Reviews

Left me lost and wanting more

This is one of those dramas that lives up to it´s name delivering the feeling of loss to the fullest, showing a beautiful completion of loss without overcomplicating or overthinking things. A true feel lost, feel sad, feel real... Without hope and unnecessary positiveness.

The drama started of a bit weak, but wheeled me in and actually did manage to touch every part of your soul with it´s imperfections, portrayals of depression, loss and relationships.

It also had me wanting to strangle the mother in law over, and over again letting me feel the aggravation as a contrast to the rest of the characters who where mostly lovable, complex, interesting , no one was perfect, no one was pure good, all made mistakes. though I may not always agree with the characters dissuasions I could clearly understand what lead them to make the choices they made. I honestly fell in love with the way this drama portrayed all these different perspectives with stories that need to be told. Ironically enough this drama feels honest in a way though it portrays a whole web of lies and secrets that have been kept for a very long time.

I can not stress enough the slightly subtle but realistic and important portrayals of domestic abuse, depression, power abuse, power relations, poverty, and all round issues that effect women, elderly and the less wealthy in modern society.

Though the mother in law brought out my violent side the way she talked about her daughter in law was extremely spot on, full of prejudice and blaming her for her situation.

The way the father portrays hid deteriorating health, while trying to stay strong is just heart wrenching. I loved the conversations he had with his daughter as well as seeing him interact with the people around him.

The husbands first love almost double life, was also really well done, sometimes I hated her some times I loved her but most importantly I could relate to her and really appreciated the way she showed the perspective of a loved one slowly watching someone disappear, saying something like: To others it may seem like he is just lying there, but there are days when he smiles more,he gets sad when something bad happens in the ward... '

I also got a full blown crush on Ryu Joon Yeols character, the way he handled the situations around him, I loved all the bits where we got to hear his voice telling us his inner thoughts and then seeing what is shown to the outside. This guy was very subtle and good at reading the room and though he was not the typical male lead. He does have a charm it was hard not to fall for him, and that beautiful smile.

There is also something special about the way this drama portrays intimacy, with extreme attention to detail.Somehow even simple situations could get really intense and had my heart race...

So to sum it up this is may not be a feel good drama, but it is beautiful, intense and is sure to make you feel things...

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There was a point during Misty's run that it was shaping up to be 2018's Forest of Secrets. An intelligent script, excellent acting, striking cinematography and a haunting, beautiful score all combine into a compelling piece of television about a powerful woman trying to attain her goals in a hyper-patriarchal society: all the while rocking awesome pantsuits and never letting the cracks in her life show in public. Dark, mature and atmospheric with a powerful female lead, this show was amazing until the inevitable Episode 15 slide in quality that condemns it to being ALMOST the best show of 2018.

Go Hye Ran has hit the glass ceiling but instead of quietly disappearing like older women are supposed to, she refuses to go anywhere. Fighting constantly against corruption, discrimination and vicious gossip, she has become cold, driven and untrusting but is fuelled by a strong desire for justice and a determination to win against all odds.

Kim Nam Joo puts in an exceptional performance as the complex, brilliant and uncompromising Go Hye Ran who is charged for a murder and represented by her lawyer husband, Kang Tae Wook (Ji Jin Hee). The rest of the cast also do superb jobs. Full of timeline holes, unreliable narrators, unlikeable characters and deliberate misdirections, this show will have you second-guessing everything you think you know about the characters to the last scene.

Which brings us to the ending...

Like a lot of people, I was very dissatisfied with the ending and found the finale overly-long and self-indulgent. As can sometimes happen, what I thought was the main point of the drama and what the writers thought was the main point of the drama diverged wildly around the end of episode 14. As such, I found the last episodes frustrating, watching time tick down to a finale that I knew wasn't going to contain resolution to the plotlines I cared about. The ending in particular I found depressing in a way the rest of the drama - however moody and dark - wasn't.

Textually, in terms of the shows themes, I personally found the ending contradicted what (I thought) was the point of the show as a whole. In that respect, it negated to an extent the show's message. It is this - the negation of the show's underlying point and a resolution that is ultimately depressing - that makes the ending so bad.

However despite my frustration with the ending, this was a very good piece of television overall.

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A Tale Which Tries To Warm Your Soul…

‘ Coffee Ikaga Deshou’ ( alternatively translated as ‘ How About A Coffee?’) is one of those dramas which will likely remain under the radar for most drama watchers. Based upon the manga of the same name and Adapted to the small screen by screenwriter and director Ogigami Naoko alongside co-director Mori Yoshitaka, ‘ Coffee Ikaga Deshou’ ‘s plot isn’t complex.

Admittedly ‘ Coffee Ikaga Denshou’ isn’t an overly original concept. Main lead and arcane barista and coffee van owner Hajime Aoyama ( played brilliantly by Tomoya Nakamura) comes across in a similar suave and mysterious manner as the “ mysterious flaneur figure” Izakaya owner from ‘ Midnight Diner’.

However on a virtuous note Coffee Ikaga Denshou’ ‘s plot was fairly driven by its prominent messages during most of the series. From dealing with issues such as struggling to fit in the status quo, disillusionment, popularity and grief, most episodes had something fairly
poignant to address about Japanese society and everyday life.

Yet unlike the reoccurring characters of ‘ Midnight Diner’ who were left only to piece together parts of the owner’s past, Aoyama’s link to his backstory as well as his reasons for becoming a coffee connoisseur, played a more “ pivotal role” within the events of the series. The main driving force behind the " tension" of the plot evidently occurred within the interwoven backdrop of each episode focusing upon surrounding the reoccurring onscreen appearance of the mysterious gangster ( Isomura Hayato) who was hunting down Aoyama for unknown reasons .

There’s a lot to discuss about how the series dealt with Aoyama’s character arc. On a positive note playing upon the storyline of Aoyama’s " secrecy being hidden in plain sight" made him an enticing character to learn more about and when his past was revealed it did present a lot of surprising revelations about our main lead. However Aoyama’s transition between his past persona and his current-self rarely felt more subtle or blurred, whilst his journey and struggles to kick past habits ( unless it was necessary for " dramatic tension") often felt disengaged from the storyline.

Due to the change and swap-up of characters during episodes it’s hard to pick out a multitude of characters to analyse in more depth. However due to their reoccurring appearances it is important to discuss ( without spoilers) about how the series dealt with the mysterious gangster Pei and his character arc alongside Shima Kakine ( Kaho)-the first customer to be shown to be served by Aoyama onscreen- and our " final major antagonist”.

Speaking about the latter character Pei’s initial raison d’être is acting as an antagonistic force within the drama by hunting down Aoyama for unspecified goals. However whilst it was undeniably sweet to see Pei have his moment of redemption through his later actions and decisions, the build-up of Pei’s actual character redemption arc often felt sporadic. Of course whilst the drama did drop hints towards Pei’s own personal connections, this rarely felt more built up or more widely interwoven with with Aoyama’s own character arc also.

Then of course there’s Kakine. Kakine is an odd character to discuss as
after her initial appearance in the first episode, her character doesn’t appear again until the last few episodes when the final storyline kicks in. Whilst Kakine is undeniably kindhearted by acting as the stereotypical " moral cheerleader" figure during the later storyline, she’s a character who felt the most paradoxical due to how the series approached her character. To explain this further it is important to point out that Pei initially commented during one of his first interactions with Kakine that she was annoying as she was " boring and dull". However during the first episode one of her major problems throughout the storyline of this episode was her inability to truly fit in at work. It seems an evidently nuanced point and whilst it is correct to assume perhaps from Pei’s perspective, Kakine is boring as she isn’t cut from the same cloth, it seemed an odd point not to expand upon Kakine’s own feelings and thoughts after this initial interaction. Whilst it is evident that perhaps the series didn’t have enough time to focus upon Kakine’s expanded feelings during this episode, it felt a wasted opportunity not to have used more the to have explored Kakine’s feelings, her previous struggled as well as her desire to make a good cup of coffee after her initial meeting with Aoyama.

Last but not least is evidently our " major antagonist" of the series. Now without giving too much away about the plot, our antagonist has their own personal reasons for standing in Aoyama’s way as well as their own screen time to explore their moments of humanity also. On the other hand their character introduction and build-up felt rushed and lacklustre . Whilst it is understandable that the series wanted to keep us in the dark for as long as possible about their identity, it felt slightly odd that the series didn’t try to foreshadow their character introduction or at least their presence in the series as opposed to a quick " climatic turn of events". As a consequence whilst the first half of the series thrived with strong plot messages and mystery, the second- half( whilst presenting more revelations) did seem to struggle with conveying the same ambience of charisma and strong screenwriting .

So is ‘ Coffee Ikaga Denshou’ actually worth watching? Whilst the acting front is fairly decent ( sans from a few awkward line deliverances) and the drama offers an interesting array of characters, main lead Aoyama undeniably has his own peculiar charm over audiences to keep them watching. Each episode offers the formulaic tale of a new issue or message during the first-half of the series and a melodramatic plot climax and revelation during the final part. The end result of eight episodes stringing out a lacklustre climatic buildup will undeniably leave viewers with mixed feelings.

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A Good, Trashy Romance

If you're looking for a good, trashy romance, this is for you. Things don't make sense, there are plot holes everywhere, and overacting is a thing, but the chemistry between the leads is sizzling and that pretty much carries the entire drama.

I've watched Fan Zhi Xin in some of his support roles before, but he never really stood out to me. I was pleasantly surprised by him in this drama and will be looking forward to some of his future projects, hopefully, he will be able to land more lead roles after this drama. The ML is everything you want in a 'domineering boss' romance. He's introduced as cold, ruthless, and 'lethal'. They obviously took some inspiration from Vincenzo, he speaks Italian and improvises with his weapon of choice (instead of dangling villains off a building with a measuring tape, he uses his own tie).

The FL is slightly more vague. I can't say I connected with her the first few episodes, but as she grew in her confidence, she became more likable. I would have liked her character to be better defined, I felt like she was a side character to the ML.

But there is no denying the chemistry between the ML and FL. It sizzles. Those kiss scenes are fire. I could care less about all the plot holes and how many times I had to overlook things (like the fact that she's the doppelganger of his stepsister? Very weird) I really just wanted to see them be hot and sizzling on the screen together.

The drama is super tropey, and has some uncomfortable plot points but the main couple made this a thoroughly entertaining watch. If you're looking for a story where the plot makes sense, I recommend you to stay away from this web series, But if you're looking for an entertaining romance with all the typical tropes, I found this drama to be the perfect antidote for my current drama slump.

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I started off really enjoying The King's Woman. It's beautiful to look at. Zhang Vin carried the first part of this drama for me just by sheer charisma alone. I like watching him even though the character he plays is so bad. For the the first third of the drama or so I was into the plot setup and the martial arts characters and their "quests". I like that sort of thing. There are several passionate love scenes in the first part too. It was pretty easy to watch from episodes 1-24. But somewhere around this point I lost enthusiasm. An actor's charisma can only take me so far.

The King's Woman aims to portray a ruthless tyrant as a complicated character that we can sympathize with in telling the story of his true love for a beautiful and talented woman. It's kind of difficult to do well and basically I don't think this drama did a great job at it. It relies too much on the actors' charisma and good looks, slow mo flashbacks, and pretty cinematography rather than thoughtful story writing and good character development.

By episode 40 or so I had a lot of built up frustration and dislike for the main characters so I didn't really care about them anymore. The side characters were uninspiring, but at least Jing Ke and Han Shen were more consistently written and had some good fight scenes. The main characters behave inconsistently and don't feel like real people. The most problematic character is the heroine, Gong Sun Li. She is supposed to be wise, upstanding and tough. As the story progressed I felt more and more repulsed by the idea of her falling in love with the King and being such a martyr for him. He is murderous one scene and then suddenly cute and seductive in the next. The drama jumps into a romantic comedy tone whenever the king does something terrible and they need you to feel sympathy for him and buy into the love story again. It bugged me that an intelligent woman would become submissive to such a man. The main failing in the storytelling is that there was not a compelling reason for her to be won over by him. They didn't portray much of her internal struggle to be with him. It goes against her character to fall in love with him, so give us an explanation. There were hints that she might have done it for political reasons or to protect others. But mostly the romance is portrayed as just fate - that Li was fated to always protect, love and serve the King no matter what his actions and he would always love her because of it. But why? This wasn't enough for me to buy into the romance.

I watched the last part of the drama mostly out of curiosity to see how the events played out. I knew I was supposed to feel the tragedy of it all as a result of the king's fatal character flaws and feel the heroine's selflessness and integrity, but the feelings just weren't there for me. Still, there were ample slow motion flashback scenes to inform me that something dramatic was happening. And every time they played a certain childhood flashback scene (which was  A LOT) I knew I was supposed to be feeling how poignant it all was.

Then again after all my complaints about this drama again, I never once thought of dropping it. On a basic level it is watchable and entertaining enough to see the good looking costumes, actors, cinematography and martial arts scenes and find out what happens in the end.

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Amazing Drama to Start the 2024!

This is it! My most amazing drama to start the New Year of 2024!

Much has been written about this engaging drama that oftentimes, I am always at loss on what to write here.
People are giving their reviews on details; that I am always impressed of their skills in knowing everything about this drama.
As I still quite knew to C-dramas, I can only write a brief review here.

"Different Princess" is one such show which I am totally engaged in; this is my first time to watch a show on the so-called "transmigration" and I find it as an interesting story line; that I even want the episodes to be longer than episodes 36.
--- Song Yiren as Hua Qing Ge and Ding Zeren as Ji Chu; the leading leads nailed their role perfectly as much as the supporting casts. I give also full credit and to the crews, notably the director and the scriptwriter of this show.

--- As it is always said: "we came to watch a drama to be entertained and to enjoy it"; and this drama never disappoint me; it give us full enjoyment to watch and be totally engrossed on it.

We need Season 2 of this Lovable Drama!

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"All About My Romance" is the perfect example of a rom-com done right. It was insanely funny, cute enough to plaster a smile on your face and criminally underrated. While I'm not necessarily sad that it's over, I do feel like I'll miss the hijinks this drama bought with it.
Story: Can two politicians from completely different parties find love? If you were to ask me this question a few months ago, I probably would have said something along the lines of "It sounds boring. I don't really care.". I barely pay attention to politics in real life, why should I watch a drama about it? However, after the first few minutes of the drama, I was sold hook, line and sinker. I loved how this drama can go from serious to laugh-out-loud funny in under a second. The politics weren't really the main focus of the drama, but they did play a key role in the conflicts. I'm glad that there wasn't too much emphasis put on the politics in this, but rather the cute and conflicting relationships all throughout. Just as the title shows, "All About My Romance" is seriously *all* about romance. I'm not joking. There is no other plot there, *but* romance (Well, there was a shot at makjang somewhere along the line, but I was willing to ignore it for the sake of both my sanity and my love for the main couple). Anyway, there were about four (?) different pairs of people involved (not necessarily four couples, there's waaaayyyy more pairings than that), but I can only think of two couples that are actually focused on for the whole show.
Acting: Lee Min Jung first dropped onto my radar back when I watched "Boys Over Flowers". She had a bubbly and bright screen presence, and I honestly see her becoming the next A-List actress sometime soon (?). One of my biggest issues with the drama's viewers is that many people dropped it simply because Shin Ha Kyun wasn't "attractive enough". While I do understand the whole eye-candy thing, isn't that a bit shallow? At least stick around a while if your whole issue is purely a visual thing. If those viewers had some issue with the plot, I could understand why they dropped it, but looks? Really? *sighs*
I'll admit, Shin Ha Kyun is not as attractive as he was back when he debuted, but his character's personality sort of made you immune to that, and over time you found him to be kind-of-sort-of attractive.
Y'know. In that ajusshi way. Sort of like one of those older models in those business magazines?
Moving on. Shin Ha Kyun acted really well in AAMR, and without his skills the whole thing would have probably collapsed. No offense to Lee Min Jung, but she just wasn't passionate enough for the drama to rest on her shoulders, and the second lead and minor actors weren't given enough screen time to help her out.
Music: Cute and adorable. The OST will forever bring a stupid grin to my face. I especially loved Akdong Musician's contribution to it.
Rewatch Value: For the funnier scenes, definitely.
Overall: Cute and light. AAMR tries to teach you something about love and tries to be more serious in the process, but it kind of flops in that department. I'm glad that this drama knew where its strengths were and stuck to them for the most part, though. 8/10

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Though I dont like the dramas where all episodes have different stories but at the same time very similar and the main story is in second place I really liked the first episodes of Master´s Sun.

Some stories were very interesting and I was liking of the romance but in a point this romance did not make sense anymore. The main couple was ver inmature, they looked like 30´s years adults but they acted like teneegers, the conversations all the time was about the same and not important. The main male character was very very arrogant and in the most part of the drama he had no respect for the main female character, in the beginig he was insulting her in many ways and then he did not respect her decisions.

The second couple was also the same, Kang Woo was very harsh and gross to Yi Ryung.

I really dont undestant this kind of love in the korean dramas. It seems that being a snooty and a jerk is seen as a quality for a man and them can treat to the woman as a ownship. The worst is when this happans because the male protagonist dont want to admit that he loves the female protagonist and it is so stupid and childish.

When this happens in a drama, I immediately lose interest.

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intense

There is no way to review this movie without discussing the major plot points so if anyone is reading, be warned.
I went in not expecting much. It was a rainy day and I was bored. This movie happened to be on my recommended. I remember watching the trailer and not being too interested but then I realized the same female lead in Vincenzo was acting and I thought why not?

The plot itself is moderately good. Above average. The thing is, I've watched a lot of action movies, thrillers and I could predict a lot of the major scenes. The element of surprise didn't work for me, unfortunately. Why then did I like it so much? it was less about the story but more about how it was told. The narration, the subtle hints, were a treat to me. A little predictive but that didn't lessen my curiosity.
The movie did not stray from what it promised. I could feel the tension and the anger, the sadness, the whole absurdity of the system. There was no right or wrong. I think it's a close representation of how mobs and gangs work. There is always a score to settle. The gang isn't one big family. There are backstabbers and power is the only thing that matters. No sugarcoated representation. No romanticizing being a bad guy. Even though (by the power vested in me by my addiction to movies) I was able to literally predict everything I think I still would watch it. The silence, the sounds, the scenery, the coloring; perfect for a rainy day.
Some have said they didn't see the point of the whole romance aspect. I personally loved it. it was more than just love. I think it added the depth the movie needed. I don't think they loved each other, no. I think they needed each other. I think they gave each other a reason. One who did not have a reason to live and one who did not have enough time to live. The end was reasonable and left me feeling satisfied.

The acting is spectacular. The whole cast was perfect. The male and female lead was something else. Just enough chemistry. Enough to make me intrigued but not too much that it overpowered the main story. Their portrayal of their characters' emotions, the action scenes; even though I knew what was coming I couldn't help but hope. The ML raspy voice was something I won't be forgetting for a long time.

The music was perfect. As I've mentioned, the perfect balance of silence and sound.

if anyone reads this far (which I doubt lol) go watch it! it's not a movie you would want to miss.

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Magical at times, disillusioning at times….

Initial thoughts; I came across this drama through an exchanged list with a few friends. Have always loved Ji Chang Wook but I must admit that I wasn’t entirely engaged as some of his recent works have been a bit meh. Though I was willing to give it a go after seeing a promotional video.

Tone of the show; ‘Sound Of Magic’ is very much what I’d say is a “ non offensive” show. It was sweet in parts, lightly melodramatic and angsty in others with a few cheery ( and sad) musical songs out of nowhere. Honestly I’m not saying that it didn’t go into issues and I thought that it was pretty brave of the narrative to go into some hard issues like inequality and hinting at exploitation. But it was very rarely pushed to the boundaries. Not saying that this a bad thing at all as the show was what it was. Lighthearted and occasionally dipping into some darker themes but never to the point of making viewers squirm or delivering shock. For those expecting a dark fantasy series like Hotel del Luna then you might be a bit disappointed especially as themes were rarely driven forwards.

Characters/ Acting ; I think as a lot of people in reviews have pointed out, Chang Wook’s character, the magician, was a bit disappointing. Honestly pleasantly surprised to see CW delivering an outstanding performance but his character sort of felt as though he had missing parts. I can’t say that I’m basing my judgement on the webcomic as I’ve never read it but even as a newcomer to the world of The Sound Of Magic, I have to say that the magician felt a bit lacking in charm and mystery. His character twist felt a bit sudden if I’m honest. Surprising but could’ve been built up or hinted at more.

The female lead was decent enough. The actress Choi Sung Eun wasn’t familiar for me apart from her performance in Beyond Evil but she was good. Her character felt a bit cliche if I’m honest. We’ve seen the poor girl trope so many times being branded and branded again that it can feel a bit lost amongst others. I did like the main female lead’s uncertainty and her genuine sincerity but I felt as though the narrative missed out on a lot of opportunities to explore her process of growing up too fast and coming to terms with reality as well as her mother not coming back.

The supporting lead was played by Hwang In Yeop. I’ve liked In Yeop like many since his performance in 18 Again and adored him in True Beauty. It was definitely weird seeing him play a “ good student” role aside from “bad boy” or “ delinquent bully”. Nevertheless his performance was fairly good and I definitely thought his onscreen pairing with Sung Eun was well done. His character felt a bit repressed at times. I liked the fact that the show presented the potential lover genuinely caring about the female lead and falling for her but there was a lot not talked about the supporting male lead nor understanding the female lead’s pain or struggles, or at least him coming to understand her circumstances more. His backstory was existent and even from a brief glimpse I feel as though we could understand a lot about him but could’ve been better.

There’s also the female lead’s bully who was necessary but definitely a cliche and superficial character. The ending felt a bit rushed more than anything and incomplete but the pacing was okay in my opinion just a little slow at times.

I liked the filming techniques and it did add a certain magic but there definitely could’ve been more in later episodes. The musical songs felt a bit bland. There were a few ones which were good but definitely not enough to get stuck in your head.

Overall; Decent series and fun but felt as though it could’ve been a bit more concise at times. Overall I liked it but I can say the trailer certainly made this one seem a bit edgier and provocative than it actually was in reality.

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The Ultimate Beer Comercial!

This Kdrama is like your favorite beer! You know why you love it, ergo you know what you're gonna get, and in that, so you won't be disappointed!

It's not extraordinary or special, but it was a fun! It's not a surprise that Kim Sejeong carried the whole show, but the side-characters were good, too!

My biggest problem is that we only get 12 episodes, and we had too many storylines, like the one with the soldier boy. That could've been so much better, and honestly, it deserves its own show, but we only got like 1 episode worth of story overall, and they moved on from it pretty fast.

Not to mention the plot with our main guy and the life-saving incident. They didn't do anything with it. I'm not talking about the obvious and typical Kdrama trope, I'm talking about the reason he had to be saved. They completely ignored that!

The usual stuff, like the romance and the main plot is predictable, but if you expect something else, this isn't for you. If you watched one show like this, you know them all, but that doesn't mean you're not gonna enjoy it.

Overall, it was fun, but nothing more!

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