Reviews

All the couples are great!

I started this drama especially to watch Shin Hye Sun & Sun Hun together and they were so damn good. All the couples in the drama were so well-written. They were loyal to each other, cared for each other, and didn't give up on each other even during hardships. Many of them temporarily retreated but then came back strong in pursuit of their loved, which was so endearing.

I was bit afraid about the Sang Tae being a jerk to Mi Jung not just because of his dead wife but because of his chaotic family. There was that one instance in the beginning when he tried to put a wall between them, but it handled nicely by his father. His father was such a sensible person throughout the series. Apart from the part when the boys were hit on their calves, I really liked the way they handled parenting those kids. With so many of them under a small roof, it could have turned bad but they both handled it so well. Mi Jung's ex was deadbeat father even when he was given the chance to bond with them he always chose to be selfish. He had no business having more children who he might end up leaving in the future. I didn't like that Mi Jung held the children against him when he cheated. But looking at how the ex behaved majority of time, Mi Jung made the right decision. The kids wouldn't have grown up so well-mannered or even nice under his care.

Ho Tae & Soo Young were good for each other as well. Despite their past decisions, they grew up well. It was good to see Ho Tae growth from the thief who stole from his sister to a successful director.

All the parents in the drama were chaotic enough to give me a headache. From the parents in law who didn't want their son in law to move on, to the parents who thought their son were too good for the women they chose. That's the only part of the drama that I could do without.

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The loss of innocence

In a confusing way, 'My Dream' explores the loss of innocence, as it follows the lives and relationships of five young people who are united by friendship, love and blood: Runway (Best, Cholsawas Tiewwanichkul), the main narrator; his friends Guide (Fame, Chawinroj Likitchareonsakul) and Yim (Ellfa, Chollatee Bampen), Doctor Good (Boom, Jiratpisit Jaravijit), Guide's brother, and Tanai (Taro, Shatree Suwanvalaikor), Runway's athletic, slightly older neighbor than him, who is in love with the young protagonist.
Directed by Job Piyawat Chaithiangthum, at the time of its premiere in 2018, the series 'My Dream' meant a pleasant change within the BL universe with the mixture of youth themes, romance, fantasy and supernatural.
Runway is a brilliant high school student marked by nightmares since the death of his father. Thanks to her father's old dream catcher placed near her bed, Runway manages to fall asleep, in which a mysterious man named Dream (Fluke, Pongsapat Kankam) appears to her.
However, Runway, who lives alone with his mother, has not created an imaginary friend in his mind, but rather an imaginary lover who makes the teenager not only fantasize and invent various conversations and situations, but also leads him to confuse fantasy and reality.
Instead of helping Runway find an escape from the situation, Dream, who has been present in Runway's dreams since he was a baby, will help immerse him further and further into an imaginary world that will be difficult, if not impossible to escape.
Dream won't stop the teen from interacting with other humans, but he will be upset when Runway comes into contact with Tanai, the boy who has a crush on him. This is how Runway will ignore Tanai's declarations of love and her constant worries about him.
I don't like Tanai that she loves Runaway because "she sees him as a girl."
Runway's personality is wonderful, being the good son and good friend of his friends, always attentive to the feelings of others.
At the end of the series we will see a meeting between Runway and Dream in the real world, and thus we will have new elements about the relationship that exists between Dream and Elle and the bond between both of them with the dreamcatcher, since Elle will be Dream's companion on that occasion.
Another of the main characters is Guide. This intelligent high school student tries to help Runwai deal with both the imaginary relationship and the real world, but everything changes when he suspects that his girlfriend Yaimai (Noon, Pitchatorn Santinatornkul), has been unfaithful, and decides to separate from her afterward of three years of courtship.
At the same time, Guide begins to feel attracted to Tanai.
Regarding the character played by Noon, I don't like that she doesn't mind sharing Guide with as many men as he wants to be with, as long as she allows her to be the only girl. I don't understand these types of female characters obsessed with boys who have lost interest in girls, among other reasons because they are homosexual. Instead of accepting to be her friend, Yaimai will try again and again to get Guide to return to her side, causing tensions between the two and their family and friends.
For his part, Yim, who has lived his adolescence without complications, will suffer a sexual violation and will find supportive arms in Runway and Tanai, to whom he confesses what happened.
I don't like how Yim's rape story is handled.
Not even Tanai, because he is of legal age, suggests that he seek justice and report the sexual assault, after Yim demonstrates that he feels affected by the events. On the contrary, we see the boy being driven home by the rapist in the same car with which he was previously taken to the place of the rape, which would mean greater stress and suffering for a person after suffering a tragedy like this.
Other scenes, such as the "farewell" kiss when the rapist finally recognizes his mistake and asks for forgiveness, also make it seem like Yim suffers from Stockholm Syndrome.
It is true that Tanai hits the aggressor, but this seems insufficient punishment to me, since the possibility of the rapist acting in the same way in the future remains latent.
These events contribute to the loss of innocence of adolescents.
At the same time, the young doctor Good will be trapped in a strange supernatural relationship with a mysterious girl who turns out to have the appearance of Kafe (Anna Glucks), his old girlfriend who died in an accident five years ago, but in truth is a strange being who He changes gender depending on whether he comes into contact with the water, because when he is dry he transforms his appearance and becomes a boy named Elle (Choot, Cherdchanin Vitapinan), who is somehow connected to the dreamcatcher and the tragic outcome that cost him life to the woman that Good still has not been able to forget.
The three teenagers will lose their innocence when each one knows pain, evil, and deception. As the series progresses, Runwai, Guide and Yim will realize that things in real life are different from how they saw them.
The series also tells us about coming of age and that, coupled with the loss of trust in the world, human beings can activate their capacity for resilience based on affectivity. The more love and understanding the characters receive, the greater their ability to overcome obstacles.
After the dreamcatcher is burned, Runway wakes up from a coma and asks for Tanai. He is worried about him, but not only in the sense of knowing his state of health after the accident.
Upon arriving home and left alone with Tanai, Runway laughs at Tanai's jokes for the first time. He has lost his innocence. And Tanai asks him again the question of whether he can take care of him, in the sense of whether he can be his partner. And if until that moment he had rejected it, Runway asks him for time to think about it, a response that makes Tanai happy.
In the next dream, for the first time Runway finds Dream and her father in the same vision. Call the father. But when you look at the place where Dream was, it is no longer there. It seems that Dream has recognized that Runway has chosen to be with her father.
However, instead of moving forward, the series goes backwards, keeping Runway lost between fantasy and reality. Apparently, the creators thought to resolve this situation in a second season that never arrived, leaving all the stories unfinished.
Some viewers will point out that the series is slow in the sense of the action of the actors' and actresses' movements being slow, but I consider that the long shots and wide spaces for reflection do not make 'My Dream' boring. On the contrary, the slow rhythm has been used with precision in the Thai series, and the music and other arts related to television easily adapt to the feeling that the musical themes and the story have wanted to express.
Likewise, the static camera and silences contribute to telling the story and recreating the general feeling of the series. What is interesting is how 'My Dream' takes its time to build the stories and characters step by step.
What I enjoy most about the series is the slow and wonderful relationship that Guide and Tanais have been weaving. Fame achieves a good performance by showing how his cute character falls in love with Tanai, who in turn has been in love with Runway, but he remains obsessed with Dream.
The moments of interaction between Guide and Tanai are wonderful. Among these, the kiss on the beach or the one that the two enjoy in front of the door of Guide's house when Tanai takes him on his motorcycle and says goodbye to him at night before Yaimai's prying eyes. Or when Tanai places food on his plate while the three teenagers and Tanai's friends celebrate the latter's birthday.
It is extraordinary how the characters show the relationship that they have been developing in silence, even with their backs turned to themselves, and how they transmit anxiety, restlessness, nervousness... all those common symptoms that can surprise people in love.
I must also highlight how striking it is that the characters do not react with surprise to the supernatural phenomena they are forced to face. Accepting the supernatural without drama contributes to the development of the story, since it is evident that all the mysterious supernatural events and characters have the dreamcatcher in common.
We will be looking forward to seeing Yim and Asawin (Beer Rapeewish Sangiamwong) interact, since we only got to see it for a few minutes in the final episode. The chemistry between the two characters is undeniable. In case of a second season, I would be interested in seeing the evolution of this couple and that of Tanai and Guide.

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Really meh in my opinion

*April 28th. It aired 3 days ago ! Never started a series so early. Almost right after its release lol*

The series is super cute and funny. Many parts were so amusing. It’s suoer interesting. I loved most characters and the OST were just…INCREDIBLE and matched perfectly !
Now to be honest irl some things would have been a huge NO for me. Even in the series, it’s still borderline.
Let’s start with Gi seop because he’s the one I’m actually targetting with this one.
He was being a huge red flag the moment Jin woo said he was a two-timer and then explained how he litteraly would be cheating on his girlfriends and blatantly. Like who tf would give their number to someone clearly interested in them and in front of your partner ???
Then I was triggered when he started being really intrusive like at the beginning maybe it was funny but not when you are rummaging into people lives and things !
When he said he would leave a week to jin woo for him to ask him out or else he would leave.
First you shouldn’t pressure someone into asking you out especially when you know you say ´yes’ to litteraly everyone.
Second, you shouldn’t follow them around and then refusing being rejected when they keep saying ´no’.
Like what kind of people are you to litteraly wants someone to aks you out because you are used to it and can’t stand them saying no.
Also when he said no, you pulled out a contract stating you would get out as soon as he would say you failed eventhough he just told you that a few seconds ago and you said you won’t leave ?…
I think it’s also super messed up to want someone to ask you out just for you to say ´yes ´ because ´you have to’ and not because you would actually like them. It’s super twisted because the person could end up destroyed at that…Especially if you are two-timing or worse ten-timing them as Gi seop did numerous times…

Other than that he is a cute and funny character..?Also why is the boy everywhere else but the school/part-time job lol ? Btw he is so whipped for jin woo that he got a mole tattooed ?. Hope they couple will last long !

Then another red flag of this series is that public confession lol. I would be seriously throwing a tantrum if someone was asking me out PUBLICLY, in front of tons of people especially if they are pressuring me into accepting. I mean they should not pressure someone into dating another person because it could have serious consequences !

Jin Woo is super funny and was being so real from ep 1. Single-since-birth team lol ! But that one line in which he litteraly described himself as the type of girl he would like to date, I was kinda triggered tbh. But other than that, he’s being pretty realistic!

I LOVE Baelgeum’s character so much ! He is so cute and realistic ! I’m so excited to see more about the side couple because they seem to have some background.

Those crosses in jin woo’s note (next to gi seop) are prolly to mark how many times he got Gi seop’s attention (?) That would explain their small amount. But this is just my attention.

kudos to the actor for not pulling off the floating kiss !!!

I love how Gi seop might be the most dense person but he knows how to read the room sometimes and avoids us so many miscommunication clichés.

I felt bad for baelgeum because when he was down Gi seop was halfy there for him bug ig at least he tried !

2nd couple is so good like they have a strong background. I love both of them and their relationship is so wholesome (and realistic !)

About the girl that appeared (forgot her name) she’s so cute and funny. She has the bestie material he needs ngl. also if they were going to end up together i would root for them but its a bl so they obviously wont but she so cute. They are
cute together.
Hope writers won't make her look toxic or smth.

I love the music though ! Shazam isn’t shazaming rn tho 😭

*11/05/24
EDIT : I’m dropping this because I’ve lost interest in this. I still love the second couple but it isn’t strong enough to keep me on in this show.*

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Blind red eyes

A blind girl who regains her sight and a boy who has lost it. They meet again after twenty years.
She became a painter and he became the king's supervising astrologer, also known as the "red-eyed monster".
The young prince and the astronomer fall in love with her, but her heart belongs completely to her old friend.
As a divine painter she should restore the portrait of last king to trap the evil spirit that has taken possession of the young man's body . This proves more difficult than expected.
Great OST.

NB how can a blind boy give a vote in a painting competition?

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This was a quick and good series yet…

The series don’t beat around the bush for sure lol. they straight up started into the plot !
Btw I’m really pissed off right now because this is the fourth freaking time I’m starting over this review cuz MDL keeps losing track of what I wrote ugh.

SO. It was a super cute and quick series to watch.

The music were on point ! The casting is good as well !
I loved blondie (btw am I the only one who thinks that he looks like haechan ?) because without him, these two would have been at the same point rn !
Mikoto is such a good character as well ! She is so carrying and thoughtful to her brother. You can clearly see they grew up relying on each other!
Then kakeru’s first kinda crush (the girl) is so genuinely kind and nice ! She and mikoto really deserve the world !

Kakeru’s other friends deserve also a shoutout because of how supportive and open-minded they were !

Tbh I would have liked to see their reactions as well as the boys’ parents after the announcement of them dating.

Then a few things that really made me drop the ratings of the series would be :
- The acting
I might be harsh on this but for the two ML’s actors I really felt sometimes that they were doing too much. They were being too dramatic especially kakeru, always falling. Like I obviously know there are really clumsy people in the world and that’s not a problem ofc but here it was way too unrealistic…
- The series was going back and forth at the end. I felt like writers were just trying to make the series longer sometimes. For example (between all those I could have quoted here ngl) the fact kakeru said he was confused about his feelings for his best friend and more likely his crush at that point (I totally understand don’t get me wrong !) then proceeded to say he ´liked him’ right after had me. Or when he kept asking Ohara about his feelings for him eventhough he confirmed him like a thousand of times. But for that one, I know he was being really insecure due to ohara’s popularity among girls and feeling not at his level but still…
-THEN. The worst thing was ohara’s character sometimes at the end! Like he tried a few times to kiss kakeru without taking in count he was litteraly staying repeatedly ´No.’ or ´stop’ or ´wait ´. Like where the consent have been boy ?? 💀
The first time he might have apologized but it doesn’t take away the fact he did it one or two times a little longer after…😭💀

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Boring repetitions, never-dying Lu Ge

When I started watching the series, I said I was watching a very good series and I continued to watch it with pleasure. However, gradually there were declines in the plot and great conflicts in roles. A lot of nonsense ensued. Especially the chaos of the last chapters confused us a lot. It was a series that started well but showed a great decline in its beauty towards the end. The story was cute. I've watched a few similar TV series. There was even a series exactly like it, but I can't remember its name now.
The staff, in particular, was solid. A very good leading team has been formed. Much better things could have been done with these players. But unfortunately, they ruined these players at the end of the story. I was especially blown away by Xu Lu, who played with a sour face throughout. This actor is like this in all his series. I don't know what to say, whether to say the same sad face or a sour face. I'm amazed at how she smiles and looks beautiful with this face of hers. I have no words for his acting, but with that face I wish he hadn't acted. I loved the other actors. I passed on the leading roles, the supporting roles were also good. It was a good team. I congratulate the cast and director. However, a deficiency in the story, perhaps a deficiency in the scripting, a deficiency in the tying at the end, or the confusion undermined the watchability of the series, its rating, and the question of whether I would watch it again or recommend it.

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If only the story was a little better ....

Actors were good characters were lost ...

Story started good with 'avenge the father death' plot so I was expecting the FL to have be smart,strong and independent person .. she even took a strong decision of changing her appearance ..but as the story flows I can't help but question how someone so stupid as her can become a doctor. Her character was slow ,boring and irritating like she believes every crap she is been told by absolutely anyone and even after committing grave mistake like stabbing a person she walks around shamelessly ... No regret whatsoever .. futher stabbed him second time for the same confusion without being bother to clarify the theory ... Though stupid characters add dimension to a story but seriously this stupid ..???

Adding to the glory of FL ML was equally annoying ..he is living in a delulu that he can save the world by his silence. He has this intention off giving away every useless crap but any important information ..

But as dramas are purely fictitious we cant think of relating them to logic . I mean it takes away the fun ..

Story could have been better as it moves slow and few things (like what her father's imperial army was like ) remained a bit loose and confusing

Worth watching ?? Yes ... For one time why not ???

Worth Repeat watching ... Aahhhh !!! Nope 👎

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In two timelines: how to find that something less common in life ?

Two timelines run at the same time. In the third episode, when the female lead gets on the bus, the second timeline begins. In the first line the story continues with her in the small town, continuing her interaction with her childhood sweetheart: Yu Jian. In the second timeline, it's Xia Guo who didn't give up on going to Shanghai and now she will have another story with another man in her life, her boss: Xuo Yu Ming.
The male protagonists have completely different profiles. But, the one who has the most screen time is Yu Jian (Liu Xue Yi) who crosses both timelines, and will have to make choices in both timelines.
What will be most extraordinary about Xia Guo's choice that we will know at the end of the drama? The choice she makes in each timeline is to get to know that something more extraordinary, less ordinary in life.
________‾_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Observation:

I think the third boyfriend in the story won't be as important in the plot. The two men in her life: Yu Jian and boss Xue Yu Ming. (but there are two stories happening at the same time).The First Xia Guo chooses to stay in the small city and continue her love story with Yu Jian. The other Xia Guo gets on the bus and chooses to go to the big city and gets a great job. And at a certain point she gives up on Yu Jian completely and starts a love story with boss Xue Yu Ming.
What I want to say is: some say that the male lead is Xue Yu Ming. But in reality it's as if there were two male leads (who win the heroine) each in a different timeline. These male leads (Yu Jian and Xue Yiu Ming) are completely different, they are like water and wine. So: whoever prefers the charming boss, says that the male lead is Xue Yu Ming. Those who prefer the naive, honest and loyal male lead, attached to their family and their dreams of starting a family and never giving up on taking care of their parents, those who prefer this profile more (will say: Yu Jian is the male lead).
However: what happens is that the one who has the most screen time is Yu Jian. He crosses both timelines, he will have in both timelines also make diametrically opposite choices.
But in practice: There are two dramas in one drama, with their respective heroes. But they are two distinct genres of drama (forming a single TV show).

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Poor dialogue delivery ,poor direction and poor acting

The drama had a promising storyline but failed to execute it properly.

Both the dialogues and direction fell short of expectations.

One scene raised confusion when the female lead mentioned her increased stomach girth due to pregnancy, indicating she was pregnant during their marriage but hadn't yet delivered the baby. However, after a six-year leap in the story, she should have had the baby with her, not with the father. Later, in a flashback scene upon their reunion, she was shown delivering the baby in the hospital before their marriage. This inconsistency was confusing for the audience.

Moreover, the emotional portrayal was lacking. Whenever she saw her baby, there was no visible expression of the immense emotions a mother would feel after being separated from her child for six years.

Overall, the acting was poor, but one aspect I enjoyed was the chemistry between their friends p.

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Feel good fluff with good music

It’s a very sweet, innocent story line. There are no bad guys, no devastating life events. It shows a lot of the cute awkwardness that comes with a first crush. (Though he was almost 30 and should have been past that by then.) There’s barely even any drinking. It follows the relationships with the backdrop of a LOT of good music. They are musicians and voice actors, so they worked some amazing performances into the story. I found myself getting caught up in those.
In any good romance, the side kicks are key, and these did not disappoint. Hou Wen Yuan and Huang Jing Xian were my favorites. The actors did great, and the characters were adorable. Mumu is an unsung hero. I hope to see a lot more of them both.
And, of course, they traveled in the show so there was some really cool scenery.
The down side: The story itself moved too slow. After almost 6 months of dating, she still ran away when he tried to kiss her. And she never really grew up. It was even more evident in the last episode that she was mentally just a child. While he was cooking for her, planning trips, rescuing her when she was afraid… she just sort of stared at him and smiled stupidly. She didn’t bring much to the table and it seemed a very unbalanced relationship. She was talented, but not much for dating material. That got to be annoying.
Overall, it was cute and mostly entertaining. The last episodes got a bit long and weird but not awful. If you’re up for something light and happy, this is a solid choice.

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Original and Unique Yet Familiar

The story within this show is most definitely an original script, however, there are a lot of similarities in the show to other shows I've seen before; in a "read between the lines" sort of way, though. It also felt a little familiar to the American show "Criminal Minds", which made me curious if maybe this was an attempted remake or an attempt to "open the door" for a show remake.

Let me restate/re-word the above: this story is definitely an original story, however, the "feeling" and/or the "atmosphere" this show has is familiar. Which makes me wonder if it's the script, if it's myself comparing this story to other story's, if it's some members of the cast (since I've seen them in other criminal/detective shows), or if the creator/creators wanted it to be familiar in a way. In saying all of that, though, I'm not trying to say "do not watch this show"; on the contrary!

The hard work of everyone involved in this show is almost tangible through the screen; watching each case unfold made me want to continue from one episode to the next as soon as possible! While some parts of the episodes are cliche and a little confusing, each episode is clarified towards the episode's end and each episode creates a piece of the puzzle that fits so perfectly together, I was holding my breath while on the edge of my seat.

While some episodes are truly scary, not all of the episodes are, and not all of the episodes are too scary to watch. I have to admit that I did want to watch this story because of a few interesting sentences in the synopsis, though the cast really gave me the extra "push" to continue the show. I wasn't expecting so many popular and famous stars, watching their skill and talents in action really made each episode exciting.

I don't know why only Kitagawa Keiko was set as the "main character" in the listing here on MDL, because after watching the show in its entirety it truly felt like each person had their "five minutes of fame" in the spotlight... Or "limelight" as it were.


If you like thrilling, suspenseful, rollercoaster dramas, or if you're a fan of any actor in this show, then give this show a try!

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A-

This is a very decent Chinese romance drama. Overall it's quite similar to You Are My Glory, but it has more comedy & the setting is different. (entertainment industry vs. corporate environment) Janice Wu is always 10/10 in romcoms & this paring's been quite fantastic. Also I like "faceslaps" in Chinese fiction & this drama has plenty of that.
One big positive in this drama is that the high school flashbacks are quite well done. There are not overly many of them & have proper child actors, which is always nice to see.

So why is it only an 8?

Well, for starters the final 4-5 episodes were quite difficult to get through. The crises were not too serious or anything, but the whole "company's in dire straits" thing was really unfun to watch & then a rocket had been launched & we got fed an incredible amount of Chinese propaganda stuff before the ending credits.

There is also the matter of ML's younger brother. To me it feels like the writer thought the leads are ready to get married, so let's fix the ML's "big problem" before then, I'm quite disappointed with this, the kid was comedy gold, would have much rather watched him bicker with FL, over whatever corporate shenanigans went down.

Also I really disliked most of the songs. Mainland Chinese rock that gets to be on TV almost always sounds really weird to me, but this drama has been perhaps the worst offender so far.

Oh I almost forgot, the drama is full of insane product placements.

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