● This wasn't necessarily bad but it's definitely overrated, a 9.0/10 average seems highly inaccurate.
● About the elephant in the room: The beginning had me a little bit freaked out. Using the same grown male actor alongside a younger actress in those first scenes was a bizarre choice. I'm aware that your appearance is less likely to change once you're in college, but 14 to 17 doesn't change your face that much either, they could've had one actress for her too. And then there's the high school scenes with Zhao Lusi (who's fantastic) and they had her do a baby voice and act like she's 11 even tho she was 17... another odd choice. The age gap didn't bother me as much as these few things did... I think if you make an age-gap romance, the least you could do is not infantilize the FL. The ML wasn't really problematic, in the sense that he didn't look at her romantically at all till they met again in college, I think that's what makes me not have an issue with the age gap.
● The entire time I was way more into her brother than the ML, and only halfway though the drama did I find out that he's supposed to be the lead on First Frost. I'm not sure why they changed the actor because from all the videos I've seen of the first frost, the other actor had such a different vibe to the point where they don't even seem like the same character. I might still watch it bc I do like the character, but damn I wish they kept the same actor, he has less of an idol look (despite Victor Ma kinda being an idol lol), which I appreciated.
● The sibling dynamic and their interactions were really cute and realistic and reminded me a lot of mine. I loved how Sang Yan dealt with the situation once he found out, I think his initial anger was totally justified, but he still went about it in a non-misogynistic kinda way, and I appreciated that too.
● I liked how protective Sang Zhi was over Duan Jiaxu, it was really sweet and a trope that I love much more than the typical protective ML
● Her mom/Zeng Li is sooooo finneeeee lmao I'm sorry... Her and her son were the nicest things on my screen
Unfortunately I will be dropping this after 11 episodes.
I thought the game/roleplay concept was super cool and I really like both of the actors (especially the actress), so I was pretty excited for this
Here are some of my honest thoughts after dropping..
side note: if you still haven't seen this, I do encourage you to try a few episodes before forming your on opinion on this, especially if you're someone who loves romcoms. I personally lean more towards the Romance genre (Romance, not romcom) so my opinion might be a little biased in that sense... Also this is after just 11 episodes, and who knows? maybe it magically gets better as it keeps going.
• I wasn't expecting this (at all) to be an office drama so I was really surprised when it became a boss/employee kinda thing???
• I found it really hard to like the ML, he did so many things that genuinely irritated me; the way he was constantly manhandling her and dragging her around (without telling her his plans/reasons) while she meekly followed him without protest, his whole nonchalant act and just being plain rude most of the time (✨but it's okay cuz he means well and secretly likes her!! ✨🤪), also the whole "My hand hurts because of YOU so you better do this and that for me😤" was so immature and very manchild-like, and yeah sure he was doing it bc he wanted to spend more time with her (and wanted to get her out of bed rotting at some point) but it just felt so disrespectful and condescending..
• I really didn't like how their dynamic was written. He's portrayed as better than her/superior in every single way (except cooking... shocker) and ik some of the audience might not really find an issue with that and ig it's not necessarily a bAD thing–writing wise–but it is a bad thing if you care about complex female characters and a sense of equality in relationships
• I thought the FL was just really underdeveloped, in terms of how she was written.. She's likeable and didn't trigger me the way the ML did but she was definitely lacking and felt very flat and personality-less whenever she was with him.
• This point is a little silly, but this show really reminded me of turkish dramas lmao (I've seen my fair share)
I mean it is a female centric drama and family drama. So you will see the family more so than the Female lead…
Oh yeah I've definitely noticed that a lot of people were hating on it for no reason, and the 1.0 ratings are so immature and silly. I hope the sincere ratings overshadow the spam ones! I personally don't rate a drama unless I finish it, and if I do finish it, I'd never go that low (my lowest was a 3.5 for the kdrama Her Private Life but I truly truly HATED that show 🤣 but I was really curious about what happens)
I can see why it holds a special meaning, I had no idea about the cultural significance of ink in China. In this way, this drama is really informative
Also it's not that I don't like the drama, I'm just not enjoying the direction it's going in at the moment but I'm definitely still giving it a chance :)
And don't worry, English isn't my first language either, I'd never judge someone for imperfect grammar <3
Maybe you should write your own drama, since you know better than experienced screenwriters.
I'm not sure where you got that from, but in my second bullet point, I made it very clear that I'm interested in the FL's story.
Also maybe if you're bored enough, you can scroll my comment history to find my positive feedback on this drama so far...
I get that you really wanna defend a show that you love, but consider defending it with nuance rather than jumping at the first person with a valid criticism..
Don't watch this drama then, if it upsets you so much, find other dramas that will fit you instead. :-)
Haha idk why you assumed it upset me "so much", maybe because I wrote a lot? (or maybe bc I said her family was frustratingly boring?) but no I'm not upset, I just love to elaborate instead of leaving a 2 word vague comment.
I haven't decided to stop watching. I love the FL and the actress that plays her, and I love the concept of the show, it has me genuinely interested in learning about ink. And I think it would work better if it focuses more on the main character and her journey with ink making, rather than the family dynamics. Just because someone criticized a certain thing about a drama doesn't mean they think the whole project is hopeless!
thoughts so far: (mostly negative this time, sorry)
● I feel like the plot is losing me a bit with these last few episodes ● I'm very interested in the FL's individual story and I really couldn't care less about her family (excluding the eighth branch) their family drama is really boringly frustrating to watch.. I wish the story would stray from them a bit but it's not looking like that's gonna happen anytime soon (probably the opposite will) ● I really want her to advance with her own shop and not have anything to do with them but it feels kinda useless to hope for that, considering the title of the drama is "The Heir" ● idk if I'm just too unforgiving or if the FL is too forgiving, but I'm finding it hard to understand how she became all lovey dovey with her grandma again... Grandma might not have been a direct aggressor, but she had a really big role in what happened to the eighth branch, and even when she did defend Li Zhen, it always was half-hearted like she never actually put her foot down and fully asserted that her family will no longer bully Li Zhen... so yeah, I don't really care about grandma either ● Still on the topic of her family, I feel like I'm watching a group of grown men and women act like 13 year olds, which can be realistic for a few episodes but not when it keeps going for half of the show (and clearly will keep going)
when the lead get together ? are they breaking up ? is there any love triangle ?
1- This isn't a romance 2- there is romantic love involved but the romance itself is very minor and vague 3- there was never a clear checkpoint of "when they got together" 4- there's no breakup 5- no love triangle
what does this even mean? what's an "extreme-natured" character to you?
Hmm, I think the ML's brother was neither too good nor too bad. The grandmother is also neither good or bad.. She caused trauma for the FL but still loves her and is trying to take care of her while still banishing her family, I'd say that's pretty complex. Also the show is still new, there's a lot of time for the characters to start showing more complex behavior
● idk if the ML actor dubs himself or if another voice actor does, but I LOVE his voice ! ● Yang Zi always makes me care about her characters. I feel protective over the FL, the last scene of her crying had me wanting to fight that old man (even tho I like him too) ● The chemistry between her and Qi Jiu feels soooo organic, their conversations flow so naturally, I'm not used to seeing that in dramas.. damn it's always the non-romance stories that have the best romantic chemistry
I think it's a waste of YX character, and I can't even be sad because I don't care. They killed a character that…
Him dying isn't new though. His heart condition had been established since the show started, and he mentioned Xue Qing Lan signing up to be a widow a long time ago. The doctor saying he only had 3 years was not a surprise at all, my thoughts during that scene were "I thought we all kinda knew this already"
I also don't think the ending was rushed at all, we had 4 episodes of high stakes on a low-stakes show, with 2 prep episodes that led up to them. It was just the right pacing, from a writing perspective. There was no other way this could've been done, unless maybe if they dragged out the action for more episodes, which wouldn't have made any sense with the themes of the show. I think a lot of drama-viewers are used to having a few future scenes where everything is calm and steady, but I personally I don't think it's necessary at all for a good ending. The scene of the leads walking out of the fire was such a perfectly cinematic ending. Not every story needs a time jump.
And how is it a waste of a character? he had amazing development, they gave him such grace towards the end, in a way that I'm sure even people who hated his character still liked him by then, and then he died with a purpose. His death wasn't random or unnecessary unlike some characters in dramas that add a random death for an emotional cheat-code. It made so much sense, he spent his entire life away from the military because of his illness, and then his illness ended up closing up on him anyways, but he managed to die a military death, living the life that he was always deprived of. It was a poetic ending for him, not a waste at all !
my thoughts on this, overall:
● This wasn't necessarily bad but it's definitely overrated, a 9.0/10 average seems highly inaccurate.
● About the elephant in the room: The beginning had me a little bit freaked out. Using the same grown male actor alongside a younger actress in those first scenes was a bizarre choice. I'm aware that your appearance is less likely to change once you're in college, but 14 to 17 doesn't change your face that much either, they could've had one actress for her too. And then there's the high school scenes with Zhao Lusi (who's fantastic) and they had her do a baby voice and act like she's 11 even tho she was 17... another odd choice. The age gap didn't bother me as much as these few things did... I think if you make an age-gap romance, the least you could do is not infantilize the FL. The ML wasn't really problematic, in the sense that he didn't look at her romantically at all till they met again in college, I think that's what makes me not have an issue with the age gap.
● The entire time I was way more into her brother than the ML, and only halfway though the drama did I find out that he's supposed to be the lead on First Frost. I'm not sure why they changed the actor because from all the videos I've seen of the first frost, the other actor had such a different vibe to the point where they don't even seem like the same character. I might still watch it bc I do like the character, but damn I wish they kept the same actor, he has less of an idol look (despite Victor Ma kinda being an idol lol), which I appreciated.
● The sibling dynamic and their interactions were really cute and realistic and reminded me a lot of mine. I loved how Sang Yan dealt with the situation once he found out, I think his initial anger was totally justified, but he still went about it in a non-misogynistic kinda way, and I appreciated that too.
● I liked how protective Sang Zhi was over Duan Jiaxu, it was really sweet and a trope that I love much more than the typical protective ML
● Her mom/Zeng Li is sooooo finneeeee lmao I'm sorry... Her and her son were the nicest things on my screen
I thought the game/roleplay concept was super cool and I really like both of the actors (especially the actress), so I was pretty excited for this
Here are some of my honest thoughts after dropping..
side note: if you still haven't seen this, I do encourage you to try a few episodes before forming your on opinion on this, especially if you're someone who loves romcoms. I personally lean more towards the Romance genre (Romance, not romcom) so my opinion might be a little biased in that sense... Also this is after just 11 episodes, and who knows? maybe it magically gets better as it keeps going.
• I wasn't expecting this (at all) to be an office drama so I was really surprised when it became a boss/employee kinda thing???
• I found it really hard to like the ML, he did so many things that genuinely irritated me; the way he was constantly manhandling her and dragging her around (without telling her his plans/reasons) while she meekly followed him without protest, his whole nonchalant act and just being plain rude most of the time (✨but it's okay cuz he means well and secretly likes her!! ✨🤪), also the whole "My hand hurts because of YOU so you better do this and that for me😤" was so immature and very manchild-like, and yeah sure he was doing it bc he wanted to spend more time with her (and wanted to get her out of bed rotting at some point) but it just felt so disrespectful and condescending..
• I really didn't like how their dynamic was written. He's portrayed as better than her/superior in every single way (except cooking... shocker) and ik some of the audience might not really find an issue with that and ig it's not necessarily a bAD thing–writing wise–but it is a bad thing if you care about complex female characters and a sense of equality in relationships
• I thought the FL was just really underdeveloped, in terms of how she was written.. She's likeable and didn't trigger me the way the ML did but she was definitely lacking and felt very flat and personality-less whenever she was with him.
• This point is a little silly, but this show really reminded me of turkish dramas lmao (I've seen my fair share)
I can see why it holds a special meaning, I had no idea about the cultural significance of ink in China. In this way, this drama is really informative
Also it's not that I don't like the drama, I'm just not enjoying the direction it's going in at the moment but I'm definitely still giving it a chance :)
And don't worry, English isn't my first language either, I'd never judge someone for imperfect grammar <3
Also maybe if you're bored enough, you can scroll my comment history to find my positive feedback on this drama so far...
I get that you really wanna defend a show that you love, but consider defending it with nuance rather than jumping at the first person with a valid criticism..
I haven't decided to stop watching. I love the FL and the actress that plays her, and I love the concept of the show, it has me genuinely interested in learning about ink. And I think it would work better if it focuses more on the main character and her journey with ink making, rather than the family dynamics. Just because someone criticized a certain thing about a drama doesn't mean they think the whole project is hopeless!
Not every criticism is a personal attack..
(mostly negative this time, sorry)
● I feel like the plot is losing me a bit with these last few episodes
● I'm very interested in the FL's individual story and I really couldn't care less about her family (excluding the eighth branch) their family drama is really boringly frustrating to watch.. I wish the story would stray from them a bit but it's not looking like that's gonna happen anytime soon (probably the opposite will)
● I really want her to advance with her own shop and not have anything to do with them but it feels kinda useless to hope for that, considering the title of the drama is "The Heir"
● idk if I'm just too unforgiving or if the FL is too forgiving, but I'm finding it hard to understand how she became all lovey dovey with her grandma again... Grandma might not have been a direct aggressor, but she had a really big role in what happened to the eighth branch, and even when she did defend Li Zhen, it always was half-hearted like she never actually put her foot down and fully asserted that her family will no longer bully Li Zhen... so yeah, I don't really care about grandma either
● Still on the topic of her family, I feel like I'm watching a group of grown men and women act like 13 year olds, which can be realistic for a few episodes but not when it keeps going for half of the show (and clearly will keep going)
2- there is romantic love involved but the romance itself is very minor and vague
3- there was never a clear checkpoint of "when they got together"
4- there's no breakup
5- no love triangle
a large portion of the show was about letting go of anger and resentment
● idk if the ML actor dubs himself or if another voice actor does, but I LOVE his voice !
● Yang Zi always makes me care about her characters. I feel protective over the FL, the last scene of her crying had me wanting to fight that old man (even tho I like him too)
● The chemistry between her and Qi Jiu feels soooo organic, their conversations flow so naturally, I'm not used to seeing that in dramas.. damn it's always the non-romance stories that have the best romantic chemistry
I also don't think the ending was rushed at all, we had 4 episodes of high stakes on a low-stakes show, with 2 prep episodes that led up to them. It was just the right pacing, from a writing perspective. There was no other way this could've been done, unless maybe if they dragged out the action for more episodes, which wouldn't have made any sense with the themes of the show. I think a lot of drama-viewers are used to having a few future scenes where everything is calm and steady, but I personally I don't think it's necessary at all for a good ending. The scene of the leads walking out of the fire was such a perfectly cinematic ending. Not every story needs a time jump.
And how is it a waste of a character? he had amazing development, they gave him such grace towards the end, in a way that I'm sure even people who hated his character still liked him by then, and then he died with a purpose. His death wasn't random or unnecessary unlike some characters in dramas that add a random death for an emotional cheat-code. It made so much sense, he spent his entire life away from the military because of his illness, and then his illness ended up closing up on him anyways, but he managed to die a military death, living the life that he was always deprived of. It was a poetic ending for him, not a waste at all !