depiction of mental health struggles (watch suggestions)
Overall: the heart of this series was in the right place, but it took way too much effort to figure out the plot/characters/timeline in this series. 10 episodes about 15 minutes each. Aired on JC Show YouTube Channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLalG2smk62xFJiyPLSsGxIW_4Znk24W_j&si=J4IbxX_npVilW4RfWatch Suggestions (to focus on the main couple)
- watch episode 1, watch episode 2 stop at 14 min
- episode 3 watch 6-10:40
- skip episode 4
- watch episode 5 beginning to 10:30
- skip episode 6
- watch episode 7 3:45-16:20
- watch episode 8 for the first 6 minutes to clearly explain the plot/what is happening
- watch episode 9 7-end
- can watch all of episode 10 or start at 5:20 to focus on the guys' relationship
Content Warnings: manhandling, mental health struggles, self harm, discussion of bullying, past death
What I Liked
- that they tried for a different type of plot
- sweet/caring moments
- visuals
- good music
- behind the scenes (though it was almost as long as the episodes)
Room For Improvement
- conversation with the doctor in episode 1 took too long
- I realize they were going for more an artsy/experimental vibe but they could have made timeline jumps back and forth more clear and what was a next episode preview, also if they had removed the exes that would have made things more clear (finally clearly explained in episode 8 what the situation was)
- in ep 10, it was a well intended discussion about the important of talking to a doctor, but then the character talked about slowly reducing the medicine if stopping and it made it feel that the goal should be ending medication when some medication is life long and life saving and there should be zero stigma taking it long-term
- should have moved the 15 minute behind the scenes footage to separate videos
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This review may contain spoilers
Couple affiliated to enemy races fighting all odds to be together forever
The most striking aspect of this drama is the male character. Just like prince Su Yu in Hua Xu Yin: city of devastating love, this male lead is the best among male leads in traditional Chinese drama world. The male lead is highly loyal, persistent and ready to bend his principles, strong convictions when it comes to anything that involves the female lead.The alpha male lead may come across as a simp to short sighted people who can't appreciate the beauty of a simple relationship in a simple story. But the alpha male lead is in fact a simple man at heart who falls deeper & deeper in his love for the female lead(FL). As the story progresses, his deep love for the FL makes him more accommodative, considerate, caring, highly thoughtful towards not only the FL but also towards her race. He is even willing to face death if he is forced to enter into intimacy with the second female lead (SFL). So luckily for the ML, she gives in to his "fake marriage only" request .
This drama is worth a re-watch! For hardore fans, this drama can be seen over and over ( at least ten times!).
There are many events, details which can't be completely explained based on pure logic. So, it would be good to classify this drama under intrusion /low fantasy.
Once again, this is a simple, beautiful intrusion fantasy story. Viewers will enjoy this if they are willing to kindly put aside their cold logic & not try to relate each & every detail with what happens in real life or with physics/chemistry/biological principles that underlie life processes in reality.
This is one of the dramas where both FL and ML get almost equal importance and screen space. What happens to both characters are really, really intertwined & affects plot development.
The FL is absolutely adorable. She may appear baby-like to many, but the truth is, she is someone who slowly evolves into the best version of her self. She is a bit slow to adapt to worst scenarios and a bit slow to discover, understand all her best traits ( which explains her impulsive, cruel reactions towards the ML at first, that she deeply regrets later).
But once the FL learns to adapt well( it's not like she was well trained & well educated like the ML from childhood!) , the FL completely understands the ML & his intents.
The FL is a cute, sweet damsel in distress type , but she is one who is not to be underestimated. She is kind, sensitive, caring in all kinds of scenarios, and never runs away from responsibilities to help others in day to day situations even when her mind, heart is badly muddled, devastated, sad.
Both FL & ML aren't power hungry or obsessed with solving the problems, issues posed by worldly politics. They just want to live a quiet, peaceful life for themselves because if they get involved in politics, they will be separated forever. Still, the main leads do their best to set things right while pursuing their personal agenda for reunion.
The only slightly annoying aspects are the fates meted out to the villian and his vamp sister, and also the ending scripted for the main leads which could have been slightly tweaked , for the better, here & there.
The ultimate sad endings thrust on the villian who is actually a real affectionate, considerate brother, and
his spoilt, pampered sister seems too cruel. Maybe bitter -sweet endings would 've been better for the duo.
As for the main leads, they really, really deserved a perfect, rosy happy ending instead of a light-hearted bitter-sweet but cute, happy ending.
But overall, because the main leads end up together in a highly romantic, intense manner oozing oodles of tenderness, this drama is worth watching a thousand times. A possibility where the FL helps the ML to get back his life force is also hinted at.
Ultimately, no matter how imperfect it was at some turns & twists of the plot; the tender, sweet, unfathomably-deep, happy ending of the main leads was worth watching.
This story is so sweet, unique & special that it is impossible to compare it with Korean drama love stories. Both are too different to be compared. Otherwise, it will be akin to comparing spices ---- cinnamon & pepper. Both has its value, utility. This story is beyond meaningless comparisons.
Don't forget to listen to the ending ost that is absolutely soulful with beautiful lyrics.
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Bad-Ass Bloody, Beautifully, Bloody, Blood, Blood... with a side of cuteness and a lot of REVENGE
Prepare yourself for a lot of blood splatter as you get up close and personal with some of the underworlds most gorgeous and interesting people...This drama surly has it all from hot steamy bloodbaths to hot and steamy other stuff... twists, suspense and gorgeous visuals. Making it hard to know who to root for and seemingly blurring the line between the usual good-guy bad-guy type of deal. I found myself hoping some pretty bad criminals would get away and actually think oh no how how are they going to make up for that loss of pretty dangerous drugs that are really bad for you...
I also found myself thinking oh he is so cute... accompanied by aww that must hurt... and oooh they are so cute... and awch, awww, how the ***** did they survive that... and D*** she is so cool... still human but oh she is so cool... and WTF happened here...
in only 8 too short episodes, my nails have been bitten, my heart has fluttered, I have laughed, yelled and almost cried and looked a way a lot...
The characters are well casted, well written and have 0 annoying tendency's. I would not say this is easy to watch because of all the raw fight scenes but it is highly bingable (even though I watched it with my husband in the evenings after my kid had gone to bed)...
I defiantly recommend this to any action lover who does not mind some blood splatter...
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Mildly frustrating but not a bad watch
This is such a unique concept and could have been great with better writing and directing. Some characters' words/actions felt awkward or were frustrating at times, particularly Prakan and Metha, and I feel like this is no fault of the actors.Their characters are simply portrayed as somewhat immature which I don't think is fitting for two respected doctors running for the director position. As two highly intelligent individuals they seemed to lack common sense or reasoning half of the time.
But on to the good things:
- The pacing was good with Prakan's slow realisation of his feelings for Tuaphee, though I do wish they made the passing of time more obvious in some places.
- Since the actors have worked together before their chemistry is pretty good. The couple scenes were cute and enjoyable and without any of that weird shyness depite dating for a while that a lot of BLs have.
- A realistic, bittersweet ending. I feel like the impact would have been lost had this had the perfect fairytale ending.
- Boy Sompob doing the most with the OST.
Overall a good watch despite a few minor frustrations. Definitely recommended if you like supernatural things or want something a bit heavier/more mature than highschool romance.
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the problem starts when they introduced new characters that you haven't been introduced yet and and left you confused on whether or not you've known that character during the short brief intro in their highschool lives.
But it was still fine when they decided to sprinkle the backstory of some of the new characters as the episodes progress...the only issue with this sort of approach is to have us the audience to keep up with the story with no connection to start with so either you get confused and disinterested on these characters or you decide to filter them out because they aren't relevant..
Some of these characters were used once and never again and for me, it's kinda a waste of time to introduce them as a prominent character (old friends/long lost mother/etc) but having no impact on the story whatsoever...If you change these said characters having no correlations with the main couples, you wouldn't even notice the difference. .
Honestly, the side couples had better story to tell than the main couple...their conflict could've stupidly be avoided if they told the truth from the start instead of hiding it for no reasons, but at least their objectives in their love life is relatable (one wants small happiness, the other aim for bigger long term happiness)
Regarding the main couple, I thought their confession to like each other could've done better than how it ended up...for me, there's quite a few times before that they could've confessed to each other which could've been better and more appropriate in terms of emotional impact but it didn't, so kinda rather disappointing
The villain here is a bit petty and kinda thuggish and not worth mentioning..they could've make him a bit better but they decided to make him weak and simple minded...so it doesn't make me wanna root for the main guy, but it made me wanna things to get done as soon as possible so i don't need to see how it ended up because it's already been decided by how weak the villain is
OST isn't anything unique, it was something you heard hundredth of times already
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review of bl episodes
overall:this is a sweet mini-series and my only complaint is that i want to see more of the couples.
stepbrother's secret kiss:
this concept is... odd. if we were to ignore that, the boys are very cute and their story is sweet and simple.
secret idol kiss:
a couple bits felt a little unrealistic but i think that's to be expected with the premise. overall very good chemistry. this couple had the best kiss(es) in my opinion.
last kiss:
the title definitely hints at the mood for this episode. i found myself quite sad and unemotional in all honesty. this couple had the best plot in my opinion.
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Story: 8/10
One of the things that I loved most about this drama is how much I learned from it--all of the historical events were incorporated very well into the story. I'm sure the show took liberties with some details, but the majority of the characters and events were real (based on my research while watching it). It gave a wonderful insight into the introduction of Western medicine, Joseon era social classes, and the international relations of Korea at the time.
The story's progression felt very natural throughout and moved at a good pace. All of the main characters had intriguing stories that converged in their efforts to become doctors. Hwang Jung struggled with hiding that he was born into the "untouchable" class of butchers, Yoo Seok Ran struggled with sexism and the limitations of being a woman in 19th century Korea, and Baek Do Yang struggled mostly with himself.
Near the end of the drama the focus started to turn more and more to events with Japan, and less on medicine. This is the main thing I didn't like so much about the drama--I wish they had kept the politics a secondary theme through to the end. Because of this I became a little disenchanted with the final episodes and while I wouldn't say the last episode ended with a whimper, it certainly didn't end with a bang either. The most climactic events in my opinion came some episodes earlier.
Acting + Characters: 10/10
Quality acting all around in my opinion, Park Yong-woo in particular. In the beginning episodes I wasn't a huge fan of how Baek's character was done (so much sneering!), but that quickly changed and he ended up being my favorite character.
One thing I have to say I really appreciated was that they found white people who could act well, since that seems to be a rarity in Korean dramas. Dr. Allen in particular was a very memorable character. While I found it a bit odd that a man born in Ohio in the 1850s looked clearly half Asian, I still find that preferable to white actors with little acting ability.
While Hwang and Yoo were interesting for their stories, the characters themselves were more straightforward: they were both good-hearted, strong-willed, and progressively minded. Baek, on the other hand, I found to be a much more complex and interesting character, not to mention the one that undergoes the most development on a personal level.
At times I hated him, and at other times I loved him. Baek was a character that took a long time to figure out, and once you think you understand him, he does something to turn that upside down. He's driven by jealousy and rivalry, but at the same time he's driven by a desire to save people through medicine and to modernize his country. He struggles with his feelings of inadequacy and jealousy when he's constantly sidelined as "second best". His ruling class status more than once proves to be an obstacle during his medical training, which causes him to be conflicted between maintaining his superior position in society and fulfilling his ultimate goal of becoming the best doctor in Korea. He is enigmatic and unpredictable, and in my opinion it's his character that doesn't make Jejoongwon simply a good drama, but rather an outstanding drama.
Jejoongwon has its faults, but the rest of it is so well done that I can happily ignore the imperfections. It's a superb drama that deserves far more recognition than it ever got.
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I shake my head and roll my eyes throughout the drama - Messy and Too much going on
If this were a full-length drama, I would have given this a less than 5 rating. I am going to be a little more forgiving as this is a low budget drama. But this drama still cannot be compared to another web drama, “Provoke”. “Provoke” is so much better.The plot here is ridiculous and full of plot holes and unrealistic ‘twists’. They try to jam too many things into this short drama. I think a fake/contract marriage + enemies-to-lovers + revenge should be more than enough. But no, they added politics. The acting is decent, and the leads are a good-looking pair. The chemistry is pretty good in the beginning but the leads got together way too early and then the chemistry is gone. We do have a couple (not enough) shirtless hot abs scenes, but not passionate or good kisses (FL needs to work harder). The cinematography and production value aren’t that great, more on par with “Maid’s Revenge”. I am blinded by the super bright/white backlighting and camera flashes.
I can’t help but shake my head and roll my eyes when watching this. The good-looking male lead and the pretty female lead are not enough for me to recommend this drama. I have to force myself to finish watching. I enjoy watching this LESS than “Maid’s Revenge”, even though it’s about the same quality. So, I feel I need to rate “My Everlasting Bride” a 6.5 and not a 7.0.
Completed: 9/19/2023 - Review #356
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The show demonstrates that there is a much larger gray area than black or white. Take the main and titular character, Keita Kurokouchi. He acts more as an antihero than a true good guy. He straddles the line between what's deemed right and wrong, and still finds a way to look like a hero while doing it. His ultimate goal is to solve the unsolved case of a robbery of 300 million yen that happened almost 45 before the start of the story. His motivations aren't completely explained, but you can that it's something that he's completely dedicated to once you have a look at his apartment.
The thing I found most entertaining was how well the story progressed. It's full of surprises. Murder, betrayal, and conspiracies are the lifeblood of this show, and it delivers plenty that will keep on your toes and constantly thinking, trying to figure out who truly has the advantage in the game of chess between Kurokouchi and his adversaries. The ending is one that completely fits the scope of the show, and was something that almost makes you laugh at the end after seeing the final climax.
The cast was great as well. They pulled an all star cast that each played their roles to perfection. Nagase does such a great job as Kurokouchi, from his yakuza-like speech to his over-the-top mannerisms and catch phrases. He'll even throw in a rap verse or two. Gouriki was a great 'straight-man' as Seike. She was very much by the book and the typical straight-laced cop, until the things Kurokouchi began saying turned out to be true. That's when you see her character start to blossom as she gets down to solving her own personal mystery and how it relates to the 300 million yen heist. They both work great in tandem to deliver a funny experience while still maintaining a great level of suspense and action.
This is a show that you can't regularly rewatch because of how high-impact the suspense and surprises are. They're best saved for once you've forgotten much of the story, otherwise they lose their pop. But the funny moments of the show are watchable over and over again. I fount myself going back and rewatching parts because of how funny they were. And this isn't even a comedy based show!
Overall, I found this show probably the most enjoyable crime show since I watched the first season of Galileo a couple years ago. This didn't have as many creative crimes as much of the Japanese crime shows do, but it had the suspense and edge of your seat thrills to really push this show ahead of many others. A definite must watch if you want a good ride.
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It’s okay
I watched the whole show and all I can say is that if you hate fat people and don’t understand privacy, this is the show for you.Some parts were cute I suppose, but seeing how such a huge chunk of their relationship was just him directly shaming and mocking her for her weight made me really uncomfortable. The way they put the female actresses in fat suits and even made them speak more childishly while they’re overweight was so weird too. Not to mention, the female lead wasn’t even that overweight? They just put a double chin on her and stuffed her pants and called it a day. I understand the message is to be healthy, and I absolutely agree with that, but in no way does that excuse the mockery of overweight people the way this drama did. No amount of playfulness or jokes or whatever can make it be an acceptable message in something of this level.
Plus, the portrayal of [a certain health syndrome] near the end was soo dramatic for no reason.... it’s one of the most common conditions in women and it’s very manageable. As someone who has it, watching that whole ordeal was laughable and I could not take it as seriously as you were supposed to.
There’s a lot that I’ll tolerate in kdramas for the sake of escapism or whatever but there should definitely be limits, especially considering how insulting so much of this was to a huge part of the audience.
HOWEVER, I really loved the cast. The leads had really good chemistry, and I’ve become a fan of their acting due to this show. If the way the main dilemma of the plot wasn’t handled in the way it was, this would have been one of my favourites.
I’m generally not a fan of Sung Hoon, but I really enjoyed his character in this show, and I hope he plays more roles like this in the future. This is also my first time seeing Henry act, and although I don’t know much about him, his bubbly character was delightful and one of the reasons I may go back to rewatch despite everything.
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Candle in the Tomb: The Wrath of Time
12 people found this review helpful
Seriously, by far the best season of "Candle in the Tomb", which is kinda sad considering it's a barely related prequel.
At long last the cinematography was competent, the script somewhat tight and solid, things were set up and later paid off.
Only 21 episodes 30 minutes each made me sad at first, but actually I think it might've been a great thing for the show. Nothing dragged, the pace was good from start to finish.
The characters have clear motivations and feel like people for once. (vastly superior, as everything about the show btw, to the movie adaptation of the same story, which has awful cartoony caricatures)
Really really good
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A definitely must watch!
I was never the type of cdrama fan who writes review after watchinh a series but here, I felt the need of voicing out my thoughts of this drama. You are my Hero changed me!First of all, if you're hesitating of watching this series because youve read that this is a cdrama remake of DOTS (and maybe youll be somehow disappointed since it's remake), then you definitely have to watch it because THIS IS NOT A REMAKE. I can, and even the viewers of the both series, attest to that.
Second, I would like to recognize and congratulate the whole production team and the writer of the story. I really appreciated the drama, the cinematography, everything about YamH! Thank goodness they did not include "the leads broke up because of some sort of misunderstanding or because of love triangle. Yamh will make us realize what are the good elements of relationship which is the trust, communication, and understanding.
And of course, the casts! I certainly do not know what would be the series like if it wasnt because of the actors and actresses who portrayed the characters. Specially the leads, Bai Jingting and Ma Sichun! They did a great job portraying their characters that you can really feel what they feel in every scene they portray.
Overall, this is one of the top-tier modern cdrama that I've watched. This series contains and will make you learn how a person with a demanding job, just like Xing Kelei and Mi Ka, will always prioritize their job and the importance of it as they serve the subjects of their nation. That even though you're in a relationship, your partner is not entirely yours. Just like what Kelei said to Mi ka, "are you willing to accept me even though im not entirely yours?". And that's what makes them special. They are understanding with and trust each other. They dont quarrel whenever one is busy and cannot be with one another.
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potrayed the most realistic and healthy relationship ever
in one word what makes this cdrama great and soo much better than other cdramas is that THE CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE MAIN LEADS and the fact that how REALISTIC it is. the story itself isn’t much, simple plot. and some people find it boring because of the lack of drama . But to me thats a plus point, no unnecessary drama, conflict and misunderstanding between the characters. often times the relationships potrayed in shows are unrealistic, but the relationship between the main leads is realistic, they face general problems that all couples face but they both are supportive of each other and communicate their problems. and another thing is that GREEN FLAGS💚, and the romance was slowly built up, not in a rush, which will gove you butterflies. i rearly watch cdramas and I don’t really like cdramas because how long they are and how they drag the story too much, byt even tho hidden love has more episodes than a typical 16 episodes kdrama, i still enjoyed every pit of it. I also fell in love with the ostWas this review helpful to you?
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