Reviews

A Typical Rom Com Kdrama, but Enjoyable

So far this is a cute and enjoyable rom com that is pretty typical for Kdrama rom coms. The cute but naive, somewhat bumbling FL is just kind of all over the place as she wonders through life and work unaware of how her naiveté has such an alluring affect on the two very handsome ML's in the drama. Yea, this is very unrealistic and would never happen in real life, but it's presented in a cute and adorable way.

Da Reum goes to work at a fashion company because it was founded by her Kpop idol bias, and it's her life's mission to forever follow and adore him. Once there, she realizes the idol is just the face of the company and in reality it is run by a workaholic CEO who is often cold and distant. The two of them are put into awkward situations, and the cold-hearted CEO begins to warm up to her bright and shining cuteness, not to mention her constant positivity....that is, when she is not being so absent minded he has to rescue her and gets hurt. It's the slap-stick comedic method of having two people fall in love. Only, there's a triangle.....the idol. Now, if this drama weren't unrealistic enough as it is.....we get to jump off a cliff into utter fantasy as the idol falls for the fan!!

At Episode 6, the FL starts to date her idol bias. Honestly, I feel this storyline is the weakest part of the drama because it's so unrealistic, and if this were the entire story, I would probably drop it. But the relationship between the FL and the cold/distant CEO is keeping me watching. These two together are really cute even if they get into some outrageous situations. But right now, the triangle storyline and the two men vying for the FL is the focus. There is a scandal brewing on the horizon, and we still need to catch the Appello corporate mole who is selling secrets to the competition. So there is enough holding me that I"m trying really hard not to be too annoyed at the idol/fan relationship happening because this.....this people....is truly fiction.

Read More

A nothingburger, served frozen

I was really locked in after episode 1. The second chance romance premise was promising and the chemistry had potential. I liked the entertainment industry setting, and visually, it was nice.

But everything just fizzled out SO quickly. After they meet again, there’s little to no angst and we don’t feel the emotional weight of the separation at all. The leads kiss in episode 4 and get back together shortly after. There’s basically no time at all dedicated to the characters getting to know each other again after all the time they’ve been apart. And the rest of the drama is pretty much the same for both of them; there is so much that could be explored in their stories but the entire time it feels like we’re just going through the motions. We get one subplot after another like the drama is just throwing whatever at the wall and seeing what sticks. Some of it worked for me (Yi-jae’s insecurity on set) and some of it very much didn’t — a random ex-boyfriend showing up for an entire episode just felt like very lazy writing. He’s no real threat and just took up screentime that could’ve been used for more emotional arcs.

The final episode separation was the nail in the coffin. I think 90% of us viewers already hate this trope, and this one tries to turn it into something beautiful and deep, but I don’t think it worked for me. I didn’t really buy into the “I have to find myself” reasoning and everything felt unearned. It’s sad because I think most leads are pretty good actors and there was potential in their chemistry, but the plot never developed enough for it to be used.

I think the best part of this show ended up being the second couple. There are a few plots that I don’t love that they get roped into (birth secrets, familial illness) but I think the disparity between their characters in the industry made for a much more interesting dynamic. We get to see the development happen much more slowly and clearly as well, and it pays off at the end.

The third couple…I also really didn’t like and couldn’t get invested in. The characters are barely associated with our main leads at all and it felt like the pacing of the drama came to a screeching halt when we cut to them. I understand that the dating show premise is supposed to connect to the TV industry but it just felt super random.

Ultimately, I think this one really dropped the ball. I think it could’ve just focused on one of the plots — cut the birth secret and the third couple, and just have the leads getting to know each other slowly as they work together on the film. The movie they’re working on ends up feeling really unimportant, and it could’ve been interesting if we got to dive more into what the story actually was about and how it parallels their real lives. The main couple really should’ve gotten together much later, and we didn’t need the last act break-up at all.

I’ll give this show props for nice visuals and bright colors, but it gets minus points for the AI usage. How ironic, when the show is supposed to be about people being the heart of filmmaking.

Read More

this is not the same drama that the bad reviews are about

First, there is no infidelity by the FL, she is her own boss and in partnership with her female friend. I don't know what the other reviewers were watching.
The warmth and quality acting of all the characters is just about the best I've ever seen. They must be
good friends in real life.
The mother of FL is over the top and unpleasant at first, but the family all laughs together and we realize
that the mother is not a caricature of a naggy mother in law after all. Good character development.
The kid who plays Aiwen is if anything, over the top adorable, perfectly cast and such a good actor that his relationship with the parents seems real. The other kid, Nuomi, is also super cute.
The story line and it's details, job pressures, attitudes about a stay-at-home Dad, are all convincing. No sugar coating of family/work competing pressures.
If anything is idealized, the character development of all the characters, while convincing and often heart-warming, is probably better than what happens to most people in real life where we don't change no matter what.

I have never written a review before although I've watched lots of IQiYi dramas, but I had to correct the bad review sof another drama accidentally posted for this one.

Read More

EPIC From Start to Finish, Teach You a Lesson Completely Blew Me Away!

Wow, what a fantastic series! I absolutely loved Study Group, so when I found out Teach You a Lesson exists in the same universe and had so many people recommending it to me, I knew I had to give it a try. I definitely was not disappointed!

I was completely hooked from the beginning to the end. With 10 episodes, the length felt just right. It was not too short, but it never dragged either. What I especially loved was how each episode introduced a different situation, along with new supporting characters and perspectives. We get to see the problems from the viewpoints of school bullies, students, parents and teachers, which kept every episode feeling fresh.

The series explores so many different sides of the education system and school life, including childhood, high school students, school violence, bullying and juvenile delinquency. It also does a great job of showing how complicated these problems can be rather than simply presenting them from one perspective. The social commentary worked really well alongside the action, thriller and comedy elements.

And then we have our main lead, Na Hwa Jin, who was absolutely fantastic. After losing his wife, we gradually learn more about his past through flashbacks throughout the series. I loved how those flashbacks eventually connected together toward the end. It was such a clever way of telling his story and made his character even more meaningful.

The fighting scenes were incredible. Korean dramas seriously know how to deliver action, and this series did not hold back. The fights felt brutal, physical and surprisingly realistic, with plenty of blood and impact. And honestly, watching those bullies finally get what they deserved was SO satisfying!

The other three main characters also brought so much colour and personality to the series. Im Han Rim was intense, unpredictable and thrilling to watch. She was strong, funny and brought so much energy whenever she appeared. Bong Geun Dae was the perfect contrast to the stronger characters. He was nerdy, clumsy and a computer geek, and his personality brought plenty of comedy and charm. Then we have Choi Gang Seok, who was also fantastic and added another strong presence to the team.

What I really appreciated was the balance between the serious themes and the lighter moments. Even though the series tackles school violence, juvenile delinquency, violence against children, the student teacher relationship and problems within the education system, it never became exhausting to watch. The comedy helped balance out the darker material, while the thriller elements kept me wanting to know what would happen next.

Honestly, this is one of the best Korean dramas I have watched. I genuinely cannot find much to fault. It ticked almost every box for me. The production, story, acting, visuals, action and music were all outstanding.

You can tell that an enormous amount of work went into bringing this series to life. There were so many supporting actors and production staff involved, and I am so glad their hard work paid off because the final product was fantastic.

I cried, laughed, got emotional and literally had my jaw dropping during some of the fight scenes. 😂

And that 9.0 rating on MDL says a lot. It is one of the highest rated shows on the site, and honestly, I completely understand why. It absolutely deserves that rating!

If you loved Study Group, I would highly recommend giving Teach You a Lesson a chance. Being part of the same universe makes it even more enjoyable, but even on its own, this is a seriously impressive drama.

10 episodes. Zero boredom. Fantastic characters. Brutal action. Great storytelling. Emotional moments. Comedy. Social commentary.

What an absolute EPIC drama!

Read More

GAO TU MY LOVE

I think this is the best omegaverse series out there because the way its represented in this one its amazing and i liked how they showed every "gender" also things are a lot more clear to me after watching this. I loved hua yong and shao you because i always love an obsessed top and they were great overall but nothing will ever beat the love i fell for gao tu and shen wenlang and especially for gao tu, the fact that the were both in love with eachother the entire time kills me bc they were never able to say it out loud, mainly because shen wen lang is dumb af and they both dont know how to communicate but i do understand gao tu and i felt so bad for him the entire time and honestly they deserved more screen time bc they're supposed to be a main couple just like hua yong and shao you but they got way less screen time and im so mad because they deserved a continuation after that 30 seconds reunion they had. Overall the acting is good, the ost is good too and if you like omegaverse this is a must watch. :D

Read More

:)

KinnPorsche is my favourite BL series of all times and sometimes i wonder why but idk honestly. The plot is really good in my opinion and also the budget seemed great but what i love the most is how different and unique the characters are. My favorite couple out of all of them is definitely kimchay: even though their screen time was really short they deserve the world (even if i have a love hate relationship with kim but alright) they are so cute and the only reason why i wanted a season two was to see their story finished and them getting their happy ending finally but sadly the only thing i can do about that is read all the fan fiction in the world :(. As for the others i loved all of them because i love how the story develops even if sometimes it is a little weird but amen ig, the ending was great except for my beloveds and i think that every mafia bl series made after this and compared to this is just inferior because this is THE mafia series. (its always funny to me how for some reason everyone is gay but thats just how thai bl series work)

Read More

good good BAD BAD? probably

Have you ever watched one of those dramas, which you cannot really name anything great about it but you still know you enjoyed watching it? Well, this was the one for me.
To be frank, I was waiting for this drama for so long because I LOVE the cast and aside from the storyline, I believe Inyoup and Hyeri look perfect together; however, it did not go as well as I expected it.
The show had a promising start, but by time passing, something was feeling off.
The first thing, which bothered me so much was Wu Soobin's character. I know everyone was saying he had a hard childhood and all but I really couldn't understand how he was behaving in the first episodes and the decisions he was making. He did love the female lead but he had absolutely no idea how to love her. He did get better tho.
The storyline itself was... idk. Okay? I did like the atmosphere of the drama and it did have a GOOD plot twist in the middle, which I hope you watch it without seeing any spoilers; but somehow everything felt out of the place and the last 4 episodes became so boring, unlike the first 8 episodes, which I can say I enjoyed watching, relatively.
The cinematography was perfect and the 2nd couple were literally on fire; however I generally feel like the existence of the 3rd couple was so unnecessary. It didn't add anything to the drama. They were literally there...to be there.
All in all, it was an okayish drama. I kept watching for the visuals not gonna lie, and I don't regret it, but they did waste the potential the story and the cast had.
I wouldn't recommend it highly but if you have time and you love the cast, I don't think it would be a bad idea to give it a try!

Read More

Soo personally i enjoyed the series but i was kind of confused by the ending because in my opinion this all comet thing was way too random, also the father changed his mind (after his whole life) in two seconds? And he literally helped his son kill himself ? idk, but atleast the chemistry between the two main characters was good, but personally i couldnt really enjoy the second couple because everytime i watched them it was weird to me for some reason and also because the doctor creeps me out a little :I but except for this they were cute i guess, i just wished for a better ending because even though i like open endings (actually not really they piss me off but its good for the series itself) but this one didnt make any sense and they rushed everything to the last episode when they couldve "spread" the story over all of the episodes

Read More

Princess Games

I couldn't help but think back to The Princess Royal when watching this. Set in a similar time/dynasty (fictional), and similarly involving the conflict between noble families and common families, this short-medium length drama does not achieve the artistic heights of the previously mentioned long drama, but it is a decently entertaining watch on its own. What's even more interesting is that Liu Xu Wei is in both in a key supporting role.

Hope to see more of Kong Xue'er - she's been stuck in supporting roles in larger productions of late. And Li Hongyi, it's been a while. This medium-length format is an interesting blend of long and short drama. It probably will need more time to develop this type of drama to see what kind of story would fit well with the time allowed.

Read More

A solid 10/10 ?

Well well well... M done🥹🥹🥹
First of all, I gotta say, how dare C-netizens give it 5/10 on douban.. It's a 1000/10 😩

It takes me back to the good o'days of cdrama nd kdrama historical drama vibe with goooood plot, and not just focus on face card.. 😅

It seems people r now used to idol dramas they've forgotten why many fell in love with these dramas in d first place 😩

Now I can proudly say I've finished a CZY drama 😂 I lovedddd that it's not a romance themed drama, and it didn't have people doing anything for the sake of love 😒😏

It's literally a drama u can watch with your family in peace and bond over...without fear of any steamy scenes, inappropriate scenes.
Wish I could give the actors flowers 😂 they did well tbh.. M proud of them 👏

Did I cry? Almost, did I love it 💯, did I want to beat some people in d drama, ofc 😂

But it's a solid one..
For the first time ever, I decided to open a MDL account so I can comment here, cus pple b hating 😒😂😏

If you're considering watching this and you're a fan of dramas like Empress Ki (kdrama), Royal Feast, Princess Agent (cdrama), well.. What r u waiting for? 😁 💃

Read More

My guilty pleasure

I know many people hated this show and I agree with their reasonings. But even if I hated Woo Hyeon, I couldn't help but enjoy this. I don't think this is a drama you'll enjoy for romance, given it's more drama than romance. .. I watched the trailer, thought it was cute, but then saw the reviews... nothing wrong with hating a drama at all. But I actually really enjoyed this. Although there were quite a few points I didn't like, I ended up possibly making this one of my favourites. Maybe I just really have bad taste after all.

I am gonna be critical on this and be honest, my rating dropped extremely because of the use of AI. I rather have an intro made with the worst editing ever, like with 2000s Kdrama, than generated. I was really confused because in episode 4 there were non ai generated animations and it was really cute. Why not just stick with that? It's about a kid so even the worst drawings ever would fit.

So onto my biggest problem, and everyone else's problem, Woo Hyeon. She pissed me off. Not just pissing me, she pissed me off soooo bad that I hoped she wouldn't end up with Tae Hyeong. Not only did she abandon him many times and excluded him from a lot of activities, she also seemed to treat Yun Seong wayyyy beter. But one thing about me is that I love angst a lot. So adding my love for angst made this my guilty pleasure. I enjoyed it, but not for the romance. I think Tae Hyeong was a sweetheart and I loved him and U ju sooo much. I saw people hating on Tae Hyeong...?

Onto my hate towards Woo Hyeon. She dumped all of the responsibilities onto Tae Hyeong. He had to ask for a PARENTAL LEAVE because of her. I understand she had to work and be active at her job, but it just made me sad she didn't even communicated. The second thing she did that made me hate her is being incredibly self centred and forgetting about Tae Hyeong all the time. She was focussed on her dates with Yun Seong but in the meantime Tae Hyeong and U ju were waiting for her at home. I understand having a hard time choosing a person but seriously?? She gave 2 people signs at the same time and I do not like that.

But holy shit I feel so single right now, although I would never want to be stuck with a baby with Woo Hyeon. I loved Tae Hyeong sooo much. He was an absolute sweetheart and I feel so bad for him. His backstory made me cry and bro was YEARNING. zI hate Woo Hyeon with all my heart Tae Hyeong did not deserve to get treated like this. I think their cute moments at the end made me forget about the things Woo Hyeon did but looking back, no one will make me like you Hyeon.

Overall this was to my opinion really good. But this time, don't listen to me. I genuinely feel like the only one. But even if I loved this, don't watch it for the romance because it's bad. I really enjoyed this for angst. So if you're an angst boy (or girly) you might enjoy this. Now that I look back on watching it, it felt a bit like an ao3 story back in 2017.

Read More