A drama filled with clichés that were executed horribly

It was painfully repetitive.

The ML and FL were dry as hell and desperate and I didn't care about them whatsoever.

The rich friend was also irritating because she spent the entire time desperate for a relationship just to realise "he was there the whole time".

I did like the story of the other friend and her love interest because it felt realistic but that made it all the more sad (for the most part). I wish it could've been developed better because it fell into the same routine as the leads where there's this back and forth of her telling him she's not good enough and then him saying he doesn't care about her struggles because he loves her, then they break up and get back together. Her story with her family was developed well but their relationship wasn't which is disappointing because they were the only couple I liked.

I get that the relationship of the leads was supposed to be realistic but it wasn't. It was this constant cycle of her confessing and him rejecting. And once they were together, there was a lack of communication. When he was away for that one year, they both messed up their relationship because all he did was ask her questions that a distant relative would at a wedding, and she was too afraid to tell him that she wasn't happy with the relationship and then he felt that she suddenly broke up with him. I don't mind the fact that they broke up but there was no communication or indication that she wasn't happy in the relationship.

And the love triangle? unnecessary. I didn't care for the other guy at all and tbh, he was boring. The 3 in the love triangle had no chemistry and I don't know why the 2nd guy was pining so hard when she obviously wasn't reciprocating the feelings.

Additionally, why was the FL so angry with the ML after spending so much time away from her? I understand that he was annoying when he moved back there, but why was she always drunk calling him and getting angry before that? Didn't he do a good thing by not forcing himself to be with her because he didn't see her like that? He rejected her, unlike when she started dating the other guy when she had no real interest in him.

I feel like it could've been good for the leads to have a convo in which he goes into detail about his fam a bit more to help her understand why he's so indifferent and a jerk. But tbh, I sometimes felt his feeling were uncalled for and he acted out so much instead of confronting them like an adult. That's a running theme throughout this drama: acting like they're still in school.

Also, they got together in the end, but who's to say they won't make the same mistake again?? Their entire relationship was based upon misunderstanding and a lack of communication but how have they suddenly realised that they're going to live happily ever after....?

Lastly, did the characters even like each other, or was it just because they had no chemistry? The 2nd guy seemed to only like her because she reminded him of his ex who left him for his brother. The FL seemed like she was holding onto her school experiences with the ML because it felt like she didn't like him. And ML just smiled more at the FL when they were together and his jerk trope was overdone. I've seen other dramas where the ML was a jerk and cold-hearted but the ML in this was written terribly.

Overall, I hoped that they wouldn't end together. The drama was also too long considering there was so much repetition, so it would've been better at 12 episodes. The last two episodes especially were a drag.

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Interesting premise, and mostly good execution!

It was cool! I had DNF-ed psychopath diary but the ML's execution in this drama was great. I also like the FL and the side characters were all relevant which is something I look for in a good drama.

The plot was also well-paced. I know some say it was rushed because it was only 12 episodes but I prefer it like that. Once one major plot point had been revealed, you were already moving on to the overall case so you do need to be careful not to lose track, or else you might get confused.

I think both the plot and characters were superb and it was all realistic (despite it being sci-fi) as intentions were made clear and there was a justification for actions.

I have seen some critiques on how there were plot holes and how the characters weren't realistic for police officers as they were emotionally motivated at certain points, but I think it allowed for a catalyst in order to keep the story moving. But it sometimes doesn't make sense when certain characters aren't reprimanded when they make silly mistakes as a police officer that could be life-threatening (which they do become at certain times) but I've seen this done in other crime dramas, so I'll look past it.

Overall, I did enjoy it and it was a quick watch as it was only 12 episodes. It may be confusing for people who aren't as familiar with sci-fi, but I've had plenty of experience with sci-fi so it was easier for me.

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A good remake

This is a solid remake. I know it's originally based off of a Spanish movie, but I've only seen the Korean one. So, first things first, in terms of the two, I definitely recommend the Chinese version.

This film felt purposeful. There is a motive to wanting to tell this story. If you wait until the end, there are some comments made about how women constantly feel unsafe living alone because of the possibility of bad things happening. And this film chose to help audiences understand this.

In terms of the plot, there was a lot. The Korean version felt a bit too obvious, But this version had quite a few red herrings, and there were so many people the main character (not the audience) could trust. The stakes were higher because of this.

Additionally, it was actually quite terrifying at times. Just thinking about the possibility of being in her position is enough to make anyone scared. And this film really captured that. At times, you see her do small things to make it seem like there's a man home because she already felt unsafe. And despite that, she is still targeted.

All in all, it achieved its goal and in my opinion, was a successful adaptation that didn't follow its Korean counterpart

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The 5283 beginning service

It was great and that's all that matters lmao

It was nice to be reunited with these characters again, despite feeling quite different from the first season to the point that they almost felt like different dramas.

I do think that the beginning two episodes weren't amazing at setting up the season because I did find myself a bit confused with what happened. But episode 4 was HILARIOUS.

I don't think the running storyline throughout wasn't really compelling enough for me at all times, and there were certain things that I was expecting that didn't end up happening which is ok. To be fair, it did feel slightly less dark and I doo feel like I've seen certain storylines in other kdramas specifically, e.g. the cult week episodes.

Still a solid season with characters I still love <3

ps don't take this review too seriously, I just want to make my mark to able to remember that I watched this as it aired.

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This is so exciting!!! As an exile/LDH fan and nctzen, the idea of having them cross over is so cool to me. And even after watching it, the fact that I saw Yuta in the same frame of so many Japanese actors and singers and dancers who I also like was hard to believe. And Yuta did a really great job as Suzaki.

So, without being bias, I will say it's my favourite film out of all of them. Seeing all of Oya High together and friends was the best part for me. And of course, Kazuma's character (Fujio) is as friendly as ever which makes him endearing to watch.

I also think the character stories for Amagi and Suzaki was unique compared to other friends in this franchise. Suzaki especially because you can see in his actions and gaze that he's conflicted about a few things. And the overall message that is conveyed, mostly about friendship and unity adds to the story.

The directing and fight scenes have also gotten much better and it was really cool to see the transitions from one fight to another. And the OST was also so great, I really need to add all these songs to my playlist.

After months of anticipation and excitement, I can proudly say they they exceeded my expectations!

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I'm not going to bother with a synopsis because I'm not sure what to write. The best I can give is: a guy who's trying to get re admitted back into a weird cult-ish elite group.

You're pretty much just thrown into a world where there's gamblings and even weird murder games. The backstories are not particularly fleshed out, which is fine because it's a 2 hour film, but I would've liked to have seen more about Yokohama Ryusei's character's backstory.

One fault(?) I would like to point out is that it was too predictable. There wasn't much tension or suspense because of that. This film can be compared to many other dramas and films and those all have much higher stakes and had a much more interesting execution, for example, the card games played.

Not really sure how I feel about the acting to be honest. It was ok but sometimes felt like characters were doing too much to come across as cool. The blonde guy was cool though.

I have no recollection of there being any music but there might have been.

This might come across as a negative review but I still had a fun time watching the film regardless. The card games were fun, especially seeing Yokohama Ryusei's character calling other characters a liar. So, it's a fun time regardless!!

One last thing to add: I need more of Yokohama Ryusei with this hair style

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You know those dramas you love, but admit aren't perfect, but still give a good rating to?

Yeah, this is one of those. I watched episodes 2-15 in these past 4 days and was so excited for today's last episode. And was I slightly disappointed? Yes. But do I still love this drama? Absolutely!!!

ps. This is not an actual though out review. I just want to make physical proof of my feelings after finishing this so that I can look back on this later. I may re-watch this in the future and write up an actual review in the future though

****WHY I LOVED IT***
- love being in prison. loved prison playbook and one ordinary day for that setting. and it was the same with this
- love seeing a married couple (that didn't involve infidelity). Flower of Evil showed that
- an amazing antagonist. Not the typical rich and powerful guy who is trying to cover up his scandals. It's a guy who wanted a revenge but became evil because of it. And he also used his connections to become powerful.
- lowkey loved gong jihoon. (I saw another person call him the only winner and they're so right lol). He got the happy ending he wanted and didn't have to kill someone to get there (i don't think...)

****Some things that have me slightly confused:****
- thinking back, changho could have been anyone, right? wasn't he chosen on a whim because he was "incompetent". Also, at the end of the 1st ep, they made it seem like he was going to have a really big shift in character. And when that didn't happen in ep 2, I thought he was going to get shot in prison in his head and then it would mess with his brain and then his personality would change (because that is possible and it has happened IRL). So essentially, changho just had really bad luck which causes him A LOT OF PAIN - including his freaking wife dying!! OMFG
- the blood tests. Miho gave the fakes to Jihoon, but for what? He gave them to the elder but I'm not sure what impact they had
- the real serial killer son. He was mentioned at the end in regards to the autopsy, but that's it. And how the tf did they just let a serial killer run around America without being worried he would repeat certain actions?? He was never shown either.
- also, Changho got the old man in the care home released, but where did he go?
- where tf was Miho's funeral?? They could have made it 10x sadder is they showed EVERYONE (including the gangsters and even Jihoon sad and grieving at her funeral). And then, they'd have even more resolve to defeat Doha. and it was a bit sudden. like. she only got exposed to it ONCE. she hardly lasted longer than the boy who has probably been exposed to it multiple times
- and they just resolved everything in black and white montage at the end?? are you kidding? where was the satisfaction? the vincenzo killings at the end were satisfying. This? not so much. I was watching the last ep and kept checking how long was left because it was so rushed all of a sudden
- oh, and something about the way they killed off the OG Big Mouse pisses me off. He was doing this to avenge his daughter, and I don't think he got the justice.
- same with he guy who died at the start who wrote the paper. and also, that guy who killed his wife...wtf? I was waiting for him to panic and tell everyone but he didn't. And they didn't even find out that Doha helped cover the murder
- I just think there was a lot of unnecessary deaths, or at least when they died
- not really important but I don't see why miho quit her job at the prison. she probably could have gotten more info from continuing to work there

***
despite there being so many confusing things (and I'm sure there's more), the bad DOES NOT outweigh the cons. Still loved this. It also became a bit of emotional support for me, so maybe that's why I love it so much. I might also keep adding to this as I think of more things

Overall: 9/10

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Another high school survival film - a genre of its own that I never seem to get bored of.

It's a pretty self-explanatory concept - a bunch of kids are locked in school where they must do their best to survive.
Yes, it's relatively predictable, and doesn't necessarily offer something new that hasn't already been done, but it's still interesting and a fun, mindless watch. Of course despite this, there is a lot of gore. So be mindful if it's not your thing. Especially since most of the deaths are by suicide.

The cast did a good job, with some actors playing roles I had never seen them do, which was refreshing to watch. You don't find out too much about the characters' backstory, but their individual personalities are made quite clear, and you find yourself aligning with certain characters and rooting for them.

Definitely something to give a try if you're interested in this trope/genre and like the actors.

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because this is my first life: Sexism, misogyny, and discrimination against women in the workplace

After completing BTIMFL for the second time, I became aware of the reoccurring theme of the treatment of women, especially within the workplace.

The opening scene features a narration of the FL (Ji Ho, played by Jung So Min) explaining how she grew up in a patriarchal household, where she was pretty much ignored and disregarded. Her freedom never came to her until she was much older. In fact, her father only really shows an interest in her when she says she is getting married.

The FL has to go through various situations in which she is treated horribly by her male coworker, which leads to her other coworkers defending him and supporting him, rather than siding with the FL, the victim. This causes her to quit once she realises that they would have just continued to use her and discredit her. She has no voice within her workplace simply due to the fact that she is a woman.

The 2nd FL (Soo Ji), played by Esom, also has to experience similar discrimination with her being a female, along with the fact that she has a stigma around her for her personal choice to be sex-positive and not committed to relationships. The judgment she faces is addressed in a conversation with her romantic partner, in which she explains the hypocrisy of being a woman and the double-edged sword that is constantly pointed at her regardless of the choices she makes.

We also see their mothers who have sacrificed their own happiness for the sake of their daughters, and in turn, their daughters who have been able to have a better life. The FLs are able to realise how much their mothers have done for them, thus making them closer with them as they are able to appreciate them.

Admittedly, the other FL, Ho Rang (played by Kim Ga Eun, was quite annoying during my first watch due to some of her selfish choices. However, upon my rewatch, I can notice and understand her and her actions. To her, the traditional route of becoming a housewife is what she desires. In a scene after a school reunion, we see how she feels less than her school peers who are married with children. Struggling to get by with little money, she aspires to get married and settle down in order to not feel so inferior. Her pride holds onto the idea of one day being able to settle down, and constantly boasts about her long-time boyfriend, yet struggles to be upfront with him and tell him what she wants from their relationship. Hence why some of her decisions come across as selfish and ignorant. Additionally, there are a few scenes in which both she and a coworker are criticised by a male superior, further perpetuating the idea that she is less than and worthless even.

These characters all display how the patriarchy invites hypocrisy and condescending behaviour due to the choices made by women. Whilst these characters are able to be happy in the end, the sexism they face continues. Despite the 20th and 21st centuries showing the change with laws, enabling women to have a bigger presence within the public sphere, attitudes towards women remain the same from a macro perspective. BTIMFL is a great example of this, which is why I highly recommend this drama. The actors all showcase their characters uniquely, showing the different sides to adulthood, the workplace, and romance.

11 07 21

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A Quick and Refreshing Drama Incorporating Covid

Kitamura Takumi has once again delivered!!

He plays a character who has hardly left home due to the pandemic, but somehow ends up trying to solve a missing person's case. It all starts with him being a typical (but quite creepy...) internet sleuth which many of us can probably relate to (albeit his determination is probably different from most of ours).

It's short and sweet and refreshing. A quick watch for anyone who likes a bit of a mystery and enjoys the technological element of it, especially since his character spends a majority of the time in his bedroom at home. In fact, a lot of his communication with other characters happens over video calls and messages which can be quite comedic at times.

Definitely give it a try if you want something short but interesting to fill your time.

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Eh...

The show actually started off pretty entertaining and it was fun. But then it fell short due to something a lot of Chinese dramas do - drag out the episodes. Over 30 episodes? It's too much. The first third was engaging. The middle was a letdown because of how boring and slow it got. The characters also became gradually more annoying and went through the opposite of character development. The endings of the episodes also became underwhelming and I had no desire to continue watching the next episode because of how dull they ended. The last third improved but still lacked the excitement I felt when I first started watching it.

Apart from the pacing, my other criticism is the characters. Firstly, I just didn't care at all for the side characters. None of them were intriguing and they added no contribution. The ML became more annoying. His female friend would constantly bad mouth the FL in front of her and behind her back to him and he didn't defend her. the FL can obviously fight her own battles (which she did), but that was HIS friend. And she was always coming in between the two for petty reasons. The ML showed a lack of emotion when the girl he liked was being insulted and demeaned right in front of his face, but you best believe he got pissed when he saw her took to her male friend. This male friend was the only character I cared about but most of his scenes were dull, however. He did like the FL but he never acted on that or made her feel uncomfortable (unlike the female friend following the ML around).

Now, my problem with the FL. Why was she trying to act like a therapist? First, she and the model FL went out of their way to find out something personal about the ML. They went behind his back because he wouldn't tell them, most likely because he didn't trust them. So clearly finding something out about him that he didn't want them to know would only decrease the amount of trust he had for them. Then, she tried to tell the ML to move on from the trauma that's been following him for a decade. She's a fashion designer, not a therapist. And she also has no right to tell him when he should move on. If she genuinely cared about him, she should encourage him to seek professional help.

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This was disappointingly bad...

The premise is that Japan has made sex illegal. That's it. It's only been 15 years, I think, since this law was passed.

Truthfully, I can't really think about one positive comment to make about this, so I'll just pass on this for now.

The drama follows a high school boy being exposed to underground sex. Essentially, a place where people go to have sex. It kind of reminds me of Love Whirlpool since they just hump people (sometimes strangers) all in one room. The nudity isn't too much, in my opinion, and I just tended to skip over the scenes. A lot of the slightly sexual scenes, particularly the ones with the ML are very awkward, for obvious reasons, since this is all new to him. I do feel bad for him though; his crotch was grabbed a lot by a bunch of different people - including adults...

The story. Well, Japan does like their quirky stories, particularly the ones which involve sex. But this just fizzled out. This could have given a better commentary. I did find it weird that the adults didn't really question why sex became illegal, and I thought that was really weird, to be honest. Instead, we have the ML's mum shaming him over a wet dream. It isn't until the end where we find out why it's illegal. I don't have much to say about the reason, because I really don't remember it.

There was also a bit of sexual harassment and assault which I don't think did much. It felt weird that it was being included in a story about illegal sex without there being a clear distinction between the two.

So yeah, I didn't like it.

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Unfortunately, this did not deliver...

I'll do my best to break it down.

CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS

For the ML, I was underwhelmed. I feel like I've seen Seo In Guk in this comedic role one too many times with litttle to no development. And the thing is, his character HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL!! He was a CRIMINAL PROFILER!! They could have done so much with that but the writers underperformed. He was funny but a bit dopey. Also, he was supposed to be able to fight but hardly ever did...? And was just a scaredy-cat most of the time instead. But he really pulled off the shamanism and took his job seriously and was quite funny at times.

And speaking of underperforming, the FL... What was going through the writers' minds? In recent years, there seems to be this conflation between strong female leads and annoying female leads. Because oh my god, was she the epitome of annoying for the first half of this drama. She constantly abused her position of power as a cop and was always hitting the ML. Physical abuse is not cute. And it doesn't make her cool or quirky. I will say that girlie is getting a lot of hate and they're dropping just because of her but I don't think she's the worst part of this drama (which I'll discuss later). But yes, I do agree she's been written poorly.

And the relationship between the two? Well, the first half consists of her abusing him and just being mean af to him. And then, we are expected to ship them. It felt so forced because they wasn't any chemistry between them. They were established as enemies (despite having the same goal)but they failed trying to do the enemies to lovers trope because she spent so much time doubting him and not believing him. Instead, they should have had more playful banter if they wanted us to be able to ship them despite being "enemies". But with me being me, of course I'm going to start rooting for them. I can't not root for them. It's instinctual.

And for the side characters, I didn't care much for the characters as much as I did for the way they interacted. The Café Minamdang crew were hilarious!! The really kept the drama going with their chemistry.

PLOT
I don't even know what happened. One minute I knew what was going on, then suddenly, it became like every murder plot. To be fair, it wasn't exactly like that and I'm definitely over exaggerating. But I felt like we (the audience and the characters) weren't really get anywhere as I watched each episode. I'm not even sure how the story progressed. And it felt a bit lacklustre because even though we were aware of certain things, there was still a lot not explained for most of the drama so I found it hard to stay connected and interested. It would have been much better if there was some dramatic irony where we knew something major that the characters didn't. It would have created so much more suspense and would have kept the drama engaging. For example, the victim was a bit mysterious. We know exactly who it is but there wasn't enough tension built around why. The motive was unexplained for the most part.

It did have a strong start. It was entertaining and fun despite the characters being annoying. The middle became lacklustre even though the characters finally became tolerable. I frequently found myself just waiting for the drama to be over. The last four episodes is where things picked up and I was genuinely having a good time. But I'm not going to be annoying and tell you to tick it out and watch it despite the negative comments. You can make the decision yourself based on whether you think it's worth it or not.

And the writers did try with the romance and I guess there was supposed to be comedic relief but I don't think it was timed well. I'm not sure how to word this part well to be honest. The best way I can explain is that the comedic scene would be in the same scene as a very serious topic. And even though they weren't making fun of it, it's obvious they were trying to relieve tension. But I just don't think it worked. It would have been better if they changed the scene and setting and then made a joke I think, because it sometimes felt ill-timed and even inappropriate. But for the most part, I did like the comedy.

This is definitely a show that could have done with just 12 episodes. Cutting out the middle fluff would have made it more exciting. For example, they tried to make it kind of deep towards the end (raising questions about morality, injustices within the police, etc but it felt out of the blue). If they had tried to do this early on, then it would have made sense and would have been more unique. Instead, we got an over the top plot at the start and an action packed end, and it didn't really balance out well.

OVERALL
Not the most unique drama. But what it does having going for it is the shamanism - the most funny scenes in my opinion. I'm sad to say that I do think that it underperformed in many aspects and was just very weak overall. Not sure I'd be able to recommend it to anyone unless. I personally only watched it for SIG. My rating comes to 7 right now only because of the lat four episodes, otherwise, it probably would have been a 6.5

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To be honest, I don't fully know how I feel about this film.

The concept was quite enticing, but completely predictable. I already knew what had happened and also how it was going to end quite early on. And it was quite on the shorter side. I do think they could've tried to expand it just a bit and made it slightly longer. And even though I saw a lot of it coming, I was still very interested to see whether it would end in the way I had predicted.

There was quite a bit of symbolism that I did not understand. There was a blue feather which the MC does explain, I just don't remember what he said about it. There's also a painting involved. And I'm sure if I knew the painting, I would understand the film much better. There was also some stuff around motherhood from two different perspectives - a mother, and someone who doesn't have a mother.

Some moments/things I want to mention:
- towards the beginning, the MC says something like, 'your otaku son is really weird yanno. He only ate curry. Who does he thing he is, an Indian?' It caught me off guard so I had to rewind it so I could laugh for a two minutes straight. (I am ethnically Indian btw)
- +1 for the otaku son having the same DS as me
- +1 again for the otaku son's mother crocheting in the film. I had my own project next to me so I picked it up so we could crochet together lmao, but we hold our hooks differently.

I found it quite uncomfortable at times, but I liked that. But it wasn't out there enough for me, personally, I enjoyed the process of watching it, but I don't have much to discuss beyond that.

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This was slightly more boring than I was expecting. I was expecting the thrill to be more closer to Door Lock (2022) where the FL is really worried and suspicious of people because of the weird things happening to her. Instead, the FL was just more confused so it made her more vulnerable and for me, boring.

The antagonist's actions were also a lot more tame than I was expecting. Without spoiling it, I just think they could have done more crazy things once he had access to the main characters' devices.

I do like that there was a plot twist that wasn't related to the current stalking situation. It was pretty interesting, but I don't think there was enough build-up towards it to make me feel invested and interested in finding out the truth.

Truthfully, I was only interested in this because of the upcoming Korean adaptation , but once I saw the cast, I was a lot more excited to watch it, and I did think it fell flat, unfortunately.

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