This review may contain spoilers
Don't know if this is a spoiler or not. Ep. 9s misunderstanding was...something... ML "has" a son when it's just someone else's, but the kid doesn't have a dad only a mom so the kid calls ML dad and FMLs reaction to what she hears makes her sour and she goes drinking and drinks too much like why does she instantly HATE ML just because he "has" a son? Just don't treat him like trash and move on; she feels so immature at times too. FMLs fem coworker has gotten more annoying too while the male coworker feels like a likeable character,(more so than fem coworker) of course he has his quirks but he seems like a nice person. There could be a wider variety of music they use too but besides that the show isn't bad Was this review helpful to you?
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Wasted potential
I watched this series after being impressed of Edward's performance in your name engraved herein. But after watching this series, I feel like like I have wasted my time.I actually didn't notice the genre tags and thought this to be a romantic drama based on the title and the poster and I was proven completely wrong.
Things I liked :
1. The acting was par with the what the character has to offer, the actors did what they were told. I would say writing was at fault. The chemistry between the leads was okayish in the intense scenes.
2. I liked edward chen's acting as a spoiled rich brat in the first few episodes and how he never gave up on the FL through out the series even if it didn't make any sense to me. The first few episodes portrayed him as a very unpredictable boy for which I was looking forward to, but unfortunately his character seemed very cliche.
Before the ML got to know about the FLs revenge plan, I felt that his emotions were being played with and he had to go through all this just because of the mistakes of few so-called adults who were drunk in selfishness and rage . But the ML didn't bother with being used, lol, which I could never understand.
3. The female villain's characterization was pretty good but the writers should have developed her character, like a more intense face off between the FL and the villain would have made sense but everything was down played at the end since the writers decided to end the series thru the school directors action
4. Cinematography and the music was good
What I disliked :
1. The fact that a student-teacher relationship was shown very acceptable in the society
2. The scenes between the ML and FL were very cringe in all through the series. Especially before they both fell in love, I was literally wanting the FL not to accept the ML, but it was later told as her revenge plan.
3. I hated MLs mother in al through the series and I don't know how her marriage was saved. For the sake of her son's relationship, she went ahead to lie about her son's father being the art professor, I don't know how her husband accepted her after all this
4. The 6-11 episodes were dragged so much going around the bush with so much confusions that I had to fast forward for the sake of the end
5. I felt like every character was flawed and actions of many characters made no sense at all
6. Coming to the ending. They tricked the viewers to believe that the ML stabbed the FL in the opening of the 1st episode. So I badly wanted to know what circumstances lead the ML to take such a decision. But as I told they tricked us into watching another dramatic climax. If not for this, I would have dropped the series in after the first major revelation.
Rewatch value: I regret wasting time watching this series
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Very fun
I really liked this one. The FL might have been overlooked but wasn’t abused. I liked that she was smart and strong. The leads were a great match. Great chemistry. You really are rooting for both of them. Very likable, attractive and fun. ML is so very attractive and talented. I liked the fact that he wasn’t fooled by her and supported her throughout. Great ending. One of my favorites so far.Was this review helpful to you?
Petty Boring Revenge
Didn’t like the FL she was annoying and the revenge lasted so long and was so petty. I wouldn’t have watched if Arthur wasn’t in this series. The storyline was okay if it didn’t drag on for so long. The ending was unfelt and ridiculous. When they finally reunited in the LAST episode, they had been through so much drama and stupidity that I couldn’t care less nor was happy about it. Didn’t see realistic chemistry and it looked rushed. Arthur is great but the storyline failed his talent and time.Was this review helpful to you?
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The 2nd Couple stole the show
I have to admit the 2nd leading couple stole the show, at least in my opinion. They were so cute, chaotic and basically a perfect match for each other. That does not mean that the main couple didn't have any chemistry at all, but it did feel like Bai Min Min and Zhang Huai Yu had better/more chemistry than them.The cast's acting varied from quite good to really great. I personally really enjoyed Dai Lu Wa's portrayal as Bai Min Min. She seems like a great actress and I will definitely be looking forward to her next performances. She just has a way to pull in the audience, despite not being the main lead. I also liked Qin Xiao Xuan's portrayal as Liu Mo, I think his eyes are really expressive, which becomes especially apparent at the scene when he learns the truth and cries. He's not simply shedding tears, his microexpressions were great.
Unfortunately I found it quite tedious to finish this drama, especially afrom the 18th episode onwards. It just got boring. It was pretty interesting and enjoyable in the beginning, but somewhere in the middle it just stopped being that. It did have its interesting moments (even after the 18th episode) but they were few and far in between.
Also the 3rd leading couple (Yun Yi and Shu Jing Ran) held zero appeal to me. I found myself completely indifferent towards the pairing, as well as towards Yun Yi as a character. I did like Shu Jing Ran's character, but Yun Yi... I just wasn't interested, it's not like I disliked her, but I simply wasn't interested and wasn't invested in her character. Also her character felt like it was forcefully inserted in the middle of the story. I just couldn't muster any interest in the pairing.
I really liked the ending though! It was very heartwarming!
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make it make sense pls
Not one bit of the story made any sense. First of all, Usagi going back to the borderland, aparently willigly, made absolutely no logic. Why was she going after her father, who is obviously not there? She was the one who managed to take Arisu out of his stupor on the end of season 2 so they could LEAVE the borderland and now she just blindly goes after ilusions? Also, she was one of the strongest of the games, and in the end she gets carried away by a man who wants to bring her to the death hole and does not try to fight him back AT ALL? also when he dies she wails in pain wtf was happening, he was trying to kill you, girl!! i could not understand their relationship at all, the writers seemed to give more meaning to usagi and ryuji than to usagi x arisu. also, i couldn't care less about all of the other characters bc they didn't give them enough screentime to make me care. and then, when they were all about to die, they would drag some flashback out of nowhere to try to make me sad and i would just think "I WANNA SKIP". also, nothing was mindblowing, the ending seemed forced and nonsense. I also didn't understand why they wanted Arisu to stay in the borderland as a citizen. at least they showed us the other characters we care about at the end.and then we get to the US and have the same fucking type of ending as squid game, a hint that they'll continue the series in the US............... yeah, here we go again, the us ruining a good show out of their greed. it's better if we pretend this season didn't exist
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Definitely worth watching
I have seen so many shows with a unique premise that just abaddon it within the first couple of episodes, but not this show.They actually use the premise throughout the show, sure sometimes there is less focus on it, but it's never ignored and always has some relevance to what's going on.
Caged again is about two zoo animals (a penguin and a panther) who both end up becoming humans. They both have different views on what it means to be human and free. Since Son (the panther) has been human longer, he has seen a lot more of the bad things humans can do, and therefore tries to protect Junior (the penguin) from getting his bubble burst and seeing how bad some people can be.
This leads Son to hide things from Junior that he definitely should have told him, both for the sake of honesty but also for the sake of safety. Even though he did it with good intentions, it is not okay to hide the fact that they are in danger from someone, but no-one can be perfect, especially when they are new to the whole friends thing.
Son and Junior's cemetery is so good.
The acters did an amazing job portraying their emotions and feelings for each other. The way they look at each other with so much love in their eyes and how they protect and care for each other feels so genuine.
Jodd and Jeng were so sweet.
You can see how comfortable they feel around each other. Just being around the other made them feel at ease, without needing to say a whole lot.
I wish we could have seen more of an actual relationship between them, and not just "friendship". I don't get why they didn't make them an actual couple earlier when they so clearly were ready for it.
Ton and Nat are iconic.
Like what do you mean they have a happy relationship with mutual understanding and respect for each other? What do you mean they don't play into any stereotypical gender roles? What do you mean they wear animal costumes and roleplay in the forest?
It's just iconic behaviour.
I was kinda annoyed that the outro is just white text on a black background, because the song is a banger, and it's annoying not having anything interesting to look at while listening to the outro.
If you are looking a show with happy and healthy relationships between both teenagers and adults with no toxic gender norms or stupid misunderstandings, then you have come to the right place.
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Fantastic!
I loved this very much, i really don't understand where all the bad revieuws come from. Drama's are not always supposed to be all fuffy and rainbows, but can be based on real life struggles. I had a good laugh several times.The story was good, with a nice plot twist at the end.
The visuals were stunning and the music great.
The actors did an amazing job, Khaotung is one of my favorite actors and even at such a jong age he was already amazing at acting. The dynamics and chemistry between these actors was als very good.
I only had problems with the acting of Mike in the role of Nai, his acting was way too much over the top, it really anoyed me.
I will definatly wach this again.
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The story follows Ryu Soo-yeol (Lee Dong-wook), a competent, but cynical and corrupt detective. His life is thrown into chaos by the sudden arrival of K (Wi Ha-joon), an impulsive and mysterious vigilante who uses his fists to force Soo-yeol to do the right thing.
The Highlights
The Bromance: The antagonistic-turned-partner relationship between Lee Dong-wook and Wi Ha-joon is the biggest selling point. Their chemistry is magnetic, delivering some of the most memorable comedy and action scenes.
Brutal Action: The fight choreography is intense, fast-paced, and highly stylized.
Performances: Both actors are excellent. Lee Dong-wook handles his character's complexity, while Wi Ha-joon is a whirlwind of charisma.
In Short
If you're looking for a police drama that leans into high-octane action and "odd-couple" humor, without taking itself too seriously, this is your show. The constant shift in tone between serious drama and slapstick comedy can be divisive, but the energy and the bond between the protagonists keep the audience engaged from start to finish.
Recommended for: Fans of action, buddy-cop comedy, and dramas with a strong central mystery.
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This review may contain spoilers
Title: Ten Years of Unrequited Love is a very well done miniseries with He Chang Xi (as Cen Si Yuan) and Ji Shu Yi (as Lin Miao Miao) in the leading couple’s role. The cast did a good job bringing their characters to life and the lead couple has a very good romantic chemistry. Loving and waiting for someone for ten years is a bit far fetched but the male lead really carries this drama with his unapologetic and forceful nature because he knows very well that it will take a physical and emotional collusion to break down the female lead’s barriers. It must be noticed that the lead couple was in a deep and loving relationship for two years before his mother took advantage of the female lead’s miserable circumstances to separate them. Beside some irrational decisions from the leading lady and the male lead’s mother, once the male lead comes to know the real circumstances of the female lead’s decisions, he well knows that been nice and patient was not a choice to wake up the female lead’s stubborn determination to fulfill her promise. It is captivating to see the male lead’s determination to fight his mother’s misguided and cruel reasons to justified her actions. There are some viewers that felt really sorry for the second female lead but, besides the fact that there is not enough background about her character and the type of connection that she had with the male lead before coming back with him, it becomes obvious that, although she cared about him, she had ulterior motives to be with him and it was not that she really loved him the reason to become vindictive, but the male lead knew that he should not have used her to provoke the female lead. (All of these becomes funnily clear at the end when she encounters Den Qi Han and his son at the hospital!)
The time frame for the train wreck is about three months and everything becomes clear from episode 18 to 24 that causes the male lead to become more proactive than ever and it is obvious to the viewer that he had a plan B concocted with the female lead’s sister to finally put an end to their misery. The lead couple is a testament to steadfast and rebounding love and the male lead’s resoluteness gives her the will and the strength to move forward with him. The male lead’s character also becomes more understandable on the last 4 episodes.
Overall, taking in consideration that this is not a full length drama, the plot is well developed, the lead couple has a riveting romance, and the drama is entertaining, enjoy it!
In the meantime, this drama can be found on viki.com.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's an entertaining drama, as long as you don't think about it too much. If you do, it falls apart.
In short:It's very entertaining to watch, just make sure to turn off your brain while you watch it. If you like superheroes, vampires, fantasy, men who act like puppies or Cheng Lei being shirtless, this is the drama for you.
In long, for people who cannot turn off their brain:
I'm still not sure what the plot was intended to be.
You might want to think it's exploring the meaning of loyalty, war and peace - except nothing like that is actually expressed at any point, and nothing that happens ultimately has any deep meaning or impact.
You could say the story is exploring the concept of identity - except ML never really shows any signs of identity confusion at all, and there is no actual conclusion to the question of his identity.
What kind of person was ML when he was still Prince Annan? Why is Jin'an the way he is? Was Prince Annan secretly a puppy all along and has just been putting up a menacing front? How does Jin'an feel when he remembers being Prince Annan? Does he regret the things he did while he was Jin'an? How does Prince Annan feel when he remembers being Jin'an? Does he regret the things he did while he forgot about being Jin'an? Did being Jin'an change Prince Annan? Who does he want to be? Who is he in the end? It would've been interesting to find out but we'll never know, because we weren't told.
So why watch this then? Because even though the writing is a mess, there are many other things to like about this drama.
The acting is pretty good, the costumes are some of the best I've ever seen, the cinematography is great, there are some really wild transitions and effects, the music is fun and genre-breaking. Some more rare and unique concepts are incorporated, such as superheroes in ancient times, blood magic and powerful women.
A picky vampire superhero that looks like he walked straight out of some trashy anime with his own theme song who is a puppy by day, what more do you really need?
This drama is extremely entertaining to watch because it's flashy and crazy, which is why I have to rate this much more highly than the writing warrants.
Unfortunately there is a lot of untapped potential because the premise failed to really deliver in the end. But while this drama could've been a lot better than it actually was, it's still pretty good.
Cheng Lei's aura as Prince Annan is great. Jin'an and his superhero alter ego are pretty novel characters, and his acting brings out the difference between his identities. Prince Annan's costumes and styling are amazing; the capes, the velvet, the studded leather gloves, the beaded hair chains - he's the most fashionable prince I've ever seen. Even his raincoat and horse look stylish. The only thing I disliked is the face mask, which made him look like Ancient Chinese Hannibal Lecter (not in a good way).
Li Shuang is great as a fairly strong FL with a surprising amount of agency, in the beginning of the story at least. She gets to take control and take initiative in her love life; she's authoritative and kind at the same time. Song Yi's acting was very good. She was hilarious while taunting and rage-baiting Prince Annan. Towards the end Li Shuang unfortunately lost her agency, but that's business as usual for this type of drama. It's a shame that she wasn't even allowed the agency to take part in deciding her own outcome. In the final episodes, everything is decided for her by other people and she just goes along with whatever happens to her, seemingly depressed and apathetic and then in the very last episode, suddenly happy. This made what could've been a really great character fall flat.
Empress Dowager Qin was amazing as a villain. Her main motivation is jealousy over a man, so she should've been a terrible character. But because everything about her is completely over the top, from the extremely campy acting and the jewelled claw-like rings she wears to the way she goes full dominatrix mode on her little minion, she was actually hilarious instead of annoying. Her crazy minion was a little confusing as a villain because we never really got to find out why he was so devoted to her to begin with; I guess maybe he just really liked being whipped and couldn't find anyone else to dominate him. When he wasn't getting whipped, he went around telling anyone who would listen illogical nonsense in an attempt to manipulate them. He was terrible at making up convincing stories, but for some reason many people fell for it. It was kind of funny.
The writing was quite smooth until episode 22 or so, where things started going downhill. The last 8-10 episodes were the weakest part of the drama for me. Characters started acting increasingly strange just to drive the plot forward. Stupid things happened for no reason and with no payoff. The premise of the story fell flat because the emotional state of the characters was left entirely blank. What could've been meaningful and tragic ultimately felt a bit frustrating.
In the end, the story still managed to reach an ending that felt appropriate for what the characters were like during most of the story, but the process of getting there was questionable. Characters didn't communicate or act when they should have, or instead deliberately deceived and acted weirdly just to create or resolve any situation the script wanted.
Way too much time was spent on the rivalry of Taijin's princes, which wasn't interesting and ultimately pointless. Su Muyang's character was whatever the plot needed him to be at any given moment. He was kind and benevolent, cowardly and weak, just pretending to be weak, turned evil for contrived reasons, pathetic and selfish, corrupted by power, completely delusional, a terrifying psychopath, impulsive and destructive out of petty jealousy, and finally he got a last-second redemption arc and was pronounced "a good emperor who led the people and nation with compassion and diplomacy." If his redemption was that easy, did he really need to go crazy for so long? His craziness wasn't even fun to watch, it was just a collection of the worst and most annoying tropes.
The biggest problem was the execution of ML's memory loss and remembering his identity. I love a good amnesia plot, but here you have no idea what ML remembers and doesn't remember at any given time. During his transitional phase from starting to forget his time as Jin'an to resetting to his old self as Prince Annan, his behavior resembles neither Jin'an, Prince Annan, nor a mix of both. His actions are essentially completely random for maximum dramatic effect and trying to fabricate a false sense of tragedy and a few flashy scenes where the actors get to look cool.
The worst offender were episodes 30/31 where ML seems to have remembered many of his old memories, but doesn't tell FL anything and instead deceives her and uses her in order to secretly assassinate her dad at his birthday party. Not only that; when the killing fails he flees like a coward, leaving her behind alone to deal with the fallout. He was only in a position to attempt this because FL trusts him, so she is culpable for his actions. Therefore when he decides to betray her in that situation, he's completely destroying her reputation and future by implicating her in treason.
If at that point he couldn't remember who she is anymore, this might have been an acceptable and very tragic plot. However, he still claims to love and remember her right after the assassination, which feels jarring since at the same time he has zero intention of taking any responsibility for his actions. Hell, he doesn't even admit his identity to her; she has to find out who he is from her jealous crazy ex.
What exactly is this supposed to show us?
Tragedy due to fate? No. If he'd suddenly forgotten about her completely just before they lived happily ever after and then accidentally "betrayed" her by killing her dad, setting dramatic events in motion, that would've been a tragedy of fate. If he still remembers her, it's not fate since he still has the agency to make choices and control the outcome.
Tragedy due to him having to make a hard decision between loyalty to his wife and his country? No. If that were the case, he would need to completely remember everything in order for that choice to have any impact at all. There is no such thing as making a hard, tragic choice when you don't remember the majority of the considerations and stakes.
It seems like ML simply has brain damage at this point of the story and behaves erratically because of it, but that's not very satisfying nor meaningfully tragic.
The character setting of Prince Annan is lacking in general. ML spends most of the drama as Jin'an, and his "original personality" as Prince Annan is just an inconsequential cameo. He shows up for a few minutes in the first episode and then for a few episodes in the end. They didn't show much of him, and yet they couldn't even make the little bit that they did show consistent. Is he cunning and scheming or aboveboard? Is he ruthless or actually a really nice, upright guy? Is he warmongering or does he want peace? The writers weren't sure.
Why has he been waging war for so long? Is it for honor? For his brother? For territorial expansion? Is it because Taijin has good grapes and he really likes grapes? All of the above, apparently.
If was just for the sake of grapes that would at least be believable, because he really does seem to love grapes: If you look closely, he almost always has a plate of grapes on his table, whether he's Jin'an or Prince Annan, in his military tent or his residence, in Li Shuang's residence or his dilapidated luxury prison. The poor boy just wanted to wage some war so that he could eat better grapes, but instead in the end we had to make him pretend that he's been waging war because he's the most virtuous and righteous person who ever lived and the tiniest amount of territorial expansion will definitely fix all of Yao's issues and let the people of Yao live in prosperity forever. Wait, wasn't he just bragging about the territorial expansion that Yao has already undergone thanks to him? How come the people are still perpetually on the verge of starving then? Oh well, better go and wage war on Taijin some more; I hear they got great grapes.
The whole setting is contrived. Between Taijin and Yao, which one is stronger? Why have they been at war for decades? Taijin is supposedly prosperous with a weaker military, while Yao is barren with a strong military. Somehow Taijin only has one army with just 20K soldiers and exactly two capable generals (FL and her dad), while Yao has an infinite supply of armies of 50K soldiers each and their generals seem to grow on trees. Empress Dowager Qin slaughtered ML's entire army? No problem, there's 15 more armies in my secret underground dungeon. ML beheaded three of their generals within a few days? Who cares, there's another 234 generals where those came from. If Yao is so barren that the population is constantly on the verge of starving, where are all of these soldiers coming from?
In the end, suddenly there is peace because the script said so. All the people that have been stubbornly warmongering for who knows how long suddenly decide that they're extremely committed to righteous peace and prosperity. It came out of nowhere and felt cheap because seemingly two scenes ago, everyone was still very much committed to waging war. Either their past warmongering was a grave mistake and now that everyone has seen the folly of their ways they should at least express some genuine regret about their past actions, or this sudden peace means absolutely nothing.
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Sweet story
This drama hooked me after te first episode, i kept wanting to watch the progress so i watched it in one sitting.I liked the story, it's not a complicated one, but it doesn't have to be. Two man are set as co stars in a BL, what both don't know is that they are admirers of each other.
The music is good, the visuals great.
The acting is good, the chemistry between the leads is very good.
I'll watch this again in the future.
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Love This Drama
Who can beat Zhao Lusi in acting skills? I would say at the very least,90% of her dramas are hits. Even her ML will benefit after the drama is over. I am definitely a fan girl to her. This drama has definitely had me hooked from the start. I groan at only being able to watch 2 episodes a day. The second ML and FL are definitely adding interest and character to the drama. I have always loved the actress who plays Zhao Lusi's MIL. I don't always know the name of Chinese actors (my bad and the names are hard to remember), but I'm always happy to see them. Be patient and enjoy this drama. We all have told lies, just not to this extent. But it wouldn't be very interesting if it wasn't over-the-top. Sit back and enjoy the roller coater ride. There are plenty of laughable moments also.Was this review helpful to you?
tbh It's good not bad guys
It's been a long time since I watched a movie as entertaining Genie. The fantasy rom-com plot is captivating, mixed with humor and emotion. Suzy, especially portraying the cold, psychopath like character, she truly understands the character's depths. I saw a bit of myself in her, having experienced similar feelings, which made me connect and love her performance even more. Kim Woobin is also amazing, and their chemistry is so good, I like him so much after Black Knight. Definitely a must watch for relaxation, and I’ll be rewatching it for sure!Was this review helpful to you?
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