Reviews

Stark portrayal of poverty based discrimination

In this Parasite coded drama special we can see a first hand a bleak and bitter story of a young university man struggling with poverty and the toll it takes on his mental health.

There are several recurring elements in the story that portray the power dynamics between the lead and how society views him. People usually talk over him and don't listen to him, since for them he's not important enough to take up some or any space but, at the same time, they look down on him in other ways. A classmate interrupts his studio piano time at university (the only instrument he has access to for practice) five minutes earlier than schedule in a demonstration that her time is more important and then, before she can deign to touch the piano, she wipes out everything the lead touched. When he ask for a recommendation letter from one of his professors so he can apply to study abroad she directly questions him whatever he thinks he deserves special treatment because he is poor and ending it with a "poverty isn't a talent".

Discrimination due to poverty is the main recurring theme, no doubt, and the portrayal of the micro-aggressions this kid has to endure at University, from his peers and professors, are absolutely disgusting to watch.

Home life is no better. His deadbeat family is no support system. His biological mother passed away years ago, his stepmother and half-brother demand every penny he gains on his own because of a mistake he made as child, and his father doesn't stand up for him.

This first half of the drama sets up perfectly the constant beating this kid is getting, although not physical, but emotionally and psychologically; and the drama makes it clear from its opening scene he's at a breaking point. The second half of the story is when things go from bad to worse and a series of bad decisions take our lead into an horrifying situation that could easily make this drama special Parasite's little brother. It's clear the actions of this character are not out of malice but out of desperation and a life where he has only known indifference from other people.

Cha Hak Yeon gives an incredible nuance and complex portrayal of a beaten soul descent into desperation. It was heartbreaking, even in his most cut-through moments. I am deeply impressed by his performance.

Stain is a compelling drama special and I recommend it.

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The Male Lead character looked utterly disinterested in everything

If there was an award to be given for, Bland Face, Unresponsive, and Inactive Male Lead with zero expressions it should go to the ML in this show. Even when the scene called for it, the Male lead didn't show any expression a lover would show for their partner. The FL here got the short end of the stick, and the ML lucked out.

The people around him were more caring for the FL then he ever was. He always had to be coaxed into reaching out to her, even when he had done her wrong. I wanted to like this character but he doled out affection as if it cost him his life.

The story for the ML was also not written well, although it was a 42 episode long arc, they failed to show all the good things he did for the FL, instead they kept telling us that he did it. That didn't engender me to him.

There were far too many characters to remember by name. I liked Xie Yan Ran the most, for a supporting character she is one of the best I have seen. Pretty straightforward, not blaming FL for all her problems, and a great friend to her.

Now, let's not even get started with the ending. While the lead couple gets their happy ending, the story is not clearly explained. Just a lackluster ending.

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Great job to all of the cast for doing a great job 🥳 The casting was perfect and each of the cast projected their roles excellently. Song Kang should definitely get more roles like this. Even though others say that the storyline/plot is cliché, I loved it so much and I was entertained while watching the show. Their chemistry was amazing!!! I remembered a time I had to pause and recollect myself because I was gushing too hard. I enjoyed every cute moment with them but I can't stop thinking about how Guwon will stay as a demon and won't age alongside Dohee :( I still find some scenes unbelievable like the last one because how did he manage to stay alive after jumping on a high building?! but at least he can rot in jail. And at least, some of the characters got their redemption arc.

Overall, I enjoyed watching the show! If you don't have any problem with cliché romantic scenes alongside fantasy, then watching this drama is recommended. But personally, I don't see myself rewatching this as often in the future.

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Weird Science

There’s no actual serial killer-catching or mystery solving here until the last few episodes. The main villain, the male lead’s father, is already dead when the story starts. He had an accomplice working with him but this person does not play an active role until the last few episodes. The story mostly deals with the male lead Hyeon-su, and his trauma about his past and how he copes with it. This isn’t a bad premise and I think that exploring the stigma that children of serial killers encounter could be interesting, but they don’t really get into this.

I was confused about what the story was trying to say. Was it trying to say that children of serial killers could somehow inherit a psychopathic gene or that, when bullied by their communities, could eventually become psychopaths themselves? I get that a bunch of narrow-minded people mistreated Hyeon-su and his sister but it was a little unbelievable to me that not one person outside their community (not one person in the city, or even one doctor or person of science) thought he was innocent when there was really nothing to tie him to any of his father’s murders, other than the fact that he was this evil guy’s son.

Hyeon-su was so convinced that he could not feel any emotions and could not care about anyone…if so, why did he take the blame for what his sister did? If he was traumatized by the experience (if one can feel trauma then doesn't that mean he/she has feelings?) and became a ‘psychopath’, how come his sister wasn’t similarly affected? I don’t understand why he could suddenly see these visions of their father when his sister couldn’t . Given that SHE was the one who actually killed someone, why wasn’t she suffering and as traumatized as he was?

When he meets the female lead Jin-ha, he doesn’t really care about her, but decides to enter into a relationship because being with her made his ‘visions go away.’ Why did she have this effect on him if he didn’t have any feelings for her to begin with?

Later, it was pointed out how clumsy the killer’s accomplice (the ’second killer’) was and yet, nobody could tell what he looked like or find any clue about him. Also, the actor playing him was so over-the-top and deranged that even a blind man could have spotted him. The only person who met him in the past was Hyeon-su’s sister, Hyeon-ha…and yet she had to take hypnotherapy to remember him. In her hypnotherapy session, she still couldn't remember what he looked like because he was wearing a hat* in their father’s funeral.

A hat, not any kind of facial covering.

I don’t get why Hyeon-su later decided to take on the identity of a rich man’s son. This rich man’s son (Baek Hee Song) was in a coma, but was technically still alive, so what he did was completely unethical. Also, not one of them even considered what would happen if this guy woke up. Why didn’t Hyeon-su just do a Jean Valjean and assume a brand new identity with false papers?

The female lead, Jin-ha, had an unconditional love for Hyeon-su, which I normally would have appreciated but she crossed a line both legally and unprofessionally when she burned evidence that could be used against him. She was convinced he was innocent and that the investigation would clear him, so why did she have to do that? After talking to Hyeon-ha (who wanted to confess at this point), she insists that nothing be revealed. What kind of decent cop would insist that someone take the blame for another’s crime? When her detective squad discover that Baek Hee Song and Hyeon-su (the guy they’ve been looking for) are the same person and that she had been lying to them, instead of suspending her for a bit because she was personally connected to the case, they decide to believe in both of them and let them continue…based on nothing. In fact, the reporter working with the male and female lead who was once forcibly tied up and kept in their basement for a few days suddenly develops Stockholm syndrome and becomes a loyal friend to them.

One of the serial-killer-duo’s victims is a woman named Jung Mi Sook. For some reason, they decide not to kill her and predictably, she reappears later to add more drama. During all this time, she somehow ended up imprisoned by a human trafficking group. This group had no connection to the story whatsoever but they forced it in by making this gang have ties with the rich old couple and the second killer...who conveniently turned out to be Baek Hee Song! This means that by taking his identity, Hyeon-su got himself into deeper trouble..but it’s nicely resolved in the end because he has a lot of plot armor. Also, the rich couple try to get rid of Hyeon-su using this trafficking group.

One of the last dramas I watched had a man get up miraculously from a wheelchair. It also happens here, but the difference is that the real Baek Hee Song had been in a coma for more than 10 years and had not used his legs/muscles. How could he not only get up but outrun someone instantly? How can a maid, who was hired by the Hee Song's because she was deaf, suddenly hear and tell what is going on? It also turns out that Baek Hee Song killed his mentor, the main villain and the original serial killer, by bashing him in the back of the head. For some reason, people conclude that he committed suicide but how does one do that by getting smashed from the back?

The story actually ends at episode 15 but they decide to extend it by giving Hyeon-su amnesia. This is not a trope I care for, but some of the dramas I like have had it, so it was not a deal breaker. In here, they added it to prolong Jin-ha’s suffering over Hyeon-su, as if he didn’t have enough baggage to give her. He also spends 15 minutes crying in a self pitying mess over the fact that he ‘can’t have emotions.'

The reason I gave this drama a higher rating is because the actors Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chai Won performed well..but that’s it. It lacked more logic than anything I have ever seen before.

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extra sweet

This kdrama is worth your time, it's a sweet storyline.
It's also funny and exciting to watch, it's a good kdrama to beginners so if you have friends who don't watch kdramas and you show it to them they will get addicted too.
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I hope you will like it too<3.
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The male lead (Pha) is kidnapped when he is a child and forced to live as a bandit. When he tries to be different and educate himself, he is punished and one of the people closest to him is violently killed. From that point on, he doesn’t really go against his evil stepfather (Seua Phan, the head bandit) anymore. In fact, his kidnapping of the female lead (Nampeung) is basically him carrying out orders. Pha is a pretty good fighter and even has superpowers…but unfortunately, he cannot, and does not go against the established power hierarchy in his ‘bandit village’; he doesn’t go against or speak against his evil stepfather until the very end of the series. Seua Phan is the most powerful character here because he dabbles in dark magic…it’s what he uses to keep the village hidden from the police, to teleport and to even to win a fight. I’m not sure why, for all his powers, he couldn’t have the bullet wound in his leg cured, but I let that slide.

I get that a traumatic experience can affect one for life, but it’s normal to hope that that the main heroes and heroines of these stories can somehow overcome and conquer them. At some point much later, Pha indicates that he wants to work with the police, but he doesn’t really do much to bring it about. Despite the fact that Nampeung is forced to be there against her will, she still falls in love with him, but she doesn’t have much choice- he is after all, one of the few good men left in that place and doesn’t touch her or force her to do anything even though he pretends (has to pretend) to. It is disturbing that, if a woman in that village is unmarried/unclaimed, she is sold off to rival gangs and treated like an object.

The hero and heroine do get along and like each other for the most part, but there were times they had these frustrating conflicts because once Nampeung realized that Pha was the same as her (meaning, forced into the same situation as her) she would try to convince him that they could escape, but he simply wouldn't hear of it.

He took care of the people under him but his delusion of being a caring Robin Hood protecting his people forever and ever, was a false one. The people under him may have been safe, but the ones under his evil stepbrother and stepfather certainly weren’t. It took a lot of convincing from his dumbest, most annoying underling that he couldn't live like that forever that finally made him relent, reunite the heroine with her parents and try to work with the police and surrender.

There were things that I liked in this drama. The main couple were brought together in an objectionable way, but they got along and had a good relationship for the most part. The actors playing them (Mike and Mookda) had a good and natural chemistry. Mike does well in these physical, macho roles whereas Mookda is very charismatic, spirited and reminded me a lot of a Disney princess. There was a lot of good sismance, too. I like Nampeung’s friendship’s with Namking and Phikun.

This is one of the few dramas were I grew to like the female antagonist. The only thing I didn’t like about Grachao was how she tried to attack Nampeung…but other than that, I really felt sorry for her. She suffered a lot and had no one to protect her. It’s actually a little unbelievable that she didn’t die after all that happened, but I’m glad the story developed her further and gave her a happy ending.

The special effects and fight choreography weren’t much (think early 1990s standards) but they were entertaining and fast paced. I like how they incorporated powers and a bit of Thai folklore here and there. The forest ‘monsters/zombies’ were well rendered and they reminded me of the mythical creatures in a lot of SouthEast Asian tales.

The second male lead (Lieutenant Praothep) started out as very useless but turned out to be a strong character.

The story had a lot of potential. If I were to rewrite it, I would make it so that both Pha and Nampung were undercover and worked together instead of Pha trying to do everything by himself and being very uncommunicative and untrusting of everyone.

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Welcome to samdal-ri, small stream to return to.

Watching this drama, full of gratitude, love, warmth and healing, was such a great experience. It really talked a lot about hidden emotions behind smiles and suffering that are rarely talked about or noticed. I liked pretty much everything about this drama: the breathtaking sights of jeju island, bonds that are so tight and ubreakable, matching traumas and hardships that are overtaken by love and support of eachother only.

As an enthusiast of poetry, movies and shows about healing, giving love and expressing emotions is my cup of tea. Samdal-ri is exactly that. Everything you search for in a heartwarming and deep drama. I even cried couple of times and experienced the hardships of main charachters like my own which i consider had a lot to do with a great acting of amazing actors.

This drama deeply reminded me of paul eluard's poem ,,the night is never comlete''

,,The night is never complete
There is always, as I say
As I stated
After grief an open window
A lighted window
There is always a dream before,
Desire to satisfy, hunger to fill,
A generous heart
A helping hand, an open hand,
An attentive eye
A life, life to share''

Isn't this poem exectly what samdal-ri has to say?
That no matter how dark and hopeless the situation is light of people who love you will become a little stream of hopes and warmth that has power to give you new breath and home to return to?

Of course i wouldn't call samdal-ri the perfect drama, there were things that i disliked, that deeply annoyed me about main charachter and some of the other support actors too. It was the way their actions and psychological background was written, that i think could have been so much better. I also disliked the way things were stretched and needed years to be resolved. I mean the little misunderstandings, that had potential to be so much less than it became becouse of miscommunication.

Still beautiful things are never prefect. I would recommend this drama to everyone who is searching for something heartwarming, peaceful and empathetic. I hope you are going to experience a lot of positive and deep emotions with choi samdal her people far away from the noices of buzzing citys and toxic people.

Love you all! with my first review i will let the silence be broken.

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It is a mid drama that feels like the best drama at first 20 or 30 eps

I just finished watching this drama and I feel a lot of emotions rn but I will try my best not to be biased
coming from an experienced drama watcher I will tell you all about this drama in a way without spoilers (if ur lazy to read just skip to the last paragraph)

okay so first of all this drama is very appealing to the eyes and has very good actors especially our girl "the princess" Zhang Zi Yi I can see a lot of people criticizing her becoz she is a 44yr old actress playing a"16" yr old princess from the start and yes I do agree when I start watching this drama I had this feeling that the female actor looked older than her parents and her uncle and aunts lol and it was very clear she does have a older appearness BUT! after completing this drama i think she was a very strong and perhaps only likable character except her mother and the ml and also becoz of her and the ml i did not drop this drama in the middle.

I actually was hooked at the first episode and I binged watched like 16 eps in a day this drama surely brings up excitement and curiosity,As an experienced drama watcher myself most of the time I was trying to guess what would happen next becoz when u watch a lot dramas u know there is always a pattern. but jeez this drama script is so weirdly good at some places and so horribly cliche and confusing at other places it was still pretty predictable towards the end but at the start I have to give them the credit for making it pretty interesting

another good thing about the drama is the ost It is pretty nice and nostalgic lmao

And i think the title really suits this drama becoz if u look at all the political drama and the 5/10 romance and the weird plot we can see that our princess is pretty rebellious becoz she is the only woman who do not want power and is always love sick for her family most of the time and try to "fix" the bad doings of almost everyone in the palace. that's why she is rebellious becoz she is different from all the women in the palace but she is way too soft-hearted and confused most of the time lmao

now for the romance, some people said it was a slow-burn romance lol full bs i think it was way too rushed and they stay in that same romance stage for the rest of the show its weirdly good and satisfying at first but let me tell you you it was so frustrating towards the end

let me tell u about the story It is all boring politics played by beautiful people with beautiful clothing and almost everyone switches from absolutely selfish power seekers to absolutely miserably apologetical,regrets everything and some characters switch between these 2 characteristics or stays in 1 and almost everyone dies that at end u don't care who dies at this point.the romance in this drama is like not there most of the time and all the characters are indulged in everything but romance
the romance showed in this drama was 35% in 100% and the other 65% was political drama and the plot the 20% was the romance between the fml and ml and the 15% of the other romance is by the side characters like emperors,second leads yeah all the side characters almost had the same amount of romance between them than the actual main leads .


IN ALL HONESTY, this drama is fr a 7/10 only becoz of its good main leads and really good acting and the costumes are 10/10 everyone was eye candy to watch but is it worth a watch in one word NO but it does depend, big no for students, hard-working busy lads who likes to watch drama in free time, people who rarely get time to watch dramas but wanted to give this drama a chance, if u belong here in anyway if ur okay to spend ur time and really wants to give it a try go ahead its ur choice at the end of the day.If u are a starter in watching dramas, if u have a lot time in ur hand like if ur young then yeah/MAYBE .i deff wasted my time in this drama, especially becoz its so long there are much much better dramas to watch in the industry so yeah . its a good drama to understand whether u like this type of palace political stuff and drama. the main problems about this drama is the bad plot and a lot of characters turn unrealistically evil and horrible characters, there is not even a single character in this drama with character development its annoying, frustrating . almost too cliche and too many unneeded killings of every good characters

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my comfort drama

One of my favorite comfort drama of all it's one of the underrated drama when in fact t its all good. I like this drama because they focus on friendship, relationship and family. They talk about different kinds of grief and how to continue life with someone we loss whom we love so much The message of this drama is very deep and it directs in our hearts.
Yong Pil and Sam Dal known each other since their childhood days they were inseparable that's why they developed their feelings beyond lovers. However when unfortunate thins happen they separate ways to never hurt the feelings of Yong Pils father who are against them to be together but they never give up infact they fight for they feelings and later on his father gave they blessing. But I got this second lead syndrome wherein I kinda love the pairing of Sam Dal and Sang Do hehehe. But I like that he gave his way for them.
I also like to have Hae Dal and MIN Chul longer moments together hoping they will have separate drama together that they are the lead stars.
Overall this drama is good.

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slice of life mini series

Overall: this is a 20 minute short movie that was originally released in 2022 and was broken up into 3 mini episodes (first episode was 5 minutes without the credits). Aired on Strongberry's YouTube channel over 3 weeks (1 episode per week)

What I Liked
- fighting over the diary
- realistic vibe
- production value

Room For Improvement
- beginning didn't hook me, and how I couldn't see the main character's face
- released such short episodes at 1 episode per week instead of all together
- the ending was open to interpretation with contradictory clues/evidence for each ending
- the title (just do an internet search on "happy ending slang" if you don't know what it means) but I didn't take off points
- the subtitles needed to stay a little longer on the screen as people read slower than when they are just listening (didn't take off points)

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balas dendam sempurna tapi...

buat akting udah pasti keren semua dari mulai kim dongwook si peran utama sampai choi hyunjin si pahlawan kecil. alur ceritanya oke, untuk 12 episode semuanya memuaskan.

pembullyannya digambarin jahat banget bahkan sampai ke guru gurunya luar biasa ngeselin sampai aku mikir apa di dunia nyata juga ada yang kayak gitu? kejam banget dunia ya bahkan ke anak smp sekalipun. padahal kyungmin cuma pengen bisa sekolah dengan tenang, main sama jongsuk setiap hari tanpa diganggu sama geng bully.

emosi kyungmin sangat nyampe sih ke aku dan aku salut sama dia karena dia mau loh buat move on, mau coba berobat demi istri sama ibunya. seandainya pas itu istrinya ga buka album foto kyungmin, seandainya mereka ga ke rumah kyungmin hari itu gimana ya..

kyungmin ngelakuin balas dendam secara perlahan dia kasih makan dulu sampe kenyang si geng bully, baru dia bantai mereka tapi apa hukuman yang kyungmin kasih ke geng bully itu sepadan? menurut aku sih gak, kyungmin masih baik langsung ngebunuh mereka atau cuma bikin mereka ketakutan sampai gila dalam waktu singkat sedangkan rasa sakit kyungmin terus dia rasain seumur hidup.

di sini menurutku orang selain di geng bully yang harusnya tanggung jawab itu jongsuk sih. dulu karena adanya cheol, kyungmin udah mau loh berdamai sama ketakutannya, dia mau nahan diri di sekolah itu demi cheol sama jongsuk. tapi jongsuk nih sinting, cheol curhat mau bertahan hidup demi ibunya malah dia dorong beneran dari atap cuma buat menuhin ego dia, udah gitu dia lepas tangan ngerasa ga bersalah. sedangkan kyungmin? dia ngerasa bersalah seumur hidup dan dihantuin sama cheol.

bahkan sampe ending pun aku kecewa sih karena kejahatan jongsuk ga pernah kepublish, dia tetep dianggep sebagai pahlawan dan kyungmin dianggep sebagai pembunuh berantai padahal pembunuh sebenernya jongsuk (di luar geng bully) dan yang mentalnya terbunuh kyungmin.

greget sama jina, dia nih polisi senior dan udah nemuin bukti jongsuk ngebunuh cheol kenapa ga bisa langsung ditangkep? terlalu bertele-tele, bahkan udah di tempat yang sama pun (pas di sekolah) dia tetep telat nyelamatin jongsuk sama cheol.

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Beautiful story with badass FL

Really really happy to watch this drama. Really sad when it's over, I just want to keep watching them, not ready yet to say goodbye... Really hope what in the final scene is really happening.... :(

In this drama we get friendships, brotherhood, maturity of a character & yet the perfect examples of people foolish & selfishness and every character imperfection.

In here we got very badass FL that not often we see in dramaland. Ren Ru Yi (RY) is one ruthless killing machine that usually move by herself, trust no one but once she trust someone she's willing to risk everything for that person.

Ning Yuan Zhou (YZ) as ML on the other hand is a perfect spy & leader that everyone looked up to.

Together with the task on hand, to save the King of Wu Kingdom that's been capture by An Kingdom, start their journey. And in this journey also come YZ's brothers / companion & Princess Yang Ying, who disguised herself as a man / prince.

What i really like about this drama:
+ How RY shamelessly tease & seduce YZ at first. At first, her goal only to have baby with YZ, not make YZ be her husband. Haha... She got a 'task' from Empress Wu to have baby instead husband, so yeah she's try to complete that 'task'.
+ But of course with given time both RY & YZ start really falling in love & have trust with each other. Really like the growth of their relationship.
+ The badass Princess Yang Ying (YY). Oh this maybe one of my most beloved support character. Really like the growth in YY's character. She's really grown from scaredy & childish princess into amazing prince & in the end amazing princess & woman. The aura when she must act as the prince is really something. And I really like how in the end, when she get back home to be with the 'family' she still became herself, a little chilish & spoiled.
+ All the brother of YZ's group. From playboy Yu Shi San, to the stoik Qian Zhao, to the youngest Yuan Lu & the foolish Sun Lang. I really like to see how they interact with each other. How they sometimes act like a woman who like gossip to how they act like boys when they decide to make fun of Li Tong Guang jealousy.
+ The growth of Wu Di [Emperor Wu]. He also grow from selfish brat that doesn't care about everyone else except himself to someone that have remorse & decided to do better.
+ Xiao Yan [Empress of Wu State] & Chu Yue (CY). 2 strong & interesting woman. I really like to see the relationship between CY & Shi San.
+ Alen Fang... I really like Alen Fang as Yu Shi San here... I think this is the best role for him
+ This drama had one of the best sword dance... Haha... Seeing them fighting really like watching sword dance....

The stupid selfish human:
* Li Tong Guang. OMG i don't know what the heck inside his head. He's over and over can't overcome his own feeling for RY. But this is also i feel is the minus in writing his character. He's such fickle human being. One minute he so determined to make RY as his own, but the other minute, after RY or YZ talk sense into him, he just change his mind so instantly. And that's just continue the pattern till the end... UGH!!!
* Li Zhun [Emperor of An State] & his prince. This is the perfect example of apple fall not far from its tree. Like father like son, both are very selfish till the end of the stage they don't care about their country & just about themselves.
* The third prince of Wu (I don't know his name, nor I found in the cast). I know he's been wrongly treated for his entire life. But when ur Kingdom in state of war & yet u still think of urself is really something...

Overall this really good drama to open this year....

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Unique surprising beautiful story..highly recommended

Like Love of Replica, you really love the story and the ending always made you surprise and that can make you smile and love more the stories. The ML & FL played their roles at best..all casts truly played their roles so well.

With Love of Replica and Mysterious Love this makes me look forward more movies/series of Tsao Yu Ning.

Unlike others C-drama, the story has its own essence and uniqueness, intellectually written, and as story unfolds, the unpredictable series of events surely kept you on hook to watch . Full of suspense, and unpredictable series of events but you fall in love in between.

The timing of the theme songs are perfect.

Very highly recommended..it never waste your time..i

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