sinnyyy
It has a stellar cast of fantastic actors and actresses coupled with a great story. While the FL and ML had great chemistry and a lot of moments together, what I actually loved the most about this drama was the overarching theme of familial love and support. Many characters I actively disliked in the beginning, I grew to love later in the series.
Even if you're not a fan of costume dramas, I would definitely give this one a shot.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Redemption after PA
This was a very high budget drama with great fight scenes and CGI. It had an equal mix of humour and seriousness between the main leads; ZLY and LGX played their roles perfectly, and the banter between their characters was fantastic. FL's usual serious demeanor worked very well with ML's much more lax and teasing personality.However, the humour completely missed the mark for me for the other characters. This affected the plot for me quite a bit as when the conflict actually came, everything seemed low stakes and not as serious since we've seen all these characters cracking jokes like two episodes before. The main antagonist was also a pretty bad actor so it was another thing I could not take seriously. To be honest, other than the main FL and ML, I didn't care about 98% of the side characters as most were just for comedy purposes or their characters weren't fleshed out enough for the audience to care about them.
If you're looking for a high-paced drama - this is most definitely not it. It's a slow burn with a slow moving plot but it's a beautiful production so you don't really notice it as much. It's also got a wonderful, no doubt about it, happy ending which is A+.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
First 34 Episodes
This drama got me hooked right from the very first episode. I was thrilled to have a FL that was strong, smart, and knew what she wanted. There was never any damsel in distress and she and the ML truly made the perfect power couple.The production was amazing and the whole cast did a great job of making the audience laugh and cry. It had characters that you could really empathize with and root for. Loved the friendships between the characters, but especially the 4 friends with the ML. Also, the OST was stellar, seriously one of the best I've heard and it really elevated certain scenes.
Some minor gripes would be the dead fish kisses (which I kind of thought we were past), iffy acting on some side characters, and how at least 90% of the storyline was centred on one goal and felt like an overly long trip.
But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
However, I'm basing my review solely based on the first 34 episodes. I don't know if I plan on watching the remaining 6 episodes, but I feel like it would be unfair to lower my rating too much even if I did as I really did enjoy a majority of the show.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
100% would recommend - watch for the friendship and the mysteries!
Was this review helpful to you?
Hugely Underrated
I stumbled upon this drama while looking for something to watch, and after finishing this series, I can safely say this is such a hugely underrated series. Everything from the production (the sets and costumes are beautiful and everything just looks high budget), to the the acting (no wooden acting to be found anywhere!! a miracle!!), to the story (perfect mix of cry-my-eyes-out story and cry-my-eyes-out hilarity), to the music (THE AMAZING OST!!! caught in my feelings every time it played) was SO good.The best part of this series to me to be honest, wasn't even the romance, but the friendships, the familial love, and the theme of found family. The two sisters are just genuinely so supportive and loving towards each other despite how differently the two of them grew up, and every one of the friendships they've developed over the course of the series just felt so heartwarming. I usually have at least one or two "good" characters that I don't like and straight up find annoying, but I honestly, genuinely loved all the side characters. A special shoutout goes to Emperor Tun who I thought I would hate but actually became one of my favourite characters.
Easily one of the best dramas of the year so far for me, would definitely recommend a watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
HUMAN AND DRAGON SHENANIGANS
Pros: Loved the first half of the drama which I felt had the perfect amount of truly funny moments mixed in with the plot. I also absolutely LOVED the FL's character, and Zhou Ye's acting definitely made me shed some tears during some of the more emotional scenes. I do feel FL and ML had great chemistry and liked seeing them together. The ML was adorable and was definitely very pretty. Plus, he's a dragon!Not so great: The second half fell a bit short for me as I just could not take the main villain seriously. There were also way too many long and unnecessary backstories and scenes for all the villains, pseudo villains and the many, many side characters that I feel like they could have cut out. The whole production was also sort of a miss for me - it looked low budget, where some of the scenes are really awkwardly shot, and the costuming (mainly... the hair) and CGI looked hilariously fake, especially when the CGI was combined with human interaction (i.e. that scene of them petting one of the monsters... I could not help but lol). The acting was a bit iffy for the ML and SML ... my main gripe is with the ML in that he's definitely a bit of a wooden board and oftentimes just has one or two of the same expressions (concerned and angry). One more thing - music I felt was decent and times added to the story, but I have to mention that there was this one background music that they play during some of the comedic moments that COMPLETELY took me out because it sounded so ridiculous and I know it's a stock background music from somewhere else (maybe other shows? movies? IDK).
Conclusion: Liked it, but definitely not my favourite. However, it's worth a watch if you're looking for a xianxia to pass the time.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
This was one of the top dramas for me and definitely the top 2022 drama so far.
Was this review helpful to you?
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!
Was this review helpful to you?
Fantastic slow burn drama
I am a huge fan of slow burn romance dramas, and this one ticks all of the boxes for me. It has an interesting storyline, likable characters that you can relate to and empathize with, and amazing chemistry between the two leads. I've watched too many shows where the FL falls in love with the ML in just a few episodes and while I don't usually mind it, a longer relationship progression is much more engaging and realistic. In this drama you can actually see the FL and ML's love, respect, and trust for each other grow throughout each episode.People have mentioned that it had a slow start, but I found that the beginning actually lay out great groundwork for future episodes and I didn't find any episode boring at all. I loved learning more about the FL and her family life as it made her more relatable and interesting.
Things also worth mentioning: beautiful cinematography, humour that is comedic but not overdone and exaggerated, and storyline/scenes that really pull at your heartstrings. While I don't know what part 2 holds, I highly recommend watching part 1!
Was this review helpful to you?
Unsatisfying
If you're planning to watch this, be prepared for a ridiculous plot filled with unlikeable characters. I honestly believe it had potential, the beginning episodes were interesting, but by the end of it I disliked basically almost every character. Some parts were so ridiculous and overexaggerated/acted that I unintentionally just burst out laughing during serious scenes.I really wish that they fully committed to the revenge plot instead of throwing the cliche twin flames, star crossed lovers thing into the mix. Honestly, they should have just thrown the whole romance aspect out the window and it would have probably upped my enjoyability of this show tenfold. I've mentioned this before, but what these people need is to therapy, not relationships. Also, the styling for this show is pretty bad imo, to the point here it just takes me out of the show.
Promising plot, terrible execution, decent acting, awful characters.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
