Reviews

Will sweep you away

I binged this until far too late into the night because of how addicting this story was. A mini series that does not feel like one. Interesting plot with stellar production from the costumes, sets, and choreography for the fight scenes. I was gripped by the twists and turns and unable to stop watching until I finished it; and at around 10 minutes per episode in only took a few hours to complete.

The story follows Yun Qi who accidentally comes into possession of a book called Book of Fate. She finds it silly and upsetting at first but as events begin to unfold exactly as was written she finds herself desperately trying to change her ill fate of being the wicked side character doomed to die horribly. There is a romance element to this story but it is a side plot to the main focus of her trying to beat her fate. The actress that portrays Yun Qi is phenomenal as she expresses the character's fight, despair, and cruelty.

Such an underrated and hidden gem of a story. Once you start the show you will find yourself completely swept into it. Highly recommend.

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Queer Life and Love

This show absolutely devastated me in the best way possible.
It's pitch-perfect from the acting, to the cinematography, to the music, it's all spectacular.
But most importantly it's entirely driven by a cast of deeply likeable if flawed characters whose various pasts and hardships shape their lives in a multitude of ways.
As is to be expected with a project led by P'Aof, the show addresses a variety of real life issues from disability, to socio-economic inequality, to homophobia (both societal and internalised), to simply how messy break-ups can be.
Combined with the excellent writing this makes all the characters feel almost painfully like real people and makes every scene, from the light-hearted to the deeply serious, highly impactful.
This is one of those rare cases where I love a show so much I have virtually nothing to say about it, so I will simply leave you with this:
This series is incredibly meaningful both in how touching it is and in what it means for the queer community.
As a queer person, this story made me feel good - seen and respected and loved.
It's a perfectly paced, quietly angsty yet wholly comforting slice-of-life we all deserve.
Do yourself a favour and go watch it it you haven't already.

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The cracks are where the light comes in

This show is a quiet, sincere masterpiece well-deserving of the love audiences have shown it.
I didn't know if I was going to like this show when I started watching it, in fact I was fairly skeptical of the whole "forbidden love" angle.
But what I thought was going to be the biggest hurdle the show would have to overcome, in fact turned out to be its greatest strength.
Rather than being titillating and reveling in the taboo, this story is slow and introspective. Instead of focusing on romance, it prioritises exploring the inner lives of the characters, their complicated circumstances, emotions, and relationships.
We see the characters on their own almost as much as we see them interacting with one another, and when they are together found family and loving people by choice are very strongly thematised.
Paradoxically, this makes the show almost devastatingly romantic and touching. It doesn't make any grand, general statements, it simply explores, in great detail, the relationship between two people who are absolutely indispensable to one another and why that connection turns romantic. How, for these two specific people, a love like this can and does work.
Another completely unexpected highlight of the series is its understated humour which not only balances perfectly with the more serious tone the story strikes overall, but which is also often so clever or unexpected it made me laugh out loud several times.

Add to that the spectacular performances from the entire cast, excellent writing, beautiful and highly effective cinematography and editing, and a simple yet lovely soundtrack and it's clear why this series is so cherished by its viewers.
It's not entirely without its flaws, for example I would have loved to see Qian experience more character development in regards to his extreme protectiveness over his sister and how, intentionally or not, this ties into general misogynistic patterns of behaviour. Some of the gang sub-plots could also have been more fleshed out.
On the whole though these issues aren't nearly enough to diminish my high opinion of this show and certainly won't dissuade me from recommending it to others.
If you like slow, thoughtful, highly character-driven slice-of-life stories which, in their own way, highlight how in the end what it all comes down to is love, love, and love again, then this one is for you.
If you enjoy stories that explore the shifting and often blurry lines between different kinds of love, or that ask what it *really* means to form a family with someone, then this one is most definitely for you.

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A time travel drama that provides a light escape

I like time travel stories with romance, so I decided to watch Lovesickness after reading the synopsis. It's quite short, where most episodes are around 10 to 11 minutes, and that includes the ending trailer.  I finished it in 2 weeknights after work.

It has both angst and comedy, so I consider it a light watch. The pacing is fast, where the plot develops quickly, so you won't feel that the story is dragging, and even if there are conflicts, it gets resolved quickly.  Since it's short and fast-paced, some plot development felt rushed. They breezed through the last episode, and the ending is open to interpretation. But as a whole, I think the drama's execution is good.

The actor that shines for me is Yan Zi Xian, who plays the male lead Xiao Chu.  He was convincing in his portrayal of the serious and feared 28 year-old Duke of Chu, and the carefree and happy-go-lucky 21-year old Xiao Chu. Not to mention he reminds me of Chen Xing Xu in his ancient costume and get-up.

Yu Yi Lei was able to show the funny, mischievous, serious, lovesick, and angsty sides of Mo An An. However, it did not leave as strong an impression on me as Yan Zi Xian's portrayal.

Since this is a romance drama, chemistry is important. I'm happy to say that the ML and FL have good chemistry.

As for production and costumes, there's nothing fancy or extraordinary, but good enough for a costume mini-drama.

Final Verdict: If you like time travel stories that you can finish quickly, that is not too serious and provides a light escape, then grab your popcorn and binge-watch this.

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Heat death of a drama

I’d normally drop a show because it is bad and unwatchable. In this case, I just can't be bothered to watch anymore. After 6 eps, I feel like I've seen it all before and in much better productions.

For instance, I gather this show follows Will Love in Spring in the schedule. Ouch, that must have hurt because while WLiS has enough chemistry to warm your house in the dead of winter, there is no chemistry here. We get the meaningful glances, but I get more feels looking at a slice of chocolate cake.

Ditto, the topic of disappearing traditional Chinese craftsmanship due to young people moving away to cities is well documented. Several shows have highlighted this and one prime example is Meet Yourself. MY is far superior in every way. Not only is the story and acting better but their predicament is woven into the plot in a humanistic way. You feel for the old masters and respect them for their dedication. In this series, all we get are buyouts, shady deals and naked greed. I will quit too if I have to put up with those shenanigans.

The opening scene of this series is so confusing. It literally dropped the characters in front of us with no preamble and then immediately does a flashback. Did that scene gave half the story away?!

Backstabbing, underhanded deals, and betrayal is the only way Chinese knows how to do business, according to this show. We are 5, 6 eps in and there is no way I would do business with any of them. This extends to the FL's family. Her family is willing to renege on their promise to sell the FL shares in the family business. All in the name of keeping the investors happy and benefiting their useless son. To paraphrase an adage, who needs enemies when you have family like that.

Speaking of friends and family, while a lot of series have quirky and interesting supporting characters, so far, I have seen none. They are all either nasty, scheming, useless and/or parasites. I suppose it means our leads have nobody to rely on except themselves . . I shall just refer to my point on zero chemistry. Touché.

Let's talk a little about our leads now. Vic Zhou has been absent from the small screen for many moons. He is still dapper and quite stoic in this drama, but he is a little stiff as well. Need to loosen up those acting muscles.

Speaking of acting muscles, Victoria Song is quite lively and animated this time around. This is a departure from her usual stilted and pouting way. She is also playing a woman somewhat younger than her real age. Picture Zhao Lusi in that role and you'll get the picture. It is a bit of hit and miss though. I see it as a welcome change but is it too little, too late? I don't know and probably will never find out.

In the end, too many tropes, poor chemistry and dodgy characters rules this series. There is no good reason for me to keep watching. It might come good, or it might get worse. Regardless, with Joy of Life 2 going live, conservation of viewing hours is a no brainer.

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Unique Story

This was very good series. I normally do not like Korea BL because even with high budget, facial plastic surgery handsome actors, the acting and pacing is usually terrible. The kissing scenes were terrible in this drama per usual, but the final scene showed warm hugging, without hands in pockets or being 3 feet apart, and without being awkward. The storyline was very interesting, and mysterious, and very unique. The acting was pretty good too, and except for the known villains (the rotten parents), the adults in this series were not that terrible. The messaging of this series was very positive, and given mental health issues in Korea, it was delivered very clearly, and succinctly.

I recommend this series as it has drama, humor, angst and comedy, all wrapped up in an interesting story and great cast.

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Excellent Xianxia : same universe as TMOPB, but different vibe.

For me, the universe is quite similar as TMOPB, but the tone is different.

PLOT: A young phoenix/demon general, (the FL) meets -in the mortal realm- the last of the old gods (the ML) in cultivation. She flees her arranged marriage with the grandson of the Celestial God, whom she considers frivolous and brainless. ML & FL will spend time together and form a deep bond. But this divine lord carries on his shoulders the balance of the 3 kingdoms and cannot let himself be disturbed by love.

This first narrative arc, short (10 episodes), is quite light. The narration is fast and the main characters well described. Overall, the CGI is good, but the spirit beasts and other animals are unconvincing.

The 2nd story arc tells the return to the immortal kingdom and the rise in power of the “villains”. New characters appear (granddaughter of the Celestial God) to lighten the rather dark tone. The FL will fight to the death. We then have several painful episodes, both for the FL and the ML.

During the 3rd story arc, the ML is now ready to accept his love. This is where he is most vulnerable and most moving. He puts the FL back on her feet, with Lady Jin 's help, a wacky character well-found to bring a little touch of humor. And everyone prepares themself for the final Great Battle.
There are a lot of flashbacks, cleverly introduced, to provide explanations for the arrival of events. I really like the characters of Liuyu and Fenglai.
The Happy Ending is well developed (2 episodes), but the "wink to Lady Jin - her fiancé" is a bit forced, not too successful.

PROS:
+ A great CL with Lin Geng Xin and Zhao Li Ying (alchemy & talent: a GREAT couple)
+ The actors are TOP (all).
+ The CGI (except animals) are very successful
+ The fight scenes are perfect
+ Sceneries, settings, make-ups, .... perfect.
+ The OSTs are epic and well suited (except during a painful scene, catchy music :( )
+ No real love triangle.

CONS:
- The romance / action / humor / melodrama balance is not as good as expected. There is too much suffering and the humor is a little forced.
- Some twists seem a bit artificial.

=> An excellent Xianxia, ​​fast paced, not too long, with a great cast and a great CL... but not up to the level of the mischief and humor of TMOPB for me.

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Excellent Xianxia avec Lin Geng Xin et Zhao Li Ying en CL.
L'univers est assez semblable à TMOPB, mais le ton est différent.

PLOT: Une jeune phoenix / générale démon, (la FL) rencontre -dans le royaume mortel- le dernier des anciens dieux (le ML) en cultivation. Elle fuit son mariage arrangé avec le petit-fils du Dieu Céleste, qu'elle juge frivole et écervelé. Ils vont passer du temps ensemble et tisser un lien profond. Mais ce seigneur divin porte sur ses épaules l'équilibre des 3 royaumes et ne peut pas se laisser troubler.

Ce 1er arc narratif, court (10 épisodes), est assez léger. La narration est rapide et les principaux personnages bien décrits. Globalement, les CGI sont de bonne qualité, mais les bêtes spirituelles et autres animaux sont peu convaincants.

Le 2e arc narratif traite du retour dans le royaume immortel, de la montée en puissance des "villains". De nouveaux personnages apparaissent (petite-fille du Dieu Céleste) pour alléger le ton plutôt sombre. La FL va se battre jusqu'à la mort. On a ensuite plusieurs épisodes douloureux, tant pour la FL que le ML.

Durant le 3e arc narratif, le ML est désormais prêt à assumer son amour. C'est là qu'il est le plus vulnérable et le plus émouvant. Il remet la FL sur pied, avec l'aide de Dame Jin, personnage loufoque bientrouvé pour apporter un peu d'humour. Et tout le monde se prépare pour aborder la Grande Bataille finale.
Il y a beaucoup de flash-backs, astucieusement introduits, pour donner les explications sur l'arrivée des évènements. J'aime beaucoup les personnages de Liuyu et de Fenglai.
La Happy End est bien développée (2 épisodes), mais le "clin d'oeil Dame Jin- son fiancé" est un peu forcé, pas trop réussi.

PROS:
+ Un CL génial (alchimie, talent : a GREAT couple)
+ Les acteurs sont au TOP (tous).
+ Les CGI (sauf animaux) sont très réussis
+ Les scènes de fight sont parfaites
+ Les OST sont épiques et bien adaptés (sauf lors d'une scène douloureuse, une musique entrainante :( )
+ Pas de réel love triangle.

CONS:
- L'équilibre romance / action / humour / mélo n'est pas aussi bon qu'attendu. Il y a trop de souffrance et l'humour est un peu forcé.
- Certains twists semblent un peu artificiels.

=> Un excellent Xianxia, rythmé, pas trop long, avec un super cast et un CL génial ... mais pas à la hauteur de la malice et de l'humour de TMOPB pour moi.

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Underdog story as an old-fashioned melodrama in the cutthroat world of fashion.

Review without major spoilers:

1. Fashion King is definitely in my top for romances & melodramas. It is dark, cunning, bold, toxic and complicated. I was so invested, still am, and will continue to be. I feel like I won't be able to move on for at least a week, as I keep thinking about it and listening to the OST, still fully in the mood of the drama. The beginning is straightforward and sets the tone perfectly. The story drags on, but you'll understand why if you like it or if you're ready to fully grasp what this story is about. The ending was not only gorgeous in terms of cinematography (which is also well thought-out overall) but it was in fact the apotheosis of character development. It was one of the most artistic endings I have ever seen, and it got everyone talking about it nonetheless, despite the controversy. The ending is well explained on the drama, and every time I looked back, I thought the drama was impressive. This is an unconventional story on humanity, and ultimately society. They didn't care whether anybody would love it or not, yet it managed to be popular in SK while it was airing. If you don't mind 1. a makjang-like drama with pathetic main characters, 2. unclear feelings and intentions (in this regard, the characters are rather realistic), 3. things being left off by the writers for you to decide how you feel about it, you might love the drama and the characters. You will find yourself rooting for everyone and no one. You guessed it, the characters are not written in a simple way. The male lead, Kang Young Gul, is morally grey and I love that. He is the good guy and to some extent the bad guy. Also, even if the drama depicted a cruel, ugly reality, we all know that the real world can be stranger and more wicked, which again highlights how good the ending is. On top of that, I'll give Fashion King the award of the most imaginative, disturbing and ambiguous ending. It is neither completely happy or sad, but scenaristically open (= not in a marketing way like nowadays Netflix/Disney+ dramas). It gives me very mixed emotions, but I am satisfied with it because it is brilliant.

2. If the main characters themselves don't know about some stuff, why shall we? Such mystery is also part of the tragedy. Some will say that I'm not objective because plot holes/loose ends are necessarily flaws, but everything here was intended. Not everyone gets it, but we need dramas like this, and it's not about them being loved or not. Keep complaining about the characters being unsympathetic, everything being badly written and whatever else you want, there will always be a few who get it and love it. Fashion King stayed bitterly unfair and cruel up to the very end. I truly loved the strong vibe this drama had, it remained firm and snob. To add further informations, the meaning behind the title is surprisingly quite big and there are some genius references, hints at the ending all throughout, which makes up for a rewatch.

3. You might think that I'm exaggerating, but you'll have to reach the last few episodes to realize the tragedy of this story (also explaining why it is "dark"). Like a crescendo, the conflict developed further and further until it reached a boiling point. That's where the angst really got to me and started making me feel anxious - leading to the ending. Then it all depends on you whether you are willing to accept it or not.

Reminder: you can't be too naive watching this and some maturity is needed.

4. I'll admit that I expected worse overall, even in terms of lack of communication etc and I thought it would be more of a frustrating watch. Indeed, I didn't really struggle watching this, instead I had a lot of fun. But that's personal. I also like crying a lot with dramas but I barely cried here, it's not really what the drama aims for. I've seen people saying they cried for days because of the ending, but from my point of view it cannot make me cry (though I can't say it didn't give me a sad, lingering feeling). I hope this review will be enough of a warning for you. Even outside the spoiler part, I have to prepare people as much as I can.

5. As far as I know, a lot of people have jumped on the hate bandwagon seeing it as a complete disaster. When the audience hates something this much, the majority won't try to perceive it as a good work and try to understand it. Especially since the rating is so low, it's easy to hate and be convinced about it. But I can't blame them because otherwise I too (for once), would have done the same. If it wasn't for the ending, it would be around 6.7 if not higher. But then, it wouldn't be what it is anymore. People obviously called it pointless, stupid and everything they wanted to after the ending but they are far from the truth.

6. I didn't watch it for being the lowest rated K-Drama on MDL, I just loved the cast, the poster and the premise. I also listened to one of the OST and had this gut feeling that it could only be really good. I always end up defending underrated dramas without forcing myself to. By the way of course there are low rated dramas that I agree on being nothing close to masterpieces whatsoever and it's not just me trying to convince myself that every low rated drama is good. I would never take so much time for a review nor having enough substance (especially in the spoilers part, and even then I had to hold back on details because it was far too long) to make it this long if it was bad and I didn't sincerely love it.

7. I can only respect the trauma that a lot of people had to put up with. While this was a source of entertainment on my side, this was a source of suffering for others. Luckily enough for them, there won't be anything like this again. I don't think you can compare Fashion King with any drama, except maybe What Happened in Bali by the same writers and chief producer. What's for sure is that they are both unique and memorable. Moreover, this is my opinion and you don't have to agree. I can't deny how I feel and what I think, just like you can't either and have every right to be harsh, give it the lowest rating and express your opinion. I find the rating on MDL to be fair, because it serves as a warning. Anyone who's not too naive knows very well that ratings here are not representative in terms of quality. High rated dramas can be objectively not as good as some low rated dramas and vice versa. Ratings are mostly representative of how mainstream a drama is. I admit 5.8 is extremely low on MDL but I guess that's because a lot of the viewers felt the need to express their anger by rating it as low as possible. I'll add that even within the haters of the drama, I've seen so many different opinions/interpretations and a lot of people who actually understood the message of the drama without necessarily realizing it. It also seems that some people watched it to join the hate train but couldn't assume that they enjoyed it. Another fun fact to note is that there are people who liked the ending and not the rest. In addition, if it managed to make people 1. angry 2. cry for days 3. theorizing and discussing no matter how much they hated it, that says a lot too. It's unlikely to leave you indifferent unless you want to forget about it as soon as you finished because you actually didn't care. What else could the staff ask for? They knew it was going to get a lot of backlash, and I'm sure the audience response was exactly what they expected. Funnily enough, people still watched it to the end. I understand why most would regret watching and call it a waste of time, but I couldn't be more grateful personally.

Say what you like, but to me this is a proof of the greatness of this story. I expected worse actually, because I found many positive and more or less mixed comments here and on other sites when I thought everyone would be hiding. It surprised me, especially as I sometimes see more hatred towards dramas rated around 6.9. I suppose that it's because the drama is old and not popular worldwide, barely anyone knows about it. The rating clearly plays a role as well so again I can only be thankful that it's rated this low. What's more, I found out that the korean audience liked it! The evaluation was actually pretty good overall, despite the controversial ending which led to more mixed reactions.

9. About What Happened in Bali: I didn't watch it yet, but I got spoiled the ending. I will watch it even if it's too old for my taste, normally. All I can say about the two is that even if they are from the same writers and chief producer, have similar themes etc, they are different. WHIB was more of a hit than Fashion King in SK actually, with FK having an average of more than 10% and WHIB over 20% (which is huge). Perhaps people enjoyed WHIB more because of its strong emotional value. Not saying that FK isn't emotional or that this makes it any less good, but WHIB sounds worse in every aspect whenever I hear about it. Simply, FK might not have appealed as much. Knowing about both endings, no, they are not the same, and WHIB's end is definitely easier to accept than FK's controversial end.

Edit: after having second thoughts, it might depend on other things such as a different airing time slot, the other dramas airing and the fact that more people were watching on TV in 2004. still, 10% is a lot.

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How could they mess this up so badly?

Note, the 6.0 for the cast include the guy who played Ryu Shi Oh (which is a 10+). Everyone else plus Ryu Shi Oh averages out to equal a 6.

I've never watched a show or read a book where I was actively rooting for the villain to succeed as much as I was rooting for Ryu Shi Oh. The only other example I can think of is 'Black Panther' and even then, I liked the hero a lot and felt conflicted. Not so with this show.

Ryu Shi Oh was the only good thing (other than the cameo from the original show). And it's not like he was just okay. He was AMAZING. What the actor did with this character was nothing short of miraculous. Thus, when you compare all the other characters and their nonsensical journeys and lack of chemistry to Ryu Shi Oh, it made this show so difficult (and frustrating) to watch.

How did the creators not understand what was happening while they were making it? It seems so obvious. If you have a villain that is 100% more interesting and compelling than the hero, you re-write the script and you reshoot scenes. You make the hero the second lead and you redeem the villain. Come on, people. But, no. We (and Ryu Shi Oh) were robbed. We were so, so, so robbed.

The other storylines were over-the-top and incredibly boring, to be honest. I tried watching them but ended up fast forwarding any scene that didn't include Ryu Shi Oh.

In summary, I can't recommend watching this show, not even for Ryu Shi Oh. Instead, save yourself the frustration and just watch edits of Ryu Shi Oh. You'll get the picture and save yourself the brain-numbing exposure to the rest of this tepid drama.

What a colossal waste of time.

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An eternal love

A series with rare qualities, which kept me captivated, hoping and crying at their same time. It's not action (in fact there is very little going on), it's not high school or college drama, it's not struggling in life. It's acquiring awareness, it's eternity, it's closure and a new beginning at the same, all on a metaphysical, philosophical level. I also like the fact, that the series is well-paced and finishes once the story is told; it doesn't stretch more than necessary.

The acting is very good, both main characters excel in their respective roles, conveying their emotional development with minimal actions (as required by the script). The cinematography is simply spectacular (what with Thailand's breathtaking nature), the music is ok. The plot is a bit confusing. There is a strong tendency towards abstraction and vagueness (which is justified), but it goes a bit too far. This does not diminish the series' worth, since the plot per se is not the main focus.

For reasons I don't want to disclose (but become obvious once watched), this series may speak to the not-anymore-so-young ones among us a bit more.

Watch with your closest and oldest friends and plan for a couple of beers or a glass of wine afterwards.

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Oh, the vibes were vibing

Between Us is messy, convoluted, and melodramatic. But despite every rule in the book telling me I should never touch this again. The chemistry of Prem (Team) and Boun (Win) was immaculate and made me love Between Us with my whole heart. Not only did they steal every scene, aside from Cooheart, in Until We Meet Again. But this side story series did them the justice they deserved by giving them more time in the spotlight.

My only harp on this pair is in episode eleven, when the writers make them bring out that dam guitar and sing each other's emotions. Another critique I would have is how many couples there were. I enjoyed Yacht's (Tul) performance but felt like their story could have been fleshed out a lot more.

But overall to keep it short and sweet, this BL is for those who enjoy their BLs with a handful of melodrama and bedroom pillow talk.

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