Review

Review: True To Love [Bo Ra! Deborah]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

On the upside, Show presents some really thoughtful reflections about love, relationships, breakups and healing. When Show is in this space, it’s pretty excellent.

On the downside, Show is clumsy at best, when it’s not in that thoughtful reflective space. In fact, some moments are downright bad, not gonna lie.

Yoo In Na and Yoon Hyun Min are both charming in their own right, and the entire cast does a valiant job of delivering on the material that they’re given, but this still works out to be a very mixed bag.

How well you take to this one really depends on how much you like the thoughtful reflections, stacked up against how awful you find the bad bits. Which means that your mileage will definitely vary.

Worth a try, with the right lens – especially if you’ve got a ready finger on the Fast Forward button to help you along. 😉

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Review: Silent [Japan]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Silent is, to my eyes, a pretty special snowflake of a drama.

Compact at 11 episodes, Show manages to pack more meat on its bones than some longer shows.

It’s contemplative, thought-provoking and layered, and I often came away from an episode, chewing on the thoughtful nuggets of insight and wisdom that Show served up.

Our characters are likable, and sometimes their behavior might even lean on the aspirational, “goody” side of things, but the heartfelt writing and delivery somehow makes it all land as believable and organic. I found that quite remarkable.

As a bonus, the music in this is thoroughly enjoyable, and just brings the watch experience to another level.

Very much worth the drama hours, in my opinion.

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Review: Call It Love

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

I feel like the most effective, succinct way to describe this show, is a sentiment that I saw floating around the interwebs; that this show is very much My Mister – but with romance.

That’s high praise, because most drama fans agree that My Mister is a masterpiece of a drama – and I do think that this show deserves that praise.

To my eyes, this is as thoughtful and as carefully conceived, and as nuanced and faceted, and as illuminating, organic and visceral, in the watch experience, as My Mister.

Our entire cast is excellent, but Kim Young Kwang and Lee Sung Kyung truly stand out, as our leads.

As a bonus, the music is lilting and lovely, in a manner that amplifies Show’s sweet melancholy.

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Review: Our Blooming Youth

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show has a reasonably interesting central story to tell, but unfortunately, tries to stretch it out to fill a longer time slot than it really needs, which makes for a rather uneven, meandering and frustrating watch experience.

We do have a reasonably solid cast, among whom there are some very nice bright spots, but sadly, our cast isn’t quite able to rise above the limitations in the writing.

Promising in concept, but quite underwhelming in execution, in my opinion.

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Review: The Heavenly Idol

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

The Heavenly Idol started with a fun concept, which I enjoyed quite nicely, but it eventually felt like Show was a one-trick pony that was trying (pretty darn hard) – and failing – to prove that it had more than one trick up its sleeves.

That one trick is Kim Min Gyu’s heavenly priest struggling to adapt to the idol life, and while that is admittedly amusing, that eventually ran out of steam, and sadly, I didn’t quite take to Show’s other efforts to engage and entertain.

I do have a suggested viewing lens for this, but ultimately, I have to concede that this one’s better in concept than execution, unfortunately.

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Review: The Glory Part 2

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Overall, I’d say that Show is a solid continuation of Part 1 (review here!), so fans of Part 1 should be pretty happy with Part 2, at a minimum.

Show ramps up the drama in Part 2, in service of the revenge at the center of our story, so it feels more fast-paced, intense and, well, dramatic, compared to Part 1. I personally still found it all very absorbing and engaging, despite Show’s slight shift in tone.

Your mileage with the ending is likely to vary depending on what you look for in your dramas – specifically in a good revenge tale – but overall, I’d still say that Show does a pretty solid job.

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Review: The Glory [Part 1]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A darkly polished revenge tale that does a good job of spinning its story, so that there’s an absorbing, cracky quality to the watch experience.

There’s a touch of OTT caricature to the bad guys in our story world, which, in my opinion, makes it easier to hate them and root for their downfall. 😅 Importantly, Show makes it natural and quite easy, to root for our protagonist to achieve her goals.

Show might “just” be Part 1, and therefore not a story that can stand on its own, but it does a very solid job of laying the foundation for Part 2, and making me want to watch that, too – and soon.

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Review: Someday Or One Day [Movie][Taiwan]

| kfangurl

If you guys have been around the blog for a while, you’d likely know that I loved – like, really, really LOVED – 2019/2020 drama Someday Or One Day (review is here!).

It was basically my drama of the year, in my 2020 year-in-review, coz I felt like it was THE best drama that I watched, in 2020. 🤩

So much so that I picked it as a group watch in December 2021 (Open Threads listed here), and loved it just as much, on my second watch.

(If you haven’t seen the show but are now tempted to give it a go, my advice is to go in as blind as possible; you can use my Open Thread notes as a guide, as you watch it.)

Which means that OF COURSE I’ve been waiting for the movie follow-up, ever since it was announced.

The only thing better than finding a show to love, is finding friends who love the show as much as you do, so today, I’ve got Elaine and MC (who LOVE the drama like I do!) joining me for this review.

AND, as a bonus, we’ve also got a special podcast episode, brought to you by some of our friends on Patreon, Michele, Leslie and JJ, who are huge fans of the drama as well, to talk about their thoughts on the movie.

Yay for this turning into a community sort of response to the movie! Thanks for making the time for this, ladies! 🥰❤️

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Review: The Makanai: Cooking For The Maiko House [Japan]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A delightful little show that offers an educational peek into the world of maiko and geisha / geiko, through the journeys of our main characters.

Our protagonist, Kiyo, is so lovely, that I would have been sorry to have missed getting to know her, if I’d passed this show by.

Her friendship with bestie Sumire forms the anchor to our story, and I loved witnessing their friendship and their support of each other, through the good times and bad.

Well worth the journey for our protagonists, while the insights into maiko and geisha culture work out to be a wonderful bonus – even if Show probably meant for the cultural insights to be the Main Event, in the first place. 😁

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Review: Recipe For Farewell

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Even though Show’s premise centers around a character who’s terminally ill, I would say that Show is as much about love and life, as it is about death and loss.

Show’s got an extremely gentle, warm and soothing touch, even as it delves into the various challenges that our characters face, and doesn’t shy away from the hard topics.

In the end, what we get feels akin to gentle, wise lessons on life, perhaps told by a doting, tender grandmother, as she cradles you in her lap, and serenely rubs your back, while assuring you that it’s all not as hard as it sounds, and that you’ll be strong enough for the hard parts, and that everything will be ok in the end.

Thoughtful and worthwhile.

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