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  • toetreden op: oktober 12, 2020
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No Regret
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
jun 20, 2024
Voltooid 0
Geheel 7.0
Verhaal 6.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Muziek 9.0
Rewatch Waarde 1.5

So corny!

Whoever wrote the dialogue for this film, didn't ever hear humans talk to each other! Haha! The dialogue is just so corny and cringe and unnatural. It's probably the biggest issue of this film.
As for the rest, it works well enough. But I have to say, I thought the main couple's relationship didn't have the necessary build-up to inspire loyalty from viewers.
What do I mean? I mean, the reason why they should be in love is so vague and underdeveloped. We see the aftermath of the obsessive love but the love's existence in the first place is not explained well-enough. And I don't mean exposition or info dump. I mean, nothing is shown in the beginning that makes me believe this is a genuine mutual love. Why should I care or even believe that this is love when these characters have barely had any interactions and what little interaction they had is fraught with conflict and rejection? However, a well-written conversation would've solved this issue. Unfortunately, the dialogue was too shabby so it didn't help matters.
That said, if you suspend your skepticism and accept that sure! They are in love, whatever! Then, you can enjoy the bizarre and tumultuous second half of the film.
The acting is good. Kim Nam Gil is in this and I think this is my first time watching him. He's pretty! Lee Young Hoon is very good too and now I'm wondering why he isn't active anymore.
The film is almost old, so I don't know what to say about the production. It's okay I think. The editing is a bit choppy but I think that is intentional. This has a very indie movie vibe.
And the final act is so exhilarating and shocking.
No regrets about watching this. I recommend it. And no...it's not THAT explicit! Grow up! Stuff right now are so much worse. That said, it's still an Adults Only film. So minors stay away. Seriously!!!!

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Moving
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
mei 27, 2024
20 van 20
Voltooid 0
Geheel 9.0
Verhaal 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Muziek 8.0
Rewatch Waarde 3.0

The long wait was worth it!

So, I had been waiting for this show since my Jo In Sung obsession developed...sometime in 2021, I think? And Then when it came out, I don't know, it had just been too long, I wasn't invested anymore so I didn't touch it for months until my mom said she had seen a random scene from this show that she thought was cool and she wanted to watch the rest so I just recently binged the whole thing with her and I have to say, it was worth the wait. It's true. My only investment in this show was initially JUST Jo In Sung and no one can blame me for it because he is like a rare orchid that blooms every five years or something. So I've been frustrated and desperate BUT the show is very well-made and the teenage characters are sooooo cute, omg! I thought teen boys could only be mildly threatening or absurdly annoying. Who knew they could be adorable sunshine bunnies?!
Anyway, the little cutesy friendship between the two teen characters made me so endeared and as the plot developed it became more interesting (And also I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for Jo In Sung to show up...ㅠㅠ).
My only issue with this show is too much violence and not enough Jo In Sung. It was disgusting how much violence I had to endure. I got bored with it, too. So instead, I spent a good deal of the fight scenes scrolling through my phone, while being stuck to the screen during the romance parts. It was just too much. Very gross. Sure, the CGI work was amazing and I applaud the crew for that (the production overall was amazing) but gratuitous violence is so tacky.
The acting in this show is amazing. Obviously, with heavyweights in the main roles, no one was expecting anything less but even the younger cast members were great. They brought the characters to life and I was shocked to find out one actor is 26 years old?! I thought he was 15! :o Everyone was so well-casted and they acted their butts off.
I'm not even a superhero story fan. I don't like marvel and don't watch any of their stuff. But I enjoyed this one. Maybe because it was so fundamentally different from a superhero arc. However, the plot felt a little like a prequel, to be honest. So I can imagine a more traditional superhero plot in a potential second season. This felt more like an espionage family drama; if the families in the espionage had superpowers.
So between the endearing character relationships, an interesting and engaging plot, amazing casting, and a very professional production, this show was basically perfect...except for too much violence. And not enough Jo In Sung.
The music was also very good. It was scored like a film, very ambient but never distracting. Just as it should be.
Will I rewatch this? No...except for rewatching Jo In Sung's scenes. :) And I've already done that...a few times!
I recommend it if you can handle violence and if you like espionage plots, romance, and a bit of mystery.

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The Ghost and I Becoming Family
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
jan 16, 2024
Voltooid 0
Geheel 10
Verhaal 10
Acting/Cast 10
Muziek 8.0
Rewatch Waarde 6.0

Unexpectedly good

Looks like this is the gay year! This is the second watch of the year and this year is off to a great start with one great surprise after another! I had no expectations when I picked up this film but it was so hilarious, emotional, and well-crafted. It made me laugh so hard, but it also shocked me with its plot twists and made me cry. That's so special since I've just gone through some shows lately that were so emotionally uninspiring or lacking. Then there's this film. It goes the extra mile in its silly, goofy humor but also stays level-headed enough to tell an interesting story with a logical plot and give that extra emotional kick by the end.

Summary: A homophobic policeman accidentally gets himself into a ghost marriage with a gay guy. In his desperation to get rid of the ghost, he tries to help him reincarnate by fulfilling his wish. The last wish? Avenge his death by finding the killer.

Plot: It's not super complex but it's very well-made and it just works so well from start to finish, it was so satisfying. It also had some elements that I'm so not used to seeing from East Asian shows that I was a little shocked! hehe... I also liked how bold they were with both trying to land the jokes and also just pushing the characters out of their comfort zone. The film was committed to the gags and that was impressive.

Acting: Everyone did a great job. Better than their other projects that I have seen before. Now, if I think about it too hard, I can see some people complaining about cliche stereotypes but I feel like that would need a dive into some philosophical arguments about heteronormativity and socially expected behavior and asfdaghshd....it's not that deep! The acting worked in context.

Music and production: It was good.

Rewatch value: Sure, if you have the time.

Overall: This was a good funny film and I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended. Warning: It has nudity. Just...saying.

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One Room Angel
0 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
jan 12, 2024
6 van 6
Voltooid 0
Geheel 9.0
Verhaal 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Muziek 7.0
Rewatch Waarde 6.0

A good start for the year

This was such a good watch as the first show of the year. A sweet, hopeful, and cozy watch, with adorable and sympathetic characters you enjoy watching and rooting for. It is a very balanced story with proper mystery elements, dramatic buildup, and emotional stakes, as well as, sweet moments and appropriate humor to keep viewers entertained. Nothing was overdone here. No over-the-top emotional meltdowns or exaggerated humor (which is my main point of dread while watching Jdramas). The plot is not complicated but it works and while there were certain plotholes, they didn't harm the story nor negatively impact the flow so it would be a bit nitpicky to point them out when they were so insignificant.

Summary: A man is stabbed in an alley and left for dead but miraculously recovers after seeing an angel. When he returns home, he finds the angel to be very real and still very much there, crankily asking for food and informing him that he has amnesia and nowhere to go. The humanitarian move would be to give the poor angel a place to stay and so Koukisan does just that!

Plot: As I already explained, it's a cute story that mainly leaves you with warm and fuzzy feelings. It's balanced, not too long nor too short, and every important question of the plot is answered by the end. A lot of aspects are resolved off-screen however as the plot is very character-driven and only focuses on the dynamic between Kouki-sad and the angel which...can be interpreted differently based on the viewer's preferences I guess. For me, it was just a sweet dynamic and I enjoyed their easy banter and development throughout.

Acting: The only real actors of this are the two main characters. While others appear briefly, they are not very significant so I am mostly ignoring them. But the main two actors were both great with Nishimura Takuya having the best deadpan delivery of jokes and just generally looking so angelic and disgruntled at the same time. He comes across as innocent and pure and simple and it was so good. Uesugi Shuhei was also great for his part as he showed the character's development and changes both with on-point expressions and body language. His emotional acting was also very touching and clawed at my heart which I thought was impressive to achieve with only 6, 25-minute long episodes.

Music and production: Tbh, I didn't even notice the music, sorry. Production... it was perhaps cheap? There wasn't much to it as it was mainly the inside of the eponymous "one room" of the title. That said, it doesn't *look* cheap. It looks just well enough for the show. Some flashback scenes to Kouki-san's past felt a bit under-budgeted but since they were not relevant to the present plot, I can forgive the vague setting. In the end, any shortage was covered by good directing choices.

Rewatch: I never rewatch but I can see the value in rewatching this for others. It's short enough.

Overall: Loved it! Recommended. I'm glad to start the year with a good show.

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Seo Jin's
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
jun 3, 2023
11 van 11
Voltooid 0
Geheel 9.0
Verhaal 9.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Muziek 10
Rewatch Waarde 8.0

♡✧( ु• ⌄ • )

Let's be honest with ourselves! I only watched this for one reason and one reason only: I missed Tae!
Despite that, this show was actually enjoyable and I got really into it. Be warned though. You will catch the worst case of munchies and want to cry as the craving for Korean food will reach an all-time high! The food looks SO good! I craved stuff I've never even tried (and probably never will because I can't eat spicy food)!
The cast really grows on you, even if you're only here for Taehyung. Still, he was the best part and I personally think, the show could have MORE Tae. Yeah. Personal comment: More Tae!

Plot: The plot is very straightforward. They just run a restaurant. Someone mentioned that it gets repetitive and well...yeah! It's the same thing over and over! You don't watch this for the plot! The people are why you sit through this so if you're hoping for some special event or exciting incident, this is gonna be boring. But the human interaction aspect is so fun. It's also lovely to see all the people who try Korean food for the first time. Those who keep coming back. The funny or cute interactions. It's all fun and wholesome in small doses.

Cast: I'm gonna say it, I don't much like Seo Jin. I said what I said. He was mean in unreasonable ways and call me a protective Army but I didn't like how he talked to Tae, either! It wasn't just me though! I was watching with non-Armys and they all said he was acting weird even before I said anything. I almost didn't watch this because I knew Seo Jin would be mean but ultimately, it was worth it so he's not a turn-off. He wasn't all bad. He had his moments but eh. Least favorite character. Yu Mi is an angel! I came out of this, feeling so impressed by her. She rolled those Gimbaps like a pro! Standing on her feet all day long, making so much, and never complaining. What a sweetheart. I'm gonna check out her other works just because she was so sweet. I also really grew to like Seo Joon and Woo Shik whom I didn't like before. I didn't dislike these random actors but I was pretty indifferent toward them but then, Seo Joon impressed me with his professionalism and focus and Woo Shik is just such a charismatic, kind, and warm person! It was really delightful to watch him interact with the customers. I might make a second attempt to watch Our Beloved Summer... And Tae. What do you want me to say?! He worked so hard! I'm so proud of him! They said he was slow. HE WAS NOT SLOW! Omg...he could barely make noodles before this!lol...and he was very cute. The whole family is in love with him now!

Music: BTS music: perfection! Classic music: also perfection. The rest of the songs were good too.

Rewatch: Yeah...I actually watched this show twice already! We basically watched every episode twice so...very high rewatachability!

Conclusion: If you like cooking shows, watch it! If not, don't! lol

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The Killer's Shopping Mall
2 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
feb 21, 2024
8 van 8
Voltooid 0
Geheel 7.0
Verhaal 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Muziek 1.0
Rewatch Waarde 1.0

UGH! Can we stop now?!

I'm so sick and tired of these ridiculous action shows. Enough already! I'm so sick of this and I hated watching this and I would've already stopped if Lee Dong Wook wasn't in this but goddammit he's so sexy! UGH! I genuinely just watched this awful show because he's hot. I don't even have an excuse. That was it. I barely took in the plot, mainly because it was jumbled and not very good to begin with so it was very difficult to feign investment in what was happening but also because the main point of this show is to drool over one (1) sexy man and then just...feel dreadful worry for the good guys as these tank-like VILLAINS just piss you off for FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHT freaking minutes!!!!UGHHHHHHHHHHH

Summary: Hot uncle dies. Niece comes home and then for some reason that gets explained WAY too late into the show, a bunch of psycho murderers start attacking the house, trying to kill her. UGH! WHY?!

Plot: This plot was just mediocre. Was it horrible? No. But it's just not worth all the fuss.

Acting: Actors were very good. Lee Dong Wook is hot... I don't know, that's like 80% of what I registered. Sorry, a bit one-track-minded over here.

Music and production: Again, good production is worth horse dung when the plot is boring.

Rewatch: No...but I'll probably watch season 2! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Overall: This was an action show. I don't like this type of show. I just accidentally got attached to the characters and had to finish this.

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Addicted Heroin
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
16 dagen geleden
15 van 15
Voltooid 0
Geheel 10
Verhaal 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Muziek 1.5
Rewatch Waarde 10

What a devastating turn of events

I needed a few days to sit with my emotions before I could talk about the absolutely tragic series of events that led to the present situation: me, mourning the cancelation of an 8-year-old show!
So, in case you are reading this from the future, this is from the summer of 2024 when the book "Are You Addicted?" received its third adaptation into a BL drama; this time the attempt is by Thailand. I had heard about the first adaptation aka the present title) but I was told that the show was: 1) Bad. 2) Heavily censored and canceled before it even ended.
So I naturally never even considered watching it but with the new adaptation coming out, I became intrigued and decided to check out the new adaptation. But for *reasons* I ended up sort of hesitant in approaching the series, and as it continued to air, I saw fans of the previous adaptations complain about the quality almost non-stop. So between my new-found interest and the complaints and other reasons...I finally took the bait and watched this one, instead.
Reader, I was not ready. *ugly crying*
First of all, a big flipping-bird to the misleading masses who said this was bad! I went into this expecting it to look and behave like some cheap, homemade p*rn video, with terrible acting, bad lighting, overall abysmal production, and little to no comprehensible plot. That's not it at all!!!!! This is a proper show. And let me just burn all the bridges right here and say that a low-budget, first-project, basically-put-together-with-glue-and-determination-of-the-crew Cdrama is STILL miles better than a high-budget, well-supported Thai drama. What goes on over there?!
Anyway...
Yes, the show looks very cheap. The lighting in some scenes is pretty bad too and that does unfortunate things to the also very humble make-up work BUT the show makes up for all its shortcomings with amazing acting, a great script that follows the book to a T (well...the little bit of the book that I read), and sincerity.
This is perhaps the best that one could expect from a Cdrama, when it comes to a faithful adaptation of a heavily explicit gay romance (and also just an overall great adaptation in other regards too, actually). They clearly cut the parts that needed higher budgeting but the dialogue is almost verbatim from the book. Each event is followed so closely that it's almost uncanny! I really appreciate the fact that they didn't turn the adaptation into a farce just because they had no money. Like, I love me some (no, I don't) Go Princess Go type of absurdist, camp adaptation that makes a mockery of both itself and the source material (I have no idea how that show worked out but it only just barely got away with its bs) but it's just something else when the show has a low budget but they maintain their dignity enough to treat it seriously and do the best to make the finished project a respectable, acceptable product.
I was won over by the sincerity of this project more than its weird-ass plot (it's really weird), or its salacious romantic scenes (idk if some people's boat floats that way but honestly? I was not wooed. Like, never would I think "oh yes baby, throw me against the wall like that..." but we will get to that part later...). What stands out in this show is how every single person present on the screen and also every single person working behind the scenes was totally committed to making it work. And it worked. (Kinda like Untamed but if Untamed was, like, REALLY broke.)
Both shows had a lot of heart and they did all the technical things as correctly as they could to make the show work. I respect that. I LOVED that.
Now, the other thing that worked? The acting. Holy Meow! I genuinely thought I was going to deal with abysmal acting. Like constipated faces, vague statue-like expressions, and maybe a bit of self-effacing embarrassed acting. I thought they would just be trying hard but looking awkward...Reader, there was none of that! I am an instant fan of these boys. In fact, I am emotionally attached to these young actors who put their careers and futures on the line and then committed 100% to the characters they were given and acted the pants off of them! These characters feel more real than 90% of what you see in Cdramas and maybe 50% of Kdramas too, actually (100% more realistic than those you see in Thai dramas, and the numbers are out for Jdramas 'cause they swing back and forth between silly anime acting and proper acting, idk). These felt like real boys. And it really helped that the voices were recorded on set and thank goodness that the guys were so good at talking and following the script. They felt raw. Real. Human. And it's ironic because a lot of their behavior makes 0 sense. Like, any and all characters could be in jail or mental hospital, if they pulled one of the many shenanigans they pull in real life but somehow because the actors are such great actors, they made it work. So you see the most bizarre thing on screen and you can actually can comprehend why this very real human boy would do that action in that moment. Even if out of context, two seconds away from the screen, it would cease to make sense. I am so impressed by Johnny Huang and Timmy Xu. Too impressed. I don't know. I'm a little speechless (Shocking, I know. I've been blabbering nonstop but I really want to say more but feel like words are failing me) They were so raw, guys...They just did so well and I think the supporting cast did very well too. I would only say maybe one or two actors are weird or gimmicky but thankfully by the time they show up, the romance brainrot has taken over both the viewers and the two main leads so we literally do not care. Like, all we want is for the pesky supporting cast to leave so they can...wrestle a bit more. I wish the best for the actors. They did too much. They literally were too good in their chemistry, it got the show canceled! *ugly crying* But that's the price we all paid for excellence, I guess. (Ok, I'm talking it up but this was their first project and it was risqué and controversial and demanding and they both did so well. I feel like they deserve the confidence boost)
Music-wise...they use such beautiful classical pieces..with literally no context. There would be a jig while the characters are crying! It made no sense. Whoever did the background music work must've just put their Spotify on shuffle. The only music choice that works is this one scene in episode 15...which was unfortunately too explicit and the whole scene was cut and it's a very unfortunate situation...yikes!
Plot summary: Gu Hai's dad is marrying his mistress and Gu Hai is super bitter about it. The stepmother in question has a son and when it's suggested that the 4 of them should all live together, Gu Hai finds this to be too much and bolts from the house. He's a rich boy so he goes across town and lives alone in his loft apartment and attends a new school where he meets Bai Luo Yin. Love knows no reason and also has one brain cell, apparently. Because Gu Hai is immediately 150% obsessed and he also has the social skills of an octopus in a dog's body so he expresses his feelings as eloquently as that and I don't know what to tell you! It's just that! Oh! And Bai Luo Yin is THE stepmother's son! lol
Negatives: I'm just gonna say it straight up. This show has r@pe. A lot of it. In fact, the concept of consent is extremely murky and undefined in this narrative. And I could sugarcoat it and come up with excuses....it's r@pe. Okay? And I know why it's in there...it's plausible deniability. As long as it's not two-sided, you can get away with showing some sexy action, and yes...the ONE time the show had consensual, two-sided, enthusiastic (well, actually...one was drunk still, yikes, so not 100% consensual but we are beggars, and the show literally gives us no choice, so...) the show got canceled for it. -_-
Yes, reader...you read that right *ugly crying* This show was Icarus! It flew too close to the sun!!!!! And it was burned to a crisp, I tell you! *ugly crying* We were left hanging in the middle of the air! Never to fly, never to fall, just levitating, wondering how it could've ended! *ugly crying* Woe is me! What is this tragic nonsense?! We're in the 21st-century, ffs!!!!
Anyway, the show has weird romantic dynamics. You know it's supposed to be slightly more consensual than what we see because at a high point, the character's argument is "Stop! My dad could see you from right there" So like...if he was bothered, he could literally scream for his dad to come save him from the octopus-man but no, he's just worried they would get discovered. Which is not great but I guess it's a bit of consolation. STILL, if you can't handle SA, don't watch it! It will upset you. I was fine because I don't necessarily assume the situation I am watching is supposed to be morally appropriate and because I don't have that expectation from my lead characters, I can still enjoy a show even if the mains are terrible people who do terrible things. But if you feel uncomfortable by that or it might trigger you, be kind to yourself and don't put yourself through it...or I guess you can skip? But at some point, you would just be skipping the whole show.
Overall: Reader, it was love at definitely-not first sight. It took a few episodes for me to warm up to this but just like how Gu Hai becomes this obsessive mess, I too, eventually became an obsessive mess when watching this show. It was just a good, though not high quality, show that captures your heart with its sincere heart and then just as you are freefalling into its rabbit hole, it ends on an inconclusive note. An unfinished sentence. We will never know how this was meant to end and that's heartbreaking. But the fact that the cast and crew paid the ultimate price and were either banned, imprisoned, or forbidden from working takes the tragedy from a 10 to a hundred. It's in respect to the sacrifice they made that I think it's good to see so many love this work and keep its legacy alive. If you prefer a more family-friendly version of this plot, Stay With me, the second adaptation of the book is also available. The Thai one has its own issues...I'm not gonna tell you, go find out about it yourself. But if you can handle the controversial bits, this show is so worth the heartbreak. Yes, the heartbreak. You will be heartbroken but you will also be thankful for it. It's all gain and all loss.
P.S. (because I didn't talk enough): One thing I love about this show is how both characters are such macho men. They're like...big, manly man types! Which is very rare in BL? I have never seen it like this, to be honest. And it was just so refreshing! I don't know, I liked how they were both big, strong men who could punch each other and cause actual damage! hehe he he he...I don't know, I guess we all have issues?!

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Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
jul 30, 2024
16 van 16
Voltooid 2
Geheel 7.0
Verhaal 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Muziek 1.0
Rewatch Waarde 1.0

I don't get it?!

So this show is just so basic. I don't get why people love this. In fact, I suddenly get why people were shocked that Hyung Sik could act in Happiness! The only good thing about this show is the running joke that the main character is a really tiny girl who beats up big bad gangster guys.
The romance is so...ew! It's just...what is that?! It was cringe, it was inappropriate, actually. Dating your boss is not it and not only that, the show has so many examples of why it's unethical within the plot but it's either used as melodrama or cute factor...it was neither. It was just...HR material for a lawsuit. Their chemistry is off. Bickering for the sake of bickering is not a dynamic. People who are constantly arguing are not compatible in secret. Also, why did she get away with being so sassy to her employer from the get-go? Romance didn't hit at all. If this was an investigation buddy show it would make more sense. I was so bored during the overly childish romantic scenes that I was constantly distracted. Or rather, I preferred watching paint dry than to sit through one more forced aegyo scene....ugh!
The gay jokes were only occasionally funny but then it got old very quickly and I don't see how most of it could pass now. Most of this show aged like milk left out of the fridge! The poop jokes and all these lowkey-lewd stuff with the gang were just weird and bizarre and I don't understand why they kept going on for so long. They were good for one or two plot B situation but it just never ended. It became so uncomfortable during the second half of the show.
And I'm wondering if this show is the prototype of the "murderer/serial killer in romcom" trope of kdramaland? Because if it is, I'll redact another point from this. This naturally plays into every one of the cliches of that trope but slightly better because at least a show about a super strong girl having a villainous evil guy for her to overcome makes sense. Overall though, none of the plots were that good. The beginning was funny so I was laughing and watching but just as I got hooked, it got boring. Incidentally, that was when the "romance" started.
Seriously this show ruined Hyung Sik for me! What was that acting? Park Bo Young gets away with it. Because she is small and cute and it wasn't too jarring for her to act like a petulant child. Everyone was a mess though.
Anyway, the more I see of the most watched shows of kdramaland, the less it makes sense...seriously, why?!?! What did you al see in this?!

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Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
mei 30, 2021
20 van 20
Voltooid 0
Geheel 10
Verhaal 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Muziek 6.5
Rewatch Waarde 5.0

What a stupid decision it was to watch this show!!!!

**This is a review of the SBS edition**
Once again with more gusto! (This is a rereview of sorts. I had a very emotional reaction to this back in the day. I have since changed my mind and changed how I rate shows so I'm going to give this review another shot.)

It’s hard to talk about this show without mentioning its relation to the Chinese adaptation or the novel it was based on. I know people don’t like comparisons between shows but everything makes so much more sense once you see the extended Scarlet Heart Ryeo universe in one picture. Luckily, I am not done watching the cdrama so I can’t really compare the two here. (I’m coming for you in the scarlet heart review though!)
If you don’t know, this show is the Korean adaptation (adaptation being the operative term here) of a Chinese novel set in one of the most historically intriguing moments of Qing dynasty history; the fight over the succession of emperor Kangxi. The gory, soap-opera-like historical events are so irresistible that they have inspired many retellings. Scarlet heart being a particularly famous one. I have read books that don’t even directly say they are about this period but then *that* thing happens and you just know.
The brilliance of this show is that the writers were daring enough to take this very Chinese historical tale and adapt it to a Korean historical moment of equivalent dramatic potential. And they succeed?! It’s unbelievable but it worked. The number of things they didn’t change is almost more upsetting than what they did change. My theory is that the dude who decides what happens to humans got bored and copy-pasted a part of history twice and just changed some details so it wouldn’t be too obvious.
Anyway, you should watch this show if you like:
1. Star-crossed lovers
2. First love is not the be-all
3. Tragic ending (Be ready. It will end badly)
4. A bunch of pretty incompetent boys running around failing at acting
5. Political backstabbing
6. Succession wars
7. Historical romance (of the bodice ripper variety)
8. "Dirt-poor production doesn't mean bad"
9. Charmingly messy writing
10. Boys taking too many baths…it was a weird detail. They made the bathhouse one of the main sets…
11. A Byronic hero, flaws and all
12. If you are just content with Lee Joon Gi doing a damn good job while everything falls apart around him like a house on fire.
13. If fratricide and incest do not bother you (I'm just throwing it out there. It's not detailed ...well...)

Summary: Girl goes back in time. Girl meets boy. Girl meets boy. Girl meets boy. Girl meets b-… you get it. And just when you think it’s all fun and games, history hits you like the bus at the end of mean girls.

Story: This show has the most uneven writing I have ever seen in an East Asian show. It’s like they wrote about ten episodes then got tired so they just decided to wing the details and the beginning and the end. And it works out. Somehow. Here’s where the comparison comes to matter. Where this show fails in its first five episodes to establish the world of the story in a level-headed and engaging manner, the cdrama is especially competent. The first five episodes are truly the Achilles heel of this show. The show starts with a heavy reliance on the pretty boys and the almost ironically nonsensical romantic tropes of high school dramas of the early 2010s but then whirls into serious political tragedy and grey area writing two episodes later! It’s such a weird beat to start on and I think this is the reason why a lot of Korean fans had a negative response to it back in the day. But then suddenly, everything clicks into place and for ten episodes, the show actually successfully emotionally grabs you and while it still has flaws, the intrigue becomes more mature and the characters settle down in their positions and it becomes really enjoyable. Then again the ending becomes very rushed.
I think the main issue of the show is pacing. They needed maybe 5 more episodes so they could flesh out the falling out of the end. The way it happens now, the show is one tragic event after another for 15 episodes in a row. It becomes a bit emotionally taxing when you are giving away so much to the drama and get no payoff for all that emotional labor is provided.
I love the romance in this show. It’s dirty, grimy, messy, destructive. Although they love hard and passionately, the characters never really lose themselves to each other in a way for them to be strong together. And that’s the tragedy of it but also, its beauty. There is not much of a miscommunication here (except those last 3 episodes but f*ck ‘em. We don’t acknowledge those episodes!) it is just how the characters are not willing to believe in their love. They always hold back while at the same time, they’re stretching themselves thin to save the other. It’s so tragic to watch them fail because it feels like one of those mythical romantic tales. You watch them and you know exactly how they're going to fail each other but there’s no stopping the train anyway. So you just sit there and watch Orpheus turn around...
Now those last three episodes suck. I got so upset watching them that I didn’t even cry when sad things happened because I was angry. But since I was invested, I watched it all the way and I don't regret anything.

Acting: Lee Joon Gi acted in this show. That’s it. Everyone else was there too. No, I'm kidding (sort of)! I think IU did a good job too. People say she acted weird at the beginning and they are not wrong but further research has informed me that that’s just how the character works in the early stages of this story so just go with it. She settles better into the character once the absolutely silly high school girl shenanigans end. Everyone else was varying degrees of good to bad. I’m sorry but some of those boys survive the show but just barely! That's not to say it was all bad. Everyone did their best. A for effort.

The music: Yeah, this is the OG show with the bad music. It was hit or miss. I sort of hate the ones with singing in them but then there was this one song from the soundtrack called "Gestures of Resistance", I think, and it's so beautiful. Halfway into it, there's a part that electric music starts, and then it's interrupted by a cello and a violin, and WOW! It was so epic and melancholic at once. I love that one piece so much.

Production value: It’s a cheap show and you can tell but if you get invested in the characters, then it would not matter too much because you’ll be too busy following the schemes and the love triangles and the heart-stopping grief that the production value will not bother you as much as the knife in your heart does.

Rewatch value: When I first watched this, I told myself I would never touch it with a stick because it hurt too much. And yet…and yet I keep finding myself missing the feelings. I have to fight myself to not go back to it. So for me, it’s a show that I might rewatch if I ever have the time. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time.

Negative:???? It's sad. It's not evenly written. It's cheap-looking. The editing is messy, the music is irritating... There's so much wrong with this and I just don't care! Lee Joon Gi smiles at IU and I'm a puddle and none of the bad things matter!

Overall: I think it’s a bit hard to pitch this show to a new watcher or try to analyze it with any clarity because it’s one of those shows that either touches you emotionally and then you’re willing to ignore the messy script, the bad acting and the terrible production or it doesn’t and suddenly everything wrong with it becomes relevant.
I just think the show is worth a watch because if it does connect with you, then chances are it’s going to be a show you won’t forget. Like ever. I honestly feel haunted by the story of Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Like I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how it could be analyzed through this theory or that, or just what the point was? Why? Why did it happen like this?!
It might seem like it’s just a cheap reverse harem story (and it is) but there’s something very heartfelt and authentic about it that those who love this show have felt.
It’s an acquired taste but if you are in doubt and you’re not sure if you should watch it or if the first five episodes turned you off, then I’m here to tell you it’s worth giving a chance to. Just lower your expectations and let yourself get carried away by the emotion.

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Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
feb 10, 2021
8 van 8
Voltooid 0
Geheel 8.5
Verhaal 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Muziek 7.5
Rewatch Waarde 3.0

You get a pretty dessert and YOU get a pretty dessert and you...

This was my first (and probably last) Japanese drama to watch (because they're not available in my country and I already had such a hard time finding this one) but if this will be my only experience with jdramas, I think I'll say it went perfectly well.

This is a short, condensed, romantic but also with interesting side-plots show. It's not unnecessarily dragged out at all which I really appreciate. I never really got tired watching this show.

You should check this show out if:
1. You like shows about food
2.You like mostly drama-free romances
3.If that fusion of old and new is your aesthetic
4. You like Revenge stories
5. Enemies-to-allies-to-lovers
6.Pretty food
7.You don't mind soap opera level acting

Story: Basically when the main character was a kid, her mother gets accused of murder by her childhood friend. Now she's 20 years old and a dessert artisan and she wants to find out what really happened. Incidentally, her archnemesis comes to her with a proposition that helps her cause. Once she starts investigating though, things are revealed to not be as they seemed...

The story is very intriguing. It does have some moments that I didn't quite get how a character's brain arrived at their course of action but if you are willing to frown through a couple of confusing interactions, after a few episodes everything starts to make sense. I don't know anything about Japanese culture and I'm still processing the concept of red bean paste as a sweet-desert but this show was such a fun way to get a glimpse into it. One thing that was so interesting about this show was that it's set in modern times but then a lot of characters live in this rural style that seems like it's from the past if you glimpse at it a certain way. Like I'm pretty sure the house the main characters live in doesn't have electricity. Also, everyone wears kimonos and that just makes the aesthetics so good. I even liked the non-traditional outfits. The main character Nao's clothes are so pretty. The romance I think might not be something everyone will have patience with, the dude acts so odd at first and he slams his fist against the wall and glares down at the protagonist a lot. I frowned a bit the first two times he did it but then I started snorting when he did it because it was just so melodramatic and ineffective. Thankfully he stops once he gets his *~*~*~* Tragic backstory*~*~*~* so it was all in good fun! I liked the romance once they got their groove on. They were really easily into each other so that was really good. The development process was kind of a surprise too, definitely a different pace from the cdrama and kdramas I am used to. I really enjoyed it. I liked the murder mystery/whodunnit part too. Not gonna talk about the very end but to a certain extent, it all made sense. I figured some of the reveals before they happened and some not.
I would say it was slightly soap opera-ish? Like they definitely had that melodramatic music+weirdly widened eyes shock face close up and messy villain shenanigans but it was entertaining enough.
The acting...hmm. It was fine? Didn't love the mother's overacting. She reminded me of Snape from A Very Potter Musical sometimes!
The music was good when it was just soft classical music. It went well with the vibe of the story.

Overall, I liked it. It wasn't awe-inspiring but it was a very fun and quick watch. Definitely recommend.

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The Concubine
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
dec 2, 2020
Voltooid 0
Geheel 5.0
Verhaal 5.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Muziek 6.0
Rewatch Waarde 1.0
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten

Why did I watch this?!

I did not enjoy this movie. I was very intrigued by the description which makes the movie sound like something it just wasn't. I wouldn't recommend watching this unless you are a fan of the actors and you're willing to support them through tedious plots and bad narratives.
This movie fails in my opinion, not by being fundamentally a bad concept but somewhere in post-production something went wrong. The editing of this movie is tragic but I can't even blame the editor because the plot is complicated and the movie is trying to be so many different things at once that it fails to truly master any of its concepts perfectly. The cuts are jumpy, it goes from one scene to another without any logical connection or flow. It's just like separate paragraphs cut and pasted together. This makes the movie disjointed and messy. Mainly the issue is that the movie was trying to be an arthouse aesthetic movie, palace intrigue movie, erotic obsession movie, a commentary on power and corruption, and a revenge plot all at once and each of these would have made a good movie if they had just focused on one thing and centered the plot around that but no, they had to do it all at once and it made no sense. There were also some very questionable cinematography choices, and I wouldn't bring something like this up if they weren't so bizarre that it actually affected my enjoyment of the story. Some scenes have gorgeous framing and very symmetrical setting but then sometimes the camera is on the wrong person during conversations and it just really ruined the emotional impact of the scene. (Like when the king accuses his mother of attempting to kill the king and when he does this, we don't see her reaction and there's just this awkward silence before she starts talking and it's so wrong because I'm pretty sure the actress was acting her heart out for the reaction they didn't show!)
Obviously, the script had major issues. As I said, it had too many complicated plotlines that all get the bare minimum effort put into them and so they're all so cliche and disjointed. This also means that the characters don't get enough space to be developed. Especially the two mains; THE concubine and her former lover. Both are such cardboard characters with so little time put in actually developing any personality or clear motivation for them that they are as unknown and one-dimensional at the start as they are at the end. Also, the lover was barely in the movie, he was so pointless and he honestly didn't deserve any of the things that were done to him. I think the writer should pay for emotional damage to their own character!!!!! The king gets a better development though it could've been better? Like I said: the bare minimum.
What was good in the movie was the set design, the aesthetic they were going for, and the choreography. The movie looks pretty? They do try to make it look smarter than it is (and what it was, was just softcore p*rn barely masquerading as a historical drama) but it was such a wasted effort. I don't remember the music so I'm thinking it was either so good it became invisible or so inconsequential that I didn't remember any of it.
The acting...could've been better? Some parts were overacted in my opinion. Others seemed confused about what they had to go for, so they just went with blank stoicism, which might be to some viewers' preference but I only like stoic performances if the eyes can communicate the deep emotions and there was none of that here. I don't blame the actors though, they were hardly given anything to work with.
Lastly, what I just hated about this movie were the excessive, gratuitous, pointless sex scenes that were very explicit and numerous, and maybe if they had made those a little more tasteful and MUCH shorter, there would've been more time to develop an actual plot for the movie. I don't know, just a suggestion.... (I know why they put them there but in the absence of a cohesive plot, this was just in bad taste)
Overall, I wasted precious time watching this movie and I regret the sequence of decisions I made that led me to watch it. I think this story should have been a tv series, (a miniseries maybe,) instead of a movie but given the number of gratuitous sex scenes in it, I can see why they chose to make a movie instead.
Please go watch something else if you want to watch a good movie. If you're here for the nudity or the actors, then go ahead and watch it!

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Method
0 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
5 dagen geleden
Voltooid 0
Geheel 7.5
Verhaal 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Muziek 8.0
Rewatch Waarde 1.0

Life imitates art and art imitates life

I wasn't very impressed with this. I somehow expected more drama, intrigue, and obsession from this. I think for me this film falls short of executing what is otherwise a very interesting premise. It's partially due to the ambiguity of the narrative but it's not just that. There's also the fact that the film's intrigue is amped up too high because the actual film fails to deliver its meaning at certain points so it's both ambiguous and vague.

Plot: An idol rapper is (for some reason) doing a super moody theater production with a famous theater actor known for his method acting. This whole thing seems convoluted because theater is too prestigious for idol actors like...seriously! But whatever. After initial disinterest and rebellion, the young idol slowly becomes interested in acting as he watches the seasoned actor. He tries to imitate the method acting technique and soon, things get weird!
Btw, the idol coming from a group called "P2S" is so gauche...Korea, please do better. Seriously...

Plot: So I could not understand the narrative from watching the film. It was so vague, choppy, and scattered for me, that I ended up reading the plot summary on Wikipedia in order to figure out what was happening in the film. I have since read some interesting interpretations of this film which partially succeeded in redeeming some aspects for me but for the most part, I could not understand why characters went from one point to another. Basic details of the plot were so convoluted and unnatural that I also failed at suspending my disbelief and spent a good amount of the film distracted by technicalities that made me feel second-hand embarrassment. Like how are they getting away with making a racy theater production about a gay affair?! It's been seven years and Korea can barely accept a TV show with a gay character in it, in the year of 2024! And why is an idol actor doing theater to begin with?! And why is everyone so chill about the bizarre behavior of these men?
That said, it wasn't all bad. The plot has a cyclical nature and that's so interesting. We're thrust in the middle of a script reading with no context of the drama's plot. We slowly figure out that the drama is the final, bloody moments of an affair gone wrong but we have no idea how the characters got there. Then we see the actors going through a process of living as the drama's characters, becoming them in every way. It's a self-fullfilling prophecy. The actors' attempt to embody the characters sets into motion a series of events that eventually come to precede the events of the drama they are supposed to act in. Real life becomes the cause and history of the drama's events and the drama is the cause and catalyst that brings about the incidents happening in real life. It's actually brilliant! There's also a seriously interesting point made about sincerity and bravery and it's completely entangled with the queer representation in the story which makes this an exclusively queer narrative, impossible to recreate with any other type of dynamic and that's so amazing. I love that!
But I didn't really get all this from just watching the film. I only put these together with the help of other people's analysis and reading the summary! So while I think the idea is great, I think the execution of the plot was sloppy.

Acting: and that brings me to the second point. I don't think the acting was great. It was too much and too little in different scenes and only hit the mark occasionally. I know there's supposed to be ambiguity in the story and we're not supposed to be totally sure if the characters are being honest or pretending but for that to be shown, sincerity and insincerity need to be contrasted against each other. Here though, characters are unreliable and vague all the time! I could never grasp a normal behavior standard for them to measure their abnormal behavior against. So that led to more confusion.

Production: I think the main issue of this film is directing. A better director would have directed the actors better, established the world order better, chosen the best shots, and made sure the editing was immaculate. Then this movie could have been a 10. I really think a better direction would have fixed everything. And that's odd because I believe the director wrote the script too so they should have been the perfect candidate to make this. I wonder why it fell short a bit.

Rewatch: Not really. It wasn't that interesting though it wasn't awful. Once was enough.

Overall: If you're curious, just watch it. But it's not a personal recommendation, for me.

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More than Words
0 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
10 dagen geleden
10 van 10
Voltooid 0
Geheel 9.0
Verhaal 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Muziek 10
Rewatch Waarde 1.0

Actions speak louder than words.

Objectively a great show, this show falls short of a 10-star review because 1) That's for shows I actually loved and enjoyed every moment of and 2) The storytelling falls short of delivering the proper emotions at parts.
I also feel very conflicted about whether I should recommend this or not. The thing is the production level of this is amazing. The cinematography, set design, lighting, make-up, clothes, directing, and acting are on par with the best of the best, I believe. It's a naturalist style, to a fault! Every character, situation, and interaction feels, painfully, like it was plucked from a real moment. And from episodes 1 to 6, I loved that world so much, that I wanted to open the screen and crawl into it and live in the characters' lives. The show just makes Japan look lovable!...and then episode 7 happens.
For the record, I don't think the show is "ruined". They didn't "mess up". The plot works. The doomed, terrible fallout is logical and expected. It's just that that moment feels like a balloon has burst and suddenly the rose-colored glasses are off and you see the grimy, messed gore of the show's underbelly. Nothing in life is that clean, easy, and straightforward forward, and as a show that feels more like a documentary in its realism than a scripted scenario, it was bound to fall apart as magnificently as it did. But just because it's logical and true to style, doesn't mean I enjoyed sitting through it. This was so upsetting. Maybe because it felt so real, it hurt more than your average drama. It was devastating and I felt so much distress during the final hours of the show. So how can I just consider the technical part when the emotional part was so scarring and dissatisfying?

Summary: The story follows three friends. Meiko, a girl with a hardened heart but a deep fear of abandonment, Makki who is the poster child for a manic pixie dream boy but who is actually hiding his fear of being left behind under a sunny personality so people around him don't feel burdened by his sadness and won't leave him, and Eiji a spineless but kind university student who I would like the punch very very hard in his soft face but that's not related to the plot. Meiko has sworn off relationships, and Eiji has recently discovered he's gay. He falls for the INAPPROPRIATELY younger Makki and Meiko who is lowkey 100% also in love with Makki just sort of settles for supporting them and hangs around like a really lovely third wheel. Things fall apart later. Of course they would...ugh!

Plot: I could probably write a whole essay on this show's plot. It's low-key brilliant but it's also so frustrating. So you end up wanting to acknowledge how brilliant it was but being too pissed off by everything that goes down to be able to appreciate its greatness. That's why you would see a lot of reviews either praise what a great show it was but avoid talking about the details or people ranting angrily at how much they hated this and rating it suspiciously low. I'm here to tell you both are valid reactions. I also feel like throwing the metaphorical show out of the window from frustration but also give the crew a standing ovation. Frankly, I'm only just leaning towards praise because I didn't like Eiji's character much and liked the fourth (mysteriously kept out of my summary) main character who shows up way too late into this show. Now if I wanna get real deep into it, this is how I would review the plot. There are two issues with the plot:

1) The core of this story lies in the name of the show: More than words. In order to understand the plot, the characters, their motivations, and their ridiculous choices, you need to pay attention not to what the characters say with their words but what they say with their actions. Characters say they want something but don't really mean it. Others say they don't want someone but actually do. Other characters just don't say much but show their feelings with their actions and ultimately the tragedy of this story comes from the fact that even the characters miss each other's silent pleas. It's beautiful but also...it wasn't totally well delivered? Some bits of the editing work to the detriment of the plot. They manage to trivialize certain dynamics or underplay the importance of certain connections to the point that until the end, I'm still not sure who feels what and how much. And not knowing this, affects how you see these characters. This works especially against the relationship between Eiji and Makki which in addition to having a very imbalanced power dynamic, also suffers from the fact that I could never be totally sure just how committed one was to the other. Meiko is our POV character for most of the show and she herself knows there's a deep part of Makki and Eiji's relationship that she can never gain access to (and she desperately wishes to insert herself into it! Gosh!) But because of this, it just feels like Eiji and Makki are really good friends who are randomly living in the same house! Now, in retrospect, this may have also been due to an unreliable narrative situation involving Meiko's perspective of things (and how she wanted to make it SEEM less deep than it was due to personal...guilt) because, in the last 3 episodes of the show, you get ALL that when Makki is the POV character, lol (and honestly? that's when I started to feel nauseated watching this because a 16yo should never date a 22yo because that clearly fcked up his perception of intimacy and it was just painful to watch during those last few episodes AAAAA) Anyway, I'm getting off track but what I'm trying to say is, I could never trust Eiji's feelings, not the whole time throughout the show and he just irks me, that creepy mf.

2) The second arc is too short. So turns out, this show is an adaptation of a manga called "More than Words" and a partial adaptation of another manga called "In the Apartment". With MTW being the prequel to the main story of ITA. Unfortunately, though, this show is 80% More Than Words and only includes one arc of In The Apartment. Mainly because that's when the narrative set up in MTW reaches its conclusion and this being more focused on MTW, they probably added the extra episodes for clarity. But, In the Apartment is a nice story too! It's not as raw or lovable as MTW, but MTW was actually a mirage so that's why it was too good to be true, anyway. ITA is more realistic in its gloominess but less so in its characterizations because we only get a very very summarised glimpse of it. To be honest, I would have loved it if this show had 3 or 4 more episodes so that we could see Makki's character recover a bit from the messed up indoctrination that his former relationship left on him. He was so flawed and beaten down by the end, I wanted to just sit and cry for the kid.
I also have to talk about the characterizations because, despite her selfishness and bad choices, I really liked Meiko's character too. All the characters are so flawed but so well-written. Even though I want to sucker punch Eiji, I still appreciate his characterization. It's so brilliant. And of course, I feel deeply sorry for Makki because we just don't see enough of his interiority but what little we glimpse of him through the eyes of others is so intriguing and interesting. And that brings me to the next point:

Acting: The acting in this show is wonderful! Usually for me, Japanese dramas are a hit or miss as frequently they have this cartoonish, cutesy, over-the-top acting that I just hate. I simply hate it. There was none of that here. Maybe, some background characters had a bit of that but the main cast was so good, so natural, so level-headed, and so realistically awkward in their performances that I just can't praise them enough. Such a wonderful cast. I love them. They made the characters FEEL complex, like real humans.

Production and music: I already said how wonderful the production is. I will just add that the credits are so beautiful too. So smart. Also, the music on this show is amazing. This is how you score a show! SK and China please take notes...please! I am begging!

Rewatch: Hell, no.

Negatives: There is a freaking minor/adult relationship in this show. It's never properly addressed as being weird and I know, it's not legally wrong in Japan since I think the age of consent is 13?! But still. How do I say this... this must be how the relationship is in the show because the show may not say it but as you watch, you can literally see the bad education and emotional scarring that such a relationship left on the minor. The show doesn't mention it but it's there! Right there! Especially if you have seen this in real life, you will know the signs and they are there and it's heartbreaking. I just wish we got more of the show so we could see more of that aftermath and maybe some form of recovery because no minor deserves to be taken advantage of like that and then just be left to fend for themselves. (now if you'll excuse me I'll go cry)

Overall: I don't know if I should recommend this. I would have recommended it if I'd written this while watching episode 5 but...I've seen all 10 and while I know it's a good show, the lingering emotions I feel after watching this are not what I would like to share with you all. Dive in at your own risk!

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Your Name Engraved Herein
0 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
14 dagen geleden
Voltooid 0
Geheel 8.0
Verhaal 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Muziek 9.0
Rewatch Waarde 1.5

Lingering Regrets

Well, that was depressing.
So how do you differentiate BL from queer art? Because...I see people refer to LGBT films and shows from Asia as BL as if the type of queerness is different from Western ones?! That's a bit weird. Gay is gay everywhere, no?!
Anyway, this is a story of sexual awakening in a crappy era in Taiwan and it's appropriately heartbreaking. You can't really expect all daisies and roses from an era where political and social upheaval are piled on top of dominant prejudices. It's not a cute, fluffy story. So the plot and the characters' characterization are appropriately bleak and raw. It's tragic and heartbreaking, not just due to the circumstances but also because of the regrettable choices made by the characters that make life even harder for them. Then, it is no one's doing but theirs.
I enjoyed this but the experience is bittersweet as the implications of the timeline and the story speak of lost time, irreversible mistakes, and regrets that haunt the characters 30 years into the future. But it's done very well so it feels satisfying to watch the story develop.
That said, I did not love the movie from start to finish. I found the conversation scenes with the priest to be stilted and unnatural. They felt too much like preaching and it made the whole thing awkward. I also disliked the flash-forward in the end; not because of the positive or negative ending but because it felt like over-explanation in a way that was not very graceful. There seemed to be too much conversation. Or the camera was following where it was not meant to go? I don't know, it just didn't feel connected to the rest of the film. It felt like a totally different movie and while I liked the atmosphere and aesthetic of the past (not just visually but the cinematography and the direction choices too) the modern bit felt like your run-of-the-mill indie film...I just didn't like it. It felt like there was a break in the film's flow. Maybe if they had maintained the vibes, I would have liked it better.
The acting...well, actually I watched this because I liked Tseng Jing Hua in a different project and came here for that so I knew the acting was going to be good. But the rest of the cast was great too. I really liked Edward Chen. They kind of break your heart throughout the film.
Music is a big part of this film and so they paid special attention to it. It pays off.
Would I rewatch? I would rather not, to be honest. I hate stories about regret the most. They make me so anxious. So once is enough!
Overall: I guess you can watch it if you don't mind a little heartbreak. It's not a feel-good film but it's also not high-art...still, I think it's worth a watch, for sure. The quality is genuinely high, the story is touching and the acting is moving. You wouldn't feel like you wasted your time. It will be well-spent watching this.
P.S.: A bit of an unrelated tangent but this movie just proved to me once more that with proper crew and budget, Taiwan can save us from certain bad adaptations and censored content...just putting it out there.

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Semantic Error Movie
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14 dagen geleden
Voltooid 0
Geheel 10
Verhaal 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Muziek 8.5
Rewatch Waarde 10

Could use more kisses, tbh

Watching this I realised I barely remembered the show, actually. Now, I'm not sure if this had extra scenes and that's why I didn't remember those or if I just forgot big chunks of the plot...we might never know!
So my enjoyment of this show/movie is a 10 but if I'm 100% honest the quality is at 8.5 stars. Some plot points don't make total sense to me and sometimes the never-ending onslaught of tension feels a bit suffocating but I like the overall drive of the narrative and the upward development of the story. The plot doesn't feel stuck and the writers always find a way to push the characters forward even when the plot reaches a standstill. I also just find the romantic plotline so cute. This is how you do enemies to lovers! Don't let those tiktok fantasy fanatics trick you! Enemies to Lovers was always about petty crap like the initial tension in this story and this show/movie is a great example of how you develop such a plot in a cute and satisfying way. It's such a wholesome story with the right mix of tension, fluff, and humor that you will feel comfortable revisiting it over and over again.
The acting here is also better-that-average. They are obviously new to all this and still learning but I think they both did a good job. Lots more to learn for sure but they still did such a good job here. Better than most K-BL actors. This one really stands out. The supporting cast were great too. They endear you to their characters and though we see them for a limited time, they all feel fleshed out and real.
Production did such a good job. There's a podcast out there somewhere which explains the use of color theory in semantic error. If you can find it, it's worth a listen. The editing is also good. At 2 hours and 57 minutes, this is officially way too long and it took me a whole day to finish it(...I don't know why the math is mathing like that) and yet, I would say, it's worth it. I swear the show didn't have all this detail, somehow the flow of the story makes better sense here? Hmmm...odd!
I would also say this is a rewatch-worthy movie. It's romantic. It's cute. It's fluffy. It's a feel-good film to revisit when you're down. It's like a bite-sized feel-good pill.
Overall: I highly recommend it. You can also watch the show but I feel like this one is more convenient. Especialy for bingable reasons. No need to go to "next episode" like a procastinator's version of walk-of-shame.

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