Elsietheone

Thanks will have a look 😀

This was one of the saddest dramas that I've ever watched. I wish I hadn't to be honest. Their short lives were lived in absolute agony, everyone was just using them. It pretty much is a realistic portrayal of the life of an assassin and the various reasons someone may go down this path. And it was not pretty. I liked how they had the almost true story (per Wikipedia anyway) of Prince Yi Bang won (father of King Sejong the great) happening in the background. Overall it was done well, but the whole thing is just not my cup of tea. I watched till the end hoping they may have a way out but....... I loved the OST though.

Thank you so much for the recommendations. I've watched Empress ki and it will remain the best historical drama for me. I watched the story if yanxi palace but I dont remember why I dropped it halfway. I'm sure it wasn't bad, will get back to it if I get the chance. I have also watched My sunshine( nit really into modern melodramatic type of shows byt I finished it). I'm halfway through Eternal love of dream ( Dong hua currently in the mortal world...only prefer him with white hair imao I know its petty 😅 so its taking a while to get through those episodes). Am eager to watch Nirvana in fire (does it have any romance??)

This drama was the best in the romance genre to come out in 2021❤❤❤. I have to admit it took me a while to get into it because I actually didnt know who Dilreba was. Only knew Yang Yang and he was the reason that I stayed, my guy was made for the romance genre!!! The first 17 episodes or so were quite a drag tbh. I dont hate gaming, but I dont love it either....perhaps 10 episodes of gaming would have been sufficient??? By lenghthening the gaming scenes it seems they were trying to appeal to very different audiences in one drama....Idk. Perhaps if the gaming scenes were more immersive like the ones in love 020 where the characters would get into the game I believe this show would have been elevated even further. Nway I'm glad I kept watching because from ep 19 I quickly forgot how draggy the first parts where 😅. I am grateful to the writer Gu man for knowing what less problematic women want to watch, a couple who believe in each other and support each other once they make a decision to be together. I really dislike the juvenile pettiness and unbelievable misunderstandings that usual romance dramas contain...and they do that for 45 episodes or more like damn!!!! Since I started watching cdramas its been really hard to find ones where I watched all the way through without skipping or dropping them midway. Seriously my intelligence has been insulted so many times I cant deal. And no, I dont view these from a western perspective its just that they could do with fewer episodes otherwise they get too frustrating. As a result, I stick to mostly historicals but then most have serious storylines which I appreciate but would love lighter ones once in a while like The love by hypnotic.
On a side note, those who keep recommending Intense love here should just STOP. These two dramas are in such different leagues, Intense love is too juvenile I could not finish it.
Chinese dramas I've liked include:
Historicals:
General and I
The story of Minglan ( watched all 73 episodes, loved it)
Princess Weiyoung (havent completed yet)
The rise of the phoenixes
The love by hypnotic *sic
The Eternal love 1,2 and 3 (same screenwriter as The love by hypnotic)
Eternal love (aka 10 miles of peach blossom. I liked it on the most part however something was a bit off)
Can anyone recommend similar dramas, they dont have to always have a happy ending....I would rather the ending is justified. I hate sad endings which are not justifiable.

You still took the time imao. I anticipated ppl like you to jump onto my comment, why such dedication from your end? You know what I said is true and are just trying to dismiss my point of view. You're the one trying to ensure people dont pay attention to my comment because you know what I said makes sense. As for the true reviews, time will tell....watch this space....I know I'm not the only one who sees it for what it is. Now, as you were!

You're the one who's resorting to name calling. You're the one who does not accept others having a different opinion to yours since YOU are the one who came to this comment. You are welcome to reply to any comments, but you are not going to give me your impatient attitude and name calling. You are welcome to reply facts with facts. Why would you be wary of people taking heed of my comment, the drama is HIGHLY rated after-all so 'I must be the crazy one'. Is my little single comment that impactful 😅??? If thats the case then I'm glad I didnt devote all this time to replying for nothing. Also, dont forget to reply to the other comments who have a similar view to mine otherwise 'people might get the wrong idea'. Who's a Karen now!

It was my post to begin with duh! What does me not having one good thing to say have to do with anything. So what if I found the bad outweighing the good. No one called you to reply to my posts so you can just leave. Besides, like I said the reviews are not painting a true picture what the show really was. What if most the viewers were a young inexperienced audience its not necessarily a correct portrayal of what the show really was. Like I said, you are not going to force me to say what I dont want to say just because you cant bear anyone having a different opinion from yours. I have pointed out exactly what I didnt like and I have more to say about that. Yes me watching over a 100 kdramas is relevant to pointing out my expectations when watching kdramas. And dont give me that attitude when you are the one who came to my comment. Cant bear anyone daring to give their honest opinion? Adios 👋

This drama is meant to be in the thriller genre and I'm not the one who stated this....so why should I not expect it be a thriller???
I watched this show on Viki, and its not the first show I've watched so that is not an excuse for poor sound effects. I did not mention which parts defied ligic but there you go again, making assumptions regarding which aspects I found illogical. I have watched over a 100 kdramas so I'm not a stranger to how good they can be. This one was just bad.
Also, what personal differences are you talking about? If the show was done well I would probably like it but alas, it was done poorly but there is clear agenda to overrate this show thats why I'm posting my honest opinion. Hence you have no right to state your own view of why I didn't like the show and supposed personal differences. And it has nothing to do with your input but the shortcomings of the show itself. You will not change either my mind or the show itself. It is what it is

You still mentioned about the 'level of romance' I was supposedly expecting based on me mentioning the absence of chemistry. The chemistry I'm talking about here is the connection and longing which you expect before a romance blooms. From my point of view, it just wasn’t there or at least not enough for whatever romance thet followed. The awkward silence which I mentioned earlier may have been intended to 'emphasise realism' as you said.....its not a new concept, has been done before but it just did not accomplish that in this instance. It was just that, awkward! I will go on to mention that some of the sounds would just cut off abruptly without any warning....which is something you dont notice when this is done right. Did you understand the context that I mentioned the apartment building? I had ignored your comment about it earlier because it didnt seem like you did. I only mentioned the apartment in the context that the production would likely not have been expensive due to most of the filming probably taking place in this setting as compared to thise shows that require use of various locations. I did not question why they set the drama in the apartment, that goes without saying.
I will also add that the script was nothing exciting to me, it did not give me the thriller vibes I was expecting from this show. And back to the sound effects, this is also why this show didn work because sound effects could have improved this aspect of the show. The premise of the show was probably ok, but the execution was poor. I wont even mention the frustrating reaction to the pandemic considering the world has already been through covid pandemic such that there so many things that just ended up defying logic.
Nway, I could go on but I'll stop here for now.

Dont try to psychoanalyse my comment telling me what I was supposedly expecting. Who said I expected a full blown romance 🤔...just because I stated that there was no chemistry between the leads? In fact, the drama probably didn't need a romance arch imao. Also, dont preach to me about what a realistic relationship should look like, you dont know me or what experiences I have. If you're trying to defend the show at least refute those tangible points I made about the poor production quality not what you assume you know about me! This comment section is about the drama not me ✌️

This was one of the worst, poorly written,poorly produced and poorly directed kdramas I've ever seen. What happened??? Just when you thought the world was starting to appreciate the greatness of kdramas, this is what they come up with. No amount of fake reviews will hide what a disaster this really was. I feel annoyed for wasting 7 hours of my life which I'll never get back! And no there was no chemistry between the 2 leads, they were more like buddies. It started off wanting to look expensive but it turns out it was really a cheaply made show.....the post production seems atrocious...there's not even a memorable soundtrack...some parts had absolute awkward silence. I mean, how much money did they need to save considering most of the show just takes place in an apartment building. We see you 👀. Hopefully time will correct this absurd rating down to a 4 or somewhere thereabouts. Watch this at your own risk

Exactly! The politics of it was already very minimal and just dissipated in the second half. I decided not finish the last episode just because! Maybe for serious sageuk watchers this drama was very underwhelming. To be fair I went in not expecting much by way of serious politics but got really pissed when they couldn even pull off a convincing romance with an intelligent script and plausable outcomes. I believe the real couple in real life had a much better and worthwhile 'love story'

I was so totally bemused by this so called 'romance' as well and why everyone else thought it was 'ok'. In the end Yi San was just pitiful and Doek Im was just portrayed as a ***ch. Based on what they showed us, their union was never supposed to happen!

Thanks for your analysis. I would actually want to watch Yi San if I can find it.

ML sleepwalking got me laughing so hard 🤣🤣🤣 I actually missed it in the later epsiodes

This drama was executed perfectly for its genre❤❤❤. It sticks to the brief:
Romance✅
Historical✅
Comedy ✅
Bonus: Action🥰
This is what my cdrama dreams are made of. I do like a serious story sometimes, but other times this is the exact drama you didnt know you needed. The young lead couple oozed with chemistry and they KNOW HOW TO 💋 💋💋. I cant tell you how much I've looked forward to lead couples giving their A-game in intimate scenes only to be let down and in turn ruin what was supposed to be an epic romance drama. I dont know why the film industry all think they can do dramas in the romance genre but only a few can do it right. Most are just juvenile and with annoying FLs. The screenwriter for this one is the same as The Eternal love trilogy (not Ten miles of bleach blossom, nway thats a rant for another day😅)and thats probably why I got hypnotised from the beginning to the end!

I remember discovering Jung Il woo through this mini drama and got me interested to find out some of his other dramas, hello Haechi! I actually found this one really funny, the dialogue was pretty fast so had to read the subtitles quickly but it didnt take away much from the experience. I lmao 🤣 😂 😆 so many times. Its very cliche, lighthearted and the perfect drama after watching a heavy show!

I watched all 3 seasons and I'm head over heels over the 2 leads! They played their roles perfectly with the best chemistry, able to bounce off each other and somehow fit like a glove. If you are a sucker for a satisfying romance drama that doesnt beat around the bush, and with very little misunderstanding, then what are you waiting for??? This has all the warm and fuzzy feelings you're looking for💕 and did I mention it has a lot of kissing scenes💋 that were actually quite good. I hope they do a season 4 preferably in the modern era but I'll still watch it even if its not. Well done💯💥

Thanks for your reply, thought noone else saw what I saw. I agree the actors were all really good, but it was as though in the second half the writers changed or I dont know. It just felt like a different drama altogether. I dont remember the last time I watched 2 favourite leads and I started hoping they do not end up together!!! Honestly the writers needed to give enough justification for them ending up together. In fact, maybe scenes involving the Queen could have helped fill up a huge plot hole.

I love both lead actors: Lee Ju nho and Lee Se young. Have seen some of their dramas previously and so I had high hopes for this 'historical romance' drama. Honestly, I found their romance quite sad and essentially non exist. If you're big on romance you'll find this drama rather uncomfortable to watch. Granted, there is a historical element involved, I still think the person who wrote the story either has never experienced love or know what it is. It was relatively ok until around when king yeongjo dies or maybe 12th episode, afterwards it just did not make sense. All the sizzling chemistry that had existed then was pretty much killed off and all that was left was awkward kiss scenes and just more sad events. Even if Doek im wanted to live an i dependent life with her 'friends', the drama just focuses on mostly sad and cheap 'heartbreaking scenes'. Like did we only have to experience the young prince's death as if they never enjoyed a few months of bliss with him!!!!!! I have watched heartbreaking romance dramas before that were handled expertly with more exciting plots like Empress Ki. I struggled to find the elements that were done well here as there was not much political/court matters, no romance, no side stories except King Yeongjo and his comedic appearances hence I was actually sad when he died. I am also glad Lee Do kwa won an award for that role.
The only positives were the child actors, the first half of the drama and the cinematography.
I am not a sucker for romance but if you promise it, then you have to deliver it otherwise this one needs to re-categorised into a sad genre or anti-love genre. There I said it!!!!