This review may contain spoilers
Good series about coming of age. There's still growth that needs to happen in adulthood.
Don't let negative reviews fool you. This series is a coming of age story for young adults ages 19-22. The pacing is just right. You don't need to show everything about the character's life to know why they act the way they do. Akari is just a shy, quiet, and anxious person. Izumi is honest with others but not himself. Yamato is dishonest with himself and others and causes a rift between him, Akari, and Izumi. The ending leaves me satisfied. Not high on my rewatch list, but still a good story.The reason I call this a 'coming of age' is because these are adults that need to get over what happened in their past. If they are stuck in their regret about decisions they made in high school, they're not moving forward. I believe it causes a person to be stuck at the age they hold onto the regret from. While they make different decisions as they get older, holding onto their past choices just makes them regress back into the mindset they had back then. Thus, their inner mind's growth isn't in tune with their age today.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good drama if you like Dylan Wang.
I will say, the action scenes in this show are not done as well as the Taiwanese adaptation. I like Shan Cai's character development throughout this series, though. The Korean and Japanese dramas don't show too much character development with their main heroine.The music was better than all three KN, JP, and TW adaptations. With one of the popular American produced song, "Say Something'. It's a decent drama. Just the editing is a bit cheesy, but quite a few Chinese dramas have noticeable special effects. Panning to the same shots more than 4-5 times is a little bit... meh? Still, good show to watch. Dylan Wang is an amazing actor and a great choice to have him play as the male lead. I've seen his other works, I have to say, this one is a favorite of mine.
(Watched on: NETFLIX US)
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
All good things come to end too soon...
I started watching this series because the synopsis was interesting. You always see romance happen in the work place. However, most dramas don't really dive too deep into what the company actually... does? I like that the main focus in on Kiku's personality as she is an accountant for a toy and children's entertainment company. Miura Haruma's character was annoying at first (to me); however, seeing Kiku slowly open herself up to him, little by little, was refreshing. As Kiku started to feel more warm towards him, I started to get that feeling, too. Plus, Miura's range in this series goes from childish/silly, to empathetic/home-y. I'm really sorry to hear about his passing. I think, out of respect for him, I'm going to dive a little bit into his art and music. I'm sure he's someone I would've liked had I discovered him when I was younger.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Great Drama - Recommending It to History Lovers
This drama is fantastic if you're into historical romances. It isn't 100% accurate to the true story, but how can we blame them? The influence takes place around 925 when Prince So was born up until, I believe, 970-980. Not talking about Hae Soo. Although, making that poor girl relive some crucial moments in history where she would experience so much pain is cruel. Her main goal changes from avoiding the murderous king to wanting to change him.I do HIGHLY recommend watching this series with your brain turned on. All of the character's outcomes and stories are very tragic. But no matter how high their hair goes, don't fall for these types of men in real life. Hae Soo is an example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time in both life times. So, keep an open mind, and do not project for the sake of your own sanity, they will not be the same as these fictional characters.
I will say, when you get to episode 15 or 16, the writing gets a little carried away and reels more into filler. Those have to have been my least favorite episodes out of the two.
The score they set up for the heavy emotional scenes is very well-done. Really good music does set a nice tone for a drama, don't you think?
Was this review helpful to you?
Amazing POV of being in a male group in the entertainment industry.
Most people (who I know) that are into Korean POP bands don't dabble in Japanese POP bands or artists. They mostly listen to anime OSTs' and call it a day. More power to you; however, this series does explore what it is like to be in a male group, riding to the top in the entertainment industry. While the show seems romantic, and it can be. That isn't it's main focus. I appreciate the message the director, writers, and producers set out to make with this series.Being in that industry is tough on anyone and I'm sure in Korea, BTS; Stray Kids; BIG BANG; and GOT7, things aren't too far off from being the same. The physical, mental, and emotional tolls these idols have to go through... While also showing sportsmanship in a way when supporting each other, hyping each other up. It's just, chef's kiss.
This series is actually REALLY good and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND watching it. I watched this on Netflix, but you could probably find it online on Dramacool or KissAsian.
Was this review helpful to you?
Better Than Meteor Garden, Up There With 花より男子.
This adaptation of 花より男子 is more enjoyable to watch because it has more fighting than it's predecessors. The fighting scenes actually look more realistic and less melodramatic than Meteor Garden and 花より男子.The music (OST) was not really my favorite. Not sure why, it just never struck the right cord for me. Making the score of some scenes a little off in my opinion. I do, though, love the acting. The cast swept the board compared to the other adaptations. Which follows into the production which was very well-done.
(Watched: DRAMACOOL)
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Not as good as the source material.
The acting is alright. It isn't the shining star to this series. I tried watching it because I liked the manga. But they tried making the live action too 'cute'. Anyway, it isn't my cup of tea, I'm not invested in it. I'm dropping the series after episode 2.The manga is better than the live action. I would even take an anime adaptation over this. It's a cute idea, but the whole point of this series was the wholesome mixed with smut. There's a lot of wholesome, but no smut, really. I'd say the actress has to put more of herself out there in some scenes, wearing only her underwear. It makes me think she was only viewed as eye candy, personally, I felt hella uncomfortable. Maybe it was because of her personality? She's very clumsy and wants to run away from everyone because of her insecurities. She doesn't know how to keep her cool. Compared to other J-dramas that highlight those qualities of the female/male lead, I feel as if her movements in this live action are too animated. They shouldn't have make this series, that's just my opinion. It would have been better seen as an animation, not live action.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Sounded interesting?
I read the title and synopsis to this drama. Kept my hopes up because the tea smelled good. Going down, though, it tasted like nothing. The first episode was bland. I would like to 'try' to watch the rest of it someday. It's just not on my high priority list. Sooo--I'm dropping it, might watch the rest later, who knows? The acting isn't bad, and the music is fine. The idea of husband and wife cheating on each other throughout the series because they're unhappy. That's something we've seen before and is used often in American and British shows. But we eat up the trope because there's a lot of fighting. In this, you don't really see it. They're leading up to the cheating in such a slow pace that you could skip 80% of the series and have zero problems.Was this review helpful to you?