Reviews

Game over... Best short drama during the first three weeks of 2024

If you go to this drama thinking that it will be like other death game series, such as Squid Game and Night Has Come, then you are wrong, and you will not find what you expect if you are a fan of this genre. However, this show will attract you because it stays in the genre of games with many genres mixed together in a perfect way, it is a mixture of school drama that sharpens its plot with bullying scenes intersected in the style of a drama (2019's Class of Lies) and follows the atmosphere and direction of 2023 Bitch X Rich and Weak. Hero Class 2022.
But the basic premise of this game is out of the ordinary and does not place itself in those dramatic circles because of its depth, and each episode contains a new discovery and battles of intelligence provoked by some games for social survival that quickly escalate into an intense psychological war.

It is a 10-hour lesson for all bullies and bystanders that looks at the hierarchy of societies in a school setting as a microcosm, noting in this triangle that exists in all societies that it is the provocation of the upper classes that creates class conflict, and the existence of bullying between classes is nothing but a reflection of slavery.
I also appreciate the way they cast a ray of hope. Not only is it a dark or painful story, but its poignancy is softened as camaraderie blossoms between the girls, meaning “friendships can be made that transcend the boundaries of class and status.”

Aside from the content, the best thing about this drama is the cast. Every actress was amazing and every character made it exciting and unpredictable. Although there are many, each one contributes to advancing the plot and raising the level of tension by depicting the nature of the relationships between them. It keeps viewers guessing not only how the game will be destroyed but also the nature, background and behavior of each one.
The music is also one of the drama's best points and the OST in particular is great, making every moment intense as if sending the message, "A dangerous battle of wits will take place."
Summary of the statement...
The drama (Pyramid Game) is wonderful and entertaining from beginning to end. It was a tightly directed story whose facts and characters were unpredictable and ended satisfactorily. It was also characterized by an ideal crew and excellent acting with a perfect rhythm.
Therefore, as a high-level production, it succeeded in arousing global interest
As the only Korean content among the selections of the Series Mania 2024 festival, which is the largest event in Europe dedicated to TV series to recognize the best works.
Therefore, add the pyramid game to your list, but do not play it in your social life. Rather, try to break it whenever you find yourself trapped in such a situation, because what is certain is that this hierarchy will remain in place as long as human society continues, and this is relatively what the conclusion represents.

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Absolutely Binge worthy

Solid performance from entire cast, I was pleasantly surprised with how amazing the cinematography was the scene where cut befittingly to suit the storyline. Although it may not look like the two are suited the level of chemistry that developed between the lead characters was amazing they invoked great passion, desire and sadness at the prefect time. Personally feel that it’s worthy of being right up there with the greats deserving its accolades. The storyline takes you on an emotional rollercoaster all sub-stories intertwine with the main core storyline each cast member provides high level performance, leaving you in great admiration. Highly recommend and stick it out after a couple episodes you will be glued to the screen.

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The Progress of a Newly Gaming Company Plus Cute Romance Between Our Leads

The title of this drama is Sweet Games but I would define it as "Sweet" because of our lead couple being so adorable during their times together. Great amount of chemistry between our leads and the connection between An Ran and Yan Yue. "Games" because the plot revolves around the gaming company; the struggles, to success, to another problem, before finally reaching their goal. My personal favorite is the monologues each episode feature that either Yan Yue or An Ran was monologuing because it was something each have learned about their life, as they were narrating, since it revolved around their life. While it does have a few things I wish would've been better, I still considered this as one of my C-drama favorites for 2023.

Story:
What was great for me:
* Now while some people may find the gaming company part uninteresting, I personally like seeing the growing of a gaming company, who's creating their first gaming app. The success and struggles they faced and finding solutions to their struggles. I mean there's even an episode where it shows how An Ran met with each of her team members and formed her gaming company. It just gives you a feel of how important they were to her as she was to them and I appreciated that.
* The history between An Ran & Yan Yue: I love the flashbacks of their small meetings. It was cute even though it was just a one-sided crush at the time. Then we go to the present time, where he still likes her all of these times and for An Ran to gradually fall in love with Yan Yue, seeing that he's not just some young person with a crush on her, but a person who genuinely loves and cares for her.
* Great supportive teammates & friends for both An Ran & Yan Yue. An Ran's childhood friend actually remains as a friend and not a love interest. Big plus to this drama!
* Their parents while realistic at first questioning their relationship, also are supportive of their relationship.

What lost points for me:
* Yan Yue had a story of his past trauma but this seemed like it was brushed off, so he didn't have much of story focus despite seeming like his character suffered a lot in this drama.
* Hated the breakup part. This drama couldn't avoid the typical C-drama break up cliche. For how this drama was, the breakup part wasn't necessary at all.
* The problem revolving about the copyright issue causing a big mishap for Yan Yue just didn't make sense for me. It seemed a bit random in a way where it was thrown in there as a random problem. It would've made more sense to me if that finding the voice show, Yan Yue was a judge in, caused the problem for Yan Yue than the copyright issue, just because they were getting frustrated with Yan Yue
* No reason why that hacker decided to ruin Gaishi Unparalleled mobile game and other smaller gaming company. Like what was his motive for doing this? Just being a bully to new gaming companies? Make at least some connection otherwise this just felt like a random last minute bad guy.

Although there was this 1 particular English song I wasn't a fan of, music wise, it was great overall. Love the intro and outro songs.

Overall, it's our leading couple that stole the spotlight for this drama. I just love every moment they were together. WinWin's adorable smile really made each scene even more lovable, the important side characters were always supportive, and most importantly, a great happy ending.

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I have very mixed feelings about this drama... I liked it enough that is didn't bore me, but I was very frustrated with the characters.

This was a noona romance but it didn't feel like it and I'm glad it didn't! Because I'm not much of a fan of noona romances. It was a typical chaebol romance story. It reminded me a lot of Bridget Jones... But this drama was very... real. Like, the story and the characters were very life-like. And while I do like real, relatable characters, these characters seemed too real. Too flawed. I see enough of that in real life, I don't want my drama characters to be selfish and so complicated as well.

I honestly don't know how to review this drama... I'll just list down the things I liked and the things I didn't like.

Things I liked:

The story was, in a way, interesting. I didn't like the plot repetition and some things were pretty unbelievable. But the story was still interesting enough to keep me watching

Henry. He was honestly my favorite character. He was funny and so adorable and I was rooting for him from the beginning!

The restaurant staff. The were funny and I really liked them.

Sam Soon's sister. I really liked her! She genuinely cared about her sister. Plus her relationship with that Bon Apetit chef was funny.

The kisses! This drama had, if not the best, then some pretty good kiss scenes. And the chemistry between the lead couple wasn't bad either. Though, Jin Hun and Hee Jin looked better together.

Things I didn't like:

Jin Hun. I love Hyun Bin! And I really tried to like his character. But I couldn't. He was selfish and I couldn't accept his actions, whatever the reason.

Sam Soon. People say she stood up for herself and was a strong character. Yeah, she did have a backbone sometimes. For like, 0.1 seconds. I really liked her when she did stand up for herself and was cheering for her. But then she would throw away her self respect and do something that made me so mad at her!

Hee Jin. The main reason why I didn't like her is because she couldn't see how amazing Henry was. I also didn't like her because everyone said she was strong but to me she seemed weak.

The violence. Honestly, I've never seen so much violence in any Korean drama! Everyone loved to beat each other up and that annoyed me a lot! I know it was supposed to be funny but they used it one too many times. The amount of times poor Hyun Bin was beaten up, I lost count. I think he got beaten up twice or thrice in the first episode alone. And an episode wasn't complete unless someone got beaten up. The only person who wasn't violent was Henry. He fought only once and it was because Jin Hun punched him.

Scene repetition. The match-making date scene happened, I think, 5 times. The "Don't look at anybody else!" scene happened, I think, twice or thrice. And I bet there were many other scenes that were repeated. It was at those moments I wanted to stop watching the drama.

Final Verdict: Even though there are more things I disliked about this drama than liked, it was entertaining and I would recommend it if you can look past the flaws.

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Waste of time

I was waiting for this Drama to watch only because of Dylan Xiong. I saw him in MY MR. MERMAID where he done the superb job.

Story- The story was full of melodrama and was so complicated to tell in the review. Before watching the Drama I read some of the reviews which were not so good but I want to watch only because of Dylan Xiong and I never watched such Drama with melodrama genre and I regret it. In the starring it goes so smoothly but when the Yanzhao starts working in the company then it get so boring that I was about to dropped it but I also wanted to know what will happen in the end that's I why I completed.

Things I didn't like- They showed so much things or topic at one time only because of they want to increase the no. of episodes in my opinion. There's no need to expand the welfare kids problem. And also no need to show the photos of Xiomeng which was leaked secretly. No need to bring Dr.Xiao and Qiao Zhen together. No need to show the things which was done by Zi Tong against Xiomeng. Seriously no need for 46 episodes it can be short. After the death of their father , Yanzhao become so aggressive and tortured Xiomeng and I don't know why she become helpless , she was also the shareholders of their company so she has so many ways to use them but no she only cries and even when some good things happen then also she cries. And I also feel like ML and FL lead was not good at acting they doesn't show their emotions properly and which they showed that was so fake.

Things I liked- I liked the the secretary of Yanzhao and his efforts in the company and courting Sun Lingxi. I really like the character Jiang Ze and his efforts for persuading his father for not doing such things and also been always by the side of Xiomeng and feel her comfortable . And I would like to appreciate the acting of Xiaomeng's mother (Ye Si Rong ) as metal patient.
I also like the part of the birth Secret.

If you have so much patience and you also like these type of melodrama than you my watch this Drama. But if you are going to watch only because of the main leads than please don't watch it .
For me it is such a waste of time.

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Story starts off fast and gets straight to the point, there's no fillers and long episodes.
The acting is good. Romance part isn't that much shown. The whole mystery/investigation was good. There's a lot of funny moments.
I like how the female lead is physically strong and good at martial arts, meanwhile the male lead is weaker but good at solving crimes.
Not much characters involved in the whole show which makes it easier to follow.

Overall, It’s a good short drama.
The whole drama combined is 2 hours long. It's perfect if you're looking for short drama to watch.

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Sigh, another great show is finished and I have nothing to look forward to every Saturday and Sunday. Okay, so I really hate dramas when the story line has something to do with the main character being sick and soon will die because I always thought that was wrong and I hate sad endings so much, but this was TOTALLY an exception. I love this drama. So far this is my favorite drama in 2011.



This drama was superb. Just from the acting itself was amazing. The chemistry between the two main leads was very good and so believable. Kim Sun Ah is a very beautiful actress and she is one of my favorites. I really loved her in this drama. Heck I love her in every drama. This drama is Lee Dong Wook's comeback after returning from the military and he did such a good job in this drama. The actors/actresses were very well picked for the drama and their acting was superb. When they cried, heck yes I cried. When they got mad, I just wanted to kill the person that got them angry. When they laugh, of course I laughed. You get the point....



This drama always had me crying from the very first episode and I hated that part. I hate crying in dramas so much it's such a pain in the butt. I normally wouldn't watch dramas like this but I couldn't help myself. It's just so good. Even when it was just the first 2 minutes of the episode you would already start crying like crazy. At the end of every episode would always leave me hanging and wondering about what would happen next. Not only was the drama good the ending was just perfect! It was a perfect ending that I never expected ever! This drama is really good and I'm sure that whoever watches this will enjoy it from the beginning 'til the end :)

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Kill me, love me, just don't bore me

I knew nothing about Kill Me Love Me when I started it. The beginning intrigued me with a black-hearted prince and a tough as nails female assassin. It didn’t take long to figure out that they were both working on the same side in the first episode. If you are a fan of red flag male leads, you’ll be disappointed. If you are a fan of badass assassin female leads you’ll be even more disappointed. Honestly, this is the type of drama that I normally wouldn’t write a review for, but I promised myself this year I’d review everything I watched, so here goes.

What I liked/disliked:

I’ve liked Liu Xue Yi since Ancient Love Poetry and Wu Jin Yan since The Story of Yanxi Palace. The two had a nice chemistry whether adversaries or lovers. I’m not a fan of red flag leads, but have seen that most of the time they are a bait and switch and rarely stay villainous so I expected him to lose his fangs. I’m also used to badass female leads being defanged but was still disappointed when Mei Lin became pretty window dressing.

Baron Chen is a fave and even with his chocolate cupcake frosting hair, he was still handsome. The Crown Prince came across more whiny than menacing though.

I’m a sucker for bodyguards and Qing Yan was the pretty, loyal bodyguard I’ve come to expect. He proved his loyalty in an explosive manner moving him closer to the front of the line of dutiful bodyguards. No notes on him.

Speaking of baddass females, I had high hopes for General Yin, but found her to lack the gravitas and stage presence such a role required. Her one facial expression regardless of the situation began to wear thin. Also, her 180 on her love interest defied logic as well as her devotion to him. Apparently, getting laid made her lose not only her sense of independence but also her reason-at least for a time.

I didn’t mind the romping through the countryside for Jing He and Mei Lin but when the badly dubbed side characters later started taking center stage, my fast forward button or mute button came into frequent use.

The Xiyan characters were mostly useless. Prince Yue Qin could not have been more bland. The kooky Xiyan royal family and retainers were mind numbingly boring to me. Zi Gu looked and acted very, very young which made her relationship with grandpa Yan Emperor creepier than sweetly romantic.

The story went off the rails with the detour through Xiyan when the characters became bogged down in border trade talks after the natural ending to the drama. The writers vastly overestimated my attention span for ancient economics.

In the end, I did find around two-thirds of this drama entertaining, mainly because I enjoyed the performances of LXY and WJY. Despite the red flag transforming into a white flag and the assassin turning into a baker. 7.25 rounded up to 7.50

14 November 2024
SPOILER NOTES:



The most disappointing part to me was Mei Lin. She suffered and trained for 10 years to have her revenge. When the time came, she was shuttled off screen. This happens too many times in dramas. If anyone deserved to deal the final blow, it was her. Also, “If this is the price I have to pay for meeting you, I have no regrets.” Really?? Jing He poisoned Mei Lin with a poison that had no antidote. Who does that? Everyone knows the Puppet Master for assassins holds the antidote for compliancy. Especially a guy trying to prove he’s not a monster. So, she’s dying, suffered brutality for 10 years, didn’t get to take part in bringing down the Big Bad, and she has no regrets. Girl, no matter how rich or good looking he is, I’d have a list of regrets. When they took away her martial arts ability, I just rolled my eyes. Why can’t badass female leads stay badass to the end? And apply their lipstick only to their lips and not in the dip above them? If she was reduced to baking cakes and offering moral support she should have had time to check her lipstick in a mirror. But I’m not bitter. lol

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A drama that checks all its troupes boxes right down to the very last one.

Cute FL — check
Eccentric Handsome ML — check
Forceful cohabitation — check
Naive ML — check
FL has an disorder only ML can cure, he realises it, he doesn't like it but puts up with it and as a result, falls first and hard— check
He doesn't like it but will endure for her — check
Loads of 'cute' filler scene — check
FL goes all out for ML because naive FL keeps tripping— check
For god sakes everything is too cute in here — check.

LOL!!

This script was written according to a formula and it's so obvious. It's not a bad drama to watch, provided you're not looking for anything serious.

Very predictable plot so far, it's not the kind of drama one can binge watch, it's the kind one remembers they're still watching when they're not watching anything and continue from where they left off. I'll watch it slowly.

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So many questions and no answers

I do not even have words. XDDDD
Could be I expected too much based on my memory of previous movies. But not sure what was this. XDD It feels like they wanted to fit all past 5 movies into less than 2h. In the end it was extra random, full of cringe, Gii looked like having borderline personality disorder (no offece, have it myself) or maybe he was bipolar. He was changing mood every 2 mins, doing random things that does not make sense, action and scene were changing all the time. No chemistry at all. I felt more emotions from the piano in the end, than anyone alive on the set. XD
Actors were good looking, fact. But the rest? Nei nei.
AND WHY DID THEY PUT SCOTTISH MUSIC INSIDE WITH BAGPIPES MIXED WITH SOME LORD OF THE RING MELODIES??? XDDDD
That makes no sense. But amazing to laugh for almost 2h. XD

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20 Episodes 10 Minutes Each w/1 Smart & 1 Dumb Lead Each

First time watching this type of drama where the episodes are 10 minutes each. Wanted to check it out because the ML I've previously seen in antagonist roles, so to see him play a protagonist was too good to resist. If you're a TBOY fan, you'll understand. I love Republican Era dramas as they're beautiful when it comes to costumes and sets. This review will be short. Again thank you @Lian for providing subtitles on Kisskh; couldn't have watched without your phenomenal work!

Pros: ML or FGY is very good at being a hard ass and a stubborn one at that and here it played to his advantage very well. You got to see the character's vulnerability, trying to save his childhood friend at all costs even when said childhood friend was a total moron. If I hadn't seen him play ruthless asshats in TBOY and Destined, I would have thought he was just really good at being deceitful while trying to save everyone that mattered to him. Though SML or HWJ finally grew a brain cell in the last episode and I really liked the church shootout sequence plus the actor played him well, I can't really find much else in the pros with him. LTT was a good addition for as long as she needed to be. Costumes (when they weren't oversized), sets, OSTs were beautiful. The comedy was good for the most part.

Cons: The storyline though understandable was edited very roughly. It went from as serious as a heart attack to comedy club funny in 2.5 seconds and it just made things very shaky. I wish we knew who the other characters were played by like the antagonist, the traitor, the girl who helped them out. Plot hole of HWJ being basically brainless to all of a sudden possessing extraordinary martial art skills and being able to fire a gun in the last few episodes was very questionable. For a good portion of it, you wanted to hit him with a desk for just being so stupid, it hurt your own head.

Would I recommend it? This series is really one of those in between ones that you watch when you're bored; it's short and sweet. But I am glad though short and small, I was able to see DK in a protagonist role for a change. He needs more of those and I hope he gets them in normal length series in the future.

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Distinguishable characterization = Greatest portrayal of twins

I don't know if mentioning the things (or scenes) I wanted the drama to show is considered as a spoiler, but I'll just put a "contain spoilers" mark in consideration for others.

It's hard to find dramas about twins with good plot, yet I was hooked the moment I had read the synopsis.

Story: 8.0
I really love the premise. The first episode was able to establish a good introduction that caught my attention and draws curiosity. I also like the progression and development of subplots, and even though I am not that fan of the romance part, the writers were able showcase to the audience how vital it is.

The only downside for me is that I really want to see more of the brotherhood and family dynamics between Kang Ho and Soo Ho (and their mom). They introduced Soo Ho first so I thought he would be a main character, yet he had have not enough screentime. Yes we saw and knew his feelings, yet it wasn't deep enough compared to how Kang Ho's character was written. Same goes with their mother where I felt that her character development was a little bit rushed. Kang Ho and Soo Ho's interaction were also short. I know it's quite hard to film, but I think their brotherhood is the very core of the drama. I was hoping to see the progression of their relationship, and thought that it would've been one vital element they could use in the story. I wasn't looking for a cheesy/mainstream-type of bromance. Just something that shows the mending/development of their brotherhood. I really wanted to give a 10-star overall rating, yet I wasn't satisfied enough due to those reasons. They could've had added 2 more episodes just to show this and I wouldn't complain.


Acting: 10.0
It's my first time watching Yoon Shi Yoon, and he's fantastic!!! His portrayal of Kang Ho and Soo Ho was very distinct from one another that even if they'll wear the same clothes and have same hairstyle, I could still tell them apart based on facial expressions and body language. Kang Ho and Soo Ho has very distinct expression of the same emotion. This is the greatest portrayal of twins for me as it felt that they were acted by different actors. If Yoon Shi Yoon will do another similar project, I'll definitely watch it.

Miss Kim Hye Ok as the mom was great. Even though I have mentioned that the development of her character felt quite rushed, her acting skills compensated and was able to show all the emotions that could've been stretched out to few more scenes/episodes.

Lee Yoo Young and Kwon Na Ra as the respective love interests of the twins were able to showcase the importance of their characters. I just hoped that the writers gave more scenes on Na Ra's character. I think it was also cut short because Soo Ho's story is just minor comapred to Kang Ho's (which I'm still upset about).

Hong Jung Soo, Park Byung Eun, and Lee Ho Sung is very effective as main villains. I was surprised with Lee Ho Sung in particular as I had seen him played mostly "good" characters.


Music: 9.0
I'm not really particular with the OST and scores, so I'm lenient in rating this area. I think the scores they used was able to help in conveying the emotions and themes, and even though the OST are good, nothing really caught my attention.

Rewatch Value: 8.5
For me, this section includes the production.. I can't say anything about it so it's between 9.0 or 9.5, but as for the actual "rewatch value", it's on 7.5. I think I might rewatch this in the future but has no plan as of now.

Overall: 9.0
I was really contemplating if I should give 8.5, 9.0, or 9.5. I have no plan to write a review yet, as I was hoping to write for my favorites first. But I already finished watching and want to give my rating, so I thought of rating each section and follow the suggested overall rating. And I haven't realized that I am writing a review already lol (NOTE: This is just my second review so pardon any errors.)

Overall, Your Honor/Dear Judge is a good watch and I totally recommend it!!

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delicious food with delicious visuals

●HOW I CAME TO IT
Am an Astro fan and might have missed this drama so am ticking this off my PTW list.

●STORY
The fantasy romance is about 6 handsome angels who run a restaurant named Soul plate. They provide solace with their food to the guests.

●PLOT VIEW
This web drama was most likely about healing and comforting people with the food. As the food which seems simple but is filled with memories and which eventually makes them reminisce the past and find peace. The dishes are deliberately formulated to the visitors past, so that they can reminisce and heal the hearts which was initially hurt.
Each episode consist with one visitor and their comfort in food filled with memories, also taking the romance between soopia and angel raviel alongside. It was unnecessary but it did provide lots of amazing visuals and complete closure.

●ACTING/CAST
Everyone was amazing. When all the Astro members are together they create a very happy vibe.
**Cha eun woo as Angel Raviel, is head chef and is good. His always picks up healthy food. He did act nicely being the main lead. But his cold expression is just bland and needs to be worked.
**Sol Bin As Soopia,the farm owner looked vibrant. Her expression need little work but overall she is good. Her style and getup as farm owner was perfect, it gave a of vibe confidence.
**Moon Bin As Angel Muriel is sous chef is very humorous. Yes he is doing most of the humor in the series and tries to befriend soopia. He also like a balance in the whole series.
**MJ As Angel Raoniel is desert chef is sweet. His love for food is overwhelming and gives a familiar touch to that packed canned food. It seemed familiar as my sibling also love packed food and doesn't cook much.
**Jin Jin As Angel Ariel is a hall manager. He is childish and looks cute. He need acting lessons though.
**Rocky As Angel Rumiel is Ingredient Manager. He loves music and always seen with a headphone around his neck. His visuals are delicious and I would love to see more in dramas.
**Yoon San Ha As Angel Mirel is counter manager. He id kdrama fanatic. He also got some skills but needs polishing

●MUSIC
TBH I didn’t like the music, as there were number of famous songs from various artists from many different series which made no sense. They served as just the background score. Only if the songs were of Astro, it would have been great and given ore impact to the series.

●REWATCH
I would actually rewatch it only for the recipe of the dishes.

●APPRECIATION
With the food the series gives a very stern lesson as to whatever problem we have in our life, with our partners, children or parents for once we can just talk and give a chance to dive in the problem, maybe find the pearl of solution
This series takes up the responsibility of introducing the delicacies of the South Korea to the world. The visuals of food and its cooking were excellent, felt as if am watching a cookery show.

●CRITICISM
Romantic scenes were cliché only if it had been choreographed more vividly it might have looked amazing, but if felt very cringy.
It was only 6 episode which should have been more.

●FAV SCENE
When soopia was telling about her ex. The reactions of all the members are so on spot, as we all know the story, it feels very funny and comical.

●QUOTES
Perhaps we don’t fall in love when we meet them, we meet them because we are already in love with them.

●RECOMMENDATION
Yes its a short drama so it doesn't take up much time.
It teaches life lessons with each of its stories. This show is a must watch for a quick relaxation.

●AFTERTHOUGHT
I would definitely try out some recipies from the shows. And would also make my favourite dishes, only to reminisce the past.
Well in our culture, when parents scold kids, they don’t apologize, they just ask the kids to have food, thats a sureshot apology in our culture, its like parents are taking care inspite of being angry.

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