Low Emotional Payoff

This show was honestly one of the most anxiety-inducing and frustrating things to watch for me. While I enjoyed Chu Qiao's general badassery, the storyline was all over the place and the rage I felt towards the main couple (CQ & YWY) was almost unbearable.

The main couple's chemistry was lacklustre and at times, very corny. To add to that, YWY always felt like he was morally superior to everyone else and power imbalance between YWY and CQ always felt ... not right to me, and not once did I think they were on equal footing. YWY always seemed intent on lowering and reminding CQ of her past position, namely NOT EVEN CALLING HER BY HER REAL NAME, and instead constantly insisting on calling her by the name he gave HER, while she was still a slave under him - as if reminding us that she was still his possession.

I'll be honest, the main thing that kept me watching was Yan Xun, whose whole character arc I was compelled to (and also, FYI, excellent acting by Shawn Dou) and who my heart definitely bled for. Unfortunately, as is common, they tried to push YX to be the main antagonist by throwing in YWY with his moral high ground, and ignored everything that YX went through. I also felt CQ had more chemistry with YX than YWY which is a damn shame, since we all know what happens to second male leads.

By the end of this cliffhanger drama, I just felt emotionally empty and vaguely insulted that this was the ending that I was left with after watching this many episodes. Only YX left an emotional impact on me, and this is definitely not one of the dramas I would rewatch - but hey, at least the OST was good!

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Unexpected Twists

I've seen the time loop trope done so many times that I wasn't really sure what to expect coming into this ... but wow, the story was unexpectedly thrilling, had a great storyline, and was filled with interesting characters that you could relate to and/or empathize with.

Every episode I felt contributed to the overall story, and there wasn't any moment where it felt like they were filler scenes. Production, acting, story - all were high quality, and you could tell they really put a lot of thought into the making of this drama. I've watched so many cdramas with at least double the length of this, but this really did feel like the perfect length to me, because nothing dragged on - I personally wouldn't have even minded if it was extended to an episode or two more, but this felt like the perfect ending to a great drama.

Highly recommend giving this a watch!

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Great Acting, Decent Story

Okay, I'm not going to lie - I mainly watched this because of the hype, and the first maybe 14 episodes or so, I was bored to tears and wondering when something, ANYTHING, was going to happen and when I would stop finding the main character horrifically annoying.

But it did get better! Much better, and actually became one of my favourite dramas. There were definite scenes that I would rewatch because I enjoyed them so much, and the chemistry between the two main leads was phenomenal, in addition to just great acting from the both of them - special shoutout to Ethan Juan as Wu Ji, who threw his soul and acted his heart out as his character. I truly do think his acting was what made me fall in love with his character (initially, I even had trouble distinguishing between him and Jing Chen).

One major peeve of mine, though, was the side couple who I really could not stand. The circumstances of how they got together was frankly insulting, and dubious. I really felt as if Zhuzhu's whole character was basically to be in love with Zhan Bei Ye, and that was it - their lesson as a couple was that if as long as you persist, if you really love that person and sacrifice an important part of yourself, you'll eventually get the guy and fall in love! Even if said guy ignored your existence for many, many, many, many years and basically tells you off every time. But remember, none of that matters because eventually the two of you will fall in love because he will realize you are willing to sacrifice your whole life for him!

Anyway, side couple aside, the plot was decent and while nothing to write home about, again, was greatly acted and added a lot to my enjoyment while watching this show. Would I watch again? Maybe! Definitely one of the more enjoyable dramas I've watched so far and fantastic music to go along with it.

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Had potential.. if only the storyline wasn't so terrible

I'm trying (read: struggling) to continue watching this but all I'm thinking about is how Crystal and Zheng Ye Cheng's chemistry is completed wasted on this drama lol. I'm literally so disappointed because the two of them definitely deserve a better script/story than ... whatever this is, because their chemistry is A+.

I actually liked the FL lead at first, but then she got super annoying when she devolved into a clingy, lovesick puppy. I have no problems with a straight-forward FL who goes after what she wants (and in fact, this is what made it refreshing when I watched the beginning eps) but FL's whole personality is chasing after the ML and being in love with him. One of the things that also really grated me was the progression of their relationship. There was, what felt like, absolutely no buildup to their relationship, and I don't know if it's because they cut out a lot of scenes (seeing as this is only 22 eps), but their relationship went from 0 to 100 real quick. It's like one day the ML is telling her to bugger off and the next they're in love with each other and spilling their traumatic past to each other. Like... what LOL.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just not the target demographic? I wouldn't completely dismiss this drama if you're looking for a fun, romantic drama to watch (the two leads have a ton of great romantic scenes with each other) but not if you're looking for something with more substance.

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Transmigration/Second Chance

FL gets a second chance at life! And also takes revenge on those that harmed her before.

The definite standout for this drama was the actress for Soo Min. She was the perfect, most detestable villain, and honestly made Yoo Ra (the antagonist girlfriend that came in later episodes) seem like a normal person.

There were a couple of infuriating episodes (I'm looking at you, episodes 12 and 13) and also my gripe on how the ML seemed to have no personality outside of the FL, but overall, this was a good transmigration drama with a satisfying happy ending.

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Love Supremacy

Interesting plot premise right from the start and the execution was even better. The cast was great, no awkward acting (in fact, Lee Tae Vin knocked it out of the park with his acting), and the storyline had depth and not just fluff. It's about learning how to love and be loved, and a self reflection on what it means to be happy.

However, there were some pacing issues, which I feel was kind of expected with the number of episodes. They probably could have benefited from maybe 1-2 more episodes, but overall, I don't think it detracted too much from the drama, which was still high enjoyable and meaningful. Highly recommend a watch, even if you're not a BL fan.

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This was a slow start drama that really takes a while to build up (with annoying flashbacks every two scenes and internal monologues galore), but overall, it had interesting characters and a decent storyline. I had doubts about both the ML and FL at first, but I ended up liking both of them in the end. If you're like me and like morally grey characters, you'll probably also like the ML, who is, honestly, pretty unhinged (pls get this man a therapist).

The romance part was more of an aside for me, as I wasn't really buying it between the ML and FL. The side characters were constantly mentioning how the ML and FL acted differently towards the other and how they must love the other, that the whole thing just felt forced, as if they were trying to convince the audience of this fact rather than letting their actions speak for themselves.

I probably wouldn't ever rewatch this but this was an enjoyable drama. If you like palace politics, you'll probably like this as well! Nice OST, good acting, and satisfying ending.

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Beautiful Xanxia

Went into this with low expectations, and came out of it happily surprised.

This was the most visually stunning xanxias I've watched thus far. The CGI, cinematography, outfits, makeup - everything was done beautifully. Special shoutout to the person who worked on all of the ML's outfits because I literally could not stop obsessing over how beautiful his outfits were lol.

And while I wouldn't say it had a particularly complex plot and it definitely had a ton of tropes, the acting, music, and production of the show really made the whole drama immensely enjoyable for the viewer.

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Great Production, Decent Storyline, Max Enjoyability

I had high hopes coming into this drama. I usually don't start watching dramas until they're completed, but I took a chance on this and yep, I have no regrets.

First of all, the production value of this drama was top notch. Everything looked great - loved all the different costumes and the sets, and it really helped set the mood throughout the whole series.

Second of all, I absolutely loved the FL. Honestly, if you're a fan of strong FLs, I would give this drama a chance because this definitely fits the bill. FL isn't the type of "strong" FL where they claim she's strong and then somehow somewhere down the line, 10 episodes in, you have the ML having to save her every other episode (an exaggeration, but you get my point). Nope, this FL holds her own throughout the whole drama, and is on par with the ML every step of the way, whether it's physically or intellectually. There were times where I thought, oh no, they're going to have her fall into the trap or oh, she's going to get saved by someone, but NOPE, she actually fucking figures it out and gets the job done herself.

This has now become my favourite drama of Yang Yang and Lusi so far. Yang Yang especially, stood out for me in this show and now I need him to do 500 other wuxia/xianxia because he is perfect in these types of roles. Chemistry between him and Lusi was great, so much so that I could deal with some Very Questionable Plot Points just because I was so invested in the two of them lol.

Also, bonus points for NO LOVE TRIANGLE. Hell yeah. There was a point where I thought they were headed to one with Feng Xiwu, but she became best friends with FL instead and was actually so genuinely supportive and kind to FL. A miracle!

All in all, it's a fantastic drama for me, highly enjoyable with engaging characters that I loved. Worth my time, and worth the watch.

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Decent drama

This was a surprisingly realistic (or as realistic you can get when one of the characters is a hugely famous pop star..), not over-the-top drama. The problems ML had in the beginning I could definitely empathize with. It had an easy-to-watch storyline and no dramatic conflicts with unrealistic villains and terrible communication. Both of the leads were mature, knew what they wanted, and really made their relationship work. While Yang Yang improved from his Love O2O days, his acting always felt very wooden to me. However, he had great chemistry with Dilraba and their relationship carried the show. I'm not sure if I would ever rewatch this but it was a sweet, romantic drama that wasn't too serious and fairly light-hearted.

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Heartwarming, Charming, Hilarious

This was one of the most charming, feel good kdramas I've ever watched, and I cannot believe it took me 5 years to finally watch it.

So, so many good things about this drama, but the one that stands out the most to me was the chemistry between the two leads because .... y'all. Bok Joo and Joon Hyung are seriously SO cute. I can't even count the amount of times I smiled and laughed like an idiot because of these two. Cutest couple ever. I think what really got me was how natural their relationship was, nothing felt forced, and there was definitely more skinship than I expected for a kdrama.

There were some things about the drama that I was kind of iffy on, such as the way they dealt with weight/diet/disordered eating etc. and the uh.... questionable coaching methods, but I did feel like the issues I had with the show were minor gripes in comparison to how happy this drama made me feel while watching it. I loved pretty much all the relationships they had with each other, especially Bok Joo's relationship with her two best friends and with her dad, as well as Joon Hyung's relationship with his aunt and uncle.

A+, would definitely consider watching again.

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