Tae In Ho

Review: Sisyphus: The Myth

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Show starts out pretty strong, with an interesting premise, a big budget and a promising cast. Production values are suitably high, and I found the scenes of a dystopian Seoul particularly impressive.

Jo Seung Woo and Park Shin Hye are both solid in this, and they are supported by an excellent secondary cast. When viewed through a comic book, space opera sort of lens, and without too hard of a grip on logic, Show manages to be reasonably enjoyable and entertaining for most of its run.

Unfortunately, the ending was not my favorite thing about Show. Admittedly, your mileage may vary on this point, because what bugs me about the ending might not be an issue for you in the least. If you like the ending more than I did, you’d like Show a lot more overall, as well.

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Open Thread: Dr. Romantic Episodes 1 & 2

| kfangurl

Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Before we get into anything, I just wanted to say, thank you for voting for this show, you guys. Honestly, even though I’d heard lots of good things about this show, I am generally very unmotivated when it comes to watching medical shows. Unless it’s something like Hospital Playlist, that is, heh. So it’s only because Dr. Romantic won the poll, that I’ve found a reason – and the discipline! – to check out this medical drama. And – color me surprised – I’m actually enjoying it way more than I’d expected to. Huzzah! 🥳

I hope you guys are ready to chat about Dr. Romantic episodes 1 & 2! Here are our usual ground rules, before we begin:

1. Please don’t post spoilers in the Open Thread, except for events that have happened in the show, up to this point. I repeat: no spoilers for future episodes please!

We have quite a few first-time viewers among us, and we don’t want to spoil anything for anyone.

2. Discussions on this thread don’t have to close when newer threads open, just so you know! But as we progress through our group watch, please keep the discussions clear of spoilers from future episodes, so that future readers coming to this thread won’t be accidentally spoiled. Does that make sense?

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

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Review: The King: Eternal Monarch

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

This show is very ambitious, in just about every sense of the word. It aims to be this very shiny, expensive, mind-bendy parallel worlds thing, with an epic romance at its center, and it therefore aims to blow your mind and sweep you off your feet, in one fell swoop.

Because Show is that ambitious, though, I feel like it doesn’t quite manage to keep all its ducks in a row, all the way through.

Sometimes it kinda-sorta blows my mind, and sometimes it kinda-sorta sweeps me off my feet, but it doesn’t manage to do either with any degree of consistency.

Ultimately, Show is neither as brilliant as its fans say it is, but neither is it as terrible as its critics say it is, either.

It’s actually not bad, with some slightly hefty lens management.

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Flash Review: Just Between Lovers

| kfangurl

Before I started this show, I had the impression that viewers basically fell into one of two camps with this one: they either really really love it, or really hate it.

Well, guess what, you guys.. I fall kinda in-between. What can I say, maybe I’m a little bit special? Or maybe I’m weird; take your pick, heh.

Essentially, watching this one felt to me like I was eating my spinach – at a time when I was learning to like it, but wasn’t quite there yet. Like, I’d have to tell myself to eat it, coz it had good vitamins and minerals.

Kinda the same thing with this show. I often had to decide to start on an episode, because I found that this show often wasn’t easy to watch. But I also knew this one had good things going for it, and that’s why I kept going.

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Review: Misaeng

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Measured, slow and deliberate, Misaeng isn’t the kind of show that lends itself to marathoning.

Allow it the time and space to demonstrate its unique brand of awesome, though, and you’ll likely find a lot to like. Understated in its plotting and realistic in its execution, it’s the character and relationship moments that really shine in this show – and get under your skin as well.

Im Si Wan is quite the revelation in this, Lee Sung Min is just plain wonderful, and the rest of the cast is pretty fantastic as well.

Absolutely worth savoring.

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