Reviews

Great but left with so many questions...

This is a high school romance where two warring students find common ground in the abuse of their parents eventually fall in love. I like that they covered both physical and mental abuse because people often forget that just because you can't see physical evidence of abuse doesnt mean it isnt there. They had great chemistry but I felt like a lot of plot points were left hanging. what happened to the FL mother? did she come back? Who did she leave her father for and why? What happened to the ML's mother? why did she allow the father to treat him like this? Also what happened to the dad and ML relationship after High school? I think I accidentally wrote the second season in my head while writing this review. Now, I'm itching to reactivate my AO3 account...

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The age of discovery of pain and happiness

Episode 7 surprised me. I started this series simply enjoying the youthfulness and pettiness of high school, never expecting it to explore the psychology of teenage relationships with this much depth. To me, this has become Putter’s story more than Lee’s. Putter is the one forced to grow up faster because, unlike Lee, he is mostly alone…and when you are alone, you cannot afford to hide behind walls forever.

High school is the age of experimentation and discovery. It is like putting your finger into an electrical socket and learning just how badly it can hurt. Lee discovers that friendship can give him the support and confidence to pursue his dreams. But he also discovers the pain of falling in love and possibly losing that friendship in the process. He can retreat to the safe side, away from the fire…but at what price?

Putter has always lived on that safe side. Yet he finally lowered his walls, allowed himself to be vulnerable, and accepted Lee’s love. But was it truly love? In high school, love is understood differently. Teenagers often mistake attention for affection, longing for devotion, and sacrifice for proof of love. Eventually, they learn that feelings are not always returned equally…and that may be one of the most painful lessons of growing up.

Putter helped Lee recover the spark he needed to shine and pursue his dream. But somewhere along the way, Putter began losing his own. Is it really love when loving someone causes you to stop shining? Perhaps Putter’s greatest lesson is not simply the pain of losing Lee…it is discovering that loving oneself may be the greatest love of all. Love should never require one person to become smaller so the other can glow brighter.

Whether Lee and Putter get back together is not the real ending. Their story could go either way because discovering themselves matters more than defining their relationship. This series could have ended with Episode 7, and I could imagine their friendship surviving and growing with them. Perhaps when they are older, after learning how to love without losing themselves, they will find each other again…not to continue where they left off, but to start over

This series had more maturity that I expected, that’s what I enjoyed the most.

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Coming of Age, Back in Time

Twinkling Watermelon was a show that I knew I should have watched long ago, and now that I finally have, I understand why it has one of the highest ratings on here! This show was wonderful, with slow but meaningful pacing and well-developed characters that are all so easy to empathize with. If you haven't seen this one, you need to!

Ha Eun Gyeol (Ryeo Un) is a child of two deaf parents with an older brother who is also deaf. He's lived as the family translator and interpreter for his entire life, rarely doing anything for himself. When he decides to join a band, his father can't seem to understand why. One night, Eun Gyeol is transported back in time to when his father was 18 and could still hear. Determined to prevent the accident that caused his father's hearing loss, as well as make sure his parents get together, Eun Gyeol begins his new life in 1995.

This show was so beautifully done. There were some parts that I felt like were overly drawn out or slow, but for the most part I thought the pacing allowed the viewers to really get to know the characters, their lives, and their backstories. I do think that the ending could have concluded the show a bit better since it felt like a lot was left unsaid, but I still had a great time watching. It's a very emotional drama, and I loved the coming of age style story. If you haven't seen this iconic show yet, do it now!

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Guys this one is a must watch!!

I genuinely can't believe a masterpiece like this went so underrated wth!!!
This turned out to be one of the best thriller K-dramas I have watched...

The first few episodes were kinda whatever! But the deeper the story gets, the more INTENSE it becomes... Especially after epi 3 or 4.. every single episode starts throwing insane scenes and twists at you 😭

The story basically revolves around a serial killer and a taxi driver but the way everything is presented... with all those twists, reveals, and psychological elements... pure dark world!! Brutal, obnoxious... so disturbing!!

Every time you think “Okay maybe things are finally going to be okay now,” something happens and everything starts all over again!! There are some absolutely brutal scenes in this drama... I was genuinely scared 🙃😳

Yoo Yeon-seok who played the serial killer/villain here... might genuinely be one of the best villains I have seen in a drama 😭 It literally made me wanna crawl through the screen and beat the shit out of him myself. His acting was THAT good. I was watching the drama and, at the same time, secretly admiring his performance like GOSH!!

Dont cancel me but after all that..I somehow ended up really liking this psychopath 😂 I am starting to question my own sanity now 😭

Pure dark, thriller, suspense, heartbreaking, and the plot twists are genuinely surprising!!
Though the ending was not that satisfying... this psychopath deserves hell anyway.. 🙄

After finishing this drama there was only one line that kept coming to my mind:
“Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.”

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I have watched this a couple of times now and enjoyed it each time. Unfortunately ...

there were the usual unnecessary plot points and misunderstandings. We deserve more but sadly these shows, and those who produce them still feel that we do not deserve authenticity.

Cast ... Very good.
Characters... So many flaws but that is human nature although sometimes they were nonsensical.
Storyline/plot ... It was a relatively new concept so that is great, but things took a wrong turn at the end.
Quality ... Pretty good.
Side characters ... Entertaining giving the show some comedic relief.
Character growth ... Hmmmm

What went wrong ...

The ending was infuriating. I understand why they had the ending the way they did, but the whole show revolved around the MLs' willingness and sacrificial life to keep the FL safe, yet he walked away from her. Knowing she was very fragile, mentally a wreck ... he walked away and put her through hell. I found that he was extremely selfish and the characters' growth, which was amazing up to then, went downhill and made me lose respect.

Please just end a show ... you don't need to carry on, just end it. We did not need to see all the rubbish at the end. It ultimately ruined a perfectly good show.

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Silly superheroes coming to save the day!

Just finished, that was absolute cinema! One of the best finales I've ever watched in a K-drama. A proper 90-minute exciting and climactic ending full of great action, and where every character gets a satisfying conclusion. Overall I absolutely loved the drama, was a very fun experience. All of the characters were unique and memorable. Park Eunbin is always just amazing and one of the best at acting quirky and goofy characters. Cha Eun-woo did great as the mysterious and ridiculously handsome "Teacher" character to the silly squad of new superheroes :D

The tone of the drama also worked perfectly. It has dark themes and events but never strayed away from the comedy and silliness, which was awesome!!



I have two complaints however which keep it from being higher than 9/10 (which is still VERY good):

-The first half was a bit too slow. I think they spent too much time on introducing the characters and especially on the segment where the characters were learning of their powers. I think they should have made the pacing at the beginning faster and added some action to the first half too. The second half was amazing though and every second was exciting.

-Very nitpicky and small complaint but I just can't stand those "Oh, the villain miraculously survived and they're still alive to come back to haunt the protagonists". These may fit in some dramas but are very annoying in endings that are otherwise very happy like this. Eh, just always annoys me a lot.

Still, easy 9/10

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I wish my teddy bear turned into a human dammit

This is the opposite of what my first impression was. It's not at all childish, cringy or boring. Sometimes I see amazing series and I just get disappointed by the low amount of watchers. I had a lot of struggle with the characters on this one. My main irritation being Nut. I have almost never had a bl where I disliked one of the leads this much.

Maybe this is just me but as a neurodivergent/autistic person I feel like I can related to Nueng a lot. Even though Nueng was a teddy bear he perceives things the same way as I do. Scanning everything one by one and associating them with each other. He often overanalysed ppl their behaviour as well and didn't really know how to react to certain information. Not saying he is autistic but I just see myself in him. What I hate about everyone around him is that they treat him as a therapy friend but end up forgetting his feelings. I don't necessarily hate Nut's mother but I don't like how she kept venting to Nueng all the damn time.

I cannot stand Nut. I can't remember a bl where I hated one of the leads in aside from only friends... Nut annoys me and even if his actions have a reason, I do not think his behaviour is ok. The first few episodes he was SOOO mean towards Nueng and his mother. Later when we found out his mom sided with his homophobic dad I still didn't think his actions deserved excuses. I feel bad for how he treated Nueng as well.. he bitterly slapped him and tried to report him to the police leaving him on the streets and I feel like he had 0 empathy for it either.

The relationship between Nueng and Nut is hella toxic. Nueng has no idea how he became a human nor how humans normally do stuff. He is already miss perceived as someone who lost his memory and used to be a normal human with a family. I just feel sooo bad for him because he really tried his best to be nice to Nut and he did everything including cooking etc just to be treated like SHIT. Also he obviously knew Nut already and my heart broke when Nut got so mad at him. What I also hated is how I finally thought their relationship was normal when it kinda turned out that Nueng was a replacement. I hate how Nut handled all of this and he couldn't even lie about not seeing Nueng as a replacement. You can SEE tofu/nueng loosing his spark and it makes me sooo sad.

My review is starting to sound like I dislike it, but that is far from true. Each episode is filled with situations and lore and it makes it fun, not confusing. I feel like this was amazing to binge watch and actually possible to binge watch without getting bored. The local aunties/uncs and grandpa's are amazing. I really love how they often comfort and give Nueng advice. The dates are also really cute, even if I don't like Nut and Nueng together. Can I admit actually preferring this ending over Nut and Nueng getting together? I think that Nueng would never be happy in a relationship with Nut. Especially not since Tatarn woke up. Him being turned into a teddy again made me so sad and I would feel so useless in their case. Also I don't understand why the creator never worked out Nut actually acknowledging that Nueng Is the teddy bear at the moment he was a human.

The production was okay but there was this weird blue and purple colour above their heads in certain shots. I don't know why it's there, might be lightning but it looks weird. I don't think this series is amazing cinema but it just looked a bit weird. I didn't know this series had the same writer as The eclipse aka Prapt. He's seriously talented!! Not sure what my opinions are on the director given this is my first ever series of his that I've watched.

This show is incredibly underrated and deserves more attention. It's great at rage baiting me and the rage I felt towards Nut has to be studied because it's crazy. I feel like the writing is amazing and the plot is original without cringy stuff. I would recommend to people who love angsts like me.

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Bound by family ties

The show was a fun watch, and the acting elevated it to another level. It’s more suited for an older audience because of its suggestive content.

The story itself is nothing new, but the way it’s told, along with the reveals in each episode, constantly subverted what I originally thought. Just when I thought I had the characters figured out, I’d find out that they were much more flawed than I initially believed, all of them. There’s really no one to root for, yet the actors embody their characters so well that you can’t help but stay invested.

The world they created is incredibly engaging. The story doesn’t slow down to give the characters time to rethink their questionable life choices, and that made it a frustratingly good watch. The entire show is a poster child for what not to do when you find yourself in a pickle. Maybe do the exact opposite 🤣.

The lighting, costumes, props, score and overall attention to detail were all very well done.

Are you an adult who loves watching messy adults make questionable decisions while you laugh and cringe along with them? Then this is the drama for you with none of the dreaded K-drama tropes.

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One weed can wither the buds of so many people’s lives.

I finally finished Pursuit of the Jade and omg, I really loved this drama. 😭

I think what I loved most was the way it handled relationships. The main couple had such a healthy, balanced dynamic. They had their ups and downs, but they actually grew together and dealt with problems side by side. Even the princess and Gongsun had a similar dynamic.

I also really appreciated how the drama could be very pro-women without making the male characters useless just to make the women look strong. The men and women were genuinely partners, and that was honestly so refreshing.

The cast was great too. I’d seen the male lead in Journey to You before and didn’t really like him there, so I was hesitant to start this, but he surprised me here! I really enjoyed his performance this time. The female lead was amazing too.

And the cinematography, the side characters (THE JIN BROTHERS 😭 Master Tao, Zhao couple ㅠㅠ), the OST and all the tiny cute details were just chef’s kiss. I especially loved the pig theme around Changyu’s house. 🐷

Was the plot super complicated or mind-blowing? Not really. But honestly, I didn’t care. It was so charming, warm, and well-made that I just enjoyed being in this world.

I also loved how so many of the characters we initially thought were villains turned out to be morally gray people who were victims of the previous emperor in one way or another.

“One weed can wither the buds of so many people’s lives.”

And these two quotes are definitely staying with me:

«Fan Changyu: “In this life, be a good pig. In the next, be a good man.”»

«Yan Zheng: “When the northern geese fly south to the place of phoenixes, and the geese find it hard to land.”»

Anyway, I’m gonna miss these idiots. 😭🐷

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Killed me with kindness

It started with a harmless 90s aesthetic and Byeon Woo-Seok’s sweet smile, and it ended in the cold, minimalistic, soulless 21st-century days with me bawling my eyes out. This film perfectly encapsulates the feeling of being born in a hopeful era, only to have your innocence taken away by life’s unbearable weight of reality.

If you’re an anxious person like me, you might want to look up the ending beforehand. I usually dislike spoilers, but somehow midway through this film I was like, “ok, I need to know if I’m gonna like the ending or else I won’t be able to keep going.” Then you can imagine my shock when I found out what happened. Thank goodness I learned of it before; otherwise, I would have been completely destroyed.

Spoilers ahead:

Yeah, he dies at the end. Was it really necessary? I don’t think so. I think the film had already made its point clear enough with his moving away. Their love had all the lightness and the overdramatics of adolescence. And like all good things, it eventually had to end. In my view, it would have been enough to see them slowly drifting apart as life got in the way, but remembering their time together with fondness, as happens in real life. This doesn’t ruin the film, though. The last scene is beautiful, and I cried even though I knew what the ending was before I got there.

This is a coming-of-age story, a love story, a nostalgic story. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

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THE HOTTEST & ANGSTIEST DRAMA EVER

This drama was literally a masterpiece. It had the perfect amount of angst, romance, cute moments, yearning, heartbreak, and everything in between. It made me bawl my eyes out more times than I can count. The way it handled angst was genuinely beautiful, especially because the characters were so complex that you could never truly hate anyone. You could only understand them. And one thing was so obvious throughout the entire story: these two were absolutely, madly, ridiculously in love with each other.

Their breakup, the years of yearning, the sacrifices, the sadness, everything was done so beautifully. And the sexual tension? Insane. The chemistry between them was unreal. Even the kisses in the first few episodes felt completely earned. They were not randomly thrown in just for the sake of having romantic scenes. Every kiss had emotional weight, meaning, and tension behind it. They felt necessary, like the characters had been holding back for so long that when it finally happened, it actually meant something. And damn, those kisses were HOT. The chemistry was genuinely off the charts.

This is not your typical historical drama. It is so much more than that. It has love, yearning, heartbreak, angst, sacrifice, complicated characters, and a relationship that feels incredibly deep and real. The female characters were amazing, the costumes and styling were gorgeous, and everything about the presentation was beautiful.

I genuinely cannot emphasize enough how much I loved this. It is unlike any historical drama I have watched before. Their relationship was beautiful, the angst was immaculate, the chemistry was insane, and the kisses were hot as hell. This is the kind of drama that everyone needs to watch. A complete masterpiece.

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