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I now consider this the best drama I've seen ever! No matter how many times I see it, I always get teary-eyed and touched by the good-naturedness of the characters. Call me old-fashioned but I find nothing wrong with this kind of worldview. Though, I doubt if anyone's as noble as Dr. Koto (he's just too kind and pure!)As for the actors, I just love Yoshioka Hidetaka! He's amazing! I discovered this drama while looking for Sakai Masato dramas (only to find out later that he only showed up in the 2nd season). But with just the first ep. of Dr. Koto, i fell in love with him (Dr. Koto) in an instant! Some actors were just as convincing like Izumiya Shigeru (Shige), Sengoku Noriko (Uchi), and of course, Kakei Toshio (Wada). Even Tomioka Ryo (Takehiro) did amazingly well!
And who can forget about the OST! It's just perfect. I love the instrumental versions of Gin no Ryuu no Sei ni Notte and Omoide Dake dewa Tsura Sugiru. One of the best drama OSTs I've heard.
This drama isn't getting that much attention b/c the actors here are not the usual "idols", except maybe for Shibasaki Kou. And the story isn't the usual "love story" either. But I'm glad it was well received in Japan.
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Created an account just to review this gem
It's short and to the point -- felt like watching a no filler, speedrun of your average historical C-drama. The dynamic and the chemistry between the leads were absolutely amazing. Had me pausing and giggling!It's a solid plot too, and doesn't hold back on any of the emotional punches despite being so short. Perhaps because it's so short and to the point, those emotional punches were even more effective. The cuts are efficient. Every scene between the two, my god they are down horrendous for each other. The ulterior, overarching political plot was not too complex nor too simple considering every episode was 11 minutes long. It was just right.
A fun little part I didn't expect was the relationship with the second prince. That was fun. He's absolutely hilarious, I laughed so much at his antics.
I'd dock points for the ending and one little bit I would consider a bit of a plothole. I understand that they wanted to leave the ending open for interpretation hence why they did what they did but it was a bit confusing as it can be with reincarnation/regression storylines. But catharsis was reached and it was a great watch. If you're looking for something to just pass time with, no major commitment, doesn't require a lot of thinking and delivers emotionally, this is the one!
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This review may contain spoilers
Too many gaps ...
The series promised to be interesting, not original but interesting. Unfortunately it had more and more gaps in the script with each episode. Later events contradicted logic and earlier events, e. g. {{"From the dialogues it appeared that water was multiplied by living blood. Upon the death of the host, water reproduction ceased. . . ok logical. . . Suddenly in the last episode we have an ocean of water. . . . From 4 dead bodies? Another example: a captain locked in a lock where he is flooded by water. Then, after being pressurized by the ever-increasing water level (no one knows from where), water flows out of the space station and automatically freezes. . . . Meanwhile, in the final scene, our captain. . . suddenly he's leaning against the moon rocks? How?}} So I'm deluded. . .Nevertheless, I liked the acting . :)
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The pacing is fast and gives off that thrilling and suspense feeling no break. I love the music used especially the ending part, very soothing and classic.
Fan Bingbing, with her almond eyes and soft feature, as a ghost, all the more that you will feel her loneliness and longing to her boyfriend. Rene Liu is good in her acting and her facial expressions always makes me nervous and jumpy. Somewhat she is a doppelganger of Korean actress Hyun Young (The Perfect Couple). Leon Lai, didn't give much of being a wall flower, and what made me have the attention is for the two ladies eager aiming for his love.
After watching it, instead of being flustered with horror, the twist gives the climax color and something to ponder on while on my bed, not feeling scared.
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Who says romance has to be all sweet and cuddly?
I was eagerly waiting for this drama to be subbed and when I finally got to watch it, I was not disappointed. I understand why this show was rated highly (4.5/5) on pantip.com, a popular Thai discussion forum and a 9.1 rating on imdb.com. Even on MDL, for a lakorn, its rating is pretty decent.The production and the special effects were not the best, and the dialogue and story were not as tight. However, for a lightweight lakorn that featured a supernatural element, I found it entertaining. One just has to suspend disbelief and watch the story unfold without taking it too seriously.
For the most part, the plot flowed pretty well, except for the last two episodes which got farcical particularly during the showdown between the good and evil guys. It was almost as though the writers just could not care less anymore or the show was running out of budget. That being said, the show did redeem itself with the loveliest ending for our main characters and the worst punishment for the villains so ultimately I was a satisfied viewer.
I enjoyed this show because it had a good mix of suspense, thriller, action, romance, and drama but what really got me hooked was the love story between the main leads, Prince Keerich and Nuannueakaew. It was a slower burn, tension-filled, sort of self-imposed forbidden love for which Sean Jindachot and Baifern Luevisadpaibul had the perfect chemistry.
One could be annoyed at Keerich’s stubbornness but I could not fault his rationale for putting his country above his own happiness. Neither could Nuan. At the same time, one had to admire Nuan for wanting to live her own life and not giving up her own goals. Keerich understood that.
Usually I would be put off by the noble idiocy trope but not for this show since the romance was developed nicely. Our main leads had to experience personal trials, physical dangers, and all manner of other terrors to earn their happily ever after and I wouldn't have it any other way. Even though our two leads had to stifle their yearning for each other, there were many endearing scenes which kept me smiling and rooting for them up to the end.
I loved how well Sean was able to pull off the emotional scenes. His expressions nailed the longing, the angst, the unhappiness as Keerich fought against his love and desire for Nuan, many times unsuccessfully as he cannot help but protect and care for her. He was also a heroic male lead, intelligent, skilled and rational. I have always thought Sean a good-looking actor with appealing eyes and lips, but in this show, in this role, he was particularly charismatic, especially in his princely traditional outfits. What really stole my heart was how prettily he cried, and who can resist a male lead that teared up during the right moments.
Likewise with Baifern who looked gorgeous throughout the whole show. As the female lead Nuan, who was a famous Thai fashion designer, Baifern’s outfits were fittingly stylish and not over the top which can often happen in lakorns. Her clothes were practical and appropriate when the scenes called for it, and even in the minimalist styles, Baifern still shone. However, her most incredible looks had got to be when she wore the traditional sprees and accessories. As Nuan, Baifern played a hot-headed but brave character who was also smart and independent. There were moments where I facepalmed on her behalf but that was also her appeal since she was not too polished, too stripped of any flaws, or in other words, a boring character. Baifern was also good during the sad scenes, the way her eyes watered and the way she sniffled made me think that she was really crying.
The journey of the secondary couple, Chaithat, played by Kong Teptip and Ninlapat by Richy D.Caballes, was also lovely to watch as they had to overcome much difficulties to be together. I did wish that there was more skinship between them. The chemistry between Kong and Ricky was not bad and they are both very attractive. Richy’s acting got a little weak towards the end but it could be due to how the character was written.
Overall, the cast did well but the actors playing the villains fell a little flat. Still, Lily Pansirithanachote who played Savitree, the Nang-rai deserved credit for portraying well a malicious, poisonous and power-hungry woman who always looked beautiful as she carried out her evil schemes.
As for the OST, the songs were the finishing touches that enhanced the romance for me. There were only two songs but both memorable ones. They were fitting for the poignant moments, especially between our two leads and made me feel the mood even more intensely. For posterity, I have included the details below.
In general, I would recommend this lakorn as I think most will enjoy it. Just let the story unravel and entertain you.
Curse of Saree OST
Last Person Forever - Ae Jirakon Sompak
คนสุดท้ายตลอดกาล [เพลงจากละครสิเน่หาส่าหรี] - เอ๊ะ จิรากร
https://youtu.be/3oD9kP7nEbw
https://open.spotify.com/track/5PNQoxj4g0BBvqJxWzo5OK
Do You Love Me? - Clear
รักฉันรึเปล่า - KLEAR (OST.สิเน่หาส่าหรี)
https://youtu.be/HW7c4Zmc4pg
https://open.spotify.com/track/2tdUbnxszF3DVtyG0eTHsn
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Side Couple dominating the whole series.
To be honest, this show lacks in everything. The only thing that keep this on trend is because of the side couple, Zeke and Fifth.There were times that i almost skip the whole scenes for the main lead due to the slow progress of their story and it took so much time to see the chemistry of their connection and acting (or maybe there is nothing at all).
The story is somehow good but the acting is not really smooth. We cannot deny that the side couple really dominate the whole series than the main lead. Also the adventure of the lost dog, Chuk-chuk, literaly more interesting than the main lead. 😂
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This review may contain spoilers
Watch this at your own expense
STORY :
1 / THE QING Dynasty era:
This part of the drama has the most horrible and outrageous plotline I have seen in a while. It will present you with:
- a man who kills his godson and is never troubled because of it
- a man who uses the corpse of his victim like an accessory to frame other people
- a man who schemes plenty of plans to harm his brother but he gets away with it because he just misunderstood the situation
- a man who pays a thug to break someone's arm and he is never troubled about it even by his godson who knows the truth
- a man who knows all the crimes his godfather did against his brother but he would not do anything to help the brother out of jealousy but still call him his brother.
- a princess who is forced to marry at gunpoint on the head of her father but the husband does not sleep with her because she is not his "kind of woman". Of course. Like a pig would not eat jam.
....
Plenty of cranky farfetched unrealistic situations with iffy morals and messages like "I caused you to die but sorry for the misunderstanding and justice is not necessary as we are family".
Is this supposed to be entertaining? It is not. It is BS.
2/ THE REPUBLICAN era:
The drama becomes a lot better.
- The FL disappears as the plot is only centered on the ML
- The ML discover a new city (Shanghai), new people, new challenges. He starts to build his career and success.
- The Republican era is a time of change so the drama is richer of ideas and events
- The directing is better with nice slow mo
- The plotline is crafted with a good twist
- Then back to Beijing , back to family dumb misunderstandings
- FL appears again. Her story is quite sad.
3 / FIGHT VS JAPANESE
The usual great patriotic courageous Chinese brothers vs. the evil monstrous Japanese who kill innocent people just to bully and coerce and achieve their goal. Grotesque ending to give the bad guy his redemption when we have barely a glimpse at the main leads happy ending.
CHARACTER :
- Kang Ning : beautiful and smart and courageous, the writing of her character turned ludicrous and made her a props for 2/3rd of the drama
- Lu Yuan Zhi : idiot guy who improved himself as a great tailor but his personality is bland always trying to save his love and help his brother who constantly creates troubles for him.
- Jiang Mo Sheng : Terrible brother insecure and jealous. Does plenty of mistakes but accuses the others.
- Zhao Li Jun: Fun endearing and a fighter. I liked her.
- Su Pei Yao : Spoiled daughter
- Bai He Nian : Guy should have died sooner for the sake of his family.
- Guo Fei Yu : started a fool but had a good character development. Good guy.
OST:
Nothing special
REWATCH:
No. Packed with outrageous schemes. Nothing really enjoyable.
OVERALL : This drama is well produced with great costumes, places, props, many characters... It is too bad it drowned itself in family schemes and misunderstanding to promote usual family values and forgiveness and redemption blabla. The story is also amoral : the person who kills his Godson is never accountable but lives free. Also the endings of the master of Si He house and the bad brother are quite ridiculous.
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Thought-provoking KMovie, sailing close to the wind when it comes to duty of care and child welfare
The KMovie "Highway Family" is set at the bottom of the social pyramid in South Korea in the year 2022. It portrays a homeless family who seems to have found their own lifestyle at the country's highway rest stops. A happy family sleeping in a tent, living on scrounged money and having lots of fun together.That's one side of the medal. As audience, however, one cannot help but see the other side of the coin despite all the family idyll. The heavily pregnant wife has no medical support during what is now her third pregnancy. Her two children, being five and nine years old by now, miss out on any schooling. The parents claim that they do the teaching themselves, but reading, writing and maths are obviously not on their curriculum. A playground on the highway rest stops, which are heavily frequented by cars and heavy trucks, is dangerous, and the parents' duty of supervision is by no means guaranteed. The father is (as so often) the head of the family and objectively speaking, his decisions about the self-chosen outlaw family life sometimes border on violating his duty of care. Supposed (motorway rest stop) idyll and freedom may correspond to the father and his outlook on life. Wife and children, on the other hand, are now stuck in this boat. They love each other as a family and especially the children know no different. They rely on their father.
The KMovie sails close to the wind when it comes to moral issues concerning work, economy and society as well as duty of care and child welfare. Camps may form in the audience. And that is intentional.
The second protagonist, alongside the Highway family, is a married couple who lost their own child and who run a second-hand furniture store. Solid. Prosocial. Responsible. However, emotionally deeply wounded and unhappy.
Worlds clash. Two families meet. One is shattered deep inside, the other formally. Together they build something new - an alternative family patchwork, grounded in a rather simple normal life, which obviously doesn't have to be the worst, at least when kids are involved. Yet, can it be as simple as that? And at the disturbing end there is the question about the end of the story... which remains in the eyes of the beholder...
A thought-provoking KMovie.
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An incredible depiction of the real struggles that average, mundane, normal, people have to go through in their everyday lives. Yet, the story itself is nothing but mundane. We get to look at the turmoil that goes on in an office setting and in within the people themselves. It's hard to believe that an office drama, of all types, can get your heart racing, keep your eyes glued, and feed your anticipation for the next scene. As someone who frequently cries over dead characters in fantasy/historical dramas, I found myself crying over simple decisions made by these characters that had such great impact on their colleagues.
Acting was superb! Super impressed by Bai Jingting who was able to shed his outer "idol image" and give us such a pure Sun Yiqiu. Loved how all the other actors portrayed their characters in a way that was so believable. I especially loved the portrayal of the "villain" characters, as they did such an amazing job making the characters look like people that we really could picture to appear in our lives.
I'm disappointed that there doesn't seem to be available Eng subs for a wider audience, but I hope that gets done in the future.
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Warming, Fun and Very Enjoyable
Short: Warm romantic drama with two characters that have clear chemistry. Cast are fantastic and there are some great sparks between several of them, a really good job picking the cast for this I think. Music was great and fitting, without being overbearing. The story goes through a few turns but nothing really unexpected, all issues are tied off with a nice bow and the ending is nice too. Really enjoyed this one, seems a little while since I was having *so* much trouble stopping watching at 5am, but this one was definitely hard to put down.Detail:
He can't forget anything and she has lost a chunk of her memory. She's an actress in dramas and movies, he's a celebrated news anchor. They meet by chance, and wind up having to pretend that they're dating to avoid an inconvenient scandal breaking out. As the story unfolds, you find out more about the past, more about the memories that she has lost and the pains that he has to endure - an unrelenting perfect memory as far more of a curse than it is a blessing.
They're both great characters, played by excellent actors. I picked this one up specifically because I was enjoying Moon Ga Young in True Beauty and saw this one popped up on Netflix - but there are many more great cast members to pull you into this one too. Delighted to see Jang Young Nam whom I enjoyed a lot in It's Okay to Not Be Okay, and Kim Seul Gi who had a fun role in Oh My Ghostess has another key role here (i'm really not sure why it's classed as a support role when there aren't many scenes she isn't in).
There are some fantastic sparks of chemistry between various cast members - whether it's Kim Seul Gi and... well... everyone (she's just that fun), Jang Young Nam and Kim Dong Wook at the office - and I particularly enjoyed the way they handled the relationship between the Young Nam and the team leader (Kim Chul Woong) at work as well that was nicely done and fun throughout. Not to forget ofcourse the blend between the two leads was fun to watch as well.
My favourite character was probably Kim Seul Gi's - to the casual observer she comes off as the "little sister", small, fun etc - but she's absolutely the one in charge and you had better not mess with her. She's her own boss, she's her sisters manager and she will fiercely protect those she loves. A really great character overall and superbly represented by Seul Gi I thought.
There's no triangle in this (yay! I hear you cry), there are a couple of other standard tropes however they are written much better than I've seen in some other stories I've watched lately so no complaints from me on the "abuse of trope" front :)
Emotionally this one actually does an interesting job in riding a gentle path between laugh-out-loud moments and some sad ones that will have you feeling a little wet on the face.
There is some misdirection that's quite nicely done and even just the mention of the "suicide" tag effects some degree of that (though it is completely appropriate) - don't prejudge, let the story tell itself to you and enjoy the ride.
Overall, the main benchmark for me on this one is:
a) i'm actually writing a review for this, and i've been extremely lax on that front - but after just completing it, I wanted it to linger in my thoughts a while longer, and share my thoughts.
b) lately while i've been enjoying the dramas I've watched very much, not many have had that extra "10/10" that means when it says "Next Episode?" i'm smacking the button hard going "GET ON WITH IT!!" and at 5am struggling to pull myself away.
Can't think of anything I didn't particularly enjoy to be honest, which, combined with the above, is why I gave it a high score.
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This review may contain spoilers
Where should I start?? There are so many good things to say!! Plot: From the first synopsis read on kisskh, I brushed it off thinking it was going to like other youth Chinese dramas, but boy was I wrong! It may seem like it is, but it focuses not only on the youths on their personal journey through the "gao kao" but their families too. It shows how their parents grow and learn from certain developments and how no parent is perfect. No mother is perfect. No father is perfect. No one is born knowing how to be a perfect parent. The growth of the parents is seen evidently through the 49 episodes as well as the 4 children.
Characters: I already briefly mentioned earlier, but the growth of each main character in the 3 respective families is so touching and as an Asian child myself, I can see certain traits in the parents in my own upbringing and my own parents. For instance, the emphasis on getting good grades as done by Tong Wen Jie and Song Qian reminded me so much of when I was younger. The question of "do grades mean everything" is brought up a lot because of the "gao kao," especially when Fang Yi Fan wants to do dance and singing instead of studying for the "gao kao." Ying Zi's fall into depression was very sad, but shows the reality of the result of so much pressure from parents to do well. The episodes focused on her was really emotional and successfully touched my heart.
Acting: This leads to acting which was major 100%. 120% I would like to say. Every character seemed so real and the actors truly embodied their roles. Even though I know some actors were new like the actor who played Yang Yang and Fang Yi Fan, but I could not even tell. All the children seemed experienced. The tearjerker scenes all brought me to tears. Lei'er... was brilliant at certain scenes like his broken phone and the heart-to-heart talk meeting near the end. T_T I was bawling. The adult actors were all experienced from my knowledge so they were no problem at all. NO ONE was awkward, everyone was so compatible with another on screen with amazing chemistry!! I loved Tong Wen Jie and Fang Yuan's family dynamic the most with their son and nephew. :) "where did Lei'er go again?"
Music: There was a variety of songs played with instrumentals and they matched the scenes so, so, so well! Sad piano BGM for the sad scenes and comedic sounds for the funny ones. Editing was very well done to flow everything together, I loved it!
Rewatch Value: YES YES YES, I am going to once I have time, but later on, so I can maybe learn some more from this drama :) There were many life lessons mentioned like the perspective to look at things, to not always compare your child with other children. 10/10
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama could have easily been a 9/9.5 drama. Easily. The plot's general concept was very alluring, something that grabbed my attention and kept it there enough to make me commit 17.3 hours of my life to this drama. For the most parts, I'll say that I enjoyed this drama very much. It's not a bad drama, definitely, and I'll recommend this to everyone! But it definitely has some faults that I could not overlook. I'll list the positives and negatives down below for easier reading. >> SOME POINTS THAT I DID NOT LIKE:
1. The second female lead is obnoxiously irritating. One thing I really hate is when people do not know their social status. She was a snake that bit the same owner who took her in as her secretary and gave her a good life just because of her own insane jealousy and delusion that she could even compare to Pat. A good load of great things that gave her in the end. *rolls eyes*
2. I do not want to say that Pat/Lan (the female lead) was very dismissive of the body that she has acquired and the responsibilities and reality that comes with it. But she was.
Firstly, after she comes 'back to life' in Lan's body, she completely disregards that the body she is in has a family of her own and is actually married. She completely decides to give no face to Lan's father and refuses to live as Lan at first, which I felt was very sad for the actual Lan who was now dead.
Secondly, Pat/Lan totally ignored the fact that she had a husband, which could really bring up a lot of problems in the future. Of course, Pat/Lan did not like her 'husband' at all. Therefore, I do not see why a divorce was not something she seeked first and foremost after finding out that she's married in this new body.
Finally, When Pat/Lan realised how evil and high-reaching Kaew is, she still endured her 'feces' and let her pull and push her around until the almost end. A lot of things, I believe, would have been better if she had just revealed the truth about Kaew to Win (Especially since she had proof).
>> SOME GOOD POINTS:
1. This drama was not draggy. It was conscious in that it knew where it was going and went there swiftly.
2. Kawin's loyalty is precious. Even though he was a little slow in the beginning, he was still firm.
3. Noojoon is a treat to my heart. He really was a great best friend and comic relief.
4. I appreciated the variety and complexity of the characters in this drama. You could see that there are good people, and bad people, and good people that do bad things intentionally or unintentionally and repent. It was more close to real life. I liked that.
5. The plot is good for most parts. Because it's not draggy, not a lot of 'arguments' carry on for a lot of episodes unnecessarily. I liked that.
6. The bad guys really got their karma back.
>> CONCLUSION:
After watching the drama and sleeping on it, I really like this drama despite its shortcomings. It made me laugh and smile and cry and get really pissed off. But I liked it a lot, still.
8/10.
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Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE should see this movie.
The plot is just amazing and one of the most original ones I've seen. The actors (I didn't know any) convey you the story perfectly which has a very deep meaning.
The message it delivers it's just unspeakable you have to see it to understand.
Above all this movie show us todays society and how independent we got, so much we stopped caring for anyone else but ourselves. The 'Superman' in this story show us that it is still alright to care for others, to help them, to be good and that it's actually a very good thing.
He show us that even though there are many bad people in the world there are also good people and that to make a difference in someone's (or everyone's) life it depends only on yourself.
Everyone has power, you just have to use it.
Go by me and see this. It's definitly worth the time...
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This review may contain spoilers
Standing on the precise centerline of the standard measure.
This is a standard film by every standard, and I mean that as a compliment. It feels like watching characters step out of a novel, with a complete script, well-embodied characters, pitch-perfect emotions, and visually evocative scenes. Everything exists within a standard framework that met my expectations exactly. And as it happens, that was everything I needed from a period film like this.If you are looking for a romance in the vein of "Romeo and Juliet," with family feuds, tragic partings, and high drama, "Memoir of Rati" is not that film. If you are seeking something emotionally heavier, or a deep dive into history, that is also not the prominent color in this palette. But if you are like me—searching for a breath of fresh air, a palate cleanser, a romantic and poetic love song that is gentle and lilting—stable, following a classic path, delivering visual splendor and telling its story through imagery, then "Memoir of Rati" is precisely the memoir for us.
The love between Thee and Rati blossoms from their very first encounters—if not from the very first moment Thee sees Rati from afar on the pier, his gaze already captured by the young Frenchman. Their love unfolds as gently as sunlight on a river, troubled by little more than small misunderstandings resolved in a moment, or a few situations that allow them to understand each other more deeply.
Perhaps I should be grateful, for the film arrived at the perfect time, after I had sat through a series of rather heavy-hitting dramas and was in need of just such a gentle touch. It strikes the exact chord of my taste for Thai period pieces. I adore the dreamy, poetic feeling of that era; for some reason, the hesitation, the shyness, and the touch of formality from that time easily make my heart flutter. The love between Thee and Rati is one of such romantic stirrings. It is certainly not thrilling, dramatic, or passionately fiery; "romantic" is the only keyword I can think of to describe their love, and it is also the primary atmosphere that envelops the entire film. Every trial or obstacle they face is crafted from the most classic of clichés, and it is this very old-fashioned quality that so deeply satisfied my expectations for a film set in a bygone era.
Speaking of the film's polished craftsmanship, the light, the colors, the flowers and the rivers, the fireworks during the festival, the architecture and the costumes—in short, the entire visual landscape—testify to the filmmakers' dedicated investment. Everything reaches a necessary maturity, and there is no room for debate: the acting is skillful enough for me to perceive the delicate inner stirrings of the characters. This subtlety, fitting for people of that time, bearing their responsibilities with romantic hearts, is a key element in creating such a sincere love story.
Within its nostalgic and vintage palette, the film weaves progressive ideas from a century ago, asserting its humanistic values in a way that feels appropriate for the time it was made, yet not anachronistic to the time it depicts (women have always been strong, regardless of the era's constraints). Although the characters' mindsets felt more "modern" than I anticipated—particularly in their easy acceptance of a same-sex romance—perhaps that issue was never the film's focus. As I mentioned, the romantic element is what takes precedence. And of course, aesthetics and aesthetic pleasure have never been unimportant in cinema. In this case, I see nothing wrong with prioritizing the beauty of nature, of people, and of a historical era above all else. The film may not push the viewer's emotions to their absolute limit, it may not make you weep in sorrow or tremble in fear, but the sublime beauty, with its poetic and romantic qualities, was more than enough for me to feel that aesthetic bliss.
Perhaps that is all that is needed for the "standard" of a good film—everything is measured, just complete enough, perfectly timed, and expertly balanced. Although there are a few regrettable shortcomings that may not fully satisfy every viewer, when the film ends, the feeling that rises above all else—the final impression it left on me—is one of happiness and wistfulness. It is a feeling of being both filled up and having something taken away, that necessary, beautiful emptiness one feels after watching a truly good film.
To speak on what it lacks: the ending follows a well-trodden path of separation and reunion. I can understand why some might have hoped for a tragic conclusion and disagree with the "happily ever after" endings often seen in GMM films. While I won't comment on the five-year separation, I think the happy ending is justifiable. From start to finish, the film's dominant theme has always been one of optimism, a look toward the future. It’s only natural that the ending would open a door to that future, to hope, to a new world. Furthermore, my personal taste doesn't usually lean towards love stories that become sweet too quickly; I prefer hardship and drama, so some parts were less compelling for me. Yet, on the other hand, even though the film is brimming with romance—with the two leads falling in love early on and barely a moment of conflict lasting more than half an episode—it still held my attention. It satisfied me aesthetically, and it still managed to excite me and make my heart flutter. In that, the film has done its job wonderfully.
And so, it is the chemistry and the aesthetic impression that I value most in this film. They delivered the necessary romance, in just the right measure for everything. And that is all that is needed for a good film.
***
(P.S. Besides Great-Inn, whose acting needs no further praise, Aou-Boom also made me understand a part of their popularity. Whatever the reason, I am certain that between them, there is that tension, and also a very lovely spark. They inhabit their roles so well that I never felt disconnected. Their secondary couple storyline doesn't feel forced, it doesn't crowd the main couple, and it serves as an interesting, colorful contrast to the central romance—playful, cat-and-mouse, humorous, and goofy. In short, utterly charming. I have much more faith in Aou-Boom's future series now.)
A final compliment for Inn - suay mak!
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