P.S - Its much much MUCH much much MUCH better than Dream High 2. :-|
So go watch it once.
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I like it... not so much however (AN HONEST REVIEW FROM A LONG TIME LAKORN VIEWER)
I really dragged myself to finish the show because my lovely Mark was the main lead. (Mind you, it's been awhile since I watched a lakorn since the airing of Baifern's 'Bai Mai Tee Plid Plew'. And I forgot how long lakorns are!! 1 hour and 40 minutes per episode!!) By the way, I really think Mark likes this cold and arrogant character, similar to his previous role in Kleun Cheewit.Anyways the story, I felt like there were really random parts of the story which took way too much of the show. Such as the hacking between our main leads. Then Myanmar. Then the Moei going off-grid to avoid him. I loved the scenes and they do seem relevant enough, I just don't think I need two to four episodes long in one issue. It was draggy, and the real excitement I actually got was from the beginning when they got married. Honestly, I felt that Yada and her abusive husband had more of an interesting story than this show overall was. I have to admit, I skipped so many scenes to finish the show. Why, because it takes 5 minutes for one scene between two talking people. DRAGGY AF.
I loved the way the writers made Moei's love for Thien consistent. Everything she does is for him, at some point in the drama it starts to feel stalkerish and obsessive but you know how dramatic Lakorn can get. One particular thing about Mew is that she plays her role really well. For example in scenes with Mark; she will constantly look at him and smile like an idiot because that is the character she is playing-- someone completely in love one-sided. Could be the script, but could be that she is an amazing actress.
I actually hate Thien's character. I just really feel like his character could've been written better. Mark executed the script great, just hated how bad they made the character so oblivious.
The cons:
I don't know if it was just me but some scenes were very toxic and are sadly portrayed in media that it's just love. I hated the scene where Thien tied her his bed frame to keep her from going out of his sight. Or when he confiscated her electronics and locked her up in a room a day with no food. Or when she was denied internet connection because he didn't want her contacting the outside world. I know this is typical Thai Lakorns but isn't this too overused. I am a killer for slap n kiss, but this wasn't even that.
Anyways take my review with an grain of salt, you might end up liking it because Mark and Mew did a wonderful job. Yet, as a long time Lakorn audience this was just a typical drama played by two popular celebrities-- and for me was not worth the hype.
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Messed-up plot. Try to to be clever but fail. Too many loopholes all over the place.
(Review In Progress-- done watching, in-progress reviewing, and after that still needs some edit.
-- sorry, it takes me some time as this such a headache.)
[+] This series is like an experimental work. After finishing, I highly admire the team that they really put a great effort in creating this drama. It's a complex story. The messageS they want to convey are difficult, thus meaningful. And the way to convey it isn't simply about plot writing. This series especially need the collaboration between the plot creating and filming/editing processes. So it's not only the story that is complex, the process for the aimed result is also a hard work here. I feel thankful they made this done. With this work of theirs, they challenge the new level of quality series in all aspects from creating to conveying processes.
[-] Anyway, they try too hard to be clever. In the end, there're still too many loopholes both in the main plot and sub-plots. To find a positive excuse for this, I'd blame the time constraint. The time limitation especially affects the writer. I feel that the writer only has solid ideas on the main things she wants to make happen, but she lacks the ideas to logically connect two or more dots, resulting in a messy resolvement that relies on cheating the audience.
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Two main cheating ways of this series that are unaccepatable for me are:-
1) They indulgedly create many conditions in the story on their own without caring the universal laws. These conditions are not the kind of reasonable conditions that would serve them right if they had a unique universe of their own story. These conditions are just to serve their own conveninece in resolving the conflicts the easy way because they can't think of how to resolve it properly without cheating. Let me give an example,
- The conflict is A wants to kill B who is a criminal treated at a hospital, but B is protected by two polices standing guard at the patient door at all time.
- Resolution of this series to let A kill B is to let C who is another police says via the walkie talkie that there's some incident happening near the hospital area and he needs some support at the moment. On hearing that, the two polices both left their position immediately. They shouldn't leave their post in the first place, but when they do, they do it so naturally like it's the way the world normally is as they don't even need to disccuss or hesistate a bit before setting off running away.
The above is just one example. There're A LOT along the way. The plot needs media to be stupid, needs people to be stupid, needs doctors to be able to do things that normally they are not able to. All of these for the sake of connecting the solid point A to point B. Remember what I mentioned above? They only have the solid ideas on main points while have no idea of how to connect them.
Their self-indulgement frustrates me a lot. They look down on the audience like me.
~~~~~
2) Because they can't find the proper way to solve their conflicts, they trick the audience by manipulating the scenes. The plot is mean to deceive the audience at first, so that they can make a surprise twist later. The proper way to do it is to give the same set of information to the audience as to the investigative storyline (= the storyline of solving the conflicts). An improper way to do it is to hide some parts of the information that the storyline knows from the audience. This series make a worse thing by manipulating the information. In some crucial scenes that would become the surprised twists later, they film it in 2 different ways - one is the way that actually happens, the other is the way they want the audience to believe happening. Then, they firstly show the audience the wrong occurrence to mislead the viewers. And later, when they reveal the twist, they show the other occurrence. This is cheating. You don't have skills to make things right. You want to be wise, but if you cheat it doesn't shows that you're wise anymore. It shows that you're just pretentious.
As unskilled as you are, you still need to learn a lot more to not anger the audience this way. Find a place to learn? Go read more works of Dan Brown and Agatha Christie!
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More rants:
(1) Story [-]
- Too many loopholes
- Like ep.1-2 pretty much
- Ep.3 starts to have loopholes in the details.
- Ep.4-5 have too many unrealistic parts esp. about media, human behaviors in society, and decision-making relating to social impact. These surreal parts are essential for story development. If there's none of these, the story wouldn't go on the way it is written, which means the production team is not smart enough to make a proper investigative story without constructing some special conditions that would help them make the story progress easier. What a convenient way to solve a question that outwits them, right? They do it by making a condition that says whatever they say is true. Anyway, in the end, this just portrays that everything in the story is pretentious.
- Ep.8, 10 - more so-called loopholes - the self-conditioned parts that help the story to progress along the way they want.
[[ spoiled note: 8-the surveillance officers / 10-the physical call instead of phone call; the criminal didn't have father at first but now has?? huh; the criminal's mother supposed to give birth after Yohan's mother in the early ep but now she did it before for 6-7 yrs?? ]]
- Ep.14
1) Why the TV producer takes that guy in her car?? -_-
2) How that kid gets to that man's house?? << It's like everyone is a character in an RPG game doing things without motive, no situation progresses in a logical process. It's like these characters and situations happening around them are programmed in a game.
Ep.15
1) Conveniently skip the memory about chasing on the road scene?
2) Suddenly the older police who usually fails to observe the details about everything notices the very subtle details of a victim. How convenient, the writer makes everyone change in a wink, makes any situation to occurs or changes from before like magic.
3) I also don't forget the alibi of everyone in the 1st case and waiting for you to properly explain, writer!
Ep.17 - The new paint on the wall can be removed by tissue paper??!!
- This story shows that polices are generally stupid. The supervisors would choose their subordinates to make an important decision instead of them while the subs are not clever enough.
- The media in this story breaks the law and their ethics all the time. It's the circle that there're only people who think about their own benefits. They dare to publicly take advantage of the situations even when there are other people's lives at stake. And no one at all blames the media. Nor does the media get sued. Very weird society.
- The story shows the people of Korea are stupid, always ready to be pulled to the left then dragged to the right without the ability to think on their own. They believe whatever words from TV. The people/audience in this story is much stupider than those characters in the novel 1984.
- Let me yell at this series a bit:- The real media don't work like that. The real polices don't work like that, either. And the people of Korea or most of the places in the world are not like that. The production team of this drama is just an imposter pretending to know what social psychology is, pretending to know how journalists and polices work while they actually Know NOTHING. What they do is just spreading the wrong perceptions about everything.
p.s. Damn to this drama, where the hell in the world that a TV channel would intentionally live broadcast a crime as a criminal wants? Furthermore, two TV channels even argue/criticize/condemn each other on TV-live-broadcasting to make the situation benefit the criminal. The media here are very much stupid and very much immature. Nonsense. In reality, this kind of TV station would surely be heavily investigated by law and backfired by social pressure.
P.S.2 And the ER doctors don't work in patients' rooms! You don't know how doctors work, either. You -writer, director, producer of this series- truly Know Nothing.
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(2) Acting [~]
- The older police always overacts. The paradox is they mention about overacting represents the lack of understanding in the thing the overactor tries to depict (ep.7).
- The acting of the TV program's female producer is substandard. She doesn't know the way to show her character's expressions through her face. I don't feel that she feels what she acts. She just makes a subtly disturbed face, and continues to make it the whole time. There's only one kind of facial expression from her, which is the kind of expression that I don't feel that she feels it.
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(3) Script [-]
- Bad script. It's like the characters in the series are the RPG-game players. They walk around talking to witnesses, interviewing people in the RPG-game style that we have to stop and talk on the way to certain people to get more information to complete each mission. The conversations in that kind of interviewing/asking strangers in the series are blocked and unnatural - if we get to the right person, the convo would flow as well as directly get to the point, no small talk, no introduction. No matter how weird or rude the questions of the characters are to the strangers, those strangers answer along the way that the characters want to know without opposing. No matter how private the information they get asked, they don't feel it and are willingly answer them.
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My review will be short and sweet with a link to my very extend review at the bottom if you wish to do some extra curricular reading!The Good:
1) Reaper and Goblin's Bromance
2) Soni and Reaper's Relationship
3) The theme song
4) The cinematography
5) The locations shot in
And that is ALL!
The UGLY:
1) 60% of the episodes are completely plotless.
2) The last 5 or so episodes are completely rushed with about 6 major plot points in each of them
3) The cringey, over-obvious product placement
4) EunDak is the worst character ever. She's so selfish and so stupid and she gets so lazy once the boys take her in.
5) Eun Dak and Goblin's relationship should NOT be romantic. It would've been much better as a Father/Daughter realtionship
6) The editing was rough in a lot of parts
7) Deok Hwa's character was so undeveloped and so underused. he deserved better!
8) The lack of relationship and character development for all of them actually
9) The ending is an absolute mess. Why did the not all die so they could start over again?!
10) So many scenes felt half done. I feel like so much was either not filmed or just simply edited out and I feel like I was missing whole chunks of scenes that were needed.
11) The over the top ridiculousness such as the SnowBoard accident, and the Goblin pushing EunDak and causing massive problems in the car park scene. Those scenes were so stupid. Those scenes were far beyond being able to suspend disbelief.
12) Completely ruining Soni and Reaper's personality and all their charm in their new life in the final episode.
13) Rushing through the final. Those last 15 or so minutes DESERVED and entire episode. Not the rush through that it got.
The excessive overhype this show gets. It's really not that good.
If you really want my Essay-long review of this show, check it out here: http://sambart93.tumblr.com/post/179925136539/dokkaebi-goblin-its-not-bad-but-its-not-good
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THE most healthiest and Best Xianxia Main CP! Totally worth the journey in the end!
Moonlight Mystique is among one of the anticipated drama's I have been wanting to watch, since I know this is adapted from the novel which is part of the trilogy/spinoff that focused on Tian Qi and Yuemi love story from Ancient Love Poetry (Shang Gu Novel). After watching this drama as a whole, I can tell you that Moonlight Mystique has the least(almost-to-none) connection to Ancient Love Poetry, so this can be regarded as a standalone drama/story featuring Fan Yue/Jing Yuan and Bai Shuo/Xing Yue.So you don't really need to watch Ancient Love Poetry to understand the backstory since it was changed completely. MM doesn't feature the god realm, and has no relation/connection to the original backstory for Tian Qi and Yuemi in Ancient Love Poetry.
Instead of the God Realm(ALP), in MM, this was changed to the 3 Divine Realm: Lunar (Govern by Goddess Xing Yue), Demon (Govern by Demon God Jing Yuan) and Hidden (Govern by the Hidden God Mo Li).
Before Jing Yuan and Xing Yue backstory was revealed, I didn't know it would be like this out of all my speculation, but it actually turned out to be so different than what I imagined their backstory to be like. I really love the playful and silly side to Jing Yuan from back then (60,000 years ago), because one way or another, I still like to find some references that will tie back to his original character in ALP (Tian Qi). So with this being said, I am glad his character somewhat stayed true in that sense that Jing Yuan is not afraid to confess his love/feelings to the woman he loves, in this case it is Xing Yue and I love that. In it's originality, Tian Qi is someone who will choose to protect the woman he loves first before the three realms. He would go that far to just protect that one person. I'm glad to see that Fan Yue/Jing Yuan is the same, in that sense where he will always choose to protect Bai Shuo/Xing Yue first. These are traits and qualities that I'm glad they kept to the original in MM.
But in MM, I am glad that we get to see that this is being directed at someone like Bai Shuo who can return his love equally. He deserves to be love. They both deserve their happy ever after at the end of all this. I am glad they got this happy ending in the end.
The God Realm is my favourite arc, although it was short but their backstory truly touched my heart and made me fell in love with Jing Yuan and Xing Yue back story.
Even when the story to MM was changed completely from their original backstory for Tian Qi and Yuemi, please don't let this discouraged you from watching Moonlight Mystique though, because I can assure you that the journey for our beloved main character: Fan Yue and Bai Shuo and this beautiful pairing is very worth it in the end!
While from ALP fans perspective (since I am also ALP fan), I get why fans want some form of connection back to the original story too. Since that is where their backstory started.
But from the writing perspective, for fans who never got exposed to their backstory and watch this as a standalone, they probably don't want to see Jing Yuan(Tian Qi) loving someone else in the past and Xing Yue(Yue Mi) being hurt by this unrequited love in the process.
To me, the change has its pros and cons. The change was done better for Tian Qi part for me but cant say the same for Yuemi with what was portrayed in their backstory revealed as Xing Yue and Jing Yuan in the past. Since Yuemi will never hurt Tian Qi on her end. But as we have seen from their past; despite they love each other, they cannot be together, and this leads to their tragic ending, which is very sad. I love how they made it clear/explained that Jing Yuan have been searching for Xing Yue on his end, and I find their story to be somewhat bittersweet in that sense. I actually wrote up my feelings in this thread in here, if you're interested in reading: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/zhu-yue/134640-jing-yuan-and-xing-yue-ending-contain-spoilers
With that being said, I will add this part to my review as well, I remember when this drama(MM) started airing, I told my online friend about it, since we both like Tian Qi and Yuemi story in Ancient Love Poetry, and we were talking about the cast selection. When I shared this to my online friend about the actress Bai Lu in this drama; he made a comment saying if I can still watch Bai Lu? Since he knows how I feel about her, and if I am going to be honest with you, her character Li Su Su in Till the end of the Moon had really traumatized me to the point there was a period of time, I cannot watch any of her drama's at all. I remember back then(when MM was still airing in the early episodes) my reply to my online friend was: "At the end, Bai Lu can either have two outcome for me, she either will go into my blacklist if she turned out to be another character I don't like in this one by traumatizing me once again, OR her character in this drama (Moonlight Mystique) will heal my previous trauma of her character in Till the End of the Moon. So in the end, what I can say is, I am glad I gave her this benefit of the doubt, while it is true that I started off neutral with her, but her character growth/journey and her portrayal in Bai Shuo or Xing Yue had really won me over and made me became a fan of her as the story progresses, although I love Bai Shuo better because her character is written more to the way of my liking. Bai Lu have done an excellent job bringing out the character: Bai Shuo and Xing Yue to life. I like how she played out the emotional scenes, and her crying scenes didn't feel force but genuine. I like that because it makes it more impactful when I watch those scenes.
As for Male lead actor goes, I have never seen Ao Rui Peng in another drama before, and the irony was while I have watched a few episodes of Blood of Youth back then, his character didn't stand out to me in that drama, BUT him portraying as Fan Yue and Jing Yuan is just on another level!!! Love him and his make up/costume in this drama. He looks so cool/handsome and especially with the purple shades in his hair when he played as Jing Yuan (The Demon God)!!! Ao Rui Peng whether he is Fan Yue or Jing Yuan, he is very good at playing out these emotional scenes as well. He also has a very passionate chemistry with Bai Shuo/Xing Yue (played by Bai Lu). I love all their screen time together onscreen, and their interactions is just a delight to watch, even at the beginning! There is never a boring moment when they're onscreen! They are definitely noted down as my favourite couple of all time, as a matter of fact, I think I am bumping Fan Yue and Bai Shuo up as my no.1 favourite Xianxia CP!
When it comes to pairing side of things, I don't think I have ever encountered a pairing that is this healthy, what I mean by healthy is... Both Fan Yue and Bai Shuo, they have communication, they will talk it out and not let it lead to any miscommunication or misunderstanding between them. Communication is the key!!! And Bai Shuo and Fan Yue have this and I am really thankful that they are consistent with this to the end from their characters. This is really refreshing to see, and I really love it. It makes them stand out to be the most well written pairing that have communication that work through things together. Not to mention they definitely have chemistry as a pairing!! Their Kiss scenes makes me blush and I am glad we got these beautiful scenes for our beloved pairing!
Xianxia is my favourite genre, but if I am going to be honest here, how I feel about xianxia in the overall have been disappointing as time goes by in terms of having a promising start, but a disappointing ending where they recycled the plot about the "responsibility in protecting the three realms". I am honestly at the point where I don't want a love story where the ML have to shoulder that responsibility in choosing to either protect the three realms or the woman he loves.
I want a love story where the ML choose to put the woman he loves above the 3 realms(or how many ever realms there is). I guess this is why Fan Yue and Bai Shuo love story appeal to me so much, because I see this as a breakthrough to the overused plot of choosing to protect the three realms and carrying that burden on your shoulder and cannot love freely the way you would want to without those responsibilities.
So going back to my favourite character here, whether it is Fan Yue or Jing Yuan(in MM), he is really a romantic person in my eyes, because he will continue to protect the woman he loves above anything else. I honestly love his love for Bai Shuo/Xing Yue. I LOVE FAN YUE & JING YUAN!
One of the things that makes Moonlight Mystique(MM) stand out is that there is never a boring moment with the plot that makes it feels like a filler, because each arc has a purpose that tells the story and will connects to the next one, which makes everything come into place at the end. Even when the side character/stories have their own impactful story that was written so well that it made me cry or teary for them, so they really stand out on it's own(in a good way).
I love the kids actors who played as Fan Yue and Qi Feng and Bai Shuo and Bai Xi, their backstory played by these little actors where they played their role in the backstory, made the present time more impactful because you know how much has changed between them from back then (as kids) and now (as adults).
I also want to make a memorable mention on the character Chen Ye, I didn't think I would like him when I first saw him, even when I found him handsome, because he was cold and ruthless, but when his backstory was revealed, I cannot not like him you know. I even love his interactions with Fan Yue and all their screen-time together (because...... I won't spoil the details for you).
Fu Ling is another character I didn't think I will like, but in the end, she has become a character that I came to like on my end. I also like her love story with Chong Zhao as well. It is quite sad to be honest. Yeah sad, meaning they got a tragic end.
In terms of ending for Fan Yue and Bai Shuo, I just want to say this, I really love the ending to MM, I was really nervous that it will be a last minute happy ending like ALP or TLI, but I am glad it isn't the case in MM. To be honest, I was already happy with the ending I got from Episode 40 because they get to hug and shared 1 last passionate kiss together, but when they gave us an epilogue to show their wedding at the end, this just makes it more satisfying for me, because I have come to love Fan Yue and Bai Shuo so much. I love them to the point that if their ending is a Open Ending, I don't think I will be able to control my emotions. I mean, I was really disappointed with Song of the Moon(SOTM) Ending which is another Xianxia by IQIYI by cutting out the ending I know was filmed, but they never included this in the epilogue in that drama(SOTM) so this is why in MM, I am happy and over the moon for finally giving us and our beloved pairing Fan Yue and Bai Shuo their happy ending in a satisfying way! They deserve this to be honest!!! Because they have suffered so much from their past as Jing Yuan and Xing Yue!!!
MM ending is loveable in my eyes because we got a satisfying and conclusive ending for the Main Pairing, and the other side characters was implied and confirmed they will return one day (so that is a hopeful happy ending for our beloved side characters who died for the great cause). The writers didn't have to give us this but they did so I love them for this.
Among the three story: Ancient Love Poetry(ALP), The Last Immortal(TLI) and Moonlight Mystique(MM), as far as ending goes, while they are all a Happy Ending, but MM definitely have the best and most satisfying ending compared to the other 2. I felt like TLI(Yuan Qi and Feng Yin) got the short end of the stick, because at least Bai Jue and Shang Gu(ALP) get to hug, but Yuanqi and Feng Yin(TLI) ending was them standing at a distance looking at each other.
In the end, it's up to you whether you will watch it or not, but IMO, if you don't watch it then you are really missing out. It may not be every one's cup of tea and that's fine, but I will just say that for me personally, not many Xianxia nowadays pull through as the best and this feeling stay true to the end, since they normally started off well, but then got boring like how I feel towards The Blossoming Love which was airing at the same time, In The Blossoming Love, I got bored with the plot and the direction it was going whereas for Moonlight Mystique, the plot and characters got me engaged/hooked into the story from beginning to the end!
Oh and let's not forget about the OST! Please be sure to check it out because they are all so good!! I love all of them!!! And I have to say that this is the first time, I never actually want to skip the Opening (Intro song) and Ending (Outro song), because they are very captivating!!!
P.S: Fan Yue and Bai Shuo is now officially my no.1 favourite Drama CP. I still want to make an honorable mention to my other favourite pairing: Jing Yuan and Xing Yue! To me (if you have not read that thread of mines), then I will just add it here as well: In the overall, how I took the theme to their backstory and ending is, Fan Yue and Bai Shuo are reincarnations to both Jing Yuan and Xing Yue, and they lived on as their happy ending. Just like what Jing Yuan said to Fan Yue before he joins Xing Yue in the stars: that perhaps his awakening(60,000 years later) was to give them(Fan Yue and Bai Shuo) a chance to be together. He told Fan Yue to protect Bai Shuo well and don't let their(Jing Yuan and Xing Yue) regrets in the past repeat itself 😭😭 so to me, this is how I saw it... To say I am not sad would be a lie, because I was sad in that scene, but when I look at this in another sense/perspective, their ending gives a sense of bittersweet where their happy ending lives on in their next life(as Fan Yue and Bai Shuo) it actually makes sense if you look at reincarnation side of things. I felt like how the writers wrote this was very poetic and sad, yet beautiful at the same time that the love they held for the one they love is irreplaceable. We saw this through Fan Yue, Bai Shuo and Jing Yuan.
So in the end, does this make me dislike Fan Yue and Bai Shuo for having a happy ending? No!! Because Fan Yue and Bai Shuo deserves their happy ending too and considering all their suffering and sacrifices they earned it and I am glad one way or another Jing Yuan and Xing Yue can live on in Fan Yue and Bai Shuo in that sense(since that is their next life), without Jing Yuan and Xing Yue backstory, then we wouldn't have the Fan Yue and Bai Shuo that we came to love in this lifetime. And I will end my review with one of my favourite quotes in this drama:
"That's all in the past. This time, we've met again, not as Xing Yue and Jing Yuan, but as Bai Shuo and Fan Yue. In my heart, you're the best Bai Shuo, the only one in this world, and is irreplaceable" - Fan Yue.
Thank you for this wonderful journey, thank you for making a great start in 2025 for me! MM gave me back the hope that Xianxia can have a happy, satisfying and conclusive ending! I am still reluctant to say goodbye to my beloved characters, so this is currently on my rewatch list!!!
After several rewatch of this Drama, I decided to check out the Novel, in which I have on my end, and here's my feelings to the Novel in comparison to the Drama: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/738079-zhu-yue/139258-reading-the-novel-made-me-appreciate-love-the-drama-better-contain-spoilers (In summary, after reading the Novel, it made me appreciate/love the Drama even more).
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Overall I thought it was an OK movie, wouldn't exactly say it was a great movie. Only reason I gave this movie a try in the first place was because of Lee Min Ki. So if you want to watch a more a mature movie that will make you laugh, then give it a try and enjoy ^^
WARNING to the younger viewers the sex scenes aren't very explicit (no major nude scenes) but I would mostly recommended to the more mature audience.
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"If I love you, what business is it of yours?" (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
“Luo Zhi loves Sheng Huainan. And no one knows about it.”You’ve been warned. This is a long review.
Within the first few episodes, you’ll notice that the show’s stylist didn’t particularly love Luo Zhi enough to give her a memorable style. She’s a brilliant character - committed to her ambition, clever, meticulous, sincere, composed, and yet full of secrecy, shame, longing, and regrets, but she is dressed so...poorly and forgettably. And honestly, I could care less, if I weren’t using this bit to make my own little clever joke, because the juxtaposition of Luo Zhi’s beautiful depth and terrible fashion is exactly how I feel about this adaptation of 八月长安’s (Ba Yue Chang An) web novel, 暗恋橘生淮南 (Unrequited Love.) It has so much potential, gets certain things right that 99% of dramas miss, and yet...suffers from so many flaws. The team behind this show had the right intentions and chose the right story, but dressed it inadequately.
My relationship to this drama is quite mixed. There are elements that I absolutely adore, and yet, elements that frustrate me. But because it gets certain pieces of romantic storytelling right that most Chinese dramas (Asian dramas in general) completely miss, I also keep it close to my heart. The best I can do is to give a sincere review of what I love & hate about Unrequited Love (2021). This review is full of spoilers btw. Beware :)
Elements I Adore:
I. Sheng Huainan & Luo Zhi.
For the first time in Dramaland, I am fully aboard this ship. I am genuinely convinced that if there were a Sheng Huainan and Luo Zhi in our reality, that they would fall for one another. This element is the sole redeeming factor of this drama for me. I’ve found myself watching drama after drama, wondering how both characters fell for the other, and why the story needed to contrive reasons for the couple to come together (cue the usual person falling and the other main character catching them and then...they’re in love! How? We don’t know! But they are…)
In the beginning, we’re told the story of this romance framed by Luo Zhi’s shame and regret. She feels like a ghost beside Huainan, forever chasing after his shadow, but is unwilling to make herself visible unless he sees her first. This pining follows her from high school into her college career. In Luo Zhi’s heart, her yearning for Huainan’s attention isn’t just rooted in the affirmation of a childhood promise, but also in her self-actualization. She’s convinced herself that the best version of herself will undoubtedly catch Huainan’s eye. It’s cringy for us as the audience, because we know this narrative is self-defeating and reeks of shame. But the story’s unwillingness to hide this narrative of Luo Zhi humanizes her. Beside this secretive yearning for Huainan to fulfill his childhood promise, Luo Zhi is an individual who will work as hard as she must in order to achieve the goals she has set for herself. Sure, she’s a softie for Huainan, but she is as tough as it gets outside of her secret yearning. And I love that about her.
Huainan, on the other hand, is both thoughtful and simplistic. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that he’s idealistic to a fault. This man is exactly the albatross that he and Luo Zhi talk about. In terms of academic performance and popularity, he soars in the sky, full of ambition and potential, but his only aim for landing is to find a soulmate. He pines for someone who can share a telepathy with him. Yet when he lands on ground level, he becomes the Big Clumsy Bird he describes the Albatross as. These ideals he crafts in his mind are incomprehensible to most people and highkey irrelevant to most people’s lives. People see him for his looks, his family’s wealth, and his popularity, but he sees himself differently. It makes him feel isolated, invisible, and wary of others.
When you bring the two together, their shared fascination for one another is what makes this drama shine. Their conversations are endless, and I loved seeing that portrayed on screen. Luo Zhi’s shyness and Huainan’s persistence feel natural and painfully realistic. And I adore their initial dates. The surprise gift of Gibran’s poetry? Has my whole heart. Huainan saving the leaf they serendipitously grabbed at the same time, and Luo Zhi finding it as she peeks into his journal -- and Huainan SEEING her find it? I was embarrassed AND blushing for them.
II. Reframing “Missed” Love
I think we can agree that this show isn’t truly portraying “Unrequited Love” when it comes to Huainan & Luo Zhi. It’s portraying missed love. We’re shown this from the very beginning in terms of Luo Zhi’s self-inflicted pain of an “unrequited” love. The truth is, Luo Zhi’s suffering came directly from her own shame. She planted that seed of rejection all on her own and ironically created the distance between her and Huainan, because she never opened any opportunities for their meeting.
I love that the show sets up expectations for us, and then shamefully misses it. Because it’s this same shame that has kept Luo Zhi both resenting and perpetuating the 0.6cm distance between her and Huainan. The drama reveals to us that this distance between her and Huainan is self-forged. Luo Zhi herself has yet to let go of all the shame and self-hatred she developed in her secretive admiration for Huainan, and because of that, she sabotages most of their initial interactions.
The whole merry-go-round of the show is an unwinding of Luo Zhi’s shame. There’s an incredible scene in the movie Saving Face where one character confronts her lover in an airport and says, “You're too scared to look the world in the eye...and let it watch you fall in love.” Which fits perfectly with what Luo Zhi heartbreakingly inscribed on the rooftop wall: “Luo Zhi loves Sheng Huainan. And no one knows about it.” At this point, Huainan doesn’t even know of Luo Zhi’s existence. Her heartbreak is a whole narrative she has spun all on her own. And I think some of us might relate to that - the feeling of ending something before it even has the chance to begin, because we’re scared of the risks involved in putting ourselves out there. And she sets up these conditional requirements Huainan has to meet in order for her to finally reveal their childhood history, but those conditions are deceptive. The truth is that Luo Zhi is not ready to meet Huainan in her fullest vulnerability. Her ambivalence is fueled by her shame and fear.
When Huainan meets Luo Zhi, it’s as if his lonely lil Albatross self has finally found a place to land. It’s lowkey unfair to him that Luo Zhi comes in with so much reservation and secrecy, but we’ll save that conversation for another day. A part of me loves that though, because it’s painfully human. How many of us aren’t secretive and wary when it comes to love? I’ve been a partial Luo Zhi before, and I’ve also been a partial Huainan. I’ve been an admirer, and I’ve also been an overly cautious person. I’ve been the person full of shame, and I’ve also been the person who wants to risk losing my societal mask(s) in order to grow closer to someone.
I dislike the way they framed the eventual 5-year wedge between Luo Zhi & Huainan, but I respect the reasoning for it. The romantic in me loves and is in tune with how Luo Zhi describes their love: It is rooted in mutual, shared belief. Both of these clumsy Albatrosses believe that they will land in the same place, but for now, their ambitions are diverging. Their love is a commitment to the belief that they will come together without reservations, without shame, without secrecy standing between them. If I were to call myself a believer of love, I’d be in agreement with Luo Zhi. I think my truest belief in love is where choosing myself is already choosing the other person, because becoming who I am will naturally lead me to someone who is most compatible with me (granted that they too feel as if they are becoming closer to their ideal self).
And the irony is that even during this period where they are far apart in both time and distance, they are the closest they've ever been to each other at heart. They’re often in the same places, by coincidence, and even peruse the same book. And yet, when they were closest in terms of distance and time in college, they were farthest at heart, because they were clothed in shame and secrecy, which bred miscommunication after miscommunication. I guess the winding of this drama is meant to show us that Huainan & Luo Zhi had to come so close and yet spend so much time apart because they were the ones closing the door on one another. They were rejecting each other, or rather, rejecting themselves from fully accepting the other. And thus, as Huainan says, “isn’t it the absence of a thereafter that makes something romantic?” Now that they’re in agreement of a shared belief in love, there really is no “Aha!” moment the show owes us. They are in sync, and time and distance no longer reduce what is already shared between them. A true meeting of heart and mind.
“Sheng Huainan loves Luo Zhi. And the whole world knows about it.”
III. Zhang Mingrui
I loved this character & the actor's portrayal of him. His bond with Huainan was both believable & heartwarming. I also appreciate how his relationship with Riqing unraveled -- and how he was honest about not having any lingering feelings for her. I honestly think Luo Zhi & Mingrui were compatible all on their own, and wouldn't have minded if the show-writers decided to give us a "Luo Zhi's first love is Huainan, but her second love is Mingrui" kind of ordeal. My all-time favorite moment of Mingrui in this show was the scene where the uncomfortable classmate takes Huainan's bag of chips, and Mingrui says, so candidly, "Excuse me?" It was one of those scenes that felt so natural -- as if these characters really were just college students in a library, completely caught off-guard & bewildered by the actions of a *strange* classmate.
What Fell Short:
The. Side. Characters.
I’m going to be brutally honest and tell you that I skipped past most of the side character storylines. The dynamic between Bai Li and Ge Bi? That’s a big ~nope~ for me. I pretty much only watched Bai Li when she was with Luo Zhi. I will say one character that I passionately abhor in this show is that one boundary-breaking, fear-inducing, unreasonable stalker of Huainan. And I don’t abhor her, I abhor the characterization of her. She was so contrived. I won’t spend my words on it further than that. If they took out the side characters and focused more on Huainan & Luo Zhi's period of separation, I would give this series a higher rating. But these unnecessary & pathetic villains are not it.
The Misunderstandings
Scrap the entire feud between Luo Zhi and Huainan’s families. It was unnecessary and barely fleshed out. While we’re there, scrap Huainan’s family downfall too. And that bit about Huainan giving Luo Zhi the raincoat as a test? It was weird and off putting. It felt like tacky story writing. It’s what I mean when I say the show had heart, but was poorly dressed.
I’m definitely going to come back & edit this review, because I’m still contemplating how I feel about the show. But I still treasure the feelings it gave me because it reminded me of my own belief in love.
The Initial Daydreams
I have a strong dislike for any show that uses this technique. Showing the audience a scene and then revealing to us that it was all the character’s imagination is both uncomfortable and unnecessary. We KNOW Luo Zhi is pining after him, and we KNOW he doesn’t know her yet. Please spare us the trickery.
I don’t have much to say about where I feel the show fell short because I feel as if they were problems in the show’s exterior -- that’s not where my heart is at. My heart is in the interior of the show - the crafting of Luo Zhi & Huainan’s love - of which I’ve already penned a gazillion words.
If you’ve gotten this far, I do recommend the show. Just skip the side romances. And give space for Luo Zhi to grow on you, because she will. If you liked this show, I’m recommending you Nana (Japanese Anime), Ao Haru Ride (Japanese Anime), Whisper of the Heart (Japanese Anime), "A Love So Beautiful" (Chinese Drama), and “In Time With You” (Taiwanese Drama).
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LR: Raised the Bar of Modern Cdramas
This is the first Cdrama I wished have more than 33 episodes. Each scene is done beautifully - visually and metaphorically - & makes you realize how other dramas pale in comparison.The first few minutes on the show already draws you in. The opening credits are spoiler-free as the show takes you to a montage of easter egg hunts you’d soon discover as you watch on. The title episode screen with a quick shot of a scene in the episode is a visual delight.
From the cinematography, quick witted dialogues, acting, and OST — this show truly captured a great dynamic of both leads (and ALL supporting characters.)
What I honestly love about this show is how wholesome this is. It’s a rom com with healthy relationships. Misunderstandings are resolved without dragging on too much. The devotion each leads have on each other is outstanding. The SLs actually SUPPORTING the main characters.
The chemistry with the leads are so electric and natural that it almost feels like they’re not acting at all.
You will laugh, you will cry, and you will also shed happy tears as you cheer them on.
LR is at the top of the board across all the other C/K/J dramas I’ve watched (including all the other hyped up shows)
If you’re hesitating, please give it a go. I urge you to give this a chance (past the ML’s hairdo, which apparently irks people), you’ll find that your standard for dramas are raised higher because of this show.
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Family Fun
I really wanted to like this and decided that this was going to be my festive October near Halloween drama. Instead. It took me two weeks to get through the twelve episodes because, honestly, they were a bit hard for me to get through. Which makes me a little uneasy writing this review as the six previous reviews before this one spoke very highly of the drama. This drama was 100% silly "family fun" which isn't my cup of tea.I loved how this drama was a unique perspective of a zombie wanting to become a human again and basically trying to blend in, not wanting to be caught. He also harbors a small hatred for humans as all movies and dramas that come out, portray zombies as these creatures from hell that need to be brutally murdered, but he soon starts developing a bond with Sunji and her family. I also loved all the random cameos - all the members of A.C.E., one of my favorite kpop groups (Jun & Chan getting the lines in multiple eps), Sam Hammington (who I know and love from Return of Superman), and last, even though she wasn't a cameo, but I love her anyway, Hwang Bo Ra, who plays Sunji's cooky sister. I also LOVED all the music they picked - either the random references to Hollywood movies or when DPR Live's Martini Blue randomly started playing on Sunji's headphones.
The last thing I loved about this drama was the bits and pieces of darkness with all the crimes (a total of 3 main ones). But this also goes hand in hand with why I didn't like it as well. I feel like this drama didn't really know what it wanted to be or the vibe it was going for - one moment President Le is fighting a bad guy off, but literally getting bashed in the head with a trophy over and over again (in any normal drama, he would be unconscious or dead) but a moment later Wang Wey slams into the glass door trying to escape, much as in a scene from a Saturday morning cartoon with sound effects and all. Cut to the next scene, Prez Le is totally fine and minor blood. It was almost like the show was maybe going for a PG Saturday morning cartoon feel and was over the top too cheesy and dramatic for my taste, personally. Some jokes hit, most didn't. Which is fine and cool, maybe this drama was written for a younger audience, but then you have DARK scenes and situations, that are 100%, not PG, but all of them were my favorites.
I also had a hard time because I wasn't a huge fan of most of the characters. This drama was 100% silly "family fun" which isn't my cup of tea especially when the characters don't sit well. They all had so much potential, such as the main characters, and could have been amazing detectives from the very beginning, but decided they wanted to be clumsy in the beginning so they could come through in ep 12 and complete a very simple operation and pat themselves on the back. And this is all my personal opinion. I thought that catching the Christmas/Santa Clause Killer was a harder task than the one in ep 12. I also wasn't a fan of President Le and his agency, but they did embody what this drama symbolized and they also followed the formula of having potential, but only coming through at the end. I think the only characters that I somewhat enjoyed were Sun Young (she is very consistent in embodying one character in all her dramas), her son (he was so cute and randomly always in the right place at the right time), and Sunji's best friend who owned the tripe shop (who always came through with her contacts at the hospital). The two mains were alright - I loved Moo Young's determination to solving cases and finding answers, but it would get discouraged very easily and then want to give up, and I loved how supportive Sunji was with her friends and family and wanted to do the right thing, but she was very clumsy and impulsive and it was very annoying. She was very good at her job and had the potential and the heart to be a detective, but she lacked a bit of common sense. Both characters got better towards the end, but it made it hard for me to personally watch while waiting.
Overall, if you want to watch a PG drama with some dark themes, but covered up with Saturday morning cartoons jokes, and scenes, this would be a good drama. I personally thought that there was a lot of fluff even though this was already super short. I will not watch this drama again, but I am happy that I did watch this. I wish I could give it a better score because of the music and the cameos and all the good promoting, but this was a miss for me.
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The Lovesick Queen Maker and his peace-loving & compassionate Wife.
This would have been incredible if they had made it longer and if it had been handled by a better production company with a sufficient budget. The core concept and setup are things creators have been attempting for years, and I truly feel bad that such a potentially great story went to a mediocre company, resulting in something so underwhelming and disappointing.Although the entire show is full of plot holes, like literally left and right, I can really see that this type of narrative could have been built into a more comprehensive and detailed platform where it can be given a chance to elaborate and incorporate the real message of the story with more precision. The way it was created and ended felt so rushed, that I myself started feeling bad that it was treated and squandered like that.
Something I initially like about this drama is its pacing—It went by so quickly not wasting any episodes throughout its first half but ended up ruining the other half eventually. All I can say is that their idea of putting up the story like that escalated pretty quickly which causes it to backfire at the very end. I still find it crazy how they leaped through the most important events like it was nothing important. It genuinely felt like the climax was skipped over just so that they can end it—which is a very dumb decision to be very honest.
Another thing I find ridiculous is the fighting and martial arts scenes. They tried so hard to make it look great at first but I guess they gave up on it as the story goes on because the way it was executed on the succeeding episodes was simply terrible you won't even have to think twice to say it's really that bad. It was too evident and crystal clear like they didn't even try hiding it. Hahaha!
Lastly, I just wanna say that the way they depicted women here with resolute resolve is something I truly like. However, the execution is where it all went wrong... such scenes could have ended great and inspiring but for some reason it looked prematurely done. The power and determination is there but the lack of conviction and weak representation made it feel and look like a literal staged play—an act.
P.S. The ML (Yuan Hao) is an expert in playful-cuddly-romantic scenes. I swear! He makes my heart leap countless of beats everytime he acts like that.
Story - 8.5, It is promising and is actually good, however, the people who directed and created it is disappointing otherwise. How I wish it was handled by a better director, script writer and production company with sufficient funding.
Acting/Cast - 7.5, The acting is very inconsistent! I had to pause multiple times and mentally consider a lot of things e.g. dubbing, voice syncing and so on. Because I thought the problem may have been caused by that. But at the end of the day, none of those are the reason why I was bothered. The problem really lies on the facial expression, emotion and overall body language of the actors and actresses. Most of the time I think they do not even know how to act their scenes and were just doing the best they can do; as a result it turned out pretty awkward and bad. Yuan Hao did great though!
Music - 9.5, Music is Good. There's this one song they used I believe on Ep.8 that I can't find the tittle of which I really love and I will surely hunt that one down. For sure!
Rewatch Value - 8.0, It was not that bad for me not to rewatch it. I would say it's worth my time and as I mentioned, is a potentially promising production and could have been more, with better team working for it.
Overall - 8.5, I contemplated so much with this rating. I was set to give it a 9.0 - 9.5 however the unexpected ending made me retract on how I feel about this drama. I understand that they lack the resources and all but I cannot accept that they chose to off screen most of the exciting scenes and eventually ruling all the commotions they have started from the very beginning to a draw. Like, did you all just wasted your entire effort from the very beginning for nothing? Hahaha!
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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RECOMMENDED IF YOU WANNA LAUGH AND CRY!!
As someone who works with people with disabilities, I super appreciate this movie as they somehow focused at what a mentally unstable person can do. I love Kwangsoo's acting cuz he actually pulled off the role. I've watched it twice without a sub, and I'm still crying a river. This movie is so good, I dont mind watching it over and over again whenever.This movie shows us how we also have to look out the emotions of an autistic person. They cant express things as much as they want but their emotions have huge impacts on their actions. I cry everytime kwangsoo cries. its jus too hard not to. i felt all the emotions in this movie. First, you would be dying of laughing then next thing you know, you’d be crying a river.
Wether you are a guy or girl, I doubt you can control your tears. lmao. A round of applause to the actors especially to the two leads. Lee Kwangsoo and Shin Hakyun! This movie deserves a 10/10 rating! I learned a lot of life lessons from this movie and its just overwhelming. Currently my fave movie!
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I am notoriously hard to please when it comes to dramas, especially historical dramas, but this one is one of my favorites. I gave this show a 9, which is an honor only a handful of dramas/movies have gotten from me.
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Jian Yao started off as a smart, independent female that was in control of her life. Bo Jin Yan was this enigmatic man whose cold exterior was gradually warming up to Jian Yao and drawing closer to her. I enjoyed the episodic cases they solved together and the growth of Jian Yao as Bo Jin Yan's protégé in criminal profiling, not to mention the blossoming of their feelings toward one another. There was some quiet humor in there as well that I enjoyed immensely. But in the end Jian Yao was just a damsel in distress, and Bo Jin Yan was running away to "catch the bad guy" immediately after telling her he'd be with her "24/7" -- more than once. She was left out of the loop completely.
So....why the 6.5 rating you say? Well, that's because the last 1/4 of the show, the story, once it moved from China to America, went downhill in flames for me. I raced to the finish of this show expecting things to get back on track, but they never did. It was almost as if they changed writers because the whole tone of the show changed completely. Jian Yao and Bo Jin Yan were hardly in a scene together afterwards, and their dynamic changed as well. The chemistry and romance was lost as they pursued "one" big bad villain. The plot got too twisted and convoluted. The actors playing the Americans were atrocious. The stilted speech was one thing, but there were several goofs as well. One text was sent out - with a misspelling of "steel" instead of the word "steal" that was meant....but on the receiving end, the text was completely different than what was sent out. The actors playing the Americans had a few flubs in their delivery of lines, as well as changing the names of the other characters a few times. There were a few that also could not hold their American accents. It was horribly distracting. Also, the Americans would speak in English, and the Chinese would reply in Chinese. This seemed very unrealistic, as how many Americans are fluent in Mandarin? And apparently New York police officers really need to wear their bulletproof vests. Yikes!
The 7.5 score for acting goes entirely to the Chinese cast in this case, points deducted for the "Americans". (Edited to add: Although, I do realize that English speakers are NOT the target audience, I hope that this information is helpful for those that it would make a difference to.)
Poor Jian Yao and Bo Jin Yan were almost completely different characters by the end of this show. Not the same one I was captivated by in the beginning. That disappointed me a lot and the only reason this is getting a 6.5 is for all the scenes in China. I feel bad hating on a show that most seemed to really love, but there it is. They could have fleshed out the story and the characters better if they had stayed put and continued in the direction they started. The switchover to New York also had the undesired outcome of not completing the setup they started in China. Many things were dropped and not explained.
Despite my utter letdown in the ending of this show, Huo Wallace has gained a new fan in me. I hope to one day see him act in something that will "wow" me like the start of this did.
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No more feeling blue
Ok so we were all a little disappointed by the abrupt ending to the first part of this KBL. So it needed this one to tie up lose ends. It's definitely worth watching part 1 first as you see a different side to both characters as well as some immaturity and growth.The episodes are short (8 minutes with the last being 15 mins) and there are extra scenes available to members which week. IF you watched in real time then you would assume some things about the main couple which aren't necessarily true.
Overall the chemistry is amazing. The dilemma faced by one of them interesting and their dialogue was well written
I would recommend as a binge watch to avoid the weekly angst Jaemin caused us all. You're left feeling less blue than you did at the end of part 1 and that's good enough for me.
Oh! OST was good on this one and helped give depth to a very short series. Would like to see more from this couple as well as from this production company
Enjoy
Chelsea Black
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Drama Special Series Season 2: Little Girl Detective
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They put every character in overdone cliches: the abrasive female detective, the arrogant prosecutor, and the bumbling officer. The writers came up with corny lines that made the acting feel uncomfortably awkward. BUT as the short drama pushes forward, you can start getting more into the plot and watch how Haesol's character develops. I've seen the actors in other dramas (mostly supporting roles) and I'm glad that they were given a chance to show their chops in this drama.
The story has a pretty good plot and gets a little convoluted, but that's what makes investigative shows so fun to try figuring out. I was pretty quick to figure out the culprit (bc I've unfortunately watched and read every murder plot in the history of mankind), but there was a part in the end that was an unexpected surprise. Romance was sparsely scattered throughout the mini-drama, so if the reason you like watching dramas is for the romance, you'll be a little disappointed with this one.
As for the cases, they pretty much stuck to the basic "crime, events leading toward/after crime, investigation, deduction". Because it was only 4 episodes, they did a good job of making the main plot flow through but still leaving room for you to think about who-dun-it. (It's not really like typical dramas/anime/manga where they stretch it out with fillers to fill their 16+ episodes--I'm looking at you, Detective Conan)
The music was pretty typical of detective genres. Jazzy music riddled with suspenseful (and also lighthearted) ditties. (I also like trying to hear what kpop songs pop out in the background in coffee shop scenes. "Troublemaker" was one I caught.)
If given the time, I would probably watch this again. (But it would probably be because of Kim Joo Young more than anything. So cute!)
If you like investigative shows with endearing characters, heart-pumping moments, and a strong plot/story, this might be the drama for you. ^^
(I gave it an 8 because it actually managed to make me say "what the?!" at least once...which is a feat in my eyes)
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