Underwhelming

======EDITED======
I finally get to rewatch. And my opinion stays the same. It is underwhelming and didn't live up to expectations- especially the excitement.

The build up was good during the first 3 episodes. However, after that, everything started to get boring and fell into that cliché path that most revenge drama has.

1. Everything suddenly seems easy for DH - suddenly people just keep coming to help her. So it makes me wonder, what if those people didn't come to help her? What if she didn't meet those people? She spent more than a decade to plan but later on I cannot help but think "what was her original plan?" - you know the plan she created without those "sudden helper" which suddenly pops up for her to use.
I am yet to see a revenge drama with a solid plan and kept that plan until the end without the sudden boost of helper.

2. Suddenly everyone is screaming. One character screaming would've been believable but when almost everyone is screaming and started to act hysterical? Gosh

And I do not get why these villains who used to be powerful, calm and always seems to know what to do - suddenly becomes this weak character who - for whatever reason just do not know what to do except panic and scream.
When in truth, they can just order their men to kill the avenger but none of them think that way. They didn't even think of a way to punish this avenger and stop her from ruining their life. The only thing they did was to pay her mom to humiliate her and force her to leave her job. Really? Is that all you can do?
They started hating each other and fight each other but none of them decided to fight the avenger?

3. They went crazy in the end. These people who never felt guilty for ruining someone's life and live well all these years suddenly lose it. Lee Sa Ra seems fine at first then suddenly went full blown drug addict. PYJ was fine and then in the end she also started losing it - I don't know what's the purpose when that happens because if they were to be punished, I want them to be totally sober - with their conscious, and clear mind still intact -so they can feel all the hardships and pain of my revenge.


Another scene that I hate was Lee Sara's scandal - of her playing herself. I just don't like that part, she was drugged and to shame her -- everyone has to see her playing with herself as if that's some bigger sin than her being involved in bullying and drugs. That's so wrong. She was a victim in those videos.

And what was that thing with the Shaman? That was so unnecessary!

I am not sold out with the romance either. There was no chemistry at all.

I think that it could've ended with just 5 episodes but they had to stretch it out. It felt that they do not know what to do or what to add to make up for the rest of the episodes so they resorted to flashbacks.

The ending where DE was leaving the school and looking happy would of been the perfect ending. Everything that happens after that just... seems forced, like "yeah let's add some more scenes to complete this episode."

And their world is small indeed, suddenly almost everyone has met DE before.

And the avenger team at the end 🤦‍♀️
The assistant could of message her daughter at least but we didn't see that. I thought she was going to follow her daughter or try to live a different life for her daughter or for herself, but nuuuuh, in the end she became part of their avenger team.

JYJ - I thought that after seeing the killer of his father who seems be a psychotic who doesn't feel anything no matter what - thought he will at least realize that dealing with him will just be a waste of time.
No matter what he do, to punish that man, it will have no effect on him. He will not feel guilty or regret, instead he will just be happy to see JYJ dirtying his hands, he will be happy that he still has control over him because he made him that way- AND that's exactly what he wanted.
But tbh he will just waste his time on that guy. People like that don't deserves attention, it would be better if JYJ showed himself really happy in front of that guy - that kind of revenge is better - after all, there are many ways to get revenge, not just by hurting them,killing them or ruining them, sometimes being happy and moving on is also a revenge - because some people just hate to see you happy, so seeing you happy is a torture for them. So I was disappointed that they decided to create an avenger team just for him.

So far my favorite scene and the scene that marked on me the most in this season is DE's scenes with her mother. She never cry when facing her bullies, she didn't cry when remembering the past. But seeing her mother trying to ruin her- she cries. She started to break. In the end, the one who truly hurt her is her mother- compared to the pain the the bullies gave her, the pain that she received over her mother's betrayal hurts her the most.
I understand when she said that she is glad that her mother didn't change bcoz it will feel like she will have to erase what she did to DE back then and heal from it and learn to forgive her mother if ever she showed any affection. Knowing that her mother doesn't care for her even a bit and will never change, she accepted that and so, her mother can no longer hurt her, she's done.

I must praise all the cast of this series, they all did a fantastic job and deserves recognition- everyone - especially the villains.

Anyway I will rate it 4
Though disappointing at some parts of the story, I love the characters and the tension during the first episodes.

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Surprisingly good

I made this review after Watching episode 4 and will edit when the series ends.

I watched it because it reminds me of Miss Ripley, Inventing Anna and Gone Girl (and I am always into stories like these).

The story has always had me on edges.
Anna is not a perfect person. She made a lot of mistakes, mistakes that could be avoided if she had just used her brain. I understand how she fell for her teacher, she is young and easy to manipulated by someone older. But her second love made me so frustrated.
It made me feel like she was so easy to get, this guy and her, didn't even interact and just because he asked her for a walk she agreed and also quickly agreed when he kissed her.
I feel so sorry for her parents, especially her father who had to work hard to support her - she didn't care. She only followed her love and continued with her lies until they caught her lies.
I like that she started to change after her father's death but eventually turned into this con artist Anna.

I actually like that they put on what year the events went on, because it makes sense that in those early years, it was easy to get away with your lies since the technology wasn't advanced.
Even the way people didn't know that she was wearing fakes but believed she is rich because of her elegance do makes sense.

And then when the technology started to change later on, her lies started to be difficult to conceal.

The whole drama feels like a silent movie but it wasn't boring. This is by far the best acting role of Suzy. She looks so charming in this series.

The casts, even the minor ones did great job. The cinematography is superb.

***edit***
One thing I didn't like that much is the music... especially at the end, I think it didn't fit.

But I still love this drama and I think I will rewatch this drama again someday.

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Would be better without romance

I watched this because of Ren Allen and I saw some teasers on Youtube and thought his character seems refreshing and he looks hotter.
The idea of a childish or immature young man getting interested in being a firefighter to save people and start to be passionate about it is what I was expecting to see.

It was good when the focus was only about firefighters but then it started to focus on romance... which honestly speaking isn't all that interested and just plain cringey.

There was no chemistry between the Main couple, Ren tried his best but the FL was just.... too cold... not really a good actress.
It's sad because Ren looks like he really had fun filming this drama.

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OVERLY HYPE

I was excited for this drama for long time because I am a fan of the Main Leads.
And the first Trailers also seem intriguing.

Cinematography is just okay imo - it's beautiful but I do not think it fits well for this kind of drama.

Plot is just so-so it started interesting but honestly speaking, I was disappointed. It was really tough for me to finish each episode without getting bored. And then it became overly convoluted! Too many things happening, too many unnecessary and additional stories.
It would've been better if they focused on the relationship between the main characters because honestly speaking it just doesn't make sense.
They fell in love and then eventually their marriage didn't work, ML started hating FL. He was even happy to hear that she is dying but then suddenly he cannot live without her anymore?
I wish the writers focused more on their relationship instead of mini backslash. Give us a proper explanation on HOW their relationship turned sour.

And honestly speaking, FL isn't likable as well. Almost every character is unlikable in this series. And just like most kdrama - the emotional negligence of parents are just brushed off in the end. They said sorry and it's forgiven and forgotten

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Changed my rating again after the last episode

***May cointain spoiler***
I changed my rating to 5/10 because I can no longer take how cheesy and ridiculous the story is.
I hate how they are pitting 2 women over a man (as if he is some great reward). More than 10 episodes with just two women plotting against each other to win a man.
La El's revenge waa supposed to be about what happened to her family, her hate was supposed to drive her mad to the point of not caring about anything else except revenge.
Yet, the story only shows them fighting over chairman's love and to justify her action- they made Sora (the wife who supposedly love her husband so much) cheat on her husband, so "it's okay, she's cheating too"

La el's revenge should be on Sora's father - the man behind it all, fearsome and cruel - yet, he was doing nothing but scold his daughter, get angry, only words but no action - he wasn't doing anything, not investigating, no schemes- nothing at all.
I really don't get why the focus was getting chairman, as if getting the chairman's love will make the villain's poor.

Now if there will be a plot twist where chairman may be the one behind it all and the real culprit that will be interesting, however it still doesn't change the fact that the story has lots of ridiculous plot holes.

The casts did a great job acting..the cinematography is great and honestly speaking, Seo Yeji is carrying this drama. Her acting is what's saving this series, her acting is like a cover up for the messy plot.
****
Edited: I changed my ratings again, from 8 to 5 and dropped it to 3 after the last episode. I cannot believe how this series turns out. It started really strong but dragged in the middle and ended up really disappointing. I really don't understand why the write pushed that love story between La El and the chairman... when it doesn't even make sense and they have zero chemistry. I don't really expect La el to end up with anyone. I am starting to wonder if things would've been different if they casted a different actor for the role of chairman.

I hated that the long planned revenge just ended up like that... it's as if the writers tried to make the story (and La El) into this smart avenger but doesn't know how. It's really such a waste...

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I was hesitant to watch this at first because it's too long for me (70 episodes!) But due to quarantine and not having many things to do, I ended up watching it.

I, imho, this drama is too overrated... I didn't really see anything especial about it. Most of it is also very unrealistic, so I guess if you like a bit more realistic and traditional then this one is not for you.
I like the first quarter of this drama, especially the beginning..seeing how YL fought back with those bully seamstress but the story started to become too unrealistic with the way she kept talking back to the emperor without really getting punished or so. The plot armor for WYL is so strong.. so it became boring later on. It also became repetitive...

The actress isn't really good.... a lot of her acting scenes is too cringy for me.
And I couldn't really feel much for the characters.

The costumes are good tho.

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I don't really get the hype

I watched it when it started airing but dropped it eventually. After it gathered attention, I decided to watch again to see if the story gets better but it hasn't.

Park Eun-Bin did a good job acting her role but I do not see any chemistry with her and the ML and honestly speaking, I think this drama will better off without romance or at least don't focus on romance early on - but yeah, as uncomfortable as it is they had to do those mukbang(kissing scenes)
I just... am not comfortable because the guy seems to be a groomer teaching this innocent girls of things..

After 12 episodes it felt that the story is going nowhere...

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Intense!!

It's been so long since the last time I got hooked in SHK's drama.
The plot reminds me a lot of Seo Yeji's last drama "Eve" - with FL wanting revenge against these powerful and rich people, trying to get the villain's husband's attention, fl became a school teacher on their daughter's school, daughter have problems, villain having an affair, and fl have a guy who loves them so much to the point of being their partner in revenge - the only difference is that this one is written well and definitely much much better - with less screaming.

Each episode is exciting, intense and very unpredictable.
But of course there is still some plot hole around with - with FL having a plot armor of course, because if we are going to talk about it realistically they can just have her killed, right?

I am glad that there was no "affair" going on with SHK and the Villain's husband.
But to be honest, I still wonder if the Villain's husband is really a kind person or if he may be twisted.. hopefully he stay as a good person.

Also I appreciate that SHK didn't use filters and overly make up to hide her lines. She was criticized about that in her previous dramas so you can see her real face on this drama and I love that a lot.

Probably the only thing I am not fond of is the ost or music scores that they used but it's not to the point that it ruins my watching experience.
I cannot wait for next season!!

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Deserved more views

I wasn't interested in watching this because the way they promoted this movie didn't make it look interesting, but after seeing a clip on Tiktok, I decided to watch - and boy was I surprised!

At first, I wasn't convinced with Julia's portrayal of a low class prostitute - because she look so d*mn expensive! I thought "why is she not working on those expensive bars? Why is she not working as a high class prostitute?"
I am glad that she too, thought the same. Still... I wonder who got her first and for what amount? Because it would be such a waste of her beauty if he got her for less than a thousand (which is her price at the start of the story. )

Anyway I like the idea that they made Candy a bit more relatable and understandable. Candy became ambitious because she understood how hard it is to live in poverty. She became materialistic- and yes, like she said - what is wrong with that?
We have seen that if given a chance, she would leave that kind of life. She doesn't really want to do that work but had no other choice but to do so - because that is the only way she could make money to get what she wants.
She is the complete opposite of Toto who is content and happy with what he have.

However, I think I agree more with Candy on this one.
You cannot live with love alone, you cannot live with dreams alone, you cannot live with promises alone - which is what Toto seems to think about.

They love each other, Candy loves him too - but Toto... he was just content with what he have while Candy obviously doesn't want to stay poor -- AND let us be honest, Candy told him about her past so he should know she will not like the way things are going.

And to be honest I think what Toto have for Candy isn't really love... it's more on lust, infatuation and an "ego boost" - because she seem out of reach and that made him want her more. It seems to me that Toto doesn't really care about Candy - as a person. He didn't really tried to get to know her well - as long as he can have her that is all that matters to him.
Candy told him about her story but he didn't seem to think much about it. He was fine not seeing her for months to save up some money so he can bed her.

I also disliked how he kept whining about things and made it look like the problem was Candy just because she wanted more - even though Candy made it clear she do not want to end up like her parents. I do not really think he have that much EQ to be honest...

I think Candy did love Toto, he was the only man she thought she can depend on but obviously her ambition is more important.

It is a story of two people, completely different from each other - who fell in love - may it be out of lust or whatever reason - they did fell in love and for a short time they tried to build a dream together, tried to "adjust" their lifestyle and mindset but just like the bulb in their house which Toto said still needing adjustment to work properly- it failed to adjust - it failed to work.

Their love may be short live but it changed them. In the end, both of them realized something, both of them realized what they really wanted, both of them realized what kind of life they really want, they both realized (especially Toto) that sometimes love is really not enough.

I love that Julia was willing to try different characters. She was walking in those sexy clothes without a care.

I thought this movie will have many bed scenes - but it didn't have. The focus isn't really about s*x but just about the main characters short love story.

Probably the only thing I do not like about it, is the unnecessary cussing, which most Filipino movies has. For Candy, it may be right for her to keep cursing - but for Toto? It seem out of character. Cursing isn't going to make the scene more intese and not everyone cusses when they get angry.

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I often see this drama in reccomendations but refused to watch cuz I am not really into BL. But I got really confused on why is it so popular, so after few months I decided to watch.

Honestly speaking, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece unlike to what I often see from comments. The story has flaws and the actions wasn't that good. The first three episodes were confusing and boring so I thought I should just skip - since the only thing that made me curious about the story is WXX's past which they shown on the first episode. So I skipped and watched. I decided to watch the "special" series first since it's shorter. I must say that, the best part of this drama is only up to the last part of the long flashback - WXX's past story was so addicting. It made me hooked so I decided to watch the full series (50 episodes).
I kept rewatching those flashback episodes again and again and again. I even read the novel to see the difference.
However, I still can't rewatch the episodes that came after that flashback. I feel like the writing became less intriguin and the plot was all over the place. It was boring, cringy and cliche. I couldn't help but think that the rest of the story was made only for fan service - same with the novel.

I honestly wish that the series was only about WXX's past. Those 30 episodes of flashback was worthy enough for a 10 despite its flaws - maybe could even pass for a movie.
But nevertheless I really didn't expect to get hooked to the series.

The actors did a good job. I wouldn't say their acting is perfect but they really gave life to the characters. Xiao Zhan have moments where his acting was real good. Some moments it was just so-so and some moments it wasn't really good.
His acting at first as a funny WXX wasn't really that good. You can tell he was just really trying to act something he's not used to. When he's angry - you cannot see any anger in his eyes.
But during his siege or rebellion, his acting was at it's best. He was really good in showing WWX's hatred, frustrations, pain, regret and hopelessness.

WYB - was also good. I think his characer is also hard to portray cuz he doesn't have many lines and LZ doesn't show many emotions. If played by someone else, his character will definitely look boring and cringy to watch. Although I did get bored or lost interest on LZ later on, cuz WXX took all of my attention.

I also love that they gave more scenes for the Senior sister and the siblings relationship. So you can understand why WXX love them so much.
Some people hate Wen Qing's addition scenes but imo it worked a lot - it is hard to get attached to her in the novel cuz she only appear a few times so I couldn't really feel WWX's desvatation upon their death. But in the drama, they came more human to me, it let me get attached to her and her Wen sect. So seeing how kind they were, how normal they were compared to the evil Wens made it really painful seeing what happens to them.

I did enjoyed the 30 episodes of this drama, enough to get me hooked and watch it over and over again and glad that I gave it a try.

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Seeing that this is Kim Nam Gil's comeback drama automatically made me put it down on my plan to watch list. It was really good -- at first. However, as the series continue....it started to become really boring and then later on became too cliche --definitely not something I have expected.  It was interesting how the writer tried to mix everything from Medical, time travel, historical and romantic-comedy. However, I couldn't help but think that the story got lost on what the writer really wanted to do with this story, where does she really want to focus? Does she want to focus on the medical theme of this drama? or the mystery of Heo Im's time travelling or the romance between the main leads?
At first, the story's focus was on Heo Im and YK's characters as doctors...showing us the passion for their job, their desire to treat people and all.  I see a lot of people complain on how "slow" the development is for the romance part of this series which I will definitely agree with....nearing half of the series and there's still nothing between them. Until the writer decided to cater for it, to the romance part of the story and when she did...the whole story became so cheesy, messy and lost all of the mystery and depth of the story. The slow romance development suddenly bloom in and the focus of the story became all about their romance. The rest of the problems, questions and other things about the story has been forgotten because the focus went on just to show how much these two love each other and they were being prepared to be that star-crossed lovers (not to mention, the unfair treatment that the other characters got...they were completely forgotten and ended up as nothing but "extras") and then the ending...they could've save the story with the ending but noooo they went for another cheesy one.

It's really disappointing, definitely not something I expect from KNG's work.

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The phasing was really slow.... this is a slow burn drama. It only has 6 episodes but it felt like I was watching a 100 episode drama, I wanted to skip lots of scenes. It only got better in last 2 episodes.
The actions and CGI were okay, very animated style (or maybe my standard was just a bit higher after seeing AOS) but it was just okay for me, not bad but not enough to give that "wow!!" Effect.

The phasing is slow, the whole cinematic seems boring and dull. The story is just okay too, I just think there's something lacking with how they executed the scenes or the story.
And I think the FL... also... make it even less interesting.

The acting was just okay too.
Am a fan of Kim Nam Gil since QSD... but his character didn't really intrigued me. The constant frowning and just oozing with "emo" character with heartbreaking past.
I just don't think this character suits him.

I am not fond of the FL as well... her character is the most boring and less interesting one in this drama so far. I only know Lee Da Hee from "I hear your voice" and I love her character and her portrayal, but on this one...I just don't think this character is for her. She didn't make thr fl that interesting, her acting is just... not that good on this one. I really wonder if it will be different if they choose a different actress.
I cringe at her constant hair fixing. Some scenes should make her look like a girl boss but still bland, the comedic scenes is also tough to watch.

Eun Woo surprised me on this one. The first time I saw him as priest, he automatically reminds me of the ML from the Manhwa Black Winter (when he dressed as a priest).
The writers and the director, definitely knew what they are doing, when they made his character a handsome priest with all those *sexy* scenes.
At least this one is a bit different with all the other dramas he portrayed since I am not really fond of his previous dramas.

I do not think I will rewatch this season, although I do not think it is bad enough for me to drop. I am interested on how the story will be on season 2. Hopefully it will be better on this one.

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Just done watching the movie. At first I thought this movie will be more about the military prostitutes and their sufferings then it turned out to be a story about the male lead's journey or experiences while in service. So it was a bit disappointing that we really didn't get much into the girls... the only one that I actually felt sympathy for was Jiao... you can see how she was "broken" by what happened to her.

There are lots of things in the story that wasn't really clear for me. Example was Tun Shan's memory of the shepher girl after he killed Jian. The girl looked a lot like Jian, why was she the last or the first person that came to mind after he killed Jian? Was it because Jian looked a lot like her which is the reason why he fell for Jian? or why he liked Jian? Or was that girl Jian herself?
I wasn't really that interested with Nini... she's too sophisticated a lot of times... and I couldn't really feel her character.

There are lots of parts that I thought was boring and wanted to skip. I think the best part of this movie was the end, when Pao started questioning about his actions on his "what ifs" because honestly speaking, there were lots of things that I questioned regarding his actions so it's good to see that even he himself questioend them and never forced to gave the viewers an answer.

For me this movie is more like a coming-of-age movie.

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Underrated Movie

I just saw this movie on tiktok yesterday and it piqued my interest and so I decided to watch the entire movie.
My verdict?This movie deserves more attention!

I have never heard of this movie before so I was really surprised because this is such a good movie. However, upon researching, I found out that this movie came out last MMFF 2010 - a time where "Tanging Ina Mo" was reigning, therefore I do understand why it didn't get the attention it deserves - because it was aired during Christmas time and most people (I, included) wanted to feel the joy of Christmas, we wanted to watch a happy movie with our family - especially kids. So deep movies like these were always ignored during MMFF.
I think it would've been better if they released this movie on different time.

Anyway, the story was based on Rosario Perriera - Manny Pangilinan's maternal grandmother.
I did some research and found out that the movie
wasn't 100% accurate - probably just 20%

Story: At first, I was annoyed with Rosario and her actions. And I hate that some people in the comments justified her actions and thought of her as a victim and blamed the people around her, I even saw an article from a newspaper which claimed this movie as "empowering " - I mean in what way?

So I was really happy that the movie was different from the reviews. They didn't make her look like anyone's victim nor did they try to justify her actions. Rosario made a mistake which followed by another mistake and more mistakes. Her character is someone you will not have any sympathy for - at least not until she finally redeemed herself in the last part of the movie.
They didn't make the movie look like "it was her husband's fault that she cheated" - they made sure we all know it was her fault and no one else - and she paid for it with hardships until her last breath.

One thing I admired with Rosario(in this movie) was that, she never blamed anyone. She didn't blame her parents strict upbringing, she didn't blame Vicente for not letting her see her mother until her death, she didn't blame Alberto for seducing her - she didn't blame anyone. Because in the end, it was her choice, it was her actions that made her suffer. She owe up to her mistake, so it really irk me whenever I see comments that blamed her husband or Alberto for her decision to cheat - because cheating is a choice.

What I disliked about the movie is the way the storytelling reminds me so much of the way the old Rose from Titanic, told her story. I wish they changed that part.

Casting: 9/10
Jen's acting was really good although not perfect- I partially cringed with her constant eye movements during her scene with her mother.

Sid Lucero - he had few scenes but I honestly think deserves an award for his acting. His acting as meek Carding was so charming and the way he portrayed, his shock, disbelief and raged towards his uncle was just sooo good.

Dennis Trillio- His portrayal as a playboy and annoying and irresponsible j*rk was so real, it doesn't even look like he was just acting.

Most of the cast did great job except for Ara Mina, I do not know why they casted her - but her few second scene as a doctor almost made me think I was watching a different movie... her acting, her look, the way she talked and her overall vibe just doesn't fit in this movie.

But aside from that, I think Albert Martinez did a really great job for a first time director. He should've won an award or nomination at least.

Cinematography, one of the best in Filipino movies. It was ahead of its time.
Soundtrack - should've won an award. It was great and I read they recorded it in Hollywood using live orchestra! Smell expensive....actually this movie obviously smell expensive.

I love the attention to details, they showed Rosario's son (Played by Dolphy) in an old house, which shows - he didn't become a rich man unlike his step siblings.

Anyway, I think they made a mistake of releasing this movie for MMFF because most viewers prefer to watch light hearted movies with their family during Chrismas.
Movies like "Moments of Love" - which was made earlier than this, at least a lot of people know of it. I even watched it on TV when they showed it... but this movie... just didn't get that much attention... I didn't even know it exists, actually most comments I saw were also new to this movie which is a such a shame because it was really good.
Maybe if they will release it now or put it on Netflix or air it for Holy Week especial, then it will probably get the attention that it deserves.

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Most people like part 2 than part 1 but I honestly love part 1 better but this one is also good.
This is more intense and more serious than part 1, however it also contains a lot of cheesy part that most Wuxia seris has.

First, the petty misunderstanding. I honestly thought it made Chai Yu's Character seems so narrow minded and petty.
He knew that Jin must be lying and obviously as smart as he is, he should of know Jin was lying. His hate and reaction would of been better IF Jin actually betrayed her in a much cruel way - just to save him. Not that scene on the cliff.

He acted like an immature brat bullying the girl that he likes.
Allen is really handsome in this part though. Unlike part 1, I couldn't finish the rest of the series and I escaped a lot of scenes.

This series has so many characters and backstory that I really don't care about. I wish they had just focus on the love story instead of the usual "the mac has to sacrifice themselves and be the hero for everyone, so they can die "

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