SarahD

Short, sweet and very cute

The storyline is very simple, downtrodden young seamstress goes back in time to right the wrongs of 5 years earlier.
Ding Yuxi is very convincing as the hero both in the future and the past and manages to pull off the cute boy next door falling for the female lead really well. From cute college boy giving her shy glances to alpha male, fierce protector he is very believable.
I’d not come across Li Yingying before but she is very adaptable and the two versions of herself are poles apart, both in terms of character and physical appearance. Bravo young lady
Would I watch again? If I just wanted to kill a few hours, absolutely

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Fabulous ‘kids break up and fall in love again as adults’ drama

I really enjoyed the chemistry between the Fl & ML though I will admit I find Tang Sonyun a little bit mumsy but the ML is totally ‘Mr tall, dark and handsome’.
The plot follows 2 kids that meet and fall in love at high school (he’s the school heart throb and she’s just miss normal and sweet). She has a stable, loving middle class family and his is unstable, difficult and working class yet despite their backgrounds they fall deeply in love and when they meet up again 10 years later they realise they never got over their romance and just pick up where they left off.
The plot is sweet and at times absolutely hilarious (the marriage proposal of his best friend was priceless and the reaction of the SWAT team really memorable) and the support cast really add extra dimension to the whole plot.
I need to visit the place they went for their camping trip.
If you want a feel good storyline then I can’t recommend this one enough.

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Great story but can’t see the chemistry

Great story and some of the supporting cast have better acting skills (chemistry) than the main characters.
Xu Kai acts his little cotton socks off as usual but I just can’t always see the chemistry between him and Tan Songyun though there are plenty of sweet, intimate moments that are on point (the shaving scene for example).
The struggle to build a strong fledgling business is really obvious and the team the FL has around her are brilliant, especially the actors He Rui Xian and Tang Zhen Chao and you feel their struggles with both their private and corporate lives.
Cute little story but doesn’t pack a punch (for me) the way some of Xu Kai’s other work does. Perhaps it’s because it doesn’t run through all the emotions we often get in a c-drama or perhaps it’s because I just didn’t feel Tan Songyun was as good as he was.
Would I watch this again? No

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Chef’s kiss to plot line, angst levels and acting

Final update:
Wow! What a twist and turn filled drama, deserving of the hype surrounding it and absolutely brimming with utter angst. Chef’s kiss to how the screen writers handled this complex plot and the chemistry between the actors.

The drama follows two men who meet at school, fall in love and then spend 10 years dealing with the aftermath of being split apart by angry parents determined that their love was wrong and needed to be snuffed out and the emotional catalyst of how Lu Feng dealt with the trauma.

As I waited for the final two chapters I couldn’t work out how on earth Lu Feng could redeem himself in this intense drama but it all became apparent when Yichen stepped up and became the fearless and strong young man Lu Feng needed him to be - creating the perfect ending to one of the best dramas I have seen to date.

My only criticism would be the weird penultimate scene between Yichen’s younger brother and his lover Qin Lang. It added nothing to the overall story and just seemed a bit… I don’t know what to call it but irrelevant is up there as an adjective (and with zero chemistry) and led to me removing a point for story.

I’ve never read the book (haven’t been able to find it in English yet) but every part of the plot line has left me feeling sick with frustration and the knowledge that these two characters seem destined to rip each other’s hearts out again and again. Even so I still prayed that they’d get their happy ending.

The acting is utterly brilliant and painfully real and you quickly get pulled into a plot filled with toxic parents, sacrifice, guilt, crumbling sanity and jealousy. Would their love survive the trials it is being put under and would their siblings actually accept them for who they are? Even at 10 episodes in I still wasn’t sure how things would pan out.

The supporting cast are equally believable and compelling and although I hated Yichen’s mother, I can see why she piled on the massive guilt trip that led to him sacrificing his own happiness for his younger brother. Additionally I can also see why Lu Feng’s sister is equally determined to make her brother conform to their father’s expectations. Yi Chen’s brother and Qin Lang portray flawed and complex humans and throughout this drama they offer a level of family centred stability that was probably the reason why Yichen is able to be so strong for Lu Feng.

Up to and including episode 10:

I’ve never read the story (haven’t been able to find it in English yet) but every part of the story line has me feeling sick with frustration that these two characters seem destined to rip each other’s hearts out again and again yet naively I’m praying they get their happy ending.

The acting is utterly brilliant and painfully real so that you quickly become invested in a plot which follows the two main characters as they fall deeply in love while at school but are ripped apart by family expectations and loyalty. Toxic parents, sacrifice, guilt and jealousy, you name it, this drama has it all. Will their love survive the trials it is being put under and will their siblings actually accept them for who they are? 10 episodes in and I’m so desperate for them to get their happy ending even though right now, new road blocks block their paths back to each other. This is chef’s kiss angst.

The supporting cast are equally well acted and compelling and although I hate Yichen’s mother, I can see why she piled on the massive guilt trip that led to him sacrificing his own happiness for his younger brother. I can also see why Lu Feng’s sister is equally determined to make him conform to their father’s expectations. Additionally the second male leads are also on point - well cast and with depth to their characters. They portray flawed and complex humans and although initially Yichen’s brother is his biggest supporter and determined that he also deserves to be happy as time goes on I can see him doing a complete 180 as circumstances change in this roller coaster ride.

I’ve only ever binge watched BL stories before and it’s killing me that I’m having to wait a week for the next two episodes.

—————

Will I watch this again? Absolutely bl**dy right I will

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I love a bit of angst but I was completely drawn in then wrung out by this powerful story

Ok, so I will admit I watched a snippet of absolute smut from this series on YouTube and felt it was only right and proper to investigate further and what I got was bag loads more than I ever expected in what has become one of my favourite dramas ever.

The story follows two best friends in their final year of high school and their journey to finding love. Xiang Houting is a beautiful, popular, cocky student whose life revolves around earning money, skipping classes and annoying his parents and Sun Boxiang who has known from a very early age that he is gay. When we first meet Houting he is in a relationship with a girl but somehow, and very surprisingly, he is drawn in by the quiet, focused, super nerd Yu Shigu and he goes from tormenting him to falling completely and utterly in love with him. Sun Boxiang works part time for his cousin at his gym where he spots and immediately falls for the much older, emotionally broken Lu Xhigang who doesn’t think that someone much younger than him could possibly have enough emotional depth to be considered boyfriend material.

Unfortunately life has a habit of throwing curve balls into the mix so although we watch how deeply invested these couples become the question is will both of these couples get their happy endings? I won’t spoil it but the final episode had me sobbing like a broken thing and I even went back to the preceding episode (ep 9) to check context and promises and sobbed through ch 10 again.

I take my hat off to all the actors - the break up scene mid way through this drama between Houting and his girl friend was fantastically well acted. Wang Chen Lin who played the jilted Li Siyu gave the most realistic crying performance I have ever seen, wobbly chin and all, as she went from ‘I didn’t see this coming but I can pull up my big girl’s pants and not let him see how upset I am’ to ‘oh crap, my mascara is going to run and I really don’t care anymore’ with such emotional depth and realism that it has stayed with me long after the scene completed and I give it a well deserved chef’s kiss as a result.

The final episode was brilliantly done (though I do think a different actor should have played the climber as this confused me until one comment made me realise why he’d ended up with this second role) and the actor’s raw, wobbly chin and all portrayal of the depth of his heartbreak made me understand how some people never fully recover from a tragedy of this magnitude.

The whole drama was brilliantly written and there were no filler scenes or unnecessary sub plots. (Yay!)

Would I watch this again? I think by looking at the overall score you can guess that I will definitely break my heart over this one again. Bravo to everyone involved.

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Everything about this is wonderful

From the moment I started watching I was captivated. From the acting to the plot line, from heartbreaking sadness through to betrayal and manipulation. Utter joy to deep love, from tears of sadness to chuckles of laughter, from the production values to the OST. All capped off with an emotional and poignant ending and then a ‘what if’ version of 16 years earlier that was so poignant but still managed to make me smile.

Bravo.

The story follows Fan Chengyu, an orphaned girl who follows in her father’s footsteps and becomes a pig butcher to make ends meet and support her much younger sister. One day she finds a man, Yan Zheng, who’s dying in the snow and the story follows them on their journey of discovery and as they turn the world upside down.

Stand out performances: Zhang Linghe as Yan Zheng and Tian Xi Wei who played Fan Chengyu were dynamite together, every scene together a masterclass in chemistry.
Deng Kai as Qi Min a sociopathic monster whose ending broke my heart.
Snow Kong who plays the ethereal Yu Qianqian with a mysterious past that only Qi Min picks up on.
The fierce Princess Royal and her lover Gongsun Jin.
The adorable Mr & Mrs Zhao.
The cute and believable kids.
Grannie Kang.
The puppet emperor.
The Northwest Pig Butcher Squad…
the list goes on

I’m not going to say any more as you need to watch this yourself

Would I watch it again? Absolutely - the last chapter is so incredible that I may have already watched it a couple of times just to make sure I haven’t missed anything and every time my heart aches for the most misunderstood and abused character of all.

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What’s not to like about this drama

Took me a while to find it but I did so on UK’s YouTube channel ‘kk cdrama’.

The story follows four icons of the student body at MingDu University and international champions of the bridge card game, who call themselves collectively F4. A bookish, slightly autistic and very talented musician (Hua Ze Lei), a playboy with a hidden past who loves tea (Zi Men Yan), a fun and flirty boy with cute looks and a penchant for older women (Feng Mai Zuo) and the most drooled over of them all, a bad boy who is very protective of those he cares about with a monster for a mother (Dao Ming Si). Life is an easy one for these guys - all over 6 foot tall, with brains, big hearts and even bigger bank balances - until they cross paths with a female pint sized whirlwind (Dong Shan Cai) and her motley crew. She’s not impressed by their fan base or their aloof attitude and turns the world of at least one of these young men on its head.

There are twists and turns, high and lows, laugh out loud moments and tears aplenty in a story of how a pairing of complete opposites go from absolute haters to a couple so deeply in love that they are prepared to sacrifice themselves for each other.

The story takes us from the uber rich elite lifestyle of Shanghai to the impoverished one-step-above-the-breadline daily grind of musicians in London, from the lower working class areas of Shanghai to a sleepy little fishing village in rural China and the beauty of the best of London landmarks. (However the London pad of the Daoming dynasty was probably shot in rural Surrey but let’s not let the facts get the way of a good story).

The production values are first class, the songs beautiful and appropriate to the scenes and the actors utterly brilliant though I do think that the scriptwriter could have given sister Yu more of a backbone and thus a more interesting part to play in the drama.

Would I watch it again? Absolutely as the chemistry between the characters and the ‘will they, won’t they’ plots of the main characters and their love interests was so well written.

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Delivered everything I was hoping for

It was refreshing to see a different side of Ester Yu and she was paired brilliantly with He Yu who was the reason I came to this drama.

I knew from what she said at the outset on the plane that this was going to be good. Everything she described him as was so polar opposite to what she found and this drama did not disappoint as they clashed and crashed their way through their mental and emotional issues to seek out their happy ending which was great to see in a plot that made me laugh, cry and want to bash their heads together. Perfect Romcom

Would I watch again? Absolutely

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OMG! This story was absolutely incredible, powerful, heartbreaking yet with a silver lining.

The opening scene should have made me realise that this was a one in a million story as we watch two bright young lives destroyed by suicide.

It is the companion side plot to the Between Us drama starring Boun Noppanut as Win and Prem Warut at Team and I’m glad I watched that one first as although their characters feature in this they are a very, very minor sub plot in this drama and watching them the other way round would not have worked so well.

The story centres around Pharm (played by Fluke Natouche) and Dean (played by Ohm Thitiwat) who are students at the same university. Dean is a final year student whose world is turned upside down by Pharm, a first year, when they meet for the first time and his lifelong search is finally over as he recognises his past in this new kid on the block.

Approximately 40 years earlier two young lads - Korn (played by Kai Noppakao) and Intouch (played by Earth Katsamonnat) fall in love in a world filled with homophobia and fathers who cannot accept their love. One fateful night (Intouch’s 18th birthday) during a heated argument between the fathers and the sons, Korn grabs his father’s gun from his waistband, tells Intouch that he loves him then blows his brains out. In, seeing his boyfriend’s body lying in a pool of blood rushes over and amidst a grief filled sob fest grabs the gun tells him that he loves him then proceeds to kill himself too.

As the drama unfolds we realise that Dean and Pharm are the reincarnation of Korn and In as they begin to have more and more flash backs letting them into to the lives of the two deceased men.

There are sad bits, funny bits and every emotion in between and Fluke and Ohm do a fantastic job of making their confused past believable. In the final scenes Fluke broke my heart as he has a mental breakdown over what happened to Intouch in his last few moments of grief before committing suicide too.

This story is a testament to the strength of love that knows no boundaries set in a world of homophobia and the tragic backlash of the double suicide that leaves the remaining family members guilt riddled and broken. This really makes the viewer stop and think about the devastating results of people’s prejudices and how utterly horrendous the fall out from suicide really is.

That said, in the final scenes there is forgiveness and the laying to rest of ghosts that paves the way for Dean and Pharm to commit to each other and this understanding of what happened and what the future could be turns this plot from a terrible tragedy into a story of redemption and hope.

Bravo to the actors and script writers for such a powerful story.

This is my favourite drama ever and I sobbed so much and so loudly through the last two chapters (to the point my husband who was in a different room thought I was laughing) as the ramifications of the actions first of Korn and then In became apparent.

Would I watch this again? Totally, absolutely and inevitably

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Bound by fate, kept by love, strengthened by never giving up…

In my top 2 stories.

This is so much more than a BL story. Yes there are a few scenes that contain NC, but they are extremely gentle and few and far between so if you’ve come here to watch some incredibly beautiful actors get dominatingly passionate or down and dirty all the time then this is not one for you. (Though the young adult actors are really very beautiful I will admit)

The plot follows a 20 year old called Khemjira and his closest friends as they try to undo a curse laid on his family that dooms male heirs to die before they reach 21. Along with a group of university students he goes on a summer camp to a distant and rather mystical village where he meets Master Paran with whom he shares deep and heartbreaking love in a previous life as fiancés as Khemmika and Wat. Meeting up in current day Thai Shaman duties and impending doom initially make it difficult for them to admit their feelings so there’s a lot of ‘will they, won’t they?’ creating additional tension for quite a few of the earlier episodes.

The second leads Chan and Jet were also lovers in their previous lives where coincidentally they were friends of Khemmika and Wat and they too remember their past but will they have the courage to pledge themselves to each other in this life? The other main characters namely Grandma Si, Yos, Chai, Thong and Ek all have a vested interest in Khem’s welfare, are brilliantly cast and add depth and dimension to an already well rounded story.

The actress Green who convincingly plays Rampueng, the bad guy who is determined Khem will not survive to be 21, is fabulously rounded as an out an out baddie but is she just venting her anger at the treatment and loss she suffered nearly 300 years earlier? The back story to Rampueng’s curse is so unfair and you will really feel for her as we get to understand why she does what she does to the people who wronged her and why she cannot let go of her hate.

This BL story is not your traditional ‘boy meets boy who get hot and heavy together and then live happily ever after’. It’s about love, revenge, hate and forgiveness and has a FANTASTIC plot line that will have you empathising with and rooting for every one of the main characters and sobbing as you get closer to Khem’s birthday. You will roll your eyes, jump as things go bump in the night, clap at little wins, smile and cry as the resolve of the main characters is put to the test in the roller coaster of a ride set in a very beautiful, spiritual and traditional Thai environment where spells, incantations, monks, Mo Phi’s and a shaman protect against evil forces.

There is nothing to dislike about this story (even though traditional Thai love songs are a little jarring to my western ears) and I would thoroughly recommend watching this.

The script is incredible, the acting terrific and believable, the buildings and backdrop on point and the fact it is set in such a stunning and cultural location adds value to the plot. Chef’s kiss level.

Would I watch again. Definitely. Absolutely

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Great little BL rom com with sizzling chemistry - updated review after 2nd viewing

This series needs to be immediately followed up by Cutie Pie II (uncut) in order to gain full closure and I will comment on this second series as part of this review.

The plot centres around Kuea and Lian who first meet when Lian is 7 and Kuea is a brand new baby. Lian immediately falls in love and they develop a strong bond which Kuea’s grandfather recognises and asks that the two boys enter into an arranged marriage. The drama is about their similarities and differences and whether they can weather the storm created by the fact that they try to be what they think the other needs rather than are true to themselves. Underlying this main plot is a sub plot highlighting the fact that love is love regardless of gender and the unfairness that gay couples face by not being able to celebrate their love through marriage.
Once the drama moved past the initially odd relationship between Kuea and Lian and I begin to understand what they were and weren’t saying to each other I became very invested in both the developing plot and their real feelings for each other. The acting is fabulous not just between the 2 males leads whose chemistry was electric but the rest of the main supporting cast who are equally talented and believable and there are some stand out performances including Foei, Lian’s right hand man who is crazy eccentric. Two other couples emerge as the story progresses and again there are wonderfully powerful scenes from them too.

The music scenes were really enjoyable because each time Kuea performed as Kilin he sang complete songs (that lasted for more than four lines and a quick chorus) with lyrics that were relevant to the situation Kuea and Lian found themselves in at that moment. Also the actor who played Kuea has a fantastic voice and excellent stage presence (yes, I know he’s a singer in real life)

The penultimate scene (in part 2) is a beautiful, raw, powerful and tender homage to true love and is something I will cherish forever. You need to watch both dramas just for this scene alone.

What’s not to like? Until the blanks are filled in through flashbacks I wasn’t really sure where the story was going to take me. Kuea is a sort of weird performing puppy dog on their date nights (always on a Friday) and Lian tries to control everything about him both on these evenings and during every other interaction they have. I initially thought ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and I couldn’t get my head round the idea that all the parents seemed to think that a same sex arranged marriage was a safe and healthy place for Kuea. It probably took until about chapter 8 or 9 before I thought they should be together. I am not homophobic (IMO people should be allowed to love who they love and not be penalised for it in any way) but docked marks against the ‘Story’ category for how weird I found it that the parents assumed the boys would be happy to be in arranged marriage based on the assumptions made by the grandfather. What if the boys had not been gay?! Arranged marriages can be challenging enough at the best of times but in a country that did not recognise same sex marriage at the time this was filmed it’s doubly difficult to imagine that the parents would be comfortable for them to be together. IMHO the plot would have been so much more plausible if the grandfather had interviewed the boys (and the conversations interwoven into the story line) to give him grounds for recommending that they get married.

Would I watch this again? Despite the negatives mentioned, yes, yes I would

REVIEW UPDATE:
I watched this again as I came across the OST from when Kirin exposed his true identity at Gemini and unbeknownst to him Lian was in the audience and it made me keen to watch it again.
Not only did I find it much funnier (certainly in the first few episodes) but I fell in love with the giggles that emanated from Kuea and Lian in the NC scenes that reinforced the fact that s*x isn’t just about bodice ripping passion but that it can be playful too. It was refreshing to see this side of a relationship being portrayed in a drama.
Nunew was only 21 when he acted in this drama and he absolutely nailed the angst, fear and insecurity his character felt when he realised that nobody took him seriously as a grown up, capable of grown up thinking and decision making. He was also spot on in the more positive and heartwarming scenes. So kudos for his talent. The chemistry between him and Zee was so believable and they are a highly skilled, great pairing.
On watching this a second time I also realised much earlier that although the two main characters were groomed to become life partners by the elders, they probably would have fallen for each other anyway and what made it all more believable were some of the more subtle exchanges that I missed the first time round as I was too busy being judgy.

All in all I am glad I rewatched this as I got so much more enjoyment the second time around.

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If you’re looking for a light hearted rom com with lots of funny bits, this is for you

I giggled, laughed and just plain out snorted (yes, really!) my way through this lovely gem of a story which I will admit I wanted to watch because of Song Weilong.
The story is about a group of students at an all boys college who bond over trying to get to the truth behind a tragedy that happened nearly 20 years earlier. Additionally there are a number of interesting sub plots along the way including ones that will frustrate you through to a couple that will make you think “awww, how cute”.
The lead players are completely different characters: Wen Bin/Xi a young girl who pretends to be her brother; Yue Xuan a slick talking lad who turns any trick possible to make a profit; Lei Zi Xin a thug who has a chip on his shoulder the size of a potato field and Feng Cheng Yun a straight laced student from a very noble background who wants justice and equality for all. As the story unfolds this unlikely (and very good looking) bunch become deeply connected brothers (and sister).
The way the story has been written the two stooges, namely Wen Bin and Feng Cheng Jun, are the perfect foil to the comedy element provided by Yue Xian and Lei Zi Xin which just makes everything even more enjoyable.
These lead actors head up a stellar cast and there are plenty of good things to say about all the supporting actors whose stories intertwine with this four. From a wonderfully flaky school principal who oscillates between different points of view depending on his audience to a school bully who has a beautiful redemption arc and a young lady that falls in love too easily. There are baddies, innocents, love stuck young people and tense moments in this story that turn something quite straightforward into an even more enjoyable plot.
The fight scenes are about right even though one tiny woman somehow manages to out fight a whole platoon of soldiers which did make me roll my eyes a little. The costumes are gorgeous (especially the school uniform for the archery competition) and the overall production values very high. The music wasn’t particularly memorable but maybe that’s not a bad thing as some dramas have scores that are so powerful as to detract from the plot.
There is lots to love about this rom com and IMHO it rivals Filter in terms of the comedy.
Would I watch this again? Absolutely

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Great chemistry but a story that just goes on and on

There is so much to enjoy about this drama but equally lots that frustrates.
The ML falls in love with the FL very quickly but as they are both pretending to be someone they are not and as they are both bound by social and familial restrictions it takes a while for them to realise what they mean to each other so slow burn is an understatement.
The ending is very rushed as some of the plot that winds its way through this story just fizzles out without any real understanding or resolution. A great example is the copper box and gold keys which are integral to the story for 75% of the time but we never really find out if anyone managed to collect all the puzzle pieces and successfully open it.
Yang Zi and Qin Jun Jie act brilliantly together and his long lingering looks could set a room on fire, it’s just a shame that her character is too focused on her mission to see it and reciprocate until the last couple of episodes and by then it’s too late.
The production values are good, the costumes and cast excellent and if they could have cut out a whole pile of irrelevance this would have been even better than it was. I did find it quite repetitive at times.
The final scene is gut wrenchingly sad and my heart broke as the words of the grandmother came true. Nuff said, I won’t spoil it any further.
Would I watch it again? Probably not as the brutal editing of the ending leaves too much to the imagination with no clear outcome

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Clever plot line - all is not what it seems…

This drama is well acted with great production values, costumes and a slow burning romance.
The first few lives the couple lead are fairly straightforward and although the FLs character tragically dies in one of the scenarios there are amusing moments and a slow but steady move towards love. Each time they venture into the next tribulation they discover more and more that they like about each other ans they start to uncover the truth which leads to the ML starting to thaw out his once dead heart. The ML and FL start to fall in love and it’s not just about personalities and chemistry, it’s also about trust which adds depth to their story. Their chemistry is so believable and beautiful.
The bad guy isn’t who you’d expect at the outset but before he reveals himself you get hints that turn into red flags and then you can really see the depths of his selfishness and depravity. As with all the actors he is so believable and brilliantly cast.
My only criticism would be the royal guard costumes that seem to have been fitted to giants and then worn by normal sized actors - like they’ve been handed to a younger brother. Small detail but soooo annoying when you consider how amazing all the other costumes are.
Will probably watch again at some point

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