Reviews

Fell apart at the end

Overall: a slow burn sports themed BL with 3 m/m couples. Watched on Viki. (minor spoilers)

Content Warnings: colorism*, dub con (Saen/Aii - Aii says to stop and Saen continues)

What I Liked
- Torn was smart and solved problems (until he didn't, more on that later)
- humorous parts
- basketball scenes (I'm generally bored to tears by sports scenes but these were done well and some were super funny)
- production value including the color grading
- cinematography
- the consent with Saen/Aii (but not the morning after scene)

Room For Improvement
- it started cringey and ended cringey
- it felt like we missed a whole episode after the episode 8 basketball game. They should have shown things instead of just saying them in episode 9 (i.e. added an episode), then ended at the beach in episode 9 (which would have been episode 10).
- things really fell apart towards the end with time jumps, flash forwards/backs, bizarre character decisions, cliched plot lines
- *the main evil character has the darkest skin of everyone, wish he either had the same skin tone as everyone else or even better we had a protagonist with darker skin color (apparently he had a redemption arc but it was never explained or shown, Torn just randomly trusted him)
- Torn/Fah - I adored Torn's character until he had a supervillain origin story in episode 11, it made no sense to me. Torn was such a great problem solver and then he wasn't. Fah was a bit too stoic but they do explain that's how he is and he was burned/reluctant to trust again so I get it.
- Saen bordered on harassment instead of flirting. I wish Aii would have shown more interest to Saen especially earlier on, Aii could have still been nervous. Didn't like Aii's lack of communication with important decisions.
- Dome/Vee - this couple isn't controversial to me, life can be messy. I'm just sad the way that went/ended - felt very incomplete to me.

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I started watching this drama with the expectation that this will be some cheesy, boring war love story BUT it is not that. Although this drama is not well known among the drama community, it is something that you will not regret watching (oh the feels). This drama entered into the list of my top favorite Japanese dramas and it's going to stay there. The story which mostly takes place in the 1960s has a "oldie" feel to it. However, this feel doesn't hinder the drama.The story is filled with some cliches with a great classy touch. It is not fast paced but rather paced very evenly. Utahime will make you frustrated, laugh, cry, and smile.The story has a deeper and greater message that is AWESOME. The acting was fabulous and the cast was ebbing with charisma. The music was very good to me since I adore TOKIO songs but you might think otherwise. As for the rewatch value, it's pretty high since I am already watching it again, and I barely rewatch anything besides Galileo! Overall, this drama is beautiful, charming, and alluring. It brings about an air of sadness, nostalgia and beauty that one will rarely come across as a viewer.

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A show that really makes you think

Good Old Days has a unique concept and pretty different from GMMTV's usual fare. I started late on this show, but, once I got going, it didn't take me long to get caught up. Certainly, some stories are stronger than others, but all of them captivated me in their own turn. While the show ties up loose ends by the end of the series, at the time, none of the stories really had a happy ending and that's alright. It makes the show more real and the characters more human.

First of all, I appreciate shows with an anthology narrative. Each of the 6 stories exist on their own and yet are tied back to the running narrative of Hey's life as the shopkeeper. It's something GMMTV doesn't tackle very often, but they did an amazing job with this one. If I had to rank them I would put them in this order: 1)Bond and Relationships, 2) Road to Regret, 3) Memory of Happiness, 4) Love Wins, 5) Somewhere Only We Belong, 6) Our Soundtrack
However, the stories at the bottom aren't bad, just not as good the ones above them. This show tackles a lot of difficult (and dark) issues but in a very real way. The characters are forced to face these issues one way or another and they all have to sacrifice or lose something before they come out on the other side. None of these stories have a true happy ending, but rather a satisfactory ending. The objects in this show are also "stars" in their own way. It would be very easy for the object to just exist in the background of the story, following the characters, but all of the objects carry so much meaning and you feel that. In some stories, the object is the focus of the story and in others it fades into the background but in an ever present way. I never felt like I lost sight of the objects' importance and the weight they were carrying for both the characters and the story. It really captures the idea of that "every object has a soul."

With such a large cast, it's hard to address all the actors and actresses, but I think they all did an amazing job and gave great performances. I especially liked Krist and his role as the shopkeeper. His character development is very different because we don't see his story until the end, but up until that point he plays the role of omnipotent shopkeeper very well. In these types of shows, usually the shopkeeper is some old, worldly person, but the irony of Hey is he experiences the world through other people and yet that's how he able to understand people. I thought Krist did an excellent job capturing this essence of the character.

The only real disappointment I have with this show is they wrapped everything up so nicely. I don't know how extensive the source material for this show is, but I would watch a sequel series with new stories. Good Old Days is definitely worth a watch and is definitely a higher show than most. It's really a show that will make you think and reflect on life and how people face their problems.

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It was nice :) haha interesting concept. not the best for me though lol
Story is interesting had a lot of potential but I think they didn't use the whole potential of it. Better watch it without huge expectations. It turns into a mystery/detective with a bit of comedy and a tiny bit of fantasy. At first i didn't like it because they were too fixed on korean norms of beauty and ugly. However later they do say that all the people liked the guy before too who was ugly at the time. And the girl was beautiful but a bit annoying lol. Well Park bo Yeong is not ugly at all so idk why they consider her ugly but i guess they made her a haircut that doesn't suit her well.
Anyway the concept of abyss was nice, the cameo while giving out the abyss was also nice haha. idk why they call them aliens. They could have made the whole story much better with that concept but they failed to do it. As a mystery it wasn't bad. not the Best, but not the Worst either. They could have explained it more, much more... but they left everything unexplained.
the side character couple was cute. i liked that detective-mido couple the most haha.
i didn't like that they made the ending like that so i skipped most of it. But still it was happy ending so all good. wish they could explain more about the homeless person and what happened during the gap. it felt rushed in that way. or rather... felt like they had nothing to say so they made se yeon fall asleep in the middle lol
actually i skipped a lot of scenes as they were all lovely bubbly when there is a killer walking around. lol

What i liked:
- ahn hyo seob (but i think he is still too green for a lead)
- a hilarious scenes when abyss was with killer (they could have made it even funnier, but i think i just thought all the funny stuff to myself that's why found it hilarious)
- Male Lead Cha Min's mother! lol (would have thought she is that cliche mean rich mother but they made all those things very funny lol she was great, i loved when she said "bring Food!!!")

What i didn't like:
- Plot (which i liked it it was not made well, i think the writers themselves didnt get how to use it)
- Acting (well idk... i dint like it much)
- Too much romance in the later part of the drama which should have been intense
- Ending (it was a happy ending!!! but it had many things not explained, i'd say VERY not explained. but kinda a DOTS like ending again)
- Beauty/Ugly norms lol

Overall:

I can't say i liked this drama, but i can't say i hated it either. I'd say you can try it to see for yourself, because I didn't like it mostly cause i like different genres.... well i do like mystery the most, but for me this was more romance than mystery. So it was ok, not bad, but not very good for me.

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Mild spoilers ahead:

Everything the show did well:
-Decent hero cast overall. Everyone in the hero team feels useful to a degree and can fight untransformed, which helps them stay relevant throughout the show.
-Consistently entertaining villains from start to finish.
-Pretty entertaining monsters and characters of the week for most of the show.
-Pretty great action outside of the constant use of CGI; Gotchard Igniter and Kamen Rider Valvarad in particular come to mind.
-Some interesting concepts in the world-building and story here and there.
-Pretty great soundtrack.

Everything the show did bad:
-This is the Kamen Rider season that has the most spin-offs that are essential to the plot, which makes the story feel incomplete and disjointed. Usually one doesn't need to watch specials and movies to understand a show; at most they introduce a movie character for 1 episode and not properly explain the character to make the viewer want to watch the movie, but they usually aren't that essential. Even when specials are essential for a season, there usually aren't many, and one can watch them after the show is over and still get about the same experience.
However, Gotchard has too many cases where these spin-offs matter. One of the recurring villains of the first quarter suddenly stops appearing; this is because his arc gets resolved in the winter crossover movie with Geats. Said movie introduces the powers of Rinne, who's supposed to be the second most important character in the show, and the show doesn't do a proper job at summarizing the movie in order to understand where her powers come from. The second quarter has the protagonist Houtaro getting a mentor, which leads to him getting an upgrade; however said mentor's character arc gets resolved in this show's summer movie and he barely appears for the rest of the show's run past the second quarter. The third quarter has a whole mini-arc dedicated to Kaguya Quartz a character from the Kamen Rider Legend spin-off, said special and mini-arc have several references to past rider shows and the crossover mini-series Kamen Rider Outsiders.
-Despite Toei's kodomo Tokusatsu not really being known for having good acting, the acting of this show's main duo Houtaro and Rinne is way worse than usual. Houtaro's actor Junsei Motojima at least improves enough after the first quarter outside his occasional weird stare, so he's not really that big of an issue. But Rinne's actress Reiyo Matsumoto while she definitely improves, never improves enough to be considered a good actress, so despite her character having the most consistently well-written character out of the main trio, the fact that she gets her main powers in a movie and the actress consistently having poor delivery for the character's emotional scenes, end up making it hard to care for the character.
-The show fails at giving Houtaro a proper motivation besides empathy to care for the chemies which makes his whole character feel cheap most of the time despite him developing a proper friendship with Hopper1 and most chemies of the week. While episode 18 does give a better explanation of why he wants to befriend all chemies it also opens a bunch of other questions that aren't answered in the show, so it doesn't really fix this issue.
-The show fails at making proper use of its setting. They hardly ever do any proper alchemy and instead it just evolves into being used as normal magic or transmutation. The alchemy academy barely feels like an academy and hardly ever shows them practicing to become better alchemists after the first quarter, this really affects Houtaro's character since he's the newest of the team and is almost never shown doing alchemy or trying to get better at it until Rainbow Gotchard, he should have made the connection with cooking way earlier in the show so that his progression feels more natural, because of this, the final episode feels way less engaging. The school setting feels very disconnected from the main plot, which makes a character like Kajiki, while likeable overall, not really accomplish anything and not hang out with the cast that much during the show's middle. The alchemy sages pretty much don't matter for the show, which makes the alchemist organization barely have any background or any interesting traits, most of the important world-building elements and lore end up coming from the villain Giggist.
-Spanner's arc in the first quarter feels unnecessary and makes so that the character doesn't have proper set up or foreshadowing for his later arcs even if they're competently written.
-After the first quarter, Sabimaru and Renge don't get much to do. Sabimaru at least gets a 2 parter near the end to close his character arc and show how much he's grown, but Renge basically gets nothing, even her backstory episode barely focuses on her.
-Despite Minato's backstory being great, his actions in the show's middle are not justified enough. After Houtaro obtains CrossHopper, he doesn't get much to do despite the show setting him to change the alchemist's order.
-Fuga is a severely underutilized character, which makes it hard to care for him despite his cool moments.
-Clotho loses too many battles to be taken seriously. Out of the 3 sisters she's the one who gets treated the worst.
-Despite Lachesis getting a lot of cool developments throughout the show, it also feels like she barely gets to do something in the second half. She also barely fights despite getting new powers in episode 33.
-Germain and Gaelijah are kind of forgettable.
-Despite Geryon's actions making sense due to the kind of character he is and being a very entertaining villain overall, his main goal is still kind of hard to take seriously. It feels that his backstory should have been explored further since we only get a brief dialogue from Giggist explaining his origins.
-Kaguya and his personal villains are extremely disconnected from the show, which makes his mini-arc feel out place even if it does progress the story.
-While the content of the final arc is good for the most part, it still feels really rushed. The villains in the final arc get the short end of the stick, it feels that Rinne and Spanner didn't get the most use of their new powers and due to the Ouroboros Realm existing it doesn't feel like the finale has much emotional weight.
-Some pretty bad/forgettable monsters/cases of the week in the first quarter of the show.
-Due to the chemmies barely having any character besides Hopper1, not being able to talk besides Nijigon and mostly having to stay in their card form throughout most of the show, they end up being just kind of OK mascots, with the exception of Hopper1 which is pretty good despite not being anything stand-out.

Reasons for the show's strengths:
Main writer Keiichi Hasegawa is really great at writing villains. The other main writer Hiroki Uchida did a pretty good job at following the plot-points Hasegawa set up. Secondary writer Akiko Inoue was good at giving Rinne more characterization and also managed to add some good comedic elements.

Reasons for the show's problems:
Chief producer Yousuke Minato, prior to Gotchard was chosen by Omori to be a co-producer for King-Ohger alongside Mochizuki. Omori wanted to stop working for Kamen Rider since he felt he was out of ideas and thus wanted to produce a Super Sentai show, in order to increase the chances for the show to be greenlit, he wanted to work on the pre-production earlier in secret as a trio of producers, Minato would end up developing the countries of Ishabana and Toufu. Ultimately, the show ended up being greenlit under the condition that Omori would work on the show alone from that point onward. The reason for their removal was that Mochizuki had just been demoted due to his work in Revice and that they wanted Minato to produce the next Kamen Rider show.
Toei wanted to make a more lighthearted season of Kamen Rider since the previous season Geats was darker than usual. Then, when King-Ohger ended up being more popular with adults than children, Toei really wanted to emphasize the lighthearted elements even more in order to "bring tokusatsu back to the children", the next Sentai Boonboomger would also fall under this philosophy. Due to this, Toei wanted Minato to be the next producer in order to train the next generation of producers and because he prefers lighthearted shows.
Due to him being a new producer and the fear that this show would also fall into the pitfalls that Revice did, which was made by a relatively new producer, promoted producers Shin-ichiro Shirakura and Hideaki Tsukuda helped with the show pre-production. Shirakura came up with the idea of having cards as a gimmick, that said cards wouldn't be used for an OCG/TCG and for the show to have a school setting. Minato then came up for the cards to feature monsters inspired by Pokémon and Digimon and that there should be 100 or more cards to collect, since they couldn't use that many cards for individual forms. Tsukuda came up with the idea of using 2 cards for each and forms and decided that the show should have an emphasis on alchemy so that the fusion of cards makes sense.
Usually for most Toei tokusatsu the producer comes up with the setting and checks up throughout the show so that the setting is realized properly by the writer, but in this case he barely came up with any of the ideas of the setting, so it's speculated that this is the main reason why alchemy and the school setting are so half-baked in the show. The only idea that we know he came up with was the creation of Rinne and that she should be the secondary rider, so that's probably why writing wise she's the most consistent one in the cast.
Minato would end up choosing Hiroki Uchida as the main writer due to him having worked with him with Kamen Rider Outsiders. Uchida suffers from the same issue as Nobuhiro Mouri, they're good at following ideas from another writer under proper supervision, which is why they most often work as episode writers. However, they don't work well because they're bad at coming up with their own ideas, so when they do they come up with pretty generic stuff. The original plan for Gotchard by Uchida was for Houtaro to be a student with no direction in his life and ultimately finds the chemies imprisoned, due to their state of being trapped in cards he would free them since he sympathized with them due to both being pathetic, this would ultimately create chaos as the chemies become evil in the presence of people with ill-intentions, due to this event being his fault, Houtaro takes responsibility and decides to catch all the chemies while befriending them. It was planned for there to be no main villains besides the demon from the book, instead the show would have consisted on the cast solving cases of the week up to the final arc with barely any plot progression. Ultimately, Toei higher ups thought that this premise was too bland and decided that Keiichi Hasegawa, who had already been chosen to be an episode writer, should be this show's co-writer alongside Uchida. The reason they chose him was because Minato has mostly been an assistant producer for anime up to this point, so since Hasegawa was a writer who had lots of experience with both anime and tokusatsu, they felt that he would be a good fit for the show.
However this decision was made somewhat late into pre-production, so there was some stuff they weren't able to change. Ultimately, Hasegawa would create this show's villains, who ended up being the best aspect of the show and changed how the chemies got released in order for them to make sense with the new villains. However this change made Houtaro's sympathy for the chemies make way less sense which really affected his character for the worse.
Hasegawa prefers writing darker stories but since Minato wanted this show to be more lighthearted, he would suppress most of Hasegawa's ideas in the first quarter and they would have many creative clashes. Ultimately after his ideas and villains ended up being the most well-received aspects of the show, he would end up writing most of the show's story, world-building, and Spanner's character after the first quarter, while Uchida built up on his ideas and focused on writing Houtaro's character (which is probably why Houtaro was the most sloppily written, he also was the one who decided the show's ending). They didn't know on what direction to take Rinne so the producer got Akiko Inoue to be a secondary writer to give Rinne more characterization. After this, from the second quarter onward, the show improves since now it has a proper direction, but the setup is very flawed due to how directionless the first quarter was.
Due to Kamen Rider's main demographic being really young boys and adult otakus, they didn't believe that Majade would sell well, so they wanted her toys to be premium bandai. However the producer thought that in order for her toys to sell better and for her to be more popular she should get her powers in the movie instead of the show, which negatively affected her character.
In order to maximize sales, Minato wanted the movies to relate to the plot, which is why characters like Licht Kugimiya and Daybreak ended up that way.
Prior to the show release, since Majade was going to be premium bandai, Minato had decided that the retail toys that usually go to the secondary should go to Kamen Rider Legend, a mini-series that focused on crossover aspects, and then introduce said Rider into the show proper in order to bring older fans of the franchise into the show. Since these decisions had already been decided prior to Hasegawa taking over for most of the plot, the mini-arc of Legend ended up happening anyway.
The staff had decided that Majade's and Valvarad's final power-ups should happen at the very end so that they feel like they're "the strongest" forms, since they happen too late to lose to a villain. The final power-up Gotchard gets in the final episode was decided at the last minute by Bandai since the transformation item had already opened for pre-orders due to the summer movie.
Some people speculate that the reason for Houtaro's and Rinne's actors being worse than usual is due to Minato having worked mostly on anime, so when doing casting he chose more arbitrarily. Usually casting is done with the main writer and the pilot director, but people speculate due to the phrasing in some interviews that they were both cast when Uchida was the sole writer for the show and he just didn't mind it due to him mostly being an episode writer. Then the villains, and most main characters introduced later had way better actors since they were cast after Hasegawa had joined the project. But these are purely theories since we don't know how early the main duo were cast.
Some leaks indicate that Shirakura was more involved in the show than it initially seemed, but it's unknown what contributions he had aside from the pre-production.

Overall:
The show ranges from average to kinda good. It definitely doesn't do anything too offensive to be considered bad but also doesn't do anything too good to be considered great. Also due to its muddled plot direction, the show comes off bland at times. The show has a lot of cool ideas, but they're not executed that well because of the previously stated problems. The show does improve a lot after the first quarter, but it still feels incomplete overall, has a pretty rushed final arc and has a mixed bag of a finale. Overall, I can only recommend this show if you're really into Kamen Rider or if you're really into the villains of this show after watching the first 3 episodes since they're by far the most consistent aspect of the show. While this show isn't bad or even mediocre, there's just far better Tokusatsu out there, and this show doesn't particularly excel at anything.

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Slapstick Humor, Great Story, Great Acting, Abrupt Ending

This drama is a satire that pokes fun at what seemingly the most powerful figure of the land. In the story, the emperor feels that he is almost similar to a slave as all the decisions are made by others and his desires ignored; he has no freedom in doing anything he enjoys, going anywhere he wants, eating any food he loves. He has to obey everything his mother, the Empress Dowager, says and agree to his uncle who untiredly criticizes him and tries to claim the throne. Life is miserable in the palace, until one fateful day.

The 17-year-old young emperor (Victor Qin) loves opera but his mother bans opera in the palace because she wants him to focus in his studies. One day, he accidentally finds a secret underground passage that leads to a theater house. He disguises himself as a kid looking for a job. The owner of the theater house, Bai Xiaoqing (Zhao Xiaotang), a fierce and mean lady who dresses in man’s clothing, takes him in. There, he meets his idol, the once famous opera singer Lan Ling (Meng Hetang) and becomes his assistant. There is also a cook who was once an assassin, a mediocre script composer who cannot even write a proper story and a fortune teller girl who uses talismans that always work the wrong way. Together they form the six idiots of the theater house and claim not to separate but always search own way out in times of trouble.

In the theater house, the emperor is being ordered to do all kinds of menial chores that he has never done before in his life. He is even ordered to taste suspicious food for poisons. To hide his real identity, he endures all abuses and happily complies to all demands, and quickly he learns to serve others. Victor Qin’s acting is fantastic – he can be as sorry looking as a nobody, and at the flip of a coin, turns into an esteemed emperor. Of course, he’s the smartest of the six but to stay low profile, he acts as silly as the others. Each character has a story and a "counting-the-eggs" dream with wild imaginations. Each episode tells a different story with a lesson to learn. Any trouble always resolves by itself through blind luck. And yet, lurking under, unseen dangers developed for the young emperor.

My Verdict

I have really enjoyed the story, the acting of all the characters, the jokes, the humor. It makes me laugh so hard in every episode. This feels like a live stage comedy, with dialogues that sound impromptu, yet every sentence rhymes. There are modern vibes inserted here and there with modern terms used in the dialogues. I love the play of homophones in the jokes. This is some really great script writing here. Each episode is preceded by a summary of the previous episode through a storyteller in the form of a narrative poetry. The recount poems are precise and funny. The camera work is good in capturing every expression and every emotion. My only disappointment is the abrupt ending of the story. There would be a season 2 that no one knows if it would ever be released.

Don’t be deceived by the few viewers on MDL. This is due to no proper English subs available at the time of the airing. This series is interesting and hilarious though it has no prominent actors. This is a great series to release stress as laughter is the best medicine. Don’t miss it.

Strongly recommended!

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My new blueprint for the childhood friends to lovers trope.

I… don't ever watch high school dramas. I find it hard to find the appeal in a time that's been so long ago for me now & triggers some unpleasant memories. So it's a wonder to me too that I watched this drama – and stuck with it til the end, completely engrossed and invested. Why?

First off, I have to thank the cinematography and editing department for that. Summer Again is shot and coloured in such a way that elicits very specific sensual responses of well, summer: the fresh sea breeze playing with your hair, the lush greens and the smell of fresh flowers in the park next to your house, the way you have to squint your eyes right after waking up because the summer sun is so bright in the early mornings, the magic sensation of staying up late on mild summer nights, and the constant buzz of life compared to dreary winters or rainy autumns. Summer Again, short, is a visual feast that transports you right to life in a small, seaside holiday town.

In this setting we meet our heroes Tong Xi, a ballerina from the big city, and Lin Nan Yi, her childhood sweetheart & secret manga artist. Surround the two leads with two faithful and cute friends (a pair of childhood friends as well), a rivalling girl & some seniors to look up to and you have the story. Sounds clichéd? Yeah. But sometimes all I want for a drama is to execute the tropes and clichés it commits to well. And unexpectedly, Summer Again excels in that. If I had to describe the way the story was told, I would describe it as "fresh", "unpretentious" and most of all, "sincere".

There is a beautiful sincerity in the way this drama captures the peak of high school life, our sweet 17s, its ups and downs and that pure & innocent heart most of us were carrying then: from the drama that the characters defined as problems to the way they tried to solve them and gave each other advice, it's all really realistically told from the (limited) worldview of teenagers. It's this realism that balanced the drama throughout. There was drama, but there was never hysteria as dramaland is wont to do. Watching Summer Again is an easy-breezy feat that sends you right back down memory lane to simpler days.

Doesn't mean that the drama is not meaningful: our characters are confronted throughout with navigating that period of life when we first started to think about who we are, what we want, what we expect from ourselves and what others expect from us & how we can be our most authentic self. The conflict between "just wanting to be a simple teenager" and all the pressure that our circumstances put on ourself is maybe best shown in Ni Xiao Wan, the "antagonist". I can't even dislike her; the show gives us too good of an explanation of why she behaves the way she does. It doesn't excuse her mistakes but it humanises her.

Our leads on the other hand, are my new blueprint for a childhood friends to lover story. While Tong Xi's growth can be observed like a beautiful arc spanning the show (look out for how she solves problems), Lin Nan Yi is maybe an almost too perfect classic male lead; I guess his only weakness is that he doesn't like to rely on others for help much and can be too secretive. But the way he handles issues is so relatable and impressive that I forget how little flaws they gave him to begin with. Though they are teenagers, Tong Xi & Lin Nan Yi resolve issues better than most adult drama pairings I've seen.

They are open, honest & forthright with each other. Encourage and support each other. They communicate, a lot. They are not afraid of countering the other, but always give them enough room to come to their own conclusions. Ni Kexin & Chen Heyi are rookie actors but absolutely sell their roles to me. It's to this drama's benefit that they are rather unknown; they play their roles so relaxedly that I have a hard time differentiating between what's acted & what's their real persona. And OMG Chen Heyi's eyes: any ice block would melt at how his Lin Nan Yi looks at Tong Xi. Their story never felt forced and was beautifully and organically told from their rekindling, their clashing and their getting closer. It makes absolute sense for them to be attracted to each other.

I'm starting to ramble and I didn't even get into the second leads yet. But to cut it short: their group of friends is adorable, the actors have great rapport together & I just want all four cast in another project again. Last up, OST-wise this drama is a gem. So yes, please do check it out. Let me tell you, by the end of it, just like downing a glass of fresh, cold (mint) water in a hot summer, you'll want to rewatch it again!

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IT’S A MASTERPIECE I mean the storyline…

Okay, soo overall It’s a great drama with lots of action like it promises and the twists and a bit of romance in the mix I really can’t say anything about the plot or storyline they were amazing if you like action revenge dramas with stong and smart male lead that really figures out everything with time

I personally really like these kinda cool male leads that never give up and always supprises everyone how strong and smart they are plus that everybody underestimates them at first and then he just crushed them (and the thing about him being just an ordinary stuntman but for revenge for his loved nephew he would go this far)
If your looking for something like this then you will love it until the end…

Because the one problem this drama has it’s the ending and even that is not really a problem if they fix it with a second season as for now it’s the stupid american ending and I really hate it I always loved korean dramas because they had an actual ending when the season finishes so this disappointed me so much basically for now it has an unfinished ending

Even though the ending is disappointing I would never regret watching this drama and would recommend it because it’s worth the watch and time especially when there is a high chance of a second season if you really don’t like unfinished endings then maybe wait a bit for the confirmation of the second season before watching it

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20 minutes has never gone by faster. Even I, a boy, nearly squealed because of how cute it was.
The story was very light hearted and so adorable?? I only wish it was longer :(
For sure watch it, I can't recommend it enough.

The acting was really good, the story was immersive, the music fit nicely and it had a bit of comedy that wasn't overdone. I found myself laughing and smiling a lot throughout the 20 minutes, I'll most likely be watching it again in the future.
Overall I rated it a 9/10. If it was longer, it would most definitely be the first thing I've ever rated 10/10.

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Fiction vs. Actual Events

Let me just start by saying I am very hurt that this promising drama never was. No disrespect intended, and I am sure there is a cultural difference at play here, but this drama wasn’t intended to be a documentary; I can understand the reaction if it were. It was never going to be accurate. A work of fiction never is; I mean, are they saying evil spirits/vampire-like living corpses were running around in the Joseon dynasty; is that the accurate part; I mean, come on; it feels a bit much to petition to the Blue House to cancel a show, a fictional one might I add. I'm dumbfounded. How come these very same viewers never reacted the same way to the overt abuse, be it emotional, physical, or sexual, and the vileness in some of the dramas; I am sure it depicts real-life scenarios around the country. I am not complaining but those acts depicted in the dramas I use this as an example. Come to think of it, were there any shows canceled because of that; I wonder. Very sad indeed at many different levels but on a personal one the most. I was so into this drama. I am going to need a very, very long minute to process this for sure!

A friend here on MDL commented, "Ben Affleck’s Argo was akin to fiction when he made the heroes who rescued American hostages in Tehran the CIA operatives, rather than the actual Canadian Embassy diplomats and staff. He managed to tick off Britain, Iran, and of course, Canada in the process. There were no cries to have the film removed from screens everywhere. People stayed away in droves, thereby lessening box office results. That’s how you deal with this type of issue- hit them in the pocketbook. There’s no need to curtail other’s viewing of the film, flaws and all".
And I completely agreed and added that even as Argo was criticized for its inaccuracy, it was praised for the acting, directing, and editing. The film received seven nominations at the 85th Academy Awards and won three for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. So, yes, criticize all you want but demanding the show be canceled, a fictional one that never claimed to be based on actual events, that is at a completely different level. It's akin to censorship, if you ask me. What kind of message does this send not just to writers and filmmakers in Korea but to the world, especially as SK starts garnering the international attention it so clearly deserves in filmmaking and acting.

The more I think of this situation's unfairness, the harder it gets to accept the decision to cancel the show. I've come across a couple of petitions on MDL, and I would very much love to see Netflix pick up this drama, so I include it here for those of similar mind. Sign this petition to save Joseon Exorcist http://chng.it/vn2XTNLdwB
#SaveJoseonExorcist

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This is such a good drama! It has elements of tragedy, love, revenge, fighting, villains, con artists, and everyday life that make it such a well blended drama. There were some episodes towards the middle that could have been revised and I thought they could have ended the series a bit differently (The last ep is somewhat bittersweet), but overall the plot of this drama was really good. Just a forewarning -this drama does have flashbacks occasionally from something that happened 20 minutes ago in the drama, while annoying this did not really detract from the drama itself overall.
Acting was great by all the actors -the children in the beginning did well too, but overacted at times.
The music did get a little repetetive at times, but there were no songs I absolutely couldn't stand so it was ok.
Rewatch value is lower just due to the fact that the drama will be less interesting the second time around, since you know where all the twists and turns in the plot will go.

I would recommend this drama if you enjoyed Shining Inheritance due to a somewhat similar plotline and premise of the drama.

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Nowadays, the old generation of directors, is faced with many difficulties. Hardly anyone wants to watch their movies, most of them still stuck in the reality of the '80 and can not break through to contemporary audience. However, when any of them returns, almost always it is return in great style. It was accomplished by the director Chung Ji-Young (known mostly by A Woman in Danger (1987), The South Korean Army (1990), White Badge (1992), National Security (2012)). He began his career in the early 80s, but like most senior directors he fell victim to the Americanization of Korea, and for 14 years has not made a single movie. He came back with the movie Unbowed. The movie was a huge commercial success, earning nearly 25 billion won (~$23,5mln), and despite the fact that it was shown in theaters for less than two months, almost 3.5 million viewers saw it.

The entire movie is based on real events. Chung has done an excellent job writing the script, almost entirely based on press reports, interview , records and court documents (slightly embellished them, which caused some controversy in Korea). While the first trials were relatively objective, and the judge hid his bias, later they became so blatantly biased that the public was outraged.

15th January 2007, professor of mathematics Kim Myung-Ho, armed with a crossbow went to the block where lived a judge Park Hong-Woo. He planned to threat judge to make him apologize for the unfair judgment in his case. The whole thing started with trivialities. Kim found an error in the task (which was written by one of his co-workers) that was on the entrance exam. For pointing out the error he was expelled from the university. The whole thing ended up in court, resulting in several cases that have been resolved to the disadvantage of Kim Myung-Ho, who believed that the judge was biased. The injustice that met him, pushed him threatening judge with crossbow.

Kim says that he never planned to use violence and only wanted to scare the judge. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said: "Judges believe they are above the law. They're unchallenged, like gangsters, fearing no one. I thought this judge needed to feel fear.". Despite the "peaceful" intentions, struggle between them broke out, the arrow was fired and apparently hurt the judge. Kim was charged with attempted murder and once again found himself at the mercy of the justice system.

Starring legendary actor Ahn Sung-Ki (The Housmaid (1960), Whale Hunter (1984), Winter Wanderer (1986), The South Korean Army (1990), White Badge (1992), Art Museum by the Zoo (1998), Nowhere to Hide (1999), Silmido (2003), Radio Star (2006), May 18 (2007)). 23 June 2012, together with Lee Byung-Hun, became the first Korean actors who recaptured their hands and feet in the courtyard of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Ahn Sung-Ki began his adventure with the cinema in 1959 in the movie Defiance of a Teenager and to this day is one of the hardest working actors in Korea. Thanks to his talent and hard work, he managed to win 6 Grand Bell Awards (Korean equivalent of the Oscar). Ahn already was known for playing roles of idealistic, intelligent and thoughtful characters, and is nice to see him playing again an intelligent character, full of ideals and believing in justice. He does not present his character as a saint, but as a man who, despite all the virtue, is quarrelsome, with difficult character and is facing many personal problems, but despite this it is impossible not to cheer for him during his fight with the Korean judicial system.

Next to brilliantly played main character, we have many great supporting actors. The role of Kim Kyung-Ho lawyer is played by Park Won-Sang. Although played by him, Park Joon is quite predictable, how it was portrayed by Park makes it impossible to deny him talent. Helping him battle with the judges is journalist Jang Eun-Seo (Kim Ji-Ho) and her close partnership with the Park Joon is another highlight of the movie. Noteworthy is also an excellent creation of judge Shin Jae-Yeol (played by Moon Sung-Geun) which is full of, almost tangible, arrogance and because of that it is not easy to forget.

With the premiere of the movie, four months after, also criticizing the Korean justice system, Silenced (2011), the movie almost perfectly hit in the mood of the Korean society. Neither the lack of young stars, or a low budget, prevented the movie of winning the hearts of viewers, and written off by many Chung Ji-Young was able to show that the old generation can make an excellent movie and accomplish commercial success, without copying the style of the younger generation.

Unbowed is an excellent movie that should appeal to everyone. It is 100 minutes filled with long dialogues and lots of legal terms, although it is not boring , and the viewer does not get lost in the maze of paragraphs. Despite the lack of typical action, the movie keeps you in suspense and makes the viewer, after seeing it, feel smarter. I highly recommend to anyone.

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Wish it was more Phupa & Tian focused

I am not entirely sure about the timeline, but this takes place a few years after Tian returned from his studies abroad. There seems to be quite a bit of tension between Phupa and Tian, even before Pran and Pat arrive. Their way of handling their problems might be quite childish, one would expect them to talk about it more seeing they have been together for a long time. But at least they are dealing with it now.

I do think that the problem that the two have is quite realistic. It probably should have been dealt with earlier into their relationship, but still. Phupa is obviously struggling with the social differences between him and Tian. And while it might be less obvious while they are on the mountain, once they return to the city, it becomes much more obvious. I think that makes Phupa feel like he is not good enough for Tian. Maybe he even fears that Tian might realize that and leave him. Which is why he always avoids going with Tian when he visits his parents. Tian loves him fully, but that doesn’t make Phupa’s insecurities any better.

I love seeing the two on the mountain, but they look adorable while in the city. Especially Phupa, it’s interesting seeing him this shy and in his sugar baby era. But damn, Earth looks absolutely stunning in black. It really suits him. And their chemistry is amazing, as always.

I like the episode. It was fun, but I wish it would be a bit more focused on Phupa and Tian. I do love Pat and Pran and Ink and Pa, but this was supposed to be Phupa and Tian episode, so I really wish we would have seen more of the two and less of the others. Especially considering the fact that we had a BB focused episode before the crossover.

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