Giuca

Murder on the Orient Express

The Ship of Theseus is the translation of the original title of this drama.

The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment about whether an object, after having had all of its original components replaced, remains the same object. In Greek mythology, Theseus, the mythical Greek founder-king of Athens, rescued the children of Athens from King Minos after slaying the Minotaur and then escaped onto a ship going to Delos. Each year, the Athenians commemorated this by taking the ship on a pilgrimage to Delos to honour Apollo. A question was raised by ancient philosophers: After several hundreds of years of maintenance, if each individual part of the Ship of Theseus was replaced, one at a time, was it still the same ship? (wikipedia)

So what do mythology, philosophy and japanese time slip drama have in common?

Shin accidentally goes 30years back in time and tries to stop a murder from happening and save his father from being accused of committing it. But every time he goes back in time, the future changes and so does his own future: he finds himself on a parallel timeline. So if he manages to change everything, will his future be same or different? Spoiler alert: his future is the same but with different state of his surroundings. Ship of Theseus: he changed everything and still ended up happily married and having a baby with the same woman but the path (ships parts) to it has been completely replaced. Is he still the same person even though he does not have the original Shin's memories (the original ship)? The question remains!

Time travel is hugely difficult to write about because it is impossible to explain logically. Every alteration in the past, necessarily creates another timeline and he can never go back to his original one.

The main plot is a serial murder killing left, right and centre apparently for no reason. Shin and his father try to discover and stop the killer who always seems to be one step ahead while they pointlessly run around without achieving anything. Red herrings abound; new suspects are introduced only to be murdered in the next episode. The plot moves at a breakneck speed. Until it gets too fast: new characters are constantly introduced, those seen just in passing become suspects: basically in last two episodes, everything goes upside down, the suspects are surprising and their reasoning psychotic! Shin runs around, repeatedly promising to save his family from doom and miserably failing, until the final solution turns out to be the right one!

I found the cinematography odd: I had a strange feeling of a low quality production throughout. It lacked warmth. Yes it is a crime drama taking place in the winter but still, it should not have looked so sharp and crisp. The writing was excellent but they crammed too much in it and I would have preferred it to be slower and more menacing. There are a few loose, unexplained events and characters' fates (two policemen, the book, the notebook, the drawings...) The culprit turned out to be based on the one from the aforementioned Agatha Christie's novel. The make up for the older versions of adult characters was weirs: it did not look natural at all: they seemed to be older than they should be! The music was appropriately heavy, sentimental and sad, stressing the tragic events on the screen.

As for the actors, they were all amazing. Particularly the kid who played Mikio: he managed to show the character's multiple different faces with an amazing ease. He is infinitely talented. The actor playing Shin is in excellent physical shape: there was at least one scene in every episode where he runs breathlessly and effortlessly around, either looking for something or trying to get somewhere

I love time slip stories, and I enjoyed this one a lot until I got fed up with the constant twists and turns and fake culprits and annoyed with asian societies as depicted in many dramas where the family of a criminal is eternally held responsible for its one member's misdeeds. Nevertheless, it was a great watch, i had fun!

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Reincarnation & Spells

Everything was so average here with the exception of high production value as it was to be expected.

A tragic forbidden love story between a shaman girl and an aristocrat's son, replays when both are reincarnated 300 years later.

The drama meanders between comedy, romance, tragedy and thriller. The characters were interesting. Rowoon in particular since he went from rigid and too serious lawyer to a funny man in love who believed himself to be under a love spell so he explained repeatedly the symptoms of love. Hilarious. The female lead was the usual K drama heroine: tough, kind and brave in the beginning but loosing every braincell after falling in love and giving us a string of bad decisions and ridiculous actions.

Most of the support characters were the comedy part: her work colleagues were the usual gossiping lot, more annoying than funny and his parents bickering. Then there were the "bad guys" his girlfriend and a gardener. They were the most underdevelopped characters because their motivations for being evil was never really explained. Why was the girlfriend, rich and pretty, so jealous of our FL, poor and stubborn? Why was the gardener so obsessed with the FL, so much so he wanted to have a soul wedding and kill her (what is all that about?)? I liked the second ML, whose character was never really clear: was he honest or power hungry?

What about spells? We never learned if they really worked? They did 300 years ago but not today? And the curse he was put upon apparently disappeared when he died and was brought back! Why? The previous sufferers from the curse also died but the curse remained.

Plotholes galore!

But in spite of that, it was a nice watch, nice cinematography, basic story, correct acting. Just that Rowoon is too tall, so when he puts his head of her shoulders, he looks ridiculous!

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Atonement or violence?

Am I allowed to say I did not like this?

Maybe because I did not understand it? Maybe because I did not find the plot and the acting convincing enough?

The movie was all over the place:is it a police vs. gangsters movie, is it a human drama, is it an attempt at redemption?

The only moment I actually felt that the policeperson (the main lead) is maybe trans, was in the last 30 seconds of the movie when he lifted a little finger and looked wistfully at another trans person! Before that: he was a macho policeman,extremely well trained, killing without regret gangsters. Yes, women can be the same: just look at Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. He hid really well his true nature. Is it possible to be so convincing in real life? How exhausting it must be to pretend to be someone you are not for years....

But here his desire to change sex stems mostly from regret: when he was young he refused his best friends who ended up killing himself in front of him while he did nothing to stop him! Regrets can make a person do all sorts of things to atone for past mistakes. Maybe only at the moment he realized who he really is? Allow me to doubt. The actor, himself, looked highly uncomfortable wearing dresses and make up.

The movie is extremely violent, dark and unforgiving. The world is a scary place and happiness is not for people who make mistakes.

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Love yourself

I watched this because the beautiful poster caught my attention!
A two part pinoy short movie (there is also a version where they put those two parts together to make a 25min movie) about two broken hearted guys who bump into each other in the night. They end up spending the night together because of the storm, healing and recovering hope for a happier future.
It is a nice little movie about hope and how not to give up on love. It is about strangers helping each other because it is often easier to talk to a stranger than to a friend.
The actors had good chemistry and managed to portray the sadness really well.
I liked the nightime cinematography: it conveyed well the feelings of loss and despair. On the other hand , the rest of the movie is rather ugly, it seems like they used up the most of the budget for those night shots! The sound in the scenes inside the hotel room was awful: echoing and hard to understand.
The story was well written though the dialogue was full of clichés. Like when you don't know what to say, you say some banality, a lesson from a life coach. I appreciate the producer's effort to provide us with subs but more often than not they were hard to understand unfortunately (I had to pause to reread them again and again!).
The background music was nothing special but the songs were rather good!
Strangers remain strangers!
All in all a good single watch!

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Meals, rommies and maybe more?

The hype about how cute this movie was got to me! I should really be stronger and resist better! I am weak!

Apparently there is a sequel to this movie which I hope will clarify their relationship more.

It is story of two best friends from high school who decided to share a house when they enter university. One is a neat freak and the other is a messy and lazy cook and they complement each other to perfection. But they are only room-mates. The problem is that it is obvious to everyone who knows them that they are deeply in love with each other. It's only that they had not realized it yet! Once the neat freak starts getting busy with studies and projects for the future, the cook feels abandoned and wants their roommates' bliss to remain unchanged. It takes both some time to accept the inevitable change and in the process they realizes also that their feelings for each other are more than friendly.

Japanese are experts in food themed movies and dramas and this one is no different. The love goes through the stomach, as one character points out! The movie is cute, sunny and cheerful. The small world the two have created barely accepts anyone's intrusion: real life is lurking and they are taking their time in letting it in. They eventually find a right balance for themselves as they currently are. What the future will bring is uncertain! I need to read the manga, I guess...

The huge problem I had with this movie is the character of Aki, the cook. He looks like the usual cute FL, screeching and finishing sentences with prolonged high tone wails: unbearable but so japanese manga !He is also very good at avoiding problems and difficult questions, lacking maturity though by the end he gets better. Still screeching but showing a sliver of maturity!

So basically this is a first half of a love story: the bromance part.

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Police & Corruption

I am getting to be more and more severe when rating dramas I watch because I keep seeing same plots repeatedly, over and over again.

This one is just the same: a lone cynical policeman waiting for his retirement fights against corrupted organisation that employs him. This is the skeleton of the plot and then they added some substance on it: the cop is been blackmailed by the murderer who eventually turns out to be a Friend.

Even though I'd seen this plot so many times and even though I am so fed up with eternal corrupted and rotten policemen, politicians and chaebols, I keep watching because when they do it well, it is extraordinary.

The acting was top notch, the plot was seamless and tight, no loose ends, the atmosphere was dark and ominous. We do not know anything about any of the characters with the exception of two main ones. The rest are there, just like shadows used to populate the main pair's background. And their relationship goes on a rollercoaster ride in these 8 episodes! That is actually the most interesting part of the drama: the older policeman recognizes himself in the younger one.

The drama ended on a cliffhanger since there is a second part: which means a 16 ep drama had been split into two parts. What are those americans doing to k dramas?

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Love & Ecology

Stay Like A Local is a short omnibus series featuring beautiful places and yummy local food in eastern part of Thailand. The first and the only criticism I have to voice is the lack of translation of local names from thai to latin script. Probably in order to find out WHERE they actually are, you should pause the episode and Google translate the thai script on screen. I did not do that because the episodes are too short (7min each) to pause.

The 6 places are showcased by 12 young bl actors: each couple has an individual story with the local sustainable economy as a background. Each story is a love story using the well know tropes:
1 Friend Zone - the title says it all: best friends meet after three years. Are they still friends or maybe more? The story is sweet, full of side looks and hesitant words.
2 Confession - how to come out to your parents while helping them develop business using local produce? Dealings with parents always make me feel a bit uncomfortable and I can feel for the characters.
3 He's Not Happy - boss / employee relationship that goes both ways. Fluke has the strangest hair colour but the story is cute.
4 Goes On A Trip - a couple of coworkers go on a business trip together. Will there be something more developing between them? The glances are rather telling!
5 Let's Say A Lover - a holiday fling or more? Move on or stay back and try to fix things that are maybe not meant to be fixed...the future is open!
6 Memories - friends and maybe more meet again after certain time had passed. Will they finally be honest with each other and their feelings?

There are some really lovely stories here told within some magnificent scenery. The acting is a bit all over the place, the worst being Fluke (ep. 3 and still playing the same kind of character like in UWMA). The hair styling as well (again Fluke in ep.3 and both actors ep.6).

Everything considered, this is a nice short series expertly promoting Thailand, its gastronomy and the efforts they are making in sustainable economy. It is probably produced with the target audience of young professionals in their twenties: fans of BLs and worried about ecology.

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Destiny and pegasus

Well, this was strangely addictive and at the same time just plain awful and ugly! Moreover the produces cand definitely beat GMMTV where the PPL is concerned. This drama was apparently completely sponsored by Subway....a new romantic place for a dinner date! Not!

So this review is just a long rant and a string of notes I jotted down as I watched. Here it goes....

ML has a horrible haircut! And grimacing like he does, he reminds me of Jang Hyuk in Fated To Love You which I absolutely detest! I love the concept of this drama but sometimes little things ruin the viewing experience too much! Another thing that made me drop this drama three times while watching the first episode is awful cinematography and camera image quality: it is too sharp and therefore sterile, very uncomfortable to watch....It looks like something from the 70/80s: ugly! Now on ep 4 and the FL's attitude is getting me more and more annoyed: she is the epitome of a brainless sports professional cliché! Limited vocabulary and immediate violence...and a huge chip on her shoulder!
Episode 6 and the FL is seriously getting on my nerves: self-righteous, stupid, jumping to conclusions, giving those disappointed, hurt, holier than thou looks with trembling lips and unwilling to listen or compromise. Those righteous know it all characters are rage inducing....
I decided not to pay attention to the childish pouty FL and the plot seems to be chugging along smoothly but very very very slowly. One thing is rather amusing: the 45 min merge sometimes seems hours long: they have time to talk, to go on a walk, eat at Subway, walk some more very slowly and then gaze into each other's eyes for a very long time! Time well used! Sometimes they are together for what seems 5min, they argue and poof! the end of the merge mid sentence!
Even though I said I would not pay attention to her, I cannot not notice her biting her lower lip all the time....what an annoying habit!
Ep.15 another extremely annoying character is the prosecutor: sensible to victims' tears has no respect for defense lawyers "How dare you defend someone who is obviously guilty?" and asking a survivor of a crime to apologize for being alive....What a jerk! And of cours the FL is even worse than that: "You are a horrible person for defending alleged criminals but who are really criminals because the tenderhearted prosecutor said sao even though he has no tangible proof!"
OMG that FL is going to be the death of me! Still, in ep 17 she does not want to believe anything the ML says but she believes and trusts EVERYONE else, literally everyone else and particularly the prosecutor who is the same as her: stupid, too emotional and self righteous! And she, with her big round shiny puppy dog eyes, turned up nose and slightly open and trembling lips is the epitome of a bad FL. Why would someone like ML fall for her is beyond comprehension since he is her complete opposite! I guess it's opposites attract even with zero chemistry! Urghhhhhh!

Now it is getting to be seriously messy: ep 18 he tells he she's going to die but didn't she already know that two episodes ago?!?!?! The writers are slowly starting to do whatever: ManMan in present talks to future ML about the FL's death that has not happened yet. A mess!
Could the events be called plotholes if they are illogical? The guy breaks into someone's house and then sits back, rests and lights up a cigarette throwing it away after a couple of puffs and leaving the smell and ashes behind? Maybe he does it on purpose ? The characters are doing more and more stupid things. The worst still being the FL: no one is taking her stupidity crown away!

Ep.21 Now even the ML is biting his lower lip when he's worries! It must be contagious.... And in ep 22: the relationship between brother and sister is a weird one to say the least: there is definitely much more going on there that meets the eye. That much was evident from the start but now they are really showing it to us in case we did not get the hints! I did not really! I noticed the odd behaviour when they were together but incest was not one of the options I was considering (more like gaslighting, control, abuse). Maybe one of them (him?) is adopted?

No, it is actually her!Fake siblings then attempted murder then amnesia! This is looking more and more like a makjang: secrets, fake families, hatred and revenge for obscure reasons. In any case being like siblings or brothers, is not really recommended by this drama: just a recipe for disaster! Fortunately though, our FL is still her stupid gullible self! Glad some things never change?

And of course the last episode? The ML plays the hero and ends up in a coma for months.When he wakes up, months later, his head is still bandaged since it apparently did not suffice, all those MONTHS, in come for the wound to heal over! The FL is doing her saintly wife duties, kindly talking, being nice to everyone and all in all being angelical! I was half expecting a halo above her head, her eyes turned towards heavens and divine light shining around her! Well it almost happened every time she drew back the curtains....
So, of course, perfectly natural and logical and realistic, when he wakes up from his coma, there is nobody around in the hospital, he has his full strength back immediately even though he had been in a coma for months. Therefore he pulls out the IV drip, goes home and on the way does some shopping because he has his wallet in his hospital garb: nobody in the hospital notices that he's missing and of course FL doesn't know anything. Come on, give me a break!

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Prophecy & coincidence

This two episodes special is a part of a BL anthology series My Universe.

It takes place at the university where Bud, while trying to avoid his mother's prophecy from coming true by escaping from one guy, ends up falling for Korn and unwittingly making the prophecy come true.

This is a true romantic comedy: there is a lot of romance and a lot of comedy though not smart but slapstick comedy mainly by support characters(Bud's best friend Emmy and a pursuer Fong) making faces, extreme gesturing and sound effects, in case we did not understand it was supposed to be funny!!!! The main actors are cute and so is the story. The actor/actress playing Emmy was just over the top and I did not like her/him! The mother had too much weird make up on so I kept wondering how anyone can take her seriously. The costume designer apparently spent most of their time taking the buttons off the shirts the cast wore! Cinematography was rather nice and they managed to show some love magic and special connections the two had through light effects: nicely done!

It is definitely not my cup of tea though I would not mind seeing the main couple in another series, together or separate, I don't care! I haven't seen other episodes in this series but I might now since this was not that bad! It probably would have been bad if it were longer: most of recent thai bls could and should be shorter because there is as much plot there as there is here! I'd rather watch a 2 episode version of a story than a 12 episode one!

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Women & love

An anthology or omnibus series about four women in different stages of their lives but that can be seen as an example of a woman's life and struggles throughout the first half of her life from dating, marriage, career to mid life crisis. All of the stories are connected to each other by a common thread, a female friend/acquaintance who shows up in every episode either offering an advice (first two stories #23 & #29) or creating problems (#35 & #42). The numbers in the titles are actually ages of main female character in each episode.

#23 A polyamorous woman finds out that dating three men at once is not such a good idea after all!
#29 A woman on the verge of getting married is upset by her own mother's unexpected life choices.
#35 A writer and a one-movie-wonder director is looking for inspiration
#42 A woman takes her husband for granted and can't bear the consequences.

The first story was fun though it showed the dark side of the internet and its power to destroy people's lives. A young woman is also taken on her own game without knowing which makes her wonder if her choices are really well thought out!
The second FL was so annoying; a woman about to get married but only thinking of her mother and never wanting to part with her: such an unhealthy relationship and an immature young woman. Only when she really talks to her mother who clears things up for her, is she able to move forward with her life!
The third story had a very theatrical feel to it: I felt as if I were watching a play. The way the characters moved, the way they talked, the events...everything was rather static and limited. It was my favourite story since even the plot was very theatrical full of lies and deceit.
The last story was the worst. It was about a childless couple, high school friends married for 20 years. She's obviously a ball breaker and he is a conciliatory kind of guy letting her get away with it to keep the peace. Over the years they have become more of a brother and a sister than a married couple (she hides behind a T-shirt so her husband wont see her in a tank top!). Some friends of theirs come back for a school reunion which sends their peaceful equilibrium into a tailspin and making her a jealous screaming harpy!

Omnibus is one of my favourite formats in dramas and this one is particularly well made: the production values are high and the writing is excellent. While the three out of four stories had their roots in reality and were really good (in spite of annoying female characters in 29 & 42), the third one is my favourite: it is a bit over the top dealing with publishing, writing, producers etc. but suspenseful and with a movie kind of ending. The mood was very much like in the thai series 180 Degrees, heavy with secrets and darkness. It is a bit different from the other stories.

Definitely worth the watch but you need to be in the right mood. The drama really manages to paint the women's struggles and questioning in a very intimate way.

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Tea and magic

I liked this very much; it is funny, fast paced, cute and fluffy!

The synopsis above is nonsense though! So let me try and correct it a bit. There are three distinct parts of this drama. In the first part Modem tries to discover the identity of the boy she met when she was in school by using magical tea her aunt makes on two men she met recently: Light and Boss. But her magical experiment goes haywire. The second part is dedicated to Boss, who has been in love with Modem for a very long time but when he sees her moving away from him he uses the aunt's magical tea to hold her with disastrous effects. In the third part of the drama, Modem has to deal with the consequences of her playing with magic at the beginning and the solution turns out to be rather radical!

My Bubble Tea is about magic so your brain should be left on sleep mode. The events are happening at high speed and there are some developments that are difficult to believe because of that speed. There is rarely a calm moment but it is so much fun. The characters are amazing. Light is a bike driver, he is silly, sweet and a bit stupid but immensely kind. He is played by Mean, I remember from Love By Chance. I also remember having impression of him being much taller. His posture is different here: he played Light to perfection and had nice chemistry with Ploy who played Modem. Then there is Modem's family, her aunt and brother and their bickering was priceless. Her friends were a mixed lot of quirky and funny people.

This drama is worth the watch if you are looking for something light and relaxing with a compelling story, a rollercoaster ride of fun and magic. The character names are a blast and there is Cupid helping the story along.....

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A Love Story

Two guys meet as students. The connection is instantaneous and they start dating. But Xiaole needs to go away in order to pursue his acting career. Su Wei stays in college and they continue being together through long distance relationship. But then Su Wei's mother discovers her son is gay and the whole hell breaks loose. Su Wei moves in with Xiaole who puts his acting career on indefinite hold. But living together is not all fun and roses so when SuWei's mother begs him to leave her son, Xiaole obeys and leaves. He comes back two years later.

The story is a classical love story going through the usual hardships after the initial honeymoon period: family acceptance, money, jobs, friends, sex and so on! Problems keep piling on until everything breaks. But fortunately it is not broken beyond repair.

This short web series was made by the main actor Xiaole. The production is low budget but the story is well written and the two main actors have great chemistry. The problems are small but important things : actresses playing cousin and mother are both far too old for those roles so it is really distracting. The clothes they wear do not change over the years of the relationship. The sound is badly recorded and there are scenes where they are having a conversation subbed in mandarin but we do not hear it nor is it translated into english. Those conversations look like lovey dovey talk but still....I may be mistaken. I liked the characters lines written vertically in certain scenes.

The main actor is handsome and talented and I wish we could see him in more roles than those self produced ones!

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Read the tags NOT the title!

The title sounds like a comedy. But this drama is everything but a comedy. Upon reading the title I was expecting something along the lines of The Full Monty. No such luck!

This is a very basic mystery show. A murder took place 10 years previously. The only witness is looking for the culprit who has a scar on his back. In order to find him, she puts an ad out looking for nude models. The fireman needs money to help a friend out so he applies. But the real culprit is close by, trying to stop the girl looking for him by framing the fireman.

The plot is very basic. Fortunately it is only 4 episodes long, but I felt it dragging nevertheless with the usual tropes started showing up more and more towards the ending. At one point the fireman is on the run and has to share a hotel room with the girl: all of a sudden HE turned into a shy victorian heroine, walking slouched and stiff and almost crossing his arms over his chest in a real virginal mode. Ridiculous. And let me tell you about the ending: the fireman is in danger and we cut on to two months later and everything the characters do just confirms that the L is dead. But,we seasoned k-drama watchers, see through this lying game!

The side characters are more interesting than the vanilla main ones. The girl's aunt is in love with fireman's best friend. >They d bring the needed touch of lightness and humour.

I was actually really bored and I definitely need to read tags in future. But I keep forgetting. This could have been a nice crime mystery drama if not that title!

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Season 2/5: On with the fun!

I don't know by what miracle, but they managed to continue with the same quality drama.
The story is fast moving, there is no time to rest and still it does not seem rushed. The writing is solid, very funny, the acting is perfect, actors have great chemistry and the music is beautiful.

Our novelist is finally in the Cold Palace with Emperor pining for her outside and trying to figure out a way to bring her out without breaking his promise. She is getting bored doing nothing so she dresses up as an eunuch and goes out to the market. Unwittingly she messes up Queen Dowager's conspiracy plans provoking her wrath. There are more subplots there as well: fake poets and poetry competitions, imperial exam candidate who lost the will to fight (so funny!), the doctor she tries to set the Emperor up with only to realize she has feelings for him too, her bickering but adoring parents, her caveman of a brother I want to see more of!

What is surprising is that there is not one single annoying character. The FL is a strong and smart woman with a fast thinking head on her shoulders and who does not let anyone think otherwise. The ML has become a smitten emperor but still keeping his cool when faced with problems.

I am loving this. It has been so long since I laughed so much. It is worth every second spent.

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Season 1/5 The writer falls, the mess begins!

This is hilarious! Nothing new but really funny! And I am very difficult when humour is concerned. I hate slapstick and similar kinds of humour. This is smart funny.

The plot is the usual short c drama plot: a novelist falls into her own book and has to complete tasks in order to get out. Here, she needs to be punished and spend 100 days in Cold Palace in order to leave. But her quirky personality is very much liked by the cold emperor and she has trouble being condemned no matter what she does.

What makes this drama fun are the characters. All of them: main and support ones. They all have their unexpected sides. Even the cold and distant emperor sees his high walls shattered to smithereens by the FL's antics.

Just like any other hitorical c drama, this one is well produced, rather pretty to watch, runs smoothly (I watched edited full version) and is extremely well acted. By the whole cast. The main couple have great chemistry and you cannot help but root for them.

This is the first part of the series so the story is far from over. I just hope they won't mess it up by adding too many new characters. I am curious to see where the story is heading. The emperor is head over heels for the novelist who is currently only interested in leaving her novel and is not particularly drawn to the Emperor.

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