I want to like it more than I do :/

It took me about two episodes to get into this show. It was initially a little too cookie-cutter for me; I've seen bullying and rich people ostracizing less-rich people in a dozen kdramas, and at this point I don't find it too compelling. But the murder mystery kept me on the hook, and I'm glad I watched the rest. The twists and turns of the mystery were really well executed, both in terms of them being interesting as well as their pacing. There was so much drama that was compelling to watch, particularly within the Endo family. The struggles and fights that they had actually echoed some that I've experienced, so while it may have felt overly dramatic to some people it felt realistic to me. I felt so tensed and stressed at various points throughout this show. The writing is clearly excellent, from the dialogues between characters to the unfolding of the murder mystery. It didn't stick the landing for me though. The final big reveal in the last episode really negated a lot of the story for me; it made me question why various things had happened because they didn't make sense with the final reveal. Previous explanations for events turned out to not be true, but those explanations almost made more sense than the real one. The final twist does make sense, in that the motivations and what unfolded seem realistic given the known facts, but in light of the truth the actions of certain characters didn't make sense. It's hard to explain without spoilers. I do think the character and relationship development that happened were well-done, so that part of the finale worked well for me. It's frustrating, because everything right up until the last episode was really good, but... darn, I wish they hadn't done that final twist.

Leia Mais

I've enjoyed a few Japanese murder mysteries (Saiai, N no Tame ni, Confessions, Influence), and when I saw the premise for this show I was intrigued and decided to check it out. A woman who has had three fiances, all of whom have died: is it just a series of unfortunate coincidences, or is there a more nefarious plot going on? She was the beneficiary on all their life insurance policies, but each of them canceled their policies before they died so she never got any money. What then might be her motive? Is she the murderer, or are there other people who may have wanted these men dead? Matsushima Nanako does a great job playing an ice-cold woman such that you're not sure whether she's just putting up a strong front or is truly cold-blooded. Takenouchi Yutaka also plays his role well, as an insurance agent whose obsession with justice becomes an obsession with Egi Touko. The cat-and-mouse game between her and the three men interested in solving the case is interesting to watch (for the record, screw Ujou Takeshi as a character, but his actor is good). Touko and Eiki in particular have great chemistry together. The rest of the characters all work well, with other people who may have an interest in messing up Touko's life. I never felt misled by the show, and instead got to just enjoy the gradual unfolding of the plot and mystery. There was also a charm with how old it is; I felt like I was watching this show on VHS, and the graininess contributed to setting the mood and tone. I enjoyed the reveal of the villain at the end as well, there was some great acting in that scene by that particular actor. It was a really, really solid show all the way through. Especially if you liked Saiai and N no Tame ni, you will like this show.

Leia Mais

I’ve seen a couple of shows and movies recently that meditate on the idea about what kids are supposed to do when adults fail to protect them. I think it’s an interesting idea to wrestle with, and this show takes it in a new direction: maybe murder is the solution! I am somewhat joking, but I don’t mean to make fun of it. In fact, I think it really works in this story.
I think this show could have benefited from being a little bit longer, but the story doesn’t feel too rushed. The actresses are all solid, and the way their characters’ relationships evolve over the course of the story is interesting to watch. I enjoyed the framing device too. I honestly think the best parts were when they were in high school, and while it stayed solid throughout there were a few things that bugged me at the end. But overall, it is an intriguing, compelling, well-written, and well acted show. The cinematography was nice as well. It’s definitely a solid thriller.
P.S. this reminded me a tiny bit of the novel OUT by Natsuo Kirino, so if you liked that book you might like this!

Leia Mais

Boy, I just love all these characters so much and want them to be happy. That feels like an odd thing to say after watching a show centered around a murder mystery, but it’s just true. None of these characters are perfect; in fact, even the main characters have serious flaws. And yet, of our main four characters, if any of them committed murder, I’d cover for them.
It makes sense that the people who created Saiai also made N no Tame ni (Saiai is the more recent show), because there is that same sense of “even if these people committed murder, I don’t want the cops catching them.” Although even the cop in this case is a sweetheart and had understandable reasons for wanting to figure out what happened. There is the main central murder mystery, and everything in this show is about unraveling it and seeing what lead up to it and then where everyone is 10 years afterwards. One of my few gripes is that I’m a little confused why some characters would just completely lose contact with each other, but no biggie.
While this is somewhat of an ensemble piece, our main character is undeniably Nozomi. The show jumps between moments in time and the earliest it goes is into Nozomi’s time in high school. Asides from the mystery, what really hooked me was Nozomi’s struggles back then. She is so strong and trying so hard, she’s amazing. She’s a super compelling character. Her relationships with the three guys were great too. Shinji was her rock on the island, and they had some amazing scenes together. I loved how Ando and Nishizaki became her mini-family. I hardly noticed there was a love triangle until towards the end, and I don’t completely love how it resolved, but no big deal. This show made me feel things, and it was primarily because of these characters (especially Nozomi and what happened to her).
The mystery was really good too. The reveals were excellently paced, and everything made sense. Having there be so much build up to the event worked well. Additionally, that mystery of “for the sake of N” and figuring out who “N” was for different characters was a good secondary mystery. I liked how the mystery resolved, and I overall liked the ending as well.
It’s a really good show. I was super invested and the 10 episodes flew by. It’s got a good mystery and a lot of heart. It’s one of the best jdramas I’ve seen!

Leia Mais

I really really really want to like this show more than I do and it pains me to give it a lower score :’( The first episode of this show is amazing and completely sold me on it and our main character Umi. The premise of her figuring out how to love herself and develop self-respect hooked me. It helps that Suzuki Airi is a phenomenal actress, and frankly the best actor in this show period. The first few episodes are good. Sure, Umi is initially set up as an underdog in her workplace with her superior not liking her, and it all gets resolved within like one episode… so it doesn’t really feel deserved, but okay, whatever, it’s a short show, and there’s plenty of good stuff in there anyway. Umi is great because she really is able to connect with others and they admire her and it’s really heartwarming to see! I love her bonding with her coworkers and she’s got some good friends and a sister. There are honestly plenty of heartwarming scenes which I loved. All the friend/co-worker stuff was great. Her scenes with Kazao are pretty good, although I’d say it’s really Suzuki Airi who sells those scenes. Aaaaand this is a good time to mention a certain problem: she’s honestly such a better actor than her two love interests and it can really show in those scenes. The two guys aren’t terrible actors but they can be kinda stiff. And this leads into the next problem: the love triangle. It feels forced, and I think unfortunately takes away time from Umi’s personal growth. Kazao does have good chemistry with Umi and his acting is generally fine so I still enjoyed their scenes. Overall my two main gripes with the show are (1) despite being set up as about Umi’s personal growth, I feel like it didn’t get the time necessary to develop that, so at the end I was a little confused about how she had/hadn’t changed and what she still needed to change, and (2) the love triangle, which feels like a very 2008-era critique but it really did take up so much unnecessary space and was kinda awkward and dumb. Oh and there’s this dumb argument towards the end too and I don’t really get why Umi was mad but whatever. It’s really disappointing because there are some really great scenes and the first few episodes are genuinely very good, but the love triangle dragged it down towards the end. I almost didn’t want to finish the show and I’m glad I did because there are some great scenes in the final episode, but I’m still left feeling pretty dissatisfied.
P.S. I didn’t know where to put this but there are quite a few long takes in the show, oftentimes in Umi’s interactions with others, and they’re all really good. It really helps make the conversations seem like they’re real. Argh, I really want to like this show because it has stuff like this that is so good!! :’(

Leia Mais

I am surprised by how completely floored I was by this movie. I tend to not like stories centered around bullying, as a former victim of bullying myself, but something about this movie really compelled me. That “something” is likely the two leads, who give absolutely amazing performances. I’ve never seen these two actors in anything else but wow, they seem super talented. There’s a scene at one point towards the end with no dialogue, just the two of them looking at each other, and it’s one of the best scenes in the movie. The story is also very compelling, because while the world is against them, these two youths are able to find strength and comfort in each other. The movie highlights the failings of the adults and cops to successfully intervene in these bullying cases. The cinematography is stunning in this movie as well and the editing is great. I wasn’t able to take my eyes off the screen. If you’re sensitive about bullying this might be a difficult watch but I think it is a really good film.

Leia Mais

Beautiful, dreamlike, and full of heart

I loved every moment of this show from the very beginning to the very end. It’s beautiful, dreamlike, heartwarming and also heart wrenching at times. Gosh, this show just has so much heart.

The romance is fantastic in this show. I understand why people say this is a slow burn but holy crap I shipped them from the very first moment you see them interact on screen. I think it builds really well, all of these small moments adding up to a great romance. I personally find immortal being x human being a difficult romance to believe, but I totally did here.

The plot is not super fast paced either, it almost has this slice of life element to it. It focuses on people’s lives and relationships and struggles. I loved the story of Ai Ting and Ai Yu in particular. I also loved exploring the relationship between Tien Ti and her grandmother. I would say I’m pretty meh on Tien Ti’s coworkers but I loved how her work as a tour guide tied into the themes of taking care of nature.

The fantasy and mythology aspect of this show was so fascinating. I loved the beginning animations and how they gave background on the characters, and occasionally foreshadowed certain aspects of the plot. Alice Ko was amazing as Toem, she absolutely killed every scene she was in. Orad was great of course and I loved his story arc. I also appreciate how they made Tien Ti sympathetic to how it must be difficult to be a god and yet not able to help people.

I usually pay literally no attention to the OSTs of shows but this show was one of the only exceptions (the other is someday or one day, funnily enough). I think it’s because the songs are actually a part of the narrative. A song Tien Ti sings in the beginning becomes one of the recurring songs in the soundtrack, so it brings up all these emotions and memories with it.

You may ask why this isn’t getting a higher rating, and it’s mostly because I found the plot twists toward the end of the show a little confusing. But asides from that, I absolutely loved this show.

Leia Mais

Like many others I am reeling from the emotional turmoil of the last episodes. This is definitely one of the best kdramas of 2021 and a really high quality sageuk.
I actually have a few mixed thoughts and feelings about how good it was, so I thought it’d be helpful to list out the good and bad things about this show.
The good:
-the romance is top tier, seriously. AND it’s a great historical romance, because these two people act like they would (or probably, anyway) back in the 1700s. The crown prince knows Deok Im is beneath him, and there is this constant power imbalance. He even says and does some not-great things to her. Deok Im has some pretty good reasons to not be with him, and that power imbalance is central to that. It’s just such an interesting dynamic to watch. (To be honest, I think this show should be labeled as a tragedy; do you really think this is going to end well?)
-there is this emphasis on the powerlessness of the maids, and other power dynamics are explored in interesting ways. The crown prince’s relationship with his grandfather is tragic and terrible, but you can’t tear your eyes away. They have some amazing scenes together.
-acting is super good, particularly by our two main leads. Both of them are incredibly good at conveying emotions and thoughts with their eyes, and it adds so much to their scenes together. The rest of the cast is solid too. Speaking of which…
-the “second male lead” (idk he doesn’t fit into the traditional role so it feels weird to call him that) is a bad person and doesn’t like our main female lead. He sees her as a rival for the crown prince’s attention and affection. He’s also interesting because you aren’t quite sure what his agenda is.
-the writing. I am also going to complain about the writing later, but I want to give strong kudos to the writing in general. There are many amazing scenes, the dialogue is well-written, and things that get set up early on do come back around again later. You get the cliche “they met as kids” thing and it still makes me roll my eyes a bit, but it is less cliche than usual. It also doesn’t act as a catalyst for the romance so I think that made it less cringey.
The not-so-great stuff:
-this show kind of recycled one particular plot: Deok Im gets in trouble, the crown prince gets involved, the queen gets involved, Deok Im gets saved. By the second time it happened I was like, really? You’ve thought of nothing else? It happens three times. Honestly I thought the second male lead would do something to Deok Im and that would’ve been more interesting, but that kind of didn’t go anywhere. Their relationship didn’t develop much which I thought was a shame.
-the palace maid secret society subplot. Hoo boy. Okay, it’s not the worst thing in the world, but it is just so over the top. Maybe it was to make the palace maids more relevant to the central plot but… it’s not great. They could’ve been influencing politics by, I don’t know, being spies for different nobles or something.
-a bunch of people don’t want the crown prince to become king but there is literally no on-screen alternative, so the whole thing felt a little weird. Like, who do these people want to be king? Seemingly nobody, they just don’t want it to be the crown prince.
-the time skip that happens 2/3rds of the way through is three years, which is a big chunk of time, but not much seems to have changed in the king (former crown prince) and Deok Im’s relationship. Like, did they even see each other that much during that time? I don’t know, it felt weird that not much seemed to have changed between them. They almost seemed more distant which wasn’t great for the romance plot. It also made it unclear what Deok Im was thinking and feeling. It was awkward and threw me off.
-the last few episodes are a little draggy. This is due partially to Deok Im (and some filler scenes). We just don’t get much insight into her thoughts. I think this makes her indecision feel unnecessary and dragged out. It would’ve helped if she had talked to somebody or even had an inner monologue about what she was thinking and feeling. The actress is great, but there’s only so much you can convey when there aren’t any words to back them up. When she does talk about her reasons for not wanting to be a concubine it’s vague, like “freedom” or w/e, but she’s not free as a palace maid either. There is definitely a difference, but this is because it literally happens so we do get to understand it, but it was unclear before what made her less free.
I understand why people are giving this a 9 or 10 because the good parts are really good, but to me I can’t say that 90-100% of this show is good. 80% seems more accurate.

Leia Mais

holy sh*t I get it now

This didn’t seem like my type of show so I passed up on it for so long, but I’m so glad I checked it out. It is so cute and so sweet, but not in like a basic way where you throw some characters together and have it be fluffy.
A huge chunk of what makes this so fluffy and cute is the fact that you get to hear Kurosawa’s thoughts about Adachi, which encompass his delight about being around him, his daydreams of domestic bliss, and his wishes for Adachi’s comfort and happiness. He’s so considerate of Adachi and his feelings and doesn’t try to push him. Adachi is a bit of a flailing mess and we love him for it. Actually, that’s not fair. He’s a kind, considerate and competent person. He doesn’t realize how many people like and care about him, and a part of the show is about his character development and realizing how he’s touched people’s lives around him. It’s just really lovely to see. The side characters are fairly solid as well, especially their coworkers. I’m a big fan of Fujisaki in particular, and I believe she’s aromantic, which is so great to see! I’m not gonna lie, I did find Adachi’s best friend’s storyline less engaging and kind of skipped through it.
It’s a short and sweet show. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Leia Mais

This is a well written, tightly plotted thriller. There was excellent set up and pay off, resulting in good plot twists. Occasionally they would somewhat lead you to believe something false, which I thought was… a little annoying tbh (like oh noooo this character got hurt! Oh wait, no, they’re fine). Nor did I 100% buy into the psychology in this show (it’s a little too ~magic~ for me, with hypnosis and hallucinations) but I do think that the scenarios the kids were forced into were compelling. You really get to know these characters and it’s interesting seeing them think and react to what’s happening. The show has a strong plot and focuses on that, and I feel like the psychological aspect is just the coating on top. I also appreciate that romance wasn’t really a part of the plot. The acting is good overall, I think Esom, Hong Jong Hyun and Kim Woo Bin stood out the most from the young cast. The main antagonist is good as well; idk I feel like I’m spoiled from having watched so many crime/thriller shows so I didn’t find him that scary (plus the whole psychology ~magic~ stuff). I *really* liked the ending and I thought the show did an excellent job of having the plot running up until the last minute. This is definitely a good, short watch, with a great plot that will keep you hooked until the end.

Leia Mais

This show is completely bonkers, and very stressful to watch, and it’s quite good!
I think having this dramatic AF show revolve around a murder mystery worked well, and the pacing of finding out what happened that night was really well done. The various reveals are all interesting and nothing feels like it completely came out of nowhere. The writers definitely set out with a clear picture in mind with who did what that night and weren’t just making it up as they went along. There are a lot of plot twists and even as they’re often absurd it works within the context of the show. They also have good plots aside from the murder mystery, especially the revenge plot. Tbh most of the characters are absolutely the worst, but that’s kind of the point. This is a show about terrible people doing terrible things. You’ve got about 3-4 “good” characters you’re rooting for, and there is payoff where they win little victories. But it’s a constant battle. These characters are filthy rich and they’re terrible, and all the crazy stuff that happens fits in that framework. There is so much happening all the time, that even recapping an episode would take considerable time. I do think the show is written really well! All of it does get a bit crazy and you do have to suspend your disbelief, but you basically have to do that to watch this show in the first place. It’s a good show if you like drama, revenge/underdog stories, and really pretty sets and costumes. The 21 episodes flew by, and I’m looking forward to even more emotional anguish in season 2!

Leia Mais

Hahaha okay I'll be the first to admit this show is not flawless. It's very... 2011. I don't know how exactly to describe what that means, but perhaps we'll figure it out together as I write this review. I am very biased towards this show because it was one of the first couple of kdramas I ever watched and I loved it then. I've also re-watched it with friends and that was a complete blast.

The premise and revenge plot are really solid. I found it really well-paced with great twists and turns. I like that the revenge plot is being driven by two characters who have very different perspectives on what revenge should look like. The conflict between Lee Min Ho's character and "daddy drug-lord" (my friends' name for him) is one of the most interesting aspects of the show. Daddy drug-lord is a great antagonist; the other antagonists, the people who they're getting revenge on, are corrupt politicians and don't get me wrong, they're good too, but daddy drug-lord is definitely more interesting. The show does a good job of working our way through the list of bad guys such that they are successively worse people--the first one is bad, the next one is terrible, the next is horrendous, and so on. But all throughout daddy drug-lord remains a constant threat, and you're really uncertain of what he might do next. I like that (generally speaking) most of the main characters are fairly intelligent and don't make a ton of dumb decisions. Otherwise the plot would certainly feel contrived.

That being said, some things do feel contrived, and that's a bit where Park Min Young's character comes in. I do like her, I really do, but she is very hit-or-miss at her job and it feels like it depends on what needs to be happening in the plot. She's also not the brightest, and how she figures out the identity of City Hunter is pretty funny (as in, the actual moment where she figures it out is pretty hilarious). I actually liked the romance quite a bit in this show. I'm not going to claim that the two have amazing chemistry (it's okay) but the premise for their romance is really unique and good. This isn't the Lois Lane and Superman situation like Healer kinda is, it's more of a Romeo and Juliet type situation where the two of them are on opposite sides of a conflict. I loved how conflicted Lee Min Ho's character was about her; at first, he was scared of hurting her, and then it shifts to also being afraid of her hurting him. So yeah, I enjoyed the romance aspect of the show, though I will admit it's the most 2011-feeling part of the show with some of the rom-com hijinks that go down.

The action scenes are pretty great in this show. I still remember vividly to this day the action scene in episode 18 or so where City Hunter hides from and fights a bad guy in a locker room. It's a single shot for like a minute and a half, where the camera moves along with City Hunter as he hides behind the mirrors, so you can always see both him and the bad guy, even though the bad guy cannot see him. It's masterful and well-coordinated and is incredibly tense and exciting. Definitely a lot of care went into the action scenes, so kudos for that.

This was the first kdrama to teach me that characters can and will die. I legit did not expect characters to die and stay dead (I know expectations are different these days thanks to Game of Thrones) and it genuinely shocked and upset me when a certain character died and it wasn't even the last episode! So that's probably another reason why I have a nostalgic appreciation for this show because it was the first show to subvert my expectations with character deaths.

The ending of this show is perfect. You cannot talk me down from this position. This show does not lose steam and keeps some amazing twists for the end of the show. It's so darn good. It still wowed me even the second time I watched it. It also wraps up the themes of the show really well.

Side note: thank goodness this show exists because I was not a fan of Lee Min Ho after watching Boys Over Flowers and Heirs and I'm now officially a part of the "Lee Min Ho is fine" club.

Leia Mais

Okay, it’s really good, but…

Wow. Um. So this show is really good. The central relationship and acting are just SO good that you can just gloss over everything else. But I feel like I want to highlight both the good and not-so-good.
Good:
-Fresh take on the typical thriller/serial killer plot. Firstly, rather than the typical antagonistic clash between the pair of detectives due to personality differences, one of them literally thinks the other is the murderer. And the other thinks he’s an idiot. It’s great! Secondly, the main serial killer plot wraps up a little over halfway, but the show keeps going. I was impressed by how the show still had unanswered questions and so even once the central mystery was solved there was still more to uncover. It was really engaging (mostly). Third, this show focuses a lot on this small town and all the close relationships, and you get the sense that these people would cover up for each other if they did something wrong, so that lends weight to your suspicions towards them.
-Characters. Many of them are very well fleshed out, primarily the main two but also quite a bit of the rest of the cast. Especially the main group in Munju. It feels like an ensemble piece, at least during the first half.
-Relationships. The main two’s relationship is of course the highlight, and they have so much chemistry it’s ridiculous. Whenever the two of them are onscreen it is *chef’s kiss*. But all the other friendships and relationships get their screen time and I love the group of police buddies. I love it when they all meet up at the butcher shop.
-Acting. I have to point out Shin Ha Kyun in particular, he was really amazing. He’s such an interesting character, and I don’t how to describe what “good acting” is but if you asked me I’d just show a scene from this show and say “Him.” Everyone else is great too.
The not-so-good stuff:
No sections here, because it’s just one thing: the plot. Oof. Okay, the first half or so of this show is well written. The plot twists are good as you learn more information about the series of events. You suspect almost everyone at some point, and then it still turns out to be someone else. It’s a good mystery and thriller. As mentioned above, once the serial killer gets caught, there are still things to unravel. Initially, something happens so you can’t uncover any more information from a certain character. Then they pull the same sh*t again with another character. Not that this wasn’t meaningful or impactful, but at that point it started to feel more like it was done to extend the plot. Then a certain plot twist happens and you’re like “oh wow!” Then another frickin plot twist happens and you’re like “… oh wow.” Basically I feel like we could have skipped maybe one or two plot twists. They felt more like “ahahaha plot twist ?” rather than “plot twist ?.” The ultimate “whodunnit” felt a little meh to me because who gives a crap about that person? So the last ~5 episodes are weaker than the ones preceding them. They start to focus on characters you don’t care about and the Munju crew get relegated to the background. It focuses less on the small town and the characters and more on, uh, “police corruption” I guess. Don’t get me wrong, it was still mostly good (though the few episodes where they pull those plot twists were kind of eye roll inducing). The plot twists also happen during flashbacks for some reason rather then when our characters actually discover the facts, which I feel like is a weird writing decision. They still did a good job on focusing on the main two characters, and the ultimate whodunnit is probably written that way to help focus on the main relationship, but it still felt oddly forced. The last few episodes also have some, uh, plot holes in them (I guess we didn’t need to gather evidence after all, cause we gotta wrap this plot up! Oh shoot, that character got in trouble, jk we need them for the plot so they’re free now), but the final scenes with our main two are so excellent it really left me with a very good impression of the show, despite being very tempted to give this a lower rating.
I definitely do recommend this show. Would I rewatch it? Maybe the first half-ish and the last episode. It’s an excellent show, truly, but I just think the plot has some major weak spots.
P.S. Park Jung Je :”(

Leia Mais

*screams into a pillow*

Okay, now that I’ve released a bit of my frustration with this show, I can talk about it a bit more rationally.

This show has a maaaaaaajor tone problem that becomes more and more apparent as the show progresses. The first half of the show is pretty good kdrama fun times, plenty of laughs to be had. The main trio are great at comedy. The love triangle is actually pretty good, as I think it’s a bit different from usual. Min Hyuk knows who Bong Soon “truly” is, and admires her for her strength, while Gook Du perceives her as weak and wants to protect her. They aren’t just two people vying for her love; they are two people who have very different perspectives on who she is, that makes the love triangle more interesting than usual.

And then the show progressively derails as the episodes progress. The serial killer plot ramps up and is so extreme and scary, and there’s some serious whiplash going back and forth between cute scenes of our couple and scenes of this terrifying guy. Oh, and the goshdarn gangster scenes. Does that stuff even count as a subplot? It serves as “funny” filler, but I find pretty much none of it funny and it borders on gross for me. Those were the scenes I hated the most. The only way to watch the second half of the show is to skip through all the crap to get to the cute scenes with our couple, and at that point you might as well just watch the clips on YouTube.

I actually would give this show a 7, but it has such a high rating here and I feel the need to turn the dial down a bit so people understand that there’s some serious problems with this show. The cast is good, the humor is pretty good in the first half of the show, and the OST is fitting. However, many of the characters are superfluous and are meant to be humorous but are so over the top that it is too much to handle. The serial killer plot is so extreme that it throws the show off kilter, and it truly feels like it belongs in a different show like Voice. The saving grace of this show is the couple, which is one of the darn cutest couples I’ve seen in kdramaland. The main trio are great (though Ji Soo’s talents are somewhat wasted here). I wish that the latter half of the show wasn’t a hot mess, because otherwise this show would be really great.

Leia Mais

Definitely in the running for cutest OTP of 2020

This show was such a nice surprise. I didn’t expect much from a fantasy/historical(ish) rom-com, but this was (1) laugh-out-loud hilarious, (2) really well-made and edited, (3) had a story that didn’t completely go off the rails, and (4) had characters that were memorable and lovable.

The premise is silly and most of the show is. But it never takes itself too seriously or tries to explain too much. It’s really funny and cool how meta the show is, with the screenwriter (aka the female lead) commenting on the holes in her script or how she regrets how certain characters are written. I also like that rather than a fish out of water scenario, the main female lead knows the world she’s in perfectly and thus is actually more knowledgeable than a lot of the characters. Thus the jokes are less centered around “look at this modern woman try to figure out ancient times” instead it’s “look at this screenwriter try to desperately save the plot and confusing the hell out of everyone.” Rather than being just a silly person to begin with, she’s actually a pretty rational person who has been placed in an absurd situation.

So yeah, I really love the female lead, she’s probably my fave, but a close second is the male lead. He's also hilarious in his own way, going from being a seemingly ruthless, ambitious man to almost instantly smitten with the female lead (though she’s just being nice to him to try to prevent him from killing her lollll). It’s cool how a lot of the characters develop in different trajectories from how both you, the audience, and the screenwriter expect. In general it is fun how the show takes tropes and makes fun of them and/or they play out in different ways.

It’s pretty remarkable that in a show that isn’t necessarily plot-driven the plot was actually good! I find with shows like this they tend to lose steam towards the end. The romance and comedy are the best part of the show but the plot was well placed and I was really invested in how it was going to end. This show was also surprisingly progressive with its perspective on male/female equality but it did have a few moments where I wasn’t okay with what the characters did (male characters forcing themselves on female characters is never my fave).

Tl;dr this show is 100% watching for the characters, the couple, and the plot. It’s a really fun ride and I enjoyed it immensely.

Leia Mais