Reviews

First 5 eps feels like 20 eps already! But I'd say The characters and the acting skills is well-balanced and well-done in this drama. Tang Yan and Shawn Duo impressed me this time. Tang Yan is looking elegant, classy and super pretty in here! She exceeds my Princess Wei Young vibes expectation. Can't deny their chemistry! Well, shawn is too sweet to be ignored! Liked him in Princess agents but I loved him here in Legend of Xiao Chuo. Chairmaine is a bombshell! Gosh I loved her here more in this drama, btw 2nd sister is so great in acting! So natural.

I'd never expect their soundtrack is better than I expected. Costumes and Hairstyles like Princess Wei Young were too elegant. The setting is gosh super 3D 😍✌ I'd never push myself writing a long review but this drama deserves it. This one is a matured historical drama.

Waiting for next eps!

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The opening scene of the story shows a beautiful landscape and a woman warrior beside a cart that has a casket on it. It seemed that she has killed a lot of people and she's looking for a place she heard that souls can reside before going to the afterlife. For some reason, she's even willing to kill herself to repent for her sins. She then ends up as the proprietor of a hotel for souls. Fast forward into the present time, the main male lead character (Yeo Jin Goo) has grown up and needs to fulfill a bargain that his father made with her. The deal that was made is similar to the story of the beauty and the beast where the father plucked a blooming flower for his daughter. Only this time, it's a dad offering his son's life in servitude to a thousands-year-old woman.

Honestly, this story got me interested right away. It's a pretty good ghost story so far. Main female lead (IU) looks convincing as a warrior at the beginning and looks gorgeous in her flowing outfits when she became the boss of Hotel de Luna. I'm looking forward to her beautiful wardrobe changes and see if there will be sparks between the main leads. Male lead Jin Goo looks dashing in a suit and playing his character well. There's also some comedic relief I'd like to see more.

Will update review later on.

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In all honesty it is sort of strange to review a variety show, however, there are an excessive number of people that only watch clips of this show and rate it highly or poorly. I would like to give an in-depth analysis on why I rated this as an average show. And why certain ratings are as such:

Firstly, the strength of this show comes from two people in the cast. Kim Heechul and Lee Soogeum. That is it. Everyone else is relatively a non-factor since the dynamic between all individuals has been decided and the structure of how to treat guests or situations are relatively the same. I am not saying that if Kang Ho Dong was replaced by Yoo Jae Suk it would not make a difference because that would surely changed the entire dynamic of the show. However, the comedy and gags and pace of the show is determined by Kim Heechul interactions with guests and Lee Soogeum's comedic timing and ability. Honestly, if you told me they would replace half the members except these two than new gags would come up and new personalities and relationships would be highlighted.

Secondly, this show is build around Kang Ho Dong's personality which is loud, abrasive and often times insensitive. There are many jokes that are said that on any other show would be contraband such as divorce, gambling, alcoholism. This is refreshing in a sense that it makes everyone more human. However, it also means that the show must play on the fact that its the hosts of the "school" versus the guests that come. This can get boring because picking on female idols over and over for the same thing loses its charm after a while. And disregarding guests becomes disrespectful at times. There are moments where the hosts throw away this system and its image, however, that makes the show lose its meaning if done too frequently.

Thirdly, I will say it again, but Kim Heechul is the sole reason this show is where it is. Because giving Heechul an abrasive platform to make whatever jokes he wanted makes this show fresh. Seeing him talk down to SNSD or tell EXO and Shinee and Infinite to get lost are novel. Similarly, flirting with guests is also novel. However, there is a limit to certain things and certain things get repetitive. Making jokes about smoking is funny, but than it becomes serious after a while when you consider he could do it every episode. It would lose meaning. The main thing saving this show is Heechul's vast connections and his ability to talk and play off of them.

Fourthly, most of this show is boring. This is partly due to the hosts not treating the guests well and sometimes blatantly ignoring them. But there is also the fact that the guests are asked to introduce themselves but can't say anything that is "real." I will be honest, who cares about a spot on Jonghyun's body. I don't even care if its Seolhyun's body. Or how Momo feels about this or that. It's just not that interesting. The only interesting parts are when Heechul or someone else is able to relate and make it more interesting. The most boring parts, however, are the skits or other aspects of the show because to be honest they are not funny and do not play onto the strengths of the show which are the abrasive relationships between members and guests.

Overall, the best moments are when relationships are teased and jokes are made. However, this can get boring very quickly. Is it worth watching entire episodes again? Not really. Is it worth rewatching certain clips? Sure, just go to Youtube and you'll find compilations and categorization. Having people show off their talents is what makes things like this memorable. For example, can anyone tell me what Jonghyun and Irene did when they came? How about Davichi? No idea. Cause it is not memorable.

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Slow-burn, largely unproblematic and realistic

Spoilers ahead: I'm sure I'm going to step on a lot of toes with this review. I know this series is highly rated but I find it pretty boring overall because I dislike slow burn dramas. While the story is fine, I feel like things are dragged longer than necessary and I had to skip ahead many times once I get the gist of the scenes. Speaking as a gay man, I have gripes with Korn referring to Knock as his wife (almost twice: once he almost let it slip in the hospital, and another time when confronting Pleng near the end of the series). Referring to the bottom as the wife is a big no-no as it's both heteronormative and homophobic. Released in 2017, they should've known better. I could be wrong but it's pretty indicative of the writers NOT being part of the LGBTQ community. Neither me nor any gay men I know would call themselves or their spouses their "wife." Vice versa for lesbians. As a community, we're just so tired of the heteronormative, male/female, seme/uke dichotomy of queer relationships. And to add fuel to the fire, I see comments that praise the "wife" line as the best line in the whole series. That's such a fujoshi thing to say. At this point (episode 12), I've decide to stop watching even though I know there's only 1 more episode to go. Consider that the last straw. Furthermore, it's pretty draining to have to root for characters I increasingly dislike, so much so that I no longer care if Korn and Knock get back together, although I know they will. I have no respect for Knock, who cheated multiple times, who can never be decisive, and who kept making bad decisions that hurt everyone around him. I also have no respect for Korn. Back when he claimed Pleng is innocent he cheated with Korn once again even though they were both sober. Of course, he also did the big no-no by calling Knock his wife. On the other hand, Faii and Yihwa are pretty awesome characters and they usually steal the scenes. While Knock and Korn's relationship has the potential of being quite sweet, their relationship (as with the rest of the relationships on the show) has been rocky for most of the series, which can be frustrating to watch. Representation and research-wise, I like that it is pretty realistic. With the exception of the "wife" thing, it hasn't fallen into any more of the pitfalls common to the BL genre. There is variety: I like that Korn is established as a gay character who doesn't care about others' judgment. Bright is an unapologetic, sleezy playboy (which is fine but he should've said so to Farm from the start) while Farm is as pure as it comes. None of them feel like stereotypes or caricatures. The show deals with realistic themes like homophobia (from Korn's sister), cheating, revenge, heartbreak, being outed, friendship, etc. so by no means is this show a whitewashed fetishization of gay men. The acting is decent, although Korn's face freezes whenever someone confronts him about something and I don't know if that's his characterization or awkward acting. Knock can't cry for shit. Farm's face always has the same look/emotion. Faii and Yihwa are hilarious. Lastly, I don't get why Knock was so upset at the start. They were both drunk and they agreed to have sex. Knock even bottomed without prep or lube, which is metal. It's not as if Korn raped him.

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The most overrated drama yet

One of the worst dramas of this decade. It used controversies to gain Attention, it copied the concept of sky castle and the world of the married (both one of the top rated dramas) and showing bad contents without age ratings. It thereby built up it's hype with controversies and clout. Moving on to the main drama, the actors and actresses all over exajurate, everyone is evil...in real life we know this not true. Even minors are horrible, the drama is a mess. I will not encourage anyone to watch this, I would have given it a 0 rating but at least, they actually spent their time practicing, I'm dropping this for superior dramas like kairos and the uncanny encounter

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I'm actually about to cry.

We all have emotional boundaries when we're watching shows and this one crossed mine.

I was LOVING this. It was sitting at a solid 8.5 rating. I was sitting thinking I had found another favourite for my list. A FL I could support. Humour that landed on me. A plot I was invested in. Gone in a 30 second scene.

My no.1 rule for writers is when you use violence against animals and children, you do it tastefully.

This 12 rated show can't show us a proper kiss but is perfectly happy to show us a baby getting his eyes gouged out. A BABY, screaming and crying, while a man puts his fingers through his eyes. Telling us is one thing. Actually showing us it, is another.
But heaven forbid you show us an actual proper kiss between two lovers.

No. Just No.

You suck and don't deserve anymore attention.

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I’ve never written a drama review before; I’ve never felt that I needed to write one this badly, but I think it’s time I start doing that.

This drama has been so wronged by the rating.

It never bored me; the plot so well written, well paced, characters are lovable, antagonists are understandable (so far), conflicts are realistic, and don’t get me started about YSY.

“I wish I wasn’t me” 저 제가 아니었음 젛겠어요 the line killed me.
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Common sense doesn't apply for majority of the show.

The script is really bad because some parts of the movie script was so enforced to the point that they must said this or the movie doesn't go on at all. Go watch the episodes yourself because if I explained it, I would write out an entire essay, starting of decent and became absolutely horrible in like mid episodes. (Especially the main Female Character Scripts), literally 60% of the script doesn't apply common sense) The story is fine and all but some details in the show doesn't apply common sense.
(The review language is for Chinese, but even if it translate to any language for the show it is still really bad)

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OMG
i COULDN'T BEAR MORE
24 eps. was really my limit in watching this shit

Both sis were real pain in the***
The elder one naive till the limit of pulling your hair
She is creative in humiliating herself
Stupid and stubborn more than a mule
Her character soooo weak

And the younger were extremely totally literally Huge B*****
Full of grudge,envy and illogical

I can't feel any sympathy towards both

WOOOOOW really provoking

I only continue because of Xiao ming and inspite of that, i couldn't continue

i can just say it finished when she discovered that she had the same feelings for him
i wasn't curious at all for other characters

may be one day i can continue watching it, but no way soon one

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Extremely weird and obviously differing with the manga

This show opening starts with a picture from the manga, which clearly portrays people of completely different looks and BEHAVIOR than the cast of this live action. It's a huge contrast. And during the ending credits of each episode, we can see how the scenes were pictured in the manga. Somehow it looks MASSIVELY different. It gives you completely different vibe. So, maybe 'Coffe & Vanilla' was cute & hot as the manga, but it looks somehow lame & creepy with real actors. It happens...

Unfortunatelly, this seems rather extreme case of it, when the mismatched content, mismatched cast and too short a runtime completed the product that's close to a parody in terms of how absurd it all comes across. My detailed experience follows. But I dropped it halfway. Some viewers praised the skinship scenes that kept them going, but problem is... This couple is in bed all the time, but you're not EXCITED.

Okay, manga aside, what we watch in the beginning is: The female lead of this drama is a pretty girl who reject all guys for no reason, and who is shy and insecure in any situation. Despite getting up every morning and dressing up to be a pretty girl, and despite that nothing stops her from gradually gaining experience in whatever, if she only wanted to.

While rejecting one of the guys asking her out, she meets another guy, who "helps" her to get her rid of the first guy, then smoothly asks her out himself. He takes her to a suspiciously expensive restaurant and lets her drink one sip of wine after which she falls unconscious. It looked like she met some kind of a crook, to be honest, LOL. But, she finds out he didn't do anything with her when she wakes up next morning at his place. He just politely asks her to date him, lol. He claims that he fell in love with her at first sight, and they have their fist kiss. It really is a "Fast Paced Romance" to say the least. They are complete strangers. We hear the girl's inner thoughts, excited about finally experiencing love she knows from all the dramas and mangas. We don't hear the guy's thoughts. Goodness gracious.

We move onto bed scene right in episode 1. You know, it's not without fun, to just watch empty-headed people getting it on... I wouldn't exactly call it "romance", but it's certainly not wasting time on bulls**t, lol. Just, when he opened the night with saying: "Let me be your first and your last man.", I briefly wondered whether he planned to kill her, LOL. Maybe, the comparison to 'Twilight' one fellow review here made was not so far fetched? That also had a girl suddenly falling in love with a strange boy desperate-fangirl-style for absolutely no reason, apart from him being "beautiful". But at least there were the ridiculous fantasy elements. There's no one at least having their skin sparkling in the sunlight, here. There's literally nothing here, in the small runtime, but the couple.

Moving onto episode 2... It really does remind me of 'Twilight' now (yeah, cannot get that comparison out of my head, "thank you", other reviews!) with the main guy being all keen to know every single detail about main girl's life and all her little likes and dislikes, despite her being UTTERLY uninteresting. Yet we keep listening to her inner commentary. At one point she wonders: "Can he read minds?" Now, can you tell me NOT to think of 'Twilight':-) Also as soon as episode 2, he gives her a ring. He IS super possessive & jealous since day 1, check. He keeps saying he needs to treasure her. Overall, he acts like she is the only pretty girl he is allowed to date till he dies. Also, other boy shows interest in the main girl, and I would actually prefer him... Yeah, I would prefer the main girl to live normal life, instead of jumping into a weirdly fast relationship with... also weird guy, if you ask me.

Main guy speed-attacks the main girl into dating like in some kind of a women fantasy, but it's weird to watch it happening live action. Nobody acts normally, here. Like, the other boy who also likes the main girl. She introduces him an attractive, rich guy as her boyfriend and tells him that she loves only him. I think this is a situation where person gives up, and it's understandable. His reaction is he that states he still won't give up on her. Who does that? It's like we KNOW we don't watch real people. In the ending credits, we can see how the scenes were pictured in the manga... And it's SO different. Like I mentioned above in my opening paragraph.

Episode 3... The other boy is all over the main girl. Something nasty in me wishes that she'd go for him. Let her cheat on the main guy! I'm bored with him already, LOL. Such a creep. Okay, it's then revealed that ML actually met FL a bit while back, and started liking her BEFORE the 1st episode encounter. It makes things a BIT better, though I still did not warm up to him. FL is thinking: "I can't believe that he loves me this much!" with a happy smile all across her face. I admit I was thinking exactly the same thing, LOL. Just not smiling the same way. Then, another guy is introduced... He is shown smoking a big cirarette and blows the smoke right into FL's innocent face, so that all the viewers know that he is a BAD boy, lolz. It's like in 'Vampire Diaries' (to put yet another vampire reference in:) when Damon gets introduced. Then, after like 30 seconds, his scene is over, LOL. Maybe, this show could pass as a Parody? Then, it IS funny;-) ML then delivers plenty of beautiful clothes and shoes for FL to choose from - a classic cinderella moment, he even calls her "my Cinderella" - so that the women-fantasy line is kept going on, no matter how dated and pathetic it is, then when she's wearing red dress and standing in red light (for it not to be exaggerated:) they share a hot moment which made me think of all the j-drama couples I would enjoy having a scene like this. Just about any other couple but this one, sadly.

Epi 4: ML's weird brother (still, actually less weird than ML himself) managed to kiss FL forcefully, so ML states he needs to make her forget that. So, yet more make-out scenes occur. My, why this was NEVER there with couples I did ship, lol. Put these scenes into any proper j-drama, and I'll say thank you. But do not create some weird 25-minute collage of them with "characters" no one cares about!

Epi 5: ML's brother is all over FL, trying to seduce her. I don't care for him, yet I almost love him for usurping some of the screentime. I do prefer scenes where ML is absent. FL is massively boring. So much that ML's brother's awkward attempts to shake things up are actually an improvement. Whenever there's only a half of the boring/creepy main couple onscreen, it's a plus. So, I'm all for inviting more and more side-characters into this show, so that we won't have to watch the mains all the time. Sadly, ML reappears after 1/3 of the episode runtime or so. Still, BETTER than having him there ALL the time. Then FL is joined by her female friend... she is also interested in ML. Pitty she can't steal ML and drag him somewhere far. I could bear watching FL - despite her empty personality she IS very pretty - with someone else. I've grown to hate ML both inside and out. I cannot withstand watching FL & ML both. Someone, PLEASE split this couple, LOL.

Epi 6: FL's "friend" asks her to allow her one date with ML. FL agrees, unfortunatelly she also goes on the date so we have to watch it. From my point of view, I didn't mind FL's suffering, it was still less boring to watch than if the date was just ML & FL alone. ML obviously agreed because he wanted to teach FL a life lesson, which I agreed she needed, I just didn't care. Soon main couple is in bed again, and he teaches her some stuff there. Best part of which is, he mentions he'a about to go abroad. That got my hopes up. Shall he be absent for some screen time? Perhaps even whole episode or two? That would be great. He then leaves, and FL is surrounded by both the secondary males, her female friend, plus she meets (yet another) psycho. I now realize I'm not interested in this "drama" WHATEVER is happening. So, nothing against the manga, perhaps that's fun but this, I don't need to watch it all.

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