Grade A+ casts trapped in complete packaging of a badly written script, directing, and editing

Listen, the premise is really interesting yet the output is just…. bad. I want to like this drama so bad that i forced myself to watch it until the very last episode. Alas, it just goes from bad to worse.

They throw all kinds of genre into this drama. Horror thriller? Yup. Mystery? Of course. Slice of life? Just been added. Romance? You got it. Survival? Undeniably. It’s like they were hesitating to chose what is the genre for jirisan and decided to put all kinds of genre there smh.

Let’s start from the writing. I feel like the writing lacks focus. They know how the main plot goes, but they don’t know how to spice up things around the main plot. The just randomly throw in some drama which was really unnecessary to add whatsoever. The plot is dragging and too dramatic. To be honest, the dramatization is a pain in the ass (way worse because the bad directing supported its dramatization). With this kind of plot, they could’ve just wrapped this drama up in 8 episodes or less smh.

The directing and the editing just doesn’t help. If anything, it makes Jirisan looked worse, and much more dramatic (in a bad way). Too much flashback scenes, too much weird transitions, too much shaky camera. The directing jumped from one story to other, and then it goes to flashback scene and then all of a sudden it goes to scenic panning. It’s a mess, really.

All in all, this drama is such a waste of time. Don’t even bother to watch it cause the great cast(s) didn’t help me that much.

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A great potrayal of what happen when parents haven’t healed their childhood trauma. How they pass those wounds to their family, children, and husband. How it affected their whole life.

Anyways their individual life arc was kinda boring, but I think its important to be added to build up their character. Originally wanted to give this movie 6/10, but that last sequence when they were in the restaurant….. it’s cinema. Plus the acting won’t disappoint you, the acting carried this whole movie.

Last thing: everyone in this movie needs a freaking therapy, jeez.

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an enjoyable movie, through and through.

“Why do you want me to fall in love with another guy?”

This movie is a perfect example of what a ‘complete package of emotions’ in a movie looks like. It goes, literally goes, from absurd to funny to weird to confusing to heartbreakingly-sad to suspense to mystery to funny again and back to sad again and ending it with a heartwarmingly-powerful ending. Although I do feel like the movie is grasping too many topics to focus on, but I think they still nailed it. If some of you already watched Along with The Gods, I think this story is kinda the same to that. Well, except, Till We Meet Again is the romantic version of Along with The Gods, and its much more sadder than that (I used three sheets of tissues cause I was literally crying like 4 times and each time I cried was harder than before lmfao). Plus how dare this movie put their jokes in a middle of sad scenes? Like come on, the first minute I was laughing, and the next minute I was crying (so hard)—only to be invited to laugh again in the middle of crying.

And…. have I told you that the acting carried this whole movie? Kai Ko, Vivian Sung, and Gingle Wang are absolutely charming in this movie. I really love how Kai Ko and Vivian Sung are really expressive with their acting, and they successfully invited their audience to felt the same emotions like them.

I really love that Tao Ming Tse reference, plus that Harlem Yu song… Qing Fei De Yi right? I UNDERSTOOD THAT REFERENCE!!! *insert that one captain america in the elevator meme*

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, it was funny and sad but powerful. I might consider to watch this again, who knows?

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Dang, Japan strikes again with this one.

Wow…. Honestly, I didn’t expect myself to love this movie so much. I was actually interested in the drilling ice core topic that they’ve shown in the trailer, cause my university lecturer used to say that ice core could be used to calculate the oxygen level years ago, and I got a little bit too curious so I watched this movie.

And what I didn’t expect at all was—contrary to where the story of this movie took place: the cold, dry, and lonely Antarctica—this movie is amazingly very warm, in a sense that you will be surprised to find yourself smiling through the movie, because of how heartwarming it is. The Chef of South Polar depicts perfectly how it feels to suddenly work miles away from where your home and your family are, how it feels to spend a year with strangers, how it feels to slowly driven into madness because you are fed up with your job but deep down you were just feeling really homesick and… lonely.

This movie has its funny moments too (and madly funny at that!), we get to see how these Oji-san being chaoticly funny and endearing at the same time. But the focus of this movie is actually leaning more towards the chef in the team. I love how they told us about the background story of the chef, which showed us that he actually doesn’t wanna go to Antarctica, but he has to. And I also love how they make the chef very attentive and full of affection towards his cooking ingredients, the food, as well as the people he used to call as strangers. He did have his meltdowns too, like the others, and omg it did make my eyes water, haha.

What I really love tho, is the accurate depiction of feeling homesick and having meltdowns because of it. My friends from university who has to live far from their family to pursue education used to told me the same thing what these Oji-san were experiencing. Sometimes they just wanna be crazy and give up to their cravings, just like the characters in this movie. Plus, that scene where it shows midnight craving for noodles? Very accurate!

I kinda wanna see the background story of each characters though, they are all very unique and interesting (especially the glaciologist, but well this is just a personal and selfish request of mine, hehe). All in all, It’s so delightful to see them spend their work and time as a team and as a family, miles away from their hometown, working their way out to heal their lonely soul with warm foods from the chef ❤️.

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technically perfect drama with a weird definition of complex male lead character

i might be very late to the party but… yeah. i had been so excited for this, and i’ve been hearing absolute positive reviews from everyone. so yeah i admit i kinda have a high expectation for this. sigh i guess my expectation is a little bit on the higher side.

don’t get me wrong, i still love this jdorama aight. technically, i love everything about this jdorama. the color palettes, the cinematography, the frames, the acting, the chemistry, the scoring, the sound design. the technical aspects are all perfect. one thing that bummed me out is how they tried to potray the character Harumichi as a complex character, which he actually ISN’T. to me, he’s JUST a coward who clearly cannot move on from his past.

and in the process of finding his past, he abandons his present self. and abandoning his current relationship too wtf. like…. Tsunemi shouldn’t have gone through all of that, you bastard. i truly feel so bad for her like ???????

he’s afraid to let go of tsunemi while still holding on to yae as his unfinished past smh. well at least they condemn his wishy-washy feelings for both women as he actually avoiding both and went abroad. i was going to be so freaking mad at Yuri Kanchiku if she ever did make Harumichi immediately go back to Yae after he broke up with Tsunemi. thankfully, she didn’t do that. she still made Harumichi feeling guilty.

anyways… i feel like i need to talk about the younger generation actors and actresses. THEY’RE REALLY REALLY GOOD WOW. at some point i think Taisei Kido’s performance outshoned Takeru Satoh on some of the scenes. he’s really REALLY good.

btw i expected i would get puffy eyes for all the angst and the crying. but surprise, surprise, i did not cry that bad lmao. rather than crying, i just feel so bad for Tsunemi and feeling rage for Harumichi’s wishy-washy feelings. i do cry at some points but rather than crying about their love story, i cried cause of their personal story instead. it’s just so sad…. especially Yae’s ?

there’s this one moment when Yae said her life is like a rocket that failed its mission to mars, and now the rocket is just going everywhere, floating without purpose. and im crying so hard at this scene mannnnn ????

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“You know what? I think I died a long ago. You, Me. Everybody in this war. Even Two-Seconds, she also died long ago. We’ve killed too many, we should be in hell. But hell can’t be worse than here…”

I originally watch this because of Lee Jehoon but I was simply amazed at how great this movie is. As a person who isn’t really a fan of war movies, it’s surprising to found myself liking this one. Truly one hell of an emotional war movie.

I really love the message that they showed in the movie. It really does slap you right in the face with powerful anti-war messages since the first minute. We’ll see how little the individual soldiers matter in the eyes of politicians and high-ranking officers. We’ll see how those soldiers are tired to make pointless war anymore. We’ll see how they are slowly losing their idealistic self. We’ll see how they are tired of deaths and killings. We’ll see how they don’t even know what is the purpose for the war anymore.

“Our enemy wasn’t the commies, but the war itself.”

The Front Line goes for a melodramatic tone more than I expected, but neither the score nor the acting goes over the top, yet it still left a deep emotional impact on its audience. Kudos to Shin Ha Kyun, Go soo, Lee Jehoon for their top notch acting.

I don’t have any comment on the cinematography, its already perfect on its own. That slow motion side scrolling shot of the battlefield is really bone-chilling.

I really held back my tears yet when the North Korean and South Korean soldiers were singing together, I just lost it. It’s really heartbreaking.

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It was fun, cute, and very lighthearted

I mean…. it was good, the cinematography was very well done and you can clearly see that the production team didn’t overly done the yellowish tone and I’m truly glad for that. The tone itself… I think they go into a more cool toned color like blue-ish and pinkish and it’s honestly refreshing to see that in a jdorama which clearly means to define their ‘youth’ theme. Plus I really love that one particular scene where Sora is sitting alone in rooftop for hours and they captured that through time lapse. VERY GOOD. *chef’s kiss*. It really does captured his heartbreak in a gentle and genuine manner.

It was fun, cute, and very lighthearted. Though I am definitely can’t relate with the story cause it was suited best for teenage girls whereas I am myself is a fully grown woman, but the message still stands strong: “Body from plastic surgery or body full of scars—it doesn’t matter. What matters is you become the best version of yourself.”

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I decided to watch this after I applied my night skincare on my face, and that is, apparently, a very bad decision.

Why?

32 minutes in and I already started crying. The movie goes on and so do my tears. It just won’t stop. I cried like a mf baby thanks to this movie. Sigh. There goes my skincare ?

Anyways, this is a complex and very humane family drama. It captures all of the characters’ dilemmas and emotions very clearly. It may sound weird, but I can relate to almost all of the characters. I relate to Nonomiya Okaa-san the most, tho… like, idk all of her emotions are actually very valid and it just breaks my heart to pieces.

The premise is actually a very cliche one, it isn’t fresh, you’ll find this kind of premise anywhere. But only in Kore-eda’s hand, a simple premise like this could turn into a complex, real, emotional, and humane one, without adding a dramatic story here and there.

Solid performance from all of the actors! They bring out their emotions very well.

Just…. wow. idk what to say anymore. It still amazed me how someone can make a beautiful movie like this.

While you reading my review, let me put on my skincare again, shall I?

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Disclaimer: i’ve watched the japanese version first.

Every problems that i have with korean dramas is always, always, and always—the pace (and the lazy writing sometimes lol). It shows in this drama too, even tho its really really good, i just can’t diminish the fact that the pace is just too slow and too long. The lazy writing too… oh my god, too many replayed flashbacks. Half of the 15th episode is just them playing flashbacks over and over again until i got bored of the flashbacks lol. I think it will be so much better if they cut the episodes into 12 or 14 episodes. Anyways, the acting carried this drama. I mean…. Lee Jehoon, Kim Hyesoo, and Cho Jinwoong as the main leads? Damn! I need a more packed season 2!

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Damn.

This hits different. This is actually a rewatch, first watched it around 2018-ish I think? My mom passed away last year and….. this movie really does hits different after she passed away. Started bawling my eyes out since the first few minutes. And as the eldest daughter, honestly I can see myself in Sugisaki Hana’s character.

Well, moving on, I knew this movie was bound to be a tearjerker drama yet they done it very neatly. The pace, the camerawork, the acting. My god! The acting was really top notch!!! Now that I watch this again, this movie really proves that Sugisaki Hana is really a magnificent actres (well, originally rating this 4 stars but the half star is for the amazing casts and their acting). The story though… sometimes I feel like they were trying to put too much topics. Like the bullying case? There were little resolution for that but I prefer them to adress how Azumi’s school life after that resolution. Although I really love how Futaba raises the two girls and her new unordinary family, even just for few months.

All in all, I still love how this movie turns out. How Futaba touch other people’s life, how she raises Azumi and Ayuko without questioning anything.

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a collective effort to accomplish a shared goal, in this case, to get a safe landing

I love this movie, lol. As a person who rarely flight, this movie is genuinely very informative for me. I get to know how the aviation industry works; from the one in charge of check-in counter, the pilot, the flight attendant, the engineer, the one controlling the birds, until the one in control room(?) etc etc.

Plus, I get to see, just how hard is their work…. and oh my god it’s actually tougher than I ever imagined. Like, you see, I always get blinded by how cool is that to be a flight attendant. You get to go everywhere, get nice photos, maybe some sneaky holidays, get to eat a nice airplane meal, etc. But, what we (well, in this case, me) don’t see, they have to handle their customers patiently, they have to stay calm in front of their customers despite their inner panic when something in the airplane goes wrong, they have to eat their meal fast, etc. It’s really a tough job. Also, being the one in charge of control room(?) you have to be on stand by in case the airplane got some emergencies, they have to calculate the weather, the wind, the rainfall.

This movie is just basically about a collective effort to accomplish a shared goal, in this case, to get a safe landing. Storywise, nothing really stands out but I really love this movie, it’s really delightful to watch.

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“If my way doesn’t work, I’ll follow your method.”

A fast pacing action crime drama that had me hooked since the first minute. But… here’s the thing, as much as I love Lee Je Hoon and Esom, I have to say this: the premise and plot is really interesting but the outcome is much more dramatic and unrealistically based on the good guy’s pure luck. Even though I truly enjoyed the entire series, I just can’t overlooked some major flaws in this drama.

Okay, so let’s start with the thing that I love first, shall we? I love how the cases were based on real stories which did great to ground this drama. The scoring was really good, it added a memorable flair to the entire drama. It actually started out strong with the factory employee and school bullying cases. The cast selection is smashing. Lee Je Hoon showcases an amazing versatility, he completely embodying every role that he does in this drama. We got to see him as the dumb jeotgal-loving businessman, the awkward substitute teacher, a docile but avaricious employee, silly illegal mobile phone dealer, and of course, the lieutenant turned taxi driver. Esom is, and as always, so charismatic on screen. Cha Ji Yeon’s impressive potrayal of her villain character. And last but not least, Lee Ho Cheol’s remarkable acting as twin with an opposite characteristic.

However, this drama really does struggle in the second healf of the drama. From the data centre case onwards, it just became too focused on the villains rather than the victims. It lacks focus to the existing cases and became too dramatized and unrealistic. Kim Do Ki, the male lead, never lose. Everything else is just a small hiccup for him. He just seemed so unrealistically powerful to the point where there was no conflict during any fights. You just knew he would survive ??‍♀️ Imagine getting stabbed in the shoulder yet still managed to fight with 20 people and still wins. That’s not humanly possible, like… I can’t relate, the US Marines can’t relate; yet Kim Do Ki can lmao.

The fighting sequences, while enjoyable, are not as neat as some other movies/dramas. Some fights look obviously fake and the stuntmen are obvious as well (i think they struggled to find stuntmen with the same physical appearances with the actors). But, all in all, fighting scenes with an upbeat music playing in the back is always my cup of tea.

I do think this drama would have a much better outcome if it still maintaining their episodic arcs which based on real life cases, though. Those cases were more ‘humane’ rather than whatever the hell happened in the second half of the drama.

All in all, it was definitely an enjoyable ride. In terms of quality, this was definitely an extremely well produced drama, with phenomenal cast. If you want to watch this, just watch it for Lee Je Hoon’s acting, you’ll definitely won’t regret it.

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Alright, where do I begin?

So… I actually not quite liking the first 5 episodes, though I was still continue watching it, I thought that the story was circling around and it was really annoying to watch. Plus, i don’t like how Yeo Jin Goo in act in those first episodes. He acted kinda awkward with his ‘oh-so-cold-and-mysterious’ character, I think he just wasn’t suited with that kind of character ?. And the ending too… I think it’s too abrupt, the resolution was only being told by some news in the tv? Like… c’mon it could have been better.

But, you know what? I eventually end up loving this drama, lol. There were some really great moments from mid to end. Well, especially in the middle. At some points, I thought I was still stuck watching around episode 9-10, but turns out I was already at episode 14 lmao ? because the middle was so more-ish(?) and I can’t take my eyes off my screen.

As I’ve said above, I don’t like the first 5 episodes. I thought this drama would took the usual dragging route, just like some of kdramas in this kind of genre. Well, until I realized that Beyond Evil is actually a slow-burn character-driven drama. That’s why the plot rely heavily on the characters. And I think the actors really does a good job on potraying their roles, especially Shin Ha Kyun. That man is a beast. His acting is just as magnificent as ever, dang. His chemistry with other actors (especially Yeo Jin Goo) is really damn great, I don’t even have a word to describe it.

And… speaking about Yeo Jin Goo, as I’ve said before, he was kinda awkward in the first few episodes. The good thing is, from mid to end, his character has some kind of switch and becomes more ‘humane’, and Yeo Jin Goo’s acting suddenly become really good, and I guess maybe it was because he suits the more ‘humane’ character ??‍♀️.

If I have to mention a western series similar to this…. maybe Mare of Easttown? Both kinda has the same formula, but Beyond Evil is the longer version of it. Well, all in all, Betond Evil is still a very solid kdrama. If you don’t like of how ‘heavy’ this drama is, just watch for the acting, I promise it won’t disappoint you.

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