Reviews

Phenomenol acting... she was at her best

I feel like I'm defending the show at every facet of it lol but I work in abuse & trauma and I feel quite passionate about it. So if I see a comment misunderstanding the show, I point it out.

To start off with, it's a 9. 5/10 for me — while I saw great support for it in the beginning, I started seeing the hate after the ending and I wanna add my 2 cents worth :)

I reckon most of the complaints come from people expecting a totally different story.

To the ones who whined “The ending sucked / anticlimactic.”
No — the ending was exactly where these characters were always heading. It’s quiet, messy, and emotionally ugly because they are. The show wasn’t going to suddenly turn poetic or explosive in the last 10 minutes. It stayed true to its tone. That’s consistency, not failure.

To the ones complainong that they didn’t stick to the webtoon ending.
Good!!! Bravo to the screenwriter! The webtoon ending wouldn’t have fit the drama’s pacing or the way these characters were developed on screen. Adaptations are allowed to choose what serves the medium better. The drama chose emotional realism over shock value and it works. Expecting a panel-by-panel recreation is unrealistic. If you want the webtoon ending, it still exists.

To the ones who claimed that Ah Jin’s trauma should not be an excuse for any evil she's done.... No one said it was!!! The drama never tries to justify her actions. It shows how trauma shapes people, not how it absolves them. Ah Jin’s behaviour is awful — and the show lets it be awful. That’s complexity, and a reflection of a great understanding of trauma and its lasting impact.

For the ones who claimed that her husband got away with ordering Jaeoh’s death.
I say not really. In fact, he loses everything that actually matters to him — his control, his marriage, the illusion of being the one in power. The show hands out consequences emotionally and psychologically, not legally. This isn’t a revenge thriller!

As an observation, a drama doesn't have to reward our expectation to be brilliant. Sometimes its refusal to do so is the brilliance! ☺️

The show is messy, dark, beautifully restrained, and unapologetically honest. Not perfect, but close.

So if you appreciate character-driven storytelling that isn’t afraid to linger in moral ambiguity, I recommend this but ditch your expectations as that's how you'll end up disappointed 😊

Read More

Are We Serious?

Without a doubt, Secret Relationships is probably the best production that we've seen come out of Korea this year, in addition to 8 episodes with a decent runtime. But I cannot deny that this didn't resonate with me in the slightest bit (okay, maybe a bit, but not entirely). Secret Relationship? More like Brutal (Murderous) Love.

Let's Dive In.

This story attracts you immediately with its beautiful cinematography and four incredibly good-looking men to appease the eyes. At first glance, this seems like it'll be an adorable love square; who can win over Daon's heart? Will it be his longtime crush, Jaemin? The darling coworker from work? The aggressive "ex" of Jaemin from the past? It's makes you wonder, it keeps you on your toes, and them BAM! someone is trying to kill him.

The whiplash I got from this series, holy fuck. Everyone just needs therapy and anger management. Other's need just the death penalty, my goodness. At no point was Daon like, "Yeah, I think I should talk to someone about my maniac friend/crush who destroyed the lives of the people around me for his own benefits, and the fact that he tried to kill me." Like.... are we serious?

I know not all series are going to be bubbly and cutesy and have these characters waving green flags, but this was just not my cup of tea. Lots of people love toxic and I hate it. Maybe cause I'm too much of a realistic person. Daon and Seonghyeon won't last unless they go to couple's therapy. I'm being so deadass.

Everyone frustrated me, but no one ticked every nerve in my body like Daon did. I was hoping by the end, he would've grown a backbone and stood up for himself, but instead, he was the constant damsel in distress and never thought to just scream his head off when Suhyeon was being aggressive and gross, or when Jaemin was trying to molest/kill him. Then, instead of cursing him out like he should've, he just... apologizes? Jaemin reading his note in the hospital had me seeing red. What kind of message is that? Why not instead say, "Hey, once you get out of the hospital, you fucking lunatic, the police will be waiting for you. I hope you burn in hell." Like, how come that was never said?!

There's just so many other non-sensical tropes/devices that happen. Daon waited how long to tell Jaemin he liked him? And then coincidentally, Suhyeon shows up? What? And then you learn that Jaemin is a nutcase, and you think about it, and you're like, "You really committed to a no-dating contract that hard that in the time of Suhyeon leaving to go abroad and now, you never thought to finally make your move?" Like...what? Then you have Seonghyeon who is determined not to leave Daon's side even when Daon is telling him it'll never work out, but suddenly he sees a hickey, and he's done? The same Seonghyeon that has been willing to listen and observe this entire time doesn't wanna hear Daon's side anymore? Are we serious?

The only thing I can applaud about this series is the plot twist of Jaemin being absolutely crazy. I genuinely had no idea that was where the plot was headed. Suhyeon might've been fucked over by Jaemin, but he was no saint either. If anything, I still believe that he was the pure villain of this series, with an abominable redemption arc. "Oh Suhyeon, it's okay that you tried ruining my life and were propelling me into walls. At least you weren't trying to kill me!" Again, are we serious?

Soft, cutesy BL is my bread and butter, I cannot lie. If you loved this series, then I love that for you, but this was just a no-no. Then at the end they try and fix everything by throwing in a time-jump and the worst ending kiss I've ever seen, ever.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - Won't deny that I was curious during each episode to see what the fuck was going on. Seonghyeon, my rainbow in the sky. Please run, I promise you Daon's not out of the clear, those men are crazy.

Acting: 9/10 - Stellar!

Music: 5/10 - Distracted me once, but otherwise, fine.

Recommendation Value: 6/10 - this is... brutal. I wouldn't recommend this to someone if they weren't ready for its contents. But, these actors are good, and it's a great Korean BL production, so... maybe?

Read More

Woah

I liked it, it’s worth the watch if you want to watch a meaningful love story and if your interested in time travel, soulmates kinda thing. Honestly I didn’t like one of the main characters for her personality but the story is good and ends well.

The music from this really STUCK with me, so I think very positively of this kdrama it felt so meaningful and fulfilling to see how it ended.

Gather my tears by Seo Ji Won is a song I’ll listen to for a while now lol it really reaches my heart and so did this kdrama.

Note this tho, if your a sensitive person do recognise this story involves murder/suicide/violence and can get creepy which is what I didn’t like but the ending is rewarding and calm :)

Read More

This is how live actions should be shot!

Huge kudos to the director and the people behind the scenes because this production was amazing in terms of shooting angles and fight direction and CGI. It really brought forward the essence of fighting scenes that would have only existed in anime. All the characters had their moments to shine with their abilities and some were especially satisfying to watch (*ahem* Wang Ye)

It's a rare moment for me to be so captured by a side character but Wang Ye is the type of character i love the most – unserious, lazy, sleepy but dependable when it counts. The main characters while unconventional are also amazingly casted and super interesting. Zhang Chulan is not your average main character. he's a charlatan – shameless, weak, incorrigible, money-minded.. until he isn't. You can see his true personality shine in rare moments when he gets serious and that makes him all the more intriguing as a character.

Feng Baobao is Feng Baobao, enough said. Wang Yinglu did a super amazing job with her.

Overall this show surprised my greatly. I love fighting shows but I usually turn my attention to wuxia dramas. This is one of the rare modern day dramas I watched and i loved it. The fight scenes were amazing, the music was great at setting the scene, the characters all had their own roles and were played well. There is nothing from this show I didn't like other than I wished I could have more episodes of it. Wang Ye's taijiquan looked legit and it was like watching a superpower charged ip man. Awe-inspiring stunts kept me at the edge of my seat.

Definitely rewatching this!

Read More

Feel like I need to put something positive on the page, what with the low ratings and the only comment being from someone who maybe didn't grasp that this was 4 separate stories?
Letterboxd reviewers can be quite cynical on gay indie films, while MDL tends to be more generous. But for lesbian indie, it's quite the opposite on both sites.

It's a good indie film, telling 4 short stories, each showing different aspects of relationships between women. The first three are somewhat similar in tone but with distinctive stylisation. From mainstream US-centric reviews, it seems many watched it very superficially, even the fourth which looks at women who seek out dysfunctional, toxic relationships. The tone shift in that was jarring at first with its violence, cartoonish but still disturbing. It doesn't excuse that behaviour, but it does offer compassion for the women caught up in it, those who will never let themselves be happy because they're convinced they don't deserve it.

Together, the four stories ask the question What do you need to be happy, and what's standing in the way of that? A mismatch, society, yourself?

Read More

worth it

Today… wow. I honestly didn’t expect much, but it’s been so long since I got a movie that actually gave me a proper storyline, real tension, and jumpscares that genuinely worked. Not the cheap loud-noise type, but the kind that slowly creeps up and hits at the perfect moment. Even the tiny scenes that were meant to feel unsettling actually did their job — they built the mood so naturally without trying too hard. The cinematography was gorgeous, every frame looked intentional, and the acting was strong enough to pull me in from the start. And that betrayal twist? It landed perfectly and added depth instead of just shock value. Overall, it reminded me why I love horror in the first place. It finally gave me that old-school, satisfying, goosebump horror feeling that I’ve been missing for years

Read More

Best Historical Romance Cdrama of the Year 2025

At first, before the drama was released, I looked at some of the clips and I already think that I should really watch this drama, I know it would be good. When it came out, I was so hyped but due to my busy schedule for school, I had no choice but to resist on pressing that subscription button. All my social media were full of LITC edits, I was too obsessed with it and I kept on wishing day by day that holiday would be so near already. Finally, when I'm already done with my exams and other stuffs, I immediately watch LITC, and I did not expect that it would be so much better than what I had initially excpected. I was a bit sure that this may be the drama of the year, but one thing made me kind of hesitate. That is the ending. I know that historical cdrama nowadays are full of sad ending or not open ending, so I was expected that this would lead to that kind of ending. But what made me shocked was that turns out not only it was a happy ending, it was also not a rushed one! After watching all the episodes, I was so sure that I made the right choice, and my money did not go waste. So that made me decided that LITC is the best historical romance cdrama of the year 2025.

Read More

Loved it

I loved this drama and give it 10 out of 10 for the fact that it managed to capture life in such a realistic way. Indeed there are some complaining that the rythm of the series is pretty slow and I believe we all got used to instant gratification and search for adrenaline rush.
Probably if it was not for Kim Min-ha and Lee Jun-ho I wouldnt have tried watching it.
I loved this series! All characters are very well built even the secondary ones. The storyline - well it has nothing exceptional but it managed to keep me watching. The good acting -there are many actors I knew and discovered with great enthusiasm. The music was amazing.
I mainly love it because it creates so realistic characters and captured perfectly how life unfolds… sometimes rush sometimes slow…
The ML after some hardship in his life grows from an almost carefree young man to one that confronts the hard reality, needs to adapt and grow. Loved his stuberness and sometimes young cockiness that of course sometimes puts him and the ones around in danger. The FL is “well versed in real life” hardships and melts little by little and dare to love and think also at her hapiness. As for the lead actors - they played so effortlessly it was that good.
I would recommend this drama with my eyes closed :))) Hope you enjoy it.
And I would definetly rewatch it.

Read More

I definitely recommend watching

Lover Merman is one of those shows you start for the fantasy charm and end up binge-watching because it’s just that unexpectedly addictive. It’s light, cute, and delightfully silly in all the right ways — but then the plot hits you with a twist that genuinely surprised me and had me not wanting to put the show down.

I really liked the main cast and I couldn’t get over Phu’s smile it was just so captivating. Their chemistry felt effortless, both PhuNava and PhanaPing, and they carry every scene with so much warmth that you’ll wish they get cast together again ASAP. This pairing deserves another project!

I hope to see the leads reunite in another project soon, because they’re too good together to be a one-time pairing.

Read More