Ruined itself trying to be clever

0/10 do NOT recommend. I spite-watched it until the end just so I could write a review and save others from losing 30 episodes worth of their lives.

This drama was a solid good fluffy silly rom/com set in historical period until about half way through and then it devolved into constant plots, tons of lying, lots of schemes and just bs...by the 20th episode I wanted to strangle the writers and by the end of this I want to say they absolutely took a great idea for a drama and DESTROYED everything good about it and left nothing but a mess.

By the end of the drama I didn't want the leads to end up together, they do not have a healthy relationship and ML continues with his lies (the thing she hates above all else) right up until the final moments of the drama.

Dear writers, manipulation isn't romantic please leave this toxic trait in the garbage can!!

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Extraordinary You/ Tiger and Rose vibes

There are a lot of dramas out there that are jumping on the "person falls into a novel" idea that Tiger and Rose did so well, sadly a LOT of them fail to live up to their hype and the story ends up not making any sense. This one though I think really did a great job of coming up with a unique take on it. The episodes are a little less than 30 minutes, and topping out at at 20 ep total it's a pretty quick watch. I recommend putting this on your watchlist asap.

It's a high school romance drama set inside a novel but it deals with a lot of real world topics in a realistic way including bullying, eating disorders, escapism, and personal growth. Will those issue really resolve themselves the way they do in the drama if we act in the same way as they did? Probably not, but how do we know if we don't try? I liked the overall message that was delivered and thought it was done well, entertaining, engaging ,and still gave us the lesson.

There's a bit of existential crisis/edge to the final third of the series but I like how it was addressed and wrapped up in the final episode.

Final Grades:
Story was pretty good, had one or two things that could have been tweaked a little so I gave it 9.0
Actors did a great job, I never fell out of any scene. 10
Music was enjoyable but forgettable, I don't remember any songs and I'm not humming it after it's over. 6.0
Rewatch, definitely. It's a short and cute series and I'll watch it again someday soon. 10.

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Quickly becoming a contender for one of the best historical dramas of the year!

When I first started watching this I thought it was a middle of the road drama with predictable characters and storyline, but as it draws you in, you very quickly begin to see and appreciate new depths and new expectations.

Our FL starts out pretty meek and forced into a marriage because of a "joke" that the ML made. However once she is in the family, she has the BEST in-laws ever and within a short period of time she begins to change and grow. She finds herself and what her ambition is.

The biggest surprise for me is that though the ML is a bit of a spoiled twit in the beginning, you quickly see that he isn't a horrible person, he's mostly lazy and been born with a silver spoon. Once he falls for his wife, he becomes motivated and energized. He's a diamond in the rough that really starts out as a lump of coal....his transformation is awesome. His duo of good for playing best buddies are annoying at first, but when it comes to the real stuff, they will make you proud.

We've only gotten to the half way mark on this drama but I'll tell you, I laughed, I cried for two entire episodes, I fell in love with their love story, I connected with the characters, and I'm cheering for them to overcome their latest crisis. (I'll come back and update this review when it's all released)

I had seen someone compare this to some of the other grand epics of the genre in a comment section, I said this will be good for sure but no way can it compare to Story of Minglan or other sweeping and majestic sagas, but this drama is building steam rapidly and I can quickly see this one getting on to my top 10 favorites with multiple rewatches.

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Badass but adorable AF

I just wanted to mention both the two main women characters were drop dead adorable! Each of them were attractive in a different way, FL was tiny but feisty and I loved her short hair. The second female lead is almost otherworldly in her beauty and pulls off a very feminine look that just works for her so well!

This isn't going to win any major awards, it's pretty much a fluff filler drama. The acting was slightly above average but you could tell there was still room for improvement especially in a few scenes where it was supposed to be dramatic and it just felt a little stiff and forced.
The kisses on the part of the FL felt like she had no experience, the ML was slightly better but they both definitely need real world experiences to draw on and it pretty obvious they don't have much of that. :/

Now about the general story, this is set up as a very badass female lead and for the most part she pulled it off well, though there were a few separate situations where she was made weak by the writers so that she could be "saved" by ML but for the most part HE was the weak one and she saved him and everyone else from start to finish. I loved how she had a great personal code of responsibility for the greater good and she was the same while in the army as well as when she was just a civilian.

Ling Ting (SML) is set up as a character to be love interest triangle potential for FL but don't worry that never really materializes and the majority of the drama is focused on the main couple's interactions and their slowly warming up relationship.
Fair warning in this 23 episode drama it takes 12 episodes for the main couple to be official and that's all I'm going to say without spoiling anything.

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Really silly but enjoyable

This drama starts out with a poor overworked author who ends up dying and getting sucked into her own novel.
Got to love the recent flurry of similar dramas, but what I like about this one is the ML is almost a parody of similar types...the cold, arrogant, overbearing CEO is actually quite silly and a bit insecure. His handy dandy assistant is always having to reassure him that FL is for sure in love with him. ?
I don't want to give away too much of the plot but the original FL of the novel, ends up being a bit of SFL since the author has fallen into the novel and become the new FL, but then suddenly a secret is revealed about the original. Their interactions all fall into place, it makes the rest of the drama a lot funnier and unpredictable after the reveal.
I found this a bit cheesy but still very enjoyable. The FL author has a mission, she has to fall in love in 3 months time or she can't go back into the real world...but in the novel, she's rich and has parents to take care of her...so why would she want to go back to being a poor and overworked author in the real world? She spends a lot of time and effort avoiding love at all costs!

Give this drama chance, it's about 3 and 1/2 hours long total. It never takes itself too seriously overall I found it entertaining enough for an evening.

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Here we go again, transmigration of the author into her novel

This is a short format drama with episodes on average 12 minutes but they have 2-3 minute closing credits, so watchable screen time per episode is generally 10 minutes sometimes more sometimes less. Twenty four episodes total, but with the short length you can easily binge it in a few hours, especially if you watch it at 2x speed.

The plot is pretty standard fare, FL is the overworked stressed out author who ends up getting sucked into her comic. She has a mission in order to avoid death in both worlds, she needs to get true love's kiss from the FL in 3 months time. You can guess the shenanigans she goes to in order to achieve this. ML of course is allergic to women, except for FL. The pursuit by FL after ML is pretty funny, but by the time she gets him to fall for her...she finds out that it's a horrible exchange, if she gets that kiss, he'll die but if she doesn't get the kiss, she'll die.

What choice will she make and who will she hurt along the way as she struggles to find out what to do?

There's a SML and I didn't ship him with FL but I did feel really bad for the poor guy. Their backstory was cute and he was protective of FL, even when he knew that he'd been used.

There are some unanswered questions by the final episode that frustrated me a bit, but not enough to keep me from enjoying the rest of the show. If you've got an afternoon to kill, go for it, just don't go into this expecting Shakespeare.

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Author transmigrates into a hot mess

No one seems interested in writing a review, so I'll step up and give a little one. I think this drama is worth watching, so I hope people give it a second look.

This is the classic girl falls into a novel and falls in love type drama with a few proper differences. She is the author and someone else has messed with her novel on the very day it was uploaded. (that part is never elaborated on again) The author then falls into the story and attempts to bring it back to the way she wrote it.

It often feels as if the novel is fighting against being changed because towards the end she has suffered a lot, changed something major, only for it all to change in a new and different way.

I felt the acting was pretty decent for a short drama and the story was not too shabby. I cried at the death of one character and I wasn't expecting to, they just did a good job with the characters and the setting...perfect to make a few tears drop down.

I do not like the ending, but to be honest it was pretty realistic.

There's some pretty funny bits and a few sad ones too. Overall, I'd recommend giving this a watch.

It seems like a lot of people are struggling to find this drama with proper english subtitles, I've put a link in the comment section that will help hopefully.

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Random but still somewhat watchable

Its a random weird drama that starts out super cliche "rich ceo tricks poor FL into working for him just to keep her around" for the first 4 episodes I was really questioning if i wanted to keep watching, but I slowly started getting interested. I wanted to watch the whole thing to find out what the heck is going on as well as why on earth there is sooo many good looking guys in one drama!?!
It has a story that for me at least started predictable, became interesting, then slowly it went back to being recycled tired old tropes as we race to the ending. A few questions have been answered but one of the biggest things about the series still hasn't really been touched on that much. Since I've already watched 20 episodes, I'm going to go ahead and keep going for the final 4 as soon as I find them subbed in english. If there was still 10 more episodes, I'd honestly be dropping it just because they brought a VERY overused plot device into the show and it really killed the momentum.
update to add: I finished by sheer force of will.

In conclusion:
Music is unnoticeable and unremarkable
Story HAD a good hook that is underutilized
Actors are pure eye candy
Tons of tropes
Would only recommend if you're patient and have time to kill waiting for something beefier

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This adorable pair are back at it again!

Jia Yi Xuan and her handsome ML Zhen Zi Qi are paired once again in another short format drama. I've watched a bunch of these and these two never fail to catch a decent script.
This one starts out with FL coming to town in search of her beloved from childhood. Don't they all seem to fall in love when they're kids? ML is being hunted by some killers from his biological family, he breaks into her hotel room and forces her to pretend they are husband and wife, ie making fake smexy time sounds. After the danger is over, she uses her medical skills to knock him out, kindly patches up his wounds, and then flees the scene.
The whole show is basically her trying to find her long lost childhood friend and ML is trying to survive the assassination attempts of his biological family as well as the schemes by his adoptive family, only his grandma and soon FL are on his side.

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Just the endings

Did you watch 7 First Kisses and love it? Such a silly but fun mini drama that was basically an ad for Lotte Duty Free stores, but who cares with 7 gorgeous MLs and 7 ridiculous, hilarious, and lovely mini stories?? Anyway, this is a set of 1-2 minute endings for what happens after the scene was cut at the almost kiss moments. It's a good little wrap up and gives us some more cute and funny moments with our actors. Search for it on Ytube and you'll be able to watch them all.
Apparently I need to write a few more words to finish off this review, but if I write too much more, it will be longer than the series was!

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Let's Transmigrate again

This is a short format drama which thankfully has been compiled into a single 3 hour 20 minute video if you search for it on Youtube under the name The Magic Pen .

The story was cute, had a little bit of suspense, a little bit of danger, a little bit of love. Overall not bad. The FL is an overworked artist who faints and ends up in a comic world. She doesn't seem to take over the personality/body of an existing person as she has no identity there that she has to pretend to be, so she just presents herself with her own name. The main leads have decent enough chemistry but that doesn't really get explored until a little too close to the end.

The ending kind of fizzled. They did leave enough room that there's a possibility of a second season but we rarely get those on short format dramas. The way it's currently set though does not make this a happy ending. It's not a bad one, but it's not a happy ever after ending either. I won't say more without spoiling.

The costumes were acceptable especially considering the budget restraints.

The wigs though, oh god the wigs. The hair and makeup team was obviously an area that they skimped on and it showed. Often you could see the lace on the wigs and the makeup on any close up was caked on and distracting.

Overall, I'd recommend this as a good timewaster, but I definitely wouldn't rewatch it. Somewhere between a 7 and a 7.5

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Don't be deterred by the ending

I put off watching this one despite really enjoying Lusi's other dramas because I'd been told it had a sad ending and I want to avoid bawling my eyes out if I have the heads up already...but then I was told that the ending was happy and I was like, is it really? So I gave in and watched it.

I have to say it's a really well done story, the ending is open to interpretation...it could be a sad ending or it could be a happy ending depending on what you make of it. It is never spelled out to the viewers and it's a confusing final episode, but I understand why the writer chose to go that route. If you don't like ambiguous endings, I'd skip this one...but for everyone else I'd highly recommend it.

I liked a lot of the characters who I didn't like in the beginning and several of them did surprise me dramatically on multiple incidents, some for the good, some for the bad, and some for the temporarily bad and then surprisingly also really did it for the good. It will make sense if you watch, I swear!

I really felt a lot of viewers misinterpreted Xuan Zhu as a character, I felt she was the most complex and realistic type...she wasn't one dimensional which a lot of people seemed to want her to be. They wanted her to be vain and selfish and that be her only motivation, and it's not, it is a LOT more complicated than that. You have a young girl who is ever in the shadow of her cousin, her cousin that has it all without even trying it seems...FL has the love from her parents that Xuan Zhu didn't get from her mother, FL has the love of the guy that Xuan Zhu fell for first and FL never even had to try to attract his attention...his eyes only saw her. Everything that Xuan Zhu wanted and even fought for, was never hers, while FL just existed and things fell in her lap....or so Xuan Zhu thought. During the course of the series, there is a lot of growth on XZ's part and I feel that her choice at the end was done for the right reasons, though there were still viewers calling her selfish and attention seeking, and I'm left wondering if those particular viewers are 12 years old or what?

I can't go too much into it or I'll spoil the whole show but I really enjoyed the acting of
Zheng Ye Cheng too, in this drama he was so polar opposite of some of his other roles but he was very believable. He was softer, sillier, more honest with feelings, just everything about this character was so different from his other roles and yet Zhen Ye Cheng made you believe he was an ancient immortal helplessly in love with a soul that he followed for a thousand years. You also at the same time absolutely believed he was a flamboyant flirty playboy of the worst type at the beginning of the series, this character also was very much not one dimensional. He has a secret and a reason for the way he acts along the way...but first you have to watch deeper in to the series to discover it all.

For a drama that has 30 episodes, it still managed to keep me connected and aching for more. I never got bored or felt it was repetitive for more than half an episode before we moved onto something new and bigger looming adventures. I felt this is what those 60 episode fantasy dramas could and should be like, cut it down to 30-35 episodes, get rid of the filler and concentrate on world building, character building, and real story telling. It gripped my heart and made me cry when I tried to describe important moments to someone else...if I'm not actively watching a show and I'm just remembering a character or a scene and I can still feel the emotions, then that marks it as a good drama in my heart.
I wish the ending had been a little more clear, so I'd give this a 9-9.5/10 but really other than the ending, it was a pretty dang good drama and I'll probably watch it again!

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More comedic than expected

Zhi Fei presents as a cold boss in charge and tries his hardest to project a certain image about himself at all times. However, on more than one occasion when Zhi Fei is at home and he's happy or excited, he transforms into a giant goofball. His dance moments will come on unexpectedly and if you don't burst out laughing at least once, I'd be surprised.

I think why a lot of people don't appreciate the FL in this drama is that they are expecting her to be the helpless damsel in a "cold ceo/warm woman" typical drama, but Huahua is actually the more dominant one and takes charge of the Zhi Fei's life pretty much from their first meeting, and honestly though he says he doesn't like it he very quickly adapts to it and even comes to crave the attention and care she lavishes on him. When she suddenly disappears he can't focus until she's back.

The secondary couple should have gotten a little more screen time, but I like their storyline and I love that there was a moment that talked about consent during one of their scenes. So many dramas often skip that or worse try to make it seem that it's the normal thing to do when you have one drunk and one sober person. This drama didn't get too heavy handed in the message but at least it was spoken out loud, and I, for one, appreciated that.

The trio of gossipy secretaries are a DELIGHT! You think this is going to be that standard and overused group who are malicious and vicious, but in reality they instantly are on Team Huahua the minute they meet her!! They ship the leads so hard core and I love their interactions among themselves and with Zhi Fei and Huahua.

The one woman character that is always obsessed with the ML but never had a chance was mostly comically in her failed attempts to gain Zhi Fei's attention and towards the end she's still stubborn but obviously not an obstacle or really even a blip on ZF's radar.

There wasn't a ton of skinship in this drama, but you have to remember their romance took awhile to fully start and it is literally the very first romantic relationship either of them have had, especially with Huahua coming from a more emotionally and physically controlled as well as more conservative background it took awhile for her cylinders to get firing, if you know what I mean.

Minor spoiler below
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The writers really didn't know what to do with the little brother character, they tried to make him into an evil mastermind in one part of the drama but in the overall plot they wanted to show that he was a lost little boy who just hasn't grown up yet. ZhiRan is very smart when it comes to business and people, but when it comes to relationships and understanding that love is multiplied not hoarded...he has a lot of growing up to do in that department. I felt his redemption arc was kind of out of left field and I thought it dominated the final episode too much. That screen time could have been given to the leads and the second couple with better effect.

I give the overall drama a 9/10 but honestly give the final episode only a 5/10

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Here comes another short format drama

A short format drama with a plot that isn't overused! The ML is Zhen Zi Qi and they actually don't dub his voice, which is super growly and yummy! FL is Jia Yi Xuan a very adorable and popular short format actress.
A quick review without giving away too much. ML goes to an island that houses all the mentally ill of this society. The island has no laws and no keepers, except every resident has a bracelet for life so even if they escape somehow, they would be found out in normal society.

FL was thrown on the island once her adoptive parents no longer needed or wanted her, they adopted her to ward off evil for their natural daughter, when she grew up and wasn't needed anymore, they intended to sell her for "marriage" to an old slimey man but she fought back...hence she ended up on the island.

ML has some trauma from his "sister" who unalived herself in front of him many years ago after killing some people who abused ML and possibly her too. FL bears some resemblance to his sister, so that's why he picked her up from the island.

I don't think I've seen any other drama with a similar storyline, most of them reuse the same old plots a million times over. I liked this one for the story and for the leads. Some mild abuse in the beginning, much more mild than the sadomasochistic ones that are becoming all too common, but still not acceptable to ever put your hands around someone's throat. Other than that, a pretty decent drama and worth the watch.

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Not that bad

I agree with a lot of points that the other reviewer (Ariel) made and I think her review is really well reasoned out, however I tend to grade a little more favorably when it comes to mini-dramas. I usually drop it or like it enough to watch to the end and this one I finished.

The plot is pretty is a little different from the typical stuck in a video game dramas, because the FL and SML are fully aware that it's a game and he is constantly trying to keep her for falling for a character and to safely return to the real world. Most versions of this plot don't have one character who can pop in and out of the game safely and help the FL. A lot of SML's NPC character jumps were funny and cute, I really appreciated the comedy it added.

There is some ambiguity on the ending, which some have interpreted to mean that the soul of the game character could actually have been another player but I disbelieve that because though they do look similar (the ML and the Investor), the code that the FL injected into the character is what made him different enough to base an entire other game around. This wouldn't be possible if he was actually another human who snuck into the game during development...so I believe he is just a character and they are forever separated by real vs game world.

I most probably wouldn't rewatch this or go out of my way to recommend this as "one the best things you'll ever watch", but if you're a fan of short format dramas and want something to watch on your morning train commute, this is a quick little watch that you could finish in one or two round trips and it's engaging enough to keep watching to the end.

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