Reviews

Honestly this drama was great, just plain fantastic. I watched this because I heard Jung Kyung Ho was in it, but stayed because after the first episode it just made me want to watch it some more.

I didn't think I'd be able to finish all 20 episodes and even thought about dropping it. But each episode intrigued me and forced me to keep on watching, it's the kind of drama that makes you hooked just like that. The plot is really great and the characters are even better.

The one thing that's really unique about this drama, is that it keeps you guessing. From the first episode all the way to the last, you never know what's going to happen next. You don't know who the good guy is or who the bad guy is. You don't know if you're rooting for the wrong team or the right one.

And it has everything a thriller needs; from violence to drugs to gorgeous guys in suits (and gorgeous guys out of suits kekeke..). It's a drama worth watching and if you haven't watched it yet, what are you waiting for?!

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An Absolute Slam Dunk of Sweet Victory!

All Xianxias should be like this! PA redemption and a perfect score across the board, which is incredibly rare for me. Obviously watched for both leads in this reunion that blew many dramas out of the water. This was an absolute slam dunk of sweet victory!

Pros: Literally everything! Though I never read the novel, those that did made it obvious that this series followed the novel by about 98% which is very rare. The novel had a solid storyline and this kept it exactly there with apparently lots more comedy. Comedy was good here. Even in the somewhat angsty scenes, it was ever present. Both leads (SL and XZ) delivered stellar performances and their connection started literally from episode one and the mortal realm. Their love transcended all three realms. All of the characters were very layered; though some needed evolution and growth where originally they were annoying. SL playing the powerless chicken while the human XZ takes care of her was just hysterical. Once she returned to the immortal realm, though she still had that prearranged marriage to that annoying FRJ (who up until the end when he finally grew up, I really wanted the maid to hit with her broom), XZ who I nicknamed Mr. Clingy as he clung to her like glue--when he still didn't understand that he was falling for her--and all of their interactions were gold.

There were 3 tragic characters in this story (all done extremely well by their respective actors); MF, and SL's parents. I know people hate on MF about his betrayal but he had no choice as we saw and he explained just before he took his own life. His identity didn't leave him the choice of not betraying her (by killing his own friends in the military but you could tell how much it affected him after the fact) and though at first he was brought up on hatred, it was because of her that he learned about love. But he refused to kill her or harm her and even when possessed fought against the demon FS to help her escape post her "death". If he had the choice, he would have betrayed the demons a long time ago. His own father didn't care about him; which as SL said, he was heartless. MF's only reason for existence according to the two demons was to be a spy and used as a body shell for both. Quite sad and unfair. Her mother was right about being shackled by your identity. Both parents fell in love despite dad being a demon and completely harmless but even they couldn't be saved from the demon emperor. Dad voluntarily had to become the fire seal to keep all the demons in that abyss and mom died shortly after childbirth. Even XZ was shackled by his identity until his death but freed by his long gone friends in rebirth. A fun fact; the actor that played FL or SL's dad, also played opposite ZLY in JOF as someone who was in love with her. And this was also their first collaboration since that show only they played father and daughter here. To have her father save her life through self sacrifice at the end was beyond touching; only time they got to meet each other face to face.

Other great characters were all of the generals, SMY, the maid, lady Jin, Luotian, QY, and eventually FRJ. Each played great roles in the overall story and the lives of our leads. The demon emperor had very few scenes in later episodes and he did ok as a villain; maybe if he played a bigger part in this story, he would have been considered as more but it was FS that offered main antagonist vibes during the entire show. Which being played by this actor who's known for comedic roles was quite a switch up though he was convincing.

Every inch of this show from costumes, CGI, OSTs (LYN's song and two of the BGM's were my absolute favorite), sets, were spot on. Nearly every episode had you rolling in laughter but it knew when to taper that off into seriousness or a bit of angst. I love this modern take on ancient costume drama; the one liners, innuendos, going against the grain, everything was well done and executed. You were invested in the leads and there were no misunderstandings, no annoying guerrilla glue third wheels that spoke in a prepubescent voice and pouted, no tropes, or unnecessary angst. Also no love triangles though SML or MF did love SL, she made it clear right away that no way and that was that. They still fought side by side until the betrayal and even then he was still willing to risk it all to save her. Only other couple were her parents short lived story and the best friend God who was going through trials on earth with the same two women every life cycle but even he was freed. It was so refreshing to see just one couple and the arc of their story as it revolves around times of peace, war, and so forth. Only two full rebirths no more and the ending was great though I wish they spent less time on Lady Jin and her love life and showing them two with her pregnancy and their friends and family in his mortal backyard as it was said in the book. But his proposal and her dropping the baby bombshell leaving him speechless and then chasing her around in the snow was still really awesome. Their love really was eternal.

Cons: I don't think I can call them cons here but more like slight inconsistencies. Like who was MF's mom? Did she even exist or was he born from fire like SL's dad? Or hatched from an egg? The demon emperor didn't have a body towards the end and because MF self sacrificed, his body couldn't be used for his father. But how did he ultimately disappear? Because after FL broke the seal and took off out of the abyss, we never saw him again. Was he in FL's body when he fought XZ and ultimately purified by XZ and SL? Wish that was shown better. And I didn't like the Heavenly Emperor; just as you think he got the point, he turns around and says or does something that makes you want to just send him into that abyss. Only in the second to last episode did he seem to be a bit wiser. Honestly that was it. No other cons.

Would I recommend it? 110% yes! Literally floored me from start to finish. I didn't skip a single thing. An absolute must watch if you want to laugh, giggle, cry a bit, and just enjoy yourself. One of the best dramas I've ever seen out of any country. Forever put into my watchlist.

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The ending ruined the entire drama for me.

I once said that Modern Romance drama will have a better ending than Xianxia at least it will be least tragic when compared to Xianxia.

After watching the ending to this drama, it really made me take back what I said about Modern Romance dramas ending being better. How wrong was I because this drama totally takes the king in terms of the stupidest direction ever.

I am sorry but not sorry for saying this, because I really need to put it out there for those people because I genuinely love the pairing Xing Zhizhi and Qin Fei. I love their flashback when they were kids and I love their love story on how they've met each other again when they're grown up and how much Xing Zhizhi loves Qin Fei. Their love is the definition of Xing Zhizhi falls in love with Qin Fei first and she falls harder in love with him as time goes by.

When the writers decided to go the direction to have Xing Zhizhi take the medicine where he lost his emotions, it already made me not like it as much because I miss the old him where he express his emotions at the beginning and not someone who feels empty without those emotions. But I still held onto the hope in this drama because I look forward to their happy ending.

To be honest, their wedding was what I look forward to seeing the most, but as soon as that happened, I was like "Wtf" at it. As soon as that wedding happened I lost all hope because I know it wasn't real! T^T

Qin Fei really shouldn't have made up that lie to have Xing Zhizhi return to Suman to speed up his recovery because this indirectly caused them that horrid ending in the end.

If doing an operation was what allowed Qin Fei to regain his emotions then so be it. Even if it takes time in China, at least it wouldn't be in a dangerous place like Suman.

The more I think about it the more I end up hating how it all turned out.

If you want to give a tragic death to the Xing Zhizhi, the ML, (NOT that i support it), having him protect the Qin Fei(FL) in an attack would have been better than that cheap direction and him being implied dead and killed OFFSCREEN!

But I seriously hated the ending, because it is totally unjustifiable imo. You don't have Xing Zhizhi recovers from his mental illness to be ready to get back together with Qin Fei (and she have been waiting for him) but then have him presumed to be killed offscreen! Yes, OFFSCREEN!!!! because viewers was not given an explanation on what happened to him after he was abducted!!

I really WANT to believe in the end, that ending was him!! All I needed was enough time for an EXPLAINATION, from Xing Zhizhi and tell her (AND US!!!) WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM, HOW HE WAS ABLE TO GET OUT, WHERE HE'S BEEN ALL THIS TIME!!! As long as the writers give us this explanation, no matter how stupid the last minute happy ending it is.... I would believe that he's really back!!

BUT we got NONE of that!! In the final episode and all the scenes that lead up to "that moment in the end", do you expect us to believe that he's real?!

I'm so sad and disappointed with this ending, and honestly this ending really did ruined the entire drama for me. Xing zhizhi and Qin Fei deserves better.... I cannot watch this drama again without being reminded of what happened at the end...

In the end, all we got was their journey was a complete waste. The FL Qin Fei ended up having the same mental illness as the ML Xing Zhizhi which he was trying his best to recover, he finally recovered but was killed offscreen, WTF. And then Qin Fei got the same mental illness as Xing Zhizhi imagining it was him and he's back... except this is the illusion she don't want to get out off because she couldn't live on in a world without him!!

Are you for real writers?!

There's two screen writers here, maybe Wu Meng Zhang wrote the first half and Shi Ruo Min wrote the second half...since Shi Ruo Min also gave a sad ending in LIP(Love is Panacea)! -_-

While I was sad that LIP have a sad ending but at least there was built up to that ending, but in TBL(The Beautiful Lie), that was SO RANDOM and SO UNNECESSARY! IT MAKES ZERO SENSE IN TERMS OF LOGICAL DIRECTION AND WRITING PERSPECTIVE. THIS IS WHY I AM SO PISSED AND DISAPPOINTED, because it defeats that whole purpose in the last half of the story where Xing Zhizhi was trying his best to recover and he did recover(able to feel those emotions again), that gave us hope and then that shit happened OFFSCREEN.

Shi Ruo Min is definitely on MY BLACKLIST. I hope SRM gets a lot of backlash from fans who was disappointed in this drama!!

This is honestly so traumatic and I absolutely hated the writing in terms of ending perspective. One for the fact that we dont get a clear explanation if Xing Zhizhi is dead or alive (hurts me to think he's actually dead, but no one in their right mind would believe he's alive at the end.....), and two, their journey went back into a full circle and left unresolved.... isn't this supposed to be a story about being able to heal your mental illness? I am not inclined to think this is anything "beautiful" at all. It's disgusting in terms of after everything they've suffered and been through, they couldn't get that happy ending they've worked so hard for, a happy ending in which both Xing Zhizhi and Qin Fei deserves!!..

Personally, I wouldn't recommend this drama if ending is something that matters to you.... I actually felt like watching My Boss again... because Xing Xu is my favourite and the fact his character was done so dirty with this ending, make me want to watch My Boss again to heal my heart from this trauma and nightmare.

I haven’t written a review in here for a long time now... but this drama and my disappointment in this drama at the end makes me wants to write this review.

It has a promising start, the main pairing deserves better but they were done so dirty and I am genuinely disappointed with this ending!!

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Controversial drama with a disappointing ending

This drama has a stellar cast and production quality is superb, but the plot and message behind it are very controversial, to say the least.

The first 4 episodes were a solid 9, though heavy-handed, insensitive religious patronizing can be clearly seen from the very beginning. But after episode 5 it rapidly went downhill. Episode 6 was like those countless crime dramas about exaggerated corruption and untouchable chaebols with over the top acting and resolutions. Very meh.
And the last two episodes were drilling on the same message - suicide is a selfish act, it's not about you, you should keep on suffering for the sake of others. The only insightful part was about a suicidal salary man, who basically started the chain of events that lead ML to his own suicide - it showed ML the ugly reality of that dream he so desperately wanted to have, the one the government and society kept on brainwashing him to strive for ever since he went to school. But they never delved anywhere further with that. Instead of guilt shaming ML with his mother for the whole episode they should have explored what ML really wanted in life. How can he be true to himself like he said he wanted to? Is being a cog in an uncaring corporate machine what people really should strive for in life? Just such a waste of potential here narrative wise.

But as it is, this drama didn't try looking into the cause, didn't try to resolve any of the problems SK's society has that leads people to commit a staggering amount of suicides every year, like poverty and unemployment, it just tried to guilt shame suiciders through religious and societal dogmas. Makes one think that it was sponsored by SK's government, which seems to be impotent in solving this serious country wide issue and now just resorts to such cheap shots like this drama. Maybe it will work better on Asian audience with their traditionally communal mentality, but it's a very hard sell for individualistic West.

The suicide topic here is viewed from such a narrow perspective it really started to piss me off by the end. No exploration of mental health state of suicidal people or various circumstances that lead to this hard decision. Yeah, in ML's case perhaps he was too rash in attempting suicide since he had a caring mother and a girlfriend (though seeing how lonely he was with his problems at the beginning, these people have shown him lack of moral support when he really needed it, and his mother was later shown hoarding money for him, which she should have given him years ago to help cover his education debts he was paying off for many years). But what about people who have no such people in their lives? What about terminally ill/severely crippled/mentally unwell people who see themselves as a burden to their relatives and society? What about kids being beaten by their own drunkard parents and nobody cares? What about people who are living in miserable poverty with no hope for a better future? They should also keep on suffering for the sake of others and their country or go to hell? So many unique lives with unique problems, but this drama had no compassion or desire to explore any of that. It's like that cartoon meme: Nope, stop talking, go to hell.

As for the ending, well, ML got a second chance in life and that's a win (?). But consequently it also invalidated everything ML did in other people’s bodies and all those who were supposed to die will die, including his girlfriend, and all the bad guys, including two serial killer psychos, will still be walking scott free.
So all in all, this drama just left me kinda perplexed as to how to score it, because, on the one hand, the quality and cast were superb, but controversial message and disappointing ending made me feel like I've wasted my time watching this.
I guess I'll score episodes 1-5 with 8.5 and 6-8 with 7.0.

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rain, rain, go away. come again another day.

if you're giving this a go with a thought that this drama will tell you well-written stories about love and all that fancy stuff, you might want to think again. 'love in the air' attempts to depict two couples with interesting themes but fails to feel like a solid drama.

now, let's jump right into the couples
phayu x rain:
one thing i'll have to say is that there is no logical progression whatsoever in their relationship. besides the questionable actions of phayu wherein consent gets glossed over, as the episodes went on, their relationship felt like a compilation of sweet and intimate scenes but there was no proper story. the timeline itself was iffy.

what made their story a mess was the editing. it was nonsensical to the point that there is no telling what scene the viewer will see next. while that might work for something else, the way it's done here makes it seem as though the drama was jumping from one scene to another with little to no explanation what happened in the previous scene. one example is a cute scene when phayu asks rain to wait for him so they can have dinner together. it then abruptly cuts to a whole different scene and sets a completely different tone leaving the viewer with no time to adjust.

despite the negatives, this couple actually deserves better. the relationship dynamic was pretty good and phayu grew on me as the episodes went on. the actors did super well to make their chemistry work on screen. the intimate scenes had me pausing every second because whew it was a lot to process. make sure to have your earphones on.

prapai x sky:
another one bites the dust. in the beginning, the consistency of prapai not understanding how important the word 'no' is really frustrated me. just because they had a one night stand (which btw sky was pressured into it) doesn't mean prapai has the right to get into sky's life. clearly, there's a fine line between 'love' and 'harassment' and i think pai sort of falls under the latter.

what sky really needed was a proper support system and lots of therapy. on the topic of support system, he has his parents and his friends who could lend him an ear or two when he needs it. however, the bl formula is to skip the therapy and rely on a handsome hunk is the best way to go. in other words, he can 'fix' him. in the end, sky still has to live with his traumas and having no control over them.

despite prapai frustrating me with his actions, i can't deny that those sweet moments the two had in the last episode made me almost erase everything else. i feel like prapai in the last episode was the best prapai out of all the episodes. however, the message that love can somehow eliminate your traumas is absolutely bullshit.

even though i didn't enjoy this couple as much, the pacing and progression of their relationship was much more developed and smooth. there were still some problems with transition of scenes but it was not as bad. at least prapai x sky story was easy to follow through and there were less jumping of scenes.

so... what bothered me the most?

both couples have different feel to them. their stories have interesting themes that can branch out into a very engaging drama. however, what i was served is half of 'what could've been'.

one thing that everyone must've noticed was the constant raining that made some scenes 100x hilarious. the use of the main couples' names were evident throughout the drama and in some way, i feel like it was overdone. there were at times that the sound of wind added to the scene minimised how impactful that scene was. thankfully, peat did well to portray his character's traumas. though i wasn't a fan of fort's acting, he nailed the emotional scenes.

honestly, i have no clue what goes on with the production quality in this one. the background music was at times distracting and not fitting to the scenes. for some scenes, the music would go on longer than it should and it almost overpowered the dialogue of the characters. the voiceovers were poorly done. for real, i hate to say it but the editing team did a lackluster job. while the pacing was odd for payu x rain, the production quality got worse for prapai x sky.

this is one of those dramas where i can't help but complain over the quality of the drama because there were so many factors that bothered me that usually doesn't bother me in other dramas.

overall, there was so much potential with this drama. if more time was given to the production team and tweaked the parts that lacked coherence, 'love in the air' would've made me like it a tad bit more.

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Okay, I was hesitating whether I should write a review of this drama, but after seeing so many positive opinions, I was quite shocked so I decided to share what I think. So here's an unpopular opinion. CLOY definitely became very popular and achieved high ratings. It's understandable to one point, because dramas like this are often liked by a lot of people. But is CLOY really that unique and mind-blowing? Uhm, no, I don't think so.

CLOY was an average rom-com in the first half and a very overdramatic melodrama in the second. I actually liked the first few episodes a lot and I believe the drama had potential, but everything was pretty much ruined. And it kind of makes me angry, especially after this crappy ending.

The drama was extremely unrealistic and illogical. I know that the point of it is not to be realistic, but at least, it should have been convincing. I know that a love story about a NK army officer and SK heiress sounds very exciting and it would have been, if they had managed to handle it well. It's not an easy story to handle. They had a budget to film abroad and to cast stars like Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin, yet some scenes were so poorly done. I don't quite understand that. Is it a mistake or they simply didn't care? At least the cinematography was very beautiful.

Anyways, I could handle these problems in the first half because I liked the story. However, the second half was horrible. I don't know, maybe it wasn't my cup of tea. Do writers still believe that if they make the characters almost die, that will make us feel more emotional? Make the drama more impactful? No, it became tiring. Someone was dying, the other was crying and then, in the next episode, everything was fine (yeah, in most cases). A little drama is very much appreciated, but in this case with this drama, it was overdone and it ruined the whole show. I don't know, but I didn't feel any emotions. I couldn't care less about what was happening.

The main leads were amazing though. I loved both Jung Hyuk and Se Ri and they had a sizzling chemistry! I loved all of their sweet moments. I respect this writer because she definitely knows how to make our hearts flutter with some beautiful romantic scenes. I'm still not a fan of her writing. The second couple was also very sweet, I wish they had more screen time. They focused too much on random supporting characters which made the episodes too long and tiring.

Son Ye Jin was perfect as Se Ri - an adorable and strong female lead. Although I wasn't the biggest fan of Hyun Bin, I admit that he was a total husband material and he did an amazing job at portraying Jung Hyuk. Ye Jin and Hyun Bin definitely suit each other and I'm glad that they were there to save the drama. The same goes for Seo Ji Hye and Kim Jung Hyun.

Overall, ''Crash Landing On You'' is not the worst drama out there, but it's far from perfect. It has its amazing moments, but I believe it's a wasted potential. You can watch it if you like the main leads, but I wouldn't really recommend it.

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Yearning for Better Endings

The drama started off on a great note.. Their first meeting being chaotic again.. I thought this season would include some thriller elements but it didn't.. I dont remember why i even thought that..

This season started off with their reunion scene but it just didnt feel right.. FL clearly saw him when she kicked his ass in that room.. But she didn't recognise him?? She had to watch the cctv footage to finally realize who he was?? Just didn't make any sense to me..

Bae Hyeon Seong really surprised me with how good he was.. I am equally impressed by the scripts he chooses or are chosen for him.. Throughout this drama he was outstanding..

Another Flaw.. The Detective who was supposed to be following him only found him after the accident.. Where was she before that?? There was no way for her to find him so quickly if she was not already following him.. And she knew about the abandoned building as well.. That's another stupid mistake..
One more.. After escaping from the cops he went straight to his house.. I mean are the police stupid enough to ignore the house of an escaped suspect?? Seriously?? Shouldn't that be the first place they secured?? He was there for over an hour easily.. And then the detective.. She came alone?? To look for an escaped suspect?? And then all at once nobody cared about him and his connections to the assault and murder cases??
If I’m going to nitpick.. There were several flaws.. Compared to season 1, this season had a lot more mistakes..

In season 1 I felt she should have killed Kato instead of Ichiro.. If she had done that.. Maeda wouldnt have been able to build this empire or even be alive for that matter.. Well.. I suppose they wouldnt have had enough material for another season if that had happened..

" Do you know why hell is a dreadful place??
Because it never ends..
He and I couldn't be friends.. So I decided to become his hell instead.. "

Claudia Kim's back again.. Another powerful performance in her brief screentime.. She really was obsessed with the Jang Tae Sang.. And i dont know why her character is listed as Guest role in MDL.. She had support role.. More screen time and impact than typical guest role..

In Season 1, both Park Seo Joon and Han So Hee didnt outshine each other in terms of their performances.. They were equally good.. But season 2, Park Seo Joon truly outshines everyone..

" I don't remember when but everything started to fade away..
Why I'd been fighting, What I'd been fighting for, And even my rage..
I couldn't overcome a certain yearning..
I existed but I wasn't living.. I missed her.. All I wanted was to see her..
I wanted to embrace her and hold on to her..
Just once would be enough if it meant I could see you.. If it meant I could hold you "

Ep 5 was simply the best episode of the season.. The yearning.. The fighting.. The emotions.. Just incredible..

Something I noticed in the first season is that the creatures were influenced from The Stranger Things but chose to ignore it because it wasnt too obvious.. But this season they made it too obvious and evident that it was heavily influenced..

I was really disappointed at the fact that they didnt show us how she ended up in that river with shenshin at the end of season 1?? They should have addressed it this season because it clearly doesn’t make any sense.. I am still curious..

I am not satisfied with the conclusion.. After 69 years of yearning.. They are separated again?? If there is another season.. I might change my rating for Season 2 to an 8.5.. But for now it just doesn’t feel right.. Kdrama writers continue to falter with their endings.. Season 1 was definitely better..

Overall Season 2 had its moments.. It ultimately fell short of expectations.. Particularly in its ending.. The follow up seasons of dramas are supposed to tie up the loose ends but this just leaves me with more questions than answers.. I Hope there is another season..

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As a BIG fan of the manga, let me start by saying that this version presents Sano+Mizuki romance the best way out of all the versions there are (and, yes, believe me, when I say, I have seen all of them, and not only seen but completed!)

As this drama is an adaptation of a Japanese manga, please, don't be angry with me, because my review is going to contain comparisons, but I promise, only between this version and the manga, I won't be dragging in the other versions (the first paragraph was the introduction ^^)

Th story: Of course I did not expect the Korean producers/director to take and copy out the manga, which is most of the time good point of Korean drama makers, BUT, let me just point out how much this drama suffered from the unnecessary improvisations of the screen writer/whoever. As the manga is a school life/sports there were a lot of points that the Korean version could use in the sense of the characters, events, even little moments. For example taking out/ignoring the character of Kayashima(the ghost seeing guy), only because the guy (Infinite's L) couldn't play the specific role was just NOT RIGHT! The character added a lot to the manga and would be a very good addition to the drama. I would also appreciate more interaction between the dorms, they lost so much fun~!

Other points that I would like to point out lie in the existing characters. It can only be my impression, but the Korean version just made everybody so average and ordinary, while in the manga they are awesome to extreme points! Nakatsu's love for Mizuki - too extreme and so cute! Nakao's love toward Nanba senpai - so extreme and so childishly cute, Nanba senpai - being the hot player, Kayashima - seing the ghosts and auras... and many other points. It feels like by trying to make the characters more down-to-earth, the crew forgot that they were going to shoot a youth oriented drama - the crazier the better~ so the story suffered from it... BUT, the crew remembered to turn to the manga at some moments, which had me caching my breath, there lines right out of the manga, and SUCH lines~ bellissimo~

Cast/Acting: I should honestly say that after this drama I am a VERY BIG FAN of Choi MinHo~ he played the most real Sano ever created out of the manga! His anger toward JaeHee at first, then his melting heart, his caring, his jealousy, his friendship, his love, even when he freaked out because of a cat... everything was perfect~!
Sulli did great too, she deserves a lot of compliments! I loved her JaeHee, though sometimes a little slow and dense, she was cute, brave and played her role just fine~
Lee Hyun-Woo - not the Nakatsu I would imagine, but his EunGyul was very much fun to watch too, I enjoyed his caring for JaeHee and his undying friendship, I just couldn't bear his puppy eyes when he was sad! Don't be sad EunGyula~

The music is very-very good! Though I am not a big fan of SM music (except for SHINee's some songs), hese OSTs are fantastic~! I especially enjoy Taeyon's Closer and J-Min's Stand Up~

Next time somebody decides to remake HanaKimi, PLEASE, include the ball scene~, onegai~

Overall, I enjoyed this drama a lot, it's funny, it's very cute, it's romantic. I will be missing this fun of Wed/Thu-s...

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Cafe Minamdang is a Hoot!

I'm surprised that most of the reviews reflect dissatisfaction with this drama. I'm in episode 10 right now and let me tell ya that I have not had so much fun watching a K drama as I am having now. I'm still laughing at Seo In-guk as Nam Han-joon (I even rewinded some scenes to get another laugh). Who would have thought this guy can do brilliant comedy. So, I'm writing this review even before I finish with the drama just to share my two cents and how much I enjoy watching it.

Cafe Minamdang was Han-joon's brainchild to trick his mother, a deeply religious Catholic, from the shock of knowing that her son and daughter were running a shaman scheme. But behind the facade, Han-joon, riddled with guilt after his best friend prosecutor was murdered, took this route to find the murderer.

I thought the concept of this drama was weird, but after I started watching, I was hooked and it made sense to me. A gifted profiler turned shaman. He did not even have to fake it because he is such a genius in reading people that his transition from profiler to shaman was seamless. A shaman does the same thing: help individuals with issues in their lives by listening to their woes and helping them overcome those challenges.

The mystery thriller/comedy/romance combined would have been a disaster had it not been executed well. What I like most is the epilogue after each episode that gave clarity to the viewers as to what transpired before the crime and any action taken by the characters happened.

And the other characters ie, Oh Yeon-seo as Han Jae-hee, as a hyper detective with her ninja punches and volatile personality (a clear foil to our hero's persona that reminded me of the eccentric detective, Sherlock Holmes), Nam Hye-joon, Han-joo's younger sister, an exceptionally intelligent hacker, his right man and Minamdang's barista, Gong Soo-chul and the loveable Jonathan complete his ensemble of very funny and smart team engaged in fighting crime as well as helping their clients, who of course, paid for their services. Loved the crime squad team of hilarious Jang Doo Jin, Kim Sang Hyup and Na Kwang Tae.

That was a fun ride. Just completed watching and I must say, I was thoroughly entertained. I prefer watching crime thrillers like Voice and Monster with dark and jarring scenes and serious looking characters and since Cafe Minamdang had a serial killer storyline, I took the chance and watched it. In comparison, Cafe Minamdang was like a breath of fresh air with characters that were whip smart, don't take themselves too seriously and maintain their sense of humour in dangerous situations. I think the message these characters wished to convey was for the audience to join the ride and follow them as they solve the crime in their own way.

I highly recommend. If you want laughter and entertainment, at the same time, satisfy your love for crime thrillers, then this drama is for you.

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Hidden gem!

I didn’t look for the title, the title found me. And simply, if you liked WWW, you will love this one, me thinks. It’s not sugar coated romcom, and it’s beautifully written, directed and acted. A gem!
The series give you very well developed characters, the actors for me portrayed the resolution and hope of youth and the struggles and complicated world the older generation have. It created a circus of relationships, clashing those, who always have everything, their games, and contrast this world with the one of other people. They both have their struggles and truth and it’s interesting how you are guided to also the see both side fairly.
Despite all, there is a simple, pure love born out of being connected, truly connected, with someone. Haven’t finished the drama(2ep to go), but I loved it so far.
Why not 10 for me - mainly because I’m a bit tired to be shown that we have to bare the responsibilities of age - we all need to be free at some point, to hell everything else, we need to breath (I secretly hope that’s what will happen in the last two episodes) So I’m holding my horses:-)

(By comparison with Now we are breaking up, 100% better!)

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How second chance romance should NOT be done

I never really liked second chance romance (after all, what's interesting if the characters already know they like each other?) but then The First Frost came out and I realized how good the angst could be, so I tuned into this one, thinking it would be a great melodrama.

Unfortunately, I did not click with anything here at all.

In the main leads' story in the past, the FL was just really pushy and the ML really bland; their relationship happens at the speed of light without any sort of good build-up.

And then in modern day, their reconnection just really made me angry. The FL is extremely self-righteous and rude, while the ML just sits there and takes all the snarky comments she makes about him because he's supposedly so in love with her still. It gives pathetic more than it gives yearning and I just cannot fathom a person ending up with someone who seems to have such little respect for them.

The reignition of their romance is portrayed as a "I just couldn't help loving you" type of situation, but it comes across as codependent and unhealthy instead of romantic. I ultimately just don't see any reason why these characters could, should, or would end up together and not break up again, especially since they just don't communicate at all, even until the last episode, where we're given ANOTHER separation and time jump that makes even less sense.

The plot doesn't help much. Corporate warfare is a very common trope and I found certain plotlines — the poisoning of the sister — interesting, but ultimately we end up with a hodgepodge of tropes and antagonists, none of which are really clear: the lady who is in jail, the mom who started out evil but then I guess was okay, etc.

The last episode was the nail in the coffin. They separate again and then are brought back together by a random side character death. While the side characters were just okay — they weren't memorable and lovable but also weren't annoying — it just felt very random and made it seem like there had to be an external reason for the leads to reconnect; they couldn't do it on their own. The final scene...well let me just say that excitement and big grand gestures such as an airport chase scene will never sell me on the feasibility of a relationship. It's too short-term and just doesn't provide much depth.

2/10 (instead of 1/10) because the cinematography was nice.

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I had high expectations for this drama due to the cast and the seemingly different storyline and style of editing, but I guess I shouldn't have because it's one of those dramas that changed according to the viewer response each week. I mainly ended up continuing with this drama because of the diversity of the side characters and the overall comedic timing.

Kim Soo Hyun was downright hilarious and really showed his worth and growth as an actor. IU was excellent as well, and even though I didn't expect much from her, I can totally see why they cast her; she was perfect. Cha Tae Hyun and Gong Hyo Jin didn't get to do much with their characters after all, as the focus was increasingly put on Kim Soo Hyun and IU due to viewer response and a commitment to fan service. Kim Soo Hyun ended up with the majority of the screen time, followed by IU and Cha Tae Hyun.

Gong Hyo Jin's character is surprisingly irrelevant for most of the drama, except the romance. This drama seemed to concentrate too much on the story of a pop star (IU), and any work-related problems for the female PD (Gong Hyo Jin) were relatively nonexistent for a drama about the work environment of PDs.

I don't have much to say about the romantic scenes; I ended up skipping most of them because I just wasn't entertained (and this is coming from someone who barely watches anything but romantic dramas). The acting, the comedy, and the sound track are on point so I gave this drama a pretty good score, but I wish there was more of the unique documentary-style editing which they decreased once they switched directors. I expected something fresh and different, but this ended up being pretty stale and it gave in to cliches. I think someone commented somewhere about how the world in which the characters live is pretty boring and slow-paced, and I would have to agree.

I wouldn't rewatch it as a whole, but some scenes are good enough to go find to make GIFs for tumblr, if you know what I mean (lol). Basically, I don't recommend this drama unless you're a die-hard Kim Soo Hyun or IU fan.

BUT THAT'S JUST ME...maybe you'll enjoy it more than I did!

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Interesting premise but struggles mightily with setting a consistent tone and story.

Taxi Driver had an interesting setup and premise. I really liked how it highlighted a vigilante taxi driver and his squad out for vengeance to defend the helpless. I loved that the cases were based on real stories which did well to ground this drama.

Yet this drama had a hard time creating a special tone for itself. I’m thinking that it’s because I expected more grit from this drama, and it had settled on giving more #SquadGoal vibes.

Around the second half, the overarching story went a bit off the rails, and I don’t feel like it was ever able to right itself. I personally think this drama would have done much better if it stuck to its more episodic arcs focused on real-life cases. Those cases were all heart. In contrast, it tried to develop an overarching baddie, that took the drama into eyebrow-raising unbelievable territory. I also think with the exit of the original writer, the second half lacks a lot of focus and purpose. Unfortunately, Taxi Driver left a lot of opportunity on the table and veered away from a lot of what made it fun and magical early on. Quite the shame!

If you are looking for a crime drama, this may fit the bill. Alternatively, if you are looking for a drama that is offering something new and never been done before, I may suggest looking elsewhere.

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well, the only good for this drama is the OST.. BTOB did a good job on the remake of the haru OST by SUJU.. when one of my fav OST is being remake, i'm sure loving the remake version also.. both are just soothing to my ears..

even it is hard to watch all those cringe scene and script but i manage to pull through this drama solely for park so dam and jung il woo.. i always love their drama..

the character was meehhh~~ but i did jump like 6 y/o when those cute scene between ha won and ji won.. the hardest character that i was forced to accept was hyeji, my god~~!!!! the development of the character was shit!!! i'm wondering what are the writers thinking during the development of the character.. it's like the writer are so diligent in the 1st halve of the drama and gettin lazy by the end of it~~

well, the most character that i like is *drum rolls* YOONSUNGie~~~~ why?? because he just too gorgeous when he smile.. not to mention, among 4 of them, he is the truest knight (for me) XD

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It felt like a wattpad story xD

I didn't hate it, but it was very questionable

I had a hard time caring for Phayu and Rain...
They lacked emotional intimacy and everything happened way too fast.

I didn't like the way either of the couples got together.

I was skeptical about the second couple and how Prapai didn't take "no" for an answer, but it's MAME so what's new...
I did however like that Prapai really tried to gain Sky's trust towards the end.

Gun is a piece of sh*t and I was just waiting for Prapai to beat him up.
The whole thing with Sky's trauma was way too rushed... this boy needs therapy!!
Things like this can't be cured with "the power of love" as much as we wish it would.

However in the end I liked that couple more than the first one.

I don't have much to say about the acting.
They did a good job for their first role.

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