This drama is different. Good-different. Amazing-different. Phenomenal-different. It details the growth and struggles of two young people trying to face their pasts, their fears, and finding solace in one another. There is no overlying mystery plot, no birth secrets, no rich handsome boss/coworker/perfect-man and poor cute employee/teacher/student/average-girl. The attraction begins right away, and the characters are what makes this drama.

I first got into MARS because of Meteor Garden, which also starred Barbie Hsu and Vic Zhou. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from the two of them. Meteor Garden was their first acting gigs, and I figured they didn't have the experience yet to be truly great. Boy was I wrong (and gladly!). The amazing depth with which they imbued their characters left me wanting more in the subsequent dramas I watched. Sigh...

Music/aesthetics wise - this drama was waaaaaay back in 2004, when taiwanese dramas had terrible funding, bad fashion (at least how we would consider it now), and different filming styles. Don't expect amazing packaging or cinematography, and expect most of the boys to wear their hair long. In this case I feel like MARS doesn't suffer from it however, since the character's personalities are the most appealing and strongest parts of the drama. There are two songs that are particularly gorgeous, but most of the other tracks were instrumentals and easily forgotten. Not that that's a bad thing (I'm looking at you Almost Paradise!).

A word of warning however - this drama deals with dark issues, and may contain possible triggers. I'd suggest looking up the summary before watching it, because I know that personally I watched it better knowing the general subject and plot.

Now where to find the next drama up to par with this one?

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I've seen all the previous Japanese Liar Game seasons (and movies), and really enjoyed them all, so I was particularly excited when I found out that there was going to be a Kdrama remake.

The thing is...this isn't so much of a remake as it is "loosely" based upon the Japanese Liar Game world. With that being said, for viewers who have seen the Jdrama I would advise you to keep that in mind (I was a bit frustrated towards the end). For those of you who haven't don't worry.

Putting this aside however, Liar Game was surprisingly riveting. I was beyond impressed with the three main actors, especially Shin Sung Rok, who plays Do Young the host.

Story: The story was decent. It was straightforward in the beginning, but as time wore on revealed that nothing was quite as simple as we had all thought. I was actually pretty excited about this, the mystery added to the allure of the show and games. I do feel like the ending lacked...a bit of a punch. It was definitely good, but not up to par with how the drama had been in the episodes leading up.

Acting: This was BY FAR the strongest aspect of the drama. Shin Sung Rok was unbelievable in his role as the mysterious host, and our other two main leads were excellent in their own rights. Kim So Eun played her character as believably naive and trusting, which I was beyond grateful for (the Jdrama, as much as I liked it, had me bashing my head sometimes in frustration). Her character development was gradual, but believable, and ended on a great note.

Music: Suspenseful at the right times, and light hearted all the other times. This drama didn't try to have an OST with standout songs (I'm looking at you Almost Paradise), which would have detracted from the story.

Rewatch Value: I'm not one for re-watching dramas, but if I were to this would definitely be at the top of my list!

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Hmmmm where to start?

Tiny Times is based off a popular romance novel of the same name, and was directed by the author. This is typically a dream come true for the fans of the books, because who else knows the book better than the author, amiright? Yet…Guo Jing Ming fell a little flat with the movie. Sure, it was pretty to look at, but it never really had any punch to its plot.

The girls are shown in high school, and then the first year of college. The narrator manages to get an impossible PA job for the boss at a magazine (Devil Wear’s Prada anyone?) within 10 minutes, and spends the rest of the movie doing odd jobs for him, including throwing a fashion show. What? Her quiet artsy friend practically has no role but to be pretty, and although we know she has an abusive boyfriend from one small moment in the movie, we don’t know anything about the backstory or why she keeps returning to him. The queen bee of the friends is flighty and sharp-tongued, her role is to provide the characters with a place to party when they all end up single on christmas. The “chubby” athletic friend acts as the token piece of comedic relief, which (albeit delivered in an amusing way), is a bit annoying when she has no substance apart from that. This is sex and the city meets gossip girl, without any support as to why the girls are friends and a lack of relationships ( including two sudden, ill-thought out breakups).

Honestly, the main appeal of this movie is the cast - or rather, the packaging. Music was decent but forgettable and the acting was difficult to judge because I felt like they were all limited by the poorly written script.

Will I watch Tiny Times 2? Probably. This movie is literal eye-candy, and sometimes you need an hour of fluff. Unless I really start to hate the characters or the plot (or lack of), I’ll continue watching the series!

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