Reviews

Exactly why i love time travel stories

As someone who has always loved time-travel stories, this drama felt like it was made for me. I was completely invested in both timelines, not just the historical storyline but also everything happening in the present, which made the whole experience even more engaging. The way the two narratives connected kept me curious from start to finish, while the romance was full of longing, trust, and genuinely emotional moments. The chemistry between the leads was fantastic and made it impossible not to root for them, adding so much emotional weight to both the romantic and more dramatic scenes. What really sealed the deal for me, though, was the finale. After everything these characters went through, the ending felt satisfying, rewarding, and exactly what I wanted from this kind of story. Romantic, immersive, emotional, and incredibly entertaining from beginning to end.

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so worth the wait

I really don't even know what specifically to touch upon with this series, I'm kinda in awe after the last episode.
Net and JJ did such a fantastic job, Domundi really does put in the effort.
The yearning you feel watching both NetJJ and LatteKim's character stories is addicting imo.
I personally love period drama's, and this one did not disappoint.
JJ's character is such a goofball but I was so here for it, I truly did not expect him to pull a 180 with the scenes where the character is being killed/harmed.
I have to make a point about Latte and Kim, I was really impressed with them. Kim is absolutely gorgeous, the final episode had him all glammed up and I was here for it.
The NC scenes were done so well too.
I think, personally, the last episode felt a bit rushed. Everything happened so fast with the memories reveal and all the things leading up to Nakun going back in time and returning to the present day, I was not expecting Phop to have already been waiting. I really did like how they handled the time travel bit, I just wished it was prolonged a little more maybe?
It's still a fantastic series in my eyes and I am looking forward to what both NetJJ and LatteKim bring to the table moving forward.

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Firstly i noticed how bad male lead ouji suzuka acting is. His underdog bullied era is not that sad and miserable bro looks blank. then his revenge era has no confidence and menace aura. the mma fighter play by Noritaka Hamao has better cool expression. the taekwondo fighter play by kentaro maeda who is pretty boy himself looks more creepy. Even his friend the producer play by Araki sugou has better emotions. The hamaki school bully in the webtoon he is supposed to be very hot influencers. Why the series makeup him to look delinquent from start. then even minor roles has goki maeda who has much better range of acting.. for the storyline i feel like yea it's fast and im actually immune to it coz Many jdrama has done that. But the final episodes redemption from every villains coz they support ml to fight the biggest tyrant is weird, it's not in the webtoon and too random. viral hit is supposed to focus on how they record and produce contents, it's abt influencers but this series focus too much on fights only. This is my first time I'm writing here proves how bad this live action is

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Honestly shocking.

I am not the type to watch historical C-dramas, but I wanted to give this one a try because of POJ (Pursuit of Jade). Usually with historical dramas I tend to drop it due to the complexity of it and a lot of plot twist, but this dramas was very very good. I would still prefer POJ than this, but this is a very close second. The actors are amazing and their chemistry is off the charts. The plot at the end did seem to confuse me and made me want to skip which is why i didnt give this a 9-10. I have dropped many historical dramas, but the enemies to lovers, fake dating, and their willingness to die for eachother is what brought this show to life and I highly recommend this show to people who want to get into historical dramas or just watched POJ and want to indulge in more historical settings.

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Stayed only for plot

When i started the series, maybe it was fine a few episodes since i was trying to adjust to the story and environment. But then it just felt like the story is going in circles.

Some actors did a good job, and it was hard to tolerate some actors.

But the direction, the execution needed solid improvement. Someone said that this series doesn't make you feel scared and i could totally relate. The bloody night didn't feel scary as a viewer. The fight scenes were very poorly executed, it felt like watching my school classmates fighting with each other.

I gained some interest after Supremo and Zein started getting more screen time and their story developed. I was keeping up only for the plot.

I gotta say, i wasn't very disappointed. I liked the plot twist. So it wasn't a complete waste series for me.

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Very Recommended!!!

I don't know why most of you doesn't like this drama. Because, when I watched it, in my opinion it is much better then the OG (doesn't mean I don't like the OG). This drama seem more realistic and understandable, so I dont't feel like this is a incest, because they always said from the start that they aren't a REAL family. That 2 brothers also have a different gestured form the start, like the romance gesture and sibling gesture. Also, you have to reminded that they already separated for 10 years. ITS A LONG TIME!!! they also get awkward after a long time bcs of that.

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Interesting to pathetic plot

Alright the first episodes were realistic and interesting. Loads and loads of drama, and even though some parts were cringe, they were pretty realistic so i watched it.
But after 7th episode, the story just went overboard.
I was like "what's with the pathetic excuse of a plot" it's like they were trying extra hard to make things worse in the story.
People with weak heart don't watch it. The plot is very dark and i felt it was full of unnecessary grief and all other negative emotions u could name of.
Anyways, i thought it was a waste of time and i could've just avoided feeling all heavy.
But things to be appreciated, the chemistry between the couples are super good. The actors are veryyyyy handsome and attractive and I loved their acting and almost everything..... except the PLOT 😭.

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The MASTERPIECE

after last twilight this is the one i got too involved wholly in this beautifully series main leads especially jj who have carried the more weighted/content on his full fledged series is wonderful had lot of emotions to reflect and net no words to appreciate his acting we all know his thing for series acted on the whole. All character on this drama portrayed very beautifully. I have no words to ill on this drama a completely filled and happy. I am so happy that i didnt ignore watching this. Thank you for the production, direction teams to make this happen thank you so much

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Life in Zha Zha Ting is Never Flat

Truth to be told, I wasn't really interested in "Dazzling" when the promotional poster came up in MangoTV Conference 2025 or 2024 or whatever year it was, as the story gave off that kind of summer carefree vibes that I couldn't bother to discern. Moreover, the plot is quite simple - 2 high school teenagers meet in a coastal village, and their lives are turned upside down - that sort of set up has been recycled multiple times by other youth dramas and I perfectly know how this drama is going to fare with its predecessors. Nonetheless, I started watching because it is written by the same author who pens "Speed and Love", Shi Jiuyuan. Since y'all know I have a deep affinity for "Speed and Love", I can't possibly miss "Dazzling" despite being starred by the two leads that I particularly don't like at all. Let's rock, shall we?

The story revolves around two troubled youths, Qing Ye and Xing Wu. Qing Ye, a high-and-mighty pampered germaphobic little princess from Beijing, is sent away to Zha Zha Ting when her father's business empire crumbles and is particularly unhappy with this arrangement as she has been used to living like a grand princess in the city, not in a modest and unassuming small village with all of its obnoxious inhabitants, ranging from noisy neighbors, creepy perverts, and even her ostentatious aunt, Li Lanfang.

Meanwhile, Xing Wu is Qing Ye's cousin (they are not blood-related, as Li Lanfang was previously adopted by Qing Ye's grandparents before she ran away after being found pregnant with Xing Wu inside her belly). Having lived under torrents of piling debts scraping here and there to make ends meet, Xing Wu decides to suspend his studies and focuses on making money to help his mother put food on the table. Because of that too, Xing Wu develops an indifferent attitude towards other people and dislikes Qing Ye on their first encounter as her prickly personality often gets under his skin. However, beneath the hardened bad boy shell, he's actually good in the heart and often helps other neighbors in need, sometimes without charging money from them. Whenever Li Lanfang gambles the money away to play mahjong, Xing Wu will always look for more opportunities to earn more money. Aside from that, he's also deeply passionate about Qing Ye and wishes to stay by her side forever.

Meanwhile, Xing Wu is Qing Ye's cousin (they are not blood-related, as Li Lanfang was previously adopted by Qing Ye's grandparents before she ran away after being found pregnant with Xing Wu inside her belly). Having lived under torrents of piling debts scraping here and there to make ends meet, Xing Wu decides to suspend his studies and focuses on making money to help his mother put food on the table. Because of that too, Xing Wu develops an indifferent attitude towards other people and dislikes Qing Ye on their first encounter as her prickly personality often gets under his skin. However, beneath the hardened bad boy shell, he's actually good in the heart and often helps other neighbors in need, sometimes without charging money from them. Whenever Li Lanfang gambles the money away to play mahjong, Xing Wu will always look for more opportunities to earn more money. Aside from that, he's also deeply passionate about Qing Ye and wishes to stay by her side forever.

Heavily marketed as a summer drama, "Dazzling" does it job pretty well by showcasing the mundane life of the coastal villagers and how their interactions impact the whole society. Despite the fact that the leads always end up getting into multiple troubles, the screenwriter does a nice job in concocting the resolution and how they still persevere through sheer tenacity and nominal sum of money. The neighbors are surprisingly kind-hearted, jovial, amiable, and supportive of the mismatched family, often lending a hand when they are in dilemma (to the point of letting them staying at their houses in the arson case arc). I also like how the screenwriter portrays the leads to be sanguine in spite of their predicaments and the way they pull themselves together. Most families would've wallowed in grief, frustration, anger, or even a combination of those. They also have a healthy friendship bond with the teenagers there, ranging from the boisterous Hao Chenggong/Huang Mao, the loyal Fan Tong, the art enthusiast Shi Min, the 'bitchy' Cao Fan, and the lovesick straight-A student Ye Yingjian. Together, they establish a study group in preparation for Gaokao with Qing Ye becoming their tutor. Oh yeah, I also love grandma as she is one of the most crucial pillar in the family's little house as the moodmaker of the day.

I understand that this is a coming-of-age teen drama with tons of recycled cliche scenes to display the sizzling chemistry of the main leads amidst the hustle and bustle of the coastal village. I also have a perfectly-timed premonition when a cliche is to be applied and even make some mental notes to embrace myself in the repetitive cycle of rinse-and-repeat. Honestly, a simple high school drama's material isn't that much to begin with, so the screenwriter needs to rake his/her brain and find several feeble excuses to make the episode's counts longer than necessary, including the issues that the family must face in every single episode. From piling debts, salon's vandalism, the neighbor creep, the laptop robbery, arson case, Cao Ping's inability to redeem himself, and lastly dear daddy fetching her back to Beijing, the couple seems to be plagued with endless problems that come out of nowhere as if there were such coincidences in the world.

What is more, I've noticed that "Dazzling" has a myriad of similarities with "Speed and Love", in terms of characters, plots, and even their personalities. I'll list down everything below:
1. Qing Ye's high-and-mighty attitude VS Jiang Mu's spoiled princess act
2. Xing Wu's fondness of fixing miscellaneous stuffs VS Jin Zhao's omnipotence in repairing mechanical things
3. Hao Chenggong and Fan Tong's bond VS San Lai and Jin Fengzi's
4. Li Lanfang as an irresponsible and selfish parent VS Jin Qiang
5. Ye Yingjian's infatuation to Qing Ye VS Pan Kai's lovestruck mode towards Jiang Mu
6. Shu Han is Wan Qing 2.0, minus the brother
7. Qing Ye's daddy VS Chris (Jiang Mu's stepfather)
8. Arson case VS vandalism case
9. Both FLs have the same mindset to set the MLs' path to the bright side
10. Officer Xu VS Officer Lu

As for the acting, I guess I find several problematic points here. Firstly, I'm not fond of Li Yunrui since the catastrophic "Go Back Lover", and I feel that I'm not really liking his model student or even adult vibes - but, he conveys the emotion pretty well during the burnout scene plus his bleached hair is like an icing on top of a cake - he would make a good street punk in another time. Secondly, I feel awfully cringy with Gabriella Guan's acting because she attempts to create several histrionics which doesn't bode well with her character's personality, especially the salon's promotion in the marketplace and him taking her away from the cafeteria after her uniform is stained by food. Moreover, she seems to force her voice to be pitch-high and tries to enunciate every word in a very-slow-mo pace (oh my god, seriously?). Another thing is that Qing Ye is such a sweet talker, and I hate sweet talkers the most because their words often hide ulterior motives beneath and I'm not going to be fooled a second time. For other casts, I have no idea of who they are, except Bian Tianyang (always goes all-rounder playing sidekicks in every drama he stars in) and Wang Jiaxuan (the guy who plays Meng Ruihang, another lovestruck boy who falls in love with Qing Ye - previously, I had seen him in "Amidst a Snowstorm of Love" as Yin Guo's younger cousin, Meng Xiaotian and in "A Journey to Love" as Li Tongguang's attendant). Their acting is quite fine, I must say, because they really embody the village atmosphere so well that I feel I have been thrusted into the same society as well. I may not have grown in a village like them, but I settle down in a suburban area of my city, so we naturally cherish every precious moment in our lives, especially my friends in school.

The OSTs are meh if you compare them with "Speed and Love". Liu Yuning's is the best out of the 6 songs, but I still end up deleting it from my device because it disrupts the flow from "Sing Me to Sleep" by Alan Walker to "Easy Love" by Sigala. Liang Yongqi's is a tad of cringy, but it grows on me after multiple listens. Li Yunrui and Gabriella Guan's is a no-no to me and don't ask me why I say this. Duan Aojuan's is the most cringy song I've ever heard from this drama, as if the melodies were distorted, truncated, or whatsoever. Yao Chen's is too melancholic to my taste, as if I had been listening to a maudlin farewell song. Jeffrey Dong's is decent and has me singing it on loop.

Overall, a not-so-good experience of binging through "Dazzling". However, if you are into heartwarming family drama or realistic romantic relationship, then this drama may be designated for you. One more thing, you'll have to suspend your disbelief for a little while as things can get unrealistic (I mean the conflicts). For me myself, I won't be watching it for the second time since it's not that worth it. That's all for my review, good luck and happy watching!!!

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Honor to Tian Xiaojie!

I enjoyed this not only because of the until-now obscure craft of ink production and use, and the very genuine portrayal of what was involved, but the strong family relationships. Maybe I missed it but I have seen no review that mentioned Tian Xiaojie, who stole the show in my opinion. He was the vehicle for family ties, for family honor, for deep love of his son and grandchildren, for love of his craft. This would be a much poorer production without the depth this actor brought to his role. He was a major mover of the action, Zhen's inspiration and mentor - and he played the role to perfection.

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✨Love Upon A Time✨ - A beautiful love story which continues from the PAST!!

Love Upon A Time, omg this...... this was straight up perfection!!! I love this series so much that it is so hard to let go of this.... Nakun (aka Klao) just sparked up everything to the present..... I just love the way he changed Kaew's curse to Jom to making that curse, a curse of falling in love!! He did anything just to protect his friends!! As of for P'Phop, ohhh the man you truly are.... He raised my standards so high, that I don't think so anyone in this world can beat it!! He yearned for Nakun, loved him ever since a young age, and kept his promise... 'until I find you and seek you again, I'll love you once more.' this line changed me, my whole perspective of this world of hatred. I just love him so much, that I couldn't bear to see him die!! He waited, waited for his loved one to come back, yet he disappeared once again.... leaving him all alone... I felt soo bad for Klao, getting killed all cuz of the stupid opium trade case. As of for Nakun, from wanting to go back home to wanting to stay with P'Phop.... Even if it was for an hour or less, it felt like an eternity, time moving along with the pace of their relationship.... After 400 years, they finally found each other and once more fell in love and got married!! Jom, being the physician was so hot.... like his attitude was understandable towards Kaew in the beginning cuz of the incident between Roong and the high lord's son.... I just wonder, if they met again in the present world and fell in love again??? I rlly wish that happened but it's fine..... we hv ChermChey now!! OMG Kaew was sooo pretty, in the past and present.. And I just loved the way Jom stood up for Kaew.... in the present life, Thee yearned for Pun, with everything he could do, just for him to be with Pun.... and their NC scene was sawr hawt that I fainted.... Same goes for PhopNakun, both the past and present!! Ahh DOMUNDI, you've gave me another drama which I will never forget..!! All the side leads were soo good in portraying their characters, they made me laugh and cry and hate..... I will miss my ancient gang from the past. All of them connected,, ahhh I want a friendship like them!!


Anyways abt the drama, the acting and script was top-notch!!! OST's sounds beautiful and the colour of it is just amazing.... TYSM LUAT TEAM FOR MAKING THIS MEMORABLE...... u will always hold a vein in my heart.... ITS JUST SOO HARD TO LET THEM GO... and I have also learned something new, 'To a love unbound by gender, standing resolute against the tides of time' this proves that true love can be in many lifetimes, whether the past or present or future!! Phop and Nakun didn't fall in love with each other just cuz of their looks or gender, BUT THE LOVE WHICH HOLDS THEM TOGETHER, like the red-string theory!! LOVE ISN'T JUST A RANDOM THING, ITS THE POWER WHICH MAKES YOU FIND A TRUSTWORTHY PERSON FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!!! 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️

Goodbye Love Upon A Time, you will hold a place in my heart forever... until we meet again, in my next life!! 😭😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ (yellow mango and espresso petroleum forever 😂⭐)

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Realism and glimpses of depth, but also missed opportunities

- The series portrayed a realistic compromise in a romantic relationship.

- It offered a well‑written depiction of a female lead who is strong, takes charge, and dominates in the relationship.

- The presence of good gray characters added depth.

However, the transition and development of the romance felt confusing and not properly established, which turned into one of the missed opportunities of the series. I wasn’t a huge fan of the OST, and the production fell short in certain aspects, though given the limitations, it’s clear the budget wasn’t large. Taking that into account, this series is still objectively good.

Also, the puppies stay perpetually puppies, which isn’t a bad suspension of disbelief!

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