Well written piece on rangers and poorly executed thriller mystery.

The drama did a lot of things well, but failed in a similar number. The plots surrounding the daily work and the challenges of rangers, the team bonding - all done in an excellent manner that made me care about these characters and their struggles. On the other hand, the whole supernatural murder mystery was so mediocre and poorly written, I am surprised it came from the same author as Signal.

What was the problem with the mystery? Starting from the bad pacing - sometimes we had a whole episode focusing on the case, sometimes it was completely overshadowed by other issues and not addressed at all. It never felt like a big part of the overall plot, never made me curious what the truth is behind the past events, nor who the killer is. By the end, when the story was finally explained, all I could think was: ok. It’s not like with the revelation of the murderer everything in the plot clicked into the right place, all hints made a complete picture. We were told close to nothing during the show, so the end fell flat.

What I enjoyed about the drama were the characters. Seo Yi Kang is for sure one of the more exciting characters to watch. Her determination and skill set made me want to root for her. Not to mention her amazing chemistry with Kang Hyun Jo. Being on the subject of the characters, Hyun Jo was such a waste of Joo Ji Hoon’s talent. He barely felt like a supporting character.

That said, the show was carried on the backs of the supporting cast. For me, the fun part has been to watch the rangers just do their work, bicker and interact with each other as they perform their duties. What I find curious - with the majority of the rangers being male, the writer decided to kill the few female rangers we were able to see.

The performance that stood out the most to me was Oh Jung Se’s portrayal of Jung Goo Young. The only storyline that truly made me feel sad, the only character I wanted to see happy, the only part of the plot that I was able to connect to on a deeper level. Yes, I had fun watching others too, but the depth of emotions they were able to evoke in me never got even close to Oh Jung Se.

Production value was obviously high. The shots of the mountain were breathtaking and a true feast for the eyes. Some initial CGI and green screen were questionable, but the use of special effects was better executed later on. Is the show being beautiful enough, though? Technically speaking, I can search for YouTube videos of the mountains and get a similar experience.

Overall, I feel like Jirisan ended on a disappointing note. It did not mix well the realistic approach of the rangers’ experience with a serial killer on the loose supernatural plot. I don’t even want to think about Disney ending with everyone being cured of whatever problem they had.

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Not interesting enough for the frustration it caused. So what to do when it picks up only in the last 6 episodes?

Truth to be told, I had it in my dropped list for a good year before I decided to give it another shot. Why did I drop it in the first place? I did not care about any of the characters. Sadly, till the end, none of the main heroes/antiheroes convinced me to root for them. The true stars and scene stealers for me were: Sun Min Shik, Lee Jae Joon, Jung Ui Shik and Oh Jung Hee, while both Na Yi Ji and Han So Geum felt like undercooked ramyeon with no spice. They were boring, while the other characters were simply fun to watch them redeem themselves or at least bring some dynamics on the screen. I wish the final team formed earlier, because the interactions between them were the highlight of each episode.

How about the plot? Good-ish. The setting of the revenge was quite new. It's still revolving heavily on the good old "fighting for the company" trope, but since they introduced the prison as a framework for the plot to unfold in, it was more refreshing to follow. Too bad the plot was not consistent in these small details. For example, when needed, the recordings from CCTV were important, other times no one cared for them to be seen. These little things build credibility and give the plot a more realistic feel.

What's more, I have one minor complaint about directing and editing that stood out for me in a quite negative way. So Geum flipped people through her back and it annoyed me. First time it was fun, and the rotation of the camera was a clever trick. Sadly, they repeated it a few times and it lost its charm. If you want to present her as a strong woman who can defend herself, give her some other moves. It's as if she practiced this one move for years in self-defense classes. Lady, this is not enough... show me some punches, twisting arms, breaking legs...

What was the OST again? I cannot remember one song from it... I guess it means they were not that memorable. That said, I loved the peeping sound at the end of the episodes. It got me a bit excited for what was coming in the next one.

Overall, it's a fun revenge story, with two main "good guys" being its weakest part.

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Nothing better than starting a movie with a heavy “newspaper” exposition :sarcasm:.

They honestly could not decide if they wanted to be a low budget silly horror or a deep social commentary about the overworked hospital staff and dealing with grief. At the end, everything was just cheap and meaningless and not one plot line was explored nor explained.

Saying the movie is based on a true story is a stretch of its own. Xinglin Hospital did not close down because of an unexplained surge in suicides and people setting themselves on fire. Fraudulent records, medical malpractice, and allegations of wrongful death - typical case of poorly run hospital with overworked staff. They could not deal with legal issues with fragmented ownership over the place, hence they closed it down. Not as frightening as what we saw in the movie.

The plot was sadly not the only weak part of the movie. I always say: if you can’t make good special effects, give up and try to work around it. I’m truly tired of seeing ghost creepy snapchat filters in horror movies.

What’s good? All the scenes that did not have any special effects in them were truly pretty, shot in a nice way, with nicely balanced colors. The acting was also decent. Nothing to be amazed by, but also nothing to complain about.

Overall, it’s just not worth it.

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Train was a nice crime show with a twist of parallel universes. How many times can we watch serial killer killing and detectives trying to find them, before it gets boring? Adding sci-fi elements to the equation, Train stood out among other crime shows, at least in terms of the concept.

It’s a quite fast paced thrill that will keep you engaged till the last episode. Perfect for a binge watch. The writer plays the differences between characters and their relationship in the two parallel universes well, making me interested in their future encounters and the results of them.

While in most cases I complain that the shows are too long and drag, here I would not mind additional 2 episodes, that could be used to ease me into the story and who the characters are. They hit you with some emotional dialogues and scenes at the beginning, but it’s hard to feel anything, when you don’t yet know and connect to the characters.

What’s more, I do believe the writer and director did not use this unique idea to its full potential. At the end of the day, it felt a bit too much like a normal crime show, where the investigation is tough, because they cannot find all the bodies. The parallel universes idea was not as prominent as I wish it could have been.

It’s hard for me to comment on the acting, since I believe many of the characters were simply miscast. While I adore Yoon Shi Yoon in many of his roles, I did not buy his portrayal of Do Won. Same goes for Kyung Soo Jin and Lee Hang Na. Both talented actresses, for me they just did not fit the roles in this show.

Overall, it’s an interesting plot driven story that escalates quickly and does not slow down till the end. While the show is not a groundbreaking masterpiece, it’s for sure a solid form of entertainment. It builds on the idea of the butterfly effect, where one choice can greatly affect not only your future, but also people around you.

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How short horror movies should be made - a perfect depiction of a passing moment in time.

As someone who hates math, this scenario truly felt like a nightmare. Don't know what was scarier - the dead bodies or the numbers on the paper. It also serves as a good representation of the emotional and psychological pressure Korean students need to face in terms of their education - each score might seem like a life or death situation.

The quality of the practical effects was amazing. We see so much poorly done CGI in horror movies in recent years, it's refreshing to see a well done gore in A Function.

It's definitely one of the best short horror movies I have seen. Highly recommend to everyone, as long as you can handle some gore.

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Basic procedural drama.

I would be lying if I said this drama aged well. It’s nothing less, nothing more than a mix of CSI, Criminal Minds and Dr House - one case by episode with little complexity to the story.

The ideas behind the cases were rather interesting, maybe I just prefer a bit more realistic approach. How many crimes related to rare diseases in such a short period of time happen in a small country like Korea?

While the acting was good, the characters themselves were rather poorly written - there wasn’t much to them. Till the end of the show I knew little about a few team members. Even the main characters had not much to offer. Not to mention the weird out of a blue romantic twist at the end - the chemistry was not that throughout the show.

The editing and camera work are dated. It’s truly all done in the style of the old crime shows, but that was given, taking into consideration the drama aired in 2010. I did not mind the old style production aspect, they had a sentimental value for me.
Since the show focuses on rare diseases, it’s inevitable to include some medical jargon. In more modern shows, all the essential information is usually presented in small text boxes - here, they were part of the dialogues - I am not the biggest fan of that approach. The scenes did not flow well when I kept getting Wikipedia quotes all the time.

Overall, I watched the last few episodes at 1.5x and 2x speed. If the show was longer, I would probably drop it. It might have been a masterpiece in 2010, but it does not hold up for 2021 standards.

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Gold quality of tropes and clichés.

Many of us like to say we are done with cold misunderstood male leads and naive and nice female leads, but that’s all a big fat lie. We all just hate when it’s done in a trash way. Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo brings us the best that rom-coms can offer, and I gladly, without any complaints, binge watched the whole show in one day.

Yes, Sakura is loud, all over the place and naive. She is also hardworking, pays attention to details and her patients and knows how to fight for what’s important to her.
Yes, Tendo is cold, mean and stoic. He is also cares for his patients, empathetic and driven. Both leads fit into the stereotypical rom-com characters, but represent more than that.

The chemistry between them was amazing. I enjoyed each and every scene they had together, and wished for more. 10 episodes are just not enough!

While the romance is the leading plot, I appreciated how they incorporated different stories in the mix. Yes, everyone gets paired up by the end, and the good old rule of “no one can stay single” exists here too, but I was not mad about it. I watched it for romance, so the more romance I’ve got, the happier I was.

Now, let's be shallow for a second - Sato Takeru is HOT. I mean damn. Could they get anyone better for the role? No. I died. Few times. My poor heart ain’t strong enough to handle him.

The acting was great. It’s truly hard to pull off a role like Sakura and not seem annoying - Kamishiraishi Mone made it happen. I loved the female lead and I was rooting for her during the whole show. I excused every dumb decision and embarrassing moment coz she was impossible for me to dislike and get annoyed or angry at.

The soundtrack is also a bop. All the songs. I wish they turned up the volume a bit though, coz at times I could barely hear the music in the background...

Any complaints? Not really. There are things that others might dislike, like: it’s over the top and amazingly unrealistic. Some rather serious scenes made me laugh a lot with how dramatically they were filmed and edited. There are some characters added ONLY to create some additional conflict, and bring nothing more to the table. And somehow, I liked these aspects too.

Overall, really good rom-com with great chemistry, likeable characters and a perfect amount of 2nd hand embarrassment.

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Comedy in its purest form, since a good 80% of the whole show were comedy bits and funny scenes, at times adding exactly nothing to the overall plot.

And with that, I would definitely recommend it to people who love shows and movies with comedy as their leading genre - it was funny even for someone like me, who is not exactly a comedy fan. The jokes were rather silly, and did not need much brain power to understand, but that’s exactly what we sometimes need.

Plot wise, I was slightly disappointed about the sandwich structure. The show opens with one plot, then the majority of the episodes focus on the crime mystery, to get back to the beginning plotline at the end. I would appreciate a bit more continuity - if they let Moo Young and Sun Ji investigate Moo Young's past more, as they try to solve other cases. Showing me a board with missing posters is not exactly enough. When I finally got the answers about Moo Young's story, it just did not feel connected to the previous episodes.

Big props to Choi Jin Hyuk for taking a risk and picking Zombie Detective as his project. Overexaggerated and slapstick comedy were not exactly themes anyone would associate with him, and it was hard to imagine him portraying a character like Moo Young. And yet, he truly did this role justice.

Sadly, while the acting was on point from the whole cast, some characters just felt redundant - the whole Sun Ji’s family could not exist and it would not change the plot much. Sung Rok and Wang Wey had any significance to the story only in the last act. Most of the characters outside of the mains and police were there just for the “empty” comedy bits.

Overall, I still had quite a good time, laughed a lot and do not regret watching it. The ending might have been a bit anticlimactic, but the journey made up for it.

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A short and fun piece that jabs at BL genre without going too deep into it.

The show is an easy watch - there is no meaningful message nor constructive criticism towards BLs. What we get are 2 hours of jokes based on the well known clichés. And it's honestly all we needed. Not every show needs to be this complex masterpiece - sometimes we need silly comedy to make our day better.

The characters are rather one dimensional, though that's kind of the point. Most are supposed to represent stereotypical BL characters we usually see. Only our main lead acts outside of this BL norm, which brings lots of hilarious scenes on the screen.

The simplicity is actually the charm here. The characters are simple, the plot is simple, the jokes are simple - and it all fits well. I laughed quite a lot of times - Mob's reactions to his surroundings were just too funny to keep a straight face.

Overall, as long as you don't expect anything more than a silly comedy with funny jokes, you will like it. Granted, this is a show dedicated to BL fans - the jokes will fall flat for people who know little about this genre.

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As someone who is not really a fan of comedies, I had a great time watching Midnight Runners.

Koreans truly mastered mixing comedy with a discussion of serious topics. The hilarious duo of Gi Joon and Hee Yeol made it easier to digest all the unjust and frustrating police procedures that valued following the outdated system over human lives.

The chemistry between Ha Neul and Seo Joon was out of this world. The progression from rivals, to friends, to partners in (catching) crime was perfect, and each and every interaction they had made me laugh like an idiot. Not only that, the whole supporting cast sells the comedy well too. While some jokes might feel extremely silly, they never felt dumb and cringy. It just fitted the presented scenario and who the characters were.

I loved the use of wide shots in the movie. For a buddy cop production, it was quite an aesthetically pleasing movie. I could see that every part of production was well thought through. From writing, directing, set design to audio editing.

Overall, I would recommend it to everyone. It's a fun, entertaining and simple take on the larger issue that is the failed police system and fixation on set procedures in any given situation.

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This barely has supernatural elements if we talk about screen time, but is full of constant abuse towards students. And I'm not talking about teachers calling students stupid or useless. I'm talking about girls being slapped across the face to the point of bleeding.

Taking away the supernatural elements, this could have been quite a strong social commentary. Focused more on the psychological thriller genre, I would say it's disturbing, but interesting. Yet, with the ghost showing up randomly here and there, and the plot being said in a messy, non-linear manner, I just couldn't get into whatever was currently happening on the screen.

Depending on the character, we get completely different movies. Most teachers get the typical ghost flick as they die, the students get psychological drama full of abuse and injustice, and the main female teacher gets a melodrama about her past regrets. And it all just does not fit well with each other.

It's a 90' movie and it feels like one: from the directing, editing, up till style of acting. It's not for everyone. Some would say the acting was not the best, but I would argue it was quite strong. The style is just vastly different from new productions.

Overall... It was neither good horror, nor a compelling and complex psychological thriller. It was kind of there, trying to give a bitter-sweet ending and a set up for sequels. It wasn't boring, but I wasn't that excited while watching it either. The only thing I felt was rage because of all the abuse I was witnessing.

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Rollercoaster of emotions till the last 3 seconds of the show.

The Ghost Bride is a show full of amazing visuals, interesting and engaging characters, curious relationships and entertaining plotlines.

We follow Pan Li Lan, as she tries to deal with all the obstacles life throws at her. She has to work through not only the mortal problems, but gets dragged into the immortal issues as well. She is a strong, curious and positive girl, who strives to find her own happiness and define her own life and goals. She uses her wits to her advantage , but even with all the brain power, she still makes mistakes that make her realistic and relatable character.

Er Lang was the cutest and most loyal boy. He had natural and well paced character development that made me adore him more and more with each episode I've watched. His playful nature and bickering tendencies made his scenes that much more fun and entertaining to watch.

Snape, aka Lim Tian Ching, even though extremely "fancy" and over the top, was still weirdly fun to watch. He wasn't scary or domineering, but with the hints of madness presented, felt quite unpredictable.

Li Lan's first meetings with a lot of the characters were quite telling about who she is, what she can expect from them, and how staying with them would shape her life and her future (more about it in the comment under spoiler). All the characters had some significance to the plot. They make you suspect everyone, but at the same time twist the perspective in the next few scenes, and you are still left in the dark about who is behind it all.

The plot had many twists and turns. Characters I hated, I ended up liking. The ones I kind of enjoyed at first, I wanted to kill. Each new scene and clue about the plot could completely change my perspective and view. It was a story about fighting for others, but also for yourself and your dreams. About surviving, but also sacrificing the things you love and strive for, for the people you care about. It got me invested, I cared about the characters deeply. Some scenes I had to pause because I was scared of what's coming. To put it simply: it had an emotional impact on me.

One thing that surprised me was the comedic parts, which were well placed and truly hilarious. They fitted my sense of humor perfectly, to the point of me rewatching some scenes over and over again as I was laughing with tears in my eyes.

The only problem I had with the show was the last 15 minutes of it. It felt rushed. With how the relationships between all the characters developed and changed, some choices made by few felt just random and unfitting, taking into consideration past events.

The soundtrack, audio mixing, editing, scenography and cinematography were truly top quality. There is nothing to complain about. I took way too many screenshots and it still feels like not enough. The songs had such a surreal and magical feel to them.

Overall, for only 6 episodes, they did an amazing job presenting a fairly complex story with quite a lore behind it. The characters were well written, had amazing on screen chemistry and played off of each other's strengths and weaknesses well. Would definitely recommend it to everyone.

+ additional thoughts with spoilers in the comment under the review.

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Good premise, but the writer tried too much to shock and surprise the viewers.

It's hard to review this show, as there is close to no valuable content in it. There are two massive plot twists close to the end that make the majority of the plot redundant or have the plot have no effect on most of the characters. The stakes were non existing. There was quite literally no character development, not only for the mains, but also for all the supporting characters.

Maybe, if the finale was stronger and had a nice conclusion, it could make the show decent, but the last 4 episodes were painfully bad and rushed. They tried to connect all the dots (there weren't really that many dots to begin with if I must be honest) in the last 15 minutes, so when the show ended I just sat there and asked myself: that's it?

Soo Min was an amazingly annoying character who made mistakes and had to be saved right till the end of the show and, with how the plot was written and structured, it was impossible to actually give him the development needed. He was the center part of the plot and the only one who truly was affected by everything that was going on.

The supporting cast was quite nice, but yet again, all the characters were more or less ruined by that one unfortunate plot twist.

The good? Most special effects and possession scenes were nicely done. The visual aspects of the show were truly good and I enjoyed the soundtrack, especially just the instrumental parts.

Overall, I quite honestly would not recommend it to anyone.

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It was a nice, short survival show with good intentions (except for making money of course).

The Story aka The Show's Concept

I always enjoyed the survival shows that focus on less popular idols, because there is truly no disadvantage for said idols. Their debut does not depend on the show. They can only gain popularity, so the risks are truly minimal (except for emotional distress, but then they will be in the same emotional state if they won't gain the fans anyway...). I don't believe the voting was fair, but I also don't believe it's possible to make it fair, so it never bothers me in shows like that. It makes the watch less stressful and I can truly focus on enjoying the performances

The Acting/Cast aka The Contestants

I enjoyed all the groups. Before the show I was already a fan of Oneus and Pentagon, but seeing how fun the rest of the boys were, it did make me want to check them out too. The best part of the whole show were the interactions between teams and how they were hyping and supporting each other. Sadly, we barely saw it in the last episode, and with that I must say the finale was a let down. While the performances were amazing, I wished to see some reactions from other teams and listen to more of their opinions. Can we also appreciate how crazy witty Jang Jun from Golden Child is? The phone call in episode 1 was one of the most entertaining things I have seen in the past few months.

The Music aka The Performances

I cried. Twice. If anyone likes to be an emotional mess I would recommend watching Pentagon's Shine + Spring Snow performance and The Boyz/Oneus' Heroine one (which also shows how close and supportive the boys are). Other stages that amazed me were: Oneus' Warrior's Descendant and Lit, ONF's It's Raining, The Boyz's Sword of Victory.
The teams that impressed me were Oneus with their storytelling and messages, Pentagon and ONF with the music arrangements and The Boyz with innovative ideas and stunts.

Overall, I think it's a good show that does a great job actually presenting the groups and their strong points both in terms of music, but also their unique personality.

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The unrealistic set up made me not care for the characters, which is probably the worst case for character driven production.

I saw quite a few people praise the movie for the realistic approach to such an unrealistic scenario and I would agree if we look at the big picture. Focusing on one character and how they are trapped in their own home, the lack of dialogues and music, which made the smallest sounds made by zombies that much more noticeable, BUT the devil is in the details and that's what they messed up.

First, there was not enough exposition about his relationship with the family, so when they tried to bring the emotional scenes related to it, I couldn't care less.

Second, they try to make us believe someone can not eat for a good ten days and still have the energy to do anything at all. He didn't even look physically exhausted.

Third, the ending did not fit the overall mood of the movie. It showed all the tragic, gruesome and questionable aspects of humanity, but then they followed it with a Disney ending, why? I think that was the most disappointing part of the movie. Amazingly anticlimactic.

What about the good? As I mentioned earlier, they did a good job in creating this "isolation that slowly drives you mad" feel to it. While the lack of sounds and dialogues annoyed me at first, I started to appreciate it more and more as the plot progressed. The zombies were done in extremely good style, we got a few "gross", but fun scenes, especially between the zombie and Shin Hye's character. That would be it though.

Overall, it was painfully "meh". It had its moments, but overall I almost fell asleep while watching. I did not connect with the characters so the whole movie did not evoke any type of emotions in me, except for frustration.

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