Reviews

realistic and well done

Overall: if the premise/summary isn't your thing, I encourage you to watch at least thru episode 4 because this story is like an onion with layers. 8 episodes total about 45 minutes each, 2 aired per week on GMMTV's YouTube Channel (also Disney+Hotstar in some countries).

Content Warnings: manhandling, homophobia, death, grief

What I Liked
- Li Ming and Heart were the cutest cinnamon rolls
- Wen was direct and communicated what he wants
- felt realistic which matches the setting/story (i.e. the actors faces have visible sweat and aren't airbrushed/filtered to oblivion)
- touched on power/class differences, poverty, marriage inequality/legal inequality
- step parent shown to be caring and supportive
- Gaipa's mom
- hints about future plot elements
- realistic response with Li Ming and his mom
- avoided a cliche plot point towards the end, characters had good communication
- production value* (music, cinematography - that long take/no cut shot at the beginning of episode 1 part 1 was cool)

Room For Improvement
- several scenes were a little too dim* and the camera is too shaky sometimes
- not a fan of some of the music choices, at one point there was an accordion
- how Uncle Jim himself and other characters talk about him being old when the actor Earth is 28 (and most definitely does not look old)
- each episode appears to skip a month however because we don't see montages or dates it doesn't always feel like that much time has passed
- wish it had been Gaipa that initiated things after the time jump
- I understand them not subtitling what Heart was saying in the beginning to show how Li Ming didn't understand but it was frustrating when they continued to not subtitle everything he was saying later on
- it was not Jim's place to tell the mom about Li Ming, it should have been Li Ming's choice
- I don't agree that "deaf people are the loneliest people" which is a line a character said
- good that actual consequences were shown for drunk driving
- the series title "Moonlight Chicken"

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A love story that makes sense.

There were a few epic love stories I watched where the leads are willing to sacrifice themselves for the person they love but I sometimes wonder why and how did they even fall in love in the first place.

This is not the case in The Legend of Shen Li. This forbidden love story is beautiful, compelling, sexy and we as viewers saw how it unfolded every step of the way. The progress of their love takes center stage and it just made sense why they fell for each other even when the whole world was against it.

The story is simple with a sprinkle of plotting and scheming and the leads are so adorable together. Loving it.

UPDATE SPOILER: Just completed this amazing drama. They gave us AN EPISODE of their happily ever after and it is what I NEEDED.

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gorgeous vistas, underwhelming script (watch suggestions)

Overall: I enjoyed the countryside setting/cinematography and it was okay as a coming of age series but failed with the romance aspect. See my spoiler comment for how it ends which might help you decide if you want to start it. The series was based on a book which I haven't read and I reviewed the series on its own merits. 7 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5169/lost-in-the-woods-2025-e01 and Viu.

Content Warnings: past slap, alcoholism?, animal death, blood, non con kiss

Watch Suggestions (to focus on the romance aspect)
- watch episode 1
- skip episode 2
- episode 3 watch 3-5:30, 22-32:30, 39-47
- episode 4 watch 11:45-12:30, 19-24:30 and 26:30-40
- episode 5 watch 4:30-9:30 and 17:30-end
- episode 6 start at 16 minutes or if not interested in the het side couple skip to 28 minutes and watch until 30:30, 34:25-end
- episode 7 watch 9:30-16, 29:20-41:45, stop there and pretend they had a totally consensual kiss

What I Liked
- setting/vistas
- black nail polish
- Fifa is shown to be musically talented and academically intelligent
- clear premise
- two supportive female friends
- that Fifa stayed true to himself/his life goals
- production value (cinematography*)

Room for Improvement
- starting with a flash forward/voice over though at least it was just 2 days in advance and not months or years
- a parent acted comical in a scene where it seemed they were going for serious/angsty in episode 1
- episode 2 a character had so much flack for total nonsense stuff
- the grandma's plan didn't make sense, she should have eased him into things, I'm sure she was not staying in that type of accommodation and she chose the most prickly person to be his guide?!!!
- the scholarship application timeline seems a bit late compared to what it would be in the real world but I didn't deduct points for it
- not much chemistry, just started in episode 4 but they didn't even have a scene together until 16 minutes into episode 6
- *some night scenes were too dark
- what happened at the end of episode 4
- the ex plot took up way too much screentime, in episode 5 it was 10 out of 43 minutes or about 25% of the screentime!
- in episode 6 how Hem apologized for doing his job and Fifa was immature
- the non con kiss and how they never properly communicated

Note: in the series the younger guy Fifa graduated high school so the character should be 18 (played by Ton who is 25); they said that Hem is 30 (played by Arm who is 30). I did not have any issue with the age gap between the characters in the series.

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A Giant in Acting and Cinematography for the genre

Acting wise, I think most actors here are picked for their acting skills rather than looks alone. Rarely seen a cast so complete with great actors. Yang Mi surprises me but I am happy she has a breakthrough. She looks more beautiful here than in all those Xianxia dramas she was in. Ou Hao is new to me. I almost can’t believe that such fine actor exists. Raw. Tan. Simpleton facial features but with a beautiful smile and dimples. Bulky yet not gym- like muscular. So real. As for cinematography, you have to watch it to love it. So authentic.

Storyline. The drama didn’t hesitate to tell the story as how they imagine life to be like in the day. Not everyone ends up with a good ending. Even though it was unfair eg Susu’s case, that’s how we think would be the story for her. The only part I didn’t like was NiWei coming back as a Japanese traitor. Too typical and predictable. He should just be written off as a bandit and end up being rounded up since he kind of supported what his dad was doing. He was old enough to understand unlike this little brother who ended up growing into a good person. The older actors especially the mum in law is of another level. Her every movement, voice , accent, actions are so well done. She deserves an award. The father is a well known actor. So no surprises. But the father in law was a pleasant surprise . He started as a selfish greedy person but as the drama unfolds he is pretty endearing. His death was so emotional. I even look up the actor profile to check his past works. Small eyes with gigantic expressions. The farming story he told before dying is a classic.

It’s so scary to see how they lived so poorly. Yet it’s heartwarming at the same time to see them happy when the land is doing well. Things we take for granted like safe home, clean food and water, machines to help our chores were non existent. How the entire family agree or disagree over little things like buying a cow is priceless. Like their lifeline. Makes me want to visit and stay in one of these farms. They should use the set for eco tourism.

Overall super well done. Deserve many awards including one for Yang Mi. Such great acting overall.

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Simple 'Friends with benefits' but deep

Plus for little bit of LGBT, acting and realism. There was a tense atmosphere all the time so you could get into the action. The drama is really very good and even the fact that it is a mini drama is a plus. In my opinion, if it was a full drama, it would not give such an effect, because they would probably add other storylines. Sometimes I didn't understand the characters' behavior in certain situations, but I do realize that everyone is different than they react differently. As well as the action finally seemed shortened to me (although I suspect that there will be a second season). Nevertheless, I recommend it (as one of the few, I read reviews now ...)

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Are you looking for a drama what will completely blow your mind with its epic plot, amazing cast and awesome music? The this is the drama for you.

I must say that since 2013 seems to be a melodrama year, I felt like this drama would just be one of those "melodramas" of the year. But boy was I wrong. From the very first episode you get pulled in and the drama becomes a straight 10/10 ride all the way to the end. There were times when you thought like "omg will he really succeed in doing this?" or "omg will they find out his real identity?" etc. It was like watching a suspense movie that constantly held you sitting on the edge of your seat, and at the same time it had those cute and romantic moments where you feel as if the time had stopped for our main characters and you get drowned in all the emotions. But the plot is not the only amazing thing about this story, what both amazed me and surprised me where the characters, or to be more precise, the actors and actresses. Jo In Sung was simply pure epicness in this drama. He did an amazing job portraying Oh Soo, a man with many sides, a man who both hated and loved life. Song Hye Kyo was just....wow O_O. No comments, seriously. She shun in this drama so much that it made me speechless. She played the role of a blind girl so well, that I had to check as I watched the drama if she wasn't actually blind in real life O_O. How did she manage to play it so well? It looked so real....just wow. She seriously deserves an award for her acting. Last but not least, how can we talk about TWTWB without mentioning the other two "main characters" played by Jung Eun Ji and Kim Bum. If Jo In Sung's and Song Hye Kyo's acting and chemistry didn't blow my mind completely, then this couple certainly did! I shipped this couple like crazy! I'm not even joking. I loved their craziness, their jokes, their chemistry, the way they looked at each other....gah just everything about them made me fangirl. Not to mention that Kim Bum rocked the red hair and looked super-sexy as a rebellious guy in his late teens/early 20's.

ENDING: Some people were a bit disappointed with the ending since it felt a bit rushed and unexpected, but I personally loved it. I think the ending was perfect and if you look into more detail around it, it didn't just come out out of the blue. Withing spoiling anything for the viewers who haven't seen this drama, all I can say is that I felt that the ending fit this kind of genre of drama. Oh Soo played a dangerous game, which could mean death to both him and the people close to him and in that kind of gambling-gangster-business having to deal with decisions such as "is it worth risking the lives of the people I love just to gain this?" is a everyday life-style. So, to be completely honest the decision Kim Bum's character decided to take didn't surprise me to 100% but at the same time it was "expected either" it was somewhere in between, like you could see it happening but at the same time you wished that it wouldn't. I know that some people had hoped for a happy lovey-dovey ending, but this was a sad story about the value of life, guilt and promises and I think the ending was the perfect cherry to top the cake known as That Winter, the Wind Blows.

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Time Loop: Curse or Blessing?

A time loop drama with lots of suspense and interesting turns of events.

As the synopsis already states, the drama is about FL whose life was about to end when the bus she was on had an accident. But instead she woke up again on this very bus, a few minutes prior to the accident. Soon she realizes she is caught in a time loop, doomed to relive this horrible experience over and over again. In her attempt to change her fate, she accidentally pulls ML into the loop with her. Together they need to find out how to stop the loop.

Since the Main Leads were caught in a time loop, the same event was repeated over and over again, through the entire drama. And yet they managed to never let the story become boring or repetitive. Every loop was different in a way. Be it the plan of the Main Leads to avoid the accident, or the outcome of it. There was always something new in each loop, making the drama interesting, exciting and less predictable. It was quite thrilling to sit and watch whether their next plan is gonna succeed or not. Some scenes really had me at the edge of my seat.

I was pleasantly surprised with the characters and acting. I loved both main leads a lot, and I also really loved their chemistry! It was interesting to see their differences and how they complemented each other. While our game creator MLs first thought was to save himself, our student FL wanted to also save all other people on the bus. It was very interesting how the incident slowly made them become closer to each other. Great performance by both of them!

I also enjoyed the stories of all the other characters on the bus. They provided lots of beautiful and emotional scenes. The acting of the whole cast was top-notch.

So? How to get out of the time loop? Is there a way to even stop the accident, and hope for everyone to survive? What's the reason behind the accident? How many loops are there gonna be until their destiny is final? Lots of questions to ask, and answers to discover. ;)

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Story:
Childhood neighbors who become a couple after knowing each other for several years. Very basic story line with no surprises. Although I like that the OTPs friends were important and had all their own story lines, this dragged out the drama.

The male lead was really static and seemed to have no emotions at all. The female lead on the other hand was often annoying (some might call it bubbly) and all over the place.

Again, the basic idea of showing their love from the beginning to end is great. However, the beginning took about 16 episodes (their high school years), while their collage and after-collage life was wrapped up in 7...this also means 16 episodes of no real deep or romantic encounters, and 7 episodes where they are adults, but again we don't see many lovely scenes. Actually, the last episode was the best, as there was a lot of love included!

Acting/Cast:
As this was my first cdrama I don't know any of the cast. They made an okay job, though. The characters were quite annoying...

Music:
Nothing to to remember.

Rewatch:
0/0 I seriously don't know, if I will even watch a cdrama again....

Overall:
I get how their deep bond from the beginning is meant to be shown, however it's more suited for a younger audience (about 13+ years) as the focus is on the high school years. I would have loved to watch their adult life more.

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A Beautiful Story of Healing Hidden Beneath Revenge

Going into The First Jasmine, I expected a gentle healing drama with mature romance, quiet emotions, and soft aesthetics. It definitely delivered those vibes—but what surprised me was how psychologically rich the story turned out to be. Beneath its elegant cinematography and slow-burn romance lies a tale of trauma, revenge, healing, and emotional resilience.

A'Li is one of the strongest female leads I've seen this year. Her painful past, fragile mental state, and gradual journey toward healing felt incredibly layered. Instead of magically recovering overnight, her wounds remained a part of her, making every small step forward feel meaningful. On the other hand, A'Yao wasn't just someone she healed physically by treating his injured leg—he became the person who quietly stayed by her side, offering patience, understanding, and unwavering companionship. Their relationship wasn't built on grand romantic gestures but on trust, mutual healing, and silent support, which made it even more beautiful.

A'Ying's story - She deserved so much better. I really wish she focused on her becoming independent rather than defining her happiness through mo jingli. She had so much potential to grow into her own person.

And then there's Mo Jingli. Oh, Mo Jingli... He gave me serious Qi Min vibes. Unlike Qi Min, though, he wasn't outright toxic. Yes, after marrying Ye Ying, he remained obsessed with Ye Li and neglected his wife, which was undeniably frustrating. But his character wasn't one-dimensional. His ambitions, regrets, and internal conflicts made him surprisingly compelling, even when I disagreed with his choices.

Princess Lingyun deserved a happier ending too. Her story was tragic in a way that lingered long after it ended. I can only hope that in another lifetime, she and Feng Zhiyao finally get the peaceful life they were denied.

Of course, I can't finish this review without mentioning Bai Lu and Cheng Li. Their chemistry never relied on excessive romance—it thrived through subtle glances, quiet conversations, and an unspoken understanding that made every shared scene feel intimate. The cinematography, costume design, and soundtrack elevated the emotional atmosphere, creating a drama that felt both visually stunning and emotionally immersive.

The First Jasmine isn't just a revenge story or a romance. It's a story about broken people finding reasons to keep living, choosing trust over isolation, and discovering that healing doesn't erase the past—it teaches you how to live with it.

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How to ruin a 10/10 show with one episode.

I must congratulate the writers for accomplishing something I considered nearly impossible. Well, I know better now. One can completely ruin a show in just one episode. Here is how I imagine it was done.

Step 1: Destroy the characters. The characters that the audience have known and loved for the past 15 episodes need to be ruined first. Take all their character-traits away from them, including their understanding, their love, their spirit of never giving up - everything that made them… them. Everything that made the audience fall in love with them. Ready? Great. Now apply this to their carefully constructed and super strong relationship and make it seem like it was nothing. Easy peasy.

Step 2: Try to trick the audience. Everything that has been shown important in the past 15 episodes needs to amount to nothing. All the little things, hints dropped, heartwarming things shown, need to be shown moot and useless. Now, switch their focus to completely different and dumb things which had no relevance before that wretched episode.

Step 3: Leave tons of things unexplained. Build up entire mysteries for 15 episodes and then simply refuse to solve them.

Step 4: Completely give up on all sense. Nothing needs to make any sense whatsoever. The strongest forged bonds are weak AF. People clearly madly in love with one another can be forced to break up with no regrets and can move on from each other just as quickly. Like I said, give up on all sense.

There you have it folks. A 4-step guide to ruin a 10/10 show. It was clearly easier than I had initially thought.

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They picked the perfect girl to play Rio!.. Her character has so many different personalities and she did an awsome job!.. Professor Ozawa is just an amazing actor and also hot!.. they had a gr8 chemistry and the story itself was great, it shows what is happening in society these days!.. Because I am a single-mom with a daughter, some issues in the movie got me thinking about my own daughter's safety! I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE AGE-GAP BUT OTHER ISSUES!(u will know if you watch it lol)... A MUST-WATCH MOVIE AND I LOVEEEEE IT....The age-gap actually was the best part of it hehehehehe!! they sooo cute!..

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Story
Very relatable because you would definitely have been a student before! Plus you would know how some students score well all the time while others are just not cut out for studying. This movie portrayed the difficulties faced by both group of students well.

The most interesting part was the different ways these students cheated. Very novel yet nothing too outrageous. I would say that this is the main selling point of this movie.

I love how there's minimal romance in this! Sometimes you just got to get away from all the cheesy love stories.

Acting & Cast
All the main actors played their roles well. You could sense their desperation as students. If I wanted to be picky, I would say that Non who played Bank was a teeny bit awkward at certain angry scenes but other than that, everyone acted well. The casting was also good. The smarter students looked nerdy enough, the playful and rich kids certainly fit their roles.

Overall, I would recommend this movie to others. While it is a youthful movie, I believe it will appeal to adults as well!

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I have a love/hate relationship with this drama. The story is all over the place. I can't even begin to tell you how messed up it is. The GREAT scenes are with Hyun Tae and Mong Hyun's story line. I enjoyed it the most. Mong Hee's story line turns into a nightmare. ALL of the moms except Hyun Soo's mom are CRAZY and EVIL. How they ended it with them ticked me off. Hyun Joon's story line is just sad. I ended feeling like he struggled the most because some of his earlier actions were against his true character and because of his mom and wife. OOOOHHHH...Sung Eun gives me the creeps. Hyun Soo's story line is also strange. I won't go into how much I disliked how they handled some of it. I guess they thought a time jump was enough. I liked Yoona's character the most and she isn't even in it much. The grandmothers are boring as all get out and to tell the truth I ended up skipping most of their story line. I didn't miss anything by doing so. Mong Kui's story line is barely there, but it doesn't suck. I really like Yoona and Hyun Soo's mom interaction toward the end of the drama. I can't post spoilers or I could write all day about this drama. I can't say it was horrible, because there are some great and precious moments. I ended up with mixed emotions.

This cast is great. It is really too bad they ended up in this drama. I wasn't disappointed in the acting. Han Ji Hye is the main reason I watched this, because I loved her in May Queen. I think she did well playing two different characters as Mong Hee and Yoona. Then of course there is Yeon Jung Hoon as Hyun Soo, Lee Tae Sung (I loved him in Rooftop Prince) as Hyun Joon and Park Seo Joon and Hyun Tae. All very good looking men and excellent actors. Very yummy!!! Baek Jin Hee as Mong Hyun is too cute. All the veteran women actress also did well playing the crazy moms. I really disliked them and I think that is a huge credit to their acting abilities.

There is some good music in this.

I don't know if you could pay me to rewatch this.

I would not recommend this. It is only my second 50 episode family drama. It isn't so bad that I wish I had my time back, because I'm glad I got to see some of the actors and some of the cute story line. If I were you, I would read the recaps that people have written to find where the cute parts are and just watch those. :-)

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Romance, Comedy and Acting

This drama was better than I thought, I had it in my list and waited until it fully aired and subbed to watch it, I did see some comments and review and was a bit nervous, but i decided that I rather not read anything else and watch this for myself, if it was trash so be it and if it's great then I'll be happy.

Well, compared to all the nonsense drama they have, this drama was great, it was way better than i expected, that's why recently it doesn't matter the reviews, comments and ratings, i determine what I wanna watch and if it's no good then fine, if not then that's great, because not everyone gives honest reviews, or not every drama is for everyone, but this was for me.

I'm a sucker for romcom, heavy on the rom and the com, i also like romantic drama, and i love historical drama's, I'm picky but I try my best to give the benefit of the doubt, and I also go into shows with no expectations, I've learnt that the hard way, I rather have no expectation and be happy with a drama, rather than have high expectation and become very disappointed.

With that being said, This drama was very funny, very romantic, yet sweet and sour. The acting was pretty good, the villain well he stood out a lot, i hated his character lool the actor was way too good. The ML and FL tbh i loved there chemistry and i love the romance between them, they ha a very healthy relationship and i enjoyed watching them, i also loved this drama because of the comedic relieves, i get kinda down when i watch something with too much drama and angst, but i loved how this was very balanced.

The other thing i really liked with this drama, i loved the progress of the FL, the different stages of educational and career growth, I'm trying not to spoil lol, but i liked that it didn't stay in one stage the entire time, but we get to see her growth, and the ending was very nice, truly represent the message from the title. There was also a lot of character development for a lot of the characters, I loved that as well

So with that being said, i personally enjoyed this drama, everyone did great, the acting, chemistry, romance, comedy, drama i thought it was well balanced, i did not leave the drama feeling burdened or heavyhearted hahaha, i enjoyed this show and i am happy i watched it, good show to just chillout and watch. Every show has it's little flaws, but personally I was too busy enjoying rather than critiquing, I've seen more than 250 shows, trust me this compare to others is one of those simple nice ones, ratings should definitely be higher.

Ps. If you're going to watch, try not reading too much comments, reviews and so on, judge for yourself and give it a chance, not just this show but every show, go in with a neutral expectation and then let it flow naturally.

Take care and happy drama watching ❤😊

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