Deserving of high praises and top rating

"The Uncanny Counter" (2020) Season 1 was a live-action adaptation of the webtoon ("digital Korean manhwa") entitled "Kyeongirowoon Somoon" (2018) by Jang Yi. It stars Jo Byung Kyoo, Yoo Joon Sang, Kim Se Jeong, and Yeom Hye Ran, as the Counters--people who hunts evil spirits.

The multiple story arcs were well thought out and I was amazed with how these different stories perfectly fit together in the end which brought out the best in the characters and the moral lessons of the series. The casting and acting for the four lead characters were so good it was as the audience witnessed a true story.

The music, overall production, editing, and directing, were all superb. The choreography in the fight scenes were not lacking and were not overdone, simply fitting for four ordinary individuals to do; otherwise it would have been unrealistic.

Finally, and it is rare to see this in most Asian dramas, they ended the series properly leaving an option for a sequel or a new season. Stories should not be sealed--leaving no room for the audience to create their own continuation, which in turn also leaves no room for an official sequel.

Since it was already announced that season 2 was given a green light, it further proved the importance of ending a series with room for the future. Well done. I will be waiting for season 2.

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ENDING EXPLAINED

Okay, so it was indeed a game as suspected and it was Se Eun's parents who programmid it and the "AI" Jung Won who learned how to hack it.

I think episode showing Jung Won creating the game was her learning the harsh fate of everyone, and she's continually trying to end the game.

Also, Jung Won seems to be making sure Jae In remembers bits and pieces of the previous games. And in the finale episode, Jae In remembers everything from the previous one, including when she was awakened by Se Eun's parents.

The real question here is this: Did See Eun's mother reprogrammed Jung Won?

When the game reset, Jung Won was sitting far from Jae In. Also, Jung Won looks at Jae In with contempt.

I'm highly suspecting Se Eun's mother changed Jung Won (the AI) and now Jae In will be the one who will suffer the most since she volunteered to take responsibility.

I think that's what She Eun's mother did, she reprogrammed Jung Won to "think" that Jae In is the primary person responsible. Hence, Jung Won was looking at Jae In with contempt.

Even moreso, Jae In remembering everything is an additional layer of "punishment". She will be the only one who will remember the pain, as Se Eun's mother wanted.

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It is about the MISSING Persons and the loved ones who were left behind.

If you are considering to watch this series for “entertainment purposes”, you may want to think again. This series was created not to entertain the audience, it was created with a mission. What is the mission? To inform and remind the public that there are a lot of missing persons around the world, and they have families who are also suffering because of it.

The series was not amiss in depicting how the majority of people dismiss and ignores missing persons. How we just pass them by, or pretend to read and care. But we don't share the burden, simply because it hasn't happened to us.

This series is about that. It is not about romance, or drooling over your favourite actor because they are handsome, pretty, beautiful. It is not even about the writer's skill in storytelling and the director's artistic vision in bringing the story to live-action.

“Missing: The Other Side” is about the missing persons, the families left behind, and the circumstances behind the missing persons… which many suspects were due to crime primarily.

Is there going to be a Season 03? I doubt it.

The way S02E14 ended hinted that they've achieved their goal when they first pitched this idea to sponsors. They ended it in a way to remind the audience about missing persons, and how you and I should share the burden and help in whatever way we can.

It is open-ended because the issue about missing persons is a “story” that will never end.

Creating a Season 03 will only dilute the message and impact they created in both Seasons 01 and 02. The third season will be nothing more than “milk the audience for ratings and advertisements”. Why? Because the message was strong and sent already. Any stories they create in a third Season will simply be a repeat of everything they already told in Seasons 1 and 2.

Which brings us back to the important point of this series:

It is about the missing persons and the loved ones who were left behind.

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Did I just watch a true-to-life movie series?

I. Story
Overall, the story was great. The number of twists and turn, unexpected revelations, the high level political game, and the multiple layers, made this series one of the best crime drama of this decade ('10s). However, it failed closing the story properly.

In the last episode (16th), it was obvious it was rushed. There was no direction. Everything the series built up from episodes 1 to 15 disappeared. It started awesome, then became great, good, and ended poorly.

It is common among creative writers to have an open-ended story but in this case the ending was not an open-ending, no, it was a cliffhanger intended to be a premise for a guaranteed Season 2. If the intention was to have an open-ending, it should have ended with them driving to the airport. Everything else after that scene killed what made it great.

I still give it 8 out of 10 stars for the story regardless of the disaster after the "driving to the airport scene". I also applaud the writers and director for not inserting romantic scenes just because their lead female is well-known for it.

II. Acting
Suzy did well in portraying an intelligence officer. This was a big change from her usual romantic roles and I wasn't expecting she can pull it off. Yet, in the first two episodes, she already shone in her role, that's a sure sign of a talented actress.

The acting of the other actors were superb. I usually see them in dramas about family and relationships, seeing them portray political and intelligence roles was refreshing and in they owned the characters they portrayed in series.

Together, the acting were too believable I kept thinking I was watching a fictionalised true story. The characters were too real, all thanks to their acting and synergy.

III. Production
Did I just watch a 16-episode (16-hour) movie? It was clear they spent money on Vagabond to get it all right. But in the last episode the explosions were very bad. This was the other reason why I said earlier that anything after the "driving to the airport" scene should not have been included.

IV. Overall score
All things considered. I give it a rating of 8 out of 10 stars. The superb acting and quality production were what pulled it up, and for avoiding creating romantic scenes just because they have a great romantic-genre actress as a female lead.

A series I'll watch again in the future but not the scenes I mentioned earlier.

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A Masterpiece!

Summary: Alice is a major masterpiece.

Some details:
I. Time-travel
-- I am very critical when it comes to time-travel stories. The writers of Alice handled this very well with just 16 episodes. They backed it with current science and theories and less on artistic freedom. They also handled well the grandfather paradox.

Were there loopholes in the time-travel? At first, it appears so but after watching the whole series there is none. In the finale episode, many would probably think there were a lot of loopholes but I beg to differ, there were none as far as the theories and science used by the series they did this one well.

II. Acting
-- The acting of everyone were superb. From the comedy to seriousness, from the love triangle to family love, and from the future to the past to the present. I have no idea the sequence of filming you did--all past scenes first for example, or was it mixed--but everything fit perfectly.

III. Music
-- The background music were in the right place and at the right time. Not too soon, not too long, and definitely not in the wrong places. It was not used to elicit emotions, the music was there to add an additional layer to an already complex dynamics.

IV. Story
-- This is the most important part. The story is very deep and thought-provoking. It is a love story about a mother and her son. It is a love story about the son and a person who looks exactly like his mother. A love story about the son who was adopted and grew up with another family. It is a story about camaraderie. And it is also a story about time-travel and the repercussions and morals of it.

Having weaved all these different stories to form one grand story is not an easy thing to do in a 16-episode series. This is usually possible in a novel or comics but the writers of "Alice" and the director were able to pull it off. It started with love and ended with love.

Time has no beginning and no end but people do.

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Once again, Kim Tae Ri has proven why she's a Rank 1 actor. Special mention was her portrayal of the ghost desperate to live yet Tae Ri's character was forcing her to burn the final key object to banish the spirit.

I played that scene multiple times because I can't get enough of the out of this world acting by Kim Tae Ri. I felt compassion on the ghost in that scene. She only wanted to live because she was wronged when she was still alive. And her very strong desire to live, by trying to fight back San Young (Tae Ri's character), was delivered by Tae Ri in a very powerful way. I think Tae Ri's theater acting training and exposure greatly helped her at that moment. She knew how to act the ghost's desires and desperation to live without overdoing it.

Of course, I also commend the director and the cameraman for perfectly capturing that moment, up close and personal. It magnified what Tae Ri wants the audience to feel: this ghost, she was a victim, while it doesn't justify the ghost's murders, it is us humans who turned her that way.

Which is true. Many of humans only think of their own desires and greed, and doesn't care if another human being turn evil because of their actions and words. Yes, we cannot blame others for our own actions, but we also cannot deny the fact that we are who we are because of our experiences.

For me, the moral of this story is that we should always strive to do good. If you truly want to be selfish, then keep your mouth shut instead of speaking hurtful words behind other people's backs. For example, San Young realised how she was killing herself in the final episode because of how people said hurtful words, like that scene with the convenient store manager. If one did not notice, Tae Ri showed her "evil face" at that time, and she was not yet influenced by the ghost then.

Many of us probably reacted that way too after hearing hurtful words from people. Our faces probably showed how we want "kill" them for looking down on us as if us struggling in life was our fault (when it was just what we're given). Or, like it was a sin to have been born in that situation. And that moment was when San Young, without her knowledge until the final episode, that she started to slowly kill herself.

I've been there, too, without me realising what I'm doing. You gave up. You just try to live every day, but you no longer have any desire to live. You are just waiting for death to collect you, and you'll even welcome death with open arms. And the ghost that possessed San Young, she was right. San Young was wasting her life, and she (the ghost) wants to live.

The show may have been about ghosts and suicide. But if we look deeper into it, it is sending us a message that we should strive to live no matter what. Why? Because there were people whose lives ended not out of their own will, rather, they were forced to it. They were victims.

So, to you and me, this show is a strong and powerful message. Fight to live. It is hard. I know, I am struggling myself. I want to give up. I had enough of this life. But, let's fight to live another day. Let's show this world, let's show this evil society that we have today, that we can. If we know people whose lives ended early, either through suicide or they were murdered, let's live for them. They have desires and dreams, let's live for them, and maybe, through us, our society will become better.

Thank you, Kim Tae Ri, to the cast, the staff, the director, the writer, for this very timely story and message. I hope you'll win awards for this, you 100% deserve to grab all the awards.

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Synopsis sent a different message, and set expectations, that it did not meet

This is the problem with coming to a show with expectations, if they don't meet it, you're disappointed.

At least based on the synopsis, it gave me a sense that the ML will be switching between two worlds and solve his cases because of the knowledge he gains going back and forth.

Unfortunately, that's not what happened. It was a one-time major switch, and then that was it. When he returned, he rarely used his knowledge from the other world to solve cases in his own world. Everything simply diverged, that he had to investigate from the bottom up.

The other world? You'll see it again in the ending as sort of closure only, but did not answer questions it left.

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I want more!

I love Lexi's strategy. The best. She knew how she's going to play from the very start. Too bad, she didn't win the last match. But still, it was the best strategy in this episode.

Well. I guess that's it. Hopefully there will be Season 2 this 2023, with the same production quality but in the Philippines. I hope GMA, and other local productions, can learn from this. From using multiple cameras, providing monopods for the celebrities, and not being 'kuripot' with editing and special effects budget. This is what we need to revitalise the local entertainment industry, especially in the variety show space.

Once we learn from this, then we can add our “Filipino touch”. For now, not just GMA, other productions too, let's stick with the Korean style of production and editing. There's no shame in learning from others. Our neighbours once learned from us when we were the leaders in Asia-Pacific, it's our turn to learn from them.

I am hopeful for the Philippine entertainment industry as a whole. It's More Fun In The Philippines, after all. Mabuhay! Shalom!

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Could have been better in many aspects

I want to give this an 8 out of 10, but it was so hard to do, 7 is fitting.

The acting was forced to act as students. You can see they have a talent and skills in acting, but it failed to show because they have to act like “kids”, it isn't their forte. They did not have to overdo it. In some behind-the-scene clips, those were perfect. They just have to be their normal selves, for example, in the BTS in the last episode where they were preparing the proposal, it was just them playing. It was like being in their natural habitats. We are all like that. But whenever the camera starts to roll, they become so focused on acting like a “teenager” that it turned out bad.

The kung fu fight scenes and the training scenes, no comments there.

Production. Seems to be a low budget show? It could have been better if they have a higher budget.

However, in the last few episodes, the editing started to go down. There were also scenes not needed at all. It's a rule in creative writing, a scene that doesn't add anything to the story should be deleted. And some of those only distracted from the objective of the scene.

Last episode. It's a typical wrap-up episode.

Overall, the series was like a school project. In the last episode, they even added an explanation of what happened to the gang. Was this not 100% fiction? Then that explanation is not needed at all, it is a given, they went to prison, end-of-story for them, we don't care about them. Unless this series was based on a true story? Because that's the only reason why that explanation was needed.

OST. Awesome!

Last but not the least, the story. That I love. The story's great. The plot, sub-plots, the different message the writer wants to send across.

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Could have been better. It obviously lacked in budget and time.

The story has potential but the production seems to be lacking in budget and time. Also, they need to get an experienced English translator for their embedded translation or just include one and leave it to their partner streaming sites to do the English translation for them.

I hope the sequel, if there ever will be one, will have the budget and time to allow the writer and director to tell the story. A good story shouldn't be wasted like this. Make it count.

Last but not the least, the robots does not have to be "stiff". What they lack are emotions not oil. They came from a very advance universe. The virus may have had removed their emotions but it did not made their motor movements like a robot prototype of the 1900s. Make them relax. I mean, look at that female robot host to the virus, not once did she act stiff. Why are the other robots stiff? They don't need to be. Even the fighting scenes of the robots, it was like watching someone do the robot dance.

I hope this improves in the sequel.

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Ueto Aya once again brought Azumi to life

I don't know what to say with "Azumi 2: Death or Love". As the title suggest, and if you've watched the first movie, this is a sad ending for the story of Azumi.

Movies with sequels usually fail to live up with the original film, Azumi 2 is one of those rare sequels that was equal to or even surpassed the first film. The production was great and the background music were at the right scenes. The story was great, now that the background or introduction was out of the way, this sequel concentrated on Azumi and her hidden conflict inside: Death or Love.

Both movies are highly recommended. In fact, these two movies are closely tied-in together, it was as good as a single film. I'm glad they did not follow this up with another sequel "Azumi 3" because that would more likely not be at par with "Azumi" and "Azumi 2", though of course it would be great to see Azumi in action again.

And this is where I give Ueto Aya the highest praises, she was able to pull the exact same fierceness and one-mindedness when her character is in killing-mode. She did not force it, it was natural as if she was Azumi. Aya was born to bring Azumi alive.

Another perfect 10.

P.S. Time period aside, it would be an epic match if Azuri and Hitokiri Battousai met.

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Good enough to watch

Based on the 2019 script by Matt Naylor, this Korean live-action version was a good adaptation. There were some scenes which were far too similar with another Western apocalyptic film released a few years ago (I can not recall the title) in this version that is not in the American version.

If you want to watch the American version based on the same 2019 script by Matt Naylor, look for the movie entitled "Alone" (2020).

* American version based on the same script: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alone_(2020_horror_film)
* Korean version based on the same script: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alive_(2020_film)

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