Plot was chaotic. It could not decide what it wanted to be.

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 South Korean fantasy romance drama with, 16, 60 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Cupid’s arrow never fails. So when Cupid, Cheon Sang-Hyuk (Jang Dong-yoon) accidently shoots himself, he falls in love with a human woman, Oh Baek-Ryeon (Im Jin ah;Nana), is a veteranarian who is so physically alluring men cannot helpbut fall in love with her. But due to a curse, or maybe just bad luck, every suitor has a close brush with death which causes them to leave her. But there is a much longer relationship between the two of them than either is at first aware. Can a human and a fairy find lasting love?

Review

Disappointing. I liked so many elements of this. Liked the premise, am a fan of Jang Dong-yoon, like serial killer stories, always up for romance and find supernatural interesting. But the plot was all over the place chaotic. It was like it could not decide which one of those things it wanted to be. It was okay, not completely unwatchable but with so many better choices out there it ranks low on my list. I would not seek it out nor sit down and watch it if someone else was. I do not recommend it.

Spoilers

It ends happy in the sense the main couple get together. They even give a little after story to show they had kids and remained happy.

I liked Dong yoon’s acting. He is a great actor. I thought he made a great Cupid and a detective.

Nana’s acting was fine I just disliked the character she played. I do not like overly clingy females it is cringy. And she was super clingy. When she let the serial killer trick her I could not believe someone bright enough to be a skilled veterinarian could be that stupid. It did not fit the character. Then she gets a brain injury and just acts weirder than her normal weird.

I thought it was going to be a movie about cupid and it was sometimes. Sometimes they do the cupid thing. Then oh wait it is a serial killer thing. Oops it is reincarnation story. All of the could have worked together but the writing did not accomplish that.

Her friend An Do-ra (Gong Min Jeung), falls for the weird cupid. Then weird cupid disappears but then reappears but they don’t get back together. So why did we spend so much time on their odd relationship? And if he knows he might disappear why does he not pay up front? It was also not credible that she believed he was a Cupid so quick. That whole part of the story seemed unnecessary.

Why did the other cupids hang out with main guy? He dissolves, they all dissolve, then he comes back and so do they. What is their role with him? Never fully explained. Will the one fairy quit being a dog?

The serial killer story was interesting but it was an awkward fit with the rest of the plot.

It was a show that could have been good but wasn’t because of a chaotic script. It would shift and be all about the serial killer, then hard shift and he is on the roof shooting Cupid errors, then it’s date time. It was weird. It was like they could not decide if it was a serial killer show, supernatural story or a romance and they did not blend them well or otherwise all of that could have worked.

The whole she is my woman and he is my man was just strange. I do not know many couples that refer to their significant other that way. It seems territorial like you own the person. Do not like those terms and I am not a feminist.

#MyManIsCupid. #JandDingYoon. #ImJinAh. #GongMinJeung

Leia Mais

It is a roller coaster of emotions but they are a cute couple

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Japanese romantic drama with 10, 46-60 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Asagi Soramame (Suzu Hirose) is heart broken when her childhood friend, Shota Yano (Kaito Sakurai) now her fiancé, breaks it off with her. After having thrown all of her caution to the wind, and traveling from her home in the country to the big city of Tokyo, the sudden break up swept her world out from under her. Too embarrassed to let her friends and family, who were preparing for the wedding back home, know that she is no longer getting married, she decides to find a way to live in Tokyo. However, after going on a bit of a drunken depressive binge, she spends all of her money on a hotel which quickly runs out and now she has nowhere to go. But fate was about to play some tricks and bring a man she had a brief encounter with back into her life. Umino Oto (Ren Nagase), was a man Soramame bumped into when she first arrived in Tokyo. During that brief encounter, they discovered a mutual love of the same music, had a pleasant conversation about music, and then went their separate ways. But Oto felt an instant connection with the beautiful girl he bumped into and was about to go after her only to see her go up to a man who appeared to be her boyfriend. What Oto did not know is that was the last time the pair he saw were together as a couple. Now Soramame is all alone in Tokyo, has spent most of her money, and decides to go to a spa in order to have a place to stay while she gathers her thoughts on where she’s going to live next. But Soramame spends too much time in the hot sauna and winds up passing out and is rescued by a woman who happens to be Oto’s landlord, Kyoko Yukihara (Mari Natsuki). Feeling sorry for the young woman after hearing her story, Yukihara takes Soramame in and offers her a job and place to stay. Her motivations are not completely pure, secretly Natsuki views the beautiful 23 year old as a good romantic prospect for her son Sosuke Yukihira (Yoohei Kawakami). Hoping if the young girl lives with her, and is around her son, sparks could develop. But what Yukihara does not know is her other tenant Oto, and Soramame have already started falling for each other from that first brief encounter. Living in the same house the young pair bother each other like siblings all the while inspiring each other to become their best selves. Will their silly banter develop into something much more romantic?

Review

Don’t expect any levity in this one, it is a pure drama with only minor points where it is lighter or funny. It is a good romantic drama. The leads have great chemistry amd it is well acted. I recommend it for those that like drama, are fans of any of the actors or enjoy romance of any genre. I would watch it if someone had it on and would recommend it for romance fans or for anyone that is a fan of any of the actors.

Spoilers

It ends happy but it does keep you wondering to the very end.

Their interplay when they are harassing each other is flirtatious playfullness. It is fun to watch as things between them evolve and it is evident how they fall in love.

Her fashion gets frustrating because she works so hard to make it then was like, never mind. It was disappointing. At least she does start back to designing for the singing duo.

There were so many near misses with them kissing or telling each other their feelings it became frustrating. I had the timed comments on and others were indicating frustration as well. Some were so frustrated they were like I cannot watch this anymore. They do not get together until the very end so there is very little time to enjoy them together as a couple after so many incidents where they nearly confessed.

The songstress/scammer/liar they just forgive her way too easy. She inowingly and intentionally emotionally hurt someone she professed to love. Thatis so selfish. And they barely react.

#HoldMyHandAtTwilight. #SuzuHirose. #RenNagase #MariNatsuki # YooheiKawakami

Leia Mais

Too short to have a well developed storyline, But the cast did great and it ends happy.

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean romance drama with a run time of 57 minutes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

When award winning film director Han Seo-rin (Jun Hyo-seong) returns to South Korea from abroad, her prodigy level success as a director means she has her pick of films and actors. But she decides to work with her childhhod friend, Cha Soo-hyuk (Choi Kyu-jin) who is now a top actor. He confessed his feelings before she left for abroad but she said she only thought of him as a friend out of fear. Now Soo-hyuk seems to have moved on with top actress, Cheon Ji Eun (Park Yun) who is co-starring with him in the film Seo-rin is directing. Have his feelings really changed? Can she remain unaffected when the man she loves, and always has, is filming a love story in front of her?

Review

It was good overall for being such an extremely short movie. It ended happy, but it was so rushed. There wasn’t much time to reflect on the happy resolution. It felt like a lot of the show was done in flashbacks, which, I am not a huge fan of flashbacks at all. If so,eone were looking for something quick, simple and that ends OK it would fit the bill. It’s not something I would seek out if I were in the mood for a good, well developed, romance. it’s worth watching if you like any of the actors although it’s hard to find a complete list of the cast it mainly just mentions the male and female leads in all the descriptions I found. I won’t seek it out to rewatch there just wasn’t enough of it to make it very good, but I don’t regret watching it once.

Spoilers

The story definitely could’ve been told in much longer format and that would’ve made it a lot better. There were so many flashbacks that became extremely annoying. It’s like just tell the story already in a forward fashion, if so much happened in the past you have to foash back every few scenes, then you should have started the story in the past. With so many flashbacks it gave a sense that a lot had happened in the past, and that was where the real love story was. So, it felt even more of a cheat for the viewer because you really only got to see a little bit of their feelings develop. They get together at the very end but it’s like the last minute or somewhere they share an emotional hug (not even a kiss) and talk about what they will call each other as a couple.

#GreenInMyHeart #JunHyeoSeon #ChoiKyuJin

Leia Mais

Good premise, characters well developed but has a typical soft Jdrama ending

8/10 is my rating. This is a 2018 Japanese Romantic Drama with 8, 24 minute episodes. Also known under the titles "Literary Virgin" and "A Virgin of Literature".

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

8/10 is my rating. Kanoko Tsukishiro (Aoi Morikawa) is an editor of literature for a prestigious publishing company that edits and publishes books for some of the top authors. She is a relitively new editor, looking to make her name in her field. She has always loved books and one of her favorite authrs is Saku Kagaya (Yu Shirota) who is currently known for writing mystery books. When Kanoko is assigned to be Saku's editor, she could not be more happy. Although he writes mystery, his original book, which made her fall in love with his work, was a romance. In fact Kanoko, who has never been in love herself at 26 years old, says her first love was the male character in Kanoko's romance book. Saku is still very popular but has hit a bit of a lull in his career and Saku is convinced he can write that next great book in the romance genre. With the goal of helping this greata author write a book you can "cuddle up with", she approaches Saku with much excitement. But Saku turns out to be a playboy who flits from one romantic interlude to the next. Having Kanoko near Saku greatly disturbs one of her work seniors, Chhiro (Masaki Nakao) who is secretly in love with the refreshingly innocent Kanoko. Can Kanoko get Saku's attention long enough to get him to write that next great novel? What is she to do when she feels her own heart stirring for the first time over the difficult to work with Kanoko?

Review

8/10 is my rating. Like Japanese dramas can be at times, this is a bit more risqué than the usual Korean dramas I watch. That being said, it does not show as much skinship (physical contact) as others I have seen with similar content. It is not a new premise, woman meets man, they do not originally seem interested in each other or compatible but slowly fall for each other. But it was entertaining watching a woman, who is a virgin still in her mid twenties, dealing with a man who is a Cassanova. It was good, kept me engaged and was overall a happy story. The ending was happy but soft in that it was not completely wrapped up. I would not seek it out to watch again because I like well wrapped endings. But for those that want a relatively quick romance, like any of the actors, or simply enjoy this type of premise, it is worth the watch.

Spoilers

The romance never fully took off for me. There were some teasers where they would seem to be getting close then something would happen to disrupt them fully getting together. For such a relatively short series thre was a lot of character development which made it even more frustrating to not see the full outcome for the characters. There were multiple love triangles going on with all the main characters and some resolution with some but not with others.

In the end it seemed Saku confessed his feelings for Kanoko through a piece of literature he sent to her publishing company, and she rushed to reunite with him because of what he said in the literature, but it ended there. That is why I said it is a soft ending. We didn't get to hear much of what he said that had Kanoko so hopeful for their reunion. I don't like things being left for my imagination, tell me the story.

The chemistry was there, the characters were developed well, the premise was intersting, and it just fell short of completing the story. It could have been a really good romance but those flaws made it more of a just slightly above average one.

#AnInnocentWomanofLiterature #AVirginOfLiterature #LiteraryVirgin. #MasakiNakao. #YuShirota. #AoiMorikawa.

Leia Mais

Good romance with a happy ending

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 South Korean Romantic Drama with 8, 63-71 minute episodes.  Based on the webtoon “Is it Fate” by Nam Ji-eun and Kim In-ho. 

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

 Synopsis

Lee Hong Ju (Kim So Hyun) fell in love with Bang Jun-ho (Yoon Ji-on) the last year of high school.  He is an accomplished author but very narcissistic and broke Hong Ju’s heart when he just up and left to research a novel in the middle of their relationship. At the same time she was initially pursuing Hong Ju, she was also trying to help her best friend, Kim Hye-ji (Kim Da-som) confess her love to Kang Hoo-yeong (Chae Jong-hyeop) one of the most popular boys in the school who was known for coldly refusing the many love confessions he received.  Hye-ji was too shy to approach Hoo-yeong so Hong-ju was delivering love notes on her behalf.  And Hoo-yeong was uncharacteristically accepting the notes from Hong-ju (as he had secretly fallen for her).  Ten years have passed and Hoo-yeong is back in South Korea after spending his college years and early career in the United States.  He is now an ace financial planner for a company that has interests on both sides of the ocean.  His first goal is to see Hong Ju who was his first love he very got over.  Hong Ju is now an animation producer which puts her back in contact with Junho who would like to just take the relationship up where it left off.  Hye-ji is eager to re-unite with Hoo-yeong in the hope of finally winning his heart.  Can Hoo-yeong finally get Hong Ju to realize he has feelings for her not Hye-ji?  Will Hye-ji give her narcissistic ex another chance or finally give her heart to Hoo-yeong who has stayed in love with her all these years?


Review

 I had reservations as Kim So-hyun has been hit or miss in the roles she has taken recently.  I did not like “Love Alarm” at all.  Like it almost makes me angry when I see that title I disliked it so much.  I also did not like “My Lovely Liar” at all.  When the last few roles of an actor have been premises or, particularly endings, I do not like it leaves an impression.  It makes me think they are not choosing roles/scripts I would like.  So, it was with reluctance I watched this as I was concerned it may not end well or the premise may be “off”.  With this one it was good.  It didn’t have a lot of the problems that were off putting for me in the last couple she has done.  All in all it was a pretty straight forward predictable romance.  Which I often like.  I am a romance fan.  I can see the same basic thing repeated over and over.  No huge surprises, relatively heart warming and ended well  I thought their chemistry was really good and Kang Hu Yeong (Chae Jong Hyeop) was like the perfect boyfriend/husband material.  He was so sweet to her most of the time.  .  I would watch it if someone turned it on, would not seek it out to re-watch, but do recommend it for anyone that likes this genre or any of the actors.  It was well acted and reasonably well written.  The ending is relatively happy although I would have liked to see a few things go a slightly different way. 

Spoilers

 I get that it happens, but I found it annoying that her friend, Kim Hye-ji (Kim Da-som) kept having Lee Hong-jo give Kang Hoo-yeong love letters.  I totally understood what he said, no answer is an answer.  I have no idea if it accurately depicts South Korean culture at all that if someone likes you, there is a responsibility to them.  A few love letters, okay whatever.  But the number they did, that starts to become no means no.  The fact that Hye-ji acted like she had a chance with Hoo-yeong when he came to South Korea on business was a little bit irritating.  She acted as if she had not been rejected in high school.

 Teenage girls are notoriously oblivious to when guys like them.  Some, young girls in particular, think a guy will hang out with a girl strictly for friendship.  Not that it never happens but it is rare.  When a popular guy, like he was, is hanging out with a girl, it is because he likes the girl (so rarely the case otherwise might as well say it isn’t the case).  But she totally did not get that.  Not even later when she first reflected on their time together in high school.  I thought she was rather inconsiderate of his feelings.  When he came back to South Korea and showed no interest at all in Hye-ji, Hong-jo continued to push her friend on him.  I think, at one point, any reasonably emotionally intelligent person would have known who he was interested in or, at minimum, that he was not at all interested in Hye-ji.  When she got him to come out to meet for drinks then ducked out and left him with Hye-ji it was rude.  It made me not like her character as well.  When she gave Hye-ji his phone number without asking him if it was okay, that was also inconsiderate.  “Stealing” his dream was an odd thing to do.  And it was not very realistic that someone with such a thin resume, and no real skills, would land that sort of job.  I get it is fiction, and I don’t want it to perfectly replicate reality all the time, but it has to be at least within the realm of possibility.  She was someone who cut class, did not focus at all on academics, then just walked in and got a job people with far more credentials and experience would struggle with?  Just not believable. 

 Bang Jun-Ho (Yun Ji On) was such a poor second male lead character.  I was with everyone else in the drama that said he was no good.  He had the typical personality of a narcissist.  He leaves her with no word when he should have known her past given the length of their relationship.  If he didn’t know she had abandonment issues, then he never cared to learn much about her and if he did and ignored them then he was just an unfeeling jerk.  I never got a sense for how their relationship developed and what they were like when they were together.  But he was a selfish narcissist to the end.  Kim Bok Nam (Kim Won Hae), his uncle was rather harsh with him and said look you were a complete jerk leaving her like that so just leave Hong-jo alone at this point.  So, he even had another perspective on his behavior and chose to still try to get her back.  He, as is typical with narcissists, tried to turn it around and make it about him.  “Oh you don’t feel sorry for me because look how sick I am?”  I was so glad she did not fall for it.  They did a good job with making him a completely undesirable character.  I did not think they did a very good job explaining why she was so attached to him.  We really only saw her fan girl following him, then he says this is day one basically, then them broken up.  The missing middle made it hard to understand how she had such a hard time getting over him.

 Baek Do Seon (Kim Jung Nan), Hu Yeong’s mom was also completely unlikable.  She was the typical overbearing mother who totally disregards their child’s feelings.  He never told her “look, I have loved this girl for a decade and finally have a chance to be with her.”  I did not like that she essentially won in the end forcing him to go back to the United States.  That was not a happy way for that to end in my mind.  He told her he missed South Korea and she just completely disregarded his feelings.  That is going to be Hong-jo’s mother-in-law at some point and so a happier ending would have been he or she put her in her place or the mom had an epiphany.  But neither of those things happened.  The whole here’s my credit card thing was just bizarre.  It was a pride/pity thing and maybe that is what they were trying to show as revenge when she spent it on the convenience store items.  I don’t know.  But that was not what it accomplished.  It was like why did you spend on it?  It actually made you look lower.  Like you were accepting her pity.  Or just after money.  Why didn’t you reject it with dignity? 

 So, Hong-jo surprises him and she is going to the USA with him.  But, only with the leave she cobbled together.  So that means she has to go back and he will still be in the USA for an indefinite amount of time.  I mean I like she didn’t give up her job and all that but stay or go.  You love each other then one of you need to fully commit one way or another. 

#SerendipityEmbrace  #KimSoHyun   #YoonJiOn   #KimDaSom  #ChaeJongHyeop

Leia Mais

Cute family movie. Simple. Predictable. But not in a bad way.

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2008 Soith Korean comedy drama movie with a run time of 108 minutes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Nam Hyeon-soo (Cha Tae-hyun) is enjoying his 30 something life with some remaining fame from being a teen idol turned radio show host. He revels in his single bachelorhood. His talk show is enhanced by the story of a young woman named Hwang Jeong-nam (Park Bo-young) shares stories of her life as a young single mother who hopes to meet her biological father. Little does Hyeon-soo know that when he is encouraging the young mother to bravely meet her father that he’s encouraging her to meet him himself. It is all rebuild when Jeon-nam shows up at Hyeon-soo’s place with her young son, Ki-dong (Wang Seok-hyeon) in tow. Hyeon-soo at first vehemently denies she could be his daughter until Jeon-nam/Jae-in tells him her mother’s name and it turns out it was his first love and a woman he had intimate relationships with (Jae-in was originally using her deceased mother’s name but starts going by her own name). Despite her father at first discouraging her lest the scandal around her birth be revealed, Jae-in realizes her dream of becoming a singer. With public exposure, Ki-dong's father Park Sang-yoon (Im Ji-kyu) finds Jae-in. Hyeon-soo slowly realizes that he actually enjoys being a father and grandfather. Despite his early worries, when it is discovered he has a child and grandchild it does not have the career ending consequences he feared.

Review

If you’re looking for a quick watch, mostly feel good family drama, then this fits the bill. One of my favorite aspects of this is the relationship between the grandson and grandfather. There is no strong, romantic component to it. It’s good particularly if you take it within the context of the time frame it was produced. I would not seek it out to rewatch it, but I would watch it if somebody else had it on again. I recommend it for those that like any of the actors as it is enjoyable to see them acting at younger ages. It ends happy and is happy through most of the show..

Spoilers

I am such a fan of series. I am often to say with movies. It would’ve been better if it had been done in a series format there was so much that could’ve been into deeper. I would’ve liked to have seen more on the relationship that developed between the daughter and father, never portrayed them having a super relationship. He seem to grow to really like her, but they were never those warm fuzzy moments where they talked about how they felt about each other.

Spent a lot of the movie being frustrated with the mail lead because he was so concerned about optics. I know that’s the reality a lot of times when someone finds out they have a child they didn’t know about particularly after was verified. I was like dude you have an actual daughter and a grandson, it would’ve been best if he had found a way to bring it out to people and let them know a positive way

I also really wanted to see the daughters career takeoff even more than it did. It was like OK. You got to sing a little, but it didn’t really show her game thing or anything like that that would’ve made it even more enjoyable.

I love that there was some focus on the grandson and the grandfather‘s relationship because that was super cute. What was he probably my grandson to accept it it came out, but he never really touted it himself. That would’ve made it a level better.

#ScandalMakers. #ChaeTaeHyun #ParkBoYoung #WangSeokHyeon. #ImJiKyu

Leia Mais

Good for what it is., intense but ends happy.

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2011 South Korean action, sports, romance drama with a run time of 106 minutes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

Jang Cheol-min/Jang Marcelino (So Ji-sub) was an ex boxer who had given up on happiness in life. He was working multiple low level jobs and just getting by in life. Everything changes for him when Ha Jung-hwa (Han Hyo-joo), who is a tenant in the building where he is working as a security guard, comes to the security booth to find a friend who used to work there. Jung-hwa was going to watch a movie with her friend so she starts spending time and watching shows with Jang in the security booth. A tragic accident blinded Jung-hwa so she enjoys Jang’s patience and willingness to describe what they are watching. Feelings bloom between the two and Jang now has a reason to improve his life. There is someone he wants to protect. So, he goes back to the fighting world but this time he takes on the more dangerous and intense sport of mixed martial arts. There is more money to be made in that sport and he wants to make enough money to support them both. A condition that Jung-hwa has requires expensive surgery and Jang elects to do something really dangerous to earn the money for Jung-hwa’s surgery. Will he succeed? Can the young couple have a promising future?

Review

Other reviewers indicated this was a heartwarming story with some violent and bloody parts. It has strong “Rocky” vibes with a little bit of “Fight My Way” mixed in. It is easy to understand how two people who have faced so many challenges in life would be drawn to each other.

For what it was, it was good.  I don’t often watch movies just because I feel movies are too short to really develop the story.  It was still true to some extent that there would have been a lot more depth to the story if it had ran over episodes rather than in movie format.  Based on other reviews, I was super concerned it would be a blood fest and was not sure if it would end happy.  There is blood, but it is about what you would expect from a boxing or mixed martial arts show.  Nothing too excessive.  Another thing I could not tell from other synopsis and reviews was whether she was actually blind. She is blind.  It seemed like she had an ability to see light and shadows but it was so limited she was fully blind. They meet and fall in love when she is blind.  The content would make you worry about the ending but it does end very happy.  I might watch it again and would recommend to others.  Just have to be aware that it is a movie that is very representative of the period in which it was produced.

 Spoilers

Because it was movie length there were so many things I wanted to know that were not covered.  What happened after he was stabbed in Thailand? After he was stabbed, next we see him he is back in a hospital in South Korea a couple of years later.  Without knowing those details, the viewer must just assume someone found him and rescued him and he spent a long time recovering before returning.  But I was curious what happened and I think it would have explained more why he was away so long and then showed up a couple of years later still recovering. 

#Always #SoJiSub #HanHyoJoo

Leia Mais

Not bad. Too rushed though to be a well developed romance.

7/10 is my rating.This is a 2017 Chinese comedy romance movie with a run time of 96 minutes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Xiao Bo (Joseph Chang) works long hours as a deliveryman to save up money to fund his deaf nephew’s surgery. Nothing is more important to him than his nephew having the life changing surgery which will restore his hearing. Ye Jin (Sammi Cheng) has it all, she is a successful CEO of an insurance company with a fiancé who will fulfill her desire to start a family. Everything changes for Ye Jin when she discovers her fiancé has been unfaitful. She decides to give up on men but not on her desire to have a child. She asks her secretary to find a man who meets all her criteria as a sperm donor. They are not honest about the true nature of the job up font and let the men think they are interviewing for Ye Jin’s assistant. Just when Ye Jun is about to give up, not finding any suitable men among those that applied, she has a chance encounter with Xiao Bo when he saves her from being injured by a disgruntled employee. The lucrative salary causes Xiao Bo to wholeheartedly agree to the rigorous interview process as he is so eager to apply the generous salary he would make to the savings for his nephew’s surgery. He is selected and after he works with Ye Jin for awhile, they pitch the sperm donor with a huge financial incentive idea to him. It seems Xiao Bo is already developing feelings for Ye Jin and wants to help her fulfill her wish. As time goes on, the two fall deeply in love which makes Xiao Bo desire a real relationship with Ye Jin. But Ye Jin had a traumatic childhood, where she would have been better without a father. And then Ye Jin was betrayed by her fiancé causing her trust issues to deepen. Can Xiao Bo convince Ye Gin to see him as more than a donor?

Review

It was simple, straight forward, and ended happy. I would not seek it out to watch it again but I would not turn it if someone else had it playing. It ends well.

Spoilers

The humor in this was very slap stick in parts. A bit too silly for my liking. When the disgruntled employee went after Ye Jin, the whole swirly scene was unbelievable. If we had seen him being a talented fighter before his sudden fight, his ability would have been more believable.

It felt rushed. It went from you are my assistant, to you are my donor, to you are my boyfriend really quick. If they had decided to make a baby the traditional way and he slowly fell in love with her it would have increased the chemistry factor. But it was like warp speed from one stage to another. Too rushed.

#LoveContactually #JosephChang #SammiCheng

Leia Mais

Pleasantly surprised. Better than I anticipated.

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2015 South Korean romantic comedy movie with a run time of 107 minutes. Also known as “A Dramatic Night”.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Jung-hoon (Yoon Kye-sang) and Si-hoo (Han Ye-ri) meet at the wedding of their exes who cheated on them to end their long term relationships. Heart broken they wind up hooking up with each other and having a passionate one night stand. What started as console themselves revenge sex turned into a friends with benefits relationship. Since the idea of having a purely sexual relationship started at the coffee shop, Si-hoo proposes that they meet at the coffee shop for their booty calls and once they fill up the coffee card they end their relationship. But they soom discover they habe more in common than just sexual compatability. Can a relationship built on such shakey ground turn into something more?

Review

This would normally be too risque for me but the intimate scenes were tasteful amd there was a lot of interaction outside of the the hook ups. Both were lokable characters and the relationship that developed made sense. I would watch it again and would recommend it to other fans of the romance genre.

Spoilers

I would have loved this even more as a series. It was great as a movie but I liked the characters enough a series would have been enjoyable.

I liked that it showed they both had their lives on a good track. I just wish they had showed them get engaged or married.

#LoveGuideforDumpees #ADramaticNight. #YoonKyeSang #HanYeRi

Leia Mais

Not my idea of a healthy love

7/10 is my rating. This is a 2014 Japanese romance movie that runs 120 minutes.

First I provide a Unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Saya Suzuki (Emi Taeki) is a hard working hotel employee who works on event planning. Her immediate supervisor, Susumu Tsuge (Tadayoshi Okura), is hyper critical and is always scolding Saya for her many small errors. which is why Saya is beyond surprised when Tsuge asks her out. Having a bit too much to drink, and feeling insecure about the real reason for Tsuge’s sudden interest, Saya shares that her first love was Haruki Hino (Kento Nagayama), a famous singer and actor. Saya tells Tsuge that she and Haruki were in love and tried to elope but since they were still in school, the police brought them back to their parents. A belief the young first loves had was if they found a four leaf clover it would reveal their true love and were searching in a field when the police found them. She tells Tsuge that Haruki was sent to the United States and she has been waiting for him. Upon hearing this, Tsuge offers to be her love rehab until her heart heals. So it is little wonder that when Haruki returns and befriends Saya, Tsuge is jealous. Jealous enough to get himself roped into an engagement with the hotel owner’s daughter, Shiori Tsutsui (Natsuna). Will the two unlikely lovers find the courage to stay together or allow themselves to take the safe route with people who are so clearly in love with them.

Review

It is a simple, straight forward romance. I would not watch it again. I recommend it if someone wants a happy ending romance.

Spoilers

I thought Tsuge was unduly harsh to Saya. A lot of her errors were made from always being criticized so that she was often nervous. He was like the boy that pulls the girl’s hair because he likes her. So I could not understand his sudden interest. I really liked Haruki for her. Haruki was always there when Saya needed someone to talk to because Tsuge made her sad. I was also very disappointed because Tsuge allowed himself to be put in a position to be tricked into an engagement. He did not act like someone in love. But Saya also spent a lot of alone time with Haruki and seemed like she was exploring her feelings for him. Since it felt like we saw them both more with other people than with each other it made their relationship less genuine. I was not rooting for them. He was a little sorry in the end. But I had the sense he would do something like that again.

I also wish he found out Shiori drugged him to fake that they were together. That was a horrible thing she did and it never came out as such. But he seemed to be considering sleeping with her as she requested as long as she would let him go. Tsuge was willing to sleep with Shiori more to save his career than to be with Saya. It cheapened his love for Saya.

#Clover #EmiTakei. # TadayoshiOkura. #KentoNagayama. #Natsuna

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Sad alert. Pass on this if you are not into tear jerkers.

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2022 coming of age romance movie with a run time of 119 minutes.

First I provide a Unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

At 17, Na Bo-ra’s (Kim Yoo-jung) world centers around her best friend, Yeon-du (Roh Yoon-seo). They have been friends since childhood and Bo-ra is particularly protective as her friend has a chronic heart condition. On the eve of going to the US for life changing heart surgery, Yeon-du vows to skip out as she just met a boy, who she believes to be Baek Hyun-jin (Park Jung-woo) whose kind act caused her to develop a crush on him. To get her friend to go, Bo-ra promises that she will find out everything about Baek Hyun-jin and send the information, video and pictures to Yeon-du. True to her word, Bo-ra starts to follow Hyun-jin and records facts about him to send to her friend. This also brings her into close contact with Hyun-jin’s friend, Poong Woon-ho (Byeon Woo-seok). In a bizarre twist both boys develop feelings for Bo-ra who seems to be everywhere they are which causes them to notice her. To be a good friend, Bo-ra immediately rejects Hyun-jin but does not see a reason to contain her feelings for Woon-ho. But when Yeon-du returns they discover they had the names switched and the boy Yeon-du liked was Woon-ho. Can Bo-ra give up the boy she came to love for her friend?

Review

If you want to know how this ends, scroll to the spoilers. I liked 3/4 of this movie. A lot. Liked the characters, thought the love story was believable amd thought it was well paced. But the last of the movie ruined it for me. I will not watch it again and do not personally recommend it.

Spoilers

If the story had stopped when she finally admitted her feelings for him at the train station I would have liked it. If he returned from New Zealamd and they had a heartfelt reunion I would have loved it. But I do not like sad endings and this had an extremely sad ending.

I seriously dislike sad movies. Every once in awhile I get suckered into one. This was a heart warming love story where the lead couple goes through all this stuff then finally get to be together. I know I know I just described practically every romance. But it is a solid formula that I like. But in this one, he has to go abroad and tells her he is coming back for her. That is a common trope, the separation trope. I do not like the separation trope but can deal with it if they get back together. So she waits, and waits and you think they are just drawing it out for dramatic effect but nope. Turns out he died. That is why he doesn’t come back. And I am like what in the Nicholas Sparks just happened here? But wait, there is more. She pops in this video and it is all about when he first saw her and fell in love with her which is way earlier than she thought. And then what in the “P.S. I Love you” in a “Notebook” hell, he has this videography of all their time together and ends with I love you and I am coming back. No in the “Nights in Rodanthe” you are not. You freaking “Bridge to Tarabithia” died, we know that. But it continues just “Lovely Bones” long enough to give us very false hope that it was not true. And my heart sank like the Titanic. And it made me a little sad but mostly mad.

I did not find much to like about the ending. For some reason they decided that Kim Yoo-jung would play the teenage Bo-ra and Han Hyo-joo would play the adult Bo-ra. Normally I would’ve hated that. It’s not that hard with hair and make up to make a 20 something year old look a little older so they could have kept the same actress. But given that the male lead character dies, it was actually easier for it not to be the same actress as it sort of felt like a different character and didn’t make me as sad. But I don’t think that is why they did it. They seemed to enjoy evoking tears. Still it worked out for me, it seeming like a new character, because it did not feel like the Bo-ra I had grown attached to was suffering.

What was the deal amd what was the point of him dropping the note to her in the rain? I thought maybe she, or maybe her best friend would find it and it would reveal that he liked Bo-ra before Yeon-du liked him. But they never found it. So I guess the point was just for the viewer which was pointless.

#TwentiethCenturyGirl #KimYooJung. #HanHyoJoo #ByeonWooSeok. #ParkJungWoo #RohYoonSeo

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Good for what it is

8/10 is my rating.This is a 2016 South Korean sports romantic drama with 20,15-19 minute episodes. 

 First I provide a Unique synopsis then review

 Synopsis

Kang Se Ra (Hwang Seun Eon) is a National volleyball player hoping to be picked up to play professional sports.  She is considered the volleyball diva and is often asked to promote products as she has achieved some fame as a beautiful woman at the top of her sport.  Due to an injury, Sera has hit a slump, but is hiding the extent of the damage for fear it would end her career.  Last thing she needed was a scandal, but she winds up having one when overzealous fans chase her into the men’s room, and she assaults who she thinks is a pervert.  To keep her name out of the newspapers, her manager swings a deal with the victim’s high school sports team for Sera to temporarily coach. The superstar returning member, Hwang Jae Woong (Song Jae Rim), is just returning from an injury himself and Sera is surprised to see him on the team as she met him previously when they battled over a carnival prize.  Turns out Jae Woong is not a minor, he is twenty, so he is more on Sera’s level in terms of age.  As Sera gets to know the team more, she realizes coaching the team may not only help them but her as well.  Can Sera reignite her career options and find love in this unexpected place?

Review

Good as a short, lighthearted uncomplicated romance. I recommend it to anyone that wants some quick romantic fluff but caution not to expect a lot. I might watch it if it was on but would not seek it out to rewatch it.

Spoilers

The largest problem with it to me was simply how short it was. For the length, they did a good job developing characters and telling the story, but I have to emphasize for the length. There was a lot of potential in this basic premise, and if it went into more depth then some of the intricacies of being a volleyball player either on or with potentiql to go to the national team it would’ve been better. I really wanted to know more about how she got to be known as such an awesome player and see her in a coach role really work on skills with the players or develop strategies. It was very minimal on the technical aspects of volleyball. I’m a fan of the slice of life type shows. I think the nest sport dramas are where I get to learn more about a particular sport and I didn’t come away from this feeling like I had learned very much about volleyball in South Korea. I really wanted to see her shining as a coach. A lot of times. I expected her to either train a player or make an important decision that would impact the outcome of the game. There was the one instance where she changed the lineup, but that was pretty minimal. A lot of the major decisions seem to be made by the male coach amd it did not highlight how her presence increased their skill and led them to wins.

Because she was the coach and several years older than the male lead, it made it feel like the teacher student love trope. I would’ve enjoyed it more if there was never a teacher to student relationship.

Her manager was overbearing and did not have her best interest at heart. It showed her catching onto that a little, but not to the degree that I wish she would’ve. I think some of that was because of the timeframe where women did not speak up for themselves as much as they might now.

In the end, the viewer didn’t really get to see what happened with her career. They showed a little bit that she had healed and went back, but not her fully getting back into her sport and excelling. I wanted to see him do great things too, and then see them doing great things together, I know I asked for a lot, but it’s not reality and I want it to be a really good. Happy story.

I think this is one they could pick up at some point in the future, retell it and develop it a lot better. They could make each episode longer and make the volleyball part of it a lot more exciting and suspenseful. All aspects of it have a lot of potential, it just needs to be longer. A longer format would allow more slow build in the romance, more about volleyball and more suspenseful games.

#ThumpingSpike #HwangSeunEon #SongJaeRim

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If you do not have high expectations, it is good for what it is

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2016 South Korean sports romantic drama with 20,15-19 minute episodes. 

 First I provide a Unique synopsis then review

 Synopsis

If you watched thumping spike 1, this is more of the elements you enjoyed but with a whole new cast of characters.  Han Da Woon/Han Ah Reum (Kim So eun) falls almost instantly for star volleyball player Dong Hae Sung (Lee Won Keun). 

Review

It is a light, short, very predictable romance.  Good for what it is. If you want a lighthearted break from more intense storylines then this would fit the bill. I would watch it if it was on but would not seek it out.  It is a stand alone from the first one with only a time or two they even reference characters from the first one.  There are some characters that carry over from the first series but it is some of the volleyball administration and a few of the more side characters on the volleyball team.  You could watch the second season without ever having watched the first and still understand it without missing any important details. 

 Spoilers

My biggest complaint about both series is just that it is so short.  I wound up liking this second series just slightly better as there was more of a love triangle, a bit more intrigue around lead guy’s career and injury, and I felt the chemistry between the leads was a degree more than the couple in the first season.  I did have a hard time getting into the story.  Some of it can be quite “cheesy” at times.  The music is a bit overbearing and the intro, review and then closing takes up a significant portion of what is already a very short episode.  But, this was 2016 and I think it is why the more current series moved away from this model. 

 I was pleasantly surprised they could tell the story as well as they were able in such a short amount of screen time.  That success was due to the simple story lines where more time could be spent on character development and the relationship aspects.  What severely lacked was any slice of life on volleyball, the technical aspects of the sport were very minimal.  They showed games a little but there was no time spent on aspects of different skills for the different positions, nor showing intense one on one coaching.  What I enjoy most about series that focus in on an activity, is learning more about the details of that activity.  I didn’t come away feeling like a knew more about college and professional volleyball in South Korea. 

#ThumpingSpike2 #KimSoEun. #LeeWonKeun

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Predictable but not in a bad way. Simple and sweet romance

8.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2012 Japanese romance movie that runs 121 minutes. 

First I will provide a unique synopsis then review. 

 Synopsis

Tsubaki Hibino (Emi Takei), is a socially awkward loner. She dresses in very drab, old style clothing, and wears her hairs in braids which is not very fashionable. In complete contrast, Kyota Tsubaki (Tori Matsuzaka) is one of the most sought out, attractive, guys at the high school. Tsubaki is completely surprised when Kyota begins paying attention to her, teasing her incessantly at first but then pursuing her romantically.  The more the two interact the more what started as a joke on Kyota’s part starts to become real.  Kyota draws Tsubaki out of her shell and Tsubaki makes Kyota look at his life and re-evaluate the shallow relationships he had been pursuing.  Can two such dramatically different people make it work in the long term?

 Review

This is a very sweet, well-paced coming of age romance.  If you are okay with it being a bit aged, it is not a bad offering in the romance genre. The characters are well developed and you can see the progression of their relationship and feelings for each other. It is predictable but not in a bad way. Super popular boy meets not so popular girl and they fall for each other.

I t ends happy and there aren’t any unresolved or outstanding plot points or sub plots.  I would recommend it for anyone that is a romance fan as a quick easy watch.  I might watch it again if it was on but wouldn’t seek it out to rewatch.

Spoilers

 Fro the hair styles and the clothes it is not hard to tell this movie is over a decade old.  So, when they criticize main girl for being old fashioned it is like old fashioned criticizing old fashioned from our modern perspective.

The music was not my favorite. Pretty screachy but not so disruptive it made it unwatchable.

There was no solid second couple.  There was the sister and her romance with the lead guys’ best friend but given she said he wasn’t really her type, and that she was originally interested in main guy, it wasn’t much of a romance.  The best romances usually have more than one couple that forms and this really only had the main couple. 

 It was a bit odd that the description for the movie said she was really good at doing other’s hair but not her own so I thought that would be a central part of her character throughout the story.  But it really wasn’t.  It showed her doing her sister’s hair in the beginning, then a few of her classmates’ hair a bit later but that was really it.  Then, she goes to work at the hair salon and then it becomes a central thing for her.  But that didn’t happen until close to the end.  That is why I think a better description of how she was before is that she was focused on studying. 

#LoveForBeginners  #EmiTakei  #ToriMatsuzaka

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Simple, heart warming, friends to lovers . Loved it.

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 Korean romance movie with a run time of 119 minutes.

First I will provide a unique synopsis then review.

 Synopsis

 After having multiple romances end at or before the 100 day relationship landmark, Ha Joon (Lee Eun Bi) has a tendency to cling on to the relationship even when her boyfriend wants to break up.  Which is why, when her current boyfriend, Nam Tae Ryeon (Cha Hun) wants to break up before their 100 day anniversary, she strikes a deal with him to delay the break up until her birthday.  They come up with a “break up grace period” agreement where they both see each other, just more casually and less frequently, while they consider and possibly pursue other romantic interests.  The deal ends when they find someone else, or when it is her birthday, whichever comes first. 

 Ha Joon wants to make Tae Ryeon change his mind so she makes another agreement, with her best friend, Kang Jin whom she has known since college.  Reluctantly Kang Jin (Kim Jin Woo) agrees to be her fake flirtatious dating relationship with the goal of making Tae Ryeon jealous so he will realize he still has feelings for Ha Joon. 

 This sets up a love triangle that is sure to not come out the way any of them expected.  Once Kang Jin starts his flirtation with Ha Joon in front of Tae Ryeon in the place they all work, Tae Ryeon finds himself immediately jealous.  And he decides he wants Ha Joon back.  But, Kang Jin realizes that he liked Ha Joon since college and the feelings he had never went away.  So rather than Kan Jin simply making Tae Ryeon jealous he decides to confess his feeling to Ha Joon which sets Tae Ryeon up as his romantic rival.

Will Ha Joon choose the safe and comfortable relationship that makes her heart race, or the risky but exciting relationship that makes her heart race?

 Review

I loved this movie!  I like heart warming romance and this was certainly that.  I highly recommend it to anyone that wants a quick, but very well developed Korean romance.  I highly recommend it and would watch it again. 

Spoiler

 This is one of those rare movies/series where the 2nd guy actually gets the girl.  He isn’t a classic second guy in that he gets more airtime than 1st guy but the role he plays is second guy.  One of my favorite tropes is friends to lovers.  It showed just enough of their back story to get a clear sense for when their feelings started. 

I typically root for the main couple to get back together but, in this case, you could clearly tell 2nd guy was a better match for the lead girl. 

#RomancebyRomance  #LeeEunBi   #ChaHun  #KimJinWoo

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