mycloverformrdarcy

A Little Slow, But Still Good

This was quite nice! I really enjoyed the social commentary/critique about stalker fans and toxic fan behavior; one might think the show exaggerated some scenes, but these things truly happen, and I think they portrayed the horror and anxiety of the male lead really well! I also liked Kim Jae Yeong’s acting a lot – I found him quite subtle when needed. Truth be told, though, I did not really see any chemistry with Soo Young… I don’t think the leads had any romantic (or even platonic) chemistry, like, at all…💔 (Their kiss scene in episode 12 was pretty nice though👀👀). Another positive aspect of the show is how the leads talked to each other and how they provided emotional support; their conversations were heartfelt and encouraging, and I really appreciated that – very mature!

However, I also found the series to be such a drag for the most part… the beginning was awesome, the middle was very slow, but the last two episodes picked up again. Also, it’s nice that Se Na could apply for a retrial of her father’s case, but … what happened beyond the application being approved? Was his name finally cleared? Agh, questions!! I also need K-Dramas to stop using the stupid blurring/smoothing filter on everyone, it’s ugly and perpetuates unrealistic beauty standards. No one’s skin looks that flawless, please stop using this ugly filter!! I want to see real skin!! Lastly, the soundtrack was cute, but I vastly preferred the pretty orchestral instrumental over the actual song OSTs to be honest.

Overall, this is quite a nice show; it shows characters healing from their past, encouraging each other, and standing up for what’s right in the present. The show also highlights some dark sides of para-social idol/“fan”-relationships, and how damaging, invasive, and non-sensical these “relationships” can be. Despite the lack of chemistry and some slow moments that frustrated me, the show was still watchable and ended on quite the sweet note!🎶🌺

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Decent Crime Drama

This was a decent crime drama, solving several cases with one over-arching one. The last case, which connected all the previous ones, was my least favorite unfortunately. Especially the last episode was kind of melodramatic, and I felt like the police forces were wasting time a lot (how long can it take infiltrating that building after Han Feng gave them the signal??). The last two episodes also feature a lot of shooting scenes, which I didn’t really enjoy that much, either. The sequences were wild and chaotic, the police officers just shooting shot after shot as if the guns had an infinite number of bullets available. Their aim was also all over the place (even if they are trying to eliminate a moving target). In earlier episodes I found their investigation style confusing because it seemed like the writers believed the audience to be blind to “details”. Background checks on individuals were lowkey incomplete, only to do a full one 1.5 episodes into a case while highlighting information from a witness account (I’m referring to the young woman not believing her mother died of natural causes; a colleague of hers tells the police that she had always been a top student in her grade, only to miss the college entrance exam. This was ignored for a while, until they decide to run another background check; here, the show gives a flashback to that testimony as if it’s such a minor detail that could have been easily (dis)missed… meanwhile, they could have solved the case quicker had they actually looked into the missed exam?! Also, Officer Zhu initially went to check that woman’s home, but did not see the medication scattered on the floor? When Ding You Mei’s mother first takes the blame for her daughter’s crime, she says how she threw the meds out of the woman’s reach… and when they go back to investigate the scene again, what do we see? The medication on the floor. Was this missed the first time they went to the premises?) … Anyway. Did the detectives have a life outside the police station? Doesn’t seem so. They went to eat out maybe 2 or 3 times, but that’s it. It’s a strict case-by-case show, and doesn’t really show any of the characters outside passions, which I found a bit unfortunate, but oh well.

Except for the last case, I enjoyed the smaller cases a lot, especially the early episodes were tense and very intriguing. I found the performances of those supporting actors for each case compelling and well-executed since they actually had something to work with. The three main cops, later only reduced to Han Feng and Qi Si Zhe delivered good, but not outstanding, performances. I feel like they just weren’t given that much to work with (except episode 17/18; this personal loss was a good way to add a layer to the characters), and especially in the last few episodes I was missing tension, or rather emotional involvement.

Overall, a decent show with interesting cases!

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Comforting!

Ah, this was so cute and fun – exactly what I needed right now! I usually really love Esther’s dramas, and this is no exception, although that one scene at the hospital (when she injured her foot a little) wasn’t my favorite to be honest. The face she made was too much, even for me😫 Other than that, she was as cute as ever! Shan Chong is a true lover boy, and I don’t know how many times I rewatched that scene in episode 2, when he puts his face mask on because he’s petty that Wei Zhi doesn’t recognize him, hihi😍😈 Their relationship pre-actually-being-together was so much fun – I love how unabashedly biased he is towards her, it was lowkey hilarious! I also loved Jiang Nan Feng’s and Wei Zhi’s bestie bond, it was so cute😫😭 This was a comfort watch, loved the couple, loved the winter vibes, the snowboarding and little comic bits at the end of every episode; it was all just all too cute for me to handle!!💛💛

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Female Resilience!

Zhao Lu Si, my beloved flower💗🌸

This drama was such a masterclass in terms of acting, cinematography, styling, music, just everything was so splendid. I loved the cast, the complexity of the characters. Duan Wu’s fighting spirit and determination, but also her sensible side and strength, her resilience, her love, her loyalty. What a wonderful character, Zhao Lu Si played her to perfection. Cui Shi Jiu was an interesting character as well, who I pitied by the end of the show. CSJ was in some ways similar to Duan Wu, but she was so much more aggressive, hot-tempered and rash in her decisions. The ending… let’s not talk about it, I cried too many tears😭🤚🏻 My only criticism would be the non-stop problems befalling Clear Mind once Duan Wu set up her business. It was repetitive: she takes care of one person sabotaging her and her business, and whoops: next person coming to mess with her. Regardless, this drama was wonderful. It puts female characters at the center and shows their strength and resilience, their intelligence and sensibility. Truly, a great show. 💗

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Headache-inducing heartbreak but sooo worth it!

Second watch: 10🌟
… I could fill an ocean with my tears right now. I love this show so much, but I’m yet again broken lmao. I just love Ruo Xi, and her consistent character. The years in the palace took her girlhood, her youth, her beauty, and most importantly, her healthiest years. This time, the romance between her and the 4th prince made more sense to me. I could feel how they gravitated towards each other, and how they could feel the other’s presence before seeing them. They also had similar views on certain matters. The little romance she had with the 8th prince wasn’t as weird this time, although I STILL think he was greedy lol. I appreciated it this time because those early years are so peaceful and calm compared to the rest. The series gets progressively worse after episode 20. That’s when every scene, every plot, will hurt like daggers, when the characters start to suffer the most. Regardless, I love the show and its characters; I also love the setting, the costume, and the beautiful OST…. When I watched the show for the first time, the timeline confused me to be honest, but after some research it became clearer, which made the second watch even better… What a show, but I need something healing yet again…. So, I’ll watch “Meet Yourself” now lmao.

First watch: 9🌟
I have a headache, I cried so much. At first, I didn’t even cry, but the last 10 episodes hit me as if a train and truck and bus had run me over. I thought I was okay in the last episode, but then they had to kill the 13th brother too… my heart hurts just a little bit 👌🏻.

To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about the romance because I found 8th prince’s advances … not that cool lol: he wants the throne AND his sister-in-law? Like, let’s not be greedy, you have her sister already, and she doesn’t even like you, bro. But, in comparison with the 4th prince, later emperor, the 8th wasn’t so bad, I guess. It was at least a lot more peaceful lol.

My poor Ruo Xi looked so… drained, tired, and exhausted from the second half on that I just felt so bad for her. Just like her sister, she longed for freedom and not for the palace’s restraints and the prince’s schemes.

I really enjoyed the political intrigue and scheming of the drama; the storytelling and pace were great too, there was never a boring episode! Especially in the later episodes, I felt tense and I was anticipating the next plot… I really LOVED the costumes/styling and the music a lot too.

Anyway, I’m sad now and need a no drama-drama to heal my heart💗🧍🏻‍♀️. Might (probably) rewatch once I feel delusional again.

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Shameless cat??

I am in shambles. Cried too many tears, it’s not okay. I think it took me a bit long to watch the first ten episodes, but once I reached episode 10/11, I just inhaled the show. It had me hooked and anticipating it the same way “Eternal Love” did earlier this year!!🤭🤣 I was just always looking forward to watching more!

I loved the OST (so sad that it’s STILL not on Spotify 💔) and the styling in this show! Although, Wei Zhao’s assassin’s wig was … not my favorite to be honest!! But everyone looked so, so dashing⚔️🥹, and I really enjoyed the scheming and plotting throughout the show. If you’re into scheming plots, political/internal power struggles with a pinch of heartbreaking romance, then this show is great! Also, Li Landi’s acting was so good, I need to watch more of her shows! RJL was great as expected and Jeremy Tsui had a very impressive and intense screen presence as well; everyone acted amazingly in this show!!

My favorite episode was probably the one during this Winter party when our leads were dressed in red, both looked so good (and HAPPY and WELL). Anyway, I have a headache now🤣💗 Ren Jia Lun, I deserve compensation after this and “One and Only”!!!!!💰

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Great blend of rom-com, mystery and action!

Ah, how sad I am to have finished the show now😔🥹. This had the perfect mix of mystery, rom-com and action for me! I like how Dan Oh had a great relationship with Shi Yeol, Yoon Ho and Kang San individually as well as with all of them as a group! I also enjoyed the mystery behind the identities of the Prince and Watchman! They gave us clues and (misleading) hints here and there and yet it made sense once the identity of those two was revealed🧚🏻‍♀️. Sometimes, the episodes had some segments that felt like filler, but every episode had an AMAZING cliffhanger and would be succeeded by a banger start of the next episode🔥🔥The OST also had some really nice instrumentals that I enjoyed a lot! I am satisfied with the ending as everything wrapped up nicely: the bad guys got their deserved ending, the good ones created their happy end and we, the viewer, were able to finish the show happily and positively💗🌟🌺. The second-lead story with Shi Yeol and Hong Joo was heartbreaking, but so beautiful; for once, I really enjoyed a secondary love story as much as the main. The overall love-lines in this show were really sweet and so cute, I had great time!

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Quite nice!

I finally watched this – been wanting to do it since it first aired! Overall, this was an acting masterclass from Shin Hae Sun, she was so marvelous to watch; the best performance of the show to be honest. I don’t mind the ending all that much because Ji Eum finding peace and happiness without the burden of her past lives felt very right and important to me. This show also made me cry so much!! The first 3 episodes were really nice, but after that… the middle did not feel as good anymore, it picked up again towards the end. I am overall a little bummed that I didn’t love it, but it is not a bad show by any means. Brownie points for the stunning cinematography and the beautiful OST!

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Good, but expected more

I finally finished this after a month! Overall, this was good, but I expected a little more. Some parts felt long and draggy because I didn’t care too much about certain characters after a while.

The acting of the leads was amazing though. I loved their chemistry a lot, and understand why everyone went crazy over them🤭🥹. I wasn’t a big fan of our Black Dragon because 1) he was kind of bad at his job, 2) kind of dumb and 3) we never saw him as a dragon except for, like, two times. That’s so annoying. I also didn’t like Jie Li to be honest. Her character was really annoying.

The cinematography and CGI were amazing though. Such a feast for my eyes, I really loved it. The OST is also so beautiful and catchy!!

Now, where can I get a Dongfang Qing Cang for myself?

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First Xianxia done :)

My first Xianxia🥹 Done✅

I love my girl Lu Si, so I was very excited to start this, and she delivered. I loved her acting in this, especially her crying scenes – she had me BAWLING. I think her on and off-screen chemistry with Wang An Yu was great too, and I loved seeing their characters together💞🍀.

The second couple was cute too, but I think they developed the romance so late. Hong Yi only starts chasing Yan Shuang in episode 36… of 40!!! That’s too late, we deserved to see them as a cute romantic couple 😭
I also think the ending scene between Feng Yin and Yuan Qi was too short. I feel like it would have been great to at least get a hug, no??? Regardless, I’m satisfied with how everything wrapped up overall.

Visually, the show was very pretty. Most of the CGI was very impressive and nice, and the costumes and styling delivered a 10/10 as well. The OST was really pretty too, such beautiful songs and voices that emphasized the story perfectly.

Overall, a nice show with
- Fun
- Heartbreak
- Some stupid immortals with 1 brain cell (honestly, after so much time you’d think they’re smart, but these old immortals were all so dumb😭😭)
- Romance
- Pretty costumes and OSTs!

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Too long, but still good overall

Damn. I finished this. The middle and the last couple episodes were… long, and I admit that I skipped a ton to get ahead. I think 35 episodes would have sufficed to tell the story; I don’t know why it was nearly 50😭.

HaoYan is indeed an incredible couple. Hao Du is like a pillar, a rock, that’s always been there to protect her. I think it’s because he was also so consistently there that she kind of didn’t think more of it. The competition changed everything though 😏. Even when their feelings weren’t as strong, his highest priority was ensuring her safety, something Wei Shu Yu simply didn’t do. He was so useless in general: losing Le Yan, losing the Crown Prince, losing Chang Ge, not speaking up when he should (Le Yan confessing her love and letting her think he accepts her feelings only to sister-zone her???) etc. Hao Du had to clean up WSY mess, AND he would die for Le Yan, and gladly so (as we see when he joins the competition for her marriage, he does so because he didn’t want her to marry someone she didn’t love – even if it meant she would reject him). Both Le Yan and Hao Du grew over the course of the show, they matured and learned to communicate their feelings and how to trust one another.

I also enjoyed Chang Ge’s and Ashile Sun’s relationship. They were each other’s safe place, and a very smart, calculated couple. It was nice to see them have some sweet moments towards the end of the show.

What I didn’t like:

- The camera work and editing felt very sloppy and unflattering sometimes. Very disappointed in that department. How do you make Dilireba, Wu Lei, Liu Yu Ning or Zhao Lu Si look kinda bad? And why would you waste pretty scenes with a weird light??? Shining brighter than the sun damn.

- The show was too long, and I really didn’t care about the Ashile tribe. I liked A’Sun, but the whole tribe and its inner politics?😬 After a while, I got tired of it, and I also felt like those parts of the middle dragged the most.

Overall, a really nice show that shines due to its stellar acting, great costumes and sets, and amazing music that underlines every situation perfectly. It should have been a little shorter though, and the camera work/editing could have been better….!

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Sad now that it's over ...

Ah, now that I finished this drama, saying goodbye is hard 🥹. This show is such a beautiful gem among the C-Dramas that I have watched. I am more and more excited to start historical dramas, and this one made my excitement even bigger. A beautiful and light-hearted show that did not shy away from diving into serious topics such as a woman's independence, domestic/spousal abuse, mental health problems and more.

The female relationships in this drama were sooooo great: support and love, and it did not matter whether they were blood related or not. To have such strong relationships was so beautiful to watch. The female characters loved and appreciated each other, supported each other unconditionally, and were true friends. Thank you to the writer for giving us such a show.

The actors did such a good job playing their characters. The comedic timing of the leads and secondary characters was always spot on, thanks to that the show was a delight to watch!

I felt like the show was a little too long, and the leads' relationship seemed to stall for a little bit, but honestly the last 15 episodes were very good and some even made me cry. The emotional attachment to the characters and their fate is veryyyy strong haha!

Li Wei is such a sweet bean, who grew into such a smart and capable woman without losing the essence of who she is. When needed, she was the boss, but with Yin Zheng she always knew how to be her carefree sweet self, and I appreciated that a lot. Seeing Yin Zheng's unconditional love for her was so sweet too, he could be so silly around her. The team work between him and butler Su was always very fun to watch🤭👍🏻

Overall, a very nice show that I thoroughly enjoyed. At first, I didn't think I would rewatch it, but the last episodes made me change my mind. I would probably opt for the latter half for a rewatch, simply because of the lead's relationship progressing a little more, and them committing to their feelings for each other more fearlessly. But the entire show is definitely highly recommended!💗

Rewatch November - December 2024: changed my 9 🌟 rating to a 10 🌟:
Ah, this rewatch was amazing. I cried so many happy tears, and actually loved it even more than my first time seeing the show last year. I just love-love-love the women and their beautiful relationships in the show🥹💗💗. And the romance is fun and so, so sweet 💗 + the OST is just pure magic!!

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Mostly good!

I quite like the different cases as well as the characters, buuuut there are just a handful of things that annoy me...

1) I did not like the episode about the leaked exams, I know it was probably the whole point, but I did not feel bad anyone lmao. These kids and parents are already rich and privileged and then just decide to be even greedier, and then complain about having to face the consequences of their entitled actions. And I am supposed to feel bad, or have some empathy? No. Same with Eun Seok being the "whistleblower" for ratting out the previous head judge. Like, if SHE doesn't do it, the coward wouldn't have done it either since his own life mattered more. For years he was known as an impartial judge, but NOW that it concerns HIM, suddenly he wants to bury the case since he wouldn't benefit from it because he wanted to go into politics. Sir, you should have been more decent to your son!

2) The fact that Cha Tae Joo just always stands there while Eun Seok is getting CHEWED the fuck out? Sir? Either, she tells him to leave, or he really just stands there, while someone yells at her? His submissive nature is kind of annoying seven episodes into the show like say something man!

3) Eun Seok victim blaming the girl in that one episode. Listen, yes, the girl(s) should not have run away, but blaming the 14yo girl that was forced into prostitution that this is the consequence of her not following the law after she got assaulted and nearly raped was kind of very much unnecessary and heartless in that scene , i don't know. On one hand, the girl was a culprit because she did previously beat up another girl, but on the other hand she was a victim as well. It's just two different situations. But being forced into selling her body as a minor (by girls that are hardly older than her) to grown ass men and then blaming her lowkey while she's still shocked and bloody, is just wrong.

4) Lack of character development. In my opinion, the characters more or less stayed the same. I also thought that Eun Seok's speech at the end was contradictory. She says she will not be biased in court yet admits that she still despises juvenile offenders. That's.... biased lmao, but whatever.

Other than that, the quality of the show is great as well as the acting and the cases are interesting and quite diverse.

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