Unbelievable chemistry between the leads
Honestly, I was surprised to learn this was a mini series with about 12 minute episodes. I caught it on YouTube and thought they were cut scenes but I guess I must have been watching the full episodes.I'm on ep 23 so far and already I wish this could be longer. The ML is sexy, and while she needs saving often the FL isn't a shrinking wall flower, either. Even before they get together the chemistry between these two is epic. I've been reading comments that mention they've been together in some other production together, and after watching this I think I'll take a look at it. It was in my watch list but I nearly took it off because it has a sad ending. Here's to hoping for a happy ending in Forever Love <3
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I wanna give this a lower rating so bad...
But honestly, it's just because I'm annoyed. If I forget the last ten or so minutes of the drama, it was an amazing watch. In the first three and last three episodes, the acting seems a bit awkward, more in the beginning than the ending. It got better in the middle, though there were still some parts that seemed awkward to me, mainly coming from the FL, the second FL, and the FL's dad.I was surprised by how much I grew to like the ML. I found this show through a clip I watched on youtube, and he was threatening the FL with a gun in that clip, so I really didn't like him going in, but he totally redeems himself. It helps that I'm not trying to compare him to Lee Jeong Suk, because there's really no reason to. I've seen some unflattering comments made about him, but he's cute when he gives a genuine smile, and he's easily the best act in this show.
The drama did leave me with a lot of unanswered questions. There were also a few mistakes that I caught that weren't really explained away. The fight scenes leave much to be desired, especially in the final episodes (final 3?) Some scenes felt so forced because they were trying to stay true to W and yet they didn't make sense in this story, I don't know if it's just the sub translations that made the scenes seem off. Also, that annoying ending.
I would rewatch it, but only the parts I really want to see. And I'm going to act like that ending never happened.
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Great drama <3
Wth is with that low rating. Is it a perfect drama? No. But it hit all the right beats for me (romantic or otherwise) so I love it. I only became aware of this actor in the Taxi driver drama (although I watched one of his movies without realizing it was him) but he's quickly becoming a favorite of mine. He was a little awkward here, but I attest that more to the character than his acting skills. All actors delivered a great performance, and although there were loose ends and some missing logic (in particular, the disconnect between real-world physics and what he can do with his modified limbs) but I loved it regardless. I love, too, that the show tried to highlight some of the struggles faced by the disabled.Was this review helpful to you?
This drama never fails to make me cry, yet I still love it.
I'm honestly surprised at some of the ratings and comments I see for this drama. Was it flawless? Probably not. But I don't go into shows looking for flaws, and if nothing jumps at me, then I don't care as long as I'm entertained. I honestly don't like tear-jerkers and hate sad/tragic endings, so I don't really watch cancer shows. The only other cancer Kdrama I watched was actually a family drama, but I pretty much cut off once the cancer thing became too serious so I never did finish it. I first watched this years ago so I can't remember what prompted me to even watch it (since I'm not really that big a fan of Bae Suzy) but I imagine it might be in part to do with Kim Woo Bin (who's only other show I watched that I liked him in was School 2013.)This drama makes me cry. Even just thinking about it can make me teary. I don't rewatch it often, but I remember reading an article after I watched the drama that Kim Woo Bin had pulled out of acting because he was diagnosed with cancer in real life after this show, and I nearly had a heart attack. I cried over the drama because he was a little too realistic with his acting, and watching someone in so much pain broke me down. He's finally back into acting again after battling cancer, and I watched this again before looking at his new stuff. I've only seen trailers so far, but I'm excited!
It's still as good as I remember (but I really can't watch that last ep again, it's far too painful.)
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This review may contain spoilers
FRUSTRATING!!!!
I actually liked this in the beginning, but it fell through for me from episode 52, and mostly because of the Demon Emperor and Bai Yao Yao. I really thought BYY and Xu Xuan were the most tragic characters in this story, but no, it's the Demon Emperor. And it's the same situation for me as with Ashes of Love and Ruanyu. Both characters did things that were inexcusable, but in the end, it was their fates that led them to those ends. Thing is, if it was the leads with an unfair fate, you know they're more likely to get to their happy ending than other side characters, even less villain characters. But their happy ending with the DE's ending could not make me happy.I really hate it when they do this to a character, not exactly good but not necessarily the big evil of the world. I know it should count as good writing that even the villain is multi-faceted, but then we have an idiot like Taotie running around through the whole series and only dies out around episode 50 as well, and he was annoying for most of the time he was on screen, only his death made him somewhat sympathetic. But usually, I can accept a villain's death/tragic end no matter how sympathetic I feel towards them because they deserved it by their actions, but I just could not accept it in this case, and it's mostly because of BYY. Everyone in this world made mistakes in one way or another BYY herself made mistakes, and she championed for others who had done the same. But somehow the DE is supposed to be the biggest villain in this story and I just don't see it.
Do people just not know how to talk? How to communicate? HOW TO FREAKING EMPATHIZE!!! If someone other than his subordinates had done that for him, and especially BYY who he actually cared about, then I might have been able to accept it, but her attitude just made me dislike her character.
Even Jin Mi in Ashes of Love had some final words for Ruanyu when she was dying. But then she'd actually known him from the beginning. I didn't even finish that series, but watched a lot of clips that made me stop watching in the first 10 episodes because I knew I'd be hurting at the end for Ruanyu instead of being happy for her and Xu Feng.
Bai Yao Yao was a frustrating character in the beginning. It was understandable that she made mistakes because she didn't understand, having only just transformed into a human. But by around episode 52 when things go head to head with the demon emperor, I just can't like her anymore. She will literally empathize with every other character, no matter what evil they've done or atrocities they've committed, but she was in a position to do something about the Demon Emperor and she had zero empathy. SHE EVEN SHOWS EMPATHY TOWARDS TAOTIE OF ALL CREATURES! The entire time they met him in episode 54, she and Xu Xuan talk about how Taotie got HER into trouble and gave them a hard time, but no talk about the many people that ended up dying thanks to the plague he spread, not to mention the ones he killed personally.
And, when she had the moment to play it smart with the Demon Emperor, she completely threw it. When he, Xu Xuan and Qi Xiao(? I can never remember Ling Chu's reincarnated name) were in the temple and he started the Lotus Fire with his blood and flesh so all three of them could burn, she decided to drain water from West Lake to put out the fire and save Xu Xuan. She was TOLD that it would have consequences for the mortals, but she didn't care. When she could have literally asked the DE to give her his heart so she could stab it, and he likely would have agreed because he was dying anyway, after transferring his fate, and the fate he stole from Qi Xiao to her. In the end, there was a flood in the city, and her stupidity caused the death of many, including the baby of Xu Xuan's older human sister. She caused this knowingly for her own selfishness instead of being a bit crafty with the demon emperor, or at least trying to understand him and his motivations and working a way around it, she chose the selfish route and hurt a lot of people. Many died, others were injured, there were losses. Because demons came out to help, there was understanding with the humans, but I truly don't think it would have lasted THAT long for it to have been a true benefit after all that was sacrificed. (Episode 56.)
Because of this, seeing her beating herself up in guilt afterward, I just didn't care. Because from the beginning (though she did grow to learn better just not enough) Bai Yao Yao and Xiao Qing (green snake) failed to think of the consequences. They thought they would be the only ones affected and so, in the moment, acted impulsively with bravery, but when others were affected/needed to fix their fuckups, they cried and threw tantrums.
The Demon Emperor is just such a tragic character, and I wish he got fleshed out more in the story. Especially his relationship with his brother. In the beginning, we learn that he plans to go against the heavens because of how the demon clan was treated. And it turns out later he and the Heavenly Emperor are twins, but he got the shorter end of the stick because Fate. And I honestly think Fate was the biggest villain in this story (even Taotie and Leng Ning were just annoyances that dragged on for way too long. I was sick of them both by episode 40.) Because of his fate, he had to be tossed to the mortal realm by his brother. Because of fate, he got picked up by BYY beside Zi Xuan so she could nourish his broken soul, causing him to think the love and care she sent toward Zi Xuan was meant for him. It's so obvious that this is a being that didn't know how to love because he was never shown love in his life, and the first time he was, in his 10,000 years of life, he fell in love, but she was in love with someone else. I didn't want him for her, I just wanted him to be happy, or for someone to at least feel some empathy for him in his dying moment. After all the people he killed personally, even Taotie had that. So even the leads having a tragic ending was just fine for me and I hate tragic endings with a passion.
There's so much I could rant about, but I just really hate tragic characters. Because they're never treated well, and never have a good ending, at the end of a story, they're what I think about more than the leads being happy. If the tragic character has to suffer, then let everyone else suffer, too.
As for BYY, I get it's a normal thing. people are hypocritical whether they notice it, or admit it or not. But I hate how there's such a difference between what she says, her principles, what she does, and how she acts.
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Cute in the first half.
I actually really liked this in the beginning. I skipped some scenes with the FL and her bubbly personality because it was just cringey to me. Her relationship with her friend, Tang Xu made me sad because I didn't want him to be in love with her, for once couldn't we just have an older brother character who treated the FL like family and didn't turn into a love interest? And then they had to make him turn evil (kinda) around episode 25-26? When the story shifted focus from the couple to work issues and put them against each other. I skipped most of that episode, because I just felt really sorry for him. I was happy to see him talking to the FL normally later, and even talking to her aunt who apparently hated him, and I thought he'd have a hapy ending, but they ruined it still. As for Xu Cheng Ran, I had so many issues with this kid, the only part I liked about him was his friendship with Gu Chuan and how he genuinely cared for his friend and was always there for him. I won't say anything about how he treated his dad, because the old man was an ass, but the way he treated Tang Xu always irritated me. (The way Tang treated his own dad for most of their time together also pissed me off.)I loved Ren Allen in this. After watching Destiny of White Snake I was looking for something new to watch when clips of this show appeared in my recommendeds on youtube. I didn't immediately recognize him with his hair down, but he did instantly make me think of Levi Ackerman, one of my favorite anime characters ever, so for that alone I knew I'd be watching this show. Gu Chuan, even when he acts cold, was very cute to me. The sad parts made me sad, but watching how the FL slowly thawed him out made me smile. Seeing how ready he was to smile for her always made me giddy.
Like I can tell they didn't have any actual kisses on screen, but it still made me blush and giggle every time they looked at each other. I've seen complaints from other comments about the lack of chemistry between them, but as someone that could read hundreds of chapters of nothing but fluff (only the best kind of fluff) I don't need to see characters trying to eat each other's lips or stripping each other on screen to think they have good chemistry. They made me feel shy with nothing but looks and soft touches, and that for me makes really amazing chemistry. I loved them together, felt sad when he decided to push her away for her own good, and I hate that the FL could only develop after he pushed her away. For most of the drama, she kept the same hairstyle and awkward clothing style, acted kinda bubbly and childish, until they broke up, then she looked more mature. But she was 23 already so was there a reason she had to dress up and act like she was 13 for most of the story?
The best part of this show was the music. I'm going to find all the songs in the OST because they were beautiful and complemented the story well.
What I did NOT like was that final episode. The resolution they chose was terrible. Honestly, I was only invested in this for the leads (or just for Gu Chuan) so I skipped a lot. From episode 26, there was a lot that was skippable, so I don't remember much in the last ten episodes of the story, but how they decided to resolve everything moved way too quickly. They literally included a kidnapping plot and the resolution with the ML's heart in the final episode, also unmasking and arresting the villain (and I hope Tang Xu somehow got out of that because I still felt sorry for him by the end of the story, that kid needed someone protecting HIM. Someone write a fanfic about that, please.) Too much happened in that episode, and it ends with the FL narrating the aftermath so we're not left in the dark. Considering the draggy part in the middle of the story, where they sacrificed the fluff, they could have done it better.
Notice how I didn't talk much about the second leads? They had some cute moments but I didn't really like their storyline so essentially skipped over them after the first few episodes.
Overall, I'd give it a much lower rating if I didn't love Gu Chuan so much.
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Loved it!!!!
I love this movie so damn much. Sure, there's tragedy in it, but I can't explain my love for emo boys, especially when the set up is with an older woman. Kris Wu plays a young emo boy perfectly, and he's handsome, too. Some watchers have complained about the title being misleading, which it is, but honestly, considering one of the posters (where we get a beautiful closeup of half of Wu's face) I was worried this would be a horror show.I can't find the words to explain it, and I do wish there was a little less tragedy, slightly more angst and a more hopeful ending, but I do love the story. Now, to find this book I keep hearing about that it's based on...
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This review may contain spoilers
Loved it!!!
The beginning of the final episode made me cry for the ML's mom ? she looked so happy that her son wanted to interact with her, I guess this wasn't a usual occurrence, and that old bastard just had to ruin it by killing her the next day!!!And that ending ? it was so perfect. I cried too when they were saying goodbye to Holo, so I'm glad they at least finish the drama with a hopeful future for him. Hopefully they'll keep him a close family secret and NOT try to make him go commercial again. Or find some other safe way to slowly let the world know about him faaaaarrrr into the future.
It wasn't a perfect drama. There were parts I literally couldn't watch because of second hand embarrassment, so I skipped, but I don't regret getting to the end. There were also parts where logic failed, but I don't care. As long as issues aren't glaring, I'm willing to set aside logic for a good story. If the ending is amazing, I would forgive even a lackluster drama. I expected a good romance and got so much more, the actual romance needed some work, but the bromance between Holo and the ML was everything, especially as he began to evolve. The FL was annoying at times, but she was cool the last couple episodes, so all is forgiven.
I loved it. Maybe not all of it, but I definitely loved the entire final episode (and all of Holo). I wish this was the usual 16+ hour drama because I think the pacing in the beginning suffered from making the drama (and episodes) a bit short, but also because I'd just like to see more of Holo ?.
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A bit frustrating but beautiful overall.
I read the comments on this and nearly gave up on it, I'm glad I ignored them. I loved this. (I had hints the ending was bad, but it still nearly gave me an aneurysm.) The love story between the main leads is both heart-wrenchingly beautiful and sad. Not gonna lie, after everything they went through, I wanted more from their ending. But apparently, this is a thing in cdramas so I'll be careful if I decide to watch more (already caught The Wolf but can't watch it because I know it'll make me cry too.) It's the same for the secondary couple as well, since they aren't the leads their love story was a bit slow to develop, literally happened while the female lead was going through 4 lifetimes, but their background did make me tear up. There are just certain people you wanna beat up for their idiocy (such as a certain heavenly emperor who's clearly terrible at it, these immortals need a democracy or something.)As for the villain that supposedly came out of nowhere, I'm usually dense about this kind of thing but even I figured he was sus pretty early on. So it hurt, because I knew it would hurt the leads, but the twist was honestly expected.
What I really wish we got more of was interaction with the world and with more characters, because a lot of those feel like loose threads. From the first life alone we never learn what happens between the FL and the woman she worked for as a maid, they were as close as sisters but after her mistress had to face a crisis, there were no scenes of a reunion between her and the FL, We just got a fast-forward to the next life. The first few episodes especially is almost exclusively the male and female lead with other characters sprinkled in here and there. While I understand why, since the focus is the love story between the leads and time was limited, it was still irritating because I wanted to know! What happened? Were they still close friends? Did they talk at all? That was the only place the story felt lacking for me.
I loved watching the cool fight scenes, as far as I care both male leads are total yandere characters for their female lead. I'm also not usually a fan of 'lifetimes' stories, I tried it with web novels and gave it up, but I surprisingly loved this. Maybe because everything was always connected.
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Love this!!!
I was first introduced to this through kdrama meme videos on YouTube. I also watched clips of funny moments before actually watching the drama. I kind of paused watching kdramas fully for more than a year so I was happy to have this be my first kdrama back into the fandom. I started at night and watched it in one sitting!I'm someone who actually doesn't mind spoilers before I watch something, because it's faster than wasting 16 hours on something I won't like in the end. But I didn't know how this story would end, or that it would be more serious than the clips I watched of it showed me.
Still I loved this drama. Sappy/sad scenes made me cry, romantic scenes made me swoon and cute scenes between the characters made me aw. I love everything about the male lead!!! I do wish we got more badass scenes of him because I found myself repeating them. Seo In Guk's facial expressions and how he delivers his lines has always been amazing since the first drama I watched him in so I knew he wouldn't disappoint, and Park Bo Young was cute as always!
I loved how things progressed between them, theirs was a love story that could not have been rushed. I even loved the secondary love triangle. The second male lead is good looking, and has a deep voice and sarcastic humor so I was bound to love him. The other guy in the triangle looked a lot like GOT7's Jackson that I found myself staring at him whenever he smiled. I loved the interactions between the entire cast.
After checking out the reviews I was surprised at all the low ratings. Maybe people expected more from this story than what it is, but it has some fantasy, a romance, and a terminal illness so I got exactly what I expected and more. I don't even know how to explain it well other than I just love it.
I'd encourage anyone interested to give it a try and see for themselves.
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