Unpredictable Plot with Script that Makes You Constantly Think & Analyse (Ending Explained)

I really love this drama as a whole. I love how groundbreaking and interesting it is that each episode seemed like its only 15 to 30 minutes long. I love how unpredictable it is like literally, you cant guess whats coming and I love how it is structured to make you speculate and ask questions. The editing was made to show the future first and later flashback scenes will follow aka Christopher Nolan’s ‘Momento’ kind of storytelling. You know that a story is great when it can evoke you all kind of emotions and this drama is exactly that. It made you care for the characters, only to play you around and makes you wanting for more. And I salute the writer for her ability to engage the viewers like she did in this drama.

Aside from that, I really love the writer’s little clues here and there. She did a looooot of foreshadowing in this drama. It sure raise a lot of questions but you know whats coming with that. I mean, we after all can predict Jeong Hun’s death the moment Jin Woo asked Jeong Hun to join him at Granada (as in the train flashback scene, Jin Woo is alone and not with Jeong Hun). We also know right away that Marco is the one who hunt Se Joo the moment he made his appearance in the drama (as a blue checkered guy is the one who shot Se Joo). We also know as early as in Episode 2 that Jin Woo’s leg will be injured but his limp is cured the moment he’s playing the game. The dynamic of Jin Woo and Hee Joo’s relationship is also foreshadow since in the earlier episode on how she’s sitting in front of Jin Woo in the rain is making him feel protected and safe. Hee Joo didnt kill the enemies like Jeong Hun would (since after all she cant see Hyeong Seok's NPC), but her presence and existence is like a buffer between Jin Woo and the game and that particular scene perfectly show what would her role be in Jin Woo’s life in the future.

Jin Woo has become one of my very fave Kdramas’ lead characters ever. And I have to give credit to Hyun Bin for that. He played Jin Woo in such a depth that you literally feel his pain just by looking in his eyes. I have watched Hyun Bin for the past 15 years and I have to say that this is simply his best role to date (although Hyun Bin's Robin from 'Hyde, Jekyll, Me' is my soulmate :P). Its been a really long time that I’m this emotionally invested in a character and Hyun Bin portrayal of Jin Woo made me feel Jin Woo’s soul. Aside from his outburst in Episode 1, Jin Woo is actually a really nice, humble and level-headed guy. Its evidenced with the way he talk to other people despite their status – he actually use a polite language (instead of Banmal) to everyone even to his low-level workers. And not to mention that despite his trouble with the game, he still treat people with utmost respect and care despite he himself is facing a real life and death situations.

Now regarding the romance part of the drama, I thought it was done very tastefully and slowly -- in a mature kind of way. You could see clearly why Hee Joo falls for Jin Woo. The mixture of Jin Woo kindness (still giving her the full amount of the contract), to him touching her soft spot (playing guitar), to him still taking care of his ex-wife (despite he didnt need to), to him facing real & death situation when he falls at her hostel, to her taking care of him and Jin Woo asking her to stay... And later when she realised the length Jin Woo went through to find Se Joo. All this small details contribute to why she loves him. And as for Jin Woo, its obvious that he falls for Hee Joo's kindness and strength. He was impressed with her ability to feed her family and was also taken back by her kindness (the length she is willing to go to help him either in interpreting to taking care of him when he's sick), to her quirkiness on how she explodes when she's mad. Plus, the most important of all is how her presence made him feels safe -- even when Hyeong Seok NPC is in front of him (during the rain scene). Hee Joo is like a buffer between the game and Jin Woo. He just unintentionally ask her to stay by his side since he is just too scared to be alone. He didnt understand it either but later, he realised that he likes her for her sincerity -- the one he never get from Su Jin or Yu Ra. And he actually smile and laugh when she is around him which he never did the whole 1 year after their last meeting at Granada when the game make him question his sanity. That is why he had the urge to see her before he completed the final mission since she is someone important in his life. IMO, the romance part was dealt with many minor details and mature way thats why I ended up really liking how their relationship grows despite the horrible situation they're in -- its not too much nor too little. When you are deal with real life and death situation, your feelings intensifies which explain their relationship perfectly.

All in all, I give the drama 9.5/10. It is not perfect but it was interesting as hell and full of unpredictable plots. I would love it more if the writer actually explain how the characters die because loss of blood when they were killed in the game but I guess she just lump sum it up as part of the 'fantasy and mysterious’ part of the game when Emma made the reality and game world collide when Marco stabbed Se Joo with real knife. But aside from these minor details, this drama has become one of the most nerve-wrecking Kdramas in my book. Its rare for me to have palpitation when I watch Kdramas but this drama is one of a rare case and it will always be special in my heart because of that. :D

~ SPOILER ~

Explanation on the Ending:

ITS OBVIOUSLY A HAPPY ENDING. WHY?

I know that many people are really dissatisfied with this drama’s ending. I personally thought the writer trying to be creative with her ending but kind of backfired as many people got confuse with the game concepts and thought that the bug cycle was repeating themselves over and over again now that Jin Woo is still stuck in the game.

On the surface, the drama ended with a bittersweet note with a glimmer of hope at the end. However, after a second viewing, I have to admit that it is after all a clear cut happy ending. I realised many small details that the writer gave to us – that it was clear that despite the ending is ambiguous, the writer aimed for a happy end to both of our main leads. First of all, lets clear the confusion regarding the concept of the game world.

1. At first, I thought that Emma, while one of her features is to delete bugs, is a bug itself as she’s the reason why the game world and the reality world collide when Marco stabbed Se Joo with real knife. I mean, if she’s not there, the whole mess of the game become real wouldn’t happen as Se Joo will just bleed after the stab and probably recover after he go to the hospital. Jin Woo wouldn’t be in that mess and the only one suffers is only Se Joo with the stab wounds on his stomach.

2. Marco is Se Joo’s bug thus he do not need to be deleted for Jin Woo to reset the game. Plus, Jin Woo can't see Marco anyway unless he made an alliance with Se Joo. Bear in mind that Se Joo is the one who create this game and he set the rules. Among the rules are those who gave Fatima the Key to Heaven will win the game and become the new Master. And he also put one of Emma’ s features is to delete bugs and once bugs are deleted, the game will reset. And that is exactly what Jin Woo did; level up, get the key, kill the bugs and hand over the key to Emma and Emma reset the game. Now, why Jin Woo is a bug and need to be deleted? It is because he played the game while the game is in error state. Had other testers of the game made a duel and killed their opponents like Jin Woo, they will be in the same position as Jin Woo as well.

3. Jin Woo made sure he killed all of the bugs and also sacrificing himself in the process to end the game’s sinister elements. Since he already do this and reset the game to zero, there are no more evil cycle of one has to sacrifice themselves to save the others. Once Emma reset everything, it is a new game without bugs/errors/glitches. J One lost all the data and build the game back from scratch that is why it took them another 1 year to release the new game as they have to rebuild everything. The good thing about the whole thing is that is game is finally safe to be played unlike Se Joo’s original game which mix game world and the real world. The writer made it clear that the evil part of the game was buried once and for all when Jin Woo sacrificing himself at the end.

4. It was obvious that Yang Ju finally delete Emma from the new game when we hear that he regretted of keeping Emma where Emma in the end reset the whole game and delete all their hard work for the past 1 year. So no Emma, no more error in the game. There is no more Emma so the features of her to delete bugs and reset back the game is no longer there as well.

5. Regarding whether Hee Joo can see Jin Woo or not, she can see him as she is wearing lenses. All game users can see Jin Woo if he made an appearance that is why the guy at the restaurant insisted that Jin Woo is not NPC but an advanced user. But why there's no name for Jin Woo in the new game? It is because Emma has deleted everything including Jin Woo's game name 'Zinu' that is why he is without name. ‘Instance Dungeon’ is to make one become invisible from the enemies and hide themselves. Se Joo did hide himself for 1 year as Marco is there to hunt him so he keep using the instance dungeon feature to remain safe. Jin Woo in the other hand just use the feature to save himself from getting deleted by Emma. So if he didn't use the instant dungeon feature, other game users can see him. The problem is getting him out of the game and I believe that is Se Joo's task to do that.

And now the for ending, the writer purposely tell us about the 'Instance Dungeon’ and how a user can use it to hide themselves. And later at the end, it is shown that Jin Woo after all did use that feature to save himself. But why is he helping in killing low-level NPCs for other game users just days after the game was released? It is not actually a 'Master’ task to do that and he knew the game is now free from bugs and no one is getting killed for real. But he did it anyway. Why? He did that as a call of help to alert everyone that he is after all still alive but somehow still stuck in the game. He clearly let them know that he is still alive by helping the other game users. Now that Hee Joo knew that he is alive and hidden, it is only a matter of time for him to be saved just like how he saved Se Joo the year earlier. So, technically, it is only a matter of time before he can get his happy ending.

I am pretty much disappointed with the ending but upon second viewing, it wasn’t really that bad like I initially felt. The writer for surely aimed for a happy end, it just that, its not in-your-face type of ending like other dramas.

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Following History While Telling A Completely Different Story. Brilliant Script All Around.

Great story with great acting. Chinese small screen has really gone a long way. The cinematography is beautiful and the battle scenes are shot like it were for movies. The magnitude of quality offered in this drama is simply breathtaking. I really enjoyed the political schemes and plots since the story is full of intelligent people with their own hidden agendas. The level of Chinese political mind games are in different levels when compared to Japan or Korea.

The title is exactly what the drama is about. We all know the history of the 3 kingdoms from the Four Great Classic Novels but this drama told the 'secret' behind the 3 kingdoms' stories but with a twist. For history buff like me, I enjoyed it a lot as it followed the real historical events with real historical figures. The so called 'secret' and how the writer incorporate it to the real historical events are what make the this drama really interesting and great.

I think many people misunderstood the so called 'weak' main character. The Emperor is by no mean 'weak' but he wins battles with wit and intelligence. His kindness and benevolent characteristics are always at odd with the viewers but many failed to see the brilliance behind his decisions. Many times his kindness save them from enemies' traps and never once he was caught red-handed by the enemies. Everytime when he compromised with his enemies, he got more advantages in return -- just by giving something small, he achieved something bigger in return. He won the hearts of his enemies and supporters and they call him a great and a wise king. He strike fears in the heart of his enemies just by being kind -- I find it really brilliant how his kindness is the reason why he managed to turn around the weak Han Imperial Family name into something that the people respect and love.

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Script Full of Details with Unique & Creative Storytelling (Ending Explained)

''Seeing you is like seeing another me. My heart has been crushed, never healed. You are a protagonist and so am I. Souls with the same color. Finally, a light shines upon me. In the dark corners, accompany me in breaking free from the shackles.''

This is a question that I always struggle with myself on whether I want to watch my favorite actors/actresses with a hit drama that is popular or a drama with quality script. And everytime, my answer will always be the latter and this drama is a perfect example of this. I truly love this drama to pieces. I love how it is full of depth and details, have substance and full of complicated and layered characters. And the greatest thing about this drama is the script. I have never come across this kind of creative scriptwriting before. The drama from the surface just look like a normal slice of life or romance drama but the elements and depth that the script possessed makes it unique that managed to stand in a class of its own.

Due to this, I will only explore the substance that the script possessed in my review:

FORESHADOWING ELEMENTS IN SHAN SHAN'S SCRIPTS
It is actually clues to us, the audiences on who is the villains and who is the real nice people in his life. We should know the plot twist in the Shan Shan’s police script ‘Pursuit’ since the same character has started to show his fangs in his life as early as Episode 2. There will be unknown faces that makes cameos in his script and this is all clues on their motives when they finally appear in his life. My favorite is the big guy; Brother Kuan from basketball and when he finally appears in Shan Shan’s life, I knew instantly that he will be on his side. I never seen this kind of creative writing from any dramas before. I thought it is very refreshing -- how the foreshadowing for future events are told from his stories.

SUBSTANTIVE PLOTS WITH DEPTH
I like the fact that in the first glance, we thought the leads are just normal people since they hide it so well with all the smiles and their out-going personalities -- then the story start shedding their tragic past one by one and you can see how these two characters are broken people and are connected since they are 'Souls with the same color' just like the OST lyrics indicated. In fact, the whole theme song is a reflection of their relationship in a nutshell.

COMPLEX CHARACTERS WITH LAYERS & SUBTLE DETAILS
The scene where Shan Shan watched a movie and Liu Xia said it is okay to raise the sound even more but he told her that he already did when you can barely hear the sound. Only a person who has been hurt will act as guarded like that. Or the scenes where Grandma gave him the chicken soup and she offered him a drumstick as an add on but he just said ‘No need’ as he is too happy just receiving the soup only. Now all these scenes make more sense. Or the fact, all Brother Kuan did is feed him and offer him a small kindness but he went all up and beyond to write him a script for free with no credit. This guy just wants to be loved and appreciated. Taking all the small kindness he received at heart and gives more in return. The abandonment issues that Shan Shan’s suffers truly made him as ‘People Pleaser’ and as guarded to everyone despite the bright out-going personality that he has on the outside. All these cracks in his personality are excellent, subtle and were revealed slowly as the drama progressed. Same can be seen with Liu Xia on how she always smile yet, she never truly happy. Her BFF always like 'Why I'm always happier than you when something great happen to you?' as she always ready to receive all these bad things that keeps happening to her, like she was expecting all of it, deserving everything, like she used to never catch a break in her life. All these little hints from the characters are like puzzle that made perfect sense in the end on why they behave as they did in the drama.

HEALING SCRIPT
I love how the leads’ tragic past didn’t make them feel bitter about the world or make them treat other people badly -- but they are really good people, with very beautiful souls. I love all the conversations they have with each other, they have the same views and values on what's important, and they also view the world with the same kindness -- it is a realistic portrayal of how two people falls in love -- the similarity, the calmness and the tranquility that they found with each other. They had this tacit understanding like 'soulmate' kind of relationship which is really beautiful to watch. Like all shits are happening outside for them, then they come home, see each other and feel happy with each other's company; 'Us Against Them' mentality. I love how Ren Jialun has amazing amazing chemistry with Angelababy. They were captivating to watch on screen and their scenes emits the peaceful aura and vibe that is so healing to the soul.

BALANCE WRITING
This drama mastered the arts of balance writing which I personally think should be the case for any dramas out there. In many episodes, you will find yourself shed tears for the characters and feel bad for them -- the dark past they are hiding in their heart, the bad things that keep happening to them but in the same episode, there will be healing scenes that makes you feel heal and happy. The balance that this drama achieved is one of the reasons why this drama is really fantastic in my book. Good deeds’ rewards are shown in many forms. We are used to see characters suffers in dramas but here, it is shown even though evil people are making the leads’ life miserable, there are many good people out there that will look out for them and ‘punish’ this bad guys FOR THEM (karma). I rarely seen this in dramas but it is so satisfying to watch. It shows all your actions has consequences and the universe will reward you for your good hearts and deeds.

SCRIPT WITH RESEARCH
The whole psychology matters in the script was handled delicately. I love how since early in the episode, the drama made clear the different between psychologist and psychiatrist -- so patients that required doctor’s diagnosis and medication, Lui Xia told them she cant help them since it’s beyond her expertise. Then the breathing technique is one of the most important thing in this profession and we can see how it is being used constantly in the drama. And how depression is not a taboo illness but something that we can seek treatment. Then we have Shan Shan as the scriptwriter – the different between writer VS scriptwriter, his dilemma of writing original script VS following what the client wants, focusing on plot VS romance plot, to writing tighter script VS writing script filled with filler scenes and overall the toxic environment on set and the exhaustion he faced in trying to meet the deadline.

REALISTIC SCRIPT
Many details that other dramas always overlook was taken into great consideration here. Like after finding out that they were online friends, instead of romanticize the encounter, Liu Xia was weary on whether their whole meeting was planned like other normal person would. Or to transfer large amount of money, need a token and can’t be done online on the spot. Then how Shan Shan has asthma and it can be seen how he fainted after he carried Liu Xia on his back. Then the hospital scene, despite after waking up, all Liu Xia wants is to sleep again since that is normal due to medication in her body. This kind of small details always being taken for granted but this drama didn’t which make me appreciate it very much.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING WRITING
This drama has so so many memorable phrases! I love how it makes you think and change your outlook and perspective on life. Like the one that Liu Xia told Shan Shan; ‘Memories don’t make people sad. It’s sad because people always perceive things from only one perspective. But if you change your perspective, it might not be that sad.’ Or one of my favorites; ‘I told you to step on the brakes to wake up and get back on track. Not to make you give-up entirely.’ Or the best one in the drama which is ‘Life is like a stage where the light/goodness shines on it. And it only took one step to cross over to the dark side.’ This one is the best yet as many people disregard on how easy it is to cross-over to the darkness and once you cross that, you can never go back to where things were. And I believe the most famous one from the drama would be; ‘When you unexpectedly encounter someone as radiant as a rainbow, everyone else is just a passing clouds’ which first comes out in the third episode of the drama yet you know this phrase is to foreshadow the leads’ relationship in the future.

NON-PRETENTIOUS OUTTAKES ON LIFE
There is no right or wrong in certain life’s situation and I’m glad for certain dilemma, the writer didn’t force to us on what he think is the right way. Like who should the Drama Producer listen to? The words of award-winning scriptwriter or an experienced director? Then you throw in the bits that when the last time this experienced director had a hit movies/dramas? There is no right answer to this question and I love how the drama didn’t force it to our face on the moral compass in this type of situation.

UNCONVENTIONAL BAD GUYS
This drama has different type of bad people. First, the one that is outright evil and show no attempt to hide it. Second, the worst kind of enemies which is the ones hiding in a blanket. And the last one spectator that watch the evil deeds being done and remains silent about it. The slow progression of toxic behaviors are explored to the fullest here. It started from small things such as not being honest about a simple car purchase, then the 'acting' mad in a manipulation attempt to get what they want then the gifting part to make the other party feels happy -- all of this can be passed as something small but this is actually seed of red flags of a toxic relationship. Then add the sprinkles of how people keep asking Shan Shan 'Is he always treat you like this?' 'Why are you taking this job?' 'Did he always do this to you?' to show to us how everyone can see how wrong it is but Shan Shan, just passed it as something normal since he is used to these small abuses. This kind of toxic relationship did not happen in just love relationship but as well between friends and someone close to you.

EVERYTHING COMING INTO A PERFECT CIRCLE IN THE END
Shan Shan’s police script ‘Pursuit’ is actually the exact depiction of every person in his life. You don’t realize this before but it all comes to a perfect circle when the story reached its climate ending -- from his Police character to Yuan Yuan's character in the story. Also, this drama ‘Twilight’ as a whole is actually the last script that Shan Shan wrote which tells the story about him and Liu Xia. All this coming seamlessly into a perfect circle at the end. This part is strongly foreshadowed during the scene when he asked Jia Zhen’s help with a script where Jia Zhen described Shan Shan’s script with depth and full of details on characterizations -– exactly like this drama itself -– a foreshadow that this drama that we watched, is a script written by him. Then the hot pot date scene happened where Shan Shan described to Liu Xia the reason behind why the chose ‘Twilight’ as the name of their story which further cemented this theory. And pay attention to the bedsheet -- all scripts that Shan Shan wrote has the same bedsheet as his bedsheet to show how this drama 'Twilight', is also his script. Its not a matter of production budget since we can see Liu Xia changed bedsheet a few times but not him. The attention to detail in this drama is just amazing!

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THOUGHT-PROVOKING ENDING

On the surface, the ending of this drama can be interpreted with these three possible endings:
1) All things happened just like in the drama.
or
2) It’s all fractions of imagination in Shan Shan’s mind.
or
3) This whole story is written by someone else.

All these 3 endings makes sense and is supported by various clues such as cars' plate number and etc.. However, when you look at the drama as a whole, it pointed more towards the first ending since if you look at the script in details, its more towards the fact that it indeed happened as this drama 'Twilight' that we watched is the last script that Shan Shan wrote, which is the story about him and Liu Xia. Since it is his script, that's why it becomes a comic strip at the end. But where his script inspiration comes to be? From his real life -- from his life experience with Liu Xia -- this is their story. Its a play within a play and within a play -- School love story (which has penpal element) IN Twilight (the drama that we watched) IN Shan Shan's real life story with Liu Xia. One might argue that the fashion has changed for Shan Shan in the last scene but remember the scene where Shan Shan went shopping for new clothes and Liu Xia said she will style him in the future? The clothes that Shan Shan wore in the last scene is totally what Liu Xia might style him -- the smart and clean look that she explained in the same scene.

Also, when they play the full second verse of the theme song before the ending credit, then you realized that the one sentence in the lyrics ‘YOU ARE THE ME who broke free from the shackles. Living the life of freedom, basking in the sunshine.’ is the actual message of this whole drama. The theme song is actually can be interpret into 2 meanings -– that the leads indeed healed each other’s hearts BUT when it comes to the outcome, it can only be achieved when the person itself wanted to change as well. The drama ended with Shan Shan telling Brother Kuan on the phone that he has 2 endings for the script that he wrote. At first, you can just pass it as something insignificant but then you realized how all this has been foreshowed since early in the drama. You have his school romance script with 2 endings. Then his crime script 'Pursuit' ended with a shot with no real hint who fire it which indicate that the good or bad guys could possibly win at the end. Then you have his last script ‘Twilight’ with 2 possible endings as well. This is to show that at the end, it all depends on your choice – on whether you want to choose light or darkness in your life.

And these 2 choices have been emphasis in many different scenes in the last 2 episodes of the drama as well:
1) How Mr. Cao told Coco that Shan Shan needs to settle his ‘brother’ matters on his own despite no matter how much they help him, he is the only one can make that decision for his life.
2) Liu Xia teacher saying that how Liu Xia going to overcome her PTSD is all depends on her on whether she wants to confront it or remains in the dark forever.
3) The slap Yuan Yuan gave to herself –- on how she is responsible for her own life and its finally the time for her to wake up from being a bystander and see Jia Zhen on who he truly is.
4) The inner thought of Jia Zhen when he read ‘Pursuit’ ending as in his version, he is the one who making the shot (bad guy won) and in the end, we can see which choice he chose to make in his life as well.

This kind of ending is indeed rare and very creative, so when you understood the reason behind it, then every little hints in the drama makes sense. The ending really elevated the whole story. Due to all this, 9.5 is the only appropriate rating that this drama deserved. I have no idea when I can come across with this type of script again but I’m so glad to find this gem among all the airing dramas right now.

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A Purest Kind of Love Story That is Full of Fluff Then Make You Sob Uncontrollably

This is my all time favourite modern Cdramas. I never thought it is possible to replace Nobuta wo Produce as the best school drama in my heart but this drama did it. This is one of the most beautiful and poignant love stories I have the honour of watching. It made you cry a river and made you question is that possible to love someone so selflessly like that without asking anything in return. It is a purest form of love and this drama portray it beautifully with many surprising twist and revelations.

The most beautiful thing about this drama is their portrayal of love -- it is poignant, deep, pure and profound. I never thought I will get this kind of love story while watching a school drama but this drama did it excellently. Here we got a female lead who has been in love with someone else for so long. She got a chance to redo her life by 'time travel' to the past and she discovered that there is another boy who has been loving her for so so long and the boy has been protecting her in silent for all those years without her knowing.

The drama started off with the female lead is crazily in love with someone else but when she finally snapped and learn the truth about her fiancee, she never look back. She finally decided to live for herself and redo everything back. She get close to the male lead after figuring out that he is the cause of her time travelling and while getting close to him for selfish reasons, she never thought he ended up taught her many things in life; taught her how fun life could be, taught her to dream and also taught her to find herself and in the process, she ended up falling deeply in love with him. She finally understand that in order for people to love her, she needs to love herself first and things like the unknown, fears and uncertainly can only be overcome by oneself to finally become a better person.

The female lead is really awesome. She is fun, funny, interesting and her confidence is overflowing. She fights for her future and keep saying how she will protect the male lead confidently. Such a refreshing character! Lin Beixing is now my most favourite female lead in Cdramas. I wish all female characters are written like her. Such a strong and admirable young woman! Flawed but very lovable at the same time.

I always thought fun and extrovert male leads are my favourite but Zhang Wansen proved me wrong. I never though such shy, timid and introvert person can be so attractive and compelling. His pure love, sacrifices and selfless actions are portrayed delicately that you cant help but to fall in love with him. Plus, I love how stubborn he is when he refuse to concede to her requests lol. They boy might love her unconditionally but he is not ready to sacrifice his goals, beliefs, perspective nor personality for her which is also part of the reasons that made him so attractive.

The first 16 episodes are pure fluff, fun and hilarious. I love how simple it is with just pure fun without any misunderstandings. The leads are absolutely adorable & lovable together and they had this beautiful beautiful tacit understanding with each other. It is such a peaceful and healthy relationship. They face adversities and challenges together and it is absolutely fun to watch them. Then when the truth was revealed about the fall from 10 years earlier, this is when the drama become more serious and heartbreaking. When it was revealed what really happened -- something that we never knew from before -- the sacrifices, the regrets, the what ifs, the possibilities, coupled with how the reminisce scenes are structured, it tugs to your heart strings like no others that you ended up crying a river. Even during the happy scenes when she travelled back to year 2007 to save him, tears were falling profusely on my cheek while laughing or smiling at their happy and funny scenes. I guess knowing all his sacrifices to her, you cant help but to feel helpless how they can't end up together. Knowing the truth really put everything into perspective. The way she look at him while he's not looking -- just feeling grateful he is healthy and alive are just so relatable that you ended up crying just as much as her.

9.5/10 is the only appropriate rating for such a great drama. I love how fun and addicting it was and how it made me sobbing like a baby later. Plus, the OSTs are really great! The songs' lyrics told their love story to a T and it fits all the scenes perfectly -- it perfectly describe their relationship from each other's point of views. Love the ending as well!

EXPLAINATION ON THE ENDING

The ending were pretty much cemented Wansen is alive especially with how they keep going on in the whole drama that NO ONE actually know what happened to him. And for someone like Gao Ge who is both his childhood friend, neighbor and sit beside him in class who is still after 10 years didn't know what actually happened to him, I was adamant that he survives the fall even before the ending scene. Plus, if a student committed suicide or killed, they will surely hold a memorial for his class to attend but what we got here? Nothing and literally no one exactly knew what happened to him. Because a writer, wouldn't purposely make his death so ambiguous if she wanted to tell us that he's dead and the umbrella scene in the end is only in Xing Xing's imagination. In movies/dramas, every actions and words meant something and when it is made purposely so ambiguous (like Zhang Wansen's death during the whole duration of the drama), its actually a clue to the viewers.

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A Very Satisfying and Full of Fluff Drama

This drama is without doubt the best romance drama in my book. Full of fluffs, hilarious & crazy chemistry is the 3 things to describe The Eternal Love series. I love how the love story of Lian Cheng & Tan'er are told without any pettiness or games, with a lot of hugs & kisses and most of all, they genuinely look and act like a true married couple in love. If you are looking for a great romance drama with a fun storyline, then this drama is for you.

While I love the 1st season, this 2nd season is without doubt miles better than the first one in term of everything. It got better budget, better script, better plots, better acting, better styling, better costumes -- basically better than the 1st season in term of everything while still maintaining the same heart & soul of the 1st season that we all love. I loved the plots involving 2 Mo Lian Chengs, the confusion it caused Tan'er and the hilarity it caused, the butterfly effects, the fight for the throne, basically everything from beginning to end. The plot is very simple but at the same time very fun and interesting.

Lian Cheng is without doubt one of my very favorite drama characters ever. Can you resist his charms? The man is literally perfect! Like the 1st season, he is King of Teasing and in this season, he didn't disappoint either and I personally think he upped his game even more despite being gentler and sweeter. I cant believe how Xing Zhaolin's acting has improved so much than the 1st season in a matter of a year. He acted the 2 Mo Lian Cheng with very subtle differences since they are supposed to be the same person. I can recognize Lian Cheng and the 8th Prince as early as Episode 6 despite both of them wearing the same clothes and donned the same hair styles. Lian Cheng has this gentle and relax look on him all the time while the 8th Prince's expressions are stoic and colder like the old Mo Lian Cheng from the 1st season.

Liang Jie as Tan'er / Xiao Tan is still as awesome as ever. She can definitely survive anywhere and of course where she is, trouble will follow her. Her out of the world thinking and bravery are definitely one of the reasons why both Lian Cheng and the 8th Prince can't resist her. And the 'English' letter he wrote to Mo Yihuai is definitely hilarious -- I'm in stiches while watching the whole scene. When you have this kind of character in a drama, surely, the drama wouldn't be boring and stagnant.

And the ending is literally the best ending for a drama! They dedicated the whole episode solely for the ending. It didn't feel rushed like other Chinese dramas and they gave us enough time and closure for our lovely couple and their happiness. The ending scene is truly perfect! The conversation they had at the lake is literally their relationship in a nutshell. From Lian Cheng brilliant teasing to Tan'er loves for money -- I love the dynamics of their relationship. They are definitely a relationship goal.

'No matter when or where,
Whatever person we become,
I will find you,
Fall in love with you,
Marry you a thousand of times,
For lifetimes, for generations,
Never separating....'

This drama is one of dramas where promises are fulfilled instead of broken. Thus as I stress again and again, a perfect romance drama in my book.

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A Perfect Ten! No Weakness At All In Term of Quality, Acting & Production Values

I never give any drama a perfect 10 but this drama 100% deserved it.

This drama is seriously amazing. I have watch like gazillion of Kdramas for the past 15 years and I can safely said that the writing for this drama is the best that ever comes out from Korea. It is intelligent, excellently written and the clever details is just mind blowing. The writer is great at constructing plot without leaving any minor details. The script is tight, solid, complicated without plot holes and full of characters with great depth and personalities without including any questionable or dumb plot in its storyline. I have high expectation before watching the show but this drama truly exceeded my already high expectations. The writers made everyone, including the main character as the possible suspects and yet, she is still able to surprise us with the ending.

I feel like no other investigation dramas can hold a candle to this other than Signal. Other law or investigation dramas always bother me with the inaccurate technical practices and details but this drama have none of those and it didn't insult you intelligent either. It's simply a brilliant cat & mouse chase drama where both the good and the bad guys are clever.

SECRET FOREST IS PERFECT IN QUALITY SENSE -- I dont even know it is possible until I watch this drama. There's nothing to complain about the script, plot, directing and acting as it is that good.

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Lots Lots Lots of Angst!!

This drama is literally one of my very favourite dramas ever existed. I can’t believe how much I actually love it but this drama has everything that I ever wanted from a drama be it a great production, tight script, amazing acting, beautiful cinematography and most of all explosive chemistry from the leads. I basically break my own binge record with 14 hours straight without rest – this never happen to me before with any dramas so this record speaks to itself on how addicting the story was. This is the type of drama that is so great that you wonder how the actors will ever top this work with any of their future projects.

I liked how fast paced is the story, so you don’t have to wait for everything to happen. It’s basically one adventure after one adventure so you will not have time to get bored since so many things happen at the same time. I also liked on how it took for a very long time for Thit to get over Tiw’s death and how Jee has never really getting over feeling guilty even though it was never really her fault in the first place. It made the story really realistic and you can somehow relate to the characters and their struggles.

I really thought Mark is great in this role. He does hating really well so all you can feel is his anger and hatred. He also nailed all those subtle expressions be it the embarrassed smiles, the slight happiness smiles, the surprised expressions, the sadness, the disappointments or how he tries to hold his tears when his heart was breaking without overdoing it. You can really see Thit as someone who is cold and rarely show his emotions unless to someone that he loves – those transitions are great to be witness one by one when he slowly warm up and falling for Jee. Yaya as Jee is absolutely wonderful. Aside being so stunningly pretty, she brought life to Jee and made her really stands out as a character. She was really fantastic and I’m just amazed to see all those tears coming from her. But most of all she nailed it as someone really yearns for love while at the same time ready to pour all her love to protects the ones that she loves – everything that she do, she do it because of love and purely that without asking anything in return. I love that she is a mixture of strong, sweet, lovely, kind-hearted, talented while at the same time vulnerable and broken – Jee is all of that and Yaya portrayed this character to perfection. Jee is not only beautiful but she probably one of the kindest soul that anyone can encounter in their lives – its perfectly understood why Thit falls for her despite how much he despise her.

And the most awesome thing about this drama is the chemistry between Mark and Yaya. They really the master the arts of chemistry in this drama – I finally understood that you cant fake chemistry no matter how good you are as an actor – you either have it or you don’t and they demonstrate it really well here. Their chemistry is so electrifying that you basically can’t focus on anything else when they’re both on screen – even when they’re screaming to each other, their chemistry was overflowing with passion. I realised it even more on how powerful is their chemistry when I do a rewatch since most of their scenes involves long stares with arrays of emotions. They did it so naturally that you didn’t feel awkward at all and I personally think had other actors required to do the exact same scenes, it would be resulted with an awkward scene instead.

And the OSTs! How perfect and how amazingly it matched the drama. I love it when the songs were played in the drama, it perfectly matched the scene to the core -- it just made each scene even more angsty or sad. The lyrics perfectly matched the characters – Thit for the theme song and Jee for the ending song. I couldn’t ask for more on how flawless is both the melody and lyrics.

Regarding the rewatch value, this drama is probably the most watched drama for any language for me. I lost count on how many times I rewatch this. It largely due to the tight script and the amazing performances but most of all, I think it got to do with how engaging is the chemistry between Mark & Yaya – you just cant turned away. And rewacthing them in 4k at Netflix is just like heaven. Everything is more colourful and vibrant – I can see all the tears, sweats and their facial expressions more clearly – its like rewatching a new drama all over again since all the new details keep surprising me. And Netflix’s sub is much better than the fansub I must say. I ended up loving the script even more since its more accurate, spicier, and pierced to your heart even more. Not to mention that the accurate script gives more context to the whole plot – it is also less ambiguous and clearer and most of all more satisfying. It seemed that the Netflix subs are closest to the original writing the writer intended in the first place.

Great drama through and through. Its gonna take a while for me to find other masterpieces like this again.

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Indeed a JOY OF LIFE All the Way Through~

Joy of Life is simply magnificent and truly a masterpiece. The writing is very clever, compelling, unpredictable and the political schemes and mind games are absolutely, absolutely fantastic. I think no one can write complicated and ruthless fight for the throne storylines like the Chinese. Everyone is treated like a piece of chess and being used completely -- like is it possible that you can have a free will when you behave exactly like what your enemies want you to? And I think no one could really understand the brilliance writing of Joy of Life as well if they are not familiar with historical costume dramas. Usually, dramas like these are expected to be cleverly written with compelling plots and brilliant characters but few dramas are like Joy of Life where the character totally behave or do what you as viewers wants them to do -- no stupid decisions, no yielding to the bad guys, no overly righteous person that drive you mad and no compromising to things that are wrong just because you are family or someone important.

Fan Xian is literally one of the most layered, rich and brilliant character I have encounter in dramas. I think I can write thesis on why he is so awesome as a character – he is like an onion, everytime you peel a new layer, you will find the other side of him, just when you think you know him, he will surprise you again and again with his decisions and actions. I like how he always done things the opposite of normal dramas' characters especially when he was caught in difficult situations. He will never yield to the bad guys no matter how pressured he is. You usually will predict what character will do when they are caught in a dead end but Fan Xian retaliate in ways that will surprise you. Just when you thought he made a mistake, there is wisdom in his actions to fool his enemies. And most of all, how reluctant he is in joining this ruthless fight to the throne game when all he wants is living a quiet and happy life with his family. He is extremely brilliant, genuine, unpredictable, playful, loyal, warm-hearted, righteous, full of love but at the same time merciless and crafted -- all of this combine and blends wonderfully that made him such enthralling and captivating as a character. I have seen many dramas but few characters can really stand out like Fan Xian. The depth of his character is almost spellbinding. I'm completely in awe.

The greatest thing about this drama is the storyline. How it started slowly by introducing each character to us so we understand their state of minds and intentions. Then it started getting heavy and this is where the political mind games and schemes comes into the picture. You will have gazillion questions when this drama started since everything is disjointed and didn't really make sense but all your questions will be answered one by one from the biggest to the smallest and everything comes together like a perfect puzzle as the drama progressed. Why Fan Xian was left at Danzhao despite his father is known to be a warm person? Why he is so important and loved by everyone around him? And the reason behind his mother's death lurking with the darkest and most insidious secrets.

Aside from that, what is so magnificent about this drama aside from the intelligent script is the characters. Almost all characters are fleshed out and have their own identities -- whether you love or hate them. The Emperor for an example will make you tremble and uncomfortable with his words but his wisdom are beyond the horizon. He is probably one of the most cunning and cleverest Emperor portray in dramas but you will like him despite of that. Or Chan Ping Ping? How can we not love his character and feel so attached to him? His cunning schemes, brilliant mind while all this being covered with his gentle and loving demeanor? Or Fan Xian's father? How as he might look like he didn't care but he actually the one that love him the most and will do everything to protect him. Or his teacher Fie Jie, this old man, how can't we not love him and the length he will go for Fan Xian? Even the bad guys, instead of hating them, I was fascinated by them instead -- they are such an enigmatic and interesting bunch of people.

Plus, Joy of Life has a nuanced script and acting just like Nirvana in Fire so upon second viewing, the script basically gonna take your breath away even more since a lot of foreshadowing were done subtlety -- probably one of the smartest and detailed storytelling that I have encounter in dramaland. Since lots of foreshadowing were in the drama, you will have fun guessing who is the real mastermind. Focus on the micro expressions, actions and how all characters behaves, its all clues that lead to how they are as individuals and their motives.

I'm actually confuse why this drama is called Joy of Life and I finally understand especially when it reached the end. Turbulence and chaotic life, despite it might come and caught up with you unexpectedly, is still happy and joyful when you live following your heart and never stray from doing what is right and be with the people that you love. And it is no doubt a 'Joy of Life' as well to the viewers while watching this drama lol. This is one of a few dramas where you will love it completely -- no idiotic plots that makes you scratch your head and the plot twists are especially surprising and unexpected. That’s the art of writing great dramas -- your plot twists are unexpected but made complete all sense at the same time and was foreshadowing since the beginning. 10/10 is the only rating worthy of this great drama. One of the very few dramas that deserve this perfect rating from me.

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A unique drama that used deceptive storytelling to tell its story with solid, layered & tight script

If you want to watch drama that have solid and quality script, brilliant & smart leads, couple that actually communicate & trust each other unconditionally, compelling supporting characters and interesting villains, then Burning Flames delivered in all departments. No stupid misunderstandings, characters that behave out of character or turned 180 degrees or frustrating plots that test your patience --none of this is in this drama. All you have to do is overlook the horrible CGI in the first 2 episodes and then you realized all that are only superficial and secondary to what gem that the drama truly possessed which is the story -- a truly engaging story with fantastic and layered writing with lot of social commentaries and great messages.

And it worth to note that the Director chose this campy and over the top vibe purposely as part of its storytelling. The performative acting, the 80's fashion, the vibrant & over the top colors, the splitting of screen for the fighting scenes -- yes, it's all intentional. It served as a secondary character to the drama -- I'm cringing the choice while admiring it at the same time. 😂

The uniqueness of the plot makes the whole story very engaging and compelling as not many dramas actually covered this topic yet. The drama is structured with specific objective in each arc and I love how every arc has its own meaning and goals that they want to achieve and despite supporting characters come and go, they are written with depth with their own back stories -- even the villains. Everyone in the story served a purpose, no matter how small they are -- that would include the adorable ZhaZha as well. You didnt notice this at first until the same characters come back into the story again with purpose to contribute to the main story. Despite the fast paced nature of the plots, I love how they actually took time for characters' development and exploring the various parts of its central theme. And despite the main theme is Immortal VS Human, they also dwelled into different conflicts such as the selfishness of human's nature, the internal conflicts between the immortals and also hypocrisy of the demon clan in upholding justice -- it all being covered to make it such a compelling story.

And, this drama has done many foreshadowing for future events as hints to a lot of things. And all these hints are so glaringly obvious as signs to us the audiences about the characters such as how smart is Wu Geng or how sensible is Bai Cai. The way the drama plays around with the hints while showing us different things are all kind of brilliant. This deceptive kind of storytelling is very unique of how the drama is showing us a narrative while also dropping hints all over for us not to trust that narrative that being presented. The script has been so amazing that soma parts of it actually exceeded my expectation especially during Xinque Kui's scheme arcs -- it was angsty and was kind of a torture but the deceptive storytelling the Director and Writer chose to opt certainly made the twist highly satisfying. Everything was shot exactly to deceive the enemies (as well as the audiences) while also giving the audiences clues all over the story on why we should not trust of what we see on screen. I love when I encountered this kind of unique storytelling once in a while since it makes your watching experiences even more colorful and interesting.

Ren Jialun is doing his usual magic, being charismatic and all but he isn’t aloof in this role so you can see him be very expressive as Wu Geng and he doesn’t have to resort to micro expressions much while playing the character. One thing I like about Wu Geng is how self aware he is. He sure start as being impulsive but you can see how he matures and fit into the leadership role slowly -- winning everyone's heart whether it's human, monster, magical creatures, basically everyone that he encountered during his journey. What I like the most about him is that he always put his people as #1, it wasn’t actually revenge on his mind but rather wanting to release all people from suffering under the Immortal’s reign. I like how the writer always highlighted that -- whether in his monologue inside his head or his actions. It also being portrayed with little details -- like how he will see them and acknowledge their well wishes to how he doesn’t like to be praise when they start worshipping him. He really sees them as people he needs to protect -- a true leader at heart. While Xing Fei is being her usual self and being a sunshine and lovely character she is known of in her other dramas. The most amazing thing about Bai Cai is that despite she is a human and ordinary with no powers, she makes herself useful in every situation. Lot of people like to gloss through her contributions but she is the one who helped Wu Geng the most in his journey -- from protecting him, stopping his impulsive behaviors or just simply being there as a total support to him. Xu Xudan as A'Lan is probably one of the coolest 2nd female lead out there -- the way she stands on her ground, unwavering support and loyalty towards Wu Geng to her protection and teachings -- now I understand why Xudan took this role since the writing for her character is truly fantastic. Then comes Zheng Ting as Nitian Erxing. I truly feel the Director has a field day recording his scenes -- the Director always capture him from above or below to highlight his beautiful eyes, long eye lashes and perfectly shaped eyebrow. I'm laughing with how his scenes totally distract me from the plot, the character is magnetic and full of passion. His female commander said that Wu Geng's arrival at the Demon Clan has makes Erxing's eyes sparkle with hope and you can literally see how its glistering brightly & clearly there and then. And I love to see all the popular cameos especially Han Dong (please be a cameo in all dramas lol), Peter Ho (which is charismatic as hell), Jeremy Tsui, Ming Dao, Joe Chen and many Thousand Years For You support actors come back to this drama to play a part like General An, Bai Prince & Leader of Sea Spirit Clan.

And the lead couple relationship is certainly one of the strongest points in the drama. This is why I love romance in non-romance dramas. It’s usually one of the strengths of the drama as it served as 'soothing effects' for the characters -- the home they go to when the world is driving them crazy. Just like Wu Geng & Bai Cai's relationship here. I love how they always discuss, trust and reassure each other along the way like a true married couple. That is why when Bai Cai revealed her true identity to Wu Geng, she did it with a smile on her face since she knew Wu Geng will accept her regardless of her race -- there is not even a single double when she told him that despite she also struggle with her identity in the beginning. Their trust and loyalty towards each other is unwavering that no matter how the villains try to put discord into their relationship, it will fail miserably.

And I just love how the script keeps coming back to the main theme of the story which is 'Fate is in your hand' -- so you yourself decide on how you are going to fight against it. Wu Geng's conversation with Uncle Ziyu is all kind of awesome on how they touched the topic about fate and how his father will fight for it even when he knew the outcome and the effect on him and his family and the condemnation that he is going to face -- which being brought up multiple times in the drama. But change is needed, you can't just stay at your place and wait for everything to change on its own.

I also love the fact the drama went back on the topic how Xin King's decision to rebel against the Immortal robbed the chance of ordinary people of choice -- choice to join the fight or choice to just live their lives peacefully. Just because the main character decided on something, doesn’t mean they get spared from being criticized from with it. That is why with Wu Geng now, all the people who joined him are with choice -- a choice that they made on their own. That is why there is people like Chen Jing or Xiao Sheng -- despite supporting Wu Geng, yet, still making a choice of not to join his fight. I love how the drama paint all these people as different, and have their own thinking -- entities that just don’t exist for the main leads or just exist as plot device -- they are their own people, making their own decisions on how to live their lives.

Regarding the ending, I love how they actually took time for the ending -- the battle with Hei Long, the aftermath, and all Wu Geng visits, and later the end. It wasn’t rushed at all and it is beautifully written carefully with an awesome message on how Wu Geng's legacy is not him inheriting the throne but rather how he lives in people's hearts. And tbh, I didn’t expect to cry, like it’s a battle dramas with fighting scenes from beginning to end but the script is amazing since they let everyone have their own emotional moments -- starting with the Grandad, not gonna name anyone here as it will be spoiler but even the evil Xinyue Kui? Like they have to show the Dad and the sister from her memories and her regrets, and there I was shedding a tear for her as well.

I love even how in the end, the drama showed it wasn’t Wu Geng ALONE who defeat Hei Long but rather a collective efforts and helps from everyone. Wu Geng used the analogy of how even 'ants can defeat a Giant' as foreshadowing before the battle and that's how they designed the ending as well. So many twists and turns in merely 3 episodes -- and they actually property spent 3 episodes for the ending alone. At first, I am ready to give the drama a 9 but the emotional mess it made me feel for the last 3 episodes deserved a 9.5. Whoever wrote the script deserved a brownie point. This is how you write a good drama and a good ending.

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The Most Amazing Drama I Have Ever Had The Honour of Watching

This is the most amazing drama I have ever seen in my life. The script was so magnificent, intelligent and well written that it totally took my breath away. I really appreciated the bulletproof script where there is no room for plot holes or questionable plotlines. Everything flows smoothly and every single scene happens for a reason. Just when you question one plot, it addresses it in the next episodes and you finally understand all the smiles, smirks, nods, ambiguous conversations, or even focused items -- everything comes together like a perfect puzzle in the end.

The last scenes of last episode totally make me bawl like a baby especially the reminiscence scenes of Prince Jing & Princess Nihuang. I mean, we all aware that Lin Shu's death is inevitable since we know he is dying since episode 1 but it still evoke your feelings greatly to the depth of your heart. And I'm actually amazed with the writing as at the end, not only Lin Shu got his dying wish which is to restore the Chiyan's Army name but he also managed to do thing for himself finally! -- not for Chiyan army or his father or Prince Qi but for himself, which is to let him die as Lin Shu, doing things that he most loved and proud of. The writer wants to point out that despite it is a sad ending, it wasn't sad after all since he managed to do what he wants at last and live a fulfilled life despite how short it is. The writer wanted to tell us that its not a matter how long you live your life, but how you wished to live it. Lin Shu was adored by everyone -- even those who is not in his generation or after he has long gone because of the legacy that he left behind.

Hu Ge is probably the best Chinese actor that I have ever has the honour of watching. He mastered the art of subtle acting. His expressions was simple yet very effective that pierced right through your heart. Lin Shu is very charismatic despite being fragile and weak -- a combination that is rare to find.

There's actually an alternate ending that was originally aired in 2015 by the production team where they show Lin Shu survives and spent his days with Lin Chen & Fei Liu at Langya Hall. But they decided to cut that scene in the official ending as it served and suited the drama's theme better. TBH, both endings are fine with me since it shows that Lin Shu is happy and contented. :D

What a great drama! The saddest thing about this whole thing at the end is that I may never found another good drama as extraordinary as this. I learned a lot of manipulation tricks (lol) and the mind games on how to read people. When a drama is both educational and engaging while entertaining at the same time, you know it’s a winner! 10/10 - Perfect all the way through from writing, acting, directing and cinematography! A gem that you may only find once in a lifetime.

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The Best Kdrama for Year 2021

The best Kdrama for year 2021 without a doubt. The story is extremely hilarious and the politic is just as tight and awesome like other serious sageuk dramas out there. Both Shin Hye Sun & Kim Jung Hyun did great in their respective roles. The ending is very satisfactory as well.

WHY MR. QUEEN'S ENDING IS A SATISFYING ENDING

There are a lot of audiences that are not satisfy with the ending, I think partly because they missed the various hints that the writer keeps throwing to us since the beginning of the drama which is, So Young has always been part Bong Hwan since the very beginning -- which influence both his behaviors and actions. And her presence is more apparent when she fainted and fell into vegetative state. So all the romantic actions we seen later are all her own doing and not Bong Hwan. You see Bong Hwan being confuse and hate those actions since it was always been So Young's doing. Bong Hwan just always tries to justified himself everytime he does something against his will to console himself since he can’t understand his action either (like imagining Hong Yeon when the Queen and the King had their first night together and any other various instances). So Young's memories, So Young's feelings, So Young's sync actions with her father, So Young's music ability, So Young's embroidery skills are the many hints that the writer throw to us.

The biggest hints:

Hint #1 - When Bong Hwan left the Queen's body in Episode 20, So Young knew he was gone since she cant felt his presence anymore -- she wasn’t ecstatic to get back, but she just felt he is gone since she never left her body in the first place. This indicates that she always there in her own body influencing all Bong Hwan's sub-conscience, behaviors and actions and do things against his wills.

Hint #2 - Bong Hwan was revealed as someone who never do justice (based on his conversation with Secretary Han on the balcony). This is the biggest hint that show us that all the helps the King received from the beginning from the Queen has always been So Young's doing. He influences Bong Hwan to do that way and in the end, Bong Hwan benefited from it as well and he become kinder and more towards justice and changed his destiny as well in the future.

Hint #3 - So Young never revealed to anyone that someone took over her body. Why? Because she know that she was always there in the beginning influencing Bong Hwan's behaviors and actions. Bong Hwan started to get So Young's memories one by one and can feel her emotions (thats why he knew that the Queen loves the King since the beginning and never love Byeong In). This later intensified when even when the Queen think, it was in So Young's voice instead of Bong Hwan. And later, the kiss, the first night which was done against Bong Hwan's will further proves this. And when we reached the end of the drama, we started to see less Bong Hwan and more of the Queen in term of action and decision makings. The personality of the Queen might be Bong Hwan, but the sub-conscious has always been So Young. Thats why she didnt feels guilty towards the King as well since she knew it was her that the King falls in love with.

I guess it comes to the question on who the King really fall in love with. The King starts to waver when the found out The Queen's grace behind her actions. She appears as someone arrogant & unruly (Bong Hwan) but she did something that help him with his dream of creating a better Joseon (So Young). So it was always been So Young's grace that made him fall in love with the Queen while Bong Hwan's un-princess like behaviors are the flaws (as he mentioned during his confession) that he accepted once he knew he had fallen in love with the Queen. In the end, it was So Young, the same little girl that he met when he was at his lowest point of his life -- the one who moves his heart -- the girl who fought for justice when she doesn’t need to considering the high status she’s in. But the writer did point out in the end that the King felt something is missing (Bong Hwan) when he looked at the Queen's Dictionary which I personally think is a nice touch to indicate he also appreciate Bong Hwan as well.

There's no injustice was done to Bong Hwan as once So Young is gone, his feelings towards the King is gone as well. His loves for the ladies didn’t fade even when the Queen finds himself falling for the King in the later part of the drama indicating the real Bong Hwan has never been gone -- he just co-exist with So Young at the same time. He still feel excited when he sees pretty women and wanted to be close to them even when he already accepted his confusing sexual identity. So now So Young is no longer part of him, he no longer feel attracted to the King anymore as can be seen at the end which he appears to happy & contented. Now So Young is no longer in his body, he just return to his former self.

And So Young has always had part of Bong Hwan's personality as well since in the beginning. Remember when she was called 'witch' by the court maids? When the King saw her terrorizing her court maid, it didn’t feel weird since she was like that as well before Bong Hwan entered her body. But after that, like how she influences Bong Hwan's to be more kinder and towards righteousness, Bong Hwan also influences her as well like how she can expressed herself more (through swearing) and now she can expressed more radical idea like court maids can get married at the end of the drama.

So due to this, I feel its truly a great ending. Everyone got what they want at the end and no injustice was done to any characters. They could go through the route that Bong Hwan accepted his fate to be in the Queen's body forever or Bong Hwan is the reincarnation of the Queen from the past life (which explain why his feelings to the ladies and the King legit as they are the same persons) but the writer chose this route which in my opinion is great as well.

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The Mother of All Plot Twists for Kdramas

Compelling, fascinating and brilliant from start to finish. Really rare for you to find dramas which has like twists in each episode. I ended each part with 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO' so many times lol.

I love the fact that the writers are very creative in coming up with this complex story that made you question about everything only to be proven wrong episodes later. The writers also love to tease/mislead the audiences with the way they structure the plots.

Even the final scene is brilliant as well. The solved everything at the end but to excite the audiences with the sci-fiction theme that they're going for, they put that little bit mystery at the end. It opens for future possibilities and made people speculate about what could happened after that.

Great movies / dramas always made people talk and speculate about the ending and this drama is exactly like that as well. Some people might dislike it (which I totally understand) but this is one aspect of creative writing and with the way everything is structured since in the beginning of the drama, we should expect the non-typical finish that the writers might give us at the end. They certainly didnt disappoint.

Simply the most compelling Kdramas I have ever watch and no doubt in my book as one of the greatest Kdramas ever made.

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A Good Story With A Lot of Lost Potentials

One of the rare dramas where it solely focus on a female's strength and power -- the type of drama where the female lead is mostly got away from troubles or death situations by her own will power and capabilities.

Zhao Liying did amazing in this role. Her zero regards to all the males around her was astounding as you can see from early one that her family has always been the priority for her and nothing else matters. I personally think Lin Gengxin is under used here considering his character could do so much more than what being given by the script. And Shawn Dou as Yun Xun is a treat to the eyes! From his dazzling smiles and personality to his broken and damaged self after the tragedy was a great transition and he did it believably.

I personally think Yan Xun is stupid despite how intelligent he is as an individual. The one he needs to take revenge on is the Wei Emperor and not the people. But his war affects the people more rather than the Emperor. He should have just kill the Emperor (and his whole family if he needs to see more blood :() and his revenge is over SMH. But his war killed more innocent people than the King did to his family back then. So overall, his revenge is just dumb and unnecessary.

Despite all the positive reviews that the drama got, as someone who is a bit picky, I found that many of the plots were never being explored to its full potential. The great premise was there, but the writer obviously lacked the capabilities to expand the script to be even greater. This mostly masked by the great portrayal of the characters but there are many instances on they just glared through the matter with no justification and explanation. The great offender would be the Kung Fu of Ice that Xing-er possessed which were never explored. To the mention of Leader of the Afterlife Camp which seemed to have no problem when Yuwen Yue destroying his agency and took away his spies (lol) to the Moustache Man who doesn’t seemed to have purpose but just love to create trouble and influencing the politic in Wei, Yan & Liang states. Not to mention the useless Liang spies that despite their great potential and capabilities -- never actually achieve anything despite being the real mastermind of the conflict between Yan & Wei. But despite that I'm was adamant to give the drama 6.5/10 for being entertaining but in the end, it deserved 7/10 because of the great ending and how heartbroken it made me feels.

THE ENDING

I think the great thing about the last episode is that how we finally understand the inner thoughts of Xing-er's mind and the position of Yuwen You & Yan Xun in her heart. Her character was consistent throughout the drama that she never put love an emphasis in her heart no matter how many guys were interested in her. Family has always been her priority and later the people of Yan.

And Yan Xun is exactly like that to her -- someone she cares deeply and share dreams with like a family -- the reason why she lives -- a broken child that she needs to protect. That’s why no matter what, she always chose him over Yuwen Yu over and over again. And Yan Xun finally get it at the end that despite the fact that she always chose him, someone else has her heart.

So on why the dying scene of Yuwen Yue was so heart wrenching is the fact is that when Xing'er finally understand her heart, it was already too late. It was already too late when she apologised and promised not to leave him ever again -- everything is just too late at that time. Then when she said to him to 'Hold on' and he nodded slowly, it was even more heart breaking -- as we all know, and he knew it as well that he's not gonna make it but he did anyway for her. But that whole dying scene was really amazing though. I lose count how many times I watch it. Definitely the best dying scene in my book -- the acting was A++ since Yuwen Yue literally looks like he was dying at that time. ;_;

What I find very interesting is that mostly Yuwen Yue's great love are done just for the fact that he loves Xing-er. He knew Xing-er will never reciprocate his feelings but it was just enough if he can see her and knew that she is alive and safe. That’s why, he never told her the countless of times he saves her without she her knowledge because his love was selfless where he didn’t expect anything in return. He could hold her back and ask her to stay, but to him, what makes her happier is much more important rather than her staying by his side. That is why his love, despite being great is very sad as well. And the fact that he only knew that she actually loves him too as well at that time just make everything just even sadder.

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Messy & Inconsistent Script At Its Finest

Can you see how cool is the entrance of drama? Will the drama stay cool and maintain its quality? Boy what a roller-coaster ride the drama gave its viewers – it will certainly stay with me for a very long time without a doubt.

Unfortunately, the only thing the drama did right is that they made Wang So a sage and a wise king. Other than that (aside from Lee Jun Ki & Kang Ha Neul’s amazing acting), I have nothing good to say about this drama. Sadly to say, this is one of the worst Kdramas I have ever seen (this probably because I usually drop bad dramas but I didnt for this one obviously since I dont love myself lol). This drama has one of the worst writing, directing and editing I have ever seen from a Kdrama. And for me this is a big indication of how awful is the drama since I dont really notice all those before (except bad scripts in general) but I truly feel it with every fiber of my being with this one.

Script: The script is the worst offender of this production. I seriously confuse why this writer got hired since her writing is very inconsistent and terrible. It is full of plot holes, unexplained happenings, dragged and rush script, poor characters’ developments and most of all, full of ridiculous and illogical plots. It seemed like her characters didnt seemed to function like a normal human beings would. I need the drama to make sense but I find myself wondering most of the times of why this and that happened. I need a legit and reasonable reasons for something to happen. Not just something you pluck from the sky thinking that you can fool the audiences. We have brains Ms. Writer, you cant expect us to buy your ridiculous plots again and again.

Directing: People said good thing about the director and his previous works but the direction quality of this production is pretty awful in general. The close-ups, soap opera zoom style and no direction input to new actors (according to Seohyun) made the directing suffers greatly esp for sageuk dramas which are known for quality production. I expect a creative directing or pretty shot from the director but instead I got the opposite of what I’m hoping for.

Editing: Hands down the worst editing I have come across from a Kdrama (and I have seen really a looooot over the years). The choppiness and shoddiness of it is out of this world. They dragged the storyline in the beginning and squeeze everything in the last 5 episodes. The fact that we have like 2 time-skips in a matter of 2 episodes are just laughable. And the fact that some of the plots didnt make sense due to the editing makes it really jarring and dreadful. I dont expect this from a pre-produced drama obviously.

Acting: Like I mentioned above, Lee Jun Ki is soo amazing as Wang So. His eyes conveyed lots of emotions and it just break your heart when you watch this drama as his character is very tragic and unloved. Kang Ha Neul is amazing as well. His characters is so underdeveloped and later forgotten by the time we reached the end (he has like 3 minutes screen time in the later episodes lol – what are you doing Ms. Writer?). The actress who play Lady Oh was great and IU improved a lot as the drama progressed. The rest of the actors are pretty much forgettable esp Seohyun as Woohee.

Soundtracks: Got to admit that the drama has one of the best OSTs for this year. But unfortunately, most of the songs are not suitable for a period drama. Why put a rap as part of the OSTs? And English words in the songs are so jarring when it was played as the background music. For goodness sake this is a sageuk and not a modern day drama. To have ‘baby baby boy’ playing at the background really killing you softly inside. :P

Money: This is a million dollar pre-produced drama but I really cant see where all the money went to. Goryeo and the Palace looks empty most of the times. Where are the servants, guards, armies, noble men, and the citizen? Why the attempted coup looks fake and underwhelming? Why the wigs look so fake? Why we can see the net for the mustache? Why the sets look cheap? Why the Palace only limited to the grand hall, court room, king’s bedroom and the hallway?!! Where did all the money went to?

I’m glad I didnt really care for any of the character so this drama didnt scar me like The Slave Hunter and Warrior Baek Dong Soo did. The writing got pretty bad at the end that I dont have emotional attachment to any of the characters anymore. One thing for sure, I will stay away from the writer’s future work – I ain’t gonna put myself in the same situation ever again.

By the end, I just want to see how this mess will conclude and boy it didn’t disappoint – I spent my time rolling my eyes watching the last 2 episodes (no tears since I was so mad with the ridiculous plots). :P Like I mentioned above, the only thing the drama did right is that they made Wang So a wise king. But thinking back, they should make him go all evil and greedy so the reasons behind everyone leaving him (even Ji Mong) will make more sense. I dont mind a tragic ending but I need it to make sense. I give this drama 4/10. I try to rate it higher but this flawed, and awfully illogical executed drama didnt deserve anything more than a 4.

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Major roll-eye (◔_◔) to the writer for her insistence of making Wang So the most tragic character ever – with very illogical reasons for everyone to leave him at the end of the drama. >.>

Wang So is a flawed character without a doubt – his obsessiveness or him killing the monks and horse but somehow Wang So’s fate is just very tragic from the moment he was born right until the end where he is left alone and lonely.

It is more tragic then any other Kdramas’ characters because it is his own family who dislike or abandoned him. Its not his friends or people that he has no blood relation but his own family members.

1) He lacked of love since he was a little kid. His own mother hurt him and left that big scars on his face and later throw him away.

2) His dad use him as a captive and send him away to other tribe to console some lady who lost her son (What a terrible childhood!). And he is not loved by the lady or his adopted family (Surprise surprise ◔_◔).

3) The tribe lock, starve and sent him to the wolves that he ended up having to burn his only friend that is Mr. Tree since it was so cold during the winter (or is it because of the wolves?).

4) His Crown Prince brother, Moo ask him to replace him during the masked dance since he think someone is going to assassinate him. So its okay for So to die on his place? Both of them learn martial arts so its weird for Moo to ask him that request (But of course, So’s life is not that important I guess?).

5) His father’s reaction after the mask was removed – not worry about him being injured but quickly call for Moo and his safety.

6) He killed all the monks (what a fool lol!) for his evil mother but she still disowned and disgusted with his existence (stop Ms. Writer, stawp!!!).

7) All his brothers except Baek Ah didnt treat him right. Moo used him for the dance/marriage and Eun is too dumb(?) to care about his feeling when he ask So to show his scars. The rest just plain hate him without any legit reasons.

8) His mother call him for family dinner only to ask him to kill Moo. Attempt to use him to do her dirty work instead of accepting him as her son after he proved his worth for her attention.

9) The woman that he love; Soo didnt trust him enough that he ended up having to kill Eun with his own hands. By the time Soo decided to stop thinking about the future and be honest with him, it was too late.

10) His loved ones; Beak Ah & Soo are used again & again that forced him to do things that he hate to save them from harm.

11) He never wanted to be a King but later changed his mind since he is tired of bloodshed and everyone using him when they are on the throne (His father –> Fight Kitan, Moo –> Marriage with his niece, Yo –> Using Soo to threat him). He wanted to stop the killing cycle and Yo’s ruthless reign (Or so he thought ◔_◔).

12) He didnt want to marry evil princess Yeonhwa but the love of his life Soo said ‘its okay’ to straighten his position as the King and assured him that she wont give up and she is okay with the arrangement. (Which she didnt since no one will be okay with that kind of arrangement tbh).

13) His happy times with Soo are so brief that she left him and stay with Jung because she is pregnant. She is not honest with him and trust him enough that he will protect her and the baby. She probably think So will treat her like his father did to Lady Oh.

14) In the end, despite writing all those letters how she love and yearn for him, she still doesn’t trust him enough to tell him about their daughter. She probably think he would not respect her request about wanting the girl to stay out of the Palace. (Of course she couldn’t tell him via the letters, but still! ಠﭛಠ)

15) Everyone leave him for such ridiculous reasons; Baek Ah (??) and Ji Mong for he only loyal to the weak King Moo? Really? Why are you feeding us this crap Ms. Writer??!!1 And why I’m still watching? lol

16) Have to live the rest of his lives alone and lonely with someone that he hate. Cant love his son as it is a product of an evil Queen Yeonhwa...

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A Very Clever Chess Games Between Brilliant Players

Seriously the best Cdrama of 2021 for me. I personally feel like the episodes are too short despite it being 38 episodes. Everything moves so fast and there are a lot of things happen at the same time. It’s one of the drama that you feel that you can watch hundreds of episodes of them since it is simply entertaining and intriguing, and believe me, 38 episodes of this is not enough at all. It is cleverly written with well-developed characters and most of all, I love the message that the author wanted to deliver in his story.

One of the greatest premises of the drama is the well planned and clever schemes that took decades to materialize. I love how Xu Xiao is like a master of chess that no matter how Fengnian tried to break away from his plans, he ended up following exactly what his father has set for him. It just made you shudder on how Xu Xiao has planned for literally everything and how even when Fengnian did things opposite of him, he ended up following his father's plans again. It was cleverly written with so many interesting details.

Aside from that, I love how they cover the details and address the seemed 'pretentious' act that many leads like to make in historical dramas. Like one of the Lady pointed out Fengnian's hypocrisy of saving the whole Wang family at the expense of killing his army. The way he answered it holds so many truths as soldiers are different from innocent civilians. Their job is to protect the civilians and he is with them fighting the bad guys all the way at the expense of his life as well. Or the motivations of his mother not revealing the assassination attempt on her and his father's choice not to wage war with the royal family for personal vendetta is handled really well. Everything made sense, with no plot holes and every decision holds true to every character's motivation even when they only appear couple of minutes in the drama. For someone who appreciate details and bullet-proof story with no plot holes, this drama is a total joy. I also appreciate how the schemes are done with basis and very detailed preparations and it is not like they are solely predicting the enemies' moves and actions but they are actually geared the enemies to move according to their narrative. This is the brilliance of Fengnian and how he is as dazzlingly intelligent and probably smarter than his father or his teacher. That’s is why when he said he will get ‘both’, I believe him since he has the brains to get all the things that he wants without compromising either one, whether his beliefs or morals.

Zhang Ruoyun did amazingly in this role. I think the brilliance in his acting is how he separate Fan Xian and Fengnian completely despite both characters are very similar in many ways -- extremely brilliant & intelligent, talented at martial arts, unpredictable, loyal, warm-hearted, funny, playful, full of love but underneath all that, both are a reluctant hero who just wish to live a happy and untroubled life with their family. Both have 90% traits similar with each other but there are not 1 ounce of Fan Xian that I see in Fengnian. Fan Xian seemed like someone who didnt care about anything at all while Fengnian is someone who cares so much -- so much to a point that even his enemies can know and predict his moves. Zhang Ruoyun handles Fengnian delicately and proved again how he is one of the best actors of his generation.

The last episode pretty much very satisfactory and while I can predict why Fengnian wants to make a do with XuanXuan family for the water routes, I never thought it is for his mother's revenge, I thought it is to bring his siblings home. I was intrigued to know who is his accomplice at the court and everything is answered with many hints of secrets lurking at the background. I know it will be gazillion years before we can watch the 2nd season but I will wait patiently. Great dramas are not made in one day and this is the case for this one.

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