This was a type of drama where you had to just accept it for what it was and play along with it. It was super cheesy which added to the charm. Hong Xiao Dong's character was WILD and in a normal drama, I wouldn't have liked him, but in this drama, his one-liners were really funny and dorky and I couldn't stop laughing. It was honestly the perfect cure to a stressful week of work - it was something light and silly to watch. After saying that, I gave this drama a 3/5 simply because even though the plot was actually really interesting), the execution was so random. It just didn't flow. I was super invested in the first 18 episodes because the plot was Hong Xiao Dong and Zhang Xian Ting kicking some ass. Even though they are from two different worlds, they somehow always seem to get into trouble together and helping out the two brother guards. The first half episodes were them bickering but learning how to work together and figure out why all of a sudden, when these two guards came into their time that Hong Xiao Dong now has this weird superpower to read other people's minds and turns into a different person when triggered by a sound who is a master of martial arts. These two end up falling for one another, but won't tell the other until the all to classic "someone gets really hurt" scene and that's when they feel is the appropriate time to confess their feelings. It was really cheesy...and terrible, but I was invested. Then out of nowhere, after we get some kind of hope that they will be together, the next 5-7 episodes they aren't even in!! It turns into this completely different drama where all the minor characters become mains. I did like in the first 18 ep that it was about the blossoming romance between our two mains as well as the two brothers learning more about themselves as individuals and not just their emperor's mindless guards. I would say these two pairs got equal screentime. I got invested in their characters and knew that they would kickass and save the world at the end of this drama. Nope. Instead, after this huge event which lands one of the mains in the hospital, the drama shifts, and Mo Han ends of being the main character alongside a completely new character, professor Sun Yan Jun (a childhood friend and historian) who gets introduced randomly around ep 18 and we are expected to be completely invested in his character. Ke Shang comes back and helps Sun try to figure out who the Black Suit boss is and how they are connected to the Ming Dynasty after finding out the drug that the boss uses to control the back suited bodyguards is the same that was given to brother Tian in his time. Mo Han becomes the main character and her story is just her being heartbroken after seeing Hong Xiao Dong and Ting together all the time. While Sun and Ke Shang work together on figuring out the bad guy, they are fighting against each other for Mo Han's heart while trying to comfort her. I honestly didn't like any of the side characters, except for Ke Shang simply because Professor Sun was sus and Ke Shang (was homeboy Peter) was this simple cop who was in love with a down to earth girl. The ending threw me off too. I wanted the two mains to come back and kick some ass, but instead, only Ting came back while Hong Xiao Dong was working behind the scenes (and we never saw him) we assume, kicking ass? Don't get me wrong, Ting had some awesome one-liners, but both she and Dong Xiao Dong started off this drama being badasses - Ting this reporter that would sacrifice her life to know the truth, and Dong Xiao Dong, just being a badass solving crime and defending his woman. After they disappeared, they came back and Ting never went back to her job which was supposed to be her passion in life and Dong Xiao Dong never had a cool fighting scene again!! Like what is the point of having this alter ego who was a martial arts master and never fighting? Even at the final boss battle in ep 28...he was NOWHERE. Yeah, he was given the mission to save the mayor, but no one else could have done that?? He's the main character....why wasn't he at the final battle?? But one of my favorite things about this drama was when Hong Xiao Dong found out how he was connected to his alter ego and how Zhang Xian Ting was connected to it as well, and their love story that technically survived hundreds of years. I think if this was a better drama, they could have done so much more with this romance story, but for what this show was, it was pretty damn cute.

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This drama made me start to think about all the dramas I have watched in the past, especially the ones I have rated 5/5. And yesterday was the day that Xiao Nai had been overthrown by Ahn Min Hyuk as my drama boyfriend. It was a hard decision and Nai will always hold a place in my heart, but Ahn Min Hyuk was everything. He was funny and silly and when he needed to be serious, he was one of the most professional CEO I have ever seen. But most importantly, from the moment he saw Do Bong Soon, he knew that she was his soulmate. And I am not going to lie, In Guk Doo deserved sooooo much better than what he got, and I did tear up during most of his scenes towards the end when finally realized that he's always liked Do Bong Soon, but at that point, she was already in love with another man. It was heartbreaking, and I want him to find his happily ever after, but he can't have Do Bong Soon because her and Anh Min Hyuk were soulmates. After I finished binge watching this drama, I went into this little depression knowing that I had to say goodbye to perfect Anh Min Hyuk. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE deserves to find someone like him in their lives. Yes, he was a little childish at some points, but it added to his charm. He was who is was because of a broken family, and once he found out what real love was, he didn't want to let go. He was super extra and honestly an amazing hype-man and I mean all of this in a good way. I've watched dramas where there has been a dramatic and extra character that I found annoying, but I don't know if it was because of the writing or the actor, but I didn't find this character annoying whatsoever and thought it added to his charm. Also, you knew how in love he was with Bong Soon. It wasn't a fall hard fast and get bored with you in a few months or years. Anh Min Hyuk, solely based off of the looks he would give her...it was EVERYTHING. You could read him like a book. He was so in love with Bong Soon. Plus, the things he would say to her when they were alone were super romantic and he opened up his entire soul to her. I still remember, and cried, the words he spoke when he asked for her father's permission to marry her. When he asked Min Hyuk what he liked about his daughter, he said something so simple, yet so moving. That he loved her because she was simply Do Bong Soon. "The feeling that I only exist when she does, and I don't if she doesn't." Yes...I am super deep in this korean drama hole, but honestly, I don't care. And yes, it sounds super extra and cheesy, but after watching this drama, I fully believe him with my entire soul. Throughout this whole drama, he gave her his entire soul and even knowing that she had this super strength, he still told her that he would protect with with his entire being, either be emotionally or physically. And let me tell you, homeboy kicks some serious ass. He shines in multiple, different ways in this drama. And don't be fooled - he is not all talk.

I also believe that this drama has some of the most emotional scenes in any drama I have ever watched, including a lot of american dramas. There is one scene in particular (ep 14), it was super heartbreaking, where he did everything in his power to try to save her and when he failed, he didn't run away to try and save himself. He still tried to emotionally comfort her and told her that she was not alone and he wouldn't leave her side. And I wish I could tell you more about this scary af scene that broke my heart but also showed me what being completely in love with someone looks like, but it would spoil how raw this scene was.

Honestly, I am super jealous of everyone who hasn't seen this drama yet because the moment you do, you will experience everything in this show for the first time. You will fall in love with Min Hyuk for the first time. You will experience hating Buk Doo and then learning to love him. You will experience Bong Soon's struggle with learning how to love herself and learning that she wasn't born with a curse, but a gift. And you will experience how fucked up the villain of this drama was. Such a solid villain - one thing that can make or break a story is a villain.

I loved how the romance in this drama did take up a chunk of the story line, but it wasn't the main plot of the drama. I loved how this was a coming to age story for Bong Soon about learning how to love herself and loving her gift. There was this emotional and powerful scene with Bong Soon and her mother and grandmother and they talked about how the women were gifted with this strength because they are the leaders of their households and the communities and they, as woman, were born to protect the people they love from harm, and then pass this strength onto their daughters and teach them to be strong. It was such a girl power type of drama, but it was also great because it didn't belittle men at all. This drama showed that men and women were both strong in many different as well as in the same ways. But I must say, poor Buk Doo, somehow was the smartest, yet dumbest cop I have ever seen. His character annoyed me, but this drama was so good that even though I didn't like him because of the way he treated Bong Soon and how he never stopped to think about how his actions affected other people, I stilled cried for him at the end when you learn more about his character and how much love he also had to Bong Soon. He he def on the top of my "they deserved better" team.

One last thing, over the course of a few months, I have watched a few dramas, and for the first time in a long while, I didn't hate the main character. Going back thinking about Weightlifting Fairy, Hot Girl, Love @ Seventeen, and even Sweet Combat, this is the first time that I was completely on homegirl's side. Yes, I thought she was being annoying when she was in love with Buk Doo and not Min Hyuk, but I think that is the beauty of this show. When Min Hyuk saw her one-sided love that wasn't one-sided, he didn't shove himself in the middle and make her fall in love with him. He just continued to act like himself and knew that eventually she would fall for him. Or maybe she wouldn't, but he didn't try to pretend to be anyone he wasn't. He knew that he was this broken person, but he wanted to be a better person for himself as well as a better person for the woman who stole his heart. And I loved the slow burning romance of Bong Soon realizing that the guy that has always been on her side, helping her, accepting her fully, was the guy she loved. And you got to experience that shift with her which is why I loved her so much. There was this one half episode where I was like...homegirl...wtf...why are you pushing him away, but Min Hyuk stayed by her side and kept his promise that he would always protect her, even if she was too stubborn and didn't think she needed to be protected. He took the time to understand her and her situation but also treat her like a normal girl.

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Two Separate Dramas

I am a little late to the game with watching and reviewing this drama, but better late than never. I wanted sooo badly to love this, especially since I am a HUGE fan of Rachel Park and was waiting for her to come out with a new drama, but ultimately, this one was a bit of a flop.

I felt that I was watching two different dramas, but I also feel that what other top reviewers disliked/liked about this show, I felt the opposite. I couldn't get past the first half - I felt that it was overly cheesy and there wasn't a single actor that I was rooting for. I felt that San Eun had a very unique service that she provided, but didn't seem to understand the world and the people in it. She knew she was doing the right thing, but didn't understand consequence whatsoever. Ji Ho was portrayed as a wallflower and mysterious, where a good portion of the beginning, other characters thought he was this neighborhood murderer. We saw that he was going to "speech therapy" but more so for how to conversate with other people. And I hated how they never really explained why and how after finding this out. He was just awkward and shut other people out due to his upbringing and previous relationships. Then we have Hae Jin, who was the youngest son of the Kang conglomerate family, who "ran away," trying to make a life for himself as an actor as well as trying to find his first love.

In the first 8 episodes, it takes a while until we get to the point where Sang Eun signs a contract with both men - being the wife of Judge Ji Ho and helping him build work relationships with his co-workers AND being the hidden fiance of actor Hae Jin to help with his family trying to pressure him into marrying other daughters in high positions.

It was rough watching these first 8 episodes because right off the bat in ep one, we know that Sang Eun has a crush on Ji Ho, her fake husband of 5 years.. so we knew that was the end game. But what made it rough for me personally, was that in the first 8 eps, I knew Hae Jin's first love was Sang Eun, and I was more into him than Ji Ho.

Then we get to ep 9, and it felt that the script switched.

I found myself really liking Judge Ji Ho all because his character became this new person, who was talkative, straightforward, swoony, hilarious, and overall this cute inexperienced man. I felt myself falling for Hae Jin more and more, but ultimately ugly crying because I felt so bad for the guy in his love life, family life, and professional life. He went through soooo much character development, but at what cost? All the people around Sang Eun went through some development because of her and her love for each of them, but she herself didn't go through much change. I think she started to better understand how actions have consequences, but at the same time, even to the end, she refused to ask for help and always wanted to suffer alone and separate herself from people to do it. And it ultimately made me not super like her character... but at the same time, she did help a lot of people.

I very much enjoyed the second half of this drama, but at the same time, it really didn't have a strong plot and this HUGE situationship everyone was tied into because of Project Jamie, had such a simple and lame solution. Some of these side characters were about to throw away their lives and careers in order to solve this issue, but ultimately...and obviously that was something Jamie had to solve herself... in a VERY simple manner. I was like... that was disappointing. Did I miss something because of how she reacted after everything happened? Because it felt like a simple fix.

Usually, after a drama, I will look up an actor or two that I really enjoyed watching something else they were in... and I feel that the ONLY person that I truly enjoyed in this was Woo Gwang Nam. He was quirky, funny, sweet, and a solid best friend/brother character and I felt that his situation was the only one I could get behind / I think I ugly cried for him the most, almost tied with Hae Jin. I actually found myself very attracted to him when he became a bodyguard. I honestly think that I would LOVE to see a spin-off drama with him and Hae Jin finding love while working in their company. As long as Hae Jin isn't falling in love with his lawyer. HELL NO.

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This drama had everything and It was extremely wild! You learn that the boy from Kim Mi So's childhood was a boy she met once, who had saved her when they were both kidnapped (when you get to the episode, it was an emotional rollercoaster). After that traumatizing night, the young boy that saved her never returned, and she has been searching for him ever since. On the other hand, we have Vice Chairman Lee, who we find out is the young boy who was kidnapped with Kim Mi So, and after saving Kim Mi So and going back home, never recovered from the incident. Lee would have nightmares about the woman who had captured both of them and because of this, was never able to form a connection with another woman. But there is one thing on his mind ever since he got home and it was to go back and find the little girl to see if she was ok or if she was suffering like he was. Unfortunately, her house was soon demolished and he was never able to keep her promise and come back for her. Lee then spent his whole life trying to figure out where the little girl went until one day he recognizes her interning at his family's company and hires her to be his secretary. Unfortunately, Kim Mi So doesn't recognize him, but Lee takes this as a great sign that she wasn't suffering like he was and decides to not tell her who he was.

This drama was so much more than just two coworkers falling in love with each other. It was a story about a boy who had fallen in love with a girl when he was young and searching his whole life to be with her, even if it wasn't romantic, and always protect her. This story was about a man who wanted Kim Mi So to live in a world filled with love even if he couldn't tell her who he was to her.

Also, one little note. Whoever wrote to script for this show...especially the person who wrote all of Vice Chairman's lines should deserve an Oscar or whatever award is given for this position. Even though Vice Chairman Lee came off as this arrogant self-centered butt at the beginning of this series, after watching every episode and going back, you realize that it was all strategically written. We chose to interpret it one way when it could be interpreted in many. Lee, by far, is one of my favorite drama boyfriends. Not going to lie, he def is giving my bae, Xiao Nai from Love020 a run for his money. You realize his arrogance is actually not completely real and it is just part of his charm and humor. And I know, I know, drama boyfriends are not real and watching these dramas are giving men this unattainable expectation, but honestly, every girl deserves to find someone in their life as much as Vice Chairman Lee loved Kim Mi So. Like, it is not fair.

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I felt like something was missing with this cut version, and I didn't like it enough to want to go and watch the full version. But it is cute that the main actress and her best friend in this show are married in real life. I thought they had more chemistry than the two mains, and I think the best friend and Dilraba's character were actually supposed to be a couple in this? It made it hard to watch. I wanted to like it so much because I love Dilraba, but I couldn't do it.

I felt like the main actress was following around the main actor like a puppy dog and she came off like she was more OBSESSED with him than in love with him. There were so many random flashbacks about their first meeting before she got into her accident, that never happened in the cut version...so I was confused feeling like I missed something. When the main actor finally confessed to the main actress saying that he had liked her for a while, I was uncomfortable as nothing he did gave any indication that he did. Hence why I think the cut version is missing so much.

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One of the easiest 10/ 10's I have given in a while - I went into this excited, but scared that the trailer would have been overhyped, and the drama itself would have fallen flat. Instead, this exceeded all my expectations and then some. Each episode had me on the edge of my seat, but also had me stressed out that I couldn't watch another episode even though I really wanted to. Impressed and Intense was my motto.

I am not sure how to explain how much I loved this series. I loved how gruesome and gorey it was. I loved the religious "undertones" with Christianity and how the six episode series ended. I loved how it was broken up three and three episodes, the first introducing the "beginning" with characters are we thought were mains, but weren't, and the last three introducing this new world. But most of all, I LOVED how dark it kept getting - you thought that in episode one or two or even three, that a certain event would be the turning point, or the most fucked up (excuse my language) thing that has happened in the episode, and then the writer is like...no...we can top it. Especially with the premise of the last 3 episodes, I was impressed that someone would even go that far, but at the same time, was sobbing because it was extremely messed up how far everything was going.

I would recommend this over and over again if you like dark television - and not that there is a "supernatural" dark aspect, but the fact of how society would react if something happened that was outside of their understanding. And it's a scary thing.

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I was scared that I was going to overhype this drama myself, so I waited a little while before watching it. But I gave in and decided that I really needed to start watching dramas that I really want to watch and this one did not disappoint. If you like the intensity of The Last of Us & The Promised Neverland, where you are trying to fight to stay alive, then this is for you. But there is also the intensity of your favorite characters dying like season one of Attack on Titan. Still, an amazing drama that makes you want to keep watching, but super depressing because all you want is the best for everyone and for them to be badasses and survive. But also, the reason why I couldn't give this a full 10 stars. Loved this drama, but it got to a point where I got annoyed that people were dying left and right, and mostly the ones I got attached to.

This was a drama about the ugliness of human nature as well as the bits of good - you have an apartment full of different people who are battling their own evils, and they are trapped together during a pandemic, trying to find some kind of synergy on how to survive together. You have people with a lot of character development and you even get to see some backstory on a few people, which made it a lot harder when you weren't sure if they were going to survive. I would say my favorite part about this drama, besides everything about Cha Hyun Soo, were the character teams. It seemed that a lot of people seemed to tag team together and build this emotional attachment that gave the drama life. Yoon Ji Su & Jayhun (or guitar baddie & katana Christian - so many people, couldn't keep up with names, had to give them nicknames) were the freaken dream team and became my favorite characters seeing how they grew together. Then near the end, we got Pyeon Sang Wook & Park Yu Ri (mafia & caretaker) who softened one another but still kicked major ass. There were other characters here and there that I tried to keep track of but Lee Eun Yoo, Seo Yi Kyung, & Lee Eun Hyuk were the three I couldn't figure out. Eun Yoo & Eun Hyuk had really cute sibling-building moments, but they were both just very extreme people. Yi Kyung is a fan favorite from the articles that I have read, and she was a badass, BUT I really never knew what her morals were in comparison with her end goal of trying to figure out what happened to her fiance.

Overall, I am excited to see a season 2 come out and even might decide to pick up the webtoon/manga. With the ending we got, I really want to figure who was really in that car and if it is possible for people to fight this "plague."

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Aging of a Drama

Before writing this, of course, I had to look at other reviews and what I found were a lot of the older reviews LOVED this drama, while the few more recent ones gave lower scores. It made me think back on all the older dramas I have watched and the scores I have given them, and maybe it was because maybe at the time when this came out, it was amazing, but now with all the dramas we have access to, it falls flat.

I really wanted to love this one because Shin Min Ah is one of my favorite actresses, but she does have a lot of dramas that are older. But from the dramas I have watched, she brings this young giddy charm to her characters, so I wanted to check out a historical drama with a supernatural plot. I've only seen maybe one of two supernatural dramas in the past few years, and I do like that genre and want to get into it.

Now that I have explained myself a little before, I feel confident that I can jump in.

It's been a few days since I finished this drama, and it has had a few days to digest.

I liked the premise of the drama, in all other aspects, I wasn't a fan. It didn't take me until Kim Eun Oh, the main character, or the Magistrate confessed his feeling for his character to stop acting like a jerk, and for me to actually like him. It felt very 180 and not a gradual character transition for him. He was kind of lousy up until the point he confessed, and then he was like screw everything else, I do everything for bae. Then we have a very confused and spunky Arang, who didn't go through much character development, but at some point, she just kind of started to chill out but her spirit remained. Their relationship was very cute once they were together. Before that, I honestly didn't think they were a great match. Hell. I thought Joo Wal was bae....considering....you know.

I thought that this drama was actually, not purposely, funny. We had the main villains with the Nobleman Choi and Moo Yeon, and yes, Chairman Choi was a bad person. But maybe it was just the acting for Moo Yeon, but she was acting out like a child most of the time and had the funniest facial expressions. Someone said in a previous review that it was because of plastic surgery, but I also feel like it had to do with her acting when she was distributing herself from the two characters she played. She only made funny faces as if she always smelled something rotten when she was Moo Yeon.

Finally, the ending wasn't extremely clear to me, but from what I understood from it, it made sense and was the only ending I could think of to work based on both of the mains' fates that were total twists at the end, but were explained previously and I had connected.

It was a very simple yet complicated drama. I might go back to watch one or two scenes.

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I've been dying to see this drama ever since I watched the trailer, and thought that maybe Viki would release the drama maybe a few months after it's release for standard members as the drama was only for premium...and I refused to upgrade my plan. But more and more dramas started to pile up that I wanted to watch, but I didn't have the right sub and they weren't releasing it for everyone. So I finally caved in for the holidays as there will be a second anniversary major 2 week binge session coming up for me.

Unfortunately, I follow a few korean drama instagram handles that will give major spoilers for each episode of dramas. I've been getting better at avoiding them, but unfortunately for this drama, I knew the major plot points. I knew how Do Min Ik would react when he found out that his secretary had been lying to him and secretly dating him as Veronica Park. It was almost like watching Nice to Meet You - how they played the wedding/leaving at the alter scene in the first few minutes, and then started the drama 6 months before as the wedding. It made it painful to watch as you knew the first 30 something episodes were of how they met and fell in love, but in the back of your mind, you knew that something huge happened for the main guy to break off the wedding, during the wedding. So during those those 30 something episodes...it was hard for me to believe the main guy when he said he loved her and nothing she could do would make him want to leave her. Luckily, in this drama...it wasn't as painful as the other drama. But unfortunately, I didn't understand Jung Gal Hee reasoning for doing what she did unlike the main girl in Nice to Meet You. I think since the start of the drama, Jung Gal Hee was playing an innocent trick on Do Min Ik, her boss, because he couldn't recognize faces and expected to have the worst possible date and he would never call her again. And yes, as she kept meeting him because he had fallen for her version of Veronica Park, she felt worse and worse about leading him on and eventually wanted to tell him the truth, but that was after like 4 dates. All I could think about is...how the hell is she going to get herself out of this one. I felt like Do Min Ik's reaction was fair as his prosopagnosia was fresh and emotionally he hadn't come to accept it completely and Jung Gal Hee knew that. He felt as if it was a crutch in his life as well as his work, so it doesn't help that the one person who he trusted the most basically made him fall in love with her saying she was someone else. Given he is a man in his mid 30's and has no reason to be a child, but yes...Jung Gal Hee did not have a justified reason for what she did and she is lucky that he forgave her and decided he wanted to be with her only an episode (2 half eps) later. I also personally think it also hurt cause all Do Min Ik wanted was a normal family life, and he wanted to love of his step mother who had raised him after his father's death. He knew that their relationship was manipulative, but he still became the perfect son so one day she would say that he was her son and not step son. In this timeline, his mother wanted him to became head chairman of his father's company (take it away from his uncle) as well as marry into a family with high status, and decided to set up an arranged marriage with Veronica Park (CEO of biggest film company in Korea). Even though he knew about Veronica Park's demeanor, he still gave her a shot because he so badly wanted to please his mother. I think that is maybe why he fell for her so hard and so quick, he so badly wanted it to work out, so when Jung Gal Hee decided to act in the place of Veronica Park (while the real one was on a date with Ki Dae Joo) and he sensed a speck niceness (something that he lacks in his family life, but craves for), he was like, "this is my wifey."

I believe this was Do Min Ik's only flaw though...for me at least. I loved every character in this drama, Do Min Ik's especially. But there were a few flaws or character development holes that I didn't understand. For Do Mink Ik, I loved his loving and bubbly attitude, and went through his little character development - after a secretary he trusted for many years betrayed him, he had a hard time trusting secretaries, and only signed a one year contract with each. Normal stuff. I loved his goofy smile and cute personality that he always had towards his best friend Ki Dae Joo and once he got prosopagnosia, he started to lean and trust more on Jung Gal Hee and showed her this side as well. He was basically a puppy who wanted to be loved. He did throw little tantrums here and there, which wasn't my favorite, but he got better at them. I also think another thing I wasn't very fond of was his stance on the whole secretary unfairness issue towards the end. He only really helped out because he saw his girl suffering in the protest. Yes, that is very sweet, but nowhere did he mention that he did what he did to help her as well as all the other secretaries because it was wrong. Yes, what he did created a domino effect that helped all the other secretaries...but it was a domino effect, not the sole reason why he did it. Maybe he did do it for both reasons and I am reading the signs wrong, but Min Ik wore his feelings on his sleeve so the fact that he didn't come out and say it was also for the secretaries, makes me think it was a side note.

I liked Gal Hee's can-do and quirky attitude. She always wanted to help and she was great at it. She saved Min Ik's ass on many occasions. I just didn't like how her "reason" for pretending to be Veronica Park was so she could experience just once , what it was like to be on the receiving end of her boss's good side. Instead of her pulling out his chair, he pulled out hers. Instead of her making reservations and picking out the fanciest wines for him and a quest, she would drink a fancy wine. Not...really...the best reason so I wasn't super into their fake romance plot. Min Ik was being hella cute...but I couldn't get past it. It's wild if you think about it - if Gal Hee went that day and said that Veronica Park couldn't make it, I know that Gal Hee and Min Ik's romance would have still happened and it would have been cleaner and sweeter as he started to fall for her when she told him she would help him becoming head chairman. Plus Gal Hee's heart would have broken less because she wouldn't see her boss falling in love with someone else. But...I guess...if we want to think about it in a positive way, her pretending to be Veronica Park made her gain confidence in herself that she was lacking? But a counterpoint would be that she gained a lot of that confidence when she was helping him strategize how to maneuver the chairman meetings.

Veronica Park was annoying the beginning, she she went through a lot of development as she started to get a clue when she met Ki Dae Joo. I didn't really believe their romance in the beginning. For Veronica, it seemed like the very basic troupe, I can get any man I want, but you keep rejecting me so I want you. So she kept pestering him while he only wanted to talk business with her. Eventually, we find out that Dae Joo actually likes her because he thinks she is the "coolest woman he has ever met," he he wanted something serious with her and not to be her "play thing." After they decided to be "serious" they became actually really cute, but also their conversations turned suggestive and they became rabbits. Ki Dae Joo was just a homie to Min Ik and I loved everything about their bromance and how they called each other wifey. It was unfortunate that Min Ik started to distrust Dae Joo, as we all did, but to be fair, Dae Joo was being extremely suspect when he didn't need to be. Yes, that added drama to the drama...but we could have saved a lot more time if he just said exactly what happened from the get go. Plus, it would have helped if Lee Eul Wang would have told most of the truth form the get go because she seemed hella suspect from the get go, making us think that she was out here murdering people left and right.

This drama was very interesting in that; it made you think that there was this huge plot in which a lot of people from the company were a part of, with the main goal of getting rid of Min Ik. But in reality, there was only one bad guy who was an asshole, but that was his only crime, while everything else ended up being a huge misunderstanding, but no one wanted to come out and say anything because they wanted to protect one another. That's what this whole drama was about...a HUGE misunderstanding that created this chain reaction because no one wanted to say anything and Min Ik ended up getting the worst of it. For that 8.5/10. Still a great drama; it got me in the feels whenever Gal Hee needed advice and the ghost of her mother would come back and comfort her. I nearly teared up every time, especially towards the end when it seemed like Min Ik imagined Gal Hee's mother giving him advice (when it was really Gal Hee's older brother) about how you shouldn't concentrate on the things you have lost, but be thankful for the things you still have. I believe that was a huge revelation to Min Ik. He was always trying to chase love from people who didn't give it to him, that he didn't see the people who already did love him. The love of his best friend and the love from Gal Hee as well as the newfound love and acceptance he found in her family. Definitely will watch this drama again in the future as I need more Kim Young Kwang and his goofy smiles in my life <3

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I am super glad I decided to watch this drama. Not only is this drama a very quick watch (21 eps at about 20 minutes of watch time per ep), but you can tell there is a chemistry between the male actors as they are all from a C-POP boy group, X NINE. I am not sure if this drama is supposed to be serious or silly, but I enjoyed this first season because even though there was some wild scenes with soldiers being murdered, the fighting scenes made me laugh so hard!! Even though the acting was not the greatest, you can tell that the actors are very close and they are enjoying their roles and acting with one another. I think it would have been worth a 7.5/10, but then you have that WILD ending!

Overall, I think my favorite characters would have to be the emperor's younger brother, the Prince (Aquarius) and the emperor's uncle's right hand, Gemini. Even though Gemini doesn't have many scenes, he bring this quiet sass to his role that he absolutely destroys at!! I think Aquarius is my favorite character though. From the beginning he is this charismatic and fun character who plots and gossips with our main character Fei Fei. Plus, even though he is goofy 99% of the time, he does have his serious moment where he is this badass fighter who can keep up with Leo, the general of Pieces's army. I feel bad for not thinking my sign, Leo, is the best character even though she is one of the few women zodiac members, but she is growing on me in season 2. Also, Aquarius acts like a little and big brother to Fei Fei - he follows her around and always supports her ideas, but he also takes the initiative to help her and his older brother get together. Not only that, but when all things look grim for Fei Fei after finding out a big secret, he is the first person to pick her side when the person she loves didn't. It might be from having no sense of responsibility since he is the second in line for the throne, but of all the zodiac members, I believe Aquarius has the most faith and loyalty for people, including Fei Fei. Plus, you know...his smile <3

Then we have the two love interests of Fei Fei - the emperor, Capricorn - Bei Tang Yi, and the emperor's uncle, Pisces - Bei Tang Tang (who I swear his name is Chen in the drama). Even though The Emperor technically saved Fei Fei in ep 1 from drowning when she was teleport-ed , his uncle, Chen, is the one who sheltered her and continuously gives her protection from the emperor, who really wanted to execute her in the beginning of the drama. He is very gentle towards her and continuously tells and proves to her that he likes her, but it is super hard for me to ship them after Fei Fei befriended Cancer, who is in love with Chen, but is engaged to the emperor. But I do feel bad because he was heartbroken when the emperor basically put his claim on Fei Fei, even though he didn't admit he liked her for the longest time and did the whole middle school crush thing with her. I would say that I hope we get to see a more complicated love triangle in season two, but I don't think we will get that. As for the emperor...I have mixed feelings with him. Not only does he do the middle school crush thing, but he plays up the innocent virgin stereotype who doesn't know what to do so he locks her up in his dungeon. I kind of dislike how they poke fun at him for that for a few episodes, but I guess we are going for a middle school humor for this drama. Since the emperor has no idea what he is doing even though Fei Fei tells him what to do, he is very hot and cold, which leads us to the ending, where I lightweight blamed him for Fei Fei's fate, even though it is an important plot point starting season 2. It is very hard to read him as he has a single facial expression. I think he has issues trust people completely, but no idea why because we don't get much of a backstory with him. But I guess there really isn't a follow through with anything in this drama as everyone knew that Fei Fei had a power that canceled out the zodiac's power...yet no one thought it was, I don't know....weird?? Healing powers though...yeah...that sparked from concern from everyone!! Like I feel like the canceling of powers would be more concerning that a healing power...but that is just me.

I am excited to continue watching season two! It looks like it will be good and Fei Fei will take on more of a leader role in this!

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There was NEVER a dull moment in this drama. I had to give myself a few days just to recover from certain episodes because this drama HAD NO CHILL. But that isn't a bad thing. I loved everyone in this drama even though everyone was somehow associated with Jiang's murder and Ke's downfall. Plus, whenever you thought that everyone was in the clear, the drama would throw in a twist and screw you over and before you or any of the characters could recover, they would throw another twist and then another one!! NO CHILL. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and I was super stressed out because you think you figured everything out and who the murderer is, but then the show would be like...NOPE, you're wrong, nice try! I am usually not into crime dramas, but this one might actually get me into them. It was insane though how much death was in this drama and they didn't like like it was causal. Nope. They made it super intense and emotional. It made you love and hate the same character and you just sit there sad because you want your favorite character to be a homie and help the case, but instead they just wreck it. Plus, I was so right about actors who are in multiple dramas together - they have so much chemistry, you will never look at your favorite drama couple the same again. Like how my favorite drama couple was probably WeiWei and Nai from Love020 or the two mains from Strong Woman who showed those two up. But Ke and Cheng Jia Le showed up all of them!! I think it is part because they know one another and are comfortable with one another, but right from the beginning when they didn't like one another, you could see their connection. And once Cheng Jia Le gave into her love for Ke...dude...their love makes me want to believe there is someone out there for everyone and fate and destiny exists. Regardless how the world wants to break you two apart, these two loved one another so much and you could see the intimacy and love they both had for one another, especially in the INSANE plot twist that happened around ep 21 which I am STILL super salty about! Plus that insane plot twist that happened in episode 25!! Like literally the second to last episode! But the thing is...even though I was heartbroken, I understand that it was the only logical thing that could have happened to give us the AMAZING ending that we got. Honestly, this drama will go down as one of my top favorite dramas, and it is the TOP Taiwanese drama on my list.

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I don't think I have ever watched a drama that went from something light to full on Game of Thrones, but still kept a very sweet and silly romance between the two main characters.
When I saw previews for this drama, I was extremely excited for the whole thing to come out so I could binge it, and I was honestly not disappointed whatsoever. I loved how to was sweet and silly, but also very dark. This also goes for the characters.
If I could describe this drama in a few words, I would say that it was about two young people, Nok Du and Dong Joo, who come from completely different backgrounds, but are brought together with some kind of relationship with the King. I was told before watching this drama that the two mains had such amazing chemistry, and I am happy that this wasn't over-hyped. They both did an amazing job, and it was cute seeing how they were with one another vs the person they were trying to hide from people in order to get their "revenge." Without giving anything away though, I think it was also one of the things I didn't enjoy about this drama - how the audience knew that we were getting that classic kdrama troupe where even though the mains looked completely in love and happy, the fact that they never truly opened up about their "alter-egos" that were seeking revenge, that this wasn't their "final stop." That there would be a conflict and breakup coming soon because they didn't want to let the other person know who they really were. But I can say that I did love how when they both found out (same time or different times, I'm not telling), they were shocked, but ultimately decided that their love for one another was greater than their revenge, and the only real reason why they thought about breaking up, was because they didn't wan't to hurt the other in their revenge plot (where they could potentially loose their lives.)
Also, this might be a very unpopular opinion, but I was in love with Cha Yool Mu . His smile, demeanor, and his desire to ultimately carry out Dong Joo's revenge (as well as his own) and take care of her for the rest of his life. Yes, I completely ship Nok Du and Dong Joo, but if Cha Yool Mu didn't go for a "non-traditional" approach with his plans, then he would have been a great contender.
I loved how everything played out and absolutely loved the twists and turns in this drama as well as the villain. I was never bored while watching this, and only skipped some days because I got busy this past week that took me away. But I ultimately gave this drama a 9/10 because it annoyed me so much that it took until episode 20 for them to finally fully commit, or really for Dong Joo to, but even after "fully" committing, she still kept things from him. Keeping her revenge plot is whatever, you can wait a little down the road for that one, but she never told him her family history, even if she had to keep a little detail away. I love how they were in love with the person they were in that moment, but Dong Joo never opened up about her past or upbringing to Nok Du, which came off extremely suspicious. At least Nok Du opened up a little about his island life and at some point they were both living with his master and daughter, but Nok Du was completely in love with this girl who never wanted to share a single detail about her past with him. I also was so confused of what we were supposed to think of the King. I get we are supposed to hate him, but there are some intimate moments between him and Nok Du and Dong Joo, where I almost thought that he might have a change of heart and become a good king. And we kind of got that, but it was so hard when he obviously had an anger management issue where he would kill whoever got him mad, like he was straight out of Game of Thrones. His ultimate downfall was not realizing who to trust, but also (hand in hand) identifying when people he was close to started to go against him. He knew that he fell of course as being the King he wanted to be 20 years ago, but he was blinded thinking that they would always be by his side, even when he was become a terrible dictator. I thought his ending was very predictable, and I think he also thought so as well where he accepted his fate long ago. Plus, homie was so wrapped up in the prophecy's fate that he did ZERO researched and pinned his downfall to one person. He was extremely narrow-minded and stubborn that even though he knew that he was in the wrong, he was too stubborn to change his ways, and was like, "well...we are already at this point...let's just continue." I thought it was rather annoying. Also, even though I am happy with the ending we got, it was a little anti-climatic. I don't think that the characters knew what would happen after they got their revenge because if the King's son didn't want to rule when the King died, who would have stepped up?

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Honestly, I didn't hate this drama, but I didn't love it either. The acting was...not good. The story was alright. But the cinematography was honestly super beautiful and it was honestly a good laugh because of how bad the acting was. The romance was really cute especially when you find out at the very end why Zhi Hao's aura was special to Shi Ya. Everything tied up perfectly at the end and that is all we could hope for in this drama. It was cool watching something with a supernatural flare, plus it was all really pretty to watch, but that was the only thing this drama had going for it. I think I might have given this drama a higher score because my roommates and I had a good laugh. I don't understand, honestly, why this drama is currently a 9.1/10 on Viki, which is a higher score than Sweet Dreams, which blows my mind!! I wasn't a fan of any of the side characters except for Simba's...human...friend. I only say that because I was unsure what Simba's relationship was with this guy. I feel bad because I don't even remember his name. Basically, Simba is in a C-pop boy group and we are not sure if it is a duo group with him and this other guy, or if there are more guys in the group that we just don't see. His "friend" knows about vampires, and becomes almost like Simba's lapdog so he doesn't have to go out and hunt for human aura. I only really liked him as a side character because whenever there was an issue, he would stay super neutral and try to understand both sides, while everyone else picked one side and wouldn't budge. He was Shi Ya and Zhi Hao's biggest supporter and didn't care who knew. It was funny how someone who willingly wanted to be Simba's lapdog would be the only one with any moral compass in this drama. Other than that, maybe Shi Ya's younger brother was the second favorite, but we only saw him for a little bit in a couple of episodes. He was funny and he would go off an do his own thing and dated a human girl. Everyone else...Shi Ya's sister was too proud and thought she was better than everyone else, but changed her mind a lot and we were expected not to notice; Shi Ya's manager was super oblivious and didn't realize the guy she loved was a half-vampire who was the bad guy in season one; and even the two mains were a tad annoying. Once Zhi Hao became cured of his germaphobia, he became obsessed with Shi Ya. It was cute how much he loved her and how he rejected the thought of Shi Ya using him and she didn't love him, but homeboy got really stalkery. Shi Ya on the other hand refused the thought of maybe Zhi Hao just didn't like her and she chased him until he loved her, but then once she finds out this huge secret, she shuns the hell out of him. Like...homegirl, really? I understand you don't want to hurt him, but throughout this whole drama, you were trying to prove to everyone that because of your love for him, you wanted to find a way to make it work, even it that meant cutting back on your make out sessions.But randomly, in season two you decide that it ain't worth it and you basically gave fake promises to your man. But it was fun seeing Zhi Hao have some life in him and do the chasing in that season. I just didn't like how she was selfish and didn't care if loving her would change his life completely, but then reject him when he proposed to you and break up with him.

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If you like soapy dramas with every cliche imaginable...and I mean every cliche (cancer, a marriage contact, comas [yes more than one], memory loss, hypnotism, falsifying medical records, a fake death, kidnapping, a secret brother, pregnancy etc) then this show will be right up your alley. And it isn't that I didn't like it. I actually could't stop watching it and stayed up til 2am one night trying to end on a good note, but this drama would not. I wanted to like the characters, but it was so hard liking the mains.

Xia Lin is an aspiring 21 year old actress that finds out that she has leukemia after not landing a role as the spokesperson for a company. In order to receive bone marrow transplant sooner and to continue her career as an actress, Xia Lin enters into a secret marriage with Ling Yi Zhou, the CEO of a company.

That's the foundation of the drama and I thought this was going to be a cute story about two people who are using one another (Xia Lin needing a transplant to live and Ling Yi Zhou wanting a marriage to make his grandmother happy before passing) but end up falling in love. Instead we got this insane drama with everything imaginable. Which is why it was hard to like the main characters. I feel like Xia Lin's character wasn't consistent and I am 100% with Chu Yan in the beginning; why the hell does everyone like her and keep falling for her...even though he eventually fell in love with her too. Then we have Ling Yi Zhou. I wanted to like him so bad and wanted to blame his upbringing, but homeboy was a very aggressive person who will not take no for an answer. I am happy that Xia Lin called him out on it and left him until he changed. But it wasn't like he was doing it on purpose, he just didn't know that his obsessive possessive actions towards her was bad because he was never told otherwise. I honestly loved him in the beginning of the drama when they are starting off their marriage and Ling Yi Zhou was treating her like they were already in love and that they've been together for years. My favorite scene was definitely when they went out to celebrate both their birthdays. But then it started to go downhill for me liking him. Secrets come out about all the stuff he has done and it made me think that I was watching one of those "I love you, but if you don't love me, I will lock you away until you do," dramas. He redeemed himself because he wanted to be better for her, but it wasn't perfect.

One of the only characters I enjoyed in this drama was Chu Yan. I loved how this drama started off as Xia Lin and her roommate thinking that there was this love triangle between Ling Yi Zhou, his assistant Wen Li, and Chu Yan. I honestly thought that Chu Yan was a tad in love with Ling Yi Zhou, but then we find out that, that isn't the case whatsoever. The 3 of them are actually just not good with women and chose to do their own thing. I loved Chu Yan because he almost became an enemy of Xia Lin and would mess with her a little, but also protected her because she was Ling Yi Zhou's wife. The two had a rocky start, but then after seeing Xia Lin's affection towards everyone and everything including his rude ass, he fell in love with her. And at that moment, I was like...shit...poor guy. They would have made a really cute couple too because their friendship was honestly goals. They had such intimate friend scenes that I don't blame him for falling in love with her. He was her rock whenever Ling Yi Zhou did something incredibly stupid which was most of the time and every time she was in trouble, he would always be the first one to the scene, but always called Ling Yi Zhou because bros before hoes. Double plus, I loved the brotherly love Chu Yan and Ling Yi Zhou had for one another that even though Ling Yi Zhou knew that Chu Yan was in love with his wife, he never held it against him and didn't shun him. He just told him that they were brothers and regardless of what happens, they would remain close. Chu Yan went through so much character development and he honestly deserved way better. I'm writing that in my list. Yes, he found someone at the end, but it was honestly so random and happened in the last few episodes of the drama like the writers expected me to care about his new girl. Like even she knew that he was still in love with Xia Lin and then you expect me to ship them after a time jump? His character makes me want to give this drama a higher rating...and dammit...fine...I will...but only a fraction higher. I can't give it a full 4/5...but it deserves more than a 3.5. Even just writing this review, even though it wasn't the best drama I have every watched, I kind of want to watch it again because 2 times is definitely not enough.

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Honestly, I didn't hate this drama, but I didn't love it either. The acting was...not good. The story was alright. But the cinematography was honestly super beautiful and it was honestly a good laugh because of how bad the acting was. The romance was really cute especially when you find out at the very end why Zhi Hao's aura was special to Shi Ya. Everything tied up perfectly at the end and that is all we could hope for in this drama. It was cool watching something with a supernatural flare, plus it was all really pretty to watch, but that was the only thing this drama had going for it. I think I might have given this drama a higher score because my roommates and I had a good laugh. I don't understand, honestly, why this drama is currently a 9.1/10 on Viki, which is a higher score than Sweet Dreams, which blows my mind!! I wasn't a fan of any of the side characters except for Simba's...human...friend. I only say that because I was unsure what Simba's relationship was with this guy. I feel bad because I don't even remember his name. Basically, Simba is in a C-pop boy group and we are not sure if it is a duo group with him and this other guy, or if there are more guys in the group that we just don't see. His "friend" knows about vampires, and becomes almost like Simba's lapdog so he doesn't have to go out and hunt for human aura. I only really liked him as a side character because whenever there was an issue, he would stay super neutral and try to understand both sides, while everyone else picked one side and wouldn't budge. He was Shi Ya and Zhi Hao's biggest supporter and didn't care who knew. It was funny how someone who willingly wanted to be Simba's lapdog would be the only one with any moral compass in this drama. Other than that, maybe Shi Ya's younger brother was the second favorite, but we only saw him for a little bit in a couple of episodes. He was funny and he would go off an do his own thing and dated a human girl. Everyone else...Shi Ya's sister was too proud and thought she was better than everyone else, but changed her mind a lot and we were expected not to notice; Shi Ya's manager was super oblivious and didn't realize the guy she loved was a half-vampire who was the bad guy in season one; and even the two mains were a tad annoying. Once Zhi Hao became cured of his germaphobia, he became obsessed with Shi Ya. It was cute how much he loved her and how he rejected the thought of Shi Ya using him and she didn't love him, but homeboy got really stalkery. Shi Ya on the other hand refused the thought of maybe Zhi Hao just didn't like her and she chased him until he loved her, but then once she finds out this huge secret, she shuns the hell out of him. Like...homegirl, really? I understand you don't want to hurt him, but throughout this whole drama, you were trying to prove to everyone that because of your love for him, you wanted to find a way to make it work, even it that meant cutting back on your make out sessions.But randomly, in season two you decide that it ain't worth it and you basically gave fake promises to your man. But it was fun seeing Zhi Hao have some life in him and do the chasing in that season. I just didn't like how she was selfish and didn't care if loving her would change his life completely, but then reject him when he proposed to you and break up with him.

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