namjhyuns
Dramaland
In the mood for laughter and love
If there's one thing I appreciate about cdramas it's that, from time to time, they manage to produce a story with characters behaving their age but also showing a pleasantly surprise maturity to their actions. In recent years, youth dramas like Love O2O, Our Secret, You Are Desire or When I Fly Towards You come to mind. Everyone Loves Me falls into this category. We are presented a group of characters who are young enough to make mistakes, but old enough to be aware of their limitations, of their missteps, and learn to grow from them.I really liked both leads. Particularly Ling's spitfire personality, which is a breath of fresh air and I loved every minute she made Gu Xun sweat. But he didn't lose against her. Gu Xun was charming and overall had a great presence, boy needed to be taken down a notch tho. And thanks to the fact both leads are written as equals through their entire journey together, at the end of the drama it feels like they have come out as better people. I even dare say, it feels like their story it's just beginning.
Lin Yi and Zhou Ye have great chemistry and managed to portray their characters really well. They clearly had a lot of fun working together and with their character's development. I would love to see them work together again in the future.
The rest of the cast was also very good. The supportive characters hace each a function in pushing forward the story at the workplace and the leads's personal lives, which made for some very interesting office tension and hilarious interactions out of it. For example, at the beginning of the story leading man it's arrogant enough to know a good quantity of girls are crushing on him but for someone who claimed to be so popular, he spent a good portion of the story dealing with loves rivals from right to left, up and down. Everyone Loves Me? More like Everyone Loves Her. The results were awesome.
This was a very fun and easy going drama for me, with lots of re-watch potential. Every time I watched a new episode, it put me in a good mood and that's enough for me to recommend it.
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This drama 100% deserves the hype
In a time when we are suffering from a over-saturation of content and less than mediocre stories, particularly related to people with superpowers, South Korea has released MOVING and proved there's still hope for the genre.Like its tittle the story is in constant move, not only pushing forward but going back to different timelines to give us context o our main characters and how the things happening in present time are a direct consequence to the past. Technically, MOVING is perfect. One of the strongest points is definitely the editing and this can be seen in the way the story jumps from one year to another but you never lose track of what's happening nor leaves you confused. There are gaps to fill but with other episodes that will give you answers. The score complements the actions and emotions of the characters to perfection.
The performances are top notch and it's not surprise considering this drama is stack. If you have been watching korean dramas or films for a while, you will recognize even the most random character or one-episode-cameo it's performed by an award winning actor or actress. These people have a reputation for a reason and they deliver in every scene, with a look, a touch, a smile or a punch that will push you through a wall. For some characters in the drama literally speaking.
Zo In Sung hasn't starred in a drama since Dear My Friends (2016) and I am so glad this is his return to the tv format. In MOVING he delivered a nuance, charming and badass performance that in the hands of another would have fell flat. His character's entire existence it's what pushes most of the story forward: a person used as a weapon to kill but all he ever wanted was to live. The big mystery of the drama it's to find out what was his fate after he got separated from those he loves.
Ryoo Seung Ryong remains one of the most compelling actors of his generation, giving us the incredible story of a good man lost in life until he found his purpose and redemption. His storyline, full of gore and violence, was actually a tender love story about how far a man will go to protect his family. Marvelous.
Han Hyo Joo's character could have easily fallen into the Smurfette principle but no. She's an equal to the men who love her and those that want to kill her, with a very strong motivation to keep herself on the top of the game. This character's loneliness comes through every scene she's in, bottling everything up in order to be strong for her family but you can tell she's waiting for a chance to be free and, most importantly, for her son to be able to live freely.
Ko Yoon Jung, Lee Jeong Ha and Kim Do Hoon are really promising actors, particularly considering they hold their own while performance with so many household names. I think Kim Do Hoon and Kim Sun Kyun probably gave one of the most heartbreaking yet beautiful stories in the drama.
Like I mentioned before every single actor in this drama brought their A+ game face but I would be doing a disservice if I didn't mention Kim Hee Won, Cha Tae Hyun, Ryoo Seung Bum, Park Hee Soon, Yang Dong Geun, Jo Bok Rae, Park Kwang Jae, Kim Joong He and, of course, Kwak Sun Young. She in particular was SPECTACULAR.
None of these characters are one-dimensional, they are not defined by the label society wants to put on them. They are all joined together by the experiences, hardships, love, motivations and ambitions they share. At the end of the day, related or not by blood, they are a family. Even the so-called enemies.
MOVING it's absolutely worthy of the hype that surrounds it through all social media and news outlets putting in the category of one of 2023 best tv shows. I only regret I didn't have the time to watch it sooner so I could have add it to mine.
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Frustrating and boring (very little spoilers ahead to make a point)
To be honest, I found this drama to be mild. It's main problem is the script, trying to find problems where there are none and taking way too long for things to happen. I don't mind a long burn but when absolutely nothing happens on a personal level and, most of the time, the characters are in corporate meetings talking about chips, it's a bore.On the other hand, there are very real problems, with lots of potential, that take the entire drama to be resolved and it's done badly. Example: leading lady has to constantly deal with a nasty and jealous co-worker who slanders her and even physically hurts her at one point. When the boss can no longer avoid the issue, leading lady's personal life is brought up and questioned. Excuse me? Her relationship it's nobody's business and furthermore why are y'all weaponizing it against her when it hasn't affected her work or the work place in the fist place? Seems to me you are all dealing with a terrible case of sexism among women and a change of attitude would have been nice. But, no, nasty co-worker doesn't even get fired. She's transferred and choses to quit altogether as if she was trying to save some face. Bitch, please. This particular storyline was frustrating.
There are other two couples, apart from the leads, that we spent a good amount of time following, only for them to completely disappear from once they respectively find happiness. No follow up, nothing, until the last scene of the drama.
The one saving grace is the cast, which is flawless in the respective roles they were given and had good chemistry (at times).
It honestly seems like a waste of a good cast on a mediocre story. A shame.
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Spicy love affair!
Taiwan makes a strong bet, in the rom-com genre, with Let’s Talk About Chu; a heartfelt drama about how people connect with love, sex and themselves.Centered around the different stages and dynamics of human relationships between family members, lovers and friends. The script develops each story in a fun and relatable way, always backed my human emotions. The drama doesn’t judge the characters for the situations they put themselves in, it mostly presents each situation and lets the characters figure it out on their own if its really the best.
The story doesn’t rely on the difficulties of each character to bring out the emotions from the audience and does a really good job in balancing how life is both, comedy and drama. It takes a lot of elements that could be one-dimensional but humanize it with well-rounded and nuance performances from the cast.
The first episode might be all about sex but as you keep watching, you realize that’s just something to get you started talking about love, the importance of affection, intimacy and communication.
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The cast's chemistry it's so good.
To be honest, I fee a little conflicted about this drama. It has great cinematography and costume design, and the chemistry between the actors it's really good.This is very much a character driven drama, so the performances are key for the story to work; and that's really when Brocade Odyssey works best. Tan Song Yun and Zheng Ye Cheng have good chemistry, they work really well together, and the characters they play are well-rounded and interesting. There was never a moment when I wasn't rooting for them.
The script presents an interesting setting but it's when it tries to develop the story further from the relationship and goals between the main characters that becomes too convoluted. It makes odd decisions and puts too many players in the scene. Until episode 32 the drama was okay on this aspect but it was when the scriptwriter had to start moving pieces to resolve the conflicts developed up to that point that the story suffers.
Overall, this was an entertaining watch that didn't reach its full potential but still delivers some really nice and fun moments.
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Pleasantly surprised!
I was pleasantly surprised by this drama, and it's not like I was planning to watch it before it even aired but I was in a mood for an historical piece and a Zhang Wanyi fan, so why not?The story, we have all seen before, but there's something about an underdog rising among the ranks of his family and court that's very satisfying to watch, particularly when it's deserved and well developed.
I confess I wasn't all that interested in most of the supportive characters. An ensemble cast ca be tricky and, most of the time, supportive characters get overlooked. In this drama, this doesn't necessarily happen but, however, I do think most of the supportive cast serves as a player to push the leads' story forward and, most of them, don't get their own story per se. This doesn't mean the story is not good but, compared to other dramas like this one, it's a little lacking on this part.
Ren Min, Zhang Wanyi and Ci Sha do most of the weightlifting in the story, all of them giving really solid performances with the first two perfectly casted as the leads, and the latter delivering one of the most unnerving obsessive characters I have seen in a while.
Overall, I think this was a really good watch and enjoyed it.
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Weak
The entire concept of the film confuses me and I have to wonder what was the point of each of these stories. I don’t understand why people’s whose subconscious was uploaded can’t be aware they are death or in a coma. It seems like the people that invented the Wonderland system is setting it up to fail.Despite its star studded and incredibly talented cast, this film is flawed on its storytelling. They could have done something interesting with the concept it is based on, and about human nature, love, grief and how to move forward. Instead there’s a lot of unjointed nothing.
Overall the film is well produced. It’s not a bad or good film, it’s okay.
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Acosy, warm and lovely story.
The first thing that stands out it's the cast, which is conformed by some of the hottest and most talented young chinese actors nowadays, which includes Wu Lei, Zhao Jinmai, Wang Xing Yue, Chen Jing Ke and Wang Run Ze just to name a few.I think this drama it's a good choice for their careers as they are able to deliver more quiet, subdue and nuance performances in comparison to melodramatic historical stories. Amidst a Snowstorm of Love it's more on the mature and calm side of Dramaland, something that I really appreciated.
This is a soft-spoken story, a mirror to our leads' personality and relationship. There are no grand gestures, insurmountable challenges, or family opposition. Instead we find, front and center, a story about love, friendship and personal growth.
Tien Jen Huang and Yu Bo knew what they were doing. I am guessing Amidst a Snowstorm of Love had two directors because half of the dramas was filmed outside of China, and they had to combine filming styles of storytelling, rhythms and aesthetics, among other practical and technical things. Both teams did wonderful, maintaining the same leve of production through the entirety of the show.
If I have to mention something that bothers me, it would be the sport side of the story which inevitably ends on the characters trying to get to the Olympics. I like it more when the story focuses on their growth as people through their personal relationships. But this is a minor point in a bigger story that it's perfectly cosy, warm and lovely.
I recommend it.
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A wasted opportunity.
I came into this drama thinking it was a romance with a side of comedy but I was pleasantly surprise to find a family drama.Everyone does a really good job in the roles they were given and have great chemistry but you should know this drama leans more into the realism of how relationships actually work in a chinese family nowadays than what westerns countries are used to consume.
I found myself surprised, really, to find this kind of story of a meddling mother to the point of annoyance and a family that would actually enable her actions, until the breaking point. And then when things didn't go her way, she made everything worse. It got to the point where no matter how much I understood she was coming from a place of good, there was no justification or explanation for her.
I have been watching asian dramas for decades now and it's been a long time since I find myself watching a drama with these family dynamics, which it's a reminiscence of early 2000s kind of story and, worse, outdated.
Another weak point, it's that this drama simply didn't have enough story for 37 episodes. If this would have been a 20 something episode long drama, focused more on leading lady's work life, it would have been far more interesting.
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I came for the romance and stayed for the story.
I was in the mood for a historical romance story and Blossoms in Adversity seemed like a good idea since it features some of the actors I like. I was pleasantly surprised by this drama. I really thought it was going to be yet another run of the mill romance but what I found was so much more.The story it's not about romance per se, that's a side story, the main plot of Blossoms in Adversity it's a family torn apart when their patriarch crosses the Emperor in the wrong way (for the right reasons). As a consequence the men, including the children, are exiled to the north and the women, find themselves without the family's fortune and no men to support them. So, out of necessity, they create a matriarchy and end up finding agency of their own for the first time ever with incredible results as they slowly rethink the "rules" they have been living by so far. Slowly, each women starts to show their true self, their personal interests and strong characteristics, they start business, struggle and succeed, the road it's never easy but their bond it's stronger.
I will be honest, you will have to push through at first. There’s some catty behaviour but it’s important to understand that most of these females characters never thought they would be anything other than brides or mothers, as set for the society, but these women prove to be mature and sensible enough to hold proper conversations with each other and realize why they need to work together.
The male lead's story it's also very interesting and it complements well the main characters but I found the women's story far more compelling. This drama is very uplifting and consistent in its characters's development, never betraying them.
I recommend it!
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It was very refreshing to find a tv show that portrays a healthy relationship and how a shared passion can bring people together. There’s really no drama involving the main couple, mainly because these are two people who trust each other and actually talk about their feelings. Their relationship develops slowly but surely, at a perfectly natural pace.
I enjoyed the show a lot thanks to this factor, but it was a little too much at times. It’s like the leads are the only ones who have everything figure it out, which is why everyone around them worships every single thing they do. I get why they are charming, even I fall in love with them, but I think a little more real life struggle regarding Xiao Nai’s business or Bei Wei Wei’s future plans after university would have made the show a little better.
Still, it was so fulfilling to have a leading who is so freaking smart and truly independent. Too bad I found this version of Bei Wei Wei a little too proper and prim. It is hinted that she has personality traits that are not ladylike but we never really get to see them. I think this was partly a decision made by the director to make her like that and I kinda wished they would have choose to keep some of her spunk from the original movie version.
TV version’s of Xiao Nai is a smooth bastard and I love him. The actor brought a lot of charm into the character and made me fully understand why he was so popular but, just like with our leading lady, I would have appreciated it more if I could have seen his shortcomings. Nobody is this perfect all the freaking time.
One of my favorite things from the show was the friendship between the leads but also the one with each other friends.
Xiao Nai’s besties were an absolute delight. The bromance is strong in this show and so very funny. This might be one of my favorite tv friendships ever. They aren’t just simple sidekicks but also had strong personalities and a easy going banter. They are great team and I was cheering for them to succeed!
But the real surprise was the friendship between the girls. In tv shows we always see how strong the bromance is but the women behave catty at one point or another, right? I really appreciate the way this show took the time to properly portray a healthy and rock-solid sisterhood.
Sure, you can find the typical secondary characters and sub-plots in the show too but everyone who matters ends up becoming better at the end.
Now, to the gaming part: I love the CGI they used to portray life inside the game as a second world where the characters can meet and establish strong relationships; and it’s even a cathartic way to confront others. The graphics are incredibly beautiful, it blown my mind.
So, overall, I liked the tv version of LOVE O2O and I recommend it for what it is: a breezy and lovely show.
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The story is generic, nothing we haven’t seen before, but the way the film is shot and the how the characters related to each other is what makes this movie worthwhile. I particularly enjoyed how the film demonstrate that humans’ survival instinct is linked to certain selfishness (embodied in Kim Eui-sung’s character) I was on the edge of my seat through the two hours and whispering to the characters what to do so they could survive and get to Busan.
Gong Yoo has always been a good actor but lately he has being excelling with his performances and this time is no different. He really made me connect with his character and what he was going through.
Ma Dong-seok, as you would expect, stole every scene he was in. From badass warrior to doting husband and comic relief. Jung Yumi and Kim Soo-ahn are the ones bringing all the feels.
By the time we get to the final scene I was holding my breath, praying the survivors would make it to through the tunnel. I really enjoyed the film and if you have the chance to watch it on the silver screen, do it!
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Xia Liang (Ni Ni) has been in a committed relationship with her boyfriend for the past ten years. She basically lives as a housewife but without the ring, wedding nor official title. It’s not like she’s expecting him to propose in a obvious and annoying kind of way, Liang is happy to just be with him. But when she finds a diamond ring in his jacket pocket, she starts to get ideas. Of course, it all explodes in her face. Isn’t that the way?
That’s when with the help of some magical (or should I say spiked?) chocolates, her 17 year old self starts to take over her body. After the initial confusion, 28 year old Liang and her younger self start to work together in order to regain youthful boldness while reclaiming and achieving long lost dreams.
The rest of the characters are also a lot of fun to watch. Liang’s boyfriend (Wallace Huo) has a lot of reflecting and groveling to do in order to correct his mistakes, while the other love interest (Darren Wang) is the dreamboat we all fantasize about. But does the fantasy hold a candle to the real thing?
Liang’s best friend (Ma Su) was hilarious and supportive, and added another layer of the girl power portrayed in this film.
Overall, this was a very sweet film to watch.
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Hyung-seung (Ji Sung) dated for almost a decade what he always believed to be The One until -to his utter shock- everything comes crashing down when she leaves him. The days and months pass by, drinking away, when one night he receives a phone call from an unknown number. The caller it’s a woman who tells him to be quiet and puts on an entire show over the phone, which ultimately ends in phone sex. The caller it’s Yoon-jung (Kim Ah-joong) who was hoping to lit the fire on her dying relationship by giving her boyfriend a little surprise over the phone, too bad she misdialed his number and ended up sharing a very intimate moment with a complete stranger.
The rest… you have to watch it.
Ji Sung and Kim Ah-joong share an incredibly chemistry together and built a relationship based on friendship and trust even when they don’t even share any physical space for the better half of the film. There’s good storytelling on this rom-com that not only has it’s focus on the main character’s love lives but also how they perceive themselves, each other and their professional lives. I love how it’s thanks to this new found friendship that the leads find a new sense of security and self-steem where they reach a common place of understanding of who they are, the goals they set for themselves and who they want in their lives.
And I like how the movie isn’t shy nor apologetic about any of the leads own security about their sexuality and mutual attraction. Relationships don’t always go the way we would like to nor have conventional starts, and that’s okay.
I really recommend you watch My PS Partner. It made me laugh and fall in love with the story and characters, all accompanied by a really fun soundtrack.
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A really fun film about passionate youth!
Let me start with saying that Tori Girl was the film I needed in my life and didn’t even knew about it. Everything about this story is outstanding and here’s why.Japanese films about university students when done well are some of the best and most endearing stories you will ever find. There’s a particular rhythm and feel to this slice of life productions. Usually, in this stories, universities aren’t a place where you study: they’re a place where you join an incredibly interesting club, filled with odd and good hearted characters. Perhaps you will even find love or at the very least a crush. And Tori Girl has all this elements… with a twist. A twist so refreshing that makes the film stand out from al others.
Drifter Yukina (Tsuchiya Tao) has no aim in life and hates her university, where there are mostly male student and almost none of them is as cute as the usual leading man. Everything changes when she meets cute Kazumi (Ikeda Elaiza) and smooth talker Kei (Takasugi Mahiro) who is captain of the Team Birdman Trial, the Human-powered Aircraft Society. Convinced she will be teaming up with him, she gives her all to the team until her path crosses with apparent delinquent Sakaba (Mamiya Shotaro), with whom she develops an antagonistic relationship and must learn to bond with in order to win the competition.
Yukina is an incredibly amusing and gutsy protagonist in a journey to find her calling, who demands to be respected by her peers. This is only emphasised by her first meeting with Sakaba, who changes up the entire tone of the film. Mamiya introduces Sakaba in the most hilarious way, pushing the film to a heightened level and it leaves an impression.
The rest of the cast is equally great and while I would have love to see more of them, I am satisfied with what we got. I know these kids will keep on getting on each others’ nerves and grow stronger as friend long after the closing credits end.
Heavy on team-building with a team captain who is a cheeky bastard that knows exactly how to play his cards, but most importantly a fun dynamic with two leads that will keep you entretened until the final minute, Tori Girl is literally an uplifting film you can’t miss out on!
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