Messy plot but good acting from ML

This is your typical ‘old school’ Chinese drama. Cold rich super capable ML, who can fight, save the damsel and merely get a small scratch on his face 😅

The storyline is complicated. As usual, there is the power struggle from within the family to gain the majority shares and ultimately power of the family company. A lot of past history intertwined with missing persons and death. Somehow, the history of the ML tragic accidents involves the FL’s family as well! The FL’s character is bright and cheerful, but she loves too easily and emotionally unstable. In the first few episodes, the ML has his hand around her neck choking and threatening her in that manner. Not Cool. But of course towards the last few episodes, she becomes his pillar of strength.

Many holes in the plot. Many things don’t make sense. Very over dramatised 😅 Especially the final episode! Third parties- yes. A very annoying female rival Tang Lin who is rich but so spoilt and just cries when she cannot get the man she wants.

The romance between the main couple is quite nice. A short break up and he said very hurtful things to her, but we all know it’s not the truth 😅 Some nice PDA scenes, and yes it’s a happy ending. ML Fan Zhi Xin’s acting is really good in this one. It’s my first time watching him, and was impressed. Also very good looking 😍
Give this a try, but don’t expect too much.

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Not as bad as you might think

First few episodes might have you cringing.. typical spoilt rich boy acting up and pulling pranks on this new female teacher. But somehow in the process, he falls in love w her.

Our ML is 17yo going on 18, still in high school. He’s doing all these rebellious acts to spite his mom, who is the chairwoman of the parents association in the school. The mom of course is super rich, donated loads to the school and abused her power with the school principal. Enters our FL, who is a new teacher at the school, and she’s 30 yo.

The first 5 episodes were questionable : HE was obviously crushing hard on her, but SHE was gracefully holding back, but slowly falling for him as well. It wasn’t anything pedophilia but it was difficult to watch the budding romance between teacher and student. Thankfully, the explicit scenes at this stage were merely a fragment of his imagination ;)

Then comes Epi 6 with a huge plot twist, which made the story turn quite interesting. Here the drama and angst intensifies, and emotions are running wild. I must say I didn’t really like our ML’s acting. He seemed wayyyy too childish to handle a relationship w a much older woman. As the story unfolds, it gets more gripping and more and more plot twists, especially the final episode! Never saw that coming! It is a happy ending for our main couple, and somehow by the end, their relationship doesn’t seem so “wrong” anymore.

Watch this with an open mind. Yes definitely there were some steamy scenes, though it seemed a little forced lol. Bear in mind this is a Taiwanese drama ;) and good thing it’s only 12 episodes :):)

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A veryyyy sweet one :)

You don’t have to worry about love triangles, bitchy exes, nasty parents etc… it’s light, fluffy and oh SOOO SWEETTT!! It’s raining sugar!! I came from watching Hi Venus, which is also another light hearted drama- but with that one I felt was quite boring.

The story starts off with Lin Xi finding the ML Ji Junxing and giving him a hug! She’s a stranger to him so he finds it odd. She’s a transfer student from another school, so of course fate has it that she gets to sit with him in class. Long story short they become friends and with a few others become a group of good friends. In the initial episodes I did find the FL a little off putting in how she is so spineless and always so accommodating to him- but I did suspect that there was an underlying factor to it (won’t spoil it for you).

So as the story goes, they become closer as friends and then off to uni and finally get together, start working , get married and have a kid! Yep, your typical evolution of a story from youth to adulthood, but with added sweetness. The ML is really REALLY good looking, and the height difference is very cute. He is completely devoted to her and waited for her a long time to get together.

Episodes 10-17 are a little dull- a lot of talk and college exams preparation. It gets more interesting with more drama from epi18 onwards. Yes there were issues with misunderstandings, jealousy, love rivals etc.. but it was all resolved easily and within a few episodes, hardly any angst! The ending is very cute and sweet, nice and short 25 episodes in total.

The side couple was a little annoying, always bickering and quite immature. And then there was a slight hint of a boy love couple, but it did not develop at all (I suppose they couldn’t in a cdrama?) A few kiss scenes towards the last 5 episodes. I believe the actors are quite young and new, so not very steamy lol.

Enjoy this one because I certainly did!! :):)

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A little slow and dull

Choi siwon and Lee Da Hee have visuals! So they look good together. Their chemistry was not sooo steamy.. they were good friends for a long time, were involved in other relationships and were always there for each other. How they transitioned from good friends to lovers was a bit blurry, not so clear cut. But he fell for her first.

I liked the concept of the reality show- Kingdom of Love. In fact I liked the couple chef John and Park Ji Wan more than any other couple- they had good chemistry and a good storyline. I did FF a bit here and there. A little dull and slow, but cute and an interesting watch. :)

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Get your tissues ready!!

A great movie for a rainy night snuggled under your blanket!! Haha… yes.. good one to binge watch (well it’s only two hours)

Loved the main two leads- the attraction was real and both had good visuals together. The storyline is simple enough- best friend asks to find out stuff about Guy A, so girl starts “stalking” him, unknowingly Guy A’s best friend Guy B starts liking her. But he thinks she likes Guy A so gets jealous. Then FL starts falling for Guy B but her best friend who thought liked Guy A , actually turns out likes Guy B!! Ok- it may sound confusing, but when you watch it it’s not :)

There is one very light kiss scene. Other than that it was pure face to face attraction/ standing close to each other, giving each other glances etc ;) Very sweet and tear jerking- cos it’s not a happy ending. It’s a teen movie but I thoroughly enjoyed watching it! Definitely recommended :)

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More about friendship and life struggles

If you’re looking for romance, it’s not really prevalent in this drama. This one is more about friendship, life as a young adult with work struggles, and the side story of siblings in secondary school. The ML is a champion on the Shooting Team but there’s not much about the sport or the training aspect of it.

The romance was very slow burn. Both leads knew each other when they were kids, he moved away and met each other again 10 years later. First few episodes seemed like he was very attracted to her, but the dynamic changed to more brother-sister vibe. [Spoiler]Then it dragged all the way till Ep 18 where they only got together then ::):) [End spoiler] I’ve liked He Yu since My Fated Boy (which was great!) In this he acted well, according to script which made him rather childish. The FL was quite good too and quite pretty. There were two other “potential” couples, but no real romance progression per say.

Music OST wasn’t that fantastic for me.

Give this one a go.. at least it’s short and the storyline is good. Not much angst nor ridiculous plots lol :)

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Not your happily ever after

Starting this off was very interesting. It’s real life drama intertwined with animation of cells that are within Yumi, and what makes Yumi unique and individual.

Each cell is introduced one by one, and there are many cells to remember, but there are the few main cells which you will see more often- primarily Love, Reason, Sensitive, Hunger and later on Lust/ Naughty (lol!) and each have their own shape and size and unique style- oh don’t forget Fashion cell! Kudos to the writers for being so creative with this!!

Now regarding the relationship element- Gu Wung was a red flag from the beginning to me. They met on a blind date- and he was immediately captivated by her. He came across aloof and somewhat disorientated, but eventually they started dating. What I couldn’t agree with was his lying, continued lying with the ruse of not wanting her to worry or overreact. Both were not completely honest and open with each other, which resulted in many misunderstandings. Wung also did not draw boundaries with his long time ‘girl’ good friend which is a major red flag for me. So in a way- the storyline is very realistic and relatable.

Kim Go Eun was commendable in her role, but the hair cut and style... uhmm no. Sorry. Uh uh. Don’t expect a happy ending :)

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AMAZINGLY GOOD!!!

As all good stories go, it all started long ago when a woman, a court maid was jilted and scorned by her lover- the king, who chose another woman instead of her. The king was treacherous- he killed anyone who got in his way. He is also quite a dumb and temperamental king who lashes out in anger when he doesn’t get what he wants. He’s dumb because when something goes wrong, he doesn’t even know how to investigate properly. Lol..

Then you have the Crown Prince, who I suppose is still young and naive; what wants to do good and help the people. But he does not yet have the power and authority, therefore he is trapped in his own prison having to succumb to the will of the palace.

The road to the throne develops quite interestingly with a good steady pace. It wasn’t as evil- deceitful-betraying as Scarlet Heart Ryeo, and our crown Prince turns out to be a very good King. But as Lady Court Seo points out to the ever-lovable Royal Head Guard- “A good king does not necessarily make a good husband”.

First one third of the series had its funny moments, we learn that the FL Sung Deok-Im is a free-spirited, bright, intelligent woman who knows how to earn her keep. She and the ML crown Prince Yi San cross paths when they’re young, and then meet again 10 years later. Initially he is taken aback by her arrogance and boldness (because she didn’t know he was the crown Prince) but soon he starts to fall in love with her. Towards the middle, the story focuses more on the evil plots to prevent the crown Prince from advancing to the throne. And there’s one great fight scene(only one!) in episode 7. Then the last 3 episodes are all about the love and relationship between FL and ML.

How do I start to describe their relationship? It was doomed from the beginning? Either one party would not be truly happy because both had different destinies and both wanted different lives. HE loved her so desperately.. wanted to keep her by his side. SHE rejected him many times because she wanted her freedom, she didn’t want to be confined to the palace and not having him all to herself. It was truly truly very sad... The chemistry between both leads were very very good though, some sweet and gentle PDA scenes.

I did wish we could see more of their happiness towards the end. The last episode was just tragedy after tragedy.. my gosh. My heart couldn’t take it sob sob. [SPOILER: It was unclear though how both of them succumbed to illness and died?? I’m still trying to figure that out. And to lose their son as well... heartbreaking. END SPOILER]

Definitely a highly recommended watch. A tad too melodramatic for me... too much crying. Maybe a few more fight scenes and conspiracies would have been better lol. Well done to all the actors- they did such a good job! The OST was not as memorable for me... it didn’t have that one or two particular songs that moved my emotions.

I will end my review with a quote from the Queen Dowager- “The palace is a dazzling..... prison”.

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Very unique, quirky and a definite MUST WATCH!

From the first episode, I completely adored Jin Moo Hak (ML). He’s not your typical dramaland CEO - he comes off unrefined and undignified; he speaks his mind too abruptly, he likes to shout lol and his dressing was a tad too loud for me haha.. BUT everything that comes out from his mouth rings so true! He has such wisdom and a heart of gold- although his general knowledge of the world is quite atrociously bad!! Loolllll.. Hats off to Kim Min Jae who acted the role so well!!!

The storyline is a good one- a very well blended mix of humour, conspiracy, romance/ love and family relationships. The funny parts are really funny... I haven’t laughed this much since ... ?? What’s wrong with Secretary Kim?? The romance and relationship development between Kim Dali and JMH was SO GOOD! They are completely opposites- in terms of personality, background, family and simply they way they project themselves. Even all her close friends and colleagues couldn’t believe that she would date him! [the scene where they tell Won Tak about their relationship- it’s the funniest ever!!]

The only thing I didn’t quite like was how the writers always tried to “trick” the audience into thinking something else. And how the scenes would flashback so very often to reveal the truths. After awhile it got predictable and a little cliche. Other cliches would be the overbearing loud stepmother and the unnecessary kdrama crying sensations ... lol.

All in all it was very quirky cute and unique! A definite definite must watch!! :):):)

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It’s raining sugar!! :)

Starts off with Ding Xian moving to a new school at 16 years old, and her desk mate is none other than Zhou Si Yue. Initially they don’t get along (of course!) but soon you can see he starts to like her and gives her special treatment - like helping her with her homework, giving her his notes, protecting her from embarrassment etc... they don’t actually confess their feelings yet, and just say they are desk mates/ classmates.

Soon he enters university first, while she struggles with the entrance exam. She has to work extra hard to get into the same uni as him (he’s somewhat of a genius ) so she’s quite stressed and exhausted. When she finally succeeds, they haven’t kept in touch for almost a year and he was going through some struggles. He decides he doesn’t want to start any relationship (because he feels he’s not good enough- typical) but ding dong ding dong, he finally realises he really likes her and starts to pursue her. After that it’s all raining sugar :)

The concept is nothing new, you have the usual love rivals/ third parties; the best friends starting their relationships; the competition trying to backstab them etc... Ding Xian’s mother is rather overbearing (instead of the overbearing CEO theme); very controlling and quite ridiculous in my opinion.

I think the writers spent a bit too much time on the high school segment- Episodes 1-15? It would have been better to spend more during the uni days and maybe when they start work.

Anyhow, the love story development is very sweet, very understanding and supportive. Not much kissing or PDA if you’re looking for that ;) It is a youth drama so gotta keep it PG13?? Lol...
Chen Zhe Yuan as Zhou Siyue was pretty good, he played the character well. As for Xu Mengjie aka Rainbow Xu who played Ding Xian... umm I didn’t really like how she carried herself. I felt she mumbled a lot, and her acting was rather sluggish. I’ve seen videos of her dancing and doing tik toks, which is very different from her character as she was a member of Rocket Girls 101.

All in all, it’s a beautiful drama and a definite recommended watch. Check out my Instagram profile for video clips. Enjoy :)

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Finding and loving yourself

This drama is about 3 characters at university with their own history and troubles/ problems with family, financial struggles, and abuse. They all have a rocky and less desirable start to their friendship but eventually grew to be great friends.

I especially loved the brotherly relationship between Yeo Jun and Soo Hyun. I also loved their character development and how they learned more about themselves and helped each other to change and evolve. However I didn’t particularly like the last episode where they re-enacted the part where Jun spilled coffee on Soo hyun in the first episode. I thought it was unbecoming of Soo Hyun’s character to behave like that, as if the roles were reversed and now he is the clingy one.

I didn’t particularly like So- bin... her character seemed non- essential and didn’t really evolve much, although she did overcome some of her fears. The side characters were the typical school bullies/ bitches- bad mouthing, take advantage, physical fights, cyber bullying and assault. The side characters I did like were Young-Ran and Chan Ki :) Even though the importance of their roles were somewhat less, the essence of their characters were more interesting. I did wish to see a romance development between Soo Hyun and Young Ran, so I was sorely disappointed when it did not happen booo.

The romance between Jun and So-Bin was mediocre. This genre is not so much romance but more towards friendship and overcoming your past and present struggles. There were some dark sides to the story, some of which was quite disturbing to watch (mainly abuse and assault). Also lots of melodrama, crying (violin playing in the background) moments.

Music and OST seem great too, quite modern but none really made an impression. A definite recommended watch- I love Bae In-Hyuk who plays Soo Hyun. He’s a new actor to keep your eye on (also in My Roommate is a Gumiho)

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Perfect blend of comedy, romance and fiction

Wow! Another gem for this year(2021) although I believed it was filmed in 2019. Please more Chinese dramas like this (another good one is Moonlight- read my review on that!)

What I loved most was it’s only 26 episodes. Just right- thus the story wasn’t draggy and the focus was mainly on the lead couple. The funny parts were super hilarious, because of the body swap both leads had to experience each other’s lives- [SPOILER: imagine a guy in a girl’s body and she gets her period!! LMAO] Both actors also pulled it off well, although Jiang Yi’s character as male and female was a tad more interesting than Yu Sheng Sheng. I thought Steven Zhang did a great job, I also liked him in Skate Into Love. What really added to the comedy and to me was what made the whole drama fantastic- was the background music and sound effects! There was the “Jealousy” theme song, the Idol entrance theme music, the out-of-tune orchestral music plus many many more!! Trust me, you will love it!

As for the relationship development, it was very well done. Both parties were open, matured and honest with each other. [SPOILER: yes there was a break up scene, but it was justified and not like other dramas where I break up for your own good and hide the truth. END SPOILER] Chemistry and kissing scenes between leads also was great ;))) Another plus point for this drama- the supporting casts were a pleasure to watch as well. Most of the time, the leads are great but the supporting casts were given such annoying storylines and characters, it made it torturous to watch (e.g My Little Happiness and Love Scenery- both dramas I really liked but it was ruined because of SC)

When you watch the ending (last 8mins) then you will make sense of the first scene in Episode 1. Ummm other reviewers were not too happy with it, for me it was an “Ohhh... I see!” moment. Hmm if they didn’t have that epilogue, I would have been happier because it was a bit of a let down. Let fiction be fiction. Production and cinematography was great. Voices are not dubbed and the OST was good too. All in all, a very very good watch and a definite recommendation. :)

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Soooo STOOOPID

The script writing, flow and editing is very poor. Basic storyline is not bad, but the development of all the plots is just a vicious cycle, became repetitive and annoying. The only reason I watched till the end is that the ML is good looking & hot! :))) If you can just look past all those, then you should be fine.

Romance and chemistry- err maybe 6/10? Had lots of potential but nothing great. If you’re looking for Cdramas with great chemistry, try Love Scenery, Maiden Holmes, Love Unexpected (but storyline not fantastic) and My Little Happiness.

There are many Cdramas out this year (2021) which are way better, so this one I suggest you give a pass ;)

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Friendship and Growing up

This drama is quite refreshing, at least the voices are not dubbed and the acting is good! Kudos to all the young actors.

The storyline is focused on senior high school students in their final year before entering college. It’s about their struggles on friendship, balancing studies with activities; relationships with teachers and parents; and exploring their options on their dreams, life choices and future careers. It’s a good drama that infuses good moral principles- excellent for those in their teens and young adults.

As for me (who is older and working;)) I found it a little slow. There isn’t any romance going on, but the development of friendship to a budding romance between the leads was certain but slow ;) I’m just wondering why he didn’t tell her he liked her when he had so many opportunities :P

Anyhow, a good watch but won’t be rewatching.

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