2ndLeadsBest
infront of a computer screen
Perfect balance of mystery, romance & comedy
Don't miss the Epilogues!I haven't seen the ML/FL in many dramas but my goodness the pairing is so good! The supporting cast are filled with veteran actors. Production quality, storytelling and pacing all so good. I find myself watching every episode 1x speed without skipping ANY scenes (which is hard to do these days with so many generic stories out there.) 8 ep in (where most K dramas fall apart) this drama is still going strong. Every episode I find myself laughing at something.
FL is so impressive with her acting skills and the scene where she dressed up as a man is one of the best I've seen.
ML is equally good. Their chemistry is so HAWTTT! despite the age gap in the actors.
I could've used another 10 ep of this series. So sad it's over!!!
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One giant Hot Mess
Veteran cast with great 1st episode and the script lost its way to nowhere land. I thought it focused on "Trolley Dilemma" instead it felt more like a woman's bad luck in choosing a husband.The only reason I continued is because I loved Kim Hyun Joo ever since she was in the 1999 drama "Into the Sunlight"
Park Hee Soon (ML) was powerful in My Name
Kim Mu Yeol so memorable in Bad Guys: City of Evil
All such great actors and I just kept hoping that this drama will take it somewhere eventually. But that didn't happen and partly with the twists felt out of place. Other part was the good to bad characters ratio is way off making this drama hard to watch.
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A Struggle to finish
Such big names cannot make this script work.First ep. was so enjoyable. The over the top comedy of Seo In Guk and his team operating cafe Minamdang got me laughing non stop.
Then came in the FL's grand entrance, taking down a van of bad guys, walking in slow motion with wind blowing up her hair on one side. WOW! SO Good I thought!
And then.....
FL went from super smart to can't connect the dots.
Somehow FL met ML are supposed to be at least a decade apart yet ML didn't age after so many years . Meanwhile she looks older than him. When casting doesn't match the characters, it's hard to make it believable.
FL & ML -- Zero chemistry. I enjoyed these actors in other dramas but this pairing was just terrible.
The last "twist" was not necessary.
Again same age characters as children (school age boys) ending up looking 10-15 years apart.
I finally finished it but definitely time wasted.
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Surprisingly I didn't hate this
I only watch these types of dramas for some noise on the side as most of the storylines falls into the typical drama tropes.Surprisingly its decent. Few interesting parts:
1. The topic of AI over human translator. AI language translator will continue to advance, and I believe it will close the gap between different nations.
2. The beauty of languages. "lost in translation" happens a lot. It's important to capture the essence of true meaning. I think it takes a lot to be a good translator so, it's a cool profession!
3. Some decent supporting cast: The single mom that became successful w/o needing a father for her child.
What's NOT working for me:
1. Beginning quotes in terrible Chinese accents. Honestly there are plenty of Chinese English speakers that can deliver the quotes better.
2. Over skin smoothing. Typical for modern dramas. What's wrong with texture of real skin? The anti ageism is overboard with K and C dramas.
3. Weak 2nd lead. the "spare tire" is childish and not even worthy of a 2nd Lead no fault to the acting but the actual character.
4. Typical drama tropes. Yeah ... there's a lot... if you hate these just don't watch.
5. Nonmatching dialogue. You can tell when the original dialogue changed for whatever reason so then it doesn't match the lip sync.
6. FL/ML mediocre chemistry. I don't find Victoria Song having strong chemistry with any male leads. Her acting is enough for these types of roles, but when there's an emotional breakdown scene that's when her acting cracks.
Is it a worthy watch? On the side yes..... If you love the main leads, then Yes.... If you expect unique story, then NO. Literally there is nothing new to this story line. It's very typical other than the topic of AI vs traditional translating service.
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Story telling perfection!
I waited a long time to watch this drama since I don't know the game, but I remember my father telling me how hard the game is. Never imagined that I'd be watching this drama in one GO! The cast/story/production were all so good. I love 99% of the characters which is very rare in any drama. Good job limiting single dimensional annoying characters with only few lines.Best of the Best in:
1. Casting. From leads to supporting characters, there were no weak characters. Too many outstanding actors to even list.
2. Character development. I love how the story not only focused on the lead characters development but also gave light to the supporting characters.
3. Friendships/Bromance: Story didn't have or need any romance. The multi layered friendships feels ever so heartwarming.
4. Story telling. Great pacing (except ep 33-35) I didn't skip any scenes and finished this drama in 3 days. I don't even know how they manage to bring GO to life! 36 ep went by and I wanted more! And once you finished watching, rewatching ep 1 beginning scene will be more meaningful.
.5 imperfection? Spoiler below **********************************************************************************************
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Ep 33-35 I cried... & cried but he cried for 1 ep too long.
Chu Yang on-line profile deleted. No one noticed? or asked?
Shi Guang never explained fully to Yu Liang. (but he told the truck driver about Chu Ying?)
Hong He quits but I swear his dad was telling him to continue to play.
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Much to do about nothing plot but with a great cast
When I first watched Cha Soo Young in "Tell me what you saw" and I thought please don't play another cop character. She was stiff and expressionless and had an awkward run. So I definitely had 0 expectations going to this drama. However FL Jeon Hye Jin in WWW was amazing so I definitely wanted to at least try.This drama is for the more mature "non judgey" audience as it focuses on a topic often looked down on - HS single mom raising a daughter on her own.
What I loved:
1. FL Cha Soon Young. She was so expressive. I love her blunt comebacks. She walked a bit "guyish" & I loved this role for her. She's absolutely georgous but not in a standard pale face standard Korean K pop girl kind. She's so tall and has "real" color on her face (not ghost white). She can pull off the short hair, guyish walk, blunt comebacks & still be beautiful. I love how she deepened her voice to solute her superior. Her imperfections made her unique & perfect. She's true to her feelings.
2. FL Jeon Hye Jin She's just an all around awesome actress
3. Mom's Bestie - great character, completely 100% bestie worthy
4. Good characters all around. No excess toxic character with too many lines
5. Either you'll learn something or relate to the ups & downs of life's unplanned events.
- Single moms should not be looked down on but to be celebrated for their strength to sacrifice everything to keep the child.
- Family is defined not by bloodline. There are numerous relationship dynamics that demonstrate this
What needed improvement:
1. Choppy development between FL cop & Eun Jae Won. If they really wanted to make the chemistry work, they shouldn't have long breaks of no interaction between them. It's only 12 ep so short on time but this didn't work well. The chemistry needed to develop more.
2. No where to be seen bestie's grandma that helped the FL mom out. Again I think this impacts the flow of the story telling.
Still great watch on the side!
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Focusing on the few positives
I think there are plenty outstanding reviews of this drama & I agree with all the flaws. However there are few great minor characters that I thought were the only positives of this hard to watch drama.1. ML's Manager. He's an outstanding character. I loved all his scenes.
2. Female producer who just blurb out brutal honest comments for the comedy relief.
3. Female makeup artists for the show. Few funny moments but highlight of the drama.
4. Male ex co worker -- "Dimples" Seriously he doesn't need to say anything, those dimples are just worth seeing
5. ML's CEO - few humorous lines.
6. FL's Dad - Hilarious!
In the end you can't really out act a terrible script. I pretty much skipped all 2nd couple's toxic scenes and somehow manage to finish.
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Becoming quite a fan of the director and screen writer
I never cared for short dramas until I watched "A Familiar Stranger" I was hooked on the story/casting/production.Then I looked up the screen writer & director and saw this drama. It's definitely got a similar feel in that it's got an interesting story line (if you like some dark magic, non human stuff) with that dreamland feel with beautiful visuals. The quality & design of the costumes & accessories are on par with many big budget dramas. Make up was a bit too heavy for the Males but I loved the creativity for the females especially the "Die Nu" FL make up.
The cast was very good:
ML Zhao Yi Qin is a familiar actor to me every since I watched him in Accidentally in Love then bunch of other dramas. I can't say he captivated me like the ML in A Familiar Stranger but he did a pretty good job overall.
FL Rain Lu is so cute. She's cute, innocent looking and beautiful all at the same time so those innocent scenes don't feel forced. I don't think her death painful scenes were convincing but overall she did a great job. I would rather watch her playing a innocent girl falling in love for the 1st time than many of the seasoned big name (who shall remain nameless) actresses playing down 10 years.
Supporting Cast:
I enjoyed the princess character & Yuan po po's character
OST: Quite good. similar style again w/ A Familiar stranger as well. 小时姑娘 sang both 灼风 in this drama and 听闻风月事 in A Familiar Stranger
Drama also worked in the couple from "The Killer is Also Romantic (2022)" in multiple scenes. Either you'll like that cross drama visit or you'll be like uhhhh so not related. Regardless it's a clever way to promote their other work.
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Zhao Xiu Yuan [Face via AI] made it!
Zhao Xiu Yuan [Face via AI] : HAHAHAHA AI Face passes idol drama level acting! Although, I am not sure if Zhang Hao Wei didn't get cancelled that he could do any better with this boring EX character.Drama is watchable if you enjoy SPECIFIC actors. However put this next to Blossom 九重紫 that's airing right now, it won't compete. From a script, storytelling, characters, couple CP, cinematography, etc etc all fell short. However, if you watch it because you are fan of ML/FL then its enjoyable.
I am big fan of Zheng Ye Cheng. His Peking Opera background makes him a solid choice for these Heroic characters in costume dramas. He doesn't need constant doubles for horseback riding scenes, fight scenes, wire works, walking scenes, kneeling on the ground scenes.... (ahahaha like that 流光引 dude)
So I watch most of his dramas just for him, but he has zero CP w/ all the FLs thus far (expect for the Sleepless Princess).
As great as Tan Song Yun is, the pair just didn't work for me. Again, personal opinion.
Story is typical as is the dialogue. The evil character is always that actor.... Kind of lost count of how many times he played that type of character. It definitely did not need to be 40 episodes.
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Love TJC, Love TJC's voice
Total fluff out of a lovesick teenage girl's play book. ML's a full time doctor, a voice actor at least part time, sings like an idol, cooks like a chef, speaks like a therapist AND never dated. He'll love this girl for years only based on her voice and music without knowing what she looks like but thankfully she's equally hot and pure. That characterization right there already puts this drama in the unplausible fluff category.It's a very slow & mellow drama with uninteresting interactions between the leads but both are good looking.
The supporting couple is cute too.
Both couples are with significant age gap and maturity gap making the relationships even more unbelievable. Age gap is not noticeable when both people are working, but one is in college & one's been working. Even when the age gap is not a big deal the maturity gap feels huge.
TJC fans will probably watch just to hear his voice. Most of the time this drama feels like a one giant cooking music video.
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MaoBuYI OST elevated the series
Rewatched for S2 prepThere was a time I thought Deng Lung and Yangzi's chemistry in Ashes of Love was so good that nothing can top, but Yangzi played this character to perfection!
Her chemistry with Tan Jian Ci is next level. I never seen Tan Jian Ci so beautiful, not to mention the emotional level required for his character requires way beyond all his other roles. He can switch from loving eyes to pure hatred in a blink just using micro expressions.
Knowing how the book ended this is one drama adaption that I hope that it WON'T follow the book's ending. (I am in denial). In my head I am thinking can they make 3 different endings like how some Kdramas does it?
Yang Zi's chemistry with Zhang Wan Yi is not as captivating as Tan Jian Ci because Zhang Wan Yi's line delivery felt a bit too modern. Their chemistry does grow later on, and I am sure in S2 it will be fire!
OST ALL so good, but the best one is still MaoBuYi's OST "有你无你"
Most memorable scenes (for me):
ANYTHING with Tan Jian Ci (Xiang Liu)
Ep 14 34min The Discovery
Ep 17 33min Boat scene
Ep 19 31min Poison special (cute turnaround)
Ep 22 14min Xiao Yao protecting Cang Xuan with her life. Both actors were gut wrenching good!
Ep 25 Behind the mask
Ep 30 3min 1000 dagger scene
Ep 30 32min MaoBuYi's OST "有你无你" Most of the song was played & hit so hard
Ep 32 Full moon light
Ep 39 29min The parting
If it was so good then why the 9? Well, there was that blah:
Every scene with Mr. boring Tushan Jing. Yes, I know she's searching for Mr. safe stability, but the weakest chemistry is with this guy........................ since 4th guy came in the picture late and it's more of a drinking buddy than anything.
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Decent story with lots of potential, killed by some fatal decisions
Usually these kind of stories starts off with a FL wronged in the prior life and gets a 2nd chance. However in this story, The FL is trying to correct her wrongs.There's a common theme referring to the scent (hence of scent of time)
The leads Zhou Ye & Wang Xing Yue is a good pairing visually.
Sets/production overall decent although inconsistent. Costume & accessories are beautiful especially for the FL. Then there are props that looks incredibly cheesy fake too.
What killed this drama little by little ...................
1. Poor choice of dubbed voice for the FL. Even when her facial expression is on par with the mood, the voice didn't follow. Actually it sounds like 2 different dubbed voices. One sounded older but either way, it was not good.
2. Mu Yao -- I was wondering how they picked someone who can't act AT ALL. Apparently she's some internet celebrity and end up getting this supporting role with enough lines that can kill a drama. So that happened.
3. OST overkill. It's a nice song but the ONLY song which they play bits of it 10x per episode x 30 episodes ....
4. Over smoothing of people's skin especially of Huan Rong Zhou. He has a wax figure face at times.
Potential not fully realized but not bad overall.
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I guess I am a sucker.....
It's not that this plot is anything special but I didn't feel like it was as bad as the bad reviews out there. Maybe it's because I love the cast and/or maybe it's because this was so much enjoyable while wine-ing.What I loved:
Cast: ML FL I've been a fan of from their other works
Bitchy producer: Fine example of antagonist w/o having to backstab someone for a love interest
AGE appropriate casting: I appreciate this part so much! It seems that lately so many K dramas fail as they cast age inappropriate actors for the characters.
Unhatable 3rd wheel. She as very likeable
The webtoon fat girl. I was definitely hoping she would find true love.
The dating show , how scripted it is. It was fun for me to showcase the unreality of it.
Spin off typical drama tropes: instead of randomly reaching for something high up and falling into a kiss scene this was more of trying to kill a Mosquito.
Best friend couple so supportive of the ML & FL.
What I disliked:
The implausible plot of that HOT of a FL (with good personality) could be the laughing stock of lack of love interest through the years
The instant on/off like button from the ML
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Way worth watching over standard story lines
Under the radar gem. Creative story line with seamless story telling. There's no "filler" episodes or useless characters taking too much screen time.It started out with lots of laughs. OTP acting completely worked with the story. Kudos to the actors who did an amazing job. This is where a good script can be amazing with the perfect casting.
The characters started simple and very 1 sided love without reason. Of course! it's from a 12 year old mind. How deep can the characters be? As they become self aware, each relationship becomes more meaningful.
Ost is fitting with the beautiful scenes:
Like the 24 year old Chen Mei Ru facing the 12 year old self.
The moment Chen Mei Ru screams out all her insecurities
Memorable scenes that can really hit you with a wave of emotions
Great Drama!
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Supporting cast Song Zi Qi was the only reason to watch this
HS drama trope overload but 2nd and 3rd pairing were entertaining to watch.FL was the typical acting like a 12 yr old without a clue & needs ML's constant support.
ML somehow liked that. This pairing has zero chemistry.
I only watch this drama for Wang Ze Xuan's supporting role as Song Zi Qi.
His character is exceptionally funny and Wang Ze Xuan is such an underrated actor. He pulls off every supporting role wonderfully. Hands down he's the only reason to watch this.
Series seriously slow down after they graduate HS and Wang Ze Xuan's scenes were limited.....leading to the expected ending.
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