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Average Rom-Com story but likable.
Story is pretty straight forward. Boy and girl are old acquaintances who meet after long separation and starts working together. Later start relationship and fight together for their individual goals.While watching this drama, it feels like the story/ screen writer watched or read most of Guman dramas and clubbed them together. Both leads were gamers at some point of time and dated online (Love o2o). Guy wants to be Aerospace engineer but ends up working in a company (You are my glory - only in reverse order). Not only the similarities in the story, there are clipping too from My sunshine drama, being played behind as prop. Not to forget, the main leads were also part of these dramas.
Actors did a decent job. Not outstanding performance but okay. I can remember far better dramas from both ZBB & WQ.
What I liked in this drama -
1. The characters (not actors) know their capability. People are not extremely smart but are not at all dumb. They behave as they should in certain situation in this type of drama. People would act in certain ways which one might think is extremely dumb but given the role, they do not break character. They are supposed to act so.
2. Relation between the Main leads - Its fairly simple with no overcomplicated third party interruption. Yes, there are suitor for the lead, but not important. There were some misunderstandings in the past which do not compromise the story at all, in fact, strengthen their bond. And the good thing is we get to see both side of the story and why such situations happened.
What I disliked -
1. Story - The overall story is a big "question mark". The story happens surrounding the FL's family company which is infamous for recruiting people with connections and providing them various positions. The FL also being such a character, having no experience in handling a company is airdropped into the company branch office as team leader. And somehow she manages to do her job and jumps multiple positions too. And she somehow she does those job as well. And not only her, most of the people in the company have no idea what is happening, yet they are very busy... I can go on about the story but this review not thesis.
2. Pace - The drama is 32 episodes long and has many many many fillers, yet while watching, it feels like many scenes were cut in post production and do not match. Transition in between one scene to other is poor. Its like one thing happened. And something very different happens in the next scene. One has to imagine what must have happened and how much time has passed between them.
3. Background songs - As the drama starts, the sound track feels good. But they have used the same songs over and over, and overdid it. After sometime it feels annoying. Also there is no fading when the song starts or ends. It just starts as the scene begins and end with scene. And cut to the next scene. And if there is another song for that scene, it will just start without considering that they have already played a song or music track just 10 secs back.
Overall - I would recommend this drama to people who wants a light rom-com, without spending much thought to it.
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A simple, but very touching and sincere story
So far, together with Love for Love's Sake, this is my favourite BL series this year. The plot (best friends to lovers, miscommunication and misunderstanding) is nothing we haven't seen before, but the way it was told, i.e. past and present side by side throughout the first 7 episodes, in combination with an amazing cast, was absolutely compelling, I loved it and anticipated every new episode. A very honest, genuine, sincere love story with likable mains that had their faults but at the end I ended up sympathizing with both of them. The cherry on top for me was that there was never any doubt how much Ji and Achi loved each other despite their struggles to deal with it and admit it. They certainly deserved their episode 8 and the happiest ending ever.This isn't a series that can be watched casually to spend the time, because many of the details are important to understand the parallels between the past and the present and to unveil why the characters would act the way they did. Ji spends most of his time in the present trying to desperately protect himself from being abandoned again, but at the same time he is the biggest Achi fanboy and can't really deny him anything despite being blunt and direct. In contrary, in the present Achi finally does what he wanted to do in the past but didn't dare to and relentlessly pursues Ji until the misunderstanding is cleared up. I loved both of them so much and I hope to see these actors again, because they did such a great job. Ji crying while admitting to Coin that he still hasn't forgotten Achi and Achi crying while watching Ji with Pear in the cinema moved me equally. The love scenes were very well done, too. The desperate longing looks, the heat, the adoration, devotion, the pure happiness once they came together, it was all there. I've lost count how many times I've rewatched the kiss from episode 4. I said this already, but I'll say it again - Ji and Achi were utterly and totally in love the entire time, in past and present, and it was transmitted believably on screen. This is what I want to see most in a BL - both mains being obviously into each other and being open and honest about it once they come together.
I would've loved to see more of the second couple instead of finding out that everybody in the hospital was into Achi, because there were some filler scenes I think could've been used better. Still, I'm giving the series full marks, because I enjoyed watching it so much, I adored the main couple and their relationship so much and because I found the way the story was told fascinating and captivating so it felt like something new I haven't seen before despite the simple plot. Also, I think the current rating for the series is very undeserving and hope more people will give it a chance.
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"split personality" review
in reality, i hate to rain on somebody's parade, and since a lot of people truly love this drama, i apologize, but what must be said must be said.i can not relate to this drama but from a truly split personality perspective, since it has the "good, the bad, the ugly" and more. all that the other viewers write about it is mostly true - mind-bogglingly beautiful scenery (the scene where ae-shin is walking with eugine on the icy lake takes your breath away and will stay with you forever etched in your visual and emotional library, whether it's in your brain or in your heart, and the entire story is kind of symbolic of walking on thin ice at all times), in general the choice of sites in the drama can be used for tourism in korea - guaranteed to work even today, the cinematography is up there with the most outstanding dramas and/or movies from all times, the characters especially the main 3 males and the female hotel owner hina are extremely multidimensional, like it is in real life and their continuous development is very satisfying, the acting of all actors is as good as it gets, especially lee byung-hun as eugene choi (i first saw this actor in "all in" while i was chasing after ji sung, and discovered lee byung-hun, and the rest was history... his charisma, his manly charm, his superb acting, his ability to go from extreme toughness to extreme softness - he was raised to my top best korean actors from that moment on) and he does not disappoint in "mr. sunshine", he stays true to himself as an artist, as always gives it his all, and shines with unmistakable inner beauty. one more thing that i noticed, when he gazes at ae-shin or even other people, he slowly blinks just one time, and the blink is like a cat that blinks to his/hers owner expressing love, it's really special, if you know cats. the other actress that i enjoyed very much is of course the adorable, mysterious, badass kim min-jung as kudo hina, she truly kept me on my toes, with her non-ending french designers dresses, hats, jewelry, her quirky intelligence and female intuition, her courage, her undeniable charm. these two characters or i should say actors kept me wanting to see more and more of them, even when i wanted to just leave this show many times throughout, the slow paste of it drove me crazy, the lengthy looking in each others eyes for minutes at a time without any movement or action - i wanted to scream enough already, we get the idea, we are not dumb... the heart breaking good byes between ae-shin and eugen, too many, not justified and always coming back together just to say good bye again - really? some other things that annoyed me to no end i will mention later here... the other two characters that is worth mentioning is yoo yeon-seok as goo dong-mae, perfectly cast in this role, so strong, gorgeous looking, evil, always with endless pain bubbling to the surface, always staying a step ahead of death, and byun yo-han as kim hee- sung, the typical spoiled rich brat, always gambling, loosing and drinking on the account of others. both of these characters, one was born in the lowest class of that society, the other was a son of the richest aristocrats in this area. dong-mae like a ticking bomb on the verge of exploding and taking down all around him no matter how, who or what. kim hee-sung, the aristocrat, who loves all things beautiful, easy going, trying to charm everybody no matter who, making a joke out of any situation. frankly, i did not like these two all the way till the last third of the drama, and then they kind of woke up, tapped into their own morals, grew on me and developed into characters that slowly charmed my heart and i got deeply invested in them all, only to be devastated at the brutal end. the question for me, was it worth spending so many annoying hours of this drama, to finally get to the last third part and especially the last 5 episodes, to finally get so emotionally attached to this characters only to be completely heart broken at the end? i truly did not answer that question yet. and now the most baffling part of this drama - the main female character, ae-shin. i think her character was completely screwed up by the writers, she was the only one one- dimensional as it can be. yes, they wanted to show her burning patriotism for her country and cause, but they deprived her of humanity. wasn't she a physical body like all of us? didn't she have emotions that a woman would express through some kind of affection to the love or her life? the one who gave up ALL that he had in this world for her, his adopted country that he was so proud of, his military career that he loved, his best friend, and finally his own life in exchange of hers. (by the way, eugene choi succeeded somehow to express his love without touching her ever, but it felt like he was stopped by her inner desire to avoid any physicalness) and at all times, there was not a single hug, kiss or any other form of expressing love. how on earth can that be? even when they got married, no hug, no kiss - nothing. and i understand the writers or directors idea of showing extreme patriotism above all, but show at least something... something that would move us and make us believe that she really loves. that was my greatest disappointment and the biggest flaw of this drama. and last but not least i wanted to mention the politics in this drama, that was supposed to be kind of the background to anything else, but took over and became the major part of it. although interesting in terms of korean history (and made me truly hate the japanese cruelty), it was too much of it and became simply boring many times. now that you know "the good, the bad and the ugly" you decide if this drama is for you, if you can tough out to the third part of the drama.
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What an utterly stupid movie.
The premises are interesting enough: two "love swindlers" meet, and their carefully planned arts of seduction are put to the test by the experience of the other. Up to this point, everything's fine: two very good looking people are thrown into some funny situations, keeping the viewer entertained for the duration of… a quarter of an hour.
After that, all the inconsistency of this plot come to the surface. This should be a romantic comedy, but where is the romance? Unless we are to think that beauty were the one and only prerogative to love and be loved, there is absolutely nothing likable about those two. They are cynical, spoiled, prejudiced and irritating. If you expect a character development, a little something to make you empathise with one of them or both, you'll be disappointed. There is no characterization whatsoever here: why are these two disillusioned? No idea. Are they going to change, feel deeper, be taught some valuable lesson by the encounter? No.
All we see is 2 handsome people displaying all their weapons, from beginning to end. The point of a romantic comedy is to satisfy the comedic and the romance. In this movie, the comedic is repetitive and the romance non existent, since who cares about two bad people who stay bad?
I suppose the acting saves the day. Son Ye Jin is unusually feisty and plays her role very well, given the little material she was given to work with. This was my first time watching Song Il Gook on screen, but I know he's played serious roles before, so I guess he did a good job too in portraying a funnier character. Since there is no true soul in this movie though, I can't imagine they had to work hard on identifying with their characters.
Music… can't remember, I'm afraid.
No way I'm ever going to rewatch this movie, I'd rather have my foot be hit with a hammer.
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''The day you wasted today is the tomorrow that someone who died yesterday so badly wished for.''
Whether you'll like ''Chocolate'' or not, it pretty much depends on your mood. If you are looking for intense melodrama which focuses mainly on the romance, then ''Chocolate'' is not for you. But if you are looking for a well-written, soothing story with unqiue main and supporting characters, then you hit the jackpot!I'm almost never in the mood for melos which is why I didn't believe that I'll enjoy this one. I've read different opinions from different reviewers and even though I quite agree with some of the negative things they said, I can't lie that ''Chocolate'' is totally my cup of tea and I loved it even with its flaws.
I think the premise of the drama is a bit misleading -- it looks as if it's a story which focuses on the romance the most, but it's not like that. Actually, you have to wait (quite) a lot to see some heart-warming moments between the two main leads. ''Chocolate'' is one of the dramas that focuses on the supporting characters a lot and yes, I know that in a lot of kdramas that is extremely annoying. BUT it's not the same case here. The supporting characters in this drama were so interesting and loveable and I loved every second of them on the screen. The story takes place in a hospice which means that you'll encounter a lot of dying patients so beware that you'll bawl your eyes out. I loved how they appreciated every patient, how they showed their story and left a message to the viewers. I loved every side story -- the ahjumma and the director of the hospital's story was so heartbreaking and painful, yet very touching and beautiful. The FL-s brother -- Taehyun, was sometimes so annoying to the point that I wanted to slap him hard, but he had his own charm and he brought a different light to the story. Plus some of his words were so strong. So I really appreciated his characters, even though he was flawed. I even liked the scenes with Jun's parents especially in the first half. Well, his grandma was a bit... unlikeable.
Now let's get into my absolute favourite character -- Lee Jun played by the charming Jang Seung Jo. He is for sure the character that developed the most. I really hated his younger version, but he progressed with each episode and I fell in love with him easily. Extremely interesting person, whose life was pretty much ruined by his toxic family -- but who still wanted to change himself and live better. I was so pround of my man! Jang Seung Jo was flawless and I believe he was born to play this character. The bromance between Jun and his brother Kang was something that made me smile the most and the development of their relationship was so beautiful.
The main leads were also very strong and intiguing characters. Lee Kang is, undoubtedly, one of the best male leads out there! I'm not gonna lie, I completely fell in love with Yoon Kye Sang and the way he portrayed his character. Moon Cha Young is an actual strong female lead which is not that often seen in kdramaland. I've never been a big fan of Ha Ji Won; I know she is a good actress, but she has that very specific way of acting which isn't my cup of tea. But I have to admit, she was brilliant here and she definitely managed to impress me. Her acting was so real, it was obvious that she acted with her heart. The romance between Cha Young and Kang was amazing, their chemistry was very natural and convincing.
Yeah, there are a lot of things happening in ''Chocolate'', but they were very well-balanced. All the different characters and their different stories brought different nuances to the overall plot which was nice. There are still a few things that I kind of dislike: the time skips in the first few episodes were not very well done? And kinda confusing; the first half was more interesting that the second and the final episode could have been better but I still loved it; I believe some things needed more explanation but yeah, anyways. I don't think I'll ever rewatch this, because it just won't be the same.
So overall, ''Chocolate'' is a very heart-warming and well-written drama which will heal your heart and soul. It has a very soothing atmosphere which will make you escape from your reality. If you've seen ''Uncontrollably Fond'' by the same writer, maybe you should expect something similar to it but with better story and characters. :D
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Where did this rate come from!
I literally can't understand the reason why this show is so high rated and why ppl put it on their "best till now 2025 bls" lists. It's below mid levels. And not bc of acting skills (I'm not gonna shame the actors. They had a great chemistry), but bc of the scenario. There's zero plot. Every ep was boring with no suspense for what comes next. We got a series on a series? Why should we get long dialogs from what they were shooting? At some point I double checked if I'm watching a Chinese or a Thai show. I waited more after all this noise about it. But unfortunately I got really disappointed.Also the music choice wasn't ideal many times. Its the first time in my life I listen to someone play a monotonous piano melody while im watching a spicy scene. It was so blund. Didn't give any extra feeling to the scene. And what happened to their hairstylist? Both of them, especially Jin, couldn't see with their hair on their eyes the whole time!
And if the rating is a result of the spicy scenes only, be so for real yall! It's not worth it THAT much.
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Started quite good. Ended quite bad.
So... This series was never a favourite of mine but I enjoyed watching it when an episode came out.I'm going to start by the things (or rather, thing) that I liked: the cast. This is - personally - the only good thing in this series. Khao and First are, as usual, very good in their roles, but I particularly want to put Neo's and Louis's acting in the spotlight because they are the ones that impressed me the most. Especially Neo whom I'm used to see acting as the funny character only here to make jokes. In The Eclipse, he shows that he is more than just the funny guy in a series and I'm happy for him. I hope that he will be cast in other serious roles. As for Louis, even though I expected a bit more from his role (like an antagonist, or something) - but it's not his fault -, I really liked his acting in this series.
Now, the thing that I didn't like - or not so much... the plot. Well, it started out with an ok plot - not great, but interesting: a curse and the mystery behind it. But then, it rapidly went down the drain. First, I expected something bigger than just Akk doing all those things by himself. Also, the things in question were not exceptionally frightening. I kind of hoped for Thua being the mastermind behind this curse, it would have been more interesting plot-wise and character-wise. Second, the three guys who protest all the time are annoying and they should have been suspended from the school a long time ago already! I mean, I live in France and our education system is probably different from the Thai's one but... wearing a uniform is not something the school is responsible of, right?... So why demonstrating in front of the school instead of the Ministry of Education? Also, even though they have the right to demonstrate to show their displeasure, if they don't agree with the rules of their school and don't abide by them, I think they have the freedom to change school! I'm a teacher, we have rules, and if a student don't abide by the rules, they are punished and that's how schools work in most countries. So even though, the Suppalo's rules are old-fashioned, the students have to respect them or they have the right to go to another school of their choice.
To finish, I'll talk about the editing that was horrendous, especially episodes 11 and 12. In episode 11, we have a scene in which Thua exposes the truth in front of everyone and Akk and his friends were quite unhappy with this "change of personality" - even though, he was always a bit dodgy in my opinion -, and the next part of the episode, they all are reunited around a table talking about Wat's short film as if nothing happened a few minutes before. That was SO WEIRD. Especially from Kan's perspective because I would have expected him to talk about what happened with Thua (as they were already a thing) but nothing. It was so weird... Also, in episode 12, not only was the whole coming out thing a bit too rushed (Aye could've waited a bit before telling Akk's parents that they were together), the teacher joining the boys on their little trip to Akk's house was also very akward. I sometimes even felt like there was supposed to be a thing between her and Wat and that weird me out.
Anyway, I enjoyed watching the series even though I would definitely not rewatch it as once was more than enough.
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This show is the wake up call that begs us to be more skeptical.
This whole documentary just made me angry. The idea that some people can get so easily manipulated simply by the virtue of a person claiming they have holy guidance makes my blood boil. Rape, torture, murder, abuse, suicide - all because some random person claimed they are Jesus reincarnated. At the same time, it shows how clever these cult leaders were, how well planned their schemes were and how they selected the victims - they did not target everyone. That's why it's so important for us ask questions and rely on more than trust and belief.I’m not going to lie, the level of religious freedom in Korea was always fascinating for me. On the first glance the idea of all the religions being able to rather peacefully coexist in one country, where no one is truly judged by their religious beliefs sounds like a utopia. With this level of acceptance and “no questions asked” comes a big danger though: the country becomes a breeding ground for cults. How many reincarnated Jesuses can there be in the small country of South Korea at the same time?
The documentary presents a rather uncomfortable question: what to do with victims who become perpetrators? How much can be forgiven based on the brainwashing they went through, and how much responsibility should they take for their actions? The leaders were evil, we can all agree. We wanted them to be punished and suffer as much as their victims did. What with the members? Logically speaking you know they are the victims, but it’s impossible not to feel any resentment towards them.
Some people may say it was unnecessarily detailed, unnecessarily graphic, unnecessarily descriptive, but I strongly disagree. Did this documentary make you feel uncomfortable? Angry? Sad? Scared? Good, then it did its job to present the reality of the victims. Saying it was unnecessarily detailed is like saying it was unnecessary realistic - they used real footage of the events, they used real photos, videos and recordings, they used real testimonies - it was not shown for a shock value, it was shown because it was the reality of what happened. The reality was just that shocking, awful and evil.
If I were to complain about one thing production wise - some footages were shown a few too many times, especially of JMS in the first 3 episodes. They kept showing the same videos of him preaching, and that I felt was a bit too much and truly unnecessary. Showing it once would be enough.
TW: I don’t know… feels like anything you can think of: rape, dead bodies, suicide, self harm, abuse, child neglect, child abuse… They show real photos and videos from crime scenes and recordings from victims, even the reenacted interviews are detailed and based on the real statements from real victims. It’s a lot.
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This drama caught my attention from the get go. A team of grim reapers who're on a mission to save people who wanted to kill themselves. It was such an interesting premise that I can't help to go look for the original webtoon ahead of the drama airing to familiarise myself with the story.And I have to say that the webtoon was also very well written. I like how so far the drama's writing stayed pretty close to how the webtoon was written. While I do notice that there are some details from the webtoon that ended up portrayed differently in drama, it doesn't really affect the main story much. And I love how the drama still retain the qualities that made the webtoon well loved.
I also really loved the casting, especially with regards to Kim Heesun and Lee Soohyuk. It really felt like Gu Ryeon and Park Joonggil had literally come out of the webtoon to real life!
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I stuck with this series because of the acting. Gulf did an amazing job with Type and Mew, when his character wasn't creepy or crying, was pretty fun. Mild's Techno was wonderful, I much preferred his interpretation of the character than the one in Love By Chance.Having watched now both T/T and LBC, and read a bit here and there about the other storylines of the novels, it seems that virtually every storyline in this story universe has some element of sexual assault in the backstory or conflict (even Ae/Pete, which is a wholly consensual relationship, is triggered by a sexual assault and blackmail that Pete is trying to deal with). These plot device assaults are not dealt with well, the effects on the characters come and go as suits the storyline, and there are no consequences for rapists. When characters we are supposed to like commit assaults, it's treated as part of the romantic development rather than called out for what it is.
This is particularly badly done in T/T. Type has a traumatic, really major sexual assault in his history. In the entire series, the only scene in which this history was used in a way that felt realistic and important is when he recognizes Tar's trauma, which occurs in the last episode.
Tharn is gross. Just awful. He has zero respect for Type's boundaries. He sexually assaults him multiple times: in the shower; while he's sleeping; tells Type to "watch his ass" after they become friends again and after Tharn knows about Type having been kidnapped and raped; pushes him into a wall and threatens him when he thinks Type is flirting at a bar... just horrible. He agrees to have sex with Type even when Type explains that he is offering because a) he feels like he owes Tharn and b) he's afraid Tharn is going to do it at some point anyway so he wants to get it over with. When someone tells you they don't think they can say no to having sex with you because of factors that don't have to do with their immense desire to have sex with you, going ahead and having sex with them is rape. The writing completely ignores the coercive element of their first time. No, in fact, afterwards, Tharn tells Type that even though he said they could do it just once, it wasn't going to be just once, and then proceeds to continue to pester him until Type gives in again, which basically marks the start of their "romantic" relationship.
These constant assaults are not treated by the writer or director AS assaults, never problematized or called out. They are also really confusingly shot and plotted, to the point where at the beginning I thought we were seeing Type's fearful dreams/worries playing out (which would have been MUCH better, in that we would have understood more Type's reaction while being able to continue respecting/liking Tarn)
On top of the outright assaults, Tharn is horribly emotionally manipulative. We can, of course, dislike Type's homophobia. But given that it's routed in trauma, and that Tharn knows this, a realistic and compelling storyline would have Type moving through his fears and overcoming his prejudices while Tharn gives him some emotional space to process these changes and reconsider his worldview.
What we get instead is that every time Type concedes something, Tharn pushes the next boundary without asking and then gets mad/withdraws affection when Type is upset. On the very day that Type admits they are something more than friends, Tharn convinces him to go out into public and then kisses him IN PUBLIC without asking. On what planet would you expect the traumatised, recently severely homophobic guy who is struggling with his sexuality and only hours ago was willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, there's something more going on between you than being fuck buddies is suddenly ready to be outed at a bar? None. Actual people who understand relationships would not make that move and if they did, they would understand that THEY were the ones who did something wrong.
What does Tharn do? He gets mad, sulks, leaves for days and doesn't come back until Type apologizes.
The Tar storyline is also terrible, but I'm going to leave it here. I can't honestly recommend the show, although I can understand if you just want to kind of close your eyes/mind to the flaws and try to enjoy the fluffy parts, because that's clearly what I did. The characters are so inconsistent that when they are not being awful, they are pretty cute and likeable, so the fun fluffy scenes are there. Still, I'm not sure if it's worth it. I feel sort of gross for having watched it to the end.
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The very reason I watch dramas...
I find myself never bored and happily chasing every episode. Yes there are "dog blood" cdrama tropes but with a male lead like that, I am happy to fantasize and be a little unrealistic. I find myself smiling ear to ear at times and heart wrenching other times, this is the reason why I watch dramas.Positives)
1-a VERY manly, dominant and charismatic male lead
2-hair & costumes are refreshing (not often seen in cdramas)
3-great pacing, plot is compact
4-good fight scenes (not just posing/slow motion)
5-push pull build up to leads' romance
6-both lead characters are smart, strong and great looking (how it should be in idol dramas)
7-bromance
8-not one tone, there's light + heart wrenching moments
Negatives)
1-I prefer listening to actors' real voice but this is all dubbed except female lead. And can cdramas get rid of dubbing please already? It's 2025, an actor's voice is part of their acting and the only way to improve is to have actors keep using it!
2-CG needs improvement but gets less distracting pass a few episodes (this is only an A+ budget drama)
3-director, cinematographer, and filter need more consistency
I took half point off bc of FL's acting. AB improved but still cannot grasp/act complex emotions, surface level in the first half of drama she did ok.
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A suuuper long review coming up, brace yourselves... XDThis drama was the biggest disappointment of 2013. I started watching it because of all the hype around it and for the first two episodes, I was actually really excited. However, it soon became evident that this drama was not going to live up to the expectations that I held.
The very first sign of the drama going seriously downhill was LA. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely city but the way Americans were portrayed was just painful. Yeah, I'm sure those kind of people exist in the USA, just like they do everywhere else in this world, but do they really need to rely so heavily on a couple of stereotypes they've picked up from American TV-shows? Ah, you might argue that this all builds up to the story and Kim Tan's character. But it doesn't. When Kim Tan goes back to Korea, he is completely different from his image in the US. He doesn't do drugs or drink or party or have sex with random girls... like seriously, where did that come from?
Plotwise the LA. sequence is also pretty irrelevant. Kim Tan and Chan Eun Sang could have easily met elsewhere and it would have worked just as well. They could have met in China or Japan or in, I don't know... Korea? Had they met in another Asian country, we wouldn't have had to hear that horrible, unrealistic English that was just another pain in the butt while watching. I feel like they included the LA. sequence to emphasize the luxurious lifestyle or coolness or credibility of the "rich kids", but quite frankly it did the exact opposite.
The next thing that had me doubting the show was Cha Eun Sang. She is by far, the worst character that I've ever seen in a Korean drama. I'm not hating on Park Shin Hye, she's just doing what's on the script, which is nothing more or less than crying about everything as if she was the most antagonized person in the world. The only thing she knows how to do is run away when things start going wrong, instead of fighting for herself. The only good part about this character were the short, very rare moments that she had Bona jealous over Chanyoung and somehow managed to turn that into her own advantage. All in all, I don't understand why two guys as hot and rich and popular as Kim Tan and Choi Young Do would ever waste their time courting her.
Kim Tan's character was also disappointing. Pretty much everything he does during the drama falls under one of these categories: 1. Declare your love for Cha Eun Sang 2. Pick a fight with Young Do. 3. Follow your brother around like a lost puppy. There isn't anything specifically wrong about him, but neither is there anything interesting in this character.
With all this being said about the two main characters, it is no wonder that I found myself more interested in their mothers than their own relationship. Tan's mother and Eun Sang's mother portray one of the sweetest friendships that's ever been seen in a drama. They bicker a lot and in the beginning seem to hate each other but it's actually shown in the end that they can't quite manage without each other. Their relationship was heartwarming.
The plot of the drama is very plain. When I read the summary for the first time, I was expecting to see some hardcore drama relating to business and possible corruption and political involvement and whatnot because come on, it's called "The Heirs", shouldn't it be a relevant part of the plot? Turns out, that no, no it doesn't. The drama relies on clichés and clichés only. There is the setting of poor girl and rich guy, bullying, teacher-student relationship, wrist grabbing, controlling and money-obsessed father, a "rich bitch", arranged marriage and banishment of the main character. There are too many "emotional" staring moments and not enough action. It's a bad baggage.
The music for the drama was good but I had to dock a few marks off it for a reason that I think everyone can guess. Love is the moment. That line double-ruined so many already ruined moments in the drama for me that I can't read a sentence with the words "The Heirs" and "OST" without cracking up laughing. The song is good, but they abused it and in all the wrong moments.
Now for the reasons that you should watch this drama. There aren't that many. Number 1: cast. Yes, the cast for the drama is great. Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye, Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won are all promising young actors although I must say that Lee Min Ho disappointed me here. Maybe it was the character, but he's done better. But Kim Woo Bin and Kim Ji Won are amazing in their roles are Young Do and Rachel. There's Minhyuk, Hyungsik and Krystal representing idols and the ever-so-sexy Kang Ha Neul and Choi Jin Hyuk who make it that much easier to watch. If you're looking for reasons to watch, the cast is one of the only ones.
Other reasons to watch are Choi Young Do and Yoo Rachel. They are the two characters that bring us at least some kind of drama. We all knew this about Woo Bin already but once again he proved that he really is a great actor (much better than Min Ho, sorry). Although the character that he plays is fairly complicating, he captures the dimensions well. Young Do's character was pleasant to follow from the beginning to the end. Ji Won also proved herself for me in this drama. Previously I doubted her skills but as Rachel she was very convincing and actually grew to be my favorite character of the entire drama. Although there is little character development, at least the amount that we see is entertaining and she seems like a believable person.
The final reason to watch this drama are Lee Bona (Krystal) and Yoon Chanyoung (Minhyuk). They are the cutest couple you're going to find. Krystal definitely acts very exaggeratedly but she is cute and fun to watch and her interaction with Chanyoung is just adorable. Bona is also definitely the kindest of the characters, in her own special way. Also, thank you Krystal for saving the English in this drama!
So my final verdict is that The Heirs is not a drama worth watching. Obviously if you're a fan of some of the main actors you should (maybe) give it a go but otherwise, don't waste your time. I give this drama the total of 4/10. 1 point for Bona and Chanyoung, 1 point for Rachel and 2 for Young Do.
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An impressive collection of talent badly underutilized by a troublesome script & production misfires
One of the recent additions to the literature genre is The Recipe Blog. It is characterized by insufferably long backstories rife with unnecessary details, long personal digressions and endless teases that it is about to get to The Big Reveal of, y’know, The Actual Recipe. [scroll scroll scroll “Where is it?!!! Aaaarghh, back to the Google search…]It is easy to imagine the producers of “Jirisan” concocting this show much like the reader of a recipe blog: imagining the beautiful final product, struggling to get through the preliminary preparations, getting to the list of ingredients, then finally running out of patience, throwing them in a bowl haphazardly, giving it a few stirs, tossing it in the oven and going to have a very large glass of whiskey. It’s not that “Jirisan” is an hopeless, ugly mess that doesn’t merit a meal, but it needed a skilled chef at the helm to blend all of the elements together in to something that comes close to approximating the sum of its exceptional parts.
And the parts, in isolation, are a murderer’s row of impressive quality.
The supporting cast is Grade AA+++: Go Min Si as the fresh, novice ranger. Oh Jung Se (OH JUNG SE!!!) as the lonely veteran ranger. Jo Han Chul, Sung Dong Il and Jun Suk Ho are all terrific character actors. The mountain is a gorgeous setting to the show and viewers are treated to some outstanding drone shots of the scenery.
Jun Ji Hyun is the star and is every bit the talented actor needed to anchor a big budget drama. It’s not an award-winning role, but Yi Kang is a a solid lead character - enough complexity and development, a dry sense of humor and the tragic backstory. She is highly guarded personally but has a good development arc as the show progresses.
The other lead is Joo Ji Hoon who stands out more as an actor and his character, Hyun Jo, is the most intriguing of all. Joo Ji Hoon is really as complete a package as there is in the industry - all the physical attributes and a wonderful actor. He is warm and outgoing and understanding of Yi Kang and also exasperatingly driven to stop the killer that has escaped capture. Every time the show puts Hyun Jo in the spotlight, the energy of the show picks up noticeably.
All these various individual qualities, unfortunately, don’t mesh into a scintillating vehicle for entertainment. The chief culprit is, ironically enough, The Culprit. The murder mystery is flat out not particularly suspenseful and “Jirisan” never works out how to generate any measurable amount of tension. A fair amount of blame goes to a script that incorporates so many multiple timelines that anyone outside of a quantum physics practitioner is likely to struggle to make sense of. It also doesn’t help that the present day storyline has both main characters incapacitated to a certain degree and, as a result, incapable of interacting with each other. The show also starts out on a bizarre and awful sequence involving a rescue amidst a embarrassingly badly rendered cgi rockfall. The OST promoted a solo BTSer effort but it is wholly forgettable. And there’s little things like frequent splatters of blood that don’t look anything like actual human blood.
At no point (other than the opening sequence) is “Jirisan” tedious or unpleasant. But this production desperately direction and editing that made it’s little multiverse more accessible and the interaction between the cast members more meaningful and resonant. As it falls short on those areas, it’s very much a middle ground of a show - with some fine actors and a couple of intriguing main characters that are very much in search of a better blend between them.
Is it recommended? Kind of. Maybe? Not really or at least not strongly at all.
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama started so wholesome then it turned bitter and heartbreaking. I was very interested in the main couple in the beginning, as episodes went by the domestic abuse storyline grew and overshadowed the main plot. Patriarchy played a huge role in the way the abuse and the reaction (or lack of) to it was shown. Nobody seems to truly step back and say: you don't deserve to go to jail, you're both victims, his actions were inexcusable, and neither of you were responsible for the situation he created. Instead, it's played as if their intelligence and arrogance as intelligent, beautiful women is partially to blame for the situation.
Both sisters lived their lives as shells, not recovering and basically never speaking about it. They tried to punish themselves in their own ways, hurting Hae Won in the process. Essentially making her the third victim of her father, which I’m sure she would have been if he stayed alive long enough.
I feel like the show gives the abuser (a sort of) free pass, trying to present him as a ‘good’ father and socially likable, as if that makes what he did more okay? I needed a scene where he was vocally called out and branded as he was – a manipulator and an abuser, that scene never happened.
I wish I could end the review with a positive note, but I cannot. Society plays a crucial role (along with the law system) in situations like these. Women should be able to speak up and be heard, not blamed. Society as a whole needs to open the topic of domestic abuse and not bury its head in the sand.
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Not to my liking
There are many high ratings here but I personally did not enjoy this show that much. I also think getting a 10 is abit of an overstretched.Main leads are decent here, nothing to hate or love. FL character is pretty bland, her profession & gaming is nothing special , even why she liked the ML is nothing in depth too. ML on the other hand is more interesting even though it's another built to be perfect character, good at gaming, aerospace engineer, good looking, sweet towards FL. Both yang yang and reba have good chemistry but not the best. YY did better in this show maybe because he is very well suited for "nerdy" roles like love o2o, while i always thought reba's acting was ok only and her character doesn't pulls me in as well.
Plot is also weak; i liked that it explores aerospace and all but the gaming part don't blend in well.
Final verdict: It's a decent watch if u are into visuals, but its not fantastic and too overhyped.
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