STORY: it's actually a very sad story if you think about it, even though it has some elements of comedy. I don't give a 10 just because this is too short.
ACTING: ABSOLUTELY LOVED THEM! This is what I expected from my boys Krist and Singto. Their chemistry is something wonderful. Since they did a very good job with their characters on Sotus, I knew they would do good even here. They truly are amazing actors.
MUSIC: surely helps, it's great though.
REWATCH VALUE: I already rewatched this 5 times, I don't need to say anything else.
OVERALL: this absolutely deserves a 10! If they made this into a longer drama, it'd surely be one of my favorites ever. I hope they'll film more episodes.
You should watch this! Even if you don't enjoy bl that much, the acting and the story are amazing and you'll find yourself crying after 5 seconds.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's a rather strong & quirky healing drama.
The Good⌲ The acting is amazing across the board.
⌲ The leads had fantastic chemistry.
⌲ I'm just repeating myself at this point, but OMG the FL actress is just amazing. (11/10 pretty, 11/10 chic, 11/10 acting ability, similar to Jeon Jong Seo in Wedding Impossible)
⌲ In my mind the romance is 10/10.
⌲ There is a lot of wholesomeness & wholesome healing content in this drama.
⌲ The main plot is rather interesting.
⌲ The 12 episode format works well for this show. (though I would've preferred 13.. **)
The Average
⌲ The drama had some really cool superpowers, but using them in a cool way only happened like once. (Lois & Superman scene)
⌲ Adding to the previous point: The least fun use of mind reading I have ever seen
⌲ The fake fat was not great, though not horrible either.
⌲ The sister's boyfriend/marriage plot really overstayed its welcome.
⌲ I'm not entirely comfortable with the backstory about swindling/scamming, especially thinking about FL's relationship history, basically whoring herself out at the call of her "stepmother". (This leads to fun writing, but they could have made the background story less offensive without anything else degrading in quality I think.)
⌲ While 12 years old Park So Yi did an amazing job, she is completely miscast for the the high school adolescent role, she's way too young compared to her classmates, it's just jarring.
The Bad
⌲** I'm displeased about the 5 second happy ending & how it happened. (though considering where e11 was on the emotional roller coaster, I totally expected something like this to follow.)
⌲ The drama had some slow & boring moments. (admittedly not in a huge abundance)
⌲ I'm not happy about the redemption arc the stepmom has gotten. I for one don't think what she did to a child etc. is forgivable so easily.
⌲ I feel the writers pushed the chicken and egg paradox way too far.
⌲ In this drama the characters talk a lot about how abusing precognition to get lottery payouts is stealing. While technically true, I find this sentiment really silly.
⌲ ML driving his family members around with his car = awful.
⌲ Electric stovetops exist..
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far better than the original...
While the original dragged on for ever this version is very compact. The "Ai" and "Rak" characters were played very similar while the "Kaishin" and "Mut" characters are quite different. The japanese version is less fluff and more animalic in the first half. The story plays out in the same fashion with the difference that the GL "to be" couple is far less abnoxious.Now that MDL changed the episodes there are two special episodes after that but MDL could not be bothered to add them in the index yet. I felt the finale was a bit disappointing even with an happy end for all. The acting was far superior to the original series, the chemistry was there and they did not hold back in the NC-scenes either. Production quality was also high but less polished to the original series, so imho it felt more "natural".
Overall I prefer this compact version compared to the thai version which felt boring most of the time. So, if you didn't like the original version, chances are high, that you will be more comfortable with this version.
Update: Because MDL does not have an entry for the special episodes I like to mention them here. They are much more finale then ep 10 imho. Which rounds up the series nicely.
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Major Leads w/ NO chemistry and recycled storyline
As many reviewers mentioned, this is not worth the time unless you're looking for a new xianxia drama or you're a huge fan of Zhao Lusi. I skipped a through a lot. It was ok since there weren't any other good dramas to watch. But I won't rewatch it.The Good:
- costumes
- production quality was decent
The Bad:
- plot/storyline was literally recycled and blended copy cat parts of Ashes of Love, Eternal Love, Love & Destiny. Too many similarities it was distracting
- the main issue I have is the utter lack of chemistry between the lead couple. I really like the ML and FL actors in their other works. But they just fell flat in this one. I just didn't feel the emotional yearning to root for them as a couple, which is essential for these types of dramas (i.e. Ashes of Love, Eternal Love)
- the ML (Wang An Yu) : I've only seen this actor in one other series To Fly w/ You, his acting was so good and his chemistry w/ the FL (Song Zu Er) was off the charts. In this Last Immortal series he just could not pull off the screen presence of a stoic, larger than life High God of Chaos. He came across as goofy and too soft hearted, and his acting lacked depth.
- the FL (Zhao Lu Si) - tends to be type-casted w/ as the cutesy, gutsy female lead. Which she played that part well as A Yin. But when she became the Lord Phoenix Feng Yin - she was not likeable at all. She didn't quite have the depth to play the jaded, badass female heroine w/ conflicted soft yearning heart for her true love (for example Yang Mi in Eternal Love). She jsut came across as an icy statue.
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Babe Went Full Savage
Listen. I'm not a sad person who hates happiness, but like, I hate happiness on Charlie, cuz dude was happy all the time. Ain't nobody that happy all the time. Also was he laughing or crying??? Could never tell the difference. And was Charlie necessary for this story? Did he need to be in the drama? Sure, he stole some power Babe wasn't even using and he faked his death one time, but like... he was just there!And what was the point of their powers? Seemed like they disappeared when they need them the most. I was like, okay good for you Babe, you can catch stuff flying towards your head, and?? I see something aiming for my head, I dodge, you are not special.
Anyway, before we start, I'd like to give Pavel his flowers. He was such a good actor in this, made everyone else look like they were being paid to act like trees.
Now to the review.
1) Nothing, and I mean nothing will get me to dislike 'Way'. I love that Mfer sooo much. Like, the moment he popped up on screen, I went, who's that? that one right there, WHO IS THAT.?? I don't know, must be Nut's aura or something, because nothing he did made me annoyed. And everything, and I mean, everything, annoys me.
2) Pavel's tattoo. Full savage indeed.
3) Charlie... well, I mean, he was in the drama. After we learnt of the reason he came into Pitbabe's life, I was like, sure, good for you, you power stealing, death faker, glasses wearing air-breather.
PLOT
Interesting storyline, but if it wasn't for tiktok comments and videos, wouldn't understand half of it. It was all over the place, and the only thing that kept me watching was Pavel's acting and Nut's face. And what was the point of that korean transfer racer person? Was his whole storyline to be kidnap and show us Charlie's noodle arms could hold its own in a boxing? Dude could have been replaced by one of those racing cars and I wouldn't even have noticed. Alan and Jeff's story was nice too. Tony should have suffered in a pit on Mars, or under a mountain, either would have been awesome. Way deserved so much better, deciding to go in the direction they did with him was not it.
And I refuse to talk about the Mama, Papa thing. Mfers out there trying to make me vomit up my lunch!
CHARACTERS:
Loved: Pitbabe and Way
Liked: Jeff, Alan, and that boss person who sponsored them? forget his name. I could look it up while typing this but... nah too much work.
Tolerated: Charlie. Like I said, dude was in the drama, circling around Babe, it was hard not to notice him. He was there!! Smiling.... all the time. Though, I did like that we finally had a top who wasn't the traditional good at everything, cool, arrogant and non-chalant.
Tony: Oh man, dude did all that! All that, and he just up and die. ARGGGGG.
Kenta, oh boy. What a shoe licker. Where to begin. Dude was such a bummer. Like a train crash you can't look away from. I wanted to hug and slap him at the same time. Towards the end, I legit did not care whether he lived or die.
POWERS:
Way supposedly can manipulate people into doing whatever he wants, and he waited all those years to get Babe? And ALAN'S POWERS. Talk about if useless was a person. Dude got the gift of foresight and he did nothing, nothing with it!!
ACTING.
Pavel left everyone in the dust. Pooh was there... smiling and wearing glasses. I guess. that's something. Nut, well, like I said must be his aura, can't find anything wrong to say about him. Everything he did was top notch, bestest boy. Some of the actors were decent as well.
OVERALL:
A decent watch, wasn't the greatest, but I can see a lot of people really loving it. This could have easily been a 5 star thing, but then they off'ed Way and that was when I drew the line. Overall, watch it, if not for anything for Pavel's acting.
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Anyways, onto the main review. I've watched the Ghibli version many many years ago. What comes first isn't always better. This is just my opinion, but this live action adaptation is in no way inferior to the anime. They're both different in a good way. So, I'll break down the review into the following categories:
1. CHARACTERIZATION: I thought the Kiki in this movie was much more believable than the anime. In the anime, Kiki has always been a good girl who loses her power b/c she saw how spoiled humanity can be sometimes. In this movie, Kiki is a real human girl/witch with something called an ego --- she has that youthful pride that we've all experienced all too often when we were younger. As a result, she gets humbled and temporarily loses her powers. There is your realism. The anime portrayed Kiki as a 100% good girl, which isn't realistic. Everyone has imperfections, and this movie clearly showed the main protagonists' to us.
Also, they portrayed Osono as a very human character in this movie, who comes off as a really compassionate person towards Kiki in the way she encourages Kiki to never give up by urging her to take on the next job . In the anime, Osono comes off not as a person but a flat two-dimensional plot device whose purposes were to give Kiki shelter and give her the idea to set up a delivery service. This movie characterizes Osono so much more. She's like a surrogate mother to Kiki rather than just a Landlord/lady.
And let's not forget Tombo. He's more than just some pretty (nerdy) boy that needs saving by dangling from a broken blimp. I won't spoil it for anyone, so let's just say that Tombo is a lot more manly in this movie. Actually, he (and the baby hippo and the singer lady telepathically and Osono's encouragement) were the ones who saved Kiki's conscience. Kiki only saved Tombo with her mother's wound-healing medicine, which any passerby could have done. Nothing like in the anime where Kiki was the only one who could have flown to Tombo just in the nick of time.
2. THE CGI. For a low budget production, I thought the SFX was incredible. If you want to see really bad CGI, look no further than the upcoming Batman v Superman movie trailer. The parts where CG Batman tries to evade CG Superman's wrath looks to me like utter shite compared to the worst CG in this movie. I really thought CG Jiji could exist in real life, b/c a witch's cat is no ordinary cat! Forget that movie poster at the top corner of this page. Jiji looks nothing like that in the movie, he's got more fur textures and better lighting. Also, the flying sequences are really well done. The only part where I could visibly tell it was green screen was at the title where she's flying infront of the gigantic moon, and the light from the moon made it so.
3. THE STORY. I thought it was a refreshing change from the anime with fleshed out ideas. Parts where teenagers played pranks on each other to get even had me chuckling. Heck, I even think some of the story changes were even genius, such as ferries only come around on a set schedule, which is why they need a witch to delivery stuff between islands. In regards to delivering a baby hippo towards the climax, what can I say, the hippo was one of the four (the others are Tombo, singer lady, and Osono) who redeemed Kiki, so it's all good! It didn't feel like a plot device but rather something which advanced the story and Kiki's character! It showed her determination to complete her apprenticeship b/c she decided to become a witch ever since she could remember and flying was the only magical ability she'd cared to cultivate.
4. REWATCH VALUE. I rewatched the anime maybe once or twice so far. That's how much rewatch value that anime had! I've already skimmed over certain key scenes a few days after watching this movie. If I were to hold an annual movie-a-thon, this would be one of my top choices to add on the list for indefinite screening unto the n-th anniversary of such movie-a-thon!
5. HUMANITY. This is a made-up category, but important nonetheless! This is perhaps the reason why I gave this movie a 9.5 and not say a 7! I believe that a movie or work of fiction is special when it touches your heart. For me, it was the bicycle riding scene. Do you remember the first time you mastered riding the bike? For a kid watching this movie, it would be something trivial as they've probably only learned to ride a bike recently. But for someone a bit older it certainly brings back memories of us being bipeds (literal) on wheels for the first time ever in our lives using manpower! This movie brought back a certain fond memory of mine --- I was literally a kid again while watching this movie, which certainly isn't a bad thing!
In summary, movies are meant to entertain. No matter how critically acclaimed something is, if it doesn't entertain, then it's got no purpose existing. This movie definitely entertained and so it does exist!
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The story, well, its not something new, especially if you read the manga, saw the previous versions, and watched the anime. Even for me, I memorized the plot and characters in my head, and even unconsciously, I can point out some dialogues in the different versions. (I am a fan of the manga). If you are watching this for the first time, and that this is a new story for you, you might get to enjoy it especially if you are a fan of typical rom-com doramas. Its fun and entertaining in a way. Its sweet and lovely at many points. Its cliched and dramatic at certain levels. The stupidity and drama mixes well and goes along at each character's development in the story especially in Irie Naoki's character. The aspect that I admire the most in this drama is the character portrayal. There is something in the characters that will make you fall in love in them. They give me the feels of the manga. for example, when I watched Kin Hyun Joong playing as Irie in playful kiss, I was like "This is not Irie Naoki at all, This was more of a overacting naoki." but when I saw Furukawa as Irie, I was like "This is the Irie character I have been looking for, the Naoki that is the smart-aloof guy with serious EI problems." His character is the reason why kotoko does not seem very annoying compared to the "kotoko" on k version that is seriously annoying which literally stress me out.
For me, it was that good and satisfying that I downloaded the entire drama so that I can rewatch it again. :) Patiently waiting for season 2!
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One thing I especially love about Reply 1994 compared to Reply 1997 is there is way more romance in reply 1994 than reply 1997
I really loved the diversity in each character and the difference in their dialects. Also I loved how they brought the parents from Reply 1997. Also if anybody is thinking of watching Reply 1997, watch it first because they appeared as guest role in Reply 1994.
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Unpredictable with plot twists. But damn, I felt my neck was stiff!
As someone who loves the mystery genre, I found this drama's fantasy part, which gives a mystery vibe, unpredictable with plot twists along the main plot. Only watch it if you're comfortable with a huge height difference.STORY:
The Female Lead Jin Xia bought her dream house, a cute old house by the sea. Once moving in, she finds that her new house is haunted by a ghostly tall handsome guy Nan Hua, a man from ancient times, who is not a ghost but can choose to be unseen by people. Nan Hua got stuck living in that house and is waiting for someone whom he doesn't remember who the person is. So we have the usual cohabitation trope with Jin Xia and Nan Hua gradually falling in love.
I found that the fantasy plot of this drama is unpredictable, as in Nan Hua's background, the person he's waiting for but doesn't remember who, how he's able to live that long, etc. I won't spoil you with the details but will spoil you with the ending if you're someone who wants to know if it's a happy ending or a sad ending (scroll after you reach the bottom of the review).
CHARACTER AND ACTING:
I have never seen Lai Mei Yun before. Her character Jin Xia is pretty and petite, independent, and career-oriented. She wants to remain single, with only a grandma and a best friend as people who are close to her. I saw the actor Wang Zi Hao in the short-length series with the time-loop theme "Secretary Bai Wants to Resign Everyday", which I thought it's quite funny. Nan Hua is a nice Male Lead, but I think the actor looks better in ancient costumes than in modern costumes. I felt like the huge height difference of 40 cm or 16 inches (see source below) between Nan Hua and Jin Xia gave me a stiff neck. So, it's understandable that others said that they saw a romance between a man and a little girl. Fortunately, Jin Xia has pretty long wavy hair, and she doesn't have a high-pitched voice or act childish.
Height difference source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy531LiwncE
OST:
The ending theme "Love Will Tame the Wind and the Rain" (爱会驯服风雨) is sung by the actress Lai Mei Yun herself.
SPOILER of the ending (Scroll down below)
A happy ending between Nan Hua and Jin Xia. He disappears because of losing energy. Jin Xia buries her engagement ring and it regenerates the dead ancient tree that was Nan Hua's source of energy. Nan Hua is reborn and he comes back to find Jin Xia. Not a last-minute reunion.
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But the story was absolutely brilliant. It had some great plot twists that were genuine twists, as in, it was actually unpredictable. Obviously it had a scientific aspect to it, but wasn't full of jargon, so you don't need to be a science nerd to enjoy this. It wasn't full of action, though there were some great scenes, but it was never blandly telling the story either. Most of the technical stuff, ie the stuff on computer screens, were in English, and for us non-Japanese viewers, it really helps to understand the plot better. All the characters were fantastic. The writers did a great job balancing out each individual character's depth and background, and so none of the characters felt false, or like just fillers for the plot.
Acting of the cast, again was incredible! there were a couple of iffy moments, but still it was good. Nino I think, did brilliant as Ryuhei, a really fascinating and complicated character. And not just Nino, all others were just as brilliant with their characters.
The music was perfect. They used several tracks, and they matched all the scenes perfectly. It was quite a long film, but it is definitely worth rewatching.
Overall, this movie is totally worth 10/10. No matter if you are a science buff, or action/thriller buff or a Nino stalker, you would absolutely love this film. Happy watching everyone!
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How to Ruin Something in 3 episodes
I wrote this as a way to empty myself rather than anything else. Everyone’s taste and perspective is different so I have never made an effort to convince someone to like or not like anything. And I also debated a lot on whether to post it or not. But since I already wrote it, what the heck… This is a description of how a perfect 9.5 rating peddled itself into a 7.Now I’m going to be honest, I feel some unexplainable attachment to N’Bright. Sort of maternal. I don’t know why, maybe because he’s the same age as my baby sister and my protectiveness for her is transferred, maybe because I can sense some vulnerability behind his aloofness? I don’t know, let’s leave that to the therapists to untangle that web. But the point I wanted to make before I went down the path of self-analysis and discovery is, my biased feelings also flowed down to the character which meant I tend to gloss over some issues either with the show or the actor. Don’t say I wasn't upfront about it.
Where to start; the actors?
N'Bright - Besides his good looks they say he brings all he's got to the set. I do like his acting. Although admittedly when I first saw the cast interview before the series aired, my first impression was, this is not going to be challenging for this guy. Character and his own personality seem to be too similar.
I found his strength to be when he is playing the seemingly cold, detached, flirty, cute, shameless parts of his character. His biggest weakness would be sad scenes. He squints. Basically, that’s it. I found that in scenes where I should have been more inclined to empathize with his character instead I felt disconnected. These are the scenes specially where Win has outshined him.
N'Win – I don’t even know where to start about our breakout star. It is hard to imagine that this is his first role. I guess some things just come natural to some people. When he is playing the mash up of legally blonde and clueless, I kept thinking, “this guy would make a damn good villain”. That is a testament to his ability in convincing me that he is a talent that should not be underestimated. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t have areas to work on but for a first run, he hit it out of the park.
The Plot
If you’re looking for a series to tackle serious issues, with intricate plots and multi-faceted characters you won’t find it here. This was a very straightforward simple unoriginal plot. What I like about the series was that particular fact. It never tried to be more than what it was; which is the equivalent of a chick-flick. It is a simple story of two people falling in love. It wasn’t a question of will-they-won’t-they but rather WHEN will-they. The trill was watching the chase and the fluff unfold until the expected happy ending arrives.
Whatever minor faults could be forgiven as long as it delivered what I needed; which was an uncomplicated entertaining love story.
Tine’s oblivion to his fake boyfriends real flirting, and Sarawat’s one step advance one step retreat was what excited me, asking will Tine realize in this episode or the next episode that his fake boyfriend is actually in love with him.
The choppy editing and some of the directing mishaps can quickly be dismissed. Why spend over analyzing something simple that wasn’t trying to be more than what it is, I told myself.
When people pointed out the scene with Sarawat getting beat up was unnecessary, I said no they are trying to show Tine who only saw Sarawat’s popularity, that there was another side to his life. A not so pretty side that Tine was oblivious to. For some who don’t believe boys would punch someone because their girlfriend liked their IG, I’d like to counter with my own experience with stupid, where in college I had a close friend who’s boyfriend regularly gets into a fist fight with any man who made eye contact with his girlfriend (no I’m not exaggerating, going to clubs or bars was definitely a stressful situation when my friend and her boyfriend joined us) But I digressed again, I was trying to say that I can come up with any explanation or excuse for a scene that may come off less than perfect.
The Problem
Then episode 10 happened. The first couple of minutes showed us what we have been waiting for. Finally! Tine realized his feelings and accepted Sarawat and they are now a couple. So, what comes next? Of course, the honeymoon phase! Where we are going to witness firsthand these two people we have been cheering on for 9 episodes, go on a date. We are going to see Sarawat who shamelessly flirted his way into Tine heart, is as a boyfriend. We are going to see how awkward, shy Tine is with his first boyfriend and watch him fall deeply in love ugh so romantic hu… NO! That’s not what happened. What we got was a fast transition from “we’re boyfriends” to “we are cohabitating” in a matter of 15 minutes. If it was just the cohabitation, I wouldn’t be so bitter. What they went into is from flirting and making eyes at each other to bromance territory. I mean they were one chest bump away from turning into two white frat boys “dude”! In a matter of 15 minutes the spark that had carried us for 9 episodes started fizzling out in front of my eyes. Man and Boss should ask for refund on that bouquet of condoms. But I moved on, I declared it the weakest episode, which was bound to come along in any series.
Episode 11 busted in with the Halloween special. I mean to this day I still can’t tell you what the thought process was that went into writing and approving that episode. The only saving grace was the last 6 minutes where we finally got to see from Sarawat’s perspective on what it was like for him when he met Tine again in ep 1. That part was cute and in perfect theme to the beginning of the series. I feel like N’Bright did his best work there. Now another milestone for this episode was Tine said “I like you too” out loud for us to hear. Now I’m no director or writer but shouldn’t this be an opportune moment to get in a kiss? Mind you, I’m not asking for tongue or exchange of saliva (I feel like I have to keep pointing out this part for some to understand) but a simple peck. Would it have killed them if Sarawat and Tine had leaned on each other or gave a back hug while they were stargazing?
But hey, let’s not get hung up on the missed opportunity here when episode 12 brought on a new bucket of mess. Ep 12 was a cast call for all clichés. You name it, it had it. Here, because of this series, I had to eat my words once again. Around ep 5/6, here on MDL I praised this series for not having negative female portrayals. One commenter pointed out that it still had “Sarawat’s fans”. I said I don’t consider them as normal females, at least we don’t have an ex or something trying to raise havoc. I guess this is why they say you shouldn’t put something out into the universe?
Why what was supposed to be a simple Hallmark drama has devolved into c-drama world with its melodrama is beyond me. Well as you’d expect, the last ep could not save the descend into the bottom with the regurgitated plots, cliched love triangle, last minute drama.
In our very last episode we got a strong montage and a character I barely recognized. I have theories, hear me out… when Sarawat broke his leg and they took him for his x-ray follow up, by any chance do you think the hospital messed up and gave him a lobotomy? Or, in the Halloween ep, did he maybe get body swapped? Guys I have over a decade worth of knowledge in this area from watching Supernatural. It could happen. And this is the only explanation that I can come up with to explain the unexplainable character personality shift. People expect you to accept that Mr. Sarawat expo, Mr. cop-a-feel even when beaten to a pulp, now gives strong shoulder hugs and high fives. Mr. I'll kiss you till you drop now gives head pats. The Sarawat, who crawled to Tine with a broken leg and wouldn’t leave his side just because Tine fainted now sees his boyfriend puking and being taken to a hospital but instead goes home for a good night sleep and a change of fresh cloth before going to see him? I mean WT actual F! To top it off, Sarwat 2.0 didn’t even say “I’m sorry” or make any effort to win Tine back or anything remotely sane but instead sang a song that he barely even finished. Man and Type showed more warmth with that hug than our main couple, who technically had just made up. To be fair, Man and Type showed more warmth than our duo in the last 3 episodes.
I have a lot more to say but I fear the only thing to be gained would be carpal tunnel. I will forever treasure you, Gunsmile and Toptap. Episodes 1-9 will be remembered fondly, especially since as far as I'm concerned this series ended after the first 15 minutes of episode 10. I loved, loved everything about the music. Thank you for that.
And at last, I will dedicate a verse from one of my favorite song to it:
“it could have been love, but it’s over now;
It could have been good, but we lost it somehow”
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She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat Season 2
14 people found this review helpful
Smiling over a meal
Our lovely ladies returned in this second season to grace our screens with the sweet development of their relationship, their own personal challenges and moments of growth, the meeting of new supportive and heart-warming friends, and even more delicious meals.I know last season I begged for a second season but, now, I'm begging for a third. Pleeeeeeeeease!
If you're not watching this, what are you doing?! Do you not like JOY?!
. . .
Did I mention there's rare Ace rep?
Just go watch it, you fool! I will be over here, crying over my coffee, blessing Furritsubs for allowing me to watch this with subs.
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Overrated work of art?
I guess it was my high expectations because of the praise that this show has got so far but when I watched it I couldn't really connect with it the way I wished to...First of all the editing was weird in some cases, I was just left confused on the overall pacing of the story and the decisions made on continuation of it. Even if it was intentional it just didn't help what felt like a very lackluster story.
By the end I expected to learn more specially about Jae Won to really know his back story and the way he acted, and while I did understand his actions it felt overall lacking and like they could've explored more but decided to leave it vague, which just by the end made me not connect with him as I would've liked to.
A great portion of the characters (specially the ones in the club) were unlikeable, and were mostly forgiven or left without consequence in the end, which just made it harder to keep watching.
The music was alright and story could've been better, just the execution felt weird and even if experimental or different to what's out there in terms of BL it felt too cliche and weirdly paced in a lot of the cases, like if it wanted to focus more on the psyche of the characters why not show more of the therapy sessions of Jae Won for example instead of only snippets in some episodes for example.
I've been enjoying the last K-BL releases but this one just isn't up there for me, which makes me disappointed and makes it feel overrated in the end.
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The romance is the fluffiest thing in the world and the couple has good chemistry, they look really cute together.
I hadn't watched a drama with Yoo Seung Ho before but I've developed a crush on him watching this it seems, he's such a good actor who portrays emotions really well. Chae Soo Bin is also a great actress, I applaud her for the dual portrayal of both characters.
The main negative thing I could point out is how some scenes are too childish and naive.
Overall, I only recommend giving this drama a chance if you're prepared to lose some braincells and to be frustrated by the draggy episodes.
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Don't Give Hate a Chance
I decided to watch Dark Hole first because of Lee Joon Hyuk and, boy, does he look fantastic. Secondly, I am a sucker for survival dramas, especially zombie and resident alien-like themes. The first thing I noticed was the camera work, which I really enjoy, but as I continued to watch, I realized that whatever the black hole was, it appeared to feed off and grab an even stronger hold off those whose souls were darkened by whatever was buried deep within them. So, the vibe quickly changed from resident evil to more like an Age of the Ultron kind of feel where resentment developed over time over humanity's brazen maliciousness and corruption in the face of the many injustices leads one person to participate in the eradication of all those they believed deserved to be punished, acting as a judge, jury, and executioner all in one.So, in that sense, Dark Hole is not a typical zombie drama, making it an even more exciting watch. It was funny, disgusting, and at times scary -- based solely on people's emotions and perceptions. The different perspective it takes in combining zombies, mystery, shamanism, science fiction, and horror altogether that is amplified by emotions, ranging from injustice, rage, fear, anger, disgust, and even anxiety, all of which are regulated by an opposing range of emotions that clearly signify that disasters tend to either make leaders or cowards out of humans. I liked Dark Hole for what it was; it doesn't necessarily clearly articulate the how, which for me was one of the biggest questions I wanted to be answered, but it does deliver on its overarching theme, which quite befits our present-day global situation.
Dark Hole is not a drama that will win awards, but it is a drama that tries to impart quite a few meaningful messages. One of the most significant is not to give hate a chance because it may allow for the deepest desires to become the deadliest when one does it. And that humans, more often than not, are their own worst enemies, for, at times, the monsters that rise from the dead are nothing compared to the ones humans carry in their hearts. And the most powerful message of all is that whoever fights monsters should see that they do not become monsters in the process. As they say, if one gazes long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into them. I enjoyed Lee Hwa Sun and her great fighting skills but loved Lee Joon Hyuk in the role of Yoo Tae Han the most. A man of action rather than words. So different than his role in the Stranger series yet just as appealing.
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