This review may contain spoilers
A different drama
Almost every episode had a twist that leaves you dumbfounded and the leads did a superb job displaying such grey characters. My problem is that the main villain felt like a caricature compared to Hai Yiping. Kangping prince in the end came out as a royal who was lucky enough to have clever subordinates than being clever himself. His ending was also anticlimactic, and his arc didn't quite fit the tone of the whole drama making it look like an afterthought story addition, making the last episodes a bit draggy.The main story though is truly hitting the spot. Torture and rape and the trauma caused are nicely delivered making the pain and suffering of the victims real and not just a McGuffin.
Now the romance felt like a much needed sneeze that was never realised despite the constant nose tingling. I'm sure you know how it feels. There was such potential there, especially in the last episode when they fell into the water. That would have made it chef's kiss.
All in all, the drama deserves more hype. It's one of the few that focus on 2 nobodies trying to make something better for their country, without any real ties to royalty and wealth and the only one I have watched that shows the strengths and depths of women power and friendship without turning them into simps halfway through the story.
P.S. the OST is shockingly good. It's the second drama I did not skip the intro
Was this review helpful to you?
Story 8/10 - Spies! Kids! Spy kids! Yeah, the story is a good break from watching melodramas or rom coms. Don't be too disappointed if the cases aren't that hard to figure out since the detective team is made up of young kids but its fun. I felt like a mini Sherlock whenever I watched this drama ^^. I know the drama is supposed to have serious moments, but this is one where you should have fun with it and not be too concerned with the main storyline. If you immerse yourself in each episode and become a detective with the kids, time flies
Acting/Cast 8/10 - Shida Mirai! ^^ The entire cast is really young in this, so their acting isn't as developed as older actors/actresses. But Shida Mirai is extremely cute in drama, adding her own style of quirkyness in each episode and shining when there are serious moments.
Music 6/10 - Jdrama OST's never really hit me, but the suspenseful music during murders help set the mood.
Rewatch 5/10 - Once was good enough. If you're able to solve all the cases without being shown the culprit, good job! You're on your way to becoming Sherlock Holmes~
Overall 8/10 - A fun and quirky drama mixed in with serious and mysterious cases. Watch an episode or two whenever you wish to take a breather from those serious melodramas and kick back while you watch 5 kids run around and solve mysteries
Was this review helpful to you?
Beautiful cinematography and excellent acting - but slow at times with many timeline switches
Completed - 5/22/2022 - 8.25 ratingI have not read the book, so I am going into this not really knowing what the story is about. "Pachinko" tells the stories of the hardships endured by commoners from the 1920s to the 1940s in Korea and Japan. We saw our characters struggled to make a living or to have a decent meal during times of turmoil and war. A big part of the drama also depicts lives as second-class citizens when you left your home country and lived abroad - whether you moved to or returned from Korea, Japan or the United States.
Each episode is like a movie. You can see Apple pours a decent amount of money into this production. The cinematography, sets, costumes, props, houses/venues, scenes of a natural disaster - all look realistic and are shot beautifully. The background music complements the scenes, but I actually don't recall any song played in this drama. I might have just forget at it took me a long time to finish this drama.
For an 8-episode season, "Pachinko" has a large and amazing cast. This is the first time I've seen Kim Min Ha (young Kim Sun Ja). I would not say she's beautiful, but she fits the role of a tough and smart Sun Ja really well. There are many close-ups of her in this drama, and you can see all her micro expressions. Veteran actress, Young Yuh Jung plays the grandma version of Sun Ja, and of course did an amazing job as well. Coming into this, I only know Lee Min Ho, and he didn't disappoint. He's dashing and seductive in his white suit. A whole ep. 7 was dedicated to his character and to showcase his acting chops. I don't think I've ever seen him so dirty and disheveled in any other drama. I am also introduced to Jin Ha, who played Solomon. What an interesting character. Does he really speak fluent Korean, Japanese and English?? The most beloved character is probably Pastor Baek Yi Sah, played by Steven Noh. He's such a sweetheart, so gentle and caring.
The drama spans many decades and also switches back and forth between different timelines. It could be disorienting at times, as the timeline switches happen quite frequently. The pacing in the first couple episodes are a little slower. The drama takes time in introducing us to different characters from all timelines.
I heard there will be a few more seasons of "Pachinko" and will focus on other characters in the novel. However, I don't feel closure of the stories told in season 1. I would not say the drama ends on a cliffhanger but maybe a somewhat open ending? Maybe the stories of these characters will be continued in season 2?
p.s. Took me about a month to finish watching this drama, not because the drama is boring... just life circumstances. Therefore, I feel that this review might not be as well-written or as coherent.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Are there differences?
I love how natural it felt watching as the friendly teasing turned into actual flirting. With every couple one person was a bit more shy than the other but they were both curious to figure out if the other actually meant it when they said they were being serious about wanting to kiss each other. Despite every couple acting out the same scene there were subtle differences, which I really enjoyed since to me it reflects how scenes like this might be in reality.The girls seemed close, best friends maybe considering they wear matching rings. Both seemed a bit shy, at first, uncertain where things were heading. The the guy in the second scene seemed flustered when the girl suddenly turned his joke around and clearly refused to let it go, even going as far as asking whether he actually meant it. The third scene had a slightly different undertone to it, there was a mild if probably not entirely serious threat of violence as a first reaction when the teasing tone between the two male friends turned into much more than just joking around. Though, it was clear all six people clearly wanted this kiss to happen - here I'm really happy everyone actually made sure to ask for consent, to make sure they were on the same page.
To me, these subtle similarities show that even though all the pairings/couples share the same names (Jimin and Soo Hyun respectively) there is still a difference in how people with different genders might act when first confronted with the idea of kissing someone (especially if it's someone with the same or opposite gender). With the two guys there was a hint of fear in both guy's way of behavior, showing they were both trying to backpedal so as not to be seen as the 'weird one', an undertone which I also slightly got from the two girls. Both non-straight couples seemed to portray the silent question how others would react to them kissing, so each of them had to make sure the other person was being serious, was not just messing with them as some kind of cruel joke - I might have been thinking way too much about it in the last couple of minutes but I think the person portraying the character of Jimin in all three scenes is much less experienced than the one portraying Soo Hyun. And yet the latter already seems to have a slight crush on the other as well, showing it by teasing and yet being also unsure whether their feelings are actually requited.
The uncertainty and yet the constant push-and-pull until each person had their clear answer was beautifully portrayed and as someone who happens to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community that felt a bit too real at times (of course, especially with the first and third couple in this short film): Testing the waters but not being ready to jump in, ready to deny everything once questioned just to save a friendship, yeah, that felt a lot like past experiences.
I enjoyed this short film very much - while at first I thought it would be three different scenariosit turned out all three couples went through the same scenario. Altogether it felt like having a quick glance at three different parallel universes because after all there is no real difference between the couples. They are nervous, excited and yet they communicate their intentions clearly.
Altogether I think this short film shows that despite everything love is love, no matter one's own gender or that of the person you like or want to be with. After all, we're all human.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Best ever romance story
A very subtle and charming love story. I really like the acting of the two main characters. There is no significant violence. A mother-in-law and grandmother who really love the female lead. The positive value of this drama is: that every human being has their own destiny. Past trauma and the divorce that happened to her parents made her reluctant to marry. But when she found her true love and the man treated her very well. Then the trauma slowly faded, and she was sure to have a very good married life, and protect and love him throughout his life. Wang gege and Wang Kaimu...hmmm they both did it very perfectly. Success to both of you.Was this review helpful to you?
ACTING - Matsushita Nao was charming as usual.In fact, if her character, Yuriko, was portrayed by another actress, I wonder how much I would have enjoyed her role. Matsushita always manages to give off this wholesome and sweet vibe when she acts. And she was absolutely adorable with Inocchi (V6) as the main couple. The rest of the cast were quite good as well and portrayed their characters well. I would have loved it if the drama had gone deeper into the lives of the 4 brothers.
MUSIC - I really loved the ending credits song, Kono Sekai ni Umareta Wake by FUNKY MONKEY BABY.
Overall, Hayami-san to Yobareru Hi is a heartwarming family drama that really draws you into the lives of the Hayami family.
Was this review helpful to you?
I started watching this mainly because it's one of the classics + there's Ji Chang Wook in this, how can I say no after I hear this actor's name? I have to admit that, just like in any other Korean drama, the main actor swept me off my feet like always. On the other hand, I didn't like the way that there was sort of a strong character digression of the female lead. What seemed to be a powerful leading lady was actually a weak character. More about the main story, I enjoyed the occasional story slips into the past. They made the drama feel alive in some way. In my opinion, the whole story could've been completed in 16 episodes fully for everyone to understand all of the highlights and main points of this series. But 20 episodes is too much, it felt like many unwanted and irrelevant scenes made it to the screen.
This is another example of the fact that you might not enjoy very loved and highly-rated dramas as much as all of the others. But nevertheless, Healer is one of those dramas that had to be watched since it's a classic, but it's also a drama that I wouldn't rewatch ever again.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
What a ride!
OMG this drama is a Rollercoaster of emotions. There are so many ups and downs that you'll get whiplash.It starts really bubbly and tame, typical youth drama. Lots of cliches situations and dumb plots to get the romance going (don't get me wrong, thats what I signed up for) but, unexpectedly, we have a very AMAZING female leader. Dude, the girl is super cool, she is not your dumb, good as a saint, clumsy with a bad hair type of girl. She is the campus beauty, she knows she is a catch and is unapologetically cool, and that changes the game.
She doesn't react like you would expect and gives back better than what she gets. A breath of fresh air.
The villain in this drama deserves an award, really. Her plots aren't good, but she's such a good actress that you can't help hating her. Kudos to the actress.
So we kind of get mislead when we are told about the male leader in the sinopses. It's a love triangle between two brothers (who are the new meaning of brotherhood in my book) who are very charming (so you can get second male leader syndrome, I mean, I did...).
So things are going great and bla bla bla, and BAAAM, you get proof of cheating, baaam brain cancer, baaam suicide slash murder, baaam self sacrifice death, baaam attempt murder, and that is all in like, the last four episodes or so. It was so unusual that I got confused about the "youth romance" tag. It was super cool and out of the box.
It was a bit messy, and could definitely be longer so that the story could cleanup the ends better, but it was a cool crazy nonetheless.
All actors were great, specially because they are young, and as above-mentioned, we have a crazy range of emotions. Definitely recommend this drama, I watched it all in one sitting.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This show is really enjoyable in the beginning.Until the FL shows up. She’s good when helping to solve the case, but when she interacts with the ML, it's just annoying. Also she almost didnt have any character development. Well, her character kinda grow on me as i'm watching. But then they started to spark the romance on FL and ML, i kinda lost it there. Their quarrels actually seems like more of sibling fight, unlike the usual hate-to-love bickering couples. Also it's too rushed, especially on last few eps. One thing i love about FL's character is her oufit/style.
Bromance were really good. I love their interactions. And it always makes me wonder why do they need to have an FL?, it's seems like they just forged her character there. Also how could they literally end it like that? Is that supposed to be a happy ending?
Intro and outro song are really good. I especially love the outro song. At first i think its kind of weird to have a rap song on historical drama, but the i realized that it does actually a good fit.
Rewatch? Yes, but not the whole show. Just my favorite episodes. I dont think i could stand seeing the whole thing once again, esp the ending.
Overall its a good crime solving detective drama. The case solving is really fun to watch. It does get predictable as they solved more cases, but its still enjoyable.
If you could stand weird-rushed ending (in my opinion the ending is weird) you should watch it.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Lee Hanee and Lee Sun Kyun needs to be in more musicals
Yeo Raeism was the highlight of the movie. The 3 best scenes that if werent there wouldve made me think the movie was a flop: the car scene when they sang Yeo Raeism, Lee Hanee beatboxing in the sauna, the final song battle.Movie has a simple plot. Yeo Rae, a popular but terrible actress fell in love with Jonathan, a good but very very evil businessman. She finally realizes she isnt happy with him and the marriage and tries to get away from it. Bumwoo is a huge fan of Yeo Rae and ends up helping her in trying to get rid of Jonathan.
Lee Hanee did an EXTRAORDINARY job in portraying her character as she always does in all of her roles. She did an amazing job at the musical scenes. Seriously why hasn't she been in more musicals?!! To be very honest I think someone else couldve done a better job at portraying Jonathan's character than Lee Sun Kyun did. He did a really great job (plus seeing him with that hair-do and mustache while dancing was a major treat to the eyes), but I just feel like someone else couldve done it better.
My favorite part about the movie was how it was filmed. Take for an example the part where Yeo Rae and Bumwoo were brainstorming ideas on how to kill Jonathan. It's just brilliant! Her explaining the peanut allergy plan and Jonathan next to her demonstrating it like those live tv shopping ads. And one of my favorite scenes, when they planned to kill Jon through a car accident and they realized neither of them could drive a car. That whole sequence was brilliant!
Overall it's a very unique movie, especially so if you compare it to other korean films. It had a customized Wes Anderson feel to it plus a touch of Willy Wonka. There were parts where it got boring and my attention shifted elsewhere. HOWEVER, the comedy in this movie is just pure gold and I would rewatch it again for that itselft.
Was this review helpful to you?
It's BTS being BTS....
First of all if you have watched any BTS videos before (and I don't mean MV, just them doing things, anything), you don't need to see this review to know that this show was ah-mazing.To those who have not seen BTS in anything other than their music (and to those who haven't even seen that just in case), I would suggest that you definitely watch this.
I get that this is just them eating, sleeping, playing and relaxing but it's just so much fun. Their chemistry is off the charts and they just have fun even when they are working because they are together. This show is basically BTS setting goals.
They are friendship goals as well as life goals. They work really hard but they also know how and when to relax (like me watching them to de-stress). Instead of watching motivational speeches on the internet to inspire yourself, you can just watch this and you'll want to do better in both your personal and professional life (I have started to cook after watching them).
Also since it's BTS, obviously their music is great. And yes I'm gonna re-watch this again and again.
Was this review helpful to you?
Time I will never get back
I decided to watch this C-drama because it only had 24 episode (which is short for C-dramas), but once I got started, I quickly realized that this could have been completed in half the episodes, and it would have made the whole thing more interesting. I felt that this show REALLY needed a different editor, there were some episodes that, once I got to the end, I realized that the entire episode was a complete waste of time. I really felt that a lot of it was like watching paint dry - boring as all get out.I suppose the actors did a good job with what they had to work with. The problem was the script. The main character of Tu Mo was so irritating. First, she'd been liking a boy for years, and that boy was one of the most irritating characters I've seen in a show recently. Then, I couldn't actually see what Gu Wei Yi saw in her. Then, she always seemed to be mad at the male lead for something, but rather than talk to him about it, she did a lot of clomping out of the room, slamming doors, and generally not being very nice to him. She was very immature.
Overall, no chemistry between the leads, too many irritating characters, too much dog and cat sound effects, fish kisses, and multiple unnecessary scenes/storylines.
It was sad for me to realize, after watching this, that most of the C-dramas are along these lines and not, for me, overly enjoyable. Love Me If You Dare and Dating in the Kitchen are the gold standard for me, and I will continue to hope that I happen upon other C-dramas that live up to them.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
It had its moments
This dramas started out great with two seasoned kdrama actors, acting was never going to be a problem. Premise was good, medicine is one of the most stressful careers, doctors suffer a lot there was a lot of potential in the story to explore real issues. But the drama fell on its own sword when the driver of the mental imbalance came from half baked external sources. FL story was more compelling, but the ML story involving the criminal case was so unfortunately bad that it derailed the plot. No matter what the genre is when you have professional elements involving law, business, medicine or others care should be taken in maintaining some level of authenticity otherwise it ruins the viewing experience when we start poking holes at the plausibility of certain events, in doctor slump neither medicine or law was well researched. The bigger problem was there was never enough story to sustain 16 episodes, at best it could have been a decent 12 episodes drama. Mental health was more of a plot device than a subject of honest examination. Bottom line idea was interesting but the execution did not deliver, in the end it was all foregettable.Was this review helpful to you?
Recent Discussions
-
-
JFF - Japan Film Foundation Theatre22 minutes ago -
BL Drama Lovers Club39 minutes ago -
Conspiracy Theories??39 minutes ago
-
Smile After Tears OST 轉過頭幫你擦眼淚1 hour ago
