I pretty much started watching this because of the YouTube fan vids and overall, I really enjoyed what I watched. However there were quite a fews bumps, especially with the story, that prevented me from savoring it as much as I wanted to.

The story and some of the characters are what I have major issues with. Here are some of the problems I had:
1. Pacing. In the first 20 or so episodes, I was really impressed with the pacing. Events unfolded much faster than I anticipated and it made for a very engaging watch. They pretty much finished the entire synopsis of the story within that time frame and it made me think there was much more to come. Unfortunately that's where I was wrong; the pacing slowed down noticeably during the mortal arc (about halfway through the drama), and there was (IMO) way too much time spent here. I also felt some conflicts were drawn out much longer than they should've and some just became so predictable that I ended up fast-forwarding until the arc was over. I also didn't care much for the Shang Ling storyline after the mortal arc. The ending also seemed rushed and left a lot of unanswered questions. The pacing didn't get back on track for me until the last 10 episodes or so, by which at that point I was relying on the OTP and 2ndary OTP to carry that last section so I wouldn't get bored.

2. The villains. Specifically Yuan Tong and Zhong Hao (more on Jing Xiu later). I felt like these characters lived too long and were milked out as the bad guys through the entire show. I almost felt bad for YT being the punching bag of the whole drama, but she really was a bad person. Her clan must've really saved the world or something for her to continuously get pardoned when she really should've died early on. We don't even get to see her die; she kills herself off camera, which is so cheap (I was hoping to see Jiu Chen kill her ugh). Zhong Hao was also someone who should've died early on but again got stretched out to carry on being the villain until Jing Xiu took over.

3. Fake-outs. What I mean by this is that a character would say something is impossible and the leads shouldn't do that thing, but inevitably the leads do that impossible thing and conveniently gets out ok. I can't count how many times Si Ming would constantly warn Jiu Chen not to interfere with Ling Xi's trials or bad things will happen to her but he still can't leave her alone (once or twice was ok, but more than that was pushing it) and still makes it out fine. These types of situations happen a lot in the last half of the drama that made me take situations less seriously and I just couldn't think too much about it or I'd go crazy.

But I still finished this drama and I really liked it. Here are the things that kept me going:
1. Our leads, obviously. Their love story was pure and beautiful and I was doubtful at first because of how much older and colder Jiu Chen was. But wooow we really see how Ling Xi melts his hearts and how they would both do anything to protect and be together. I was quite moved by their love story, although I was quite miffed when Ling Xi pushed Jiu Chen away after the mortal arc; while her reasoning was valid, I wish it was executed better. I also wish their ending was better; it wasn't bad per se, but as someone commented it was like getting a snack when I was really craving a meal. They had a happy ending but it was kinda anti-climatic. I also wanted more OTP scenes when they reunited (I also felt cheated out of seeing them get married lol).

2. 2ndary OTP and side characters; most were amazing and kept me watching. I loved Qing Yao and Yun Feng's love story although again, I wish we had more OTP scenes from them. I also really liked Si Ming and Shi San, and wished we could've seen them grow to love each other. I also really appreciated that the Heavenly King here was a wise leader with sympathy, and had the best interests of our leads at heart. 

3. Jing Xiu. He really is an enigma, in the sense that he's not a completely bad or good person. I went through a wave watching him; I liked him in the beginning as a morally grey advisor, then hated him when he was pining over Ling Mo, then I felt pity for him in the end. He was really dealt with a bad hand in life and did what he could to survive. I agree with him being the main villain, although this should've happened much earlier and with better conviction; at that point, he became the demon king because he saw no other way out. I wanted to see his redemption and wished the writers gave him some sort of an ending because we don't even know what happens to him after he gets sealed up. 

I loved the music in this show, no question. It was beautiful and guided the mood very well. I pretty much have most of the songs in my playlist.

If they had cut some episodes, and refocused on our main leads, this would've made a better watch. But I'm still happy with what I got because I was ultimately here for the OTP and got a wonderful, heart-wrenching love story from them. I will certainly re-watch for them and would recommend you watch too, although with caution regarding the story pacing.

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TL;DR - A C-drama where the plot was overshadowed by the adorably sincere romance between our leads. Beware of character lobotomy from our FL in the latter third of the drama.

I started watching this after watching a previous drama with Rosy Zhao, and I watched it not expecting that I would like her pairing here better than in her other drama.

I feel like as a drama reviewer, there comes a point where your logical and emotional opinions collide; do you rate a drama because it makes logical sense and is innovative, in a sea of irrational, poorly-written dramas? Or do you rate base on the feels it gives you and how well you can relate to its characters? Ultimately, it depends on what you think is more important, and this is why there's a such wide variety of opinions on the same drama because people's preferences are different.

I'm only bringing this up because overall, I think the story line of her other drama was better developed and had better flow, but this drama gave me more feels and I was more emotionally invested into this drama than the other one.

Previous reviews will tell you that they watched this for the main couple and I'm no exception - they were easily the best part of this show. That's not to say that the story was bad, but rather it was overshadowed by the romance. I actually think the set-up of this drama was unique from the get go, like having our male lead as a villain and having our female lead first fall in love with the second male lead. As it continued to progress, I actually think there was a decent story being unfolded and you really see the character developments in the majority of the cast. I especially enjoyed watching Chunhua develop from this love-sick, foolish girl to a more mature, cautious person who's more careful with her heart. It actually explores an interesting topic of what we consider good or bad; is a person bad for committing crimes to survive in a dog-eat-dog world? Or is a person good for thinking of the greater good at the expense of the people he loves? You will see different characters that have different views on what's important and there's truly never a "bad person" in this drama.

This dichotomy of good vs evil is effectively demonstrated in our male leads; Qiu Yue would literally destroy the world to protect Chunhua and to him, nothing else matters other than being with her. Xiao Bai does love Chunhua, but her needs are an afterthought to upholding justice and keeping the peace of the world. I loved how much Qiu Yue cared for Chunhua even when she was being unreasonable to him, and how he was the overall master manipulator behind all the events that happened (I also really liked their brother-sister dynamic - usually this sort of set-up makes me cringe but here it worked. And no, they're not real siblings lol).

Now on to some reasons why I didn't rank this higher. The biggest reason is that they took way too long to find the bad guy and the stuff revealed at the end just felt anti-climatic. I also felt that for how much they hyped up the longevity nut and how it essentially causes chaos and death everywhere, the story-line for that ended on a whimper too. The story doesn't have good flow and doesn't really start until episode 8. I also didn't appreciate the way the writers made Chunhua leave QY - I think it was granted, given how he manipulated her in the beginning, but to do so at the words of the guy who legit tried to kill QY doesn't make sense.

Overall, I really didn't expect to love the romance here the way I did, but it really grew on me and the actors were able to pull it off very well. Music was played appropriately here and I really like the theme song sung by the male lead. I will certainly re-watch for the Chunhua x Gege scenes and would recommend you check this out if you have the time.

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TL;DR - waste of your time. If you're looking for romance, it's not here. ML is such trash. Only character I liked was Kadechai.

I stayed up all night finishing this lakorn not because I enjoyed it, but because I fell into the trap of "well maybe next episode, ML will find out the truth or the villain (I'll refer to her as bcb - bob-cut b*tch) will be exposed" which lead me to unintentionally finish up to the end.

I have to say, I see why some lakorns use this tactic. They get to air multiple episodes filled with bullshit but also dangle that carrot of hope in front of you so that you bear with the bullshit up until the end. While it makes loyal viewers, it is also lazy and so uncreative to have this many episodes with the same recycled crap over and over and then everything gets resolved/exposed in the last episode. I'm telling you now that you could watch up until 2-3 episodes after the time skip and then skip right over to the last episode - you really won't miss much in between and will thank me later. Even if things got exposed early on, I imagine that we would not get a good/engaging story line to fill the rest of the episodes, so either way it's a lose-lose situation. 

I know slap-kiss lakorns of this era are a breed of their own, so I try to adjust my standards to the time period it aired. But this can only work if the romance is worth it, which it's absolutely not (I'd even argue it's non-existent).

I do feel deceived that the lakorn was so bad because the beginning was really great. Kudos to the child actress who played child Bee, cause she won my heart on how loyal she was to her grandma, her honesty and child-like optimism of seeing the good in everyone. The ML was a really good person too, and had really sweet interactions with Bee. That's why I was able to like Bee and ML for as long as I did because their character set up in the beginning was done so well. You could justify and understand their motivations and why they did what they did. But again, this understanding could only go so far because the lakorn was inundated with the same 2 cycles of abuse (which I will outline) that literally carried it to the end.

Cycle 1: Bee does something "scandalous"/gains favor from the ML mom/bcb complains to ML --> ML gets mad and goes to harass and accuse Bee --> Bee cries and tries to defend herself --> ML talks about how he'll never believe her + tries to assault her -->Aunt Jian or Mom comes in time to save Bee and tell ML off for trying to assault Bee --> repeat
Cycle 2: Bee gets something nice --> bcb gets upset and goes to harass Bee -->Bee cries and puts herself down to please bcb --> bcb hatches a plan to make herself look good and potentially kill off Bee --> repeat

I could get mad that bcb is such a horrible person. I could also get mad that Bee is such a doormat and ML (I don't even want to put his name down bc I hate him) is so stupid. But all of these things are what the characters brought onto themselves; bcb's actions are enabled by Bee always self-sacrificing herself and ML's blindness. ML for whatever reason wants to keep believing Bee is a terrible person. Bee herself believes it's ok to receive this abuse because she had been brought up to be grateful and help her "benefactors", and she lives to pay off this gratefulness debt. 

Forget about the romance, IMO there's no proper romance. It's just the ML being aggressive and accusing the FL of being promiscuous but then always going back to bother her and feeling some sort of affection. Bee's affection for ML as her savior somehow turns into love, although this isn't really love bc she doesn't know any better. The ML also never apologizes or at least feels regret for what he did to Bee.

The saving grace of this lakorn was surprisingly ML's mom Khun Ying and Khun Kadechai. Khun Ying was the only character with development and turned from a nasty witch to someone who sincerely regretted her actions and had Bee's best interests at heart. I was very sad to see her die the way she did. Kadechai was amazing in that he was self-aware and despite being a gangster, he still had morals he abided by. I really wish he had exposed bcb earlier, but ofc that was not meant to happen.

I also really liked the side couple of Nuan and Pa, and how we saw them fight for their love. I wished they had more involvement in the main story. I also like the main theme song and the music was played appropriately here.

Overall if you can't tell already, I really did not like this lakorn and 100% would not rewatch. I also wouldn't recommend unless you want to waste your time. There are much better slap-kiss lakorns that won't take advantage of your sympathy and have much better payoff than this. 

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TL;DR - If this had been cut down, I would've enjoyed it more. The plot stops (imo) around when Lisa and Don get together and it depends if you're into the OTP enough to enjoy the rest of the lakorn (I wasn't). If you like rom-coms or the lead actors, then you might like this.

Honestly if this only consisted of the first 11 episodes I would’ve given this a solid 9. Unfortunately the remaining episodes left little to be desired and were a major struggle to get through, due to the tacky editing and lack of interesting plot. 

I really do like our leads, Don and Lisa, and their cute antics together. I liked how sassy Lisa is and how she’s not afraid to stand up for herself or for others. Don took a bit of warming up to which was understandable given his backstory, and I really liked that he was smart enough to suspect Ratree (evil b) and the villain in this story. Both made a great duo together and I enjoyed watching them fall in love. However, I was not as invested into them as I would’ve liked - a major thing that bothered me was the lack of closure on my end regarding Don’s ex-fiancée. I mean sure, Don can certainly resolve issues on his own, but then why make it such a big deal for him for him to fall in love; why build it up that Don absolutely can't get over his ex, feels guilt about her death and go through this major reluctance to get married only for it to end with a resolve that happens off camera? I honestly felt robbed of that closure myself and it would’ve been more touching to see how he got over it and how Lisa helps him move on with her love and support. This lack of closure was a signal of things to come later.

As much as I was happy that Lisa and Don were able to get together about 11 episodes in, I was also worried because it meant losing that "will they, won't they" tension that usually carries these kinds of lakorns, thus they would have to fill the rest of the lakorn with other plot points. And they did...but it was not only predictable, but also filled with tacky drama.

This is where I have huge gripes with the editing, something I would never think to comment on, but time and time again it would just pull me out and make me feel insulted. What I mean by this is that we would be at this slow pace with seemingly nothing going on, then all of a sudden cut into a very dramatic and intense scene. But the way it was edited not only doesn't build up/prepare the viewer of what to expect (which makes me have to adjust my emotions to match the scene) but any veteran drama viewer paying attention to the lakorn will know that the supposed dramatic scene is actually not to be taken seriously. I'll give you an example. Lisa and Don are having issues with Ratree and both know that she's a snake. Then it cuts to Ratree telling a secret to Lisa that would make her want to leave Don. Then it cuts to a drama filled scene of Lisa leaving Don and everyone is upset. Then later it turns out that they were faking it to deceive Ratree and everyone is surprised. I mean, I would've been too if Lisa or Don had trust issues with each other but based on their characters/previous actions, I know that Lisa wouldn't just go and do that for no reason, and everyone in the drama knows how untrustworthy Ratree is. So why does the drama itself think that we would believe Lisa would leave after hearing what Ratree has to say?? It's cheap drama for cheap thrills. There are so many times that this happens in the drama that just continually kept me less invested in the story, and by the end I was pretty much checked out. 

Another complaint I have with the editing is the pacing. I think a lot of the plot could have been condensed to max 12 episodes. I think part of it was because the storyline also became predictable, so there was a lack of patience on my end to sit and watch the drama in normal pacing when I knew what was going to happen (I ended up fast forwarding from ep 12 onwards). I think if you really liked the leads, you would've enjoyed the filler. Nothing new was introduced after our leads got together other than the existing villain plot line, which they milked for way too long. Some may mention the development of Rin and Mor's relationship, but I think that was also done poorly - you literally have Rin confess to Mor, he rejects her and only thinks of her as a sister, then next episode he realizes he loves her and gets possessive?? Rin honestly deserved better.

I will say, I really appreciate that the show didn't compromise the characters and kept them consistent throughout the show. I enjoyed the employee antics, and the character development of Pit and his mother. Lisa's parents were also pretty great, esp her dad. None of the characters were a waste and served their purpose. 

I liked the theme song a lot, and the music and sound effects were placed appropriately here. I think if you are just starting with watching lakorns, if you like the lead actors or if you want a superficial rom-com and don't take things seriously like I do, you might enjoy this. Otherwise it's a forgettable drama for me and not something I would re-watch.

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TL;DR - A great C-drama to get back into the world of C-dramas. Unique storyline with cute romance and a strong supporting cast.

This is the first C-drama in years that I watched and not only did I complete it, but I also enjoyed it and squealed like a teenager from start to finish!

There are so many good things about this drama that I don't even know where to start. From the fast-pace story telling and well developed plot (except near the end) to the amazing main and supporting leads, and a genuinely sincere romance between the main leads, this drama has it all. The only thing that knocks it down is how they rushed some plots near the end that lost impact and didn't give time for some of the supporting characters to develop properly (eg. Su Mo getting over himself to be with the princess, Chuchu's character arc). Plus the ending with Qianqian (QQ) and Han Shuo (HS) felt a bit anti-climatic and overall I felt that this could've benefited from a few more episodes. However compared to other dramas I was watching, I was ok with this sort of rushed, but meaningful plot.

What makes this drama so fun is that it's very self aware and pokes fun at the C-drama cliches we see nowadays; if you're someone who watches or reads C-material regularly, you'll definitely recognize them here. The tropes are still here, but the drama satirizes it in a way that makes the watcher engaged and doesn't insult their intelligence. There are many times that I actually laughed out loud and the fast pacing allowed me to be completely absorbed in the world and the characters.
Speaking of the characters, hat's off to whoever casted them, because they were easily my favorite part of the show. I never thought any of them were pointless, and this would've likely not been such an enjoyable watch without them. I even liked the 'bad' characters, because I understood their motivations and their actions made sense. Shout out to QQ's servant who almost stole the show for me with his hilarity and facial expressions, and the group of three storytellers who followed along with QQ's story. QQ's mom is also awesome and I actually liked Chuchu as well, though I wished she was given more time to complete her arc instead of leaving her as a wicked person (also she should've been punished for what she did, she got off too easily).

Of course, the two that stole the show for me were our amazing leads HS and QQ. Both are great characters on their own and together they were just freaking adorable. What won me over was how genuine their relationship was, and how much they'd sacrifice for the other's sake. I squealed so much over their cute interactions and how harmonious they were as a team. I love how HS is not a typical, stone-faced ML but has a funny side and actively protects the FL even when she does him wrong. QQ is also a great FL and I love how she takes things into her own hands instead of passively accepting her fate, and is very self-aware of the shortcomings of her own story. My only problem with them is that...they had their first time in a dank-a** prison. Like wtf? This was one of the few times that I wondered why this had to happen this way and they were honestly robbed of having that special moment.

The opening song is adorable and I liked all the music that was played in this drama. There wasn't a time where it was inappropriately played or out of place. I'd certainly give this a re-watch, mainly for our leads and some supporting characters and would definitely recommend you watch.

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TL;DR - A good slap kiss with great eye candy in our leads. More or less a good one time watch, just because it's hard to suspend your belief the second time around with the hijinks that occur.

I was conflicted on whether to give this a 7.5 or 8 - ultimately I decided to score it higher because I really did enjoy watching the lakorn when it aired and it was the first one where I was watching it live (so I actually had to wait for new episodes, check for spoilers on Twitter and obsessively refresh the translator's page haha). Overall it was entertaining and the story is pretty cohesive, though there are two major things in the story/characters that threw me off and I think would throw everyone off.

1. The infamous beginning. Tbh, there was no rhyme or reason for why Prin chose to believe a stranger and do what he did to Mitra. Especially since later he does all these nice and thoughtful things that completely contradicts how he was in ep 1. Granted, he does feel guilty about it and somehow that guilt forms into love (which I don't 100% buy into bc I think love happens when you get to know someone. But it didn't deter me from believing in his love for her.). Honestly, the fact that Prin apologized, begged Mitra for forgiveness, felt guilt and had her best interests at heart makes him leaps and bounds better then some pra'eks I've seen in the past (where they do that sh*t and don't apologize or feel guilt for what they did to the FL). In retrospect, this is a pretty sad standard to have in today's day and age, but I get that slap-kiss lakorns tend to be like this. For what it's worth, I like that they showed a pra'ek that did that, and showed how he tried to redeem himself to a well earned forgiveness. So Prin gets a gold star from me.

2. Mitra forgiving Prin early on in the series. This honestly threw me off and I had seen this in the previews, but was hoping it wouldn't go down the way it did. It confused me bc Mitra was all about hating on Prin and never forgiving him for what he did, so it really surprised me that after him saving her that one time, she was willing to forgive him. Then Prin pulls a noble idiot on her and she really ramps up her anger and hatred for a long while after. I felt like this should've been switched; if Mitra had all that anger and unwillingness in the beginning, but then saw how good Prin was, it would've made more sense that she was changing her mind about him. This was just a part of the lakorn I couldn't think about too hard, otherwise it would've ruined the watching experience for me.

Past those two points, I really enjoyed the romance. I loved how Prin saw Mitra as his whole world and just adored her. I love how he went against his dad to get Mitra's dad's permission in trying to court her. I also liked how Mitra didn't make it easy for Prin - I know some viewed her actions as extreme and immature. I think that was intentional - to me it looked like Mitra was so blinded by her anger to Prin that it caused her to lose sight of what was really important and be really biased of Prin's intentions to her. But when Na calls her out her behavior and she finally allows herself to accept her feelings for Prin, it makes for a pretty sweet journey to their HEA.

My favourite characters are the 2ndry couple, and surprisingly Prin's dad. Shoutout to Pam for being a great villain. I loved Chen's actor in another lakorn, so I was a little sad that he was a playboy in the beginning. But I loved how he saw what he was doing was wrong and genuinely tried to change himself and work hard, and dumping that b Pam on her butt. Na is an amazing character as well, blunt and very wise, and just someone you want to have in your corner. I was very happy they both got together. Prin's dad was a surprise to me, because I was actually touched watching him turn from a villain to someone with regret who just wants to be a better person.

I thought the music was well done here and played appropriately. I really like the two main songs and have them in my playlist.

All in all while I certainly enjoyed watching it, I don't think I would rewatch. Maybe for the Prin +Mitra parts, but the two aforementioned problems I had with this lakorn will bother me too much. For me, it's a good one time watch lakorn. I also feel a little guilty for saying this, but as much as I like Kem and Mookda in this lakorn, I felt like an older pair would've made this lakorn a bit more believable to watch (K+M look too young to have kids). But I think they did well in their roles and if you don't mind the beginning, then I'd recommend you watch.

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I'll get straight to the point and say that this was a depressing lakorn to watch. I hadn't planned on watching at all, but again the YouTube fan vids got to me and against my better judgement I watched the entire thing. This lakorn mainly centers around war and the dissolution of a kingdom due to internal disunity. Romance is not the main focus, but it doesn't mean that it's weak; on the contrary it has depth and it's beautifully developed. Although the ML dies in the end, there's a lot of OTP moments that make up for it and it only happens in the last third of the final episode (generally I don't mind if the OTP don't get together in the end as long as it's within reason, + there's a lot of OTP moments -  which in this case there was). 

Although my main reason for watching was for the romance, it doesn't mean I didn't pay attention to the rest of the lakorn - and honestly it was hard to watch at times. You watch how good people (those who do the right thing and are willing to die for their country) like Daoreung's dad, her bro, etc die fast and early whereas selfish and cowardly people like Thip live long and prosper. Karma does get to those people at some point, but the damage they cause ensues the destruction of their home country. It really made me sad, especially the scene where the king is in the palace, tearfully gazing at Buddha and knowing that despite doing everything he could to save his country, it was all in vain. It made me think how awful it must be to go through war and although I hated the 'bad' characters, I could understand their motivations for wanting to save themselves over their country.

I liked the ML; I LOL'ed so hard when he immediately wanted to wife the FL after seeing her all grown up. His heart is strong and true, and he's the true embodiment of a soldier loyal to his country. His unwavering love for Daoreung (DR) touched me, and his intense love stares at her made me swoon. Krai might've been too hot-headed for his own good at times, but with the bs politics he had to deal with in the army, I can't blame him.

Now about the DR, I have mixed feelings; I am annoyed but also sympathize with her. Her character is that of a damsel in distress, which most viewers won't like (given most dramas have strong FLs), but I think viewers should give her more credit. I feel like if I were a young girl who grew up with peace and love, only to have that all taken away by war then I probably would've reacted like her too. It's in the older times too, which means she unfortunately has to rely on men to protect her (and was raised to think so). Some may point out that her grandma (awesome character btw) is not weak like her, but I feel like the grandma and Krai kinda coddled DR and didn't do much to teach her to fend for herself. With that being said, I still wish DR added more to the plot than just crying constantly, and I'm low-key surprised Krai was patient enough to deal with all that.

One thing I will take from this lakorn is the music; it's easily my favorite part of the show. I love the sound of boran music, and I felt it perfectly embodied the themes of the lakorn. I also thought it was appropriately played and guided the mood of the scenes very well. 

Overall I don't regret watching this but for sure I won't rewatch except maybe for the Krai + DR scenes. If you're ok with watching an intense lakorn where there are realistic portrayals of what goes on in war, then I'd say to give it a watch. I did want to add that I felt the ending was incomplete, although I learned later that it's supposed to lead to the sequel. While I understand that, I wished they put more focus on DR and how she learned to move on after Krai's death.

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TL;DR - A cute story about a girl finding her dad. A pretty easy watch, but not without some bumps in the beginning. The real draw of the show is our ML and how he gets the girl.

This is a cute story about a girl who sets off to find her dad and the surprises that come along with it. I thought the plot was pretty straight-forward and heart-warming, and definitely my favorite parts of the show was the moments when Nara was with her dad. Both clearly have trauma concerning the situation that caused him to leave her when she was young which was sad, but just made it that much better when they found each other again. The drama concerning Nara's family made a good watch, although I could've honestly done without her mother. Her mom was my least liked character in the show with how selfish she was, although she did redeem herself a little in the end. I guess I can't really blame her for how she is without mentioning the grandpa, who enabled her behavior. But still.

The baddies in this show are kind of a joke. Everybody pretty much knows how bad they are (which makes Nara's mom look even more stupid for being with the dad baddie) and their role was just to be the baddies and give the show more plot than just a girl finding her dad. Both were dumb and more or less got their just desserts at the end.

Now the star of the lakorn is obviously our ML, Singh. Singh is just soooo swoony and the ideal male lead; he's devoted to our FL, supports her in every way, is pushy but not aggressive, not afraid to tell her his feelings, mature and is just a straight up good guy. It's endearing to watch him love and care for Nara and it makes me wish I could find my own Singh in real life. That's why I feel bad when Singh pours out his heart to Nara and she just...nods. I felt like Nara was very restricted in telling her feelings to Singh, although I guess some of her actions did make me believe she cares for him. Regardless, I wish she would affirm his feelings and not look so awkward when he's affectionate to her.

I will warn you that if you plan to watch this, Nara is kinda annoying in the first three episodes. I like to think it's out of desperation for her dad, although I wish she handled that whole situation better and was less stubborn. After episode three she does mellow out more but doesn't lose her backbone. She's also super cute and small, which makes the height difference between her and Singh adorable haha.

I really liked the music here, I felt the songs fitted the theme of the lakorn very well. The song sung by the young girl and her dad was my favorite out of all of them. If you're looking for an easy-breezy show with sweet romance then I'd recommend you watch this. I don't rewatch things often, but if I were to I'd rewatch for the Singh + Nara moments. 

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I have to say, I have never watched a lakorn with so many twists and turns. A lot of plot goes on in this that makes the show engaging, and it's fast pace makes it an easy watch. In fact there's a lot that goes on that makes you wonder how they'll be able to wrap up everything in the finale, but it's actually done well and I really have to applaud the director + editor. The characters are all smart and they always know that something's up, which moves the plot along nicely. There was never a dull moment while I was watching this.

What made this show special to me was the antagonists and the 2ndry characters. All are flawed but you get why. The villains, especially the queen B that is Khun Dee, are pretty badass here and cross a lot of moral boundaries that makes you believe the rich can get away with anything. Dr. Goson was honestly my favorite of the entire series; we see him constantly struggle between doing what's right vs doing what Dee wants (often morally wrong). We also see him suffer the consequences of his decisions, and you wonder why he would go through such lengths for Dee. It was frustrating to see him protect Dee so much but you understand why at the end and he does get what he deserves.

An honorable mention goes to Ratt's dad. I thought it was cute how he'd involve himself in whatever Ratt was doing, and wholeheartedly support him in solving the mystery regarding Lookaew/Dada. At times he was a bit too easy-going but he did win my heart for how loving and supportive he was.

Now here comes the issue I had with this lakorn; the OTP. Objectively, there wasn't anything wrong with them; Ratt and Dada individually are good people and both say and do the right things. It was especially sweet of Ratt to love Dada for who she was, and was waiting for her to come back to her true self before marrying her. My interest in them was high when I began the drama but it slowly went down as the show progressed. It's weird to say, but I felt like their chemistry was better when he didn't know who she was. I think the lack of emotional stakes on their end, after they got together, made me lose interest (he knew who she was and she loved him so it made their relationship predictable). I was definitely more interested in the 2nd lead couple and spent more time fangirling over them then the main one. I think this just comes down to personal preference, so please don't take it to heart if you think otherwise.

Music was okay here, and I thought the theme song was pretty good. If you have time, then I would recommend you watch it for the plot and cast of characters. Not something I'd re-watch since I know all the plot twists.

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I came across this gem on YouTube while watching fan videos. I'm pretty much a sucker for intense romances and major angst, so when I saw some of it in the video, I went on to watch the lakorn. It not only had the aforementioned aspects I enjoyed, but also a great plot and awesome side characters to go along with it.

The central theme of this lakorn is the idea of a red string of destiny that binds two people together; when it's the right time, no matter how far they are, this string will inevitably bring the two people together. We see this throughout the lakorn where Min and Day are constantly pulled apart by various obstacles, but are invariably put back together because of their strong connection.

Min is a great female lead; at first she comes off bratty but she realizes her mistakes early on and does her best to rectify them. I really like how she shows her gratitude and affections through actions, and not just words. She really had an endless love for Day, and you really gotta commend her for continuing to love him even when he's mean to her. Day just breaks my heart as well. He grows up with his dad who's mentally unstable and forgets Day is his son (before that he blames Day for the death of his mom, which is pretty sad) and has to work hard to support himself and his dad. Later on he falls for Min but then finds out her dad killed his mom; he chooses to forgive him but fate has its way of being crappy when he loses his dad. This makes him believe its karma for forgiving his mother's killer and causes him to leave. But his love for Min still remains.

One thing I can really appreciate is how fast-paced this lakorn is. It zips through the major plot points which keeps it engaging, but also allows time to digest the events that went on. I kinda wish more lakorns were as straight-forward as this, as sometimes I'm sitting through pointless filler. I also liked all the characters; they were flawed, but you could understand why (except I think the dad got off way too easy with the sh*t he pulled). A surprising favorite was the 2nd FL; I was prepared to hate her but I didn't expect that she had her own issues that made me pity her and understand why she was so attached to Day. 

What honestly touched me was the sincere love they both had for each other. It sucked to see Day treat Min badly, and her having no idea why (hurting her hurt him too tho T.T). There was so much going against them (his mom's killer is her dad, his dad turned out to be alive, but was threatened by the 2nd ML to marry someone he didn't love or else, etc) that it seemed almost impossible that they could get together. He never forgot her though; he still kept the painting she made all those years and held on to the red string that caused them to meet initially. She also kept holding on and didn't change, believing in Day and their love. Ultimately they were able to get their HEA, though their ending was a bit rushed; I was there was more time allotted to seeing them being happy after all the tears haha.

Music here was great; I love the theme song for this show, it really brings out all the angsty feels. If you don't mind tragedy and anger-inducing moments from our ML, then I'd totally recommend you give this a watch. I'll definitely rewatch this for the angst and Min + Day.

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Generally I've found that whenever a lakorn has a male lead who's super angry and spiteful at his father, the rest of the show turns out to be a hot mess. This is no exception. While I can't deny the addicting quality the show had on me, I can't say the story and its characters were all that great and at times had me shaking my head.

We have our hero (or should I say anti-hero) Pan, who's angry at his father for having a mistress when his mother was still alive. It doesn't help that after her death, he had his mistress and her son move in with him and work at his dad's company. There is reason for Pan's anger, which gets even more inflamed when the mistress' niece, Pai, comes in to move in with them. Pai herself has been forced to move in after her grandpa's dessert shop is seized due to failure to pay rent.

This is pretty much a family drama with some romance in it. It's centered mainly around Pan and how he deals with his unresolved issues with not only his dad but also his step-family. We do get to see some cute moments between Pan and Pai, as both are hot-headed and bicker with each other a lot. I like how Pai is able to stand up to Pan and see through his anger, and pretty much be the only person who can get through to him. Pan also cares for Pai, and it's sweet to see him grow to love her. Unfortunately the OTP scenes (and Pai's role) get reduced near the last third of the drama in favour of the Pan/Pan's dad issues and conflicts regarding the 2nd leads. It gets even worse in the final episode where they introduce a new conflict between the OTP and it's basically used as filler until the last five minutes where they finally get together. It was pretty dumb tbh.

There were a lot of wtf moments that really made me shake my head and ask why. For example when the villain (which is the 2nd FL's dad) steals Pan's dad's company right under his nose. I thought Pan's dad was stupid for not realizing that he obviously had bad intentions, and he even knew that the villain's company was bankrupt and was in need of money. I felt like that could've been completely avoided and I wonder how Pan's dad could be a competent businessman. Ek's infatuation with Pai was also just weird; they're cousins, so it made no sense that he would love her in that way. Another wtf thing was the 2nd FL; at first I found her to be super annoying bc she was constantly pining for Pan and committed some heinous crimes to make sure no one stood in her way. We later find out that her dad hypnotized her into thinking Pan loved her, and basically used her to save his business. In a way, I did feel bad for her for having such a scum dad but even after she found out she forgives her dad (wayyyyy too easily) and continued being an annoying b*tch. Her end was pretty satisfying, albeit also sad but it made up for the terrible things she did.

I will say that what I enjoyed most about this lakorn was the reconciliation between Pan and his dad. Although his dad may be dumb and hot-headed, he truly has a good heart and raised Pan as his own even though they weren't blood-related (he also treated Pan's mom really well even though he knew she was pregnant with someone else). It was sad to see Pan's mom be a victim until her end, as she was not only r*ped but also misunderstood by Pan's dad. Pan's actor did a really good job crying his heart out and begging for forgiveness when he realized this, and I too cried along with him. 
Overall I did enjoy the show for what it was and above all else it was entertaining. Music was also not bad. I'd recommend you watch if you don't mind the above shenanigans and have the time. Would not re-watch however.

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I watched this after having withdrawal symptoms from Mookda's latest drama, and while it wasn't as epic, it was certainly addicting and entertaining. The story revolves around Massaya, a young girl whose father was chased away by his mom after she disapproved of his marriage. The kicker is that the woman is not his real mom; she adopted him after he lost his parents and raised him as her own. This should chase away the worries that the main leads are related; they are certainly not biologically related, although the faux relations added to how addicting their relationship was. After the father was kicked out, years pass by and the woman (a grandma at this point) regrets what she did. She enlists her eldest grandson, Lak, to bring back Massaya and raise her under their house name (the father passed away at this point, so now she's doubly guilty) although not without troubles from the other members of the family.

I admit I was worried about how the show was going to bring Lak and Massaya together; in the beginning we see Lak and his gf, Chom, as a strong couple but grandma doesn't like Chom bc she thinks Chom is not good enough for her (and at this point Chom is not a bad person). I felt like they'd be the leads of the lakorn with what they were going through and didn't see how Lak would fall for Mass (I almost didn't want him to). Likewise, while I could def see why Mass liked Lak, I shipped her with Nop who is the sweetest guy ever and who I had serious 2nd ML syndrome for. Each couple were well suited for each other, and I wouldn't have minded if they ended up together. But ohhhhh boy did the show prove me wrong, and had them come together in the best guilty pleasure way possible.

Like Tan Chai said (a fav character of mine btw), love does not equal suitability. We see how Lak progressively falls deeper and deeper for Mass and gets increasingly possessive of her. You get the sense where you know the stuff he's doing is crossing boundaries but it's honestly too good not to watch. I felt bad for Chom bc she's just watching Lak fall out of love for her, but it unfortunately turns her into a villain set out to get Lak back (tho honestly I didn't think he treated her well when they were together anyway).

Now onto some weak points. Definitely what bothered me was how unreliable Lak was; one moment he tells Mass that nothing will break them apart but when things get too real then he backs off and tells her everything he did was a lie. He does this about two or three times which is too many and even Mass gets tired of his flip-flopping and runs from him (made great tv ngl but def not a good relationship lol). He does make up for what he's done in a satisfactory manner, so it doesn't feel completely messed up. I also didn't like how the grandma was repeating her mistakes in forcing Lak to be with someone he didn't love (this was when he was with Chom + Mass; tho with Mass I could understand cuz relations. But still.). Another thing that bothered me was the family drama; it's obvious that the grandma is biased towards Mass' dad and Lak, which causes Lak's aunt to be super jealous and hateful. It doesn't excuse the crappy stuff her and her daughter do to Mass but grandma is def at the heart of it. I wish this part of the drama was more fleshed out as not all the members of the aunt's family are bad and I felt like they had more to tell then what we were given.

I want to shout out two gems in this lakorn: Nop and Pong. Nop is just the sweetest; you could argue that he's being pushy but he never forces Mass to do anything and just wants her to give him a chance. He even helps her get together with Lak even though he's in love with her and I honestly felt cheated that I didn't get to see how he ended up in the finale. Pong was surprising; initially he was super annoying and was trying to steal Chom from Lak, but we see later he's actually a good person and brother. Also he persists in courting Chom despite her history with Lak, by waiting for her after work, being good to her parents and overall just following his heart (Lak should takes notes lol). 

Overall this was a great watch and I'd definitely recommend. I really like the music in this lakorn, there were great songs and it was played appropriately. Am definitely re-watching for the OTP and Nop + Mass scenes.

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I'm worried my review below won't encompass everything I love about this lakorn, so I'll just let you know right now that I'd definitely recommend you watch this and I'm currently re-watching it right now, even though I finished it not too long ago.

The story is really good. You start with the ML, Seua Pha, and how he became a bandit. There is a magic element to this lakorn that confused me at first, but luckily it's not the main focus and it's not some OP power. Pha was forced to become a bandit due to the hatred the bandit leader, Phan, had against his father and we see how Pha tries his best to do good despite his upbringing (eg. robbing the rich to give to poor, killing only the bad, protecting women). This is in contrast to his adopted brother, Pajong, who is a truly wicked bandit at heart (robs and kills whoever, r*pes women) but is also insecure because he knows that Pha is better than him. It's really interesting to watch both the external (bandits vs police) and internal conflicts (Pha vs Pajong, Pha vs Phan, Phan vs other bandit leaders) which keeps the lakorn engaging and entertaining. One thing that did bother me was in the finale when Phan was dying; I felt like Phan won even though he died, because he was able to see Pha's father hurt Pha and he was able to be buried with all his treasure. I felt that that could've been avoided and that whole scene in general was weak and not thought out well.

I love all the characters here. I didn't see a single character that I thought was useless or served no purpose. Pha is just a dreamboat on shoes; he's charismatic, confident, unbelievably strong and someone with a heart of gold. He's also incredibly clever and it boggles me how he was able to outsmart his enemies. Nampeung is also great in that she's headstrong, brave (although sometimes too brave for her own good) and takes matters into her own hands instead of waiting on others. She's also confident and clever, although Pha is just a bit more clever than her (which makes for some fun scenes where she thinks she's outsmarting him but he's one step ahead of her lol).

Some fav 2ndry characters were Mae'Lamjiak, Reung and surprisingly Grachao. I love how Mae'Lamjiak was someone with a tough exterior but actually cared a lot, and saw value in our FL despite her initial prejudice. Reung was just hilarious. Grachao was someone I ended up feeling sorry for, because despite her arrogance, she was heavily manipulated and used like a pawn by Pajong. I'm glad that Pajong died by her hands and she ended up redeeming herself in the end.

The best thing about this lakorn is hands down the romance. The chemistry between them was insane. And so many kisses LOL! I lost count after the 5th kiss (not that I'm complaining hehe). I love that our leads were awesome people on their own, but together they were even better. Pha purposefully does not comfort NP when she's upset, so she can be stronger and survive; likewise NP believes in Pha's goodness which propels him to be able to trust the police in taking down the bandit village. Both make each other a better person, and I love the devotion they both have for each other. I love how Pha is willing to do anything for NP and how NP unconditionally loves him even though he's a bandit. Their bickering is also super cute. I wish we'd been able to see their wedding but they got their HEA and I'm here for it.

The one weak thing here was the music; in a lot of instances, it was played inappropriately. Some scenes had music when it didn't need it. It was also weird how they would play a sad song but then suddenly play some comedic sounds to try and make the scene funny. It was jarring and made me confused on what I was supposed to be feeling. The music itself is not terrible, but it was definitely overplayed and I wish they had more songs.

If this hasn't convinced you to watch this I don't know what will. This was honestly an amazing watch for me and will stay in my heart for years to come.

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Let me start by saying that I didn't mean to watch this lakorn initially; I mixed this up with another lakorn I meant to watch (how could that happen right? Well it's been a long time since I last watched lakorns...). That being said I don't regret watching this. The first episode is kinda confusing as I thought this was a rom-com (and it is for the most part) but there was tragedy where the FL's father passed away. The way the FL and villagers reacted to it was kinda weird, but I rolled with it and ended up finishing the series. Here's what I think:

The story is standard where you have an FL from the jungle brought to the city by the ML, who swore to protect her after her father passed away. We see how he brings her there to learn and open her world more. Along the way there's some drug dealers that have been messing with her village and the ML's work life, and we see how all four leads work together to bring the head honcho down. I thought this was great, as it's been awhile since I've seen everyone work towards a common goal. It was especially great with the villagers; I loved the leader, the two bros and Fahlan haha. They added a lot of colour to the plot and it was great to see them care for the FL. You figure out who the bad guy is pretty early on, and he gets what he deserves in the end. So all in all, a cohesive story.

I liked the lead couple, Mdee and Pao. Mdee is a strong, spirited young lady who can sometimes be too stubborn for her own good. I liked that she wasn't afraid and took matters into her own hands instead of leaving things alone. Unfortunately she didn't do this where it mattered most; instead of believing in her love for Pao, she chose to go away because of their class difference. I guess I could understand, but come on, she had strong convictions the entire drama only to falter here. It was also awkward to see her look shocked or act awkward when Pao was being affectionate with her. I also wish Pao was more forthcoming with his feelings (when he realized them). However Pao's character was great; I really appreciated how he wanted to do things the right way and it was cute to see him confused on whether he loved Mdee like a daughter or lover. Both were cute together and I didn't oppose it (plus the staircase scene..hohoho).

The 2nd leads are where I have mixed feelings. I wasn't too happy to see the actor who played Jaet, as I didn't like him in KMSY. But actually he was a lot better here. He had good chemistry with Mdee and Wan, and was in general a good friend. Love-wise tho...he's a bit of a mess. I really didn't like how he tried to kiss Wan when he knew she wasn't interested in him (and she said no) and then went on to get angry at her for not comforting him when he had a hard time. Like, ok sir? He started to then crush on Mdee which is fine, but then flipped back to Wan after "actually" realizing her loved her all along. Wan was also a mess, but her backstory and character was more developed. She's been forced to live only by what her mom dictates and has developed inferiority and depression issues because of it. It doesn't excuse some of the bad things she did in the lakorn, but she does redeem herself in the end and becomes a better person with more self-love.

The theme song for this is pretty cute and catchy. The only thing I didn't like was the baby music they played when Mdee was thinking about Pao; I thought that was pretty cringy. Overall, this was a pretty easy watch and the romance is quite fluffy; while it's not exactly my cup of tea, I can appreciate it for what it is and would recommend you check this out.

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This lakorn is about a boy who gets revenge on his stepmother who abused him and killed his mom. The story is actually pretty good and I liked the overall message the lakorn was saying. It was clearly seen how revenge just ebbed on more revenge until someone dies. It also hurts everyone in the process. We see how Tor successfully gets his revenge on Sida, who is a terrible person, and it's quite satisfying to watch. We also get to see how he outwits Sida's dumbass son who is also just a garbage person. The drama actually does a good job setting up these characters, especially the 2ndry ones, in a way where we may not disagree with their actions, but we understand why. I'd actually like to give a mini character review on some of them:

Sida: She has an extreme superiority complex and it's easy to see why she did the terrible things she did. Her husband had a mistress of low origins and had a child with her, effectively slapping Sida in the face. She's honestly the cruelest character I've ever watched and a smart villain. However I feel like with how resourceful she is, she should've been able to find out who Sila was a lot sooner. I was surprised they left it to near the end and honestly it would've been more interesting and less one-sided.
Sawit: A good for nothing son. I would've thought with how often he gambled that he would've noticed how Sila rigged the games. But I guess it's just showing how dumb he is. I kinda get why he is the way he is; his father never loved him and he's constantly talked down by Sida, who doesn't trust or have any confidence in him. I wasn't sad to see him go but I did pity him when he died.
Mam: I really liked her character a lot. She had Tor's best interests at heart and is overall a good person. However if she had been smarter then she wouldn't have died so pointlessly. Her first mistake was giving the cuff links to her lover when his wife had already seen them with her. Her second mistake, which was the biggest, was going to meet Sida without any backup. She underestimated her and it costed her life in the end.

Now let's talk about Tor and Min. I didn't have any problems with Tor (he's a great character, complex and fleshed out). but boy did I have a lot of problems with Min. She is the epitome of a character who's only purpose is to retain humanity in the male lead. Min was quite annoying in the beginning when she was nosing into her sister and Tor's business and it was frustrating to watch her get beaten down by her step-mom and sister. I can at least admit that she was consistent in her character and was aware of her low origins but chose to be strong and move on. Her character does get better in the end. But I always felt like she wasn't her own person; instead she was just this character that was there to remind us that Tor has a soft side and isn't a revenge crazed monster.

I'm sorry to say the romance left little to be desired. I felt like I was watching two teens act out what their idea of romance was. Sure they're childhood friends but nothing in their childhood suggested anything romantic. Also I didn't really see why Tor would need to be with Min; there was a point where he was like "Forget about me, I came too far to be your man" then in the next episode he can't live without her and gets possessive. Like...wtf? At least build it up and show why he needs her. It wasn't very nuanced and I really wasn't invested into their relationship.

I think a lot of people will disagree with my opinions and that's fine. This is just what I felt while watching the lakorn. I would say to give watching this a shot and see how you'd like it. The music is not bad either. Would not rewatch this though.

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