A beautiful yet tragic love story that constantly long & wait for each other + Insane CGI & Design!

"Women is not an interest, it's a men's need. An essential feeling. Without feelings, you'll feel incomplete no matter how much you get" - Xie Jing Xuan / Tang Si Qi

I feel like the introduction of this review should start with its phasing, so let me unfold my insight of this drama by doing so!

The phasing of the story was fast and jumpy for its first 15 episodes then started to slow down to gradually pick up a normal phase but yet again took a big leap for the main reason of completing the plot and the entire story... In short, It was a drama that went inconsistently with its overall phasing and narration to present only the important and signifant details to the viewers. I dare not say its bad cause it never was, instead, I wanna let people know that it was imperfect and full of flaws so better keep your tolerance up because you're about to encounter different types of feelings watching this. You may get bored and hesitant while watching it, but just trust this production and its process cause it's all fruitful at the very end.

When it comes to the story, I'd say it's like a disorganized and incomplete puzzle... It has multiple pieces of fragments they tried hard to collect to be put and place together. But after a long while, they only managed to build its core and some pieces around it that can only provide us so much information to see the crucial part of the puzzle disregarding the rest of it. A lot of scenes were always left hanging... unended and often abandoned. You got no choice but to conclude and assume what may have transpired for you to get the corresponding occurences to move on. Despite it being like that, I still enjoyed it and wanna say I'm glad they were able make it that way instead of crumbling it into unrecognizeable pieces. Although the ending was blurry and bewildering that actually started an idea for a 'possible' 2nd season /cross fingers/.

When it comes to the love and romance side of this drama, I can only say not to expect a lot. It was really beautiful and wonderful that you'll hope and expect a lot but you'll only be disappointed on how tragic and sorrowful it will be... Even when I feel like most of it was a bad decision and truly made the drama less interesting and exciting, it was still a crucial action to solve and complete the mysteries of the story. It was harsh yet understandable and plausible IF you look at the big picture.

CGI, Overall look and Design - Right off the bat till the very end, the editing and magics of this drama never fails me. It was created skillfully and meticulously as if they got a sudden income raise or something. Hahaha!

Fight scenes are mediocre at best... Aside from their fight scenes that are mostly about flailing their weapons, the power scaling of this drama is pretty messed up! I can still remember how ridiculous it is for me to watch them casting their magic spells and getting defeated even when they're supposedly more powerful than their opponents. Like, whatdaheck just happened!?

Chemistry - Is INSANE! Every pair this drama has produced have been nothing but a great satisfaction. They just worked out perfectly like a pair shoes. Main leads are oozing with so much mysteries and cold yet attractive spark. While the 2nd pairing got this playful and tempting vibe with them. Heck! There was even a point when the 2nd Couple's dominating and ruling this story. It's just sad that both of them ended up tragically!

P.S. I just wanna mention how Fan Chengcheng looks like Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo's character in The Untamed), How gorgeous and sparkly Cheng Xiao is and lastly, how Ma Yue always got the best roles! I've watched 4 shows of her so far and she always serves! What a great actress!

Story - 9.0, Just the the right rating I guess. I really wanna give it a higher score but doing so won't be justifiable. Story went extremely jumpy and always all over the place to the point where I have to internalize and organize the events for me to comprehend what actually happened. + The constant death of great characters ruined it for me. Ghad, I need Season 2 so bad.

Acting/Cast - 10, Exceptional and perfection! I would never replace anyone from this production. They've always been a pleasure to watch and everyone executed and played their character like nobody else can. Fan Chengcheng, Cheng Xiao and Ma Yue are the MVPs of this drama!

Music - 9.0, Never feel bad about it but they could've done better. Yes, I'm guilty for skipping the opening and not even watching the ending credits but I did try to ran through them 'once' and it's all instrumental with thrilling and mellow sound in it. Insert songs are closely the same. Nonetheless, I was never bothered by it and I find them comforting and settling to listen to.

Rewatch Value - 9.0, If you ask me to watch it again, I'll probably do, but... You gotta give me the Sequel / Season 2 right after. Although the execution was a bit brutal but the overall flow and plot of this drama is considerably good. it's just that I refuse to watch it again unless we continue the unfinished tale.

Overall - 9.0, Everything considered, I highly think this is an accurate score. This drama is good overall, even with its flaws... that goes left and right. I just wanna say that most of it's mishaps and shortcomings are justified on how they set up the plots to keep the story going. Afterall, everything was plausible at end. So... I guess it's fine!?

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The Dean who's novice & child-like in terms of Love + The worst 2nd Male lead transformation ever!

There's no such thing as who came first in love - Sang Qi.

I badly wanna talk about how magical and amazing the love story in this drama is, but my eagerness to talk about the moral lessons of this story is much stronger. So let me start this review on how I find this narrative as something very influential and purposeful.

This drama stood out to me not only for its beautiful love story but because of how good they deliver the moral lessons, struggles and challenges they all went through to achieve it. That women rights and equality wasn't achieved in a blink of an eye and it was a cultivation of someone's collective hardwork, bravery and boldness to face and accept the countless indifferent, judgemental and discriminating gazes to prove that she deserves what she's yearning for and achieve whatever she's been working hard on. Although there are flaws in this dramas historical facts, I just admire their guts and proud of them for still making this possible. To see the progress of how women gradually received better treatment and broader opportunities made me ecstatic and warm.

I'm so excited to write my take on the romance side of this story and I'm literally overflowing with admiration and passion for the Main leads. Definitely! the best CP I've watched after a long while. This couple not only made each and every scene extremely fun and colorful but also made sure that we're not gonna suffer any unnecessary clichė drama plots we are all exhausted of. Their unconditional trust, loyalty and love for each other has been challenged and proven multiple times through adversities and I'm just amused that not even once they got affected by it nor submit to any scheming and oppression. Instead, they're always hiding something up their sleeves ready to retaliate and fight back. That's some sturdy foundation right there! Something very difficult to find and see from couples right now because of shallow jealousy, lack of trust and poor communication.

Main Leads - They're just the perfect fit. Yan Yunzhi being the snobbish, intelligent and highly respected deputy chief while Sang Qi as the willful, bold and cheerful maiden who will do everything to achieve whatever she wants. I mean, Opposite do attracts! and what I really adore about Sang Qi is how she never let the circumstances decide for whatever her decision's going to be and will always find logic to resolve and get away from any obstacles infront of her. Yan Yunzhi on the other hand is a smiling-gummy-ball. He's so precious specially when sulking and acting jealous.

2nd Male Lead - Or should I say, the Worst evolution for 2nd ML ever? I swear, I'm utterly disappointed and disgusted on how Zhou Wenyuan has become. I was rooting for him from the very start not until he showed his true motive and color. He's very unexpected all throughout and most of the things he does is something I never imagined coming from him. Like, how did my charming and lovely lover boy turn out be this cruel and hideous asshole? Nonetheless, I still love his character and hate it as well.

P.S. Wanna mention Lian Pian & Yan Yan as well for being one of the most entertaining Supporting pair of this story. They made this drama extra fun and vibrant.

Story - 9.5, It was smooth sailing and I'm really satisfied on how they never added unnecessary drama to this story. + The fact that it has strong women empowering message and overall effective and inspiring moral lesson made this production even more worthy and admireable. P.S. Just watch out for some fictional historical facts and superficial problem solving cases.

Acting/Cast - 10, The glow ZLS brought to any drama she's in is exceptionally blinding—She's so vibrant! and Xu Kaicheng!! I wasn't expecting so much from him but he delivered above and beyond! His every expression is flawless. Like he was carved and molded for this role. He embodied it! Also... Zhang Yue, this is my 3rd drama of her and she's been very consistent and versatile in all of it. Ao Rui Peng & Ren Hao did extremely well to. So satisfied of their acting.

Music - 10, I'm very happy with the choice Music for this drama. Correct and proper placement of songs + They're just beautiful and fits this drama as a whole.

Rewatch Value - 9.5, It worth all the watch it could get and I'm really satisfied about this drama. But something about it just felt rather ordinary/lacking for me. Most probably with how they deal with the antagonists and the investigation segments/cases.

Overall - 9.5, To sum it all up... I really enjoyed this production a lot and would surely recommend it. The only thing that made me feel a bit off about this drama is mainly because of how shallow and abrupt they treat the cases... Like they didn't give much depth to it resulting to it feeling half-assed specially during the 1st half of the story. It lacks the fundamentals to make the investigation scenes plausible and have a proper go-through process . Phasing is overall fine but they kinda neglect lots of the important investigatory crumbs behind.

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The 5 Skillful Elites of Shanyi Academy + Please! BEAR for the first 4 overly clichėd episodes!

Something I badly wanna mention is that... this drama will forever be remembered for its crappy and overly clichėd first 4 episodes.

I've never suffered or endured this much ever before, specially during the introduction of any drama. The amount of unbearable and non-sensical scenes I tolerared to finish this is too much to even be transcribe into words. All I can say is that I've experienced great anxiety those moments, to the point where a deep hallow space is already building up in my stomach and the urge to give up this show was immeasurable. Thank god! I'm tremendously patient!

Looking back now, I somewhat feel like this drama's overall theme and genre reminds me of stories back in early 2000s. Those extremely flawed, cringey and corny shows I used to watch with no problem back then is exactly identical to this one right here. The only difference is that I'm watching it in this era where I'm already a graduate of such clichėd stuff. Maybe if I watch it back when I was a teenager I would've enjoyed it without any complains.

I can go on and on with how frustrating this story is. However, I also wanna mention my opinion on other aspects of this show, so allow me to do so.

Plot & Twists - I don't wanna rant more but I just can't let it go. Up till now I'm still baffled on how they go beyond logic and common sense in delivering the sequences of this drama. It felt stupid that most of the 'obvious' hints can't be understood by the leads and It always takes time before they can realize such points even when it was being shove right infront of their faces already... Like WTH? During those times, I just had to remind myself that I'm watching a purely comical idol drama and it will be a tough challenge to bear and knock some sense into because it was created to be like that— all fun and laughter.

Fighting scenes - Most of Dugu Muxue and Ning Xiang's sword plays were good but aside from that the rest are eiher mediocre or straight up bad. The 'war scene' was actually good with them showing their areas of expertise, the only problem is how absurd their training was. Successfully dodging a great number of spears being thrown at them really put me off. Seriously? are you kidding with me?

5 Main leads - I've had the most issue with the Female Lead. Shen Yiyi/Diyie's character made me throw up for being the most cringey of them all. Her intended weaknesses and flaws always gets into my nerves and her over exaggerated reactions made her acting even more disguting for me. The rest are either good or decent... I also just wanna mention how they tend to make the most significant scenes awkward. Those 'pre-occupied' and 'I'm-deadass-seriously-thinking' moments were so embarassing, I'm getting the second hand feels of it. Dugu Muxue did it excellently though.

Story - 7.5, Although this dramas has an enormous unbearable and shameless moments, I still wanna say that the main plot was delivered considerably good. It was just they throw a bunch of random 'it-doesn't-make-sense' scenes that made this drama ridiculous for me.

Acting/Cast - 8.0, Got no problem with the cast. But their fair share of cringey acting just never fails to stick out like a sore thumb. The way they fail misserably when it comes to the most significant scenes— be it romantic, dramatic and even the fun and light hearted ones, oh god. They never missed any opportunity to look uncomfortable does resulting to mediocre-cringey acting. Special mention Wang Yuwen's acting that makes the situation more awkward.

Music - 10, Unexpectedly, I got so hook with the BGMs of this drama. It just give you that 'vibe' to enjoy and be motivated to go on with life. + It added excitement and vitality to the show.

Rewatch Value - 5.0, This is the lowest I can go for this drama. It has some decent moments that anyone may wanna watch again for fun but there's simply no significant scenes that can make me watch it over again. Just, No!

Overall - 7.5, Everything considered, I'd say this drama's bearable specially Ep.5 beyond. It may differ from people's taste and liking but a piece of advice to those who are after some 'serious' and 'sensical' dramas, you guys shouldn't even try watching it or else you might drop it. I was even surprise that majority of its reviews on MDL were 8-9 or perfect 10. Like, how did y'all? seriously?

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The FLs enticing & shameless pursuit to marry the ML + Merxat's enchanting charms killed me!

To know a man you must observe his attitude towards the world - Liu Ling

I'm out of words for this drama, not because I have too much of them but because I've got little to none of it...

Looking back to the whole story, I feel like the main theme this drama focuses on is Liu Ling's pursuit to pester and entice Shen Yan to like and marry her, and the following events just simply follows this sequence. So, I'm not really sure where to start with this review since all I think about is them and the other plot seemed shallow and almost non-existent to me. Well, I guess that's a good thing?

Anyways, lemme just summarize the elements I like and dislike about this drama.

Plot & Twists - The major plot they've been trying to work and brew on since the very beginning ended disappointingly. It feels like they just want to get over with it so they nonchalantly settled with the most obscure way to dismiss and have it concluded. While the other minor events straightout felt insignificant and unremarkable at all to be even remembered and mentioned.

Camera Works - It's like the best thing this dramas has to offer. I can still can't get enough of the alley way fight scene and how it was meticulously executed. Every angle was captured accordingly with proper timing and consistency. Although, they kinda did a terrible job during Shen Yan & Lu Mingshan's final clash, I'd say that overall I'm still satisfied.

Main Leads Chemistry - I've got a rough start with their compatibilty to be honest. For some reason, I cringe whenever the FLs trying to seduce the ML and it's not helping that they got a handful of preposterous scenes in the early parts of the story— the falling from the cliff scene, the bridge scene and a lot more came pouring like raindrops that made it hard for me to bear and digest them at first. But after 'a while' I just learned to gradually accept and love them. It was hard earned I'd say.

Deep diving with our Main Leads... I just wanna say how I cringe yet still love Liu Ling's character as a whole. She's childish, immature and shameless but something about her bold and unrestrained attitude dismisses all her negative traits and captured my attention completely. She was a bizarre subject for me. Shen Yan on the other hand is like the typical cold and stoic guy with a twist!! His smooth yet erotic advances sends provocative thoughts in my head! He's addicting!!

Lead Couples - I expected quite a bit when it comes to Shen Yu & Shi Jin's story. I know they can give us more but they chose to just provide the bare minimum. All the teasing and bickerings only leads to a single kiss and that's it /sighs/. While Luo Fan & Ling Bi is the cutest to me. For some reason I'm satisfied with whatever they've got and I'm just happy that they finally got them together.

Lastly, I just wanna mention how much I love the relationship between Liu Ling and her Grandfather. That's pure love and adoration right there! Also, the Shen Brother's bond never failed to make me smile too. They're the coolest!

P.S. Ending it with another remarkable line... I don't want you to betray your heart to satisfy my feelings and change yourself - Shen Yan

Story - 8.0, They could've work on it a little bit by making the Major plot work but they just didn't. They focused so much on the Main lead's love story that the other stuff didn't stoodout even a bit. It felt neglected and shortly, abandoned. Thank god the Love story side worked out pretty well... if not, I may have butchered this section.

Acting/Cast - 10, What a set of flexible and talented actors/actresses. Yuan BingYan alone already added so much color to this production. Not to mention the Crisp and arousing aura Zhang Yechang contributed, Zhang Yue's flawless execution and the ever charming, gorgeous and meticulous spark Merxat showered to this group. He slayed this drama's visual to the very extent! Unworldly.

Music - 10, I love how mellow the songs are and the timing and placement itself helped the scenes stoodout and felt more heartfelt as a whole.

Rewatch Value - 7.5, This is me being considerate and respectful of this production. It wasn't bad and certainly has a good and enjoyable sides to it but I guess I'll never be able to bring myself to watch it again. Afterall, there are plenty of drama's out there who's more worthy.

Overall - 8.5, It's a drama that has a solid love story but kinda lack when it comes to proper usage of other plot factors. It's worthy while it last but will not linger around after that. I still love it nonetheless... the actors and actresses made me to, honestly! They all were a combo times 3!

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The nasty & rude brother's intrusion to a couple's happy and peaceful life.

That was short—freaking short! It could honestly run for another 20 mins or two and I would never ever mind. It was a cliffhanger in the most annoying way possible, I would say. I almost didn't even enjoy that... It felt like I brush my teeth longer than this extremely-short film.

Anyways, I still wanna say that I enjoyed this short film a lot. I find it really amusing how K-BL industry is now more open when it comes to providing us with this level of interactions and intimacy.

Kissing Scenes was surprisingly intense... something I didn't really expect at first. Although I've known that the past few years has really brought great changes to the industry; but I kind of still wasn't expecting this to be at 'that' level.

Nonetheless, I'm still highly satisfied on this short-project and I'm also hoping to get an extended version of it somehow.

P.S. I'm really curious whether the brother got a hint already of their relationship. Cause I'm sure as hell he already did.

Story - 9.5, Nothing was actually bad about this. Aside from the fact that it was agonizingly short. This would've been perfect if it was really a bit longer. Gosh!

Acting/Cast - 9.5, Kim Jaeheung did really great. Like there's no hint of any awkwardness shown throughout his portrayal. Park Jongho on the otherhand felt a bit unstable and inconsistent. Specially with the slapping scene. I find that very awkward. While, Kim Hyunjoon did quite good. Facial emotion's on point.

Music - 9.0, The sounds used are actually quite decent. Find them really compatible with the cute scenes. But nothing just really left a lasting impression for me (most probably because it's very short already and they don't wanna waste anymore time just to play some actual songs). It was like a good dream I immediately forgot after I suddenly woke up.

Rewatch Value - 9.5, I'll probably watch it again since it doesn't really waste any of my time. I just wanna avoid the disappointed I have had when it suddenly displayed the ending credits.

Overall - 9.0, This short-film truly delivers. If we're looking on how they address same-sex couples reaction when someone unaware of their sexuality suddenly barges in to mess things up in their happy life, then they really did great. I was just dissatisfied on the fact that they spent time to create this only to left the viewers hanging. Above anything else, this one's a Must Watch still.

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Experience the real essense of Longing and Waiting! — It's always worth the wait! ♡

First and foremost, I just love and greatly appreciate how Japanese production always treat fans with Specials; be it a spin-off, chapter or a movie. I always feel spoiled and special because they never failed to give us one more chance to enjoy the story and its memories by feeding us extra moments that we can enjoy and cherish to satisfy our satisfactions.

I guess, I'm just grateful and appreciative that they gave us the "3 years ago" timeline right after their separation. Simply because we got to see their coping mechanism and the way they all try to move on with their lives without forgetting their separated friend or loved one. Instead, they all gather every year to celebrate while hoping for her return once every super moon. Which I find really heartwarming and flattering; because that just shows how important and precious she is as a person.

I also love the 'Farewell Message Video' the FL prepared before her departure as a form of Goodbye and Gratitude towards the people who cherished her and whom she loves the most. That scene really left me so touched and emotional. Specially when the ML asked for 'alone time' to watch his part of the FLs video tribute for him. I'm on the verge of tears while watching that and it reminds me a lot of memorable and romantic scenes of our Main leads.— Although I feel like that scene took almost 25mins+ of the entire episode, I still find it worth it.

Maybe the only thing I got regrets about is how short their supposed reunion is. That's more or less 3 minutes!! and all this time, I expected it to atleast consume half of the episode or so. I feel really sad about it but it's alright. I'm just glad that they got to reunite and meet each other again.

P.S. Really love the reunion scene. Specially when Kintaro carried Mio in his arms. That must've felt like finally coming home, huh? I felt that "Okaeri! and Tadaima!" moments! So precious!

Story - 10, As mentioned above this special chapter mainly consists of the 3 years timeline before the reunion and the actual reunion only span around 3-4mins but I guarantee everyone that it's all worth it.

Acting/Cast - 10, I love all the main casts. Really!! Also love that I'm familiar with Otani Ryohei, Watanabe Keisuke and Ishihara Satomi cause I never got to worry about their performances anymore. P.S. I love every Ayano Go scenes in this episode. Specially his smiling face and crying eye smile. Also when he's wearing his diving outfit! ♡

Music - 10, Same Ending Music used. Which is something that grew on me already. The sound and melodies just never disappoints. Specially the windchimes sounds. Very soothing.

Rewatch Value - 10, Definitely! I feel like I learned to love the story more because of how this special episode made me look back and reminisce all the good and precious memories from this drama.

Overall - 10, I never expect to give this a whooping perfect score. Although it didn't give us an actual 'extra episode' after her return. I'm just simply satisfied and grateful that they prepared something for our starving hearts. That alone already made this drama a 10 for me.

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Learning to Appreciate, Forgive and Love Deeply. + Preserve and Protect our Oceans!

I will never get tired of saying how heartwarming, inspiring and genuine Japanese dramas are. They always got this magic in their crafts that will make you so emotionally attached to it no matter which genre you are into... I guess they just understand human emotions and feelings the best, huh?

Right off the bat, I wanna say that this drama felt restricted... Like they could've added more to it but chose to limit it for some unknown reasons. I probably got used to heavily plotted dramas but I just know when something is needed or not and I would say this drama could've been more eventful and exciting if they added little more tweaks to its overall plot.

I badly want to expand my thoughts about this drama so please allow me to share some of them.

Plot - Overall plot is good but improvements can still be provided left and right. I feel like they got caught up with other side plots (3 Brothers affairs) and consumed lots of episodes that should've been focused on our main leads; does making the story vulnerable to plot holes and felt lacking in terms of story progression.

Twist - I always feel like there's a missing piece when it comes to this drama's overall story structure. Like, something is inadequate and it could've been better if they give more 'drama' to the FLs character. I mean, she's a mermaid and they could very well expound onto that to make it more interesting and exciting, at least.

Editing and production... I got serious problems with this, honestly. Most of the time, I felt like they were throwing sequences randomly to the point where it just doesn't fit at all. God knows how many times I find it weird that a scene or two are being included in a completely unrelated moment. Which are very awkward to me!

Chemistry is a perfection for me— aside from the fact that Ayano Go and Ishihara Satomi look equally beautiful and handsome; there's just more to them that's beyond our eyes can see and perceive. Something that can only be seen when you indulge yourself on the way they carry themselves into their roles. Their Drive and Passion to be 'in-character' is insane!

Color scheme, texture and mood - I was in genuine peace while watching and appreciating this dramas beach scenes. I just love how fresh, tranquil and cozy it made me feel as viewer. Very relaxing and accomodating.

Second Couple and 3 Brothers Plot - Both are really interesting to watch and I'm just glad they didn't add anymore dramas to the 'Brothers' plot cause I feel like they just had enough. LOL! and I'm also satisfied on how they wrap things up for the 2nd Couple. No more escalated dramas and rather ended it in a more mature and receptive way.

P.S. I feasted so much whenever Ayano Go's acting giddy, nervous and child-like. It gave more colors to his character and I just find him super cute and adorable during those scenes.

Story - 9.0, I wanna rate this drama higher but I just can't ignore a lot of missed opportunities they could've took advantage of to make it more eventful and dramatic. + The awkward and misplaced sequence editing made this drama stood out like a sore thumb for me.

Acting/Cast - 9.5, Main Casts, specially Ayano Go and Ishihara Satomi were such a stellar actor and actress. The way they execute their roles emotionally made me admire them a lot and will tell you how invested they're in their respective characters. The only disappointments I have are with the supporting roles who acts ridiculous and simply baseless. Like they were added for plot twist and nothing else.

Music - 9.0, I only heard 1 music in this drama. Well, aside from the casual melodies and sounds used to set the mood and to add color to the scenes... So, I'd say they could've added more but for me it was just enough. I wasn't bothered and never felt like it was lacking.

Rewatch Value - 8.0, It took me 2 years to finally watch it and I wanna say that it deserves the wait. Hahaha! I never feel like watching it again honestly. I was only here for Ishihara Satomi but I'm just grateful to have finally watched it because I got to know Ayano Go in the process.

Overall - 9 0, I have a lot 'what ifs' for this drama and up till this moment, I still feel regretful that the director didn't fully utilized the set of spectacular actors they got to make this drama great. Not to mention how lacking the script and how random the editing was. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed watching this story and I appreciate the warmth and passion it gave me.

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FL Hard Carried the 1st Half + MLs inexpressiveness and mistrust complicates everything.

Before anything else, I wanna tell people to watch out and bear on how this story revolves around the calm, almost expressionless and inexpressive yet loving ML and the way it became more complicated because of his mistrust and overprotective treatment for the FL.

At this point, I guess i'm just glad that this drama was concluded with a happy ending despite all the excruciating and frustrating scenes it has. The amount of dark and grim energy I've accumulated from this show is unexpectedly great that I was extremely irritated at some point. >< So please take a 'bearing pill' before starting this drama. Hahaha!

Honestly, this drama overall is really good but unfortunately ruined by 3 major things— 1st, Overly mismanaged characters, 2nd is the extreme display of favoritism for the ML and 3rd, actual purpose for the 2nd ML.

× For some reason a lot of supposed relevant supporting characters tends to be missing whenever they're most needed to. Like, there are countless segments where the most crucial people are absent and god knows why did the writer and producer exclude them there when they're supposedly relevant in those scenes... and these occurences happened because of their immense greed of making the plot more substancial and complicated.

× This productions obsession with the ML is what probably ruined it for me— their undying love and greed to justify the ML made me role my eyes tons of times and even got me to the point where I'm simply sick of it all. He's 'hot & cold' and loves doing the 'push & pull' act without even explaining even the tiniest bit to the FL and he's expecting her to understand him. Like how? Man!! You deserved to be demoted as the 2nd ML in all honesty.

× The lack of actual purpose and usage for the 2nd ML felt so unfair and ridiculous. Like, I expected him to do some stunts to win the FL because that's his supposed 'role' but he's rather a mess. The 1st half of this drama did him dirty and it's really disgusting. Instead of being a reliable support he started off as a menace— stubborn and quite immature then gradually became an emotional mess... Huh! He need some serious justice right there. ><"

× Last but not the least is how hypocrite of a character Zao Yan Xi is. He hated the FL a lot for 'hurting' the ML when he tolerated the woman he loves even when she killed countless of people just to keep her father safe. The most deserving death of this whole drama I would say. Hahaha!

Anyways, moving away from the negative side... This drama got a lot of good qualities as well, most specifically the amazing color schemes that always blended so well with the setting. Next is the simple looking yet beautiful and eye-catching costume that was made perfect by its color shading, followed by the background and overall setting that complements the whole drama every single time and lastly, the satisfying crime and investigation cases that was made even more entertaining because of the great fighting scenes.

P.S. The 2nd ML 'Zhang Si Fan' deserved better! That guy was downplayed and played dirty throughout the entire show. Hell, he even deserved the Main Role!

Story - 9.0, Story is actually good and would've been better if only they lessen their obsession and greed to make the ML mysterious and inexpressive. It made the drama hollow, frustrating and complicated to the point where things seemed overboard several times.

Acting/Cast - 9.0, More than the acting... I highly think that this dramas excessive misused of great actors/actresses is what made me all irritated overall. Some of them were missing in the most crucial times and felt like they got no concrete direction aside from being an end game plot device. + Overall acting is good and god knows how Chen Yu Qi hard carried this show.

Music - 10, It was love at first hear. Hahaha! Seriously, I was already captivated the moment I heard the 1st BGM and I was in a complete trance upon hearing all of them. The music from this drama serenaded me from the start till the end of the show.

Rewatch Value - 8.0, I just wouldn't. I hated how I have to endure and went through all those frustrations while watching this drama. The amount of dark energy and hollow feeling it gave was enough and I don't want to go over it again. The only reason why I gave it an 8.0 is because of its happy ending and good story progression.

Overall - 9.0, This is a rating in consideration of all the positive things this story offered despite all its flaws and mishaps. Thank god they redeemed themselves and successfully bounced back at the last 6 episodes. I almost give it an 8 honestly.

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Lady with an Iron Fist in a Velvet Gloves + Insanely Creative and Romantic Poems.

Above everything else, I wanna advise people to NEVER EVER let the previews stop you from watching this drama. I red through a lot of negative feedbacks and most of them drop it in the middle simply because they got tired of it or they don't like where the story is going. Where in fact, it's one of this production's unique way of getting the viewers attention and interest to keep watching it. Well... I have to admit that they did it severely to the point where it's already affecting the viewers mood but I assure you that this show is all "WORTH IT". So, hang in there!!!

This drama started rough for me— The constant display of abuse, adultery, violence and male chauvinism made me sick all throughout to the point I regret even watching it; but as time passes by everything started making all sense— That every piece of it was created and set up for a greater purpose and it was presented that way to make the whole story more interesting and dramatic. I even thought to myself that it's really been a while since I last watched a heavily plotted drama like this. Something I used to watch growing up and I should say... it made me feel nostalgic and satisfied overall.

Also, there may be times (like a lot of them hahaha) where I felt like the FL is just so great for the ML and that she should end up with the 2nd ML but after a while you'll just realize its true moral and value— that Love is to persevere. that it is something you need to work hard on to achieve. and I really wanna commend every single person behind the scene who made this drama possible. The journey might have been real rough and tough but it all paid off beyond satisfaction at the end.

Another thing is the insane budget for this drama. I love how they shoot the scenes in the most appropriate locations and how it felt so authentic all of the time. It even made me wanna visit Myanmar to enjoy the sceneries and the buddhist temples to peacefully pray and appreciate the religion and culture.

One last thing... I may not be that happy with the outcome of the LGBTQ relationships in this story but I should say that I'm satisfied. Kao Fang X Kang getting a happy ending while Not and Chet arriving on a healthy friendship even after the confession and rejection. Also, I will miss the Thien-Beer-Toon-Not & Muey-Tum-Pob-Kang Combi. They all made this drama extra fun, lively and colorful.

P.S. Everyone should brace themselves for the FLs character progression. She's a real BOMB. A person you shouldn't mess with. Someone who ruined the clichė weak-stupid-clumsy female character we all got used to. She shattered my expectation yet fed my fantasies and interests.

Story - 9.5, I finished the entire drama before I finally decide with this rating so I assure everyone that it's all worth it. It is a heavy plotted story that will surprise you with its twist and turns. It may appear disturbing, frustrating and irritating most of time but you must keep in mind that this is 'drama' afterall. So, I highly advise everyone to just sitback, relax, bear and finish the show. Hahaha!

Acting/Cast - 10, Excellent and Outstanding Actors and Actresses. God knows how satisfied I am with the castings and how I would never have anyone else act any of these characters aside from the original artists portraying them now. Mark is really good but Mew is on a calliber of her own. She deserves high praises for her flawless and solid acting ability.

Music - 10, It became the perfect instrument that made this show even more wonderful, enjoyable and dramatic. Every song blended naturally and I love how it accentuate the whole mood and feeling of the drama.

Rewatch Value - 10, Despite all the negative opinions I initially had with this show, I would still love to watch it again if given a chance to. This story taught me a lot. It inspires me so much and this will forever remain a memorable piece who gave me motivation and determination to pursue love the best and hardest way I possibly can.

Overall - 10, Well deserving! It may be a tough and frustrating rocky journey but it ended really well so it's all worth it. One thing I wanna say to anyone who may read this is to NEVER give in to your own disappointments and disheartenment while watching this drama. Just keep on pushing forward and you'll probably understand how I came up with this ratings. Susu na!!

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The Kind, Gentle and Naive Man's failed attempt to Kill.

Have you ever been dumbfounded after watching a drama?... not for the reason that it was good but because you were flabbergasted?

Up till this point i'm still astounded and fascinated from all the occurences in this drama. So let me make it simple and precise as much as possible.

I don't know where it started but I got this unsettled feeling while watching this show. The entire story is actually good and I like how things gradually escalated because it helps the narrative to move forward logically, but... something about this drama felt awkward to me. The closest I could think of is Nakagawa Taichi's cringey acting (mostly facial expressions). For some reason it bothered me to the point where I was just looking at his face trying to decipher what the hell is the problem with it. Maybe I'm just not used to seeing a handsome face doing such incedible facial distortions?

Anyway, I probably would never be able to categorize which genre this drama is under. I felt like i was watching different plays at once. I mean, It's always been the norm for J-dramas to be quite random and goofy like 100% of the time but I just can't sort out how they blend in action and comical scenes like this and turned it into something weird to watch.

Well aside from all my opinions above this drama did quite well in delivering the context to the audiences as well as incorporating various emotions and situations that shows how regular human being functions. + I love the fun and extra scenes we got at the end.

Story - 9.0, Well created — It may not be the best but I must say that they did great in incorporating good scenes to make the entire story work. It was filled with the right amount of sequences that made it easier to digest and not entirely heavy.

Acting/Cast - 9.0, As mentioned above I felt like Nakagawa Taishi could've worked more on his facial expressions; cause I really find them cringey at times. I understand that his character was written to be like that however something about his acting just stood out like a sore thumb to me. The rest actually did good. Well, I guess I just got some problems with the characters and how they are supposedly acted (by the artists).

Music - 9.5, Music is Good. As always I love the song used whenever there's a romantic scene. The only thing that bothered me was that classic french? song being played whenever Death Prince does his ridiculous antics. They could just rip them off honestly. They did add color to the story but it was weird for me to watch them.

Rewath Value - 8.0, This is one of the dramas that's best to watch only once in a lifetime... Few more times and you'll surely get tired and hate it.

Overall - 8.5, This is a drama that has no particular flaws in terms of story progression and cinematography but kinda fell a bit when it comes to the acting part. Some of them are really cringey to watch. A little more polishing and it could've been better. Overall a good drama.

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Tons of Wasted Plots & Lacking Ending + Hard Carried by Actors Spectacular Acting.

First of, I felt like this drama could've been better without the countless plot twist and overly dramatized story progression.

To start everything with, I just wanna rant and point out how the large number of useless plot twist ruined the entire story. Honestly, they were kind of bearable and understandable during the first 10-15 episodes of drama cause that's how they usually set things up to make the story more mysterious and exciting but I never expect them to push it to the extent where I started to get so irritated and tired of it. They built up 65% of the drama with those craps but failed big time in making them work or even useful for the story.— What a waste!!

The excessive amount of unnecessary and unused plots and twists that ruined the drama even before it reached half of it + The overly rushed and mostly off screen scenes that are useful to the narrative but was excluded and dumped at the end.— The final 10 episodes left a big impression to me for being exaggeratedly fast pace and rough in terms of character closure and story conclusion. Like, they invested so much drama for the 2nd Main CPs story only to make their whereabouts off screen and even not giving them any proper final exposure? seriously? Their love story made me the most infuriated all throughout and they've all decided to give us almost nothing?! Gosh~ that was a bad writing right there. I'm disappointed.

Going deeply into my most hated story plot of all. Here comes... Yang Yue and his unwavering, foolish and persistent way of going after Shangguan Xi. Like, man! When will you learn to stop? that woman's love sick towards other man and been treating you carelessly all this time!!! Their takes completely infuriated me, imagine having to deal with them for more than 50% of the story. Wow! That was tough and I must say I endured a lot.

Also, The cinematography, color grading and graphics during the first half of the drama was really bad and ghad!! The horendous use of green screen made me rolled my eyes out of frustration countless of times. Like, are the people handling the art, design and editings are some bunch of interns? It look so unpolished and unbearable most of the time.

Hmm, It was a drama that was saved by the set of great actors and their great acting skills and character portrayals.

Story - 8.5, I wanna give it even lower rating but the story wasn't entirely bad at all. It's just that they've misused and misguided a supposedly good story into a dark and hollow space and failed to bring it back into proper light for salvation. They gave us 55 episodes and made 65% of it useless.

Acting/Cast - 10, The saving grace of this entire production~!! The only positive take of this drama is how they casted such great actors and how they performed their characters with deep understanding and accurate execution. The spectacular acting and character portrayal amazed me so much. I love almost all of them.

Music - 10, The music used on this drama was able to make the scenes either more enjoyable or sorrowful. It created an emotional aura that highlighted most of the scenes and made them more heartfelt and alive.

Rewatch Value - 7.0, I probably won't. This is one of those dramas I will keep and hide on my archieve and will only look back to when I'm trying to appreciate how great the actors/cast are.

Overall - 8.5, If it was not for the Actors and their splendid acting I would've probably given this drama a 7.0 or so. The story has a lot of unused plots and how I wish for them to remove all those irrelevant scenes to make it shorter and add a little more to the lacking ending. Definitely a drama I won't rewatch. But will recommend to people who loves to see good acting.

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Impressive Story Progression.— The drama who broke the Long-Standing-Prejudice against BL in KR~!

Above everything else lemme include here my favorite scene and line of all. ~^^~

CSW: Can I still give my answer to your Proposal?
JJY: No! It has ended... But, I have a new one for you... Let's be a couple, this time not as a Free Trial but as a Lover.

GOSHHH~!! That scene got me squealing so HARDD. HAHAHA~

Anyways, Wow! This drama felt so short yet well-packed and complete. I never felt this satisfied over a short drama EVERR.— Surprisingly, they were able to push it all through without sacrificing the story and putting any necessary parts at stake. A truly impressive and brilliant series overall.

I also wanna highligh how this BL Series changed the game in KR BL as a whole. They basically did what other BLs failed to do and they bravely succeeded at it. This piece will remain iconic for being that 'Wrecking-Ball' who managed to break that sturdy-concrete-prejudiced wall that was almost impossible to be broken until they came out.

Well, after all these, one thing is for sure and that's how they massively contributed in opening the biggest road to KR BL and to present this genre as a whole into a more main stream platform that will certainly open more doors to not just one but probably countless of projects to be release in the future. REMARKABLE indeed.

Story - 10, Do I even have to explain? Lol~ This production just created a flawless, time-worthy and completely satisfying series without falling short in any categories. IF that's not enough then I don't know anymore.

Acting/Cast - 10, I was about to give a 0.5 lower rating but No! Scrap that. Although I admit that the acting was a bit awkward and weak for some of the Minor Actors during the first 2-3 episodes of the series; I would still love to commend how they all evolved into a more focused actors/actresses as the story progresses. Not to mention the 'Great' list of cast who portrayed all those adorable characters. I'm just overly satisfied to all of them after completing the show.

Music - 10, K-Productions and their ever perfect choice of BGMs. They just never go wrong don't they? One of the things I was amazed at is their accuracy and timing in playing those Songs. The Music Team in this prod is truly one of a kind.

Rewatch Value - 10, As IF I would give it any lower than a Perfect Score. Hahaha~ I'm always ready to re-watch this just tell me and I would, without any hesitation.

Overall - 10, Not even a question at this point. This drama only showed and presented the best all throughout and I can never go against it in any possible way. A Series that will remain remarkable and memorable as it paved for the BL Genre to it's more open and better position now.

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I Highly suggest watching this first instead of EL + Can someone fix Dong Hua Di Jun? Hahaha~!! ♡

Let me start by pointing out the main thing that got me mixed hearted over this drama.

It is better to watch this first instead of going chronological and start things with Eternal Love. As someone who watched EL first then went to this, I find it very frustrating and bothersome that I was left with the scenes in EL and was expecting to get a SEQUEL in continuation on how they present it during EL but instead got a completely different scenes that made me all confused and even disheartened. I actually felt so bored watching the first 20+ Episodes of it solely because of that reason.

Next is I wanna address my Story Highlight Above 'Can someone fix Dong Hua Di Jun'. It was both Positive (In a very adorable Way) and Negative (In more serious sense).

Positive - The moment they went to Fanyiy Village this guy turned into a Adorable-Jealous curve ball who's so in love to Feng Jiu. Those moments of him are actually the turning point of this drama for me. I was like 'Finally things are getting funnier and interesting' in contrast of how serious it was during the first half.

Negative - I don't get how Chonglin was blaming FengJiu for misunderstanding and leaving DHDJ when that guy barely said anything and is always very secretive of every single thing. He act on his own and always act as if nothing is happening. Also, how can you blame a Woman who was left alone during their Wedding Ceremony without any proper explanation? Are they serious?

Oh Well, Moving on... On a brighter side I would love to highlight my hopes, expectations and opinions for this drama that might have help it to be less boring and more interesting. First is Bai Gun Gun's appearance. I felt like they could've atleast let the boy experience some screen time with his parents for like 3-5 episodes and should've cut off some episodes on the earliest episodes of the drama. Second is introducing DHDJ's adorable and In Love pace earlier in the story and Third is following the whole plot laid out on EL cause let's all be honest; Majority of the people most probably came here after watching EL.

Anyways, The drama is still good even with its sudden change of events and scenarios. Truly enjoyed it specially the latter half of the story.

Story - 9.5, This could've been higher only IF they didn't mess it up during the first half of the story and also didn't make FengJiu seemed irresponsible and illogical. Like come on. Those scenes ruined it BAD for me.

Acting/Cast - 10, Acting is really Good however with the Cast... I just felt sad that Bai Zhen and Zhen Yan's actors got replaced. Cause the new one's lacked that chemistry. Also, shoutout to my favorite characters Yan ChiWu and Ye QingTi. I love those men so much. They gave so much flavor to the story and added more spice and excitement throughout their appearances.

Music - 10, I enjoyed it a lot. The BGMs was used on the most proper and fitting places and I just love ballad so much. ♬

Rewatch Value - 9.0, I would still watch it but will definitely skip some scenes during the first 28 episodes of the drama. I don't think I can go over them again after falling asleep several times on my first watch.

Overall - 9.5, This drama just lack a thing or two on the plot and scenes side and that was all due to the Prequel story where they had a completely different way of introduction and character build up. Nonetheless, the rest are either Good and Great for me and that explains my score.

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The FLs Flirtatious Final Transformation + Emotionally Unstable ML~!!

What an Up-Down Hill drama—This story by far is one of the dramas that gave me such hatred and despise over the MLs character (alongside 'The Wolf').

The story is rather stagnant at first, basically dragging almost half of story into nothingness instead of building hype and providing us more watch-worthy scenes 'us' viewers can enjoy. The pacing was slow and well controlled in a way that I felt tired waiting for it to be more exciting and a bit more romantic. Everything seemed to be well planned and even manipulated to the point where I find it boring and eventually though of it as its major downfall during the first half of the story.

Male Lead is mentally unstable and was extremely weak in differentiating love and revenge /sighs/ I was disappointed on how he handle the situations often times specially when it comes to things that are heavily important to him. I mean, I understand where he's coming from BUT knowing that your brother sacrifice his life to protect the woman he loves and yet blaming that Lady for what happened is basically nuts not to mention that the Lady in mention is his Previous & Future Wife (they got divorce, so...) — and that's not it~!! He chose to do all that during their secret Marriage Ceremony and if you think that's the worst; he treated her so badly I myself felt so enraged watching it. IF you love a woman how could you blame, push and make her suffer emotionally & physically that way? Like how the hell can you fathom seeing her go through sorrow and distress infront of you? This guy is freak and seriously got some BALLS problems.

Anyways, aside from those major complaints above, the drama went quite well. Not the most light hearted one but surely provided so much laughter and warmth to me as a whole. + The Female Leads transformations are rather cute and enchanting specially her Dragon Form. Like HOLYSH*T Hu YiXuan serving top tier visuals.

This production is truly enjoyable and has been such a great experience specially during its 2nd Half and most of FLs and Prince Ning/Naxi's moments. Not to mention NanNan & LuoJi's cute romance development. Hihihi

Story - 8.5, Gonna Give this drama a rather 'okay' rating and this is highly influenced by how random and unstable the Male Lead is jumping from being so frantic into suddenly being so caring and loving. I think he's clearly suffering from bipolar disease or something. I swear, he killed the mood for me. But gonna give kudos to the director and writer for sticking to such ending. Once again proving that woman will never be less of a man.

Acting/Cast - 10, Nothing but Applause and Praises over the Actors and Actresses. I wouldn't be this mad and agitated if Zheng YeCheng performed badly. That man got great facial control and was able to summon his tears in the most unexpected and emotional way. Hu YiXuan is another spectacular actress to mention; she nailed her character so well and I just love her for that. Special mention to the other Cast specially Naxi, Prince Ning, NanNan and LuoJi. Prince Shun unfortunately needed more balls. Hehe

Music - 10, Songs are Top Tier. Not the most excellent of all but it has a great set of really fun and swaying music that clearly fits the mood of each scenes it was played on.

Rewatch Value - 8.5, It was not that bad but I would never put myself in such situation where I would watch a drama again considering I hated every minute of a scene or two because of how such an asshole the ML is. Hahaha~ I just got so much stress these days and i can't accumulate more. Nonetheless, story is still good and enjoyable to watch.

Overall - 9.0, Despite my bad take on the story and ML Character, I can never deny that it was a fantastic costume drama that not only provided those frustrating scenes but also made me feel those delightful & fleeting experience while I was watching it. This drama still got so much to offer despite how badly I highlighted some of its dragging parts.

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TOP LEVEL Foodology and a combination of Greatness, Women Empowerment and Witty-Harmony in 1 show.

Oh God! I'm super in love with this show; so please!! do bear with me cause I'm about to list down all of them as much as possible. Hehe~

1st, Lemme start how smooth, serene and harmonious this production is compared to all the dramas out there. It do provide the right amount of issues, tricks and problems but is always getting resolved within the same episode and even in a justifiable witty way. No excessive conspiracy that harm the Protagonists and even serves righteousness by dealing with them properly.

2nd, Women Empowerment. Like damn!! Dramas these days just don't provide proper exposure to how capable and flexibe women is and this drama showcased that in every way and form possible. The amount of justice and appreciation Women has received from this show is even greater than the last 20 dramas I watched combined and that speaks Volume and intelligence.

3rd, Superior Foodology. I never watched an episode without my mouth gaping open because of the exquisite and delicious cuisines they featured in this drama. As someone who has some knowledge and is interested in cooking it truly caught my interest and made me so curious to try those I think I can cook by myself. I know I won't achieve the surreal and almost perfect dishes on the show but I just want to try it nonetheless. Hahaha~

4th, Characters & Cast. How can all of them be this lovely and interesting on their own unique ways? This production surely gathered the best talents there is and put it under this Mellow yet fantastic drama that created such excellent balance and was able to cater to my palate perfectly.

5th, Overall Production & Script. I'm absolutely amazed and astonished on how well made and planned everything is. From the story line to unprecented events and conflicts to it's good little touch of romance; everything felt so well written and produced. Gotta give credits towards the set of great people behind it. They did an impeccable Job with this. What a Masterpiece!

Story - 10, No discussions needed. An absolute drama and can be considered as a Big Precious Pearl in a vast sea that you don't often witness with your bare eyes.

Artist/Cast - 10, Excellent selection of Artists. They all performed so well and I'm overly satisfied. A drama where I love almost 99% of it's characters and cast.

Music - 10, A great serve of Mellow Ballad that perfectly fits and compliments the show and scenes they're played and used for. I love the songs a lot too. <3

Rewatch - 10, Believe me or not I'm ready to watch it again today. That's how crazily good it is. This drama touched me so much that I'm not willing to move on. Forever engraved in me!

Overall - 10, OFCOURSE! Like duh? It is even a question? At this point IF you read through my commentary and probably saw my countless shower of compliments nothing will surely go wrong. I was never even once dissatisfied of anything. This is like a heavens gift for me for the New Year. Pouring all my love and appreciation for this drama. <3

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