Kiromenanz
This review may contain spoilers
A quick one, because there have been so many others written already: I doubted this show in the beginning. The premise sounded great, but the first episode didn't grip me. The second wasn't much better. So let me just post a quick rundown of reasons why I am ever so glad I stayed with it:
- The Male Lead: Really, he is too precious. He is caring and awkward, afraid but powers through it, competent, confident and content to stay in the background at the same time. He truly cares for his employees, gives everyone a second chance, takes responsibility for his actions, stays with his friends and he's just an overall cutie. Really, this show was about him growing into himself as much as about romance, and I'd have watched at least ten more episodes of him becoming happy and confident.
- The Female Lead: Couldn't stand her at first, but she suddenly gets better after episode 5 and you'll forget you ever hated her. She's super cute, too!
- The characters and their struggles: There was hardly any black/white storytelling. Every character was shown to have multiple motivations, strength and weaknesses and I just enjoyed seeing people in this show instead of cardboard cutouts.
- The relationships between the female characters: Really, all around people were just so supportive of each other, it was incredible! But what stayed with me most is the relationship between Roo Won and Hee Jin. The best relationship between two girls fancying the same guy I have ever seen, refreshing but heartwarming.
- The relationships in general: You'll watch everyone almost grow into a family and it's so emotionally rewarding!
- Of course, the relationship between our main couple: They're adorable, full stop. They bring out the best in each other and support each other and it's wonderful to see
- THIS POINT CONTAINS A MINOR SPOILER: We see a glimpse of a trans character! And for me, as a cis person, it seemed like a really good portrayal! Of course, if someone who is trans themselves sees an issue with the way the point is handled in the show I'd rescind this point, but so far I've read of no complaints.
- Semi-accurate portrayal of mental illnesses that isn't just depressing: I know this one is hard, but as a person struggling with some of the same stuff the characters struggled with, I saw myself represented here. And in a good way, too! Their actions aren't excused, they aren't used as pointless reasons for some actions, but everyone has their own thing they struggle with and it's really well portrayed.
In general: This is probably one of my favourites now. The music is cute, the cast is amazing, the story is exciting, suspenseful, funny, romantic and heartwarming. It has that TvN flavour. If you're looking for a show that will make you feel a range of emotions and leave you with a smile on your face, try this one!
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First things first - this isn't usually my genre of drama. I'm more the romantic comedy type rather than the slap/kiss one, and I've been avoiding lakorns like this because I know that they might be extremely lenient with things that I consider unforgivable (such as rape, mainly). That said, if you're sensitive to male leads dragging around female leads, physically overpowering them at times and both sides joking about rape, head in the other direction (or be very careful when you proceed). But still for some reason I enjoyed this show immensely.
ACTING
The best aspect of this show is Yaya, hands down. Other reviews will have told you this, but I'll repeat it – She's absolutely brilliant. She shines. Her acting is incredible, the character of Jee both tough and sensitive, extremely likeable despite giving back as good as she gets. I would happily spend hours watching Yaya act out Jee even if the rest of the show hadn't been as good. She had me rooting for her within the first ten minutes. Also, she's absolutely stunning, she took my breath away almost every time she appeared on screen.
Prin does his job well, too, but I'll be honest – Yaya captured my attention in their scenes more than he did. But for fans of him I can definitely say his performance is worthwile, and you won't regret watching this. His character is annoying to me at times, being extremely stubborn and with an infuriating tendency for black/white thinking and casting out female lead as The Worst Person Ever. (But I guess that's kind of the point ^^).
Everyone else also did their job very well. I'll say it one last time, though – Yaya took the cake. I might rate everyone's acting a solid 8, but Yaya's get's a 10++++ with a gold star on top.
STORY
The summary tells you most of it – due to her stepfather drugging her, Jee accidentally runs over and kills Thit's fiancé Tiw. He then proceeds to hate her, throw the same ridiculous accusations at her every time they meet for the first third of the show. He overhears an incredible amount of her private conversations, never failing to misunderstand every single aspect of them to make her seem even worse. Meanwhile Jee does her best to deal with the fact that there's a handful of horrid people throwing every stone in her way they can think of.
What carried the story for me was my love for Jee, all I wanted was for people to see how damn amazing she was. The twists aren't that unexpected, but they are shocking. The whole thing reminded me very much of a Mexican telenovela I once watched – all the drama, intrigue and misunderstandings.
But don't get me wrong – I absolutely loved it. There's many sweet, funny moments to carry you through the sad/dramatic/infuriating bits. You'll love to hate the antagonists as well as the male lead at times, but it's so worth it. There are parts I skipped – especially Chaiyan's side story gets repetitive at times, and Thit's hate for Jee almost began to bore me when he finally started to see sense.
About Thit and Jee – their relationship seems natural, though personally I looked back at some point and went "wait, why exactly am I shipping this?". They have lots of long, meaningful looks and they can be wonderfully gentle and careful with each other. At the same time, you'll see a lot of anger and hate getting in their way, and they do get physical with each other, and not just in the happy way (most of it on Thit's side of things). Still, I adore the two of them together.
P'Suki and Dao are the best friends one could wish for, and especially Suki made my heart melt multiple times with his unconditional love for Jee. Tbh, I'd recommend this show for the two of them :)
One con to this – if you get angry when people just won't explain themselves, this will make you angry. Yes, they get angry and try to justify themselves, but nine times out of ten they won't come out and just say "I didn't do that!". It had me screaming at the screen in frustration.
MUSIC
Repetitive and overly dramatic at times. At the end, whenever the dramatic music began I caught myself groaning and going "what is it THIS time", but the rest of it is cute.
REWATCH VALUE
I might come back to this, to be honest, mainly for Jee and her relationships with people. It's a very moving show with lots of good actors and an engaging plot, even though there's so many hospital scenes that I lost count.
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Story:
On the one hand, the story is refreshingly new: We start out with the girl who would be the antagonist in every other show we watch. She's rich, she's spoiled, she's thoughtless and sometimes rude, she kind of believes she's entitled to other people's attention. The good, poor, sweet girl who would usually be our protagonist is actually the girl our protagonist is up against. It's a fun twist, mostly because although she's a spoiled princess, the female lead is very lovable. You'll see her good points quickly, and come to love her for them (at least I did).
On the other hand the story is chock-full of clichés, which for some reason doesn't make it any less refreshing. You have all the typical tropes you expect, all the accidental skinship, misunderstandings and twists. But, partly because Xing Chen is very straightforward, they sometimes take unexpected twists.
If you want cute, lovable characters, a fun storyline and occasionally slapstick humor, you won't be disappointed. The interaction between the lead couple is incredibly cute, they are so adorable. But please also be prepared for seemingly random interactions (you know those moments when people in dramas stumble and fall into positions where you think "how on earth did that happen??" – yeah, those kind of things). Small elements of the plot are dropped, and there's very little consequences to people's actions, especially short term.
The whole story is sparkly, cute and bubbly, and it is (as you might have guessed from the title) very fairytale. But it is enjoyable. If you're looking for a romantic comedy that's lighthearted and keeps you entertained, I think this might be it. Also it's rather fast-paced. There are hardly any scenes where you might be tempted to skip through, because almost all of them are relevant to the character's relationships or their feelings. Very little "scheming old men/evil mom" scenes, if you know what I mean. It's just unapologetic fluff from beginning to end, with a healthy dose of drama and obstacles thrown into the characters' way, but never so much that you start getting bored of the hurt.
Acting/Cast:
Nothing out of the ordinary. If you know Chinese drama, you know to expect fairly horrible dubbing in places. Funnily enough, Mike's works the best out of all the leads somehow. It didn't bother me at all for some reason (too caught up in the cuteness), but the dubbing is there. However, considering the sometimes outrageously far-fetched scenes (especially the falling scenes) and the cheesiness, I think the actors did rather well. (Also, they're all of them very good looking. I especially fell in love with Xing Chen and Yang Yang, they're incredibly pretty! Seriously, you could watch this show just for the eye-candy alone).
Music:
I rated this rather highly because, although you only have one memorable song that's repeated through the whole drama, it's a very catchy song. I know, that should maybe be a point deduction for some, but as I'm writing it the song is still stuck in my head. And although the English grammar isn't really right at all, it's still really sweet and I somehow love it.
Rewatch Value:
I might just rewatch this, I just loved the cuteness and Xing Chen. I'd just rewatch it for all her scenes.
Overall:
It's a little gem in the cheesy rom com category. I haven't watched this kind of drama since I first started watching drama years ago, but it's so beautifully clichéd, hilariously cute, I just couldn't stop watching. I'd definitely recommend it, but you should know that you're not getting into a drama that you should take seriously here.
BUT:
A word of warning, especially for the musicians among us: Even to me, who hasn't touched about 90% of the instruments featured in this drama, it was obvious that the songs they were "playing" didn't fit their movements at all. It is so blatant that it might be off-putting for some. Also, as emotionally satisfying as the last episode is, it is so extremely ridiculous in places that I laughed out loud.
At the time when I'm writing this there are subbed episodes available on multiple sites. But episode 3 wasn't subbed completely, with about 40% of it missing, and the subs in the following episodes were sometimes VERY grammatically wonky. Once or twice for a few minutes the music went out of control or the subs would stop for one or two sentences. I was so devoted to this show that I didn't even mind, but it should be mentioned.
I hope I didn't put you off it, because it's truly very sweet and I do not regret any second I spent on it :)
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Absolutely Lovely
I have just finished watching this gem and let me tell you, I loved it. I loved it so much I am sitting here now, feeling empty, and staring at the wall, not sure what to do with myself now that it's over.To preface this: Yes, I have watched Sungkyunkwan Scandal. I liked it a lot. It has been a while, but I still dare to say that this one is just as good, at the very least.
It's definitely cheesy. The kind where someone gives an emotional argument and people around them are so moved, they start clapping. Does all of it make sense academically? No, but it doesn't have to. It's exactly the kind of fun, moving, found-family genderswap story it says on the tin. Personally, since that is what attracted me to the whole thing in the first place, I got exactly what I wanted.
The heart and soul of this show are definitely Wen Bing and his friends. Yes, they're all phenomenal eye-candy – every single one of these characters is so beautiful, I'd watch them wash dishes for hours. But more than that, their relationships grow so organically and deeply, they look out for each other, protect each other and care for each other. It's heartwarming, it's moving, it's a wonderful escape from reality. The gradual unveiling of everyone's secrets and backgrounds, and how they just end up accepting each other without question and having each others' backs is just wonderful to watch.
The supporting characters are just as great. I can honestly say that by the end of this show, I loved all of them. There are fights, there are antagonists, there is character growth, there is redemption, and it flows incredibly well.
Apart from being beautiful to look at and heartwarming to watch, the show has clever, quick dialogue and organic interactions between people that truly endeared it to me. While the storyline and the conflicts were a little cliché at times, the show pulled it off well.
I have seen people complain that they could not accept that Wen Bing is supposed to look like a girl. I have thoughts on this, but they are probably too long for a review. That said – yes, even dressed as a man she looks feminine. I believe that the producers did that entirely on purpose. She is supposed to always be recognizable as the female love interest, of course (probably related to reasons to do with heteronormativity, but we don't have to go into that). That said, if you cannot stretch your suspension of disbelief a little, this show might not be for you. But then, that goes for almost all genderswap/girl disguised as guy stories.
If you can accept that people think she is a dude for a good long while, this is what this show offers: Heartwarming friendships, a lovely execution of the found family trope, exciting, diverse fight scenes with moves bordering on the ridiculous, moving scenes where you think "that makes no damn sense – compels me though", very sweet teacher-student interactions, in general a lovely execution of the university setting, gorgeous costumes, gorgeous people, gorgeous houses, settings, accessories – you name it, character development, comedy, some heart-wrenching scenes but nothing that would leave you clutching your chest in agony. It feels like eating ice cream on a summer day with the breeze blowing through the trees. It's a sweet, refreshing show. As long as you're alright with the occasional plot hole or questionable character actions, you're in for an absolute treat.
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