Before you watch Squid Game...

To watchers from conservative countries/religious countries:
Note that Squid Game has an UNCENSORED sex scene in one of its episodes (I forgot which episode) and if you are alone, it's still better to put on your ear/headphones than watching it out loud. Watch it at your own risk.

Here is my review:
Pros:
- Episode 1 - 8 will never make you bored, so I'm sure you can binge-watch it without getting distracted
- Unpredictable side-plot that makes the games more interesting
- Thrilling
- Characters who participated in the games are varied
- Different from Alice in Wonderland, Squid Games don't have those confusing-puzzle-games because SG are based on childhood games

Cons:
- Too many side stories are missing
- Plot holes everywhere
- You can definitely guess who will be the winner lmao
- Unfinished and unpolished ending

WORTH IT to watch for?
- You who are looking for a fast-paced thrilling easy-to-understand drama.
- You who are bored watching romance/comedy-drama.
- You who wants to join your friends' convo about this drama.

NOT WORTH IT to watch for?
- You who are looking for drama with a good main plot and/or plot twists.
- You who are looking for drama without 18+ scenes.
- You who are looking for a long thrilling drama like "Mouse".

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The best parts of this drama are:
1. The plot is so solid. This drama doesn't waste your time with over-crying, over-kissing, etc. It really provides you a pure story. Every episode WON'T let you get bored.
2. Every episode will make you laugh. Yes, although it's crime/thriller/action, but this drama is also a comedy. The director twists so many scenes that—I believe—will make you laugh.
3. NO shitty useless romance scene. Unlike other drama, this drama doesn't have 'romance' things. So, the 16 episodes really give you different feels. It's only between laugh or nerves, no lovey-dovey waiting for the actor & actress to kiss.
4. The acting of the actors and actresses are so damn good! The main actor really acts like a stupid guy, and he acts like a psychopath seamlessly. You know, it's so hard to play two roles in one character. The main actress shows her emotions very well. She doesn't need to over-cry to express her sadness. Instead, she shows her meaningful expression through her beautiful face.
5. Haven't come to my mind, I'll add them to here once I remember.

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Here's the summary of why I hate this drama.

1. Let's remember that Saeroyi's mission was to destroy the Jangga company.
2. Let's remember that Saeroyi loves Soo Ah for more than 10 years. So does Soo Ah.
3. Let's remember that this drama is a good drama. It tells us about business and marketing strategy. At least at the early episodes.

At the last episodes:
1. Saeroyi is ACTUALLY failed to destroy Jangga. Soo Ah is the one who destroys the company.
2. Soo Ah had been struggling to find the way to destroy Jangga company stealthily. (this drama doesn't tell you what, how, when, where she did it = plot missing)
3. Soo Ah had been waiting for Saeroyi to destroy Jangga so that she would be able to resign from the company and live happily with Saeroyi after he succeeding his mission.
4. Instead, Saeroyi fell in love with Yi-Seo and dumped Soo Ah, who loves him for FCVKIN YEARS!!!
5. This drama turns out to be "the story of a boss, who dumped his beloved, just to fall in love with a manager"

Conclusion:
I hate Saeroyi so much. It breaks my heart when he dumped Soo Ah. He FAILED to destroy Jangga but he got the company after acquiring it. WHERE'S Soo Ah?
The romance stuff RUINS the plot. The drama went from business-themed drama to sick romance drama.
After all, the conflict resolver is Soo Ah. Saeroyi? He went to a date with Yi-Seo.

PS. Still, I give 5/10 star-rating: 5 for business and marketing stuff. I appreciate that.

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Isn't this drama too overrated?

A tip to watch this drama: Please remember in every episode that this drama is not a mystery-based drama. It's mainly romance, so don't expect much about the mystery aspect in it. Warning: starting from ep 12, the plot somewhat will go off. It can betray you. But, episode 16 absolutely is your healer.

And here are the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Ko Mun-young's character is so badass, Seo Yeji's acting is powerful! JANG MAN WOL's COMPETITOR!
- Sang Tae's acting is 10/10!!!
- Comedy, yes.
- Legendary filmography
- Beautiful story concept (Using children's book as the main value in a drama? OH YES!!!)
- Episode 16 is super family-friendly. I was teary when watching this episode.
- Support roles make this drama 100000% better!
- Production. Castle in the forest, why not? DEL LUNA's COMPETITOR IS HERE!

Cons:
- The mystery aspect is pretty bad. Imagine, you as a viewer are supposed to think and solve the mystery (about Ko Mun-young's mother and her family story) along with main characters within +- 10 episodes. But, in the end, the antagonist herself appeared out of nowhere, without her true identity being exposed by the main characters. I FELT BETRAYED! Why I had to think hard who and where is Mun-young's mother while she would appear voluntarily?
- Sometimes, romance scenes are too long. This leads to a loose plot. This drama could have a solid plot with a rich aspect if they cut off some unnecessary romance scenes.
- Wasting some characters just to help raising viewer's curiousness about Mun-young's mother. Where did Ok Ran go? Who's the guy that trapped/being held in that place?
- Horror scenes failed! It's scary but it actually makes the plot go off a lot.
- Inconsistency in picking genres. This drama would have been better if they didn't put the mystery aspect that much. Romance-Family-Comedy is more than enough to create touching scenes.

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Now I know why this drama is rated too low

I will write the cons first since it's the main point of this review.
Cons:
- Too much fan-services: The actor/actress (Ji Chang Wook/Kim Yoo Jung) stares at your eyes literally through your PC/TV/Phone screen
- It's supposed to be a business-related drama, but it's just a gimmick and apparently it's just a setting. The drama doesn't tell you any marketing stuff.
- The cheap CGIs are annoyingly unnecessary.
- The introduction episode doesn't go well. Episode 1 is supposed to show the viewers about the background of the story, characters, and what the drama is about. But, episode 1, unfortunately, became a mere "filler".
- Inconsistent genre. It's like the drama wanted to cover all aspects (action, business, comedy, romance, family).
- The ending is forced to be a happy ending.
- Unresolved conflict: Eun-byul bullying case by her fellow girl group members.
- Problematic story at a glance: It looks like an adult having an affair with a middle-schooler since Saet-Byul hasn't graduated (dropped out) from her school.
- Hang on! You will be pleased with the story after episode 6.

Pros:
- More realistic romance story. (Yo, this is MUCH BETTER than Itaewon Class in term of romance aspect).
- Comedy is there.
- This is family-friendly, no bed-scenes, even you barely find kiss-scenes.
- The family scenes are touching. It might be able to make you teary.
- Love polygonal (more than love triangle), which is good.
- It's Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Jung that you love, lol. But I prefer Han Sun Hwa (Yeon Joo).
- A single thing that motivated me to finish the drama: Dreamcatcher's Yoohyeon is there!

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This drama is full of action. It also provides you comedy scenes that makes you burst into loud out laugh. Sometimes, you will find it boring in the middle of the drama. But, don't give up. Just follow the stream and you will get the intense actions.

However, I thought this drama would be an epic drama with actions, assassinations, and betrayals. I thought the main character would be a zero to hero figure. Everything is so smooth, nothing wrong with the plot. It's enjoyable that makes you can't wait for the next episode. But, here's the main worst point of this drama:

The 2 last episodes are MEH.

It looks like the plot is skipped so much. Everything jumped to when the main character is back from dying to save his beloved girl without getting hurt or attacked by the enemy's soldiers. Then the conflicts are ended here. He and all his beloved ones live on a separated island peacefully, while the main conflict (throne stuff) is abandoned. When his enemies lost him and the soldiers, they didn't try to chase them as well. The story tells us the enemies choose the thone and the kingdom while the main character and protagonists choose the peaceful life on the separated island.

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Is it Scary? - Pros & Cons

Total jumpscare scenes: around 6 scenes
Normal jumpscare scene(s): 3 (expected, slowly, far from the screen, creepy but heart-safe)
Mid jumpscare scene(s): 2 (unexpected ghost/scary characters appearance, slowly)
Extreme jumpscare scene(s): 1 (unexpected, fast, eyes to eyes with you, filling the screen, with SFX)

Pros:
- Apink's Eunji. Her acting is so good as always, I love her character in here.
- Nice plot twist.
- It's actually less scary, good for a scaredy-cat like me hohoho. Just watch out for an extreme jumpscare.
- The place they are shooting at really fits the theme. It builds a creepy atmosphere well.

Cons:
- I could say this is rated 16+ but no nudity. It would have been good if this movie has no romance aspect.
- Unsolved conflict.
- Somehow, there's a plot-jump. (Why this happened to this character? What is actually happening?).
- Unnecessary jumpscare (the extreme one).
- Some cheap CGIs are there.

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Kehidupan Manusia Kembali ke Masa Barter

Bicara tentang film kiamat, biasanya kejadian kiamatnya ditaruh di tengah sebagai klimaks ceritanya, tapi ini enggak.

Ailh-alih berfokus pada pemandangan kiamat yang mengerikan itu, justru film ini berfokus ke kondisi sosial masyarakat setelah kiamat. Oleh karena itu, genre yang tepat untuk menggambarkan film ini adalah "post-apocalypse" atau pascabencana (nggak disebut pascakiamat karena setelah kiamat seharusnya nggak ada kehidupan sama sekali, bukan?).

Secara singkat, film ini menceritakan orang-orang yang rebutan tempat tinggal dan sumber kehidupan. Seluruh daratan hancur rata kecuali satu apartemen di Seoul. Penghuni asli apartemen ini nggak mau orang non-penghuni tinggal di sini, akhirnya mereka mengusirnya. Sedangkan orang non-penghuni berkeyakinan bahwa penghuni asli apartemen tersebut tidak manusiawi dan egois. Disebabkan dua faktor utama ini, akhirnya terjadi konflik.

Apa kekurangannya?
- Kalau dibandingkan waktu nonton film kiamat abal-abal "2012" sih cenderung nggak menegangkan walau di beberapa adegan tetap bikin otot-otot kaki jadi kaku.
- CGI post-apocalypse-nya kurang mulus: daratan yang hancur itu anginnya kenceng-kenceng, tapi rambut sama pakaian tokohnya nggak kena pengaruh angin.
- Klimaks ceritanya pendek banget, begitu juga anti-klimaksnya.
- Lebih banyak adegan ngobrolnya dibandingkan adegan aksinya meskipun sebenarnya inilah fokus utama film ini, yaitu menyajikan kondisi sosial.

Kalau saya boleh berpendapat, film ini lebih cocok ditayangkan dengan format drama minimal 8 episode untuk menceritakan masa lalu, kejadian saat bencana, dan anti-klimaks konfliknya.
Ya, jujur saja. Alasan utama saya rela menonton ini di bioskop karena ada Mbak Park Bo-young :3

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The Best Bittersweet K-Drama Ever!

It's no joke that I rate this all 10/10. This drama absolutely is the best!

Pros:
- UNDOUBTEDLY the BEST crime-romance drama so far. Yes, there are good crime dramas and there are good romance dramas. But if you mix those 2 genres, FLOWER OF EVIL IS THE BEST.
- No plot holes (Trust me, I'm sensitive about plot holes but I couldn't find any in this drama)
- Solid plot. No time-wasting on unnecessary romance scenes.
- Easy to understand the story. Usually, crime dramas require high thinking capability. However, Flower of Evil comes with a brain-friendly package, yet so powerful.
- 15/16 nerve-wracking episodes.
- It really broke my heart. (The watchers will be grabbed to this drama eerie and gloomy atmosphere)
- The writer(s) of the story is sadistic, they love to torture the audience's feelings.
- Long mystery. This is the longest mystery I've experienced in the K-Drama so far. This drama won't tell you who is the actual serial killer for a while and THIS GIVES YOU TIME to guess who is it.
- Don't worry if you're confused about the story in the first 4 episodes. Episode 7-15 will answer ALL of your questions.
- Actress and actor's acting is good, especially for Hyeon Su. It's hard to act as a feelingless person, but Hyeon Su did well! Even when he's crying, even though it looks unnatural, but that's how a person diagnosed with (I forgot the term) feelingless syndrome cries.
- Moon Chae Won (her beauty is on another level lol).

Cons:
- The comedy is not that much, but actually, this supports the drama atmosphere. This is not actually a con, huh?
- 2 unrealistic scenes (where Jiwon should have dealt with the criminals first before coming to her beloved husband), Jiwon is a police officer after all.
- Isn't Chaewon (Jiwon)'s make up was too thick for a police officer?

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Cons:
- It requires high attention from you. Else, you'll get confused about what's happening in the story.
- It requires your "super memory brain" to remember the characters at the beginning of the episodes since you'll be provided some character names.
- No comedy.
- What happens with the webtoon? :(

Main feature:
- ENDLESS PLOT TWISTS. There's a plot twist in the plot twist of the plot twist's plot twist.
- High tension drama, you'll see pretty much murder cases.
- NO ROMANCE SH1T. A pure mystery drama.
- Feel the roller coaster sensation! You could never guess who're the protagonists, who're the antagonists. You'll be betrayed by the plot, like every half of the episode.
- One of the best mystery drama you'll find in 2020.
- The female main character is not weak, no over-crying scenes.
- The male main character is not overpowered, he isn't an instant hero.

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If you like overpowered main character, this is for you!

Pros:
- Jin Bu-yeon (with Naksu's body) is the prettiest sageuk character ever.
- Season 2's plot is much easier to understand (only if you've watched season 1 lmao)
- More romance scenes, depict Jin Bu-yeon's ethereal beauty.
- More epic fighting scenes.
- Overpowered Jang Uk and Jin Bu-yeon.
- Not only just the main characters, one of the side characters is overpowered too.
- Comedy represents anywhere, anytime. Like, in serious scenes, the comedy comes out of nowhere 😂 (kudos to the Prince)

Cons:
- It's hard to tell whether it's Jin Bu-yeon or Naksu.
- No more Mudeok's scenes :(

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I'm sorry but...

Yeah I agree, Jisoo is goddessly pretty. But this drama is rotten. It has a bad plot while getting controversies in South Korea itself. Here are some suggestions before you read the pros and cons.

Suggestion:
- Crash Landing on You's plot has a lot of better ending/conflict resolutions than this one.
- If you are looking for an action-romance drama, one of the best is titled "Flower of Evil".
- If you aren't a fan of Jisoo, I don't recommend you to watch this drama.

Pros:
- Jisoo's acting is pretty good in her debut-as-main-female-lead.
- The filming set (Hosu Women University Dormitory) is one of the best in K-Drama history. I can say the dormitory is on the same level as Hotel Del Luna.
- The OSTs really match with the drama's theme. I love the opening and ending (choirs) soundtrack!

Cons:
- Don't expect much from its "action" aspect. This is a really cheap romance drama. The couple is busy hugging each other on the battlefield while defending themselves from the enemy's attack.
- Inconsistent character. Young Ro is portrayed as a girl who is afraid of bullets, but she comes back to the battlefield just to meet her beloved one.
- Titan-sized plot hole. Yes, there won't be a season 2, so the hole is forever there leaving watchers confused.
- Worst conflict resolution. In episode 16, the plot skips much. You won't know how the antagonist side gets defeated.
- The plot is not solid. Too many lovey-dovey scenes, staring at each other's eyes too long accompanied by the OSTs, etc. You can even skip these kinds of plots without losing the story. I skipped much too.
- This drama itself has controversies and already got canceled by Koreans. So, I believe the writer is too afraid to make the plot become how it's supposed to be.
- The political talks are really hard to understand (at least for me) :(
- *

*will be added if I remember what to write.

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This Drama Flops, but is Saved by These Things

Just like Itaewon Class, Start-Up lost everything after episode 10. To be precise, episode 13 destroys everything this drama should have had. In the first week of the broadcast, Start-up hit a rating of 9.0 in MDL. It was high and it was NOT overrated. The drama was really good, thus many anticipated the next episodes.
When it came to the end of the broadcast, the rating fell down to as far as it reaches: 7.9 (when this review is written).

Why does it flop?
1. First, get to know the meaning behind the title: Start-up. Establishing and developing a young company founded by one or more entrepreneurs. Yes, this drama should have been a story about Dalmi and friends fighting to become a top-tier entrepreneur who runs a successful company in the end.
2. Everything about developing a start-up company is the MAIN VALUE of the drama. I believe the writer has researched well for this drama so that it really provides new information about technology and business.
3. From the two points above, you now should have started expecting an ending where Dalmi and friends have successfully established a company from the ground.
4. Everything goes smoothly before episode 13 destroy this drama by throwing out the main value (mentioned in point 2). It skipped like the whole story. Dalmi and friends were struggling in the company, but episode 13 skips it.
5. EPISODE 13 shows you how Dalmi and friends now have successfully lived their life as an entrepreneur WITHOUT showing you THE PROGRESS.
6. I believe the writer/director prioritized the romance instead of the business aspect of the drama. So, when they feel the "fan-service" i.e romance scenes are not enough, they add it everywhere in the part within the episode.
7. Yes, so many unnecessary romance scenes that could be cut for the solidness of the plot's sake.
8. I believe the writer was in confusion about whether s/he should pick Dosan or Jipyeong as Dalmi's boyfriend as the majority of the watchers tends to love Jipyeong.

However, the drama was saved by:
1. Duo Chulsan and Yongsan. Their comedy is the best in this drama.
2. Chulsan and Saha's love lines. This better than the main roles'.
3. Touching family scenes. Ngl, I cried when Injae met her grandma.
4. The complexity and well-researched of the terms about the computer, technology in general, and business.
5. Interesting story in the first half of the drama. It successfully brings the drama far from boring.
6. Solidness plot in episode 1-12. Every event has a connection to other events and it triggers another conflict.
7. Grandmas: CEO of Sandbox and Injae's grandma.
8. Suzy.

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This drama was almost cancelled, but everyone did a good job!

This drama is romance-main (based on a romance-historical novel), so don't get disappointed when the romance scenes are everywhere.

Pros:
- Kim So Hyun. She's young, but she's actually a veteran actress. Her crying scenes are the best lol.
- The production is insane, the castles, battlefield, properties, everything.
- Even though it's more political than action-spree, the plot is easy to understand.
- Heroic female. (This is a unique plot from SK drama since SK's society is much more patriarchal which prevents women from doing/leading actions)
- Ga Jin's character development is smooth. She doesn't get weaker even after quitting Cheonjubang assassin team.
- Second lead's romance lines are worth watching.
- You might get a little understanding of what is Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje, though the drama is a fictional work and not based on true history.
- Again, the female characters did large contributions to the plot. One of them is Mo Young, love her character so much <3

Cons:
- Even though the female characters are heroic, but the writer still portrays them as emotional beings. It's weird when the top global assassin from Cheonjubang is easy to shed tears emotionally haha.
- Uh, the last episode ruins the ending. I think it's better to watch it not until the very end.
- Ga Jin's story with the assassin team is too short, we need to watch her action as the assassin.

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