Reviews

The story will keep you on your toes.

Story: The story will keep you on your toes. It is packed with lies, deceit, murder, masks, self-loathing, revenge, and depravity. This drama is different from what I am used to watching, and I liked it. I also liked how every episode focused on a certain character, and in the final one, we have the mother and daughter together. It is their story and reunion.

Casting: The casting was amazing. The actors brought their characters to life.

We have three major character developments here.

Mo Mi aka mask girl. She starts as a girl with ambitions and dreams, only to have her dreams stolen because of her appearance. She transforms completely, assumes a new identity, and tries to survive. I wouldn’t call it living because I think that on the inside, she always thinks that she will get caught one day, even though she looks nothing like the person she used to be. After a series of events, she turns herself in and goes to prison. There, she tries to eat before getting eaten and succeeds, only to be deceived and lied to. She quickly realizes it and escapes. She finally makes the ultimate sacrifice, which is when I believe she found true salvation and freedom. She is a tragic figure in this story.

Mo Mi’s mother, Young Hee. Throughout the drama, we see a cold, reserved exterior that contributed to Mo Mi ending up like that. She had no one to believe in her but herself. I wish her mother had shown more affection towards her. Later, we see that she at least tried to save her granddaughter, even though she is done with her and her behavior. Her death was a way for her to repent for being the mother she was and to hope to be seen as the mother she wanted to be or the mother she knew she could be.

Kyung Ja. The mother doesn’t know when to stop and is in denial. Her son was a depraved pervert who raped Mo Mi and called that saving and protection. She saw with her own eyes what kind of life her son led, and yet she wanted to exact revenge on the person who killed her son. Sure, he was killed, and that’s bad, but is it? What are the chances of him having a real family or a girlfriend? Kyung Ja was ashamed of him when he was alive. Apart from all that, she will stop at nothing until she kills the "Mask Girl."

When the latter went to prison, she found out about her daughter, so she changed her plans and wanted to kill the girl instead—her granddaughter. It’s rather ironic when Mi-mo tells her that she would give her everything that her son wouldn’t/couldn’t, and she has to lie to her friends about it. She let rage blind her, and before she died, she managed to achieve her goal. She felt like even God was by her side. The delusion was strong with that one.

Overall: Mask Girl is a story that shows how one bad moment or decision can ruin your life. Then, it just feels like your whole life is like domino pieces waiting to fall.

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This drama should have been a romantic one from the start.

Story: First of all, the drama should have been way shorter. It appears that the main plot is about a dangerous criminal, not Bong-soon’s love triangle, which kind of happens out of the blue. Many episodes were spent on her generic lovey-dovey romance with her boss, and then we have the cop guy suddenly falling for her, forgetting about his job, which is to catch the criminal!

It felt as if they put a pin on the abductions for a while and then unpinned them when they were needed! It does make you wonder which plot is the primary one because it feels like the main plot became a secondary one. After episode 8, things felt more disorganized and inconsistent, like the video editors never communicated with each other before delivering the edited episodes.

Casting: The actors who play secondary characters act better than the leads in most episodes, especially better than Park Bo Young (Do Bong Soon).

Overall: In my opinion, this drama should have been a romantic one from the start—no murders, no crimes, no mystery. The creators showed that her power could be utilized after all in episode 16. This is something they could have done from the very beginning.

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It is one of those drama series where the main plot isn’t enough.

Story: The story is interesting and intriguing enough. People who have grudges get healed in their dreams by the mysterious Wol-ju. Wol-ju was sent to the Life Realm to atone for her sins, and to do that, she needs to heal 100,000 people because she killed that many 500 years ago.

It is one of those drama series where the main plot isn’t enough, so unnecessary elements are added, like the people closest to you being your boyfriend and unborn son, plus an evil spirit after you that needs to exact his revenge.

When that part became the main plot, it became pointless for me to watch.

Casting: Yook Sung Jae, who played Han Kang Bae, gave an amazing and very emotional performance. The rest of the cast was okay.

Overall: I would have enjoyed it more if it had stuck to the original plot. Hotel Del Luna did it better.

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The story starts off as comedic until it takes a dark turn.

Story: The story starts off as comedic until it takes a dark turn. Suspicious characters, a menagerie of murders, psychic powers, and romance at last! It is the type of drama that will keep you on your toes the whole time.

The only thing I didn’t like was that the killer didn’t have a motive to kill those people, which makes it seem like a lazy move from the creators. In my opinion, there is always a reason. Also, I would like to point out that initially, we find out that the motive is betrayal, but that’s scratched almost immediately, leading to the murderer contradicting himself.

Casting: I think that from the supporting characters to the main ones, the actors played their roles very well. They’re very convincing and managed to bring out all kinds of feelings in me. In my book, an actor/actress is considered good if they take you on a journey and make you feel all kinds of emotions based on what happens in their story.

Overall: I enjoyed watching this drama and I do recommend it. It was a nice story with a couple of lessons, like don’t judge a book by its cover and still waters run deep.

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The sins of the fathers are visited upon the children.

Story: Technically, everyone wants to cover their tracks and save their skin after they mess up. I would blame the arrogance that most of these characters show, especially, if not exclusively, the ones who are in a position of power.

In my opinion, this drama shouldn’t be called “The Lies Within.” I would call it “It Ends With Us,” as most characters were sacrificed to stop a tragedy that started 20 years prior or to prevent the exposure of said tragedy.

Furthermore, this drama serves as a good example of how the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children.

Casting: The best acting, for me, came from Seo Hyeon-woo. He had an unsettling aura every time he appeared on screen. He conveyed so much without saying anything.

Lee Min-ki, playing the detective, is well-suited for the role, but there were times when I wanted him to express more anger. For instance, discovering that his colleague of 10 years had been accepting bribes, obstructing justice, tampering with evidence, and even killing a fellow colleague to cover up crimes—wouldn’t that truly infuriate anyone? I expected more intensity from his character.

Lee Yoo-Young’s acting fell short for me. While I understand that portraying a doormat can be challenging, her performance didn’t convince me.

Main Characters:

Seo-hee: It felt as if this character never truly grew or developed throughout the story. I don’t understand why she received a redemption/salvation arc in the end. What purpose did it serve? Nothing substantial. From the very beginning, she seemed incapable of acting independently. Despite numerous suspicious events, she continued to trust the wrong people. Ultimately, all she did was cry, scream, and wait for her husband to return. An annoying and predictable character combination.

Tae-Sik: There’s a poignant scene where he daydreams of his sister forgiving him and wishing him a happy life. While it provided some closure, I believe that losing a loved one—whether family, friend, or partner—is an experience from which one can never fully recover.

Overall Impression: The drama was okay to watch, but I can’t say I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was rather predictable, although there was an unexpected reveal.

Make-it-make-sense-scenes: The police charged Jo Tae Shik because he happened to be next to Ho Gyu on the night of his murder. No evidence, nothing substantial, and yet they aired this fact on national television. Their justification for killing him was revenge for his suspension due to something Tae Shik did. Curiously, he didn’t implicate his team during the Internal Affairs investigation. If he truly wanted to kill someone, why not target Dae Yong or the chief of police?

And just when you think Seo-hui can’t sink any lower, she surprises you with her ignorance and heroine syndrome! She’s willing to sacrifice everyone and go to prison. Unfortunately, she fails to grasp that exposing her father-in-law would spell the end for her and everyone associated with her. Perhaps she’s delusional or just plain foolish. While helping others in need is commendable, the damage has already been done—she can’t save anyone at this point.

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There are times when it makes you wonder and question things, but that’s part of the suspense.

Story: The story is kind of fast-paced, nothing too complicated but the special effects are rather realistic and fascinating. There are times when it makes you wonder and question things, but that’s part of the suspense. The only aspect I disliked was the villain’s death. It could have been more spectacular.

The ending is good and shows that we all have a purpose in life, and that we need to let go of the past to move freely into the present and future.

Casting: The acting was okay, and kudos to Jang Na Ra (Hong Ji Ah) for making my TV leak with her constant crying.

I liked Jang Na Ra’s acting, and it was apparent that all the actors tried to highlight the most memorable aspects of their characters.

For example, Jung Yong Hwa (Oh In Beom) is an overconfident fraudster who uses his charm to get his way. Jang Na Ra plays a tough and cold person who is a cinnamon roll at heart.

Kang Hong Suk (Heo Ji Cheol [Chief]) knows his way around computers. Kang Mal Geum (Joo Hwa Jung) is good at keeping secrets to the point where she gets suspected. Finally, Ahn Kil Kang (Do Hak Sung) remains arrogant and self-absorbed till the very end.

Overall: Overall, I liked this drama because, even though the main characters were once again connected through their past, it didn’t overshadow the plot.

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The mysteries are cleverly crafted, and they make sense.

Story: The story follows the titular character, Kindaichi Hajime, a high schooler with a genius-level intellect and a knack for solving complex murder mysteries. The series continues the tradition of intricate mysteries, often involving locked rooms, elaborate alibis, and dark motives.


Casting: The 2022 adaptation features Michieda Shunsuke (Naniwa Danshi) as Kindaichi Hajime. Michieda brings a childish yet youthful energy to the role, and I think that he succeeds in making the character accessible to a new generation. His chemistry with the supporting cast, especially Kamishiraishi Moka as Nanase Miyuki, is commendable.

On the other hand, some performances feel overly dramatic, which can detract from the tension in key moments like in the Phantom of the Opera case and in the case of the murder of Tachibana Goryu.


Overall: I liked the drama a lot, and if another adaptation is released, I’ll probably watch it. The mysteries are cleverly crafted, and they make sense.

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What's better than 1 pretty boy??

You know what's better than 1 pretty boy?

Two pretty boys...that kiss...each other!!!

Add in some action, a little toxicity and some sweetness in between and you've got a killer concoction in my humble opinion.

I came for the plot and stayed for the amazing chemistry and the eye candy🤭

I was obsessed from the first episode, going as far as to finish the novel in one night and re-watching the first few episodes SEVERAL times because I was THAT much taken by these two.

This drama really grabbed me by the throat like Loek To did to Fei Foon in that alley in episode 2 and has held me in a chokehold until the very end!

Because I read the novel pretty early on in the series, I kept comparing the drama to the events therein and, let me just say, my anxiety was through the roof the entire time! I was literally like 📈📉📈📉📈📉📈📉📈📉📈📉📈📉 throughout waiting for the worse! Thankfully, they had mercy on my poor soul and did a fantastic job transforming the characters AND the plot into something more palatable and likeable!

I'm so grateful to these guys (the fan service is TOP TIER and gave me all the delusions) for re-igniting my enthusiasm. What can I say? I like them a little on the darker side😏

Bonus for the sweet ending. I'm going to miss these guys🥂💜💜💜

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At least they tried and had some decent chemistry?

Honestly, I have to begin this review by saying that I did not hate this! I rated it a 6.5, which is not terrible at all. However, there were several things that could have been done better.
But first, the positives:
+ The chemistry between the leads was good! They were sweet together and made me feel giddy and happy and that's honestly the most important thing for me, especially in BLs but also in other romance dramas, and affected my scoring a lot.
+ The supporting characters (well except for one iykyk) were very sweet
+ The food looked great
+ The cinematography was pretty
+ Jang Eui Soo (Choi Jung Woo) looked insanely good with that hairstyle and overall styling haha. (His MDL profile pic doesn't do him justice honestly.)

But then the negatives:
- The soundtrack was honestly possibly the worst that I've ever heard in a drama. It was filled with songs that had English lyrics that were just complete nonsense. The grammar was abysmal and the sentences did not make any kind of sense. The only okay song on the OST was okay simply because it was fully in Korean :/ Also, having a song where a male singer sings about a "lady" on a BL drama OST was certainly... a choice lol. (If this wasn't released in 2021 I'd have to wonder if the songs were AI)
- The editing was.. bad. There is no other way to put it. They sometimes put scenes and shots in very bizarre order, and sometimes after an episode ended, the next episode would start from the "same" scene, except that in the latter episode there would suddenly be a line or even several lines that were not in that scene in the previous episode. Once they left the episode in a cliff-hanger (kinda) and then the next episode started from a completely different scene taking place before the cliff-hanger scene, but that scene wasn't shown in the previous episode at all. It made me wonder if I accidentally skipped an episode lol (I did not). Also there were several weird time skips and unexplained things, some scenes would just fade to black without proper closure, and then suddenly the characters were somewhere else with no explanation. Overall the editing was a hot mess.
- The sound management was also bad. Sometimes it would sound like the actors' mics just stopped working mid-scene, and they just rolled with it lol. Also the (terrible) music was too loud compared to the dialogue, and sometimes the lines would fade under a (bad) song.
(- The acting was a little bit awkward especially in the first episodes but that is something I can honestly forgive.)
- The writing was not great at all. Listen, I love me some enemies-to-lovers, I do, it's one of my fave tropes, but this drama was written in a very strange way. The twists were silly and created unnecessary drama out of nowhere, and the ending felt a little bit unsatisfactory. Some of the characters' motivations were very unclear until the end.
- We didn't really get a lot of kiss scenes or even that much hand holding ): A liiiittle bit more skinship would have been great considering that the leads had even some chemistry.
- I don't understand the drama's title, it would make sense if even one of them was a pastry chef, but they just both made savoury dishes so it's confusing me a little lol.

Overall, this drama had a lot of negatives, but honestly if you have some time to kill this is not a terrible way to do it. It's a short drama, I easily binge watched the whole thing in one sitting. If for nothing else, you could give it a chance for the leads, they're cute together (: The actors honestly carry this whole thing.

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Six episodes into **Shadow Punisher** and I am already completely hooked.

I LOVE the dynamic between the characters, I love the fighting, I love the pacing, and most importantly: **I LOVE THIS CAST.** Luo Yun Xi, Alen Fang, Shen Yu Jie, He Hong Shan, Zhan Xuan, Xia Ming Hao — and honestly, everyone else too. The chemistry across the cast is already so much fun to watch, and every character feels like they’re bringing something different to the story.

And can I just say how good it is seeing **LYX and Fang back together on screen again**? They genuinely haven’t lost a step. That chemistry is still there, that rhythm is still there, and watching them bounce off each other again is an absolute joy. The fight scenes have been fantastic so far: sharp, energetic, beautifully choreographed, and exactly the kind of action I was hoping for. Luo Yun Xi in particular is always incredible to watch in movement, but the whole cast is absolutely delivering.

And the character dynamics?? YES. Give me all of it. The tension, the humour, the teamwork, the clashes, the little reactions between people — I am already far too invested after only six episodes.

Also: the **puppets**. The puppets are creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy. Deeply, horribly, wonderfully creepy. And somehow, despite them making my entire brain go **NOPE NOPE NOPE**, I am still absolutely enjoying this and desperately want to know what happens next. If anything, the sheer unsettling weirdness has made me even more curious about where the story is going.

Basically:
**CAST. FIGHTS. DYNAMICS. STORY. HORRIFYING LITTLE PUPPET NIGHTMARES.**

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

I cannot wait for the next episode. I need more immediately.

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Something I never knew I needed!

this is SO peak and genuinely such a good drama even without the BL aspect. the acting is so good!

the ONLY reason why I gave it 9.5 is due to the AI… But tbh the rest of the aspects saved it!

I’m only 12 episodes in but I’m so hooked, I also love how they’re so short and snappy. sometimes other series (Thai Bls) can drag due to their duration time but the fact that they’re 15-30 min eps is so refreshing cuz I can just watch an ep and go back to doing what I was doing without it feeling like I spent to much time on a series.

also 2 Eps every week!! we’re being spoiled!!

this whole drama is amazing and I’m definitely going to rewatch this once its complete! 👀

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Amazing drama. Felt we needed more episodes to add depth

The drama was really good despite the use of AI. Unlike others who suggest it shouldn't be used at all. I feel used within a limit is just fine. That way many low budget dramas get a chance to air. The only places they used ai was the intro song (similar to prosecutor's proposal), back stories and background. Which I feel is reasonable as it saves them cost while also keeping the traditional acting alive.

Coming to the drama the plot is pretty interesting although i doubt it will remain memorable. I absolutely hate Luek To like he loosed foon twice in the drama and never learns 🙃. Foon for me was such a sweet heart. The last episode was probably the best of all the episodes. One thing i felt was if they had more episodes they'd probably do a much better job cz here things go by pretty fast. They did cover all the parts the romance, the revenge and the obsession but it did go fast.

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