Reviews

Overall this was a good drama. It didn't have much action, the episodes all had a rather similar scheme and there weren't many surprises.
The cases were great and so many details were planned to make them solve the locked room mysteries. Often the suspects were obvious, but the way they realized it wasn't.

The music was good, it matched the drama perfectly.

The acting was good, too. There weren't many dramatical or tearful / painful scenes to play, but everyone stayed in character and did a good job.

The story itself was okay. I was more fond of the characters because there wasn't much development in the story, it pretty much stayed the same.

I was completely disappointed by the ending, but it's not going to change my score. I'm hoping for a sequel or special now, though I think it's unlikely.

You should try this drama anyway and give it a chance. ;)

Leggi di Più

A very good sequel that does not disappoint!

When I saw "Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty II To the West" (SToTD S2) being aired in iQiyi many weeks ago, it caught my attention, so I decided to watch season 1 when season 2 was still airing. While I'm a bit late to season 1, on a positive note, I get to watch them back-to-back, and I don't have to wait months and years for the sequel.

Season 2 started where season 1 left off. Due to some events that happened in Chang'an, Lu Ling Feng was deployed to Yunding, a county located in the western frontiers of the Tang Dynasty. As he, Su Wu Ming and the rest of the gang travel westward, they encountered strange things, solved mysteries, met diverse people, and experienced adventures together.

SToTD S2 is a very good and engaging series, and it's now one of my favorites, along with season 1! I was looking forward to each episode and trying to solve the cases with our protagonists. The overarching story and individual cases are generally well-written and seamlessly executed. The pacing is just right and they're not boring. My favorites are:
• 2nd Case - The Death of the Coroner (仵作之死)
• 5th Case - Mystical/Tongtian Rhino (通天犀)
• 6th Case - Drunk in Yunding or Yunding Wine (name of the wine) (云鼎醉)
• 8th Case - The Provider (供养人)

The 4th case is the one I like the least, and where I have some lingering questions.

The cast, from main to supporting, did a great job portraying their characters. I like the continually growing dynamics, humor, and camaraderie of our power team - Lu Ling Feng, Su Wu Ming, Pei Xi Jun, Fei Ji Shi, Chu Ying Tao, and eventually, Xue Huan (who rejoined the team later).

Yang Xu Wen nailed the role of Lu Ling Feng, who has matured and grown a lot since season 1. He was able to show the different sides of LLF - serious, funny, well-educated, intelligent and observant, a great fighter, and a proud man (because of his background) who has learned to be humble. LLF is not showy with his affections, but he protects the people he cares for. His romance with Pei Xi Jun is not passionate and fiery, but sweet and more subdued.

Right now, I can't think of anyone else but Yang Zhi Gang who could portray Su Wu Ming so well. He has a sharp mind, often thinks one step ahead, is observant and a top-notch investigator. Sometimes, he would appear cowardly, but he's actually paving the way for an escape or baiting the suspects. I like how Yang Zhi Gang can pull off a comic scene with a straight face.

Now on to Pei Xi Jun, well portrayed by Gao Xi Wen. At the start of season 1, I find Pei Xi Jun's character a little off-putting, but she has grown much throughout season 1, contributing to many of the cases, and I have come to truly like her. One has to continue watching to understand and appreciate her character more. In season 2, she definitely holds her own ground. She's smart, charming, loyal, is a gifted painter, and made important contributions to the team as they solve the mysteries. Also, she and Lu Ling Feng have great chemistry and make a good pair.

Fei Ying Jun aka Fei Ji Shi (Chicken Fei) is another interesting character. Being the doctor in the team, his expertise is masked behind his shabby appearance. His rapport with the team, especially with Lu Ling Feng and Su Wu Ming, and love for chicken and wine are endearing trademarks of his character. The actor, Chen Chuang, delivers the quirks of Fei Ji Shi pretty convincingly.

Chu Ying Tao, played by Sun Xue Ning, complements Pei Xi Jun. PXJ, being the daughter of a once high-ranking official, is well-educated, refined and has a sheltered upbringing. CYT is straightforward, has good fighting skills and is well-versed in the world of jiang hu (江湖). These two have developed a sisterly bond. Lastly, I'm so glad that Anson Shi reprised his role as Xue Huan. He has grown taller but is still adorable, retaining some of his childlike demeanor.

The music is good and fitting for the drama, although I prefer the ending theme song of season 1 more. Production quality is commendable; the settings and costumes are beautiful. I also like the fight scenes; they're well-choreographed and skillfully executed.

I'm looking forward to season 3, which I hope would be shown next year, in 2025, or at the latest, in 2026. Aside from more interesting cases and the political maneuverings/gripping main story, I also hope they would further develop the 2 main couples' relationships, especially that of Lu Ling Feng and Pei Xi Jun.

Final verdict: SToTD S2 is an excellent sequel, and I highly recommend it. For those who haven't watched both seasons and thinking of diving into S2, I suggest watching S1 first before S2 to get more context, know how the characters got together, to understand their background, and gain a better appreciation of them in season 2.

Leggi di Più

A Promise of 3-course Sweet dessert tasting, but the last course was Espresso!

Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75

** I did not read the web novel. The review is solely about the drama itself.

I can see why so many are disappointed in “The First Night with the Duke”, especially after a very fun first 7 episodes. It’s like you are promised this very delicious 3-course dessert tasting but the last course was a cup of dark and bitter espresso. I expected the focus of the plot would change to be about ML’s backstory and his relationship with the king, and I understand that. The disappointment is in the writing and execution, because many of us signed up for sweet desserts and not a cup of espresso (at least give me a sweet frappuccino!).

There are two reasons for me watching this:
1. The plot of FL trying to play matchmaker for ML and 2FL but ended up falling in love with ML. I like this trope!
2. Ok Taec Yeong - need I say more about how tall and handsome he is, and with beautifully sculpted muscles?

Well, for these two reasons, I am quite happy! I came into this looking for a romantic comedy and it was delivered in the first 7 episodes. As I said, I like the trope and I love the obsessive tyrant who is possessive, clingy and gets jealous…and he’s actually NOT mean to his girl! I had a really fun time watching those early episodes. I wasn’t expecting anything amazing but I got what I wanted. The acting in general is not bad and the chemistry between the main leads is pretty good. We got a couple of not-totally-steamy scenes and good kisses. They are cute together as a couple. The supporting cast is OK. The mean girl isn’t too mean, and the ‘innocent’ girl is to be expected. No plot twists here.

But things go downhill with the introduction of another character at the end of ep 7. That’s when the shift in tone happened. We got revenge, palace politics and a fight for the throne in the last 4 episodes. The comedic tone disappears and we’re left with a typical historical political drama. The writing is fine, the villain is fine and the king is fine. It’s all very average but where was my promised dessert for the 3rd course? I don’t want espresso now! “The First Night with the Duke” is unable to balance the comedy throughout the drama.

Since this is a fantasy drama, I am not going to be picky about the how and why FL was transported into the novel. There really can’t be a ‘realistic’ explanation because it’s not real. You can only judge whether it's creative or not or it's the same old same old. But you can totally tell that you are NOT watching a C-drama because the censorship police did not come and give you the standard ending to a Chinese transmigration fantasy drama (know what I mean??).

Overall, I have a decent time watching “The First Night with the Duke”. It’s only 12 episodes long and at least I enjoyed two-thirds of the drama. I don’t hate the last quarter, I just wish it was executed better. I would only recommend this drama if you like the actors or this particular fantasy plot. Otherwise, you can save some time and watch something else.

If you read the web novel, can you drop me a comment and let me know if it does a better job in balancing the comedic tone throughout? Was the politics handled in a much better way?


Completed: 7/29/2025 Review #608

Leggi di Più

MY MOST FAV ML EVER!!

Uhh writing this with my tears still falling out, the ending is very beautiful and honestly the best as I think forced romance in their current stage of life indeed feel unrealistic.. but it doesn't mean i dont want to curse the director for not including some fluffy epilouges! Well guess they save it for season 2 but honestly if they dont use the same casts then I really not enthusiastic to wacth it. The drama beautiful for the story and strong chemistry between actors and their brilliant characters potrayal so it will make a big different if use different people for it..

By the way though i like all chara but the carry of this show definitely the ML! Uh let just say how happy im that the ML is not the usual cold straight A guy, but the guy that seem very second lead-ish.. as he is cheerful, positive sunshine boy that very street smart and gifted genius. Honestly all this time usually my fav ML is type of badboyish, sarcasm but very sweet inside person, but for the first time my heart just melted away by the kind hearted guy.. Well, Hua Biao not naively kind or anything but between their gank of friend he is maybe the most unfortunate, well everyone have their own problem but if compared with ML's its heartwrenching that all his friend's problems seem to be your normal spoiled teenager drama, but ML had to shoulder sickly eldery who is your only family that you have, financial problem etc so he is extremly sensible and responsible person .. But the most amazing thing is despite his circumstances how optimistic, cheerful, confident, kind hearted, hardworking in life and study but he is not pretentious at all.. in fact he is flexible as he can be cunning or break some rule when needed too, very loyal with his friends.. His way of loving a girl is not become territorial but become her best support, protecting her and keep encouraging her even though actually her problems seem very childish compared with his mountain of problems.. His smile is medicine for anything as it never falter and always shine brighly.. So his emotial breakdown is really tear jerking, i really crying hard for ML and grandma scenes.. Hua Biao, let me hug you okay 😭😭
I can go on and on about Hua Biao, he is just very beautiful person ah.. In real life we met many people, and understand that human is not perfect, and some time the imperfectness just ugly, sometime its just make a person.. normal. But between those many people you sometime found one or two person, that is like a shining diamond between river stones.. Hua Biao is such diamond if he really come to my life.. The actor really did amazing job too, his aura and emotional potrayal just so poignant and spot on. So if there is season two please please just please for the same actor juseyo..

FL is quite a dumb head at first, she come from very different family circumstances from ML, so she is spoiled and childish, and made some blunder where what she think as harmless pranks actually can give serious consequences toward ML, though ML never blame her.. I think I can get where ML come from. When you are experienced life's bitterness that shredded many of your naivety, then FL's carefree and innocent childish either make you envy or want to protect such blank paper from being stained, I think the ML is both, how much he envy his friends with their parents around to cheer or trashing your exam result, maybe so much.. so it really show how amazing his self control is to never shout at his friend when they were throwing childish tantrum "Can you stop your sh*t?! At least you have parent, i dont!" LoL
Btw FL step by step become more sensible in the end, so does second ML.. honestly though i dont ship Yan Xi and Li Yu but this is one of painful thing depicted in the drama that when you grown up, you had to let go of many things, Two people that grow up joined in the hips, practically faced everything together, and even some feeling had to involved.. in the end, you had to accept it .. that you grow distant and separated.. (Thankfully Li Yu is in another drama where he and his childhood sweetheart have HE romance there)
Aaaah this cant do! I need season two because really need the mature version of Hua Biao and Yanxi finally in mature relationship, Yanxi and Liyu become friend again, Yan Zhao and He Mei, Huang Deng Deng and Situ Ertao.... their family too.. And more and more my sweet sweet sweet Hua Biao!!

Leggi di Più

If your looking for an awesome rom com but also would like it to have meaning then this is for you.
When I read the summary i found the plot interesting so i decided to immediately start watching it. There were so many scenes that made me laugh out loud, and I really enjoy dramas with lots of comedy.

What really made me absolutely fall in love with this was the heartfelt and meaningful moments that made cry buckets and think about my life.
The acting was good and I think the romance between the two reads felt real.
Overall this is something you should definitely watch

Leggi di Più

I went into this show hearing many praises about it. I didn’t go in looking forward to watching cheerleading which the show was apparently supposed to be centred on. But I was eager to watch it hearing much praise about it from non-Korean K-drama fans.

The story isn’t dissimilar to most high school K-dramas. But the amazing thing about K-dramas is their ability to take the same storyline and types of characters, and present them in just a slightly different way to audiences. There’s definitely a lot of cute in this show and generally makes for an enjoyable and light watch.

I can’t say Eunji didn’t do a good job in this show, as she seems to do in every drama she is in. But one thing that does disappoint me is that the character Yeon-doo does remind me of the other spunky female characters she’s played in her previous shows. I do hope she tries out other types of characters in her future projects.

I’ve not seen Lee Won Geun or Ji Soo in any major projects before this. I’ve only seen LWG in Moon Embracing the Sun but that was such a small role. These two are a revelation in this show! Their characters are quite different from each other, but they share a close friendship on the show. It really looked like they were having fun playing these characters. They both stole my heart in this show, so it’s hard to go any further without turning into a rabid fangirl, so all I’ll say is I’ll certainly be on the lookout for both these actors in their future projects.

Super props to Chae Soo Bin for playing what seemed like an absolutely irredeemable villain who went all out to ruin the lives of our protagonists, yet with an interesting backstory that still managed to pull at my heartstrings everytime. I just wanted to give her chance to redeem herself every time, no matter how many evil deeds she had done.

On a whole, the cast have great chemistry and make the show such fun to watch. Of course, there’s also the fact that it’s a high school drama and personally there’ll always be a place in my heart for high school dramas.

Another good thing about this show is it’s short at 12 episodes. The ending did feel slightly rushed and that’s a small stain on this show. Otherwise, highly recommended!

Leggi di Più

A different drama

Almost every episode had a twist that leaves you dumbfounded and the leads did a superb job displaying such grey characters. My problem is that the main villain felt like a caricature compared to Hai Yiping. Kangping prince in the end came out as a royal who was lucky enough to have clever subordinates than being clever himself. His ending was also anticlimactic, and his arc didn't quite fit the tone of the whole drama making it look like an afterthought story addition, making the last episodes a bit draggy.
The main story though is truly hitting the spot. Torture and rape and the trauma caused are nicely delivered making the pain and suffering of the victims real and not just a McGuffin.
Now the romance felt like a much needed sneeze that was never realised despite the constant nose tingling. I'm sure you know how it feels. There was such potential there, especially in the last episode when they fell into the water. That would have made it chef's kiss.
All in all, the drama deserves more hype. It's one of the few that focus on 2 nobodies trying to make something better for their country, without any real ties to royalty and wealth and the only one I have watched that shows the strengths and depths of women power and friendship without turning them into simps halfway through the story.
P.S. the OST is shockingly good. It's the second drama I did not skip the intro

Leggi di Più

Hilariously cute with a reasonably sound plot.

Uk those overdone wattpad fictions which have this bad mafia guy who tries to become good for that one girl. Well this was a much subtle and lighter version of that. The focus stays more on the ML's progressive changes in personality. It has a lot of comedic relief. And Kim Rae Won as always delivers whatever be the role. Jin Seon Kyu's character and bits, all witty and funny. And this very special cameo which I personally exclaimed at and enjoyed a lot. I will say that the skinship was a bit lacking but then that was only a subplot, plus the ending leaves you kinda giddy with some feel-good scenes. A very great one -time watch.

Leggi di Più

This show started off really well and the backstory/ set up was really promising. However, once it caught up to current times, the plot floundered. There was a real lack of story telling in this drama and I ended up pretty underwhelmed. The real saving grace of this show was the acting. Kim Rae Won and Park Shin Hye did a good job for the material they were given. There was some awkwardness in the beginning of the relationship, but then there was complete comfortableness and next to no drama. I wasn't a huge fan of Yoon Gyun Sang at first, but he grew on me through the run (but they definitely could have styled him better). Lee Sung Kyung was believable as a spoiled lonely rich girl. I enjoyed all the supporting characters save the doctor that played Seo Woo's father. He was so childish and immature that I found it hard to believe he was running a hospital. But the actor did a wonderful job of conveying the spirit of the character. He was immensely unlikable. There were lots of great cameos as well, and the most memorable was played by Nam Goong Min - his episodes were some of the better parts of the floundering middle. I wouldn't recommend this drama unless you are just a fan of the actors. There is not really a plot to it at all, and even as a hospital drama it was lacking. While it had a promising start, I only finished it because I was invested in seeing it to the end once I realized that the plot was never going to pick back up and that nothing was really happening to our main characters. All the action was happening around them instead.

Leggi di Più

This drama is all about 2 key things 1)Love & learning how to love 2) growing up to become person you need to be, confidently. The subject was sensitive YET handled deftly by the GHJ & GY and cast who portray degrees of a relationships & shades of love. Lots of tears shed while watching with many of the sub-stories impacting youths, family, and schools and the yearning love of the GY...Funny, so many times we get caught viewing today though regrets glasses we cannot look ahead to see the things facing us cause we are wearing the wrong glasses. GREAT drama for all who love good story telling, electric chemistry, well placed sound-tracks or having GHJ - MSun withdrawal. Just get some tissues ready, you will cry...

Leggi di Più

Try it, it's fun if you turn your brain off!

This is another one of my favorite types of shows, the best/worst short dramas to watch! And I can't believe it looks like I'm the only person watching this in the world? Spoilers ahead (though it won't matter to the story at all, trust me).

The Pros
The cast is very good looking. The hair, costumes, and accessories, for the most part, are excellent. The sets and scenes are beautiful, and if you watch a lot of cdramas you will see some familiar places. The wirework that the ML and FL performed was excellent, you can tell they must have done a lot of practicing to make the flights look so effortless. The music was really fun in some places, like the series couldn't decide if it was a light romcom or an exciting costume drama and the music showed that. The ML and FL are both really good actors and they could almost pull off this trainwreck of a show, but not quite!

The Cons
What the heck is up with the editing. The scenes go like this: they are in the middle of town in the daytime, no they are in the forest at night, wait, they are now in a dungeon? wait no they are in a bamboo forest in the daytime, no night time, where the heck are they now? No transition just flittering back and forth between times and locations. You could make a fun drinking game out of this. Every time there is a sudden confusing switch take a shot!

I never did really figure out what the story was. They were all looking for a chart and then somehow said fck it all we'll forget about that aspect of the story and it wasn't mentioned again. And the ML and FL were married (contract/temporary?) but how/why we'll never know. The FL and ML were both in disguise, one was an assassin and the other a marquis? Maybe? The fight scenes were so bad they were like a high school production. Keep that FL away from a sword please!

The villain was over the top cheesy and not in a good way. Even his wig was bad!

All in all I had fun watching this one. Try it, you might like it too. I have found that I really enjoy these short series, where you never know what you are going to get. The episodes are only 10 minutes long, less then that if you don't count the pre and post credits.

Leggi di Più

Solid story, riveting throughout

I got to know about this series as I was looking at some of the Light On Series installments. Burning Ice has a sequel in Light On Series: The Long Night though Burning Ice isn't one of the Light On Series installments.

It's not often that we get a crime thriller with a solid story, excellent storytelling and nuanced characterization while also being thought-provoking. The gradual moral degeneration of Guo Yu, a lawyer who unwittingly gets embroiled in criminal activities is one of the best elements in this series. He can be naive, he can be devoted in love, he can be cowardly, he can be callous. Dai Xu brings the character to life, making Guo Yu both a person we can empathize with and a villain we condemn.

The suspense regarding the layers of truth beneath the serial killer dubbed Snowman is also maintained very well. We get to learn about the identity of Snowman early on, but even as we know more, the mystery deepens. Everything comes together very well eventually, and there isn't an implausible twist or unconvincing criminal motivation to mar the story.

In comparison to the sequel (a different story except for the character Yan Liang, the policeman), perhaps Burning Ice has a less exciting story. But it more than makes up for it with very compelling and interesting characters (who suit the story). My opinion is that The Long Night has an even more compelling plot, but most of the characters are not developed with the sort of nuance that we see in Burning Ice.

Leggi di Più

An anthology like no other

Many times, I tend to say that some series are not for everyone and you should like specific elements to enjoy them. However, I don’t think I have truly meant that, until now.

This is a series that is difficult to describe in words or to be more precise, you can describe it well enough, but you will never truly prepare the viewer of what they will experience, because Isu is an experience in itself.

It is an anthology consisting of eight episodes about the stories of different women and their precious chairs. It is a dialogue-based series that relies heavily on visual storytelling and it is, as it should, visually stunning. The acting is phenomenal and it has elements that personally reminded me of a theatrical play.

You can find a bit of everything in this peculiar series, that, frankly, only the Japanese could make. There are some surreal stories that use symbolism, some melancholic tales, some interesting and though provoking stories and some that are a bit underwhelming to watch.

Like the opening of every episode says, if you imagine a world with chairs, it will become a story.

Leggi di Più

An underrated gem - you're missing out if you aren't watching this

Upon a friend's recommendation I decided to pick up this drama called "Kotaru Lives Alone" just because I was bored of most dramas lately. The synopsis seemed nice but I started watching it without much expectation. But I was blown away with how good this drama was! It made me reminisce about my early drama watching days when I watched only Jdramas and nothing else. This drama seems fit for a late 2000s or early 2010s Jdrama quality.

PLOT + CHARACTERS:
Honestly, it is ridiculous. It would never be legal, much less- posssible for a 5 year old to live alone and much less having a law firm or random people looking for a random kid. Were it a real scenario, they boy would be taken away by social services and they would have done as deemed fit by them. This drama reaffirms every episodes that it is a fictional set up which was sort of funny.

It's about a 5 year old who rents an apartment and how he navigates his life all alone. Of course, the neighbour steps in and from there on they go on from barely tolerating each other to forming a deep parent-child relationship. Also we have some lovely side characters thrown in and what I loved about this drama was how it was about kindness and helping others in need. The main adult character is a tsundere but his growth was pretty believable. I love how he never condescends the child and instead tells him how even an adult can learn lessons from a child. Honestly- their relationship had me very emotionally invested. We also meet a female hostess who is being abused by her boyfriend. I loved the fact that for the first time in a Jdrama, they called the police rather than trying to solve the problem on their own.

ACTING:
The main child star steals the show. His dialogue delivery was on point and he must be a smart kid because it was no easy feat! I also loved all the side actors and their interactions with each other were very natural. By the end they did seem more like a family than random people who came together. Kudos to the cast and the director who made sure that the viewer is able to feel this side of the story rather than us brushing it off as some comedy.

OVERALL:
I can understand that this drama isn't a conventional genre and Jdramas are even less mainstream among international viewers. However, it is a drama not to be missed out on as it has a fresh plot, comedy and some great characters. Like all Jdramas, it also teaches us the importance of kindness and giving others new chances. I honestly wouldn't mind a Season 2 because there is still a lot of story left to be told. Kotaru-chan's innocence lives on and I truly want him to get his real happy ending.

Leggi di Più

I've seen my fair share amount of lakorn and I'm proud to say that this lakorn, Bhuppae Sunniwat is the best lakorn I've ever watched so far. If I can stand being hungry and sleep deprive, I would definitely finish this lakorn in 2 days instead of 5 days lol. It was so awesome. The moment I woke up till the moment I'm trying to sleep, I was so excited to continue this lakorn.

All the cast are perfect especially Bella and Pope. They both slayed me with their performance as Karakade/Kadesurang and Date. Kadesurang as Karakade is no doubt the best lakorn heroine in my opinion, I just love her so much. She doesn't necessarily meddle in someone else's business, she's strong and she's so smart. As for Date, I love him too, he's so devoted to Karakade and I swooned too much when I saw him smiled. And as for their romance, I squealed too many times that my family thought there's a rat in house lol

As for the story, my only complaint is that I wish they show us more of their married life. I would love to watch more of their interaction as husband and wife. It's really fun that as we watch this lakorn we also get to learnt more about the history of Thailand. If only my country would also do something like this lakorn, then maybe I won't be as clueless as I was about my country's history.

If you're looking for an amazing, sweet and funny lakorn/drama, then I definitely recommend this to you!

Leggi di Più