Completed
Moving
0 people found this review helpful
by SamSam
19 minutes ago
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Too Much Going On...

Moving has a unique and refreshing storyline but there was something missing. It felt like it was trying to do and be so many things that ultimately, it felt underdeveloped. Firstly, there were too many flashbacks. It would’ve been great if the flashbacks ended with the parents, but no, they had to add background stories and flashbacks of MULTIPLE side characters. I get that these flashbacks are supposed to make me understand the characters better, but it left me feeling annoyed instead because it took away the focus from the original storyline (what even was the original plot anyway?) Secondly, the characters still felt underdeveloped even though it was a 20-episode drama; I wished they explored the kids’ characters more because they were the most intriguing to me. The only character that felt developed was Jang Ju-Won, but aside from him, Hee-soo, and Kang-hoon, the characters were either morally white and black or uninteresting. Moreover, there were so many plot points and they were pretty much left unresolved. Like, I’m so confused. Is there going to be a season 2?

Aside from these issues, it was an engaging watch. The action scenes went beyond my expectations; I was truly at the edge of my seat watching Jang Ju Won fight goons. The VFX/CGI were also really good, especially with the flying scenes. The romance was also a refreshing touch; the chemistry was amazing and they each had a different romance plot which was engaging to watch. There were also a few characters who stood out to me: Hee-soo and her dad, Kang-hoon and his dad. Their relationship as a family was heart-warming to watch, and I even cried at a couple of scenes. I wish I got to see more of them. The acting was good, but I would not say it’s stellar or Daesang-worthy. Some scenes tugged at my heartstrings, but nothing was so notable that it made me pause, rewind, and rewatch. It probably also has to do with there being so many characters and the overall underdevelopment of the main characters; there was just not that much scope for phenomenal acting, I think. Overall, Moving was a good, one-time watch.

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Ongoing 8/8
A Killer Paradox
1 people found this review helpful
26 minutes ago
8 of 8 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Same issue with so many dramas, first episodes are great then it plummets in plot quality

I'm getting so annoyed with high-budget shows like this that just end up being too typical after the first three episodes. I was seriously hooked in the first couple of episodes, I felt like I was watching a thriller with new plot elements, and then it fell into a typical vigilante sort of story, which isn't bad per se. but when it repeats the same cliches (good people killing for justified reasons) I'd rather there be more depth somewhere else, and I found that it lacked a certain character depth to establish that. I did love the main character, and they built him up well, but everyone else around him felt so insufferable and flat, they weren't as well-rounded. Most of the background info, of the main antagonist (the cop) arises in the last episodes. They should have established the motives sooner. I also wished they played more into the bromance between our main character and Roh Bin, instead of killing him off and having him betray him, I wanted them to be more like brother who relied on each other when they had no one left to turn to, but of course the writing falls short in that relationship too.

To be honest I lost interest after the main villain appears, the previous 'hero' who turned rouge. After that point, it became a boring chase and lost its lustre. I'm getting so frustrated with kdramas becoming a disappointment after the first few episodes. They have phenomenal acting, cinematography, and music, only to ALWAYS fall short in writing. It's so annoying, they have the opportunity to make a well-rounded plot, yet choose to go the easier and safer route by not delving into more nuanced plots. It's always so predictable.

I do want to mention the cut scenes though, whoever the editor did an amazing job, they were so beautiful to watch. I wish I could find a drama that actually keeps up the initial pace they set in the first episodes.

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Completed
Marry My Husband
0 people found this review helpful
by MOON
27 minutes ago
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10

Un reparto maravilloso

Una historia entretenida y adictiva, aunque tenga varios elementos antes vistos en los kdramas.
El reparto es completamente impresionante, Inwoo es verdaderamente espectacular y ha callado bocas con su grandiosa actuación, teniendo de compañera a una de las mejores actrices de la industria coreana como lo es Min young que ha regresado más fuerte que nunca y brindándonos una actuación maravillosa, al igual que la pareja de antagonistas que ha mostrado una versatilidad increíble al introducirse en personajes muy difíciles de trabajar.
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Completed
Nee Sensei, Shiranai no?
0 people found this review helpful
42 minutes ago
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 1.0
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

waste of time

it is all fluff. No actual storyline, like literally nothing happens. The story is shortened so much so that there is no plot, no character development, no background information. literally just nothing. There are so many cuts & clips that it basically was on repeat for the episodes I did watch. he’s cutting hair, she’s writing, she’s unsure of herself, he reassures her, he gives her “inspiration”. Kisses, ignoring, working, waiting. “cute, cool, cute, cool”. It felt repetitive. no rewatch value
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Ongoing 1/10
A Secretly Love
0 people found this review helpful
1 hour ago
1 of 10 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.5

The cliché of engineering students in BL series: from 'Sotus' to 'Secretly Love'

University environment? A university in Bangkok? Faculty of Engineering? Hazing boss? A secret love between two boys? A boy in love with a sundere, that is, a person whose initial behavior is cold and reserved, but who gradually transforms into someone warm, sensitive and friendly? One of them who from hostile and unfriendly after a while becomes an individual whose behavior is recognized with a word derived from the terms tsun tsun (ツンツン?), which means to turn away in disgust, and dere dere (デレデレ?) What does it mean to become affectionate? Is one of them from a year older than the other? One called Khonprot, a name very similar to Kongphob? All this in a Thai BL?
This is how I reflected while reading the synopsis of 'A Secretly Love', produced by Maximon Entertainment. At that moment, I only managed to open my eyes as I suppose a fawn does when standing in the middle of a wooded road when, from the darkness of the night, it sees a car coming at it at full speed with its lights on. Then, other recurring questions would arise: By some chance one of the boys gives the other a "gear", that small toothed wheel, symbol of the Faculty of Engineering? Are you sure it's not SOTUS?
With this idea I immersed myself in the first episode of the series that tells the romance between Khonprot (Favorite Person), a role assumed by Kut-Thanawat Sukfuengfueng (Chains of Heart), a third-year hazing leader at the Faculty of Engineering, and Pluem (Hero), played by actor Kimmon-Warodom Khemmontha ('Gen Y' The Series', '2Moons').
Khonprot has witnessed Pluem's affairs with various girlfriends for years. From afar, he has developed feelings for the fourth-year sundere of his same college. When Soi (Bam-Kankanit Mangmee), his latest girlfriend, publicly breaks up with Pluem, Khonprot believes the time has come to declare his secret love for her. “How to win him over if I don't dare tell him that I would like to be his “khon prot”? Although the possibility is small, it is possible that one day I will become your 'favorite person,'” is the idea that fills Khonprot with courage and enthusiasm.
Since I started watching BL dramas, several years ago, I have found that if you ask any fan of the genre what the biggest cliché is in this type of productions, they will undoubtedly answer that placing the plot in the Faculty of Engineering and its protagonists are future engineers. It turns out that including characters within this faculty in the plot has been something increasingly common with each series broadcast and for many years.
I don't consider it bad to repeat the same cliché over and over again, especially if it is developed well. But this requirement is rarely met, which undermines the success of the drama.
Shouldn't the premise of considering university engineering students in the stories generate in the public the expression of "another one"? and with this statement provoke a shower of negative criticism of the series, especially taking into account that its objective is to entertain the public and gain followers in any country in the world, often becoming the favorite of many.
The main problem with these series is not the use of the much-questioned cliché ad nauseum, but the fact that it is not even made good use of.
To begin with, for some reason, perhaps without any logic to support it, it has been thought that students in Engineering faculties coexist in a sexist environment or environment, exalting masculinity and even homophobic. “They are tough guys who move large and heavy pieces with their strength, while working with a face that cannot fit another particle of oil, grease and petroleum,” is a cliché within a cliché.
The same BL series have taken on the task of suggesting and even pointing out that while engineers, much more “manly” than their fellow students from other faculties, such as Medicine, Computer Science or Media, are “adequate ” to achieve better results in soccer, swimming or basketball, climbing mountains or achieving success in other much more “masculine” facets of life, the latter are only indicated, and I repeat, only, to win awards in inter-faculty beauty festivals, being the Sun and the Moon of their respective faculties and the University, the only ones who can win singing, painting and theater contests, or being members of school music, plastic arts and acting clubs, labeling them, incidentally, as “less men.”
Therefore, the interest in representing engineering students in romances with other boys of the same sex is striking and, above all, if they all dream of training as engineers.
We can see in this type of series within the genre (other BL dramas also reproduce this cliché) a certain homophobia and misogyny. For example, when the protagonist, an engineering student who has believed he is heterosexual his entire life, only when he meets and gets close to another boy of the same sex does he manage to feel happy and fulfilled. It is also very common to find characters who justify their “new” sexual orientation based on their dislike of women after having been deceived by them, or when they break up with him and, in pain, seek comfort in the arms of another boy.
On the other hand, since practically the very birth of Thai BL dramas, when the cliché of showing Engineering students as protagonists was incorporated, they have been shown from different perspectives, with various personalities or diverse objectives. And although they manage to obtain results by often adding other resources (read other clichés), the well-worn cliché falls to such a secondary level that it fails to justify its use.
This shows that, whether it is an adaptation of a previous literary work or an unpublished creation, choosing the Faculty of Engineering to locate characters and plots is simply an easy and even unoriginal solution.
All of the above would change if the premise were better supported within the script. It can get tiring, due to oversaturation, that creators want us to believe over and over again, that engineers, so “masculine”, can also love other boys, especially when in most cases they represent to these not so masculine.
'A Secretly Love' shows that it is not necessary to place the protagonists like a student in the Faculty of Engineering. In the series, as in other previous ones, this fact has no relevance within the plot. Apart from using the faculty as a setting for various scenes, the interest in demonstrating a supposed superiority of some students over others depending on the faculty in which they study, or the much-used gear as a symbol that represents the official acceptance of the student at the faculty, or the representation of the actors proudly wearing the blue shirt that becomes another symbol of future Thai engineers, do not seem to have greater importance than the role they play in the story.
The series repeats the same mistake of its predecessors determined to place the story and the characters in an Engineering faculty, by attempting to show the great importance that this career has, when this circumstance collides with the little value that it truly represents in the plot line.
As is the case in other Thai BL productions, such as 'My Engineer' (Tencent-WeTV-2020), 'En of Love' (Line TV-2020), '2moons' (GMM One, Mello Thailand- 2017), 'Love by Chance', or the most recent 'Future The Series' ('The Handsome Engineer Asks the Doctor to be His Wife'), from Channel 9, from 2023, among many others, 'A Secretly Love' confirms that it would not suffer any alteration in its plot if the protagonists were placed in any other faculty other than Engineering.
At the opposite extreme, stands SOTUS: The Series and SOTUS S: The Series (2016-2017), by director Pongpisit Sri, based on a BL novel by BitterSweet, a pioneering work par excellence within this type of series of this Thai genre. .
Sotus is the perfect demonstration of the evolution and development of the plot, subplots and characters, both main and secondary, in an environment of students from the Faculty of Engineering. The entire cast manages to cope and develop within this reality in such a deep and emotional way, as has never been seen before or since in a BL, by achieving a good balance between romance and the everyday life of engineering students.
Meritorious would go to Odd Ramet Ruangpratum, the director of the television adaptation of Avery Pie's novel of the same name, and whom we have admired directing the film 'The Perfect Couple' (2021), and the dramas 'Mae Nak Phra Khanong' (2021) and 'Love Through Time' (2022), if it managed, without repeating Sotus, to show us in a more profound and convincing way than its predecessors within these BL-themed series, a romance between engineering students, renewing formulas and ignoring clichés.
I only hope that Khonprot, the noble boy who keeps his word and has leadership qualities, the one who tries to act strong all the time, although inside he is a very sensitive person, and Pluem, the young athlete who speaks little, but hits strong and likes to be pretentious, but deep down he is a sensitive person with a fragile heart, easy to love and difficult to forget, manage to live up to Arthit and Kongphob, the two heroes of Sotus, by convincingly showing us situations like the hazing, the upper-year student-lower year hierarchy relationship, the effort involved in obtaining the long-awaited gear, or achieving the degree of engineer, while their romantic relationship matures, grows and becomes as strong as metal with the which the small toothed wheel, symbol of the Faculty of Engineering, is made.

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Completed
Amidst a Snowstorm of Love
0 people found this review helpful
by Kiwi
2 hours ago
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

Such a sweeeeeettt heart touching romance drama!!!!

I've never really written a proper review on any of the dramas I've watched but this one's special. I loved this drama so much, like the plot, the vibe of the drama, the acting of the leads, the chemistry, everything was so perfectly done! I loved how the main couple's (tbh the side actors as well) acting was so natural and just flawless, no cringy stuff at all. It sometimes felt as if I was a third wheel while watching their sweet scenes lmao. Nevertheless, I'm definitely recommending this drama to everyone who might come across this review. Especially to those who love "all-sweet" romance, no cringe, no misunderstandings, no love triangles, no meanies to break the leads apart, supportive friends/family type of dramas- this one's for y'all. :)

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Ongoing 9/16
Abyss
0 people found this review helpful
2 hours ago
9 of 16 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 7.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Sadly a little bit desapointed

Someone probably already Said it but this show had so Much potential , Im not saying its bad but somehow it gets a little bit messy and boring i might be wrong since i didn't finish the drama yet and i hope thats the case.
With the amount of Stars maybe i got my expetations way to high .
A lot of people wont like it, and Will be really confuse like i was in the first few episodes but it can end up being funny and entertaining.
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Completed
The Romance of Tiger and Rose
1 people found this review helpful
2 hours ago
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 3.0
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Music 2.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Not sure what it was

I'm not sure why this show has such high ratings. The story had no direction and the characters were unlikable. FL was spineless, whiny, had no motivation, and made incomprehensible choices over and over. ML just keept following her and trusting her after she repeatedly disappointed him and broke his heart, cuz reasons.

The first half was funny and even interesting. By episode 15, it became a directionless mess. Nobody communicated anything. Characters didn't stand up for themselves or their convictions. Qianqian just ran around doing random crap without any clear motivation. She loved him, but then she tried to set him up with someone else. And then, everyone was suddenly in love with her. Pei Heng showed up 20 times to "save" without her actually needing to be saved, and repeatedly got his ass kicked by Han Shuo. Chuchu became a villain for no reason and started doing absolutely obnoxious schit. It's ok for shows to be funny with no complicated plot. Not everything has to be deep. But, this was just painful. Thank god it only had 24 episodes.

I did like the ending. It was very sweet, reminded me of Fushigi Yugi.

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Completed
Catch Up My Prince
0 people found this review helpful
2 hours ago
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 9.0

Sweet and entertaining.

It was a light story, but the plot was deep enough to keep it entertaining. The side characters were well done, and I felt for them during their own struggles. Yes, a few scenes are quite heartbreaking. She could have wound up with any of the princes and it still would have been a cute story- each of them had their own charms. I like the nicknames she had for them.
There was a little too much “Well, you tried to kill me and I won’t tolerate that again but, of course, I forgive you this time”. I’m always annoyed by that.
Overall, it’s a fun story that would be good for a rewatch on a rainy day.

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Completed
Marry My Husband
0 people found this review helpful
2 hours ago
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

..

No Lie , It's Perfect. I Like the Storyline , Don't Worry I'm not Giving You Spoilers.After a Long Time I watched a good Drama. Just Waiting For Other Good Kdramas. Charecter's Development in this drama is Unbelievable. If You Are Ready to Watch it , I Suggest You To Put Snacks On Your Table And Watch It With Full Excitement. Can Anyone Suggest Me Other Dramas With Good Storyline Because I'm Too Excited For it . At The End , I'm Sure You Still Doesn't Watch This Drama.Bro/Sis What Are You Doing, Just Take Your Phone And Start It.
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Completed
It's Okay to Not Be Okay
0 people found this review helpful
2 hours ago
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

Ig it really is ok not to be ok

Not gonna lie It took me a lot of time to start watching This k-drama i found the Animations on the Start a little weird , but the more i watched it the more i liked it, it feels different and a lot of people wont like it but for the ones who want to try it i suggest since it became my fav k-drama till now.
I'm astounded with the cinematography, writing, and acting and If u spend a little bit u might start liking the little Animations it has.
For those who want to try i strongly advise you , the story is amazing and cute, but be careful when u Start watching you might not be able to stop

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Completed
Awaken
0 people found this review helpful
2 hours ago
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

Good but lacks some elements that would have made it great

8/10 is my rating. This is a 2020;2021 mystery, action thriller with 16, 70 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

28 years ago an odd series of murders happened in a village that were labeled the “white night” incident. They never fully unravelled why people were committing murder in a gleeful melee. It is happening again and Do Jung-woo (Namkoong Min) who leads a special task force of homicide detectives, is determined to unravel the mysterious events unfolding currently and determine how they tie to the past occurrences. Jung woo is brilliant but unconventional and yet has the admiration of those around him for his ability to discern the nearly indiscernible. At times he knows things that FBI profiler, Jamie Leighton (Lee Chung ah) grows to suspect could only be known by the killer. Jamie was born in South Korea but adopted into an American family and only recently returned to South Korea. She is hired to help the special team in investigating and profiling these unusual cases. Not all is as it seems and as the two very different detectives work together they remember a shared connection they had as children.

Review

This is a good addition to this trope and if you are looking for something that focuses more on crime, mystery and action than romance this is it. It is fast paced and kept me interested the whole way through. I would recommend this to someone that likes crime shows with a supernatural component. It ends well and happy.

Spoilers

The start of the series is very complex with a lot happening so that if you can’t focus completely on it you are likely to miss things. It would lose me sometimes just because I am not one that likes to have to focus that intently for such a long period. For some that complexity would be part of the charm.

The former FBI team member from the United States was not entirely credible. She spoke English well but with such a heavy accent it was hard to believe she spent such a significant amount of time in the United States. It may not have been as big of deal but they emphasized her “Americanness” enough that it highlighted t and not in a good way. I think the script would have been fine if they made it so she went to the US but didn’t make it like she was essentially American.

I was a little irritated that Jamie, and other team members, would not let go of their suspicion that Jung Woo was the culprit when virtually every fact pointed away from him. They were like “yeah he wasn’t there but he probably did it remotely.” Based on what? How did they come to believe so strongly that the lucid dreaming could be influenced remotely?

I get that South Korean ‘s are very filial but totally looking away from a parent that commits the murder of hundreds of innocents? I don’t think even a child that lived in a culture where respect of elders is key could forgive and accept that. And they kept saying/implying if you show remorse then things can just be forgiven. No they can’t. Having seen over 300 Asian series at this point I have seen several where the parent has done something so egregious the children write them off. If committing mass murder isn’t one of them I don’t know what is.

They set a bomb or series of bombs to go off at the secret research facility with a timer set for five minutes. Why? They knew their people and others were in there and should have suspected something could go wrong where they couldn’t get out in that timeframe. There was no program kill switch? These people were brilliant and yet they can’t figure out how to abort the bomb detonation? I found that to be not bey believable as the super geniuses from the program should have been smart enough to undo that trigger and/or to foresee that things could go wrong.

So the super genius level scientists can’t figure out that there is no plan to use their work for the betterment of humanity but rather for a few very elite people? If they had just portrayed that they were really super evil and didn’t care at all that would have been one thing but they made it out like they really thought their work would do good. So they tried to make them more sympathetic characters than I felt they deserved.

It did end well and mostly happy but I really wanted to see the young woman detective and our main guy get together. It was so obvious they had feelings for each other but they danced around that possibility with the plot. And, at the end, she sees him and goes chasing after but he is gone. Like smoke. So it is obvious it is being left open for another season. I don’t like that. Make another season or don’t. Holding your viewers hostage or making them decide how things went after, I don’t like that. I don’t think it was enough to say don’t watch it, but I definitely find the more nebulous endings annoying. I don’t want to tel the story myself, I want you to tell it to me screen writers.

#Awaken

#LeeChungAh

#NoomkoongMin

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Completed
Wisher
0 people found this review helpful
by Arclei
2 hours ago
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

Extremely Promising Setup, Dwindling Progression, Lackluster Conclusion.

TLDR; An interesting sci-fi premise with amazing production value, promising characters, and interesting themes, but ultimately lacking in the direction it was taken and its use of the original setup and characters.

Whump meter: ▲◭△△△ (Light on the whump)

【spoiler-free】

LIKES:
► Stellar cinematography.
► Unique, realistic settings and locations.
► Mostly good performances from the actors, with some even being very good.
► Flawed characters.
► Promising premise and themes.
► Interesting final villain’s arc.
► Seemingly intentionally written as mediocre.

DISLIKES:
► Weak villains with little development and goals.
► Underused characters.
► Drama where not necessary, and no drama where necessary.
► Too few female roles, and those relevant are only relevant to the MLs.
► Fade to black in a LOT of important scenes.
► A lot of things were brought up but went nowhere or added nothing while important things weren’t elaborate on.
► Uncertain subgenre, thus ultimately juggling conflicting narrative approach and progression.
► Low stakes


【!some SPOILERS below!】

CHARS:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎You have a group of university students trying to save the world from a dangerous app after losing someone close to them. The usual characters are there: the troubled idealistic leader (SML), the kind one (FL), the hothead friend (TML), the preppy girl, the sensitive girl, and the bully. They take up most of the screen time for the first couple of episodes, as the typical students in a mystery-thriller would, while the ML, mostly just messes around on the side. But then everyone but SML and FL take a tremendous backseat. No longer is it about an unconventional group of youths trying to save the world but rather about a troubled young man’s descent into madness after being stood up once (he was giving sigma male (basically an introverted alpha male) the whole time, tbh). And once this happens, ML starts getting significantly more screen time and importance.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎The problem? ML isn’t a good protagonist. Not only does he fight his chosen oneness throughout the ENTIRE drama, but he has no skillset, is consistently the dumbest person in the entire cast, doesn’t care about anything other than his mother and sister. Not only that, he has no fighting, investigation, or other ability of any kind. In every sense, he’s useless. One protagonist makes sense (SML), the other does not (ML). But there are four lead roles. The other two being FL (who’s supposedly the second lead) and TML. ‎FL, is merely a catalyst for both MLs stories. To ML, her brother, she’s the only reason he does absolutely anything. To SML, she was the last drop in his cup before it tipped over, sending him spiraling. For both men, she was, in some way or another, the cause. But as herself? She does little to nothing. Extremely disappointing leading female role. As for TML, he did consistently NOTHING for the entire drama. He had a side arc that added nothing, had a very relevant skillset that was only used thrice and other than that, was only a supporting role to the already supporting role that was FL.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Other side characters include people who are only ever serving ML for no good reason or characters that do all the relevant stuff off-screen. ML has a lawyer friend who constantly helps him, an assistant-like character (who was my favourite) who does EVERYTHING for him but all off-screen. Then there’s SML’s father, who does most things off-screen too, but when he’s there, he’s rather solid (though nothing revolutionary). His story, however, ends somewhat inconclusive and underwhelming.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎As for the antagonists, we know little to nothing about them throughout the entire drama. Not only the organisation itself but also the leader of it. She seemed promising in the beginning, but quickly went from mysterious and scary to outright pathetic. the final villain was fine in theory but terrible in execution. He is a plot-twist villain, which was well done—albeit a bit rushed—but him actually being the final badguy in the way he was set up was laughable at best and irritating at worst.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Then there’s the character relationships and dynamics, which, like everything else, were lacking. They started out good with the group of youngsters; there was clear conflict between them, and it had the promise of being interesting with how the story progressed, but then they dropped the ball, leaving us only with SML and FL, who were fine together; they did seem to have chemistry and bounced off each other well—but nothing really relevant with the direction they took the story. FL is supposedly besties with TML, but it feels very one-sided (with him giving the most). There’s ML and his lawyer friend as well as SML’s father; he has good scenes with both. Then there’s one of the main dynamics, which is between FL and ML, but they only ever scratched the surface of it. Their scenes together are surprisingly few. And finally, the most important dynamic between SML and his long-lost father… EXTREMELY underwhelming. Their relationship goes nowhere before it abruptly ends and then causes no further issues.

ACTING:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Acting was alright for the most part. Everyone did a good enough job, some better than others, but none of the main cast really stood out to me as particularly good. Those that did were Hu Wei (who slayed as usual), Wang Zhen, who absolutely nailed the bubbly cutie, and Fu Mei, who made my skin crawl (in the good way). Fan Chengcheng (SML) had a difficult role with a lot of depth and intrigue but didn’t have the best execution. I do think the mediocre character was in great part the writing, but I also think his performance was a bit lacking. I’d complain more, but I honestly don’t think it was an issue of the actors but rather direction/writing.

STORY:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎The story is setup as a youth thriller, balancing a good deal of relationship drama with an overarching thriller plot. It’s the kind of story that depends tremendously on its characters to make things interesting, but unfortunately, it simply does not do that. What starts out as a promising setup turns into a mediocre saving-the-world chosen one style plot with one of the most weirdly written protagonists I’ve ever seen. About halfway through, the focus shifts entirely from the original setup and becomes a classic buddy-cop situation, only without the buddy and without the cop; it’s just two middle-aged men doing something (one significantly more than the other).

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎The original premise itself also becomes irrelevant after the first couple of episodes. Sure, characters still use the Wisher app, but the application itself doesn’t really cause the same amount of issues as it did early on in the later parts of the story. It’s merely a thing that exists in the background rather than the main point of the whole drama. It’s like the original premise was somewhat forgotten in the convoluted plot that came later.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎A lot of things are brought up but not elaborated on; various important things happen off-screen (darn that fade-to-black nonsense), and we’re only ever told these things after the fact. The drama, however, is not clever enough to give subtle hints without explicitly needing to state them which overall makes for quite a confusing and ultimately frustrating watch. Just when you think you got something, it’s revealed to be something else, and you’re constantly left to draw conclusions with the mere breadcrumbs thrown at you. Viewers are only ever allowed to see about 40-50% of the story.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎The origin of the Society of Wishers is such an example. The original creator is revealed at a certain point and briefly explains what went down, but it’s so vague that it’s immediately forgettable, which consistently makes his character feel out of place. Then the organisation itself is uncertain in background, goal, leadership, position, and values, which makes them quite a pathetic antagonistic force. We see very little of them, so one can only draw conclusions, which are then immediately shot down in the next batch of scraps thrown at you.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎The ending was rushed, but honestly fine. Not particularly satisfying or conclusive, but it was passable. Then there were the bonus epilogue scenes, which hint at a second season… and, uh, I’m confused.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎And finally, the drama has this issue where it cannot kill off characters, so the stakes are extremely low. This is quite bad for a * thriller* of all things, and was especially disappointing after the buildup every death got… * sigh*

PRODUCTION:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Absolute perfection. Everything from the CGI to the cinematography, locations, and even outfits were top-notch. The futuristic city looks quite legit for being mostly, or in great part, CGI. The shots are absolutely stunning. Filming locations are largely real, as well as varied and unusual, catered to the type of show rather than maximizing aesthetics. That’s not to say that aesthetics aren’t important; sets and locations are beautiful, mixing highly futuristic elements with very vintage stuff, all wrapped up in a whole lot of greenery. Character styling was also very good. I especially loved FL, SML, and Bo’s outfits!

MUSIC:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Good. Felt very fitting for the genre, scene, and moment. Nothing particularly stands out in the good or bad sense, just good futuristic thriller vibes.



◇ Was it what I was expecting? In a way, yes.
◆ Did it live up to its potential? No
◇ Would I watch it again? Unlikely
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Yeah

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Completed
Different Princess
0 people found this review helpful
2 hours ago
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

minha opinião

Eu não acredito que o primeiro príncipe ficou vivo vivendo a vida dele longe do castelo sendo que irmã dele morreu e ele foi o único que ficou feliz
Agora eu entendo a primeira versão da história como eu queria que ele morresse junto com a mãe e deixava a irmã viva

Mas eu amei fiquei apaixonada no casal principal eles tem muita Química ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

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Completed
An Ancient Love Song
0 people found this review helpful
by boink
3 hours ago
14 of 14 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

Your ending my beginning

This had me on chokehold, the first time they met is actually the last time they’ll meet. This hits way harder than any of the bigger dramas I’ve watched, this is a carefully and wonderfully crafted love story that gave us hints everywhere, the cinematography was beautiful and expressed every scene so well, the actors portrayed their characters so amazingly I screamed in my pillow. I’m still not over this drama I was rethinking everything when the drama ended it felt like I’ve been pierced through my heart. There was never a happy ending for them to begin with but I still had my hopes up. I can’t believe this was only 14 episodes, 14 episodes was enough for them to make this beautiful drama.

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