Reviews

When the ML plays the supporting role in his own story...

Honestly I won't waste my time writing long paragraphs explaining why I didn't like this point by point, because it is pretty much obvious why.

It was a much awaited KBL project because we absolutely adored and loved the manhwa and the dorky character of Heesu. But at the end, it was such a let down. I want to sue the directors for deceiving me. I'm so damn angry!

Why did Heesu and Seung Won was given less time than they deserve? After all THEY ARE THE MAIN LEADS! They wasted time and time-passed on silly things, misunderstandings and concentrated on everything other than Heesu and Seung Won's relationship.
What's the point of highlighting Chan young and Jiyu's relationship for 8 damn episodes when they were not even the main leads? I guess I'll never know, you know what I don't want to know.

Just so you know I liked the story, their acting, the characters, their feelings, hesitations, navigating through troubling thoughts... everything except Chan Young's prolonged tennis and JiYu's guitar talks which eventually side tracked Heesu's storyline and kind of stretched it till the last minute for no reason. It was boring and I felt that it was absolutely unnecessary. Clearly Heesu has been wronged! We only got 10 minutes of their relationship and then end. Hah! What a shit show!

Overall, I've wasted my time so you don't have to. If you still want to torture yourself with frustration and anger, if you don't mind second leads taking 90% of the screen time then go ahead and watch it but I won't be recommending this to anyone. Watch it at your own risk.

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The rock start.... with lost potential at the end.

Having watched almost every adaptation... I'm not here for the story, that's decades old, and filled with almost every trope that dramaland can have. We love cliches, don't we? poor girl/rich guy, enemies to lovers, the bad guy turning good guy, kinda then kinda not love triangle (or rather square), some bitchy characters thrown in the mess, the iconic 'power of love.'... and course some extremely good looking people, who wouldn't want to watch bromance between four hot guys (is that even a question).. so yes here I am to test, how much can endure this story that I've been through soo many times.. and been frustrated a lot.

Warnings for the future viewers:

~The bullying in the first episodes is extreme, it's dark as it should be.
~Too much screen time wasted here and there.
~Gorya's screaming and beating never get better.
~Just don't watch it for romance.
~They say it's not that toxic but it's still toxic.
~Last episodes are all over the place.
~Thyme is the most adorable idiot.
~Ren is charming as hell.

It's the same but at the same time, it's not. The main arcs and their basic structure isn't changed... what changed is the execution and direction in a good way. Almost every antagonist of the story has given their share of story that makes you sympathize with them sometimes feel bad for them, they are not just one-dimensional side characters who do bad things coz-I-am-just-bored-and-have-nothing-to-do-with-life. From the entire history of Hana Yori Dango, I felt FLs parents were somewhat relative, her family genuinely looking like a family... little over the top but not too over the top. There was a bond between this f4, their friendship was raw and natural.. not just some hot four guys hanging together coz why not? they cared for each other and every guy got the screentime they deserved.

Gotta say I got a bunch of memories that I cherish... most adorable run of Thyme after-you-know-what, Kavin's charming bar fight (Damn it's not common that I replay fight scenes lol), Ren's fire alarm (or should I say every time he smiled), MJ was cool and best boi in the whole thing lol, and how can I forgot meow meow.

The focus of the story was more about the development of characters and how to put all arcs in just 16 episodes, they were successful BUT it also kinda ruined many things. A lot of time was given to the side stories of side characters than leads just so we could sympathize with them and though I did I'm unsatisfied coz damn that's not really why I'm watching this right? They tried to put almost every arc in a short amount of time (I mean let's take an example of the Japanese version, as jdramas tend to be of 10 episodes they had to make 2 seasons+movie to add all things) and as expected everything was condensed, fast-paced, too many things happening, simply put it messed up with the pace. The third thing it lacks is romance... I mean it, just don't expect too much screen time of lovey-dovey moments from the main couple coz 1) they get together for a very short time. 2) most of their couple moments are Gorya beating Thyme coz-that's-what-she-loves-to-do.

As this is 2022 they had to do something with toxicity like they can't expect z-gen viewers to take decades yrs crap (though we kinda do).. they did remove some of the most toxic moments, I'd say it might be the first try of making ML a bit likable like-genuine (the only ML I liked from this franchise was from J-version def not for a character it was all Matsumoto Jun he was freaking adorable dork I'd say)... well Thyme isn't all jerk all the time, he takes his time, he has his moments where he shines. sometimes (many times) he's cluelessly stupid... but def, not the hatable type.

From the start, I liked Gorya, a modern and real strong female lead... but it didn't last till the end, coz I believe she didn't have her character development as she should, she was still the same. Like bruh, many times she's hypocrite like you are the who's always like violence is a bad thing and blah, blah, blah but all time she does with Thyme is beating him.. even when he's badly injured on the hospital bed, like girl what are your principals in real?

I'm not fully convinced by Bright's performance, he was good but not the best... Thyme's character had a lot of potential with a large spectrum of acting but Bright's acting wasn't up to that point, he was cute, adorable, and extremely good-looking at many moments but the emotional scenes, the outburst moments weren't well done. Though I'm happy with Tu and Dew considering that it's their debut... both were charming. Course Win and Nani had their moments, but I'm just so impressed by Cindy a.k.a Roselyn.. she was remarkable her presence and aura. On the other hand, her character was unlikable but her charm almost made it hard to do so, the perfect casting I'd say. But her redemption arc was bluff smh

The cinematography is stunning so is the music.

I loved the first half... Saturdays become my favorites I've never done this one-week one-episode thing but I was willing to be that patient coz I was enjoying the flow of the show, reading discussions and theories after each episode, it was fun... then it fell out off the cliff the second half was such letdown (for me), the pace was out of the place, many things were just bombarded, somewhat realisticness that was there was all gone... and I'm extremely unsatisfied with the outcome I mean we deserve more after many tortures, frustration.

I'll probably conclude I have a love-hate relationship with this drama... there are times I enjoyed it and many that I was annoyed, frustrated, and wanted to knock sense into the characters... it's good but not good enough.

*Still my rating is subjective, objectively it could be less than this:')*

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Could have been good. . .

At first glance: there's a great cast, an interesting story that's based off a preexisting work, actual historical persons who were legendary in their own rights, and a good quality budget. . .what could possibly go wrong, right??

WARNING: Major Spoilers Ahead!!

I only give this story 3 stars because the cast tries really hard with a crap script. It wasn't horrific, it's just that as a viewer, there's definitely a need to suspend logic and intelligence.
The Legend of Xiao Chuo centers around the lives of the three Xiao sisters whose fates result in them eventually fighting against each other. The three are unfortunately married into the three controlling branches of the Liao Kingdom which equates to these three sisters becoming enemies since all their husbands want the crown. So. . .why exactly are these sisters so coveted??
Beats the hell out of me. Except for being descendants of the Empress' Xiao clan there's nothing remotely remarkable about any of the 3 sisters.

Eldest sister, Hu Nian (played by the wonderful Charmaine Sheh) is perhaps originally the best out of the three. She understands the political turmoil and tries to maintain neutrality because she knows getting involved could spell the death of her family. Second sister, Wuguli is materialistic and shallow, and despite being from a prominent political family, she is completely ignorant to everything that doesn't involve her. Lastly is our main lead: youngest sister, Yan Yan. Undoubtably the father's favorite (she gets away with everything she does), she apparently has the "destiny" of empress. She's the typical naive free spirit who's suppose to be clever, brave, and has a strong sense of justice. Unfortunately, this all falls really flat and she just comes off as super stubborn and reckless...she actually endangers her family in front of their psychotic and unstable monarch within the first 2 episodes of the show.

Her sisters are both claimed by 2 of the 3 branches while Yan Yan finds her own love interest in Han De Rang (Dou Xiao). Coincidentally, Han De Rang is a strong supporter of the 3rd power branch: Ming Yi, the son of the former emperor. Han De Rang and Ming Yi grew up together like brothers so the former pledges himself to Ming Yi's cause. As for Ming Yi, his father was killed by the reigning emperor therefore, he has a personal vendetta against the latter. When shit hits the fan and Ming Yi has the reigning emperor assassinated, he is crowned emperor and his first order of business?? . . .steal his best friend's girl! It totally makes sense to him. Knowing he's going to die "soon" (he survives until episode 42 of 48), he reasons that he needs a strong empress to fill his shoes with all the reforms he plans on enacting as ruler, it's just "pure coincidence" that he also has a thing for Yan Yan. Damn anyone he betrays or whose feelings are hurt by his decision, after all. . .as emperor, he has the right to do whatever.

Despite resisting initially, Yan Yan and De Rang eventually come to terms with their ill-fate and instead turn their attention towards bettering Liao Kingdom. Oh. . . but let's not forget the other 2 branches. Both are pissed off with their new ruler because each believe they are better suited to the position despite having no clear goals on how to help their people or how to make their kingdom flourish. . .it's all simply: "I'm entitled to the crown, so it must be mine"

The character-thin men aside, I really wish I could say the women were better. . . but no. I think the most frustrating part of this drama is: the characters do stupid things but they don't ever think they are wrong, and their reasons for justifying their actions? . . .just because. That's it.
Hu Nian and Wuguli's husbands rebel and plot against Ming Yi and Yan Yan ALL THE TIME, to the point of trying to hurt Yan Yan while she's heavily pregnant. Hu Nian and Wuguli are also ALWAYS preaching about the importance of their sisterhood. . .but those words only hold weight when it's Yan Yan who's striking back. When their husbands go after Yan Yan; they turn a blind eye, they don't even consider that she will die despite standing literally right next to Yan Yan when some of these events occur. But the minute Yan Yan tries to dole out justice/punishments for treason, both sisters are on their knees beseeching Yan Yan to show mercy...which she does continuously (for the sake of their sisterhood) only for the same results to happen AGAIN AND AGAIN. But because Yan Yan doesn't pardon the crimes the way her sisters want her to, it ignites a ridiculous antagonism
Hu Nian and Wuguli develop towards Yan Yan.

If there's something this drama does do well, it's victim-blaming and how it makes its characters despicable because they are all masters at emotional manipulation. Example: after Ming Yi succeeds in stealing Yan Yan, he implies to Yan Yan that her misery is her own fault and she could be happy if she accepted her destiny of being his empress early on..uh what?!
Ming Yi emotionally manipulates Yan Yan into staying married to him. Yan Yan and Ming Yi manipulate De Rang into not leaving them because without him, they both would've died many times over. Wuguli and Hu Nian manipulate and guilt Yan Yan into constantly forgiving treasonous crimes. Example: Wuguli tries to poison Yan Yan to avenge the deserved death of her idiot husband and son...only to be outed by De Rang. She takes her own life and as a result. . .Hu Nian blames Yan Yan and De Rang for not forgiving Wuguli's assassination attempt....which then causes Yan Yan to feel guilty about not letting her vile sister succeed in killing her. . . .what the what?! Where is this logic??

As I said above, Hu Nian was originally the best of the 3. Unfortunately, her character takes a turn for the worse and she became as bad as Wuguli. Her lover attempts to assassinate their emperor (aka her nephew) and not only does she spring him out of prison, she blames Yan Yan's thirst for power as the reason for his death ... huh? The sisters have such tunnel vision that they quite literally can't see anything beyond themselves. Everything that goes wrong in their lives is automatically Yan Yan's fault regardless of the treacherous nature of their lovers/husbands.

What should've portrayed the brilliance of women who led their kingdom to new heights devolved into a series with love-sick girls acting no better than children; who were also married to narrow-minded men. Despite the supposed message of feminism, this drama was anything but.
Such a waste in production value and a good cast.

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Try not to fall asleep

Updated with final thoughts.

What started as a unique concept became tiresome at times. Sometimes shows drag a few episodes but I've become tired at how slow this show has been moving. I've been watching it at 1.25x or 1.5x speed because the show is about to complete and it's dragging. It feels like there wasn't much of a story to begin with so what could have been completed in 10 episodes was stretched out to 16.

The earlier episodes of the show were enjoyable but you slowly start to get fed up and just wish the characters would tell each other what's going on. By the 14th episode, you are just waiting for things to be done already because you've lost hope in anything redeemable in the plot.

As far as acting goes, the male lead has only been able to express concern and sadness and the rest of the time he is straight-faced whereas the actress had to play a clueless bunny who weeps frequently. Not the actors fault for having to portray such characters.

Spoiler:
If they had established that the sister was dead and they just needed to find out what happened to her, I would feel less frustrated with this story. And the chef has not been able to open up his restaurant until the 15th episode which just adds to the madness. I had hoped that the ending might be able to redeem itself but alas, it continued to drag. One final question remains. Why? What was the motive? It is never explained. It seems like no one was interested in finding out if there were more possible victims. Everything else just seems like an attempt at rescuing this show but there's not much they could do at this point.

High expectations. Low return.

I am going to leave the final score at 6 but honestly I would not recommend nor rewatch this show.

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The perfect drama to glorify toxicity

Just why in the world would they make Jaeeon in ep9 show his true colors and how he was never serious about Nabi, how he was absolutely shitty towards Dohyeok, how he asked her out just because he wanted to "win" over Dohyeok, make him yell at her, twist her wrist, actually harass her, sl*t shame her for being in a fwb with him, mock Dohyeok and so much more, AND she even threw him off her life, just for this crappy, mediocre and incredibly dangerous ending?
This isn't even about which ship won at the end or shipping anymore at all, it's about an awfully dangerous message that this drama sends. They're saying "it doesn't matter if they guy you like is toxic, a potential abuser and player, and if you're gonna get hurt, just go for it because he has a nice d!ck!!"
This is seriously such a huge waste of cast, potential, and everything. This drama could've been one of the best if they properly showed how NOT to act in a toxic relationship, but at the end of the day all they did was literally glorify an abuser and cheater. Like someone else said, the writers were progressive enough to write about same sex relationships, friends with benefits, open relationship, but were unable to give the leads a proper ending? If the writers of Love Alarm couldn't make Sunoh end up with Jojo even though Sunoh was a thousand times a better option than Jaeeon, why would Nevertheless writers do something like this, and why would the webtoon creator even allow this, AND why would Song Kang and Sohee do this too? From the interviews, they looked like they didn't approve of Jaeeon (as they should) and kept rooting for Nabi to snap out of it.
Honestly, this is all so disappointing. Someone should cut out all Soljiwan's scenes for anyone interested in the Girl Love plot without having to go through the painful experience of this drama. Bitna and Gyuhyun had so much more development than Nabi and Jaeeon despite the awful screentime cut. A seriously awful drama. Only giving 2.5 stars for Jonghyeop and each supporting couple only (and .5 for the sunbaes).

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A FAIRYTALE ABOUT A FALLEN MILKY WAY :CRUSH + BUTTERFLIES!

A drama that counters on the POV of a young girl with a head full of love. the sweet feel of going back to the moment of that crush, reliving those feelings of doing those little crazy things for love. Stalking them?👀 Smiling at every little details you got of or with me, blushs and heart flutters at the simple sight or action of them. ah, That feeling of first love is always one that lingers forever. And that is what we view here from Sang zhi pov.

Call her weird, call her Silly but she's just a realistic portray of us at such age and it's rather refreshing to see.

And what if your crush is not your classmate..not the typical popular tsudere guy in school? not your typical Bad boy in school? but rather your Elders brother's friend who is 5 years older..

Of course things are about to get interesting!

This drama is one ready to give all those feels of a naive first love and won't forget to load It with endless BUTTERFLIES, sweetness overloaded I say and I mean it.

The acting? Gosh! it's on another level of real! I can't help but believe that this is what these casts are in real life. I can't stop praising lusi acting enough because she is bagging in this time.

if you watched Gen Z( I highly recommend you do) then you'll understand me when I say, This is literally the opposite of whom she is there! the switch up! wow!

Lusi had me impressed when she was portraying the 17 year old version! it was so convincing! Like I believed she was that age! and when she switched up much Older.. Gosh, give her an award already 😂😂

The ML, this should be my 3rd drama from him (our secret, Mr bad and this) and believe me when I say this is the best from him. His acting here had me smiling each time. he did it so well that I'm forced to believe he was actually the GEGE or an older brother to Lusi! The scenes of him helping her with studies when she was 17..their conversation. it was basically older brother younger one coded. Kudos

The other support roles are currently doing just fine for their forte and roles and especially the one playing Sang yan role. Gosh, why is this my first time seeing him?? he's amazing! And he has the best dynamic for me here with sangzhi. Their brother sister duo is on another level of BEAUTIFULLY REALISTIC ( I can relate lol)

The ost of this show is just benefiting and suitings the lyrics really are speaking the storyline and it's interesting to see. my fav song from this has to be FOREVER LOVE ( too bad they barely sing it😭)

And for the plot? do I need to say much? it's simple yet beautiful.

I basically didn't expect much from it since the plot was not grand. Your typical Crush tale with a pinch of age gap. So I won't call the plot a masterpiece. But what I shall call NICE Is the way the story is being told. the pacing is remarkable. and the storytelling is Ok.

I've seen people ( Annoying people) call this The Pedophilia word or so . Just because FL liked ML from her 14 year old and when he was 19...Like. Excuse me?

Setting Things straight, This is not IT! You can't judge the drama from literally 10 min into ep1. Or from synopsis. This drama ( Compared to the novel of 7 year old gap) reduced it to 5 year old. And not only that, made remarkable detailed efforts to make the narrative suitable and comfortable to view.

Firstly, A fourteen year old having a crush is not a crime! And on someone older is not a crime. unless this so called older person reciprocates the love...The red flag!
But the narrative of this drama was so careful to not do that! Even when the child actor was introduced. There was no Romantic sparks AT ALL. I for one watching only got the stare of the kid as a sisterly stare for ML. Lol. so stop complaining about the child actor there. it was clear with the kid's Arc that nothing Romance was on. She didn't even stare at him romantically 💀

and even when lusi stepped in, the ML didn't like her at her young age. so stop with the false rumours. It's caused by your lack of understanding of the storyline and narrative.

Because basically this drama did a good job to keep a legal Greenflag Romance drama and they nailed it. Just wanted to clear it up.

If I say I waited 1 year for this drama, Then You heard that right 🥹. Basically knew when the drama was announced and when the leads were being picked (I prayed for Zheyuan to be lead because I feared Lin Yin couldn't execute the characters as I wanted 😅) And waited till end of shooting to see this and I have to say..I'm not disappointed!

although I haven't read the Novel or comic because I'm a lazy reader. I still think the drama did a good job it it's aspects and still waxing strong. Highly recommended

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The little rom-com that could... but didn't.

Oh, I can't hide my disappointment with this one.

I will say that I don't regret watching this although I may sound like I did. First off, let's talk about the beginning or the first half of the show-- which was amazing. Okay, it wasn't anything brilliant, and it started off with its fair share of 'romcom cliche 101', but it worked perfectly well with the characters they'd introduced to us. The refreshingly imperfect leads were a bickering pair I could watch all day. Their chemistry was cracking, and I had sparkles in my eyes and a big fat ugly grin on my face throughout episode 1 to 7. "Nothing could go wrong with a 12-episode K-drama, amiright?" -- is what I thought to myself.

I was wrong.

A show that could've easily gone out with a bang, instead, fizzled out with a fart and that's literally the best way I can put it. This is what happens when-- as if it's a trend with K-dramas nowadays-- they push in a bunch of dumb conflict just to fill out some screentime and a couple episodes. In this case, it simply felt like the writers didn't know how to handle things anymore. They had a vision, but then after episode 8 or 9, it's like they forgot all about it. Like amnesia. Now, that's the only cliche they missed out on in this show because the writers were suffering from it themselves. The cliches felt like they were in the plot as satire at first, which was fun, until they picked out the 'bad' cliches from their big ol' cliche book. The rest became a sloppy serve of a has-been romcom.

There's a lot of things wrong about this little k-drama-- bad inconsistent writing, awkward directing, a bit of meh acting tossed in here and there etc. I'd say it's not worth the headache. But personally, I'm still glad I watched it to the end. The first half is truly worth it-- it was an 'enemies to lovers' feast, for sure.

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A Whole Lot of Frustration in a Gorgeous Package

Most of the other reviewers seem to have really liked The Rebel Princess, which is great, but I thought I'd offer a different perspective since I ended up being very underwhelmed by this drama even though I really wanted to like it. Keep in mind that my c-drama experience is limited (this was my 21st one) and I'm not familiar with the source material of this drama. Also, I watch dramas mostly for the romance.

Positives:

+ really nice set design, costuming and lighting, which made the drama feel more realistic and quite refreshing after all the wuxia dramas
+ shot well
+ A'Wu and Xiao Qi were smart and nice and respected each other
+ the acting was fine

Negatives:

- another reviewer suggested that this drama should be watched for the slow burn romance, but I thought the romance wasn't that much of a slow burn and the main couple ended up together quite fast all things considered
- I was mostly invested in the main pair's relationship during the first ~15 episodes, after that their relationship stayed pretty much the same throughout the rest of the drama, which would've been fine had their dynamic been more interesting. And no, I don't mean that I wanted to see a drama-filled tumultuous relationship, I just wanted the drama to explore more in-depth why the two characters loved each other and what made them a great team. Now I just got the feeling that they were together because they were literally the only two equally powerful good people in the show that liked each other well enough. Actually A'Wu and Xiao Qi were mostly in separate places during the show, which might have been technically realistic but also very frustrating if you're in it for the romance.
- the drama was way too long considering how little happened in it
- there was a heavy emphasis on political scheming, which I'm never a big fan of but this time around it was somehow especially boring
- most of the characters were unlikeable and/or uninteresting
- the characters who did bad things during the story didn't get punished either at all or at least not in a satisfying way
- like in some other dramas I've seen, there was an overemphasis on forgiving absolutely everything because fAmILy and bEinG a gOOd pERsOn, which at this point is one of my biggest pet peeves
- rape and the threat of rape was used as a plot device at two different parts of the drama, and in my opinion it wasn't handled very well
- I spent most of the drama just waiting for something interesting to happen
- normally I dislike unhappy endings but now I was low key waiting for someone to die because at least that would've been vaguely interesting
- okay actually I was so unattached to the characters that even if they had all died I would've been like "huh, okay" and moved on


Watch if you enjoy:

- more realistic historical dramas
- political scheming
- heavy emphasis on side characters
- forgiving people who don't necessarily deserve it
- slow story progression
- emphasis on other aspects of life besides romance

Don't watch if you're looking for:

- a plot-heavy story
- surprising plot developments
- strong character development all throughout the story
- in-depth romance
- frequent interaction between the main pair
- revenge plot

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Two words to describe this drama: completely unsatisfying. Let me give you two more: too short.

First of all, this drama had the workings to be something really great. It wasn't terrible, wasn't even bad, it's just I expected so much more from The Producers and it didn't deliver at all, but it could of and that's what kills me!

Majority of viewers hated the first two eps, but I absolutely loved them! I didn't love Kim Soo Hyun's character (Baek Seung Chan) as much as I did in the first two eps. He is completely lovable and adorable, and I honestly just wanted to jump into the drama and give him a big hug. But as the episodes progressed, little by little my love for him slowly started to dwindle, that eventually I just found him annoying (still cute but I didn't care about giving him hugs).

I loved every moment highlighting the PD's struggles, and I didn't think there were enough of them. I also really enjoyed Cindy's character arc and anything that had to do with her. I loved her storyline, and it was my favorite part about the last ep.

Where this drama went wrong is that it felt rushed. The last episode was completely rushed. Come on now, this is a kdrama, why was it only 12 eps. I'm left feeling so unsatisfied because there was so much more to the story. Yeah, Cindy's stuff was concluded, but what about everything else? I would have loved to see more about the struggles for female PD's, I would have loved loved loved it if they fleshed out and built a strong solid friendship between the four mains. I would have loved even more if Baek Seung Chan and Ra Joon Mo became best friends. I would have really appreciated it if they fleshed out Ra Joon Mo's character more, period, because I really loved him omg. I feel like there wasn't even enough of Ra Joon Mo and Tak Ye Jin scenes.

If this drama had delved more into the lives of PD's and worked on building friendships and establishing relationships instead of wasting all their time on a romance no one even really took seriously, then it would have been tremendously better. I think with 16 episodes this drama could have been perfect. But eh, what do i know.

The cast was honestly the best aspect of this drama. I couldn't have asked for better casting myself. I fell in love with these characters and I cared about them, which is why I'm so disappointed because I wanted and expected so much more. But listen, all my complaining shouldn't stop anyone from watching this drama. I still enjoyed The Producers, it was really fun and entertaining. Is it a must-see? Eeehhhhhh, i don't know about that. Depends, do u love the actors in this? For example, Kim Soo Hyun? Then yes, I'd say get your butt in gear and watch it. But honestly, this drama is just one to help u pass the time. It isn't thought provoking, and definitely not a 10. It could have been, but it's not. So it just is what it is. And nothings wrong with that. Now, would I watch it again? Well, maybe if I was bored, yeah sure. But considering how I just finished it, I don't think I'll be doing a rewatch any time soon.

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Not that great

The drama has definitely surprised me by turning out rather average. It is not a bad one to be sure but it is not great, nor mind blowing nor even that intense. It is mainly quite mellow for a thriller and way too melodramatic. The plot is not original, full of inconsistances and uses the same old cliches like coma, amnesia, bad guy is actually an angel inside and so on. But more then that the script is poorly thought out, not enough attention given to details and too many times the scripwriter takes the easiest way to create conflicts and not even tries to give any sort of explanation. For example the story behind the serial murders happened in the past is very sketchy and for the most part ridiculously unbelieveble. Like the story about humantraffikers or a person kept in an asylum for 15 years without any purpose whatsoever except to serve as a poorly made plot twist. Or the MLs parents' motivation to conceal the truth about the ML is what exactly?

The leads are both missed opportunities. The ML is first shown cold and calculating and having problems with emoting. However it lasts for like 2-3 episodes and the other 13 episodes he spends being a big crybaby and getting beaten, tortured and framed by everyone. The FL, in theory the most conflicted charater of the drama, is actually the most bland one. She is defined only by her love for her husband and her unending cycles of trusting-not trusting him. Perhaps if more time and effort was put into her being thorn between her duty as a police officer and her feelings for the husband she would have been interesting. But alas she is a total letdown

The melodramatic part about the main couple's struggles is problematic for me as well. It is so syropy and forced. The beginning of their relationship shown in flashback gives weird vibes as the FL comes across a classic stalker who is forcing herself on the ML while he clearly and vehemently says he is not interested. She insists because (in her own words) she sees in his eyes that he loves her. Not very romantic really. Again it could have been a touching story if given more details and shown more subtly.

Now to the good part.
Lee Joon Gi 's acting is great (no surprise here).

Also I liked a lot the reporter friend of the ML. The most believable and realistic character. Sometimes weak and full of fear, sometimes brave, trying to do his best but still commiting mistakes and feeling guilt, passionate about his profession. And what a great portrayal by the actor, especially the way he shows love for the ML sister. So very sweet.

The serial killer is also great. Very scary indeed.
They should have made him appear earlier in the drama, because the evil doers in the first half are somewhat boring.

The little girl is adorable.

Nice OST. Sinister background music is especially good.

Rewatch value is zero for me

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I just finished the drama and needed a few hours to collect my thoughts. My review is going to be pretty unpopular as i did not love the drama. This is extremely weird for me as i adore the cast ( especially the 2 leads, In Guk and So Min) but the story overall is just okay. The plot left me feeling shortchanged at the end of it. This review contains spoilers so please stop reading if you have yet to watch the drama.

**SPOILER ALERT**

Jin Gook is the saving grace for this drama. He has so much empathy and depth. Sung Woong did such an outstanding job bringing him to life. I could feel his despair, frustration and helplessness towards the whole situation. I didn't cry at the end when the leads died but cried terribly when Jin Gook ran into the house. Poor guy gonna live with even more guilt for the rest of his life...

Despite liking the core of Jin Gook's character, i couldn't get over the following inconsistencies to the story.

The stabbing scene... There was hardly any reaction nor consequences to it. Everyone just went about their lives as though it never happened soon after. Jin Kang just treated her brother as per normal. Like i can't fathom how could one stand being in the same room as someone who just stabbed your boyfriend? And also his colleagues just kept him in the team and rejected his resignation despite his shocking confession ... I really don't get it.

The way the team treated Jin Gook was so uncalled for. It was as though Jin Gook set out to kill with ill intentions but it was never the case. Yes. He shot someone and that person died. But it was all out of self-defence and it's nothing out of the ordinary for a policeman. I hated the fact that the writers built up so much suspense for this and at the end of it, I was left thinking "wait...That's it?".

Let's talk also about poor Seung Ah. She was totally dispensable to the story. Her whole life was pretty much a joke. For her to die off "in the name of love" with someone who didn't care one bit for her, to having her"bf" and bestfriend falling in love immediately after the accident, how much more pathetic can her character get? Soon after she died, they basically erased her from the story. No traces of Seung Ah whatsoever until that one scene where Moo Young breaks up with Jin Kang . I just wish they did more with her character (the same can be said about Cho Rong). I can't understand how Jin Kang is such BFF with her (Crying that hard at the funeral) and yet do such a thing to her.

And oh yes, don't get me started on the ending as well. How abrupt was that? ! Also, lack of chemistry between the leads is a little painful at times. There's way more i could say but i shall stop myself here.

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Let me start off by saying that you're either going to love or hate this drama. There's not really an in-between feeling with this one.

The good stuff:
Casting - I feel the casting team did a great job. I actually started watching because of Shen Yue but found that casting of Darren Chen, Caesar Wu and of course Dylan Wang pretty much nailed it in terms of outer appearances.

Soundtrack - I actually really enjoyed the music that was played throughout that drama. I think they choose the right songs for the right moments and I loved how they subtly used the original songs in some scenes.

Original tropes - Aside from the obvious fact that Daoming Zhuang is played by Barbie Hsu's real life sister, there are many more tropes, linking it to the original that is super cute.

Chemistry - Again chemistry between leads were on point. The only reason why I made it to the finish line was actually the chemistry. Not just the main lead couple but all of them as a whole. I usually don't have second lead syndrome but I was rooting for Hua Ze Lei more than Daoming Si in this version. The main lead still had a lot of chemistry but I enjoyed the screen time between Shen Yue and Darren more for some reason.

Emotional Scenes - Shen Yue cries like an absolute angel. It's super natural and i'm a sucker for emotional scenes. In particular, the hot pot break up scene and their last date in London still lingers in my heart even now. Both main leads nailed the crying scene there. The scene where Shancai walks to Daoming Si's room after standing in the rain and collapsing due to exhaustion was a killer one as well although I wish it was a little more extended.

The bad stuff:
Acting - To be honest there were some scenes that really highlighted the young cast's acting ability but overall i'm sorry to say, their acting was pretty bad. I am no acting expert and yes it's harder than it looks and these guys are all mostly rookies but if no one is going to speak up about this, how are they all meant to get better? I'm sorry to say that the acting was very stiff and sometimes you could actually see them glimpsing directly at the camera.

Story - I appreciated the fact that they toned down the bullying and adapted into a way that is more relevant to today's generation which is centered around the internet. What I did not enjoy was the fact that the story moved rapidly at the start and became stagnant in the middle. Obviously the story is nothing new and we all kinda knew where the train was heading but there were parts that really had no relevance to the original story or adding depth to the current one. For example Mei Zuo's strange love triangle. Like WTF? I can understand that they wanted to give this character more screen time as he hasn't received that in any of the other previous versions but that stupid love triangle was the biggest wast of time.

Dubbing: Why? Just WHY? I understand when period drama's need dubbing to be more accurate to the time and place but modern drama? Really? Shancai's voice was soo annoying that it actually still irks me now. Shen Yue's voice is actually quite nice as it is and it was not dubbed in A Love So Beautiful so I don't really understand why they had to use dubbing here.

Setting - Considering that it is set in university, the whole drama feel was VERY childish. They either should have used the same cast in a high school setting or a more mature cast in the uni setting and made it a tiny bit more mature while staying true to the original story line.

The downright ugly:
Product placement - Okay so at some points I actually had to check to see if I was still watching the drama or was I watching a commercial? Absolutely absurd the way products were shot and used in this drama like how clear do you want to make it that these brands are sponsoring you? Product placements here is the worst I have ever seen in any drama to date.

Ending episodes - Just WTF? The final episodes were the most ridiculous, laughable and down right stupid scenes I have ever had the misfortune of seeing on any drama. His mum conceding because of a video he made detailing how he's grown up but does piece signs and checks his hair at the end? The weird as fuck wedding with no parents and the worst ever dance from his sister? Their weird star gazing in London where Hua Ze Lei is hard core third wheeling? I could literally go on for hours about how the ending was a disgrace but I think you get the gist of it.

So on that note, it concludes my review. All I can really say is that i've seen it, it was below average but with good chemistry and a terrible, terrible end.

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