Reviews

Story is nothing new, it's one of the most common clichés about bestfriends falling in love.
However, the story-telling is a bit new. I did not realize how a very short film without speaking parts can speak volumes with just their actions.

And here the acting comes in as natural as if the actors are living it. The small touches, the glances, the visible clearing of throats, all gestures
contribute to the beautiful and poignant telling of the story of requited or unrequited love. (depending on one's view).

The music brings attention to the flow and ebb of emotions and moves the story along.

Re-watch value: The need to play this movie over and over again is quite strong, and quite tempting as it is short.

Overall, a very short and sweet film.

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It had the potential to be great but it was just mid:(

I like the start of the series. The kids are amazing actors, really so talented. They could really awoke some feelings within viewers. The plot was great at the beginning. I like the concept of family by choice and not the blood.

Both father figures were great, you could really feel the love they had for the kids. But both mother were infuriating, i was so mad while watching so yeah great choice of actors on both sides.

I like the cast overall and didn’t mind the time jumpes, but what irks me the most is this - when i read about what this series was about its says that juwon was mad at them for leaving her (as she should be). And then all of this to just resolve in a couple of minutes?! They left her behind for 10 years! And withing (I think an episode) they come back, she stops being angry with them, and starts daring San-ha? Like what?

I get that they could not prolong the plot but still they should film maybe 20episodes not just 16. Everything seemed rushed. It would be way better for them to take it slow i mean we all know san-ha liked her before but it would be way better for junwo to realise her feelings on her own as the time passed. I was kinda disappointed.
I mean she was mad at her oppas and then the next moment she was dating one of them?? Also the description kinda implied rivalry for her love? I was really disappointed.

Also San-ha was traumatized, suffering with ptsd, it was a great opportunity to talk more about mental health but it was just brusher under the carpet. This was another great example of rushing through.

I think it maybe is my fault for expecting too much of it, but after watching love next door and hearing all the praise it got of course i had higher expectations because family by choice also got a lot of praise over social media.

Don’t get me wrong it’s not the worst kdrama i watched but it is definitely overrated and overhyped. But maybe if you don’t have any expectations it could be okay. I dont know.

So to conclude - great actor choice, lovely meaning about family, but rushed plot. Its kinda sad it really had all the potential:(

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this drama starts off very promising for me, I was looking forward on how their relationship would progress, from the main characters to the supporting ones as well, the political part was also very interesting. I was curious on how the whole storyline will unfold. Well, sadly, it didn't live up to my expectations. After around the 6th or 7th episode, I lost my interest, the whole storyline became so slow, I feel like nothing happen in some episodes to the point that I wasn't focusing at least 60% of the time. the main leads relationship was cute, i like them, but not like superrrr simping over them. the whole political things gets boring, nothing big was happening to make me excited for the next episode. also, i don't get why this drama have 20 episodes yet the writings at the end wasn't well written. The ending was kinda idk missing some umph. but the acting was amazingggg and the osts were good too. well, it was a mediocre saeguk drama for me, nothing too good or too bad, i honestly can't remember the storyline :')

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~LONG REVIEW AHEAD~WARNING~
There are two different responses which came about after this drama aired and that is this (1) It's terrible. Way too melodramatic and the directing and writing was a mess and (2) It's unique, crazy, and fun. It doesn't follow the guidelines of your typical Romance drama.

Because of this, I feel it is very hard to review this drama. but I thought I would give it a try anyway.

So here I go....
As I said above, most people who have seen this drama either LOVE it or HATE it. It's one of the things which comes with the territory of completing a very unusual drama. You're either going to think "What is this?!" or "Wow, interesting!"

So I decided for this review I would give two different standpoints. (1) The negative aspects and (2) The positive aspects. Both will contradict each other at points siince it depends on the person themselves viewing the show. Some people may see a scene from this drama as not being well put together, while others might applaud how it fit well with the crazy story itself.

Story-
(1) (Negatives)
-The main couple is stressful to watch a times. You could even call them a "Bi-polar" type of couple.
-The stories pacing is always up in the air. At times everything is going really fast and at other times everything is going very slooooow.
-Some scenes don't always work well together. The directing isn't always there.
-At times you could consider the story melodramatic when it doesn't need to be.

(2) (Positives)
-The main couple doesn't live by your usual Korean drama couple. They shout at each other, and they fight each other You can always see them as real.
-The pacing is all over the place because the people themselves in this drama are all over the place.
-You won't expect what will happen next in a scene because you can't always expect how someone with "mental issues" will react.
-The story can be sad at times because we are following the daily lives of people with "mental issues"and life isn't always happy when you don't fit societies "normal person".

Acting/Cast-
This may be my own biased view on things, but I don't see any reason to dislike the cast. All of them played each role to the best of their ability.
The only reason why you may not like an actor or actress in this drama is if you went in not being a big fan of them already.

Music-
I didn't hear or feel any complaints about the OST. Personally, I loved it! One thing they definitely did well was the music.

Overall-
This drama is really all about your perception on thing and how you see things in your life. It can either be relatable or out of this world crazy!
It's not your usual Korean drama. So I suggest giving it a try. If you aren't really enjoying the drama midway then you probably won't enjoy the rest of drama.

Views on this drama definitely vary and I would say your view will vary too if you complete it. My rating mainly is how I felt about the drama.

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This drama is very light-hearted, unlike most Chinese dramas. The romance takes until episode 15 until it actually starts to progress, but the first 15 episodes are with Bu Meng and her friends.

I recommend watching this drama if you are looking for something light-hearted. The bad news is that there are only a few episodes that have been subbed, so for those who don't understand Mandarin, you won't be able to understand; however, I still encourage people to watch it for fun and I hope that more subs will be out soon so everyone can give this drama a try.

** EDIT: The ending was kind of disappointing. It was a HAPPY ending though so I'm not completely dissatisfied with it but it was very underwhelming.

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A school BL which is not stupid or superficial...

This is a sensible series about self discovery and jumping over each others shadow, with a lot a emotional baggage and finding together in the end.

What makes this series special is we have a clear gay guy from the start and one with a dark past, but also someone who does have a sexual relationsship with the friend of his brother. Of course that's not an ideal solution, they have been "forced" together not because of love but to cope with their their world. The older one loves his brother without a chance of having a relationsship and the younger boy was bullied because of this feelings for another boy. Both compensate with sex to overcome their loneliness.

Kanata enters Akiras world in an unexpected way and that begins to heal Akiras broken heart but also induces the fear his past will repeat itself. Akira has a to overcome his baggage and Kanata has to face his unexpected feelings. After many struggles both decided in the end to stop running away and face each other.

While not perfect the direction was a very sensible one, showing the struggles of both characters. But the end could have been better with a bit more punch and as so often we don't get a real kiss. Both ML struggled a bit with their performances but it was not really a deal-breaker. Production quality was also nothing I can complain about. Everything was put into frame with a deliberate focus. Overall I enjoyed this mature approach compared to all the thai crap (Duang with You for example) so much more. So yes, I would recommand all of you to watch this!

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I really need a Season 2 for this!!

Firstly, I'd totally recommend this show if people out there want a soft romance with Fantasy, Action and Comedy elements mixed into it.

The main reason I began the series was the description. As a person who always reads the description first, I have this tendency to drop japanese series without much thought to it, but this time I assure you this series was so much better than what I thought.

As the title of this review says, I think with the limited japanese series I've watched, this one had the best fight scenes. I got hooked up for them from the start.
Then came the comedy. Laughed throughout the show. And the Fantasy, with the whole Youkai, it was a new type of fantasy I'd watched.

Finally, the cute romance. It was so cute that I have a whole list of cute romance shows like this. I loved how Izzy kept protecting Hachi and how Hachi kept on going about how she shouldn't kill anyone anymore. It was cute.

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Disappointing

Promised everything delivered nothing. The pilot was amazing, the show itself is predictable and basically has no plot. It’s the same thing happening every episode. The idea was there but they didn’t deliver. The actresses are amazing tho.
Gorya is either suffering or being a bitch for no reason.
Shasha no complaints, good character.
Bambi is fun, she’s a interesting character, but predictable.
Prim is meh.
Praew is so annoying, why do you keep pressuring the girl you like to come out when she’s not ready? My god this girl annoys me.
Min is a good character, good storyline but has a bad romantic interest

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One of the Must-Watch dramas of 2023.

*chefs kiss *

What a drama. What a cast. Easily one of the best dramas of 2023.

This drama didn't waste anytime in establishing who or why a Vigilante became a Vigilante in the first place. It started off with a bang and never allowed room for distraction or time to relax. It was fast paced with well written storyline and direction.

Nam Joo Hyuk was amazing as the dark hero. I always thought he was a romantic hero, but in this drama he shined as an anti hero. And I can't stop raving about Lee Joon Hyuk. I absolutely loved loved every single scene he was in. I have loved his character in Stranger, so in this drama I knew I would I totally dig him and I did. He really excels with characters like these.

What I adored about this drama was that there was no unnecessary fillers or screen time. Every single character is there for a reason and a purpose. Also, it's amazing how the drama didn't waste one single frame. With a tight script, brilliant actors and a perfect storyline, this drama got it all.

9.5/10

Now all this drama needs is a Season 2!!!!!! And easily I would be rating it as a perfect 10.

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An absolute banger of a drama.

An amazingly well written comedy that transcends the tired time-leap trope. The combination of an unreal cast and well-written, realistic dialogue brings the characters to life, so much that you can't help but miss them by the end of the show.

The screenwriting is brilliant, the story is well paced with rising stakes, great plot twists, foreshadowing, callbacks and solid character development. The show alternates between observational and situational comedy while the underlying story has darker undertones.

The cast is absolutely awesome with a great alchemy overall. Still, Andou Sakura's performance deserves a special mention with her full-body acting style, constantly matching her posture and motion to the emotional state of her character. This alone adds to the rewatchability of the show.

The soundtrack as well as numerous references to older television drama and anime not only help ground the timeline but are sometimes part of the plot.

Overall, this show is a must-watch, easily the best drama I've seen.

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I’ll start by saying that if you enjoy the original you will enjoy this one. I have now officially seen them both. I was a little hesitant to watch this one as I feel somewhat strange about the first one but I decided to give it a shot hoping that it would take a different approach however it did not. The positives; the cast did an amazing job portraying the characters who they were intended to be. Their emotions were evolved very well and it was very convincing. The supporting cast were good as well. I have nothing negative to say about the acting, the wardrobe or the quality of film however the plot itself was a bit disturbing. I felt the same about the first one. To summarize they have essentially turned a victim into a spouse.

I have watched a similar series but for some reason I didn’t get the same vibes like I got with this one. This one was a little eerie. Please don’t read below if you don’t want this boiler. What we have is our female lead who went away for a while and came back to discover that her boyfriend had not only cheated on her but had also gotten married. He was very apologetic and continue to make attempts to get her back. Once the wife’s brother finds out about it he then lies to the girls parents that he defiled her and that he loved her and wanted to marry her just so he could make sure she was unavailable so his sisters husband wouldn’t go back to work. This twisted part is that the parents dumped her (her being unaware) off in the middle of nowhere with this guy and left her there. He essentially harassed her and bothered her to the point that he started to like her. As a viewers I assume that we were supposed to empathize with him and hope that they would end up well. As a female I was again, Disgusted by the fact that the writers thought it was sweet for her to fall in love with somebody that lied on her, harassed, stalked her and caused her family to look down on her for his own reasons. To make matters worse she had no idea that he was her ex boyfriends brother-in-law. Other events take place and he pretty much kidnapped her and tortures her. Long story short they love each other again and live happily ever after.

This is the most twisted crap I’ve ever seen. Not only was the male leads behaviors equivalent to that of a psycho, her parents willingness to hand her over was even more disgusting. I did not find this romantic but I did find it creepy and somewhat disturbing. I don’t care how many fields of flowers you walk in the whole plot and was sick and unromantic. I gave it a 6 for the acting.

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Steamy and Sexy with Hot Kisses!

WOW! The start of this drama will make you wonder what you are watching, but let me tell you, the smile that will come across your face is so worth it.

We all know Dai Gao Zheng who has been in some of the steamiest short dramas such as: Maid’s Revenge, Bride’s Revenge, Her Revenge, Forever Love, you get the picture. But this drama, puts all those to shame.

The second episode, whew, but let me stop getting ahead of myself.

This story is about ML (Dai Gao Zheng aka Gu Lin Yuan) and FL (Tu Zhi Ying aka Yun Fei Fei) who both belong to different sects. Gu Lin Yuan is the Enforcer of the Qian Kun Sect and Yun Fei Fei is Head Constable of the Liushan Agency. Their first meeting had to do with the Perish Pills that were being sold illegally. Both Gu Lin Yuan and Yun Fei Fei have a huge fight which led to both of their masks coming off, revealing their true identities to each other.

Yun Fei Fei had been searching for Gu Lin Yuan for two years. Standing right in front of her was the man that she loved--Gu Lin Yuan the enforcer of the Qian Kun Sect. To say she was shocked was putting it mildly. She was truly excited to see him but for Gu Lin Yuan, he was indifferent, cold and mean to her after finding out who she was. Yun Fei Fei was perplexed and could not understand that the man she held so dearly in her heart could be this way.

She tells Gu Lin Yuan she heard that he was marrying SFL (Liu Xi Yu aka Du Xiao Yu) and she was not willing to allow him to marry her. By far, this has to be the HOTTEST make out scene in a dressing room EVER. Yun Fei Fei begins to undress Gu Lin Yuan, belt goes, robe goes until he pushes her away and tells her she is crazy. Why is that? Because right next door is Du Xiao Yu trying on her wedding dress. Yun Fei Fei tells him is he afraid of her hearing them. So, what is a woman to do. She starts undressing and when she reveals her bare shoulder, he pushes her away only for her to start kissing him. I mean kissing him. He snatches her up, literally and puts her on the dresser in the room, hands over top of her head, this man is going for it until you hear Du Xiao Yu ask if he is okay. But how can he answer when he is in deep, I mean deep into some hot kisses with Yun Fei Fei. He finally pushes her back with his eyes glazed over, he tells Du Xiao Yu he is coming. I mean that seriously is the hottest kissing scene that will make you want to see more. You will be rewatching this scene. He is all over Yun Fei Fei. Whew!

Let’s talk about the wedding. Yun Fei Fei sneaks into Gu Lin Yuan’s room as he is preparing for the wedding only for Du Xiao Yu to come in. Gu Lin Yuan throws Yun Fei Fei in his bed to hide her from Du Xiao Yu, but she decides that she will dress there for the wedding. The sexiness between these two is crazy. While Du Xiao Yu is changing, we have Gu Lin Yuan getting more kisses from Yun Fei Fei who is in the bed unbeknownst to Du Xiao Yu what is going on behind her. Gu Lin Yuan knows that Du Xiao Yu is about to come out, so he lifts up Yun Fei Fei who starts kissing him again while Du Xiao Yu is calling his name, and he is kissing Yun Fei Fei until he hits Du Xiao Yu and knocks her out. Yun Fei Fei takes the place of the bride. Crazy! They don’t get married because Du Xiao Yu comes in and interrupts.

Yun Fei Fei is not without a man herself -- SML (Chris Zhu aka Xiang Li Ting). We see a jealousy creep into Gu Lin Yuan when he sees Xiang Li Ting holding Yun Fei Fei’s hand. He is thoroughly ticked off because he thinks they have a relationship, and he doesn’t like it. Xiang Li Ting wants to stop the animosity between the two and offers them tea to settle their differences. Wait until you see him drink her tea…whew! He drinks the tea on same side of the cup as her. You know, kissing without kissing. Oh yeah! You have to love this man's sexiness in every way.

We do find out what had happened to cause Gu Lin Yuan and Yun Fei Fei to leave each other. Yue Tianxing, Liushan Agency’s Grand Constable, tried to rape Yun Fei Fei. You see Yun Fei Fei was considered the "foster son" of him and had been in disguise for many years. Yue Tianxing finds out she is a girl and tries to rape her only to be stabbed by both her and Gu Lin Yuan. To protect Yun Fei Fei, Gu Lin Yuan stabbed himself claiming he was the "foster son" of Yue Tianxing. When Du Xiao Yu came across him and saw the stab wound, he told her that he was the son they were looking for. Taking him, he was beaten and tortured and a drug tester for the Perish Pills to control him.

All parties knew there was a secret letter left by Yue Tianxing for the antidote for the Perish Pills, but no one could figure out how to read the letter but the “foster son” of Yue Tianxing which was Yun Fei Fei. Many clues abound for helping them find the letter as well. But only Gu Lin Yuan and Yun Fei Fei can find it because of the necklaces they both wore.

There is double crossing by Xiang Li Ting who is working with Du Xiao Yu to get the letter. We also see Du Xiao Yu put carefree needles in Yun Fei Fei which causes her to lose her memory. Xiang Li Ting takes this opportunity to make her believe that he is her true love and to get her to marry him. But Gu Lin Yuan is not to be outdone. When he comes into the wedding to get his beloved. He is ALL that. I mean, he tells them he will kill them all. They go to the mountains where they won't be found for 10 days so he can remove the needles. But there is a downside: 1) he will begin to lose his mind and 2) she will never regain her memory after all the needles are removed.

Gu Lin Yuan painstakingly does everything for Yun Fei Fei to regain her memory but not before he is captured by Xiang Li Ting. Her memories finally come back to her as she is standing in the field where Gu Lin Yuan made the swing for her. The bell on the swing began to ring causing her to have a flood of memories. You also get to see some of those hot kisses again.

As she is running back to save Gu Lin Yuan from being executed, she remembers how to decipher the letter for the antidote of the Perish Pills. She admits she is the real "foster son" of Yue Tianxing. Confessing Du Xiao Yu tries to Yun Fei Fei until Chu Xin steps in and saves both her and Gu Lin Yuan and gets them to the temple.

Yes, we have a wedding with the two childhood sweethearts. It is just those two. Then he carries her to the bed and well, we are given again the pleasure of some good kisses and just making out!!!

Both Gu Lin Yuan and Yun Fei Fei join forces to get the antidote to help all those who have been given the Perish Pill. Gu Lin Yuan is protecting Yun Fei Fei as she gets the antidote based off of the letter because Du Xiao Yu and Xiang Li Ting come to stop them. Xiang Li Ting stabs Gu Lin Yuan fatally, so it appears but not before he kills him. Because of the poisonous smoke, Yun Fei Fei cannot see so Gu Lin Yuan has to be her eyes to read out the antidote.

A month later, it was known that Yue Tianxing was corrupt and used the Perish Pills to control individuals, so his death was acceptable by Gu Lin Yuan and Yun Fei Fei. Because they help give the antidote they were no longer charged as criminals for killing Yue Tianxing. They both then left to stay together and never be a part.

I can only say that Dai is too much in this drama. The kisses and the sensuality that he gave off were 100. This man seriously needs a main role in a major drama. There were so many scenes of him and his FL that their chemistry was dynamic.

Yes, I definitely recommend this drama because the hotness of Dai just sizzles. You will NOT be disappointed. You will definitely not be lost, and you will definitely be found loving Dai even more. Enjoy!

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Boring as hell ...

How can such a short series be so boring? Strongberry is not back with a solid BL. The finale was split in two parts, just a cash grab because it added only 7 Minutes more to episode 12/1... What a waste of money. They even did not complete the story of the side couple. So this series has only 12 episodes where the second one is extended to around 23 minutes.

So overall, while the actors are cute to handsome, they were as good as the script let them. The story started with a nice premise but it got boring fast, because there was not much character development for a long time. The also added the kinda "bad" woman for too long imho. I don't like people medling in other peoples affair. Especially bad for the side couple, they are "floating" in the air and we don't know if they did get together or not. At a positive note, they did really kiss :)

So this is a medicore show which did not kept me interested past the 6th episode. For a KBL it's quite disappointing, but after "The Idol" it's an slight improvment.

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No place like home.

Based on an award winning novel, Northward is a heartwarming and realistic coming of age and cultural heritage story about a number of Jiangnan youths who grew up along the Grand Canal. The story opens with the lively and carefree young kids from Flower Street cavorting mischievously in the canal under the indulgent, watchful eyes of their community. One day, Granny Ma's exotic granddaughter Siyi, a solemn and lonely lost child, comes to live with her. The neighbourhood embraces her warmly and the kids rally around her protectively. The drama captures the communal spirit of the early 2000s, where the hard working families of Flower Street are by no means rich but by pooling their resources, they share each others burdens and navigate life's ups and downs together. All the child actors were superb and well cast. They made me invested in all of the characters from the get go; from the ringleader Wanghe, the steadfast Haikuo, the studious Chen Rui, the resentful Xingzhi and Huazi the tomboy with a heart of gold.

Into their teen years, the realities of life and changing times intrude upon the idyllic times along the canal. The advent of superhighways and high speed trains make it more difficult for the citizens along the canal to make a living from the waterway. As their families struggle to make ends meet, the young friends vow to head north to Beijing for college with big, life changing dreams. Time moves too slowly for the young friends as they grapple with their parents’ financial and personal struggles—their strengths, weaknesses, and all-too-human imperfections. Life's challenges overwhelm the burgeoning attraction some of them start to feel for each other. In such a close-knit community, everyone is so closely tangled into everyone's lives that there are no real secrets between them. There is as much laughter as there are tears to go around as all too soon some of them discover that actions have consequences, some that are irreversible. This was by far the best arc as veteran actors including Hu Jun and Li Naiwen anchor immersive performances from the younger ensemble cast to authentically bring to life the joys, sufferings, regrets, and human failings of three generations of Flower Street.

The narrative loses its early charm in the later Beijing arcs. The business plots are realistically written and reflect the intense competition and challenges faced by the food delivery and courier services in China. In pursuit of their dreams, the young friends discover there is no place like home. The denizens of the big city are harsh, duplicitous and calculating. They discover triumphs are hard won after many sacrifices, setbacks and betrayals and they can only have each others backs. Conflicts arise as they search for their own bottom lines in the ruthless battle for business survival. What I didn't like is that they remained such a clique that none of them really let anyone else into their lives. Even Haikuo never really tried to include his girlfriend in their closed circle. I'd have liked to see Wanghe have a real love rival and Huazi not be so absolute and single minded in her feelings. I also wish Huazi had made her health choices for herself and not because of anyone else. But my biggest criticism of the character stories has to do with how Siyi simply ghosted everyone. That was profoundly selfish and cruel in a way that destroyed her character for me. I was also a bit disappointed that the unresolved issues between Siyi and Wanghe and to some extent even Chen Rui were just swept under the rug. The ending was a little bit too good to be true but I loved all the characters so much that its not a real gripe.

All of the young actors deliver heartfelt performances with Li Wanda and Zhai Zilu best capturing that sense of adolescent turmoil and displacement. Even though they were still credible, both Ou Hao and Bai Lu struggled more with the teen years. Past thirty, it is incredibly difficult for actors to recapture that angsty uncertainty and unconscious radiance of youth. While the Beijing storyline falters in narrative cohesion, both Ou Hao and Bai Lu grow into their roles well as struggling young entrepreneurs so well that I understand the casting decision. I enjoyed watching Bai Lu take on this kind of tomboy role even though the braces and short hair did not make her look any less gorgeous. By design, Siyi was the most intriguing character in the story so I was disappointed by how Li Wanda's character got sidelined. All things considered a very enjoyable and moving slice of life story that I rate 8/10. The first half was notably stronger, tracking closer to an 8.5.

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