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Stockholm
The main couple has really good chemistry. They suit each other well and their scenes are good. The angst in this romance is about them actually not supposed to be together, it was never meant to be. The butterfly effect has consequences. The second couple are also sweet and the romance plot is a tad angsty, I found myself worrying about the future I knew and wishing for a new future for them.
I have not noticed any big inconsistencies with this taking place in 1989. Even though the brands shown are of later date, I don't look at the brand names but rather the fashion style. I remember well all these horrible clothes, old technology and I feel myself being immersed. I am sure that if you really want to you can rip this show to bits finding loads of errors. I'm just not that kind of viewer. So far it feels like the 1989 that I remember.
All in all a well done drama, with the usual Taiwanese issues (low audio quality and at least one clown character). The extremely cheesy moments didn't bother me at all, I enjoyed them, squealed and cried my way through this very sweet story.
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The story really got to me. The gambling was what drove everything and extremely well displayed story wise and cinematically, making the drama super exciting. This is not a romance! At all! So don't expect anything, no matter how it starts. Be prepared to loose everything and everyone or don't hit that play button. However, you might want to know that this drama is well produced from start to finish and everything is wrapped up nicely and satisfyingly at the end.
Fantastic photo! So incredibly cool. The OST was also suitably dramatic. Brilliant acting by full cast, especially by Lee Moon Shik and Jang Geun Suk.
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So let me brake down the good and bad. If you are ok with classical tropy characters and can look past some of the issues with the story elements, this will probably satisfy you if you are looking for a sweet young romance.
The story concentrates mostly on the romance that is strong from the start. Problems are thrown onto the path of the leads, but their constant trust in each other is adorable. Nothing seems to rock their faith in each other.
The setting partly in game and mostly IRL is fun and engaging. However as I am myself a game developer of triple A games, some elements of the business broke my immersion. I don't think most people will notice, and isn't it a problem in any movie and drama that features certain occupations and businesses.
As the story is a classical Harlequin like set up, with the strong, silent, mysterious, genius guy and the intelligent, good hearted and sweet girl there were moments of the really annoying "damsel in distress" trope.
Even more annoying is the "being the most beautiful is an instant win". Looks are the only thing that matters and any social issues are solved by showing up and being pretty.
Then again. I didn't know how much I would enjoy even these aspects. It was a very long time ago I consumed this kind of romance between a perfect pair who are the envy of all. Once in a while (once a decade) the feeling of squeeing like a 14 year old over a hot guy who is the perfect image of a gentleman actually was very satisfying.
The actors are very stiff. The main male lead has a stick driven through his body making it almost impossible for him to move his neck and he is constantly looking at something far away instead of seeking eye contact with the female lead. I understand he is supposed to be elusive, stoic and mysterious, however it's too much. He is very good at kissing, so it makes up for his stone face statue like aura.
The female lead is directed to talk with a squeaky baby voice and act all super cutesy. She is also directed to not respond to the kisses besides wide eyed look like she is almost being assaulted and is prepared to flee. I must say, for some reason I actually got into the whole innocent act and it does pay of in the final episode. The build up of a certain scene was kind of hot...
My favourite character is the support actress who played the room mate Er Xi. She is supposed to be an average looking nerdy type, but is the most beautiful one out of the large cast of females. This annoyed the hell out of me, when they constantly referred to her as ugly and stupid. Her role was to play over cutesy, a bit stupid and clowny. But her story line really engaged me and I loved her development (what little there was). I thought she was the one that had the hardest problems and felt much more sympathy for her than the main female lead. I really hurt for her once the situation blew up.
As someone who always does queer reading the relationship between two of the guys was very sweet. There is really no room to misunderstand their relationship... ^^ Also a checkbox checked in the satisfaction column. I could wish for more, but was surprised over how clear they dared to show the gay couples relationship.
The special effects suited an ingame environment. And the music was partly game inspired or nice romantic. Pretty ok production value and the directing clearly worked for this type of genre.
Over all I am giving it a much higher value than I "personally" usually assign by my standards and requirements. I would probably then land on a 7. But I'm going to look past the issues and just go with my gut feeling. By my gut feeling, emotions and satisfaction that this drama gave me I should actually give it a perfect 9... I'll compromise and we land on an 7.5.
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At first my reaction was WTF *ugh* will I really be able to watch this? However I came to realize that what usually annoys me about Taiwanese humor was very delicately directed. I started to enjoy myself and have to admit that I was taken by the story and surprised at the end.
Lovely colors, dramaturgy and cinematography. Good production value, nice music and audio design. The actors are pretty good because the directing is wonderful!
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I didn't know I had a craving for this type of drama. Haven't really consumed anything like this since I was a teenager. However after watching Love O2O I jumped onboard this drama and finished it within 2 days. I think it's much more swoonworthy even though the production value is much lower.
The acting is really good and the chemistry between all the actors is fantastic. There is a long buildup that pays of well once things hit the boiling point. I enjoyed that the story mostly focused on their relationships twist and turns and her reasoning behind her actions.
The female lead character is annoyingly naive at points and has low self esteem for a very, very, very long time before she grows and matures. It's charming, but I sometimes almost thought she was afraid of her own boyfriend. On the other hand, the male lead character as icecold on the inside and secretly warm on the inside is such a classic trope of the rich mysterious man that falls for the poor innocent girl. Having loads of squee moment due to that, I won't complain.
This story also feels real because of the support casts different types of relationships and development. The side plots didn't take over, but were nicely interwoven with the main story. The pacing was good and slow but never boring. I do love my so called "slow burn" romances where it takes time for one or two persons to melt and fall, because when they fall they fall so much harder and the payoff is enormous.
Music was quite good and didn't feel to repetitive. The directing was in the OK range, I had a feeling the support actors showed a lot of their own personalities while portaying their characters. The cutting was at points so terrible I had to rewind and even check other sources to see if I didn't have a broken and faulty copy. I'm actually wondering about a scene in episode 27, when he kisses her forehead and a string of snot from his nose makes them both crack up laughing... What's up cutter/editor? Fell asleep? XD
My heart wants to give this an overall 9.5. But it lands on a good 7.5. However, if you are looking for something swoon and squee worthy, a focus on romance, and watching your teenage pink dreams of romance delusions, then you will, as I did LOVE THIS!
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The BRILLIANT cinematography and dramaturgy is breathtaking and really pulls you in. There is an atmosphere that is overwhelming and is still with me days after I finished this series. The emotions and feelings came across so well, with a lovely original sound track. There were moments in this drama that were so brilliant that I had to remember to breath. I felt so moved and invested by the end that I cried because I won’t ever get to watch this for the first time ever again.
The actors were fantastic and the directing was wonderful. These characters are not all easy to portrait but they came across so well. The whole ensemble worked very well together. The actors and director set a tone that was intriguing and appealing. How they moved and the mannerism they used were perfect and it was very satisfying to watch how it reflected the way royal court worked in the old days. The costumes are lovely and beautiful. The setting locations, the backdrops and the props were just magnificent!
The main story is very touching and not a straight up revenge story, but instead about fairness, truth and justice. I found that so appealing. Shades of grey of good versus evil. I was so invested in the friendship between the two main male leads, it was beautifully portrayed and involved elements like loyalty and trust. They were perfect together. As the story unfolded I rooted for them, cried with them and cheered them on.
One of the things that made me really interested in this story was the fact that our hero is very sick and weak. His power is not brute strength but his brilliant mind. For me this is the first of watching a drama where the main character is truly dying and very weak, at no time does he pull any superhero stunts. Except when his mind solved problems with impossible odds!
The romance is almost none existent in this drama. It is sweet but chaste and not at all any main focus. I actually quite enjoyed it being so on the low and not in the way for the more important events. You won’t be seeing the hero rescuing the princess from the castle, because she can take care of herself. I do actually think this drama is labelled wrong when the tag says romance.
The story pacing is excellent! The side stories spanned two or three episodes, often overlapping, and were all linked to the main story. The plotting and planning was exciting. I was worried going into this that I would not enjoy or be able to follow the politics, but it was more like watching the detective case of the week and before I knew it I suddenly knew all the characters and was perfectly following along how everything unfolded. Not getting it the first couple of episodes was not frustrating an everything was presented so naturally that I was never confused or frustrated. There was never really any effort.
I am having problems with coming up with downsides of this series. What did I not like, what were the mistakes. But I seriously can’t. It was like it was made for me.
My views on this is as a total beginner of this type of drama (Wuxia drama that is, though I am a fantasy lover and watch loads of Korean drama). I usually avoid fantasy with too much “flying” fighting, because it breaks my immersion, and go for the more realistic (haha…) fighting style productions. But before I watched this I stumbled upon a short description of the typical standard Wuxia world building and I suddenly understood that things did not work as they do in our “world”. As a nerd I filed some of the information away as totally legit and comparable to a D&D rule set.
Shallow as I am I also need to address the two male leads again and their "bromance". Hu Ge who is playing Mei Chang Su/Su Zhe took on a role I think is very difficult to portrait without coming across as fake. He is supposed to be very sick and that is easy to overdo. With just his body language and demeanor he made me feel his pain. There was no room for overacting. Still he was very sexy. Because a brilliant mind is something extremely attractive.
Wang Kai who plays Prince Jing played a more rough cut type of role. Even so when he broke into emotions it was heart achingly good. I could feel his sorrow and believed the emotions he displayed. Also, the very dark voice he has is something of the sexiest I have ever heard. I am just that shallow I guess. :)
These two together were amazing!
I loved this! I can’t recommend it enough.
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What should be a "nothing special" TV series, is in fact a very well done drama about people in love, personal relationships and emotional development. Excellent acting, brilliant directing and good paced script. The final episode has the BEST END CREDIT SCENE EVER! ??
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He treats her like shit and she acts like a pushover. This is NOT the RX I remember from SH. The story is total bull and the "twin" and memory loss is just laughable. The ONLY reason anyone should watch this is if you died from heart break and misery after SH and need these two to hook up. The doctor prescribes that you fast forward through most of this drama and just watch the "good" parts. That should make you heal and able to move on.
I end up rating it a 2 and not a 1, because of the potential to heal those suffering by the ending from SH.
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The acting and direction was ok. The story drags out far to long, sadly taking the edge of the excitement. If you love fantasy and you need to kill 24 hours, this can be the drama for you.
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Normally I expect much more skinship than this drama delivered. Even double the amount would still not be enough. However, I was surprised at my willingness to wait and be satisfied by the bare minimum, because the main story and the development of their working relationship was so good. It didn't suit neither of the characters personality to have a lot of tension or move too fast.
So what IS this drama if not a romance? It's a police detective, criminal investigation type story with a case spanning across the season, and bits of pieces delivered as case of the week type of thing. It's very well produced with some fantastic actors and a good script that manages to keep up my interest and investment.
Wang Kai is as always brilliant! The role was tailormade for him. I haven't seen Wang Olivia in anything, but I think she delivered and made me care about her character, even though she wasn't all cutesy and super hot (thank god, I needed a breath of fresh air).
The set locations were stunningly beautiful or grippingly grim. A lot of work has gone into this production and it shows. I could have asked for a better editing of the last episode, I think someone messed up with a rush job or it's just so artistic I didn't understand. But I won't complain, I got a pretty good ending, there were answers, there were final farewells, and loads of NEW questions that I'm just making up my own head canons for.
The music was good. Especially the intro and ending music. I didn't notice the music during the show, so that must mean it was well picked and discrete.
This is not a romance! I repeat, this is not a romance. I still watched and loved it and I got my OTP. I'm totally satisfied!
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But there's a serious undertone to some plot elements. They have handled these well, kept up momentum of the show without spoiling the mood, or not dealing with serious issues with the respect and tact they deserve.
I was rooting for love, but that is definitely NOT the focus in this show. However, I was still looking forward to several pares hooking up eventually, because it would feel like a great reward and satisfy me immensely. I really recommend this drama if you're a mature Ahjumma who is looking for something light and fun. ;)
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The romance is a teacher/student, if you're into that kind of thing, and there isn't much romantic angst. Since it's a medical there are cases of the week that are interesting. Good side characters and side plots. The actors were... You guessed it... good. The main story was annoying. A childish revenge. A grown woman who should know how things are dealt with. High production quality. Nothing "new" nothing special. A "good" borderline "ok" drama, worth watching if you like medicals and non stressful romances without angst.
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The story is really engaging, fun and there are so many well done storylines, told with a perfect tempo and they all come together well in the end. Great acting and directing.
Keep an eye on all the brilliant details in the props and what the extras are up to in the background. It cracked me up so many times! I truly recommend this if you want something sexy and fun.
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The three main actors were all very good. In fact I enjoyed the whole ensemble. I find it lovely the way they moved, fought and talked. Good directing and choreography. Great backdrops, costumes and props. Very beautiful and immersive.
It reminded me a bit of My Bratty Princess, however, I actually enjoyed this one more. This might not be the best drama EVER, pretty stingy on skinship (didn't expect anything raunchy from HK to be fair), the dubbing can drive me insane (until I get used to it) and so on with the same problems as Chinese dramas. But if you are looking for something feel good, funny and a genderbender you might enjoy this.
Also: YAY for a strong independent female lead who can kick arse!
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