Not Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Captivating The King '' is a historical melodrama, heavy on the political thriller.

The drama has an interesting story in theory, alas, it is not handled well. In fact, the spy part was never developed, left only in theory. Also, the leading lady was annoying and her actions didn't make sense after a while. Not to mention the ending was lukewarm, rushed when it came to the twists, and unsatisfying.

However, there were some nice elements to the drama, though they weren't enough to make it enjoyable. The guessing game of when the King will find out who his playing mate really is was entertaining to follow. The performances were great as well.

So, overall, four out of ten.

Leia Mais

Good Enough

Korean Drama '' Mr. Plankton '' is a dramedy with a crazy plot mixed up with a tragic core.

The drama has some pretty tragic characters who fight against the odds to be happy, often, however, failing to achieve that happiness. Also, the process of that was filled with many comical elements.

Alas, that mixture was a failure. The comedy didn't blend smoothly with the drama, and the plot was more often than not all over the place, with the characters constantly moving from one place to another so quickly that the plot didn't organically develop. Thus, the story fails to engage.

Fortunately, the performances were stellar and the actors and actresses handled their characters nicely.

So, overall, six out of ten.

Leia Mais

"Coffee and Vanilla" was just too vanilla.

The romance was too sudden and that's why the intensity of it was thrown out of the window. There was an implied love triangle that was easily swept under the carpet only to be mentioned towards the ending. The mature parts were okay, but it looked a bit robotic and forced, lacking any emotion and romance overall. So, the drama was just like this : boy falls in love with popular but childish and naive girl, they get together, many try to set them apart, boy comes to the rescue every single time, happy ending. There was no character development, no love story build up and no surprises. Plus, the leading lady was, as you can guess, the vanilla of the story, and rightly so. She had no personality, claimed to be immature, but she never actually changed, even though there were some scenes that had potential. Her love interest was a more complicated that was never explored.

So, four out of ten.

Leia Mais

" Moment at eighteen" had a really strong start. The drama was perfect, with the issues such as bullying and gap between the social classes were nicely presented.

However, as soon as the romance started progressing, the drama lost its character and became a weak teenage rom com. The main character's problems, like the death on his one and only friend, were put aside and left for good. Let alone all those side characters whose story was never concluded. The drama got boring and the ending was open and unsatisfying.

Other than that, the performances were good from all the actors and actresses in this drama.

So, overall, six out of ten.

Leia Mais

Good Enough

Korean Drama " Revenant" is a horror mystery thriller with some folklore elements.

The movie is a psychological thriller with a mystery that is slowly unfold and an intriguing story. And though the start of the drama is slow and kind of boring, the drama picks up later on and the story gets more and more dark as it progress.

The performances were pretty great and the chemistry between the three main ones was enjoyable. The characters were pretty intriguing as well and kept things interesting even when the main plot got druggy.

Finally, the CGI was pretty great and enjoyable enough. The ending was also masterfully handled and just right for the story.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

Leia Mais

Good Enough

Korean Drama " My Liberation Notes " is a slice of life melodrama.

My main problem with it is the pace. It felt off and the presentation of the story didn't suit well for me, as it was not cohesive.

Other than that, the story is pretty intense, with tragic characters, meaningful moments, simple, and yet, powerful scenes.

The romance, moreover, was original and didn't overshadow the main point of the drama. Rather, it let the characters shine and live their burdersome lives.

The performances, finally, were all great by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

Leia Mais

W had a great idea for a good story, but failed to make it till the very end. Somewhere between the second and the third episode, the drama reached its peak. The story is quite interesting and unique, so kudos for that. Plus the romance was okay, a little weak though, and the performances very good, as the actors had to work with the whole fantasy world, action scenes and of course the exchange of worlds. However what ruined the drama for me were the flash backs. There were so many!! Except from the first five minutes, that were a recap of the whole series so far, which is kind of understandable, the back and forth-s were too tiring. And they were repeated constantly, which was annoying. Finally, the twists were interesting and entertaining the first time around, but the drama seemed to have actually ended at the ninth episode, and so the rest of them were just repeating the same twists over and over. In addition, I would have liked for the whole two worlds universe to had been explained better. So 4 out of 10.

Leia Mais

Romance is a bonus book uses books to paint the story of a woman who didn't give up and tries still to survive. The drama at first, was really sweet and "cozy", as we watched the leading lady strugle to get by after her life has turned upside down after her divorce. The friendship dynamics were top notch and the subtle romance was just enough to ignite one's imagination. Also, the office story was really good as well. So, if you like books, you'll probably love the first part. However, halfway through, it was clear that the drama didn't have anything else to say. You'll just watch the characters live their lives with nothing interesting happening to them. The small twists were blunt and the romance lacked intensity. Also, I really hated the fact that the leading lady was always thinking of her daughter at first, but she just forgot about her after a while and it was like she never existed. I mean, what happened to her? Why wasn't she part of the story anymore?
On a more positive note, the performances were good and the bookish refrences nicely done. The side characters' stories were interesting as well. So, 6 out of 10, because I loved the first part, but the second one was boring.

Leia Mais

Not Good Enough

" Sweet Munchies " was a frustrating drama.

And that is mainly due to the two main characters that were annoying, each one in their own way. For the girl, she was way too naive, forgiving, and positive to be even considered cute. She was beyond redemption, as it was proven in the last episode and her reaction to the whole revelation. But, the most irritating was the chef. Sure, he had his reasons in the beginning for doing what he did, but he just kept lying, and acting selfishly throughout the whole drama. He was just unlikeable and he didn't make it easy to root for him. The second lead, however, did have a solid character and story and the actor did an amazing job with his expressions and emotions. As for the rest of the cast, they were there when they were needed, but hardly explored.

And now, time for the story. The main idea was ridiculous to begin with. There was no real reason why the show had to have a gay chef other than prompt the story. The reactions and actions of the characters were ridiculous as well and unreasonable really.

And, finally, the ending. The drama kind of wrapped things up for the three main characters, but left the rest out. Not to mention that everyone suffered the consequences of the chef's decision expect from him.

So, overall, three out of ten.

Leia Mais

" A piece of your mind " had two things nailed, the cinematography and the performances.

The game of light, colours, and nature was just brilliant, with a nostalgic note, beautiful sceneries from Norway, and melodic pieces of classical music and piano to paint the perfect picture of an idyllic and tranquil picture. The pace of the drama was equally perfect for the cinematography, as it was calm, with nice notes of drama here and there.

The performances were excellent from all the actors and actresses in the cast as well.

However, the story was messy and confusing. The script offered little to non information about the cryptic gadget that used a person's voice and character to communicate with the loved ones once that person has passed away. The characters were equally mysterious as well, with some background stories coming through from the flashbacks that the drama offered, but, overall, it was difficult to understand them, know them, and, thus, sympathize with them. The message that, I guess, the drama wanted to pass on, that there is some comfort after a loved one dies, was beautiful. However, the romance was boring, as the characters seemed wrapped up in their past and didn't really invest in the relationship.

So, overall, five out of ten.

Leia Mais

" Nee sensei, shiranai no ? " was super cute.

The story was adorable and the two main leads had chemistry. The drama of the love story was quickly resolved and it didn't get tiring, fortunately, because, overall, that twist was too cliche. The love story was a bit cheesy, but the drama was short and cute, so it was more of a fluff, easy drama to watch, so you can't really ask for more. Also, the manga plot was nice and the idea of how they presented the main story, with the two povs was interesting.

However, there were two things that kind of didn't work for it, though they weren't deal breakers. First of all, the two pov thing, although entertaining and original, it also meant that there were some scenes that you get to rewatch even though you have just finished watching them. Also, the drama was a bit too short, probably needed either longer episodes and more episodes.

But, the performances were good and the story was nicely paced. So, overall, seven out of ten.

Leia Mais

Abyss had so much potential with that all stars cast and the fantasy story. However, the drama got quickly boring and messy.

The drama had a nice dynamics between the two leads. They were funny and cute together. However, the romance took forever to progress and the ending was terrible. The mystery part was good at first as well, but it got complicated and messy. Plus, the fantasy part was not properly presented or explained.

At least, the performances were good, as expected, from everyone in the cast and the pacing interesting.

So, five out of ten.

Leia Mais

Another Lotte drama with an army of popular actors and idols, that serves mostly as a lengthy advertisment to promote the shopping department and the brands it merches. The story itself is just okay towards idiotic, focusing on a girl who's considered to be ugly, but the only thing she's missing is self confidence (even though the drama skips that and just tryies to transform her into a model or something). Some of the small cases, moreover, were entertaining, but others were not making sense. At least, this time we've gotten an ending, unlike seven kisses, lottes' previous drama. The performances, finally, were okay, but, as the drama was about six to ten minutes, they got like two lines each, so there was no way to say if they were good or not.
All in all, a light drama to watch if you have half an hour to spend.

Leia Mais

Mr Sunshine is a long ride. 24 episodes long, with a massive plot, great performances and a tragic ending, this one is not one of the usual fluff k dramas. Now, I'm only a bit familiar with Korean history, so I'm not sure if this drama was historically accurate. But if you don't mind your dramas to be kind of fictional and you like to focus on the current story that you are watching, then you won't be disappointed with this drama.
However, even though the story was good and very impressive, the drama had a slow start. It felt like it was dragging on for the first half. In the second half, fortunately, it picked up. The action scenes were more plenty and the plot thickened. Kudos for the ending as well, as it was bold to conclude things like this.
Moreover, the performances were excellent from all the actors and they were many many characters in this drama, so it was harder to pull off concistant performances from all of them. One thing that bothered me though, was the constant changing of the language of the dialogues throughout the drama. But that might not bother everyone.
Finally, the costumes and settings were really good and felt original and well made. Though the soundtrack wasn't that impressive, it suited the drama's mood well enough.
So, overall, 7 out of 10.

Leia Mais

The great seducer was one of those dramas that got everyone talking about. The posters and teasers were full of a dark spark, promising the best dark romance in the drama land. Seductive and aesthetical was the description as well. And then, Episode one was a dive in reality. It seemed more of an episode from gossip girl rather than what it was promised to be. The characters were rich, spoiled youngsters, playing drama with anyone. Plus, the "great seducer" had, like one (?) girl seduced and that was it. So, seducer was more like a title that everyone repeated rather than the real deal. So, one should expect that the big plot will play nice and with a slow built up so that the drama will keep up with appearances. Well, that wasn't the case either. The romance was developed so fast, that we spent the rest of the episodes lovey dovey or breaking up. Wasn't the girl supposed to be cold and not to believe in love? In addition, there were too many secondary characters, so many stories here and there, to, probably, distruct you from the main story that wasn't going as planned. But, they were boring too. Even the secondary love story didn't help. And there was the ending. I personally don't really like the "five years later" spin offs, but here we are, having one of those meaningless time skips, with no real ending.
Finally, the acting was okay, and it did got a bit better, though, I think that Joy didn't fit her character. Maybe I see her more of the younger girl characters, in a more happy concept drama. I really enjoyed Min jae at least. He was a nice delightful surprise.
So, 3 out of 10.

Leia Mais