Rebecca ZH
Watch for the engaging story, not the romance
An adaptation of a novel, this was a surprisingly enjoyable drama (ignoring the romances). The politics/story was actually the best part. Consistent characterizations, engaging political intrigue. I enjoyed watching everyone maneuver around each other and the various sideplots.The various romances were however a bit of a mess. It was not clear why she rejected some men, like the young Marquis and Lord Zhang. I had to read summaries of the webnovel to understand their characters and relationships, which is the sign of a poorly written romance. Jiang Xuening's romance with Xie Wei also didn't start till late episode 32 iirc (?) and it was rushed. There was debate about whether Jiang Xuening was being groomed by Xie Wei or she truly loved him. Imo if they had paced it better and developed it better, it would have been more satisfying.
I was however pleasantly surprised that the second half and the ending didn't flop and I didn't have to skip episodes or scenes. I also felt that Zhang Linghe overacted at points but his Xie Wei was consistent. Bailu delivers a reliable performance as usual.
PS check out the As You Wish variety show. That was SO good.
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beautifully shot and acted but loses steam
This is beautifully shot and you can see how high quality the show is. The premise is interesting - it's based off real historical figures (I saw the memoir on my Goodreads). I was curious how this might have been dramatized and adapted. The real lady Ui-bin Seong was only known to history by her role to the king: her pregnancies, her children, her title as harem wife and her death. On the other hand, we have a full story of the king's life in childhood, politics, etc. The king's life is also very messed up and I wondered how they were going to zoom in to this one part of his life story and romanticize it.However, the drama pleasantly surprised me by adding a feminist element. This is a story about love when it is complicated by power. It's about what love means to a man vs a woman.
As much as I enjoyed these themes, I found their back-and-forth "be my concubine / I love you" and "no I'm my own woman" to be quite tedious. The drama started out very strong and it is very well-acted (especially Lee Junho) but the increasing politics started boring me around episode 7/8. Had to drop this.
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An exploration about what it means to be a mother
This show does something special. It goes beyond just telling a story, but it shows you what it means to be a mother and to have a mother. This is one of the GOATs of TV shows, up there with the likes of Go Ahead and My Mister. This show is a longform essay about mothering and motherhood, and is wonderfully nuanced and poignant in its commentary about social issues. But at the heart of it all, it's about the love story between a lonely woman and a lonely child, how they became mother and daughter to each other, and how they chose each other over and over again.(I need a Father counterpart now please 🙏)
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A good second chance love story
I'm kind of undecided whether this is a 3.5 or 4 stars (out of 5). On the one hand, this is quite a well-made character introspection narrative/drama about two people coming together and trying again. On the other hand, the middle part really drags and I wish this was 12 or (at the maximum!) 14 episodes, instead of the current 16. I stopped at around 11/12 coz of losing steam.I like that this is very character focused and really tells the stories of the two leads and the side characters. The palette is so nostalgic, like Hatsukoi and Makanai san, and the school days segment gives me the feels for Someday or One Day (I'm not over that heartbreaking ending 😭). I think the skillful use of flashbacks and character voiceover narration actually works to the show's advantage because it feels like a diary at times, and I love the glimpse into the character's inner lives.
My gripe is really the length. 16 episodes is really way too much. Where the first 8-10 episodes feel better paced in terms of introducing the characters, their motivations, angst, and their perspectives on the break-up and their lives, by episode 10-11 it feels like the show is just dragging it out. (Also Kim Ji Woon's angst is just. So. Well written!!!)
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Warm and slow-paced slice-of-life
Kore-eda brings his signature warmth and humanistic focus to a story about two teenage girls making their way in the geisha world in Kyoto. This is a show for when you are in the mood for something super slice-of-life, warm friend group/family vibes, food, and fluff. There is no drama, tension, and conflict, which gets boring if you are not in the mood for it. The food portrayals never fail to make me hungry, and I loved the glimpses into the craft of being a geisha/maiko/geiko (e.g. the ichi-go-ichi-e phrase) and the glimpses of Japanese culture. It was also fun to spot Kyoto in the background.Was this review helpful to you?
A very well-done time travel story
I don't know what to say because this was a lot. One of the best time travel stories, up there with Reset and Dark (but with less mindfuckery incest than Dark), and such a moving portrayal of grief, first love, highschool summer romance, while also being a bit of a coming-of-age story and a story about depression. Saw someone say this is what Kimi no Na Wa tried to be, and I totally see that, and I also think this is what jdrama First Love tried to be. Last episode, last scene had me ready to start sobbing 😭😭😭 I'm just. Not ok. I should have known time travel doesn't end well. Absolutely amazing performances by the cast, especially the two main leads. There is a huge hole in my heart now 😭😭 I watched this to get over Under the Queen's Umbrella, now I need to watch something to get over this (also when will Letterboxd add Alchemy of Souls etc??)*Humor is unfortunately sometimes very not funny (fatphobic, transphobic) and I wish Huang Quan Sheng's storyline was resolved properly. Also Li Ziwei's second chase of her was low-key rather like harassment?? And what is this weird thing with age gaps lmao...
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Heartwarming and family-centric
😭😭😭 Dramabeans' review-recaps summarized everything I might have wanted to say, especially the ones covering the last episodes: www.dramabeans.com/2022/12/under-the-queens-umbrella-episodes-15-16/I think the main cast just really stayed with me: their poignant moments, their warm and rich relationships, and their complex characterizations. IMO one of the best uses of death of a loved one as a motivating force. The flashbacks of the previous Crown Prince's warm and playful moments with his mother and his brother that are flashed to the audience at just the right moments never fail to make me feel emotional. I do also love the complexity of the revenge political plot in the ending, although the ending was rushed. Not without its flaws but I LOVE a middle-aged woman as a protagonist (like EEAO), and the focus on mother-son relationships. More please 😭
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A pure shot of dopamine
Suuuper cute and fun in the beginning but sadly fizzled out by the end. Full of tropes and cliches, but self-aware and doesn't take itself too seriously, the show is an absolute delight in the first 5-6 episodes. I literally almost squealed and laughed out loud on PUBLIC TRANSPORT multiple times while binging this. It's like a pure dose of joy and sunshine.The second main pair grew on me sooo much and I felt more invested in them than in the lead couple. Young-seo and Sung-ho are just 🥺🥺🥺 so precious 🥺🥺🥺
Sad that the second half of the drama became like a conventional kdrama (just like Extraordinary Attorney Woo), losing much of the liveliness and character of the first half.
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An exploration of gender roles in Japanese society
Thought this was gonna be one of those weird Japanese shows but it was surprisingly thoughtful. I find it hard to find jdramas that suit my taste because of the clash in cultural values and all that but this was very enjoyable. I enjoyed the social commentary on gender roles, the high production values, the good balance between crack and seriousness and bite-sized episodes.Also I have good memories of this show because I had an interesting discussion with my sensei about gender roles when I mentioned this show to her lolol.
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Zhao Lusi is great in this
My face was like: 😃🥰-->😐🧐 as the show went on.Ever since Bai Fengxi became the Empress, everything started to suck. I'm pretty familiar with cdramas and so the rushed and bullshit ending wasn't a surprise but still disappointing. The first half was very fun and cast was pretty good for the most part. I still rewatch parts of this at times when I'm missing Zhao Lusi's character. I loved it the most when she was in her jianghu disguise, because she had her own story and she was pretty badass.
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Somewhat draggy historical drama
Was gonna give this a 7.5 star but then the drama ended up being way longer than it needed to be. It was very fun seeing Dilraba play a very different type of character but I was most blown away by Zhao Lusi. I just watched Who Rules the World and wow she is so versatile!! I am now going to make my way through her backlog. I want to just point out that I loved how well written the female characters were and the sisterhood between them. So rare in cdramas. Leo Wu was ok, his face doesn't emote that much but it fit his character in this role.Was this review helpful to you?
An exploration of what it means to be family
One of the best character-driven stories I've had the pleasure to watch, and a fantastic longform essay about family and love in Chinese culture. Legit recognized my relatives and parents in the characters and I really felt like I was seeing my own growing up experiences mirrored here.I absolutely love how focused on character development this story was. It was very rewarding witnessing their growth, and I loved having hunches about a character's behavior and having it turn out to be true.
Originally, I felt that the female characters were quite poorly written because almost all the moms are major assholes, but that was a bit premature. I'm still in disagreement with the scriptwriters about Mingyue's mom and Chen Ting. I think they hadn't done enough to make up for the selfishness and hurt that they'd caused. But then again, their kids are fine with it. So maybe I'm judging too harshly because of my own parental baggage? Anyway. A bit draggy at the end and lots of unbelievable plot twists but overall I really loved this 😭😭😭
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Fun bodyswape romcom
I came from Go Ahead (love that show) because I really liked Steven Zhang's acting. It's totally unnecessary to have 26 episodes for this purely romance-focused romcom and the last 6 episodes were so draggy but Steven Zhang is VERY adorable and good-looking 🥺 VERY FUN USE OF THE BODYSWAP TROPE IMO. There was a pretty fun dynamic between the two leads and lots of comedic moments. I loved watching the male lead play as the female lead and vice versa -- absolutely hilarious. I still rewatch parts of this sometimes. What a fluffy show.Was this review helpful to you?
Sentimental and nostalgic
This is a series that is dripping with romanticism, sentimentality, and nostalgia about a second chance at first love. Hikari Mitsushima was just SO good. I have my criticisms but I came to really love all the characters and the places they've moved to. Overall, this is a surprisingly tender look at relationships and the flawed people in it. I would usually be criticizing the cliche and unrealistic writing/story choices and bad decision-making on the characters' part but I just felt so 🥺🥺 Also Tsunemi deserved better 😔Was this review helpful to you?
Interesting portrayal of North Korea
This started out really strong but I almost totally lost interest by the end. One of the most intriguing part of the drama for me was the portrayal of North Korea. It was very nuanced and I learned that one of the screenwriters was a defector. Other than the interesting setting, the strength and appeal of the drama lay in the lighthearted and heartwarming day-to-day life of the main couple while in NK, before it was bogged down by all the other plots. Side character Gu Seung-jun stole the show the minute he showed up. Why did they kill him off 😭 and in such a lame way lol. I really struggled to like the heroine at first. She is very wealthy and her disdain (played to comedic effect) of the NK citizens' much less affluent lifestyle read too much like classism... It was a bit uncomfortable. With that said, the main couple were really cute and sweet and the hero was very good at doing the intense and wistful stare. Overall, very predictable and cliche, but lighthearted and has some heartwarming moments. Great production values and music and great wardrobe for the cast too.Was this review helpful to you?
