Just finished watching the last 2 episodes and I’m in tears since both of the episodes are utterly sweet and beautiful. God, I don’t know why I’m crying like this but I’m just happy that the drama ended more awesome and beautiful than I ever imagine.

I am afraid of what’s coming since we still got 2 episodes left and they already soooo happy in Episode 18 – and having watched lots of Kdramas over the years and know how they tend to messed up especially in the later episodes/ending, I’m so glad that it didn’t become like this with this drama.

The writer and director did everything right. EVERYTHING! Jang Hyuk & Jang Nara are soooo amazing – their chemistry are really mind-blowing (and painfully beautiful) and among the very best I have ever witness in Kdramas. You can even see the sparkles in the eyes when they look at each other which I find amazing. They both are great actors that I honestly think that anyone who want to learn acting should learn just by watching their performance in this drama. Since I have watched repeatedly the same episodes over and over again, I just keep being amazed by how they really immersed in their characters – every little movement, action, tears or the tone of their speaking voice are just magic. Their performance here are simply brilliant. *.*

It is a great, perfect & flawless drama without a doubt! And I know its gonna take a while for me to find an awesome drama that can touch me like this. I don’t know what magic did they put on me to be this invested but I’m certainly under their spell.

To anyone who is watching this amazing show, I just want to note that this drama has a lot of references to other dramas which made it even more hilarious & fun. I list them here for anyone who is interested:

REFERENCES USED IN FATED TO LOVE YOU

- Successful Story of a Bright Girl references: Some of the similar scenes in Fated to Love You are intended as a reference to the Jangs’ previous drama together.

- You Who Come from the Star reference: “Do Manager” reference during Clara’s opening scene when she throw a fuss and call her manager; “Where is Do Manager?” when she refused to do the shampoo commercial ad.

- ‘Change’ by Gloomy 30’s from Slave Hunter OST is used in the scene when Gun is trying to chase away the dog using his blazer. Jang Hyuk is associated a lot with this song since this is the drama that won him a Daesang in 2010 KBS Drama Award. Even in Real Men (a K-variety show about army life), this song is played constantly during his scenes. XD

- James Bond’s Bond girl reference: Gun transformed Miyoung to an attractive and kick-ass lady (Bond girl) at Macau and this reference is also used later in the drama.

- Count of Monte Cristo reference: When both of them are locked by Miyoung’s mum, Gun sarcastically answer to Miyoung; “Then should I dig a tunnel with a spoon?” when he tried to escape from the room.

- 'Snail’ by Panic is played when Gun described Miyoung as a snail that slowly, little by little, piece by piece, get closer to its target.

- Behind the White Tower reference: “What’s with this “Behind the White Tower” situation?” comment by the baby instructor when Gun acted dramatically like he is operating a patient when he is stitching the baby clothes.

- ‘Why do you?’ by Chuli & Miae is sang by both Gun and Miyoung during the karaoke session. Gun rap while Miyoung sing and a live performance from Jang Hyuk’s days as TJ Project was briefly shown in the karaoke video.

- Jang Hyuk and Jang Nara’s past/current career reference: Gun praised Miyoung singing (reference to Jang Nara’s career as a pop singer) and Miyoung praised Gun’s rap (reference to Jang Hyuk’s short-lived career as a rapper) and Gun replied by saying; “I had to do something like that before. A project.” (Just for the lolz, TJ Project is his stage name which stand for ‘Team Jang Hyuk’).

- Pasta reference: Daniel said to Miyoung; “Eat here, I made pasta in my past.” which is a reference to his character in Pasta. Beside that, Daniel’s Korean name in the drama is Kim Taeho which is Choi Jinhyuk’s real name.

- ET reference: Gun said Miyoung’s sister baby looks like an ET (alien) when he is holding him at the hospital.

- Various famous people reference: Jung Joon Young radio show (JJY is a big Jang Nara’s fan and he is indirectly asking Miyoung to come to him), ‘Having an Affair’ by GG (G-Dragon and Park Myung Soo), Park Kyunglim radio show and ‘Sera Sera’ by Doris Day is played from the radio during the car scene when Gun is sending Miyoung back from the hospital.

- ‘The Princess Diaries Medley’ from Princess Diaries OST is played during the firework romantic scene by the lake side.

- Batman’s Joker reference: Gun seeing his shrink in the iconic Joker make-up when his sexual frustration is driving him nuts that he has to take a cold shower for it. :’D

- Volcano High & Successful Story of a Bright Girl reference: Both Gun and Miyoung dressed as students as their previous movie/drama (Volcano High for Jang Hyuk and Successful Story of a Bright Girl for Jang Nara). You can hear Yong called Jang Nara’s character in the drama; “Yang Soon” and ‘Love Song’ by Jo Jang Hyuk from SSoaBG OST can be heard in the background during that scene.

- A New Leaf reference: Gun wake up and having an amnesia and he asked Sera; “That thing that happens frequently in movies and dramas, memory loss, I’m in that state?” You can see Kim Myungmin amnesia scene at the side of Gun’s face.

- g.o.d. reference: Gun rapped to g.o.d.’s 'To My Mother’ – a song which he starred in a music video in 1999. He did this rap in front of John Park (a member of g.o.d. who made a cameo in this scene). Jang Hyuk and John Park is a long time friends as they once share a dorm during their rookie years.

- g.o.d.’s Baby Jaemin reference: Jaemin is the name of the baby that members of g.o.d. has to take care in their variety show. John Park is holding and recording an advertisement with 'Jaemin’ in this scene.

- 'I Can’t Forgive’ by Cha Soo Kyung from Cruel Temptation OST is played during Yong and Jiyeon restaurant scene. This song is associated with betrayal so it is purposely played during that scene. This song is also played during their meeting with Yong’s mother.

- Jang Hyuk reference: Gun speak in Chinese and pretend to be Jang Hyuk (himself) in order to stop the kiss conversation forced to Miyoung and Daniel by their friends.

- In Time With You reference: When Gun and Miyoung are conversing by messaging each other, the scenes where they sit side by side are inspired by this Taiwanese drama.

- Chinese zombie reference: Gun called Secretary Tak; 'Tak Gangshi’ when he keeps following him around.

- The Classic reference: This happens during Gun and Miyoung running under the rain scene during their visit at the botanical garden. You can hear Jatanpung’s 'Me to You, You to Me’ from The Classic OST played in the background.

- Romeo & Juliet reference: Gunmeo & Julmiyoung according to Secretary Tak. 8D

- Notting Hill reference: Due to them confessing to each other in front of a press conference.

- 'Kiss Me’ by Blink is played during the drawing scene when Gun tried to kiss Miyoung. This song is very popular in k-variety shows since they always play it during any kiss-attempted scenes.

- Dragon Ball reference: Ice and fire exchange between Gun and Yong. And in one of the scene, Dragon Ball’s song (Korean version) can be heard from the background.

- Jun Jihyun reference (Jang Hyuk’s co-star in Windstruck and two of his MVs): A play on Jun Jihyun name is made by Gun when he asked Miyoung about Jiyeon’s name; “She’s Jun Jiyeon, right? Not, JIHYUN but Jiyeon.”

- Jang Nara reference: In Gun’s dream where he seemed to have forgotten Miyoung, he mistaken her with Jang Nara.

- Terminator reference: Gun said; “I’ll be back!!1” to Miyoung’s mum when he failed to convince her to be with Miyoung the first time.

- Tazza - The War of Flower reference: Reference to Jang Hyuk’s character in his drama Tazza; “Goni” by President Park when they play the Go-Stop (Hwatoo) game in which Jang Hyuk’s character in the drama is an expert. Also, Jang Nara love to play the game irl so they show how she is an expert in the game in the drama.

- Secret Garden reference: This happens during the exercise scene when Gun and Miyoung are doing sit-up trying to impress Miyoung’s mum that he is healthy.

- Emergency Couple reference: At the end of episode 19 when we see them running in public to their wedding ceremony.

- Men in Black reference: Both Yong and Secretary Tak acting as secret agents when they tried to recreate the Macau incident.

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I don’t know how much crappy endings that I can take before I finally gave up Kdramas for good. I watched the drama knowing everything that’s going to happen just by watching the first few episodes. I know the destiny that awaits both Dong Soo and Yeo Un -- I can predict everything that’s going to happen to the very last scene that Yeo Un will (and need to) die in Dong Soo’s hand in the drama climax in the end. I was hoping that the scriptwriter will be creative and for once and give us a satisfactory and good ending but I know it’s only a wishful thinking for my part. I never imagine any drama can topped ‘The Legend’ disappointing ending but somehow this drama managed to do that.

Overall, the drama has many potential to be an excellent drama. Eye-candy good looking actors, excellent fighting scenes, interesting & mysterious characters, good plot (my goodness, King Yi San & Crown Prince Sado story is in here too), great chemistry between the two male leads and beautiful sceneries and settings and outstanding soundtrack to accompany the drama. But unfortunately, bad script writing and predictable storyline totally ruined the drama great potential. The script somehow seemed to be written by a first-timer here -- the plots are uneven, many undeveloped storyline and ridicules at times. At one point, it being too ridicules and weak without any basis that it’s hard for me to even swallow the plots anymore. I feel the urge to quickly finish the series to take it out from my system once and for all. The many underdeveloped plots make me frustrated to no end -- I was hoping for Crown Prince Sado’s dream to be carrying out but it startled me when the writer just cut the story off when Dong Soo destroyed the map on Ji Sun’s back. What’s the point of Sado’s saying his dying wish if it will be left untouchable right until the end? I can list one by one of the disappointing plot developments for the drama but I guess it will leave a long rambling on how the story failed so much at being coherent.

But despite that, the drama is gifted with such many talented actors. Ji Chang Wook is super adorable as Baek Dong Soo. His love and hate relationship to his bestfriend; Yeo Un is a joy to watch. He is an idiot who is full of himself right until fate forced him to be out of his happy small world to protect the ones that he loves by becoming stronger. While Yoo Seung Ho as Yeo Un is the true gem in this drama -- yes, the boy is so pretty and it’s a privilege for us to see such a beautiful being graced our screen with his glorious gorgeous hair. His conflict of trying to embrace his destiny as an assassin and his desire to protect the one that he cared for is so heartbroken to watch. He is a silent hero is this drama – thus his cruel ending in the drama is so hard for me to take. Yoon So Yi as Jin Joo did an excellent job too. Her crying scenes are amazing and her miseries when her parents die is to look out for. Unfortunately, her love for Dong Soo is left undeveloped that it makes you left wondering what happened to the marriage proposal that happened during their childhood. And Shin Hyun Bin as Yoo Ji Sun is pretty disappointing to watch. Her screen time has reduced so much that she doesn’t seemed to be one of the leads here. Her existence is solely used as a tool of weakness to both of the main leads which I found utterly unacceptable. While the rest of the sub-actors did a good job for their roles. I particularly attracted to the amazing aura of the Sky Lord and Jun Kwang Ryul did a good job as the Sword Saint. And I on the other side very happy with Oh Man Suk’s brief appearance as the Crown Prince Sado. Although his time in the drama is brief, he made his character unforgettable and memorable.

What left me even furious with this drama other than bad scriptwriting is its poor & disappointing ending -- the unjustified death of Yeo Un. I know this is historical drama and somebody ought to die in the end and we can’t actually expect a happy ending but why it has to be as messed up as it is? We all know how much Yeo Un has to suffers and how lonely and miserable his life is. The guilt and longingness that he has towards the people that he hurts and his attempts to make everything right is just left unappreciated and unacknowledged. While everyone brags how wonderful and awesome is Dong Soo (which he truly is), Yeo Un is left in the dark – although in fact he is a better swordsman, martial artist, strategist, leader, mastermind and a friend. Without his clever strategy, Dong Soo will never be able to bring the Defense Minister down. The bad guys have always one step ahead in everything and trampled the good guys but with Yeo Un, he makes sure he is two steps ahead. And yet, all the secret good deeds that he done from the beginning either to keep his friends safe nor saving the day are left unknown to everybody right until the end. In reality, the good deeds that he done far exceeded the evil ones. But why he deserved such an unfair and unjustified death? There’s nothing heroic in Yeo Un’s death, it is just a sad and lonely death that he surely doesn’t deserved. And what makes it even sadder is that he died believing that he doesn’t deserve to live -- that his death will makes the world a better place even to his friends. And what’s more disappointing is how everyone seemed to carry on living happily after his death like nothing happen -- like he doesn’t matter at all. I just don’t understand how the ending can turn out like this. Defying fate supposed to be the main theme of the drama but why the production team decided to throw it out of the windows in the end without acceptable explanations? Are they really desperate to kill one of the characters to give an impact for the ending to make the drama more memorable?

And I hate the double standard and contradictions that seemed to always plague Korean historical dramas. Why good guys always die while the bad guys seemed to have many lives? Why Ji Sun managed to defy her destiny while Yeo Un who tried the hardest to defy them left with a lonely and sad death? Why Hwang Jin Gi, who lives most of his life as an assassins and bandit can be forgiven easily while Yeo Un who has spent more time saving people secretly than killing them doesn’t being given the same chance? Why Dong Soo successfully protects everyone while Yeo Un who is dear to him died by his hand? Why bad guys being given the chance to redemp for their sins and died meaningful deaths while the good guys always died broken hearted with unfulfilled dreams? I swear the storyline for all k-dramas are so predictable that it seemed all the scriptwriters graduated from the same school with the same underlying themes and concepts. The pattern for all the stories is too familiar with each other -- with the same formula with no creativity. It’s just utterly disappointing.

In the end, the drama left me irritated and annoyed. Ridicules and unreasonable ending the drama has to offer makes me wonder what’s the point in everything that happened when the character who deserve happy ending the most die feeling sad and unwanted while everyone move on with their lives like his existence and contributions (NOBODY even know all the contributions that he did in saving their lives or the day) seemed doesn’t matter at all. The ending could be grand and unforgettable but it settled with a questionable ending that everybody in the end left wondering why the writer bothers to tell a story when he/she wanted to end it like it did. What’s the point of pointing out how martial arts is too save people when it is so contradict with the end when Cho Rip betrayed his friend and Dong Soo used martial art to end Yeo Un’s life…

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I watch this drama knowing it would be good, but it never crossed my mind that the story will totally blow my mind away. I love almost everything the drama has to offer; the mesmerizing leads, excellent written script, brilliant directing, beautiful cinematography, heart-wrenching soundtracks, deep and angsty storyline, mind-blowing on-screen chemistry, and most of all the moving and pure love story of the lead characters.

Park Shi Hoo and Moon Chae Won shine brilliantly in their award-winning performance as the star-crossed lovers. Who thought that they will be such a beautiful and unforgettable couple to watch? Park Shi Hoo portrayal as Kim Seung Yoo totally take my breath away. He left me in awe for his amazing portrayal of Seung Yoo: from a happy and full of life noble man with witty personality, he changed into a bitter and revengeful young man after his family was killed and later into a charismatic leader with big responsibility on his shoulder. This is no doubt the best performance Shi Hoo has to offer to date – he is the gem in this drama and his character is the drive that carried the drama forward. While Moon Chae Won is dazzling as Se Ryung. Who can hate this character when it is full of love, courage, honesty and justice? It’s actually painful to see her dilemma of wanting to protect the one that she loves in the expense of going against her beloved father. But I don’t know how she does this, but she remained innocent and noble right until the end. She never makes one single questionable action that can question her loyalty to his family and the man she loves. The rest of the cast also played all their characters excellently. Hong Soo Hyun as Princess Kyung Hye unexpectedly gives a very good performance as a bitter princess and both of the second male leads; Song Jong Ho and Lee Min Woo done their part to give the drama overall good performance. 8 of the drama’s main and supporting characters were nominated for acting awards and 3 of them ended up winning so you basically can know how this drama is backed up with unprecedented quality of good acting from all the actors involved.

The main reason that makes the drama special is the pure & innocent love story between Seung Yoo and Se Ryung. Honestly, I have watched tons of K-dramas love stories before but I have to say that this one is one of the very best ever written. It is so well developed right from the start; their sweet and beautiful courtship, misunderstanding, reunion, betrayal, and their heartbreaking sad fate and longing to each other is just painful and agonizing to watch. You can truly see why they fall in love and remain devoted to each other no matter how cruel the circumstances between their families. It is so well told and beautifully portrayed by both of the leads -- their exceptional and explosive chemistry is absolutely compelling with unparalleled eminence that for the first time in my life, I actually feel heartache watching a love story. No matter whether it is happy or sad scenes, watching the two of them just breaks my heart. Kudos to the writer for writing such a memorable love story, I’m expecting it to be good but I got more than what I asked for. There’re plenty of romantic unforgettable scenes between the two of them. I find myself watching them over and over again since they are beautifully shot; be it their first meeting, the date at the market and river, the horse ridings, the sudden confession, the hug scene in the shack, the kidnapping scene, the romantic scenes at the forest (honestly, the most romantic scene in Kdramas history ever ♥) nor the marriage scene in the hut (I can’t believe they pulled a Cold Mountain here XD). The two of them really look like they are deeply in love with each other just by the look in their eyes or how they touched -- it is just simply beautiful yet heartbreaking to watch at the same time.

- Childhood story: It is usual for period piece dramas to start the story from the leads’ childhood years. While it is important for us to understand the background story, I always find it is a struggle to finish the childhood parts. But here in this drama, it went straightly to their adult years which is a very refreshing and revitalizing change.

- Mortality aspect: It always annoyed me to no end how the bad guys in historical dramas always seemed to have 9 lives while the good guys always die just by one strike. And it also annoyed me how the good guys will never have the balls to kill the bad guys, which resulted with more blood spills because of the hesitation of the good guys to do what is right. But in this drama, you going to be surprised how there are no such elements making the storyline more justified and believable between the good and the evil people.

- Extreme actions: Usually in Kdramas, good guys have always known to have this reputation of not taking things to the extreme. They are known to always forgive, let go or given light punishment to the bad guys -- they basically are known for not taking things to the max. But the drama surprised me on how often the good guys took matters on their own hand. Seung Yoo startled me on how far he can go as far as kidnapping Se Ryung, shoot Soo Yang and Myun with arrows, murdered the bad guys one by one, go to the dangerous enemy den to save his friends and Se Ryung and etc... It’s nice to see that for once, good guys actually do all these kind of extreme things and gave good fights to the bad guys that actually satisfy the viewers.

- Promises: Another one aspect that extinguished this drama from its counterparts is the promises made between the characters. Usually in Kdramas, it is almost certain that once a character made promises, they almost never fulfilled it -- they either die or decided to break it. But in this drama, all the 3 promises that Seung Yoo made to Se Ryung, he fulfilled them; one by one. I was being skeptical at first, but the writer surprised me since Seung Yoo stick to his words right until the end.

- Blood aspect: It is known that Korean people have strong value and emphasis on their blood line. No matter how evil their fathers/relatives, just because they are related by blood, they will stand by them although they know it is wrong. In this drama, I love the fact that Se Ryung never attempt to go against his father nor decided to go against Seung Yoo. She just did what she thinks is right -- what her heart told her and remain loyal to both of them. She always asks her father repeatedly to repent while supporting Seung Yoo from the back at the same time. And I’m expecting that she going to choose one of them in the end but she never did. She also never ask Seung Yoo to choose her or her father or asking him to forgive her father’s sins but instead, she let him to choose what he wants to do without subjecting her opinion like what other Kdramas like to do.

- The ending: Korean historical piece are known to have bad and unsatisfactory ending. Hell, most of them have crappy endings to be honest. But this drama actually different and managed to give us a good and very satisfactory endings to all the characters. Most of people already predicted from the start how the story gonna end. Both of the main leads’ families are enemies to each other, no matter what happened in the end, there’s no way the story going to end happily since it is too tragic to begin with. For all the responsibilities that people put on Seung Yoo’s shoulder, it is almost certain that either him or Soo Yang will live, and of course luck doesn’t seemed to be on Seung Yoo’s side. But I was proven wrong! Ending Soo Yang’s life is seemed to be only a light punishment to him for all the sins that he has done. Leave him living his life seemed to be more cruel since he will never be happy and ridden with guilt for all the blood that he has spilled -- his only son died, his daughter left him, his wife hates him, he will forever feel afraid of the day someone going to take the throne away from him, and he also suffered from incurable disease and spending his life regretfully.

I will forever grateful for the clever and brilliant ending the writer has to offer. I come expecting they both will die in the end but the writer instead give us a very surprising happy ending and a justified one too. I never being so nervous in my life watching the last episode of a drama since I pray hard that the production team will give me a good and happy ending since I really feel attached to both of the main characters. Although I know it will probably end tragically right from the start, there’s a tiny little hope in my heart that wish it will end up differently. In the last episode, when Se Ryung figured out that she is pregnant, I know for sure that Seung Yoo will die since it is typical for a story to end one life with the gift of life to another. My expectation on how the drama going to end were in motion right until the last moments of the drama, however, the writers surprised me with a twist they have in store for the drama’s ending.

A great Korean drama will never be complete without an awesome OST. What the drama surely promised us is the heart-wrenching soundtracks. Queen of K-OST; Baek Ji Young provides us with the title track; ‘I’m Loving You Today’. Everytime the song is played at the background, my heart ache because of the song’s yearning and sad melody. While Seung Yoo theme song was sung by Park Wan Kyu which heart-breaking lyrics portray his longing for Se Ryung which he can no longer see. This drama great OSTs also provide an amazing duet between Ha Dong Kyun & Lee Jung which gives us a very powerful ballade that totally took me my storm when it is played in the drama -- who can overlook those powerful vocals which is full of passion and emotion? And Yoon Hwa Jae In provides us the theme song for Se Ryung character titled ‘Longing’ which was superbly sung by her to reflect the dilemma that Se Ryung is feeling inside. Overall, the soundtracks basically make the drama more alive and vivid -- it is simply exceptional in bringing the drama tragic atmosphere feel more real.

In the end, what hold the drama together are the strong value about life and death, doing what is right, fight for right reasons and remain true to your hearts. The drama got many other reasons to make it stay high in my list but the glorious ending makes it even more memorable. It’s no doubt this piece has become one of my very personal favorites. Seung Yoo once said that forgetting everything and living happily faraway with Se Ryung is only a dream for him. I’m glad in the end, he’s living in the dream life he yearned and desired.

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Penned by the famous writer of Jewel in the Palace & Queen Seon Duk, this drama is guaranteed to be amazing and it certainly didn't disappoint. It is honestly one of the best written script I have ever seen from a Kdrama -- it is clever, intriguing, interesting and heartbreaking at the same time.

I truly enjoyed watching this. Like other Jang Hyuk's post-army dramas, it is high quality with engaging plots equipped with excellent acting from all the casts. I enjoyed the 10 episodes where the mystery is about to be revealed one by one (my fave part in watching Kdramas where its all fun and awesome -- not too sad or too tragic) before it become more addicted in the remaining 14 episodes. Before I knew it, I become attached with lots of side characters and cried when they meet their ends (especially the Crown Prince's death). I guess this is a bonus point I have to give to the screenwriters for writing engaging side characters that you feel attached and sympathise with. I didn't feel it with The Slave Hunter but I definitely feel the opposite in this drama.

Jang Hyuk again continue his streak in acting in top quality productions that won award in Screenplay categories after Thank You, The Slave Hunter and now this. He is again mesmerizing and full of emotion as Ddol Bok / Kang Chae Yoon and I did the right thing to stan this man since his acting is just sooo good and passionate. Han Suk Kyu won a Daesang for this role and in my opinion he couldn't pick a better role as his comeback work in the small screen than his role as the remarkable King Sejong. Shin Se Kyung surprised me the most in here since she is good in her portrayal as Dam / So Yi. I guess she being surrounded by all these veteran actors make her acting improve as well. I'm highly amused since I can feel emotion during her sad scenes and I like So Yi as a character since she is amazing and strong that assist or inspire people around her instead of giving them troubles or as tool of weakness to the main characters.

I thought the ending is great even though it is sad. Sad to think that all the main characters died except the King but I think it is important to show how releasing the 'letters' and creating an easy written language where common people being able to read required THAT MUCH SACRIFICE. All deaths are justified and despite the tragic ending, the great cause is achieved in the end.

It's particularly sad in the ending scene where the King narrated:

"For decades, I must have gazed thousands of times. Yet, I didn't know a wild flower like that existed. That the sky atop the palace was so blue is also something I never thought of. This place is too wide. A place too unfamiliar. This is a place absent of Moo Hyul. This is a place absent of So Yi. This is a place absent of Ddol Bok as well. This is a place so unfamiliar as if they may never have existed once..."

I like how the writer emphasis how the usual place become unusual or unfamiliar to you once the people you love or close to are no longer there.

In the end, it is a powerful drama that brought a powerful message as well that great things can't be achieved without great sacrifices. I love it when my Kdrama teach me valuable lesson like this that I don't regret spending 24 hours of my life dedicating in watching it.

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This drama is great tbh. It has everything that a good show should have; good directing, good script and plot, excellent acting, attractive actors, great cinematography and not to mention a really awesome and amazing figting scenes.

However, when the writer decided to go full head to make the main character as sad and tragic not to mention pathetic as it can be, the drama went downhill in my opinion -- it is no longer fun as the first 10 episodes. Not to mention when it start focusing on other sub-characters which we the viewers didnt really give a damn especially the political people slow conversations, I find that the drama lost its spark and I started fast forwording scenes that I never done in my 15++ years of watching kdramas. Come on, when you make the main character as engaging and full of depth as Dae Gil, would you like to watch how the drama spent half of its air time on other side characters that you don’t really care about?

By the time it reached the end, I actually wish Dae Gil to die since his fate is just too cruel or should I said ridiculous. It never happen to me before but this is a first time for me to wish the character that I like to just die and end everything.

I just don’t understand the writer insistence to make a tragic character more tragic than it already is. And for me to wish that kind of end for him, it says a lot about what I feel about the whole thing.

I just don’t cry anymore while watching the ending scenes. I'm just so pissed that I got no more tears to spill. I just hate Un Nyun and yeah I hate her and I feel like she is so selfish and unlikable. The fact that she actually leave him alone to fight while bringing her injured ‘husband’ or the fact she never address Dae Gil's devotion for her -- not even once and still expecting him to come and send her off says a lot about her personality. The writer really screw up big time in writing an admirable female characters. He was just too busy writing in depth the male characters in the drama that the only memorable female character in the whole series is the slave lady. >.>

Why would I root for Tae Ha when Dae Gil is the one who wanders around for 10 years searching for her? Why would I root for Tae Ha’s when it is Dae Gil who had a breakdown in the middle of the market after learning about the marriage? And why would I root for Tae Ha when he has problem with Un Nyun originally being a slave while Dae Gil never care about those status thing even from the very beginning? I just don’t understand the reasoning behind of wanting to make Tae Ha & Un Nyun happens. I JUST DON’T.

The drama is great but the insistence to make the main character to suffer THIS MUCH just leave a big distaste in my mouth. I just don’t understand the concept that Koreans have with their insistence of making their main characters suffers while never give them the justice that they deserve right until the end.

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One of the best written Jdramas!

One of the best written Jdrama that I have come across in recent years. The script is very thought-provoking and deep and I'm actually surprised that all these amazing dialogs keeps popping up in each episode. Nojima Shinji has always love to touch the darkest subjects of human nature in his dramas and he did exceptionally well in here.

Yamapi did great in this role. I always admire that he's willing to shed his image and play this challenging type of role once in a while. He was convincing as a disable person and also convincing as a genius. I think I practically cried the whole way through the last 2 episodes lol!

For those who are confuse with the ending:

It was unfortunately implied in the drama that Sakuto lose all his memories of Haruka (before the surgery) and basically all his previous memory when taking ALG. He probably read his note and expect the crying girl is Haruka thus following it and ignoring her before turning back and give her the earring as the earring make him happy (as the old Sakuto always thrive to make people happy).

About remembering Algernon's grave, Algernon is his friend way before the surgery and he drew the map to his grave on his notebook. When the genius Sakuto bring the glasses guy to bury Algernon, he is burying Algernon at the warmest place in the forest from his memory as the old Sakuto. The old Sakuto is great with road and that place is probably one of his fave place on earth -- that is why him drawing the simple map to Algernon's grave making sense as he is familiar with the place (and his friends knew about the place as well).

And the fact that at the end he said back to God how he wanted to become clever all over again cemented this theory. Since he lose all his memory before taking ALG, he completely revert back to his old thinking of wanting to be clever again. If Nojima Shinji follows the original story and made Sakuto remember everything, then he will surely run away from everybody since the thought of remembering how he got genius and become disabled again is too much for anyone to handle (In the original, Charlie move away since he remembered everything thus making him embarrassed to meet anyone). So, when Nojima Shinji made him forget everything, he thus giving the story a happy ending on how Sakuto become happy all over again like in the beginning of the drama.

Plus, the drama's script is one of the greatest thing that made this drama so great. There are a lot of thought provoking scripts that question many things that involved our nature as a human. We get numerous times of the old Sakuto hating his disabled self and calling him baka but at the end, the genius Sakuto himself realized that the old Sakuto is not stupid at all and was genuinely happy as a person -- that his laugh is not as a defence mechanism. And with all those conversations, we learned how the old Sakuto has always been the reasons why everyone around him is happy. So at the end, we got exactly what it is implied throughout the drama -- the script is very consistent throughout.

And Haruka cant be together with Sakuto as he did not have the ability to love her as a women thus they are not together at the end. However, Nojima Shinji did give us the silver lining about those two by not disclosing what the 3rd option is. The 3rd option will be the option that he left the viewers to decide on their own -- but one thing for sure, the 3rd option was implied as a happy ending for the two of them as Haruka looks optimistic when she thinks about it. My take is that she and the doctor will again come out with a new drug that is more effective that is why she is still working at the lab.

For those you are unsatisfied with the ending, you guys need to understand on why Sakuto chose to save Rio instead of himself. Bear in mind that his nature is like his father, where they have this selfless attitude that like to help people. While Sakuto battled with the thought of becoming disabled again, Rio in the other hand risk of being unconscious her whole life. He knew that he will regret either decision but at the time, the more important thing to do is saving Rio as it is a matter of life and death for her (and in the process helping other people like Rio in the future to ensure that he & Algernon's existence made a difference) rather than a gamble of saving his intelligence where he explained that testing the ALG beta on another mice will get them back at square one.

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Okay, I cried at the reunion scene in the last episode. It was so well done and in my opinion one of the best reunion scenes in dramaland. When I started the drama, I went from ‘Zhaolin, the things I do for you…’ to ended up enjoying the drama for real. This is a great story about brotherhood, friendship, forbidden love, responsibility, sacrifices, obsession and what one has to do for the greater good.

The drama unfortunately didn’t start up as interesting and the CGI is terrible. But if you can stand the horrible CGI in Ten Miles of Peach Blossom or other Chinese fantasy dramas in general, then you can surely can stand this one as well. :P But the budget is actually more on the moderate side since they used really a lot of extras and different sets for 6 different arch stories. Not to mention that the costumes that the extras wore were pretty much not cheap and even the extras change their costume regularly which shows that the budget is definitely in the moderate side. Plus, Hanyan’s hanfus are really pretty! I always looking forward to her costumes since its really awesome and beautiful. :D

This drama is about a famous Chinese deity; Zhong Kui which in charge of vanquishing all demons and evil beings in the Underworld and this drama tells his story before he become a deity and the trials and judgements he has to go through. That is why Zhong Yunfei is constantly being tested and can never catch a break since his noble beliefs are being tested again and again. And he has his sworn brothers Hanyan & Fuqu on his side to kill and battle all the demons in the mortal world in his journey to deity-hood.

Throughout the drama, we seen him being tested where he constantly in the battle between himself and his inner demon (human’s feelings). Sometimes, he succeeded and sometimes he failed since after all he is still human with real feelings. But one thing we should pointed out is that how selfless he is when he is against the evil – regardless anyone status, he is willing to sacrifice himself in order the defeat the evil. Which is why when he sacrificed himself to save his brother Fuqu from becoming a demon, it is enough to show how his noble belief is one of his strongest strengths and the reason why the demon realms wanted his immortal body since his noble belief itself is enough to shake the heaven’s realms.

The last 12 episodes of this drama is especially great. This is when Yunfei is tested with his biggest trial with the appearance of his long lost lover Nian’er in the form of a Butterfly Demon and this is where he’s inside is tested on what he should do for the right thing between defeating the evil or wallowing in his regrets of not being able to protect Nian’er in the past. When Nian’er decided to sacrifice herself to save him, he was adamant to follow her words to continue living a happy and fulfilling life but when Hanyan & Fuqu decided to sacrifice themselves in order to kill the Demon King for him later on the same day, it is what that broke him and make him lose his faith. He lost the 3 person he loved the most in the world on the same day and one can assume the great sadness he is feeling despite the great evil is defeated.

I actually really love the message the drama wants to tell us at the end. His inner demon is right, that it is better to be happy despite it being short rather than spent centuries in love-sickness. Yunfei knew this as well since it is him who feels those regrets and loneliness but with LOVE, comes RESPONSIBILITIES. The love he felt towards Nian’er is the ultimate forbidden love since they can’t be together no matter how he struggle and fight the heaven since it will end with both of them being struck with lighting with no chance of reincarnation. It is cruel and unfair, but some thing can never being done no matter how much you try to fight and resist it. That is why despite I am crying tears of happiness when he reunite with Hanyan & Fuqu, I can’t help but feeling sad as well. Those longing look everytime he sees Nian’er – wanting to hold her but he can’t is just heartbreaking. But he can’t be selfish and sacrifice her for his own regrets and obsession and he know this as well. I like it since even his inner demon comes term with his own obsession and chose to do what is right which is to let go of Nian'er. True love can never be selfish but wanting happiness for the person that you love although it is not with you.

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I can’t believe that I gave such a high rating for this drama. But it is seriously fun, hilarious and surprisingly very addicting. While I never been a fan of RomCom in general, I find myself always enjoying C-RomCom in particular. I think it’s important if you watch the story with the mindset just to have fun and since it is indeed a funny and enjoyable story, you high likely gonna love it. Don't take it too seriously and you will find yourself enjoying the drama just as it is.

I actually a bit skeptical to see Zhaolin in another similar roles like his roles in Lucky's First Love and You Are My Destiny (rich, handsome & cold young CEO). But being the good actor that he is, there is not a bit of Xi Yi or Xia Ke that I seen in Yi Cheng. While Xi Yi and especially Xia Ke are undoubtedly cool, confident and dashing -- Yi Cheng in the other hand is a bit embarrassing, uncool and childish which make him more hilarious to watch. So instead of laughing with him, you are actually laughing AT him.

While Bambi Zhu as Lu Li is in for a surprise for me. The last time I've seen her is in Ten Miles of Peach Blossom and God know how I hated her character there but I really like her as Lu Li. She is lovely, sweet and brave. I liked the she is actually really capable as a programmer and contribute to Yi Cheng's company growth. I liked it when female character is not a doormat but rather someone with opinion and strength. Plus, she looks very pretty with her hair in a bun!

Things to love in this drama; how it realistic that Yi Cheng keeps pointing out to Lu Li how she looks like a girl when he cosplayed as a guy at the beginning of the drama. In dramas, they usually like to gloss over this and expect us to accept that the girl looks like a guy but for a first time, this drama didn’t. I lost count on how many people especially Yi Cheng likes to point out how Lu Li looks like a girl all the time. When she said; 'My card ID is so ugly since it made me look like a girl.' and he was like; 'You think you look like a guy??' lol!

I also love the creative idea regarding the normal romantic scenes and the way the drama handles it and making it inventive and refreshing. I LOVE their game arcade wedding photoshoot and how fun it looks. The blueberry wedding ring is another plus and not to mention the watermelon birthday cake that Yi Cheng made for Lu Li and lastly, the virtual world wedding proposal that he prepared for her. All of this aside from being romantic, is such great scenes and lovely.

Both of Yi Cheng and Lu Li's families’ relationship is another plus. Yi Cheng parents’ relationship is very amusing especially the part where the Father said to the Mother; 'You are the Queen, and I'm your pawn. I will move according to your instructions.' XD Some stuffs that they did are borderline illegal and cruel but I can’t deny that they are such a fun family underneath all that.

For the bad part in this drama, it got dark and frustrated near the end but the earlier episodes and last episodes are so much fun so you kinda let it go. Pain and suffering are important for character developments so whether we like it or not, it will come but once the water is clear, then it’s all fun back. But the drama is still 80% extremely fun thus the rating is 8/10 from me. Again, any RomCom by Zhaolin is usually entertaining, enjoyable and hilarious so it made a good rewatch value.

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More Hilarious and Heartbreaking than the Previous Seasons

Definitely a solid 9/10. This season continue that best thing the drama is famous for; full of fluffs from beginning to end. And what more surprising to me is that this season didn't disappoint at all and in my opinion more hilarious and heartbreaking than the first two. The 2nd season to me, is still the best romance drama in my book and this season followed a close second.

I love love love Lian Cheng's bewildered face everytime he turned back to the 8th Young Master after their kisses and I love how Tan'er remains positive, lively and all around playful and shameless in the pursuit of him. I personally feel that there are so many memorable romantic scenes particularly the veil wedding kiss (how awesome is that?) or the confession scene under the cherry blossom tree where Lian Cheng hangs the 100 reasons why he loves Tan'er. I have like 2345624 other favorite scenes from them in this drama but let’s not go there lol. I think this drama will always be a winner in term of coming out with sweet, creative and out of the world romantic scenes from other Xian Xia romance drama of the same genre.

Aside from that, since the drama is set in alternate Dong Yue where the women rule the government, this matriarchal system settings set some refreshing ideas that the couple has to handle. Like the usual kabedon was done by Tan'er instead and the 'Not Satisfy' trick that Lian Cheng did in the previous season was done oppositely by Tan'er. Other than that, issues which are usually women's problem and duty such as virginity, shaving, serving husband as well as managing the household are tackled excellently which cause huge embarrassment for Lian Cheng especially the shaving part. He totally didn't deserve it but the hilarity the whole plot caused is just too priceless. I also like the fact that aside from seeing it from men' POV, they also show how when women are the leaders, they have to handle money as well as difficult states' issues (which is not Tan'er's forte :P) and I like it when Lian Cheng pointed out to Tan'er that last time when she wants to indulge and make him happy, she only has to chose 'Love' and now she has to chose between 'Love' or 'Money'.

This drama has been a stress relief for me since S1, and S2 and S3 follow the exact same formula that I love. For me, it’s a first time I encountered a drama which is just full of happiness from beginning to end. Even when they face many tragedies, you know its gonna end well since they basically facing all adversities together and relying on each other. That kind of understanding is rare and this drama portray it really well.

Rewatch value is 100%. I don't think I will ever get bored watching this no matter how many times since its just full of pleasure and hilarious! Even the filler episodes are hilarious as hell. It’s like a go to drama when you just want to feel happy and relax. Lian Cheng is Lian Cheng which is a King of Teasing with or without his memories and Tan'er, is Tan'er. :D

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For all those confusion regarding the identity of Lian Cheng and Tan'er, they are all the same person for all the 3 seasons. The drama is very straightforward so if you understand the concept of parallel worlds, everything is very clear and easy to understand.

Mo Lian Cheng is the same from S1 & S2. Except this time, he is with amnesia. But he is still the same person. Young Master Lian Cheng in this new Dong Yue is the one who drawn. I guess we will never got to know him since now Lian Cheng from S1 & S2 has occupied his body in this season. While Sir Lian Cheng the doctor is Mo Lian Cheng's past life. Mo Lian Cheng has his memories as well when he went to Xianlung Continent at the end of S1. So, he is like 3 in 1 = Original Lian Cheng + Sir Lian Cheng when he got all Sir Lian Cheng's memories + 8th Prince when he combined with his body in S2. They are all the same person.

Qu Tan Er is the lady from Qu Family who is in love with Mo Yi Huai. Qu Xiao Tan went inside her body and she died at the end of S1 so this Lady Qu is no longer in the equation. S2 Xiao Tan is without memories but she got her memories back when she was kidnapped by her father at the alter and the orbs made her remember all back. That is why in the ending of S2, she mentioned Xianlung Continent to Lian Cheng to show to us that she has gotten all of her memories back. So at the end, S1 & S2 & S3 Xiao Tan is the same person. Tan'er is Qu Xiang Tan reincarnation and in this Dong Yue's timeline , Qu Xiang Tan did not die and establish Dong Yue instead of Mo Yi Feng, That is why only Lian Cheng is reborn this this timeline (Young Master Lian Cheng from Mo Family) and not Tan'er -- the body that Tan'er occupy this season just happen to have the same face as the Empress since they are Aunt & Niece but she is NOT her reincarnation as Qu Xiang Tan did not die in this timeline.

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I love this drama! I love the opening theme which set the happy vibe of the whole drama, I love the colourful pastel costumes, I love the settings, I love the beautiful sets, I love the relationships and most of all, I love the characters!

The budget for this drama is definitely on the high side. The sets are beautiful and expensive and the costumes are definitely one of the best parts of this whole drama. I love the coupling costumes that Long Yue and Ju'er always wear after their marriage. :D This is the first time that I've seen a couple in historical drama that done this and I super love it! Their flowery black hanfu is my favourite which followed with their blue coloured hanfu -- they are so so pretty!

The Longs household is definitely a nice place to live in. All the 3 brothers are lovely and their relationships with their ladies are healthy and balanced. Long Residence is such a beautiful and serene home and you somehow get the feeling that it’s gonna be a happy home for everyone when they live there. A residence in dramas usually didnt give this vibe to viewers but the Long Residence definitely gives you this happy and comfortable vibe and I love all the scenes that are shot in there.

I really love if Zhaolin keeps taking this kind of role in the future. His portrayal as Long Yue is hilarious here. He loves for money, being a profiteer and most of all stingy, despite all of these negative traits, he made it very lovable somehow. I keeps laughing how calculative he is even with the Dowager Empress to how petty he is in everything from borrowing his brother's army just to mess with rivals' business to his stinginess with his younger brother -- its all done in hilarious way that instead of being turned off, you will laugh at all the scenes instead. And most of all, I love how intelligent he is, he had his flaws and likes to do things his own way but you gotta admits that most of his plans worked and he saves his loved ones again & again. I think the plot that I love the most is most probably how far he is willing to go to save his personal servant; Li Ke. Dramas usually like to take the female leads as hostage where the male leads need to make impossible choices but here, it was his servants. He has a heart of gold and I love him for that. Long Yue is definitely one of my top 3 Zhaolin's best characters to date.

Shane Xiao as Mu'er definitely one of the highlights in this drama. She is strong, lovely, very opiniated and she definitely has what it takes to take on the rather wild Long Yue. I love how savage she is and her; '2nd Young Master, you are hungry? Aren't you already FULL with jealousy?' and her follow up; 'Chicken soup? I rather not take it or else it will heated up my passion' -- it is a brilliant remarks to deal with a rather jealous husband haha! And Ju'er's fashion is definitely the best. Her costumes are like expensive rags sew on together and it comes out funky and elegant at the same time. Her hanfu itself shows how different she is from other girls and the way she thinks as well is different that set her apart from other people. I love how details the production team in writing and making her character.

I also love how they dedicate the whole 1 episode for the ending. I always have issues how C-dramas like to rush their endings but here, the last episode has everything on why I really like the drama and why it is such a stress relief kind of story. From how the brides do not want to be seen as too eager and acting all demure despite being very excited themselves to Long Fei having to wear recycled Long Yue's wedding dress to how the Dowager Empress trolled Long Yue into paying for the very expensive wedding to Long Yue giving the key to Longs' Treasure Room to Ju'er is the icing on the cake. I like how both of them always smiling constantly thorough out the drama especially when they are together and that’s the very reasons why it is such a joy to see their scenes as a couple.

Rewatch value is definitely 100%. I started the first episode again after I finished it and that’s how I love this drama as a whole.

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I love this version! It’s not perfect or anything but in my opinion, its the better take on the Taiwanese version. I felt all the things I don’t like in the T-version were corrected here. I guess since this is the latest from all the ‘Fated to Love You’ versions, they took the best part of each version and make it their own which in my opinion is a nice touch to this much beloved story.

But despite that, I found that the things I love the most about this C-version is their original scenes. I especially love the imaginary conversation Jiaxin had with Xiyi in her head and all the underlaying depth of that conversation. I love how the script pointed out that 'the path they walked together is too short, yet the regrets they left behind is too deep.' Or the scene where Xiyi hugs Jiaxin for the last time and tell her not to blame herself over Xiao Ximi's death and his 'I love you' one last time while shivering -- how come anyone not breaking up watching such scenes? ;_;

Even if they took the original scenes, I personally think they revamp the whole scene to a new height with a better script. The birthday scene was done really well in which Xiyi confessed without knowing it was Jiaxin in the bear costume. Or both of their conversation after the kiss at the hotel are especially brilliant. I love it when scriptwriter wrote this touching and creative script that touch the deepest of our hearts. It is simple yet can highlight their deep regrets and sadness.

The C-version definitely has the most good-looking main couple of all the versions. But funnily enough, Jiaxin looked the most hideous in her nerdy look though -- my goodness, those glasses need to burn in hell lol. I thought both Xing Zhaolin and Liang Jie did really well in their respective roles despite their young age. This is the first time I'm seeing them in anything so I can’t believe how young is Zhaolin (he is 22 years old here?) and he played this role of heartbroken and sad husband and father amazingly. I adore his subtle expressions and the way his expression change from happy to hurting in split seconds are especially amazing -- that you know in that moment, his everything was shattering in the inside. And Liang Jie was great at emotional scenes! Girl can definitely cry and looking pretty while doing so.

The writer made everyone kinder in this version especially Xiyi. He almost made all the right decisions despite how tough it is. People aren’t black and white and it’s fun to see how he struggle to come terms with his feelings. It wasn’t easy but when he chose Jiaxin, he never rethink his decision and he never waver. She is always 'the one' for him. Like all versions, I guess it’s important for us to realise that Jiaxin never has to change in order to be worthy of his love. She is always the one since the beginning and I love that this is the main theme that this drama and all the versions has always pointed out again and again.

And Jiaxin truly change into a new woman as Elaine. She made a mistake by kissing Xiyi at the hotel but after that, she told herself she can be 'weak' but can never give in to her 'vulnerability'. Can anyone do that especially in front someone that the once deeply love and still in love? Only a strong person can do that and that is Jiaxin. She only chose him in the end when she knew he is genuinely a good guy who always chose her and never abandoned her. However, this version Anna is absolutely the worst though. Until the end, she never knew the impact of her decision did to both Xiyi & Jiaxin. But I'm not gonna ruin my review by mentioning her and getting frustrated on how she ruined the story for me. :P

Lastly, I love like the fact that this drama highlighted a few of important theme of the whole story:
1) How it’s not easy to come to someone life and change their lives but Jiaxin did exactly that to both Xiyi and his family with her kindness.
2) Xiyi constantly ask Jiaxin to believe in herself in the short time when he was with her because he believes in her and her capabilities. That her alone, just as it is, is enough for him.
3) Xiyi realised how broken he made Jiaxin and his inability to protect her made her change to Elaine. It’s not a bad thing but she lose her innocence and he knew he is the reasons for that.
4) The loss of Xiao Ximi, no matter how hurting it is for both of them, but it made Jiaxin can meet Xiyi as an 'equal'.
5) Xiyi realised that he is the cause of Jiaxin pain and literally, literally anyone can be Mr. W as long as it is not him. Thus, his decision to let her go despite how painful it is for him.

All the OST in this drama is amazing though. I can’t get over how the BGM always always make the scenes even sadder. And those lyrics, how it fits all the characters like a shoe.

The story is not perfect since I have my problem with the way some of the plots are handled but overall, this drama is a good adaptation. I thoroughly enjoyed it and ended up becoming a fan of the actors.

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The drama is sold to me after the first 10 minutes of the show. I love the conversation of 'A Footless Insect Without Feet' (lol) between Zimo & his Editor Wu Yu. I love the complexity of the whole Chinese language and when it comes to Chinese Literature, the complexity of the language is upped even more. So this whole scene was a good start to make me sucked right into the drama.

One of the whole premises of the drama is to portray the everyday struggles of people living in this modern world. This is a drama with people who are flawed and struggled to live their lives. It can be depressing at times since the drama mirrored the real life so much. From how difficult it is to make a living, to how difficult to do the job that you dream of to how you might struggle to get into something, but other people with no passion at all got in and become successful instead. Due to this, it might not be popular with audiences but I actually enjoyed watching the struggles of the characters and how they come terms with it.

Another things that made this drama special are the characters. Zhao Zimo is indeed the most interesting character and also the one with the most character development in the drama as well. It’s the first time where Xing Zhaolin played a poor character (lol) and he excels so much in it. The desperation is shown on his face and the way he handled his struggles of identities between a misunderstood and scarred writer and a reluctant model is very believable. I thought they picked the right actor to play Zimo as Zhaolin portrays lonely and melancholy very well on pictures. And later the warmth and tender looks in one of the photoshoot with the foreign model was done really well! -- his eyes are very expressive! While Zimo is the most interesting character, I have to hand it to Xia Fan to be the most relatable character on the show. Her struggles and hard work despite being so good in her work is very relevant to the audiences and when Zimo being so unprofessional, I share her frustrations and irritations. She's wise and very likable so it’s nice to watch all of her scenes. While Wu Yu is without doubt the best character on the show. Age got to do a lot to his maturity so from the right on, he always makes the right decisions and always know what he wants. Watching him is actually a delight because he is someone who always seemed to know what he is doing and the one who live life with no regrets.

The plot is also of the of reasons why this drama stands out as well. The whole plot of how writers have influence on the readers are so well done and portrayed. How a writer glamorises ‘alone and lonely life’ as something admirable can and will have influences to their readers whether they like it or not. And to influence someone's life is not a small thing thus they have social responsibilities and accountability in their profession. And the plot later involving Zimo and his father is the icing on the cake for me. His father's tender letters to him all over the years is like an awakening for him -- the one who made him finally understand his own soul and comes to terms with his identity and he is reborn as a new man. Those hatreds and resentment are resolved beautifully and he now, understood his father and his father’s past struggles.

However, the downside of this drama for me is unfortunately the main character Li Xiao. Li Xiao is portrayed as someone with bravery, determination, hardworking and most of all straightforward. But unfortunately, all these qualities are only on the surface level as when the character was developed by the writers, she becomes someone unlikable instead to my dismay. Her layers of characteristic is like peeling an onion, the more you peeled, the more you finds flaws in it. Despite the good qualities that I listed above, she actually ended up being self-righteous, insensitive, impulsive and most of all a hypocrite person. I don’t mind flaws in characters but when the flaws are never addressed or corrected but instead being glorified and glamorise instead, that's when I have a problem. Throughout the story, we've seen her in her high horse where she judge everyone with what she thinks is right. And this fact never got addressed till the end and she remains the same person as she is at the beginning of the drama -- with no character development at all.

I also personally feel the love relationship between the leads just doesn’t work. Li Xiao is too superficial to understand Zimo's artistic soul. Her insensitiveness towards his identity as Lei Yang the writer and Zhao Zimo the model is just really hard to watch and again, it never got addressed till the end. One thing not to be able to understand his writing due to the complexity of the language but to be brutal towards his writing is just wrong especially when you can see on his face how he valued his identity as a writer. I'm sure Zimo's 'A Footless Insect' is a pretentious book with many obscure and difficult words but everytime snippet of the book is shown to the audiences, I'm just amazed how poetic is the language and the use of metaphor are done excellently. So, to people who actually understand and appreciate literature, Li Xiao comes out as uneducated instead. I actually really liked them as a couple since they have this understanding with each other but the core problem of their relationship never being address which a huge red light to me. She seemed to only accept one part of him instead of both parts of him. First, ridicule his identity as Lei Yang and later, rejecting his model identity when it didn’t fit her narrative.

But despite all this, I actually enjoyed the drama. The ending is very satisfactory and I thought what Xia Fan did at the end is just very cool and admirable. I really like the second couple a lot and the whole Zimo's relationship with his father are resolved with such class and tenderness. Thus this drama as a whole deserved a 7/10 from me.

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Looking at the title, it's obviously an idol drama so I thought I'm not gonna enjoy it but I am absolutely wrong. I'm actually impressed with how the plot was structured and panned out.

First, I like that Xia Ke has always likes Xing Yun since the very beginning. It’s just that, he didn’t realise it since they have a very close work relationship. It’s the same with Xing Yun, we thought that she's the type who just went along with everything but then we are given the many little hints here and there how she has always like him from her phone case to how she concern to every little things involving him -- all of this contribute to the fact that she always had him in her heart without her realising it as well.

Second, I like how Xia Ke is just naturally a very nice guy and an amazing boss. His kindness is not only limited to Xing Yun but his other employees as well. He pretends to act cold (tender heart, cold exterior), but he cares for his employees deeply with a pretence that when he do something nice for them, it is not from him -- so in a way, it’s actually more genuine since when he did something, he didn’t ask anything in return.

Third, I like the background story that they give to Xing Yun. We can’t deny that she's really lucky and the reason why Xia Ke treasure her so much -- everyone in the company knows it and acknowledge it too. She's there from the beginning and the reasons behind TIG success as well. Xia Ke has groomed her to be a planner as well so when she finally takes the challenge, for him, it was worth the wait since he always know she is capable of it. Her getting 4 freaking increments in 2 years are just part of the many things that shows how much Xia Ke appreciated her.

Fourth, I love the relationship of everyone in the drama. From Xia Ke good friendship with his 2 collage friends to Xing Yun awesome friendship with her two best friends. Not to mention Xing Yun's parents’ relationship to Xing Yun relationship with them. No wonder she has so much kindness and happiness as she being brought up by 2 awesome parents. But the relationship that takes the cake for me is the relationship between Xia Ke and her sister. Zhaolin surprisingly has the most chemistry with her sister Shen Ying in the drama. From the way her sister likes to troll him to his sacrifices for her -- his love is genuine and for once, I thought it makes since for him to hide the fact about her ex-hubby (noble idiocy that I agree lol) since by the time she learned the truth, she already finds love again and won’t be dragged by the bad memories.

Fifth, I really love the progression of the love relationship between Xia Ke and Xing Yun. It just progressed naturally instead of being shoe-horned to us. Their spending time together just naturally happen or merely a coincidence. Xia Ke tries to protect her from bad relationships but he didn’t cock-blocked her and he is not doing things just out of jealousy. I love that for the fact, he's not jealous (since he didn’t realise his feelings yet at that time) so many of his actions are not resulted just because Xing Yun is in a relationship. He only learns his feeling gradually when he realised how he just always wanted to have her around him all the time. It’s funny how all the people knew that he likes her but he himself isn’t aware of it. It makes sense as they started their relationship as a boss and an employee so for them to realise the attraction very much later makes sense. I also liked the fact that how Xing Yun teach Xia Ke to have more trust on people and stopped taking and controlling everything himself -- for him to break that thinking wasn’t easy so from her sister's ex-hubby, Xing Yun & Chu Nan relationship & to the investment fiasco -- Xing Yun teaches him to stop doing things that he 'thought' are good for them but instead having more trust on people. I'm glad that after the long journey, he finally gets it.

Such a fun drama. It definitely makes a good re-watch. And I would recommend as well to people since it is after all a good office romance drama. The one where all characters have their own lives and challenges and their lives are not centered on love alone but other things as well.

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I have a lot of love and hate relationship for this drama. I love the characters and how deep each of their personalities are explored but I also cannot stand the dumb plotlines that the writer likes to throw to us -- it’s a cliché and overused plot that really take the fun away from the drama. But it’s only a couple of episodes from the 28 episodes drama so I guess in the end of the day, the good parts did exceed the bad parts in this drama by a lot.

The good:
- Xing Zhaolin as Xia Di. I can’t get over the fact that he's only like 21 years old when he did this but he acts very convincingly as someone who supposed to be in the late 20's. He is probably the 2nd youngest in the casts yet his character look and act the most mature. And that confident! Guys with confidence are really attractive! Enough said. He is an outstanding young man so many of his sayings are the reasons what drove Lin Feng in her life.
- Li Kaixin as Lin Feng. She may not be pretty like other Chinese actresses and she supposed to play a tomboy here but there's something about her that makes her interesting. She is indeed very different and we can clearly see why Xia Di falls for her. One thing is her attitude to always admit faults and apologize for it and another is her persistence attitude in everything. She knows what she wants and fight for it -- really hard.
- The relationship between the leads. It’s very minimal romance but they are very cute together. Particularly because Lin Feng, despite being a tomboy, acts cute when she’s in love. All her weirdness and quirkiness -- that most people didn’t find special are the very main reasons why Xia Di falls for her. He laughs the most watching her weird antics. And most of all, he always find something special about her everytime he met her. From her martial arts skills to her earning money to support him, she's a special girl without a doubt!
- The trust that the leads have towards each other. This is the part that I liked the best. You can throw many things to them, but one thing for sure, they have undeniably trust with each other so other people's evil ploy to destroy their relationship is only like a child's play.
- The friendship -- Xia Di & his friends and Lin Feng with her friends. It is portrayed beautifully especially Xia Di’s friendship with Fan Yang.
- Very fun earlier episodes and last episodes. They handled everything so well in the last couple of episodes. I really like it a lot. It could go wrong in so many ways but they handled all the mess really well.
- The plot twists! I love the plot twists! I didn’t expect it but I kinda sense it since they left many clues for us earlier on.
- An awesome theme song! I couldn’t get over how good and awesome is the melody and lyrics. I never skip the intro since it is that good. :D

The bad:
- Really evil, manipulative and crazy 2nd lead girl; Fan Ling. She's crazy, really obsessive and ruin a lot of fun stuffs in the drama. I think the only good thing about her evilness is the boundaries that Xia Di puts on her. He legit avoid her advances like he hates the very idea of it. And how Lin Feng said she is like a 'litmus test' for her relationship with Xia Di lol.
- A few dumb plotlines that we could go without. The mother plotline is the worst as she is no doubt abandoning her daughter for her career and didn’t contact her for a freaking 10++ years. The disease part is okay and I'm fine with it but why they didn’t tell her is just dumb. Or anything that happened on the mountain 5 years ago, it all could be solved by watching the GoPro isnt it? From Liming summit to Fan Yang falling. :P
- Too little mountaineering activities. For a 'sports' drama, I expect more action regarding this.

It’s still a fun drama at the end of the day. It makes you smile and fun all around. There are many good sayings in the drama but my favourite is: 'If you do something wrong, go correct it immediately. Moreover, work hard to do better. It’s not terrible when you do wrong, its only terrible if you continue doing it.'

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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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