The beginning started out strong. The two leads have chemistry and are easy on the eyes. My favorite actress Park Min Young and one of the hotties from Coffee Prince together in a drama, what's not to like? Well, what started out as fluffy and funny about the fangirling life became a boring story about the curating process. The story was too predictable for me, and too sweet for my tastes. The drama switched from the female's story quickly to the male's story and different arcs in between, which is fine if the elements were introduced smoothly. Alas, what you get from this drama is bits and pieces of everyone's story but not fully baked. Disappointing one-dimensional secondary characters that could have contributed more to the drama.

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The best Korean drama in the last decade and it lives up to the hype. A well-rounded story with drama, romance, politics, family, friendship, intrigue, mystery, etc. Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin deliver in their respective roles as the upright military officer and the sassy socialite who meet at the North-South Korean border by chance. After being thrown together under unusual circumstances, Ri Jung Hyuk learns to open up while Yoon Se Ri adapts to the provincial life in North Korea. It is their mutual respect for their individual strengths that both leads compromised and even made sacrifices for each other to make their partner happy. This is such a heartwarming drama that even secondary characters are lovable with their own charms, even with their flaws! The characters are multi-dimensional that you can't help feel for some of the characters who are depicted as "bad" but only because they are not "good". This show shot up to be one of my all-time favorites and would be hard to beat.

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I was hesitant to watch this at first as I am not a big fan of Psychological dramas, after my lukewarm reception of "It's Okay, That's Love," however, after putting aside my prejudices, I came to appreciate this drama about dealing with mental health, familial issues, trauma, how to overcome one's past, embrace one's weakness to be strong in the future. It is a powerful drama about learning, about forgiveness, about caring, about unbreakable and breakable bonds, but ultimately, how It is okay not to be Okay.

Performances by the three main leads are phenomenal, but a standing ovation must go to Oh Jung Se as he nailed Moon Sang Tae's character down as if he was autistic and suffering from PTSD himself. His gestures, mannerisms, quirks and ticks all make his character as the mentally-challenged artistic genius so believable, while retaining his forthright innocence. Kim Soo Hyun somehow became more handsome when I saw him last in 2013's MLFTS. First time seeing Seo Ye Ji, but she also was born to play the eccentric author Ko Moon Young, with a dangerous mix of sexy and devil.

Supporting characters have each of their own strength and personalities that all together, made the drama cohesive. Fashion and cinematography are also worth noting. Had to deduct half a point due to the dip in pacing towards the last quarter of the drama. If you are looking mainly for romance, this is not the drama, but unless you are inhuman, your heartstrings will be tugged seeing flawed characters leaning on each other for support, how your circumstances do not necessarily make who you are, but how you make out of it.

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In the beginning, I wasn't really sold on the premise for this drama, mainly because of how they wrote FL as a bitter, selfish woman who uses her moneyed status to intimidate people. But the ML breathe life into her sad and forlorn existence was worth watching the show. Shin Hye Sun's acting chops are versatile, having watched her a few other dramas, and she is great as the prima ballerina Lee Yeon Seo who was blinded by an accident and with it, robbed her of whatever humanity she had left in her body.

Enter Kim Myung Soo as Kim Dan, an angel with an equally angelic face, whose mission was to find a cynical, spoiled brat the true love that she apparently deserves. Surprisingly, Lee Yeon Seo gives in to their push and pull, and it seems like Kim Dan has tamed the shrew, but not without a few sacrifices of his own.

The rest of the cast delivered, from Ji Kang Woo as the long-suffering Lee Dong Gun who lost his wife who is Yeon Seo's doppelganger to Kim Bo Mi, who plays as the over-looked second-rate ballerina who deserves the spotlight as much as Yeon Seo, but was held back by family politics. The suspenseful dramatics were held by Yeon Seo's family whose eagerness to claim Fantasia's throne and misplaced affection, led some of them to heinous dealings.

Though I bawled my eyes out half of the time, the drama exceeded my expectations in that in dealt with the different types of love and sacrifices that people make for love.

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I had high expectations for this drama because my fave Leo Luo is in it, but sadly it didn't live up to them, though no fault of his. Leo Luo Yun Xi and Bai Lu have sizzling chemistry as Jiang Jun and Yuan Shuai, childhood friends turned rivals due to a misunderstanding.

The boardroom drama at the first half of the show was amazing, especially when the FML tries to battle investment experts as a fresh-faced rookie. Even after a few setbacks, Jiang Jun's determination finally won her a permanent seat in the investment company she works in, with her friend-turned-rival as her boss. Meanwhile, Yuan Shuai attempts to worm his way back into her life after harboring a decade-long crush and Jiang Jun mistakes those gestures as an attempt to throw her off her game. She gets the unlikely help from Du Lei, an industry expert from a rival company, who may or may not harbor more ulterior motives.

The main story-line is what made me finish this drama, while the secondary couple was forcibly thrown together and their chemistry is non-existent. Xu Li was ingratiating that I had to skip a lot of her scenes together with Xiao Chuan. As for the rest of the supporting characters, I feel that they were handled poorly. For example, Qiao Na could be an evil bitch but she wasn't. Shen Xin and Linda I believe were forgiven too quickly for my liking, despite having inflicted harm on other people. Same goes with Du Lei, his narrative weaved from bad to good to bad to good as if the writers didn't not know what to do with him. Even Tai Mo, who was supposed to be this big villain, was underutilized, and his defeat came too easily. The 36 episode length did not accommodate the possibilities, and instead, the last 6 episodes were unnecessary.

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I was excited by the premise of a love-hate relationship between celebrity and commoner that I ignored the lukewarm reviews. After watching it though, it was neither here nor there. What I did enjoy was the idea of a kpop idol and a rookie journalist being at odds in the beginning due to misunderstandings. It was their story that made me finish the drama. What I did not enjoy was the secondary couple who should not even be together due to the toxicity of the relationship. I wish that they casted a real kpop idol to play the male lead who could actually sing and dance, but instead they casted a kpop idol for the female lead who did not require her singing/dancing skills.

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I am a sucker for gender bender dramas, and this one is done well. Park Eun Bin is solid as steel as she maneuvers the political machinings of the royal family as a pretend monarch. Rowoon is decent but not outstanding as the Royal tutor loyal to his King. The supporting cast did a better job than Rowoon, even the child actors playing their younger selves. Kudos especially to rookie actor Nam Yoon Su who played the brooding noble pining for his cousin. The plot, while intricate, was a bit predictable, especially the anti-climactic ending. Despite this, this drama was an easy and enjoyable watch for me.

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After a slow and sluggish start, this drama gets better after a few episodes in (you just have to be patient or skip the side/artsy-fartsy parts). The dynamic between the two best friends are great, played naturally by Ariel and Bolin who have great on-screen chemistry. I finally came to like Ariel Lin in this drama and Bolin Chen is suitable to play the love-lorn guy who secretly loves his bestfriend about to be married. Can't get enough of this couple whose characters have so much history together. I know it might not be the best T-drama out there, but it is one closest to my heart.

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I would have given it a 💯 if it were not for the lackluster 2nd pairing. There is no chemistry between Bii and Katie Chen despite being easy on the eyes. The story is not as airtight as other melodramas but this is meant to be romantic fluff and we should treat it as such. Having said that, I cannot get enough of the lead characters and they served up quite a good amount of skinship, some are uber hot and some ultra sweet that you would need to have a quick shower before going to the dentist. Megan Lai, who I found annoying in other older dramas, convincingly plays a pretty man. Baron Chen's hair meanwhile becomes a third wheel. This drama turned on my fangirling mode I have thought long dormant.

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First mainland Chinese production in the 21st century that I've watched and it trumped most of the Taiwanese dramas of modern times, IMHO. I love the juxtaposition of the real world and game world and how the characters act in either of them. Yang Yang is a dreamboat and the other characters are mostly easy on the eyes. I also love the brewing bromance between KO and Hao Mei. Watch it for all the elements: plot, characters, costumes, scenery, pacing, romance...and it will not disappoint. Only downside is the lackluster kissing skills of female lead but Yang Yang could kiss a tree and it will still look hot.

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Light and fluffy romantic story that finally has its leads not at polar opposites. Hate those stories about most popular, handsome, smartest guy falling for the dumbest, weakest girl in school (I blame you ISWAK!) They got one end of the spectrum, with a genius but socially awkward scientist paired with a girl who has some brains on her head. No desperate clinginess from the female character which is a bonus. I docked half a point because the second couple annoys me, because they "settled" into the relationship after being rejected by their love interests. Otherwise, cute drama.

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I was glad I gave this tropey drama a chance, as I'm not into ISWAK vibes (cold but smart man, warm but clueless woman). But their story was too sweet (without being too saccharine) to pass up. Miles Wei does justice to his character, an upright, socially-awkward and emotionally-stunted university professor. And so hot too boot! Xu Ruo Han manages to portray the naïve, "unfortunate" student without pissing me off, by being too whiney or clingey as other "dumb FLs" ought to come across. Together, they make an adorable couple who navigates through their contractual marriage and growing feelings for each other. Their marriage of convenience is mostly due in part of the ML's grandfather (a great supporting character!) whose dying wish is to see his grandson happily married, and circumstances led to Yun Shu as the chosen wife. Other supporting characters are also well-fleshed out, including the secondary coupling of the ML's Best friend and FL's sister. The love rivals in this drama weren't hateful and even the "villain" of the story (FL's cousin) served as a catalyst to bring the two MCs together. All in all a cute Rom-com that includes steamy kisses.

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I was interested at first until the actions of the FL towards the second half of the drama irked me. Her self-righteousness became overbearing, and I don't think it's the fault of the actress. Just the way the characters are written are mostly one-dimensional, particularly the side characters. Towards the end I have very little love left to what could have been a good drama. Loose ends are forcibly tied and I didn't like the way how the "bad" characters ended up getting redemption, and some even receiving praise for the necessity of them being mean. I guess I should be more forgiving and carry with the thought that there are no bad people, just bad decisions made by people, but somehow this didn't fly with me in this drama.

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This is the second drama I've seen of Rosy Zhao; her popularity as a young and up-coming actress is solidified by her acting prowess. She fits the bill of the female character who can be quirky and serious at the same time. Ryan Ding tries his best to catch up with the female lead and plays the love-lorn villain-turned hero decently enough. I like the well-roundedness and multi-dimensional characters in the drama, despite some of the show's plot holes that try to pin them down.

Not sure what I need to say more about this drama, except that it is a delight to watch and I am excited to see the sequel if it is the same cast. Hopefully, this time set in the modern era.

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