Reviews

I really love this drama, it's so cute and fluffy!

I wasn't originally planning on watching this, but I don't regret choosing to. This is the kind of drama that I could repeatedly rewatch multiple times because the story is so sweet and lighthearted.

Although the plots rather simple, I still loved every second of it. It's so visually beautiful, the bright and happy feeling you get when watching this ahh I'm so soft. The relationship between Hong Jo and Kim Sol Ah is so cute and my heart always flutters when they are together! The cast was really good too, I liked all the characters. I also found myself laughing a lot while watching this, the humour is light, it won't make you crack up and wheeze but I still loved it.

The drama overall was so heartwarming and I will definitely rewatch it in the future!

By the way, the cat isn't that creepy. Some people think it is, but it's not that bad. It's kind of cute

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1-The reason I watched this : I've already seen the anime therefore, I wanted to see the the live-action adaptation and so I end up watching this film.

2-Storyline/Plot : Almost the same from the anime though it was a bit rushed and lacked many important events which made it feel wrong sometimes. However, script writers managed to take the right path after a lot of struggle.
I watched the anime so the story was predictable to me. As for those who haven't seen the anime, this storyline may seem really absurd to watch.

3-Acting/Cast : Teppei was one of the main reasons I watched this since he's cute and *insert shallow feelings*.
Beside that, I don't believe that the acting department wasn't that amazing or appealing; it was acceptable overall.

4-Music : It was kind of a normal music not too special not too lame.

5-Rewatch value : Well, people who fell for it hardly would defenitely rewatch, others would think of it as a waste of time.

6-The ending : It was satisfying. it wasn't the type of ending that would make you jump of your seat so don't expect too much.

7-Overall : It wasn't that bad but it wasn't that great either. It could've been much better yet it wasn't a disappointing adaptation.

P.S : For those who watched the anime and liked it you may want to watch this without high expectations or prejudices; it will much better that way.

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Updated the review, as yes... I just realized this isn't a slow burn.

'Road Home' really shot up to be one of my fave dramas this year.

Let me just say I really enjoy everything about this show especially at the start, the angst and tension I really enjoyed it. This drama is focused on the main leads' romance. It is a mature and intense kind of romance. I felt that the drama did not drag even once they got together.

Hopefully the new watchers give this a try.

Things I love about the drama:
- Enjoyed how this drama didn't focus much on any other characters, but on the relationship of our main leads. There were no love triangle, maybe there were some annoying characters but it didn't put me off since the main leads actually brush them off, and the misunderstandings that happens in the drama get cleared out really quickly. I really love how they didn't drag anything, especially any problems that arises.

- It may be melodramatic, but it's not too heavy to take and once they got back together it became a feel good drama.

- It is a healthy and mature romance. After the main leads got back together, I love how understanding the ML and FL were with one another. And when apart, they were very independent.

- FL did shown some character development. As she became very understanding, especially with the ML's job, it was noticeable when they got back in a relationship.

- I really love the cinematography in this series, especially the views and scenery of 'Qining'. It just makes you want to travel there.

- The chemistry, I absolutely love the chemistry between these two main leads.

- Jing Boran did a wonderful job in portraying Lu Yanchen (ML). His character is complex, from a strict captain of the SWAT team, he also is a man of few words, and mostly he shows affection through actions, and I seriously love the micro expressions he does for his character. His eyes is very expressive: from a longing look, to hurt and tearful, and etc. I really felt butterflies, when it comes to him pulling the FL into a hug, cuddling her, just looking at her, and his kisses (Thank God, JBR is such a great kisser on screen) I absolutely love the final episode, where it shows the POV of his character and it really answered so many questions that came up while watching the series.

-Tan Songyun, really did a great job as Gui Xiao. It is my first time to watch her act, and I love how she brings her character to life. Her character is just so charming and at times childish (especially when she gets spoiled by the ML) Also like Jing Boran, she had the most expressive eyes. I seriously love the tension in the first few episodes with the ML, you know they were really longing for one another and wanted to pick up their relationship again.

Though when it comes to the main leads in a high school, it did felt kind of awkward especially with Jing Boran in a uniform; but that may be just me. But to be honest it didn't really bother me much afterwards.

Overall:
Definitely is in one of my top fave dramas, so hopefully everyone can give this a try. For re-watch value, absolutely going to re-watch this and to be honest while this was ongoing, I was already re-watching several episodes over again and especially the scenes I really like.

At the moment I'm still going through withdrawals with this drama, and may update this review again afterwards if something comes into mind.

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This drama was like an explosion

The time an explosion happens, what you see from afar is impressive, you are shocked, surprised and curious at the same time. You wonder and you come closer, what you finally see is ruins.

That was the feeling Shadow Beauty gave me. At first, I was really impressed and shocked about how good, thrilling and well executed the story was. But as the episodes were passing through, this first impression slowly faded away.

Shadow Beauty is a web-drama of 13 episodes. The pace of the drama is pretty fast and the small duration of the episodes make the drama very easy to binge-watch.

Although it’s a psychological thriller, it’s a light-watch drama that can be watched by everyone who likes this genre. The drama is somehow thrilling and it keeps its tension till the end but also, the level of frustration is also growing up little by little as the episodes are passing. Romance is also one of the main genres of the story, but the drama isn’t Romance-centered as the romantical relationships aren’t fully explored.

As far as the technical part of the drama is concerned, both the production team and the majority of actors did a pretty good job. What I especially like about the production was the drama’s direction and montage, combined with on-point music which wasn’t unfortunately something memorable but it works well in the building of the drama's tension.

It has to be mentioned that this was the time Shin Dai Gi played the main lead in a drama and she was stunning, I hope we will see her in more main roles from now on. Shadow Beauty was also the first drama as a main lead for Choi Bo Min and the first time I saw him in general and he left me a good first impression.


~~~The webtoon~~~


Shadow Beauty is based on a webtoon by the same name written by Ahum. The webtoon is completed and it consists of 100 main episodes and 25 special episodes. The English translation is still ongoing and until now (December 29th 2021) 78 episodes have been released. The story is about Koo Ae Jin, a girl who has built a fake social media persona called “Genie” and she is basically living a double life.

As I said before, I was very excited and pleased with the first episodes of the drama. Then a certain thing happened that bothered me so I decided to read the original story. Guess what happened, the thing that disturb me wasn’t part of the original story.

I kept reading as well as watching the drama and now that I have finished both (I’ve read until the last published chapter of English translation), let me say the negative (for me) parts of the drama while doing a comparison with the webtoon at the same time (which is spoiler free so don’t worry).


The coherence


The episodes were very few compared to the episodes of the webtoon. To fill the whole story in only 13 episodes a lot of parts were cut and the story was limited. The original story is about Koo Ae Jin’s life in general and not only her school years which the drama contains.

As the drama only focuses on Koo Ae Jin’s school years, it is only logical for the drama writers to change some things and create their own ending of the story. This for me was a disadvantage because by limiting and editing the story, the storytelling ends up becoming incoherent and rough at some parts.

Also, by changing the story, what the author has in mind and the purpose behind the situations fails to be delivered. The story’s main purpose is the Koo Ae Jin’s secret identity and how she will keep it secret when in the webtoon this isn’t the case.


The characters and their relationships


One of the biggest mistakes was the alteration of the characters but also the alteration of the relations between them. My main problem here was the relationship between Koo Ae Jin and Yang Ha Neul which can be described with one phrase as “a hot mess”. Something quite curious that happened between them isn’t part of the original story so it was just something the drama writers came up with to create more drama in the story. This certain thing though makes Yang Ha Neul twisted to the point that her character’s writing seems weak.

Unlike the webtoon, the drama builds villain/s which Koo Ae Jin conflicts with and that makes the drama another ordinary drama despite the story’s attempts to break the norm. In the webtoon, the characters are mostly gray with their own wounds and mistakes that determine them. During the webtoon’s episodes, you see the characters mature, learn from their mistakes or shrink because of them. The drama didn’t completely fail to show this side of the characters but it didn’t succeed either.

In the webtoon, the main reason why Koo Ae Jin and her backstory are revealed in the early episodes, in the drama this is done at the end of it. This was bad because in the drama, the background of all the other main characters was explored before hers and made somehow the story unfocused on her.


~~~Overall~~~

Generally speaking, Shadow Beauty wasn’t a bad web drama, it was a regular school story with some thrill elements and some quite interesting parts. The finale of the drama is decent and the message that drama wants to get cross is very well delivered. I wish I could have rated this drama higher, but knowing the original story and how it failed to deliver its uniqueness I couldn’t do it.

Shadow Beauty is a story about people who are fighting everyday and conflict with themselves so they can mature, overcome their insecurities and accept themselves. Each character's monologue was a delightful and unique journey. It’s a pity this beautiful side of the story remained in the shadows.

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Well I finally got around to watching this classic. Having heard much about it and its cast, I was no ends of hyped up and ready to go, and this highly marathonable drama was a treat to behold, but while it's addicting, it's not perfect. Intriguing, though somewhat lacking.

The Cool Part:
The games themselves are a logician’s masterwork. No twist is foreseeable, and no puzzle unsolvable to the brilliantly minded Akiyama-san. If you like sitting for half an hour – or two - in complete suspense wondering how on earth they will ever manage to win each round through sheer guile, biting your fingernails in anticipation of victory – well that might explain why it’s so highly marathonable. Matsuda Shota plays his part to perfection as the ultimate silent type: an analyst of humans, ever noting the depths of lies and secrets, and calculating every possible move ages before it happens. You’ll find yourself sitting in absolutely stillness waiting for his manipulations to become clear and work their magic.


The Boring Part:
You get the feeling after a while that Akiyama-san will always be there to save the day. And then, the suspense becomes merely repetitive. Having watched half the drama, the pattern for each match firmly memorized, and my brain starting to unravel to keep up with each game’s rules and intricacies, I found myself spacing out. Fortunately, the drama anticipates just such an outcome. Get lost trying to understand the all the players’ plots and maneuverings? No sweat! Before the game ends, there’ll be at least a 20 minute step by step account of how everything happened, and why.

The Real Crux of the Matter:
Games and plotting aside, there’s something very unique about Liar Game’s premise. The story isn’t merely about forcing poor innocent, indebted people to play a game, practically to the death, financial death. Liar Game instead strives to uncover the heart of human nature itself. As the game’s masterful creator intones: “Humans are willing to betray each other in order to survive. Therefore, what’s wrong with deceiving others from the start or living faithfully for your own desires? That’s being human.”

The world he paints in one of black and white, where the black-hearted will always win, and the weak and pitiful will always lose. It’s the cunning versus the trusting, and the pack against the loner, not necessarily evil versus good. To reach the top, humans should or will be capable of stepping on anyone and anything; survival of the smartest, when the risk is losing everything. You lie or you lose.

In Kanzaki Nao, we not only have the most gullible and trusting character ever written; she is an allegory of trust and honesty, absolutely incapable of lying. To the exasperation of the Liar Game Tournament office (or perhaps to their increasing interest), Nao refuses to adhere to their rules. She tries again and again to prove that with teamwork, everyone can win and advance to the next round, maybe not with a profit, but at least debt free. The catch is, if Nao wins, it will disprove everything our Liar Game creator believes in. But for how long Nao can keep the players working together is the only true unknown. It’s a question not even solved by the end of season 1.

Conclusion
It’s hard to fault Liar Game for any real plot holes, especially when it’s obvious that the entire story has purpose beyond plain entertainment, fun, games or romance. Are all the concepts expertly done? Not always. Is it a little cheesy and overly moralistic at times? Absolutely. Will this be my favorite drama of all times, or will I ever rewatch it? No, and most likely not.

But the characters are generally good, and well acted for their roles. Matsuda Shota is fantastic to watch, especially when he gets his game face on. I’d like to say that Erika Toda didn’t overly impress me with her acting, but when her character is an allegory, and mostly unrealistic – that’s something I just can’t make a case out of disliking. Did it detract a little bit from my enjoyment overall? Sure, but then it was a fun ride and eventually I will continue the story, and finish the game another day.

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I can't believe this drama only has 1 review. I have been a big fan of thai dramas and when i found out that Sunny, Davikah, Sky and Thanaerng were in it, i just had to watch it! I did enjoy the drama and binge-watched it all in 2 days. It made me laugh and cry along with the characters. The OST was on point and I do like the core of the plot, which is even with magic, a relationship requires both parties to work hard on it in order to keep it going.

**Spoilers ahead**

Cast - The cast was visually pleasing and I was in constant awe of Davikah's beauty. As for acting, Sunny and Davikah were on point. The scene where Peng had a complete meltdown in the ambulance, begging for his power to return just so he can save Thantawan. My gosh, that really broke me. Bank was an interesting choice for a villain. I'll admit I could not get over his baby face but he did do a fantastic job. Sky on the other hand, though I loved him in Hormones, he needed to brush up with his acting skills. I know he is stiff and it kind of worked for Chalan, but at times when he really needed to deliver, he just fell flat.

Characters - I loved that all the characters had their share of flaws. It made them more relatable. Peng was always putting work first and came across as cold to the person he loves, Chalan being very naive but also very positive about things, and Bamee being very fiesty and hot tempered but extremely straightforward. I do however wish Tantawan had more of a personal growth. Her life , for me, was kind of sad, as it was always centred around the person she loves.

OST - Pretty good tbh. Found myself feeling most of the songs, especially "you are my everything".

Ending - I'm teamPENG so the ending was a disappointment. I do get why she picked Chalan though. He was attentive towards her and she could truly be herself around him. She could cry and share her emotions with him. Peng on the other hand, was cold towards her and kept taking her for granted. Despite her voicing her unhappiness, he often brushed it aside. Come on, the things that he said to her whenever she cried was just downright hurtful. It was only when he found out her feelings were starting to fade, that was when he started working on it. By then, it was too late. All it took was a small interaction between Chalan and Tantawan to change everything.

I do like how Tantawan recapped her feeling for Peng at the end. I know some found it confusing and that they did not like it. But i do get it. Tantawan will always love Peng . But she knew that with him, 1 of them had to morph into someone else for the other to be happy. She didn't want to do that to him as she knew first-hand what it was like when she had to do so in their 15 year relationship. To compromise is one thing, to completely change oneself is another. With Peng, their connection will always be there regardless, hence he will always be "her ambulance".

Overall, i am very very happy with this drama and will gladly rewatch it again.

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One of the best Korean BLs for sure.

I'll start with negatives to end positively.

First of all, it's time for Korea to break the love scene barrier. To me, a BL doesn't always need one, and in some cases it would ruin it. It really depends on the characters, and for these, I don't think nothing happening is credible. Sang Woo's attraction to Jae Young had a strong sexual component, and Jae Young clearly isn't the type to hold back on getting physical. There didn't need to be a scene with candles and blaring ballad - something like the way Sang Woo throws Jae Young down on the couch in the final scene but going slightly further would have sufficed.

Also, we really need to retire the triple-take shot for whenever anything important happens - it's mildly ridiculous and drains all the emotion out of the scene. We also need to retire the extremely wide-eyed reaction by whomever is being kissed. In a manga it works because it's capturing surprise. In live action, it's weird and creepy, and sometimes makes the kiss feel non-consensual (although not in this case).

So for me, this is marred a bit by too much BL convention and avoidance of physical love.

But the chemistry between these two was amazing. They certainly did hugs right - full body contact instead of maintaining a foot between them, and the sheer joy they expressed when they did this. Both actors are very capable - I think the Sang Woo role is more difficult, but Jae Young could have come off as a stalkery with a lesser actor. It doesn't hurt that he looks like that, of course. And Park Seo Ham's boyfriendy affectionate kisses were lovely, and the enormous size differential between the two was adorable - the way Sang Woo had to stand on his tippy toes to kiss Jae Woo.

The odd-couple plot worked very well - and one thing that I think is superior about Korean BLs in general is that there is never a useless uke - Sang Woo is every bit as tough and capable (and moreso) than Jae Young.

The humor is really funny, like when Sang Woo is researching deviant desires and hormone imbalances because he doesn't understand why he's so hot for Jae Young.

While I think the series held back too much to put this in the highest category, it's still one of the best Korean BLs, and excellent by any standard. It's largely forgettable, but very pleasant and something you can go back to in the future when you need a pick-me-up.

Story: 9 - While not ground-breaking or original, it was coherent and directed, avoiding the silly manufactured drama and miscommunication that mars so many BLs.

Acting: 9 - Both leads were excellent, generated a lot of chemistry, and didn't shy away from physical affection. Both inhabited their characters and made them relatable and believable.

Music: 7 - Nothing special, but never distracting, which is a good thing in my book.

Rewatch Value: 8 - I would definitely rewatch this - in fact I'm fairly sure I will if it's put out in movie version.

Overall: 9 - While it didn't offer much new, it was superlative at being what it was - a fluffy romance with interesting and likeable characters.

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Nothing much here :(

It’s your typical mediocre romance cum family cum healing kind of drama. The predictable plot twists towards the last few episodes, really very kdrama.

I like the main theme of controlling your alcohol intake. I’m assuming the writers wanted to make a point here. I do find too much drinking and getting drunk in all these kdramas, it’s like a staple must for every drama. Also, the humour with the family and friends, and all the ladies - not really my thing anymore. Found it tiring and bland.

The chemistry was also dead lol nothing sizzling and won’t give you any butterflies in your stomach. I do like that the FL is a mechanical engineer(?) and she handles cars and works out their problems.

All in all a simple watch at 2.0x speed hahaha. Cdramas are dominating this first half of 2025, so go there instead ;)

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Superpowers, violence, and a star studded cast

A Korean superheroes drama? YES, PLEASE! The production value was awesome. You can tell a lot went into making the superpowers look believable. The regeneration, gunfights, action sequences and bloody gore were all high quality. The only disappointing aspect were the flying scenes. I think they may have ran out of money for that as it was very apparent that they were hanging on something as you can even see where the wire or hooks went into their clothes. As a viewer, that kind of sucked because I found it very distracting and awkward.

As for the acting, I really liked how there were a lot of high caliber stars in this drama. I mean, who wouldn't want to be part of a Disney superhero drama? Not many opportunities like this come to Korea so it's great to see a lot of great actors taking part. Even the young rookie cast was good. The only one who I did not care for is YDG. I know he only has a minor role, but I really don't understand how he keeps getting roles. He constantly overacts. I thought his acting was so bad in The Forbidden Marriage that I'm so surprised he was able to get cast in this drama.

Now for the pacing, I thought each episode was good, but the overall series was lacking as a whole story wise. Too much of the series was spent on the backstories and flashbacks of each main character that basically only the last 2 or 3 eps were dedicated to the present story. Don't get me wrong...I did enjoy each backstory, but it was building up momentum for the present story except the climax didn't really deliver sense wise. It felt a bit pointless on the villain side. For example, (SPOLIER AHEAD: Why go through all this fighting only to give up so easily at the end? The whole self sacrificing bit seemed out of place because it was rushed in without any build up to make sense of the change of heart).

However, seeing that they left a clip after the credits to allude to a season 2, it would then make more sense that S1 was just part 1 - the set up. If I look at it that way, then the ending is less disappointing. But if they don't have a S2, then I'd have to say the ending felt incomplete because there were so many things left unexplained and some things not quite adding up.

But all in all, I found this drama entertaining and was quite delighted that Disney greenlighted an Asian superhero drama that did not offend me with concepts of Asian stereotypes that we often see in Hollywood movies. It's been a slow journey to get to this point, but I'm glad things are starting to turn around. I hope we get to see more!

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This is a movie that I can say it fits all tastes, preferences and ages. It was very delightful to watch and had exceeded my expectations as I thought it's just another sweet rom-com which it is but I didn't think I'd be laughing and smiling while watching it. I wasn't the only one laughing and smiling the whole cinema was :)

This is a story about 6 people (who are somehow connected to one another). No Jin-Woo (Yo Ah In) is a famous star in Korea who can't forget his "love at first sight" lady. Jo Kyeong-ah (Lee Mi Yeon) is a beautiful drama writer who is always about work and don't like things to get personal. Ham Joo-Ran (Choi Ji Woo) is a woman in her 40s flight attendant she is whinny but very naive and cute and she feels that her life is over because she is old since all her friends already got married and she is still alone but she's not pathetic and doesn't feel sorry for herself. Kim Ju Hyuk (Jung Sung-Chan) is my kind of a man, he is someone who can easily be your best friend before becoming your boy friend. He is sweet and very dependable what girl wouldn't fall for him?. Lee Soo-Ho (Kang Ha Neul) is a pianist who is an anti social for personal reasons, and has never fallen in love or opened up to someone other than the people he already know. Jang Na-Yeon (Lee Som) is a sweet girl who has some issues at work and finds comfort in Kim Ju Hyuk as a friend. 6 persons 3 couples, though the story is full of cliches I can't say it's unique and I can't say it's unpredictable BUT what I can say is that with all the cliches and predictable plot this is slice of life pretty much realistic story about people who found each other and fell in love with each other. I loved all the love stories here and I can't choose which couple I loved the most as I liked them all but I think I have one that left me with more smiles and special feelings among the 3.

Acting: I know why they keep giving YAI older actresses the man has an awesome chemistry with them! I can't believe this is the guy I'm watching in Six Flying Dragons, I had to remind myself over and over it's him because he was totally different. I know it's a given that he'd be different but still it doesn't mean I won't be impressed by this change. Only great actors can give you the feeling that they are different person every time they take on different role and YAI is a master in that. Lee Mi Yeon and Choi Ji Woo what can I say about these two wonderful actresses? I love both them and to have them both in one movie is a dream come true. If you have never seen dramas for these two lovely ladies I suggest you start now it's never too late. Kim Ju Hyuk I haven't seen anything for this guy but I will surf his profile and start adding his work because he has earned enough credits with me here. Kang Ha Neul I've seen him many times before but this is my first time actually appreciating his performance. Lee Som never seen her before but I would like to see her in more dramas.

I'm glad I decided to drag myself to the cinema in this cold winter with my bad mood and chose this movie to watch because it completely changed my mood within seconds. I was smiling and laughing as sweet as it was. If you are looking for light hearted, romantic, sweet, funny and touching movie with great cast, full of cliches but still enjoyable then I suggest you add this to your list. The movie's title "Like Me Please" we all want to be liked and loved don't we? ^^

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Interesting blend of thriller/mystery with fantasy plus romance

Disclaimer: I started to watch this drama because of the catchy title and the female lead being Park Shin Hye (whom have a lot popular works previously).

Story: was certainly an interesting blend of crime solving with fantasy elements. Each mini arcs were interesting, the criminals depicted in the drama were certainly rotten to the core (in my opinion) so it was super refreshing (for me) to see how the female lead take matters in her own hands to ensure the criminals gets what they deserved. I also thought the drama was quite nicely written to piece all the mini arcs into a bigger puzzle that focus on the female and male leads' choice and how their choices affect their lives. It was also great to see that this drama had some romance element as well, which makes the drama slightly more light-hearted to watch.

Cast: As always, Park Shin Hye delivers her character perfectly, and this time it was a demon (Kang Bit Na / Justitia). Her acting was amazing, whether it was action scenes or emotional scenes. I didn't expect she will not be able to deliver her character perfectly. It's my first time watching a drama from the male lead (Kim Jae Young) and I was quite impressed with his acting. I also thought the chemistry between Shin Hye and Jae Young was quite good. The acting of the supporting casts were good as well. In fact, their casting was really good (whether its the supporting casts or the guest roles)... In fact, I wasn't expecting Shin Sung Rok to take a guest role in this drama.

OST: I personally liked the most from Sunmi - Crossroad. I always felt a little emotional when the song appears during the drama (especially when its the emotional scenes between the male and female lead).

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