Nat

The amount of kissing this drama has...

This was the kind of drama I love when I watch xianxia: heartbreaking romance, reincarnation, worldbuilding, high stakes.

What I really liked is that this drama did not waste time setting up a lengthy exposition like we had in Ancient Love Poetry (15 episodes almost to get it going, as far as I remember).

Here we get right to the point without unnecessary bells and whistles. We get our FL, our ML, our antagonists, and go right to the love story. I actually liked that the story was heavily concentrated on the relationship between the leads instead of all other side characters and such. In all honesty, in C-dramas, it's very, very rare that I find the secondary CP or supporting characters interesting. Extra couple always seems like it's a filler to make sure there is enough content for the drama to lasts at least 30 episodes.

I liked the intimacy between the leads and the way the romance developed. I think the actors did a stellar job. I also adored the actress. Never seen her in anything, but she was so good in the first arc, playing the role of a clueless girl who just wanted to get by without getting involved.

Now, the amount of kissing this drama has shocked me a little. In a good way, of couse. At least half the episodes have kisses, which is rare for a C-drama. I loved the intimacy in general.

I believe the only complaint I have is that the last two arcs were a tad short. Especially the third one. I think either adding more episodes to make sure each arc has equal amount of screen time or shortening the first arc to make room for the other two stories would have been a better choice. I feel like there were a lot of wasted opportunities in the third arc in the mortal realm. I would have loved to see the relationship between the leads develop differently over a longer course of time in the last bit of the story. There was room to work with more palace intrigue too. As a writer, I would follow this guidelines. But again, I don't watch to critique professionally, neither do I write xainxia scripts. I'll watch for entertainment and to get away from my real-life problems before sleep. So for me, this was a chef's kiss.

Things I look for in the epic xianxias are always timeless love, character development for both ML and FL, chemistry, decent CGI and good worldbuilding and acting of course. This drama has it all.

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Sweet but Slow and Overhyped

"Shine On Me" is a typical sweet C-drama romance, that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. I personally feel it’s been quite overhyped. Probably because of Song Wei Long’s visuals in a suit.

If you're a fan of slow, sugary romance dramas with seemingly unnecessary characters, this one might be right up your alley.

The show starts off extremely slow—almost like a slice-of-life narrative. It lingers on conflicts that feel underdeveloped as the show progresses. The focus is primarily on our female lead, whose frustrating communication style detracts from the story. Her unrequited love for Zhuang Xu feels like it drags on for too long and for no particular reason, except for him being her unrequited crush. Honestly, if you haven’t had an intimate relationship with someone, why take years to move on? Maybe I’m just too Westernized, but this aspect felt unbelievable to me. And I’m absolutely fine with suspending my belief where it’s needed. I get what fiction is. I don’t watch romance for reality.

Zhao Jin Mai, usually praised for her acting skills, appeared somewhat unfocused in her role. At least at the beginning. She’s cast as an assertive and hardworking young woman with a family from a wealthy background, yet her behavior at times didn’t align with this characterization. The dialogue, especially between her and some other characters revolving around her in the first half of the drama, suffers from awkward pauses that made it seem as though the actors were struggling to remember their lines, which was frustrating. I get it. This was way of directors to show the characters and who they were at the beginning of their journey, but it made them look like they were teenagers instead of college graduates.

On the other hand, Song Wei Long certainly looks great in a suit. However, some of his early scenes seemed strangely mechanical, almost as if he was still rehearsing. By the later episodes, the acting improves significantly, which makes me wonder if it was a directing issue.

There are far too many characters introduced in earlier episodes, many of whom end up as mere afterthoughts rather than having substantial storylines. For example, Xi Guang’s college friends and even Zhuang Xu had screen time that was wasted, particularly when he spent far too long just staring out a window. If the writers chose to give characters like them significant screen time, they should have crafted deeper narrative for them. I think they did try, but Zhuang Xu had so much screen time and there are minutes and minutes of him just drinking and remembering the past. Writers should have given him a better, more rounded story. He should have gotten a love of interest for himself at the end.

As for romance, prepare for an extreme slow burn: it takes 25 episodes just for the couple to hold hands after they decided that they want to be together, and even longer for a proper kiss. The sweetness of the romance is undeniable, but the pacing makes it tedious at times. And to be honest, the issues I had are mostly with the first 20 episodes of the show. After that, the pacing and the storyline picked up and the acting was a lot better. Also don’t worry, even though the romance is very slow, they catch up in the last few episode. There’s plenty of really great kissing.

The family conflict could have been introduced earlier. Because once it came into the picture, the show felt more interesting. The stakes becamea lot more interesting as opposed to the episodes in the drama when we had Xi Guang try to get over some guy whose hand she’d never held when such a sweetheart of a man was right in front of her, ready to give her the world. Sometimes I wanted to scream at her: girl, are you stupid?

"Shine On Me" isn’t a horrible drama. I liked it. But again it wasn’t anything special to think about for days after you finish watching. It lacks the cinematic flair to make it a standout. The cinematography is just okay, with some bland color choices. The main couple is charming, but the unnecessary screen time wasted on unimportant plot points diminishes the overall experience. The happy ending is sweet and swoony, and honestly, I found myself needing a couple of attempts to finish the final episode. If you enjoy clean, sweet romance without the angst, this may be for you. I think the writing could have been better and if they were different choices made when it came to the script, I would have loved it a lot more.

I know a lot of people love this drama, but in my opinion, it’s is overrated and doesn’t deserve its high rating. For me, "Speed and Love," "The First Frost," or "Hidden Love" are by far better-written romances with the better central conflict.

PS I skipped a lot of scenes, in particular the ones with Xi Guang and her coworkers. And I did not miss a single thing.

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An In-Depth Exploration of Childhood Trauma Set Against a Romantic Backdrop

If you’re going into *Can This Love Be Translated?* expecting swoony romance (I mean Kim Seon Ho paired up with Go Youn Jung!), adjust your expectations accordingly.

While the drama features romance, it’s important to note that it’s more focused on the complexities of mental health and the healing journey for our female lead rather than a traditional K-Drama love story. It will be evident when you start watching and notice that Cha Mu Hui gets quite a lot of screen time as opposed to her love interest. And obviously, this is for a reason.

I typically divide K-dramas into two categories: the quirky, over-the-top madness that follows a typical formula and is a full-on cliche ride that’s totally a wild ride, and those that stray from it. Lowkey, slow-paced, and nuanced stories. And they can be real gems. *Can This Love Be Translated?* belongs to the second category and, while I often find these dramas can really stand out from the crowd (Worst of Evil, Somebody, Eat, Love, Kill to name a few), this one didn’t hit the mark for me.

To be honest, I’m disappointed because I truly enjoy both actors, especially Kim Seon Ho as Ju Ho Jin. I’ve been waiting for a new romance drama featuring him for a while.

The drama starts off slowly but the first episode sets up the story’s foundation really well and I think it almost does the drama disservice because I expected that we would progress in the same manner. But the pacing for some reason did not take off or kept up. I don’t mind the slow pace at first because I know sometimes Asian dramas like to get really detailed with their exposition. However, my expectation is that once the foundation is laid, we need to make sure we start building upon it rather quickly, or build towards something.

But in *Can This Love Be Translated?* the plot kind of just wobbles through the motions. Yes things are happening and yes, some of them are interesting and there is a secondary couple. That’s quite cute, and I liked that there was not a lot of drama around them and things got resolved pretty quickly. But I think our leading couple deserved a little bit more. While they had some really great scenes and dialogues, they also had some strange ones too.

The drama attempts to explore deeper themes like childhood trauma, mental health, and the complexities of human relationships. However, it stumbled in the execution, particularly in how characters communicated with one another. I understood what the writers aimed to convey, and why the communication was meant to be still good and not clear (I mean, the show is literally about translating and understanding), but some dialogues missed the mark and didn’t effectively get to the point. I'm pretty decent at reading between the lines, but even I struggled to get the idea behind their interactions.

While I appreciated the detailed portrayal of Cha Mu Hui’s character and the focus on mental health, Ju Ho Jin felt underdeveloped. He seemed to have his own issues to tackle, yet we barely got to understand him beyond the family drama presented, and the situation with his mother was resolved pretty quickly. But why he was the way he was (because let's be honest, the guy was kind of a dick 70% of the time) wasn’t explained. There was a lot to explore about him that was left untouched.

I’d say overall, *Can This Love Be Translated?* is a decent drama; it’s well-written with great acting and good storytelling. It’s a quality TV. However, I do think the pacing could have been faster to address the elements that would have made it more engaging. For those expecting a romance-centric story, you might want to adjust your expectations. While there’s a lot of romance, the focus is more on overcoming trauma and navigating human relationships and it feels almost one-sided because we are mostly going through it with Cha Mu Hui.

I think a lot of people will still love it. But for a seasoned Asian drama lover like me, I have seen better dramas.

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An Inside Look at the Harsh Truth of Idol Culture: Good Drama but Something Was Missing

I personally love stories set in the entertainment industry since I’m myself a former …(not an idol, no. Do not get any ideas. I will simply omit my profession here that had me working backstage to avoid my friends finding this page, haha).

In any case, this is not supposed to be any kind of teasing, but since I worked in entertainment for a bit, I have my own ideas about celebrity dramas. The key takeaway here is that I think up until this particular drama, we have only had watered-down versions of dramas about the actual issues celebrities face.

Idol I is an honest and raw take on the topic, which I really appreciated. I have been waiting for Kim Jae Yeong for years to get this kind of role. He’s a talented actor, and he deserves all the love he’s getting for the role of Do La Ik. He’s given us some superb acting here. I have seen some reviews online saying that the acting was subpar.

I disagree.

I do think that, as far as chemistry goes between Kim Jae Yeong and Choi Soo Young, it wasn’t anything special. Nothing like I’ve seen from other dramas, but it also wasn’t bad. I did not doubt their romance for a second as I watched the drama. They both did their job well, and I absolutely did not feel that it was flat or underdeveloped or anything in particular was wrong with their relationship. If anything, perhaps they could have had more moments together, but again, this is a fault in the script, not acting.

If you see others complaining online that the acting and the chemistry are not great, ignore it. Do not let it stop you from checking it out. Just watch it and decide for yourself.

I think the biggest issue with this drama was actually the script because it has given us an organic, slow-burning romance and great character development, but it failed in the aspect of the mystery surrounding the murderer. I think writers should have approached it differently. The investigation bits needed to be amplified. The court scenes should have been added. And the forensics… I was baffled. Does the CSI team in Korea not exist at all? One sweep of the forensics team would have found either fingerprints or other DNA traces of the actual murderer in the apartment. I think this part needed to be approached with more care when it came to writing. And I think this is what's missing from the show.

Overall, I enjoyed the approach to the exploration of the effect of early fame and being a childhood star on a person’s wellbeing, in particular, mental health. This is not discussed enough. And I think writers were very honest with Do La Ik’s character, not making him into a saint, but actually making him a person with his own demons and his own flaws. Which only made his healing journey of self-discovery more meaningful. Writers did Maeng Se Na’s character dirty by not including her own story into the drama properly. It was basically left as an afterthought for the last episode. Introducing her own fight for justice early on would have been better.


However, despite its flaws, this is still a really good drama that talks about the real price of fame.


Some of my personal notes on the (ridiculous) online controversy.

I believe people complaining about a romance drama between an idol and a fan should really not watch Asian romantic drama. Period. Fiction is fiction. Real life is real life. If you cannot differentiate between the two and constantly try to apply fictional scenarios to real life, you should not be consuming romantic fiction. Additionally, fiction also exists to explore topics and show us some truths that are hidden behind the glamour of stardom.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this scenario because this is an extremely popular romantic trope. I don’t know why this is such a big deal for those who are watching not from the west but celebrity/regular person romantic fiction. Here is extremely popular and no one bats an eye. When we discuss romance between a celebrity and a fan in the realm of fiction, it's all about the power dynamics. When the power dynamics are not even, this tips the scales. However, here our characters actually have known each other since they were teens, since before both of them were successful adults, and the power dynamics between them is pretty even. As far as social standing, they are actually on the same level. Just because one of them is a celebrity does not make the other one less. She is an attorney (perhaps a better, more well respected and high earning job then an singer) and her own person. The situation would be different when one of them were a celebrity and the other—a suga baby who needed saving. I would complain about this scenario. You can be someone's fan and date them. As a matter of fact, you should be a fan of the person you're dating. That's how you support your loved one.

So, I’d say the snowflakes complaining about this being a taboo should check themselves or stop watching K-dramas. Or better yet-get a life. Just as Maeng Se Na said in the show, you support your idols from a distance and wish them well. That makes you a true fan. But if you think you own that person because you invest money in them, by buying merch and attending a show, that's not support. That's delusion.

Also, there are a lot of other idol/fan dramas, so criticizing this particular one seems strange.

I, in general, do not understand idol culture or why it's a requirement for them in Asia to stay single. This has never been something important here in the West. People ship their idols with their loved ones, or whoever they are dating, and that's normal.

Everyone deserves to have their private life. I don’t understand why two single people of age seen together is called a dating scandal. I know it’s an Asian only thing so I always adjust my expectations when I watch Asian dramas, but I think this drama showed us exactly why this culture is toxic and perhaps reasons why this needs to change.

To sum this up, just watch the show. It's not perfect and it does feel like it's missing something, at least for me. And I think after finishing it up, I understand what. I wanted more on the police investigation and courtroom politics. And this part was skipped, which I think made it a little bit less intense that I expected. But the acting is great, the character development is great, the romance is solid and the premise is fresh. It does make you think about certain things. Watch it with an open mind. A lot of people who loved it. You might love it too.

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Daou and Offroad Deserve Better Budget and Better Script

Oh boy, where do I even begin with this hot mess of a show?

As a big fan of Daou and Offroad, I was so hyped for The Wicked Game to drop, especially after loving their work in Love in Translation and one of my favorites—Century of Love. I mean, the chemistry between these two is off the charts, both on-screen and off.

But let me tell you, when I actually sat down to watch this latest offering, I was shocked at how hard it was for me to get through the first two episodes. From the very first five minutes, I was scratching my head, wondering if I had accidentally stumbled into some low-budget 2013 K-drama reject. The sound editing was like nails on a chalkboard, and the cinematography… I don’t even know. Seriously, who was in charge of the camera work and lighting? It looked like they had just grabbed the nearest intern to handle that!

And don't even get me started on the script. The script was the biggest problem with this show. Let's be honest, the premise had a lot of potential, with this whole morally grey character and ex-cop dynamic. They could have done so many great things with that story. But it felt like the writers just jotted down a bunch of random bullet points and then called it a day, without bothering to flesh anything out properly. Where was the depth for the rest of the characters? Some of the motivations of the main characters made little sense too, because there was not enough screen time to show/explain. I was expecting something like gritty realness we got in KinnPorsche.

I mean, sure, there were some decent moments sprinkled in here and there, but it just wasn't enough to save the rest of the drama. And for a show with such complex characters, I really think they needed more episodes to do it justice. Like, come on, how are you going to cram all that into a measly 10 episodes?

The romance part in the middle really suffered. It was just one or two episodes that they got together for, and then the fallout.

Honestly, I'm just really disappointed, you know?

Daou and Offroad deserve so much better than this. If only they had the same production team Khemjira had. Now that's the kind of quality I was hoping for in terms of camera work, sound and special effects and script. I mean, Khemjira had its own character arc issues, but that's not the point. The Wicked Game had no character arc issues, but script issues because characters were interesting to begin with. The writers didn't bother to develop them better.

Ugh, I don't know, maybe I'm being too harsh, but I just feel like this show had so much potential, and they completely squandered it with a script to begin with.

At least Daou and Offroad still have their undeniable on-screen magic to fall back on. But still, I can't help but wonder what could have been if they had a better team behind the scenes.

Also, what the hell happened with those hot scenes they gave us in the trailer? Final cut NC scenes felt like they belonged to a college romance drama. Not a crime drama. This was a bit of a letdown too.

Again, I love Daou and Offroad a lot. They did the best they could with whatever they were given.

Here's hoping their next project has a better team and a better script. I’ll still support them.

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A Delightful Dive into Classic Sageuk Tropes with a Dash of Fantasy

*Moon River* is a standard sageuk drama that brings together all the classic themes: palace intrigue, power struggles, self-sacrifice, and of course, epic romance with just enough fantasy to make it interesting, but not overwhelming due to the world building.

While I wouldn’t say this drama stands out from the other historical K-dramas I’ve seen, its charm lies in not trying to reinvent the wheel, but in the simplicity, which ultimately appealed to me.

This story revolves around separated lovers, along with a central mystery behind the past events that triggered the current situation. The mystery slowly unfolds as the show progresses and is set against a power struggle in the royal palace. Again, this is nothing new, but it worked for me.

What I Loved About *Moon River*

Superb Acting

The acting was fantastic, especially during the body swap scenes—I laughed so hard! I also appreciated that both leads looked like regular people. After watching a string of Chinese dramas recently where everyone’s faces are heavily filtered and appear unblemished, it was refreshing to see actors who looked more realistic, especially during emotional moments. I mean, I could actually see pores in their faces.

Comedic Relief

The body swap parts were a great source of comedy, alongside the amazing side characters that added to the humor throughout the show. I know not everyone likes the body swap trope. I think the way it was done in Moon River was refreshing and it was driving the plot forward.

Well-Developed Characters

I liked that all the characters had their backstories, including the main antagonist. No matter how much I hated Kim Han Cheol throughout the show, I really felt sorry for him at the very end. He didn’t deserve to give that headpiece to the queen, but I think if he had been able to, it would have provided him some closure. Again, he didn’t deserve it, but I could understand what drove him to become who he was. He simply got lost in his revenge.

No Tragic Deaths

I liked that we had literally almost no significant characters who tragically died at the end. I am still not over Moo-yeon’s death from *100 Days My Prince* all these years later!

Somewhat Spicy Romance with Substance

Having seen tons of historical K-dramas, I was honestly surprised at how much skinship we got here, and we even witness bare bodies. I mean, seeing the bare female shoulders in any Asian drama is like seen UFO. While obviously all the interesting bits are cut off, it’s refreshing to see a K-drama that doesn’t make us guess whether the characters actually consummate their marriage. If you want a romance with more than one dead fish kiss and tons of spice, you’ll love this one. While the said spice is not featured in every episode, it’s incredibly satisfying compared to 95% of other non-Netflix K-dramas.

I also really like the OST. It was beautiful and added to the overall emotional atmosphere of the drama and was fitting in all of the scenes.

I don’t have much to add in terms of things I didn’t like. While this wasn’t a particularly wow or standout drama like *Alchemy of Souls*, I still enjoyed it. It’s a historical drama with good acting, great costumes and settings, and a little bit of comedy and fantasy sprinkled throughout. Plus, we get a very nice happy ending for pretty much every character, including the secondary couple, which had a really great backstory.

Another aspect I enjoyed—no filler scenes. I did not skip a single frame. It’s rare when I watch an Asian drama and don’t skip. I think 14 episodes was the right amount. If you’re looking for something new or fresh, you probably will not enjoy this as much. But if you just starting to get into historical K drama or simply looking for a romance drama with great acting and don’t want to think too hard, Moon River is perfect.

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Best Villain Arc Ever

Love in the Clouds is one of the better romantic xianxias I've seen this year.

It has everything I love in a fantasy C-drama — romance, humor, high stakes, scheming, and just enough darkness to keep things interesting.

Ji Bozai and Ming Yi are very cute together and a power couple. The beginning of the drama especially drew me in with its steamy, high-stakes, and funny situations all woven together in a way that kept me engaged and entertained. Unfortunately, the steam level kind of dropped off in the second half of the drama to give more room to other plot points, and I wish it had maintained that same romantic energy throughout. It's not a dealbreaker, but if you're coming for the skinship, just know the first half delivers more of it.

One thing I genuinely did not anticipate was the plot twist at the end about the switch. It caught me off guard, and honestly, it was really satisfying. I liked it a lot — it added a layer to the story that elevated the ending and gave an extra depth to the relationship between the characters.

Now I have to talk about Yu Cheng En as Situ Ling, because he was just amazing. This is one of the better villain arcs I've seen in dramas. I usually skip a lot of scenes from the antagonist's point of view because most of them aren't interesting. Plus most antagonists aren't interesting either. I actually felt for Situ Ling as a character. Throughout the final stretch, I kept hoping for some miracle — that he'd be fine at the end, that things would work out for him somehow. I was hoping he'd get a resolution similar to the Emperor in Shadow Love. He didn't, and that hurt. But the fact that I cared that much says everything about Yu Cheng En's performance. He really needs more main roles in historical dramas because the talent is clearly there.

Overall, Love in the Clouds is an engaging drama with everything I love in a fantasy romance. It's fun, it's emotional, and it has a villain arc that will make you feel things. I absolutely recommend it to the fans of xanxia or anyone who wants a satisfying romance story.

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That’s how you do enemies to lovers romance!

This was really good. And I mean REALLY GOOD.

I was literally floored after I finished it. Admittedly this was my first Chen Zhe Yuan drama (I had never gotten on that Hidden Love bandwagon when it came out). And oh boy! The man can act. He is perfect for historical bad a$$ leads.

Things I loved:

Great character development, and in general character arcs for every character, including all the villains, made total sense. I liked that most of them were toeing in the shades of gray.

Great quality production too. Awesome fight scenes. Very, very impressive. Beautiful sets and costumes.

The romance part of the show was my favorite. The enemies to lovers’s vibe was real and so delicious to watch. Even though it started off quite violently, the way Fu Yi Xiao and Feng Sui Ge supported each other through the drama once they started to warm up to each other was very satisfying to watch.

This is basically everything I want from a historical drama. Heart pounding, dramatic, romance, and exciting execution of popular tropes, along with healthy relationship between the lead couple. Supporting characters all had great back stories. I was invested in many, wanting to know how it ends for some.

As far as entertainment value goes, it was just what I needed.

I do think some villains didn’t need to have that many draggy scenes. And the last few episodes could have been longer to flesh out certain events, but overall one of the better costume dramas I’ve seen this year. Plus, it has a happy ending for our lead couple. This is all I need.

Fated Hearts absolutely deserves the high ratings.

P.S. I’m totally enjoying all the new empowering female leads in C-dramas in general this year. I’m glad the immature bubbly ones are fading away.

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Breathtaking Visuals, Superb Acting, & Extremely Disjointed Plot

Love Beyond the Grave is a romantic drama that follows a powerful ghost sovereign He Simu (Dilraba Dilmurat) and a young mortal general Duan Xu (Arthur Chen) as they work to maintain peace between the mortal and spirit realms while a slow, impossible romance unfolds between them.

If you decide to watch this drama, don't set any expectations just because two big names that have been in a variety of successful romance dramas are attached to it. Love Beyond the Grave is a very different C-drama experience unlike any other romantic drama you've seen. Unfortunately, despite the absolutely stunning cinematography and very good acting, the disjointed plot ruined it for me. No, this isn't a horrible drama — I've definitely seen worse ones that I dropped. I did power through to the end, but for about two-thirds of it (last two-thirds no less), I kept asking myself why it was taking so long to get to the point and when it was going to end. So as far as the enjoyment and entertainment factor go, this drama was absolutely underwhelming.

Now that I've shared my personal experience, let me expand on why you might still want to watch this — and why it may not be for you.

The Pros

First and foremost, Love Beyond the Grave has the best cinematography and the best CGI I've seen in a Chinese drama so far. It beats everything else. All the fantasy elements are extremely nuanced — color, graphics, composition. The camera work, the slow-motion sequences, the music, and the visuals come together to bring you a one-of-a-kind experience. If you appreciate good cinematography (like in The Double) and scene composition, you will genuinely enjoy this.

The acting, including the child actors, is amazing. I have absolutely no complaints.

The Lead Pairing

I see a lot of criticism about Arthur and Dilraba giving off "aunt-nephew vibes." That's absolutely not true. I think some viewers simply forget that it's intentional for her to read as older than him — she is literally four hundred years older. He is young, ambitious, and full of life, and I had no problems with their pairing at all. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this criticism of age gaps between actors when the woman is older in real life needs to stop. Women have been judged and stigmatized for centuries, and for some reason their entire identity gets tied to their age. Dilraba is a talented actress who absolutely inhabited the role of He Simu. She showcased her range immensely as we follow her character from the cold, unfeeling, and calculating figure at the beginning to her devastating breakdown in the final episode. It's a stellar performance.

Arthur Chen is a great fit for Duan Xu. He has the youthful energy, but as an actor, he doesn't fit the typical mold of popular C-drama actors with an insane face card. He has this mature and masculine energy about him that allows him to embody the role of an army general convincingly. As far as chemistry between him and Dilraba goes, this is not a story that concentrates strongly on romance in the traditional sense with all the bells and whisles and crazy skinship, but the chemistry is there. It's executed really well in the scenes where both leads are present — I liked all of their interactions, all the tender moments and the way they were set up and excuted by the production team. I believe considering the actual age gap between the characters in the story and the difference between their life experiences, these two actors were very well matched in this drama to represent what needed to be conveyed on the screen.

The Plot Problem

Now…the biggest issue. The plot and how different storylines are presented absolutely did not work. I don't know if it has anything to do with the source material, but rewriting source material to match what viewers expect on screen is never off the table. So here's what went wrong.

The pacing at the beginning was slow but done really well. There was a lot of focus on our lead couple during the first military campaign arc where we get to know our characters and learn Duan Xu's backstory. The story was developing in an engaging, eerie way — almost a noir feel to the entire picture. There was this dark on the current of suspense that transported me elsewhere, and I truly connected with it. Duan Xu's fighting scenes when he infiltrated the enemy camp were a visual feast. Arthur Chen did so well in them. Some of his scenes were extremely intense and were great to watch, which mistakenly set up certain expectations for me as to how the rest of the drama may unfold.

Then the second arc comes in, set in the Spirit Realm where he follows He Simu, and nothing happens. Absolutely nothing. Everything that occurred there could have been wrapped up in two to three episodes. It didn't need to drag on for ten. The characters didn't get quality interactions, we didn't see any real high stakes, and Duan Xu spent most of the arc in bed or walking around the realm and doing random things. It stretched on for multiple episodes until I started skipping. We had characters introduced who only lasted a few episodes and existed solely to be killed off — I did not understand why they needed that much screen time. That valuable screen time could have been given to the lead couple so we could experience more romantic situations between them.

Meanwhile, one of the most interesting supporting characters, our antagonist Yan Ke, was robbed of a proper backstory and story arc. Miles Wei was amazing as Yan Ke, but he was written as a villain for the sake of being a villain. We've had several really good villain origin stories in recent 2025 dramas (I still can’t get over how well Situ Ling was written), so I don't understand why Yan Ke had so much screen time but didn't even get a proper backstory. It was extremely disappointing. His character was flat and not even charming. You absolutely didn’t want to route for him or understand him.

Then in the second half, additional characters start popping up in the mortal world. We had an interesting storyline developing between Fang Xian Ye (Gao He Yuan) and Duan Xu's sister, only for it to end in the most underwhelming way. I understand why Fang Xian Ye sacrificed himself, but you just feel sorry for the man because he never had a chance — his entire life was reduced to dying for somebody after already doing so much for them. Then there's an emperor who shows up out of nowhere for a handful of scenes, and every single one of those scenes dragged on unnecessarily. I started questioning why we were suddenly deep in the mortal world politics without any fantasy elements. This drama started off as a fantasy drama very strongly, but then shifted to the mortal world and most fantasy elements just disappeared until the final few episodes. Essentially, I could not understand the direction of the drama. Was it going to stay a fantasy drama or was it going to become a court politics drama? It was neither. It kinda just wobbled unevenly through the poorly paced script. We also have too many episodes where our lead couple did their own separate things (that weren’t very interesting to watch) and had no screen time together at all.

Character Arcs and the Romance

Overall, the character arcs for most of the cast were flat, incomplete, and not woven into the story evenly. Poor Duan Xu also lost his steam as a character toward the end — nothing ever came of him owning the magical sword, and I'm not sure why that element was even introduced at the beginning. If this information was somewhere in the drama and I missed it, the writing wasn't good because the sword presence and a promise of Duan Xu becoming immortal just wasn't explained very well. Why was it mentioned at all? The one character who made complete sense was Xia Qing Sheng. He was saved by He Simu and ended up taking over her duties, which is a twist I did not expect but was totally fine with. It worked. The child actor who played his young-self was very good.

The romance itself starts off great, but the love story between our lead couple is sweet and slow and not overly exciting, especially later on. It's very different from a typical romantic drama. There's almost no comedic relief with the exception of a couple of scenes. The music sets the mood from the very beginning — it's dark and becomes foreboding toward the end, and you can tell something is going to happen. While some characters do survive and get a good ending, the ending for the lead couple is different. I wouldn't call it open because it's easy to guess what will probably happen in the future, but I still wish we could have had a glimpse of them together one screen one last time.

The Last Stretch

The last ten episodes are absolutely convoluted and they just keep dragging. There are a couple of exciting episodes toward the end, and the final episode will probably make you tear up. I enjoyed the wedding scene and everything that happened after—it made me fele things. But essentially, the biggest flaw with this drama is that the script was underdeveloped. It didn't develop supporting characters or supporting storylines well, the pacing was off, and there was a lot of foundation-building that led absolutely nowhere.

Final Verdict

My advice? You may enjoy Love Beyond the Grave if you haven't yet seen the top-tier romantic C-dramas, because this one lacks most of the classic elements of a typical romance. It could probably serve as a good entrance point into Asian dramas if you are just starting out and want to dip your toes into something. But you may not enjoy other fantasy dramas after this, because as I've mentioned, the CGI is superb here, so everything else that has heavy CGI you'll watch after this drama mught a disappointment. But if you’ve seen a lot of C-drama romance and are coming in expecting a swoony love story packed with romantic tension, this is not that. But if you want something visually stunning with strong performances, it might be worth your time. What works here is the cinematography, the graphics, the visual storytelling, and the acting — it is an absolute stunner to look at. What doesn't work is almost everything else underneath. So think for yourself and decide if you want to give it a try.

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Top-notch romance drama with great chemistry

Love Between Lines is a superbly well-written, quality TV that combines romance, family drama, and suspense in a way where it’s just the right amount of everything and you want to keep watching even when you have to get up for work at the crack of dawn.

Our main characters Xiao Zhi Yu and Hu Xiu meet during a murder mystery game. Then their lives intersect in reality. As they navigate their roles in the game, they also begin to uncover each other’s true selves in reality.

This part I absolutely adored—how the story masterfully intertwines their fictional interactions with their real-life encounters. Whoever wrote the dialogues between Xiao Zhi Yu and Hu Xiu is a genius. The fact that they could tell each other some things and could be what they wanted to be in the game when they couldn’t in reality was a very nicely set parallel.

You really feel for both characters as you watch the drama because they both have so much to overcome and deal with in their lives. Xiao Zhi Yu has been living his entire live pretty much as someone else. And Hu Xiu couldn’t do what she always wanted to do and things finally are starting to change when they meet each other.

You also know early on—as you witness them falling in love—about the revelation of how they are actually sort of connected through past events. You know it’s going to ruin them when you find out, but you keep on watching anyway through all your anxiety because their interactions are just so swoony.

Thankfully, the hated third act break up did not last long.

The best part is that the romance between the leads is very well executed.

It’s a healthy, mature kind of relationship you’d want for yourself. It has none of that nonsense about purity you sometimes see in a C-Drama where women are often portrayed like they’re just sitting and waiting for that one guy. I liked that writers left it up to our imagination in terms of their previous partners/relationships, if they had any. Sometimes when romance culminates writers like to show women in their 20s as very inexperienced, which is extremely unrealistic. The silly “shy the morning after” moments absolutely drive me nuts.

So I enjoyed the fact that here this was presented to us. We just had two people in love going with the flow and simply enjoying being with each other without being prude about it. Who and what came before did not matter.

Other aspect I appreciated in the romance was how Xiao Zhi Yu recognized Hu Xiu's talent and genuinely supported her, allowing her to shine in her own right. This dynamic added depth to their relationship and showcased a refreshing take on C-Drama romance. Yes, they in general had a bumpy beginning with him being that typical grumpy male lead that felt almost red-flag-ish but that never came to fruition. And I’m happy. There were some hurdles to overcome, his initial rejection of her, to be exact, but I liked that it didn’t take long for things to get resolved. I liked that they both fought and won their personal battles along the way too. I like that she was also assertive of what she wanted.

Oh, and I have to mention that Love Between Lines features one of the best on-screen first kiss setups. I literally squealed and had to rewatch that scene twice! It was very well done. The music, the moment, the emotions, the entire leading up to it, the background, the colors, the camera angles.

It’s also worth mentioning that the backdrop of the architecture business and the competitive spirit that surrounded it was very interesting and added another layer to the drama. I don’t always like the business aspects added to romance, but when they are well done, they end up being quite entertaining and interesting.

All the side characters were wonderfully developed (especially Pei Zhen; he had a great character arc and I’m glad to see he didn’t follow his father’s path) and had their right place in the story. The camera work was amazing, especially during the game scenes. The whole sequence was just so dreamy.

We also did not have any non-essential characters getting a bunch of screen time for no reason just to make sure there’s content. Every scene was important and easy to watch and I did not skip much except for maybe some of the scenes between Zhao Xiao Rou and her husband. I think too many episodes were wasted on their storyline just to set up the divorce, and if the plan was to pair her up with Gong Huai Cong, it felt kinda incomplete because we were sort of left hanging at the end. I would love a bit of a closure for her or perhaps a scene where she meets her ex later down the road and it’s clear that she has someone else (someone better) just to rub it into his face because he did her so dirty. But it’s not something that’s going to affect my rating.

It’s still a 10 out of 10 for me. If you want good romance, watch it. Definitely MY top 10 contemporary romance C-dramas.

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Great Suspenseful Time Loop Thriller That's an Absolute Gem

Reset is an amazing time loop drama that follows Li Shiqing (Zhao Jinmai) and Xiao Heyun (Bai Jingting), two strangers trapped in a repeating cycle aboard a bus that's destined to explode, as they work together to uncover the truth and break free before it's too late. And honestly? It delivers on all fronts.

I truly enjoyed this drama. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen something with a time loop premise and I was surprised at how good this was. It's fast-paced, full of suspense, and — what I appreciated most — it's character-driven. Unlike many high-concept thrillers that focus purely on action and forget that people actually need to care about the characters, Reset dedicates real screen time to the human elements.

The passengers on the bus our duo is investigating all have distinct backgrounds and struggles, and the drama treats them with genuine empathy. If you enjoy character studies, this will absolutely resonate with you. The best thing is that even with the character studies do not drag on. They are woven into the action really well.

The plot structure is tight and concise. No filler, no dragging, no "why is this still going" moments — every loop advances the plot with distinct clues and logical shifts, which keeps the pacing sharp from start to finish.

I also really enjoyed the slow-burn romance that develops between Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun as they fight together to fix the time loop and come out alive. While romance isn’t in the forefront of the drama, it’s subtle, and it’s becoming obvious as the drama progresses. Bai Jingting and Zhao Jinmai have a natural, organic chemistry with a deeply protective dynamic that never falls into clichéd drama tropes. You root for both of them — as partners and as people — and honestly that's hard to pull off with the action in the central mystery and 15 episodes only.

Reset is truly a gem. Go watch it. You're welcome.

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Messy, Toxic, Over-the-Top, and I Loved Every Minute of It

Let me start by saying — do not let the negative reviews deter you from giving this a try. It's over the top, it's messy, it's unconventional, and it doesn't have a huge budget. But for me, it hit the spot because it concentrated mostly on the romance without drowning me in unnecessary subplots, and that's exactly what I needed. And Everlasting Longing delivered.

The Plot

The plot is extremely simple. A woman gets kidnapped into an enemy state and falls in love with her kidnapper, which only complicates everything because they can't be together due to the political conflict between their nations. The idea and general direction of the story are already interesting enough with genuinely high stakes — writers just needed to build on it better. The first impression is that they kind of tossed a bunch of different situations together so our leads could share the screen. The script feels a lot more like a first draft than a finished product. Still, despite that, the drama left an impression on me for its unique portrayal of a toxic, complex, and more mature romance.

The Romance

Yes, the romance is toxic and far from sweet. And the viewers criticizing these characters for being selfish probably didn't get the bigger picture. All of Qi Luo's concerns about why she can't be with the man she loves are completely understandable — just like his obsession with her is also understandable. She is collected, set on her goal, determined to get back home and protect her family. He is a hormonal, love-obsessed man who simply cannot let her go. They are both torn between their feelings for each other and their duty to their countries. It works.

If viewers feel uncomfortable watching the first half set in Beixuan while Xuan Lie is still a horrible red flag, they should move on to lighthearted romcoms. This drama is simply not for them.

The Chemistry Debate (Yes, I'm Going There)

There are too many people online criticizing the casting of Angelababy with Song Weilong, and I'm not quite sure why. First of all, Song Weilong has plenty of experience working with older actresses — his co-star in Find Yourself is twelve years older, among his other co-stars. Secondly, this man can make chemistry with my nightstand. So here? The chemistry is absolutely present. People saying Angelababy is showing her age on screen are insane — they must be eighteen or nineteen. Oh, I will see how they sing when they are my age. Women in their mid-thirties are fine as hell. I wish I could get my thirty-seven back now; I'd be very happy. If viewers can't feel the chemistry between them at the end of episode fourteen, they are blind and should not be watching romantic dramas. Period. Angelababy and Song Weilong looked absolutely gorgeous together. He has the kind of aura that allows him to feel domineering, endearing, and protective alongside any more experienced actress. And she is drop-dead gorgeous. So, let’s just not.

Character Growth

Xuan Lie does grow as a character in the last third of the show once he realizes his mistakes. His growth actually starts much sooner — when he plans on deceiving everyone at his wedding to let Qi Luo leave. Unfortunately, Qi Luo never finds out about his intentions and takes matters into her own hands, which causes the rift between them. She also realizes toward the end that forcing herself to forget someone she can't is futile. Here again, I think the writers needed to develop this realization in her earlier, before Xuan Lie's alleged death in Yannan. There were too many wasted opportunities in Yannan — instead of having three or more scenes (that basically repeated themselves but in different settings) of him asking Qi Luo to talk about their relationship properly and her telling him to leave, the writers should have written better situations for him to actually show her he's changed and her accepting him. Show, don't tell. Please.

This was a very lazy script work. Nothing to do with actors.

What Didn't Work

From what I already mentioned, the biggest flaw is the weak writing and the many missed opportunities. This drama could have also used a couple more episodes to wrap things up better and give our leads more time to be an actual couple after they reunited. Them coming together to terms with wanting to be with each other felt rushed. I wanted more romance and courting and tension post-reunification — give me the payoff! But this seems to be the general issue with most romantic C-dramas. Writers start building the foundation for the romance and then get carried away and forget how many episodes they actually have to finalize everything, so they scramble at the last bit to put things together as fast as they can.

I also don't understand the choice not to show Xuan Lie and Qi Luo's children. Why?

Another extremely missed opportunity is Shao Qi Min and Qing Kou's storyline. It started off so well — Ren Hao was stunning in the few episodes they were paired up together at the beginning. Their ending was horrible, but made total sense. The problem? Writers completely ignored them in the middle stretch. If you're going to give a secondary couple screen time, then actually develop them. They did Qing Kou so dirty. She was an interesting character at her core—a spoiled princess who falls for her slave/foreigner. She ended up being neglected by writers entirely, and I kept wondering why writers bothered setting them up at all as a couple. Or why include her character at all? They wrote her horribly.

The Acting and Production

As far as acting goes, both leads did well. Song Weilong needs a high-budget drama to truly showcase his skills. He's great in romantic roles, he has a strong on-screen presence, and as I've said — he can create chemistry with anyone. He's still not quite there with certain emotional scenes. I think sometimes, when it gets too nuanced he doesn’t quite pull it off, but I think that's partially a direction issue because I’ve seen enough fo his work to see that he does have talent. He just needs that one big role for him to show it. Angelababy is very pretty, and here's my advice: if you start watching and consider deserting it after a couple of episodes because you're put off by her acting while she's still dressed as a man — don't let it affect your view. Keep at it for a few more episodes. Her character changes throughout the drama as she starts wearing women’s clothes, and her mannerisms change as well.

I also initially dropped it because of poor CGI in second and third episodes, but in all honesty, CGI is used sparingly, and there are only a handful of scenes where the budget is obviously lacking. It won’t be too distracting later on. For the most part, I really liked the costumes, especially in the Beixuan setting. So give it a few episodes — if you're still around after episode four, you'll probably enjoy it or at least finish it.

Final Verdict

Everlasting Longing is not the best historical drama out there. The script is underdeveloped, some characters aren't fully fleshed out, and the main couple deserved more time together after reuniting and some better-written scenarios. The secondary couple was ignored by the writers altogether.

But… this was romance-heavy with very high stakes. It was fast-paced and didn't waste time on unnecessary characters and subplots. The music is beautiful. And the relationship between Xuan Lie and Qi Luo was complex enough to keep me invested throughout. This is exactly why I watch romantic C-dramas — over-the-top stories with swoon-worthy male leads that make me feel things.

I think this would be perfect for someone just starting their journey into Chinese historical dramas who hasn't yet seen recent blockbusters like POJ or POB and doesn't have their bar set astronomically high. That said, I watched this right after those titles raised my bar, and I still enjoyed it. For me, this was very entertaining — flaws and all.

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A Decent Arranged Marriage Drama Held Back by Mediocre Production

First Impression

I'll be straightforward — this drama is nothing special. It's filled with typical tropes you've seen in plenty of historical C-dramas. But if you like both lead actors, and especially if you are a fan of Song Weilong, and enjoy the arranged marriage trope, you'll probably have a good time with it.

The Gist

Youthful Glory is a historical romance with a bit of palace intrigue starring Song Weilong as Jiang Xu, a prince who returns to the capital to investigate a conspiracy, and Bao Shang'en as Ming Tan, a smart noblewoman who marries him to protect her family.

Production Quality

The biggest drawback for me was the lack of budget, and it shows. The color grading feels faded and outdated, giving the whole drama a washed-out and somewhat depressing look. I think if the cinematography and post-production had been even slightly better, it would have made for a much more enjoyable viewing experience and would really elevate the drama. As it stands, the writing, the plot, and the camera work are all fairly mediocre. But the acting is fine, so I stuck around because of that… and the romance. However, I do think fighting scenes were pretty decent. I saw way better, but definitely much worse as well.

The Pacing

The first few episodes are actually pretty good as they set up the romance and all the main conflicts. Things get a little boring in the middle after Jiang Xu and Ming Tan get married because there aren't any high stakes and we just watch him trying to pursue her to no avail. There are misunderstandings between them that I think writers genuinely need to retire at this point — come up with something else. The last ten episodes pick up and become quite interesting once the characters leave the capital and action, secrets, and real romance kick in. The final episode is light, fluffy, and cute, giving us an insight into the characters' future, which I think is very satisfactory since a lot of dramas have a very rushed ending.

The Romance

The romance starts out pretty strong, and we have a lot of time dedicated to our lead couple in the first few episodes and the development of their romantic journey. There are a lot of interesting and engaging situations between Ming Tan and Jiang Xu. The trashy kind that comes up out of nowhere, but I needed it at the time I watched this lol. So I didn’t care about the way those together moments were written into the story. Another thing I liked is that you actually get to watch how they get tangled up and why they end up getting married. And this drama takes its time setting up the premise, which I appreciate. I liked that because in a lot of C-dramas, arranged marriage situations happen fairly quickly within the first three episodes to bring our characters into a forced proximity trope faster. In Youthful Glory, things develop slowly before the marriage, and once they're married, the writers also take their time to let the characters get to know each other. And once they start getting closer, we get quite a few romantic tension-filled moments that I genuinely enjoyed. Again, I for some reason didn't care how they were written into the story.

I hated the stretch of the drama after Ming Tan's father was allegedly dead — I hated how she treated Jiang Xu during that period. And while I also disliked her stubbornness, I kind of understood why she felt the way she felt. Putting myself in her shoes, it made sense. But I can see why this made a lot of viewers hate her. Again, this is one of the elements that needs to be retired entirely from the script writing unless it's done right. And I don't think it was done quite right here.

However, because we see both points of view—hers and Jiang Xu’s it made her insufferable. But she doesn’t know the whole truth, so I gave her a pass. Luckily, this rough patch didn't last very long. Things pick up once Ming Tan and Jiang Xu make up. For me, this was a really decent romance that gave us great romantic moments and several amazing kiss scenes. That one-bedroom scene with the soundtrack from Lars Huang was great. I don’t know why people say there is no chemistry between the characters. Yes, Bao Shang'en isn’t on the level of some of the A-list actresses just yet. But I felt the tension in that scene. So overall, as far as the romance goes for the main couple, I quite liked it. I think I probably watched this purely for the romance, to be honest.

On the Female Lead

There's a lot of hate toward the female lead on here, which I don't quite understand. If people are coming into this after some of the 2025/2026 blockbusters where female leads are generals or warriors, Youthful Glory is simply not that kind of drama. Some of us women are fragile by nature no matter how hard we train. This is in defense of women like me who have always had weak constitution. That does not stop us from being somehow less important than those who can go onto the battlefield or do manual labor. Not all leads need to be wielding a weapon to be leads. Ming Tan is presented as a woman who takes responsibility for her family, so how is this selfish? I don’t see it. She is compassionate. She arranges help for refugees. She does her part and helps Jiang Xu with the investigation of the smuggling case byt being undercover. I think the biggest problem is writing itself because she just doesn't read very consistently across certain episodes. I expected something a lot worse based on the criticism in reviews. But there is absolutely no need to say that she is selfish or worthless because her character is a whole does develop, and she has some positive traits. I'd say watch it and decide for yourself. Also, people criticizing her character for doing something extremely dumb and putting everyone in danger is really unnecessary. This is something that exists in every single drama because it’s a device for writers to get to the point where they’re trying to get, and they just can’t think of anything better. In 90% of the dramas, to put one of the characters in danger, writers always make them act without any logic.

Final Verdict

This is an okay drama to pass the time while you wait for a better one. If you want sweet romance and you enjoy the arranged marriage trope, it delivers on that front. Just don't go in expecting high production value or a groundbreaking plot, and you'll be fine.

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Infuriatingly Realistic Age Gap Drama

Find Yourself Will Test Your Patience But Make You Think

Find Yourself is an age gap drama that stars Victoria Song and Song Weilong. The story is about He Fanxing, a successful 32-year-old career woman who falls for Yuan Song, a 22-year-old intern at her company. As she navigates this secret relationship, she faces immense pressure from society and family to choose a more "appropriate" partner, leading to a love triangle with an older executive.

This is one of the most infuriating dramas featuring an age gap that you will ever see — and rightfully so, because the themes, the characters, and the situations are all extremely realistic.

In Defense of He Fanxing

I see a lot of hate for the female lead online, but as someone who is also no longer young, I can say with certainty that if a woman somehow missed out on dating in her twenties because she was building her career, she would absolutely act and behave the way He Fanxing does. People who are too preoccupied with working and building their future in their twenties tend to go all out and be silly and irrational in their thirties. I lived through that myself so I can relate a little bit too Victoria Song’s character. She did fairly well portraying a woman falling hard for a man she shouldn’t be falling for, and I did not have any problems with her acting despite what some people say.

Now that I've finished all forty-one episodes, I can say that most of the frustration and hatred toward her character comes from viewers who are probably younger or haven't lived in the same part of the world with the same type of family pressures she deals with. If you put yourself in her shoes, she is actually quite easy to understand. I think a lot of women want her to be a stronger character, but in this particular setting, she didn't need to be. She did what she thought was right for herself, her future, her family, and her reputation. I think a lot of us probably hate her because she reflects how the majority of us would behave if we were dating someone much younger and were put in the same situation.

My One Major Gripe With the Premise

This drama doesn't strike me as romcom-y or suspend-all-your-belief story enough to justify the premise of a thirty-two-year-old highly successful career woman being a virgin. Having no dating experience and never having been with a man are completely different things. I really wish that given the serious tone of the drama, the premise had been a little more realistic — because the drama itself is fairly compelling.

I would have taken the story more seriously if He Fanxing had relationships before, even ones that weren't serious. I wouldn’t mind if she dated, had actual intimate partners, but just never learned how to truly be in a committed relationship possibly because of the demands of her job. Writers really need to stop portraying modern successful women as someone who is waiting for their one true love and saving themselves for that one man. It's an outdated concept, and it was the first thing that didn't sit right with me. I would never believe that a successful woman who is surrounded by men and constantly socializing has never been with a single one. Usually curiosity wins anyway, plus peer pressure.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest — moving on.

Song Weilong as Yuan Song

I previously saw Song Weilong in Shine on Me and thought his acting was pretty stilted at the beginning of that drama, so I wasn't sure I'd like him in Find Yourself. But I was extremely impressed with his performance, considering he filmed this when he was probably around eighteen. I'm also quite surprised at the level of intimacy he was able to pull off with his co-star. His acting was extremely natural and exactly how someone his age would behave. I truly appreciated his effort here, and I think he was probably the highlight of the drama for me.

What to Expect

In the first 10 episodes, things progress pretty fast between Yuan Song and He Fanxing, which I had neutral feelings about — didn't hate it, didn't love it. But the writers set the bar very high for their romance with quite a lot of skinship. So obviously when they break up in the middle of the show and the writers choose for her not to take action earlier than she did, it puts a damper on her romance with Yuan Song because there’s literally not a single kiss until the last episode. This is the kind of romance storyline I hate. Because there is absolutely no tension here. I mentioned this before, and I will mention this again: if you are developing a romantic storyline, it needs to build towards something and not blow up at the beginning and then trickle little by little toward the last episode. You don’t really feel much satisfaction at the end once the romantic storyline concludes despite the conclusion being a happy ending.

I also couldn't entirely understand what attracted Yuan Song to He Fanxing initially. He explains it a little bit later, but I think it would have been beneficial to include that information earlier. However, as I continued watching, I enjoyed how the drama explored the fear and anxiety our female lead experienced due to the possibility of being stigmatized if she told everyone about her relationship with a twenty-two-year-old intern. This right here, if this was set anywhere in the western world, could have been interpreted as abuse of power. It is a huge no-no in the corporate setting where I work at, which in itself makes it a compelling watch.

The drama also makes some valid points toward the end about how women are looked down on for dating someone younger while for men it's perfectly acceptable.

Although the characters in the drama are dynamic, because they do go through transformation they feel static for the most part of the drama. I think that’s another flaw with this drama. Writers should have developed everyone through action instead of lengthy psychoanalysis through conversation with friends.

That said, if you're diving into this drama exclusively for the romance, you will probably be a little disappointed. This is more of a family drama than a romantic one. Yes, there is romance, and yes, we're watching several love and marriage stories develop in different directions — but understand going in that this is not purely a romantic show. A lot of scenes are very drawn out and long, and I'll be honest, I skipped through quite a bit. But some of them are interesting and compelling, and dialogues shed a lot of light on how different characters feel about different things happening in their lives. Some viewers may enjoy this slice of life take.

There are some genuinely fun laugh-out-loud moments though — particularly Esther Yu's character trying to win over He Fanxing's twin brother. Their relationship was extremely cute, and Esther Yu was a delight to watch overall.

Production & Quality

The camera work and production quality are pretty high for something that came out during Covid, which surprised me. The performances across the board are solid, and the side stories are interesting — they make you think about something real. Draggy scenes. Check. This was 2020, after all. Ridiculous premise of a 32 year-old virgin. Check. Uneven pacing for the romantic storyline for both twin brother and twin sister. Check. I wish writers developed both romances differently. Yuan Song and He Fanxing start flaming hot, then crash and burn, and then she spends 2/3 of the drama with another man until the very last episode. Her brother and Melon take half the drama to get together and we don’t even see them sharing a proper romantic kiss.

Final Verdict

If you're into serious sensitive but important topics, interesting family dynamics, and multiple characters with multiple storylines, you'll probably enjoy this. I would say keep an open mind about the main female lead and try to put yourself in her shoes. Yes, she is indecisive and at times unlikable, but I think most of us in her situation would behave exactly the same. If you're watching this for Song Weilong — and I know many of you are — just have some patience with the pacing and know that his performance here is well worth it.

Overall, this is not a bad drama. Find Yourself is a little bit different from typical romantic comedy but the drama does explore interesting and important topics. I say give it a try and if you still don’t like it after a few episodes, don’t bother. I liked certain parts and certain parts were frustrating but overall, I am glad I watched it. It did leave an impression on me.

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Brave attempt to create a romantic horror BL drama that failed

I’m going to preface my review with the warning for people who are simply fans of PoohPavel because they look cute together on screen and off screen.

I don’t watch dramas just to have something in the background while I’m doing something else. I watch fully engrossed in every detail because I also write and I’m always looking for fresh ideas or interesting delivery methods. And of course, I also watch to get away from real life. The drama has to be entertaining for me to like it. And I consider it entertaining if I have to go to sleep or do some adulting, and instead I keep on watching TV.

Sadly, Goddess Bless You From Death did not deliver. Perhaps I set my expectations way too high after seeing a trailer and then seeing the ratings.

I honestly only saw this duo in PitBabe when it came out, and I never watched the second season because I remember not being overly into it. I saw too many really good BL dramas to remember their acting in PB.

Let’s start from the beginning.

The drama had an interesting and promising premise and I was waiting for things to happen, but everything was just unveiling very slow and there wasn’t anything particular engaging happening on screen.

The bones were there, but the execution and the writing wasn’t very good. I think writing, specifically character interaction and dialogues were poor and sometimes cringey.

The supernatural concept was quite interesting but again all logic was just ignored in most on screen scenarios.

Let’s move on to the romance part.

Again, considering the premise given to us, so much could have been done with Thup and Singha’s a relationship development. Instead, we just have Thup insert himself into Singha’s house and do a couple of chores and that basically turns them into a couple. Angst and real conflict were lacking. Considering we had a policeman and a witness/a person of interest crossing the line, there was so much potential for more. It just felt like a very lazy writing. As if someone said ‘OK, we have a lot of supernatural and freaky stuff, so we don’t really need to make romance interesting.’

There were only two interesting moments between the lead couple, counting the first meeting and the first kiss.

As far as chemistry goes, Pooh and Pavel actually do pretty well. Despite some very abhorrent acting for the most portion of the drama, the intimate scenes seem very natural, which I appreciate. I’ve seen some dramas with amazing acting, but when it came to intimate scenes, acting was immediately downgraded. Also, if you’re going into this show because you have seen this duo in PitBabe, do not expect the same kind of steam. This show is rated 13+ which kind of baffled me a little bit when I started watching, but once we got to the intimate moments, I realized why it was rated like this. The chemistry is there, but this is not the show that concentrates too much on physical relationship between the characters. Which can be a breath of fresh air, if you are looking for less steam and more plot.

Unfortunately, while the plot was not bad, I still found myself constantly taking breaks. At some point watching the drama felt like a chore. I wanted it to be over with so I could watch the next one. Mostly I kept on watching because the rating is extremely high and I wanted to see why. I still haven’t found the answer to this question after watching all 13 episodes.

Now let’s talk a little bit about the acting. As I’ve mentioned earlier, it’s been a while since I’ve seen PitBabe. But I feel almost as if Pooh’s acting has gotten worse. I saw some comments online where fans were defending him because he’s too young. I’m sorry but too young is not an excuse. If you want to be a professional actor, you need to work on your craft. And if you have 3 major dramas under your belt, you need to be somewhat capable. No one‘s asking for Oscar worthy acting chops, but I expect decent skill from someone with such a huge fandom and a drama rated above 8.5.

I think Pavel’s acting was fine. I didn’t find anything distracting. However, Pooh really needs to work on his facial expressions and micro expressions. In half of the situations where he is supposed to convey a specific feeling, he just smiles. At some point, it becomes distracting because that’s his reaction to pretty much anything. And you start wondering if he’s playing a character on spectrum.

And I’m not sure why no one is directing him because he does certain scenes where he needs to express anger or sadness really well. His kissing scenes are also fine, but some of the other reactions he just cannot pull off. I’m honestly hoping this is just poor directing because if the show they have announced just recently where he’ll play Grim Reaper is going to have the same expression on his face, I’m not going to watch anymore dramas from this duo.

I also want to note that I am not bashing the actors in any way. I think it’s admirable that they are pursuing their dreams and that they are not afraid to place themselves in such a niche sector of TV dramas.

However, my expectation is that if you are picked up for a leading role again, I want acting thats’s believable or passable at the very least. Regardless of my thoughts, I still respect the actors and I hope they do well, even if what I saw did not appeal to me. I’m not a spiteful person. If something is not up to my liking doesn’t mean that people should not be acting.

Finally, I want to comment on the subtitle translation. I think confusing pronouns ‘he’ and ‘she’ is nearly impossible. I first noticed the incorrect translation when Sey referred to Darin as she/her. I had to pause and rewind to make sure I wasn’t wrong because the first two episodes the pronounced were ‘he’. Then they were switched to ‘she’ at some point. I couldn’t recollect if it had been mentioned anywhere in the first couple of episode about Darin being trans. But then I started noticing that this was pretty much a common mistake throughout the entire show. Some of the police officers were referred as ‘he’ for eight episodes and then they would become a ‘she.’

It’s not a big deal. I figured this was just a mistake, but it was confusing, especially in light of this being LGBTQ+ show. Getting everyone’s pronouns and gender identity is important to me. It helps to understand the character better. And it’s just general respect.

Overall, Goddess Bless You From Death was indeed a valiant attempt to create a different kind of BL, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t interesting enough for me. The characters were not compelling enough. The writing, specifically dialogues, were not very well done. The romance was kind of subpar. And Pooh needs to work on his acting more.

The rating for the show is kinda inflated in my opinion. Some people may like it. Because apparently a lot already do judging by the reviews, but I have seen much better dramas with lower rating. I think the quality is not quite there.

One thing I really loved about this drama though is the music. There are two gorgeous tracks performed by Pooh and Pavel. I added them to my playlist.

I’m crossing my fingers their next drama is an improvement.

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