Reviews

"Power Hungry Man Can't Take No For An Answer" <---Should be the REAL title

Lord almighty, where do I begin? I literally just wanted an easy rom-com with no complications. This was not it. I have since heard that most dramas with names longer then hell aren't good; whether that's true or not, I don't know but it's my second time running into a drama with a long title that got this score from me. The plot essentially fell apart after episode 16. More than halfway through the story and all of a sudden heavy palace politics and a nightmarish stalker SML became the prime focus of this at first comedic and mildly inspiring story. When the SML's screen time eclipses that of the leads, I'd say it's a problem.

The screenwriter threw everything but the kitchen sink into this show; crime solving, setting ppl up, palace politics, the stalker SML, romance, jealousy, you name it. It should have been called "Power Hungry Man Can't Take No For An Answer" because that's what the majority of the series was focused on. He turned up literally everywhere at every moment and you were sick of him. However, giving the actor playing him his due, he was a very convincing creep. Literally the worst stalker in all of the costume cdramas I've seen. Characters like his make my skin crawl. Even his demise in the last episode was a serious copout given how much he lorded over the majority of the show.

Had I known it would turn out this way, I wouldn't have started it. The only thing keeping me from dropping it was that I actually liked the protagonists and when I realized they knew how to deal with the creep, I skipped a lot of his parts, plus got into a holding pattern twice by stopping watching the show just so more episodes could release and ppl could spoil when seeing him on screen would be less. When you stop watching a show twice, that's not a good sign.

I'm very picky with the dramas I watch. Usually I only watch dramas that have ppl I follow in them but since it's been very quiet on that front recently, I decided to try something new and though talking and laughing in the comments with other viewers was entertaining, this was a very poorly executed show. If it was going to make the creep the main focal person, then start that at the beginning. Make him the ML or something. Same goes for all the crime solving palace politics stuff. It's like the screenwriter remembered that this story was about a female student being the first to be admitted into an all male college twice after episode 16 and it was haphazardly thrown into small mentions here and there. You completely forgot that that was the main goal of the show; to be a more inclusive school.

Absolutely not a recommendation from me. Don't waste your time.

Read More

Expected more...

I'll start from the beginning - the main reason why I started to watch this kdrama is because based on trailer, it was supposed to be mix of genres - school, detective, thriller, maybe GL. I know that GL series and movies in SK..well, very rare. And even if the series based on GL webtoon, then probably all GL stuff will be cut out from the series/movie. The only good, popular GL drama which I can remember is Handmaiden. I didn't expect from Friendly Rivalry something similar, but trailer looked promising. BTW, I'm not a big fan of LGBT series, but if they have a good story, I'll watch them...and probably because I'm a guy, I prefer GL movies and series. And as far as I know, GL in SK is much less popular than BL. So... I was hooked.

First 8-9 episodes were good. Not great, but good, interesting, with small detective parts, and mind games between Jey and Seulgi. You basically didn't know what to expect from Jey, what's on her mind, and this fact made the whole story even more interesting. So, the first half of the series, I would rate with 8. Pretty good story for its genre.

But after episode 9....I don't know how to describe it properly, maybe because of my bad english, but in simple words - story became overcomplicated, characters change their behavior almost every episode, transition between scenes became less fluent, more random. everything felt rushed, and the story's main theme changed completely. All gl stuff like in episode 4( I know it was a dream but still) and how ML look at each other in episode 8( don't tell that this how best friends look at each other, because it's not) was almost removed. Episodes 13-15..and especially 16 have too many strange, stupid, absolutely unrealistic scenes. I would rate the second half - 4 out of 10...but because ending wasn't as bad as I thought, I will rate the whole story with 5. It doesn't mean that I like the ending - it just not the worst, considering where story went. Below few thoughts about particular scenes, especially ending.

SPOILERS( BTW, I'm new here, so if anyone knows how to hide spoilers in review, please tell me)

I'm not a big fan of open endings, especially like in this series.
1). Box from Jey. Who brought the box??
2). Jey's dad. Basically, this man has nothing to lose now, and he's stalkering Seulgi like some maniac, waiting for her to reveal Jey's whereabouts. Even if Seulgi would like to go to Jey, if we consider that gift means "run away to me" how would she do that, if even her step-mom said that they can't move to another place, because Jey's dad is watching them?
3). What happened to Jey's sister after the events of the final episode? Everyone knows that she's alive now, but what's next? Where is she now?


Also, Ye Ri interactions with Byeong Jin. In first half there were plenty scenes, where she looked at him in a special way, but then they had only few interactions between each other. What was the point of those scenes in the first half?

It looks like as if in the middle of the series, screenwriters decided to change the script completely. And those changes weren't good.

I don't think that this series needs second season( even though there are a lot of events from the original webtoon which wasn't in series, but considering how the series script differs from the webtoon's story, and considering the ending...it's gonna be hard to make a proper story ), but maybe special episode or at least Q/A with the main cast about some scenes.

SPOILERS END

So, after all this why did I rated this series with 7? Because of acting and chemistry between cast. All four girls nailed their roles, especially Hyeri. I never watched anything with her, but I heard that here she played completely different character, not like her previous roles. And she nailed it. And her chemistry with Chung Su Bin is something not from this world) To be honest, I watched every new episode almost immediately after it aired, not because of the story, but because of their interactions. Also, Oh Woo Ri...amazing job. Interesting character, great acting, awesome chemistry with Kang Hye Won and Chung Su Bin.

I assume that, if there was another cast, and actresses wouldn't be as good as thoses four ( although Kang Hye Won was the weakest in terms of acting among them, in my opinion), this kdrama would receive much worse reviews and reception. But because of the acting. dedication of Hyeri and the whole cast, good cinematography, and considering that this series had very low budget, I can't rate it less then 7. Unfortunately, because of the second half of the series, even though there were great scenes, I can't rate it higher.

Read More

The ending ruined what could've been a masterpiece...

It's such a shame because every single episode of this drama was amazing and I loved it so much but the ending was so rushed, badly written and left so many plot holes and unanswered questions. I'm not upset because it was a bittersweet ending, Youth of May has a sad ending but that's one of my favourite dramas of all time. I'm sad because their break up at the end was so out of character. I get that the writers wanted it to be realistic but the whole drama they're portrayed to have this amazing connection but in the last episode they give up on it all and loose touch, we're not even told if they still remain friends. Its disappointing because the burning questions we have throughout the whole drama are never answered... T_T I don't think I could ever rewatch this drama which is such a shame! But aside from that awful ending the soundtrack in this drama, the friendship and the amazing fencing sences are top notch. My advice is to only watch to episode 15.

Read More

" Some Feelings are bound to disappear and some Feelings are destined to be Long lasting. "

Hello 👋 Everyone. This is my first review, so first of all thank you for reading this. Shine On Me ✨️ was a cute, fluffy and slow burn drama which I liked so much. Song Weilong and Zhao Jinmai did their best in portraying Lin Yusen and Nie Xiguang 🎉. Personally I liked Nie Xiguang's positivity and her charmness. I also liked the warmth and gentleness of Lin Yusen.

Lin Yusen and Nie Xiguang :

They are the light of this drama which kept the drama engaging throughout. Lin Yusen was a top tier neurosurgeon who was unfortunate to mess up with his hands in a accident which kept him away from medicine for two years. He had that accident on the way to meet Xiguang ( it is a misinformation ). Due to this there was a misunderstanding between them for few eps then resolved later. His love was really pure ❤️ which was shown when he chose Nie Xiguang again eventhough he thought that she left him after his accident ( misunderstanding ). And of course, I have to tell for the viewers that he won't have much screentime at the first few eps due to FL's college story but after that we get to see him throughout the drama ☺️.

Nie Xiguang was a Business school student who had a crush on Zhuang Xu, a top student and was the tutor to her cousin. She eventually confessed and turned down but she didn't wanted to give up on him. Later due to a misunderstanding she moved on from him and met our ML. After graduation, she joined Shuangyuan Photovoltaic where she met Lin Yusen and gradually they fell in love. I have to tell that the period where Lin Yusen pursued Xiguang was especially sweet. I loved it.

Guangyu Photovoltaic Co. Ltd ( formerly known as Shuangyuan ):

This is a firm based on the production and distribution of solar panels. This part was so informative about the solar industry such as BAPV [ Building attached Photovoltaic ] and BIPV [ Building Integrated Photovoltaic ]. I really appreciate that they kept this drama realistic with the timeline when solar industry bloomed in China.
After meeting NXG, LYS realized his dreams of the medical field and moved towards it while NXG directed Guangyu towards development. Their personal growth in their fields was really worth watching.

Lin Yusen's Family :

Lin Yusen's mother was a nice character who was supportive with his decisions and his step father who gave space for him and his mother. I actually felt sad for LYS when I heard his father has passed away.

Nie Xiguang's Family :

First of all, when I hear the word NXG's family the first character comes to my mind is Jiang Rui ( Nie Xiguang's cousin ). I liked him very much. He was really supportive and protective of her as a brother. His mother portrayed a wonderful women entrepreneur in the business world and the ultimate shipper of our couple. Absolutely, I am obliged to tell about NXG's mother Jiang Yun who was a second favourite character in her family. After getting divorce from NXG's father Nie Chengyuan, she spent her life carefree but later her realization on the influence of others comments were wonderful. Especially, she was also supportive to our couple. Her bother and Jiang Rui's father was also a nice character. The only character what I disliked in the whole drama was NXG's father for his foolishness to go to the con artist friend ( Qian Fangping ). And the scene where she spoke heartbroken to her father for doubting her without second thought made me cry 😢.

OSTs :

The OSTs of this drama was beautiful 💕. My favourite ones were :
1. You Are The Sun In My Life - Lu Yuanyi
2. Coming For You - Zhang Hao

Conclusion :

This drama was a great drama for me. The only thing I disliked was the abrupt cuts from one scene to another. Overall this drama is a 10/10 for me 🤗. I want to conclude with one of my favourite lines in the drama :
" No, It’s not about choosing. I would always end up with him. "

I want to describe the drama as :
" The Delightful Journey of Sunlight ( Nie Xiguang ) and Forest ( Lin Yusen ). "

Once again Thank you for reading this review 💖.

Read More

Frustrating....

There were times while I was watching this drama I was wondering why I was still watching it, that is how frustrating it made me feel.

I think the main problem was with the writing. I know Jae Won and Eun Oh were the main characters, but they went around in circles with their story, (I was really getting tired of hearing about those damn cameras) and a bit more of that time could have been spent on the other two couples stories, especially that of Rin Yi and Gyung Joon. I felt like I never fully understood the two of them, and while their story was the most realistic - there were things about Rin Yi's personality and past I wished they had discussed instead of throwing it out towards the end of the drama.

The second problem came with the characters. They drove me crazy. Jae Won spent most the drama as a complete mess (at least they addressed his alcoholism), and while I understood Eun Oh's insecurities she kept refusing to admit to her mistakes and hurt others in the process. Rin Yi was not developed enough. She could be seen as carefree, but there a few moments were I felt like she was using her lifestyle as a excuse to ignore things she didn't want to address in her life and they never really went past the surface with her. And Gyung Joon was so blindly in love her he didn't want rock the boat. Sun Young came off as cool in the beginning but her behavior towards the guys she dated was not okay at all. Gun is the only character I have nothing bad to say about, he was mostly just chill the whole time, and I think he got lost in everyone else's chaos.

The acting was one of the few positives, especially from Ji Chang Wook, who was in top form here (along with the OST). I enjoyed the "introduction" to Dong Shik, if they do make a second season I might tune in to find out more about them, but I won't be rewatching this mess again.

Read More

I WATCHED IT SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO
 If you have to prioritize, watch the first episode and judge for yourself, because some tricks and stretches are telling for the overall quality and worldbuilding. Are you OK with random commoners using Lee last name (and it somehow being an important factor for maliciously choosing a crown prince's substitute)? How about a poison that has to be re-taken every 15 days otherwise the afflicted person will die? Or a poison that makes the survivor immune to all the other poisons in the world? Do you buy the reasoning for hiding crown prince's face behind a mask? Unless you really can't stand prolonged misunderstandings and great love built on lack of communication (or even shared screentime), you'll be OK with the rest.
(And speaking of the setup, I have no idea what were they thinking using prince Sado's name, since it can't even be considered an alternative, rice box-free version of that story. Maybe the writer had something planned but she forgot about it in a meantime? Or wanted to troll us with a prospect of a tragic ending?)
Despite all the plotting, accumulating power and changing teams going on, there's not enough plot to last for 20 hours (and a 5 years long time skip during which 1st female lead regressed and everything interesting apparently just happened to the other three). Some matters, like finding a poppy field, could have been resolved around 1/3 of the show and don't even start me on that jar that no-one bothered to come and get until the very end. Really. There were two quests in total and they were both lying sidelined waiting for a person in charge to get to his or hers grand moment, because everyone else was too busy creating misunderstandings, being a noble idiot or passively looking from behind. Right, they needed to make an antidote too, but that just happened last minute.
To make matters worse, due to the episode getting split in half it wasn't 20 eps but 40 shorter ones. So double the cliffhanger / wet blanket combo and add general lack of fluidity here and there. With that being said, it's not a show to watch for the plot and the overall pacing fits what little character development we see. Except most of it is thrust upon the second leads.
Storytelling is mediocre at best and very predictable in a short term (still engaging on a longer run). You can have a drinking game for everything that happens on cue and every seam that shows through. Expect lots of convenient timing used for the sake of the dramatic effect and main characters doing nothing and getting away with it, because events resolve themselves without them. I'm not even talking about overused hijinks like the main girl coming back from her task all down and changing her mood midsentence, saying to the crowd's relief she suceeded, or that scene when the crown prince was being mourned only to show above someone's shoulder and ask who's dead. And let's ignore that General who fought Jurchens, because he's such a stock character I physically cringed every time he spoke. His lines were like something a kindergartner with a wooden sword would improvise, that kid that gets some episodic part because someone has to do it, and maybe doubles as a tree. Someone on kissasian commented it's like the writer was using a textbook on how to write a segeuk and I fully agree. It's a second rate fanfic writing in a high budget decorations. Easy on eyes and ears, engaging, but only until you take your eyes of it and start looking at the whole picture. With a different cast and lower production value, it'd be unwatchable.
The romance is bland and angsty. They meet, they instantly fall in love, some misunderstandings happen to them [enters 'came from the dead, pretends to be his own lookalike' trope sprawling over the better part of the middle], they separate, they're back and everything is all dandy. The end. The second leads meddle into it, but they never had a chance and weren't even looking for a different options, so there's no thrill. Fill the empty spaces with speeches on the common people suffering under Evil Corp, the legitimacy of power, qualities of a good leader and apologies towards villain who was clearly forced by a circumstances and badly run country to turn evil, poor thing. The show takes itself very seriously, but comes off silly and pompous despite some original concepts thrown at the beginning. I wish writers had a better idea of showing Ga Eun's independence than making her going blindly her way, without consulting people around her and making informative choices. I'm not saying asking for permission, but communicating with a person she supposedly loves that much. I suspect reasons for that are not exposing her trait as much as having her in one place with the second male lead and under his power, and giving the first male lead an opportunity for a dramatic run through a city stopped on crossed halberds. She could be much more than that -- and she was, but it derailed.

WHAT'S IT WORTH WATCHING FOR:
 Hm. Let me think. YSH was born to play royals. He's charismatic, commanding and has them dramatic gazes covered. And not forget his deep voice. But we didn't need a 20 episode drama to confirm that. Both he and KSH are wasted in their roles of a sheltered prince taking a responsibility and a trophy girl. A kind, caring, underinformed trophy girl fighting for a justice. With 15 minutes of a heavily reused footage her character had more impact on the story in Goblin than here. Wait, I meant to stay positive. Both leading actors managed to carry their characters thanks to their charisma and breathed some air into subpar writing. Both second leads showed improvement compared to some of their former works. Second female lead comes quite a way from a creep playing with her knife (or was a needle?) and inflicting on herself a wound to match with the one the crown prince got to an independent, succesful woman standing against her family and making great sacrifices. Second male lead shares 1st lead burden and tries to navigate in an unfamiliar environment until he can't take it anymore and breaks apart. Villain is entertaining to watch and not omnipotent (close, but not), but towards the end he's getting out of character (or was he always delusional?). The other villain has a motivation so murky and changable I won't risk a guess what was she actually plotting, but I doubt it was intentional anyway. At some point it looked like we've got a few more secret organisations to stir things up, but keep your hopes low. As soon as they were introduced, they got tossed away. [Looks like that's as far as my positive attitude can get me.]
Rating it anything below 7 is mean towards production team and actors, but the writing really brings it down. You can safely skip that one, but if you feel like watching something light, why not give it a shot and see for yourself. [But don't even a light show need a more convincing romance, if nothing else?]

Read More

Cotton Candy Sweet Without Any Substance or Intrigue

There was zero drama or conflict in this fluff fluff drama which inadvertently made it tremendous boring. The characters were not complex or interesting at all. They were all two dimensional. The ML was a goody with all the skills in the world and no sense of tiredness. The FL was the same type we all always get but without any tragic background. All the other side characters weren't interesting to pay attention too. The chemistry between the leads was very flat. Jian Ci was giving his all to be a green flag boyfriend but even then, it was just boring.

It was also incredibly stupid to give so much attributes to one character (the ML) such as Doctor, Chef, Voice Actor, Singer. IDK what else. He is probably a magician or magical beings as well considering he never gets tired. Meanwhile the FL has only two things going for her composing singer and plays instruments. Most of the time, she is just awestruck by him. There weren't any real relationship conversations or discussions. It was all blank stares and pretending to have chemistry.

Read More

Picture this. A beautiful, nicely decorated cupcake is sitting right in front of you. Its sweet smell is hypnotizing you, and that icing is just calling out your name, telling you to take a bite.
And you do.
Only to spit out a stale piece of rotten, bland bread.
That's the only way I can describe Heirs.
It had a promising cast, promising writers (the same as Secret Garden), and a great budget. But once the episodes began rolling, you got a taste of the dry product.
Anticlimactic plot, the drama missed some sparkles, the romance was roll-eye worthy, and the humor was cheesy.
Bland, irrational characters. I never understood why two guys were vying for the annoying, wimpy Eun Sang. Kim Tan was as 1-dimensional as it could get. And why the hell did Kim Woo Bin's character turn against Kim Tan? I never fully comprehended that.
Incredibly sucky acting (I'm looking at you Lee Min Ho), perhaps Kim Woo Bin and Kim Tan's biological mom were the only rescuable ones. Oh, and they also wasted Choi Jin Hyuk's acting.
And to top it all off, as unoriginal as it could get. It was obvious they wanted to recreate an entertaining mess a la Boys Over Flowers, but they sort of missed out the entertaining factor.
I usually try to find a positive point in this drama, but even the OST was annoying.
Pass this drama.

Read More

Good idea, boring execution

To be honest, I was bored. So the question I’m asking myself is, why?

Well, this is a thriller, but there were precious little thrills for most of it. I did think that the idea behind the plot was good—triggering self-destruct mechanisms, light the fuse and then step back. It offers great opportunities for building tension but I don’t think that the overall production capitalised on the potential.

The pace was a constant plod. It needed some speed variations, some light and shade, some better twists and turns and a great deal more tension. This is really a problem across the board from the writer, through the director to the editing suite. The only thing that had any zing was the cinematography, which was beautifully realised.

The characters, including the protagonist, were universally unlikeable. Song Hye Kyo had a stone-face throughout and I was not impressed by her performance. The main problem for me was that the characters were not presented in any depth and for the most part had one mode of operation. For a plot built on the premise of self-destruction, the characters have to be much more carefully realised. Also, with so many antagonists, their inter-relationships did not have enough time to develop to the point where I was engaged. Maybe if Lee Sa Ra and even Son Myeong Oh were omitted that would have made room for more character breadth and detailed interactions.

As it was, I was totally unmoved by any of them and fairly disinterested in what happened to them. The most interesting character for me was Ha Do Young, played by Jung Sung Il, who brought more subtlety to the realisation of his part than any of the others. So when you’ve got nothing much going on in the plot and you don’t feel any interest or attachment to any of the characters, what is there to keep your attention?

One thing that always hacks me off is when the psychology is wrong and it is here. Dong Eun can be triggered into horrendous flashbacks which completely cripple her, but shows no hesitation in confronting and challenging her torturers face to face in isolated places without a tremor or a drop sweat breaking out. This type of dichotomy is simply not credible. Her character relies on words for her safety, but it is emotions that provoke damage and they are much quicker off the mark. So her interactions with the emotion driven antagonists are undermined. It is even more unbelievable because no explanation is offered regarding any of the psychological processes that turned her from fearful victim to controlled aggressor.

What my rating means: 6+ Some aspects of it were OK but it had serious flaws. It will pass the time but you can find something better.

Read More

Nice first try, lovey-dovey, but boring and with many mistakes

Caution: a very, very long review with, unfortunately, a lot of criticism.

As a normal series I would give it a 4 or 3 out of 10, but as in Thai BL-GL industry series I would give it a 6 or 7 out of 10. Frankly, I wouldn't dare give it less because I SERIOUSLY want more GL's to be made, I seriously want industries to know that there is enough audience to start GL's. But that doesn't mean it's okay to accept anything without any criticism. I find it really a shame, but often the first products of something are generally bad. Not to mention the first GMMTV BL's, which were, and I'm sorry, trash. So, don't get me wrong: if we compare this with Love Sick, 23.5 is pretty a masterpiece.

Things I liked: The color palette, View as Aylin (although I didn't really like how the subject was handled) and the acting of Milk and Love. Milk and Love's performances are incredible, they really shined. I particularly liked that Sun has a very thick accent, a way of speaking that Love created for Sun's character (that's great!) Milk is not far behind, her dramatic scenes (both comical and sad) could really produce feelings in the viewer. She took the center stage and never let it go. Milk and Love have my full support. But I think that is all. Sorry, I have a complaint to every element of this series.

Things I didn't like:

I didn't like the camera direction and the pacing. Too slow for so little story being told. I really don't understand why they didn't use the most used and obvious resource to show the passage of time, which is to record several takes in different spaces and with different costumes in different contexts. The series lacks the "show the passage of time" factor. Why is this important? Because it not only shows the quantity of time, but also the time they have to known each other. Although the viewer would feel that Ongsa and Sun had only known each other for 3 weeks, suddenly Sun was blindly in love with Earth (same with Ongsa, ngl). On the other hand, the Aylin - Luna couple, although they are cute and their lovey dovey scenes are adorable, I felt like they hardly knew each other until they "fell in love" as deeply as they did. They practically didn't even take the time to get to know each other. From my point of view, everything that happened in the series could have easily happened in 2 months, and it's supposed to have been just under a year.

The chemistry between Love and Milk was lacking, I felt like they had more chemistry when they were Ink and Pa in BB than here. But I don't rreally blame them, maybe it was the script. As the series progressed, I also felt some discomfort seeing them together. Like I know I have to feel like they have chemistry, but I can't feel it, which is frustrating.

The radical change in pacing between EP 1 and the rest of the episodes is dramatic and a terrible move. The first episode was incredibly dynamic, loaded with jokes, a hilarious Ongsa and loaded with action. However, that episode is behind us and the pace slows to the point that it produces a yawn. Why did they give so much emphasis to Tinh and Chaoren in the first episodes if they were then completely forgotten in the others eps? Why this change?

GOD the infinite shots. They could record just a character's face without any expression for 10 seconds. What does this say to me as a whole? That they had no more story to tell but they had to reach 45 minutes per episode. That's so frustrating. It's like stretching out flavorless gum until it becomes a thread.

It lacks a soundtrack. Scenes without any background music + a story in which essentially nothing happens couldn't be a worse combination. The lack of dynamism could have been compensated with a strong soundtrack to enhance the scenes. But long, boring scenes, no story, MORE silence? It is a combination that induces drowsiness. (Also, too many comical sound effects that after insisting stopped being funny)


Although P'Ton was the character that I liked the most (not saying much, because neither character was developed enough for me to be interested in any of them), or rather the one that made me laugh the most because he is extravagant, his time in screen with Mawin was a mistake. God, why so many scenes of them that led to absolutely nothing? Do you know how terrible, how frustrating, how annoying it was when MAWIN interrupted Aylin in her confession? God, what is he doing there and why did he interrupt her? Why is he on the scene? I repeat, the importance they gave to his character along with PTon's was a complete mistake. Having cut out all the time the pair takes up on screen, easily could have put in the scenes of Aylin Luna getting to know each other.

Something that was mentioned a lot on Twitter, and it's true, is that Sun seems like a secondary character. She seems to be as secondary as Aylin or Luna or P'ton. We don't know anything about her and until episode 10 she had no dreams or flaws at all. She was perfect the entire series. She wasn't a real person. Ongsa, although a little more faceted, we don't know much about her either. We know that she likes dogs, likes astronomy and that she has social problems (and that she is extremely coward). And that's it. The only characters who have distinctive traits (things we know they like) are Chaoren and Aylin. Luna? We know nothing, absolutely nothing about Luna. We know more about Alpha than Luna, and Luna is part of the secondary couple.

Wasn't Sun the most popular girl in school? Why does she seem like just another ordinary girl? Why on her birthday did no one but the protagonists say happy birthday to her and only a few went home to celebrate if she is supposed to be popular? Why does Ongsa have so many social problems? What was her life like before moving? Why did she move out suddenly? What was her relationship with her parents? Why does it seem like she barely knows her mother and is there a latent discomfort in all of her scenes? Are they blood family or are she and Alpha half-sisters? There couldn't be less chemistry between her and her parents. Through the screen, it is as if she has been living abroad and only in the recent year has she returned home. There is no family dynamic or chemistry, they are characters that were created, completely artificial and empty, placed in EP 1 to conform a family.

That's what this series is: hollow. It is somewhat hollow. Not completely, but enough to make it frustrating to watch the series.

Is really no one, no one going to mention the hair color change in Luna's hair? In a single episode, she had light brown hair in some scenes and dark brown hair in others. GOD, why haven't I seen anyone mention that blunder? Why they did that? I can let it go (although it bothers me) the change in haircut or hairstyle (particularly in men) because it is a mistake that its made in almost every series. But the hair color, really?

Do you know why I criticized the series so strongly, even though I waited for it to come to an end? Because I was waiting for this since 2022, and because the news that it was the first GL from GMMTV, the largest BL's company in the world, was exciting news. But here we are. And I'm so, so sad. I really wanted to love this show.

Nice try, really. although I am currently very frustrated, I appreciate all the love put into the series. Thank you very much for finally taking into account the GL's.

Read More

A Psycho, Crypt Keeper & Narcissistic Sociopath walk into Bar; Result? Bloodbath, Revenge, & an HE.

Watched this for XZ and the tomb raiding element. Never really expecting anything but I was blown away but every part of this drama so much so that the way it ended, I didn't see coming at all. And XZ's acting was solidified for me here. Basically a psychopath, the crypt keeper and a narcissistic sociopath walk into a bar the result is a bloodbath, followed by intelligent revenge and a happy ending.

Pros: This director managed to pull off everything very well; the storyline that never dragged but always kept you on your toes trying to figure out what the real conspiracy even was and who to trust and not to. Every character and their backstories were fleshed out. ML or ZH after witnessing the slaughter of his entire family was saved by some mysterious person in a mask and brought to 3 masters to raise and learn the art of deception, war, and craftsmanship (which is what the ML's) father did. For 10 years ZH after going through facial reconstruction surgery learned under these masters how to get his revenge on who he thought was only one person but in reality were 3 and it was only towards the end did he and we learn that the masked person was also the mastermind.

I told people in the comment section that in the beginning the only people that were trustworthy were ML, maybe the FL and a few cats and dogs. Literally everyone else was suspicious. The ML worked for a whole year to plan his revenge meticulously on the first person who he knew was responsible for the massacre. He worked under this monster and molded himself in a way that he could take him down later. I usually never put antagonists this high up but the Marquis was a brutal man and an absolute suspicious psychopath and the actor that played him was absolutely top notch. I was actually at first kind of upset that he was the first one that was taken down given that the crypt keeper was just a hot mess, but then when the mastermind was unveiled, it became clear that he was the worst of all.

I can't say enough how the ML and every character portrayed their roles with such precision. You always have someone that you're like OK this person is unnecessary, this character is unnecessary. In this series, every single character was necessary for however long they belonged there. I am glad that the FL and her friend, his childhood friend and martial artist, and though taking orders from the mastermind, Shifu never harmed ML. So we knew who we could ultimately trust. And even a morally grey character like ZX got his deserved redemption arc at the end and for once I believed it needed to happen. As ZH himself pointed out, it was he who ruined an innocent teenager for his own revenge but said teenager, though getting lost on his path, ended up as the general his father never became; a righteous one with proper guidance.

The court was filled with corruption and ZH helped wheedle it out a little at a time while still working to being the rats to justice. The amount of planning that went into the first arc at Lord Ping head's home was just masterful. The Crypt Keeper was evil and did what he was supposed to until he was no longer needed though I feel he should've just been killed off earlier than what happened to him. What is absolutely amazing is that the three of them looking for this artifact that brought power without really realizing the detriment that that power possessed and why it was hidden in the first place; had met when they were kids at school to stand up to bullying and here 40-50 years later they were ready to turn on each other and eat their own young just to get their hands on this artifact.

In this one, I can't pick out the characters that I liked because honestly good or bad, I liked them all because they acted so so well. There wasn't a single one that dropped the ball. And even though the actors did a superb job, I have to commend the director and the screenwriter for writing a story that was so immersive that two episodes a day felt like an entire series. And we had to sit and guess who was bad, who was good, who could turn on whatever and very often we were surprised who really were the middle villains or the mini villains. Very few dramas had you understanding the complexities of antagonists and why they had to be put down not just simply "because he was evil."

This was an S+ drama and it showed in everything; costumes, sets, OSTs and especially those amazing battles. I have to say that this drama really cemented XZ as a full-blown actor for me, his ability to switch on emotions from fake sadness to downright evil or real sadness and being happy was something that had to do with taking the time to immerse oneself into the character. There was very small amount of comedy which usually revolved around ZH's lack of fighting skills and how the FL and her ninja powers had to come and rescue him a lot and he just used whatever the heck he could find under hand to throw it at bad people.

I really liked how the ML always was a step or a few ahead of the villains, and if he got caught somewhere, he would always play it by ear and be able to wiggle out of any situation with some contingency plan. Once he entered the court, which was very quick; he gained as many enemies as he did friends, but he took out the smaller villains with his smarts and used the big ones against each other. It wouldn't be fair to talk about everything because people need to watch this. Now onto the cons and there weren't many, but still some small ones which I wish they had covered.

Cons: I know the series had very subtle romance because of all the other genres and things going on, but I felt even there, that the ML and the FL got together a little too quickly. They went from just talking to friendship to asking each other for favors, and then him locking her away for both her safety, and because he was weary of her and then afterwards it was like everything was forgotten, and they were together. It should have been done in a much smoother fashion. The other thing I had an issue with was when Lord Pinghead went for the gates of the palace, ZH just jumped out of nowhere with a little crossbow coming into the sight of this Goliath? Exactly what was he thinking he was going to do with that itsy-bitsy weapon? If it wasn't for ZX, he probably wouldn't have survived that assault. It just shows that there are some times where he was a little too naïve. He could barely fight on the street let alone with a bunch of armies, and this brutal man who wanted to decapitate him. It was very wishy-washy and unbelievable for a smart man like him. I understood it had to be father against son ultimately but having the ML there with his little weapon just seemed off.

Felt the last few episodes were a little rushed, and the whole Dongxia arc at the end was also very rushed. I understand that they had to deal with the tomb raiding, truth of the ghost soldiers and figure out what to do next with that artifact, but everything in there was just kind of thrown in and even though ZX got his redemption arc and our leads were free to live their lives and everyone else did who was part of team good including the new appointed emperor, too much stuffed into the end. I think if they took three episodes and maybe just smoothed them out into six, it probably would have been more cohesive. No more cons.

Would I recommend it? 100% This is a story of many conspiracies not just the original one, revenge, intelligence beyond most people's expectations, a little bit of tomb raiding, and a very good plot with a very good storyline. I will, however say if you're looking for romance, this is not the show for you. It is a show for mystery, thriller, crime solving, and revenge taking. And it's still somehow ended up with a happy ending. Go figure! And again, I have to give a lot of praise for the director, screenwriter, and the rest of the production crew who made this possible. The actors could only do a fantastic job if the people behind the scenes were guiding them properly and that is exactly what happened here.

Read More

When I first started watching High School Love On, which feels like a million years ago because that's how long it took for it to air, I thought it was a cute light hearted drama. There wasn't much plot wise but that didn't matter because Woohyun, Seul Bi, and Sungyeol were enough to carry the drama with their cute moments. But of course like most dramas they start off good and then the writers forget that the middle of a drama is just as important as the beginning and end.

I call this drama the king of circles to my friends. Why? Because this drama goes in circles over and over and over again. The problem is that this drama should have never been over 10 episodes. The writers stretched this plot so thin that most episodes after episode 9 is the characters talking about the same thing without the plot actually moving forward. It stayed inside of a repetitive state that almost became unbearable to watch. The only thing that kept me watching was Woohyun and Seul Bi who were the only light in this drama. Also the drama has some of the dumbest plot devices I've ever seen.

As for the cast, I think they did an okay job. As most of you know this drama stars the young wonderful actress, Kim Sae Ron, and the two hot Infinite band members as her leading boys, Woohyun and Sungyeol. Kim Sae Ron is the strongest actor in this drama. While I do think Woohyun and Sungyeol do need to work on their acting a bit it wasn't that bad. I think Woohyun was the luckier one in the character choice because his charisma shined through. Sungyeol's character is one of the oddest characters I've ever watched. The writer's made a complete 180 with his character around the halfway mark and decided to make him the villain. Too bad they forget to give him real character motivation to make him a villain. It made Sungyeol's character hard to connect with and at one point I could say I really hated his character. There is a difference between teen angst and just being an asshole. I actually felt bad for Sunyeol (the actor) that he got a character like this. As much as I started to dislike Sungyeol's character the worst character to me was Angel Sunbae. He is a character with no purpose and almost seems to be used as a tool after a while. He would be gone for 3 episodes and then pop back up just to cause drama. He had no other purpose other than being an asshole. This also lead me to questioning the whole angel society because somebody should be regulating these angels.

The writers failed to give the rest of their characters any depth too. They had so many students there and it's a shame that they didn't use them to their advantage. Some of the students had cute romances but I felt like they could have built on these characters a lot more. By the way, the adults in this drama act like children. I have never seen adults act so irresponsible in my life before. They were even more childish then the students were.

The strongest part about this drama is the music. I usually don't pay attention to OSTs but this one is very good. It was the best thing about this drama to be honest.

As for rewatch value, I give it a 2. I would never go back to watch this drama but if I did it would only be to see the beginning of the show.

I would only recommend this drama to people who are fans of Infinite or tell them to watch the first nine episodes for Seul Bi, Woohyun, and Sungyeol (when they actually had common sense) and then skip to episode 18.This drama to me, story and character wise, wasn't good. Even the cute moments between Seul Bi and Woohyun weren't enough to make me stop disliking it. The writing was just too repetitive and the characters refused to grow at one point.

Read More

Nothing Cute About It

I was very intrigued by the synopsis of this drama and having liked Zee's acting in Why R U?, I decided to give it a shot. It was, quite frankly, a hot mess. I honestly don't even know where to begin. There was so little good about it and so much bad. It all felt very forced and unnatural and much of the story made little to no sense.

I was not impressed by the overly preachy beginning and ending dialogue. Do not get me wrong, I think same sex marriage should be legalized in all countries. That being said it felt out of place and unnecessary. I feel like there were more subtle ways of getting the point across that would have been more tasteful and again, less preachy.

The story was a complete and total mess. More than a romance, I felt like it was a drama about toxic relationships and how not to communicate. It is very and I do mean very, kiss scene heavy. I think those scenes were put in the drama to try to draw attention away from all the problems both in the story and in the relationships. Both Hias are depicted as being very controlling and possessive, to the point of wanting to know what their SO is doing at all times. While they try to portray this as them just being worried and caring, it came across as extremely unhealthy to me. For example, Hia Yi sets a curfew of 9pm for Khondiao who has to leave his friends in order to make said curfew in one scene. Hia Lian has had someone monitoring Kuea for who knows how long and is fully aware of the secret life he is living. Both men also seem quite unconcerned about the fact the men they love are afraid of them. The level of control the Hias have is just disturbing especially considering their SOs are grown men. At least with Yi and Khondiao's relationship, there is a moment where Khondiao stands up to Yi and their relationship seems to achieve some level of balance though still very much skewed in Yi's favor. Lian and Kuea's relationship, however, is stagnant for the entirety of the drama. Though Kuea has a few moments of defiance, in the end he always gives in to Lian. After the scene at Lian's father's birthday party, I was really hopeful to see a change, but it was basically everything back to normal with no real growth or resolution. Overall there was such a complete lack of character development.

On top of the toxicity of the relationships, there's the lack of explanation for why characters acted the way they did or why things are the way that they are. When and why did Kuea suddenly feel the need to act like a perfect person to suit Lian? When did Lian turn into the cold, emotionless jerk and why exactly did he tell Kuea he didn't love him? I felt like his reasoning and his initial behaviour was glossed over and dismissed far too easily for all the damage it did. Also, what was with the arranged marriage? Why was that in any way necessary? And how did their families even know each other since they were from such different backgrounds? The background was so completely lacking and nonsensical that there was no way anything else could make sense. On top of all that you have Yi and Khondiao's story which was incredibly vague and disjointed. I was actually semi-interested in it because of the mystery of what Yi did to Khondiao. The "mystery" was that Yi didn't actually do anything, it was an accident. And the flashback regarding that incident made it seem like they had a similar relationship to that of Lian and Kuea which was out of the blue as I never got that impression previously.

The plot positively drags. Scenes are drawn out that don't need to be drawn out or are just repeated multiple times. The couples keep lying to each other and failing to communicate. There's this constant theme of maybe telling the truth would be the best thing and then in the next scene they're lying to each other again. Its honestly so frustrating to watch because they never learn and even at the end, it doesn't feel like anything has really changed.

While the story was terrible, the acting was not. Zee and NuNew in particular had good chemistry and while there were a few moments where I felt like NuNew's acting was a bit forced or awkward, I thought he did really well for his first role. I also have to give a shout out to Poppy as Foie for bringing some much needed comedic relief. He was absolutely hilarious and I laughed every time he was onscreen.

The characterization, though, was lacking. I have rarely seen a drama with such stagnant characters. Very few had any real growth and most of them seemed to be in the same place at the end as they were at the beginning with nothing or very little learned from their experiences. That was very disappointing for me. I can generally forgive or at least mostly forgive a bad storyline/plot if the character development is good, but it just wasn't there.
-Kuea really does come across as a doll, maybe not an Annabelle doll, but a doll nonetheless. He acts the way he assumes others want him to and even when Lian tells him he loves him no matter what, he refuses to trust him. On the one hand, I can understand that lack of trust based on how Lian is at the beginning, but after a while it just seemed like an excuse. His roundabout way of trying to get information was also frustrating, adding to the whole lack of communication theme. His constant assumptions made things worse for himself and others. In the end, I didn't really feel like he had learned how to communicate to prevent the same issues from recurring.
-Lian's cold then hot attitude was confusing and, again, never clearly explained. It also felt overdone and too abrupt going from his cold boss persona to adoring partner. I feel like that could have been pulled back to make it somewhat more believable. Based on his personality, I have trouble imagining someone like him making out in public. And although his attitude changed to lovey-dovey, he still came across as controlling.
-Khondiao came across as more of a kid than an adult so taking his relationship with Yi seriously was a bit of a stretch. I did appreciate him standing up for himself though and I felt like he had more character development than others. He seemed more able to stand on his own and stand against Yi if necessary at the end.
-Yi seemed like a sadist who enjoyed the control he had over Khondiao and the fear he could incite. He supposedly feels guilty towards him for something that happened during their childhood, and so takes care of him, allowing him to live in his house. But, he does control much of his life, wanting to know where Khondiao is at all times and even setting a curfew for him. The communication between the two is just nonexistent. They get together without discussing any of their issues really and it just feels so forced. While he does soften, he doesn't ever seem to trust that Khondiao can take care of himself and remains overbearing.
-I can't say that I had much of an opinion about the other side characters. Foie was an amusing diversion when he was onscreen and added some much needed comedic relief. Kuea's university friends were also amusing. Of them, I did enjoy Nuer and Syn's love story. As a side couple, their story was not really elaborated on, but they made a cute couple and were by far the healthiest relationship.

There were two moments that I particularly appreciated, though one promptly got thrown out the window shortly thereafter. The first is just before Lian and Kuea have sex for the first time, Lian asks for Kuea's consent, making sure that he's not drunk and knows what he's doing. It was nice to see since most dramas just imply that both parties are consenting. To actually have it verbally given was refreshing. That was promptly thrown out the window multiple times afterward when Kuea clearly says no or to stop and Lian keeps kissing him. Apparently you only need to ask the first time and its fair game after that. The second moment was when Kuea is with his university friends and one of them asks the sole woman in their group if she's on her period because she's cranky. She gives him a proper verbal beatdown that was kind of awesome to see.

As a side note, I always have an issue with the way most pets are treated in Asian dramas and this one was no exception. Aside from the Golden Retriever who, unsurprisingly, seemed to be content being on set and getting pets, the Chihuahua really bothered me. The poor thing's body language screamed that he was stressed and did not want to be there. I felt so bad watching. And also, having Yi give him as a gift, just no. It is never a good idea to give an animal as a gift, there are too many things that could go wrong. And I will now step off my soapbox.

The music was overall good. I did like NuNew's voice and I think he's frankly a stronger singer than actor. I didn't love the song that Lian and Kuea sing to each other though so having to hear it twice was a bit painful. Actually both those scenes in general were just awkward to watch.

I will also comment that the whole engineering/university setting is massively overused and this was no exception. While the automotive engineering aspect was different and more interesting with the students working on their project, it still felt repetitive.

This is not a drama that I would ever recommend anyone to watch. It has no substance and instead promotes toxic relationships as being hot. It uses steamy scenes to make up for the fact it is lacking in anything remotely genuine. At times it felt like an infomercial about gender equality, but I couldn't take it seriously because none of the couples, aside from Nuer and Syn, portrayed anything resembling a healthy and normal relationship. I highly recommend NOT wasting your time with this one.

Read More

WHAT A WASTED POTENTIAL...

Zero communication, dumbest FL, overconfident but foolish BFF, the most cliche-lazily written plot and lots of investment business talks we don't care about — is what we get here for more than "20" episodes.

I mean seriously, what kind of split personality did the FL have here?? She is so confident and mature about her work but where is her maturity in her relationship? Why can't she make her own decisions and follows her stupid BFF blindly instead? (Bff - who is apparently herself a lost case)... FL didn't even hesitate to say those flirty lines in starting but then she's standing like a statue when she needs to apologize!?

nevertheless, the beginning when things yet made sense and there were no unnecessary love rivals and misunderstandings and the ending which was quite a hot mess. damn their chemistry was lit... both parts saved the overall rating but I still won't recommend this as the middle is both messy and frustrating. You might tolerate this happily if you're a big fan of the actors or you were in the mood for a dramatic (brainless) melodrama.

What makes me so upset is that I'm a big fan. both Bai Lu and Dylan Wang are my treasured favorite actors (even my pfp has always been bai lu). And all the anticipation and hype we gave to this drama. Like its such a waste of their talents and our time to watch two kids... The actors did well but the storyline was just too draggy.

For those (like me) who were excited to see Bai Lu and Dylan Wang together, go watch FMVs of this (save some time) or their off screen interaction of variety shows because they're far better or just watch this drama and skip until both your fingers and brain is tired af.

Kudos to the build up in the beginning tho I have to admit I was deeply invested in the so-called "plot" and I cared for these silly childish characters. To the point that I often screamed "say something bitch" xDD. Last 6 episodes were what people expected from this drama but what we got is a boring business drama with stupid leads. And I'm not going to forgive the production for all the frustration they gave me before those last episodes.

Read More