Reviews

Nice Watch

This was a good easy watch even though most of the characters went crazy at some point; I did not find it angsty. Most of us are looking for happy endings when watching dramas. Yes, this one has a happy ending. In my opinion too happy. I think most of the crazies had it too easy at the end for the gravity of the things that they did, it would have been more satisfying if they were at least punished in some way. Though I did like how Noh Go Jin and Park Yang Tae became frenemies at the end.

I liked how Noh Go Jin and Lee Shin A's relationship developed, there was no push and pull, it was like go all out hating each other at the beginning - got it all out of the way, discovering that they like each other and from then stuck and supported each other despite everything - not even the two faced ex could come between them.

I liked the OST too :-)

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Don't watch without watching drama

I just finished watching the movie and I want to point out that it's important to watch the drama first, otherwise the movie won't make much sense. What I enjoyed the least about the movie is that they left out the most important and interesting parts of the drama, which made the movie more boring and confusing. It's okay if they want to focus on the love story, but they shouldn't just include boring scenes, especially for those who have seen the drama. For instance, in the drama, there was a significant shared moment between the characters when the male lead carried the female lead after she was drunk and they walked to their base talking. Also, there was a skipped part before the movie where they had a shared little date, which would have been interesting to see. Additionally, there was a part where he asked if they could give it a try, but they skipped the part when she responded to him and they started dating. There were many other interesting parts that were skipped, such as after they started dating when they went on a date to the movies and he got a little angry. The movie only showed a little bit of what happened. Lastly, the movie also missed the part when one of the characters found out they were dating in the rain when they kissed. Instead, it jumped to a scene where they were in their rooms talking on the phone.

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A feel-good teen drama about loving yourself and being the best you can be

I'll be the first to admit that this is no masterpiece. But if you liked dramas like True Beauty, then you will definitely enjoy this one. The writing is full of cliches but enjoyably and the love triangle is quick and painless! The comedic scenes are hilarious and the chemistry between the different characters is amazing!

Also, like all of the cast look gorgeous? And the opening song and sequence is one of the best I've seen in dramas lol. We also got positive representation of a trans character!
This dramas also has a lot of heartwarming messages about loving yourself and having good self-esteem. The main message is that no matter how you look or what you think of yourself, you can change yourself for the better and find love, you just need to put in the hard work and have a positive outlook. I found it touching personally.

I would definitely definitely recommend this drama if you wanted something light and fluffy to watch! :)

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You'd love it if you watched the anime

I watched it only because I watched the anime, and honestly it tremendously exceeded my expectations. The level of care and heart poured into the story completely destroyed my regard for the anime. The anime was very relaxing and sweet, but the drama actually brought me to tears on multiple occasions. The main characters, especially Tokitaka, were so much more interesting and fleshed out. Their relationships were more substantiated and it was easier to see why they're so close. Highly highly recommend it if you were a fan of the anime. You won't be disappointed, 10/10.

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Feelings rehashed

And just like the original 50 episode version, I was left saddened and unmotivated after this viewing. It's like certain dramas, when they're done, just leave this gaping hole in your life because they went on and had this huge impact on you- this drama did that to me.
This was nice to watch after completing the OG a couple months ago and still feeling a little empty inside. Of course with this story being as popular as it is, there are many ways to continue to get my LWJ and WWX fix but still, the live action was just so... *le sigh* There are just no words.
I get that they had to cut a lot of the story because this was more about the mains but unless you're seen the OG then this version is obviously really incomplete. The bright side though is a lot of added scenes that weren't in the drama can be seen here.
Obviously I highly recommend this but watch the original first.

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So Bad but So Good; I watch this drama not for the plot but the male lead.

"I fell in love with the most dangerous man, why can't I let go?"

The lyrics above definitely describes my feelings about the male lead in this drama. His character is indeed portrayed to be a typical "Dangerous Man" that is mysterious, dark, intense, and toxic. Ngl, if it's in a real life, he would've been canceled because he's such a red flag 😭. However in this drama, despite the toxicity, the male lead is also very charismatic, good looking, charming and intriguing that you can't help but fall in love with him. It's all thanks to the actor who has successfully delivered the character to be that attractive. His acting is top notch and is totally on point. I can say the male lead and the actor are the best part of this drama.

One more thing that I like about this drama is the romance between the male lead and female lead. They have great chemistry and there are a lot of steamy kisses. I read some comments saying they don't like the female lead character because she's clingy but I think I have different opinion about this one. Yes, the female lead is clingy and looks weak but she's not a passive person. She made the first move to pursue the male lead, confessed her feeling first, comforted the male lead and she always ensured the male lead that he wasn't alone. The female lead gave the male lead the sense of security and he could find solace in her. I think their characters complete each other.

As for the story, this drama obviously has many flaws. To be honest it has so much potential but unfortunately the writing is weak that there are many loopholes in the plot. I suggest you not to use your brain when you're watching this drama and you can ignore all the non-sense things.

Overall, I think this drama is not perfect but it's still worth to watch and I totally enjoy watching it despite all the flaws. As for rewatch value, I think there's possibility that I might rewatch it again only for the male lead (lol). However, if you're typical a so called "woke" person or if you're looking for a solid plot, this drama isn't for you.

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Surprisingly fresh with real life characters

Okay so apart from the ML's one drama (Psychopath Diary) I haven't seen any other dramas by either of the leads. Honestly, I started watching this drama while I was waiting for the weekly episodes of Its okay to not be okay and Backstreet Rookie. Hence I began with zero expectations or idea about story, lead actors, reviews.

This is such an underrated gem of a drama. So many of the 2020 big actor dramas have been kind of disappointing or not really left a lasting impression. However, this drama and its main characters leave a mark and I was sad to have the drama end.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS DRAMA. One of my most favourite in 2020 and will also make it to my All-time favourites. The acting is so fresh, goofy yet natural. The comedy is not forced, great flow of storyline with perfect transition from one plot to another. While having the element of politics this drama is not over-the-top with confusing political sub-plots and schemes. The romance part is also great and I liked the fact that the FL takes matters in her hands most of the time while dealing with their relationship. ML is good in supporting the FL and yet not overbearing as some other K-drama ML characters. A special mention about the 'camera angles' which some people might find unsettling but you get used to it and in fact it adds an interesting storytelling facet especially in the comic scenes.

I urge everyone to watch this drama for its story, acting, comedy, romance, politics and slice of life vibe. Its a must watch of 2020.

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Perfect Movie To Start New Page

If you are looking for a simple romantic story, this is for you! The director behind this movie is famous for that genre and A Year End Medley won't disappoint you. In this cold weather, we get to watch 7 different heartwarming beautiful tales from 7 different couples on Christmas day setting.

Every character here are individually interesting and has a well written background to build their personality. I thought 2 hours movie wouldn't be enough to show every character's details, we don't have only 2-3 people to introduce, but a whole 14 characters! Despite the duration, they managed to show each of their layers, goals of the couple arc, and how they are linked to one and another.

I must mention out of all the couple, my favorite couple here goes to Yong Jin x Lee Young. Such a cute mature girl with supporting boyfriend! Beside fav couple, I love all the characters plot but if I have to choose, I will pick Kang Haneul's character as the best arc! From depression to comedy and move to breaking down, what a journey from his acting! Of course all the actor & actress also delivered the plot well, but Kang Haneul is just beyond.

I love the production team took care the clothing. They are all so pretty to look at. The cinematography in this movie also well taken. What I dislike from this movie might be the soundtrack only, they use a cliche classical music *cough* canon in d *cough* and that kinda ruin the flow for me, i just wanna laugh at that part.

Anyway, this is a nice movie to start the year, I wish there will be a sequel or maybe make it into drama series instead, all the stories are interesting to watch and they still have many to reveal.

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Heartbreaking film based on a true story- prepare your tissues!

This film was definitely worth the long wait for decent English subs! I don't even know where to begin...

It was so well written and it absolutely breaks my heart to read that this plot is based on a true story. Watchers can see the growth of Lawyer Jung Yup who didn't agree that bystanders were guilty of the crime in the beginning of the film become someone who was first to stand up and protect Da Bin.

The actors all did an amazing job, especially the child actress who played Da Bin and the actress who played the evil stepmother. It must have been extremely difficult to act in either position (the victim or perpetrator) so I applaud them both for embodying their roles. I read an article saying that several actresses even rejected to play the role of the stepmother but the actress who accepted, Yoo Sun, did it to spread awareness. I truly hated the stepmother ever since she came onto screen and still hate the real person who committed this crime in the real case. How can the law punish these criminals so lightly?

Additionally, the music in this film was very good. The dramatic ominous BGM matches the hard-to-watch child abuse scenes and the sad string instrument BGM makes you immediately absorbed into the tear-jerking scene. Those sad scenes made me cry multiple times throughout the movie so definitely prepare yourself! I was practically bawling by the time the trial ended.

Most importantly, this film brings awareness to the problematic issue of the law regarding child abuse (in Korean) and how people don't report the abuse when they see it and ignore it. Da Bin grew to distrust adults since they failed to help her and her brother leave her dangerous home on many occasions. This is a very meaningful message behind this film and I hope that those who watch can learn and gain the strength to help others when they see they need it. Well, at least I will do my best if the situation arises. We need more people like Jung Yup and the young boy, Jang Ho, who helped Da Bin in this film.

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Gold

I love watching dramas with older cast, because they still gives me the same vibes of old romcoms I used to watch mid 00s, and I'm glad they still have the knack of it considering it's been a while since I've seen UJH and SSH in a drama.

That been said it's not a perfect drama and in some parts I got bored but I blame my busy schedule that made me watch each episode in parts, so even if I like it I definitely got distracted while watching which made me lose interest eventually ~
So this part is on me 🤦

Story is simple, young woman's mind in old woman's body all over again, but this is a case of memory loss so there is a twist to it, overall nicely done slightly illogical but good enough to entertain.

I would recommend it if you miss old 00s dramas, seeing those same old actors is a breath of fresh air now that most actors are Gen Z or younger watching some Gen X makes me reminiscence good old drama days when me and only five others in my country were watching kdramas and it wasn't as popular as now lol ~

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Before I get into my review, please keep in mind that my thoughts about this drama are based on what I understood from the raw episodes and my knowledge of the language itself is limited. Not zero, but limited. I had been waiting to watch this drama for a long time, but it was never subbed even up until now, so I ended up just watching it without them. If you're okay with that, then feel free to keep reading :)

STORY: The synopsis, although it is correct, had me confused while watching because the marriage to the leader of the rivaling country does not happen until the last portion of the drama. And I mean last. I literally watched 40 episodes and the marriage still hadn't happened yet. Everything seemed to get jumbled together in the final episodes which is something that I do not care for as a viewer, especially when I'm watching a drama that is 50 episodes long. When I read the synopsis, I was under the impression that the marriage was going to happen sometime in the beginning or the middle of the story, and maybe show how she managed to thrive as a chef and survive living amongst the enemy, all while watching her first love fight to save her, but I was very wrong (lol).

The story itself was familiar, with a royal having a birth secret and living as a commoner since childhood, as well as having a childhood sweetheart. The nice twist to this story is that Yu Die is a fantastic chef thanks to the talent of her adoptive mother and throughout the drama, she is cooking delicious food as she journeys through the country after an unfortunate event separates her from her adoptive family. Through her experiences and after spending time at the palace with the royal prince, whom she had met before, she eventually comes to learn her true identity as a royal princess. While I was interested in how/if her adoptive mother and her lover Li Ma would find her again, there was a lot of scheming both in the palace and at war between the rivaling countries that seemed to make up a good portion of the story. And of course a lot of cooking scenes which isn't helpful when you're hungry (lol). After so many episodes of the same thing, I started to lose interest and eventually stopped watching this drama for quite awhile before picking it up again. I really wanted to like this drama, especially since I loved the cast, but that was not enough to hold my interest. The way it ended was odd to me as well, I think they could've executed a better closing had they not crammed all the action to the final 10 episodes.

ACTING/CAST: I love both Zheng Shuang and Ma Tian Yu and was excited to see them together as main leads, but I can honestly say that this wasn't a stand-out drama for either of them. I believe they were in a previous drama together in the past as potential love interests, but I haven't watched it so I can't compare their performances. In this drama though, I wasn't able to get invested into the romantic relationship between their characters because most of the time they were separated. The characters would long for each other, but when they'd see each other, they would only hug and seemed a bit distant at times, which made me feel they had more a friend/sibling relationship rather than one of lovers. But they did look very cute together during their scenes. What I did like about Yu Die though is that she was persistent with her love for Li Ma, even after becoming royalty. Li Ma's character was different, in a sense that he seemed to feel unworthy of her love after learning about her birth secret even though he still loved her. Overall I did enjoy seeing how their love story played out. Steven Jiang played his part well as a royal and I liked how his character showed a different kind of love and affection for Yu Die. At times I felt like he had more chemistry with Zheng Shuang than Ma Tian Yu, but it might've also been because he had more screen time with her. This was my first time seeing him in a drama and his performance left a good impression.

MUSIC: There were only a few ost songs played and they were decent, but most of the time traditional instrumentals were used. Sometimes all you need are nice instrumentals to help carry the story of historical dramas and this was one of those cases.

REWATCH VALUE: I don't think I would sit down and watch this drama again even if it was fully subbed because I felt like it was too long . I don't think it needed to be 50 episodes, especially with the way they crammed everything together at the end. There are better historical dramas out there and I didn't feel there was anything that made this drama stand out on its own to set it apart from other dramas with similar themes. Fans of Zheng Shuang, Ma Tian Yu, and Steven Jiang might enjoy this, but they have other works that are more superior both story-wise and performance-wise. Nevertheless, it was still a decent watch and I'm still glad I decided to check it out.

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Renowned South Korean director, Kim Jee-woon returns after a 3-year hiatus in the country's Best Foreign Film entry, "The Age of Shadows". Like Woon's other films, (I Saw the Devil, A Bittersweet Life), Shadows is an action-packed cat-and-mouse thriller extravagant.

Shadows has an amazing line up: Sang Kang-ho (Memories of Murder, Thirst), Gong Yoo (Train to Busan, A Man and a Woman) and cameo appearance from Lee Byung-hun (A Bittersweet Life, Inside Men) whom Kim has worked previously and Um Tae-Goo (Coin Locker Girl, Veteran).

Pulled at the edge of your seat from start to finish, Kim doesn't disappoint tossing action sequences and twists that he carefully crafts and builds in suspense, only to laid them out with the greatest satisfaction, it leaves you hungry for more.

Just like "I Saw the Devil" and "A Bittersweet Life", Kim starts Shadows with little-to-nothing description of what's going out, only to follow it up with an action-filled chase scene, an amputated toe nail and blood splashed across the wall.

Shadows' 30 minutes train sequence is one of the best I've ever seen. This is the juice. It builds the plot as much as it shapes it and moves it, that includes the characters too. Accompanied by a more menacing version of Ravel's Bolero, the adrenaline just doesn't stop. I, for one, had to pause the film just so I could breathe. Kim brings us from compartment to compartment from character to character from discoveries to discoveries.

Cinematographer Kim Ji-Young does a fine job of transporting us to a 1920s setting of South Korea and Shanghai (the accuracy may be question but it looks beautiful nonetheless) with retro-like colors and saturated tones. Kim ravishes in extremism at times, with loud shoot outs, dialogues delivered in sinister whispers, loud slapping sounds, to torture scenes that likens to his other film, "I Saw the Devil".

Kim channels his narrative into powerful loyalty that seems like The Age of Shadows take a patriotic approach but ultimately, this thrill-filled film is entertaining as much as it is greatly crafted.

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Phenomenal

From the 7 years I have been on this site, I have written a total of 8 reviews. 8. Not that there was not other shows I absolutely enjoyed over the years...but nothing that made me stop and stare at my computer blankly after finishing just wondering what I was going to do next with my life. Trauma, death, friendship, betrayal. This contains all of it. Dreams, and growing up but never giving up. Action, brotherhood, teamwork, and discovering love. Working hard, becoming successful. Family. I don't really know what this show doesn't have. The cast was phenomenal, the soundtrack was amazing and the story was fresh. What really drew me in was the chemistry between the characters Xiao Feng and Lu Xiao Bei... Watching these characters together gave me the chills. There were things in this show I was unsatisfied with but not completely. Almost everything made up for the small things I disliked. This show is full of hope and working towards your dreams. I cried a lot of tears watching this because the emotions the characters showed were so real and raw. This show is a serious yet also feel good show that puts a huge focus on dreams, friendship and teamwork. I will be recommending this show to anyone and everyone!!

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A Story You Don’t Just Watch, You Carry With You

The Untamed is one of those rare dramas that doesn’t really leave you after it ends. It stays with you—in the story, the emotions, and especially the connection between its two leads. No matter how much time passes, it’s the kind of series you always find yourself coming back to in some way.

One of the most important things to understand is the context behind its adaptation. Due to censorship in China, the original novel was adjusted significantly for the screen. In the source material, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are clearly written as lovers, but in the drama they are presented as “bosom friends.” Even with these limitations, the series manages to preserve the emotional core of their relationship in a way that feels deeply intentional. The bond between them is written and acted with so much care that it’s hard to interpret it as anything less than soul-deep love.

Beyond the relationship at its center, the world-building is genuinely impressive. Each clan has its own identity, design, and philosophy, and the story blends elements of xianxia and wuxia in a way that feels both traditional and fresh. The cinematography also deserves credit—the framing, transitions, and overall visual storytelling are consistently strong and elevate even quieter moments.

The plot itself is engaging and well-paced, with very few dull moments. It’s the kind of story that pulls you in early and doesn’t really let go. Even when it gets complex, it remains emotionally easy to follow because of how grounded the characters feel.

Of course, the biggest highlight is the chemistry between Xiao Zhan (Wei Wuxian) and Wang Yibo (Lan Wangji). Their performances carry the entire emotional weight of the series. Even within the restrictions of the script, they manage to express a connection that feels incredibly deep and meaningful. Whatever label is placed on it, their bond reads as something far beyond friendship, and that’s what leaves such a lasting impact.

The supporting cast is also strong across the board, with each actor fully committed to their role. That said, the CGI and special effects can be inconsistent, but they never take away from the emotional or narrative strength of the series.

The OST is another standout—memorable, emotional, and perfectly tied to the identity of the show (and yes, even more meaningful knowing the leads are involved in it).

Overall, The Untamed is not just a drama—it’s an experience. It’s emotionally rich, beautifully acted, and unforgettable in a way very few series manage to be.

Verdict:
A masterpiece of storytelling and emotion, elevated by its characters and central relationship, despite some technical imperfections.

Rewatch Value:
Very high — easily a series you return to more than once.

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