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Tok Kra Dai Hua Jai Ploy Jone
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My FIRST ever lakorn:)
'Tok Kra Dai Hua Jai Ploy Jone 2003' was the first lakorn I EVER watched. It would never occur to me before to watch something from Thailand. Had I not liked it so much, I would NEVER watched 400 other thai lakorns. It was bad picture quality. It was bad sound quality. It had ridiculous looking insert visuals... But it was SO romantic AND funny at the same time! It was a bit silly, it WAS nothing special. I actually thought that in the future, I'll watch many better.Today, truth is I still haven't watched a better one.
Turned out, lakorn being very romantic and very funny IS enough, and sadly, also quite unachiavable by many other lakorns.
I liked the main couple cast, even the female counterpart (later I found out I don't really like most of the leading popular nang'eks, but I liked this one). It has the countryside setting done right, and even the kids who were NOT annoying, just adorable and actually added to the romance!:)
Although it does have its share of silly-screaming-and-fighting element, also a little crime element, too (both things I dislike in a lakorn) it is so endearing and cute I can re-watch this any time.
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Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
How many times needs this series to change its form to finally work and be fun?
I have noticed while ago that Marcus Chang is GEORGEOUS. I watched three of his previous dramas in a row (all the titles starting with letter 'B') which I might else not finish to the end, just to keep looking at his face (okay I dropped the 3rd one, LOL). Had he starred in something really thrilling (romantically or otherwise) I think I would probably explode:) Instead, I slowly like, fell asleep in my admiration. The 'Lost Romance' received pretty promising ratings but from reading about it, I got the impression this shall be morelike a mocking of romantic genre than a strong piece of it itself. Still, I tried watching.First episode was boring for me and I kept watching only to not drop this before it begins. It indeed only begins in episode 2. The heroine finds herself INSIDE her favorite romance novel. The leading guy looks exactly like the guy across the street she's got a huge crush on (because he looks like Marcus Chang:) else he is just like the book character (ridiculous name, gay looking shirt, ridiculous behavior towards women), the real world guy probably acted differently but we barely got to know him, so who cares. The romance book line is indeed (mockingly) over the top, but then again so it's the "real" one (characters DO have typical drama behavior even there, also there's the evil step-sister capable of murder and everything). So the only difference is one line of the series takes itself seriously. It's the one I wanted to drop in episode 1.
So, was I only watching the "inside-the-book" line from then on? More or less. In the other line, both the lead male & female kept lying unconscious in the hospital and there were mostly scenes with the side-characters only. So, I did continue to skip it.
The dreamy guy wearing Marcus Chang's face has someone else (both the book and the off-book version). There's a couple of clear 'Hana Yori Dango' references - or clear to me, as I am such fan I see it in everything - so our main heroine, despite not being the saint-like romance lead, can surely catch the main guy's eye with her antics. After all, not all the romance heroines were the angelic type, right? But then, she quickly falls into being a vile side-character, bullying the angelic girl. And the romantic hero sees her that way! What now?
Now whatever she does, her hero ends up in romantic moments with the angelic girl. It's practically annoying:) To be fair, Vivian Sung isn't that much of a looker and the angelic girl IS prettier than her... There is one plus guy also pining for the angelic girl, of course. He is not acting so exalted as the main one, just cute, rather. Resulting in him being actually more likeable: it's clear he represents the "second lead syndrome", here. Everyone shall gradually like him more than the lead... And so, poor Marcus Chang once again landed the role that despite his attractive looks, turned out to be not that attractive.
But! Then she moves into his house as his housemaid (big LOL:) and finally the proper fun setting starts. See, the viewer like me would not be satisfied with romance mockings only, usually I would wish for some of it really working (the scene where he rescued her from the icing truck looked the best, so far). But then, this series heroine knows she's actually just lying there in hospital. So, she can enjoy certain liberties no other romance heroine can:) To watch her behaving with such anarchy was kinda fun of its own:) I started enjoying since episode 4. Episode 5, my fun got even greater. Almost whole runtime got filled with their interactions. Though it's kinda pitty Marcus Chang never seems to have a leading lady who would match him in looks, his romantic hero obviously never enjoyed himself better than with this naughty "heroine":) And I enjoyed watching this couple's antics. But! It ended soon.
Yeah, pitty they changed things back in episode 7... She's back working at his office. That is just not so funny like when she was his housekeeper! Typical weak script, going back and forth. She's back interacting with the SECOND male most of the screentime... And he IS likeable. Very. So it's like you really start to like certain pairing, and when you're enjoying them the most, they tell you: "Sorry, a little change!" And then you really start to like the different pairing, LOL. It suddenly feels like that the first guy is practically forgotten. There is even a scene where she bumps into him not looking, doesn't even stop to notice him and just leaves. Kind of symbolical. Still, the 3 "housemaid episodes" featured just fun in concentrated form. Now it seems all the usual fillers are back in play. After all, we have TWENTY episodes to fill here...
The heroine who was to enjoy herself in her favorite romance genre now doesn't actually know whom should she romance sooner, as she works so well with both the guys. AND they both seem interested in her now, neither of them seems to care about the angelic girl anymore (only the office female side-characters seem to "care" about her). Vivian Sung's hairstyle and make-up in this series often looks so deliberately unflattering like she TRIES to look ugly. So it must be the bubbly personality? That does wonders. As the guys, both the first and second male, in truth, seem like they are BORED more than anything else (well, there isn't really any "drama", or anything happening). Still, the book story we were supposed to be inside of probably no longer works, if the angelic girl got out of the picture so easily. She IS after all the resident cinderella the both guys are supposed to like NO MATTER WHAT.
Now, the lead guy (or let's say the first guy? 'cause both the guys are actually the leads) suddenly keeps having flashes and dreams about the other, "reality" line. Which would mean the concept was shifted to some kind or 'Life On Mars' experience (another series I am a huge fan of to see it in everything:)
To expand the heroine's reversed-harem experience even further, third guy is introduced into her circle (of course he is also related/befriended with the first one). He might be a latecomer but he has bleached hair to stand out. He is called Moran so he has the best name, too. Just replace the 'a' with an 'o'. At the main girl's place, I'd date all 3 alternately. I'd put them on schedule:) It's not like that a single romance line here is consistent to enjoy, anyways.
Then, it looks like the screenwriter really started to run the guys like on schedule:) So, first they put some romantic scenes with the first guy back into the program. Hmm... Their kiss after 10 episodes of waiting is not a very good one. Ookay... turn for the second guy, again?;) And not forgetting the third one later:) Because it's better to move from that. (Still, I wonder who possibly could kiss the heroine on her hospital bed as it was emphasized so much that each TOUCH is interconnected with the other reality.) Then, she gets the romantic position in situations instead of the angelic girl (and she like, immediatelly jumps into the unocuppied seat of a villain girl... no longer angelic). Then, she gets scenes getting closer with the second guy, again... It's like a merry-go-round.
Btw, all this is 1/2 of the series. It feels long already as it didn't really run in one steady flow. Speaking of which, such is my experience with several romance dramas of late. It's like simple, good romance is something scriptwriters can no longer write. Maybe that's why 'Lost Romance'.
After it's shown that both his former girlfriend, the former angelic girl & his bleached-haired brother are capable of things they should not be capable of, the first guy declares love to our heroine (with the second guy firmly friend-zoned). So, after they rescue each other from these psychos, our couple is happily in his house again (she no longer a housekeeper though, lol) sharing a hot kiss & hot bed scene that is not short. But... there are still 8 episodes remaining. Good to finally know whose lovestory this is, but what do they intend to do with it now?
They started to dig into the connection in between the two realities. Well, what else could they do. Since episode 14 it starts getting really demented (something between badly written sci-fi or an unintended parody) and we can kiss goodbye the show that didn't take itself too seriously. So, the main couple's cute scenes are the only thing that save the whole thingy. Marcus Chang is charming in his role, but in which role he wasn't?;) Episode 15-16 on, we don't have chance seeing him other than just one reality version, though. Which is the version I skipped right from the start. I kinda wished to stick with that:)
I really wasn't interested in the off-book version of his character or the line with his insane sister (like I mentioned early episodes, this "reality" didn't seem like a reality either, it was morelike a typical corny drama). Meanwhile, the main heroine (who is SAME in both realities) spends all her energy to convince others the other reality "wasn't just a dream". But I watched different shows where almost everything happened in the main character's subconscious and it was not treated as an inferior story. Here, we're anxious to find some physical "proof" it all existed (one character produces a book in which it's possible to read about it, etc.), but what was more important for me was the fact I was REALLY bored this time. How many times should this series change its form to finally work and be fun?
By 16th episode this was VERY long (and inconsistent) experience and I couldn't believe it was STILL not the final. I did not understand how much they wanted to drag this dead thing and I did not understand so many praising reviews. HOW were the viewers able to enjoy this? I red a few but I don't get it, my experience is as I described above. Also, it CHANGED like every 3 episodes, therefore I used so many paragraphs, lol.
I'm afraid the quality of this show definitely isn't the scriptwriter, it's Marcus Chang only... The way he can look at a woman. Or if after a long time, there is a sudden smile on that face of his. At least director used this well. But it's not the first time someone did. Marcus Chang was amazing in all his dramas, no matter how dumb those were. When we're all back in the "reality" I was not interested in since the first episode, he only makes it bearable by being there. The only drop of humour in this reality (the only reality now left for watching) was the scene where Marcus Chang's off-book character was reading a girl-audience romance book and was trying to logically understand it, lol. Else it was tedious, or plain unwatchable: any scenes with his "real" family, which all belonged to the prison/pillowed cell, really like from stupid sixpenny paperback crime novel.
To spend THREE more long-runtime episodes in the off-book reality was dubious decision to say the least, just watching the opening credits (those are nice, perhaps better than the series itself:) Because most of the scenes shown in the opening credits are from the other reality, and even the characters (including the famous second lead syndrome) are actually gone from the series, now. It was like the spell was broken. What we were left with? All I can say is the return into "reality" was a disaster. Forget about playful mockings of the romantic genre. This was rather something to mock.
Rewatch quality: To tell the truth, series like this, even if this WAS a good romance, I would still crop the "other reality" intro and outro and used just the middle part for a re-watch. But, the good romance here lasted about 3 episodes, lol. So I won't bother re-watching it.
Overall, WAS this a perfect, "iconic" romance? You be the judge. Just take a look at this series' poster. Does romance have so many people? The poster is crowded, also it's double. I think it answers you best.
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Doesn't actually matter whether you watch this one or not
I've seen like 8 versions of this story already and STILL it did not tire me enough to not to try this LOLBut maybe there is some tiredness after all, because this did NOT make my re-watch list, although it is not as horrendous as the (earlier) chinese or indian adaptation:)
It's not bad, it's just... meh.
The leading actress copies the body build, height and hair of the korean one so much that every time there is a close-up on her face you're surprised again and again that she is NOT ugly, LOL. The leading guy has managed to do the pineapple hairdo better. He is also considerably handsome and kisses the main heroine well (yeah, this is the advantage of chinese-speaking versions over the korean/japanese) so it doesn't hurt to watch. 50 episodes is a stretch though, only for hard-core fans of the material.
As a HYD obsessed person I did watch to the end, but discarded this version right after (only 1996 anime, 2001 taiwanese, 2005 japanese and 2009 korean version make my archive keep:)
But I can't say much against. Young people will probably like this version. I've seen too much:) It's good that in some form this story still lives and touches more and more viewers. Long live Hana Yori Dango:)
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Old and tired story made short & cute
So. We have Singto, who is way more mature in both looks and acting skills, than this... Ohm Pawat? To call the main duo uneven would be an understatement.The beginning had potential, but just as soon as Singto's ghosts lost his walkman, I felt like this show lost its charm. And I really didn't need to watch some investigation of how the ghost died: I actually appreciated when they first showed us it was a "simple" heart attack.
Unfortunatelly, nothing was treated as good enough as it first was, from the big picture to minor details (the ghosts gets new clothes, which are more lame than the previous ones, etc.) and many unnecessary things were added. Seems the material was good enough for 1,5 hour long movie and then someone decided to change everything about it to make it "last longer"...
I would have preferred if Singto's ghost knew his own name and remembered his life. After all, he was supposed to be his person, not amnesiac. Amnesiac means no personality. But of course, amnesia-loving scriptwriters never seem to realize this. It would be more fun to just let everyone and everything to interact with this "guy from the nineties", rather than "investigate" who he was and who killed him. While that seems "dramatically attractive", truth is that watching your family deal with your death and eventually forget about you completely and then simply watching the life go on without you gives you way more interesting a character depth than being stuck in one place with no memory and then released to the modern world just to solve some scriptwriter-invented mystery about what happened to you decades ago.
And because it's not logical for the character to be himself and NOT remember anything, they let the character remember only some things, depending on how the scriptwriter currently needs it. Yeah, it's not difficult to write scripts like that.
Ironically enough, after the main boy took the ghost boy out of the confinement of his graveyard to the wide world outside, it started to be hundred times more boring. With the two boys spending most of their time asking local librarian about 20 years old records (I didn't particularly wish to see them becoming a couple, but had they at least flirted then maybe this would be bearable) or asking temple monk about how to bring back lost memories, or interviewing old neighbors, I considered dropping this series already. It was more "fun" when the the ghost was still hanging around the graveyard with his fellow ghosts. (They were still better than the alive boy's friends.)
I was bored. They tried to make a bit fun about the main boy often appearing to be talking to himself. But today's times, all he needed to do is get an earpiece. Nobody should pay notice enough to make it a gag.
I considered dropping this by episode 5. I just couldn't help myself, the theme of being a ghost is lame to begin with. I didn't care who killed him, either. At last in episode 5 finally something moderately dramatic/romantic begins, nevertheless in this series, I did not really care who ends up with whom.
There's a kiss in episode 6. I don't really care whether I'm watching gay or straight romance, what's important is the romance itself. The intimate scenes, if they work, are powerful enough to compel the audience into watching even a weak general story. On the other hand, hideous looking kiss can kill the romance completely and destroy everyone's good work on the series. The producers should therefore always consider carefully whether the skinship scenes are good enough to put in (there CAN be a good romance without kiss scene/s, you know). See? I didn't even go into criticizing how stupid is for the ghostboy to suddenly materialize his 20 years dead body for the other boy to touch:) No, let's not think about the physical decay now, lol.
This one is more on a cute side, that is funny. After the two boys discover they can touch (and therefore jump in bed together) they share a modest peck and the next morning main boy's mother comes to hang out in his room, playing her youth age music, which is actually music ghost boy likes to listen to:) She is in good humour being suddenly able to share her taste with her son. Not knowing the real cause of this, of course:) Nevertheless, it's also inadvertently pointed out that the boy is actually romantically bonding with someone whose soul is close to his mother's. Yay fans, enjoy your ghost romance:-p
But when it's revealed the mother actually dated the ghostboy in the past, I thought that enough is enough, lol. When the mother is able to see the ghostboy too, the idiocy is completed. Of course I understand the "logic", the boy had to inherit his abilities from someone, lol. But it's idiotic that they did this to the "romance story". This had it all in episode 1.
Anyways, his mother and the ghostboy share a "touching conversation" which reminded me of US series 'Ghost Whisperer' with Jennifer Love Hewitt (I don't know a worse thing to compare it to). There is also a scene where the main boy tries to convince his friends about the ghost presence. Another "fun scene" is him going inside the house ghostboy died in, looking around as if he expects some proof of his murder 20 years ago jumping on him at plain sight (suspense soundtrack is playing, of course, lol).
But, of course, soon he finds a "secret room" and we get our "detective" story solved, luckilly it was more of mild, slice-of-life kind of conclusion. That goes for any lovestory here, too. So I actually appreciated the final episode. The last bed scene is also far from action one, lol. One moment the main boy asks the ghost boy if he's asleep, yet. The idea of a ghost who is sleeping is so ridiculous that it's cute, so it fits here:) I also appreciated the way their ability to "touch" was explained. But, I wasn't really moved by their sad story. The only "deep" thing about this couple was that one of them was a ghost. Else in honesty, these two did not make a couple that I would be engaged to watch.
I found the last emotional parting scene on the graveyard really like something from 'Ghost Whisperer'. I couldn't help but smirk. Singto's tears did not move me this time (try another genre next time:) Weirdly enough, I even cared more about his two fellow graveyard ghosts he was leaving behind, perhaps because THEY were the most fleshy characters around (first role I didn't mind Ampere in). But! The real ending saved it. Thank goodness this was not left with either teary or mindlessly happy ending. It was just right, and funny. It kind of redeemed this (still pleasantly short) series.
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Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
3 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
As for the romance line, we have the main girl, who is a weightlifter and falls for a weight loss doctor, handsome and extremely gentlemanly, though absolutely oblivious to her admiration while she attends his pricey weight loss sessions that she doesn't need. Then we have the main boy, who doesn't look at the main girl in romantic way, either. Instead, we watch his obligatory past story with his ex-girlfriend, which - unless he's getting back with her and this drama is THEIR love story - I don't want to. Of course the ex-girlfriend is main girl's new roommate.
All the things I just mentioned are typical for k-drama. Still, I've watched WAY worse shows. This has mostly cute atmosphere & quite likeable cast. Though their age is not very compatible (main boy is younger than the girl, the ex is older, etc.) Main girl keeps wearing loose clothes stuffed with something all the time, obviously to make her look bigger (she's totally skin & bone under it all). She seems to have dyed hair and eye brows. Her coach is practically bullying her to over-eat and get into higher weight category, not only because she's supposed to have bigger chances to win there, also other girls would have bigger chances to win after she left the lower category. Nice. I felt sorry for the main girl and sorry for myself as I had to watch stuff like that instead of proper romance. By episode 7, I started skipping all the stuff about gymnasts. Seriously, enough. We watch the weightlifters with the main girl, and the swimmers with the main boy, already.
Episode 8/16, the psycho ex attacks the main girl. Seriously, do we have to watch her living with rommate going psycho at half the series already? There are even scenes of the psycho ex and her colleagues, her family... It's like they have decided to make her main character? Aside the actress being too old for the role, she is a character I decided to skip already. Why so many scenes? On the other hand, I started to like how supportive and attentive the main boy has become, even though as just a friend. Main girl is brokenhearted over someone else, which I usually don't like but here it served well as a catalyst, because we could watch how the main guy (though not interested for HIMSELF) started to care for the main girl, he was both moved by her tears and gave her comfort, also he was cute cheering her up. While early episodes he was almost annoying with the constant teasing, now his friendship definitely had warmth. Also, he was handsome;)
So, this line continues to be cute, main boy has also cute relationship with his brother. Even the coach has some cute relationship:) So, at 10/16, I was enjoying the show (by then I was skipping completely all the gymnasts:) Episode 11, main boy decides that he likes main girl so much he actually likes her as a girl. He asks her to be his gf, still I had the doubt had he only confused compassion for passion. He WAS immensely kind person, just like his older brother... There was Kim Ji Soo in that episode too, and though he was not as handsome as in 'Sassy Go Go', he had a bit weird haircut, still I would not mind it if the main girl got another boyfriend, and the thing with the main boy stayed friendship. I for one don't consider friendship less worthy than dating. But, soon she gets kissed by him (in a warehouse, lol), so it gets sealed with the main boy. Nam Joo Hyuk is very handsome in this drama:) His character often said about himself that he was handsome. But it was really true:) And so main girl forgot the first guy completely, which I could understand. I had to laugh when main boy went through main girl's wallet. So cute, even doing a bad thing:)
Epi 12 is very sweet, both romance & family love:) And almost no screentime for the gymnasts, lol. I loved main boy's personality. It was clear in episode 13 he was just kind to his ex, there wasn't anything more to it, but main girl got so jealous:) I as an audience, just loved watching the two. Not for the "Bantering Relationship". But because he was (and she, as well) utterly and totally nice. I'm such a sucker for "Nice Male Lead":) Also, they were funny at the same time. Episode 15, main boy's estranged mother appears, to add more family drama flavour to the show. Through the episodes, we actually could see main boy attending sessions with a psychologist, from time to time. As expected, the parents were behind his problems. Nam Joo Hyuk did a good job. Also main girl gives her support and helps with main boy's family problem so well it cements their being boyfriend & girlfriend.
In the end, despite the unpromissing beginnings, this turned out to be very romantically satisfying:) Be it friendship, family love or romantic love, all was cute and lovely. AND it was funny the whole time. So, my Overall rating covers all this. I'm not saying this was a special show, but for what it was, it was most enjoyable.
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This could be classified as Female Chases Male First, as she sees the guy as her soulmate and the one who's always been there for her, while he takes measures to block her and to be alone in his own head. The two start working together, because she considers him her "muse", of course. First thing she does she makes a jacket for him, which is overly long and the lining fabric makes it too hot to wear in Thailand. She wants to help his career which is dubious as her own career is only starting, but at least when in unpleasant situation, he discovers that listening to HER only, helps him concentrate and block the outside. Lucky it's always raining when needed, lol.
First, the two get off on the wrong foot. She makes him wear a suit that looks like it has carpet pattern printed all over it, then scolds him for not being enthusiastic enough while wearing it:) It could be a touching scene, where she points out how her whole team did many hours of researching and making the suit and how she carefully thought of his personality while designing it, had it not looked so ridiculous and had Na Naphat not looked like a clown in it. Which takes me back to the 1st sentence of this review, but never mind, lol. This should be a romance drama...
How is the romance? Apart from the fantasy element between the two people, after 4 episodes we get them at stage where they grab one another and stare, look like they'd kiss but don't. Well, it's better than silly-screaming-and-fighting, dealing with some stupid conflict or semi-criminal plots most lakorns use... We really give the focus to the characters and their conversations and interactions. Okay perhaps I shouldn't write this LOL. Gee, I really should have known better.
Because as soon as episode 5 a line with psychopatic stalker/fan is of course added. The guy of course handles it wrong, he should not touch such "fanmail" and hand it over to police. Or at least warn the girl. This is why I hate crime plots in lakorns lol. I never complain about logic where romance is concerned, but with crime always lol. They deal with the psycho for whole episode and that brings them closer, it looks they would kiss, but again they don't. So I wouldn't mind the whole stupid thing skipped.
Episode 6, main guy & main girl get even closer because they start to understand each other. They are close to kiss yet once again in very sweet scene but her stomach grumbles loudly in that moment. It's starting to get funny. If the cast had no-kissing contract or there were coronavirus regulations, then they should shoot comedies only. Better than ruin romantic drama with comedy that is unintended. And let the dreamy, poignant soundtrack go to waste. What I also didn't like was that main girl discovered something very important and did not tell the main guy. They should be close enough for that by now. Instead, we have her start talking very hesitantly and interrupted by a mobile phone (seriously, aren't mobile phones magical invention for all the lazy scriptwriters!), then go away. I always dislike when the plot "development" is being kept this way.
Episode 7, both main guy & main girl are forcing themselves to try and "date" other people. They soon give up on that and Kiss in the Rain. I was looking forward their kiss, nevertheless it came in bad timing, by then I was worried about the thing that still got unadressed. Same episode, the second couple, who made zero development throughout the series, gets "together" suddenly. It's funny they made the girl act like a guy and the guy act like a girl, only we can see Kan Kantathavorn is way older than the girl. So it doesn't really work:) Nevertheless, he keeps talking about himself in 3rd person like a girl. She kisses him first, asks him to get married first... After which he moves in with her as obviously she'll be the provider. Main couple gets separated, their connection severed and again we deal with one of the surrounding people being a total psycho and not taking enough measures. Then main girl survives a fire which gets to her prepared new collection, so she's left with clothes that are partially burned (obviously the fire just stopped at a half of a thin fabric) and actually look better than before, but never mind. The dramatic situation gets resolved, both couples happy and after all this we still have 4 more episodes.
After they got the main couple together, they let them fight about banalities and I wondered whether THAT would bring their lost "voice" in the rain back... We then deal with some evil people in fashion industry... We go back to more details about some side-characters... There's more unfinished business here and there... All these things might be important yet I didn't feel the need to watch them in detail, especially AFTER the main stories were practically over. Honestly, the material for this series could be wrapped in 10 episodes tops, and I felt like watching something surplus for several episodes already. They might as well used the fire scene as the dangerous situation in which the "voice" reappears again and end the series on that happy end.
But no, we need to enjoy more scenes like someone introducing their fashion collection named 'Queen', because it's not just beautiful for women to wear, it's also about feeling power, as it's ALSO elegant, LOL. What's unlucky is we then see the clothes (perhaps it would be better if that was just left to imagination) which are some light pink dresses with something that looks like crape paper attached to the chest:-) How endearing some evil guy had to spawn such a dark plan to steal fashion ideas like that lol. Okay I won't laugh, apart from the actual clothes the scene had the right atmosphere. I would cheer for that support character badguy to get caught too, had his side-line not overlapped the central love story (for both couples) which kind of ended already. This was what the series had spreaded uneven. Or at least, I wanted this to be wrapped up in 1 last episode, and not 3.
We then even watch the main girl's fashion show which shows the "dresses" which are all in one same colour (lol), now pitifully without the interesting burned patches. They all kinda reminded me of raincoats for some reason. Which was funny because then it turned out that fashion show had prepared an onstage "rain" which then changed the color of the clothes. The designer who had stolen the designs did not know to steal this functionality. Therefore, it was proven whose was the design, then happy ending lol. Okay, if this was a spoiler for the 4 year old audience, then I apologize. It's still not the final epi. Nevertheless, when forced to watch the side-characters story now instead, I must mention On Nophand Boonyai and Cha Chanicha Boonpanuvichit, their performance stood out, they had the "onscreen presence" that takes more than just goodlooking people. As it so often happens, support cast was on whole different level. In the end, I was way more interested in the "bad guy" than in the mains. They suddenly looked shallow in compare. Was it what this show's creators wanted me to see?
Overall result of all this was when (finally) watching the final, I barely cared. I watched the scenes but didn't care to really listen to the conversations. I kept checking the remaining time... They really made me not care. I confirm that the soundtrack was best about this. It's a phenomenon I sometimes experience. The music sounds interesting, it's deep and the video content doesn't match it and in compare is shallow. Like one fellow review mentioned, the opening credits were more enjoyable watch than the actual episodes:)
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Simply put...
I watched the american remake of this, called 'The Departed', first, and I loved it (I paid to watch it in theater SEVERAL times:) I knew I am late to finally find the time to watch the original but I am glad I was able to do it. I loved it, too. It's brilliant. I love both movies, the remake has the strengths and weaknesses of a hollywood movie (love them or hate them:) the original has the strengths and weaknesses of asian movie (love them or hate them:) Both are the BEST among their kind.As I am no stranger to hong-kong production I knew what to expect and I have zero complains. I admired and enjoyed this a lot. The cast was spot on, both Anthony Wong & Eric Tsang were perfect fit for the type of the role. As for the main two, Andy Lau is the typical attractive asian actor but Tony Leung really is no DiCaprio:-) But then he smiles and you find that he has the cutest smile in the world. The characters were similar enough, I felt Andy Lau's maybe differed a little and it was hinted by the ending, but you be the judge... I appreciated the scarce and poignant use of female characters (in both versions).
I felt Scorsese made his version with great respect to this movie. It's a beautiful movie. I know, some would point out it's "depressing", because of the deaths, terror... But look at it this way. You can just as well watch a movie 'Sex and the City 2' where it's all sunny beach and everyone is wealthy and happy. And then you might see some terror, LOL. Yes, a beautiful movie isn't about whether the characters ended up well.
Simply put, it is a movie you feel privileged you had the chance to see it.
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This is the 4th version of the same story. Which is kinda fascinating as there's practically nothing to be called "story" in this one. A couple marries. A couple has a baby. A couple argues. Woman takes on younger lover. Or doesn't, even. The mother in-law is unsufferable, so they do divorce... or they don't, actually. Nothing much happens, really. Except talking. If I'd kept watching some of my married neighbours, I might get about as much "story", LOL. Tono Pakin is cute, no mistake there (he's the lead from 'Fatal Destiny'), he's like the most exciting thing in this whole bland "drama"... One should wish she'd start hot affair with him immediatelly with many steamy bed scenes so there would be something to watch, but unfortunatelly, this show is about static conversation going in circles. Even Mo Monchanok is bland in this. It takes 10 (hour long) episodes for something to actually happen, and you can guess what that would be (it's the 2nd most original thing right after amnesia), so you'd excuse me if I don't count it. So, as for me, still no story. And still no FUN. It's almost admirable to create series this lifeless with such cast. Tono Pakin's younger admirer even does couple of things that would move any woman with some blood in her veins to finally go for him without care. She remains poised and lukewarm towards him. Goes to fight with her ex-mother-in-law, instead... The story about unhappily married woman with younger lover is kinda even more stupid when they're not really lovers (there's big divorce case running in newspapers, and it's not even worth it). The only asset of this lakorn is the goodlooking cast, most characters are really pittiable and it is not a cheerful watch. There's also not single 1 good kiss scene or good romance scene or scene that is enjoyable in any way. Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Film looked equally hot in 'Mia Tuean' (similar themed lakorn), so if you're into him, better watch THAT. As there's Koy Rachwin beside him as female lead! Here, we have classic "funny best friend" material Amy Amika (like I remember her from 'Sen Tai Salai Sode') misscast as the nang'ek she is NOT (most of the time they put extra heavy makeup on her).
Never mind, at least the island part was not too draggy and the naughty pra'ek was told many things clearly. But there were still many episodes remaining. They are filled with some kind of "general drama" including many side characters (most of them you don't care about), plus the main duo (most of the time you don't get what they want) that makes absolutely no sense except filling the screentime. Veery long screentime. It's going in circles. The two have zero chemistry. The skinship looks very awkward. They act childish. I wonder why the audience should watch this "story" again and again... Is anyone really having fun? As this is not the 1st drama ever in my life that I'm watching, I'm kinda bored:-p
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The age gap
I have seen the Andy version and this is not worse.The older version did not have massive age gap as this (enough is enough) but I have to commend Pream Ranida for dealing with this well (as Poh Natthawut looks just... tired).
All in all this version coped well thanks to Pream's mature air and the manner she gave to her character the womanly warmth. Respect to her in her age. Not bad.
Vicky Sunisa Jett also taken up Oom Sakaojai's role with grace.
An okay lakorn, not a re-watch material but fine.
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If 1st episode was about Rivalry, 2nd was about Jealousy. One can be jealous even in friendship, you know;) Then, we yet continue... Somehow, I didn't even wish for the relationship to progress beyond friendship, at least not the way portrayed. In the end, I would really prefer just the 1st episode as a movie. I would definitely rated it higher. Less is more sometimes.
I'm sorry to say that I found this "Billkin" rather ugly and bad actor. He mostly looks awkard onscreen. The other guy is better, he can convey a lot even without words, also he's more... er, handsome. His MDL profile picture looks like some female actress and for a second, I thought maybe by technical error it really WAS (reminded me of one korean actress). But after I looked closer, I accepted it was really him, just very feminine looking pic. Then, after I watched his music video "PP Krit - I'll Do It How You Like It [Official MV]" I really wished to unsee it in my head. Alek Teeradetch is there with him as a boy, and I always thought HE is girly enough but that's nothing in compare to PP Krit in this. Maybe I would rather prefer him to undergo a surgery and really change, lol. It's somehow scary that guys should evolve into this in the future. The Earth is losing men. Aaanyways:) Back to this show!
By the time I opened episode 4, I was like: Ookay, I liked the 1st epi, and then I gradually liked it all a bit less, and NOW I maybe even would prefer not to watch further? But I did watch further telling myself come on, it's just 2 episodes left... Okay, too much crying, too much drama about exams and personally, I would cheer for Oh-Aew & Bas couple more. Phuket is CHARMING. But what can I do, I can't count it into rating for Story, Acting, Music or Rewatch Value:) Last scene, I was totally mesmerized by the scenery. Only I couldn't really bring myself to care about the two guys in it;)
This even has a sequel I'm not interested to watch, but I like its posters so, I looked at those. And that was enough for me:)
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By episode 3, I found this practically unwatchable and would have dropped the lakorn. The main actress was not super beautiful, also she was portraying a character who was kinda peculiar for a leading lady to say the least. I noticed this lakorn had actually one more nang'ek in it, portrayed by Prapye Ramida. Maybe not as "unique" as the batsh*t crazy lead, but definitely more pretty... I kept watching. This caused me to move past the rocky start and slowly come back to watching the main couple again, too. Thanwa was of course cute as always. Still, it dragged a LOT.
First kiss is episode 7. It's kinda half between fake and real (it's the stiff one:) Then it continued being half amusing, half annoying. Apart from the second couple, the side-characters did not interest me, and there was large number of them (I kept confusing them). I waited and waited when the things would stop to drag. ....
By episode 10, I was so bored with everyone's antics including the main couple's. Not that the second couple was better. The girl ended up struck to the ground by the guy, just because she was too shy to tell him the cookies she kept bringing him were made by her and not by his childhood friend. Only a complete nitwit would do that to such pretty girl. Later it got better slowly but by then I have lost interest in that couple.
Around episode 13 things were still not better for the lead couple... If you tell the girl how happy you'll be if she'd date someone else, then you do deserve that she'll date someone else, lol. Plus, I found the family drama VERY tiring. It dominated though, romance was more or less secondary to it. Epi 14... only last 2 to go. I wondered whether I should finish this. I guessed it didn't really matter either way.
Epi 15 felt final and VERY long and I wished it at least be the last one. But no, there is yet one more episode in which pra'ek still says to nang'ek he feels only friendship for her. She needs to get engaged to somebody else first, leave abroad, cry on the sidewalk... I wanted to cry too, when I counted the total hours spent on this:)
This "drama" had 16 episodes meaning it was sixteen times I have given it a chance. I think my rating is generous still.
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The harder it is when the guy in question is not only handsome, hot... Also has a decent personality, sensitive, funny, no coward... He is really nice! Is there a woman who can resist all that? For how long?
Truth is, they both already had their boyfriend/girlfriend whom they loved. And what I liked was, that unlike most "romance" dramas, this was not about them now having to fight or somehow win over that previous boyfriend/girlfriend (be it just ex or dead one). They both supported the other, offered understanding instead of jealousy. I thought that way more romantic. For once, the old loved ones didn't have to be proven bad people or worse people than the current couple. We didn't have to watch long and tiring plotting of someone against someone. That's what I definitely appreciated about this drama. Everyone has a past, but the whole show is not revolving around annoying love-rivals.
Actually the writers were smart in making such an age gap romance to work. They first made the two of them really close. They made each other laugh so often. It was also funny in some situations where she came to act as his "guardian":) Actually he should have mom and dad, but luckilly we don't see them (he would really seem too young with them around). They emphasise her mother, not his mother.
But! Then they decided to bring one of those ex lovers (of course not the dead one) back. As I previously praised the sparse use of this character, I was kinda dubious. If they were really getting back together, I would accept it (she WAS a bit old for guy in his twenties, though she looked best she possibly could and seemed compatible with him, so I was not against their age gap romance) but as a plot device it got tiresome already. Watching episode 10, I wanted to go back to episode 1. I remembered the ending of epi 2, that was soooo funny!:) Where did all that go?
I went back to watch first 3 episodes again. This show had a whole different kick of a dynamics before the tragic dead ex or returning ex came to play. I understand that more actors need to be employed by the industry, nevertheless I would enjoy this show way better if we just concentrated on the main two, her being a bitch at work (they could just fill the runtime with work cases), him being her too young assistant of clashing opposite personality and ideals (whom she totally went for when she got drunk... their bed scene was so hot:) and and that could have lasted for way more episodes, ideally for a majority. Instead it went on too fast, too quickly gone. Then the general mood got dominated by the side-characters that should have stayed only in flashbacks.
We got exactly to that stage I previously appreciated we did not. And I was really sick of watching Yoon Dong Ha crying and hurting. How could his "witch" allow it? This is something I never like in a "romance"... They try to stretch the "drama" for more episodes by making the woman act like a c**t. I just wanted her to admit her feelings. It would be so refreshing. Should the situation been reversed and HIS former partner returned (from being dead), he would also hardly tell her to pi** off, right? It's nothing new loving 2 people. Still one can face it with integrity, or... not. Then she changes her mind... Wait. He no longer waits. Then "he" changes his mind... Now she's the one crying. Geez, it all overall lost the drive. And direction, LOL. I considered dropping the drama by 13th episode. Seriously, there was NO FUN left. Even romance-wise, I got tired. I would guess this drama's viewers won't be able to enjoy even sweet happyend after all the bitter taste in their mouth? But 3 (hour long) episodes still remained...
So, the last 3 episodes? After it exhausted the painful triangle times over, it was like the script did not know what else to deal with. So, NOW that the series is nearing its end, it deals with the work cases (he's back at her office), LOL. Also the cute atmosphere kinda returned... Perhaps epis 7 - 13 should be SKIPPED. Luckilly the show returned to its roots, but it could have used the filler episodes WAY better. Potential of these two character's dynamics was endless.
The ending could have been sweet if not for all the things we had to go through in between. Everything I previously praised during first episodes has turned upside down, and spoiled the flow. It's difficult to rate a show so good at the beginning and then so bad later. I was not able to thoroughly appreciate the sweetness of them being finally together, I had seen too much of things I didn't enjoy, while I missed seeing the progress of their relationship to that sweet point. As if they realized this last minute, they literally repeated the same "beer seduction scene", probably to remind the audience where they were last left off, or smth.
There is a scene in the episode right before last where her mother asks him what is his age. Like during the whole series, when they dealt with so serious drama she never noticed it before? It's literally like the last 3 episodes could be placed right after the first 3 episodes, because it looks like completely different writer was responsible for all the stuff in between. But, k-drama producers don't want the drama to have 6 episodes. They want it to have 16. The result might be as weird as we see here. Filling the huge screentime is probably not as easy as people think. I admit I love dramas, but always make my own shorter, edited versions of them to keep:) Even in not such extreme cases as this.
Note: So, so annoying how he kept calling her "team leader" even in private moments and long after he quit being her colleague at work!:D Not that this is uncommon in k-dramas, I know.
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Amateur schoolplay with (literally) kids who cannot act
Yeah, blue shorts might be back, but seriously don't expect another 'Hormones':-//Actually they wore black shorts most of the time, but that's not the main problem:) Watching this doesn't really feel like you're watching proper series/drama. Someone took the trouble to make opening/insert credits that look professional, with big letters all across the screen so you won't miss all the stupid english "nicknames" for each brat (could live without it... they're thai, what's wrong with having a thai name?) and then they all stand like parrots and repeat the name of this "show" sponsor. Problems start when each actual episode begins.
Basically the child actors who cannot act portray the characters of musicans who cannot play (kinda fits) so they arrive in a small rural place where another group of kids awaits them to try and make them better (well, they could not possibly make them any worse), plus of course they will form couples (almost everyone is gay), though they are age when they probably still play with toys.
As for the "skinship", there was not really a kiss scene in this one for obvious reasons and if there was, then I was not sure whether I should report this, LOL. As for the script, they tried to touch some more serious problems towards the end but I'd prefer if they didn't. They originally have intended to improve their music, but I don't know where did that go.
Seriously, it's cute. There hardly is anything to be called "cinematography", it's all backgrounded with ever-repetitive bits of music, actually instrumental parts of the few songs they got permission (else god knows what we'd listen to), but I'm far from criticizing. It's watching cute kids:) Wanna watch cute kids for couple minutes? Didn't harm me, won't harm you. So if yes, watch it. Simple as dimple:)
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