One of My Firsts

Honestly, I've watched this drama more times than I can count. It was one of the very first Asian dramas I've watched and I didn't get into watching Asian dramas fully till my pre-teen years. The first time I've ever heard about the "Devil Beside You" was from my aunt, she loved watching Asian dramas..

On one particular night my mom, sister, and I slept over at my aunts as my parents had an argument. I decided to stay up past my bedtime (I was 7 at the time and couldn't stay up past 9) while my mom and sister were sleeping. I ended up binge watching the series with my aunt since she wanted to rewatch a certain show. And you guessed it, it was "Devil Beside You." At the time I I was amazed by the very unique plot and it was my first time watching a show in a different language. I remember cringing whenever the romantic parts were displayed. But regardless of the fact that I found it cheesy and cringe, I still rewatched it over and over again.


This particular drama will always have a special spot in my heart.

*This drama helped me learn about different aspects and povs of life that the characters portrayed, and it also helped me improve my reading/comprehension skills.

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My Honest Opinion Regarding Certain Characters

Overall -

The suspense is what kept me coming back. The beginning and middle of the series was great, but the ending was very unexpected and very frustrating for me. it felt rushed and all over the place. There were times where I thought some of the characters "origin" stories needed more spotlight or more details on certain characters POV's before certain scenes (Na Wang Shik's Demise; before bomb explosion). This drama also would've been better had the episodes been longer, but ig the short episodes added onto that suspense. Other than feeling rushed, this makjang was pretty good.

The Empress Dowager (The real Villain) -

I've never hated a fictional character so much in my life, she chose power over others (even her own blood). Killed and ruined so many lives because of her greed and pride. She wanted everything in her control, everything to be perfect. She was willing to use/throw anyone if it meant her success, truly a despicable woman.

The Emperor (The Villain turned Hero; still a piece of shit tho)-

When I finished the series, my heart ached for the Emperor. I hated what he did to the Empress and others, but loved his character development. I'm not trying to dismiss his wrongs, but when you think about it, he truly is pitiful. He was caught up in others schemes since day one. The pressure of having to be perfect is truly damaging to people as a child. Caught in his mothers web of lies, wrapped around her fingers, so easily manipulated because of his traumas. He was a puppet king. Although it cost him his life, at least he knows his wrongs and helped expose his mother in the end.

The Empress (The Main Character) -

Our naive and happy mc had to adapt to the palace in such a short time. Experienced so many betrayals and near death experiences. She had to become hard as steel to survive and find out the truth about the imperial family. Whenever she cried, I cried. Her stubborn attitude made me admire her even more, she stood her ground and didn't give up after everything that happened to her. The true definition of a strong female character.

The Guard (Na Wang Shik/ Chun Woo Bin) -

His death near the end was way too unexpected (i mean he was gonna die in a few months anyway, but still thought he'd survive after exposing the imperial family), I was super mad when he was just killed off. But one thing that makes me super mad, is that his romance with the Empress didn't go any further. They were super cute, but chose to disregard their feelings for the truth and revenge. What he had to go through was super unjust. He died before seeing his mission finished.

*Gotta say, Min Yu Ra is on par with the empress dowager. But her character development was surprising to me. Thought she would've died off a villain. The nanny was also super evil as well. But I applaud her for her actions at the end. Not wanting the little princess to remember her was the best decision as the princess's mother. She finally thought about her childs best interests instead of hers.

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Why It Would've been better if it was a drama

However, I have yet to watch the Korean drama version (original). But I could already tell that the Korean version is better, not because it's the original. But because it's a drama (show) and not a movie. Which is why this Chinese version doesn't quite stand well for me. If they made the remake a drama (show) instead, it would've been very good. While I was watching the movie, it felt like the plot was rushed. We were also missing a lot of key evidence which would've made us understand the plot and characters more. The romance scenes were portrayed in a time lapse sort of thing, so I couldn't quite get how she fell in love with her brother. It happened way too fast, I also don't know at what point the 2nd ML fell in love with the FML. The only clue I got was when the FML paid for the 2nd ML, in which he began to show an interest in her. It didn't show his process of falling in love with her, just him starting to pursue her. Maybe I'm just blind and didn't see it, but I'm pretty sure this is a great example of why it felt like the plot was rushed. If this was made into a drama, I feel like people would've understood more about the characters and how their character develops. Overall the plot would've been so much interesting if it was prolonged. It would've been such a great drama. Putting aside the feeling of the plot being rushed, the ending did a very well job in making me cry. Also, I don't really see how people find it odd that the FML fell in love with her "brother." Yes they were treated and raised as siblings for 12 yrs. But when you find out you really aren't brother and sister after 12 yrs, then get estranged for 12 yrs. You would feel like complete strangers, because they weren't together in the most crucial part of their lives. While you enter your teenage years and early adulthood; you start learning more about life, you start maturing, you go through adversities, you start experiencing lots of things, and etc.. You become different from who you were. Plus the MLs strong obsession with finding his "sister" and his longing for her in the beginning is probably HIS cause for falling in love with her. Because strong desires/emotions like obsessions (because you constantly think of the person/object) can easily change into love, well at least in the drama world. I'm not sure if I explained the whole brother/sister situation completely or properly. But then again it wouldn't matter if I was wrong about my whole analyzation of this weird romance, because the main point is that it's alright to ME...

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...

I didn't read the plot and thought Moon Ga Young was the FML. Because the first few episodes were mainly focused on those three friends. I mean I thought this drama was about friends who end up falling in love with each other (not gonna lie but I was hoping that there would be some kind of love triangle between the friends). So the overall point is: imma stop watching the drama and resume when I feel like it. I'm not tryna say it was bad I'm just saying it's good. But seeing how some reviews say that you get like mixed emotions watching it, I'll stop for now because I don't think my immature mind can take these emotions. Because if it makes me want another season ill be devastated (when I find out later) that there is no 2nd season imma lose my mind. Or (after finding out about the no second season) if it makes me feel like the ending wasn't satisfactory and end up having "After Drama Depression" then wishing I never resumed it. Then yeah I'll say that I would pretty much stop before I get too into it (yup I'm that kind of drama fan). So someone please reply to me if it's the type of drama that gives you After Drama Depression...

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