bojojoti

I complain, but I enjoyed it, too. Zhao Lu Si had me anxious for her in the scenes where she was trying to get the approval of her mother-in-law-to-be. Nice sharing insights with you.

I watched it! Zhao Lu Si was mesmerizing.

Your assessment of Hao Ming and Xu Yan was interesting to read and fits with my view of them. Not only did Hao Ming suffer the trauma of the death of a girlfriend while he was still young and less capable of shielding himself emotionally, but he lived with his "monumental error" being a constant in his life, as his father, from that moment, held him in contempt and was critical of his every action. He learned to be guarded and in survival mode, because he didn't have the support of his father.

I will disagree with wanting to keep Hao Chen's parentage a secret indefinitely. The overriding narrative of the drama was that no secret can be held forever, and there is always a price to pay for a lie. Hao Chen suffered greatly, and he needs time to heal, but, at some point in the near future, he needs to be told the truth in a softened, gentle way with the love and support of the family who raised him. DNA tests are all too prevalent today to maintain such a secret. In my personal family, we've discovered, through DNA, not all the siblings had the biological father we were told. It's much better to know in a supportive atmosphere than to have a shocking revelation when least expected. With all the gossip concerning Hao Chen's heritage, how long before some corporate enemy or journalistic scab would try to verify his DNA? I agree that the Shens are his family, but he should have the ability to reach out to the Fangs at a later date. I have a cousin whose adopted parents died young, but they had given their blessing for her to contact her biological parents. She spends holidays with them now, and they have become her second family. She would be missing so much if she hadn't been told who they were.

A good drama makes one think, and this did that if we're still discussing the characters and trying to give them good outcomes!

Hao Chen's true parentage should have been eliminated from the drama. How many over-the-top conflicts did the writer insert needlessly? We had the evil board member; that was sufficient. We didn't need a kidnapping, shocking DNA reversal, life-threatening blood hemorrhage, a crazy ex trying to force a marriage, etc. It was too much.

I love character growth. I'll stop avoiding it.

I like Zhao Lu Si, but I'm not overly fond of romance drama, as it usually contains too much angst and melodrama. Is it good enough for me to suffer a bit?

The drama captured me with your first paragraph and immediately lost me with the second. Do you have a recommendation for another drama set in Taipei?

I can only speak for myself, but I hate evil that dresses itself up as righteous and good. I can understand villains. They know they're bad, and you know what to expect from them. You don't trust them. Those morally superior, upright people who believe they are the only truth do way more damage than the villains. People know to avoid the bad guys, but they tend to believe the person who puts on a virtuous face, and he has more power to destroy them.

Muppets Christmas Carol.

"Back from the Brink
Chinese Drama - 2023, 40 episodes
8.0
Moderate
Traumatized. Kidnaps the FL, bites the FL, and stabs the FL in the heart several times. Does it all with a baby face and puppy dog eyes though."

LOL! Baby face and puppy dog eyes, indeed. It was worth watching the drama to see him hopping about as a newborn dragon with those innocent eyes, all the while he's trying to spurt out baby dragon fire.

I'm enjoying your lists. I've found dramas to watch and dramas to avoid.

I remember the FL wearing a blue hat in the snow in My Dearest (https://mydramalist.com/733821-lovers).

Ski into Love (https://mydramalist.com/761193-xu-guo-wang-zai-dong-mian) takes place in a ski/snowboarding village.

Snowfall (https://mydramalist.com/707003-ru-yue) has a striking snow scene of the FL dressed in red.

Winter Sonata (https://mydramalist.com/298-winter-sonata) features lots of snow amidst the angst.

Erased (https://mydramalist.com/23222-boku-dake-ga-inai-machi) doesn't have romance like the others I've given, but it has some lovely cinematography of a snowy outdoors.

That's too bad. I like Lee Jun Jo, but I dislike meandering repetition and meaningless angst.

I wanted to like the drama and tried to give it every benefit of the doubt. I realize in time travel situations and like fantasy, one needs to expect less reality and accept more of the impossible, but even in that setting, the characters' actions need to make sense. If I'm going up against highly trained military, I'm not going to choose a wooden spoon to go into battle, when I have the king's kitchen fully loaded with sharp knives and cleavers! And I would still like to know why the ML's mother was killed. The entire show revolved around that act, but it was never fully explained!

I noticed no writer is credited. That's just as well. The ending was an embarrassment that no writer should want to claim.

And, still, I enjoyed the drama!

Will add to my list and look forward to your finished review. :)

Until you see Gu Jun Pyo's mother in Boys over Flowers, reserve that Most Hated trophy.

Ignorance isn't bliss, it's just ignorance. I didn't realize this was based on actual people in history. Thank you so much for the heads up. Actual history often makes for very unsatisfying stories!

If you watch and don't end up wanting a merman of your very own to feed hotpot in a bathtub, I've misjudged you. :)

Great list. I've added all I hadn't seen or weren't on my "to watch" list!

I say a bad ending ruins the entire drama for me, but I've seen a number that I've found compelling even though they fell apart at the end, so I understand what you mean. I don't begrudge watching Memories of the Alhambra even though it had an incomprehensible ending. It was fresh, inventive, and attractive until then. But, I have gotten more selective and read reviews to see if there is a true or bad ending to a drama before beginning. I add them to a list so that I can avoid them or watch them with foreknowledge that I will be disappointed.

Philosophically, I'm all about the journey, but in dramas, the destination means so much, too. I've suffered with the characters for a number of episodes, and I want a justifiable ending. I don't insist on happy endings (although that is my preference; I like my characters to enjoy some happiness after all the angst), but I do want a logical, complete, and thought-out ending. That final episode is the last one seen, and it's the one best recalled. If it's bad, it ruins the entire drama for me.

I've added all that weren't currently on my list. Thanks!