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There is a reason why the tragedy tag is there. The setting of this movie itself is during war, in a war camp where all sort of people is there. The good and the bad people, the honest and the one with ulterior motives. The story itself is unique to me. Usually, movies in a war setting are heavy on tactical or political but Swing Kids focuses mainly on tap dance. When I watched the trailer, it got myself thinking too how did this one ended up as musical movie? The music was necessary to accompany the tap dance. I don’t really know much about American music during war times but it is pleasant to hear. The movie focuses on the hero, Kisoo and how he fell in love with tap dance. How tap dance changed his life, the consequences he got when he accepted his love for tap dance from his fellow countrymen and enemies, and the dream he wanted with his talent. It was a beautiful journey to watch his character development. The other characters are necessary for this development, one leads to the other, and another, until they completed each other. And these characters will be tested on their ideology and loyalty; either to be freed physically or to be freed mentally.
Do Kyungsoo is so incredible in this movie. The way he talked in North Korean accent, the way he potrayed as a bully and the most important is the way he tapped dance. It was so beautiful to watch his character. The second lead for me is the character Jackson. The actor, Jared Grimes, is really into his character, I am so impressed. Jackson is the person that introduced tap dance to Kisoo. The relationship between them is so beautiful, it transgressed language, skin colors and ideology. Park Hye Soo’s English is wonderful and she certainly can tap dance; while Oh Jung Se and Kim Minho completed the comic relief in this movie.
The movie started with a good humor here and there, and later it changed into a serious tone due to a major event in the movie. But the beauty of tap dance is featured in the movie from the beginning until the end. The director is clever to use music as the momentum, mostly the pacing of the shoe’s tap itself, and there are some scenes I literally held out my breath, the tap dances in this movie are that good.
I would love to rewatch it again in the future. This movie is certainly different from the others. Recommended.
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1Sweet and Understated
STORY:Though this drama doesn't really bring anything new to the table in terms of story, it has a sweet, understated vibe to it that made for an enjoyable watch. And while it premiered in 2021, I felt like I was watching something from five or six years ago, but the warm feelings of nostalgia were nice and comforting. Second Chance brings not the annoying ex-girlfriends, obnoxious fujoshis, and slapstick sound effects that seem to inundate more recent Thai BLs and instead takes us back to that feeling of discovering one's self and one's first love in the midst of emerging adulthood.
There are three main stories here: Paper and Tong Fah, Chris and Jeno, and Near and M, with the main focus being on the first two. I do think the writers were ambitious in attempting to deliver so many plots given the number of episodes, and, as much as I adore Near and the actor who plays him, I agree with others who said that his and M's storyline could have been left out due to the miniscule amount of screen time and development, in favor of advancing the other couples' plot lines. But that said, although some parts of this drama felt rushed and/or underdeveloped (and at times I felt like I had missed something), there wasn't a lot of filler fluff, and I do think the writers tried to devote every minute they could to advancing something, for which I'm appreciative.
I also just need to point out that the scene in episode three where Tong Fah and Paper are dancing in one of their bedrooms is one the best I've seen in a BL. So raw and vulnerable—got me all in the feels—and I applaud the actors in evoking those emotions.
ACTING/CAST:
The cast overall did a nice job portraying their characters, some better than others, but none were terrible. Each character was charming in his or her own way. Even the antagonist was devilishly alluring and made me really intrigued to know his (and Jeno's) backstory. The actors had good chemistry with one another, both as friends and love interests, and there was a natural ease about their interactions with one another.
OVERALL:
Do I recommend? Yes, totally. It's short and sweet and hearkens back to the BL days of old which was (perhaps surprisingly) a nice break from the more loud and chaotic Thai BLs we've been seeing lately. This gives me vibes of Love Sick and I Told Sunset About You (note, for the latter, I said vibes, not production quality, so don't compare it on that end lol), and if you're a fan of those and the feelings they give you, I think you might like Second Chance.
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I have to admit 39 episodes are somewhat of a challenge. But after ep1 the director made very efficient use of cliffhangers. Hence, you'll just watch on and on and the 39 episodes just fly by!
Story: A beautiful Chinese time traveller story. Qing Chuan gets zapped back to the Qing dynasty. And we follow her meet the great Emperor and his numerous sons. The story is full of love, hate, revenge, intrigue!
While the emperor's sons struggle for favour in court and for the position of crowned prince Qing Chuan is right in the middle of it all.
I loved how all the Princes were portrayed with different characteristics, worries, goals, dreams, faults. Over the course of 39 episodes there was room enough to develop every character. And while we start out hating some and liking others, the story convincingly takes us to other perspectives, different problems and we may just change our minds about some of them or at least find it harder to judge them in terms of black and white.
The actors were doing a great job. Every single one of them did a brilliant job. Yang Mi (Qing Chuan) was probably my favourite character. She was able to portray Qing Chuan so well with all her different facets.
Feng William and He Mickey were just unbelievable. Playing the two may male leads (8th and 4th prince) they excelled at playing intrigue, ambition, hate, cruelty, love, cold heartedness, softheartedness ... the whole range really.
But the Royal Consorts, Princes, Ministers, Eunuchs, Palace maids ... deserve merit as well. This drama was huge. Not just cast wise. But also as far as locations and sets were concerned and the costumes were so detailed and beautiful. The directors and producers put a lot of effort into this drama and the result truly reflects the passion they must have had making this series.
Sometimes the scipt was just a bit lengthy. And the intrigue was getting slightly out of control. In some episodes you can really feel the artificiality of the script. With the Qing Chuan Doppelgaenger, I really feel that was not a necessary episode.
Anyhow I thought all the tiny side stories of some characters were well interwoven with the plot and made the whole drama richer and more complete.
This was my first Chinese historical drama and I had to get used to the difference after being used to historical k dramas. All in all I think i like chinese traditional clothes better than the korean but that hair ornamentation... phew must have been really heavy. I also liked that the females here were all far away from being silly, naive and spoiled. They were all very believable characters.
A must watch for every one who enjoys historical dramas!!!
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I NEED MORE!!!!!!!!!!!
Man, this short film deserves MORE attention, this is such a treasure. I think strongberry has a big potential series to produce with this, seriously. If someone from this company read this PLEASE do a big series, with a big time of episodes, to develop the story, show more of the Korean culture, food, people, make a Korean dear John, idk, make something big and good like this short film. The actors are very talented, the story is good and makes me curious and makes me want more. The soundtrack is good too. please give fujoshis a good show we deserve after a lot of shorts films and medium dramas.Was this review helpful to you?
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People who watched the first season should know that Age of Youth (2) is a slice-of-life drama about five flatmates living under one roof. AoY to me was always about the realistic portrayal of friendships. We see how the flatmates stand by and support each other through their individual difficulties. It's really different from most K-dramas which tend to use same-gender relationships as a sort of fan-service. In AoY, all the interactions are natural, not over-exaggerated and not amplified. It's exactly like how I imagined friendships to be (I have no friends, jk). In short, it's an accurate depiction of how friends are like in real life, and as a viewer it's easy to relate to.There are a couple of cast changes in the second season. In particular, Park Hye-soo was swapped out for Ji Woo. I think a lot of people disliked the character. I do agree that she's a lot less likable in this season. Rather than attributing this to the new actress, I feel that the writer has gone slightly wayward in her characterisation of Eun-jae. Or perhaps as viewers we are more partial to the meek Eun-jae than the transformed Eun-jae. I think the scriptwriter probably wanted to show character growth, but the execution was unfortunately not up to par.
Kang Unni is also out of the picture at Belle Epoque, with Choi Ara playing the new-comer Jo Eun. I liked the introduction of Jo Eun. I thought her character was really interesting, especially her "friendship" with Ye-ji. They also briefly touched on homosexuality, although the topic was quickly brushed over. After I watched the finale though, I was really confused as to what this "friendship" was to each party. I would really like them to elaborate on it. Anyway, I thought this was a nice touch and they probably could have explored the plotline a little more. I don't really care for her romance with Seo Jang-hoon though. I don't dislike it, but I didn't think it was a highlight. This is just personal and from the comments I've seen, most people quite like this couple.
Ye-eun's loveline is the one I liked most (other than the Song-sung couple that is). I don't know how Onew* would have been, but I feel that Kwon Ho-chang was perfectly cast. And nerds are always endearing. His relationship with Ye-eun is like a reversal of power compared to her previous relationship. In any case, I felt that they were really cute.
Yoon sunbae is the glue that holds the house together. She's seemingly aloof on the outside but she's really taking care of everyone else, and not getting appreciated for it. I don't like the job she was given in this season. I thought that with how they had emphasised so much on her struggle with jobs and internship they'll hand her a job of a higher perceived social status. I'm not saying that working at an entertainment company is bad, but it's certainly no where near the top of my "dream jobs" list. Also, I personally do not follow Kpop and all, so I'm really indifferent to the storyline with the idol group which was cast aside. It's alright, but I think this could be done better.
This season though, the spotlight is on Song Ji-won. I don't think I need to elaborate further on how fantastic her character is. Her story was the focal point this season, and provided some insight on how her personality came to be. I think a lot of people may feel that her storyline didn't get closure, but I thought it was the best way to handle the situation. Because if everything went perfectly, this wouldn't be called Age of Youth. I still like her interactions with Im Sung-min. *SPOILER ALERT* I really do hope for another season just so we can see them get together. There are hints since the man holding the girl's hand in Ep13 is clearly Im Sung-min, but I would like their relationship to be more explicit and not just implied. *SPOILER ALERT*
In summary, I think AoY is an awesome drama. In the first season my attention waned towards the end but this season I sat through the whole drama, catching up on episodes as they air. I rate the sequel a little higher than its predecessor, though it may just be the freshness playing on my mind.
EDIT: Corrected name of original actor for Kwon Ho-chang.
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Chills
I literally get chills on my body whenever I think about this drama, week in week out and unsuspectingly we get wrapped up in the world of Mouse thinking mouse as always been the prey so this will be no different. This drama showed us the different side of Mouse the prey we think it is and then on the flip side the predator it as always been . We have a victim who gets stronger and is hell bent on revenge, another victim who tries her best to move on with her life, a victim/genius who can't provide any significant help and instead gets all the blame, a perpetrator who everyone loves and adore. The first half of this drama present things to us in a way that you can't help but have mixed feelings about the second half. Mouse you have ruined my critical thinking ability forever. The casts are excellent ❤️Was this review helpful to you?
No smiling matter.
Ye Pingan must be a witch. So whisper the common folk of Chang'an uneasily amongst themselves. Her medical practices are eyed with disdain by the ruthless and ambitious young magistrate Yuan Shaocheng. When she finds herself entangled in a murder, he investigates her unsparingly. To his chagrin, she manages to stay one step ahead of him. They are both complicated characters with dark histories and hidden agendas. They fall into an uneasy alliance where they use each other and inevitably start to uncover each other's secrets. The story is set in treacherous times during the reign of Empress Wu and at the pinnacle of the power struggle between the Li faction and the Wu faction. They are both mere ants caught in the crosshairs between powerful stakeholders. Thus their interests don't always align and they find themselves at times on opposite sides.This is a well paced, suspenseful plot-driven story pitting two smart protagonists, at times for and at times against each other. There are conspiracies within conspiracies that reveal an abominable, heart-wrenching secret that Ye Pingan vows to expose. The subject matter is no smiling matter; it is an unflinching depiction of the vilest form of abuse of the powerful against the defenseless. It is ironic that during the only time a woman ruled the world in Chinese history where at the upper echelons, women are as powerful and capable as men, at the bottom of the social strata they are weak and unspeakably abused. Led by Ye Pingan, the victims refused to roll over and play dead. Instead, they make terrible sacrifices to seek redress for what happened to them against practically untouchable antagonists. The way these damaged women bond and joy from their friendship and common purpose is the heart of the drama.
While there is undeniable romantic tension between them, Pingan and Shaocheng's relationship is more of a side story as they are both committed to causes that are larger than themselves. Even though I am normally not a fan of either Liu Shishi or Dou Xiao's acting, they are both well cast in their roles here and deliver mature and nuanced portrayals. Liu Shishi's taut, impassive expression and her cold, bright-eyed glare perfectly captures an avenging angel with just a hint of inner trauma. And Dou Xiao is the consummate ruthless, grey character who could be friend or foe... as long as he keeps his pearly whites hidden. Thankfully the somber tone of the story only allowed him to traumatize me twice with that killer 1,000 MW preternaturally white, extra toothy smile. That said, I found it hard to root for either of the leads. While I like that they are rather amoral characters who are in it to win it, they fight for other people. I find characters like Ni Chang or Wu Ankang who also know how and when to fight for themselves or when to walk away to be wiser and more relatable.
While I enjoyed the many twists and how the reveals build upon one another, the sub-plot arcs all follow the same formula so after the second arc, the reversals are predictable and anti-climatic. Nonetheless the drama held my interest to the end because of the entrance of the yummy Zheng Yecheng who delivers some exciting fight scenes. Not to mention I always enjoy dramas set during Wu Tzetian's reign and Chen Jin pulls off the role with gravitas and charisma. What I do not like is how these kinds of stories never fail to end without a dire message about the dangers of an over-ambitious woman.
Overall a sober story about lives lost in the name of vengeance and atonement, both ultimately hollow goals. Its a pretty good watch even though there really is nothing feel good about the story. I rate it 7.5/10.0.
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I read from many places that this is kind of remake and ispired by korean drama 'you who came from the stars' even though this is really based on chinese novel series.
I admit, story sounds similar and female lead has similar traits with Cheong Song Yi's character but that's where the resemblance ends. And I'm actually glad that this was different from 'you who came from the stars'.
So we have self-confident actress Tian Jing Zhi (played by Wu Qian) who in the beginning is in distraught by getting dumbed by her childhood sweetheart boyfriend after proposing him. While venting her anger she gets into car crash and accidentally revives immortal Xue Ling Qiao (played by Kim Tae Hwan). Jing Zhi almost died but Ling Qiao with his abilities payed back the favor by healing her.
Ling Qiao, being lived in the earth for 500-something-years and being 'asleep' for 100 years he didn't know anyone and didn't have anywhere to go. The only person he could think of was Jing Zhi and thus he kind of forced himself as Jing Zhi's roommate.
This is where all the fun began, Jing Zhi being her bubbly and hyper self and Ling Qiao being serious and quiet.
I enjoyed the side characters Zhang Xuan Xuan (Shen Meng Shen), Li Yan Zhi (Fu Jia), Ye Chen (Xu Ke). I really wanted writers to concentrate on these characters more but I guess episode duration would have been too long. They were important to the story and all actors did great job representing them. This drama made me a fan of Xu Ke and I hope I will see him in more dramas in the future.
At first I felt in couple first episodes that plot isn't going anywhere. But those couple episodes was full of funny moments because Jing Zhi's character is kind of comical so I enjoyed it. Then plot started to take place soon and I was so into watching this. A little dissappointment was Kim Tae Hwan's performance, who as a novice actor didn't quite convey enough emotions for the viewer to feel it properly.
If you're awaiting some mind blowing romance from the start, you will be dissappointed. Scenes between Ling Qiao and Jing Zhi were sweet but romance evolved kind of slowly.
Main bad guy in this drama you can guess if you have good instinct and have watched this kind of dramas before. For me, I guessed who the bad guy was pretty quickly. But nevertheless, I was enjoying watching this. I felt like there weren't any extra character put there like an accessory but everyone had their own meaningful place in the story.
Only thing that was major disappointment for me was one plot turn happening in later episodes. All except that, I can say I am quite happy with 'My amazing boyfriend' and I hope they will make season 2!
Oh, and music was good too! I think I will go looking for OST ;) And I'm even interested to read My amazing boyfriend novel series if I ever find it translated it in english somewhere.
Overall; if you're a fan of fantasy and romance, this is definetly your drama.
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As If You Whisper tells the story of Bom Soo, an aspiring singer that is stuck doing vocal guides despite his talents as a musician. Then he meets Hyun Woo, a man that's been watching him for awhile. Though the story doesn't focus solely on the romance, I think the happy ending combined with Bom Soo's self realizations is such a wholesome completion. It'd be easy to make this a sad ending, but they didn't.
The music is also great, and the actor worked hard to record it himself. All together it's just a really solid, inspiring production.
I bought this on Vimeo for $6.99USD and I really recommend you do the same if you can. Please try to avoid watching this on YouTube. It's a small production company specializing in queer Korean films (which is a country already lacking in high-quality LGBTQ content). I really think they deserve the support so that they can make more amazing films and dramas like this one. I'm so glad I watched it, and I'll definitely rewatch it.
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No more moons please!
Well, this is getting repetitive...You would think that after giving us Kimmon and Copter and the 15 insufferable characters that Bas has played since he was the original Wayo in the first edition of "2Moons", this company would have said... "ok enough... we did well enough, let's move on". Sadly, season 2 became a chaotic mess when all the original cast left and they had to re-cast, sending fans into distress because some couldn't accept the idea of not having Kimmon and Copter playing Ming and Kit or couldn't accept the idea of having inexperienced newcomers replacing them.
But, we got "2Moons2", with a whole new cast and wasting the first 4 episodes with a reminder of what happened in the original series. This series was not perfect but we got Earth (now called Din) doing a decent job as the new Wayo, Joong who seems to be the most successful of the bunch moving to GMMTV, Nine who now seems to focus on his singing career after being on a Chinese singing competition, and Phoom who was quite subdued in the very mediocre "Coffee Melody". That season ended with Wayo suffering from his picture being placed all over the university by the guy who likes him but gets rejected and then seeks revenge. He runs away to his home and while Pha is kicking the other guy's ass, Joong (Ming) comes and tells everyone that he knows where Wayo is, at home with his father.
Even a this point, season 3 seemed inevitable, focusing on Wayo-Pha and their crisis and also on a secondary character called Suthee (played by Green) who was going to be "The Ambassador" in season 3. But, Mello Thailand/Motive Village (whatever the name is now) messed it up, again... first by creating a music group with all the guys from "2Moons2", except Din... which created an incredible uproar by the fans. Then, more controversies with their contracts and between the company and director Anusorn (who directed the second part), ended up with the whole cast quitting again. Instead of ending the project, Motive Village decided to re-cast for the third time and we ended up with this mediocre series as the third season of an already mediocre project.
Some of the bad things:
1. The plot/storyline: No clue, really... the main character of the this season is Lom, who is Pha's cousin and his "enemies to lovers" story with Tatch. They both argue about being the candidate for the university's Ambassador competition and decide that, whoever has more IG followers by certain date, will be the faculty's representative. Lom lives in a self-pitying world as he always says he is not good looking enough, especially when compared to Tatch, but he has way more followers than him, so he is always trying to make Tatch more popular and in the process, falls in love with him. That part of the plot seems clear... but then we have the other couples from the previous two seasons and we see them quite scarcely throughout the episodes... the Wayo issue from the end of season 2 should have been the starting point for this season but, instead, gets pushed I think until episode 5 or 6 (don't even remember now) when Pha tells Lom how the problem was solved as a 3-minute flashback during the episode.
Kit and Ming, Pha and Wayo and Forth and Beam do not advance their relationships and, instead, we get the usual jealousy, fighting, arguing and tears in the usual BL tropes wasting whatever momentum the couples from part 2 left for the new couples in this season. I mean, we even have Pha and Wayo still arguing in the last episode and suddenly solving things with a kiss and a hug. It seems the director and the writer were set on focusing so much on Lom-Tatch, that the rest of the guys were just a side note during the series... if you watched carefully (unless you fell asleep from the boredom or you quit the show before the end), each couple (Wayo-Pha, Forth-Beam and Ming-Kit) had their "big" argument, their jealousy moment, and their NC scene with some very awkward kissing making it the same dull formula for all the couples all the time. Lom and Tatch being the focus of this season, had way more screen time, way more kissing scenes (a bit less awkward than the other couples), so we got to see the perfectly waxed armpits from Danny many many times. Plus, we even got an extra couple with Toon and Tong (Lom's friends) kissing in episode 12 without much development for their couple.
2. The acting: Yes, I am aware the actors are brand new and QUITE inexperienced... but it was painful to watch. No emotions in sad scenes or angry scenes or any scene whatsoever, no chemistry between them, some of the characters really don't match these actors, and yes, I also know I shouldn't compare, for example, the acting and character development by Nine vs.the acting and character development by Toey (both played Kit) or the cute, naive acting done by Din vs. the cute, naive acting done by Park (both played Wayo), but the chemistry between the couples in "2Moons2" felt a bit more natural than with these couples. Plus, with the reduced screen time that the 3 original couples got, meant we barely had any chance of really getting to watch how each actor portrayed their character... just to see if they brought anything original to the table. Instead, we end up getting Danny (playing Tatch) and Mark (playing Lom) for 85% of the episodes and very few glimpses of the rest. It is a shame that the company did not prepare these guys better for what was definitely a pressure-cooker because fans already had 2 different casts to compare and to choose from.
3. Side characters: If we barely saw the main couples, we had even less side characters with Lom's friends being the ones who got most airtime and the cartoon-like villain we got this season (Panon), that actually has a good twin as well (Parak)... evil twin-good twin, how original! But the bad guy is in love with Lom and tries to get him to break up with Tatch ... so in this Thai BL we got the crazy male character instead of the usual crazy female character. We also have a girl who likes Tatch and is a friend of Lom... she thinks Tatch will ask her out but he never does and then feels betrayed by Lom when Tatch tells her he is in love with him and not her. At least we didn't see the plot get any crazier by having her do something "evil", so we settled with the crazy male character doing all the bad things, then get beat up with his own twin and miss the Ambassador competition.
Good things? I'm not sure... some of the actors had cute moments but good luck finding something else.
In the end, for the third time, this series has been wasted due to poor management, poor writing, poor directing and mediocre acting. I truly hope this is the last season of the "2Moons" franchise because the original was not exactly a masterpiece and the other 2 have gone down in quality ever since.
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SIDE NOTE: Been watching the English Sub, YouTube, 1080p, approx 30 minutes per episode, translated by Yzd_International_Fanclub, thanks guys!
ACTING/CAST: This is quite an attractive cast, and they play their parts very well.
MUSIC: Very good throughout the series.
REWATCH VALUE: Yup.
OVERALL: I'm am AMAZED at the production value of this! The set design and costume design are A+. It's a gorgeous production. I can't wait to watch more!
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A little stretched but fine.
As you're already aware of, Undercover is a remake of the popular UK series of the same name, the makers have also done immense changes in many plots giving extra essence to the major characters. This is rather a political thriller that feels like a tragedy throughout the entire thing and makes you feel sad. Absuse of power, authoritative ruling, corruption, dirty politics, etc. without the consideration of how it affects a common man's life and people's emotions are parts of this drama.Undercover is set up in a premise where a familyman tries to save his lovale family from getting ruined by his own tragic past that he has been hiding all his life out of insecurity that the revelation can break his dear ones apart. To save your time here I suggest you read the plot in the synopsis so that I can jump to my review, haha.
Have you watched the Lee Joon Gi starrer tragic thriller drama Flower of Evil: FoE (2020) which even got multiple nominations at the 57th Baeksang? Well then, Undercover is established on somewhat similar (I would say 30%) premise. Only difference is that the given situations in both the dramas are different but also lead to a tragic result where there seems no door to get out of.
Undercover is emotionally stirring and the brewing conflict between the leads even when they're unware of eacg other's flaws, is what you call the main attraction of the drama. The emotions and beliefs of the leads will leave you worried about the fate to befall on them and their happy family. The greatest message it gives is, even in a regular and perfectly normal relationshp, situation of discovering inadvertent lies, is something hard to overcome and reconcile.
Talking about acting and cast, the cast felt so good though I personally think it could have been better; the children of the lead couple and some people at the NIS as well as in the police force and the Blue House could be better actors. But the lead duo Ji Jin Hee and Kim Hyun Joo were so powerful throughout the series and their chemistry was remarkable though it's the second time playing a couple but it was different given that the characters were intense. Ji Jin Hee has always proved his versatility by playing a number of challenging characters but in my opinion this role is the most difficult. I felt the same when he played the same character in "Move to Heaven" even though he was there in a guest role.
The core concept of this drama is the same as Flower of Evil, sometimes it felt a bit slow but manageable. Back to back tragedies are a bit triggering which might make you angry; at a point everything goes wrong back to back things happening lose the way back to their places that makes one suffocating.
There was a huge character development for both the lead characters and the way it was presented by intertwining and connecting the present time with their individual as well as united pasts. That is one job that intrigued me tbh. The story has been well written and the direction and screenplay has been done nice but let me tell you that you shouldn't expect a lot from it for we have seen similar plots before and all the political tragedies are not new to us either. It's just a story with different elements and a different way of execution that makes it interesting and kept me going.
Overally, it's not a bad show but worth a one time watch. Please give it a watch before you judge. Scoring a gravitating pitch, UNDERCOVER vaunted a solid narrative right off the bat. Coupled with a good cast, it invites you to brace yourselves for the parade of confrontations, betrayals, and conspiracies spicing up its initial displayed story.
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A Sweetly Delicious and Heartwarming Drama
This drama held my attention from the very first episode; so many deliciously sweet moments that you just could not stop yourself from smiling while watching.The ML (WinWin aka Yan Yue) was perfectly cast. This is the first drama that I have seen him in. I am now looking forward to seeing him in "The Shadow" his next drama. That smile and dimples, everyone will be crushing over him because he is just so handsome. The FL (He Hong Shan aka An Ran) complimented him so well. She was funny, bright, pretty and she did not overly act like she knew everything being that she was older.
The drama was about An Ran who became an entrepreneur for a start-up company she started called "Sweet Games." She was always looking for investors. And you know the saying, "robbing Peter to pay Paul and robbing Paul to pay Peter back?" Well, that was An Ran. She was always short of money, but she somehow would make it work. Enter Yan Yue who was a successful voice actor that had known her when they both went to the same university. He had a secret crush on her, but he never would step to her.
Fast forward and we have An Ran renting the apartment next door to him. Yan Yue knew who she was, but she didn't remember him. So, the day that she rents the apartment she heads to a reunion at the university (as does Yan Yue) and while there she tries to get investors. It does not work out and to make matters even worse, she trips, and everyone sees the tags still on her clothes. Yan Yue was making his way to help An Ran, but her best friend Bei Meng Yao interceded before he could get to her. She helps An Ran to go the restroom where she basically tells her she is fine and that she can go. But you know she wasn't. She gets drunk at none other than a convenience store. Yan Yue comes and helps her home. She shares a kiss with him when she falls and wakes up the next morning in his bed. Yan Yue leads her to believe that something happened because he comes out in his robe.
We also have the ex-boyfriend from her university days that left her but now he tries to come back to get her. You know his situation with the girl he left her for didn't work out, so he is coming back to An Ran. An Ran is smart enough to know and doesn't want to have anything to do with him. At this point, I was a little ticked off by her bestie because she was trying to get them back together and dissing Yan Yue saying he was too young, and she didn't feel that he was the right person for her. He basically told her that it was none of her business what their relationship was and left her sitting at the table by herself. (I was high fiving him for that!)
Both parents of An Ran and Yan Yue did have similar thoughts regarding their relationship. But I was happy to see that the parents were not that forceful in trying to break them up due to the age difference. They both spoke to their parents in a way that they understood that it was no longer up to them to interfere, and they won them over.
Her game does become a success but you she did have those that tried to take it from her by planting a spy in her office and they did a cyber-attack before it was release because people were only using the beta version. Then Yan Yue was taken out of doing voice acting due to doing an audio for a book that the company was not given permission to do. There was a lot of drama here and he basically made a statement that put not only the company but An Ran's company and their relationship out for everyone to bash on the internet. Yan Yue leaves and retires from voice acting. This crushes An Ran but she waited patiently for him to return, which he did. Everything did work out with her company's game, and he got back to doing voice acting again.
The most beautiful part I felt, and my heart was just filled with such love is when I saw him doing the voice over for a book for the children who were blind. It was wonderful to see this incorporated into the drama. To see the smiles and when the one boy asks him if he could touch his face...oh, it just melted your heart. That whole part of the drama is performed so well. Kudos to the writers for these exceptional moments.
The wedding was one which was exactly how you would envision, with their closest friends and colleagues. But the wedding vows of Yan Yue were too much.
Here are the vows of Yan Yue to An Ran:
An Ran, before I met you, my life couldn't be without music. When disputes occurred, I could only choose to escape, I was used to being shackled in my own world by a pair of headphones. I thought I was living happily, free, and fulfilled. Until one day I realized that after falling in love with someone, all those noisy sounds will disappear. And the most beautiful sounds will form melodies. The perfection you gave me is a shore I can't reach by myself. Meeting you and knowing you again, I found I still have the butterflies in my stomach when I first met you. You seem to be the goddess of my campus days. So sunny, so beautiful. Thank you. Thank you for constantly blocking those unpleasant things for me. Thank you for dragging the boy hidden in the headphone cave into the sunlight. In the future, I want to grow old with you, I want to embrace your body, your heart, your dreams, your past, present, and future. An Ran, would you let me stand by your side?
Here are An Ran's vows to Yan Yue:
Yes, I would. Of course, I do. I never thought that I could become someone's strength, I always thought that life is a battle one fights alone. Yan Yue, thank you for resolutely walking towards me. There is a kind of heroism in this world knowing that marriage is hard, yet still longing for it. Now I finally understand this heroism because of you. Because of your love and tolerance, I finally have this courage. Whether our future is dark or bright, I am willing to forge ahead with you. Mr. Yan, would you exchange our missed youth for a lifetime of championship?
Of course, he said I do.
I highly, highly recommend this drama because it is just the stuff that we are all looking for so get yourself a nice piece of sweet chocolate that leaves a lasting taste in your mouth just like this drama will. It is so good!
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