Chinese culture propaganda with a dash of romance

A very long lesson/propaganda series about Chinese culture and chinese textile with a dash of most women are evil, men are good no matter what evil deeds they do they are to be forgiven and some romance on the side.

Some friendships where sweet and the second couple was adorable.... The ML was a chauvinist who lacked communication skills and would rather communicate by kiss then by words. But gets a big plus for not forcing himself on the female lead even once! He did however never really stand up for any one... though he was offered plenty of occasions to do so. The female lead was actually pretty smart and could stand up for herself but still self sacrificing and never put her foot down.

Some parts where sweet, and it did not quite follow the regular cliches but was dragged out and mostly boring yet easy to binge at the same time...

It was okay but I honestly do not know why I watched it all the way thru, when I have a PTW with lots of dramas I want to watch maybe I just needed something that wouldn't strain my brain to much and well this definitely did not. It did make me want to punch some people so i guess it did effekt my emotions in some ways but just not enough to make me really care.

So all in all if you are very interested in design, textiles and Chinese culture this is a great drama for you to watch if not then there are better rom coms out there but it is okay.

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The story may be iffy at times but the execution is gorgeous

This was just so pretty, from the scenery to the colours, lighting... And OST making me ad an extra or maybe even two star just for being a pleasure fore the ear and eye.

The story itself has some issues, I am not going to lie not so much for the age gap as the main leads are indeed consenting adults, and not in a type of power relation where one part is dependent on the other.

The female lead, young as she may be is smart, forward, and is going in to this with her eyes wide open. It is easy to see that she and the male lead connect on several levels. She does of course have some issues but they are more about other stuff than age. However the way they style her most of the time does make her look a bit to innocent and child like, something that did bother me.

The male lead has an awful headband most of the time reminding me of 80s rock,I personally love 80's rock but the look was just bad. that sad, aside from the head band the guy did indeed show some great aesthetics and was indeed shot in slow motion from a bunch of very flattering angles. His character was kind, pretty passive, and seamed to try to hold back most of the dram a. And as long as he holds back we the viewers are offered a lot of build up, gazes, slow mo stuff... And fluff, colourful lighting and stem or fluff making the frame look all dreamy... steamy...

The second male lead is probably one of the most oblivious characters in all of dramaland, I honestly think they made him stupid and childlike to show us that the female lead was a better match to the old guy than the guy her own age. Other than that he was just in the way and slightly annoying.

The female leads mom shows us yet again that controlling your grown up child is a bad idea, she is in desperate need of therapy and did not really add anything good to the plot at all , not even good drama and flavour, just flavourless spice that burns your mouth but gives you nothing.

The rest of the characters range from ok I see you are there to wtf, just don't.

There is a really cute cat, a bunch of fish some of dramalands most amazing umbrella scenes with not only black and yellow umbrellas but also leaf umbrella and painted umbrella. Besides naming the drama "The Forbidden flower" the drama incorporates a whole range of interesting flowers, both on canvas and out in fields. Making both animals , umbrellas and flowers an in-separate good part of the plot, more interesting than most of the supporting characters.

All in all a good watch with plenty of steam, but it is definitely not for everyone, and while there are a few boring episodes some odd editing choices (censorship?) here and there it is overall highly binge able and a decent drama to watch if not for the plot than for the beauty of cinematography and OST,

P.s there are quite a few flashbacks and montages that look a bit like an 80s romance intro/power-balad video.

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I was expecting toxic cliches but got: broken, scared and confused done right!

A trip to my broken youth... This drama threw me to my teens, though the characters here are in their twenties I could not help but think of the time I was trying to find my place in the world, wanting love while being terrified of it at the same time.... this drama is neither the feel good, butterfly fluffy romance or the toxic bad boy mess one may think it would be but a beautifully made show of the chaos that is made when fear, longing and broken souls come together.

I completely fell in love with the way this drama uses sound, filming angels, slow motion, lighting and even backsplashes to set the mood and convey the way the leads are feeling and topped them off with letting us listen in on their thoughts. And while I often find flashbacks annoying these where just perfect to set the mood in this drama. not to mention the great use of symbolism thru both art, weather and umbrellas. I could really understand and feel what I think they where trying to make me feel.

The characters here are probably not the most lovable characters and do not always make the best choices but they feel real and relatable in a way that is hard to explain but was just right for me. I loved how the women in this drama are portrayed as active, sexual beings with lust without completely ignoring the double standards set on women. Not to mention the inner war between heart, logic, fear. The second male lead has great dimples and is a great second male lead. dare I say second male lead done right giving way for some pretty important dialog from the female lead and was great for the plot as well as an aid for her character development and self awareness.

The male lead is portrayed as this dangerous guy that uses women as toys, that women should stay clear of, but is actually a pretty broken yet upfront guy that actually respects others boundaries (most of the time) and though he may have used some tricks never forced himself on any one else, so I actually liked him. And could definitely see my 20 year old self fall for him.

The side couples in this drama complement the main couple beautifully showing different struggles on the way to admitting to ones feelings as well as pressure and again self doubt. And there was not a single character that annoyed me.

This drama will show you more butterflies than give you butterflies but is worth much more than temporary butterflies, and is most definitely worth being watched.

P.s. There is also a really cute kitten in one of the episodes!
Also, smoking is bad for your health (they smoke allot)!

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Powerstruggle and the lies told, seen though lies through the eyes of teens

❤️This drama is so good showing some of societies structures, behaviours struggles... Seen through the eyes of teens... okay maybe not through the eyes bus since the story is about a guy named aye it felt right to say that. ❤️

It shows us some pretty powerful social criticism as it is very easy to see parallels to how people talk about some of the fights and movements out there... As well as how structures and power is held.. All in the form of a school instead of society. Lies told in the name of keeping the peace and keeping things the way some people think they should be. Making references to George Orwell's 1984 (one of my all time favourite books) showing extreme lengths people will go to out of fear and so on… Making way for some pretty amazing dialog and a bunch of very powerful scenes.

The scenery in this drama is very pretty so is the cinematography, even though we get to spend a whole lot of time in a pretty generic school building the editing and lighting makes sure each episode has at least a few ecstatic scenes.

The characters in this drama are relatable, lovable, fun to watch and show very few annoying tendencies. Even Neo Trai Nimtawat who normally plays an over the top character that gets on my nerves goes from slightly annoying to lovable. And there are some pretty amazing pick up lines too.

The leads have great smiles and great chemistry, one of them almost seemed to grasp the notion of consent reading into his partners signals, and actually using word such as may I… But then he goes and does something a little bit boundary-less, making me question his knowledge after all… he is however very attentive and…Well there is no dead fish kiss in sight. As well a sa whole bunch of real emotions done right.

There are some unpredictable twists here and there, I am not sure I actually liked them but they did definitely catch me off guard so kudos. Also people it is not okay to out people no matter the purpose is.

Bingabilaty high,
Entertainment high
Important message- high
Heart flutter- decent.

Definitely one of the best youth dramas out there and I highly recommend it

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Where toxic fumes and fluff create HOT steam...

This drama may not have a lot of story to it, as it practically is two guys in an arranged engagemnet keeping secrets from each other creating lots, and lots of trust issues and playing games instead of communicating with each other... Lots of cliches not much plot, highly entertaining and defiantly fun to watch for all us cliche fluff lovers out there... a feast for the eyes a fest for the ears... Toxic goo everywhere... However having parents not only support but encourage a gay marriage is kind of sweet and not very common in Dramaland... And I dare say it is really well done, not completely ignoring the society we still live in while trying to make the idea of an arranged gay marriage no less strange the idea of an arranged hereto marriage, with all their +s and -ses.

What is slightly troublesome in most of the show is the way two of the couples younger half are treated like kids with curfews, withholding of information, lies, lies and more lies... And well control and disipline ,.. more like they were their younger siblings or their kids but with steamy kisses and well made steamy sex scenes... People you should not have to control or discipline your other half.... However this does make for a starting point for character development and I did manage to separate the acting like parents and the steam but for those who find that stuff hard to separate and/or are sensitive to this type of stuff MOVE ON there are plenty other titles to watch you do not have to watch this one. It is entertaining but not that entertaining that it would make it worth it for those who get triggered by this type of stuff.

Kirin the young half of the main couple is such a talented sweetheart, hiding his true self 8for good reason), does a pretty good job jumping between personalities and conveying conflicting emotions, fear and desire to be loved. He has some pretty awesome friends (especially Syn )who are sweet, supportive, interesting and make for some pretty fun couples of their own.

Hia /Kilen is a typical cold CEO type with a fun and warm side waiting to be discovered... making for a whole lot of fun humour and some pretty fun scenes. Also not every time but many of the times they say Hia it sound more like they are saying sheeeea, kind of entertaining for those used to hearing that word as something else than a name...

Both guys very 2 different personalities (each) that are a blast to watch especially watch them swith between them.

The other side characters are pretty decent and this is the biggest revolution of them all the parents here seem to be the voice of reason. the other Hia Yi (Hias best friend and older half of the second couple) bothers me for some reason, could be the lack of reason...

But the overall message seems to be pretty decent, once you get past some of those other issues...

Bingabilaty High
toxic levels: medium high
Healthy relationships: none
Fluff: 9
Steam: 10
Entertainment value: 9
Quality: 7
Chemistry: fireworks
Kisses: A LOT, no dead fish in sight

Defiantly worth a watch for those who can stand the heat and separate fiction from relationship goals.

P.S. There are 2 cute dogs and some pretty heallereos PPL also make sure to stick around pasta the credits of the last episode.

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The boy who Lingered a bit to long in the air

This is one of those dramas that had me wondering what is it I am missing here... Why are people rating this with a 10 star rating when literally nothing what so ever makes sense. As I spent half the drama wondering when the leads will get shot with a shot gun and if they have any type of risk assessment skills what so ever... Or I don´t know awareness of the time they lived in, as both leads in 1928 acted as if it was 2028... The acting is 1/2 cringe 1/2 decent. The pacing is off and it feels like they filmed half of the drama in slow motion just so they could stretch the time and get more for their money... making it draggy as ****

But if you can look passed that, the romance is decent, the skinship pretty and both boys had indeed worked quite a bit on their upper bodies whom they show us more or less every episode or so...The side stories of the lesbian couple, the house slaves/staff and the second wife are a lot more interesting than the time traveling dude.

There is also a really cute pig in this. Not really a drama I recommend, but it did have it's moments and apparently others call it a masterpiece so if you do not mind the cons I mentioned go for it... I hope you have a better time than I did.

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A beautifully captured moment (okay years) in time

This drama is such a trip down memory lane, relatable lovable, sweet and deep. Not so much for the sports and romance this dramas strengths are rather the slice of life, nostalgia, real events, issues, mixed with beautiful stories of friendship, hardship and some other ship...

To be honest I was a little bit annoyed at the way they portrayed the female lead in the first few episodes making her seem a lot younger than she was supposed to be as well as making the male lead seem a lot older than he was supposed to. I understand that it was probably done to set the scene and mood but it was little bit over done and borders on annoying. However that faded out as the story progressed and rather turned in to character growth instead of annoyance.

I was also annoyed at people pushing blame, wishing others harm o and it did have just a little bit to much yelling for my taste... But hone it had all these really good one liners and scenes encouraging mistakes that I almost forgot about those annoying elements.

There are a lot of good and interesting messages in this drama, great cinematography, gorgeous use of umbrellas... cuteness, fluff and everything painful... The short visits in to present day are well placed and though they could be considered spoilers making this drama spoil itself... the spoiling still keeps us wondering why, how and in what way are they going to... dare I feel happy? In other words these so called spoilers keep the emotional level high thru out the drama.

The people and situations portrayed in this drama are often complex and are often shown from different angels taking a step away from the typical good guy/bad guy as well as showing the affect on the people behind them.. As well as showing the circumstances leading up to the situation or sometimes questionable decision.

The setting in the late 90´s was so much fun to watch, having been a teen at that time my self I just loved the way they used tapes, showed the fashion, the computers, the first phone... the fear of the 2k-bug and the events that helped form the people of my generation, even if I myself liven on the other side of Asia at the time,

I have, laughed, cried, been angry... Yep felt just about every single emotion out there making this drama just right for me and would have given it 10 stars if it wrest for some cringey annoying dialog here and there as well as a few (very few) twists that felt like they were trying to make us a bit to emotional. The emotions were there just fine without those scenes so they ended up annoying me. However I do love this story, the way it is told and the overall messages conveyed in this drama

In numbers
Bingeabilaty: 10
Lovable and interesting characters: 10
Annoying elements : -2
Frustration: 7
Sidestorys: 10
Main story: 10
Oneliners: 10
Relatable characters: 9
Visuals+ eye candy: 10

In conclusion I loved it!

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Do not try this type of relatiinship at home...

This is the story about the another one of those CEO types (okay general manager) whos communication skills boil down to wrist grabs,.. and well not much more.

As rich meets poor... Sleepless meets sleeping pill and so on... Showering us with bare upper bodies and sexual harrasment and power abuse for as far as the eye can see.

The acting ranges between bad oh so bad to awesome, sometimes the same actor.

However the characters (if you ignore the sexual harassment) are sweet, the collegial relations lovely ... and the kisses are actually really, really good.

There are also a few (very few) good lines making this a so mediocre it is entertaining and maybe even worth a watch for the special that I will be rating an 8, or maybe even an 8,5

Basically a drama purely for entertainment value, but for the love of what ever you believe in DO NOT TRY THIS TYPE OF RELATIONSHIP AT HOME, run for the hills, call the cops... moove to e different city....

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Some good moments but mostly highly questionable... everything

This is one of those dramas that is purely there satisfy all your wrist grab aloof CEO needs, with a sweet, cool, talanted superwoman female lead and a hot n cold, jealous, stalkish narcissistic completely obsessed male lead, He is also extreamly competitive, childish and while they seemed to try to make him come off as this guy who strts of cold but becomes a big old sweet teddy bear. The guy actually collected more and more red flaggs as the plot went on instead of dropping them.

Offering such great 'moments as

"With my help she should be able to grow in to a good lawyer" - not as good as him or better, and not due to her own efforts or anything like that...

Making me wish that the female lead would choose single life, the other female lawyer in her firm, her senior who had about 5 minutes of screen time... Just anyone else but the male lead, not the sisters ex but other than him pretty much any other character would have been better.

While part of the message in this drama had moments of progressiveness and he female lead does have her strengths . I did feel that most of the gender roles conveyed in here belonged somewhere in the past... way back, like in the 50s or so.

Basically: Man should protect woman, woman must cook and be soft, man strong and hard. Woman work both home and office man work office protect woman...

The pros: Good female lead, the plot was draggy at times but I did feel like making it to the end, hoping for a break up, still I did not have the urge to drop it. And the while I do not understand why this amazing female lead falls for the male lead,. And she does frustrate me at times. I still loved her and the other female lawyer (Chen Hao Lan) at the firm. The parts that where a bit progressive where actually really good letting the female lead express quite a few issues really well and has some pretty amazing lines such as:

" Whenever we discuss respect, you cant hear me"

Making it an okay watch, honestly just skip everything else and focuse on the female lead, the cute dog and Chen Hao Lan, who deserves a lead role ASAP.

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AN interesting window in to widows of the past

This is a movie that raises rhe question is self-sacrifice really the way to go... or will marrying the man your sister loves but can not marry because of stupid traditions really such a good idea?

As I kept wondering who is manipulating who?

What is the point of all this?

And is this supposed to be a dram about evil sisters, the bond between sisters or a feminist agenda about emancipation to all!

OR maybe it is all of the above.

Anyway the movie is from the early 1950s so it dies give a window into passet times , not really my tipe of music as it is the type to hurt ones ears but the story being told is actually rather interesting even if the mimics, moovment and gestures can be overbearing.

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An interesting take on society

There is something about this movie that reminds me of My mister, not that it gets near to the mindblowing dialog and content that you get in 16 episodes but more of a preview, My Mister with the same feel and a bunch of pretty good lines. A movie that offers a mist of My mister that covers a movie about found family, prostitution and above all adoption.

Through the characters of this movie could be deemed in somewhat extream situations the moive offers is a an odd familiarity, day to day... beige feel to it.... Not at all out of the ordinary yet still really out of the ordinary all at once wich is pretty cool.

There is a great show of character development and change of discourse throughout the movie that highlight a whole lot of important issues and the importance of safety nets and or support systems and how it is all connected.

First we let social wokers have their go, and when they fail it is the cops turn to swoop in...

The actors did a great job, the cinematography was dark and depressing (which fit the movie really well) and the story is one that needed to be told.

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"Lust awakens the desire to possess, And that awakens the intent to murder"

This is a movie that basically teaches the audience to stay away from Buddhist Monasterys, even if it may be placed in a beautiful location, the boredom they feel leads them to do the strangest things...

This movie did a great job inviting me to feel the boredom of the life of a monk (or several monks), i could truly feel the boredom take over me in this pretty as it may be sloow, depressing movie with less actual dialog than there is in page of a children's book. As the people here seem to speak with actionsand gazes instead of using actual words.

The whole movie is filmed in the same location, different season, same little (gorgeous) lake, surrounded by mountains and missplaced doors making me want to google a bunch of stuff about buddhist as I feel like this movie has a lot more to it than I actually understand. The little I do know or think know about buddhism the lives of buddhist monks is portrayed rather well there is a lot of silence, as well as nature takings its course, as well as how one thing leads to another, one moment the male lead sneaks a peak, the next he sneaks out, and before we know it he loses all interest and respect towards his master and spines out of control...

So while the pace was slow, there was a complete lack of dialog and I was bored at times I could not help but be fascinated by the few words I did get to hear, I am not going to say this is in nay way entertaining but I get why it is used as study material, it is artsy, it has depth, it seems to try to says a bunch of stuff and it makes me understand that I do not understand squat about it making want to google stuff. Therefor it gets a 8.


P.s "Lust awakens the desire to possess, And that awakens the intent to murder" seeing those words come out of the same mouth as the guy who later had a very interesting role in Squid Game was a probably the most fun part of the movie

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You & Me and some Dude...

This is a story about twins who are so close, so close so close and have this lovely bond until one day they trick a guy by mistake and well all goes to #€%#& from there. It could also be puberty, parants divorce and a pendin end of the world knocking on their door... So we can´t fully blame the dude.

The story is nice, there is a lovely country, nostalgia feel to it. The twind are 90% adorable 5% psycho and 5% self-absorbed slightly pathetic. As for the dude I do ot really know what to say about him but twins can be confusing, especially if they mess with you. But a triangle with twins is not as lovely as it may seem.

All in all a decent watch, with a nice pacing and just enough drama and suspense even if I did not really care for the way things developed towards the end.

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A short masterpiece

This is a short film where Go Min Si most probably was told to tell a gripping story in less than four minutes and my oh my this girl nailed is!

With very few words this short film shows us love, joy, angst, pain, and more... (not gonna spoil these 3:16 minutes)

The music may not be a pleasure to hear but it setts the mood perfectly, the subs are kind of bad but it does not affect the way the story is conveyed anyway as the pictures pretty much say most of it and even when the translation is awful the message is still clear from the context.

This of course only scratches the surface of the issues it is trying to convey but does seem to fit in a lot more in 3:16 minutes than some full length dramas do.

I watched it out of curiosity when I saw the title under Go Min Sis credits as Screenwriter & Director, and as you can see I was pretty impressed.

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Decent portrayal of a threat of armageddon

This is a short and fun drama, an easy binge with more depth than width... As it takes us on an oddly realistic. journey towards the end of the world, for how long will services stay up if people think the world is coming to an end anyway?

Who would want to work?
How long can people survive once everybody stops working?
What currency is valuable those last days?
Can one blame the way one dresses for being sexually harassed (The answer should be NO)
What is the best way to die?
And is the end of the world really such a bad thing?

As we follow the story of the geek and the sex addict/play boy who once dated and now re unite 9 days before the world will come to an end. We also get to see some very unique trans representation, and an interesting teen... + friendships, bad parents (like really bad parents done good) and other types of humans.

There is also a lot of talk about suicide and a whole lot of dark humour and sex, with brutal honesty in this, that may trigger all kinds of stuff:

- Ill help you die pain free I just need you to help me get rid of a body

- Oh you are gay that is disgusting, but I am envious of you because at leas you can not have kids

(not the exact words)

There is definitely a bunch of sexual content in this so if you are looking for something wholesome this is not the place.

The cinematography in this is meeeh, and I honestly do not remember most of the OST the is in the greys and dots of green which fit the story really, well. To be honest the characters in this drama are not very lovable, and I am not even sure they are that much relatable either but the dialog in this is my type of humour. That said there is quite some moaning and sex noises in this so you may want to be aware of where you watch it...

All in all a decent watch

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