Full Review:
Generally, I don't get into Taiwanese dramas as much as I do Korean dramas. The length of most well known Taiwanese dramas is too long for me. The use of multiple romances going on as at once is interesting, but also distracting. I have my favorite Taiwanese dramas but not many.
What is Love changed that. I fell so hard for this show. I watched it day and night, squeezing it in between work and sleep. I wanted the drama to never end. It is now one of my all time favorites. Funny that for the first two episodes I felt like barfing.
In the beginning I thought all the people in the show were either on happy mushrooms or so desperately lonely that they would fall for ANYTHING. The main lead was a 32 year old Wholesome Woman (Li Yi Hau) surrounded by loving family and friends, whose one goal in life is to get married (ugh). She then falls for the Big Bad Wolf (Bai Zong You), a dashing playboy, whose one goal in life is to play the game of love and win- with multiple women. Love was battlefield. For Li Yi Hau the game of love is won when she stands at the altar. For Bai Zong You, the game of love is won when he gets laid. Li Yi Hau finds out the truth of her relationship with Bai Zong You fairly quickly (Thank God) And things get much more interesting. She gets revenge for her broken heart and the hundred's of girl's before her. That should have been the end of their ill fated relationship. Of course, Bai Zong You has to have revenge for what Li Yi Hau did to him. He makes a bet that she will fall in love with him first and when she does she has to admit that she is a loser in love.
The premise of this drama sounds horribly cliche. It's been done a hundred times before. For me, this drama is the best bad boy gets the good girl story I have ever seen. The strength of this show is in it's execution. The acting was phenomenal. The balance between breezy romance, heartbreak, growth, family, and love appeared effortlessly. The writers answered sincerely, without plot devices and evil second leads, what love is. In this case, love not only changed the "bad boy" but also the "good girl". You can see a progressive growth in all the characters of this drama. Chris Wu (who plays Bai Zong You) is a FANTASTIC actor. I have to watch all the dramas he is in because of the raw emotion that sizzles on the screen.
The moment I knew I would love this drama for life was during the finale. Most dramas tapper off towards the end, wrapping things up in a pretty bow with a cute happily ever after. This show did not. It was grounded in realism. There is a happy ending, but it was so much sweeter because of the final conflict.
Show, I love you.
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I think the entire cast was excellent. Park Bo Gum is perfect. He is completely charming as the young Crown Prince. I totally fell for his smirk, and truly empathized with his struggle to become a true leader within a corrupt system. He is matched with Kim Yoo Jung, who I was very impressed with. Usually underage romantic lead actresses seem so obviously out of place to me, but she was a formidable leading lady, and the age gap wasn't so big. Beyond pulling off the gender-bender trope pretty well, she was also very believable expressing the range of emotions Ra On had to go through. They had an extremely cute chemistry, and seemed to be generally falling for each other. They are definitely the MVPs of this drama.
Aside from the main couple, there are two young actors who also deserve praise, Kwak Dong Yeon and Jung Jin Young. Byung Yeon was so bad@ss, and although a man of few words, his was the only character that made me actually cry. Jung Jin Young as Yoon Sung is the perfect second lead. I didn't exactly have second lead syndrome, but I came close a few times. The friendship dynamic between all four is complicated, which makes it even more interesting. Nothing is what it appears to be at face value, and that's the kind of storytelling I think this drama did well.
There are too many great minor characters to mention them all. I honestly can't think of a single weak link. The villains are extra villainous, and some of the more comedic characters are completely silly, but they all felt real, and not just included to fill up space and time.
This story is more complicated than it initially appears to be, so it's not as if I was ever really bored, but I still wish that the second half of the drama didn't lose all of the fun the initial episodes had. At the same time, it makes total sense to the story that it was told exactly the way it was, so maybe I was just in the mood to watch something lighter. I'm really trying hard to find something solid to complain about, but the music... the direction... the amount of episodes... it all worked well. Some aspects may have been a bit repetitive, which was frustrating at times, but that frustration served to motivate the Crown Prince, so I think it was necessary. It isn't exactly filled with epic twists either, which makes it not extremely exciting at times, but also not unnecessarily complicated.
Would I watch this again? Sure. I also wonder if being in the right mood to watch this kind of story would make me like it more. I also liked that it all ended with no loose ends, which made watching the whole thing more satisfying. Even the title is explained, which was a nice touch.
Overall, this is a great addition to the pantheon of guy-falls-for-girl-pretending-to-be-a-guy dramas. Lovers of historical romantic dramas should definitely watch. Romance fans should make sure they are ready to watch something that isn't lighthearted. I also think it's a great vehicle for some impressive young talent. I look forward to seeing what's next for them.
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The story-line is absolutely hands down the best writing I've seen in a drama. The plot is well defined, the characters are so real and true to their personalities throughout, and the little nuances of individual people are always there that it took me watching it twice to fully take everything in. It has the best character growth I've seen yet also. You really get to see Ruo Xi grow up and become a much more mature, if not more defensive person (in terms of being careful of deception) and learn from her mistakes, but some of the mistakes she makes are impossible to stop because even if you're sent to the past, how do you know what you should say or shouldn't? (This always bothered me about going to the past type dramas, because there's usually that person that says "Don't do anything, or you'll change history!" but how do they know that that person isn't meant to say something to make the history they know happen?) Anyways, it was unavoidable to end up getting tangled in the prince's lives.
The bond the princes all have with Ruo Xi was such a pleasure to watch. They each have their own connection with her, from childhood friend, to soul-mate friend, to not meant to be lover, to true lover, and everything else in between. Even if they're out to get the throne, when it comes down to it, they'll do whatever they can to help her when she needs it. But don't worry, she's not a weak female lead by any means. She's strong, smart, and often comes to the princes aid even if it goes against her lover's desire. Her sense of relationship with each of the princes is so strong that she never abandons them and isn't above sacrificing herself to save their lives. (Not in the typical stupid female lead way either, but with an intelligent and thorough plan.)
It does have some palace intrigue, and vying for the throne of course, but when it comes down to it, it's about realizing what you have and sometimes learning to let go to what's gone, instead of trying to have everything, because eventually something will be sacrificed. I cannot get over just how much I adore this drama, and the characters are still firmly in my heart. 8th prince and 13th Prince, you'll always be my favorites!!
(Part of my review got cut off, so I'll add the rest here. I probably did something silly.)
There is of course an awesome and beautiful love story throughout the entire series. From first love to deep and soul capturing love, you can feel their profound love for each other, and how they grow to know and accept each other as time passes. There's none of the "I love you right away just because" feel a lot of dramas have, they grow up together and experience life side by side. You never doubt that they absolutely love one another. Even with the romance being a main point, this drama was so much more to me. It was about the wide variety of love and relationships a person has in their lives, and how each one weighs in your heart, and how they each mold who you are.
There is also a stark reality each character has to face, and you as a viewer have to accept. Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, and someone you knew can become someone you can't recognize through time. The drama does an amazing job of showing how you change through various trials, and how greed can poison everything.
The actors and actresses really did such an amazing portraying their roles, that I was lost in the story and almost forgot it wasn't reality. There are more than a few scenes I had to stop and re-watch right away just because of how powerful they were acted. Liu Shi Shi as Ruo Xi was astounding! I've only seen her in another drama, and while I liked her in it, her acting here godsmacked me. Down to the minute details, she executed her character perfectly. I honestly love Ruo Xi. Nicky Wu as 4th prince and Kevin Cheng as 8th prince also always left me in awe of their talent. I really felt like they were their characters, and I will definitely be watching more of their dramas just to see them act.
The OST is also just wonderful! It displays the emotions of the scenes perfectly, and really sets the tone of them. Some will make you tear up just hearing them, and other make your heart race because you know something is about to happen. It's one of the first OSTs I'll be downloading just to listen to when I want those feelings back.
Sorry for this being such a long review, but this drama left such an impact on me and really made me think about my life, or life in general, as corny as that sounds. XD Just one of those stories that stays in your heart and becomes a part of you. Please give it a chance, and maybe you'll love it as much as I do, or at least enjoy the ride. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this story.
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Irresistible Chemistry, Heart-Fluttering Moments and a Few Frustrations!
Dai Gao Zheng and Chen Fang Tong strike again with their insane chemistry! I’ll try to keep this spoiler-free, but let’s start with the pros—this drama has even more swoon-worthy kisses and interactions than their previous ones, making it my favorite in the romance department.I love that the female lead is strong and takes the initiative, even making the male lead a little shy, which was adorable. The story hooks you right away, but around episode 20, it starts to drag because of frustrating side characters who exist just to create chaos. My advice? Ignore them and focus on the leads to save yourself from the frustration!
I do wish the leads communicated more since there were a lot of misunderstandings. The plot was messy, which lowers the rating, but their incredible chemistry makes up for it. A nice touch was including an OST from their second drama, Forever Love, along with a great new one.
Would I rewatch? Absolutely—for their scenes alone! Plus, they’ve just wrapped filming their fourth drama together, and I can’t wait to see it. Oh, and if you love their chemistry as much as I do, I’ve compiled a Drive full of their cutest behind-the-scenes moments—check the discussion for the link!
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Watch "Love Like the Galaxy" instead
The Long Ballad was too damn L-O-N-G!!! It clocked in at 49 episodes, which could have been easily condensed to half that amount. It dragged on unmercifully. There was zero chemistry between the FL and ML.Zhao Lusi was the only good performer in this show, as she is great in practically every show she is in. I watched this show mainly for her and Leo Wu. Leo Wu's performance was mediocre, maybe because he was young at the time (20 yrs old) and had not yet perfected his acting skills (but see my next paragraph about Leo Wu).
If you want to see a better historical drama with both Zhao Lusi and Leo Wu, I recommend that you watch "Love Like the Galaxy" which was produced a year after this show. LLTG has an outstanding screenplay, costumes, set design and special effects, and all the actors/actresses displayed excellent acting skills. That show is superior to this Long Ballad show in all ways! Although LLTG has 56 episodes, it goes fast without any dragged-out scenarios.
I will not be rewatching this show in future or recommending it to anyone.
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Looks over substance
It looked nice?I can't think of anything else positive to say. Oh! Well, there was a brief side Lesbian couple! Yeah . . . That's all I got *shrugs*
There were itty bitty teensy tiny pieces of a somewhat good drama that could have been. I feel like the writers and directors were really indecisive. They couldn't decide whether to have their characters be toxic and mysterious or sweet and silly. Like, you can have some of both but you have to do it well! Seems like they just couldn't make up their minds let alone execute their vision properly.
And the writing . . . It was just bad.
Another thing, I have to be honest, for the majority of the runtime the acting of the leads . . . Sucked. I generally put the onus on the director[s] for not directing them correctly. But even if they had I still think these actors just didn't know what to do with their faces or hands most of the time.
This is a definite skip from me.
Side Note: Really? The "wife" line again? Can't we let that die already?!
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Epic Historical Drama | High Quality Production
What an incredible historical story told with a touch (a lot) of humor, initially.When I first started with the drama, I didn't know what to make of it: is it a real historical story, or is it a comedy? Real historical drama because it’s depicting one of the most interesting era of Chinese history from the Yongle reign in 1402 during the Ming Dynasty. Comedy because of the initial dialogues and relationships portrayed in the story – they are funny and entertaining. Nonetheless, a few episodes in, I found myself really enjoying this drama.
The drama is based on some real events and real figures in the early part of the Ming dynasty. It started with Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor, seizing the throne from his nephew in a revolt. In the beginning of the story, it focuses mainly on the relationships between Zhu Di, his sons and his grandson. How these relationships are depicted is humorous and enjoyable. Fictional or not, I’m really hooked watching how the father-son-grandson, brothers-brothers, uncles-nephew dynamics played out here; the relationships are just funny, informal, silly and sweet at times. However, after the demise of Zhu Di, the same relationships become hideous and the mood of the drama turns serious and deadly.
This drama also has some brief references to the expeditions of Cheng He, the Tumu Crisis, and various important figures such as Yu Qian, Wang Zhen and the three Yangs. However, Empress Sun is given a greater influence in this drama than in reality. Her son is such a spoiled brat and incompetent.
25 episodes in, the mood changes from light-hearted into dead serious. Many episodes focus on warfare with the northern Mongol tribes. The informal relationships we see earlier within the royal family disappear. The seemingly silly and funny characters of the 2nd and 3rd princes become devious and dangerous. Even the Zhu Zhanji character becomes unpredictable and sinister.
Zhu Yawen is a seasoned actor and is very good in his craft. His portrayal of Zhu Zhanji is amazing, switching from being timid in front of his grandfather the Emperor, to silly with his father the crown prince and with his uncles, to serious and nasty with his enemies. Zhu Yawen has a magician hat filled with unlimited facial expressions, body language, smiles, sneers and demeanor. He switches from one mood to another with ease and makes his character super interesting and convincing. However, he’s gone from the screen after about 2/3 of the drama. (Likewise with Wang Xue Qi who plays the Yongle Emperor character - he exits the screen even earlier.) Both of these actors are supposedly playing the main roles. One character, apart from Sun Ruowei, that consistently appears from early in the drama till the end is Yu Qian played by Su Ke. He is a wonderful convincing actor and I really enjoy watching his character.
I don't particularly like the female lead Rebecca Tang playing Sun Ruowei initially because I find her stiff and unnatural, over acts in certain parts and under acts in others. I also dislike her voice dubbing because her voice and tone don't match the moods and situations of the events. Everything just seems off with her. The Sun Ruowei character also changes greatly before and after she married Zhu Zhanji, and it (the character) doesn't feel like a lead character anymore. However, I’m pleasantly surprised by her transformation when she becomes the Empress Dowager. Her no-nonsense demeanor which doesn’t bode well initially becomes very convincing at the later part of the drama. As mentioned earlier, Sun Ruowei is depicted as a very influential character in this drama as a regent which may not be totally accurate historically. According to the record, the Grand Empress Dowager (Empress Zhang) should have held greater power than depicted and hence been the greater influencer. The relationship between Sun Ruowei and Hu Shan Xiang has also been fictionalized.
All the other actors and supporting casts are very good in their respective roles. After the demise of the Yongle Emperor and his sons and grandson, ie. the initial cast, the drama turns dry for some viewers with politics and warfare with a lot of bloodshed and deaths. All the comedies and humors are gone. The drama progresses with each episode getting more intense then the last. Despite the fictions, this drama is still very well made with not many holes; it's interesting and wonderful to watch.
My verdict: yes, I'd recommend this drama to all, especially those who love historical stories. This is a wonderful drama worth watching despite its length of 62 episodes! I have enjoyed almost every episode, although half-way through, it gets a bit dry without all the initial humors and comedies, but the tension and plots keep me on. The acting is impeccable and the music is one of the best. This drama goes into my MUST-WATCH list.
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First thing to note, is that I watched this drama for Lee Min Ho. I recognized his previous works - like Personal Taste and Boys Over Flowers - and thought I should give this show a shot. I myself hesitated to watch it, (being a historical drama and all), but it's worth watching, and something I'd recommend to Lee Min Ho fans.
Now for the story itself (I'll try to keep this short), let's say that overall, it was lacking. The main problem I encountered with this series is continuity; a lot of it didn't make sense. A lot of the time I was left confused, wondering how the plot ended me up where I was. Ironically it was the main theme of time/travel that bothered me the most. In order not to spoil anything, let's simply say it had issues.
The acting left something to be desired, to say the least. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't commend the cast on their acting either. Furthermore, the relationships ... let's say, also had issues (at least for me).
Music is probably the only thing I really liked in this drama. The OST played well throughout the scenes, and managed to embed certain scenes/events into my head.
In closing, here's two things;
i. DO watch Faith because it is a good watch for those who enjoy historical dramas and/or Lee Min Ho (and/or the other actors/actresses - whomever you favour, i guess)
ii. DON'T watch Faith if you pay really close attention to the plot. Certain things will tick you off throughout the series.
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Lifetime of Love, Regrets and Sacrifices
Happy, sad, happy, sad, and happy. Yes, these are the emotions I have been experiencing throughout this drama. When the times are good, everything is cute, lovey-dovey and funny. Then chaos strikes, I cry for the losses. And life starts all over again. Things become cute and funny once more, and I laugh. Just as the water is finally calm, chaos strikes again. I cry my eyes out for the losses, mourning for my favorite characters. It is really amazing how such a drama can fully capture our emotions and make us feel for the characters so much.60,000 years ago, almost everyone dies after the battle of the gods and the demons. Now 60,000 years later, the gods are reborn through the remnants of their spirits. They become the immortals, relatively young gods with lower power. They meet and fall in love all over again, until the true gods, who are within their subconscious, are awoken, and their minds merge and bodies taken over. At the same time, the return of the devil means another war is imminent.
Shang Gu (Zhou Dong Yu) is a happy-go-lucky, one of the four true gods, doted by the other true gods, Tian Qi (Liu Xue Yi) and Zhi Yang (Li Ze Feng). She’s carefree and playful, but the stern teachings of Bai Jue (Xu Kai), one of the four, help her realize her potential, and she falls head-over-toes in love with him. Through him, she begins to understand the importance of her role in the universe. With that, she grows stronger and becomes the most powerful god of all. This growing pain doesn’t come easy. It takes her through enormous emotional struggle and eventual sacrifice of herself for the greater good.
Zhou Dong Yu’s acting hits the mark, as Shang Gu and Hou Chi, right on the spot. She can be girly and playful with a sweet mesmerizing smile. Then in one whiff, becomes a serious and powerful god feared by all. Many viewers complain that Zhou Dong Yu not beautiful enough, to that I would say beauty should not be the focus here, but her aura and acting should.
Bai Jue grows from a cold emotionless being into a person who can feel love and love in return. Many viewers complain Xu Kai can’t act, but to me, his acting is exactly right without overacting. As Bai Jue, he is cold and emotionless (ironically Tian Qi nicknames him, the God of Fire, Ice Cube), but as Qing Mu, he is not as cold and more animated. Xu Kai manages to show the distinct emotions of both characters very well, and through his eyes, he exudes passion, longing and turmoil. When he’s been wronged, the silence pain he endures shown in his eyes is so real, making the viewers empathize with his characters. When Xu Kai cries, I cry. Yes, Xu Kai can act and is excellent in portraying his roles.
My most favorite character is perhaps Tian Qi. After the drama “Qing Luo”, I really love Liu Xueyi and his acting. Once again, he’s given an excellent performance here. Over all, the acting from the whole cast is fabulous, from the main leads, to the second leads, to the kid, to the antagonists. Everyone has put up their best performances and it shows in the final production. The writing is good, the story is intriguing, the editing is coherent, the pace is just right (especially at the second half) and the CGIs are awesome.
OSTs
Absolutely must listen. So good.
My Verdict
The beginning episodes are very interesting with amazing CGIs. Then it becomes somewhat draggy with quite a bit of the to-and-fro, playing out the relationship development which I find rather boring. I must admit I did yawn a little here and there (maybe even dozed off from time to time) for the first 10 episodes as the characters are developing. Then the second life begins (around episode 16), ushering in the births of the in-between gods with the introduction of new characters. They are initially confusing and their relationship overlapping. Many viewers begin dropping the drama. Clarification comes later as the story unfolds. Then the pace picks up. The second half proves to be most enjoyable. As the antagonist grows stronger each day and finally becomes a full-blown demon, the whole drama becomes incredibly captivating.
Re-watch? Absolutely. There are so many things I believe I have missed on my first watch. Re-watching can help me catch the nuances, hence provide even better appreciation of the overall story.
For me, this drama is much more enjoyable than “Love and Redemption” (sorry LAR fans) as it captures the human emotions more realistically. For viewers who dropped this drama prematurely, do come back and complete it. You won’t regret it.
In “xian xia” stories, there is always a life 2.0. One can correct a mistake and make everything as according to one’s wishes again in the next life. But in our mortal world, regrets cannot be undone, deaths cannot be revived or life cannot reborn. It is therefore imperative that we treasure what we have while we’re still alive.
Great watch! Must watch! Bravo!
TWO THUMBS UP!
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Not bad, at all.
It’s actually good, whoever said it’s very bad are exaggerating. Tbh, yes, it might took them longtime and it might not be like those really high quality American movies, but the plot, acting and the story are actually AMAZING! I am currently at episode 7 waiting for more to air or I guess maybe 2nd season? I already got very attached to this show and its story/plot! The more episodes air, the better and more interesting it gets. Their acting is soo good. Some did very good and some needed a little practice but overall there wasn’t a moment where I got dissatisfied with their acting. The OST is really good. Anyways I would say it’s really worth watching it, the more you dig in, the better it gets, the more exciting. So don’t drop it yet, keep watching, you will get attached to it, I’m telling you! To the ones who have dropped the series, y’all are missing out the whole plot! Wait till the end you, I promise you, you will love it! Was it worth the wait? Yes. Absolutely! 2 years, but they served!Story: 9/10
The plot is amazing!!!! -1 because I just didn’t like how they fought a lot and all those stupid dramas they had while being in danger. It made mee maddd 😭 But overall, story = MASTERPIECE !!! AND THE END? EXCUSE YOU? I GOT GOOSEBUMPS, I won’t spoil tho 👀 Hihi
Acting/Cast: 9/10
I love the main roles! They picked the best ones, their acting was on point and it was just chefs kiss. I cried with them, stressed with them and even got angry and scared with them. The way they expressed their emotions was sooo goood! -1 because some support characters acting just needed some effort, I would say? They could do better…
Music: 10/10
Love it!
Rewatch: 9.5/10
Hell yeah I would definitely rewatched it!!! It’s soo good. I binge watched the entire episode even tho I was hella busy with studies but it was really worth it!
I hope the new episodes won’t disappoint us, watcher :,)
Thanks for reading!
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Story-
Only side by side with you is relatively a good drama. Obviously the first negetive mark for this drama starts with the unnecessary 40 episodes but I guess once you get the kick out of it, you won't mind it anymore. However, one thing that really iritated me in this drama was flashbacks. Brace yourself people coz there are innumerable same flashbacks in every episode. Story was kind of a cliche but they didn't leave any plot-holes in it so I am giving an extra point to the story for that. Chinese dramas are master at leaving plot-holes and Only side by side with you wraps up every story quite well.
Acting-
I discovered William Chan people. My greatest discovery in C-dramas ever! It is going to be difficult to get over him for a while coz he's such a good actor! The drama was nothing great but the acting was superb by everyone especially the two leads. Main girl is a strong independent and quite a cool woman. I liked her character alot. Actually I enjoyed all the women characters of this drama. I even enjoyed watching the obsessive An Ning too, maybe because she was not THAT cruel or messed up as other evil second female leads. All the other characters, their development with the story and their acting was on point except for the few minor ones which could be ignored.
Music-
Love love loved the music. The opening theme, the ending theme by William Chan himself and all the other OST's were good. Anyone would enjoy the music of this drama.
Re-watch value-
I don't usually re-watch Chinese drama coz they're super long like this one, but I might re-watch some episodes of this again to see all the muscle and dimple of William Chan. I swear people just watch this show for the fabulous him.
Overall-
On the side note I actually kinda liked this drama. It was nothing extraordinary but you would enjoy it. I certainly didn't get bored of watching it atleast. 40 episodes are big commitment but once you are into the drama, I don't think it would itch you any more. Go watch it.
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Self-righteous leads, mildly entertaining mysteries, better towards the end
To start, this female lead is too infallibly good at too many things. I’m not inherently opposed to an OP FL- it’s not realistic, but I’d still happily watch her kick butt as long as I like her.The problem is, I like more down-to-earth characters, and she is not. She does a lot of moralizing. I don’t disagree with everything she says, but her self-assured, self-righteous tone as she goes on about justice bothered me, especially at the beginning.
I wouldn’t have minded so much if the show acknowledged how naive it all was, e.g. by throwing her a morally complex case that challenges her simplistic ideals. And the show actually does focus a lot on horribly wronged people who seek their own justice. What justice truly means seems to be a theme- but it’s not explored that deeply. Our FL never strays far from her convictions that righteousness will prevail and the law will make it happen. We’re not here to watch her grow, only to watch her kick butt.
While I’m rolling my eyes at her preaching, the ML is oozing in admiration. She smiles demurely in response. I think the FL is pretentious; the show thinks she’s noble. This is a fundamental disconnect that permeated the show and made it hard for me to enjoy it.
As for the ML himself, he seems tailor-made to be her perfect boyfriend. Super supportive, caring, everything good, etc. He’s also her perfect work partner, with a complementary approach and perspective. Overall I did not find him very interesting. Too artificial.
Their relationship starts early- he’s pretty much a sap for her right from the beginning. While this is unusual for dramas, I think it’s fairly realistic in the present scenario. Their relationship is refreshingly free of misunderstandings, develops at a normal pace, and is ideal in all ways.
Unfortunately, I just did not enjoy their sticky sweet romance. Watching two people you don’t care about be happily in love is boring at best; here, I found it downright cringe. Their romance is full of contrived, overly dramatic scenes. He saves her from every over-the-top situation you can think of (fire, water, assassins, etc). I fast forwarded through a lot of it.
The side characters are alright; I didn’t feel too strongly about anyone. For better or worse, their friends all pair up neatly. This means there are multiple sweet relationships for you to feel good about, though I found some of them a bit cheesy at times.
Looking at the characters and their relationships, this show is actually quite a treasure for female empowerment. There are strong female characters and good relationships between them. Even the ML feels secondary to the FL. It’s just a shame that they overdid the FL’s sainthood to the point where I couldn’t stand it.
Plot-wise, the first half or so of the show covers ~4.5 independent cases, one right after the other. These cases are methodically developed, spanning several episodes each. I like this slower pacing because it gives me time to consider the evidence.
But for some reason, I found these cases incredibly easy to guess. I would inadvertently figure out the culprit based on things like classic drama patterns (eg it’s usually some nice-seeming character that shows up fairly early in), and who’s facial expressions they keep zooming in on. I would then have to wait patiently while the leads continued to put together evidence and act lovey dovey with each other. Overall, the mysteries were still interesting enough, but I wish they had been a little less obvious.
As the plot progresses, the FL’s path is surprisingly smooth. She doesn’t make any real enemies; in fact, she is loved and admired by many powerful people. I don’t necessarily object to her lack of obstacles, since there is plenty of other intrigue. However, I found myself rolling my eyes at everyone doting on her.
The main plot is pretty much just classic palace power struggles, but I thought it was fairly well done. As a result, my rather low opinion of the show improved towards the end. I like the way our leads slowly uncover the backstory, the growing ambiguity, and the way everything falls into place with the final reveal. This last point is particularly fun to watch, and works out so well thanks to the show’s careful setup. If not for the last few episodes, I would have given this show an even lower score.
Acting wise, since I don’t like the FL, I’m tempted to blame the actress, but that might not be fair. I’ll refrain from commenting on acting since I watched a lot of this on 1.25X speed. I did find Ao Rui Peng’s martial arts technique to be surprisingly good- crisp, clean, and solid.
Other production-level stuff (music, settings, costumes, etc) were all decent. Cinematographically, they do some artistic things with camera perspective and reflections. I liked most of it, except for the views upward from inside a cadaver. As if bodies are just empty sacks.
The segways into my final rant. If you are going to pretend to be an expert in a field, you better show me that you’re serious. This girl does not even wear an apron to conduct an autopsy; she ties up her sleeves, but you can still see them dragging across the corpses. Even worse, her idea of an exam is to reach into a small incision and pull out an entire human organ. Uh, ever done a dissection? It’s nowhere that clean and easy.
These may seem like unimportant details. And I get it- “she fearlessly conducted an autopsy while everyone else puked at the side” is all we’re meant to take away. Still, representing a profession without properly doing research is somewhat offensive. Get it right or else don’t try. Personally, I think they should have kept it all off-screen, like Imperial Coroner.
Overall, I appreciate some parts of this show, but mostly I couldn’t stand it. If I’m honest, most of my complaints probably cascade out of not liking the FL- thus cringing at her romance, rolling my eyes at her popularity, picking on her dissection technique, etc. Perhaps if they had been more subtle about her sainthood, I might have enjoyed this show.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
I consider this a happy ending. All the major protagonists make it through and are launched into happy futures. Not much time is devoted to showing where everyone goes, but it’s enough to give you an idea.
Still, I found the ending surprisingly dark. Not that the show was that light to begin with, but a lot more people died than I expected. It’s as if they decided the cleanest way to tie up loose ends was to kill off all these morally ambiguous characters. And some ending scenes were overly contrived and dramatic… this show really does have a thing for drama.
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1This review may contain spoilers
Scissors... Dog Walks...Riding...and...Mushrooms?
First off, I'd like to apologize for episode 9...blood of the holy ghost, how do I explain that unholy episode to my ancestors? I thought scissors were a device used for cutting hair... but boy was I wrong. Ob-un did all that while having a sword wound!! Child?? And did Ob-un dog walked Shan up those stairs?? Also, Ob-un's villain laughter had me weak, dafug you mean, uhuhum uhuhum hummm. Boy, stop playing.Listen, these actors are brave. Kudos to them for being able to act these scenes in front of so many crew members. Tutor a better human than me though, cuz after that stone bed scene, I'd have pulled Yim to the side and acted like that one k-drama and go... 'Listen buddy, I didn't want to say this, but like, my family have 30 cows, and my mom knows a monk...get dressed, we getting married.' No but, seriously, how you go back to being friends after all that??? This is the wildest they've been.
And like, as if that scissor scene wasn't enough, we had the dog walk, which imma be honest got cringy in the middle, and that double riding in the finale... Susan, I think someone can get pregnant from all that. And the second leads also had that couch scene which had full on display cheeks and the whole demon lord thing in the finale. How these actors look into each other's eyes after that? Cuz, I can't even make eye contact on public transport, I always have to act all creepy like something interesting is on the floor. Like one time on the bus a baby smiled at me and I tried to hid behind one of them thin poles, cuz I ain't trying to have no awkward stare offs with no baby but like that's...wait, what was I talking about?
Right, mushrooms. yes, I definitely needed whatever mushroom those two took to fully enjoy the first couple of episodes of series. It was soo boring. Before I knew they were on mushrooms, I was like, does TuturYim need paper that much? I’ll start a go fund me, ain't no way they out here on this bus acting a-fool, cuz what in the bloody hell was that? Literally, as writers, I’d assume they’d try to steal a library or type on a rock, instead of acting like frogs on a public bus, the second-hand embarrassed I felt stayed with me until that Thursday.
I had high hopes for BOTW. TutorYim are one of my favs from Cutie Pie, so I'm seated for whatever they do, but this show took some time to get into. I didn't care for the plot that much, and all the childish over the top-acting nonsense didn't help. And what was Shan's work? And was it me or there were too many characters? The writers tried to give everyone their moment, but really, I did not care one bit about that wedding. Up until that point, I'd be lying if I said I noticed him being part of the writers. Her dress was beautiful though.
So yeah, it disappointed me, cuz the plot didn't hold my interesting, and I found it boring in some parts. Yes, the cutsy outfit in their writing space scenes were cute, but I didn't really care for it, but I liked those cute things they had in their hair. and I had no idea what half of the characters were going on about until much later. I did like some things, like the Costume plot. They looked sooo good as ancient characters. Really, I wanted to watch that plot-line instead. Sin and Jingjang's story was cute and I liked it.
CHARACTERS
I liked Shan and Ob-un, there weren't any unnecessary drama between them, and even the 'big fight' when Shan lied about his eyesight ended with a reward so... But I felt the show had too many characters, and I barely remember half of them. That one character who acted like a bad face mask, confessing to Shan but getting turned down and coming back like a bad lunch, trying to pull stuff, like boy be quiet and go hug a tree. Literally, in the finale when he was there during the proposal going 'kiss kiss kiss' I was like.: 'wait that guy is still in the show?' lol.
PLOT & FINALE.
They did have one with Ob-un and Shan's past and everything, then of course them writing that bl. I just felt like it was all done in a jumble. The execution made the plot come off boring in same parts. It felt like after episode 9, they sort of ran out of ideas and we got long 'papapa' scenes and just filler stuff. Literally, what was the point of the finale, and what did we really get? The story felt concluded waay before the finale, so it just felt like a filler episode. Though, I was happy Sin's partner came back.
All-in-all, interesting plot done in a messy way, but as a fan of the leads I still tuned in, and enjoyed some episodes. I recommend it all bl lovers out there, watch it if you have some time or you looking for spicy bls, cuz...episode 9..blood of the holy ghost that ish was wild! I am looking forward to TutorYim's next work, I'll be tuning in, hoping without mushrooms.
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This review may contain spoilers
Good watch for those who enjoy tragic love stories....
This drama is really good if you enjoy dramas with a beautiful emotional love story. It’s a story of 2 people who did not have a childhood filled with happiness. They found each other and fell in love however unfortunate events kept happening to them.I watched the entire show in a day so it’s definitely possible to binge watch the show. #Woodohwan and #Leeyoumi had insane chemistry and their acting was so good! Haejo’s character was very free spirited and he liked doing things without any plans. Jaemi is very extroverted and has an outgoing personality. Both of them suit each other well cause they relate to similar pain.
Now the story is really very simple, there is no plot twist and nothing really shocking. It’s a very simple deep love story. So for this genre it’s good but personally not my style of show so there were parts where I just skipped…
I enjoyed the relationships shown in the drama especially Haejo and Bongsuk who was basically his guardian since he was young. She cared for him as a mother / sister and was always there for him.
Jaemi had a fiancé who she was going to marry and he was deeply in love with her. Initially I didn’t think he was going to have such a big role in the drama. But he is actually the second male lead. So there are many scenes regarding his family issues as well. He was an understanding SML though always thinking about her happiness so nothing toxic! (just that maybe there was too much screen time regarding his issues)
I’m sure everyone who will watch this knows the ending so…. 🙃 Everything is revealed in episode 1 itself so there isn’t any shocking reveals after that.
For those who really like the emotional tragedy kind of romance then this is for you! There is fluff definitely but it’s all under the shadow of tragedy so… 🥺
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