Reviews

17 Steps Ahead of King Schemey McSteamy

This series surprised the heck out of me because I never even intended on watching it. When it was postponed I never really thought twice. Then I saw ZLH in MJTY and was intrigued plus at the time I hadn't seen BL in anything nor any of the other leads though the supporting cast I was somewhat familiar with. I'm not a fan of palace politics but this series got me curious from all of the excitement it generated once the drop date was announced. I nearly gave it a perfect 10 if it wasn't for the very few cons, I couldn't get past. But it really was the 17 steps ahead of King Schemey McSteamy.

Pros: It should be very obvious who the favorite character is; ZLH's acting has improved leaps and bounds. This was his first morally gray protagonist and he absolutely nailed it. He was like a mad scientist in every way. I have no idea how XW's brain worked. It was like he was psychic and planned things as he foresaw them. The story originally started more on the FL's side and she too just knocked her role out of the park. It was her redemption/rebirth story plus reverse harem so our ML had to be the 3rd wheel for a while, something that with his absolutely insane jealousy streak was heart pounding and hysterical at the same time.

YL was Spider-Man; dude had supernatural abilities when fighting in that heavy ass armor that the actor even said was really hard to move in. What made this series really worth watching is that other then our cast which were all absolutely amazing; I can't say anyone screwed up their parts, was that the plot was always rolling along. You kept waiting for what's next. You never had to ffw or you'd miss something vital. Furthermore, the cast filmed during peak summer months and in extreme heat, they were constantly on the verge of heat stroke. I loved every member of the cast the ones mentioned above, ZZ, the princess, JXH, the hilarious and yet awesome guards of XW, fake DF, and everyone else, even the villains sans Lord Pinghead as I think he was used as more of a plot device to get the leads together. I'll speak more about him below.

The leads chemistry especially Ep. 36; people should know what I'm talking about. King McSteamy was born! I was actually surprised how much made it in. Usually after a passionate kiss, it's cut to spotlight and curtains or next scene. Here we saw more and it was great! And so glad that the kisses were real and XW was an absolute panther. I could probably write a whole review on just his love and lust plus jealousy alone. From what I wrote in the comments: That whole “JXN: I want you” bit? Woof! And then of course…Duke asswipe is all “I’m gonna rule the world.” Our boy goes “Hold my Qin. Back up dog, emperor and I got this on lock before I even left!” Who saw that coming?!?

XW, uncle, cousin reveal actually brought a tear to my eyes. It was a brief but beautiful moment. Plus XW's jealousy of his own son liking ZZ was too funny and a totally face-palm moment. JXN needs to nip that in the bud before the son starts picking up dad's negative traits lol. Daughter was too cute too. There were so many great moments in this drama; even the villains did what they had to do and for the most part were intelligent so it wasn't like some trope or cliche.

Costumes, sets, fights, OSTs, were great! I probably will come back to write something I missed or forgot lol. Just too much goodness.

Cons: Very little of these, but the .5 was knocked off for several reasons. Though I wish the modern day wasn't returned to, I understand it was done so because of censorship; I really would have preferred the 7 minute wedding to be in the last episode instead of an extra one plus do it before the scene with kids, instead of her dreaming of XW killing himself per lifetime number one. We're past that, no need to go back. Furthermore, Lord Pinghead's whole arc towards the end felt off to me because, he's supposed to be this murderous insane villain who killed children and destroyed a city but it looked more like just a ploy to get the leads officially together. He really wasn't much of anything. Just a paranoid killer. Duke asswipe had mountains more on him in terms of evil.

Wish they kept ZZ's rebirth arc because otherwise even to the almost end, it seemed he was still pining for her and it felt incomplete. He should have been given his own proper ending. Should have killed loser Xue son as per the novel too. Why was Duke asswipe allowed to stab XW with so many guards around him just because he was staring at JXN? The poor guy was already pin cushioned 6 ways to Sunday. YL and DQ should have finished the job before he even launched himself off the ground. Lastly and this felt the most unnecessary, was the death of FY. They could have killed ZYZ as is, he held her captive and tortured her. Why did she have to grab hold of him and he stab her? He could have just kicked her away and run; he would have been caught regardless and JXN should have delivered the death blow herself like "You think I can't kill you? Watch this, bitch!" FY's death was completely pointless. I don't understand this portion at all.

Would I recommend it? 100% would. It was a gem that I didn't expect to fall in love with but did. The pros way outweighed the cons. The plot was very well handled even the portions that deviated from the book. This is how dramas should be written and done with proper endings. Must watch y'all!

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Taking Away The Romanticism Of The South-Korean Militia…

Military enlistment is a topic which is often swept under the carpet in South-Korean culture, or romanticised in stories near the finale as part of the “ long wait” between lovers at the end of a drama storyline . ( The drama itself presenting a parody of this scene when a young woman causes a scene to promote her “ love” for her boyfriend enrolling only to present a stark contrast in the circumstances afterwards .)

PD and screenwriter Han Jun Hee as well as screenwriter Kim Bo Tong takes an anti-romantic ‘Fullmetal Jacket’ - style approach to the short series ‘ D.P’ The enlisted men alongside Jun Ho are viewed as nothing more that batch coded weapons and those who leave their side are viewed as merely loose-cannons without names or dignity . Yet the drama is unsurprisingly without director Han Jun Hee’s wry sense of comedy either- sardonic and satirical rather than sweet and slapstick, but woven well into the introduction of characters and the narrative.

The cast undeniably helped to make the storyline come to life. Actor Jung Jae In did a brilliant job ( like the rest of the cast) as main lead Jun Ho ( Jung Hae In). A troubled youth who shares his own conflicts and troubles before enlisting in the army and being forced into the military defect arrest team , Jun Ho becomes morally conflicted over the reasons why men leave the army for various personal reasons and the dire corruption of the authorities. From romantic heroism turned tragic to bittersweet realism, the duller and stark cinematography presents a harsher and prominent message to viewers about these stories shown per episode .

On a more critical note the drama isn’t without its flaws either. Whilst the messages are prominent as a criticism against the authorities and corruption ‘ D.P.’ began falling short especially after the 3/4 mark. The acting notably did degrade slightly as well as delivered line deliverances, and the pacing began to struggle Adding to the dilemma was defining more about Jun Ho’s calling of identity from given inferences in more vivid detail to explain his ideologies, as well as during the last few episodes. On the other hand the ending was certainly unexpected-profound and helping to define the key messages of the drama, but will likely leave viewers with their jaws dropping.

Overall a fairly good watch though admittedly not for the faint hearted . The pacing and more definitive character writing were sadly slight letdowns for this drama but ‘ D.P’ does make up for it with a profound and critique about the South-Korean military enlistment scheme, as well as using a catchy OST and moody cinematography to present these messages clearly .

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Since these are 4 short films by different directors, I’m going to review them separately. (The synopsis is from Netflix)

1) Love Set - Two women get entangled in an intense battle of wills on the tennis court and try to pummel one another, but the stakes are higher than they realise.
Review: I don’t know if it was the plot in general or just my inability to comprehend the message being conveyed but the end left me kind of confused. I’m trying to find a deeper meaning but can’t seem to come to a conclusion. Perhaps there isn’t a deeper meaning behind the plot and what happened at the end, just happened. Other than that, the acting was great.

2) Collector - A befuddled man wants to know why a woman he’s seeing disappeared to go travelling with her male friends - but she demands a gesture of his true love.
Review: This was pretty creepy, a stark contrast to the previous one but I really enjoyed it. This might be my favourite out of all the short films. The plot was different and gripping, the acting was superb and IU is so pretty!

3) Kiss burn - As she listens to her friend’s tale about how the marks on her face are from making out with a guy, the two of them inadvertently cause a mishap.
Review: This one was more light hearted than the other two and even had me chuckling at the end.

4) Walking at Night - A man and a woman take an evening stroll together and ruminate about dreams and their various past moments spent together - as well as death.
Review: I enjoyed the noir style cinematography which added to the eeriness of the film. However, I found myself getting a bit bored halfway through. But the actors again did an amazing job.

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When I think of Descendants of the Sun, the first thing that comes to mind is cheese! This show is extra cheesy, and honestly I love cheese! Unfortunately, I am also kinda lactose intolerant, so after eating a certain amount of cheese I am left with regrets, and a stomach ache. That's exactly how I felt after watching the last episode. *Cue the rage of a thousand fans*

I think the biggest problem I had with this show is that it tried to mix in three genres without a coherent plot to bring it all together. It's part rom-com, part military drama, and part hospital sitcom. The love story is probably what makes most people excited about the show, the military scenes are a cool action bonus, and the hospital sitcom keeps things from getting too heavy and depressing. Unfortunately, because the script is so weak, I was too disconnected to keep caring about the show, and it started to become very boring. I kept watching for one reason only Song Joong Ki.

Song Joong Ki is oddly cast in a lot of ways. He has a super baby face, and boyish charm, but still managed to be a believable bad@ss soldier. I would easily rate his character/acting 10. Not only did I develop a 16 episode crush on him, but I really cared about his assignments. The show would have been a million times more enjoyable for me if they just let his story be the center, or rather, the bromance between Shi Jin, and Dae Yeong. Their relationship was my favorite part of the show. Their characters didn't have much depth individually, but their bromance was solid.

There is also great chemistry between Song Joong Ki, and Song Hye Kyo, but not much to their overall story. Every moment with them is exactly the same - they flirt, they separate, she gets mad, he's extra charming, they flirt again. Early on, I really started to dislike Dr. Kang Mo Yeon, which made it hard to sympathize with her anger at him. Eventually I started to like her a little more, but no matter how cute their flirty scenes, or how strangely amusing their brink of death dating was, their story is still repetitive, which gets old quick.

The 2nd leads also had a romance, that had a few more obstacles thrown their way (parents, distance, almost dying), but was just as repetitive - fight, confess, spontaneous affection, fight. It's like each story just filled in the same blanks for each episode. It was actually the older minor characters who had the most interesting love story. I thought Seo Jeong Yeon and Lee Seung Jun were really cute, and deserve an honorable mention.

The supporting cast was pretty good. Some were much better than others, and some were almost completely useless (the head of the hospital... that ditzy doctor... ugh). I had to bring the acting down to an 8 because of that, but the cast is really the only good thing this show has going for it.

What was the point of this drama? At first it seemed like a way to show how hard it can be to date a soldier, but because the show didn't take itself seriously, it was hard for me to take that too seriously, even with that emotionally manipulative 15th episode. The conflicts at the hospital were ridiculous, and mostly filler. The best episodes took place when the medical staff went overseas to Urk, but once that was over, the show seemed to have no clue what to do. Did they run out of travel budget, so they decided to just wing it for the last episodes? Even in Urk, the plot was super predictable, and totally unrealistic, but it was still very entertaining (yummy Cheese!!!). When they returned, my feelings about the show went downhill, and I was no longer excited about watching the next episode. Then suddenly things got very serious out of nowhere, only to end with the silliest (and worst) last episode I've ever seen in any drama (yes THE worst!). I wonder if episode 15 was the original ending, and then it was changed last minute to avoid a backlash. That's the only thing I can think of as an explanation for why it was so bad.

The music? meh. The scenery? epic. The english spoken? decent. The shirtless men running? Daebak.

Would I rewatch? Not unless someone makes an edited version of only scenes with Song Joong Ki.

Overall It's like they rolled a kdrama dice and just threw stuff in at random to get people hooked, then they just focused on all the ways they can successfully incorporate product placement. Maybe that was the real point, to see how many ads they could sneak into a drama.

Even though there were moments I really enjoyed, I can't recommend this drama, especially after sitting through that ending. I wish they cut it down to 10 episodes, removing all the unnecessary fluff, and sneaky ads (subway, hyundai, make up, coffee, snacks, hiking equipments, travel apps... umm... except for the self driving car, because that scene was actually cool ) then maybe it would be a drama worthy of all the hype.

Or maybe you can treat my review like lactaid. Now that you know what to expect, maybe you can better digest all the cheese this show has to offer.

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Wasted Potential

A good story and captivating start but developed to be an "excessive" tearjerker, TBH it could have been a big hit (Facepalm).

But it didn't.

Why it could have been a big hit?
It got a generally-likeable fantasy genre, a mysterious yet charming immortal male lead, an A-class casting lineup, a great couple chemistry and mostly, a fascinating storyline (in the start).

But why it didn't became one?
Poor arrangement on plots, less impressive production, a let-down on the mysterious characters development, dull climax and mostly, too much unnecessary parting and whining (from the girl who is facing death).

I really enjoyed the start where the female lead signed a contract with "Myeol Mang" (sort of like a destroyer) and thereafter started their ill-fated relationship. I was actually pretty excited when the female lead swore that she was going to make "Myeol Mang" her love of life so he can die for her, so "Korean drama cliche" but I just love it. Of course we all know they will eventually fall in love but "How?" is something we anticipate. Well, it turned out they fell in love before I even noticed, and oddly started with all the emotional parting (again and again) and accepted their fate (again and again). The flow was a bit off for me as I didn't feel their deep-down love and suddenly they are willing to give up their lives for each other, like huh? I don't deny they look pretty good together, but the story development was quite lacking though.

At first, I felt the story was a little complicated, especially the conversation between "Myeol Mang" and the "Deity girl", so I thought they were somehow building up for the climax, hmmm it turns out to be.... nothing. When you are always waiting for something unexpected, it failed your expectation. It's like you are eating a candy floss, the first bite was so great but before you can savour it, it's gone. Yes, the second half of the drama was an empty-shell. There was so much potential in the "Deity girl" character, but she didn't really contribute anything significant to the show and it turns out like destiny has controlled her instead, she gave up and become a Samaritan for the couple LOL

Honestly, it could have been better if they have more plots on how they developed feelings (maybe on how their hate turns into love) instead of just using almost 10 episodes to cry, to escape and to get back together. As for second couple, a so-so to me too, as their love-triangle was pretty draggy too, however I find Cha Joo Ik's role pretty interesting, especially how he uses his poker face for love confession, sarcasm, even when cracking a joke LOL.

Basically, I stayed on to the end mainly for the casts, simply enjoying Seo In Guk's alluring smirk, Park Bo Young's adorable expression and Lee Soo Hyuk's attractive deep voice. That's about it. Wasn't that excited for the storyline as you will be able to figure out the ending on your own by looking at the pace of the story and how it develops, it's like even if you missed out a few episodes you will be able to catch up haha.

These are just my point of view, and I believe people might have different thoughts on the drama, saw the comment area is just flooded with criticism. I don't regretted watching it though, that's why it deserves at least 7.0 for me, a "slightly above-average" piece? Just that we have so much dramas out there to compare with and it just loses out, but not so bad actually, or maybe because I have seen worse.

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I found this drama both wonderful and frustrating at the same time. I loved the overall message of 'if you have a dream, you remain young forever'. The fulfilment of broken dreams, even though it didn't happen the way the five SOLO players planned for it to happen, was a very satisfying journey.

HSY is a character that had to grow on me. His frowns and shortness seemed so overkill at the start, it was difficult to get behind. But TN, grandpa, his step-mom, the KK team brought out the warmth in him and one couldn't help but smile and laugh with him by the end of the drama.

TN was confusing to me. I kept being told she was this super intelligent girl, but I rarely got to see her high IQ at work. Most of the time, she was just the typical, dazed, female lead that you get in most Chinese dramas. It was disappointing to me that they didn't flesh out her character more and showed her to be more than this girl that keeps giving heart eyes to HSY. I did love her brightness and how she bought HSY out of his shell and wrapped him in her love. I just felt they could have done so much more with her character.

Yang Zi and Li Xian had such an awkward chemistry. Even though I could tell they gave it their best and in a way, it worked to the character's advantage, it felt like hard work to buy into them as a couple. But I did end up loving them as a couple and giggling like a little schoolgirl every time they were just cheeseballs to one another. They were very cute in an awkward way.

Wu Bai was just such an awkward character. It felt a little like HYT's management placed him in this role to punish him or something. He was too big of a star to be in this role that had no depth and his sole purpose is to be the best player on the team. And it was obvious at the end that they couldn't film him with a lot of the big group shots and so they just put in solo cuts of him. He felt completely out of place and as much as I wanted to like him, it was just frustrating to watch.

Mi Shao Fei has to be MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER of this entire drama. And I wish so bad that they spent more time on him and Yaya's story. Their storyline captivated me so much more than HSY and TN's storyline. I felt the chemistry was better between the two actors. When Mi Shao Fei was starving for encouragement, Yaya naturally poured out endless amounts of it for him. He held onto her like a lifeline when he had absolutely nothing.
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Overall
Negatives: I felt that the drama itself is disjointed and inconsistent. It had these wonderful storylines that were rich and full of life, but then they would not be able to bring out its true potential. I also think the cutting of scenes/directing was a little off which was a bit distracting to watch.

Positives: I did end up loving each of the characters. I wanted more of each character and more of these romances in the story. I think the actors did a great job with the material and overall, I laughed, I cried, I cringed and I cheered. I would recommend this drama despite its shortcoming. Mi Xiao Fei and Yaya had my heart.

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Horrendous, nauseating, and yet still boring as f.

That was awful. I'll start with the positives:

- Mos is supernaturally attractive. Every bit of him is stunning - hot body, porcelain skin, handsome face, those eyes, sexy voice, all of him.

End of positives.

This feels like it was written by a very sheltered 13-year old girl who inserted herself into the story as Bank's character. I'm not sure how else to describe his total lack of agency and relentlessly female wardrobe. You might think he has agency, but think about it - he's just a plot device, not a person. Even the one ability he has, designing jewelry (and the necklace is hideous), only exists when it's needed to move the "plot" "forward", and it's usually inspired by the supernatural elements of the story that are totally pointless and have no effect on anything.

I feel zero chemistry between Mos and Bank except insofar as Mos is so hot that he has some with anything that's in the same room with him. Partly because Bank's character is so vacuous and unrealized that there's nothing to be attracted to. Think about it. Describe his character: he... uh,... well,... he dresses like a girl. And wears so much makeup that if he actually were a girl, he'd look like a sex worker. That's really it. Oh wait, he faints a lot. A LOT.

This was the worst example of the worst kind of uke, who is incapable of surviving an average day without a seme to save him from drowning in 1 inch of water (this actually happens). Lin wants to use lovey-dovey nickhames, so he decides to call Sun "Dad". Not "daddy", which is at least an accepted slang term for an older (and generally wealthy) man, but "dad", which is only ever used in reference to your biological father (or occassionally a father-in-law) - is it possible for something to be more cringe? It's the ultimate infantilization, and it's frankly misogynist and homophobic, equating femininity with weakness.

The vaunted NC-17 scenes are so bad it's unintentionally funny. You get to see Mos's ass in the paint scene, so there is that, but that they didn't take off their high-fashion clothing first took me right out of the story. You could feed an entire village in Bangladesh for a year with what those outfits cost (in story). There's a BJ scene with slurping sound so loud that it would disturb Japanese people at a ramen bar. I guess Sun must have a micropenis, because otherwise there shouldn't be enough room in Lin's mouth to slurp that much.

One of the secondary couples has bird sex in a toilet stall while one of their fathers is watching while bent over backwards in a disturbing pose.

The only couple that's vaguely engaging also goes full uke-seme, the absence of which dynamic was what actually made them appealing - Yo behaved like a man, until he had a boyfriend, when he reverted to acting like a very sheltered 13-year old girl.

The production seems to think that loud = funny. All you need to do is have your characters scream their lines, and it's all very ha. (Or I guess it's "all very 5" for our Thai viewers.)

But worst of all, this was just dull. It wasn't fun to hate-watch, like Unforgotten Night - it just made me cringe almost continuously - and thank God for the +10 seconds button on iQiyi.

I can't recommend this - the only thing in it with appeal is Mos, and you can get anything you want of him and more on his instagram.

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First impression: a exploration of desire and the consequences of following it blindly

The opening episodes of Only Friends: Dream On reveal a series that is very aware of its own appeal. Rather than softening the emotional chaos that made the franchise popular, the new season dives even deeper into it. The result is an intense start, filled with tension, provocation, and questionable decisions that always seem on the verge of setting the characters’ relationships on fire. There is a clear enjoyment in watching this game of messy emotions and poorly calculated impulses unfold, and the direction knows exactly how to make the most of that unstable atmosphere.

Much of this strength comes from the cast. The chemistry between the actors is the true engine of the narrative, and the camera often relies more on glances, pauses, and teasing than on long stretches of dialogue. The interactions carry a constant energy of attraction and conflict, creating a sense of unpredictability that keeps the viewer engaged. Some pairings thrive on the almost provocative friction between strong personalities, while others build a softer, slower tension. This variety helps prevent the drama from feeling repetitive, even when the story fully embraces its more exaggerated side.

Another strong point lies in how the series treats its characters as flawed people. No one appears entirely right or wrong, and much of the dramatic interest comes precisely from that moral ambiguity. Jealousy, insecurity, and desire are presented with very little filtering, giving the conflicts a raw and spontaneous tone. At the same time, the production maintains an engaging rhythm, balancing moments of intensity with pauses that allow emotions to build before eventually erupting.

On the other hand, the series occasionally stumbles over stylistic habits that attempt to add a level of sophistication that is not always necessary. The cuts to testimonial-style interviews, while intended to provide depth, sometimes interrupt the natural flow of scenes that would stand perfectly well on silence and subtle expressions alone. By over-explaining the characters' internal worlds, the script risks insulting the audience's intelligence, trading organic tension for a structured commentary that feels more like a safety net than a narrative leap.

There is also a slightly risky sense of comfort in the casting. By relying on pairings whose dynamics are already well known to fans, the narrative loses some of the “who will end up with whom” mystery, making the script feel a bit too dependent on the actors’ charisma rather than the unpredictability of the plot. Some musical transitions also feel somewhat dated, with a soundtrack that occasionally tries to dictate the emotional tone more loudly than the performances themselves.

Even so, these details rarely undermine the overall experience. Technical issues in mixing and pacing are easily forgiven thanks to the series’ willingness to present characters who are flawed, possessive, and delightfully human. Only Friends: Dream On does not try to be a philosophical treatise on love, but rather a vibrant exploration of desire and the disastrous consequences of following it blindly.

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Perfectly Imperfect Romance

MUST READ REVIEW IF YOU'RE HESITANT TO START THIS DRAMA :

This drama is based on a spin off ( original side plot ) from the manhwa(Korean comic) with the same name .
The original manhwa has a total different plot .
If you're here to watch a fantasy drama with God's fighting , or expecting fantasy things like power and more . Sorry to disappoint you there's no such plot as that .
Morelike the central plot of this drama is empty . It's the romance which has the main focus on . I don't believe you always need some quirky
twists to build up romance . The more the natural , the better it is

This drama is the maturest romance drama . This drama is what you call
" CANDID " . It has a new way of direction and plot writing which many people are unable to digest as they are used to watch bullshit . Those who demand unnecessary twists , a begginning and a ending .
It's slow initially but picks up the pace after episode 4 .
This drama is based on the interaction of a god and a human .
Their romance , fights , moods , jealousy , and somewhat comedy .
It was about the romance and love of a god and a human in the most human way ever . I mean how often do you come across a romance plot was has the power to continue itself with just focus solely on 2 leads .
It's tempting in that way . Slow , but worth it .

When people hear supernatural they always expect more ,
If you have watched My love from another star , that's it .
This drama has the same romance but without any powers or much of a fantasy .
As simple as that .
I always decide to watch a drama based on it's poster .
And it always pays off , this drama has a tempting poster . And mind you posters never lie .
Coming back ,
What surprised me was the interactions , the cinematography , the dialogues , the satire .
Both the leads do have a chemistry . I am a romance maniac and I don't watch things which don't connect .
This one did , and so I did .
I hesitated so much to watch this drama after reading such mean comments . But finally I did after 8 months . All the comments here are BULLSHIT which are criticizing this drama .
This isn't perfect , Yeah I accept that . But this isn't that bad .

They could have had made this drama a 100 or a 1000% times better ,
It's just like that irritating feeling that when you have such a great plot why not try to make it better . But I'm not disappointed with what I watched . Rather i enjoyed it to the fullest coz it was interesting .
THIS IS WORTH A WATCH . ONE OF THE BEST ROMANTIC DRAMA'S I HAVE EVER WATCHED MOREOVER THIS HAS THE BEST ROMANTIC SCENES . The scenes aren't copied . They are surreal , something that you could connect with .

Plot 8/10
Cinematography 10/10
Dialogues 10/10
Soundtrack 10/10
Acting 9/10

Overall 9/10

P.S : Somehow after reading the comments I felt people nowdays don't like mature romance . Maybe the audience who are watching this are teenage girls or boys . --_-- to make such abrupt bullshit statement about this drama .

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Nothing Cute About It

I was very intrigued by the synopsis of this drama and having liked Zee's acting in Why R U?, I decided to give it a shot. It was, quite frankly, a hot mess. I honestly don't even know where to begin. There was so little good about it and so much bad. It all felt very forced and unnatural and much of the story made little to no sense.

I was not impressed by the overly preachy beginning and ending dialogue. Do not get me wrong, I think same sex marriage should be legalized in all countries. That being said it felt out of place and unnecessary. I feel like there were more subtle ways of getting the point across that would have been more tasteful and again, less preachy.

The story was a complete and total mess. More than a romance, I felt like it was a drama about toxic relationships and how not to communicate. It is very and I do mean very, kiss scene heavy. I think those scenes were put in the drama to try to draw attention away from all the problems both in the story and in the relationships. Both Hias are depicted as being very controlling and possessive, to the point of wanting to know what their SO is doing at all times. While they try to portray this as them just being worried and caring, it came across as extremely unhealthy to me. For example, Hia Yi sets a curfew of 9pm for Khondiao who has to leave his friends in order to make said curfew in one scene. Hia Lian has had someone monitoring Kuea for who knows how long and is fully aware of the secret life he is living. Both men also seem quite unconcerned about the fact the men they love are afraid of them. The level of control the Hias have is just disturbing especially considering their SOs are grown men. At least with Yi and Khondiao's relationship, there is a moment where Khondiao stands up to Yi and their relationship seems to achieve some level of balance though still very much skewed in Yi's favor. Lian and Kuea's relationship, however, is stagnant for the entirety of the drama. Though Kuea has a few moments of defiance, in the end he always gives in to Lian. After the scene at Lian's father's birthday party, I was really hopeful to see a change, but it was basically everything back to normal with no real growth or resolution. Overall there was such a complete lack of character development.

On top of the toxicity of the relationships, there's the lack of explanation for why characters acted the way they did or why things are the way that they are. When and why did Kuea suddenly feel the need to act like a perfect person to suit Lian? When did Lian turn into the cold, emotionless jerk and why exactly did he tell Kuea he didn't love him? I felt like his reasoning and his initial behaviour was glossed over and dismissed far too easily for all the damage it did. Also, what was with the arranged marriage? Why was that in any way necessary? And how did their families even know each other since they were from such different backgrounds? The background was so completely lacking and nonsensical that there was no way anything else could make sense. On top of all that you have Yi and Khondiao's story which was incredibly vague and disjointed. I was actually semi-interested in it because of the mystery of what Yi did to Khondiao. The "mystery" was that Yi didn't actually do anything, it was an accident. And the flashback regarding that incident made it seem like they had a similar relationship to that of Lian and Kuea which was out of the blue as I never got that impression previously.

The plot positively drags. Scenes are drawn out that don't need to be drawn out or are just repeated multiple times. The couples keep lying to each other and failing to communicate. There's this constant theme of maybe telling the truth would be the best thing and then in the next scene they're lying to each other again. Its honestly so frustrating to watch because they never learn and even at the end, it doesn't feel like anything has really changed.

While the story was terrible, the acting was not. Zee and NuNew in particular had good chemistry and while there were a few moments where I felt like NuNew's acting was a bit forced or awkward, I thought he did really well for his first role. I also have to give a shout out to Poppy as Foie for bringing some much needed comedic relief. He was absolutely hilarious and I laughed every time he was onscreen.

The characterization, though, was lacking. I have rarely seen a drama with such stagnant characters. Very few had any real growth and most of them seemed to be in the same place at the end as they were at the beginning with nothing or very little learned from their experiences. That was very disappointing for me. I can generally forgive or at least mostly forgive a bad storyline/plot if the character development is good, but it just wasn't there.
-Kuea really does come across as a doll, maybe not an Annabelle doll, but a doll nonetheless. He acts the way he assumes others want him to and even when Lian tells him he loves him no matter what, he refuses to trust him. On the one hand, I can understand that lack of trust based on how Lian is at the beginning, but after a while it just seemed like an excuse. His roundabout way of trying to get information was also frustrating, adding to the whole lack of communication theme. His constant assumptions made things worse for himself and others. In the end, I didn't really feel like he had learned how to communicate to prevent the same issues from recurring.
-Lian's cold then hot attitude was confusing and, again, never clearly explained. It also felt overdone and too abrupt going from his cold boss persona to adoring partner. I feel like that could have been pulled back to make it somewhat more believable. Based on his personality, I have trouble imagining someone like him making out in public. And although his attitude changed to lovey-dovey, he still came across as controlling.
-Khondiao came across as more of a kid than an adult so taking his relationship with Yi seriously was a bit of a stretch. I did appreciate him standing up for himself though and I felt like he had more character development than others. He seemed more able to stand on his own and stand against Yi if necessary at the end.
-Yi seemed like a sadist who enjoyed the control he had over Khondiao and the fear he could incite. He supposedly feels guilty towards him for something that happened during their childhood, and so takes care of him, allowing him to live in his house. But, he does control much of his life, wanting to know where Khondiao is at all times and even setting a curfew for him. The communication between the two is just nonexistent. They get together without discussing any of their issues really and it just feels so forced. While he does soften, he doesn't ever seem to trust that Khondiao can take care of himself and remains overbearing.
-I can't say that I had much of an opinion about the other side characters. Foie was an amusing diversion when he was onscreen and added some much needed comedic relief. Kuea's university friends were also amusing. Of them, I did enjoy Nuer and Syn's love story. As a side couple, their story was not really elaborated on, but they made a cute couple and were by far the healthiest relationship.

There were two moments that I particularly appreciated, though one promptly got thrown out the window shortly thereafter. The first is just before Lian and Kuea have sex for the first time, Lian asks for Kuea's consent, making sure that he's not drunk and knows what he's doing. It was nice to see since most dramas just imply that both parties are consenting. To actually have it verbally given was refreshing. That was promptly thrown out the window multiple times afterward when Kuea clearly says no or to stop and Lian keeps kissing him. Apparently you only need to ask the first time and its fair game after that. The second moment was when Kuea is with his university friends and one of them asks the sole woman in their group if she's on her period because she's cranky. She gives him a proper verbal beatdown that was kind of awesome to see.

As a side note, I always have an issue with the way most pets are treated in Asian dramas and this one was no exception. Aside from the Golden Retriever who, unsurprisingly, seemed to be content being on set and getting pets, the Chihuahua really bothered me. The poor thing's body language screamed that he was stressed and did not want to be there. I felt so bad watching. And also, having Yi give him as a gift, just no. It is never a good idea to give an animal as a gift, there are too many things that could go wrong. And I will now step off my soapbox.

The music was overall good. I did like NuNew's voice and I think he's frankly a stronger singer than actor. I didn't love the song that Lian and Kuea sing to each other though so having to hear it twice was a bit painful. Actually both those scenes in general were just awkward to watch.

I will also comment that the whole engineering/university setting is massively overused and this was no exception. While the automotive engineering aspect was different and more interesting with the students working on their project, it still felt repetitive.

This is not a drama that I would ever recommend anyone to watch. It has no substance and instead promotes toxic relationships as being hot. It uses steamy scenes to make up for the fact it is lacking in anything remotely genuine. At times it felt like an infomercial about gender equality, but I couldn't take it seriously because none of the couples, aside from Nuer and Syn, portrayed anything resembling a healthy and normal relationship. I highly recommend NOT wasting your time with this one.

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First off, kudos to Yoo Ah In and Lee Jee Hoon for each having eye candy take-your-shirt-off scenes.

The acting for the rest of the cast was at least commendable, except for Se Kyung who was mostly crying or running back to Young Gul with that expressionless face of hers.

There were too many loose ends here that half way through the drama, it felt like they were writing an entirely new script.

I feel that Jae Hyuk was one of the most believable character in this drama. He is a young chaebol with a tyrant father who beats the sh*t out of him and a typical rich mother who constantly meddles with his love life. He is a confident and arrogant businessman who wants to be at the top of the fashion industry but always stops short at meeting his father's expectations.

At least, I understand why he would fall in love with the helpless, absent-minded and doe-eyed Ga Young because he feels that with all the pressures in his life, there is one thing that he is capable of, and that is his to help Ga Young reach her dreams of becoming a top designer and in turn this gives him strength.

Young Gul, however is an emotionally unstable, struggling designer cum knock-offs factory owner and a greedy, conniving and deceitful man who feels that rich people like Jae Hyuk has the moral obligation to help him every time he is short in cash. The depiction of his character is so extreme that I don't think anybody else can pull it off other than Yoo Ah In.

The entire runaway from thugs because you bedded the boss' woman and be an illegal migrant to America part is just so crazily random that it doesn't add to anything in the drama.

I think that the fierce competition between Jae Hyuk and Young Gul's businesses and Ga Young's love would have suffice as the main reason why they want to kill each other.

Anna and Jung Ah are the worst antagonists everrr. Thank heavens for the crazy woman aunt and the sadistic rich father!

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You know when you start writing a review and you realise you may as well be writing about every third-rate Korean rom com? Well, that's this show.

People will love it if they like that sort of thing, even if it's not even the best example of it. But if you're tired of everything about the setup and execution of romcoms then strictly avoid. The worst thing about this show is that it was made in 2017 but feels much older in how regressive it is.

Candy is here in all her incompetent, self-absorbed, whiny victimhood and she falls for Chaebol in all his asshole finery. Candy is a nutritionist, not like that matters either to her or anyone else. Especially not to the writer who seems to have only a vague notion of what nutritionists do for a living. It's just a new way to throw her in the path of Chaebol, with whom she shared a (naturally drunken) one night stand three years before. Can't have anyone thinking she's a slut by letting her choose to sleep with a guy when she's sober.

At the beginning of the show, there was quite a nice connection between these two characters. Both were incompetent losers even if one of them was a rich one. But when the show shifted forward three years, any goodwill from their initial interactions was quickly lost as he uses his position of authority to bully her and she acts like both a martyr and an idiot about it - not necessarily in that order. Episode after episode involved him ordering her to bring him food and then either abusing, insulting or harassing her when she did. She endured, as Candy does, and still liked him even after all of this. Dude must have been amazing in the sack. That's the only explanation.

There's a second female lead in this. I don't even need to tell you about her - you already know. Get a life, old-school second female leads. You're pathetic. There's a thing called feminism. It's well over 100 years old. You might have heard about it. It'll help.

There's also a second male lead. You've met him too. He's perfect and in love with the female lead but at least he never Nice Guys her so he has that going for him. He deserved to be in a better show.

While Asshole Chaebol at least retains a core of vulnerability that allows you to keep some sympathy for him as a character, Candy is endlessly self-absorbed and wedded to victimhood, especially around her mother and the dreaded S.E.X. on account of being a good girl and not one of those sluts.

One of the show's biggest fakeouts revolves around Candy's little brother whom she treats as a burden and refers to as "her dog" so people won't discover the scandalous fact that he exists. These are not her finest moments in a show filled with extremely poor behaviour on her part. One of my chief gripes about romcoms is that they only include sex if they want to do a pregnancy fakeout. I was willing to give the show credit for not going there except - oh no, it went there! Not only did it include it but it executed it in the most annoying, most sexist, and most horrible way possible.

Basically, this show is a quintessential old-school Korean romcom dripping with sexism and misogynism, double standards, nun/whore dichotomies and a female lead who is as annoying as she is useless. Her actions especially in the final episode are teeth grindingly annoying.

Some people who love this kind of thing will no doubt be annoyed by how much I hated this show. I just think it's a shame that shows like this are still being made.

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Its a struggle to decide a fair score. It would depend on your expectations. I started not really expecting much and found myself surprised by Min Ah who made Gong shim very endearing and cute. Then theres Nam goon Min's Ahn Dan tae, super goofball that makes him different among many k dramas over the years. This was a pairing i wasnt sure will work on paper but onscreen their sparring hair pulling and banter was an easy watch. Throw in a second male lead Jun Soo that was puppy cute and a nicely written bromance with Dan tae. Suddenly im game for more episodes.

Then the focus was lost or shall i say shifted. The Dan tae birth secret and uncovering culprit should have and would have made an okay side plot. Instead this thin plot with an unremarkable antagonist (that was transparent and revealed very early on) was stretch to fill many episodes. If they had stared true on the Gong shim path, more on her character development, growth in career and confidence and interactions with both Dan tae and Jun soo this drama would have been better. Instead she became a prop, mostly on the sidelines and only utilise when the writers feel like it.

Overall the storyline is forgettable but i will remember the wig, the brush Gong shim used to brush her teeth and some of the cuter moments of the trio.

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Volcano meets a Tornado !

Oh boy I have a lot to say about this drama, and I invested my time worth of 59 episodes to watch this so I really do have A LOT to say on this.
First and foremost, the basic story is nice. Actually it is really good. Although I was tad creeped out by Xianji suddenly turning to a man and I was swept into a world of BL (which I totally like, only creeped out because I was not expecting it), the drama have a strong backstory. One could almost feel the pain the FL character went through in her past, (mainly because the star of mosha done a better job in acting than the god of war). And although I did feel sympathy for Si Feng, in the later episodes, the more he felt pain the more I found myself rolling my eyes, honestly is there any episode where he did not fell pain or was acting like a fool in love sacrificing himself, or comically jumping in front of the blade?

Summarized review (SPOILERS)

i) Slow and gradual process of love story. We can relate to the love story and it feels quite natural (as compared to Ashes of Love where everything seemed forced). However I personally find myself more moved by the 'sacrificing' part, probably because the ML sacrificed himself way too much that it lost the gravity, or perhaps the deliverance way not upto the mark. (or maybe I am still caught in the aftermath of Ashes of Love)

ii) The secondary characters were interesting in a way, and perhaps not so interesting in another. Honestly I did not care too much about Linglongs storyline, and her trauma really did not make any sense to me. I mean, it was the flower demon who did all that, and sure they are sharing same memories and all but why was she so affected by it? I found it rather bother than being sympathetic to be honest. Same goes for the Lize palace lords love story which rather feel stretched to be honest. But I think it might have contributed to the storyline and perhaps it was necessary but I found myself bored to the core. Now the storyline I found more interesting was of the fox and monkey, the fluff was just amazing. That reminded me, I really do not like silver snake and her death did not move me to tears sorry.

iii) The villains were... confusing. The deputy palace lord who never seems to die, dijun, who disappeared easily without any sort of punishment for all the things he done, and wu tong, for a mere mortal, dang, he did made the mighty demons run for their lives.

iv) The righteous sec leaders were just a no-no. They were harshly accusing someone with no evidence. Also arent they supposed to be kinda strong? But honestly the sec leaders felt really weak.

v) The final arch of the flask or torch or whatever that thing was tipping over to destroy the world??? Dear lord where did that come from???

Xuanji - At first she seems so childish, to an annoying level. Sure, its her naivety, so it can be pardoned. Her character development was steady, and it was sort of nice to see. However, the might of god of war was not that satisfying, in a way it made no sense? Sure she is the god of war but even the immortals cant stop her? Even when she is just a mortal? Now why is that just weird? Even with the misunderstandings, she stayed (or tried to) stay loyal to Si Feng, now that was satisfying (I am looking at you, Ashes of Love). Although she tried her best to portray the emotions, I rather felt it was fake when she did most of the time.

Sifeng - Apart from him spitting out blood all the time, and jumping in front of the blades to protect xuanji (probably because that god awful god of war armour was as useless as it seems), and sacrificing himself for love which he seems to be doing from the very beginning to the end, I really cannot understand his character. To say honestly, he really seems to lack a character outside the 'lost in love' thing. I was waiting for him to flutter his wings and show everyone that he was the son of the heavenly emperor and make everyone fall to their knees, but it never really came. It was like I waited all for nothing. Till the very end, his only character was to sacrifice and dot on Xuanji in a very toxic relationship which everything seems one sided if we look at it this way (but lucky for us its not because we know she was loyal to him) But I must say, him as the lord of Lize palace had me drooling. I mean im always drooling over him whenever he is not there spitting blood (which is like 90% of the time)

Linglong - Idk she annoys me.

Sixth senior - There was nothing much to say about him, although I found him and linglon lack chemistry and perhaps that was why the whole storyline felt dull.

I am lazy to go on about other characters.

It was a nice drama, although the story felt lacking in the later episodes, I dont regret watching it. The costumes were amazing, so was the setting. The CG was worthy to be praised. The supporting casts were amazing with their work. The OST was not that great, I expected something more. (lets blame Ashes of Love again). And the fluff was just heart eyes. but would I go back and watch it all over again? No.

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