One of the few dramas where the side characters are the best part

Oh boy do I have conflicting thoughts and feelings about this drama. Some aspects of it just make me want to rate it 9,5 but at the same time other parts really disappointed me and lowered the score of this drama for me.

Well, first of all, the first half of this drama is excellent. The plot is gripping and the characters are relatable and easy to like (here I mean specially the actual main/self-aware characters). There are many mysteries initially that keep you invested, Haru is very endearing and him and Dan-Oh have cute interactions.

The problem began in the second half. Honestly, although adorable in the beginning, Haru was just such a flat character. His scenes with Dan-Oh presented us with some cute moments, but were just boring to watch and I didn't care about them as couple. The writers literally repeated the same plots with these two over and over again, so their scenes together were more of a drawback which stagnated the plot when the drama should be advancing since it was nearing the end.

Also, if you want answers for the questions you might have when you start watching Extraordinary You, keep your expectations low cause by the end they provide very few explanations. I let some of it slide initially because it was a comic book world, so some crazy stuff was bound to happen, but at a certain point it just felt a bit like lazy world-building. A lot of things simply happened out of convenience and reflected the very loosely stablished rules for the world, such as the resolution given to Dan-Oh's heart condition, which made no sense at all, just to give an example.

Besides that, I think some of the characters were kind of cheated. I don't want to get too much into spoilers here, but like, come on, Do Hwa and Kyung didn't even appear in the endind scenes! To be honest the supporting characters and the resolution of the plot were the only things that kept me from dropping this drama. I loved the interactions between the self-aware characters and I wish the writers had showed much more of their friendship.

Other great aspects of the drama are the OST, which has some pretty good songs in it and the acting is very solid, too. Now onto one of the greatest surprises and my favorite thing about this show: Kyung. I cannot believe I'm saying this, since I hated him in the beginning for being the most annoying little bitch, but as the drama progressed he developed so much, he honestly had the best character arc with a proper redemption in the end. It was hard to keep liking and rooting for Haru when he was basically a piece of cardboard compared to Kyung, the most complex character in this entire story. I'm not the type to have second lead syndrome, but damn Kyung got me good this time.

Although a bit rushed, most of the final episode (or the final two episodes, in this case) was great. I liked the bittersweet tone that prevailed and there were some quite emotional scenes. It's just the very end that bothered me. Anyway, all things considered, this drama has some amazing aspects but it lost a lot a bit of its shine in order to focus on the boring and repetitive stories between the main couple and too many things go completely unexplained, still, I'd recommend you watch it for the great side characters, their arcs and relationships.

Lire davantage

A very solid rom-com

The Romance of Tiger and Rose basically delivers what it promises in the beginning: an involving love story in a historical setting with plenty of comedy. Is it a challenging drama that provokes the audience with original ploylines and ideas? No, although there are some interesting themes that I'll discuss later, but for working efficiently with its premise, it definetely deserves a praise.

There wasn't a moment where I felt super bored or uninterested in this drama. It has a nice pacing, a suitable amount of episodes and the romance is well developed, and later when the couple is already together and their relationship cannot create the tension the plot needs, the writers then turn to explore the social and political aspects more, and I really liked that. I was pleseantly surprised when the feminist themes where more explored and that provided some nice pieces of dialogue.

The main couple had nice chemistry and this is one Chinese drama where (most of) the cast had a more decent and convincing acting. Also I must say that the costumes were simply gorgeous. But I guess now I should get into the things I didn't enjoy so much.

I started and ended liking the FL, but many time in between she enraged me. How am I supposed to believe she is so kind when she keeps making a bunch of rash decisions that harmed everyone around her? It was pretty annoying how she made a lot of mistakes but never suffered the consequences.

Also what the hell were the writers thinking by including that scene with sexual harassment??? I'm not gona extend myself talking about it to avoid spoilers, but it was super unnecessary. Besides that, there were some minor things that bothered me, like some plotholes and inaccuracies. I also still don't know how I feel about the ending, it was a bit cheap, but nothing that ruined my experience.

All things considered, The Romance of Tiger and Rose is pretty consistent and solid, I definitely would recommend it to any rom-com fans out there!

Lire davantage

Well, just like many other short dramas, this one is straight to the point and very sweet. The leads share some heart-fluttering scenes and it's definitely worth it, if you want a quick, fluffy drama to binge.

The thing with this one, though, is that it's a fantasy show. Most short series like this are slice of life genre, so the plot doesn't need much development or explanation, but since this one has fantasy elements I really missed some more world building. I actually think, in this specific case, the writers could've gone for a full 16 one hour episodes drama, since there are many things that could've been explored better. Eitheir way, it's still pretty good as it is.

Lire davantage

Not exactly what you might think

So, I have many mixed feelings about this one and I'm not really sure I can put all of them into words but let's try.

When I heard about this drama I thought it could finally be the amazing thriller/murder mystery I've been waiting for. Now was it all that I was hoping for? No. Was it still good? Yes. When I first started Flower of Evil I didn't expect it to be so... romantic? I guess it's kinda my fault for not having properly looked into the genres of this show, but I don't like to know much about the dramas that I start and well, this one definitely surprised me, not in the way I was expecting though.

I only realised how vanilla this drama was halfway through it, but by then I was too invested to stop watching it. I think the writers did this on purpose, marketing it as a thriller but building a love story to try and please every audience and it kinda worked (?).

Honestly the thriller/mystery aspect of this drama is a bit weak. A lot of the plot points and twists are predictable and the story is full of conveniences, like how the sun hides behind the clouds right when it was about to reveal the presence of someone in the scene to the police, or how one of the investigators get a call right when they were about to discover something important but decide to stop everything to answer the phone. Also, some of the explanations they gave were a lot of a stretch and so forced to the point I simply couldn't believe them. I'm not gonna go too deep into this to avoid spoilers, but damn these things kept breaking my immersion and infuriating me at the same time.

In the end, though, this drama still got me interested enough to finish it and actually enjoy it. I'd say a lot of it is due to some pretty good characters, and by that I mean mainly Hyun Soo. Honestly this drama surprised me, cause I didn't expect to love Hyun Soo so much, but when I realised I was already too attached to him. I think this is also due to Lee Joon Gi's acting. The man really killed it. The actress who played his wife did an amazing job, too, they shared quite some emotional and impactful scenes. Everyone was pretty good, actually, except for some extras. The romance was also really well built. I think it was a pretty refreshing approach, seeing a romance from the perspective of a couple who's already married and kinda have to re-evaluate their feelings for each other and also how this tied to Hyun Soo's growth as a character.

I also really like the way this drama portrays how having a psychopath as father afects both of his children, and how they characterize people with antisocial disorders under different lights. The soundtrack in general is pretty good in setting the atmosphere as well.

The main villain, though, was a pain-in-the-ass. He had one of the most punchable faces I've ever seen, wow. Because of him and cause the drama really gets unnecessary mellodramatic sometimes towards the end, I felt extremely frustrated watching the last few episodes, but at the same time I kept getting invested and couldn't simply turn away from it. I guess I could say Flower Of Evil was a bit of a sweet torture to me.

In the end, I believe this drama can still please a lot of people, specially because it's more vanilla and friendly than what you expect in the beginning, so in case you're wondering if you should start this drama, I'd tell to go for it and make your own conclusions about it.

Lire davantage

A different and wonderful experience

Re-watching this after a couple of years made me really want to write a review. Initially I just watched this drama for Baekhyun, but I really stayed because it was that good.

Honestly, I don't actually think this is a drama that everyone will love, but I find it extremely refreshing with a much more dramatic/sad tone. I think this is the only romantic kdrama I've watched so far that's not afraid to kill characters off and go full on tragic, and to me that was actually a good thing. Some shows just feel too cliché and restricted by the fact that they are afraid to piss off or disappoint the audience if they don't give everyone a happy ending.

The plot is well built and the story is not overly complicated or anything. The characters are pretty good and some have really interesting archs. What I think is a very postive aspect is the fact that they are not so black and white. They are flawd but it doesn't feel like they are evil Disney villains twisting their mustaches (at least most of them are not that stereotypical). One character that I think they ruined completely is Chae Ryung. Her motivations to do what she did are so stupid I couldn't help but feel no empathy for her in the end. I was also a bit upset that the time-travelling thing was not porperly explained, but it didn't bother me too much as it was not the central aspect of the story, only a plot device.

The soundtrack could've been a little better. Not that the OST was terrible, but I think that instrumental songs fit this type of hystorical drama better. Another thing that wasn't so good was the camera work, as almost every scene is shot uncomfortably close to the actors faces.

The acting was really good. IU did a fine job, but nothing amazing by any means. Lee Jung Gi had a delivery that really impressed me in some scenes, though. Baekhyun also exceeded my expectations, considering he didn't have much acting experience and overall there's no one who was bad with their portrayal.

One thing that this drama does really well is the ending. I think most korean shows have this fatal flaw of being boring in the last few episodes, but Scarlet Heart never looses traction throughout the narrative and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

As the story progresses, there are many instances where you get the feeling that something bad is going to happen but you still keep watching on the hopes that you're wrong, which keeps you entertained and makes you connect much more with the characters, since you actually fear for their lives cause you don't know when the writers might try to kill or harm them. Because of that you may think that people who don't enjoy angst or a tear-jerk might not like this, but I still think it's worth the experience (coming from a fluff/rom-com enthusiast).

In the end, I praise this drama for not being afraid to hurt the audience's feelings, taking us on a well constructed, intense and more realistic story that not everone might enjoy, but that everyone should give, at least, a try.

Lire davantage

A simple and lovely drama to kill some time

Another short, but sweet drama. The true strength of these types of dramas is the fact that they cut to the chase and don't overextend the conflicts, making them engaging and easy to watch. One thing particular to this one that I liked a lot was how they aproached the Idol life. I was glad to see them also portraying the negative sides of such job, specially the sasaeng issue.

Da Eun was a great female lead, kind and grounded, but also assertive when needed, not leting other people mistreat her. Kim Byul and her saga of trying to act as an ordinary person, on the other hand, wasn't very entertaining to me, so I was glad the writers decided to not focus on her too much. As for Jung Woo, he was a kind, respectful male lead, his scenes with Da Eun were great.

Overall, a very simple, although sweet drama, recommended for an in-between watch or for someone who doesn't want to start a very heavy/long drama right away.

Lire davantage

A must watch for romance fans

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is definitely one of my favorite love stories and the romance is definetely the reason to watch it. The story is interesting enough but nothing amazing, I think they made a good job balancing romance, comedy and thriller for the most part. Although funny, the slapstick humor is bit too much sometimes. Also, some sensitive themes like domestic abuse and homossexuality could've been handled better, but overall the plot is decent and with a good pacing.

The entire cast does a pretty good job with their acting, however the protagonists are the highlight of this show. Bong Soon sets herself apart from most female leads for being not just emotionally, but physycally strong. Not gonna lie, though, she was a bit too childish and had very unrealistic expectations when demanding a job she wasn't qualified for, but I managed to look past that.

Park Hyung Sik really shines in his role here. Min Hyuk is funny, smart and captivating, there's no way you won't fall in love with him. His chemistry with the fl is out of this world, I was actually surprised the actors didn't date in real life. Their relationship is certainly the best part about the drama and they have very cute moments with great kiss scenes.

Also, a shoutout to the scene where the trio (Min Hyuk, Bong Soon and Gok Doo) team up against the villain in the end, they all looked super badass!

This drama is really gripping and entertaining with a fantastic love story, however it's not for overyone. If you are a hardcore fan of rom-coms, though, definitely go for it.

Lire davantage

This drama is very close to my heart, but I'll try to be as objective as possible. First things first, if you're not a fan of cliches or very cheesy romance then don't even bother start watching it. If you are, though, this drama is everything you're looking for.

Louie had everything to be the emotionless, brooding chaebol, but fortunately he steers away from that trope and is actually a very cute, clumsy and adorable lead. I praise Seo In Guk for his performance here, because if not played well this character could've easily turned into a spoiled, petty brat, but the actor really portrays him with a lot of charisma. Bok Shil is also nice, she's a bit too naive sometimes, but she's also not just a doormat who lets everyone walk all over her. There's some annoying secondary characters, the only ones I liked were the butler, his love interest and Louie's grandma.

The story flows nicely most of the time, but I'll admit it gets a bit boring at some points towards the end. The plot was also full o cliches, although I wasn't too bothered by them. The OST is okay, I didn't really think Tiger Moth fit in well in the scenes it was played and although there's some disney songs that I love, I think it lacked more of an original, quality track.

Overall this show is pretty good, specially if you're looking for a light rom-com that you can just shut your brain off and appreciate.

Lire davantage

Great if you don't have high expectations

The premise of this drama is pretty good. It really draws you in, but toward the end the time traveling story starts to get convoluted and straight up nonsensical. How come can Sol still be friends with Taesung in the future she doesn't meet Sunjae, when her following Sunjae around is what starts her friendship with him? There are other plotholes like this scattared through the story, I think the overuse of the time travel really harmed the story a bit. If the show ended earlier, it would've been better, in my opinion.

Also, I have to say, Sol was a bit annoying with her obssession with Sunjae at the start. I undertand the importance he has on her life, but she just barkes any sort of boundary of a normal fan. She's not even close to him, but she keeps acting extremely suspicious and like a total creep and just hopes for the best. She has no actual plan to help him and the only reason it goes right is because they are leads is a romance story, cause otherwise this is very problematic as she's literally a stalker and she'd probably get herself killed or arrasted in a few days. Besides, Sunjae doesn't have much depth. Despite having to give up on his dream and struggling with depression, we don't really dive into how he feels about these things or how they truelly affect him. Also, Sol and Sunjae's obssession with sacrificing themselves for the other doesn't fell warranted. Like, you barely know each other, please let's calm down a bit. I guess these types of over the top, melodramatic plots only really work in a more high fantasy or historical setting, not in this type of slice of life drama (despite having sci-fi elements).

Despite all of this, I have to say it gets better with time. If you can suspend your disbelief, Sol and Sunjae really become a cute couple and they really grow on you as the plot progresses. They have a lot of chemistry and Sunjae is peak loser behaviour (in a good way). They carry this drama on their back. Furthermore, the plot with the granny is touching, but a bit weird? Her Alzheimer is portrayed almost like a magical thing, but it's more comical than anything else. Taesung has a nice evolution throughout the drama, too.

If you're looking for a strong plot with deep characters, this is not for you. But if you can get past the more problematic aspects of this drama, you can find a very sweet and endearing story, with a lot of tension and drama, so if that's your thing, definitely go for it. It isn't anything new but it's very entertaining in this regard.

Lire davantage

Ok drama, but could be better

Initially, the drama has a lot of potential. It has a good premise and an interesting plot, but ultimately it suffers from "trying way too hard to be more than just a romance drama", something that I've seen happening before (with Queen: Love and War for an example). This drama has good leads with good chemistry and a very cute love story, but unfortunately the romance gets pushed back for the sake of focusing on the murder mistery, investigative plot. The problem with that is that the story has way too many plotholes and conveniences that happen just for the sake of moving the story forward or creating more conflict, to the point that sometimes I just got irritated. It was still interesting at certain points, but way too predictable and flawed to be considered a good murder mistery.
As I said, the lead couple has a nice love story, but because the writers are trying way too much to focus on the murder cases their romance feels rushed (even though it takes many episodes to actually happen), delivering a mediocre investigative plot and a great, but underdeveloped romance.
The supporting cast is good, I specially loved Hee-Jin's redemption arc and Dong-Cheol was a nice character. As for the leads, Cha Min is very cute, he has basically everything I love in a male lead and even though he's rich he breaks the stereotype of cold, scarred by the past chaebol by being an actual sweetheart and very obvious about his feelings for Se-Yeon from the start, while she's an actual intelligent, strong female lead (even though a little egoistical and petty at times), making me like her instantly since k dramas tend to portray women as dumb or weak.
Overall the drama is ok, I'd recommend it for people who don't have anything better to watch, just don't go with your expectations too high.

Lire davantage

It honestly pains me to give (kind of) a low rating to this drama. There were a lot of aspects I liked about it. The female lead, although childish and annoying at times, did stood up for herself and stayed a nice person despite all she went through. The male lead, although begins as a trope of the successful, mysterious guy who doesn't like to be close to people, really grows through the story, becoming a more sensitive, nice person. Their chemistry is good and the secondary characters are interesting as well. I'd also like to point out the wonderful OST Make It Count, sung by none other than Chen.

That being said, the fatal flaw of this drama and what made me drop it is the fact that it has no plot whatsoever. It simply follows the life of the protagonists and since they get together pretty quick, the story soon looses traction and becomes boring to the point that not even the fluffy scenes between the leads could save this drama for me.

I still see how some people can like this show, but honestly I'd recommend it only if you're going to watch in between other shows, otherwise it'll probably feel like a chore to finish.

Lire davantage

Was this written by a 12 year-old?

I didn't intend to watch this show because the sinopsis was not very appealing to me, but after seeing so many positive reviews I decided to give this show a chance, but wow the regret I have now.

From the start this show was very tedious, it was a chore just to get to episode 8. The plot is the most boring I've seen in a while and a lot of the things that happen feel overdramatic and blown out of proportion, what makes it hard to take the story seriously since everything that happens is so childish.

As someone who plays games (inclusing MOBAs like the one featured here) I can tell that the gaming and e-sports plot was just very weak. Besides, a lot of the times they showed the characters playing they were just awful. How am I supposed to believe these people are pros when they play like someone who has no basic notion of the game? Nevertheless, I still tried to give this drama a chance since everyone talked abut how great the romance and the leading couple are, but I was, once again, disappointed.

The leads had no chemistry together, and while I enjoy a couple with a teasing/bickering dynamic, they didn't do a good job in convincing me they could be in love. They don't actually bond over anything, they just argue a lot and suddenly they're falling for each other.

The acting here is also very subpar, only part of the supporting cast has a decent portrayal. While I feel that the ML at least tries, though, the actress of the FL was a disaster. It was almost painful to watch her acting, she had the emotional range of a lettuce, which in turn made it seem like her character had no personality at all. The only character trait I could notice from her is that she's immature and that's it.

There were one or two funny lines here and there and I kinda liked when they animated the games because one: at least there they didn't show the stupid plays they made and two: MOBA games can be a bit confusing to watch, specially for someone who never played one before, so the animation simplifies it to the general public. Also, even though I didn't care much about the leads, I gotta say the show shines the brightest when there's a scene between them, even if it's because every other aspect about the drama is seriously lacking.

Overall, I definitely wouldn't recommend this neither to rom-com fans, nor to any e-sports or MOBA fan/player.

Lire davantage

It's not all that

Honestly I feel kida like the odd one out seeing so many positive reviews on this drama. The potential was there but the execution was just wack. I know the explanation for the origin of the outbreak isn't the most important part of the show, but I can't ignore it as a scientist. The flip flop between two pretty much opposite hypothesis doesn't even make any sense. Nowadays you can just run tests and pretty easily tell if the condition is caused by a pathogen or if it's drug induced. Besides, if it was a drug, the zombie like condition would just stop happening after the drug has been eliminated from the system. Don't simply throw this stuff at me and then expect me to not care about it.

Besides that, the main characters don't make much sense, especially the fl. How can she be a cop when she is the most irresponsible and idiotic motherfucker out there? The scene where she storms in the truck to save her dumbass friend is the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a while and the fact that she and ml just escpae without as much as a scratch, simply so preposterous. I just feel this drama tries so hard to be different and deep but at the same time it creates such unbeliavable and stupid situations.

The relationship between the two leads is also not very believable. We just get a little backstory on them via flashback and that's basically it. They have no chemistry and often times they feel like self-righteous idiots. Maybe the writers would expand on their story later on but by the time I got to the fourth episode I was bored out of my mind. Anyways if you all want a true drama/horror about complicated human realtionships during an apocalypse just go watch a playthrough/play The Last of Us.

Lire davantage

When you play the squid game, you win or you die, there's no middle ground

Easily one of the best dramas, if not the best, of the year, so far. This drama just has the perfect mix of drama, suspense, mistery and action while still delivering social criticism regarding specially human nature and how crushing the capitalistic system is for the ones at the bottom.

The pacing of the drama is pretty good, it'll keep you at the edge of your seat and the chiffhangers will just make it almost impossible to stop watching. The reduced amount of episodes also help make the drama binge-worthy, while sparing it the same fate of many dramas that feel bloated because of many useless filler plots and characters. I think Squid Game just has the right amount of run time.

Besides that, the acting is really great. The cast is very convincing and I enjoyed a lot that the writers still managed to delve into the characters backstories and conflicts, otherwise this could've been a huge failure, cause you wouldn't care about any of the characters if they were so shallow. The only portrayals and parts of the script that felt weak were the ones related to the non-asian, english speaking characters, but I've yet to see an english dialog in a korean drama that isn't cringy, so I wasn't really surprised or disappointed.

Another strong suit of this show is the soundtrack. It's simply phenomenal, alternating between complementing the mood perfectly and contrasting with what's being shown to the point of being jarring, which was obviously the intention. In the end, I think the songs fit the scenes perfectly and truelly help you immerse into the story. And I have to say, Squid Game is very good at pulling at your heartstrings, it was the first time where I was at the verge of tears watching a drama.

Now I see that a lot of people seem to have a problem with the ending, and while I can understand it to some extent, I can't agree with it at all. I don't think this show has a good or a bad ending, but rather a very fitting one. It was more of a reflective ending and I think it was a fair conclusion to the events that ocurred.

Overall, Squid Game is an amazing experience to go through. It's a drama that's not afraid of doing what it has to do to tell you a story. I won't comment much more on it, because I honestly think it's best to go into it without knowing much, and spoilers could really ruin your experience, so I'll just recommend this drama to everybody (except maybe for people who can't handle graphic violence or gore) because I really think it's something you have to see for yourself.

Lire davantage