Estrela Cadente (2022)

so cute i shat tears

11/10 will watch again.
Is it cheesy at times? Yes.
Does it make my heart warm inside? Also yes.

Sh**ting Stars doesn't have the BEST plot of all time, but for me it's the ultimate comfort show that brought me a lot of joy during an admittedly challenging process in my life. It's so incredibly wholesome - from the chemistry, witty banter and occasional 4th wall breaking - I absolutely adored it all. I also appreciate how the characters are so emotionally mature and communicative with their partners. While the show did take some creative liberties, it is ultimately a rom-com that knows how to make hearts flutter.

I also appreciated the effort the team put into the more darker themes of the show (eg: abandonment issues, suicide, public scrutiny, workplace pressure etc.) Although it wasn't fully delved into, it was solid enough to be believable. As the show is ultimately a "rom-com", I understand the decisions made regarding these even though it can considered "shallow" from an objective point of view. It added some depth to the characters and the way they are, nor did it ruin my viewing experience.

I love how all the characters each have their distinctive personalities and how they're all so supportive all each other. It's a nice break from reality and a comfort show with lots to give.

If I have to describe it a physical sense, it's like a cup of tea on a rainy day. It's not extraordinary or groundbreaking, but its something that can warm you and take your mind off things, even if it's just for a little bit.

Leia Mais

Loved it!

Just finished Shooting Stars on Viki!

Excellent show.

A mainly light-hearted, character-driven romantic comedy with some serious moments. The highs and lows of fame, abandonment and anti-fandom are some of the issues/themes explored in the show. There are two serious subplots dealing with abandonment and anti-fandom (never heard of this before) that I found fascinating. Whereas most romcoms have a first and second couple, there are at least 4 couples here and they're all different with their own levels of cuteness that romcom fans will love.

The soundtrack is nice and serves the show well and of course, the cinematography, editing and direction are first class (all K-Dramas, actually) and acting is solid from the main and supporting cast. Each episode also moves quickly.

Lee Syung Kyung and Kim Young-Dae are solid. My favorite moments featured a supporting appearance by the excellent Choi Ji-Woo, who I recently saw in Winter Sonata. She brought such presence to her scenes and it took the story into a different and deeper place.

If you're a romcom K-Drama fanatic, this show has your name on it as you're going to love the ending. Highly recommended.

Leia Mais

whatever it is very good and wholesome

This may seem like another same old story about a star and a common girl then yes it is this is that kind of a story but whatever it is this is very good and wholesome and have a high re-watch ability when you have a mood off or something.

The drama shows a simple yet effective story of a star has some past problems and his long term friend and love interest girl but everything is very good actually the story is small but very well written with focus all details themain charector and the side charectors also focus very well and they also show complete and detail story of them also which is very great.

The setup of a star management agency is showing very well many actors they show with there stories and the whole management is like a family to them they support eachother.

Sometime there are problems like stalking, cinicals fans, not checked reports in media bur they all handel them well and it is appreciated that they show those real life things also.

Leia Mais

A simple, sweet and beautiful story which revolves around work, friendship and love. It beautifully portrays the struggle of an actor and the team that works hard to make them shine. It also made me realise that you can find someone important anywhere and anytime in life, to Gong Tae Sung who found a brother like figure in Kang Yoo Sung, a coffee friend in Do Soo Hyuk & a partner in Oh Han Byul. When I watched the drama I could feel the regret, sadness, longing and love of character the actors wanted to portray. Loved the chemistry between Oh Han Byul & Gong Tae Sung and the other actors did a good job as well. It's a thumbs up from me and I would recommend you to watch it.

Leia Mais

Rom-com - fun to watch - beginning to end!

This is my first review and I felt the needed to write one because of some of the negative reviews I have read here.
I enjoyed this rom-com from start to finish because it ticked all the boxes of what a romantic comedy should be.
I thought the main storyline was interesting and eventful, well paced and thoughtful. The vengeful anti-fan club added mystery, drama and sadness. There was a backstory to this which gave the series some extra depth.

The two main characters were fun to watch. Having known each other for some time in their roles as Top Actor and PR, their obvious dislike for one another gave rise to quite a bit of teasing and insults. Their behind the scenes remarks and banter were fun to watch, especially as their feelings develop and the banter slowly becomes more playful, the intent being to provoke a reaction. I thought the actors did an amazing job here.

Kim Young-Dae's performance was great to watch, he played his part very well. It's one thing to play a role as an actor and a totally different thing to have it all together in your real life. Being able to look 'perfect' in front of a camera doesn't mean you have confidence and don't get nervous when you are confronted by your feelings or have the ability to express them to the people that are important in your life, this is exactly why Kim Young-Dae did such a great job here and I was thoroughly convinced by his character portrayal. Lee Sung-Kyung was also amazing, I have only seen her in two other series (Cheese in a Trap and Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo) and her performances always appear natural and realistic. The main couple characters grew together and looked great together, there was some really funny moments shared between them as well as with their friends and co-workers.

Speaking of friends and co-workers, all the supporting characters and the actors portraying them did a great job. They bought humour and depth to the story and the budding relationships between the various characters were also cute and fun to watch.
If you are looking for a romantic comedy with a great cast and good closure, I recommend this wholeheartedly.

There is perhaps only one thing that could have given complete closure and that would be to know what happened to Ms. Kwon. I feel like the anti-fan queen of narcissism should have had one of her many houses dropped on her ;)

Leia Mais

Réalisme ou poudre aux yeux ?

Je suis très mitigée après avoir vu ce drama, franchement je ne sais pas trop quoi penser. D'un côté j'ai beaucoup aimé l'histoire, elle est fraiche et mignonne sur son aspect romance et très dynamique dans la pléthore de thèmes abordés et l'enchainement des scènes... Et puis de l'autre je n'arrive pas à déterminer si on a affaire à une peinture certes pas toujours réaliste mais légère (dans le genre "à ne pas prendre au 1er degré") du monde du showbiz, ou si on a cherché à nous prendre pour des cons.

Attention, j'ai passé un très bon moment en regardant ce drama très feel-good, il m'a mis de bonne humeur et au moment où je rédige ma critique j'ai encore le sourire aux lèvres. L'intrigue nous dépeint le quotidien d'une agence de stars avec tous ceux qui y travaillent et gravitent autour, de sorte qu'on suit beaucoup de personnages, variés dans leurs rôles et personnalités : agents de stars, chargés de relations publiques, journalistes people, conseillers juridiques sollicités en cas de diffamation, acteurs confirmés ou débutants... L'avantage de l'histoire, c'est qu'elle aborde de nombreux thèmes tels que la gestion des scandales liées aux stars, l'obligation de composer avec les caprices de certains, la recherche d'une future célébrité à côté de laquelle on craint de passer, l'enthousiasme de voir son poulain obtenir de vraies opportunités dans un drama et des spots publicitaires, l'importance des fans et la question problématique des anti-fans, la difficulté d'avoir une vie privée quand on travaille dans ce secteur et l'obligation d'être réactif même en vacances tellement les nouvelles vont vite, etc.. Quant aux romances, elles sont toutes sympas et j'ai rarement eu autant de papillons dans le ventre que pendant la phase précédant la concrétisation du couple principal ainsi que leur premier bisou. Ajoutez à cela des moments très drôles, un jeu d'acteur sympa, des scènes nombreuses et qui s'enchaînent de manière dynamique (hormis l'évolution des romances il n'y a pas de réel fil directeur, puisqu'on voit surtout le quotidien des professionnels de ce domaine, vivant des événements qui pourraient se produire à n'importe quel moment du drama dans un autre ordre). D'une certaine manière il m'a un peu fait penser à la série française "Dix pour Cent", tirée de vraies anecdotes vécues par les agents de stars.

N'empêche, je me pose sincèrement la question de savoir s'ils ont trop idéalisé tout ça et occulté délibérément l'aspect problématique de la célébrité et de la pression exercée par l'entourage professionnel à tous les niveaux du processus. Je tiens à préciser que je ne suis pas une spécialiste des stars coréennes, et que mon questionnement provient surtout de ce qui commence à émerger sur le monde très dur de la K-Pop. On n'est pas tout à fait sur le même registre j'imagine (enfin j'en sais rien, mais ça ne doit pas être très éloigné), et je suppose sans peine que la K-Pop doit être encore plus exigeante envers ses membres obligés de subir un entraînement et des régimes drastiques, étant donné le niveau des performances attendues. Néanmoins avec tellement d'argent à se faire sur le dos de ces jeunes premiers (qu'ils soient acteurs, chanteurs ou danseurs) ainsi que le fonctionnement général du showbiz là-bas et la notion de réputation bien plus importante que chez nous, ça m'étonnerait que l'industrie des dramas soit vraiment plus conciliante envers ses stars comme on veut nous le faire croire dans cette histoire... On nous présente des agents prêts à donner de leur personne pour prendre en charge et protéger leurs bébés à tout prix tels des parents aimants et fiers, des chargés de relations publiques crevés par le boulot mais c'est parce qu'ils le veulent bien tellement ils aiment leur travail, des futurs acteurs qui ont eu la chance de se faire repérer dans la rue sans jamais avoir besoin de travailler d'arrache-pied, de faire des crédits, de subir des opérations de chirurgie esthétique ni devoir abandonner parce que la concurrence est rude et qu'ils ne sont pas assez bons... Aucun des professionnels chargés d'encadrer ces stars ne les critiquent sur leurs choix de bouffe et les régimes qui les attendent, sur leur pif ou leur menton à refaire (tout au plus l'un des acteurs débutants doit s'entrainer pour perdre son accent), sur le choix de leur conjoint éventuel et leur décision de se marier, personne ne se fait de coups-bas... Le stress qu'ils vivent tous en permanence n'est pas très grave parce que le showbiz est le meilleur endroit pour vivre la romance pailletée de leurs rêves, et les RP parviennent toujours à gérer les scandales en trouvant la solution qu'il fallait. Même les anti-fans, quoique craignos, ne sont finalement pas si dangereux une fois qu'on a porté plainte contre eux. Le pire, c'est qu'ils abordent une situation plus dramatique (le suicide passé d'un acteur en pleine route vers la gloire) ce qui en soit est une bonne chose si c'est pour dénoncer les conséquences de ce monde difficile, sauf qu'ils ne remettent jamais en question le système dont il est issu, suggérant nettement que c'est son contexte familial qui a pesé sur sa décision. Tout cela fait que malgré le plaisir que j'ai éprouvé devant ce drama, je me suis sentie obligée de baisser sa note.

L'idée est originale, les situations piquantes et variées, et je le répète, on passe un bon moment devant ce drama qui sait enchaîner de nombreuses situations parfois drôles, parfois émouvantes et des couples multiples très mignons sans jamais perdre notre intérêt. Néanmoins je conseille fortement de le visionner en gardant son esprit critique. Personnellement l'histoire ne m'a pas dérangée parce j'attendais une comédie romantique sympathique et celle-ci a rempli son rôle, mais tout dépend de ce que vous recherchez. Car derrière ce joli conte de fées glamour, l'envers du décor est beaucoup plus dégueulasse et impitoyable qu'ils voudraient nous le faire croire.

Leia Mais

RomCom Sample Pack!

This was a hard drama for me to get into and pretty easy for me to start losing interest in, but if you like romance dramas with plenty of couples to ship this may be the perfect drama for you. "Sh**ting Stars" is about the drama industry behind the scenes, and as a non-Korean, a lot of the drama behind entertainment scandals seems either ridiculously exaggerated or boring. If you are invested at all in Hallyu Star life then you may like the premise more than I did. The idea of keeping up a pristine image for Actors who aren't doing more than dating bores me pretty quickly. Still, I liked and could empathize a lot with Lee Sung Kyung as the overworked and always-on-call-to-help Oh Han Byul. However, It took 3 tries to finally give this drama a chance.

It was the frenemies banter between the two leads that kept me watching when I was ready to drop this drama. Kim Young Dae as the arrogant and childish Gong Tae Sung was fun to watch. His character is pretty basic and some of his storylines, like volunteering in "Africa" to be a mentor, are super cheesy, and one-dimensional. Eventually, the romance plot takes center stage and that's when I started looking forward to episodes. The leads have cute although often immature chemistry. Many of their scenes are also played up for laughs, at times extra silly and childish on purpose. The entire cast has a sense of silliness about them. I could also appreciate that if you don't ship the main couple there are quite a few other side couples to ship. For me, the couples ranged from slightly cringy and forced to satisfyingly sweet. It helps that the majority of the characters are likable. I definitely grew to like many of the characters over time, and the way they all overlap made for a strong ensemble.

I only lost some interest because of how repetitive the plot became.

There are also emotional storylines that although they logically tie the stories together just never made me feel anything. It normally doesn't take much for me to cry but I stayed dry-eyed throughout. I think it just took too long to reveal these parts of the story and then they were rushed through so I didn't have time to care. The idea that attractive people are recruited into acting without having any acting ability also seemed super offputting. Like that casting process, this is not a drama with much depth or substance. Soon we were back to secret crushes, and secret couples being the main focus, which I preferred.

Would I watch this again? Probably not. Even with all the cute moments, I'm not sure there are enough to hold my attention for a full second viewing. This drama could have easily been shorter too. I did like the cast enough to keep watching but none of the characters stood out as favorites that I would want to watch again. The last episode gave me more than enough closure.

I will also admit that a lot of the obvious drama cameos and drama references went over my head because they were dramas I haven't watched. In a similar vein, I did think the self-aware product placements were funny.

Overall, if you're in the mood for a light romcom with many ships, this one is imperfect but good enough. If you get nauseated in a room full of couples then this might give you a more annoyed feeling which I can understand too. This drama is great if you're in the mood for a romcom and can't decide on what kind you're in the mood for. It's a little like a romcom sample pack. You can tell the cast enjoyed themselves and working together and that's what shines through in "Sh**ting Stars" the most.

Leia Mais

It's hard to take care of actresses

what sensation do you feel when you go through a long road with views on either side? Maybe it's just "just knowing", but you don't really get into the beauty/ugliness, do you?

More or less like that is felt when watching the Korean drama Shooting Stars. The audience is invited to take a straight path with flashes of fragments of the stories of celebrities and the people who work behind them. Less 'deep' so it doesn't feel intense.

It would be better if the story of the Korean drama Shooting Stars was taken from an angle like the Korean drama ‘Record of Youth’ and the Korean drama ‘Now, We Are Breaking Up’ which tells the whole story of the family and friendship of 3 women. So that the audience can dissolve and enjoy the whole drama.

A less 'deep' story, possibly causing the Korean drama Shooting Stars to only be able to gain 1..% during broadcast (16 episodes), and closed with a rating of 1.477% at the end of the episode.

Even though this drama is studded with stars. The main cast is also very great: Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young-Dae whose chemistry is really good

There doesn't seem to be an age difference between the two. The more senior factor, Lee Sung Kyung (6 years older) is likely to be his skill at melting the difference in flying hours. Including when playing a student, Lee Sung Kyung (32 years) does not look old, and still fits in her 20s.

If there is anything that is a hindrance, it is Lee Sung Kyung's attachment as the brand ambassador of Chanel Beauty so that her clothes, cosmetics and accessories look luxurious, not in accordance with her role as an office worker.

The rest is okay. Including ost and cinematography that spoils the eye. Including several spots when Kim Young-Dae (Gong Tae-Sung) was in Africa, really cool.

As well as an important message, anyone can become a top star. But you have to process it, don't get famous and have a lot of money.

The next review can be here: https://www.maria-g-soemitro.com/2023/01/shooting-stars-review-drama-korea.html

Leia Mais

I wish the main couple had more of a spark

This drama is suuuuuper cute and a lot of fun! It also has plenty of hilarious scenes.

Honestly, there wasn't much plot to it and the last three episodes were pretty much a super long epilogue, but if you're in the mood for a light hearted drama with lots of laughs, a crazy amount of couples, wholesome friendship and even an epic bromance, this is the show for you!

When it was good, it was great. But I was a bit let down by a few things, the biggest being that, yes, Han Byeol and Tae Seong were super cute and adorable together, but when they kissed I didn't feel like there was any attraction between them. Most of the time, it very much looked like they were kissing because they had to and not because they wanted to. I wanted be convinced they were mad for each other, and the vibes weren't there. But maybe that was just me. I loved Weightlifting Fairy so much that it's hard to ship Sung Kyung with any other co-star that isn't Joo Hyuk.

P.S. for all intent and purposes, this drama doesn't have a villain or antagonist. There was a lame attempt at it, and tbh that was the weakest aspect of the show. Still a good watch experience overall though.

Leia Mais

Slow start

July 2024
I found the first episode chaotic in terms of setting the story. I had no idea where it was going and didn't feel engaged at all.

I always give a show at least 3eps before I decide whether to continue or not, and overall, am pleased I carried on. The more episodes that play out, the better it gets.

There's a little of everything here; showbizz setting of a successful acting agency, frienemies, work colleagues, friendships, relationships, love and some family stuff too.

The work environment is often hectic and seems most devoted to dealing with negative press and rumours/scandals, before they create too much damage. Lip service is paid to other aspects of the business. There is a fair bit around actors shooting their dramas, plus recruiting rookies in that profession and training new agency staff.

There was a definite message often projected, I felt, that famous people are also human. It gave examples of partially overheard conversations being misinterpreted and spread across social media, causing the inevitable 'scandals'. The Agency is then shown issuing warnings of legal action etc, etc. There's even an unlikely sasaeng type character.

Unfortunately what they don't do, is show those types getting punished.

There are some genuinely funny moments in this, where I had a good laugh; there are also some touching bits too. A lot of really daft stuff as well, which did make me cringe on a few occasions.

The romance is pretty immature at times, but then with little to no romantic relationship experience of the characters, it's not surprising and age isn't then relevant.

I like the cast a lot and thought Kim Young-dae portrayed the often dual personas of his mega star character, well. He's dedicated to his work and fans and professionally mature, but immature in other ways. It's interesting.

Have to drop in that on Gong Tae-sung's photo shoots, he looks 🔥

I like Lee Sung-kyung, too, and have seen her in a number of dramas. In this, she has a definite RBF (resting b***h face) and her character only just managed to stay on the right side of being too irritating for me, especially in earlier eps.

I rarely mention looks, but I can't not say that whenever she wore short skirts, I could not overlook how skinny she is, in this role. Not slim, but very thin, especially her legs. This really stood out to me and I found myself being distracted by that.

Also, one major aspect of the drama's story that suddenly popped up, was dealt with too lightly for me. For such a serious issue to be dropped in and then concluded so lightly, left me very unimpressed. A subject that has far too big a foot in reality, should have had a larger chunk of the plot's time, instead of repeated silly moments of bickering and running around. I think it would have added to the story and given it some gravity.

Even so, I did enjoy this, even if it lacked that depth to some of the characters. It's not a bad, or difficult, watch and often quite sweet. I wouldn't watch it again, but neither would I say don't bother.

Leia Mais