Estrela Cadente (2022)

Very good acting and chemistry between the characters

This is my first review, unfortunately I would like to write my first review for another drama, but it so happened that I just rewatched this one for the third time.

Looking ahead, I will say right away that I liked the drama, but unfortunately it is not without flaws.

So let's start everything in order.

The drama stars two of my favorite actors, Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young Dae, and also my favorites, Park So Jin and Kim Dae Gon. There are even guests like Kang Gi Doong and Kim Dong Wook. This is a truly gradio cast for me.

First of all, I want to highlight the acting of Lee Sung Kyung, she gave it her all here - her smile, laughter, tears, emotions, love, embarrassment - everything is top notch.

As for Kim Dae Gon, he is also at his best here, and for me personally this is his best work.

The rest of the actors also played well, and not a single supporting couple let us down. The pair of Shin Hyun Seung and Lee Si Woo was especially pleasing.

Well, we've talked about the positives, that is, the acting in this drama is truly beyond praise.

But now we need to move on to less positive things - namely the plot. As for me, this drama has literally everything it could - all that's left is to add a little sci-fi, aliens, time travel, superpowers and you'll get the most ultimate drama in the world.

And all because there are so many different themes here, while other dramas choose one theme and develop it as the plot progresses, in this one there are several at once and they all follow one after another.

Here is the loss of the main character's parents, and problems with his mother both in terms of his relationship and her health, here is the death of the main character's best friend, here is a kind of gaslighting, and the relationship between a star and an ordinary girl, revenge from both a friend and a stranger, and even a love triangle at the beginning.

And the whole problem is that all these topics take up too much screen time, which ultimately leaves us with: 50% of the main character's problems, 40% of other problems or relationships of other couples, and only 10% of the screen time is devoted to the relationships of the main characters. This is unforgivably little. We were shown very little of their relationship.

What a shame.

But all this is offset by the overall presentation, acting and well-shot scenes.

I think I will rewatch it more than once in the future.

Leia Mais

Good Enough

Korean Drama " Shooting Stars " is a standard korean romantic comedy.

Bringing easily to mind the older kdrama "The Producers", the drama takes place in the entertainment industry and showcases the lives of those who work behind the scenes or alongside the famous stars.

The main plot, moreover, is based on the bickering love story of the two main leads who are on the opposite side of the industry, as well as two opposites all together. Their dynamics are perfect to support an entertaining story, and their relationship is nicely paced and smoothly progressed, with some really sweet romantic scenes.

However, that being said, the drama is predictable and silly at times. The romantic chemistry of the coule was lukewarm as well.

The performances, on the other hand, were enjoyable by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, five out of ten.

Leia Mais

A light romcom drama [Best friends to lovers???] about movies industry in South Korea

The first ten episodes are really funny and light, focusing on the main couple's relationship. The guy likes to tease the girl, acting like they hate each other, while in fact, they've been in love for forever.

Another thing that I like: we can see the people who work behind the celebrities, mainly the PR team who has to clean up the celebrities' scandals >.< how they have to handle groundless rumors while protecting the artists.

It's a cute romance story and we have other two sides couples.

However, after the tenth episode, suddenly the team decided to add some mysteries to the plot, crumping the conflicts for the last six episodes. I wish they could pace it better because it got boring towards the end.

But I still finish it for the sake of Queen Sung Kyung. If you're looking for a light drama with no heavy plot, then this one might be for you.

Leia Mais

Worth watching

Even though its anothe cliche cold man, hardworking girl concept, each scene made me interested. The chemistry between the leads are very very good. Fast phased stryline which made it not dragging. The kissing scenes of the leads is so steamy and watching it makes me want more.
The bromance between the rivals are cute. Hope they made more going on with the two.
Side stries of the supporting actors are cute too. I just hoped one friend of her end up not woth the lawyer guy. Age gape too obvious and not much chemistry between them.

Hope to see mores dramas of these artists in the future. Kudos!

Leia Mais

Good drama and I enjoy it

I didn't have high expectations when I wanted to watch this drama, but I was wrong. This drama is a good drama. I finished this drama in just 2 days and didn't feel bored and was always curious about the next episode. Even though I did a lot of skip scene in side couple scenes but i love main couple story. I skip alot scenes from side couple because there are too many side couples in this drama, the main couple is very suitable. I feel the chemistry between ML and FL is very good and good. the kiss scene from ML and FL, the scene from enemies to boyfriends, the intimate scene between the two actors is very good and I really like it. The story is also not too bad and easy to follow. I give this drama 8.5 rating. If you want to watch this drama and are confused about whether to watch this drama or not, I highly recommend you to watch this drama.

Leia Mais

A comfortable, semi-predictable and well done romcom set in a unique setting!

The plot of this drama wasn't necessarily unique, it was the usual comfortable , semi predictable rom com in an interesting setting. Even though we have had dramas with the main character being a celebrity, we haven't seen the perspective of the staff. I found the setting very enjoyable with a unique job and being able to see a dramatized version of what goes on behind the scenes. I also enjoyed how competent everyone was, there were no silly blunders for the sake of the plot. At times, the drama also showed the struggles of a person in the public eye and the way their privacy is violated.
The chemistry of the characters was great, all the couples were adorable and the characters very eccentric but entertaining. The filming is well done, the visuals are great, the pace is great even though the realization of feelings between the leads does seemed a little bit unnatural at times. The frenemy trope was really well done and there was no unnecessary love triangle, I love that the characters could resolve conflicts in a mature yet humorous manner.
This drama is amazing if going in, you have the expectations of a well done romcom! It's amazing to re-watch and is really light hearted and entertaining.

Leia Mais

If You Like Tsundere Male Leads, This Is For You

Honestly, I loved every minute of this drama and it has become one of my favorites. I'm currently in the middle of rewatching it (and I almost never rewatch dramas). What I actually find so appealing is Kim Young-Dae's performance as Gong Tae-Sung. He was the perfect embodiment of a tsundere as well as the idea of "pulling pigtails." While his character was super childish, he made it seem endearing and cute, especially with how obviously infatuated he was with Oh Han-Byeol. His childish infatuation with her is definitely one of my favorite aspects of this show. I also enjoyed the slight uptick in sensuality that the couple had as well.

I found the cast of supporting characters to be very compelling, and I was relatively invested in everyone's stories, with one or two exceptions. It was cute to see Shin Hyun-Seung and Lee Si-Woo from Be My Boyfriend co-star together again; they were probably my second favorite. I also enjoyed the meta nature of this drama being about an entertainment company making a drama about actors. I found the more serious elements of the plot that come up to be gripping as well.

My one major complaint about this drama was the Africa plot element. Going to Africa (no specific country, just Africa lol) to build wells for village children is poverty porn at its finest. It was super cringey and out of touch. I really resent how they are picking up this post-colonial Western narrative of Africa being a land for missionaries to go and save people from poverty. Africa is a continent with countries of varying wealth levels, some of which are fairly wealthy, and to reduce the continent to this land in need of handouts is pretty bigoted. I understand that South Korea has likely inherited this view from the West, but in 2022 it's still embarassing and unnecessary.

Despite this major flaw, I adored the rest of this drama. I'm always a little surprised to see any negative reviews about it (other than what I mentioned as being problematic, that I understand). It has a special place in my heart!

Leia Mais

Was not expecting it to be this good

I watched this in those days when I felt really bored but didn't think another kdrama would be able to meet my expectations, as I had already watched so many and was a little tired of them. But this was PERFECT for me at the time, because it wasn't too emotional or heavy hearted, neither did it make me rack my brain, and it's was REALLY HILARIOUS and supperr CUTEE
I recommend this to watch if ur looking for something lighthearted, yet interesting and enjoyable, with not too much drama.
The acting was great and it makes you go into phase of just wanting to keep watching rom-coms like this one <3<3<3

Leia Mais

Okay, but nothing more

This was okay. I wish romcoms were still romcoms though. Who thought it was a good idea to add TWO unnecessary antagonist sub-plots into the show? So dumb, to be honest – I just skipped them🤭😪. The old lady had one-sided beef because the male lead didn’t want her to be his sugar mommy?? And the other dude was some anti-fan?? Don’t even ask, I skipped all that. The secondary couples, and romance in general, were super cute though. In my opinion, Kim Young Dae shined well in this show. He had good comedic timing and his chemistry with Lee Sung Kyung was also great. He was a lot more expressive here than he was in “Moon in the Day” (granted, those shows have … nothing in common really lmao). We could have all lived without the Africa storyline though… right? They represented a CONTINENT as some kind of entity (country) that needs saving as a whole from… a South Korean actor?? Weird. This was really… not needed at all (also, what was that yellow filter😭😭 that’s like American shows putting a yellow filter to show that they’re in Mexico… who told the director/editors that this was the way to go?🫣). The romance and comedy were cute enough, but I’m sure that there are better (and more consistent) shows out there.🤗

Leia Mais

Weird plot development

In the middle of the drama, the writers decided to throw everything in, including the kitchen sink. Romance? Check. A hint of a love triangle? Check? Multiple side characters with multiple romance side stories? Check? Anti-fandom villains? Check. Parental abandonment? Check. Crazy obsessive fans? Check. Bromance? Check. A dead friend trauma? Check. I ended up skipping through most of the scenes because this was too much!

The first half was very light hearted, filled with silliness and comedy. ML and FL were figuring out their feelings for each other and then became a couple. There wasn't any real conflict outside of the romantic development. After that, the writers suddenly decided to introduce a conflict - the anti-fandom, the crazy rich lady, ML's estranged mother and his childhood trauma, the dead best friend. The only downside was that the writers forgot to actually develop the plot and make these storylines interesting.

I did like ML's and FL's relationship, the love and support she gave him, with no cliche tropes involving misunderstandings and silly love triangles. However, it was very one sided. She was always taking care and supporting him because he was the celebrity and the center of all the controversy. But, he didn't do anything for her. She had virtually no personality and purpose outside of her role as his PR manager. The writers should've developed her character separately from his with her own story to allow reciprocity in their relationship where he could be there for her equally as much during hard times and trauma.

I ended up skipping most of the scenes with the side characters because it felt like filler. They were not developed enough to be interesting and the show gave them too much screen time.

Another cringey thing was the characterization of women and how they responded to romantic situations. These were not high school girls, or even young adults. These were adult women well into their careers, and they spent too much time running away and screaming when faced with awkward romantic situations. A little bit of awkwardness is ok, but this was a totally immature and childish response from grown-ass adults.

Overall, the romance was very sweet and cute, but there were too many filler scenes with forgettable side characters and a convoluted plot. The kissing was hot!

Leia Mais

Entertaining

This was a good blend; a bit funny, a bit of romance, a tad bit of mystery/suspense, and good acting.

I ended up half-binging it, and it did kind of surprise me in a positive way.
The leading cast both did a great job, in my eyes. ML might seem a bit “over the top”, but that was suitable for the character.

Even though it’s not that long since I watched it, I forgot to write my review straight away, so sorry to say my memory is already deluted to write a detailed review.

Main point: Entertaining and easy to watch, good acting, and doesn’t shy away from showing a bit of the backside/behind the scenes of the showbiz industry.

Leia Mais

A story for all those working behind the Stars

For a change, we get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lives of the stars. We get to see the people (in this case, the PR team, managers and journalists) who work hard to make the stars shine. We see how many hours the PR team gives for their work and especially that they have to be accessible 24 hours a day. It's a very stressful job that doesn't leave much room for the private life of these employees.

As the plot is mainly centred around the heroine's work, the romance is secondary. Don't get me wrong, there is romance, there even are 4 couples in total in the story. The story just focuses mainly on the heroine dealing with star scandals, anti-fans, revenge stories, events,...

Regarding the romance, I greatly appreciated that it was straightforward and without misunderstandings for many episodes.

This drama is tagged as an enemies to lovers, but in my opinion, their animosity is not very deep. The hero likes to play little pranks on the heroine, which makes them "enemies". They have known each other since university, which is 10 years.

This drama was hilarious and I enjoyed the little hints to other dramas.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a good time without a headache, I recommend this drama. It's fun, the actors are good and it's full of surprises.

Leia Mais