Reviews

I AM PLEASANTLY SURPRISED BY HOW GOOD THIS WAS

TADAIMARUOOOO!! ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

yet another banger starring hiro mizushima

but on a more serious note, this drama is simply amazing. at first, seeing the general rating for this title put me off, but giving it a chance was the best decision i could have done. this title is a perfect blend of action and comedy, and i could not recommend it more. shun oguri pleasantly surprised me with his role as takakura sou, and paired with hiro mizushima as kudo maruo, takakura's partner and fellow detective, the two of them form a great pair with varying personalities that complement each other perfectly! the overall story is awesome and the music fits the vibe perfectly.


i honestly can not put into words how moved i am by this drama but if you're planning to watch, you will not regret it!!

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The story in mid episodes is the hooking part

First of all, the visuals of this drama are perfect. All of the actors nicely played their roles and immersed themselves in the story. The drama is about a girl who goes back in time after she's been killed by her teacher, who commits a rebellious action against the palace.

There are too many characters to be remembered, so the first few episodes can be very confusing, especially if you're new to Chinese historical dramas. And if you're watching for romance, then the first 9 episodes might be boring since they focus on political affairs and the state of its military power. Also, some of the intentions are quite implicit (I'm not sure if it's because of the translation?).

I love how smart and cautious the FL is. After entering the palace, the story revolves around her acting as the princess's study partner. To be very honest, the feel is similar to watching a high school Korean drama—how the victim tries to outsmart the bullies—but I think that's the hook of this drama.

The ML is also very smart, wise, but very ruthless. He has multiple names, which may confuse you at first. I love how every little gesture of his shows how deep his love is for the FL. The sparks of a slooooow burn are shown by his actions alone, especially when he comforts her when she tries to end the relationship with the second male lead.

However, I don't quite understand why the FL chose to leave the second male lead; I think the reason wasn't strong enough for her to do that. The feelings portrayed by each character are very complicated in the sense that watching the drama alone won't make you sympathize with the characters.

I like the chemistry between both the ML and FL, however, in the later episodes (30++), I feel the writer was forced to change the dynamic of these two, especially after the ML confessed to the FL. Somehow, all of the characters are like gaslighting the FL to return the ML's feelings. I want a happy ending, and that's solely the reason to continue the remaining episodes.

Another thing I love the most is the collection of background music. They have one theme song, and it's quite catchy.

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I am only here for Tor's acting

Honestly the plot wasn't that bad but the characters were very unlikable. I couldn't feel connected to a single one of them. Minta is probably the most annoying female character ever. Contrary to popular opinion, I like Kongkwan's character much more. Yes she was vicious but I could see a reason for her behaving that way and it felt legit. Sila's character was saddening but the way he behaved with Minta at the beginning of the story made no sense. Harassing someone doesn't make them fall for you.
I am bewildered to find out that the Minta and Sila's fathers aren't blamed for anything. Having extra marital affair and an illegitimate child yet they are the good guys of this story. The internal mysogyny shows.
Honestly the acting saved the series especially Tor's. I have known him since Hormones so seeing him acting such a different role here was amusing. Ben did such a great job portraying the step sister. Typhoon really made me hate Ae so much. Kudos to the senior actors for bringing life into the story.
Overall a very Thai lakorn to the core. If you want some family drama then this one is for you.

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The plot is common yet quite complicated

Overall, I like the enemies-to-lovers plot, and I think both actors play their roles nicely. Though there is no tension between these two leads, the romance overall is quite innocent, I personally think that's the good point of this drama.

​I love how the ML is very considerate to the FL. The FL starts off as having a partner, but slowly they drifted apart. Though the shift between the ML and the second lead is quite fast, she seems to be sure about her choice.

​Other than the romance, the family affairs and their twists are what hooked me to watch all of the episodes. Highly recommended to watch if you're looking for a lightweight drama with multiple twists! Love it very much.

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Unexpectedly Hooked

It’s been a very long time since I last watched a Hong Kong BL series. Honestly, I don’t even remember what the last one was. 🤔

It took me about two episodes to really get into this one, but once it pulled me in, it pulled me in hard. I ended up getting really invested in both characters and especially loved their interactions. There’s just something about the chemistry between them that kept me watching, even when I wasn’t completely sure where the story was going.

And let me talk about the soundtrack for a second. At the very beginning, I honestly hated it. I was like, “Why does this sound like this?” But then, I don’t even remember which episode it was, one of the songs suddenly got stuck in my head and would not leave. Next thing I knew, I was looking for it on Spotify and adding it to my playlist. So I guess the soundtrack won in the end. 😭

The one thing that kept me from giving this more stars, though, was the ending. I was actually prepared for a sad ending. Like, emotionally prepared. I could’ve accepted it. But the way they wrapped everything up just wasn’t really my cup of tea. It felt like they were trying to give us something satisfying, but for me, it didn’t completely land.

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Falling in love, falling apart

I really liked this. It portrays reality well—how a relationship can fade over time. The story captures the growing distance between them, along with her struggles at work, in a subtle and believable way. That one confrontation between them is particularly well written, with sharp dialogue, strong performances, and a palpable sense of tension.

The female lead comes across as almost sociopathic—not in a purely villainous sense, but in her detached curiosity about human nature, which makes her fascinating to watch. The second male lead is genuinely endearing, and the drama weaves in understated societal themes, as you’d expect from a J-drama.

In the end, the characters reflect on their mistakes, revisit how they met, and remember why they fell in love in the first place. The climax, underscored by classical music, is especially striking. The final scene then settles into a quieter note, as they exchange a simple “good morning” and look at each other with a mixture of regret and affection. It all comes together for a deeply satisfying conclusion.

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This might be my favorite reality tv dating show ever.

From the premise alone, this is such an interesting idea. Putting a bunch of people in a small town across the world and taking away their cellphones is such a cool show premise, but THE EXECUTION is AMAZING. The producers of this show really gave thought to every detail and created an amazing show. From the guidebook design to allow them to find each other, to the wish dates and their locations, to the Maison Margeaux venue, the letter sending, the cinematography, everything felt so well done and intentional.

What I also thought was really well-done was the emphasis on same-sex friendships in the show. Usually, with reality dating shows, we have "interviews" or sections where people get to tell their true feelings to the audience. This is a great way for the audience to understand the contestants better, and give us better insight into their feelings. This show doesn't have that, which actually allows for the conversations the contestants have with their friends to be our way of understanding their true feelings. Many dating shows forgo any platonic friendships because they aren't as "interesting", but this show has a great amount of platonic relationship development, and I loved that.

Although I think the lack of interviews allowed for the featuring of platonic relationship developments, I sometimes wished we could get more about the inner thoughts of the contestants in the show. We can only learn so much about someone's thoughts and feelings when we get them from a conversation with someone else, so sometimes I yearned for a short interview to hear what the contestants were truly feeling.

Oh my, and the artistic direction was so expertfully done. I never expected such amazing cinematography from a dating show, but they truly captured the beauty of France and the contestants in such a unique way.

Overall, I think this was my favorite dating show I've watched. The fated meetings, the unique and diverse cast, the panelists who were quite funny and added a lot to the show, the production, and the CONFESSION SCENES!! What a show.

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A real korean gay movie...

Sometimes even the sad movies are great... In a country where homophobia was rampant, when Hong Seok-Cheon outed himself in the year before in an interview and lost his career, and where even teachers spread misinformation because of it. The homophobia is still a problem. Korea also has the highest suicide rates of western countries and especially the highest rates considering gay people.

So I was quite surprised it ended not like that. It ended in a confession which was not dicovered at that time and resulted in an 404 web error, you can say it was a bittersweet ending. This movie depicts exactly how the zeitgeist was in 2001 and why the MLs did not find together. It's done without creating unnecessary drama, it feels very realistic. It also shows internalized homophobia, which means gay people hate themselves and hate to be gay for all the wrong reasons. Social pressure in South Korea is no joke.

The movie is done very well, the production quality is not as polished as it could be but to get a gay movie financed in South Korea is more difficult than anything. While this is again a movie does not have a happy end for the MLs, it still features a happy end. It just shows how it was and how it partly still is and that is the real sad thing.

I don't want to spoil more, you really should watch this. If your sensible be warned that bullying is one of the themes too. It's not a movie where you eat snacks, it's a movie where the tissue box should be near you.

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So...what was this series about again?

Revenge huh? The main plot is revenge yet what revenge did he accomplish? Lost the lives of all good people and the villains who deserve death are living to see another day. What a great revenge! So let's not even talk about the plot.
The remaining aspects are not good either.

Eun-nam, literally one of the worst written characters in history. She left her "love of life" and married another dude for stocks, without even telling him. And the fact that she has the audacity to squiggle back into Dong Ju's life after doing all that is infuriating. But as usual, FLs in kdramas face ZERO consequences for their actions regarding romance.

And Dong Ju...doormat of the century. After everything she did, he's still obviously head over heels for her...because she's the FL...how surprising. And not to mention, the fact that he forgave his 'father', who has NEVER been in his life, tried to kill him multiple times, shot him twice, and killed his mom. And yet as soon as they learn about being son and father it's all shits and giggles like who cares if you killed my mom or shot me twice it's all good because you're my biological daddy, let's go have dinner and make up immediately.

Two reasons this is getting a rating above 4/10. One, an open ending which is the best imo for this one. Two, the acting, especially Park Hyung Sik. I forgot I was watching a crappy series when I saw his intense acting. They were good actresses/actors, but you can only do so much with a sh!tty scrip.

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Half-Squeezed Lemon

I’ve never watched the anime, so I don’t know how faithful or different the movie is compared to the original. Still, I felt like the story had a solid foundation and interesting characters, but it lacked development. Everything seemed to happen too quickly, as if important steps were skipped, which made it harder to fully connect with the narrative.

Maybe people who have seen the anime will understand certain parts better, but for me it felt like something essential was missing. The movie shows potential, but it doesn’t fully deliver, it feels like it could have been much more.

Overall, I kind of liked it, but not strongly. It’s not bad, but it’s not memorable either. So I’d give it a 6.5/10.

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Wow, before going into this I did not expect it to be such a poignant show. I'd been seeing the trailers and snippets of it, plus as a fan of Ae! group, I was going to watch the show either way.

I have to say I had my judgements all ready: vertical drama, previous Esudora with Ryosuke Hashimoto with a completely different tone...

However, Chat Boy turned out to be very well made and managed to cover so many important issues we'e facing in the modern world. From AI to burnout, loneliness and mental health issues (definitely a trigger warning should come with it- feel free to reach out to me if you would like more info/spoilers before watching).

The only thing I would say this show lacked, is that it shed light on so many big societal issues in Japan, but it didn't really give a call to action or leave the viewer wondering what they could do to help/improve these issues. In fact, the ending was where it fell a little short, I feel like we are left with a lot of questions and not really any kind of support system.

I was really happy to see Massan back acting, the last drama I saw him in was Musashino Rondo which I actually really enjoyed. Glad that his acting skills have levelled up, he really nailed some of those emotional scenes.

I think Noel also did an amazing job, great casting because he has that big eyed look which I feel he harnessed really well to give it more a "non human" effect.

I watched the version with all eps edited together like a film and found that really easy to watch, curious to hear about the experience of those who watched episode to episode.

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