Was this review helpful to you?
A RARE GEM
I 'm a long time c-drama watcher and I've never written a review for any drama before.But after watching this show, I KNEW THAT I HAD TO WRITE A REVIEW!!!!
STORY: 10/10
This isn’t your typical high school romance drama. Yes, the FL and ML meet and become friends which turns into something more like in all school dramas. And yes, there are other typical high school tropes/cliches. Honestly, I was fully expecting this to be just another regular high school romance. But, this drama was so much more than that. This drama is really about a bunch of high school students that due to different reasons, weren’t able to pass/take the college entrance exam to get into university. These students ended up having to sign up and join a class together to repeat a year of high school in order to prepare for the next college entrance exam.
The story was realistic and the acting was so natural. It really captured the life of a high school student and the pressures and struggles of studying well to get into a good university. But it also really showed the support that the students got from their peers, families, and teachers as well! Being a university student myself, the story and characters really resonated with me!
There was romance in this drama, but it definitely played a smaller part. However, overall it was pretty cute! :)
There were 24 episodes which was a great length! I usually skip a lot of episodes in c-dramas as they get long and draggy. BUT I DIDN’T SKIP A SINGLE MINUTE OF THIS DRAMA. I had to binge watch all the episodes until I finished it. It was truly a refreshing show.
CHARACTERS: 10/10
All the characters had great chemistry! Especially the FL and ML!
This drama also did a great job dedicating episodes to focus on various side characters. It didn’t take away the story from the main leads at all! I seriously loved every single character and their addition to the story. Mostly every important side character had a great backstory and displayed their own high school experience. Lots of important topics were showcased through these characters including mental health, bullying, family issues, different passions/dreams, etc.
PRODUCTION: 10/10
Loved the unique style of this drama. Every episode began differently with different montages, comedy scenes, etc. While the ending credits included videos of characters or real life high school students sharing their thoughts.
It felt like the director and the writers really put in the effort and thought to make this show really meaningful!
OVERALL A 10/10 AND A MUST WATCH!
Was this review helpful to you?
In addition to family, Gisou no Fuufu explores what it means to come out (not only for the guy but also his fake wife, who has walled herself off emotionally from the world). The lighthearted tone of the show works, and works well—As expected, Amami Yuki and Sawamura Ikki are amazing as the cold, people-hating librarian and warmhearted nursery school teacher. There is plenty of comedic relief from Amami's deadpan, biting "inner voice" and Sawamura's blind over-eagerness. Uchida Yuki and Kudo Asuka also gave wonderful performances as a lesbian single mother and "ally of justice" deliveryman who helped carry the show in its more serious moments. While the story didn't show off the ugly side of some painful topics (discrimination, domestic abuse, the fear of coming out) it never ignored it, and the overall way that homosexuality was treated as something normal was refreshing.
The show starts with energy and proceeds at a brisk, tension-filled pace. It's served well by an upbeat JUJU track. The ending was disorienting, but it wasn't a sell-out, or entirely unexpected. It did make me reexamine my own preconceptions about what is truly important. All in all, the show's message seems to be: "There are many different kinds of people, with different types of love that bind them together. But you can't say that any one kind (gay, straight, romantic, platonic, familial, friendship) is worse than any other."
I am not a re-watcher, but can imagine getting nostalgic for the leads' banter. Overall, it was a fun and heartwarming ride with a strong message from a great cast, writer and directors (Kaseifu no Mita, Queen's Classroom).
Was this review helpful to you?
This was my first drama with Joo Jin Mo but I love his movies so I had very high expectations and he did not disappoint. I think that the first couple episodes when we get the backstory were very well done and left me longing for more episodes of their childhood.
This is truly a melodrama so expect lots of feelings and heartache and frustration.
Was this review helpful to you?
Acting/Cast- I was intrigued by the casting but in the end the way the writers wrote the characters just made me lose interest. The chemistry was there between the leads but it was wasted. I thought the casting for the second female lead was all wrong. She wasn't as pretty as Han Chae Young so it was hard to believe that both male leads would pick her over HCY's character.
Music- It had a couple of nice songs but it wasnt too memorable.
There's no way i'd rewatch this!
Overall- this drama had some funny moments but with the average storyline and ending, this should only be watched when all the best dramas out there have been watched already.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I just finished watching this drama and now I'm so upset that it has finished. This drama was different because it was more about life lessons and family rather than romance which I really liked. The trio was so good and i was even more excited when I found out they were family. It was such a sweet drama whilst also being funny at the same time. It teaches you how to deal with grudges and how to let go, a really mature perspective on things . And I loved seeing sung-jae especially since he is in the army now. I had never seen him as an actor but his acting skills were amazing , especially towards the end. I would highly recommend this drama to anyone who wants something comedy whilst having an amazing story. Was this review helpful to you?
DARK N DEEP PLOT
Why is there not a single review in this beautiful movie? AnywaysI just watched this for matsuyama but this movie has what japanese are good at while making anything : DEPTH N DARKNESS.
A little violence not much to scare u off so dnt mind it .its a serious crime story with a complicated romance .
I have seen males playing these kind of roles n it suits them but it really makes me excited when this role is played by a female n she is a brilliant actor she played this role very well from beginning to when she changed n after that.
I loved the backstory n how they are made, i was never so excited for flashbacks n backstories before.
Characters,chemistry , music, atmosphere, acting all are 10/10 for me. Its a must watch.
Not a good review but i really hope u watch the movie.
Was this review helpful to you?
If the first season revolves around the love of the female lead, in this season, it is more focused nf the love the manager has for the Ahomiya (Amemiya)..
It is romantic, funny (in some ways) and will make you realize that individuality among lovers is very important...
Love and respect goes hand in hand...
Was this review helpful to you?
They say that after a really good show, you can't say that it was a success if the audience bursts into applause, but if they remain silent even for a few seconds after it's done. This IS the kind of movie that after you're done watching you'll find yourself gazing at the closing credits, reflecting on what you just saw.
Usually when I want to watch a movie I don't read the description, nor do I watch any trailer. I just search up the poster, read some opinions and then I'm good to go. Therefore, I had no idea what to expect of this movie, since I didn't know the story at all, and I'm kind of glad I did. It was much more enjoyable.
I think the cast was well chosen. Kora Kengo and Horikita Maki were perfect for their roles. I was surprised to see Horikita Maki play such a serious role (as I was being used with her only playing roles like Ashiya Mizuki in 'Hana Kimi'), but it suited her.
Overall, "Into the white night" reminded me of "Confessions", another one of my favourite movies. What they have in common is not the story, but the way they were directed; it was beautifully shot, in my opinion, and they captured the scenes perfectly, thus managing to convey the right emotions.
Was this review helpful to you?
Dominant Yakuza and Wimpy Corporate Slave
16 people found this review helpful
So good that it needs to be made into a full series!
This short form show needs to be made into a full series immediately!While you can only get the first three eps on Youtube, some beautiful human downloaded the whole series onto BiliBili which you can watch here
https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4793311726800896
Good acting, good story, cute wimpy corporate slave, hot Yakuza - what more could you want? The Japanese have such a talent for concise storytelling and the fact that they have crammed what could comfortably be a 10 episode series into 30 minutes is testament to that. That being said, I liked it so much that I want more! More cute moments, more tough Yakuza moments, more back story for both characters, more shots of that tattoo!
Well done, Japan - another winner from you. This show is definitely worth 30 minutes of your time.
Was this review helpful to you?
Amazing Tibet biking documentary
I love to know how Zhang Zhehan is throughout the best Tibet biking documentary. The people he met, the stunning landscapes of Tibet captured by him, and the words showing his lovely and thoughtful mind, all let me know the importance of life keep going and no regret to the past. I wish I can see more about this kind of documentary by the director Zhang Zhehan.It's really the August I imagined, and it's not just that August. Listening to Zhang Zhehan talk about every August he encountered in his life, until that moment. He pushed August into the abyss with us, watching him climb up the iceberg step by step, with endless cliffs next to him, as if that August had been embodied in this way, and then restarted in August of 2022, and finally August of 2023. Arriving in his dream Tibet, I seemed to be inspired by his indomitable spirit and revived, just like I had experienced the past three years with him.
Was this review helpful to you?
This movie had a quite ‘commercial’ mood, meaning they made the overall tone light enough to reach a wide range of viewers. The directing, the cinematography, the atmosphere, even the story and the core message itself weren’t explored in depth. Personally I think It lacked personality, considering the fact that I enjoy independent films where messages are deeper and cinematography targets my ‘aesthetic trash’ self. In the story here there’s only a bit of romance, a bit of friendship, a bit of comedy, a bit of family and a bit of medical, portrayed in a rather vibrant palette. Nothing particularly stood out. Nothing deep.
However, this could be a good point for someone who’s looking for a rather light watch. It’s really nothing grand like its *wrong* choice of tagline: “What if you get 10 chances to change your past?” It doesn’t drive you to calculate your ability for 10 times time-travel that much.
Acting was really great in here. The leads Kim Yoonseok and Byun Yohan were alive in their roles. Other actors also did well. The music didn’t stand out to me, but it wasn’t awkward. It also seems like an easy choice to rewatch, but I don’t really know what I’d rewatch this for. I’m not a re-watcher so don’t mind my score.
Was this review helpful to you?
One of the things I enjoyed most in this is when the main character goes into disguise and does chivalrous hero stuff. Theres usually lots of hilarious content when he does that though it only happened about twice if I remember correctly. This is your basic regular-martial-artist-turned-super strong/strongest-after-journeying-the-wuxia-world-and-learning-skills-from-some-master(s) type of story. So if you're a fan for that kind of stuff (or Jin Youngs novel adaptations) you should definitely give this a go. It has all that ridiculous martial arts with people flying all over the place (aka wire-fu) and explosions happening lol (like actual explosions and not a lot of the crappy cg effects you see in Chinese drama these days due to budget restraints or whatever).
Overrall production was very well done. The characters immersed with expertly/appropriately designed costumes (got to respect actresses as nuns with actual shaved heads, or at least wearing props that make them look bald), so many awesomely choreographed martial arts fights, lots of non-cg explosions, so many epic moments and the build ups that lead to them, and a really good love story that pondered some challenging questions; The love of a man from a righteous sect and a woman from an evil sect and what it meant to be considered righteous/evil in such a time. Oh and theres bloody conspiracies.
Major flaw with this series is that there are parts of the story that seem out of place or missing. It could have you confused like you missed an episode even though you didn't. An example would be when the next episode does not continue from the cliffhanger of the previous episode (Unfortunately this happens quite a bit during the first few episodes and then once/twice in the later eps). I think they might have shot too much footage and had a hard time deciding what should be included in the final cuts. And thus parts of the story might have been cut off. This was my only major gripe with the drama even though it still ends up being my fav wuxia series. Also watch out for episodes being mismatched on streaming sites e.g. a video would read ep 39 but it’ll be listed under episode 38 in most sites (this exact problem is present in most sites except youre streaming on maybe dramafever, which probably has better subs as well)
Still the overall experience definitely makes this a must watch. So if you can ignore the major flaw I mentioned and make it past a few eps, you just might find yourself an enjoyable wuxia adventure with a love story you’d be happily shipping.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A big Huh? and Wtf? of a show
For a series that is about top actors, I'm amazed that they chose to have this be 6 out of 9 main characters' acting debuts. Not only was the acting borderline boring it was bad. Really bad. Gun was the only character I liked and stayed for but even he wasn't spared of the show's horrible writing.What I hated about the show:
- The subbing. It isn't the show's fault but the first two episodes were IMPOSSIBLE to power through. Pitch was written as Pizza, Picco, Picc, and I think even Piccolo at one point. Gun and Korn's names were sometimes swapped and at times they were written as "Kang" or something more Korean. Towards the end, there was an 'oppa' in place of 'hia' and/or 'phi' and I thought that was hilarious
- If you've seen the first few episodes then you're aware that there are these prison-like house rules, however, we never got to really know them. And instead of the show showing them to us, we only got characters challenging each other over and over again with the same line 'Don't you know the house rules?' Uh no, we don't, please elaborate!
- Pitch was not the main character anyone needed or deserved. I would have cut the show some slack had they made him a cyborg instead
- Pitch and Gun was not the IT couple the show thought they were. Not only did they lack chemistry, nothing about their scenes was romanticly suggestive. I'm not sure if there's an uncut version but at one point the show was following the Mintra-Korn-Pawin catastrophe when all of a sudden they drop an 'oh look, Gun and Pitch have romantic feelings for each other!!! Yay!'. Yeah no, just no. And upon further research, it appears that the actors for Gun and Pitch were changed to Pepo and Leo after the official trailer?? That would explain the lack of chemistry.
- Korn and Pawin's sexual relationship was hinted earlier on but how the show executed it was beyond tasteless. Not only did Korn cheat on Mintra, but when she caught them he had the audacity to gas-lit her. And this guy never asked about her mom's condition when it was first brought up until later just to mess with her. Jerk move.
- Everything about the character "Sun" was something to nothing. Finally, we got to see that Suzy and Host aren't as stoic and fearless as we believed them to be when Suzy's biological son, Sun, makes his not-so-grand entrance. Unfortunately, the character was only utilized for suspense and to convince us that the people and relationships at House of Stars are "interesting". I wasn't counting but he said "This house is interesting" 4-5 times. By failing to write better characters, the show lost the opportunity to show the kind and caring, or lack thereof sides of the members of the house, by having at least one of them stand up to Sun in Suzy or Host's defense. I swear, what's the point of Korn bragging about not using stunt doubles in his action scenes if there wasn't going to be some butt-kicking???
- Suzy's death was hilariously and terribly shown. Not only was her death sudden, it was told to us by unreliable characters of how it happened when on the night before her death all we saw was her bawling her eyes out. The fact that when her lifeless body was discovered and NO ONE stepped in to do CPR or check if she had a pulse shows you how ungrateful and slow these characters are. And I don't care if she was strict, she called them 'family'. And immediately somehow a viral video of Gun saying he ruined someone's life was good enough to prove he was the no1 suspect behind Suzy's death. Yeah, he was acting weird but when were any of them normal???
- Pitch and So's walking styles were so stiff and tense
- Lalit is unrealistic. And where were her acting gigs??? She was brought on as an actress but all she did was follow Pitch and So around
- Wayu and Wayha were boringly cute
- Is Gun and Korn friends or not?
- Maybe I've seen too many Korean dramas but do Thai people not wear black after a passing? And where was Suzy's funeral? It was never held or talked about.
- After putting So's brother, Sin, in that state and taking Sin's role, Gun has the audacity to confess and try to kiss Pitch knowing how So feels about Pitch
- Hold on. Does So genuinely like Pitch or just dislike the fact that Pitch is spending too much time with the guy who wronged Sin not once but twice?
- Who okayed Leo's singing??
- Riddle me this, when Lalit threw the box cutter vertically, how did it cut Pitch's arm horizontally? And why was Gun's first reaction "Let me bandage you."? I'd think you'd ask if he was okay or check for a wound first but okay...whatever.
- The number of times Pitch was inconsiderate towards So's feelings was baffling. And this is the main character we're supposed to root for? Tsk tsk
- For a house full of colleagues there was NOT ONE healthy friendship arc
Things I liked about the show:
- The credit song. I'm mad I can't find the full version anywhere T_T
- Korn leaving House
- Mintra and Pawin's sassy enemies-to-friends relationship. It was borderline toxic but at least it was entertaining
- The show cast an inexperienced actor to play an inexperienced actor. Well done
Was this review helpful to you?
Recent Discussions
-
Last Drama You Completed? #21 hour ago -
-
Who Do You Prefer? (Kpop Ver.)2 hours ago -
Thai PBS info & recs3 hours ago -
Last NON Asian Movie you watched? #24 hours ago
