The storyline was pretty simple
Love triangle, best friends liking the same guy.
Their scenes are funny and adorable. It was a sweet teen romance until the ending. I mean why they decide to end it that way?
The acting was great. The cinematography is really beautiful. The music fits the mood.
But because of the ending i probably would not rewatch it ㅠㅠ
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Music, Friendship, and Second Chances
Rearrange has been such a pleasant surprise. The band can actually sing, and the best part is there are no over-the-top comedy or cringe moments. Although it’s set in high school, the writing carries a maturity that makes it stand out. I especially love how the story shifts between the younger Win and Nut, and then jumps 27 years later to show the older Win, who regrets never confessing his love earlier. It’s another time travel story, but one that I’m genuinely enjoying every minute of.The series also makes you think: what would you do if you had the chance to go back 27 years to when you were 17? The cast, acting, and plot are excellent so far, and the attention to detail in the “back in time” scenes is remarkable, from the old cars to the heritage houses.
By episode 8, we finally got the long-awaited first kiss, and it was worth the wait. Win climbing the ladder into Nut’s room mirrored an earlier scene, but this time it carried new weight because Nut already had feelings for him. Their kiss was sweet, natural, and full of charm, easily the highlight of the series so far.
That said, I do have two complaints. First, the build-up to their romance felt rushed. For most of the series, there were just small hints, then suddenly Nut liked Win. With Nut also spending time with Lin, it almost felt like I missed an episode. A bit more focus on their one-on-one moments would have made the progression smoother.
My second complaint is with Win himself. If I had the chance for my 44-year-old self to go back and meet my 17-year-old self, there are so many things I’d want to change. That could make for such a powerful plot. But in this series, Win doesn’t do much with his second chance. History simply repeats itself. He briefly admitted his feelings to Nut, but then brushed them aside as if they meant nothing. For twenty years he regretted not confessing, yet when fate gave him a chance to change everything, he still didn’t take it. It makes you wonder, what’s the point?
Overall I really enjoyed this series. It’s super cute and I liked it even more than High School Musical. Everyone got the happy ending they deserved, and it left me smiling.
I love both Nut and Win and wish the story gave them more time together to build their chemistry. The show has everything: school life, music, friendship, and family conflicts. I just wish Win made bolder choices, especially given the title Rearrange. Still, it’s a beautifully made series.
Rating: 9/10
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2Loved the introduction but lost interest halfway through
I had so much fun at first with the series but I unfortunately lost interest halfway through it. I feel there are a lot to love in the series regarding the webtoon vibe with the over-the-top fight scenes, the banger OST, the exciting colorful production and the likeable gallery of characters.Unfortunately, I found the story quite lacking. I found the overall narrative arc for the characters very expected with little to no surprises. The morale felt very one note with some redundant aspect inherent to the genre. Don't get me wrong, I found quite touching some of the storylines relating to the Study Group members but it is a shame it was often in spite of the main character Yun Ga Min. The latest was so much less interesting than all his companions that it was a bit of a shame.
This central role was played by Hwang Min Hyun, whom I feel has improved since his performance in Alchemy of Souls. He felt less bland but still it seemed a bit like a miscast for the part. He felt (like most of the Study Group members) too old to play a young high school student. This was a source of concern but not really that problematic in the grand scheme of all. However, what is an issue is that even if I fully recognize his acting has more range than what I have seen in the past, it was still a bit too robotic to my taste. Fortunately, I must say that I was much more convinced by the acting of the other cast members who appeared all throughout the series.
The production was very good. You need for sure total suspension of disbelief. It is part of the genre as it is an adaptation of a webtoon which does not aim to reach realism or very profound social criticism but rather to provide some exciting fighting scenes, hyping the hero and his friend with a lot of slow motion sequences. The OST was really nice : a lot of good raps, with an energizing opening song that I liked a lot.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for an action / shonen-like story within high school background. If you enjoyed series as The Uncanny Counter, I feel this could be a good series to test out. I had some real good laugh at first and I enjoyed some storylines. I just felt the hero arc was too predictable and remained relatively one-note which reduced my interest in the series as the story progressed.
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The only difference is that the Korean version of this story makes the viewer root for the main characters, who become almost likeable and beautiful. I never thought I'd cry for Valmont (Korean version, of course). Thinking about it, it's much easier to get attached to Bae Yong Joon than you can ever do to John Malkovich!
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Not Perfect But It'll Have A Special Place in Your Heart!
I genuinely enjoyed this show. It's not perfect and it may not be the best drama you'll ever watch but it'll have a special place in your heart. Cinematography was well done. Filming locations were beautiful. There are some things that are different from the other versions of Meteor Garden and that makes it really exciting because it keeps you guessing what was changed in this version. The story is still the good old Meteor Garden tale that we all loved. As someone who grew up watching Asian dramas, this particular story (Meteor Garden, Boys Over Flowers, Hana Yori Dango) is a classic and timeless tale. It's always fun to watch the modern remakes of this story and I'm glad this one didn't disappoint me. Everything cliche in an Asian drama is in this drama lol but I mean, it IS Meteor Garden, so it's expected. This story is basically the foundation of all Asian drama cliches lmao. But it's always so refreshing to go back to this story again in a different setting & with a different cast. If you truly want to enjoy this show, I highly recommend NOT to compare it with the other versions and nitpick on the inexplainable and ridiculous things that happen in this show. Just take it lightheartedly and you'll be able to truly enjoy it. It has 50 episodes (49 on Netflix idk why lol) but it never felt like it was a task for me to finish it because it was so much fun to watch (besides the side story that dragged on for too long *cough cough*). Just don't have extremely high expectations or else... that'll ruin it for you. Other than that, it's really enjoyable to watch. There is a lot of comedy, romance, and it shows the value of friendship and family.ACTING
Acting was just okay, nothing too spectacular. Most of the cast members are new to acting so I wasn't surprised that they were somewhat lacking. It didn't bother or annoy me, though, because the characters were still very likable and cute. It's so fascinating how much Dylan Wang suits playing as Dao Ming Si. I'm so glad he was chosen to play as DMS because I honestly can't imagine anyone else playing it. Dao Ming Si is such a difficult character to pull off, so I give props to Dylan for doing a great job, despite this being his first drama ever. Out of the 5 main characters (F4 & Shan Cai), only Shen Yue and Darren Chen had some experience acting in dramas prior to Meteor Garden. Shen Yue is an excellent actress (became a fan of her during her previous drama!) but for some reason, her acting here felt a bit unnatural sometimes? But she is amazing in dramatic scenes. Her tears fall down so quickly and she makes me wanna cry too ;___; I liked all the F4 members but my fav was Darren Chen/Kuan Hong. I fell in love with him while watching this show. His smile and dimple is to die for!
MUSIC
I LOOOOOOVEEEE THE OST OF THIS DRAMA. I love how they included old songs from the original Meteor Garden. It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood so I was really pleased to hear them again. They included old songs like Qing Fei De Yi by Harlem Yu, Liu Xing Yu by the original F4, and the new version of Ni Yao De Ai, which was still sung by Penny Tai. The songs that the 2018 F4 sang were lowkey cheesy lol but they're really catchy and I found myself listening to them a lot! Honestly, most of F4 can't really sing besides Caesar Wu (Ximen) lol but they're super cute so it's okay hahahaha. There are two English songs that was played throughout the show: Say Something by A Great Big World, which really set the mood, and Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake), which really ruined MY mood bc it's such a terrible song lol.
OVERALL, this wasn't such a bad show at all. I would wait for the new episodes every week and had so much fun watching it. It kind of became my stress reliever since I enjoyed it so much. A lot of my friends enjoyed it as much as I did too.
So now... the final verdict: SHOULD YOU WATCH IT? YES. Absolutely. Go for it. It's funny. It's cute. It's romantic. It's dramatic. F4 members are eye candies. What else could you ask for in a drama? I highly recommend it. Like I said before, it may not be the best drama you'll ever watch, but it'll have a special place in your heart. PLUS, it's on Netflix so it should be easy to watch for a lot of people!
(don't read past this if you don't wanna get spoiled lol but I just wanted to share my personal thoughts)
SPOILERS/MY THOUGHTS
- Shancai and Dao Ming Si's relationship is bipolar and cyclic af lol the same shit kept happening over and over again, just with some minor changes lol BUT THAT DIDN'T KEEP ME FROM LOVING THEM. THEY ARE WAY TOO CUTE.
- JING AND LEI'S STORY OMG idk why but it had so much impact on me in this version. Darren and Sun Yi Han are so shippable! Til the end of the show, I still kept waiting for Jing to come back to Lei so that he wouldn't be alone... at least in this version... ;____;
- Xiao You and Ximen deserved so much more screen time ;___; I'm literally craving for more of them ;___; they're so adorable
- Cai Na and Terrence, a.k.a, the most irrelevant characters and have contributed NOTHING to the show, had so much screen time, I almost went insane. SAVE YOUR SOUL AND SKIP THEIR SCENES.
- the last ep was a big wtf lol but it's weirdly NOT disappointing?? lmao
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I liked that it was a slow burn so that we can appreciate all the little moments and the realisation without directly going to the "I love him".
It just felt really refreshing, and made me smile and laugh and cry with them. I highly recommend !
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they had potential
they just lost it somewhere in the start, the writing was chaotic and it felt all over the place and the editing wasn't good either, the music was a bit weird I’m ngl because why are yall singing about a boy huh, anyways it's worth a watch overall !like there was too much to work with and instead of solving current issues they just present new ones and forget about the latter lmao.
I think the actors did their best for what they were given, and I enjoyed watching it every week, the chemistry between naow and gyo was wonderful, and I love them sm, the side characters weren’t that bad either, especially my girl luktarn.
I might be a little biased in my opinion because it is gl series and I ate it up just because of that bUT and it was good for a light cheesy romance, a good watch when you’re bored :) .
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more than spoilt milk....
OMG was that bad.Hunter Entertainment should strike the entertainment part from their name because this was painful to watch and no wonder that some of my friends dropped this show. Because I can endure I watched it to it's bitter end.
It started bad with the first episode and there was no chance of redemption. The Milk Boy was dull beyond my imagination and his partner had the worst fake beard ever seen in BL history. The side couple is a tad better, but too cliché as well. And of course the story is just boring, the acting is bad, the music is bad, the cinematography is ok but that's the best part of this show.
There is not much more to say, because it's a waste of time. Why this still has a rating of 6.5 is beyond me. It's a very bad show barely watchable. Even if you have time, avoid it like the pest and watch something else!
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Yet another masterpiece from Hirokazu Koreeda
For those who are already familiar with Hirokazu Koreeda will know what they are getting themselves into before watching this film.If you go in to the cinemas expecting this to be fast pace action or suspense blockbuster film, than you will be disappointed. This is an art house film that is very much driven by the characters.
Each of the casts deliver outstanding performances. Song Kang-ho rightly deserve winning the Best Actor award for his starring turn in Broker at 75th Cannes Film Festival 2022. Lee Ji-eun (aka IU) is the heart and soul of this film as we watch her character change as she journey with the brokers.
Just go to the cinemas with the right expectation and this film will not disappoint while enjoy the empathetic road trip odyssey reflecting on the family we choose.
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The office hijinks played a large part in this show, as the description indicates. However, the office stuff was also kind of where its weak point lay as well. I enjoyed the burgeoning relationship between our leads, Chi Won and Yoon Yi, and the antics of their office department. They had a great supporting cast there. Lee Won Keun as Hwangbo Yul, although mostly a character I sympathized with, also had quite silly and annoying moments of aegyo because he's basically a man-child. Kang Hye Jung as his assistant Wang Jung Ae was just the mothering, loyal assistant he needed. I think they did a pretty decent job with the comedy parts of the show as well as the romance parts. There were lots of laughs and a few swoon-y moments as well. :)
The theme song was catchy - I caught myself singing it a few times.
I would say that this is a fairly decent romantic comedy as long as you don't set your expectations too high. It's cute and fun as long as that's all you are asking from it because the plot is a bit thin. I was just able to overlook that until it got down to the final episodes, and I realized that I wasn't going to get all the answers I was looking for. I would still recommend this to rom-com fans.
As far as re-watches go...I'd say there are several episodes and scenes that I'd watch again, but I don't know if I would do a complete run through again.
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Teen Spirit With A Shaman Twist…
Let’s be honest. The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim’ is a verbatim title. ( As there’s not a lot left to the imagination to work out what this drama is about.) Admittedly Park Ho Jin’s drama doesn’t try to brand itself as “ the next Goblin ” or a “ new fantasy phenomenon”. It is a teen “ cutesy” fantasy tale about the supernatural, but often leans more into the realm of “teen angst” with main leads Ga Doo Shim ( Kim Sae Ron) and fellow classmate Na Woo Soo( Nam Da Reum) ‘s journey through high school also. (At the time of writing director Park’s wish for a sequel season to explore more about the characters was confirmed also .)
As a consequence the drama featured an array of intriguing characters. However their ultimate contribution to the storyline and depth admittedly does vary dependent on screen time and the screenwriting also. Kim Sae Ron was fairly dynamic as quiet and mysterious high-schooler Ga Doo Shim. The former child actress carried an ambience of perfect angst, suaveness and longing which was perfectly matched for her role . As a character it was evident that Doo Shim could’ve gone down two possible routes; one-dimensional and unlikeable by being egotistical , or a more well-rounded heroine who has a likeable charm by struggling with her emotions and carrying empathy. ( Fortunately with our female lead it was the former case. )
Doo Shim’s character development was arguably the most pivotal from begrudgingly accepting that she can see ghosts and trying to be “ normal” , to opening up to new friends ( particularly Na Woo Soo) , feelings and understanding that she can use her powers for the greater good. Yet whilst her setbacks do help to make her feel realistically flawed, there are moments surrounding Doo Shim which felt like more of an excuse to “ heighten dramatic tension ” rather develop her character gradually or focus more time upon making Doo Shim feel realistic.
For example whilst Doo Shim’s relationship with her mother Hyo Shim( Bae Hae Seon) did see the typical rocky road between a parent and a daughter, there was a lot of missed opportunities to explore more about their complex bond . It was evident how much Hyo Shim genuinely cared for her daughter, however, Doo Shim and Hyo Shim rarely had opportunities outside of necessary plot to talk about their shared bereavement , feelings or emotions without queuing into comic relief or angst. Perhaps with a sequel season it is wrong to condemn a final verdict over this relationship as “ poorly-written” overall, however, hopefully season two will give more chances to covering this relationship rather than putting it on the back burner.
Then of course there’s our main male lead Na Woo Soo. Nam Da Reum did a great job as the plucky prodigy with a heart of gold . Initially starting off as a plot device in order to awaken Doo Shim’s “ character growth and feelings”, it was refreshing to see Woo Soo leave the realm as the prosaic potential “love interest” and the “ sidekick who is new to this world” to having more complex depth . One particular focal point to exploring Da Reum’s greater sense of altruism as a character came through his unusual friendship with underdog and best friend Kim Il Nam ( Yoon Jung Hoon). However this is also where we hit a major rut with Woo Soo as a character; he displays emotions, but he rarely acts out upon them unless they’re necessary to the storyline.
There was brimming potential to explore a lot more about Woo Soo’s darker side which he did display at points in the drama such as his silent threat to Jo Soo Jung ( Lee Ji Won) after her potential blackmail, as well as his anger at Kim II Nam during the main events of the storyline. When the story covered the major events surrounding Kim II Nam it seemed odd the drama switched Woo Soo’s personality towards being “ mopey yet calm” rather than using this as a golden opportunity to explore more about Woo Soo’s own negative feelings or hero complex, as well as heal the wound between Woo Soo and Doo Shim helping one another through these events.
Yoo Sun Ho’s performance as witty dead high schooler Hyun Soo was pretty delightful. As a character Hyun Soo serves both as an example of surprising comical foil as well as wasted potential also. On one side whilst Hyun Soo does have his more brief yet bittersweet moments surrounding his death and his search for his mother, he did often cool down more heavy scenes with deadpan expressions or annoying Doo Shim. However there was a lot of unexplored ground with Hyun Soo’s sentience in the series such as being a ghost, never being able to physically age( unlike Doo Shim or Woo Soo), his search for his mother as well as a lack of deep connection between himself and Doo Shim ( who she seems to have grown up with pretty much ) which were never explored and left anticlimactic with the way the drama abruptly ended l his character arc early on .
This moves us onto the antagonistic force of the drama. Now officially there are two antagonists in the drama; the malevolent sprit, and of course an “ unforeseen” antagonist ( until they were revealed after a major incident). Positively this did present more multi-layered complexity than the entity merely being the “ big bad”, as well as pointing out a clear sociocultural criticism towards the cruel “ dog eat dog” hierarchy in the South-Korean education system . On the other whilst their motive was clear and had the potential to be realistically intriguing , their actual reason covered textbook moustache-villainy rather than being given more intrinsic depth. The ending was ( unsurprisingly) fairly anti climatic- not bad per say and certainly helping to add a more conclusive ending for our antagonists, as well as a. interpretative finale for our main leads but nevertheless slightly rushed with the climax coming to a halt early on, rather than being built up or allowing time for rising tension.
So is ‘ The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim’ actually worth watching? Park Ho Jin does a good job at building up our main characters as endearing and likeable leads which are further sold by dynamic performances with Kim Sae Ron and of course Hyun Soo, as well as the mystical and supernatural lore of the drama. On the other hand whilst Ho Jin’s potential sequel season could give room for tying up loose ends and problems ( including exploring character depth and relationships which sometimes felt disregarded), there were several inconclusive screenwriting moments which often felt rushed, cliche, one-dimensional or anticlimactic . Overall ‘ The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim’ certainly remains one of the stronger fantasy drama contenders for 2021 - it is not flawless from a screenwriting perspective and there’s a lot of ground that Ho Jin needs to cover going on forward, but a fairly easygoing watch.
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Story: Nothing fancy about the story. Just your typical high school fun light drama. What i love most about this is that Zuo An like Xiaoman just as much as she like her. He liked her from the very start. Although the FL goes into the university just for him. It is the ML who helps after her the entire drama. He adores her. Casting: The cast did pretty great throughout the entire drama. Even the silly scenes doesn't look cringy because the cast did great portraying it.
Music: Cute music just like “A Love so Beautiful”
Rewatch: Probability will rewatch some scenes soon.
The only thing i dislike about this drama is. They cut too many kiss scenes. ???? Wetv is unfair. XD
If you want a fun light campus drama. Try this.
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This is NOT my Orv
Every single thing I heard about this movie made me hate it more and more even before it released. What do you mean THE Kim Dokja wants to save the world? What do you mean he hates twsa? What do you mean Yoo Jonghyuk is a side character in twsa? What do you mean Heewon is the main character of twsa? And much more questions. All of this was different in the novel and the thing that pisses me of the most is how they made Sangah a healer? Wtf? That's just plain misogyny and the worst part is the novel already has a female healer that they didn't put in the movie so this was just so unnecessary. Sangah's whole character is built around her defiance against misogyny. She's one of the strongest incarnations in Seoul with a kill count that can't be numbered but of course nothing of that matters and she got reduced to a female savior for the main character😐Was this review helpful to you?
