Reviews

Started watching because of meme - pleasantly surprised

Curiously enough, my first impulse to watch this kdrama came from the meme.
I was really surprised and interested when I read the summary, and I must say I had a really good time watching it.

It's really funny to see how Sim Cheong tries to adapt to human life, and her scenes, especially in the early episodes, made me laugh a lot. I really liked the overall storyline, as it is a very heart warming romance - I'm always in for a good fate-related kdrama.
I also enjoyed seeing how Heo Joon Jae interacted with her, as both of them together make a great couple. The support characters also made it really funny, particularly Cho Nam Du.

Overall, I enjoyed this kdrama quite a lot, laughing and giggling along with the characters. Definitely recommend!

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Fluffy Love

The cast:
The FL - a struggling cartoonist with a need for inspiration.
The ML - an arrogant professor who can’t remember anyone’s name.
The SML - an artist lending his talent to assist his bestie, the FL.
The SFL - a popular webtoon artist whose start is suspicious.

The plot:
The FL is in a creative slump, but when she randomly meets the ML, she starts feeling inspired again. When he later turns out to be her professor, she devises ways to interact with him in hopes of getting more ideas for her comic. At first the ML is very cold towards her, despite remembering her name (which is a big deal since he can’t even remember his family’s names). But her bumbling attempts to get close to him catch his interest & he finds himself falling for this odd girl who’s both innocent & straightforward. Does the FL return his affection or has it all been a ploy merely for her work?

The drama:
Pay attention, this could get confusing! The SML is in love with the FL (unbeknownst to her). But the FL fell for the ML at first sight. To complicate things more, turns out these two are brothers who’ve been estranged for years due to a misunderstanding on the SML’s part. To even further add to the complications - the ML has the FL acting as his fake girlfriend to get his grandfather off his case in exchange for spending more time with her like she wants (though he doesn’t know it’s for her comic.) Meanwhile, the SFL is the FL’s ex-friend/partner turned rival (also due to a misunderstanding) so she’s trying to entice the SML to join her as a colleague (+ more!) to hinder the FL’s career. What a tangled web - will they ever unravel all the knots so they can find their HEAs? Well of course! … and then the men’s mother enters the picture & voila! More drama ensues. 🤦🏻‍♀️ (She orders them to switch parters due to their ages - ML with SFL & SML with FL. Who does that?? As if their feelings & hearts don’t matter. Geesh, lady! When they refuse, she says she’ll only accept the couple who can prove they’re really in love. Talk about controlling! Thankfully she’s not actually an evil mother, she’s just testing them.)

The review:
This is a quick & easy watch if you’re in the mood for a fluffy story that doesn’t take lots of brain energy to watch. It’s low angst with no drama trauma. The characters all annoyed me at one point or another, but I still liked them as they fumbled their way to their happy ending. It’s an age-gap romance with a bit of an enemies-to-lovers feel. There’s a slight fight when the truth is revealed that the FL’s purpose in pursuing the ML was inititally for her comic, but it’s over quick. Overall it’s a pleasant drama with some comedic moments & some sweet scenes too.


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-⬇️ S P O I L E R S 🚫 B E L O W ⬇️-


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The things I always want to know 😏😉…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.11 💋
- Together : ep.15 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻
- BreakUp : Nope 💍

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Disappointing: an excellent CL but...

PLOT: The FL belongs to a renowned family of weavers who lost everything, because a conspiracy. The ML is responsible (incognito) for restructuring a corrupt brocade market dominated by a few powerful families. The conflicts (economic, financial, romantic) are multiple and the CL is gradually getting closer to facing the obstacles together.

+++ Two excellent actors as CL (Zheng Ye Cheng & Seven Tang).
+++ Endearing, well-developed characters.
+++ Effective production, with great fight scenes
+++ OST well suited.

### Lengths and an unnecessary narrative arc (everything about Nanzhao)
### ML2 behavior is not consistent. I know that his character was created by the assembly of 2 actors (via AI) but he seems a little artificial throughout the series...
### Overall the storyline does not keep the tracks in the last episodes.

=> Quite disappointed, even I am a fan of Zheng Ye Cheng...
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Décevant : un excellent CL mais ...

PLOT : La FL appartient à une famille de tisserands renommée mais qui a tout perdu, victime d'un complot. Le ML est chargé (incognito) de restructurer un marché du brocard corrompu et dominé par qq familles puissantes. Les conflits (économiques, financiers, amoureux) sont multiples et le CL se rapproche peu à peu pour affronter les obstacles ensemble.

+++ Deux excellents acteurs en CL (Zheng Ye Cheng & Seven Tang).
+++ Des personnages attachants, bien développés.
+++ Réalisation efficace, avec de belles scènes de combat
+++ OST bien adaptés.

### Des longueurs et un arc narratif inutile (tout ce qui concerne Nanzhao )
### Le comportement du ML2 n'est pas cohérent. Je sais que ce personnage a été créé par l'assemblage de 2 acteurs (via IA) mais il semble un peu artificiel durant toute la série ...
### Globalement la storyline ne tient pas la route dans les derniers épisodes.

=> Assez déçue, d'autant plus que je suis une fan de Zheng Ye Cheng ...

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It's what joy of life would have been if it tried way too hard.

So i watched all of joy of life season 1 and the concept of ML coming from future was implemented better in that drama. Joy of life ML would make funny quips and the comedy was not in your face/ slapstick like we see in Guardians of Dafeng. Me and my partner watched 3 episodes of this and thought it was super corny. Like i didn't even feel interested in seeing what the point of the drama was.

There were moments where he solved cases where it just showed him forcing confessions out of people or already investigated prior to the viewer knowing. Too much suspension of disbelief needs to be applied. And this was only in the first 3 episodes.

Maybe it's more suited for Chinese audience . I like dylan wang but i just felt like i was watching naruto when i was 13 again lol

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Be Kind to Yourself

If you go into this expecting some grand storyline I’m afraid you might be disappointed.. But if you’re just wanting to spend some time watching a simple & low-angst story of two innocent introverts falling in love & helping each other heal from past wounds then you may enjoy this drama. Also, the Leads are both extremely attractive so if nothing else, your eyes will enjoy beholding their beauty for a few hours. 😉 And I know they’ve both gotten lots of negative reviews for their acting so let me just say - don’t hate. Like the drama or don’t, that’s completely fine. But there’s no need to spread negativity & spew verbal filth. Cause hey, guess what? They’re HUMAN just like you & words hurt them too!

Onto the review…

So this is the story of a girl who’s endured years of bullying due to her physical appearance. She’s the object of ridicule for the simple fact that she doesn’t meet the standards of pretty (we never see her original face, fyi.) After years of verbal abuse from her classmates she’s become extremely self-conscious & isolates herself from everyone but her best friend. Once high school ends, she convinces her mom to go against her father’s wishes & secretly gets cosmetic surgery done in the hopes of stopping any further ridicule from her peers when she starts college.

She soon discovers that, though she’s happy with the surgery’s results, the threat of it being discovered that she’s not a “natural beauty” terrifies her. So despite making a huge change to her outward appearance, her insecurities remain the same as before, ‘causing her to continue being extremely self-conscious. This allows others to take advantage of her & manipulate/bully her - she lacks the confidence needed to stand up for herself. She’s so overly concerned about what others think of her that she never stops to consider what she thinks about herself.

Enter the delightfully yummy ML. Though they attended the same middle school, they weren’t really friends. He stayed to himself & she assumed nobody wanted to be around her. They had very few interactions, but he was always kinds to her. He’s got wounds of his own he’s dealing with, though, due to the fallout of his parents’ divorce. When their paths cross again at college, they fall into an unexpected friendship. Though he still likes to keep to himself, appearing aloof & uninterested in those around him, it doesn’t stop him from always stepping in to help her when she’s being treated unfairly. He’s always quick to defend her, befriend her, & protect her. Which, of course, makes him a total green flag that us viewers can safely fall for! 💚

I admit I did get frustrated with the FL for her continued naivety where the toxic fake “friend” was concerned & her complete lack of spine in just being herself. She was such a kind person with a genuinely good heart. She was loyal to her friends, always willing to help those in need, & an all-around nice person. I just wanted her to see herself clearly sooner, ya know? Her constant rejection of the ML drove me crazy because just… whyyyy?!? Which subsequently made me adore the ML all that much more for his continued attempts to help her see her value & worth. Such a great guy, both as a friend & potential suitor. Girl, just give in! Heehee.

Now, I did like her more once she admitted her feelings for the ML & finally gave into his pursuit. The ways he helped her become more confident in herself & secure in his feelings for her are so precious. And though she struggles to make their relationship public for various reasons, I love that, once she took that step, she never looked back - she openly claimed him & was proud to have everyone know it. They’re so awkwardly cute that, even though this isn’t some masterpiece drama, I still found myself enjoying them.

The overall message I got from the story is this - love yourself.. Overly simplified, but true. Be someone you’d want to be friends with. Focus on your inner self just as much (if not more) as you do your outward appearance. Understand that looks aren’t everything - you can have a beautiful figure but a horrible personality & that will make you an ugly person. At the end of the day it’s who you ARE that’s most important, not how you look. >>> The drama also portrays the impact bullying can have on a person, as well as how destructive negative thinking patterns can be to our lives when we obsess over what others think of us. While their opinions can hurt us, it’s up to us to determine how deeply we allow the impact to control us. We can adopt a victim mentality or we can choose to overcome. The battle isn’t easy, but the victory is well worth it. 🫶🏻


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-⬇️ S P O I L E R S 🚫 B E L O W ⬇️-


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The things I always want to know 😏😉…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.15 💋
- Together : ep.12 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻
- BreakUp : Nope 💖

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What's the point

Cut vs. Uncut? What’s the difference, and what’s the point? There is literally nothing happening in the uncut version, and there is practically no difference. The cut version is over-edited, making it less coherent.

They teased the kissing WAY too much—it literally became boring to watch. The overly silly characters were frustrating, and why is it always the female characters that are portrayed like that?

The editing was a mess, and who hires an underage actor so that we don’t even get a single kiss scene? This completely ruined the chemistry between the characters and many key moments. But kidnapping, violence and drugging someone is ok?

Overall, this was disappointing and does not stay true to its genre.

The Thai remake of Addicted: Heroin fails to capture the raw emotion of the 2016 Chinese original. While visually polished, it lacks the intense chemistry and depth that made the original a cult favorite. The storytelling feels restrained, making it less impactful. New viewers may enjoy it, but longtime fans might be disappointed.

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PLEASE give "Silent Sparks" a chance, despite the low rating.

This was an excellent, slow-burn, slice-of-life short film.

It's not a BL in the usual BL sense. More of a LGBT film, but.....not exactly that, either. It slightly reminded me of the multi-award-winning movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985).

I think in its short screen time (~1 hr 15 mins), "Silent Sparks" squeezed in a lot of character development, and the short plot - while not containing much "action" - was exactly as long as it needed to be.

The two main actors were very good. They had a real connection, and both did a great job portraying two small-time criminals with some unexpressed feelings between them, but hopeless futures.

Although at the end.....in a weird, twisted way, perhaps there was hope for them after all?

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I've read a lot of the comments from others on here, and it seems like a lot of people say it was "boring" or "lacking in development because it was too short."

But I have watched quite a few gritty Asian films, both full length and short, and IMO some of the most interesting ones were much more spare than other films, and almost completely devoid of what some would call "charm." The casts are always very small in number, and the actors spend the length of the movie showing us their seedy lives, with only a few - if any - moments of humanity and "just-out-of-reach" potential for happiness.

That, to me, is what "Silent Sparks" is - a brief interlude in the main leads' lives that ends up leaving the viewer feeling forlorn and frustrated, because the characters are stuck in a never ending cycle with no real opportunities to step away from that and take a different path. It's not meant to be full of action, and it's not constructed in such a way that we get a deep dive and well-rounded picture of what happened in the past, and what might happen in the future. We only get to see the present moments, and the actors' superb character portrayal.

I really enjoyed "Silent Sparks," and I hope others will give it a chance.

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This is going to be short.

I want to say that all the actors in this did a very good job for being new actors, yes some were in other shows but that doesn't mean much, so they all are fairly new in acting. So in that way they all did a great job, now I'm not saying there was no mistakes but that happens, and it's not like they were really that big of ones.

As for the show itself, I liked it. I liked Torn an Fa's relationship, it was more then "I love you" everything is ok, oh wait here comes the jealousy, or a misunderstanding.... something that is in alot of series. Their relationship was more of what people go through in life with being in sports. Irt's not always easy, and love doesn't always keep you together throu it all. There is ups and downs you need to get through in order for you to be together.

Aii and Saen, at first I thought Saen would be your annoying guy in some BLs, but he wasn't really like that and I liked that. They were cute toger, Aii was the scare guy where as Saen was the supporter, that's one way to say it anyway. They support each other, trusted one another, they love each other and that's enough even if one was going away.

Dome and Wee, I'm 50/50 on this one... one hand I didn't like the way they were with each other, Dome dating Vee's sister, but they still were like that with each other, (yes I know they didn't do anythin to eacg other why Dome was daing his sister) but it's still wrong, nether of them should have let it that far in thr first place...On the other hand they both knew not to do anything even through they both felt it so they did nothing, Vee even hyperventilated over it all. Vee put a stop to it even through they kissed after dome was single, but nither could stop thinking of the other. Talk about right person, wrong time. In the end you have to make up you mind if they get together in time or not in the end. So like I said I'm 50/50 on them.

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Enjoyable but not noteworthy

Another childhood friend turn romance years later. Understandable given they went separate ways for studying and work. Both went to western society for career. Bae Seok Ryu even lived with a partner whilst there. Apparently Choi Seung Hyo didn’t have any romantic relationships - as if!!! However when it came to romance between the two friends, it was portrayed as innocent. Therein lies my pet hate - why are writers in 2020s not realistic in telling the truth about romance of young people today?

The writers went so far as to say thoughts of sex was bad, crude and unhealthy. The kissing scene didn’t even seem mutual and was awkward. I don’t expect K drama will ever have a 50 Shades of Grey but come on romance needs to be more than cliches.

This show also had my second pet hate a violent mother (let’s hit our child all because we love her!!!). Stop the madness and use words and anger instead.

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A Drama with Potential, but Lacks Impact!

There are quite a lot Chinese dramas with 'Blossom' in the title, and Blossom is another one I recently checked out. I watched a few scenes, and it hooked me right from episode 1. The cinematography and costumes are impressive, especially considering that the leads aren't top-billing actors. The series revolves around themes of time travel and second chances at life.

The plot follows two characters, Dou Zhao and Song Mo. In their first life, Song Mo is a revenge-driven general on a killing spree, while Dou Zhao is married to Wei Ting Yu, who cheats on her with her sister, Dou Ming. Dou Zhao eventually falls ill, slowly poisoned over time. A brief but meaningful encounter between Song Mo and Dou Zhao becomes a highlight, with Song Mo saving her. However, they both end up being killed, and an unexplained event transports them back in time to their childhood.

In their second life, Dou Zhao retains all her memories and is determined to change the future, while Song Mo forgets everything. With her knowledge, Dou Zhao tries to alter fate, and her early encounters with Song Mo lead to a different chain of events. Together, they uncover the truth behind their first life.

The pacing of the drama is engaging in the first and second halves, but it starts to drag toward the end and loses some of its charm. The period before they got married, when they were still strangers, is actually the best part of the series. Their interactions during this phase feel fresh and exciting, but once they get married, the story loses some of its appeal. The music is soothing, and the acting by both leads is decent but not outstanding.

Lin Yu Rui, who plays Song Mo, has improved from his previous works, but his performance doesn’t fully bring out the depth of the character. His expressions are good but not at their peak. Similarly, Meng Zi Yu as Dou Zhao is a bit of a letdown. She has mostly played supporting roles before, and it shows—Dou Zhao is supposed to be a sharp, strategic character capable of mind games, but her expressions often feel stiff.

Overall, Blossom is a decent drama, though I wouldn't rewatch it multiple times. It’s enjoyable, but not something that stands out as exceptional.

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