Review: Extraordinary Attorney Woo

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show takes the idea of what it would be like to have a protagonist who’s on the autism spectrum, and yet, who’s got savant-like brilliance in the law, and gives it all a wholesome, warm, almost treacly sort of shine.

Park Eun Bin is, hands-down, THE star of the show, bringing her character Young Woo to life, down to the smallest quirks and ticks. I found it worth watching this show, if only to see her excellent performance. 🤩

Show does feel more uneven in its second half than its first, and therefore the watch experience can feel a bit patchy at times.

But, Show still works out to be a pretty easy, feel-good, heartwarming sort of watch, given the right lens.

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Spoiler Zone: The Princess’s Man Episodes 1 & 2

Open Thread: The Princess’s Man Episodes 1 & 2

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Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Thanks for joining me for this epic journey that is The Princess’s Man! ❤️

SOME IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS, before we begin:

ZERO SPOILER POLICY

1. We will be adopting a ZERO SPOILER POLICY for this Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point.

The spoiler tags don’t work in email notifications, therefore, please take note that WE WILL NOT BE USING SPOILER TAGS FOR THIS OPEN THREAD.

ANY AND ALL SPOILERS WILL BE REDACTED to protect first-time viewers in our midst (although, I’d appreciate it if you would save me the trouble of having to redact spoilers, heh 😅).

This includes, but is not limited to, how characters &/or relationships develop, later in the show.

We need to protect the innocent! 😉

SPOILER ZONE

2. HOWEVER!! If you’d like to discuss spoilers from a rewatcher’s point of view, I’ve created a SPOILER ZONE for you, where you can discuss all the spoilers you’d like, without the need for spoiler warnings. You can find it here!

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️

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Review: A Dream Of Splendor [China]

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

On the upside, Show is gorgeous to look at, and features two beautiful leads in Crystal Liu and Chen Xiao.

Best of all, our leads are both strong characters in their own rights, and who also share a lot of crackly chemistry; y’know, the kind that threatens to leap off your screen and slap you in the face. 🔥

On top of that, Show is a proponent of female independence AND female friendships. How rare! 🤩

On the downside, Show loses some of that excellent dramatic tension in its second half, which can be a damper. I also didn’t jive so well with Show’s sense of humor, a lot of the time.

Still a very solid watch overall, though. Watch it for the leads, if nothing else. 😁

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Review: Alchemy Of Souls

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show works out to be a solid homage to the xianxia genre, while still managing to be its own thing.

And, as its own thing, Show manages to stick to its internal mythology, while mixing its more dramatic arcs with spots of comedy and levity, and remains interesting and engaging, all through its 20 episodes. That in itself feels like a writing coup, credit to the Hong sisters.

Our cast is generally strong and varied, and I especially enjoyed the performances by Lee Jae Wook and Jung So Min, which I thought worked to ground the emotional beats in particular.

A very enjoyable ride from start to finish, and here’s hoping that Part 2 will remain just as good.

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Group Watch: What shall we watch next?

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Thanks to those of you who expressed your interest in continuing with the group watches here on this site.

Like I recently announced, we will continue with the group watches, but with some tweaks.

Basically, we will have only one group watch at a time, instead of two, and we will decide via discussion, with me making a final decision, rather than via a poll.

Here’s our brainstorming post, so that we can discuss what we should watch next, as a community.

As promised, here are some initial ideas, feel free to let me know what you think, in the comments!

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Review: Shining For One Thing [China]

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THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show might look like a typical high school story on the surface, but in reality, this works out to be a love story, and a pretty epic one, at that.

Less about time travel than its premise might suggest, Show is more about growing up, and learning to love both yourself and others.

And the epicness of the love story creeps up on you in the best way, so that one day, you’re just gobsmacked by how stirring that love story is, even though you didn’t see it coming.

Our leads Karlina Zhang and Qu Chu Xiao both do very well in their roles, but I have to confess that it was Qu Chu Xiao’s turn as shy steadfast boy Zhang Wansen, that really stole my heart in a big way.

More worthwhile than it might first appear.

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Early Access: Love Like The Galaxy Episodes 1-2, 3-4

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Hi everyone!

Today, I thought I’d share my episode 1-2 and 3-4 notes on Love Like The Galaxy [China], because I’m happily lapping this one up, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me? 🤗

These are my episode 1-2 and 3-4 notes, exactly as they appear on Patreon, ie, without screenshots (I’m saving those for the actual review).

I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you’ll consider joining us over on Patreon, for the rest of the discussions! ❤️

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Open Thread: Autumn’s Concerto Episodes 31, 32, 33 & 34 [Final]

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Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! This is the final one! Thanks for watching this one with me, you guys. ❤️

And, I picked this screenshot to headline our post, because it’s one of Show’s iconic moments, brought full circle, now that we’ve gotten to the end. I thought that was a nice touch. 😃

SOME IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS, before we begin:

1. There will be NO SPOILER ZONE this week, because this is the final Open Thread for this show.

2. I will be putting up a brainstorming post next Saturday, 10 September, where we can discuss what show we’d like to watch together next.

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes; have fun in the Open Thread, everyone! ❤️

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