loneranger
It's Okay to Not Be Okay
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First Half is amazing, Second Half is draggy
IOTNBO has been the most talked-about drama of 2020 and for some maybe even the best drama of 2020. I am not one of these people and IOTNBO has been added into my list of the most disappointing dramas of 2020. There are good aspects of course but there are some bad aspects which have caused my rating to be so low.The Good:
- The first half is amazing
- The psychology aspect is very well done and is blended into the story pretty well
- All the characters have motivations and aren't just one dimensional
- The Characters by themselves are interesting
- The story is interesting
- The MC's have great chemistry
- The Acting is really well done by all the cast especially Oh Jung Se and Seo Ye Ji
- The FL is interesting
- The OST is phenomenal
The Bad:
- The Drama falls flat in its second half and becomes unpleasant
- The Love story happens too fast and doesn't make sense
- The writing is the weakest point as they don't really string together all the great aspects very well and instead, it feels
really messy and confusing
- There really isn't a plot and instead its just random events that happen
- The drama is filled with cliche tropes and even though it does have interesting aspects (such as the psychology aspect)
it's mostly just an average Rom-Com
- All of the character development is really messy
- The FL mother being the murderer was really badly done and her whole character arc was not done very well
- The drama has many opportunities that it wastes
Conclusion: IOTNBO is not the worst drama in the world but it is disappointing when you see how much potential the drama has. IOTNBO could've been one of the best dramas of the last decade but it squanders a lot of its opportunity by adding unnecessary tropes and predictable plot twists. So for me, I would give IOTNBO a 6.5/10
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Itaewon Class was a drama about surviving the obstacles a person may face in opening a business. It talks about many issues such as corruption, bribery and how people might use their power for the wrong issues. The popularity of this drama is no surprise as when you have PSJ as your lead then there isn't much to worry out. However, something was missing in this which caused my rating to go down significantly.
The start of this drama was amazing, we meet Park Sae Royi and find out the reason for him wanting to take down Jangga. We meet all the main characters and find out their motives. This part of the drama is truly wonderful as you get to know these characters and you feel emotions for them. Even though it is probably the time you will weep the most tears for these characters.
During the first half, they also talk about various prejudices and obstacles the Danbam group face. Such as Hyun Yi coming out or Danbam not being successful even after all the effort Park Sae Royi faces. We see Kim Dami gradually falling in love with Park Sae Royi and genuinely root for her. We also see the inspiring story of ex-convicts trying to make a name for themself.
*Also on a side note: I know that this was the scriptwriters first ever drama and I think she did a great job for her first time. While what I'm about to say isn't nice I do genuinely believe she did an amazing job for her first time.
However, all of this beautiful base seemed to crumble in the second half. There is a lot of things I had a problem within the second half. It felt as if they just switched from a nice drama about youth to a makjang ( and don't get me wrong I love makjang just not in a scenario where it's not matching with the vibe of the drama) which didn't match with the original premise. There were unnecessary twists, completely useless side plots and ridiculous scenarios. I would prefer to break it down character by character.
First, Park Sae Royi. His character at the start was a youth full of idealism and was overall very lovable. However, to the end, you realise his true motivation is greed and not justice. You might ask, how did I come up with this conclusion? Well, there is a scene with Soo Ah when she begs him to stop going after revenge and live a normal life with her but he refuses. That was the first time I realised he wanted something more than justice. How when Jang Geun Won's arrest came, I realised now this is more of a battle of greed and pride.
I feel like this change of mentality is more due to the influence of the person right next to him. Jo Yi Seo. Her character at the start was nice and even though they claimed she was a sociopath she didn't fit that label. She also seemed to very obviously manipulate people and didn't realise the importance of networking. Another thing I didn't like was how she was a genius in everything even though she seemed to have never worked in an actual company. I felt her character was too perfect in the world of management and seemed to get everything her way in a very unconvincing manner.
I also felt that the romance plot between the two was very badly executed. Jo Yi Seo seemed to genuinely love him but the way they showed this was bad. As she seemed to ignore his direct requests of her behaviour when if it was the opposite most people would've claimed he was harassing her. Which gave an unrealistic message to viewers that would give people the wrong idea.
Also, many people said that Yi Seo was a better fit because of the way she stayed by his side. However, if you use that knowledge then he should've chosen Seung Kwan or Hyun Yi. As they were the people who stood by him just because they liked him and wanted to protect him not expecting anything in return. They genuinely wanted him to succeed and that was better than expecting something like affection. I think her character was great for the business aspect but the romance was pushed too much.
The romance could've been nicely executed however the fact that they did a 4-year skip makes it hard for us to connect with this ship as we don't know what all happened in 4 years. This skip is problematic in many ways however we can discuss that some other days. For example, Jang Geun Soo becomes a director in 4 years now even for dramas that's a stretch a high school graduate becoming a director in four years. Geun Soo was just used as an unnecessary side plot. He's good then he's bad now he's good again. There was no character development and there's no no sense to his whole character. I'm not kidding when I say that his character served almost no purpose to the story. I honestly started to cringe when he came on screen because unlike the other characters there's no motivation to his choices and is overall badly written.
Now onto characters, I liked. First was Hyun Yi, I honestly loved how she was the one who was normal in this drama and also how unlike many tv shows (Western and Asian) her being transgender is not her personality trait. She was what a genuinely good person is in real life. She helps people and seems to be the only person who sees what's going on at times. I loved her character and I think she shows a lot of the struggles with being a member of the LBTQ+ community even when it's not on the centre screen.
I liked Jang Geun Won and Jang Dae He a lot. I think they made you hate them yet pity them. Jang Geun Won is not an inherently evil person but his upbringing caused him to be. How Jang Dae Hee was also manipulated by business and how his objective became different after facing tragedy. I liked how they both had quite similar stories yet the way they grew up affected the way they looked at their situations. I think they both acted extremely well and I'm excited to see both of their new projects.
This one is more of an unpopular opinion. Its the fact that I liked Soo Ah a lot. I felt her character was something I could relate to a lot and how she was a real woman. The way she reacted to Royi rejecting her was was something I would expect a real woman to feel. Letting go is never easy but we need to do it because we may be what's holding the person back. I liked how her ending was with Park Bo Gum because it shows that she's starting a completely new life of satisfaction. Also, how she was the one who truly brought down Jangga, not Royi was a powerful moment as you realised he was not the only one affected by his father's death.
I felt like this drama missed a lot of potential ideas and themes like how unfair life is for ex-convicts, mental abuse and, the reality of bringing down a company. I feel like the revenge card was not well played as even though he was planning to make Jangga bankrupt the drama seemed to forget how many people would go bankrupt and how many enemies Royi would get.
Overall it was an okay drama that had a lot of potential which was wasted. It is not really rewatchable because it's too plot-driven to rewatch. Also, it was a little too predictable but it is enjoyable or at least tolerable till episode 12 so I'd recommend to either do that or forward watch
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The problem with this drama is it was extremely boring and frustrating. The whole of this drama is made to make us question the MC actions however there are numerous SC who show us that they are wrong. First of all, the premise of this drama is that the guy is a pimp and how after someone finds about this everything just goes into a downward spiral. There are numerous problems with the fact that this drama is boring. Let's start with one of the main problems. The characters seem to not have many motivations and are doing things for only one viable reason. This makes them appear quite flat and bland. They have little to no ambitions and the whole point of this was to make the characters be simple but their life complex. This idea sounds good on paper but when it is executed there is just a big old mess of ideas and themes they want to take up. To show so many problems make it unclear what direction the drama wants to go and makes the whole ride a bit messy.
This can be shown within the characters themselves. For example, Seo Minhee is a girl who offers compensated dating and gets one bad experience which ruins the way she views the business. She grows from this experience and views the world differently due to this incident. She becomes closer to Mr.Lee and genuinely wants to pursue a better life. Now, this premise sounds interesting and it could've been interesting however they make her a truly flat character who doesn't seem to have any motivation to do what she does. There seem to be no reasons for her offering services like that at such a young age it's just forgotten about. The only reason that is shown is that she loves her boyfriend though there never seems to be any evidence of this to follow through.
Another good example is Seo Minhee's Boyfriend, Kwak Kitae. This is the classic school bully trope who has an army of cronies under him. They show him as smart, quick, strong and an egoist. This is another example of an extremely interesting character who's gone to waste. I must admit I am a bit favourable to the actor of Kwak Ki Tae but the way they presented him was extremely one-note. He's just pure evil, there are no motivations, no ambitions. It's just that he's a bully and he's obsessed with his pride. Though he seems to have a soft spot for his girlfriend they never expand on that and instead shut it down by saying he's doing it for his pride though it doesn't expand on why. The problem with this character is that he's such a one-note bully and that would be fine if the drama presented itself as a Makjang however it didn't so this character becomes flat and boring.
The MC themselves are not people without problems and they probably have the most. While you do eventually get used to these characters, they both are extremely frustrating to watch and also have little to no motivations. They are presented as the ACE of their schools however we never see anything to back up that claim. Throughout the show, they seem to be doing extremely stupid actions that will land them in trouble. However, I did like the romance arc as their chemistry was natural and it was charming when they showed hints of their feelings. They both aren't interesting enough to carry the show or be in most of the scenes and this wasn't the actor's fault it was more of the script that gave this problem.
The ending is one of the most frustrating scenes I've ever seen as they just wanted to continue this for a new season. As almost everything is tied up but they still needed a few strings loose for a new season. It doesn't truly make sense why this happens and why they couldn't wrap up everything and make it end. This move was more to make sure this drama would renew for another season than just end it once and for all.
This drama was frustrating and missed a lot of great things it could've done. It had an interesting premise, fantastic promotions but was done badly. I wouldn't recommend you to watch this drama and wholly agree with the rating I have given!
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I was confused whether I should write this review but I needed some way to say farewell to this drama as I took around 2 weeks to finish it. The reason was only because of the last 4 episodes. However, I would like to start with the good and why this drama is enjoyable mostly. The start of this drama was perfect to me as it made me curious but not frustrated. The introduction of Seo Woo and Ha Won 's character is bizarre but if you wear your kdrama lenses you should be okay. At first glance, Seo Woo seems to be the character we favour compared to Ha Won as he seems to be a bit weird (not sure whether that's the right word but that will be what we go along with). He is obsessed with Jisoo who he has not met with for 9 years so he anonymously asks for Seo Woo's help. They meet, stuff happens and so forth then Jisoo dies.
This to me was the first flaw of the drama as it seemed to be an unnecessary plot device. It made me remove my kdrama lenses and realise how weird it was that he couldn't stop loving her until she dies. It was also an unnecessary catalyst for their relationship to blossom and to me felt a bit weird. My main problem with Jisoo's death was that the only person who seemed to be mourning was her husband but he was supposed to be the villain? ( we'll get to that soon )
After Jisoo's death, they soon start falling in love and become closer. Remember that he has been obsessed with a girl for 9 years. Yet this part is the most enjoyable part of the drama for me as it made me feel energised whenever I watched the drama. The episodes were enjoyable, well-paced and well written. Most of the characters were fun to watch and just watching it was enjoyable. It didn't even matter if you didn't understand what was happening it was fun to watch.
But after this peak, the drama went downhill. From episode 8 onwards the show went through a different direction. They made a conspiracy out of Ha Won's mother's death and decided to also try to make Soon Ho and In Wook closer. All the weak points of the drama were accentuated at these last 4 episodes and they went with a whole different plot that was truly pointless to what the story was trying to promote.
The thing with this drama is it didn't seem to know what it wanted to accomplish. For example, Kang In Wook, Jisoo's husband was framed as the villain but suddenly was given a redemption arc in the last episode. While his arc made sense there was no evidence to prove him being good. Him even getting the villain role was silly to me as the villainous thing he does happens when he was 16 and they blamed him for that though he's been blaming himself for years. He was one of the main reasons why I think Jisoo's death was useless as they wanted to show their romance arc but they barely had any scenes filmed together so it was ineffective.
Another useless character was Moon Soon Ho since she seemed to be a mild version of a manic pixie dream girl. "As she taught him to love again" or whatever. Though she did help him it was in a very cliche-filled way where she is extremely nosy and eventually, he gives in to this but she does redeem herself at the end. The main characters are not bad actors yet they are a little confusing. At the start, Seo Woo gives a lot of time to shine but then her growth gets shoved off to the side for Ha Won to grow. The way Ha Won grows too isn't very organic and is just spotlighted that I really stopped caring about what happens.
At this point I feel like I've begun rambling, So I will give my short review compared to the long one. A piece of your mind is a show which makes bad choices yet because the start was good I couldn't rate it too low. The characters faithfully act their badly written characters and you can see the dedication while you are watching. The music was decent and it wouldn't have been a bad drama if it excluded the last 4 episodes . Actually it might've been one of my favorite dramas if those last 4 episodes didn't happen.
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Healer was a drama I have avoided for a long time. I finally came to watch it due to my friend's insistence and I have never felt a drama was so perfectly composed. The drama is spunky, romantic and at the same time takes a deep dive into the minds of people who have little to no redeeming qualities. All the cast acts fantastically and even if one did act badly they were there too short to remember. The acting itself was phenomenal and so evened out. Every single member in the cast seems to fully absorb their character. There are very few dramas where you can say everyone did well. There was no cartoonish villain, overly naive female lead and a cold hard to get male lead. The female lead was naive in some sense however she was comfortable with herself. She was quirky yet serious and obviously cared about her job. Very few dramas have a female lead that is well written yet Healer is one of these amazing dramas. You always understand her intentions and generally just come to like her. The male lead is also not a typical ice-cold lead that somehow changes into this fluffy boy in the last episode. Instead, he is lonely and longs for company yet doesn't know it. Him being courageous or brave is shown as a bad thing sometimes as it ruins certain parts of the story yet sometimes save him. Him actively pursuing the female lead is also something that makes the story so much better. All the other members of the cast also acted perfectly like Kim Mun Ho as a passionate reporter who's struggling to undo his past faults, Kim Mun Sik the almost obsessively attached husband who'll do anything to stay with his wife and Boss who actually believes he's doing good to the world.
The story of this drama was extremely interesting as we don't learn the full story in one go rather in bits and pieces. The unravelling of a case in 1992 which was a betrayal of friendship and a devastating event that changed many lives was interesting as you can see how each person is affected by the "farmers". I personally loved how they kept on showing how each person was affected by the case as it was refreshing to not only just see shock or anger. The case was well written and engaging throughout. How they connected all the dots felt natural and though there might've been a few inconsistencies it was mostly perfect.
Healer is a very interesting drama with lots of positives that will make it hard for you to not enjoy it. Its entertaining, thrilling and just makes you happy while you watch it. The drama is consistent throughout and you will be spoilt for taste after watching this.
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De Koning: Eeuwige Monarch
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Starting the review on a sour note may not be the best of ideas however this will give you a better understanding of why I rated the drama so high (at least for the review). So going back to the review, when I rewatched it, (I wasn't looking forward to watching it) but when I did something just clicked. The show that was so hard and complicated to watch while it was airing finally made sense. It was just an enjoyable and fun show.
The show has several plot inconsistencies and many plot holes if you paid attention. Yet it's enjoyable and fun which is the main criteria for rating dramas. However, there are so many better directions this show could've gone and the duo roles were complicated and hard to know. While some were obvious solutions others weren't. I think the greatest flaw of this drama is the Parallel Worlds story itself.
The story is often too complicated and fails to capture audiences eyes until the second half. It's quite confusing and often irritating to watch. The science in the show is quite basic and didn't give a very complicated air to it. The writer bit off more than it could chew with the story. Thus causing certain parts of the story to look laughable. The story's main fault was definitely that it lacks focus and adds too many characters.
The acting wasn't flawless but rather satisfactory. LMH at first is unconvincing as a king yet in the latter episodes when they have to show a more ruthless side shows a charismatic performance. Do I think he was perfect in the role? No. However was he bad? Not really. He displayed his acting well and with this role showed some great performances. Yet like both the leads, he lacked in carrying this show as Lead.
KGE is also pretty good in this role. She delivers her performance well and even though this wasn't her best role it is still a good one. WDH is also good though lacks screentime however when he is there he captures the screen fully and to best of his abilities. He was also the only character who played a double role throughout and does it well. KKN is equally good though he gets even less screentime as we've seen KKN is a great actor and is wonderful in whatever he does.
LJJ is wonderful as a villain yet as many of these characters he also doesn't have enough screentime though he's the main villain. His story is interesting and can be expanded yet isn't like many of the characters. I firmly believe that the writing was more at fault than any other aspect of the show. As the messiness of the writing caused the drama to underperform (at least to what it was expected to get).
Now here's the main reason why this show is worth watching. It's fun. It's a very fun show to watch. I've been having a certain Kdrama drought but this show is really fun to watch. The story as stupid as it gets at points is enjoyable. The show overall is so fun when you binge it because it's more interesting to watch and its easier to put things together. Especially the second half pulls you in and I think if they utilised the action sequences and made the characters greyer the whole show would've done better.
These small solutions like reducing the main(ish) characters and making an overall more tight story the show could've easily been one of the best shows. I think the ending is really what made me happy. Especially how nicely tied everything is for how messy the story was. I think for me the ending was what made the story worthwhile the most yet there were other things.
In a short review of the story, it would go like:
TKEM is an enjoyable show with numerous plot inconsistencies yet is fun and worth watching. If you watch it while it airs the show is disappointing but if you're watching it casually the show is fun and engaging. Overall, I would recommend you to watch the show if you're looking for something enjoyable.
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The show The Fiery Priest was new to me as I mainly watch romance dramas and even in that genre it’s pretty specific in the main ideas I want displayed. However I genuinely enjoyed this show as it was very exciting fast paced show that I enjoyed a lot . As a romance lover, I cannot deny I wanted some romance to happen however there was none and yet it seemed complete in many ways.Story:
Goods: The writing, the directing and everything else was used to make sure the story is frontline and center. The plot line is exciting and gripping and it never seems to lose side of what really matters ( the story ) . This story can make you lose nights of sleep so be aware as it’s very addicting. The side plots are equally as entertaining as the main plot.
Bad: Even though the story was amazing it was definitely cliche and often overplayed. There were many side effects and the ending was satisfactory however it wasn’t amazing . The story is good yet this show is more of a one time watch and not really something you can watch again because of the cliches.
Acting:
Good: The cast was mostly very good. Kim Hae Ils character definitely feels like the perfect match as it just seems natural when he says ridiculous lines even when they don’t make sense. Park Kyeong Seon and Gu Dae Yeong s actors were also very good and even Seung Ah ‘s actors because they were able to do the roles and gave you the right emotions to feel. I think the underrated actors were Hwang Cheol Beom and Jang Ryong because they make you feel so grey and confused and totally charmed me. (Funny story: I cried when Jang Ryongs hair got cut ). Also Songsak and Yo Han definitely were very entertaining.
Bad: This just goes to the True Villains of the drama. Most of them look a bit cartoonish while they’re acting especially the NIS agent and Chief Kang. They seem like they’re not very comfortable while filming and weren’t blending well with their characters. They fail to look evil and just seem like little kids most of the time.
Writing:
Good: the writing was funny and well timed ,it definitely seemed they thought the script true and fell like a really fun drama. The script also brought the characters to life and added a lot of life to the drama.
Bad: This is more to do with the little intricacies in the script. But how are so many characters dumb. Like their moves are predictable and foolish. It definitely didn’t show how smart villains usually are and how hard it is to pull things off. However as I said I’m just picking on the small details.
Main Point:
The Fiery Priest is very enjoyable and I would definitely recommend to watch it as it removes a lot of stress with its fun engaging script. There are a few plait holes which is which is why I didn’t give it a higher score but I did really enjoy it. All the characters are interesting even if some actors aren’t the best at portraying them. I will miss watching this as it definitely was a really fun ride throughout it all.
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This drama is nice and lighthearted and nothing more. That’s one really easy way to describe this. It has a nice story and good acting . This drama makes you feel nice and warm and fuzzy inside. If there was one thing I would change it would be too make the drama more compelling as sometimes it being lighthearted makes the drama a little boring at some points. The acting is nice and sweet, the story is interesting. However, in some areas this drama falls short. I would definitely recommend this drama to you if you want a drama that will not fail you! Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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So Her Private life was a drama that I had been waiting for ever since I heard Park Min Young had a new drama to binge watch and I was excited. And when I heard Kim Jae Wook would be the main lead oh boy was I excited. The whole idea of the drama is nice. A highly professional art curator is actually an ultimate idol fangirl and a artist who cant paint anymore. You would think these two would help each other and heal each other which to be fair to the writers it tries to do. But its more about how many topics i could get into this series. For example one of the artists their trying to meet actually lives in a cabin in the woods when its raining ( wow isn't that original ) and they have to stay in the same room. The show was obviously supposed to be TvN's next big hit since they did a lot of advertising for this drama. It was supposed to be like another ''Whats Wrong with Secretary Kim?'' type drama but it couldn't achieve it since it just didn't have the rewatch value that ''Whats Wrong with Secretary Kim?'' had. The script felt like it was meant to attract the younger generation more or even foreign viewers and as some said a little too many cliches. The lost childhood memory that seems to be popular in TvNs dramas were also there but this time didn't feel welcome in the drama. The main male lead is already an orphan and then the female lead has some connection feels uncomfortable.
The Characters also had some faults in the drama such as the second male lead is so badly written. The female lead had no interesting characteristics other than her being a fangirl. The real fault with the characters is their honestly so perfect especially the main leads even for a drama they're honestly unusually perfect. They never have any reaction to anything and get over things within a day. The male lead and female lead never fight and are okay with anything the other one does ( even when the male lead messes up ). The Second leads are all immature and have no reason to why they're doing everything. The sub stories are uninteresting and predictable.
Honestly I did enjoy the drama though I have not said many good things about it. Its fun at first but you do just want to finish and get it out of the way rather than anything. The main problem with this drama is rather than the fact of the story its more about the lazy scriptwriting and adding twists at the wrong time. I might've given it 9 if not for the last episode that just has so much in it. And also the fact that Park Min Young never shows her potential for art. It would've been a nice twist if you saw that Park min Young was actually a better artist than Kim Jae Wook but doesn't like to show her art to anyone. Something that makes her an artist not a curator. However it is enjoyable for the most part and not the worst drama ever.
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That Winter, The Wind Blows
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This show is gorgeously created and is so beautifully filmed, scored and casted. The story is really good and really well crafted. I know some people felt the characters were naive but i think that was the point of them. Jo In Sung's acting feels kiddish but it somehow feels right. While Song Hye Kyo's acting shows the main point of her life. The way she executes Oh Young is brilliant. She makes people feel pity for her but still at the same time feel that she a spoiled brat ( BTW everyone in this drama is a grey character ). The Unravelling of her story and Jo In Sung was executed really well. Even Kimbum and Jung Eunji did a really good job even though there characters were poorly written (for me) they both made you feel bad for them. Their story was the one's that didn't make sense on why Eunji was helping Jo In Sung because she was the only one who hadn't ruined her life after the sisters death. Kim Tae Woo's character Moo Chul was really badly written and you almost feel no sympathy for him till he dies. The Cons of this drama probably starts from episode 12 when the story finally begins. The drama starts off really slow and then just goes in lightening speed. There is so much childlessness and the really irritating twists that don't make any sense is what sinks the whole drama down. Even then its not all episode 16 that you hate this drama it was like ending the drama on the first episode since honestly it can end in the middle of episode 16 when Jo In Sung gets hurt by Kimbum or either be 18 episodes instead of 16. The last episode makes you feel so dissatisfied that it ruins the whole drama for you. Even though the drama starts out brilliantly grips you into each sequence somehow the end is what ruins it for you. This drama would have been on my Top 10 since there is no crazy mother in law or anything but just because of the end it ruins it for you. However i still would suggest you to watch it because even though the end makes you feel dissatisfied the drama is genuinely really enjoyable to watch and the whole process is really fun.
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