Reviews

Maybe the most underrated gem of the year

Writing this review after having posted many comments on this as i binged on this for 2 days. I kept off this as it aired for 2 reasons -1 )Didnt want to wait as it aired and 2) It was getting terrible comments as it progressed
The rating has reached 7.6 as of writing this review and it may dip further as this show seems a target of MDL commenters lately for negative comments.

Coming back, I found this incredibly entertaining,fast paced,emotional and topical hopeful drama.It deals with costs that come with time travel and is hence quite different than many fantasy dramas that promote this concept. Every episode starts with a quote on time and its importance for lives..

Am a fan of Joo Won esp in intense roles and his turn as Lieutenant Park was like a superb fit..As the show progresses you feel for him a lot..One of the most memorable Kdrama ML characters now for me.
Kim Hee sun ,esp the mom aced this one.I dont remember any other Kdrama showing a mother son bond so beautifully.She basically sacrificed her entire life for her son,had an utterly tough existence and the end she kept getting repeatedly was so unfair.. As Tae Yi,she was a diff character but her fondness for the Lieutenant was beautifully shown..Many people are disgusted with this Otp (Both Mom and Tae Yi have identical faces) but they are fine as per me..She is NOT his mom,period.
Kwak Si Yang as Min Hyeok was another tragic character and while he didnt get the end i felt he should have ,he was superb throughout
All other supporting characters were awesome..
Melodious OSTs,BGM, beautiful cinematography,production are all pluses for this drama.
The PD and writer really made a beautiful show..The ending has plotholes ,but is very serviceable..I was just happy to see Joo Won living a good life and with a hopeful romance to follow..
Maybe the MDL raters would rate this better if it ended with a sad ending ..I love happy endings though.

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Chicago Typewriter has a really promising and interesting story premise but unfortunately it was not executed very well.

The beginning is really good and you get hooked because you want to know what happened in the past. It is really lighthearted with a few good comedy scenes and the small dramatic scenes that are dropped in between prevent it from being boring.

But the series drops in quality after the exposition. It seems as if the creators had a really good idea but didn't expand it enough. After you have seen the idea the series has nothing more to offer. The whole middle of the series feels really stretched and filled with useless scenes that don't advance the story nor the characters very much. I have the feeling that the romance aspect of the show was supposed to be subtle and in the background but because the actual story wasn't really fleshed out they had to fill in the blanks with romance. This is not bad per se, but the relationship between the couple doesn't go anywhere. Their relationship doesn't get deeper and most of the time don't even feel like a couple.

The characters are not bad, but their characterisation is not very stable. When the creators of the show didn't know what to do, they just let characters act dumb and against their initial character traits just to advance the story and make it more dramatic. However this has the opposite effect and keeps you from being immersed in the story and empathizing with the characters.

For example, it is established that the characters in the present have the same traits as their past life counterparts. So Han Se Joo should be very clever because in his past life he was the head of the resistence, made perfect plans and was always cautious of the enemy. But when Baek Tae Min calls him and wants to trick him, he plays dumb goes to the place and then acts as if he knew that he was tricked all along. Then why go there in the first place and not call the police or something? That is just one example of accute dumbness.

Then it seems the writers just threw in things that don't make sense at all. When Se Joo falls down the roof the ghost Yoo Jin Oh possesses him, which isn't the problem, but why can he make Se Joo float and cushion his fall? Yoo Jin Oh can't even float by himself, so why can he float when inside another body? I hope you see what I mean.

And sometimes there are flashbacks, which are repeated throughout the series to waste time. All in all what I want to say is that the pacing of the series is really bad and you can clearly see where the writers put in extra stuff to stretch the runtime of the show. They should have made a mini series or fleshed out the story more, but in this state it feels like an unfinished prototype of a good show.

I really liked the part where they are sent back in the past by the ghost and explore the past. They should have told more of the past in this way or let the characters remember parts of their past after experiencing something emotional that triggers their memory. Instead almost all of the past story is told in episode 14 or 15 in one piece.

I really can't understand why it has such a high score here. I was really interested in this show after reading the summary and seeing that so many people liked it but unfortunately it really isn't all that great.

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A General Without Her Legend

This series had the potential to be a masterpiece, but it struggles with focus and execution. At times, the dialogue and scenes feel truly epic, yet they are quickly undercut by fluffy, love-bubble moments that seem more suited for early teens. With episodes running only 30–45 minutes, the show often downplays serious issues just to insert romance, and these lighter scenes end up taking even more screen time than the plot deserves.

What I had hoped to see was a story centered on He Yan—her legendary reputation as a general, her brilliance as a battlefield tactician, and her skill as a martial artist. Instead, the narrative leans heavily on a childish romance with the male lead, sprinkling in only a few fighting scenes in an unconvincing attempt to showcase her strength.

Despite this imbalance, I still watched through to the end, hoping for redemption. The core story is genuinely strong, but the forced romance, misplaced focus, and glossing over of critical issues hold it back. The true highlight remains He Yan’s fighting scenes, which revealed the kind of depth and power the series could have delivered if it had trusted its own potential.

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Overall 5
Rewatch Value 1
But  I would re-watch this drama 100 times  only for  Jo Jin Woon  as detective Lee Jae Han.  He brought this character to life.


What ruined it for me (and I cannot tolerated it anymore)  is the fact that when they have proof that someone is a criminal (videos, photos, testimony etc)  it's all deemed as circumstantial evidence and on the "he said/she said" basis.  The criminals walk away happy. When they want to arrest the heroes  than they use the most idiotic formula ever, frustrating the audience to no end because that's what they do.  Then the "I said/he said" works in sfavour for the heroes. "becuase someone saw you so you are the criminal". Case close. Other the rules work the same for everyone  and the screenwriters stop writing as if the audience is stupid, or they don't work at all.  I remember "I hear your voice" had the same nonsense thrown into the drama at one point. It's not entertaining anymore when you question your intelligence at watching something that has become ridiculous.  Other things that are annoying. For example: a girl is raped by more than 10 boys, but the semen found is discarded as evidence.  A detective asks a cleaning lady when the rubbish bins have been emptied, but she looks at him very concerned and asks why. He then goes on explaining that he is a detective and he is looking for something...see my budge. The same detective is now looking erratically  for this item in  a rubbish plant.  Someone that works there tries to stop him because frankly the detective is making a mess within the mess. But the detective doesn't show  him his budge nor does he tells him  he is a detective looking for something  important. Like a child he keeps saying "one more minute one more minute." whilst trying to get away from the attendant.
The profiler is arrested. You would think a profiler would come up with something smart and witty to say about "I'm not the killer, why would I want to someone" etc. But no! Like a poor beaten peasant he keeps saying"I didn't do it. I didn't do it" over and over again. And the way he gets arrested is like witch-hunting material.
You know who the villains  are from the very beginning. And the main villain has not a real background story. Why did he decide from the very beginning that he had to act like a loyal dog for the people with power  it's never explained.
All police officers a part from the 3 main characters and their 2 sidekicks are either corrupted, stupid or immoral. Can that even be possible???? Everyone is shouting. Your boss will ask you to solve a case and then he will get angry at your for solving it.  They are all angry and unprofessional.

Please someone explain the end to me. The end is a mess. But you all got it???

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A strong first half that dwindled into the biggest disappointment of this year

For something to 'disappoint' you, you must have had high expectations of it to begin with. And with the way this show started off, many would not have been unreasonable to see its vast potential and expect the show to live up to that potential throughout its duration.

By episode 4, the writer had a rich plot and a set of decently shaded, fascinating characters that were just begging to have their stories told. What started off as a tale of a prickly girl learning to live again with the help of a happy-go-lucky boy-angel dissolved into a hapless mess about two star-crossed lovers being forced apart by a wholly unsympathetic diety whose intentions nobody in this drama understood (not even the writer it seems).

It’s just...GOOD GOD...it had so much going for it you know?!? One of the biggest mistakes this drama made was when it shifted the focus off the female lead’s journey, i.e. her return to ballet, her scheming relatives, her emotional growth, and instead onto the ill-constructed love story between her and the male lead.

Being a romance, a love connection between the two was imminent. But I just wished it had been executed and drawn out better. Not only did it seem to come completely out of left-field, but also Dan and Yeon Seo's relationship was never explored to the extent where it would be believable that they were truly as crazy about each other as depicted in the drama. When does companionship equal passionate love? All I saw was a budding friendship that suddenly turned into a love-or-die kind of affair, which was jarring at best.

Secondary characters had extremely promising trajectories, which were abandoned halfway through the drama in favour of blander plot elements. Ji Kang Woo, a director at Yeon Seo's ballet company was being set up as a noteworthy second lead, and had a fascinating backstory that could've been used to elevate the fantasy aspect to so much more. Furthermore, he had such an intriguing relationship with the second female lead, Geum Nina, that to not expand on it was a disservice to this entire production. Instead, whatever Nina and Ji Kang Woo had soon dissipated into screeching one-sided love declarations from the former, while the latter coldly brushed her off in favour of the forever-pristine main female lead.

All in all, the writer set up some grand goals for herself and failed to follow them through. The lacklustre ending more or less demonstrated this perfectly, as the main couple are reunited in the last five minutes with no explanation given whatsoever. It's almost disrespectful to the characters and the battle they fought to be with each other in the second half of the drama. What writer is shameless enough to build the entire drama around a singular conflict, only to resolve it with one of the most half-assed endings of all time? Other than the writer of About Time, THIS one.

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If you read the webtoon, you already know the next 16 episodes are gonna be full of emotions...

Well, as somebody who read the webtoon, l was already rooting for this to be turned to a Kdrama and they did.... I just watched the first episode and already, l was crying and fuming with anger at the same time, l wonder how it's gonna be for the next 15episodes to come
Marry my husband basically has almost and l just said almost the same plot as Perfect marriage revenge, the difference is if she changes something, something will happen to another person.... A twist right??? I recommend this soooo much... Its a good way to start 2024.....tho Minyoung needs to gain weight later😭😭😭

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I was excited to watch this drama at first based on all the reviews and the high rating, but as I got into it I realized how boring it was and I skipped through most of it. I got to about episode 32 and was thinking to drop it, but didn't because others reviewers said it would pick up around episode 46. I still thought it was boring and kept skipping. 63 episodes was not needed. A lot of the episodes, especially the first 46 episodes could have been concised into 10 episodes. I don't have a problem watching dramas with a lot of episodes, I sat through Princess Wei Young just fine, but when there are so many episodes that aren't moving the story along then I have a problem.

What I liked:
-Most of the women (Liu Ying, Su Hei, Great Floral Fairy, Heavenly Empress, Wind Immortal, Su Li) in the drama were able to hold their own. Now they had their faults and could be annoying at times, but they weren't weak. I loved their fight scenes.
-Run Yu- he had the most interesting story line and the show would have been more interesting if it was centered around him.
-The clothes and landscapes- I started watching this because I wanted to watch something pretty (corny, I know).

What I didn't like:
-It was predictable.
-Jin Mi always needed saving. Whether it was by Xu Feng, Run Yu or Pu Chi or anyone for that matter. She rarely was able to defend herself. The other women in the drama needed saving at times too (Mu Ci saving Liu Ying or Xu Feng saving his mother), but they didn't need it as much as Jin Mi. And Jin Mi was such an annoying and boring character. Her not being able to fall in love story line was held out for too long. Also, she was supposed to be a logical character, but used no type of logic during the wedding scene (of course viewers found out why later), but that scene really annoyed me.
-The kissing scenes- they were comical
-Run Yu- while I felt he was an interesting character, he was also a very self serving character. He cared about Jin Mi, but did not care about her happiness, her feelings, or how his choices would affect her. He was obsessed with her and always wanted her around in spite of the fact that that wasn't where she wanted to be. He knew she didn't love him in that way, but none of that mattered to him. I say he cared because he did not want her to get hurt and would do anything to save her, but he didn't love her because he never, not even once, put her interests or desires above his own.
-I still don't get why Xu Feng and Run Yu would start a war over Jin Mi. To bring in innocent people into your love triangle is the most stupidest thing ever.

I don't recommend this drama if you can't let go of all logic and common sense like me; you will be greatly annoyed.

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fated mates, paranormal, vampire, codified chase/stalker/ seme

AKA I Wanna Bite It, from Moving Picture Company (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu's Wedding, The Tasty Florida, Tinted With Love) so we all expected a classic modern Korean BL.

The leads were perfectly cast, the ideal seme vampire and the ideal uke prey. I like it when a vampire is actually deadly and facing up to the moral quandary of living a very long life. I found the uke actor particularly endearing in this limited role, he was quite soft and appealing without being weak or inactive. I enjoyed most of it but near the end I did start to feel the sparseness and the limited cast, like it was a one act play of a fairytale.

I suppose if you name your BL kissable lips you better end with a good kiss, even if you are Korea. But even a great kiss doesn’t mitigate killing the gay in a BL. Sorry. Not my thing. I’m aware of the history of BL, and I know dark is part of the tradition (even from Korea) but I HATE IT. These days a sad ending isn’t really Korea’s bailiwick (with the possible exception of Peach of Time), and they didn't set Kissable up properly. Right until the last episode I thought they might pull it out and save the couple in some supernatural way. Not that death came entirely out of nowhere, like H3:MODC, but still, it wasn't what I wanted in a vampire BL and I have been waiting for this trope so long for one. *this is my disappointed face*

I also I hate that the sad ending explains why the kiss was so good. It’s the vintage trope of: Sexualize those gays and one of them MUST DIE. How old school of you, Korea. Anyhoozle, if they kill one half of the couple it gets a 2/10 (or lower) from me. Sorry not sorry.

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Growth in youth is often painful, and while love makes it bearable, sometimes it isn't enough

I took one look at the cover photo and synopsis for this show and knew I would love it. I went in pretty much blind and rewatched it twice as it was airing, solely because I couldn't get enough of what I would describe as an immaculately done piece of art. This show carried so much potential and executed it at every point possible.

First, I want to emphasize how much of my heart and soul this drama took. From beginning to end, I could not truly predict anything regarding Minase and Hirukawa's relationship, even down to if they were going to be together at the end of the show. On so many different levels this show represented pure craftsmanship to me. From the cinematography to the storyline, everything I would personally say was done with so much intention, detail, and care that I truly hope it is appreciated by others for the beautiful tale it walks its audience through.

Secondly, the only honest criticism I have is that there were a couple of scenes (literally only twice) where I struggled to believe the "sad" vibe due to the acting appearing a little too strong or inauthentic. Please note that it was very minimal and did not change my view of the show at all because, in the grand scheme of the plotline, I still think it was written with great skill and purpose.

Similar to the series "My Beautiful Man", we get to view both the pureness of a first love and the uncertainty that is often felt by those trying to identify if who they love is "right" because it's "different." Yet, in an important difference to the aforementioned show, this series takes the depth of this love and shoves it into a container carrying much more serious trauma, and then proceeds to shake it up with a whole lot of "I have no way to know how to express love because I've never seen a proper example." There are scenes in here that may be triggering for some. It's not dark like "Happy of the End" dark, but any audience member should be aware this series is not here to waltz you through a peaceful and easy-on-the-stomach love story. It's real, imperfect, and at times, depressing to witness.

On a lighter note, if you're into the trope of "He fell first, but he fell harder," you'll get just as much of a sucker punch to the gut as I did, because my God, the yearning will just yank on your heartstrings. Bonus points too if you get to see episode 11 that I had no clue was coming. The tension in that was WILD and some scenes threw me for a serious loop because of how unprepared I was to see grown Haruki and Jin who were fully aware of their feelings now acting on them impulsively and without reservation. It was more spicy than I was expecting lol.

Overall, a show I'd highly recommend, and a series that I think even the more experienced watcher will appreciate.

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KinnPorsche, close but not quite

Overall: I rated the first episode a 9.5. Unfortunately the series kind of fell apart for me, but there were some really good aspects. Although there's crack comedy (and some stupid comedy) parts, I would label KP as a mature series with major content warnings. Make sure to watch past the credits for the final episode. Watched on iQIYI (watched the uncut La Forte and also several episodes of the cut TV version)

Content Warnings: murders/deaths, attempted murder, suicide, threatened suicide, non con kissing and sex (drugged), dub/non con kiss (drunk), torture, manipulation, violence, fight scenes, blood and gore, kidnapping, pet death, breaking & entering, trauma/past trauma, physical abuse, self harm, drunk driving? 17/18 year old with 22? year old (this personally didn't bother me the way it was presented)

What I Liked
- intro song and the music fit the scenes well
- acting, especially Apo and his microexpressions
- some of the funny moments like that light shining on Porsche in the bar as if he's sent from heaven in ep 1
- really lovely cinematography such as the bathroom scene in episode 7
- beautiful and well thought out lighting
- Porsche and Porschay brother relationship was super sweet
- that Kinn and Porsche were realistically horny after they got together
- a more unique premise (we don't have many BL mafia series)
- fun product placements like that bread in the bed
- the free, shorter TV versions are cut really well and it doesn't ruin the series, they toned down/cut some of the violence and sex/nudity in the shorter versions as well as other parts (like cutting the toilet humor from ep 1 which I appreciated)

Room For Improvement
- disappointed with Porsche's character. In the first episode he's shown as a good fighter and intelligent but then it all goes downhill. He does some of the stupidest things, speaking of...
- really stupid decisions from multiple characters (somehow Tankhun is the smartest brother...), Kinn saying he forgot something - really???
- back to Porsche. It's so odd how the character felt about the mafia in episode 1 to where he ends up in the finale with apparently no internal struggle.
- lack of character growth with KinnPorsche, they are terrible at communicating and trusting one another. I wanted to see them work thru this and grow together. Kinn continued to seek his father's approval and I wanted him to start breaking away.
- stark tonal changes. At the end of episode 10 there was no time to grieve, just farting in the bed. I think humor can go well with a darker tone (like Our Flag Means Death) but going from torture to silly scenes did not work for me.
- non logic: owning an expensive motorcycle and having no money, going clubbing with only 3 bodyguards when someone wants you dead, knowing how to spearfish but not that a small knife won't cut through bone, clean shaven after 3 days in the wilderness, lack of police, no one wears bullet proof vests ever
- the dub/non con with KinnPorsche although I appreciate that it wasn't immediately glossed over, there was apologizing and some selfless acts
- Vegas and Pete needed more screen time. I really wish we had seen Pete have a wet dream with Vegas and Pete as a masochist earlier. Also that he purposefully got caught because he was attracted to Vegas. Their relationship felt Stockholm Syndromey and was very rushed. The sex scene needed less music and more actual sounds from them, a steadier camera and some research on BDSM.
- Kim/Porschay, they needed more screentime as well. I was confused by Porschay's intensity as it seemed they were together for a short time but in a later episode Kim looks back at a bunch of pictures of them together and it made me think they dated for longer than I thought.
- camerawork was a little too shaky during action scenes
- replacing swear words with things like "fudge" WTF? We see multiple murders but using swear words is too much (I didn't take off points for this though as maybe the production couldn't control the subs)
- it felt like maybe too many twists at the end, definitely felt like a set up for season 2

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Some people might really like this Drama, and some people might hate it. I started watching this cause of Yuki Yamada, ended up loving the heroine too.

This is one of the best Drama out there which potrayed Psychopath in the most realistic way, yet so fascinating. The plot twist gonna make your heart pumped and surprised dozen of times. You wouldn't stop after you watch the first episode, the story is just the best.

And the best thing is Yuki Yamada acting skills, he's the right person to play this character, i can't imagine someone else bring the character so alive other than him.

This is really recommended by me, you should watch it!! but don't expect ending the way you want, i don't know you gonna like the ending or not, but remember this is not a love story, it's just psycho Lol

Enjoy watching!!

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