AshesandDust

Yeah i remember the controversy as well.

I recently watched the Song Wei long drama, love for you. And while i really like him as an actor it was pretty obvious he was acting out the action scenes while in this drama is looked like second nature to the ML. It was a lot more convincing. My only gripe is that esther yu would act a little overtly cutesy in some scenes where it wasn't required. But that's on the directing not on her. Because her acting was fine otherwise, like in the scene where she's nervous after their first kiss. It seemed natural and not overly done. And when she questioned jin ciao after that race where she was his navigator. After the leap, her maturity showed really well but we could see that she hasn't suddenly switched personalities either (which was my problem with love for you. We didn't get enough scenes of the FL for me to understand her sudden switch up)

Ive read the novel up to a certain point and yeah I'd say the novel goes deeper into many things but i kinda prefer the drama when it comes to certain aspects. Especially jiang mu as a character

The fighting scenes are usually kinda funny (in my limited cdrama experience) but here they looked kinda realistic and clearly the ML has some natural skills so it never looked like someone pretending to fight, you know what i mean? The car racing scenes were also very well directed.

I see a lot of people reduce this show to mere cheesy love story.
But i think differently. Plus i kinda liked the racing bit. As someone who knows nothing about race cars and cars in general, i actually enjoyed the parts where jin ciao and jiang mu's father discussed how to improve the car.
Is it a love story? Yes. But it also discusses how marriages don't necessarily end because one party was wronged or because one party is a bad person. Sometimes you are simply not meant for one another. Because when you truly accept someone as a partner, you accept the annoying parts too. And i think that's a beautiful message.

I don't really watch cdramas. I lose interest since they tend to lose the plot a couple of episodes in.
I watched speed and love recently, that was good if you cam get past the FL acting a little cringe sometimes. The ML is a little mysterious, dark and seems to come across as "dangerous" but isn't really. I wouldn't say he's like yoo Jung exactly though.
I heard the vertical drama affinity has a similar ML but i haven't watched it myself so can't say

Excitatio is coming out in 2027

I liked her and NJH in the drama. Overall for me it's the second best drama of 2026 so far (right after teach you a lesson)

I did try it (and dropped it)

Nah I've completed the drama, I don't think this was for me...
In terms of healing and dealing with trauma, I'd say shows like my mister and kill me heal me are much better. Darker themes like domestic ab*se, abandonment are also handled better in other shows like save me for example. I just went into this expecting something different and got something else and wasn't really in the mood for what i got, so i guess that influenced my rating. Like with speed and love, i knew exactly what it was so i didnt have a problem with it.

I think most of the people don't realise that 3 people made the wish thinking it was just a hoax and the others were just panicking trying to save the others.

Who's the screenwriter? Strange that they are not listed. Not even the director

So I've rewatched the guest. Binge watched the east palace and if wishes could kill. The next horror/supernatural drama isn't out till 2027 so i guess im now rewatching this too

The east palace is by the team that made the guest. This show's screenwriter is the one who has made Signal, kingdom, jirisan etc. Different people. But both write amazing stories.

Oh i agree, the scene itself made no sense. Hugging him would have been dangerous in that situation because what if he retaliated? I just meant i felt the chemistry return in that scene.

I guess im used to watching dramas with higher stakes and more nail biting suspense. Since im not familiar with the orginal story, i stupidly expected all of that and got frustrated post leap. But i guess that's on me. Should have done some research into the plot before i went and watched the drama.

I liked the first 10 or 11 episodes. They had the right amount of tension, intensity and angst. Beyond that point I find my attention dwindling. Its not because of the acting because SWL & ZJY did absolute justice to the characters.
My criticism stems from the handling of the plot post 6yr leap. Before the leap there was this sense of urgency; i was on the edge of my seat because i could see that our main characters were heading towards a cliff, Chen Yi in particular. Events leading up to the arson were nail-biting and filled with dread. Post leap there was no sense of urgency or tension. I found myself skipping most of the scenes and frankly speaking there was no dread, no stress. It was just rinse and repeat all the time. It got tedious and predictable. I havent read the original novel and don't plan to either so i dont know if that's how the story played out in it, but in comments many people are saying the drama changed certain aspects of the novel, they should have changed the redundant plotlines as well.
I would rate this 7/10 purely for the acting.
Chemistry was there before the leap, post leap i didn't feel any chemistry except in the scene where Chen Yi has breakdown because of his PTSD and Miao Jing calms him down by hugging him. Its not because of the actors because if they were able to give all the yearning and feels before the 6 yrs leap then it just shows that it was the script and directing that was at fault.
I would say here: acting was top notch, chemistry before leap excellent, after leap okayish, plot initially good then redundant and mediocre. Could have handled better by adding more grit and suspense.

I usually don't like korean remakes of the cdramas, but I was thinking of how a remake might work with this one.
For the FL I'm thinking:
1) Kim You Jung
She can nail the cheeky but innocent jiang mu before the leap and the mature, elegant post leap jiang mu
2) Go Youn Jung
She's got the skills and the visuals. I think she'd be terrific.
For male lead I'm thinking:
1) cha eun woo
I know I know. Trust me I've steered clear of his dramas but then i saw him Island and Wonderfools and that convinced me that with the right script and directing, he can play the edgy Jin Zhao
2) Lee Jun Young
We know he does intense roles, gray characters and edgy ones really well. I think if he was just a bit younger he would have been number 1.

I had a few more casting choices but they are too old to play the characters

I rewatch this drama every now and then and I'll be honest, i skip most of baek inho's scenes with seol. Just because an actor is good looking does not mean i ship him with the FL. He simply did not have the depth and intensity and development that yoo jung did

We used to have proper dark romance like Secret 2013 and cheese in the trap. But oh well, I'm not saying current kdramas are bad. Just that there used to be more diversity in genres. And the reason why i liked korean dark romance was because i could watch these without the explicit scenes that are common in western media. Who knows, maybe this genre will make a come back