The story is solid with a gripping storyline

The story built was excellent with incredible momentum.

The story starts with a poor guy after getting killed by the owners of the Sunyang Group that he worked for, waking up as a rich grandson of a chaebol family some 30+ years into the past. From there on, with his identity as the rich grandson Jin Do Jun, he starts a mission to buy the said Sunyang Group which led to his demise in his previous life. The next 15 episodes tell the story of JDJ and how he works hard to create his own company while fighting his uncles and cousins and at the same time going against his very powerful grandfather and the owner of Sunyang Group. The fight was hard but it was worth it. He used every cell and energy in his body to achieve his target. 10+ years after his rebirth he did manage to achieve his dream, that is to acquire Sunyang Group and thereby almost came close to achieving his ultimate goal, removing the management succession policy in the group. Every minute of watching his struggle for the goal was worth watching. From how he juggled his money and how he manipulated everyone around him with his knowledge of the future. Those moments were exciting and exhilarating.

BUT, the catch comes in the final episode. And I felt like the building blocks gradually collapsed each minute of the final episode. Because in the end, all those exhilarating moments I've been watching for the past 15 episodes over 2-3 weeks, ended up in the deep sea without even making a 'plop' sound. All those moments JDJ spent his very cell and energy on building, collapsed in a moment of his death and our protagonist gets transported back to square one, the poor guy version. But the main reason for my disappointment is that all the emotions that I spent on this drama added up to a futile finale. JDJ/YHW managed to achieve his ultimate goal of removing the management succession policy in the group, but he was left with nothing in the end. He won, but his effort rendered no reward and nobody understood his commitment.

This is a star-studded drama and the cast duly created a perfect performance. The story is solid with a gripping storyline, but there is one downside and that is the timeline. If one doesn't focus properly on the timeline, then one will at one point lose themselves in the plot. Because at some points there are time skips from months to years and even decades, and only by keeping up with the story can one keep up with the timeline as well.

Although there are too many characters in the story, for this drama I didn't see it as a downside. Because all these characters had their own separate roles, it was easy to keep up with the story without being confused.

And last, of all, there was a brief love story but that too ended up in the deep sea without even making a splash.

I really don't want to judge all of the other 15 episodes, just for the one final episode, but in the end, I just can't help not doing it.

P.S. - The OST is SUPER awesome. I'm listening to them on repeat.

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A Fabulous drama

This is a chaotic and motivational drama. "The fabulous" talks about the story of four friends and their ups and downs while working in the fashion industry.

Pyo Ji Eun a luxury brand promoter, Ji Woo Min a talented photographer, Joseph, a fashion designer, and Ye Seon Ho a supermodel. The story tells about the challenges they face in their careers, their dreams and ambitions and their love life. These four support each other and have each other's back bringing the story to a whole new level. They are each other's family.

The story also reflects the hardship behind the sparkling perfect fashion industry and the struggle that people working in that industry undergo in order to realize their dreams.

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Keeps you on the hook until the end

The members of a jury to a murder case start dying, soon after the trial. The chief judge of the case and a detective get together to find the murderer and in the process unveil the dark secrets beings all the jury members' past. A neglected orphanage with tortured orphans and a bunch of adults who choose to look the other way in the face of such inhumane circumstances which led to this tragedy years later.

The story is gripping and keeps you on the hook until the end. The story contains betrayal, brotherhood, regrets and selfish human nature. It is a story worth watching.

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The story overall is ridiculous to no end

To gloss it over I'd say the story is interesting enough to keep you engaged but let me be honest, the story is just too dumb. A CEO part-timing as a detective to uncover the murder of his mother and a girl who has supernatural hawk-eyes and can see for miles ahead of her. Oh and the girl is just too nosy btw. They gang up with the CEO's lawyer friend who is a part-time hacker to uncover the mystery. duh! (rolls eyes) The only normal person in this drama would be the girl's bestie who runs a bakery......

Oh and there is some underground(I think it's underground) secret lair for the gang as well. This story reminds me of those children's detective stories I used to read when I was a kid..... extremely childish and not very realistic.

The story overall is ridiculous to no end and the plot is so so. I wouldn't actually recommend anyone to watch this.

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Yet another masterpiece by Lee Joon Gi.

The plot is amazing and you have no idea how much I love rebirth stories.

Kim Hee Woo, a prosecutor, dies after digging into the corruption of the current president. He then gets a chance for rebirth and wakes up in his younger self. Now with the knowledge of the future, Kim Hee Woo begins a game of chess with Cho Tae Seob, a politician (and the president in his former life). It is truly a beautiful game of chess, with Kim Hee Woo always being one move ahead of Cho Tae Seob.

The only downside is the final episode seems a little rushed and the end was a tad bit unsatisfactory.

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Let's just say that my initial excitement for this drama, gradually ended up with disappointment.

I admit that the first few episodes of this drama got me hooked up, with all the murder mystery and puzzling psychological issues of the main leads. but gradually the story lost its initial suspense and turns into your everyday boring love story. The reason for this is,
1. the murder mystery at the beginning that made me hooked up, turns out to have nothing to do with the main leads and has everything to do with the second lead.
2. the weak plotlines to connect the main leads to the murder mystery and a nonsensical backstory to back up the current plot. for example, a heart transplant leads the psychiatrist to pursue the murder of his donor. ( let's say this is a valid argument ) but then to not lead this to an obvious tragic ending, the writer adds a sprinkle of some supernatural stuff to make the viewers not feel too devastated about the "going to be a tragic ending". And the female lead who happenstance to cross paths with the murder doesn't seem to be quite solid to put her in the middle of the whole mystery.
3. adding a chaebol family and many other weak characters to patch up the already disastrous plot holes.

The only good thing about it is the first OST, which is a killer song. which I'm currently listening to on repeat.
The acting is good, the supporting actors are also much more fun. The light friendship, I have to say, is quite fun to watch.
Let's just say that my initial excitement for this drama, gradually ended up with disappointment.

P.S - am I the only one who crack open my skull trying to figure out which twin is which??!!

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The Rise of Phoenixes is a hunger games of the royal family.

I put off watching this for 2 years and finally I got the courage to watch this. 70 episodes?? tai duo le!! The story begins light heartedly, your everyday gender bender period drama mixed with politics and palace schemes. But over the length of the drama it transformed into many forms taking us through an emotional roller-coaster. Its hard to describe in one words, the emotional turmoil this makes you go through. The story is not perfect, its boring at times and interesting in another.

The acting is the most noteworthy in this drama. The main leads deliver us an unforgettable version of the broken Zhi wei and Ning Yi.
From the very beginning the drama hinted the possibility of tragic romance.

This drama has many flaws but I think its yet worth watching. I believe 70 episodes it too draggy. They dragged the story for 60 episodes and then fast forwarded the last 10. I pretty much skipped most of the first 20 episodes or so and the last few. But the middle part of it is interesting

In the span of 70 episodes Feng Zhi wei went from Zhi wei to Wei zhi to Ultimate scholar to Director Wei back to feng zhi wei then to Zhangsun Zhi wei to royal inspector wei and finally Queen of Jinshi. Which shows how much changes the story goes through over its course.

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Despite being very awkward, the first half or so of the story is still fun to watch., and the main reason that I kept watching it. Its the same old cliché story of a controlling male and a hard working put poor female lead coming into a contract relationship to pay off the FL's family debt. And then there is the evil second lead trying to come in-between the couple and cause misunderstanding between the two. Finally there is a second lead couple who r cute and fluffy with a healthy relationship. Oh forgot to mention the sad, puppy like second male lead who is of course 'f-r-i-e-n-d-z-o-n-e-d"........

I'm a sucker for contract marriage/relationships dramas, probably that's why I could stomach this for 30 episodes. So to sum it all up the story is out right lame, with cliché plotlines and the acting is really awkward ( r they rookie actors ??) .

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Being thirty doesn't mean you have figured out your whole life, or that your life is stable, your love life is perfect, it is about how chaotic life is even if your just turning 30.
This story is about the life of 3 women who is about to turn thirty. One finding true love, one in a toxic relationship and another finally letting go of her traumatic past.
I'm not yet thirty so I don't think I can judge this drama fairly in terms of depth and meaning. At times it's depressing to see the main lead trying to hold onto a relationship while fulling knowing its toxic and how she refuse to have a proper communication with her boyfriend who she suspect is cheating on her. And in the end her own immature approach to her own issues and her reluctance to face her problems resulted in her paying a high price with her career.
In the end this drama shows you how imperfect you are no matter how old you get.

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its just enough to keep you intrigued

if your wondering whether to watch this or not then I say, yes watch it. I think its hard to find a lot of good time travelling dramas in this case more specifically time warp drama. although there are few glitches here and there overall this drama is neat.
at first I was confused. I was annoyed with them playing around with the timeline, but then when i kept watching it things started to pick and and the story got more and more interesting. especially when the two lead characters ended up in the same timeline.
the drama is not too intense and not boring either. its just enough to keep you intrigued. and 12 episodes is just fine. like one of those dramas where you sit back and watch in peace.
and most of the time time warp dramas I've seen spin around detectives. this is my first time coming across one that involves reporters and politics.
I like the chemistry between the leads, although there is no love story in the drama , their chemistry made me wish for one. the production is good and the ost is really good and yes also the acting too.

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What should i say first? the fact that i watched this until episode 16 means i think its a good drama. but i have mix feelings about this.
Whats good about this? The casting!! Kim Myung Soo, Kwon Na Ra, Lee Yi Kyung , Lee Tae Hwan and most other actors in the drama are absolutely the best. i guess that is what makes me want to watch it until the end. and the other best thing is that the story is a new and a refreshing aspect in historical dramas. Not everyday u see dramas about secret royal agents.....
But the downside is that the story lack momentum, and the dialogues are poorly written. at several points i felt like the writer just copy pasted lines from various other historical dramas and decided to jumble them together. (i'm not telling that the writer did that) the dialogues are cliche and lack originality to a point where i was actually rolling my eyes at the absurdity.
and at times i felt the actors desperate effort to create chemistry among the characters but failing due to the poor written story structure.
but of course if u ignore all this, watching will be a fun ride and a definitely something new to watch. The dialogues maybe cliche but the plot is not. in fact the plot is super interesting.
and the OST!!!! loooved it !!!!

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the story is worth watching just for the amazing visuals provided by Lee Jae Wook. Wink*

Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol is a romantic comedy, something u just sit back and watch in peace. It will lift up your mood kinda drama. You won't be seeing a strong female lead that goes around kicking butts kind, but a different type of strong female lead.
This drama is fun and easy to watch. At first, the female character can be annoying but Go Ah Ra did a wonderful job of portraying it so I can't end up but liking the naive and clueless Ra Ra. from the outside it looks like the girl is practically mooching off from the guy, but i kind of like how the guy just practically buy her things whether she ask them for or not. He buys her stuff just because he feels like buying them for her and it makes him happy.

the story is worth watching just for the amazing visuals provided by Lee Jae Wook. Wink*

Also, I should say "I have leukaemia" is an outdated cliche plotline. apart from the confusing ending( i was crying buckets), I think I'll probably be rewatching it. =).

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The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind

This is a perfect example of "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind". A king trying to take control of the court from the clutches of the Vice-Premier.

But my review is very biased against the female lead "Yoo Jung".

A king watched as his father got cornered by his ministers and later he watched helplessly as his mother was killed by those ministers. He almost got deposed from his crown prince position and the only way he managed to save himself was by begging and kneeling to those so called ministers and spending the rest of his ruling era as a puppet ruler. So it is pretty much understandable his ambition to establish absolute power in court. Therefore he sets out to create the most elaborate scheme to establish power.

With the Vice-Premier in front and a Queen Dowager from behind, he has spent most of his life cornered by these people. His only solace being his first love Yoo jung, a girl he loves and feels guilty towards.

The most annoying thing for me about Yoo Jung is that after the king, Lee Tae spends his entire life designing a plan to trap the Vice-Premier and the Queen Dowager and this woman waltzes in and almost ruins his painstaking efforts. And she justifies herself like it's the most reasonable thing. Like heck, I understand that she was threatened by Park Gye Won at first but then Lee Tae gave her the option to leave, but instead she stayed back in the name of "love" and almost ruined his plans at every corner, which was so annoying.

And the most pissing off thing is that she used his guilt and love to do whatever she wanted in the name of revenge and the king has to give it to her at every corner. Oh and the most ridiculous thing is, she joined hands with the murdered who killed her entire family to get revenge from that so called murder.

While getting in the way of the king's scheme, she was the one who benefited at every corner from his schemes, but then she went and accused the king of being a tyrannical king. What a ridiculous b*tch.

And at the end of the drama when the king was a few inches away getting absolute power this b'tch waltz in again saying he's a tyrannical king and then she goes and establish her own faction with her father's previous followers, who the king himself brought to court. And she tries to restrict him and hold him in check, and she has no trust in him that he will be a good king, very well knowing how much he sacrificed to protect her and the people around him. It really makes me mad because out of all the people around him, this woman knows how much he has gone through and how much he hates being restricted, but this woman used the guilt he has towards her and her family to use to her benefits and to restrict him.

It's the most basic thing for a king to balance power, and his court is full of factions that's not even loyal to him, so he tries to eliminate those who weren't loyal and to put the people who were loyal to him, but this woman says he's cruel to kill those people and she establish her own faction. duh! Oh oh and the people he killed were the very same people who ganged up against him and his father and killed his mother, but what??! He is cruel?! It's a very reasonable thing to get revenge and remove these unloyal people for a KIng but this woman has to be so righteous, and berate him afterwards when she gets the benefits of it all. He did those all to protect her too, but she was such an ungrateful b*tch. He is in the end a king and it is a period of "kill or get killed", living in such a period, what the king did was absolutely reasonable. But because of her, in the end he let go of all his loyal followers and let the woman push him around, so ridiculous. Sorry but I can't hep but be mad at her stupid righteousness. Also she is so selfish that she wants everything to go her way. When she pretended to be the Vice-Premier's niece, and ruined the king's original plan, she shamelessly held her ground, while the king had to abort his plan to protect her sorry ass. And while she shamelessly kept on pretending to be the niece, the king killed all those disloyal followers and establish power and he even went as far as re-establishing the prestige of her family, she shamelessly also want to get her name back, very well knowing that doing so would put the king in trouble. So she schemed against the king to get her original identity back while labeling the king as the person "who knew her original identity and harbored a criminal". She is such a b*tch that makes me so angry.

The only thing that I hate about the king is using an innocent woman and her feelings to get to become a concubine inorder to control her father , the Minister of war. The real shitty thing he did was, he promised to make her a queen and everything, but when his so-called first love waltz in and ruined his plans, he threw that innocent woman away like trash. So it's understandable that the woman went red and became the evil concubine in his harem, after what he did to what he did.

This one of those perfect ancient political dramas, with no messy plot and pretty neat.

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Reminds me of the 2013 "Gravity" film

In recent times there were only two space-related dramas that were made. Song Joong Ki's space sweepers film and this. Both of them are memorable and the production is excellent.

The story, production, directing, casting, acting (you name it), it's excellent. Absolutely a beautiful story and I WANT MORE!!!! I heard that there were bad reviews for this drama, BUT WHY??!! this is soo daamn good.

The story had me engaged until the very end. This drama kind of reminds me of the 2013 "Gravity" film. Of course, the storyline is different but the quality of the two is quite similar plus the vibe.

Anyway, This is something I recommend 100% to anyone willing to watch.

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The rapid escalation of a mastershit

This is one of those dramas I hate with passion while watching it. Idk who is worse than the other, the writer or the actors??

The beginning was not the best but bearable with enough space for improvement but it chose to just roll in the mud and created the most ridiculously possible string of events that made me question why I am watching this drama. I am so sorry to say this about a drama but I really wanted to throw up.

I initially wanted to drop it, but when I realized this was the first drama of Kim Jae Joong after his long hiatus I wanted to give it a try. Also, it explains his very old school kdrama vibes from his acting. His acting was cliche and sometimes cringy but you can see an effort. Lee Jong Won, was doing a great job too. But I can't say the same thing forJin Se Yeon...

The characters in this drama were the worst. The lack of understanding between each other, the never-ending misunderstandings, the naive characters, the female lead who causes more destruction than construction..the list goes on...was just exhausting me to no end.

The story line.....was just beyond ridiculous. It's leaning more towards the kdrama in the 2000 era, with the cliche cringy lines, the mismatch events...[shaking my head]. a female lead with a halo who has the "I'm an angel" complex.....

This drama successfully managed to end up in my least fav rated drama of 2024.

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