OMG this is the kind of show that drives me batshit crazy, and it's taking all my willpower to hold off until it at least goes halfway but damn it's harrddddddddddd ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
Ignore any negative reviews and WATCH THIS!! this is such a wholesome show โค๏ธ. Just rewatched a 2nd time and loved it even more. I love HYA but they did my boy GTK really dirty, he deserved her 10 times over ๐ฉ
Ikr? Tell me about it, I've watched so many recs, nothing hits like this, and KWB acted his heart out as CYD,…
Lol that's my 1st ever kdrama, can't count how many times I've watched it, infact I've seen & loved every country's version of the story except the Thai remake which I hated so deeply. It's one drama I can rewatch a million times
Ikr? Tell me about it, I've watched so many recs, nothing hits like this, and KWB acted his heart out as CYD, I'm telling you you'll never find any character like him ever again ugh ๐ญ
After just rewatching for the nth time, can't help but think they don't make em like these anymore. Still yet to find a character like Choi Yeong-do no matter how hard I've tried. Kim Tan & Eun Sang are my fave rich ml/poor fl duo ughh, and the side characters were so interesting.
Seeing as I'm a BOF die hard fan, these kinds of storylines appeal to me alot, and they hadme eating up all the tropes. Guess I'll stay rewatching my 10/10 dramas
I saw Minglan & Yanxi palace, enjoyed their 1st halves thoroughly but hated their later parts so strongly that I swore off long form/ harem costume dramas, I tried to give Weiyoung a chance but I couldn't even get through the 1st quarter of that before giving up
When I kept seeing Gifs of ZH & glowing recommendations, I reluctantly started this, intending to drop it at the 1st instance of the clichรฉ storylines that always mark these kinds of strong FL costume dramas, that was 6 days ago, I can't explain what it was really, it's something we've all seen in similar dramas so it shouldn't be all that engrossing: young girl enters the palace and works her way up the ladder to be the big bad boss (insert eye roll) but this, this has something much more
Maybe it's in the depth of the characters, no one is a cartoon villain, just being evil for evil sake, even the most annoying characters have a story, a motivation for their actions, it's like I was transported into this world where I didn't ever want to leave. Maybe it's the fact that everything that happened had a root it started from, foreshadowed through people's actions or occurrences, nothing just happened out of the blue or to push the script, the story was tight, it'll grab you amd won't leave you till the last scenes in the finale.
Countless sleepless nights, feverishly going through the episodes, so much so that I forgot how lengthy it was and even wished it could be longer.
The lead female Zhen Huan played by Sun Li was captivating to say the least, there were occurrences that marked different stages of life, you could literally grow along with her, from being cautious, to scheming and then outrightly deadly, leaving no prisoners and paying everyone who hurt her in their own coin.
SL played ZH so well that her eyes, face, even hands had a story to tell, she brought a character that held you spellbound for the 76 episodes to life so effortlessly. The emperor as annoying as he was, was skillfully played by CJB, his expressions made you feel his rage, fear and even sadness at every turn, he indeed portrayed the suspicious, scheming, proud & ruthless emperor to the tee.
As for the supporting cast, everyone was so well suited for their roles, even the villains made you hate, sympathize with, then hate them again. It was such a roller-coaster of emotions.
If you're unsure of whether to start this, or you've been burned in the past like me, just watch the first 10 or even 5 episodes then decide, I promise you won't regret it
A super underrated cdrama gem that needs to be here is Please Classmate, I hardly ever see it mentioned anywhere but it's soooo good, feverishly binged it in 2 days, granted it's got an abundance of tropes but it's well done and the MLs are HOT ๐ฅ ๐. FL is Dai Lu Wa from LYF
Another thing I absolutely adore here is the female relationships
Watching ZHY & her mom repair their relationship was so wholesome, seeing life come back to her mother's eyes, seeing her walk again and even find love again, ugh it was too good. Her bloody wedding was just thoroughly heartbreaking
Also her friendship with her bestie was beautiful beyond words, that level of sacrifice, knowing you can depend on someone to that level, i sincerely hope we get to see her again before the show ends, fully healed & happy by her girl's side again
Also the widow&the scholar, damn never saw that coming even from a thousand miles away, super heartwarming, though I wonder if that was even possible in those days
Lastly I understand her tension and doubt about being a good mom, she's lived a hard life, only got to enjoy her mother's love for a short while and still consumed with heartbreak and revenge, but that didn't mean she didn't care for AZhi or a make her a bad person, it was portrayed so well because having her act any way else would have been a violation of her character
6 more episodes to go, really hope they don't drop the ball at the end
It's been ages since a drama actually shocked me, the twists in this show are legendary ๐คฏ๐คฏ
Currently biting my nails watching Ep22
ZHY is the badass final boss ๐๐, she's ruthlessly standing on business, damn! Even outsmarted FYX he had to choke her on the rooftop lmao ๐คฃ
We need more of this kinds of FLs
I love that I literally cannot predict what will happen next, don't even miss the romance, the dual plotting is hotter than any half assed kiss. Other shows become boring after the mcs get together, the opposite is the case here.
I'm so happy I didn't drop this after E2, first 2 episodes were boring and I made up my mind to drop this when I saw everyone commenting on how good 3 & 4 were, decided to give this a last chance and I was not disappointed. I think episodes 3&4 are the best so far, I laughed so hard at 4 ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ and now looking forward to the rest. Hope this holds up this good till the end
Haven't been this blown away by a drama in a while, this was so much fun binge watching, absolute10/10. This is up there with Weak Hero Class for me. I desperately love shows like these, too bad there aren't many of them around
Lord help me I want to binge this so bad
PJH / Si Eun's eyes are the most enthralling eyes I've ever seen ๐
This will be the first webtoon I ever read because this season isn't enough to quench my thirst
I'll sorely miss this show โค๏ธ
Seeing as I'm a BOF die hard fan, these kinds of storylines appeal to me alot, and they hadme eating up all the tropes. Guess I'll stay rewatching my 10/10 dramas
Now twitching in anticipation
When I kept seeing Gifs of ZH & glowing recommendations, I reluctantly started this, intending to drop it at the 1st instance of the clichรฉ storylines that always mark these kinds of strong FL costume dramas, that was 6 days ago, I can't explain what it was really, it's something we've all seen in similar dramas so it shouldn't be all that engrossing: young girl enters the palace and works her way up the ladder to be the big bad boss (insert eye roll) but this, this has something much more
Maybe it's in the depth of the characters, no one is a cartoon villain, just being evil for evil sake, even the most annoying characters have a story, a motivation for their actions, it's like I was transported into this world where I didn't ever want to leave. Maybe it's the fact that everything that happened had a root it started from, foreshadowed through people's actions or occurrences, nothing just happened out of the blue or to push the script, the story was tight, it'll grab you amd won't leave you till the last scenes in the finale.
Countless sleepless nights, feverishly going through the episodes, so much so that I forgot how lengthy it was and even wished it could be longer.
The lead female Zhen Huan played by Sun Li was captivating to say the least, there were occurrences that marked different stages of life, you could literally grow along with her, from being cautious, to scheming and then outrightly deadly, leaving no prisoners and paying everyone who hurt her in their own coin.
SL played ZH so well that her eyes, face, even hands had a story to tell, she brought a character that held you spellbound for the 76 episodes to life so effortlessly. The emperor as annoying as he was, was skillfully played by CJB, his expressions made you feel his rage, fear and even sadness at every turn, he indeed portrayed the suspicious, scheming, proud & ruthless emperor to the tee.
As for the supporting cast, everyone was so well suited for their roles, even the villains made you hate, sympathize with, then hate them again. It was such a roller-coaster of emotions.
If you're unsure of whether to start this, or you've been burned in the past like me, just watch the first 10 or even 5 episodes then decide, I promise you won't regret it
10/10
Watching ZHY & her mom repair their relationship was so wholesome, seeing life come back to her mother's eyes, seeing her walk again and even find love again, ugh it was too good. Her bloody wedding was just thoroughly heartbreaking
Also her friendship with her bestie was beautiful beyond words, that level of sacrifice, knowing you can depend on someone to that level, i sincerely hope we get to see her again before the show ends, fully healed & happy by her girl's side again
Also the widow&the scholar, damn never saw that coming even from a thousand miles away, super heartwarming, though I wonder if that was even possible in those days
Lastly I understand her tension and doubt about being a good mom, she's lived a hard life, only got to enjoy her mother's love for a short while and still consumed with heartbreak and revenge, but that didn't mean she didn't care for AZhi or a make her a bad person, it was portrayed so well because having her act any way else would have been a violation of her character
6 more episodes to go, really hope they don't drop the ball at the end
Currently biting my nails watching Ep22
ZHY is the badass final boss ๐๐, she's ruthlessly standing on business, damn! Even outsmarted FYX he had to choke her on the rooftop lmao ๐คฃ
We need more of this kinds of FLs
I love that I literally cannot predict what will happen next, don't even miss the romance, the dual plotting is hotter than any half assed kiss. Other shows become boring after the mcs get together, the opposite is the case here.
This will be one of the high points of 2025 for me fr
Finding something like this & study group is practically impossible, don't worry I've tried and failed multiple times
This show is a gem ๐
็ๆฅๅฟซไนๅฎ่ดโค๏ธ๐ฅณ
Also who's Uncle? Never revealing his face makes me believe we might be shocked who he turns out to be
Experiencing serious withdrawal man ๐ฉ
Any other shows like this & weak hero class?