Promising start but disappointing final arc
Story: I did not find the premise too intriguing or special, but it was mostly well-executed. I can definitely tell this was meant to be an idol drama as they had lovely production sets and the drama was very aesthetic, which can take the focus out for a viewer because who would believe that a general would put on makeup and still look relatively unscathed after going through a war... The synopsis did draw me in enough for me to watch this, but I felt that the story fell flat on its second half. As much as I love a female lead being strong and independent, it should be done in a cohesive manner but it seemed like she just got a power/strength boost and managed to take down enemies with way more experience than her despite not having been through a war before...? Make it make sense. It's also a bummer that so much of the novel was cut out from the drama like what I have heard other people say about it, because as someone who has not read the novel before, the story was truly a little hard to follow. New characters were introduced without any background, scenes that would have explained how character A and B met was either not shown or shown in a flashback, which ruined the watch for me.Acting/Cast: Tian Xiwei, Zhang Linghe, Snow Kong, and Deng Kai definitely served in this drama. I was taken aback by their beauty, and it was so feel-good to watch them on big screens. Point about them looking too perfect as stated above still stands though, because it ruined the immersion for me. I did think the casting was great, as everyone suited the role they were trying to portray, and TXW's acting has always been great. You could really feel her emotions and there were times where DK would make me sympathize with his character. I knew him from a different drama where he was a minor supporting character so I was blown away by how good his acting really was. Snow Kong, despite not being from an acting background, managed to stand her ground against the other actors which I'm quite surprised by.
Music: Not much to say here, I am not a fan of the OST. Reminds me of songs my parents would listen to, and we have very different tastes in music, needless to say.
Rewatch Value: Does not compel me too much for me to re-watch it.
Overall: Thought the acting was great, lovely production sets and the drama was very aesthetic. Overall, I did not find the premise special but it was mostly well-executed, with the regular splash of plot holes and lack of cohesiveness. That aside, everything else was great and I enjoyed the drama as something lighthearted and fun.
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One of the better non-romance dramas I've watched!!!
I ABSOLUTELY adore the dynamic between the employees of Tengda, it was so fun to watch them interact and go through life together! Despite being colleagues, they felt more like family instead which I loved so much. The premise was so interesting that I immediately downloaded all episodes and watched it, and I would say it lived up to my expectations for the most part. I started this drama because of its premise, stayed for the characters, but almost dropped it due to side plots that I thought took away from the main story.I LOVED the first half of the drama, but it got too convoluted with all the unnecessary side plots, such as PQ going to work at Sky Fire (what??), and the Sima brothers arc. It became a bit of a drag watching those parts because certain characters were so annoying to watch. Also, the supposed twist at the end felt weak, but I was pretty satisfied with the ending. I do think it was weird that the drama started off in the future talking about the success of Tengda while showing PQ looking weary and sick of everything, but the ending did not touch on that or even relate back to that scene which made me very confused because the ending made it seem like PQ was finally contented with what he had, but the first scene of the drama contradicts that ending? Hm...
Although they hinted at romance between certain characters, they did not develop that storyline much. Surprisingly, I did not mind that because I thought it was better without romance. I felt that romance would have taken away from the story, and that the drama absolutely did not needed that, but I felt that they should not have hinted at it if they were not planning to develop that part of the storyline any further. Felt like an unfinished piece of work.
Either way, it was at the end of the day, still a lighthearted and fun drama that I really enjoyed, so definitely give this drama a watch!
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Solid rom-com that evokes laughter with a unique twist
How Dare You's unique premise instantly caught my eye, and I thought it would be entertaining to watch two modern characters being thrust into the historical world, knowing they are both transmigrators. This is my first time watching WCR's work and I really enjoyed watching her acting. Her character had a wide emotional range that I thought was handled very well. Despite that, all the other actors stood their ground against her, especially TXT, whose acting was so convincing that I can't disassociate him with that character. CL was equally impressive, and I saw a new goofy side to him which I really liked.The comedic timing of this drama was great and I really enjoyed scenes where they had to pretend to the other characters from the novel. I also loved that XHD gave so much attention and was so biased toward YWY, and how he fell for her first and fell hard. Watching them could be pretty heart-fluttering. There were also some emotional scenes that were acted very well, and the saddest for me was XYE' s part, iykyk. I did find the plot progression to be insanely fast though, and although the story tied together pretty well, I just think the part where Prince Duan believes the foresight excuse was pretty unbelievable because he was portrayed to be a genius strategist who could predict ahead of others. I also did not think enough attention was given to XYE and Prince Duan's relationship because it seemed like they just met and the next, they were already lovers? Also, Xu Yao was made out to be such an important character yet they axed him after a few episodes and even the book that was supposedly a game changer was not mentioned much. Lastly, although XHD's headaches were mentioned, it just felt like it went from 0 to 100 with how intense his headaches got, and was much of the driving force behind the story for that part. Felt like the headaches were exaggerated to keep the story moving forward.
Aside from that, I loved the sets, costumes, makeup, and most importantly, THE MUSIC!! Haven't heard such a good OST since TTEOTM. I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of my favourite singers on the tracklist. Overall, good watch with tons of funny moments, good acting and music, and some very minor flaws that SHOULD NOT deter you from giving this drama a try! Would definitely rewatch if I'm ever in the mood to!
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