Pathetic FL and A**hole ML

I am so disappointed watching this because I really like the actors and actresses. But the ML and FL characters were so upsetting to watch. FL was extremely spineless and pathetic. ML acted like a total major a**hole all the way till the end. He went beyond just cold and just straight up very mean. I mean seriously, saying to the girl you supposedly love that you rethinking marrying her, unable to show an ounce of comforting and loving gesture....I don't understand why she stuck around him. There's love and there's emotional abuse. During his supposed confession he didn't even confess. He just said she's not allowed to like anyone else but him, but didn't say he likes her. It's more of an order for her to continue being pathetic for him.
Ugh just totally killed the romance for me as I couldn't root for this toxic couple and being very frustrated at the FL.

Read More

Breathtaking masterpiece!

Such an amazing series. Th production was incredible with incredible cinematography. Everything from the costumes, fight choreographies, music, etc. were done to almost perfection. The story was good with not a lot of slow draggy moments often plaguing long Chinese dramas. Having said that, there are a few things that would have made the series a lot better in my opinion (my personal preferences):
- I wish there were more kiss scenes. Yes I know kisses are considered rare to begin with, but it would have conveyed more passion between the leads instead of just romantic gazes. Compared to Eternal (10 miles of peach blossoms), the passion was lacking here.
- The part with Lang Hua stabbing was a bit odd to me. Like they were like sisters but that scene just felt out of place somehow. And then the aftermath was also felt rushed like she just apologized and forgiven like she didn’t almost killed her.
- Han Pu didn’t die in the novel and I didn’t understand why he had to die in the series. I would preferred he didn’t die considering he’s the last member of the Han family.
- Although it was considered a happy ending, the fact that there’s a 10-year limit was kind of depressing to me.

Overall, a near perfect masterpiece with high re-watch value.

Read More

BEAUTIFUL AND UPLIFTING - Nothing Cliche!

This drama was so enjoyable with multiple groundbreaking topics I have not seen in historical dramas. Started light and funny, this drama has humor, romance, warm brotherly relationships, warm friendships, conspiracies, etc. Groundbreaking topics include post-partum depression, domestic violence, and women's rights.

What I love:
- the main couple's relationship evolution was gradual but made sense. Not love at first sight and you can see how they slowly fall in love with each other (ok, he fell in love first and much faster, but still).
- loving brotherly relationships between the 3rd, the 5th, and the 6th princes.
- loving friendship and really sisterly between the wives/concubines.
- the topic of domestic violence was uncomfortable but reasonable. Especially when HJ couldn't leave because she was pregnant. That was heartbreaking.
- the topic of post-partum depression was amazing. I only wish they took it further beyond just recognizing it since it wasn't addressed on how women overcome post-partum depression.
- the topic of women's rights in terms of education and working was very well addressed and concluded beautifully though the end was a bit rushed. I wish they would show how the women showed their talents which would then enable them to be selected for particular ministries. It was rushed that made it look like they were selected simply because they were there.

Overall, this was a beautiful drama with a unique storyline and I highly recommend it.

Read More

Super Sweet Story

This drama melted my heart. The arranged marriage story is not new, but what's different here was that both people honored the arrangement and tried to make it work. Granted initially more effort from the wife than the husband. But I was totally impressed and hooked when the husband showed extreme consideration for his wife when he rejected the other woman's attempt to spend time with him.
For an 18-yr old, the wife showed sufficient maturity to call out the lack of effort the husband was making in the beginning and sort of woke him up. The story did a good job balancing between showing the impact of the 10-yr age gap while also showing how the romance was possible and growing despite such difference.

Read More

So many schemes but keeps me hooked

First of all, yes it is long, yes there are so many schemes. But the schemes were the things keeping me hooked, couldn't drop it, because I really wanted to know when the schemes were exposed.
What I love about this series (SPOILERS WARNING)
- the male lead fell for the female lead fairly early on (single digit episode), and yet I didn't feel it was rushed. I felt they had sufficient interactions that warranted his feelings to be developed for her.
- his love never wavered throughout. He was there for her, almost too good. Except for the time when he stupidly agreed to marry Yilan, which I could also understand why plus Jiaming pushed him to that direction too.
- more realistic financial struggles.
- Each scheme (though so many) were resolved or concluded fairly quickly. And oh the most satisfying one was on the wedding day.
- The characters and the story evoked sooo many emotions out of me. Positive and negative. Even the evil incarnate characters like the grandma and Yilan, because there were so evil that they really caused me to stick to the story just to see how their evil schemes failed. So satisfying at that time.
- Jiaming's dad I think was just great. He's so loving towards Jiaming and when he was wooing Su Ping he was so cute. Good to see relationships developed for the "older" generation. Didn't see that very often in these dramas.

What could be improved:
- It's a bit ridiculous how everyone is connected to everyone else. It's like a spider web of connection. Too much.
- Zhao Han's character was too much, too pathetic. He supposedly loves Yilan very much but I couldn't understand how he could support her schemes and lies, especially against Jiaming whom he cared about as well (cared enough to be willing to quick alongside her in the beginning).
- Some of the schemes could be removed and it would have shortened the drama without changing the core storyline.

Personally, this series warrants a higher rating than (currently) 7.5. If you're on the fence on whether or not to watch this, give it a chance and just know that however frustrating the schemes might made you feel, each one has satisfactory resolution.

Read More

Good balance between romance and suspense

I really enjoyed this drama. The story is a big unique in terms of the special abilities/conditions. It has enough romance to satisfy romance-addict like myself while also keeping the non-romance crime suspense storyline. The pace was good, not too slow but not rushed either. It also has a couple of great reveal moments.

SPOILER:
My only complaint (and this is totally personally petty me) is that although Namkoong Min did a good job, I don't like seeing him as a bad guy just because I like him and tends to want to root for him.

Oh and this drama has one of the most unique, creative, and sweetest proposal ever.

Read More

Good and enjoyable! Synopsis was inaccurate.

I usually trusted the reviews and comments on this site and avoided lots of dramas based on them. For this series however, I decided otherwise and thank goodness I did. Note: I watched this on Viki with good sub, and it was 16 episodes.
First of all, the synopsis listed was not accurate. ML didn’t have the desire to always win. He had a fragment left in his brain from an accident and it caused some emotional and physical issues. FL was described as obsessed with hormones but it was only displayed significantly in the first few episodes. Afterwards, couldn’t really tell how much she cared about hormones.
Yes, ML was a total jerk in the beginning, but the reasons could be understood (not excused). At he was sweet (enough) in the latter half.
Some comments described FL as a doormat. I respectfully disagreed. She was nice, way nicer than average, maybe like an angel. But she did stood up to her sister in the end. Also, it’s her (extreme) niceness and sincerity that could explain how ML was able to overcome his (wrongfully placed) hatred and fell in love with her.
Now on to Se-Ra. She’s the villain, yes. But again, the reasons could be understood. And in the end, she repented after she resolved the misunderstandings about the accident.
Finally, I do not think the ending was rushed. It had a 1-year time jump but the ending I thought was nice, showing how everyone was settling and working great together.
Overall, I really enjoyed this drama, which considering I’ve watched hundreds of them could be considered good.

Read More

Touching Warm Romantic Story

I watched this series multiple times. There were things in the story that really bothered me, but overall the positives outweighed the negatives.
What I like:
- sincerity and the good-nature personality of the FL. I could sense how ML was falling for her
- FL's responses to the love rival was gold and not the typical K-drama reactions
- SML was not evil and ended up with the best friend
- ML being honest in the end of what married life would be like for her
- Sweet kisses

Cons:
- the skinship in the beginning was bothering me because at that time it wasn't clear yet that they liked each other. So it felt like ML was taking advantage of the FL . I don't understand how they could said they would date "seriously" while also putting a time limit. Time limit negates any type of "seriousness" in the relationship.
- I really appreciated ML's honesty in outlining the challenges in being his wife, and yet I felt after the wedding the opposite situations of those challenges were shown (for example we didn't get to see her spending a lot of time alone, surrounded by bodyguards, etc.)

Overall, still love it, and would re-watch many more times I'm sure in the future.

Read More