Story: Many would have you believe that this is the Korean adaptation of the highly successful Chinese drama Bu Bu Jing Xing (BBJX). It is not! More accurately, there are only a few similarities (can be counted in one hand) of circumstances but other than that, this is an entirely different story. In a nutshell, it's a story about a woman from the current time accidentally ended up in the ancient times where she became a part of a royal household and became friends with the princes of that era. She was caught in the middle of the political rivalry between the brothers for the throne.

I would like to reiterate that this Korean version was not written by the original Bu Bu Jing Xing writer. This is entirely a Korean written drama. The biggest difference are the characters. The main male lead in this drama is a bit of a ruffian and pariah with tendencies towards brutality. The female lead of this drama is a weak character who is always the victim and never a success of her own (which is so unlike the female lead in BBJX!). Maybe the idea of a strong, arrogant, cold male with tendencies towards brutality and a weak, simpering, without backbone and a blur-bordering-on-being-stupid heroine appeals to the Korean audience as per the rich, arrogant, powerful, abusive chaebol guy and the poor, happy, innocent woman formula. In any case, the lack of strong lead characters (including that of the second male lead) totally spoiled this drama for me.

The charm and success of BBJX relied heavily on its unforgettable characters. The storyline of time-traveling and involvement in palace politics itself is not new and pretty 'standard' in the Chinese drama scene. Popular examples include Palace: Lock Heart, The Myth and the recent web-drama comedic hit Go Princess Go. The Chinese have been making such time-traveling dramas for decades now. What made BBJX achieved such a big success was mainly because of its unforgettable characters and not necessarily the storyline itself. The Koreans went and adapt the main idea of the story and the open ended ending but pretty much made a mess of all of its characters.

Do not get me wrong here. I am not comparing the Korean version with the Chinese version. To do so, will be like comparing chicken to duck. Both are two very different products although from the same story idea! I am merely stating that if the Koreans had decided to do a drama based on time-traveling, palace politics and romance - they could learn much from their Chinese counterparts about writing characters that create lasting and strong impacts instead of following the usual mold of what constitutes a successful Korean romance pairing (rich abusive guy with poor weak woman). I believe if they had dared to break away from this mold and give the audience a strong female character with a strong, upright and strategist of a male character against a kind but ambitious second male lead, the drama would have been a much bigger hit. The only characters that this drama did well are the characters of the 10th prince and his wife. To this day, I cannot decide if I like BBJX's 10th prince and wife better or this Korean version's 10th prince and wife. In both versions, the characters of the 10th prince and wife were given good justice although both had different stories and endings for the 10th prince and wife.

Acting/Cast: Most of the male casts did well, as did the supporting actresses. The female lead, however, was a total let down. She only had three expressions: shy smile, expressionless and shocked. Her body language was a bit stiff too - making it hard for me to be convinced that there's even chemistry between her and the male leads; hence making this so-called 'great romance that caused brothers to fight against each other for the throne' less convincing. Even the shocked look looked rather unconvincing. In cases like these, there are 3 possibilities: 1- This was how the character was depicted in the script, or 2- The actress is bad in acting and shouldn't be acting, or 3- Both 1 and 2. I do not know much about the female lead as I do not follow news of Korean young idols and since this is the first drama of hers that I'd watched, I cannot make a concrete judgment of her acting skills. The jury is out on this matter. What I can say for absolute certain was the lead female character was the reason why I dropped this drama after 6 episodes and only caught up after it has finished airing (with fingers firmly on the fast forward button!).

Music: Nothing that stuck in my head.

Rewatch value: I will not be re-watching this.

Overall: Enough said. I recommend that you go watch Bu Bu Jing Xing instead if you haven't watch it.

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Story: First, this drama focuses mostly on martial art competitions and the journey of the female lead towards achieving the status of the best Yuanwudao martial artist. Therefore, if you are after a romance drama, this is not it and you will be sorely disappointed. Instead, watch this if you are interested in watching martial art competitions and the ups and downs a person faces when preparing for a competition. This drama also emphasises on the concept of family, friendship, diligence and loyalty. It's more of a self-discovery journey of the female lead character. There's the development of triangle romance but that is not the focus of this drama. Again, a fair warning - this is a NOT a romance drama (although romance was part of the journey of 'growing up' of the female character) but a sports & friendship-themed drama. The story stayed loyal to its original style despite the change in the main characters from Whirlwind Girl 1. However, I feel its a bit lengthy and that certain parts of the drama could have been presented more concisely. In fact the last 2 episodes were a total waste of time with lots of flashbacks. I would have rated the story 9/10 if not for all the flashbacks in the last 2 episodes. Also, the way it ended....are they planning for a Season 3?

Acting/Cast: Everyone acted well.

Music: Suitable.

Rewatch value: Not a candidate for re-watch though there are some scenes between the female lead and male lead that may be nice to go back to.

Overall: Watchable entertainment but with some lengthy scenes that could have been cut short. If they are aiming for a Season 3, I hope they will stop trying to drag the story out...but this is the Chinese we are talking about. They'll probably milk this cow and bleed it dry until it can no longer walk and the audience drop like flies as time passes! Compared to Whirlwind Girl 1, this drama is comparable but slightly on the lesser side.

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Story: The idea of this story is refreshing but the execution of it faltered half-way through the drama. In a nutshell, a woman was unexpectedly pulled into an alternate world of a comic drawn by her father to save a dying man. From there on, she gets pulled in into the world of W whenever the hero of the comic thought or required her to be around; hence becoming one of the characters of the comic world. Like all comics, there's a baddie (or two) who's after our hero and all through the drama, the hero and our initially-reluctant-heroine tackle the threats posed by the baddie(s) while trying to find a way to end up happily with each other, despite belonging to two different worlds. The first half of the drama created a huge impact and garnered interests from viewers because of its fresh concept of an alternate dimension/world in a comic book and the fast pace of the development of the romantic relationship between the hero and the heroine but the second half of the drama started to fall flat on its earlier premise as the writer struggled to find a way to sensationalize the struggles between a comic hero and its villian(s) while also trying to 'force' a happy ending for the hero and the heroine. It's a bit like trying to give a ghost and a live human a happy ending - to put together a fictional person and a real person together requires a lot of bending of logic. Personally, I think that this drama would have been so much better if the writer wrote from the perspective of a sad or open ending, instead of insisting that our two main characters end up together as per standard KDrama endings. Since the writer had started with an unorthodox beginning for our couple, why not follow on with an unorthodox ending? That would have made W a one-of-its-kind in the KDrama world.

Acting/Cast: Beautiful casts and good acting but why do I get the feeling that the cast themselves felt bored and flat-out half-way through the drama? It's as if they are just acting for the sake of acting to complete the drama...which was a great waste of the talents in this drama!

Music: Not the main attraction of this drama.

Rewatch value: Not in a hurry to re-watch.

Overall: It was good enough to keep you watching just to see how the writer's going to end the whole mess but not good enough to create a huge Wow! factor till the end; hence I rate this drama 8/10.

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Story: A sweet and light love story. The difference? The focus on online games which gave the drama some fantasy element and the interaction between friends living in the campus. If you are saturated with too many complicated love stories, this is the drama that will give you a breath of fresh air. You'll find yourself smiling most of the time. One smile = alluring. Many smiles = Excellent! My congratulations to the writer who also happened to author Shan Shan Comes to Eat - another nice sweet romance drama worth your time. I'm off to re-watch it now!

Acting/Cast: At first I was a bit worried when Zheng Shuan was cast in the role of Wei Wei. The novel described Wei Wei as a beautiful young woman with the perfect body and frankly speaking, Zheng Shuan's not the best around when it comes to having curves where curves should be. The movie version of this drama cast Angelababy as Wei Wei which was closer to the description of Wei Wei in the novel. So, having watched the movie first - I had to adjust to seeing a mediocre-looking Wei Wei in the drama but after a few episodes, it became a non-issue as the story took precedence. The shining star here is Yang Yang. His boyish charm shone through. He alone pulled through the chemistry with his leading lady when Zheng Shuan was a little stiff to start with. Watch out for those scenic and romantic scenes....and kisses! The dialogues were also excellent!

Music: Passable but it is not the music that attracts. It's the sweet love story.

Rewatch value: Highly re-watchable. Lots of sweet scenes.

Overall: Addictive. Sweet. Smile inducing. Makes me wanna re-live my younger days in Uni and fall in love again. Highly recommended.

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Story: Long long ago, there lived two clans of humans - those who can fly and those who can't. The winged clan was considered more superior to the earth humans due to their flying ability and possession of flight technology. For centuries, earth humans and the winged humans battled for supremacy. After centuries of animosity, a fragile peace existed between these two clans in order to end all the deaths and losses both sides suffered during the wars. What is the reason for the winged clan's ability to fly? It is the existence of a goddess who is reincarnated every 100 years. This goddess possesses the power to grant wings to the winged clan and the aura emitted from her powers all the flight technology. Envious of the winged clan's ability to fly, the queen of the earth humans started to plot for the re-incarnation of the goddess. The queen wished to have the reincarnated goddess under her control and to provide the power to fuel her grand plan for a sky kingdom in preparation for a war against the winged clan. As predicted, a baby girl was born and she was the reincarnation of the goddess. However, the queen missed her opportunity to kidnap the baby girl and the child grew up peacefully in anonymity, not knowing that she's the goddess reincarnate. To the humans and the winged clan, the goddess was born to grant the winged clan the ability to fly, but in reality the goddess is born every 100 years to reunite with her lover and even in this reincarnation, she was fated to meet and separate from him. What is the fate of this pair of star-crossed lovers? Can they consummate their relationship in this reincarnation after so many centuries of missed opportunities and what of the impending war between the two clans?

This is an original fantasy, wuxia drama featuring many new faces in the entertainment world. The CGI is wonderfully done. In fact, I will go so far as to say that the CGI in this drama exceeds those of Ice Fantasy. It is not overly done and the scenes moved fluidly without any odd pauses when CGI was used; lending it a more believable air for a fantasy drama. The story is wonderful and it keeps you wanting more at the end of every episode. My congratulations to the author!

Acting/Cast: The hero in the acting cast is Zhang Ruo Yun who acted as the male lead, Feng Tian Yi. He's relatively new to the entertainment world but those of you who had watched Wuxin: The monster killer, Legend of Green Hill Fox and Fifteen Years to Wait for Migratory Birds would have noticed him. In Novoland, his acting is considered the best amongst the leading cast. His leading lady, Guan Xiao Tong (as Yi Fu Ling) may have acted in more dramas than him, but her acting left much to be desired. She's not very good in expressing herself and often have a rather stiff face; giving her acting an air of immaturity. The second male lead, Liu Chang as Bai Ting Jun was equally bad with expressions and together, they form what I called "The Frozen Faced Couple" in this drama. Ju Jing Yi from SNH48 surprisingly acted well in her role as the jealous rival of the female lead. Despite her first time acting in a notable role in a drama, her acting surpassed that of the female lead. Chen Ruo Xuan as the bumbling genius inventor Yu Huan Zheng is another good actor, providing the much needed supporting role and the unexpected heroism for the drama. The mature actor who acted as the Regent uncle to Feng Tian Yi is also another actor deserving kudos for his acting.

Music: Good enough but I'll go out in a limb here by saying that I am not a fan of TFBoys and their songs.

Rewatch value: I find myself absolutely sucked in by Zhang Ruo Yun's strong, obsessive, brilliant and assertive character in this drama. His love for Yi Fu LIng/goddess is so all encompassing. The way he looked at her, the way his lips briefly lifted at the sides as he considered her, the way he 'tortured' her, the way he literally inhaled her and wish to possess her.....Zhang Ruo Yun had created a very sensual and possessive chemistry based on his acting alone! Thanks to his acting, it made the sub-par acting of the female lead more tolerable. I would re-watch all the parts in this drama where he interacted with the female lead.

Overall: In summary, this drama would have scored a higher rating if the role of the female lead and second male lead were given to more experienced actress and actor who can actually act. However, the unique story keeps you wanting for more and managed to grab the audience's attention until the end. A good production that deserves more recognition than the other bigger budgeted fantasy-themed drama featuring big names such as Ice Fantasy, Legend of Chusen and Demon Girl that were airing at the same time this drama was aired. If you are hesitating which one to go for, I recommend that you give Novoland a go!

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Story: This is the 3rd series of the popular Chinese Paladin franchise that was popularised by Hu Ge. Having watched all three Chinese Paladin series, I'll just summarise by saying that they are all worth your time watching. CP5 is an entirely different story. It even has an entirely different cast. No Hu Ge. To some, this might be a disappointment, but to others, this is a breath of fresh air - an opportunity for budding actors to try and prove their worth. Did Elvis Han manage to fill Hu Ge's big shoes? To be fair, it's hard to compare since Elvis' and Hu Ge's characters in the CP franchise are quite different! I'll also go out on a limp here by saying that in CP5, we have TWO male lead characters and not one as per the past CPs. Joe Cheng who acted as the Demon Prince Long You is an equally commanding, charismatic (perhaps more charismatic) and important character in CP5 as Elvis' half-human-half-demon Yun Fan. There are times in the series where Yun Fan's story took the backseat and Long You shone through. In fact, it got me questioning if Long You's the main male lead and not Yun Fan! Long You certainly has a much more interesting story arc. I am sure there are many Long You fans out there as there are for Yun Fan! The bromance between Yun Fan and Long You is another reason for watching this series. Unlike the past two series, this series focuses more on the relationship between humans and demons. The fairies or gods hardly make an appearance (if you count the 3 brief CGI appearances of Nuwa goddess as the 'fairy' part!).

Romance-wise, I am more in favour of the Long You-Xiao Man pairing. The romance between Yun Fan and Yu Rou is pretty one-dimensional and straightforward. I am also not entirely sold on the chemistry between Yun Fan and Yu Rou. Gulnezer or Gu Li Na Zha is a pretty woman but she is not suited to this role. She's either staring blank with her large eyes or crying tears with her large eyes. Nothing more. The chemistry is lacking between her and Elvis - which was a disappointment. It got to the point that I did not feel sorry for her when it's time for her to leave the scene (ahem!). The chemistry between Ling Ying and Long You was believable; not to mention the rather hot kissing scene (those of you who'd watched it know which one I'm referring to!)... but I was somewhat glad that Long You choose Xiao Man instead. Theirs is a relationship that started with platonic friendship and slowly grew into love as they supported each other and experienced all the hardships and challenges together. There is so much possibility for the relationship to grow but unfortunately, the series had to end! And the ending is....without giving spoilers away, I can only summarise it in one word: HOPE.

Acting/Cast: Generally, acting was good but I am not impressed with Gulnezer's acting. Unfortunately, this series would have been a much better one if they replace Gulnezer. My favourite actors are those who played the bandits. They provided the much needed comedic relief in this series.

Music: The OSTs are good and appropriate.

Rewatch value: I am more biased towards Long You's story; so if I rewatch this, I will only watch the parts concerning Long You. Thankfully, there are plenty of it!

Overall: Not as amazing as CP1 & 3, but it is still worth your time watching. Interesting story that manage to capture audiences' imagination. I rate this 8.5/10.

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Story: This drama was promoted as the Chinese equivalent to the popular KDrama "You Who Came From The Stars". I think it's a bit misleading. Perhaps, it's more appropriate to say this drama belongs in the same genre as YWCFTS. Except for the fact that the female lead's an actress and the male lead's over 500 years old, there is almost no similarity story-wise to YWCFTS. In my opinion, it is an excellent move by the director and producer to present an entirely different story combining Chinese humour, manhwa-like reactions (and drawings), ridiculous connotations as well as cute sound effects.

The female lead is the best second lead actress in the industry who spends her $$ to fund a well-digging project in Africa. Even this fact alone is laced with irony and Chinese satire! The male lead is a human who somehow acquired immortality after recovering from a bite that almost took his life away 500 years ago. Around 100 years ago, someone drained his blood and placed him in a coffin in an attempt to kill him. The act did not kill him but forced him into a dormant state until an accident caused him to be revived through the female lead's blood. With his memory of the last 20 years of his life from 100 years ago lost, he set out to regain his memory and exact revenge. Along the way, he managed to wiggle himself into the female lead's home, life and heart. This is a very entertaining drama and the use of comedy, exaggerated facial expressions and tongue-in-cheek type humour reminds me so much of the popular 'Go Princess Go' web-drama that had taken China and the world by storm! The female lead in My Amazing Boyfriend displayed similar characteristics as the female lead in GPG - loud, bossy, narcissistic, rude, funny, likes to curse, a bit of an airhead but can sometimes be amazingly clever and downright devious. The male lead, also similar to the male lead in GPG - quiet, calm, cold, intelligent, calculative and mature... a role that probably suited first time actor Kim Tae Hwan as it is a role that does not require much facial expressions.

Acting/Cast: I think it is fair and somewhat obvious to say that Wu Qian stole the show with her portrayal of the likeable character Tian Jing Zhi. She's the burst of sunshine - the vitamin booster that took this drama into a delightfully entertaining level. Her counterpart, first timer Kim Tae Hwan, however reeked of the deadpan-expressionless face of a first timer and for this fact alone, I ranked the acting lower. He has a long way to go to learn how to embrace a cold and quiet character without coming across as being 'woody'. I'll also like to fire the person who dressed him in that long black jacket style. It was unflattering and only emphasised just how tall and painfully thin he is. Granted, the guy's a model by profession - still there are ways to dress him up tastefully. His hairstyle was also unflattering and was actually quite distracting to me (it reminded me of a coconut on the head!). The rest of the cast did really well. Special mention goes to Fu Jia who acted the role of Tian Jing Zhi's cop ex-boyfriend. There's a bright future for this guy and I do hope the next time around, I'll see him acting as the male lead!

Music: The opening OST (Not Sacred by Just) is not my cup of tea and from the odd pronunciation, I guess it to be sung by a foreigner or at least someone who's native language is not Mandarin? I love the sad and slow ending OST though (Waiting For You).

Rewatch value: Pretty good re-watch value as there are many cute, funny and romantic scenes you might want to go back to again and again.

Overall: Good entertainment value. If you are looking for something light that makes you laugh and cry but has a story to tell the way "Go Princess Go" did, this is the drama to go to. The ending is....interesting and without giving anything away... it looks like we can expect a Season 2 or at least 1 or 2 special episodes after the drama ends???

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Story: What happens when a goody-two-shoes simple nice woman meets with a playboy hell-bent to make her his? You'll get "What is Love" - a drama filled with comedy and touching moments. This drama showcase Taiwanese romantic dramas at its best. We have a female lead (Li Yi Hua) who is average in looks, sweet, nice, with a stable job but still single at 32. After seeing how her friends got hitched one by one with some already with a family of their own, Yi Hua became desperate for marriage. At this moment of her life, enters our male lead (Bai Zong You) - an unrepentant and somewhat narcissistic playboy. In Zong You's eyes, he's not a playboy, but rather a man in search of 'love'. His definition of 'love' is 'being happy and enjoying the moment'. Unfortunately, his duration of such 'happiness' lasted only until after he had bedded the woman. Zong You believed that sex is the culmination of 'love' while Yi Hua believed that marriage is the culmination of 'love'. Through an accident of fate, Yi Hua caught the eye of Zong You who then plotted with his friends to woo her. At first, Yi Hua fell for Zong You's trap but she accidentally discovered his true nature very early on -hence, starts the interesting push-and-pull game they play at each other. They each wanted each other to succumb and accept their point of views. Who will emerge the victor? Watch this little gem to find out!

Once again, I am treated to a wonderful (but simple) story of a male lead who is relentless in his pursue of the female lead. After Yi Hua found out about Zong You's nature and his distorted view of 'love', her opinion of him soured and she became uninterested in him. In fact, she started to get interested in Zhang Shao Qian (the second male lead) who is a responsible man with very practical views on love and marriage (the exact opposite of Zong You). This presented a problem to Zong You who is determined to woo Yi Hua to prove his point on 'love'. What I like about this drama is how there is character growth for both Yi Hua and Zong You. I liked the parts where they both spoke to their ex-es and learned how wrong they were on their respective views on 'love'. They both eventually learn 'What is Love'. Be warned though! This drama is an emotional roller-coaster ride! You'll laugh yourself silly in one moment and the next going through your tissue box like there's no tomorrow!

Acting/Cast: All of the cast are seasoned actors and actresses. Even the supporting actors and actresses did really well. The reason for my 1 mark short of perfect score for acting is because of the second male lead. His acting is the worst of the lot. His facial expressions looked fake and forced. There is no emotion conveyed in his eyes and body language at all. It is obvious that he should not be an actor. Period. A better choice for second male lead would have increased the quality and enjoyment of this drama.

Music: I love the OSTs in this drama, especially Bii's "You Give Me Love".

Rewatch value: There are many cute and funny moments between the leads as well as emotional moments that tear at your heart that you may want to re-watch again and again. The leads have a very good chemistry. Noticeably, Chris Wu shone in his role as Bai Zong You. I only wish they make romantic TDramas like these now. In my opinion, the years 2008 to 2012 are the best years for romantic TDramas. Post-2012, things started to go downhill.

Overall: Good enjoyment and highly recommended to all you romantics at heart! I scored this drama an overall 8.5/10.

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Story: This series is a legend by itself. There are many movies and dramas out there on this classic story of the 'Three Kingdoms' but none had truly captured the entire novel, page by page, as this 2010 version. With 95 episodes, it is one of the lengthiest series I'd followed but also the most satisfying to complete. Admittedly, I watched this in 2010 when it was airing and has recently re-watched it to remind myself parts of the Three Kingdoms' story. This drama is like reading the novel itself. Each character is depicted accurately - from their behavior, aspirations, thoughts, speech patterns to looks. The director certainly selected the perfect cast to act in this series. Many would say 95 episodes is plenty but in actual fact, there are little side stories in the novel that were excluded. Otherwise, this would turn into a 100+ episode series.

Acting/Cast: If you want to know what is professional, solid, honest-to-goodness acting, watch this. The actors and actresses will make you feel as if you are watching history unfold before your screen. They will put all those idol actors to complete shame! Everything was to the dot - from settings, costumes, etiquette to speech...they all accurately depicted the correct era in Chinese history.

Music: If you are expecting great OSTs, you will be disappointed. But if you are expecting music that accurately reflects the music of the era in the 'Three Kingdoms', you will be delighted. During those days, ppl compose music to be sung as a poem with accompaniments from traditional Chinese musical instruments. The words sung are very meaningful. Even the OST at the start of each episode adequately summed the entire novel in eloquent words. This is a story about war, the end of a dynasty, ambitious men, heroism, political plots and personal struggles set in an era known as one of the bloodiest in Chinese history.

Rewatch value: I set the re-watch value as low because of the 95 episodes. However, most ppl I know who had watched this series would usually re-watch the parts they like; eg: Diaochan's plot to bring down Dong Zhuo through Lu Bu, the appearance of Zhuge Liang (Kongming), the battle of the Red Cliff, Liu Bei's marriage to Sun XiaoMei and the ensuing struggle to establish his own hegemony at the south, Zhuge Liang vs. Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang vs. Sima Yi etc. It also helps that wikipedia breaks down the series' episode based on the book chapters it covers - making selective re-watching easier.

Overall: A perfect series with perfect actors and actresses. A must watch for lovers of chinese history and literature. The only complain I have is the length but then again, it cannot be helped considering how this series follows the novel closely.

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Story: This is a very basic and often-told story of a rich man falling for a poor woman. In this case, the poor woman is also a single mother with an adolescent son. And of course, this rich man comes with a rich woman who has secretly loved him since childhood but is 'evil' and a mother who thinks any woman not belonging to a wealthy family is out to get her son for his inheritance. There is nothing that stands out in the story line. It has all the expected twists and turns of a Chinese melodrama - family conflicts, angst, poverty, joblessness, love triangles, unexpected revelations re. family ties etc. It has the realistic feeling (from the common dressing of the female lead to the very logic decisions the characters make) of most Chinese family romance melodrama. What makes this drama a little different from the rest is how the heroine doesn't really fall for the hero until much much later (like the last 10 episodes later!). In fact, she was very adverse to the hero and being a practical person, turned the hero down many times. She even encouraged and helped her best friend to be with the hero. In other words, we get a very reluctant heroine and a hero who is relentless (and shameless to some point!) in his pursue. I personally am very traditional in this sense. I love it when men are very active, creative and persistent in pursuing the woman....of course, there's a fine line between romantic and criminal and the hero in this drama kinda hover in the middle of this line. Thank goodness he didn't quite cross over to criminal! But then again.....he did ruthlessly tricked our heroine into marrying him (and she wasn't in love with him then!).....you be the judge of whether it's ethical or love in this matter. I just love it when the man's crazy over the woman while the woman's lukewarm over him! In other words, I like it when the power of the relationship is in the woman's hand and not the man's. If you are like me in this sense, you'll love this drama. What I also really love is the very touching story between the heroine and her best friend. It brought tears to my eyes. There are also no draggy scenes with very minimal repetitive or recalls - which I think, is the strength of this drama. The story progression is good.

Acting/Cast: Acting is good enough, including the kid actor who acted as the teenage son. Park Hae Jin's acting is okay though I can tell he needs more experience working on his facial expressions while working with foreign actors & actresses...or it could be his portrayal of the hero who is 'numb' to feelings- a character who was hurt by love and views marriage as a practical arrangement for his career. He's also a brilliant businessman, often able to overcome whatever tricks his mother (the CEO) and her cohorts planned to keep him in line. In the end, the entire board was supporting him and his ideas, which made his mom admire his ingenuity but also frustrated that she could no longer control him. There are parts where you can see the glint of playfulness and genius behind the hero when he plotted to trick our heroine into accepting him. The heroine is well selected - she's cute (not beautiful per se) and has an air of 'common-ness' in her. She is assertive but kind and often would rather avoid conflict than to explain herself to others. To her, the hero is the biggest conflict she wanted to avoid as she knew he would complicate her simple life. Hence, she did all her best to avoid him - switching jobs and place of residence and even went into hiding!...but our hero's tenacity and persistence finally won him the woman! :)

Music: Nothing that stands out.

Rewatch value: Not too bad, considering there are some scenes I would like re-watch. Those are the ones where the hero pulls out every trick in his book to get the heroine. Pure fun.

Overall: To those of you who are used to the 'polished' look of Korean dramas and the brevity of Japanese dramas, you might find this drama (and any melo Chinese dramas) hard to swallow. The Chinese excel in making 'real' dramas, depicting as close to possible, the reality of life and relationships. There will be no fashion show, ridiculously good looking (and heavily make up) actors and actresses here. Even the so-called HD quality is no HD quality. Extremely 'rustic'. Equal weight is given to addressing family relationships and friendships and work life besides the romance story. For a Chinese melodrama, this is not a bad one to be watching. Overall rating: 7.5/10.

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Story: In a pool side accident, a playboy (Zhang Peng) fell into the pool, got knocked unconscious and ended up in ancient times in the body of a woman. Where time traveling and soul switching stories are concerned, this is a nice and fresh twist where a man's soul ended up in a woman's body. And not just any woman's body but the crown princess'! The crown princess, Zhang Peng Peng was married to the crown prince of the kingdom who hated her with vengeance as the old Zhang Peng Peng was supposedly a manipulative spoilt brat. The crown prince was in love with a concubine of his older brother while the handsome Ninth Prince was in love with Zhang Peng Peng - creating two triangle relationships....or should I say, pentagonal relationship since there were 5 people involved in it??? Through hilarious misadventures and palace politics (put in a light manner), the crown prince slowly fell in love with his wife after discovering that Zhang Peng Peng had changed into a funny, quirky, 'boyish', rude, bossy and somewhat innocent woman! This change in character attracted and intrigued the crown prince. But Zhang Peng Peng refused to admit that she's also falling in love with her husband - a man! - when she's actually Zhang Peng (the soul of a man)! Therefore, she set up various plots to avoid having to deal with an interested husband - some funny while others were downright dangerous and challenging the authority of her husband who eventually became king. In the middle of it all, the Ninth prince who was in love with Zhang Peng Peng and wanted nothing but her happiness was caught in the power struggle for the throne. Throw in racy and suggestive scenes where Zhang Peng Peng molested the concubines and female servants and sex scenes between her and her unwanted hubby (lots of alcohol was involved!), and you'll get a provocative, quirky, silly and entertaining drama! How will this unlikely romance between a woman/man and a man end? Watch it to find out! A word of warning before you start: be prepared to marathon this drama as once you start, you can't stop. It is very addictive!

Acting/Cast: Mostly new faces but boy did they acted well! Kudos to the female lead and male leads of this drama, including the supporting characters of female servants, eunuchs and princes. They can act serious at one point and turn to quirky and funny at another then to a touching and tear-inducing, heart-jerking scenes the next! Amazing! I hope they will all go on to bigger and better roles! And the costumes were scandalous to say the least! Scandalous and unthinkable for the period in question but they added to the fun of the drama! Big pat on the back to everyone- from cast to production and directing teams! A job well done!

Music: Love the haunting OSTs and how it's played throughout in 3 different variations depending on the mood of the drama. I am looking around to download it now.

Rewatch vaue: High rewatch value. I do not mind rewatching this drama again very soon. Each episode's only 30 minutes since it's made for web viewing. I enjoyed all of the weird antics and the more serious parts of this drama. Very entertaining!

Overall: Highly recommended! You'll laugh, fall in love and cry. This is chinese quirky humor mixed with romance in the ancient times at its best!

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Story: It started out with the standard one case per 2 episodes formula but slowly evolved into something quite different. Bit by bit all of the puzzles fit towards literally the final 15 mins of the entire drama when it's all revealed. It'll keep you guessing but me...meh... knew who the big baddie was a while ago!...Thanks to my over 30 years of drama watching! But to those of you who are not a seasoned investigative drama viewer, you'll be guessing all the way to the finale. This is another great example of how having a story from a popular novel adapted into a drama can be a success. The storyline is the absolute strength of this drama. Add to it the witty and mature conversations between the characters, an international cast of actors and actresses, international locations, tri-lingual conversations (Mandarin, English & Cantonese) that depicts actual real-life manner of how multi-lingual ppl communicate (yay! no dubbing!) and quality production and you'll get a gem of a drama. This is something that does not come your way often. If you like mystery, thriller and romance - you'll definitely love this drama. If you do not usually go into the mystery and thriller genre (like me), you'll still find this drama a breath of fresh air and definitely worth your time. What it does is re-awaken my interest for more thriller, mystery and investigative dramas (which I kind of grown tired of since the late 1990s) and I am browsing around for the next fix!

Acting/Cast: Superb cast overall but I find that FBI guy who speaks in a thick South African English accent a bit annoying coz he's the only one not speaking in American English and yet goes around in the role of an American FBI agent (a mis-cast?). The lady playing Susan was great and I hope she'll hit it big in Hollywood in the future. The other actors in the US side are passable but not great. The Chinese cast are obviously the ones shining in this drama here.

Music: Most of its OSTs are instrumental and fits the sophisticated, modern and mystery feel of the drama. The ending OST however is hauntingly beautiful and its lyrics accurately depicts the emotion part of the drama (the relationship between the main couple).

Overall: It is not always you find a gem amongst all the dramas produced throughout the years and decades of Asian entertainment. Once in a while, you find one at a place you didn't think to find. I've always followed Chinese dramas but mostly for historical and wuxia series, seldom for their modern series as I think the quality of chinese modern series are beneath that of Japan and Korea but this drama here is an exception when it comes to modern chinese investigative series made by mainland Chinese (not HK which has an excellent track record for investigative modern dramas). I am surprised and impressed and read from a blogger earlier today how there are fans of this drama who wanted more than 24 episodes and are hoping for a Season 2. Well...I sure hope to see more of Bo Jin Yan if possible but apprehensive about Season 2s as they normally do not perform as well as their predecessors. As for those of you who are hesitating, don't...just watch it and I'm sure you'll not regret this decision!

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Story: This is a very straightforward and simple story of how an obese woman eventually lost weight but gained the love of a chaebol guy. The saving grace of this drama is not the storyline (which was nothing special or new) but the quirky and witty conversations and interactions between the characters. This drama has ups and downs - tears and laughter - all rolled in one. My only beef with it is how towards the end, the drama dragged a little with many re-plays and 'fillers' in order to make it into 16 episodes. It ended with a scene between the two children (representing the two leads) and how they had actually met in childhood - using a retrospective scene as ending - a method popularized by Secret Garden, but when used here in this drama, was unnecessary. Honestly speaking, episode 15 was a total waste of $ and time with many re-played scenes and not much progression in the story. If it's not for the draggy parts towards the end, I would have ranked this drama higher. I think a nice and concise 13 eps offering would have strengthened its ranking.

Acting/Cast: Generally great acting from everyone, including newbie idol-actor Henry. I do not know why but I'm not entirely sold on the main couple of this drama. Sure - I enjoyed the witty conversations and exchanges between the two of them - even their playfulness....but I'm not entirely convinced of them as a couple desperately attracted and in love with each other. The relationship felt more of best friends turned older brother-sister rather than the passionate and hot attraction of lovers. Maybe because they are an older couple, therefore the love felt more of a simmering sort rather than burning? Anyway, the chemistry between Shin Min A and So Ji Sub was not entirely the kind that made my heart go thump thump or sigh sigh...if you get what I mean.

Music: Quirky, silly and upbeat but not my cup of tea. Suitable for the drama though.

Re-watch value: Considering that there are many excellent KDramas in the romance and comedy genre out there, this drama has a pretty low re-watch value for me. Maybe because there were no scenes that I would like to re-watch or maybe due to the lack of burning chemistry between the main couple? It's an okay drama to pass the time with but not one that'll make me re-watch it again and again. It's a tick-I've-watched-it-and-it's-okay-but-now-let's-move-on-to-the-next-drama type of drama.

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Story: I finally made time to watch this drama and totally regretted that I did not watch it while it was airing! As a result, I ended up losing sleep to marathon this baby. This is a gem and certainly a much better product than Hyde, Jekyll and I - the drama staring Hyun Bin that was airing at the same time as this drama and with the same storyline on D.I.D. In fact, there are similarities in terms of the setting of this drama - rich younger generation chaebol guy with multiple personalities suffering from a childhood trauma which involves a girl whom they later fall in love with. But that is pretty much where the similarities end. As for the rest of the story - Kill Me, Heal Me trumps hands down! One nice guy with 7 personalities that you will find yourself liking. I had trouble saying goodbye to all of the personalities when it was time for them to go! Power struggle in a chaebol family. A family tragedy. Greed. Envy etc. It's all wrap up in KMHM with a good dose of comedy. The storyline also manages to bring out a range of emotions from the audience so much so that I found myself smiling, grinning, grimacing and crying. This is certainly something that HJ&I did not manage to achieve. For once, the higher rating of KMHM made sense!

Acting: I loved Ji Sung in Protect the Boss and in HMKM, he brought my respect for him to a higher level! This is the script that even Hyun Bin, Lee Seung Gi and many big name actors rejected after reading it. I mean - who is crazy enough to pull through SEVEN different personalities - one of which a teenage female and one a young girl??? Well.. apparently Ji Sung was and he was rewarded for this gamble of a decision! Ji Sung shone through the entire drama. I do not know how the guy did it but he did it brilliantly! I also like that he was able to 'act with his eyes' from the doeful, kind look of Cha Do Hyun to the fierce, passionate and dead stare of Shin Se Gi. Another testament to his excellent acting skills! As for the female lead, Hwang Jung-eum, she's good and was well paired with Ji Sung. They had certainly proved that they can pull off a good on screen chemistry in 'Secret' and it is no surprise that the Ji Sung-Jungeum pairing worked again in HMKM. The rest of the cast were brilliant as well. So, despite being fraught with news of troubles in casting in the earlier part of its conception, HMKM turned out to be a great success with a cast that was perfect for it!

Music: Love the opening and ending OSTs - modern and haunting. The lyrics were meaningful and somewhat sad and suited the drama well.

Rewatch value: I have a confession - I fell in love with Shin Se Gi and I cannot get enough of Ahn Yo Na! They are the two personalities of Cha Do Hyun that I like the most! I have no qualms re-watching this drama just for these two characters.

Overall: I give this drama 9/10. Why not a perfect 10? Well, although the story manage to evoke a range of emotions and drew the audience into the world of Cha Do Hyun, there are some factual errors here and there - they are minor and depending on the level of perfection you demand, they are not important enough to distract from the enjoyment of the drama. Hence, the -1 mark. Other than that, this is a brilliant drama and if you find yourself conflicted if you should go for Kill Me, Heal Me or Hyde, Jekyll and I....go for Kill Me, Heal Me. You will not regret it! Happy watching!

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Story: This is the story of Wu Xin - a man with many pasts, an immortal body but with no inkling of who or what he is. The story started off with Wu Xin wandering around as a poor, starving monk. Through an accident where he fell into a ravine, he met Yue Ya - a woman who was fleeing home in order to escape an arranged marriage to an old man. Out of the goodness of her heart, Yue Ya shared half of her bun with the starving Wu Xin. In order to repay her kindness, Wu Xin followed her around and created opportunities for the both of them to make money from fighting supernatural beings. Along the way, they became fast friends with a loud-mouthed, ambitious but well-meaning Lord Gu, and a cowardly and prideful Taoist priest. Wu Xin also makes an eternal enemy out of a powerful and immortal female demon, Yue Qi Ruo and her loyal partner-in-crime who loves her, Zhang Xian Zong. This drama aired two episodes per week and each week, Wu Xin and gang will be dealing with one case of a supernatural being while juggling harassments from Yue Qi Ruo and her cahoots. I enjoyed the 'fighting supernatural beings' premise of this drama and would have given the story a higher rating if not for the rather abrupt open ending. I felt that in the end, there are still many things about Wu Xin that were not explained. In one final episode, important characters were killed off and everything was essentially back to the starting point. The ending did leave a rather poignant feel, especially with the ending credits and OST running - you cannot help but sigh heavily, feel a little sad, cheated and a little stumped. Until episode 18, the story was going well and then suddenly, bam! it ends. It certainly felt as if the funding for this drama ran out and they absolutely have to end it at episode 20. A little more thought and a gradual entry into the end would have help improve the storyline and the overall rating of this drama. Maybe another 2-4 episodes more, definitely more revelation of what or who Wu Xin is and a more dramatic showdown with big bad girl Yue Qi Ruo would have been good. If you are after a romance drama, you will be disappointed as the romance is not the main focus of the drama. The main focus is the lead character himself: Wu Xin.

Acting/Cast: My favourite character besides Wu Xin is Lord Gu. The interactions between the two of them (aka Bromance) is downright funny. Lord Gu is a loveable character and I am sure many who had watched this drama would remember his character well above others. My least favourite character is ironically, the female lead, Yue Ya. This is purely personal preference as I don't quite like Yue Ya's practical, no nonsense, bickering, bossy and some what annoying character. Although I like dominant female characters, for reasons unknown, I dislike Yue Ya's character. I feel Yue Ya has a rather boring, flat and one-dimensional character and to build an epic romance story around such a character does not make sense nor did it appeal to me. Granted, she and Wu Xin do share some touching scenes together and some of their interaction is quite entertaining, the chemistry that I get from them is more of a long-time good friend rather than the passionate and hot attraction of lovers. In fact, the evil Yue Qi Ruo exhibits more passion and chemistry towards Wu Xin than Yue Ya. Too bad she's evil and suck people's spirits to maintain her youth and beauty or I'll be in camp Qi Ruo and Wu Xin. And to those of you who got suckered in by Mike D'Angelo's beautiful pose in the poster, Mike has a very small and minimal role in this drama - only appearing occasionally at the last 2.5 episodes of the drama. His appearance is so sudden that one could even call his character as an afterthought to prepare for the abrupt ending.

Music: Some people might like the slow and poignant music. I am impartial to it. As far as I'm concerned, it suited the feel of the drama.

Rewatch value: No hurry to re-watch. No unforgettable romantic scenes to re-wind to. Although the demon and monster fighting parts are nice, I do not know anyone who would re-wind back to those scenes unless they get their kicks out of watching supernatural beings running amok and people getting murdered?

Overall: Despite the weak ending and the lack of lovers' chemistry between Wu Xin and Yue Ya, I did enjoy this drama for the monster killing, the mystery and the investigative parts. And although the mystery of Wu Xin hangs in the air like an unsolved mystery even to the end, I liked the character Wu Xin and the potential for a Season 2 (if they want to continue with it). Otherwise, this is the end and life just continues to go on (forever) for our monster killing hero, Wu Xin.

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