Appreciation

Honestly, thanks to this show I got a glimpse into the world of talented people who plays music in an orchestra. I thought i wouldn’t like it simply because I’m not particularly interested in this type of genre. However, Lee Young Ae impressed me with her seriousness about her trade, her steely cold demeanor, and of course, her conducting. She’s mesmerizing to watch, and I appreciate the work put into the role (i read) so definitely deserves the watch. Supporting cast were great too. Overall it’s a great watch and I’m glad i did. Other reviews have great intakes on the story.

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Strictly based on my preferences I rate this very highly. Here’s why:

The story here is a plot line seen way too many. CEO, cold, strict, recently returned. Woman is poor, tries to make in competitive business world. They meet, clash….yes! That’s the premise of this one, with the schemers in background, family secrets, etc. I’ve seen so many idol cast dramas of this sort the plots become very predictable. The difference for all these business/office genre is the cast and makeup of the story. The cast!

The main leads are older. Depending on individual watchers, as an older person this was a refreshing change. (not that I don’t watch idol star casts). Wei Gao (Wang Juan) and Zhang Qi (Su Mo) as leads were nicely paired. Their chemistry could be better but they did well enough i didn’t mind it. It’s just a nice change. Side characters who were the leads supporters are just as awesome. They complimented the leads by way of friendship. The supporting younger cast, Tianlu (Ren You) and Wang Jian (Zhang Mo) added depth as they were the peacemakers, the alternative voice of reason. They were great. My all time favorite though is Zhong Sheng (Zhao Yao) She was a strong character that portrayed a young woman who studies hard, and expresses and follow suit with wise judgment.

I enjoyed this a lot and really think you will too.

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Kim Joo Hyuk

I started this without knowing about Mr. Hyuk. I finished because of him; to his memory.

This was very enjoyable to me. I just like the type where the male lead is cold and so different in personalities from female lead you deem it impossible for them to end up together. Here, they both disliked each other a lot.

I was conflicted because this story has a very kind hearted second female lead. I would have been okay if she ended up with male lead. I criticize the writing for making these love triangles, actually four people and they’re all so nice.

There’s plenty of annoyances. Female lead is clumsy, gets into plenty mishaps. Regardless, I looked forward to each episode. RIP to Mr. Kim Joo Hyuk. Seeing the bts scenes at last episode was bitter sweet. He is seen laughing a lot, full of life….

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Delightful and Painful

Delightful: Roy Chiu! Though this was out many years ago, it is nevertheless a very fun light watch because of his ability to be comedic. He is very good at being funny it made this drama really entertaining. Two female leads, Alice Ke and Joane Tseng also were great (and irritating I must admit at times but is there ever a drama that doesn’t happen) adding to the intrigue. On top of the cast, the story highlighted young love trying to sort out feelings and uncertainties in relationships. Older love too have problems to be ironed out. Ordinary story with perfect casting to keep you rooting.

Painful: got messy towards middle where writer tried too hard to create content to keep the amount of episodes. There were some very positive narratives but got buried in the resolution that went everywhere. It dragged a bit that it lost its cuteness when it should have climbed to crescendo.

Overall: it ended cute with kind of a weird finale that led to the proposal. Happy ending.

Noteworthy to mention that this drama has the most realistic sweet kisses and lots of it. In case you wanted to know^^~^^

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Don’t waste your time

Such potentials but the person writing this has got to be a very depressed person. The saving grace was the leads who were just pleasant to look at. This has the most repulsive characters that pretty much got their happy ending. When I think about the death of actor Lee Sun Kyun, this show gives an enlightenment of the toxicity of narrow mindedness and life of privilege that plagues the mindset. What horrible horrible characters. Specifically the mother daughter duo in this show. They harass, bully, threaten and openly too without repercussions.

To be fair, this show also had some really nice characters. Acting was very good. Unfortunately, everything good was buried by the senseless actions of two characters. All the beautiful proses were also buried. I would find something else. You’d think after all these 122 episodes they would at least make it up in ending. Lousy and disappointing as well.

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Watch Something Else

Warning that this does contain spoilers because I just have no way of being nice to this story.

Honestly, it has lots of potentials to be a great story but it became a mess as they tried to stretch it out. There’s these scenes of grandma in and out of dementia which was fine at beginning but it became regular, that it wasn’t cute anymore. It didn’t give any effective results of it so yeah, it became a drag. The main issue of female leads father as a murderer was a good plot until it was dragged out towards the end and it was like, so all that just for everyone to be one big family. Trust me, you’ll know what I mean when you watch. Female leads character was just terrible. She bowed, she got slapped, food thrown at, forced to divorce, openly dislike by mother in law and sister in law, that at end, they thought her the greatest thing they bout fell over to get her back in family. There was so much disdain and abuse of the poor and unfortunate from rich a***oles it’s disgusting that a society lives like that. Yes, we’ve seen it a lot in these chaebol dramas but I found this so intolerable.

The acting especially of Choi Soo Jong as father of main lead was really good, I could feel his every emotion in his complicated character. Sorry, I don’t mean to talk bad but female lead, Uee was just not up to par. I could see how her character is supposed to be meek because she’s poor but her facial withdrawn face throughout pretty much never changed throughout entire drama it was so boring. My gosh, it was so frustrating watching her. The actress Jung Jae Soon, adorable as she was could not save this mess. Props though to the snobbish evil ones because as always, their characters shine as bright neon on the hill as to how not to behave in any decent society, even if they’re filthy rich.

Writing was terrible. I think there was so much better plots to get out of situations here without giving bad people excuses to act awful towards others. I mean, we watch and want to come a2ay with something that is lasting and impactful to grow as a society. This show in the most, maybe ninety five percent of it made poor people so pathetic they don’t deserve to live in society and the empowerment to the rich continued until very end when had a light bulb moment of change.

Go ahead if you want to try. These after all are just personal reviews. I scoff that I hear this drama got lots of awards. I wish I never gave it any time of my day. Waste.

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An underrated GEM

I see reviews from 2014 so I want a today one 2023 because it’s one not to scroll over if you come by it.

I just want to say why I loved it and rated it highly according to me, and me.

I’ve watched so many kdramas in only a span of two years so by now, I know what I hope to see and what has become redundant as I find so many familiar strengths and weaknesses in these series.
This is @ family drama. What I love about it is that it fully develops what actually happens in a family. As synopsis says, it’s about an abandoned divorced woman with three daughters. It’s cute how the lead girl (2nd daughter) gets entangled with two brothers that begins the connection that will tie two families to become a dynamic big big family. Each character has their own story and writer does such a nice job developing it. Leads are just fine to me. As it is 2014, hugs and kisses are….you know. BUT, the family dynamics makes up for everything. The mother of the girls could very well be the lead. Wise and strong, her story is just as sweet. The grandparents? Oh my gosh, they are great. In this story is the the epic depiction of what endurance is in marriage commitment not only to themselves but their role as patriarchs of the family. So many beautiful moments in this series and lines to inspire and keepsake.

Another thing I liked is that there were no hangovers on problems, or antagonists to mar the storyline. Yes, decision making, obstacles that naturally comes in situations of developing relationships may seem to drag the story but it didn’t prolong. The series smoothed things over so that obstacles were resolved, with touching moments as it went along. There’s lots to like and little to overlook because it’s good.

I heard this was cut from its 60 intended episodes and I was sad as it was wrapping up. I don’t get why it wasn’t liked a lot at the time but to me it’s such well produced/written drama. Kudos to the cast. Support them and give this a watch. You won’t regret.

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A Winner

Admittedly, I haven’t watched too many over hundred episode dramas. However, I have tried a few and did lots of forwarding. With this one, with minimal forwards, I think it’s worthy of its length.

Pros:
*It’s a pretty good family oriented story. A family with complications in relationships, personal as well as within. I thought the writer did a good job giving us a story that isn’t the first of its kind, however, it was moving. If a scene that is supposed to move you to tears doesn’t, it’s not well written or acted? This one has lots of moving themes that bring you to tears and afterthoughts.
*The elderly fathers/grandpas that become in-laws. Their acting was so good and pretty much stole the show. They were vital in the story and their acting was impeccable. The rich one of course is obnoxious and it takes the poor one to change him. You can get so mad at the character but smile at the person who is the character. I imagine the effort and laughter in pulling it through while filming.
*It’s like dividing the story in parts. For instance, first part was the romance of leads. Then came the part of opposers (his ex, her admirer) trying to break them up. Then it’s the sister in law and her true nature creating friction. Then it’s one of the dads and his struggle. It transitions well to keep story moving and flowing.
*Family. Many dramas pit brothers against each other. This one has brothers who truly care for each other. We see dramas with evil or let’s say screaming annoying parents. Besides the father of lead male who’s very grumpy and mean, others are kind and make efforts to bring unity. This was so refreshing and I like that a lot in this drama.
*Antagonists did their part to wreak havoc (his ex, her admirer). What’s good though is that their chapters ended pretty early instead of dragging us through their dirty to the end.
Cons:
*I felt that the FL acting was lacking. She was a boring character is maybe more accurate. She’s meek, mousey voice, and just plain boring. In beginning when she kicked out her leg to react at ML attitude, I thought she was gonna be bad**s. As it is, once she got the guy she was more or less insignificant. Lol. She’s kind, humble, gets talked over, etc. You know the kind too familiar (I’m poor so yeah, do as you will rich ones).
*The chapter on dad dragged a bit so I skipped a few episodes.
*It ended well, happy but if I was a producer I would have closed it in another direction. For its focus on the ending portion, even if it’s sad in a way, it would be most realistic. As it is, they opted to give us what we hope to see in dramas, ever ending happiness.

It’s tough to rewatch long dramas and there’s too many to catch up on anyways. If you’re looking though for a long one, this one delivers pretty good and I believe you’ll be satisfied.

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Sister Strong

This is a great story. It is well translated, well written just as I’d hope for in a series. Familiar plot line of sisters where one becomes selfish and uses other ones kindness to advantage. However, no matter what, when it comes down to it, the bond of sisterhood remains true so forgiveness wins. Cast are really good. Love the character of HAWICK. Some say he had a weak role. I didn’t. He was great. He portrayed a very lovable man towards his woman while carrying a silent revenge from childhood hurt. Each character were well developed, the main leads remained strong and caring throughout. Yes female lead was too nice but she was feisty mad when realized she was betrayed.

Things wrapped well, and every single character’s issue was resolved. Yes, very well written slice of life family drama I’m sure you’ll appreciate.

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Unforgettable

The story wasn’t focused too much on the romance as stated in description. A young man, (JiSung) and a group of others share a great bond due to growing up in an orphanage in Jeju. They’ll divide due to opportunities to get ahead in life, however the bond is solid when needed. There’s a secret to his birth that will play out, and that’s the part that’s interesting.

There’s much to take away, things to ponder on, relatable actions that feeds on our emotions. It’s a great story. From beginning to end, it’s worth the watch.

If I ever find the time, I’d love to read the novel.

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Male lead for the heart

If I just write a few sentences about the male lead, would that be okay? What about him? He hides his love for fl because of his work that could harm her. He has a boring sleepy facade about him (my description okay) which could be a good disguise to his line of work. However, he’s smart and very physical to handle the complexities of his job. He’s the mature, competent, down to business character I wish for in dramas. He’s dedicated to his love interest and has her in his best interest even when she’s silly, makes dumb decisions, and puts him in harms way due to those behaviors. I like it primarily for this. As is with stories during nation conflict, there’s lots to anticipate as story develops. It’s pretty good if it fits your mood.

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This will be short because many have spoken beforehand. I’m rating this high for the fact that I find the leads totally in sync with chemistry. I’ve watched so many dramas where the pull and push of leads keep viewers hanging by the thread just to see them get together at end after enduring eye rolling nonsense. Here, I love that he chases after supposed cold demeanor. Their cuteness, readily acceptance of mutual feelings is what I enjoyed. The first twenty episodes had so many sweet bantering fun moments that if they inserted the last episode as twenty first and ended, it would of been perfect for me. The story itself isn’t bad, female student in an all male school, her influence for good with various opposition. Kudos to entire cast but Xu Kai and Zhao Lusi perfectly matched up to give us a treat to the perfect romance. I’ll definitely go back to rewatch the first twenty episodes.

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Irritating antagonists will keep you tuning in

This is the first 100+ series I've seen and since I lost a lot of sleep over it, it's good enough to share with you so that you might want to invest your time if looking for a good long one.

It's a roller coaster of an emotional series because the antagonists are super bad that you want to tune in just to see what their demise will be. Lol!

The storylines: *fraud and deception! The antagonists are very good, fooling everyone around them.
*late love: they thought they didn't need anyone, until they met in an unconventional way
*wanted and unwanted siblings: two loved, one denied

It's very engaging from the beginning on all the way to the end. It is meaningfully weaved so that you get a well organized story where every plotlines are covered til the end. One thing that you might ask yourself after watching this: Is it really possible for a human being to not have any love at all? I will leave it like that so you can find out. I also love that there is an elder in this drama who is like the pot of gold at the end of the storm. Throughout the series, he was wise, loving, and very patient so that even if everything is going crazy, he could be relied on to calm the storm. I loved Park Geum Hyung in this series as the grandfather. You hate his character in some dramas but in this one, I absolutely loved him.

On top of the central storylines, you will see talents of the cast. You will see their singing skills. In fact, you will be accustomed with the entire casts and their roles. There is definitely love here too. It is not perfect when you feel sometimes that dialogue in meaning seems repetitive but, it is well weaved together. Ending is very satisfying.

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I was ready to be enmeshed from all the raves about this drama. Yes, I finished it but admit that half way through, I put it on hold and started another show. It didn’t keep me longing episodes after episodes.

Why? After the first episodes, I was really glued. Then, it became dragging. The male lead was thoughtful but his character is one who’s an introvert and in state of being in trance. Yes, he’s handsome but I would rather him be outspoken, demanding. Female lead was about the same, though very strong at beginning, started to weaken out, and in trance state at many times. Some episodes I felt were total useless and story could of wrapped in way less episodes.

Cinematography as all historical Chinese dramas is beautiful. I was irritated the female lead was in same dress for most of movie, even after rain, many years..lol.

It was good but definitely not memorable for me.

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This is my first attempt at writing a review so here it goes. Everyone have their own nit and picks about what they look for when choosing a show to watch. For me, number one is ROMANCE! The romance in this drama is compelling and deep. Who arranges the most difficult romantic dates in times of war and chaos? Yup, the Commanding Chief of the military. Jack and Rose of Titanic were almost immediately in love. Here, it took some time but the magic began at initial meeting. The chemistry, hard deep kisses, hugs, touches set aside this show from regular Chinese dramas of barely touched mouths. Talk about deep, committed love...it’s here. I must admit I wanted to slap her when she found him and was gonna walk away but...it’s good.

The storyline was good but there were a lot of gaps. Too much twists, especially where the exes are concerned makes it more of irritation than adding to the intrigue of story.

The devotion of doctor was very sad...not because he was a g eat friend but because he deserved a love as well.

I was enmeshed. Wallace Chung is a very good actor and he played his role very well. Actually the entire cast were very convincingly good or evil. Bravo to them. This was very enjoyable and if you’re like me who likes strong leads and romance, you would enjoy this. Try it.

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