worldkdramafan2025

I am finding this drama fine, but not exceptional. Currently watching 5-6 dramas in total between kdrama and cdrama, and I am finding this one less engaging. My 2026 marker dramas for romcom and romance drama are Spring Fever (romcom) and In Your Radiant Season (romance drama) and this is just not up to either standard for me.

My gut check is the rating is boosted by stanners. It is perfectly fine to be an avid fan of one or both leads and I am not suggesting this is a poor drama at all. But pending some positive turn going forward I am inclined to rate in the 7.5-8 range.

In part I find Jun Ji Hyun has absolutely no romantic appeal. This is not helping some of the scenes.

I will revise my rating and comment if I feel changes in the drama warrant updating.

Yes. All the statistical information I am able to view indicates the show is performing very well. Holding very steady with a heat index around 8000 daily. Now that we are past the hate crowd initial barricading of the drama the drama score on MDL and elsewhere is climbing as real viewers cast real votes.

I started viewing it solely on the premise of Esther who has a great track record. As others have stated all the elements of an enjoyable watch are in place and it is a good ride so far.

And she is not using that personae or voice in this drama. It is just blind stupid ignorant hate.

When Esther acted girlish cute in past dramas that is because that is how she was directed and per the script. Its called "acting" and the idiocy of some who don't realize this astounds me. Directors wanted an actress who could start out as a naive young waif and transition to an adult and a perfect example of this was her characters in Love Between Fairy and Devil, and Ski Into Love.

We all know a portion of the public simply lacks intellectual capacity to discern and the hate emanates from that portion of the population.

I commented above about ep 11 in the photo studio. The road to romance commenced!

Thanks for these links lin wanxing. I bookmarked all the ones you replied with a couple of days ago but these comments where you provide good ones to focus upon are appreciated.

In the midst of Episode 11. And so it begins! The photoshoot has commenced the romance journey!They both looked lovely in their vintage outfits. Ester's outfit reminded me so much of Swing Era fashion.

I see the show rating is starting to recover after the initial rating brigading by the hate group. Media reports seem to indicate the drama was swarmed by a negative campaign the moment the ratings opened.

So fight back and properly rate this drama! It should land in the mid-8 range I think unless the show drops the ball further into the episode arc. But I don't see that happening.

Seconded! Great news. These actresses & actors willing to now consider having children while in the prime of their careers is setting a fine example.

I think it was also a measure of curiosity on her part. She has an agile mind and is willing to risk in order to view outcomes.

The complaints are just haters trying to impair the drama. They will have no impact.

I read it passed 8000 but I did not save the link. I did post above two other links as it did pass 7900 and it also hit a couple of other high standards as well.

A great summation As Yun.

Later posts indicate it hit 7900 and even later ones that it past 8000. I did not save all the links but here is the one for it hitting 7900:

https://x.com/tata_shi/status/2073994350883979635

Also:
https://x.com/jasenjoylife30/status/2073835182323642754
Top 1 🥇 Most popular modern drama first day heat year 2026
Top 2 🎖️ IQIYI Cloud seat participant 450,000 ➕

Despite the naysayers it is a very successful drama and being well received.

To my eye Esther has not lost any noticeable weight recently. There have been many hate attacks on the net against her and other actresses. Some who unfortunately are looking thin due to pressures on them.

Esther did several photoshoot for IQIYI awards and she was a picture of health and got a lot of acclaim for her healthy appearance.

Here is a link to a couple of very recent images:

https://preview.redd.it/esther-yu-looks-stunning-in-her-latest-photoshoot-for-a-v0-tdgc7l548f5h1.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=580ea5b6c9c2eaa99a674cff900886a6dd4f69e9

https://preview.redd.it/esther-yu-looks-stunning-in-her-latest-photoshoot-for-a-v0-pp9766788f5h1.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=f8f7be485bb24fd41b087e3aa8b698e02834771c

And to my eye she looks absolutely fine. I wonder if by accident you may have been mistakenly drawn into some of the anti-Esther press. There are a ton of smear campaigns ongoing against several of the top actresses.

Thank you for that. I don't follow anyone on social media but to me the count did seem low. Your clarification is appreciated.

She is not extremely thin at all. An example of a thin or slender actress is Bai Lu.
Some comparables:

- Esther is 168 cm (5'6") tall and weighs 50 kg (110 lbs)
- Wang Chu Ran height is 172 cm (5'7") and her weight is 48 kg (105 lbs).
- Bai Lu is 165 cm (5'5") tall and weighs around 44 kg (97 lbs)
- Ju Jingyi is 159 cm (5'3") tall and weighs 38 kg (83 lbs)
- Tiffany Tang is 173 cm (5'8") tall and weighs 44 kg (97 lbs)
- Yang Zi is 167 cm (5'5") tall and weighs 46 kg (101.2 lbs).
- Lu Yuxiao's height is 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) and her weight is 48 kg (105 lbs).
- Dilraba Dilmurat is 168 cm (5'6") tall and weighs 48 kg (106 lbs).
- Liu Haocun is 165 cm (5'4") tall and weighs 41 kg (90.2 lbs).
- Victoria Song is approximately 168.5 cm (5'6") tall and weighs around 45 kg (99 lbs)
- Li Qin is 166 cm (5'5") tall and weighs 43 kg (94.6 lbs)
- Song Zu'er is approximately 165 cm (5'4") tall and weighs around 43 kg (94.6 lbs)

I took all of these from google search and I copied and paste to above. There is always some give and take for any women but to say that Ester is extremely thin is inaccurate.

There is nothing weird about calling out an industry issue. It is much discussed and if people pretend it does not exist it will just continue to be inflicted upon the talent by showrunners and industry drivers.

I found Love Has Fireworks disappointing. It was billed as a romance first and it really underwhelmed in that department. Wang Chu Ran is very pretty but there is no passion and fire at all in the romance aspect of the drama. This is the 2nd romance drama of hers I have watched where the romance has been superficial and uninspiring. I would term the romance scenes "pedestrian".

There is a concentrated push against it by the anti Esther fans. It is just pure hate with no reason other than jealousy and anti-stanning in order to boost some other actress.

I am pretty shocked at the low number of subscribers to her youtube channel.

This is shaking out as a fine slice of life drama so far. I know the romance sub plot will eventually come into the fore front versus right now the 2 leads are still sparring mentally and verbally due to Wang Fa still believing Lin Wan Xing may be the instigator of his friends death.

I see the hate fans are still attempting to drag down the rating of the drama. So far the acting and writing for the drama are very good. If you are someone who perhaps found Esther's "cute" personae an issue in some past dramas (even though it was just acting to the direction and script) it is not a part of this drama. Ester is naturally "cute" but in this drama while cute she is all adult so far.