Review: Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born

December 8, 2024December 6, 2024 | kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Given that Show is, at its heart, an homage to pansori and gukgeuk, it is surprisingly approachable; ie, you don’t need to actually already know or love pansori or gukgeuk, to enjoy this one.

The underdog theme running through, the characters and relationships, and the excellent performances of our cast, make this easy to get into – and then the pansori / gukgeuk education comes as a bonus.

Show isn’t perfect, but it manages to be engaging and absorbing, in spite of any flaws, and on balance, I liked this very well.

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Review: A Virtuous Business

December 2, 2024November 28, 2024 | kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show has its cheeky side, but honestly, that cheeky side doesn’t show up all that much, once we get into the meat of our story.

Rather than a story about a business involving lingerie and adult accessories, this is a story about our core characters’ personal journeys, and their relationships with one another.

I do think that Show is a little uneven in terms of how engaging it manages to be, but it is heartwarming in general, and does deliver on some very heartfelt moments which I genuinely enjoyed.

A reasonably solid and enjoyable watch, on balance.

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Review: The Judge From Hell

November 24, 2024November 20, 2024 | kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Given this show’s title and promotional material, I’d expected this story to be all about rogue justice, meted out by our titular judge from Hell.

However, I’m happy to say that while there is rogue justice in this, our story is actually very much focused on personal journey, relationships and community.

Additionally, Show has an unpredictability about it that makes for a watch experience that keeps you guessing, which I personally liked a lot.

As a (big) bonus, Park Shin Hye is in her element as our judge from Hell, and it was fun watching her have fun, in the role.

A solid ride, all in all.

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Flash Review: You Are My Lover Friend [China]

November 18, 2024November 13, 2024 | kfangurl

One of the drama lessons I’ve been learning lately, is that second chances can be very rewarding, and that is absolutely the case, with this show.

I’d checked out this show’s first 4 episodes, while auditioning dramas to cover on Patreon, and had picked The Judge From Hell instead, because that show just struck me as being much more watchable and engaging.

Normally, when this kind of thing happens, I often don’t end up watching the show that I didn’t pick, despite my best intentions, and it honestly looked like this one was in danger of being left by the wayside for me too.

But then, I recently decided to go back to this one on a whim, while casting about for a new drama nightcap after finishing Perfect and Casual (review here!), and I ended up enjoying this one very well, you guys.

See what I mean about second chances potentially being rewarding? 🥲

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Flash Review: 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days [Movie] [Japan-Taiwan]

November 17, 2024November 17, 2024 | kfangurl

You guys. I was not prepared for how much this movie is lingering with me, long after the ending credits have stopped rolling. 🥲

I mean, the minute I watched Show’s trailer (which I’ve included at the end of this review), I knew that I wanted to watch it.

Not only do I have a bit of an unreasonable affection for Greg Hsu because of his wonderful outing in Someday Or One Day (review here!), the trailer made this whole movie look so poignant and thoughtful and good.

Even so, I was not ready for how my mind continues to swirl with thoughts and reflections, after finishing my watch, so much so that I feel like I need to write this review, because my gut tells me that I’ll be unable to focus on anything else, until I put my thoughts about this one, into words. 🥲

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Review: Romance In The House

November 10, 2024January 29, 2025 | kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

If you enjoy family dramas but tend to be short on time and therefore can’t commit to a 50-episode family drama (coz that’s the length they tend to be, historically), then this one could work really nicely for you.

It’s a little rough around the edges like most family dramas tend to be, and it also manages to serve up the slightly chaotic, warm family feels that come from the type of family dramas that I personally enjoy.

An investment of just 12 episodes, to get family drama type feels? Not a bad deal, I’d say. 😁

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Flash Review: What Comes After Love [Korea-Japan]

November 3, 2024October 30, 2024 | kfangurl

When my sister came home to visit in early October, she picked this show for us to watch together, and since we hardly ever get to watch shows together, with her living in a whole different country and all, this was a rare treat.

..Which means, fair warning, that I might be more biased than usual, in my estimation of Show’s enjoyability. 😁

Full disclosure: we watched episodes 1 through 3 together, because that’s what was available, and then, after Sis left, I completed episodes 4 through 6 on my own.

So I guess that helps to balance things out? 😁

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Review: Like Flowers In Sand

October 27, 2024October 28, 2024 | kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Our drama world might appear really tough, rough and gruff a lot of the time, but underneath all that loud bluster, there’s a lot of sincerity and wholesomeness.

That sincerity and wholesomeness comes through many of our characters and relationships, but none more than Jang Dong Yoon’s character, Baek Du, whom I consider to be the heart of this story.

A drama journey that I consider to be warm and worthwhile, despite the side of murder mystery.

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Review: Love Next Door

October 20, 2024October 20, 2024 | kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

The drama worked out to be a pretty mixed experience for me.

In short, I thought some of the arcs dealing with familial relationships were truly excellently written, with certain beats making me feel particularly seen and understood. 🥲

Unfortunately, I felt that some arcs, including the OTP arc, were unevenly handled, and I found certain portions quite underwhelming.

Overall, I do think that this could be a pretty enjoyable watch, with some lens adjustments – which I’ll talk about next.

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