Reviews

A quiet but moving, educational episode

This episode deals mainly with the emotional trauma of Chen Ying and Zhu Xia. How each finally starts to heal from the emotional damage of the accident when Chen Ying's car hit Ding Jian Xi. And the lesson about the importance of healing from one's anger is delivered in purified form of a very nice lecture by Professor Ren towards the end. On the surface, it's kinda cheesy. But the way the episode plays out it works very well. This episode also marks the actual first steps forward in Ren Tian Zhen's growth as a person since the show began and, along with that, actual forward progress of a relationship between he and Sun Tou Tou. Sun Tou Tou herself shows increasing respect for her master and an innate understanding of his lessons. Very subtly, her character is changing. Her posture is taller, more upright in more scenes, making her look more and more like a competent young lady rather than the hunched-over wild ruffian she used to be. Oh - and a low-key cool side bit seems the quiet emergence of Meng Meng and Ding Jian Xi as potential besties. They immediately look cute as friends. Maybe this can start to ween Meng Meng of emotional dependency on RTZ?

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& yes I’m mad fujigaya’s character just peaces out man what

that was awful <3 i knew i liked this less but i did bump up a point because i did move at the moment watching all these different mothers have to send off their sons we haven’t focused on. i didn’t know much to anything about each of them but i was able to understand all of them because they all share the burden of sending off your child & being sent off to die. all they’ve lived for was to die. with that being said i can’t say i don’t get the point of this i do. i just don’t think this production lived up to its purpose. i felt it to be very shallow & didn’t really do anything incredibly strong & i could not invest myself to any of our main cast & felt not satisfaction at their fates. also the present+day was extremely tacked on. it actually detracted from the rest of it it was so unnecessary & actually causes more problems like how tf did gisaburou have a descendant ？ ？ ？ ？ their characterization in the present is just soooo what’s the point ？ why does this matter. why did you do this.

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find it ironic that both leads somehow ended…

find it ironic that both leads somehow ended up owing money to the companies they worked for, in Xiang Yong's case more so - if he was just an intern WTF he in a position to owe the company there something just not right there & the whole scene at the start came off shady as f*ck & the Publishing house president came off like a conman - sadly Xiang Yong is MIA as far as his father is concerned & he is a small guest house owner who wouldn't know what is right or wrong & instead of seeking help or knowing someone knowledgeable he just looking how to cover the debt & get his son out of trouble. ****************************also given Xiang Yong predicament i am shocked that his wish was to disappear & not that his problem disappeared, a much more logical wish IMO but it is what it is & the mains kissed, even though a blind drunk kiss doesn't count - not when the next day when they r sober they (emotionally) will be right back at square one. *********************************************************& even though i am still rooting for the 2nd couple, kinda getting tired of Li Wan Zhe taking advantage of Hamaguchi Aomi's wooing him & turning him into his servant, getting old fast. *************************************************************************side note: took me a sec to recognize Sam Lin & idk but IMO he doesn't look that good here - why? as i saw him in Unknown & he looked so freakin good there. is it just the haircut? weird

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The Visuals

The acting is one of the best parts of the show.Net Siraphop gives a strong and calm performance that fits his role perfectly. JJ is amazing because he plays two characters, Klao and Nakhun, and makes them feel completely different. Klao is more serious and calm, while Nakhun is fun, modern, and cute. You can clearly see the difference through his acting.Latte also does a great job playing both Jom from the past and Thee in the present. As Thee, he is funny and playful, and as Jom, he is more serious. His acting shows good range. The chemistry between Latte and Kim is also really nice and natural to watch.The casting is perfect, every actor suits their role so well. The cinematography and art design are also very beautiful and make the story feel more real.Overall, Love Upon a Time is a great series with strong acting, good casting, and lovely visuals.

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there is so much going on & yet it feels…

there is so much going on & yet it feels like i didn't really see anything. idk why we needed the addition of the weird chick in black. what she add to the plot? i would've rather understood the character's better both the mains r having problems in their professional life & ironically came to the island to escape & find a safe haven. but what went wrong in their past, why Xiang Yong keeps being this antagonistic towards Hao Wei is beyond me. even though towards the end of the ep he did starts to loosen up. *****************************************************************************************************************************ironically the 2nd couple didn't fair any better - even though in their case i get Wan Zhe getting shocked & trying to run away from Aomi's sudden 180. but it did feel like a giant step back & i was looking forward to them getting closer...

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Aomi is beautiful & like i suspected,…

Aomi is beautiful & like i suspected, i would love the 2nd more, they hella entertaining & fun as opposed to the 1st couple. where i don't even get why Xiang Yong is acting this crabby towards someone he supposedly still has a crush on. not to mention now that no one knows who he is, shouldn't he act more grateful that they r going out of their way to accommodate him? yeah Hao Wei is now just a coworker, but as Xiang Yong is a stranger Hao Wei's opinion would matter more to Xiang Yong's father. Xiang Yong doesn't need to suck-up to Hao Wei, but he is going out of his way to be rude & disagreeable - weird.

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An episode that delves a bit more into Miyu's currently submissive personality

The genre of this drama is usually not my cup of tea but I came here for the guest actors and also because I wanted to see more of Zhu Zhu's performance (saw her in Why Is He Still Single where she was good in it but I think she got outshined by Wallace Huo, so I'm hoping that she kills it in this drama.)This episode was a bit hard to go through for me because of Miyu's insufferable husband and her family. The way Miyu's family simply gave her advice without knowing the full story and the way Nie Yucheng just kept on trying to twist the truth and squirm his way out of this mess really infuriates me at times. And it's expected that with Miyu's current personality, she ends up just tolerating everything, giving up on explaining the truth way too soon. Zhu Zhu's performance in this episode was superb though. The rest of the episode is pretty much the same old thing, starting with Miyu finding out about her husband's secret affair, understandably got angry about it while Nie Yucheng tries to make it like it's not his fault. Miyu then confronts Lu Zhenzhen regarding her husband's secret love affair with her and I think in this scene, it feels like Miyu probably thinks that she's a bit out of Lu Zhenzhen's league, especially when Lu Zhenzhen pointed out how Miyu, as a full-time housewife, has no income, no social status in the family and no social circle and how she would be at a disadvantage if her marriage with Nie Yucheng ever came to a divorce. Miyu does counter with a solid statement, essentially winning the argument in the end though it really didn't matter to her as the damage had already been done. Another thing that I would like to write about is the final scene in this episode because it kind of resonated with me. Or at least, I understand Miyu's view on living a lie. After Nie Yucheng shamelessly begged and convinced Miyu that he will never leave her and that he wants her to remain by his side as his wife, Miyu did not give her answer. Instead, we see her ruminating about the current situation quietly by herself in the kitchen. She takes a piece of candy from the kitchen cabinet and thought the following while she ate the candy :"Some people say lies make life better. They're like candy wrapped in cellophane. They let you live in false sweetness, so you don't have to face the bitter truth. I know I'm lying to myself. But sometimes, living in a world of lies is the only way to feel happy."Miyu's personality now is what one might call a doormat, especially with her family. Therefore, she tolerates her insufferable husband and her family so much at her own expense. As a result, she naturally prefers to avoid conflict with them more than anything hence the reason why she thinks about living on with her cheating husband and pretends like nothing ever happen. While she knows that she's basically lying to herself, it is a choice that she would rather choose because I believe that it gives her the illusion of control over the situation and belief that the married life she had built and known for the past 10 years won't just spiral downwards — by pretending that everything is normal. There's also the possibility that Miyu is affected by Lu Zhenzhen's words during their meeting. As Lu Zhenzhen said, Miyu is a housewife with no income, no status in the family and no social circle of her own. She lived her life for the past 10 years possibly only focusing on her husband, their home and her family. If her marriage with Nie Yucheng ever came to a divorce, she will most likely be stripped of the life she knows and I think that's a tremendous change for just about anyone. Hence, this could also be one of the reasons why she would choose to live a lie for fear of change and the uncertainty that it brings with it. Change isn't necessarily a bad thing though, however negative it could be as it is just one point of many in our lives. What matters most is that we keep on moving forward, and that is something Miyu will have to learn soon because living a lie is just not the way to go. In fact, a lie will just lead to more lies and once too many lies have stacked on the original one, the whole thing will eventually collapse, leaving only the bitter truth — and that too, is something that Miyu will have to face in the end. All in all, this episode is a bit infuriating for me to watch that I practically had to pause a few times to take deep breaths in order to calm myself 😂😂😂. Otherwise, I think it delves a bit more into Miyu's currently submissive personality. As of now, I'm still interested to see Miyu's journey, so I'll still be watching this drama.

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