Reviews

My disappointment

The killing vote and the whole thing is good but we can easily guess some characters role in this drama no one questioned heroin sister for being in the live with gaetal and the boy who killed jihoon is escape easily.. no one talk about that.. at some points there is no logic and there is no explanation why that doctor helped kwon and why the police office help to mix nicotine in Lee's drink and who is he or how they make him to help. and the people who helped to escape jihoon from Hyun how did they know jihoon is gaetel who texted them.. if you watch this drama just for thriller without expecting perfect logic this is good drama

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friends to lovers, tsundere/sunshine

Other tropes: self acceptance, self worth, high school BL, live action yaoi, soft romance, kindness

The moment I finished binging this show I was thinking about writing about it and re-watching it. This is a sure sign that I adored a piece of media. 

This is a wonderful BL.

Truly well executed, with smooth filming and lovely acting, both of a simplistic style that felt slightly more Korean than it did Japanese. It reminded me a little bit of Seven Days and a little bit of Takara and Amagi, and since these are my two favorite high school JBLs obviously I was bound to adore ICRY.

But what it reminded me of more than anything was Cherry Blossoms After Winter. Odd for JBL and KBL to be so closely linked. Like CBAW show, ICRY is classic live action yaoi.

Like the MOST classic of CLASSIC. There is even a “seme looses control to desire” scene which leads to dub con. There is an abject apology after but still - you’ve been warned. 

The premise is: smart sporty hot (and hella gay) Yamato has a long standing crush on his silly sunshine sweetheart bestie, Kakeru. Yamato is also stiff, self isolated, shy, and has only ever really managed to get along with Kakeru. I love this kind of pining seme so damn much, it probably biased me.

Unlike most uke, Kakeru starts to slowly figure out that his best friend is in love with him by ep 2 (let the chaos bisexual identity crisis commence).

So do some of the friends around them.

The story thus revolves around Yamato trying to unsuccessfully suppress his desire, and Kakeru trying to figure out if he can return Yamato‘s affection.

This biggest barrier is actually Kakeru's feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness (when compared to Yamato). Bu this is tempered by his genuine kindness which forces him into act with integrity around his dear friend's love and strive to fix everything (even himself) to prove worthy of it - whether he can ultimately return it or not.

Kakeru's struggles are pitted against Yamato‘s repressed need that keeps bubbling over and figuratively (sometimes literally) attacking Kakeru with romantic, emotional, and physical intensity.

Quick pitch:

This classic friends-to-lovers BL is everything Japan does best. Angsty. Emo. Aching. Driven by real thirst. Yamato is deeply in love with his childhood bestie, Kakeru, and has been for ages, unable to hide his ungainly damaging high school need. He wants Kakeru in every way possible and it oozes off of the screen. Kakeru is silly and a little simple, but not frenetic or overly camp about it. He is earnest, and genuinely wants to keep Yamato in his life which means giving a romance (and gayness) a fair chance. We watch him realize his affection and what form it can take in a truly authentic way. This show was impossibly kind to both of its lead characters and I felt almost honored that I got to watch something so lovely and rare play out on my screen.

I’m not gonna lie, I dithered over whether to give this a 10/10 and nearly didn’t. But there is nothing wrong with it AS A BL.

And it's so GOOD to ALL of its characters and they are so good to each other. It's quiet and because of its goodness it will get overlooked, but I LOVED IT.

It's not one of those that BL outsiders will understand, and you must like Japan's style to enjoy it. But I'm in it. It's for me.

What am I hung up over? Even the kisses are good.

10/10

I CAN'T RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH

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Doesn't completely do away with gender stereotypes

I was watching this show with the expectation that it would not have traditional relationship dynamics. In many aspects, it meets my criteria: the FL is older, earns more money, and she's more of a go-getter type, while the ML is rather a reserved personality. However, the ML ends up to be the sexually dominant side in the relationship, just like 99% of other asian dramas. These stereotypes must be carved inside the writers' minds deeply, as they default to bridal carry scenes to bond the characters, or for fillers, even in series like this. It was pretty watchable if you enjoy/don't mind these omnipresent stereotypical dynamics though.

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What did they even think before ending it like this!!!!!

What i lookout for in a suspense thriller is for the last few episodes to unveil the hidden puzzles and to have a good wrapup, This series is faaaaarrr from being it.

Only the first 4 episodes were interesting to me but later i was confused and at the end i was disgusted. Why the hell did i even waste my time on this ,

I saw park hae jin anf sungwoong in man to man and was super excited to see them together in yet anither drama. I have no doubts nor complaints on any of the actors in this series, they portrayed their roles flawlessly. But just good acting couodnt save this drama, the writters messed it up.

MuChan is the most foolish main leads i have ever watched. Now i dont even want to think about this series anymore. This will be perfectly erased from my memory with no traces left.

There are much more interesting and well written thrillers out there, better go and watch those rather than wasting your time here on this drama.

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Kinda disappointed but okay

this is a good story but kind of disappointing tbh i expected a lot from it. This story picks up after the story of do bong-soon but we see more things that didnt imply there. So i was kind of confused at first scene but u gradually get the hang of it . I will not judge it too fast knowing i am only in ep 3. So i will tell all the things that i find will be helpfull for u to decide if u wanna watch it or not. First of all the scense are all same from the previous drama. The story if but some things like the characters dont match up.
So, it just went down from here. Im just excited for the plot cuz i feel like the plot will be nice.

i expected the show to a little collide with the previous show but it didnt and also the main couple is cute.i will write more abt what i think after finishing the whole thing.All this is just what i think abt this show. Hopefully the plot is really intresting i it is i will give it a musch more higher review.

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Just wonderful show with good acting

one of my favorite dramas and my favorite. There are lots of exciting, sad and touching scenes in this drama. I like ML and FL they are very cute and compact. The other characters in this drama are also very good. One of the dramas that I like is the side characters. there are not many dramas that I like apart from the main character but this drama is different I like almost all the characters in this character. One thing that still makes me think is the ending which is a bit of a cliffhanger even though the director of this drama has confirmed that at the end of the drama it was just ML's dream (not reality) but I really like this drama. I didn't skip any scenes, instead I repeated a lot of funny scenes between ML and FL, especially when FL was jealous of ML. I give this drama a high rating. don't forget the soundtrack of this drama is all very good 10/10.

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On-screen love was embodied in real life

The Princess Wei Young is another find for me. After this series, I have appreciated the importance of recommendations on MyDramaList, because it is in the recommendations for one of the dramas on this website that I have found it. But, of course, it is not by coincidence that I have found this series. I had to watch it, for many reasons.

The historical drama The Princess Wei Young confirms the fact that there are very few good people in the world whom bad people insult, plot against them and even wish them dead. But this drama also proves that every bad person will pay for every evil deed he or she has done, both before God and before people, if he or she doesn't repent and fix what can be fixed.

It is remarkable that none of the villains in the drama repent and give up until the very end. But they all get the end they have deserved. As the ancient folk wisdom says, “don't dig a pit for someone else, because you'll fall into it yourself.” That's what happened in the series: each villain fell into his and her own pit.

I have already watched a lot of Chinese dramas and after that I have come to the conclusion that the Chinese are very fond of blue and yellow and yellow and blue colours. The Princess Wei Young is not the first Chinese drama where I have seen the colours of the Ukrainian flag, but here I have seen probably all shades of blue and yellow, from the lightest to the darkest. There were so many things of the blue and yellow colour in the drama that my eyes were running around while watching.

Here are some examples. The female character Chi Yun Rou often wears the same yellow and blue dress in the drama. Her mother in one of the scenes also appears in a yellow and blue with lilac dress (the twenty-third episode). The female characters Li Chang Ru, Li Chang Xi and the Ninth Princess Tuo Ba Di also often wear yellow and blue dresses.

Besides, in the thirty-fourth and forty-fourth episodes, Li Chang Ru appears in a blue and yellow dress. Even the lady with whom Li Chang Le argues in the twenty-fourth episode is wearing a blue and yellow dress (behind her is another lady, also wearing a blue and yellow dress). In the same episode, there is a blue and yellow painting behind Chi Yun Nan, who is sitting in his tent. This painting appears in several more episodes. In the forty-eighth episode, behind one minister sitting at a table, there is the same painting.

At the end of the tenth episode, the imperial hall has blue and yellow windows and doors. These windows and doors appear in many other episodes. They are shown even in the opening credits. In the drama, women wear a lot of blue and yellow jewellery, and that's not all. I can list and list, but I don't think there's any point in doing it. I suppose everything is clear.

In no other drama have I seen as many things of the blue and yellow colour as I have seen in The Princess Wei Young, not even in Lady Tough. The Princess Wei Young is not just a blue and yellow series, it's the biggest blue and yellow series I've ever watched.You may not believe me, but besides all this, in this drama I have repeatedly seen again a familiar pattern, which is depicted on my blue and yellow face and body towels. It's not a drama, but a solid jackpot. :)

The plot of the series is strong, it keeps the viewer in suspense until the very last scene. In some places, the drama resembled a detective and even a thriller, but that made it even more interesting to watch. The OST also didn't disappoint. I advise everyone not only to listen to the songs from this drama, but also to find a translation of their lyrics for those who don't know Chinese. You will be surprised.

The cast is also strong and successful. Many of the actors in the drama are familiar to me. These are, for example, Wu Hong and Li Yi Xiao from The Story of Ming Lan, Li Ang from Bright as the Moon, and even my favourite “eunuch” Zhang Tian Yang, whom I have seen for the first time in Growling Tiger, Roaring Dragon. And these are not all the actors of this drama I know.

I've watched a lot of Asian historical dramas, and each of them had polygamy and harems. They were also in The Princess Wei Young. To be honest, I'm already sick of those harems. As I wrote earlier, according to God's plan, there should be one husband and one wife in a family, and no other husbands, wives or concubines.

The first person who broke God's will was Lamech from the lineage of Cain, who killed his brother Abel because of jealousy. Lamech was the first who took two wives, distorting the great meaning of marriage. Although the entire lineage of Cain has been destroyed by the Global Flood, that contagion called polygamy has spread throughout the world and unfortunately still exists officially, at the legislative level, in some countries.

In one episode of the drama, Li Chang Ru was forced to cut her hair and wanted to make her a nun. When I was watching that scene, I thought “God forbid!” Because I have no doubt that the same outrages are committed in Taoist and Buddhist monasteries as in Orthodox and Catholic ones. Of course, at that time I didn't know what a vile monster she really was. Ultimately, she got exactly the end she deserved. Being a nun in a monastery is too light a punishment for her.

By the way, in the series, one Taoist soothsayer turned out to be a charlatan and a paedophile. I wasn't even surprised by that. That's why the Bible forbids contacting all kinds of soothsayers, psychics, shamans, etc. Ninety-five percent of them are charlatans, and five percent are real sorcerers whose magic comes from demons.

In the thirty-fifth episode of the drama, the Emperor says that he is the supreme ruler of the world. I laughed at that his phrase. That dude has a very high opinion of himself. The Supreme Ruler of the world is the Lord God, not any human being, not even an emperor. No wonder the Apostle Paul warned us not to become slaves to people.

I have already quoted to you many phrases of the Apostle Paul from his epistles in the Bible in my previous reviews. And now I would like to recommend for those who want to understand better what kind of person this apostle has been, to watch the American film about him from 2018 called Paul, Apostle of Christ. I really liked that film. I hope you will like it too.

As soon as I started watching The Princess Wei Young, I saw one shot in the opening credits that I really liked and that convinced me that I was watching a good drama. At the end of the opening credits, the main heroine appears dressed in a black and blue with white dress, with a silver crown on her head, silver earrings and bright make-up. When I saw that shot, I thought: “Wow! What a beautiful woman and what a gorgeous image!” For the sake of such a main heroine, this series is worth watching.

In the twelfth episode, Chi Yun Rou says that a woman's best weapon is not wit, but beauty. Chi Yun Rou is as stupid hen as her brainless daughter Li Chang Le. A woman's best weapon is intelligence and beauty. An intelligent and beautiful woman can not only turn the heads and break the hearts of all men, but can even cause a revolution, the main thing is to choose the right prince. Such women are called fatal, many people adore them, but many also hate them. But these women are not guilty of being born so wonderful. God created them like that and gave each of them a special destination.

The protagonist of the drama Xin Er, aka Li Wei Young, is such a woman. She stands out for her beauty among all the women, and she is also smarter than all the women and men in the series. She is not only extremely smart and beautiful, but also strong in spirit. In the fifth episode, she had to endure painful treatment and she bravely withstood it.

Looking at that, I remembered that I myself had gone through a similar painful treatment more than once, and the doctors who treated me were amazed at a patient like me who didn't even twitch once during it, while their other patients were crying from such treatment. But all of that is in the past. I was cured and became stronger. In fact, physical pain is nothing compared to the soul pain and the pain of a broken heart. But I survived that too and became even stronger than I was before.

Thanks to her great intelligence and beauty, both internal and external, the main heroine conquered the hearts of almost all the men in the drama. Even the Emperor appreciated and admired her. She was duly appreciated by all men except one — Tuo Ba Han, the Prince Dong Ping. What can you do with him, he's as stupid as a felt boot. For such foolish men as the Prince Dong Ping, it is important for a woman to be beautiful, always follow his orders, talk less, be silent more and smile. He just didn't have enough brains to appreciate the main heroine. Doesn't he remind you of anyone?.. In Ukraine, wise people say that it is better to lose with a smart person than to find with a stupid one. This is a true statement.

The intelligence and beauty of the protagonist Li Wei Young drew to her two princes at once, but one of them was a man of light, and the other was a man of darkness. Tuo Ba Jun, the Prince Gao Yang, is definitely a man of light. Although he is a bit quirky, but with a great sense of humour. I really liked him. He parodied his mother so well in one of the scenes. :) A real parodist!

He is also a great actor, just like Luo Jin, who has acted him. I laughed at the “crazy” Tuo Ba Jun at the end of the series, :) even though I didn't believe in his madness. In the final episode, I cried for Tuo Ba Jun. That is how it happens in life: if a man is good, he dies early, and if he is a scoundrel, he lives a long time and poisons the lives of everyone around him.

And Tuo Ba Yu, the Prince Nan An, was a man of darkness. Men like him feel that they are in the dark, so they are instinctively drawn to women of light, like the main heroine. He is cold, ruthless, unprincipled, dangerous, and has only one desire — to gain power over people, become powerful and conquer the world. He is a real dragon. He also reminds me of someone. When the Prince Dong Ping was talking to the Prince Nan An for the first time, I thought “the rabbit is talking to the dragon”. And the dragon still “devoured” the rabbit. There is another dragon in the drama, it is Chi Yun Nan, but he is no equal to the dragon Tuo Ba Yu. This is how the dark Prince Nan An is. And such a man wanted to have such a light woman as the main heroine. О_о But he got the hole from the bagel, not Wei Young. :)

I would also like to draw your attention to the relationship between the main heroine and Li Chang Ru. The story of their relationship is a story about that someone who pretends to be your best friend and even your sister can actually be your worst enemy. That's why it's so important to choose friends carefully in real life and not to judge anyone superficially.

I really liked the main couple of the drama. Li Wei Young and Tuo Ba Jun are one of the most beautiful on-screen couples I've ever seen. The most interesting thing was that their on-screen love turned into real life and was embodied in the love between the actors who performed the main female and male roles. Even before the drama finished airing on Chinese television, on 6 December 2016, on the thirty-third birthday of Tang Yan (Tiffany Tang), who acted Li Wei Young / Xin Er, she and Luo Jin revealed their relationship to the public. Two years later, in 2018, they got married. Now they are still married.

Tang Yan did the right thing by marrying Luo Jin. I would have married him myself if I were in her shoes. I even regret that I haven't met him before her. :):):) I just hope that their marriage will be okay and won't end in divorce, like the marriage of Feng Shao Feng and Zhao Li Ying from The Story of Ming Lan.

I liked very much the Chinese historical drama The Princess Wei Young. It has an incredibly strong ending, even though it is sad. But it was probably meant to end that way. In conclusion, I dedicate to the main hero of the drama Tuo Ba Jun a music track from the South Korean series Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo called The Prince. This track is as bright and sunny as the Prince Gao Yang himself. And to the main heroine Li Wei Young / Xin Er, I dedicate two musical compositions from that Korean series at once: One for Me; Battle Bobo.

I would like to note that Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is one of the best South Korean dramas I've watched (if the main heroine of that drama was removed from the plot, it would be perfect :). And the OST to it is also one of the strongest, although I don't like some of the tracks because they are too tough. My favourite musical composition from that Korean series is indisputably Wing of Goryeo. Pay attention to the musical transition at the end of this track. It's genius. Such musical compositions are not created without God's help.

I must confess to you that I am waiting for the premiere of another drama with the participation of Tang Yan. The main actresses there are so beautiful... and Hu Ge in the male lead. :) Anyone who follows the work of these two actors will guess what the drama I mean.

I will also tell you something about myself. In fact, I was also brought up like a princess by my mother, who loved me very much and hoped that one day, if not a prince, then at least a good man, I would meet, get married and be happy. Instead, all my life I've met not men, but only schmucks. :( However, I sent them all in the direction of the russian warship. That's where they all should go. Ugh at them three times, in Ukrainian! I hope that I still will meet a man worthy of me, whom God will choose for me.

Finally, I would like to thank Tang Yan for performing me so well, because I am the real Princess Wei Young. But the main question is who is the Prince Gao Yang in real life?..

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Jaelousy and Misunderstanding

**Brief Synopsis**
B (Student): Rain and Sky
T (Owner): Payu and Pai

This is a continuation of the Love in the Air drama and features the two couples from that drama. The story start by showing the daily life of the two aforementioned couple. The crux of the story happens when the two B's of that drama (Sky and Rain) both experience something that made them jaelous and mad at their lovers (Sky's lover's ex girlfriend came to pester him and tell him he's actually not that important. Rain witness his lover being extremely close to a girl). Consequently, they decide to go on a trip by themselves. But their lovers quickly finds out where they are and goes to join them. The show ends with them explaining what happened and them reconciliating.

**My Opinion**

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT:
- The actors playing B and T (both couples). Their chemistry was amazing and their interactions were cute and sweet. They also do a great job in portraying the affection between the characters. I really miss both couples and loved to see them back together again.
- The actors were really good looking and looked great together.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ABOUT IT:
- The intimate scenes are few in number and extremely tame; a great departure from the actual drama.
- The use of jaelousie and misunderstandings to introduce conflict is just so cliche it makes me want to rate this drama a 6 if it wasn't the fact I loved the characters' interactions. If you consider this just an excuse to have the couples appear again, you won't be dissapointed, but if you consider this an actual drama and expect something more, you'll be extremely dissapointed. There isn't really a plot and whatever they have doesn't make much sense. After what they have been through, why couldn't they relay their feelings to their lovers instead of running away? And Payu, I don't think he did anything wrong with the girl. It's Rain who was overthinking things. Why does Payu have to apologize when he did nothing wrong. Why doesn't Rain have to apologize to thinking Payu was someone who will cheat on him. In my opinion, if your lover thinks that of you, you have the right to be upset. And as of Sky. Why is he angry at Pai for something he can't control? I really can't relate to any of that. It just made Rain and Sky look extremely childish and unreasonable, and made Payu and Pai look like idiots who can't say no.

**Conclusion**
I was happy to see the couples back again but I won't be revisiting this special because I found the premise of the story just plain stupid. The only reason I gave such a high score is because I really love those couples.

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Sadly not for me

Everybody seems to love this show (as shown by the very high rating on here) and based on the premise it had EVERYTHING I love and thus it should've been perfect for me.

Sadly I didn't love this show.

Firstly, let's talk about some of the things that I personally loved:

● The deaf representation I thought was wonderfully done imo and they also didn't fall into some clichés that I personally despise.

● I loved Yi-chan, his relationship with his grandma and the band.

● Cheong-ah storyline was my favourite and I loved her character.

● I think they handled the themes of depression and suicide quite well and I was impressed by some of the conversations that were being had.

● Also I thought they way generational trauma was hanndles in the show was really nice.

● Tge parents relations in the present and in the past was the cutest and I love it, I genuinely would've loved a mini series just on their original timeline story.

Now let's mention some of the things I didn't enjoy:

● For almost the whole show I just couldn't stand Se-kyung, I was constantly annoyed by her and just couldn't find her likeable at all. As I said I did enjoy some of the themes that were explored through her character but because I was just so annoyed by her for more than half of the show, it became hard to enjoy the show itself when she's one of the main characters.

● After a while I just stopped being interest in the story and the characters, it just didn't manage to keep my attention. The plot itself to me just felt a bit too predictable and like many other time travel stories we've seen a thousand times so it was the characters job to keep me engaged, however, past a certain point, the characters and their relationships and stories just weren't strong enough for me to care.

● I personally hate the ending. I don’t want to spoil anything but yeah, just didn't like the rout they decided to go with.

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Like the title character at the beginning, it doesn't know what it should be

"I can't sing" says Doona when asked why she stopped performing but it's obvious that the issue is NOT that she can't sing. It's that she doesn't know WHY she is singing. And that after the years of training and performing, she's lost any meaning to what had once been her dream.

That much is clear.

And equally clear is that a kpop idol interacting with Yang Se Jong's Won Joon is like a plunge in to an ice bath. He's such an opposite of her. He's beyond his years in maturity. He doesn't smoke. He's a rule follower. His emotions are as grounded as a concrete block building foundation. C'mon, he's a civil engineer. As a romance? Legitimately, there are some terrific, compelling scenes between Won Joon and Doona. But this is not a show where any rational viewer is expecting a fairy tale - they get together, leave the world behind and live happily ever after. Immediately upon solidifying their relationship, the clock begins audibly ticking before their troubles as a couple will consume them. Regardless of whether or not the lovebirds find a way to be together, the main issue that is dramatized is whether Doona falls for Won Joon because she needs someone and he's the one that happens to be there or is he legitimately her soulmate? But somewhat ignored is why has Won Joon fallen for Doona as a person? Clearly he's a straight male and she's stunning and seems interested in him and that should obviously be enough for a brief infatuation. It's not enough, however, to explain how he overlooks all the negatives (and there are many) in her and she becomes the only woman for him. So the romance is intermittently great but, in totality, is more just going where it was pretty expected it was headed from before the first frame hit the screen.

Moreover, the secondary storylines have promise. Park Se Wan and Kim Do Wan are a fantastic pair. Won Joon's got a potentially colorful hometown connections subplot. Ha Young's Jin Joo has a troubled family life. But the shorter episode run times and 9 episode duration don't give these diversions ample space to really fulfill what could have been. Park Se Wan, in particular, is wild and colorful but shows up halfway just as things in the main plot are gaining serious traction. Even just a single additional episode could have allowed more screen time to cultivate what were some potentially entertaining developments.

Where "Doona" really hits (and, in a way, misses) is that Doona herself is this fascinating, complex, damaged and brilliant character in the midst of discovering herself and her passion for music. And, for as much as no other man but Won Joon can make her happy, the reality is that not even he can come between her and who she is as an artist and a singer. It's her journey from being a woman in crisis to finding what within her gives her a purpose and meaning that captivates. How it misses is that it is clumsily obfuscated by the demands of the industry that she return to settle her contractual obligations and the effect that her return to singing has on Won Joon. These are certainly points worth noting in her growth, but they overwhelm what could have been a better exploration of her personal awakening, finding meaning in songwriting, realizing what she loved about performing and that a life without music, for her, would be a life without meaning. Instead, her internal development is captured in only brief moments. It's a pity.

Recommended but with forewarning that "Doona" isn't what it could be.

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