Watch this for the cool music, a very well choreographed set of fight scenes in each episode, and Kiriyama who has little speaking parts but lots of fast action, and a cool car. In fact, the action scenes are short and swift but that is what one looks forward to each episode. They are almost movie quality choreography and design, with each fight scene showing off Mirage's empty hand, or weaponed, or shooting prowess. Mirage is a mysterious killer who dispenses with his missions efficiently, stylishly, and without fail. Even though Kiriyama is not a martial artist, the fight scenes are quite convincing and intricate.
And if you can ever figure out who really are the good and bad guys in the Japanese government/police force, good luck...
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Love story
Warning: This review will contain spoilers!!!Plot: A woman falls in love with her boss at first sight.
For three years she works at his company, cherishing each moment they casually meet and interact, snapping and collecting pictures of him on the sly. (Not stalkery--just very cute). He, of course, is completely clueless to all of this to the point that...
....three and a half years later, he asks her help to "pursue" her best friend.
FL knows that her bff is in a relationship with someone else. Nonetheless, she seized the opportunity to get closer to the ML, so she agrees to "help" him pursue the bff. Using this excuse, the ML and FL begin spending time together, meeting and talking purportedly about the bff but eventually it reaches a point where they're almost like friends (despite him being her boss). Even after the bff gets married they still meet and interact.
The FL falls deeper and deeper until she decides to confess, whereupon the ML rejects her outright.
In his defence, her confession seems sudden, since he has no idea she'd had feelings for him for years. He just sees someone he knows as an employee and causal friend suddenly confess out of nowhere. When he asks her to explain why she likes him, our FL panics and lies, giving a very shallow response: "You're handsome and rich, of course I like you". The ML, who is the opposite of a playboy, naturally finds her response off-putting and tells her that they are not suitable.
The FL takes the rejection hard. But she accepts his decision and immediately begins taking steps to distance herself from the ML. As soon as she does, we can see the ML begin having doubts. From the start, her response ("handsome, money") strikes him as off, and out of character for the woman he's gotten to know over the past six months. But each time he tries approaching her again, she shuts him down hard. The FL is heartbroken and won't give an inch.
Now we enter our cat-and-mouse phase.
He does everything he can to pursue her, using work (offering to produce the movie for the book which the FL authored), proximity (he moves next-door to her), and support (financial and otherwise-putting his reputation and business on the line to ensure the development of her movie).
However, the issue is that he still has no idea that the FL has liked him for so long or how very deep her hurt is.
And she is not able to tell him. She can't open up and trust him.
So we go around in never-ending circles.
Many obstacles are thrown their way during this point, from online dating rumours, to a parent-pushed secondary love interest.
After a long (long, long, long!!) wait, the FL finally accepts that he truly does like her and they get together.
Once they get together it's a smooth walk down the aisle. Both of their families are happy and supportive. They live happily ever after.
My issue: The first half of the show built on chemistry, sexual tension, and heavy emotions. At one point I became annoyed with FL for putting off the ML for too long. But eventually we see her on-screen breakdown when he finds out that she's liked him for so long, and I forgive her. However, once they got together, the entire mood of them changed. She became less mature, more playful, and the sexual tension/chemistry seemed to vanish. We went from a heavy drama to a sweet romance--the transition was too abrupt and the mood shift was so extreme that I couldn't really connect the couple from part one of the show to the couple in part two of the show. This mood lasted up to the final episode. The final episode redeemed it. It was still playful and light, but the chemistry came back at least. Overall, I was satisfied with how it was wrapped up.
The secondary couple is the Director of the FL's movie and the ML's younger sister.
I'll say this: both characters are truly wonderful people.
The younger sister is cute, kind, and hard working.
The Director is dedicated, sweet, and also very kind.
In a sense, the younger sister who, by virtue of her age, always acted much younger and girlish than the FL, actually acted much more mature in her romance with the Director than the FL did in her own romance with the ML.
The chemistry between the younger sister and the director was wonderful.
I truly liked them together.
I loved seeing her gradually grow up and take control of her life. She made zero mistakes in her relationship with the director and I admire her so much for that. Since we'd seen her as a very young and cossetted girl, she'd have had ample opportunity to screw it all up, but she didn't. Truly, truly amazing of her.
As for the director, he admired her from the start, took his time, guided her as she entered his industry, supported her patiently, and confessed at the right time. Kudos to him for a job well done.
This couple was truly amazing to watch.
The music was fantastic!!!! The ost was one of the best I've heard.
The shooting was great.
The cast was wonderful.
I will definitely rewatch this show :)
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This review may contain spoilers
..THE STORY OF HALF-YANKEE AND HALF-NORMIE..
..yes, this is a story of delinquent family - but one of them decided to try and live a normal life, decided to go at school and be a member of art club showing his passion on paint and canvas...
..as always, life is not that easy - problems always enter, a change of uniform and appearance is a must, the conquering of city is a must by means of punching and kicking since his family expecting a lot for him - this will be his life revolves on daily basis..
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..a secret to be kept for a long year - and no secret will be stored forever and the truth will reveal as many people now knows it..
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..well, what I learned on this drama, well, even if I am not a yankee, it teaches us a lie either it is a white lie is still a lie - keeping it for a long time, only keeping us to hurt for a long time too - not only one's self but anyone too. . .and yes, truth will always set us free and continue to have a happy life with our loved ones..
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..I love the casting plus the talking dog dubbed by the legend VA (TsudaKen), the music, the pinch of love story and the overall lesson we can learn how important our family and friends as they teaches us how to live the way we want too..
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Story : the story follows a group of military trainees from admission to graduation. They evolve through adventures and hardships which are well told and entertaining for the action parts and cute and funny for the other parts. Main focus is put on 3 characters who are very interesting in their personality and their development throughout the drama. You really understand them and feel close to them. The love triangle was very well handled as you could not know how it will unfold for a long time. Other secondary characters have also nice or sad or bittersweet stories well told and this brings complexity and good density to the overall plot line.
Acting : I thought most of the cast did a tremendous job here. I have seen the two main lead in the Legends and the are very good in this drama too. Bai Lu acting is on spot portraying a strong character but less funny more calm but also daring. You totally believe her tomboyish female character as a girl and the pretty boy soldier as a man. Xu Kai was great too. He portrayed nicely a fun character quite immature but finally reliable. He was good while bickering or nagging or playing cute with Xie Xiang. Many commented he had something of Leonardo Dicaprio. I kinda agree. Toby Lee was great also. He portrayed a very serious heir of a rich family. You totally believe his character and the nature he shows in his relationships. He overshadowed the main lead some times as his chemistry with the female lead was so good. Others actors did well too specially the guy portraying soldier Song, the Shen brother but the also the Academy staff. The female friends were well portrayed.
Music : I found the intro music very surprising but contrasting with the genre of the drama and it gave it an originality. I loved the love song at the romantic moments. Overall the music was ok for me.
Re-watch: Not sure I would re-watch it since it is so long but this drama has many fun or heartbreaking scenes I will gladly re-watch just for the feeling of it and I seldom have the chance to do that with Chinese dramas.
Overall : despite some usual clichés regarding the vilains it's a very entertaining and recommended drama.
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It took quite a long time for the killing spree to start but no second leading up to it was wasted. This film had a brilliant story behind the horror and whilst most horror films are more sadism than substance, Death Bell 2 had a great balance of both. In fact, the deaths were so imaginative and disturbing I hope never to meet the writers behind the script!
I was interested in seeing Ji Yeon in a horror role after only seeing her as catty Rian in Dream High 2. I expected her to be ok but she surpassed my expectations. She had the same shy, slightly twitchy yet 'tower of strength' personality I loved in Nam Gyu Ri's character from Death Bell 1 whilst being completely different, and most of the boys were easy on the eyes (the ones who managed to stay alive long enough to get a good look at anyhow).
The music's hard to comment on as the film was so intense I barely noticed it and the most effective scenes were the killing ones where silence or indescribable music boosted the scary atmosphere. The music I did notice at the beginning though was great for setting the scene.
Overall the film isn't too gory (although there's a lot of blood) and not that scary so if you're a human jelly, like me, then you won't need to find anything to hide behind before you watch. I've given Death Bell 2 a rewatch value of 8 just because I feel once you've worked out who's behind the killings and who's going to be killed, the element of surprise might be lost and make rewatching less enjoyable (but am going to rewatch anyway!)
A great film!
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*When it comes to acting I really don't know what to say...it's Shin Ha Kyun the most talented actor ever...the short guy who's not so good looking but yet his smile makes me fly of happiness & his tears destroy me...his acting is real for me...once I watch him on screen I feel like I'm there with him in his world...
I thought at 1st that this drama will be showing us how wrong Dr. Lee Kang Hun was in his methods & in seeking success...It's the thing I hate most in K-drama the perfect humans they portray (Like in King Of Baking) but this drama is not about that...it shows an imperfect man who's cold, arrogant and selfish...someone wasted the time he had with his mother and followed a stupid revenge - that was eventually against himself...yet this drama glorifies his unlimited ambitions...that's what i love about this drama...that at the end they didn't let him sacrifice his Ego but respected and protected him.
*The OST was really good and fitting with the drama...the song Solitude makes me cry while listening to it even without understanding the lyrics...really good I also read that Kim Hyun Joong recommended the song Closer.
*The reason I enjoyed this drama a lot was the characters and the acting...so I'll definitely re-watch it.
*There's only a few kisses in this drama but they are good & the romantic scenes were touching...also the weakness of most Korean actors is crying scenes but it's a strong part of this drama...the way Shin Ha Kyun cries was destroying me...it was so good and so real that I wanted to hug Dr. Lee. :')
*Hope this review was helpful...I'm really grateful I watched this drama...it's not that popular...but it was one of the best I've ever seen...just give it a shot...you might get hooked from the 1st ep like me ^.^
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My verdict? It won't be long before I see it for a third time, which might make you wonder why I gave it pathetic music rating. I gave it a pathetic music rating because there is no music to speak of, none, zilch, nada, not unlike_No Country for Old Men_. Alas, unlike _No Country for Old Men_, _Christmas in August_ has nothing to commend itself in terms of a suspenseful plot, cinematography-rich settings,or a villain so compelling as to make your skin crawl.
What it does have is a reality which you would not have known could ever have existed and conveyed with such subtlety and nuance that you're reaction upon viewing would probably be along the lines of "What?!" To be sure, it's a thinking man's film,one if you could ever get your head wrapped around, you might experience what I did the second time around: an ineffable sorrow which shedding tears for would be vulgar in the extreme.
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This review may contain spoilers
The rookies delivered the best k-drama of 2024 so far
A very interesting premise. Rookies galore. Full female cast. I had lots of fun watching this short drama. The main thing that I like about this show is that while it has so many characters involved, most of the characters are meticulously crafted, with their own motivations, flaws, and moral compass. The main protagonist and antagonist being equal monsters made the battle of wits so entertaining. At no point did I feel that one side was too overpowered and it was a chess game played by two masters who took turns to deliver punches. Every one of those beautiful ladies was capable of being an ugly monster if they had to for survival and nobody was truly on one side till the end. A thrilling war of nerves that kept me rooted. Will you conform or challenge?Being somebody that is not very good at pairing names with faces, it took me a while to remember all of the character’s names. There were so many characters being introduced from the get-go and all of them being female names made it quite a challenge for me. However, despite the lack of “A-listers”, it was this show with a bunch of newbies that slayed.
Some people are just born to act and Jang Da A is one of them. You know how some people make hard look easy? How they seem like they are not doing much but actually delivers? Baek Ha Rin (game master) took a stroll for 10 episodes and yet she is the main impression that was left on me. She barely moved yet I felt a whole spectrum of emotions from her performance. Mad mad performance for a debutant. I enjoyed watching her descent into madness as she slowly losses her initial gracefulness and composure. Not all madness needs to be represented by loud screaming and excessive arm waving. You have to remember this is a chaebol kid who has to maintain her image in public at all times and show absolute control with class. Her facial expression for a first-timer was unbelievably good. Imo this will be an iconic character- The twitch bitch.
A weird theory struck me during the scene of BHR cutting her hair short. Unless I am missing something, that scene did not mean anything to the plot and there was really no reason to do that. What I took from that was it could be an attempt by the director and Jang Da A to break the fourth wall and send a message that actress Jang Da A is here to deliver and is stepping out of the shadow of her famous sister because of how strikingly similar they look. That would be so cool if true.
Seriously, there are just too many great performances from the rest of the girls (Im Ye Rim is my fav hehe) that I could go on and on but I shall not- this show had such a high level of acting I can only say all of them were amazing. They are one of the most talented groups I have seen in recent times and many of them here are gonna give their sunbaes a run for their money.
I have to talk about THAT paintball episode. My god that was one of the best writing and acting I have seen in recent times. The build-up to that final moment was so perfect, coupled with a great soundtrack. I am unable to think of a better way to showcase that scene of unified camaraderie amongst the underdog to break the enemy’s morale and win the psychological warfare in the most composed and collective effort. Top top tier. They won that round with such class despite being the “peasants” of the system and turning the “nobles” into absolute jokes. Winning the devil at their game, what a beautiful uprising of the underdogs. The Prisoner Dilemma. S tier writing there, I applaud.
Ngl, I fell asleep once in the middle of finishing the last 2 episodes. Thought it was just me because of how perfect the show had been up till that point but read many similar sentiments about the rather stale ending and a sudden change in the strange pacing. I was expecting a "finale" in the sense that BHR would deliver a final desperate blow but she became overwhelmed and subdued instead. I thought a lot of the key characters were being sidelined and had no proper conclusions. Do Ah (class president) felt like a much more complex character than what the show portrayed and I wish she along with the likes of Da Yun (girl abused by daddy) were given more storytime. The ending was being wrapped rather lethargically imo and did cause it to drop 0.5 level down in my book.
Overall a great concept with the Pyramid game that when you zoom out it reflects a tiny version of today’s society but when you zoom into it deeper, it is reminding you to eat Subway. Baek Ha Rin lost cause she did not had that bread.
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I need my time back
Call me a hopeful watcher, but I was hoping this story would lead somewhere ... it didn't.The BL aspects weren't censored... they were just none existent. Like it never happened and the original material was a fever dream. Didn't even get a little tension, just a toxic, convoluted... "friendship?"
The bad guy got the glory and the victim went fishing. No justice. Slap dash resolution to 14 episodes of abusive tantrums.
I request a refund on my time.
Will not rewatch.
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Story- the first few episodes told the child stories. Normally I’ll fast forward through these because I don’t have the patience but I found the story compelling already. By the time the time the adult characters come on you are already immersed into the story and wanting to see how these damaged characters grew up and how they come together. This drama made me laugh and cry. The ending was just perfect=)
Acting/Cast- The acting was perfect by everyone. I am a new fan of Kim Jae Won! He portrayed his deaf character so well. Really spectacular acting by NGM. His character had so many layers and he was able to portray his complex character so well that I was able to feel Maru’s pain.
Music- Lovely score.
Rewatch- I’d watch this again in 2 years. That will give me enough time to forget a lot that happened. I loved the cast so i would want to see this again sooner than later.
Overall for a drama that is 30 eps, it is worth the watch because it’s so well written and acted.
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I think the idea behind this drama is awesome! It was totally made for Kpop fans and I really enjoyed watching it! Not just because of Seulong, Nichkhun and the others but also because of the story the drama told.
It was really fun to watch it and I recommend it to every Kpop fan out there! :D
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This review may contain spoilers
I can KIND OF see the effort but..
I’m convinced there‘s is a good story buried somewhere inside this garbage mess but it’s barely visible. This series made very little sense.It‘d be too long to go through every little and big thing in detail so I’m not gonna do it but to put it bluntly: nothing made much sense, including characters’ decisions and accusations. Even the first half of the show made barely any sense but the second half was complete idiocy. This show had several scriptwriters how did nobody catch the nonsense?
The first episode was actually quite good (good enough) but onward ep 2 it got exponentially worse until in culminated in full-on ludicrousness.
Absurdity of the plot aside, the show also struggled with extreme tonal inconsistencies. It didn’t know what it wanted to be, comedic or dark. It’s possible to carefully combine both genre elements but you have to know what you’re doing and the writers here were not up to the task. The whiplash I got from the clumsy, radical tonal shifts was insane. One minute it’s a serious scene and the next minute it’s suddenly turned into badly written gag comedy. Bizarre!
Some of the scenes were painfully overdramatic and were portrayed in a way that made them unintentionally hilarious. It felt like they wanted to make certain scenes look really cool but ended up making them look ridiculous instead. The direction felt incredibly amateurish and I know that the director isn’t an amateur but he obviously didn’t know jack about directing action scenes and it shows.
Now that we’re on the topic, this is not an action drama, it’s not a romance drama either, it’s an awkward and weirdly paced family drama with some clumsily sprinkled action and romance scenes in between. Oftentimes the dialogue was painful to listen to and most of the time it was on the nose with a lot of telling (AND sometimes showing). It genuinely felt like the dialogue was taken out of a bad shonen anime word for word.
Now onto the romance:
There was so little attempt at romance that I didn’t even care if Jack and Joker ended up together. The romantic chemistry and interactions were nurtured so little that I didn’t care to be invested in their supposed romantic attachment.
I don’t mean that we need to see them confess and/or make out with each other every other episode bc romantic chemistry and build up can be shown in a lot of different ways that don’t have to include sexual intimacy but you gotta have at least some build up, no?
Where are the stares, the slight flirtation? Sometimes it’s briefly there but then it abruptly stops, removing any possibility of a smooth romantic build up. It’s really awkward and at the end doesn’t amount to much. I’ve seen many types of bromances (Western and Asian) that have so much more romantic and sexual tension between characters where they barely even touch each other and this is supposed to be a BL but the romantic tension barely exists here. You can’t just haphazardly throw in a couple of romantic scenes in between all the plot and call it a romance. There’s an art to properly weaving romantic subplot into the main plot of a different genre. Talking about other BLs, Manner of Death did it right, Kinnporsche did it right, even Triage did it right and that one had barely any romance in it.
War is a good actor and Yin def. has improved but in this drama their acting felt slightly off kilter for a lot of the time. I might be wrong but it seems to me that the people heavily involved in this project, YinWar included, didn’t know what exactly they wanted it to be, weren’t sure enough in the direction of this story/plot/theme and that’s why almost everything felt wonky about it and the project itself felt unstable on its legs.
One last thing I want to mention about the plot is that it wanted to showcase how poor people were being taken advatage of by rich people but the poor people didn’t make the greatest decisions either. One example that really jumped out at me was the bit about Jack‘s parents.
They committed suicide bc they thought that their life insurance would be able to pay off their debt but bc they didn’t care to properly read the contract it didn’t work the way they expected it to (bc insurance doesn’t pay in cases of suicide, which was written in the contract!).
Why did they make Jack‘s parents seem foolish by making them not read the full contract? Why not make it a legal loop or make it some other type of refusal to pay out the insurance? Why not lean into the obvious unfairness and scam of the society that openly prefers and protects rich over poor? This was a missed opportunity and made Jack’s parents seem rather stupid instead.
Anyway, my criticism notwithstanding I do appreciate the idea and the grind. I see the effort behind the show and I respect the effort. I know that I’m in the minority in my dislike of the show and I think it’s a good thing that many other people liked it. I do wish for Yin and War to succeed in the entertainment business and I’m sure Jack and Joker will contribute to their future success, I just hope that their next project will be more to my liking.
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This review may contain spoilers
The gift which, unknowingly, keeps on giving!
Firstly, this is a love story spanning age, obstacles and standards set by some people. The story perfectly describes how “Li Wu” which may also mean gift became a special gift which unexpectedly became part of Cen Jin’s life. When she allowed him to be part of her life yes it was a mess but the little did she know that she had a gift placed into her life transforming it forever!Ohh my Sniper butterfly, how can l even perfectly talk about you!? I first came across this drama months back while it was still upcoming, the poster caught my attention first before the synopsis had me hooked thought l thought twice on whether to watch it not as l had never been a fan of older woman younger man romances before. I clicked plan to watch and moved on with my life, come 28th November, l saw the official announcement of its release on 4th of December and l quickly took it as a final sign to watch it!
Once the first 4 episodes were released, l quickly hopped onto the ride which l do not regret embarking. Dear reader, if you are reading this wondering whether to watch Sniper butterfly or not, take this as a your final call to quickly watch the gem!!!!
I like how they made it clear that Li Wu’s love for Cen Jin was purely love not an entanglement of love and gratitude. Many a times, people may mistake gratitude for love or they may feel the need to love people they are indebted to but this drama made sure to show the clear line!
Though many people may have felt that the frequent flashbacks were unnecessary, l perceived that it was necessary for viewers to see how, why and when either of their feelings for each other grew and developed without getting facts mixed up! Ohh the innocence and cuteness Li Wu carried deserves to be applauded. Despite that, he still served some manliness, having that sense of responsibility as a boyfriend which made their love story admirable. How can l even fully describe the way that man felt whenever anything involved Cen Jin!?
Li Wu knew exactly what he wanted he definitely did not allow anything to stop him from standing by that regardless of age, people, distance or background!
Chun Chang & YI Yang’s story was a good one though the ups and downs were 🫠 considering how the main leads were already keeping us on our feet! However worry not, it’s just enough for you to turn a blind eye to or even enjoy as it’s not boring🤭
I like how the drama gave us a clear view of the type of woman Jin was which made it understandable for every step and decision she made! Despite their age gap being big, the drama managed to bring out a great love story without making Jin seem more of a mother than a girlfriend to Li Wu!
The drama had so many powerful characters! A father who always stood, loved and supported his daughter! He wasn’t the type of parent to try and force his beliefs on his child, but he sat down, let her talk, listened to her, let her express how she felt, gave honest advice yet leaving her with room to make her own final judgement and decision.
A friend like Cheng Rui!!🥹 I always knew he was THAT friend but when he said, “I told you we are friends, whatever happens, we handle it together. If the sky falls, l will hold it up even if l have to tiptoe.” my love and respect for him as Li Wu’s friend skyrocketed!!!
My girl Michelle had to wear wedged shoes most of the time to lessen the height difference! 😂🥹🤭 Despite their real life age gap, they still delivered the story in an amazing manner!
I did wish they gave us wedding but l will still gladly settle for the happy ending they gave us! It has its flaws but that won’t stop me from recommending anyone to watch it! Hope you enjoy it as much as l did!
Maybe just maybe after this l might consider going for a younger man now!😂😏 Dynamites do come in small packages after all!
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The first part had an interesting story. Although the first episodes were a bit of a let down and probably could have pushed people away, the idea of the selection was entertaining and full of intrigues between the women (hence the girls war alternative title). The mean characters were plenty, and some of them were even playing friendly when they were in reality the worse. Some others had tragic endings, so the tragedy genre was plenty in this one. So, the girl's adventures and how she managed to survive the twists and traps that the other contestants set for her were entertaining and spiced up the story.
The chemistry of the couple was amazing, too, and they had a nice romance. Their romantic scenes were pretty intense and they had plenty of kissing scenes, which is often rare in historical dramas. Though, the love triangle they wanted to present was not as good and it was underdeveloped.
However, the second part was predictable. It was pretty much what happens to all historical dramas, the bad old aristocrats want power, the girl wants to protect the king, the king wants to protect her, and so on. The ending was okay, but boring.
Finally, the main character was good, but she got annoying from time to time, especially in the end, even though she started as a strong, sassy character. The male lead was pretty swoon worthy and he was a nice romantic lead.
So, overall, seven out of ten.
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