worldkdramafan2025

In an age of rating inflation this is a cdrama that generally deserves the high rating it has on MDL.

The acting performances were superb all round although I think a special shoutout is owing to Zhao Lu Si who delivered an incredible performance. Leo Woo was excellent although more often then not he was mainly required to have a straight face with a glare. Actress Zeng Li has us thinking we have to go into her back catalog and start viewing some of the dramas where she was first female lead. I have to think most of the lead and supporting talent have gone on to good opportunities since the 2022 release of Love Like The Galaxy.

Cinematography, direction, writing were all worthy.

The only place where this drama falls down is the final 3 episodes. It introduced one more plot which was not needed. It was also apparent they blew their budget and cobbled together the final episode. It did have a happy ending and ended on the same theme as it started: family. But I think the fans would have much preferred the production dispense of the last 3 episode plot and given us a more fulsome ending for the lead couple.

My MDL rating would be 8.8 which is rounded to 9.0. Earned and deserved.

I am coming off a run of viewing about 20 historical romance dramas and The Princess Royal is easily the top of the pack. There is none better especially if you value an intricate romance weaved with a crafty political plot and each of these characteristics impacts the other time and again. The 8.2 rating is absurd - this show is a high 8 drama at a minimum.

My second nod goes to The Moon Brightens For You (2020) starring Xing Fei. If you have not viewed it yet do so. Excellent Wuxia drama.

The review by Lfa in the reviews section is 100% hit the mark. The acting is fine, Tian Xi Wei is of course lovely and delivers a worthy character and the show is a pleasant watch but the main genre of romance is just not delivered meaningfully or convincingly. The high school era continues on far too long, is a bit boring in stretches and the showrunners did not leave themselves enough time for the adult portion of the drama.

I rate this drama an 8 as it is a good one time watch but it is not memorable nor would I rewatch. And I would only recommend as a watch if there was nothing "better" left to view - it is not a drama that one needs to push to the top of their list in anticipation of something superior. As it is not that at all.

Thank you for all these video links. My family are big Zhao Jin Mai fans and chomping at the bit for a new series from her.

Maybe this publication mixed up dates? I found it when doing a search for status of the show and this is what popped up with a current date.

Ha Young. Ignore the riff raff biting at your heels.

My family is Irish but fled due to the religious violence. I have aunts/uncles and cousins that were wounded or dead due to that violence. Yet do I go around castigating the children or grandchildren of the perpetrators because of it? Not a fucking chance.

I read all the "reasoning" described by others here and elsewhere. Juvenile. We can learn from the past but to blame someone in the present because of actions by a family member 3 generations previously? Cancel culture is so strong in Korea it amazes me.

According to this article filming only started today on this drama:

https://min.news/en/entertainment/14e036b36d69e80ad3358d581ccfde8e.html

She stepped away from acting for a few yrs although I don't know why. I think she was or is in a relationship but she has kept a very tight lid on her life outside of acting.

I am rating well at this moment 4 episodes into the show.

As I predicted Ha Young is leaving a positive impression. There are lots of pretty actresses but I find some have a good facecard but upon viewing I find them monotone. Not long ago I remarked that Ha Young reminds me of Xu Rou Han: they are not just pretty but very feminine and graceful, and have a "presence" when onscreen.

Just as The Best Thing has propelled Xu Rou Han's career upwards to a primary lead category I think this drama is going to do the same for Ha Young. Especially with international audiences.

Right now my rating 8 episodes in is 7.0. I feel it is about a 7.3-7.4. Which is certainly watchable, just not over the top. I will rerate upon completion if I feel the show warrants a higher rating, with some commentary.

I understand your point. My contention is that through much of 2025-2026 to date we have had hyperinflation of ratings. I would agree this drama fairs well against some other recent offerings.

This month I am noticing that generally we are finally witnessing some backlash against both the overuse of some actors and actresses and against quite repetitive storylines. Almost none of the new dramas from June to date have obscene high ratings.

Somewhat similar but less use of wuxia and better acting: The Moon Brightens For You.

I think your summation is accurate. Lead couple was cute. But not special. It is a good drama but not an incredible drama.

I agree. While I feel POJ is also overrated and a victim of the fan frenzying that has frequently been occurring in 2025 & 2026 I consider it a more epic drama and rate it above this drama.

I generally enjoyed this drama but the current 8.8 rating is over the top. I rate it an 8.0-8.2 range. At times I found it a bit aimless and draggy. My gut check is fan stanning pushed the rating which I suppose is inevitable. A lot of the drama is spent in posing time particularly on the male side of the equation: strike a pose, hold, say a few semi-prophetic words to move the scene along, and then pose again, rinse, repeat. That is part of the formula for this type of drama but I found it overly prevalent in this one.

The best humour seems to be generated from Lu Yu Xiao, her attempts to deceive and fit in along with her interactions with her pet. She is undeniably a very cute actress but the role by no means stretches her acting talents.

The overarching theme is layers of deception. Fairly typical for the genre. It got a bit repetitious at times and often was rather flat and did not hold my interest.

The romance was cute but it also was a bit hard to buy into at times. Fan shipping IMHO makes it seem much greater then the reality.

Have reasonable expectations of Love In The Clouds and you won't be disappointed but the gushing reviews above are so really over the top and should not be used as a rational judgement - it was a good drama for certain but that epic? No.

So many shows attempt to build a love triangle well down the path of the drama to bring in new tension, and it fails badly. In this drama it was purpose built from the outset. Resulting in a more coherent plot for it.

I agree it is a classic. It helped bring kdrama into the wider limelight. People who like this show get the goals and those who get lost in the minutia of their dislikes for various actors miss the big picture completely.

Great news. It is sad how the Chinese stars who have good international followings are subject to so much hate in their local region. Esther, Bai Lu and Zhao Lu Si have been fighting back but the incels attack them for holding their ground. And on this forum and others we still view so many hate attacks but they are getting more clever in how they approach their wording.

It does seem the Chinese authorities are a bit concerned about the anti-fan activities and are starting to take it seriously.

Congrats to Esther for displaying the exact same gumption in real life as she did in The Road to Success - tackling misogynists and incels and putting them in their place.

While I completely disagree with your characterization of the acting in Road to Success and think Esther Yu gave a mature, nuanced performance the rating I gave to Road to Success was in part to offset the anti-fan attack that hit that drama the moment the rating system went live for it. The drama was hit by a co-ordinated downvote attack - maybe you were part of it? Seems like you carry a lot of hate on your plate.

When the dust settles I will re-rate it to where I think it belongs. If MDL allowed a finer grading system I would grade Road to Success 8.3/8.4 ish. So I will adjust to 8.5 eventually.

The 2 dramas are also very different and not good comparables. Road to Success is foremost a slice of life drama with sport and psychology at the forefront. The romance is a minor subplot that only enters into the picture very late on in the drama. Love Between Lines is a romance first drama and everything else is built to support and move forward the romance plot.

When I rate I am mainly considering other similar dramas that I have viewed, not the entirety of all tv shows. My daughters also use this id so they may have rated some shows as well.

Ha Young and Xu Ruo Han remind me so much of each other. Very pretty, feminine actresses who are slowly working their way up the ladder into main roles. Xu Ruo Han had her big break after 6 yrs in The Best Thing and perhaps for Ha Young her role in Our Sticky Love will do the trick.

Some korean fandom are already engaged in negative media as they don't like the fact her co-star Jung Hae In was supportive of another actor who has been under a cloud in Korea but outside of Korea no one cares about that stuff at all. They know Jung Hae In from a strong of really successful romcoms of which the last one Love Next Door was a huge success on NetFlix.

Our Sticky Love is a NetFlix exclusive property and internationally I think this drama is going to do very well and likely be present in the NetFlix Global Top 10 show for most of its run. And that is the outcome Ha Young needs.