Estrela Cadente (2022)

Light, fluffy binge-able watch

Plot: 2 college frenemies discovered their mutual feelings for each other. One is a worldwide star and one is a PR manager. The story focuses more of what goes behind-the-scenes of the actors, such as how rumors spread, who suffers, why it happens and what are the pros and cons of being a star. It didn’t dive in deeply into the life of each character but it was enough to give us ideas or introduction to their lives. I just had a hard time memorizing their names so I got confused who’s who most of the time.

Acting: My favorite character is the ex-manager turned CEO of the rival company, he stole the limelight from the male lead for me. All of them made a convincing acting. Not exactly perfect but it was enough for me to enjoy their roles and appreciate their efforts to make their characters alive. Finally found a series where Lee Sung Kyung’s acting and character were acceptable and decent. Although her chemistry with Kim Young Dae wasn’t that intense(despite many steamy kissing scenes), it was still natural and comfortable.

Music: The songs and sound effects used were quite cute.

Rewatch Value: 100 percent rewatchable. It’s something that you can rewatch anytime when you’re feeling down or bored or in need of something fun. The first few episodes were not that enchanting but it was interesting enough to find out more about what will happen next. Luckily, it got better and funnier as I watch more. I also love how they interpreted mature romance despite the silliness and ridiculousness of it all.

Overall: 8-9 stars because it was enjoyable and an easy watch. There were some thought provoking scenes that were handled well, can be realistic or at least acceptable. I’m glad that the male lead‘s problems didn’t last long but it will also make you wonder, do the actors always have the need to explain themselves or bare out their souls for the fans or audience? And for what? Because they signify hopes and dreams of youth? Are human beings naturally gossip mongers and judgmental of others instead of focusing and living our own lives? Am I guilty? Am I also one of those people? This drama touched some sensitive issues from the actor’s point of views which penetrated my heart and mind for a bit. The dialogues, especially on the last few episodes, are quotable and it can also resonate with people. What may seem nothing to you, may be big for someone else, and I hope we never forget that.

Leia Mais

Carino, ma non sa decidere cosa vuole essere

Il drama è carino e i personaggi presi singolarmente sarebbero pure molto simpatici. Il problema è che questo drama non ha una trama, ha solo dei filoni narrativi piuttosto semplici e a volte fin troppo sintetici, che non hanno una vera e proprio direzione chiara verso un certo tipo di finale. La coppia principale è quella che funziona di meno, perchè in teoria il loro rappprto dovrebbe partire come conflittuale e poi risolversi in amore, ma in realtà mancando un vero conflitto motivato in modo serio all'inizio e palesato da entrambi i personaggi (solo lei è veramente fredda lui le sbava dietro fin da subito solo la stuzzica un po) tutto il resto decade e non funziona come dovrebbe. Tutti credono già che stiano insieme, lui è chiaramente cotto di lei e la freddezza di lei non viene spiegata se non dopo parecchie puntate con un motivo piuttosto futile (che tra l'altro comporta che lei avesse dovuto ammettere a se stessa di amarlo quindi come può non rendersene conto ora?) che viene liquidato con tre parole di lui ed è subito idillio. Ok. Quindi per il resto dele puntate si porta avanti il filone narrativo di questa coppia infilandoci due stalker veramente scarsi come stalker, un amico morto, una madre malata terminale con ciu lui è in super conflitto e il problema manteniamo segreto il nostro rapporto perchè sono famoso e tu potresti cadere vittima dei miei fan, motivo che nel finale viene poi liquidato senza spiegazione. I filoni narrativi delle coppie secondarie sono molto più corerenti e funzionano di più, ma anche lì, sì carini ma non travolgenti.

Leia Mais

Really fun at times, frustrating at others, kind of drags. Romance is both great and stupid

The story is pretty interesting and the acting is good, nosediving in the romance department (aside for the mcs). This is a decent show, with many dramatic moments and twists. I suppose that is a cliche, everyone is suspicious, especially background characters, but this is a drama after all. It does its job and the main couple is very cute. Very sweet how they care for each other.
I hated most of the side couples, I think they made no sense. It felt almost as if the writers threw darts and threw their hands in the air like, yeah okay this is what we're landing with. The senior and the junior at the company have no chemistry together. She could've been such a cool character, I was rooting for her and the actor she scouted. It felt like a way more natural match up and their interactions were nice and hey, role reversal would've been so refreshing, with her being more active. Why was it the senior in the end? I don't know. They had no chemistry and it feels like both of their characters weren't deep enough for it to work, regressed even further. He treated her like a child throughout and ended with it. It wasn't cute in the slightest, it went nowhere. They both feel really underdeveloped, because the writers flip flopped with what their romantic stories would be like or about.
On that note, what about the senior and the actress he was in charge of? Her and the senior had impeccable, dramatic and emotional potential. I think the show was kind of going for it at the start, but then realized they all would be like the main couple and dropped what could be a properly angsty couple, with actual one sided attraction, not the stupid on the spot crush. The other two got paired up just for the sake of it, I have nothing else to add, that's it. Predictable at that point and flavorless.
Yuna and her guy were fucking hilarious from start to end. Now this is enemies to lovers.

Leia Mais

Good Enough

Korean Drama " Shooting Stars " is a standard korean romantic comedy.

Bringing easily to mind the older kdrama "The Producers", the drama takes place in the entertainment industry and showcases the lives of those who work behind the scenes or alongside the famous stars.

The main plot, moreover, is based on the bickering love story of the two main leads who are on the opposite side of the industry, as well as two opposites all together. Their dynamics are perfect to support an entertaining story, and their relationship is nicely paced and smoothly progressed, with some really sweet romantic scenes.

However, that being said, the drama is predictable and silly at times. The romantic chemistry of the coule was lukewarm as well.

The performances, on the other hand, were enjoyable by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, five out of ten.

Leia Mais

A light romcom drama [Best friends to lovers???] about movies industry in South Korea

The first ten episodes are really funny and light, focusing on the main couple's relationship. The guy likes to tease the girl, acting like they hate each other, while in fact, they've been in love for forever.

Another thing that I like: we can see the people who work behind the celebrities, mainly the PR team who has to clean up the celebrities' scandals >.< how they have to handle groundless rumors while protecting the artists.

It's a cute romance story and we have other two sides couples.

However, after the tenth episode, suddenly the team decided to add some mysteries to the plot, crumping the conflicts for the last six episodes. I wish they could pace it better because it got boring towards the end.

But I still finish it for the sake of Queen Sung Kyung. If you're looking for a light drama with no heavy plot, then this one might be for you.

Leia Mais

Worth watching

Even though its anothe cliche cold man, hardworking girl concept, each scene made me interested. The chemistry between the leads are very very good. Fast phased stryline which made it not dragging. The kissing scenes of the leads is so steamy and watching it makes me want more.
The bromance between the rivals are cute. Hope they made more going on with the two.
Side stries of the supporting actors are cute too. I just hoped one friend of her end up not woth the lawyer guy. Age gape too obvious and not much chemistry between them.

Hope to see mores dramas of these artists in the future. Kudos!

Leia Mais

Good drama and I enjoy it

I didn't have high expectations when I wanted to watch this drama, but I was wrong. This drama is a good drama. I finished this drama in just 2 days and didn't feel bored and was always curious about the next episode. Even though I did a lot of skip scene in side couple scenes but i love main couple story. I skip alot scenes from side couple because there are too many side couples in this drama, the main couple is very suitable. I feel the chemistry between ML and FL is very good and good. the kiss scene from ML and FL, the scene from enemies to boyfriends, the intimate scene between the two actors is very good and I really like it. The story is also not too bad and easy to follow. I give this drama 8.5 rating. If you want to watch this drama and are confused about whether to watch this drama or not, I highly recommend you to watch this drama.

Leia Mais

A comfortable, semi-predictable and well done romcom set in a unique setting!

The plot of this drama wasn't necessarily unique, it was the usual comfortable , semi predictable rom com in an interesting setting. Even though we have had dramas with the main character being a celebrity, we haven't seen the perspective of the staff. I found the setting very enjoyable with a unique job and being able to see a dramatized version of what goes on behind the scenes. I also enjoyed how competent everyone was, there were no silly blunders for the sake of the plot. At times, the drama also showed the struggles of a person in the public eye and the way their privacy is violated.
The chemistry of the characters was great, all the couples were adorable and the characters very eccentric but entertaining. The filming is well done, the visuals are great, the pace is great even though the realization of feelings between the leads does seemed a little bit unnatural at times. The frenemy trope was really well done and there was no unnecessary love triangle, I love that the characters could resolve conflicts in a mature yet humorous manner.
This drama is amazing if going in, you have the expectations of a well done romcom! It's amazing to re-watch and is really light hearted and entertaining.

Leia Mais

If You Like Tsundere Male Leads, This Is For You

Honestly, I loved every minute of this drama and it has become one of my favorites. I'm currently in the middle of rewatching it (and I almost never rewatch dramas). What I actually find so appealing is Kim Young-Dae's performance as Gong Tae-Sung. He was the perfect embodiment of a tsundere as well as the idea of "pulling pigtails." While his character was super childish, he made it seem endearing and cute, especially with how obviously infatuated he was with Oh Han-Byeol. His childish infatuation with her is definitely one of my favorite aspects of this show. I also enjoyed the slight uptick in sensuality that the couple had as well.

I found the cast of supporting characters to be very compelling, and I was relatively invested in everyone's stories, with one or two exceptions. It was cute to see Shin Hyun-Seung and Lee Si-Woo from Be My Boyfriend co-star together again; they were probably my second favorite. I also enjoyed the meta nature of this drama being about an entertainment company making a drama about actors. I found the more serious elements of the plot that come up to be gripping as well.

My one major complaint about this drama was the Africa plot element. Going to Africa (no specific country, just Africa lol) to build wells for village children is poverty porn at its finest. It was super cringey and out of touch. I really resent how they are picking up this post-colonial Western narrative of Africa being a land for missionaries to go and save people from poverty. Africa is a continent with countries of varying wealth levels, some of which are fairly wealthy, and to reduce the continent to this land in need of handouts is pretty bigoted. I understand that South Korea has likely inherited this view from the West, but in 2022 it's still embarassing and unnecessary.

Despite this major flaw, I adored the rest of this drama. I'm always a little surprised to see any negative reviews about it (other than what I mentioned as being problematic, that I understand). It has a special place in my heart!

Leia Mais

Was not expecting it to be this good

I watched this in those days when I felt really bored but didn't think another kdrama would be able to meet my expectations, as I had already watched so many and was a little tired of them. But this was PERFECT for me at the time, because it wasn't too emotional or heavy hearted, neither did it make me rack my brain, and it's was REALLY HILARIOUS and supperr CUTEE
I recommend this to watch if ur looking for something lighthearted, yet interesting and enjoyable, with not too much drama.
The acting was great and it makes you go into phase of just wanting to keep watching rom-coms like this one <3<3<3

Leia Mais

Okay, but nothing more

This was okay. I wish romcoms were still romcoms though. Who thought it was a good idea to add TWO unnecessary antagonist sub-plots into the show? So dumb, to be honest – I just skipped them??. The old lady had one-sided beef because the male lead didn’t want her to be his sugar mommy?? And the other dude was some anti-fan?? Don’t even ask, I skipped all that. The secondary couples, and romance in general, were super cute though. In my opinion, Kim Young Dae shined well in this show. He had good comedic timing and his chemistry with Lee Sung Kyung was also great. He was a lot more expressive here than he was in “Moon in the Day” (granted, those shows have … nothing in common really lmao). We could have all lived without the Africa storyline though… right? They represented a CONTINENT as some kind of entity (country) that needs saving as a whole from… a South Korean actor?? Weird. This was really… not needed at all (also, what was that yellow filter?? that’s like American shows putting a yellow filter to show that they’re in Mexico… who told the director/editors that this was the way to go??). The romance and comedy were cute enough, but I’m sure that there are better (and more consistent) shows out there.?

Leia Mais

Weird plot development

In the middle of the drama, the writers decided to throw everything in, including the kitchen sink. Romance? Check. A hint of a love triangle? Check? Multiple side characters with multiple romance side stories? Check? Anti-fandom villains? Check. Parental abandonment? Check. Crazy obsessive fans? Check. Bromance? Check. A dead friend trauma? Check. I ended up skipping through most of the scenes because this was too much!

The first half was very light hearted, filled with silliness and comedy. ML and FL were figuring out their feelings for each other and then became a couple. There wasn't any real conflict outside of the romantic development. After that, the writers suddenly decided to introduce a conflict - the anti-fandom, the crazy rich lady, ML's estranged mother and his childhood trauma, the dead best friend. The only downside was that the writers forgot to actually develop the plot and make these storylines interesting.

I did like ML's and FL's relationship, the love and support she gave him, with no cliche tropes involving misunderstandings and silly love triangles. However, it was very one sided. She was always taking care and supporting him because he was the celebrity and the center of all the controversy. But, he didn't do anything for her. She had virtually no personality and purpose outside of her role as his PR manager. The writers should've developed her character separately from his with her own story to allow reciprocity in their relationship where he could be there for her equally as much during hard times and trauma.

I ended up skipping most of the scenes with the side characters because it felt like filler. They were not developed enough to be interesting and the show gave them too much screen time.

Another cringey thing was the characterization of women and how they responded to romantic situations. These were not high school girls, or even young adults. These were adult women well into their careers, and they spent too much time running away and screaming when faced with awkward romantic situations. A little bit of awkwardness is ok, but this was a totally immature and childish response from grown-ass adults.

Overall, the romance was very sweet and cute, but there were too many filler scenes with forgettable side characters and a convoluted plot. The kissing was hot!

Leia Mais