Reviews

Sometimes slow but always sweet

Fantasy romance/melodrama: A classic since its release in 2016, and it remains one of the most popular K-dramas of recent years. A 900-year-old immortal goblin meets his “bride,” who is the poor, unlucky, abused-by-her-family young woman—a high school senior—fated to end his painful existence. (You have to just NOT think about the age difference.) While the idea of finally dying delights the goblin, things get complicated when the two leads...maybe don't want to be separated? This is essentially “Cinderella” in a more tragic and complicated form.

The scenes filmed in Canada are gorgeous. Fantastic second lead couple and fun supporting characters all around. The goblin’s developing bromance with a Grim Reaper who is accidentally house-sharing with him is worth watching this alone—if handsomeness were currency, the two male leads could buy a country with their collective looks.

Lovely quote: “When you’re coming home on a rainy night, what is it that becomes your umbrella? A voice that answers when you call. A memory of seeing the same thing at the same time. The first time you matched someone’s pace. Does someone come to mind? Yes, it’s that person. First love.”

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What a ride that was! Being my first taiga, I loved and enjoyed every moment of it. This drama made me want to learn more, watch more, research more, love Japan more, love history more. It made me understand things that I had a hard time digesting before. Fifty episodes went by pretty fast and the episodes were pretty short.

This drama is the dramatization of the life of Kuroda Kanbei (Okada Junichi), a daimyo during the Sengoku period, known to be the chief strategist and an adviser to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As a history drama, many of the events were described accurately and at the right timeline. As for the characterization of those historical personalities, it most definitely is bias. Except for the last 3 episodes, Kanbei was always shows as this angel with saint-like qualities. The same can be said about some personalities who were know to be on his side. You can conclude that the drama was made based on Kanbei's point of you on those people. However this doesn't come in the way of learning about history and appreciating those personalities.

As I said, don't let the number of episodes scare you. The episodes are short enough and the events that are being covered can cover four times this amount of time. I found the drama well paced, and keeps you hooked throughout the whole time of his running. Every couple of intense episodes, we get a breather that is both relaxing to watch, and fun to experience the way of life of that era. The graphics and effects were alright, the drama overall is nothing fancy, but good enough to convince you of it's timing and era. Some places I loved most are the tea places. If I were to compare it to another taiga I started recently, Tenchijin, I'd say this one looks much better, but that is only because Tenchijin looks 10 years older than it really is (but once I gave it a chance I still fell in love with it XP). As for the music, that is one soundtrack I really enjoy. It has a very calming side to it that is used during the travelogue.

Despite being a political drama, what makes this drama shine most is the human relationship seen here, mainly between lord and retainer, but also between husband and wife, parent and child, and those are what bring out the emotions out of you. The performances that emphasize on those relationship is what makes me want to keep watcing. Starting with Okada Junichi, don't let his background as a JE idol fool you, he did an excellent job portraying Kanbei throughout his life, from 16 years or to the end of his life. Then there's the lovely Nakatani Miki playing his wife Teru. I just love seeing those two together, even when they got to old age. They definitely had the chemistry, and the looks they give to each other makes it feel like they're looking into each other's souls not selves. Matsuzaka Tori playing his son Nagamasa also did a great job. I did feel he needed a little time to get used to his character, but that may be because he was playing a young inexperience teenager. We later see his growth and the different phases of his relationship with his father.

Then there is the retainers. This drama has succeeded in finally making me understand the relationship between the lord and his retainers. It definitely is not an equal relationship, but it is more of an equivalent exchange, and the basis of that exchange is loyalty, and that goes both ways. Seeing Kanbei's retainer's growth was one of the highlights of this drama. Takahashi Issei, playing Inoue Kuroemon, was by far my favourite. He was a natural. Seeing his reaction always told me if I need to worry about what is going on. Hamada Gaku and Hayami Mokomichi playing Zensuke and Tahe, took a little while to get into character, but when they finally did, they became perfect for their roles.

Other than the Kuroda household, there were many great personalities of the era in this drama. Oda Nobunaga ovliously tops the list, where Eguchi Yosuke's performance was unbeatable. Period. I had a hard time digesting Takenaka Naoto but later I grew fond of it. The character is pretty unconventional which is weird considering the era and people, however it seemed true to his character, and his background as a farmer. The taiga was as much about kanbei as it was Tomoyomi's rise to power. Anothers really interesting personality is Tanaka Tetsushi as Araki Murashige. His character went through the most phases, and at each phase, he shows a different face. Seeing him going from a man with ambitions to a person who has lost his mind. There are many others, many interesting women of the era, but this taiga concentrate mostly what these men go through with each battle they fight and what motivates them to go to war.

To conclude, it is a very well paced drama, with many interesting events, during a very interesting time in Japan's history, that honours many historical figures with excellent performances, and heartwarming interaction. I think it is a drama that can be appreciated by anyone if given the chance. Once you're done with it, I'm pretty sure it'll wake up the history lover in you.

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What happened to this drama?

I never really imagined I would drop a drama starring Shin Hae Sun, but I can’t keep watching this toxic show.

As if having to endure this “actor” wasn’t enough, we also have to see this kind of thing in 2024. A drama that was supposed to be about a woman healing from childhood trauma has turned into an abusive story, with a character who has spent all the episodes saying the worst things to her.

I did want Eun Ho with Joo Yeon, but even more, I wanted to see her healing and a decent conclusion for her sister who disappeared. This drama could be called "Dear HyuOh" because everything we've seen so far has been about him.

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This story is really really amazing! Outstanding action/fight scenes, very awesome and very very cool love story that would make you fall head over heels most especially with Huang Xiao Ming's character as "Zuo Zhen". Each character was portrayed flawlessly.

You won't be disappointed once you watch this and you'll definitely watch this over and over again, that's a 110% guarantee (as I, myself together with my Mom kept watching and watching this over and over and over again)!

The story is all about Love, Loyalty, Trust, Understanding, Forgiveness, Pride, a little bit of Revenge and or Outrage, Deception, Endurance/Hardships (in protecting one's love, protecting sworn brother's and turf "gang related matter" as well as preventing Opium to spread all over Shanghai Bund). Lastly, Humanity, Care, Compassion, Grace and above all Dignity.

A standing ovation to the Casts, Director, Crew members, Writer, Special effects dept. and everyone who made contribution on making this story/series Perfectly! This is what we can say "created that's worthwhile''. I thank everyone who made this series - you guys made the impossible possible and I (with my Mom) thank you guys from the bottom of our hearts!

Huang Xiao Ming and Chen Joe's chemistry is very awesome! Hope we can see them together again on other films, movies or series or shows!

Best of luck to everyone! Looking forward to other shows as Brilliant as this! Keep up the good work! Thanks guys for making it possible for us to watch and enjoy this!

Cheers and Have a good one!!! Jiayóu!

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Solid first half and much weaker second half

I think Fighting Mr 2nd would work better if it had not been presented as a Part 2 of WBL. Still, I like the way it pushes the boundaries of BL a little.

The first two episodes (that's one-third of the series!) are a bit of a risk--you can either say that it intrigues the viewer or you can say that it confuses the hell out of viewers. The story takes place about five years after the end of No. 1 for You. But our main characters have not seen each other for five years, and we are left wondering what has caused Shi De to not return. In a way, it is effective because the frustration of not knowing is what the characters go through. Shi De does not know why Shu Yi stops replying him, and Shu Yi does not know why Shi De seems increasingly uncontactable. For me the first 3 episodes are very good even if they defy the expectations we might have after watching No. 1 for You.

It turns out that Shi De has faced problems that he can't tell while Shu Yi has misunderstood Shi De, thinking that he is in a relationship with someone else. Shu Yi seems to hate Shi De now even as Shi De enters his life again due to a coincidence. Their intense longing for each other, a longing that Shu Yi tries to hide, culminates in what's probably the best scene in the series: a drunken Shi De starts kissing Shu Yi, who can barely conceal the love that he still has despite not daring to show it. For me, the camerawork, music and acting work together very well here to show the emotions of the characters. I particularly like the performance by YU, the actor acting as Shu Yi in this scene.

Unfortunately, the story soon goes downhill after this point. The real causes behind their separation are revealed, and Shi De and Shu Yi soon make up. Their story then doesn't really get developed much further. The scenes between them are sweet and cute, but somehow don't seem to reflect the intensity of emotions that you can imagine will arise when you are reunited with the love of your life after a long separation that leaves you baffled, frustrated and pinning.

Furthermore, the series has to give some attention to the side couples. Despite the attention given, I still get the sense that the side couples' stories could have worked much better had there been sufficient development.

This series does end up to be quite likable because of its strengths. Its weaknesses still seem quite glaring to me, however. So I'm a little conflicted here.

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Tale as Old as Time

Even from the first episode, I knew I like it. It's not because I like Liu Shi Shi enough that I would watch all her dramas. The story captured me from the beginning because:
1) It reminds me of Jin Yong stories with new Xianxia twists.
2) The side characters (ie. the sisters of the leads) provide comic relief and interesting side stories.
3) The main leads have chemisstry.
4) All the actors can act. There's no one standing out as annoying. The bad guys are really evil.
5) The conflict is clear and makes sense.
6) You don't have to watch the previous drama (Red Moon) with Yang Mi to understand this drama (so thankful because I dropped the other drama after 2 episodes when it came out).

The Negatives
1) The story is a little bit convoluted in the beginning because of all the extra "famous" characters. Too many people died. But that's the theme: humans and demons will fight until there evil is eradicated.
2) Some basic plot is predictable because it's how old stories are told 30 years ago (look at The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, etc).
3) Liu Shi Shi seems to be directed to act with a poker face. Is this her inherent character based on the story? I don't know. Waiting for the development.
4) Up to ep 12, there continues to be TOO MANY side characters. There are only 36 episodes. If everyone of the side characters have such long side stories, I don't know if the story can hold together because the main leads are not shown enough. So far, I am disappointed in this because I want to see more of the leads.

Why you might be disappointed:
1) People who watch this drama for all the so called "famous" idols will be disappointed because they are there as cameos to gain new fans. The true famous star of this drama is Liu Shi Shi. If you don't know her, do some research and watch some of her famous dramas (Scarlet Heart 1). They are so good! She's a versatile actress: 37 years old returning to acting after marriage and baby but still takes Main Lead roles of popular dramas. That's not an accident.
2) People who deem LSS is not a good actress because of her blank eyes. I think the director/story called for this expression. Look at Yang Mi in Red Moon. She had no expression in her eyes too. And believe me, YM can emote with her eyes. So I think the director asked for this.
3) People who don't want to see their favorites die off. Well, I think the story/theme calls for it.


I can't wait to see more development in this story and the Sword and Beloved. These stories remind me of those old Jin Yong's stories with new Xianxia twists.

Finished. Although I don't agree with some of the storylines, I will give this drama full marks. I think both ML and FL did an amazing job, especially at the end. I don't think there is a better ML for the role. He is the best person for the role of Wangquan Hong Ye. Very convincing at the end. He reminds of the Yang Guo in the The Return of the Condor Heroes, with gray hair. He walks through the doors to rescue her, bigger than life. And she was wearing white dress. They only look at each other, ignoring everyone else, just like Yang Guo at the end.

C drama is never perfect. But I think this was entertaining and has very good acting. And even though the ending is difficult to accept, I am ok with it because it makes sense.

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All it had to offer was chemistry and acting.

What exactly happened? I was in love after the first episode, and then every new one just bought new disappointment. They fast forwarded through the plot and conflicts. You have 11 episodes, stop being greedy trying to fit 5 seasons of content into it.

I’ll start with the good, even great. Amazing? Perfect? Touching? All fitting when talking about the acting and the chemistry between Smart and Boom. As much as the plot was a mess, these two delivered such strong performances at times I was even able to forget how nothing makes much sense. Boom’s portrayal of Akin was phenomenal - the angsty scenes ripped my heart into pieces, the way this man shows pain through his acting is just on the next level.

Smart as Jin? Somehow so convincing and attractive, the borderline (not really) stalker behavior did not even bother me. He did an amazing job balancing the psycho obsessive tendencies with the tender and caring approach. Even though on paper these seem rather contradicting, with how Smart depicted Jin, they created a cohesive and interesting character.

Which leads me to the RIDICULOUSLY GOOD chemistry these two had on screen. I mean… they stole the branding of honey from Winnie the Pooh. Jokes aside, while their scenes were hot, they were not just hot. Whatever intimate scene they presented, under all that make out sessions and more, there were deeper and more meaningful emotions that were clearly presented - be it hesitation, longing, pain, regret, fear, and obviously love.

Sadly, the plot was a completely ridiculous mess and it quite honestly made me angry a few times. From how they didn't really handled at all the topic of obsessive fans, or how there was no actually discussion about sexual assault and the constant blaming the victim - lack of care when writing rather awful dialogues surrounding the subjects. The borderline trauma porn that was Akin’s life - dude could not catch a break at all, they were just dumping issues on him without real resolution for any of them. Sometimes they were focusing the whole episodes on characters that were barely introduced and no one cared about, other times they hinted at some side plots that then never happened. I am being 100% honest when I say it felt like they tried to put 5 seasons into one. And it just did not work.

The styling, directing and editing was quite a unique mix of Thai and Japanese BLs. Not sure how much it worked though. Some scenes I loved, some I was questioning harder than my life choices. As for the music, felt like they just picked a random playlist and put it on shuffle.

I understand why people loved it, but for me it just felt too rough around the edges which led to many moments feeling shallow, some even infuriating. The pace was ridiculously uneven and rushed, the reactions to small issues were exaggerated, while the serious topics were brushed off as if nothing happened. At some point I started to feel exhausted after finishing the episodes.

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I started watching it by accident and absolutely loved it. The concept is intriguing. Gamers will find it riveting but non gamers will be awe struck. The visuals were beautiful and animations extremely realistic and convincing. Everybody would go bananas if a game like that would hit the market. For sure! Very interesting to see the interactions of a different culture that I have not been exposed to. I found it absolutely exquisite and intriguing. I had quite a crush on Yoo Jin-woo for a couple of weeks!
The constant replaying of the previous scenes were at times necessary but mostly unnecessary in my view. I skipped them quite often which is something I dont like doing as the series is so beautiful ,that I am scared I will miss a scene and I would like to watch each series without intervention to appreciate it optimally.
I enjoyed Ko Yoo-ra's antics especially in the end when it was said that she only marries rich guys. It was SO funny!
The main characters are very attractive and they play their roles very convincing. The end was a bit disappointing but I understand that a second series is probably planned. I will definitely be watching season two. Cant wait!

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I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE

As a non webtoon reader, I'M in complete shock after watching s1 [2daysago] and s2 did justice to all the roll coaster of emotions I have gone through!!! MAIN ML (seo in guk) nailed his character, and also all the other characters are perfect in their own way!! I can't really tell maybe they should have done this or that!!

EACH AND EVERYONE DONE JUSTICE TO THEIR CHARACTER. FROM THE STORY, THEIR PERFORMANCE TO THE ENDING ..EVERYTHING IS JUST SOO PERFECT.

If you didn't watch until now, do give it a try!! You will not regret it ;) just make sure you have plenty of tissues...

Here are few lines from the series I want to share..


If you're still hesitating

I hope you find the courage

To stand up again

And overcome it :)

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This drama was filmed in the wrong era

If this drama was out at the same time as Boys Over Flowers or Secret Garden or something, I would be more understanding. But this drama felt like they were just following the Book of K-Drama Cliches. I have watched cliche dramas before that work just fine, but this was just straight up boring and outdated. Everything was predictable, from the dialogue to the tropes. There was barely anything to the plot to keep the drama moving. I felt like I was watching filler ep after filler. No wonder there's only 12 eps.

I thought we have moved past the I-will-bother-you-till-you-like-me-Sehoon-Lee Min Ho-like romance. The main couple barely shared any connection and had no chemistry. The second couple was slightly better, but they also didn't match in compatibility.

The only unique factor was the English speaking cousin.

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OVER EXAGGERATTING!!!!!

Like I had seen lots of positive reviews of this show and I am glad lots of people are enjoying so do I, but the show has some flaws and we have to point that out like we are not going to ignore them,
In terms of acting this show has one of the best cast and Aaron and Hank chemistry is really good and enjoyable, and the side couple is also good doing justice to the show and the side characters is enjoyable, this show is really good and I love how there is a coming-out scene (and that's a fact lots of BL series did not address this important issue) and my favorite scene when Shi Le comes out to his mother and another thing that how Zhen is not suddenly turning gay for one guy he was gay before he met Shi Lei and hats of the director and staff for amazing cinematography and I really enjoyed that and we have just 1 episode is remaining and I will edit this review afterward.
And why did I use this tag is over-exaggerating because of how slow-paced it became and Slow Paced DRAMA are not my cup of tea and like how last 4 episode just have been there with no relationship development so it just became annoying to wait for every Thursday and what do we get silent stares with ending music being "I Do,I DO, I Do" and it just became irritating to the point and on other hands, the side couple became Boyfriends and even make out and on other hand the main lead doesn't have any kissing and we even get a kissing scene with the Ex and the main lead but not with the main couple, and in the end, the story just predictable and became less enjoyable too and for sure in the last episode we get Zhen chasing and Shi le and confessing his feelings and then they will kiss and "I Do, I Do, I Do" and the show will end and the side couple even got married like I already predicted what going to happen in this last episode it exactly happenend what i thought but we got a good chemistry and the last scene was just a chef kiss, but can they both stop dreaming that Zhen thought that Shi loves Zhing and Shi thought that Zhing and Zhen are getting back together, but lets just move on from that and the kiss was really good i can feel their love
So Overall pretty enjoyable drama you can watch it and I love the chemistry it was really natural so it's a big recommendation and I would love to see Aaron and Hank in another show like their chemistry is superb
I really like the coming-out scene and the main lead chemistry
But I am not going to rewatch this slow-paced drama again, I would just watch it s Fan-Made Edit

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Watching a lovable asshole struggle will touch your heart and soul

Let me break it down into some random categories:

BL?
No, not a BL. But it is marketed as one in some places. I totally forgive them :) They should get all the views!

Does it support the gay agenda?
Oh, so very well! So fabulously! Is it a rainbow? It is a DOUBLE RAINBOW! This is so refreshing, even on an international level. But even more so as it is Korean. Everybody and their mother loves a good Korean queer-baiting bromance. But sometimes it is nice to get the real deal. And this is so unapologetically gay. Every time they delivered a line or story aspect where I imagined the backwards protesters lining the pride parades in Seoul (who were watching for sure) to gnash their teeth in anger, I couldn’t help but loudly laugh in blissfulness. And the main actor unapologetically and publicly not giving a shit about the haters is better than any fan-service ever could be. Especially as he absolutely MEANS it. A mainstream Korean actor who plays a role that says – and I quote here – “Fuck me deep!” – oh the joy! At times it felt that they really wanted to tick off every item from the things-that-gays-suffer-from list and I can’t have been the only one thinking “What is it now? Can’t you give this guy a break?” I was surprised we didn’t get assault during an app hookup or a good old gay bashing in the streets. Remember the olden days, when gay characters could only exist as a joke or in depression? I felt that there were traces of the latter in this too (but probably unintentionally).
And I wrote gay agenda and not queer agenda on purpose – diversity is not a forte of this series. This is a story about stereotypical gay guys only (the first lover is a bit of an exception, but he doesn’t get much love). And of course all the actors are super hot. This is Korea after all. Shut up and lust after them!

Acting?
Great. Except the Japanese guy. One thing all the reviews can agree on :)

Creativity?
Hm, not sure. The storytelling was pretty standard for a story that isn’t really plot-driven. And for a story that in its core is about one character only, character development was quite limited. And I had a hard time understanding some of the character’s actions. I feel there was some symbolism that went over my head. And the hints of reality and fiction being mixed were a bit too vague for me. But maybe I’m just too stupid. Or didn’t focus enough.

Should you watch it?
If you liked my review: yes. If you didn’t: yes.

Take-home message: Two men eating pasta in public is gay. Seafood is fine!
Also: Life can be struggly.

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Honestly, I wasn't even going to write a review for this. It's basically a movie length CF, and I only watched it to kill some down-time at work. The idea was good in theory, but they tried to shove so many (top star) characters into such a short time that it felt WAY too rushed. And the ending episode was even more so. The running time was less than 9 minutes on the last one, yet the story ended at around the 5-6 minute mark and they wrapped up with BTS footage.

The story was kind of cringe-worthy, so the only real thing to recommend about it was all the pretty male faces.
I truly cannot even recommend this to anyone unless you are just looking to fill about an hour or so and have nothing better to do.

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