K-lover61

Sending a message about corruption and greed?

I really liked Nam Joo-hyuk in this role. His character is a little arrogant with those in authority, most of whom he has no respect for, but much softer with others (at least on the surface). He handles the many sides of Kim Ji-yong with ease.

The drama title says it all, really, and this is a very violent watch, with some shocking scenes. The torture can be quite graphic.

Most of the characters and plot, centre entirely around the Vigilante's fight against what he sees as a broken justice system, and is based within the Police Academy he attends.

The baddies are incredibly bad; the few goodies are a mix of righteous, and/or self-interested, or basically nice. One character is very ambiguous indeed and definitely needs therapy! There is another that I doubted almost from the start and still did at the end.

It is totally OTT in terms of the fight scenes, but very thrilling and gripping... entertaining, even though that may seem wrong to some.

Character back stories are inserted here and there, which was definitely needed and improved where some were coming from.

It occasionally raises ethical questions, but they never get answered sufficiently, especially when what underpins those answers, is itself rotten almost to the core.

The cast is varied with some familiar faces. Yoo Ji-tae, as Vigilante's kind-of-nemesis, is built like a 🧱💩🏠 The actor is 48, so boy must he work out! A lot is made of his physique and strength, although Vigilante certainly doesn't make an easy target, I suppose to prove it isn't always about bulk. I did get irritated when his refual to see that one character had to be 'dealt with', was the cause of things taking an even worst turn.

Definitely left open for a S2.

Leia Mais

Not a bad watch overall

June 2024
This is described as a Horror Film, but my idea of that genre is different. It can be horrific, but it isn't ghosts, demons and stuff going bump in the night.

It's a mild (hence rating, which is 15 on Netflix) slasher type film.

Kazuya is my cup of tasty and plays a cold, emotionless lawyer, Ninomiya Akira, who goes through the motions of 'normal interactions' with others.

He ends up on the radar of a criminal profiler and also becomes the target of a serial killer.

He is to marry a woman whose father's law firm he held a high position in; but on the shocking death of her father, he is now its Head.

As the investigation, serial killer, Akira's past and his own investigation into The Lumberjack, all converge, there are shock revelations and surprising outcomes.

I quite enjoyed this, but in true Japanese fashion, it is crazy, OTT and does have something of a 'B movie' feel to it. For me, that actually adds to the enjoyment.

There is obviously blood, but honestly it's unrealistic for the most part and really tame in comparison to some drama series, never mind other films!

There is also a quite disturbing aspect to it, too, which I found surprising and made me feel sorry for characters involved. Somewhat thought provoking at times.

I think it would have benefitted from more in-depth coverage of the past, when key characters were children. I found some aspects rushed and had the story given more time to those parts, that would certainly have created a stronger connection with some characters.

Leia Mais

Captivating

Feb 2024
I watched this in one sitting and my goodness, what a watch it was.
It has a real-life feel in terms of Lee Tang's (Choi Woo-shik) day to day routines, plus his lack of both direction and motivation. Consequently, there are slower paced episodes, but these still manage to both captivate and unnerve.
Detective Son Suk Ku (Jang Nan Gam), is weary, somewhat arrogant in attitude at times and fixated on a happening in the past.
The cat & mouse interactions between these 2 is often tense and occasionally amusing.
Supporting characters veer from weird and unsettling, to just unsettling.
LT's family are supportive, but at the same time wrapped up in their own lives. The mother seems to talk at, not to him, quite often. His relationship with 2 friends felt to me to be more one of convenience than care, even though long-term.
SSK's police partner is a rookie and lacks judgement. Others in their department are a mix of older and jaded, with one showing a more investigative mind, but at the same time lazy, not wanting to lead on his thoughts. Overall, as is so often the case in K-dramas, the police are portrayed overall as inept, cutting corners, lazy and corrupt.
LT's luck in evading proven involvement in murders is pretty funny. The overall effect of his lifestyle on his personality, especially after meeting another character, is noticeable.
There are adult themes/scenes, violence (of course) and clever dialogue.
A further key character is strangely charismatic, but completely irrational and very formidable. Seemed to have a head made of steel too.
I really enjoyed this and it kept me entertained from start to finish. I laughed out loud and at one point, felt terrible for doing so, because it was inappropriate for the scene, but it was hilarious.
I really enjoy watching CWS act and he has the ability to keep me invested in a drama, even if it's not as good as this one was. Would happily watch again.
There are scenes of/references to, sexual assault/rape, suicide and bullying, for those who find these a trigger.

Leia Mais

Too drawn out

November 2023
I know this has been really popular and just about everyone loves Rowoon (including me), with Jo Bo-ah having lots of fans too, but... I really struggled with it. Sorry for the negtive review, to those who loved it and perhaps read this.

Unusually for me, a big bugbear was the irritating incidental/background music. Once it irked me, I couldn't zone it out.

The main characters around Hong-jo and Shin-yu, were mostly horrible....

From just awful work colleagues (apart from HJ's team Manager, Eun-young), to Shin-yu's father (so unkind about his mother's intelligence), and a delusional girlfriend; all very unlikeable.

I was also not keen on either lead character. One never took control, strung people along and was frankly, weak. The other was mouthy with one character and yet almost weak around all others.

A few tropes I really don't like, such as the father disliking their off-spring's chosen partner, just because they have no parents and are a 'nobody'; and the usual delusional girlfriend. Done. To. Death.

Apart from that, so many scenes were waaaaay too drawn out and slow, full of long stares and bizarre silent phone calls (where one calls other and then says NOTHING... what is all that about!)

HJ's female co-workers are completely bat poop and also delusional... I didn't find them funny at all ~ really not good writing. One in particular was thoroughly unlikeable.

I often found scenes childish and ridiculous; I mean, a Parks worker with no vehicle, no appropriate equipment/clothing, yet often expected to deal with situations for which they are totally unprepared. Like having to wipe up blood, but not having anything to do so with! Or someone with a suspected stalker, going to remote places alone. Eye rolling.

The story also didn't flow. Scenes felt jerky and disjointed, almost like segments stuck together, at times. The MC can regularly be found randomly standing on a beach, for no apparent reason, just gazing into one another's eyes.

Utterly ridiculous plot lines. Especially around the worst example of promiscuity ever, which just because someone is dating, is apparently openly talking with a man, even though there's a space between them (ie, not cuddled up).

There's also an appalling scene with an octopus, too, that really upset me. Totally unacceptable to me, I'm afraid (and 'culture' doesn't cut it, in a developed country that should know better by now). It wasn't even necessary. Hope to God it wasn't real ~ I'm honestly not sure.

There were scenes filmed in the same location as See You In My 19th Life (Mujinjeong Pavilion, with 'falling petal' fireworks), that actually felt like they almost mirrored that part of the other drama. It felt too similar and really distracted me.

So disappointing and I'd looked forward to this drama, too.

The cast weren't a problem, but actually the drama's saving grace. However, apart from some of the historical scenes, the story was just not for me.

Leia Mais

Time slipped but the drama didn't... too much.

Oct 2023
I love the plot; not the usual time travel, but a time slip.
Bae Hyun-sung is so good in his lead role as character Kang-san, who ends up worlds away from his original life. The emotions this relatively young actor is able to convey with his eyes, is exactly what makes his character so watchable and believable. Gentle, kind and pretty adorable. He never abuses the changes in himself either, but hangs on to his good nature.
Jung Woo is also good as a struggling writer with principles (Dong-joo), but living a life that pushes them to their limit. He has a sometimes abrasive exterior, but is really quite mushy inside.
Supporting characters/actors are interesting; from family, to friends, law enforcement and the villains living in wealth, but also the shadow of their past.
It started really strong and grabbed my attention, but as the drama neared its mid-way eps, I found the story somewhat laboured. Old ground was covered too often and so regardless of whether the angle from which an event was seen, was different, it wasn't different enough and didn't really impact the story sufficiently.
Then, as the final episodes rolled out, the pace picked up quite sharply again and it was really good.
I liked how Dong-joo's relationships/ friendships changed, but felt the way his character was written to behave in certain situations, sometimes went against his personality, seemingly to drive the story forward. He could be so incredibly selfish, yet at other times too much the opposite. Overall he made for an entertaining character.
Hyeon-soo, a MC and police officer, I often found infuriatingly arrogant in her assumptions that she was right about stuff. I found her character lacked substance. The actress (Park Yoo-rim) was OK, but didn't really seem to 'be' the part.
The police team were woefully blind to the obvious clues that someone in their ranks was 'off', even when they suspected a leak and clues had become glaringly obvious. Frustrating!
I loved DJ's best friend, Yong-dae, who never judged and was such a supportive and understanding friend; and Mal-geum, who is linked to KS's past (how their interaction was portrayed in the present day, I found touching, poignant and really quite sad).
I never liked Myung-seok, but assume he was a better person than I thought, with his motives being to change things (I hope).
Loved Oh Man-suk as Kai, too. He was SO cool.
It's cleverly done, how the connections between the characters come together and there is a fair amount of tragedy.
An extremely dark and upsetting secret is also revealed at the end, which may be too much for some (refer to 'Tags' for the drama).

Leia Mais

Dark, depressing and uncomfortable

Aug 2023
First off, apart from graphic violence, there are scenes containing rape, domestic abuse and suggested self-harm, so be warned ahead of viewing.

It starts off fairly evenly, lulling us into a very false sense of security, before escalating and that escalation never stops until the very end.

The way in which those perceived to be less attractive, are overlooked, spoken to, and at worst, not even loved by their own parents, is horrible. School is one thing (teachers woefully absent as usual), but the workplace is reminiscent of the UK in the 70s/80s.

The main character's dreams, held from being an infant, were quickly slashed, as she grew older and her looks hsd diminished by the time she was a teen. Although a talented and confident dancer, she was never accepted, getting verbally abused, and soon gave up. Her mother was cold and unsupportive.

As an adult, she vents her craving for the adoration and attention of an audience, by performing often exotic dance routines online, wearing a mask and various wigs.

The story follows her double life, which due to several interactions with a co-worker, culminate in her having something of a melt down.

From there on, her luck goes from not great, to catastrophically awful.

The story does a FFWD (which I know annoys some, but it does fit in this instance) and the hatred and vengeance from the past wreaks havoc in the present.

One character in particular is amazingly portrayed; blind to their complicity, failings and own twisting of reality, because facing up to all that, would be even more painful and leave no one to lash out at. An honestly hateful person who wants to be the victim.

I found the story and mix of characters, frankly depressing. It gets quite ridiculous at times too, which spoilt any realism built up in scenes.

I can't say I enjoyed it, but I can't say it was bad. It was horrible really. How people can drive others to lose who they are, features strongly, and is sickening, as is the obsession with looks, that is very prevalent, not only in S.Korea, although they do seem particularly obsessed with it.

The cast are excellent. It has a docu-drama feel at times, even though, as said, the plot in terms of what's believable or possible, goes off the rails quite often.

The ending was quite something, but lacked in one major aspect, which I can't say in this, but will add a spoiler comment.

Leia Mais

Never a dull moment

I loved way more about this than I didn't.
The very few gripes are honestly not worth mentioning.
Fabulous cast, many actors/tresses I love, all of whom played their characters so well.
It is quirky at times; the character of
Young-rak's wife is totally off the wall. I loved her! Her outspokenness made for some really funny scenes and, at times, not low level discomfort too.
I so felt for Kang-ho and as his story was revealed, thought him so brave. Lee Do-hyun portrayed him excellently.
There were many scenes that made for a tough watch. How cold, heartless and thoroughly evil some of the characters were.
Those were tempered by opposites, however, and that prevented this drama from becoming overly melodramatic and depressing.
I completely disagreed with the methods of the Mother in question. Yet I still liked her character; she was forced to toughen up, make sacrifices, cope alone, keep going and work her arse off. However, for me that didn't excuse her dictatorial approach toward her son as a child, or actions that bordered on abuse. Nothing can excuse some of the things she did. Yet I still couldn't dislike her.
Her character seemed to mellow through the story and her capacity for forgiveness, on several occasions, I found a bit unbelievable, but given her circumstances at that point, I did get it. She also repeated one of her previous mistakes regarding another character, which disappointed me, but she came through in the end.
Kang-ho's behaviour, I thought was out of synch at times, with what his character's age was supposed to have reverted to, but, I could care less. He had me in bits on numerous occasions.
I also loved Mi-joo. What a great young woman, with real strength of character. She never played the victim and was so tenacious. I really liked the relationship she had with her twins, too.
In fact, all the village women in this drama were tough in their own ways really.
Life wasn't particularly easy or a bed of roses, for any of them.
The men were funny, capable, but rarely the bosses ;)
Sam-sik was a conundrum for me... I loathed, liked, was amused and shocked by him, in turns. Drove me nuts.
The foreign character, Andrea, was weirdly likeable. I wasn't sure at first. The way he spoke was odd at times (and not when he was practicing his Korean), but then I find many of the foreign characters represented in K-dramas to be a bit odd in general. He helped out a lot though and wasn't insignificant. How they interacted together was lovely.
Plenty of suspense and a terrific watch. I never got bored, was pleased with the ending and so enjoyed the actors, who really made the story shine.

Leia Mais

S1-3 combined on Viki app. An OK watch to pass the time.

aka: The Night I Became An Animal
Great variety of characters and differing relationship scenarios, with some really selfish ones in the mix, who had no regard for the feelings of others.
My favourite couple were the country girl and tattoo artist.
At the other end of the spectrum, was the guy who didn't want kids with his wife; and the last couple, were just... "what the hell?"!
Sometimes it did feel like the individual story was built around the very samey bed scene they almost all ended up with.
I found myself rolling my eyes once too often.
I did like the entire cast, though.

Leia Mais

Not what it seems

I am not sure what was being aimed at when making this: quirky? comedy? statement on mental health? social politics?
I was kept engaged throughout, but really didn't like a number of the characters.
I did like the aspect that poor communication and perspectives of childhood, can really screw us up!
A child's imagination can be an escape, a hiding place, a better place, or a nightmare; but what if imagination and reality become blurred?
There are very unsettling aspects to this drama. A dangerous and manipulative cult; dysfunctional relationships; loss; threat; confusion and self-doubt. Quite a bit of very unpleasant violence and horrible manipulation by the cult.
I found the ending bizarre, as what I imagined the premise to be, was turned on its head.
I am not against seeing smoking in dramas, as people still do and I see the effects of alcohol and hallucinogenic drug abuse as being far worst. However, the amount of characters that chain smoked, I found off-putting.
To be honest, I didn't get it at all and so just felt blank about it. Not even sure if I actually liked it or not!

Leia Mais

Visually stunning

A wonderful bit of escapism, with some really touching moments, humour and action (of a martial arts/supernatural kind).
The acting was fine and the cast beautiful, with lovely sets and costumes.
The story is entertaining, but it did drag in several places for me. If it hadn't gone off on unnecessary tangents at times (for example some of the focussing on Jie Li, which lent nothing to the story) and stretching out of scenes, the pace would have been improved. I felt the end stories were wrapped up in a somewhat rushed manner, when compared to aspects of the rest of the story.
The opening episode grabbed me and the final episodes were quite gripping (and sad in some cases), but my attention drifted quite often in between.
Dylan Wang was a delight, as were the majority of the cast. However, as is too often the case, the childish way in which Orchid spoke, drove me nuts. It is not necessary to speak like a kid to convey sweetness or naivety.
I would have liked to see a bit more of the dragon in his true form too.
Some of the more modern guitar music I didn't feel was appropriate either and that distracted me.
Overall a decent watch, and if I watched again, certain bits I'd definitely FF.

Leia Mais

Didn't raise me up

I personally felt the issue of erectile dysfunction was used for cheap jokes and as a way to grab attention. It belittled the problem, if anything.
The problems the main character had around feeling like a failure were different and tackled better though.
Why does Yoon Shi-yoon take these kind of roles, I wonder? He's played a couple where the character is the under dog; bullied, humiliated, the butt of jokes and with low self esteem and lacking in confidence.
I did like how this character didn't radically change though, in terms of his basic personality. Instead of transforming into a polar opposite, he accepted who he now is, what makes him happy and that those things should not be diminished or affected by the goals, aspirations and achievements of others.
Nowhere near my kind of drama though, sadly.

Leia Mais

Sweet

Short, sweet, nice story.
Quite a low budget feel though and not great sound quality. Small, young cast, who worked well together and seemed to enjoy themselves.
I actually think this would make a decent full length drama.
It is difficult, to my mind, for any decent story to be conveyed in such short and so few, episodes. The cast don't really get a chance to build on their characters either.
I thought they did well, considering that.
I still feel it's a shame that S.Korea only partially commits to the BL genre. I haven't seen anything yet, which gives us full length episodes. A real shame.

Leia Mais

Aimed at a younger audience, I feel, but enjoyable for more mature viewers too.
Nice cast, with Nam Da-reum and Kim Sae-ron working so well together in their lead roles. Their chemistry was just right for these characters.
Supporting cast were very watchable too and the show is a great platform for its young actors to shine, as they have the majority of roles and screen time.
Should carry a trigger warning for references to suicide really, I feel though.
The stresses of high school exams and grades are taken to a whole new level in this.
I found some of the adults scarier than any ghosts or demons!
Nicely done and an enjoyable watch.

Leia Mais

Thought provoking

A very unsettling drama, as one can imagine that if something like this ever became possible, there would be power crazy dictatorships and wealthy countries happy to abuse and use engineered humans as weapons.
After all, with cloning, growing a human ear on a mouse and even working on growing human organs in pigs, this drama is not total fiction.
There are many very unlikable characters and the usual abuse of and arrogance towards, ordinary people, by those with power and money, is a key part of the story.
Ji Oh reminds me of Frankenstein's monster; lonely, naive and innocent. Sadly that also makes him vulnerable and easy to manipulate by those he mistakenly thinks know best. It's people's abuse and cruelty that leads to the monster emerging. Kim Rae-won was so good in portraying the role.
The character of Gu Reum was really well acted by Lee Da-hee; tough, principled, but ultimately, I found her to be fickle. Ji Oh never hurt her, but loved her and only ever wanted to protect her; yet, at crucial times she listens to those very people that cause all their problems and no end of pain.
To think that she could protect something precious alone and that Ji Oh would be OK with that, was crazy. There were so many things she could have said to him to compromise his mistaken beliefs, but she didn't even attempt it. There are ways around memory loss.
I found every episode gripping and the story well thought out, but the final one was bizarre. That Gu Reum would rather leave something hidden, risking it not surviving, than to tell Ji Oh where it was, I found unbelievable.
L.U.C.A. is the beginning of something altogether quite horrifying ~ not the super humans themselves, but what most likely would happen to them and ultimately, us.
Well worth watching and very thought provoking.

Leia Mais

It's all about the girls

This is such a good series and I love the characters. It's a great message for women of any age, in that the different views, levels of experience and personalities, of the 3 main female characters, are so different, but respected within the story.
No judgement is passed on a chosen lifestyle, but via the series, the assumptions and rumours of others about them, are explored.
I loved how supportive each woman became of their friendships and that no pressure was put on, or fun made, the more naive and inexperienced character.
There are also very valid points made about the importance of sex and sexual health education, plus the need for easily obtainable routes to qualified, empathic and sensitive advice.
A really nice watch.

Leia Mais