The power of restrained love.

It was'nt until episode 9 I was completely invested with the storyline. 2 months ago, I started this because of all the hypes sorrounding this drama but at that time I can't moved past episode 6 because of the painfully slow and boring storyline thus put it on-hold. Why I picked this up again? Because I'm currently under Allen Ren's spell after watching him in TBW and have yet to recover. So this was my second drama of him. Don't read further if you have'nt watch this drama yet because my review a.k.a rambling contained many spoilers. Don't say I don't warned you.

I didn't read any spoilers about the storyline or the ending prior to watching OAO so I was able to enjoy this as much as I can . Ignorance is indeed a bliss as they say. Let only suffer when the suffering comes. Here, I was hoping and praying for our main leads to get the ending they deserved especially our beautiful bone man, Zhou Sheng Chen. The ending made me feeling so angry and sad and angry and sad and angry and sad in a never ending loop...Tbh, I was more angry than sad.. I did'nt cried at all watching the last few eps because I was too furious watching bad people easily had their ways. Only my heart's wailing noiselessly just like Shi Yi's wailing in her mute mode . I am really pissed off that bad people (esp this xf**&^! two-faced snake, Liu Zixing) got to live longer though miserable but still longer than our main leads. He got many screentimes till the end. OAO can't help but remind me of drama The Red Sleeve (Korea) and The Crown Princess (Thai) as they had few similarities.

Plotwise, I guess ms writer was happy she achieved all her objectives with this drama. What shown in Drama is real,people. So,suck it up. Life is unfair. Not all love is united in this world. Good people always gone too soon and bad people always get to live longer. I don't want to get into details of reason why I rate what I rate. I just want to express my thought so that one day I can read this 5/7/10 years later and say '' Oh, this was one of the drama that I watched back in 2022 and made me in so much pain mids and post-watching.'' '' Allen Ren was perfect back then as he still is in the present . ''

Allen Ren's acting as Zhou Sheng Chen was perfect. All his expressions were flawless and he delivered perfectly. His chemistry with Bai Lu as Shi Yi was evident and palpable. All the longings, starings and deeds they did for each other knowingly and unknowingly I could felt it deep in my bones. OAO showed us how to make a perfect romance drama without kiss.

To conclude my rambling, I just want to ask and say all these to him. ''Is this life what you really want ZSC? You can't be real. It is a major crime to be as selfless as you, yk. What was the point of all that sacrifices when you still can't prevent war after you 've gone. What you did was pointless. People you loves still dies in agony one after another. You love your country to death but that very country failed you. Why can't you be selfish for once. Atleast ,take Shi Yi and run to South !!! You deserved all the happiness in this world . You deserved better...''

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Intriguing storyline and sizzling romance.

I think this drama was perfectly made for me. What made me start this because this had Yuan Bing Yan as it FL. I really loved her in Love & Redemption. Her acting also not disappointing in this one.

This was my first time seeing Zhen Ye Cheng. At first, I think he was not that good looking but later on I changed my mind when I saw how good his acting was as  Shen Yan. He has his charm and good at all his expressions when delivering his lines.

Tbh, Fl's character was not really my type . Princess Liu Ling was quite annoying at first but later on, it was'nt hard for me to fall in love with her character. You will understand why she became the way she is if you watch the show . I liked that she knows how to stand up for herself and did'nt need ML saving her all the time.

Love at the first sight trope  was my least favourite trope but I liked the way it was done here. So once Liu Ling sets her eyes on Shen Yan, she keep pursuing and seducing him relentlessly. All the force skinships and tricks she tried on him , we can see Shen Yan shows discomfort with her attitude at first haha . He being a typical cold man we often seen in most drama , keep pushing her away but how can one's heart stays still with a beauty like Liu Ling by his side. Day by day, we can see his resolution keep weakening and  one day , it was checkmate. Haha. When he gets to know her personality more , he fell hard for her. What made it better was their off the chart chemistry together. Like we could feel they're in-love for real. This has lot of hugs and passionate kisses too, I just wish  they show it longer each time.

MSP was far from perfect but I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. The storyline was good enough imo. MSP made up with 30% political stuff, 60% romance and 10% of comedy. This has lot of cliche moments especially in romantic department but lot of unpredictable moments too. I would say this has balance with both. The pacing was quite fast not draggy and with 22 episodes it was just nice.

I enjoyed the side characters story too. Relationship between Xu Jinshi and Shen Yu. Luo fan and Ling Bi. Liu Ling's relationship with Xu Jinshi. Shen Yan's bromance with his brother ,Shen Yu and his subordinates especially Luo Fan.

Other things that I liked in MSP were it's good cinematography and visual . I liked the costumes, it's vibrant and luxurious settings . The OST was great too . I recommend this drama to all historical romance drama lover out there. The story was not too heavy and certainly make you want to fall in love if you have'nt already. Just dont expect too much , you won't be disappointed.

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" The palace is nothing... but a luxurious prison."

First of all ,I need to remind you all that my review is incoherent at best and if you want a proper or perfect english grammar review you won't find it here. This is just me rambling in an unnecessarily long post so that one day I can look back and reminiscing on all the feeling I had for this drama. If you want a proper review I suggest you to read the-sapio-nerd 's review on top of drama's page which best captured every essence of what made The Red Sleeve a great historical kdrama of 2021.

Before going further I need to warn you all , there are spoilers ahead soyou may stop reading now if you intend to watch/ not finished watching this drama yet .

Let me start by saying TRS messed with my feelings and I am still reeling with the after effect this drama gave me post-watching. I can hardly sleep last night thinking about this drama.

TRS made me remember one of the reason why I don't like to watch historical drama especially based on real figures like this one. What is the point of watching if you know or can guess how it will turned out at the end? My real life is already sad enough and I don't need historical drama to add more misery into the mix. That is why I only watch historical drama WITH fantasy and comedic elements. I need some fluffy & humor in my drama to forget the chaos that is my rl at the moment. However, I did not regret watching TRS. For I learned alot from this drama .

I understand now why historical drama usually have more than 50 episodes but I am so thankful that The Red Sleeve have less than 20 episodes . Because I don't think I can handle TRS with 50 or 60 or 70 episodes. I don't think I will ever watch it no matter how good the drama is. God.. with only 17 episodes , I am completely wrecked,depressed and my eyes were puffy from all the crying from the pains the last 6 episodes gave me. I felt like I just lost the love of my life which did not even exist.

The strength of this drama IMO:

1) Spectacular acting from all casts and impressive development of their characters from beginning to end . My most favourite characters: Yi San , Sung Deok Im and King Yeongjo.

Lee Jun Ho. Wow he impressed me with his acting as Yi San. His acting really improved alot since Chief Kim days. I am sure now he will become one of sought after actor by many production in melodrama after TRS. I could feel all his agonies and trauma after losing his father and suffered by ill treatment from his grandfather for the sake of love. Tough love or cruel love you choose. I was surprised his mental was still intact after all that happened. Fortunately, after meeting FL ,our precious Crown Prince found the light of his life. I salute his relentless efforts in pursuing FL and never shy away from his feeling toward her.

Meanwhile, Lee Se Young was excelled in her performance as a court lady, Sung Deok Im . I think all woman would resonate well with her character. Definitely one of a strong FL in dramaland. She bravely turned down Yi San's proposal from time to time again and I was fascinated with her resolution each time. She understand deeply what she will lose by accepting Yi San. She shows that ''To love is not to possess, To own or imprison, Nor to lose one's self in another.'' -James Cavanaught. She shows we woman own ourselves, no one can own us . Not even the man that we love. She shows the true meaning of love yourself more than you love other.

Love usually associated with reckless/ irrational behaviour and full of lust but I loved the fact that in TRS , we can see love can be rational and full of chastity too. TRS had one of a refreshing romance I've seen in dramaland.

Surprisingly, I had a love-hate relationship with Lee Deok Hwa's character. I find myself understand the purpose of his action toward Yi San. Like it was needed to prepare Yi San for what were to come. But believe it, there are better ways to show love than what he did to YS... Nevertheless, he was beyond perfect in his role as King Yeongjo. Never doubt from a veteran actor like him.

I also could empathize with Court Lady Jo's reason for doing what she did. 'Hell has no fury like a woman scorned' -The Mourning Bride. I felt her pains too and I can't 100% fault her for doing what she thinks best for her. She was one pitiful woman.


2) Alluring storyline. Heartfelt script. Top notch cinematography. 1 hour 20++ minutes of each episode won't scared you here. I don't remember myself ever felt bored while watching this drama . Each scene regardless of their importance ,minute or big were needed to build depth in the story and better character development even if it was just a scene of our ML gazing deeply into the pond. And that ending. I could'nt find a better ending than what was shown in that last episode. It was well fitted the story.

My long, messy rambling review will conclude here. Let me cry under my blanket for the last time for Yi San and for Deok Im...

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Draggy. Boring. Lacklustre.

Jirisan was a series made up of flashback after flashback. If you don't like  flashbacks in your drama (like me) you probably won't like this. It contained more scenes of the past timeline (1991,1995,2019 and many more) than the present timeline (2020). It did not help either when the story in the present timeline was lacklustre compared to the past. The main cast basically did nothing in the present.

The editing of the drama was not that good either. It was all over the place and confusing in a bad way. Like when you start focusing on one part , then the next scene unrelated to the previous scene entered made you easily lost interest with all the questions and answers this drama want us to have with the previous scene.

You know a thriller drama was bad when at the scene where you suppose to have adrenaline rush by watching everyone busy saving lives but here you just felt unconcerned at all  about who just died or about to die or what the disaster's ending .  I recalled my boredom was at peak while watching forest wildfire scene.  I just want to yawn and say 'okay .. next.' The mystery part also was not executed very well. The killer was kinda obvious but our main leads were oblivious despite all the hints and keep focusing on wrong suspects. They made the case more complicated than what it really was.

Jirisan had so much insignificant scenes. I don't care at all about Goo Young 's romantic scenes. Those scenes were dull and uninteresting . The same with resident meeting scene . Don't know what was the point in showing the scene that contributed to nothing . And there were these slow-mo close-up on the faces of the cast when one disaster happened and they keep showing it but in different angles , it was annoying to me . I sure did not want to see the same close-up shot of the cast showing shock faces with no dialogue repeatedly.

The comedy also was  hit or miss. The OST also so and so. Coming from Kingdom screenwriter, DOTS director and with the big names cast, this series indeed was one of disappointing drama of the year.

I can't help thinking  are all ranger's task  truly what depicted in Jirisan? If it is so I have much respect for all ranger all over the world. They are like 'firefighter' of the forest. It was an eye opener to see how forest rangers do their work. CGI was acceptable and good sometimes . If there were flaws, it did'nt bother me much .While the story lacking so much,  the only best thing in Jirisan was its sceneries. Those were shot beautifully.

Overall, I don't recommend this if you are looking for a good thriller mystery drama to watch . There are better drama of the same genre out there. Watch this if  Jun Ji Hyun and Ji Ji Hoon are among your favorite and you missed watching them in a drama.

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Genuine and hilarious at the same time.

I think this is the best variety show I have watched this year. Very enjoyable from beginning to the end. My favorite episodes were episode 1 ,6 & 7.  They should named this Villains Home Decoration lol. They really worked hard in making the house beautiful  got me thinking it was such  a waste to part with it when the show ended. Now it has ended, I have two questions about the show if anyone knows lol.  First,who is the real owner of the house?  What a lucky owner lol. Second, they spent a fortune redecorating the house but with whose money ?

About the cast :
-Uhm Ki Joon = His calm personality balance the trio. The older hyung who take care of his dongsengs in his own way.
-Bong Tae Kyu = He  cursed the show's concept alot, said it was a crap and awful but he was the one who worked the hardest in every task he got.
-Yoon Jong Hoon : Our Golden Youngest. Despite being the youngest, he did what a mother would in a family. He cooked and take better care of his hyungs.His synergy with BTK was the best.

I could feel the interaction they had were all genuine and not scripted .They seem to say what they want to each other depicted they have a close relationship with each other in reality. You can't love what you don't know. In WDB, you would see their real personality behind the villain masks they wore in most drama they were in and  surely fall in love with them by the end of the show. Recommended!

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A short but fulfilling story

What I liked:
- The acting. This was my first time seeing Han So Hee and she was great at acting a complex character like Yoon Ji Woo. It was perfect.
- 8 episodes with 50 minutes each were just nice. Short but fulfilling.
- Compact and concise storyline. The story was interesting from beginning to the end.Not draggy and less filler scenes. Also succesfully keep you on the edge of your seat most of the times.
- Great action/fight scenes.
- Hot and badass looking antagonists. Especially Choi Moo Jin (such a charismatic presence and I loved his deep voice) and Jung Tae Joo (His loyalty to his boss and the organization charmed me). I fell for their characters and rooted for them most of times.


What I disliked:
- I wish the intimate scene in the last minute between the leads never happened. Too sudden and random.

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The title should be My Boyfriend Is a Gumiho

Here are my thoughts about this drama :

1) MRIAG is a light-hearted and quite entertaining rom -com drama. It was basically a story of a gumiho 's journey to become a human and find love along the way. Suitable drama to watch if you are in the mood of watching a sweet romance story but not as overdone and as cringeworthy as..*cough cough* ...the romance in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim. The romance has just a perfect amount of sweetness. *chef's kiss*  I cracked up alot watching our 1st and 2nd couple.

2) Actually the first half of this drama was quite boring to me, it made me remember the reasons why I rarely watch rom-com these days. But like someone said to me , the story indeed became more enjoyable for the last half of the drama . Personally I think episode 9 -10 were very good. But episode 11 -12, I started to feel bored again. Thanks god! I had so much fun watching episode 13 till the finale.

3) Excellent a 10/10 for humor scenes , I felt they were genuine, unlike my experience with  ...*cough cough* Vincenzo.

4) 9/10 for the acting of all casts. Dam was a bold ,funny girl and I liked her, alot. Hyeri did an impressive job with her acting here. I noticed that she was great with all her facial expressions . Whether it be an angry face or annoying face or making ugly face or embarassing face, she excelled in all. I could see no other actress can be as perfect as her as Dam. Jang Ki Yong as Shin Woo Yeo , his acting was as expected. He was good in his potrayal of a smart, brooding and taciturn 999 years old male gumiho. A very typical ML character right.... As a couple ,I guess they complement each other .Kang Ha Na also did a very good job as Yang Hye Sun . A quirky, funny and elegant 700 years old ex- female gumiho. She was my favourite. I liked her synergy with Kim Do Wan who potrayed Do Jae Jin. He was a naive and such a crybaby character but so adorable though. He really cried alot I think more than the girls here lol. These two made a very cute and sweet couple to see. I think Park Kyung Hye as Choi Soo Kyung such a waste of a character in this one. She had so much potential to be this hilarious and entertaining character but it was pity that the writers did'nt fully used her to her potential like they did with Hye Sun's and Jae Jin's character. Like her bestfriends, I wish she have her own developing love storyline too . Most of the times, she was just there to be Dam's companion whenever she had relationship problem or became a third wheel in the scenes. I felt sad for her character when that happened.

5) I really enjoyed watching Woo Yeo - Hye Sun frenemy scenes. It was hilarious to see they were always arguing whenever they met.  The mean things they said towards each other... those what keep this drama alive . Apparently , they could not stand the present of each other but could not stay away because the other was their only friend for the past 700 years lol

6) Because I am so used to the present of villain character in most dramas  I have watched , it was like a fresh breath of air to see this drama had no such evil being. Only we had these annoying duo of girls that appeared not so often because they were insignificant. This drama proved that not every drama need to have villain to be entertaining to the fullest.

7) Drama OSTs were okay. I guess they flowed well with the story but nothing outstanding.

Last but not least, watch this drama if rom-com is your forte or like me, if you need a break from all thriller, crime, investigation dramas that you usually see.

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Great cinematography....  but fell short of everything else

From the show page, I've  checked that Vincenzo currently has 159 user reviews and mine would be a review number 160. Why would I want to add another one on top of many ? Because I am hardworking like that and I like to spend my free time doing useless thingy like this. Also I have made a vow to do 1 review per year ,this might be it. So this is an unpopular opinion. My review will be brief and  in point form..

1) Cinematography and visual : Considering this was a high budget show *like TKEM* great visual is a must have . The show never disappoint in that department in fact Vincenzo excel with flying colours.

2) OST : I only like one song which is Adrenaline (Italian version) by Aalia which I wish we could hear it more in later episodes.

3) Acting of other than the main villain : The actors did the best with the materials they were given. Song Joong Ki looked dashing as usual ( like him in Innocent Man) Haa! Jeon Yeo Bin caught my eyes in this. She was stunning and I liked the point of her look, her lipstick. First time seeing her acting here and she was good.

4) Acting of the main villain : The reason I separated this with the others because I want to emphasize my view. I have issues with his acting. It was over the top like they want to make his character a caricature especially in the first 8 episodes. It was cringey like a cheesy pickup line and I hate this type of character :((( I could not take him seriously even when he did serious matter. Thanks god, this caricature acting was toned down in later episodes.

5) Storyline :  Nothing spectacular. Been there done that in countless drama I have seen.But I liked the idea behind the story. '' Solo il male può sconfiggere il male ''. Only evil can defeat evil. It was refreshing to see the evil got their commensurate punishments as it should be. While I low key think the punishment were a bit too much although the villains kinda deserved it ----< this is the angel in me writing.

6) Humor : I was indifferent to it. I found it to be lame and pretentious. Most of the time , it gave me a second-hand embarassment.

7) Just a thing worth to mention. I never know that I could get tired of the word mafia (read in korean slang) until I watch this show. It was like hearing Love is the moment song all over again.Could everyone please just stop.........

That's all. Thank you for reading.

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The Good Detective : An epitome of what is a good detective.

This is my first (and probably the last) drama review of 2020. One review per year : Achieved. Yay.

Here are my thoughts of TGD >>>

A] The storyline and acting :

Honestly speaking, to me Ep 1 - 6 were extremely boring and sleeping induced. The early story felt flat and dull. It got nothing that can captivate my interest at the time. Everything moved at snail pace and seems like a filler story. I think it was more than 10 times I've stopped and resumed watching the show again lol. Maybe the real reasons I still hold onto the show was due to a pinch of trust on TGD and a strong resolution not again to drop another drama moreover I already downloaded full eps of the drama , am not gonna waste all those precious data...(ok honestly the latter is the real reason)

Finally. It was worth every effort when the story picked up around Ep 7,8 onwards. It became more engaging,addicting and the acting also flawless. I found myself laughing at the witty scripts and funny scenes, emphatized with the characters, and the story moved at the pace that I wanted everything suddenly became not boring anymore.

B] The characters:

1) Kang Do Chan: He is the real definition of a good detective which we may rarely seen nowadays. He was fierce but knows to be soft hearted when the times need him to be. A very supportive collegue and humble at heart. His character development was one of the best in the show.

2) Oh Ji Hyuk: Ice cold good looking detective. The way the actor potrayed OJH, captivated me. The one who has a sad story of the past, a loner, independant, hides secret and keep all feelings to himself as he never trust anyone. But, when he fatedly partnered with KDC and his acquintance with Reporter Jin Seo Kyung, it changed him. He smiles more (oh I loved his smiles), learned to open up to people and start depending more on people sorrounding him. Personally and I am sure many who has finished this show will agree with me, his bromance scenes with KDC were the best!

3) The amount of good detectives here surpassed those of bad detectives. Usually when we saw a crime, detective, investigation dramas, there were numerous amount of bad corrupted detective that will make us lost hope in the police but here in TGD worry not. We got more than 5 good detectives ( Boong Shik, Ji Wook, Man Goo, Jae Hong, Dong Wook the 'Maknae' etc) aside KDC and OJH which were always united against the bad detectives/ the bad guys no matter how big their influences are. I enjoyed watching the guys's camaraderie. Very heartwarming and mostly they provide comic relief to the show.

4)This show has few villains with the main one was very annoying than the others. A sociopath because till the end of the show he never feels remorse about his wrongdoings. I was satisfied seeing he got his deserved 'happy ending'. The second villain kind of met his justifiable ends. To me, his greatest mistake was his incitement that led to the death of an innocent man. If only he didnt participate in that case, maybe I could like him abit.

C] The OST

I cant remember any....Not even one song.. But it doesnt matter much to me.

Last but not least, although I am not sure if there is anyone that read this review till this paragraph or even one person start reading this review at all, if you are here and still searching for a valid reason to start this, I hope my review helped you if not much, abit. Watch this if crime, detective, investigation, mystery are your genres, who knows you might like it more than me :)

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Here are my thoughts upon finishing NK:-

1) Chemistry between main leads is the BOMB. You can feel how intense it was when RattDa stares at each other. Especially the way Ratt looking at Da. Oh how I wish Dada is me haha. I'm having crush with Film Thanapat damn. Never watched his lakorns before and in NK I realize he is a great actor and very good looking too. Will be following him after this :D Same goes with Natt. She acted two roles here and did great at acting as two people which have a very distinct personality. I ship this couple. Hope they will be paired with each other again in the future.

2) I love how smart and sensible the male lead is in the lakorn. Because seeing the dumb male lead was such a turn off :P

3) The storyline was addicting . I'm the type who love watching makjang drama. Can never get tired of it. NK is one of the example of makjang lakorn done right. It was engaging, with the right pace and not draggy at all. 23 episodes are just nice.

4) I really love the first 18 episodes I would give 10/10 for those episodes only. The last 5 episode were good too but I'm quite dissappointing seeing how less our main couple's screentime together. I want to watch them acting lovey dovey longer at least in the finale but I'm left dissapointed. Nevertheless I love the lakorn.

5) I can never reasoned with Doctor Goson reason for staying with Dee despite all the bad things her wife has done. Just for the sake of love and feeling debtful toward Dee??? His reasoning were all so wrong and twisted. Jeezzz.

6) I love the father -son duo, Ratt and his dad. It was so refreshing to see such as great father-son relationship like what shown in this lakorn. Ratt's father also smart and insightful like his son. He was always there for him and supported him through high and low with actions.

Highly recommended for those who loved Sood Sai Pan and Khun Mae Suam Roy. You might love it like me :)

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I finished The Crown Princess today at 1.30 AM 25/6/18 and decided to write a review for this lakorn as there are many thoughts inside my head waiting to be expressed because if not , I'll die unhappily ( :P) So here we go.. my thoughts upon finishing TCP..

Plus points for me :-

1) Because this has Nadech and Yaya as MC. I'm actually a Yadech's shipper since Game Rai Game Rak (2011) and TCP was my forth lakorn of them. To say the truth, my feeling is not going as strong as before. Maybe because I already got used of seeing Yadech always being paired up together in lakorns. You know.. the feel it's like when you listen to a song for the first time and you fall so in love with it. The song become so special and precious to you..but the moment you start put it on repeat , after dozens time you kinda get tired of it and the song is'nt special anymore. But if you hear the song anywhere in the public, all the old feelings will emerge again and you realize, this song albeit it is not special anymore but you still hold it dearly in your heart. That song is Yadech to me.. >.< I know that Yaya and Nadech are a very close friend in reality and many wish they're dating but who knows..they might really be in the future seeing how they acts toward each other in many clips I've seen of them. (Shout out to all Yadech's shipper out there : Guys, please don't lose hope :p )

2) Great acting, good chemistry of our MC .. So, as always, like in her previous lakorns (worth to mention: Klueen Cheewit!) , Yaya's acting also was exceptional here. This actress really can bring each of her characters to life. She carries Princess Alice Madeleine Theresa Phillips like the character was her all along. I love her character the most . She potrayed a kick-ass crown princess, cold from the outside but very warm inside, knews when she need to fight her enemies upfront and knews when she need to give in. The moment she find her true love yeah it was tragic because she found it on commoner , she did'nt hide or denied it but accepted it and tried to make her love come true. One thing that grated my nerves was writer made her character clumsy with her scenes tripped over the ground or something so many times and that of course will get our ML rushing over and helps her again and again. That trait was contradictory with her strong and kick ass character. Whereas Nadech as Lieutenant Commander Davin Samuthyakorn was perfect. He's sexy and damn good looking. I could stare at his face and admire his beautiful face while wondering why God made him so perfect both infront and behind camera :P. I also have issues with his character, Davin has a god level of self- restraint and a bit reserved when it came to love. I just wish writer made his character loosen up a bit and show him give in more to his feeling and brave enough to express and fight for his love . Yup, I got that he is a soldier but showing your real emotions doesn't make you less soldier than other. It will only make him more human.

3) Great acting and the backstory of the villains. I wont talk about this much because it might spoil who have'nt watch it yet. I love the twist that revealed who is our main villain because I did'nt expect it at all O.O But when I think back, it made sense. Meanwhile , speaking about the villain number 2 , Hadaeth. Strangely I did'nt hate him for all the cruel things he did. I just pity his character much. ( Okay.....I'm shocked. I just find out that Hadaeth was being played by 2 actors , Peter Corp and the other one is Jason Young. I did'nt even catch the differences while watching and thought it was Peter Corp all along. Duhh)

4) Exquisite royal attires and other characters costumes. I especially in love with Princess Alice wardrobe choice.Yaya is already pretty and to add beautiful attires on top of that, she looks angelic here. I also favoured most of Nadech attires except his light brown color uniform because it look too tight and uncomfortable on Nadech. Prince Alan wardrobe also great , I loved the royal black uniform in his last scene the most.

5) Great action scenes. Those were of high class. If romance-action genre is your forte, give this lakorn a go.

6) Good OST. I loved the ending theme song more than the opening song.

7) All those countless picturesque views where the lakorn was filmed. The waterfall views in the island where our MC met for the second times. The mountain with the tribe where our MC seek refuge in Thailand. The mountain where our MC in a journey to find Prince Alan. The massive castles with all its ornament in Hrysos. They're all a real treat to the eyes. The scenes were beautifully shot and are postcard worthy. While watching, many time I'm busy awing at the beautiful scene behind than caring about what the act was .

Minus points for me :-

1) The lack of romance. TCP made up with 50% of action, 40 % of family drama and ONLY 10 % of romance. I'm quite reluctant to say it was romance because all we got was a careful and calculating romance. For this, I'm so mad at the producer, the director and the writer because they're so stingy with it..the kiss scenes except the one at the finale were unsatisfying too . It was so unfair they could'nt give us even 1 hour full of romance between our MC considering this lakorn got I hour and 50 mins long for each episode and if I convert this lakorn into 1 hour format ,this have 22 episodes..such a long hour but so little romance..whyyy :((


2) The storyline. I could'nt pinpoint what exactly was lacking but what I know is ,it lacked the 'X' factor that will make the viewer go crazy over it. The story is just good enough and not that addicting. I felt bored at ep 4 and 5 because it was slow.



So , overally this is a very good lakorn watch this if you're a Yadech fan and love action-drama-romance genre. Thanks for reading!

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This was my first taiwanese drama after 2 years.. It's not the reviews that convinced me but the genre. As always, I'm a revenge-melo drama lover so when this show was still in it's early few episode, I've decided why not I give this drama a try. Who knows I might be like it. Now that I do. I did'nt just like the show. I LOVE IT. COMPLETELY. DEEPLY.

I will just give you all the reasons WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH BEHIND YOUR SMILE :

1) The intrigue plot of revenge. It's nothing original about it. You got a main male lead who was hellbent on taking revenge on people who had done wrong to his family and eventually lead to the death of his father. It was the only mission of his life provided that he successfully carried out his revenge. He since then become the Ice Prince, cold and heartless. Then our main heroin, the Warm-Hearted Princess came along into his life accidentally. She who since then melt his frozen heart and teach him how to smile again. The story sound so typical was'nt it? This no mistake was the foundation of the show but what made me fall in love with the show was how the story being directed and developed. There was nothing typical of it. It was addictive and compelling. Watch it if you want to know!

2) Good acting and great chemistry between leads. At first while watching Marcus Chang potraying Zhao Yi Ting, The Ice and Jerk Prince, I'm not so convincing. I noticed the awkwardness and it feel slightly fake. But as the show goes on, as I became more warm up to his character, I think that his acting became much better. He became better with his facial expressions even the subtle one. When he's in pained expression, I can feel it as my own. I can feel his heart breaking even when he wore a cold facade. I tell you that,if an actor manage to make the viewer feel that, He. Is. Really. A. Very. Good. Actor. And Liu Eugenie as Lei Xin Yue. Her character was annoying at first. Definitely became annoying and weak were her characters in the early of the show as the one who has been sheltered entire of her life and she did very good at that. Later on, she became the strong heroin that I want. She also shows that being strong is not when you let go of the person that you love but being able to forgive and hold on the person that you love even if he hurt you beyond reason because you can see the ways he love and take care of you more than the ways he hurts you. It sound dumb I know I know. But she really shows only those who have big heart can forgive people. :P

3) Very smart and wise male lead. This show have it. Zhao Yi Ting was never one step behind while dealing with his enemy. He is sensible and insightful.To have a revenge based drama, a smart and clever lead was a must. It is absolutely no fun in watching revenge show with dumb and slow-witted characters.

4) Good looking main leads. If you only watch the show with good looking leads. This show might be for you. At same point while watching the show in it's early episode, I even thought the 2nd male lead was much more good looking than the 1st male lead :P

5) No love triangle. If you hate a romance show with love triangle/ rectangle / polygon this might be the show for you. There was only one-sided crush present in the show and even that was'nt too burdening because our heroin's love to our main male lead was unwavering to the end.

6) Very hot steamy kiss scene :P (I'll leave it to your imagination of how hot it is.. :D )


7) The OSTs was so great. All the soundtrack was so damn fantastic that I must download all of them and keep it in my phone. I usually got bored while hearing the same song over and over again but it was'nt the same case with all the song in BYS. It now has been dozens of times already I listen to the Shi Shi - He is'nt Worth It, I keep wanting to listen to it more. I also love the Don't panic song the same. It is cute and catchy.


Alright, I think 7 reasons are enough for now. Lastly, I recommend this to everyone who want to watch revenge-melo-romance drama at this moment. Give it a try, you might love it the way I did ^^

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I just finished this drama. Seriously, this drama was such a pleasant surprise for me. I never knew I would enjoyed it this much. I'm a sucker when it came to horror-comedy-romance-supernatural theme. That's what convinced me to watch this drama at the first place despite I'm not into both main lead. Here are my thoughts of this drama :

Story : The main story is nothing new even most of time was full of cliche but I loved the way it's being directed and how both the main plot and the subplot complement each other. It was perfectly balanced and there's nothing to complain about. I never get bored while watching it. This drama also has subtleness in every scene thus make the story has more depth despite having a light theme. Furthermore, I also loved the fact that each of the character has it own importance in the story as none of the side character get left behind. About the ghost,some of them were really scary combined with the CGI and sound effect.

Acting/ Cast : As I mention above, I'm not into the main cast. I found Taekyeon's acting to be average at best in Who Are You. Here, I can see there's a lot of improvement in his performance especially in later episodes. Maybe because he's paired up with Kim So Hyun who's acting is a lot better than him . Together they help each other thus resulting in believable acting and top-notch chemistry despite the age difference. I also enjoyed and had a good laugh while watching our comedy duo which provide comic relief in this drama.

Music : It flows well with the story. The sound was pleasant to my ear. Maybe I'll download them later and add them into my KDrama OST folder.

Rewatch value : Don't bother with this rating as I rarely rewatch a drama even my favourite one.

Overally, I rated this drama 8/10. I recommend you to watch this drama if you get tired of melodrama at the moment and want a lighter one, if you're a sucker for horromance as me or if you want to watch something to pass out time. Give it a go as you might like it like me.

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Actually, what make me really want to write a review on this drama because I saw that not many watch it and the reviews also seem to tell "Don't give this drama a chance!" If I were to decide whether to watch this drama or not based on most of the opinion stated here,I think I will skipped this one.Why should I watch a drama with so many bad reviews and even the rating is lower than The Heirs. Uh Oohhh.

So here I am, trying to make this drama more desirable in the eyes of those who still undecided and hesitated to watch if this drama is in their Plan-To-Watch list. Honestly,in my opinion this drama is not that bad.If it were to compete with other dramas in it's genre,I think GC will get top 10 or even 7.I've seen many K-revenge,melodrama in my life before and Golden Cross definitely not the worst revenge drama executed out there.

The Story: As a melo-revenge drama,of course GC has a 'cruel' starter plot aiming to collect as many sympathy as possible from viewers. If you're familiar with this genre, every main lead must have a sad,unfortunate,depressing past and there is this one villain that whenever you see him you will find yourself keep swearing and making a fist toward the screen. Ahaaa! This is what I like the most when watching K-melo revenge drama,despite some of the typicalness in the story, at least you will relieve some of your stress.Is'nt that good? :P There's no exception in GC,if you want to find another kind of melo-revenge variation you won't find it here.Nevertheless,I really love the way it's executed,directed and scripted .I think the uniqueness of GC are mostly present in it scripts because that's what attracted me to keep watching GC despite the flaws. I've to agree with many that the first 16 episodes are really great. But for me the last 4 episodes also good and I still like it. It's acceptable and understandable. And that ending..its realistic. (SPOILER) I mean how many rich people in this world when he did wrong he will get the right retribution,he can just buy that retribution with money.These group of people see the word Unfair=Fair to them.No matter how unrealistic things can be in dramaland,it's still can't escape from some realistic element like this. Thus,I like the ending.

The Acting: I have to say it's superb! I never like Kim Kang Woo before,I've watched him in 2 dramas and 1 of his movie but I never come to like him. But WOW his acting here,I'd like to give him 2 thumbs up and hewheww I don't know that he can ever be this 'hot'. XD Lee Si Young also did a very good job. I really like her character in first 2/3rd of this drama but in the last 1/3rd her character become unsignificant and unbelievably weak. Disappointed :( I came to like Han Eun Jung's character in the last 2 episode, and I'm also okay if she is to end up with KDY. Jung Bo Suk 's acting as a main villain in this drama also superb. I really3 chincha3 hated him as a whole and disgusted at his character.

The Music: It's just pleasant to hear and it's flow well with the story.

Rewatch Value: I'm not a rewatcher person so I just give this section a fair value.

Overall: Golden Cross is not the best k-melo revenge out there but there's some element in it that make it better than other drama with the same genre. Of course,it has flaws here and there but really... is there a flawless drama exist in this world? For me, I never regret my 20 hours with GC and I can say it's worth my time. So people,give this a try at least 3 episode before you drop it and I will say nothing ^^

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Firstly,the reason why I watch this drama is solely because of Lee Min Jung alone. I really like her acting *can't deny a great visual she has which also made me as a woman really envious of her :D* and I follow her in most of her drama she was in after Smile,You. That drama is the starting point of my fondness of her. But I'm also thinking twice whether to watch this or not because I don't like the main actor,I've tried to watch him in his two previous drama but..ya knoww,his acting does'nt capture me enough to like him. Enough for the intro,let's get to the real point.

THE STORY: I admit when I was watching the first 6 episode I don't quite understand the reason why heroin did what she did to get revenge on his ex-husband.Can't she just let go of the past? That guy brought pain in her past,and the right thing to do is just don't see him again. No pain gain from doing that, so just move on,girl! -.-" I'm even trying to make my own reasoning for her revenge mission to made myself accepting and feel less awkward with the whole situation.'I need to finish this drama so I must understand what the character's feel first..' that's what I've told myself while watching the episodes.Another thing to say,the title of the drama is quite misleading because she's been cunning only in the early episodes,in later episodes we see a new side, a likeable side of her. That's what I thought about the story.Just a so-so storyline.

ACTING: It's just good. Lee Min Jung was great as always but the main lead..his acting's sometimes put me off especially when he's acting all cute and that fake laughing thingy. It looked sooo unnatural and I can feel the awkward vibe comes to me when he did that. And this is a rare thing to happen to me in dramaland,I fall in love with the second lead's character instead.Seo Kang Jun.This guy's character is made of full of charm that's what I though. There's once/twice that I wish that Lee Min Jung end up with him instead :B

MUSIC : I think the OST is one of the good thing happened in this drama. I especially like Yoo Seung Woo's song What Do I Do the most.

REWATCH VALUE : I just give a fair value in this section because I'm not a rewatcher person. Unless the drama is really2 bad in my opinion,that for sure get a lower score from me.

OVERALL : This drama is just good. Watch this if you want some laugh,a light story to watch when you're in Final Exam mode *like me :P* and a story to brighten up your mood when you're sad :) TQ for reading.

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