Story: This is a coming-of-age story about a pre-teen discovering his feelings may not be conventionally normal, when he was asked to re-enact a love confession in front of an acting class. The plot was simple yet impactful.

Acting/Cast: Surprisingly good acting coming from the titular character, naturally-talented kid.

Music: Somber and soulful and yet not overpowering.

Rewatch Value: Highly recommended.

Overall: Nothing remarkable if you only go by the premise of the story, especially for a short film, but the combination of all above elements makes it worthwhile.

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Story: It was confusing at first until it became even more confusing. I wasn’t sure whether I was seeing flashbacks of a person’s past or watching two separate lives of people on parallel universes, until I realize later that I was watching a combination of both. Old man Xue Ping reminisces about his past love Ding, who happens to be student A Hong’s doppelganger. So old man follows young man around town, not aware he is coming across as a creepy stalker.

Acting/Cast: I’ve seen Chin Shih Chieh and Ray Chang around in other works, and they are decent, working with what they could of a sub-par script.

Music: Nothing to right home about.

Rewatch Value: No thanks.

Overall: The story of the old man’s past is more interesting than that of the student, which really doesn’t serve any purpose except for reminding Xue Ping that his lover is not coming back from the dead.

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Story: Seems simple enough. Ex-lovers reunite in this short film. One has a family and the other getting married. Both men who I presume were torn apart due familial or societal expectations or maybe some other reason we will never know.

Acting/Cast: Surprisingly not bad, but not great either.

Music: White noise.

Rewatch Value: You get the moral lesson of the story, is that you cannot regret or reverse the decisions that you made in the past and you have to live with that said decision.

Overall: This short film is trying its best to be poignant but falls a lot short from the goal. My only question is why would you invite your ex-lover to eat with your family, when you are so clearly afraid that your wife may find out what you were to each other before?

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Story: Plot is nowhere to be found, just a sea of bodies in tighty whities.

Acting/Cast: I did not even realize that Chris Wu is in this short film, until I saw the credits. What a waste of talent but I guess everybody has to start somewhere.

Music: Head-achy, the same as the strobing lights filtering throughout the short film.

Rewatch Value: Once is enough.

Overall: This short is trying to pass as film noir by interspersing the dialogue with the lines of two poems, but it came across more as a low-budget porn film that does not even satisfy. Please give me back 13 minutes of my time.

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What a disappointment! The trailer looked promising but the drama did not do it justice. The use of fake-marriage slash noona romance trope was wasted on this one. There a very few things I liked - and they mostly involved the lawyer-y stuff, but the rest is abysmal. What I liked: Though Yang Hua's mother is meddlesome, her uncanny ways of trying to outwit his son I find quite funny. And even more funny is how Qin Shi manages to foil the traps laid out by Mrs. Yang. I also liked the friendship between Yang Hua and Cai Liang, how odd their dynamic is, especially when Cai Liang tries to give the emotionally-stunted Yang Hua some relationship advice. How the rivalry between Li Dai and Qin Shi turned out to be a mutual understanding of each other's ambitious dreams.

And there are the things that I didn't like: How Mei Mei is such a pushover to keep going back to her cheating scumbag of a husband. How annoying Wu Fei turned out to be. How Tang Yi manipulates Qin Shi despite being her employer/friend, just so Qin Shi could be her little lap dog. How the drama throws in so many conflicts that are conveniently resolved. Or unresolved. How the show tried to solve all life's philosophical questions by jamming in so much rhetoric about inequality, fairness, justice, relationship, you name it, they talked about it enough to fill up a year's worth of Sunday sermons. How incredulous that a top law agency would solicit somebody's husband as an expert without vetting his credentials, and as if Yang Hua was the only available source for financial advice. How Qin Shi's lies about her marital status weren't exposed sooner, even with such glaring inconsistencies. How the drama had so many filler scenes and dragged so long that I am glad that they invented the Fast Forward button on the remote, which I certainly put to good use while watching this trainwreck.

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Who wants to watch another Gender-bender drama? Me, that's who! Although I keep thinking how in the world do the females they cast pass as males is beyond me, but I digress. I admit I watched this show mainly for Zhang Ling He as he was really good in LBFAD. I've seen Sebrina before in "My Unicorn Girl" and she is definitely better here, as in she shows a little bit more personality.

Drama-wise, I must say that I liked the mystery-solving here so much better than the forced romance. Although there's a lot of skinship between the ML & FL, I didn't feel their chemistry. It looks like they are just going through the motions (especially on the FL's part). The secondary couple was worse and their acting quite atrocious. But aside from this, the plot isn't that convoluted and easy to follow (so easy in fact to guess who the suspects are right from the get-go).

The drama also tries to convince you that the evidence they produce aren't purposefully planted that only their merry band of investigators could find them. You would have to suspend your disbelief as well that the Prince walking around as freely as he pleases without much anyone recognizing him is possible. Aside from these convenient loop holes, this drama was a decent watch.

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The drama started out strong until it fizzled out halfway that even my favorite actress Zhao Lu Si cannot save it. Liu Te as Ling Yue was interesting in the beginning as the domineering CEO until his love-sickness for An Xin just took away his personality and expressions along with it. The rest of the characters didn't fare better as they are so one-dimensional that you can print out their cardboards. Xin Er in particular was grating on my nerves, the cliché SML who doesn't know when to give up. Not different from the clingy SML are the stalky, obsessive brothers who come across as desperate while courting the objects of their affection.

I fast forwarded the last half of the show, and even the plot twist seemed forced and came out of left field, inserted only for the sake of a last hurrah. The attempt failed as I didn't care much about the characters. The drama had a lot of unnecessary fillers and could have been finished in half the length.

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This is basically a poor man's version of "A Business Proposal." Though the premise is more or less the same, one thing I did not like here was how Gal Hui took advantage of her boss' illness to dupe him into believing she was somebody else. Overlooking this fact, the rest of the drama is cute and funny, and sometimes heartbreaking. I can't believe I enjoyed this drama more than I should, despite it's many loopholes. To name a few:

1) The Fall. I am surprised that Do Min Ik did not split his head open while he fell from a good height (on his head!). The chances of surviving this fall is slim to none without major injuries. I get it that he dislodged the pin that made facial recognition possible, but that is all. No bandage wrapping around his head, no broken bones, how is it possible??

2) The Box Cutter. How lame it is that the person who tried to hurt Do Min Ik and others uses the same weapon multiple times??? There was blood on it, dude! How can you use the same damn thing?? Might as well put a sticker on it, "Property of this Idiot."

3) The USB File. I guess everybody has the same USB that could be mistaken easily, that it is a wonder how confidential documents are kept. You can have cat videos and accounts of extortion in the same damn device and people can just take it or leave it or throw it as they please

4) Dubious Company policies. It must be some poor HR screening policy that allows people who were once fired, to be employed again. Do they not keep some records? Won't there be more questions why you are coming back to work?

5) The Police. Clearly they have nothing else to do but to solve this one case of non-murder. They are so easily swayed by statements made by their suspects that it will be surprising if they caught anybody. Hint: they did not. The idiot in #2 turned himself in.

And the best of all:

6) The Cast. I mean the cast on fake Veronica's arm. I mean Do Min Ik may not be able to see faces, but a glaringly obvious green cast with a heart he drew on Gal Hui's cast. In what world would she be able to explain that away??? Even if her cover was not blown earlier in the night, she would be caught green-handed.

There are too many coincidences in this drama to make me believe in logical thinking, but if I switch my brain off, and overlook these inconsistencies, the drama teaches you to open your heart to possibilities and be more human.

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THIS REVIEW IS FOR BOTH PART 1&2.

I almost passed on this drama because I thought it would be gory and senseless like "My Name," which I dropped, but I'm glad I didn't. Although I did not find this "super amazing" like most people, The Glory, as a story of revenge and redemption, was quite good. I had trouble stomaching the violence that was shown in the first few episodes, and the scenes where Moon Dong Eun was subjected to a curling iron, but this made me so angry that I really wanted to see the comeuppance due to the perpetrators.

Song Hye Kyo is great as the long-suffering victim who is intent on bringing hell on Park Yeon In and her band of bullies. It was oddly satisfying to see how the FL calculates through her revenge plot, not by directly going after the bullies, but by infiltrating those who are around them for years. We see Dong Eun's practiced patience as she waits for opportunities like she does in the game of Go. But sometimes, this waiting gives way to frustration, especially when her plans are thwarted by the very people who are supposed to have your back (ahem, your mother-phuker).

As a thriller, melodrama, The Glory delivers, but if you are expecting romance, it falls flat. Despite the presence of Lee Do Hyun as a romantic partner for Song Hye Kyo's character, Joo Yeo Jung is at most a love-sick puppy following after the woman of his dreams. They are only lumped together for convenience's sake and their kiss was underwhelming. Moon Dong Eun had better chemistry with Yeon Jin's husband, Ha Do Young, but of course, the plotline won't allow such a scandalous pairing. In the end, the perpetrators' supposedly got their just deserts, but I can't help feeling that somewhere down the line, the vicious cycle of revenge will continue again.

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THIS REVIEW IS FOR BOTH PART 1&2.

I almost passed on this drama because I thought it would be gory and senseless like "My Name," which I dropped, but I'm glad I didn't. Although I did not find this "super amazing" like most people, The Glory, as a story of revenge and redemption, was quite good. I had trouble stomaching the violence that was shown in the first few episodes, and the scenes where Moon Dong Eun was subjected to a curling iron, but this made me so angry that I really wanted to see the comeuppance due to the perpetrators.

Song Hye Kyo is great as the long-suffering victim who is intent on bringing hell on Park Yeon In and her band of bullies. It was oddly satisfying to see how the FL calculates through her revenge plot, not by directly going after the bullies, but by infiltrating those who are around them for years. We see Dong Eun's practiced patience as she waits for opportunities like she does in the game of Go. But sometimes, this waiting gives way to frustration, especially when her plans are thwarted by the very people who are supposed to have your back (ahem, your mother-phuker).

As a thriller, melodrama, The Glory delivers, but if you are expecting romance, it falls flat. Despite the presence of Lee Do Hyun as a romantic partner for Song Hye Kyo's character, Joo Yeo Jung is at most a love-sick puppy following after the woman of his dreams. They are only lumped together for convenience's sake and their kiss was underwhelming. Moon Dong Eun had better chemistry with Yeon Jin's husband, Ha Do Young, but of course, the plotline won't allow such a scandalous pairing. In the end, the perpetrators' supposedly got their just deserts, but I can't help feeling that somewhere down the line, the vicious cycle of revenge will continue again.

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I do not know what it is it with China churning out amazing historical dramas and this one is no exception. From the cinematography, plotline, character and cast, LBFAD showcases the strength of Chinese story-telling. Typical of Xanxia dramas, we see the fight for domination and/or peace among the three realms, where the immortals in heaven are depicted as good, while the mortals on earth or hell are depicted as bad.

Dylan Wang is versatile as Dongfang Qing Cang, the supposedly supreme evil who terrorized the world to gain ultimate power, that even the God of War could not defeat him. Yu Shu Xin is lovely as Orchid, the free-spirited fairy who sees the good in everybody, so she does not equate that a person being imprisoned in a tower could be the same evil that she has been hearing about. The two are sweet and lovely together. The scenes where the oblivious Orchid befuddles the emotionless Dongfang are adorable and funny.

The relationships in this drama are also deep and meaningful, such as the bromance between Dongfang and his henchman Shang Que, or the bro-buddyship between Chang Heng and Rong Hao, the sismance between Orchid and Jie Li. Speaking of which, characters here are multi-dimensional, for example Jie Li, who is as complex as she is simple, neither black or white, and it is indicative of how the realms actually are, rather than what they should be. We learn that not one person is all good, or all bad, be it if they are fairies or demons.

I also loved this drama because the characters go through gradual development, and the plot, though intriguing, is not too intricate to follow. Though there are a lot of fantastical elements, they are believable and logical within its context. The transitions between scenes are also seamless, without jarring flashbacks that are out of place. The CGI is breath-taking and not laughable as in some other dramas I have watched. The production team really outdid themselves with this one. But most of all, LBFAD proves that you do not need over 50 episodes to tell a compelling story.

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I am normally not into slow-paced dramas, especially when it tries to hard to be serious and funny at the same time, but not quite achieving both. What started out to be as a burgeoning romance (quite rapidly) between a gynecologist in her mid-30s and a happy-go-lucky young man, became more than that. The show tackles many issues surrounding life and death, including people's choices when it comes to childbirth, how people cope with loss, and how people deal with their own insecurities.
Also prominent in this drama is the topic of found family, how blood may not be always thicker than water, and there is no prerequisite when it comes to loving someone.

There's a few things that irked me about this drama, manely (pun intended) the bad hairstyles sported by many characters.
If they were meant to be endearing, they were not. Also, everybody seems to be up in each other's business and coincidentally run or know someone who knows someone. I guess this is typically true of small seaside towns. There are loopholes in how people show up suddenly without any logical reason, because "they just happen to be there."

The saving grace for me is Kitamura Takumi's portrayal of a deaf/mute man who doesn't let his lack of hearing/speaking deter him from enjoying life to the fullest. Hiragi Issei is the anchor that holds everyone together; his big heart injects everybody else with warmth. Issei believes that even broken people are only mean, because they are hurting and deserve love too.

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I genuinely thought this drama will end tragically, judging by the title, playlist, and the beginning episodes. The summary didn't help either as we know that the FL was in a serious accident and many, many years passing. And this show indeed had a lot of sad moments; the only happy ones where in the past and in someone's memories, but I still end up watching the show anyway, because I am a sucker for tearjerkers.

I must say I loved two things about this drama: Satoh Takeru's acting and Utada Hikaru's songs. Those were enough to propel this drama into better than mediocre. There's very little chemistry between the adult FL/ML since they were mostly apart, but the younger versions of the couple more than make up for the lack of romance between Yae and Namiki. I'm not sure if I buy into the "fate" that they keep talking about in this show; there's too many coincidences that happened for me to consider them believable. Also the flashbacks were kind of confusing, but watching Satoh's pining away for his first love was worth it.

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Though this drama isn't on par with the Untamed/WOH, it has its merits. To preface, this is NOT a censored adaptation of same-sex original work as many believed, so do not expect any lingering gazes or subtle references to a potential romance. . If we discard the non-existent "blooming bromance," then you will see the show as it what it is: a who-done-it, with Lan Jue and Zhang Ping acting as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

I loved the unraveling of intricate plots and unsolved mysteries as deciphered by Zhang Ping despite some inconsistencies. In some instances, I was amazed how easily a commoner can obtain access to the Empress, and how fast the higher ranking officials believed Zhang Ping's explanations. But if I overlook some of the loopholes, I find this drama entertaining to watch.

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THIS REVIEW IS FOR BOTH PART 1&2:

I did not expect to like this drama more than I did, mainly because I was ho-hum about Yang Zi as an actress despite watching a few of her dramas, but she was much better in this one, IMHO. The show definitely benefitted from the acting prowess of the cast, with Cheng Yi in particular. He was more subdued here and not a long-suffering idiot like he was in "Love and Redemption," which I liked.

Though a bit convoluted, the drama was fast-paced and rarely boring. There's a few downsides though: I do not know how much more repeated reincarnations that I can take. This seems to be the go-to tropes of historical dramas, but this one is a bit much, especially with the same evil resurrecting a few times, it became annoying AF. Also, the CGI is not the greatest, I would say even to the point of particularly bad and laughable in some instances. But all in all a good story about love and sacrifice.

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