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But yet, it was really good!! The story is somehow sad, but really beautiful. Seo In Guk and Wang Ji Won were awesome, portraying a couple who just met, but somehow feel related. Seo in Guk appears to be a very good and apparently lost but adorable alien, who wants to find out what tears are.
In addition, the music is really beautiful. There are, as I said, not a lot of dialogs between the characters, but there is music almost all the time, and it conveys amazingly well the atmosphere and the feelings of the characters.
So in the end, I advise you to watch this, you will be surprised! It is beautiful, and you can't say it's a waste of time, as it is only 50minutes overall!!
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If you're here for Woo Do Hwan, he doesn't disappoint
Starts off with a modern case by case outlook in a historical period. The cases and situations are random, interesting, painful with quite satisfactory endings. There's a bigger thread that connects it all though. This becomes clear within first 2 eps, so not that much a spoiler. This thread paves way for some twists, a love triangle and revenge. And the last few eps completely deal with this part instead of the case by case style.Cons first, not thorough or well covered story for a drama dealing with law and injustice and righteous causes. Gaps within cases and overall thread with how they took certain arcs, also had huge gaps or should I say, they tried so hard to keep things focused on ML who is not technically part of the royal fight, that they completely made it seem like there was only one person with brains in all of the royal court, which is the villain. And some of the build up expectations for certain scenes didn't seem to live up to it. Also, romance.
Pros. Woo Do Hwan is a one man show which is a delight to watch. Whether he's sad, angry, playful, happy or anything really. It's just so nice to watch for some reason. Cast is good. So acting and performance is all good. Dunno anything technical about cinematography but it certainly felt pretty to watch. WDH's relationship with everyone else in the drama is also fun to watch. His best friend, the FL, the SML and the supporting casts. Also his clients.
Overall, drama = 8 + WDH = 8.5
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This review may contain spoilers
One of a kind masterpiece!!!
I never thought I would write a review but this drama left me no other choice.Everything, from cinematography to the haunting soundtrack is pure heart wrenching perfection.
However, I do have to give you a fair warning before you start this journey: This is NOT a BL drama. So if you are looking for a gay romance this might not be the one for you. Crystal Boys is a look at the gay community in the 70s Taiwan. It's dark, gritty, passionate, sad, poetic... it shows you all the different shades of life that luckily most of us don't have to bear anymore.
Watching this feels like reading a deeply sad poem at night while a faint light of the moon is shining in through the window and the world quiets down, letting you completely lose yourself in the endless emotions of your heart...
Now let's dive in a bit deeper - MILD SPOILDERS AHEAD -
The story? 10/10
As I said, this is not just a love story. You will see what it was like to live at that time in Taiwan from perspective of the poor, the rich, the middle class. The plot follows several characters and tells many different stories of the 'crystal boys' trying to find their way despite their varied circumstances. Sometimes it feels almost episodic in nature. It's rich, it will make you feel all the emotions imaginable and most of all, it will stay in your memory long after you finish the last episode.
The cinematography? 10/10
Unlike modern dramas, you can see a lot unique thought that went into each shot. Most of the story takes place at night and the way the drama uses light and shadow is remarkable. Of course, it's an older drama so the quality is very different from what is common today, however in my opinion it only enhances the gritty story it tries to convey.
The acting? 10/10
Perfect cast. Again, this is not a BL. So don't expect every single character to be straight out of Vogue and GQ. The casting is very true to life - you actually get actors who are older than 20 (pure myth in today's day and age). And it all just adds to the realistic feeling of the drama.
Music? 10/10
If I could I would give this category 100/10. This might be one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard. Period. Not just dramas. In general. I was amazed to find a gem like this and had it on repeat for weeks. Each tone will tear your heart to pieces...
Rewatch value? 10/10
This is a subjective rating and also comes from the fact that I wasn't able to find many other Chinese/Taiwanese dramas that would be this serious. These days almost everything is happy and bubbly - which is not a bad thing. However sometimes I crave something serious, dark, poetic... and this ticks all the marks.
Final thoughts:
Do yourself a favor - just watch it. There is nothing even remotely similar among other dramas - so at least for the unique experience of seeing something completely different, give it a shot. You might just find your new heartbreaking obsession.
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On the other hand, the cast was great. While the supporting cast did as the script demanded fairly well, the show excels primarily because the leading cast members were strong actors. From Jang Tae San all the way to Soo Jin, everyone's acting was superb. What makes it even better is that the supporting cast knew their job and didn't clash with the leads in terms of standing out.
Music wise, BGM was awesome. It changed the atmosphere and brought emotion to already emotion-filled scenes. My biggest complaint about the music is that one track in the OST stood out the most to me and that was the song by Nell played at the end of every episode though even that isn't that much of a big deal because it's a great song.
As we get to the topic of Re-watch Value, I must say that despite how great this show was, it doesn't have much Re-watch Value. My reason for this is because of the narrow-mindedness. It was overwhelmingly frustrating as a viewer (even though that's the whole point). Ironically though, it's funny that such intelligent people could be so blind about something.
Overall, Two Weeks is great. I was definitely in love with its pacing because sometimes I can't stand shows that fluctuate in terms of momentum, but this one kept it going at a nice pace. Even more so, the lead female was beautiful and her in-show daughter was absolutely adorable, and for that, I felt more compelled to get to the end game of the story in hopes that everything will end up okay for all of them. With that being said, my biggest problem with the show is that it's a watch-it-once kind of show but that shouldn't stop anyone from watching this great drama (at least once, haha).
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Felt like a state sanctioned anti-suicide infomercial
Ok. So I know the rating and review title might be confusing.This show has some great acting, the quality of production is fantastic. The music was great. Some of the stories were really interesting and it’s for the most part well-written.
HOWEVER, if I hadn’t been watching with someone else I would have dumped the show. It felt like I was being lectured about suicide but in a very strange way. Korea has a very high suicide rate and maybe that plays into it, but some of the message delivery was clunky and anyone with an ounce of common sense can throw the reasoning out of the window. Maybe they hoped to make people think again about giving life a chance, maybe scare them into carrying on. I dunno guys, it just fell flat.
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This review may contain spoilers
First of all what a journey it has been with all the uncertainty of subs for us and the struggle of subbing in the midst of all the chaos and nonsense for the Subbers. Therefore, I'll begin with my heartfelt gratitude to them who have made our viewing experience utmostly satisfying with the subs in spite of all that rubbish going on. You guys are @ma(u)zing.Now the review. Well, sort of... (SPOILER AHEAD)
I had been waiting for this one ever since I had laid my eyes on the teaser. Reason: 1) Mik, of course, do I even need to say! 2) Pooklook. I liked her in Roy Ruk (despite the masochism). As soon as I found out it'll be the two of them I knew that the chemistry will be sizzling and they went beyond my expectation (just as I expected). My computer screen was melting each time they were together in a scene (even the no-kiss ones).
Story-
The story is as the description says. It was nothing interesting for me but I didn't care because of the obvious reasons. There were the usual preposterous Lakorn cliches save few but I am well-conditioned to them after two years experience. The most gripping part of it was the relationship of the leads which is the heart of the show. I don't know about others but as long as they were before my eyes I didn't give a hoot about what absurdity was going around. There were some things though that were still difficult to digest. Like, why on earth was the evil-doer forgiven in the end without facing any consequence! His growing-up circumstances cannot be an excuse. And how on earth after exhibiting complete Game-of-thrones kinda intentions towards his half-sister everyone behaved so normal around him in the family at the end! Actually, I sorta fast-forwarded through some parts in the last one and a half episodes. Did I miss any revelation concluding to such kind of casual yet weird behaviour? Please let me know. But then again I told myself that it's a Lakorn where anything is possible which is the charm and addiction of it.
Actors-
This is my favourite character of Mik till date. He has been playing these quarter-to-nice-boy roles with the mood-swing and attitude-swing of a schmuck toward his ladies in all of his shows so far. This was a complete 180-degree turn which I enjoyed the most. His acting is getting better with each of his projects and he is obviously pretty awesome at the chemistry department. And might I just add how wonderfully he played this role. His XXXL adorability added a triple sugar coating about my heart. It was simply delightful to watch him as a loving and devoted husband.
Pooklook's acting was better in her previous works. I think she's good in the heavy-duty intense and serious scenes. Here her chops were a bit lacking in the lighter ones. About the chemistry, of course, it's a given and I'll be repeating it in every other line I think, she is a pro. The last scene had my hair fly off my head (my real hair, no wig). I've never seen (that I can think of) a girl taking charge like that in a Lakorn before, except for Yaya when she was Nadech. Loved Pooklook's professionalism.
Supporting Characters-
The side characters were just that, the side characters. I didn't find them anything remarkable. The personal assistants/bodyguard of both the leads were sweet. The runaway bride and groom bothered the heck out of me. Call me a selfish sadist or whatever but I despised them to bits and didn't want them to be happy. Both of them were extremely selfish. At first, I thought that the girl will be somewhat better than the jerk but she was as devious, blaming the girl whose man she ran away with, at any chance. But then the writer, director whoever, decided everyone deserves a happy ending and karma is your forgetful friend who gets back at no one except maybe a bit at the crazy MIL.
Altogether, I liked it since the story of the MCs relationship is as per my satisfaction and that's what I look for in a show like this, mainly. Although the girl was impossible in the beginning she came around soon enough and she had reasons for being how she was. I will watch it again just for Mik and Pooklook.
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As the drama progressed, however, I found myself wanting to skip through some of the repetitive dialogues in hope of moving through the storyline faster. About 1/2 way through, I really began getting annoyed with the lack of creative dialogue and storyline, combined with the stereotypical characters and their nonsensical actions. A lot of the drama and emotional turmoil seemed insubstantial and unrealistic, while many of the characters lacked clear and positive development. The antagonists in this drama lacked any humanity to the point of fixated insanity, while the protagonists who started out dynamic and proactive became apathetic, compliant and indecisive to the point of aggravation.
All in all, if this drama had ended at 16-20 episodes, it would have more than sufficed, as it is more or less a pretty stereotypical plot, storyline, and characters.
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WOW, just WOW. I'm so impressed with this drama! There's absolutely no words words to describe how good it is. Although I'm a guy, I was soooo
touched and neverthless made my laugh at the same time... This is a drama that made influence of what I do and choose in life. People might think that this just a drama to watch for fun, and yes I agree but at the same time it is touching and will leave a lesson for everyone. So, If you want to watch a drama where comedy, family, revenge, romance, bromance, happy moments and sad moments are involved, WATCH IT NOW!
Story: The story isn't just outsandting, it is an absolute masterpiece. The writting was amaizing. Credit to the writer, she/he did an amaizing job to keep the balance between the story. I just couldn't ask for more and was left speechless! I really loved how the writer managed to hold the comedy, romance, revenge at right moments. So the writer was never left out of ideas, she/he always came up with new ones and kept you entertained. EVERY SINGLE EPISODES KEEPS YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SIT. Forgot to say that! It's just an amaizing story!
Acting/Cast: The director choosed right actors/actresses in this drama. Everyone did an incredible job. Noone can argue with that. I was very moved by the acting, espcially by Jong Bo-Seok and NAM GOONG MIN! Nam goong min should get the most credit for his acting in this drama. He didn't a thing wrong. Portrayed his character amaizingly without any sort of problem. His acting and character was really touching and good! But I can't really say that anyone failed to portray their own characters. Everyone did it SOOOOOOOOOO well.
Let's not forget the child actors/actresses, they were out of this world! Now, I'm someone who dosen't like to see child actors in dramas but I was so into them that barely noticed that they were just the child actors. Credit to them, can'´t take anything away from them. Carried the drama really good.
I was also impressed with the directing. The director, as everyone in this drama, did an amaizing job to get the best out of the cast!!
Music: I didn't really pay that much attention to the music but it had it's own parts when it carried the touching scenes! It was really good, I've got to say that!
Rewatch: I usually don't rewatch dramas but I just have to rewatch this one to not forget the lessons it gave me. And not only that, the comedy scenes were top notch. Unforgettable.
Overall: This is a must watch and I really mean it! If you haven't seen it yet, WATCH IT. Don't think twice, just watch it! You'll get to see everything you want to see, and all in one drama, what more could you ask for? This is what I call a real MASTERPIECE! 10/10!!
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Story:
I personally found Anohana as a live action to have met and well-exceeded my expectations of what i thought the drama would be like. Some fans may complain that the plot is not followed to the T, but that is exactly what i appreciated the most. An 11 episodes anime squeezed into 2 hours is quite an incredible feat by itself, and i am impressed the essence (friendship and portrayal of Menma) still remains. Kudos to the production team. The live action is well-executed and is as realistic as it can get given the supernatural-ness that surrounds the whole story. The only complaint is that the characters are not being developed enough to show us how different each of them are from one another and how Menma's death affected them, that It kind of became plot-driven. Still amazing nonetheless.
Acting/Cast:
The cast is awesome. There is no other way to describe how great the cast work to portray the originality of the characters (i felt that they did their homework, and they aced it). However, it is a tad disturbing/uncomfortable when you see tears and more tears as the story progressed. I mean i am impressed how much the actors could cry and the whole point is to be tear-jerking. Yet especially in the second half of the movie, it felt as if the story could not continue without any tears. Like seriously? I do believe however that the young actors/actresses are quite new for i never heard/watched them before. They are definitely worth looking out for :)
Music:
For the whole duration of the movie, there is only one song playing from what i have heard -- ''secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ (10 years after ver.)''. It was the ending song for the anime. This is my bias-ness speaking for this very song is one of my few favorite Japanese songs ever, but it does fits perfectly into the whole atmosphere of the live action. I love how both the original song and the instrumental version are played.
Emotional? Check.
Beautiful friendship? Check.
Selfless Menma? Check.
What more can one ask for? But be forewarned: prepare a (or a few) box full of tissues before you start watching because you would need it (my tears flowed like a dam throughout the entire movie).
Definitely highly recommended! :)
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Are you ready to meet the Delulu (Delusional) Family?
After a long time, I finally decided to watch this series. I was convinced after watching a couple of clips and when I went in I got so excited. I was too determined that I even used my sick leave thinking I could finish it in a day. That's how fascinated I am with this rich/chaebol drama. Unfortunately, the fun started fading midway as it felt too stretchy. Small wins then big blows which is not that bad, it's just not as exciting for me. I finished the series just for the sake that I want to see how things ended.Acting-wise, I feel like Im SooHyang carried most of the series together with Bae JongOk. They're both powerful actresses that made their characters come to life which is the main reason as well that I kept going.
I personally don't know someone as rich as the same level as this family but the whole drama going on is so fascinating that I'm actually relieved I'm not as rich as them. There's a lot of twists here and there making it interesting but I kind of feel sad how the ending was rushed.
I'd still recommend this if you're into crazy rich dramas/scenarios or if you want to see rich people fight each other with class but might not be everyone's cup of tea.
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Acting: I have to give high props to both Seo Woo (Kang Yi Kyung) and Kim Yeo Seo (Kang Seo Yeon). These two women did an excellent job in making you love and hate them. The things Seo Yeon did to her sister, wow! I cannot give anything else away on that.
The two male leads, Lee Ji Hoon (who I love) and Park Jin Woo were at best decent. It was my first experience with Park Jin Woo, such a handsome guy and I look forward to see more of him in the future.
Overall, unless you have hours and hours to invest, these short 30 minutes will sweep you into a story of family, revenge, and murder unlike any you have seen before (okay, Yellow Boots is next)!!
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It goes from being a typical drama in the first few chapters to something so much bigger than that afterwards. It is like an onion(Shrek, too much?), it has many layers and you only discover more the further you watch it.
It is a love story, a family story, a story about forgiveness, a story about being true to yourself and your feelings, but it is also a story about treason, about the two sides of the story, that not everything is what it seems at first sight.
The characters are really well written, each has a hidden depth that you see little by little. The drama pushes you to watch more for you to understand the story, it doesn't lays it out at simple sight like most dramas do.
I saw this when it came out in 2009 and I remember being super impatient all week waiting for the next chapter to air. Since then I've watched it two times. I have the OST on my computer, and the MV of the theme song.
Taiwanese dramas are always being underrated because of the acting, but anyone who watches this will be really impressed with it, and if I have to name my favorite actor, it definitely is the little boy, he's just so cute and adorable, yet mature.
If you are reading this is because either you haven´t watched it and you aren't sure if it's worth your time, or you have already watched it and want to see if anyone feels the same way about this drama that you do. If you are in the first category, let me tell you that yes, it is worth your time, this is a brilliant drama by any standard, and even if you don't like love stories (very unlikely because you watch dramas) you won't be able to deny that this is genius. And if you are in the second category, yes, I think like you, this is genius and it is one of my favourite dramas. If I had a flavor of the week of "sucker for romance dramas" this one would definitely would be in there. Either way, I hope you find this review helpful.
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The Characterisation: So wonderful. I still don't know how they managed to effectively portray and explain the motivations and personalities of the characters and develop them so well within 8 episodes. With the exception of one minor character, everyone is so beautifully captured and explained in this story.
The Plot: Amazing and really intriguing. It was a pretty crazy ride but it was completely realistic. One major credit to the drama is that it deals with some really H E A V Y topics but it is still hilarious and respectful. The way in which the drama unfolds this story is so realistic but also enjoyable without weighing you down. In this regard it is a similar watch to Sky Castle, there are really touching moments, very dark and sad moment amongst very important lessons while maintaining a fresh, light air to it. (Disclaimer: it is a very different drama from sky castle, I am referring here to the feeling of watching)
The Music: This was forgettable for me, didn't feel like I wanted to listen to the songs outside the drama. I will say that the music matched well with the show and there was never any songs that felt out of place with where the story was going at all.
Personal Fave: A lot of the script is very beautiful and poetic. This is stronger if you have a relatively good understanding of Korean but also translates into English really beautifully. Perhaps because one of the main characters was a budding poet it was a stylistic choice? The best part about it is that its poetic without ever being pretentious r feeling disingenuous to the setting of High School.
Overall: I am not a big fan of high school dramas as I am older and sometimes find the writing of teenagers quite unrealistic and overly juvenile. This drama was so wonderful in its portrayal of both teenagers, the people around them and the less flowery events that sometimes young people have to deal with. It is highly recommended to anyone that likes touching shows but also want to laugh. Great Quarantine watch!!
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A Touch of Green is consistently heartbreaking, heavy in its themes, yet amazingly gripping, painfully realistic and most importantly, so very human. A shining gem in the age of stagnating Taiwanese dramas, this terribly underrated show is 100% recommended for its superb subtleties in writing, excellent character developments and fantastic acting amongst other things.
Strong female characters in a feminist drama, three-dimensional yet flawed characters, a touch of romance and sheer quality in writing+dialogue intertwined with great acting - what's there not to love?
PLOT: It is hard to summarise this show into a seemingly exciting synopsis without sounding like every other historical drama. In fact, it’s because there are SO MANY THINGS happening that you are just pulled along with each episode without much time to think about what just happened. And things don’t necessarily happen in clear cut arcs either, unlike more simplistic drama plots. What are cliches even?
However, a more important reason for this is the sheer heavy nature of the show. The first third of the drama is still fairly easy to watch quickly given its relatively more lighthearted nature. The show even arguably has its fair share of unexpected comedy to balance the heartache.
But soon, you will realise the drama is gonna take you to discover new lows. Just when you think that things cannot get worse, the drama proves you wrong time and again. It seems nearly impossible not to cry at all throughout the entirety of the show.
Hence a word of warning for all those (planning on) watching this, this drama definitely requires mental preparation. However!! This should never act as deterrent for you from watching the show! The story and characters are all so good there was no way my friend and I were planning to drop this.
CHARACTERS: In this highly character-driven plot, the characters are the backbone, flesh and the shining glory of this drama in many essences.
Again, it is hard to describe the main characters succinctly because it would do them no justice at all to create a stereotype for them to fit in. All of them are so complex and unique that the show definitely acts to shatter typecasting of the actors themselves.
In a nutshell attempt, Zhu Qing is independent and takes no BS from anyone yet beholds an unspoken innocence. Guo Zhen is also not just a charismatic and defiant pilot, but also harbours darkness in his heart only leaked through his sarcastic jabs and comments.
A great source of enjoyment from this show was simply watching the character development of all of the characters, especially across the more obvious “arcs” across time. It was also brilliantly portrayed and written how the characters kept their quirks and personality in some way or form across time. Yet all of them also grew and changed because of their respective painful experiences into new roles that the audience would never have thought to expect from the characters.
Human nature is so strongly presented in this show to our delight~. None of the characters are stereotypically “good” or “bad”. Most significantly, the wives and their seemingly demure nature is contrasted with the sacrifices and moral dilemmas that they are willing to go through for their husbands.
The relationship between the main characters are also constantly changing with new events. While they are friends and love each other, they fight, they leave snide remarks, they seek forgiveness and even betray each other.
Sometimes the characters even do seemingly inexplicable and irrational things, yet that is exactly what makes the show so human and complex. Even minor new characters are constantly introduced with almost none of them disappearing insignificantly.
STORYTELLING: Another part about this show I enjoyed very much was the narration/dialogue and many subtleties delivered in the filming direction.
Using the voice of Mo Ting, Xiao Zhou’s daughter and various objects in the show, many beautiful metaphors are delivered – the fake math equation 5×1=3, time being a drug with unknown side effects; a dove; plane 513; and the pilot’s bomber jacket next to Shi Niang’s qipao being kept.
There is simply so much depth being included into every scene whether with dialogue or not that not a single scene should be missed
OST: The main reason that I came to know of this drama was through Hebe Tien’s OST MV for this show titled "As it is" which can also be translated as “Numbed” or “Jaded”. This theme song alone epitomises much of the show’s heartbreak and complexity in its lyrics and appropos dramatism.
Clearly, the MV was enticing enough to reel me in to desperately find sources for it just to find out what this interesting-looking story was about.
REWATCH VALUE: There's probably so much more subtlety to appreciate from the script through rewatching, especially with the level of depth and complexity in the writing of characters. Hence, there should be a lot to still enjoy in the sheer quality of this drama, as long as you're prepared for the whirlwind of emotional drama to ensue.
CONS: If there is any thing to complain about this show, it’s that it can be hard to understand. The show uses specific and historically related references, so it’s somewhat easy to get lost and not catch why certain things are happening to the characters. Simultaneously, the characters themselves often use roundabout sarcastic jabs and often don’t mean what they say. So once you lose the context, it’s hard to understand what they really intended to mean.
PLEASE do give this show a try, because this show is really THAT good. I cannot do enough justice to this epitome of an underrated drama which swept accolades at the 2016 Golden Bell Awards, other than you being able to simply watch it and see it for yourself.
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