Reviews

A Strong Story Undercut by a Weak Central Romance

First Note of Love has a lot going for it: grief, music, friendship, career rebuilding, a genuinely lovable supporting cast, and a secondary romance that worked much better for me than the central one.

Neil’s story is easily the strongest part of the drama. His grief over losing his brother Matt gives the series real emotional weight, and the flashbacks between them are warm, believable, and often very moving. The final episodes handle that grief arc especially well and gave me some of the strongest emotional moments in the series.

Sea also has a nice journey as a young composer learning to trust his own artistic instincts rather than constantly defining himself through Neil. I liked the way the drama treated music as part of both identity and healing, rather than just as a backdrop.

Unfortunately, Neil and Sea never fully convinced me as a romantic couple. Their early dynamic felt more like affectionate older brother/younger admirer, and I never felt the show completely transformed that into romantic or sexual chemistry. Their first kiss came before I felt the tension was really there, and some later romantic developments felt more scripted than emotionally earned.

Ironically, Reese and Orca worked much better for me. Their attraction, affection, vulnerability, and emotional history felt natural, and their relationship had the chemistry I kept waiting to feel from the leads. Their final exchange—Orca speaking to Reese in Mandarin and Reese answering him in Thai—was especially lovely after spending most of the drama communicating in their separate languages.

The supporting cast was another highlight. Ting Fei remains relevant throughout the story instead of disappearing after her introduction, and I appreciated the multicultural element she adds as a Malaysian character. I also liked that the drama did not force a romance between her and Chen Han Liang simply because they were both available supporting characters. Not everyone needs to be paired off.

And Xiao Mei, the sassy Echo Music secretary, was consistently hilarious and became one of my favorite characters.

The multicultural mix of Taiwanese, Thai, and Malaysian characters, along with the use of Mandarin, Thai, and English, gives the drama a distinct personality. Some of the language choices between characters felt unusual to me, but I still enjoyed the international flavor.

The middle stretch frustrated me, particularly when the romance began to feel unnecessarily dragged out, but the final two episodes pulled the larger emotional and musical story together surprisingly well.

Overall: flawed but satisfying. The lack of convincing chemistry between the central pair is a significant weakness for a romance, but the grief story, music, secondary couple, supporting characters, and strong ending were enjoyable.

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A truly recomended series of WilliamEst from GMMTV

From the First scene i got hooked with the character MOTH. "I don't like women" was the main hook line for me. the funniest line was "Sorry, i have diabetes" this was funny af.

What should i not say about dean, his demeanor was honestly your typical neighborhood fboy in a club, but he knows the boundary and respected when moth said no to flirting. PLUS it's william at the end of the. The Most Hilarious thing is he is an influencer and all his posts consists of brainrot content. so, westies are like, "only dean's face is saving him atp".

WilliamEst now truly justified the character of DeanMoth. I am now egarly waiting for EP2

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Toxic relationship v Understanding relationship + a side of a weak king

I didnt realize why I knew the plot until the hunt scene and then i remembered i had watched it before. The bear outfits on people was so bad it was comical. Verbal abuse is still abuse his desert rose was just verbally abusive to him and he was physically abusive to her. (Amber and Johnny Depp anyone?) It also had me thinking about feminists and the original movement and what it morphed into. The original movement was supposed to be women supporting other women no matter what they chose: career, domestication, or whatever they wanted without the oppressive weight of society to do or be any one specific thing. In the 21st century we have become our own aggressors against ourselves. The glass ceiling we wanted to break – did we really break it or did we just put more people on top of it? I enjoy watching dramas by this FL because she tends to choose stronger more female-positive friendly roles. I like that she didnt settle for either prince and never apologized for waiting until the prince suffered what he put her brother through. I like that her prince met her on her level and that the two (presumably) live their life-long goals of bloodshed, conquering, and defending. (Again, not what i would plan to do with my life but hey girl you do you.)

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Her disappearing memories. ?

This drama was frustrating, emotional, and ultimately very sad, especially when you finally understand the truth behind the ML, Lu Jing Chi, and his actions toward the FL.

For much of the story, Lu Jing Chi appears cruel and controlling. He loves his wife, but instead of explaining the truth and trusting her, he tries to protect her in ways that only create more misunderstandings and pain. Eventually, we learn that he knows he isn't the true heir of the family. His mother had switched the children, intending for her biological daughter to eventually marry him so the family's wealth and status would remain under her control.

Lu Jing Chi tries to protect the FL from everything happening around them, but he goes about it completely wrong. Instead of making her feel protected, he repeatedly hurts the woman he loves. Their lack of communication becomes one of the greatest tragedies of their relationship.

The most heartbreaking turning point comes when the FL, trying to escape a group of men, jumps from a building. She survives but suffers a serious head injury, beginning the slow process of losing her memories.

This is where the drama became especially sad for me.

By the ending, Lu Jing Chi is still beside her, knowing that the woman he loves is slowly forgetting their life together. She forgets things almost immediately after he tells her. Even her pregnancy slips from her memory.

One scene especially stayed with me. She forgets about the baby she is carrying, yet she asks what they will name the child if it's a girl and what they will name it if it's a boy.

That was heartbreaking.

After everything Lu Jing Chi did trying to protect her—and all the pain his choices caused—his ending is to remain beside her while watching her slowly forget.

She may eventually forget their history, their pain, and perhaps even him, but **he remembers everything for both of them.**

The ending gives us closure, but it certainly isn't a traditional happy ending. Lu Jing Chi finally becomes the husband she needed him to be, staying patiently beside her even when she cannot remember what he tells her.

Their love survived everything except the one enemy neither of them could fight:

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Comfort Rewatch Drama

The acting is so mid, the wigs are horrific you can see all of the lace because they 100% didn't want to cut them properly so they could stretch as many uses out of them as possible for budget reasons, the make up is so bad everyone looks crusty and dry from hours of shooting with powder touch ups but no complete redo, the editing is also wild every ep ends mid way through something and you start the next ep jolted back in time a bit it's very whiplash adjacent but despite everything, perhaps because of it, I love this drama so much??? Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe it's just because at it's core this entire drama just feels so fun but somehow at times so very serious and boy does mr man need therapy but the way he loves her so absolutely is just chefs kiss. Silly goofy lowbudget fun and that's exactly how I like it.

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a beautiful watch

this was surprisingly a really good watch i had in a long time, i felt so many different emotions: sadness, happiness, warmth. i really resonated with the main fl and while still learning the loops with makeup, it has changed my life drastically, making me an overall confident person who used to rarely take pictures to now admiring how i look in the mirror sometimes.

i stumbled upon this on netflix when looking for something to watch casually and i ended up binging this in a few days, liking it so much more than i had thought i would originally. its just a simple story but theres so much depth and character and themes that go into this short drama.

watching the male lead express himself through makeup and sticking through the thick and thins really touched me, it reminded me of someone who was in my life before and i felt a sense of comfort and familiarity through his role. woman or not, he was a beautiful character and played his role really well.

im super happy i found this drama and definitely would rewatch it again, i wish it was longer but it definitely hit one of my favorites.

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A dark-comedy mystery drama, based on a satire type manga pointing to what's going on in our society

"Konya mo Serial Killer to Machiawase" is a live-action comedy drama, adapted from a serial manga with the same title written by Iguchi Kon and illustrated by Nakamura Yuji. The English translation of the title is "I'm Meeting a Serial Killer Again Tonight." If there's a mention of a "serial killer" in the title, we should know what kind of story this is, right? But, mind you, this is more a dark-comedy type mystery drama than a full-blown thriller. The thriller aspect is very light and much less intimidating when we compare it to those terrifying serial-killer-themed thriller dramas out there, like, for example, WOWOW's 2025 mini-drama "Sai".

Most action-type mangas use various levels of exaggerations in their narrative or storytelling (from mild to "unbelievably-crazy"), but actually, most of them are inspired by the hidden aspects of reality. Before I start with the review, below I'm outlining the current data regarding Japan that are available/published.

Data 1: Japan has maintained one of the lowest homicide rates in the world: 0.2 per 100,000 people in 2023. Only 912 cases of homicides the entire population in 2023.

Data 2: More than 91,000 people were reported missing in Japan in 2023, marking the third consecutive year of increases.

Manga creators are normally very clever artists, and they are aware of all the things "unseen". From comparing the two data above, the basic thought is that "how many of those that are missing are actually unsolved or unreported homicides?" Of course, no one knows the exact thing, but the missing cases are never resolved. However, deep creative thinkers, especially artists and writers, do ask that type of questions.

Now to the review.

The Story (no spoilers here):

I haven't read the original manga series that this drama is based upon. But I tend to feel that the original story started from the kind of thinking I explained in the previous paragraph, and then they created the fictional narrative from it, called a Satire*. That's how all these seemingly unbelievable "serial-killers" stories are made in the first place. The reasons behind all the murders in the manga/drama are even more unbelievable too, even downright sick and ridiculous for some, but it's a kind of "satire" pointing at many of the police reports that are ridiculous and cannot be trusted. If you watch J-dramas or J-movies, so many of them put personnel in the police force as "highly corrupt bad guys" that cannot be trusted. I think that's the case when it comes to the numerous "citizen vigilante" themes used in mangas and in films. Average Japanese people may view that the police just don't care and can even be complicit. It's embedded in their collective psyche.

As a dark-comedy drama based on a dark satire manga, almost every character is presented as comical and unrealistic (except probably some of the police personnel, like those played by Yamazaki Hirona and Okuno So). The comedy displayed here is mostly sarcastic and even borderline "rude". There are also moments of dry humor. You may say "that's stupid and absurd!" but that's the reason I like it. It's hilarious! In that way, it is quite similar to the popular manga-based live-action drama called "Shiawase Kanako no Koroshiya Seikatsu" with Non as main lead. Worth mentioning: Yamazaki Hirona also plays a very similar supporting role and character there as a serious police detective. Maybe she was picked as a cast here because she did a really good acting there.

*)From Wikipedia: Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement.

The Main Actors:

The acting of Yokoyama Yu as the male lead role is decent, even though some would consider as too reserved and "cold". He delivers what's needed for the drama. To be honest, some people may have a problem watching him because he has that kind of "grumpy" and "angry" look by default, creating an impression like he really loathes the world and loathes everyone, including you and me! Hehehe.....😂 But for his role here as Isogai Shiro, I guess it just fits. Shiro's character is actually kind of being in pain - sad and depressive, but watching his acting doesn't give off that vibe, because there are plenty of comical moments that are funny. In the final episode, he pushed himself in the climax scene that requires expressing intense, raw emotions. I have to give him credit for that.

Now let's talk about Sekimizu Nagisa. I've watched quite a number of her dramas in the past (my favorite is "#Who Am I"). Her acting style is, shall I say, unique and distinct. When I say "unique", that means it's not for everybody. Not that it is bad, mind you. The way she acts actually has plenty of oomph, so she always stands out and it's never boring. But the way it gets presented is something that would be more common in stage theater plays than in TV dramas or movies, by using plenty of facial expressions and a louder voice. It's not quite a comical exaggeration (acting style normally used by comedians), and I would not say it's over-acting either. It's more a dynamic, expressive acting.

Combining the stylistic acting between the two makes a perfect match, and that makes the drama interesting and not boring to watch. Good job on the cast selection part!

Worth to mention here, that the acting of the supporting casts Yamazaki Hirona and Okuno So, really level-up the drama. They act with passion. You can feel the energy. If you've watched Episode 10, you'll know what I mean.

Directing, Production and Post-Production:

We need to realize that this is just a late-night drama with a noticeably low-budget production, quick takes that require some acting improvisations, and re-purposed shooting areas (same space used for multiple different scenes). You cannot expect a smooth, multi-million dollar movie-like budget for dramas like this. It's definitely on the cheap side, but still delivers, resulting in both efficient and effective execution. I'd rather see dramas like this, than ones with a pompous high-budget production but yet failing in the execution. Directing is good, very efficient and also creative. Post-production work also has that low-budget vibe, kind of funny at times because the outcomes look cheap and nasty, but I don't mind seeing that. At least they did not use AI in helping them with the background composites.

If you ever asked "is there any excessive violence displayed here?", I'd say no. They keep everything pretty mild and toned down. The only real "deadly" scenes are perhaps the smoking scenes! 🚬

Earlier, I drew a similarity between this and the action-comedy drama "Shiawase Kanako no Koroshiya Seikatsu". The character dynamics and general presentation are actually very similar, although they both carry different stories and different genres. In terms of production, the difference is that "Shiawase Kanako" serial drama, produced by DMM and directed by Hanabusa Tsutomu (they have a Season 2 airing September 17, 2026), had a sizable production budget that made that drama look like a proper action movie that is smooth in every aspect, while this one is a low-budget one, with raw and no-frills production. The type of humor is also different. But I happen to enjoy both. They can be watched with the same flavor of popcorn! Both are based on serial mangas that are essentially satire-type narration utilizing dark humor, pointing to what's going on in our society.

This is a kind of drama that was never made to be "believable" nor realistic, but it's made to provoke our thoughts while still provides a great amount of entertainment. A must for the lovers of satire.

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Eight Hours Well Spent

Honestly, A Shop for Killers 2 was a masterpiece for me.
I had taken a break from modern dramas, and coming back with this one was definitely worth it. I was invested from the beginning all the way to the end. The action, the tension, the pacing, and the way the story unfolded all worked really well for me.
I don’t remember much from Season 1 anymore, so before starting this season I went back and binged the last episode to refresh my memory. What I especially liked about the beginning of Season 2 was finally getting a clear explanation of what happened and why Jeong Jin-man left. That was something I had wanted after Season 1, and seeing the story address it properly made the opening even stronger.
And after that, I really enjoyed both the plot and the characters.
Lee Dong-wook was excellent as Jeong Jin-man. There is a coldness in his eyes that fits the character perfectly, and it still worked just as effectively for me in this season. Kim Hye-jun also did a very good job as Jeong Ji-an and deserves her flowers. Jung Yoon-ha was another standout. She played a ruthless, psychopathic killer who genuinely seemed to enjoy sending people to their deaths 😂. Even as one of the antagonists, she delivered that role with full commitment and made every scene of hers land.
I also really enjoyed the plot, even though some parts had me genuinely frustrated. Kim U-jin’s death actually hurt because I liked him a lot, and I still don’t fully understand why they chose to kill him off. The voice-recorder situation with Pasin also annoyed me. If the device was only picking up sound, there were simpler ways they could have communicated without creating so many unnecessary complications for the team. But aside from those moments, I remained fully invested in how everything played out.
I watched Season 1 before I started using MDL, so I never got the chance to leave my thoughts on it. Now that I’m here, I’m glad I can at least share my thoughts on Season 2.
For me, this was a very satisfying watch.

8.5/10

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hong kong express but the plot missed the train

i started hong kong express mainly because of the setting. crime, money, gambling, class difference and especially the fact that they actually shot in hong kong sounded exactly like my thing. so naturally i expected the production to do something with it.

so where did the budget go?

this genuinely looks closer to 1995 than 2005. korean television was already visually behind hong kong and japan in a lot of ways during that period, sure, but by 2005 kdramas had improved A LOT. meanwhile this drama gets to shoot in hong kong and somehow gives me almost none of the atmosphere i expected. barely any interesting lighting, shadows, nightlife, grime, neon, density. hong kong is right there and the cinematography still looks painfully dated.

the first four episodes were also a complete test of patience. i almost never give a drama this long when i’m bored, but the premise was too good to drop. min-soo goes to prison for kang-hyuk, comes back still stuck underneath him, and from there you get class resentment, ambition, revenge and this increasingly messy love square between min-soo, jung-yeon, kang-hyuk and ma-ri. on paper this is literally made for me. somehow it still takes FOREVER to actually become interesting.

cho jae-hyun basically made this drama watchable for me.

he is fucking incredible as min-soo. sometimes it genuinely feels like there is no camera in the room and i’m not watching somebody act. his eyes, his facial expressions, the strange way he laughs, the tiny reactions while other people are talking, none of it feels performed. he just exists as min-soo.

min-soo himself also belongs to this extremely niche early-2000s male lead archetype that basically disappeared afterwards. socially unpolished, impulsive, weirdly childish, almost low-iq at times without actually being stupid, and barely aware of how bizarre or embarrassing he looks to other people. he reminded me so much of go bok-su from ruler of your own world. there is this raw, socially unfinished quality to both of them that i almost never see in kdrama male leads anymore.

his relationship with kang-hyuk is probably the most fascinating part of the drama. kang-hyuk basically tells min-soo that he sees his friends as dogs and that if min-soo wants to stay beside him, he has to become his dog, and min-soo actually accepts it. he sacrifices five years of his life for kang-hyuk and still gets treated like property afterwards. watching that humiliation slowly turn into resentment, ambition and min-soo becoming increasingly unhinged was easily one of the best parts of the drama.

the cast is honestly ridiculous and probably the biggest reason i ended up rating this as high as i did. cho jae-hyun is obviously the standout for me, but cha in-pyo is SO good as kang-hyuk too. kang-hyuk is genuinely insane, possessive, entitled and such a disgusting human being, and cha in-pyo completely sells it. there were moments where i wasn’t thinking “wow, he’s playing an asshole really well,” i just genuinely hated this man. kim hyo-jin is also great as ma-ri and song yoon-ah does everything she can with a character i personally found painfully passive.

jung-yeon unfortunately did almost nothing for me, which hurts because i love song yoon-ah. she is just far too passive for a drama where everyone around her is losing their minds. kang-hyuk lies to her, betrays her, treats people horribly and she spends so much time sitting there looking like a confused owl while two men are apparently destroying their lives over her. i kept waiting for her to actually become an active part of her own story.

ma-ri, meanwhile, immediately made the drama more entertaining.

ma-ri/min-soo were easily my favorite relationship and i genuinely wish they had been endgame. she is spoiled, impulsive, unstable and a little insane, and somehow looks at min-soo at his absolute lowest and decides that is the man she wants. their scenes actually have energy. she gets angry when he humiliates himself, pushes herself into his life and actually brings something out of him.

i desperately wanted min-soo to let go of the sacred tragic-first-love thing with jung-yeon and genuinely fall for his crazy woman instead.

the ending eventually goes full early-2000s melo-makjang, because obviously it does. i can’t even be mad at that part. this is the era. somebody has to lose their mind, somebody has to suffer and somebody’s life has to be ruined dramatically.

my actual problem is that hong kong express has a MUCH better drama hiding inside it. the premise is excellent. min-soo’s humiliation and growing ambition, kang-hyuk’s class superiority and possessiveness, ma-ri being completely unhinged, jung-yeon connecting the two men, money, revenge, resentment. all the ingredients are there.

it just never becomes as vicious or exciting as it promises.

honestly, the acting and this cast carried what could very easily have been a 3/10 drama to a 6.5/10 for me. cho jae-hyun made it watchable, cha in-pyo made kang-hyuk genuinely unbearable in the best way, and kim hyo-jin finally gave the relationship side of the drama some life. the writing never fully delivered on the insane amount of potential it had, but the actors absolutely did.

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A Home and a Love Worth Defending

Near perfection in acting, stunning cinematography and imagery, direction with great attention to detail, and a masterful storyline combine to capture the mind and heart of the viewer, as we are transported to Joseon, oblivious to our present-day existence. In fact, One becomes so invested in the love story between Eugene and Ae-sin that finally, when that love is verbalized, we, along with Eugene, exhale in existential relief.

The musical score could arguably be one of the most beautiful in all K-Dramas, especially blessed by the heart-piercing vocals of Park Hyo-shin.

Separate yet intertwined stories lend critically to an intricate, multi-faceted plot of rectifying past sins, fighting for a country's future, and grappling with the issues of love, longing, loss, resentment, and sacrifice.

The theme dwells on righteous allies, unlikely friends, and evil enemies. This struggle to save a nation, and those who love it and each other will take your emotions to a new territory. Be prepared. There are times your heart swell with joy, but there are also times when it will break.

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Actors didnt have chemistry

I felt like their chemistry was kinda stunted which is odd coming from Liang Siwei. The guy could star in a love sorry with drywall and somehow have chemistry with it. Meng Na is hit or miss depending on who she co-stars with. However, they were both a miss here. Perhaps it's time to pair them with other talented actors and actresses? (drywall excluded)
Content-wise I mean they tried... and I know everyone in the entertainment industry is struggling with AI taking so many jobs. I know the point of vertical dramas are the quantity but I think this is a good example of two great leads, a good script, and a good director but not all working great together. Hope to see everyone again in the future doing what they do best with the right people.

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