When I first decided to watch Piece, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it definitely took me by surprise. I was immediately hooked in the first episode and overall, it was a really great drama. I just wish it either had longer episodes or more of them because it was so addicting.

Story: Aside from loving the teen/school romance theme [Yuma and Tsubasa were pretty cute], I was mainly drawn in because of the mystery plot revolving around a certain classmate's death. As the story jumps between the past and present, the mystery begins to tie or "piece" all the main characters together and delve into their own personal lives and innermost feelings/secrets as they search for answers about their classmate's past. One thing I will say in advance is that you may love or hate the ending. I actually liked it, but the only thing I'm not completely satisfied with is that some questions were left unanswered. Nevertheless, the story itself is really engaging as there are so many twists and turns that have you guessing until the very end. You'll also find that the romance in this drama depicts a darker side of love as each character has their own secrets and struggles that prevent them from being true to the people around them or unable to let go.

Acting: I thought the acting was decent. There could've been a bit more improvement, but they still did a good job. I must say though that Nakayama Yuma played his distorted character Hikaru really well. I found myself charmed by him one minute, and chilled by him the next. Definitely a big step up from his Koishite Akuma days.

Music: Everything was great. The songs went nicely with the characters, I loved Yuma's opening song, and even the matchbox twenty song went well with the drama.

Rewatch Value: I'd probably watch this drama again because it was a refreshing take on a teen drama. I suppose the mystery being solved might not be as fun as the first time, but the relationships between the characters and the underlying messages about life makes it worthwhile to watch again. I'd say give this drama a chance if you like teen/school romance stories or mysteries =]

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Before I get into my review, please keep in mind that my thoughts about this drama are based on what I understood from the raw episodes and my knowledge of the language itself is limited. Not zero, but limited. I had been waiting to watch this drama for a long time, but it was never subbed even up until now, so I ended up just watching it without them. If you're okay with that, then feel free to keep reading :)

STORY: The synopsis, although it is correct, had me confused while watching because the marriage to the leader of the rivaling country does not happen until the last portion of the drama. And I mean last. I literally watched 40 episodes and the marriage still hadn't happened yet. Everything seemed to get jumbled together in the final episodes which is something that I do not care for as a viewer, especially when I'm watching a drama that is 50 episodes long. When I read the synopsis, I was under the impression that the marriage was going to happen sometime in the beginning or the middle of the story, and maybe show how she managed to thrive as a chef and survive living amongst the enemy, all while watching her first love fight to save her, but I was very wrong (lol).

The story itself was familiar, with a royal having a birth secret and living as a commoner since childhood, as well as having a childhood sweetheart. The nice twist to this story is that Yu Die is a fantastic chef thanks to the talent of her adoptive mother and throughout the drama, she is cooking delicious food as she journeys through the country after an unfortunate event separates her from her adoptive family. Through her experiences and after spending time at the palace with the royal prince, whom she had met before, she eventually comes to learn her true identity as a royal princess. While I was interested in how/if her adoptive mother and her lover Li Ma would find her again, there was a lot of scheming both in the palace and at war between the rivaling countries that seemed to make up a good portion of the story. And of course a lot of cooking scenes which isn't helpful when you're hungry (lol). After so many episodes of the same thing, I started to lose interest and eventually stopped watching this drama for quite awhile before picking it up again. I really wanted to like this drama, especially since I loved the cast, but that was not enough to hold my interest. The way it ended was odd to me as well, I think they could've executed a better closing had they not crammed all the action to the final 10 episodes.

ACTING/CAST: I love both Zheng Shuang and Ma Tian Yu and was excited to see them together as main leads, but I can honestly say that this wasn't a stand-out drama for either of them. I believe they were in a previous drama together in the past as potential love interests, but I haven't watched it so I can't compare their performances. In this drama though, I wasn't able to get invested into the romantic relationship between their characters because most of the time they were separated. The characters would long for each other, but when they'd see each other, they would only hug and seemed a bit distant at times, which made me feel they had more a friend/sibling relationship rather than one of lovers. But they did look very cute together during their scenes. What I did like about Yu Die though is that she was persistent with her love for Li Ma, even after becoming royalty. Li Ma's character was different, in a sense that he seemed to feel unworthy of her love after learning about her birth secret even though he still loved her. Overall I did enjoy seeing how their love story played out. Steven Jiang played his part well as a royal and I liked how his character showed a different kind of love and affection for Yu Die. At times I felt like he had more chemistry with Zheng Shuang than Ma Tian Yu, but it might've also been because he had more screen time with her. This was my first time seeing him in a drama and his performance left a good impression.

MUSIC: There were only a few ost songs played and they were decent, but most of the time traditional instrumentals were used. Sometimes all you need are nice instrumentals to help carry the story of historical dramas and this was one of those cases.

REWATCH VALUE: I don't think I would sit down and watch this drama again even if it was fully subbed because I felt like it was too long . I don't think it needed to be 50 episodes, especially with the way they crammed everything together at the end. There are better historical dramas out there and I didn't feel there was anything that made this drama stand out on its own to set it apart from other dramas with similar themes. Fans of Zheng Shuang, Ma Tian Yu, and Steven Jiang might enjoy this, but they have other works that are more superior both story-wise and performance-wise. Nevertheless, it was still a decent watch and I'm still glad I decided to check it out.

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My initial interest in watching this drama comes from the fact that I was curious to see one of Yahagi Honoka's more recent works, as I have not seen any since her role as Kotoko in Itazura na Kiss. And for viewers who were not fond of her character there, let me be clear and say this drama is definitely not for you. The characters are very similar.

STORY: The story follows Saeki Riko (Yahagi Honoka), who is a college student lacking in both career aspirations and success in relationships. While she has dated others in the past, she eventually backs out of her relationships when they want to get serious because she doesn't actually love the men she's with. She's oblivious to her friend Shindou Shin's (Nakao Masaki), longtime crush on her as well as her best friend Amamiya Yoshino's (Kamura Mami) crush on Shin. With such an oblivious character who can't read her own heart nor her surroundings, there is bound to be plenty of drama to ensue and that's exactly what this drama is. A big emotional mess. Once her childhood friend and first love Ichihara Shuuji (Mizuno Masaru) comes into the picture after many years apart, she suddenly realizes he's the one she has loved all along, hence why she was never able to love anyone else, and tries her best to pursue him. But things aren't exactly smooth sailing as he's already somewhat taken by his co-worker/"lover" Fukai Midoriko (Iriyama Noriko).

I don't mind the whole childhood friend concept even though it's been overdone, but in this particular case it was off-putting because she's head over heels over someone who said they would marry her when they were just a little kid. And I mean a kid. They literally had no contact for years. Even her best friends told her she has a problem if she was actually taking a childhood promise to heart. Upon reuniting, he clearly rejected her advances and yet, she still kept pushing for him just to admit he was her childhood friend and would interfere in everything he was doing. The drama as a whole was difficult to watch, almost everyone was doing something shady at one point in order to get who and what they wanted. Riko was constantly oblivious to everything, whether it was Yoshino being annoyed and angry with her, or Shin being jealous or sad. She only had Shuuji on her mind the whole time. What I did like though is how Yoshino and Shin would sometimes call her out on her questionable behavior, such as the incident when she was following Shuuji like a stalker, when she herself had recently been scared by her past boyfriend doing the same to her. That kind of behavior is not cute or romantic, it's scary.

ACTING/CAST: Everyone was decent as their characters, but then again this drama didn't exactly need any noteworthy performances. While Saeki Riko might have been an overbearing main lead, Yahagi Honoka really nails this kind of character. Very innocent, sweet, but also clumsy and naive. When it comes to Ichihara Shuuji (Mizuno Masaru), I felt the acting was very stiff, especially for being a main lead. Even though he supposedly loved Riko, you could barely tell because he didn't have many facial expressions and he was also making out with Midoriko to cover up his feelings. I felt his demeanor really came off as him seeing Riko as just a childhood friend and nothing more, so I was skeptical when he admitted he was in love with her in the later episodes. It seemed more like he gave in. While the acting may not have been the best though, I did like how Riko and Shuuji's encounter helped each other to both realize and pursue their dreams.

Oh and for those who didn't watch until after the ending credits, the little promo/preview skits with the cast were cute. Poor Shin always getting ignored lol

MUSIC: The opening song "Blue Star" by COLOR CREATION was a nice choice for the drama

REWATCH VALUE: Would I sit down and watch this again? No. The ending itself was also underwhelming and questionable. On a positive aspect of this drama though, the episodes are only about 24 minutes long, so it's decent for something quick to watch. But there are way better romance dramas out there. I wasn't impressed with the story and while Yahagi Honoka's character Riko may have been similar to Kotoko in Itazura na Kiss, I definitely find the latter to be the better character and drama in all aspects.

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Like many other j-dramas, Hana ni Keda Mono is a live adaptation of a manga. I have not read the manga, so I will base my review on what was presented in the drama itself.

The plot starts out with a female student, Kumakura Kumi, who transfers schools and ends up falling in love with the most popular guy in school. Kakizono Hyo is known to be a playboy and he also steals her first kiss upon their first encounter. The story is very cliche; we've all heard of these plot lines before, but even so, I was curious to see if this could be a unique take on an overused plot. Unfortunately though, everything in this drama continued on the cliche path to the point where you can easily predict what will happen next, especially if you are an avid drama viewer. While trying to adapt to the new school, Kumi becomes friends with an outcast named Ogami Kanna, who is surrounded by many bad rumors due to her past that she has kept hidden. Eventually Kanna and other students Kumi becomes friends with become entangled in the complicated/romantic relationship that ensues between her and Hyo.

I can handle cheesy lines or scenes in some dramas, even if I'm not fond of them, but there were so many cringe-worthy scenes in this one that I ended up skipping through some. There are several scenes where it looks like the actors are going to kiss the camera or are talking straight into the camera as if the viewer is the main lead and it was just way too cringey for me. Filming aside, there was not much history or development given for any of the characters in this, so it was hard to connect with them unless one actually read the manga. I also lost interest in the relationship between the main leads and wished there had been more scenes to show the development between the side characters (Ogami Kanna & Hiyoshi Tatsuki) instead. The endless drama that kept happening between all the main characters could've easily been solved with proper communication, so it was frustrating to watch up to the very end.

ACTING/CAST: On a positive note, I did not expect oscar-worthy acting from anyone, especially for a high school drama. If I had to put it bluntly though, the acting was below average.

[Sugino Yosuke]: I initially started this drama because I was interested in Sugino Yosuke's works after seeing him in the second season of Good Morning Call, but out of the two dramas, this was hands down his weaker performance. I felt his acting was a bit too stiff and even some of his facial expressions were unconvincing (he was still superior to Nakamura Yurika), but overall a weak performance from him. I didn't feel any chemistry between him and the main lead like when he was in Good Morning Call. Even his recent cameo in Kakugo wa Iika Soko no Joshi was better than his acting in this drama. I hope he gets a better project in the future, so I can pretend this one never happened lol

[Nakamura Yurika]: Honestly, Yurika was the weakest link out of the cast lineup. She is very pretty, but her acting was stiff and her facial expressions didn't match what was going on in the story. She seemed very expressionless the whole time and I think that's partially why I didn't get invested into Kumi and Hyo's relationship. I didn't see or feel there way any chemistry, especially with how much they supposedly loved each other. There were also awkward hug scenes and exaggeration in other parts of Yurika's acting, such as one occasion where Kumi falls. She literally rolled several times on the ground lol Hopefully she can improve her acting over time.

[Matsuo Takashi]: Here's my guy! There wasn't much to Takashi's character because Izumi Chihaya is supposed to have a very quiet, calm demeanor and he also wasn't around some of the time. So with that in mind, he did play the quiet character well lol But the second lead syndrome was real for me. On one hand, I wanted Chihaya to get what he wanted and on the other, I think he deserved someone way better. This is my first time seeing Takashi in anything and I think he did ok, nothing above average. I might have to watch something else he's been in to get a better idea on his acting.

MUSIC: I was pleasantly surprised to see that Da- iCE sang the ost for this drama because I'm a fan of their music. They used their song "Waruguchi" as the main theme while various instrumentals were used for other scenes. If you haven't checked out anything from Da-iCE, I recommend doing so!

REWATCH VALUE: I would not watch this drama again, but I do think someone could watch it to pass the time. It's not a breakthrough drama, but it is still a high school romance and those who like that genre might enjoy it. I personally found it a bit too frustrating for my taste, but fans of the cast members might find it entertaining.

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Let me start off by saying that I loved this drama. It was suspenseful, had a great cast, great plot, and was very addicting. Nakama Yukie who reprised her role as Saki did not disappoint one bit and made you wonder just what evil plans she had in store for her selected targets. If you're someone who only knows her from the Gokusen series, this drama will show just how amazing and versatile she is as an actress. She may still be teaching lessons and kicking ass, but this time it's through revenge.

Plot: The story itself had a a great plot. You learn that Nitta Hayato [Miura Shohei] is searching for his older sister whom he only discovered existed after his mother's death. This brings Amihama Saki [Nakama Yukie] into the picture. What starts off as a heartwarming reunion soon turns into an eerie mystery as Hayato discovers that his lovely sister may be someone completely different than what she seems and she's actually got a hidden agenda of her own. She's out for revenge and nobody's going to get in her way. If you're someone who likes suspense, you'll definitely enjoy this drama because the whole time you're on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen to everyone and how she's going to bring them down. Although her actions are undeniably evil and wrong, you just might find yourself unable to hate her as the drama progresses. Up until the very end, I could not hate her character at all despite everything she did. This drama was very well done. You might feel a bit weird about wine and steak after this one though Lol...

Acting: The cast lineup and acting was great. Nakama Yukie was perfect at portraying an angelic woman who is in fact calculating and leading her targets to their own destruction. Her ability to express Saki's emotions was so amazing and I really felt for her character during the last episode. I'd love to see her reprise this kind of role again. Miura Shohei did well too and had great chemistry with Nakama Yukie although, I was amused at first since they went from having a student-teacher relationship in gokusen 3 to brother and sister xD Aside from that though, the cast was great. Uchida Yuki was awesome. I actually wish we saw even more of her in the drama. I'm also a fan of Okada Yoshinori so I was pleasantly surprised to see him in this drama. Takashima Masahiro, Kyo Nobuo, Ishiguro Hideo, and everyone else were great in their roles as well.

Music: Takahashi Minami's song Jane Doe was a great opening song and TVXQ's catch me fit perfectly with the ending scenes. There was also an english song they played, I'm not sure what it was called, but that song matched really well with the scenes they showed with Saki. All the music gave a perfect feel to the story.

Rewatch Value: I'd watch this drama again. The only thing is that the mystery part isn't much of a mystery anymore after seeing it twice and you somewhat lose the suspense so it won't exactly be the same. It's still a great drama and worth the time though. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who likes mystery or suspense. And of course, if you're a fan of Nakama Yukie but haven't seen it yet, I'd say check this one out as well as Utsukushii Rinjin, where Nakama Yukie played her first role as Saki =]

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90% Business + 10% Romance = Unmet Expectations

Despite the chemistry and some great moments between our leads, Yang Mi and Xu Kai's wonderful performances couldn't hide this drama's subpar storyline which veered off into a rushed and poorly executed conclusion. However, I cannot fault the writing entirely. This drama did get delayed for censorship review on multiple occasions up to the very last moments before it finally aired, meaning we were likely robbed of many scenes that might've made the story and relationships more cohesive and satisfying to watch. But overall, I couldn't help feeling greatly misled by how this show was advertised and how little it gave back despite having 40 episodes and a great cast.

It turns out, the romantic scenes in the promos and teasers were pretty much the only scenes we were getting in terms of any romance between Yang Hua and Qin Shi. This show was heavily centered around business, mainly the struggles/pressures women face in the business world and the glass ceiling that suppresses them from rising higher despite their talent. The majority of episodes covered various legal cases Qin Shi dealt with and the drama in her workplace environment at the law firm, meanwhile the romance that everyone anticipated between our two popular main leads was placed on the backburner 90% of the time. If you came for the romance and dislike business-centric dramas, this is not the drama for you. If you enjoy business plots with minimal romance, then you will be fine.

The final episodes left many unresolved conflicts/unanswered questions for almost everyone and included many out-of-character actions/behaviors, all for the sake of adding unnecessary drama. Yang Hua and Qin Shi who have always communicated and understood each other the entire drama and knew each other's feelings, suddenly didn't anymore? A divorce and separation time gap had to be thrown in at the very last minute? They even threw in a fake ruse by Yang Hua and his ex to get Qin Shi to confess her feelings [which still didn't happen at the end, but somehow everything's ok now? So... what was the point of all that again?]. Then to finish off these questionable decisions, they threw in one short romantic scene after their reunion--and I mean short--at the very end of the final episode to wrap it up. Nothing important was ever addressed, it was the same for the supporting characters as well. So much time was wasted and for what? Overall, just very lackluster and disappointing.

This show had great potential and anticipation was very high given they had such a high-caliber cast, but sadly came up short. I definitely have some favorite scenes of Yang Hua and Qin Shi, but I personally wouldn't sit through this entire drama again to watch them, I'd rather just watch those short cutscenes.

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"With greater popularity comes greater love & criticism. Let's high five to this" - Bright & Win

Even though this drama failed to meet my expectations in the end, I will say I'm still happy that I had something to look forward to each week during this long quarantine time. Also, I have not read the 2gether novel so my opinions will be based on the drama itself and my personal judgement is not clouded by how handsome both Bright and Win are as individuals, what matters to me is the story and how it's presented by the cast and production staff.

STORY:

We start off with a silly concept: Please be my fake boyfriend so my gay admirer will give up on pursuing me. The concept calls for comedy as Tine gets caught up in various situations as his admirer Green tries to win his heart. After much persuasion, Tine gets popular heartthrob Sarawat to become his fake boyfriend all while slowly falling for him himself and as their relationship grows, we begin to learn that Green may not be the only one trying to win Tine's heart.

The first 7-8 episodes seemed to be the strongest even though our main leads were not even in a real relationship. Chemistry, tension, entertainment factor, etc.. It was all superior to the second half and that's that the affection they showed was minimal. But I rewatched these episodes the most because as the series progressed, the direction of the series started to plummet. The relationships between side characters were seriously underdeveloped, especially Mil and Phukong's story, making their final outcomes in the last episode seem very forced and unrealistic.

Certain conflicts between Tine and Sarawat fell flat or weren't given the proper direction, with the most prominent being the issue regarding Sarawat's first love Pam in the final episodes. Tine and Sarawat never got an actual scene by themselves to openly talk to get a better understanding of each other and closure to their feelings on the situation. Instead we got a round-about way of explaining things through interactions with other people and a ton of flashbacks. Poor direction lead to out-of-character moments from Sarawat. There were barely any scenes with the main leads actually together then suddenly we were rushed into the band competition which didn't show much of a competition at all aside from Sarawat's song to Tine with questionable lyrics, a quick and oddly distant "ok we're back together" moment, and then the series ended. And don't even get me started with that high five.

The final episode of the series was like a gift someone wrapped with no real care or thought: Sure they wrapped it up, but there are many holes and when you open the gift to see the final result, you're left speechless because there's literally nothing inside.

ACTING:

Here's where I found much of my criticism if I ignore the directing. Bright and Win are great, but not great as a couple. An couple in love should be able to show their feelings whether they kiss or not, but this was something they couldn't pull off together onscreen. Actors should be able to portray their characters feelings, but it seemed that the actors themselves were outside of their comfort zone when it came to being romantically close and it transferred to the drama itself. While viewers could somewhat sense some distance as the drama progressed, the second half showed just how awkward it really was because their characters now required them to show affection and feelings of love towards each other. Once Sarawat and Tine were in an actual relationship, the little chemistry Bright and Win had started to visibly fall apart at a fast rate. You could tell they weren't comfortable being too close: we were given distant hugs, distant head pats, and the worst of all that high five from hell in the finale (lmao I'm sorry, but I still can't get over it). They were literally in a "long-distance" relationship.

Various climatic scenes that could've been perfect had their been a kiss or hug to highlight their love for each other were poorly executed and fell short because they did nothing but keep their distance. Another distant head pat. Another lets just smile at each other at a distance, or I love you, but let's keep a gap between us. Even the little scenes of Man and Type's speedy relationship in the final episode displayed more closeness and chemistry than Sarawat and Tine. There's nothing wrong with hugs or head pats and regardless of the tv rating, it's the way these gestures were executed that was very distant and lifeless for these two characters who are supposed to be in a romantic relationship.

On a somewhat positive side, I was pleasantly surprised by Win's acting since this is his first drama and I personally feel his performance outmatched Bright's by far, especially when it came to any emotional scenes. Crying? He can do it. Sadness? He can do it. When Tine is happy, he can easily show it. Bright on the other hand, not so much. Any scene that required deep emotions from Sarawat didn't work well which made it difficult to figure out his thoughts or feelings, at least for me. Sarawat has a more serious demeanor than Tine and Bright did well in those scenes, but anything emotionally complex such as sadness seemed difficult for him to portray. There's a scene in the final episode where it seems like he should be crying or looking deeply saddened while he stands in the middle of the road after Tine's departure, but they had him covering his face and even turning his back to the camera to cover up his inability to shed a tear and pull off those emotions.

REWATCH VALUE:

This is not a perfect BL drama, it's lacking in many ways but it's also not as terrible as others are making it seem. I know people are angry, their expecations were really high for a drama so widely watched and talked about. I myself was left bitter and underwhelmed at the end. But it's still a good watch. There's still comedy, handsome characters, sweet scenes of Sarawat serenading Tine with his voice and guitar, and is overall a very light show of romance. Almost invisible even lol If I watched this again, I would ignore most of the 2nd half because those episodes were poorly done. I really like Bright and Win, they made a visually stunning couple, but sadly they couldn't pull off a believable couple in love like I hoped they would. Hopefully they can improve if they ever decide to be in another BL drama, but this drama showed clear proof that they both aren't ready to portray a gay relationship.

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Some things are better left forgotten.. Like this drama

I'm not one to judge a drama when the production has a low budget, as long as there is a decent story and a cast that can pull it off, but this was not one of those cases. Acting, production/editing, story-telling, etc were all underwhelming. The promo poster for this drama showed more personality and expressions from the main leads than the entire drama did.

STORY:

The premise of this story is quite common: Medical x Engineering students, one popular student confesses to the popular "tough" student and eventually love ensues. I have not read the novel, but I knew there was already the biggest crux of having only 4 episodes to showcase the progression of a relationship; meaning the relationship might seem too forced due to time restrictions and would also likely leave out a chunk of important details that wouldv'e helped viewers feel more invested in the story. While watching, it felt like there was a lot of information missing and little character development. One minute someone is confessing, then the next they're "in love", then suddenly it's over. We don't really understand or get any insight on the thoughts behind the characters' actions, or much less really know who they are aside from social media gossip from other students about them.

ACTING/CAST:

I feel the acting is what made this drama suffer the most. There was no chemistry and Win in particular seemed the most lacking in terms of acting skills. We are supposed to believe he's the most desired; everyone in the university gossips about how great he is yet when he's on-screen, he's very mellow, monotone at times even. Nothing like anyone has been describing him as. I personally feel he was miscasted since he couldn't match Gun's character. Folk's acting was superior to Win's, he had a bit more range in his expressions and demeanor, but he too was visibly lacking and had many moments where he looked awkward being close to Win which didn't make the romance believable.

PRODUCTION/EDITING:

Made this category because I had a few gripes while watching. There were some poorly edited scenes in this drama. One in particular was when Bar kissed Gun on the cheek. We are supposed to believe they kissed but the angle and shot they chose clearly shows he didn't kiss him at all. They also replayed the scene as a romantic moment, each time showing the obvious gap between them. Not to mention Folk looked uncomfortable doing it. More reasons I couldn't see the "love" between the characters. Also, a couple of phone call scenes were poorly done. Gun's voice through the phone just sounded like a loud narration voiceover instead of an actual phone call. These kinds of mistakes lower the quality of the overall production.

REWATCH VALUE:

I watched all 4 episodes to see if the story would improve, but sadly it was underwhelming to the very end. I know it's connected to other dramas (Love Mechanics, etc), but for a first impression on the series, this drama doesn't make me want to watch them. This might be heaven for readers of the novel to a certain point because it's at least a live adaptation, but for first-timers such as myself with no knowledge of the characters, there isn't much to connect with so there's no reason to rewatch. There are far superior BL dramas out there.

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To start off, I originally watched this drama when it came out a few years ago, but never actually got around to writing a review. After rewatching it recently though, I found my thoughts on the show have changed a bit since the first time watching. I've never read the manga, so I will be basing my opinions on just the drama itself.

Basically, the story revolves around Kiriki Tsukasa (Nakajima Kento), a new transfer student, who unintentionally becomes the new gang leader of Gokurakuchou, one of the big three gangs in hiroshima, while trying to win the heart of his love interest Yoshimoto Kumi (Hashimoto Nanami). The plot follows Tsukasa's experiences in leadership, friendship, and romance as he tries to take on being a gang leader and faces off various opponents along the way. His usual persona is a bit timid and doesn't look strong at all, but when it comes to protecting the people he cares about, his true power is revealed which unexpectedly makes him a great gang leader. I found this drama had a similar setup as other fighting dramas such as Sugarless and even the classic Gokusen series, where each main character has an episode to focus on their personal problem, new fighting opponents each episode, as well as a main character who shows overwhelming power and courage to fight for those they care about, all while teaching others valuable life lessons. It also has a similar casting comparison with Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou where they pair JE boys with a female idol group, only this time it's with Nogizaka46. With only 12 episodes that span about 22 minutes or so, the plot didn't have enough time to really develop into much and there were various plot holes, but entertainment-wise, it was enough. Outside of the fighting scenes and main storyline, the many comedy parts they added into the show were actually pretty funny and helped to enhance the sense of friendship the characters shared with each other. The gang auditions and dating simulations were hilarious, thats all i will say.

Acting/Cast:

Here's where I might get a bit more critical with this drama. Clearly, most of the cast was chosen for the visuals. With many JE boys, the acting is definitely not the strongest and there were also many scenes that were a bit overacted. I laughed out loud during a few fight scenes where it clearly looked super fake or parts with super cheesy dialogue, but I suppose that could be seen as a charm in itself. Itano Tomomi's acting wasn't very impressive either. Although I'm a fan, her acting was severely underwhelming and she basically showed the same blank expression throughout the whole drama. I'm not really sure what the point of her role was, yet they kept giving her screen time of her just doing the same thing. Unfortunately the Nogizaka46 members in this drama were lacking in their acting as well, but it wasn't a big deal since most were minor characters anyway. What I will say though is that Triendl Reina and Hashimoto Ryosuke seemed to stand out the most out of the side characters. They had good chemistry as a couple and also when it came to Reina's parts, she was more convincing in portraying the role of a gang leader's girlfriend. Not to mention they were pretty funny together as well.

When I first watched this drama years ago, I thought Nakajima Kento didn't fit the role as the main character of this drama at all because it was difficult to picture him as someone extremely strong just looking at his image alone. He clearly has both a slimmer and smaller build compared to the other actors. After watching it the second time around though, I think he did the best he could do with his role. Even if his physical image didn't match his character, everything else did; he somehow made it work. The snow man members who played Kento's friends in the gang were decent at their roles as well, with Iwamoto Hikaru standing out the most. I assume that's why they gave him a more prominent part as the second in command within the gang. When it came to the big 3 gang leaders, I felt that Nikaido Takashi fit his character perfectly. Like Tomomi, he didn't have a lot of dialogue until the latter half of the drama, but he had a strong leader vibe to him and was more believable in being labeled as a strong opponent compared to others.

Music:

The songs for the drama were limited as they only used Bad Boys by Sexy Zone as the title/opening track and Sekai de Ichiban Kodoku na lover by Nogizaka46 as the ending song. I found it a bit cheesy whenever they started playing Bad Boys whenever a fighting scene was about to start, but I got used to it after awhile. There were also a few times when Sekai de Ichiban Kodoku na lover came on and i felt it didn't fit with the scenes shown, but since they needed to promote the songs, it was understandable I guess.

Overall/Rewatch value:

Overall, I will say that this drama is entertaining and as others have mentioned in the comments before, those who are fans of JE boys will probably enjoy watching it most. It's not a drama to be taken too seriously; the episodes are super short, and it has a pretty straightforward plot although it might be repetitive to some viewers. Even though it wasn't the best JE drama I've seen, it's something quick someone can enjoy for handsome boys, pretty girls, and some good laughs to kill time. It has some rewatch value, partly due to its short duration and positive messages, but it may not be to everyone's taste as there are definitely better JE dramas out there.

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Letting a good opportunity slip away

With Aaron's return to acting after his major accident, I was greatly anticipating this drama and had high hopes for a great story. For those who don't know, it is a loose remake of the drama "Just You". While the bl remake idea was decent, the execution fell flat and the reason it failed had nothing at all to do with the cast. This drama is a great example of where you can have the best actors in your lineup, but if the writing, direction, and editing are subpar, even those talented actors cannot save it. Hank and Aaron are the only reason I kept watching, as I'm sure it was the case for many others, rather than the story itself. My overall score is pretty much me being generous for the sake of both Hank and Aaron's acting as they are what held this show together.

Issues with the story:

1. What has bothered me most while watching this drama was the fact that they had two great main leads who work well together, yet they weren't given many opportunities nor had much to work with plot-wise to show off their talent. We are already on a time limit. There are 12 episodes, about 24? minutes long, meaning it's crucial to convey the storyline and also build the relationship between our main leads Shi Lei and Yu Zhen. But rather than focusing on our main couple, many episodes were instead wasted on side characters (2nd couple, work employee couple) and business cases that didn't push the plot forward. The 2nd couple had miles of progress in their relationship straight from the jump, while our main leads barely had anything. Whenever it seemed like we were finally getting a breakthrough, they just ended the episode and then we had to wait a whole week and repeat this torturous cycle of nothingness. Their progression was the slowest up to the very end of the show. Waiting every week for a super short episode with little to no progress in Shi Lei's and Yu Zhen's relationship slowly built the irritation and disappointment over time. The few times Hank and Aaron were given a chance to increase the romantic tension between their characters to build a closer relationship, their chemistry was through the roof. It's a real shame that the poor writing/directing is what held them back and also held the drama down from being something better.

2. The poor editing of almost every episode created a disconnect with the flow of the story, which made things either confusing or the scenes felt out of place, didn't make sense, or were unnecessary. The same goes for the music. They had nice songs, but sometimes they were mismatched in certain scenes. The lyrics are sweet, yet nothing is really happening between our main leads and over time it felt like those songs were for the 2nd lead couple since they seemed to be the only ones in an actual relationship throughout the show.

3. This isn't an issue persay, but there were so many cliche moments. If you've watched dramas for awhile, you can easily predict what will happen. People tripping and being caught, accidentally touching/kissing the other person, etc. The same goes for the ex who they threw into the mix towards the final episodes to add drama. Very predictable, also wasn't really necessary. I feel if they were going to add his little arc, then it should have been earlier in the series and ended maybe around the 6 or 7th episode. Doing so would have given more time to show Shi Lei and Yu Zhen being in an actual romantic relationship after finally getting rid of those ridiculous rules and without the ex or anyone else in the way.

I think many of us gave this drama a couple episodes to prove itself, thinking the relationship between Shi Lei and Yu Zhen would be a slow burn, but thanks to the director it was barely kindled. The moment it finally flourished, the drama was over. For this being Aaron's comeback drama, I personally feel he deserved way better, but nevertheless this is still a decent, light-hearted watch and am happy to see him acting again. It's also hard to not like how cute Shi Lei and Yu Zhen were together. I'd love to see him and Hank work together again in another drama in the future as they seemed to have a great relationship both on and off-screen. On a final note, Wayne's sudden cameo hurt my heart! lol it was bittersweet

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As many others, I was excited to watch this drama since it was Gong Yoo's return to the drama scene and I'm also a big fan of Lee Min Jung. Unfortunately though, Big didn't live up to its hype. I honestly felt a bit disappointed, especially with the ending. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the drama, but it could've been way better than what it actually was.

The story itself started off really well. It was entertaining, it kept me interested in the relationships between Gil Da Ran, Kang Kyung Joon, and the mysterious Seo Yoon Jae, and it was really funny as well with much thanks to Baek Sung Hyun. But as the story progressed, I felt that it started to lose its way as there were many filler scenes that could've been used for more plot or character development. They also kept going back and forth with the "to love or not to love" dilemma between the main characters which made the story drag a bit. Although this is common for romantic dramas, this case was pretty excessive and became a repetitive occurrence which started to get old after awhile.

The cast lineup was great. For having a script with a story that somewhat lost its way, Gong Yoo and Lee Min Jung played their parts perfectly. Baek Sung Hyun also shined in his role as Da Ran's brother. He's actually one of the reasons I kept watching this drama since he always provided epic comic relief to all the drama going on. As for Shin Won Ho, despite being one of the main characters in the story, he barely got a chance to act at all, so if you're going to watch this because of him, I'd either pass on this one or just watch the first few episodes. In the time he was actually shown, he was great. If he had more opportunities to act in this drama, it probably would've been way more entertaining. And lastly, Suzy. I'm a fan of hers, but her acting wasn't noteworthy nor was it horrible either.

As for it's rewatch value, I doubt I'd watch it again. If I did though, I'd probably only watch the first few episodes because that was the best part in my opinion. The last two episodes were pretty disappointing and the end itself wasn't great either. It wasn't the worst I've seen, but it definitely left me wondering what the heck happened. There were many questions left unanswered because they decided to resolve the hyped climax within the last 10 minutes of the final episode. Why they didn't make better use of the last two episodes [or even more] for better closure to the story is beyond me. They had so many opportunities to make this story shine, but instead they let it run out of steam right midway into the drama.

I'd only recommend this if you have nothing else to watch. There are definitely some cute and hilarious moments that I enjoyed though and the chemistry between Gong Yoo and Lee Min Jung was great, so I'd say take a shot if you want to see it =]

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I like hana kimi and have also watched all the versions, so I was excited to see the korean version, but wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be. It was still enjoyable to watch though.

The story: The story itself was good, but I felt like they wasted time going in circles with the same issues or had fillers when they could've added more depth into the story or the characters. I noticed they also altered or omitted characters from the story completely. For example, the dorm leaders [1&3] were rarely seen at all until some big serious moment came along and the students in the dorms were pretty much left out from this version even though they were there. So you didnt get to see their relationship with mizuki [Goo Jae Hee in this case] grow and see how close they became or how much fun they had together as a group which is a big part of the story. Also, the ending seemed a bit rushed too, so I was a bit disappointed in that aspect.

Acting: The only person I felt really shined in this drama was Lee Hyun Woo. He portrayed his character Nakatsu [Eun Gyeol] really well. Sulli did impress me on a few occasions though, which I had hoped to see anyway since she has acting experience.

Music: There were some nice tracks for this drama, with my favorite being Stand Up by J-Min.

Rewatch value: I love Hana Kimi, but I probably wouldnt watch it again. Although it seemed more flashy in visuals than the other versions, I felt I enjoyed the story much better while watching the japanese and taiwanese versions because there's more comedy and a better connection to all the students in the dorms. It's still a cute drama though, so people should try it out and see for themselves =]

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We Are Unequal the Series

I'm sorry this will be lengthy, but I'll get down to business. For anyone interested in watching this series for a certain pairing, let me start off by saying: only 2 pairings took the forefront in We Are while the rest got little to no screentime. It's even more painfully obvious when you omit all the friend group scenes where everyone was together. For couple screentime only, the ratio is similar to the following:

Phum/Peem: 45%
Q/Toey: 45%
Tan/Fang: 7%
Chain/Pun: 3%

STORY:

Enemies to lovers. Also, art students got to take the spotlight for a change and as an artist myself I was greatly entertained. I took it personal seeing the painting that started it all get ruined lol.. The friendship group was portrayed very well and was the focus of this series. I say this is where much of the cast shined as a whole. You can laugh and find enjoyment seeing all these boys spend time and be silly together despite their different personalities. This is not a dramatic series at all, it leans more towards a slice of life genre so there's nothing to really stress about. Ironically, the couples that they greatly ignored and didn't give much screentime to (Chain/Pun and Tan/Fang) were the ones who kept me interested in continuing the series to the end.

The negatives:

You can tell that the creators wanted to keep this story light-hearted and full of comedy. There's a slew of slapstick comedy scenes complete with sound effects at every turn to remind you that they won't ever give you a serious storyline. The first 2 episodes were difficult to watch mainly because of the overuse of sound effects, the gmmtv guitar riff bgms that they put in every bl series kept playing, and it was coming off a bit childish. Thankfully they changed things somewhat as the episodes continued but it was still disappointing that they never really gave us storylines for some of the pairings in the series. Tan/Fang and Chain/Pun storylines were practically non-existent since they were constantly robbed of screentime while Phum/Peem and Q/Toey had so much time and too many scenes that weren't needed and could've been used for the other pairings.

I read several excerpts of the novel along the way because there were scenes in the series that felt disjointed, or just moved on without addressing certain issues ever again. At times a character's behavior was confusing and there was no context. The parts I read cleared some of this, but made me question why such important details were omitted entirely from the drama itself. With 16 episodes, they had more than enough time to expand on everyone's stories or give more background to the characters that the novel clearly provided, but it never came. 16 episodes and yet we got only surface-level knowledge about the characters. An example of this: In episode 15, Tan tells Phum he can store all his cars at his garage. We never even knew that Tan owned a garage, we don't even know anything about his family, financial status, etc. 15 episodes and only learned about a garage.

So many things about these characters could've been explored and explained had they included the family conflicts, traumatic incidents, etc from the novel. Why call it an adaptation when you're only including the characters in name but little to nothing else about them? You don't need to follow the novel entirely, but add at least some details so we can know these characters and understand their thoughts/behavior. You can still make a light-hearted series while also giving proper depth to your characters. They poorly attemped to include the father-son conflict with Phum, but then seemed to just drop it and gave us nothing in the end. Too little and too late.

MUSIC:

The cast participated in creating the osts which were all great songs, I recommend them all. My only gripe with this series is that they had a habit of constantly using those few osts for EVERYTHING, to the point that it felt like overkill. Anytime a certain couple would come on their ost would start to play. Whenever they decided to do a slow-mo friendship moment montage, which there were a ton, they used the main ost. Then someone would perform a song in a scene and guess what they sang? the ost. They kept throwing them in every scene even when it didn't match. A good example of this was during an intimate scene in the final episode. Because it was a certain couple, they threw their ost in there but the upbeat song didn't even match the moment. It was very reminiscent to excessive product placement in some dramas.

ACTING/CAST:

My personal ranking for natural chemistry in this series:

Aou/Boom >> Pond/Phuwin > Marc/Poon (the dark horse) > Winny/Satang

[Aou/Boom]: Aou/Boom have been carrying in the chemistry department and deserve to have their own series at this point. You can tell they are comfortable working together, no awkwardness at any moment. Their improvised spaghetti kiss scene showed more character and chemistry than some others with scripted kisses. Neither of them ever looked uncomfortable and were always in character even when they were way in the back and cameras weren't focused on them. Being that Tan was the 'glue' that joined the two friend groups and was also the moodmaker, he was very important to the story as a whole. The way Aou portrayed Tan showed just how witty and talented he is as an actor. There were various scenes where he said a line that was likely ad-libbed and you could see Pond, Winny, Satang, and Boom either trying to hold in their laughter to keep themselves in character or actually genuinely laughing. MVP of the series.

[Pond/Phuwin]: I've been a fan since FUTS, but the one thing this series did show me throughout 16 episodes was the disparity between Pond and Phuwin's acting. While they have both made improvements over time, I felt like in this series Phuwin went a step backwards. There were several times where he looked uncomfortable during kissing or other intimate scenes which unfortunately takes viewers out of the story. If we are being told that two people are in love but then see one person looking like he really doesn't want to be close or even kiss the person then it's not convincing. It won't keep viewers invested in their story. What didn't help and made these special moments even more underwhelming was the constant back and forth between Phum and Peem for the majority of the series. All that waiting just to finally see a moment that looks like one person isn't feeling the same is disappointing. It felt like Pond was hard carrying these particular scenes and it's a shame because I was looking forward to seeing both of their growth in this series.

[Marc/Poon]: Having to reshoot everything and become close with a new partner isn't easy but these two pulled it off. I never saw Marc with Pawin, but even then I feel like they surely surpassed whatever that pairing gave. Their stares alone showed great chemistry and without spoiling, a certain moment really sold it. I hope they can work together again as a pairing because they clearly have the talent and seem to work very well together.

[Winny Satang]: While they can definitely pull off friendship roles or enemies, I am personally not seeing or feeling much in their scenes as Q/Toey. I think I'd have to see them in another series to fully make an opinion on their chemistry, but for now, it's giving stiff and awkward. Weirdly enough, I felt like I saw more between them in MSP than in this series. I feel they seem more comfortable together when romance is not involved and they're just bickering. I do applaud Satang for switching up roles though and not playing the same character over again in a series.

REWATCH VALUE:

This is not a series that needed to be 16 episodes and I wouldn't watch it entirely again as it seemed to drag over time. If anything, I would just rewatch some favorite scenes of my favorite characters. But I do think others might be happy to rewatch as it does show a nice friendship and many viewers are fans of the cast. Overall a decent series, great cast, just poor decisions and missed opportunities from the production team.

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A nice return

I haven't watched a drama with Ji Chang Wook since Suspicious Partner back in 2017, so this was a nice way to see his progression over the years. His performance didn't disappoint. Starting off, it was easy to empathize with Gyeo Rae's struggles as he lost his way in life, not to mention his traumatic childhood that continued to haunt him. This drama showed how all it takes is one good person to change someone's life. Seeing how Tae Shik not only saved him, but guided Gyeo Rae on a better path, even becoming a true father-figure to him, was heartwarming. It was even better to see how Gyeo Rae's interactions with the hospice patients not only helped them achieve peace in their final days, but their interactions with him also helped heal himself. His romance with Yeon Joo was also very cute, they made a great couple. This is my second time seeing a drama with Sooyoung and she played her character well. Very caring and passionate about helping others, but also a great support for Gyeo Rae. I loved how straightforward she was in pursuing him. She always got him flustered lol.

The drama itself started off strong in the beginning episodes, sometimes a bit cliche, but still heartwarming. But then it seemed to lose momentum and veered off into another direction. They could've done without the gangster side plot they crammed at the end, it really wasn't needed. The final episodes were very predictable given the way they steered the plot, so it was a decent closing, but nothing noteworthy. Also, seeing the "ghost" roaming around the hospital throughout the show felt more comical than anything since it took away from the main story's serious atmosphere. I just couldn't take it seriously. And in the end, it was all for naught. Nevertheless, the main cast did great and had wonderful chemistry, they really felt like a family. Taeyeon's ost was perfection. One thing I did appreciate about this drama was that it didn't cram ost songs everywhere, there were more bgm than anything which helped maintain the more serious tone of the story.

Overall, this was a good watch that got me in my feelings at times, but I wouldn't watch it again. I think this would be a hard drama to sit through for viewers who just want to see romance since that's not the main premise. If you aren't invested in the main characters at the start, you're not going to enjoy this drama; it will just feel long and boring. Not to mention, its theme revolving around life and death can be depressing and might not be for everyone.

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