Boring...It's just really boring and so-so.

I don't get why there are so many high reviews. But I also don't think I'm the target audience for this despite also being a teen.

I think this drama is just extremely slow-paced and boring. Even the parts that are supposed to be comedic feel like they go on for a bit too long, such as with line delivery or even editing, idk. Meet Yourself was also extremely slow-paced but I didn't struggle with the episodes at all like I have for this. I've fought sleep just to get through the first 2 episodes, and finally gave up at ep 3 XD

The ML is boring.

I get that he's supposed to have some kind of trauma from his overachieving younger brother, but he's not very inspirational or charismatic, and he's a ML formula I've seen countless times in other cdramas and reading other danmei. He's only desirable (and the show constantly repeats that to us) because he is handsome, gets good grades, and despite being a man of few words, the FL absolutely adores him and chases him down, so we must also like him and cheer them on, right? Her crush starts because she sees him in the rain at the convenience store right? I get that you're in high school, crushes start from silly things. But nothing about his cardboard personality is appealing.

Maybe she just likes handsome, boring guys. It's the same formula as A Love so beautiful and countless other dramas with a cold, perfect ML and a normal FL. Maybe he's not as perfect because of his younger brother, but how am I supposed to get there when the episodes leading up to that are SO BORING? Yawn. When will we ever get something new..??

The Second lead couple is more interesting.

I often mistook them as the actual First lead couple because the SML has more charisma and is more entertaining to watch, and so is the SFL. It's just that the Second Male leads acting wasn't that good consistently (sometimes I can tell too easily that he is acting, or conscious of himself or a camera while acting, other times I'm able to crack a smile), and it breaks the immersion, for comedy especially. He's trying his best but it doesn't come as naturally as say, more experienced supporting role performances from An Ge, or Yu Cheng En or Marcus Li in Go Go Squid).

For the whole drama I think I laughed like two or three times, but it was more of a chuckle XD Idk, his acting needs some more practice. He's young, and I felt awkwardness from his scenes with the SFL, also partly due to the SFL too, so that's why even though their story line is slightly better, I felt too aware of the camera/uncomfortable watching them.

Anyways, even if the acting was better, I don't think it would rescue the extremely boring and slow pace that was putting me to sleep. If you want to do a slow-paced, slice-of-life style drama, you can still do it without making my eyes glaze over. Meet Yourself is one such drama that is slow paced and slice-of-life, and I absolutely loved it.

I don't get why there are so many good reviews hailing this as an amazing show, I think it's really just regular, and maybe it has corrected some errors from dramas with the same formula. But I also think the rating might be inflated because Summer 2023's Cdramas so far have been...not so stellar to say the least.. A show that would normally get an 8.5 gets shot up to 9.0 because the other dramas this season were disappointing (aiya...)

I don't think this is a bad show at all tho, and I can see why some people might like it. I just don't think this is a groundbreaking show to warrant a 9.0 rating. Besides the vintage camera thing that they use for the FL's diary, I cannot see myself realistically sitting down for another 21 episodes of this stuff. This is one that just missed the mark, both with the comedic breaks that are supposed to break up the banality, and the acting.

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Binge watched in 2 days. Gripping, romance could've been a little better

And it only took 2 days because I had work in between XD

This was such an addictive show! Of course, there are some areas for improvement, like the romance, background info/backstories and better character development, and even how some episodes sometimes felt repetitive. Even the pacing could have been improved, because the first few episodes moved slowly, then everything kind of all happened at once for the last 2 episodes.

What is it with k-dramas and their wonky pacing? Will they ever get it right? Even a series like Celebrity that wasn't aired weekly but dropped all at once still suffered from this.

BUT!
All in all, I love shows like this where romance is secondary (just that...this could have used more screen time it, especially when the leads had pretty good chemistry). We don't get any lovey-dovey scenes, I often questioned if they were even dating, and what is the reason for them liking each other...? Besides....attraction? Because...they don't have any scene where they really sit down and connect////it's more like, enemies/i find you alluring but am playing hard to get/am too prideful to admit it kinda thing.

But I don't hate it. I don't regret staying up to watch this either. I actually don't mind the twists it took, nor the ending—just wished the ending had another 20 mins of run time or so.

I'd make some comment on the social commentary it makes on influencers, (or the fact that this 'Gabin society' was out here wilding with the top member having only 300k followers?? LIKE 💀 talk abt reality check ur acting like this w only 100-300K?)

BUT, I believe other reviewers have done a fine job at expressing this in words better than I can. I just especially love the final ending, and the choice Ah-ri made at the end. And it sends a message for those in the real world too (or at least, what u shud probably do).

Overall, I recommend!


(But please....wish there had been more romance scenes....oh well!)

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C-drama version of a Wattpad novel | Turn off your brain

★★★★★★★ 7/10 stars, C-drama version of a Wattpad novel written in 2015.

You need to turn off your brain to watch this, and just enjoy the pretty people on screen.

I don't recommend watching unless you've been through other dog blood, toxic, Wattpad-esque mafia/bad boy x good girl stories and know what a healthy relationship should look like, lmao. If you have, then proceed, because this show was genuinely entertaining and unexpected.

The chemistry...was surprisingly good?

I expected this to be cliched, boring, and just have good-looking leads but no substance, but I was mistaken. Though the ending left me wanting for a lot more (at least an epilogue ???) it's still an OK drama, with amazing chemistry is great—def in the top 5 the best I've seen ever in a Chinese drama.

The ML is....complicated, manipulative, and i dont like how the story is written to frame everything the FL does around him, and that she must always be accommodating to him....this is a whole separate story, but its so poorly written and romanticizes selfish MLs, who rlly why r u working this hard for a man who never even returns half the effort or love, and is he a gemini? You wouldn't ever actually date someone like this irl lmao.

I'd like to think of this as a C-Drama 365 Days, LMAOO, But without the mafia, not nearly as graphic, or extreme, or sexual. It just gives that Wattpad vibe, but with visuals and chemistry (and a dog blood, contrived, silly story to match). The ML sucks tho, in just that he's a selfish, genius, everyone must bow to him kind of thing.

BUT,,, good chemistry. if you turn off ur brain and just watch for that then...a good enough show to binge watch in like 3 days!

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Terrible Script, 19 & 24 is a Terrible Age Gap for Romance!

Sit back because it's a lot; coming from a fan who looked forward to Hidden Love since the start of this yr.

People accuse Hidden Love of the Big P word, here I'll be accusing it of terrible, ignorant writing, and plain illogical plot progression. It's terribly written and lacks self-awareness. A 5 year age gap is nothing between consenting adults—the problem is that Hidden Love develops this relationship when SZ, (a rich, immature, sheltered brat) is 19 years old (MAYBE SHE'S 20—same thing) and the ML is 24, but acts older.

I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone, because how can I be the only person to find it strange how there's really only 1 episode of DJX having conflicting emotions over his change in love for his meimei...and then the next ep is him confirming it, then the next ep we move immediately to him flirting and beginning to pursue her. Pursue a 19 year old....

❌ Here's what they should have done differently:

1. ❌ DJX accepts his feelings too quickly—alarmingly quick. Yikes.
~2/3 episodes. First, him thinking about her more, then acknowledging his feelings, then WHAM! he's pursuing her now???
I would have hoped for there to be longer hesitation and for there to be a point where he pulls away—It's weird because he has known her since she was 14 and he was 19. It doesn't help that the actress casted for 14 year old SZ literally looks like an 8 year child, not a pre-teen. (actress is 12, which doesn't help either).

Shouldn't he find that so conflicting and feel some amount of disgust or have a knee jerk reaction to reject these feelings? Shouldn't he at least sit down with a trusted friend and share his conflicted feelings? Withdraw from SZ? Analyze his memories with SZ and wonder where he went wrong, maybe where these feelings started changing? Analyze if what he feels is really romantic love, or just appreication for a close friend/family member that have been amplified because he's lonely?

2. 🌻Sang Zhi has not grown. She is NOT a grown up.
I thought the time skip would take us to a Sang Zhi that was more mature and wordly in her mid 20s. Maybe take us to a Sang Zhi in her final year of school (age 22), the same age DJX would have been when she was in high school. No. Instead, SZ is 19, and only 2 years have passed since she entered her senior year of high school. It's a black box of 2 years until we see SZ again, and although she tries to pull away she has very weak resolve towards distancing herself from him. Why? BECAUSE SHE'S ONLY 19!

She keeps constantly repeating that she's grown up now, but none of her 'grown up' life is shown, such as actually focusing on her career, working a part time job, interacting with her professors, taking up positions of responsibility at school. She majors in Digital Media? I have not heard this word since it was first mentioned in the time skip episode. SZ is a sheltered, pampered kid who functionally has not changed since she was 17. Her character simply revolves around her meetings with DJX.

3. 😬There should have been a longer gap in between when they got together.
(why does it have to be her freshman yr of uni? Why not the same year when she was graduating uni, as it would have been for DJX when SZ was in highschool) I've said this many times but 19, even 20 is still TOO YOUNG. She has not dated anyone else. She's still a sheltered rich kid. What does she know?

4. ☀️ DJX should have had more wealth of characters around him.
A healthy adult, not suffering from trauma and not having many close friends who they open up to, would not form such an emotional reliance on their 19 year old meimei. Compared to SZ, DJX is much less developed, except for his backstory with his father. Does he have no friends in Yihe? He doesn't really get deep and personal with anyone besides SZ, not even Sang Yan, his jie at work, or his friend who's getting married. Let's not forget the psychotic Jiang Xing or whatever her name is, to act as a foil and make SZ look better. He should consult someone about his changing feelings the same way SZ spoke to her roommates.

5. 🙄 DJX is that DENSE!? How could he not realize SZ's feelings?
You're telling me this highly intelligent, (both EQ and IQ) guy, at age 19, 22, and then 24, did not realize or have an inkling that SZ might like him? The story deliberately never lets him find out when she is in HS or as a child, because then the right thing to do would be for him to flat out draw a boundary, reject her, and distance himself.

Instead, DJX is always 'teasing' in an I'd like to believe innocent way, but isn't taken that way because the audience knows SZ likes him, and that he 'doesn't know'. Such terrible writing, in the year 2023? Do you want to show a proper depiction of a healthy relationship, or do you want to just romanticize these....weird grooming-esque interactions, because the person in power (DJX) NEVER gets the opprtunity to draw a boundary and tell SZ to stop being delusional and obsessive.

5. 🧐❓DJX is only 24. He doesn't FEEL 24.
I get that originally he would have been 27, which would have made more sense with what he does day-to-day, but I find it hard to believe that every 24 year old is this mature and flirty and with a job and a car and a chief engineer at a top gaming company. I can suspend my disbelief that he's really smart, and was forced to grow up early. But some script changes should have been made for us to believe that DJX really is younger in the drama version VS. novel, because what it then really starts to look like is that they just changed his age to be younger so netizens would get off their back about their 7yr age gap.

Honestly? I had high hopes going in! I've been waiting for this drama all year. I loved Chen Zhe Yuan in Secrets in the Lattice, and also can always count on Zhao Lu Si do deliver a great performance.

But the progression from their relationship from brother-sister, to lovers, is concerning.

There were some netizens condemning this show and comparing it to pedophillia, and I can see why. I don't think this show **is** that, but they've done a piss poor job at having 0% evidence of that. When you're making a story with this kind of premise, you need to handle it very carefully and make very deliberate decisions, and Hidden Love didn't do it carefullly enough, and made POOR deliberate decisions.

The novel material may very well have had grooming and pedophilia, I haven't read it and don't plan to. But why wasn't this fixed for an adaptation, with such a good cast? Better yet, fixed for an adaptation that will be aired internationally, that many young children will see? I'll reiterate, a 5 year age gap is nothing. It's PROBLEMATIC and hORRIBLE, however, when it's between a 19 year old, immature and childish girl, and a traumatized, emotionally vulnerable 24 year old man. I'm 19. I would never date a 24, much less 27 year old. And SZ is 19, and acts 12. Aiyaaa.

ANYWAYS, TL;DR, could have been a great story, with especially great actors after this drought from Cdrama land the past few months, but even my desperation will not allow me to keep watching this (at least not right now). A story with potential, with GREAT ACTORS and OST and PRODUCTION, that had a very poorly thought out,ignorant, misleading, and harmful script.

Could have all been solved by keeping things innocent until SZ is older and mature.

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Rushed ending—Happiness is best for what it COULD have been

Before completing, I had tried to watch Happiness twice before but just couldn't get into it. Once when it was airing, and another after—but the first 2 episodes were just too high a barrier. I'm glad I finally pushed through to the end—and I think at its core Happiness's high rating is in large aprt due to its potential.

When I think about happiness, I appreicate the concept and what it wanted to achieve—the execution however was lacklustre—not TERRIBLE, but not absolutely amazing.

❌ THE BAD:

❌-- The poor characterization and backstories of the leads
I love that Happiness has a slow burn romance that's a subplot and not the main focus of the story. The thing is, when its a slow burn you need to have leads with strong back stories and characterizations for the viewers to condstantly turn over in their head for why these two people are so compatible, and what about their personalities has been keeping them from getting together right now.

Sae Beom and Yi Hyun are great characters, but the flashback to high school provides little info on their characters—and barely any of Yi Hyun's home life or backstory is ever explored. He seemed too perfect, besides his baseball injury. I wish there had been more core memories of their flashbacks besides Sae Beom pushing him off a building—(also, is Yi Hyun human? How can you not even get angry or terrified when someone pushes you off a building? At least see him get upset or shocked at Sae Beom—instead of being instantly smitten with her 💀)

They've been friends for YEARS, are you telling me there are no other important moments they've shared over their decade-long friendship? How and why have they built such trust till now? What is Yi Hyun's reason (well, we sort of learn this, but it feels a bit shallow). What are Sae Beom's reasons? What conflict have they had that they overcame and brought them closer together? We need to see their bond! I wish they fleshed out their past and their characters BEFORE all of this happened more.

❌-- Terrible supporting characters that hang around way too long
I think we can all agree that some of these supporting characters needed to be out of the picture since yesterday. I think Happiness would have really benefited from having a more morally grey character in Yi Hyun—he had potential in a few scenes where he snapped and would really threaten or hurt the doctor guy. He always spoke about being the bad cop, but he was still pretty lukewarm. I wish Yi Hyun was more flawed and less perfect, and that a bit of karmic justice could take these villains OUT! (where's the white truck of death when you need one)

❌--Han Hyo Joo
Han Hyo Joo is stunning and beautiful to look at—but in W and now in Happiness I have a hard time believing her chemistry with any of her co-stars. I think she's a bit stiff when it comes to romance and really letting go and selling the believability with her chemistry. This might just be me lmao but that's what I think—she didn't add much 3-dimensionality or uniqueness to Sae Beom, and idt it's just how the character was written.

❌ -- Longer than it needed to be.
Idt happiness made use of its 12 episodes. Idt it needed anymore, I think the episodes in the middle could have been merged. Some stuff get drawn out for way too long—scenes are repeated, it's just screen time where not much things of importance are happening. Either they needed more families to follow the lives of, or they needed to cut their scenes down!

❌ -- The ending
The last 20 minutes of the final episode are way too rushed? Like hello? We needed at least an extra 30 minutes of screen time after the episode ended to actually flesh out and explain what the hell just happened! I know this isn't a romance kdrama, but right when everything was getting good it ended ;-; We need an explanation for how the solution came about, the aftermath, a proper epilogue that's not like 2 minutes long!

✅ THE GOOD:

✅-- the concept of the story
Again, I think Happiness is great in theory. Hopefully another show comes along that remakes this or does something completely new but of a similar premise or formula. This is like a sweet home meets Reset (don't ask how this reminds me of Reset, it just does).

✅ --The actor for the doctor
My god Baek Hyun Jin does an amazing job of absolutely getting on my nerves! When he was writhing in pain on the floor? Absolutely pathetic this actor does an amazing job of making viewers want to reach through the screen and just punch him lmao

✅--OST
Idt there's even a proper song I heard being sang, but I like the opening credits and I think the sound design was well-done enough since it's never bothered me.

✅-- Park Hyung Sik
I think he did the stunts himself?! Apparently he actually knows taekwondo (or so I've heard). I appreciated the fight scenes and the added level of immersion. He also bulked up for this role—a lot of people were calling him fat, but when you bulk up in muscle some of that fat's going to go to your face, it all just depends on your body! I think people were giving him too much shit, he still looks handsome and I appreciate his dedication to actually looking like a baseball player. Do you think we'd all believe he's a hulking, strong baseball player if he was still skinny like in Strong woman do bong soon? Go back and watch clips of him back then. Imagine him doing his current stunts with that same physique. Humans change and get older and he looks more mature now. Let's be realistic here.

🌻 Anyways, I liked Happiness because of what it could have been if it had just tweaked and improved a few things. I think as it is now, it's probably about 50% of it's full potential. But I'm glad it has such a high rating, hopefully dramaland sees that stuff like this will do well and make more similar productions!

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Good Couple Chemistry for a Well Done Sports Drama!

Don't let the title of this review fool you; this drama had a lot of headaches with the different conflicts and plot points that came up; but overall, it's a sweet drama with a healthy relationship, (and great couple chemistry!)

The kiss scenes came up pretty short (except for the final one at the end of the series) but their chemistry, skinship, hugs and easy banter make up for it!

Wang An Yu knows how to portray a beliavable relationship with any co-star of his—there was a similar comfortable level of chemistry in his series Forever Love (https://mydramalist.com/50395-forever-love) with Julia Xiang.

I would complain about the Coach (he was insufferable throughout, his redemption arc was way too short and easily fogiven, and his terrible sister also did NOT get the kind of ending I had hoped she would—I wanted to see her coming clean about her ugly behaviour, and about the major sabotage that happened that led to a major conflict with the ML)—but, ALAS. I guess the show needed some kind of not-all-black-and-white characters to add depth and complexity.

If you ignore the Coach and his sister—and their insuferable sub-plots and schemes, this drama is truly a heartwarming, nerve wracking show, with a good balance of sports and romance.

The second couple also gets a fleshed out relationship + scenes as well—tho tbh I skipped most of them because I don't usually pay attention to second couples.

Overall; I wouldn't say it's better than GoGoSquid, or Falling Into Your Smile, but I would say its on par with Skate Into Love, and is a pretty solid, well executed drama! If you need an itnerim draam to watch while you wait for more shows to come out, this is it.

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Chemistry's just not that good! (don't shoot me)

Listen friends, when a show is relying on its main couple for success, the chemistry better be damn good.

Good chemistry relies on at least 1 heavyweight.
Either the ML is milking the hell out of it, with heated gazes, body language, subtleties, etc.
Either the FL is really milking it with either the push/pull or the getting embarrassed thing.
or,
Either BOTH of them are the heavyweights, in which case, it's great.

For SHPH....it's neither.

PROS:
- Im glad we get to hear Xu Kai's actual voice! if only we'd gotten this for FIYS
- Yang Mi is really beautiful, and her acting is OK as well (though its concerning to me how skinny she is—this isn't a jab at her, but more at China's insane beauty standards.)
- this CP has the looks. Tons of eye-candy whenever they're on camera.
- ....that's it.

CONS:
- Xu Kai's acting --
wait don't skewer me just yet!! His acting's not bad here, it just feels so awkward! I hate that I can tell when actors are acting—I'm not supposed to be seeing Xu Kai pretending to be Yang Hua, it should be Yang Hua who looks surprisingly like the actor Xu Kai!!

- Terrible melodramatic script.
So much of the story gets bogged down down by her brother and sister-in-law's terrible, toxic relationship (that the writing is encouraging them to stay in...????), the petty ex, the absurd law firm rule about partners' marital status, the ML's mom, etc. So much of it just feels like filler.

And the worst offence of all:

- This CPs chemistry just isn't that good. If newer eps come out and prove me wrong, I'll gladly take it back! But XK just seems awkward with YM, and YM just seems to awkward with XK. I've yet to have a seen where I'm kicking my feet giggling, you can feel the tension/chemistry in the air, you see the *gaze* of either leads, you feel embarrassed for watching them...I can almost see the bright fluorescent lights of the cameras, and the 20+ crew standing in front of them, staring. *shivers* so awkward. (tho I will say, XK's chemistry was only *slightly* better in FIYS)

Anyways, I'm kind of disappointed—the story's not that good, we see virtually the same sets all the time, every episode feels a little bit of a rinse and repeat of the same thing, it's all just exceptionally DRAGGED OUT, there are NO SCENES that make your heart flutter, and the CPs chemistry isn't that good!

Worst of all, half the plot is Qin Shi's struggles in her career at the law firm—but our ML has no ambition of his own, and its quite boring to see. His scenes all revolve around the FL, or are him....doing nothing.

Of course, I'll keep watching, but not on an ep. by ep. basis. This isn't good enough to make me wait each day for the next ep. to come out. I'll wait till there's at least ~20/30.

I hope it starts picking up, pleaseeee. I paid VIP for this (ಥ﹏ಥ)

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short review;;;;

Great show!
I joined it being sceptic, but I'm glad they turned it around. This show is def not something I'd expect from South Korea, knowing how conservative and narrow-minded it is. And that's just a fact, for the majority of people there and the media that gets produced as a result. :/ But I'm glad to see something like this getting exposure and being received this well. this shows that steps are being made to improve the inclusivity in drama plotlines going forward.

also I absolutely loved the main couple. Sad they only finally got together so LATE! TT I desperately want a S2 just to see how they're fearing afterwards, but we all know no S2 is needed.

Itaewon Class achieved all that it needed to in those 16 eps imo. a S2 would do it dis-service :(

Chris Lyon's acting could be better, but im honestly just glad they casted a black person that can speak Korean, and that he still did a good job! It was a little cheesy, but hey, it's progress.

the show did kinda feel like there were many things it was tying to achieve, and i rlly was riveted by the little revenge plot going on. i felt like i was watching a manhwa with power scaling come to life.

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Expected better acting from Wu Lei, Still Loving the show though!

So the first 4 episodes are kind of hard to get through, but by ep 6 it starts to pick up.

I enjoyed those establishing episodes a lot tho, not for the content, but that it really set the stage for understanding and sympathizing with Shao Shang.

The main downside is 1. I honestly expected Wu Lei (Leo Wu's) acting to be better, and so far, it reads as stiff. I'm not sure when filming took place, but it shouldn't make that big of a difference. From the previews I've seen of later episodes where General Ling has to be more emotional, his acting does seem to get better, but I'm painfully aware of the fact that he's acting too often now. His handsome face just can't make up for it past a certain point :(

I think because he was a child actor, he's trying to take on many roles where he plays a more mature and manly character, but those roles aren't as convincing just yet. I hope with time he'll improve. Imo, his acting was a little better in The Long Ballad (or maybe the long hair made me dumb and i just ignored any of the flaws, haha).

I saw a reviewer say it might've been better to cast General Ling's character to an actor 35-45 years old, and I think I have to disagree. General Ling is a young character—the emperor dotes on him like his own son, and has also commented on the fact that he's still too young and inexperienced with war. I think that puts him at around 20-30 years old, max, but I'm leaning towards 21-25 (Lu Yuan is 21/22 I think(?) and Ah Yao is around 19, correct me if I'm wrong).

Zhao Lu Si is doing a wonderful job, and she adds dimension to SS's character. She's killing it rn, though I'm kinda worried she'll be stiff for more romantic scenes, but it makes sense because Shao Shang is ony 15 and is inexperienced. (Having to constantly make a mental note that girls married very young back then, haha T_T)

The older members of the cast also deliver pretty well, esp that grandma, the mother, and the father. Wow the grandmother is disgusting, but she sure is funny in her ignorance. Actress is selling it. So is the mother. I've never wanted to yell at a fictional mother this much before, who's more of a bridge burner than she is a mother. my god.

I like the wealth of characters, the world really feels immersive. the romance is a little slow right now, and I don't really like how it keeps hitting us over the head with General Ling as the obvious choice, but the ML's character in and of itself has few faults and is very respectable. I actually like his character, if just for the fact that he keeps being less assertive, but that's because he's busy, and falling for CSS was not in his plans.

Did i say the main downside was Wu Lei's acting? The 2nd downside, is that this is taking too long to update! With 6 eps every week, 2 every Tues, Wed, Thur, you'd think it'd be enough to tide us over. I'm starting to wish this had been picked up by Netflix, but even then, they'd never drop all 27 at once TT_TT. Here's to waiting another 4 days TT^TT

anyways, im eagerly waiting to see the newest eps lol. hopefully i'll update the review when i finish pt. 1.

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Chemistry was disappointing! Wasn't a good pay off

Besides the wonky pacing of the 2nd lead couple (from socially distancing from each other and behaving like enemies, to full on kissing, and more) these two were the only real couples in the entire show.

The chemistry between the 2 main leads just wasn't that good, and I'm not gonna sit here and try to tell myself otherwise. It wasn't BAD, and I want to stress that, their chemistry isn't unwatchable. But from the standard the original webtoon set, it had better be damn good. And it was just.....ok.

For a show like the business proposal, good chemistry and tension is what's gonna CARRY it, because the storyline alone is mediocre and just REGULAR, if not annoying the truther along it went. Especially with the way, despite only being 12 episodes, they dragged it out FOR AS LONG as they could, and the leads only get together 2 episodes before the end of the series.

For such a delayed pay off, when we finally get there it better be damn good, right?

Considering the down right sizzling scenes that happened in the original webtoon, even with censorship, the leads better have our hearts beating like crazy just looking at each other, right?

Well no, the pay off was just one-note, really.

The chemistry leading up to this already wasn't enough to sustain or even warrant such a long build up. Ha Ri looks deeply uncomfortable half the time, and when she does crack and give in to her attraction to Tae Mu, it still felt lacking and not as passionate or sincere as you would have expected it to be. And as a result the pay off landed flat on its face.

I feel like maybe i'll go back and watch the last 2 episodes—maybe they'll cram all the pay off we were supposed to get into the last 2 hrs of the show, but if the chemistry was already lacking, any romantic scenes that follow suit will just make me uncomfortable.

I'll stress this—when the chemistry is real, and the acting is off the charts—I WONT EVEN REALIZE THEY'RE ACTING. I'm not supposed to see the wires moving around in their heads, or pause or have that faint inkling like the actress looks really uncomfortable here, or the leads look kinda stiff, or this camera shot is lingering for a little bit too long now....I'm supposed to feel like I'm eavesdropping on a very private moment between 2 characters that are genuinely in love, and have sizzling chemistry, and want to turn off the show to give them some privacy 👀

like i did with the 2nd lead couple.

anyways, tl;dr.:

The Office Blind Date is a webtoon that had pretty good chemistry between the two main leads, but the live action made it barely passable, clunky, and a little uncomfortable at times.

The leads definitely tried their best—but I'm not keen on continuing with a show where I feel uncomfortable watching two supposed lovers.....behave like lovers.

Overall, this show had a good story, and everything else was just....ok.

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mediocre; from someone who never saw the original

Never watched the original La Casa de Papel, so this review of of the show as purely a standalone.

DNF @ep2 , due to the sheer stupidity.

I'm not usually a stickler for details or even things making sense. I don't care if a plot has holes in it, as long as it's entertaining. Sadly, this had the former, but none of the latter.

Episode 1 started off strong, and then ep 2 just plummeted.

The biggest affront to me was the fact that The Professor, despite being s smart and intelligent and having a meticulous plan that supposedly accounts for every little detail, is getting all of his enemy intel from inviting the chief negotiator to his COFFEE SHOP.

....A coffee shop near the vicinity of the scene of the crime, in a surrounding city area that has been supposedly evacuated, where besides the negotiator and her few visits, there are rarely ANY OTHER CUSTOMERS.

in this empty coffee shop, the professor is reduced to eavesdropping on the negotiator when she makes calls about their next steps to outwitting the bank robbers, and he hovers stupidly right behind a sliding door, and gets caught the easiest way possible.

the himbo is also extremely stupid, his name's Denver. And the hacker, forgot his name already, is also just as easily outwitted.

You're constantly wondering if the professor has accounted for character flaws like these in his highly meticulous plan, right? When he tries to call and ask whats going on, they hang up on him, and he instead gets his intel from TEXTING THE NEGOTIATOR AND INVITING HER OVER FOR FOOD AT HIS STUPID CAFE

and then the supposed sexual tension between the negotiator and the professor was just terrible and make me deeply uncomfortable. why is this man asking when she had her last orgasm over negotiations? like i get it was supposed to be sexy and all but the actors really weren't pulling it off, and it was just so.....uncomfortable.

The only remotely interesting characters here are Berlin and Tokyo, and them alone isn't enough to keep me watching.

for a show that promises such an amazing heist, i expected top notch pacing, and intelligent plot lines. But every single time the camera pans away from the scenes at the bank, to tat blasted, stupid coffee shop, I want to shoot myself in the foot.

please, end my suffering. its so bad.

the word cringe, is cringe, and it makes me cringe just writing it, im stuck in an endless loop of cringe; but its the best word for those coffee shop scenes, and any scene in ep2, ever. CRINGE.

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desperate but not THAT desperate

I'm desperate for a show to watch to pass the time...but clearly not desperate enough cause im gonna pass on this one.
the portrayal of Africa, as a continent, which wow, that in and of itself (why are you trying to potray a whole continent as 1 country), is egregious.

Since the writers didn't spend the time to properly research where the actor would be volunteering, I don't owe them my time to properly watch the show either.

I rlly wanted a good kdrama to watch this season, but i guess this won't be it. Off to Again, My Life I go :) that, or i'll hop over to cdramas. At least they're not trying to act like white saviours there .

Ok bye. firs episode is offensive and idt I need to sit thru smthn I'm uncomfortable with or reward poor research and misinformation with engagement! bye!

edit: everytime i read the title i see shitting stars and that will never not be funny to me lmao

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Pleasantly Surprised - honestly refreshing, though not short of faults.

Unlike my other reviews, I didnt read other opinions before writing my own here.

So firstly, lets start with the things i LIKED:

1. The friendship between the 3 male leads.
Ok, yeah, more than the romance between the main characters, above all I loved how healthy the rivalry and friendship between the male leads was. I'm tired of seeing shows where they are torn apart due to loving the same girl, torn apart then come back together, or make some kind of childish bet on the FL like she's a mindless doll with no agency or feelings :/ This show handled that well, with a refreshing feel to it that i honestly didnt expect coming outta China :side eyes: They were great as friends, and its comforting to know that even after the show, and regardless of their standing with the FL, they still will be. So refreshing to see such a healthy rivalry o.O (now can we get sumn like this but with girls shotting for the same guy, lmao)

2. The FL
Yeah, she did some questionable stuff towards the end, but this FL, while imperfect and i definitely wanted to yell some sense into her, is a strong FL in the sense that she doesn't let either of the leads walk over her. She does seem a bit willfully ignorant sometimes, but she doesnt let things fester.

3. The 1st and 2nd Male Leads
the 3rd male lead is adorable, but the 1st and 2nd male leads have a history you see. This ties in with my first point, but their (reluctant) bromance is cute and I love them so much. maybe its because the actors are in the same idol group already, but they felt like good friends on screen together. Great chemistry there.

4. The incorporation of sports and overcoming difficulties
something happens nearing the end with Li He and his athletic career, and I'm glad he also had a moment that needed to force his character development. Many things happen towards the end that force the characters to overcome a challenge and grow up. And while most of it was cheesy (like with Ze Yu's mom) I'm glad each of the main cast had to face some sort of character development.

THINGS I DISLIKED THOUGH:

1. the story isn't all that original
It's a classic formula, nothing is really re-invented here, (besides the bare minimum of healthy male rivalry) but it does so well, and it never really promised to re-invent anything from the blurb either.

2. what "two factions"? lol
The whole "two factions" thing sounds promising, but soon we realize that the entire sports faction consists of 4 boys, LMAO, and 3 of them are the lackeys of the male lead. I wish the different "factions" could have had a richer backstory, depth, and more believability to it. Wish things happened within those factions, with different characters, besides what revolved around the leads. But it's likely this may have had to do with filming during covid, maybe a low budget, and limiting the number of people for the cast. regardless, the whole factions thing didnt feel believable, but it doesnt detract that much.

3. Last few episodes are rushed af
This is a common occurrence. I was pleasantly surprised at the end, but still, it wasnt worth the train ride they put me through to get there heavily condensed into like 3 episodes O.o

4. Not as deep, or emotional as you might expect. (more below)

OVERALL:
this is a good drama. It isn't AMAZING, but it does what it sets out to do well. I do wish it could have had a richer, deeper exploration, and feeling to the school atmosphere, like it did with Li He's sports journey,(and to everything, really), and I also feel like some form of social commentary cud have been made on the various challenges the characters faced (the gaokao being the fat elephant in the room ;-;) but what I see as issues are probably not seen here, or cud not be commented on cause censorship O.O

U might argue, but its 24 episodes, and yeah, regardless idt those 24 eps were used the most efficiently. Regardless, Please Classmate isn't the deepest, most emotional high school coming of age show, but that isnt to say it's not emotional, or heartwarming in any way. I think it does a good, decent job, at being a high school drama. It definitely is the better of the high school dramas I've seen China pump out to this day (a love so beautiful, The best of you in my mind, these are a few it does better at. a love so beautiful is nOT that good dont @ me.)

Wouldn't rewatch Please Classmate though. Maybe the first few eps, but not start to finish. (i remember sassy go go much more fondly :P)

hope this helped! and if u needed it
tl;dr - give this show a shot! It's worth a shot.

FINAL RATING: 7.8
idt this show deserves a 8, but a 7.9 looks petty, so we're at a 7.8 for now.

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Eye-candy Drama. Another decent drama once again!

Let's start with LIKES:

1. STORY
So far I love the story a lot. It's an old idea, but they've added new things to it and the execution feels fresh. I especially love the surge of older women younger guy roles I've been seeing lately, mainly as characters, sometimes irl, or both, LOL. It's refreshing.

2. ACTING
Lin Yi's acting has also improved here, and so has his appearance like damn ?. LuLu Xu is also p good. But I've seen her in Sunshine Of My Life (airing time overlapped with this drama i think) and I think I like her there better tbh. I'll get to that in dislikes.

3. MUSIC is OK
it's kinda the standard sounding Chinese female voice singing thing. Tbh in all Chinese dramas the songs kind of sound the same to me, esp the female voice its sang in, so this makes no real difference tbh. But I didn;t notice anything i DISLIKED about it, so that counts for something. And the main songs are very catchy. A score i think is very good (or at least more experimental or that actually made an impression on me, rofl) is the score in The Long Ballad.

4. Filmed nicely
idk shit about cinematography, but it was nice; for the vid game scenes they're done well. Lin Yi's action acting and stunts were a lil wonky XD But i'll forgive him since he's a young and newer actor. And he did seem to have charisma/confidence while doing them, so he's done half the work already XD The fact that the actual video game interface isn't really.....filmed though (besides the standard blue glowy sci fi text and shapes thing) is something that I'm always acutely aware of XD. But i dont mind--whose gonna devote budget to that if its for supporting cast scenes? all the main cast video game scenes are actual filmed scenes. so its cool

I DISLIKE:
1. The FL's indecisiveness
Something tells me the FL is going to be one of the biggest factors as to why this series will be so drawn out, and why the progression of their relationship has been so frustratingly slow so far. At first I thought she was going to be very badass and assertive---after all, she works in show biz, she has to be able to fend for herself. And she can. But when it comes to relationships, she's a little indecisive. Maybe she's scared of relationships and being hurt (which makes sense) but I'm still annoyed lmao. Multiple times the ML has given her hints that he knows its her who he's been talking to online, and up to I think to the end of ep 11 or start of 12, she was still questioning it??

2. The Progression for the first few eps is PAINFUL.
Luckily if you're reading this now, u cannot repeat the same msitake i amde which was to watch this show WHILE AIRING. this show is def binge, skip material for certain parts. Especially between 8 and 12 if memory serves. But if u have patience, disregard this. It's 31 eps, I knew what I was getting into. BUT they didn't have ANY OTHER thing to extend the episode count, than making this stupidly repetitive "does he know its me" and "won't they will they"??

Editing this review poast-finishing the drama, I can definitely say that this was a ride, but it was refreshing, light and enjoyable. (But light without the heft 31 episodes. By the 20s everything goes by in a flash though).

The rewatch value for this is high because then you can just skip through all the unnecessary things, thus skipping the flaws lol.

outside of all that, I like this drama. Its the perfect eye-candy drama, if you're just looking for a light story, with light drama in between, video game/ mostly action scenes, and an attractive cast. The action scenes cud be better imo, but II'll give the benefit of the doubt here. I think Love Scenery is fun, and the visuals (both the actors, outfits, and the video game scenes) makes it worth it.

Overall rating: 7.8
u dont get extra brownie points for being an eye-candy drama smh

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Pretty promising...It's genuinely an ok show so far :] edit: This show is worth your time.

old review made as of ep 12:

I like it! After reading the reviews, I have been enlightened that since I don't typically watch "princess revenge" dramas, I'm not the most experienced to talk about this. But want a fresh opinion...? I like this show so far :]

1. Complaints were made that Dilraba looks like Leo's older sis next to him, and to that I say go off? To me they look fine, and honestly, I dont think making complaints about the actor's appearance is ever really a valid argument, especially the kind I saw...? such as "she seems to have gained weight" or "makeup makes her look old" Maybe it might bother you when you watch, but I didn't really find any issues with it! If anything, I think it just has to do with the fact that while Leo is handsome, he does still look a little boyish in the face department, and does still register as being like....young XD I have to cover my eyes for the shirtless scenes. he's older than me but it feels like I'm doing something wrong, lmao.

That aside, dilraba looking "old(???)" has literally never bothered me. That's way harsh, and im a little sus abt comments like that :eye: I kind of focus on the characters and what they ARE in their role, (because the actors have done a good job of portraying it so I forget) and less so on the actors themselves, but I guess not everyone is as good at giving the benefit of the doubt? Not that it really needs to be given, but help yourself? Dilraba looks fine *shrugs* Watch for yourself and see how you feel about it?

2. Good acting. The actors can only do so much as they're given with the role. As for Lu Si's role in this as Princess Yongan, I think the performance became a little one-note, but maybe that's the fault of the role, and also Lu Si needing to find the right footing? The overall cast is pretty good I would say, not STELLAR OMFG AWARDS ACROSS THE BOARD, but good :)

3. Idk bout yall but I like the score. Maybe it's the normal siren-like sounds that literally any drama has, but I think the music in this is very good, and sets the stakes very well. 10/10 for that (except I don't ever give 10s, lmao).

4. I'm kind of neutral to the constant use of manhua drawings at key points of the story. Many viewers seem to find it jarring, and I agree to some extent. I would like to see more intense scenes that aren't interrupted by comic drawings. But I can also accept that it's just what production decided, and there's no helping it. I can only hope as the series goes on we can get to see more scenes that are actually filmed and done with cgi. It does break immersion. whenever an animation scenes comes on im kinda just like "ah shit here we go again" TT but what can we do :/

tl;dr this is a good show so far, and I'm hoping it doesnt go downhill. Hopefully, I will come back and edit this once i've either finished it, or dropped it altogether.

If you don't see an edit from me, know what the latter happened 👀

[after finishing]:


Edit: I've watched all 49 episodes now. overall, the long ballad, as a standalone, and ignoring any external, real world factors that may have affected minor things like more romance scenes and a more satisfying ending, ignoring all of that which we cannot change now, is a good drama.

It's not flawless or a masterpiece, but, I would most definitely recommend it to others, because it is a GOOD DRAMA! It has its own short-comings, times when the drama seems to flatline, times it picks up tempo, times of absolutely amazing cinematography, a consistently amazing OST (omg its so good), and varying levels of satisfaction with the romance, times it drags, times its just regualr, times its a little dumb in the logic, but nothing that detracts greatly from the show, and nothing I want to deliberately fault it, or the actors for, either. (wu lei at the time of filming this, had just turned 19, i read from a comment, so stop complaining abt no kiss scenes lol)

i'm genuinely using the mere fact that i have completed all 49, episodes, all at around 42 minutes long, WHILE airing. That is a testament alone to how addicting this drama is, (especially in comparison to the dramas that have been airing rn).

the opening episodes for the long ballad are stellar, and while I can understand why not every single episode could have been held to the same quality (they very obviously went all out on those first 3 or so eps), the episodes that follow are well choreographed for fight scenes, (for the ones that are not left to aniimations- :side eyes:) and there are always stakes, even if sometimes things are predictable or drawn out.

this show overall has been a fun experience for me. I have definitely found actors to keep on my radar going forward, such as Liu Yu Ning, and im definitely gonna go watch Ultimate Note since it has him AND wu lei 😳:flushed:

Anyways, that's my two cents. This show isn;t perfect, it has faults, but it's worth your time. I hope you can enjoy it as i have.

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