Reviews

When a Stellar Cast Can't Save a Sinking Script

There’s a particular kind of grief reserved for a drama that had absolutely everything going for it and still managed to crumble into something nearly unwatchable. That’s the bitter taste "The Legend of Rosy Clouds" left behind, a lingering frustration that has nothing to do with a lack of talent or resources and everything to do with a story that seemed determined to sabotage itself at every turn. After years of waiting and a cast that promised sparkle and depth, I sat through all thirty-six episodes hoping for a turnaround that never came. The rating I’d give it now is a reluctant foive out of ten, and even that feels generous once you’ve catalogued all the ways it went wrong.

Let’s start with the tragedy of the casting, because that’s where the disappointment cuts deepest. These actors were visually arresting, charismatic, and fully capable of greatness, but they were handed material that kept yanking the rug out from under them. Yi Tong’s Fan Yun was introduced as a noblewoman thrust into a political marriage who would supposedly blossom into a sharp, capable official. Instead, the writing made her a contradiction in human form. One moment she was clever enough to see straight through her husband’s disguise and manipulate cunning merchants; the next she was stumbling into traps so obvious you wanted to reach through the screen and shake her. Her growth into a gate commander felt like a checkbox the plot ticked rather than a journey she actually undertook, and the romance at the center of it all was built on a shaky foundation of lies and manipulation that never evolved into the genuine partnership the story kept insisting it was.

Zeng Shunxi fared no better as Qi Zheng, the supposedly brilliant governor pretending to be a frivolous playboy. I’ve seen what he can do with the right script, and that knowledge made watching him here a mournful experience. His intelligence was told to us far more often than it was shown; the political manoeuvring came off less as strategic genius and more as the writers conveniently opening doors for him. The flatness wasn’t his failing; it was a failure of direction and a script that asked him to play the same few notes on a loop. When you compare this performance to his recent work, it’s like watching a gifted musician handed an instrument that’s out of tune.

And then there’s Deng Wei’s Zheng Shi, the second male lead whose arc I will carry with me as a cautionary tale about how to destroy a promising character. In a proper love triangle, you should feel torn, aching over two equally compelling choices. What we got instead was a slow-motion transformation into an obsessive, emotionally unhinged figure who progressed from charming suitor to manipulative “nice guy” to someone who literally tried to force marriage at swordpoint. He became the shadow master of a terrorist group, deceived his own family for power, and still the drama wanted us to find his final sacrifice tragic. By the time he refused the antidote and slipped away, I felt only relief. Not because the performance was bad—Deng Wei did what he could—but because the character had become a psychological horror subplot wearing the mask of a romantic rival.

The production itself seemed to be fighting its own battle behind the scenes. For a drama that spent three years in limbo between filming and release, the post-production cracks were glaring. Scenes were snipped mid-breath, transitions jarred, and the visual quality lurched from episode to episode as if different teams had worked on them without speaking. There were moments of genuine beauty, of course: the phoenix flowers blazing against a twilight sky, snow dusting the rooftops, costumes that deserved their own applause. But they were islands in a sea of inconsistency. The action choreography often felt weightless, lighting could change within a single conversation, and far too many sequences carried the cramped, hurried energy of a low-budget web drama rather than a full-length historical production. The comedy bits, especially the governor’s antics, belonged in a sketch show and clashed violently with the serious political undertones, creating a tonal whiplash that made it impossible to settle into either mood.

And the plot. The plot deserves its own elegy, because I have rarely seen a story so committed to shooting itself in the foot. The early episodes had a spark—Fan Yun seeing through Qi Zheng’s disguise right away, a poisoning attempt that seemed to promise intrigue—but soon the narrative started piling absurdity upon absurdity. There was the baffling subplot where the couple faked a divorce by pretending Qi Zheng suffered from erectile dysfunction, a creative choice so bewildering it felt like a dare. A simple piece of cloth somehow became an infallible disguise that fooled entire armies, the drama’s own version of Superman’s glasses. And then, gloriously, infamously, the dreaded Crow Army that had been built up as an unstoppable force was defeated with fireworks. Birds. Fireworks. All that tension dissolved into a puff of colored smoke.

Character motivations shifted like sand. Problems were solved through coincidence or a single miraculous discovery, the plague in Tong City being the prime example—a devastating pandemic that evaporated with one herbal remedy. The central relationship cycled through “we trust each other” and “we don’t trust each other” so many times that I lost count, and the political reform storyline, which had genuine conceptual merit, crawled along only to be wrapped up in a rush that made the entire arc feel weightless. The symbolism of the sweet dew tea was hauled out for love declarations, poison antidotes, and marriage rituals alike until it meant nothing at all. The show tried so desperately to make us cry over deaths and sacrifices, but you cannot mourn a character whose soul the script already hollowed out.

In all this wreckage, there was exactly one thing that kept me watching, and it was the second lead couple. Gao Ran and Wei Shisan had a quiet, unforced chemistry that made every shared glance feel like a secret. Their dynamic was built on earned intimacy, a slow-burn understanding that the main romance never managed to replicate. When they worked together, the air shifted, and I found myself resenting every cut back to the central pair. Their subplot wasn’t just a consolation prize; it was the proof that this drama knew how to write a compelling connection and simply chose not to give that gift to the leads. Giving them more screen time or a spin-off wouldn’t just be a treat—it would be a quiet act of justice.

What makes the whole experience so haunting is how clearly you can see the shape of the masterpiece that might have been. The cast, the visual ambition, the kernel of a story about class mobility and women stepping into governance—all the ingredients were measured and waiting. But the execution was a cascade of wrong turns. A love triangle with real stakes, where the second lead was genuinely good and the choice genuinely painful, would have anchored the emotional core. Smarter political manoeuvring that let the characters earn their victories would have given the reform plotline the gravity it aimed for. Consistent characterisation and a steady hand on the tonal rudder would have turned chaos into purpose.

As it stands, the recommendation is narrow. If you are a diehard fan of the cast, you might find enough flickers of their talent to keep you going, though frustration will be your constant companion. If you are someone who finds grim pleasure in watching a beautiful disaster unfold, there is material here in abundance. And if you care only about a side couple and can fast-forward through the rest, you will find a diamond in the rubble. But for anyone seeking a satisfying romance, a coherent political drama, or simply a story that follows its own internal logic, this is a warning, not an invitation.

The final image I’ll hold isn’t of the Phoenix Tree or the snow-dusted farewell, but of a production that had the wind at its back and still steered straight into the rocks. Fan Yun and Qi Zheng should have been a couple to root for; instead, they exhausted me. Zheng Shi started as someone I might have loved and ended as a cautionary tale about what happens when writers mistake obsession for passion. And Gao Ran and Wei Shisan, the true emotional centre, were sidelined in their own show. Five out of ten feels right, a score for the ghost of something wonderful that never quite materialised. What a waste, truly.

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HAHAAHAHAHAHAH

FIRST OF ALL SHUT UP EVERYONE WHO HATES ON HER HAIR. I FREAKING LOVE THE HELL OUT OF IT. ITS SO CUTE AND MATCHES HER GOOFY CHARACTER.
So by the summary we all understand how the story is going to be, this is my first time writing a review so early on the story, but i felt this one deserves a one. The actors, the fl is so good and her acting is so nice, same goes to the other actors. Coming to to the plot, its very unique for a kdrama, i like how the writers tried something new apart from the old school, the plot although nothing fetish( which is good) but seems pretty realistic on the teen writer part, coming from the same shoes i can say its true that imagination sometimes run wild, but thats the charm of this drama. Haha. I really like how the ml (maths guy) was baffled by her scoring 4 marks in exam, and got obsessed into making her an ace. Hehe, i loved how she was the director who scolded her sir's character in her novel cause in real life he was an ass (not really but in a funny way) , but i must say he(the ml actor) got good acting skills like by how he portrayed his eyes getting soft whenever she was crying(or pretending to be) . Mainly i love this chaotic dynamics hehe. Now coming to the concerns, i hope its a non romance drama or if its so please let her be an graduate student then they must start really getting in that sector. Also i hope they don't ruin it by the last episodes by speeding the pace or something shit, let it be in this flow, perfect. Things i wish i could see as an possible ending, her being a famous novelist and her getting good results in her subject with the help of her maths teacher, and a affectionate smile from him being proud at the end (the best ending it could get) or something normal. Please no ones parents are dead or suicidal in this drama (already seen this shit) and let her be a successful writer please dont let the maths teacher ruin her novel. And mainly why does the korean literature teacher and P.E teacher have so much chemistry, wahh same goes for the ml and the korean literature teacher, (the korean literature teacher is a softieeee, love himmm😘), anyways till now very good AND IT MUST GO ON TILL THE END OR THE DIRECTOR BETTER START COUNTING YOUR DAYS.!...

UPDATE:
soo first of all to the director THANK YOU for not killing anyone or adding some unnecessary plotline to it and sticking with the original genre.
Secondly DAMNNNNN ITS SOO GOOD LIKE I LOVE ITTT. Mr Ga?! Jess the man you are so supportive of your students.. And to the other actors and actresses all of you did such a nice job, especially the actress of Euiju, no one could have pulled off the character more than herrr. Love herrr.
Coming about the novel plot its cringe but sooo funnily good. Love the actors of the teachers. ANDD LOVE EUIJU'S GROUP, HER FRIENDS, JENNY AND JENNY'S SEATMATE. Coming towards the ending, it was very much suited up to the drama genre. People who are not satisfied should know that even if it would have ended with both of them together it would have been very unethical, like the teacher student relationship. Um yeah about the other possibility yes it would have been good too with her graduating and then relationship but the raw emotion would not have been there, i like that part about this drama the open ending of it gives us a creative freedom to imagine further more. Do we need a second season? No. Its very much would not work in this case cause the whole season would have to be exaggerated in terms of it to happen so and the drama would loss its individuality but if done correctly there might be a chance. One thing we can surly ask for is to have Cha hakyoon and kim hyangi to act in another comedy romance drama cause yess THEIR CHEMISTRY IS TOO GOOD TO WASTE. So thats it, i loved it i hope you do too!

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Such a bad story line

This was the worst Korean drama I saw in 2021. In fact, I stopped watching it after episode 6. I took time to read reviews so I knew how the story ends. Apart from the fact that the main leads were good-looking, and their acting was superb, this story line was so lame. How could a mature woman like Nabi be so stupid and indecisive? Too many monologues. I thought she would become wiser as time goes by, but reading the review of episode 10, I gave up. It's not worth warching. The side stories were even better than the main one.

I hope there would never be a Season 2. Better to see Han So Hee and Song Kang in other new dramas, rather than being together in this bad one.

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This is one of many dramas that starting beautifully and end up badly, i was loving it till about 14 eps, then it goes repetitive and boring,

it's about a girl who dream to be a ceramist but in her time no woman allowed to become one, so here we have a lot of struggling with some birth secret, a prince charming and some skillful childhood brother involved, well, nothing new, but with a lot of talented actors i expect more from this drama,the plot freeze at some point and trust me it's going nowhere, the characters have no development at all till the last ep, the relationships are worse, can u believe when ur childhood brother confess to you as a man and u never have the same feeling with him, the next day there will be no awkward moment?? they made it like nothing happen which i can't accept,

there are too many holes in this drama, first, jeongi's character, from a girl who knew nothing about making a ceramic suddenly being able to make the best one??
second, the prince, he was so brave and responsible as a child, but when he grew up all he can do is checking his father's mood, rather than think about his people he just focus on how to please him, and how can he always get fooled by his scheming brother?? first time, well, he's not prepared, second, he get caught off guard, third time?? he never learn huh?,
all the other characters are no help, no improvement in their character either,

this drama annoyed me so much, so i won't recommend it if you don't have time, but if you have so much time to spend you can watch it, it's all ur choice..

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I have fallen in love with the story and characters, so I am personally offended by the execution.

My title came off a little strong, so here’s the short answer: this drama is definitely amazing for a gay romance coming out of Korea, but has really poor editing that was consistently jarring and some loose ends.

Now here comes the long answer (starting with the good of course!):
I really do appreciate this drama because it made an effort to tell a genuine gay love story, and I would say they succeeded. I especially appreciated this effort because the homophobia of Korean society tends to encroach on the acting and direction of some other BL series I’ve seen.

From the script alone we already have a good starting point, but the actors definitely took this drama to the next level. Im Ji Sub and Oh Jun Taek were stellar lead actors. You could always tell how their characters felt just through an expression or exchange. The chemistry and tension between them was on point. You could always feel a tangible mutual romantic curiosity between the two of them. It never felt stiff or awkward, or like they were forcing themselves to “act gay.” The effort and care put in the acting and direction gave the romance an authentic feel.
The setting and story were both quite nice. The school setting felt realistic, and the surfing aspect worked with the story surprisingly well.

The main characters themselves were both interesting. I liked to learn more about them, and see them grow and change throughout the series. I wasn’t a fan of Eun Ji or her writing. It wouldn’t have hurt anyone if they put a little more effort into making her a little less of a one-dimensional villain archetype, but in the end she served her purpose.

Now for my main complaint, and the achilles heel of this entire show: the editing.

I wish I was being dramatic when I said the editing made me die a little on the inside. As someone in visual arts who has experience with video editing, I genuinely started to wonder about the vision from the director and editing team, or if there was an editing team and if they got paid. Possibly they were held at gunpoint to make some of the most questionable editing choices of all time. The look of the first two episodes was alright, but the editing lost its way at episode 3 and barely managed to find its way back by episode 8. The coloring and filters were too exaggerated and varied. It very rarely did anything to add to the mood or tone of the show. At worst it was very distracting and at best it was tumblr-esque and outdated.
To be fair, there were a handful of shots I thought looked lovely.

Now if you're someone who doesn’t care about the aesthetics of a show, there is still a reason to care about the quality of the editing. The transitions. This was where the editing really started to hinder the storytelling. It made the story convoluted and hard to follow. I often had to skip back to see if I missed something, only to realize I hadn’t missed anything at all. The transitions are really just that jarring. It didn’t help that they would often throw in random scenes without context and then move on with very little explanation.

Overall, I would still recommend this show and I think it is a step in a great direction for Korean BL dramas. The integrity of the story and characters holds up, even if the transitions and editing made me want to pull out my hair.
The story also leaves me wondering about the character’s futures. I felt that we missed out on some of the development of Jae Won that the story was hinting at. I’d like to know more about our main character’s families and backgrounds, which are still partially unexplained. I would definitely tune in for a season 2. I may even rewatch it eventually now that I’ve come to terms with the horrendous editing.

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An all 10!! A rating I believe should not be given easily :-)
This show has definitely worked up to the expectations, just by reading the plot and also checking everyone's reviews and ratings of course.
I can see why this show has managed to keep the highest viewer rating among dramas airing at the same time slot.
This Show it A MUST WATCH. It has a Great story, Wonderful directing, Awesome cast, addictive music, everything!
Here's my humble review:

The story:
A VERY VERY WELL written story. Good stories can sometimes fall victim to inconsistent events, over-done plots, lack in details, and even plot holes. Some stories end up with such disadvantages but still be considered great stories, because they manage to attract the viewer and receive his empathy. I Hear Your voice I strongly believe succeeded in escaping from ALL those disadvantages.


It was a very rich story, meaning to say that all the little details concerning all of the main characters' background was given the utmost care so as to bring them out to the viewer believable, convincing and also quite touching.

The characters were all so convincing and well written, so even the villain who at first just seemed as the classic nemesis, in time when you know the full picture of what happened, you start to understand him to a certain point and even sympathize with him somehow.


Directing:
The Story covers the span of 11 years, so there was the need of course for the use of flashbacks, those were always given at exactly the right timing, not too long so as not to distract the viewer.

There is not ONE character which was not given enough airing time, and also not one scene that felt unnecessary. So even scenes that at one look seem as a filler and a bit meaningless, if you look closer you'll find it was the director's method of delivering the viewer with an important information but in an indirect kind of way so as not to force a certain idea or notion on the viewer.

Soo Ha's ability to hear one's thoughts, was used to just the right level, so it wasn't reading minds all time like one would think. And the use of pausing the scenes when Soo Ha was hearing someone's thoughts helped show how such thoughts normally take parts of a second to form inside one's head.

Also I loved the use of flashbacks to show a certain event from a more-detailed different point of view so as to help view the whole picture behind something. Also doing that at just the right timing, so not like other shows where you keep watching the same flashback hundreds of times every time it's believed you should be reminded of it, it was rather showing the flashback multiple times but each time serving a different cause so it never felt boring.


The Cast:
Awesome cast. You will end up warming up to every one, sometimes you feel like you want to penetrate the screen to hug, stroke, poke, shake hands, wipe away tears, and kiss one of them. It's a proof that all the cast delivered a very well acting.
The love triangle was very lovely too, so you end up cheering for everyone, might have a bias to one side but still wish the other all the luck.

Music:
Both the vocal songs (very few I have to admit) and also the instrumentals were addictive, Love all of them.
I have yet to download the OST so am not sure as to exact number of tracks, but though it felt like it was just a few of them used throughout the drama, it never felt the tiniest bit repetitive, at least for me.

I can't think of a single reason why anyone would not watch this show.
It had just exactly the perfect dose of all the following aspects and even more, it formed a beautiful very well balanced formula....The perfect Example of a multi-Genre drama

It had thriller but it was never nerve breaking.
It had fantasy but it was never far fetched.
It had romance but it was never cheesy.
It had comedy but it was never cliched.
It had revenge but it was never too scary.
It had drama but it was never over tragic.
It had humanity but it was never too serious or dramatic.
And above all, it had a very deep and meaningful message to deliver, and sure it succeeded at that but not in the naive to the point corny kind of way.

I found myself clapping my hands when the finale ended, I think I don't need to say more.
Watch it, you sure won't regret it!

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First of all, I'd like to say that this drama is different from other dramas! The drama is beautiful and the chemistry between the two leading characters is off the charts. The story goes at a steady pace unlike many other dramas. I really love this drama because it's so refreshing and it's a nice change.

Story: First of all, I'd like to tell you to ignore the synopsis for this drama. It only tells you what happens in the first thirty minutes of the drama. The main character, Lin Jia En does NOT pursue her childhood friend Ren Wei or try to "lure" him in as the synopsis says, I'm not even sure she had special feelings for him in the first place. It's more like he's a special friend to her and she looks up to him, that's why she wanted to follow him but upon following him to where he went to college, she learned that she had to be independent and not rely on him as much.

This drama doesn't revolve around one thing. The supporting cast plays a big role in the drama, it isn't only about the leading characters. The drama includes friendships, first loves, family, college life and change. The friendships are strong in this drama and they play a big part.

Characters: One of the best things about this drama is that there's no evil rivals. The characters in the drama are sincerely good people and you can really relate to them. Both the leading actress and second lead actress are incredible: both of them consider each others feelings and stay good friends. It's truly realistic. The interactions between the main couple and the other couples are so cute too! I love how at first the leading actor, Liu Chuan, seems perfect in every aspect but as the story progresses you see he has his flaws as well. Ren Wei also redeems himself, at first he may seem inconsiderate but as the story continues, you'll understand him more. Not to mention how difficult it is to stay angry at him, he is simply hilarious. xD

There's not a single character I hate in the drama, all of them are beautifully written with their own personalities and conflicts.

Music: Songs match with what's happening and a nice touch to the drama!

If you want a change from the melodramas or unrealistic story plots, you should consider watching this drama because I'm loving it so far! :D

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It's raw, it's dark, it's light, it's depressive, it's happy, it's sad - it's the full spectrum.

As usual I went into this "blind" - I did not watch trailers or read about it, I just knew it's playing in a tumult time for Thailand. Of course this is a drama and it does not represent historical accuracy, but it depicted quite accurate what the gist was. There were protests, there was political killings and there was a revolution (a bit later). Thailands military still has more power over it's goverment than any democracy should have.

This series is partly hard to watch. Not because it's bad, because it's so acurate, because the acting is so good and of course because it's so sad - in a good way. The company said this is not a BL, it's a gay story - and it mostly is. They did not disappoint in their description. There is only some fluff but mostly it felt really realistic.

Tanwa (played by Mile) is a typical end of 1960ties free spirit (they would have said hippie at the time), but without a direction. Trin (played by Apo) is more or less the opposite, he knows what he wants and he knows what he stands for. This two worlds clashes and after the traumatic events where Victor (played by Peter Deriy) died, Tanwa find the courage to move on by his mothers unreleased book (given by his father he was at odds). Then we have a second couple, the colonel and the journalist - a poetic love which could not be fullfilled, because the colonel decided to protect his love and sacrifices himself for it. I have read comments that say Dhevi is the villain, but of course she is not. The colonel used her (and her family) to advance his career and he had to pay the price for his decision. This also saved the live of his love the journalist. Is it nice? Of course not, but such were and are (sometimes) the realities we live in. It was quid quo pro - he gained social status which made him go through the ranks of the military into a powerful position and she gained just the man she loved even knowing he has no feelings for her. And in contrast to most BLs: She got not furious and made no scene. It's just realistic.

All the cast were really amazing. When you know that Tencent in the form of WeTV financed this project it's absolutly stunning that they did all that what they can't do in China with such a controversial story. Of course this is a hurtful story, this is not the typical BL fluff you may expect. This is raw, brutal, repulsive, sad but also poetic, happy and beautiful.

For me this is a 10, because besides the realistic approach, a good story and the production quality, it's the right step for Thai's entertainment industry to not just cater to the fangirls. The story is the star of this show and not just some fan-favorite actors. So, if you have not seen it, it's a must watch for me!

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Even better than the real thing.

Investiture of the Gods is one of my less favorite Chinese classics because it is a lengthy, chaotic collection of Chinese myths and anecdotes involving gods and demons. It would not be easy to turn this tome into into a coherent and well-scripted drama with an engaging plot and proper character development. Impressively, this production pulls it off by making storyline a very, very loose adaption of the original novel. Most of the criticism highlights the plot changes and that it doesn't tell the whole story. That is absolutely fair but the end result is a vast improvement from other cheesy, incoherent and lengthy versions. As someone who is not attached to the original story-line, I am good with it.

Although released in 2019, this drama was shot in 2015 and has struggled with censorship - yeah even ancient uprisings/regime change is not a popular topic with the Chinese censors. Update: Initially only 56 of the intended 65 episodes were aired but at this point, all 65 episodes have been released. It is a quality production and the for early viewers, it is well worth going back to watch the last 10 episodes in full. The all-star cast includes Luo Jin, (a very young) Deng Lun, Wang Likun, Yu He Wei and Zhang Bo. They were awesome together and it was quite evident from the rapport between the characters that they had big fun filming this. It is obvious from the CGI, sets and costumes (albeit beautiful) that this is from an older vintage than the more polished 2019 releases but it also doesn't suffer from the excessive filler disease that is plaguing the latter.

The story recounts the reign of the evil King Zhou of the Shang dynasty (an early Chinese dynasty); a time during which allegedly both gods and demons still walked among man. He was a tyrannical and decadent ruler who inflicted great suffering on his subjects under the undue influence of his favorite consort Daji. Daji is said to have distracted him from affairs of the state and exhorted him to acts of great cruelty. Even the heavens intervened and Jiang Ziya was actually an immortal tasked to raise an army of heroes to defeat this evil king. Many lives were lost in King Zhou's overthrow and these heroes were memorialized as gods in popular folklore. The novel likely emerged as a romanticized account of their epic struggle where gods and demons fought alongside mortals on both sides of the conflict. The drama very broadly sticks to this overarching plot but is creative and loose with the details around how they got there.

Yang Jian (Luo Jin) is a half immortal child born with the Third Eye predestined to cause the down fall of King Zhou. Lord Su conceals and raises him in his household as his foster son alongside his daughter Daji (Wang Likun). The young Yang Jiang and his foster sister Daji, who is renown for her beauty and kindness, are in love. This is one of the major departures from the novel, where Daji and Yang Jian barely intersect. In order to save the lives of her family and their people, Daji forsakes all to enter the palace as a concubine but they are all slaughtered anyway. Grief stricken and vengeful, she vows to make King Zhou and his empire suffer. She sells her soul to the evil thousand year old fox spirit (Deng Lun) in exchange for his aid. Wang Likun's Daji was masterful from her transformation from an innocent young girl to the ravishing, cruel and manipulative temptress that brought down an empire. I was stricken at the barely concealed loathing and sadness in her eyes when she seduces her worst enemy; I prayed she could suppress the hatred and the evil that was consuming her; I was repelled by her indiscriminate and breathless cruelty. Throughout she has sad and angry eyes and she clings to the memory of the person she once was. I was wowed by her acting. The young and yet undiscovered Deng Lun pulled off the role of the evil fox spirit who is Daji's only confidante with great relish and panache. They had remarkable onscreen chemistry - as she lost her soul he found his when her cause became his. Even though Luo Jin is technically the male lead his role of loving Daji unconditionally from afar didn't leave much scope for character development. So Deng Lun stole his thunder a bit on this one.

While Daji's scenes are mostly quite intense, the rest of the drama is somewhat irreverent and littered with comic relief. Yu He Wei's Jiang Ziya is the glue that pulls everything together this character absolutely rocked! He is kind hearted, a bit goofy, naive and unambitious immortal that is banished to the mortal realm as punishment and is tasked with investing or martyring the gods. His mortal identity is as a hapless noodle seller with a terrifying termagant of a wife and a lovely daughter. He takes Yang Jiang and Jifa as his first disciples and together they gather the rest of the immortals as they prepare for their fated mission to topple a despot. While falling safely short of slapstick , the camaraderie between Jiang Ziya and his family and disciples had me howling with laughter. Although some the comic moments dragged a little bit at the end, it was very bearable. It makes such a difference to watch something with such a confident, experienced and well-rounded cast. Even the villains were well cast and really captured the spirit of their characters, especially the evil fox spirit and King Zhou. This was truly a fun drama to watch - it has good vs evil, gods, demons, some romance, some bromance, love, hate, friendship, honor, loyalty - it made me laugh as hard as it made me cry. I enjoyed this so much I kept putting off watching the last episode because I didn't want it to end. I am not sure why this drama didn't get higher ratings but I suspect it was some combination of the plot changes, that it looks a bit dated and the fact that there was a long gap before the last ten episodes were finally released. Undoubtedly the humanization of Daji may have also been controversial - after all Daji was one of the most bloodthirsty villains in Chinese history and literature.

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Most epic drama

Okay, I need to talk about how insanely good Leap Day is. This drama has completely stolen my heart. First of all, the plot is so fresh and different from anything I’ve watched before it feels like a whole new genre of drama honestly. It keeps you hooked with every episode, and the storytelling is just beautiful.

I have to give the biggest shoutout to the actors, especially Gun. The way he portrayed a character with autism was so respectful, genuine, and emotionally moving. His acting is on a whole other level you can feel every little emotion through his expressions and gestures. It didn’t feel like acting, it felt real.

The chemistry between the leads is amazing too, and the pacing of the story is perfect. It’s one of those dramas where you don’t want it to end, and I’m literally counting down the days for the next episode. If you haven’t started watching Leap Day, you’re seriously missing out.

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A nice addition to the greats

Crash Landing On You was about our main female character that ends up in North Korea after getting into an unexpected accident and a North Korean soldier that ends up falling inlove with her. Sounds interesting right? Well the premise of the story is already an attention grabbing but I didn't immediately watch it upon airing simply because I was dissapointed by majority of Kdramas that was released last year which has also interesting premises but got boring/uninteresting in the middle and eventually dropping it. This drama was like a saving grace for my drought, After getting recommended by one of my friends, I watched the first 4 episodes when it was still airing and finally a series worth of sticking up until the end! Every episode leaves you wanting for more. All characters are potrayed very well by the actors. I've seen comparisons of this to DOTS and I can say that the plot and acting wise, CLOY was wayyy better miles ahead. (This is coming from a big fan of DOTS like me). Probably the only thing that DOTS did better are the osts, yes CLOY lack great osts with only a handful of memorable ones unlike in DOTS where every ost leaves an impact. You might think why I'm comparing this two series because some of you might be doubting to watch CLOY simply because it's another soldier theme drama especially those who still haven't watched or dropped DOTS, but I can assure you, this is different. You will enjoy every bits of it, This drama makes you care for every characters, no one is left behind. Our main leads have great chemistry like I can't imgine any actors playing the same role, Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin were really meant to play the roles of Captain Ri Jeong-Heok and Yoon Se-ri. All in all Crash Landing on You managed to give everything I want from a rom-com series. It might be cliche and predictable at some parts but it was done right and this series will also give you a new perspective on how people actually live on the other side of the korean peninsula.

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Worth watching for the acting

I was very excited when I started watching this drama because of Woo Dohwan who is basically one of my favorite actors (yes he is handsome but his acting skills are pretty amazing too).

At the beginning, I was really intrigued about his character Hae Jo. And the first half of the drama was really exciting and fun!!! the whole chase through the country, the drama, the funny moments were on point, if only the drama had continued like that…

Basically, after they got rescued from the island and came back to Seoul everything went down the drain…
In my opinion there was a lot of unnecessary drama and the plot was not moving on. The main lead was sulking and treating Jae Mi like trash and it kept on going back and forth. I got quite bored during a few episodes to be honest…
And then the scene when Hae Jo leaves Jae Mi in front of her mother’s door and runs away! Why??? Why did he have to run away??? I was sooo confused! What was the point anyway if you were gonna go back to Seoul afterwards? I thought he was gonna start his journey to look for his father with Heung but no they just went back to Seoul!!! I got really annoyed tbh and I also got annoyed at Jae Mi a couple of times. At the beginning she was acting like a spoiled child, punching Hae Jo and telling him to die etc. I think thats a little bit too much to say to someone, no matter how shitty they treated you…
Ofc I was also a little bit annoyed at Hae Jo at times. Why did he have to agree to kidnap the first woman from her wedding? And why did he say such mean things to Jae Mi in their first relationship? And then being so egocentric and kidnapping her and throwing away her shoes etc.
In general I also found it kinda sad how quickly and easily Jae Mi got over Heung and the treatment of his mother and how easy it was for her to move on and fall in love with Hae Jo again… I don’t think she was really in love with him… he was just a nice man she wanted to have kids with…

And finally, I was reallyyyy annoyed about how the drama started with the search for Hae Jo’s father but was never finished!!!! Like what was the point of watching (except for Woo Dohwan’s naked upper body)??? We already knew how it was gonna end (him dying in the snow) so what other new information did we gain??? I was very confused and quite disappointed to be honest…

The storyline is definitely lacking and most of the characters were very problematic too. However here are some good points:

1. The quotes: Hae Jo had some impressive quotes and it brought me to tears many times.
2. In general it did have some tearjerking moments. I dont understand why the movie’s genre is romance/comedy… it is more of a drama imo.
3. The acting skills!!! Like no matter how annoying some characters were, the actors brought them to life sooo well and authentically… Kudos to all of these high class actors.
4. The music especially the instrumental one in dramatically sad scenes (for example when Hae Jobwas dying in the snow). It was one of the reasons I got hooked on the show. The music, directing and screenplay were done sooo well!!! I couldn’t stop thinking about it…

In general I think it is okay to watch it if you are interested but be prepared for some toxic characters and relationships…

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The women should have been arrested for stalking

Honestly the only reason I could complete the entire show is because I am a Deng Lun fan. This show is full of negative Chinese female stereo types that we are supposed to find cute and funny. Perhaps if this had been a high school drama it would have been less annoying. The FL had the maturity of a five year old through most of the movie and all the women would have been arrested for stalking in the United States. One of them committed acts that had it been a male done to a female they would have been sent to prison but we are supposed to forgive her. The men tell them no but the women don't listen.

To all the DRAMA writers out there... NO means NO. If it's not acceptable for a man to do to a woman, it's not acceptable for a woman to do to a man.

I'm not going to go into other plot holes and disasters. I am mainly writing this for those of you who are parents... don't let your girls watch this.

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Okay, after all, It's Okay to Not Be Okay was an amazing journey. It's one of these dramas that deserve their hype and high ratings. The show stayed strong and mantained high quality from beginning to the end. I feel like nowadays, this is one thing that Korean dramas lack a lot.

While the drama looks like a cheesy romance at first glance, it is actually not. It's a story about healing, about learning to accept yourself, about learning how to accept others, about how it's okay not to be okay from time to time. I believe the drama had a great impact of the viewers who are struggling with life and needed to be comforted.

The plot itself could have been a lot better. The introduction was strong as well as the first half, then the second half was kind of inconsistent. But well, if it doesn't get overdramatic and way too cheesy, is it even a Korean drama?

The cast was very well-chosen and I must say, Kim Soo Hyun chose the perfect drama for his comeback. I was never a fan of his, but he won me here. He was simply perfect as the selfless Moon Gang Tae. His character went through so much and Soo Hyun portayed his emotions so well, I believed every word of his.

And there's our queen, Seo Ye Ji. Such a versatile actress, she can seriously pull off any role and she always looks stunning. Go Mun Yeong is not an easy character to pull off but she did it flawlessly. I can easily say that this is the best role of hers.

Oh Jung Se though... if this man doesn't win an award for this role--- Like, honestly, his performace was insanely good. A total show-stealer. He has all of my respect.

Overall, if you're looking for a good 2020 drama, then congrats, you just found it. An engaging story, a smartly written script, a couple with great chemistry, brilliant directing and an amazing cast -- what more do you need?

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