This drama had a potential to be good but it was a shame that it ended up being cancelled prematurely. Just when I thought I'd be able to see another drama where Jang Dongyoon playing another prince role.

From the setting of some kind of a demon possession being the reason for the existence of undead people, this drama could have been a fresh take on the zombie genre. Well, since the drama had been permanently taken off-air we would never know how the drama plot could have unfold.

Casting-wise and writing-wise, if one could try to judge from the initial two episode, it does appear that there's a lot of care and detail done to get people to become interested in the drama plot. For one, this is an interesting take on King Taejong as compared to quite a number of dramas that did feature him in the past and there was a lot to be curious about regarding the troupe that ended up coming in contact with the third prince as well as the mystery surrounding this Azazel entity. And drama already was dealing with a situation of dead people coming to life in ancient Joseon. THAT itself was already a fictional setting... so I don't really get to uproar over the 'historical inaccuracies' especially when there are ALOT of other sageuk dramas that already made various interpretations of historical figures that may or may not be accurate anyway. As in there are plenty of sageuk dramas that depicted the same historical figures as BOTH evil and good on different dramas to fit a certain narrative so why now only that people making such a fuss about this for Joseon Exorcist? Why don't they do that for the other sageuk dramas that do this? It's ridiculous, to be honest!

Regardless, even if the writing of the drama was really problematic, considering the drama only just started there shouldn't be much problem to just ask the writer to make adjustments/rewrites to their writing and refilm the rest of the drama. If other productions can do that like with Delayed Justice and River where the Moon Rises where they paused airing and recast and refilm the scenes to remove appearances of problematic actors, the same should be possible for this drama. Banning this drama without allowing the production to make amendments to the drama to fix the problematic scenes/plot was an overreaction. What about all the works that has already been poured into this and Jang Dongyoon even got hurt! It was unfair to everyone who have worked so hard to make this drama only to have almost the entirety of the production scrapped.

While it was understandable that everyone would be wary about how some chinese people trying to claim certain aspects from kdramas as theirs, I hope people wouldn't be too rash in trying to cancel everything recklessly.

Citeste mai mult

I'm loving this!

Haha... no, this is not a McDonald's joke but I really do love the drama. I mean, people used to say Hwarang was bad but aside from some endgame plot that I'm not really fond of, that drama was okay. The same would I say about this drama. I've been waiting for a new drama where Hyungsik would play another royal prince character and lo, WE GOT IT! And this time, his character has a higher likelihood to get the girl SINCE HE'S THE MAIN LEAD GUY!😃

Anyway, since this drama more or less was based on a Chinese novel... some plot might be predictable to those who are familiar with the novel. Or maybe not, since it's a kdrama some elements of the original novel would've been changed to suit the sageuk theme. That should be quite interesting to see regardless.

I really like how the characters were written. I mean, as much as there was this supposed triangle between Hwan, Jaeyi and Seung-on, the drama didn't focus too much on the triangle and just let the characters naturally grow to develop a decent friendship. There weren't too many unnecessary conflicts being made just to make the plot 'dramatic'. Which was nice. I love how Hwan and Jaeyi's appeared to start at first as an encounter between two people in crisis, which progressed into a sweet friendship between two person who could've easily been childhood friends and later having a much deeper love growing in between. I like how natural their relationship progressed into mutual love as Jaeyi grew to learn more about Hwan and help each other.

I also love the comedy element with Myungjin and Ga-ram and even more when Hwan and Jaeyi were with them. Cos seriously, I feel that a lot of the funny scenes were brilliant adlibs by the cast and that's so brilliant!

The mystery and political intrigues and conspiracies are nice too, but the serious plot didn't completely overshadow the lighthearted scenes. Also the ost, songs and special effects are well done as well and the visuals are pretty, so what else to ask? Seriously if you consider the time period where it'd be hard to investigate a murder and find the culprit without the modern techs we have now as well as the fact political murders and violent outbreaks of people who desire control of the throne are a common thing, it makes sense for people to not be able to trust anyone so completely, in order to stay alive . Added with superstitions and lack of complete knowledge on how things like science work in such times, life could be so scary if you're stuck in such a situation. I really like how the writer made good use to insert little clues here and there that may at first seem unrelated or pointless, only to later bring it back to form the bigger image in order to head to the final conclusion.

If you just want to enjoy some drama to fill your pastime, you can try watching this drama and you may find yourself liking it. If you're the type to be all negative and expect a drama to live up to some non-existent 'perfect' standard of what could be a great drama, don't bother watching this drama and spread your negativities here.

Citeste mai mult

This drama caught my attention from the get go. A team of grim reapers who're on a mission to save people who wanted to kill themselves. It was such an interesting premise that I can't help to go look for the original webtoon ahead of the drama airing to familiarise myself with the story.

And I have to say that the webtoon was also very well written. I like how so far the drama's writing stayed pretty close to how the webtoon was written. While I do notice that there are some details from the webtoon that ended up portrayed differently in drama, it doesn't really affect the main story much. And I love how the drama still retain the qualities that made the webtoon well loved.

I also really loved the casting, especially with regards to Kim Heesun and Lee Soohyuk. It really felt like Gu Ryeon and Park Joonggil had literally come out of the webtoon to real life!

Citeste mai mult

Surprise! I actually liked and enjoyed this movie.

Gonna lay this out first. If you're expecting Peninsular to go exactly as Train to Busan did, you might as well go rewatch the first movie and not have your high expectations be dashed. If you dived into this movie without any set expectations you might surprise yourself to realise that you actually enjoyed this movie. I mean, I watched this in the cinema and regardless of how much CGI had been used in this movie compared to Busan, I haven't even had time to think about that. Because yes, the movie was quite fast-paced but it was exactly due to that what made any kinds of CGI barely noticeable.

I mean face it, the setting was four years after the escape to Busan. And even then, the situation was already chaotic. And the setting for the movie was focused on the other surviving people who had to try to escape the zombies by other ways BESIDES taking the KTX to Busan. Certainly, you can't expect the situation to unfold exactly the same as the people on that particular train. And the story still has a similar theme; how fear and desperation will affect the people trying to escape from the virus that will turn you into an undead. And what'll happen when the efforts to curb the zombie pandemic did not show any results as other nations decide to abandon the people still trapped in the zombie-ridden country because they find it pointless to help an already fallen country?

And to be honest, this isn't the first zombie movie that does use CGI for some of the zombies (like seriously, you don't run actual people down with high-speed cars so how else you wanna film THAT correctly?) and that never stopped people from enjoying movies like Silent Hill or Resident Evil. Heck, I enjoyed this movie a whole lot better from Rampant and that's saying something. Besides... I love all the Fast & Furious parts. That was fun. It's so fun that I felt like screaming in fear but it's still fun. And it's amazing how the survivors made use of the sensitivities to light and sound to try to divert the zombies around in order to make their escape. And of course like in Busan, there ARE assholes in this movie as well. More than a bunch of selfish assholes to make good people's lives harder just to survive. And we do get a great climatic 'battle' near the end. And we also got an unexpected plot twist just as hope seemed to be lost near the end of the movie. So all in all, this movie is good in my book.

Citeste mai mult

This is a very pleasing drama with a touch of Korean mythology. For anyone who've watched Goblin before, some of the mythological entities in this drama would certainly be familiar to you such as Grandmother Samshin as well as a goblin, though they won't be the same one as with the former's depiction.

I have to say that the love story setting was a very intriguing one, not to mention the idea that one could use an enchanted portrait to seal an evil spirit that possesed a person granted that it was painted by a painter blessed by the heavens was fascinating. In a way, this reminded me of a similar idea from Joseon Exorcist (in which they used mirrors instead) as well as few other similar dramas dealing with demons and such. To which, I'm really glad that this drama was able to aired completely without having to face the issue that caused Joseon Exorcist to be cancelled.

The CGI effects and cinematography that was shown in the drama was really done well and beautifully made. The paintings and the many magical scenes involving the different deities and demons were so beautifully drawn, it was really a delight to watch the drama based on that alone. I really love how the drama depict scenes of how Cheongi's painting came to life in a very supernatural way that sets it apart from other normal paintings.

Kim Yoojung as Hong Cheongi really brought out the sweetness and innocence of the character as she strive to get people to approve of her artistic talent enough that she was later tasked to repair a portrait once painted by her father. Yoojung also brought out Cheongi's earnestness and desperation as she hoped to save Ha Ram who was possessed by the Demon.

Ahn Hyoseop on the other hand, turned out to look pretty good as a scholar who seem to be supernaturally handsome. He really did look like someone who wasn't quite from this world so it really fit his character. Considering this drama should be his first attempt at fusion sageuk, he really did well in portraying the character. Hyoseop and Yoojung really looked good together and made a very beautiful pair. As the drama tend to have a lot of focus on the eyes, you really can't help finding a strange interest in people's eyes. Especially Hyoseop and Yoojung's eyes whenever their eyes were depicted as normal or when the eyes were sightless or when it was brimming with supernatural energies.

Citeste mai mult

Been a while since I've seen Jin Goo in dramas so it's a delight to see him in a new project. I haven't been watching anything with Jin Goo since Descendant of the Sun, so I might as well do it now.

The plot had the feel of Die Hard and 24 with a bit of a serial killer vibe on the side so I thought that this drama would be quite a thrill. Sadly though, the more I'm following each episode the more I feel that the drama was quite a letdown. Casting-wise I do still think that they were doing a good job within the scope of the drama though I have to say that I'm not quite impressed with the writing. In a way, the format of the drama being aired one episode per week may have an effect in lessening the suspense felt after each episode but the writing also did nothing much to improve the whole experience. I doubt even if one was to wait and marathon the episode at one go that it'd make any difference since the writing was THAT ridiculous. I feel sad for the cast since they do appear to be doing their best to act in this drama yet the writer just wasted their potential. I mean, you got Jin Goo and Ha Dokwon in this drama amongst others, but why did you make them be part of this shitshow?

It really felt as if the whole plot was written to be overly complicated unnecessarily just so that drama can have many ridiculous things happen within one whole day. But unfortunately, this was not the case for the drama. Arguably, some of the twists may be quite brilliant if executed properly. A lot of the time, many of the key scenes were poorly timed and choppily edited. And the whole 'superior' thing only really starts to crop up near the end as if the writer just remembered the title of the drama. I mean, as much as Penthouse's plot was ridiculous, it was at least fun compared to this brain-stunting drama.

Honestly, I'm just watching the drama because of Jin Goo and Ha Dokwon and also because I might as well finish watching the show till the end since I already reached the end. Unless you don't mind feeling frustrated for the entire duration of the drama, you may need to think twice about watching this drama. Unless your faves are in here... maybe.

Citeste mai mult

I happened to come across this series last year mid-airing, during a time when it's been a while since the last kdrama that I've watched. And having Choi Jinhyuk as the lead alongside Nana is a plus as well, so no regrets.

It's been a while since the last time I watched any revenge/conspiracy drama since Shark, as well as good law-related drama since Witch at Court so I really have to say that Justice did a good job at reeling my interest in. Not to mention Son Hyunjoo as the main antagonist is a great compliment to Choi Jinhyuk's Taekyung who's not quite free of his own wrong deeds.

The series was sweet, melancholic, haunting, dark and hopeful and as a viewer, you can't help but root on Taekyung as he tried to turn back and recover his sense of justice and right the wrongs that were committed towards him as well as by him. And in a way, the series tells us that sometimes even good people can lose their way. But that doesn't mean that they cannot go back and head back towards the right path.

Citeste mai mult

Initially I didn't really have much interest in watching this drama, even when it's available on Netflix. But then since OneAsia had started reairing older dramas including Haechi, I ended up watching it anyway.

I had to say that I had no regrets for starting to watch this drama. As was common when it comes to sageuk or historical dramas, it's usually the political intrigues and conspiracies that tend to wear you down, especially when it involves the battles to gain control of the political powers and the throne. But strangely enough, I didn't have much difficulty while watching this drama. Because rather than allowing himself get swept by the palace intrigues, Lee Geum strive to overcome every obstacles by working together with his trusted comrades and subjects.

And I suppose it also had to do with the fact that there wasn't anyone in this drama who were truly black or white, or completely evil or righteous. Also, I like the fact that political elements in this drama were not written too depressing and the politicians weren't just scheming against each other but they do earnestly want to do what's best for their country, even when they might get swept easily by false rumours or lies. Or make decisions that don't often end up being a good one.

And I like the fact that the drama's core plot were mostly centred on Saheonbu and how in reality, it was very difficult to judge between right and wrong. Yet, even with that odds we ended up rooting for Lee Geum to gain the public approval as King and gain support from all of the political parties.

I really love the analogy using the legendary creature Haechi and how trying to judge between what's right or wrong may seem simple in theory yet hard to implement in reality. And I like how in the end, life and politics were shown to not always be either black or white and that making a slow progress might not really be such a bad thing.

Citeste mai mult

Cutest Kindaichi so far after Yamada Ryosuke and Domoto Tsuyoshi ❤❤❤ I have to say that Michi's Kindaichi reminded me a lot of Tsuyoshi's Kindaichi, in terms of personality and charm. Not to mention how half of the cases that were featured in this season had been based on similar cases that had been covered by Tsuyoshi's Kindaichi so it does feel kinda nostalgic to see how the new series readapt those cases differently.

Personally, I really like what I'm seeing and I really like how the old cases were given a new life in this new season. Honestly with every different Johnny's we got to see different ways as to how each Kindaichi were intrepreted and one can't help finding new sides to the familiar characters. And Michi, just as his predecessors, have done well in bringing out Kindaichi's charm. That said, it's always so interesting to see how any new adaptations of the Kindaichi series be given a new life either in drama form or anime as they were never really written to be exactly like in the manga and will have different changes added to make each adaptation s different.

Only downside tho, no Detective Akechi again in the new series. Gotta say we're still not getting new Akechi actors in recent Kindaichi dramas ever since Tsuyoshi's run. As in the past series after season 1 and 2, all of the plot where Akechi originally appear in manga end up being transferred to Kenmochi or other characters.

Citeste mai mult

I have to keep reminding myself that this newest ×××holic adaptation was a movie rather than a whole series, because I really wished that it was the latter... as it had been for the 2013's adaptation. And as with the 2013 version, I wished that there were plans to make a live-action adaptation of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles since it does feel out out place to think of Watanuki's existence without having any mention of Shaoran.

That said, having Shibasaki Kou as Yuko was really perfect! I have nothing against Watanabe Anne tbh but I have to say that Kou really do carry the mysterious aura that Yuko had. And that was also partially the reasoning as to why I wished that this current adaptation was also made as a series. Because one can't really get enough of it, seeing Shibasaki Kou's Yuko and Kamiki's Watanuki as well as the rest of the casts.

I love Himawari's actress and she really carried the characters well. But I have to admit that due to the movie's length a lot of her story was revised to fit the time constraints. It made it hard to really relate to her character since the plot was moving too fast. Same can be said about Doumeki tbh. Like I prefer his drama version more, which was understandable since drama Doumeki had time to develop his relationship with Watanuki (and Himawari) compared to the movie version. And movie Doumeki feel a bit too stiff than how I remembered him.

Like the drama, this movie also covered the arc regarding the Spider Lady. But unlike drama, movie place more emphasis on the incident between the Spider Lady and Watanuki... aside from extending further to cover the end plot of ×××holic where Yuko passed the shop to Watanuki. Not that I blame the movie for that (since without the TRC connection it's hard to justify the reasoning for the latter plot to happen) but I kinda wished that movie didn't just speedrun the plot about Yuko's shop being a shop that grants wishes as well as Watanuki's interaction with the customers just to reach the end plot. I mean at most, I wished that the movie plot could be split up into several movie length production rather than just one. I mean, man.... how could movie tease us with a few seconds of Zashiki Warashi×Watanuki yet later forget about it? Like I know people used to complain about the 2013 drama, but I wished that the adaptation this time could be a bit longer.

Anyhow, this was still a great movie. While the lack of TRC mention made the adaptation feel incomplete (since it basically can explain everything about Watanuki's existence and why he needed to be at the shop) it was still nice to revisit the world of ×××holic after so long. Not to mention how perfect the costume department had been for this movie.

Citeste mai mult

Having watched quite a number of movies under the Ju-On title, I was intrigued at the idea of the movie series being presented in drama form. And to be honest, I can't help having a mixed feeling about this series.

Like there were some parts of the story that I wish could be expanded longer and there were some parts I felt better off not being focused too much on. Like the whole sexual violence plot that was going on with Kiyomi's plot and how she ended up being hypersexual afterwards and the whole thing about her mum's story, which was never really properly laid out. And then there was Haruka's part of the story with the journalist guy who ended up writing lots of paranormal books based on the cursed house; in which it turned out that the guy did actually have his own connection towards the cursed house which tied into few other different couples who also ended up being consumed by the curse and everything ended up going full circle. All these different pieces of the plot, different people and families, while learning more on how their lives ended up being embroiled into the curse of the house; could have made to be quite an interesting story had it also used all of the storytelling mechanics that the past Ju-On movies had incorporated but unfortunately it didn't. Because of that, as in the lack of clear transition (in which all Ju-On movies had used) between all of the separate storylines, made the whole drama series to end up quite confusing. Since you ended up not being sure when the narrative was focusing on which character before moving the narrative towards the other.

And that was saying a lot, considering that this drama did contain elements from the original Ju-On, Girl in Black, Lady in White and many other plots from the other Ju-On series. Not to mention the very fact that the series almost completely removed the ghost element in the story while keeping the mystery and thriller atmosphere, as well as the roundabout narrative style.

It took me until episode 5 before I could start getting a clearer image of what's going on. Basically, Ju-On: The Cursed House aka Ju-On: Origin was basically trying to tell a Ju-On story while also deploying the same narrative style as The Haunting of the Hill House. If you liked the latter, then you'd be able to enjoy this drama. Or, if you're like me you'd end up feeling slightly disappointed as by the end of the drama, you'd feel as if the writer just gave up on the writing and resorted to borrowing the ending of Haunting of the Hill House to end their story. And honestly, I can't help feeling a slight disappointment towards this drama considering that the drama had been helmed by the two most prominent horror writers whose works include the past Ju-On movies as well as Ring.

Citeste mai mult

I found out about this drama from Takeuchi Ryoma's twitter lol... and was glad that I ended up checking out this drama. Timeslip plot always interests me so much so I was intrigued at the plot where Tamura Shin ended up time slipping into the past and finding out who his father really was.

I like how well the plot had been written, especially when we weren't quite sure if Shin's father was truly a murderer or if the true criminal being someone else. And since the incident happened in a small village where everyone had their own secrets and motivations you couldn't help suspecting everyone to have some kind of motive to frame someone of murder. Not to mention the focus on people's eyes and evil eyes, you couldn't help feeling wary of anyone regardless of how they appeared harmless. And just when you thought you're sure about the identity of the real culprit, things took on a different take and you started to question everything that you once knew about the incident. Even when the final truth ended up being so simple, it makes one see how things weren't always so easily distinguishable or black and white.

It's like how you were given pieces of a puzzle without knowing what the final image would look like, and as you try to connect the pieces you'll either getting close into forming the complete image or ended up being misled. Yet once you finally found out the complete truth then finally all the pieces that didn't make sense before become clear. That makes the mystery of finding out the true criminal really engaging.

It's similar to how I felt while watching Erased, and while there was some difference in how the time slips/revival happens, the plot still involves the main character going back into the past in order to change a bleak future.

Citeste mai mult

This is already my favourite Kdrama featuring a Psychopath character.

A story about a psychopath... who ended up having a family and having to try to hide his horrid past. Well, by that premise alone the story already promised to be an interesting story. And it did exceed all my expectations on what a well-written drama about a good person who happened to be a psychopath could be.

A psychopath person, yet also being a son of a serial killer. But contrary to the first impression, it turned out that despite his disorder the main character turned out to be innocent of any crimes and was, in fact, a victim. This was a setting that quite a number of other Kdramas had tried to tackle. The most recent kdrama that comes to mind would be Born Again, but unlike the former, Flower of Evil had a better grasp on the kind of plot that it wants to convey. By the way the series writing had portrayed Baek Heeseong/Do Hyunsu in giving him a dual characteristic of being a psychopath while also showing a sympathetic side of the character, that alone was already much better written than anything that was ever shown in Born Again's Gong Jicheol. You'll want to know more about Do Hyunsu's story as he tried to live a somewhat normal life and trying to protect the peaceful life he had even when it was based on a lie. Which could be hard considering that he was a wanted man as well as having a wife who happened to be part of the task force that was in charge of capturing him. Watching Hyunsu on the journey to find the real accomplice to a murder and clear his name had been quite an experience. And it gave me pleasure in seeing how fitting the conclusion has been as everything was finally put back to where it belonged.

Personally, this was something that I wished (the secondary writer of) Born Again could have given to the viewers and I'm glad that Flower of Evil was able to do just that. And just for that one reason, Flower of Evil had that healing effect to me as the drama gave me a satisfying experience and conclusion which make all of the frustrations and disappointment caused by the awful conclusion of Born Again much more bearable.

That said, I really love how well this drama had been written; not just for the main pair and their daughter but also of the supporting and guest characters... as well as the main antagonist. Seriously if you want to see a drama that'll grab your attention from start to finish then give this drama a go. Like YES, if you're looking for a drama where you WANT to love the psychopath character (and feeling justified to do so) then look no further.

Citeste mai mult

It's a nice adaptation.

Every time there's a Japanese adaptation of a Korean drama I'm always interested. Especially if it's a drama that I really like. Voice 110 was like that.

Overall, the Jdrama really stayed true to the original while injecting a localized Japanese flavour to the original story. Since usually the renzoku format of most Jdramas are shorter than the usual lengths of an average kdrama, initially I was concerned whether or not the Jdrama could fully integrate most of the original plot and conclude it nicely. Turned out that I didn'treally need to worry about that.

For viewers already familiar with the original Voice, watching the Japanese adaptation may feel redundant since you should already know most of the big twists and reveals. Not to mention how some of the more gruesome cases/scenes from the original may not be included or changed. But honestly, this Jdrama may still intrigue you still since there would be some plot points that may happen in a slightly different way compared to the Kdrama due to the shorter run.

While the Jdrama may not be as brutal and graphic as the original, the drama still manage to give quite an emotional ride. Not to mention you may end up finding easter eggs paying homage to the original kdrama at an unexpected moment.

Citeste mai mult

To be honest at first glance, I didn’t expect to take a liking to the story. The initial introduction to the plot was quite odd; like who'd think a story that somehow reference a relationship between two classical music composers had any relationship to these set of music student characters in the drama? But then I ended up watching the drama anyway and couldn't help becoming drawn towards the conflicts of the two main characters.

I wouldn't say that this is the best drama of the year that focused on the world of classical music, but the drama did give quite a heartwarming story about the struggles and hardships that could be faced by the characters in the drama. While there may be some parts that might be exaggerated too much or a bit cringy, the rest of the drama fared well enough that one may overlook the excessive parts.

For once I'm not bothered too much about the many references relating to the relationship between Brahms, Schumann and Clara, nor the many musical analogies that was present in this drama. I mean, considering the drama dealt with musical students, musical prodigies and people working behind the scenes of the classical music industry, it would've made sense for them to try relating their personal experiences to the past figures in classical music. Since the musicians in the drama would've spent most of their times practicing to become Ling Lings and wouldn't have a lot of exposure to things that didn't have much to do with classical music.

To wrap it up, I ended up growing fond of the characters in the drama. In a way, it's an interesting story about the lives of musical students who may feel insecure about their futures, as well as a (perhaps) one-sided relationship one may have with the things or people that they loved.

Citeste mai mult