I thought One & Only, despite it is a fact known since 1st episode that they are tragic lovers, they truly have fantastic relationship throughout. They understand each other like what soulmates would, no misunderstandings, and they found calm and tranquility with each other which was beautifully portrayed throughout the drama. When I watched it, I really like this part. Its like 'you & me' against the world, until, the world is really against them which is like the last 4 episodes. I could never rewatch this. I expect the heartbreak, but didnt expect it will escalated to that extend.

I love how the heavy atmosphere can be noticed since in the earlier episodes with the way the Director shot everything and doing the lighting that matched the tone and seriousness of the whole topic. And these heavy feelings will keep following you despite the drama are filled with really fantastic relationships between all the characters at the Royal Mansion. The flashback scenes are also done marvelously to portray the happiness and regrets and why those relationships are fantastic since it was backed up with strong history of kindness and thoughtfulness of the ML -- thats what his students remembers him and why he is so treasured by everyone.

The pining and yearning and the silent of it all really makes this drama a really heavy watch. The fact that both leads barely do anything even a simple thing as holding hands yet you can still feel the electrifying chemistry and agony are just testament on how great both of them at conveying their characters. I will never recover from this one. My heart hurts just when I think about their ill-fated romance.

I love this drama to pieces since the acting in it is really amazing, both of them at the top of their game in this show. Ren Jialun with his micro expressions that kind of pierce through your heart and Bailu's with her amazing portrayal of the mute character and her crying scenes are probably one of the best I've seen in Cdramas and we do know Cdramas has really a lot of amazing crying scenes.

Zhousheng Chen is mesmerising to watch. You can actually understand what he's thinking. You can follow his dilemmas and engage with his feelings, even though you can barely see any expression on his face. Ren Jialun is really good at this. He is supposed to be this cold general but despite he is not very expressive, you can understand and feel the torture his character is feeling. All these are achieved from small change of expressions, how the eyes move, or how his lips will trembles. All these are very small and micro but very effective at conveying emotions. There is one scene where people are questioning his manliness for having no attraction towards women (due to his vow) and while on the outside you can see he is trying to be unbothered, you can feel how his inside is crumbles due to that comments -- and the way he acted coupled with the way Director shot this particular scenes clearly demonstrated that. It was really excellent.

The yearning and unspoken love are the main theme of their love story. The way they communicate to each other using their eyes speaks volume than words could ever say. The big sacrifices and grand silent gesture only happen in the later episodes. And those scenes are so impactful, heart wrenching and the reasons why the drama are so unforgettable to many.

I think the biggest attraction of the series for me is that the leads has amazing and fantastic relationship throughout the drama -- soulmate kind of relationship and understanding of each other which pretty much unmatched -- since they dont have to tell each other anything but they know each other deep into the souls. It is such a nice thing to watch how that understanding develop into something unbreakable and deep. And the drama as a whole is poetically beautiful that some of the simple scenes have so much meanings and poignant when you understand the underlying message of it. It is really a beautiful drama through and through in my book. And the cinematography is A++ without a doubt.

Read More

“How often can life’s pleasures be enjoyed? Shi Yi, alone, is all that I ask.”

Forever & Ever ruined romance dramas for me in general since it is so beautifully written and acted. It is just very rare to find romance dramas that do not have stupid misunderstandings, petty games of push & pull, breakups and just about love, trust, loyalty and absolute understanding between two people in love. I can never stress out how wonderful and fantastic this drama is. Zhousheng Chen & Shi Yi’s relationship is really beautiful -- I rarely use this word to describe relationship in dramas but they have ‘soulmate’ kind of relationship since they can see deep into each other's souls where no words are needed to be spoken. I never seen a drama where the leads actually smile at each other as much as they smile to each other here -- they look totally in love, smitten and extremely blessed to be at each other's company. And this drama is actually better with each rewatch since the love & romantic details in it are really amazing.

THE LEADS’ PERFORMANCES
Ren Jialun is truly fantastic as the awkwardly shy Zhousheng Chen to the point I really thought that is his real personality. His awkward body movements, the way he will lick his lips when he's nervous, to those blissful and shy smiles -- the attention to details when he is playing the character is just magnificent. And I love how Zhousheng Chen handle his toxic mother with such a grace -- never disrespecting her but also never allowed her to mistreat his wife as well.

And Bai Lu as Shi Yi in Forever & Ever is just beyond awesome. I really think they need to write more amazing FL character like her -- bold, straight forward and just full of love. The way she comfort her husband, understand him like no one does, all the sweet little gestures, or the way she laugh at him are just fantastic. She is perfect but at the same time appear very humane and approachable. Plus, she did all the first moves, how awesome is that?

BEAUTIFUL VISUAL DIRECTING, CINEMATOGRAPHY & COSTUMES
I love how the Director using frames a lot in the drama to display characters’ thoughts and distance and how when they are shot in the same frame, its to show how both is at the same state of mind. And I also notice the drama used a lot of earthly colors like yellow, white and brown for soothing and warm effects and that is why you will feel the drama is very relaxing and healing. Or using shadows when the couple had their first night together which is one of the best directing I've seen for this kind of love scenes.

I also love how this drama will be using characters' outfits to tell a story or their motivation. I like how Zhousheng Chen & Shiyi will always wear same color with different shades before their marriage while same color with same shade (coupling outfits) after their marriage. Or how the antagonists in the drama will always wear black, literally, black all the time. Or grey character like Weixing will always wear black & white.

THE ESSENCE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP
I love that the essence of their love did not change at all despite both of them has different personalities than their previous life in One & Only. Shi Yi will fall first and Zhousheng Chen took time but when he did, she can feel it in her bones despite his love being silent.

And the most important of all, they found calm & tranquility with each other just like in One & Only -- the same calmness and safety. That is why when everything else is failing him (like his family), he always find her, since she gave him the comfort just like Shi Yi found the comfort in Zhousheng Chen in One & Only. They are still one heart and mind -- in fact stronger since now, no explanation needed as they trust each other unconditionally.

And both of them really gets each other. They really knows and understands each other in some fundamental ways. For Shi Yi for an example, all Zhousheng Chen's socially awkward and shy personality to his weird antics -- are the aspects that made her love him because they're what make him who he is. She doesn’t want to change him as she love him just as he is and vice versa. Their relationship is not just about physical beauty but they're about really seeing deeply into each other’s souls. Their attraction is based on trust and understanding. I love that their internal monologue would be like; 'I should hug her. She would also want me to hug her' which I find interesting since Zhousheng Chen completely understand what Shi Yi wants. Even when they moved to Xi'an, the house that he bought and the furnitures in it are based on Shi Yi's preference even when she is not there to tell him. They have this 'Us against the world' mentality so adversities only make them closer instead of the other way around.

THE FUNDAMENTAL OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP
"Most people see the skin and not the beauty of the bones." – and their relationship is not just bonding on the physical aspect but bonding of the soul.

Both One & Only and Forever & Ever explored both Zhousheng Chen & Shi Yi’s relationship with this fundamental core. The 'bonding of the soul' -- something that can’t be seen from the surface but both of them see each other’s' soul for who they truly are. That’s why when some people complained that they couldn't understand why someone as gorgeous as Shi Yi could be attracted to someone socially awkward and nerdy like Zhousheng Chen, it is exactly what the drama wants to achieve -- Shi Yi sees his beautiful bones instead of his skin and see the beautiful man he is from the inside and fall in love with that part of him. It was meant to be portray that way.

Lots of people just see the drama from the surface, thus passing it merely as fluff but once they actually see each scene on what the writer actually intended to tell, they are just gonna be surprise with how full of depth is their story -- whether in the past or the present.

CONNECTION BETWEEN THE PAST & PRESENT
I also love how the writer connect the past and the present -- from something simple as drying of Shi Yi’s hair to helping her changing shoes which both happened in One & Only and Forever & Ever.

To the part where Zhousheng Chen taught Shi Yi Guqin in One & Only and gifted her the Guqin factory in Forever & Ever. Or he gifted her tea all over the place in One & Only and gifted her Tea House in Forever & Ever.

Or something big like he guard the whole city for her safety in One & Only and he sent someone to protect her when she went back from Germany in Forever & Ever.

ZHOUSHENG CHEN’S SILENT LOVE
One of the greatest thing about Zhousheng Chen is his silent love. Like he will always do things silently -- never expecting anything in return but Shi Yi could always feel his love despite he never mention it -- whether in this life or their past life. For an example, a simple scene like showing him paying their dinner together with his student at Xi'an where no one know except his assistant. Looking from the surface, it seemed like a filler scene but its actually to show his selfless and sincere personality since everyone in the room thought it is his assistant who is treating everyone to dinner.

I love how the writer and director chose to portray Zhousheng Chen’s love that you can truly passed it as something insignificant because Shi Yi didn’t even know most of them. Like him calling her taxi at Xi'an -- even when he could tell her that it was him who did it, but he didn’t when she thought this nice gesture is from his assistant and not from him. Or how he helped the injured delivery guy -- he could tell her how he helped him (in the later episode) which will expose how he drove all night just to see her that day and again, he didn’t. Or the pomegranate scene that he passed as something he found on the street when in fact we as an audience knew the length that he go through for something that she said in her sleep. Or something big like how he sent someone to protect her when she went back from Germany since he feels she is in danger to asking Xiao Ren to accompany her at the Old Town – both instances, Shi Yi never knew.

She once asked him how would she know he did all this if he never tell her but he said he simply did it out of love so it didn’t matter whether she know it or not -- exactly just like Zhousheng Chen from the past. This is not including the one that Shi Yi can see like the wedding cards or the wedding lanterns. I think no other drama actually show this much romantic details in their story -- I find it truly captivating.

SHI YI’S LOVE & AGENCY
Some people misunderstood Shi Yi since she seemed to agree with everything when it comes to Zhousheng Chen. Its not that she didn’t have agency but she understood him to the core. Like she didn’t have to protect herself or fight for her rights, because she know he will do it for her -- since he will never ask her to do something that she didn’t like or uncomfortable with. Like she know she didn’t have to move for him after the wedding, since he will move for her. Their relationship is actually rather fascinating in this aspect - a complete trust and understanding of each other.

He can’t come home as initially planned, she totally understands it. Need to leave early while they are in the middle of dating, she's cool with it too. Not because she's a pushover, but she knows that despite of anything, she is #1 in his heart -- a real mature understanding that reflect her state of mind.

CONCLUSION
Zhousheng Chen may not remember anything (unlike Shi Yi) but everything that he did in Forever & Ever is the things he regrets and couldn't give her in One & Only. That is why, he is my favorite romantic lead in any drama because his love is sincere, pure and did not ask anything in return -- its okay if she never knew what he did as long as she feel his love and that is all matters to him.

Read More

A unique drama that used deceptive storytelling to tell its story with solid, layered & tight script

If you want to watch drama that have solid and quality script, brilliant & smart leads, couple that actually communicate & trust each other unconditionally, compelling supporting characters and interesting villains, then Burning Flames delivered in all departments. No stupid misunderstandings, characters that behave out of character or turned 180 degrees or frustrating plots that test your patience --none of this is in this drama. All you have to do is overlook the horrible CGI in the first 2 episodes and then you realized all that are only superficial and secondary to what gem that the drama truly possessed which is the story -- a truly engaging story with fantastic and layered writing with lot of social commentaries and great messages.

And it worth to note that the Director chose this campy and over the top vibe purposely as part of its storytelling. The performative acting, the 80's fashion, the vibrant & over the top colors, the splitting of screen for the fighting scenes -- yes, it's all intentional. It served as a secondary character to the drama -- I'm cringing the choice while admiring it at the same time. ?

The uniqueness of the plot makes the whole story very engaging and compelling as not many dramas actually covered this topic yet. The drama is structured with specific objective in each arc and I love how every arc has its own meaning and goals that they want to achieve and despite supporting characters come and go, they are written with depth with their own back stories -- even the villains. Everyone in the story served a purpose, no matter how small they are -- that would include the adorable ZhaZha as well. You didnt notice this at first until the same characters come back into the story again with purpose to contribute to the main story. Despite the fast paced nature of the plots, I love how they actually took time for characters' development and exploring the various parts of its central theme. And despite the main theme is Immortal VS Human, they also dwelled into different conflicts such as the selfishness of human's nature, the internal conflicts between the immortals and also hypocrisy of the demon clan in upholding justice -- it all being covered to make it such a compelling story.

And, this drama has done many foreshadowing for future events as hints to a lot of things. And all these hints are so glaringly obvious as signs to us the audiences about the characters such as how smart is Wu Geng or how sensible is Bai Cai. The way the drama plays around with the hints while showing us different things are all kind of brilliant. This deceptive kind of storytelling is very unique of how the drama is showing us a narrative while also dropping hints all over for us not to trust that narrative that being presented. The script has been so amazing that soma parts of it actually exceeded my expectation especially during Xinque Kui's scheme arcs -- it was angsty and was kind of a torture but the deceptive storytelling the Director and Writer chose to opt certainly made the twist highly satisfying. Everything was shot exactly to deceive the enemies (as well as the audiences) while also giving the audiences clues all over the story on why we should not trust of what we see on screen. I love when I encountered this kind of unique storytelling once in a while since it makes your watching experiences even more colorful and interesting.

Ren Jialun is doing his usual magic, being charismatic and all but he isn’t aloof in this role so you can see him be very expressive as Wu Geng and he doesn’t have to resort to micro expressions much while playing the character. One thing I like about Wu Geng is how self aware he is. He sure start as being impulsive but you can see how he matures and fit into the leadership role slowly -- winning everyone's heart whether it's human, monster, magical creatures, basically everyone that he encountered during his journey. What I like the most about him is that he always put his people as #1, it wasn’t actually revenge on his mind but rather wanting to release all people from suffering under the Immortal’s reign. I like how the writer always highlighted that -- whether in his monologue inside his head or his actions. It also being portrayed with little details -- like how he will see them and acknowledge their well wishes to how he doesn’t like to be praise when they start worshipping him. He really sees them as people he needs to protect -- a true leader at heart. While Xing Fei is being her usual self and being a sunshine and lovely character she is known of in her other dramas. The most amazing thing about Bai Cai is that despite she is a human and ordinary with no powers, she makes herself useful in every situation. Lot of people like to gloss through her contributions but she is the one who helped Wu Geng the most in his journey -- from protecting him, stopping his impulsive behaviors or just simply being there as a total support to him. Xu Xudan as A'Lan is probably one of the coolest 2nd female lead out there -- the way she stands on her ground, unwavering support and loyalty towards Wu Geng to her protection and teachings -- now I understand why Xudan took this role since the writing for her character is truly fantastic. Then comes Zheng Ting as Nitian Erxing. I truly feel the Director has a field day recording his scenes -- the Director always capture him from above or below to highlight his beautiful eyes, long eye lashes and perfectly shaped eyebrow. I'm laughing with how his scenes totally distract me from the plot, the character is magnetic and full of passion. His female commander said that Wu Geng's arrival at the Demon Clan has makes Erxing's eyes sparkle with hope and you can literally see how its glistering brightly & clearly there and then. And I love to see all the popular cameos especially Han Dong (please be a cameo in all dramas lol), Peter Ho (which is charismatic as hell), Jeremy Tsui, Ming Dao, Joe Chen and many Thousand Years For You support actors come back to this drama to play a part like General An, Bai Prince & Leader of Sea Spirit Clan.

And the lead couple relationship is certainly one of the strongest points in the drama. This is why I love romance in non-romance dramas. It’s usually one of the strengths of the drama as it served as 'soothing effects' for the characters -- the home they go to when the world is driving them crazy. Just like Wu Geng & Bai Cai's relationship here. I love how they always discuss, trust and reassure each other along the way like a true married couple. That is why when Bai Cai revealed her true identity to Wu Geng, she did it with a smile on her face since she knew Wu Geng will accept her regardless of her race -- there is not even a single double when she told him that despite she also struggle with her identity in the beginning. Their trust and loyalty towards each other is unwavering that no matter how the villains try to put discord into their relationship, it will fail miserably.

And I just love how the script keeps coming back to the main theme of the story which is 'Fate is in your hand' -- so you yourself decide on how you are going to fight against it. Wu Geng's conversation with Uncle Ziyu is all kind of awesome on how they touched the topic about fate and how his father will fight for it even when he knew the outcome and the effect on him and his family and the condemnation that he is going to face -- which being brought up multiple times in the drama. But change is needed, you can't just stay at your place and wait for everything to change on its own.

I also love the fact the drama went back on the topic how Xin King's decision to rebel against the Immortal robbed the chance of ordinary people of choice -- choice to join the fight or choice to just live their lives peacefully. Just because the main character decided on something, doesn’t mean they get spared from being criticized from with it. That is why with Wu Geng now, all the people who joined him are with choice -- a choice that they made on their own. That is why there is people like Chen Jing or Xiao Sheng -- despite supporting Wu Geng, yet, still making a choice of not to join his fight. I love how the drama paint all these people as different, and have their own thinking -- entities that just don’t exist for the main leads or just exist as plot device -- they are their own people, making their own decisions on how to live their lives.

Regarding the ending, I love how they actually took time for the ending -- the battle with Hei Long, the aftermath, and all Wu Geng visits, and later the end. It wasn’t rushed at all and it is beautifully written carefully with an awesome message on how Wu Geng's legacy is not him inheriting the throne but rather how he lives in people's hearts. And tbh, I didn’t expect to cry, like it’s a battle dramas with fighting scenes from beginning to end but the script is amazing since they let everyone have their own emotional moments -- starting with the Grandad, not gonna name anyone here as it will be spoiler but even the evil Xinyue Kui? Like they have to show the Dad and the sister from her memories and her regrets, and there I was shedding a tear for her as well.

I love even how in the end, the drama showed it wasn’t Wu Geng ALONE who defeat Hei Long but rather a collective efforts and helps from everyone. Wu Geng used the analogy of how even 'ants can defeat a Giant' as foreshadowing before the battle and that's how they designed the ending as well. So many twists and turns in merely 3 episodes -- and they actually property spent 3 episodes for the ending alone. At first, I am ready to give the drama a 9 but the emotional mess it made me feel for the last 3 episodes deserved a 9.5. Whoever wrote the script deserved a brownie point. This is how you write a good drama and a good ending.

Read More

Script Full of Details with Unique & Creative Storytelling (Ending Explained)

''Seeing you is like seeing another me. My heart has been crushed, never healed. You are a protagonist and so am I. Souls with the same color. Finally, a light shines upon me. In the dark corners, accompany me in breaking free from the shackles.''

This is a question that I always struggle with myself on whether I want to watch my favorite actors/actresses with a hit drama that is popular or a drama with quality script. And everytime, my answer will always be the latter and this drama is a perfect example of this. I truly love this drama to pieces. I love how it is full of depth and details, have substance and full of complicated and layered characters. And the greatest thing about this drama is the script. I have never come across this kind of creative scriptwriting before. The drama from the surface just look like a normal slice of life or romance drama but the elements and depth that the script possessed makes it unique that managed to stand in a class of its own.

Due to this, I will only explore the substance that the script possessed in my review:

FORESHADOWING ELEMENTS IN SHAN SHAN'S SCRIPTS
It is actually clues to us, the audiences on who is the villains and who is the real nice people in his life. We should know the plot twist in the Shan Shan’s police script ‘Pursuit’ since the same character has started to show his fangs in his life as early as Episode 2. There will be unknown faces that makes cameos in his script and this is all clues on their motives when they finally appear in his life. My favorite is the big guy; Brother Kuan from basketball and when he finally appears in Shan Shan’s life, I knew instantly that he will be on his side. I never seen this kind of creative writing from any dramas before. I thought it is very refreshing -- how the foreshadowing for future events are told from his stories.

SUBSTANTIVE PLOTS WITH DEPTH
I like the fact that in the first glance, we thought the leads are just normal people since they hide it so well with all the smiles and their out-going personalities -- then the story start shedding their tragic past one by one and you can see how these two characters are broken people and are connected since they are 'Souls with the same color' just like the OST lyrics indicated. In fact, the whole theme song is a reflection of their relationship in a nutshell.

COMPLEX CHARACTERS WITH LAYERS & SUBTLE DETAILS
The scene where Shan Shan watched a movie and Liu Xia said it is okay to raise the sound even more but he told her that he already did when you can barely hear the sound. Only a person who has been hurt will act as guarded like that. Or the scenes where Grandma gave him the chicken soup and she offered him a drumstick as an add on but he just said ‘No need’ as he is too happy just receiving the soup only. Now all these scenes make more sense. Or the fact, all Brother Kuan did is feed him and offer him a small kindness but he went all up and beyond to write him a script for free with no credit. This guy just wants to be loved and appreciated. Taking all the small kindness he received at heart and gives more in return. The abandonment issues that Shan Shan’s suffers truly made him as ‘People Pleaser’ and as guarded to everyone despite the bright out-going personality that he has on the outside. All these cracks in his personality are excellent, subtle and were revealed slowly as the drama progressed. Same can be seen with Liu Xia on how she always smile yet, she never truly happy. Her BFF always like 'Why I'm always happier than you when something great happen to you?' as she always ready to receive all these bad things that keeps happening to her, like she was expecting all of it, deserving everything, like she used to never catch a break in her life. All these little hints from the characters are like puzzle that made perfect sense in the end on why they behave as they did in the drama.

HEALING SCRIPT
I love how the leads’ tragic past didn’t make them feel bitter about the world or make them treat other people badly -- but they are really good people, with very beautiful souls. I love all the conversations they have with each other, they have the same views and values on what's important, and they also view the world with the same kindness -- it is a realistic portrayal of how two people falls in love -- the similarity, the calmness and the tranquility that they found with each other. They had this tacit understanding like 'soulmate' kind of relationship which is really beautiful to watch. Like all shits are happening outside for them, then they come home, see each other and feel happy with each other's company; 'Us Against Them' mentality. I love how Ren Jialun has amazing amazing chemistry with Angelababy. They were captivating to watch on screen and their scenes emits the peaceful aura and vibe that is so healing to the soul.

BALANCE WRITING
This drama mastered the arts of balance writing which I personally think should be the case for any dramas out there. In many episodes, you will find yourself shed tears for the characters and feel bad for them -- the dark past they are hiding in their heart, the bad things that keep happening to them but in the same episode, there will be healing scenes that makes you feel heal and happy. The balance that this drama achieved is one of the reasons why this drama is really fantastic in my book. Good deeds’ rewards are shown in many forms. We are used to see characters suffers in dramas but here, it is shown even though evil people are making the leads’ life miserable, there are many good people out there that will look out for them and ‘punish’ this bad guys FOR THEM (karma). I rarely seen this in dramas but it is so satisfying to watch. It shows all your actions has consequences and the universe will reward you for your good hearts and deeds.

SCRIPT WITH RESEARCH
The whole psychology matters in the script was handled delicately. I love how since early in the episode, the drama made clear the different between psychologist and psychiatrist -- so patients that required doctor’s diagnosis and medication, Lui Xia told them she cant help them since it’s beyond her expertise. Then the breathing technique is one of the most important thing in this profession and we can see how it is being used constantly in the drama. And how depression is not a taboo illness but something that we can seek treatment. Then we have Shan Shan as the scriptwriter – the different between writer VS scriptwriter, his dilemma of writing original script VS following what the client wants, focusing on plot VS romance plot, to writing tighter script VS writing script filled with filler scenes and overall the toxic environment on set and the exhaustion he faced in trying to meet the deadline.

REALISTIC SCRIPT
Many details that other dramas always overlook was taken into great consideration here. Like after finding out that they were online friends, instead of romanticize the encounter, Liu Xia was weary on whether their whole meeting was planned like other normal person would. Or to transfer large amount of money, need a token and can’t be done online on the spot. Then how Shan Shan has asthma and it can be seen how he fainted after he carried Liu Xia on his back. Then the hospital scene, despite after waking up, all Liu Xia wants is to sleep again since that is normal due to medication in her body. This kind of small details always being taken for granted but this drama didn’t which make me appreciate it very much.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING WRITING
This drama has so so many memorable phrases! I love how it makes you think and change your outlook and perspective on life. Like the one that Liu Xia told Shan Shan; ‘Memories don’t make people sad. It’s sad because people always perceive things from only one perspective. But if you change your perspective, it might not be that sad.’ Or one of my favorites; ‘I told you to step on the brakes to wake up and get back on track. Not to make you give-up entirely.’ Or the best one in the drama which is ‘Life is like a stage where the light/goodness shines on it. And it only took one step to cross over to the dark side.’ This one is the best yet as many people disregard on how easy it is to cross-over to the darkness and once you cross that, you can never go back to where things were. And I believe the most famous one from the drama would be; ‘When you unexpectedly encounter someone as radiant as a rainbow, everyone else is just a passing clouds’ which first comes out in the third episode of the drama yet you know this phrase is to foreshadow the leads’ relationship in the future.

NON-PRETENTIOUS OUTTAKES ON LIFE
There is no right or wrong in certain life’s situation and I’m glad for certain dilemma, the writer didn’t force to us on what he think is the right way. Like who should the Drama Producer listen to? The words of award-winning scriptwriter or an experienced director? Then you throw in the bits that when the last time this experienced director had a hit movies/dramas? There is no right answer to this question and I love how the drama didn’t force it to our face on the moral compass in this type of situation.

UNCONVENTIONAL BAD GUYS
This drama has different type of bad people. First, the one that is outright evil and show no attempt to hide it. Second, the worst kind of enemies which is the ones hiding in a blanket. And the last one spectator that watch the evil deeds being done and remains silent about it. The slow progression of toxic behaviors are explored to the fullest here. It started from small things such as not being honest about a simple car purchase, then the 'acting' mad in a manipulation attempt to get what they want then the gifting part to make the other party feels happy -- all of this can be passed as something small but this is actually seed of red flags of a toxic relationship. Then add the sprinkles of how people keep asking Shan Shan 'Is he always treat you like this?' 'Why are you taking this job?' 'Did he always do this to you?' to show to us how everyone can see how wrong it is but Shan Shan, just passed it as something normal since he is used to these small abuses. This kind of toxic relationship did not happen in just love relationship but as well between friends and someone close to you.

EVERYTHING COMING INTO A PERFECT CIRCLE IN THE END
Shan Shan’s police script ‘Pursuit’ is actually the exact depiction of every person in his life. You don’t realize this before but it all comes to a perfect circle when the story reached its climate ending -- from his Police character to Yuan Yuan's character in the story. Also, this drama ‘Twilight’ as a whole is actually the last script that Shan Shan wrote which tells the story about him and Liu Xia. All this coming seamlessly into a perfect circle at the end. This part is strongly foreshadowed during the scene when he asked Jia Zhen’s help with a script where Jia Zhen described Shan Shan’s script with depth and full of details on characterizations -– exactly like this drama itself -– a foreshadow that this drama that we watched, is a script written by him. Then the hot pot date scene happened where Shan Shan described to Liu Xia the reason behind why the chose ‘Twilight’ as the name of their story which further cemented this theory. And pay attention to the bedsheet -- all scripts that Shan Shan wrote has the same bedsheet as his bedsheet to show how this drama 'Twilight', is also his script. Its not a matter of production budget since we can see Liu Xia changed bedsheet a few times but not him. The attention to detail in this drama is just amazing!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THOUGHT-PROVOKING ENDING

On the surface, the ending of this drama can be interpreted with these three possible endings:
1) All things happened just like in the drama.
or
2) It’s all fractions of imagination in Shan Shan’s mind.
or
3) This whole story is written by someone else.

All these 3 endings makes sense and is supported by various clues such as cars' plate number and etc.. However, when you look at the drama as a whole, it pointed more towards the first ending since if you look at the script in details, its more towards the fact that it indeed happened as this drama 'Twilight' that we watched is the last script that Shan Shan wrote, which is the story about him and Liu Xia. Since it is his script, that's why it becomes a comic strip at the end. But where his script inspiration comes to be? From his real life -- from his life experience with Liu Xia -- this is their story. Its a play within a play and within a play -- School love story (which has penpal element) IN Twilight (the drama that we watched) IN Shan Shan's real life story with Liu Xia. One might argue that the fashion has changed for Shan Shan in the last scene but remember the scene where Shan Shan went shopping for new clothes and Liu Xia said she will style him in the future? The clothes that Shan Shan wore in the last scene is totally what Liu Xia might style him -- the smart and clean look that she explained in the same scene.

Also, when they play the full second verse of the theme song before the ending credit, then you realized that the one sentence in the lyrics ‘YOU ARE THE ME who broke free from the shackles. Living the life of freedom, basking in the sunshine.’ is the actual message of this whole drama. The theme song is actually can be interpret into 2 meanings -– that the leads indeed healed each other’s hearts BUT when it comes to the outcome, it can only be achieved when the person itself wanted to change as well. The drama ended with Shan Shan telling Brother Kuan on the phone that he has 2 endings for the script that he wrote. At first, you can just pass it as something insignificant but then you realized how all this has been foreshowed since early in the drama. You have his school romance script with 2 endings. Then his crime script 'Pursuit' ended with a shot with no real hint who fire it which indicate that the good or bad guys could possibly win at the end. Then you have his last script ‘Twilight’ with 2 possible endings as well. This is to show that at the end, it all depends on your choice – on whether you want to choose light or darkness in your life.

And these 2 choices have been emphasis in many different scenes in the last 2 episodes of the drama as well:
1) How Mr. Cao told Coco that Shan Shan needs to settle his ‘brother’ matters on his own despite no matter how much they help him, he is the only one can make that decision for his life.
2) Liu Xia teacher saying that how Liu Xia going to overcome her PTSD is all depends on her on whether she wants to confront it or remains in the dark forever.
3) The slap Yuan Yuan gave to herself –- on how she is responsible for her own life and its finally the time for her to wake up from being a bystander and see Jia Zhen on who he truly is.
4) The inner thought of Jia Zhen when he read ‘Pursuit’ ending as in his version, he is the one who making the shot (bad guy won) and in the end, we can see which choice he chose to make in his life as well.

This kind of ending is indeed rare and very creative, so when you understood the reason behind it, then every little hints in the drama makes sense. The ending really elevated the whole story. Due to all this, 9.5 is the only appropriate rating that this drama deserved. I have no idea when I can come across with this type of script again but I’m so glad to find this gem among all the airing dramas right now.

Read More

A Purest Kind of Love Story That is Full of Fluff Then Make You Sob Uncontrollably

This is my all time favourite modern Cdramas. I never thought it is possible to replace Nobuta wo Produce as the best school drama in my heart but this drama did it. This is one of the most beautiful and poignant love stories I have the honour of watching. It made you cry a river and made you question is that possible to love someone so selflessly like that without asking anything in return. It is a purest form of love and this drama portray it beautifully with many surprising twist and revelations.

The most beautiful thing about this drama is their portrayal of love -- it is poignant, deep, pure and profound. I never thought I will get this kind of love story while watching a school drama but this drama did it excellently. Here we got a female lead who has been in love with someone else for so long. She got a chance to redo her life by 'time travel' to the past and she discovered that there is another boy who has been loving her for so so long and the boy has been protecting her in silent for all those years without her knowing.

The drama started off with the female lead is crazily in love with someone else but when she finally snapped and learn the truth about her fiancee, she never look back. She finally decided to live for herself and redo everything back. She get close to the male lead after figuring out that he is the cause of her time travelling and while getting close to him for selfish reasons, she never thought he ended up taught her many things in life; taught her how fun life could be, taught her to dream and also taught her to find herself and in the process, she ended up falling deeply in love with him. She finally understand that in order for people to love her, she needs to love herself first and things like the unknown, fears and uncertainly can only be overcome by oneself to finally become a better person.

The female lead is really awesome. She is fun, funny, interesting and her confidence is overflowing. She fights for her future and keep saying how she will protect the male lead confidently. Such a refreshing character! Lin Beixing is now my most favourite female lead in Cdramas. I wish all female characters are written like her. Such a strong and admirable young woman! Flawed but very lovable at the same time.

I always thought fun and extrovert male leads are my favourite but Zhang Wansen proved me wrong. I never though such shy, timid and introvert person can be so attractive and compelling. His pure love, sacrifices and selfless actions are portrayed delicately that you cant help but to fall in love with him. Plus, I love how stubborn he is when he refuse to concede to her requests lol. They boy might love her unconditionally but he is not ready to sacrifice his goals, beliefs, perspective nor personality for her which is also part of the reasons that made him so attractive.

The first 16 episodes are pure fluff, fun and hilarious. I love how simple it is with just pure fun without any misunderstandings. The leads are absolutely adorable & lovable together and they had this beautiful beautiful tacit understanding with each other. It is such a peaceful and healthy relationship. They face adversities and challenges together and it is absolutely fun to watch them. Then when the truth was revealed about the fall from 10 years earlier, this is when the drama become more serious and heartbreaking. When it was revealed what really happened -- something that we never knew from before -- the sacrifices, the regrets, the what ifs, the possibilities, coupled with how the reminisce scenes are structured, it tugs to your heart strings like no others that you ended up crying a river. Even during the happy scenes when she travelled back to year 2007 to save him, tears were falling profusely on my cheek while laughing or smiling at their happy and funny scenes. I guess knowing all his sacrifices to her, you cant help but to feel helpless how they can't end up together. Knowing the truth really put everything into perspective. The way she look at him while he's not looking -- just feeling grateful he is healthy and alive are just so relatable that you ended up crying just as much as her.

9.5/10 is the only appropriate rating for such a great drama. I love how fun and addicting it was and how it made me sobbing like a baby later. Plus, the OSTs are really great! The songs' lyrics told their love story to a T and it fits all the scenes perfectly -- it perfectly describe their relationship from each other's point of views. Love the ending as well!

EXPLAINATION ON THE ENDING

The ending were pretty much cemented Wansen is alive especially with how they keep going on in the whole drama that NO ONE actually know what happened to him. And for someone like Gao Ge who is both his childhood friend, neighbor and sit beside him in class who is still after 10 years didn't know what actually happened to him, I was adamant that he survives the fall even before the ending scene. Plus, if a student committed suicide or killed, they will surely hold a memorial for his class to attend but what we got here? Nothing and literally no one exactly knew what happened to him. Because a writer, wouldn't purposely make his death so ambiguous if she wanted to tell us that he's dead and the umbrella scene in the end is only in Xing Xing's imagination. In movies/dramas, every actions and words meant something and when it is made purposely so ambiguous (like Zhang Wansen's death during the whole duration of the drama), its actually a clue to the viewers.

Read More

A Very Clever Chess Games Between Brilliant Players

Seriously the best Cdrama of 2021 for me. I personally feel like the episodes are too short despite it being 38 episodes. Everything moves so fast and there are a lot of things happen at the same time. It’s one of the drama that you feel that you can watch hundreds of episodes of them since it is simply entertaining and intriguing, and believe me, 38 episodes of this is not enough at all. It is cleverly written with well-developed characters and most of all, I love the message that the author wanted to deliver in his story.

One of the greatest premises of the drama is the well planned and clever schemes that took decades to materialize. I love how Xu Xiao is like a master of chess that no matter how Fengnian tried to break away from his plans, he ended up following exactly what his father has set for him. It just made you shudder on how Xu Xiao has planned for literally everything and how even when Fengnian did things opposite of him, he ended up following his father's plans again. It was cleverly written with so many interesting details.

Aside from that, I love how they cover the details and address the seemed 'pretentious' act that many leads like to make in historical dramas. Like one of the Lady pointed out Fengnian's hypocrisy of saving the whole Wang family at the expense of killing his army. The way he answered it holds so many truths as soldiers are different from innocent civilians. Their job is to protect the civilians and he is with them fighting the bad guys all the way at the expense of his life as well. Or the motivations of his mother not revealing the assassination attempt on her and his father's choice not to wage war with the royal family for personal vendetta is handled really well. Everything made sense, with no plot holes and every decision holds true to every character's motivation even when they only appear couple of minutes in the drama. For someone who appreciate details and bullet-proof story with no plot holes, this drama is a total joy. I also appreciate how the schemes are done with basis and very detailed preparations and it is not like they are solely predicting the enemies' moves and actions but they are actually geared the enemies to move according to their narrative. This is the brilliance of Fengnian and how he is as dazzlingly intelligent and probably smarter than his father or his teacher. That’s is why when he said he will get ‘both’, I believe him since he has the brains to get all the things that he wants without compromising either one, whether his beliefs or morals.

Zhang Ruoyun did amazingly in this role. I think the brilliance in his acting is how he separate Fan Xian and Fengnian completely despite both characters are very similar in many ways -- extremely brilliant & intelligent, talented at martial arts, unpredictable, loyal, warm-hearted, funny, playful, full of love but underneath all that, both are a reluctant hero who just wish to live a happy and untroubled life with their family. Both have 90% traits similar with each other but there are not 1 ounce of Fan Xian that I see in Fengnian. Fan Xian seemed like someone who didnt care about anything at all while Fengnian is someone who cares so much -- so much to a point that even his enemies can know and predict his moves. Zhang Ruoyun handles Fengnian delicately and proved again how he is one of the best actors of his generation.

The last episode pretty much very satisfactory and while I can predict why Fengnian wants to make a do with XuanXuan family for the water routes, I never thought it is for his mother's revenge, I thought it is to bring his siblings home. I was intrigued to know who is his accomplice at the court and everything is answered with many hints of secrets lurking at the background. I know it will be gazillion years before we can watch the 2nd season but I will wait patiently. Great dramas are not made in one day and this is the case for this one.

Read More

Indeed a JOY OF LIFE All the Way Through~

Joy of Life is simply magnificent and truly a masterpiece. The writing is very clever, compelling, unpredictable and the political schemes and mind games are absolutely, absolutely fantastic. I think no one can write complicated and ruthless fight for the throne storylines like the Chinese. Everyone is treated like a piece of chess and being used completely -- like is it possible that you can have a free will when you behave exactly like what your enemies want you to? And I think no one could really understand the brilliance writing of Joy of Life as well if they are not familiar with historical costume dramas. Usually, dramas like these are expected to be cleverly written with compelling plots and brilliant characters but few dramas are like Joy of Life where the character totally behave or do what you as viewers wants them to do -- no stupid decisions, no yielding to the bad guys, no overly righteous person that drive you mad and no compromising to things that are wrong just because you are family or someone important.

Fan Xian is literally one of the most layered, rich and brilliant character I have encounter in dramas. I think I can write thesis on why he is so awesome as a character – he is like an onion, everytime you peel a new layer, you will find the other side of him, just when you think you know him, he will surprise you again and again with his decisions and actions. I like how he always done things the opposite of normal dramas' characters especially when he was caught in difficult situations. He will never yield to the bad guys no matter how pressured he is. You usually will predict what character will do when they are caught in a dead end but Fan Xian retaliate in ways that will surprise you. Just when you thought he made a mistake, there is wisdom in his actions to fool his enemies. And most of all, how reluctant he is in joining this ruthless fight to the throne game when all he wants is living a quiet and happy life with his family. He is extremely brilliant, genuine, unpredictable, playful, loyal, warm-hearted, righteous, full of love but at the same time merciless and crafted -- all of this combine and blends wonderfully that made him such enthralling and captivating as a character. I have seen many dramas but few characters can really stand out like Fan Xian. The depth of his character is almost spellbinding. I'm completely in awe.

The greatest thing about this drama is the storyline. How it started slowly by introducing each character to us so we understand their state of minds and intentions. Then it started getting heavy and this is where the political mind games and schemes comes into the picture. You will have gazillion questions when this drama started since everything is disjointed and didn't really make sense but all your questions will be answered one by one from the biggest to the smallest and everything comes together like a perfect puzzle as the drama progressed. Why Fan Xian was left at Danzhao despite his father is known to be a warm person? Why he is so important and loved by everyone around him? And the reason behind his mother's death lurking with the darkest and most insidious secrets.

Aside from that, what is so magnificent about this drama aside from the intelligent script is the characters. Almost all characters are fleshed out and have their own identities -- whether you love or hate them. The Emperor for an example will make you tremble and uncomfortable with his words but his wisdom are beyond the horizon. He is probably one of the most cunning and cleverest Emperor portray in dramas but you will like him despite of that. Or Chan Ping Ping? How can we not love his character and feel so attached to him? His cunning schemes, brilliant mind while all this being covered with his gentle and loving demeanor? Or Fan Xian's father? How as he might look like he didn't care but he actually the one that love him the most and will do everything to protect him. Or his teacher Fie Jie, this old man, how can't we not love him and the length he will go for Fan Xian? Even the bad guys, instead of hating them, I was fascinated by them instead -- they are such an enigmatic and interesting bunch of people.

Plus, Joy of Life has a nuanced script and acting just like Nirvana in Fire so upon second viewing, the script basically gonna take your breath away even more since a lot of foreshadowing were done subtlety -- probably one of the smartest and detailed storytelling that I have encounter in dramaland. Since lots of foreshadowing were in the drama, you will have fun guessing who is the real mastermind. Focus on the micro expressions, actions and how all characters behaves, its all clues that lead to how they are as individuals and their motives.

I'm actually confuse why this drama is called Joy of Life and I finally understand especially when it reached the end. Turbulence and chaotic life, despite it might come and caught up with you unexpectedly, is still happy and joyful when you live following your heart and never stray from doing what is right and be with the people that you love. And it is no doubt a 'Joy of Life' as well to the viewers while watching this drama lol. This is one of a few dramas where you will love it completely -- no idiotic plots that makes you scratch your head and the plot twists are especially surprising and unexpected. That’s the art of writing great dramas -- your plot twists are unexpected but made complete all sense at the same time and was foreshadowing since the beginning. 10/10 is the only rating worthy of this great drama. One of the very few dramas that deserve this perfect rating from me.

Read More

The Most Amazing Drama I Have Ever Had The Honour of Watching

This is the most amazing drama I have ever seen in my life. The script was so magnificent, intelligent and well written that it totally took my breath away. I really appreciated the bulletproof script where there is no room for plot holes or questionable plotlines. Everything flows smoothly and every single scene happens for a reason. Just when you question one plot, it addresses it in the next episodes and you finally understand all the smiles, smirks, nods, ambiguous conversations, or even focused items -- everything comes together like a perfect puzzle in the end.

The last scenes of last episode totally make me bawl like a baby especially the reminiscence scenes of Prince Jing & Princess Nihuang. I mean, we all aware that Lin Shu's death is inevitable since we know he is dying since episode 1 but it still evoke your feelings greatly to the depth of your heart. And I'm actually amazed with the writing as at the end, not only Lin Shu got his dying wish which is to restore the Chiyan's Army name but he also managed to do thing for himself finally! -- not for Chiyan army or his father or Prince Qi but for himself, which is to let him die as Lin Shu, doing things that he most loved and proud of. The writer wants to point out that despite it is a sad ending, it wasn't sad after all since he managed to do what he wants at last and live a fulfilled life despite how short it is. The writer wanted to tell us that its not a matter how long you live your life, but how you wished to live it. Lin Shu was adored by everyone -- even those who is not in his generation or after he has long gone because of the legacy that he left behind.

Hu Ge is probably the best Chinese actor that I have ever has the honour of watching. He mastered the art of subtle acting. His expressions was simple yet very effective that pierced right through your heart. Lin Shu is very charismatic despite being fragile and weak -- a combination that is rare to find.

There's actually an alternate ending that was originally aired in 2015 by the production team where they show Lin Shu survives and spent his days with Lin Chen & Fei Liu at Langya Hall. But they decided to cut that scene in the official ending as it served and suited the drama's theme better. TBH, both endings are fine with me since it shows that Lin Shu is happy and contented. :D

What a great drama! The saddest thing about this whole thing at the end is that I may never found another good drama as extraordinary as this. I learned a lot of manipulation tricks (lol) and the mind games on how to read people. When a drama is both educational and engaging while entertaining at the same time, you know it’s a winner! 10/10 - Perfect all the way through from writing, acting, directing and cinematography! A gem that you may only find once in a lifetime.

Read More

One of the Best Family Dramas

I have no words to describe how I’m in love with this drama. I started watching it hoping to see something nice and I was surprised since the drama gives me something that I didn’t expect to get. Every week people have been debating who is the ‘husband’ but let’s be honest that the drama is not really about that. The romance part only covers like 20% of the whole drama and that 20% includes other characters’ love stories as well. I’m sad that other aspects of the drama have been overlook by some people since they have been so obsessed with who is the husband since day one.

I guess one of the reasons why I really love this drama is because it really hits home with many aspect of the plots. It’s a story about normal people with ordinary everyday lives but at the same time it is very engaging as well. All the characters are super lovely and likable and for young people like me, I truly enjoyed the bit which focuses on the older characters of the drama as well. The 3 mothers were hilarious together while Dukseon, Junghwan, Dongryong’s fathers are hilarious individually. Of course, my favorite scenes are mostly involving when the 5 friends are together but my point is that mostly every aspect of the plots have been very interesting and charming.

The acting is brilliant I must say. I was truly surprised with how well Hyeri acted here. The acting coach of the Reply series must be someone special since they always managed to bring the best out of the female leads of the series. No one can deny my admiration towards Park Bogum’s acting. His emotional scenes especially with his dad are the best since he executed it very well – his intonation were on point that I always ended up shedding a tear with the way his voice sounded. Ryu Junyeol is amazing as well – this is the first time I ever saw him act and I wondered why he didn’t start earlier. This is the first time I see Go Kyungpyo acting as someone obedient and kind and he did it so well. While Lee Dongwhi is super hilarious. I wished the writer wrote more plot for his character since he’s really one of the funniest among the casts. The older actors did so well as well. They are the reasons why the acting in this drama has been all time high since all of them have their own unique ways to capture the audiences’ attention.

This drama deserved nothing but 9 stars from me. Everything about it is so special and it is without doubt the very best family Kdramas I have ever watched. I’m looking forward to the writer’s next installment. She proved that she can be unpredictable with her writing so I wondered what else she has in store for us.

Read More

One of the Best Dramas About Psychopath

I have mixed feeling about I Remember You ending. While I’m glad they didn’t kill Min, I was kinda disappointed with how the writer chose to write the ending. I actually get what the writer trying to do – they didn’t exactly show what is Min’s decision in the end. They just wanted to show to the audiences that he chose to live the rest of his life as his Hyung’s brother rather than hiding like Lee Joon Young. The writer decided to let us do our own interpretation about the ending.

But I’m pissed with how they decided to write Cha Ji An in the end. She was actually likable throughout the whole drama until that last talking scene where she becomes manipulative and selfish. What make me mad the most is that she made the decision for Hyeon by asking Min to confess. She just come out from the room where Hyeon cried when he remembered that he is the reason why Min became a psychopath and she, after seeing how heartbroken Hyeon is regarding his brother made THAT DECISION for him to let Min spent the rest of his life in prison. I hate it when she hugs Min and told him ‘It hurts for me to say all these’ but after that use Hyeon to make Min feel guilty. Being manipulative towards the already broken and vulnerable child by using his brother is just dirty imo.

The writer should use Kdramas amnesia cliché for the ending lol. It would make a better ending for everyone. Min waking up not remembering anything and can start his life all over again is actually a much better ending to end a drama like this. :P

But still, this drama is the best drama of 2015. It made me discover the hidden gem that is Park Bo Gum. And I love the fact that how the drama is promoted (or even the posters) is totally different from the actual plot of the drama. I like it when Kdramas give you surprises like this. It’s like only people who actually give this drama a try could understand how truly awesome the drama really is.

Read More

Goblin is actually a melo fantasy drama that disguised itself on the surface as a funny/hilarious drama. Despite the drama ends with a happy notes to all the characters, the ‘happy ending’ leave a bitter taste in my mouth tbh. Kim Eun Sook made Shin such a sad, pitiful and full of misery as a character. All he ever did from the beginning right until the end is waiting and waiting. He waited 900 years for his bride, he then waited another 9 years in coldness and nothingness yearning and trying to get back to her, and at the end, he waited another 60++ lonely years waiting for her to be reborn again. What kind of lonely and sad fate is that? There’s nothing cool or poetic about it. The writer just want to make the ending more ~dramatic~ but it turned flat instead.

But despite the bittersweet ending, I love the drama as a whole. It did have its flaws and questionable plot line like Eun Tak being a 19 years old high school student but the drama as a whole is hilarious and has amazing cinematography consistently throughout. It was beautifully shot in all angles but I do feel it is so slow sometimes. I still cant believe that this is the same writer who wrote the disappointing 'The Heirs’ and the embarrassing 'Descendant of the Sun’. I just cant believe that the same writer is capable of writing such a good drama like this. Her usual style of writing which focuses on pop-culture references (Eun Tak asking Grim Reaper to name himself Park Bo Gum which means 'Precious Sword’ to tease Shin was brilliant), amazing bromance between the male leads and interesting 2nd leads’ love story can be seen in this drama but somehow she has upped her game when she wrote Goblin – its like she has matured in her writing style which is very surprising and unexpected.

I thought Gong Yoo did an excellent job as Kim Shin. His loneliness, sadness, sad smiles and happiness can be felt when you see him on screen. I understood Shin’s loneliness and desperation clearly and all of this thanks to Gong Yoo amazing portrayal. Many people have complain with Kim Go Eun as Eun Tak but I really like her. If other actress is playing this role, I would definitely find them annoying but Go Eun played this role naturally. Her crying scenes are amazing and as usual, she always play all of her movies/dramas’ characters differently each and everytime. Whatever wrong decision or bad acting Lee Dong Wook made in the past (ehem Hotel King ehem Blade Man) is redeemed in this drama. I feel like I cry with him everytime he looks at Sunny and all the sadness he feels inside. I don’t know he has it in him so I’m mildly surprise. And what can I say about Yoo In Na? She just look extremely gorgeous in this drama. Her hair flip, lips, and everything just look totally beautiful and her monologue when she is writing the letter to the radio shattered me. Sung Jae as Yoo Deok Hwa (reference to Andy Lau and Infernal Affairs) is just hilarious. He’s my fave character in the show and he got the best scenes in the whole drama hands down. I’m so proud of him!

Generally, I just dislike this whole next life/reincarnation thingie. It made people didn’t live their live to the fullest with the hope of meeting each other again in their next life. Its your own life, you can control it so throw all of it out of the window and be happy. You don’t have to live a lonely life longing for each other and hope that your next life will be better – I’m looking at you Wang Yeo and Sunny. But despite that, I found its interesting how their love starts. While Shin and Eun Tak rely heavily on destiny (her as his bride) and memory, Wang Yeo and Sunny will fall in love with each other at first sight each and everytime. No matter which life times, they just attracted at each other without any reasons at all – that 'one look’ sealed all the deals for them.

What I find most interesting while watching this drama is that the ability of it to made me shed tears many times. I just randomly shed tears at random scenes or at random script. I cried a lot watching episodes 15 & 16 which is crazy lol. I shed tears at the blind man and his dog, the soldier and his wife and at other random scenes. And the scene of Wang Yeo meeting Sunny after 9 years, Sunny’s letter or when Eun Tak remembering back all her memories, all of it made me cry like a baby. I certainly didn’t expect all of this. Due to this fact alone, I give the drama 8/10. The drama has its flaws (King & Queen underdeveloped relationship, everyone reincarnated with the same face, everything still look the same even after 100++ years has passed & etc…) but the good feelings it gave is unforgettable and as much as I hate to admit it, the script has many magic lines and it just worked in the right scene and at the right time.

The OSTs hasn’t impressed me much truthfully. But I totally love Crush’s Beautiful, Urban Zakapa’s Wish & Han Soo Ji’s Round & Round. Beautiful & Wish are melancholy beautiful (with awesome lyrics) and upon watching the MVs after the drama ended, I just realized how the drama has so many sad scenes. :(

Read More

This is favourite drama of year 2016 without a doubt together with Signal. The story is very engaging from first episode until the last episode and I thought the writer did a very good job in telling the story of a contract marriage that eventually turn into love and how that love effects everyone around them.

Lee Seo Jin has always been one of my favourite actors. And he reminds me again and again in this drama how good he is in emotional scenes. I always love his speaking voice and even when he’s jerk, I find myself rewinding his scenes just to hear his voice lol. And UEE really outdid herself in this role – I thought she is really amazing. It seemed like she truly become Hye Soo and completely transformed herself into the character by the time the drama reached the end. And the girl who played UEE’s daughter in the drama is so cute! I thought how that little body can cry so well? I’m very impressed.

And the chemistry between Lee Seo Jin & UEE is just magnificent. They really look like a couple and all their heartbreaking scenes are very good. I find myself keep watching the last 2 episodes over and over again since it is full of their scenes together. And the scene where UEE sit on the floor after she burnt her hand while cooking is just very well done.

I give this drama 9/10. The leads are beyond awesome and I love the story, acting, pacing, editing, directing, basically everything. The ratings were great and it really shows in the drama.

Read More

Messy & Inconsistent Script At Its Finest

Can you see how cool is the entrance of drama? Will the drama stay cool and maintain its quality? Boy what a roller-coaster ride the drama gave its viewers – it will certainly stay with me for a very long time without a doubt.

Unfortunately, the only thing the drama did right is that they made Wang So a sage and a wise king. Other than that (aside from Lee Jun Ki & Kang Ha Neul’s amazing acting), I have nothing good to say about this drama. Sadly to say, this is one of the worst Kdramas I have ever seen (this probably because I usually drop bad dramas but I didnt for this one obviously since I dont love myself lol). This drama has one of the worst writing, directing and editing I have ever seen from a Kdrama. And for me this is a big indication of how awful is the drama since I dont really notice all those before (except bad scripts in general) but I truly feel it with every fiber of my being with this one.

Script: The script is the worst offender of this production. I seriously confuse why this writer got hired since her writing is very inconsistent and terrible. It is full of plot holes, unexplained happenings, dragged and rush script, poor characters’ developments and most of all, full of ridiculous and illogical plots. It seemed like her characters didnt seemed to function like a normal human beings would. I need the drama to make sense but I find myself wondering most of the times of why this and that happened. I need a legit and reasonable reasons for something to happen. Not just something you pluck from the sky thinking that you can fool the audiences. We have brains Ms. Writer, you cant expect us to buy your ridiculous plots again and again.

Directing: People said good thing about the director and his previous works but the direction quality of this production is pretty awful in general. The close-ups, soap opera zoom style and no direction input to new actors (according to Seohyun) made the directing suffers greatly esp for sageuk dramas which are known for quality production. I expect a creative directing or pretty shot from the director but instead I got the opposite of what I’m hoping for.

Editing: Hands down the worst editing I have come across from a Kdrama (and I have seen really a looooot over the years). The choppiness and shoddiness of it is out of this world. They dragged the storyline in the beginning and squeeze everything in the last 5 episodes. The fact that we have like 2 time-skips in a matter of 2 episodes are just laughable. And the fact that some of the plots didnt make sense due to the editing makes it really jarring and dreadful. I dont expect this from a pre-produced drama obviously.

Acting: Like I mentioned above, Lee Jun Ki is soo amazing as Wang So. His eyes conveyed lots of emotions and it just break your heart when you watch this drama as his character is very tragic and unloved. Kang Ha Neul is amazing as well. His characters is so underdeveloped and later forgotten by the time we reached the end (he has like 3 minutes screen time in the later episodes lol – what are you doing Ms. Writer?). The actress who play Lady Oh was great and IU improved a lot as the drama progressed. The rest of the actors are pretty much forgettable esp Seohyun as Woohee.

Soundtracks: Got to admit that the drama has one of the best OSTs for this year. But unfortunately, most of the songs are not suitable for a period drama. Why put a rap as part of the OSTs? And English words in the songs are so jarring when it was played as the background music. For goodness sake this is a sageuk and not a modern day drama. To have ‘baby baby boy’ playing at the background really killing you softly inside. :P

Money: This is a million dollar pre-produced drama but I really cant see where all the money went to. Goryeo and the Palace looks empty most of the times. Where are the servants, guards, armies, noble men, and the citizen? Why the attempted coup looks fake and underwhelming? Why the wigs look so fake? Why we can see the net for the mustache? Why the sets look cheap? Why the Palace only limited to the grand hall, court room, king’s bedroom and the hallway?!! Where did all the money went to?

I’m glad I didnt really care for any of the character so this drama didnt scar me like The Slave Hunter and Warrior Baek Dong Soo did. The writing got pretty bad at the end that I dont have emotional attachment to any of the characters anymore. One thing for sure, I will stay away from the writer’s future work – I ain’t gonna put myself in the same situation ever again.

By the end, I just want to see how this mess will conclude and boy it didn’t disappoint – I spent my time rolling my eyes watching the last 2 episodes (no tears since I was so mad with the ridiculous plots). :P Like I mentioned above, the only thing the drama did right is that they made Wang So a wise king. But thinking back, they should make him go all evil and greedy so the reasons behind everyone leaving him (even Ji Mong) will make more sense. I dont mind a tragic ending but I need it to make sense. I give this drama 4/10. I try to rate it higher but this flawed, and awfully illogical executed drama didnt deserve anything more than a 4.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Major roll-eye (◔_◔) to the writer for her insistence of making Wang So the most tragic character ever – with very illogical reasons for everyone to leave him at the end of the drama. >.>

Wang So is a flawed character without a doubt – his obsessiveness or him killing the monks and horse but somehow Wang So’s fate is just very tragic from the moment he was born right until the end where he is left alone and lonely.

It is more tragic then any other Kdramas’ characters because it is his own family who dislike or abandoned him. Its not his friends or people that he has no blood relation but his own family members.

1) He lacked of love since he was a little kid. His own mother hurt him and left that big scars on his face and later throw him away.

2) His dad use him as a captive and send him away to other tribe to console some lady who lost her son (What a terrible childhood!). And he is not loved by the lady or his adopted family (Surprise surprise ◔_◔).

3) The tribe lock, starve and sent him to the wolves that he ended up having to burn his only friend that is Mr. Tree since it was so cold during the winter (or is it because of the wolves?).

4) His Crown Prince brother, Moo ask him to replace him during the masked dance since he think someone is going to assassinate him. So its okay for So to die on his place? Both of them learn martial arts so its weird for Moo to ask him that request (But of course, So’s life is not that important I guess?).

5) His father’s reaction after the mask was removed – not worry about him being injured but quickly call for Moo and his safety.

6) He killed all the monks (what a fool lol!) for his evil mother but she still disowned and disgusted with his existence (stop Ms. Writer, stawp!!!).

7) All his brothers except Baek Ah didnt treat him right. Moo used him for the dance/marriage and Eun is too dumb(?) to care about his feeling when he ask So to show his scars. The rest just plain hate him without any legit reasons.

8) His mother call him for family dinner only to ask him to kill Moo. Attempt to use him to do her dirty work instead of accepting him as her son after he proved his worth for her attention.

9) The woman that he love; Soo didnt trust him enough that he ended up having to kill Eun with his own hands. By the time Soo decided to stop thinking about the future and be honest with him, it was too late.

10) His loved ones; Beak Ah & Soo are used again & again that forced him to do things that he hate to save them from harm.

11) He never wanted to be a King but later changed his mind since he is tired of bloodshed and everyone using him when they are on the throne (His father –> Fight Kitan, Moo –> Marriage with his niece, Yo –> Using Soo to threat him). He wanted to stop the killing cycle and Yo’s ruthless reign (Or so he thought ◔_◔).

12) He didnt want to marry evil princess Yeonhwa but the love of his life Soo said ‘its okay’ to straighten his position as the King and assured him that she wont give up and she is okay with the arrangement. (Which she didnt since no one will be okay with that kind of arrangement tbh).

13) His happy times with Soo are so brief that she left him and stay with Jung because she is pregnant. She is not honest with him and trust him enough that he will protect her and the baby. She probably think So will treat her like his father did to Lady Oh.

14) In the end, despite writing all those letters how she love and yearn for him, she still doesn’t trust him enough to tell him about their daughter. She probably think he would not respect her request about wanting the girl to stay out of the Palace. (Of course she couldn’t tell him via the letters, but still! ಠﭛಠ)

15) Everyone leave him for such ridiculous reasons; Baek Ah (??) and Ji Mong for he only loyal to the weak King Moo? Really? Why are you feeding us this crap Ms. Writer??!!1 And why I’m still watching? lol

16) Have to live the rest of his lives alone and lonely with someone that he hate. Cant love his son as it is a product of an evil Queen Yeonhwa...

Read More

As someone who loves sageuk, I feel like this drama is very light and low in the angst factor that I usually crave for. However, when I think about this drama as a whole, it indeed have many great scenes that you can watch over and over again. All the cute scenes made you feel really good and the sad or angsty scenes are so good especially the part when the Crown Prince / Byeong Yeon / Yoon Sung got attacked and stabbed.

Plus, Bo Gum & Yoo Jung have explosive chemistry which explain why the writer always make them have scenes together even during the conflicts parts in the later half of the drama. I think this is a first time that I feel like the leads spent almost all of their scenes together lol. I’m not complaining though since they are seriously very cute together. Bo Gum has a really awesome chemistry with anyone he worked with no matter whether it’s male/female or old/young. I didn’t realize it before but this drama really prove his range as an actor even more.

Both Bo Gum & Yoo Jung did a very excellent job at portraying all of the emotions required from them excellently. I thought they carried the drama with their acting abilities alone. Crown Prince’s various expressions still remains one of my fave things in this drama and not to mention all of Ra On’s emotional scenes. And surprisingly, Jin Young did very well as Yoon Sung. I thought he is very expressive for an idol actor. Kwak Dong Yeon also did well as Byeong Yeon and I love all his scenes with the Crown Prince especially the part where he is dying on his arms. Unfortunately, Chae Soo Bin as Ha Yeon is very underused here. Since the story heavily focused on the Crown Prince & Ra On alone, she has very little time to really show anything special though I like her bold personality in the drama.

Besides the amazing acting of the casts, the directing is pretty much flawless. The cinematography is among my very fave aspects of the drama as well. The lantern festival, sunset, garden, reflection, daisy field and everything are very beautiful. And the hanbok are very pretty. I’m bitter that Yoo Jung didnt have many scenes where she is dressed in hanbok but the Crown Prince’s colorful hanbok are a treat to the eyes. And the OSTs are very amazing as well. My fave remains Ben’s Misty Road but the other songs are equally good as well. I cant stop listening to 8 of 11 of the OSTs. And Bogum did surprisingly well in his first OST – I’m very impressed. I’m so happy Sung Si Kyung also did one for this drama, God knows how I yearn for another song from him and his soothing voice.

I love everytime they show the late Queen. Seeing her views on life and the things she taught the Crown Prince, its no wonder the Crown Prince grew up to be such a fine young man. I love the bits where she asked the Crown Prince not to be deaf and he shouldn’t only hear the person that’s shouting in front of him. He has to treat each of his citizen like they are his one and only citizen. No wonder his view on his people is the same as Yi San or Se Jong. Lee Seo Jin as Yi San remains my favorite King but Park Bo Gum as Lee Young is definitely my fave Crown Prince. I love how the Crown Prince is very fierce in giving sharp and harsh comments to his enemies. And he is very straight and didn’t beat around the bush when he wanted to understand why the White Cloud Society needs to topple the dynasty when he also has the same view as them. It is very refreshing to see that.

I love the ending. They wrapped up nicely and it was a happy one at that. But surprisingly, the writer didn’t follow the history at all. It seemed that she only based the Crown Prince character on Crown Prince Lee Young and that fact alone. I’m sad since the drama is heavily focused on the love aspect of the Crown Prince that not many of his achievements are shown in the drama. According to history, despite his short reign as a regent (around 3 years), Crown Prince Lee Young accomplished many things to improve Joseon Court at that time. He also only have one Crown Princess (no concubine) and that is Ha Yeon and they had a son together which later become the King. In history, Lee Young never become a King since he died at 20 years of age but they shown him ascending his father as the King in the last episode (when he is wearing the red golden robe). They also show Ha Yeon leave her position as the Crown Princess. I guess since this drama is a hilarious, fluffy and light, they decided to end it with a happy note. Not gonna lie that I’m very thankful for that. :D

I watched surprisingly many Kdramas this year, this drama is my second favorite after Marriage Contract for year 2016. TBH, I give this drama 7/10 since I’m not really satisfied with the light plots but since the casts did very well on their respective roles, I give this drama 8/10 instead.

Read More

I love this drama! Particularly since the concept is great – in and out of the 2 worlds and the readers of the manhwa actually see how the characters deal with the fact that they are in manhwa and how they come to term with it, how Yeon Joo’s dad gave his face to the killer and the consequences of it and how they tried to end it (you literally can read from the manhwa how Kang Cheol discussed the ending lol). Its pretty cool if you think about it. How exciting to read that kind of manhwa in real life. So I ended up really like it a lot. I want to be entertained while watching a drama so I ended up enjoying lots of the plot twists – it is enjoyable when you can’t predict it. And I understand all the rules and concepts of the manhwa world so I pretty much understand why this and that happened so I didn’t end up hating the plots.

But it seemed many people didn’t understand the concept of the W world since many keep asking if the world keep spinning when Kang Cheol is no longer there. The writer pretty much explained everything in the drama. The W world is just another world that moves on its own. Yeon Joo’s dad only control the lives of the main characters of the manhwa through the tablet and his drawings. But despite that, these manhwa characters can control their own destiny as Kang Cheol managed to save himself many times despite the countless of times Yeon Joo’s dad tried to kill him. So with or without Kang Cheol in the W world, the world still exist and everyone is living there normally. The concept is that the W world is just another world in another dimension. It moves on its on with or without Kang Cheol.

Many were also confused on what happened to Yeon Joo’s dad. He died/disappear as Kang Cheol is the one who survive the end. It is the last chapter, so one of them needs to die for the manhwa to end. He supposed to kill Kang Cheol to survive (noticed how the Dad’s hands stop disappearing when Kang Cheol was shot) but since he killed the congressman and let Kang Cheol survive, he will cease to exist because of that. Why one of them need to die? It got to do with the fact that they keep disappearing when they are not doing anything – it indicates they need to end it properly for one of them to survive.

Its understandable why people lost interest in the second half of the drama especially when it got confusing. But this drama still score high on my list for its creativity and pace alone. Not many Kdramas as unpredictable as this so I enjoyed this one a looooot. And I finally see the fuss on Lee Jong Suk. He is an amazing actor without a doubt. The revelation scene between Yeon Joo’s dad and him is very memorable. How his expressions change from sad, disappointed to angry is just amazing.

I thought the scene when Kang Cheol was waiting at the Bus Stop was particularly heart wrenching – how he kept calling Yeon Joo since he knew he’s running out of time and when Yeon Joo come back to the real world before reaching him was brilliant as well.

As someone who have been watching Kdramas for more than a decade, I’m really tired of watching sad or plateau endings in Kdramas. I’m glad that it is not the case for this one. Its a happy ending and a deserved one at that considering the main character had suffered so much – being shot, stabbed, beaten, prisoned, family killed, realization that he is just a character and etc… He’s just very pitiful and I’m glad they give Kang Cheol a happy ending. :D

Read More