I've picked up this drama because it was one of the popular ones and everyone had only praise to share about it. It did took me a while to finish it, mainly due to the episoded being more than one and a half hour long, when the standard length of a k drama episode is about forty minutes to an hour. The length, fortunately, didn't make it boring or tiring. Though the story was kind of odd at first, as I couldn't make sense of what was happening or why the lead character ended up in prison. Things got clearer after the first episode. The story itself is okay, without too many twists and just enough drama to keep it interesting. It doesn't surprise in containted but, if you love slice of life stories with the comedy element to lighten up the drama, this is a drama for you. Finally, the performances were really good by everyone and the soundtrack just perfect for this drama.

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Good Enough

School 2017 disappoints in the way that is not as good as the rest of the school series. The concept is a bit different, yet it deals with bulling and corrupted school systems. But in this case, the emphasis is given mainly on the X student mystery and on the main character's relationship with her fellow classmates and the school director's son more specifically. The love triangle, moreover, was weak, barely there and didn't really effected the plot in the end. The lead actress was good in her role, even though I expected her to be more shy and restrained, being one of her first roles as an actress rather than a singer. So, she was a nice surprise. However, the rest of the story was dull and the whole series kind of lacked of interesting twists to keep it going.

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Honestly, I only watched this one for Do Kyungsoo, as he's one of my favourite actors. However, here, his performance was really bad. Maybe the whole romantic concept isn't his thing. But the story didn't help either. Sure, the main story sounds very interesting, but the final result was bad. Maybe the execution was poor, and that kind of ruined the drama. Okay, I've been too hard on this one, so I may add here that there were some cute parts. But, overall, the performances were so-so to bad, the story was not good, the music is easily forgetable and this drama gets 3.5 out of 10 from me.

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Not Good Enough

Korean Drama " Grid " had a nice, atmospheric start, with a moody story, a mysterious ghost woman, and an even more secretive company that kept the grid (?) under control.

And even though there was potential for this drama, with smooth and excellent performances by the main leads, but also by the supporting cast, and the sci-fi CGI were all well handled, the story was too much for nothing. The main plot didn't make any sense in the end, with all the time-traveling, the grid technology, and the generations' medley. It somehow felt less, compared to what the drama seemed to build up to.

So, overall, 4 out of 10.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama "Hometown Cha Cha Cha" is a heartwarming drama with a stellar cast.

What makes this drama special are the side characters. Everyone in this small, seaside village is a family and they can easily become the publics' favorite not only because of their strong bond but also because they are funny, dramatic, sweet, and lovable. The setting was also a strong plus of this drama along with the great performances.

However, the drama had a predictable story that was pretty much not nearly original, had superficial main leads, who did have chemistry though, and a boring love triangle. Which lead to many boring episodes that were only saved by the side characters.

So, overall, 6 out of 10.

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Good Enough

Japanese Drama 'Colourful Love: Gender Free Boy' is an innovative drama with an unconventional love story. The drama explores many taboo ideas and presents deeper and purer, probably more ordinary relationships.

However, the main characters are overshone by the second lead, who, by all means, was far more interesting than the main lead. And he kept the interest high till the ending, when the love story was established by then and few surprises were added to keep things perky and fresh. Actually, the drama, even though is presented as romance, it was more focused on the main character's career and friends.

On the other hand, the leading lady was a pretty fun character. She was not only relatable, but also a strong lead with a nice personality. The male lead was a bit banal though. Still, the performances were all spot on from everyone in the cast.

Finally, the colors and the costumes of the drama were all pretty and fun.

So, overall, 5.5 out of 10.

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" How to buy a friend " had one thing really going for it, the cinematography.

The scenes were just perfectly filmed, with some edgy camera work, nice mix of light and shadow and knife cut editing. The story was enjoyable as well, especially the first episodes. The characters were mysterious, though, in the end, they started fitting into well used molds. That part was a bit disappointing, along with the mystery case that somehow felt unrealistic. The pace, however, was kept breathtakingly quick throughout the drama. The performances were really good as well from all the actors and actresses in the cast.

So, overall, it was an interesting short, web drama.

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Maybe with the drama We Love would have been better.

I did like the premises of the story and the begining of it. It was funny and the couple was adorable, although the guy didn't really treat the girl nicely.
The later was simply adorable and I really liked her character. However, the love triangle that was added to the plot halfway through, was weak, unfortunately.

The ending, finally, was ... hmm... okay I guess. I'm fifty fifty whether I liked it or not, because it was kind of cliche.

In addition, the performances were nice from all the actors and actresses of the drama.
So 5 out of 10.

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The only reason why I'm not rating this one with nine is the ending. It was left wide open and thus, it didn't help conclude the story nicely. Now, for the movie, it presents the course of a friendship, how it is developed and how the human relationships progress when they are under the pressure of the society. I also liked how the main character didn't change her personality, even though her friend clearly did. That said, both young ladies were really good and their performances supported the drama perfectly. Also, the clean camera work suited the movie's tone really well.

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Giver: Fukushu no Zoyosha left me thinking : "What was that?!" Okay, the drama starts awfully wierd, with this crazy psycho trying to bring down a building full of people, while taking hostages. Things do not getter better as the drama progrecess. No, they get worse. Somehow, some cases were kind of interesting. Although, most of the theme was just upsetting. And the ending was just horible, with those shots over the main characters shoulder for dramatic emphasis. In the end, there wasn't any real meaning to the story. Why on earth Ryo Yoshizawa choose this one, is beyond me. His performance was actually good, especially in the final episodes. But, the drama was just not good. At least the music suited the mood of revenge...

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" The King: The eternal monarch " tried to impress, but failed to do so.

It was obvious from the start that the creators of this drama had high hopes for it. A stellar cast with some strong names of the Korean industry taking key roles, an ambitious story and some impressive cinematography were factors for success. Maybe that is why they had so many product placement offers, which, unfortunately, all took, and, as a result, we had so many unnecessary and quite frankly, unrelated scenes of the characters using them (that episode of Welcome to Waikiki 2 comes in mind). But that wasn't the only problem this drama had.

First of all, the romance was off from the start. There was no chemistry between the main characters, even from the start, and, worse, it never got better. Not that their dynamics, when they were fighting in the first episodes, weren't entertaining. But, as soon as the romance part was involved, things went downhill. But, that should have been expected, as the drama's first love confession came in the first episodes, when we didn't even know the characters (and, to be fair, neither did they). So, the romance was out of the blue and unconvincing.

Despite the weak love story, and even though the drama needed a strong one to keep it entertaining and intense, the momentum of the mystery with the evil uncle faded out too quickly too. His story with his grand plan of manipulating people and events in order to get what he wanted, was not only complicated but got tiring soon after the first episodes. Also, the whole thing was just confusing, and, in retrospect, it didn't have to be. So, investing in figuring out what the whole thing is about isn't really worth it.

On the bright side, there were some side characters that really offered this drama some entertainment value. From the depth of their characters, to their performances, the second leads did an amazing job. Too bad that the drama just kept adding people and leaving their stories half baked.

So, overall, three and a half out of ten.

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