Reviews

I Didn't Expect a Filipino Film to be this Good

1. The movie was well-written, all elements on the film have their own part that contribute to the main story, no elements were used as fillers. At the start, you will have some questions like "who is the person who sent that thing?" and others. It will not feel at first that it will be answered later at the story. However, trust me. All your questions will be answered.
2. I like how the film progresses, from time to time you will feel that the film is nearing its end because there are many scenes that are worthy to be the ending. However, you will find out that the movie still continues.
3. It was filled with unexpected surprises and twists that will shock viewers. Take note that the revelations were scattered at the different parts of the movie. That's why every time you will feel that the movie is nearing its end, but before you know it, there will be another unexpected surprise.

Overall, I like this movie on how well-written this is. I like also the foreshadowing of the writer. You will be shocked at the story, but I advise that you pay attention to all of the elements displayed because those are the clues of what might happen. I will support the writer of this film; I hope that they will write for a short TV series with the same formula as this movie.

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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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What experiences in life contribute most to your growth as a person? What are you willing to sacrifice for the greater good of your colleagues and maybe yourself? What is your selling point?

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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Masterpiece....

Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman is an absolute cinematic gem that effortlessly blends supernatural elements with laugh-out-loud comedy. This Korean film is a rollercoaster ride of emotions, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats while simultaneously tickling their funny bone.

From the moment the film starts, it grabs your attention with its intriguing premise and vibrant characters. The portrayal of Dr. Cheon, a charismatic fake exorcist, is nothing short of brilliant. His on-screen presence is magnetic, and his witty banter with his sidekick, In-bae, is pure gold.

The film’s masterful blend of horror and humor is a testament to the director's skill. The suspenseful moments are genuinely chilling, while the comedic relief comes at just the right time, preventing the film from becoming overly dark. The special effects are top-notch, immersing the audience in a world of supernatural wonder.

Every aspect of this film is executed to perfection. The pacing is impeccable, the storyline is engaging, and the characters are relatable. It's rare to find a film that delivers on all fronts, but "Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman" undoubtedly achieves this.

If you're looking for a thrilling, entertaining, and unforgettable cinematic experience, I wholeheartedly recommend "Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman." It's a 10/10 in my book.

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A blend of comedy and sincerity in tackling unusual cases and escaping an elaborately set trap

I’m going to start with one detail that should be understood but may not be by viewers going in. Ordinarily, pro bono representation simply exists to provide legal services for those who otherwise cannot afford it, plain and simple. There are public defenders for certain kinds of trials, mainly criminal, but if you are sued in a civil trial, most of the time whoever has money to hire legal professionals wins. I mention this because THIS SHOW’s ultra-elite law firm, rather than having younger lawyers across many teams handle a certain number of them every year like most firms, has a highly unusual ragtag set of four-then-five people with wildly different priorities do this as a marketing/public image stunt. Don’t get me wrong; MANY if not most law firms’ free cases are done to tick that social responsibility box in places that don’t require it outright. This one, though, doesn’t even pretend. The cases are not merely helping some people sued from becoming bankrupt. They are odd cases that may gain media traction. You do not often have a courtroom stacked with half a dozen plus lawyers (accounting for both sides) for, oh, a dog custody case even though that case was far more than the “breakup who takes the dog” sort of battle).

Where this shines? Easy, Jung. Kyung. Ho. He is, as Da Wit, the heart and soul of this. As a judge unafraid to deliver justice to both ordinary and extraordinary criminals and regular citizens in turn, in punishing a select few morally bankrupt businessmen severely, he got on many bad sides including within the legal field which he is already an outcast in as he skipped law school and went straight for credentials (almost unheard of which the drama makes clear). Not just a regional “mediocre” law school grad but no law school at all? Color him dispensable to most if not for his brain having some street smarts.

The cases are very much cherry picked for drama viewing, no different from other legal shows, vigilante stories, medical dramas, and so on. Whereas Diary of a Prosecutor is very slice of life and mellow and shows ordinary days for a less common profession with its characters mostly getting along, this has plenty of antagonism from within the team and from the outside, even the owner of the law firm eager to disband them. The lead’s name very intentionally adapts to David in English, and we’re told a few times of him battling Goliaths as an ordinary guy who grew up very poor.

Overall, the cast is quirky and fun to watch most of the time. Some are a bit oversimplified much of the show, particularly our screamer and rather dimwitted opportunist in the team. That I mostly blame on the short length and priorities placed on balancing cases for the team with Da Wit’s bigger case. The main lead’s story is rather complicated, and his relationship with his team members. He only plans to stay with a short time at all and barely has time to teach them techniques and strategies through a few cases before his own case comes to light, the motive behind one of the non-legal professionals setting a trap with quite a bit of help, a trap to get him off the bench and ideally punished as he becomes the defendant against a plaintiff whose father died in prison after receiving a seven year sentence which was at the time the maximum allowed but which to viewers shows another case of law too often serving the rich, victims dying and becoming disabled a frequent occurrence in manufacturing in some nations, especially small businesses in places without robust government oversight which is a costly investment to choose for politicians who want “visible” results.

Perhaps my favorite part of this show is that the characters are all imperfect, their trust fragile… maybe it is a little overly obvious at times, but they show the ease with which relatively strong but newly obtained trust and admiration can come tumbling down with a speck of doubt planted. It shows how the team members—who all have very different goals—see this doubt and ultimately handle feeling various degrees of betrayal. We see their changes in behaviors, their growth (sometimes through stumbling around and tripping over their own pride if not their feet, too), and their insecurities on full display. The issues they have at home or had as kids? They are still with them day to day impacting how they evaluate cases and the people in them. They’ve acquired quite a formidable toolkit from their team leader, and with sharper knives and focus alike, they are tasked with representing someone suing him.

The moral ambiguity of so many characters, his ex-girlfriend turned boss very much among them, the total greed of plenty, and the strategies these people with their own motivations employ is interesting and well-contrasted by the pro bono team lead by someone who is at times half opportunist, half servant of the people but mostly good. It made it unclear who was or was not on his side until the end—to what extent they were, more specifically. If nothing else, this is a quick way to see how wildly different people might handle some of the same content and even maybe see yourself in a few.

Is this drama perfect? Not at all. It sometimes circles around its main lead’s overarching storyline like a vulture without chomping down as effectively as it could. It is very hard to integrate that story into the day to day casework, yes, and they mostly did pretty well with it even if 75% of the credit goes to JKH, something I doubt any viewer who doesn’t have ties to the staff for the show will disagree with. Where they sometimes had a bit of disconnect was covered well enough to not pay it much mind until settling down to write this.

The show was lively, the dialogue SMART for a change (in the native language, subtitles obviously always lacking some of the charm of the original, especially for this streaming service), and as usual, he mastered this role and stopped, during those hours, being the actor and just became Kang Da Wit whether using his immense range of vocal styles with that iconic voice of his I can hear just thinking about this or that character in a scene, body language including some physical comedy he is top notch at delivering, or simply (especially in court) communicating with his ultra flexible face and its thirty two million ways of bending, twitching, and otherwise expressing the full range of thoughts and emotions without a word.

Not everyone will like this, naturally. Some hate workplace-centered dramas, legal not often a preference; others will be annoyed with the eccentric blend of characters. Some won’t be able to get past some of the set up feeling too elaborate to buy into (current overlapping title The Judge Returns is thus far more “subdued” [well, after the initial event that sets it off] and less comedic than this with only a slight bit of physical comedy… it is also darker feeling, though).

If you want pretty high energy characters with quirks abounding and some touching backstories brought to light if not in extreme depth (just enough to understand them), this fits that bill. It shows places where the law is clearly just not enough and is pretty brutally honest in depicting how greed can also make skilled lawyers tools for making the world genuinely worse just as a less greedy set of skilled lawyers can make the world so much better though there are far too few of those around to handle all the world’s injustice, especially for people with few financial resources.

It was a really fun diversion for 5 weeks for me! It paired nicely during my weekends with Taxi Driver, too, both ending this weekend. It feels far too short, though, a good thing in one sense—I couldn’t believe it went by so quickly! THAT sure hasn’t been typical of most dramas lately! 🤔

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Magical; GMMTV's best BL yet

I think everything good has already been said in the other reviews and in the comments. We waited more than a year for A Tale of Thousand Stars to air, and I am so glad to say, the wait was definitely worth it. I only have the following takeaways:

1. Before ATOTS, Earth was never in my radar as a leading man material. He's got the body, yes, but acting and appeal wise, I thought he had none. ATOTS changed my perspective of him, and I could not imagine any other actor from GMMTV's slate that could play Phupha better than he did. It is his best work, and his performance is definitely one of the greatest I've seen. What I loved the most about his version of Phupha is he does not really communicate through actions but through his eyes. Earth did it so well, and very few actors can do that.

2. For Mix, I would say that he's still got some room for improvement, but that does not mean his performance was bad. In fact, he carried the show so well. It wasn't hard to sympathize with Tian because Mix just transformed himself into the role smoothly. But there were still some moments in the series where I felt he was lacking. However, if GMMTV can give this guy more opportunities to improve, I have huge faith that Mix will turn himself into one of the studio's most treasured leading men. Just watch the old trailer of 1000 Stars and you can see how much he has improved in the span of a year.

3. ATOTS was a refreshing take on the Thai BL genre, which after 5+ years of feeding us student-student relationships, has grown quite bleak and tiresome. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is probably the first GMMTV BL that is not set within university walls? The point here is, ATOTS highlights that the idea of making a boys love series not involving students can actually work. I am very excited in seeing how ATOTS' success will impact the studio's future lakorns. Will we finally get our wish to see a BL between two grown men? A BL set in the workplace? We'll just have to wait and see.

4. I think 1000 Stars had the best set of supporting characters and actors. I loved how they utilized some actors on the GMMTV slate that have not been getting any good roles lately. For instance, I haven't seen P'Champ in a series since My Dear Loser: Edge of 17, and that was way back in 2017! I like the fact that despite not having much lines, he was still largely present throughout the show. There's also Nammon, who played Dr. Nam, probably the best character in the entire series. This is another guy I do not see often lately. It is unfortunate that he already left GMM, but I find it amazing that he gave the studio his best work in his very last project for them. It is such a fitting ending to a career he's held with GMM for many years. Drake was given a surprisingly small role, too small that they did not even bother including him in the show's poster. This was a guy who had been getting main roles in the recent past, I wonder what made him settle for less? I don't have much to say about his character of Rang because his time in the series was just too limited. Nevertheless, Drake can give a solid performance if he is given the right material, you can check out Cause You're My Boy that was aired back in 2018. P'Thanom's performance as Khama is very reflective of his long experience in the industry. His last scene in the drama where he was on the verge of tears was my favorite moment of his. Aye and White, despite their very short screen time, were also effective as Torfun and Tul, respectively. And Khaotung, thank God he rebounded quickly from that Tonhon Chonlatee travesty. His performance as Longtae is so far my favorite of his own work. Although I think he is getting a bit typecast as that caring, sensible friend to the show's leading man. And we should not forget about Tian's students. Each of them had his/her own charm and was completely indispensable in the story.

5. I don't care much about songs, but ATOTS's soundtrack is too incredible to be ignored. Among all the songs linked to GMMTV series, I only liked two: Gun Napat's title song here and Gawin Caskey's song in Dark Blue Kiss. Gun's song may even move you to tears if you understand the full context of the show that it goes with. Moreover, one thing I noticed about P'Aof's past series is that he tends to overuse silly sound effects. I guess he learned how those SFX can ruin the mood of his dramas, so he minimized them significantly in ATOTS, which I truly, truly appreciate.

6. The location was shot so beautifully, it almost feels as if you have been transported to Pha Pun Dao. I noticed that P'Aof does out-of-town scenes particularly well. From In and Sun's episode in Our Skyy to ATOTS, not only did he capture what the scenario looks like but also how it feels to be there. What contributed to this feat was that the ambient sounds in the mountains were captured very well. I also loved the lighting for the nighttime scenes, which does not look artificial (in itself, this feat is superb because lakorns (at least from what I have seen) usually suck in making nighttime lighting look natural!). The production design was just the cherry on top. Heck, this is the first time I actually commented on a lakorn's production design! That just shows how groundbreaking this series was!

7. The only negative comment I can give is related to some unresolved conflicts in the story. The one that really sticks its head out was: what happened to Sakda's men? After all that gunfire, I could not believe it just ended right then and there. There was no resolution to his story at all. In addition to that, the problem regarding the village losing its major source of livelihood was also left open. When the stocks of those teabags were burned down along with the school, the issue was not brought up again. Although I understand that we were never given closure about these two key issues in the story since the drama's priority is Tian and Phupha's relationship, these issues are quite serious and we can't just pretend they never happened.


All in all, a highly recommended show. SOTUS and SOTUS S have just been dethroned as the best BL that GMMTV can offer. It will take the studio a long time to upend this feat.

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You'll ache but in the prettiest way possible

Watched it a day ago and I've realized how there's no getting over... I tried writing down how I felt watching it and then I thought for 50 mins but I just couldn't get the right words to describe this movie without doing injustice to it.
This movie healed me in every way possible... and broke me in every way possible. I didn't even realize how torn I was until it all ended and I was there left to take it all in, Halfway through you just don't feel anything and then it all suddenly hit, like a wave. A big one. It all starts making sense and it just ached. Throughout. Cuz of how real it was and simply on how it was portrayed, So beautifully and really, so beautifully but sadly...

The way they showed us the three perspectives. How whenever we were taken through each of them, we discovered smth new and everything made more sense and the realization just kicked in each time...

The way the two actors portrayed their characters, the way their little actions spoke for everything, the way their smiles, their sorrow spoke for everything, the way their laughs made me feel so happy, but sad, and the way the whole movie was carried out. It was everything it could ever be.

The 10 rating on all of them is real . One of the best movies I've ever watched in my whole entire living...Wanting to rewatch just 15 mins in says a lot on how much of an impact this movie had on me, and everyone who watched it in general.

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An action packed story that keeps you interested despite its flaws

Some spoilers but no specific details

This started off very nice, and was still interesting till the end although I was not fully satisfied with a lot of things, the ending was a big fat useless cliffhanger with basically all the big plots still left unanswered. We basically just got rid of some "npcs" lol. And i just could not for the life of me understand how so many of these people (even the mc) survived the sht they went through: a machine gun blasting from every corner/ a shot through the eyes, stab to the throat and a burning house/ 2 freaking grenades!!!!!! and the list goes on. And STILL they all get up with a minor scar. Just very very unrealistic and a huge pet peeve for me.

a little bit of a spoiler here:
I like that the uncle wasn't invincible, like you could see him get beaten down buy a bunch of random dudes before he finally managed to take care of them and you could also see that he got scared from time to time. At first I was like mehh it takes away from the amazingly badass mysterious vibe they set him out to be in the first couple of eps... but then I thought this ACTUALLY makes him even more of a realistic character and less like the mc with the plot armor protecting her.

All in all this was a fun watch, I really wanted ALL those bad guys, especially THAT specific one to go out very, very painfully but I am at least happy Honda got avenged, he was my favorite character :'(

Edit: Oh wait I just realized something that annoyed me in the first couple of episodes and I don't think it was answered till the end. Why on earth were a bunch of killers obligated to protect the mc? like what would force them to do that, especially since some of them just took out whatever those implants were? Not mentioned, they never even showed up lmfao xD

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Shortly, the story was about the romance of shopkeeper and his fake sister.
It's a funny story with hilarious characters and predictable plot.

I wasn't familiar with the actors, but they portray their roles nice. The outro song was good too.

The one thing i really hate are the subtitle! But I know it's always the problem with MGTV dramas.
I feel like the story was okay, but the subtitles makes it unbearable.

The episodes are only 10 mins long, so i could finish the whole thing in about 3 hours.
This drama is perfect if you want a light watch and not think of anything deep. But be prepared of the cliches and terrible subtitles.

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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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A Shallow Pond

This one was easy to marathon because of its small amount of episodes, and with a duration of 45 min each, they kept even those kinda short.

The title is dope. Can't deny this, I'm a sucker for those things. And it fits, too.

As for the story... I'm always in for a nice Sci fi plot (as a writer you can let your imagination run wild and create so many things, as long as you can make them believable) and the basic idea here is indeed interesting. But when you look at every element, there sadly is nothing new. The overall story is very similar to The Expanse (some of you might be familiar with that show) and some other interstellar movies. The storyline and the characters are very stereotype and predictable. There's the team leader who wouldn't move and wants to finish the mission, the rebellious biologist, the spy and a mix of some different crew members. The politician who is a follower of capitalism and confidentiality, and a hidden third party.

The thing that annoyed me the most was the technical execution. It's set in the future, there should be a certain digital and technical progress in everything. Some things did indeed look that way, but then again there were so many things that didn't fit in. Usually I like to overlook things like that but in these kinds of shows I want to see the progress in every little detail, no matter how small it might be. I want to admire them. I want to ~feel that the story is located in the future. Not to mention the medical parts. Come on, the doc only needs one look at a patient and already knows what's wrong with him. Yeah, right...

There are things happening and decisions made that seem weird. You want to know why they did what they did, but you don't get an exact answer.

So, with all the criticism above I couldn't decide whether the show was either too long or too short. The second half felt dragging (funny considering that it has only 8 eps in total), yet I wish they would have added more episodes to explain every single puzzle in more detail.

The inaccuracies turned The Silent Sea into a shallow pond.

I do praise the cast, they at least did a fantastic job with an otherwise lacking script. Some extra points for them, the cinematography and the idea. This doesn't mean it was a complete failure though. It had its good parts as well, I did enjoy certain things and also completed the show.

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SPARKLING CHEMISTRY OF MAIN LEADS (w/ a speck of undetailed spoiler)

I was driving along with the straight storyline and doing alright under the clear night sky full of stars, but not until I was about to reach the climax. I was staring to these two twinkling stars. I didn't expect the road to take a left turn and I fall off the cliff. I managed to survive in the end though.

These two stars named Dunk (as Nuea) and Joong (as Kluen) shined so brightly. They are one of the main leads of a BL series that has great chemistry. Dunk, who looks like your average-looking actor, caught me off-guard with his charming smiles. And together with Joong, who speaks to me with his glittery eyes, made me finish the episodes 7 and 8.

What I find messy in this entire series is the misplacement of all Kluen's flashback (except the sunflower pot). They could have done the same thing to Kluen's flashback as what they did to Nuea's flashback. I lost interest in his past while he's telling Nuea about it. Also to mention Gia's BF problem and Nuea-Typhoon's relationship, who in their right mind would choose those in the climax? I mean those topics are great but they unwisely picked the worst scenarios and scripts ever. Nonetheless, the early and mid-episodes are above decent for sure with little and ignorable issues.

It could've been a must-watched series. (sigh) Never mind, I still enjoy this series. I like Dunk-Joong as main leads.

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You have to be in the right mood to enjoy this

If you're in the mood for something cosy and comforting, then you'll love this. It's ideal if you just want to relax and watch an easy slice-of-life show with delicious without worrying about any drama. The costumes, food and setting in general all look amazing.

However, there's also a risk that you'll be completely bored. There is essentially no plot in the show, over the course of nine episodes almost nothing happens. There is also no tension or conflict in the show, everyone is friends and they always agree with each other. There's never any barriers in their way or difficulties to be overcome. There's no suggestion that cooking for a large household is difficult or that you might ever have frustrations with your job or housemates (or even how Kiyo became as good as a professional chef). Instead, there's a level of constant smiling and laughing that you normally only see in propaganda.

Oddly enough, it doesn't show much about the life of a maiko, so it's vague about how they actually earn a living. How do they entertain these much older men? What if they have a difficult client or someone they don't enjoy talking to? Are there challenges with maintaining such a traditional lifestyle in the modern age?

The show would be much more interesting had it grappled with these questions instead of presenting it as an almost perfect world where everyone is always happy and nothing ever goes wrong. Success is most enjoyable when it feels earned.

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To the ends of the earth.

The Lonely Warrior is a crime thriller about one man's obstinate, obsessive thirteen year quest for justice. It is a highly dramatized account of a real life case. The movie version Endless Journey is led by Zhang Yi whereas this drama version is led by Qin Hao.

In the middle of a tense, emotional criminal case, an interrogation accident ends the careers of the elite Third Brigade investigative unit led by Cheng Bing. After a ten year stint in prison that costs Cheng Bing everything, he emerges hell bent on hunting down the violent killer Wang Dayong who eluded them all those years ago. He reunites with his squad, all of whom have at surface moved on with their lives but are still haunted by this cold case. They initially go to great lengths to help Cheng Bing but as a result of life commitments end up dropping out. Cheng Bing soldiers on deliberately, methodically pursing the vicious Wang Dayong seemingly till the ends of the earth, leaving no stone unturned.

The strongest aspect of this drama are the chase scenes and the way tension builds in a gripping and chillingly suspenseful way. What I didn't like was how Wang Dayong barely appears in the latter episodes. It was done to raise doubt over whether Cheng Bing was doggedly on the right track but it also made me quite frustrated with his obduracy. They failed to capitalise on Chen Minghao who delivers an incredibly menacing, ruthless and unpredictable Wang Dayong, a hardened criminal with exceptional survival instincts. I was also dismayed with what they did to his appearance; effectively obscuring all the nuances of his expressions. This would have been a lot better if they focused more in the cat-and-mouse chase between Cheng Bing and Wang Dayong with heart stopping near misses instead of pushing Wang Dayong off-screen for such long stretches.

My biggest issue with the narrative is that it delves too deeply into Cheng Bing's and the Third Brigade's personal stories. Qin Hao never fails to impresses in how he conveys deep emotions and he really out did himself in making us feel the weight of everything he loss. But I was not convinced at all by his relationship with Miao Miao. This is not a necessary character even though Ren Min does a good job with it. Add Tong Tong to the mix and I was just rolling my eyes. Even though I enjoyed the Third Brigade's camaraderie, they should either have had them see the case through all the way with Cheng Bing or not at all. It is very annoying to watch the narrative build up all of their personal stories only to see them drop out half way through. The most relevant and interesting relationship is the contentious one between Pan Dahai and Cheng Bing. These many digressions come at the cost of losing the momentum of the chase. This would be a much tighter and better drama with fewer episodes. As such, I am not surprised that the movie version has been better received than the drama even though I personally think the drama has a better lead cast.

Despite some pacing issues, this is overall a very enjoyable suspense thriller anchored by a stellar cast. Happy to rate it 7.5/10.0.

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