Reviews

Artsy gay film with somber vibe

I watched this film yesterday at a special Q&A screening in Taipei. I was pretty stoked, since LGBT+ films, especially in Asia, are few and far between. I'm writing this review from the perspective of a gay guy who watches way too much BL, and not an indie film enthusiast, so if you are looking for an in-depth critique of the film, look elsewhere. I'd just like to give a short overview of what I watched to see if you would be interested in giving it a try.

As the first major gay film released in Taiwan since Your Name Engraved, I couldn't help myself from wanting to compare the films. However, they couldn't be more different. Moneyboys is a character study, not a narrative-driven romantic film. Ko does an excellent job as the reserved, emotionally suppressed Fei.

The cinematography was beautiful, and a lot of thought went into the techniques and style of the film. The movie was set in southern China, but filmed in Taiwan, which might be jarring if you have been to Taiwan and recognize some of the filming locations. Additionally, some actors are Chinese, while others are Taiwanese; if you are familiar with Mandarin, you may notice the different dialects of Mandarin between the characters. Some of the mainland accents are faked, while others are real.

Should you watch the film? If you are a BL fan who just wants a cookie-cutter romantic film, then stay away. But if you enjoy artsy films, then I would definitely recommend it. I'm guessing people's opinions of this film will be pretty polarized. But it's worth giving it a shot. Personally, I felt like something was missing from the film, as many of the themes (rural vs urban life, Chinese family values, guilt and shame) are trite. But the lead actor's performance and his ability to make me sympathize with his character were enough to leave a positive opinion in my mind the next day.

I'm not sure if and when this will be released in other countries, but I think because it's a co-production with Austria, it should at least be shown in some European countries. Maybe it'll even appear on Netflix eventually. If you have any other questions about the film feel free to ask.

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This was a total disappointment. I love Go Ahead. I have watched it so many times. Most Chinese dramas can’t bring out the emotions in you like most Korean dramas do.
Episode 1 was going great. I thought this would be a good remake. But after 2nd episode it went downhill. In go ahead we can see how much importance a mother has in everyone’s life. Especially in the female lead’s life.
But this remake has not even a single scene of that.
I couldn’t see their siblings bond. We can see from the start that Juwon is biased towards Sanha. In go ahead both the male leads had each other's back when they were young. There were no unnecessary fights. The pain of being abandoned by their mother was understood by them. But here haejun was always fighting with Sanha.
I don’t like that.
The birthday scene where the aunt spoke nonsense and the father took a stand for the second lead was so perfectly portrayed in Go Ahead. But here it was not good.
I couldn’t understand Sanha’s mother's character as well. And according to me she never felt sorry for what she did. It was in the last episode where she cried when Sanha told her about his wounds. But I was accepting a sincere apology.
In 16 episodes they could have covered a lot of details from the original one but they didn’t.
I wanted more of Sanha’s trauma. When the female lead got to know about what he has been through I wanted more of that.
The writing of this drama is sometimes so lacking.

One thing I liked most about this drama is how amazingly the kids did their job in the first episodes, especially Sanha’s and Juwon’s Kid version.

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Heartwarming but empty

18 Again is a beautiful story that doesn't really go anywhere. While I enjoyed the journey, in the end I'm left wondering what all of it was for. To explain what I mean, 18 Again is the retelling of the movie 17 Again, and that's the first problem. It's a retelling of a movie, and it's a 16 episode drama. To make up for that extra time, a lot of conflict and story and character development needs to be added if it wants to keep the attention of its audience and still deliver the impact of the story. And honestly, at first it didn't really feel like it was falling short of that. The family of Hong Dae Young and Jung Da Jung is broken and believable. Each member of the family has their own life to live and worries, and problems that need to be addressed before it reaches its finale. There's definitely a lot more character in this drama than there was in that movie, because there needed to be. But maybe not enough.

HDY's marriage is falling apart, and he doesn't really know why. He and his wife argue a lot and he's frustrated by the situation he's found himself in after giving up on his dreams of being a basketball player to support his high school sweetheart and their twins. He lost his chance at glory and years down the road, with their marriage crumbling, he's starting to feel regret. Through some magical, not really explained means, HDY becomes young again. He has a second chance to live the life he could have had before. Honestly, it's not a bad premise. It's fun and heartwarming to watch him befriend his children and get to know his family all over again as a classmate and not a father/husband, but that's about all the show does. He gets to know his children, stalks his wife, and misses them until he inevitably gets them back. There are minor conflicts sprinkled throughout to keep you interested, and about a million fake-outs of his wife or someone else finding out who he is, but the stakes are low and there's never anything to worry about - the worst that could happen, which obviously was not going to happen, was that the wife was going to end up with the second lead.

Shows like this rely on interpersonal relationships to really make you feel things, and there doesn't need to be an element of danger for a drama to be interesting. But conflict can take many forms, and without it, a story is made up of fluff. I cared about the characters but they weren't doing much of anything.

I have to say though, the moments that matter were done well. I wanted to see the couple back together, I wanted the children to succeed, and I did have fun along the way. The relationship with HDY and his kids was sweet and wholesome, and I did look forward to more episodes week to week. It was only after finishing it that I was able to take a step back and really assess the time I'd spent with these characters and what it all meant. I realized that the hype and emotions I felt at the start never went anywhere, and while the ending left me satisfied on one front, it left me realizing just how little story there was.

I could sit here and nitpick all of the details of this drama that left me unsatisfied. But at the end of the day, I enjoyed it. And, if you're looking for a story that does a good job portraying the average couple, that doesn't romanticize marriage like so many romances do and that makes you feel like the relationship they have is real, this is right up your alley. It's fun, it's cute, and parts of it will melt your heart. Just remember going into it that what you see is what you get, and it may fall short on substance after you meet that halfway mark.

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Ignore social media comments, this drama is worth the journey

Quick verdict: This story gets high marks due to its mostly tight storytelling, outstanding cast, great character development, and strong portrayal of women. However, it tried to squeeze too much at the end, and the vague-ish ending didn't help matters. It is tragic, however, that due to the many negative comments on the ending on social media, many people would give this a pass. It is especially tragic because the interpretation of the ending may differ for the viewer.

In this review, I'll argue why it's worth watching, and that the ending may not be what many assume.

Note: I have a much longer and more detailed review up at my blog: http://tinyurl.com/7raa495d

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ENDING

*Quick summary:* The war left a toll on many; many of the Six Realms Halls men were wiped out, but Yuan Zhou and Ruyi survived, faked their deaths, and lived a quiet life in seclusion. Eventually they had two kids, Ning Shi San and Ren Lu.

--

It's extremely weird to be a part of the minority who 100% believes A Journey To Love ended happily for Ruyi and Yuan Zhou.

Now, I didn't read spoilers when I watched the dropped episodes. When it dropped, I watched it almost immediately because I knew if I was spoiled I'd probably lose the motivation or heart to watch it, and I didn't want them to influence me too.

Anyway, when I saw the ending I was SO relieved. Oh phew, our leads survived and are now happy with their quiet, secluded lives. Then I came online. Oooh boy.

What a weird mind f*** it is to see people 100% believing the opposite.

I read all their reasons for believing that, and it didn't make sense to me at all. (PS: This doesn't mean I think you're dumb for believing that, by the way! Just that our brains are wired to see things differently.) So, I rewatched episode 40 thinking maybe I misinterpreted it.
Nah, I came back even more sure of my theory that they faked their deaths.

I think people are really hung up about how they died. But these things are very easily explained.

Yuan Zhou had a rather public death, being pierced by multiple spears. But to me his survival can easily be explained by:
- The "life preservation pill".
- The snake skin armor that the Pan assassins had worn in episode 20. They were so effective that Yuan Zhou had to instruct everyone to aim for the neck and head. Pretty sure our men would've taken some of this armour! Yuan Zhou, determined to fulfill the promise to Ruyi to "stay alive" would've worn this armour. It would've helped him survive the spears to a degree, but he'll probably be badly wounded.

The one hiccup I could see is Ruyi's internal dialogue when she bombed the Pan leaders. She said that life is empty without Yuan Zhou, when she bombed the bad guys. This could be explained by two scenarios:
- She wasn't sure that Yuan Zhou survived, and decided to kill herself, but changed her mind later. She did promise Yuan Zhou to stay alive, and she also told Yang Ying that she's not the type to kill herself. How did she survive? Uh, this is the same woman who could speed up to the leader of the Beipan troupe, rip out his throat, and return to cradling Yuan Zhou, in seconds. Her survival is easier to explain than Yuan Zhou's.
- It was her way of saying that she'll be joining him in seclusion. Even if there were vibrant cities to visit, life is lonely without Yuan Zhou. Remember, she didn't want to live in seclusion at first, and that was the reason for their break up.

If I were to stage my death, I'd do it this way - in the most dramatic and public way so that will be no doubt left of my demise.

And I think they did it SO WELL that even the viewers were deceived lol.

When it comes to wounds, we shouldn't judge whether a character can survive their wounds by our real-world standards. I know that our other Musketeers had less grave wounds and died, but they probably weren't as determined to stay alive like Yuan Zhou and did not plan for all kinds of contingencies - life preserving pill, snake skin armour etc.

I still remember in one wuxia I watched, a female heroine managed to survive numerous stab wounds because she took a pill that allowed her heart to beat super slowly so that she would not lose too much blood. So, who knows that pill could do for Yuan Zhao?

Some people say that I believe in this happier ending because it's a form of copium. Not really. I would've been fine if they did a "they all died and reunited in heaven" thing.

But based on clues, and the way the scenes in the last few minutes were laid out, it was just far more logical for me to believe that they faked their deaths than it was a dream/afterlife.

It is a far bigger stretch for me to believe that Chu Yue was guided by a random spirit kid to heaven. (For one, that's a rather Western view of the afterlife, and Chinese afterlife is a little different. As far as I know, unless you are an immortal, the dead can't have kids in the afterlife.) Also, the insinuation that she kinda lost her marbles towards the end was insulting to me. And why would she dream up a random kid instead of Shi San?

That scene with everyone on the grasslands riding away? Well, to me, it was Chu Yue's idealistic imagination of how the group was in the past as she yugged Ning Shi San. So, it made sense that scene was dream-like.

I would've been more convinced of the afterlife theory if they showed Chu Yue suddenly appearing in the CGI fields, looking dazed. But she arrived with her men, and we saw a shot of the school before that. Later, we learned that Ning Shi San lived next to the school with his parents. Why show us that unless to indicate that this rooted in reality?

I believe everything took place in the real world, and Chu Yue is about to meet our beloved couple.

Ruyi and Yuan Zhou began their "Journey to Love" coming out of hiding after faking their deaths. Now the story ends with them faking their deaths again. Ending a drama about spies and assassins this way was perfect for me.

It was Ruyi and Yuan Zhou's dream to lead a normal life. While Ruyi didn't want to leave a secluded life, she eventually came around and decided that the "world will be too lonely without him" and joined him in seclusion.

Using Chu Yue instead of Yang Ying in that scene was good, because Chu Yue wouldn't have known all these small details about their plan on how to live their lives in seclusion. Remember how Yuan Zhou said that in their new lives, he would keep Ruyi healthy by hunting and farming? And he did just that, growing grapes and making wine for her. They also named their children after two people whom they loved: Shi San and Yuan Lu.

Would I have preferred an ending where some of our men survived and we were shown Ruyi and Yuan Zhou alive having dinner with their kids? Of course. But well, the director decided to go down this route, perhaps for it all to be "stylish".

But the more I think about it, the happier I am with the ending. Of course I would've done anything to get our men back, but war is shit and awful, and people die. In the end, I thought the ending was poetic and very fitting.

PS: Anyway, if you believe, like most, that they're all dead, it's okay, but if you're going to argue with me that I'm wrong to believe what I believe, I won't respond to you.

I'm just sparing myself the energy because I've read through every single explanation of why the dream/afterlife ending "made sense" and none of the explanations hold water for me. No point arguing about something that can't be verified (yet) anyway!
It's a pity, however, that so many who were spoiled about the ending has said they won't continue with the drama. I think they would be missing out on a lot.

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Humorous, Lovable Characters, Coherent Storyline

Delicacies Destiny is my third drama on culinary arts in a row. This drama is rather similar to Royal Feast which finished airing recently. Both dramas are set in the period of Ming Dynasty, hence similar costumes and decorum. But most of all, one of the supporting actors in the earlier drama is now the main lead (He Ruixian) in this drama. Though both dramas involve romance and cuisines, there is a marked difference in the characters and mood.

Based on fictional characters, the storyline is rather straight forward. A talented chef (He Ruixian) gets herself recruited to the palace to cook for the picky Crown Prince (Wang Xingyue). Then the prince falls in love with her and wants her to be his crown prince consort. But she is given an ultimatum by the Emperor: if she wants to be the Crown Prince Consort, she has to give up her passion as a chef; or she can continue to be a chef but she has to stay away from the Crown Prince. Either decision tears her apart.

He Ruixian’s acting, demeanor and styling in this drama is almost exactly the same as she was in Royal Feast. But I like her character Ling Xiaoxiao here a lot better than the previous one. I have no complain with He Ruixian’s acting and find her quite convincing. Wang Xingyue’s great acting here as the Crown Prince Zhu Shoukui is commendable. At only 20, this young actor continues to surprise me with his fine acting. He has captured his character very well: the character’s happiness when he is in love, his disappointment when he doesn’t get his way, and his despair when he’s being rejected – every minute emotion is well acted without overacting.

My Verdict

This is a delightful drama with only 16 episodes. It starts out as a slapstick comedy. There are no villains, no complicated plot, no outrageous twists, no love triangles, no tiring romance. In fact, the romance is rather cute. Compared with Royal Feast, Delicacies Destiny’s costumes are not as exquisite and its cuisine arts not as elaborate, but its characters are a lot more lovable and the logic of the story is better. A lot of the jokes seem unintentional, making the story flow very naturally. It is unusual to see an Empress that allows her son to marry his cook as she (the Empress) places his (the son's) happiness above everything; she even allows him to abdicate himself as the Crown Prince so that he can pursue his love (rather unthinkable, but anyway …). There’s only one kissing scene towards the end which is quite well done with actual kissing.

Despite the easy and light watching, the last 2 episodes did draw some tears from me seeing the struggle of the characters. After the final episode 16, there is an epilogue which is an alternative ending. Make sure you don’t miss it.

There are times we need to make very hard choices in life. From the story, our FL character needs to choose between love or passion, likewise for our ML character who has to choose between love or duty. Either choice, the consequence is very different. This drama shows us the possibility of each choice, and ends with a note that, if we compromise slightly, maybe we can get the best out of all choices. How would you choose? Love, passion or duty?

Fun watch! Great for in-between releases of new episodes for other dramas.

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when breaking up with your ex becomes mission impossible...

[lots of spoilers here]
I saw a comment underneath one of the episodes that perfectly sums up everything you need to know about this drama: "it's as if they(leads) live in a pool with piranhas, everyone around them bites a piece of their heart"

My anticipation for this drama was high and I could not wait to finally binge it but a mere few episodes in I was already questioning my time spent sitting in front of the TV.
I like risque dramas, give me complex characters that make poor decisions out of their willful heart and melodramatic back and forths... yet all IKILY made me feel was "hmm..." and "interesting..." - but not the good kind of interesting.

But first the positive: THE best thing about this drama are the CATS! This is the first time I actually saw cats looking super happy on screen, constantly demanding pets and cuddles. Totally adorable!
Visually the drama is pretty too, it’s not dubbed which is very pleasant and the opening OST 我知道我愛你- 韓紅 is very beautiful, low key but pact with emotion. Would have been PERFECT for a historical tragedy drama or Wuxia.

To put it simply, there would be no story had it not been for the absurd EX and every disapproving family member (both her side of the family and her ex's). Those are supposed to be additives yet here it is the main story. Take out everyone but the leads and they would have been together in like 2 episodes - happy ending!
Even for a remake of ONS, it should not be THAT easy. If the entire story of a romantic(!) drama depends on supporting roles to work, it's just not a good story/script.

The ML is very kind, the fact that he fell for someone who was still in a relationship doesn't really fit that but I have to admit I did enjoy parts of their romance especially around ep18-19. The writing between the 2 leads is also quite good. I'd say it's a love story between a guy that is too good for his own good, and a very human, more self centered (but not selfish) FL. A quote by her fits perfectly "I made you a sinner for no reason". Because neither of them would have had to feel bad had she set proper boundaries at any given point.

I tried and tried again to sympathize with Xuo Nuo but it was just impossible to beat the unfavorable script writing.
After the 10th "surprise" phone call from her ex in front of ML I gave up trying to be on her side. Don't get me wrong - I didn't hate her but the whole fun about dramas that involve emotional cheating is trying to justify their feelings and the constant thrill and angst about possibly getting caught. But in the case of this drama it can only be considered emotional cheating because the ex does not accept the break up... had it not been for that the drama would have ended at EP9. But they drag it out sooo much, just to keep the "forbidden" feel of the lead's relationship alive, which makes it feel incredibly forced and draggy. That feeling is only solidified by highly questionable actions and lack of sense regarding Peng Yu An's character.

The big elephant in the room of this drama is her Ex Boyfriend Peng Yu An, who is one awfully written character. At first I thought okay he is just your average douche bag. But then I was like oh okay so he actually does love her in a messed up way? And then back to okay just a jerk and so it goes back and forth. I don't think it's fair to write him off as the cheater because they both did it (emotionally). His interests were business, hers were of the heart kind.
He differs in a way from other similar characters, as he does not accept nor acknowledge the FL breaking up with him in the most delulu way that even a soap opera would not think of. Telling people he will marry her and such. But then going back to tell someone else he will break up with her as she does not fit his family's standards, while also telling her he wants to marry her?? Expressing his dislike for the woman his father chose for him. Then proclaiming his true love for FL again, while also promising his business partner they will marry?? What is going on, haha. Honestly I can understand his dad not taking him seriously in any of his endeavors regarding love.
There are also countless other characters that want to keep apart the leads, but I shouldn't spoil everything...

Again - I feel like I need to defend my stance here because every episode I thought to myself I WANT TO LOVE THIS but I JUST can't :( ... it was always 10% off course in the most annoying way. Where everything started to piss me off a little. Did I end up hate watching? - slightly. But also I don't hate it completely... I did enjoy parts.

ENDING SPOILER
------------------------

Ending was weak but happy. Literally everyone who was nasty af before suddenly accepted reality without even a moment of realization, just straight up "okay this is the finale, let's turn 180 degrees and be happy". The ex's ending to me is neither good nor bad but definitely too short. Initially I thought it was defeat with a bit of hope for his own future (becoming more aware of his own hobbies, breaking free) but now I think he just gave in, he won't care what that woman thinks. He just picked the first common interest and went with it. I highly doubt he actually moved on. And to be quite frank... I don't trust the script writers of this drama would actually be smart enough(in the context of this drama) to write a complex ending for him. He was but a massive plot device.


Some inconsistencies, that aren't really that big of a deal but I still wanted to mention it (spoilers):

- why did everyone look down on him for being a vet? Even he himself said he is "just" a vet. Don't these people know veterinary medicine takes longer to study than human medicine?
- the timeline of his age, their struggles growing up and him becoming a vet doesn't make sense.
- it was early-late winter the entire drama, do they really want to tell us multiple couples fall in love within 3-4 months and marriage is already topic nr1? What's the rush.
- pulling a "the fault in our stars" move for that one couple was cheap. It was wrapped up too fast to actually have an emotional impact. That entire story line was unnecessary and out of place.
- the english OST was a pain after hearing it one too many times each episode. Dreamed about a dream that I just dreamed? Julie, Julie I don't feel good today? Lord have mercy!

Tbh this drama is the kind of backstory quarreling parents of leads in other dramas have... not sure if that is something to aspire.

Ultimately I still gave it a 7/10... why? Because that's pretty much my lowest rating for dramas I finished and didn't hate but rather found disappointing and meh.

Edit a few days later: There is one scene that bugged me a lot and probably influenced my rating. If you are a romance lover or like the leads you might really like this drama. All my ranting in this review goes to say, that this is just my opinion and someone else might love it. HOWEVER here goes the scene near the end that made me very frustrated with the writers:
ML is drunk, sitting at his bed and having a very pitiful look. FL goes into his apartment and sees his ex made him some sobering up tea (note: the ex did not drink with him she just saw him downstairs and brought him to his apartment), she leaves once FL is here and they don't have any quarrel or anything. FL goes to ML bedroom and I thought she would go comfort him... boy I thought wrong. He is in a sorry, close to tear like state and asks her "will you leave me too?" (hinting how a lot of people in his life have left him before). FL, instead of comforting him, asks him twice "what do you mean?" "don't you trust me?"... it was so obviously a vulnerable side of him he showed and also drunk talk but she took it very seriously and instead of comforting him, she got mad and left. GURL WHAT. For all the scenes we saw before, the only logical thing would have been for her to tell him that he doesn't have to fear that and comfort him... as a means to portray some healing... and show a difference compared to the people that actually did leave him. But no she does the exact-opposite. Resulting in a short separation at the end, which was just very unnecessary and forced. I know FL mentioned a few times in this drama that she is not as good as a person as ML and such but that was very out of line. She knew he was drunk and he said so very pitifully... mans just needed comfort. Why take it so seriously? And even if she was so hurt by it... talk it out during the day, don't try and argue with a drunk person when you are sober. end.

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If Deities could write fanfics… this would be it.

Never thought I would see the day, where a Deity would plagiarize a Human’s work in order to solve her love life and make it into a masterpiece. Hopefully he can get more views and ratings if all goes well...

We can’t cancel a Deity after all, or can we?
Humans can’t but the laws Deities abide from might...
If only he had a compliant main character to work with, his job would be easier said than done.

Then again, the way Ho Yoon messes up with her life at first, really makes me wonder if we aren’t all in the same predicament.
Maybe that’s why one of these days, I was heading to the kitchen and ended up in the living room instead.
Perhaps, the Deity above is messing around with my GPS system and playing me like a SIMs character of sorts, well at least I can honestly consider that he is being considerate when it comes to my dieting plans, by keeping me far away from the fridge.

Either way the story is super interesting for a such a small drama, and the cinematography its pretty good actually, considering all the effects used in the transitions for each scene.

Some scenes do remind me of certain dramas though, like for instance, in the first episode when Ho Yoon and Myung are crossing that Tunnel it reminded me of the most iconic scene in Goblin. And in fact, there’s also a scene where Chae Kyung is wearing a red scarf, so the vibes are right too. Then again, the tunnel has a symbolic value through the theme presented.
The whole drama inside a drama inception plot, was very entertaining to say the very least, and the references of dramas with the pun of the names is rather hilarious. “The Accounting of the Married” and “Sky Cash” for example, both with the most dramatic parody plots ever created.

And well the acting in general wasn’t bad throughout the series, I enjoyed every character the actors portraited, so kudos for this cast.

The fact that Ho Yoon plans fail because he starts to get too attached, get to all of us at a certain point in our lives. I mean we all end up having a crush or falling for a character in a book, right?
Because in a way that’s what Chae Kyung is to Ho Yoon.
The female protagonist of his masterpiece novel of a Lifetime.
One where he is about to become a part of and with the main role no less.
Their Fate is written in paper and sealed with twine.
It’s an unavoidable destiny. That they are meddling with and against.

Nevertheless, it’s quite an enjoyable drama that can be seen in a whole afternoon, with only 10 episodes in total with around 20 minutes each.

“Some lives are long as a novel. But the other lives are short as a poem.”

It resumes well this drama, it might seem short like an idyllic poem, however, it’s as fulfilling like a novel should be.
The OST isn’t really that memorable in my ears, but its pleasant on certain parts that it was played so I guess it worked somehow.
I really recommend watching this drama, if you’re currently waiting for updates on any on-going drama just to fill the gap like I did or give it a try if you do prefer short stories.
But then again, I guess the ideology that less is more, can be applied to this one.

“If first love comes true every time there’s first love, the world would cease to exist.”

This plot will definitely surprise for the events and topics it works with, despite eventually falling under the category of a potential love triangle, the way the story unfolds precedes time and fateful encounters.

“If you’re meant to be, you’ll end up meeting in one way or another.”

If I ever re-watch this story again, it might take some time and if I ever do so it’s for the nostalgy.
Perhaps whenever it rains or whenever I do order a caffeinated drink, I will remember this by...

And I am fine with that

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I am not exactly sure what this movie is trying to say. I came away from it not really enjoying anything about the hour plus I spent watching it.

It wants to be a slice of life of four girlfriends trying to find their way after college but it gives you no real story trajectory and no one to really identify with or root for.

I see the conflict of four girls sort of drifting apart after college but I never got a clear picture of why they felt bonded in the first place or what there reasons would be to fight for their friendships. The writer gives you nothing tangable to hang onto. The angst seemed forced and unreal. The girls each had real problems but the way they were presented to me made their reactions to these problems seem petty and selfish.

The acting wasn\''t bad but the story was uninteresting. If I pause a movie to go wash the dishes...something is very wrong. I am not sure why I finished actually.

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I had absolutely zero expectations when I started watching Faith. Then I found myself inmersed in it and all I could think about was getting home to watch another episode. That's how much this drama sucks you in.

I agree with most of the comments. The directing was terrible in some scenes, and don't get me started on the editing. They had a wonderful story to tell and an amazing cast to work with, and those are the things that saved this drama. The cliffhangers were all in weird places, and there were too many flashbacks we had already seen for my liking.

Now, don't let the bad things keep you from watching. Kim Hee Sun is amazing in this. Whoever said she couldn't have chemistry with Lee Min Ho's character because she's older than him was very wrong. Also, if you need a drama that proves that Lee Min Ho can actually act, this is it.

An heroine that isn't afraid of anything, a hero that values honor above everything else, secondary characters that are actually interesting for a change, and a lots of action and drama.

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Deeper than expected and not all is fluff and sometimes 2nd chances work out...

This was a surprising series. While the premise was nothing we hadn't seen yet, it was done in a good way. Some things can't be changed even when you try and some things change without you doing anything. While they could us not spare all of the clichés, most of the time they approached all the problems and conflicts in a mature way which is rare in thai BLs.

We get a new cast which was not experienced but did a good job with the help of veteran actors in the form of their pas and mas. Flute playing "Win" is the only young actor with experience but he was also the executive producer and he founded his own company to bring this show to life which is quite impressive. And he did something right. It's not just fluff, it's also serious, it's not childish but the emotional stress of all the characters was played out very nicely. Of course they have room for improvement but for a first installment it was good. While chemistry was good, they struggeled a bit with intimate scenes. Of course the show did benefit that they could play the instruments and they can sing. The only thing not resolved in a satisfactory way imho was Nuts conflict with his father (and his dislike for music). It's quite open-ended but I won't nitpick too much on that.

Overall this was an enjoyable series with dark undertones, good OST and a nice vibe. If you have passed up this show so far, you should give it a chance.

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STORY: A guy (Chu Tian Ji) has a long-time roommate (Xin You Zhu) who is in love with him but he doesn't feel the same and fears he may not be able to return the love. Chu meets a woman he comes to like but he has a severe distrust of women based on a bad childhood experience.

ACTING/CAST: Nice cast, they do a good decent job acting. BTW: I used the cast names as they are in the list. I don't know Chinese, Pinyin, or anything else.

MUSIC: There's a real cool song sung by Xin that I wish was translated. The video I watched had audio quality issues so I'm not really how to grade this.

REWATCH VALUE: Nah.

OVERALL: The best part of this series are the BL moments. The rest was rather boring. You might be tempted to watch the fan-edited clips that omit everything but the BL. It's not bad to do so but the boring bits do add overall to the story and explain the funky ending. The worse part about the BL is that it's all one-sided romantic love. Xin is "waiting" on Chu to fall in love with him (do people really do this?). It's true, Chu loves Xin but "not in that way." Super annoying. And to have to sit through 4.5 hours of it!? Xin deserved better than that. Oh yeah, the ending: it's not bad or good, just open ended, like a cliff-hanger. Nobody dies. It just...ends. This story is simply unfinished. Also apparently the first 8 episodes deal with Chu and Xin, the second 8 episodes are a different story/cast. I can't seem to find those though.

TL;DR: Well, if you want to watch a slow, one-sided, unrequited burn that ends abruptly, this is your ticket.

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I'm having a hard time with my thoughts regarding this movie. I'm really not sure how to rate it.
On the one hand this movie is a really sweet, young love, romance story. I liked that a lot. It was so cute and both main characters did a very good job portraying their age and love for each other.

Now, on the other hand, the love and story seems incongruent to what is actually happening. Jenny is 15?Korean years? and she becomes pregnant. This is where I had the problem with the story. When it ended I really was left wondering what the point of the whole movie was.
The pregnancy situation was EXTREMELY UNREALISTIC,IMO.There were no consequences to becoming a teen parent. No moral, physical, social, etc. consequences. The girl didn't even get morning sickness or lose her flat stomach. Having a baby is a beautiful thing, but it is also difficult and a huge responsibility. The movie showed none of that. Everything was sweet, rainbows, and roses.From what I could see. There was really no conflict, and the little conflict there was, was not presented strongly enough.
Were they promoting teen pregnancy? Sex education?.IDK Even the sound track was very childish. There was even a scene were they show a video on what happens in an abortion that was very one sided. I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with abortion, just that the scene was presented in what in the USA is called, ProLife, kind of way.

Anyway, it was sweet, but the topic was handled in very unrealistically.

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“Violent delights have violent ends”

Emerging from the darkness, covered in brutality, comes the King of Pigs and whispers “There is no creature in the world more cruel than human being”. And just like this, it haunts you. It makes sure that watching this drama will be something you won’t forget anytime soon.

‘The King of Pigs’ is a psychological thriller drama that is, as already implied, not for the light-hearted. It contains a lot of violent, gore and psychologically heavy scenes which make it almost unbearable to watch. Prepare yourself, because what you are about to watch is a very rough ride.

The story

The drama’s story is based on a 93 minutes animation film ‘The King of Pigs’ by Yeon Sang Ho which is also based on a true story. As I’ve watched the animation film too, I can say that the drama is lightly based on it. Actually, it feels like the drama took the original story, evolved it and ended up making its own and unique story. Thus, there is no point in comparing them.

Without giving away the plot, the story deals with the trauma caused by intra-school violence and how it affects the victim and the perpetrator. Specifically, the story explores a series of events of school violence which took place 20 years ago and the results of these events in the present.

The uniqueness of the story is that it doesn’t refer to these events passively, as something that happened in the past, but as something that started in the past and is still progressing. In other words, the story emphasizes on the dynamic nature of these events and successfully manages to show how greatly the victims were stigmatized and how even the perpetrators were affected by it.

The story denotes that an act of violence is not a simple act. It’s an act which opens the Pandora's box and destroys everyone involved without an exception, because an action always provokes a greater reaction. Thus, in the end, “these violent delights” can only “have violent ends”.

Moving on to the structure, the story has great coherence. As the story is dealing with trauma, it has many flashbacks that interrupt the present story. The transitions from the present to the past were very meticulously made so they don’t end up as tedious flashbacks but on the other hand, they help the story develop and escalate making the story impactful.

The story’s pace can’t be called fact paced because the events don’t unfold quickly yet, as the episodes are very tense, it can’t be called slow paced either. What is certain, is that the drama pace is balanced and manages to keep your attention until the very end.

Lastly, it has to be noted that the story isn’t perfect. In fact, it has some minor flaws as some illogical things occur. Fortunately, they don’t affect the general plot and also, they can easily be ignored or pass unnoticed by the audience.

The production

From my point of view, the production of the drama is almost flawless. ‘The King of Pigs’ is one of the most well-made and well-executed dramas I've ever watched. The directing is on point and manages to perfectly render the dark tone of the story’s theme. The drama consists of beautiful frames, great scene transitions and camera angles which combined with the dark color palette, make the drama visually stunning. The drama’s soundtrack is the cherry on top, as it works as the last stimulus which makes you shudder and frequents you emotionally with the moment.

As far as the acting is concerned, every actor did a pretty good and decent job as every emotion was delivered with great success, the interpretations felt very realistic to the point that the scenes became more traumatic and tense. Both Kim Dong Wook and Kim Sung Gyu had great chemistry and were great in their roles. It has to be mentioned though, that the young actors, especially Choi Hyun Jin, Sim Hyun Seo and Lee Chan Yoo, stole the show.

Conclusion

‘The King of Pigs’ is technically speaking, a very decent drama which deals with a very sensitive and heavy theme. Thus, it is a drama you can’t watch easily just for enjoyment and also, it may not be to everyone’s liking. If you are a thriller lover, I believe that you should give ‘The King of Pigs’ a try. For me, ‘The King of Pigs’ is a very impactful and unique drama that really deserved my time.

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