Gabriela

"Imitation" is a drama about idol groups. I honestly don't know why this drama had such low ratings, because I loved it.

The story is interesting and captivating. I love musical dramas, especially those that focus on bands, and here we have three: Tea Party, SHAX, and Sparkling. Oh, and I can't forget La Ri Ma, who is a diva! HAHA'

The songs are great, totally addictive, after listening to them once, you find yourself singing along without even realizing it. In addition, we see the reality of the trainees, everything they go through to achieve their dream of being on stage, how the journey is not easy and even after, success is not something they can maintain, how much they have to fight for and everything they can lose in the process. Eun Jo and Annie are proof of this, since all they wanted was to be together and, after all, fate was cruel to them. Eun Jo gave up on his dream when Annie killed herself. This part could have been better explored in the drama, but the tribute they did by singing Eun Jo and Annie's song was beautiful, so moving.

The romance between Ryoc and Ma Ha is sweet, it really is a cute and innocent style, which suited the actors well. What stands out in both of them are the funny moments, since it's hilarious to see Ryoc's jealous fits. When Ma Ha was filming the sitcom, I died laughing at Ryoc getting so jealous and wanting to kill everyone, when the director asked to redo Ma Ha's kiss scene. HAHA'

For me it was a delightful drama to watch, light, fun and that still manages to convey a very beautiful message, I recommend it <3

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"Strangers Again" is a drama about Ha Ra and Eun Beom, a former lawyer couple who end up becoming rivals in court.

I'm a huge fan of Kang So Ra, so I had high expectations for the drama, and it's really good.

I loved how the relationship between Ha Ra and Eun Beom is developed. It's very realistic; anyone can relate to the fights, the differences in thinking and values, whether they want children, the role of each person within the marriage. All of this built up and ultimately led to their divorce... but that's where the story gets interesting, because we have a couple who ended their relationship abruptly and wrongly, but when they met again, they end up getting a second chance to start over or end their relationship properly.

Honestly, Ha Ra was very brave to want to have a relationship with Eun Beom again after what he did, and they ended up not working out because Eun Beom is very selfish. I understand that he has his traumas from what happened to his sister, but it was very easy for him to abandon Ha Ra, for whatever reason. He pretended he had a lover because married life wasn't quite what he thought it was and then he broke up with Ha Ra because he thought she was going to force a baby into their relationship. A real marriage is made up of the union between the two, there have to be sincere conversations, that's why Ha Ra and Eun Beom didn't end up together, they didn't have a future and there was no point in trying to patch up something that was broken, the only solution is move on. But at least I liked that in the end Eun Beom went looking for help.

In addition to focusing on the couple, we also have the case studies of the firm they work for, which are very interesting.

The drama also raises a very intriguing question: is it possible to become a stranger to someone you were married to? Break that bond completely?

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"Narco-Saints" is a drama about a man named In Gu. He had a difficult childhood, lost his parents when he was young and had to raise his two siblings alone, so In Gu has always been more concerned about money than anything else. One day his friend tells him about a great job opportunity in Suriname, and the two open a business there. The problem is that In Gu ends up being arrested for drug trafficking and now an NIS agent wants him to infiltrate a cartel to arrest its leader, the pastor.

The drama surprised me positively. I didn't expect it to be good, but it is interesting and captivates your attention, but there are some mistakes in the development. The story starts at a good pace, but from episode 3 onwards it starts to drag a bit. In the end, it ends well, but since the first two episodes are great, my expectations were too high. This is another reason why the drama reminded me of "Big Bet".

Even though it's a Korean drama, basically 90% of it is spoken in English or Chinese, so what I can say is that watching this story is really a multicultural experience, besides being able to see the actors practicing their english! HAHAHA'

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"Never Twice" is a family drama about the members of Nakwon Inn. They were strangers until they started living together and became a family.

Bak Ha is a young woman who became a widow and a mother on the same day. She doesn't believe that her husband committed suicide, so Bak Ha sets out to find the truth. Eun Ji and Poong Ki are always looking for a way to get rich, even if it means marrying someone older for money. Woo Jae is a kind young man who tries to become a famous golfer so he can be with his girlfriend Hae Ri. Man Ho and Geum Hee arrive at the inn with the intention of killing themselves because everything has gone wrong in their lives, but after spending time with this people, they want to start over. Mak Rye is the owner of the inn and Geo Bok is someone from her past who returns after 50 years. These are the main characters of the drama and the story develops around them.

Bak Ha is basically the main character, as the focus is on her search for the truth behind her husband's death. In the process, she meets Hae Joon, the director of the hotel where her husband worked and the owner's grandson. Hae Joon found himself helping Bak Ha whenever she needed it and, because of that, fell in love with her.

The romance between Bak Ha and Hae Joon is the sweetest, the two have incredible chemistry, they are cute, funny and very romantic. I loved how Hae Joon became Yeol Mu's father, he embraced the child as if he were his own, but the problems begin when Hae Joon finds out that his mother was involved in Bak Ha's husband's death. But in the end, everything works out and the two get together.

The drama is funny, easy to watch and all the characters are captivating. Besides the main couple, I also loved seeing Eun Ji and Poong Ki, these two were really meant to be together from the beginning.

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"Love & Secret" is the story of a single mother named Ah Reum. She was studying in the US and got pregnant, but her boyfriend cheated on her and married another woman, leaving Ah Reum to take care of everything alone. Upon returning to Korea, she meets Sung Woon on the plane and their lives become intertwined as she gets a job at the company he works for.

Ah Reum tries to hide the truth from her family, but they end up finding out about Tiffany, her daughter. At first, they are against it, but after spending time with Tiffany, the whole family falls in love with her. The same happens with Sung Woon: he didn't like Ah Reum, but he falls in love with her easily, but since he has a fiancée, he keeps his feelings secret.

When Phillip returns, Ah Reum's family tries to get the two back together, and she does so by trying to forget Sung Woon, but it doesn't work and this is the first reason why Phillip became Ah Reum's enemy. She used him to try to forget another man and their relationship was ruined after that. Phillip was not a good person, he left Ah Reum for a rich woman and came back as if nothing had happened, but Ah Reum shouldn't have used him like that if she didn't have feelings for him anymore.

The romance between Ah Reum and Sung Woon is the weak point of the drama, because they have no chemistry on screen. The two fall in love too quickly, they haven't even known each other for long, and the drama also doesn't give them time to become a couple, everything about them is very confusing and rushed.

What really captivated me was Ah Reum's journey as a mother. Seeing this young woman struggling alone in a foreign country, giving birth with no one by her side and returning home afraid to tell her parents, fearing their reaction. The two scenes where Ah Reum's parents find out the truth are shocking; they just couldn't believe it, and it broke her heart. Ah Reum didn't have much time to be happy. She tried to stay with Phillip thinking about Tiffany, but she couldn't forget her feelings for Sung Woon. After that, Phillip tried everything to take Tiffany away from Ah Reum, even though the baby's life was at risk, Phillip only agreed to be the transplant donor in exchange for custody of Tiffany. Thank God that in the end, Phillip finally acted like a father and let Tiffany stay with Ah Reum.
This mother-daughter relationship is the reason why the drama is worth watching!

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"Singing All Along" is a drama about people who want to change the world.

Li Hua is a strange young woman who comes from a wealthy family, but she doesn't care about any of that, she wants to be free. When she was a child, she met Liu Xiu and couldn't forget him, even after many years. The two meet again just as Liu Xiu and his brother Bo Sheng are starting a revolution. Li Hua has always wanted to do something to help the people, so she joins them disguised as a man.

I started watching this drama with a completely different idea of ​​how it would be. I really didn't expect it to unfold this way. I thought we would see an epic romance between Li Hua and Liu Xiu, that we would see their love overcome all barriers and always win, but it wasn't like that, mainly because, throughout the drama, both characters disappointed me a lot.

Liu Xiu became too ambitious and took certain actions that I didn’t expect, and Li Hua, who seemed like such an independent woman, clung to Liu Xiu, put her pride aside, and sometimes it was so frustrating that I wanted to hit her and talk some sense into that woman. I understand that she left Liu Xiu so that he could become emperor, that he had a destiny greater than just her, it was her choice, so when she decided to come back and be his concubine, it was the wrong decision. She was the one who did everything and Liu Xiu took the credit, became emperor, and in the process, basically her entire family died.

After Feng Er’s death, I thought that Li Hua would wake up and leave Liu Xiu, but she still forgave him and stayed. He always said that Li Hua was the only one for him, that he married Shang Tong because he had no other option, but during the years shown in the story, Liu Xiu had six children with Shang Tong, which means that he continued to sleep with her after Li Hua returned and no one forced him to do so.

Another problem with the drama is that during these 50 episodes, many years of story were developed, until in the last episodes everything was very rushed, they tried to put too much information in a short space of time and this was very clear. I was disappointed, but the drama is not bad, it has many mistakes, mainly because of the main couple. If the writers had chosen to highlight Li Hua and let her leave Liu Xiu, like what happened in "Goodbye My Princess" and "Fighting For Love", the ending would have been better.

One of the positive points of this drama are the supporting characters like Gong Sun, Ding Rou, Feng Er, Deng Yu, Hu Po and Xing Er, who gave a special touch to the story and were much more captivating than the main characters!

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"Cruel Romance" is a love story between Jing Xiu and Zuo Zhen.

Jing Xiu is a young woman from a small town who comes to Shanghai in search of her sister after her parents' death. One day, she meets a man and helps him escape from a terrible situation. This man is Zuo Zhen, the most powerful man in the city. Everyone is afraid of him, but since Jing Xiu helped him, Zuo Zhen tries to return the favor by helping her when she needs it.

Her sister's name is Ming Zhu, she is married to a rich, older man and does not recognize Jing Xiu as her sister, rejecting the girl whenever she tries to talk to her. Ming Zhu did not marry for love; in fact, the person she likes is Ying Dong, her husband's brother, but she wanted a better life where she didn't have to worry about money, so she chose Han Chuan and abandoned Ying Dong.

The romance between Jing Xiu and Zuo Zhen is sweet, as is the chemistry between them. At first, they fight like children, but since Jing Xiu saved Zuo Zhen a few times, he ends up falling in love with her. The problem is that Jing Xiu doesn't like him that way and Zuo Zhen tries to win her over at all costs. He doesn't understand why she doesn't like him, but Jing Xiu only reciprocates his feelings when she sees that Zuo Zhen really cares about her, that she's not just a property, someone he can use and throw away.

The drama is good, but something that really bothered me was Zhuo Zhen's possessiveness. I didn't like how he treated Jing Xiu sometimes. I know it was his way of showing his feelings, but sometimes it was a bit too much, and on top of that, the only version I could find of this drama is dubbed and the voices were really horrible. HAHAHA'

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"Pump Up The Healthy Love" is a fitness drama.

Mi Ran doesn't have luck with love, she was basically dumped by her boyfriend because of her looks, so she decides to start working out to change her life. The person who helps her is the gym director, Hyeon Joong, a man who is obsessed with fitness and a total weirdo. These two, along with the other gym members, are the main characters in this story.

It was the first drama I watched that focused on a gym and I loved the way they developed this environment, it made it clear that the gym is not just a place for thin or muscular people, that exercising is not just for those who want to lose weight, but to get healthy, that the standard of beauty does not have to be the same for everyone, we are beautiful the way we are, self-love is the first step to healing.

The romance is not really the strong point of this drama. In fact, I didn't care if Mi Ran and Hyeon Joong became a couple or not. I didn't see much chemistry between them, so when they did become a couple, it was cute, but nothing really interesting.

The drama is light, funny and easy to watch, but something that ruined it a bit for me was the way they used CGI in some scenes, especially when it involved Hyeon Joong. Lee Jun Young is a very fit actor, but he doesn't have the body of a bodybuilder, so they just put his head on someone else's body. Why didn't the writers cast a more muscular man or even a real bodybuilder? It would have given the drama more credibility.

Yun Sung Bin's cameo was amazing <3

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"Oh My Venus" is a romantic comedy about Kang Joo Eun. When she was a teenager, Joo Eun was the most popular girl in school, her beauty impressed everyone, she even was nicknamed Daegu Venus, but when she became an adult, she ended up letting her weight increase and before she knew it, it was out of control. One day she meets Young Ho on a plane trip, he saves her and their lives become intertwined from that moment on, as Joo Eun asks Young Ho for help to lose weight and get her old appearance back.

The story is light, fun and easy to watch. The romance between Young Ho and Joo Eun is very cute, it matched the pace of the story very well. I didn't expect anything too passionate because So Ji Sub is not that good at very intense romantic scenes, for the style of the drama he was perfect, since Joo Eun was the more extroverted of the couple.

Soo Jin is an unnecessary character, just like Joo Eun's ex-boyfriend, Woo Shik. The two of them don't really serve the story, especially since watching them become a couple isn't something that interests the viewer.

I liked it because the drama focused a lot on Joon Sung and Ji Woong, Young Ho's two companions, since they became friends with Joo Eun. The romance between Joon Sung and Yi Jin is very cute, it's really hard not to like her and I have to applaud her persistence in trying to make him fall in love. HAHA'

The drama's only mistake was that it didn't show Joo Eun gradually losing weight. She was chubby at the beginning, clearly wearing clothes that were bigger than she should be wearing, but then suddenly in episode 5 she had basically lost all the weight. It seemed like there was no more purpose to her weight loss process from then on, because she had already achieved her goal. That's why I think they should have extended this more and there was also no remarkable moment showing that she managed to lose weight. They decided to follow a more natural path in this part, but honestly I wanted to see a scene focused on this, it was important to the story, even if it is somewhat cliché.

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"Five Children" is a family drama about Mi Jung and Sang Tae and their journey to get married and be happy together.

Mi Jung got divorced because her husband was cheating on her with her friend. The problem is that Mi Jung didn't have the courage to tell her children the truth and lied to them that their father was working abroad. Obviously, they would find out at some point, especially since their father was living with his mistress very close by. Mi Jung wanted to protect her children, while her ex-husband was only concerned about his new wife. The situation with Sang Tae is quite different. His wife passed away, so he has to raise his children alone. The main issue is that Sang Tae has no interest in getting married again, since he lives with his deceased wife's parents, but his parents want him to move on and start his life over. The lives of these two people intertwine and they end up falling in love.

The relationship between Mi Jung and Sang Tae is very beautiful and extremely realistic. It's not a simple love story. They took everything into consideration before deciding to get married, because they knew it would change their children's lives completely. The biggest obstacle was the children, and that was something to be expected. They were friends and at first they even liked the idea of ​​being siblings, but the reality was too much for them. Bin and Soo pretended that they were just hanging out there, they didn't consider it their home, while Woo Young and Woo Ri didn't accept Sang Tae as their father. The situation got so bad that Mi Jung and Sang Tae almost got divorced, but thankfully, in the end everything worked out and they became one big happy family!

In addition to the main couple, we have three other supporting characters. Ho Tae and Soon Young are the most boring couple. Tae Min and Jin Joo are cute, but they can't compare to Yeon Tae and Sang Min, who are amazing together. From the beginning, I knew they were perfect for each other and the story showed that. Sang Min changed so much since meeting Yeon Tae and she became someone more open and expressive because of him. Watching the whole process of Sang Min making Yeon Tae fall in love with him was very entertaining, but nothing beats the scene where he confesses his feelings for her and is rejected almost immediately! HAHAHA'

One of the great positive points of the drama is the way the story dealt with Sang Tae's ex-in-laws. In everything that happened, they would be the ones who would be the most affected, because with Sang Tae getting married again, the children would be raised by another woman and they would lose their place. It was beautiful the way Mi Jung embraced them as part of the family, even when they almost drove her crazy, it clearly showed the beautiful heart she has.

At the time, the drama portrayed a very controversial subject in South Korea: remarriage. Nowadays, this is something common and developed very easily in dramas, but in 2016 it was a bold narrative choice, not only because of the marriage itself, but everything that involves it, especially because of the children. The drama managed to beautifully show that neither surname nor blood makes a family, but rather the love between people and the willpower to continue, despite the obstacles in the way.

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"Café Minamdang " is an investigation drama about a famous fake shaman named Han Joon, who deceives others by saying he has powers, when in reality he has a group of people working for him, finding the information he needs; he is basically a con artist. He seems like a person without any worries in life, but Han Joon hides a secret. Jae Hee is a detective who won't give up on a case until she finds the culprit. They met when Jae Hee was younger and it was Han Joon who made her want to be a police officer, but now he is far from the person in her memories.

In each case, Han Joon and Jae Hee end up getting closer again, since Han Joon is always somehow involved and this has to do with the real reason for all of this. Jae Hee's brother was a friend of Han Joon's and he ended up dying at the hands of a serial killer. Han Joon has been searching for the culprit ever since and Jae Hee joins him to find the killer's identity together.

The comedy is the highlight of the story, even though it is a very caricatured and childish humor, that was what caught my attention the most, especially in the interactions between Han Joon and Jae Hee, their romance ends up taking a back seat.

The revelation that Do Won was the killer came as a surprise, it was one of the few times I didn't guess who the culprit was, maybe because I really liked the character and him being the person who killed Jae Hee's brother would be very cruel, especially considering the friendship she thought they had. His personality change when we find out the truth is impressive, completely different. That fun guy literally becomes a psychopath!

It's a light, fun and easy to watch drama. The soundtrack is amazing, I can't stop singing "Stay Here" <3

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"A Superior Day" is a psychological thriller about Ho Cheol, a firefighter who witnesses a murder. His wife is a police officer, who advises him not to tell anyone about what he saw, for fear of what the killer might do. The problem is that their daughter Soo Ah is kidnapped and Ho Cheol only has 24 hours to discover the identity of the killer, to save his daughter.

There is a big problem in the development of the story. First of all, Tae Jin is a weird character. He is a hitman, who kidnaps Soo Ah so that Ho Cheol can find the so-called "Rich Girl Killer", because this serial killer tarnished his record by killing one of his victims. Is that the ridiculous purpose of this guy?! So the story here is basically two psychopaths who are fighting because they wanted to kill the same person, the big problem is that Shi Woo killed her first and that's what caused all this.

The way they kept throwing Soo Ah, Ho Cheol's daughter, from Tae Jin to Shi Woo and poor Ho Cheol who was looking for her like a fool, didn't make much sense and also what was that "painting" Shi Woo was trying to do with the people he killed? And the worst part was that we had to listen to him calling himself superior, perfect. He even cut off his own hand to complete that ridiculous thing.

Honestly, it would work better as a movie. Yes, the drama only has 8 episodes, but it's like they keep repeating the same thing, over and over again, it gets tiring after a while.
Lee Won Geun didn't work as a psychopathic serial killer, he just seemed crazy to me the whole time, that's all. HAHA'

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"The Secret House" is a drama about Ji Hwan, a young man who loves to help others, and Tae Hyung, a rich and spoiled young man who always tries to harm him because he is jealous. Between them there is Ju Hong, who is in love with Ji Hwan, but who Tae Hyung is in love with, and Tae Hee, Tae Hyung's sister who is secretly in love with Ji Hwan. Complicated, isn't it? It can get worse.

Ji Hwan's life is turned upside down when his mother disappears and his sister Min Young becomes pregnant with Tae Hyung. Min Young abandons the baby and Ji Hwan decides to raise the child as his own. Years pass and Min Young returns, but only as Sol's aunt. She discovers that Tae Hyung is involved in her mother's disappearance and when she goes to question him about it, Tae Hyung kills her to hide the truth.

Sol, Ji Hwan's daughter, becomes ill and Tae Hee uses this opportunity to get what she always wanted. Tae Hee makes an evil scheme, tricking Ji Hwan into saying she will save Sol, just so he will marry her. To save Sol's life, Ji Hwan accepts this proposal and also because he wants revenge against Tae Hyung and his mother. From then on, the story, which was already bad, only gets worse.

Tae Hee kills Ju Hong's father because he witnessed the accident in which Tae Hyung ran over Ji Hwan's mother. Since he was going to tell the truth, Tae Hee killed him. Ju Hong then goes through the same madness as Ji Hwan and agrees to marry Tae Hyung, to get revenge against Tae Hee. It's a bit pathetic that they both make the same plan. Where's the creativity?

Ji Hwan and Tae Hyung discover that they are half-brothers, but later in the story, the truth turns out to be different. Ji Hwan's mother shows up alive, even though Tae Hyung tried to kill her twice. And also Min Young's twin sister who appears out of nowhere. This means that five characters in the drama discover birth secrets: Ji Hwan, Min Young, Sol, Tae Hyung and Tae Hee. I think that's why the drama is called that, everyone in that house has secrets.

This drama wasn't even a disappointment, because from the beginning you could tell it was going to be bad, I only kept watching because I had started. The story seems to just repeat itself, the same subjects being developed over and over again, and there's nothing interesting. Not even the characters captivate your attention, none of them. A total waste of time.

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"Cinderella Game" is a revenge drama about Goo Ha Na, who was adopted as a child by an incredible family, but by a twist of fate her parents end up dying in a car accident while they were going to her piano performance. Ha Na becomes an adult, but she keeps the guilt inside her all this time. She grows up to be a very good person, she even raises the son of her friend from the orphanage who died. This friend is the great catalyst of the story.

Yu Jin is the daughter of Shin Yeo Jin, one day she disappears while playing with her cousin Se Young. The girl loses her memories and ends up in an orphanage where she meets Ha Na. The two become friends. Yu Jin's mother tries to find her for several years, but without success. When she finally finds her daughter's whereabouts, it is to discover that she is dead, but has a son named Eun Chong. Yeo Jin then creates a plan to get her grandson, who is being raised by Ha Na... turn her into her daughter Yu Jin.

This whole plot was kind of stupid in my opinion, because it wouldn't be possible to hide the truth for long and honestly, Ha Na believing it in the first place was really absurd. There were several conflicting facts and she simply decided to ignore it. I think if the story portrayed Ha Na actually finding her biological parents, if Yeo Jin was really her mother, it would have been a much better development.

Besides, what was the point of all the wrong things Yeo Jin did? Ha Na and her family forgave everything in the end and they formed a big happy family. And what about the whole story about their parents' death? She wasn't involved in the accident, but she robbed their factory and when Ji Seok came to her for help, Yeo Jin ignored him. She deceived Ha Na, saying she was her mother, then tried to steal Eun Chong in every possible way, even messing with Ha Na's siblings in the process and seriously, Ha Na agreed to be adopted by her? Where does that make any sense?

Se Young doesn't have the energy of a villain, she's actually a pretty pathetic character and Park Riwon's acting is very weak.

The romance is terrible, for lack of another word. Ha Na and Jin Goo have no chemistry at all on screen, in fact I was rooting much more for her and Ji Seok to become a couple... Just to have a comparison, I preferred her with her brother, at least it would be more interesting and also since the two are not biological siblings, it wouldn't be anything too shocking.

There's no revenge whatsoever in this drama, if that's what you're expecting, choose something else to watch. Ha Na is a disappointing character, when she returns after finding out the truth about her parents' death, I thought we'd see someone else, but she fools you for a few episodes and then comes back with that submissive personality. It's a waste of time and since it has 101 episodes, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

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"Brocade Odyssey" is a drama about Ji Ying Ying, a young woman who is independent and doesn't care much about other people's opinions. She works with embroidery and dyeing clothes, following her father's tradition and trying to clear his name of the crime he didn't commit and that caused his death. One day she meets Jing Lan, an officer who instantly takes an interest in her and helps Ying Ying in all the difficulties that come her way.

Ying Ying has someone she has liked since she was a child and that person is Xiu Yang, the two are promised to get married, but fate interferes and Xiu Yang ends up marrying someone else to protect Ying Ying... the problem is that after that he becomes a completely different person, there was no way to continue rooting for him after that, but at least in the end he found redemption for everything he had done, helping Ying Ying and the others come back home after being kidnapped by Prince Bai.

The relationship between Ying Ying and Jing Lan is cute and captivating. It takes a while for them to become a couple, but the way it happens is quite remarkable, with Jing Lan stealing Ying Ying and marrying her instead of his brother. After that, the two have some good scenes, their romance is cute, but not impressive.

What ends up being most captivating about the drama is not the romance, but rather Ji Ying Ying's journey in the brocade market, breaking new ground and becoming an example, a woman who owns a business. The big problem is that the story drags on after episode 30. I think if the drama had fewer episodes, it would have been better, because it ended up getting tiring after that.

The soundtrack is very good, specially "Red" by Mao Buy.

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