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They wish to have a different outcome.
I've been in the BL world for a long long time, and I have watched a huge amount of BL stories from many countries in many different settings. More Than Words (MTW) is a good BL series but nothing much for offering something new. Mieko is a character that is rare to see in most contemporary BLs. She is an ally, the main lead, with her fate going south. Makio is a boy, innocent young boy who gets crushed before entering adulthood. These two develop a friendship while getting to know Eiji. It takes more than 70% of the series to explore Eiji's intersection with Makio and Mieko before introducing Asato. Asato comes to enter Makio's shaky world, staying there where I, as an audience, see it too late, because I seal my faith to the first guy.I recommend MTW to BL fans, even though I know, some maybe are disappointed with how the story goes. But, it's a very dedicated BL product with committed production outcome, set, and soundtracks.
Finally, I am with the trio of Eiji, Makio, and Mieko. They seem to wish to have a different outcome, so do I.
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A Story of Mental Survival
At first glance, Mo Li (First Jasmine) feels like a standard revenge drama, giving you that satisfying taste of payback right from the start. But as the story unfolds, it transforms into something deeper and more reflective. This shift in pacing might frustrate those waiting for bigger revenge moments, but it allows the story to deliver justice with more depth and realism. That being said, the last few episodes might feel disappointing to some, but I see them as an important part of the characters’ growth, despite the noticeably slower pace can feel dragging at times.Its most refreshing element is its exploration of mental illness, a theme more commonly associated with modern dramas than historical ones. Both leads suffer in different ways, physically and emotionally, and their relationship is built on mutual healing and understanding. The romance is mature. They heal each other, support each other, and stand by each other. It’s not the kind of romance that makes your heart race, but the kind that makes you feel safe.
On the downside, some of the heavy Tang dynasty-inspired style makeup on side characters felt excessive and distracting, especially compared to the leads. As for the acting, if I’m being honest, while I enjoyed the leads, it didn’t feel particularly remarkable, especially Bailu.
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As someone who hasn’t read the source material I can’t really comment on how this drama lines up. It did well to get so far with a limited amount of plot. At times the writing feels a little awkward but not enough to stop watching.
I liked that compared to the Japanese movie the main couple were closer in age and by the end So Rim was an adult.
The cast were very attractive and did surprisingly well with the script they were given.
I didn’t feel that there was much chemistry between the two leads, fortunately the friendships within the bands and the secondary couple make up for this.
The most enjoyable part of this drama is the music and the relationships between the characters. I found the songs would get stuck in my head for a few days after watching.
All in all a reasonably enjoyable show to watch with catchy tunes.
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It reminded me so much of Lure of the Wolves with a clash of the Classic and the old school Korean movies I watched and fell in love with.
The chemistry was amazing and everyone played their part really well...
I guess people who has not seen movies of the early 2000's will not appreciate it as much as I absolutely love it.
You could compare it to Sunny, it had the same emotional pull but a little more fun in the story.
~STORY~
...was really simple. It wasn't complicated at all, no twists and turns. It made me question if what I think was going to happen was really going to happen in some parts but I'm not complaining...it's all fun parts for me.
~ACTING~
LJS needs to be a comedian... he was just hilarious but his actions were also very heartwarming.
The rest were really great too. They were so believable.
KYK was such a heart broken bad ass.
I already knew PBY was great but her cold character without being cutesy is really daebak.
LSY had very few lines but her acting as a~meek~sheep~with~all~the~crazy~inside was believable.
Everyone was amazing and their chemistry was just great.
There's a lot of comments about the cursing but I liked it because it gave the feel of the reality of the era in that area.
~MUSIC~
Brought me back all those Sundays my dad would turn up the radio...nostalgia at it's highest.
~~~~RE-WATCH~~~~
D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y!!!
Watch the movie with an open mind and I suggest not to think too much. It's not the kind of movie that requires you to think but just simply enjoy.
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This review may contain spoilers
What I loved:ACTING: Every single actor, either main, secondary or guest did an excellent job. I don't need to mention that the two main leads, Park Seo Joon, and Ahn Sung Ki were mindblowing. The emotions that they portrayed through their facial expressions, the feeling showing through the eyes, the warm budding relationship of these two characters and every single time they shared the screen, it was magic. I was completely floored by the child actor, Jung Ji Hoon, too.
What I didn't love:
PLOT: Park Seo Joon's character continues to rave and hate God throughout the movie, till the bit before the end where he rushes into the church to yell at God, and yet he is selected to become this harbringer of so-called divine fury because his dad said so? Really? He shows no particular religious feeling, no actual connection with God, and seems to have taken on the role of an exorcist's disciple simply because he somehow chanced upon an exorcism. I suppose the most that you can say about it is that he doesn't like ignoring people who are in pain or who need him, but honestly that wasn't well-developed and I wish the director had pursued that more.
THE HERO: Needed more character development! Everything is rushed; his relationship with his dad and with Father Ahn. He also seems to lack a clear motive, at least in my opinion. He's pretty much lost in his life during the pre-Father Ahn years, but afterwards, what motivates him to suddenly jump into exorcism? Is there a clear reconciliation between him and God? Would he have continued on this path had Father Ahn died? I think what the movie needed was a powerful moment where he witnesses people who lose loved ones and still continue to have faith in God, or who still smile. There was just something missing in this character that I can't seem to put exactly in words.
THE VILLAIN: My biggest disappointment is the fact that the villain is just this bland evil guy who is evil for the sake of it. There's no background, no motives, no depth at all. He just worships his Snake Lord for the sake of immortality but boy, what you gonna do with your eternal life? Party away in that club of yours? Heck, Doctor Faustus had a better motive than you, though he was pretty stupid too. There was just so much potential and room here and it was a big let-down.
THE ENDING: Everybody lives happily ever after. Ew.
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A Cinematic Journey To Love...
When it comes to writing love stories, romance dramas often tend to blow out relationships heavily into cliche territory; the female or male lead is head over heels for their significant other, jealousy spins around their love interest approaching (respectfully) other men and women, and an onslaught of dramatic misunderstandings occur as a consequence.When you decide to sit down and watch “ Run-On” for the first time, it may strike viewers as unusual to come across several prominent, atypical features within our leads and their relationships; the most evident being that our female heroine and translator Oh Mi Joo (Shin Se Kyung) and our male lead athlete Ki Seon Geom ( Im Shi Wan) are intrinsically written as individuals, rather than the typical “ unit” approach taken in most romantic dramas.
Shin Se Kyung is brilliant within her role as our fairly down-to-earth female lead Oh Mi-Joo; a talented and hardworking translator with a difficult childhood , Mi-Joo alongside her best friend Park Mae Yi ( Lee Bong Ryun) , is more focused on her career and struggling to pay the bills than anything else.Contrastingly, Ki Seon Geom ( again, brilliantly played by Im Shi Wan) comes from a wealthy family, has a successful career as an athlete, however, he is quite simply fed up from others using him, his money and status as a social climbing ladder as episodes progress. By a whim of fate, the two individuals from opposite walks of life end up meeting and gradually developing a relationship. However, this is also where the series hits its biggest snag as well.
The “ opposites attract” cliche is one of the most infamous storyline usages in romantic dramas, yet when it came to Run-On, one of the notable elements of a storyline intrinsically based on this cliche seemed to feel unexpectedly lacklustre. By default, it shouldn’t have done; Mi-Joo and Seon- Geom were well-rounded individuals with intriguing backstories , storylines and striking similarities as characters, yet, principally rather than playing out their similarities, the show seemed to ride too heavily upon their differences which often resulted in their relationship feelings fairly indifferent for viewers .
One reason behind this can be explained by Mi-Jo and Seo Geom’s relationship progression over the course of the series. Despite their differences, Mi-Joo had many similar impacts of her past like Seon-Geom, however, neither character really tried to reach out, to talk or bond over this matter either.This should have helped to bring our couple together more throughout the drama, however, this would have only been possible if the storyline had more of an arching development for our characters, (due to little sense of climatic building),strong pacing or intrinsic development over a course of sixteen episodes.
Alongside our main couple, the drama attempts also to introduce the romantic pairing between slightly naive art student Lee Young Hwa ( Kang Tae Oh) and the cynical young CEO of a talent agency company, Seo Dan Ah ( Choi Soo Young). Before commenting upon their relationship, it is fairly striking that Dan Ah has numerous deep and likeable qualities as a character ( despite her sometimes “ overly abrupt” personality); she isn’t written off as a figure of female animosity nor as the “ antagonist”, but rather an individual hiding deep secrets, a naturally hardworking businesswoman and who is the type that struggles to reach out to others both emotionally and socially ( often leading to both comical and sad misunderstandings).
Against all odds, the relationship between the pair was arguably more appealing to audiences than our main couple at times. This is intrinsically due to the fact that Young Hwa and Dan Ah are truly the epitome of different within their backgrounds, moralities and even personality types, yet are still able to develop and bond due to their similarities( particularly their admiration of art). On the other hand, their relationship will still notably lacking in depth; a consequence of several plot inconsistencies, tropes as well as the series possibly running out of time to not truly captivate “ life imitating art” to the fullest.
Overall whilst Run-On was an intrinsically sweet romance drama which had several surprisingly well-written characters, an appropriate ending , humour and touched upon several notable realistic issues including homosexuality, illness, mental health and family, notable relationship portrayals , development , plot holes and of course an overall didactic purpose for the show, felt both lacklustre and lacking in the grand scheme of things.
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Love, Compassion, Inspiring Characters | Best Costume Drama of All Time
To enjoy watching this drama, one has to watch it without any preconception. Discard your logic. Just watch it as it is. Accept the events as they are playing out. Watch out for the beautiful relationships between the leads and beyond. Close your eyes and listen to the beautiful music. Take in the visual of the 2 main leads.I normally shy away from dramas that are tagged "Bromance", but somehow, I clicked on this one. Since I didn't have a high expectation, my initial impression was like, "Urgh! Another bad Chinese zombies drama" which was in the beginning scene. But to my surprise, it didn't take me very long to get into the hang of the story; I find the story super interesting and the actors super hot. In fact, the good look of the actors makes this drama feel like a manga/manhua; it's surreal, it's beautiful.
I was so hooked to the story that I binge watched all the aired episodes in one sitting. It is really good. Immediately I was acquainted with the main leads, in particular, Wei Wu Xian, who is the untamed one. He is playful, care-free, upstanding and has a heart of gold. Despite all the pain and false accusations he has to endure, Wei Wu Xian remains cheerful, humorous and kind. It is this magnanimous quality that brings tears to our eyes for his misfortune and makes us love him.
Wang YiBo, a very talented dancer, plays the Lan Wang Ji character. Whether on-screen or off-screen, Wang YiBo has that same cold look and therefore making him a perfect fit for the role. His coldness and outrageous good look provide a dream-like visual in the world of cultivation.
The bantering between Wei Wu Xian and the other men/boys is hilarious and cute, which we normally see in romances between a girl and a boy. But in this drama, the bantering doesn't feel distasteful or bad; it gives the impression of true friendship and brotherhood.
Many of the actors, especially the male actors, are so good looking that I find myself attracted to them. All of them are young and talented, and executed their roles very well. The visual of Wei Wu Xian and Lan Zhan is so beautiful - one in white holding the sword and the other in black blowing the flute. I love to watch the flow of their long hair and clothing in the air when they fight. It's simply out of this world.
Though I have not read the novel nor watched the related anime, I find the portrayal of the 2 main characters so amazing - everything about them is opposite to each other. Wei Wu Xian is always warm, talkative and playful, whereas Lan Wang Ji is always cold, solemn and rigid. It is interesting to note that the actual personalities of the actors are reversed off screen. Lan Wang Ji and Wei Wu Xian make a perfect pair.
For me, it's the 'soulmate' relationship that is truly awesome. Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji know exactly what each other is thinking and feeling by just looking into each other's eyes. They can read each other's mind. It's better than many boy-girl romances where there are tons of misunderstanding, frustrating the viewers. Despite being always expressionless, Wang YiBo brilliantly expresses his emotions without words in Lan Wang Ji. And for Xiao Zhan, he is so brilliant playing the Wei Wu Xian character as if it is written for him.
Their admiration for each other is never explicit, but the look on each face tells a million words. Wei Wu Xian has never imposed on Lan Wang Ji; he lets him make his own choices. For Lan Wang Ji, he is tormented. What is in his heart is totally against what he's been taught in his whole life. He has lived a very strict life with no friends nor any form of entertainment, until Wei Wu Xian appears in his life. Only Wei Wu Xian understands how he feels.
As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing 'gay' about this drama. It's just pure BFF (best-friend-forever) like we have with our own BFF. It is the great companionship one finds in another. The few comedic scenes added to lighten up the whole story are adorable and funny, helping the viewers to take a breather from the zombies and evil spirits.
All the sound tracks are so beautiful either sung or instrumental, each telling a story of a character or a scene. I love visualization the scene when Wu Xian picks up his flute and blows, and Lan Wang Ji playing the guqin. I can just close my eyes and listen to the beautiful tune. The visual is simply so beautiful that no words can describe.
The ending tears my eyes. The sacrifices Wei Wu Xian makes to save others, and in return Lan Wang Ji does the same for him. It's moving and touching. Sweetness comes and I ask for the story to continue.
Many viewers who have read the novel may be disappointed watching this drama that has not portrayed the gayness as it is written in the novel. On the other hand, many viewers shy away from this drama because they do not want to watch "gay" scenes. For me, this drama is beautifully and tastefully done, especially the visual aspect. If you refrain from watching for any of these reasons, you may be missing a lot of the fun. This is a drama that is well worth it.
I strongly recommend this drama to anyone who is still hesitating.
Two thumbs up!
An Update:
After watching this drama during its airing, I re-watched it multiple times, each time picking up certain details I've missed during the first watching. I realized there are many subtleties in this drama that can be missed or not understood in the first viewing. Then I also started watching the anime, and reading the novel. The drama does pretty well in sticking closed to the original story but then, there are also differences and hence provides totally different experiences to the viewers.
Like I said before, I'm normally not a "bromance" fan. But after watching this drama, something touches me. I don't know what, but I love this drama so much that I can't put it down. Even though initially when watching this drama, I felt the relationship was more of a soulmate friendship, but after reading some parts of the novel and watching the anime, I realize it is more than just a soulmate relationship. But this drama has cleverly and carefully tweaked the story to avoid that censorship threshold and yet not losing its heart-warming love relationship appeal. That's what makes this drama so loved and unforgettable. The two main male leads are so good together as if they are made for each other. Since this drama, I realize the misconception I have always on such relationship (bromance) due to our social norms and religious intolerance. I also realize only with an open mind, I can see further and feel more of the things around me.
Despite all the holes and flaws here and there, poor acting by some peripheral actors, hard-to-understand certain parts of the story and logic, substandard editing etc, this drama is phenomenal in terms of its visual appeal and music composition. One really has to sit in, watch it and listen to it, to appreciate it.
This drama has the best OSTs I have ever heard, be they vocal or instrumental, they are so beautiful. The character songs describe each character appropriately. From these songs, I even managed to understand some characters better whom I initially disliked, such as Xue Yang. The lyrics and music in the Yi Nan Ping (Jiang Yanli's character song) is the one that makes me very emotional whenever I listen to it because it is Wei Ying's memory of his shijie (Jiang Yanli); it's so heart-wrenching. The Qing Xin Yin (Clear Heart Tune or Cleansing) with the Luan Po Chao (Muddle Soul) interlude is so perfectly done, that by itself, it is already a master piece. I later also found out that this song is an adaptation from the original song called "You don't understand my heart". Lan Zhan plays this tune consistently for Wei Ying for healing when he is in coma or when he's wounded. The lyrics in that song are so fitting for Lan Zhan expressing his love for Wei Ying silently. The WuJI song, purportedly composed by Lan Zhan for Wei Ying, describes perfectly what happens between them - it is their song, their story. Another song that strikes me most, among others, is the Lotus Cove song. Whenever I hear it, I can feel Wei Ying's fond memories of his growing up life living in the Lotus Cove, so carefree and happy, loved and adored by all, especially his shijie. I can't help but cry for him when he loses all that means most to him.
I have never thought I'd enjoy a drama that shows two male leads in a loving relationship as much as I love this one. At this point, I don't think the label we want to use on this drama important anymore. The most important thing is, most viewers like me have enjoyed it tremendously.
This is a MUST WATCH drama!
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I love Sang Ha, I do, but this was painfully mediocre.My biggest problem was how Sang Ha's story and the romance were disconnected. They felt like two different shows. We had fun comedy and fluff between main leads, and punches and threats with debt collectors. Both put next to each other just didn't click well, since they almost always were presented separately.
The characters were also quite a mess. Sang Ha and Jin Woo had both half a brain cell that they must have shared. The bad guys told you they will ruin Jin Won's chance to win by throwing water at him? You tell Jin Won about it. It's that simple. It's not like his debt was a secret. They could have easily prevented it from happening, without Sang Ha going after first place (good for him tho). Why did he even cut contact with Jin Won after the marathon? His whole logic for winning and paying the debt was to protect Jin Won and be able to keep running with him (as he "passionately" screamed at his face in the last episode)... but then he just left? LoGiC.
Jin Won with the whole "go buy yourself proper new running shoes" when Sang Ha already told him he is running early mornings to deliver milk, because he ain't got money, but he needs to pay the debt. Something didn't click right in Jin Won's brain I guess. Not to mention that punch in the last episode. WHERE THE HECK IT CAME FROM? Not once they hinted that Jin Won might be a one to react aggressively with physical force. And here he is punching a kid in the face. This is called bad writing, ladies and gentlemen.
The debt storyline was truly the worst part that ruined the whole show for me. Why they couldn't keep it simple with a sweet romance is beyond me. The debt collectors went from punching the kid in the face, to crying when he finally paid it off, giving some bullshit, out of place, emotional reaction. Not to mention, apparently in Korea, when your parents die when you are in middle school, you don't go to an orphanage or foster family. You are left alone to deal with it... Go figure
It had some cute moments, I'm not gonna lie, but instead of watching the whole show, you could watch the highlights on youtube. Even the last scene had to be ruined by making them run in semi formal clothes ON A DATE. We get it, they are runners. Damn the writers... Why?
Get rid of the debt angst story, use the few minutes you gained to develop the relationship a bit more, and it would be easily 9/10 for me.
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Worst GMM BL and that's saying something
This review is a personal opinion. It is not meant to sway or discourage anyone from watching this series.I didn't think GMM could top the travesty that was 2gether...but TonhonCholatee makes 2gether look like it deserved an EMMY.
Who thought this was a great idea to put on the screen? These actors deserve better. I'm beginning to believe what some actors have "shaded" about GMM...how they don't know how to capitalize on some of their actors and instead gives them very little or crappy work.
This was TRASH...
All of the problematic topics were handled like crap. The script was weak, the soundtrack boring, the scenery lacking. There wasn't anything redeeming about this trash show.
Sorry...it's 2021...BLs have to evolve and some fans need to stop accepting these crappy shows.
HOLY SMOKEs...How did I manage to watch this for this long?
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It's an okay masterpiece
Note: The title needs quotes around the word "masterpiece" but the system wouldn't allow me.Before deciding to watch this drama, I came here to get an initial feeling of what this drama might be like. To my surprise, most reviews here were calling this a masterpiece and a must watch so I immediately went to watch it. I have just finished it and I have no idea if those revieweres were watching the same drama I did -- it's not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, in my opinion.
The story is really good. The music is good too, it didn't stand out to me as either great or terrible which is good. The cast is really nice too. The cinematography is really well done! Sadly, that's where the positives end.
The direction of this drama is not great. Too many episodes for what it ended up delivering. The characters are almost 2 dimensional as they make decisions that sometime seem random or make no sense. There's romance but sadly I didn't care for it one bit and I was not convinced of how and why the leads loved each other.
This drama could've been at least 8 episodes shorter! There are plenty of wasted "prolonged" scenes of characters just seemingly staring at each other as if the actors were trying to remember the next line. Some scenes were completely useless and added nothing of value; just fodder to pad this show.
The important bits were not given focus -- be it the characters or the political story. I do enjoy a good slow burner, with "good" being the operative word here. This drama overstayed its welcome and to be honest, I was bored for 99% (hyperbole) of the time I was watching it. I could not give it attention as I had the urge to fast forward past the useless scenes. My partner kept me from doing that and while she liked it more than I did, she still found it needlessly padded and slow.
I get the reason it's slow is to immerse people into the world and the characters and that the nature of political events unravelling is usually slow but this was needlessly slow. If there was a criteria for direction, I would've given it a 1.
Want a similar story with a far better pace? Watch Bridal Mask.
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Watching This Drama Truly Is Like Rolling A Stone Down A Hill, Then Being Crushed By It...
Upon paper, screenwriters Jeon Chan Ho ( Fates and Furies) and Lee Jae In ( Fates and Furies) ‘s “Sisyphus The Myth “ is a masterpiece work filled with intriguing ideologies of time, science-fiction and an array of intriguing characters and concepts .However, the series often fell short of logic and characterisation over the course of the
storyline.
Before addressing the issues surrounding the show, it is important to establish that the main cast consisting principally of Cho Seung Woo , Kim Byung Chul, Tae In Ho ( playing Tae Sook’s mysterious friend and co-founder of their group, Eddy Kim) , Chae Jong Hyeop ( performing as the restaurant delivery man Choi Jae Sun who befriends Seo-hae) , Jung Hye Jin ( Kim Seo Jin), Kim Jong Tae ( Seo Hae’s father; Kang Dong Gi ) and Park Shin Hye were fairly good within their performances . On the other hand, questionable dialogue exchanges and the characterisation often demeaned the quality of screenwriting.
The premise itself is fairly straightforward; Han Tae-sool (Cho Seung-woo), a brilliant engineer, will invent a time-travel machine in the near future, however, something terrible happened afterwards which caused terrible events to occur .
For time travellers seeking sanction from this dystopian future, they travel back en mass to the era before Tae-Sool invented this revolutionary machine as a “ safe place” .One of those immigrants is Kang Seo-hae (Park Shin-hye), a mysterious girl who seems to have an undeniable link to Tae-Sool, however, Seo-Hae faces her own conflicts in the meantime between being chased after the mysterious “ men in black” of the drama, the DEA -who capture and contain time travellers under the guise working for the government’s “ Immigration Control Unit”. Meanwhile, Tae-Sool becomes interested in the fate of his seemingly deceased brother which leads him down a rabbit hole of danger and mystery as well as leading him to meeting Seo-Hae. As Seo-Hae and Tae-Sool’s lives become more interconnected, the two soon begin to realise their feelings for one another, as they fight against a seemingly inevitable future.
Wherever the show’s dilemmas manifested themselves, the main source of the problem manifested with one thing prominently ; the writing. It is fair to say that “ Sisyphus; The Myth” attempts to have it both ways; an engaging time-travel story with fast-paced action, and a complicated love story between its main protagonists.
Characters were often enforced into scenarios which made little sense within their individual circumstances . For example, illegal future immigrant broker Park Hyeong-do (Sung Dong-il) gets an -out -of character backstory as well as a shocking revelation in the final episode, that was simply illogical. Even our main protagonists Tae-sool and Seo-Hae were often shoehorned into scenarios which made little sense , reducing them to become nothing more than plot mechanisms against their more intriguing individual personalities and intriguing backstories ( which felt fairly underdeveloped).
Whilst the show attempted to rig emotions between the two main protagonists in their sudden epiphany around the halfway point that “ we like one another against all odds of our circumstances”, the cataclysmic writing underpinning their relationship made theirs arguably one of the least convincing and forgettable romantic pairings of recent years .In addition to this, there’s also the other issue regarding the actual laws of time-travel. Sisyphus; The Myth” is independent from its predecessors time-travel takes in Korean film and TV by focusing upon the actual concept of time travel, rather than choosing the wrinkle-in-time concept, in which characters from two different timelines coexist, come up time and again.
However, time-travel stories can soon become a Gordian knot ( pun intended) of tangled logic and interest very quickly, something which soon became prominent in the series . The screenwriters of “Sisyphus” added different rules throughout, only to consistently break them and toss logic out of the window , as well as new technologies or magical drugs which delivered anti-climatic scenarios to seemingly impossible problems.
Admittedly when the drama entered its second-half and introduced viewers to the main antagonist , Sigma (Kim Byung-chul), the show did undeniably shift towards becoming more focalised upon the theme of time-travel, however, as a result of this , the show’s weaknesses overall quickly began to rise to prominence also.
The halfway point resulted in the direction of plot and the ideology of time travel feeling more like a storyline filler and an excuse for for high-budget extravaganza scenes, often with little serving purpose than to make viewers squeal with excitement at eye-popping CGI and distract attention away from more notable flaws .
Admittedly, the series against all odds was fairly engaging within certain sold set pieces and storylines . Park In Hye’s fight scenes helped to make the show entertaining . However, whilst the myriads of goons of the nefarious control centre featured prominently, this scenario soon became repetitive and formulaic; the duo would face a problem, they would be surrounded and Tae-sool’s on-the-spot science to get out of close scrapes (never held up to scrutiny), whilst Seo-Hae’s Laura-Croft-Style combat scenes would help to save the day also.
As the gimmicks became less and less inventive, these concepts soon died off completely and therefore resulting in numerous action scenes being tapered off entirely . Several episodes towards the end of the show featured no set pieces at all and the control centre disappeared completely , with several major characters not featuring in the finale ( with few reasons given) . Additionally , whilst the ending was “ bittersweet”, it felt inherently poorly-written and the epitome of a classic deus ex machina ; a lazing, anticlimactic ending which created hare-brained and problems towards time paradoxes .
Whilst “ Sisyphus; The Myth” had an intriguing premise, a high budget and an ensemble of a talented actors at its disposal, not even top notch actors such as Park Shin Hye and Cho Seung-Woo could truly save the series from its own demise of abandoned logic, poorly-written characters and relationships, as well as the ineffable disappearances of main characters over the course of the series and a lazy ending also.Another classic example of the recent trend of high-budget science-fiction and action throwaway extravaganzas such as “ Alice” and “ RUGAL” with intriguing premises, yet truly lacking well-written and memorable storylines. Worth binge-watching to waste time with little else to do, yet certainly not worth investing genuine time towards.
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unexpectedly dark for a lighthearted romcom
Overall: I was okay with this as a 'turn your brain off' romcom, but then there was an extremely dark plot line (also zero consequences for a trash character?!?) and the plot ran around in circles (definitely could have been 8 episodes instead of 12). I'm rating this more harshly because GMMTV has the money and experience to make an excellent series. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed with this one. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel. Later re-aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40373c-a-boss-and-a-babeContent Warnings: past rape for 3 years involving a child/step parent, past suicide, mental health struggles, non con/dub con touching, homophobia, fight/beaten up, non con picture taking/posting, unwanted public outing
What I Liked
- good friendship dynamics (and that they raised the difficulty of the boss/employee romantic dynamic)
- Yacht with his blue hair
- the established couple is adorable (but they didn't get enough screen time nor a plot)
- addressing mental health struggles (except that Cher should not have talked about Jack without Jack's prior approval and they also made it seem like everyone was happy that Jack stopped taking medication when in reality as I understand it medication is something to be taken as a management strategy, it's not a long term cure)
- a supportive ex
- neutral, comedy sound effects
Room For Improvement
- this was oddly very dark, I think they still could have had some serious parts (focusing on the mental health struggles as an example), but it almost felt disrespectful to have the rest be a light romcom, I'm not sure how to explain this but I didn't like the combo of extremely serious plot with silly plot
- lack of consequences for a trash character and instant forgiveness for the mom
- Thup, there are things that even if your loved one says you should keep secret that you don't keep secret and tell the authorities/school personnel and what was going on was one of those things. Thup wasn't a young child, he should have been around 12 to 15 when this was happening and then afterwards to let rumors circulate about Cher, he did not seek justice for his sibling and he had the gall to blame Cher....ugh
- paper thin plot that went around in circles
- cliche poor communication with fully grown adults, Cher's totally stupid "plan" in episode 11
- consent problems: there were some things they did really well but there was also poor consent including Cher ignoring Gun's physical boundaries in the beginning, Gun locking Cher in his car, "if you don't let me touch you I'll kiss you instead"
- I realize they were going for comedy, but many jokes didn't make me laugh
- Gun letting Cher be jealous for his own entertainment instead of clearing up the miscommunication
- nonsense things (we won't get into the hr headache this would be in reality), Cher is never shown to be doing anything with his ASMR channel, we barely see him gaming
- the cringey title
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Just love the two leads. Môre with those two
Absolutely love Wang Hedi in a more serious businessman type role. Episodes just not airing quick enough. Lovinh it so far. Thia series will be one of those that I watch again, like Love Between Fairy and Devil and Till the End of the Moon. I also like the other characters development, but at least they don’t take the focus off the main leads, unlike My Journey To You. You cannot go wrong with Dylan Wang or Bai Li. They are both exceptional. Can’t wait for this series to end so I can start watching it from scratch.Was this review helpful to you?
I was so disappointed
I am not writing this review to vent but to express my utter disappointment with this show. One of my all-time favourite dramas is Love to Hate You, also directed by Kim Jung Kwon. So I had been looking forward to this series for quite a while.But what is this? A story for kids? Fantasy? Sports? Romance? Serious tragedy? Horror? Light comedy? Bits and pieces of all this put together to create twelve episodes for Netflix?
The acting was not convincing either. I am sorry to say this because I really liked Kim Hye Yoon in Extraordinary You, and Lomon is very good-looking. The FL's voice was hard to bear and I kept telling myself the actress must think foxes would talk like this if they were human.
Plus: In nature foxes do not howl like wolves. They sort of bark which is spooky enough.
Why am I still watching this (on FFWD mostly)? Because I want to know how in the end this mess is sorted out. I wonder. While I am writing this there is only one episode left to bring it all to a (good?) ending. I will be glad when it is over.
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Best drama of 2025
Really really loved this drama ❤️ both the leading actors did a very good job! Everything!!! From the acting to their chemistry to the music, literally everything about this drama was so just amazing ❤️ I’m going to rewatch it again 😭🫶🏻 I’m so proud of our leading male actor, Liu Xue Yi! He did a very well job! Im so in love with him now!!!!! Helppppp🙂↕️ And our leading actress, her acting was divine and her role as Ji tang yi was so well acted and I really loved her character!Was this review helpful to you?
