Reviews

not worth the watch

This drama had a promising start but it slowly got worse . The beginning was funny and sort of lighthearted and it was overall refreshing to watch in a thai lakorn since they are always very dramatic and serious. But this lighthearted-ness only lasted for about the first 6 episodes. As the story continued I got really angry at the ML he never thought about his wife just himself. After the FL got kidnapped and the video of her and the kidnapper got sent the ML changed. He rescued her but soon after in the hospital he couldnt even look at her while speaking saying he wasnt ready to talk about how she supposedly got raped and not even asking his own wife what happened. He then later on took the FL to the exact place she was kidnapped, that scene literally broke me she was crying cause she didnt want to go in and he kept trying to force her. And despite the FL literally yelling at him in tears about how she was pregnant with him and not the kidnapper the ML still denied it and thought that she only wanted his money. I wasnt even sure if I wanted to continue watching at this point but I was hoping that the ML would redeem himself but that never happened. He kept assuming that she had many lovers after seeing her with the doctor, banleng and sutee. He also kept saying how he only wanted the baby to be healthy which also got me annoyed. And after he did all of this he just apologized in the last episode and that was it, there was nothing more just an apology and saying that he wants the best for the baby and the mother. Overall this drama had potential but it was just ruined. If you personally prefer slap kiss lakorns you can avoid this one and watch dramas like kluen cheewit or hua jai sila that are also slap kiss lakorns but with a much better storyline and much better ML.

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If you are looking for a drama that is just a fun and exciting ride, this is the drama for you!
If you are looking for a drama that has great acting, great chemistry between the characters and is a comedy...This is the drama for you!
If you want to be entertained and REALLY just enjoy a drama from episode 1 to the finale...This is the drama for you!

STORY: This drama sure has a roller coaster of a ride for a story. Every episode has a cliffhanger which makes you want to click next episode as fast as possible. It is just a fun and wild ride. Basically the story is a group of people with different backgrounds and skills come to together to fight against corruption. It is so much more than that but you know...spoilers. The only downside of how this story structure turns out is that at the beginning of the drama, the action and story is like a 2 episode story arc and then moves onto the next mini story arc. I loved that but the further along you get into the drama, the less and less the writers told the story that way. I completely understand why and it didn't become distracting or hurt the story in any way, I just liked that the story was episodic BUT I usually like my crime dramas episodic.

ACTING/CAST: I thought the acting and choice of cast was PERFECT for this drama. Everyone played their role beautifully. It was like they were made for the role they were given in this drama. Also the cast had such great chemistry together too. Also anytime I see Kim Won Hae in a drama...It goes to the top of my list.

MUSIC: I usually don't notice the music all that much but this drama's music stood out. The OSTs for this drama are fantastic! I have been listening to them on repeat. I think the music that is played during the intense parts and the themes played with each character really added to the ambiance of the drama.

REWATCH VALUE: I will 100% rewatch this drama again...I WANT A SECOND SEASON OF THIS DRAMA!

OVERALL: I just loved that I chose to watch this drama. I kind of picked it up on a whim but NOW I am sad that it is over. I will miss the hodge podge group of ruffians that I was used to watching every week. WATCH THIS DRAMA! You won't regret it. It is just a fun time with great characters that are well rounded and have depth and flaws and a drama that has a good storyline (granted could have stuck with the episodic structure for a little longer).

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This is for adult viewers or people who want more than just fantasy IN MEMORIAM for YML

This is a romance between races, but also tragic story of self-sacrifice. Most folks will hate the ending, but for me it was a world better than The Love Between Fairy and Devil!
From the first episode I was spell-bound. Considering I am not a big fan of fantasy this was one of the best I had seen in general and the best of 2024. Why? Consistent production. Great editing. Fun costumes, awesome color palette. Solid acting. Good story and interesting characters. Music and the lyrics! But what beats Burning Flames and Love Game for me was complex subtext of this story. The whole idea of animosity between two groups is nothing new but I have not seen anything like this before. I admit I only saw 350+ dramas, but this script was smart inside out. I was raised during the era of post-communist regime in the country where we could not openly speak of the tragedies and terror around us, so we developed an artistic, metaphoric way of communicating our observations, dissent and longings. I loved this drama because of how it spoke to that.
Now that we all know how much suffering YML had gone through in his career and how horribly he had died - being the hero of this drama is truly a memorial to his courage to persevere, love for who and what he loved and eternal sadness that he left us in. I never thought that this drama would be the last of his main roles released in his lifetime. I am going to look for Traditional Chinese Medicine that hopefully will be released soon just to see him again - as a healer.
If you are looking for an easy, HE romance, nah. Skip it. If you want a good story that is visually beautiful and filled with wisdom - give it a try. Or watch it just to honor the great person that Yu Meng Long was.

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P A I N O F M A Y Beautiful, Heartbreaking and Bittersweet

The Story is either too cliche for you or not. It depends on your taste..... Forbidden Love, Richman/Poorwoman is my cup of tea because I like how it makes me cried and this Drama have it. Didn't expect too much with this but Dammnnn it was so painful from the Start till the end. But it's not only that The Writers did an amazing job making it different from most of cliche K-dramas.

This Drama is set in May 1980 when Martial Law happened in the City of Gwangju, South Korea. And the Love Story that blooms from the Youth. I really like the idea and execution. We can see that they put a lot of effort to make it realistic as possible.

Hwang Hee Tae is not your typical Male Lead but his life is too cliche for a K-drama because of his cruel Father.
Lee Do Hyun is pretty hype actor. He is not bad but not Wow also maybe I should watch him in 18 Again. He is actually good and natural actor

Kim Myung Hee is your Strong and Weak Female Lead. I just can't describe her Characteristics but I like how she knows to stand on her own foot however sometimes it felt so cruel for her Father.
Go Min Si played her role Okay. I'm impressed with her in The Smile has left your eyes but she seems off in this one maybe because it's her first time playing FL but I swear she can do better.

Lee Soo Ryeon who despite being wealthy desperately fights for social justice and feels responsible. To be honest I didn't hate her like everyone do.
Geum Sae Rok is the weakest out of all the Cast. She needs a lot of improvement and so far I can only see her playing Second Lead Role.

I have Love at first heard with the music. Starry Night by Ryeowook is so good I even downloaded it on my phone. It's my type of Music and the melody is too I also love the lyrics. I'm quite disappointed that they didn't used it in other emotional scenes.

Things to prepared if you're going to watch it.
1. WIKIPEDIA
- You might search about Gwangju Uprising while watching it.
2. COFFEE
- There's so many parts that is boring and draggy so I think you need to prepare it.
3. TISSUE
- 50 meters of tissue will do but only if you are are easy crier.

Overall, Youth of May is really great and underrated but can't say it's a Masterpiece. I hate it and I love it but remember Love can overpower hate so Yeah, I love this Drama afterall. The Drama is good in many ways however it felt so repetitive
I like You
Let's Date
I don't like you anymore
I love you
I want to spend time with you
I don't love you anymore
I still love
I'm scared of you
Let's break
You are Back
After those scene it's like nothing happened. They're like strong couple lmao

English is my Third Language so Sorry if it's bad but I will try my Best to improve it.
Thank You for reading my Review^^ I hope you enjoyed the Drama. I'm very sad it ended :( It's the first K-drama I finished while airing.

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Don't have high expectations; good but not the best

Sinkhole, as I had expected, is nothing sort of very wow. Sure, it's a decent one time watch that keeps you stick to it till the very end, I couldn't find a reason it broke records in South Korea.

The primary concept of the movie is nothing new, i.e. house ownership issues in modern Seoul days. The fact it being disaster survival movie plus a very powerful cast had interested me a lot but as I watched it, I ended up disappointed with it in overall.

I mean I also admit it's a decent movie but my disappointment arises from the news of its box-office records plus the cast but the movie not being anything very nice. There is a high standard of survival thrillers when we consider the Korean Entertainment Industry and their movie production quality. So I am simply saying that Sinkhole failed to meet that line. Also, it felt a lil short, as in, the movie ends even before you realize.

Different families move to a newly built five storey building with their hard earned money only to end up in a sinkhole which no one was aware of. After a few months the entire building falls into the sinkhole early morning which was very unexpected and the number of people fall into it along with the apartment are 9. So the story is how they survive the fall and get rescued in ghr end, accompanied by their back stories which are only narrated from the character.

The basic plot is short yet decent with many momentary peak points which are extremely enthralling, and somrtimes emotional. And as usual, this also has things to learn from and take a note about. Instances that makes you cry; either it touches your heart or stab it with knife, are suitably accommodated in the story. The movie starts on plenty of comedy that lasts for almost 20mins and in fact there were funny instances in between too but it's not a comedy movie, keep that in mind. The survival movie is a mixture of many emotions which were perfectly executed.

Storywriter successfully delivered an up to par work and the direction is reasonable as well; no complaints in that regard. The cinematography and VFX work definitely deserve brownie points. The setup inside the sinkhole is pretty much real to give the actual vibes and the camera plus editing work is intriguing enough to catch attention. The sound editing is somewhat dull, ngl. The screenplay is okay but screenediting is below average, like that of a pre 2010 movie.

Do I even bother talk about acting? Definitely, they are very excellent actors and justified their roles in here but given their skills and capabilities, this movie is a bad choice.

# Kim Sung Kyun as Park Dong Won, a hardworking section chief and a loving family man who saved for 11 years to buy a flat
# Cha Seung Won as Dong Man Soo, a single father of highschool teen, doing multiple part-time jobs to make the ends meet
# Lee Kwang Soo as Kim Seung Hyun, a nomad worker, always stressed about his financial and relationship status
# Kim Hye Jun as Eun Joo, a hardworking intern who gives her best but mad about the rude seniors and coworkers.
# Nam Da Reum as Jung Seung Tae, a student, not interested in schooling but cares a great deal about father
# Ko Chang Suk as the rescue team captain
# Kim Hong Pa as Department Head Seo

The ending of the movie was super overwhelming, I gotta admit. The way these people use their mind to rescue each other during extremely dangerous moments and also manage to get out of the sinkhole using their little intellect and comprehension was amazing and makes you tear up even. It ends with a mini reuinon of the survivors after years and that was a jolly closure to the misery.

FINE... SINKHOLE is definitely a good one time watch which is kinda refreshing too and best for a weekend movie slot. Don't expect too much from it but I'm sure it pleases you to some extent. Happy watching.

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Just Say No.

This is not an easy drama to watch. It shines an unflinching spotlight on the unchecked, oppressive soft power of the uber rich and how society and by extension the legal system holds victims to an impossible standard of perfection. The narrative opens with a married, high powered CEO Cheng Gong caught in flagrante delicto with his assistant Zhao Xun, after an inebriated night of corporate entertainment. The media is at the scene and a full blown scandal ensues with dire consequences for both parties. Cheng Gong's team of fixers led by his relentless public relations executive Li Yi and a sharp lawyer Lin Kan swoop in immediately to understand and contain the situation.

As the facts emerge, it becomes clear that Cheng Gong and Zhao Xun remember the night very differently and the situation devolves quickly into "he said she said". Zhao Xun is a mass of contradictions who struggles to understand her own version of the truth, which obviously does not square with Cheng Gong's. Both parties are victims that are damaged by the fallout and they each believe in their own version of the truth, which the drama explores in a very balanced way. The key question is does silence mean consent? This should be straightforward - she can just say no. She could have and should have done just that. Lin Yun delivers a heartbreakingly convincing articulation of just how difficult, near impossible it is for someone in Zhao Xun's position to do that in the face of the massively uneven power dynamics between herself and Cheng Gong. Her downfall was foreshadowed long before her failure to speak up at the point of no return. She was doomed from the moment he saw her, wanted her and tempted her with fast advancement, the material trappings of wealth and the heady mix of the power of the executive suite. She was complicit and she loathed herself for it. Yet I felt real sorry for her and I understood why she felt wronged. While most praise Zhou Xun's portrayal of Lin Kan, for me Lin Yun as Zhao Xun was the outstanding performance. She made me deeply empathise with this young, flawed, inconsistent, movingly vulnerable and imperfectly human character that struggles to find her voice.

Even though Liu Yijun always delivers, he takes it to the next level with his mesmerising portrayal of a sociopathic like Cheng Gong who believes that everyone has a price and how ruthlessly and manipulatively he wields his power to get his way. His sense of entitlement, utter lack of self awareness and inability to grasp how disconnected he is from common humanity and decency is scary and pathetic. As for Zhou Xun, her Lin Kan is a shark with a bottom line. Her skilled probing questions delivered with a sharp, liquid and searching gaze and her calm, dispassionate and and incisive legal analysis enunciated in her deep, rich and deliberate voice is superb. Her mature, confident beauty and elegant and nuanced empathic line delivery has taken viewers by storm. Only a phenomenal veteran cast like this can deliver such convincing, multi-faceted and realistic portrayals.

The drama's strongest arc is the opening - it made me very sad and very, very angry at pretty much every main character. This kind of story however is difficult to end in a good and realistic way. I think this would be a better if it were shorter as the drama's core message that women need to find their voice and that an imperfect victim is still a victim hits home early on. I didn't think Lin Kan's "Me Too" arc is necessary and it doesn't quite come off the right way how a stronger character succumbs to the same temptations yet manages to emerge largely unscathed albeit scarred nonetheless. I also don't like how Lin Kan is written overall notwithstanding Zhou Xun's charismatic acting. It would have been better if Lin Kan chose sides early in the game and was pitted against Li Yi or her mentor early on rather than making her all things to all people. This results in too many conflicts of interest that are just glossed over. Despite her alleged bottom line, Lin Kan appears unscrupulous in how close she gets to Zhao Xun. It is also not realistic that Zhao Xun never seeks her own legal advice. Finally, the way Lin Kan prevails using information she obtained while acting for the other side is just plain wrong and practically impossible.

The drama literally and figuratively goes off a cliff in a way that makes the last third of it a less convincing watch. It doesn't make sense that a smart and manipulative character like Cheng Gong continues to go persecute Zhao Xun after she becomes so wretched and pitiful. It is just a contrived way to force an ending message that in China, even imperfect victims can find their voice via the justice system. My biggest issue with the story however is that the worst, most vile character is a woman who enabled Cheng Gong and victimised Zhao Xun just as much if not more. She shows no remorse and there are no true consequences for her. This aspect of the ending deeply disappointed me; I needed to see her confronted and at least punched in the face! Despite her superb visual composition style, storytelling wise Yang Yang proves once again her inability to wrap up the narrative while she is ahead. Nonetheless, the first half or so of this drama tackles some heartbreaking and controversial issues masterfully and is worthy of an 8.5. Unfortunately the writing doesn't hold up and it nosedives into an 8.0 towards the end and that is my overall rating. It is still worth watching when you are in the mood for a thought provoking drama that closely resembles a recent real case with all around amazing acting.

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Just finished watching this on Netflix.
I have to admit, I have scrolled past this one many times and never thought much of it, but today, having run out of dramas to watch, I finally pressed play.

I watched it all in one sitting and here's why:
*In the first episode it established the characters, and not only was the casting down right it paved the way to a really interesting body swapping story line. A teen girl & an arrogant top model.
*It addresses many of the issues if it was to really happen :) making it funny and not too outrageous in an already outrageous situation.
*The cast played their characters well, didn't have a moment where I thought "er.... really?" on top of that the humour was well written. Not too cheesy, just enough.
*I won't spoil the ending but I am so glad it ended how it did, no weird drag outs. It ended with full closure for us.

I only scored low for the music because in dramas the music is important to me, and in this one, I didn't really notice it, no memorable song, nothing. I may have to rewatch to listen out for it. For myself, I generally fall in love with the OST and go on to research the songs but not with this series.

It's a short series compare to what I normally watch, but I definitely will be recommending this to others, fun and humorous comedy before we sit through another drama.

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Let me start with, that I really enjoyed this drama. This doesn't have much of a romance factor as it is very subtly done but the best thing about this is the bromance.

The main reason I watched this is because of Ji Sung. I've seen many of his works before to have realised that this guy is an amazing actor. I fell in love with his characters in the past and the way he executed them, that I literally cannot pass up anything that he comes in the future.

If you're a big Kpop fan then the cast will definitely be to your liking and in my opinion, they all did a good job in portraying their roles. The four boys together had great chemistry which made me wish that they were an actual band of their own. HyeRi does take some time to gel into her own character but she eventually does and it's a delight to see her.

The story is straightforward, failed manager guy decides to make a band and make them big. Obviously, many obstacles come in the way and this is all about the character development of all the characters and how they overcome these obstacles together. The boys as a band were great so was really sweet how they slowly open up to each other about their hidden secrets and how they support each other despite all the hard comings. The chemistry between Ji Sung and Kang MinHyuk was so cute because they had a genuine brother relationship that was so exciting to see.

Overall, I enjoyed myself thoroughly seeing the connection between all the characters and how they accept each other. I would definitely recommend to try this out as you'll definitely have a warm feeling inside whilst watching this!

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Secret crush, Supportive romance, friendship, business issues

The review and sypnosis may be alittle misleading. It seems typical fluff C-romance drama BUT the plot isnt that.

1. It appears as one sided unrequited love.. but pleasantly its a secret crush too
2. Its pretty romantic FL falls for ML twice.. she just couldnt help herself :p
3. FL is pretty brave from love letters to confessing the 2nd time.
4. ML isnt cold or tsundere as you would expect. First 1/3 was his grudge. He's actually pretty accomodating and sweet.
5. The love triangle is there but does not get irritating or too long to resolve.
6. The drama highlights you are the best looking in the eye of the beholder.. for both ML and FL
7. ML and FL are a vy pleasing CP imo. Good chemistry and vy natural together. They support each other thru the company's struggles.
8. Daddi tang shows his sweeter and kind of goofy appeal. Sun Qian is pretty adorable and girl can pull off coquettish lines too.
9. Plot concentrates (especially last third of the drama) on all members of Voya company. They are both friends and comrades in a small business trying to accomplish their dreams and make it big in the app world
10. I like FL's dad and his story arc too.
11. I really like FL's outfit. Shes beautiful with good built and bodyshape too. ML's styling esp hair really suits him too.

My qualms
1. Trailer markets it as romantic fluff. So i was intially awaiting fluffy scenes.. except there werent much. Ofcourse im glad the "cringey, tripping, fall on your lips" dont exist in this drama.. BUT i felt there were a little stingy on ML-FL romantic moments. Dont expect Put your head on my shoulder type.. that spends alot of episodes purely on ML and FL interaction. Would have benefited with MORE cause Daddi Tang and Sun Qian are good actors with good rapport on screen.
2. The focus on their business struggle may not be for everyone. I respect this part of the story as well as the team spirit but again they probably could have done it better by balancing with more ML-FL solo interactions
3. The ending was good but again i was left wanting.. for a more personal scene between our main couple.

So although i really enjoyed it, i find they MISSED out on making this drama - something special, something much more memorable than what we have.

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I enjoyed it but….

There were some things that really, really, really bothered me about the show one was that he knew she was possessed by spirit an evil spirit. This evil spirit wanted to kill people, she would have black outs and the spirit would take over and kill people, yet he still allowed her to wander around and not try to keep a better eye on her. The other thing is that he would tell her not to become involved or more involved and kept trying to like tell her to go away. If it were me, I’d have her sleeping at my house to keep an eye on her, and to try and keep the evil spirit from having its way, and going out in committing murder not telling her to go away and not become involved lol. Also he could see the impact he was having on the female his mental well-being, so you think that he would not want her to be alone either. So I just didn’t understand his thinking at all.

Another thing that really bothered me, was about the ghost companion because he made a comment at some point about the male lead being the reason that he’s the way he was and I was like it’s not his fault that his grandma killed you and it’s not his fault that you were a greedy and coveted in what the ML had. So it was never explained really to me why that kid thought he was the reason that he wants the way he was.

Also, when the male he was explaining to the female lead about how ghosts are attracted to people who struggle with the more negative emotions, like guilt, anger insecurity, depression, jealousy etc. this didn’t make sense to me because I was like everybody feels this way to some degree or another. When his ghost companion sacrifice himself on the bridge, when the male lead devastated, having learned his family’s involvement in creating this evil spirit. I’m like anyone feel devastated and guilt ridden in those circumstances. Although I did find it hilariously funny when his ghost companion was thrown over the side of the bridge, I would’ve like it to have had it explain where they took him.

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Best Light on Series for me....

So many people comparing it with Bad Kids so here is my opinion:

It is a well-executed drama with top-notch acting.
I won’t say it is better than Bad Kids because these two dramas give different vibes though written by the same author. But I’d say it deserves 9.2 on Douban and it is definitely worth your time.....

Story- 9/10
Story is like investigation+mystery, revealing clues in small doses in each episode
It didn’t use unnecessary twists like a good guy turning bad in the last moment...
Yet first few eps were a little bit confusing as multiple characters were introduced, but as the story continues, it gets better and better...
I love that every little thing,I didn’t understand in the early eps were all solved in the last few eps
The plot is heavy and you need to give full attention to the plot as it shows past and present days alternatively

Acting-10/10
Well, Actings in all Light on Series are top notch, and Long Night further proved it
Bai Yu’s acting in last few eps were brilliant and mind-blowing
Liao Fan acting is quite impressive as well
All Veteran actors did their best, I love the trio moments most, and how they helped each other

Others Aspects
In some parts, dubbing was a lil off but it is fine overall. Editing is good, far better than Crimson River.
I love how they show things like “Laws are sometimes useless, rich people doing whatever they want, and how corrupted some authorities are”

You know a drama is good when it makes you cry
I cried for at least 3 times, so it is def a good drama.

If you want a serious theme drama, this is definitely for you

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One of my favorites!

The ratings for this on MDL has made me lose all faith in the rating system, so I am ignoring it from here on out. If this is a 7.8, then I am really missing out on some great dramas by thinking the ratings here have any basis in reality. The Matchmakers is a 10/10 drama with an incredibly tight and complete story that is so well written. There is comedy gold, cuteness, romance, and Shakespearean intrigue. I have never seen any kdrama like this and would put it right up there with Mr. Queen. I actually enjoyed this one more. Just for Rowoon's facial expressions and the brilliant comedic interactions between him and his servant make this worthy of rewatching, but the whole cast was great. I highly recommend this!

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