LOVE LANGUAGE NEEDS TO BE TRANSLATED TOO
The general plot follows Joo Ho-jin, a hyper-logical, multilingual interpreter who speaks several languages but is emotionally illiterate, which I find very ironic. His life changes when he is hired as the personal translator for Cha Mu-hee, a world-famous actress known for her blunt, often prickly personality. The central tension arises when Mu-hee joins a global dating reality show, 'Romantic Trip', alongside Japanese actor Hiro Kurosawa. As Ho-jin translates the romantic overtures between the two stars, he begins to 'edit' Mu-hee's harsh words to protect her image, eventually realizing that he is the only one who truly understands the person behind the celebrity mask.Furthermore, the chemistry between Kim Seon-ho and Go Youn-jung is the show's heartbeat. Kim Seon-ho brings a restrained, soulful warmth to Ho-jin, while Go Youn-jung shines in a dual-layered role, playing both the 'perfect' global idol and the vulnerable, traumatized woman behind the scenes. The Hong sisters use translation as a beautifulmetaphor for intimacy. This portrays that even when people speak the same language, they can still be foreign to one another until they learn to translate each other's hearts. Also, shot on locations in Japan, Italy, and Canada, the cinemarographyis breathtaking. The exotic locales provide a travel log that complements the romantic, slow-burning atmosphere. Additionally, the Hong sisters executed deep psychological themes and subplots involving Mu-hee's mental health and fractured memories, and also showed emotional growth and slice-of-life conversations over high-stakes melodrama.
In conclusion, this drama is all about healing one another, understanding, and translating each other's feelings. I definitely recommend it.(✿◡‿◡)
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A Story of Aggression & Sexual Attraction, Not Love
I think one of the main reasons this rated so highly is because of the hotter scenes. They didn't really like each other because they didn't know each other, because they didn't trust each other to open up, be themselves and stop lying, they were just attracted to each other. They spent too long hating, then tolerating, and then just accepting the situation, before they even started to warm to each other and believe they could be a real relationship... Over twenty episodes of it.I think that if there was a lot less of the ML and FL as a pairing, the show would have been a lot better. The constant fights and complaints were ruining the show, it's all they did, it just kept going on and on, it was dragged out and boring. The leads together were immature and annoying until they started trusting each other.
Taking the pairing out of the equation, the show's strength was in the FL's journey, winning everyone over and really making something of herself, she did exceptionally well to rise as she did where she was. All of that was great. I also really liked the ML's friends and the pairing with one of those men.
The ending was good, one of the better ones, and it showed the leads looking like a normal couple, who actually liked each other and were just enjoying life, finally.
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This review may contain spoilers
A great watch.
I finished binging the show yesterday, and felt like I must write a review for this one. I've turned on the "SPOILER" tag, but still mentioning it, just in case.Let's start with some GREAT THINGS;
The Leads : Both the leads were great. I must confess that I am biased as I have been a fan of them for a while now. I was really excited when I learned they were doing this together. And they did not disappoint me at all. At no point through the series did I feel like the acting felt short. This is also true for the rest f the cast. Especially GYJ. She did a fabulous job. Her role was demanding, and she made it believable as well. Loved watching both sides to her in this role. KSH also did a great job.
The Communication : Honestly, there were many moments in the series where I was scared they would do the classic k-drama thing of not communicating like real adults and letting misunderstanding grow beyond reason. They did not do this. The leads often talked properly and shared their thoughts honestly (even if it was done in a comical way). This made me feel good. After watching so many romance dramas centered around 'miscommunication', I am not excited for more of it.
The Growth : This was a big win in the drama. Both the leads went through REAL growth. I am not even talking about the last episode. Even before that. Throughout the story. There were times when either of them did something which I would consider stupid and annoying, but the drama addressed it later on. The characters talked about what they did and why they did it. The communicated about their vulnerabilities. And in those moments was real growth for the characters. Both of them. If you are someone who would stop watching a drama mid-way cs it annoyed you, I would recommend sticking through with this one. The issues got resolved in a great way. So many times the characters bared it all and were courageous enough to be honest with each other. Loved it.
The Story : The basic story was great. I would not say perfect because they did maybe a couple of things which I am unable to understand why, but overall it was great. The first meeting, the connection, the 'fate bringing them together' aspect, them caring for each other more and more as they spent time together, their issues keeping them from being too honest, them still being stuck together and having opportunities to work it out. Everything worked for me.
Now let's get to somethings I did not enjoy;
The 'second lead' : I am here talking about the characters of "Ji Seun" and "Young U". I was not thrilled at their developing bond. I don't know if I missed something, but I believe that at the start the show was developing in a way that "Ji Seun" will be truly happy with her then fiancee. Even though they were having some troubles, I thought they were being portrayed as a couple which just clicks together despite the odds. The fiancee was shown to be an eccentric, and somehow only Ji Seun could understand him. Their disagreement and 'break up' also felt natural. Ji Seun was taking a stand for something she believed in. And it seemed like a great moment for the fiancee to take a step back, reflect on his mistakes, and grow as a person. I understand that Ji Seun doesn't owe him this time and growth, she is right to move on. But it just felt like the drama was going to show his growth, and then they just pivoted. Felt like this was a decision made later on and the story was altered.
Mu Hee's Parents : The plot line in the las episode of her parents being alive just felt wrong and as if it came out of nowhere. I feel like they did it specifically to give Mu Hee a reason to leave Ho Jin for a while. They made it seem like she had to do this to really get over her trauma, but it is not like the drama was being very realistic in her treatment along the way. They only had a few scenes of her with a doctor, and I remember only two where she actually talked about her illness. Throughout the drama, it was Ho Jin who helped her out with everything. And then out of the blue we learn that her parents are alive. That too in the very last episode. Just didn't make any sense to me. As by that time, I felt like she was already done. She had confronted her trauma, and gotten significantly better. Also the fact that they did not show any interacted between her and her parents. Just weird.
The "Separation" trope : Ughh. I hate this trope. I do not understand why dramas do this so much. Why do the leads who have already worked out their differences, been completely honest about their feelings, gotten over whatever trauma they had, still need to break up? I hate this trope. The break up in the ending episodes, only to get back together in the last 2 minutes. Why? It genuinely pisses me off. This show had to reason for them to go through with this. Both leads had shown significant growth where even if she had to leave, he could have joined her, or at least they did not have to officially break up. Both of them had become solid support pillars for each other, then why do this? If I could change one thing, this would be it.
Anyways, I've rambling on for too long. I hope this review helps you. Give this drama a try. I truly enjoyed it. And I hope you will too.
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It’s a Winner
What with beautiful, multi-faceted, and highly talented lead actors playing their roles excellently, and a well-written, complex story, what could be bad?There are numerous things going on in the present, as well as under the surface, and in the past, to keep you intrigued every minute, and anticipating what comes next, for the whole story.
My one criticism is that they didn’t create enough “rising tension” throughout.
And I feel bad for Pei & Gong.
(As of ep. 21)
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Only if they had put some efforts on better plot writing
An average revenge plot revolving around two siblings ( not related by blood) who undergo various trials as they execute their plan/plans for the same .the cast is full of good looking actors .. Lovely chemistry between leads ...girl is a willful brat and boy is calm and mysterious. Though later their romance felt a bit too boring ..it was just the initial little chase that i enjoyed later everything was too dull .. the plot is very repetitive in nature a single scenario is moulded differently too many times like the same thing he loves her but keeps rejecting her yet won't let her be with someone else .. he made love to her yet acted like he is confusing her with his side chic... Blah blah blah .. and that's all
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SEAKEEN'S BURNING CHEMISTRY Y'ALL!!!!
This is not a masterpiece with exceptional plot line or cinematography, but it healed me! SeaKeen really has the CHEMISTRY, more than many popular BL CPs. They are so underrated! H2H is literally my comfort drama now and I've already rewatched twice. The main couple has the HEALTHIEST relationship dynamic, understanding and communication. Even the Episode 11 Cursed breakup only lasted less than 12 hours in the drama world and 2 minutes on screen for us. It has it's suspense, thriller and comedy. The plot is not phenomenal but it's great! Not your typical high school story. I really, really Love it!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
so nostalgic
this whole series is just one long love letter to pondphuwin <3 the references to their previous series are EVERYWHERE and it’s adorable.yes, it’s cheesy and cringy but it’s so sweet and cute. peach and thee love each other so genuinely, and i’m so glad they found each other in this universe.
also WE WERE ROBBED OF A ROMEMOK KISS but it’s ok cause mok is going to go with rome and theyre going to be in love and live their long happy lives together trust.
the tawanaran storyline was amazing, i was living for the angst. i honestly think aran forgave him too easily after that big fight but it was lovely to see perthsanta happy at the end :)
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This review may contain spoilers
It pains me to write this
It literally pains me to write this for a drama that Kim Seonho stars as I am a huge fan of his. But this drama has disappointed me in so many levels... The original storyline from how I had seen it on the trailer seemed amazing! And the first episode also was incredible. After watching it, I felt like I'd found my kind of drama.I was quickly disappointed when the whole Do rami storyline was introduced. The drama changed rapidly after that. From a lighthearted comedy that I was expecting to watch, it became a psychological quest, in which I was wondering the whole time WHY is everyone putting up with the FL and not taking her to a psychiatrist from the first place. I found the side story very annoying and time consuming, ruined all the romance and the originality of the plot.
And even worse, when the FL started to understand that she didn't even remember a whole part of her day or when she was sure that Do rami took control she was completely unbothered, as if everything was normal. Really disappointing... Expected it different... Especially given the fact that I love the cast.
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Mostly good
I subtracted one star because of the last item listed below...What I liked:
1. The wooden box and the book of spells. Audience never quite knows if the spells worked or not–but they were lots of fun.
2. Kim Ro-Woon transforms from a cold-hearted attorney into a spurned lover and a kind-hearted boyfriend. Jo-Boah was cute and appealing at times. The romance between these two was a little clunky, but if you don’t look too close, it’s believable.
3. The co-workers in the Environment and Greenery office weren’t funny. But I really liked the buffoonish Mr. Gong
4. The Environment and Greenery Department–a government department with a focus on plants, flowers, and greenery. The cherry blossoms, the walk in the meadow at the end were gorgeous–nice to get away from the unrelenting urbanization in some of these dramas.
5. Appropriate and tactful sex scenes.
What I didn’t like
6. Jo-Boah’s acting was over the top and way, way too self-conscious. Never-ending mannerisms, posturing, simpering, and over-acting. Tone it down, Girl!
7. Too many plot elements borrowed from other Chinese and Korean series (My Demon).
8. Hey, K-drama writers...there was one scene that was really stomach-churning. It shows a certain character grabbing an octopus and throwing it in boiling water. C’mon. Octopuses are sensitive and intelligent. If you have to keep eating them, at least don’t show people torturing them too. Thanks.
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It could have been so good
I am not one to finish dramas I'm not enjoying. I only persevered through this one because I'm a bit of a Lin Yi simp and through the course of this drama I fell for Xu Lu. They are the only reason I made it to the end.I think teenage me would have adored this drama. That is the only reason I can denote for why this drama has such a high score. Without the rose colored glasses of teenagehood, this drama is lackluster. Unfortunately, it's been a long time since I was a teenager and I only pulled through by fast forwarding through nearly all scenes about the side characters. All I cared about was the main couple and at some points I was skipping some of their more predictable scenes too. I digress.
The writing of this drama is lackluster. The characters are so flat. Even the main two. I think the actors should be commended for portraying as much emotion as they did with the script they had. Especially Xu Lu. Having to deal with the immature dialogue and actions they've given her after such a stand out first episode is hard. She was such a bad B for that one (1) episode before they infantilized her.
The side characters were not only flat, but down right annoying. Most of their scenes had me rolling my eyes. Character motivations made no sense. Some things were being held on to for so long and their lasting impact duration was too long considering the transgression. I skipped in 10 second chunks so I could get the gist of the plot for the side characters and even just the little bits of it I was seeing made me so annoyed.
I did have a truly silly good time in the first 10 episodes or so. They weren't well written but they were fun! I can take fun even if it's not the best writing. I cannot abide the drama getting boring and that's what this one did. It got so boring! They should have cut it 20 episodes. It would have helped it so much. Some plot points where so clearly thrown in to pad time and then completely forgotten about within 2 episodes!!!
I'm getting wordy and I could probably spend another 5 paragraphs waxing poetic on what I didn't like so I'll wrap it up here. Especially since I don't want to get spoiler-y. If you're under the age of 20, you'll probably like this. Give it a try. If you're older, (or cough ancient by drama watcher standards like me), go in expecting it to be rather immature considering the ages and don't take it too seriously, you might have a good time. It was a good drama to have in while I did other things since I didn't want to be paying super close attention.
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Daou and Offroad the only good thing
using one of the best pairing with one of the best chimestry in the industry to do this drama... the only thing that is good here is Daou and Offroad, they together are the only thing that made me watch until the end.the story, the action...everything feels unreal. Starting by the really need of a shooting classes that all of them need. Bro, they shoot like 1000 times and only four or five wasn't a waste of munition.
But I have to say that the scene of Daou shooting in a slow mood was sooo nice
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This is not a revenge thriller, but misery porn for 95% of the show
24 episodes at approximately 10 minutes and with a strong start I thought this could be good because of the short format.However, it is complete garbage. This is not a revenge thriller because the FL doesn’t actually do anything and all the villains just fall into their own traps.
All the heroes are passive and never proactive. It really is horrendous. The usual tropes of turning the evil stepsister crazy when everything is lost. Killing the evil dad off screen and explaining that the evil stepmother was arrested for murder..
This all happened off screen so why do they have the perverse pleasure of showing us the FL being tortured and humiliated for most of her life, we get the offscreen explanation that everything is sorted and she can live a happy life now with the ML.
They even included the horrendous biological mother and I’m still struggling to understand how this gets through Chinese censorship because there is nothing pure or decent about this character. She is pure evil and greedy for money that she abandons her children and beats the FL at every opportunity because she isn’t showing any filial piety and she just stands there and takes it.
I’m struggling to understand how this gets through such rigid censorship when we are told we can’t see actual rough justice being served to the villains because it will paint our heroes in a negative light but we get to enjoy endless humiliation and torture being dished out to the heroes in pretty graphic and harrowing detail.. Just strange.
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Schizophrenic
I watched this drama to the end. Many viewers will probably like it, but for me it was too contrived – with a unpalatable mixture of silly hijinks, gratuitous violence, sadism, ridiculous wishes, and bogus profundity. It had a convoluted plot with too many secondary characters, and a lot of elements that just didn’t come together in a cohesive whole.In the beginning, the ML is a a big goof ball of a genie who can do anything with a snap of his fingers. Somehow he’s also Satan. He can put out a raging fire or catch someone who’s fallen off a tall building, He can appear and disappear and travel through time. He can fly, burst through the walls of buildings, and deflect bullets. No problemo.
As for the FL, she just doesn’t give two figs about anything because she’s a psychopath (or maybe not). She’s trying to be decent, but she has the soul of a killer. Why should the viewers care about either of these absurd characters? There’s nothing at stake. Neither of them want anything–-or anything substantive–-either from the world or from each other.
As the story progresses, wishes are granted, wishes are postponed, unforeseen circumstances arise. When a romance develops, it seems completely unmotivated.
When are the good people at Netflix going to hire writers who can actually construct a story with heart and nuance–one that doesn’t rely on gimmicks?
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Entertaining and fast-moving
This drama held my interest and entertained me, but didn't impress me deeply as much as the last three Chinese dramas I’ve watched---GUI DUI aka THE LONG WAY BACK, THIS THRIVING LAND, and TWELVE LETTERS. They were all impressive.FATED HEARTS moved along briskly, with little or no dithering---a rarity in Chinese and Korean dramas. At times the story went off the rails and didn't make sense---the emperor trying to goad his favorite son into killing him, for example. Or when two people were pierced by swords--- swords that not only penetrated their bodies, but came out the other side--and they both lived to tell the tale. (I guess they were only flesh wounds?) And, last but not least, TWO cases of amnesia.
I've complained in previous reviews about Chinese dramas infantalizing women. But this drama reverses that trend. The women out-fight, out-argue, and out-maneuver the men. Whenever love is on the horizon, the woman involved declares her feelings first. Whenever two men are at each other's throats (or one of them is acting like a spoiled brat) the designated woman will jump in, speak the truth, and often solve the problem.
The main FL is one tough cookie. At first, she's grim and tense, even with her kids---whom she's always scolding. When we meet her, she's battling threats from every direction. But couldn't the writers have given her a few moments of peace or playfulness? As it is, she's a fairly rigid, one-note character---until she finally begins to loosen up, about ten or twelve episodes into the series.
At that point, she, takes charge and gives wise counsel to the sensitive and somewhat traumatized First Prince. I don't mean to imply that First Prince can't hold his own---he definitely can---and he does whenever challenged.
The First Prince's mother, we find out in a flashback, was another outspoken, early feminist---until someone ran her through with a sword (and, with no magical medicine available, she died). His sister is also a strong woman, although it takes awhile for us to see that side of her.
Most of the male characters in this series are either physically incapacitated (poisoned, crippled), weaklings (Second Prince), or dealing with past trauma (First Prince, plus his so-called best friend). Man up, guys! The women are way ahead of you.
The platform I watched this on kept intermingling the words of the background songs with the subtitles, so I had to work hard to follow the dialogue, especially during intimate moments. Someone needs to fix this.
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Excellent Drama
The land is truly the main character in this drama. The need for land-the work it entails, the greed it incites, and the love it inspires-is central to everything that happens.This drama is so well acted by so many that it's hard to know who to single out. But I have to mention, especially, Dahong Ni, who plays the FL's father, a man so craven that he chooses to subject his daughter to rape and disgrace rather than part with the money needed to save her. It's not easy to play a villain, someone who's both utterly despicable-and yet believable and understandable. He's brilliant in this part.
Also, the patriarch of the Feng family, played by Yongjian Lin, is another character twisted by greed-yet he's somehow likable, even lovable at times. His wife, in a role played by Peng Chi, is an absolutely kind, simple, and understated human being who's a healing presence in the family. Both these actors did an outstanding job.
Like many people in both China and America, I come from a long line of farmers, many of them miserably poor. I felt a pang of recognition and sympathy for these simple, hard-working folks, some so deprived they don't even own matches.
Ownership of land is all important in this series--those who don't have land are at the mercy and whims of their landlords. The constriction of their souls have made some of these landlords rapacious and unscrupulous. The working poor, who exist at the edge of starvation, struggle to grow enough food to feed their families. But many still find it in their hearts to share what they have with their neighbors.
One jarring note-whenever any one of the poverty-striken characters opened his or her mouth, I was greeted with the sight of perfectly aligned, gleaming, white teeth-which kept reminding me that I was watching a piece of fiction. Also, I found it a bit unbelievable that (in episode 29 and 30) marginalized, food-insecure human beings would so easily give up their grain reserves in order to feed a mass of unknown refugees swarming through their village. Maybe this was the charitable thing to do, but not psychologically credible, given that every episode prior to this had shown how prized every morsel of food was.
In many Chinese dramas there's one character who's so perfect he or she isn't quite human. In this series that character is the saintly Wendian. (Hey, Chinese movie makers-may I make a suggestion? You don't need to do this to drive the point home.)
This is the first Chinese series I've seen that focuses on the rural poor. It was a welcome change. THIS THRIVING LAND is a fine drama and very watchable.
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