Twisty!

This suspense thriller/mystery kept me on my toes almost all the way through, only faltering a bit with the ending. While not quite perfect, it was still a fun watch, and I'm glad I chose it. (I'd even watch the Japanese show it was based on if I can find it!) And though it got a little repetitive in a few places, I don't think it was enough to become boring. It wasn't predictable by any means, and they didn't miss a beat in keeping the suspense and drama rolling. I think my chief complaint for the story is the backstory/ motivations for the characters. If that had been a little clearer, I'd have rated it higher.

The cast did a superb job, even though I'm not super familiar with most of them. And the music was pretty good - definitely fit the mood of the show.

While not really suitable for a re-watch because of the genre, it was still a worthwhile watch and a solid choice!

Leia Mais

This was really the first Taiwanese drama I've watched, so I'm not sure if this is normal for them. But I did find it to have a very soap opera style to it. Both the camera work and the plot. I felt like the last 10 episodes were just one silly plot twist after another, solely designed to keep the couple apart until the finale. If they had cut it down to 20 episodes, I think it would have been a 9 easily, even with the dumb stuff. I still enjoyed it for the most part.

The main couple was really cute, and I thought they did a great job with their acting. The points deduction came from the supporting characters. Mainly Wang Kingone - who got the soap opera treatment  in every scene he was in: dramatic music and voice, and Tom Price, who seemed like a rookie actor. I thought that Joseph Chang and Rainie Yang did excellent work, though. The best friend, Mei Leng was overacted quite a bit, and totally played for comedic effect.

I did try to skip over the 2:30ish opening sequence as it lasted way longer than needed. So, the episodes are really only about 35 minutes long probably. There are also little stops in the drama that appear as if they must have commercial breaks, something not done in Korean drama. When they return there is a few seconds of replay from where it stopped. There is also a preview/ending of about 3 mintues at the end. So the episodes run about 43 min, but if you skip the opening and closing, you should get through faster.

Probably won't rewatch this, but I enjoyed Chang and Yang enough that I wouldn't be adverse to watching something else with them.

Leia Mais

There were a LOT of ticked off reviewers on this show. So much so that I had pretty much written this one off as not worth watching. But then I discovered Gong Yoo....and that settled that. Awful or not, I was watching. Really and truly, the major complaints I had about this show were tied to the ending as everyone has repeatedly beaten the already dead horse over. BUT, I didn't find that it was QUITE as horrible as rumor had it. It could have been handled much better, and been less rushed. And the other was some of the seeming skipping over of certain scenes that should have been shown.

I gave this show a 9 for acting, but most of that is due to Gong Yoo. Lee Min Jung, while adorable, didn't quite convince me during the first few episodes. She plays assertiveness way better than she plays meek. I didn't care for that meek baby voice she put on at the beginning, but thankfully, she seemed to drop that affectation as the series wore on. Gong Yoo is an expressive actor who seems to be able to pull of a range of emotions and styles.

I think the writers did an okay-ish job with the story, since it was sort of fantasy/supernatural at its core. It was easy to forget that Gyung Joon was a high school boy since he was plopped inside the gorgeous, most definitely full grown sexy and manly body of Gong Yoo as Seo Yoon Jae (sorry! Let me fan-girl for just a moment - that scene where he wakes up as in Yoon Jae's body will leave your jaw hanging. Did he just get out of military service when he made this???) So, anyway, that helped the "ick" factor of Gil Da Ran falling for a mere high school boy. I do think they side-stepped a little on the romance because he was just a boy in a man's body. I didn't feel that the plot got too draggy or boring anywhere, and zoomed through the episodes pretty quickly wanting to see what was next. But I could have done with a little less interference by Ma Ri (Suzy) and would liked to have seen her give a little more attention to Gil Choong Sik. I kind of felt sorry for the boy, but he was cute in his puppy ways. As with many Korean dramas, there are lots of little misunderstandings to overcome.

If I recall correctly, they didn't have much of an OST, it had a lot of American songs for background and I think I even caught Monster by Big Bang.
I know I won't rewatch this, so I scored it low here.
I've given it an overall 7, because it wasn't nearly up there with a truly good drama, but I have definitely seen much worse. I think that if you go in with expectations that the ending may be less than gratifying, you won't find it an unpleasant watch.

Leia Mais

I chose this drama purely to see Seo In Guk in another romance. Although the premise is quite unbelievable, I was able to suspend disbelief in order to fully enjoy this drama. Lee Ha Na did a great job playing Jung Soo Young also. And the secondary characters were also enjoyable. The 2 main leads had a good chemistry and pulled off a wildly unrealistic romance that made it seem more believable and real as a viewer than it should have. I wasn't sure how they'd handle such a large age difference and I normally wouldn't go for a "noona romance", but they made it work somehow. I think it was because Soo Young was a naive and innocent character. I felt for the 2nd male lead at times, because it really came through that he wasn't totally as cold as he appeared. While I could not picture him romantically with Soo Young. I thought they would make good friends. And he needed one so desperately.
My main issue was that the last episode felt very rushed and I wish that they had taken maybe one more episode to really finish it out better or had cut something else to devote more time to the ending. But overall it was an enjoyable drama and I would watch it again.

Leia Mais

This is an older drama, but beyond the fact that the technology has changed since this was made, it is still a solid drama. The leads were well-acted (the actress that played Choon Hyang was super cute!!) and had good chemistry with each other. The only real bad thing I can say about this drama is that keeping the main couple apart for so long started to get tedious. I really didn't like the 2nd female lead character at all, but that was the point I believe. As far as the 2nd male lead goes, I could have almost rooted for him for at least the first half of the drama. He was everything that Choon Hyang's husband should have been to her, until....Well, you'll have to watch. I also really enjoyed the father-in-law and his and Choon Hyang's relationship. This was a nice solid older drama. I might rewatch parts of it someday.

Leia Mais

As with a lot of Kdramas, the first episode is the set up to the story, so please at least watch through the 2nd episode before deciding whether to follow through. I like how they handled the plastic surgery part of the story. I think the story was good, but could have been tighter. It dragged in some places and the storyline could have used a little tweaking, but was still an enjoyable watch. Joo Sang Wook as Han Tae Hee was super cute in this as was Han Ye Seul as Sara. The actor that portrayed her husband was hard to watch, but it was partly due to the character he was playing. My dh loved this drama more than I did and thought it was very re-watchable. I watched it with him after watching it by myself, and that was plenty for me.

Leia Mais

I watched this drama because the story appealed to me - a fake marriage. I like stories where the marriage is first and the love comes after. The main reason I knocked points off this drama is due to the production values. The camera work kept switching back and forth between styles which was a little distracting. The leads were great and the chemistry was good. There was a period toward the end - the inevitable separation period before getting back together that just was pointless to me, so that was another reason that I lowered the rating. Overall, though, I did enjoy it. Most of the story was fun and cute.
I probably won't rewatch this one, but I am glad I watched it.

Leia Mais

I loved it

I'll be in the minority if I have to be. I loved it even with any flaws it had. The chemistry of the main couple is more than enough to make up for the side character/plot shenanigans to me. My husband and I both looked forward to new episodes every week and I just generally enjoyed it much more than I have any drama in the past year or more.
There were some over the top lines to the story, sure, but entertainment value for me was very high. At no time was I bored. I laughed, cried, got angry - just had my emotions all over the place. The music was lovely as well. So take my 2¢ for whatever it's worth. I liked it a lot and I would watch it again.
Kim Jo Won was already one of my favorite Korean actresses, and I'm even more of a fan now. Kim Soo Hyun had the most expression in any show I've seen him in thus far - he really shined in this role.
I wouldn't say there is anything realistic in this storyline but it was entertaining to me and for those reasons I've listed, I'm rating it well above what most people are feeling.

Leia Mais

Jung Hae In has become one of my favorites, and this show was redemption for his last drama - Something in the Rain which ended so disappointingly. He was perfect in this, as was Han Ji Min, who has risen up to my favorites as well this past year.

My biggest complaint with the storyline is that the issues with the ex-boyfriend drag on way longer than they had any need to. I thought his role in the story would be done by episode 7/8, and they could move on to other issues. But that wasn't to be the case. As with SitR, One Spring Night has that realistic, raw feel to it, with great use of mood and tone.
My second and last complaint about the show is that, as also in SitR, the music was played too loudly in some scenes and although gorgeous music choices, they overplayed them quite a bit.

I loved the emotional Ji Ho and the forthright Jung In. I could relate to them. I loved Jung In's sisters as well, and wish their storylines had been explored a little more rather than the continuous merry-go-round with Gi Seok. Gi Seok's character was tied with Jung In's father as the least likable characters on the show. It made me both sad and a little angry thinking that Korean parents might actually be anything like Jung In's father. The other parents of the main couple were really enjoyable and sympathetic to me. And little Eun-Woo was adorable! I would also liked to have seen them interact with him a little more.

You'll see many of the same actors/actresses that Ahn Pan Seok likes to use, and they all are amazing.
But I'll warn anyone off of it that hated Something in the Rain. All the things that you may have disliked about it are still present in this drama, just with a better last few episodes. I'm well aware that my 8.5 rating is because I personally enjoyed the show and loved the actors, the music, and the romance, and for the sake of the romance with 2 of my favorite actors, was willing to overlook some flaws in the storyline.

Leia Mais

Tunnel got a lot of comparisons to Signal in the beginning and I can see it a little bit. I don't think it was quite as good as Signal, but I still enjoyed it a lot and looked forward to it every week. The story was engaging and the characters were written well. I enjoyed the dynamics of the 3 main characters and how they interacted with each other. As with all time travel shows, there are a few plot holes, but nothing major enough to detract from the show.

Choi Jin Hyuk did a wonderful job as Park Kwang Ho. He put a lot of emotion into his performance and really twisted my heart for him and how badly he wanted to catch the killer and get home to his wife, Yeon Sook. Yoon Hyun Min also played Seon Jae well, and his progress as a character was interesting to watch. Same for Lee Yoo Young as Shin Jae Yi. She started out almost robotic, but it was a quirk of her character and not due to bad writing. When her shell finally cracks open, she is a sympathetic character.
I have nothing but praise for all the cast - excellent work!

The music was good, nothing stand out, but enjoyable all the same.

This one isn't really suitable for re-watch as the suspense is gone after you've seen it once.

I would definitely recommend it to fans of the shows genres.

Leia Mais

I watched this drama because of the marry first/ love second storyline. It was a cute story and did not disappoint. The female lead was cute and did a great job. The male lead wasn't as strong of a choice, but did a fine job. This sort of reminded me of the movie My Little Bride, if you have seen that. I enjoyed seeing the relationship bloom between this married couple. Watching Jung-Soon mature and fight for the man she loves - even though he is her husband is very touching. She's a very likable character. The sister in law becomes very irritating after a while, trying to keep this couple apart.

Overall, the story was solid, the romance was cute and fun.

Leia Mais

This movie was appealing to me due to the plot (forced marriage - love comes later). The grandfathers are insisting on the marriage because they'd promised that would become in-laws.
I know some Western viewers were turned off by the plot with the underage girl, but seriously the romance in this was VERY innocent and appropriate for the supposed age of the female lead. The 2 leads go way back and the husband is not the player he tries to make himself out to be. He is very caring and understanding towards his new bride who is understandably reluctant due to her age. She just wants to be a teenage girl with a crush on the star baseball player. It takes her a little time to realize she may just have feelings for her husband after all.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie and would watch it again sometime.

Leia Mais

Ok, let's just say I wasn't expecting some of the graphic scenes in this movie, but I forged ahead (and learned that the Korean movies are drastically different from the dramas) thinking I would give it a chance anyway. I'm so glad I did. Once you get past those first couple of scenes this movie is not as superficial (or really as titillating) as you might think given the first parts of it before the leads meet. I enjoyed this romance story much more than I thought I would. The leads were well acted and had good chemistry together. I loved how they brought the two together and the course of their relationship with one another. The romance, while an unbelievable premise, actually seemed quite realistic. The song at the end is both risqué and beautiful at the same time - but only because of the story they built up to in order to get there. Worth a re-watch.

Leia Mais