Hype that will not stand up with time

Hype that will not stand up with time. This series does not measure up to the standards of good, much less great, Korean Drama. The cast is excellent, of course (except for the VIPs, though the inside joke on American actors is rich), but the plot is predictable from the beginning through to the end. From the moment 001 (a heavy-handed clue) showed up, the repetition mixed in with violence and gore was evident, and the outcome was predictable.

However. Blessings on Netflix for bringing international film to the world, especially during the pandemic. But don't try to own it, guys: just stream it.

Leia Mais

This show started strong but quickly became repetitive with the same events happening over again in every episode. The female lead treated the male lead the same way through the majority of the drama except for maybe the last 3 episodes. The last few minutes of ep 13 were handled in a mature way, but the drama lost steam in the middle. It's like the writers ran out of ideas and so decided that having the leads go through the same conflicts throughout the entirety of the drama would suffice in filling up time. That to me is lazy writing and I was not here for it. I wish I would have dropped this earlier when it became obvious, but no I'm hard headed.

- Final episode thoughts

Almost all of the finale was so unnecessary and uninteresting...
The continued ex conflict was lame enough, but the separation took away from the intense love and friendship they had for each other, which was the best part of the entire drama.
Wei Wei was supposed to be an intelligent adult woman, yet she couldn't possibly stay in contact with her male friend/ lover Kehuan and focus on growing as a person ?

I could understand a bit of time and space before having a serious relationship, but 13 months completely out of her life, with no interaction as friends? Ke Huan proved that he would respect her boundaries as friends, so she is not under any pressure.
The actors were amazing, the story was not.

Leia Mais

This season was actually the worst.

This season was actually the worst. Season 1 was boring, but this season was just poorly executed. The casting was a total miss. Aside from a few people, the rest of the cast is uninteresting or unlikeable. They need to get the old PD back. The format and the flow of the show are just weird also. Why didn’t they let them choose their ex on some dates? That would help them clear up their misunderstandings/ lingering feelings. And half the season just focused on them eating/drinking/ arguing and doing the same stuff every episode. The topics they talked about also kept going in circles. It’s exhausting and frustrating to watch as a viewer. In season 2, there was drama, but there were also wholesome moments. This season pure drama and frustration. I am officially dropping this season. It’s excruciating to continue watching.

Leia Mais

Very light-hearted and cute

I think this series is pretty good at the beginning. I like how ML starts to come out of his shell and blend in with his classmates. But when they begin college life, it goes downhill from there, at least for me. It feels like it doesn’t have a main plot anymore and just becomes a documentary about their college life. Even the friendship vibes are less prominent than during their high school days. Then, some random characters show up without adding any significance, like Gao Ting. He rarely appears, yet suddenly, it seems like he's the main antagonist without any background story.

Leia Mais

It felt like more care was put into earlier episodes versus the latter

Xianxia tends to be hit or miss with me, but I was drawn in by the appeal of seeing Bai Lu and Luo Yunxi together again after the Love is Sweet. Their chemistry doesn't disappoint. I really loved the first 3/4 of this drama. Though both leads are good, Luo Yunxi really owned the show as the tortured Tantai Jin, and I found two of the lifetimes (Ming Ye/Sang Jiu and Tantai Jin/Ye Xiwu) equally absorbing and the CGI above the usual. But once we returned to the "present," the storytelling fell apart quite a bit for me. The pacing became uneven, the cut from scene to scene disjointed. The logic of the characters became inconsistent and subordinate to the plot. Sometimes it lagged, sometimes it was too hurried. The ending was not, for me, satisfying. It just felt sloppy. I don't know what happened in the production, but it certainly felt like more care was put into earlier episodes versus the latter and I only ended up finishing because of my investment from the earlier episodes . I went from wishing the drama would never end to wondering if it ever would by ep 33, a big disappointment. That's not to take away from the actors. I hope to see Bai Lu and Luo Yunxi collaborate again

Leia Mais

I thoroughly enjoyed The Devil Judge for its outstanding cinematography, sharp editing, and Ji Sung's exceptional performance. However, while the first half (up to episodes 9/10) was gripping and brilliantly written, the latter half felt too draggy, packed with excessive angst, and kind of cartoonish. Additionally, I found Ga-On's character (played by Jinyoung) frustratingly inconsistent—his constant shifts in loyalty made him come across as immature and unreliable.

Overall, it’s a solid series that had the potential to be even better, particularly in its second half.

Leia Mais

Directionless and incredulous show with a psycho mom

First of all, the writer can't seem to determine whether they want the story to go into comedy or have serious plot lines. Because the story taking place outside the village is all suspence and serious, but once you enter the village, the characters suddenly become comedic. Take Woobyeok's two secretaries, for example. The show started out pretty good. Initially, I figured the show would be about a prosecutor on a path of revenge or a path of corruption that took away his father's life. Either way, both interesting. Then the accident happen which was an unexpected twist that could've made things more interesting.

But once Kang-Ho came back home, the story devolved into a bunch of country bumpkins acting like fools. There's no clear direction and the writers just randomly tossed in every known K-drama cliche such as family car death, major illness and unnecessary misunderstandings. All happening at once! Once country bumpkins take over, we see less and less of two villains who are much more interesting. They're wasting so much time adding incredulously improbable plot lines during Kang-ho's "recovery" process, it's gotten hard to watch. The show constantly switches from comedy to cringy drama trying to make you cry.

What really gets me about this show is how Kang-ho's mom comes across. I get that she's had a hard life but she's an absolute nut job! The way she treats Kang-Ho is way past child abuse and she should be jailed for it.

Speaking of child abuse, how Min-Joo lies to her two kids about their father is a next level psychological abuse. How will they recover from this?

We also cannot forget newly discovered ways to treat quadriplegic people. Starve them so they can use their own hands and then throw them in water so they can start walking. Someone actually wrote this crap.

Who else is so sick and tired of the main character losing her crap every other scene?Directionless and incredulous show with a psycho mom

Shortest TL;DR - story failed to maintain the momentum towards the end.

Leia Mais

Let me review this title after 4 years

This was my first ever drama back in 2019, I rewatched it recently for the second time. Of all dramas I’ve watched, this is the most realistic. Actors play their roles perfectly, the plot is creative, the storyline is simple, yet with a lot of conflicts that are realistic and really tugs at your heart. Everything is flowing at a perfect pace. This drama deserves an endless amount of awards. This drama really holds a unique charm like no other. In terms of cinematography I can confidently say I have never, in my years of watching k- dramas, seen anything quite like it. Every shot has an amazing authenticity to it and the palette for each frame is stunning, it feels just like a movie. It’s good at focusing on the details that create a view of life seen through the eyes of those living it. It strays from the widespread use of commercial lighting and taking one shot from 20+ angles and instead focuses on the brilliant visual storytelling and the raw emotion between characters.

Leia Mais

Overrated & cringe

If you are over the age of 13, this is probably not the show for you. I selected "I am not a Robot" because of its popularity on this site. While I did get through the entire series (because I'm a masochist), I rage watched it, expecting it to improve. That's time I can never get back!

There are many of the standard K-drama tropes. The rich guy who is super smart but spoiled, self absorbed and socially awkward, and the poor girl who is contantly bullied and denigrated by the men in her life. We are also told over and over again that the female lead only has an IQ of 94 (never mind the flaws in using IQ tests, or that this would be within the range of normal people)...we get it...she's ordinary and a little bit simple. From the very first episode, he mistreated her in a way that made me not like him. If he wasn't really good looking, even the teeny bopper fan girls wouldn't be rooting for this guy.

Secondly, there's the plot itself. I like weird stuff, but this was too weird. First, you have to suspend disbelief that this supposed genius couldn't figure out that this "robot" was a real woman (I promise you, a caveman would have figured this sh** out by episode 2). It was so awkward watching him be attracted to what he essentially believed to be a really pretty appliance.

Finally, the pacing. If it had been written so that only for the first few episodes he thought she was a robot, then the reveal, leading to the development of a genuine romance between two real people, there would have been a chance that this could have been salvaged. Instead, we had to suffer through cringeworthy moments for 2/3 of the show, making it difficult (for me at least) to invest in the characters and their love story.

Now I've seen comments and reviews of other people who didn't like the secondary characters. I don't have an issue with the older guy/younger girl romance. I think the secondary characters were actually better to watch. They injected the realism, humour and drama and showed the most character growth.

To cut a long story short, watch something else!

Leia Mais

This show has soooo many plot contrivances and inconsistencies it severely appalls me how people like this sack of shit show aside from the fact that it has Lee Joon-gi.
All the actors did a fantastic job! However, Moon Chae-won's character is so poorly written she gradually starts to possess the emotional and intellectual span of a mushroom.
The show starts to go down at a consistent pace around the time when Cha Ji-won starts picking up clues about her husband.
The Taxi Driver's plotline is also never completed and is even accompanied by an unsatisfying build-up.
Along with the rest of the show, the real Baek Hee-sung has a pretty weak conclusion to his villain arc.
Don't even get me started on Hyun-Soo's amnesia plotline...

Leia Mais

My all time favorite after Knowing Bros

I love the show for several reasons: (1) I learn about the foods that South Koreans like to eat; (2) about the founding and history of the cities they visit; (3) the funny quips of the hosts and their guests; (4) the challenge of whether or not to be invited to dinner; (5) the stories that the families tell. Thanks to the entire production for the excellent work and dedication! Its a vastly different show I feel. Its one of those shows thats consistently entertaining but not chaotic like KB, inviting a more chill viewing experience.
I would recommend the part where they go around and introduce places while bickering with other (with the narrator from Jjak doing an excellent job so you can immerse into what's going on), which is very informative and very fun to watch if you are into history and background of landmarks at Seoul.

Leia Mais

This film is just trying too much to be many things, but doesn't achieve anything. It starts with a comedy vibe, with some drama involved, then it goes deep in the drama, but there are so many scenes that just try too hard, almost feels like the film is ordering me to cry, and is just not natural, takes away all the impact that seeing people die should have. In the end the film turns into Avengers/Fast and Furious with a very unrealistic car chase, that again it feels out of tone, because the film is about a sensitive real life event, and having such a brainless action scene out of nowhere is just weird and bad.

Leia Mais

It is a story of how the Seoul, South Korean police were utterly incompetent and let a serial killer go on killing. As for what the officers interviews it sounds like their still in denial that it was their fault. (I can only speak from the English translation). They came off as blaming the system rather then themselves. Even when two officers didn't communicate and the killer walked right out of the interrogation room they spoke as if he planned it all. One redeeming factor was they didn't show his face or give him any type of "fame". Though there was no real focus on the victims either. Overall sloppy as a documentary.

Leia Mais