The Scholar Who Walks at Night – Review

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Title: The Scholar Who Walks at Night

Language: Korean

Genres: Historical, Mystery, Romance, Fantasy

Objectional Content: Violence, Death

Synopsis: from MyDramaList: In Joseon Dynasty, immaculately dressed in scholarly robes, the young nobleman Kim Sung Yeol lives as a vampire to keep his promise to his friends. When Sung Yeol still was a human, he found out about the vampire Gwi who sits above the King deciding the next royal line and has resurrected as a vampire trying to fight against Gwi. And now, he is living as a guardian vampire fighting against the evil vampire without losing his human nature.

My Review

I found this drama after I watched Tomorrow. I loved Lee Soo Hyuk in that show so much I wanted to know what else he was in. Thus I came across the Scholar Who Walks at Night. I wanted so much to like this drama, and at first it was pretty good. The vampire acting and some of the special affects are a bit cheesy, but I could look past that. The problem is, it just goes on for too long.

Most of the show is spent looking for the “secret plan” to kill the vampire Gwi. Then, once they finally get it, they spend multiple episodes agonizing over how it’s to be used. How the plan is to be used is even misinterpreted, resulting in the belief that the Female Lead needs to be sacrificed to Gwi in order to kill him. Even after they realize that is incorrect, it still takes them forever to come up with a plan.

Kin Sung Yeol started out as a pretty cool character. He has been living as a vampire for 120 years, searching for the way to kill Gwi and free the country from the vampire’s grasp. He is mostly closed off and stoic when he first meets Jo Yang Seon, who is working as a bookseller. As Sung Yeol begins to develop feelings for Yang Seon, he becomes annoyingly whiney. He believes himself to be a horrible beast that may lose control and attack Yang Seon.

In turn, Yang Seon is basically useless. She doesn’t do much except need to be saved constantly. She couldn’t even sacrifice herself for the greater good properly.

Truly, Gwi is the only character that I really liked. The Crown Prince wasn’t bad, but not my favorite. Gwi is a straight forward character. You know what his motives are and how he’s likely to react to certain situations. Yes, he a monster that survives on human blood, but I think in the end he was kind of lonely. I wanted so much for Gwi to win, but I knew that was never going to happen. If you’ve seen any amount of Kdramas in your life, you will know what I mean. The ending was also very cliche.

At one point I considered giving up on this drama, but since I only had a few episodes left, I decided to stick it out.

My rating for the Scholar Who Walks At Night is 3 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy historical dramas with overly sensitive male leads, than this may be a drama for you.

Thanks for reading!

Weak Hero: Class 1 – Review

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Title: Weak Hero: Class 1

Language: Korean

Genres: Action, Youth, Drama

Objectional Content: Violence, Bullying

Synopsis: from MyDramaList: Yeon Shi Eun is a model student who ranks at the top of his high school. Physically, Yeon Shi Eun appears weak, but by using his wits and psychology, he fights against the violence that takes place inside and outside of his school.

My Review

I honestly don’t know what to make of this drama. Is it supposed to be against bullying? Is it showing what happens if you stand up to bullies? Or is it highlighting what Korean society is like?

Our main character, Shi-Eun, seems like a quiet person who keeps to himself and spends all of his time studying. This, apparently, is not acceptable to the school bullies and they begin to harass him. However, because he doesn’t react to being threatened, they instead try to mess with his grades. Using a new student to put a fentanyl patch on Shi-Eun’s neck results in him incorrectly answering a question on an exam. This causes Shi-Eun to lose it and attacks the bully. Everything escalates from there.

The bullies can’t accept that they were beaten and need to get revenge, which leads to involvement with a dangerous gang and everything escalates out of control. Resentment flies all over the place and everyone is getting beaten mercilessly.

The show is very well done. The acting is spot on and the production is great. But, as I said at the beginning of this, I’m not sure what to take away from it.

If you have seen this show, I would really love to know your opinion on it as well. So if you have seen it, please leave your thoughts in the comments. If not, give it a watch and see what you think for yourself.

My rating for Weak Hero Class 1 is 4 out of 5 stars. There is a second season but I have yet to watch it. I needed a palate cleanser after finishing the first season.

Vincenzo – KDrama Review

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Title: Vincenzo

Language: Korean, Italian, English

Genres: Comedy, Law, Crime, Drama

Objectional Content: Violence, Murder

Synopsis: from (MyDramaList): At the age of eight, Park Joo Hyeong left for Italy after being adopted. Now an adult, he is known as Vincenzo Cassano and employed by a Mafia family as a consigliere. Due to warring Mafia factions, he flies to South Korea where he gets involved with lawyer Hong Cha Young. She is the type of attorney who will do anything to win a case. Now back in his motherland, he gives an unrivalled conglomerate a taste of his own medicine—with a side of his own version of justice.

My Review

Vincenzo begins in spectacular fashion when Vincenzo, the character, takes revenge on a rival Mafia family after the death of his boss. Refusing to serve the new boss, Vincenzo flies back to his motherland of Korea. There, safely hidden below and old building, is 15 tons of gold. The rightful owner has passed away and the only people who know about the gold are Vincenzo himself and a friend who helped hide the gold. Unfortunately, the building is bought by illegal means, forcing Vincenzo to become involved in with the building’s tenants and their fight to keep the building from being demolished.

Vincenzo as a character is just amazing. He is calm and collected, even when when being insulted to his face or having his life threatened. He doesn’t give in to his emotions and never acts rashly. He is very good at playing the long game. If someone crosses this man, they will pay for it dearly, but stay on his good side and he will protect you when needed. He is truly a scary type of person. Knowing full well he is not any type of hero for justice, he is a villain that will use what he knows to get what he wants.

In the beginning, I didn’t much like Hong Cha-Young. She is arrogant, loud, and has a weird way of walking like she’s better than those around here. However, after he father is murdered, she quits her high profile law firm to fight again Babel and bring down it’s evil CEO. She kind of grew on me by the end.

Jang Han-Seok is a true psychopath as the true villain of this show. One moment he can be all smiles and innocence, the next he’ll be beating someone with a hockey stick. This man is even more terrifying than Vincenzo because he enjoys the pain he inflicts. I don’t want to spoil anything, but he most definitely gets what he deserves in the end.

This drama has so many twists and turns. There were some genuinely jaw dropping moments and times when I cried. I could barely predict what was to come next. Some dramas can be very formulaic, but not this one. Thankfully, the last episode also wasn’t some stupid kind of filler episode with like a dumb amnesia plot or something.

Although it was slightly open ended in it’s last moments, I’d say this show wrapped up quite nicely, with no loose ends to really wonder about. Considering its been 4 years since it was released, I’d be surprised if they suddenly decided to do a season 2.

My rating for Vincenzo is 4.5 stars out of 5 and I’d recommend it to anyone who is looking for a somewhat intense, but also slow burn story about crime and how people will try to cheat the law.

Thanks for reading!

Requiem for the Sun – Symphony of the Ages #4 by Elizabeth Haydon

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Title: Requiem for the Sun

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages

Sexual Content: Minimal

Objectional Content: Violence, Sexual violence, violence against children

Synopsis (From Goodreads): Requiem for the Sun , Sequel to the USA Today bestselling Rhapsody Trilogy

It has been three years since their devastating battle, and peace has settled across their land. But to the south an empire lies ready to crumble. When the Dowager Empress dies, along with her successor, a great war breaks out, threatening to overwhelm the known world.

And an old nemesis of Rhapsody’s–presumed dead for centuries–resurfaces, forcing her to choose between facing his depravity or sacrificing her own life . . . and that of her unborn child.

My Review

Requiem for the Sun starts off three years after the end of Destiny. Rhapsody and Ashe are married, and Lord and Lady Cymrian. During those three years, there has been relative peace in the Alliance. As the happy couple decide it’s time to have a baby, the Dowager Empress of Sorbold and her son die. Rhapsody, too ill from her pregnancy to attend the funeral, travels back to Haguefort, while Ashe goes to the funeral.

After leaving Haguefort, Rhapsody intends to travel to see the dragon Elysynos, but on the way she is ambushed by an old foe and taken prisoner. The moment it is known Rhapsody is missing, both Ashe and Achmed begin searching for her immediately.

Rhapsody continues to be an amazing character. Her resilience and determination is unmatched. I think many people in her situation may have given up and died, unable to find a way out of the predicament. With the life of her unborn child on the line, giving up is not an option in Rhapsody’s mind. One way or another, she will get out and she will be free.

When with his wife, Ashe can be unsufferable. His obsession with Rhapsody is rather irritating. However, separate the two, and suddenly he’s a likable character, doing whatever he must to get his wife back. It’s at times like these that his badassery shines.

I felt like Grunthor didn’t get as much page time time in this novel, but he is definitely still there and just the same as ever. In fact we do find out an interesting tid bit about Grunthor that I thought was fantastic.

One thing that bothered me about this book, and may be a bit of a SPOILER, is that Rhapsody is trapped in a cave for days on end. A cave that fills with water when the tide comes in. Her husband is literally tied to the element of water. Was there not some way she could have called to him through the water? That made no sense to me. END SPOILER

Overall, Requiem for the Sun is a fantastic addition to the Symphony of Ages series, and a good start on a new trilogy. My rating for this book is 4 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to anyone who has read the original trilogy. If you haven’t read the original trilogy, I suggest you read that first.

Thanks for reading!

The Uncanny Counter 2 – Kdrama Review

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The Uncanny Counter Season 2: Counter Punch

Title: The Uncanny Counter 2

Language: Korean

Genres: Action, Mystery, comedy, Supernatural

Objectional Content: Violence, Domestic Violence, Murder

Synopsis: from (MyDramaList): Evil spirits from the afterlife arrive on Earth in search of an immortal existence. The story follows a group of counters who are tasked with catching these malevolent entities.

My Review

In season 1 of the Uncanny County, So Mun was the rookie of the team. He had to learn to navigate his new powers while also coming to terms with the death of his parents. Now, in season 2, So Mun is the ace of the team. He has mastered his abilities, improved his fighting skills and can use psycokinesis. When a trio of evil spirits kills and consumes a team of Counters in China and gains their abilities, So Mun and his fellow Counters have their skills put to the test.

Mun has gained confidence in his abilities and the rest of the team rely on him to get them through. A new Counter also joins the team, Na Jeok-Bong, who has a unique ability as well. He can smell evil spirits. Too bad for him, they smell foul. He doesn’t really contribute much else to the team, in my opinion. Do Ha-Na seems to be more open in this season. In the past, she was very closed off and reserved, not wanting her team mates to know anything about her past. In this season, they are all much more like family.

At one point, Ha-Na reconnects with an old classmate. For a brief period she gets to experience true happiness and something of what a normal life could be. Sadly, with her job, she knows it’s something she can never really have.

When someone the Counters know and trust is possessed by an evil spirit, things start to get crazy. This evil spirit is stronger than most they have faced before. When the trio from China start to work together with this new spirit, things get very dangerous for the Counters. They all come very close to dying on multiple occasions.

I have to say that I really enjoyed with show. It was great to see these characters again. The ending felt nicely wrapped up so I wouldn’t expect a third season. Honestly, I don’t think a third season would benefit this show at all. They would have to keep upping the stakes and unless one of the team actually dies, I don’t think they can up it much more.

My rating for The Uncanny Counter 2 is 4 out of 5 stars. It loses a star because I didn’t really like Na Jeok-Bong as a character and there are times when it feels a bit cheesy. I’d recommend this show to anyone who watched the first season, and if you haven’t watched the first season, go watch that first!

Have you watched the Uncanny Counter? I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments!

Destiny: Child of the Sky – Symphony of the Ages # 3 by Elizabeth Haydon

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Destiny: Child of the Sky - Symphony of the Ages #3 by Elizabeth Haydon

Title: Destiny: Child of the Sky

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages

Sexual Content: Minimal

Objectional Content: Violence, Sexual violence, violence against children

Synopsis (From Goodreads): A FELLOWSHIP OF THREE

To stand against the F’dor– an ancient, vile being intent on destroying the world– a fellowship has been forged: Rhapsody, a Singer of great talent and beauty; Achmed, an assassin with unearthly talents; and Grunthor, a giant of jolly disposition and lethal skill with weapons.

Driven by prophetic visions, the three know that time is running short, know that they must find their elusive enemy before his darkness consumes them all. But after their final, brutal confrontation with the F’dor, their world crosses the threshold of disaster and faces utter oblivion. The action reaches a fevered pitch, achieving a crescendo of tragedy, love, and triumph of human spirit over world-shattering cataclysm.

With death at hand and the world crumbling at their feet, these three will finally discover their true …

DESTINY

My Review

Destiny picks up where Prophecy left off. Rhapsody and Ashe have parted ways. While Ashe goes off to prepare to take on the mantle of Lord Cymrian, Rhapsody heads out into the world with Achmed to find the children of the F’dor. It is their hope to separate out the demon blood for Achmed to use to track it down and kill it once and for all.

i have to say, I enjoyed this book more than Prophecy. I think because the story focused a lot less on Rhapsody and Ashe’s relationship. She is with Achmed in the beginning of this book, looking for the demonspawn children. After, she goes to find several of them on her own, allowing her to be an independent person once again. The focus also shifts onto other characters as well, though I would say Grunthor doesn’t get nearly enough page time.

Rhapsody goes through a great deal in this book. It’s actually pretty amazing how she’s able to survive perilous situations, nearly dying, and overcoming overwhelming despair. Rhapsody is definitely a fantasy heroine for the ages.

While above, I indicated that the sexual content was minimal, what there is comes close to a rape scene. This is a warning for anyone who might be triggered by such scenes. It is thankfully relatively brief.

I feel like the reader gets to see a lot more into Achmed’s mind and feeling in this novel as well. He may not be one for emotional displays, but he is utterly devoted to Rhapsody and loves her in his own way.

If you wanted to, you could stop reading the series here. It was originally meant to be only a trilogy and the plot is nicely wrapped up by the end. The series does continue on with Requiem for the Sun, which I will be reading next.

My rating for Destiny is 4 out of 5 stars (Ashe is still annoying) and I would recommend that anyone who has read Prophecy, read Destiny. And if you haven’t read any of these books yet, start with Rhapsody.

Thanks for reading!

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Dr. Brain – Kdrama Review

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Dr. Brain, Kdrama on Apple+

Title: Dr. Brain

Language: Korean

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Medical

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): An emotional journey that follows a brain scientist who is obsessive about figuring out new technologies to access the consciousness and memories of the brain. His life goes sideways when his family falls victim to a mysterious accident, and he uses his skills to access memories from his wife’s brain to piece together the mystery of what actually happened to his family and why.

My Review

Dr. Brain follows Dr. Koh Se Won as he researches how to communicate between two people’s brains. After a family tragedy, he becomes even more determined and ultimately succeeds. He connects with his wife, who is in a coma, to help find their lost son.

I really did enjoy this show, even if there were some things that I found odd, or kind of just out of left field. For example, it makes sense that after syncing with another person’s brain that Se Won might take on some traits of that person’s personality. What is weird is that after synching with a cat, he’s able jump higher than usual and his reflexes have improved considerably. His eyes even glow green momentarily when he accesses those abilities.

The motive behind the whole plot is also rather far fetched. I don’t want to spoil anything about it, but it just didn’t really make sense.

I did like Se Won and seeing him progress and change as a person the more times he synced with people, taking on some of their traits and learning to feel emotions he previously hadn’t. the very end was also a bit confusing. I think there was supposed to be a second season, but unfortunately, Lee Sun Kyun, who played Dr. Koh passed away.

My rating for Dr. Brain is 3 out of 5 stars and I would recommend giving it a watch if you’re looking for something different and short. There are only 6 episodes so it’s easy to get through.

As always, thanks for reading!

Kpop: Demon Hunters – Review

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Kpop: Demon Hunters, Netflix Movie

Title: Kpop: Demon Hunters

Language: English

Genres: Animated, Action, Thriller, Comedy

Synopsis

Centuries ago, demons plagued the human world, stealing their souls to feed their king, Gwi Ma. Then, three women, known as Hunters, arrive and drive the demons away. They create a magical shield called the Honmoon, to keep the demons out of the human world. Since then, there has been a group of three in each generation who are chosen to keep the Honmoon strong and fight any demons that make their way into the human world.

Now, the Kpop trio known as Huntix, are this generations Hunters and soon they will seal the Honmoon for good and keep demons out of the world forever.

My Review

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I was just browsing through Netflix looking for a movie to watch and this appeared. I figured i would give it a shot and if it sucked, i could just stop watching. Admittedly, the animation threw me off at first as it’s not my favorite type of animation, but I got over that pretty quickly.

First of all, the music in this movie is amazing! I literally downloaded the soundtrack as soon as the movie ended and I’ve been listening to it ever since. Several of the songs give me the feels and sometimes even goosebumps.

The main trio is also great. Each of them has their own unique personality, but you can feel their bond as soon as they come on screen. They’ve been friends for a long time and their shared goal of sealing the Honmoon forever gives them a great deal of motive. While that is their main goal, they also truly love their fans and their jobs as idols.

Despite how superficial this movie may look on the surface, it explores deeper themes of friendship, found family and redemption. There are some genuinely heart warming moments along with a good deal of action and comedy.

I think this movie would also benefit from being expanded into a series. It would be interesting to know more about the past Hunters, and in particular how these three girls were chosen and what their lives were like before.

Other than that, I really can’t find fault with this movie and there fore rate it 5 out of 5 stars. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes Kpop, Kdrama, anime, or is just looking for a good movie to kill some time.

Thank for reading!

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Prophecy: Child of Earth – Symphony of the Ages #2 by Elizabeth Haydon

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Title: Prophecy: Child of Earth

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages

Sexual Content: Descriptive

Objectional Content: Violence, Sexual violence, violence against children

Synopsis (from Goodreads) In Rhapsody, a fellowship was forged–three companions who, through great adversity, became a force to be reckoned with: Rhapsody, a singer of great talent and even greater beauty; Achmed, an assassin with unearthly talents; and Grunthor, a giant Sergeant-Major whose jolly disposition stands at odds with his deadly skill at weapons. Having fled the F’dor–an ancient, powerful evil–the three emerged on the other side of the world, only to discover fourteen centuries had passed. Their homeland had been destroyed, their people scattered across several continents, and everyone they ever knew had long since passed away…except, perhaps, the F’dor.

Prophecy continues this powerful epic. Driven by a prophetic vision, Rhapsody races to rescue the religious leader of her new homeland while Achmed and Grunthor seek evidence of the F’dor. These three may be their world’s only hope, the heroes spoken of in the Prophecy of the Three, but their time is running short. They must find their elusive enemy before his darkness consumes them all.

My Review

So, I’m not really sure how to review this. I started reading Prophecy in January, right after I’d finished the first book, Rhapsody. It is now June and i just finished it. i don’t think it’s ever taken me six months to get through an entire book before. This should not be taken as any sort of reflection the book itself, because the book is fantastic. I really enjoyed reading, when I read it. The problem here is me. For some reason, I just did not want to read.

The latter half of the book (the part most fresh in my mind) focuses quite a bit on the relationship between Rhapsody and Ashe. Now, I have no problem with romance in books, but in this one it meant a fair amount of sex scenes. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it just didn’t feel like it added a lot to the story overall. Mostly, it makes Ashe look a little pathetic. He’s been in love with Rhapsody from the moment he saw her and his desperation is really starting to show. Their relationship also causes Rhapsody to ignore some of the things she should be responsible for, much to Achmed and Grunthor’s annoyance.

There is a lot more going on besides just Rhapsody and Ashe, but i don’t want to spoil anything so I’m not really going to say anything about it. Though I would like to say that there is some pretty descriptive violent scenes that may be triggering for some people.

My rating for Prophecy is 4 out of 5 stars. l’m on to the third book, Destiny, which hopefully won’t take me six months to read!

Thanks for reading!

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing – Review

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Title: Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing

Language: English

Genres: Documentary

Trigger Warning: Child Abuse, Sexual Assault

Synopsis: Documentary about child influencer Piper Rockelle and the kids who were in her Squad.

My Review

Before Watching this documentary, I had no idea who Piper Rockelle was. Why would I? Afterall, I’m a 40 year old woman. Piper’s content is not something I’m interested in. However, I am interested in documentaries, and quite recently, the effects being on platforms like YouTube is having on the younger generation.

Piper Rockelle has been in the spotlight nearly her entire life. Starting with Pageants as a toddler, winning her first pageants as age 3. She was on two different TV shows before the age of ten, and then became the star of her own YouTube channel. Soon, other kids become involved and the Squad is born.

The documentary follows testimony of the former members of the Squad as well as their parents. The kids relate how Piper’s mother, Tiffany, was in control of everything. She controlled the content, the channels and the children. Tiffany was exceptional in manipulating people to get what she wants. She manages to isolate the kids from their parents so they don’t learn just what was going on until much later.

I won’t go into great detail of what these kids endured but it involved spending twelve hours or more a day filming videos, being told what to do, how to act and what to wear. Off camera was even worse as several of the children experienced sexual assault by Tiffany.

Now, I’m not a parent. I’m the type of person who has never wanted kids so obviously I don’t know what it’s like. Still, it baffles me the way the parents in this documentary were talking about everything that happened. It sounded like their concerns were more about the careers of their children as opposed to the trauma they went through. The parents file a lawsuit against Tiffany, but initially, the main concern is loss of revenue from Tiffany and partner sabotaging the other kids YouTube channels. This honestly baffles me. Do these parents not speak to their children? Do they not listen? I realize I’m not in their shoes and I don’t know what is actually going on but from some of the things the parents said, I really have to wonder what they were thinking.

In all of the this, the biggest victim is, of course, Piper. While the other children were able to leave, Piper is still trapped with her mother, being forced to film videos and take photos that get more and more provocative. As of the time of the making of the documentary, Piper was only 15 years old. I don’t understand how people can call people who choose not to have children selfish and terrible people, when there are parents out there abusing and exploiting their children for money.

More and more situations like this are coming to light and being talked about in the media. I really hope this message gets around more and channels like Piper’s, as well as family vlogging channels featuring children, will be banned, or at least demonetized.

This is an excellent documentary and I highly recommend it! 5 out of 5 stars.

Have you seen this documentary? Let me know what you thought of it!