It's really good, still cant believe it overtook CLOY but it deserves the praise

I was hesitant to watch this show about a married couple, netflix preview made it seem boring so i avoided it for a while. I eventually gave it a chance and i'm really glad i did. The family drama had me intrigued from the first episode. Is this better than CLOY? absolutely not imo lmao. But, it's good. Really good. Queen of tears definitely made me tear up a few times, its an emotional exploration of what happens when tragedy strikes and people who dearly love each other drift apart. I figured it would be full of misunderstanding cliches but honestly its not. Its full instead of raw emotion, scandalous liars, and smart MCs who regrettably each deal with heartache in different ways and drifted apart. Yes this is the story of how they come back together, but its more than that. Highly recommended to watch, although CLOY is still my fav haha.

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Moderately entertaining but she's so dumb it's infuriating

I did enjoy this drama as i stuck it out through the most horribly written main character i've ever seen anywhere. I think this drama had a lot of potential, but they made the female lead so completely dumb that it really kind of ruined the show. Im not talking about a FL who follows tropes and is quirky and cute but dumb. This FL instead deliberately made disgustingly awful choices throughout the entire series to the point at times it enraged me. She's supposed to be a med school grad, you'd think she could have a smidge of common sense but no, she can't do anything without the help of the ML. I was honestly just glad it was over.

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Disappointing Otome Isekai, with extra cringe on the side.

WHO RATED THIS A TEN???

Okay, I am a sucker for Otome Isekai, especially those where the MC is reborn as the villainess character. They are one of my favorite subgenres and I would like to think I have watched enough of them to be a bit of an enthusiast. However, this drama was not it for me. The plot is that of a typical mediocre otome isekai story, MC transported to another world into the body of the villainess in her favorite book series. I did have high hopes for this series as the plot description caught my attention. However, the storytelling just wasn't there. The writers made the weirdest choices, and it felt like honestly they were just asking Chat GPT to give them conflicts and character depth. Not to mention, the FL gave me so much second hand cringe. Her acting was so bad, it was difficult to keep watching. I felt like my skin was crawling as I watched her attempt to portray this character, it fell flat and she just seemed like a goofy moron who made the worst choices possible, and needed the ML for everything. (A departure from typical really good villainess otome isekai which is female-centric with a powerful FL.) In her defense, the character isn't that great to begin with, and the script was also really bland. But also, she's just really, really bad at acting. There was not a drop of chemistry between her and the ML and I wondered how they could even end up together. To be honest, it felt like they were more friends than anything, and sometimes felt like she didn't like him at all despite what she was saying. His acting was so much better than hers though, so the balance was off as well - it was like he held all the chemistry and she was just goofy and oblivious, nonchalant and uncaring. The special effects were cool, the music was pretty decent. I will never rewatch this. I barely slogged my way through it the first time.

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Complete waste of time

Vagabond is okay. It's a typical action/thriller series: explosions, gunfights, scheming and corruption at the highest level of government. I actually liked vagabond for the most part, until i reached the end. The ending left a bad taste in my mouth for many reasons but the most obvious is that it was a disgusting cliffhanger. I like my k dramas tied up neatly with a bow on top by the end. This show left so many loose ends and plot holes. It is a show withoit a conclusion. In the description of this show on netflix, it says basically that a stuntman and govt agent team up to uncover corruption when his nephew "disappears". They should make a correction, he doesn't disappear - he dies. I don't believe i would have watched this if i had known that going in. But i still decided to give it a chance, and for the majority of the show i enjoyed it. They introduce heavy themes of grief and revenge. Words cannot express how completely unsatisfying it is that none of this was resolved. They could have wrapped this up in 4 additional episodes, and it would have a completely different reception. Instead, no revenge is served, the baddie is still on top, the MCs are not reunited, etc. This show was produced in 2019 and it is now 2024 with no second season on the horizon. Not even a whisper of a 2nd season. So no, i can't recommend this drama unless you like colossal wastes of time. I feel cheated and it is irresponsible to make a show with a 2nd season in mind unless that has been confirmed. Dont waste your time -trust me when i say game of thrones ended better than this.

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This is a perfect underdog story

I really loved Itaewon class. It's been a while since I watched it but there are many memorable moments in it that come to mind. It's not my typical genre of drama, but I am so glad I watched it. The plot is about a young man who has been wronged by the world, but picks up the pieces of his life and creates something spectacular. His grit and determination never waver, helping him find success in the most difficult of circumstances, up against an enemy much more powerful than he is. He is also a kind and compassionate young man, fiercely loyal to his friends even when they also cause much trouble for him. This makes them extremely loyal to him, and no matter what anyone does to this poor young man he always bounces back and his hard won success was truly a joy to watch. It's really well written and I can't praise it enough. Every single character in this show has spectacular depth and motivations. The ML was fantastic, I will now watch anything with him in it. Seriously, even if your typical favorite genre is romance, give this one a watch. I really think you'll like it.

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Pirate twink sadist courts abused former slave girl

Yeah I don't know who wrote the review that I read before watching this, but it was complete nonsense. The story is good, it's good enough that I might consider watching it again in a few years. Basically the premise is that this pirate twink who is obsessed with revenge for his family meets the enslaved pearl diver. She's a slave that escapes her circumstances and sneaks on his ship. After he puts her through some more horrific abuse for a while, she joins the convoy and the story goes on from there. I think it's ridiculous for the audience to be expected to understand someone like the pirate twink, and forgive him for the cruelty he showed this former slave who already endured so much hardship and cruelty. This is not an appropriate romance lmao. Our victim, a typical abused girl, is convinced she can fix him and shows extreme loyalty. The FL is always a fantastic actress, I have always enjoyed watching her portray characters. This story is one of resilience, determination, and success despite having the odds against you. Around the midpoint of this drama, I had to take a break. Some seriously emotional events happened and I had to actually struggle to find the will to keep watching. I truly was so close to dropping this title because of it, I think a lot of these things were done for shock value and it could have certainly been written in a better way. But despite that, I am glad that I finished it and I think it was a pretty decent story.

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A story about the power of mutual love and trust

Only when you have the power to move mountains, can you change your fate. That's what the old man tells our FL. She desperately wants to avoid the mistakes from her previous life. And so she embarks on a journey to conquer the intimidating ML, a man who became so obsessed with revenge it ruled his every choice, action, and thought, and save the kingdom along with her loved ones. This story is really good. Chemistry between the actors (leads and supporting) was absolutely top notch. I didnt give it a ten because of various plot holes, and near the end I wasn't really feeling the villain or their motivations. I got bored until we got our time skip and then I was invested again. They take the time to neatly tie up loose ends, which I really appreciate. I thought the FL was awesome, I loved her character. She is smart, witty, driven and determined. She cherishes her friends and allies, going to great lengths to lend a hand when they are in need. She even has compassion for the antagonists.

One of the reasons I've rated 9.5 instead of 10 is because of the antagonist themselves. Some of them are alright but one in particular I had a big issue with. His motivation was flimsy and actually didn't make a lot of sense. But I can forgive that because of all the good things about this show. The ending felt kinda rushed but also made me a little bored.

Other than that, I thought the show was well-written and performances were spectacular across the board. I'm always a fan of time travel fix-it dramas, and while this one isn't as good as the princess royal (in my opinion), it's still really good, and has probably the best ending out of any chinese drama I've seen to date.

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True Beauty is an excellent adaption!

As with all Manhwa to Live action adoptions, if you are looking for an exact copy, you'll be disappointed. However, the writers definitely captured the essence of the source. There are several moments where I was like, hey, that happened in the manhwa! And while many things are very different, the story is mostly the same.

This drama is great even if you aren't a fan of the manhwa. The characters are so full of depth and have their own motivations, the drama branches off into B and C plots, and it takes you through an assortment of emotional topics such as grief, abuse, betrayal, suicide, bullying, etc. Some parts were so cute and made me laugh out loud, I loved the references to other dramas (shout out to goblin) and then other parts had me nearly in tears. I would definitely recommend this to others.

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They had us in the first half, but it went downhill from there

This drama started off great. I was invested early on and the jokes were hitting well. However, it felt like a new drama after the ML left the widow villiage. I trusted other reviews which said this was an intriguing drama. I regret it. The pacing of this show went incredibly slow. It was so frustrating at times to watch these characters fumble over every single little thing and have no chemistry or communication. You know how a lot of k-dramas start off with misunderstandings but as the characters bond and begin to trust one another, the leads can then work together. This drama drags out the misunderstandings between the MCs for a whopping 28 episodes. There are only 32 in total. So the viewer is left with only frustrations and no reward for trudging along. They made all these characters as dumb as possible when this story could have went another way and been really good. The stupid antagonist wins and gets what he wants after commiting heinous and atrocious acts. Then he suddenly just gives up his motivation entirely, which was actually paper-thin to begin with. The king held on to those misunderstandings until the final 10 mins of the very last episode. Completely annoying and stupid characters just incredibly frustrating and lacking depth. Also, the wedding being all windy?? Why?? What was the reason to make that choice for the story? It makes no sense. In conclusion, you might want to skip this one. It is not a hidden gem, it's just a turd. While I can admit the first half was kind of decent, the rest was straight up garbage. This writer is a good example of why AI is taking writing jobs.

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All they had to do was create a cohesive narrative with decent production...

I am a huge RGG fan and the yakuza series is near and dear to my heart. Now that being said, this series got a few things right, and a whole lot of things wrong. the actors did a pretty good job. nishiki's actor and majima's actor really brought their respective characters to life. in fact, majima was the highlight of the entire series. he was perfect.

the story - I knew it was going to be a departure from the games and was prepared for it. at first, I was hopeful. I watched through the first couple of episodes and thought that it was a pretty decent retelling of the original game, minus a couple of things that were absolutely diabolical. (making kiryu beg dojima to have the title the dragon of dojima, kiryu getting his a** kicked by majima, the kids at sunshine hating kazuma for no apparent reason) but other than that, I was on board. then we got to episode 3 and saejima randomly died after 2 minutes of screen time, majima got his eye gouged out to a cover of 'mad world', shimano had hair???, etc and and I didn't even want to watch the rest of it. kiryu stayed getting beat up. also, what was happening in 1995 was so much more interesting than the 2005 arc. the characters by the end either had no arc or too much of an arc that their behavior made no sense. and look, I understand that it's difficult to squeeze an entire 2 games into 6 episodes. but they removed SIGNIFICANT moments which were crucially important to the story. I do not know how you could watch this if you were not alreadt a yakuza fan and understand what was happening. there were also no consequences for these characters which is a big NO for yakuza. the whole point is to show the consequences of that world. sigh. overall I would say the story made very little sense to fans, and even less to outsiders.

the camera cuts were an absolute mess and quite jarring. it was so bad that I had to check prime a few times to see if it was glitching. production as a whole really failed in this series.

now let me tell you what I liked about it. I absolutely loved catching references to the game, and I was excited to keep watching to see the next one. (Mr. try-and-hit-me, date-meets-helicopter). majima as I said earlier was perfectly in character and is probably the main reason I don't regret watching this. he was hilarious and crazy. majima in any medium is always my favorite. I also liked how they combined the yakuza 0 plot with the og plot, that was really a good change.

all in all I would say if you are a fan of the series, watch it. if not, you probably want to skip this one. it's not that good. as the title of this review says, since I am such a massive RGG fan, they literally only had to do the bare minimum and I would have loved this. create a cohesive story which makes sense and proper character motivations. have decent production and be decent from a technical aspect. unfortunately, this show failed on all fronts.

but as I have said I am a huge fan of the series as a whole so I'll be generous with my rating. I appreciate that someone tried. but the live action play and prequel available on YouTube remain the best live action media of this series. (no I am not talking about the 2007 movie. that also sucked except majima ironically.) I would recommend those first.

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This should be in everybody's top 3 dramas, i've watched it 3x

CLOY set the standard for romance dramas for me. It was my first, so i kind of set myself up for disappointment since nothing else quite measures up to this lovely romance drama.

Yoon Se-ri is an intelligent, strong, independant CEO who crashes into the DPRK while testing a product for her company. She's been mistreated by those around her - including her family, which serve as the main antagonists for our story. We all know it gets competitive - and sometimes deadly - in chaebol families, but Seri does not let this affect her. She is a resilient woman who pushes her way to success in spite of the snakes surrounding her. So, when unforseen circumstances arise during the testing of a parachute (c'mon, how cool is this chick?) she ends up literally crash landing into the arms of our stoic male lead, Captain Ri Jeong Hyeok, in the dangerous bordering country of North Korea. In the most basic sense, the show is about how Yoon Seri navigates this dangerous land and tries to make her way back to South Korea. In a broader sense, this show is about the longing Koreans feel for reunification, and the difficulties posed by people who have loved ones on the opposite side. They may speak the same language and have some similarities, but the across the border is another world, completely unknown to the other. Part of CLOY's charm is in the small details, and watching pampered rich girl Seri making her way in a much more difficult life which she is not accustomed to, and learning with her that there is more to Captain Ri than meets the eye. The reverse is also true when soldiers of the DPRK get to experience capitalism for the first time. It's hilarious at times and endearing. I truly enjoyed Captain Ri's troop of soldiers as well, these characters had me rooting for them all the way, first seeing seri as a burden then warming up to call her a sister. The character arcs are also really well written, the motivations are clear, and the loyalty/deep affection the group has for one another is what made me keep watching this drama over and over.

Hyun Bin is incredibly handsome and dapper, while son ye-jin is gorgeous with a contagious smile. Finding out afterward that these actors are married IRL was honestly icing on the cake. The chemistry is the best i've ever seen on-screen. I was also rooting for our 2nd leads romance, everyone did so well in this production that i was absolutely hooked from the first episode.

This is one that i'll always recommend. It explores difficult topics such as grief, depression, and suicide, while putting a spotlight on life in the DPRK and the longing of reunification by south korea. CLOY's got all the best ingredients: action, romance, suspense, betrayal, lighthearted moments of comedy, tests of friendship, and resilience. Give it a try!!!

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Sad ending

Ridiculous waste of time. I hate dramas that end this way. Will never watch again. Not much else to say. Lots of potential, horrible execution. I want to parade the writers through the streets game of thrones cersei style while i ring the bell of shame at them. Is it memorable? Sure. Did i like it? Absolutely not. This show kills of epeoppe for shock value. It reminds me of that one show about the korean slave that ran away to the us and who comes back to korea as a us soldier. Matter of fact i think it's the same girl. Anyway if i see her again i will quickly know to turn the chamnel since all her dramas are horribly ended.

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