LilMeggs
San Jose, CA
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Short and sweet, I really liked this drama. It was one that has been on my list ever since I saw the trailer pop up on Netflix, and I would say it exceeded my expectations far beyond what I thought. I thought this was going to be a cute romance between a mother and her daughter's tutor, but instead ended up being about finding first and true love in your mid to late 30's (I assumed that is their age), about the high expectations that society and parents put on students to be the top of the class, and about chosen family (one of the only times I have seen a non-traditional family in a korean drama).
We need to normalize/have more dramas with mature adults who have their shit figured out (even if they don't have everything figured out, they are confident in the basics). There have been so many instances where I have watched a drama about two 20-somethings, and they make dumb decisions because of dumber reasons. Whereas in this drama, the ML and FL have a set of personal morals and stick with them throughout. Their morals are challenged, but as the characters evolve and begin to understand what is most important to them in life and what they want to fight out, only then do their morals change, for the better.
I was also surprised that this drama hit me as much as it did - me being a single female with no kids, but still trying to put myself in our FL's shoes, trying to understand what it would be like if I had a child and they were going through everything her daughter was. How frustrated I would get whenever the "mom squad" would show up on screen and gossip and plot how to get their child to the top, even if it meant starting scandals about their child's classmates/friends.
This drama definitely hit the feels.
I would say the only thing that made me not give this a perfect 10, was because of the whole serial killer side plot. They did a good job of blending it into the main storyline and plot, but I feel like it didn't hold any weight. The only person who seemed to be stressing about it was the lawyer because she had to deal with it directly, but even when her part in the murders is "resolved" she moves on to her next controversy. I felt like everyone and their mom was fine with this serial killer going around and murdering students and teachers who were linked to Pride Academy like it was a normal Tuesday. And the way the serial killer was ultimately caught and how that whole side plot was "solved" was so anticlimactic... that it was never mentioned again and everyone moved on like there wasn't some person going around murdering people and was in the middle of kidnapping one of the mains. There was only one person who seemed to grieve, but even that was a short minute or two until a whole different subplot was introduced.
The last episode was super random as well, with the introduction of a separate last-minute plot. I would have rather watched an episode or two of the main characters grieving and healing from this serial killer who targeted them and kidnapped one of them, with the intent of killing them. Instead, we get a random subplot that made the daughter act super out of character and was honestly not needed. I understand it was a way to introduce what the FL wanted to do after her daughter got into college, but that could have been introduced in a completely different way.
Other than that, I liked it. Everything else was great and I binged watched the whole thing in 2 days.
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Great Chemistry, Classic Mob Ending
This is my first time watching anything mob-related. It really isn't my genre as there aren't many "happy" endings because of the "mob life." But Netflix recommended it to me, and it looked interesting enough AND I was extremely happy when one of my favorite Taiwanese actresses was the love interest of Lin Yu Qing.I was instantly pulled in by the chemistry that Qi and Yu Qing had, regardless if it was a bit insta love on her part, but once they started their romance, they genuinely loved one another and wanted to give each other the world. Unfortunately, due to Lin Yu Qing's upbringing and his "family life," their relationship suffered in other ways.
But there was this one intense scene where Qi and Yu Qing were arguing about opening up and being there for one another in every way, even if they didn't support what they were doing, and it was raw and authentic and it showed love.
The ending broke my heart and it made it hard for me to fall asleep as I watched it before bed and was trying to wrap my head around "why" even though I knew why.
Overall, really good! The story was very interesting, and I loved the family aspect of why people did what they did, but I was heartbroken - if the South City's son-in-law decided he didn't want to cause problems for everyone, we would have gotten a completely different ending. Which overall kind of turns me off about mob dramas as one guy can mess everything up for everyone else and change their happy story to a sad one.
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Like what they said in the podcast, and in my own words and understanding, this drama was a classic Netflix drama, full of emotion and intensity, with a big budget, and filming locations all over the world including Switzerland. But even they though drama was intense and had some "real world issues," the drama was written like a drama, and the characters acted like they knew they were in a Korean Drama; even though this drama has an intense plot of a South Korean heiress "crash landing" into North Korea and trying to find her way back home, while trying to hide out and not reveal her identity and people trying to kill her, the characters and the mood of the drama was very carefree and no one took one another too seriously. And it made the drama very enjoyable to watch. Like yes, people are trying to kidnap others or try and kill them, but we can take a break and have a family dinner. I think my favorite point the podcast made, or observation, is how Se Ri must have been a college long distance running champion because she was outrunning ALL these special Ops North Korean soldiers in the beginning. Just things like that made it funny and enjoyable as it wasn't realistic, but you didn't care because you got some comic relief in a serious situation.
I also LOVED all the characters. I wanted to be friends with Captain Ri and everyone in his company. The actor who played Captain Ri and actress who played Se Ri genuinely seem like amazing people in the drama and in real life. I also didn't think this day would come, but Captain Ri's company have finally won it all as my favorite gang of minor characters - sorry Love020 and Oh My Venus. But what was funny, is that one of my friends who watched this drama before I did, said I would love it because Captain Ri had very similar attributes as Zhao Nai in Love020 as well as the relationship with the minor characters.
The only people or person I did not like in this drama was Dan, as she added NOTHING to the drama except for maybe helping prove how much Ri loved Se Ri. But other than that, I didn't care for her character...but this drama was annoying and made you care about her at the end with certain events that I am still heartbroken over. Other than that, I loved everyone else including the second lead Jun who despite being a South Korean criminal for stealing from Se Ri's second brother, was a very likable character. He was funny and witty and selfless even though...you know...he stole hella money.
Other than what I have already said, I don't think I can say anything else. This is on the top of my list, a much watch for anyone who loves Korean dramas or wants to get into them. It was filmed very well and the soundtrack was to die for. I wouldn't even call myself a fan of classical music, but whoever handpicked each song, did an amazing job of conveying the mood and the emotions of all the characters. Like literally, my next mission is finding all the pieces that were in the drama. But I think my favorite part of this whole drama was all the "extra" scenes at the end of the episodes explaining some backstory of what had happened in the past and I think I cried through almost all of them. Even though I keep saying that this drama didn't take itself seriously, as they kept leaving everything to "fate," but I don't think I have cried and been heartbroken and just generally as emotional watching any other drama. It had an incredible balance between comedic and serious.
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I wish I had written this review after I had finished this drama, as now it has been 2 months, and I can't exactly remember why I gave it a 9.5/10, but I will try my best to remember. From what I do remember was back in August, I decided to go on a drama binge with actor Lee Jong Suk - someone who is very famous, but have never watched a single thing with him in it. I also remember knowing that of all the drama I had watched, this one was by far my favorite. There is something about dramas that came out in the mid 2010's that have this nostalgic feel when watching... and they all seem to be on the same page - being great and having great plots. Also, it could be that a lot of actors and actresses were babies in the mid 2010's, and going back and watching a drama from 10 years ago and seeing them sooo young, makes me soo happy.
This drama was very funny - I have a lot of videos on my phone of different scenes that I had sent to friends to show them how funny the dialog was.
I think the only thing that stopped me from giving this a 10 star review was even though I loved the chemistry and relationship between the two mains, Choi Dal Po had this weird character trait where he felt that being mean wand pushing people he loved away was the only way to protect them. I also get though that there was a odd level to the mains relationship - growing up together as niece and adopted uncle, but having a crush on one another, both not able to act on it because.. homeboy was adopted. Plus the ending seemed to be cut short, but I am slowly learning that this type of situation where the elder has the final say in things is a cultural thing and is respected. I remember watching this other drama years ago where the mains couldn't get together because the FL's dad forbade it and it was law. It wasn't until they got his blessing that they could get back together - I thought it was stupid and knocked it down a few stars in my review. But over the years, I slowly started to learn and take other cultures into account when trying to immerse myself in different shows. And now it makes more sense. Do I like this troupe? No. But I've learned that it is a valid obstacle.
I do remember loving the two mains and their chemistry though - they were truly best friends and family before deciding on a romantic relationship, which ultimately made their bond stronger and their love extremely romantic and enjoyable to watch.
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My thoughts? This is probably one of my favorite kdramas I have ever watched if not tied for first place for 2022. I loved how the story wasn't what I was expecting - two people who signed up for a 24 hour frozen human experiment, but end up getting frozen for 20 years, and when waking up trying to live their new normal as well as trying to survive (as they were ultimately test subjects to see if a human can be frozen).
I loved both characters, regardless of what other reviews say. Ma Dong Chan was a bit rough, but once he is a recipient of Go Mi Ran's love, he starts to realized what true love is supposed to look like. After, we start to see this romantic af side of Dong Chan, who was a little jealous at... most times, but ultimately knew they were both in certain position that wanted him to be her protector. Go Mi Ran on the other hand was a 24 year old girl (in 1999) who was on the surface very headstrong, but internally extremely selfish, doing things to help others and take care of her younger special needs brother. Both characters butt heads in the beginning, only seeing the surface level versions of one another, but through this experiment and shared experience, they become close and learn to love one another. BUT I can easily find a lot of reviews on MyDramaList that will disagree with my statement.
Maybe I am too much of an empath for my own good - where I found myself constantly ugly crying trying to imagine myself being in both their situations... trying to imagine their day to day lives changing in the blink of an eye. Who cares if Dong Chan might have been a bland character? I actually really enjoyed how both characters were mundane family oriented everyday people. It made their reactions and experiences to waking up 10 years later that much more relatable. ALSO, I think I have this weird talent where I am able to watch or read anything and just completely accept and immerse myself in the world. Did I think the whole let's experiment on dolphins and whales and then now people a little odd - like jumping from step 1 to step 6? Yes. I feel like there might have been a few other steps we could have done between... but I also think it added to the urgency of finding an antidote/medicine with Dong Chan and Mi Ran facing side effects.
At the end of the day.. this was a romance drama. And I was fully immersed and ugly cried for a good portion of it - their experiences of wanting to love like normal people, trying to rebuild their relationships after 20 years of disappearing and people thinking they had died, and ultimately them feeling like they missed out on years of their life and figuring out how to adapt while trying to figure out their next steps and how they fit into this new normal. This is also probably one of my favorite Ji Chang Wook dramas, and honestly.. believed in him and Won Jin Ah's chemistry and love for one another.
Honestly, I do agree that were some places where the drama could have been better, but I was extremely happy with what I was given.
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I'm still confused by what I watched; this was recommended after I watched "You Are Me," another lakorn about twins switching places in order to solve a murder/assassination attempt on the other twin.I instantly was drawn in with the characters and story in the beginning, lost interest around ep 10, but pushed through until the ended where we learned about how this simple, "who killed my brother" plot turned into this domino effect of jealousy. We knew who was involved in this plan from the get go - it was obvious by the drama opening credits, but we never knew how or why until the second to last and the last episode. and let me tell you, I WAS SHOOK.
But, I think the best part of this lakorn, compared to other revenge stories, was that that the plot kept on giving and getting better. It wasn't a typical, "I have daddy issues, so I go around grumpy and ruining people's lives." Instead, there were some real motivations behind why people did what they did, and the theme I got was that everyone can be bought at a price.
Unfortunately, that was the only thing holding this drama up. I wish that characters were more....likeable.
Siwakorn, after the death of this brother, is determined to find out who killed him and why. As a character outside of revenge, he was extremely likeable. I loved him and Dao's interactions before they officially met and he was trying to be Siwat. I loved there cute interactions when they were lost in the forest, him trying to save her life. But when Korn got too enveloped in his plot for revenge, he started acting like a grade A jerk to everyone, and even moreso to Dao. It broke my heart seeing these interactions, but we ultimately got Korn back when an apparition (yes....you heard that right) of his brother talked some sense into him. After, he comes clean to Dao and tries to earn back an ounce of trust. It was a honest an supportive Korn I could get behind. It was almost like a 180 switch.
Dao was a complex character for me. She was passionate about what she believed in, but it was hard for anyone to change her mind about anything. She was protective of her family, even though she also wanted to bring her aunt down. She was passionate about her one opinion, that her uncle/father was the center of her world and she would do everything to protect him, which made her extremely stubborn. But then there were times where she was calm and cool and the most mature person in the room.
Chorpae, I hated. She was just an all around mean person who was mean because she could. I also wished for her demise and understood why people wanted to take her down. Which is why I was surprised when I feel like the writer tried to redeem her at the end...while I was sitting there like...yeah... idc.
I am still trying to process the ending - it felt like a chaotic dream and felt that they did Siwakorn dirty. I understand that we all can't have sunshine and rainbow endings, and they needed to address all the repercussions of head injuries, because there were a lot in this story, but....really? Did we need to add a typical telenovela troupe right at the very end?? I'm still confused by it all, and how Chorprae, in my opinion, got better ending than Siwakorn did. Plus, Mek and Chat were barely in this and they got a happier ending. I overall just felt bad for Dao being born into this family and also bad for her good friend Thada who was a decent cop who followed all the rules, but in the end probably lost just as much as Dao did.
Even though, I wasn't a fan of the characters and the ending, this was a decent revenge lakorn, and probably one of my tops in terms of plot, next to You Are Me. I recommend this just for the insane plot, but if you are very character driven, maybe not.
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This is the first time I have left a drama feeling this way - were we supposed to root for the main couple, Lun & Mook? Because half the time I could care less about Mook and I hated Lun. I feel like this drama could have been a lot shorter if Mook wasn't completely driven by her heart and what she believes love to be. I feel like giving this a 5 star review is being generous.I thought Mook was a strong independent woman who followed her dreams while taking care of her family. Once her father dies, she steps up as the breadwinner of the family and does everything in order to support her mother and sister, even if it means entering a contract marriage to the man who broke her heart in high school. After she is reintroduced to Lun, Mook goes down this downward spiral where she feels that she can take revenge on Lun, while supporting her family. Don't get my wrong, I felt terrible for Mook, as she was giving up her happiness in order to support her family, as well as being misunderstood and called a prostitute by everyone, but at the same time, I feel like Mook could have handled and responded differently. For example, instead of just keeping the course and doing what she needs to support her family and knowing that she is doing all that she can, she takes everyone's criticism to heart and starts becoming the person that everyone thinks she is. And in doing so, she said some really rough and mean things. Lun on the other hand.... I just don't understand why the audience should have rooted for him. We are introduced to him as this rebellious son who is looked down upon by his family, but learn that he does want that validation from his parents, but wants to do it in his own way and not working at his father's company. Instead, Lun expresses himself very secretively, where he wants people to think he is this bum of a guy, until the day he can randomly prove everyone wrong with a single act. Then, when he gets reintroduced to Mook, I feel that his childlike nature amplifies to the point where he starts to come up with extremely inappropriate lies to try and get out of his arranged marriage. And many of these lies were on much a huge level, in hopes that he would shatter her heart and want to divorce him. Lun's only plan is to hurt Mook so much that she will never love another human being again. And it hurt. It hurt bad. But at the same time, it is Mook's fault for not realizing her own worth, or understanding what she needs to say and do in order to live somewhat peacefully in her one year marriage. Instead, she loves to rile him up to feel like she is in control of the situation.
Funny enough is that this isn't the plot of the drama. It is a small piece, but the main plot revolves around Lun's family and their business. Lun enters a marriage with Mook, blessed by his family and shaman in order to protect him, as he is being followed by a masked stranger trying to kill him. Throughout the show, we start to get clues and hints that his "assassin" character is trying to get to Lun and his birthright position at his father's company. And that's it. It was a big game of Clue, where we have multiple suspects and we are trying to figure out if it is the ex girlfriend or the marketing manager.
Other than that, I wasn't a huge fan of most of the characters and I just wanted this drama to be over. I felt that Rut & Petch's "relationship" or insinuated relationship was extremely inappropriate. Maybe it was the 7 year age difference and Petch being 17? Maybe it was Rut being "in love" with Mook? Maybe the boss and part time high school student worker relationship? or maybe it was the fact that I truly believe if Petch was recast as a 10 year old girl, nothing about Petch's nature and personality would have been different. If the writer was smart...I think they should have paired Petch and Poom together. A, Poom was always looking out for her when she was getting her heart broken over and over again by Rut as well as supporting her at the company with her video game, type of relationship. I loved Poom...probably the only character.
But I got a lot of "men are never wrong" type of energy from this drama. Lun was literally shattering my heart over and over again, treating Mook like literal dog poop on the street, because he thought that would protect her, but the moment that everything is sorted out, and we have 20 minutes left in the drama, he comes out of no where and is like okay NOW I am ready to tell you I like you after hours and hours of telling you I hate you and to f*** off before. Nah babe...I did that to protect you.
And that is why I disliked him and this drama.
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I feel like all my Thai drama experience has lead me to this single drama - Push being in the first Thai drama I had ever watched U-Prince, Baifern being in My Dear Warrior (the first drama I ever dropped :( ), Ton in the last Thai drama I watched Hua Jai Sila, and lastly, Saint being in my favorite remake Thai drama Let's Fight Ghost. Every time I would go research more into the actors/actresses, this film would always pop up and to be honest, I was scared to start it. From the get go, I want to say that the main character does fall in love with her uncle, but he isn't blood related. I knew Thai dramas go harder than other dramas, so I was honestly scared to start this and have to root for a relationship that made me uncomfortable. Saying that though, there was a level of that still. Maybe it was me just coming off of Hua Jai Sila and this insane plot of revenge, that I was expecting something similar. Also, maybe it was because I was watching this on youtube, and the subtitles weren't fantastic. I wasn't sure what Nira was trying to accomplish when she decided to come back to Bangkok as a woman, when the last time she was there, she was a 10 year old boy escaping with her mom from an abusive home life. There was a lot of guess work in trying to fill in the blanks.
So here is what I came up with;
This is a story about a girl named Nira who was born in a body that did not feel like her own and was beaten and yelled at by her father who wouldn't accept her femininity. After a long battle, she finally escapes with her mother to London, where they live happily and decide to have a sex change surgery. (Still not 100% if it was her idea or her mothers?) During recovery, her mother dies in a car crash in which Nira decides to go back to Bangkok and get revenge on her father.... by becoming a starlet and beating her father and aunt at their own game(?). She also comes back to be with her aunt's husband, who was the only person apart from her mother that treater her well growing up. Through this process, she makes an enemy of her aunt Rungrong and startlet Manow, her father wants to sleep with her, and Chat falls in love with her. And this drama is basically a story about Nira's journey of coming to terms with her mental health - even if it comes at the very end.
And to be completely honest, as much as I wanted a romantic happily ever after, I believe the ending we got was necessary. There was so much unhealthy baggage being stacked on top of one another in every episode that once we got to the end... if there was a "happy ending," the drama would have been one big plot hole. That being said, we did get a happy ending for each character in some way - Chat finally stood up for himself instead of deteriorating in his marriage or needing a "real" reason to ask for divorce; Dr Ben learned to open his heart to people after his wife's death; Chom learned to be sympathetic to his son and realizing that the life he "attempted" to save him from, he had actually had a hand in creating; and Nira learned that something was seriously wrong mentally and that she needed to seek help.
& Nira was a force in everyone's life, helping them realize that they wanted more out of life. Which is also what she wanted, but didn't know how to get there. She wanted badly to be healed instantly, that she didn't put in the real work. And if there is anything I can do to convince you to watch this drama, it is for the final 10-20 minutes. That scene was super intense and heartbreaking.
For the things that I didn't understand was the ending. I didn't understand that shift in character of Chom & Rung. It was like the moment they had found out who Nira was, they all of a sudden pulled a 180 and wanted to hug and celebrate her. Given, they had found out that their son and nephew was alive... but at the same time, they never cared or reacted when they thought he had died. Shoot, the day of their funeral Chom brought other women and Rung didn't even want to be there except to promote her bar, and neither one of them helped spread their ashes. The only person who helped was Chat who throughout the drama struggled with the death of Chan - Nira's 10 year old self. Knowing this, it made the drama uncomfortable, not knowing what Nira was going to do. Willingly be okay with dating this man who didn't know he was falling in love with this boy he helped raise and thought was dead. It wasn't until the end where I knew it was going to go south, when he was trying to calm her down in the last scene when he found out who she was, and just not knowing how he felt. That was one thing I disliked about this drama was well - we didn't really know much of what people were thinking except that they were mad, where we didn't know how they would react when they inevitably found out about Nira. And it was heartbreaking because I didn't know if what Chat was saying was real to her or just to calm her down. But the moment he said that he loved her and wanted to still get married, but he also loves Chan more than he loves Nira because he saw him as his own son....I flipped out, not knowing what to think with that statement. And it ties in with my original question and confusion - was Nira's sex change apart of a plot to hide away from her father? or did she get it because she wanted to live in a body that matched the way she felt on the inside? Maybe it was the subtitles again, but during this "intervention" at the end, it really made it sound like Chom & Chat were apologizing for making her feel like she had to go through this sex change and that they loved Chan their son. There was a lot of confusion with that intervention and I would like to think it was just a confusion with the direct translation on youtube.
Regardless, there was somewhat of an open ending and I really enjoyed reading the theories in previous reviews. I like to think that Nira went back to London to get the help that she needed in order to fully understand who she is and who she wants to be without feeling the need to hurt others or be better. Not this 10 year old boy who felt like he needed to get revenge for his mother. I also like to believe that the distance was completely necessary in order for Chat to be on his own to heal from his abusive marriage and from the death and "reresection" of a boy he loved like a son, and now needs to figure out if that love is something he is willing to accept into his heart.
The feeling that I got from the ending was that everyone had nothing but time to wait for the people they love to heal completely.
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It's been on my list for some time as I love everything Park Bo Young does, I had been putting this one off because of the context of death and Tak Dong Kyung living out the last 100 days of her life with Doom, being given the choice of making a final wish before her death or the death of her closest loved on in order to save hers. And I am not going to lie, this one was difficult for me to watch. Of course there is little things here and there with this drama, such as how Sa Ram treated Tak in the beginning with so much disgust (which reminded me of the relationship in A Korean Odyssey) and just small things were and there like how the writing was a bit confusing and the dialogue was SUPER quick that I think I missed a good chunk of what they wee talking about. But the main reason why this was was hard for me, was just the topic of death and it being a recent trigger of mine. You would have to be comfortable with the idea of death and dying in order to watch this without ugly crying because I did A LOT of that. Like every episode.
Other than that, I very much enjoyed the cinematography and the score - I think it is tied for first place with The Forest of the most beautiful dramas I have ever watched.
The ending was very obvious, but the journey getting there and seeing Sa Ram slowly gain his humanity and fall in love was extremely satisfying and always being there for Tak whenever she was going through something rough.. that is good writing. For example, I UGLY cried that whole scene when Tak went to the hair salon. But with the sad parts, there come the happy parts such as the love she receives from her aunt, brother, and best friend. Also, my favorite character, and I am sooooo happy that they included this in there, was her Canadian Uncle Kevin. I LIVED for his pep talks! Even with the language barrier, that didn't stop him from supporting Tak. Also, I loved how much her brother grew from the beginning while still being his dopey self.
Lastly, I oddly enjoyed the second leads and their romance; it also seemed like a completely different drama was happening. I loved it, but it honestly started to drag at the end, and I wanted to shake Ji Na. I totally get that this was a story about lose - Tak learning that she would lose her life and how she wanted to spend the remaining 100 days, and Ji Na learning how to move past her first love in order to live her life, but feeling like she is losing a part of herself that she's lived with since high school. Same, but different. Both emotional. But it got to a point where I am like Ji Na...we get it.
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I know I am not supposed to do this, but this drama was simply, "About two people with their own painful stories who go through a complicated process of hurting and healing while falling in love with each other."
When I originally saw the sneak peak for this drama, I thought that this was going to be a short, quirky drama (maybe based on a webtoon - I got those vibes) about two people who suffered from different "illnesses" (anger management & paranoia) who met one another and after a rocky meeting, started build this cooky kdrama relationship that was new from anything the viewer has every seen as each person would add their own different personality (as this drama seems very over the top).
And that is what we got... in the first few episodes. After a certain point though, we started to get to know the characters and learning their backstories and the drama suddenly turned heavy and not loopy as it once was. After this point, this drama became a story about a woman who suffered PTSD from an abusive relationship she couldn't leave and a story about a cop who exploded with anger after a few BIG events in his life happened around the same time and no one seemed to be on his side or believed him. After a rocky meeting, the two (neighbors) develop this relationship that helped one another heal that eventually turned into love.
I really enjoyed this drama as the two mains always put one another's mental health before any romantic relationship and truly wanted to know the other person before starting anything. Plus, there was a really nice balance of the cookiness of their relationship being almost as comedic relief to a now heavy plot of both mains trying to learn what it is like to be normal, but hitting all these roadblocks from their past. The last episode was a bit rocky for me with all the back and forth especially when nothing was really explained of what was going on in Min Kyung's head, when the writer had been really good about doing that throughout this story. I felt like the last episode was trying to wrap everything up quickly and a lot started to happen with not a lot of explanation which is not like any of the other episodes. Other than the ending, I enjoyed most of this drama. It was a good combination of cute, quirky and heavy.
I also want to give a shout out to "Samantha" - I was so happy that one of the minor characters, who had a great friendship Hwi Oh (he was one of the nicest people too, he didn't have any prejudices and wanted to take care of everyone), was LGBTQ+, but in a way I haven't seen in a drama before. Sang Yeop was another neighbor living in the same apartment complex who didn't identify as male or female, but knew that he enjoyed dressing up as Samantha, and buying things that were "pretty." He himself addressed that he doesn't know what it all means, but he just wants to do and wear what he enjoys and that's it. I also loved his character as acted as an older sibling to minor character Soo Hyun (who was playing someone with her same name?) and had a sibling relationship with Hwi Oh where they looked out for one another.
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An Instant Favorite Zombie Virus Drama
Out of all the zombie dramas/movies that I have watched, I believe this one raises to the top. It was dark and had the classic "what would you do when the world ends" troupe and seeing the darkness of human nature; seeing what they'll do to survive. We see a lot of religion or believing in a higher power to save them in the life or to welcome them into the next - which had to be my favorite parts of this drama.Just overall, this drama was visually gorgeous as well as gruesome, which ultimately attracted me to watching this. I saw a clip of Hwa Sun in the tunnel, seeing visions of her husband's murder dressed as how she dressed her victims, and a Tae Han coming to the rescue, saving a woman that he had just met. Which was another thing I loved about the drama as well - I loved the weaknesses and the strengths of both Hwa Sun and Tae Han. Even right in the beginning, both come off as closed off (Hwa Sun due to her husband's murder and devoting her life to track her down) and purposeless (Tae Han motivated by nothing as he lost his brother in a hit and run and losing his job with a false accusation, but even with their lone wolf personas, they just at the chance to help and save someone they have never met. Which ultimately brings them together to create the dream team! They both struggled with their own internal dilemma, but what ultimately pushes and saves both of them is the support from one another and the support of people they meat along the way.
I like to say that this drama was a journey both Hwa Sun and Tae Han needed to take in order to face their problems head on and ultimately learn to accept help and heal in order to move on and start their lives again.
Going off that though, I wanted to give this drama a 10/10, but after reading some of the other reviews, I would have to agree with some comments. I didn't binge this drama like I would have with others, so it took me a month or two to complete this one, but I was very content in my speed as I felt that I was satisfied if I needed to leave off in the middle of an episode or even at the end. But because of the non-binge, I forgot a few things. Overall, I really liked this drama and was pulled in from the beginning! But there were some plot holes that were present, that I choice to disregard because I was sucked in by everything else. For one - maybe it is just me and my passion for watching playthroughs for shooting games, where you need to find ammo to reload or supplies to craft items, but I was very aware of the "infinite bullets" plot hole. In the beginning at least, maybe they just didn't show Hwa Sun reloading her gun, but homegirl was firing round after round. There was also the whole plot where Hwa Sun was introduced as this detective trying to find her her husband's murder and we got a lot of background information about the murder and it being her only motivator even though there is this whole virus killing people. It was soon forgotten about as there were "bigger" issues happening around her, but it still remained a huge trigger between Hwa Sun staying human or being a zombie. Eventually in the middle of the drama, by pure coincidence, her husband's murderer happened to be one of the random survivors and was quickly resolved as it wasn't this HUGE trigger for the main character. Then for Tae Han, we don't get his back story until the middle to end, which seemed a but random, as he didn't really seem to have a trigger. But he did, and he got his "revenge" or "closure"... it didn't really make sense to me, but I was happy he didn't hold grudges against third parties. The only backstory that seemed to make sense throughout the drama was Dong Rim's, as it played a huge part in this "evilness" that the black fog was thriving off of.
But even with these small plot holes, it didn't affect me as it might have with other dramas. I very much enjoyed the calm and nurturing nature of both the mains, as well as with the survivors. There wasn't that many, so be prepared in ep 11 to maybe lose a few favorites like I did.
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I've always wanted to watch this one but was scared off when my roommate told me she was bored, disliked the characters, and dropped it around episode 10. Then I remembered that she and I enjoy different things when it comes to entertainment with music, shows, and movies - and ultimately decided to pick this up. I have been recently learning that things she isn't into, are usually things I really enjoy. And this drama was one of those examples. I completely loved everything about this. It played out very casually that not only was it easy to watch, but it felt like it was written like an independent movie, which is ironic as Mi Joo was a translator for mostly independent movies.
I loved how no one was "perfect" and it wasn't a traditional story about these "crap" people who needed to learn from one another to change and be better people. Nope. This was a story about imperfect people who went on a journey to find self-love with who they were already and who they wanted to be and finding a group of friends that love them for who they were.
Mi Joo was so full of wisdom and great at giving advice and sticking up for everyone, as everyone was her people. She lived a life as an orphan and decided to be her own superhero and be the person that she needed when she was growing up. She was an inspiring person to be around even though she wasn't there for herself sometimes and had a hard time forming deep relationships as she had a history of people leaving her. But she wasn't perfect, and it made me love her more as she always owned up to her mistakes and faults... eventually. There were so many different quotes about life that I took from this drama, including,
"Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." - Oh Mi Joo
&
Mi Joo-"We will probably never fully understand each other, right?"
Seon Gyeom- "Yes... We're different after all."
Mi Joo- "You have your world and I have mine, but we could align our worlds next to each other, couldn't we? So let's not be disappointed in each other. That's impossible to do. Instead, we'll stick to whatever is possible."
I also enjoyed the "bromance" and the "womance" between the 4 mains. It got to a point where I was like, protect Seon Gyeom & Young Hwa at all costs - you make my boys cry, I will fight you.
I loved Seon Gyeom because even though he lacked certain social cues and how to act in certain situations, he did what he thought was right, even if it meant throwing himself off a bridge to save someone else. I loved watching his growth and feeling more comfortable in his own skin. He was empathetic from the beginning, but it was nice seeing him feel comfortable and still helping his people while learning to take care of himself and standing up for what he believes is right.
Dan Ah & Young Hwa are a little tricky. I believe both of them taught one another how to be mature as well as how to let loose. But, the relationship was super back and forth that I started resenting Dan Ah, when it was also Young Hwa'sfault. But like I said, their relationship was tricky as Dan Ah was his "boss bitch" and was also inspirational, and I enjoyed Dan Ah & Mi Joo bicker back and forth, but I personally have a hard time with people who lack empathy. I wanted to like her, but I didn't see how someone can treat others like "vending machines" and what they have to go through to turn off that emotion. But Young Hwa also wasn't innocent and I still loved him. I wanted to understand the morale of this drama and accept and love people's "flaws" as it is not what defines them.
I was also pleasantly surprised that after all the "sexual" jokes that this drama kept throwing out there, there was actually a story with one of the minor characters about self-acceptance about their sexuality. It was the ONLY time I cried during this drama, was when this character confessed their one-sided feelings, so they could move on from them, and then that person comforting them knowing how hard it was for the other person to have to hide who they were.
Overall, my favorite part of the drama would still have to be the beginning when Mi Joo worked as a translator for Seon Gyeom. I loved her stepping into this world that she wasn't familiar with and even though she and Seon Gyeom weren't close, she did what she thought was right and became a guardian for him and standing up for him when he felt that he couldn't. I like how Seon Gyeom was inspired by Mi Joo to be his authentic self. I also LOVED whenever Mi Joo was "in action," either with Seon Gyeom's first interview or when they were at the filming site, Seon Gyeom, sat back and watched her in awe and was like, "she is so cool" and gave her a look like, "that's my girl." The dialog itself was super sassy and very enjoyable to watch. I found myself laughing more than I have in a while, watching a drama.
I can see why my roommate didn't enjoy this drama, but I can completely say, that I fully enjoyed this. The only thing that I didn't enjoy was that the plot itself fell off a little in the middle and ending, but I enjoyed it as well because I loved the conversations and the overall dialog. I definitely feel like I came out on the other side a better person.
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Better than the Original
I had no idea going into this, that this was a Thai remake of "Bring It On Ghost," which was one of my favorite watches last year - but oddly enough, I actually agree with a lot of the comments -I liked this remake a lot better than the Korean version, which is a HUGE compliment.
I enjoyed how it followed the plot of the Korean original, but it also added originality and tied in a lot of Thai culture and folklore.
I very much enjoyed all the characters - I felt that this drama dove into each character. We learned about a temperamental Off who was also empathetic and liked taking care of people. We got to know Jeen who had been a ghost for five years and just wanted to know about her human life and to not be left alone in a world that couldn't see or hear her. We got to see the growth of Leng & Junior and their ghost-fighting business. We got more of an inside look at Numwan & Dr. Jade and a relationship that actually formed, and not a one-sided crush. And that's what I enjoyed the most about this drama - it focused on relationships as well as ghost fighting, but they really took the time for the audience to get to know everyone and build relationships and friendships. I genuinely loved the friendship that Off formed with Leng & Junior and it didn't seem forced whatsoever like the Korean version. I loved that they showed more of Dr Jade and made him more "human" and seeing him struggle actually was heartbreaking.
But my favorite thing about this drama was where I was annoyed with the Korean drama for not connecting the dots and left me with a lot of questions, this drama explained everything. For example, wherein the Korean version, I was not sure if Jeen's character ever regained her memories. In this version though, not only did we get to see if she ever regained her memories, but we got to see her actually recover and go through recovery. Some of the cutest scenes in this drama were of Off taking care of her and helping her heal.
I would say the only thing that I didn't enjoy about this drama was Off's uncle being overly protective when he should have helped train Off physically and mentally. Off was not mentally prepared for that mess of the last episode and last fight, and luckily his love for Jean saved him. Other than that, I enjoyed all the missions, all the feels, and even the excess amount of gruesome deaths. This drama knew exactly what it wanted to be, and I enjoyed every second of it, including all the chessy scenes that weren't neccesary.
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Coming Up With Everything On The Spot
I was excited to start this one - I loved the trailer and I have been wanting to give Ivy Shao another chance. I waited for all the episodes to come out so I could do a proper binge, as I knew I was really going to like this one and would probably finish the 20 eps in a weekend. Instead, I felt that this drama fell flat.I liked how it contained mythology that I assume was realistic and would have provided a much-needed background for the viewers. Unfortunately, this was not the case for me so I sat back and just tried to enjoy the storyline, assuming that these "rules" or "laws" were true. I also enjoyed that this wasn't a traditional drama where the two mains meet and become friends and fall in love - the two mains were "star-lovers" who have been fated for the past 1000 years, but have also been "separated" due to an agreement that was made in the past. During this 1000 year "separation,' they have been both working in the underworld; Cheng Kui, as a superstar devil punisher, and Lady Meng, as an underworld tea maker that creates a serum that helps recently deceased spirits forget their troubles and memories of their past life in order to be ready to be reincarnated. One day, a malicious spirit takes Lady Meng hostage while blowing up an important bridge in the underworld, and Cheng Kui makes it his mission to find her in the mortal realm. But this isn't a story about him only trying to find her and bring her back to the underworld, as this happens within the first episode. This was a mystery crime drama about the two mains, while being accompanied by other supernatural characters and some mortal ones, trying to solve the mystery of the malicious spirit behind the underworld explosion that results in a bigger issue and test that goes back 1000 years.
I saw a lot of similarities from this series as I did in Korean dramas Black (2017) https://mydramalist.com/23772-black & Bring It On, Ghost (2016) https://mydramalist.com/18468-bring-it-on-ghost; and honestly, if you are looking for a "better" drama, I would recommend these 100%.
I felt that this drama was lacking emotion and character building. Yes, it did have these elements in it, but I needed more. There were so many scenes that were supposed to be extremely emotional, such as all the goodbye scenes between families and their deceased loved ones before they had to go to the underworld, but ultimately fell flat due to us not really knowing these people and connecting with them. Plus all the scenes felt a little long and the goodbyes a little dragged out. I wanted to sob along with these families, but I honestly felt that I had no heart while watching this.
I also didn't connect with the mains as much as I wanted to. If they were fated lovers from the past, I wanted to know their stories from the past and felt that the writer/director could have done a better job with this. Yes, Lady Meng was learning and getting her memories back slowly (after losing them all when she came to the mortal realm), but I wish we got to learn more about the past as she did. Everything was told to us in the present and I didn't feel a connection whenever they brought up anything from the past.
The things that I liked -->
- Cheng Kui's hamster smile
- Cheng Kui, Lady Meng, Lu Bo Ya, Ouyang Kai, & Cheng Huang's teamwork
- Everything really about Ouyang Kai
- Everything about Lu Po Ya also
I honestly did feel extremely bad for Ouyang Kai as he was forever always getting beat down by Li En Xi, but he played a very important role in this drama. And honestly, he went through the MOST if not the only one who went through character development. I loved how he was this son of a mobster who accidentally ran into Lady Meng & En Xi completely on accident, but ended up getting wrapped up in their world and became Cheng Kui's sidekick. There, he learned that he could use his admirable skills in a positive way, and also hopefully become a better man and also get the girl. He was my favorite.
Then we have actor Anson Chen, who was out here doing his best at playing Po-Ya. He wasn't the "best" actor, BUT he did bring something extra to his role that I admire.
Overall, this drama did fall a bit flat for me. I think around episode 5, I really wanted to drop it, but I kept pushing on for my two boys. I think around episode 15, it started to pick up again as Lady Meng decided she was going to take matters into her owns hands and needing to figure out her memories and how she was related to the villain. And I will say that I am happy that I decided to finish this drama because the last episode was really good. I honestly, wished that the emotion from the last episode (because yes - I did tear up a little because of one of the side characters) would have played out more in the previous 19 episodes. It was almost like they finally figured out how to go about these emotional scenes, but it was too late as it was the last 30 minutes of the last ep. But as much as I liked the last episode, I felt that the writer just couldn't leave it with an emotional happy ending and decided to add a few "bubblegum" details to make it extremely positive. I was honestly...a bit irked by the added details, but whatever. Me giving this drama 6.5 is being generous.
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