Light, cute and naughty

This is not a high budget serious historical drama, some parts were almost like a parody, overall quite entertaining. There were many hilarious moments between the 2 male leads and with the 3 of leads together. Happy to see "Dylan" in YAMD as ML in this and quite impressed with Wu Cheng Xu. FL is also charming. Everyone looks pretty, the sets and costumes were gorgeous. This is an easy watch, short, cute, naughty and light-hearted so go for it, but be warned that the drama ends with cliff hanger even though the leads get together nicely. Hopefully there will be a next season.

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I Would Like to Hate But....

This is one drama that I would like to hate, from the OST to the story and stuff in between, BUT there were a few sparks of potential that kept me engaged in the latter half of the series and the main leads did good with the material given. The first 15 episodes was literally the FL in a zombie like trance most of the time reeling from broken heart over her ex, the ex insisting on getting back together and the ML acting almost like a pervy stalker, add many coincidental meetings ... shake, stir and repeat. In the second half of the series everything perked up- from our leads, to the supporting cast, the ex dropped off the face of dramaland until the ending episodes but was replaced by another ex to stir the pot again. Even so, this was where this dramas potential should have been harnessed and released but no, the second leads romance got a lot of screen time. Nothing wrong with some second lead romance on the side but the main leads romance got half the screen time, thankfully there were some satisfying fluffy moments between the leads. Also, one thing going for the leads was their maturity, sure they still felt insecure about their relationship but they did not do any drastic immature moves, no annoying miscommunications in this drama. It was a happy ending but felt rushed, considering a lot time was wasted in unnecessary boring stuff I wish they had just done a wedding or a bit of married life instead. With all that, watch if you are tired of good dramas or want a change of pace for something cliche, this is okay.

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Visually Stunning

The one huge thing for me is that this drama is visually stunning, from the make-up, costumes, sets and cinematography. Everything else was decent even though there were a lot of draggy parts and over the top scenes- I can't fault the acting with the way the scenes were written and set up but some acting could have been done a bit better for some of the cast. I also appreciate that the history aspect was straightforward in this drama, I learned a few things about the Chinese Republican era, oh no! :) It was a happy ending so this drama still gets my rec worth a one-time watch.

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Almost Perfect BOF/MG Version

This was the almost perfect Boys Over Flowers/Meteor Garden version I have watched so far. I especially liked that this version is not merely a rich guy poor girl drama, the ending theme of the younger generation seeking social justice humanity above money/material was nicely weaved into the story for the audience. There is no shortage of funny, flirty and emotional moments all spiced up like a truly modern lakorn. Cinematography and locations are beautiful. The entire cast acted spectacularly well. I was surprised almost everyone superbly delivered their crying/emotional scenes. I just wished our ML could be more emotional in his crying scenes but then he was still awesome portraying Thyme overall, can't imagine anyone else for the role. Meteor Garden 2018, even with all it's many flaws, has been my favorite and this version I like as much so now it's a tie for me. This version is shorter than MG2018 so the writers and director had a chance to smoothly condense the story into meaningful episodes which the team did amazingly well. For anyone thinking "oh no, not another BOF/MG", give it a chance, this drama is still a highly recommended watch on my list.

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Starting this review with a warning for anyone expecting this to be a romance drama, it is not. Yes, there is romance but somehow the overall feel is more of a melodrama. Fair Xing and Allen Ren did well. Fair Xing continues to show depth in acting. Allen did well even though the character he portrayed had a limited range of emotions. The second leads were okay along with the rest of the cast. I am not a fan of the story as I couldn't really get into the concept of a mechanical heart so I got bored sometimes and dragging on to 36 episodes did not help. Also, some blatant product placements were annoying. The ending, although a happy one, having a 3 year time jump to wrap things up was rushed for my taste. On the positive side, I absolutely loved the cinematography on this one. Shots were crisp and well framed. Locations were pretty. No annoying dubbing. The OST is nice. I admit being a bit disappointed with this drama but on my fault having unrealistic and high expectations coming from my enjoyment of My Little Happiness which is a different genre in my opinion. Overall, watch this if you don't mind melodrama.

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Well-Deserved High Rating

At first I thought, oh well, just another youth drama but still put this drama on my list to check out Wang An Yu as I liked his performance in Dreaming Back to Qing Dynasty. Xiang Han Zhi was a pleasant surprise, my first time watching and her acting was spot on despite being only 18 years old in real life! The story was well-written and the pacing was just right for the number of episodes. The first couple of episodes seemed ordinary but as the episodes progressed I came to appreciate the simple and heartfelt nature of the characters. The overall feel of this drama was innocent and pleasant. The difficulties faced by the characters seem relatable and the antagonists were not so evil. There were some scenes which evoked happy tears from me which only a few dramas were able to do. Production quality was excellent including music. Most importantly the ending was sweet and satisfying. I say this drama should not be missed.

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Promising but Fizzled Out

This drama had the potential to be really good with a promising start but fizzling out towards the third quarter. The story has 2 main plots- the FL being a ranking official's main wife managing the harem and the ML surviving political conflicts with his quest for the emperor to end the sea trading ban. Even though the writers connected the plots together, the political scenes gave me a detached feel making me use the fast forward buttons for those. In contrast, I found the harem plot to be rather unique as it shows how the harem/polygamy practice causes pain and suffering not only to the women involved but also to the men. Although the harem premise of this drama is a huge turn-off to many, the redeeming aspect is that the ML realizes he loves only FL/his main wife and fights the system/elders refusing to accept any more concubines. The story became tiring and draggy as the episodes progressed no matter how clever some of the arcs were. I am quite disappointed at how the main characters were written does not show the acting depth of Wallace and Seven. Anyone expecting good romance vibes from Wallace will be disappointed, despite his good acting the chemistry with Seven was off in my opinion. Regarding technicals, production quality is high- location, sets, costumes, makeup, cinematography were excellent. Sadly, the happy ending is lackluster. In summary this drama is an okay one-time watch.

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Misunderstood Drama

I think this drama is very much misunderstood. For anyone expecting or wondering if they should watch for the romance, I say NO, you should skip/pass/ignore and stay far away as possible from this drama. Yes, there was some form of romantic love between the leads but be warned this is not actually a romance drama. In my opinion this drama is classic makjang/revenge with offensive dark undertones. Once you are open to the nature of this drama then you might appreciate the story and the roller-coaster of emotions that go along with it. Although the story is not original I found it quite interesting. Hawick Lau did a stellar performance showing multiple facets of his acting ability in portraying the complex ML character who is despicable, cunning and wretched somehow making us feel sorry and rooting for him at times. There were scenes where I was holding my breath in suspense as to how the ML would react to a situation or person. Sadly the FL character rendition was subpar for my taste wherein some scenes the FF button came in handy. The supporting cast and production quality was okay. I actually liked the open ending because it would make no sense for the leads to easily just have a happy ending. It's good that the FL was going away giving her time to realize if she truly loves him or get over Stockholm syndrome and that the ML is paying for his crime. It would have been better if the writers showed that the ML acknowledged that he needed mental therapy. I enjoyed watching this drama but on the fence recommending this as a watch.

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A pleasant surprise going in without high expectation. The story has some substance. The writers did a good job keeping me engaged just when the pace gets draggy somehow an interesting element pops up. This drama was not devoid of cringe tropes, unrealistic situations, annoying decisions, plot holes and overdone acting, there were a few but nothing serious, overall everyone did a good job portraying their roles. Sabrina Chen impressed me the most in this drama so much better than her character rendition in highly rated Maiden Holmes which I found boring (sorry) so I put on-hold, maybe after this I will try to finish it. Xiao Rou and Gao Xing romance had the passion of an old married couple but somehow lacked the youthful discovery of love maybe because their characters were childhood sweethearts the writers did not inject any more romantic getting to know you heart-fluttering scenes leaving the main leads chemistry lacking sometimes. The second lead characters had interesting relationships- Li Da Bai and Dongfang Qi was a good comedic story along with Liang Chenhui getting in the mix to balance Gao Ya and Han Mu's restrained romance. There were no lingering evil villains in this drama. I think everyone had character development by the end. So what made me post a review is actually the amazing cinematography of this drama. I especially loved how most of the scenes were shot in real public and private locations, it looks like only a few scenes may have been shot in a film studio. It was nice seeing the characters in beautiful Sanya, the streets, buildings and restaurants in Suzhou and Shanghai- I even tried to look up some of these locations: ) The outfits were gorgeous, good job costume director. I would have given this drama a higher rating if there were less episodes than 42 or more romance arc between the main leads. Nevertheless, it has a happy ending so this is a good one time watch.

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Traditional Chinese Melodrama

This is one of those traditional style Chinese melodramas with arranged marriage, family business power struggles, goons, revenge and true love. Sounds okay but honestly, I really wouldn't recommend this for anyone expecting a fresh modern drama. Not because this was from 2015 rather the feel of the drama is traditional maybe catering more to local taste, nothing wrong but international viewers might be bored or irritated. It was interesting that the story was about a Chinese woman from mainland marrying into a Chinese family rooted in Thailand. One of the film location was a mansion frequently used in Thai dramas but they only used the exterior part- I think almost all the indoor scenes were filmed in China so this was a bit amusing for me. The "mystery" and "whodunit" arc kept me watching so there is some substance to the story. The writing was okay for the most part. I think the cast did a very good job in their roles. My favorite character was the ML, he was unwavering with his love and trust for the FL so I was rooting for him the entire time. I just wished he had a nicer hairstyle.
SPOILERS:
- the ML in the drama starts out not the main love interest- he likes her but she has an intense romantic relationship with someone else for maybe 2/3 of the drama. It's almost like you wouldn't expect them to be together. It is rare in dramas when you are having SML syndrome then your wish is granted when SML turns out to be the ML :)
- the ending is a big disappointment, quite rushed as mysteries were answered and villains punished towards very end plus there was no concrete happy ending, only a hint that the all is well almost like an open-ending. It felt like the ending scene was abruptly cut.
OVERALL:
Watch if you don't mind traditional Chinese melodrama otherwise this is a skip.

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This review is to give a heads up for anyone deciding to watch this or not. If you are okay with supernatural- ghost and witchcraft theme then this lakorn might be fun for you. Even though I read the synopsis I wasn't prepared for the entire series to revolve around witchcraft. I liked Lom in Thara Himalai so I imagined his series would be fun and exciting since he's a playboy but this wasn't the case, this drama was heavy on action and not enough romance for my taste. I was also turned off by the old school visual effects. Honestly I survived the entire series by fast forwarding many scenes. My rating is very generous considering I didn't enjoy this series- not the actors faults. Let's just say this genre isn't for me.

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Watch Only for Mark and/or Kim If You Really Want To

DISCLAIMER: I watched this lakorn solely to see Mark Prin's early acting ability so my rating is likely a tad higher due to this bias.

Positives: I enjoyed seeing Marks early work here- as playful, caring and secretly in-love Kob. This is my first Mark-Kim drama and I really like their chemistry, they look so natural and cute together. No wonder there is a hype. The main plot of the story is really simple and common- childhood best friends realizing that they have fallen in love with each other at different points in time. Mark's acting is not as polished as now but you can already see that he is such a natural actor overflowing with potential. Kim did well as perky workaholic Bua, she kept me engaged in her scenes, I have no complaints. The supporting cast did well too even the villain roles. It was endearing and funny to watch Kob and Buas bickering parents. Sean as Tin was also good, I had SLS in many of his scenes.

Negatives: The script itself- plot and characters. There were too many villains ranging from annoying to downright vile. Several unbelievable scenarios. ML was made to be naive/gullible and in some scenes. I hated Jane character the most not just with her interaction with the ML but also with the support characters- just unnecessary. Of course who could stand the usual tropes, they have them all here- jealous SFL, sweet SML, SLS-inducing love triangle, kidnapping, attempted rape, scheming gold digger, unfaithful side characters and goon fights resulting to ML ending up with a gunshot and of course a rushed happy ending. The icing- you get rewarded with one forehead kiss for watching the entire series.

In conclusion, only watch if you really would like to see Mark and/or Kim, otherwise it's a pass- don't waste your time.

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Enjoyable and Worth Watching

This is a nice easy to watch romcom about a contract marriage. I've seen a few Simon Gong dramas to notice that his acting has improved a lot and he has shown versatility in tackling a more mature role as Dr. Ling Rui in this drama. My first time watching the FL, I think she did a good job playing the role of successful domineering CEO Lu Fang Ning. A strong female lead is very encouraging. Another surprise here is Garvey Jin's good comedic performance as Simon. I liked how some of the second leads started as antagonists then ended up as good guys. It was fun to see how Lu Fang Ning and Tang Ping Ping evolved from being enemies to close friends and how straight-faced cold Simon loosened up to pursue Cai Si Yu. The other supporting cast were also likable and who can forget the adorable Lu You You! I admit there were some draggy parts, for me it was somewhere in the middle before leading up to the time skip. I quite enjoyed the rest of the episodes post time skip, they were more light hearted. I liked the cinematography, editing, locations, wardrobes though I deducted some rating points for little things like make up style which I'm not a fan of and few forgivable plot holes. I found this drama refreshing having some unique spin on common storylines and tropes. Overall, enjoyable and worth watching.

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A good watch over all. My first time watching Fair Xing in a historical drama and her role here is a mix of playful and serious. I was pleasantly surprised how good she pulled off her role. Now I know she is versatile, she can do cutesy and heavy drama. I also enjoyed watching her action scenes. My first time watching an Alan Yu drama and was wary of the comments about his stiff acting, I guess its true but then it suits his role in this drama. The supporting cast did very well. Production quality is good. I would have given a higher rating if this series was shorter maybe 30 episodes or less. Also needs a bit more romance although the happy ending for the main leads made up for it.

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