Nam Joo Hyuk's debut thriller lacks substance and depth

For years, I have always watched Nam Joo Hyuk's shows because I find the plot interesting and Vigilante is no exception. Vigilante revolves around Kim Ji Yong living a dual life — studying as a police officer by the day and punishing remorseless criminals at night.

The story starts with a young Ji Yong who gets shocked by the court's decision to punish his mother's murderer with a short jail sentence. Years pass and the criminal continues attacking innocent people which prompted Ji Yong to take his revenge and ultimately kill him. Ji Yong realizes his mother's case is not an isolated case and that the justice system is being too lenient on criminals. He starts hunting for repeat offenders who easily get away with their crimes and taking the law into his own hands.

Nothing is groundbreaking here but Nam Joo Hyuk ruthlessly killing criminals and embodying Robin Hood was indeed a pleasant watch. His tall and brooding physique yet having a quiet demeanor makes him the perfect mysterious hero.

However, my main issue for this show is how they keep on adding new characters each episode, all of which are underdeveloped.

Cho Heon, the team leader of the regional investigation unit, is an intriguing character. It only took him a short amount of time to catch Ji Yong yet he lets him off the hook. He believes he can convince Ji Yong to be a competent police officer just like him.

My empathy for Cho Heon's motives goes down the drain when both him and Ji Yong didn't have any character growth. Ji Yong's intentions were also unclear to me since he forms alliances with anyone he likes without a rational thought. I also find Joo Hyuk's acting a bit lackluster since he only growls whenever he is confronting Cho Heon or the criminals.

The violent fights and torture were also unnecessary and exaggerated. It feels like the show tries to be a gritty and bloody noir wannabe.

Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the show but not as much as the second half. Everyone is aimlessly trying to bring down the criminals without a concrete plan. The characters also seem to be one-dimensional. I don't find myself watching the second season, if ever there will be one. Vigilante is an entertaining thriller that lets Joo Hyuk show he looks good as a young action hero but the underdeveloped characters and confusing narrative makes this show hard to recommend.

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'Yumi's Cells' review: Back for a second chance at love and dreams

Is love sweeter the second time around or more cruel?

Yumi's Cells Season 2 tells the story of Yumi and Babi's relationship from her brain cells' point of view. Will she get her happy ending this time or will another heartbreak be added to her list?

For starters, Yumi's Cells illuminates Yumi's conflicted emotional life with superb storytelling, animation and performances. This k-drama is very inventive and psychologically astute, witty, imaginative, and utterly relatable.

What sticked to me the most from Season 1 was the seamless transition between the animation and the reality. However, for this new season the show hardly shed light on Babi's cells. His thoughts and true intentions remained a mystery throughout the run time. Perhaps this was a plot device to keep the audience glued to their screens and constantly wonder if Babi is her endgame.

In contrast to Season 2, Woong's cell village had a fair share of screentime. Woong and Babi's personalities are in opposite spectrum after all. Woong is an introvert and is not expressive. Babi on the other hand is a straightfoward guy and always speaks his mind to avoid confusions and misunderstandings.

Woong ponders a lot before talking that's why the cell village can discuss what tactic to take on. He doesn't even have that much cells because almost everything acts according to an program That speaks volume to how intelligent Woong is.

However, Babi is very eloquent with words (he's actually a marketing specialist) but we don't get to see enough decision making going in on at his cell village. We don't even get to see his naughty cell. All that Yumi's love cell saw in his village is that he is very romantic and sincere. Babi was at a very disadvantageous point because no one really knows what's going on in his head.

The two seasons also highlighted different concepts. Season 1 pointed out that opposites attract while season 2 condemns this by telling that same people attract each other. Woong and Yumi do not share the same interests, hobbies and group of friends. Interestingly, Yumi and Babi had a lot in common. This is what essentially draws Yumi to Babi. They both like reading books and listening to the same type of music. It seems logical that they attract each other as they think similarly. The absence of AI in Babi's village cell attests to this.

Going back to Babi's character development, I still had tons of questions about it. When the story reached its dilemmas, Babi's change of heart suddenly doesn't make sense to me.

Babi is someone who speaks his mind and it is very unlikely of him to hide secrets and get swayed by a young intern. Those were my first thoughts. However, looking back at Babi's past actions and relationships, it seems like he's not the green flag guy we all thought he is. He's actually the opposite.

If one can remember, Babi actually developed his feelings for Yumi even while they were both in a relationship. Reason and sensitivity cells tried so hard to hide this fact from Yumi. The alarming red flag about Babi is that he gets wavered easily whenever his girlfriend is not around which is a very unfaithful thing to do. I really felt defeated and saddened by this realization because who on earth can resist Babi's charming and alluring presence? He's simply irresistable and attractive.

I can't help but notice the similarities between Babi and Yijin from Twenty Five Twenty One. Everyone keeps telling that Yijin is a green flag for being a supportive and understanding boyfriend to Heedo. The same thing can be applied to Babi.

Both guys are very considerate towards their partners. However, kindness is not the foundation of being a green flag. Both main leads failed to be consistent, honest and maintain an open communication. Babi and Yijin kept secrets from their partners — the former not telling Yumi how he got affected by an intern's confession as well as when he got in an accident; while the latter not telling his SO that he is going through a rough patch and he doesn't want to share his burden, pain and sorrows.

Still, one can't help but feel that the writers did dirty on Babi by the second half of the show. The sweet and romantic moments between Babi and Yumi were actually based on Yumi and Soonrok's scenes in the webtoon. The directors and writers purposefully led us to the thinking that Babi is a wonderful and dreamy partner. We, the audience, got fooled and disappointed at the end. I personally really felt that it was hard to let go someone like Babi.

As for the performance, Kim Go Eun and Jinyoung's chemistry was insane to say the least. They portray immense love for each on-screen and it's undeniable that they would make such a great couple in real life. Their soft face features compliment each other. I hope that they can work on a project soon with a HEA.

Overall, Yumi's Cells is a lovely kdrama which transforms emotional conflict into an adventure. There's a beauty and care in every scene of this k-drama. As we tag along Yumi's self-actualization journey, we learn about the pain of growing up, heartbreaks and handling big, new emotions as they come and go.

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Amplified by Kim Yerim's performance, Blue Birthday is not your mediocre web drama as it offers an intriguing and nostalgic high school drama with impressive directing and scoring.

I felt a rollercoaster of emotion throughout the series specifically from Episode 1 to 15. I was always on the edge of my seat every time an episode ends. I highly recommend this series for binge-watching.

However, the last episode was such a letdown. I kind of wished ML still died at the end and that FL only get to have stolen moments and new memories with ML. It was so absurd how they can time travel and change things on their own accord carelessly. I get that what they did is for everyone's sake and happy ending. It just felt like every turn and twist of the story boiled down to the leads' happy ending.

On the other hand, I didn't expect that Yeri was such a natural actress! The camera obviously loves her but I was amazed by her acting skills. And this series is absolutely a good start for her acting career. I can't wait for more!

Once again, this drama is a breath of fresh air in web dramas! Usually, web dramas are so cringy with lots of cheesy lines and cinematography that do not have that much creativity. Blue Birthday is hands down one of the best short series I have seen!

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For starters, I only got intrigued with this drama because of Lee Jong Suk (well, who can’t resist his dramas anyway). I thought the drama will revolve around their love in the midst of rebellion but I only got an affair where they always long for each other. The drama is too short to fully express their feelings for each other.

The actors didn’t lack emotion but I found myself commenting on how they were just merely acting and not being so immersed on their characters. However, after I did a rewatch I was really moved by Hye Sun and Jong Suk's compelling performance that I probably overlooked on my first watch.

Overall, I still like how the writer recreated the life of the soprano artist. Jong Suk is still one of the versatile actors I have watched and it hurts my heart how this is his second to the last drama before entering enlisting.

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I hate the fact that I got spoiled for this drama. While You Were Sleeping became immensely popular as Bae Suzy comes back on small screen and Lee Jong Suk once again (for the third time!!) partners up with the writer of this drama (I’m sorry but I’m not good at names 😔).

As always the writer incorporates fantasy into the contemporary world. This time, she put the dreams-becoming-real idea and it is somewhat intriguing for me and I think for most of us.

The first episode starts off with Hong Joo (Suzy) dreaming of hugging a stranger and later on she gets to know that the stranger is Jae Chan (Jong Suk) who is their new neighbor. Later on, Jae Chan dreamt of Hong Joo getting in a car crash which killled a man. Hong Joo then got into a coma and wakes up to find that her mom died because of an accident while working to pay the hospital bills for her. She then got accused of being the suspect as she was found behind the steering wheel when they got rescued. Jae Chan tries to stop this and told Hong Joo to not drive if it will snow. Still, Hong Joo drives with her boyfriend and almost hits a man but Jae Chan hits their car to prevent it. The man whose name is Woo Tak later on started having dreams and this is the story of how the trio met.

Until the end, I didn’t get enough answers on how Hong Joo’s dream started. The premonitions of the three characters get converge and intertwine. With those premonitions, they try to change the future and somehow everything became predictive. Their dreams became spoilers and I was left to watch how the three of them save the day.

What I love about the writer is that she always put family in the theme. The lines of the actors are always striking, relatable and sensible as they connect every part of the story.

The story is divided into many parts in such a way that they are all cases of Jae Chan. He tries to solve and prevent it with the help of his, Woo Tak and Hong Joo’s premonitions. It became exhausting at one point because the antagonists are so atrocious so I stopped watching midway because they stressed me out.

The only thing that was not predictive was the thing that I got spoiled 😭😭.

Generally, this drama is worth-watching as it perfectly combines romance, thriller and melodrama. However, I still prefer Jong Suk’s character in Pinocchio for some reason. Hae In really portrayed his character exceptionally and charmingly. I also thought Suzy really did well on her part.

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Gah. The plot is such a huge disappointment or maybe I misunderstood who the real protagonist is?

I got intrigued by this drama because it is based on a famous manhwa. A year before the drama got released, Nam Joo Hyuk was in talks of being Haebak so I got more excited. I tried reading the manhwa however there are like 20+ volumes with 30 chapters each and I cannot take it anymore so I dropped reading. I thought the writer and PD will adapt the plot from the manga but they decided to do a spin off in modern times. I crossed my fingers that the drama will still be fine without the sageuk genre.

The drama starts off pretty great but later on the story got dragged with the plot focusing in the human world.

I expected a clash between the deities but all I got is a series of contemplation of Habaek and So Ah whether to let themselves fall in love when they already know that their relationship will be short-lived. There are also lots of cute moments between the two protagonists that I got sick of it. Hu Ye joins them just to shake some things up.

I anticipated to discover the secrets each of the characters are hiding. But by the time the secrets were revealed, I just got more frustrated because it did not cause any major conflict to the story. The actors’ lines were also not that strong enough to give me the ‘feels’. I always felt that it’s lacking.

The only reason that I gave this drama a three-star review is because the final episode was shocking and astonishing. No one would have ever see that coming. I bet the writer submitted that idea and got told to just drag the story to make it a 16-episode drama. The ending also made me realize that the story is not really all about the the gods and goddesses, it is about So Ah – the bride of the water god. Everything made sense because of that finale.

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Ensemble cast with a disappointing and sappily charmed story

Despite Crash Landing on You's excessive use of k-drama tropes, the talented ensemble cast will still have you swooning and smiling from ear to ear.

CLOY tries to give a refreshing insight of North Korean culture but fails to give a unique spin on the romance. After finishing the first episode, I was able to discern how the story is extremely generic on the surface. The gunfights and gunshots got me rolling my eyes. Most of the conflicts are too corny and mawkish for my liking. The writer could have put new narrative ideas but she solely relied on the chemistry of Hyun Bin and Ye Jin to cover the clichés and predictability.

The real pleasure of watching this k-drama comes from experiencing the characters. They are relatable, funny and precious. The cast is charismatic enough to keep my eyes glued to the screen. Most of the time, I had my eyes on the second lead couple as they have the gentle appeal and quiet chemistry than the first leads.

To sum up, CLOY is strictly the usual k-drama romcom but with less substance than I expected. It is a joy to watch but it is equally disappointing and sappily charmed.

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Elevated by Shin Hye Sun's performance, Thirty But Seventeen delivers a perky story about destiny with an unexpected tug at the heartstrings.

Initially, I didn't quite enjoy the first few episodes. Between Seo Ri's childish acts and Woo Jin's hostile behavior, nothing seems to enrich the plot. That's when I realize that the characters are overwhelming the story on purpose. I shouldn't be focusing on what will happen next rather I should laugh along the silliness and the growing camarederie among the characters. In the end, the loose ends are wrapped up nicely and went beyond my expectations.

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WWWSK is an old school office romance with some touch of mystery to make it more thrilling. It has dull moments as it only revolves to the main characters fighting, then making up then making out .

Honestly, I didn't get my hopes up on the storyline but I actually enjoyed it. Seo Joon really fits his character and he is a natural. Furthermore, this drama made me realize how gorgeous and alluring Min Young is. Her skin and face is to die for, gosh. On the other hand, I was not that fond of the supporting characters that much as they are just also flirting. Overall, I like the drama but not that much as the story somewhat lack substance.

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I had high expectations for this drama as its writer is the same with W. W really blew my mind from the pacing, the characters and damn the plot twists on the first episodes because I didn't really expect any of that. However, Memories of Alhambra seems so lacking in many ways.

The first episode was a good start as it was really intriguing and magical. I absolutely love the AR theme, very timely and witty. It was really action-packed which is the thing that I always anticipate on every episode. But things got really repetitive and tedious when Hyung-seok keeps on showing up. I stopped watching it for awhile because the story did not pique my curiosity anymore. Episodes 4-7 were very trivial for me. The Memories of Alhambra (guitar piece) keeps on playing more than twice in an episode and it did get on my nerves at some point. The story picked up its pace again sometime later when we got back to Korea. I guess they just wanted the drama to reach 16 episodes so the scenes on Granada were very lengthy and unnecessary. I then read comments online that Hee Joo's character was also unnecessary and I began to realize that they were right. The story could really go on without her presence and help. The thing with this writer is that he writes in a fast paced manner so I did not get enough time to sympathize with the characters' feelings. Hyun Bin was great but his lines and scenes were really lacking. As for the music, it should have been more suspenseful as this drama is a thriller one. I anticipated it to have lots of sfx to really shock the viewers but it didn't. The guitar piece was overly used. It's where the drama got its title but it doesn't really have a major impact for me.

Let's jump to the finale episode which was a disappointment but I'm really glad it's open ended because if not, there would have tons of plot holes here and there. However, the ending was not satisfying at all. We mostly got scenes on the church with the characters looking at the ashes the whole damn time. We also got a flashback of everything that happened where I realized it was not a roller coaster kind of ride. The story focused mainly on Jin Woo playing the game and finding Se Ju. The story only unfolded just to reveal the past and find Se Ju. This drama should have been entitled Finding Se Ju seriously. To sum up, it was an okay drama for it is very unique and truly magical. It may be flawed on some of its elements but it is still worth watching especially if you are an avid online game user.

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