Reviews

A true masterpiece

This is one of those BL's that you recommend to everyone, no matter what BL's that person usually watches this is a MUST watch..
So lets get into it !

Firstly: Chemistry
the chemistry here is pure perfection, the longing stares and little glances the characters share, the NC scenes are done really well. You can feel the yearning for each-other's body trough the screen.

Even the side couple is pure perfection !
The second couple goes trough so much mental health topics its amazing to watch. The scene where one draws the others naked body holds a special place in my heart. The character feeling comfortable enough to portray their helpless naked body and all the emotions you can feel trough their eyes is ... PERFECTION

The story: 9.5/10
I would give it a 10/10 but it got really confusing at some point.
The actual story is so well done, all the twists and action scenes are amazing,
I really liked watching characters develop into their own person, with their own story and life
The little parts in the story that say so little but show so much, if you watch it again you will realize that some parts are planed to not make sense, thats its charm !
Every part of the story will get resolved, you just need to wait !

Is this worth watching ? YES, absolutely

Is it in any part boring? NO

Is re-watching it better than watching it for the first time? Maybe, maybe not? It depends. I would sell my soul to watch it for the first time but I really enjoyed watching it again. You just realize more and understand better.

Will this stay (for me) as one of the best BL's ever made? YES!

Can I watch it even tho I don't usually watch action BL's ? YES, its a must watch !

If you want a fluffy story, with no action this might not be for you, but I think every BL watcher should watch this, this is and will forever stay as one of the best BL's ever made and if you don't watch this you will miss out on such a great BL - a literal piece of art

Leia Mais

TONI STOLE MY HEART

This is a telenovela for mature audiences.

Right off the bat, I immediately loved the fast pacing and the backstory. In all four episodes you wont feel like shortcuts are taken and that they really gave a lot of thought into developing the total flow of the series and divided ithem perfectly nto these episodes.

The story is somewhat of a mixed bag for me, not because it doesnt happen in real life but because it is too melodramatic. This is the only short series that I couldnt watch in one seating. Each episode is a little bit too long it felt like i needed to take a bit of rest after each episode.

The cast is amazing, phenomenal even. Toni and Tao were just perfect for the roles - cute, masculine and both were just gorgeous. Special shoutout to the locker room scene when Toni slid into his undies - this man is just BEAUTIFUL. Even Bebe gave a good performance.

I want to give credit to the production design team for creating the spaces that doesnt look temporarily made for 4 episodes. The wedding and the housewarming are both believeable.

Overall this short series deserves an 8. Attention all other tv content creators - this is how you do a short series.

Leia Mais

Surely Not Together

This was pretty bad and the only redeeming quality it had was the acting, that's about it. I started watching it mostly because I like Park Seo Joon and he has done stuff I enjoyed but I think this might be the weakest kdrama of his I've seen (not in his acting but overall).

Maybe it's because I've watched my fair share of kdramas at this point or maybe because I've actually never been into it, but I'm getting at my limit of CEO's, rich and other chaebol people as main characters or romantic interests, it makes it very difficult for me to sympathise with their supposed struggles when they're crying while holding a Louis Vuitton bag in their hands, even more so when their sorrows are self inflicted, like in here.

I think their claims of this kdrama to be more realistic than others end with their separate personalities and the portrayal on the difficulties of getting divorced due to patriarchal systems. Yes, people like the main characters exist, but it's not like characters in other kdramas are unrealistic, there are plenty at the same level and way better too.
Their relationship? sure, it can be realistic, it can happen. Problem is when they're trying for me to root for them when clearly they're in a toxic dynamic that they should have already broken up for good a long time ago. ML should have moved on already when she just left him without explaining herself, her excuses are as weak as their relationship.

We're seeing here a woman that conveniently remembers the guy when she's in need of him, that is entitled and egotistical, and a guy that is a hopeless romantic and gets easily manipulated. Realistic? Sure! but not exactly a relationship I personally like to watch, less idiolise or think that it's nice and beautiful. If I was his friend I would be telling him to move on and go to therapy because he has clearly a bad case of dependency and unhealthy idealisation. If I was her friend, I would no longer be because I would have told her I'm not a fan of how she's using the guy and dropping him when convenient and making him do whatever she wants. All their breakups are pretty stupid and nonsensical, for people that technically wants to stay together that is. Realistic because she's not going to blow up her entire career for him? sure, realistic because he leaves his life and goes one year abroad to get space? not so much. All people around them also enable their relationship and no one seems to see the problems, not even their closest friends....okeeey.
In the constraints of ML character's portrayal is kinda realistic he didn't have any other partner because he was that obsessed with FL, but realistically in the real world? no. In real life if he had been that level obsessed to not get with anyone else probably he would have become a stalker or would have tried to end his life. Harsh, but let's be honest, his dependency of her passed as love is not exactly healthy. But anyway, this is kind of contradictory because it was not realistic in the drama that he would only obsess about her when she was around but seemingly he was capable and ok of letting her live her life when she was not around. Both of them use this IN-OUT in the relationship all the time, but it's not very realistic (especially on his side) with that level of dependency.
They have good times together, but they're very ready (when I say "they" here I mean mostly her though) to drop the other at the minimal inconvenience instead of talking to one another and deciding things together. Realistic? maybe in some doomed relationships, but either way not exactly a portrayal of a long lasting or meant-to-be relationship.
So overall, I think their portrayal of the relationship is ok on trying to show nuanced characters and a non healthy relationship, but again, the problem is when it's spoon fed to the audience as a healthy or fated relationship and trying for you to sympathise with their struggles (that they inflected on themselves), then I do have a problem with it. It's almost like they're trying to say that because they have been together and broken up so many times that that makes them fated lovers. I don't personally like it.

The plot is very thin and drags a lot. It's curious that I found the last episode of the series a lot more entertaining than any other in the series, mostly because it was more dynamic with seeing more of his work as a reporter, because let's be honest, the rest of the series he's pretty much just sat at this office table for a few scenes more than doing his job (and doesn't change the fact that most of the work he does is to help FL).
Meanwhile we get an FL that gets a position thanks to nepotism and we're told that she's good at it, even though she was not previously even interested. I guess the nepotism had to be excused in some manner.
Plot wise, FL's sister is more interesting, but even this plot was a bit dragged (paused at times for other subplots) and the resolution was not bad but not great, it felt a bit underwhelming because of how long it took to solve and how fast it was in the end.
FL's mother was presented as a conflict point at the beginning but then it was dropped and I guess the mother is amazing after all, a couple of words solved years of trauma of FL. Other than the plot with the sister, anything that came up plot wise on the side of the FL was kind of chaebol cliché and boring.

The last episode also has way more longing and feels than the rest of the series did for me, and it would have worked if the rest of the series had been different. One second you're feeling that longing, the rest you remember they're who they're and the history they have and you're like "I hope they actually don't find each other". But funny enough, them finding each other at that point would have actually have been better than what we got.
"Kids, your mother and I rekindled our relationship because our mutual best friend died and we met again at his funeral". Who thought this was a good idea? why did they kill that character anyway in the last episode? what was that??????? Bad writing!
Sorry to say at that point I started laughing at the sheer level of bad taste, it felt like a joke (this actually made me take half a point in my score of the series, you don't pull stupid moves like this 10 minutes to the end of the series). No, this specific move with the funeral doesn't make this more realistic. Them not meeting in Málaga? sure, although it wouldn't have been super unrealistic them finding each other there when she's actively looking for him, but it's ok.
Not like they could have made a million other reasons why ML would go back to Korea and meet her...
But I guess that since they couldn't just straight up start it and talk during the funeral (although technically she tried and it was not a cute move), they had to move the scene to the airport. Realistic? no, but cliché yes. Even ignoring the airport as a setting, realistic would be the guy saying "ok, yeah, let's talk when I come back maybe, as I said I came in a rush and I have things to wrap up back in Málaga. Plus I'm not going to waste the ticket I paid for, it was not cheap" (I mean, I imagine money doesn't matter in their case since she's loaded).
I guess this had the vibes of inverse Cinderella too in that sense.

Product placement is often and very on the face, I found it annoying.
Flashbacks with that blurry effect were terrible!!! It was...well... blurry, and very annoying to the eyes. They could have used a colour filter, a frame, grain , anything other than blurring the picture. I disliked every time there was a flashback because of this.

Overall I can't recommend, acting is good, there are a couple of cute moments if you forget the character's personalities and history but otherwise the writing/plot is boring, dragged, uninspired and their relationship is not healthy but presented as somehow fated.
I guess if you enjoy dramas like Lovestruck in the City you might like this too.

Leia Mais

Sea of Wasted Potential with Weak Story and Fragmented Chemistry!

I had expectations from this drama but was ultimately disappointed! We had 10 episodes and such a weak narrative throughout!
When they were on the beach , it at least provided the visual appeal and was at least enough to keep me engaged in the story but as soon the story shifted to the city , it went downhill !
It felt one dimensional and boring!
Nothing substantial happened and the things that did happen didn't contribute to a positive development nor seemed necessary.

Coming to acting, Fort as Mut carried the whole show single handedly. His acting has improved and felt natural but in the case of Peat , the whole cold ML role was very unconvincing often coming off as overreaction.
Yes , the chemistry between them was there and was good but was very fragmented and inconsistent.
The tantrum that Rak threw in the last episode shows he literally had no to zero character development. And his sudden epiphany in the last 10 minutes felt rushed and unnatural. It might be impressive if the realisation came a few episodes earlier to make it more sincere.

And the other GL couple, they felt too forced. Vivi's treatment of Khaimuk didn't look like playful teasing to me. Treating the one you like as a slave and troubling them is not funny in my books! We are not in kindergarten where we tease the one we love to get their attention!

Even the friendship between all the characters felt utterly superficial, and I felt no emotional connection whatsoever!

Overall , I see only a sea of wasted potential with a weak story , underdeveloped characters with  fragmented chemistry!

Leia Mais

Light, Light-Hearted, and Intriguing to Watch!

Overall + Plot:
Douluo Continent was a pleasant drama to watch. It's perfect if you're looking for an interesting enough and light-hearted drama that's NOT packed with gruesome violence, deaths, and betrayals.

The plot was generally easy to follow — and not sure if this was just me lol, but it sometimes reminded me of Pokemon with all the battles, Soul Creature hunting, Soul Rings acquirement (these are for leveling up of power - similar Pokemons evolving), and ultimate tournament for the strongest Soul Master. There was just enough plot, mystery, and adventure to keep you intrigued, and not too much to confuse you. And a side note: I didn't find MyDramaList's plot summary for this drama to be entirely accurate because there was definitely not a lot of emphasis on imperial struggles in the drama, as the summary sort of implied. It was mostly just a journey of gaining strength for the main 7 characters.

I have seen some comments critiquing the romance between the main leads (that the romance wasn't enough or not well-developed), but I actually thought it was a refreshing take. From my understanding, this drama is only the beginning of Douluo Continent's novel and animation storyline. For this reason, the romance may start off slow, and the leads call each other "brother" and "sister" (these terms are pretty common in Cdramas of these genres and are rather indications of their closeness to each other, and not that they're actually siblings). On that note, their relationship with each other is strong and the romance was slow, but it felt more natural to watch.
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Acting/Cast:
Douluo Continent has a wonderful mix of good-natured, determined, and funny characters. The “7 Devils” (main group) all experienced personal growth and development. It was a rough start for them at first because each one of them had different personalities and backgrounds, but their team chemistry gradually solidified throughout the drama. For me, character growth and friendships are just so sweet to watch.

Their acting did not disappoint and the entire cast was very well-assimilated with their characters. I found it quite amusing how physically alike all the characters were to their Martial Souls (kind of like their animal spirits?). So whether it was the makeup team or cast, they did a great job of mimicking these Martial Souls, adding to the coherency of this drama. And for those of you who watched Arsenal Military Academy, I found it hilarious to see Li WenZhong here again. He really added a handful amount of humor and silliness to the drama!
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Other (tiny spoiler alert in the second paragraph of this section ):
The visual effects were so pretty and the computer-generated imagery was smoothly integrated with the scenes. I'm not an expert on music, but the music was always comfortable and suitable for the scenes.

Tiny spoiler alert ahead if you want to know the ending: Yes, the drama does end on a cliffhanger sort of thing, but as I mentioned before, Douluo Continent is only the beginning of the original storyline from the novel and animation, so the ending made sense. It wasn't a sad ending or one that would leave you grieving and miserable, it just keeps you hanging so you'll want to know what happens next.
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Last comments:
The lightness of the drama and its plot charmed me and I definitely would recommend it — especially if you want to take a break from heavy dramas with angst and misunderstandings and betrayals. I'm glad I watched this drama and did not regret watching it at all! It brought me a healthy amount of laughs and was aesthetic to watch too :)

Leia Mais

In a circle we run, away from a cheeky teenager.

If you are ready for a whole lot of frustration, running in a circle, kids being scary straightforward and adults acting like shy teenagers - this is a perfect watch for you.

Here’s the thing - it was so exciting, fun and enjoyable at first. Being more or less the same age as Minato, I could easily understand his panic about starting to have feelings for a high schooler. Even the idea is scary. That said, I feel like they failed with Minato writing wise, since he just... existed and everything was happening around him. The guy did not try to process it at all and it left the viewers with repetitive scenes and plots, since nothing was changing character wise.

Shin was saving grace with his pro flirting, honesty and undying motivation to make Minato his. He was far more dynamic of a character, actually showing some change in his behavior depending on the situation and the circumstances.

There were also a few nice side characters like Sakurako and Asuka who added some wholesome platonic moments to this romance driven show.

Plot wise, we've got whole side plot of Sakuma Takayuki which was stretched so bad, taking too much screen time and becoming quite an annoying addition to the drama. The teacher might have been the sweetest dude ever, but that plot should have been resolved in 2 episodes max.

Performance wise I do not have any complaints. Kusakawa Takuya did his best with Akira - the character was just not it writing wise. Nishigaki Sho truly impressed me. He did quite well with some more subtle emotions and perfectly presented the angst related to the first big teenage love.

Production wise, it gave a high budget since of life webdrama vibes - which personally I truly love.

Overall, I am honestly not sure how I feel about it. On paper it works, but when I watched it, I was getting either frustrated or bored, and I was wishing for the show to finally end. I don’t regret watching, but I’m also not sure if I would recommend it for others to check out. I also crave second season or at least a special episode, because the payoff after all the running away was quite short-lived.

Leia Mais

All about second chances.

Even with my excitement for Lee Joon Gi's comeback, due to recent trend in dramas, I wasn't really expecting too much and came here to only check out, thanking at least an average drama will be resulted. However, by the interval of the show, I found myself captivated and occupied by the entire thing and the pace with which everything was going on. It was difficult to get bored in any single instance and I was constantly absorbed by the quality of the show.

Created by 'Studio S' & 'Viu' and produced by 'Samhwa Networks' & 'Kross Pictures', "Again My Life (어게인 마이 라이프)" is the 16 episodes live-action adaptation of the Kakao web novel with the same title authored by Lee Hae Nal, which was also turned into a webtoon, as well. Both written and directed by 2 pool persons each, the show is 5% fantasy, 80% politico-legal and 15% action thriller, which was originally broadcasted on SBS.

Kim Hee Woo (Lee Joon Gi), a rightful & passionate prosecutor gets murdered for trying to bring down a popular yet corrupted assemblyman, Cho Tae Sub (Lee Kyung Young), who with the facade of being a stain-free personality, controls the entire nation. Miraculously, Hee Woo gets resurrected into his past life with a second chance to prepare himself well in order to showcase the power of truth and laws to those who abuse it for their gains. The story follows the journey of him strategizing a revenge for years, along with people who have come to believe him in the course of time.

I must inform you that the show is not an "one man army" plot-device, rather, a "together we can" spirit, that makes it unique. There are plenty of supporting characters, each given a fair share of emphasis in the story with perfect screen share. The other familiar faces in the drama playing major characters are Kim Ji Eun, Kim Jae Kyung Jung Sang Hoon, Choi Kwang Il, Hong Bi Ra, Kim Hyung Mook, Kim Jin Woo, Ji Chan, Cha Joo Young, etc. Lee Soon Jae, Jeon Gook Hwan, Yoo Dong Geun, Lee Kyung Min, Kim Chul Ki, Kim Young Jo, Hyun Bong Sik, Hyun Woo Sang, Joo Woo, Park Chul Min, Kim Hee Chul, etc.are more like guest characters but appeared frequently in the show.

Not like the first time Lee Joon Gi went for a legal thriller but what makes this particular drama stand out is better performance, the revenge plot, the execution and not to forget his action scenes and sense of humour.

Plot development was amazing. The pilot episode wasn't very impressive and felt like it'll be another politico-legal thriller with cliché elements. However the next few episodes turned out to ve good, as the writer attempts to incorporate base-level strategy making skilla into the character. The accumulation of power and will by Hee Woo was constantly alleviating to watch. His initial efforts to save things dear to him, followed by his endeavour to prepare himself bettee with a goal in mind, everything was awfully alleviating. As the real fight begins from the 2nd quarter of the show, it starts to become ingesting. Every time, the viewers feel like Hee Woo would go for his main target, he surprises by trying to weaken another angle of the villain, thus moving one step closer towards his quarry. It became even more compelling in the last 6 episodes as we knew what's coming soon. The last 2 episodes were the real game and the ending sequences was as enthralling, however, that's where they messed up. It definitely became rushed towards the ending of 15th episode and the entire 16th episode was on some other level, which was the biggest flaw. I must admit the very ending left us confused hinting the possibility of another season, but I guess we can assume the aftermath and let it go. Finally, I didn't like the sacrifice part bcs that's what I had correctly guess and I think that could have been easily avoided by the writer.

Lee Byung Hun jakkanim with the experience of working as both the director and screenwriter in both K movies and dramas is assisted by two debutant writers J & Kim Yool, for this drama. Focusing on the national politics, the show has been a constant reminder that, no matter how crazy the headlines might seem, things could always get worse, especially beyond the surface. The utilization of elements like, corruption, bribery, power struggle, etc. throughout was congenial and appealing. The base establishment, the furtherance, the unveiling of facts, the flashback to future (you know why 'future' 😂), the character arcs and most importantly the way of making strategy have been very well drawn.

Han Chul Jin PDnim with more than 2 decades experience and the number of contemporary hits works here the debutant Kim Young Min PDnim, and the both have been able to pull off such a stupendous urban thriller story with nonexistent flaws. The direction radiates the scope for several subplots and maintains the quality of the show throughout. The art of criticizing politics directly is overt in influence and the messages and takeaway notes are more palatable through the lens of entertainment. The screenplay management, scenario setup, screen-editing, choice of location, etc. have been well handled. With less utilization of vfx and editing, the modern urban vistas of Seoul are mostly eye-pleasing and maintains dark era for most of the parts.

Composed by Kim Jong Chun (Philstring), the drama has a total of 7 OSTs, but honestly, some are good and proved suitable for the show's essence, while others weren't. "What the Ggang?" By Yoon Do Hyun ia a impulsive hardcore track depicting open challenge to the evil. "Bring It On" is an adrenaline-inducing track reminding one of it's strength, fiercely sung by Sonnet and has an amazing chorus. "Burn" by Park Do Joon is a jolly track aspiring for a better day and a good life through self-determination. In the mesmerizing vocals of Yu Sang Eun, is "Till The End" which is a quest for truth. Other tracks were "Alone" by GB9, "Shadow" by Hanhae & Kissxs and "Tragedy" by Sondia; I didn't really like these.

What I liked...

# The plot development is beyond likable. The viewers receive intrigue, excitement, action and danger, all wrapped in, and intertwined with, a political plot, accompanied with legal components.

# Performance from all the casts, particularly from Joon Gi and Kyung Young-nim has been highly pleasing. KY-nim's dialogue delivery and way of phrasing sentences is always amazing but here we get to watch a more refined vocabs of him; his character was intriguing despite being the antagonist, ngl.

# Action scenes, mostly involving modern self-defense as well as professional ring techniques were quite agreeable, particular the ones when Hee Woo clashed with Doctor K.

# Even though the drama feels like an "one man army" show, it's a matter of time to realise that Hee Woo is always at the centre of everything, controlling, regulating and manipulating the scenarios, but he had to benefit from a number of people, whom he loved, cherished and cared for, and was the recieved the same from others as well.

# Pacing and progression of the show is worthy of your time as it doesn't really have a mysterious plotz rather goal towards bringing down a particular being, and elimination of their strength one by one in the due course. It's again isn't a head-to-head clash between the prota- and anta- gonist, rather a mind game. Personally, I wasn't able to skip or fast forward at all and was constantly engaged.

# I am so happy there was no romance, really. From the beginning, it felt like the ML will have to go through the push & pull among multiple girls and possible admirations were hinted off initially as well, but everything boiled down to friendship though there is an indication of coupling at the end, as the original work.

# There is no definite bromance either, but Hee was admired by many men in the show, from old to young, because of his kindness and deeds, which was also good to see.

# Finally, i must inform that there is no ML FL here, there are only main characters, supported by others, that's it.

What I didn't like...
Not just the writer, everyone in the team of makers are at equal fault. Even if there were no original novel, this show actually had to be of 20 episodes or at least 2 more episodes were a must. But for the sake of meeting the standard 16 episode quota, they messed up things a bit. So, for the drama writer, it would have been wise to develope plot in a way that the events from the beginning were a lil faster hence minimizing the rush that we saw in the last episode.

Final Remarks... What a show! What a show! What a show about legal battle between the righteous and the corrupted plus powerful. The show was able to give away insights about one's greed and it's impact on the powerless and common man.The show is highly entertaining, engaging and enjoyable which allows you to stick to it throughout the end. I am not able to find a particular flaw tbh. So my overall ratings are based on the levels of uniqueness, execution and the final experiences about the outcomes, which has led me to give it a fair 8.0. We all must realize it was not the best or something very mind-blowing, but very good per se with high production and entertainment value. Must recommended, please watch.

Leia Mais

Mother most foul.

I prefer to review c-dramas that are arbitrarily split in two parts to circumvent episode caps only once, after the entire story has been told. In this case, I am making an exception because Part 1 is largely a family drama that focuses on a difficult mother daughter relationship. This Part 1 review will evaluate that aspect of the story and defer a full discussion of the romance to Part 2.

Cheng Shaoshang is a grey character - a thorny, defiant, scheming and distrustful Han Dynasty fifteen year old. She is left to fend for herself while in the care of abusive but not smart relatives while her military family is away defending the country. She runs circles around them and grows up to be distrustful, cunning and unrestrained. When her parents return from the battlefront, they are appalled to discover a lovely, wild, uneducated child, shockingly unschooled in the etiquette expected of the young daughter of a newly minted marquis. Her mother, a fearless, decorated general finds in her recalcitrant daughter a greater foe than found on any battlefield. The mother daughter conflict is the guts of Part 1 and drives most of Shaoshang's actions and decisions.

As a fan of grey characters, I like Shaoshang's character design a lot and Zhao Lusi delivers a very empathetic and charismatic portrayal. While there are better actors, what makes Lusi special is she is very, very funny. Even though there is a recognizable pattern to her comedy, her timing and delivery is more refined with each drama. Underneath the humor, she shows us that Shaoshang is a sad person who refuses to weep; adroitly infusing a note of loneliness, false bravado and vulnerability. This makes the character extremely empathetic, to the fault of being overly so. Lusi seems less comfortable articulating Shaoshang's many flaws, which are glossed over hastily and in a muted tone. As a result, Yuanyi's insistence on harshly taming her daughter's "harmless mischief and high spirits" comes across as heartless and misguided. A more balanced depiction of this relationship rather than one where the mother is so unambiguously the villain would be more interesting and realistic.

One of my biggest issues with the character writing is how main characters, especially Shaoshang are elevated by diminishing other characters, particularly her mother. Their forced separation from birth and subsequent alienation and resentment deserves compassion on both sides but is written in a way that consistently only assassinates the mother's character. After suffering through many of their blood boiling disputes, I was pleased to see Shaoshang get some inkling of what her family went through after Hua City. And I thought she won her mother's grudging respect and approval in how she dealt with Lou Yao. So I was just gobsmacked and revolted by how her mother inexplicably smacks her down in front of the entire court. This is all so that Ling Buyi can gallantly come to the rescue by praising her to the skies as the best lady in the capital. Which considering how awful the other ladies in the capital are, is hardly such a great compliment. After the initial cheap thrill, it looks very high handed and coercive on Ling Buyi's part. It also undoes the hard won truce if not tentative mutual understanding between the mother and child. I don't need them to ever see eye to eye or become best friends but it is disappointing to see Shaoshang's nemesis in Part 1 reduced to a two dimensional mother most foul.

What I can praise is how Shaoshang is lifted up by her intelligence, courage, compassion and her ability to do the right thing even at great cost to herself, which we see in both the Hua City arc and Lou Yao arc. Unfortunately in the latter half, Shaoshang is propped up largely by kicking other characters down. I have never seen such a long list of repetitive, nasty and screechy female characters in a drama. They are all cardboard copies of each other - bratty, rude, stupid, arrogant and in love with Ling Buyi. The mothers are all older and uglier versions of their daughters. I don't enjoy watching women doing their worst to each other. Nor do I like that they are repeatedly dressed down by men, even when it is Ling Buyi and it is well deserved. Sure it is very satisfactory in a low way but it is also frustrating and with repetition, boring. It is very disturbing that with few exceptions (Qi Qi and third aunt), the likeable characters in this drama are all men.

Despite a few thrilling knight in shinning armor moments, the romance is only set up in Part 1 with little real development. Shaoshang's main purpose is to gain freedom and escape her mother's eagle eye and she views marriage as the means to that end. None of her suitors are that compelling and their courtship methods are so appalling they are comical. Lou Yao trails after her like a lovesick puppy, willing to wait on her hand and foot without realizing that women don't need to marry doormats or servants. Yuan Shen's retarded strategy seems to be to make her hate him and pray that hate turns into love. But Ling Buyi is the one that just takes the cake. He makes sure her parents, no, the whole kingdom, knows she has seen him nekkid and failing that, makes her an offer she can't refuse. Who ultimately prevails is pretty much a foregone conclusion with the casting of Wu Lei, which is also a bit of a shame. I'd enjoy it more if we are kept guessing for awhile and there is genuine competition among worthy suitors.

We don't get to see enough of Wu Lei or the romance as Part 1 is mostly Shaoshang's family story. However, there is enough romantic fan service that shows Wu Lei's chemistry with Lusi is promising. While Wu Lei looks incredibly hot as the cold and intimidating general Ling Buyi, initially he appears stiff, like he is trying too hard to project gravitas. He improves noticeably later on when he relaxes his face muscles and his character is humanized by his sidekicks Liang Qiuqi and Liang Qiufei or Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Tweedledum is my favorite side character; his vivid facial expressions in each of his interactions with Ling Buyi have me rolling with laughter. Indeed what really livens this drama's slow burn pace is the humor which also brilliantly amplifies character traits. It is a poignant reminder of how funny and ferocious Wu Lei's Fei Liu was. I had long forgotten how good he is at humor. I look forward to seeing more of Ling Buyi's story as well as genuine relationship development between the leads in Part 2.

If I were to rate Part 1 solely on the mother daughter relationship, I would only give this an 8.0. What makes me mad is this had a lot of potential and we really don't get that many good historical mother daughter character stories. Instead the mother is written to have so little redeeming value it just ends up being a giant waste of emotional energy. But I will throw in another 0.5 to make this 8.5 because apart from the first four episodes which were an aberration, I enjoyed the comedic moments immensely. I may have given this a 9.0 without the many nasty, noisy women.

Leia Mais

so much male ass so little everything else

i didn't know we were allowed to make entirely new shows and release them like its the season 2 of a well-established show. where the FUCK was song kang. they think that they could just show his ass for a little bit and i wouldn't realize that the MAIN CHARACTER was GONE for like a long ass time?? i do need to talk about how the writers were so fucking horny for song kang tho like. that lab monster fight was real fetish content. why is this strong milky smooth FULLY NAKED BARE ASS MAN being slow motion drenched in blood full-on carrie style. like sloppy dirty blood bathed glittering red breasts of a man. they didn't need to have him naked there like its soooo extremely harder to choreograph a fight scene when you can't show a character's swinging bare dick but NO. they needed to give us song kang’s bare ass. and i gotta respect that but sadly we didn't get much else beyond ass. i like the intense homoerotic tension between him and that spiky monster goo guy if they let them fuck i would be more ok with the rest of the season. but yeahhhhhh...... the rest of the season.... what the fuck was that.... like they were trying to replicate the large cast of characters trapped in a tight space trying to survive with their complex inner mechanisms but of course it's not gonna work if ur trying to introduce like 30 characters to me halfway through season two like i don't give a FAWK. where is song kang. the only characters remaining from season one is fuckass eunyu with that fuckass bob and then the little kid that got annoying way too fast and the lady that births a kid made out of mud in a frozen lake, disappears for a couple of episodes and comes back all oiled up with a pixie cut. and her baby is not even made out of mud anymore like damn. like their arc actually pissed me off so fucking much. like look at the set up here my god we could have seen this extremely weird and fucked up mother-daughter relationship develop as ms pixie learns to deal with the weird ass situation that she's in. like damn. this is a kid that literally ripped its way out of me and its a monster and its weird and dangerous but its also just a kid and its my kid and i have to take care of it and as she grows she understands her own place in all of this between monster and human or whatever the fuck but they thought that the best way to tell this extremely complex and delicate story would be to skip out on it for two episodes and then give us a few flashbacks. because it was SOOOOO important to instead show us eunyu just wandering around a bunch. god i wish they knew how to write female characters. why is every woman in this show stoic cold blooded bad ass and fucking BORING. eunyu could have a compelling arc about finding her brother but they make it so dry idk theyre sooooo worried about making her stoic cold blooded and bad ass like what happened to HAVING A PERSONALITY. IM BEGGING YOU FOR WOMEN WITH PERSONALITIES. from the new characters i dont give a fawk about anyone. why did that guy kill his mom that shit was fucking weird. and ofc he had to explode so we could see yet another man bathed in blood from head to toe. he wasnt naked this time but i know a kink when i see one. priest guy is hot ofc hes a priest and he's cool and he smokes and he has a lot of sexual tension with another one of the guys BUT WE ALREADY HAD THAT CHARACTER IN SEASON ONE!!! AND HE DIED!!! YOU CANT JUST GIVE ME SOMETHING TWICE AND EXPECT ME TO LIKE THE CHEAP ASS SUBSTITUTE. i want all the generic army guys to explode. (not the pretty face micro bangs one, he's safe) like do ANY of them have a personality. would it KILL you to idk. make one of them like a little weird or something. like maybe one of them could have a lisp.. or... a really big mole in the middle of his forehead. i guess there was the one with the scar on his cheek but hes still BORING. idk man anything to make them stand out from the other million army guys like none of them had personalities distinct from each other and they all wear the same clothes and u just gave me like 30 other characters to keep track of like who do you think i am. was i supposed to be writing this shit down. idk man shit was just boring. WHY WERE WE NOT FOLLOWING YIKYUNG AND HYUNSU'S PLOTLINE THE WHOLE TIME...... I FUCKING HATE SHIT THAT GETS EXPLAINED RETROACTIVELY LIKE THIS FOR NO FUCKING REASON. why would the best way to tell this story be through a flashback with narration over it. bitches never heard of show not tell. song kang grew his hair out and u want me to care about anything else.. he raised the mud baby for a bit and i dont get to see that at all? the set up to that whole thing was soso good they did it so dirty and then concluded it in the weirdest way possible. like not even a hint of resolution character growth or anything. i do think its compelling for yukyung to want to kill her kid! there’s so many interesting themes surrounding this crooked lens of motherhood but it was almost like they couldnt really commit either way… she wouldnt fully make an effort to truly accept what her daughter is but also she wasn’t really trying to actually kill her.. she just…. walked into a boat on fire… and then got fucked up at the end i did not understand the purpose of her monster transformation like is this supposed to have any relevance to the plot or to the character orrr.. did we just want a monster transformation here… and same with the mud baby like they do soo much tell not show in this stupid season like ok she hates people….. WHY. like i can see oh ok they tried to kill her a bunch and her mom kind of hates her but i cant FEEL it. and the moment where she like goes evil and tells hyunsu she actually wants to kill people and make them suffer its supposed to be this very like. intense and sad moment of this literal kid being so confused and grief stricken by her place in society that she cant do anything else but retaliate but like ive never really known this character before. i cant feel this shift from her. there’s nothing she’s turning into if that’s all she ever was and so that moment is just super flat like i dont really know this kid! idk man.... this was just messy.... like im mostly confused what was the plot here we just had a bunch of stuff happening with no particular purpose or goal. absolutely no single great story arc at all. what did we achieve.i love that fuckass little monster tho that little shit was so cute. it would just go oooouuugggg... grrrr nnyeeeeooowww brrr ggrreeeaoouggghh... like yeah baby lets hear it. let him speak!! i could have more thoughts but idk…. ending was weird… like i actually dont get it…. i am however soooo glad eunhyuk is back AND we got to see his ass like who decided that this show needed this much male ass and why are you right… anyways…. i just want to see lots of eunhyuk hope he’s a little evil twisted next season idk give me something fun to look at.

Leia Mais

Remarkable drama

I can honestly say this is one of the most powerful, well written poignant dramas i have ever watched on Asian or british websites. I binge watched the complete series and it was the quickest 4 hours of my life.the young actors were just jaw-droppingly good, the music was perfection and for the first time ever watching an Asian drama i am going to read the webtoon this drama was based upon.
I cannot praise this piece of work highly enough, the storyline fast fast paced, my attention didn’t waver for a single moment, i am just awestruck at the quality of the acting, the writing, the music, i just hope everyone “gets it” the way i did.
You have a rare treat in store my fellow viewers

Leia Mais

Everything stays in the family… kind of.

I’m not gonna sit here and pretend like both romances in the drama were not questionable, they were. I also have to give props to the director and writer for doing their best to deal with potential issues a story like that could present. Age gap, family relations, grooming, predatory behavior, lack of informed consent - all that could have been an issue, but somehow they managed to avoid shooting themselves in the foot - for most parts.

What we’ve got, rather than just a romance, was a found family trope drama. The bond between Wei Qiao and Wei Zhi Yuan was deep and meaningful, slowly transforming into a partnership. They knew each other's shortcomings, they understood each other’s pain, they found home in each other’s presence.

Whenever the drama did a good job transforming the brotherly bond into a romantic one is a matter of opinion, personally I was quite fine with it. Being an overanalyzer, I appreciate how the show made me reflect on their relationship, examine how much of the connection was form on shared trauma and how much was driven by pure love. I’m glad the writer, with how the plot and characters were written, kept reassuring me that what they had was more than just codependency. Do I think both of them should go to therapy? Of course, but they are not the first, nor the last BL couple to never truly address or deal with the trauma.

We witness a story of two people who were abandoned and who found peace and happiness with each other. They had to face a lot of setbacks, both external and internal, to finally admit to each other feelings and allow themselves to be loved and love the other. The journey was not easy, but with love stories like that, it shouldn’t be. For me to enjoy this type of romance I need to understand it first, I need to feel like the characters also understand their own feelings. That they thought about it, talked about it, that there is no misunderstanding. And Unknown managed to do just that.

What made it possible were obviously the performances. Chris Chiu made the confusion and the strong internal denial Wei Qian was facing so real and raw. The way we could see on his face what he wanted, and how it went against what he actually did. The constant regret and fear of the situation and the feelings he could not quite understand and accept. Then we have Kurt Huang as Wei Zhi Yuan - from a chaotic teen, to resigned young adult, to confident adult. We witnessed his growth, we saw his dedication and unwavering feelings. And it all seemed so real on the screen.

All that said, there was one aspect of the show I just simply could not comprehend. One directing and editing choice that ruined quite an important scene for me. And I just cannot understand who thought this was a good idea and how no one questioned that choice on all the steps of the production.

Overall, it was less about finding a lover, and more about finding home. A partner that can understand and support you. One that you can rely on. One that always has your back. A partnership. Sharing the burden, sharing the happiness. A drama about finding a family and then working hard to keep it, in whatever form it might be.

Leia Mais

Another unnecessary mystery

Out of all the dramas recently that randomly inserted a mystery/thriller subplot (Cheer Up, Crash Course in Romance), I think this one disappointed me the most. I loved the premise of reunited rivals, and the theme of mental health is one that always tugs at the heartstrings without fail.

Instead, I feel like this drama used the mystery as a plot device instead of learning how to develop its characters by themselves, and the mystery itself turned out to be underwhelming anyways. Instead of both our main characters having to deal with life just going wrong sometimes, there was a villain to blame. Everything became a very cliche drama plot, particularly that one already-very-memed trope that I can’t believe they did in 2024.

In terms of the slice-of-life and humor aspect…it worked until it didn’t. I’m actually not a huge fan of this type of “goofy” humor anyways, but at the start it actually worked in the drama’s favor by not treating depression like a life-ending, horrible thing. Over time however, it started feeling like the drama gave up on serious moments in order to have humor.

As the drama progressed, however, it became pretty clear that they didn’t know how to move the plot forwards in organic ways. It became super repetitive with the characters drinking every episode (and yes social media has already called out the fact that they’re not supposed to be drinking while on medication!), and side characters constantly leaking information by accident. Both just feel like really lazy ways to get the characters to talk.

Now — the romance. This is what I was looking forward to the most, but it wasn’t really written in an interesting way. There’s a sort of tension that rivals-to-lovers promises, but with Haneul and Jeongwoo it all felt too easy. Aside from a few reminiscing scenes, the fact that they were rivals ended up having little impact on the plot or their romance.

Even with so much focus on the mystery, it still felt pretty underwhelming. The motivations are weak, there’s no tension in it, it ends really early, leaving you wondering what the rest of the drama is even going to be about.

In terms of the mental health theme, I also just think it ended up not being very deep. There were some well-written moments where it talked about burnout, the stigma of antidepressants, parental expectations, or toxic workplace culture, but the drama never took it one step further and gave it the seriousness it deserved. There were moments where toxic positivity was treated as a funny moment instead of describing its dangers, for example, or how the FL’s brother was a bum and it was mostly played for laughs when it really just felt frustrating since the family theme could have been fleshed out more.

Overall, I know our leads our top-notch actors, though this drama doesn’t really show it. The comfort vibes are like, three-quarters of the way there — it could’ve been helped out by much, much better writing.

Leia Mais

MUST WATCH! LOVE THE LEADS ESPECIALLY ZHOU YU TONG!!

I don't usually watch c-drama (I'm a k-drama fans), but I'm so lucky to have found this drama, though the story is cliché but it was well written & executed.
This drama spoiled us with such visual from the leads 😍😍😍 and throughout the series we were spoiled with so many lovey dovey scenes, their chemistry was off the charts. having watched their BTS scenes, they looked really comfortable with each other.
Zhou Yu Tong has became my fav c-actress, I found her playing LFN sooooo charming and I can't imagine any other actress to pull it off like her. While Simon Gong's visual is just so dreamy.
Hope they can reunite in other drama in the future or can we please get season 2

Leia Mais