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I was drawn in from the beginning, and if it were not for responsibilities and work....well, I may have been glued to my tv day and night until I was finished. At around an hour and a half long per episode, this was NOT an easy show to binge on. I wanted to, but it was practically impossible for me to do. This show ended up being a warm, full of heart, slice of (prison) life 'dramedy' that is almost entirely character driven rather than plot driven. If that type of show is something you enjoy, please give this a chance, I don't think you'll regret it.
The writing for this show was first class. I hesitated to give it a 10 just because I tend to get 'post show glow' as we MDL'ers like to call it. But I settled for an overall 10 with just a fraction knocked off for storyline and rewatch values (this show is LONG, did I mention that??) This story flowed so well, with proper use of flashbacks to fill in the missing pieces. There were some things I didn't think would be realistic in a prison, but some things which were too heartbreakingly realistic. I loved the relationships that the writer created and getting to know the motivations of the characters. Overall, I think the writing was VERY well done. I audibly laughed many times and then mopped up my tears through the last two episodes - both happy and sad tears. Prepare your tissues for those, folks! Although we didn't get a firm ending for everyone, I felt that, in a way, that was realistic too (and maybe, there's a chance for a second season down the road??) and I wasn't overly upset with that lack of closure as I normally would be. It made sense to me in this story, and it was enough for me right now.
The acting from the cast was worth every minute. Who would have thought they could draw this much sympathy from me for criminals? I loved how Je Hyuk, who was quite lacking in common sense, was so shrewd at reading people and knowing whether they were really a good person or a bad person and how to deal with them accordingly. I've only ever seen Park Hae Soo in one other show and that was a supporting role that I didn't remember. But I will definitely be looking forward to seeing him in more after this. I thought the chemistry between Park Hae Soo (Je Hyuk) and Krystal (Ji Ho) was excellent. I absolutely would have watched them do a straight up romance drama with these actors playing these two characters. And I always think that I'm not really fond of Jung Kyung Ho, but then I always end up liking him when I watch him. He was very likable in his role as Lee Joon Ho, and I liked his bromance with Je Hyuk and his romance with Je Hee. I loved all Je Hyuk's cellmates as well - I can't even choose a favorite. I liked them all for varying reasons, Min Chul, Han Yang, Captain Yoo, KAIST, and Crony. Then there was Lt. Paeng, the best corrections officer in the whole pen - and his protegé, Song Gi Doong. Wonderful performances from all the actors of these characters. I really have no complaints for the acting at all. Sometimes, even down to just facial expressions was perfect.
The music was very fitting and fit just the right emotions for the scenes, and I feel like I need to go back and listen to some of the songs again.
The re-watch was knocked off a bit just for those long episodes (did I mention those yet? LOL) but, time permitting, one day I really do want to go back and rewatch this again.
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A well-done co-production.
(Love Song) is a film that took a pretty big risk, simply by being a co-production. With only two cast members that speak both Thai and Japanese with some fluency, putting this film together and it being good it quite the feat. With a Thai director, the Japanese cast members also found themselves bewildered by some cultural differences in the directing, which I saw them talking about in a special cinema-live broadcast interview before watching the film in the cinema.However, all that aside, this film works. There aren’t any characters who suddenly understand a language they shouldn’t, and there were also smart decisions made with which lines of Thai dialogue got subtitles and which ones didn’t. That is, that in scenes with an interpreter present, you don’t get the subtitles, you get to wait and listen to what the interpreter says, which I quite like personally as an immersive experience.
Now, looking past my initial wonder about how they made the film work linguistically, there is a story of unrequited love, difficulty in expressing emotion, and a solid dose of humour to go with it. The humour also was a good blend of Japanese and Thai-style humour. The comedic relief from the emotional main storyline was also well used. I will admit, I teared up at a couple points in the film, and considering how much laughter I also had to hold in, that is a feat. I spent a good portion of the film grinning, one way or another.
The song was great and the story, while relatively simple, had emotional depth to be appreciated. The film really succeeded by not trying to do too much, and by doing that, it a stand-out in the otherwise mixed world of international co-productions, which often struggle to impress.
I recommend this film to any and all who are interested! As for the cast, they suggested it could be enjoyed alone, with close friends, or even with family (albeit it may be a bit embarrassing).
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This drama tells a story of an extra who gets transported into the body of a princess who's about to be married to a prince, who, apparently was dead by the time she gets there. Whenever the male lead dies, she will be killed too because she's his wife, and the time loops back days before the wedding. The more she died, the further she gets transported back in time, so she tried to prevent his death from happening and find out how to get back to her world.
It has 25 episodes but it's so short with only 8 minutes per episode, so I'd say it's pretty packed with almost zero filler scenes (!!).
The actors who play ML and FL, Hao Fushen has a mouse-kind of face that I like, and although the prince he plays are supposed to be unruly (frequent brothels) but it doesn't really show. Instead he looks pretty gentle and sweet. Jin Zixuan is also good, she plays a time traveller so well, she's fun and not afraid to look silly, and her silliness is not annoying me. No one is a stone faced NPC, and I like that too.
Story wise it's not new, but the execution is done well and makes it look enjoyable. The prince mansion setting is beautiful, and they use a soft color palette that doesn't glare into my eyes. They're also pretty generous with the trinkets and decorations, and if it's a budget drama it certainly doesn't look like it. What irked me is that in some parts it looks like I'm expecting a jump scare(?). There are some plot twists in here, some of it frustrating but not disappointing. Also the ending?? It is honestly predictable but so random I'm torn between laughing and crying.
This is good, simple and easy to watch, fun enough to keep you engaged and guessing. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a short drama.
p.s. I never found out the real name of the FL until I read the synopsis, like?? There is really no narrative intros nothing whatsoever we're just thrusted into this time travel thing and expected to find out ourselves. It's kind of fun though.
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This review may contain spoilers
A fast thrilling ride with beautiful visuals
A woman is given a second chance in life when she finds herself reborn 3 years before her death. She sets out to take revenge, romancing 3 men along the way whom she uses as chess pieces in her revenge plan.This is a well-produced mid-length drama with gorgeous cinematography and lavish costumes and set pieces. From the set decor to the multiple wardrobe changes they had for the main cast, including matching accessories for each outfit, you can tell a lot of effort was put into the art direction. A short drama that doesn't look cheap!
The story is fast-paced packed with a good assortment of office romance, two women fighting over art pieces, family feud, mystery and action, love triangles, birth secrets etc, so there is never a dull moment! The drama boasts a good OST that is used effectively -- I especially liked the choice of music at a breakup scene in ep 13, the lyrics of the song matched the events so well!!
Although the story is centred on the female lead, I was more invested in the story of the 2nd and 3rd male leads. My favourite was episode 14 which was more focused on the two of them, I thought it was a pity that there wasn't enough time to further explore their backstories. For example, in a later episode, we are told that Song Yanzhou managed to secure his position in the company and in his family, but we were never shown how he went about doing it.
Despite being a reverse harem drama, I felt it was no mere silly love triangle drama. Each of the 3 men served a different purpose in FL's revenge plan, which I thought was cleverly written. At the end, there was also a good explanation of why she chose 1 guy instead of the other two. Although she didn't end up with the guy I was rooting for, it was fine for me because I found myself wanting to ship the other 2 guys together instead, lol.
Acting wise, I think all the cast did a good job. I'm still fairly new to cdramas so I didn't know any of them apart from Lin Zehui (he's the sole reason why I even watched this). Lin Zehui did an impressive job as Song Yanzhou, his micro expressions and the way he shifted between a cold manipulative boss to a softie who unknowingly fell in love....it was simply amazing. Zheng Chunjing was an unexpected discovery for me. I thought he looked strange at first (I'm sorry) but I found myself liking and sympathising his character, plus the actor himself seemed quite likable in the behind-the-scenes and promotional activities.
What I didn't like about the drama were the horrific scenes of abuse inflicted on the female characters. It's strange that a female director would include such scenes in her show, I guess maybe she wanted to show how much women had to suffer under men? Those scenes were quite uncomfortable to watch.
Trivia: This director seems to like working with the same actors so you will see many familiar faces from her previous dramas "Money Is Coming" and "Ban Xing Fu Sheng", both also starring Lin Zehui. The poison that is mentioned in this drama is also almost identical to the one in "Ban Xing Fu Sheng", although the poison goes by a different name in both dramas.
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Some of dreamlands sweetest male leads...
Juggling three boyfriends may sound like a dream but is pretty hard...To be honest I can hear all the voices saying if this were a man we would all be saying he is such a jerk but since it is a woman people seem fine with it... Well I like seeing women being portrayed as jerks and even if the story had its ups and downs this was overall a pretty entertaining drama with a pretty interesting and I dare say unexpected twist... And Well that is all I am going to say about it...
The acting could be better, the characters and drama are surprisingly simple yet complex and all the male leads are adorable and sweet and just the cutest little kitty type men that you just want to hug and squeeze their cheeks...
There are no annoying characters, but some more easy to love than others... It is short pretty okay to binge and I guess just good enough...
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It focus on how the heroine is trying to catch the hero's attention. The movie is very comedic, I laugh often on her ways to attract the guy. It is more on how their friendship blooms, how the guy taught her on life through foods so yeah, their relationship is kind of sweet.
I watched Kawaguchi Haruna's previous drama and I must say she improved a lot in this movie. She delivered that desperate woman's act successfully. This is the first time I watch something with Hayashi Kento, he is good, an eye candy too.
The ending made you want to know more, kind of hoping for a continuation of this movie. This movie is short, about an hour and half only so if you want something light heartening you can try pick this movie. Recommended.
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So close
This one took me REALLY long to get through, and I'm not sure why. On paper it has everything I love — a strong female character, mental health, tragic backstories.But I really just couldn't connect to the female lead. Insecurity is something I understand, but when every other line out of her mouth was "did you do this with all your girlfriends?" or "are you breaking up with me?" or "are we even dating?" it just made her very overbearing and unlikable.
I really liked the main plot about JJY dealing with his abusive childhood, but it really could have come earlier. There were some subplots that I felt didn't really add much to the story, and more time could've also been dedicated to Hae-soo's sexual fears, which I thought was never addressed as much as I wanted it to. The second ship was also kind of out of nowhere for me and didn't make much sense.
Because of all those criticisms, I was pretty much stuck on episode 8 for months and just never felt the urge to watch. Once I did, it was the last few episodes where we really fleshed out JY's plot that really had me buy into the drama.
Ultimately, this was still a pretty good watch, though I'm surprised it's rated so highly. My favorite part is undoubtedly the OST.
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This review may contain spoilers
Everyone needs a damn psychiatrist.
How can an 18-minute long extra episode be better written and far more interesting than the entire first season?I should start by saying that I'm a big fan of villains/antagonists in pretty much any type of media, so Lhong turned out to be a character I really enjoyed from a psychological perspective. I'm not a psychologist or anything of the sort, but I do enjoy reading and watching stories of the genre. If you ask me, I would've preferred to watch an hour long episode of him going through his personal life because I felt that the combination of depression, anger, and fear of abandonment that was showcased in this short episode was an excellent plot for him.
Many of you are very quick to judge this character and I see why, I mean, he has done absolutely terrible things, but he has also been led through a life of self-loathing and solitude, hating people because he thinks people hate him. Now listen to me: I DON'T support any of his actions due to the fact that they were simply WRONG, but it make sense why he did it when you think about it.
I am incredibly disappointed at the writers of this novel/drama because they turned something that had so much potential into a degenerated sexual assault and abusive relationships fanservice. It is absolutely AGGRAVATiNG how NONE of these character got ANY type of punishment for their actions. If this was me, I would have called the police on them bitches as soon as the first episode ended.
Please do not support these kind of stories. They do no good for the LGBTQ+ community.
Sincerely, a gay man who won't condone this type of behavior.
P.S.: Shoutout to the actor, though. He did an excellent job portraying his role as Lhong and I hope to see more of him in future dramas.
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Dooenjang/The Recipe is a perfect example of a simple story made extraordinary. Lee Yo Won, as usual, portrays her character with grace and calmness and Lee Dong Wook was the perfect 'masked goblin.' But the best performance goes to Ryu Seong Ryong, who played the inquisitive, go-getter reporter who went to great lengths just to piece every bit of truth behind the story that makes up The Recipe.
Story - If you're just as inquisitive and scientific, this story will guarantee you a 10
Cast and Music - awesome
Rewatch Value - Although a tragedy, still highly rewatchable masterpiece
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Story 7/10: This special was quite interesting. Like I said before, it just has a few clips that aren't from the dramas, but overall it really helps you learn more about Asahina and toru.
Acting 10/10 : No complaints about the cast. They are perfect like in the drama.
Music 6/10 : The music is good, but not great. In fact I think it only had one song and that was the same one.
Rewatch Value 3/10 : I wouldn't really rewatch this special, especially due to the fact that im not really a rewatcher.
Overall 7/10: The special is good, but it's not great like the drama.
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Watch this to feel good about life and love
This has been such a treat. If you are growing tired of dramas with very heavy themes i.e., revenge, switched at birth, love triangle, cheating etc., then this is for you!This is the first time I've seen such a realistic take on life and love for a Japanese drama. I love how the leads trust each other and believe in each other's dreams. Even their arguments make me smile everytime they make up/make amends, because we can clearly see that they communicate them well and not just assume/create scenarios inside of their heads.
I've been skipping this drama and out of boredom i finally watched it ~ totally worth it! ♡♡♡
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beyond expectation!
I watched this drama on a whim and didn't have good expectations at all. unexpectedly, it turns out that the drama story is interesting with interesting actors as well. a fun romantic comedy story that everyone should watch 😌The first thing that made me curious was how the story made them both fall in love with the background that was shown in the drama. although there are still some things that make me curious, but I am still satisfied with the storyline and the ending presented.
i wish the best for krystal jung actress career
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Really sweet
There's a small warning in the beginning, "This project started because we want to do it. There's no any other reason. There's no drama. There's only fun and confusion. We just want to do it, so don't expect a meaningful story. Even if you want to find it, you can't find it. But if you want to find our cuteness, you will definitely see it." This is so true. While there's no "meaningful story," as they put it, it's still super sweet and endearing to watch. Each episode is only ~5 minutes, and they're all small compilations of just cute, mundane moments between Team and Win. Honestly, it made my day to watch these, and I'll probably rewatch just before Between Us comes out in 2022 (and maybe in between if there's any drama that makes me cry, haha).Note: There was some body-shaming in the 3rd episode that I wasn't a huge fan of, but other than that I enjoyed these episodes!
Just watch it if you want pure sugar <3
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A Promising Cast, but a Miscast Lead
As a big fan of Choi Hyun-wook and his previous dramas, I had high hopes for this series. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a real disappointment.The drama follows classic, overused patterns, which isn’t necessarily a flaw, but when the story lacks credibility, it becomes a serious problem. And here, that’s exactly what happens.
Overall, the casting is decent. But why cast Choi Hyun-wook as a company CEO? From the start, it just doesn’t feel right. Some might say you eventually get used to it… I didn’t. He still looks like a high school student; seeing him as the head of a company simply isn’t believable. As a regular employee, maybe, but not as a boss.
On top of that, the soundtrack and the story are quite bland. Nothing really stands out. The "geek" side of the main character, which he awkwardly tries to hide, felt more cringey than endearing. There were so many better and deeper themes they could have explored.
In the end, I couldn’t even finish the series. And those are the reasons why.
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This was one of my first doramas, and I remember being very indecisive about watching it, but I'm so glad I did. A year and so later, this is still the best dorama I've ever watched, and my absolute favourite. It's not even the plot per se, which could very well be seen as nothing special. It's... the characters? The friendship? The emotions? The stories? I wouldn't know.
I mean, if I think about it... Love Shuffle is not that special. It has characters who fall in love, get heartbroken, fall in love again, maybe even find a happy ending. And yet it's more than that. I came for the romance, but stayed for... anything but.
Yes, this has romance in it, the whole plot is driven by it. But. Is it your standard rom-com? Not a chance.
Admittedly, every pairing could actually work - with a couple of exceptions. You do figure out who's gonna end up with whom by the second round of shuffling (mid-way), but personally... I didn't care.
I mean, if you ever feel in doubt whether you should watch this dorama, just watch the first episode and then decide. The first 15 minutes are an absolute delight, and, looking back, I realise that's the moment I was hooked.
I am, of course, talking about the most amazing piece of television ever written: the elevator scene. How in the world can you take four characters who don't know each others, and of which the viewer doesn't know anything about and doesn't care for (yet), put them in an elevator, and still make the scene work and not feel unnecessarily long? I don't even know. If you figure out the answer, please leave a comment to let me know.
You can really rewatch this dorama as much as you like without getting bored: beware though, it's so good you'll wish you could rewatch it again the moment it ends.
The cast is phenomenal, with one exception - I didn't like Yukki (Daigo) very much, but I guess it's his voice. It's just so annoying. Uzze.
Shoutout to my Ojiro's (Matsuda Shota's) hair. Man, he can really rock that hairstyle.
The music is great! I still, to this day, adore the instrumental theme and listen to it very often. The main theme is Fantasy by Earth, Wind and Fire, so prepare yourself because it'll get stuck in your head. That, and Eternal Flame by Bangles. Seriously, it's a curse.
I have yet to find a dorama as good as this one, but in my heart I know that nothing can ever be like the gem that is Love Shuffle. Yay, Panda!
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