They raised the standard for this franchise

It's rare to see a sequel as good as the original. Confidential Assignment 2 was not only at par with the original, it surpassed it. This is more fun to watch. Have more action scenes. And, much solid plot. If they are going to release another sequel, they raised the standards too high with this release.

What I miss with Western movies: a solid plot, a serious story, but still can make you laugh because the comedy parts were natural. Glad to see the Koreans are sticking to that formula instead of following the footsteps of Hollywood.

Well done, great acting from all the actors, the staff, the director, writer, and editing team.

Leia Mais

This is how you write and direct a zombie TV series

This is way far better than all The Walking Dead seasons combined. Highly recommended for both who likes the zombie genre and those who doesn't like it.

This isn't your usual, ordinary, zombie show. It's full of character development, real life and realistic drama, and lessons in survival and life itself.

In this show, they truly captured how high school students would have acted and think. While maybe, some characters and situations were annoying, you would realize that's how you and your classmates would have been at that age of your life. They also did not shy away from showing the very difficult task of making decisions, and best of all, how in the middle of fear, uncertainty, and death, humanity still can trust and support each other at the end of the day.

It's not all running. There are stories behind every episode, every character, every scene. Something you don't see in majority of zombie films and TV series.

Leia Mais

The Korean version of “Suits” but about auditors instead of lawyers.

This is the Korean version of the American “Suits”. Instead of lawyers, it's auditors.

* Harvey Specter is Sin Chail.
* Mike Ross is Ku Hansu.

Because of it, I have a very high expectation for this show. So far, with the premiere week, I was very satisfied. The actors were good, they're in-character, they were not holding back to show what their character is really like. They explain the logic in a way that the audience will understand without the need to explain it through subtitles. The first sub-arc was also relatable, especially for the sub-sub-plots like why a person was tempted to compromise even though they knew they shouldn't.

I hope the rest of the cases will continue to revolve around relatable issues that we've seen in real life, so the public will at least be reminded that these corruptions exist and we shouldn't just accept things as it is… rather we should question it and prove they gave us the entire truth.

Leia Mais

Highly recommended!

Awesome series!

If you are familiar with physics, astronomy, mathematics, theories, you will recognise a lot of stuff used in this show. I'm not sure about the novel, so I'm only referring to the show.

* Some were asked before.
* Some are still being debated.
* Some still being proven.
* Some already possible mathematically.
* Some observed in real life.

The philosophical questions are also relevant, and many have been asked before, and many were recently asked.

I can't believe they were able to combine these different school of thoughts into one cohesive story. I haven't seen a story like this before. Usually, sci-fi authors would only focus, at most, 5 to keep it simpler for the audience, but in this show, it's out-of-this-world.

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The animation part was also great. They combined two types of art, and that was amazing. Also, some would probably critic how the movement of the animated characters are not fluid, but that's the whole point, it was intentional. It captured the 'game feel'.

Overall, from episodes 1 to 16, each episode felt like watching a 45-minute movie. They spent a lot. It wasn't half-baked. They were consistent in quality every episode.

Highly recommended!

Leia Mais

Welcome to real life … don't hate it just because you haven't experienced it.

Do not be misled by the low ratings it received in English websites because it is a common trend for shows which tells stories about life, relationships, death, break-ups, moving on, and challenges families and friends face together. One would often hear/read reasons like "it's unrealistic" and "it doesn't happen in real life" so they gave it 1 out of 10 rating, probably less if they can.

지금 헤어지는 중입니다 or Now, We Are Breaking Up is not about romantic relationships, it is about life and relationships. A story about husbands and wives, a story about a dying mother and young innocent daughter, a story about parents and their children, a story about a father and a mother who only wants the best for their children, it is a story about life itself. Of happiness, of pain, of misunderstandings, and of making it up.

It is a story about you and me, and the relationships we have built throughout our lives. A story about the process of "breaking up" with the people we love -- be it because we fell out-of-love or because one was tired and had to sleep and take their well-deserved rest.

A story how we are all "Now, We Are Breaking Up".

Leia Mais

Be healthy and happy; show that you care and your love while you still can

It was a simple, nice, and feel-good ending. It's a good way to end this show after all the killings and the violence and the kidnapping and the pain. It is a journey about life, the things we may regret, and how to move on and heal ourselves and others.

There is also a very good message they left the audience: life is short to worry too much about the future, live your life by being healthy and happy, and say the things that matter to the people you love today, now, while you still can.

Definitely a show worth re-watching when we feel down or need a reminder.

Leia Mais

Pulls the audience right into the story

"Awaken" was a well-made mystery and suspense Korean drama. It follows the story of "Do Jung Woo" (played by Nam Goong Min) and "Gong Hye Won" (played by Kim Seol Hyun) as they try to solve a series of murders tipped by an unknown personality through codes.

The story was carefully laid-out as in each episode there were numerous twists and turns to keep the audience on edge and continually guessing. This also pulled in the audience into joining into solving the ever evolving mysteries.

I also praise the actors and actresses for their superb acting. They did not come to the show as "another character to act", it was evident that they assumed the identity of their characters and lived the way they would if they were real. From being police officers to being ordinary individuals with lives and worries, they successfully invited the audience to a suspension of disbelief the entire sixteen (16) episodes.

The soundtrack was good and were placed in key scenes which created an even greater impact. Finally, the production and directing were top-notch. They did not shy away from picking the right locations, the attires, and the tools needed to present the world of "Awaken".

An overall 9.5 out of 10 stars from me. I highly recommend this show.

Leia Mais

Friendships and reconcialiation

It wasn't an easy watch. It's dark. The “friends” “connection” is also disturbing in a way that you do not know who your friends are and thus who you can actually trust. As human beings, connections are important, and the deeper it is, the harder it becomes to see them break one-by-one. The betrayal can become too much.

However, they did well in the finale episode. They beautifully weaved that “friends” “connection” back to the light where it should be. They showed that friendships are real, and it breaks when money and greed gets the best of us. But, if we can get over it, a friendship that was broken can be restored and it's deeper than it originally was because of what you all have to go through.

Building long-lasting relationships really is complex and complicated. The only way to truly permanently glue that friendship and relationship is when it breaks and you fight. This is where most relationships, even between partners/spouses fail, how can you all get back up?

Yet, as this show demonstrated what it actually is in real life, once you get back up and reconcile your differences, that is when true friendship, true relationship, a true family-ness, begins, and it can never be broken again (well… maybe if one chose to break it there's nothing that can be done about it).

A good example are the soldiers who've faced wars. They are so tight-knit, you can never break them. The reason is the same, they went through the most grueling things a human being can ever face… death, killing, justice, mental/psychological/philosophical challenges, and many more. They understand each other in ways most people will never understand. It “connects” them.

Morals of the story:
1. Choose wisely who you surround yourself with; most especially who you call “friends”.
2. When everything comes crashing down with your relationships, aim to reconcile. It will truly “connect” you in ways no one can imagine (unless they went through something similar).

Leia Mais

Reborn Rich explained

The title “Reborn Rich” was not about Yoon Hyun Woo being re-born as Jin Do Joon. It was about Jin Do Joon being reborn as Yoon Hyun Woo and becoming rich!

1. Yoon Hyun Woo did not die, he was in a coma for 1 week. He can not be reborn at all.

2. When Jin Do Joon died in the 2nd car crash, Jin Do Joon was reborn as Yoon Hyun Woo. Who later became rich.

3. The “Timeline 2” did not exist. As Yoon Hyun Woo said so himself that it was not time travel, nor possession. It was a repentance for both Jin Do Joon and Yoon Hyun Woo.

Everything else happened, other than the small changes (he was just recalling a previous life he should not be able to recall at all, that's why there were small changes), exactly the way it did.

“Reborn Rich” also meant being a new person, rich with values.

“Reborn Rich” also meant being reborn as a new person after his brush with death, and coming out of the coma (was “reborn”).

Re: Repentance
1. As Yoon Hyun Woo, this is his repentance because he chose money over reporting the murder.

2. As Jin Do Joon, it is his repentance because he did do things he shouldn't, he actually became his grandfather in the end.

When Jin Do Joon was reborn as Yoon Hyun Woo, it was his chance to repent as Jin Do Joon (previous life) and as Yoon Hyun Woo (present life).

In the end, Yoon Hyun Woo became part of Miracle, the company he founded in his previous life as Jin Do Joon.

That was one heck of a story twist. Totally unexpected.

Leia Mais

The Greatest Science Fiction Romance in the last 40 years

"더 킹: 영원의 군주" or "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020) was the best science fiction and romance of the 2010 decade. I would say that this show has gained the number one (#1) spot in my list of "Top 10 Overall Best Sci-fi TV Show" pushing down "Fringe" (2008) which held that rank for 12 years.

I. Story
The writer, Kim Eun Sook of the "Lovers in Paris" (2004); "Descendants of the Sun" (2016); "Goblin" (2016); and "Mr. Sunshine" (2018) fame, once again showed us her amazing talent in creating stories that truly captures the imagination and heart of the audience.

In "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020), Kim Eun Sook has woven beautifully the "parallel world" trope into her memorable romance plots. She did not leave it simply as a literary device then forgotten, she placed it in the center of the series, and the drama and romance unfolded through it.

Each episode was more or less one hour and ten minutes, and no episode was boring, no episode was dragging, no episode was a repeat of previous ones. In every episode there is a fresh plot, a new story to tell which added to the development of the characters, the relationships between them, and the tension and clashes when worlds and ambitions collide.

II. Acting/Cast
What an amazing cast--Lee Min Ho, Kim Go Eun, Woo Do Hwan, Kim Kyung Nam, Jung Eun CHae, Lee Jung Jin, Kim Yong Ji, Kang Hong Suk--they picked the right people for the roles. Their unique acting styles made their characters fully alive and their interaction with each other natural.

The show was not only about "Yi Gon" (Lee Min Ho) and "Jeong Tae Eul" (Kim Go Eun), everyone were key persons in creating the world of the "Kingdom of Corea". They all brought their best and created a masterpiece.

III. Production
While there were a few noticeable errors, the editing and sequence of the scenes covered it all. I especially like how they did not present the stories, in each episode, in a linear fashion; instead they kept scenes for the next episodes and did flashbacks at the right time.

The mixing of historical with the modern in the fictional "Kingdom of Corea" were seamless. There were no out-of-place moments. Where there are modern things, the room was designed to fit these modern gadgets. Where there should be a historical look and feel, the room either did not have any modern materials or the few blended with the environment. Not an easy task to achieve.

It was not only the interior designers but it was also the directors and cameramen who did great shots in creating a seamless mix of historical and the modern environments.

IV. Conclusion
I highly recommend "더 킹: 영원의 군주" or "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020) especially if one is a fan of "parallel world" type of science fiction. Think of this show as "Fringe" (2008) but with touchy romance and intense family rivalry.

Overall score of 9.5 out of 10 stars.

Leia Mais

Space Sweepers is lightyears better from recent Western space scifi shows

"Space Sweepers" is South Korea's first-ever space science fiction show. For their first venture into space, they did not disappoint and made sure audiences were awed by the show's deep story and unforgettable space adventure.

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I. Story
The story started out as a typical Western space scifi. Humanity encountered a life threatening situation and the only way out was up, out there in outer space. Slowly and perfectly the Korean signature in storytelling and plots surfaced up and it started to get very interesting.

There was a grand or overarching story guiding Space Sweepers but they instead zoomed-in and told the story from a human perspective. This approach allowed them to tackle the questions from the vantage point of ordinary humans, attaching the audiences to the characters in ways not possible from a "bigger picture" method. A story about a crew of "Space Sweepers" but at the same time it was not about them.

It is rare to see this type of story and storytelling in live-action movies considering the limited time available and yet they were able to flesh out the characters, presented a family relationship plots, questioned human moralities and ethics, and explored the notion about "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".

II. Acting/Cast
The casting was excellent. Song Joong Ki, playing as "Tae Ho", and Kim Tae Ri, playing as "Captain Jang", are two popular and veteran Korean actors. They were joined in by Jin Seon Kyu as "Tiger Park", Yoo Hae Jin as the Robot, and the child actress Park Ye Rin as "Dorothy". Five actors who complimented each others' acting style enabled them to bring the story closer to the audience.

Kim Tae Ri is best known from her 2016 movie "The Handmaiden" and the Netflix TV series "Mr. Sunshine" in 2018. Despite the huge jump from historical romance genre to a space scifi action and adventure, Kim Tae Ri has proven once again her talent in acting. She showed her character's strength and fierceness and yet behind it all she was caring and loving.

Song Joong Ki is well known from his major role in the hugely popular 2016 TV series "Descendants of the Sun". He masterfully played his character, a man who lost his daughter in a tragedy and ended up as a sweeper of space debris to make his living. Throughout the movie, he showed perfectly the thoughts and goals of his character despite of what was in front of him. His emotions and expressions were in check, thus completing the aura of his character while at the same time letting the audience feel his sadness and difficult choices.

Special mention is the child actress Park Ye Rin. She is technically a newbie in the industry, having only appeared as a guest in a 2020 TV series. Having thrown in a blockbuster film this early would have a huge challenge for her and yet she amazingly showed that she was born an actress. She played as "Dorothy", one of the key characters in this film. This being a space scifi, which means they had a lot of filming in front of green screens, Park Ye Rin was not distracted and was able to deliver her dialogues and interacted with her co-stars naturally. Oh, did I not say that she's only 7 years old?

III. Production
They did not shy away from giving this a budget. The superb visual effects, cgi, and editing, definitely placed this movie equal in rank with Western shows like "Star Trek" and "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" to name two.

It was also a brilliant idea to bring in actors from different nationalities and to use their native languages. This is rarely done and is simply explained as some magic or technology like a "universal translator". But that's not where it ends … even though they have a "universal translator", they did not resorted to "English" or "Korean" as a "universal language". They showed all directors in the world how to properly portray different languages even if there is a "universal translator" available.

That deserves a huge mention especially for a show which concerns multiple nationalities, languages, and cultures--the planet Earth. The flow of the story was not broken even though the characters were speaking different languages. Everything was flowing smoothly, this is how it actually will be like if "universal translators" become a reality. Well done!

IV. Conclusion
While this is a space science fiction film, the story was about you and me, being a human, and the relationships we build in each of our adventures. This is what "Space Sweepers" was about. It is about you and me. Our humanity. Our frailties. The challenges we face every single day and how to ultimately triumph (or not).

Can you guess how many languages were spoken and nationalities represented in "Space Sweepers"?

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Originally posted on my blog: https://youronly.one/yuki/review-space-sweepers-2021-202137/ under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 International License.

Leia Mais

Not recommended

I'm speaking here as an autistic person, my score is 7 out of 10.

Also note:
* I've heard a lot of good things about this.
* This was released 10 years ago.

Those said and considered:
1. The show is not about the autistic person, or autism for that matter. Autism was only used as a literary device to create a drama, like most other shows (be it Asian or Western) where there is an autistic character.

2. There was an excessive emphasis on "dumb", "stupid", and "idiot". Instead of it making people emphatize, it makes an audience hateful.

3. None of them actually showed that they finally understood autism and autistic people. To the very end, it was all about "do this" and "do that" so people will accept you and respect you. Sure, this is a common problem with society, however, should they have ended it that way? People will unconsciously think that's the proper way. It is not acceptance, it is forcing an autistic person to be "neurotypical".

And yet, 박시온 (Park Shi On) said in the last episode that it hurts him more when he's trying to remove his difference. But the people around him still acted the same way to end. There's a disconnect there.

4. The female lead is a prime example of a lover who doesn't understand a single thing about autism and autistic persons. She never showed any sign that she's doing her best to understand him, nope, instead she's doing her best to make him a "normal" person.

Yes, that's how it is in the real world. I've been in such a relationship. However, why leave it that way? She want to do things her way to the end. She will eventually get tired and quit. They will have a lot of fights. 시온 (Shi On) will just keep doing the same thing, keep quiet, say it is okay, say he is not mad, because he is always the one doing the "understanding".

What they did was to only validate that this relationship is doomed to fail instead of showing how a relationship with an autistic person can be if done properly.

5. The entire show, it was 박시온 who did the understanding and adjustments. Basically, the show taught us that autistic people should mask, mask, mask, and mask more. That no one will accept you unless you "get over" your autism (or in other words, mask your autism).

Conclusion:
* While it did show the discrimination, stereotype, and prejudices against autistic people.
* While it did capture the traits and quirks of an autistic person well.
* I cannot recommend this show at all because it does more damage than in helping the autistic cause.

If I watched this when it was released in 2013, yes, I would say the same thing and rate it similarly. I'm sorry.

Just watch 이상한 변호사 우영우 (Extraordinary Attorney Woo).

Leia Mais

No wealth in the universe can ever equal a single human life

The planning is amazing. They timed episode 11 and 12 to coincide with Mother's Day and wrote a two-part episode about a mother and her son. Not only that, if I remember correctly, this was the first two-part episode story in the series.

While the series is about death, suicide, pain, and learning ways to comfort people (and possibly prolong their lives), they do not forget to write stories about the living and how hard yet still beautiful life is.

In a way, they are using death to make a statement about life and why we should continue living despite the bad things that we encountered and will encounter. If we look at each story, it is actually inspiring. As most say, "healing".

This is the kind of shows I love to watch. Not only because it is rare these days but more because it is not about entertaining the audience rather it is about piercing our souls, to make us think, to analyse, to learn to put ourselves in other people's shoes, to look at things from different perspectives, and experience it without literally going through it.

Maybe, and hopefully, it shapes us, the audience, in becoming better people and learn value every single life, even those who hurt us. No wealth in the universe can ever equal to a single human life.

Leia Mais