute fail and I only recommend it for people who want mindless fanservice and zero plot.

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Harbin is the historical fictional retelling of the assassination of Japanese Resident-General Itō Hirobumi and the events that led to it. Told from the perspective of An Jung Geun, one of the activists in Korean Independence army, the movie depicts a chain of events that led to the planning of the assassination. The film features themes of war, espionage, and political plotting. That being said, the first half was boring. It struggles with pacing issues, bogged down by way too many characters who fail to leave a lasting impression despite the star-studded cast. It's filled with boring scenes of men discussing, planning, and excessively smoking in a dark room. This slow buildup feels tedious, making it difficult to invest in the story or its players.

The second half becomes more thrilling as the plan to assassinate General Ito comes into fruition. It is packed with more action and suspense. There's a race against time to reach the general, while Japanese soldiers are riding on their coattails. One thing I loved is how they depicted the inner conflict of one of the characters. The film takes a nuanced approach to representing certain historical figures. General Itō Hirobumi is depicted as a complex individual rather than a one-dimensional villain. The movie even managed to mention some of his accomplishments. In contrast, the Japanese Army is depicted as cruel, inhumane, and barbaric.

The climax was intense. There was great use of sound editing and mixing to capture the thrill and suspense of the moment. Overall, this patriotic film is a great one time watch. I don't think I'll be watching again unless I'm a huge fan of war or historical films.

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