Ershi
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Alchemy of Souls: Part 2
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Tiring...disappointing...unsatisfying...frustrating
After finishing this I honestly regret ever starting Season 1 because that made me obligated to finish this and oh what a glorious disappointment it was.Let me start first off by ticking off the few things I liked:
1. Go yoon jung seamlessly filling in for Jung so min. She impressed me a lot in the first episode and she has continued to do so. She just did not have much to go forth because of Hong sister's misogynistic handling of her character as well as the female characters in this show but I will come back to it later.
2 Acting of the cast was top-notch.
3. Crown prince's character development was done well He left the most impact on me in this show overall.
Now, to the things I did not like and why it was a disappointment:
1. Naksu....ahh...the level of regret and pity I have for the absolute character assassination she had to go through to elevate the male characters, it's borderline disgusting. I just could not believe that in the year 2022-2023 two female writers would be this level of misogynistic. Unbelievable. The 2nd half of AOS showed us that they are never gonna raise her to the equal status any of the male characters possess but we still foolishly pressed on just to be dealt with utter disrespect of a character who could have been so much MORE. In part 2, both she and jin bu yeon, another badass character was reduced to nothing but 5 mins of mentionable screen time. Jin mu might be the cause of their deaths in the show but they were killed without kindness at the hands of Hong sisters.
Hong sisters' misogyny was not only confined to those two characters but also reduced ALL of the female characters as conniving, mean, dumb, and spoiled one-dimensional idiots whose only job was to put up with orders and requests from the male characters. Maidservant kim who was the only exception is nothing more than a glorified mother figure whose identity starts and ends with her young master. It is downright criminal and blasphemous what these writers did to such talented actresses.
2. Other than the middle school romance disguised as a fated lovers' angle and the last-minute mythical creature/let's-show-how-cool-the-male-lead-is plot device, I guess they could not come up with anything that is actually creative. But at this point, that's to be expected. Jin mu's divination bell strategy stays largely forgotten to the point he also forgets about it and meets a demise that is so anti-climactic it's laughable.
I honestly can go on and on but at this point, I am so tired. I just finished it for the sake of finishing it but I like I said wish I never even started it because what a FUCKING DISAPPOINTMENT. Toward the finale I just wanted it to end. I did not feel anything for the supposed "deaths" that eventually meant nothing. The nonexistence of a plot, the utter 180 of an assassin whose only goal was to serve the man, and even after pulling off an astounding rebirth was more interested in finding a man than remembering who she is, the shoved-down romance that would make you literally CHOKE, the absurdity of lengthy draggy episodes filled with nothing but nonsense. I wish I never started it. I am never watching anything ever from the Hong sisters. The only reason I think anyone was interested was the CGI and action but even that was missing in part 2 so anyone who does not have a lot of time on your hands I URGE you to watch ANYTHING ELSE.
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Hei Yue Guang Wen Na BE Ju Ben
7 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Of love and tragedy: Till the end of the moon
I don't even know how to start this to be honest...
If you want a drama that will give you a heart wrenching story with beautifully complex characters, a drama that will consume you to the point of no return then THIS is the one for you. The intensity that this drama made me feel is unparalleled with anything I have ever felt and did not even expect to feel when I started it. It simultaneously made me love and hate the drama sometimes! (coincidentally a theme for the drama as well lol)
Yes there were plot holes, inconsistencies, rushed parts, glaring editing issues that made the viewing experience a tad uncomfortable but due to an experienced cast and crew it was not detrimental. The STRONGEST points for the drama is the acting, the OST, the costumes, the script, and the visual effects + action scenes in that exact particular order i my opinion. The chemistry and the intensity between the main leads at certain scenes were so powerful you just can't help but be overwhelmed and just sit in a daze after an episode ends.
Now, for the very controversial ending that people has a love/hate relationship with. Yes, it was unsatisfying. 100%. Did it match the character arc? Yes. But it also created an oversight in the plot that the writers overlooked which I think could not be helped because of the chinese censorship of 40 ep regulations. This story needed at least 5 more episodes to tie up loose ends and give the main characters THEIR PROPER ENDING. The events that they labeled as ending was needed and valid but that should NOT have been the ending. That is my ONLY gripe with this show. I know and understand why they did it but I still can't accept it unfortunately.
However, to be very honest, the saddest part for me was not the ending but the fact that there will never be another Till the end of the moon. This is a very unconventional and ambitious story. There might be ones with more budget, maybe hopefully more episodes but it will not be this one.
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Tale of the Nine-Tailed Season 2
4 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Entertaining and fun...but don't expect anything deep
Tale of the nine tailed is about the adventures of the nine tailed fox lee yeon and his half brother lee rang.AND...that's it. So if you like the characters and then you would like the drama. if you don't then you won't. simple.
There is no overarching storyline or plot. Their relationship is what makes this drama special. Lee rangs relationship development with his brother and close to father AND mother figure, lee yeon who loves and cares for his brother with exasperated fondness gives this drama life.
The writers banked on developing that relationship in season 2, cut off on the annoying romance angle for lee yeon, added some new chars, upped the intensity and horror and that's season 2 in a nutshell. There are some glaring inconsistencies and plot holes thats hard to ignore thanks to the rushed execution.
What I loved:
- THE BROTHERS RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT
- THE HUMOR
- THE PRODUCTION VALUE
- MORE FOCUS ON DEMONS, FOLK GODS AND THE LORE
What I didn't like:
- the char sunwoo eunoh was badly written and badly acted.
- hyping satori up only for him to be KO'ed after 5 mins.
- Lee rangs insta romance w the mermaid
- VERY rushed execution
- Lee rangs sudden power up which was...convenient but not logical.
It's a great drama for entertainment value and I love watching lee dong wook being sexy and charismatic and the humor moments are pure gold. Plus Kim bum's lee rang is one of the best chars I've seen.
There would likely not be a s3 but I hope there is.
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Romcom and slowburn done right
I honestly don't know where to begin with because I feel like once I do I will not be able to stop haha. I started this plainly out of curiosity because I wanted to watch something that is heavy but not too gritty. I thought I would drop it after 5 episodes but BOY was I surprised! ? And impressed in equal measures.I will not prolong this since other reviewers pretty much said everything there is to be said. It's probably one of the best historical drama and cdrama I have seen easily. It strikes an wonderful balance between romance, family dynamics, revenge, growing up, political intrigue with the help of superb cinematography, script, music, acting. It has its slow moments in a way it doesn't feel draggy or boring.Despite not being a thriller, action, or mystery it manages to keep in your toes and that's probably one of the best aspect of this drama.
Highly recommend to anyone who is still deliberating on watching this and is intimidated by the episode list because honestly you will be sweet odd you won't even realize when did you manage to watch first 25 episodes in 1 week like me!
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Good but not great
Its a visually dazzling spin on the concept of Chinese alchemy combined with wuxia /xianxia drama structure.The cgi, action choreo, world building is breathtaking. But the plot has been made overly complex with twists that doesn't hit very well, the overall schemes are quite flimsy and can be seen through if the characters were given more common sense, filler episodes with filler scenes and draggy pacing got boring pretty fast. Female lead being declawed and just being reduced as a maid and not to mention the "love quadrangle" made me go wtf a few times.
But overall it's a very unique and different genre for south Korean dramas and I can respect that. The acting is solid especially Jung so min which I think kinda saved the series for me. The production set takes huge "inspiration" from Chinese historic/xianxia dramas to build gorgeous daeho but as a non Chinese or non Korean person I don't think it's my place to nitpick in that.
The ost is a banger for me as well. Would like to see how they finish this off in the last 10 episodes.
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Simple cute summer love story
Standard childhood friends to lovers story with great chemistry between the leads, catchy ost, and pastel sweet cinematography.It's not a story that hasn't been done a thousand times before but what I guess sets them apart that it's treated like a love story and not a bl. It explores mature topics like how much communication is important and supposed societal norms. My only qualm is that it's too short which is a good thing in a way that it doesn't create a lot of drama but it also deprives from all the possibilities and potential it could have. For example, I felt like kakeru kinda accepted the whole relationship thing a bit too quickly in my opinion.
But still it's a really sweet, beautiful story. I wish there would be a season 2.
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sweet little fun
Loved it. Such a cute fun bingeable little series that really warmed my heart.Simple sweet story with great execution and well acted. The characters (even the side characters like aida and hashimoto) were memorable. What I think they did particularly great was although it was short, the love story didn't feel rushed or instant. The development was smooth, gradual and believable. It had it's flaws for sure but also given the young ages of the actors and the relatively aspiring bl jdrama industry I think they did quite well in that regard.
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Alice in Borderland Season 2
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Life is a game. You lose if you give up.
Simply amazing.I must say I had low expectations given I was not impressed by the first season. The whole thing did not make sense, the majority of characters with the most screen time felt 2 dimensional and shared the same two personality traits: unlikeable and boring.
Season 2 was MUCH MUCH improved in terms of acting, character development, plot development, the storeytelling was solid with much better pacing. LOVED the games this season. Although the queen of spades was a bit weaker than the other compared to king of clubs or king of diamonds, it still was quite thrilling.
Didn't like the lengthy monologues however or the very obvious god like protagonist halo and plot armor many of the characters were sporting but that's to be expected. Also the part of Ann just wandering around but not getting any real answers was also disappointing. Niragi should have been shot dead. I know they wanted to be realistic but he didn't deserve a second chance but then again the borderlands are not about good or bad, right or wrong but who has the most urge to live. The ending was unpredictable and one of the best parts of the show. All it mattered was not the games or the truth about the borderlands but what message you are taking from the experience.
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Extraordinary Attorney Woo
1 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
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"My life is strange and peculiar but...it has value. It's a beautiful life."
I think before watching this drama people should keep in mind that this is not a documentary about ASD or even real life law or courtroom thus expecting a realistic representation of the collective people in the spectrum is just stupid.it is a beautiful and heartfelt montage of a woman who happens to be autistic. Her life experiences personal and professional, her growth is the highlight of the drama.
Another aspect is how this drama touches on many social issues through legal cases in every episode such as misogyny, the demonization and misconceptions of autism, the importance of preservation of nature, and even queer relationships are all explored more or less, which I thought was admirable. The writers manage to keep things light and airy throughout, with just enough tension sprinkled in to make it engaging.
It's not without it's flaws of course since I felt that the sudden arrival of her brother was just there in case the show doesn't get a 2nd season which felt out of place and frankly out of nowhere. Since what are the chances her brother is also a genius, a hacker and is directly involved in a case that young woo is working on??
The cases being lukewarm in the 2nd half and these odd plot choices prevented me from giving the drama a higher rating. But it's an uplifting and inspirational drama regardless.
The acting was superb. This is my first park Eun bin work and I am blown away. I understand people's complaints of infantilising her but then again you are forgetting that i) this is a drama Ii) this is happening south Korea which has a different culture iii) asd is a SPECTRUM...your experiences do not need to be similar to other people and you can't judge other people's experiences based on your own.
Lastly, I would like to say that although this is definitely not THE representation of autism but rather A representation of autism. I personally as a person who very recently found out that I am indeed autistic, I related to her in certain ways and didn't in other ways. Doesn't mean I am not autistic or the character isn't. People can have gripes about the representation sure but I think as an unique drama that portrays an autistic woman as a protagonist in a profession that's primarily male dominated and not to mention primary a field for neurotypical people. It has its plot holes but disregarding this would almost be disregarding what woo young woo says in the last episode, although it's strange and peculiar it still has value
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Intense and powerful
One of the most powerful stories in a kdrama that I have seen in a long time. Although some parts felt was quite plot convenient and the loose strings were tied up way too neatly, it did not feel absurd.The acting is the highlight of this show to be honest. Song hye kyo and lim ji yeon's performances were so eerie in some parts that it gave me shivers.
It would have been great if we could have seen more parts as how it goes for Moon dong eun as he helps the male lead take revenge but this story is not about him anyway.
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Wasted potential
I won't get into the nitty gritty since this is quite an old drama. I was interested because it is coming with a sequel and I am sucker for fantasy.Plus for this drama:
1. Lee dong wooks acting /portrayal as lee yeon. The character is not well fleshed out well thought out, no complex characterization, no character development that he goes through via trials and tribulations which is supposed to make a character interesting. The character works because of lee dong wook ONLY. He brings all his veteran actor charm skills and good looks to this.
2. Lee rang. One of the best written kdrama character with the worst ending. I liked that lee yeon came back but his death made no sense. In fact nothing after 7-8 episodes did much.
3. Lee rang and lee yeons brotherly dynamics were easily the best thing of this show and helped me get through it.
Negatives in order of intensity:
1. The romance: Dragged out, poorly developed, nonsense, cringy and towards the end utterly totally annoying. Kdrama romances barely get romance right despite kdrama romances being known worldwide. Insta love with razzle dazzle.
2. The female lead: Turned into a helpless.damsel in distress within 5 episodes of the show. Her storyline with her parent was the stupidest arc I've seen which led to nothing for the plot when much time was wasted in finding her parents in the first place. No explanation as to why she was chosen as the sacrifice for the snake. She is bland Mary sue that you feel utterly nothing about and will be happy that she dropped dead.
3. The villain: imugi is the flattest villain I've seen. I'm sorry but the neighborhood cat with a grudge against my cat is a better convincing villain than him. His motives made sense given he hates lee yeon and hates humans. But there is no feeling to it like it was with Darkness.
4. The plot: *sigh* where to start?.This is about a mythological being but hardly any mythology is discussed. We don't know lee yeons parents, his time as a deity even his tails are shown once and then never again when ironically it's named tale of the nine tailed (huh!). Not even with the fight with imugi, the big boss. The parents were conveniently forgotten after being saved. We don't know what exactly happened to her parents, they had no effects and adjusting to modern world like nobody's business with no neighbors relatives friends asking why the hell these people who are supposed to be dead appeared out of nowhere, except for being hostages they offered nothing pretty much like those colleagues she worked with. An all powerful deity supposed to be as powerful as a gumiho was just struck in the head like some common human and fell unconscious. No explanation as to why even the non human characters except for lee yeon can be mind controlled. Lord of samdocheon was an equally potentially complex character and victim of bad writing. Thousands of humans died, no one except her cared. Lee yeon reincarnated but with the same face and likely as a fox. So all that shabang was for nothing. ?? I won't go forward anymore since we will be here all day otherwise.
This could have been the next big thing but yeah it as usual with these dramas is a major clusterfuck because writers can't see beyond their tunnel vision of pursuing a forced genre and trope. I have read fanfiction with better writing.
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Beautiful heartrending nostalgia
The pangs of first love is hard to forget...The story is nothing new. In fact it's more cliche ridden and superbly tropey but one have to greatly appreciate how they were masterfully utilized to not only tell a tale of love but also of life.
- ACTING:
I was initially invested because of takeru satoh as I loved him as kenshin. The trailer with him giving that yearning look and hikaru utada's first love really sold me to watch this but I am simply blown away by the superb acting of the whole cast especially the younger versions of haruimichi and yae. Although they were playing each other's older and younger versions they managed to bring their own refreshing element in their acting which was brilliant.
-CINEMATOGRAPHY AND COLOR PALETTE
The director and ALSO the scriptwriter knows her shit for sure. Much of the story was elevated because of how impressive the cinematography, lighting and colors presented a beautiful backdrop on the story, the characters emotions, their journey, their trials and tribulations.
-OST
Last but not least, the ost. Since the whole story was inspired by a song it took the centre stage and accompanied the viewers as we glide with the characters in their journeys. The whole ost just stayed with me like an aftertaste. There were some English songs in there which in my opinion were unnecessary.
The CONS
-Rushed ending which I understand is because of 9 episode limit but I wanted it to be a little more. It was pleasant but convenient.
I felt there were some loose ends that were not tied properly as well, some plot holes that were not explored properly. I also wanted more angst and heartbreaking scenes between the adult haruimichi and yae as they start falling in love with each other all over again.
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Ambitious and delivers
This drama revolves around some VERY HEAVY themes. I would strictly warn against anyone who is contemplating to watch this to be aware of them firsthand before they decide to watch this.It was sometimes way too dark for me but what I think was the factor that compelled me to keep watching were the characters and the way they were portrayed so well.
Although I would say they could not flesh out the themes and all the characters well enough and the ending did not quite hit right but it was satisfactory.
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Definitely the dark horse of cdrama for this year
People have already reviewed and said everything there needs to be said so I will just outline what I liked or didn't like:Liked:
1. The acting; The acting of the main leads especially wu jinyan was so stellar that in some parts I would forget that I am watching her act. She made sure that we would remember xue fangfei/jiang li. Her beauty and her expressiveness literally shined through the screen. The way she could deliver a thousand emotions through her eyes in a second was so good. Same goes for wang xingyue as duke su. Although he did not have much screen presence, he still managed to DELIVER. The moves that would have looked ridiculous and cringy with another actor, he made it work. Both of their chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS even when they are just looking at each other which was 90% responsible for this drama being a success. Shout out also to Shen Yurong and Princess wanning's actors because my goodness, they dominated almost every scene they were in. The way shen yurong's actor made me feel pity for the character yet making sure that we know how evil he is, was done so artfully I had to be impressed. Also ji shuran's actor, she played the tropey stepmother role but still managed to shine though even when wu jinyan was delivering a spectacular scene.
2. The plot, characters, and pacing: Cdramas are getting good at pacing and its nice to see this being reflected in The Double. The plot had significant amount of twists and turns to keep the viewers engaged till the end. The diverse range of characters gave this drama life as well as the character developments. Not everyone received justice or happy endings but you understand the motivations and aspirations behind their actions, even the villains. The double is one of the few cdramas where morally grey characters were portrayed brilliantly. I also liked the subtle emphasis on how systematic misogyny, the effects of bad parenting especially by the fathers towards the daughters, the implications of sexual violence even towards the main character and how the producers did not shy away from it.
3. The OST: Chenle's "Live on love on" was solid art. The opening theme was beautiful as well.
4. The cinematography was better compared to other youku production.
Disliked:
1. Although the plot is pretty solid some times you have to suspend logic to appreciate the drama in my opinion. The slapstick comedy at inappropriate times did not help. Them using wugong for not other reason than being flashy was seriously weird.
2. The leads had excellent chemistry and the romance progression felt natural but did not at the same time which is understandable given romance is not the focus of the drama but I wished there would have been more substance. Like in LLTG although there was an overarching plot the romance was also prioritized as the ml and fl gets entangled early on and it feels more developed. But with this, other than the chemistry and the subtle understanding by the audience that the leads are falling in love, there is not much to go on. It feels like the romance has taken a back seat.
3. The ending felt weird and unnecessary. I know they did that for the dramatics as this is a very soap opera-ish drama but the ending was literally not needed. They could have ended with XH and XF married, a time lapse for 1 year, then cut to them visiting tong'er and jiang li's tomb with a voice over and that would have been enough. That battle scene should have been shown early on which would have increased the angst. The slow burn would have worked out better in that way just like how it did in LLTG. But a scene at the end just goes to show they just wanted to create some hype and nothing else.
It's quite an enjoyable drama and probably the best one in this year judging by the cdrama drought.
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Gyeongseong creature- between not absolutely horrible but not great either
The first 5 episodes honestly made me rethink starting the drama and then dropping it because it fell terribly flat, be it the characters or the pacing. The show really starts showing some actual substance after episode 6. Still the plot and character building was rushed, character development felt sloppy and there were some glaring plot holes that cannot be overlooked as anything but plot armor.The drama in my opinion failed when it tried to do a lot of things at the same time but not hitting the right balance. The atrocities and crimes committed by the Japanese occupation subsequently got overshadowed by the supernatural aspect of the drama. Half the time I wasn't sure how to feel because you have some very dark material that horrifies you and then you see a 10-11 ft monster just rumbling about. You aren't sure whether to be curious and thrilled about what the monster can do when you have a man being tortured still fresh in your mind.
Now, the last 4 episodes kinda brought them together in a good cohesion and an overarching theme to bind them but in a 10 episode length drama thats quite late. Han so hee was amazing throughout, especially her action scenes and crying scenes gave me goosebumps.Park SEO Joon's Jang tae sang character development was finicky but it made him act more like a main character rather than a showpiece so..i guess it's okay. The ending felt like a leeway to season 2 and less like a proper ending to me. Loved the opening theme song extremely haunting and appropriate for a drama like this. Production, cinematography, cgi were pretty good. Overall not bad but not great.
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