disappointing ...

I will start this review by saying that I am a regular rom-com enthusiast. I absolutely loved Business Proposal but King The Land failed to achieve anything that Business Proposal did in the span of 12 episodes.
King the Land had a flimsy, basically non-existent, plot and absolutely no proper conflicts or red thread to carry on the drama. I am not saying that shallow romcoms can't be good but jeesus fucking christ there was NOTHING to wait for. Maybe this drama was great for those who just wanted to watch Yoona and Junho but I couldn't manage the last 4 episodes without skipping maybe 50-70%. And don't get me wrong, I do think they make a beautiful couple but this drama was borderline garbage. I have never been this bothered by product placements in my 7+ years of watching kdramas. The plot and the characters were such shallow cardboard cut-out humans that I couldn't even enjoy the romance by the end.
Were we supposed to act like the sister was in any way a proper villain. She seemed like a child who needed attention and craved for love but decided to be a bitch in her 40s. I just felt mildly annoyed by every scene she was in. She just kept being like "I want the hotel -_- humbh you have no right to the hotel". Like I don't care?
The business talks were the most ridiculous bs I've ever seen. I don't know anything about business but those scenes were so romanticised that I felt like slamming my head through a wall. Just shut up. When did Gu Won ever even work (literally in like one scene)?
Also the other friend in a sh*t marriage and all that was played out for a few laughs and cute bossy kid moments?? Am I supposed to feel okay that at least now she is the head of the household? Like ummm okay ... what a creative way to promote staying in loveless marriages I guess?

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started from the top.. now we are here

This drama started off incredibly strong. So much so that the latter half of the drama dropped my rating from 9.5/10 to 8.5/10. 8.5 might seem a bit high considering how annoyed I was at times but these characters grew on me so much that I simply can't bring myself to give this a lower rating.
The writers were the ones who honestly f'd up a big time. Haeng Seon and Chi Yeol are one of the best couples I've ever seen. The actors have great chemistry and my heart fluttered so much at their scenes. I truly want a love like that for myself.
But the cons of this drama really started to overshadow the chemistry at times.
The murder mystery got wayyyyyy too much screentime considering that there was no mystery. They revealed/ made it insanely obvious way too early. I was getting annoyed at how it was dragged out more and more.
And while the murder mystery was getting dragged on, they also had like 20 different characters who had ongoing stories but all of those were left unfinished and/or unpolished. Sua was the one that pissed me off the most. Did she even end up getting therapy ? or did she magically heal from those hallucinations because why were we even shown those scenes?
Hui Jae and his family were also shown a lot but somehow they didn't give any of these characters enough time to redeem themselves. I pretty much liked the last episode but I have to admit that this drama tried too much.
Way too many characters who needed serious therapy but somehow everyone was doing okay at the end..
sigh
It's a bit disappointing to admit that with these actors and their chemistry, this drama could have been so much more if the writing was a bit more consistent.

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Don't waste your time

I don't normally rate dramas lover than a 5 because I simply don't even start dramas that seem off or I drop them after a few episodes. I wanted to give this drama a chance for the sake of the leads. I liked Song Hye Kyo in DOTS but I can't even believe this is the same actress. Her acting is so stiff and she has zero expressions throughout the whole drama. Jang Ki Yong was amazing in Kill It and I loved that drama, but my goodness this one was a hard miss. Idk what on earth did the leads think. The script is awful and stiff and emotionless. Tries so hard to be impactful but fails at it in every scene for the leads.
The only reason I wanted to finish this was for the cancer plot. My brother also has cancer and I thought I should try not to avoid such topics. Honestly, that part of this drama felt slightly comforting. The people left behind were remembering her but still trying their best to continue living.
Not really a fan of the cheating part of the plot. It felt like it was done for shock value but then I was supposed to root for the man after it because he was going to lose his wife and become a single dad. Okay at least he seemed like a good dad.
The romance between the leads was 1/10. Zero chemistry but somehow they were "in love". The only source of love being their past encounters and "fate". The insanely outdated conflict was how the parents were all against their relationship and that was somehow a huge deal.
Would never watch again.
Honestly, I'm mad at myself for finishing such a bad drama. I usually chose better.

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I could not stop watching

Firstly, I have to clarify why I did not give a full 10/10. It is simply because I wanted more :') I wish we had seen more about the normal lives of the main characters. We know who they are as people but I still craved that normal everyday life
especially SPOILERS-------> after everything was over and they had returned from the loop. I loved that they visited Meng Meng's grave and everything felt very conclusive. We saw a conclusion for all of the stories for the people on the bus and I loved that.
But still.. I just wished we had spent even a minute more on the couple and how they coped. Imagine how traumatizing all that was for them. XHY stapped that lady. Was she nuts? Yes. But still. He killed someone and that will be something that he has to live with. And also the fear of not waking up the next day. That must be scary. And I also just wanted more moments between XHY and LSQ after everything was over. They had amazing chemistry and they could have used that even more. Genuinely loved them together.
Overall the only thing I want to complain about is that I wanted more XD and for a c-drama that is very rare. Most 50ep dramas spent way too much time on filler while this one was full of plot since episode 1. In Reset there weren't any moments that felt useless. Everything was necessary for the story to process and for them to finally figure out how to break the loop.
Genuinely loved this drama.
Please go watch it. Or.. I mean I hope you did not read my comment before watching since these are spoilers but.. yeah
Let's all go rewatch Reset!! XD

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Sexy vibes,,, but kinda wasted for most of the drama

I have to say that I mostly enjoyed this. I liked the main couple's acting and their chemistry was really nice. The side characters were a bit off with their acting at times but it didn't bother me significantly. The biggest issue here seems to be script and postproduction. A lot of scenes were cut in a weird way and I'm not sure if they just didn't take enough shots or what happened but this could have been a lot better drama with these two actors.
Obviously, the plot is your average childhood friends become lovers and office romance pipeline. But I did somewhat like it. I wish they had gone deeper into their feelings for each other rather than the instant romantic feelings from the boss but yeah. It was silly and it was fun. Not amazing but definitely worth skipping around to watch those romantic and funny moments between the main characters.

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A sad fairy tale

Tomorrow had many aspects that truly appealed to me: a compelling cast and an exciting setting with grim reapers and ghosts. I'd say that in itself was enough to give this drama a try. I personally think that episodic dramas can be very addicting if they're done right. Tomorrow concentrated on dark and sad stories where our main characters were working to keep people from taking their own life. I liked the narrative of "the one who can save you is you yourself" because, let's be real, most of us are struggling with things in our lives, be it body image or self-confidence. Those are things that we humans are usually our own enemies. Someone might have brought your confidence down at some point but you decided to believe their words. I feel like that narrative truly is heartbreaking when you think about it. I related to some of these stories and cried over most of them. Death as a topic is definitely risky for a drama but I think that Tomorrow did moderately well with the Christian model that they had chosen. I do not agree with heaven and hell and most definitely I do not think that suicide is a sin. However, in a drama, that idea is an interesting topic to discuss.
Now to my least favorite part of the drama. The overall plot of the main characters was disappointing. While I enjoyed the episodic stories, I can not really say the same about the main characters. The show brushed past too many interesting plot points and characters but decided to do nothing with them. Joon Woong's friend and the last girl that they saved were almost completely brushed aside in the last episode and I thought it was very disappointing. Considering that he was the first character introduced, I wished they had cared a little bit more about his story. Goo Ryung and Joong Gil's story was so much anticipated but it truly fell flat. They showed too many flashbacks and bits in the earlier episodes that when the final story finally was shown, I felt like I had already seen all of this. There was nothing new from what I had already gathered.
In episodic dramas, I personally feel like the smaller stories obviously have to be good but you can't abandon your main characters. In Tomorrow I truly felt like the main three main characters mentioned above ended up not feeling like the main characters at all.

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when the luckiest guy on campus meets the unluckiest guy on campus

It was another very cute Japanese bl that targeted the very beginning phase of a relationship. The narrative of being with someone for their luck was actually very fascinating and unique. Acting was good considering that it's pretty obvious that they are going for an animated vibe for Kota. His expressions and actions are all very overexaggerated but it was fun to watch. The actors definitely did a good job.
Only real complaint I have is that this was way too short. I wish this was 12 episodes because 8 episodes were only enough for them to scratch the surface of this relationship they are having. However, I don't regret watching this at all. This drama would definitely deserve a season 2.

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So much to love but...

There is so much about this drama that I absolutely loved.
Cinematography, music, actual engaging plot, good acting and very good chemistry between both couples.
The cons on the other hand...
Yikes the violence and SA is never okay. It doesn't matter if it's a gay or straight relationship, you should never EVER be okay with this kind of treatment. I feel like the production team just wanted drama and 'spice' but violence, verbal harasment and SA is not it. And there could have been so many other options other than violence to show that the MLs didn't get along in the beginning. The SML's actions somewhat explained themselves by the intense internalized homophobia (somewhat implied but mostly understandable from his monologue) but you can't use the same motivation for THREE characters in a drama this short. You certainly can, but should you? The motivation of three characters is sensitive but here becomes redundant without even having a proper insight into each characters background.
I think internalized homophobia and fear are very good and sensitive subjects that should be disgussed in kbls. BUT Tae Yi's motives are written VERY lackluster and he is supposed to be the other male lead. His reaction to Seheon kissing him was way too much if you're not going to justify or explain his reaction at all. SA is not normal and I'm quite horrified over how this scene was written in here without any proper concequenses. The drama is also so short that the emotional payoff from Taeyi's realization isn't there at all.
I can't help but feel more for Jooha since we somehow got more insight into his head than Taeyi's, at least when it comes to pushing his crush away. At least Taeyi's thoughts were coherently cinematized and as a viewer I finally got to understand his character from that scene in ep 7. And then there is the trainwreck of Taeyi's reaction to the kiss immediately after and I can't help but feel very disgusted over Taeyi's reaction. This direction and the timing of these scenes aren't ideal, at all. And it feels like we are watching Jooha's and Doyoon's kiss again, but Taeyi isn't even supposed to be the cold bully.. ? His reaction isn't justified and I'm sorry that I have probably said that multiple times already but no I'm not actually sorry. His reaction was not it.
Despite everything I enjoyed the plot and found it very engaging at times but this drama still had a ton of things to improve. I'm quessing that screentime and budget plays a big role on how much and what they could do and film.
BUT there is no way that a professional director could fuck up a fake kiss that badly. That kiss scene between Jooha and Doyoon was the worst fake kiss I've ever seen. I would have preferred a thumb over the lips kinda kiss over this awful camera angle fail but I'm not blaming the actors. Doyoon's actor is an idol so I'm not very surprised if he was adviced against a real samesex onscreen kiss. That's okay, I guess. Kisses aren't everything to a romance drama. The ep 7 hug scene on the other hand was incredibly impressive and emotional. So much so that I felt very connected to the characters. Can't help but want more from the side couple.
I'm sad that the director and writing team seems to be the root of all the problems in this drama.

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