Reviews

A melhor temporada do drama!

Quem não gostou da 2T de Alquimia das Almas é pq não entendeu a história.
Como sabem, Jang Uk e a Naksu são os protagonistas. Entendam: na 1T apenas o corpo era de Mu-Deok, mas quem ele amava era a Naksu, a alma dela.

Na T2 temos os desvendamentos dos mistérios e tudo se encaixando perfeitamente: como visto no decorrer da T1, existia uma sacerdotisa muito poderosa que fundou JINYOWON, chamada de Jin Seol-Ran, ela era a amada do poderoso mago Seo Gyeong (que também nasceu sob a Estrela do Rei e junto com ela salvou o mundo do caos há 200 anos). Seo Gyeong p/ salvar Jin Seol-Ran deu-lhe a pedra de gelo. No entanto ela morreu, porém Jin Seol-Ran tinha poderes divinos e previa o futuro, ela viu q o mundo seria destruído no futuro pelo pássaro de fogo. Por isso, não conseguiu partir. Assim, sua alma ficou presa na pedra de gelo (ela sabia q essa pedra seria usada mais tarde). E foi, pois Jin Ho-gyeong usa a pedra de gelo p/salvar sua primogênita q estava morta na barriga, Jin Bu-yeon. Então, a alma de Jin Seol-Ran, q estava na pedra de gelo, entrou no corpo da bebê e renasceu como Jin Bu-yeon.
Logo, Jin Seol-Ran é a mesma Jin Bu-yeon, q quando criança cai no lago ao encontrar a pegar a pedra de gelo e é levada pela água. Após isso, ela, sem memórias, foi criada por uma senhora q deu-lhe o nome de Mu-deok. Resumindo: Jin Seol-Ran q renasceu como Jin Bu-yeon passa a ser chamada de Mu-deok. Mas as 3 são a mesma pessoa.

E quando a Naksu, está ferida e precisa trocar de corpo. A sacerdotisa Jin Seol-Ran (agora Jin Bu-yeon/Mu-deok) q já havia previsto esse momento, entra no meio da Alquimia, e a alma de Naksu acaba no corpo dela, mas as 2 almas coexistiam no mesmo corpo. (A de Naksu e a de Ji Seol-Ran/Jin Bu-yeon/ Mu-deok). A sacerdotisa manipulou os acontecimentos.
Isso era preciso para q Naksu no corpo de Jin Bu-yeon/Mu-deok treinasse Jang Uk e transformasse-o no mago poderoso q ele precisaria ser, pois o mesmo (que nasceu sob a Estrela do Rei, salvaria o mundo no futuro, com a ajuda da sacerdotisa Ji Seol-Ran, renascida como Jin Bu-yeon). Logo, cumprida a missão de Naksu, a sacerdotisa precisaria voltar e fazer sua parte na história, na T2.

A troca de atriz foi necessária: o corpo da Jin Seol-Ran/Jin Bu-yeon/ Mu-deok foi petrificado depois q a mesma enlouqueceu e matou Jang Uk, tragédia arquitetada por Jin Mu. Para salvar o corpo, Mestre Lee usa a energia de Naksu, e à medida q o corpo ia se restaurando, esse foi ficando com a aparência real da alma de Naksu. Essa foi a desculpa usada no roteiro, p/ trazer de volta a atriz que fez a verdadeira Naksu (a q está no início do episódio 1 da T1). A história sempre falou sobre Naksu, Mu-deok era o corpo no qual a alma dela estava, após fazer a Alquimia.

Se pensarmos bem, se a atriz q fez Mu-deok voltasse, todos iriam reconhecê-la e persegui-la, pois a mesma causou a tragédia de 3 anos atrás. Ela seria sempre tratada como uma alma invasora e tentariam matá-la. Além disso, se ela voltasse na T2, não haveria nenhum mistério acerca da personagem Jin Bu-yeon, e Jang Uk não se apaixonaria pela mesma alma 2x, mesmo sem saber.

Tudo foi calculado no roteiro. Essa foi também uma forma de proteger tanto a sacerdotisa quanto a Naksu. Visto que o corpo real de Naksu é queimado na T1, então, todos sabiam q a Naksu jamais poderia voltar em seu corpo original. Então, esse fato de ainda ser o corpo da Jin Bu-yeon/ Mu-deok com a aparência real da alma de Naksu foi genial.

Vale lembrar q na T2 as duas almas ainda coexistem no corpo (as almas de Naksu e de Ji Seol-Ran/Jin Bu-yeon/ Mu-deok). E quando a sacerdotisa cumpriu sua missão de salvar o mundo junto com Jang Uk, ela deixou a alma de Naksu permanecer no corpo e desapareceu. Ela diz: "para a Luz que salvou o mundo, eu devolvo agora a sua Sombra. Uma Luz que abraça uma Sombra jamais se perderá na escuridão."

Logo, a troca de atriz foi incrível e não afetou o amor dos dois. Pelo contrário, além da alma de Naksu estar lá, esse corpo restaurado tem a sua aparência original. Assim, ele pôde finalmente conhecer o verdadeiro rosto de seu grande amor. Isso mostra como o amor é o encontro de duas almas, uma vez que ele a amou 2x, essa apresentando fisionomias diferentes. Logo, faz todo sentido, pois a essência do drama é falar sobre ALMAS. ❤️

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The vacation is about to end

This drama was a surprisingly beautiful journey.
I must admit I have a lot of interest in Woo Do Hwan... However, I am seeing an totally different person in here. We like an actor who tries different roles !
The male lead is reckless, selfish, immature and with separation anxiety/abandonment issues which can turn him into quite the assbutt. (trying to be polite)
I think that what I appreciated the most was the fact he is far from being perfect and they are not trying to make him perfect in our eyes. They are trying to make us empathize and the last scene forces us to finally see things from his point of view.

Anyway, in my opinion it is a must watch if you like road trips and crying.

PS : California dreamin' had a special place in my heart before, now i'm not even sure i have a heart.

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Live Each Day to Its Fullest, Don't Take Anything or Anyone For Granted & Be Mindful of UFOs

What a beautiful, multilayered journey with very complicated characters! I was watching this for LYN and I can say despite what I think is an OE/SE for his character and those that lovedhim, it is his best acting to date. Obviously the reunion with ZLS after TLB was something special to see, but this drama was about the realism of life, business and revenge more than romance. It reminded one to live life to the fullest, not to take anything for granted, & always be mindful of UFOs.

Pros: Favorite character for me was LYN as YZJ; each drama of his that comes out is such an improvement over the last and I'm so proud of just how much he gave to this character. Starting out living only for revenge as a morally grey merchant of the west. You really didn't know what his motives were at beginning other than he had a deep grudge against a ruthless bandit leader named LK, his gang of thugs, and two families the Cui's and Zheng's. He was super intelligent, filthy rich, and his plans always included contingencies. It was only when he met DW played exceptionally well by ZLS who herself was struggling just to live a moment at a time as a slave pearl diver (btw though it looked beautiful underwater, free diving is hard as hell and without proper equipment it's even more difficult, so serious props to ZLS for doing all of those scenes herself. Though for safety reasons, they should have hired a professional certified free diver) in some beyond deplorable conditions and her bargaining her life over a pearl just to get herself free and sneaking herself and a little boy named "shrimp" onto YZJ's boat that the seemingly ruthless merchant, started teaching her everything he knew about the pearl and jewelry business as a whole. He didn't just take her in slave and whatnot, but because the woman she thought was always torturing her in the cave was actually her mother (YZJ’s mom’s maid and best friend since childhood) and she taught her accounting and was particularly strict with her because she wanted her to live and her something priceless in her possession that with her dying breath she gave to DW; a blood-pearl that became an essential piece of this entire story. Turned out that the pearl made YZJ recognize DW as the daughter of his family's chief jade carver and who was slaughtered along with his own family when he was a boy as he watched them murdered by the bandits sent by the Cui and Zheng families and three (Xu, LK, & PY) other sinister and powerful figures behind them so they could take the entire jewelry business in different places over as well build the mastermind's power. Meanwhile, YZJ was imprisoned, tortured, and poisoned for 8 years until he escaped with another young boy KJ who later became his best friend and most trusted aid/guard.

I won't go into the entire story because then what would be the point of watching? But that's the essential original connection between YZJ and DW. SML or ZJR traveled undercover and had initially fallen for DW but because of their totally different worlds, he had no chance with her and instead opted to become the best friend and fellow investigator alongside the other two later on. What struck me was that ZJR, Xu, and PY had the same Shifu and were brother disciples but only ZJR was upright and just while the other two were corrupt and murderous. The three of them (YZJ, DW, ZJR) made for a great team. YZJ was the one who relentlessly taught DW how to stop being easily trusting and naive and how to be ruthless when need be. He also taught her the basics of martial arts and how to use a short sword. He saw her passion, will to live and taught her how to stand on her own two feet and rely only on herself which became essential in many situations. In the meantime, she taught him to open his heart and learn to love. She wasn't afraid to call him out on his bullshit and that was new to him. She was warm and caring and stood up for anyone that was being bullied but unlike him who hid that deep within himself, she wore it on her sleeve towards the people she cared for like ZJR, shrimp, Loud, accountant Wei, Yunxia, and the others she met both on the convoy and off of it (like Lady Wu who was her sister for life, though after their stop in Guangzhou, other then through letters, they never saw each other again). Because of that, he started to open up more to her and care/be protective of her. He recognized that they were kindred spirits in a sense.

Their love developed gradually; there were several occasions that she saved him and that's when he told her about being poisoned and that it was almost impossible to cure even more so when the only witch doctor that could cure it was killed by LK when she was also kidnapped but everything was put to the ultimate test during the ambush of the convoy when just about everyone was murdered as those bandits infiltrated the convoy so you couldn't tell who was good and who wasn't. All of it was done by someone YZJ considered to be a brother but all he wanted was the blood pearl. DW went through her lowest period because she lost everyone (with shrimp dying in her arms) and thought YZJ had tried to kill her when in reality he had shot the poisoned arrow that was aimed at her out of the way but his arrow did hit her which all things considered wasn't bad. She also didn't know that it was KJ that arranged for her to be saved by the migrating tribes.

Them reuniting in Yangzhou, the last place they would be together for this series and just how many emotions went into that. The betrayal she felt, the pain at knowing the truth but going the noble idiocy arc route that he decided to shoulder everything himself. Everything was so raw and beautiful; whether you laughed or cried. It was in Yangzhou where YZJ brought the last of the original male Cui family down with his own work. Bringing down the Zheng family proved to be more difficult and dangerous as more evil figures started to pop up as well as the original instigators of the first and second massacre; and this is where YZJ, DW, ZJR (who the entire time was conducting his own investigation with the occasional secret help of both YZJ and the emperor) plus their guards and employees came together.

CSJ started as a morally grey snob who because though she didn't have it easy, her life wasn't impossible compared to what DW went through, so I didn't pity her and wished she had less screen time though they were determined to show her for a while like that before she finally started going through really hard life threatening things that towards the end made her realize just how misguided and wrong her behavior her entire life had been and she finally came together with DW on several occasions especially towards the end to bring down Zheng big bad himself.

The emotions displayed by our leads especially during their best or absolutely worst times really made this storyline whole. The real antagonist here was YCWY aka LK (played very well by his actor); an absolutely rotten to the core human being ruthless beyond measure; even though Prince Ying (PY) was the mastermind; he was just a loud mouse in comparison. And the absolute heartbreak of the ML when in episode 39 he found out the truth, was hard to describe. Though most of us had guessed around the time the ambush happened at the sanctuary as how would bandits perfectly disguise themselves as convoy guards just as YZJ was to set out to meet ZJR and together they'd eradicate the bandits. YC knew of this plan as the master of the sanctuary; he killed the witch doctor, kidnapped DW, then set up the ambush just to get the blood pearl. And many people in the comments didn't understand how someone as smart as YZJ couldn't put two and two together. But when you go back and think about it, he was shot himself by at least three arrows, also sliced with a blade and that pesky poison, the man was barely alive. After which he was scared for DW and when he made it to Yangzhou he had to get back to work with what to do next. He couldn't just put all of that aside and think. So when that reveal happened, he was dumbstruck. He considered this man his brother because YC had done everything in his power to gain his trust and support him including financially but this was the same monster that imprisoned, tortured, and poisoned him for 8 years. I do wish they had lingered longer on his emotions upon reveal; because of just how raw they were. For once he realized how devastating this revelation was both for himself and DW. But he was just a kid when they met again and LK had reinvented himself as YCWY a sanctuary owner for merchants "hiding from the bandits." Which was brilliant for the antagonist.

Ok let's talk about that ending as it goes both in the pros and cons for me. YZJ and especially DW had exhausted all avenues in search for an antidote, his body was breaking down day by day, we saw it. LYN played a man dying of a slow acting poison brilliantly. YZJ had decided to leave and KJ had made all of the preparations for his passing and for all of his money to go to DW. That last scene he was officially in as DW was begging him not to go was heart wrenching; you could tell in his eyes that he was fighting with himself about that decision because he couldn't bear to leave her. After that scene we saw a shooting star (LYN's UFO came to get YZJ) and then next scene DW (who's wearing YZJ's ring and is visibly upset as she talks about not sharing moments with people who couldn't be with them) wins the competition and is appointed Guild head but turns it down and gives it to CSJ who's more appropriate for the position. DW then spends the next 40 years traveling the desert as a merchant as she wanted though we never see her face.

My thoughts on it is that he did leave after giving her the ring which was something he never took off even when he was held captive in the first arc and she rescued him; so it had very special meaning to him and by giving it to the most important person in his life was his way of letting her know that they belonged to each other. But the competition was only 2 or 3 days after we saw him last so he couldn't have passed away so quickly. I think after the competition, she left and met up with him and they spent some time together before he indeed passed away and KJ joined her in the traveling caravan. So to me it's an OE/SE. If he had died immediately, KJ wouldn't have left at all so that wouldn't have made sense as YZJ was his whole life and DW was I guess his sister in law so he would spend the remainder of his days guarding her no matter what. But in this situation, I have no problem with the ending at all.

Everything else was beautiful; costumes (though could've done without the Rapunzel braid for DW), sets, CGI on point, and great fight scenes.

Cons: After that larger than life pros section, this section is small because my biggest issues were with editing and writing ie production. The second arc had the most problems as it seemed scenes were cut into something and you would get a whiplash. I really wish the noble idiocy arc didn't last for 10 episodes though their paths crossed all the time and almost right away he was secretly helping her. KJ should have stepped up sooner as he was the best wingman ever. But there were many inconsistencies like where did YZJ and KJ find such a luxurious horse and carriage in the middle of the desert after the ambush that had them hiding in caves and with traveling caravans? There was never any recording of time passing especially when you had multiple people walking around a grand desert alone all Willy-Nilly like they were in their own backyard; that legitimately looked absurd. Then the absolutely ridiculous part of first a kidnapped Yunxia, then DW, and then maybe 5 minutes after the first two escaped, ZJR coming to the same inn in the middle of nowhere woods. And he's back hot on their trail to find them yet in an actual town, they miss each other by literal steps. Suspense of disbelief deployed.

Towards the end when they were running the glass business there were times when you weren't sure whether you were looking at a flashback or real time because of the way the shots kept jumping back and forth. I was very confused. The ending, I wish they rounded all of the important people out better not just left them hanging and had actually shown YZJ leaving and how much time passed between that and the competition where everyone was pretty much just left there. Even DW who supposedly traveled on a merchant caravan for 40 years wasn't shown but just a bunch of people covered in black garb on horses and camels with goods looking like Ringwraiths in the desert with an older woman's voiceover being the old DW. This way, that same UFO returned and picked up DW too! It was a bit sloppy. It should have been much tighter and satisfying, even if did become an SE. I'm fine with those, just tighten up the writing and editing.

Would I recommend it? Regardless of some sloppy and loose writing here and there, I absolutely would. This was a realistic live every moment to it's fullest and don't take life or those you love for granted story and it was rich, layered, lush, complex, and absolutely beautiful. Don't pass it by just because it has an OE/SE. It deserves the praise.

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Love Story

This is a beautiful Love Story between Gu Yi and Lian Dai Wen (LDW) who fall in love when they meet at Ounce. LDW suffers from a medical condition alexithymia "emotional blindness" the inability to laugh and they call him the "Robot". This story tells the suffering of losing your mom at young age and how it affected LDW. With the help of Gu Yi, she teaches him how to develop and express his emotions. There are many different scenes that are funny, action-oriented, and emotional. The family scenes were so intense and Gu Yi's crying scenes were unreal the Best I've ever scene. There is a lot of cliffhangers and surprising events that keep you wanting to watch more episodes. The love story is pure and it has a happy ending. We definitely need a sequel, Smile Code 2. The cinematography and music were amazing. This drama should be picked up by Netflix for international audiences they will love it. This is the Best Acting for Shen Yue in a modern drama, she deserves an award for playing Gu Yi. The rating on this drama is a 10 out of 10.

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A Good Drama, But Not a Great One

I will be overtly critical of the drama, however, I don't mean to diminish it's value as good. It has it's flaws, but I still managed to complete it, while relatively enjoying it. Of course, that may just be my love for Ding Yu Xi speaking.

Now, I believe Love You Seven Times' biggest flaw is the start.

The first life is charming, as many seem to agree. It is short, and sweet, while establishing the lead dynamics. Of course, from there, it is a downhill trek.

The second life feels draggy, and only really gets interesting around episode 10. Not to mention, the female lead was just silly, and dare I say, a little annoying. Why is XY so worried about being killed by CK if she knows he agreed to the love tribulation? Not even agreed, but urged for it. Not to mention, it was his character pursuing her. Of course, it's a key arc in the development of both leads, so it's not as if I don't understand the necessity of such a long introductory tribulation, or even misunderstandings and conflict. I don't believe that erases it's faults, however.

The third life, however, was my personal favourite. Of course, watching CK deepen his feelings for XY was great... But the real charm was the chemistry flowering between Qian Ren, Qian Mou, and CK. I found myself wishing we could've seen more of their banter in later episodes.

The rest of the lives, I had no particular comment on.

Now, story aside, the characters often fell a little flat.

It felt as though, a lot of the characters weren't fleshed out at all. Zu Hui and Jin Luo's development was abrupt, and frankly felt a little forced. Jin Lian and Zu Hui's just fell short of something great, and fizzled out into nothing. The three, are great characters, but with how much the story had to focus on, it sacrificed a lot of potential. Hao Xuan, as the main antagonist, felt a little cookie cutter. His aims, and ambitions more than bland. Of course, the inferiority complex could've been great, but it was never really fleshed out beyond, "my brother was born with everything, while I was not". Overall, Immortal Li, and Red Thread Master were one of the few characters I think stuck with me. Xiu Ming didn't really stick out to me in any way.

In conclusion, the story has its flaws, but it had great potential to be something great. Though, in my opinion, it did not achieve that, it's still something good.

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Not interesting

I liked the concept of face swapping. But the way that showed was too unrealistic. In a matter of four hours they easily swapped the face. Secondly the evil was concious and the good one was unconscious and even though she came into sense still she was in the state of dizziness. But the evil was so energetic. I thought it was fine not to use mind, just watch it for the entertainment.
I decided to watch it only because of first male lead but his story was not so interesting with respect to second leads
. I feel captivated more by their love story. But the way the story ended their story , spoil my mood to watch it further. But it was the fact of one more episode to go. So I bared to watch till end.
Personally recommend don't watch it. If you also ship second leads like me then it would waste of time .

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Eu esperava muito desse drama, pois Liu Yu Ning e Zhao Lu Si roubaram as cenas dos protagonistas em The long ballad, mas o roteiro não colaborou para as belas atuações dos atores. A edição parece um amontoado de cenas, algumas muito mal acabadas. Já assisti outros trabalhos do mesmo diretor e eram bons, mas nesse ele errou em cheio. As canções que compõem a trilha sonora são agradáveis, mas não foram bem utilizadas, gerando pouco ou nenhum impacto na emoção das cenas. Na cena em que são emboscados ao sair da fortaleza, desconfiei que Yu Chi Wu Yi era o traidor, portanto, nenhuma surpresa nos capítulos finais, o mesmo aconteceu aconteceu com o príncipe Ying, quando eles chegam em Yangzhou e ficam sabendo que Xu Nan Ying foi nomeado para um alto cargo pelo príncipe, tinha certeza que ele estava envolvido no massacre da família Yan, portanto, nenhuma surpresa quando isso é confirmado no final. A morte do protagonista masculino eram favas contadas e eu esperava uma cena emocionante, mas não houve, ao contrário, somente o anel dele no dedo dela dá a entender que ele morreu ou foi embora para morrer longe dela. O final pode ser comparado a água: incolor, insípido e inodoro.
Só consegui assistir aos 40 capítulos pelo mérito das excelentes atuações dos atores.

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Queen Woo: An Unexpected Masterpiece from Korea

First things first, I did not expect this level of brilliance coming from a Kdrama (no offense), but "Queen Woo" has completely exceeded my expectations. The series is amazing, with a perfect story and deeply thought-out characters. Each character has their own motivation for what they're doing, and they all have well-written backstories. Every decision made felt right, and every detail about the story was perfectly logical—something I truly appreciated.

The story showcases a strong queen, which is not what we typically expect from historical dramas. Usually, we see queens who stay in the palace and accept their fate like every other wife of the princes. However, "Queen Woo" shows that if we try our best, we can change our destiny. We shouldn’t stay within the borders someone else has set for us; maybe those borders are too small for us. Seeing such a strong woman was refreshing and exciting. Her presence alone kept me on the edge of my seat.

The king who passed away (played by Ji Chang-wook) was portrayed as a lovely man and a strong king, making him a logical choice for the crown. His character's background and motivations made perfect sense, highlighting why his father chose him. I enjoyed watching his performance immensely.

I must also mention how deeply I feel for the loss of Song Jae-rim, a strong actor who played the role of the first prince. His performance was moving and powerful. And last but not least, my favorite actor Lee Soo-hyuk—only God knows how much I adore his role here. His increased screen time and flawless acting skills brought the character to life perfectly.

The entire cast and crew were incredibly talented and skilled. I deeply appreciate the director, the makeup artists, and the special effects team—everything felt real and immersive. "Queen Woo" is a perfect masterpiece that deserves to stay on top and go viral. I hope to see more genres like this coming from Korea. They’re typically known for cheesy romances, but "Queen Woo" has shown me their true potential, and I am excited for what's to come.

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Maxnat é um grande ship, mas não é para todo mundo

Acredito que o BL recebeu críticas mais duras do que merecia, visto que não correspondeu a expectativas que nunca prometeu corresponder. A real é que Naughty Babe é melhor que Cutie Pie, mas nem todo mundo está pronto para essa conversa. Max e Nat possuem uma atuação incrível e uma evolução na série desde o primeiro episódio, alguns pontos poderiam melhorar, mas que dependia mais da história do que deles, pontos podiam ser mais abordados, melhor explorados, como o fato que Nat tem um diploma universitário sabe-se lá de que, visto que só sabemos da sua especialidade em arte marcial. Vi algumas pessoas reclamando que ele "tornou-se uma donzela quando foi atacado", primeiro que isso é um comentário extremamente misógino, segundo que você pode ser o melhor do mundo, mas contra 4 fica difícil, ainda mais considerando o porte e tamanho do Nat, no um a um se garantir é diferente com um grupo. Achei o plot do pai do aluno desnecessário, pois não acrescentou muito na trama, mas em particular ver a mudança do Hia Yi foi incrível, ele era muito frio e severo em Cutie Pie, ele foi realmente se tornando mais quente que uma churrasqueira como traduzimos para o BR, hahahaha, sendo amável e vendo que tava errado, inclusive, a trama toda é sobre como eles tem problemas e o Yi sabendo que está errado, mas talvez algumas pessoas não tenham entendido isso. Famílias com segredos e traumas são complexas, mas sinto que algumas coisas podiam só ter sido pesquisadas no google (a situação de desconfiarem de Yi estar traindo Diao) que isso resolveria bem mais fácil. Quem é novo no mundo dos BL não entende que eles possuem uma característica de ship clássico de Power Top e Power Baby, que logicamente na vida real seria muito ruim e questionável, mas no mundo dos BL é apenas um lugar clássico, quem não veio de uma cultura de yaoi acaba questionando coisas sem conhecer o meio que está inserido. Enfim, é um dos meus BLs de conforto, por isso vim fazer essa resenha em tom de defesa, pois vi algumas resenhas muito desrespeitosas com os atores e a produção como um todo e acho que: se esse tipo de ship não é para você, apenas veja outra coisa, não seja infeliz em suas palavras sobre pessoas reais. É possível criticar sem ofender.

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Entertaining Plot, Annoying Leads

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

I decided to watch this because people seemed to really like it and it stars Woo Do Hwan (우도환). I want to like him, but I haven’t liked him in anything I’ve seen him in so far. Maybe this drama will be the one that changes my mind.

Acting/Cast: Many familiar faces in this drama. That was nice. I can say Woo Do Hwan’s acting was better in this drama, but unfortunately his character wasn’t likeable. The female lead started off alright, but she became increasingly annoying over the course of the drama. The second male lead was a decent character though. 4.5/10

Writing: I’m just not into the red flag male leads at this age. I want more green flags and healthy relationships. The constant fighting between the leads, the constant psychological abuse (the female lead is an orphan and, knowing this, the male lead repeatedly abandons her)…it was just…not cute at all. And after all the torment the male lead puts her through, she is the one that needs to repeatedly prove her love for him. By the end of the drama, I was thoroughly irritated by the whole thing and I was completely okay with the idea of the male lead dying. I wasn’t buying their chemistry as a couple. I actually thought her chemistry with the second male lead was better, although I couldn’t support their relationship either. There are also questionable things in this drama that was difficult for me to even want to watch…relationships with large age gaps…even grooming?? The humor is also very cringey to me. Instead of laughing, I’d be saying ‘wtf??’ or ‘ew…’ (for instance, the second male lead had a habit of exposing himself in public as an act of protest, as well as having scenes that insinuated that he might whip it out randomly and sexually assault someone.) The male lead’s character didn’t feel realistic. He would be a broody asshole one moment and then suddenly be super goofy and happy the next. The female lead’s character also didn’t feel authentic. After all the psychological abuse she’s endured, there’s no way she would be that cheerful. The message of the drama was lame as hell. There’s two storylines happening and both are all about the importance of bloodlines. By the end, the two leads and the second lead and his mom (all with their own issues regarding their own bloodlines) finally realize that blood isn’t what makes people family or makes people happy. Well yeah, no shit...welcome to the 21st century. So, nothing revolutionary here at all. The basic plot of the drama is actually entertaining – a guy kidnaps his ex from her wedding to have her go on a quest with him to find his biological dad before he dies, while getting chased by gangs and falling in love again – but this bloodline obsession stuff is just weak. This drama was fun when it wasn’t taking itself too seriously. 1.5/10

Direction/SFX/Music: I didn’t have much complaints in this area. It’s definitely a well-produced drama, which is a big reason why it held my attention despite all the issues I had with the writing. The music is ok, but there's something that bothers me about it. They used an American song called California Dreamin'...maybe that's why? It doesn't fit? 6/10

Entertainment Value: The plot is pretty exciting, especially for the first half. The characters weren’t likeable enough for me to really care about them by the end of the drama though. Their toxic behavior becomes repetitive and annoying. The overall message was too basic to have any lasting impact on me. The toxic relationships left me feeling weird about the whole thing (especially the grooming…wtf?). 4.5/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 4/10. This was tough to rate. It was entertaining, well-produced, and well-acted. But there were so many things in the writing that just didn’t work for me personally and I felt like it was a waste. I can’t recommend this drama, especially to those who have been in abusive relationships (I feel this drama normalizes psychological abuse in relationships and even romanticizes it). However, it is a quick watch (only 10 episodes) and easy to binge.

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Passez votre chemin.

Pourquoi sortir un tel drama ? Pourquoi perdre son temps devant 12 épisodes insignifiants ? Je ne vais pas faire de longs paragraphes pour dire que j’ai trouvé mon visionnage à chier, je vais simplement énumérer les quelques points qui l’ont rendu horrible.

Le casting

Honnêtement, j’ai juste eu l’impression que le drama faisait la publicité des idoles de la K-pop. D’accord, ça reste dans la ligne éditoriale du drama, mais dosez.

Le scénario

Rien de très palpitant : des problèmes au travail et des histoires d’amour qui s’y mêlent. DODO.

Atmosphère générale

Je pensais que le drama datait d’avant 2013, mais pas du tout. Il est sorti la même année que d’autres dramas incroyables, donc je reste dans l’incompréhension.

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