Reviews

Love Untangled is a Korean youth romantic comedy that shines with genuine charm and tenderness. The story follows Park Se-ri (Shin Eun-soo), a 19-year-old girl who believes her curly hair is the obstacle keeping her from confessing her feelings to her crush, Kim Hyun. Everything changes with the arrival of Han Yoon-seok (Gong Myung), a mysterious transfer student who sparks in her a journey of self-acceptance, friendship, and first love.

What makes the film stand out is its simplicity and authenticity. Unlike many rom-coms, it avoids exaggerated melodrama and instead focuses on real, relatable emotions. Se-ri is an endearing heroine, full of insecurities yet driven by determination, making her a character easy to connect with.

The chemistry between Shin Eun-soo and Gong Myung is another highlight: their relationship develops slowly, with sweetness and naturalness, making every look and gesture feel meaningful and heart-fluttering. The surprise cameos of Gong Yoo and Jung Yu-mi add an unexpected and delightful touch to the ending.

Although the movie can feel a bit long and its plot is somewhat predictable, its warmth, nostalgia, and sensitivity turn it into a heartfelt experience. It brings back the nerves of first love, the butterflies in the stomach, and the innocence of a simpler time.

✨ Conclusion: Love Untangled embraces the clichés of teen romance with tenderness and an irresistible nostalgic vibe. Perfect for those who want a story that’s simple, emotional, and comforting—one that will make you smile… and maybe even shed a tear. 💕

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Youth drama lovers, gather up! You’re in for a healing, nostalgia-packed time.

First, I would like to start by saying that this is definitely not a “get prettier, receive love” kind of movie, despite the description. You can think of her curly hair as something uncommon, so it developed into somewhat of an insecurity that makes her think she needs to do more to receive love. It adds comedy and fuzziness to the plot.

Shin Eun Soo… she’s just perfect for the high school, high-tension, bubbly student. Watching her just makes me burst out laughing every other minute. She really is the female version of Ha Yi Chan (Twinkling Watermelon).

The overall vibe of the movie is youth drama set in the 90’s in Busan, so you can imagine the amount of healing you’re in for if this is a genre you enjoy. Her friend group is the definition of chaos, yet sweet support. Every supporting character had a role and a healthy dynamic with the main lead, giving a heartwarming overall vibe.

The story’s pace and development hit a sweet spot. Nothing is rushed, no one is too hurried, and emotions are portrayed beautifully.

Moments I specially loved (Spoilers):
I love how the male lead supports her confession preparation despite having feelings for her. It shows his healthy attachment to her, supporting her happiness and waiting for her feelings and curiosity to be fully satisfied. I love how she eventually realized on her own that he liked her for simply being herself.

They did a great job displaying teenage-level love. How he used conditioner on her hair so his mom wouldn’t perm it, because he loved it. How he cried like a child to his mom, telling her that he doesn’t want to go to America, and that he wants to stay in Busan, where he is loved and his wounds are healing.

I loved Park Se Ri’s enthusiasm, the energy and warmth she brings to her family, specially her dad, her friends, and Han Yeon Suk so effortlessly, just by being around them. She eventually, unknowingly, heeled him just by being around.

I just wanted to watch something to pass time, but this turned into a favorite! I will definitely watch this over and over.

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The Master Strikes was another film attempting to capitalize on Jackie Chan’s success with kung fu comedies. And failed badly. Female director Kao Pao Shu made other watchable kung fu flicks and this was watchable—just barely.

Chen runs what appears to be a one-man escort service. He’s hired by Lung to transport an expensive jade horse. When he arrives with the sealed box at the destination, the horse is missing. He has to sell everything he owns to pay back Lung. Meanwhile two con artists are running scams on people at a casino until Meg Lam throws them out. Chen goes mad from losing his business and picks fights with nearly everyone. When the con artists hear Chen’s story they tell him he has been scammed. Realizing this Lung fellow is a wealthy crook they determine to hunt him down and steal his loot using Chen as their kung fu muscle.

This movie was a major disappointment. Casanova Wong had fast kicks, but his acting as the mad Chen was awful. The two con artists were played by Meng Yuen Man and Tony Ching Siu Tung. These two were not known for being main characters. Ching Siu Tung worked as a martial arts director far more than as an actor. Meng only performed in around 20 films, usually in small roles. Yen Shi Kwan as the Big Bad, was the more talented of the actors and a strong kung fu artist but didn’t have much to do. Eddy Ko showed up in his “mom hair” wig to fight a few times. Max Lee in a Drunken Master bad gray wig had a small part as Beggar So to train the con artists in “Leap Frog” style.

The fight choreography by Ching Siu Tung was creative enough when it wasn’t over cranked, there just wasn’t enough of it. The fists and kicks obviously missed by a mile/km. Casanova, Meng, and Ching were all acrobatic flipping and bouncing around which was entertaining. Normally, the grand finale fight runs around 20 minutes. This finale lasted barely 10. There are some kung fu flicks where the fights make up for the lack of story or acting ability. Such was not the case for The Master Strikes. I’m not a huge fan of kung fu comedies, and usually try not to ding my scores for them too much, but this one was painfully bad, boring, and lacking in enough exciting fights. Sorry, Kao Pao Shu, you know I support you girl as the only (kung fu) female director at the time TMS was made, this one just didn’t make the grade.

3 September 2025

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Love Untangled Review - ZyKuu

"His heart strings were more tangled than her hair" - This story was very innocent and cute. The film follows the main lead Park Se-ri is a determined teenager on a mission to untangle her natural curly hair. With hopes of having straight hair she aims to impress her crush Kim-hyun. The other main lead is Han Yun-seok whom is a transfer student. Both main leads did well in their role and excelled during the emotional moments. They also had good chemistry with one another. Se-ri is a person who trusts her gut feeling and is very attentive. She displayed her acting range yet again as she continues to impress me. Yun-seok was a very quiet but interesting character whom spoke a lot through his actions. Kim-hyun was a cool character with minimal screen time, and amongst Se-ri's friend group, Sung-rae is who stood out the most as he was the comedic focal point throughout. The OST matched the theme and setting of the film to a tee. I loved the colours of the film, it was very vibrant and pleasing to watch. Although the majority of the film follows Se-ri on her quest for love, there was a segment revolving around domestic violence that I wish topic was explored more. To me that would have added more depth and value to the film's overall plot. In conclusion, this film is great and I would definitely recommend it to all audiences.

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no ones written a review for this so I felt I should :) there's no english translation at all available at least right now and I doubt there ever will be with the time its been out, and my korean skills are nowhere near great at the moment. so it should be known my review is coming as a shinee and onew fan as I only watched his 4 minute segment from the one upload I could find (possibly the only upload on the whole internet apart from this other popular idol I don't personally know of that had her segment uploaded to reddit with english subtitles) on Dailymotion (which only has subtitles in mandarin and I believe Indonesian) and translated it myself (a whole 44 minutes would not be possible for me at the moment, but id love to in the future translate it fully to english possibly for those to watch assuming someone doesn't do it first!)

all this being said, again take all this with a grain of salt as I only watched the one 4 minute segment, but the plot itself wasn't all that interesting or in-depth, but with a movie comprised of just 4 minute segments I wasn't expecting much from it in that department. I'm sure the intention regardless was to focus more on character anyway as that's what it seems, and in that regard its pretty good! the acting naturally carries as that's really all there is to focus on, and he did great!

lastly, I've seen many shinee fans asking about this even pretty recently; just to be clear, I haven't uploaded my translation. again, I'm pretty new in my korean learning journey and I doubt its at all any good (or I'm just insecure lol) and due to the only footage I could find of his segment not being the greatest it doesn't look the best (attempting to crop out a watermark and two pairs of subtitles doesn't leave much room for my own subtitles and the actual footage, as well as it randomly going from pretty good quality visually to not that good randomly - but that part was out of my control). that being said if anyone is at all still interested in (at least for now) just seeing onew's part from someone who is new to the language and hasn't translated anything in their life before outside of the little I've learned so far, definitely feel free to let me know and ill probably upload it or at least send it out to people! just be aware its possibly not that great lol!

hope this is at all helpful :)

update: decided to upload it! again likely not the best but it’s enough to watch it :) https://youtu.be/LEbI0h3bJUM

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Don’t judge a book by its cover

I know so many people were tempted to judge this movie when they saw the trailer and I think I was one of them. I was finding it hard understanding how they were going to make a plot surrounding the fact that she had curly hair when curly hair isn’t a bad thing. however, the plot was less about her hair and more about who she thought she needed to be at a critical point in her life, which is her young adult years. I think this is a feel good coming of age movie with good acting and acute plot. The movie itself is not groundbreaking, but I also don’t think that it makes it bad. I am not going to leave a little review just because it’s not necessarily something I would watch on a regular neither is it something that will change the K drama industry or film industry. It’s just a cute love story.

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Drive to and away

In the first minute of this short movie, a thought came to my mind that this might be a Hong Sang-soo film, and I was right. He has a distinctive style, showing everyday life both through his characters and the surrounding landscape. Everything looks so ordinary, as if I had just taken my phone and filmed it. And yet, he still manages to engage us emotionally through the interactions of his characters. Since this is a short film, the scenes and conversations are briefer, but I can easily imagine it becoming a full-length feature simply by letting the protagonists speak more. So I can only say that this is a typical movie from this director, one that makes you reflect on human emotions and relationships.

In this movie, we follow a young girl driving her car to meet a few people she hasn’t seen in a while. I didn’t notice her climbing any mountain—apart from a little uphill road—so I don’t really understand the title of the film. My suggestion would be to rename it Drive To and From :) A car can bring you to people, but also take you away from them. You can drive alone or with someone, so I think driving works well as a metaphor for the relationship described in this movie.

PS. Is there a reason that the rating is not available for this movie?

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"I've lost my breasts. What can I write about?"

Tanaka Kinuyo tackled three sensitive topics for 1955 in The Eternal Breasts aka Forever a Woman—divorce, breast cancer, and a woman’s sexuality. I'd watched the other four films she directed but saved this fifth one for last as I knew it would be the most devastating for me. Having lost the two most important women in my life to it, I take this disease personally.

Fumiko and her two small children, Noboru and Aiko, make the most of their days. Her mother helps the family out when she can as Fumiko’s husband has given up on finding a job, is for all practical purposes a drug addict, and an unapologetic adulterer. After having enough, Fumiko files for divorce. Her only solace through her marriage and divorce was the poetry club she belonged to. Because of the depressing nature of her marriage her poems were described as “overblown.” An old friend sends her poems to a Tokyo newspaper looking for new talent and she is “discovered.” Unfortunately, Fumiko also discovers she has late-stage breast cancer. A young reporter enters her life, more concerned for her health than the story.

Discovering you had late-stage breast cancer that had metastasized to the lungs was a deadly diagnosis in 1955. In truth, if it was already in her lungs, it would have been in her brain and limbs as well. Mastectomies were the primary treatment. Chemotherapy was in its infancy and not trusted. Radiation and some hormone therapies were about the extent of possible medical regimens. Fumiko was confined to the hospital that had bars on the windows and doors, functioning effectively as a cage. Her children were not allowed to visit, which for a mother would be barbaric. Her roommates were transferred to a different room as they neared the end of their life and then the long dark hallway to the morgue. It seemed like a lonely way to spend one’s final days.

Despite being relegated to a room waiting to die, Fumiko began to work through her feelings and thoughts. At first, she felt less like a woman without her breasts. As time went on, she came to realize she still had longings and desires. Her poetry reflected her fight with cancer and death, and what it meant to be a woman. Could she still be a woman without her breasts? She began to speak her truth and her mind more openly. At this point what did she have to lose? The same society that kept her from attending her brother’s wedding and caused her to marry a man she didn’t care about could no longer censor her thoughts or actions. She was dying, what else could they do to her?

The women around her stayed by her side and cared for her and her children. Her brother won the good brother award as he, too, didn’t shy away from her as some men are wont to do. The young reporter, Otsuki, gave her the joyous gift she had longed for. While the mystery after death must be walked alone, Fumiko was fortunate to have loved ones who cared for her.

Tanaka Kinuyo created a strong film about an imperfect woman who loved her children and family, loved poetry, loved men, and in the end was able to love her “sinful” self, unconcerned about any “unreliable gods” out there. Nakajo Fumiko, the tanka poet this film was based on, died at the age of 31, leaving behind four children and her poetry. Your Auntie Butterfly implores you to begin doing breast exams in your 20s, talk with your doctor about your risk factors, and when the time comes, march right in and get squished. The treatments now are much more sophisticated and successful, especially if they catch it early.

"Death shall lighten
and free me
to even ride
on your shoulder"

2 September 2025
Triggers: F*cking cancer

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Short Run + No Context = Zero Sense

I have so far only submitted reviews for BLs/dramas that I truly enjoyed, to help like-minded folks find their way to the same shows. But today, I'm making an exception. Consider this review an "enter at your own risk" sign.

I have no issues with accepting whatever premise a writer puts forward in order to appreciate a story within the bounds of that premise. But Twins gave me no context, so its ending made zero sense to me. I didn't know whether to view it through the lenses of a psychological thriller or speculative fiction, and because of that, I was left confused at the end.

I can forgive an ending that I don't necessarily like if I at least enjoyed the journey that got me there , whether it's a full-length BL/drama or a short form series (A Balloon's Landing, The Best Story, and I Fell In Love with Someone of the Same Sex are a few examples off the top of my head). But this story fell flat --- weak character development, acting that failed to create emotional resonance, music that did nothing to underscore what was happening on the screen, and just an overall lack of energy (among other things).

Total run time is 11 mins. 35 secs. Needless to say, I won't be watching it again. You can choose to still watch it, since it won't take up too much of your time, but I personally want my 11 mins. and 35 secs. back. Lots of other things I can do with that time.

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Fairy Tale Mashup

This is not complicated. It's very much the "Shin Eun Soo Show" with a stock plot, stock supporting characters, stock high school setting, etc. The plot is almost verbatim "Ugly Duckling". Shin Eun Soo's Se Ri is not an exceptional student, comes from a middle class family and although she has a few close friends, is not particularly popular. Her defining feature is her persistently curly hair which she dislikes and blames for her romantic misfortunes.

Cue the cutest boy in her class recognizing her existence.

Cue her crush on said cutest boy.

Cue entrance of new, nice boy that does anything Se Ri needs.

Cue serpentine series of events of dealing with hair curls and high school crushes.

The supporting cast is actually pretty strong. Cha Woo Min, Yoon Sang Hyeon, Kang Mi Na and Choi Gyu Ri all are as good as the script allows them to be (which is unfortunately pretty limited). Gong Myung probably isn't the best choice as a credible high school boy but when a production needs a laconic, slightly depressed, quiet type, that's Gong Myung.

But as noted above, this is really a beginning-to-end spotlight vehicle for Shin Eun Soo and she mostly delivers. It's a departure from the high school students she's played previously. Her character is not a rebel, is not angry at the world, is not griefstricken or living in an abusive home. Se Ri is a fun, typical teen but Shin Eun Soo brings her to life as an exuberant, extroverted, energetic bowling ball of harmless mayhem. She's far from perfect. She'll cook up a selfish scheme.. She has no shame in asking her friends to go along with her impulses. She is oblivious as, well, most real life teens are. But she's easy to root for because she's genuine and warm and kind underneath the frenetic exterior.

Is it award-winning fare? No. Is it going to transform Shin Eun Soo's acting career in to a stratospheric, A-list juggernaut? Also no.

But it definitely does enough that it wouldn't be a surprise if sometime in the near future, this actor does have that transformative, breakout performance.

Not a must see but recommended nevertheless.

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