March Watched
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
February was the month when I finished a lot of dramas, so March feels a bit empty... It wasn't a month for watching good dramas, though.
What I watched:
Do you agree with my reviews?
First impression: A bit different from what I imagined...
Last impression: Very messy for a short drama.
Synopsis: Hallyu star Geon U gradually crumbles under the pressure of endless sasaeng fans and the entertainment industry. One day, he accidentally gets entangled with college student Jae Yeon, thinking he's a stalker. (Mydramalist)
From the synopsis, you would think that idol life will be shown, while he also gets to know and love Jae Yeon, but it took a different route. The idol life we got to see was two interviews with Geon U. It wants to focus on the brother relationship, but that was also a very small portion of the drama.
The characters are weird one moment, Jae Yeon is described as a protector, but later acts like a child and has lots of aegyo.
There was not a lot of time for the story to develop, and they wasted precious minutes on more unnecessary stuff. One moment, Geon U gets stabbed; it was a bit dramatic, but because there is no time, we don't delve into it.
The main leads are terrible actors. I understand that this is a web drama and you shouldn't expect much (which I don't), but it impacted how much worse the drama felt.
It makes sense, however, because Kim Chan Kyu and Kim Chang Min came from the dating reality show "His Man".
Maybe this drama is for the fans of that show, but if you know nothing about it, "Fan Service" was bad. The only redeeming quality of it is that it's very short and easy to binge-watch.
3/10
First impression: It has not completely struck my heart, but it is quite interesting.
Last impression: It was fun... At times...
Synopsis: Eun Ho is a gumiho, known in folklore as a mythical creature with 9 tails. She is different from other gumihos - she doesn't want to become a human, unlike other gumihos. She enjoys her eternal youth that never changes. To avoid becoming a human, she refrains from small virtues and accumulating bad deeds. Kang Si Yeol is a world-class soccer player. He is the top striker for a famous soccer club overseas. As a soccer player, he accomplished many firsts, and he shines brighter than the club itself. His life is perfect, but one day an unexpected incident takes place. (AsianWiki)
This drama was on a lot of people's radars as they started shooting it, as it was after "Lovely Runner", and everyone was waiting for Hye Yoon's comeback.
What at first seemed like a sweet romance drama, however, turned into something a bit different.
The start of the drama was okay; there was nothing major that would instantly catch your attention, but there were still a lot of things to be curious about. It's always fun to see someone who says they will never fall in love, do exactly that.
But the romance couldn't be blander than what we got.
Eun Ho and Si Yeol had their cute moments, but the rest of the time, there was barely any chemistry between them. If they had decided to stay as friends, it would be very logical.
The story is also very inconsistent. Eun Ho will mention that she needs to do good deeds, but after one or two, they forget about it. What happened to Si Yeol's grandmother?? Does he not want to visit her more often???
Si Yeol's friend group and the eight-tailed fox were the best things in this drama. There is also potential with the plot, but most of the things were deleted to have random dates and push the romance.
I felt no connection with the main characters; there is barely any growth with Eun Ho. Si Yeol did get nicer, but that's about it.
The villains of the story were great. It was a perfect balance between brains and money, but they needed more screentime and felt more threatening to the whole plot.
Also, what is that pink filter in the drama? It was distracting and bothered me the whole time.
6/10
First impression: Oh, it is literally the same plot as "The Manipulated"
Last impression: This was actually entertaining!
Synopsis: In real life, Kwon Yu is just an unemployed man who lives day by day by eating cup noodles, but in the virtual game world, he is the best leader. Kwon Yu is then framed for murder. With the help of hacker Yeo Ui and the rest of his game teammates, he tries to uncover the truth behind the murder case. (Mydramalist)
I watched this to find the differences between the film and "The Manipulated". Surprisingly, it was way better than the drama.
In the movie, everything happens quite quickly; the trial doesn't last long, and Kwon Yu is put in jail as the evidence that he raped and killed a woman was very strong.
There is not much character building in the film. We know that Kwon Yu might have been an athlete, but now he's just gaming all day.
Similarly, to the main character, his teammates don't have much of a storyline either. They're good as a team, but you're not here to stay for these characters; you're here to watch some action scenes.
The villain was quite unexpected, but the actor did a good job. It was subtle and not all over the place.
If you like action films with a bit of storyline, this might be for you. It's interesting to see how Kwon Yu will handle various situations.
8/10
First impression: It helps that the male lead is pretty insufferable.
Last impression: It was disappointing...
Synopsis: One day, a man is arrested by the police on charges of kidnapping two people with disabilities. During the investigation of the arrested suspect, it is revealed that he has murdered innocent civilians in the name of human body testing, and prosecutors arrest him. His name is Lee Woo Gyeom. A medical school dropout, he claims that he can cure all human diseases. He promises to unveil all this perfect medical technology for the benefit of mankind; however, on the premise that he will not be held responsible for the human experiments he has conducted so far. (Mydramalist)
This drama makes an interesting topic of what to do with a killer who apparently can cure any disease. Do we believe him? Do we put him in jail? But what about the people who can be cured?
Most of the drama setting is in the trial, where they argue their points, but everything seems silly.
It is hard to root for Lee Woo Gyeom, which felt necessary for this trial. As the story unfolds, we get to know about his character more, but the only time I felt bad for him was in the last episode, where they finally revealed the whole storyline.
The actors did a great job with what they had. There should have been some character development and more discussion, but there was mostly just very flimsy writing. Nothing seems to matter.
This drama has the potential to be good, but I was not satisfied with how they dealt with the story. It felt like a very one-sided argument rather than a discussion to have after.
To add, the prosecutor was no better with her arguments. I'm on no one's side.
4/10
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