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Great Series!
Perfect! This story is inspired by the true story of the first unicorn in Thailand. It can inspire viewers to do business or start up. All the actors played their roles well, not just the main actors, the supporting actors or guest actors, they played well, the picture and sound were very good. Ice, Janeyeh and Palangr are very talented and great actors. They should receive awards. All the staff, the director should also receive awards too. It's a very great series. There is no boring part. Everything is perfect. I would like to recommend everyone to watch it. It is definitely not a waste of time.Was this review helpful to you?
Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World
12 people found this review helpful
A bittersweet love story that will have you both smiling and crying by the end of the drama.
We start off with a 17 year old Sakutaro Matsumoto AKA Saku crying his heart out and then we switch to a 34 year old Saku who is searching for a place in the past where he can finally let go of his beloved Aki's ashes and the pain of his memories. Ultimately, he does all of this to move on seventeen years after her death. He is trying to escape a meaningless life filled with emptiness.
As he searches for that place he recalls the events of his past and it's like we are able to watch two drama's. One about his past and another where the present catches up to him.
The pace is perfect, nothing was rushed or is too slow, this is an important factor which I feel makes a drama the all the more enjoyable. Leading on from that, the time of the past and the future is perfectly interwoven together making a perfect crossover by the end of the drama. You really feel a whole drama instead of two parts... The past and the present become one and it's like the two pieces complete and merge together.
But don't get me wrong. It's a happy drama. It's a sad drama. Just like the present and the past is merged, so are these feelings of happiness and sadness.
The rewatch value is a six because some are brave enough to go through this roller coaster of feelings however others cannot... I belong to the latter group...
The acting in this drama is phenomenal, you can really feel the emotions, the characters, the essence of the past and the hope for the future. This is aided by the soundtrack which enhances the feelings experienced through this drama... And whilst some may dismiss this drama as a simple terminal disease love story designed to make you cry. It's a lot deeper than that. This is a story of acceptance, moving on and questions how to get over the death of a loved one.
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TOKYO AIRPORT - Tokyo Kuukou Kansei Hoanbu
12 people found this review helpful
But more than just being technically pleasing, Tokyo Airport is truly carried by the viewer's connection with the characters and the human drama that unfolds. In just a few episodes, I became very attached to many of the characters, each of them with their own personality quirks and faults. In a way, because of the wide variety of characters and the way many of them play their own part in the drama, Tokyo Airport contains something for everyone (in an airport setting, of course). Romance, thriller, family, comedy, etc, this drama has it all.
Plot-wise, some of the scenarios are a bit of a stretch to a rational mind, but it's not the scenarios themselves that I really enjoyed. Instead, the characters' reactions to the scenarios and difficulties thrown at them are what really make this drama enjoyable. If you're willing to keep a suspension of disbelief, I think you'll find it (excuse the terrible metaphor here) a heartwarming flight that you'll be sad to leave in the final descent. At the very least, I certainly was.
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This review may contain spoilers
Out of nowhere, a gem !
It's been quite some time since the Philippines gave the world of BL ground-breaking series like ”Gameboys” or ”Gaya sa pelikula”. There were actually some good series like ”Daddy Love”, ”Love at the End of the World,” and ”Papa, What is Love?”, although I wouldn't call these ”BL”, but rather ”gay” series. And now, all of a sudden, out of nowhere comes a BL gem entitled ”The Day I Loved You”.What seems to be quite a conventional enemy-to-lovers and love-triangle high school BL series in the first episodes, suddenly turns into a heartbreaking drama, so viewers should be warned not to start watching this with false expectations.
The main characters are Nikko (Tommy Alejandrino), a nerdy boy, president of the school's book and bible clubs as well as the dance troupe, his best friend Justine (Rabin Angeles), who's had a crush on Nikko for a long time, and troublemaker Eli (Raynold Tan), who is being adored by all the girls and who bullies Nikko at first. When Eli is caught breaking into the school, the director punishes him by forcing him to join the dance troupe, with Nikko teaching him to dance.
Step by step, Eli gets closer to Nikko, with Justine enviously trying to obstruct their evolving relationship. Shortly before the school's prom, both Eli and Justine ask Nikko to be their partner at the prom, and at that very moment, Nikko breaks down whose health deteriorates rapidly. He suffers from ALS and knows that he won't have much time left to enjoy a ”normal” life, but he stays positive.
Nikko falls for Eli, the ”bad guy”, and under his influence Eli drops his bad behaviour, and finally even reconciles with his mum who lives abroad and had sent him back to the Philippines because of his permanent shenanigans. Eli tries his best to make Nikko happy by fulfilling some of the wishes on his bucket list. Justine finally accepts that he won't be Nikko's lover, and he gives up in a heartbreaking scene. He proves that he is Nikko's best friend when he teams up with Eli trying to support Nikko.
Things become even more dramatic when shortly before the prom Nikko can't move his legs any more. He is desperate and about to give up, and it is Eli who persuades him to return to his joyful, positive self. I don't want to spoil too much about the final episode here, but what I can say is that it's an emotional rollercoaster like the entire second half of the series, and although the ending is more bittersweet than happy, there is even a slight chance that there may be a season 2.
The story is well written (by Easy Ferrer), with a good blend of comedic, joyful, sad, tragic, and emotional scenes. Some viewers were obviously not prepared for the serious story in the second half of the series as they expected a lighthearted rom com, but life isn't a bed of roses for everybody, so this series is more true-to-life than most high school BL series which only revolve around the love affairs of guys trying to find out whether they're straight, gay, or whatever. Integrating a character with a disease as serious as ALS into a BL series is courageous and requires sensitive writing, but it works in this show.
Apart from the unique plot, it is the actors who make this series worth watching. Tommy Alejandrino, who was awarded ”best actor” for his main role in the 2022 movie ”The Baseball Player”, is a very good actor who brilliantly manages to bear the main burden of this show. Raynold Tan has been reduced to his good looks by some viewers, and he may have some room for improvement as an actor, but he does a good job as does Rabin Angeles, who is a newbie like Raynold. I would love to see these three in a season 2 or in a completely new series together again. Most of the side characters are good in their respective roles, too. As a dedicated fan of Kaleb Ong, I would have wished to see more of him in this series, but you can't always get what you want...
The directing (Easy Ferrer) is good and the production is technically better than many Filipino series, which doesn't come as a surprise as it was made by Regal Entertainment who have given us (among many other, non-BL productions) the Ben X Jim and B X J Forever series which were harshly criticised by some viewers, but I'm probably one of the few who actually liked those series very much for their colourful stories, very good acting, and the inclusion of all the colours of the rainbow, and clear political statements about the pending SOGIE bill.
All in all, ”The Day I Loved You” is a beautiful BL series with a unique plot and good actors who I am sure we'll see more often in the future. Viewers should be warned, however, that the series' second half is dramatic, if not sad, so if you expect nothing but shallow entertainment, this isn't a series for you. But if you're keen to watch good entertainment with a serious message, you'll love it.
You will find all my reviews of BL series and movies, including those on productions from countries not covered by mydramalist, like Myanmar, Singapore, or Vietnam, here:
https://www.wattpad.com/user/DominicKebre
Country: Philippines (2023)
Episodes: 10 à 20 mins.
Director: Easy Ferrer
Cast: Tommy Alejandrino, Raynold Tan, Rabin Angeles, Kaleb Ong et al.
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Real Passionate Kissing Scenes
OMG! This is the only Chinese drama I’ve ever watched with so many passionate kisses. Other Chinese dramas normally have superficial kisses like a peck on the lip or cheek. But this drama goes all the way out to capture real, passionate and sensual kisses. The male and female leads don’t seem to have enough of those kisses and with each other!This is a light-hearted drama. It’s funny, and the plot is straight forward with not many twists. I like the chemistry between the lovers, as mentioned earlier, they don’t seem to have enough of each other. I also like the relationship between the Prince and his buddies. Their silliness is the most hilarious things to watch and I really love watching them teaching each other the art of “conquering” women.
Overall the acting is good, especially for the new comer Ling Mei Shi who plays the Li Ming Yue character. She is cute, beautiful and works very hard in bringing us a very convincing princess. Alen Fang is very good looking with a cold and arrogant look, fitting the role of Li Qian very well. As Li Qian, despite his intelligence, he is repeatedly fooled by his own wife, the princess, over and over again. Together with his buddies, Si Kong Zhen and LiXun, they seem to have some kind of bromance with each other and the overall effect is funny, sweet and heart-warming.
Overall, things fall into places well and no loose ends, and the pace is just good.
If you want something light and good for a laugh, this is a good drama to follow.
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This review may contain spoilers
I love musicals, and music based dramas, thus my main reason for watching. If you want to hear great music, THIS is the drama of 2013 for it! The greatest thing about Monstar is the OST (though I hope they give us more songs for purchase). Summary: The acting was good, and surprisingly so with many "newbies" to drama acting. It was nice to see scenes of musicians playing instruments and actually know how to play them... very refreshing. The music, as mentioned before, is top notch. There is a piano duet of J. Pachelbel's Canon that is amazing, as well as a haunting version of Nocturne with just guitar and cello that sticks with you. The story is the weakest link of the drama, which is likely why it was only 12 episodes. It wasn't a bad story, but light and lacking true depth as a drama. This could be best labeled as a light romantic musical drama, but does have entertainment value.
Details: There isn't much to put in the details without spoilers, but I can say that you will likely purchase the OST if you love music. Watching "new" actors was also nice, it gives me a few more people to put on my list of "ones to watch". I have to give a special mention to GLAM's DaHee because her role was awesome and she played it well. I fell in love with her character the most and she just tended to steal scenes when she was in them.
Rewatch value is listed as high as it is because the music will make me watch this again since the OST doesn't include all of it. Should they make all the music spots available for purchase, it would go down I think.
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I just completed this drama half an hour back and I'm already missing it. Believe me when I say that one of the things I avoid doing the most is touching any currently airing drama. Suspense and waiting for the next week is like taking multiple gun shots! Initially, I did that with Pinocchio, until the 7th or 8th episode. When suddenly saw netizens storming on about Pinocchio, I couldn't run away from the temptation! And ended up making stupid promises to myself such as ' I'll just watch the first episode, see how it is, and give it a full run from the 2nd episode onwards until it ends'.
But boy oh boy, I watched all the 7/8 episodes aired by then, in one day and took a stab for realizing that now I had to start waiting for another damn week. Hard times! (if you're a drama addict, you know what I mean :P)
I'll go by the rating table. Story? Here let me ask you this, what do you think would come out of the drama written by the same team of writers who gave us "I Hear Your Voice", teaming up again with Lee Jong Suk? Yes, a great story with all the elements one expects after watching the trailer. Actors? Honestly, I had few concerns about Park Shin Hye but I'm glad she lived up well to her character of Choi In Ha, a character outline I liked when I read about it on various websites. Lee Jong Suk was awesome as always. I liked Lee Yoo Bin since "Innocent Man" and liked her even more in this drama especially, her character's story with Hwang Gyo Dong (Lee Pil Mo). It was very cute and I think it was a good idea to add such light comedy to the drama. I liked everyone's acting from both MSC and YGN news company. Kim Young Kwang moved me in the last few episodes, trust me. Special mention to Kim Hae Sook as Park Ro Sa (Seo Bum Jo's mom) who portrayed the character of a villain pretty well.
Soundtrack? Instead of doing an online search on the OST list, I waited for all the tracks to play in the drama which made me like them even more. "Non-fiction" by Echo is my favorite track. (:
What more should I do to actually/ literally tell you that this drama is worth watching for its story, cast and music because I rated it a 10, both for Rewatch Value (I don't rewatch much) and this drama as an Overall?
If you're into stories such as this one, it'll be worth it. Enjoy! :)
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This review may contain spoilers
When our high school session officially disbanded in the year of 20xx, there were two students less than the ones who had joined. One of them was a girl who isn't here anymore and the other is typing this review.The Comments obviously tried to cover a lot of ground in 5 episodes of 45 minutes; each episode is jam-packed, and flitting between the past and present, “The Comments” manages to tell a pretty coherent and well done story about Papang, and why she killed herself, that the reason might be closer to home than we had thought.
*warning for spoilers*
Papang is a character straight out of every series out there–straight A+ student, sporty, student body President , super nice, super pouplar, yadda yadda. But what sets her apart is that unlike other such 'super' characters, she killed herself.
“With social media if anyone wants to say something bad or mean, they can just type it.”
The story opens on Papang’s funeral where we see her mother and brother Khan (New) conducting the rites and people paying their respects. On the very next day, we are brought to the investigation of Papang’s death. The police find it a curious case because Papang had not left any note.
While Khan investigates his sister’s death in his own way, we are slowly allowed to see who Papang was and what Papang did through the eyes of Pok (Sing Harit) whom she viciously ridiculed and turned down on the day he proposed to her in high school; Nan (Ciize) who dislikes her own self and feels over shadowed by Papang and in her efforts to share Papang’s glory for just a little bit finds herself facing hatred; Toon, who was Papang’s best friend but ran a hate account about her.
I think the genius of this show lies in the fact that instead of evangelism, it tries to speak about consequences. Every time you leave a comment, it can have either a good consequence or a bad consequence. It can lead to it directly or it can indirectly cause it. All of these characters are morally gray–nobody is angelically right or completely in the wrong–Papang more so than anybody else. She is expected to be a perfect angel, to force a smile when she isn't feeling like it. But she can be pretty rotten too because at the end of the day, she is also an eighteen year old youth. The show doesn’t seek to justify or disparage her, she is just another person with her own problems, problems that are added on by people who are supposed to be her friends. Problems she can’t take to her two living family members.
Another side of the show is that a wrong can’t be corrected with another wrong. Yes, Papang was wrong in how she treated her friends, but does that justify how Nan used her profile or that Toon was spreading hate about her?
Another message that I strongly felt was the relationship between Paang and her mother. In the beginning, we are lead to believe that Papang’s mother is disinterested in her daughter but that isn’t the case. To provide more context, after Papang’s father died/left, Papang’s mother has a relationship with another man who has a family. He is neither abusive nor invasive, in fact he is quite the opposite, but his presence shuts off another safe place for Papang. And with her brother Khan away in Bangkok, and having alienated her two friends, Papang doesn’t have a safe space anymore.
The story doesn’t have much suspense nor is it written to be tragic. But the lucidity with which this simple story is portrayed left a harrowing impression on me, and maybe because I too was once a bit similar to Papang. The changes in her behaviour, how she was vivacious and bright, then became unpleasant and bad tempered, and the sadness which got replaced by that expression that the fight had gone out of her, it reminded me of that period not yet so far away, when everything about me said that I had already decided. Papang too had already decided. All this was beautifully portrayed here.
I couldn’t really relate to Papang’s experience but I think we reached (or woupd have reacjed) the same end in different ways. The transition in her character was something I understood completely and therein lies the sign of a good show, how it manages to make you feel the character despite the gulf separating our experiences.
One last thing I learned from here is that we should stop 'living off comments.' Papang had started living off the validation she got from "the comments," and is kinder to pseudo people across the screen than she is to her own friends and family. Same goes for Nan. When we try to please anonymous people across the screen, we inevitably change, more often for the worse.
The story ends showing how everyone is affected by comments in one way or the other–the elderly teacher at their school, Toon, Pok, Nan, the 'fat' boy, Papang’s mother, Papang and Gina–nobody is free from it. In such times it is essential to remember that comments can kill and there may be unimaginable consequences.
Apart from this, stellar acting! I was blown away by Jennie, Sarunchana and Nan. Main roles for Jennie please GMM, you have an unused gem right here. Sarunchana is wonderful, now she needs a series where she doesn’t die five minutes into episode 1 :') I am always happy to see Ciize, it's an additional perk that she acts really well. Glad to see Sing Harit again. And New wasn't really the main role–the stage was taken by Jennie and Sarunchana XD but he did his thing. Huge shoutout to Fon who played Paapng’s mother. One of the most important scenes was hers and if she hadn’t done so well the ending wouldn’t have hit that hard.
To anybody who is about to watch this, do so with an open mind and I hope you learn to distinguish between hatred and criticism if you don't already. Do check out Jennie and Sarunchana’s interviews available in the GMM channel where they talk about hatred they have personally faced. And leave a good comment
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it's cute
I think this gets to much hate but I thought it was so cute OK it wasn't that original but still very cute and I love joongdunk they are such a funny pair I do like this two better off screen there chemistry is fire 💗Was this review helpful to you?
An enjoyable watch despite many irritating factors
I have a love/hate relationship with this drama but decided to review it for a few reasons.1. The actors did a fantastic job in portraying their roles.
2. The production was high quality with noticeable wardrobes quality and set design.
3. Most of the main characters weren't two-dimensional but more realistic and relatable despite significant limitations.
This drama's storyline is quite a departure from the original online novel that it was adapted from, so much so that some parts were unrecognizable. Some were good changes; others were questionable. I always wondered why scriptwriters chose to change so much of the original story that the value of the original work is lost? I would hesitate to re-write Louis Cha's novels because people love his wuxia story so much. That's how he became famous as a story writer. A scriptwriter is in no way a novel writer. Scripts are meant to bridge and adapt the storytelling effects between conventional novels/storytelling to movie production without losing the original, entertaining value of the story. Unfortunately, this is lost in this drama. I felt the scriptwriters lost their place and thought of themselves as authors of the story itself. Despite this significant drawback, the acting is still entertaining. The actors portray the characters in the drama well despite its limitations of character development and major story plot holes. The actors did a good job bringing it to life with realistic portrayals as best as they could.
I enjoyed the story despite some noticeable flaws in character development that felt illogical and rushed. I enjoyed the OST (but wasn't too happy that it was censored and copyright claimed all over youtube that most of it are not released). I'm impressed with Tong MengShi's acting and portrayal of the ML. I saw him before in Joy of Life and noticed him, but he had a minimal role in that drama. His role in this drama gave him more grounds to expand his acting chops. He brought the main character to life, expressing emotions in a restrained and controlled manner. The character itself wasn't complex, but his portrayal made it complex and interesting to watch. I couldn't say the same for the FL. In the first ten episodes, I found her portrayal annoying, and I was ready to drop the drama. Still, I persisted, and she eventually developed to become a more realistic and relatable character. I attributed this major dramatic annoyance to one part by the overacting of the actress and the other the significant departure of the script from the original novel. The character in the story was more deliberate, calm and careful than it was portrayed in the script adaptation.
Despite the significant flaws in the main characters, I found the supporting cast/characters immensely talented and rich with depth, which rescued many of the script's shortcomings. It made me root for the scenarios around the characters and invest in the drama. Overall, I still enjoyed the drama, and it was worth watching, but don't have high expectations of it in character development and storytelling values. If you're not that picky in this regard, you'll enjoy the drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
At last ... it ended.
I start with the first part of episode 1: A rich boy is in love with a boy who he met on a dating platform. Today is the day to meet and the "office worker" met the rich boy at the most elaborate and expensive location imagable. Because the rich boy is not especially clever, he never asks himself how the office worker could afford that. Of course the "office worker" is also a rich boy....That's how the story begins and that's the quality the screenwriter put into their script. How this got funded is beyond me, it was boring as fuck, unlogical as fuck and the drama was there just to have drama in it.
At least camera work was stunning, so this gets a bonus point for that, but even with that, it's one of the worst Thai shows we have seen this year. I am just a bit sad that all the actors/actrresses had to put up with such a show.
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Both actors were showing great acting skills and you could actually feel the chemistry between them. I like it when you can´t quite grasp a character in the beginning and the actor is able to change this feeling during the movie and you can feel how you get closer to the character. Both actors defenitely accomplised this task.
The sript was well writen, the right words at the right time, not too much drama or never ending dialogs. Same goes for the music. Quiet, smooth, necessary but without getting on your nerves.
In the end the movie tourned out to be realistic, sad, life-affirming and quiet, but still chaotic and a tiny bit crazy. The right amount of everything, well composed and put together. And even the ending matched.
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The plot was fantastic and left me intrigued after every episode.
The overall vibe of the drama is strange with tons of dry humor (totally Odagiri's style).
Odagiri and Kuriyama portray an attractive detective duo, who have solid chemistry and plenty of bickering between themselves.
The ending left me wanting a second season.
Also, upon visiting several forum discussions, it seems that there is a lot of cultural symbols and subtle messages in this drama that hint at certain things. A re-watch of this drama after some research/pondering is definitely suggested.
Overall, this is a twist to the typical police/mystery drama with tons of crazy characters and dry humor.
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