Shantiece

This was so cute and funny. I really enjoyed it.

10/10. Hands down one of the best dramas I've watched this year.

I loved that the ML had no martial arts abilities to get him out of situations; he relied solely on his brain and wits. Every time he was caught in a web and dusted that sweat off his forehead, I'd get nervous, but he'd always managed to pull through.

I also loved that the FL wasn't sidelined to be the ML's romantic partner or some damsel in distress. She was smart and held her own in situations and could fight (she actually saved the ML a couple of times).

And the villains were *chef's kiss*, they weren't one-dimensional. They were layered, and we actually got to know their backstory and their motivation.

Thank you. I'll for sure watch some of these tonight.

Are you talking about Kill my Sins with Liu Shi Shi? If so, yes. I watched it but I ended up dropping it during episode 18. It wasn't bad but I had higher expectations and although it was visually appealing, I wanted more when it came to the storyline.

You're welcome.

The FL doesn't have as much screentime but she's central to the plot and has her own storyline. She's plays an important role.

I've never watched a vertical drama if I'm being honest. I do watch a lot of short dramas but I'll give a try because I love smart and capable FL's.

I agree with you about part 2 of Flourished Peony it was very bad. It suffered the same fate as part 2 of Lost You Forever.

I've been watching Legend of Zang Hai. And honestly, it's one of the best dramas of the year if you like revenge. The romance is minimal but the FL is smart and capable and isn't sidelined like most male centric dramas.

There's this person on YouTube that's been slowly transcribing episodes of the 1995 version of Wu Zetian. She's up to episode 10. Here's the link: (https://www.youtube.com/@kikibeeinuk/videos

You've saved yourself a lot of time dropping it that early. I wish I would have done the same.

There are some good big-budget dramas that actually get it right, so I wouldn't write them all off.

This drama was a 10/10 for me. I don't tend to like a lot of Xianxia's because the plots always seem to take the same formulaic route that we've became accustomed to in this genre. But this one was actually quite refreshing. There was not one boring episode in sight. The plot never felt draggy. And I believe it's because they gave us 32 episodes instead of dragging it out to the 40-episode length.

There were no annoying characters (aside from the villain, of course). Side characters were well-rounded and didn't go the route they usually tend to.

This is hands down my favorite Xianxia of 2025.

25 episodes in and the FL is still beyond insufferable. I could understand her plight in the beginning but I'm over it. She comes across as very self-righteous while treating the men like characters instead of people. She's so focused on the script.

Why does it say age gap (real life) when both actors are in their forties (4 years apart)?

I don't know why the rating is so low. This drama is a solid 8 in my opinion. The cooking/food, the friendships and family aspect really made this drama. It was a bit cheesy at times but I was never bored.

I haven't been invested in a couple since the Corner's diary. I loved the leads and their relationship. I wasn't the biggest fan of the last leg of the drama, but it was still a decent watch. But I will admit I preferred the romance over the actual plot.

You didn't think they had chemistry? Even in China that was the couple everyone was talking about in LIP.

Meng Ziyi actually would have been perfect. I could see her doing fighting scenes and we already know her and Ding Yuxi have amazing chemistry after watching Love in Pavilion (Where there characters relationship; albeit brief was the best part of the drama).

He and Zhu Yi Long look so much alike, they could be twins.

The romance is the weakest part of this drama. It's not even the fact that they have zero chemistry together, it's just not really needed.

I'm so glad I didn't waste anymore of my time. I had a feeling her character wouldn't evolve.

This would be a good time for Tencent to drop this drama. We're in desperate need of a Modern Romance after "Love's Ambition" ended.

Love Destiny (Thai drama)
Story of Kunning Palace
Hometown Cha Cha Cha
The Romance of Tiger and Rose
Mad For Each Other

If you like older Kdramas: Secret Garden and The Greatest Love

Lower your expectations. 9 Episodes and the FL and ML barely interact. And I have yet to see any chemistry between the leads she's so frigid and rude towards him during every interaction.