143
326
93
Kate
hell
I Don't Want To Do Anything
50 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Great moments, but moments only.
Who likes a healing show about a timid female lead who moves away from the toxic environment to end up in another toxic environment and receive close to no character development? Not me.Like many other slice of life shows, this one also has little to no plot, which is completely fine. These are not supposed to give you thrills and excitement, they are supposed to be relaxing and warm. When I go into slice of life, I’m getting ready for a little bit of life lessons and characters I want to befriend, ones that make me want to root for them. Did this show deliver any of these? Not really.
Starting from Lee Yeo Reum - doormat, timid, no self love nor self respect. No issue with that. I wanted to go on that self improvement and self discovery journey with her. But damn this girl got on a merry-go-round and ended up in the same circle of self pity. The moment I thought she learned her lessons, she went back to the old ways - ready to blame herself, ready to take a step back, ready to run away. Trying to fix it all in the last episodes is not the way to go.
While An Dae Beom was better and for sure a stronger character, he also got easily manipulated by others, mostly by Ji Young. At some point I started to question myself - am I liking the character or am I just completely biased towards Yim Si Wan and I will just buy anything he sells?
Then we have all the other characters who either: started well and ended annoying, started annoying and miraculously became nice in between scenes, started annoying and ended annoying. There was honestly barely anyone to root for… Which is a true nightmare for a character driven slice of life drama.
To be perfectly honest though, I can deal with annoying characters, but I cannot stand conflicting messages. Yeo Reum tells herself to only think about what she wants and feels and not care for others, but also tells Bom to put her grandma and her family before her own emotions and well being. Protecting an alcoholic and abusive father is fine, but protecting your son with developmental issues makes you the top enemy. I am sorry, but what am I supposed to learn from this show? What is the message? What does the writer want to present and tell me? For me, it all made no sense.
Yes, the ending message was great - appreciate what you have, find happiness in little things, you don’t have to excel in everything, just being happy is enough of a reason to be alive and enjoy the moments. IT’s all great, but why did they fail so badly with all the other issues they talked about?
And I know how some people will scream “realism” as an excuse for some of the topics. Sorry, but you cannot explain some awful takes with it, while also ignoring the complete lack of realism in other aspects. You can’t have both.
Last, but not least plot wise - the “mystery”. When the characters have to explain EVERYTHING to me through the dialogues and flashbacks, it means the writer completely failed to set it up. I should be watching and connecting the dots myself, not get everything served with a narration.
From the acting and production side, it was great. Kim Seol Hyun improved greatly since her debut, and everyone knows Yim Si Wan is one of the best idol turned actors. The teens did an amazing job too, I especially liked a.mond’s performance - cheerful and hyped, but with hints of sadness and tons of loneliness.
Visually, Summer Strike is beautiful, I cannot deny it. They used the environment they were filming in to its full potential. What’s the point though, if the story is not on the same good level of execution? This year we had a holy trinity of dramas with amazing and beautiful moments, but also poorly executed overall plot and character’s development, and laughable villains - Today’s Webtoon, Cheer Up and Summer Strike.
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I appreciate the attempt, I question the presentation.
I’m not sure how I feel about this drama. Being romance driven, I cared about romance the least. While I loved the gradual healing on Uea’s side, I do believe the level of trauma this child had to face in such a short period of time (screen time wise) made it a bit ridiculous for me. By the 3rd toxic person in his life I just started to laugh… And it’s not like this scenario is completely unrealistic - many people who were victims become victims more than once. That said, the way they presented it with lack of good spacing in time and pace, I just could not take it seriously. The presentation was just lacking too much.I also could not get on board with how Uea treated King a few times closer to the end. Everything that happened at first is understandable - miscommunication happens, especially if you don’t trust the person yet. At some point though, it felt more like Uea testing King for no other reason than enjoying watching King plead. Even that would not bother me if they established it’s something King is into, but they did not. So it seemed like a mind game when King had to constantly prove how much he loves and respects Uea to the point of asking before he can touch him (and I don’t mean in a sexual way, I mean literally any way) and being denied by Uea with a smirk on his face. That’s when I started to think - maybe Uea is truly completely not ready to be in a healthy relationship and needs to book a visit to a therapist first. It’s not like it happened a lot, but enough for me to feel a bit uncomfortable.
While I loved King, I also find him painfully underdeveloped and one dimensional. Net did a great job with acting, but the writing of the character itself was empty.
As for the nsfw scenes - let’s say I’m glad I watched the cut version, because even that was a level of cringe I could barely handle. Most of the bed scenes made me laugh, some skipped completely.
Acting was decent - big props to all the villains, perfect presentation that made me hate them with a passion. Net did great with some vulnerable scenes, but James sadly does not have enough skills yet to truly deliver the pain and suffering Uea as a character was internally going through.
Production was okay. Lately a lot of BLs are truly overdoing it with the blur filter on actors faces making them look like Barbie dolls - ain’t fan of that. Last episode was more like a bonus than the continuation of the plot - everything was concluded and there was nothing left to add. Personally, I was kind of bored watching it.
Overall… I don’t know. I kind of enjoyed it? It led to a few interesting conversations I had with folks on mdl, but I find it sad that most complex ideas came from the community and not the show itself. A lot of things were truly basic and simplistic, and by now I think we can expect a bit more nuance from the genre.
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You really have to turn your brain off before watching. Is the chemistry between Jae Hyun and Jimmy good? Sure. They are cute. Yoon Oh and Peach as characters have good dynamics with contrasting personalities. But is this enough to watch the show?
I feel like the show tried to portray the subjects of loss, regret, miscommunication/lack of communication. How some people can be so focused on their own feelings, they can’t see other people and the truth that is there. It all felt extremely flat though. Having not much screen time, it’s not wise to add many plot lines and side characters. Pick one main and one side plot and develop them as well as you can - that’s the way to go.
Quite a number of things make no sense. Peach staying at his dead friend's house, and no one questions it. The investigation of the police was a joke itself. Yoon Oh can manipulate objects in real life, since his mom heard him playing the guitar, but it’s not really brought back for them to communicate with each other in any way? Give him a laptop, making him type! Peach flirting with the air with the people around him. These are just a few things that happened without proper explanation, and were there just for the sake of the plot progression, even though they made little sense.
The biggest let down was Yoon Oh’s relationship with his mom. It would be an amazing plot for his character development and driving force of the show, but they decided to just… resolve it in the first half of the show and bring it back at the end. This should be the focus!
The quality of the acting depends on the actor. Jae Hyun for sure does well in his role, while Jimmy struggles quite a bit. He has improved a lot since his Why R U days, but I don’t think he has yet reached the level worth compliments. Got to love them dry crying scenes.
The drama is for sure pretty. Saved quite a few screenshots. The cafe scenes were just aesthetic heaven for me. The soundtrack was also one of the better aspects of the show. All songs were fitting the scenes they were used for.
Overall, it was all just misdelivery. Not once have I felt sad, even with such an emotional topic. Yoon Oh vanishing Thanos style made me laugh my ass off at the end, especially with how they robbed fans of that kiss.
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"But there must be a reason behind it all"
"Do you want me to teach you how to be good at work? Don't ask yourself: Why?''. I think this whole show was a commentary on how we stay in the well known patterns, even if they are not productive, simply because things have always been this way or they bring us monetary gratification. But why do we even care so much about money? Because this is what society tells us is important. A vicious circle of bullshit.Trying to suggest change is scary, and since everyone accepts the current state, it means it's working so why would anyone even try to challenge it? Everyone cannot be wrong, it's more likely I don't understand why it's like that. Stuff like the Milgram experiment or Asch Conformity Experiment explain it well. Both good examples how awful people are at going against:
1. Authority
2. Groups of people.
And if you add actual reward (money) for the conformity, people will do a great type of mental gymnastics to justify the current state.
Like drawing the circles, then erasing them and doing the same with x, just because the boss said you have to do it. I'm sure many of us did things we knew were pointless, but they were orders we just had to do. You can think you are not part of the problem, but you most likely are. Not to the same extent as the characters in the show, since everything was over exaggerated, but as long as we participate in the society, we do stupid things for the sake of some kind of benefit - money, popularity, recognition from strangers. But why do we care?
Each episode presents us with different takes on what one can sacrifice for money: pride, self-esteem, time, family, morality. It also shows what we truly want - connection, love, freedom, a feeling of belonging, self-worth.
The show opens with the best episode, so keep that in mind. On one hand it sets up the story well, but it also makes the remaining episode have less impact. Each short story is connected to each other, even though they changed the main character. Personally, my favorite episodes were “Dancing on the sand” and “Family Vacation”. Both had strong messages that resonated with me and my experience.
The production and the acting were phenomenal. Truly would not change a detail. The short duration of the episodes (most were a bit over 20 minutes) made the show more digestible and left some room for interpretation and reflection for the viewers. I feel like depending on your own life experience, perspective and expectations, you will see something else in each and every story.
Overall, great watch, but not for everyone. It’s weird and symbolic. While on the surface the overall message is easy to understand, there is far more than “what people will do for money” if you start digging deeper. It’s also an impactful watch if you are willing to reflect on how the messages fit into how you are handling your life.
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The Killer's Shopping Mall
19 mensen vonden deze beoordeling nuttig
Non linear storytelling at its best (with few "flops").
Undoubtedly thrilling and unique story that does not give you a minute of a break - fast paced, well packed with both the plot and the action. Cleverly showing you just bits and pieces of a larger context, uncovering the whole story with each and every episode. While A Shop for Killers had a few issues, it’s still a title worth checking out - perfect for weekend binge watch.One could say it opens like a fish out of the water type of scenario. Not quite. From the start we can see that Jung Ji Ahn is far from being a defenseless young woman, even if she herself is not quite aware of it. Personally, I found the story of her growing up under the careful watch of Jeong Jin Man the best out of the whole show. The bizarre, but obviously strong bond they had, the silent understanding. It was amazing to watch her connect the weird training from the past with her current situation, and use said lessons to survive.
At the same time, Jeong Jin Man’s past seemed a bit messy and did not get the conclusion that fitted the initial tense atmosphere surrounding it. By the end of episode 8, I had to rewatch certain scenes just to make sure I did not miss anything. Where are the answers? Nowhere, just more piling up questions.
Another aspect that was a bit frustrating was how they at times utilized the non linear storytelling by repetitive usage of scenes. The show was short. There were some scenes that truly expanded on what was previously shown - giving us the whole context and full story. At the same time, there were some moments where the “already shown” part was simply too long. I’ve already watched these scenes one episode ago, you do not need to show it to me from start again. I could not stop myself from skipping minutes of the drama, just to get to the point where the story moves forward.
Performance wise? Amazing. Some actors were a bit typecast, which made it easier to guess the their intentions and possible actions, nonetheless - everyone delivered. Personally, I am a fan of Lee Dong Wook in dark roles, so this one hits the spot perfectly. Jung Jin Man is obviously not a good person, not a good character, but there is good in him and that’s what differentiates him from some of his, let’s say “co-workers”. Seeing these detailed differences was an interesting experience. They are both bad, but are they equally bad? How much of someone's actions is understandable, can be explained and excused, where is the line that should not be crossed?
Kim Hye Joon was amazing as Ji Ahn. Well executed character development. Loved the strong and raw emotions she was able to present when Ji Ahn was cornered and truly exhausted with the dangerous situation she got dragged into. Loved the more soft scenes of her as a carefree child and teenager. Loved how Kim Hye Joon was able to present the duality of the character in such a great manner.
Shout-out to the cute guy who helped Ji Ahn when she was a child, if you watched, you know.
Production was great - the soundtrack was full of bops, the fighting scenes had amazing choreographies, the practical effects of blood and other painful “things” were on point.
Overall, left a lot to explore, by the end felt like a borderline bait for possible second season with quite a few aspects not being fully explored. And yet, I’m not mad. It was highly entertaining, had many interesting characters on both the good and the bad side (and let me tell you, the bad side is BAD). Keeps you interested and engaged from episode one till the last scene of episode eight.
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Great concept, confusing storytelling.
On paper I understand what I’m supposed to get from the story, but I am not sure the director did a good enough job for me to say the idea was translated well on screen. It ended up with me feeling like everyone is unhappy, because of the choices the female lead made.While the movie had many great and poetic moments, I kept getting distracted by my own feelings which were: I felt extremely bad for the husband. Especially during the bar scene - whatever charm the scene was supposed to have, lost for me coz I kept thinking about the husband and how awful the whole situation must be for him.
The performances were great, though I was just not that into how the characters were written. Personally, I did not find Nora either likable or interesting. Not sure if I liked Hae Sung or just Yoo Teo’s pretty eyes and face, but he for sure aced the melancholic nostalgia feeling.
There was one scene that I really liked, and it was the “waiting for uber” one. I felt like it perfectly sums up the themes of the movie - connection, timing, hesitation. Would prefer if the movie actually ended there.
Overall, kind of enjoyable, but you truly need to completely ignore the husband and his side of this whole story not to feel at best awkward, at worst awful.
Side note - Polish subtitles in the cinema were awful. Maybe Korean phrases were translated in such a weird and “strong” way as if the characters were swearing left and right, when the meaning was supposed to be much lighter in tone.
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The world-building that lacks the necessary detail.
I knew what I would get, but I honestly wanted to love it. I adored the first two episodes and thought they were as strong as an introduction can get. And then it led to nowhere.The idea was there, it just lacked the necessary detail to make it truly engaging for me. Too many questions were left hanging, the folklore was barely touched, the backgrounds of the characters were shallow, the motivations were not set up that well. I don’t even want to talk about the villain on the human side, because that was some next level of clownery.
Loved the “first act” - the introduction to the characters, the initial set up for the story, the questions that were asked that we were supposed to get the answers for as the drama progressed. All that got me curious - I wanted to know more. The variety of the characters was perfection - we had the hardworking and strong female lead who just tried to survive, the scholar that tried to solved the decades long mystery and the sceptic detective who tried to make sense of all the unexplainable. And behind it all an evil force that seems untouchable and always one step ahead.
Sadly, the second act was just too damn long and not written well enough. Some stories were just dropped without proper explanation, how the ghosts work and what can be done with them was not explained either. A 30 second google search can give me more information about all the types of ghosts that were introduced. They just never explored any ideas they introduced.
What's more, I was just too frustrated with the characters. It took them too long to learn from their mistakes and their actions often were simply stupid. Hae Sang was unnecessarily cryptic refusing to explain anything to anyone until it was too late, San Young was all over the place it’s actually hard to even describe her character, and while Hong Sae was fun to watch, for 80% of the show he seemed out of place for the story written - his bits felt more like crime rom-com than supernatural thriller.
For a story like that to work, you need one of the two: rich and interesting folklore or great teamwork. Revenant had none of these. As I already said, the whole world buildup was weak. As for the scooby gang - we had to wait way too long for them to actually start working together, and when they did… the drama ended.
All that said, I adored the casting for the leads. It was refreshing. Oh Jung Se in a serious and stoic role is what we needed. I'm far more used to seeing him in more animated and exaggerated characters, so this was a fun new take.
Hong Kyung going from Oh Beom Seok to Lee Hong Sae is something I thought I would struggle with, but surprisingly, I had no issue putting my hate behind me and enjoying his character in Revenant.
Park Ji Young as a "weak" character was also so weird, but so good! Kim Tae Ri's role was not surprising since her career is short enough to not be type cast yet. She was also smart enough to take roles that are rather different from each other since day one. Loved the duality of her performances even if I was not obsessed with how Gu San Young was written. Kim Tae Ri just simply never dissapoints with her acting.
The production was great. Can we all collectively appreciate the lack of black eyes as the indicator someone is possessed? No cheap snapchat filters for ghosts. Amazing use of light and shadows, good special effects - it never felt like they overused them. Even the supernatural events felt realistic and grounded in the presented picture.
I guess I just have a love-hate relationship with Kim Eun Hee’s writing. I am obsessed with how creative her ideas are, but I’m also pissed at how she cannot truly execute them in a correct way. I feel like she needs someone who will ask her questions about her stories. How does it work? Why did the character act this way? What was the origin of that issue? How does this premise work into the world you built? Answers that will fill the framework of the idea she has.
Overall, was it a fun watch? Sure. Did it have a lot of issues I just cannot see passed? Yes. I knew the directing would be my style based on the people behind it, I knew I would have specific issues with the writing based on the past works of the writer. I knew I would love the acting and I knew I would overall enjoy it, but I would not be amazed. And that’s exactly what I’ve got.
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Staying delulu is the solulu
That was an unforgettable journey for sure. Be it for interesting plot, great scenarios, entertaining main and endearing supporting characters, villains that are actually vile and will make your blood boil, beautiful set designs, fitting soundtrack… and the questionable ending - that one you will for sure never forget.The Spirealm is simply addicting. Bromance was romancing hard and let’s be real, many people started this show because of the censored BL aspect. The same way once the characters enter the first door they cannot escape, there was no turning back for me after the first episode - I was completely in love with the drama.
Ruan Lan Zhu has an extremely enticing charm about him - carefree and confident nature with glimpses of worry towards Ling Jiu Shi that grew stronger as the show progressed. You know there will be angst brewing from day one and you cannot wait for it. I loved how fake he was in the games, shamelessly switching his personality whenever needed. I loved how he slowly became friends with people around him, how he started to care about them and was willing to change his ways to help them. Well presented, not over the top character development. Xia Zhi Guang’s performance just made what was already a well written character shine even more. His expressive eyes stole my soul and turned my brain off. Him being the perfect man makes sense when you think about the fact he was… well, not real. I guess Jiu Shi’s perfect man is also my perfect man, we share the type in the delulu land.
While I liked Ling Jiu Shi a lot, I did find him far less interesting as an individual. I enjoyed his interaction with other characters a lot and he was obviously the force that changed everyone around him with his empathic and emotional side, but for some reason I felt like they accidentally made him too perfect - smart, brave, caring, with a new different perspective that is usually right, driven. The dude had no flaws. Even things that were supposed to technically be negative - at times too emotional and impulsive, were never truly bad. Sadly, Huang Jun Jie did not save the few lacking aspects with his acting. Some performances can elevate the character, here they chopped some of its charm. The emotional scenes were just not it - quite awkward.
Then we have a whole bunch of supporting characters I adored: Li Dong Yuan wholesome “playboy” with a golden heart, Tan Zao Zao bravest of them all, Xiao Ke surprised badass, Zhuang Ru Jiao loyal sunshine. Even though these characters show up just for a few episodes here and there, they did such a good job with presenting their unique personalities it was impossible for me not to get attached. I am surprised how much their deaths hit me.
What’s more to appreciate? The villains. The worst crime a drama can commit is making their villains bland - you gotta either hate to love them, or love to hate them. And I for sure loved to bitch about them while watching. The way I sometimes had to pause the episodes, because they annoyed me so much. The way I could not wait for their demise. And for all that I am grateful. They made the drama more dynamic and the stakes real. They weren’t useless and inferior to the main characters - the similar skill level actually made the watch that more entertaining.
Cannot believe Yan Ba Lang’s Clark Kenting with a beard/lack of beard actually worked and I did not recognize him - I will admit though, I completely lost my brain while watching. No idea what kind of weird subliminal interfering signals this drama was sending, but I was blind to everything and could predict nothing. I was clowning hard with how confused I was about the most basic and obvious things.
All these characters could shine thanks to the game settings and let me tell you, the stories presented in them were actually interesting! When I don’t mind bromance separating and having episodes of them not interacting at all - that’s when you know they were selling a good plot. My favorite door was probably the second door - The Apartment. It was just so weird and creepy - the image just made me feel uncomfortable and unnerved, but in the best way possible.
Honestly speaking though - all the doors were great. The unique stories presented with enough detail and world building you got immersed whenever you liked it or not. The presentation leaned towards dark fantasy rather than horror, but I don’t really mind. I feel like extremely explicit gore would actually be distracting.
And then we have to bromance ( that b is silent). I’m just going to ignore the fact Jiu Shi fell in love with an AI modeled to literally be his perfect man and this is a top level of delulu behavior I have ever seen. I still love these two. Truth to be told, Ruan Lan Zhu carried the romance for most of the show with his loving gaze and overprotective nature. For obvious reasons he could, should, and even had to focus on Ling Jiu Shi. While he might have been written to support Jiu Shi, it’s not the reason why he started, but the reason why he stayed that matters. And let me tell you - he stayed because he loved the boy. \
We also had one of the best love confessions in any (b)romance drama” "Don't worry. I'll protect you. I'll protect you forever. Until your life comes to an end, or my life comes to an end". So what he was saying was "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part" -low key wedding vows. Yes, the censorship made the production team be more “creative” with some scenes for example: ain’t no cheek stroking. Lan Zhu was just removing a car hair from Jiu Shi ‘s face - in the most tender and loving way ever, with eyes screaming worry and devotion.
The performances were mostly strong. Even the more questionable and wacky ones seemed to fit the given characters and scenarios (I am looking at you Zhang Ji Nan). Putting aside Xia Zhi Guang who obviously aced the role, my favorites were Liu Xiao Bei and Lu Meng Lin. I think they perfectly delivered the vulnerability of accepting their own death and it was heartbreaking to watch. As I already said, Huang Jun Jie did well for most of the show, but failed when it mattered. When the angst hit its tipping point and I kept being distracted by his delivery…
Now, let’s talk about the twist and the ending, because I don’t even know how I feel about it. I dislike it, but I cannot be mad about it.
Let’s start with the NPC twist. I almost had to take a break from the show when they revealed it. I did not predict it so I had smack in the face with that revelation hard. To my defense, I think I gave the drama too much credit to be a “decent” sci-fi, when it’s borderline fantasy, so the idea that an AI algorithm can interact with the real world, bleed etc. just never crossed my mind. Him not being real crossed my mind, but on a larger scale - nothing is real, which, depending on the interpretation, could be the case.
Anyway, him being this perfect makes sense when you get to that point of the story. I honestly think my negative reaction to that twist came from me focusing too much on the use of the NPC abbreviation. He is not your typical NPC, he is more of a conscious AI that in all aspects, cannot really be differentiated from humans. They basically made Lan Zhu Pinocchio. So while I hated it at first, the more I thought about it, the less bothered I became.
On the other hand, the longer I thought about the ending, the more annoyed I was. Personally I can see two different interpretations of the ending - either everything that happened in the game did not happen, and it was in fact the result of Jiu Shi’s coma or it all happened and the game can basically overwrite time and space, change the past, present and the future of the Earth and I don’t know what makes me more mad…
If we go with the first one, it’s a full on delulu clownery. What you are saying is - Jiu Shi got so immersed in the imaginary world his brain created, he dedicated his whole real life to create his fantasy world with his fake boyfriend where he can spend his second life. I’ve never seen a more romanticized version of pro virtual reality over real life in my whole life. Why does this interpretation make sense? When Jiu Shi woke up from the car accident, he saw all the players his brain created as people around him. It’s fair to assume he might have crossed paths with all of them one way or another in his daily life, without even consciously noticing them. It does not explain how he knew about the man living in Obsidian’s headquarters though. So while this theory seems fair at first, it fails at the end.
So we are left with “the game is just all powerful”. This makes perfect sense when we take into consideration the original novel is in fantasy and not sci-fi genre. There are no real rules nor limits for fantasy, but there are rules and directions for sci-fi - that’s why it’s so hard to change a fantasy story into a logical sci-fi. Here they obviously failed. It just makes zero sense, and what’s worse - it was so fucking unnecessary. They could have had exactly the same ending of Jiu Shi dedicating his whole life to create The Spirealm and rebuild all his friends who became NPCs and Lan Zhu, after he passed the 11th door without going back into past, before he got into first door, making it car accident and all the players having different lives in this alternative reality. I kind of felt cheated and all the moving and heartbreaking deaths started to feel cheap. Clearly, I did not vibe with the ending…
I think I would rather like the drama ending on the 11th door farewell scene. Make it sad, bittersweet and impactful instead of over the top and illogical.
All that said, I still loved the show. It’s not a perfect drama, but it is perfect entertainment for me. I was thinking about Spirealm daily, wanting to watch the next episode. I skipped some precious hours of sleep for “just one more episode” and spammed friends with reactions and opinions. I’m planning to binge rewatch it soon, maybe even start right away. Once I was in and watched that one episode, there was no going back.
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"I will go outside to see the world. I will fail and I will suffer!...
...I want to see what I can achieve in the end!"There is so much to love about this drama. There is also surprisingly a lot I did not, and it only hit me when I got closer to the end.
It’s safe to say this is a perfect drama for all found family trope fans. Watching Li Jian Jian, Ling Xiao and He Zi Qiu support each other under the caring watch of Li Hai Chao was beautifully heartwarming. What amazed me the most was the fact these relationships were not idealized. All characters struggled with many internal and external issues that were well developed and presented. Themes like being scared of being abandoned, or being forced to abandon people you love. The constant feeling you need to act perfect, be perfect, never complain to be worth the support you are getting. That uncomfortable feeling when people who were close to you in the past feel distant in the present. All of these affected their interactions with each other and made the bond that much more meaningful and strong.
Li Jian Jian was such a force of positivity. I know some people disliked her as a teenager, but personally I loved her in all 3 stages of her life. She was adorable as a kid, fun and expressive as a teenager and mature, but still exciting to watch as an adult. She was the person that could be called “home” by many characters and the bond that kept them together.
Ling Xiao was the one who kept his scars hidden the most and it was painful to watch. At times it truly felt as if he gave up on himself - whatever happens, as long as people he cares about are safe. The most passive in response to trauma, the one that kept it all inside. Finding his salvation in Li Jian Jian.
He Zi Qiu who smiled, even if he was crying inside. Fighting his battles alone, not wanting anyone to help, not wanting anyone to pity him. Trying his best not to be a burden, wanting to protect people around him. So caring, so good, so well-natured with such a bright and radiant personality. He became an older brother to all the characters.
And you know what’s the best? The main characters were not the only ones with depth. All the supporting characters had well-defined personalities and individual struggles that were separate from their connections to the main cast. Ming Yue who was limited by her low self-esteem and overbearing mother, Tang Can who felt like she was stuck in place when everyone around her lived their best and successful lives. I loved how Zhuang Bei did not disappear after the high school timeline, how he truly became part of the friend group. Or how Qin Mei Ying was not just a plot device and accessory to Chen Ting.
And then we have the best father in all drama history: Li Hai Chao. He could be used as a gold standard on how to well-integrate adopted children into an already existing family. He made sure everyone felt welcomed without neglecting his own daughter. Being patient was his biggest strength that made all the kids trust him. Putting happiness and well-being over, often meaningless achievements. Purest form of support we all dream about.
Sadly, that’s the end of the short list of the good parents this drama presented, and one of the main issues I had with the show.
Yes, I did like Ling He Ping, but it’s also true that he was a rather neglectful father. Working a lot, not being at home knowing how bad the situation is. Later putting his son in the care of a neighbor.
Not going into details, at some point I found the level and the number of dysfunctional families in this show exhausting and unrealistic. All families have their problems, that’s true. The thing is, Go Ahead does not present your typical issues, it’s all on the level of: you need therapy, these are not disagreement, this is an abuse.
Then we have the issue of vilification of mothers. This one abandoned her child, another did the same. This one is overcontrolling to the point of abuse, this one uses her child to get money. There was literally only one mother without any major issues, who did not mentally torture her child, and she was a mom of the side character. It’s not like the dads were perfect, but their faults were never highlighted as much.
At the same time, the drama gives a rather painful and unhealthy message - no matter what, you cannot give up on your mother, you have to try and make the relationship work, no matter the abuse and how much you are suffering, because it is your mother. Abandoning your child is “a mistake”, but not helping your mother when she struggles is the biggest sin one can commit. Some scenes just made me feel uncomfortable. I know there are some cultural differences and China puts a lot of importance on family bonds and family relations, but there is a big difference between doing your best to fix a relationship with your parents and just accepting abuse for years.
I also feel like the drama unintentionally stigmatizes mental health issues. In some aspects they did a good job, showing how serious are the consequences of emotional abuse, trauma, neglect, stress, pressure etc. The fact it’s not just - I feel sad. How it can affect your daily life, how it will only get worse if you won’t seek help and try to change the situation you are in. On the other hand though, they did blame a lot of toxic and awful behavior on psychological issues. The sad truth is - some people are simply dicks, and they will act like one whenever they struggle with something or not. Some people are just egocentric and selfish and them getting help won’t change that.
My “favorite” part about mental health presentation? Two characters talking about how you cannot get better in just a few months when you struggle with serious psychological issues, while also showing how serious issues were solved in a short period of time without getting into any details on how. All I could do was laugh.
Going back to the good - PERFORMANCES! Personally I believe Zhang Xin Chen and Tu Song Yan stole the show. The strong and beautiful father-son bond these two were able to present was one of the best aspects of the drama. They also had the best overall chemistry with all their co-stars. Whatever these two characters were going through always hit harder and made me feel more compared to when I watched the other characters.
While I enjoyed Tan Song Yun and Song Wei Long for their individual roles, somehow I did not click with their scenes together as their characters became adults. I feel like they had more chemistry playing teenagers. When the three siblings were together, when they had their separate scenes with Zhang Xin Chen, the on-screen chemistry was great, but when it was just the two of them… something was missing.
I don’t really have that much to say about the production value. It was great, but great is kind of a standard now in the industry.
On the other hand, there is a lot to compliment about the soundtrack! There is not one bad song, not one mismatched track - every tune is in perfect harmony with their corresponding scenes. Every song enhances the moments I witnessed, amplifying the emotions.
Overall, I binge watched the whole drama in 6 days, I think that is a greatest proof Go Ahead is an amazing show. It makes you like and care for the characters from episode one, and with each minute you get more and more attached to them and their journey.
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The biggest flaw of the show is the fact we truly know nothing about the characters. What are their motivations? Why do they do what they do? Why is Jung Woo working with Laura? What is his goal? Why is Do Gun so into keeping true to the basics and so against the innovations and new ideas? Why is he obsessed with working at Laura Dining? What is Laura’s deal? They did not explain anything. Literally not one thing. Who is Jung Woo anyway?
It’s also the first time I felt exactly zero romantic chemistry on screen between the main leads in BL. While I enjoyed their bickering and them having fun, their romantic scenes just made me feel slightly uncomfortable, because it felt like they were not that into it either.
The acting was good. Both Jang Eui Soo and Lee Chan Hyung have acting experience to back up their performance.
Production quality is what we usually get from k-bls: indie web drama vibes. Personally, I truly enjoy these aesthetics.
Overall, fine to watch when you are in between BLs and have nothing else to watch. Would not prioritize this over other shows though. It’s like a filler show.
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Mediocre male characters that still somehow made the fans fight.
For a drama that on the surface, on paper seems to present many interesting issues, fun plotlines, entertaining characters - this was a massive fail. With all that was technically going on in the drama, the fact that “which male character should the female lead end up with” was the hottest topic among the viewers shows how unengaging everything was.Here’s the thing, I actually enjoyed it at first. Do Hae Yi was refreshingly bubbly and shameless about her love for money. Her enthusiasm and energy seemed realistic and fun. Loved her interactions with all the characters and was curious about a potential character development and possible change of priorities in her life (or at least some adjustments). For the most part her character was painfully stagnant, just to start hiding things and being less straightforward in the later episodes. They tried to fix that in last few episodes, but it was too little too late.
Characters wise, it felt like a huge waste of initial set up. More or less none of the characters got any development. They started and finished on the same note. We got some small changes of personalities in some side characters, but the mains were completely forgotten. The writers suddenly remembered they should do something about the main cast in the last two episodes, so everything felt rushed.
I knew we would get a typical love triangle, but with the addition of the mystery, I thought this would actually be an interesting watch. How wrong I was. The love triangle was painful to watch, since none of the male leads was that good or interesting. One, while interesting as a character and having quite a well built story around him, had an unhealthy obsession over Hae Yi. The other had the personality of a white wall and no depth, which made him simply uninteresting. Can believe we all had arguments about these basic boys in the comment section. It did have a great set of supporting characters though.
I honestly don’t want to even talk about the mystery aspect. It went from tense unknown, to barely existing, to murder thriller levels of ridiculousness. The culprit was a clown and their reveal made most of the audience question the writers’ choices. I never felt less interested in the “bad guy” reveal and the fact we had to wait so long to get any answers about the motive added to the issue.
An aspect I actually truly loved about the show were female friendships and support. There were no unnecessary catfights, no random jealousy - far more support, understanding and encouraging each other. Especially from Hae Yi and Sun Ja, and Choon Yang and Jin Hee. Honestly, I would not mind if they put more focus and gave more screen time for the mothers.
On a completely subjective note, one of my side ships failed and it made me sad. The potential behind that couple was amazing, and it was dropped for the more obvious and less complex one.
I did enjoy Han Ji Hyun’s performance. She was the only memorable part of the show. Making such an exciting, hype and enthusiastic character still feel realistic and not cartoonish couldn’t be an easy job, but she was able to achieve a believable result. Yes, the character was annoying in the second half, but that’s on the writing not the acting.
Another performance that caught my attention was Baek Ji Won as Hwang Jin Hee - Sun Ho’s mom. Her comedic addition had an underlying sadness and desperation to it, and I loved that this complexity was shown even in the limited screen time.
As for Bae In Hyuk - oh boy. I feel bad for him. He is not a bad actor, but anyone who watched Cheer Up would probably assume he is. I honestly believe the issue was the writing of Jungwoo and not the acting itself. Portraying a character that is so poorly written is just extremely hard.
Production value was high, but what’s the point when the story was not?
Overall, the show did not really deliver the cheers, nor the romance, nor the mystery. The friendship between Do Hae Yi and Joo Sun Ja was amazing and one of the limited saving graces of the show.
The show just left me frustrated. It had great potential to be a fun, light teen drama about coming of age, building friendship, learning how to give and receive help. How to believe in yourself, but also believe in people around you. And yet they wasted a good 80% of the time on useless, boring love triangles and mess of a bullshit mystery.
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Top level of entertainment. Can’t say the same about the quality of writing.
I want to start by saying - I did enjoy the show a lot, almost till the end. I watched the episodes as soon as they dropped. That said, I’m not gonna pretend like it’s some writing masterpiece - it’s not. It often hits the “teen’s first fanfic” level. Did I mind? Not really. I went into it for the Dear Daddy Devil and Bai Lu’s acting, and these two aspects were easily 10/10.What did the drama do great? Tantai Jin’s arc. The questions of predestined path, freedom and choice, the importance of having the supportive community and people that trust and love. How much of where we end is on us, and how much can be explained by how others treat us? At which point we should take responsibility? Is revenge and justice the same? What’s more important - trust or perceived truth? Surprisingly a lot of depth in his story. Sadly, the writers had some issues with keeping Tantai Jin's wits and cunning nature and also progressing the plot - which led to quite a few moments when his brain must have been turned off to make such dumb choices.
Luo Yun Xi in the role? Pure perfection. The emo angst fits him so well, I was in awe. Whatever you ask from him - he will deliver it and more, in the most beautiful and heartbreaking way. I never knew an actor who presents suffering in such a stunning way.
Then we have Li Su Su played by Bai Lu. What a performance. She did great as a more idealistic and naive Su Su, desperate and driven Xi Wu, and the duality of Sang Jiu. Each character/persona was easily distinguishable with the portrayal. The angst and pain Bai Lu can deliver - be it extreme or subtle - was just phenomenal and truly breaking one’s heart. I don’t think the character herself has much to offer though. Any weaker performance than the perfection Bai Lu presented, would make Li Su Su either boring or insufferable. I just feel bad for the girl, because the writers obviously did not give a fuck about this character… She was this great thanks to the actress and the chemistry she had with Luo Yun Xi.
And that chemistry should be illegal. How can such a questionable and build on a toxic fundamentals relationship still seem so amazing, beautiful and perfect? Love, hate, hope, trust, doubt, protection, resentment, fear - what a mix of conflicting emotions and motivations. And that complexity was what made this duo so entertaining and such a blast to watch.
Beside the main characters, I want to give big props to Chen Du Ling who played Ye Bing Chang. How much I hated this character, how much I loved the performance. It’s also impossible not to appreciate Pian Ran - stunning arc as a side plot, amazing conclusion fitting the plot, great performance by Sun Zhen Ni.
Talking about the characters, it’s time to talk about the biggest sin this show and the writer committed - they made everyone so dumb, I did not even care who will win and who will lose, because I did not see a bright future no matter which side gets the victory.
So many things did not make any sense, but you cannot really call them plot holes, because they kind of had an explanation - lack of working brain cells. At first I found it amusing, but at some point it just frustrated me on a whole new level. You don’t know how to write a proper conflict and the origin of it, so you just make your character dumb for a few scenes to set it up.
That also led to repetitive scenes and arcs - just rewriting the same moments we have seen a few episodes ago, with small changes here and there. Refusing to give your characters’ proper character development can only lead to them making the same mistakes over and over and over again. This is one man show, and all the other characters are just a background for his story.
I have to say though, I’m quite impressed with the directing and editing taking into consideration how much of the plot and scenes had to be cut down to fit the 40 episodes format. Yes, there were many moments that the pacing seemed like a car chase, but the overall story was still relatively easy to follow and understand. On the other hand, the make-up artists need to change their careers, because the thing these actors had on their faces should be illegal to present to the public. Loved the costumes, liked the set and magical objects designs. Loved how they Sailor Moon changed their clothes when they reached new powers.
The soundtrack had some good moments, but there were also “oops” bits like them playing a pop royalty free facebook ads like music in the background in the last episode.
Overall, I had a lot of fun, later I had less fun, by the end I had a lot of fun ranting. One could say it’s a full on personal journey I had with this drama, and they would not be wrong.
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“It hurts because you seem so comfortable leaning back into sadness.”
Butterfly instead of white rabbit, magician instead of Mad Hatter, magical world and a lot of unresolved emotional trauma - get ready for it all. The Sound of Magic delivers both the enticing fantasy and the harsh reality.A lot of the things I liked about it, the details in the created world, were the result of the hard work of the webtoon writer Ha Il Kwon. The best examples are the names of the main characters - 아이 (child), 일등 (first; if we add his surname to the mix, it would literally mean I am first) that represent the internal conflicts the characters were facing. Seems on the nose? Maybe, but it fits the story and the approach they took with presenting it.
Ai was forced to grow up fast because of her family situation. Her dreams, hopes, wishes were all focusing on gaining money, as she believed being poor was the reason for her misery. She viewed every situation in her life from the perspective of her financial situation. She did not want to believe in magic, since for her, magic symbolizes hope for better life. All the good things end, like waking up from a beautiful dream, so why even start when you are deemed to be disappointed at the end, when you are back to unfair reality?
Ildeung follows the path his parents picked, doing his best to stay at the top. This takes a toll on his mind and his body. He realizes how trapped he was, yet he wasn’t sure if he is brave enough to stop chasing after the future his parents chose, and try to find his own path. His whole arc was built on small things that might seem like non existing issues, but in reality can take away your sense of individuality and self-worth: things like his dad not calling him by his name, but “Na Jin Man’s boy” - first he is his parents’ son, then he is himself.
Both main characters do not know how to be happy, feel free, make personal choices, act like children their age. And this is the story of them slowly freeing themselves from the cages they were locked in.
It’s hard to talk about Ji Chang Wook’s character without diving into spoilers, since we are mostly kept in the dark about who he is and his past till the end. That adds to the thrills though, creating that mystical and magical aura around him, making the viewers question if the magic is real till the last moment. I was invested in the simple question: who is this magician?
What I also liked about the show is how it spoke about the faults in adults while also not truly making the adults into villains (mostly). Some of them were annoying, sometimes acted unfair or selfish, but most of them were not evil, they were just humans.
The performance from the cast was great. Yes, some movements and facial expressions during the musical numbers were rather cringe and awkward, but it happened only a few times. I was quite surprised by all the emotional scenes, since they all hit me hard (yes, I cried), especially any scene with Ji Chang Wook in the second half - been a while since I enjoyed his performance so much.
Visually they did more than I ever expected. A few times the special effects, especially in terms of the motion, were slightly off, but nothing that would take away from the stunning pictures created.
A lot of the songs had stage-like performances that just sucked me in and I could not take my eyes off it. The A Curse of Asphalt scene was especially breathtaking, even though compared to some other songs, it had a more simple approach. Yet, with how instrumental, lyrics, vocals, visuals, set design, arrangement, all fitted perfectly like puzzle pieces, this song became my favorite performance.
Were the musical aspects all that perfect? No. Some songs just felt awkward with how they were placed in the story, at times feeling unnecessary. I understand why it became a musical-like drama, some lyrics had a really strong message and the performance features added to it - which would not be possible to achieve with simple dialogue. That said, at times I would skip a song or two as they felt redundant at that specific moment.
Speaking of music - all the instrumentals are to die for. Some melodies reminded me of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland movie (2010) - which fitted the theme perfectly. Even the sound design at times surprised me - taking into consideration the place the songs were sung in and mixing the vocals according to it.
Overall, I truly enjoyed it a lot. Had some questionable choices, acting and directing wise, but I still believe it’s a solid drama. While at first I was not sure about making it into a semi-musical, after seeing all the episodes, I understand the value that was added with some numbers and I appreciate the rather bold move they took with it (let’s get real, musicals are not exactly a mainstream genre loved by all). Ending review with a quote that I loved:
“Flowers don’t bloom on smooth asphalt, but on bumpy dirt”.
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The plot had so much potential with the reincarnation trope leading the story, but it was never really used. While I enjoyed the beginning episodes quite a lot, at some point I was questioning myself for watching it. It wanted to be deeper, more dramatic and moving, but used all wrong directing choices to achieve it, and in the end, it did not work for me.CHARACTERS/COUPLES
Truth to be told, I was far more interested in all side/past couples than the main one. I didn’t feel that much chemistry between them. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments when I found them as cute as possible, but I always thought it was more about good directing and not their acting. The romance scenes were simply well written and shot. I still believe Pharm and Dean’s first kiss was filmed in a fantastic way.
I truly loved the fun and entertaining chemistry going on between Team and Win and I wish we could have seen more of them and how they developed feelings for each other. We kind of knew they would end up together… and then they did. Not much of that development was really shown.
Earth and Kao were really good in their roles and I truly did feel the pain and desperation watching their scenes. Wish we could have a prequel telling just their story in greater detail.
Sadly, I felt like Ohm had the same facial expression 90% of the drama, with Fluke showing a bit more diversity: happy grin, shocked grin, massive crying (+ the quite well acted total meltdown in the last episode). While at the beginning I did not mind, at some point I was just bored by their scenes and performance.
Character wise, both Dean and Pharm were nothing special. I mean… Did Dean even have a personality? I did enjoy their relationship though, because, they played off of each other's characteristics well - Pharm being on a shy note and Dean leading the interactions, but as separate characters… they had close to nothing going on.
THAT SAID, I have to applaud the drama for one specific scene. We got some good representation of setting boundaries. When Dean gets a bit too touchy with Pharm, but Pharm quickly puts him back in place, clearly says it was unwanted and it must never happen again. We don’t see scenes like that a lot in BLs.
Also, justice for Manow. Poor girl was literally forgotten at some point of the drama.
DIRECTING
Oh boy. All the long, slow scenes of them doing literally nothing, like… looking at their phone, or cooking but without interacting with each other. The dialogues with way too many pauses. They literally took breaks every 2 or 3 words. There were many scenes that just felt like fillers. Few seconds here, few seconds there… but no content to be found. It made the drama look more aesthetically pleasing, but at the same time, I could not move my finger away from the right arrow on my keyboard, because I was sure there will be more than one occasion I will want to skip the next 5 seconds of them doing nothing.
As I was watching and the story progressed more and more, I could not wait for it to end. It dragged so badly and it was so amazingly slow. Everything was slow. They talked slowly, the shots were slow, the background music was slow, how they moved and walked was slow. I was honestly getting sleepy and tired after watching. The fact that, by an accident, I was able to watch 2 parts of an episode set on 1.5x speed and did not notice says a lot about the directing.
The violin soundtrack started to drive me nuts at some point. It made it seem like every scene was so profound and important and had deeper meaning… most of them did not. The overuse of it made it not an asset, but an annoyance in my eyes (ears?).
WRITING/STORY
I feel like the planning just failed. With the minimum of Team and Win scenes, they should just cut them out completely and make a sequel showing their relationship from the beginning. Focus only on Dean and Pharm and the past story of In and Korn. Show us in more detail how they slowly connected all the dots and accepted their past and current selves.
What’s most important, introduce a conflict AND NOT IN A LAST EPISODE. With the reincarnation trope, there are so many ways to go about it. Giving me Pharm questioning his love for Dean, not being sure if it's real or it's just reminiscence of the relationship In had with Korn, it’s awesome. What’s the point of shoving it in our faces in the last episode? It could have been gradually introduced. The more Pharm knew about the past, the more he would start questioning his feelings for Dean. This way you would have two driving forces for their relationship clashing in an interesting way - them being drawn to each other by the past connection, but also driven away by the fear it’s not real. I guess this isn’t the drama’s fault, since it is based on the novel, but it does not change the fact that there weren’t really any stakes presented. They tried to introduce some struggle by the end, but since the set up was not strong enough, it failed to move me and make me care.
The mental breakdown Pharm had at the end was so ridiculous too. He knew the story, he had flashbacks showing exactly what happened. It’s not like finding the box in the previous episode gave him some new information. He knew it all… And sure, we can argue that the reality of it hit him the moment he saw the photos and the gun, but it still makes no sense pacing wise. Make it happen at least two or three episodes earlier so we can actually feel the pain of then splitting/taking a break. Give me that emotional journey not some cheap emotional thirty second roller coaster with some bullshit “three months later”.
Overall, I guess I was simply not convinced by Fluke and Ohm’s acting so the scenes that might have been sweet, emotional, sad… were, for me, boring. I was not connecting to their feelings so I could not bring myself to care. The moment I started to care, the pace slowed down so painfully, I was getting distracted by the fact nothing was happening. Sad conclusion to the drama I was so excited to watch.
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Romantic comedy fitting XXI century standards.
Not having much inside on how sub-dom relationships work, I cannot comment on the accuracy of the depiction, but I can for sure say the movie does an amazing job in presenting it in a positive light. The word best describing the movie is: consent. Everything that happens is the result of mutual agreement that focuses on the preferences and needs of both sides.What’s more, while the movie presents Jung Ji Hoo as someone with, to call it broadly, issues, it flips the expectations the audience might have. It shows how the problems he faced were not the reason he sought that type of preference, but rather the judgment, he faced because of his preferences made him doubt himself. From the start, there was nothing wrong with him, but rather the society that puts unreasonable expectations and limits on everyone’s freedom of expression.
The thing that made me appreciate the movie more was the fact it never centered around sex itself. Focusing on other aspects of the relationship, with explanatory narration was a great choice.
Honestly speaking, the movie was just adorable. Watching Ji Woo and Ji Hoon try to figure out themselves, their preferences, but also work it out within their relationship was just an entertaining journey. I feel like there was a level of innocence presented on screen that will surprise many viewers.
The cast did an amazing job. There was only one scene that got me “this is just too scripted and unnatural for me to ignore” because of Lee Suk Hyeong’s delivery and the weird timing of the scene itself.
Production wise, I could not ask for more, though I might have asked for less. For me, some of the special effects were unnecessary. That said, they did not really lower my enjoyment of the movie.
Overall, it does a good job in presenting sub-dom relationship in a new light, that shows the more realistic and broad perception of it, without only focusing on the sexual aspects of it. It serves as a good criticism of the standards society creates, that serve no one and often hurt us. I would truly recommend it to all the 16+ audiences for sure.
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