Reviews

Even though many people seem to find this movie boring, i loved it. It was really touching and the acting was awesome. I really like watching movies based on real story, because it makes it so much more meaningful, and makes you think about the problems of the society.

I feel like this isn't THE movie for everyone, but if you have gone through any of the things in the movie, it will have a big impact on you. Even though I loved it I feel like it's one time movie. But not sure though, may watch it again in few years. I really recommend everyone to atleast watch the first 15 minutes of it.

PS. the OST was aweeeesome!

Read More

Aliens + Costume Drama + No Time Loopholes

I feel like this is the most refreshing type of "time travel" drama of the past few years. The story line doesnt have any weird plot holes/effects (including things like time paradox or really much caution in it). I really like the overall acting cause it feels natural (the micro-expressions are all there where appropriate) and the seriousness and comedy acts are placed fairly well.

I wont give this a whole 10 stars because a lot of the jokes placements are not great/badly delivered and missing all that "haha" factors (for ex. the giant bowl of medicine, I know it was supposed to be funny, but it was kinda dryly delivered). also lost a bit of points because the last few episodes were really well put together, no rushed feelings, but i think it couldve gone on for about a couple more episodes to get that completed drama kinda feel, at the moment it's leaving a bit to be desired.

There is a season 2 to this piece (I am not sure if Season 2 is fully subbed yet)

Read More

Love Conquers All!

WOW!!! The wait is finally over and we can now watch the film to our hearts content. There was so much anticipation built up over this film being released and a lot of opinions thrown around (mainly surrounding the topic of their kiss scenes). Upon having viewed the filmed a few times now (I am not ashamed to admit it either lmao), I think Cherry Magic: The Movie was truly worth the wait!

(Disclaimer: there are spoilers ahead so read at your own discretion)

What stood out to me about the film was the numerous depiction’s of Kurosawa and Adachi’s pure and unwavering true love for one another. When they were together, you could feel the love they had for one another and when they were separated from one another for a period, you could tell it truly killed them to be apart from each other. They have that type of love that I wish everyone to have. A love full of care, companionship, passion, and understanding.

But, what stood out to me even more, was the topics and issues raised as it pertained to being in a gay relationship in Japan. Adachi talked with Kurosawa about wanting to tell those closest and most dear to him about their relationship especially since if anything were to happen to them in the future, they could be notified of it and not get left out of receiving important news. Also, the process of telling your loved ones that you are gay and in a relationship can be a truly nerve wracking experience for those involved. All of these questions come to your mind like Will they accept me or not? How will telling them affect the family or friendship dynamic? Will I be shunned from the family? Will this change how they feel about me? Will they not love me anymore? The worry is truly there— but Kurosawa and Adachi showed great bravery in telling their parents about their relationship. They also showed great bravery when they held hands out in public as well for all to see at the end of the film. They knew that they wanted to spend their lives together with each other. That commitment they had to one another was paramount over everything else around them. They wanted to be honest and make sure that people knew about them despite any consequences that may occur and I truly admire them for that. It’s films like this that really push the needle forward for gay representation, especially in Asian countries.

Don’t even get me started on the proposal and them getting married. The proposal on the beach was such a simple, beautiful, and intimate scene. And my gosh, the wedding scene was filled with happiness and joy!!! Loved seeing the original cast of supporting characters and both of their families there to support them. And might I add, they looked so dapper in their suits as well.

Speaking of the supporting characters, I was honestly fine with them not being included much at all since the stories main focus was on Kurosawa and Adachi. But, it was nice to get some scenes with them and their characters felt true to form which I appreciated.

I loved all of the references to the series that were included as well. The crew that worked on this film made sure to add those important touches that elevated the film’s value and impression.

If you were wondering whether you should watch this film or not, I urge you to go run and watch it now. It’s a wonderful conclusion to their story (unless they want to do another film that depicts them when they are older and looking back on their lives— but that’s just a dream of mine lmao). Definitely highly recommend this!!!

Read More

Since no one else has written a review for this drama, I might as well, since I think it was excellent and deserves some recognition.
The overall feel of the story was something like a family tragedy drama, with elements of a John Grisham novel thrown in. We have the the heartless wealthy foe, and the "small man" - in this case a teenage boy - going up against them with a young lawyer from a tiny firm (with their office above a pachinko parlor, no less) as his only help.
Takizawa Hideaki did very well in portraying a grieving son desperate to find out the truth about his mother's death, and Matsuyuki Yasuko was quite impressive - and I must say, very cool - as his confident, driven, but also very kind lawyer. Additional performances were, for the most part, very good.
Music choices were well made, and the use of Elton John's "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road" as the theme song was a nice touch. It suited the mood of the drama well.
Handling of story was excellent. From the moment the suspicions of malpractice arose, to the final courtroom conclusion, I was dying to find out exactly what had happened to Nao's mother in the hospital. The friendship between Nao and Kirino the lawyer was a delight to watch, and the romance between Nao and Ami, the hospital owner's daughter, had a lovely bittersweet quality to it.
This is a drama with many elements: family, friendship, tragedy, mystery, romance, and it all blends together beautifully. I warmly recommend it.

Read More

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.

Read More

best romcom

might have been the best romcom series i have watched in my life. genuinely love it so much .. i am so attached to this show. i love how they stayed true to the webtoon . great balance of everything, they didnt show too much or to less of the side characters, it was just enough to make the drama more fun and likeable. would it be a stretch if i say this show is perfect? well... i dont care ! it was perfect to me ! the cells were so entertaining to watch though there may be times i got frustrated with them but all characters have their flaws right hehe @_@ i am totally going to rewatch the show every chance i get because it is just so !! good !!

Read More

Holy smokes, Gen Y is good! Because they have several seasons planned for this drama, they have the time to actually develop all the relationships. And they do it so well!

Mark & Kit are pretty much in the can, the resident Happy Couple(TM)! So I wonder what the drama has in store for them in S2, what will be the wrench that proverbial monkey will throw in. Because they seem as ridiculously happy and content as two peas in a pod at the moment. Suspicious, if you ask me!

Then the whole Pha/Wayu/Thanu/Phai quadrangle! Gosh, it’s so well developed. Pha who seemed as the perfect guy at first now seems almost threatening, that creepy music that started playing whenever Wayu received one of his gifts in the finale was, well, creepy! And Thanu is just so, so sweet! And Phai, too! But it’s this quadrangle that’s at the centre of the supernatural plot of memories sharing and fated soulmates. And it’s so intriguing! I have never, ever, ever seen this plot done before, fate giving someone two soulmates and telling them to deal with it.

(It’s interesting, though, that with Wayu, Thanu shared memories of the past. With Phai memories of the future. Similar but not the same.)

Then there’s Sandee who somehow, in some way fits into this quadrangle. Because Pon Thanapon and Bank Thanathip who play Phai and Sandee, respectively, played a couple in two dramas before already and even the ad at the end of the finale featured them together so... I would say Phai and Sandee are headed in the way of becoming a couple in the future, too? Probably? Maybe? The fact that Sandee kept asking Phai if Phai believed in destiny would suggests so. But... is Sandee actually a good guy or not? Because, boy, did he do some really shady stuff in this drama. While looking incredibly, amazingly, stunningly hot! (Sue me :P)

And Thong and Pok. Holy smokes! The naughty, naughty scene with them was one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen, hands down. The way Thong got off on Pok being so rough with him. Goodness gracious, he loved it. You know, for two newcomers, these actors were just stunning there. At first, their interaction in the drama seemed stilted but as we saw more of them, their chemistry got so much better and when that sex scene happened? Christ on a cracker! I can’t wait to see where S2 will take them.

Also Jack and Koh, the mystery of Padbok and Thanu etc. and so on, of course!

This drama is so, so good! The first half focused mainly on Mark and Kit and only laid very rough foundations for the “kids” that joined the university later on. But when they did, I actually knew them already so I was honestly interested in every single one of those pairings! That was such a smart writing. I loved it.

So yeah, this drama has humor but also real intrigue and you never know what direction it will take next. Amazing. It makes me want to go back to the very beginning and watch it all anew now that I know more or less what’s going on and learn more about the characters that I paid little attention to before. From me? Both thumbs up!

Read More

ソロモンの偽証

Solomon no Gisho is about a story that a Christmas morning, Fujino Ryoko finds her classmate Kashiwagi Takuya’s dead body at their snow covered school. The police and the school conclude that Kashiwagi Takuya died by suicide. At that time, an anonymous letter is delivered to Fujino Ryoko. The letter states that Kashiwagi Takuya was murdered by a group of students including Ooide Shunji. The media and SNS begin to question whether Kashiwagi Takuya really died by suicide or was he murdered. The school principal tries to take control of the narrative, but this leads to a more chaotic situation.
This drama started off being light and then it became very dark. But if you like mystery dramas I really recommend you to watch :)

Read More

adults who actually act like adults?? whale store xoxo: a comfort gl done right.

i went into whale store xoxo kind of cautious since a lot of people were saying it was boring, or that it wasn’t as strong as the other 2025 gls. but honestly, i ended up really enjoying it. a thai gl where the adults actually act like adults?? refreshing. no dragged-out misunderstandings, no evil fathers, no overly dramatic blowups — just two women who communicated, forgave, and understood each other. even manmook, who was supposed to be the antagonist, had such a well-done conversation with mae instead of being turned into a cartoon villain.

this was my first milklove drama so i didn’t know what to expect, but i thought both leads were great. they were so cute together without being cringey, and whenever things leaned into cheesy, it was played off with humor — exactly what a rom-com should be.

now… the side couple. that’s where most of my point deductions come from. their storyline felt weak, and tonnam didn’t really have much depth outside of waiting around for chompoo. the dynamic was a little too much for me compared to the main couple.

the pacing overall was perfect — nothing felt dragged, nothing felt rushed. i also loved the way the drama built a sense of community. all the side characters added so much, and the show touched on real-life struggles like grief, debt, financial stress, single mothers, and even victim blaming. it slowly started to feel less like just a romance and more like a family story.

my only real gripe is the ending — i kinda wish they hadn’t gotten married. it felt a little unrealistic/too soon, but i get that they wanted a wrapped-up happy ending.

overall, whale store xoxo is an easy-to-watch, comfort rom-com with depth and heart. i’d recommend it to anyone who wants something light but still meaningful. 9/10.

Read More

Bromance, conspiracies and action.

I was pretty shocked reading the reviews before starting the drama, since they make it look extremely bad.
It isn't.

Ofc the plot is nothing world changing. Two boys "hating" each other, very evil adults, a big conspiracy and many flashbacks. Is this bad? No. It might be not really innovative, but in my eyes the whole story is carried out well and excitingly.

Apart from that, I was really surprised about the implementation of martial arts and fighting scenes, damn, even blood and actual injuries. It's honestly said not a typical high-school teens romance drama, it mostly tells about friendship and family (ofc there's still romance), about competition and fighting for the good.

The characters were extremely interesting, I'm always a fan of these arrogant, sassy dudes who go through a personal growth and start changing their attitude over time. This change of attitude was perfectly implemented in the Bromance, which is, REALLY STRONG AND AMAZING in this drama. Actually the drama itself seems to ship the guys with each other more than with the girls. Not that I mind. Talking about girls, with this drama I finally found sth, where the girls aren't the typical victims who have to be protected, but strong, independent, smart young women. All roles are very well acted out, despite the actors being so young. And not only the main cast, but also the support roles are great and interesting. Another huge plus is that the cast is super international, even featuring people from non-asian countries.

OH and guys. The music. It's really great. While watching the drama, there was no day when I didn't catch myself humming the songs. They'll forever be in my favorite songs list tho.

To summarize it: If you want a strong, heartwarming bromance (Yes I cried 3 times), a not really lovey-dovey but more action focused drama, with good actors and a satisfying ending, watch it. Just do it.

Read More

A sweet little rom-com that got me thinking. . .

As soon as you mention teacher/student romance, the topic is automatically labelled taboo or controversial by many. It is understandable as a teacher is in an unique position of power to groom a young student for nefarious purposes and possibly subject them to abuse. That would be both illegal and morally corrupt and should be condemned. However, what happens if there is another side to this coin?

This Show starts in just such an awkward scenario where the young and beautiful new homeroom teacher is confronted by a confession from a model student. She naturally rejected him and admonished him to not do it again.

For a good portion of its entire short run (8 x 20 mins episodes) we watch the ML does everything in his power to show the FL that he is serious and sincere about his feelings towards her. It is awkward at time but his energy is infectious. He is helped along the way by his friends (both male and female) and even the FL’s big brother when he realised that he is actually serious and trustworthy. Just about everyone involved is behind his quest. There is no obvious antagonist. The moral and societal barriers are his biggest hurdles.

It has its cliché moments and swoon-y ones as well, but the show is never manipulative or sexualised. The romance is surprisingly pure and sweet. A peck on the cheek is about as far as skinship goes. In that sense, the script never crosses the line unless you consider anything to do with teacher/student romance is automatically out of bound. In that case, this show is not for you.

It is not until towards the end that we find out why the ML is so hellbent on pursuing the FL. I’m not going to give the plot away but let’s just say that it is not your typical teenage crush. The reasoning actually makes sense and justifies his action.

There is certainly more depth to this show than the single-minded exploits of a young man in love. A lot has to do with abandonment, commitment and a need to belong. Tropey topics, indeed, but it is used effectively here.

I’m not going to make this out to be some kind of masterpiece theatre. It is short and made with a small budget. There are no big-name actors, and the mostly young cast did their best with limited experience and abilities. Nevertheless, it is entertaining and I enjoyed it. The ML’s and his friends’ antics are both over the top and heartfelt. You know he is being naughty, but you also want to cheer him on like everyone else. You do have some reservation whether the whole story will end well or turn sour given the controversial topic.

I’m glad to report that the ending is sweet and satisfying. There is no hint of serious romance but there is meaningful banters and teasing. You know that they are playing by the rules for now but are also marking time until he comes of age, finish school and then it will be on for young and old. I won’t mind a sequel that covers the next phase of their lives.

Lastly, I have to give credit to the scenes depicting the inter-thoughts of the FL. They are amusing and insightful. Uniquely Japanese and quite charming.

I have no problem rewatching it as a weekend binge. There is no point in comparing it to a big budget, serious drama. It is just a bit of lightweight fluffy fun and viewed from that angle, it is good enough for me and hence my score. Peace out.

Read More

Wow...to think that this drama is already over makes me sad. This was one drama that I looked forward to every weekend to watch - it's an excellent drama! Lee Yeon Jae, she lived her life doing the same thing everyday, working, getting paid and not living happily. When she's told she has cancer she suddenly changes and takes on a new meaning to life. She starts living her life and doing what she wants. I loved this drama because it makes you think of how precious life is, and maybe sometimes you just need a wake-up call to start living your life.



The acting was terrific! Every emotion was felt, every heart aching, heart breaking moment. And then the happy moments were filled with so much joy. I've never seen the actors in any other dramas, but they were all great! Kim Sun Ah as Yeon Jae, Lee Dong Wook as Ji Wook, and Uhm Ki Joon as the main characters were all wonderful! Their characters were ones that you could easily relate to and love. The other actors were great, too!



The only character that I didn't really care for, and still didn't even at the end - was Sae Kyung. You'll see why when you watch the drama.



The music is another wonderful thing about this drama. Kim Junsu's "You Are So Beautiful" and MBLAQ "You & I" are 2 of my favorite songs! And the other songs they played throughout the drama were great as well!



Will I rewatch this drama? Probably sometime down the road. I really enjoyed it!



Overall - I think this is a must watch of 2O11! Life is precious, and this drama really makes you wonder what you would do if you were given such news - would you choose to live as Yeon Jae did? I highly recommend this drama, although be warned there are parts that make you want to cry, or start crying. The ending...without giving spoilers - is something that makes this drama even more perfect. So watch it!!



Also, I agree with everyone that made comments on her wardrobe - she always had the best clothes!

Read More