autumn carrot

Harem Drama Lite.

Is this you? Have you just read a certain fanfic for a certain fandom that is a Harem AU and now the story hasn’t updated for weeks and you are just craving that good concubine no. 3 feels? Are you really tempted to watch one of those big harem dramas like Yanxi palace but you see the 70+ episode count and you feel like it’ll be less painful to take your organs out of your body with your bare hands than sit through that many episodes? Are you just itching to watch a bunch of stir-crazy people fight over who gets to sleep with an average/mediocre/ok-maybe-he’s-cool dude? THEN BOY DO I HAVE A SHOW FOR YOU!
With a humble 45 (GOOD GOD! FORTY-FIVE?!?!?!?) episode count, the sword and the brocade gives you all that good “my love, I may have many in my harem, but there’s only you in the harem of my heart” feels while not actually making you want to crawl up a wall from all the palace intrigue melodrama. This is a show about two sourly yet genuinely good people slowly falling in love while every single character around them gets b*tch slapped by Karma! It’s fun…until it’s not.
I can’t in good conscience recommend this show though, mainly because I had such a negative experience making it through the last fifteen episodes of this show. It starts really well, it’s very gripping and there are so many delicious feelings throughout but the pace slows around episode 25 and just about becomes unbearable after episode 36. So maybe watch this only if you are very desperate for a Harem drama that isn’t as cut-throat or extreme as those palace ones.

You should watch this if you like:
1. Harem dramas
2. Murder mysteries
3. Happy endings
4. Meddlesome mother-in-laws (the real villain, everyone!)
5. Arranged marriage
6. Enemies to lovers but not very intense
7. Cinderella stories
8. Ming dynasty misogyny
9. Pro-monogamy harem plot…
10. Sewing (?)

Summary: The main character is the daughter of an unfavored concubine. Now it has come the time for the official mother to marry off her unfavorable concubine-born daughters in the most politically advantageous way. But best-laid plans of mice and men, everything goes the exact opposite way as she wanted, so now her least favorite daughter is married off to a beautiful, jade-like marquis of a man, instead of an abusive, drunkard womanizer and that’s karma for you! There’s a murder mystery, a skippable political plot, lots and lots of concubine drama, and the MOST unlikable, meddlesome, STUPID mother-in-law in the whole world, there too.

The story: I will give them a little credit. They were trying to say something, about women’s lives in the olden times, the terrible conditions of concubinage, the unfairness of the social hierarchy and they do manage to do that for the most part but it’s just so weak and it seems like they gave up on nuance very early on as they fall into the pitfalls of cliches and cinematic stereotypes of catfights that have proven to bring in excited viewers in the past. That’s my way of saying, they tried to be woke but realized it’ll make more money if they just go for the good old melodrama. I think Yanxi palace tried to do a similar thing but they achieved it with a lot more grace and elegance and the point was more solid there (even though that had its melodrama shenanigans too). There's also this bait-and-switch plot that is used too many times to show the change of tides in the plot that was cool the first time but got annoying when they did it over and over again.
The story also has something to say about getting lost in traditions and rules that can lead to denying people their agency to make choices for their own life. The show starts with this truly jaded man who has been forced into marriage and taking concubines and just putting up with all of this, even though he really couldn’t care less. He’s completely disillusioned about women and sees them as opportunistic people who will use sexuality and beauty to gain money and power. This is the best detail of the show because you can see how the female lead changes his perceptions throughout the show and finally makes it possible for him to figure out what he wants and what his problems were all along and how to ask for things that he wants.
But this also means that the female lead barely had a character arc! She was a pretty smart and level-headed person from the start and she is validated all the way to the end of the show. Her only change in the story is to fall in love but other than that she is a fully formed woman with a great understanding of herself and her principles from the very beginning.

The acting: Despite all the problems I had with the plot, I actually liked the two main actors. I prefer the more subdued and calm acting that Seven Tan did here and I also liked Wallace Chung’s acting. Not sure about the couple's chemistry, though. One was more into the romance than the other, I thought. I’ve also decided to add a new criterion to how I judge the acting, by judging the ensemble’s acting as a whole and basically judge how well everyone’s acting worked together. I have to say, here the acting was very homogenous. Everyone was on the same level. Shout out to He Hong Shan’s acting, she gave this very bratty voice to her character and it was brilliant. It made you want to slap her so bad! I also feel bad for Daddi Tong. I didn’t like his character but he did a good job and I hope he’ll get male leads in the future so he can be less pitiful.

The music: This is probably the best part of this show. The background music is just okay but the soundtrack is very romantic and it really worked well for the romance. As a whole the production was fine. Nothing special to say about it.

Rewatch value: None. Unless you’re THAT desperate for a harem drama that isn’t in the palace actually.

The negative: There’s a lot of weak writing in this show. For instance, there’s an attempt made to connect the political stuff with the harem stuff and the murder mystery all together, and yeah they’re connected but I don’t think anyone who was watching cared even a little for that political stuff, and for good reason. It was boring and very simple and it just took up a lot of space that had nothing happening in it. The other problem was the pacing. The show has a lot of little arcs and these did not mesh well together. Instead of having one big arc and small arcs intertwined together, each tiny arc is resolved separately. This means that we end up with the same story over and over again. Getting rid of a bad concubine? Three separate arcs that are solved one at a time, fighting over the second male lead being a potential homewrecker but with different intensities? Five different arcs! It just makes the show feel like a broken record because they keep arguing over the same things over and over again. After episode 25, everything just turns into a Groundhog Day. Everyone just goes around each other repeating the same issues again and again and each time only one thing is resolved until FINALLY, it’s all over. Really this show should have been 30 episodes. It was too long.
There was a lot of nothing in the show too: getting on and off carriages, purring tea, just moving from one place to another. You’d expect them to omit these in editing.
There’s also a bit of a negative bias in the story. Those women were all victims. The mother-in-law was a monster and she created this poisonous environment that only nurtured poisonous snakes. But the story somehow puts the main character on a moral high ground over these other victims. Even though there was no reason for her to be holier than the others. It’s not even her fault, it’s just that the show gets so twisted around itself that it ends up reaffirming the traditional values of women that the show was criticizing at first.

Overall: This show came into my life just as I needed it. I did binge some twenty-something episodes of it like my life depended on it. It’s a skippable watch unless you know mandarin and can just let it play in the background then maybe it'll be better. Just be ready to get annoyed.

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Not lovewatching not hatewatching but a third other thing: watching to snark about it on feeds

I have good news and I have bad news. Bad news is I read about 41% of this book, so I am 100% making half of this review about the book! I'm sorry; this is a double review and a character analysis to boot! Sorry! The good news is the book was so bad, it made me appreciate the show more! lol
So I finished this show, and despite the potato quality, I am once again here to proclaim that Chinese BLs just hit different! And I say this, feeling like this show was trying to imitate the mainstream Thai BL style. It was still better! It's like China's curse: They are the perfect people to make BLs! (What's the joke? Born to produce BLs, forced to follow regulations)

As you may have noticed, I gave this show a 7.5, which must stand out in the sea of 8s and 9s and 10s this show is racking up but I want you to know that this is amazing. I was gonna give this show a 6 but it managed to make me want to raise the rating to a 7.5 and personally I think it's a great achievement because I physically could not give it a higher rating. It's not even the low budget or quality, it's that the cringe-factor of this show was too high for me to enjoy it any more than a 7.5! I had so many moments of secondhand embarrassment when I had to stop and walk around to stop the queasiness. I can't give this any higher a rating. Some of the dialogue was just too embarrassing and weird...who talks like that?!

But it's not the show's fault entirely; a lot of that weird stuff comes straight out of the book, which is, to be honest, too bad to have been adapted. Like, who looked at that mess and thought "hmmm, this is gonna be the most successful Chinese BL of ALL time! We HAVE to adapt this!!!" A genius person to see the potential in that mess but like...I am sure there were better options!
You see, the problem with this show/book is not even the explicit parts or the horniness or the romanticization of red flags...the worst thing about this book is the fundamental misunderstanding about human sexuality AND anatomy! Miss Author did NOT research being a gay before writing this, and it shows. Serious talk: This story shows queerness in a predatory, perverted manner, and I don't mean that they do horny stuff, oh, how dare they! It's how the gay characters impose their sexuality on others that was insulting and insensitive. There is basically no gay character who isn't shown in some predatory manner here, and that made me uncomfortable. I wish the show had taken the liberty of changing all of that and also fixing the truly embarrassing goofs they spew as facts in the big year of 2025, but unfortunately, the show has all of that mess in it. Sometimes loyalty to source material is worse (NOT YOU, FENNELL! YOU GO TO JAIL FOR DOING *THAT* TO WUTHERING HEIGHTS!) Here, the show could have been less similar to the book.

They did try, to their credit. Characters like Guo Cheng Yu and Jiang Xiao Shuai are whitewashed a lot. Our resident bad boys are not just bad boys in the book. They are just bad! lol! Like, sure! Show!Chi Cheng is a bad enemy to have; you are screwed for sure if he hates you! But as far as being a lover goes, if he really loves you, you are so lucky! He is gonna break his heart every time you cry! That's sweet! I mean the book had that too but the other stuff was just too much! Because, in the book, it's implied that Chi Cheng is into extreme sadism. The show doesn't go to the extremes that the book goes to demonstrate this. I'm really glad because I feel like maybe Miss Author also didn't know enough about BDSM to use it correctly and just used it as an edgy trait to show how dangerous Chi Cheng is. 'Cause what she described wasn't sadism, it was attempted murder. I'm glad Chi Cheng is just a red flag in the show!
But really. The heteronormative labeling of gay relationships, the misunderstandings of how intimate relationships work or what queerness even means...just... it was a bit bothersome. So know that sexuality is a spectrum. Bisexuality exists. There are no inherent positions in a same sex relationship, and people switch. You have to prepare for intimate relationships in advance; the care is necessary and detailed and very important, and Jiang Xiao Shuai really should have told Wu Suo Wei that no straight man would have even come up with the plot to seduce a love rival for revenge to begin with!!!!

There's also just so many silly bits in the story. I lost count of how many times I was choking on nervous laughter while watching the show. All at inappropriate times! None of this was the show's fault. 90% of these scenes were straight from the book. This is why I raised the rating, btw. I can't be mad at a show that was so loyal to the source material and did such a good job of bringing it all to life despite budget restrictions and the Chinese censorship laws. They worked hard! And there were certain elements that I liked. The overall plot works even if the details make no sense. And the emotional investment is enough to keep you guessing and binging, and by the time we reach the emotional climax of the show, my heart hurt for these kids. So kudos to them for achieving maximum investment in the story with barely any flashy story tactics.

The acting...I didn't love the acting. Someone recently said this, and it has since ruined about 70% of the shows I watch. They said: "You can tell they're acting"...WHY WOULD YOU MAKE ME AWARE OF THIS?! It's like when someone makes you aware of your breathing and then you spend 20 minutes being extra cautious of your breathing and feeling like you're choking (I'm sorry.) So now, every time I watch a show, I'm like "hmmm, that's acting" ugh. Well, I got that feeling a lot and not just that but the "omg, I'm in a BL, what am I doing with my career?!" look in some of their eyes throughout the show was killing me! Like, this could have ruined so many careers, so fair enough! But then, when you know all of this, and that thought is in your head too, the whole viewing experience is tainted. I was both aware that these are all actors, and that made me aware of just how dangerous this project is, and that I couldn't believe we were getting this show in 2025 from China! So a lot was going through my mind. I don't think they're bad actors. I just think they are still far from hitting their peak, and the director maybe demanded a theatrical acting style from them and some of them had to stick to some pet peeves to make it through. That said, you can never go wrong with hiring a hot 97-line guy as the hot guy in your show and this show did it twice in a row...game acknowledged *tips hat*

I loved the music! lol! I think Cdramas should use public domain music more often. They matched the mood of the scenes so well and I have only good memories of the music in the background. The production is visibly not very high quality or expensive but I think they blew it all on getting expensive sets for the rich people's homes and the snakes and that's a good place to put the money in. because they otherwise had no money left for other stuff like prison sets, extras in the background, clothes (this is good because they had to stick to clear styles for each character and have repeat outfits which added realism), music...like basically, everything was put together with spit and while sometimes that made stuff goofy and unserious, overall I think it worked in favor of the show.

I might actually rewatch some scenes! lol!

Negatives: As for the negative points of this show: TOO MANY SNAKES! The ick was real and there, and I had to cover the screen so many times, yikes! If you are really scared and disgusted by snakes like me, RIP! It's hard to get through those scenes. Shoutout to Vinegar though! That was one tolerable snake!
I explained the rest above, but you know, someone said, "all BLs are toxic because men are incapable of healthy relationships and BLs have two men" and... like...okay, harsh but... (yes, not aLl mEN, I know.)yikes...

Overall: This is mandatory BL viewing now. Like, this is too iconic to avoid! The show has issues but don't kill the messenger. Miss Author just didn't know anything, and the production team ran with it. It's worth watching for the makeout sessions if for nothing else! The hypernevtialtion of knowing they made this in Mainland China gives you enough adrenaline rush to make it through the whole thing in one amnesiac binge-sitting! What's not to like?!

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"I want to live"

With a little bit of rounding up, this is a rare 10 out of 10 Kdrama, coming late to save this kdrama draught of a year! Funny, romantic, moving but also sad. You will know the show's end at the very beginning but it still hits hard once you reach the end. While I can see the happiness in the sad ending, the sad ending is still very sad so prepare yourself to suffer but be happy about it.
Summary: The show follows unlucky people stumbling through life who just keep getting dealt awful hands by fate. I don't know how to really summarise this, it feels like there's no plot but also, there is definitely a plot and all of it is a spoiler or none of it is...I DON'T KNOW!
I actually decided to watch this because the synopsis made no sense and I wanted to see what the show was actually about. Turns out it's about...life?! I don't know, just watch it. It's such a well-told story. Almost feels like a fable! There's a magical quality to it. You don't need any information before you delve in and everything unravels very clearly. So just go watch it!
The show has some cute cliches but for the most part, avoids plot pitfalls and gives a fresh take on the road trip/journey to find oneself genre. This was just a very lovable show to watch. The characters are flawed, messy, and occasionally very broken. I don't always love the Netflix kdramas but they always have interesting character sketches, which I guess is kind of the point, and here it's no exception. The characters' personalities and trials is the highlight of the show.
Like all Kdramas, I still dislike the over-the-top fight scenes and the pace sort of slowed down between episodes 7 and 8 but it bounced back for a good closing and I like the whole thing very well.
Cast: The actors are such a highlight in this show. Most are very well-known but I didn't know anything about Lee You Mi. Everyone did a good job...I still dislike acting cute in any context so I won't pretend I liked those bits. Woo Do Hwan was very good though and I think he's gonna joining my favorite actors list now. Oh Jung Se is obviously one of the best in SK. For me, the stand out was Lee El. She was so delightful. But really everyone shone in their place.
The production was very well-done. There are a variety of locations and I think they used green screen for some but some others seemed like natural sets but regardless, everything looked equally great. The set design, the technical parts, everything was great, and the music? The music was great! They used great stuff and though they overused them, I will forgive them because the music was at least good.
Rewatch: probably not.
Overall: Watch it, it's good! prepare tissues for the ending.

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Ok but isn't that a bit of a drastic decision to make over a cancelled wedding?!

I would love to have a conversation with the scriptwriter of this show. I would love to know how they read THAT book and came to the conclusion to write...this show! lol
It's like if someone read Jane Eyre and ended up adapting it as a musical about learning the alphabet.☉_☉ That said, this is not a bad show or anything, it's just that the similarities to the source material are very slim, including the genre and I also wonder if this was meant to be this dark and elegant and highbrow from the start or if the show just changed themes as the high profile names started to get attached to it...you see, this show has every single cliche element of an average rom-com kdrama!
If I told you a show has:
1. Fake, contract marirage
2. Childhood connection
3. A crazy evil second female lead
4. A stalker with evil superpowers following the Fl around
5. A gloomy male lead with a tragic and sad backstory
6. A romance with a murder mystery subplot
7. Meddling auntie neighbour
8. Quirky tomboy best friend and baby-crazy, secret investigator friend
9. A small event in the FL's past leads her to some drastic career choices
What show would come to your mind?! 'Cause I think so many average Kdramas can come to mind...and the answer here is actually The Trunk. But then this show couldn't be further from your typical kdrama! It's so atmospheric, dark, and the production quality is off the chart!
...but I would say the plot is not as great as the rest of the show. For one, it's slightly melodramatic. If you squint, there are so many plotholes and a lot of choices and actions make no sense. And while I think the creators worked hard to preserve the essence of the novel's message, I think they lost a bit of its nuance in favor of adding flashy plotpoints like abusive parents and homophobia and actual love stories. That said, I like some of these additions and overall, the whole thing works and these details aren't really the main attraction of this show anyway. Because the main point is...
The Chemistry. Holy meow! First of, I think dramaland citizens generally over exaggerate the chemistry connection of actors on popular kdramas. Two actors will do the bare minimum but because the trope is a popular one, people will see natural chemistry where there is none! So many times, I see people just say two actors have chemistry because they're both the two most attractive people on screen in a show. That's not chemistry...that's buying into the show promotion bs, dearies! Actual chemistry means the actors seem to have this magnetic field between them, that even when there are so many others in a scene with them, it's like the two of them are swaying to the same wavelength. Their eye contact seems to hold secret conversations btween just the two and the actors just naturally play off of each other's acting choices. And that's the thing! You have to first be a good actor, to then make actual choices about your acting and then have an equally good actor play against you with their equally dynamic and responsive acting choices! It's...it's a big deal! Not everyone can do it! but my god...Gong Yoo and Seo Hyung Jin sure can! The best thing about this show was how the two of them managed to make the bare minimum plot work! You know a show is good when it gives you the illusion that you have just witnessed two soul mates reunite when the characters just barely had two positive interactions! That's sorcery! That's skill! That's admirable. And this show manages to do that so it's worth a watch for only just that if literally for nothing else.
Which, of course, it's not the only attraction of this show. Jung Yun Ha's acting is another part of this show that adds to its worth. I hope she wins some awards for this. She deserves the recognition. She was so good, she brought Seo Yeon to life and what an interesting character because she was so unhinged and disturbing in some ways but she was equally valid in other ways and I was so conflicted if I hated her for some of her actions or wanted to defend her for some of the other actions. To manage to capture both empathy and disgust, she sure showed some great skills. Granted, the character is very well-written too. Overall, the whole cast is really good but the four main ones stand out. This was my very first Gong Yoo show and guys...I get it. I GET IT! Who is this man?! How is he this charming?! How can someone so unconventionally attractive capture the viewers so quickly? He's too good! A bit dangerous! I wanna see more! lol
In addition to an amazing cast, the production, set design, lighting and special effects in this show were so good. This looks like a drama one would like to watch because it's a feast for the eyes...though in a drab way! There's no explosion of colors or textures. The whole thing is in earth tones and everything and everyone is so subdued but that's sort of the point here. So it's like...having a fancy dinner made of one ingredient! Well, maybe three ingredients.
Also this show is going to get the rare honor of having THE BEST soundtrack of any kdrama ever. It was so good, that 10/10 stars is actually for the music. I loved the music so much I sat through the credits just to listen to it more. Well-played, for a show with a music producer as a main character.
Rewatch: Yeah, no...
Negative: Why do Kdramas have weird pauses when they wanna make high quality dramas?! It doesn't make any sense why people pause so much in their conversations. Also...so many plotholes, so many unnecessary baits that lead nowhere, so many character moments that were abandoned halfway through...lol the script could have been better. hehe
Overall: This is a rare case of me enjying a show with a subpar plot as I usually care the most about plot but this show was too good in other aspects that the weaknesses of the plot are almost forgivable. This would have been a perfect 10 if the plot was a bit better. Highly recommend it though.

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I love how unhinged these mini-mini cdramas are!

Enjoyment level-wise, this is an 8.5 but objectively, it's a generous 7. This show is super short and so so so much fun to watch! It's incredibly feral with a female lead who not only doesn't take any nonsense, she actively returns the negative energy you give her, tenfold. You spit at her? She's gonna poop in your pie! lol! I love how unabashedly heartless she is when it comes to saving her skin and harming her enemies. And she has good reason for it, too. People are out to get her! They're trying to kill her and she fights back tooth and nail. That's so refreshing. Usually, in cdramas, female leads take every abuse with grace and a tragic sense of justice but here, the female lead is not about that! She will smear herself if it guarantees hurting her enemies. Armed with fourth-wall-breaking knowledge of third-wave feminism and an intuition that would put Odysseus to shame, she fights the patriarchy and her in-laws to the bitter end if she has to. I don't know if you can tell, I just watched this show because the female lead was like a feral fox with unhinged revenge schemes and I loved every time she screwed her husband over. Like this man was a bloodthirsty, cruel, and privileged marquess with the power and means to squish her like an ant and she gave him a whole cardio workout, trying to chase her and take her out! Lol! It was delightful to watch.
Did it make sense? No! Was it very clever? Not really. Lots of ret-cons. Is it well-produced? No, you can tell everything is fake! It's mostly like kids playing pretend. Did all of its shortcomings impact my enjoyment? Not at all! Lol
This is not a drama you watch for quality film-making excellence or its deeply philosophical narrative. This is a show you watch because sometimes you're on your period and watching a drama is the better option than killing someone out of frustration. It's also just very vindicating to watch a historical character act like a logical person of the modern era, every step of the way.
We also don't acknowledge the last 4 episodes because lame fan service should never be acknowledged!
I HIGHLY recommend watching this. It's just fun! Like having gummy bears at 2 am!

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Thugs and badmen/Punks and lifers/Rest your weary heads, all is well

Ever watched a show that was so unexpectedly dark and raw that you needed a few months to recover?! This show starts with a blunt force trauma to the head and that's the energy it keeps for the rest of its run! I don't know what I thought I was gonna see in this show but what I saw was so insanely wild and then, so unexpectedly warm and healing that I was swept away.
Perhaps one of the most unusual cases of found family trope, the show bring the main characters together through violence, deception and desperation. But then these people who are all the human equivalent of street rats just sort of...stick together and make this dingy, dirty little flat into a home and you just wanna keep them safe?! But the show doesn't allow you to do that because it just throws the most horrifying stuff in your face and it does it so casually and easily like it's nothing?
I don't know where I'm going with this. This was a very interesting, upsetting but ultimately worthy show with a very clean storytelling but telling a grimy and gruesome story that makes your skin crawl. So odd.
Just approach with caution...and a knife! Or not....ugh!
The technical side was great! The artistic side was great! The plot was told perfectly and to top it all off, one of the leads reminds me of someone who is very very dear to me so I was extra emotional while watching this and I liked this character from the first moment and felt so safe when he was in the scene even though he's literally like a dangerous panther, always a second away from launching into an attack at the beginning. I just knew in my heart that he is just a cautious kitten. :(
Anyway, I struggled with rating this because "enjoyable" or "fun" or "feel good" is not at all how I would describe this show but it deserves a 10 out of 10 stars rating.

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I don't get it?!

So this show is just so basic. I don't get why people love this. In fact, I suddenly get why people were shocked that Hyung Sik could act in Happiness! The only good thing about this show is the running joke that the main character is a really tiny girl who beats up big bad gangster guys.
The romance is so...ew! It's just...what is that?! It was cringe, it was inappropriate, actually. Dating your boss is not it and not only that, the show has so many examples of why it's unethical within the plot but it's either used as melodrama or cute factor...it was neither. It was just...HR material for a lawsuit. Their chemistry is off. Bickering for the sake of bickering is not a dynamic. People who are constantly arguing are not compatible in secret. Also, why did she get away with being so sassy to her employer from the get-go? Romance didn't hit at all. If this was an investigation buddy show it would make more sense. I was so bored during the overly childish romantic scenes that I was constantly distracted. Or rather, I preferred watching paint dry than to sit through one more forced aegyo scene....ugh!
The gay jokes were only occasionally funny but then it got old very quickly and I don't see how most of it could pass now. Most of this show aged like milk left out of the fridge! The poop jokes and all these lowkey-lewd stuff with the gang were just weird and bizarre and I don't understand why they kept going on for so long. They were good for one or two plot B situation but it just never ended. It became so uncomfortable during the second half of the show.
And I'm wondering if this show is the prototype of the "murderer/serial killer in romcom" trope of kdramaland? Because if it is, I'll redact another point from this. This naturally plays into every one of the cliches of that trope but slightly better because at least a show about a super strong girl having a villainous evil guy for her to overcome makes sense. Overall though, none of the plots were that good. The beginning was funny so I was laughing and watching but just as I got hooked, it got boring. Incidentally, that was when the "romance" started.
Seriously this show ruined Hyung Sik for me! What was that acting? Park Bo Young gets away with it. Because she is small and cute and it wasn't too jarring for her to act like a petulant child. Everyone was a mess though.
Anyway, the more I see of the most watched shows of kdramaland, the less it makes sense...seriously, why?!?! What did you al see in this?!

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The long wait was worth it!

So, I had been waiting for this show since my Jo In Sung obsession developed...sometime in 2021, I think? And Then when it came out, I don't know, it had just been too long, I wasn't invested anymore so I didn't touch it for months until my mom said she had seen a random scene from this show that she thought was cool and she wanted to watch the rest so I just recently binged the whole thing with her and I have to say, it was worth the wait. It's true. My only investment in this show was initially JUST Jo In Sung and no one can blame me for it because he is like a rare orchid that blooms every five years or something. So I've been frustrated and desperate BUT the show is very well-made and the teenage characters are sooooo cute, omg! I thought teen boys could only be mildly threatening or absurdly annoying. Who knew they could be adorable sunshine bunnies?!
Anyway, the little cutesy friendship between the two teen characters made me so endeared and as the plot developed it became more interesting (And also I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for Jo In Sung to show up...ㅠㅠ).
My only issue with this show is too much violence and not enough Jo In Sung. It was disgusting how much violence I had to endure. I got bored with it, too. So instead, I spent a good deal of the fight scenes scrolling through my phone, while being stuck to the screen during the romance parts. It was just too much. Very gross. Sure, the CGI work was amazing and I applaud the crew for that (the production overall was amazing) but gratuitous violence is so tacky.
The acting in this show is amazing. Obviously, with heavyweights in the main roles, no one was expecting anything less but even the younger cast members were great. They brought the characters to life and I was shocked to find out one actor is 26 years old?! I thought he was 15! :o Everyone was so well-casted and they acted their butts off.
I'm not even a superhero story fan. I don't like marvel and don't watch any of their stuff. But I enjoyed this one. Maybe because it was so fundamentally different from a superhero arc. However, the plot felt a little like a prequel, to be honest. So I can imagine a more traditional superhero plot in a potential second season. This felt more like an espionage family drama; if the families in the espionage had superpowers.
So between the endearing character relationships, an interesting and engaging plot, amazing casting, and a very professional production, this show was basically perfect...except for too much violence. And not enough Jo In Sung.
The music was also very good. It was scored like a film, very ambient but never distracting. Just as it should be.
Will I rewatch this? No...except for rewatching Jo In Sung's scenes. :) And I've already done that...a few times!
I recommend it if you can handle violence and if you like espionage plots, romance, and a bit of mystery.

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What a stupid decision it was to watch this show!!!!

**This is a review of the SBS edition**
Once again with more gusto! (This is a rereview of sorts. I had a very emotional reaction to this back in the day. I have since changed my mind and changed how I rate shows so I'm going to give this review another shot.)

It’s hard to talk about this show without mentioning its relation to the Chinese adaptation or the novel it was based on. I know people don’t like comparisons between shows but everything makes so much more sense once you see the extended Scarlet Heart Ryeo universe in one picture. Luckily, I am not done watching the cdrama so I can’t really compare the two here. (I’m coming for you in the scarlet heart review though!)
If you don’t know, this show is the Korean adaptation (adaptation being the operative term here) of a Chinese novel set in one of the most historically intriguing moments of Qing dynasty history; the fight over the succession of emperor Kangxi. The gory, soap-opera-like historical events are so irresistible that they have inspired many retellings. Scarlet heart being a particularly famous one. I have read books that don’t even directly say they are about this period but then *that* thing happens and you just know.
The brilliance of this show is that the writers were daring enough to take this very Chinese historical tale and adapt it to a Korean historical moment of equivalent dramatic potential. And they succeed?! It’s unbelievable but it worked. The number of things they didn’t change is almost more upsetting than what they did change. My theory is that the dude who decides what happens to humans got bored and copy-pasted a part of history twice and just changed some details so it wouldn’t be too obvious.
Anyway, you should watch this show if you like:
1. Star-crossed lovers
2. First love is not the be-all
3. Tragic ending (Be ready. It will end badly)
4. A bunch of pretty incompetent boys running around failing at acting
5. Political backstabbing
6. Succession wars
7. Historical romance (of the bodice ripper variety)
8. "Dirt-poor production doesn't mean bad"
9. Charmingly messy writing
10. Boys taking too many baths…it was a weird detail. They made the bathhouse one of the main sets…
11. A Byronic hero, flaws and all
12. If you are just content with Lee Joon Gi doing a damn good job while everything falls apart around him like a house on fire.
13. If fratricide and incest do not bother you (I'm just throwing it out there. It's not detailed ...well...)

Summary: Girl goes back in time. Girl meets boy. Girl meets boy. Girl meets boy. Girl meets b-… you get it. And just when you think it’s all fun and games, history hits you like the bus at the end of mean girls.

Story: This show has the most uneven writing I have ever seen in an East Asian show. It’s like they wrote about ten episodes then got tired so they just decided to wing the details and the beginning and the end. And it works out. Somehow. Here’s where the comparison comes to matter. Where this show fails in its first five episodes to establish the world of the story in a level-headed and engaging manner, the cdrama is especially competent. The first five episodes are truly the Achilles heel of this show. The show starts with a heavy reliance on the pretty boys and the almost ironically nonsensical romantic tropes of high school dramas of the early 2010s but then whirls into serious political tragedy and grey area writing two episodes later! It’s such a weird beat to start on and I think this is the reason why a lot of Korean fans had a negative response to it back in the day. But then suddenly, everything clicks into place and for ten episodes, the show actually successfully emotionally grabs you and while it still has flaws, the intrigue becomes more mature and the characters settle down in their positions and it becomes really enjoyable. Then again the ending becomes very rushed.
I think the main issue of the show is pacing. They needed maybe 5 more episodes so they could flesh out the falling out of the end. The way it happens now, the show is one tragic event after another for 15 episodes in a row. It becomes a bit emotionally taxing when you are giving away so much to the drama and get no payoff for all that emotional labor is provided.
I love the romance in this show. It’s dirty, grimy, messy, destructive. Although they love hard and passionately, the characters never really lose themselves to each other in a way for them to be strong together. And that’s the tragedy of it but also, its beauty. There is not much of a miscommunication here (except those last 3 episodes but f*ck ‘em. We don’t acknowledge those episodes!) it is just how the characters are not willing to believe in their love. They always hold back while at the same time, they’re stretching themselves thin to save the other. It’s so tragic to watch them fail because it feels like one of those mythical romantic tales. You watch them and you know exactly how they're going to fail each other but there’s no stopping the train anyway. So you just sit there and watch Orpheus turn around...
Now those last three episodes suck. I got so upset watching them that I didn’t even cry when sad things happened because I was angry. But since I was invested, I watched it all the way and I don't regret anything.

Acting: Lee Joon Gi acted in this show. That’s it. Everyone else was there too. No, I'm kidding (sort of)! I think IU did a good job too. People say she acted weird at the beginning and they are not wrong but further research has informed me that that’s just how the character works in the early stages of this story so just go with it. She settles better into the character once the absolutely silly high school girl shenanigans end. Everyone else was varying degrees of good to bad. I’m sorry but some of those boys survive the show but just barely! That's not to say it was all bad. Everyone did their best. A for effort.

The music: Yeah, this is the OG show with the bad music. It was hit or miss. I sort of hate the ones with singing in them but then there was this one song from the soundtrack called "Gestures of Resistance", I think, and it's so beautiful. Halfway into it, there's a part that electric music starts, and then it's interrupted by a cello and a violin, and WOW! It was so epic and melancholic at once. I love that one piece so much.

Production value: It’s a cheap show and you can tell but if you get invested in the characters, then it would not matter too much because you’ll be too busy following the schemes and the love triangles and the heart-stopping grief that the production value will not bother you as much as the knife in your heart does.

Rewatch value: When I first watched this, I told myself I would never touch it with a stick because it hurt too much. And yet…and yet I keep finding myself missing the feelings. I have to fight myself to not go back to it. So for me, it’s a show that I might rewatch if I ever have the time. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time.

Negative:???? It's sad. It's not evenly written. It's cheap-looking. The editing is messy, the music is irritating... There's so much wrong with this and I just don't care! Lee Joon Gi smiles at IU and I'm a puddle and none of the bad things matter!

Overall: I think it’s a bit hard to pitch this show to a new watcher or try to analyze it with any clarity because it’s one of those shows that either touches you emotionally and then you’re willing to ignore the messy script, the bad acting and the terrible production or it doesn’t and suddenly everything wrong with it becomes relevant.
I just think the show is worth a watch because if it does connect with you, then chances are it’s going to be a show you won’t forget. Like ever. I honestly feel haunted by the story of Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Like I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how it could be analyzed through this theory or that, or just what the point was? Why? Why did it happen like this?!
It might seem like it’s just a cheap reverse harem story (and it is) but there’s something very heartfelt and authentic about it that those who love this show have felt.
It’s an acquired taste but if you are in doubt and you’re not sure if you should watch it or if the first five episodes turned you off, then I’m here to tell you it’s worth giving a chance to. Just lower your expectations and let yourself get carried away by the emotion.

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You get a pretty dessert and YOU get a pretty dessert and you...

This was my first (and probably last) Japanese drama to watch (because they're not available in my country and I already had such a hard time finding this one) but if this will be my only experience with jdramas, I think I'll say it went perfectly well.

This is a short, condensed, romantic but also with interesting side-plots show. It's not unnecessarily dragged out at all which I really appreciate. I never really got tired watching this show.

You should check this show out if:
1. You like shows about food
2.You like mostly drama-free romances
3.If that fusion of old and new is your aesthetic
4. You like Revenge stories
5. Enemies-to-allies-to-lovers
6.Pretty food
7.You don't mind soap opera level acting

Story: Basically when the main character was a kid, her mother gets accused of murder by her childhood friend. Now she's 20 years old and a dessert artisan and she wants to find out what really happened. Incidentally, her archnemesis comes to her with a proposition that helps her cause. Once she starts investigating though, things are revealed to not be as they seemed...

The story is very intriguing. It does have some moments that I didn't quite get how a character's brain arrived at their course of action but if you are willing to frown through a couple of confusing interactions, after a few episodes everything starts to make sense. I don't know anything about Japanese culture and I'm still processing the concept of red bean paste as a sweet-desert but this show was such a fun way to get a glimpse into it. One thing that was so interesting about this show was that it's set in modern times but then a lot of characters live in this rural style that seems like it's from the past if you glimpse at it a certain way. Like I'm pretty sure the house the main characters live in doesn't have electricity. Also, everyone wears kimonos and that just makes the aesthetics so good. I even liked the non-traditional outfits. The main character Nao's clothes are so pretty. The romance I think might not be something everyone will have patience with, the dude acts so odd at first and he slams his fist against the wall and glares down at the protagonist a lot. I frowned a bit the first two times he did it but then I started snorting when he did it because it was just so melodramatic and ineffective. Thankfully he stops once he gets his *~*~*~* Tragic backstory*~*~*~* so it was all in good fun! I liked the romance once they got their groove on. They were really easily into each other so that was really good. The development process was kind of a surprise too, definitely a different pace from the cdrama and kdramas I am used to. I really enjoyed it. I liked the murder mystery/whodunnit part too. Not gonna talk about the very end but to a certain extent, it all made sense. I figured some of the reveals before they happened and some not.
I would say it was slightly soap opera-ish? Like they definitely had that melodramatic music+weirdly widened eyes shock face close up and messy villain shenanigans but it was entertaining enough.
The acting...hmm. It was fine? Didn't love the mother's overacting. She reminded me of Snape from A Very Potter Musical sometimes!
The music was good when it was just soft classical music. It went well with the vibe of the story.

Overall, I liked it. It wasn't awe-inspiring but it was a very fun and quick watch. Definitely recommend.

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Walked right into this one...

So this was an incredibly emotionally touching film. The whole point is to stir the viewers' emotions and empathy and I think they manage to do that.
I don't know what I was thinking, watching this. I was so brave and only cried once at the very end but truth is, given the fact that it's been over a decade since I lost my grandmother and I'm still not over it, I don't know why I thought I could handle a story like this.
However, this was very well made. The actress playing the grandmother is truly amazing and she just looks so cozy and grandma-coded too. Like, screw all those ungrateful jerks! How are they not obsessed with hanging out with her?!
Anyway, I have had the unfortunate chance to watch some low budget Thai dramas but this one is obviously of a whole other tier and I loved being introduced to the country through such a movie.
I personally enjoyed this movie. Worth the hype and then some! Obviously the plot was great; so was the acting, production and so on. I would just like to shout out the great set designs. It set the mood and felt so natural that it helped make you feel closer to the story and its characters.
Highly recommend. Prepare lots of tissues though.

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This film reminded me of Neil Gaiman.

This film reminded me of Neil Gaiman. Yeah, I know. I have impeccable timing...
Well, this was stupid. I kept waiting for the second shoe to drop but this was merely a crass and unsubtle criticism of the rich class of South Korea. Many have done it with better quality and more finesse so it doesn't even impress as much when you have already watched, like, Parasite! There is an attempt to make this appear as an erotic thriller and I guess it is but it wasn't nearly thrilling enough to say the job was done well. There was also no complexity in the characters' true motives. They were exactly what you see in frame one and remain unchanged all throughout; kind of like two-dimensional sketches. Motivations of certain characters made no sense, like the majordomo whom I would have liked to slap a few times. I don't know, it just felt like no point was made throughout the whole runtime. To me, that's a waste of time and energy. The ending sort of jumps into absurdist surrealism and I hate that even more. Stick a style, please!
As for the acting...I don't know if it was intentionally ridiculous or not but no one behaved like normal humans. Also, I'm wondering, has Park Ji Young ever played a positive role?! She's always bad news! Every time she shows up on screen, I know she's either gonna try to poison someone or cut someone's junk off! She's like a narrative bad omen, I swear!
So, I was so intrigued by what this film could be like and I was excited to watch it. Now that I have, I am underwhelmed. It was nothing to write home about.

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