Editorials 
This review may contain spoilers
Sisyphus in a Suit
You stare at the screen and can’t help but think: Oh, humanity. Always longing for a restart because, predictably, we messed it up the first time."The Judge Returns." It’s 2026, and the world remains a damp cellar filled with greedy old men. At first glance, it feels like an echo of 2022’s "Again My Life". Has South Korea not moved on since then? (Looking at the current geopolitical landscape, neither has the rest of the world...)
The message is so sobering you’ll want to retreat into a dark room: Without magic, without some metaphysical glitch in the system, you can’t knock these corrupt fossils off the board. It takes a time-reset just to summon the courage for basic decency and integrity. What a pathetic indictment of our species. You take a few pieces off the board, but the Game itself just laughs. Corruption isn't a bug in the system; it is the system. An endless war, a tiny victory—but in the end, does everything stay grey?
Then there’s Ji Sung. He carries that unshakable face of his through every frame. As a judge on his second attempt, he seizes his chance with absolute consequence. For a moment, it feels good to believe that something could actually move.
The Verdict?
• 10/10 for Ji Sung (honestly, just watching him is enough).
• 3/10 for Hope (which, as we know, is merely a lack of information).
But it’s not just about his face. It’s about what that face embodies.
(And thankfully, he isn’t entirely alone in this.)
Amidst the mire, there are these delicate moments where the series actually reflects on the Law. This KDrama (based on the webnovel Pansa Lee Han-young) bows before the Idea of Law. Not because it’s perfect—heaven knows it’s as full of holes as Swiss cheese—but because it’s the only thing standing between us and total whimsy. It is Sisyphus’ work: rolling the stone of the rule of law up the mountain every day, only for it to roll back onto our feet. But that doesn't mean the work is meaningless.
The Koreans have a beautiful term for this: Cheon-myeong (천명). Literally: The Mandate of Heaven.
Embracing the burden of destiny as a call to action, however bleak the odds.
So, would I recommend watching it? Yes. Even if—or especially if—those lying men in suits are increasingly getting on your nerves. It’s an act of defiance to watch someone tirelessly roll that stone up the hill, if only for those few episodes. (I think anyways.)
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unfortunately pretty much a failure
I went in this with not much expectation with that kind of plot and it ended being worst than expected.So, let starts with some positive points before my rant :
- I actually like a lot the costumes and styling
- acting was okay
- music was okay
- not really good, but still a happy ending
- the friendship between the ladies and the guys
- side couple : this romance was pretty good, I liked the flow of it, but not enough scenes in my opinion. they sometimes disappeared for episodes and they were some of the only interesting parts. How it started as arranged marriage, but affection, trust and love gradually came
- I like ML’s mom relationship with him and FL
so now the rant :
- SML and « Love triangle » : what a pain to watch and it lasted for more than 30 eps. SML was the literal third wheel and the leech that you can’t get ride off. he was the kind guy, but why did he had so many screentime and always appearing. At time, I was like finally a scene with the leads, but didn’t last long before he appeared. Don’t get the people who wanted FL to end up with him, she never liked him, she rejected him and he still wanted to try ? and he wasn’t minding his business. Him confronting ML and that like deal they made, so weird. ML accepting that was weird too. But no wonder some liked him better, he had a lot of screentime with FL and they made so little importance on the leads for a while. I was happy when he said to his aunt that it was a misunderstanding (the edict for marriage) and that he wanted to annul it, but the next scene of him talking to FL, after she said it wasn’t possible with ML, he started talking about her giving him a chance, etc… (I honestly fast-forwarded, don’t know what happened after). Can’t believe this guy🤦♀️🤦♀️. even if ML didn’t existed, she wouldn’t like you. when she had no memories, she wasn’t attracted to him or feeling, it was only friendship. he didn’t had much to the story at all, his only purpose was what, helping FL ? Something he did to help could have been done by someone else, like saving ML in prison, in the end the dad acted.
- The amnesia lasted way too long, more than 30 eps. And after that, the leads broke up and it was just annoying. I can understand a bit FL, but she was still annoying. I thought after knowing she wasn’t his sister the story would progress more, but not really
- way too long, this didn’t need to be 40 eps. Boring and not interesting for most of the drama. Feel like nothing was happening, filler and boring side plot to the detriment of the relationship between the leads that wasn’t well written and not enough scenes or whatever. They were playing brother and sister for too long and not enough build up for a good romance, just like The Rise of Ning in which the romance was disappointing. Should have cut out that whole love triangle with ML’s mom or the third couple who in the end gave nothing interesting. It was only kinda weird that whole thing with his mother, they even edited out their kissing scene. and some side plot along the way and SML. Feel like maybe not enough focus on the case of ML's mentor or FL's family massacrer in general
- feel like they could have had good chemistry, but it couldn’t shine brightly. Kissing scenes were okay at best. they got back together end of ep 37. so they were together for max 5 eps ? I skipped some parts, don’t remember but dating era was short lived before the breakup. they had some few scenes that succeeded at making me smiles and that weren’t too bad. Another drama marked as romance that has almost no romance
- the last few eps with the revenge, the prince trying to take the throne, etc… were nothing exciting
- Poor choices from the director. I read scenes between the leads were cut and even the side couple. Just like in the last episode. FL « the bride » is here to snatch ML, but they edited it out??? ML is talking to that guy and next is them in the bridal chamber after the wedding that was never shown. What a big disappointment. And then, they talk and she’s like someone is missing, your sister. That was unnecessary dialogue
the leads character were okay to me. Never really disliked the ML like some comments I saw.
this drama is one of the worst drama I watched this year. This is not a drama to binge watch, watching it while it was airing everyday and watching at 2x made it more watchable
anyway, don’t watch this if you are a romance lover and you plan to watch this for the romance
the thriller part and revenge wasn’t much better
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This review may contain spoilers
I'm Happy and Merry That it Ended Quickly
The wedding singing sequence in the first episode captured me. (Side note - the decoration on that venue was absolutely fantastic), I thought it was a strong promising start. Unfortunately things didnt get better after that.
What i dont understand is if this series is meant for streaming or web, why cant they just add few more minutes per episodes. Aside from the obvious intention of patching the episodes together to transform it into a feature length movie - Is there a standard format that requires them to squeeze the playtime like this?
I love short series - when done right. The problem is, Korea has bombarded us with quite a few luckluster short series that are not only under developed but are totally forgetable and that is exactly what we have here. There is nothing in the series that made me want to care about the main leads. Characters keep making questionable choices. There wasnt enough to tell us their backstory, and they didnt develop their love story in a way for me to care about them.
The only thing i liked is the music bcause these two leads can really SING. Jae Hyun's finale song is heartmelting.
The sad truth is Im just glad it ended quickly and i can just put it behind me and forget about it. If these are the caliber of series that GagaOOlala can offer, i think they will have a hard time capturing subscribers.
Rewatcheability - 4 just because Sung Tae is so cute
Story - 5. What story?
Songs - 9
Overall its a 6.5 and thats me being generous. Watch only when youre stuck in a traffic somewhere.
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The romance that doesn't even need words.
When the journey is more beautiful than the conclusion.Again starting the review unconventionally. Trying to recover from the drama? I would suggest you go watch behind the scenes, and interview where Allen Ren & Bai Lu Rewrite The Ending, it might help.. in my case it did. I'll drop the video links in the spoiler comments below.
Why I used the beautiful word? the outcome is definitely not pleasing. What is so beautiful about it.. in a cinematic way, with mesmerizing shots and locations, it's brilliant! Is that it? No. It has the most beautiful love story, the heartwarming one at the same time most heartbreaking...
The story isn't out of the box, or extraordinary but unexpectedly brilliant when it comes to execution. The dialogues are cleverly written and show intellect for sure! What do you expect from tragedy?
Tragedy (from the Greek: τραγῳδία, tragōidia[a]) is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall the main character. This is what Wikipedia says.
So is this fully tragic, surprisingly the answer comes as no. A tragedy that has some pleasing and many memorable moments.. even sprinkled with a bit of humor.
Though the politics isn't cleverly written (one of few cons) it doesn't matter as it isn't the main focus of the story.
Apart from the main leads, I adored some side characters a lot. The portrayal of friendship and loyalty is what I loved after my favorite love story.
Bai Lu, not just managed to show all emotions of Cui Shiyi through her expressions but also her character development throughout the show.. which isn't abrupt but with different phases, not only does her styling change with time but also how she becomes more mature, sensible. If you observe.. even the way she smiles is different in young age, her body language.. the way of talking or even walking... she even had to learn sign language for that applause for her, the small details.. which are clearly visible when you are fully immersed in the drama.
A lot of historicals fail in characterization especially when it comes to female leads, imagine growing up in a noble family in a strict manner with a lot of restrictions, rules, and regulations with the responsibility to protect clans reputation what would be your personality? clearly not rebellious, arrogant one? Maybe that's why I love Shiyi she isn't badass nor the strongest. She's gentle, caring, sensible, and clever. Her calm nature and temperament might be the polar opposite of Zhou Sheng Chen, but that's what makes them compliment each other.
Zhou Sheng Chen. He is the one who has both beautiful bones and skin.. where skin represents inner and bones represent outer beauty. The righteous general who don't have any ambitions and desires other than protecting and serving the country. Is he icy-cold.. mhmm nope. He's loving, caring, and warm when it comes to loved ones. Maybe this side is mostly for Shiyi.. his most beloved disciple. I loved how consistent his character was... he knows his limits, the boundaries he can't cross. He was flawed, he made some wrong decisions but every decision was worth it... right or wrong.
As always Allen never disappoints in acting. He lived Zhou Sheng Chen fully... where he never actually got a chance to express what he feels through words, but even though you can feel every emotion he has gone through just by looking at his face. The transaction of a general who has no regrets for what he has sacrificed throughout his whole life, to the person who may regret his decision but can't even express his regret or change anything just for the loyalty and his righteous nature. And you can just see through all this through eyes.. no need for words to understand what he's going through. A tear in the corner of his eyes hit more than bawling.
Shiyi and Zhou Sheng Chen my most favorite fictional couple... not just because of wonderful chemistry, their love was purest and heart-piercing. The love that doesn't need words or intimacy... even gaze, the small gesture, the embrace is enough to see their affection. Their eyes speak, the way they look at each other. The most caring and loving gaze, with time it becomes painful. The development between their relationship was natural and realistic.. where you encounter different phases. The age gap is there but not the awkward one, even though it's not physically visible, but an early stage you can see the difference intellectually. And this couple is everything.. they deserve every happiness more than anything.
As I said before the cinematography is just mesmerizing, in the technical aspects its perfection, the camera work, color grading, and even the styling are never disappointed. I would appreciate especially for Shiyi as drama includes different transactions of her life, and those are well compiled with her styling.
The music is brilliant, soothing... and sad, yes it makes you sad, the lyrics, composition everything. It manages to enhance every sentiment.
I had soft corners for dramas that make me cry... yes I'm a bit weird lol. I had a good cry but I'm not being any generous towards rating because of it, it deserves it!
Why re-watchable value is high? I'm sure gonna watch it.. whenever I'll feel my life sucks or I have the worst difficulties. This can be the best consolation, but yeah especially all moments between couple are highly re-watchable.
Hereby One and Only has become my most favorite historical... with my most favorite couple Zhou Sheng Chen who has the most beautiful bones and Cui Shiyi who has the most beautiful smile :)
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This review may contain spoilers
A drama that will give you a roller coaster ride
This is just my personal opinion.. but I completely love and drown to the story. No matter how many people hate or dissappointed with the story line, disagree with the way the production team change the script writer, or many people said they stop watching it in the middle of the story.. but I totally want to give a standing applause for the drama production team for giving me a rollercoaster ride in every episode. Pardon me if this review is long.. but the drama deserves another perspective also.Here some reasons why I recommend this drama:
1. Outstanding acting. No doubt the 3 main leads are awesome! You’ll find out that each of them can play 2 different characters very well. It’s not easy but they are successfully convey the emotion, habit, eye sight, movement. They all beautiful and perfect to be chosen for each character.
2. I believe that Love is an emotional thing. It’s beyond your logic. So do not blame how the story will bring you to an unexpected ending. Again... love is not something that make sense sometimes. I can understand Sa Bin’s choice at the end. Try to see the big picture.. do not focus on our personal taste about the male lead. I truly love these 2 male leads.. and whoever she will be end up with, the guy is deserve it. Each of them are not perfect.. each of them have secrets and lies. They have their own big mistake. But there’s 1 thing that is similar.. it is their willingness to sacrifice everything for love.
3. This story will make you fall in love with each male lead, and headache, heartache at the same time. LOL. It contains a lot of bitter facts and unfair situationalso.
It shows you the love-hate relationship between main leads. It surely can give you pain when you tried to understand each character’s secrets and lies.
If you put your shoes in each character.. yes, they are surrounded with criminals, stalker or psychopat. But you will also find a passionate, bittersweet and possesive love as well.
Last but not least... I don’t think it is a romantic comedy story... It is a crime thriller yet bloody romantic. It’s a fantasy about reincarnation and how the ill fate bring all of them get entangled. So do not expect everything will be perfect, beautiful with unicorn and rainbow things. Hang on.. and get ready to feel the sensation of rollercoaster ride like me. Haha..
No matter what... there will be people in the story who will be hurted and feel unfair. But I finally understand that the definition of “fate” itself was totally wrong for Hyunbin and Haeun. If Hyunbin can be more honest back then about how he was accidentally killed her parents.. and she can accept it.. then they can continue the journey as couple in the next life.
But actually Hyunbin is no better than Jichul who have his own bitter memories and hurtful secret to be known by the girl. If Jichul ever tried to murder someone for the girl he loved, then Hyunbin is actually do the same in the next life when he shoot Jongbum’s head, thinking it is necessary to save the girl.
I don’t think the girl keep changing her own minds or 2 timing about her feeling. She just confuse and it make sense after all, because the 2 male leads gave her the same big and crazy love, but each of them show it in different ways with different definition of true love. At the end.. each male lead willing to suffer and sacrife everything for the female lead happiness.. no matter who will be chosen.
At first.. I thought the ideal story is for Sabin and Sohyuk to be together after the romeo and juliet scene in the past and how they meet again and giving us a playing hard to get moment in the next life. But.. the more the story is continue... the more I asked myself.. “have you ever think about how much Jichul or Jongbum suffering and sacrifice for her.. It is an unconditional, egois, dominant, loyal, passionate and uncontrollably romance.” It’s not crazy. He just starving to find love and family.
Love is something that will not always give you heartbeats but also heartache.
So the one who made the same missunderstanding, clumsy choices, and wrong judgement about the criminals (based on his own logic) is Hyunbin and Soohyuk. Meanwhile the one who trust her intuition and keep struggling to trust her feeling is Haeun and Sabin.
However the one who was being humiliated, feel rejected, under bad timing and get all the blame is Jichul and Jongbum. And he decide to continue his journey to wait, dedicating his whole life for the girl and at the end... still sacrifice to give his heart (life) for the girl. I pity him... but the ending is really give him a sign of a good path.
This story reminds me with a K-drama entitled “Doctor Stranger” (they have the same female lead as well), from the story, music & songs, until the tragic side of the story kinda give you the typical feeling. The plot is quite complicated, and heavy but very detail... and the cinematography is awesome.
Anyway.. all of this is just my personal thought. I hope you can at least trying to watch it until the end before make a judgement. But again... this story is successfully influence our heart. I hope I can see another collaboration with the same casts in different drama ;)
Well... Jongbum won the heart of Sabin, but Soohyuk won the heart of all of us as the audience as well ~<3
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PLOT:” Achiara is a small and peaceful village in the Korean countryside where nobody commits crime ; not other parts of Korea where a mysterious serial killer kills people on “Rainy Wednesday”. That’s what people say to Han Soo Yoon, the new English teacher, when she arrives from Canada. Unfortunately, the shy Soo Yoon discovers a corpse right away! Seeking the truth in Achiara is not simple: everyone has a secret or a reason to hate and threat someone….
One of the many things I really appreciate is the absence of romance/story line: no distractions, no useless moments or stupid parts! Also there aren’t many characters with side stories: dragging level is like 0%.
ACTING: to be honest, at first I didn’t like Moon Geun Young’s acting and way of playing Han Soo Yoon ^^” I thought she was emotionless and below average but, episode after episode, I realized that she probably is the only actress in Korea able to portray this kind of character: shy, scared, with low self-esteem. However I can’t totally say she did a great job; the other actors did WAY better than her
BTOB’s Joung Jae, for example, impressed me in a positive way (also because he’s only 20 years old…) and I read that many Koreans thought he was a professional actor, not an idol. Actresses Jang So Yeon, Shin Eun Gyeong and actor Choi Jae Woong did a wonderful job too
REWATCH VALUE: I wouldn’t rewatch it because I already know who the culprit is but I think this is a series that everyone MUST watch soon or later!
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Priest {Review}
It's been a long time since I binge watched a Kdrama and for some reason this one caught my attention. And no, it wasn't because I was searching for something similar to 'The Guest'.I just wasn't in the mood to watch the regular rom-com dramas.
This time around I wanted to watch something darker. Like a drama with a dark concept minus the possibility of dwelling into an overly depressing plotline.
At the time I concluded this was the perfect fit.
I won't lie tho, at first I couldn't decide between this and 'The Guest'
since both appeared to be quite similar with the possession/hot priests elements. But trust me, they're not! (I checked at least 5 episodes of it after finishing this series).
And just by comparing the trailers I could immediately see one was way more obscure than the other. Which helped me choose.
I decided to take a risk and go for the less popular.
Top Questions most people ask about the 'Priest':
•Is it too scary to watch?
A: It depends. Personally, I didn't find it too scary. This drama for sure has its own creepy scenes. As a horror movies enthusiast I can say I've seen way more dreadful possessions and exorcism rituals than the ones that were portrayed here.
•Does the Medical genre overshadow the horror factor?
A: Definitely not! Obviously, it plays a role in the drama but it's not too significant. Don't expect to see business-like hospital politics/corruption or surgeries that last for far too long. The demon is the centre of it all.
•Can it be compared to 'The Guest'? Do they even reference it or do any special appearance?
A: I hate to bring it up again. But sadly 'Priest' comments' section is bombarded with questions of this kind. Which is comprehensible since it aired right after AND they're both from OCN. But the answer is NO. There's no comparisons to make besides the fact both are about priests, possessions and exorcisms. The approach and execution of the rituals is completely different.
Sadly, no. There's no special appearances. Nor do they make a reference whatsoever. Father Mateo does not show up (It would've been so cool tho!).
•DoEs It HAvE AnY ROmAnCe?
A: MaYbE. This was a surprise for me since I was avoiding that specific genre. You'd have to see for yourself.
•Is it worth to watch?
A: If you're into this genre I'd say go for it! This is not a masterpiece but I can assure you it's quite entertaining for what it is. I think it was a bold move to mix two opposite concepts: medical and supernatural possessions. It could've gone terribly wrong. It's one of the components that makes 'Priest' so unusual.
My Thoughts on:
-The Main Characters:
Oh Soo Min ( Yeon Woo Jin)
At first he seemed to be a bit inexperienced when it came to perform an actual exorcism. I was worried I wouldn't be able to take him seriously as an exorcist priest. But thankfully he went through a character growth.
He ends up having an unexpected bittersweet storyline (that caught me by surprise ).
Although he knew very well what his responsibilities as a Catholic priest meant he never forgot that at the end of the day he was only human.
Moon Ki Sun (Park Yong Woo)
Although I loved his bromance with Oh Soo Min a.k.a Father Michael, I couldn't help but feel like there was something missing about his character.
I don't know if it was just the way it was written but sometimes he would appear kind of dull. And I guess that's probably because we end up not knowing too much about him.
I don't recall seeing his backstory or getting to know the reason why he became a priest in the first place.
In my opinion there was so much that could have been added to his character. He deserved more development.
Side note: One of the few things we came to know about him is that he's great at Boxing. And for a Priest he's very athletic. Always in good shape.
Ham Eun Hi ( Jung Yoo Mi)
Well, I must say her skepticism annoyed me in the first two episodes. But I understood it was just part of her character. She's a doctor after all.
Even with proof right in front of her eyes she will disregard every supernatural occurrence as some psychotic disorder or a fuzzy illusion caused by fatigue.
Despite that, she gradually grew on me. I came to admire not only her personality but her strength to keep going.
She continuously fought for what she thought was right even when people said it didn't matter.
The Demon {Whose name we shall not mention} :
No, it's not Voldemort (Even though he's no demon. At least technically speaking). And no, it's not Park Il Do.
For the sake of spoiler alerts his name shall remain unknown.
What can I say... I wouldn't consider him particularly strong or undefeatable like he's supposedly portrayed. He's just, really really reaaaally sneaky. And loves to outsmart everyone. Like any demon would.
In the beginning I thought he was creepy and gave me the chills. With every passing episode the spooky factor was maintained but he gradually became less scary-looking (after his face reveal). I mean, it scared me more what he could do rather than his real appearence. If that makes sense.
Speaking of his looks, I seriously don't know why he looked like that. I also would like to know more about his origin.
-The Supporting Characters
Overall everyone was great! Even though I enjoyed watching the dynamics of the Regia 634 team (their team work strangely reminded me of the squad of 'Lookout' - if you watched it you'll know what I'm talking about).
I wasn't too fond of the medical staff only some characters here and there.
-The Writing:
The writing wasn't exceptional. As I previously stated, some characters weren't fully developed.
Somewhere in the middle there was a twist that I thought could be a disguised lazy writing tactic (or not, I'm just assuming). Fortunately, it worked out within the direction the plot was headed.
-The Exorcism Rituals :
In this, I liked the variety of rituals. It was not just splashes of Holy water, crosses above the forehead and holy sanctified shoutings. Although you will hear it, lots and lots of screams. Count in some evil laughter as well.
Final thoughts :
To be honest, I never expected to enjoy watching this drama so much. It got me completely hooked.
There was never a moment of boredom and the plot kept me interested. I was entertained until the very end.
Like I mentioned above, it isn't perfect. It definitely has some flaws. But those flaws don't turn it into an unwatchable mess.
The number one aspect that I appreciated the most was the unpredictability of the events and the main leads relationship.
Fun Fact: Did you know that Yeon Woo Jin and Jung Yoo Mi were the main leads in the Horror Movie 'The Tunnel 3D'?
Apparently this was not the first time they had worked together. They were reunited once again for another thriller.
Anyway, I hope this review helps you decide whether or not watching this might be worth of your time.
I wrote this review on another site but I decided that I should post it here as well.
Thank you for reading and happy binge watching!
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I can say that this is really worth watching for. Even though I was little sad that there are scenes that I like that wasn't included. I guess they just give emphasize to the important ones. Also, my feelings wasn't totally moved. Maybe because I already know the story that's why I wasn't totally moved.
About actors~ Ohhhhhhhhh!! They are so great! I salute them! They really done a great job especially kenshin!!!! He is so cool, handsome and cute!!! Love him x)
The way he express is just right, love it. Same as the same characters, the expressions are totally right. Although kaoru and Megumi are cute unlike in anime which are matured. Kaoru and Megumi wasn't able to absorb the 100% characteristic in the anime. But they did their job well too :D Sano is not really tall, but with his big muscles I guess that's enough. Anyway, they were really great :D
Music, I love the music and background music. It suits the movie. the sound effects were great too.
Anyway, I give it all 10! It was great~ Worth watching~ ^-^
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Hopefully Netflix has season 2 that would be dope.
Would definitely rewatch it! 10/10 for me considering I binge-watched 40 episodes in 2 days!!!
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Irresistible Love: Secret of the Valet
19 people found this review helpful
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Perfect match <3
I love how Weir acts as a gentleman in this lakorn, it makes me fall for him even more <3 This is the first time Weir and Thisa act together, and I can say their chemistry is off the charts!! The last episode really shows it. Aside from the main characters, the side characters are also well portrayed.I really love the pace of this lakorn...it's a slow-burn romance, and I enjoyed most of the romantic scenes. However, I do think their moments in the island are much stronger.
The musics are great, they have good melodies and I like them.
Overall, I think this is a great lakorn considering that I usually watch revenge/ slap and kiss lakorns. It has a good production value and fantastic island scenes as well.
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"My Tommorow, Your Yesterday."
Watching Chinese dramas for a couple of years finally makes you realize what exactly is wrong with the plethora of them released every month: there is little to no uniqueness in many of their productions or even if it did hold up for a while, they somehow manage to make me lose interest halfway through.For a country that is far behind when it comes to changing their game or shying away from neat finales, An Ancient Love Song satisfies all that I wanted: a no-nonsense story that sticks to its logic to the very end.
So, if you are looking for some regular, well paced drama with sweet fluff, this one might not be for you. "Reverse timelime" is quite serious. Meaning you know the ending before it even began.
An Ancient Love Song reminded me strongly of the Japanese movie, "Tomorrow, I Will Date Yesterday's You." Or the alternate title which is the same as my review's.
Both of them deal with the concept of reverse timelines, although, AALS is anchored to a plot with an objective: fighting your destiny.
Shen Bu Yan, a professor/writer, has released a hit novel he had written based on the few evidences and relics left behind regarding the "Kingdom of Sheng". Unfortunately, when he is pressured to write a sequel about the leading character, an obscure Demon Queen who plundered the Kingdom to ruins, inspite of lack of further information, he hits a dead end. While pondering about the future of his tale, he dreams of the so called Demon Queen and finds that he has time travelled to the past.
Whats more? Lu Yuan, the Demon Queen herself seems to be waiting for him.
While trying to piece together the truth of the events, Shen Buyan discovers that he plays a far greater role in determining Lu Yuan's fate… and that he was stuck in a reverse timeline. He decides to attempt to change destiny.
☆ The Story/Characters/Acting:
I have to mention, I felt that the writers messed up the timeline a bit: it's stated that he meets Lu Yuan after every 10 years into her past. Meaning that there is no way he could've met her at 21 and then at 18 again.
The run time of almost 25 to 30 minutes per episode was well utilized. The story did not stray away from the main leads and their missions.
Setting this aside, the story has a solid plot with strong characters, albeit not having many of them.
Lu Yuan is definitely the star of the show: Zhang Ya Qin manages to portray every single emotion convincingly. From the naive 18 - year - old to the 36 - year - old Empress, she did not falter. The scenes were she grieved for the dead were particularly striking.
Her character was a person of her own, intelligent, powerful and sharp.
Although Shen Bu Yan falls on the silent side of the crowd, I liked him as a person. Though, I would like to know who chose his wig in ancient times - he reminded me of the second senior in Love and Redemption.
The romance was just pure. [I can't find the right words to describe what I felt.] It's not overly passionate, but sincere and gentle. The time reversal does leave us with an unpleasant feeling once we lay down everything from both the leads' point of view, but it is this very feeling that makes the couple one who are not easily forgettable. If you have seen 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday', you might get a feeling of deja vu at times.
The secondary couple had little time onscreen, but even the focus on them did not appear annoying.
The supporting cast were strong enough to appear believable and invoke emotions to varying degrees.
In a way, all the characters were tragic in their own right. Though, I found the portrayal of Prime Minister Li Yong's pivotal moments lacking. The time skip of 10 years into the past left several voids in the storytelling -- we are 'told', but never shown how things came to be. One another downside of seeing the story through Shen Bu Yuan's eye's.
☆ Soundtrack/Visuals:
After seeing some flamboyant dramas such as Till the end of the Moon, AALS doesn't have much. But, it did not really matter to me as the story was the one that had me hooked. The OST was plain simple. And the title An Ancient Love Song did not even strike until the end of the series.
Kudos to the bilibili video editor who is the reason why this drama exists. I hope other studios are inspired by this and start making content with quality and not quantity.
All in all, I will recommend this to anyone who seek something unique, romantic yet unfluffy, frustrating yet logical, and entertaining, yet emotional tale of love, loyalty and loss.
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So at first, you're presented to a homemade film of two homosexual lovers spending their day at a motel for their fifth anniversary. Honestly, I didn't expect it to be much or make me feel as emotional as I felt by the end of the video. It got me smiling and laughing with them then crying with them.
The acting was great. I was really impressed. The way the movie was filmed and the actors' acting skills made it look so authentic and realistic it just makes you easily sucked into the story and the emotions that are conveyed through the script. It felt as if someone took a camera and filmed one day in their lives, not a movie.
There were some a bit of graphic scenes but it wasn't overdone -- overall it was balanced without showing too much sexual content which I found more suiting to the film than anything else. Nothing major though, didn't bother the movie.
Finally, I recommend everyone who doesn't mind homosexual romance to watch this. You'll absolutely enjoy it!
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This review may contain spoilers
TL;DR give it a chance
I actually put off watching this series for so long because I read countless reviews on how the story is overwhelming and confusing... To those people I have to say: did y'all pay attention? There are even multiple scenes where characters are going through the "heart stopper" moment (using this phrase to avoid too many spoilers, but you should understand if you've seen it) and the voice-over of the doctor explains that they are going through the "4 minutes" where they go back in their memories to correct or retry scenes of their lives... It all became clear to me in that one moment with the MC and his mom that we shouldn't trust what we saw in the episodes prior. Then what came after was the real deal, what our "4 minute version" saw flashes of each line a minute passed. It was all so well thought out and planned, I'm definitely going to rewatch to see what I might've missed the first time around.Now, the concept itself wasn't confusing... But I think the pacing and amount of characters are a bit of an issue. I don't mind being tricked as an audience, I know that was a critic for some other people, but for 8 1-hour episodes, I think a smaller cast would've tightened up the plot. That or they could've given us a couple more episodes so we can fully sit with each person or side-plot. I say this because, personally, I hate when the whole plot unfolds at the end. There were so many characters that we didn't see that miraculously appear to explain the history of the company and other aspects... we could've at least met these folks (specifically the MAIN ANTAGONIST) briefly in the beginning or something if we didn't spend so much time with the brother who ends up being so irrelevant in the grande scheme of everything? Which I thought was hella strange??? Idk. The plot leaves a little to be desired, but idk why everyone hates the ending so much?
TL;DR Could've been better, but it's not a terrible series by any margin. Deserves everyone to give it a fair chance, you won't love all the decisions but it's still fun and interesting and made me pause to theorize many times! That's a good thing I think.
Those are my thoughts :)
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