My "10" is solely based on the fact that I loved the lead romance, I loved the music, and overall was just
genuinely happy while watching it.
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I loved 'Cruel City'- every plot turn, sequence and pace of the story, the characters, the relationships and even the ending, though it could have been different. The story is told brilliantly. Great, beautifully written characters. The casting was perfect. Fresh admiration for Jung Kyung Ho. He hit the ball out of the park as the Doctor's Son. And of course, the drama hugely benefits from the rest of the cast, who were all unique and great.
Loved the OST, especially the one that plays at some defining moments/cliffhangers.
Romance isn't the focus of course, but it carries much charm and impact. There aren't that many scenes between Shi Hyun and Soo Min, but we can feel their connection through most of the drama.
I don't know if the plot is perfect. It probably isn't. There were times in the first half when the actions and reasons of many people seemed silly and um..(can't say more, might be a spoiler). But in the overall plot of things, it's negligible.
About the ending- as I said before, it could have been different but as it is- I could see it happening.
I definitely recommend this drama..to all who won't mind having a little-less-than-perfect ending to a great drama watching experience.
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Fresh story with great acting skill
This is my first chinese drama that I follow on going after I encountered Dongfang Qingcang (LBFAD is my first ever CDrama). While waiting for it to air, I watched Dylan's past dramas, and I can say his acting becomes so much richer and more versatile in every drama, start from Meteor Garden, Evernight 2 and so on. While DFQC is his most iconic role, Xiao Duo is his richest character with so many layers and I can say he gave XD justice. XD is much more than badass and cool domineering character, he is also the softest sweetheart, the most romantic lover, the best friend and the best leader for his men, cunning, smart yet silly sometimes, etc. so many layers of his characters yet Dylan played them all very well. I can't sense any DFQC left in him beside the badass and domineering side.I really enjoyed this drama, its story is fresh and unique, the acting skills of most main actors are superb and supporting roles are great too (except Tongyun). I love how it was directed, fighting scenes are awesome and the drama set is beautiful. Even the ship set when they went to west shu is beautiful too.
But this drama has its flaws too. The flow of the story is sometimes choppy due to censorship, FL charachter is sometimes unconsistent, a few scene doesnt make sense, but it's drama anyway... the murder of XD brother plot is overused, they should make Prince Nanyuan the real culprit and Bu Yu Lu still be the traitor IMO.
The ending felt unreal since it was just it, they just showed the CP escaped together. They didnt give us any extended scene to show that they really live happily ever after! BUT, I think the drama did not really have to tell us about that moment, it already showed how it ends, not properly, but they showed us. The main protagonists got what they want freedom, free to be with whoever they want to be. The villains got what they deserved. Murong Gaogong was showed falling down to the ground, its his falling. They stopped it there. It wouldve been better if there was a naration of what happened to him, but no. But they showed us how he got his karma. He got badly injured thus he can have any child! He became eunuch himself literally. And he was slowly being crazy and lost his mind, mentally sick. And the kingdom would never accept that kind of King. They didnt show us, but it was implied. So, tho I want more for the ending, but the drama said just it. They already gave us the closure, dont asked more since it will need more effort, more episodes lol.
As for romance, tho it was cut every here and there, but I assure you, just by looking at XD lustfull gaze, you'll get to know that they're quite wild couple, lol. And IMO, even with all of those cut, their chemistry is still on fire!
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1This review may contain spoilers
It is a con within a con made by a con who knew a con and got conned by another con.Confused by that? Well this movie is such a mess that after watching it, that sentence will make complete sense to you. This whole movie starts with a team of people who we don't know yet that have already established themselves as a team and goes to meet another team in China to get a heist job done. The whole time everything is happening in a slow paced with no real understanding of who the characters are. The only thing you understand is that betrayal is on the rise. You legit can't trust anyone because nothing makes sense.
You're only bonus is Ji Hyun, Hye Soo and Soo Hyun who look lovely. You get a flash of abs, very brief. Some lovely shots of Ji Hyun and Hye Soo being serious babes. The only thing this has going for it is that the actors in the film despite a terrible script and stupidity everywhere, act well in it.
The worst thing about this movie is that this shit is TOO LONG. I felt drained watching after getting halfway through it.
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So this movie is adapted from the manga of the same name and i absolutely love that manga
it is like a breath of fresh air from the most of the serious drama's out there
So,the movie starts with Sugihara Kohei, a college student who has distanced himself from others unconsciously because he is hard of hearing
The one thing that the film touches upon and I find quite good is that Disabled people also deserve to be treated normally like others and do not want any kind of special treatment
The actors did a good job especially Tawada Hideya-the person who played the role of Sugihara Kohei
also they did not distort the manga at all so that is quite a positive point
also altho i liked it but i don't think that it is a movie you can't watch more than once
so it does deserves to be watched at least once if you are into BL's and stuff
I'll leave the links of the manga and the movie below so do make sure to give it a try!
thank you
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Steve Jobs on Crack
Where would you even begin with this crazy hot mess? The first 3-4 episodes were acceptable despite moving too fast and creating many gaps. However, as the drama unfolded, it became clear that it was biting off more than it could chew. Right off from episode 5, the drama became an irrecoverable mess. The pacing was erratic, jumping between weak fabricated plot twists, jarring narrative and bloated segments with no sense of cohesion. The drama was throwing everything at the viewers to see what sticks. Action, thriller, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, melodrama, the drama couldn't decide what it wanted to be nor it managed to mix any of them well. The characters felt like caricatures rather than fully developed individuals, and their motivations often seemed arbitrary, inconsistent and generally weak. If the drama wanted to go for stupid ridiculousness then why not raise the stakes to match? Not even the ending could measure up to its intent despite its "supposed" twist.Was this review helpful to you?
Terrific plot paired with an almost total absence of charismatic characters
Robots are perfectly fine. They do lots of cool things. They can vacuum. They help build cars and other stuff. Some robots are even helping with medical procedures. This is all good stuff. There’s lots of robots on screen too from the droids in the “Star Wars” universe (mostly entertaining) to the invaders from outer space in Michael Bay’s “Transformers” franchise (less positive things to say about them) and the robots that look human like “The Terminator” or Data from “Star Trek: The Next Generation). [reviewer’s note: apologies for the list of references to Western fare]Robots can be a contributing element for an entertainment production. When they are, it’s because they are usually imbued with human-like personalities. Sadly, the reverse works less effectively. Human characters meant to be more robotic in their personality rarely seem to engage viewers. This may seem like an odd introduction to a drama set in modern day South Korea with no sci-fi or fantasy or supernatural element but rather named after and with running references to Greek mythology. Before this all connects, a digression:
“Chimera” is a drama focused on a serial killer that uses incendiary traps to kill. A spree thirty-five years prior to the current timeline ended when a suspect was apprehended and committed suicide in police custody. A new string of deaths is now following the same patterns. That’s the show.
To its credit, this setup is surprisingly good. There is more than a bit of chemistry and science and it is presented in a way that the average onlooker can make sense of. It’s a different approach to creating a serial killer character. It also helps to physically separate the killer from the crimes so the entire scene can be captured without revealing the identity of the chimera killer too early. As characters become suspicious and then are discovered to be not bad guys or at least not The Bad Guy, the narrative nicely keeps springing action scenes and surprises at a regular clip. Had an equally accomplished cast of characters been participating in such a narrative, it would have been a terrific show.
There is one. Kim Su Hyun’s Eugene Hathaway, an FBI profiler that’s been shipped overseas, would have been the ideal character to lead “Chimera” and build the show around. She’s intellectual but also empathic. She excels in a high pressure environment. And Kim Su Hyun shows why she’s appeared in two of the biggest cinematic franchises on the planet (the MCU and Harry Potter).
But the show is instead built around Park Hae Soo’s Jae Hwan, a detective that is a maddeningly inconsistent character. At times, he is utterly befuddled at the worst possible time and finds the absolute worst thing to do. Other times, he is Mr. Cop Cliche: bristling with superiors when told what to do, playing the bad cop type in an interrogation and convinced that his half-baked hunch is all he needs to take down his target. Park Hae Soo does what he can, but with all the focus on him, it’s an impossible character to salvage.
The rest of the crew is where the robots come in:
The doctor - calculating
The special investigative team leader - grim
The lawyer - quiet
The police vet - subdued
The mother - withdrawn
The CEO - restrained
The CEO’s wife - buttoned up
The CEO’s wife’s brother - resolute
The closed circuit tv police officer - shy
The other police officers - so much the typical police character that they could be faceless
That’s the theme. One robotic character after another appears on screen and when they show up, they tend to be there for extended appearances. Granted, not every fictional character needs to be some wild carnival barking exuberant rainbow of personality, but the calculus should not be to take three monotones, put them on couches and let them mumble to each other for a good chunk of an episode. The collective ends up being a group that’s difficult to connect with so when cast members start getting picked off, it’s a shrug and an “oh well” and let’s move on.
It helps less that Woo Hyun appears with regularity in “Chimera”. Somehow this gentleman who, in person, might be the kindest and most charitable man in the hemisphere regularly gets work despite the fact that he is one of the top five most graceless actors in the industry and the only one of the five that didn’t get the work because his day job is as a successful idol.
Layer in some lame explosion special effects, conventional camera work, no interesting OST to speak of and a regular pattern of alternating stronger episodes with slower episodes and the production as a whole simply never gains more than a modicum of traction.
In a better vehicle, Park Hae Soo and Kim Su Hyun could be a phenomenal pair of actors. “Chimera” is not that show. Not recommended.
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First of all, the cast was a total success since I'm a huge fan of Ji sung and hated as much as hell Bae so bin after watching brilliant legagy..Of course I can't forget Hwang Jung Eum ..The chemistry between Ji sun and jung eum was great but the love story that started with revenge was even more pleasant to watch..How that hatred turned into love just by watching each other and getting to know the other party is my favourite ..
More then that the ost was incredible I really liked ' incurable disease - navi ' and ' tears stole the heart - ailee '..It was choosen carefully and fitted the scenes..
I also liked this drama because there isn't to much of the scary step-mother scenes that i hate the most plus the step-mother liked min hyuk and didn't bother Yoo jung alot..well it's a change from the other dramas that i've watched ..
I'll definetly rewatch it and enjoy it as if i was watching it for the first time..This drama is for sure going to be one of my favourite top 3
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All of me loves Oh Sehun… can’t say the same for the girl these two leads pine for
I came into this show expecting a light-hearted romantic comedy. A love triangle that I honestly would have a hard time watching if it weren't for Oh Sehun. Instead this drama offers much more than the above, in fact it deviates from the typical love-triangle formula to share a story more about youth and the love the young characters have to give towards each other as a whole.So I'm not going to lie. Oh Sehun is the reason I was interested in this drama in the first place, and outside of that I wasn't planning on watching. To my surprise, right away this drama proved to be interesting- and honestly a whole lot more than I expected in general. Sehun's character Go Yoo fits him so well. The smiles and fun easygoing energy that he has is just perfect. After watching him in that one pirate movie I had no idea what to expect from his acting, but with this role he really fits it so well that I'm impressed and excited to see where his character goes. I think Sehun will do well with the mellow scenes, as this drama will definitely be having more of those. Sehun's scenes with basketball are point blank amazing, peak cinematography. They straight up did a Matrix style scene like where Neo dodges the bullets. Some could say outdated, but honestly genius. Like it is set in 2006, they did the Matrix, its part of the time.
It can be argued that Sehun doesn't look like a high schooler, but come on now. Something about his confidence on the basketball court, he fits being a high school basketball player too well honestly. The guy is all in other players faces like it is the only thing he's good for. So I can see his conflicts of his identity coming to light as he mellows himself to worry about other people. Which can very much so happen considering he ends up giving a kidney to his best friend. (which I also love) Watch the scene where Go Yoo makes the game winning shot and taunts the other players and tell me that isn't a spitting image of a guy in your high school that played basketball and peaked then. (not saying he is going to peak, just getting my point across).
Seeing bullying frustrates me. That is a good thing, why would I feel good watching bullying? Joon He gets bullied and has some issue with his health right away. I can see the whole story happening infant of my eyes and pray and hope that it does it correctly. This drama has a lot of open areas to fail, so that scares me the most. Jo Joon Young plays Joon He, and he plays off of Sehun so well. Their chemistry is so fun, and I love it so much. Watching two people enjoy eachtother that much, it makes me think about them growing old and still ending up as the same stupid teens they once were.. unfortunately I have no idea at this point if that will get to happen at all. I hope this drama focuses on the two of them rather than girl tearing them apart. So far it isn't what I thought it would be, so I hope it continues that path and cuts away romance that doesn't need to happen. The focus should stay on the two best friends, and be about their hardships with realizations about Joon He's health, him opening up, confections with a girl being added to the mix, but he always ends up back to Go Yoo. There is something about the two of them that is so beautiful... as dumb as that sounds. If Joo He is in trouble, Go Yoo will have his back. I love people genuinely enjoying each other without romance being shoved in my face. It is much harder to show a friendship than a romance. Romance can't really be described as to how people fall in love, so in dramas they take advantage of that and it can end up being dumb and heartless. Friendships are earned, they give reasons to why they depend on each other, and that they chose each other to be friends.
What I am saying, is that what is set up is interesting enough that it leaves me impressed. That is because it is executed well, acted well, written well. This drama is just a job well done.
The setup of the story is really good. The cinematography feels outside of the genre I was expecting. I love getting into dramas without knowing much, but its a mixed bag. Either I could love it, or really hate it. Right now I love this drama. What I am worried about is the love triangle, but in the end I think that it will be used to develop the characters rather than make them into a shell of themselves (at least I hope for that to be the case)
Go Yoo and Joon He by far have the best chemistry. Which is so insane to me with the age gaps. Honestly I am just getting so much from this drama that it really didn't have to do. It would have been successful without it being taken in the direction it is because if I watched for Sehun, I bet you many other people have.
Instead this drama serves to lead itself into a bittersweet story. Which it could've gone straight towards the love triangle, it may do that- but it also has a lot of depth beneath that with the first scene coming into play. I am so happy to see another drama that shifts its timeframe away from the present day. A lot can happen with it being set in 2006 compared to 2023. I would say more but I don't want to spoil. What they are doing with the time difference is underdeveloped. The girl character just comes over to drink several times and she’s the same character but not to me.. maybe because there was no defining traits about her to begin with. I don’t get why she comes out of the blue and what they are doing with the whole 2023 story other than to take it to the last episode to show whether Go Yoo is alive or not.
Watch this drama for Sehun, and watch it to get out of the typical love high school plot. I really want this to be great, and hope it stays to focus on the friendships. Then it will get a higher score. For what occurs over the small amount of episodes is a bit confusing. I think they are trying to do a whole jealousy thing with the girl but I can’t buy into it. The girl character isn’t really a character, I can’t find anything interesting about her other than that she is pretty.
Why do they both like her ? Especially Go Yoo? He’s so interesting .. why does he like this boring girl. It’s just oh it’s a new girl so they like her. They look good together… stupid stuff is said to make me buy into it. But I do not at all. Both the male leads like her and there is no depth outside of that, so to have Go Yoo get so jealous because of her makes no sense. It makes sense if he’s jealous she is with his best friend, but as for the latter it straight up does not. He does not know this girl, she is literally just preset and serves no other person. I swear this girl had not thoughts for and is a plot device to have this show be longer. Also she is so laughably bad at basketball .. If they both are mad at eachother for the girl and stop being friends because of it that is straight up criminal. Instead it should be that she is a gap between them and they are upset because of the rift they don’t understand them between them as friends. It does not need the romance but unfortunately that is what this drama is… so I have to live with it
I’m only so picky because they have these things to do and they are ignoring it for the girl. She takes time away but in the end serves no purpose. There is no way I feel bad for her, I don’t know her. She is just new pretty girl and is so annoying to me because I don’t understand why everyone likes her and wants to be her. God it is the worst. Her character is so so so bland… I can’t pick out any trait about her, she just stares and looks and barely talks. Female characters can be good and I don’t hate them by any means, a lot of dramas I love the gamble lead. Here though they really did my girl so bad. She just exists in this school, she’s new, pretty, but she has a secret…. But why- why do they find her interesting? Why is she supposed to be important. She is literally just a thief but why- why is that the thing that makes her not like other girls. Why is it the emotional climax for her- is her family poor? I don’t know they don’t give you that. They give you her crying and suck away anything I love about this show with her just being there. She takes away so many points for me here.
This story should have been done without her entirely.
100% just the two friends and maybe Go Yoo actually being upset he can’t play basketball and starting to blame his friend for that because of the kidney issue. They could have Go Yoo struggle with his identity and friendship and how he feels bad about what was taken away from him but he ultimately gave it away. Give the emotional climax to the friendship that was set up so well. Have it be between the leads and them reconciling and talking about their health issues- lives outside of high school- literally anything but the girl and her being a theif.
This show isn’t going beyond that in a way other than adding a girl to have tension and conflictions. I kid you not she does nothing. I don’t know why suddenly she is some main friend with them? I don’t get it.
Not bad as by any means, just not anything new. Now it’s still good though because of the main friendship, but the girl in the mix is pretty lame to me personally. .. if not aggravating.
It’s a shame. They had this story and a great setup. In the end they dragged out what didn’t need to be a part of it and lost touch of what they wanted to do in the first place. The cellular memory plot is so convoluted and only in the last two episodes.. but barely? So I’m disappointed but not surprised with this one.
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Self Acceptance vs Social Acceptance
I watched this drama with little expectation. The only one that attracted me is the unique title which started with @Account Has Been Deleted (@계정을 삭제하였습니다) to User Not Found. There is a connection between the drama title with this review title I will explain in the end.STORY
There are three plots in this drama according to its genres:
Youth/School Genre: Coming of Age/Growing Up
The drama focuses on the first Female Lead who, no matter how boring her character is, represents many of viewers’ common personalities. She is quiet, introverts, shy, compares herself with others, fantasizes a lot, and mostly in desperate need of social acceptance of her new classmates. So this is shy Yoo Min Jae (played by Shin So Hyun) or we call it Pop-Min (as her friends call her later) to distinguish her from the other Yoo Min Jae. Pop-Min is transferred in the second year of highschool to a new school. On the first day she already freaked out of not being be able to find friends in any group no matter she tries, as she experienced in the past schools. Unexpectedly, some girls mistaken her for a Yoo Min Jae, who is a popular fashionista and a social influencer on Instagram. Pop-Min just accepts her ‘luck’ by saying nothing. However, since she’s not confident enough to carry out the lie, the pressure is enough to get her thinking of “disappearing from this world”.
Romance Genre: Slow Burn
And this is where Male Lead Shin Yi Joon comes in. No, he’s not a knight in the shining armor. He overhears her saying it by the bridge. No, she doesn’t try to jump and kill herself. Later, we find he had the same thought before. Thus, a friendship begins base on the same understanding and sympathy between Pop-Min and Yi Joon. Yi Joon, surprisingly, is not the typical ML in romance dramas. He is equally quiet and shy, but he doesn’t give a damn about what other people think or say about him. Something happened to him in the past.
The romance is slow burn, mostly due to Pop-Min and her secret that she’s hesitated with Yi Joon. No love triangle, no annoying second lead. There is a little misunderstanding that resolves quickly.
Drama Genre: Past trauma
The knight in the shining armor for Pop-Min is actually in the form of the other Yoo Min Jae (Han Ye Ji) or we call her Moo-Min. Something happens in the past that makes her transfer to... Pop-Min’s school, in fact, to her class. But Moo-Min disguises as a plain Jane. She just wants to go to school as quietly as possible until graduation. Of course, she’s surprised there is Pop-Min who uses her Ig identity. An agreement strikes between the two Min Jaes to swap identities, and an unlikely friendship begins.
There are other character’s past traumatic experiences that shape how they think and do in this drama.
ACTING
You can’t expect much expertise from newbies. Since the nature of Pop-Min and Yi Joon are basically quiet and shy characters, there are a lot of scenes that look draggy, showing how these two characters think and act. Audiences are mostly root over other lively characters in this drama. And that what makes me disappointed is actually the production of this drama, as explained below.
PRODUCTION
I mean, though the actors are newbies, but with good directing, a rookie actor can bring up a character no matter how hard it is. But I guess the director is a noob too. The story is not based on a novel or manhwa, where dialogues can have a powerful source from. There are a lot of monologues of what characters think, that are not as interesting as dialogues between two characters. Therefore, I’m not impressed with the scriptwriting too.
VISUAL
A bunch of characters with eye candies, nothing to complain. Even Pop-Min is pretty, in my opinion, far from an appearance of a girl who supposedly regular and has low self-esteem. The cinematography is okay too, despite of most location is their highschool. I like the costume of Moo-Min when she’s in her own fashionable self.
OST
- G=ONE & Jang Daegyeom “Lamose”
- Jo Jin Ho and Kino from Pentagon “A-HA!”
- Saula “Love Confession”. Bae Jin Young, the actor who played as the ML, covered this song for his love confession to Pop-Min.
Fortunately, the drama ends with character growth of Pop-Min. She becomes self-confident, especially when the story of what happened to the popular Yoo Min Jae (Moo-Min) comes out and the ‘undercover’ Pop-Min is affected. Many viewers are disappointed at the ending of the drama in which doesn’t really resolve Moo-Min’s problem. But since the drama actually centers of Pop-Min, not Moo-Min, it ends up well in my opinion. No, the forever strong Moo-Min has already resolved her own problems. No need to clarify the misunderstanding of what happened to her from the authority side and public. And this is what I like about this drama. The theme is growing up without having other support system than your school friends, when the other supporting system (parents, teachers, older characters) is not available. The matter brought up by this drama is learning how to choose genuine friends wisely.
In conclusion, as I wrote in the beginning about the connection between the drama title and the review title. There is a scene close to the end in which Moo-Min deletes her Ig account that symbolizes her past. Hence, where the drama title @Account Has Been Deleted or User Not Found comes from. At first I wondered why she deletes the account she has worked hard to build her popular reputation. That’s when the moral of the story comes: self-acceptance is more important than social acceptance. Both Pop-Min and Moo-Min especially (other characters too but not explicit) in the end accept themselves with firm support of each other and true friends.
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Intriguing at first but becomes average
The best thing about this drama is the acting, it's very good in general and Nam Joo Hyuk does a very good job as main character. I did also enjoy some of the music, it was certainly more up my alley. That's all for me.Contrary to other people I didn't think this drama was fast paced, in fact I thought it was slow, going in circles sometimes, and I got bored at times and found myself doing other things while watching. The plot is quite cliché in my opinion and except for maybe around three characters the rest were very one-dimensional, especially the bad guys. We don't learn much about anyone anyway, so it's quite superficial and it didn't make me connect with any of them, not even the ML. I also liked Choi Mi Ryeo and Cho Kang Ok as characters but I so wish we had gotten so much more insight into them, I didn't learn much at all about them. The dynamics of ML with his classmates could have also been deeper, but because it wasn't what happened in the end of the drama made me feel nothing. It felt even the writers/director knew this though, because it's treated as very secondary, something that happened in the background.
I'm ok with anti-hero stories, I do generally prefer them over hero ones, but it's not new nor fresh, and cases of corruption at all levels have been done many times as well. I don't think this drama brings that much new to the table that wasn't there, so I was not awed by it and I thought it was average. It's still watchable, especially if you like action thrillers, but it's not a masterpiece by any means.
Echoing what another user said, the fighting choreography was not bad but the way it was filmed adds no tension and didn't do any favours to the overall fighting dynamics, at times I felt I was missing the good bits, camera in and out... quite chaotic in my opinion.
I don't think they achieve enough in terms of discourse, there isn't any depth in the corruption itself either, nor in its politics, or the police involvement. Obviously there is no real debate about the police as an institution, despite the ML being both in and out of it. I haven't read the original material and it makes me wonder if there was a lot more of that that was cut out of the story.
Recommended to those that like action thrillers, it's entertaining enough but keep your expectations low to mid level.
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This is an excellent fantasy police procedural drama with a good romance story between the lead couple. The drama offers suspense, action, romance, a great presentation of the two temporal dimensions without going back and forth that allows the viewer to understand the characters and their struggles, and great character development, especially for the male lead. The cast is fantastic and they did a phenomenal job bringing their characters to life. The leading couple has very good chemistry and their romance is realistically portrayed throughout the drama. This drama is full of raw emotions among the characters but it is greatly shown and uncannily depicted by the antagonists, especially Yoon Pil Woo, deftly enacted by Shin Jae Ha. Enjoy it!
REWATCH 0N 7/17/2023: Still a great watch! Acting is top notch! The drama incites all sorts of raw emotions; the antagonists are REALLY horrible beings and the protagonists are not without fault; but justice prevailed and lessons are learned. Enjoy it!
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Despite the porn-esk scenes, I actually enjoyed it. I have my own thoughts about certain characters & lots of ppl will prolly disagree w/ me, but I am going to share anyway. I may confuse some & a light may go off over their head for others.
So, I totally thought that the King (Joo Jin Mo) was a child-molester. He sounds like a predator of the classic kind. He gathered up a group of little boys & picked the 1 that he liked the most. He then treated him to lots of goodies, but made sure that he understood who was in charge. He tried to make it out like it was a "love" type of relationship as they got older. BUT, the way I see it; he totally had Hong Rim traumatized & too scared to try to leave. He even showed his strength by making sure Hong Rim knew he could never beat him in a fight. It is a classic fear technique. I thought Hong Rim showed Stockholm syndrome (a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy, sympathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them). I totally thought Stockholm's when he showed his concern for the King after he got hurt & when he told the Queen he was afraid. This is the relationship I saw that was confirmed by the jealousy of the king along w/ the perfect ending statement from Hong Rim.
To me this drama was a wonderful expression of psychological disorders. I enjoyed interpreting the behavior of all parties involved. I thought the actors expression of their characters were realistic and believable. I also thought that the ending confirmed all my deductions of each characters psychological state that was expressed through their behavior.
Not every1 is going to enjoy this drama like I did. Or at least not in the same way I did. It may make you feel uncomfortable, b/c it is very graphic during the sex scenes (my face totally turned red). Once u get past all that the story becomes a very, very tragic love story.
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Wasted potential!! Watch at your own risk
Honestly, I was so excited for this drama, because I heard it was really good. Unfortunately....I did not like it at all.It had so much potential , but just fell short. The story plot sounded really good so I was excited about it but it wasn't executed to its full potential. I was excited for the fighting scenes but ended up severely disappointed, because I never got any of it. The setup was perfect for each fighting scene, but the actual fighting was ripped away from us. I felt ripped off. The battle scenes are a big part of the plot for the actual drama. The only positive of this drama was the ML. He was so good!! The actor was perfect for this role and played his character perfectly. He's actually one of the reasons why I started watching it. Him and the FL. Although I am a fan of the MFL actress I did not like her character at all. I get hoping I would like her later on in the drama but I did not. One of the main things that bothered me about the leads, was the lack of chemistry. The actors tried, but it was not giving the chemistry that the story needed. I think that's the main reason why I didn't really like this drama...The lack of chemistry between the 2 leads....You can't feel the emotions towards each other as you're supposed to in the story. I feel like I wasted hours of my life hoping that this drama would get better. Which it didn't...sadly.
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