Reviews

A Building of An E-Sport Team, Plus Romance & Bro-Ship

Out of all of the E-sport dramas I've seen, this is probably my favorite by far. Story plot was pretty good, enjoyed the action scenes from the e-sport, loved the actors, loved the silly but cute romance between the leads, and the amount of bro-ship between the group of guys. Let me break it down what I experienced when watching this.

E-Sport
* The E-sport part of this drama is a little different than the other E-sport dramas. This drama showed lesser number of tournaments, I believe 2 in all, first one when they compete as a new team and the second one towards the end of the drama when they understood & learned how to work with each other. This E-sport is more focus on their team building, getting along with each other, learning each other's weaknesses and improving on it. It also shows the struggles & strengths of building a new team.
* Instead of showing multiple tournaments, there are a lot more e-sport training in this drama. There were a lot of in person game scenes from the actors and I appreciated this a lot because seeing the behind the scenes, this was a lot of work to do. Their work paid off though because I enjoyed those game scenes. They were action packed!

Romance
* It's the typical bickering of the ML & FL who eventually finds out they were each other's crush. Even a little misunderstanding in the beginning but you don't have to wait too long for the misunderstanding to get clear out.
* A funny but cute chemistry between our main leads: Lots of disruptions when it comes to kissing and the numerous times ML's character Yi Chuan fail on being romantic. Like, seriously, I just love watching their scenes. It makes me so happy and I laughed so much.
* A love triangle: SML likes the FL, who you do feel bad for. He does move on from it and becomes close bros with the ML afterwards. There's also this one girl announcer who likes the ML as well but her role, while annoying, is very minor. She doesn't play a big role so not much of an annoyance from her thank goodness.
* Secondary couple (Dong Shi & Girl Chu Tian): Not the best secondary couple I've seen but not the worst either. I just couldn't sense the chemistry as much compared to Yi Chuan & Jiu Jiu.

Other things I enjoyed:
* Best bro-ship: I love Bo Yu. He is so funny, the goofball of a friend but also a very caring bro to Yi Chuan. We also see the building relationship of the bros between Yi Chuan and boy Chu Tian.
* The reality aspects of building a new e-sports team: Some members don't get along, new players, pressures, struggles, & not much support in the beginning but then you see how things turn around with not giving up, dedication, and hard work.

What's missing for me:
* FL's character Jiu Jiu didn't really have much of a story. Focus seems to revolve more around the ML's character Yi Chuan.
* As part of the secondary couple, I expected a bit more about girl Chu Tian but the way she was presented, it seemed like she wasn't important at all.
* The ending was good but with all the focus on the Yi Chuan's injury in so many episodes, I felt like they miss details on this towards the end. Like there wasn't really a good conclusion on Yi Chuan's issue.

Overall, I enjoyed this E-sport drama. It was a different approach from the ones I've seen. The ending was not what I expected or preferred, but it was enough to leave me satisfied with it. The lead's chemistry, the bro-ships, & the in game battle scenes are why I enjoyed this drama the most. Definitely will re-watch again in the future.

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The synopsis here is totally missleading. It's no university setting at all. I mistakenly thought it was about him meeting a (healthy) girl when his girlfriend is sick and the sense of duty towards his girlfriend. It's also not him who is doing the growing and learning part but rather the girl. It's more like he is teaching her.

The guy-with-sick-girlfriend-falls-in-love-with-other-girl part is accurate, though.

That said, it was a nice and beautiful short story. It wasn't what I expected, but I liked it nonetheless.
The acting is really good, so it's easy to sympathize with the characters in spite of the short amount of time. I didn't watch this because of Lee Jong Suk, but it sure made me notice him a lot more. If you watch this because of him I'm sure you won't be disapointed.

The short time is another forte of this special - it never get's draggy.

I'm not much of a rewatcher, but I might watch this again because it's beautiful and Lee Jong Suk is so damn hot.


P.S. if you watch this, you will be rewarded with hot kisses ;P

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A complete disgrace. Dishonor to whoever decided this was a good idea

I still can’t believe or more like, it’s hard to understand how someone can ruin a masterpiece. One, Kim Dokja is NOT a prophet. He’s a READER. He knows what’s going to happen because he is a READER!! Even his name means “Reader” or “only child” but everything thinks it’s always the latter to which is true because he loves to READ.

The director have at the reach of a simple click the webnovel, the manhwa, sNs-nim to do a great live action yet they decided to yeet everything and do their own thing? To which btw it’s a disgrace, garbage, it’s like dragon ball evolution!

This is far from an adaptation. They ripped off almost everything to add nonsense. They eliminated characters developed!! Kim Dokja hating the story tls123 wrote for him? Really? That didn’t happen. NEVER.

Kim Dokja a bully? Really?! He was the one being bullied!! The character KDJ had admired for YEARS is Yoo Jonghyuk! That’s who he wanted to be, the name he had repeated for years like a mantra to get strength and to get through all the bad things that happened in his life.

And why everything looks so cheap?! The wigs? Their clothes? I can’t believe how a company couldn’t do better. Did they spent all their budget casting super famous people INSTEAD of using it for a better wig? They couldn’t even get YJH’s hair right.

And what’s with the guns?! In ORV NO ONE USES THEM. It was hard to read the first chapters for them? If you’re doing an adaptation I believe idk that you should take some time to READ the material, to talk with the authors and do a better job. But the kimchi head of the director probably doesn’t know how to read…

Instead of watching this is better to read the webnovel, manhwa and hope that the anime would do the Justice orv deserve.

Orv la doesn’t exist. This was just a bad dream… to bad I can’t give 0 to this crap

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Definitely a great watch!

Usually I avoid historical dramas because it mostly filled with wars and political schemes. But this one is different. I loved how the balance of comedy and politics is maintained. From the first episode, is like a hilarious rollercoaster ride. There is not a single moment i felt bored.

I really loved Ban Hua's character, she's strong, independent, and straightforward. Both her and Rong Xia are likeable characters. Which made them a perfect couple. Supporting actors were great too, especially The Ban Family, Du Jiu, A Ke Qi, Princess Dening, even Jiang Luo, they're so fun to watch. The OST are great too.

At first i thought 40 eps are too much and make me lazy to watch it. But now that i finished watching, 40 eps felt like nothing. Its a great show for those who like light&fluff drama.

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Beautiful World emanated full of bodacious feelings from the start. What started with a mere bullying scenario for which a 16 years old had to pay a heavy price ended up with completely different case. Young adolescents were involved in despicable act ostracizing their peers, instigating wrong doings, fawning, wheedling and so on. Often the mixed emotions the people of this age feel make them indulge in many activities which they mainly do out of impulse. Knowingly/unknowingly they go through so many changes that can be overwhelming to deal with. Although through dramas, movies or social awareness related programs in schools, parents are always reminded to be extra careful with the adolescent children; however, they are the ones remain in oblivion most of the time. Teenagers are on the otherhand constantly reminded of not getting afraid or to seek adult’s help are often times refrain from doing it since in many cases adults seem blasé or mordant to their problems. The story focuses on the root causes of the problems. Mainly the children who have feeble familial bondage, suffer from lack of appreciation, reared in an ostentatious environment, continuously taught about social stratification are most likely cause violence in their academic life. Sprouting from extreme abomination they have for themselves gradually being passed on to their seemingly weaker peers out of jealousy. When their formidable act goes out of control then interferes the adult (teachers, parents and the authorities) creating foment and coercion instead of bolstering them positively for their won betterment. Eventually they fall into doldrums; either destroys themselves or their supposed same aged victim.

Keeping this the main theme, which I suppose the writer got inspired from the book Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, the dramatization took place with some usual dramatic formula. Although it ended with a little unexpected twist but still it maintained to retain its main essence till the end. As the very name of this drama, the makers also ended it in a positive note rather than making it into a heart wrenching one, signaled from the first episode. The story dynamics and the pace of progress per episode was interesting all through.

Also liked the little optimistic message it delivered in the end – to always keep our hopes up and only move forward in order to make everything beautiful around us.

Bullying is a sensitive topic and is a wide social problem in South Korea. No wonder they always try to highlight this issue through visual media to indirectly create awareness. The mood of this drama and story writing is commendable by Kim Ji Woo. She has a certain style of writing which I really love. It exudes somewhat similar feel like the drama Memory and later found out she is the screenwriter of both of them. I just did not like the camera work - the peeping style camera angle or the extreme close shot of every face - which actually gave me a headache. Directions, OSTs, acting by the ensembles all were praiseworthy. All the child actors were excellent, mainly Nam Da Reum and Seo Dong Hyun. Seo Dong Hyun was remarkable in playing the negative role. Unimaginable, how he could manage to pull the skill so maturely at such a young age. He was phenomenal in portraying the evil expressions. Nam Da Reum is always exceptional. They both have the brightest future ahead. The actors in their parents’ role all gave their best performance.

All in all it’s a well - written, directed and acted- drama no one should miss.

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If you re into romantic things then skip it there is a slight element of romance but not your classic Korean love drama.

This drama is a lot more powerful than people think the messages that it is passing through are too deep to describe. The political propaganda the interdependence of media, politics, the law, and businesses. It is in some sense reality.

The story could have developed faster I think at some point it dragged on while the finish was a bit too fast- they should have used 2 episodes to develop what happened in the last episode.

As for characters I really liked prosecutor Koo and chief Moon. Yeol Moo was annoying sometimes it felt as if she had no emotions, she cried very well I have to admit but her interest towards Koo was invisible/ non existent. She looked more interested in the kid Kang Soo. I also really liked Kang Soo, he played his character very well, in order to judge him as an actor I will have to see him in different roles, because I don't know if he played this role very well because his personality is as such or because he is such a good actor.

Romance

I preferred the second lead couple it was funnier as I said before yeol moo was so just not into it that it seemed like she was faking that she liked him. They were funnier and I could see chemistry between them ( strange chemistry but existent).


If you like crime DEFINITELY watch it if you re into sappy romance SKIP ! this aint for you :)

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A Real Chinese History Drama

This is the story of Li Chu (Tang Dynasty Emperor Daizong) and it is divided into 2 seasons with 60 and 32 episodes respectively. For this drama, it is during the reign of his grandfather Emperor Xuanzong (712-756 AD) and later the reign of his father Emperor Suzong (756-762 AD). The time was a tumultuous period of Chinese history. There were the An Lushan Rebellion, the loss of Chang’an to the rebels, the escape of the royal family, the capture of Li Chu’s consort by the rebels, power struggle, usurpation, filicides and fratricides. Many of these historical events and important figures are depicted in the drama, and it’s an enthralling watch.

The drama romanticizes Li Chu’s and his favorite consort, Shen Zhen Zhu’s love affair and their devotion for each other. Understandably, some of the events may not be true historically but only for dramatic effect. This has been done rather well with few noticeable plot holes. However, there are also many tropes and clichés. Some of the logic seems to be over simplistic and unrealistic. Some historical characters are depicted as villains, cunning and sinister. Li Chu (Ren Jialun) and Shen Zhen Zhu (Sally Jing) are living in a dangerous environment that they both have to tread extremely carefully with every step they move and every word they say. One wrong move or word would immediately lead to their deaths. It is this angst that has captured the viewers attention throughout the drama.

Ren Jialun’s acting is acceptable in this drama. In fact, he’s rather convincing as the character Li Chu, except he may not look his best in armor and helmet (his head looks weird in the helmet). However, I’m not so comfortable with Sally Jing, and not very impressed by the Shen Zhen Zhu character that she plays despite she (Shen Zhen Zhu) is supposed to be very intelligent; time and time again, Shen Zhen Zhu is fooled by her own cleverness and that has created a lot of frustration over the character for viewers. I also find the pairing of Ren Jialun and Sally Jing not ideal as Ren Jialun has a small boyish face whereas Sally Jing (she has a large face) looks very mature with disproportionately large eyes laced with plastic brush-like eye lashes. There’s hardly any chemistry between the duo.

The side couple story is sweet and heart wrenching. Lin Zhi (Jennifer Shu) and Li Tan (Qin Jun Jie) are the saddest couple as Lin Zhi’s experience is very real to many women who have to live through such pain everyday and she is totally relatable. Jennifer Shu’s portrayal is wonderful and very convincing. Qin Jun Jie’s performance portraying Li Tan as an impulsive man is equally laudable. This pair has wonderful chemistry together and their story is painful. Despite Lin Zhi may not have been a real figure historically (Li Tan is real as Li Chu's younger brother), I find the side couple story more compelling.
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The general tone of this drama is somber. Apart from some flaws here and there, there are also some hilarious moments that are really fun to watch. Overall, this is a fine drama based on real events, but the story interjected with too much fantasy may have been a bit overdone. After completing the 60 episodes, I find myself needing a break before continuing on to season 2. I wish the series had not been this long.

This is a good watch for history buff if you don't mind some added fantasy.

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Neko is the only reason I don't regret watching this series.

Most GL series either have good, satisfactory, or poor production values. But in my opinion, Roller Coaster excels in the production aspects. It’s not just about the cinematography, but also good visual storytelling and seamless editing. Kantana Post really lives up to its reputation. I also like the well-balanced ambient sound and good audio mixing, which most series usually don't pay close attention to. The only technical thing I’m not a fan of is the driving scenes VFX. I wish they could do the actual car tracking shot to give more emotional depth to the scenes as most of the scenes look floating and distracted.

In the acting department, Pundao and Shelly, being newcomers, did okay, and there’s still room for improvement in the future. Pundao still needs a lot of practice, as her dialogue delivery sounds pretty rigid. But I personally think Neko deserved a standing ovation for her performance as Air. She ate and left no crumbs. She nailed every action and emotion so effectively, especially with her expressive eyes, whether it's happy or heavy scenes. She really brings nuance to this series with her performance alone—no fan service, no hype. NEKO NAERUNCHARA LERTPRASERT... SHE'S PURE TALENT. #TeamAir. Without her, this series would certainly feels bland. I think Neko is the one doing most of the heavy lifting but getting less recognition. And Roller Coaster is one of very few GL series with a good male character we can root for.

Now the storylines/plots. I've read the book and there were some chapters and parts that I don't quite like, especially with the 'harmless flirting' that’s pretty much predictable that it will lead somewhere. Whether it's morally right or wrong, let's leave the argument for another space and time. But in the series, while I still dislike those parts and there’s something about the changes that put me off a bit, the plots flow at a nice pace until the end. Pacharawan Chaipuwarat's script manages to bring the book to life, but with some changes that did not quite impress me. And I’m never one to care about NC scenes and the hype, and I believe those scenes or the execution don't define the quality of a series, so it won’t even affect my rating one bit.

Honestly, this series really surprised me by how well it's been made, plus a good main OST, but still not up to 'the best' or 'outstanding' just yet for me to rate it higher. It feels good soaking in the great visuals and production quality; I would give a 9 for production quality alone, but that’s not the case here. Overall, while it’s a well-produced GL series, it's still lacking in some areas.

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I won't condone this type of behavior.

How did a drama that started so strong ended up being a total mess?

Let me begin by saying that I'm a gay man and as part of the LGBTQ+ community, I can't support the way this story showcases gay relationships. There were a few things about this show that pulled out the red flags from me, and all of them relate to how toxic, forced, and abusive the relationship between the lead characters and their supports were managed. I'll list my problems with it below:

This review contains SPOILERS, so please be warned if you haven't watch it yet. Actually, you should not watch it for the sake of not giving it more attention.

~ The sexual assault is a big issue in this drama. Originally, I thought that having a traumatized lead character (Type) who suffered of sexual assault when he was younger was a good thing for the plot and his character development; however, things took a weird turn when the writers decided to romanticize Tharn sexually assaulting him as well. What kinda audacity is this? It was not once, it was not twice, but SEVERAL times. Type clearly despised Tharn, but that didn't stop the later from kissing his cheek, kissing his lips and naked torso when he's PASSED OUT DRUNK, forcing himself on top of his body several times (which was not good for Type's mental state at the moment), and blowing him in the bathroom. By the way, NONE OF THIS WAS CONSENTED BY TYPE AT ANY MOMENT.
The character Tar is also one who needs to be called out due to his attempt of sexually assaulting Tharn in the hotel room. It doesn't matter what your situation was, it is UNFORGIVABLE.

~ Type is the most toxic, petty, and unreasonable character. When I began watching the drama I gave him the benefit of the doubt because he was clearly not a mentally stable guy, but I don't think that's the only problem here. Type would constantly bring up the excuse of hating gays to physically and verbally abuse others (Tharn in specific). I do agree Tharn deserved a couple of punches because of what I wrote above, but there were plenty of occasions in which he was unfairly assaulted due to Type's anger problems. Was this unhealthy level of violence categorized as "love" by the writers? It sure was! And it was NOT okay. Even people with mental problems get punished by law because of the consequences of their actions, so I am disappointed that Type was able to do as he pleased with his violence. This felt like Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie" music video.

~ What the hell is going on with Tharn? First of all, he's definitely NOT one of my favorite characters, but seeing him being such a passive man was aggravating. This is a character that also had his own traumas due to love and break ups, but I could not stand him seeing him taking such weak role. Where is that confidence that you showed on the first episodes when you would stand up and defend yourself from Type's aggression? All this violence was not worth it.

~ Possible incest relationship? It is not confirmed in the drama story, but Tum looked like he was having more than just brotherly feels towards Tar. I'm not going to comment too much on this because nothing happened, but it's still kinda sus.

Some of you may not know this, but sexual assault is a very big problem for LGBTQ+ in media. I don't know where the author got inspiration from, but it kinda seems like he or she read a couple yaoi manga before writing this novel. Yaoi and Shounen Ai manga in Japan are know for portraying gay relationships and quite a bit of sexual assault as "romance," so I would not be surprised if this was their inspiration. You guys, it is NOT okay to support these kind of stories in media, because many of you are just straight girls who happen to be obsessed with gays, but for LGBTQ+ and specially gay people, portraying us in sexual assault scenes actually bring us a lot of backlash. You may think is just media, but A LOT of people get influenced by media and use it as an excuse to hate on us. So please do not support these shows.

Lastly, I would like to point out that I have nothing against these actors because, after all, they were just doing their job. I think some of them were actually very good at acting and I enjoyed their performances, but this is just not the right story to work with.

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If I was rating this for Rain alone, then I would give it all 10s. LOL The story is good, but so drawn out. They could have easily done this in 16 episodes. It is funny, romantic, sad, and action packed, then there is all this unnecessary story with unnecessary characters. At times I was bored out of my mind and toward the end I skipped pretty much everything with Nakamura and James "Bong". It ends well though.

Rain is just too cute playing the funny and smart Ji Woo. The way he speaks in this drama is charming. I enjoyed his character development from materialistic to a caring depth. Lee Jung Jin is also very charming and has a beautiful smile. I appreciated his down to earth portrayal of Detective Do Soo. Yoon Jin Seo is too cute as Soran when she is chasing her “oppa”. Jin Yi was an obviously deep character that is just wasted by Lee Na Young's horrible acting. She had no chemistry with Ji Woo or with Kai. I'm a Daniel Henney fan, but his portrayal of Kai leaves a lot to be desired. I really didn't connect with his character at all. The rest of the characters were just a waste of time except the "bad guys" who are necessary.

Even if you don't watch the drama, then you should check out MBLAQ's "Running & Running" and Jae's "Poison".

I might rewatch parts of this to see Rain's smile and goofiness.

If you are looking for something that isn't very deep and you need a Rain fix, then I would recommend this drama.

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Nice face, but the story line is very unreasonable

It's a good movie, really. It's really good, but the execution is so lacking and doesn't make much sense.
You will really hate Ahn Hyo Seop here and will frown when you see Jisoo.
If we look back, All Of Us Are Dead is a masterpiece, but when we look at the main characters in All Of Us Are Dead, we will be annoyed in the first episode with their slow and naive characters. That's Ahn Hyo Seop here. He is the one who knows the whole story, yet he moves very stupidly and slowly. I would say Ahn Hyo Seop here, since Dokja is a character who is alert and can read the situation.
Here we can get the greatness of Nana and Lee Minho, surprisingly. I think Lee Minho is the only character who can adapt to his acting.
I would say the most bizarre and unreasonable character is Jisoo. Because he's a schoolboy, he adapts too quickly to situations. I even noticed that without any explanation of his skills or how to use them.

I won't lie if the movie is good, but it doesn't deserve a score higher than 5. Because instead of being cool, all the characters are very burdensome except for Nana and Lee Minho. Rather than a very lovable character, Ahn Hyo Seop here is a character worth hating. Especially after he brought Lee Minho to life in a very unreasonable way.

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fantasy drama

I was really enjoying it through episodes 14. Then it seemed to get off track then back on track. I have just finished watching the whole series. It was good but a little disappointing. I loved most episodes although it did seem to stutter and start it. It was interesting to see where the story went. Although this is promoted as a time travel story I wondered if it was a ghost story or reincarnation story? It's wasn't clear until episode 30. Although they were talking about black holes so in my mind it was probably time travel however: there were 4 occurrences that left a person wondering. 1. Xiang Qin Yu arrives in the future having been shot then later at the hospital the blood and the wound disappears. 2. The newspaper article about Xiang Qin Yu disappears on the bus. 3. Xiang Qin Yu goes back to the past and can only observe events happening before he's whisked back to the present. (Maybe in the end if it winds up being a ghost story the writers will say that it was his energy that was transported. It could be similar to what happened to the ghost in Chicago Typewriter where he lost cohesion and had to go live in the story until he could regain his essence because he used up too much of his essence helping the ML and Fl of the TV show). 4. Xiang Qin Yu 's hand fades out in the dressing room and then comes back? Hmm what is going on there? I know the answer but I won't spoil it for others who haven't finished the series. I will just say it's complicated.

The FL and ML have good chemistry. I love historical fiction and time travel.
Some things I liked about the series were:
1.The humor- For the most part the humor was good until it started having forced comedic moments .
2, The mysteries- I liked that there was mysteries to be solved in the past and the present.
3, The romance I liked the romance but I think it could have been better. It had touching moments ,although I have to say a fake wedding night? What were the writers thinking. The wedding night could have been tender and touching instead it turned into a forced comedic moment.
4. The drama- Keep the tissues handy. It had some very touching moments.
5. Past and present story lines- I loved having the story progress in the past and the present. .Alot of times there is a brief time spent in one time period then most of the time is spent in main time period. This was good it went back and forth between the past and the present. It added depth to the story seeing things that happened in past and present beyond the initial setup.

I had great hopes for it. I spent time I should have been sleeping watching it. I generally don't watch tv shows that are more than 20 episodes but the premise looked really good so I started watching it. I loved episodes 1-6 then the story started to bog down with forced humor. But with episode 14 it seemed to be back on track. I think it would have been better as a 20 episode TV show. I will say that it had potential unfulfilled but it was surprising where the story went and how the two time lines were tied together. I have downgraded my rating from a 9.5 to an 7.5. I won't write too much spoilers. But I have to shake my head and say "WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING " for episodes 29 and 30. A fake wedding night? and the direction it took for ending the series, I probably won't re watch it. If I do I will pick and choose my episodes. To me t it was an unsatisfactory ending but then I like definite happy endings not a vague open ending.

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