Good book leads to great drama

I haven't read the book, yet this drama clearly indicates that if you pick a good book and follow it to it's minute details, you end up with a classic drama. As compared to the screenplays that are hashing out clichéd crap just to meet deadlines and make a quick buck,

This drama takes the c industry to the next level. It's absolute poetry, smooth, delicate, yet hard core feminist.
Sometimes feminist dramas trample on males, but here it is a sheer sense of admiration and respect for the ML.

And add to that the sizzling chemistry, heart fluttering relationship, beautiful landscapes, wonderful supporting cast.......
This drama is a gem.......

I had stopped watching c dramas because it was embarrassing to watch female leads speak like a baby, act like a teenager and wear crotch revealing outfits.

But wow.....the last 4-5 c dramas have beaten the so-called popular k dramas of 2023-24.

Way to go.......congratulations to the full team!!

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Should be called King of Tears and Ice Maiden

This is a single layer story about a greedy woman who abandoned her son and coiled herself around a rich ceo to inherit all hus wealth by destroying his family. And she is truly wicked - doesn't shy from murder, sending her own child away to America etc etc.

In this straight layer you then have multiple players who are entangled. Then there are subsets to these people.
Simple, boring, clichéd, seen that before, yawn.

What then races these dramas to the top are the players and their nuances - both of which are absent here.

Let's start with the players.
Stand out performances by Grace (the spy), the FL wimpy brother, the FL secretary, the ML attorney friend and the bad villain (abandoned son)..

And now the leads:
One would think that if the premise is love/marriage /divorce/remarriage to same person, then there has to be an iota of chemistry.. Should they not test this in the audition? Maybe the stars are so big they discarded the auditions.
So Alas Alas - here we have to use our wildest imagination and fantasy to assume the two are madly in love.- because frankly they behave like they are allergic to each other.

There is not one heart fluttering moment between them, no sizzle, no intimacy, no intensity.
We have miss ice maiden who is mean to the ML through ep.15 and then agrees to hold his hand in16.
We have the king of tears who spends 80% of his screen time with wet eyes.

What a pitiful drama.

I think k dramas need to stop focusing on these so called big regional stars and get back to making their old classic story line with real actors.

Think about it - we've had 3 dumps already in 2024 with hot shot actors :
Doctor Slump, Welcome to Samdalri, and now this Queen of tears........all dramas that totally missed the point.

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A family drama......meh

I'm sorry - I watched this just for KYK under the genre of romance.
There is no romance, no chemistry and no comedy. The classification should have been boring drama created for the FL.
This is so pitiful.....ugh........not sure why he picks these boring family dramas which are totally not suited for his style and personality..

I would have loved to give it a 1 star, it was so boring.
Mediocre substance, nobody stands out.

But the one who unfortunately irritated me the most was the FL.
So miscast for the role.
And those idiotic bangs - gosh- clear her face for godsakes!! Or grow the bangs to her chin - we wouldn't miss anything anyways.

As an actor we need to see her expressions and emotions, and this one failed miserably with her looks and her acting in this role.

And seriously you k drama folks - you have a hidden gem with KYK and this is how you misuse him??
He can be the next global universal star / ambassador. Stop giving him these pathetic dramas and pay for skilled writers who will create a star based on his persona!

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Lost potential in this drama

I watched the first 4 episodes, got so excited, then decided to wait for all episodes to release and started watching it again.
Boy - what a disappointment!!

The fact is that this story had an interesting premise, a slightly different take on the rich greedy conglomerate family and very promising actors.

It could have even become a romcom cult classic like A Business Proposal......but Alas, Alas.
Not enough attention was paid to details.

The friendship between the FL and her high school pal dwindles, the sizzling chemistry between the FL and brother in law becomes tepid, luke warm, tasteless tea. The second couple romance is actually irritating.

The story line is regurgitated and poorly served.

You know, with all the hard work that goes into producing these dramas, there should be a tighter grip on the story and detailed screen writing.

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What was the point of this drama??

My intent is not to underplay anyone's hard work here.

So purely from a global viewer's perspective, I struggled with this drama.
Could not find a theme, goal or intent here.
Forget looking for romance and chemistry - it was like a cloud that flitted away before you knew it appeared in the sky.

Comedy - what where when??

Story was crafted for a certain demographic of folks who reminisce about Jeju island, the small town mentality and unity and friendships. But haven't we seen this over a dozen times already??

The love triangle was outdated and honestly both leads were too old for their characters - as much as I adore them both.
The bad girl story drags through to the last episode.

I've been waiting for one classic romcom all through 2024 - nothing through April.
And there seems to be a very dim light at the end of the years tunnel 😳

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What was this all about?

Was there a message in this short drama?
Something like you can dream about film stars but in reality you can fall in love with a regular man?
And did they mean to portray Lee Minho as the average man who is a travel writer and has a probable chance of kissing the FL?

Well - let's just stop right there - Lee Minho is not your average man - period.

So this rubbish story with a clueless FL takes us for a dizzying spin.
And not sure what the director had on the other 6 top male leads to make them perform in this ridiculous trope.

Why why why did you waste all this energy making this???

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So angry with this drama.....

This is the first time I'm so angry after watching an Asian drama.
Firstly j-dramas have always been touch and go for me. Either they are brilliant or just too bizarre.
But this one is outrageous.

Wonder who created this idiotic FL script, who is senselessly meandering down a dissatisfied relationship, then finds her husband has an affair, divorces him and then goes back to a sex less marriage which was her first problem to begin with.

Get a life, lady,
You are not the epitome of anything and the spineless behavior which concludes to love in the final episode just feels like some man with a wet dream has concocted this ridiculous, depressing story line.

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The most unromantic romance

This story had a promising beginning, some interesting and different side streams and could have ended up with an 8 or even 9 star.
But Alas......

I think the script writer was trying to convince us that love is really blind.......that despite not being able to recognize faces, it's the inner soul that eventually wins the long lost love race.
And in thus trying to make the FL s soul shine, the script writer forgot to clean up the exterior - and viola we now have a scruffy looking FL who looks like she kept awake all night in her college dorm, trying to cram for an exam, then woke up the next morning, didn't brush her teeth, shower or comb her hair, wore mismatched socks under ill fitting pants and ran to the exam hall.

And on the flip side we have a ML who just steps out of a GQmagazine, looks dreamy enough to have a million weeping females, dresses impeccably - almost like he's going to step on the fashion runway.........

And now we have to watch 16 hours of how these two totally miscast characters find everlasting love!

God help us🧑‍🎤

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Sizzling chemistry is the only selling point of this drama

Every time I searched for a modern c drama, this popped up. With a high rating of 8.something, it's worth a try.

But be prepared for girls in tiny, crotch revealing skirts/ shorts. Thank God the squeaky baby voice was discarded.
The villain lady with straight black hair and red lipstick.
The clichéd car accidents
The cringey share holders meetings
The jealous and greedy family of the millionaires

Just be ready to crawl under a blanket with all these silly creatures
BECAUSE
The ML is worth every minute of it.......

He's a dish, carries his role well, underplayed, macho.....Hmmmm mmmmm
The FL does a good job too. She adds the sizzle to their chemistry and does not shy away from the intimate scenes.
Sticks to her role and is kind of underplayed.

Most others need an award for overacting, especially that FL ' s friend.

So yeah, keep your remote close, skip through the rubbish and enjoy the steamy romance.

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Cringey romance. ….. and nothing else

This drama - is it the Netflix USA watered down version for the American audience?
It is tepid'
, tasteless, cringey, pointless. Like old dramas made in the 70s.
Over the top mother and jobless son are supposed to be the comic relief when in reality they make you want to cry.
The mean and absurd doctors who steal dissertations - yikes'
The whole criminality behind the Macau murder - was it meant as a child’s play?
And finally the romance- seriously if you are married and uncomfortable kissing other men in your chosen career then do the audience a favor and stop accepting romantic roles.
The FL has the expression of Atlas carrying the burden of the earth - sad, sorrowful- and this has nothing to do with her depression.
The ML struggles thhhrough the romantic scenes. His antics in other scenes bring some oxygen to this claustrophobia.

I really wish they would display the meds which the psychiatrist prescribed for the FL because by the end of the 7th episode I’ll be needing the same.

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Almost made it to 9 stars**

This review is purely based on romance genres.

What an absolute hidden gem this was till ep. 9.
After that it becomes the country's marketing appeal to their 1billion plus population to relish life, slow down, find beauty in your passion and be comfortable in your own skin rather than a designer-chosen animal epidermis.

PROS:
*Delightful bickering and slow burn romance.
What a breath of fresh air to see modern, smart, independent women, dressed not in crotch-revealing skirts and bone breaking stilettoes but comfortable/fashionable attire, speaking in adult tones rather than the squeaky, baby whining sexist tones.
*This lead pair has been around for over 10-years, unfortunately I have not seen them before. They are both excellent actors, great chemistry, sizzling retorts and finally, finally they smooch.
*Can't complain about the hot looks of the ML. His character is wonderful - middle management (not an uptight, irritatingly skinny, 20-something CEO), smart, charming, goofy - the goofiness adds to the allure and reality.
* The female lead is confident, although why they make her say she is not beautiful a few times is boggling.
* The supporting females - except for the sister which we will get to, all the supporting females were excellent. Their characters were very well etched and they portrayed it wonderfully
* Story was great the first half and then there is the zen mantra on how to lead your life better than being dragged by corporate madness
* Production / camera / script - nothing was jarring, which means all is good.

CONS:
* The cousin sister : she consumes almost half the entire show and is portrayed as a selfish, shallow princess. Which is not a problem except that she dominates a show that is not about her at all.
* She has 2 romantic interludes, which are both irritating and have no chemistry, plus she is presumably very beautiful so men are crazy about her. This whole concept did not flow well with the rest of the smart, talented female cast.

I actually enjoyed this modern c-drama, especially since the historical ones put me off and it took me deep digging to find this almost-gem.

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Tepid....as bad as luke warm tea that you don't want to drink.....

First the positives:
Great second couple. Their romance was unique, great chemistry, slow burn, exciting to watch. And the best part - the second ML is absolutely a dish! What a universal good looking guy!!
And the female is very downplayed and wonderful. Toward the end she actually overtakes the FL.....in a very subtle manner. However they are not given enough importance and their story slides away.

The FL character is also very different from the standard 12-year old female with a squeaky baby voice, wearing tiny skirts that barely cover her crotch.
This female lead had a great personality etched out for her and more importantly, she carries off the role with aplomb.

That's it. Those are the only saving grace for this drama.

The negatives::
Such a boring story. N..O..t..h..ING ever happens.
You can easily watch every alternate episode and miss nothing!
If it's a slice of life, then believe me, you'll quit eating pizza slices for a month!
There must be a demographic that watches these insipid, tepid, lifeless dramas.

China has released a few stunning romances in 2023 - and sorry to say, this one needs to be buried away in cans.

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Annoying, clichéd, waste of time

This drama started out with such great expectations. Especially the nice looking lead pair.
But every episode went downhill after that.

Seriously - they couldn't decide who would be the evil villain - the step mother or grand father.
The evil stepmother's heart of stone voila turns to gold somewhere in some random episode for some irrational reason.
The grandfather couldn't decide if he wanted to be evil or greedy or a smart ceo. Thankfully he loses his memory along the way and spares us his confusion.

The time transfer between Joseon to Seoul is like traveling on a rattling bullock cart - you don't know which part of your intestine got twisted and jostled on the rough journey.

And the most cringey part was this plastic branch with a few flowers that the FL keeps carrying around waiting for the flowers to wilt and the ML to die.

Messy, shabby, poorly scripted.

The positives:
Beautiful outfits created for the fashion house. The runway outfits were fabulous.
Beautiful embroidery.

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Last few episodes destroyed the drama

I loved this drama so much that I stopped at episode 9 and decided to wait for its completion and then binge watch.
Alas!
The last few episodes went off tangent totally.

What started off as a comic, funny, classically ridiculous drama got burdened with the stale and repetitive theme of wanting to kill a crown prince.
For heaven's sake - is there no other turmoil in the Joseon period beside murdering the royal family?
Every historic drama I've watched only has this as the basis of all trauma. Seriously??

The positives:
Rowoon takes the cake. He is so perfect in this role - riding a donkey - it's hilarious.
Rowoons side kick : deserves 11 stars. He is just phenomenal. Fantastic comic timing and expressions.
Everyone else is pretty good too
The romantic sidelines are pretty fun.
Absolutely gorgeous cinematography
Great wardrobes with aesthetic colors.

The negatives:
The last few episodes move away from comic to dark revenge or whatever.
The chemistry weakens. The romance dies,
Rowoon is just dragging his feet. The female lead is left hanging.
I don't know anything about the accuracy of this period - but somehow it seems unbelievable. The writers have taken some liberties where needed and at other places they behave conservative and illogical.

What a pity that this drama went downhill.

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Soap opera for those peeking into middle aged family stories

This started off on a thumping note on romance and time travel.
Then the drudgery of filling 24 episodes sets in and the story drags you into the depths of marital woes of the families.
Its not interesting, too detailed on the minute relationship especially of the FL's parents. Makes you squirm because it almost feels like reality of every family around you.

It had hope.......and that dwindled fast.
Some missing gaps, not enough chemistry nor heartburn.
tear jerker for no reason.
There were other couples who could have gotten more screen time.
Not sure if the FL s mother is a big star or something but she got a lot of show time and every time she came on screen, I hit the forward button.
Just to much screaming and shouting and mundane nonsense.

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