Family is Everything.

Family is everything.

I've had this show on my list to watch for awhile and I wanted to be in the right mood before I start it. This drama is not for the faint of heart. It's a very intense, angst filled, yet endearing and cry worthy kind of show.

You will be angry, happy, sad, fustrated and a ball of mixed emotions while watch The Bond.

The drama is what in its name, its the Bond of the siblings. There are 4 main siblings and the baby siblings which has a minor role.

The star of the show is the oldest brother, Qiao Yi Cheng, he is the heart of the show and the glue that bonds the siblings together. The two bothers and two little sisters only have themselves to rely on because their father is worthless.

It's a drama that spans decades, from childhood well into adult hood where the siblings have their own children. Each will face different problems and battles and each will fall in love and have their own issues. It's interesting how different each story is.

I wouldn't say there is much romance in the show. There are love sparks and relationships, but not everything is perfect and there isn't always a fairytale ending, but in the end, Family is everything and will always be there for you.

If you are looking for a melodrama to get sucked into, this will be it. It's not an easy drama to watch, but it really makes you appreciate your family, especially if you have a sibling that is you ride or die (which I do have).

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If you are okay with 18 year age gap (IRL)

I love Zhao Lu Si and I'll watch anything she is in, I can't believe she is 23, she acts well beyond her years. I will have to admit, the 18 year age difference between the main leads was something I knew going into. I kind of wished they picked a smaller age gap, but that's part of the plot, so at least they wrote that in.

I liked the banter in the beginning of the drama. I loved watched the cooking scenes and I wished they had more of that towards the end. Towards the second half of the show, it's more about the relationship than the cooking.

So that is the reason I liked the first half more. I also felt like the female lead had more power in the first half. I wasn't too keen when she would give in to him, but that is me. I like it when the male lead chases after the FL. I would say there is equal chasing on both sides in this one.

I felt like the last few episodes had a bit of angst and there were many moments of "testing" the FL lead. I wasn't too keen on that either.

Overall, I love the FL and I Love the cooking aspects of it. I just need something less drama filled.

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It was actually pretty cute.

To my surprise I found Be my Princess pretty cute. I was a little shocked because of the mixed reviews, but I guess the storyline and acting just worked for me.

The first thing you have to do is get past the bad dubbing. Sometimes dramas have good dubbing and sometimes, it's just very awful. Like, the loud background noise and loud footsteps, you can obviously hear it's been done in a sound studio, but I get it, this was a lower budget drama.

I watched this drama for Jeremy Tsui and I was disappointed they didn't use his real voice, only because I heard his voice in The Autumn Ballad, which I enjoyed a lot. I understand his voice is a little higher pitch, but I felt like it would have complimented his acting better. I really liked the FL, but her being 23 and there's a 15ish age year gap between the FL and ML in real life is a little icky, but that is just me. Overall, they had really great chemistry and even though the FL is young, she didn't act young.

I especially loved the second couple, I'm a huge fan of Hu Yan Hao in Love is Deep and I'm disappointed he hasn't had a ML role since. I'm rooting for you! I thought the second couple had cute chemistry and I enjoyed their story line just as much as the main leads.

A lot of reviewers had issues with the second arc of the story. They thought the ML pursuing the FL was a little too long and and they wanted the original ML to come back. I, however, LOVED the second arc. I was engrossed with all the cuteness and how he chased after the FL. I thought that was the heart of the drama.

I also enjoyed the back and forth storylines between the past story and the current story. I love watching historical dramas so I felt like I got two dramas in one. I also liked the last two episodes where they clipped all the historical drama scenes together for a mini drama.

Overall, it was a low budget drama with a A list cast in my opinion. They reused the clothes a bit and the dubbing wasn't so great, but the acting and plot was where it worked for me and I guess that is what truly matters.

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Set your Expectations & You will be Okay

I didn’t hate it as much as everyone else did. I think it’s because I read the reviews prior to watching, so I kind of set my expectations and that’s the key going into Hello, the Sharpshooter.

We all love Hu Yi Tian from A Love So Beautiful and Xing Fei from Put Your Head on my Shoulder and My Little Happiness and because of that, I think we had expectations of another hit C drama. Hello, the Sharpshooter doesn’t give you the perfect chemistry and drama you are looking for, HOWEVER, it’s still overall, in my opinion, a very decent watch.

A few things to note:

The main storyline is the best storyline. Like any other C drama, you are going to have your typical past issue and current relationship problems between the leads. It’s very typical and that’s okay for me. I’m going into for the actors.

As much as I love the male lead, and he’s come a long way from his first drama, he still has a little more to go, but he’s face is very handsome to watch so not all is lost. I think the ML has the stoic, passive face down, he just needs to work on his light expressions. He’s not selling me that he’s in love with the FL, but he is fun and loving to watch. I like his lighter expressions more.

The female lead is carrying the show. She never disappoints me in dramas and she’s always the bubbly warm personality I look forward to in my shows. I love her short stature and approachable presence. I do hope she picks a different role next time. I want her to be the aggressor and maybe pick a different hair style? I know long hair makes her look young (since she is so short), but I’m ready for a new look. I do appreciate they didn’t reuse wardrobe as often and that’s huge when watching.

There isn’t any chemistry between the leads, but that’s okay. I kind of see them as two actors playing their parts, than the actual characters. Since I’m a huge fan of them, I was fine with that.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the second couple, nor did I pay attention to the 3rd couple. I found the second couple a little immature and as much as I love watching two pretty people bicker and fight, it was a little much. I do appreciate that the 3rd couple was older, so it was different, but their storyline was too intense and it didn’t fit right in the drama.

A lot of people complained about how slow and draggy the story is and to my surprise, I kind of like the slice of life pacing. It’s not all about shooting, I mean, a good deal of the plot is about the shooting, but the ML actual shooting time on the show isn’t huge. A lot of the plot is the couple working on past, present and possible future issues, which I enjoyed watching. I guess I liked the main couple the best because as much as they faltered, they always were together, more or less and I kind of liked that.

Overall, I think if you set your expectations just right for the show, you won’t be disappointed. So, I’m glad I read the reviews because it made my watching experience more enjoyable.

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Started off strong and left me with a meh feeling, but overall, okay.

I picked up Reborn Rich because of Song Joong Ki, I loved him in Vincenzo and I will admit the trailer is pretty good. I should preface and say that I’m usually a rom-com kind of gal or a romance melo-drama. I don’t usually pick up dramas that are theme around scheming, taking-down-the-“man” or rich verse poor kind of storyline, but I do watch those shows depending on the casting (i.e. Itaewon class).

I’m glad I watched this drama as it aired because after the first 6 episodes, I’m not sure I could binge watch Reborn Rich. The show is very intense, a lot of up and downs.

The casting was on-point for the drama. It’s a large cast, but everyone played their role very well and you kind of needed all the husbands / wives, aunties / uncles and cousins. It really gave the storyline some depth and a lot of characters to play with.

I liked that it was a historical kind of show, set in the 90’s. I’m 100% the target audience for this drama (late 30 year old). I understood all the major events that took place and I’m a finance major, so the financial part of the drama was my jam and I really enjoyed watching those parts.

I liked the relationship between the Jin Do Joon (ML) and Jin Yang Cheol (the grandfather) the best! Those were probably the best moments of the show. I also liked that the cover focused on these two characters because it truly was the heart of the show.

The romance aspect of the show is (I’m afraid to say) a major joke and shouldn’t have been written in. It was very awkward and cringy, which is sad to say because I love romance dramas.

I found the beginning a little intense and over-the-top, but I get it, it sets the stage on how awful the family is. Once the ML got into his role and the story began, I really enjoyed it. It felt like the underdog was going to get his day and each episode was another obstacle the ML was going to overcome.

Towards the end, I felt like the show was dragging a bit and a lot of things unraveling became tiresome to watch. It felt like there wasn’t any movement and the ML was just hitting brick wall after brick wall, let’s just say a lot of actors were yelling in their scenes.

And then you get the ending, where you will read A LOT of mixed reviews. I will say, this show is artsy and I understand why the actor picked this script, on paper, it sounds really interesting and cool, but to me, it felt a little anti-climatic and you wondered, was the drama worth watching?

I can’t answer that. I gave the drama a 9 rating, because, I did overall, liked most of the drama. I enjoyed the casting and the sets and costumes were really cool. I loved that it took place in the past and the storyline was centered around finances. I’m just not sure how the drama concluded everything, it was a little lack-luster in my opinion.

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A beautiful drama simply about ... LOVE.

Probably one of the best Xianxia dramas I have seen. All the boxes where checked off on this drama. You couldn’t get a more perfect drama, from casting, to music, to costumes to CGI budget and incredible storyline.

I enjoyed Dylan Wang in Meteor Garden and The Rational Life, but I’ve never watched him in a serious role and I have to say, he can act. It’s not easy to be playful and serious boss character. I enjoyed listening to his real voice and watching him play both playful and serious parts.

I liked Esther Yu in Moonlight but I do know people find her voice very high pitch and as much as I love a high pitch voice, yes the voice is very high, however, it grows on you. I really enjoyed her acting and she kind of captivates you. I do love her bubbly side and it was good to see her in a more dramatic and serious role.

The best part of the drama for me is the chemistry and epic love story of the main characters. I didn’t think there could be a 36 episode drama just about love, but they did and it took you on a crazy journey. I never felt like it dragged or there was too much silly misunderstandings. I felt like each obstacle the main leads had to overcome was engaging and really addicting to watch.

I liked that it was a drama between two sides, however there wasn’t a bad or good side, despite, one side being lighter and the other side being darker. It was refreshing to see each character’s inner issues and having them worked out. The character development was really good.

The costume and CGI was REALLY fantastic to watch. I loved all of the head pieces and colorful costumes. I loved the CGI backgrounds with the stars and shooting flowers and beautiful trees. The drama looked so organic and alive and mystical. I didn’t think I would like a drama with so much CGI, but it really took you to a different world.

The OST is good too and yes you can purchase the theme song in iTunes America! It’s always hard for me to find C drama songs on iTunes in America, so now I can play it over and over again. The music is really catchy, I promise.

Overall, The raving reviews have merit. It’s a beautiful drama simply about Love and that’s exactly why I watch C dramas.

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A drama you can watch over and over again (and I do!)

I rewatched this drama for the second time. I love Xing Fei, I forgot how tiny she is! And of course Lin Yi grew on me eventually. Probably the best thing about this drama is the chemistry between the leads. This drama basically launched their careers and I’m glad it did. I love the easy and angst free drama. It always puts a smile on my face and you just need that one drama you can watch over and over again because of all of it’s cuteness. I do find it adorable, that Xing Fei and Tang Xiao Tian (second male lead) do end up in a drama together eventually and it was very successful too. What great casting!

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A bit Boring, but easy to watch.

I basically watched this for Feng Shao Feng, he was amazing in The Story of Ming Lang. The Legend of Zhuohua was okay in my opinion. It started out very cute and super slow. There is little to mild tension throughout the drama and so it’s easy to watch one or two episodes a day.

You can’t binge watch the drama because I feel like the plot is just too slow. Little to no action happens and that is okay. Sometimes you want to watch people just chat with each other and drink tea.

I thought Jing Tian was very adorable and cute. She looks so young and she conveyed the main lead very well. I didn’t think Feng Shao Feng or Jing Tian had chemistry at all. I think it’s because of how Feng Shao Feng played his character. We know he can act (we all have seen it in The story of Ming Lang) but his SUPER stiff / cold personality was very one dimensional and gave the audience little to look forward to.

I do like that the female was super strong in the drama. I loved that she used her mind and even though she was the only woman as a scholar, she didn’t use her sex to her advantage. It was a very girl power drama.

Overall, it’s an okay drama to watch with low angst. I do like low angst dramas and so I’ll take a slow boring drama over a high angst one any day.

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There were good and not so great elements of the show.

This was a drama where I was very excited for the cast, Kim So Hyun has some hit or miss dramas, but she always acts well beyond her years and I still can’t believe she’s only 24. Hwang Min Hyun was pretty good in Alchemy of Souls and let’s face it, he has a very nice face to look at.

The premise of the story is interesting, the FL, can hear lies and she happens to meet someone who basically doesn’t lie (even though the title is called My Lovely Liar, but when you watch the drama, I guess that is kind of explained).

I like the cast and the secondary cast was pretty good. Very entertaining and everyone has their quirks. I like that I mostly didn’t recognize anyone else and so it was nice to see fresh faces (to me that is).

The drama basically has low angst which could be considered good or bad. I found some parts a little slow and boring, but I rather have that then silly angst.

The villains of the show were really annoying. You know that villain who is just “crazy” and never seems to listen to anyone even when everyone is saying he or she is wrong, but they will not simply listen. Yeah, that was fairly frustrating to watch. To have the bad guy pursue the ML for so long and for one solid reason was very annoying to watch.

The FL’s mom was very annoying too. I loved her in Dr. Romantic but I will not want to watch her in a “bad” role anymore. I couldn’t take the mom character at all. I truly wanted to fast forward her scenes because they made her so over the top and kind of ridiculous

As much as I love the leads, there is ZERO chemistry between the two. I truly felt like I was watching two pretty actors recite lines to each other and maybe that has to do something with post production. There are a lot of moments of dialogue without background music and I found that really odd.

The drama is fairly predictable and I figured out everything by the 4th episode, that doesn’t really hinder my experience because to me that wasn’t really the main part of the show for me. I was just interested in the leads getting to know each other, so suffice it to say, I enjoy the first half better.

The show could have easily been cut down to 12 episodes, but I didn’t fast forward anything so it’s an easy show to watch, or to have something on the background. I started to read webcomics as I was watching the show towards the second half and I was completely fine in following the storyline (I don’t know Korean, just FYI).

Overall, watch it for the leads, but the storyline / over plot is fairly lackluster.

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Great for bromance lovers, a story about friendship.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook is usually a drama I don't watch. I'm a romance buff so bromance dramas are kind of low on my list. There were a lot of high and praising reviews on this drama, so I decided to give it a go.

Overall, the drama was pretty decent. I really like the story-telling and world building. I like that it was a detective kind of show, where about every 2-3 episodes there was a new and unique case to be solved. It really kept up the momentum. The win of the show was casting. I wasn't really sure on the dynamic duo of Cheng Yi and Joseph Zeng but they make a good pair. They each brought in their own personality and really gave life to the characters.

You can't forget the third bro, Xiao Shun Yao which basically rounded off the cast nicely. As for the romance aspect of the show, I wouldn't say there is any form of romance, except for a romance story / excerpt. I did find that brief part somewhat entertaining since it was different from the other stories I have been told.

This drama isn't for everyone, as in, I did find it a little boring at times and I was just waiting for some additional movement, but I think if you watch it like me, a few episodes here and there, then you can appreciate the overall drama. I like that it was low in angst and high on story telling. I really appreciate the character growth and loyalty. It truly will make you appreciate your friendships more.

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Another Bai Jing Ting beloved drama.

This is Bai Jing Ting's year! I fell in love with him in You are my Hero and pretty much any drama he touches turns to gold. I want to say, his dramas are a little hit or miss for me. I think it's because sometimes I don't fully jive with the story.

I haven't seen a drama Song Yi has been in, so I was excited to see if I would fall in love with her. She's very tiny and pretty and at 33, I know she is taking care of her body, she looks so young!

The drama started out a bit slow, but good. There's that enemies to lover romance which I'm not too fond of, but since it's a Bai Jing Ting drama, the ML can't be that horrible and he wasn't. I appreciate how light the drama started and pretty much 1/3 in, you realized this is a drama, not a rom-com and I was okay with that. I wanted to see more dramatic scenes and see where the story will take me.

I like that the main couple stayed together and basically it was a story of a slow burn romance. I appreciate that they respected each other before falling in love.

The drama started to fall flat for me towards the second half as it got more into court drama and less about the main lead's love story. I can't tell you high much I get tired of palace angst if the characters aren't playing royalty.

Overall, I understand the high ratings. I love the actors and I appreciate the night time scenes (the actors were in "PJ's" and their hair was down), so hair and make-up was totally on-point. But I just found it boring at times.

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Sugary sweet and one happy family.

There are so many things they did right on this rom-com.

(The casting was perfect)

The best part of this drama was the chemistry between the leads and since they were in a previous drama together, Once we get Married, you can see how comfortable they are working together. There are lenty of kissing moments too, YAY for that. The pair simply look very good on camera. They are fairly young as parents, but it’s not a stretch (they could possibly have a 5 year old). I liked they are only two years apart too.

(The little boy was the highlight of the show)

I loved that they casted a child voice-over for the little boy parts. It made the drama very authentic, even though a lot of his lines would never be said by a soon-to-be five year old. But overall, TOO cute and his acting was so good.

(The second and third storylines were fairly cute)

Both of these side relationships had huge age gaps, one with a 10 year gap and one with a 9 year gap (in real life). So that was fairly interesting, you got to see it from both perspective (one older guy and one older gal dating younger people).

I really liked the second male lead and I kind of wanted him to be the male lead, only because he’s in his thirties and looked more dadish too. If only … but the ML was very good, so I can’t complain too much.

(the Styling and wardrobe was modern and easy on the eyes).

I liked that the FL was a strong independent mom. She dressed her age and was very modern and classy. I liked her up-do buns and she didn’t rewear too much of the same outfits. I am SO happy they didn’t make her poor or frumpy. It was a very good take on the FL. China needs to go more in this direction. The sets were pretty awesome too, who doesn’t want a slide in their house?!

(The storyline was too adorable)

The plot of the show is too cute. Single mom and rich baby daddy, that’s a making for a too cute plot. There’s a lot of tension in the beginning, but it’s the cute kind where you just want the baby daddy to find out!

Then it goes more into why they broke up and I was REALLY interested in those parts.

The drama was just really balanced well. It had all the elements of a rom-com you want in a C drama with very little to mild misunderstandings and cheesiness.

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I didn't love it like everyone else

I have seen A lot of Ji Chang Wook’s dramas, this would mark the 6th drama I have seen where he’s the main lead. I haven’t seen any other K drama Actor as much as I have of him and let’s just say, I didn’t like any of those dramas. I pick up Ji Chang Wook’s dramas because of the high ratings, but every time I watch his dramas, I am ALWAYS disappointed with the overhype.

I’m so glad he left his old talent agency and I hope he can find better dramas. I will admit, Healer was okay, but I even fast forwarded some parts.

Suspicious Partner is a classic, so had I known it was a 40 (half episode) / 20 (Full episode) drama, I am not sure I would have picked it up. There is ZERO reason why this drama was so long. Sure, there are some side cases here and there to take your mind off of the main story, but half of the time the side stories were uninteresting.

I do like Nam Ji Hyun in Little Women and 100 Day Prince, but I always felt like her acting was underwhelming. She has the tendency to look like she is reciting lines when it calls for non-emotional scenes. She can act well if she needs to convey emotions, but when she’s simply doing dialogue, it’s very monotone and robotic, which made me feel hardly chemistry between the leads.

I thought a lot of the drama on the show reflects the kind of drama that was popular at the time. Just a bunch of characters making poor choices and therefore must face the consequences of their actions. Why wouldn’t the FL sing “I’m going to kill you” song? I mean, it’s just setting up for her downfall right?

Overall, I can appreciate the drama for what it is, but to me, it was not a hit nor was it a classic in my opinion.

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Good music, but a lengthly drama

I didn't love the drama as much as everyone else did. After finishing the lengthly 44 episode saga, I'm very surprised on the high ratings.

The drama is older and I took that into account, the styling and sets are very outrageous and an eye sore to view.

The idol troupe was very popular back then and as much as I like a arrogant male lead, he was a bit much at times. He seemed like a brat that the FL had to take care of (like a nanny).

There is a lot of dialogue, a lot of people talking to each other about what they should and shouldn't do or pressuring people to do things, especially the FL towards the male lead.

The side stories wasn't anything to grasp on. I didn't care for the managers storyline nor did I really like the angst with the best friend later on. It just seemed to drag the show down.

What I did like was the chemistry between the actors and maybe that is why the ratings were so high. Zi Tao is a character, I don't know much about Chinese music, but since he's truly a musician I felt like they casted him well (even though he Sigh's a lot in the drama). I even liked his puffy blonde hair.

I like Janice Wu, but I didn't feel like she represented herself in the best light in this drama. I liked her in Le Coup de Foudre, but for some reason, I couldn't take her coy behavior in the beginning. I'm so glad she got a glow up and her character transforms eventually. That was the saving grace for the drama.

Overall, I mostly watched the scenes between the leads because the banter got better and the ML wasn't such a meanie (still was a bit, but not so much). The relationship between the two actually got cute. But I did fast forward the other non-sense, especially the management company drama.

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Emotional and Heart-Warming with a Sprinkle of cuteness

I picked up Seasons of Blossom because of the ratings. I had no idea what this drama was going to be about and I will admit, within the first 15 minutes of watching the show, I wonder if it would be my jam. I usually like lighter dramas so when I realized the tone and feel of Seasons of Blossom would be a little more melo-drama, I went into it with trepidation.

To my surprise, I REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoyed this emotional roller coaster show. It made me feel a range of emotions.

I feel like this drama really redeemed So Ju Yeon from A love so Beautiful. She’s so tiny with a high-pitched voice, she doesn’t really scream leading FL role, but she completely nailed her character. The chemistry between her and Seo Ji Hoon was probably my favorite part of the drama. You really do feel for both characters and root for them to the very end. I would like to see him in a leading role not as a High School student.

Despite the melo-drama undertones, the saving grace of the show was the present day storyline between the 4 kids. I really enjoyed going back from light to heavy storyline. It just made it exciting to watch and you want every character to have their happy story.

The casting was really good, I’ve never seen the new kids act and they were very good at their roles. You have the two good looking students, the misfits side characters and the loner second ML you want to get the girl.

I really enjoyed the mature storyline / script. There was really no misunderstandings or stupid back-stabbing. It really was about caring about others, finding your first love and awkwardly surviving your high school years. It was VERY refreshing to watch a HS drama about these issues.

I loved both storylines equally, in regard towards the past and present timelines. I really ached and my heart moved watching the relationship between the two leads.

Overall, a beautiful story about that precious brief time of finding your first love, regardless if it’s lasting or not, it should be cherished and always remembered.

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