Tag: Disney Plus

Review: Love All Play

Posted November 29, 2022 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Love All Play

Starring: Park Joo Hyun, Chae Jong Hyeop, Park Ji Hyun, Kim Moo Joon, Seo Ji Hye, Jo Han Chul
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: Drama, Melodrama, Romance, Sports
Country: South Korea
Director: Jo Woong
Screenwriter: Heo Sung Hye
Where I Watched It: HiTV
Who I Watched It For: Chae Jong Hyeop

A sports romance drama that depicts the passion and affection for badminton of a male and female protagonist who is a mixed doubles group with players from the badminton business team.

Park Tae Joon, who naturally wound up in the world of badminton because of his parents’ badminton equipment business. Although he had begun to see the sport as work, his passion for badminton is reignited due to a desire to impress a woman.

Park Tae Yang is a former aspiring Olympian who had to leave the badminton world for three years due to a bribing scandal.

This drama made its way onto my radar after I took an interest in Chae Jong Hyeop after watching and enjoying him in last year’s The Witch’s Diner. I haven’t been a fan of badminton before but I did really, really enjoyed last year’s Racket Boys so I was all in once I heard about this one.

The Story

This story follows our main female lead, Park Tae Yang. She was an Olympic hopeful that dropped out of the badminton world so suddenly, and though the world thinks she left because of a bribe scandal, I knew that wasn’t the case from the jump. She was carrying a lot of shit around but when she makes her way back to the badminton world, she has to start from the bottom again and this time around, she has to battle for every single inch.

She’s completely on her own but when she finally makes a friend, things get a lot messier than she was expecting..and she doesn’t even find out how messy until it’s way past the point of no return. When her past catches up with her, she has to see it through and deal with whatever comes next but it’s hard for her because she carries around so much guilt. This drama is all about her coming back into her own and atoning for the things that happened.

Main Male Lead

Our main male lead is Park Tae Joon and when we first meet him, he’s a really talented badminton player who, for whatever reason, doesn’t want to do more than he’s already doing. He’s got the talent to go even further but he doesn’t have the drive or the interest. When he meets Park Tae Yang, a badminton player that he’s been a fan of since he was a kid, she tries to get him to see the potential of everything he can be. Now, because he’s a man and likes Tae Yang as a woman, he’s okay with letting her pad his ego about his potential even if he has absolutely no plans to pursue them.

The stuff that he carried and held on to made my heart grow ten times every time he came on the screen because what a shitty position to be in. He loved his family but he also loved his and understood Tae Yang, more than anyone else understood her so to be stuck in the middle had to have been hard for him but I thought he carried the weight of everyone’s world on his shoulder extremely well. And he looked good while doing it.

Seeing him come into his own over the course of the show was great. I loved him just as much in this show as I did in the other show that I watched him in so I’m definitely becoming a huge fan of his. I adored his acting in this one and can’t wait to see him do some more stuff.

Main Female Lead

I loved Park Tae Yang. I thought she was a worthy female lead and I thought that Park Joo Hyun did a fantastic job of bringing her to life. She was strong and she was determined to take her life back and even though there were times when I got frustrated with the guilt she refused to put down for even a second, I still loved the hell out of her.

I didn’t think she deserved to carry that much guilt on her shoulders and the people that forced her to keep carrying that guilt pissed me off. She was such a great friend and she made a mistake, she never meant for anyone to get hurt and for everyone to have an opinion on her past, on her, seriously pissed me off. She already carried so much and for her to feel like she had to keep on carrying that guilt made me want to hug her close and protect her at all costs.

The Cast

The only people that I didn’t hate at one point or another in this show was Park Tae Yang and Park Tae Joon. Everyone else? I took turns hating the hell out of. The badminton team? Yeah, they came around in the end but in the beginning? Yeah, they could all suck a fat one. Tae Joon’s sister? Yeah, I wanted to punch her in the throat and push her down the hill. The coaches? They could catch these hands too and don’t even get me started on Tae Joon’s Mom. Ugh, what a bitch.

Now I stopped hating everyone when they stopped being little bitches to Tae Yang and I even rooted for the little side romances as well. The secondary romance was cringy though because home girl just couldn’t stop being weird but I’m glad that they ended up together. I liked the other romance too, the slow burn one of the teammates that got together after homie retired. They were cute and I really liked when they finally got together. 🙂

Final Thoughts

This was a great show, all in all. There’s a lot of angst but there’s a lot of humor, warmth, and sweetness to balance it all out. I thought the romance between Tae Joon and Tae Yang was such a sweet one and though it was messy because of her past and his family, I was satisfied with the way it all ended. I really enjoyed all of the main leads, all of the romances, and the ending made me content so I definitely recommend.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

4 out of 5

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Review: Soundtrack #1

Posted November 24, 2022 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Soundtrack #1

Starring: Park Hyung Shik, Han So Hee, Kim Joo Heon, Yoon Byung Hee, Park Min Jung, Park Hoon
Year Released: 2022
Number of Episodes: 4
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: South Korea
Director: Kim Hee Won
Screenwriter: Ahn Sae Bom
Where I Watched It: Disney Plus
Recommended By: N/A
Who I Watched It For: Park Hyung Shik

Two people have been friends for two decades, but a mere two weeks of living together blurs that fine line between love and friendship.

Han Sun Woo is a handsome rookie photographer with a warm personality, while Seo Eun Soo is a lively, straightforward, and honest person who openly expresses her feelings. Three years ago, she seized a chance opportunity to become a lyricist. Nowadays details of their relatable romance are subtly interwoven into her musical compositions.

This show was on my watch list the moment I knew that Park Hyung Shik signed up for it. I love me some PHS so I was going to watch this no matter what. I had to wait a bit before it showed up on Disney Plus but the minute that it did, I was on it. I watched the entire thing in one work day. It was short and it was sweet and I’m glad that I watched it.

Park Hyung Shik was as great as he usually is and I’m SO glad that he’s back from his military enlistment.

The Story

This drama is about two best friends. Sunwoo and Eunsoo. They’ve been best friends since they were nine years old and Sunwoo has been in love with Eunsoo for about that long as well. We follow along as they come to terms with their feelings for each other. Sunwoo, thinking that maybe it’s time to move on from Eunsoo to save their friendship and Eunsoo, coming to the realization that maybe the love that she’s never had was right there all along.

Main Male Lead

I am a sucker for an unrequited love story and my guy Sunwoo was in love with his best friend, all on his own. For years. Park Hyung Shik plays this role really well. I’m sure that I would enjoy watching him act in a toilet paper commercial but I was really soft for Sunwoo. He was a great friend. He was a good person. And seeing him step back from confessing his feelings for his best friend because she turned him down before he could ever say anything, made for an angsty romance that I thought Park Hyung Shik carried really well. He does those longing looks justice, haha.

Sunwoo was a talented photographer who had a shot for international recognition for his work and seeing him struggle with staying or going made my heart hurt for him. I was happy with his choice and I was a really big fan of Sunwoo so I was rooting for him from the jump. Loved him.

Main Female Lead

I haven’t watched a lot of things with Han Sohee but I did enjoy her in this one. Seeing her slowly come into her feelings for Sunwoo made the show all the more interesting. Sure, I thought that she took her sweet time coming into those feelings but all is well that ends well. I never doubted her feelings when she finally realizes that she’s in love with Sunwoo and was scared that she might be too late. It made their coming together all the more worthwhile since she suffered on her own just like Sunwoo did.

I did wonder how I would have felt if I didn’t share my best friend’s feelings and found folders and folders of pictures of myself on his computer. I had secondhand embarrassment for Sunwoo but Eunsoo handled that whole thing just like she handled everything else, clumsily but cutely. Go figure that this show was only four episodes and yet, it felt like it took forever for Eunsoo to come into her feelings. But when she finally realizes them and acts on them, I was so satisfied.

The Cast

There was only one familiar face included in this cast but it was a pleasant familiar face. I didn’t like him for Eunsoo but I did like seeing him again. I also enjoyed the couple that ran the restaurant that Eunsoo and Sunwoo frequented, I adored Eunsoo’s Mom, and I liked Sunwoo’s work friends (except the girl that tried to hit on him, haha) as well. Most of the screentime was spent on Sunwoo and Eunsoo so there wasn’t much left over for the rest of the cast but still, the cast did a great job with the time they were given and I enjoyed them all.

Final Thoughts

There were only four episodes in this entire drama but I never once felt cheated or felt that their relationship, their story, or anything else for that matter was rushed. It was like a long movie that hit all of the right buttons to make my heart happy. There were soft moments, more emotional moments, and a lovely romance that I really enjoyed from beginning to end. It’s another great addition to Park Hyung Shik’s acting resume and I definitely recommend it.

Final Rating

via GIPHY

4.5 out of 5

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