Not for philistines

Don't watch this film if you are a philistine (like me). Really, this film is only suitable for true arthouse cinephiles who can appreciate such a high form of art.../s. Jokes aside, this movie will probably only appeal to the 1% of people who can appreciate really "artsy fartsy" films. While my movie tastes lie in more "mainstream" film genres, I have watched (and enjoyed) plenty of arthouse films as well, but this film is just... not interesting, to put it plainly. It's set in present day China but shot in black and white, and the story isn't told in chronological order. None of these are bad things per se, it was just how it was all put together that resulted in a rather boring piece of work. And I'm sure that there are other black and white movies with non-linear narratives that manage to be entertaining. Nothing noteworthy seems to happen at all; if anything, it is more of a character study of a modern day Chinese woman drifting aimlessly through life. A documentary would have been more compelling (and educational).

A good film to me is one that tells a story, one that entertains people and makes them feel something. And the only thing I felt while watching this film was total boredom, so in the eyes of a philistine, it has failed.

Leia Mais

A hot mess

This show is a total mess. If you find certain plot points of Yanxi ludicrous, you'll find this show batshit insane. Plot makes 0 sense, character motivations make 0 sense, nothing makes sense. Not sure what's the point of this continuation even? To continue to milk the Yanxi name dry? It's only 6 eps so it doesn't waste that much time, but I would still highly advise against watching this. Acting is meh and the newbie actors aren't enough to salvage this hot mess of a show. If you crave more Palace dramas, watch Ruyi instead. Or better yet, watch Wu Jinyan and Xu Kai's upcoming historical drama if you want to see the continuation of their pairing.

Leia Mais

Don't get your hopes up

This show was marketed (?) as a GL drama but in my opinion it is anything but this. The 2 leads are easy on the eyes but I do not feel even a sliver of anything more than a normal friendship between them. Censorship probably resulted in having to tone down many elements so I cannot really blame the director/writers. But censorship is not an excuse for plot holes, subpar acting and strange plot developments (they kept forcing interactions between the lead and her ex bf. like why?!) Ironically, the leads have more chemistry outside of the show and their behind the scenes/interview interactions seem more like a GL drama than their on screen personas lol.
On a side note, the show creator Yu Zheng has said that a second season will only happen if the show has a rating of x on douban, which honestly doesn't sit well with me since its forcing viewers to write fake reviews. So who knows if a season 2 will actually happen.

Leia Mais

Visually stunning

Apple's debut kdrama has come in strong. Cinematography, special effects and directing are excellent. This is the type of CGI that Jirisan should emulate. Acting is top notch as well. My only gripe was the plot, which was teetering on the edge of insanity. It establishes itself as sci-fi right off the bat, but becomes more and more outlandish as the episodes go on. The last episode was like watching a mashup between Inception and X-men. I would have appreciated more restraint in introducing more outlandish elements into the story. It's only 6 episodes so the pacing was tight, no time for filler episodes/scenes which is good. This drama ends with a cliffhanger, with a possibility of a season 2. I wished the story ended more conclusively but at least the main plot is more or less wrapped up. I'm iffy about season 2 honestly, because it seems like it would just become more crazy.

Leia Mais

Superb fighting scenes marred by the lame ending

If you enjoy scene after scene of gratuitous violence and non-stop action, this is the show for you. My name is the korean equivalent of badass female fighter shows like atomic blonde, kill bill etc and it does not disappoint in this regard. The fight choreography is stunning; there isn't a dull moment in this show. The acting too is excellent with Han so hee and Park hee soon pulling off their roles perfectly. I must say I did not really notice han so hee in the world of the married, but she has definitely captured my attention now with her range (also because she's the main character here but ya lol).

Plot wise it is a fairly standard revenge film and nothing too groundbreaking happens. You can probably guess the ending after the first few episodes. There are some glaring plot holes that will make you go "huh?" but the action makes up for it. A very random romance scene occurs in the last ep which in my opinion was highly unnecessary and did not do anything but make me laugh when the guy literally died a few scenes later. Apart from that, the ending was also a letdown and felt flat. So Jiwoo has accomplished her one and only life goal which was to get revenge for her father but in the process ruined her whole life and actually killed quite a few people. I was honestly expecting her to commit suicide because what else does she have to live for? Well apparently not! She apparently faked her death?? And is just roaming around? At least show her become the new gang boss of Dongcheon or something. Her committing suicide would probably have ended the show in a more satisfying way (to me at least), as it will continue to follow along the lines of how revenge will consume you and you will only turn into a monster morality lesson that they were trying to preach at the end. To be fair I am not a fan of open-ended endings but if you do not mind (and are willing to overlook the fact that she got away with murdering several people) you may not have an issue with this ending.

Leia Mais

Entertaining watch with a strange ending

This is probably one of the rare few Japanese dramas I have watched in my life. I'm not a fan of Japanese dramas in general as the overacting tends to be extreme and cringey. This drama is a far cry from what I expected though. Production value is high and the acting is decent. The only person who overacts is the FL policewoman but thankfully she didn't appear that much. Cinematography is great too.

My initial thoughts after watching was incredulity at how even such large companies could even fall for scams when I came across this article: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Land-scam-sparks-a-boardroom-coup-at-Japan-s-Sekisui-House . Shocking that a listed company would actually fall for such scams. It seemed that the Sekiyo House scam was based on this incident. Sadly, the show only features 2 scam cases despite being 7 episodes long. I felt that too much time was spent trying to develop the old detective character but he was hastily killed off so his character didn't go anywhere. There was also plenty of unnecessary nudity scenes regarding the nun in the Sekiyo House scam which honestly felt too over the top and didn't serve to advance the plot. Like yeah we get it, she loves those male hosts but there is not need to keep showing her have sex with them like ??? I'm not against nudity or whatever but seriously. Oh, and all those hunting scenes with Harrison where they just try to show him as some sort of one dimensional psychopath. He was so poorly developed as a character with his one trait simply being that he's a psychopath. He's the ringleader but doesn't seem to do much except to launder the money and delegate work. His role reminds me vaguely of the current corporate structures where the boss does fuck all and the employees slave away lol. But yeah in conclusion too much character development for some side characters and none for the main villain. Strange choice.

Finally, the ending. Strang and haphazard. So the ML finally realises that Harrison is the mastermind behind all the shit that happened in his life, thanks to the policewoman. And he starts getting emotional and shit. Which makes me go like HUH. Did you even care about revenge? He was never shown trying to dig into the identities of the scammer and instead was just working hard at his scamming job. He was a land scammer for 5 years too; he could have used some of his land scamming connections or knowledge to find out the perpetrators but no... His motivation to becoming a land scammer were also not clearly explained as well. I'm not sure if some things were missing in translation but the ending conversation with the FL was just abrupt. It almost felt like the show ran out of time and just hastily slapped some dialogue together. Took away the 3 stars for that.

TLDR: Land scamming parts are interesting, but the ending is shit.

Leia Mais

A good ole revenge flick

If you're having a bad day and want to watch some baddies get their ass kicked, this is the show for you. Good acting with great fight choreography. Plot is fairly straightfoward as it's basically a feel good story of vigilantes helping victims get revenge. One gripe I have of the show is Esom's character, which i feel was not really well developed, it was like the writers did not know what to do with her. In the original comic her role didn't exist so that is probably why her character did not really get much development. Without her character the show would not have made much difference but i guess the producers wanted to show somebody on the "right" side of the law.

On the other hand, I reallly really liked cha ji yeon in this show, she was so charismatic and embodied her character so well despite not usually acting in dramas (she is a musical theatre actor). Looking forward to more of her work.

Leia Mais

Killing Eve ripoff gone wrong

This show was touted as a Korean remake of Killing Eve and well, it isn't wrong. If you've watched Killing Eve, the similarities are there: female police officer/law enforcement agent goes on a cat and mouse chase with a female serial killer/assassin (in killing eve). This show takes on a more quirky/light hearted tone compared to Killing eve, which in my opinion doesn't work in its favor. "K" the female serial killer, is basically Villanelle but quirkier and less charismatic. Her "quirkiness" was played up too much it made it too over the top and unbelievable. This was actually the main reason I dropped the show. K's overacting was just grating on my nerves too much. The plot was also not sufficiently interesting to get me hooked on the show and make me able to look past the awful overacting. Koo and team already established that K was the killer around ep 4/5 so there wasn't anything left to compel me to continue. Also, the people who K was targeting were bad people, so it was kinda a good thing as well? I personally like a good revenge story so I didn't care to see K get apprehended. There was also some backstory about Koo's husband's suicide but it was meh.

Other plot points I couldn't stand was that I found it hard to believe that K had so much resources to carry out her various killings, especially the plan where she drugged Koo's 2 team mates and left them to die at sea. Villanelle had some outlandish schemes up her sleeve as well but she was an assassin part of an international organization. While K on the other hand seems decently well off with her aunt being some sort of insurance agent but definitely not chaebol level to have the means to pull off such stunts.

Acting wise: Lee Young Ae is decent as Koo but her performance did not wow me. K's actress on the other hand....ugh. Not sure if it was a production choice to have her overact and turn on her "quirkiness" meter to a million or maybe the actress' acting ability isn't up to standard to be able to portray the character convincingly.

Leia Mais

Great storyline letdown by subpar execution

I really wanted to like this drama. Really. The story/premise is fresh, and serves to highlight the issue of sexual assault and its consequences especially in the context of a conservative, patriarchal society. It is one of the rare few Asian dramas that dares to explore the topic of mental health issues without devolving into the commonly used stereotypes of "crazy" people.

BUT.

The cinematography is just SO UNINSPIRING. Maybe I've just been spoilt by the increase in quality of Kdramas because holy shit, there is a really great difference in how this show is shot and how a typical Kdrama is shot. I'm not sure if this is a budget issue, but it's definitely not something common in Taiwan shows because I've watched several Taiwanese movies and they've never given me this impression. The editing/transitions were also choppy and felt so random at times. Not to mention, the music isn't great and didn't fit in tonally with some of the scenes for e.g. one scene where a young Chen Hsi was confiding in her friend about the sexual assault and a fairly upbeat song was playing in the background. Makes no sense AT ALL and almost seemed like the show was trivializing that moment when if anything, it should be highlighted as one of the pivotal moments in Chen Hsi's life as it was the first time she tells anyone outside of her family of the assault. Lastly, the acting of some of the support characters was kinda bad and the wigs/makeup choices didn't help either.

With all my complaints out of the way, I would like to say that I would still recommend this show to others. Such media is really what Asian societies need to highlight and bring awareness on the pain that sexual assault survivors go through. The #metoo movement didn't really gain traction in Asia as much as in the West, and such shows are really needed to show that it is ok to step out and seek justice and do whatever it takes (legally) to seek closure. The spotlight on the importance of mental health treatment was good as well, even though I wished they went about it in a different way. Chen Hsi was literally giving a PSA on her condition and the importance of therapy which broke the immersion and the ending started to come across as a documentary.

To conclude, even with all its flaws, this show does try its best to transmit a positive message on mental health and sexual assault though the execution could have been better.

Leia Mais

FL has no morals

This show is basically a korean remake of the hit chinese show Bu Bu Jing Xin, so nothing groundbreaking about the plot. BUT in the first 5 eps the FL basically is openly flirting with her cousin's husband while her cousin is on her deathbed. AND the cousin is supposedly ok with it and gives them her blessing to have a relationship with each other. like what the HELL??? nawwwwww. even if the FL did not end up with the guy in the end i just.... couldn't empathize with the FL anymore after that. so i dropped it. i just can't fathom how anyone can feel for the FL after this.

Leia Mais

Overly didactic. but a step in the right direction for women's rights in chinese society

Modern show that highlights women's struggles in the workplace in china. Liu's character tries to subvert expectations of what a woman should be but can come across as overly didactic at times. The third female lead had barely any screentime and I didnt even know she was a lead if she was not on the poster lol. Liu's character was also so overly kind-hearted it was unbelievable. An improvement in modern chinese dramas which are usually filled with cringey romance scenes and toxic relationships. Cinematography and music is good too, was surprised at the quality of this drama. Rewatch value is not high because some scenes are really realistic (if you are asian) so might hit a bit tooo close to home.

Leia Mais

Most disappointing drama of 2021

On paper, the premise sounds interesting: murder mystery set on the scenic Mount Jiri. Alas! This devolved into some sort supernatural sci-fi about ghosts wandering the mountain. CGI and camera work were extremely bad in the first episode; so much so that I wanted to drop it right there and then. Camera work does NOT do the scenery of Mount Jiri justice. I was honestly appalled by how bad it was; considering that this show had such a large budget. I've read that CGI and directing seem to improve in the later episodes but I did not stick around to find out. If the story had been good I would have stuck around, but sadly no. Plot is haphazard and there are many time skips (pet peeve of mine). Supernatural angle felt so unnecessary as well.

Acting wise it was average. The leads are big name actors but I was not wowed by their performance. Guy spends most of the time in a coma. Supporting characters have too many filler comedic scenes that don't seem to jive with the tone that the drama is going for.

OST was forgettable but I recall I did not like it.

TLDR: Jirisan travel vlogs on youtube are more entertaining than this mess.

Leia Mais

Best drama of 2024

This drama is surely going to sweep the awards. From acting, to set design to the music... everything is just top notch. The acting especially wow... Every one of the actors, including the extras showed out. I would say that this genre of dramas require the most of actors; the musical scenes where it is essentially a show within a show requires multi-layered performances that not anyone can pull off. And yet Kim Taeri, Shin Yeeeun and the rest of the cast have done it. Singing (with their REAL voices, might I add) dancing, and the commitment to learn the techniques of the traditional art form...I would be shocked if Kim Taeri does not get a Daesang for this. She absolutely deserves it.

This is one of the rare few dramas where I actually wanted MORE of. 12 eps is simply not enough to do tie up all the lose ends and it shows. The last episode was horribly rushed and left me with more questions than answers. I'm seeing calls for a season 2 but as much as I like this show, I'm not sure another is necessary. The ending, while less than desirable, does paint a historically accurate picture of Yeosong gukgeuk. Its popularity died down in the 1960s after the advent of film/tv. It seems like there was a revival after but it was short-lived (please correct if I'm wrong). Part of the reason was also due to the fact that it wasn't designated as a "National Intangible Culture Heritage" like pansori and changgeuk was, which probably led to the lack of funding and successors. I can't imagine what story a season 2 would tell. The overaching plot of the rise and fall of Yeosong gukgeuk has mostly been covered. The traditional 16 ep length would have been perfect though, and would have allowed more time for all the loose ends to be tied up.

This show is largely based on the webtoon of the same name, though with rather significant changes to the plot. I have not read the original webtoon, but a central character, Buyeong - Jeongnyeon's original love interest was removed. In the drama, it has been largely replaced by Jooran, though the GL elements have been toned down significantly. There is subtext hinting at their "more than friends" relationship but at the same time its not overt enough and there's still a degree of plausible deniability. To me, it also seems more like a one-sided love from Jooran. Jeongnyeon does not seem to reciprocate in a romantic way. The relationship between Okyeong and Hyerang is more overt with them literally pressing their foreheads together in ep 2(?) and in general being more touchy feely. However, if you're expecting more than that, you would be disappointed.

I was honestly thisss close to giving it a 10/10, but I really felt like the the last episode was a letdown. I'm personally NOT a fan of leaving unanswered questions, and did not like the fact that the director/scriptwriter decided to write out Okyeong and Jooran, giving them 0 scenes at the end while at the same time dropping the fact that Hyerang actually is a mother. The existence of her niece/daughter was inconsequential to the plot and was only brought up sporadically so I'm not sure what kind of point the director/scriptwriter was trying to highlight right at that last moment with this reveal. Whereas Jooran and Okyeong had huge parts to play in driving the plot forward but they basically drop off the face of the earth. Hell, even PATRICIA, Jeongnyeon's jazz singing teacher turned up to watch her, and Okygeong/Jooran didn't? I honestly couldn't fathom it. On a side note, I also didn't like how the whole Hyerang/accountant embezzling money plot was explained and wish they had gone down another route to explain Maeran's financial downfall instead.

With that being said, these are just somewhat minor grouses in the grand scheme of things. I haven't seen a drama so well thought out and beautifully acted in ages, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who's interested in musicals, or learning more about traditional korean gukgeuk. and of course, fans of Kim Taeri should not miss this as well! On a side note, I do want to see Kim Taeri in another GL after the handmaiden, too bad they toned it down so much in this show...

Leia Mais