No(n)sense...

Ok, before I start this review I have to say that yes, I did read the webtoon and yes, I was disappointed to find that they decided to go in an entirely new direction with the drama by only keeping one or two concepts from the webtoon itself. In saying that, I tried my utmost best to look at this drama separately.

Out of all the aspects, casting and story progression is where my main focus for this review will be because they stood out to me the most:

Firstly, they decided to go for an older cast, which didn’t bother me at all, however, I do really wish that they would have given (all) the couples a few more mature themes in a sense of dealing with dating in your late 30s which is vastly different than dating in your 20s. (For those in the comments saying this drama had a mature dynamic, I’m still looking for it because, besides their age, there was none? Also, this is not me saying that people are not allowed to be cute after a certain age, I’m talking about making the characters relevant and possible for the audience to connect to them).

Secondly, hats off to Seo Ji Hye, who I absolutely loved watching. She had such a calming and regal sense to her acting that made it super hard to ignore and not fall for. I have thoroughly enjoyed her in everything I’ve watched of her so far and although her character was written to be very different from our lead in the webtoon, I think she did a great job with what she was given.

However, I really struggled to see the chemistry between Seo Ji Hye and Yoon Kye Sang and before you come for me in the comments, no, I’m not talking about his looks, I’m talking about the way the character was written and delivered. Something did not click well between them and I actually struggled to see anything between them being remotely believable, despite the steamy scenes we were given on replay in every episode. In fact, for the entire first episode, I didn’t realise he was the ML. The character in my opinion wasn’t a good fit for him. He did not seem comfortable in this role and quite frankly from what I’ve heard from moots who have seen him elsewhere, this wasn’t his best work. In saying that, I don’t think he had much to work with in terms of the way the character itself was written.

I do really wish that they would have taken more time with regards to the storyline and developing the characters, especially after having such a popular webtoon to back them. The last two episodes rounded things off in a very strange manner and completely changed the characteristics of the main leads. For such a short drama (only 12 episodes), there were some really unnecessary half-done fillers and loose ends that were added to progress the plot at the last minute, which the drama really didn’t need and could have done much more seamlessly with a well thought out plotline that ran completely separate from the webtoon itself. I'm not even going to get into that ending which was a train wreck in itself.

Overall, this drama was nothing particularly amazing and had made more noise with regards to people’s dissatisfaction over casting than the actual drama itself.

If you’re looking for an easy misfit watch, I say give it a try, but you have been warned about the lack of chemistry and lacklustre ending…

- foxx

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Intrigue and mystery with twists and turns you wouldn't expect.

This one's for all the women out there. To be brave. To stand up for what you believe in and what's right. Not to hide or run away from shame or what others might think of you, but to stand firmly in who you are and who were made to be. Nobody can take that away from you, no matter their status, their power or influence. You don't have to keep quiet for someone else's greater good, especially if that means robbing you of your own greatness.

Yes, with all its twists and turns, that is what I took out of this drama. It spoke volumes about various SA victims while telling the story of a family and their acquaintances where each member was uniquely flawed with their own secrets. How those secrets came to light and who was the greater sacrifice is what made this story a brilliant watch.

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This is as consistent as lumpy pancake batter.

It's been a hot minute since I've watched and rated a show this low and this was me being kind.

While there are too many negatives to point out, besides having major plot holes and unresolved topics throughout, a lot of the character's personalities or traits were somehow changed. We're not talking in a sense of character development here, but somehow they were vamped into totally new personality types? The entire drama felt more like a major fan service providing shorts for juicy Tiktoks than actually giving us solid substance, and instead of tackling an issue or two, they decided to superficially deal with many.

One thing that positively stood out from the drama and deserves a mention, was the chemistry between Mos Panuwat Sopradit and ISBANKY, as this was what kept the drama alive and watchable until the very end.

Hopefully, for the second season the writers can redeem themselves by fixing some of the plot holes and inconsistencies.

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An Ode to the Agencies, PR Teams and Managers in and around South Korea.

That's exactly what I took away from this drama, even more than its romance element, which, was hard to ignore on many levels.

I thoroughly enjoyed the take on the entertainment industry from an agency’s perspective. I've watched plenty of idol/ actor perspective dramas where their support only featured a small amount, so for this drama to spend the first four episodes solely focusing on introducing the characters at Starforce Entertainment, getting to know each of them and how they became who they were within the company, was a nice change of pace.

Secondly, because they just made it impossible to ignore, I have to mention the number of love lines in this drama because it really felt like Oprah herself was there dishing out love lines to every character in play. However, the second lead relationships were by far the most organically progressed in terms of storyline and grabbed my attention much more than the main leads.

Speaking of main leads, I did feel that Lee Sung Kyung's character, Oh Han Byul, was a little flat at times and she didn't really stand out or grab my attention throughout this drama. Maybe that's because I've seen her do better and might have had higher expectations for her compared to the rest of the cast, or maybe it was simply lazy writing? In contrast, though, Kim Young Dae, did a great job serving us adorable moments as Gong Tae Sung. He really seemed at ease with this character, and it felt like it flowed naturally for him. I honestly had a lot of fun watching him rollercoaster through the drama as he was the only charter who had the opportunity to do so.

The plot is a simple one that has many loose ends, holes and nonsensical distractions in order to allow us to reach the ending, I'm assuming, so many wanted. Overall, this drama was full of fluff, which made it an easy, no-brainer watch for those times when you need to unwind from a very stressful life. Just don't overthink this drama, it's not that deep! ;)

- foxx

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We're the suckers and no, it's not for the love of this drama.

I'm going to keep this short and not very sweet.

I wish I could have come here to talk about the growth of tackling difficult aspects of being a single PD over a certain age and finding love through her varsity sweetheart, but nope. The initial set up we got in the first two episodes was a farce and they decided to take on a whole other direction soon after, which lead to an upside down mess trying to tackle too many aspects of love, that wasn't happening between the leads.

In all honesty the writers would have been better off writing a drama revolving around an ensemble cast with ALL the contestants and having the PDs as side characters because there was clearly more spark, more romance and more opportunities given in those characters to make an interesting show than what we received with the lead couple.

Do I recommend this drama? No, not even one bit.
Please don't waste your time and rather find something worth watching.

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Unlocked a gem!

What a treat this turned out to be. I was ridiculously sceptical about starting this drama as I thought the premise was quite a silly one. Someone being trapped in a phone? Get real! In all honesty it exceeded my expectations on more than one front.

The casting for this drama was done exceptionally well and translated through to the characters brilliantly. Not only did we get relationships in all forms and ages, we were able to emotionally connect and become attached to the bonds formed amongst the characters. Gi So Yoo did an incredible job playing Park Sung Woong’s daughter and the way she bonded with each character differently spoke volumes about the writing of the characters, especially the bond formed with Kim Sung Oh’s character, Ma Pi. There was special care taken to think and flesh out each character and their contribution to the show. This was evident in the final product and how easily attached we, the audience, became.

A special shout out goes to Ahn Nae Sang, because it was lovely to see him play such a dorkable character that actually lives past the second episode! His pairing with Kim Young Sun as his wife was also a great match for comedic banter between the two and their robot!

We cannot forget to mention the mystery element about the phone. How did the CEO get inside the phone? Was the CEO in the phone, actually the real CEO? Who was the mastermind behind it all? Did the CEO’s body disappear? For each episode you were kept guessing as to how it all came together and who the real villain of the story was. Surprisingly this was done without dragging and without making you feel stupid with a sprinkle of romance to keep our hearts in beat.

All in all, the flow of this drama was such an easy going one that even though being a mystery, it was light, easy and enjoyable to watch.

x dramafoxx

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The chapter that shouldn't have been

There's always a risk one takes when creating a sequel and it's either a hit or miss in terms of relaying a message or telling a worthwhile story. For this particular drama, I was all with the writers until around the 8th episode where we lost the plot and every self respecting character, except one.

Some might see this as an intertwined and complex view of each character's feelings and appreciation of their respective partners, but I see it as lazy writing. They had various obstacles mapped out from the first instalment that flowed into the continuation of this series to allow the plot to properly meat out each character's struggle, which initially, they all had different ones, but instead chose, to my BL demise, to downplay key moments to put most of the main characters in a similar situation and somehow make them deal or handle things differently. The writers were clearly trying to tackle a main theme, but this strategy only made things feel forced. Followed by weak redemption arcs for each and every single character who was in the wrong, took away not only from the character's growth, since the first drama, but it also made the storyline a messy one.

One thing to be thankful for and to note, as it carried the last third of the show, was the incredible performance done by the actors, Tul Pakorn Thanasrivanitchai and Max Nattapol Diloknawarit, especially from episode 8 onwards with their break up scene! Despite plot concerns, they portrayed those emotions very well and really captivated the audience with their performance.

My personal tip for those wanting to watch: For better viewing purposes, I would watch the two dramas separately with some time and other dramas in between them as it's quite evident in both the comments and reviews that people who did this, enjoyed the drama more than those of us who watched them one after another.

X - DF

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Nonsensical Fluff Express!

With only 7 episodes and around 15 minutes per episode, you cannot expect much going into this mini-drama in terms of plot, but you can expect loads of cringeworthy chuckles from the animal tendencies of the Male (Lei Hao Yang - Ray Chang) and Second Male (Shen Zi Jie - Richard Lee) leads.

Besides a whirlwind of activities fast-tracked in order to create some sort of storyline leading to the end, you’re met with some of the most adorable moments shared between the Male and Female (Jiang Ke Qi - Vera Yan) leads - at times, I was convinced this entire show was made just to show us the sweet moments between these two!

If you’re looking for a light, quick and easy watch with a clueless yet upfront ML and a slightly confusing last episode (a season two in the making perhaps?), then this one is for you!

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Love, Fluff and Stuff.

This story, looking at a single divorced woman who was willing to better herself through her own means, without depending on a man, immediately grabbed my attention. Initially, the main reason behind her bettering herself was for her son, but because the writers chose to not include him throughout most of the drama, for the sake of this review, I’m going to do the same and call it as it is, which, thinking about it now, could have added a juicier take to the newly single divorcee’s life.

The main couple were extremely cute a lot of the time, but there were moments where the age gap didn’t always feel comfortable and made it feel more as if the FL was the ML’s mother, which sounds even more strange considering the relationship the ML had with his own mother. Perhaps it was the director’s intention to remind us of the said age gap, thus using a much younger-looking ML, Terry Liu, who did an exceptional job at playing Cheng Li, I simply wish they would have used a slightly older-looking (not change the age in the script) ML in order to avoid the exact misconception or feeling while watching what should have been heart touching moments.

My favourite character had to be the FL’s best friend, Zhou Quan (Viola Mi), for being bold and continually saying what needed to be said or done. I didn't quite like the dynamic they had chosen for her relationship with Eric (Sky Li), but all in all, she was a rather enjoyable character that added the extra spice and honesty into the drama itself.

Overall, being one of the most unproblematic dramas I’ve seen in a while there was an abundance of fluff and kisses to brighten anyone's mood. Some might find it slow or boring, but that’s exactly what this drama is for, taking a step out of the fast lane and toning it down to the basics.

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The all-together BL that everyone should see

Besides the rapid amount of time it takes to heal from a gunshot wound and, in my opinion, the ill placed relationship between one or two of the characters, I really enjoyed this drama as it exceeded my expectations in terms of what else I’ve seen from Thailand in the BL sector.

Personally, I didn’t feel that every character needed to have a happy ending. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that characters needed to necessarily die, even though that could have sparked a bigger hunger for fight amongst the gang, but more in terms of the various love lines we were given. Besides the out of place Dan redemption arc in his and Yok’s final scene, Gram’s entire love line was unnecessary and is something that should have ended once cleared up in the earlier episodes.

In saying that, I do feel that Black was one character in particular who should have gotten more focus in terms of the story line. Besides the lack of screen time and moments with his brother, or how he was fighting the system “behind the scenes'', we spent most of the series getting to know who he was WITH White, but in turn, the writers chose to keep him hidden while isolating him from his own friends and most of the story itself.

I also found it strange that the writers hinted at more than one potential relationship for Black and in both instances revoked them abruptly leaving us, the viewers, confused, especially the Gram and Eugene happy ending, where they simply ignored the fact that Black still had feelings towards Eugene. Not to forget the wasted opportunity that was the relationship between Black and Todd! They built that relationship so beautifully that it could have easily been a Romeo and Juliet or even a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers trope that could have also solved the Eugene problem, but alas, in those last two episodes we were robbed, for Karma purposes, I guess?

Two other smaller mentions in terms of plot and characters was the reasoning behind Gumpa’s existence and White’s purpose for going undercover. Firstly, besides Gumpa harbouring a gang of college boys in his garage, forcing them into all sorts of dangerous training while allowing them to set up and run with life threatening missions, we actually weren’t given ANYTHING about his character, there was no back story or reasoning to fight, was he simply a strategically placed wannabe Mr. Miyagi? Secondly, White’s original reasoning behind going undercover was quickly overshadowed by the political storyline. Although not a terrible move, it would have been a smoother transition with some sort of acknowledgement as White’s focus shifted.

As I mentioned earlier, overall, I really enjoyed this drama and I was fully invested in the story from start to finish, in fact, I binged it in one day! In terms of chemistry and acting, we have to give Off and Gun a round of applause for their performance. As always, they delivered, especially Gun , as he managed to do a convincing job of playing both the black and white swan. The choice of OST was also refreshing. After watching so many dramas, we KNOW just how repetitive the song choice can get, but the fact that they used various artists and songs throughout relating them to each scene, made a HUGE difference in the way the story was received.

Lastly, the overall arc of this story was an unusual one, especially in the Thai BL world. They took a varied spin on the boy’s varsity life and turned it into a story with great meaning and fight relating to the state of equality in Thailand. Okay, so the story itself was not necessarily THAT deep, but it did a great job in raising awareness, starting serious conversations and speaking volumes that so many can’t.

x dramafoxx

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Nothing to “ride” home about.

This was actually the first BL I watched and while waiting for the rest of the Eps, I managed to binge a few others over the past few weeks and boy, am I glad I did.

Things felt disjointed and I think that came from the imbalanced set-up of telling two different relationship stories one after another instead of intertwining them. There are very few instances in dramas where this technique works, but I think it’s fair to say that this is a great example of how the technique behaved more like a magnifying glass, illuminating the flaws of the plot itself.

The style in which the story was told wasn’t too bad. It was visually appealing, had the aesthetics to portray the racing world of Prapai and Phayu and some decent music choices for the more “iconic” scenes. The problem I had was with the “flow” of plot and with certain dialogue that was (not) used. Personally, I felt that they tried to tackle too many obstacles and because of this, we got very surface level solutions/responses from the characters. This did such a disservice to the character’s growth and progress of the plot, because they essentially had to rush over certain topics that, in my opinion, should never be rushed or overlooked.

It’s an easy watch that, in pretence, puts plasters on gaping wounds, but besides some of the steamy scenes and eye candy, in terms of the plot, it’s your typical ‘Wattpad’ story as another MDLer* so nicely put it! ;)

(*MDLer in question : https://mydramalist.com/profile/SwissLotus/review/241389 )

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Clichéd Fluff Galore!

Hang onto your second-hand embarrassment because this lead couple will dish every cliche known to cdramas, in 24 episodes. If you’re looking for a deep, meaningful, logic-based drama that’s bursting with real-life moments... this drama is definitely not for you.

The best part is the unrealistic fluff and nonsensical plot which makes the mush and chemistry between our ML, He Qiao Yan (Miles Wei), and FL, Qin Yi Yue (Hu Yi Xuan) that much better to watch. And of course, this wouldn’t be an Unforgettable Love review without the special mention of He Wei Fei played by Lennon Sun who, at his young age, did an outstanding job at being the adorable glue that not only held the main couple together but the entire drama itself.

If you can look past the loose ends and you’re looking for a drama that’s filled with almost every trope in the book with a supersized serving of adorable, then you should definitely take the time to watch this one.

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A drama packed to the brim with exciting and nail-biting storytelling.

For someone who usually shies away from thriller-tagged dramas, I was hooked from the get-go. The story itself is quite fast-paced with each episode brimming with important details and clues (we were shocked as to how “long” each episode felt because of this).

With an easy-to-follow narrative, each plotline is revealed and weaved intricately keeping you on the edge of your seat. You find yourself submerging into each of the characters and the decisions they make.

One of my negatives in this drama is the final episode. Even though it serves as a contrast to the other episodes, it isn’t entirely necessary.

In conclusion, I am so disappointed I took this long to watch it, so if you’re thinking about whether to watch it or not too, do yourself the favour and don’t delay. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

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Alchemy of Souls: The ill-planned side story.

(Please note that there was no way that I could possibly review this season separately from season one as this drama is a continuation of it).

This season was a roller coaster, that’s for sure, and writing this review was certainly challenging for me. From forcing myself to get into the slow start of season 1 to absolutely adoring it and excitedly waiting for season 2, I must say that my expectations were high, yet realistic for this season. All in all, I found that season 2 was well rounded for the little time they had, and they managed to pack the season to the brim where up until the eighth episode, we were still guessing where things would go or how they could possibly resolve everything in time.

For starters, the Hong sisters did an exceptional job at building the Alchemy of Souls world and I was rather sad to see that they were only making 10 episodes for this season. They introduced so many aspects, possible spin offs and unique storylines that could have easily taken this season, to a follow up of a 20 episode season like its predecessor.

There was also a major shift in terms of the story from the first season, and was even pointed out by some, that the posters clearly indicated this by giving an illusion of being action packed in the first season to a more wispy romance for the second. However, as we are introduced to these new and different issues, and seeing the shift in focus from where the story ended in season one, I can’t help but feel they may have missed the mark on certain aspects.

As much as I love a good mushy romance and although we got a happy ending where EVERY character found some form of happiness, the transition into the new season felt messy and ill planned. From the amnesia trope lasting much longer than anyone would have hoped, to the representation of our ever confident and mentally strong FL being downgraded to a helpless damsel in distress. Let’s not forget the anticlimactic reveals of important plot points in the story and the over-dramatisation of the “three deaths” which felt wrongly placed and unnecessary considering it didn’t do much for the story, except shock the audience.

In saying that, I absolutely loved the chemistry between the cast members and thought everyone did a marvellous job at portraying their characters, and the emotions that came with them! Both Jo Jae Yoon and Go Yoon Jung did an outstanding job in terms of their ability to continue the performance of their characters from their original actors, Do Sang Woo and Jung So Min, as well as Oh Na Ra and Yoo Joon Sang making us swoon over their romance, heartbreak and reconciliation.

Another incredible performance to acknowledge and possibly the best character growth throughout this entire drama (season one and two), has to be the growth and development of Jang Uk played by Lee Jae Wook. His performance throughout was fantastic where, as the audience, we were able to feel each emotion felt throughout the story. It’s almost as if the Hong sisters wrote this character especially for him!

All that aside, I enjoyed watching this season with its highs and lows, despite the inconsistencies and questionable moments. The cast, along with the production crew, the CGI used and even the OST were done exceptionally well! One small wish I do have is that we will get to see Go Yoon Jung and Lee Jae Wook working alongside together in another project soon - their chemistry simply oozes out of your screen like warm honey!

x dramafoxx

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Love (the first half) Play

As my title suggests, the first half had me and I was thoroughly enjoying it to the point that I convinced a moot to start watching it ongoing too. The cinematography and soundtrack were brilliant, but I loved the honesty that oozed from the ML (Park Tae Joon - Chae Jong Hyeop) with regard to his intentions and feelings for the FL (Park Tae Yang - Park Ju Hyun) and equally loved the awkward reactions she offered, however, after Ep 8 things felt a little forced and disjointed in terms of plot progression, which in my opinion, held back what the cast could have really done to knock this one out the park.

One of the biggest flaws that got to me was how much power was given to Park Jun Young (Park Ji Hyun) and her mother (Lee Ji Hyun) throughout the drama. In fact, I'm still holding my breath waiting for Park Tae Joon (Chae Jong Hyeop) to healthily release whatever he was holding onto/carrying his entire life because of their behaviour towards him and everyone around them. Practically EVERYONE in the drama enabled PJH and her mother's egos while allowing PTJ (Chae Jong Hyeop) to receive the short end of the stick around EVERY turn.

Secondly, with regards to the above, they could have easily cut down PJY (Park Ji Hyun) and her mother's drama and put more focus on the player's lives (MLs, SMLs and more of the teammates), which would have made an even better and more interesting melodrama plot line, in saying that the other alternative would have been to make the drama shorter, which in turn would have left fewer plot holes and concerns to cover.

It had many other flaws, but those were my two main concerns, which pretty much took up most of the drama. It's a pity because the last five minutes really made for a great ending, I just wished we had some more substance that was on par with it.

In saying that both, Chae Jong Hyeop and Park Ju Hyun did a great job as the leads, but for the love of badminton can someone please give Park Ji Hyun a non bitchy role sometime? I really want to like her at least once! 😅

- foxx

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