The Trunk

December 30, 2024

The Trunk

I am increasingly afraid to watch the dramas I expect. Only a small percentage of them are good, interesting or simply worth watching. I decided on The Trunk for a few reasons - an intriguing trailer and plot summary, Goblin as the main lead and the female lead from Why Her. He is good, and I wanted to give her a second chance. Unfortunately, the drama was not as good as I thought because it lacked a lot of dynamics.

In Ji works for a contract marriage provider in NM, arranging 1-year marriages for clients. After completing her 4th contract, she meets Jeong Won, a music producer, for her 5th. Jeong Won, still haunted by the pain of his past and missing his ex-wife, Seo Yeon, starts his second marriage with In Ji. As they grow closer, a mysterious trunk is discovered in a lake, unraveling dark secrets behind the NM company. 

The Trunk really went for sad, cold and empty vibes. It all would be fine if the producer wouldn't overstimate his artisness because in many part drama was more of single prolonged shoots than movement and action. The cold colors, emptiness in the houses, beton everywhere and ongoing lack of background sounds are more than enough to establish the loneliness of the characters. There were really bearly any colors in this drama, no sens of softness. I fully understand that the drama was all about that - sadness and lonliness but watching it was hard 😐 I think I'm not the person for this kind of productions.

 From the trailer we already knew these people were deeply damaged but there were deeeeeper wounds than I expected. "The plot is your run-of-the-mill, fucked-up people do fucked-up things and have intense emotional reactions kind of shit. The ex-wife did most of the heavy-lifting here, almost single-handedly advancing the plot with her antics, until the stalker stepped in and took responsibility." This is the best explanation of the drama I could find as myself I cannot say much about it. The Trunk is too weird and odd to me 😕

When it comes to the characters itself, I find them lacking. The ex-wife apart from being pathologically controlling character didn't have any other characteristics. Not much of her background was said just enough to explain her motives but still it was few for 12 episodes and her character came out flat. 

This also applies to the main characters who may have looked good and cute together but had a pretty flat past. Luckly not as flat as Lee Seo Yeon's but it was still hard to connect with their characters. I hope they find happiness as hey bonded quickly over to the crazy shit happening around them but I didn't feel them. I was heavely missing a thread of connection 😑

The only action scenes were with the crazy stoker In-Ji. But other than that it was boring. For this reason, if you like psychological dramas, then this is the way to go, but if you don't like it like me, then I don't recommend this drama.

Apart from the characters and the sad vibe of the drama, the title TRUNK had bearly any role in this show. Only connection there is, is that trunk/box/suitcase symbolizes the main characters' dark past and emotional baggage that she was carrying around. But bringing this allegory to this show was a bit too much. Such symbolism is too high-flown for this production.... oh well...

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Kill Me Love Me

December 23, 2024

Kill Me Love Me

The trailer and the beginning of the drama were fantastic. Strong characters, gripping plot and amazing chemistry between the main characters. The plan was to give us a man who is a walking red flag, a female assassin, a world full of enemies and a budding sexy love will be the ones who should hate each other. Unfortunately, we got the standard court intrigue, siblings competing for power in the palace and martyrdom love.

Prince Murong Jing He of the Great Yan Dynasty reclaims Qingzhou, but after his victory, the city is destroyed by fire. Accusations spread that he ordered the destruction in retaliation for a supposed betrayal, earning him the title of "Butcher General". In the chaos, Mei Lin loses her family and swears revenge. She joins Shadow Works, undergoing rigorous training to become an assassin. Her first mission is to kill Murong Jing He, and she infiltrates his court disguised as one of the Xiyan beauties. However, she discovers that the mastermind behind her mission is none other than Murong Jing He himself.

Kill Me Love Me compared to previous dramas this year is unfortunately rather an average production. This year I published 9 reviews of Chinese dramas, 2 of which were weak and 2 were brilliant, and 3 I abandoned. So it is quite a balanced year for me and Chinese dramas and this drama fits into this trend. It had its strong points - the main actors and the general outline of the series, but the execution and side characters were not as good 😟 Generally the drama can be clearly divided into 4 stages:

    1. Introduction of the outline of the story and the main characters. These are some of the best episodes of the series. Absolutely brilliant presentation of the antagonistic characters, their background and the basis for further decisions. A lot happens but not too much and the drama is incredibly interesting, engaging. Female Assassin and Mr. Red Flag are great.

    2. Development of the plot and characters. The quality of the episodes has dropped slightly because as part of the development of the story too many side topics and additional characters have been introduced. The drama is still good and pleasant to watch but it is getting a bit chaotic. The relationship of the main characters is starting to change.

    3. Turning the series upside down. The series is now reaching about episode 20 and it is slowly becoming unclear who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. The plan of bloody revenge is definitely taking place, the enemies are also lovers but those who were supposed to bring peace got lost. The drama is still ok but you can feel the departure from the general concept. It is starting to go bad.

    4. The ending. The last 6 episodes were a total flop. The ending should be concise and refer to everything that happened during the entire series, but unfortunately the producers decided to go in a completely different direction and partially destroyed a good drama.

What I had the biggest problem with in this series was the inversion of the character's personality and the change in the tone of the series 😡 Murong Jing He starts the series as a tough guy, degenerate and ruthless, but in the 10th episode (1/3 of the drama) he changes from Mr. Red Flag to Mr. Boring Green. And what's worse, by the end he's just a crying boy. A similar situation occurs with the main character. Mei Lin trained for 10 years to take great revenge and avenge the death of her parents and the burning of her city. She was supposed to be a deadly killer... and they keep saving her. Apart from a few cool fight scenes, she is basically reduced to a damsel in distress. The flame of hot love that the producers gave us in the trailer is only 5 (?) scenes in the actual series. The flame quickly fades out and doesn't return to the screen. The 3rd flop. 

I was rather counting on a drama about revenge, not love. I wanted something different than what you normally see in dramas. Unfortunately Princess Royal exploited that theme and that's all I can hope for this year. 

Kill Me Love Me didn't just take place between two brothers and two kingdoms. The latter, the family home of the Princess of Peace, was crazy and crazy to me. I don't know what years the producers were thinking about, but it seemed very low-brow and in the sub it reminded me more of the Maya than China.

For many, the relationship between the princess and the King of the Yan State was "disgusting" but for me it perfectly showed what princess marriages looked like. They weren't like in Disney productions. Often young girls married old-timers whether they wanted to or not. They served more as a stamp or deposit than a person.

Before I got to the real ending of Kill Me Love Me, my ending was the death of the enemy and the next 8 episodes were exhausting to watch. Everything that came after was a complete waste with an absurd breakup and a senseless love triangle. You could easily skip those few episodes and watch the last 2 and you would know the same. The real ending, although very tearful and sad, was surprisingly well done and thought out. Kill Me Love Me is not the best production of this year, it has many shortcomings but it is still interesting and I kind of recommend watching it.

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The Princess Royal

December 13, 2024

The Princess Royal

November wasn't the easiest of months this year, finding Princess Royal was kind of a blessing. Drama was relatively long but worth any minute of it 💛 I might have said it many times but will say it again, maybe Chinese producers will hear me - there isn't many Chinese dramas that have a captivating plot from first to last episode. Most of the time they have too many threads and hardly ever they are all cohesive and bring something to main story. Princess Royal is the exception proving the rule! 

Plot isn't easy but amazingly contructed!

Princess Li Rong and official Pei Wen Xuan got married at the age of 18. They used each other to achieve private goals - she needed him to avoid siding with strong nobles and he needed her to gain power in the society and court. Despite marrying for political reasons they shared some affection. Through a tragic turn of events, that petty feeling died and was replaced by suspicion, politics and other people. For 20 years all they strived for was power, when the blackest of days arrived and they died, faith gave them second chance. 

RongRong and Wen Xuan are waking up in their 18 year old bodies soon before marrying each other once again. This time with divorce in mind after fixing what they destroyed last time.... and that means their feelings too.

Princess Royal unexpectedly took over my days, mind and heart. After finishing The Sword and the Brocade, I didn't expect to find such a good Chinese historical drama. Let alone the cast! Princess Royal hired some really great actors who created fantastic characters. This review won't be long because it's hard to find any flaws in this drama!😅 

The chemistry between the main characters was exceptional 😍 They are the definition of an old married couple - they argue and know how to get under each other's skin because they know each other inside out. Although they love each other, they do it in secret. They are comfortable with each other but there are secrets that prevent them from trusting each other 100%. Their way of showing affection is so similar to my husband and I that it was funny to watch them as a third person.

Princess Royal is full of romance and palace intrigue. It's a story about second chances in life, acceptance and forgiveness, trust and love. The question of who to trust and who really thinks like you is a recurring theme. I was surprised that the emperor hesitated to eat the cookies brought to him by his daughter. I was outraged by his behavior, HOW CAN YOU NOT TRUST YOUR OWN CHILD 😡 But then I thought about it and came to the conclusion that adding poison by someone else was very easy and quick in those days 😟 This realization could have really hurt him 😥 too bad it also hurt their relationship.... No wonder everyone in this palace has trust issues! Loved how leads changed in this subject - in their first life, they were the first to stop trusting each other while in their second life they trusted each other completely.

SPOILER ALERT! 

I guess like many, I wasn't a fan of the last 2 episodes. The Second Male Lead, Su Rong Qing, became more visible in the second half of the drama and I knew even then that he wasn't a positive character. His passive participation in the Princess's murder was heartbreaking 😭 I thought he truly loved her, that even though their story was twisted, his feelings were real and he was protecting her. But it turned out he was playing a double game and was just hiding his frustrations behind mediocre feelings. The character of Rong Qing was fantastically played and I applaud the actor for creating such a multi-layered character. Nevertheless, he was annoying and frustrating to watch 😬

I'm starting to get carried away in praising the drama so I'll stop here and just say that the plot and characters are great and the whole thing is fantastic. Princess Royal jumps into my top 10. This is a drama closely comparable not only to The Sword and The Brocade but also to Alchemy of Souls and Reborn Rich. It's a brilliant combination of love, intrigue, tragedy, finding happiness and accepting reality. I wouldn't change a single minute or character 💛

I'm currently on episode 5 of another Chinese drama - Kill Me Love Me, which I already know will be at merely half as good as for this one 😬

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Perfect Family

December 08, 2024

Perfect Family

Life is not for watching bad and uninteresting dramas. My character is quite difficult, I am stubborn and watching dramas until the last drop of blood 😬 I recently decided that I will no longer grind dramas for months if I don't fully feel them. First episode is boring and not exactly attractive? Let's see if the second one is the same, if so bye-bye. If it's still maybe then I'll check with the third one and then definitively decide. I try to quickly get rid of uninteresting dramas, and The Perfect Family is one of them 😐

The Perfect Family is one of the few dramas I found through YT's Shorts. I had seen a few snippets and thought the plot was interesting. I knew the main actress from another drama, as well as a few other characters. I didn't know the actors playing her parents, but I had read about them, so I was sure about this cast.... that's why it was so hard for me to accept the fact that it isn't as great as I would like it to be 😪

I watched 3 episodes, I really tried but Park Ju Hyun was not convincing. I gave her a chance over and over, I even moved on to the next episode... but no. This is not her character. This is not her drama. She was plain, boring and unfitting 😐 Because of her, the other actors also came off weaker because they looked like they were pulled from other productions and forced into being here. Choi Ye Bin also tried, and although she was also a nutcase in The Penthouse, she didn't quite succeed here.

Overall The Perfect Family is boring. It has weird bursts of action that seem to finally introduce some explanation, action, movement....anything to shake things up. It doesn't 😩 Maybe it shows up later, but I'm not going to wait 4+ episodes for it to be introduced. This is not how drama should be created.

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Virtuous Business

November 27, 2024

Virtuous Business

"So that sex and sexiness will stop being shunned and marginalized to the black market", a paraphrase of the words of the founder of the first lingerie and adult toy store in Seoul. Although Korea is still far from Western trends, it's still hard to think that 30 years ago, bed and bed-related topics did not go beyond home mattresses 😵 Virtuous Business presents the beginnings of the sexual revolution in Korea in the 1990s and the best thing about it is that the beginning is in the hands of the prudish Han Jeong Suk 😆

The first thing that caught my attention to this drama was the main actresses. I know each of them and I felt that combining them with such a plot would be something fantastic. My hunch did not disappoint me and 12 episodes were not enough to enjoy them. At first, apart from the plot itself, the most interesting thing for me was watching Kim So Yeon as an average and poor woman. So Yeon is best known for her role in The Penthouse where she plays a famous opera singer who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals 😍 She is crazy, menacing, elegant and cold as ice. I went crazy about her because she created a brilliant character there, but in Honest Business she is the complete opposite. Throughout the first episode I was getting used to her warmth and cordiality 😅 such a change only confirms one thing, I will watch every production with her because DAMN! she is goooood!

Lee Ju Ri also turned her previous character upside down. In The Young Lady and the Gentleman she was an absent-minded young woman who may have known what she wanted, but she knew how to fight for it. She was not my favorite character there, while here she was very great, colorful and determined about what she wanted 💜 On the other hand, the middle ladies from the poster, Kim Sung Ryung and Kim Sun Young, played leading roles for the first time here and crushed it! I don't know which Kim I liked more... but I identify more with O Geum Hui played by Sung Ryung. They were always in the background, here they ruled 😎

 When it comes to character creation, their backgrounds, diversity and development, Honest Business is simply brilliant. From the main female group, through the detective and their husbands to the ladies in the grocery store. I LOVE IT. Of course, there are a few characters that make your blood boil but not because they are poorly played, quite the opposite. An unfaithful husband, a cheating wife, a horny gardener... although their stories are far-fetched, they are still enjoyable to watch.

The only thing I didn't like was that around episode 7, all the attention fell on the detective and his story. The next episodes had less and less to do with the main topic - introducing adult toys to the South Korean market. I was hoping that the series would focus on this instead of focusing on family tragedies and romance 😕 Because of this, the drama deserves at most 8.5/10.

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Why Her?

November 14, 2024

Why Her?

I'm much as I'm sad to drop this drama because I was really looking forward to watch it, as much I'm happy to let it go. Why Her? was one big "too" for me 😓 Too slow, too boring, too predictable, too long, too simple... I was pushing ... and pushing ... and pushing myself on each following episode hoping that maybe... maybe this time it will re-catch my interest 😕 First 3 episodes were pretty interesting and engaging. The story seemed to be complex. Actors were good too. WHY IS IT BAD THEN?

... Because it was too streched and had too predictable "twists". I usually enjoy 16-episode dramas more than the shorter ones but here I was wishing all was closed in 8 episodes. 

.... Because the script was too simple and too poor for what producers wanted to show. The story got boring very fast. Basicaly in first few episodes we can deduct who did it and how. Maybe not why but when I jumped to pre-last episode story basicaly stayed at the same level as when I left in episode 6 😤

.... Because everything took too much time and the romance was totally unnecessary. Au contraire to drama's tempo, the speed of teacher-student relationship was hyper fast. Leads were kissing at school without any proper background and it did not even seem that the main leads were in love. Fake to the bone. Why Her? might have been more interesting it the romance wouldn't take place 😑

Never ever expected to be let down by a drama so much. Even Hwang In Youp was boring here. What the fu** 😓

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Judge From Hell

November 04, 2024

Judge From Hell

I haven't been here a bit longer than I would like but that's only because I haven't been able to finish any dramas lately 😐 Recently I dropped Serendipity Embrace and Why Her. I noticed yesterday that second review didn't get published so it will be just after this one 😅 I'm still struggling with Perfect Family because I don't like the main character but the content is interesting so I'm going to continue 😉 I started 2 Chinese dramas - Princess Royal and Kill Me Love Me and the first one is brilliant, while the second one is getting interesting. There will be a lot of content is December as I also started Brewing Love with my husband! November might be quiet tho 😅

And now it's time for the star of the evening - Kang Bitna as Judge From Hell.

Kang Bitna has just been murdered. She suppose to end her journey here but instead of getting to heaven, she accidentaly reaches Hell for murderers. Justitia, who should have listened to her story and decided whether she should really go to Hell, did not care about her plea and sentenced Bitna to an eternity of torment. The mistake did not escape the attention of Bael, the ruler of Hell. He punishes Justitia for sentencing the innocent and force demon to live as Kang Bitna on Earth. She must find ten murderers who are unrepentant, take their lives and send them to Hell. If she won't be able to reach the quota in 1 year, Justitia will vanish forever. From day one new Kang Bitna is changing her image and way of ruling. People do not like her anymore. Especially detective Han Da On who is persistant to find why she changed. 

Before watching Death Game I would not have thought that a drama with only 8 episodes could have so many famous and great actors (apart from the main one of course.... bleh). Judge from Hell may not have as many as Death Game but their combination created a truly brilliant drama. It all starts with Justitia who is first played by Oh Na Ra (known from Alchemy of Souls) and later by Park Shin Hye. This lady needs no introduction! She is known, she is pretty and talented AND for the first time DOES NOT PLAY A CRY BABY! 😈 I was shocked hearing that Shin Hye will play a demon and will have to kill. I was like "Nope, that ain't happening. This will be a flop." and I couldn't be more wrong. Her innocent look with splashes of blood was a pinnacle of entertrainment. Just wished Oh Na Ra would show up more in the later episodes 😐 that actress is so gorgeous...

Then we have a male lead - Kim Jae Young. He is not new to this market but since last few years he playse more and more main characters and I must say I really like his way of acting. I very much liked him in Love In Contract, is character there was very well developed and I was hoping till the very end that Park Min Young would chose him over Go Kyung Pyo 😤 he developed since then as in Judge From Hell, he has shown more diverse emotions and body language. 

Who never heard of National Grandma? Kim Young Ok is I think the oldest actress I have ever seen on screen besides Betty White and Maggie Smith. She is 86 now and she is killing it. It is impossible to not to love her, she is too good in what she's doing. I mean Young Ok is acting since she was 19 years old so even if she wasn't good at it at first, now she is an icon 😇

Yang Kyung Won is known for millions of supporting role. It's impossible not to know him from hits like Crash Landing On You and Vincenzo. But here, by the performance in Judge From Hell he crushed all his previous performances. That character was amazing! He was amazing! I was sure Yang Seung Bin was crazy and bi-polar. The fact that it was an acting inception, blown me away. Although his character was gruesome, he played it so beautifully 😮💚

Last but not the least - Bael, played by Shin Sung Rok 😍 Unfortunately, I only know him from Last Empress where he played the degenerate king of Korea in our current times. I only liked him halfway through the drama and only after thinking about his character for a long time did I appreciate this series so much. I was incredibly relieved to hear his voice as the ruler of the underworld and I would like to see him again as a main character... maybe it's time to watch Doctor Lawyer 😏?

We already know perfectly well who is playing here and how great they did it. The drama has a very good pace, practically zero dragged scenes, a good balance between funny and sad moments that do not detract from the darkness of the whole. I won't say I would like more scenes with Bael and the underground, but what we got was very good.

The main villain, the one who notoriously killed and was one of the main backgrounds, is a completely sick person. I watched the drama with a friend, and from the very first scenes we both knew that something about him stinks 😠 that something is wrong with this family. Years of watching k-dramas have taught us that businessmen who meddle in politics and drugs are not to be trusted. There has never been an exception to this. Jung Tae Gyu is one of the sickest characters I've ever seen in a drama. She can easily join the Death Game lunatics. As my grandma used to say... the road to hell is paved with them.

The drama was based on demons and murders, and that was the undisputed leader here. The romance was pushed to the side, which is a shame because demons in sexy scenes are always...interesting 😉 Or at least that's what Lucifer taught me 😈 One thing I didn't understand in the drama is that hell is subordinate to heaven and that Satan, Bael and the Devil are not the same person.... that one of very few minuses I found. Hell could be a bit more explained.

As for me, there is no way that someone could dislike this series. Well, ok... unless you don't like supernatural and religious themes 😅 Then I'll understand that it's not your cup of tea. But other excuses won't work on me. 

PLATFORM DISCLAIMER: If you are like me from Europe, forget about watching this in recent weeks on DisneyPlus. Even though it is advertised to be available, it is everywhere but not on this continent. I had to scout for the episodes on YouTube and DailyMotion before Disney found it and blocked. GOOD LUCK!

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Serendipity's Embrace

October 22, 2024

Serendipity's Embrace

My main plan for creating this blog was not to only write reviews but write them honestly. What I felt while watchin, what I liked and disliked. Be critical. I very much like MyDramaList platform, everything is there about any drama. But there is also too many good reviews about dramas that were less than mediocare 😬 70% of reviews are more or less positive and the ratings rarely drops below 7/10. Frequently dramas that I didn't like or dropped had ratings of 8/10 and are loved by many... Of course, opinions are subjective and everyone likes something else. This cannot be disputed, but I am often struck by the question "what could these people like about it?"

Serendipity's Embrace fully joins the club "what the hell do people like here!?". I literally struggled with it for 5 episodes and the next 3 are going to the trash. I literally was half-asleep watching this drama and bored do death 😣

 Eventually I had to check the reviews.... Serendipity's Embrace doesn't really have very good reviews on MyDramaList but it does have high ratings which is the worst combo 🙈 In my opinion there is no action here, the drama is incredibly slow and boring. Nothing happens here!

The characters may have a background, their past decisions are explained but the scenes of the main couple are all MEH. In Love Next Door you could see the feelings, you could see the embarrassment, you could feel the stress and excitement. In Serendipity's Embrace there was nothing 😤

I can't even think of recommending this drama. I wouldn't say to avoid it completely but like Donna! It's definitely not a production that should be recommended to others....and definitely not to "beginner" k-drama watchers 😣

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Spice up Our Love - an unnecessary spin-off

October 13, 2024

Spice up Our Love - an unnecessary spin-off

I haven't watched such a pointless spin-off in a long time. I don't know why the producers decided to create something like this. When someone decides to make a spin-off, they have to decide what they want to convey. Spice up Our Love was supposed to be an addition to the story of the supporting characters from No Gain, No Love, but it became a laughing stock for Han Ji-hyun and Lee Sang-yi 😞

The concept of throwing the main characters of the drama to the world of the book was a huge mistake. Especially when there is no order of information and the summary of the No Gain, No Love series just was thrown at the viewer. If I hadn't watched this drama just few days ago, I would never have figured out what was going on.

The general content was all over the place as well. For most of the first episode, it was unclear what was happening and who was who. Producers could have go with 2 options: making few episodes and give time to viewer to immerse OR use the concept and create a new drama with different characters. If a secondary couple is unusually popular then Goblin and Touch Your Heart are a brilliant example of how to use this situation. These are 2 separate series with completely unconnected stories but using 2 actors and the general character of their characters in a new show. Gloomy Grim Reaper = sad lawyer, cheerful Sunny = joyfull actress. Ideal. 

 Spice up Our Love had a fine concept but the execution was tragic. As much as I liked Nam Ja Yeon & Bok Gyu Hyun in No Gain, No Love, here they heavily underperformed.... So it you liked the OG serie, do not even try to go after the spin off. Forget it exists.

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No Gain, No Love

October 10, 2024

No Gain, No Love

I'm trying to maintain a new rhythm and punctuality of writing. New season, new me? Almost because the new me is busy with the change of season at the store and I'm shuffling boxes of deliveries. But! I managed to finish another drama with my bestie. My husband is not ideal for this job, he doesn't like love dramas. Well, he does, but... my gay friend understands it more and better 😎😍

No Gain, No Love was not an obvious choice for me. Although the lead actress is one of the most beautiful in Kollywood and the lead actor is a very good up and coming star, their story in this drama did not appeal to me. It was only when a friend encouraged me to watch it in its third episode that I gave the drama a chance.... because friends are made to make you do thinks you don't feel like 😂

Son Hae Yeong is the type of person who doesn't want to lose money under any circumstance. While growing up, she had to share her mother's love with others. She often found her partners in relationships below her break-even point. Now, Hae Yeong faces the possibility of missing out on a job promotion at her workplace. To avoid such a loss, she makes a plan for a fake wedding. She recruits Kim Ji Uk to be her fiance.

Ji Uk works part-time as a cashier at a convenience store. He is the type of person who can't ignore people in need and tries to do the right thing. He is smooth with every customer at the convenience store, except for one person. That person is Hae Yeong. When she suddenly asks him to become the fake groom at her wedding, he somehow accepts her offer.

No Gain, No Love even though was good, will definately not reach the pinnacle of my drama ranking. Drama felt short and haist at the end. There was too many characters introduced for just 12 episodes. Producers didn't think it through. When opening so many doors there must be or more episodes or second season (not lame 2-episode spin off, but this will have separate post....😤) if not, there is no possibility of achieving success. I'm not saying that successful dramas can't have multiple main characters, multiple plots, or few episodes. Almost all of my top ten fall into those descriptions, and as for short dramas, Death Game or Thirty Nine are perfect examples of how you can achieve something great with a drama under 8! eps. No Gain, No Love falls very short (😉 you see what I did there?) in comparison.

The concept of a foster home and the perspective of a child who "belonged" to that home was unconventional. I wouldn't have thought of it. It was a bit far-fetched but not impossible to happen in real life. Shin Min Ah created an interesting character who went from a rebel to an almost exemplary office worker. Both she and Kim Young Dae played typical for them. She beautiful, who succeeds in everything, he always marked by fate, unwanted and tormented but still full of love. For both of them it was not the role of a lifetime. Hometown Cha Cha Cha once reached the pinnacle of quality and acting 💚 I would compare No Gain, No Love more to Moon In The Day where there was potential, something interesting but it turned out so-so. 

In addition to the main couple, there are also 2 side characters, but they did not meet my expectations. The characters of the step-sisters themselves and how they perceived relationships and love were very interesting, but they did not appeal to me as a whole. Maybe if the drama had those 4 more episodes, I would have been able to warm up to these brunettes by the episode 16. Unfortunately with what we got it was too difficult 😐

In closing, No Gain No Love had potential but the characters/actors and script/producers didn't click. It kinda lacked a bit of substance, some development and much of ending .... the drama had the seeds of a soul. It might not look like this but all in all I still liked it 😉 It is definately better than Why Her? but in the same time I was watching Love Next Door and these two dramas couldn't disperse more 😅 I'm far from being thrilled but No Gain No Love was enjoyable to watch!

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Love Next Door

October 01, 2024

Love Next Door

It's been a while since I've been here! Finaly I can take a breath and sit down. Last (almost) 2 months were full of travels and overhours. Of course I had not only a break in writing but also slow-down in watching. This month after all I can come back to being a good k-obsessed-girl 😅

Moving on to the drama.... 💜I love it💜 and I devoured it. I want more dramas like Love Next Door! 

There is basicaly nothing to complain about 😆 This drama was so wholesome that I won't be able to speak about any bad approaches nor bad actors. Everything was here terribly good. Before though I go to the review and basically praising Love Next Door😅, I have to shortly say what was it about. 

Choi Seung Hyo, Bae Seok Ryu and Jung Mo Eum are friends thanks to their mothers who know each other for 40 years. Their children had no other way than spending time together. Choi Seung Hyo's and Bae Seok Ryu's mothers are each other BBFs and wanting or not, their kids spend most of their childhood together. Seung Hyo grew up to be very known young architect in Korea and recently he oppened the architecture firm "Atelier In" in his hometown. For Seok Ryu growing up was also a smooth sail. She was always energetic and best in everything. After graduating from university, she was hired by a large company in States. One day Seok Ryu shows up in Korea and declares breaking up with her fiance and quitting her job. Noone knows what is going on, she says nothing....

 

I adored how they showed producets decided to make love growing in Choi Seung Hyo and Bae Seok Ryu without their actual knowledge. Seung Hyo played constantly annoyed by her, almost despiting and purpously avoiding. Seok Ryu was constantly tormenting him, amusing and annoying. Folrever children on a playground 😅😍 their love evolved with them through any life stages until they were mature enough to face it. 

Jung So Min is my favourite actess. Ok, one of few favourite ones but still on the top 😇 Ever since I saw her in Because This Is My First Life I cannot skip a drama with her. Monthly Magazine Home is still on my watchlist but The Smile Has Left Your Eyes will never have a place on my TV because of Seo In Guk. Nevertheless, So Min has a special place in my heart because she is a great actress. Jung Hae In caught my eye in Something In The Rain but after that I haven't seen him on screen. I defintely see his improvement in acting and look glow-up 😁 he was already then a good actor now he moved on to great one. Snowdrop is aparently a cry drama therefore I might skip it 😒 but Connect will jump in at the end of this year. 

Two great actors created a fantactic couple. I adore their scenes together although they would not make a living of "adult" moments 😂 these two are too inocent and do not have the zing for steamy parts. That's it for nitpicking.

Although drama is meant to revolve around Seung Hyo and Seok Ryu but they are not the only amazing characters/couples in here. Love Next Door is full of lovely stories. Those two love-bird come from 2 completly different households - respectively first one is filled with achievements but lacking emotions, second one lacks money but not love. Once again Jo Han Chul created an amazing character! This man will never stop suprising me and getting more of my love. Wherever he is, he steals the show 😎 he and his wife are adorable but the parents of Seung Hyo are more those whom me and my partner are more likely to become 😜 To be honest those families were more interesting to watch than the main couple because let's be honest, we all knew that Seung Hyo and Seok Ryu will end up together 😅

Last but not the least is the most beautiful girl in k-drama history. Kang Yeon Du is just adorable! Can't wait for her development on screen! Story of her father and future mother is wonderful. I didn't expect them to become such an interesting couple as they turned out to be at the end. The producers surprised me... although maybe it's rather Shim Ji Yoo's doing 😆😅

Love Next Door was doomed to success based on its actors alone 😎 No matter what the story of Jung So Min and Jo Han Chul was, it will pull it off, and the rest of the actors helped them pull this drama really high. Although I focused mainly on the actors and their performances in the review, of course I didn't miss the important topics presented in here: life-work balance, overworking, social pressure .... all these elements were fully conveyed. I'm always happy when dramas show how certain occupational diseases can be and that you can protect yourself from them.

I give Love Next Door 8/10 points because there is no character here that I would hate. It can't go higher because there was nothing innovative here. Its a heartwarming drama with fantastic acting 👌

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