Reviews

Mark and Yaya have great chemistry

I am not a fan of Thai lakorns, I mostly watch dramas (Korea, sometimes China), but "Waves of Life" is right in the heart, Mark and Yaya have such a powerful chemistry that it is impossible to tear yourself away, even after watching I re-watched scenes with them. They are great together, I have not seen such mutual chemistry for a long time. It's a shame that there is only one kiss, but their looks are something. Right after this lakorns I watched "Love at First Night", the plot is nonsense, but the closeness between Mark and Yaya is enough))) I hope we will see them together again in a new project with a powerful script and a lot of romance...

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Exceeded my expectations!

I rarely watch shows while they’re airing, so my plan was to wait until this one finished before starting it — but I failed. I saw a clip online that drew me in, and I pretty much devoured the first nine episodes. Thankfully, I only had to wait three more weeks for the final ones.

I really liked it, and I truly hope there’s a season 2.

The only issue I had was with the makeup. The cast’s makeup was overly done — borderline cakey at times.

At first, I assumed it was intentional because the main leads are celebrities, but I noticed it with the side characters too. I really hope they fix that in the next season (if we get one — fingers tightly crossed!).

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Reality of women

This movie is abt women who had made mistakes for smth they had to exchange with. I love the storyline. I love how they capture women's prison life and how their child is important no matter what the circumstances or outcome they will always choose their child. As we all know Zhao li ying, queen herself did a rly good job at her acting i love how she portrayed a mother being herself and the hardships she endured in order to survive. I love every single one of the portray of the character. But it would've been better if they give more details on supporting women backstory. I didn't rly get to see Guo aimi backstory, neither how other ended up in jail. But overall i love this movie and I felt empathy and sympathy to all the single moms out there.

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The Future” Looked Bright… Until She Showed Up

First of all, the title is highly misleading. Anyone reading it would assume we’re diving into a time-travel plot—maybe some epic sci-fi twists or at least a dramatic wormhole. But no, “future” here just means the ML is into robotics and owns a few gadgets that scream “futuristic vibes.”

Now don’t get me wrong—the plot had promise! We’ve got a smart male lead, cohabitation, a classic contract relationship... basically, a setup that could’ve been fun, even without anything too wild. I was ready to be mildly entertained at worst.

She is not even worth discussing... ' TOTALLY TALENTLESS' horrible dialogue delivery, horrible expression, horrible spontaneity, horrible , body language ... LASTLY horrible face. Seems like the casting directors in china have fetishes for young girls ( or those who can act like one) otherwise there is no way you can't get decent talent in a country with a 1.4 billion population.
After spending a truckload on the cast, sets, equipment, production and marketing... You give the wheel to such incompetent FL ...even the ML was annoyed as there was literally zero chemistry.

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Super!

I've watched this BL a long time ago, and I never get tired of rewatching it. Watching the series first and then reading the manhwa made me fall in love with the story and the characters. I still miss them like crazy.

Still hoping for a 2nd season. I'd be so happy if they come back.

Despite it being slightly different from the original manhwa, they really did a good job. The actors were amazing! Also the kissing scenes were beautifully done and so heartfelt. Truly a masterpiece.

A note: it doesn't matter if you watch the movie or the series, the content is the same.

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affraid at the begining but love it in the end

I love watching series with Lee Jae Wook. He is very talented actor, with great skills, a great kisser in his generation, and the historical dramas are perfect for him, is totally made for historical dramas. With every glance, every word, he captures the soul of the character, translating emotion into something deeply human and unforgettable.

He SLAYED in this one.

I watched till the end for him, for the music and for the cinematography. I don't regret watching it, but I will probably not rewatch as I did wit AOS, which I have seen 5 times. The theme was so creepy, cruel and dark for me, with annoying evil characters, was not my cup of tea.

The music and sound effects in this series harmoniously resonate with the storyline, the scenes themselves, the visuals, the actors' performances — everything is so incredibly well-balanced! For me this one, When Life Gives You Tangerines and Pachinko are incredibility epic as cinematography.

Jo Bo Ah was great too in her character. Sim Jae I annoyed me a lot in the first episodes, but I find her character very strong, brave, maybe too naive, balance for how much she was enduring from her supposed family.

And I hope to see Kim Jae Wook more but with normal characters, because he's already had too many roles as a psychopath, a traumatic roles for me. He is sooo talented.

Great chemistry between FL and ML, beautiful capture of their love.
Still didn't understand who was the White Man.

I hate Sim Mu Jin, is the worst, a psychopath, as the prince and the shaman. So much symbolism with what is in real life. He did not know what love is.

The OST is 1000/10.

The end it’s realistic, painful, and beautiful.

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Cheesy but excellently told and executed

There are plenty of mach man, damsel in distress tropes in this short drama, but the cast do an excellent job keeping them grounded, meaningful and human feeling. I particularly like the scenography, lighting and camera work in this series, they made the most of the location. The main leads have incredible spark, the female lead Chen FangTong projects character growth from sheltered somewhat clueless to in charge of her life, while Dai Gaozheng as always broods well, projects the powerful military man well, and shows of his body (which is a treat even if cheesy). The plot devices are a bit thin and compressed by I've come back and watched this several times and every time it's a treat in setting and dynamic. Also it's nice to see some genuine-feeling desire on screen in Mandarin given its relatively chaste screen tradition. Chen fangtong work very well in that department, affection feels unforced, even the tug and pull of feelings and desire is wellportrayed.

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A criminally underrated treasure.

I do understand the low rating for this drama and at the same time I really don't. The themes are extremely dark and everything is pretty gloomy and unpretentious. If you prefer light-hearted subjects, or breathtaking cinematography, or extremely tight logic with a masterfully written whodunit, this is not going to satisfy you. This is not what it is. Also, the premise is on its own hard to believe. Some suspension of disbelief is needed. However, if you can do that, the writing in general is in my opinion gripping even though some tropes aren't that surprising. The pacing is more contemplative than it is active. But unless you're an action junkie or very impatient or you simply don't care about these characters at all, it's short enough to finish it pretty quickly without getting bored.

There is another complaint about this drama that I don't get, is trying to level it to The Bad Kids. As much as I love that drama, I don't see the point in comparing the two. Of course on a technical level The Bad Kids is probably superior. Does it mean it's necessarily better ? It does not.

This show is powerful on many levels and doesn't need to be ashamed of its identity. I will not say much because I don't want to spoil anything. But it deals with heavy topics, shows us a glimpse of a very broken humanity and what it can do, sometimes, supposedly, out of love, and is overall extremely sad. Basically every time you learn something new this becomes more and more tragic.

Yet there is hope in the same broken love that some of these characters show for each other. Imperfect, sometimes messed up love, it still is basically the core of everything. It is heartbreaking. It's also very human.

The acting is spectacular from most of the cast, the relationships between these characters are fascinating and complicated and the OST is an absolute gem - these three songs are among the most beautiful I've heard and they really suit this show. One of them is sung by the two MLs' actors and becomes the ending song for the second half or so of the drama. It's such a sweet and soothing song, well needed after the emotions this story can make you feel.

If you're interested in thrillers, child trafficking, dysfunctional families, parents/children relationships, and love in general, please give this drama a chance.

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The girl I liked then, was our dream and youth. I am still living that dream.

As a boy who is now living a life of an adult because my age is 28 years. But still to this day I feel best when I think about my childhood love, whom I loved from class 4 till today. This movie depicts the feeling of childhood love in such a way that you will never feel empty, the ending is handled so brilliantly that you will definitely learn something after watching this and you will complete the movie with a smile on your face.
Acting of the Main Leads is great and support cast did well with their part. Music and especially the songs are the cherry on cake they will mesmerize you. There are so many small small things to notice but in the end if you have loved someone and you are a fan of child hood love stories then this is a must watch.

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Character analysis based on traditional Iranian medicine!!

First of all, I have to say that I haven't been saddened by the death of any actor, whether Iranian or foreign, but the only actor whose death made me sad and every time I think of him, my heart aches is Lee Soon-kyun. I don't know why?! I was even more upset about his death than that of my acquaintances, perhaps because I had watched this series shortly before his passing or because he tragically committed suicide due to the accusations of others; I don't know... It's still strange to me, and the pain is fresh...

I want to analyze the characters based on Iranian traditional medicine! Because I see strange similarities between the people in the series and temperament analysis, although I know that Korean traditional medicine is different from Iran, and it's almost impossible for the writer to know much about it.

Of course, in traditional medicine, we have a basic temperament, a dominant temperament, and what I write may be either a basic temperament or a dominant one, which would be a more specialized discussion and not the place for it here, so I will just write my observations.

The writer of this series is the same as that of "My Liberation Notes," and the characteristics of the characters there are almost the same as here.

1_Park Dong-hoon (Ajusshi): Cold and dry temperament, earth element, black bile humor, extremely introverted and quiet, keeps everything inside, organized and precise as expected from a melancholic person, not seeking excitement and enjoys his routine life or at least isn't looking for change, not ambitious, in fact, his closeness to Ji-an is due to the events that happened, his wife's betrayal, and the accusations made against him at work, that's why he was looking for someone to ease his pain, and who better than another melancholic person named Ji-an?! Although his temperament is warmer than Ji-an's, despite the favorable background and mutual interest, and his wife's betrayal, he was not the type to cheat and was chivalrous, adhering to ethics; melancholic individuals are not prone to divorce, they rarely start something, but when they do, they see it through to the end and do not give up.

2_Li Ji'an: Cold and dry temperament, colder than Dong Hong, very cold! Colder and drier than ice, like stone, he is not satisfied with his condition even if he endures it, hopeless for a remedy and empathy, pessimistic about everyone. It seems his base temperament is cold and moist or phlegmatic, or cold and dry but to a lesser degree because every temperament has its gradation, and due to the problems and misfortunes that have arisen, his temperament has become colder and drier and has developed a strong melancholic disposition. He is not seeking excessive warmth because someone who gives him a little warmth will get him hooked! He showed a green light to Ajooshi a few times, but since he didn't get a response, he let it go; otherwise, if his temperament were warmer or had more moisture, he wouldn't have let it go, and this would have been a separate story!

3_Park Sang-hoon: Cold and wet temperament, phlegmatic and the element of water, despite being a man, he is extremely emotional and sensitive, his tears are like a musk! His temperament is colder than his wife's, which is why their relationship was close to divorce or they had already divorced (I don't remember exactly because I saw it a long time ago). In marriage, the man's temperament should be warmer than the woman's, even if both are phlegmatic or melancholic. Here, his wife's temperament is either warm and dry or warm and wet, in pursuit of love and passion, even though he doesn't think he deserves to seek excitement in his old age ! But he enjoyed seeing Ji-an's affection towards Dong-hoon!, and it occupied his mind as if he was the one being shown affection! He couldn't make a proper decision, which is why he didn't have a stable job; he endured his wife's mistreatment and bitter words because phlegmatic temperaments have high tolerance.

4_Park Ji Hoon, the youngest brother: hot and dry temperament, choleric and fiery element, irritable! Someone who jumps up and down like a firecracker, makes decisions quickly and changes his mind just as fast, separates easily and connects quickly, gets angry quickly and regrets it just as fast, foul-mouthed and abusive! Honest, even if it’s against himself! From one branch to another, from one job to another, he has no patience; otherwise, he wouldn’t lose his directing job. He talks a lot and constantly complains about his circumstances, prone to fights and brawls, but when he sees he can’t win, he retreats, but not in his mind. He is not one to show feelings directly, like saying “I love you” or crying, because it would be beneath his dignity! Instead, he shows it through anger, for example, by defending or yelling, even if he loves someone.

5_Kang Yun Hee, the ajumma: cold and wet temperament (lower degree compared to the older brother), seeking warmth, love, and passion, but not too much, which is why she cheats because the warmth from the ajusshi hasn’t been enough for her (the ajusshi’s temperament is unfortunately colder than hers!). Ashamed of her actions, but since she has developed an addiction to warmth and love, she doesn’t let go as much as she can.

6_Lee Gwang Il, Ji An's stalker: warm and wet temperament (most likely) or warm and dry, wandering between love and hate, which is why he annoys his love to get her attention.

7_Do Joon Yun, the traitor with Yun Hee: likely has a warm and wet temperament due to his ambition, flexibility towards those in power, and variety-seeking nature in women, the element is air.
8_Yura's love for Ji Hon: cold and moist temperament, patient but resentful, both resents and loves Ji Hon because Ji Hon's temperament is warmer and drier than hers, and what could be better than fire for water?!! They could have been a suitable couple, but Ji Hon easily separates from her due to his irritability and insecurity.

9. Jung Jung Hee, the bartender: warm and moist temperament, compassionate, kind, a lover who still hasn't been able to let go, and who is it? A monk! Still hopeful for a reunion! However, I predict that if they met, they would likely separate or have disagreements because the monk's temperament is cold and dry.

10. The monk: cold and dry temperament, generally, individuals who become monks or priests tend to have a colder and drier temperament and are calmer; otherwise, their environment would become unbearable for them.

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Heavenly Ever After? Heavenly break amidst Lives.

"Heaven isn't a destination, it's just a resting place in the wheel that turns for eternity"

i enjoyed this sooo much omg. sooo good! even enjoyed the terrible headache i had after ep11 with all the tears lmao. god han jimin acted out of her body in that episode. it was intense. infact, the entire cast is amazing, not a single miss. even the supporting characters all well casted, well acted. Haesuk & Pastor's relationship and banter has my entire heart. ❤️


I cried with Hae suk's pain and Eun Ho's misfortune so so much. I wish they met again in another life and spent the best as mother and son 🥺❤️

The message is beautiful. Heaven and hell ain't the end of all, just a temporary resting place where you overcome your past regrets and grudges and pain, and continue the journey - I don't necessarily consider the drama religious, whatever religious subtext there is, is mellowed down too so that helps.

The drama isn't perfect definitely, but the last few episodes moved me so much I really can't be bothered about the slower pace or drag in the earlier episodes, or sudden switch in tone from serious to comedy at certain parts.

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A delightful movie about how cinema came to China.

This movie is delightful and deservedly won praise when it was shown. Being familiar with the history of Chinese cinema and the famous 1905 early movie Dingjun Mountain, directed by Ren Qingtai (任慶泰) a.k.a. Ren Jingfeng (任景豐), who was assisted by his cinematographer Liu Zhonglun (劉仲伦), I found it endearing to see these pioneer's life and hopes be portrayed in this movie, including the photograph taking of Empress Ci Xi, and the risks of handling the earliest film strips.

Writer, producer and director Ann Hu's 35mm debut Shadow Magic (2000) won both the Chinese Academy Award and Presidential Award in China for Best film among other international prizes. The film premiered at the 2000 Sundance film Festival and released by Sony Classics in 2001.

Synopsis : "Beijing, 1902: an enterprising young portrait photographer named Liu Jinglun, keen on new technology, befriends a newly-arrived Englishman who's brought projector, camera, and Lumière-brothers' shorts to open the Shadow Magic theater. Liu's work with Wallace brings him conflict with tradition and his father's authority, complicated by his falling in love with Ling, daughter of Lord Tan, star of Beijing's traditional opera. Liu sees movies as his chance to become wealthy and worthy of Ling. When the Shadow Magic pair are invited to show the films to the Empress Dowager, things look good. But, is disaster in the script? And, can movies preserve tradition even as they bring change?"

The movie has a fuller Wikipedia page : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Magic#cite_note-1

The director also has an interesting story :

Ann Hu / Hú Ān 胡安 born 胡小平 (Hú Xiǎopíng) in 1956, grew up in Beijing. After finishing middle school, she was assigned to work as a waitress but studied by herself in view of passing college entrance examination, when those exams resumed in 1977. She next studied English at Beijing International Studies University in 1977 and came to the USA in 1979 to study at New York University as one of the earliest students to go to the United States after the Cultural Revolution. She stayed there as a businesswoman, working in an international company, shifting carer to study film making at NYU Film School after meeting Chen Kaige in 1987.

In 1992, she wrote and directed her first film, "Old Stories of Mountains and Rivers" 《山河旧话》
In 2000, her film "Shadow Magic" 《西洋镜》 was released in mainland China, and she won the 37th Taiwan Golden Horse Film Award for Best Cross-Media Adapted Screenplay.
In 2005, the film "Still Beautiful" 《美人依旧》 directed by her was released.
On December 4, 2020, the family inspirational film "Confetti" English title of 《五彩缤纷》("Colorful"), inspired by her struggle to help her dyslexic daughter, written and directed by her was released in mainland China. It was also shown abroad in 2021.

Douban page : https://www.douban.com/personage/27515319/

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