Bai Hehuai Lover

underwhelming start but it picks up in the second half

Given a quick skim of the other reviews for this show, it seems like a lot of people hated the miscommunication and were frustrated by Shirasaki Yuki's struggle to pick up on Hayama Asami's feelings given their intimacy. Honestly as someone who typically hates miscommunication, I think it makes sense here - Hayama has been pining after Shirasaki for years and is unsure of how to admit those feelings (been there, rip) and Shirasaki keeps overhearing things that make him misinterpret his dynamic with Hayama (also Shirasaki's struggle with social cues gives maaaaaaaajor autistic vibes. while he frustrates me at times, I could never hate him.) They're both convinced the other cannot possibly reciprocate but desperately want this relationship to be real as their feelings continue to deepen as they keep "pretending" to date outside of the "Hiru no Yume" set.

It honestly took me until episode 4 when Shirasaki started to realize he was developing feelings for Hayama before I was fully locked in. And then episode 5 gave me SUCH a buzz when we saw their "rehersal" kiss intercut with the on-set first kiss. Seeing the continual push-pull of their dynamic as Shirasaki tries to turn off his feelings and protect his heart was entrancing, and Hayama's willingness to go as far as Shirasaki asks bc he just yearns so much for him was thrilling. Like I honestly was shocked by how much I enjoyed the drama due to their struggles to just admit they like each other.

Honestly, I think my biggest frustration with the show is that they successfully create a sensual atmosphere (in large part due to the soundtrack I think) but then most of the physical intimacy doesn't live up to that energy. The first kiss that leads to them "fake dating" is pretty awful, although it makes a lot of sense to me that Hayama would want the kiss to be very tame to not push Shirasaki into the deep end immediately. And most of the kisses up until the last couple episodes are very chaste, which just kinda makes you feel blue-balled as a viewer. The fact that they are rather adorable in their more tender moments does help ease this frustration a little though.

Also I need to say that Komagine Kiita totally makes this show. He's brilliant in the two episodes from Hayama Asami's perspective. Devoted loverboys are everything to meeeeeeeeee <3

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loving your reincarnated soulmate no matter what form they take <3

I went into this with no expectations but hoping it was cute since I love the concept of "guy loves his soulmate regardless of their gender" and then I was hooked immediately, watching the entire thing within 24 hours. I love how in your face the soulmatism is from the start - the red string scene made me laugh so hard, the way San recognized some qualities of Wad in Vee even while he was in denial about Wad reincarnating as a man, Vee feeling an immediate fondness for San even while San is being very detached and stand-offish. And maybe I'm just dumb but other than being like "Suchat has to be working with the villain" given how aggressively he tried to keep Vee away from San, I did not see any of the plot twists coming.

My main criticism is things happened too quickly. Like, I can buy that Third and Vee hanging out and San becoming jealous as a result would prompt him to confess that he likes Vee and for them to start properly dating. But San is basically giving a love confession at that point and it's just like... how did we go from denial to a love confession in ONE episode??? And when San has spent 4 episodes desperately trying to avoid Vee because he's trying to escape the gay thoughts, so how is it love already? LOL. That said the chemistry between DaouOffroad is fantastic and by the time we're hitting maximum angst, you have no doubt that they love each other deeply and would sacrifice anything for each other. Also I love how soft and tender SanVee is!!!!!! No surprise, episode 6 was my fave - seeing San trying to pursue Vee and openly flirting, taking Vee on a romantic night out that culminated in their first time, San's dream where he relived a bunch of important moments he'd had with Wad but now he was seeing Vee in her place (sidenote: the editor went CRAZY HARD on this show and I love it so much). Ugh this was so good and made me so giddy and it has become one of my fave BLs. Will definitely revisit this one in the future <3

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two stories rolled into one - one is pretty good, the other is underwhelming

So as I say in the headline this is two different shows mashed together - the first is about the power struggle between two families that hate each other and Cheoljong/"So Yong" (Bong Hwan) falling in love despite all the manipulations of those two families, which is mostly really really excellent; the second is the time travel gender swap which left a lot to be desired. I think a lot of the reason why I'm struggling to view this as positively as many other viewers is because Bong Hwan's interactions with women for like.... at least a solid half of the show is just so sleazy and creepy that I find it impossible to view those scenes as anything other than sexual harassment and the behavior of a guy who doesn't accept hearing "no" because he views it as a challenge. While there are glimpses of the Cheoljong/Bong Hwan romance throughout, most of the development to that thread happens in the last ~40% of the show, and for reasons I don't want to spoil, they spend 2 episodes mostly apart. Like it just really ends up giving the vibe that the writers were uncomfortable with male-male intimacy and it just makes me wonder why the Chinese novel this is based on was even adapted in the first place then.

Although I feel that there's a lot of room for improvement with the handling of gender identity & sexual identity, I totally understand why this gets so much praise. The acting, costumes, and set design are flawless. The jokes (when they aren't thinly veiled cissexism, misogyny, or homophobia) are really really funny. The Cheoljong/Bong Hwan romance is genuinely moving and it's hard not to root for them as we see how much they grow to care about each other. Also I have Cheoljong brainworms I love him soooooo much you don't understand. Anyway, I think the really avid fans are overhyping this, but it is a lot of fun and I definitely think it's worth watching.

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addictive and fun but the plot is incoherent

So okay. If you’re watching for the plot of Gong Ziyu and Yun Weishan’s romance (the main appeal for me tbqh), this is a 10/10. I love them so much I have severe brainrot about them. If you’re watching for the plot of attractive people scheming and manipulating each other, it’s a 10/10. If you’re watching for the literal story of the Gong Ziyu vs Gong Shangjue rivalry and everything to do with Wufeng…. it’s more like a 5/10. Once you reach the last third there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many inconsistencies, there's new lore introduced in like the final 3 episodes that's never really explained it's just kinda out of nowhere to make things harder and more dire for the protagonists, and the villain's plan is just dumb and convoluted. ALSO FUCK THE LAST 5 MINUTES FOR THAT ABSOLUTELY UNNECESSARY CLIFFHANGER. That being said, Kill Me Love Me WISHES it was My Journey to You lol, Mei Lin looks so incompetent compared to Yun Weishan and Shangguan Qian it's just embarrassing.

Anyway, I watched this bc I loved Zhang Linghe in LBFAD and I didn't like what that show did with his character, so I wanted to see some of his other work. He was also great here, I love Gong Ziyu so much. Yu Shuxin really impressed me in this after feeling her role in LBFAD was uninspired. Tian Jiarui has less to do in this than in Fangs of Fortune, but he (unsurprisingly) did an incredible job here and he was such a menace lmao. Lu Yuxiao and Ryan Cheng were also fantastic. The cast does so well with their roles, and while the writing is a mess, everyone brings a lot of depth and layers to these characters. The show works because of the great acting, the solid character arcs, and the intriguing (and constantly shifting) relationships.

Also can we talk about how 2/3 of Gong Zishang's screentime was her sexually harassing Jin Fan??????? It wasn't cute and funny, it was deeply uncomfortable and I really don't like that the writers had him reciprocate her feelings....

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absolutely must watch if you like wuxia or xianxia

I'm actually reading Legendary Siblings right now (a little over halfway through) and it's incredible how closely Handsome Siblings follows the novel and manages to expand upon it a lot as well (so far Hua Wuque honestly feels like a non-charater given the novel exclusively follows Xiaoyu'er). The first ~25% of the show is pretty slow and the first two episodes are borderline insufferable to get through as most of that time is devoted to the Ten Great Villains and the sisters of Yihua Palace, but I was immediately charmed by Xiaoyu'er when we meet him at the end of the second episode and I was even more intrigued when we meet Hua Wuque in episode three. It's a delightful journey watching the two of them change as they wander the jianghu and most of the characters they meet through their travels are very fun as well. Xiaoyu'er and Hua Wuque's dynamic is obviously the highlight of the show and there are no words to describe how psyched I was when they agreed to work together. I also loved Tie Xinlan soooooo much and her dynamics with both Xiaoyu'er and Hua Wuque were top tier. I also just think this is a really valuable watch if you like wuxia or xianxia because you will notice how Gu Long has influenced the genres.

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the only worthwhile adaptation of Beauty and the Beast

I decided to watch this because I really enjoyed Chen Zheyuan in Handsome Siblings and the idea of a werewolf romance was intriguing. I am so glad I did because it's so silly and cute and it's an interesting twist on Beauty and the Beast by throwing in the hidden identity trope (something I don't typically love, but it worked really well here). Now I'm not really a fan of the story of Beauty and the Beast now that I am an adult with critical thinking skills, given it's about a woman basically being imprisoned and teaching her captor how to be kind and gentle and then falling for him in the process, but there are a few things that make this adaptation work imo:
1) Kui Mulang kidnaps her because he needs something called the Holy Pearl to save the entirety of his clan, which Qi Pa (unknowingly) has. The point is repeatedly made that if the Holy Pearl only affected Kui Mulang and it wasn't needed for the health and safety of everyone else, he would not have kidnapped her. He understands and sympathizes with her desire to escape back home and is clearly racked with guilt about keeping her in the Beast Clan.
2) Kui Mulang acquiesces without hesitation to basically every request Qi Pa has other than him sending her home. He genuinely wants her to be comfortable and safe and enjoy her time in the Beast Clan and does so many things that are against the rules of the clan to try to make her happy.
3) Instead of Qi Pa having to teach Kui Mulang, he consults romance novels and books that give information on Daxia customs to try to win her affections.
4) Kui Mulang spends a solid half of the show endangering himself and nearly dying to protect Qi Pa.

I loved both Kui Mulang and Qi Pa pretty much immediately and by the end of the show they had both reached near the top of my list for favorite characters in CDramas. I love that the show allows Qi Pa to be angry and hurt and doesn't try to handwaive away her feelings because it wants us to prioritize Kui Mulang's feelings (something that a lot of shows do all over the world bc we live under patriarchy). I loved most of the side characters and the pairing of Liu Jun/Hongxiu was really cute too. Also I honestly liked the "beast" look, it's just unfortunately really underwhelming when you attach the word werewolf to it.

Anyway, I can't bring myself to give higher than an 8.5 bc at the start the romance is just sooooo messy and most of the background romances were super annoying and some of the plot developments are just ????????? But overall I loved this soooooo much and I can't stop thinking about Kui Mulang and Qi Pa, they really are everything once she uncovers the truth.

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a lot of good ingredients but the predatory romance ruins everything

God what an aggravating experience. But let's start w the positives bc the positives are really really strong. There are a lot of really poignant moments relating to death — the entire sequence of 9 year old Euntak arriving at home and slowly realizing she's talking w her mom's ghost and then immediately running into Reaper... goosebumps! Reaper as a character is just so well-crafted and intricately written and Lee Dong Wook's performance is breathtaking. I love the lore/worldbuilding for Goblin and the Reapers. Goblin's backstory is fascinating and the way it is entangled with the present is so so so cool — I cannot count how many times the editing had me gasping w the way it showed the past paralleling the present. Reaper/Sunny was so beautiful and heartbreaking and I love their dynamic so much.

There are some really, *really* excellent impactful scenes... but it's so hard to enjoy this show for more than 5 minutes at a time before remembering the revolting predatory romance that is at the center of this whole thing. And I think I get what the writers were going for bc in order for Goblin to reevaluate his life and want to continue living, Euntak had to be Goblin's complete opposite — bright personality/optimist, in need of a protector, naive due to her lack of experience and youth. But, like… she can be these things and an adult. Yet the writers chose to have her be a 19 year old — a girl who is still in high school! — while he's 900+ years old. Why the hell is he falling for her? We can't use the excuse that she's mature and he(/the narrative) forgets that she's only 19 bc she truly acts like a teenager — the inciting incident of the whole show (Goblin and Euntak meeting) happens because she makes a birthday wish for a job, to get away from her abusive family, and to get her first boyfriend. When he helps grant those first two wishes, she becomes fixated on him granting the third. She becomes infatuated with Goblin within moments of meeting him — when she follows him through his magic door and finds herself in Canada she's telling him she loves him and asking him to marry her????? GRIL WHAT????????? YOU'VE KNOWN HIM FOR 10 MINUTES!!!! Later she reunites with a childhood friend — who I guess she had a crush on when they were growing up? — and then starts obsessing over him because she feels rejected by Goblin. She constantly makes stupid, impulsive decisions with no thought to her safety. Practically everything about her behavior screams teenager. So, again, why the f*ck is Goblin falling for her??????? At 900+ years old, he's falling in love with a girl who has no solid sense of who she is (because she has barely had the chance to live her life!) and the show is trying to gaslight me into finding this cute???????? And for the first half of the show he honestly treats Euntak like shit bc he's trying to keep emotional distance since he wants the Goblin bride to pull the sword out and if he lets himself get attached to her, then he will want to live and hesitate. Like he is so petty and immature, it's insane to me that this man has been around 900 years and still acts like this. As I already mentioned, Euntak reunites with a childhood friend and Goblin straight up threatens this teenager to stay away from her. When he's upset with Euntak, he will do passive aggressive bullshit — there's one sequence where he forces her to do all of the household chores (under the implied threat that she will become homeless if she doesn't) and it's just like..... Wow, you're really telling me that this man is treating her exactly like her abusive aunt but now I'm supposed to find it funny and cute bc he's jealous and wants her attention? These writers can go to hell.

And honestly the show is confused about their dynamic too! Goblin and Reaper regularly refer to Euntak as a child. Like Goblin will quite literally be referring to her as a child and then the next scene he's talking about his romantic feelings for her or he's smiling and blushing about her expressing her feelings for him or they're kissing. Also as someone who LOVESSSSSS a pairing w a size difference, I have gotta say that this is the first time size difference has made me want to vomit from discomfort. Bc he truly acts like a paternal figure half the time. There's a scene where it's her birthday (so she just turned 20) and she wants to celebrate so she pleads for Goblin to buy her alcohol and this somehow leads to their first mutual kiss 😵‍💫😵‍💫 There's another scene where she graduates from high school and everyone's parents come to celebrate their kids and I was sitting here like "please don't blur the line anymore, please don't have him show up." But then he does 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢 He thankfully doesn't claim to be a parental figure but still... It's just so f*cking weird and awful and I can't believe how many people are either seemingly shipping this or are unbothered by it.

And the romance is just so enraging bc there are two really simple ways this could be fixed!
1. Just make Euntak an adult! Her characterization would have to be majorly tweaked but literally nothing else would have to change
2. Make Goblin/Reaper the romance! This would require a lot more alterations (removing the Reaper/Sunny romance for one) but I honestly think this would have been stronger narratively bc the angst of falling for the person who betrayed you and doomed you to this horrible existence in his past life and then choosing to forgive and still loving that person just..... whew! It would hit so hard!!!

And lastly... let's talk about the ending, bc IMO the ending should've been ep13 with the time jump showing that Euntak and Sunny are okay and happy. To get more into this let me talk spoilers. Typically I do not do talk spoilers for the last ~third of a show in my reviews, but the finale pissed me the f*ck off and made me rage cry for 30 minutes, so... yeah. Do not read beyond this if you don't want the entire show spoiled lol.
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Okay, so I get it. I get that a major theme of the show is that certain things are fated to happen and cannot be stopped. I GET IT!!!! Euntak was never supposed to be born, she was supposed to die when her mother was in the hit and run while pregnant, so it narratively makes sense that she would die at the end of this since she only exists bc Goblin meddled in human affairs. BUT! The entire premise of the first 13 episodes is that Euntak is the only person who can pull Goblin's sword out so he can finally die and be at peace and yet the writers found a way to work around that ending and bring him back after his "death." So why the f*ck does the 900+ year old predator get to live and mourn her, while Euntak — she's only 29 at this point btw — is forced to sacrifice herself??????? And then in an attempt to soothe the viewers with the final scene, we see a reincarnated Euntak — WHO IS A TEENAGER AGAIN!!!!!! Goblin is told that students are on a trip before he leaves his residence and then we see Euntak wearing a school uniform while Goblin is now nearing 1000 years old! Oh my god I'm going to hurl!!!! — stumble upon Goblin and they recognize each other. Just.... what the hell is wrong with these writers GOOD GOD.

Anyway where's my Goblin x Reaper remake I want it so bad 😭😭

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BRILLIANT character work but underwhelming on the romance front

When it comes to the character work, there are very few shows that have done it better. It's truly masterful writing and very realistic, and both Komagine Kiita and Niihara Taisuke did incredible jobs with said writing. Shirasaki's insecurities pushed a lot of the plot in the first season, and it was the same this season — it becomes very clear right at the start of the first episode that he feels like Hayama is too good for him, so Shirasaki is constantly trying to prove that they are equals when it comes to acting. This propels the main plot thread of the season — a stage play that both of them want the lead role of: the director of the play is someone that Shirasaki desperately wants to work with, and Hayama loves the novel that is being adapted and playing the lead is his dream role. This understandably leads to some (minor) friction in their relationship, and as Hayama is a people pleaser, he ends up dropping out — primarily because of a movie role he is being offered that his agent is urging him to take, but also bc he can see how important this role is to Shirasaki. As the first season didn't really get to dig deep into Hayama's people pleasing tendencies, season 2 takes the opportunity to do that. I also thought it was brilliant how their roles reflected where they were mentally — Shirasaki playing a character who murdered someone and inhabited that person's life (the rehearsal scenes harping on the fact that he has "replaced someone" when he feels inadequate to play the part... *chefs kiss*) and Hayama playing a character with a fraught dynamic with his mother causing him to finally confront things he had been avoiding. The interiority of the two characters is just so rich this season and there were so many scenes that knocked the wind out of me.

BUT for a show that is categorized as a romance, the writers really really dropped the ball there. The season starts really strong on that front as the first episode is mostly dedicated to showing them in a functional, established (albeit secret) relationship and even when the idea of a breakup is brought up as they are a bit worried about how their relationship being discovered might affect their careers, they reassert that they want to be together and even take the step of moving in together. (Like last season, the metatextual analysis is exquisite — the unflinching discussion about what it's like to be openly out in the entertainment industry was so, so, so good!) But as soon as the stage play becomes part of the plot, the romance takes a backseat to the character work — which, in and of itself is fine! I don't mind romance being more peripheral to the story, but their relationship did not feel very reciprocal to me. Now a lot of people on here (and other social media) seem to have a lot of disdain towards Shirasaki bc of his fixation on trying to catch up to Hayama's career, and I do think a lot of people's responses are a huge overreaction, but it was honestly frustrating and a little confusing to see the direction their relationship took. Hayama is a top tier boyfriend — constantly being emotional support for Shirasaki, constantly reassuring Shirasaki when he starts having his insecurity spirals, being generally supportive. And while Shirasaki's headspace is understandable, he constantly seemed to be oblivious about what was going on with Hayama and was so myopically focused on his own distress. Like (spoilers lol) their argument in 2.09 gave me such huge whiplash bc Hayama is finally discussing how he is struggling with the movie role — something he didn't want to do bc he knows about Shirasaki's stress over the play and doesn't want to put more on his plate — and then Shirasaki immediately starts talking about how he's struggling with the play before returning to what should have always been the focus of this conversation: asking Hayama if he actually wants to do a recent job offer. Idk I don't hate Shirasaki like a lot of viewers seem to — I'm still invested in them being a couple even — but it was irritating to see how Hayama was always thinking about him and constantly prioritizing him and then Shirasaki was just so self-absorbed. Like the appeal of fictional romantic relationships for me is reciprocity!! And season 2 just didn't really give that.

Idk, I definitely think season 2 is worth a watch and I have to applaud the writers for taking me on a ride where I truly had no idea where things were going to go, but I'm nowhere near as likely to revisit this as I am to revisit the first season.

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hands down the best time travel romance

I am sooooo obsessed with this show you don't understand. Ye Zhen Zhen is so adorable and relatable - she's stubborn, determined, curious, kind-hearted, clumsy. Chen Che is the epitome of a softie with a hardened facade, and Ye Zhen Zhen easily tears his walls down. It's so heartwarming to watch Chen Che experience what a loving family is like and watch him soften more and more as he spends more time in 1989. The show also goes to some dark places I wasn't expecting and I think most of it is handled really well. Easily my biggest gripe with this show is that the male characters, excluding Chen Che and Li Jin Qin, are all very possessive and controlling of the women they like, which in some cases is played for laughs (yikes!) and in other cases is treated neutrally instead of them being entitled and threatening. But as frustrating as that aspect is, I still completely adored this show and definitely recommend it.

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nonsensical plot and uncomfortable age gap romances

So before anyone's like 'omg you're just a puritan for having a problem with the age gaps,' as long as the younger person is at least mid 20s, I'll accept pretty much any age gap. I have so many ships where character A is mid/late 20s and character B is immortal and has been alive for like at least a century. I am not inherently against age gaps. But it's about the execution in this case - one, I have no idea how big the age difference is between Shan and Ob-aun and there's a flashback of a 16 year old Shan and a clearly pre-pubescent Ob-aun to draw attention to this age gap; two, it feels like the audience is supposed to be into their dynamic specifically because of the age gap with Ob-aun being presented as naive, innocent, and inexperienced while Shan is clearly not these things and being the pursuer. It's very weird and uncomfortable and the constant thought of 'okay, but how big is their age gap' overshadows any moment that could be cute. Oh and there's also a side pairing of a literal teen with an adult who is somewhat of an authority figure for him so... that's pretty yikes.

As for the story... there are so many conflicts constantly being introduced and not a single one of them is truly resolved. Like the set up of the entire story is that Ob-aun is accused of plagiarizing Shan, but Shan isn't the one who makes that claim so why is legal action being threatened? And the plagiarism accusation doesn't even matter because it's basically ignored after the first episode. Also for a group of writers, these guys do not know how to write a story because they spend so much time being like "I don't know how to write this scene, can you do it for me?" like ??????????

It's really not worth the time, but if you're determined to watch it, it's at least a short show.

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insulting in so many ways

**Dropped after episode 13**

Okay so I have a handful of complaints, but the thing I want to talk about most is something I haven't seen *anyone* else talk about and given how this character was handled, I'm honestly really really angry that no one is talking about it. So let's talk about Yunwan, the youngest(?) Rong sister who is mentally disabled to the point that she needs a caretaker to help with even basic aspects of daily life.

Yunwan is not a character. Yunyin treats her as a punching bag — constantly taunting her and threatening to physically harm her. Yunxi and Yunshu aren't as egregious with the mistreatment, but they clearly don't see a problem with Yunyin treating her this way. I actually really liked seeing Shanbao's protective streak with Yunwan, I thought it was the most likeable part of her character. But it does feel like a shortcut to making the point that Shanbao is The Good Character™️by having her basically be the only person who treats Yunwan with any dignity and respect and care, rather than putting in some effort to show her moral compass (which is.... inconsistent, from what I saw at least). But back to what I was saying — Yunwan is not a character. She is a prop. She exists solely to show that Shanbao, while having an icy exterior, does feel sympathy and care towards others and to highlight how cruel her other sisters can be. The narrative loves to infantilize Yunwan, with basically everyone referring to her as being a child (which unless she was egregiously miscast, I'd say Yunwan is at the youngest late teens and probably at least 20) and people expressing (performative) pity about how helpless she is. Then after the narrative actually does something interesting with the character by implying that she maybe possesses "the tea bone" (not going to get into the details cause I only vaguely understand it, but basically a special ability to determine what plants will make the best tea), she is swiftly tricked by a servant into going into the courtyard late at night, abandoned there, and then drowned. So like..... way to tell me that you view mentally disabled people as subhuman and worthless!

As for my other complaints...

Hou Minghao and Gulnezer both did a great job with what they were given but oh my god HMH's character was unbelievably f*cking dull. Lu Jianglai starts out with promise as he initially wants to get close to Shanbao for the purpose of recovering his memory and he's supposed to be this really smart investigator and a super capable fighter, but all that is immediately pushed into the background so he can spend 75% of his screentime staring at Shanbao with heart eyes. And it'd be one thing if there was an actual foundation to their romance but it's literally just like a switch flipped bc in ep 7 they go from their dynamic of being slightly contentious and him pushing back against her making unreasonable demands and then his very next scene he's suddenly jealous of her being alone w another man and borderline refusing to leave her side...... like. @ the writers explain to me what the hell happened. QUICKLY. And then their dynamic isn't cute either bc the inherent power imbalance as Shanbao can completely ruin his life with the snap of her fingers. Hell, there's a scene in.... I want to say ep 12? where Shanbao comes to Jianglai's room late at night and brings a lot of her comforts from her room to make it clear that she is staying with him and she kisses him and while the narrative implies he likes her in that way and wasn't against the kiss, he still asks her to leave bc he's uncomfortable with her spending the night there and she's like "don't make me force you" 🤮🤮🤮🤮 Repugnant shit.

The last complaint I'm going to discuss is how this show wants to present itself as a matriarchal society but it completely fails if you look past the surface. It's verrrrrrrry clear that the show wanted to be "male brothers fighting for the throne" except make it about a bunch of women which is cool in theory. But when we live in a deeply misogynistic society and there are stereotypes of women being jealous and vapid and catty, that shit doesn't work if you just mindlessly reproduce it! The show is just uncritically like "Yeah. Shanbao's sisters have no reason to dislike her. Literally no reason, they're just deceptive and untrustworthy and are just laser focused on making Shanbao lose favor with their grandmother and keeping her from becoming the next leader of the Rong family by any means necessary." And the show wants me to think this is feminist I have to f*cking laugh. It's just as misogynistic as the dramas where women exist solely to be the love interest and have no interiority.

And then the gender politics in this worldbuilding just don't make sense in the first place. One of the Rong family servants is seduced by a significantly younger man and they quickly start an affair bc he is using her to infiltrate the residence, and once she becomes aware of this and tells him he's going to be thrown out, he threatens to tell the Rongs about their sexual relationship and she's just like "that doesn't matter to the Rongs lol nice try" and she gets the guards to beat him and throw him out. But then like 5 episodes later when Shanbao has to choose someone to be her husband at the tea ceremony, one of the potential suitors blackmails Shanbao into choosing him.......... if a servant can get a man from a respected family beaten and thrown out with no repercussions, how the f*ck could blackmailing Shanbao ever work?????????? And then as a result of Shanbao choosing this guy, she's scolded by her grandmother for not choosing her favorite of the suitors and she's like "if you were a man you could have a wife and a concubine, so choosing badly wouldn't matter" so......... is this a matriarchy or not bc it sure sounds like the men have rights that the women do not!!!!!! Ugh god I could keep going about how the show utterly fails to be a matriarchal society and how it's just replicating systems of harm but with women in power this time (allegedly) and there's absolutely no insight on any of these power structures so of course the writing isn't clever enough to deconstruct any of this either.

Anyway, whatever I'm going to stop talking about this I don't need to raise my blood pressure any more than I already have.

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immediate fave, absolutely adorable

Okay, firstly, this was sooooo funny and cute. There was more than one scene that made me laugh so hard I nearly had a coughing fit. It's so chaotic but it still manages to feel moderately realistic of three people who are trying polyamory for the first time. It feels very much like this show was made with the intent to educate people about the potential of polyamory given the first 7 episodes are mostly dedicated to the three of them figuring out how this dynamic works and then the remaining 4 are about them dealing with external concerns. There are some developments that I think could've used some more build-up, but even so I think this has become my favorite piece of media about polyamory (granted, there's not that much competition). It's also the first time I've seen polyam media broach the subject of three person marriage or the procedure for a three person legal partnership, so that was certainly an interesting aspect that I hadn't really considered before (and something that definitely deserves to be talked about).

I also really loved how the trio would communicate. No, they weren't always as forthcoming as they should've been (and that's understandable bc good communication is hard!), but whenever they were confronted by one (or both) of the other two, they'd express what was bothering them, and this would quickly lead to a new understanding and sometimes for new rules to be made. Each duo is cute, but it just never feels complete if someone is missing. Truly such good polyam rep.

Also Shinpei has huge golden retriever vibes. I loved how he was always so enthusiastic about trying new things and it was so cute how he immediately wanted to befriend Takuzo (when Mia only introduced them to try to make Shinpei jealous), and I loved that he's never nervous or hesitant to share affection with Takuzo once they slide into this polyam dynamic. AHHHH this little show made me so happy, I will definitely rewatch soon.

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fun enough to watch once for Gong Jun's performance

(Updated Dec 2025)
So typically I'd want to keep my old review but bc I had written a very short review a few months after watching and I'm in the middle of a rewatch to grab scenes for editing purposes and I am finding the rewatch to be an excruciating experience, I'm just starting from scratch. So, firstly, from a BL perspective, I do have to admit that this is pretty epic in that regard. No, there is no kiss bc censorship, but it is unmistakably gay, there is no denying that WenZhou want each other carnally, they have their family unit w Chengling, there are a lot of good scenes demonstrating how deeply devoted they are to each other (i.e. Wen Kexing's willingness to die for Zhou Zishu, Zhou Zishu unwilling to let Wen Kexing die for him; and also the reverse). So if that is the only thing you care about when deciding whether to watch or skip, it's definitely one of the gayest CDramas.

As I said in the headline, Gong Jun's performance is literally the reason the show is as enjoyable as it is. Wen Kexing is a brilliantly written character and he is exceptional in the role. I'm becoming even more enamored with his performance with the rewatch because there are all these little nuances that you can easily miss if you don't know Wen Kexing's backstory. Wen Kexing is smart and strategic, he's been through The Horrors™️but still remains kind-hearted (mostly... if he views you as an enemy, he is Brutal and you are done for), he's fiercely protective of those he cares about and will do anything for that select group of people. Like truly one of the all-time characters, one of the all-time performances. Cannot applaud Gong Jun enough for his work here.

Now onto the negatives...

In my prior review I said that I thought the armory plot was "kind of boring" and this time around I find it unbelievably aggravating. Like wow I have to watch 5 dozen people I despise fight over this stupid key to the armory for a stockpile of weapons (allegedly). I hate basically everyone from the Five Lakes Alliance, I hate everyone from the Scorpion Sect, I hate the majority of the people from Ghost Valley (Luo Fumeng, Liu Qianqiao, Gu Xiang, and of course Wen Kexing you are all beloved and exempt), I hate that old wandering couple, etc etc. Watching terrible people at each other's throats is only fun when it's peripheral, if that is the main story, I just want to blow everyone up. Not involved w the armory nonsense, but I must say it for my own peace: I also hate Ye Baiyi who is seemingly around primarily for comedic relief by being "rude" but I just want to tear his throat out with my teeth every time he opens his mouth.

What I was completely unprepared for with this rewatch, though, was to realize that I hate Zhou Zishu. Like. Oh, he created the torture method that slowly kills members of Window from Heaven if they want to leave. He acts all self-righteous and morally superior when we literally see a flashback that heavily implies he killed a child who was begging him for help after he participated in massacring her family(/village???). The way he "trains" Chengling after finally accepting him as a disciple is straight up child abuse. His shitty mentality of "men don't cry" and constantly pushing this toxic masculinity bullshit (which, to be somewhat fair, is not exclusive to ZZS in this show, but, y'know, as he is the protagonist who we are supposed to view as the moral center... boy it's infuriating!) Like I remembered the first episode being a really unsympathetic set up for him, but I also remembered he had grown a lot on me by the end and I am truly at a loss for how I felt that way the first time. Like... was I just so euphoric about how gay this show was that I had my eyes closed to everything else??????

In my prior review I also said that I felt the final 2 episodes turned unnecessarily tragic and that the ending felt fumbled. Like I don't want to get into huge spoilers (I try not to spoil anything from the last third in my reviews), but basically there's a massacre that feels like the equivalent of the Burial Mounds massacre in The Untamed... except it happens in the penultimate episode so there's no justice, there's no resolution to the horrors that you were just subjected to. It's just like "oh you thought these characters were going to be happy? HAHAHAHA NOPE." FOR WHAT REASON???????? Other than killing off fan favorite characters for Wen Kexing's angst, like literally there is no f*cking purpose for this?????? And then the character who facilitated the massacre doesn't face any consequences??????? What the hell??????????? How are we supposed to feel satisfied at the end when it feels like no one cares about all those deaths for more than 5 minutes?????

Anyway, watch Blood River, it does basically everything that Word of Honor does except better!

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gaslight the audience into thinking stalker-y behavior is cute ✨

So the lead, Kris, randomly dreams about Karn and then sees that she's a newscaster and becomes scarily obsessed with her. Like, harassing her online kind of scary. Kris then hears that Karn is leaving her job and she writes her a fan letter to try to convince her out of this decision. Like.... Kris you do not know this woman and are trying to influence her decisions because you are weirdly dependent on her after seeing her face in a dream..... get a grip on reality!! Anyway, turns out that Karn is leaving her current job to work with Kris' brother and Kris has just started working for him too. Cue Kris and Karn being paired together on a project and Kris acting in such a way that it's impossible to read her behavior as anything other than her despising Karn even though her inner monologue tries really hard to give a plausible reason for why her crush on Karn is making her behave in such an odd manner. Their dynamic deteriorates further when Kris sees that Karn is holding onto the letter she sent to her (under the name Apple) and Kris mocks Karn for thinking she has a fan. Again, the inner monologue is trying to tell me that this is Kris panicking but I just don't buy that someone would be acting this batshit towards their crush. Kris then talks with her brother after basically running away from Karn and he mentions that Karn is going through a rough time bc she's all alone since her mom died and Kris suddenly jumps to asking about Karn's love life and gets all f*cking excited about this?!?!?! Like, girl what the f*ck is wrong with you why are you eager to swoop in and start dating a woman when she's emotionally vulnerable???? Manipulative stalker weirdo.

Anyway this was episode 1 and I will not be watching more. I'm good thanks, I don't care to see them become a couple 👋

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