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maybe not the rep you're looking for
I was very excited for another GL but in the end was left disappointed.I'll start by saying, the acting was good, and I especially loved Huang Pei Jia - I've watched her before and I love seeing her play strong characters. However a few being particularly good at acting doesn't change the writing.
Here's the first big thing I didn't like, and I don't think it's spoilery to warn people about it: I didn't like the drag queen/trans jokes in ep 1 and 3. Even if we think that there are cultural differences, those types of jokes were transphobic and I didn't like seeing other gay people use them. And also the fact that they made the chairwoman of the KK Fashion Group out to be bisexual, and on the heels of that had her saying that love is free and she doesn't have to be loyal to her 2 other boyfriends and doesn't care if she's cheating or if Holly cheats on Meng Lian with her....... that type of writing just encourages biphobic tropes. Despite being an LGBT+ series it seems the writer still has some prejudices that came through too often in the drama the way they talked about members of the community.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE:
The plot was fine, but nothing special. Meng Lian and Holly get together after knowing each other for only an evening, and Holly impulsively quits her job and follows Meng Lian to Singapore. Early on we get a couple talks about the differences in LGBT+ rights in Taiwan vs Singapore, the denial of cross border marriages or foreigners participating in pride parades (where even if you're from Hong Kong you can't go to the Singapore pride parade), etc, which I thought was good to include since it shone a light on the LGBT+ community in these areas. Holly becomes a stewardess which also opens up a discussion of workplace harassment of the staff, primarily women (but we see it also happening to the men once). However when Holly switches to a man's uniform she's suddenly alright flirting with all the women on the flight who were previously harassing the men - despite having a girlfriend I might add.
The topic of harassment and objectification continues, but Holly's behaviour towards the women fliers, who she is mutually flirting with, obviously bothers Meng Lian and Holly doesn't notice or care. She actually flaunts it in front of Meng Lian, saying she enjoys being a part of women's fantasies. She also begins to lie and deflect about who she's spending time with and doesn't even seem to notice she's leaving Meng Lian out of her life, or that lack of honesty isn't good for a relationship. Her explanation when she was caught was literally just "look at your reaction I knew you'd react like this so I lied". She doesn't even pay attention to Meng Lian, and doesn't take the hint about her birthday, and isn't present for Meng Lian to talk about her concerns regarding the MMA competition. (The fact that Chuan remembered Meng Lian's birthday while Holly THE GF not only didn't remember but went on a flight to Europe the same day and didn't even realize why there was cake in the house). The only time they do talk, Holly dismisses Meng Lian's desire for stability and shouts at her calling her weak. Meng Lian gets upset at Holly yelling put downs at her and lashes out, accidentally hitting Holly. Not to excuse Meng Lian, but that time really did read like a reflexive thing from her training and not purposeful abuse, but I still do really hate that they added in this element where a partner gets hit (and it seems to try and make Meng Lian out to be the bad guy despite like... everything else). Basically after this the plot keeps rolling showing us they're on entirely different paths and Meng Lian doesn't want to be with Holly anymore.
Meng Lian's own plot didn't shift dramatically with or without Holly: she's an athlete fighting the stay in the game despite a sexist society telling her not to go for it, and an injury that prompts her to change sports. Her side of things doesn't feel as well developed, and I wish we got to see more of her conflict since she's a lesbian in Singapore, not feeling comfortable coming out to her parents and feels like she's risking stability being openly out in society in general. A lot of her decisions are motivated by growing up in such an environment, but the plot doesn't get into it properly. It seems more like they use Holly to be dunk on Singapore like "you're so stiff here you're so behind us i'm going to rail against all of this" because she grew up in Taiwan - it isn't helpful to Meng Lian's plot to just criticize her and not empathize with the environment she lives in. I also wish we got to see more of Chuan and the other gym members around Meng Lian, I liked them a lot but they weren't given a lot of time at all compared to Holly's coworkers.
Straight up, I didn't like the relationship between Holly and Meng Lian. They seemed like different people who want different things who got together without knowing the other. To me, the plot didn't give us any reason to care about their relationship - we barely even got time where they were together! They were always apart. The drama seemed to keep driving home that they had different wants and needs. Neither are entirely wrong in their pursuits, but they do seem incompatible - mostly because they don't talk about these things as a couple at all and find a way to understand the other or compromise. Holly is carefree and loves to challenge society, which distresses Meng Lian, and Meng Lian likes stability and people who are down to earth, which frustrated Holly who thinks she's being weak for not taking more risks.
Even by the end, Holly should just let Meng Lian go, but continues to chase her despite, honestly, being the one who messed it all up. What they both need in a relationship seems to be very different, and Meng Lian concludes this and goes forward alone by the end, but Holly won't let go and we see her repeat what she did at the beginning and go after Meng Lian.
I do appreciate the ending that didn't try to fix everything and let them separate - even though it's shown Holly keeps going after her. Not all relationships work out, and for this one I saw nothing that convinced me they were good for each other. I actually was rooting for Chuan, who seemed more compatible with Meng Lian, despite the limited screentime/development the drama offered all the side characters.
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One of the best Kdramas out there, imo
Never in my life have I ever watched a drama as it was airing. Never. I always waited until it was completed because I'm one impatient fella~ But this drama got me so curious since before the first trailer came out. Kim Soo Hyun, one of my fav actors, was officially casted for a drama role since his military discharge and Seo Ye Ji had caught my attention since 'Lawless Lawyer'; her voice was golden. So when the first trailer came out, I remembered being so intrigued with the couple's visuals and chemistry, I never stopped waiting for the 1st episode to come out already.The show's over but I still need more! I've literally turned into an addict! I'm not satisfied with 16 eps. I can't believe it's over... I walked into this drama only knowing bits and pieces, and now, I walk out of this with a heavy heart, missing it like crazy. This was such a well-paced and life-learning series.
The story, from the get-go was nothing I've ever seen before. I don't remember watching anything quite like this. The added effects, animations and the cinematography tripled my excitement, and the uniqueness of how each episode title relates to the story of that particular episode increased my anticipation for the next ep. Each episode also has a lesson to teach us, and every week, the episodes keeps getting better and better. There's not one episode I've watched with dry eyes.
Also, from the first trailer itself, they tell us something about butterflies. This was the ONE thing I was so DESPERATELY curious about. They explain it in the later episodes, but butterflies are the main imagery of this drama. So beautiful, yet they hold an underlying despair.
"Don't let the past trap you, or you'll end up like me."
"The past can trap me? Then I can just open the door and get out."
"No, you can't. You won't be able to see the door."
I feel like every one of the characters in this drama has their own "mental illness", you know? Either subtly or quite obviously, and I'm excited to see whether they try to overcome it or learn to live with it. Most especially Goo Moon Young. Also, remember that "your eyes can tell stories your mouth never could." This was Moon Gang Tae His eyes ... they tell a thousand stories.
Another reason this drama intrigued me was the chemistry between Soo Hyun and Ye Ji. I've honestly never seen chemistry more explosive, more beautiful, more visually-appealing, more REAL than these two. And that's saying something. Also, Moon Sang Tae, he's a character I've began to love over the course of the drama. His character development, his kindness, his innocence and just about everything about him was so pure and beautiful. The trio have an amazing relationship with each other and no matter what, they're family.
Now for the music, oh, the music, man. I've got no words for the music in this drama. EVERY SINGLE ONE of them is a masterpiece! Every. Single. One. The aesthetic and the feelings that well up inside of you when you watch the scenes as the OSTs play in the background are unbelievable. Sometimes you can't help yourself from smiling, but most of the time you end up with a few or more tears. Fyi, I've added them all to my playlist ^_^
All in all, this show was a crying FESTIVAL and Moon Sang Tae was MVP! And that DARN DEER omg!
Tbh all the characters were so lovable (except that evil villain ofc)~ And all the side characters were worthy of being main characters. They were the stars of their own story and I just really liked them all~
I'm telling you this with utmost sincerity. You won't regret watching this drama. At the very least, just give it a try. The aesthetic, chemistry, acting, music, Kim Soo Hyun's eyes, Seo Ye Ji's voice, and Oh Jung Se's character. They are all best-sellers for this drama <3
I'm sorry if this review was all over place. It's my first time loving a drama this much and writing a review this long omg
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Ok, since I always rate drama based on my enjoyment, involment in a story and its characters, plot I couldn't give this drama lower than 10 and I don't regret a single thing. Why?
First to say that I didn't start this drama when the pilot episode aired as I knew right from the start that I won't be able to handle the pain waiting for the next episode. So, I just tried to stay cool and resist it as much as possible. But, when all that crazy hype started on my feeds I just gave up and this drama won me over. The beginning was somewhat slow and so I was like "Ok, I'll continue watching it anyway." But, mamma mia when I got around ep 6 I got totally hooked like almost all of us here. Then, I totally understood all the hype, crazinees, fangirling, so I started doing that things myself too.
As I said before story is not a masterpiece, not something new or 'wow' but it's told in most brilliant and perfect way that you totally have no other choice then just enjoy in its talanted writing and directing. Every character, story started with a slow pace, but slowly got more and more its depth and colour.
What I loved, I mean the loved the most is the characters development. It's rare to see in a drama such a great connection between all of them, their trust, love towards each other may it be a special love for someone or may it be family's, every character was written and portrayed to the perfection. They all somehow slowly gained trust in each other, without any stupid doubts and misunderstandings like we get to see in most kdramas, unfortunately. Yup, I only have praise and one big respect for Song Ji Na and her wonderful brain and talent. She really made on my list one of the most respected and greatest kdrama writers. Now, get back to drama.
Another thing that makes my heart melt, or should I say beat is the great, the most romantic chemistry between Young Shin and Jung Hoo. No second male leads, no misunderstandings, no doubts, just trust and love. And that is the most important thing in a relationship as well in dramas as well in real life. I simply enjoyed in every single romantic scene of them as they had the chemistry right up to my taste. Natural and real. The main song is right written for them, describing their love and longing with a beautiful words. So to sum it up, this is just another plus, another reason why I gave a 10. They moved my heart, really.
Oh the actors. Well, without them this drama wouldn't be possible right? But, you have to choose the right ones for the right drama, right? And they were right. All 3 of them are phenomenal.
Ji Chang Wook, our main hero, known as a Healer is a night errand boy who is taking a job offers for a right sum of money. He never shows his face nor his identity, but when the girl entered in his life, he started to change. He wanted to be more freer, to love, to do things what normal people do. He proved to me that he's not only a handsome and beautiful face, but very talanted young man who will get more and more recognised and respected in a future. He definitely became one of my favorite actors and I think that he totally deserves it. Plus, he's very hot. Hehehe, let me fangirl a little ok? His puppy dog eyes, his puppy and innocent face when he's sleeping, his big shoulders, really a manly one, his voice, hands, body everything is sexy and perfect. Oh, is it getting hot in here?
Park Min Young as Chae Young Shin. Hmm, first let me say that I'm not some fan of her, but I don't hate her either. But, after watching her in this, she's slowly getting my respect. Young Shin is a tabloid reporter who has her own life and problems. She's not just average female lead where her world is all about the main guy and she'll die if they're not together. NO, it's very opposite of that. She's very strong, strong-willed, cheerful young lady who likes to dance, sings and who feels loved by her 'dad' and his gang. She was abandoned when she was young, so she misses mother's love, but despite all that Young Shin is still living to the fullest. When she first met Healer, she got curious in him, but later that curiosity developed into something more... love! Maybe PMY wasn't the best actress for this role, but she made it very believable. Oh, and one more thing, I LOVE this kinds of female leads! She trusted him, believed and never questioned Jung Hoo's decision or choice. And respect to that! ;)
Yoo Ji Tae as Kim Moon Hoo- Man, that guy is the most complex and loveable character EVER. He can be a badass, but at the same time he's the most charming one. He's a reporter who is only playing fairly. His brother has a big secret, which involves Young Shin and Jung Hoo too and he's determined to find out the truth by all means. I loved his character and YJT portayed phenomenally. When he cried, I cried too, when he laughed, I laughed too. So, yes as for two main heros the same goes for him, I lived with these characters.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention the most hilarious, coolest Ahjumma EVER. She was the higlight of every single episode and her relationship with Healer was in a coo, but professional way. I waited and waited 'till I finally got what I was looking for all the time from Ji Na. The team work: Healer, Ahjumma, Moon Ho and Young Shin. And then I was like "Yes, I'm completed now!"
I didn't got bored even for a second. Every single episode got me at the edge of my seat and I was just thirsty for more. There is always something happening, so there really was no time to yawn and say "Oh, this is boring, I'll continue later."At least that was a case for me. This may not be the best drama out there, but it sure got my full attention and interest so I'm happy that I get to joined in a long list of those who appreciated this drama. Speaking objectively, I think that this drama deserves a high rating as it has right now and all the hype and craziness were reasonable.
Also the music is really good. My definitely the favorite one is the main song which describes the love between main leads, as I said before. It's been on my ringtone for days hehehehe ;)
I'll definitely, for sure rewatch this drama! It totally deserves it! I laughed, cried, felt happy, sad, angry, got feels while watching this so it's a pure and full 10 from me. I lived with this drama.
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In terms of the story writing, I felt that the foundation of the series as to why each character behaves in such a way does not justify their actions. This is probably due to the poor script writing which ends up ruining such a good series that could have been the best K-series if done right. The most frustrating thing about the show is probably the fact that the "genius" male lead isn't a genius at all. He made alot of mistakes that could have been well avoided. The show kinda felt like it was trying to achieve the level of money heist where the protagonist is well liked by the people despite the wrong doing but yet due to the conservative thinking, they decide to fall back to its safety net where the show served as a lesson for us to think about how each mistake leads to a dire consequence and there is no turning back.
Despite the poor writing, I must commend the actors and actresses for their emotional and impactful acting. Their character were however, difficult to relate to which results in a lot of conflict trying to understand how each character felt and why they make certain decision.
Regardless, I managed to finish the series as it kept me on the edge with every episode and made me continue watching as I had to find out what will happen next.
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This review may contain spoilers
I'm perhaps one of the biggest fans of the first season of Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim and this drama means the world to me. Well, despite this fact, I wasn't excited about the second season mainly because of the change of the cast. The same story but with some different faces? What's the point? That's what I thought but I just had to watch it, I felt like I had to. And as you can already guess by my rating, I didn't enjoy this season as much as the first one. I did like the first few episode though and by the first few episodes I mean the first 5-6. The story was progressing well, it had the potential to become better, the characters had the potential to develop a lot. The drama overall had potential to be as good as the first season (or at least close to being as good). But unfortunately, I believe it didn't live up to its potential.
My first problem with this season is the pacing and the editing. A whole lot of mess. There were a lot of things happening, they were jumping from scene to scene, they touched here and there and what was the result? Pretty much nothing. As if it had no main plot. I HATED how we had a very emotional and touching scene but then they decide to randomly jump to another scene and I'm left like ''Hellooo I was tryna shed some tears here, what did ya do??!'' And the editing was very bad. Sometimes it was even confusing and distracting.
My second problem is how poorly developed the characters and their stories were. Let's take our beautiful female lead Cha Eun Jae for an example; she had quite a hard time because she gots nauseous every time she tried to perform surgery. She literally fell asleep during a surgery. THAT was a big problem. She also had family problems. She was just not living her best life lol. I believe her situation should have been explained better. Her problems were resolved so quickly that I questioned myself ''Okay, then what was all this drama about?'' Anyways, I liked or at least didn't mind her as a character since she was really cool from time to time. Well, she was not the best doctor at the beginning, but I accepted her somehow. :D Seo Woo Jin -- the male lead, was kinda intriguing at the beginning of the drama but as the story progressed, he became quite boring. He was still cute and some scenes with him were amazing, but yeah. (I don't want to be that person, but he is nothing to the male lead in the first season and yes I'm very biased ;p)
Which leads me to the character for whom I expected to develop the most and he did --- in the last few minutes of the last episode!! Yes, I'm talking about Park Min Gook who somehow became my favourite character even though I heavily disliked him at the beginning. Why is he my favourite character is a mystery even to me. But I was so excited about his scenes, him making the same mistakes all over again and then regretting his life choices and crying was such a funny thing to watch! It was also relatable af! :D Jokes aside, he was the most interesting character for sure but his development was so deadly slow that made me lose interest.
I don't know what my dear screenwriter was thinking to make Do Yoon Wan the villian again. That was the most stupid decision she could make. We had enough of Director Do in the first season, why bring him back? So I guess if we have a 3rd season, Director Do will be 100 years old and he's still gonna be the villian? Why not. Very uncreative.
The romance was weak, let's be honest here. Or at least I didn't feel any chemistry between the leads? It's just seemed like a forced romance to me. That ''reset'' thingy will haunt me forever. Cha Eun Jae and Woo Jin could have been just good chingus and it would have been okay. I don't know, I guess the writer thought that some of the viewers might need romance so let's just give it to them, why not. Let's feed them with some cheesy sh*t. BUT the last kiss was hot, not gonna lie.
After saying so many negative things, it's time to be a bit positive because even though the drama was very messy, I still enjoyed some of that mess. I loved Master Kim -- he was strong and amazing as always! His scenes with Park Min Gook were LIFE! The writer could have made a good bromance between them, because their interactions in the last episode were sooooo good! The second couple was also very adorable and I really wish they had more scenes! Overall, the supporting characters were very good. I just feel like Doctor Bae was some kind of ghost - he was there but at the same time it felt as if he had no reason to be there. It's not that I don't like him, he was just strange lol. The acting was also very good, especially kudos to Han Seok Kyu - he was born to play Master Kim and he proved that once again!
Well, the atmosphere in Doldam Hospital was amazing as always. I loved the team work, I loved the lights (not the dark operating room tho lol), I loved the interactions between the characters, I loved the Fridays, I loved the surgeries, I loved Mister Goo <3 I love everything about this hospital and this will never change, no matter what. Some dialogues were written very well and there were a lot of touching moments. Which is why, even though I didn't like a lot of things, I'm not giving a lower rating.
Overall, RDTK2 is not the worst drama out there and if you are into medical dramas you can check it out. However, be sure to watch the first season first, not because it's neccessary, but because it's way better and it's worth seeing.
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Love & Friendship Roasting On An Open Fire
Flourished Peony starts with He Wei Fan in an unwanted marriage of convenience. Circumstances led her to divorce her husband, Liu Chang, with the help of Jiang Chang Yang. And there begins a wonderful relationship. Circumstances kept bringing them together and they became partners in business and eventually good friends. They had a "tacit understanding as if they had known each other for years." What I like about Flourished Peony is how He Wei Fan and Chang Yang support and influence each other. Jiang Chang Yang doesn't try to overpower He Wei Fan. Instead, he steps back and delights in her skill at escaping difficult situations.The leads are entertaining in their interactions. And if you are not laughing at their banter, you will find yourself basking in the glow of their many moonlight companionship by the warmth of a crackling fire. Although the drama has the typical antagonists such as the evil ex-in-laws and self-centered princess to cause trouble for the female lead, this FL's perseverance to survive and cunning mind overcomes the frustration of watching the villains. Both leads are brilliant and strong-minded people skilled in their unique way. It felt natural from the start to see them as a couple even if it started on a business basis. Their personalities compliment each other. They simply fit. And this made for a wonderful chemistry between the leads.
The plot is not just romance. The romance simmers in the background while issues such as He Wei Fan's business goals and revenge plots are highlighted. But even though it is not romance-centered, each episode has moments where the couple interacts and slowly come to acknowledge a special friendship in which they trust, admire, and appreciate each other. For those of us who enjoyed those moonlit "dinner dates" the romance is slow burn over the sizzling fire. It is amusing to see how Chang Yang loves to tease Hei Wei Fan/ Mu Dan. And it is wonderful to see her understand his humor and reciprocate in light banter. And that look of admiration that crosses Chang Yang's face each time adds even more to these special moments. I love watching Li Xian in these scenes. His smiles make me smile! Both Yang Zi and Li Xian gave a perfect performance to show the development of their relationship. You will want more of their chemistry the more you watch.
In addition to the romance, the sisterly relationship between the women who bonded to work together is a positive aspect of this drama. The struggles they endured brought them closer together. This is another aspect that overcomes the frustration of watching the antagonists who will try your patience. Not to worry, they will come to a satisfactory end.
Flourished Peony is more than worth the watch. The only time I was tempted to fast-forward was during the scenes with Princess You Zhen, and Liu Chang. Luckily, this does not take over the drama. The combination of the slow-simmering romance, sisterly relationship, business ventures, quick-witted conversations, and humorous scenes kept me watching and wanting more. Flourished Peony shows the struggles for success in business, survival, perseverance, family and friendship, respect and empathy, love and ideals. It is a well-developed drama with a warm comforting sense of love that seems to encompass the whole drama. It is uplifting to see how people working together against evil and corruption can rise above the ones trying to put them down. Even better it ends well in anticipation of season 2! This will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy at the end. Now to wait for part 2.
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Certainly Not A Good Drama To “ Start-Up”...
‘Start Up’ had great potential to be a good drama from its opening episode. Aside from having the well-known talents of Bae Suzy, Nam Joo Hyuk and Kim Seon Ho as our main leads , the characters undeniably had the potential to be realistic and a “breath of fresh air” from the stereotypical cliches of romance dramas. Yet, story progression and cliches truly provided to be ‘Start-Up’ ’s own worst enemy, as Park Hye Run’s screenwriting began to tackle oddly immature themes in a show tackling adult characters , plot inconsistencies, dire characterisation and straying away nearly entirely from the main focal point of making one’s own way in the world in favour of lacklustre and poorly-written romance pairings.Perhaps the two characters who were subject to the most injustice of characterisation and story writing in the drama are strikingly the female lead Dal Mi ( Bae Suzy) and Kim Seon Ho’s character Ji Pyeong. ( Although Nam Joo Hyuk’s character Nam Do San must certainly be addressed later on as the elephant in the room.)
In the beginning of the series, Dal Mi was an intriguing main character; a headstrong businesswoman with an intriguing backstory , stuck in a rival relationship with her sister and having a driving passion to succeed in the business world . Then, not even several episodes later, Dal Mi’s characterisation from an independent businesswoman with actual depth, is subverted in order to allow her to become the staid, obsequious and often emotionally insecure “ love interest” of Do San and Ji Pyeong’s affections.
It is important to stress that isn’t the case that Dal Mi shouldn’t have had a love interest or a relationship at all within the series. A “ strong” female lead can still be well-written as an individual(regardless of her relationship status). Instead, it is rather how this drama portrayed the baffling and incoherent relationship between Dal Mi and Do San; a pairing which was to be expected and certainly wasn’t entirely “bad” between the characters as individuals ( despite notable “ biased” feelings of some fans). Instead, it was rather how this pairing was built upon lies, deceit, insecurity, and emotional manipulation, which was often “glossed over” in favour of “ cutesy couple” moments between Dal Mi and Do San as the storyline progressed. Dal-Mi became the typical trope of the “ golden prize” for the male lead, rather than an individual with her own thoughts and feelings; a sad destruction of an otherwise intriguing character.
This naturally moves us onto the second male lead of the series , Ji Pyeong, the “ preferred love interest ” of Dal Mi amongst watchers of the series. As an individual , however, it was not entirely the case that Ji-Pyeong was a “ badly-written” character, but rather his scenarios seemed both unjustified and questionable over the duration of the drama.
Initially appearing as a solipsistic, yet successful businessman, the series brings a lot to light about Ji-Pyeong as someone who is inwardly altruistic ; hardworking in order to have escaped the poverty of his childhood, a genuine supporter who sees the “ potential” of Do San’s visions and who has constantly admired Dal Mi since childhood ( a major driving force of the series, which is sadly never explored or touched upon after its initial use). Naturally, however, Ji-Pyeong’s “ selflessness” often leads to his downfall and consequently because he undeniably puts up a deceitful guise in front of Dal-Mi , he naturally comes out with the short end of the stick by not “ getting the girl”. Nearly from episode one, it will remain apparent for viewers that Dal Mi and Ji-Pyeong have many striking similarities both within their pasts, careers, obstacles and even personality types. Yet despite the obvious pairing which would ultimately arise between Dal-Mi and Do San, these similarities between both characters were neither explored or developed within ‘ Start-Up’.
Yet relationships aside (and despite the obvious flaw of his “ selflessness” at times), Ji-Pyeong’s altruism also plays to his advantage within arguably allowing him to become the most emotionally-stable character of ‘ Start-Up’ . He never truly takes out his feelings upon the SST boys ( despite their sarcastic comments ), Dal Mi and maintains professionalism in the workplace, by helping Do San ( even after Do San manipulates and physically punches him) against all odds, possibly making him the one true mature, and unspoken hero of the entire drama .
Next it is important to address the biggest elephant in the room, the main lead of ‘ Start-Up’, Do San. Against all odds, Do-San is a surprisingly interesting character , but a terribly-written individual upon all grounds. He is initially introduced under the archetype of the “ loveable and lively dork”- a profound genius, lacking in social skills, with a sanguine ambiance. Naturally, this allows people to gravitate towards Do-San such as Dal-Mi as a love interest, and Ji Pyeong as a mentor . By default, Do-San should have been someone for viewers to root for; the underdog who becomes successful, goes through a life-changing journey and revels at the end of the series with his important life-lessons in business, morality and love .
Instead the irony becomes apparent within Do-San’s “friendly” nature becoming a facade for his insecure and often fractious personality over the course of the drama . If Ji-Pyeong is the kind-hearted and selfless soul of the series, then Do-San is the egocentric opportunist who plays “Devil’s Advocate” in the beginning of the series, before taking advantage of Ji-Pyeong’s kindness through various methods of emotional and aggressive manipulation , even punching him once because Dal-Mi was “ upset”.
Upon this side note of Dal-Mi, it is crucial to bring up what is exactly problematic about Do -san’s interactions and behaviour around the female lead. The main lead’s personality sometimes verged upon what is commonly known in psychology as “ covert narcissism”. Many of the notable traits of covert narcissism include imposter syndrome, subtle emotional manipulation, introversion and egocentric beliefs and wild fantasies over one’s own success or goals - nearly all traits present within Do -San’s character . In addition to his obvious desire towards succeeding in the business sector , Do- San’s greatest fantasy soon manifests through his obsession with being Dal-Mi ‘s “ protector”. This is not out of selflessness or as a consequence of helping Ji-Pyeong to look after Dal-Mi, but a dangerous daydream which soon grows into an unhealthy obsession to “ protect” her through emotional vanity and manipulation .
Rather than being a symbiotic process of both characters coming to grasps with their flaws and learning to heal their emotional wounds, the relationship between Dal-Mi and Do -San was simply uncomfortable and emotionally draining for viewers.
In addition to this the second female lead Seo In Jae/Won In Jae(played by Kang Han Na),felt like a character limited only to an extended background character . In Jae could have easily supported the pacing and depth of the storyline , giving viewers a break from the prolonged and cliche love triangle dominating the show . She had a surprisingly decent backstory and certainly potentially interesting character depth, that could have been explored in episodes focusing on her rekindled relationship with Dal Mi. Ultimately, however, In Jae was pushed out of the way in favour of the lacklustre paring between Do San and Dal Min; a crying shame, for a character with wasted potential .
Overall, “Start-Up” does tackle some intriguing dynamics of the business world, family and a “ dramatic ” love triangle. However, writer Park Hye Ryun did not do justice with this series- characters were often poorly-written or lacked intrinsic depth, the second-half became overly reliant upon immature cliches , tropes and plot holes to “ prop-up” the sloping storyline, and the main pairing was unhealthily built upon emotional gaslighting and insecurity, rather than sincere feelings and learning to overcome these problems symbiotically . Certainly not worth investing time within if you’re looking for a well-written drama .
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This review may contain spoilers
Messed-up plot. Try to to be clever but fail. Too many loopholes all over the place.
(Review In Progress-- done watching, in-progress reviewing, and after that still needs some edit.
-- sorry, it takes me some time as this such a headache.)
[+] This series is like an experimental work. After finishing, I highly admire the team that they really put a great effort in creating this drama. It's a complex story. The messageS they want to convey are difficult, thus meaningful. And the way to convey it isn't simply about plot writing. This series especially need the collaboration between the plot creating and filming/editing processes. So it's not only the story that is complex, the process for the aimed result is also a hard work here. I feel thankful they made this done. With this work of theirs, they challenge the new level of quality series in all aspects from creating to conveying processes.
[-] Anyway, they try too hard to be clever. In the end, there're still too many loopholes both in the main plot and sub-plots. To find a positive excuse for this, I'd blame the time constraint. The time limitation especially affects the writer. I feel that the writer only has solid ideas on the main things she wants to make happen, but she lacks the ideas to logically connect two or more dots, resulting in a messy resolvement that relies on cheating the audience.
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Two main cheating ways of this series that are unaccepatable for me are:-
1) They indulgedly create many conditions in the story on their own without caring the universal laws. These conditions are not the kind of reasonable conditions that would serve them right if they had a unique universe of their own story. These conditions are just to serve their own conveninece in resolving the conflicts the easy way because they can't think of how to resolve it properly without cheating. Let me give an example,
- The conflict is A wants to kill B who is a criminal treated at a hospital, but B is protected by two polices standing guard at the patient door at all time.
- Resolution of this series to let A kill B is to let C who is another police says via the walkie talkie that there's some incident happening near the hospital area and he needs some support at the moment. On hearing that, the two polices both left their position immediately. They shouldn't leave their post in the first place, but when they do, they do it so naturally like it's the way the world normally is as they don't even need to disccuss or hesistate a bit before setting off running away.
The above is just one example. There're A LOT along the way. The plot needs media to be stupid, needs people to be stupid, needs doctors to be able to do things that normally they are not able to. All of these for the sake of connecting the solid point A to point B. Remember what I mentioned above? They only have the solid ideas on main points while have no idea of how to connect them.
Their self-indulgement frustrates me a lot. They look down on the audience like me.
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2) Because they can't find the proper way to solve their conflicts, they trick the audience by manipulating the scenes. The plot is mean to deceive the audience at first, so that they can make a surprise twist later. The proper way to do it is to give the same set of information to the audience as to the investigative storyline (= the storyline of solving the conflicts). An improper way to do it is to hide some parts of the information that the storyline knows from the audience. This series make a worse thing by manipulating the information. In some crucial scenes that would become the surprised twists later, they film it in 2 different ways - one is the way that actually happens, the other is the way they want the audience to believe happening. Then, they firstly show the audience the wrong occurrence to mislead the viewers. And later, when they reveal the twist, they show the other occurrence. This is cheating. You don't have skills to make things right. You want to be wise, but if you cheat it doesn't shows that you're wise anymore. It shows that you're just pretentious.
As unskilled as you are, you still need to learn a lot more to not anger the audience this way. Find a place to learn? Go read more works of Dan Brown and Agatha Christie!
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More rants:
(1) Story [-]
- Too many loopholes
- Like ep.1-2 pretty much
- Ep.3 starts to have loopholes in the details.
- Ep.4-5 have too many unrealistic parts esp. about media, human behaviors in society, and decision-making relating to social impact. These surreal parts are essential for story development. If there's none of these, the story wouldn't go on the way it is written, which means the production team is not smart enough to make a proper investigative story without constructing some special conditions that would help them make the story progress easier. What a convenient way to solve a question that outwits them, right? They do it by making a condition that says whatever they say is true. Anyway, in the end, this just portrays that everything in the story is pretentious.
- Ep.8, 10 - more so-called loopholes - the self-conditioned parts that help the story to progress along the way they want.
[[ spoiled note: 8-the surveillance officers / 10-the physical call instead of phone call; the criminal didn't have father at first but now has?? huh; the criminal's mother supposed to give birth after Yohan's mother in the early ep but now she did it before for 6-7 yrs?? ]]
- Ep.14
1) Why the TV producer takes that guy in her car?? -_-
2) How that kid gets to that man's house?? << It's like everyone is a character in an RPG game doing things without motive, no situation progresses in a logical process. It's like these characters and situations happening around them are programmed in a game.
Ep.15
1) Conveniently skip the memory about chasing on the road scene?
2) Suddenly the older police who usually fails to observe the details about everything notices the very subtle details of a victim. How convenient, the writer makes everyone change in a wink, makes any situation to occurs or changes from before like magic.
3) I also don't forget the alibi of everyone in the 1st case and waiting for you to properly explain, writer!
Ep.17 - The new paint on the wall can be removed by tissue paper??!!
- This story shows that polices are generally stupid. The supervisors would choose their subordinates to make an important decision instead of them while the subs are not clever enough.
- The media in this story breaks the law and their ethics all the time. It's the circle that there're only people who think about their own benefits. They dare to publicly take advantage of the situations even when there are other people's lives at stake. And no one at all blames the media. Nor does the media get sued. Very weird society.
- The story shows the people of Korea are stupid, always ready to be pulled to the left then dragged to the right without the ability to think on their own. They believe whatever words from TV. The people/audience in this story is much stupider than those characters in the novel 1984.
- Let me yell at this series a bit:- The real media don't work like that. The real polices don't work like that, either. And the people of Korea or most of the places in the world are not like that. The production team of this drama is just an imposter pretending to know what social psychology is, pretending to know how journalists and polices work while they actually Know NOTHING. What they do is just spreading the wrong perceptions about everything.
p.s. Damn to this drama, where the hell in the world that a TV channel would intentionally live broadcast a crime as a criminal wants? Furthermore, two TV channels even argue/criticize/condemn each other on TV-live-broadcasting to make the situation benefit the criminal. The media here are very much stupid and very much immature. Nonsense. In reality, this kind of TV station would surely be heavily investigated by law and backfired by social pressure.
P.S.2 And the ER doctors don't work in patients' rooms! You don't know how doctors work, either. You -writer, director, producer of this series- truly Know Nothing.
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(2) Acting [~]
- The older police always overacts. The paradox is they mention about overacting represents the lack of understanding in the thing the overactor tries to depict (ep.7).
- The acting of the TV program's female producer is substandard. She doesn't know the way to show her character's expressions through her face. I don't feel that she feels what she acts. She just makes a subtly disturbed face, and continues to make it the whole time. There's only one kind of facial expression from her, which is the kind of expression that I don't feel that she feels it.
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(3) Script [-]
- Bad script. It's like the characters in the series are the RPG-game players. They walk around talking to witnesses, interviewing people in the RPG-game style that we have to stop and talk on the way to certain people to get more information to complete each mission. The conversations in that kind of interviewing/asking strangers in the series are blocked and unnatural - if we get to the right person, the convo would flow as well as directly get to the point, no small talk, no introduction. No matter how weird or rude the questions of the characters are to the strangers, those strangers answer along the way that the characters want to know without opposing. No matter how private the information they get asked, they don't feel it and are willingly answer them.
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A vampire story newly thought...
If it's not GMMTV (My Golden Blood, Revamp) you see what a vampire story could be... interesting, disturbing, exciting, emotional, plot twists which make sense. This is also not really a BL. While the genre is fantasy, they did a good job to make it as realistic as possible. Only the "normal" police people were a bit underwhelming. When I read reviews of the GMMTV shows with 9.0 to 10.0 and compare it with this, they are not even remotely close.The four ML did a superb job, only the side cast is not on their level, but you can't have only first class actors for all roles in any series. It's of course not only their acting, it's also the intense tension between them. Besides that, the director was also the screenwriter who did change the script on the fly while shooting, because he wrote it for the actors to make it natural to act. Production quality was also top notch, only the shaky camera on close ups was not to my taste.
This time I will not spoil anything of the story, if you really that nosy you can read other reviews or just watch it. Overall they risked to do something outside the normal "BL box" and it payed off! This is one of the few thai series I can wholeheartedly recommend.
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Long-Awaited Seduction Into A DARK CONCEPT !!
Exceeding Expectations. And Then Again Disappointing. It´s wild.This painstakingly created series is expected to be one of the most controversial, hardest and longest emotional rollercoasters in 2022 and it has also been highly awaited by the entire LGBTQI+ film community.
However, if you easily feel offended by toxic tropes then I recommend you reconsider watching this series !!
Production / Music >> 9.5 >> 9.0 >> 8.5
As already seen in the first trailer – deleted by now – KinnPorsche has always been visually incomparable to other series. Even with their delay in airing and producing, the fandom has been faithfully waiting for this visual masterpiece to finally air. Given the second trailer and after watching the first episode, I know that KinnPorsche will lift the visual standards of LGBTQI+ shows to another level. Additionally, for those who don´t know me, I am a sucker for dark concepts and for what has been displayed so far with the lighting and colouring, my eyes are blessed and my creativity is exploding.
Combined with the series' soundtracks – e.g.: Slot Machine´s “Free Fall” – this entire show seems so unreal in quality, especially since it has a heavier and more challenging plot and concept than most LGBTQI+ series in the past. Therefore, I think they can still fail in the execution of a good story, but they have lifted the standards for the cinematography and consequently, I´ll predict this to blow up and get at least an 8.0 rating on MDL - excluded any crucial errors such as misrepresentation of fundamental issues, e.g.: LGBTQI+, toxic relationships, abuse, etc. I, however, doubt they will fail in the portrayal of those.
Let´s especially praise the Cinematographer (Maneerat Srinakarin) and the Screenwriter (Pond Kritsada Wittayakachondej), for perceiving the possibilities of this concept's aesthetics and implementing them successfully, as well as the Editors and Production in general.
Plot / Story >> 7.5 >> 8.5 >> 9.0 >> 8.0 >> 7.5
So far, I´ve been satisfied with the introduction to this series and its concept. However, even though the plot is exciting and thrilling, "it is not that innovative yet and therefore I need more episodes to change my mind and give it an 8 or higher". At some points, it was just so random, and the entire mafia thing got a bit laughable.
BUT Then I continued watching and changed my mind A BIT. Despite the aspect of some lack in the stories innovation, I am a total sucker for these sorts of concepts, and in the past, I´d just blindly give it a 10 BUT I´m trying to not let my excitement take over my rationality. However, if my rating was based on my own excitement, this rating would surely have a different outcome.
Cast >> 9.5 >> 10.0 >> 9.0
The entire training the actors have been going under in 2021 has finally paid off and the series successfully cast very talented individuals for each role. Especially Apo has been well chosen as Porsche, his personality finds shelter and rises like “The Phoenix”. Mile takes our breath as toxic-tinged Mr Kinn, who exudes a bold and decisive charm like Mile himself. The result is well-cast Main roles.
However, I will not forget to give the supporting cast all the praise. It´s just that I could write so many paragraphs about them - trust me I did that - but I´m trying to keep it short. Honestly, Bible did not only put effort into acting out Vegas but he also committed a lot to the KinnPorsche Story by translating Daemi´s book. I´m happy to see that the involved people also enjoy being part of this huge project. Love it!
Rewatch Value >> 9.0 >> 9.5 >> 9.0 >> 8.0
So far so good. Since this sort of concept is always extremely pulling me in and my disappointment in “Golden Blood” is heavily weighing down on me, I am quite sure this will be one of the shows I will come back to at least twice, if not more often. Therefore, my overall rating so far is a solid and well-deserved 8.5 and had chances to be a 9.0 if they had increased the story's uniqueness and matched it to their incomparable cinematography/ visuals.
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I am new to watching anything from Thailand mostly I've hung out with Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese dramas so it's kinda a mind flip on what your accustom to watching when it comes to dramas.
I am a fan to both Ken and Ann's acting and if you watch this what makes the story worth watching is the phenomenal acting and where these two are able to take this tragic script and make you care about the characters and want them to find happiness at the end. The only reason I would review this drama and stuck with it to the end is because of how well acted and talented the two leads are in this story to keep you going. Ken is able to make you feel sympathy where none should be thought to be given.
If you decide to hunt this lakorn down know you will find Kawee actions are beyond forgiveness but he's a child of abuse, extreme wealth and neglect and has no personal growth in his emotions and sympathy of others until he sees what his own actions have cost him and only then does he learn from what he has done and only it shows how only love can change him. You will hate him ten fold in what he does to Narin. You will find yourself disgusted by both his father and his new wife / Narin's sister's marriage and you will see how Leela and Kawee's fighting nearly destroys Narin.
This lakorn was on Viki but it no longer is available. The original translator of this drama had uploaded the episodes on Youtube but then canceled their account. Only 7 of the 12 episodes are available online with translation and its a blurry copy and the rest of the episodes are listed by another person there. If you want to hunt this down there is one seller on Ebay who has it available for around 12.50 with the english translation. It is a story worth watching but its not for the faint of heart and it has graphic subject material.
I give the acting on this a 10. By far the best acted lakorn period.
There is some slight comedy worked into it in from the coworkers at the floral shop but I would by no means call this a romantic comedy.
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The story is a complete and cohesive tale; beginning, middle and end. Which sadly is something Kdramaland tends to have trouble with. But the writers of this drama really got it right! I fell in love with the Boong Do and Hee Jin falling in love. And even better I loved the plot. Usually I have a lot of trouble with time travel genre. I think time travel is one of the harder kinds of plots to pull off and pin down. They can get convoluted and tend to lead to more questions then answers. But this drama kept things simple and fairly clean. It didn't try to over explain or get too complicated. I walked away feeling satisfied with a really great story and ending.
Queen In Hyun's man is so satisfying to watch. There is dramatic tension, bad guys to fear, funny characters to laugh at and romance to make me sigh. And the kisses! Such great kisses!
The acting was so wonderful. I was very impressed with Yo In Na. She really gave a memorable performance and is quickly becoming an actress I will happily follow from drama to movie and back to dramas again. She was so engaging and real with all her emotions. I never felt she was faking her performance and she didn't over act and fall all over herself crying. She was a delight. Ji Hyun Woo blew me away with his portrayal of Boong Do. I fell in love with him right along with Hee Jin. Every girl needs a Boong Do! The orbiting characters were portrayed just as well. I loved Hee Jin's friend Soo Kyung played by Ga Deuk Hi and her ex boyfriend, played by Lee Kwan Hoon. He was such a character. This cast was a great fit together.
The music was Daebak! I love the OST and one that I would like to own. The songs fit with the undercurrent of romance always present in this drama.
I would wholeheartedly and happily watch this drama again. It's a keeper. One I am glad exists so I can go back to on a rainy day and re-watch with delight.
Solid 10's overall for everything. There is not one bad thing I can say about this drama. I am so glad it appeared this spring/summer in a sea of some really mediocre romantic drama fare. Stellar acting, writing and great fun. Please don't miss this!
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This review may contain spoilers
Over rated
First series of Esther Yu, now I'm really wondering why she is so famous with that kind of acting skill?About the series:
1. 1st episode is very boring and not clear of what the series going to lead us to.
2. The next 10 series are quite entertaining with the humor and fast pacing story lines, but then afterwards the stories become dull and boring.
3. It is strange to have a so called "heroine" who can't or never fight at all ==> referring to the main female lead, whose facial expression is very dull and only able to act cute
4. second male lead acting also not great, flat facial expression and no chemistry with the second female lead
Overall, I do enjoy some part of the series, especially the beginning, but afterwards the story lines just draggy and acting from the main actress really lame make it quite difficult to watch.
No offense to Esther Yu hard core fans.. this is purely my personal opinion. I shall see her other work to make sure whether she can act or if this is her character in this series.
But looking at the background of her character, she is not supposed to be a "cute" person, from her modern era character she is not with that cute personality, why suddenly when she become the heroine character in the novel she become overly unnecessary "cute"? (to be precise : tried to act cute, but does not cute at all)
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Too much talk and not enough plot.
I expected "Doom at Your Service" to easily become a new drama favorite of mine. It starsSeo In Guk as an attractive and mysterious male lead, which is his specialty and almost a guarantee that I'll get hooked, but his storyline is hijacked by a mediocre love triangle/fractured bromance that made me lose any interest I had. Instead of getting a fully fleshed-out-fantasy- romance about Doom itself going against character and falling in love with a depressed woman, I got a boring office drama about writers and editors with way too much dialogue and not enough plot. This is also meant to be a tear-jerker yet my eyes remained dry the entire time. This drama went from addictive to barely watchable fast. I almost dropped it in the last episodes because it dragged so much. Maybe a more dynamic female lead could have kept me interested longer. Even though Park Bo Young may be cute, and even likable, she annoyed me as the Tak Dong Kyung.
Dong Kyung as a character starts off amazing. She does the unexpected, she appears brave and considerate and clever, but as the story loses direction so does the character. There were too many Park Bo Young scenes with her crying/whining before I had a chance to fully connect with the character's situation. I also felt declining chemistry between her and Seo In Guk as Doom/Sa Ram. What started with an interesting connection turned into long conversations and repetitive fantasy sequences but not a love story I could connect with. I'm just gonna say it, Seo In Guk is much better at passionate scenes and showing depth (like in "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes"), and he tried to carry many of their scenes with subtle choices I loved, but having Park Bo Young play so innocent, almost childish, missed the mark for me. She also seemed too indifferent about literally dying for too long. The denial in the beginning aside, which worked well, as episodes evolved I just didn't believe she was a woman making life or death choices which stopped me from caring enough to cry or just fall in love with the story. I can't say she was bad in the role, she just wasn't good enough to make me buy into this unusual plot. Big Park Bo Young fans may feel differently and be more forgiving, which would make a huge difference in whether you like this drama or not. She is in 2 unique concept dramas that I loved "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" and "Oh My Ghostess", where being cute worked much better, but not this time. I was unimpressed.
The next problematic character for me is Jeong Ji So as "God". I didn't mind the whole Dora The Explorer Diety Gardner thing, or her performance, but her esoteric unclear presence in the story was more frustrating than interesting. Mainly, again, because she talked too much and showed too little (besides random plants). Maybe some things were lost in translation, but her long conversations and observations may be good in a novel, or a webtoon, but on screen, it just drags and bored me almost to sleep at times. I'm wondering if the dialogue sounds so "beautiful" in Korean that the writer fell too in love with their own words to cut any of it down and remember that showing is more compelling than telling on screen. Yes, there were a few well-done visual scenes but they were still mostly overwhelmed by talking. Too many scenes of the leads just staring at each other in bed (together and apart) was a huge romantic disappointment too. They were damn near platonic for such an epic fated love story, with too much narration. It lacked enough passion to sustain the story to the end and by the time things resolved I barely cared.
Oh, and about that extra love triangle, usually even a cliché love triangle has exciting scenes and chemistry but nope... these 3 characters also just have lots of conversations about the past, about each other, about what they may want to do or should have done, with very little actual progress. I think Lee Soo Hyuk as blunt and straight-faced Cha Joo Ik was supposed to be funny, but I found those banter scenes to be flat. I'm sure much of that intended dry humor was lost on me as well. For me, just having two attractive men isn't enough to fuel a love triangle romance plot. It also has nothing to do with the Doom plot, which makes it seem like unnecessary filler or a different drama.
I did like her brother's character, mainly for cute comic relief, but most of the other characters are just ok, and pretty forgettable (Shout out to poor Kevin who didn't even make the cast list lol).
Would I watch this again? I wouldn't torture myself like that. I'm sure a lot of these actors will go on to better dramas that I'll watch and I will probably forget this drama even exists after a while.
The OST is also forgettable but oh how I love Seo In Guk's voice. Rather, I just love him and his beautiful voice is a bonus. I didn't fall in love with any songs though... or his hair color.
Overall this drama is a huge miss. Maybe it's good if you want to hear more Korean dialogue than usual as language practice (it's A LOT y'all) but I can't call this drama good. It is an ambitious and pretty original idea but that's not enough to make this drama work as a whole. Characters saying how they feel instead of showing it for me felt like a romance buzz kill and lazy. If this drama had no Doom character I would have dropped it almost immediately. I also expected tears, since sadly cancer scenarios are too familiar in my real life, but my eyes remained dry the entire time. And what's worse than abusing flashbacks... describing flashbacks as you abuse and overuse them. I looked up the last drama written by this writer and it was "The Beauty Inside", another drama with all concept and zero plot. Another movie plot idea stretched beyond its means. Another missed opportunity to create a really interesting love story. Maybe I should have double-checked who the writer was before I decided not to drop this. Sadly, those who don't learn which drama writers create shows they should have dropped are doomed to repeat it.
I guess Seo In Guk was too good at his Doom role because he doomed me to complete this.
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Unhealthy relationships, desperation and neediness abound
I'm apparently the only person that did not enjoy this show. I'll start with the positives, and you can blow off the rest of the review, if you choose, because my thoughts are definitely in the minority.LIKED:
1) Yoo In Na - one of my favorite K actresses. Her size and her demeanor are always attractive to me. She's got a sweet vulnerability about her. She's totally gorgeous, but she's the kind of woman that men fall in love with, and women want to be friends with.
2) Yoon Hyun Min - I enjoy this actor. Understated, intense and he sure knows how to wear his clothes!
3) The young man that fell in love with Bo Ra's sister. Brilliant smiles, barely contained energy and he reminded me of a puppy, all nervous energy. However, he knew what he wanted, and he never wavered.
4) The line in the last episode when Soo Hyuk was talking about Bo Ra being little.
5) When Soo Hyuk was with Bo Ra when she was dress shopping.
SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
DID NOT LIKE:
1) Bo Ra - She was an absolute mess! As a love coach, her advice was about "playing" men to get what you want. The phrase "small and sparkly" was used at least 20 times in the first episode. It wasn't about being in love; it was about getting the ring. I got absolutely no feeling that she was in love with her boyfriend, but that she was just waiting for the ring to get married. So, when things went south, her reactions seemed extreme and out of character. Her over-the-top angst was painful for me to watch, just because I didn't think she really loved him anyway. Plus, it went on entirely too long. Almost half of the episodes were about how broken-hearted she was. Stalkerish, needy, inappropriate, and lack of self-esteem flowed from this character. "I was going to let myself like him if he says he likes me. I was going to love him if he says he loves me." She was always trying to GET something from someone. I did not care for this character nor empathize with her in any way.
2) Overabundance of alcohol. I know that drinking seems to play a large part in K-dramas. However, here the drinking caused people to behave in ways that made me really not like them. Plus, drinking alone is always a red flag. Drunken wandering in the neighborhood, peeing in public, drunken confessions.
3) Too many couples. Four couple storylines was too much, mostly because we only got part of an episode with the mains together. The rest was couples fighting, couples trying to get together, couples making up, and that was mostly the other three couples.
4) Soo Hyuk. Obviously, he wasn't in love with his girlfriend, he only bought a ring to make her happy. So, once they broke up, I wasn't feeling his sadness.
5) Overuse of the "I didn't want to be with you before, but now that you are with someone else, I want you back" trope. And we had to suffer through it with both leads!
6) Lack of realistic progression of the lead's relationship. He spent most of the drama listening to her cry and whine, then helping her "get back" at her ex, all to make herself feel better. They weren't really getting to know one another, he was just helping her. Then all of a sudden they were supposedly in love?
7) Romance is absolutely not a word I would use for this drama. The main leads getting together was literally less than 10 minutes. The rest of the time I had to suffer though watching unhealthy relationships crash and burn.
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