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The Crowned Clown
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
mar 15, 2019
16 di 16 episodi visti
Completo 0
Generale 8.5
Storia 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Musica 8.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 7.5
"The Crowned Clown" is a great historical drama in so many ways. Don't think of it as just a Korean version of "The Prince and the Pauper". It has an excellent cast, an intriguing story, and is visually beautiful, but this is the kind of sageuk that I think you have to be in the mood for, and for me, the slow deliberate pace made me a little less excited as a viewer. However, Yeo Jin Goo is so good in the title role that I had to keep watching no matter what.

I do think everyone in the cast was excellent, with no weak links, but Yeo Jin Goo is exceptional playing a completely convincing dual role as a King in the middle of a mental breakdown, and a clever clown forced to serve as his double. The fact that he is only 21 is amazing to me, and clearly means he has an awesome acting future ahead of him. The fish out of water/imposter storyline is pretty overdone, but this story is told with so much depth that it feels original and even plausible. His performance alone is enough to make me recommend this drama.

Although Lee Se Young is great as his love interest, and they have some sweet romantic moments, the relationships that interested me more were between Ha Seon and the Royal Secretary, Guard, and Eunich, and the host of villainous rivals within the royal court. Maybe it's because the character of Queen Yoo So Woon was so stoic that their romance felt more understated than exciting. Watching how Ha Seon faced the challenges of his dual life is what held my interest when the pace started to feel slow. A few characters are incredibly frustrating to watch like Ha Seon's sister, The Queen Dowager, and The Left State Councilor, and this also helped to keep the story exciting, and even had me wanting to yell at the screen more than once. The cast helped to make every aspect of the story feel authentic no matter what.

When it comes to the plot I am torn. I think it really was well written from beginning to end, but it still felt like it dragged in some moments. Even though the plot itself stayed interesting, with a few unexpected twists, this drama seemed to linger on certain moments for too long making me almost want to fast forward through some of it. This is the part where I admit that I may have just not been in the mood to watch this style of drama. Instead of enjoying watching the story slowly unfold I felt myself getting impatient while watching several times. That's also why my rewatch score is pretty low. Now that I know what happens it would be hard to watch this again without wanting to skip a lot of it. I'm a fan of this director's other dramas ("Money Flower", "Fated to Love You"), and I loved the way this drama looked, so I suspect that maybe the writers are more to blame when it comes to the overall pacing, including some longwinded dialogue at times too. Still, once I started rooting for Ha Seon, I knew I had to keep watching till the very end.

Overall fans of historical dramas should definitely watch "The Crowned Clown". Even though I shockingly didn't cry once, this is definitely a drama that may evoke emotions. Those looking for fast-paced action, romance with a lot of chemistry, or hilarious comedy should probably save this on their MDL queque for another time, but there's still enough action, romance, and comedy to make the story feel balanced, and not just non stop political betrayals and revenge. I'm personally glad I watched it, even if it didn't quite fit my current mood, and I definitely felt satisfied by the ending. What was good about this drama outweighed what could have been better. I'm certainly now a fan of grown-up Yeo Jin Goo for sure! I guess it takes a good actor to play a good actor.

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The Rational Life
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
mag 5, 2021
35 di 35 episodi visti
Completo 0
Generale 8.5
Storia 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Musica 8.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 8.5
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an older women younger man drama with much more depth

i just finished binging this series and if you are into older woman younger man dramas that is both bittersweet and realistic, then this is the drama for you. although it has areas that can be improved, overall it was a great watch. here's my breakdown of the pros and cons..
pros:
- even though the lead actors have a 19 age difference, i thought they pulled off their characters very well and their interactions didn't seem awkward at all
- the script was actually written quite well, this was a older women younger men drama done WELL
- the story in general is entertaining it's quite hard to write a love story with 12 year age gap that allows the audience to actually understand why two people are together and get along
- the outfits and just general styling of the characters were very well done
- i absolutely adorable the shen ruoxin, i think she's someone that girls can look up to, very independent women with her own views and she's just such a badass while keeping her gentle personality
- qi xiao is honestly such a cute bean, to be honest dylan wang didn't leave the best impression for me especially after meteor garden i rlly didn't like his character, but here wow he's proved that he's worth the hype, presenting his character as a very cheerful but mature man
- some other side characters i really liked were qi xiao's mom she's such a chill, caring mom, as well as you sijia very cute and supportive character, i also want to add that xu mingjie although i did't like him in the beginning, he's a great ceo and mentor for shen ruoxin
- i personally really like office business centered dramas so this was a great watch in general

cons:
- shen ruoxin's mom holy that woman needs to go for real, she gets on my nerves so much, i tried so hard to understand her very traditional perspectives but she needs to understand her daughter can make her own decisions in life, good thing she learned from that tho, in the end accepting the mains relationship
- i skipped a good amount of parts especially near the middle of the drama it just get's kinda draggy but does pick up near the end
- the side character stories were honestly kinda boring in my opinion like i really didn't care for them
- some of the characters like shen ruoxin's pursuers men were just so annoying at times but i think that's just part of the plot build up

overall a great watch if you are looking for a medium lengthen drama to binge with a great cast and entertaining story and set up

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Hi My Soul Mate
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
giu 17, 2025
Completo 0
Generale 7.0
Storia 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Musica 8.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 7.0
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Seoul Mates

The first time I watched it, I stopped around the 15-minute mark—I got distracted and went to do something else. But then it suddenly hit me that I had just watched Your Name Engraved Herein a couple of days earlier, and I was really craving a girl/girl story, whether romantic or platonic. I had high hopes for this one, but honestly, the messy pacing kind of ruined it for me.

I see a lot of people blaming the guy for ruining everything, but in my opinion, while he did play a part (unintentionally), the best friend also sabotaged the relationship herself. Why is no one talking about the dinner scene where her stunts pushed Ha-eun to storm off back to her room—and then the best friend just left? That was wild.

There were so many moments that could’ve been resolved with a bit of communication. Ha-eun also misunderstood things twice: first during the kiss scene, where she probably thought her best friend and boyfriend were in love, and then again when the boyfriend brought her drunk best friend to his place after the lover’s suicide.

Let’s talk about the boyfriend—he literally decided to marry Ha-eun while still being in love with Mi-so. He apologized and said he would make up for all his sins by staying with Ha-eun for the rest of his life. But honestly, I didn’t feel any chemistry between them. Did he really love her, or did he just settle for her because he couldn’t have her best friend?

And then there’s Ha-eun, who realizes on her wedding day that she loves her best friend more than her future husband. And instead of confronting anyone about it, she just... leaves. Another case of running away. Guess they're truly soulmates, because both of them are pros at avoiding things rather than facing them.

Aside from all the unnecessary worry they caused others, I had mixed feelings about the movie. There were moments I loved and others I hated. And what was with the strange blending of future and present timelines with no clear transition? One minute Mi-so has long hair, the next she’s getting it cut—and I couldn’t even tell what was real, what had already happened, or what was just imagined.

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Tao Hua Zhe Jiang Shan
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
lug 12, 2025
36 di 36 episodi visti
Completo 1
Generale 7.5
Storia 6.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Musica 8.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 6.0
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A big disappointment

this drama started strong with great plot and character motives , in the middle it became flat and they dragged it out for a very long time and finally a very rushed ending .

they kept talking about how Hua or empress LV was vile and ruthless but we saw nothing like they gave her 10 minutes in the final episodes we wanted more but about her backstory we never got to know anything maybe some little details but it wasn't enough.

taohua needed to make her mind does she love zaiye or not the kept going back and forth and she leaving him for his own good so he doesn't get hurt It just dragged things out It wasn't good at all .

in the end when he wanted to save her so he took the poison was a stupid plot , I mean we get the FL to live but kill ML what is that .

they just wanted a sad ending for no reason , even at the end I don't get did he wake up or was she just dreaming "imagining" .

really disappointed , on the other hand acting , casting ,music and the plot at first were great.

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Watashi no Takaramono
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
da mahiba
dic 26, 2024
10 di 10 episodi visti
Completo 5
Generale 8.5
Storia 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Musica 8.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 7.0

For mature audience (not in a sexy way)

PSA: One thing that I really appreciate on MDL is that little thing called "tags". It helps you know what you're getting into before deciding to watch a show. Sometimes, I feel they are misused (I had a little rant about it already actually). But most often, they are used the right way. For example, for this drama, you can clearly see "extramarital affair" as a tag, this will help you know if this is catered to you or not. Take me for example, I wouldn't watch a drama with the tag "heavy torture", then give it a 1star and complain about all that torture in the show. Why? Because that would be immature, and irrational.

This show is about real people, living real situations. It's not a romcom, it's a drama, as in, heavy themes being employed here. It's really well acted, produced and written. I found the story absolutely compelling. All the characters were very 3D, and their motives made all the sense in the world. This type of story is very common place actually, even though it remains a taboo topic (illegitimate children being raised in the household). I am not a cinema buff, but even I was able to appreciate the cinematography. I also never really pay attention to the music, and this time around I was hearing it and appreciating it (the use of happy music in very bittersweet moments for example).
What I mostly care about in dramas are the acting and the story. I already gave my opinion on the story, very good.
As for the acting, all the actors did a really good job, especially the two leads. I've known Tanaka Kei from Ossan's Love, let me tell you, this guy can act. You will see a completely different character, deeper, darker and also more restrained. But Matsumoto Wakana (FL) definitely gave him a run for his money, she is great in this.

IN SUMMARY: Watch this if (1) you are a grown up who wants to see grown ups going through grown up things, (2) you know fiction is supposed to make us think of situations that may or may not have happened, so that we can walk a mile in someone else's shoes, (3) you're just a cheating cheater who cheats ;D
PS: there are worse things someone can do to their spouse than cheating. Like raping them for example. Just sayin'

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Like in the Movies
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
nov 20, 2020
8 di 8 episodi visti
Completo 0
Generale 10
Storia 10
Acting/Cast 10
Musica 10
Valutazione del Rewatch 10
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MASTERPIECE

Wow, how will I ever go back to enjoying mediocre bl series after this masterpiece.
I remember seeing the opening scene and thinking what a cliche, cringey scene but then I actually watched episode 5 and the moments and conversation that lead to that dance just made it so beautiful, I thought, oh of course Vlad doesn't want his beautiful head of hair ruffled but the he tells his story and suddenly what seems like a vain quirk becomes so much more, oh there's a random picture of Karl as child so Vlad can gush about how cute he was as a child but no wrong again, this are but just a few instances of how this series turned cliches and tropes on their head and made them meaningful and there was never any wasted actions without reason.
Also this series did something that a lot of LGBTQ series and films fail to do which to not just villify that person not yet ready to come out of the closet or drag him out before he was ready but understand him all without diminishing the strength and bravery of the person who is already proudly out......... and the side characters, Judit who seemed like a caricature until we learn about her past action that are leading her to overcompensate and Anna able to love her child without being an earth mother whose life must end and begin with her child.......the music, the visuals, the story, the acting all 10/10 from me.

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I'm Sorry, I Love You
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
da Ginger
mar 21, 2013
16 di 16 episodi visti
Completo 1
Generale 10
Storia 10
Acting/Cast 10
Musica 10
Valutazione del Rewatch 10
Even though many may disagree with me...
Sorry I love you is the equivalence to masterpiece for me...masterpiece is not about perfection...it's about how the drama affects me...
even though I've only watched this drama 8 years ago ( and that I've never re-watched it) I remember every scene in it...every feeling it gave to me...every tear I shed for Cha Mu Hyuk's pain...no drama ever have affected me that much... it taught me more about family than any family drama...and more about love than any romantic one...it taught me about life, pain and happiness...it opened me to emotions I would've never felt & to thoughts I would've never thought...for the 1st time I saw death beautiful & suicide OK...for the 1st time I knew what love actually mean...it's not that complex...it's what makes you happy...useless sacrifices are not needed...living the time you have left together is what really matters...being by each others side even in death.
I Love that drama...not because of how good it was written or the brilliant acting or the nice direction...I love it because it made me see things in myself I would've never seen...and I know for sure...If that 11 years old young me didn't accidentally watch that drama at that time...I would've never been the same person I am today :)

*** For the music I love the OST...Snow-Flowers is one of the best Korean songs I've ever heard.
*** one day I'll re-watch it and I know it'll affect me the same way or maybe even more :)

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Poseidon
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
da mlh22
gen 24, 2012
16 di 16 episodi visti
Completo 0
Generale 6.0
Storia 6.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Musica 7.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 2.0
I would have loved to give this show a higher score, but there were just too many things that got on my nerves far too often! Choi Siwon is my favorite Korean celebrity, so he's the only reason I decided to watch the show. But there were many times I had to stop and take a break. It took me months to watch it all. Sometimes it was because things had just slowed down too much.

But mostly it was because of Lee Siyoung's character. I don't think I've ever seen such a pathetic, stupid and aggravating female lead - especially in an action drama. I remember stopping the media player on many occasions just completely overwhelmed with how annoying that character was. I mean, usually in action dramas I've seen (like Iris...which might be why I was so dissatisfied) the female lead has some spunk and is actually intelligent. But this character was so weak and just kept making absolutely idiotic decisions which could never have been made in a real life situation. I enjoy the fantasy of dramas and can take a sufficient amount of ludicrous scripting knowing it's not real. But this character would NEVER EVER exist in a real criminal investigation. Granted it was the script that did that, but Lee Siyoung comes off as a weak actress to me as well. I will avoid anything she does in the future because of this performance. She's the reason why I can't give a higher acting and overall score because that character just left a sour taste in my mouth after every single episode.

The plot was not too bad. The story was very different from what I've seen in the past. In fact, there were some really nice twists at the end too. There are also a lot of deep emotions in the story, which are expressed well enough by the actors. On a few occasions the acting was quite superb. I do recommend the show to anyone who wants to watch Choi Siwon's development as a actor; he was quite good in a number of scenes. Most of the actors were pretty good actually. Recognizing the comic relief characters early on helped me to be less judgmental of their odd performances and to enjoy them for what they were. A lot of the older male actors were quite good, especially the villains.

The timing and directing at times was unbearable. Especially in the lagging middle of the show and the last 30 minutes of the finale. A number of plot points and characters were never given the attention they deserved, or introduced just to be summarily forgotten about or never resolved in the end. But it's K-Drama, so a certain amount of that is to be expected.

There were some very memorable songs in the show though. Super Junior's Kyuhyun sings a great ballad. During the sappy "love" scenes, his voice got me through it! :)

I'd never rewatch this drama. And I'd only recommend it to die-hard K-Drama Action lovers (for the plot's uniqueness and for the quality of the villains) or for anyone who wants to really trace Choi Siwon's acting. Oh My Lady! wasn't so good...But I'm happy to say that after watching Poseidon, you can see he's got some real acting talent somewhere in him. When that talent came out on occasion, it was really surprising and enjoyable to watch.

So watch it if you planned to...but don't be too surprised when it really sucks for a while at least once an episode.

Then again, if you're a more forgiving person (especially when it comes to disappointing and annoying female leads), you'd probably quite like Poseidon!

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Reset
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
da Kate Big Brain Award1
ago 11, 2025
10 di 10 episodi visti
Completo 10
Generale 6.5
Storia 5.5
Acting/Cast 10
Musica 8.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 6.0

Underutilized everything, but the chemistry.

I’m just kind of underwhelmed by everything I witnessed - the last episode just made me crave for me. Why center your plot around such an interesting concept to barely use it? What’s the point?

Starting from the good - the chemistry between Pond and Peterpan was amazing. Fireworks on screen, literally and metaphorically. The tension was there, the desire, love, fear and hope. I did believe every emotion that was presented in the context of their relationship. Especially from Thada. Yes, I do believe Armin loved Thada, but Thada LOVED Armin - all caps. The devotion this man presents. I am sorry, but he deserves better than Armin - I said it and I’ll stand by it. Both actors delivered amazing performances though.

Then we have the true MVP, easily my favorite character Veynai. What a comedic timing this man had. There was not one bad scene of him. He often delivered just one or two lines, but they were so on point we did not need more. Also, shoutout to Janine who was the best pro manager ever. I wish they actually did more than vague hints that maybe one day there might be something between them. What an unstoppable duo they would be.

From the good I’d also give props to music and aesthetics. So many songs were such bangers, and even if the night sky at times gave me AI generated vibes, the drama was still visually stunning.

Onto the bad - everything else.

The plot was so mid it’s actually sad. At least they could have made it ridiculously entertaining. The villain was both tragically cartoonish, and painfully boring. The whole mystery was non-existing, we know from the start who is behind everything and it’s just frustrating for the leads to do NOTHING to eliminate the issue from the start. The “reincarnation/waking up in old body” aspect is barely used too. This could have brought so much more angst and tension, but instead we had like “I’m old” jokes every 2 episodes. And then there is the whole issue of the last “accident” which I rant about in the comment under spoiler. That thing though, almost broke my brain, I was so frustrated.

Overall, yes for the chemistry, no for the plot.

Side note, around half way through the drama I was chatting with a friend how whenever someone says Tada, I always repeat after them with the ‘ta-da” intonation and I’ve sent this gif: https://media.tenor.com/8pLlGDVzPRYAAAAM/muppet-family-christmas-muppets.gif and then… till the end of the show I had that muppet in my brain whenever someone said ML’s name.

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The Princess Wei Young
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
dic 10, 2016
54 di 54 episodi visti
Completo 0
Generale 7.0
Storia 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Musica 7.5
Valutazione del Rewatch 6.0
The story

Based on a book and on a real life empress, Princess Wei Young depicts the fight of a woman for justice and her love for a man that loved her back in equal measure despite the political plots, vengeful twists and turns and machinations to keep them apart. The drama however masked under a quest for vengeance is a pursuit of happiness in the form of love, greed, revenge, ambition and desire for power which contrasts with the reality of ancient times where love didn't rule the world and women were nothing more than possessions to be disposed off by their fathers into marriage to strengthen their family's power.

The characters and performances

Wei Young is an interesting character albeit mellow and reactive; she's doesn't set the pace, she follows it. She's soft even when she can't be bordering on aloofness, a contradistinction with her strength and drive on paper and most likely with her real life persona. Wei Young ought to be fierce, driven, determined, proactive and engaging, but she's not yet somehow despite the flaws the character is likeable.

Touba Jun looked most often than not a lovesick man pining for the woman he loves. Without the period wardrobe he would be just another contemporary man running after his love. For a male lead he lacks spunk which might be attributed to how the character was written or how the director wanted it to be performed. Regardless Touba Jun is visually appealing to watch on screen therefore what is lost in character is gained in beauty, not entirely a bad thing if the drama was a period adaptation of Boys over flowers in the palace.

Chang Ru and Touba Yu are machiavellian scene steallers. Chang Ru is a weed pretending to be a naive flower that uses people to accomplish her own personal agenda without them knowing about it. Clever, manipulative and ambituous, she's an expert at deception like Touba Yu, the man she loves; the man that wants Wei Young. Both characters are complex and have such a strong presence on screen, that is fascinating to watch despite all their plotting and coniving misdeeds.

The music

The opening theme is A-Lin's A Moment ir Romance, a sweet ballad about loving someone until one has to say goodbye, wanting to be together. The closing theme, Gifted is sang by Princess Wei Young's leads Tang Yan and Luo Jin. Both reflect the story well and are sang beautifully.

Overall

An interesting story with a good cinematography, well crafted and visually stunning that is both enganging and moving, despite the flaws of the lead characters, that acted more like secondary characters in their own story. Someone's loss is another person's gain and Chang Ru and Touba Yu took the opportunity prsented to them and showcased episodes of pure magnetism on screen, therefore, for all the above I rate it 7 out of 10.

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Superior Day
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
da Ackery
mag 1, 2022
8 di 8 episodi visti
Completo 4
Generale 1.5
Storia 1.5
Acting/Cast 5.5
Musica 5.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 1.0

This series should have never been created

I intended to write a typical review with the aspects of the drama that I enjoyed and the parts I disliked, but then I realised that there was not even one positive thing I could say about this series, not even one. If you enjoyed this drama, please don't read further.

This is probably one of the worst series I have watched in my life and in the thriller-mystery genre it may actually be the worst.

I will get straight to the point which is the plot. Imagine a chessboard where the players can move their pawns however they like, without considering the rules. That’s how this series is like. The writer uses the characters, which are equally badly written, however she likes without taking into consideration that there is something called logic. The genre of this series does not allow plot holes. It is not a drama where a pigeon and his friends can appear to save the day and you are fine with it, because the genre allows it. They are not even the types of plot holes that you can dismiss, because you are having a good time.

We all have watched kdramas where the police officers are portrayed as idiots and they don’t use their brain to think. Well, comparing to the characters in this series where everyone acts like they have only one brain cell left, those police officers should have won some medals for their exemplary behaviour.

The actors were mediocre, but to tell the truth, I am not sure if it is because they are not good actors or it’s because their characters were so badly written that they couldn’t do anything better than that. Even the OST has nothing to offer and it was one of the few times that the music felt so out of place.

This may have sounded a bit offensive, but since I felt like this series insulted my intelligence, I couldn’t write what I felt in a more positive way.

Do yourself a favour and forget about the existence of this series, because it shouldn’t have been made to begin with.

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The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
set 5, 2012
16 di 16 episodi visti
Completo 0
Generale 9.0
Storia 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Musica 10
Valutazione del Rewatch 9.0
I was actually hesitant to start this drama because the storyline didn't seem all too intriguing to me. However, I love Kim Bum so I forced myself to start it. The drama actually captured my attention more than I thought it would. The acting was really good and even though elements of it were similar to other dramas, I don’t think I’ve actually watched one that seemed that similar to it. Plus, the story line is fairly realistic in this era as more and more women are becoming more career-oriented and possibly giving up their love lives like the three main women do in this drama. The only thing that I disliked about the drama was the whole flamenco dancing story line. When you watch it, you'll understand -- I don't want to go into too much detail about it because it'll give too much away. But other than that, this drama brought a lot of laughs as well as connections with the characters.

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Very Ordinary Couple
17 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
nov 8, 2013
Completo 0
Generale 8.0
Storia 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Musica 7.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 6.0
I really liked this movie, especially the beginning because it was hilarious. It was different from how I imagined it, and at times (very rarely) it dragged a little. The two leads had great chemistry and it wasn't cheesy or cliche. It had just the right amount of romance to make you feel like they were truly in love with each other and their disagreements were very cute at times and heartbreaking at others.Overall I'm definitely glad I watched it. It's once of the most realistic protayals of couples I've ever seen.
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Star and Sky: Star in My Mind | Sky in Your Heart
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
ott 10, 2022
8 di 8 episodi visti
Completo 0
Generale 10
Storia 10
Acting/Cast 10
Musica 8.5
Valutazione del Rewatch 9.0

Heart Fluttering & Comfort show.

I loved this show so much. I mean the storyline is so simple and showcased in such a grounded manner that you instantly fall in love with.

I love the cast and their chemistry is top notch. Everytime they both come on the screen my heart flutters. I also love the simplicity of their characters.

Their is no dragging, no confusions, no overdramatic scenes. They like each other, they feel it and accept it.

Side cast has also done a good job and their characters are also likeable like other persons in our life.

Talking about OST - Good ✔️
Cinematography - Good ✔️
Storytelling - Good ✔️
Cast - Excellent ✔️
Acting & Chemistry - Superb ✔️
This show has become my one of the comfort shows.

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Xu Chun Chun De Cha Hua Yun
18 persone hanno trovato utile questa recensione
da Rhea
nov 30, 2021
24 di 24 episodi visti
Completo 4
Generale 6.5
Storia 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Musica 7.0
Valutazione del Rewatch 6.5

Another Jealous Love Rivals Drama

Frankly speaking, I think I chose the wrong drama to watch right after completing Rebirth For You. There are similarities in both with jealousy being a big part of their plot. The only reason I gave A Camellia Romance a slightly higher score is because the drama is much shorter. As such, it is more tolerable as there is only so much jealous third parties that you can take in a story.

I guess if you see this as a filler drama with low expectations given the not so popular cast, then perhaps you might enjoy it better. But if you start hoping for originality and really fluffy romance, this would be a disappointment. It has shades of a rom-com but it is definitely not a angst-free watch like General’s Lady or even Your Sensibility My Destiny. The reason is simple – it uses jealous love rivals to drive the show.

Cliche Plot (Spoilers Alert!)
Basically, A Camellia Romance is about a rich and handsome young man who is a great catch for a husband. However, he only has eyes for one woman who is the love of his life. So, what you will get is 3 jealous women going after our hero with each subsequent one being a bigger threat than the one before. The first woman is the man’s cousin and she appears from Episode 7 to 9. The second one went to school with him and she takes the spotlight from Episode 13 to 17. The last one is a ruthless princess and she wreaks havoc for the main couple from Episode 20 to 24.

On top of that, you will also have a jealous childhood friend of the female lead who can’t stop eyeing her for himself when he appears from Episode 5 onwards. Hence, you can see clearly the focus of this drama. It is all about 4 people breaking the couple apart because they want the man or woman for themselves. These schemes are interspersed with sweet interactions between the leads and the investigation into the male lead’s father’s death.

I think the kisses and sweet moments of the couple do help to make this rom-com more watchable. At least, there are enough of these scenes to balance things out a little because the endless jealousy is annoying to watch. However, it also doesn’t detract from the fact that A Camellia Romance is another rom-com with a cliche plot of jealous love rivals with their wily schemes.

An Independent Female Lead
If there is one good thing worth mentioning about this drama, it would perhaps be the female character, Chun Chun. She is a very independent and assertive lady with an ambition of building her own business. While she is not as matured and smart as the female lead in Jun Jiu Ling, at the very least, she is not someone who is timid and waiting to be rescued. Chun Chun is a woman who knows what she wants and go for it.

As for the male character, he is smart but also tends to hide problems from his beloved in the name of love and protection. You will find this in many romance dramas and the male lead does this a few times in A Camellia Romance. I get why he does it but then, you will also start to feel that all these is yet another romance drama trope that you have watched time and time again if you are an avid Chinese drama viewer.

Chemistry
Guo Zi Fan and Li Mo Zhi have somewhat good chemistry as romantic on-screen partners. To me, it is good enough for a low budget rom-com. If they could feed off each other’s energy better to up the chemistry to a sizzling level, perhaps the drama could be more highly rated. After all, there is no shortage of kisses and hugs for this couple.

Personally, Li Mo Zhi looks slightly more matured than Guo Zi Fan at times in this drama. This is not surprising as she is 4 years older than him in real life. It doesn’t exactly mar the couple’s visuals but you don’t get the feeling that this is a perfect match either unlike the Liang Jie and Xing Zhao Lin pairing in The Eternal Love Season 3 and Dilraba Dilmurat and Leo Wu in The Long Ballad. Simply put, they are passable as a main couple but doesn’t leave a lasting impression once the story comes to an end.

My Verdict – Nothing Special
I have to admit that love triangles and jealousies are not my cup of tea for a romance drama. Hence, I find it annoying watching A Camellia Romance especially towards the last quarter when there have been other possessive love rivals gracing the screen for most of the episodes. So, I’m also thankful that they have kept this short rather than dragging it out for more delusional jealousy and angst for the viewers.

Of course, you might have a different view if you do not share the same bias as me. Furthermore, the ending is nicely wrapped up with no complications or confusion for the viewers. It has a predictable ending but I dare say it is also what most romance drama fans would like to see when the curtain comes down.

Before I end this A Camellia Romance review, perhaps a word of warning would be good. This is not a pure fluff romance drama in case you are looking for one. There will be annoyances and angsts. You might also plough on once you start because you want to see the villains getting just desserts for their evil schemes to break up a loving couple. So, whether you like it or not, you could end up sitting through it because you want the feel good factor of seeing the villains punished even if the story isn’t that great to begin with.

Overall, I would give A Camellia Romance a 6.5/10 score for this review. I don’t think I can rate it any higher give the cliches and a very average production. I guess it is still watchable if you don’t mind the jealousy theme. Otherwise, it is really a waste of time if there are other dramas on your ‘To Watch’ list.

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