Where small moments become everything
This is exactly the kind of program I love, simple on the surface but full of genuine human connection. What really made it special for me were the relationships that slowly formed with the villagers, nothing felt forced, just natural interactions that grew into something warm and meaningful. Those small conversations, shared moments, and quiet bonds are what carried the whole show. And then there’s Mrs. Ra and Sang Yi… they completely stole my heart. Their scenes together were so soft and genuinely cute, the kind that just makes you smile without even realizing it. It’s not about big events or dramatic storytelling, it’s about people, and the way they connect in the simplest ways, and that’s exactly why it worked so well for me.Was this review helpful to you?
A Satisfying Journey
Story: 49 Days is one of those dramas where the story is really interesting even if it was just the first episode. That is what dramas should be. Dramas should pull you in right at the start. The story was unique and very engaging right from the get go. The characters were also written with a lot of interesting shades so that no character looks dull and uninteresting. This isn't a fast moving drama but I thought that the pace was actually really nice. The flow of the story was just enough. I really liked how it gradually showed the story.Acting/Cast: The acting didn't start out as strong as I would have liked it to be. It did improve a lot as the drama progressed. Some of the acting wasn't as good as the others but overall, everyone did a nice job of portraying their characters. The chemistry between the actors were really good.
Music: It surely doesn't have the best OST or music but there were some nice musical choices that helped the drama especially in some scenes. Some musical choices were a little jarring at first but it gets better as the drama progressed.
Overall: For me, 49 Days is one of the dramas that I will never forget. It is one of the best dramas that I watched because it actually has a really great storyline. It wasn't interesting just because of the actors unlike other dramas. It was interesting because it showed a really unique story.
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I was just going to watch it to pass time. BOY, that was one of the most dangerous decisions ever. After the 2nd episode, I stuffed my homework in a corner and started racing through this show like crazy. I couldn't stop.Whenever I stopped I thought bout this day in day out! I marathonned this show till I couldn't remember where I stopped, and though I told my mum I would watch it with her, I hehe didn't. (though i still rewathced it with her after that). Okay, all these aside. i think you get my drift, this drama was hands-down AMAZING.
Plot: It's the typical rich-guy-poor-girl drama, but I happen to love those dramas a lot! It absolutely doesn't hurt that the leads have an AMAZING CHEMISTRY THERE
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I rarely do fast forward when I'm watching but with this--especially scenes & conversations about politics, I just did. I also got disappointed on how they came up with episode 1, it didn't leave any impression at all.
BUT, i loved the sweet moments between Ying Zheng and Gongsun Li especially when GL gave in and finally learned to love YZ
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Pshh.. This is well documented Korean history.
But that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be more to the story than history has to say. Or that the inner motivations of these highly visible personages were ever truly known by more than themselves or a few other people.
In other words, history always gives us this much leeway to make a romance out of nothing. If you want to approach Jang Ok Jung, Live in Love as infallible history, don’t. But if you’re in the mood for a sweeping epic love story set in historical period based more or less on real people– this might be a good drama for you.
We’re certainly not working with highbrow historical revisionism here.
JOJ: Live in Love is a snapshot of Joseon history ca. 1680s. It's a complicated and very violent story of King Sukjong (before, Crown Prince Lee Soon) and his wives/concubines- among whom are some of the most well known female figures of the age, including the famously tragic Queen Inhyun.
JOJ, however is a romantic and simplified spin on what’s probably 10x more complicated than the drama depicts. I’m actually okay with that, because it does a decent job of making all these events make sense in a way that won’t make your head spin.
But it’s also romantic in that the story it tells is exactly opposite from what history tries to tell. Give a quick thought back to last year’s hit drama Queen Inhyun’s Man, and the depiction you get of Jang Ok Jung is of a conniving bitch. So who wants to see Ok Jung get a makeover? Apparently not Korean audiences, because the ratings were just not there. It took an extra dose of romantic scenes to garner interest in the show. I think it’s shame because despite the unconventional retelling, Jang Ok Jung wasn’t all that bad.
The actors were fabulous, particularly Hong Soo Hyun- she just does sageuk figures so well, and I loved how they played with her Inhyun character in tandem with Ok Jung's dramafied character.
Overall, it was compelling. However, this is history, and history has an outcome that won’t be undone by fiction no matter how good your script is. As for the love between Lee Soon and his beloved concubine/queen, I bought it completely. Even within the grounds of how unhistorical it was that King Sukjong could’ve only had one person he ever loved (or even slept with – because, history says he had tons of concubines and a parcel of children). But I liked how the relationship between the two worked as an anchor for the overall political story. Ok Jung was portrayed as smart and wily, King Sukjong as a master politician, and as such their teamwork was a boon to the storyline. It kept things fresh and interesting at least 80% of the time.
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The drama is only 5 episodes long, so there's hardly any boring parts. The background music is amazing. It's so well done and fits the drama and the mood perfectly. I am really looking forward to the OST being released.
Anyway, this is seriously a must-watch. Best japanese drama in a very very long time.
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the cast and the acting was great!
Decibel is a sound terror action film that revolves around a bomb designer who wants to occupy the city center with a special bomb that explodes when the noise increases and a former naval deputy commander who becomes his target.the combination of the great actors was awesome everyone was good.
KRW, JSH, CEW, and of course my dear LJS.(the main and the supporting cast are great)
lee jong suk as a villain is so damn good. same as BM liked the challenge he took for himself and hopes to see it more in the future.
the plot wasn't boring but the storyline felt ordinary, not particular. don't hope for something special well my main reason to watch was LJS and I enjoyed seeing him!
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NOT A CINDERELLA STORY
A May-December chaebol-poor girl love affair, that to be honest, doesnt offer anything new, that you have to question what's the point of this entire series, if there's anything.This type of story has been done so many times in a K-drama. Its not even a fairy tale, i dont even get why they titled it Cinderella at 2AM - main lead putting on a pair of shoes to the female lead a few times doesnt make it a Cinderella story. It doesnt even draw parallel to the fairy tale title. And why 2 AM, maybe i just dont get the symbolism.
Whats sad is this is such a waste of the talented cast. I dont know why Moon Sang Min's management team chose this project for him, are they trying to sabotage his career? This is very similar to the tone and vibe of Wedding Impossible, even down to his personal styling. Such a waste of a talented actor because we know he can do more. Shin Hyun Been did the most of the heavy lifting in this drama and she is as beautiful as ever and lets just say she did a good job with the material she got.
What's even worse is at only 10 episodes, it still felt too long, with repetitive and extended scenes. I bet they can squeeze everything to 6 to 8 episodes without losing the story. The two office co-workers are so annoying and unnecessary.
There are some hints of discarded gold here - Yoon Park and Park So jin's pairing and love's story was a much more interesting story and could have used a lot more screen time and their characters could have been elevated more to co-lead status. I also feel like they have underused Lee Hyun Woo here because they just conveniently pulled the rug on his storyline just when he is starting to make an impact.
Also, I need to mention I am inlove with the soundtrack! Yeonjun's Boyfriend is so catchy and fits the sh ow perfectly!
Will i reccommend? Not really unless you are big fans of the actors, just watch the soundtrack music video. Will I rewatch? My goodness, no! Is it bad? No not really, but it is also not good enough to make an impact. This is one of those rom-coms that is just there because some producers have money to throw away - for sure I wont event remember it's story after a few months.
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Overrated
Stop writing fluffy reviews about this drama. It's not that good you'll just have backlash because it WON'T LIVE UP TO EXPECTATIONS. I went to watch this after seeing the unusual 9.2 and was highly disappointed with how cliché this is. The fans of this are too ride or die and idek why. Probably because of the cute graphics that resemble Tim Burton style but besides that and the autistic character there's nothing special about this show, it's tropes galore and honestly Kim Soohyun performance in this in kinda dull. Yes he's a good crier but besides that his character is not captivating.Was this review helpful to you?
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Queen of Tears becomes King of Makjang. Beautiful to look at, dull and exhausting to actually watch
Major, MAJOR disappointment. The acting and cinematography were stellar 10/10, as expected of the budget and cast.But the story nosedived incredibly starkly when the drama started focusing less on the characters and more on piling increasingly unbelievable trope conflicts one after the other. One of the main leads has a a terminal brain tumor diagnosis and somehow it's not even in the top 5 most deadly things they have to go through in the latter half of the episodes.
The two villains, in particular the 'second male lead', dial up the makjang factor to eleven and his plotlines take centre stage for far too long. My short summary of each block of writing -
Episode 1-4 = Great acting, interesting and unique storyline - even if it wasn't a masterpiece yet, it was at the least intriguing. The leads had a dynamic very seldom seen in Korean dramas, let alone of a drama of this scale.
Episode 5-8 = Incredible, this is the stretch of the episodes that suckered me in. At their best worst enthralling, at their best emotionally devastating, this was the peak of the series.
Episode 9-12 = A fairly balanced mish mash of light and dark tones, the makjang kdrama tropes nonetheless start to intrude upon. Newfound complications start slipping in from the rafters but the central focus of the story still remains. The Queens Group story is still so boring, it takes a Herculean effort to not fast forward through all of the corporate nonsense that unfortunately overstays its welcome.
Episode 13-16 = WTF. How many times do the leads have to have tearful hugs two minutes removed from some unhinged assassination attempt in the middle of suburban Korea and Germany. Character development gets replaced by exploding cars, poorly written villains get more dialogue and screentime than the main characters.
A colossal letdown shouldered by excellent performances. A Big Mac served on a silver platter. If there is anything to take away from Queen of Tears, it is that believable tears can not mask an unbelievable story.
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2
1Too good, might as well be the best xianxia this year
This drama is phenomenal. It quickly climbed to my top one rewatch series, and it will surely stay there for a while. I can say that this is the first time I am not utterly disappointed with the FL losing consistency in her mission when she meets the ML. The first time i see a FL so determined to finish her mission and not give it up for love. LYX really is a masterclass actor, he is able to showcase so many different characters and not even one of them looks or behaves the same. Bai Lu also did phenomenally well in bringing me close to her characters. No stupid ML nor FL.ACTORS/ACTRESSES
LYX plays Tantai Jin, Ming Ye, Cang JuiMin and one more character that i will let you find for yourselves. Every character is totally different from the others, you can differentiate them from one another just by the way they walk, talk and look at the female lead. Let me break them down below.
Tantai Jin is our male lead and to an extent, the antagonist. He is a mortal born as the vessel for the Ancient Devil God, aka devil fetus, and he possesses the evil bone needed/ for the resurrection of the ADG. He is a complex character, and the same goes for Cang JiuMin. He was born without feelings and love thread, born to live miserably and get betrayed; all for the ressurection of the Ancient Devil God. And he does not know that truth, he just thinks the world is cruel and ugly, especially to him. Born in Jing Kingdom, he was sent as a hostage prince to Sheng Empire, where he spent the majority of his life in the Cold Palace. He got married to Ye Xi Wu, and continued to suffer. He is utterly cold and unmoved, sinister and calculating, willing to do anything for his survival, and ready to pay you back ten fold if you betray him. He is evil, but we are shown that side of him a less compared to the novel. When Tantai Jin dies, he becomes the Devil God, and that is another character all together. More ruthless and evil than Tantai Jin, the ultimate Devil God that will destroy the four continents and three worlds, not carrying for anything or anyone. More about the Devil God after Cang JiuMin's section.
Ming Ye was the God of War in the Shangqing realm, who was alive 10 000 years prior to the current timeline. He is a dragon from the East Sea. He was the typical XianXia God, detached from worldly desires, but determined to save the world. When he was on the brick of death, he was saved by Sang Jiu, whom he later married. Due to a misunderstanding, he divorced Sang Jiu, ready to die in the upcoming God x Ancient Devil God war. He was again saved by Sang Jiu, who looked after the injured Ming Ye and healed him. You would think after all the misunderstanding they will have their happily ever after, alas their fate had other plans.
Cang JiuMin is an immortal that was saved from the bank of the Nether river by the Xiaoyao sect's master Zhaoyou. He was taught immortal arts, and missed his wife for 500 years. In order to find her soul and resurrect her, he stayed in XiaoYao sect to look for ways to bring his dead wife back to life. He is different from Tantai Jin, but has his memories and is ultimately a changed Tantai Jin. He no longer sees the world as cruel and ugly, he is not evil or sinister, he is a changed person that misses his wife. He meets Li Susu and discovers she was his wife 500 years ago. Alas again fate has other plans.
Devil God TTJ/CJM - this character can also be broken down to 2 different characters - Devil God 2.0 that we see in episode 1, and Devil God 3.0 that will greet us around the last 5 episodes of the drama. The difference between 2.0 and 3.0 is like the moon and the sun. Devil God 2.0 is more cruel and ruthless than TTJ, he cares about nothing and no one, he wants to destroy the world as the world only showed him cruelty and misery. Devil God 3.0 is a Devil that loves the world and loves Li SuSu. A Devil God that has only one mission - save the world that Li SuSu loves so much.
Bai Lu plays Ye Xi Wu, Sang Jiu and Li SuSu. Here again you can differentiate between the three characters, with the difference that Li SuSu goes back in time and resides in the body of Ye Xi Wu.
Li Susu is our female lead. She is the daughter of the Hengyuan sect's leader Qu Xuanzi. She is the dearest daughter of Qu Xuanzi and she is protected and spoiled by him. She is called The Lady of Spirituality as her body is the purest immortal body that cannot be tainted by evil. Li SuSu is a complex character. She witnessed the wiping of the immortal world and the death of her family first hand. They could only send her back to time to stop the birth of the Devil God. When she goes back to 500 years ago and meets Tantai Jin, she is even more determined to stop him and finish her mission. Bare in mind she does not have to kill him, but destroy the evil bones. And she does everything she can to finish this mission, even if it costs her life as Ye Xi Wu.
Sang Jiu was the clam princess that lived 10 000 years ago during the time Ming Ye lived. She was in love with Ming Ye as she witnessed him defend the Mo River from the demons. She is born a demon, but with divine essence, meaning she can ascend to godhood. The clam clan is neutral towards both gods or demons. After Ming Ye almost dies, Sang Jiu saves him, but pays a price for that decision. She marries Ming Ye, but due to misunderstandings she ends up getting divorced. She saves Ming Ye yet again, but ends up paying a greater price for the decision of saving Ming Ye time and time again.
Ye Xi Wu is the body that Li SuSu ends up in when she goes back to 500 years ago. She is the daughter of the Ye family - a noble family. She is also the wife of TTJ. The original Ye Xi Wu was cruel to everyone and utterly spoiled by her family. She was also bullying TTJ. When Li SuSu ends up in her body, she is determined to finish her mission. She may seem cruel to TTJ, but that all is because she needs to save the world from the destruction TTJ will bring if he dies with the evil bones intact. It is thanks to her we end up seeing Cang JiuMin in the immortal world.
CDL plays Ye BingChan, Tian Huan and Mo Nv, she is an antagonist throughout her 3 roles.
YBC is the sister of YXW and a daughter of aconcubine. She loves no one but herself, and is the reason for so many of the things that happen to TTJ, YXW and Xiao Lin. She is married to Xiao Lin, but she is constantly insecure and paranoid Xiao Lin will leave her.
Tian Huan was a fairy in the Shangqing realm, who was in love with Ming Ye. She is the daughter of the previous God of War and Ming Ye's master. She is utterly despicable and the reason for everything that happens to MY and SJ.
Mo Nv is a drought demon that was saved from the immortals by the Ancient Devil God and made into an umbrella. She was send to the mortal world for 10 lifes so she can rebuild her soul. She has memories of her life as YBC and is in love with GYJW.
DW as Xiao Lin, Sang You and Gong Ye Ji Wu.
Xiao Lin is the crown prince of the Sheng Empire. He is righteous, honorable, and a pure person. He is married to YBC, whom he loves.
Sang You is the clam demon prince and brother of Sang Jiu. He is the closest to Sang Jiu and often ends up protecting her from harms.
Gong Ye Ji Wu is the senior sect brother of Li SuSu. His character goes through a change that makes us as an audience not stand him.
SZN as Pian Ran
Pian Ran is a nine tailed fox demon that once loved a mortal. She lost her love thread when he died. She is alluring and cunning, sweet and cute, and all in all behaves like a fox. She meets Ye Qing Yu and gradially falls in love with him. Pian Ran lost 2 of her tails when she escaped the Barren Abyss, the place where demons reside.
GYT as Ye Qing Yu
Ye Qing Yu is the second brother of YXW, a comandable general on the battlefield. He meets Pian Ran and falls for her. He is also the type of person that will wake you up if you try to delude yourself - the wake up alarm if you will. He is really honorable and upright.
Every point from acting, costumes, OST, CGI, FX is really well made. This drama brings the whole genre one stage up, not level but stage up. It is so well done that you would not get bored as every character is intresting. The main plot has almost no plot holes, but due to it being cut down from 54 episodes to 40, there are many scenes missing in the immortal part of the drama. Nevertheless, i would say the drama follows the novel for about 65 to 70%, with changes here and there, but the overall main plot is consistent with the novel one.
Rewatch value: 10/10
You can try the drama for yourself and see if it's your cup of tea. Happy watching!
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DISAPPOINTING AT BEST, INSUFFERABLE AT WORST.
***DISCLAIMER: THIS IS JUST MY OPINION. YOU DON'T HAVE TO AGREE AND I'M NOT HERE TO ARGUE WITH ANYONE.***To sum everything up in simple terms:
- Disappointing storyline, plot and flow of events.
- I lost interest at episode 9 and forced myself to watch the rest.
- Watching became a chore and it felt like the biggest waste of time.
- Female MC was badly written (I hate her character and I wish she died)
- If not for the ML (Jo Jong Suk) most people wouldn’t think of rating this drama kindly.
- This drama totally missed the mark for me and to be honest it was boring.
- I definitely would not recommend, you’re better off watching any other ongoing drama or critically acclaimed historical drama.
- I didn't even find the political schemes interesting because it seemed like child's play and was not very engaging. I felt like they were going around in circles for the entirety of the drama. ML did not have anyone on his side and they were all trying to undermine and sabotage him in some way / shape or form. The worst part is the woman he loved tried to kill him even though he tried being very honest with her.
- The whole narrative of being captivated and how they tied it in was bs. If you watched from the beginning you could easily see see that the FL falling for ML would be her downfall and she was the one who would end up captivated.
- The chemistry between the leads were lacking and their love / kissing scenes sucked. In the last episode especially it was painful to watch them interact because it seemed so forced. Their love was not believable at all and the FL looked very uncomfortable. I wish I could erase their scenes from my mind bc they just gave me the ick.
- The drama pissed me off, especially due to the fact that they were sleeping together and he didn’t even figure out her name or demand to know it until the last episode. They’re just so irksome. FL especially she is so trifling ughhh.
- I believe FL should try another career. She's pretty so she can model or do brand deals instead. I feel like I have given her enough chances to redeem herself but she is still the same as she was in Black Knight. She has the same expression (looking like a damn deer in the headlights) throughout the entire series and was almost always crying.
- If you want to watch this drama for the romance I advise you not to. You will be disappointed. If however you still want to give this drama a chance because you love Jo Jong Suk and political schemes (which imo were cliche) then by all means be my guest. I however, would not put myself through that again because I believe that one person should not be expected to carry the weight of the entire drama on their back.
- With all that said, I give this shit show / mess of a drama a 5/10
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Suzy is somewhat not that effective here for me. I was really amazed with how she acted in Anna and I can see her improvement there but this time around it was hard watching her crying because she is bad at it. I don't know maybe I expected a lot from her already.
The ending is bad, I am really not satisfied with it. I'm happy that they release all episodes in a day because I don't think I would watch this ongoing.
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Toxic badass FL, Doormat ML ..
At the beginning I was so happy finally The FL has a Self_esteem, Dignity, freestyle- I'm tired of Stupid, weak and Humiliated Girls who lose her mind, insults herself with Embarrassing acts for crush And love in C-Dramas ..
but Unfortunately, Good things never Complete ..The ML is a Doormat, keep insulting himself for Her. fr !!!!
I think Chinese Writers have some issues, I piss off of Thier writing, Either they create an Arrogant ML insults the stupid FL OR a toxic badass FL insults the dump ML . They have to know what DIGNITY and Healthy relationship means.
I bet no one of those writers were in a relationship Before that's why they don't know HOW to write a Light and creative Love story
I really can't handle FL , she keep hanging out with her Ex then blame ML for literally NOTHING and made him apologize !!!!!!!
FL take advantage of all Males around her (Her boyfriend, Ex , Firefighters.....etc) for her Damn store ..
I like ML's friend he's so cute and funny.. the decorations in drama are amazing as well , FL outfits are chef kiss .. this is the only things I like
for me I didn't see any romance scene made.me flutter or something ..
- let's see EP 14, hope it will get better but I don't think so
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