Reviews

My Mini Back-Story:

As usual, I was looking for a new Korean movie to watch, and Chilling Romance caught my attention. From reading the synopsis, I thought the story and characters sounded interesting. Then I went ahead and searched for more background and information. Let's just say that the dramalist rating set my hopes a little too high.

Storyline:

The storyline is quite original. To be honest, the beginning was bizarre. I didn't really know what to expect. However, about 20 minutes into the movie, I got the concept/feel of it. In a nutshell, Chilling Romance is a mix of horror/drama/romance/comedy. Quite a lot, eh? Sadly, it didn't meet my expectations on most of those categories listed. I thought they could have added more spice/excitement to each of the already captivating elements laid out in the movie, but I guess they preferred to stay on the safe side. They had a bit of everything, but the bits were very loosely handled.

Here are some of my thoughts on what Chilling Romance has to offer, yet lacks at the same time...

a) Mixed feelings on our OTP. It's weird how sometimes I thought they were ultimately adorable together, but sometimes I thought they were a bit awkward with each other. I guess their awkwardness is understandable, since Yeori is anti-social in some ways.

b) Sense of humor. I actually enjoyed some of the witty/funny conversations between the characters. I specifically thought some of Jo-Goo and Yeori's conversations were funny. Her friends were also funny (at times).

c) Supernatural/ghosts. I liked how they originally presented the idea to us, but it seemed like they sugarcoated the whole "horror" element (especially in the last magic trick). In other words, the ghosts felt out of place and were left unexplained in a lot of areas. At first, it was funny to watch Jo Goo's reaction to the "little kid". I thought they were going to play around with the comedy/horror aspect, but they went in a different direction. Moreover, it got to the point where I was questioning if some of these ghosts were really necessary at all.

d) Story all over the place. I felt like it tried too hard to be a bit of everything that it ended up not fulfilling/satiating anything at the end completely. It originally had several interesting aspects/themes, but it was unable to connect them altogether in a smoothly/properly fashion. Hence, a lot of parts felt random for me.

e) The ending. It was a little too clean/corny for me. It felt like an easy way out for the writers.

All in all, the storyline is definitely unique from the lot of Korean movies that I have watched. It had a great mix of many elements that a great movie should have, but the execution was done somewhere between poor and meh. I guess it's hard for a movie to pull off the horror, romance, and comedy altogether.


Acting/Cast:

Nothing outstanding from these characters and actors.

Though, I thought Lee Min Ki acted pretty naturally when it came to the funny scenes. It's my first time seeing him, and he's not a bad actor at all. His character, Jo Goo didn't have enough backbone (past stories/in-depth understanding), so I didn't really care for him all too much. I don't know what else to say about him from this movie, truthfully.

I fairly enjoyed Son Ye Jin, especially at the emotional scenes. The part where she was talking super fast over the phone to her friends was one of the more memorable ones from the movie, IMO. However, I personally don't find she's fit for a comedy movie/drama. The frog mimicking scene came off as too cutesy wannabe or forced for me. In general, Son Ye Jin doesn't seem natural in those the funny scenes. In any case, I prefer that she sticks to melodramas or more serious dramas/movies. She's definitely one of the more emotional/natural actresses when it comes to sad/crying scenes. I give her props for that.

Clearly, the whole movie focuses on our OTP. Like I typed previously, I fairly enjoyed some of their scenes. Do they have chemistry together? Sure, but it's nothing awe-worthy or new.

Music:

The OST was really soothing to the ears. I guess it caught me attention because I even went ahead to search for them. "Falling in Love" and the one from Jami Soul are both very soft and relaxing. They both totally remind me of songs that could be played in a comfortable/"home-feel" coffee shop - haha.

Bonus:

I liked the cinematography, especially the slow-motion part with the bus.

This probably doesn't fall under the bonus category, but Son Ye Jin looks mighty young and fine for her age - haha!

My favorite scene was where Jo-Goo performed a card trick in front of Yeori ^^.

Overall:

In conclusion, I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd liked to. It's definitely not a must watch movie.

Despite some cheesy romance and horror, I actually didn't mind the whole cheesiness factor. Though, I think the small/funny gestures and sense of humor from our OTP stands out the most.

Basically, it's a borderline of good/fine movie that could have been great if the elements worked out correctly. Perhaps, it could have worked out better if they had cut/crop out some elements altogether. Sometimes too many things in one isn't good because it's too hard to handle!

Overall rating for review: 5.5/10

Purely for entertainment: 6/10

My Dramalist rating (avg): 5.75/10

Leia Mais

This friendship, this bonding between 5 young men, barely eighteen, is tested through adversity, tragedy and a spectrum of experience and emotional growth. Being of the same age does not equate to an equal level of maturity. And with this blend of personalities, even friendship doesn’t prevent jealousy, misunderstandings or anger. I was touched and I hope you will be too, by their friendship, their bond, their loyalty and the ultimate choice they make.

This drama was a surprise, surprisingly insightful and realistic, not the fairytale I thought it would turn out to be. Watch it, you'll be glad you did.

Leia Mais

I thought this drama was absolutely fantastic. I personally have something of an aversion to "teen" dramas, just because the anime-esque acting and visual effects typical of such dramas doesnt much appeal to me. As such, I went into I Want To Become A Hard Persimmon with low hopes. Which probably made it all the more satisfying when the series went out of its way to prove me wrong several times over.

I'll start by saying that the synopsis for this drama does not do it justice. It makes it sound very formulaic and typical, two things it very much is not. No discrediting the synopsis writer, however, because the first few episodes of the drama presents this view of itself as well. To anyone discouraged by this, watch through it and it'll become clear that this is more a guise than anything else. It sets the drama up so you think you know for sure where it's going, like it's something you've seen a hundred times before. That way, you get the full impact when it completely tears this all down and beats out its own track in very unexpected directions.

In terms of the general mood of the drama, for the most part it's light-hearted fun. It has a kind of whimsical silliness (sometimes bordering on that anime-type humour I mentioned earlier, but never crossing the line to where it gets too much) that's really endearing and feel-good. However, that is only part of the story. It has an unexpected, heavier storyline waiting in the wings, one that had me in tears on more than one occasion (though I AM a little sappy...). I loved how this storyline was interwined with the other threads of the drama, as well as the impact it was shown to have on pushing the characters involved into growing as people. It was this, for me, that elevates this drama from simply teen-romcom-romp into something more memorable and adult.

In an attempt at balance, as I'm clearly more than a little biased towards this drama, I will talk about aspects that I found weaker. There is shaky acting from some of the secondary characters. I didn't feel this really impacted the drama too heavily, since the main cast were very impressive (I found Ivy Chen especially captivating and convincing), but I appreciate it can still be a little annoying when secondary characters are over-the-top or wooden. There were also a couple of plot strands that I don't really feel went anywhere or were not developed as far as they could have been. This could have been because the drama's span was too short for all that was packed into it, so some aspects just got lost by the wayside. This is a matter of personal preference whether you will mind this or not. It's more true to life that not everything sees a firm resolution, but I personally like clear endings in dramas, something which IWTBAHP lacked in some regards.

Overall, however, the small minuses are outweighed by a whole bucketful of pluses. I know for me, as soon as I finished the series I was tempted to go right back to episode one and watch it all through again. I would recommend this drama to anyone looking for something fresh, entertaining yet meaningful that will stay with them for a very long time.

Leia Mais

I watched this last summer, so please forgive me if my information is incorrect as I don't remember every aspect of the story!
-Story
I didn't find it to be quite unique, but still enjoyable. Some parts were just plain funny, whereas some were passionate(-y). The story, I have to say, isn't something new. I mean, a girl runs into a popular guy who turns out to be cold, he opens up to her, etc., etc. but also with a twist of competition between Kyu Won & Hee Joo, to see who gets the main role. Although, Hee Joo's story was something that I wish they delved closer in. Maybe it's just that I can partially relate to her, eh, who knows?
-Acting/Cast
I'd say they the cast did a pretty good job acting! I especially liked in one of the later episodes when Shin told Kyu Won not to go, it's just the emotion put into it. The acting wasn't 'stiff' or had the sense of "I. AM. READING. OFF. SCRIPT."
-Music
It's a musical drama, the music has to be good, right? Well it is! "The Stupid"'s music performance was lovely, as was the singing of Kyu Won (Shin Hye) and Hee Joo (Woo Ri), not to mention the traditional music! I don't play an instrument nor know much about traditional Korean music so I can't go all critical on it.
-Rewatch value
It's a good drama, I'll admit, but not good enough for me to say that I'm going to watch this all my life.
-Overall
If you want a funny, musical drama with a love story in it, this is a great drama to choose. Also, if you're a fan of kpop, 2 of CN Blue's members are in here. I watched this with my friends (1 of them kept interrupting, "Why is she asking what talent is?! Duh, you're a teacher you're suppose to know!"...see what I have to live with?) and it made us laugh and ask ourselves, "what's going to happen now...?"

Leia Mais

This drama touched my heart and life in so many places, it's crazy!

At first, I only wanted to watch because of Bolin Chen. He, my friends, plays Li Da Ren in the series, and is a SERIOUSLY attractive man. But after I got sucked into the story, his looks didn't even matter to me anymore because all the elements in this drama are so exceptional!

I learned so much life lessons from this series, not just from Ariel's list (watch the drama to find out about it!) but from the way she handles herself and her life struggles. Her character truly is an inspirational woman and I'm so glad that I watched something that impacted my life SO MUCH!

I love that the outlying themes were also life changing as well, from competing with the younger generation in the workplace to trying to keep up with the trend of the times as you get older because the main focus of society is mostly on the youth. I LOVE that Ariel's character was a strong symbol of a woman that was capable of handling herself amidst all the social stresses AND the relationship stresses!

Definitely recommended for EVERYBODY! And hopefully when you finish watching it, it'll impact you as much as it did for me!

Negative one percent score on Acting/Cast because sometimes I didn't believe Li Wei's acting sometimes (specifically scenes where he's mad) and minus one on the Music because I'm not a fan of Bolin's singing.. Other than those scenes where Li Wei wasn't mad, everybody was EXCEPTIONAL in acting and portraying their characters in their environment!

Leia Mais

OMG i remember this as the first Kdrama that i've ever watched; it was on tv when i was like 12 or something like that. It got me hooked up from the very start, a great story indeed even though i don't like sad love stories or sadness itself but this one is the only exception that i ever made. The story is an extreme masterpiece and the cast was perfect each and every one of them; they are great actors. The music is like a WOW, i can't get tired of rewatching it, this was the only drama that i shed tears for and felt a total sorrow after its ending. It's an unforgettable drama with perfect events so close to reality that i felt each and every second of it. One of the greatest dramas ever!

Leia Mais

Jdramas are rarely failed with regards to detective stories. This drama proves it. Though the cases they handled were somewhat boring to me, their acting were so great! The bonding between those 7 made me envy. Without any love story between the main roles, it gives professional yet family-like relationship in a workplace. However, it was 'lil bit pity when Eita was not there for half of the series :(

This drama got me from its first episode and steal my heart in its last. Obviously because of the action scene! Gosh, they're reaaallly good (and looks hurt). I love their round kick, I bet you're gonna love it too.

A must-seen drama for MatsuJun and Eita fans!

Leia Mais

--Story: There's two stories going in 1 drama - I personally dislike these kind of dramas, especially when their paths never cross (if you do that, might as well create 2 different dramas!) but this was actually I drama I watched with my stepmother awhile back. loved it and decided to rewatch it. The stories are pretty cliche and there's no "OH MY GOD. I never saw THAT coming!" element to it, but there is the "huh...what's he/she going to do next?". Wing and Niki's relationship is more serious, whereas Don and Sasa's relationship is more playful.
--Acting/cast: the acting was good, and pretty natural. Except when Niki was sick...the yelling was sort of odd....
--Music: I really liked the OST.
--Rewatch value: it's OK. There's some parts you'll forget but the main points you won't (obviously).
--Overall: a good drama to pass the time. If you're into the kinds where a good person meets a bad one, fall in love, realize he has a soft side, and then a person falls sick and/or one where a guy doesn't receive the right information about a 'so-called' rich person, and she plays around with him and they accidentally fall in love sort of thing, then this is for you! :]

Leia Mais

Finally, I managed to end this drama. In fact, I put this drama on hold for quiet some time when I reached eps 12. But then, I managed to continue watching this till the last episode. Can't believe I was doing those, actually. I remembered how excited I was when I first read about this drama, even before it started to aired. But fortunately I ended up really satisfied with the last episode :)

Story: Different from what others said about how boring the early episodes was, IMO the early episodes are great! I waited every week for new episodes. I want to see more about Yi Seul & Baek Ho.. I really adore how they loved each other, how they cared about each other.. It was.. really sweet (I'm typically a fan to sweet couple like them..) I really enjoyed every episodes.. But when I reached later episodes, I found the story becomes, a bit dragged, and BH-YS's relationship becomes more bitter, especially on around episodes 11-12. And it's true what people said that episodes 11-12 is frustrating, and episodes 14-15 was the turnover. Finnaly after I passed episodes 12, I once again, found myself enjoyed waiting for the next episodes, and am really satisfied with the ending! Such a happy ending :) The side story also add addiction to this drama (I especially adore Tae Nam and Chae Ri's story)

Acting/Casts: Such an outstanding chemistry between Yoo Seung Ho & Park Eun Bin.. They've been together in some project, and it makes them comfortable with each other. Yoo Seung Ho himself has a strong acting base from his dramas before. Other casts also did a perfect job (even the supporting roles really did a great job!) That's why I give 10 for this section! They are really outstanding!

Music: Honestly, for me, some of them are great to build the mood (especially for crying scenes), but some of them were just, average. Outside the drama, some of the soundtracks are on my playlist :)

Rewatch Value: I usually don't rewatch the dramas I've watched before.. But I'm sure that some of you would like to watch this again in some time :D

This maybe not the best drama I've ever watched.. Some people found this frustrating and I was one of them. But if you want to watch a sweet romance, then you come to the right place :)

Leia Mais