Reviews

The songs did it for me

A much younger Fourth and Gemini and their first full series deserves all the recognition. The chemistry is through the roof and the ensemble of artists, though young truly shined. But for me, it’s the music. The Songs. It’s so memorable it’s on my favorite list and I still listen to it now. The song between the mother and son, the words, all who sang in it is so beautiful I even memorized the words. Very few shows has that effect on me but the poignant words about his loss and his fathers dreams and mothers love.

This can never be replicated by Gemini and Fourth because people change when fame hits them. It’s all now about fanship, not about their young dreams and aspirations reflected so clearly I could see them by the two actors in the prime of their youth.

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The standard to beat

I’ve seen Bad Buddy when it first came out but never wrote a review. In the absence of some truly meaningful GMMTV series I decided to rewatch one that always stayed with me. Though I never shipped these two actors, TBH I don’t ship anyone I just like chemistry when I see it. And these two truly reflects real chemistry through friendship and camaraderie. Regardless of how their fans felt I am grateful they both made this and aim sure they will always remember his time together, creating a fun series about an odd couple, oil and water and yet together makes an awesome pair.

I don’t like violence and their relationship softened every blow that I wanted to be a fly on the room they share. I don’t think there has been another like them, maybe High School Frenemy with the same trope and aim glad they ended here. I wanted their careers to grow like my favorite actors from China’s Addicted.

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Heartwarming and Gut-Wrenching

To the Wonder is a moving slice-of-life drama that is both heartwarming and gut-wrenching, just as life truly is.

The Cultural Immersion & Scenery
The scenery as we spend time at the summer ranch is absolutely breathtaking. The gorgeous visuals of the Altai region instantly drew me in, and one of the very first things I noticed is the incredible presence of animals—camels, horses, and sheep weaving naturally into the fabric of daily life. I enjoyed being immersed in Kazakh culture, pastoral traditions, and the rhythm of the seasonal moves.

Characters and Growth
The journey of each character is rich and engaging, but since this is a slice of life and only 8 episodes, we are not privy to everything. The female lead, Wenxiu, character's arc ultimately comes full circle as she learns to embrace the culture and experiences love and heartbreak in more ways than one while collecting experiences for her writing. The actress' performance and characterization of the female lead felt a bit lacking at times. Rather than coming across as a mature, emerging writer on a true coming-of-age path, she occasionally felt a bit too childish, which made her character harder to fully connect with.

Fortunately, the supporting cast shines brilliantly and anchors the story:

Fengxia and Touken: It was fascinating to see the stark contrast in how these two women grieved their husbands in the first part of the drama. Fengxia’s storyline with the motorcycle man is heartbreaking and serves as a powerful, cautionary reminder to be wary of who we let into our lives when we are feeling lonely. One bad person can cause an immense amount of destruction, but watching Fengxia ultimately wake up and take a stand was powerful. Touken demonstrates the hardship that women have when agency is not a given.

Sulitan and Batay: Sulitan’s journey of learning how to let go of a rigid legacy and accept changing times added so much depth. Meanwhile, Yu Shi did a phenomenal job portraying Batai. Learning more about the actor behind the role made it even more impressive: Yu Shi spent six months learning the Kazakh language for the show, and leveraged his extensive real-life training in equestrian arts and horseback archery to not only perform his own stunts but also help coordinate and advise on the horse-riding and action sequences. His physical athleticism combined with such profound tenderheartedness toward horses made his heartbreaking sacrifice utterly soul-crushing. The man is also quite stunning on a horse!

Grandma: She provided wonderful comic relief throughout the series with her constant eating and humorous commentary. She never feels like a burden, but rather an integral family member helping to ground them.

Final Thoughts
While the climax packs a heavy emotional punch, reminding us how high the cost can be when emotion takes the wheel, the story recovers to find healing and grace. My only minor wish is that it hadn't opted for an open ending, as I would have loved more time to explore Batay and Wenxiu. Even so, it is a gem of a show that is worth the watch.

(Show #152)

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This is the type of show you can only watch once

let's get this started this show is good but I believe that it not as sad as you would think it would be I feel as if it not as much as sad but horror you know if you know the story you know it deals with homophobia and hating's oneself I find the horrifying and you probably should to okay so to the story

the story's start was very confusing for me and the pacing was confusing for me to but at the end it all made sense it feels like some scenes where missing, but it wasn't it was as if he was just him telling his memories of birdy so that was what kind of made me start to understand the story a little bit more if you got confused, I'm 80 percent sure that's what was happening

Now to the story the story was good it felt kind of heart felt not in too much of a sad why but it was kind of scary if you have ever dealt with anything similar to his situation and I really liked how the story talked about real life matters that happen daily like homophobia, self-acceptance, and internalized homophobia where like big things in the show and the fact that it was set inside of a catholic school and a pastor/preacher I forgot as an important character added I lot of dept to this story and the fact that he was telling the paster this

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This is why time in filming is important

I don't know how long they filmed this but I hope the acting was better. I'm no expert of acting but as a viewer, we are the one watching their scenes and quite frankly I notice the lack of emotion when they act.

Like they are only saying their lines and not really feeling the emotion. There is a high chance of chemistry but they weren't able to execute it. Maybe because it was rushed or maybe the actors are not really feeling their lines and not yet comfortable with each other.

The kissing scenes....they shouldn't include one if the actors are not into it because it looks...dry. I've watched series with no kisses or lack thereof and they still managed because there is time given to build up their chemistry.

I feel the ending, and even all the episodes was always rushed and not really giving us any time to digest what happened. So, it's a little bit disappointing.

It's a great concept though, but I wouldn't rewatch it because there is no scene that really hook me up.

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It's okay... I think it could be a little better.

So far it's okay. I think what I don't like about this TV series is the the one that is called Little Jane. He gets on my nerves and if the only reason that I gave it the stars that I did! He gets on my last nerve. I'm not sure why but he he's just annoying! I have almost stopped watching this at every turn because Little Jane is annoying. The only reason why I keep watching this is because I do like Big Jane. Granted, at first I didn't like him much because I really thought that he was some sort of demon, especially when I saw the trailer for it and he had black demon wings coming out of his back; however, the more I watch it the more I see that that's not the case, but Little Jane...... He is just so freaking annoying. I can't stand him!! But I am going to finish watching this because I do want to know how this ends. Little Jane though is cringe-worthy. He gives me goosebumps and not in a good way. I am just so close to being through with him. I noticed so many people are giving it such high ratings and it's making me question if we're all watching the same series and if I'm the only one that finds Little Jane annoying!

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Fun fun fun if you don't think about it too deeply

peak enjoyment. rating purely on the joy factor. what this series sold was teeteepor and wowwowow did it sell the hell out of this couple. acting is very rough around the edges for everybody involved but at the same time, i don't think any other actor could've brough out the charm in duang like teetee did. read some of the novel, wow that was hot trash from the dumpster. canon duang was so fucking insufferable and icky. but onscreen duang love love love. qin is such a gorgeous gorgeous guy i'd fall for him and be weird af about it too duang. the plot is barely there but this is a campus couple flick, people expect too much. couples are cringe, duangqin are cringe bc theyre bringing real couple energy. when was the last time two men on screen actually look like they love each other i can't remember. but duangqin is literally that couple in the disney line all on top of each other. you hate them until you become them. for the other cast members, omg we need acting lessons boys. the duang gang bring enough comedy and charm for me to overlook their atrocious acting but omg i could not stand qin's friends. they barely added to the plot and they had no presence whatsoever. then i find out that they are models, that makes sense. p'bm you think you're slick for sliding in three of your kids into this series and thinking i won't notice. omg they stood out like a sore thumb. also like, pae just disappears randomly and it's never brought up again. like did all his scenes get cut,? don't add those parts in then what? i do wish i knew how they all became friends too bc why do they do so much for duang damn. jamiemarvis story was soooo nothingburger. i understand theyre a foil to the lover boy warrior contrast thing but they also brought nothinggg. i wanna say i wanted to see their story fleshed out more but i also did not enjoy them on my screen so. qin trauma was also resolved super hastily but yea that's to be expected from a fluff series that doesnt take itself too seriously. anyway plot was full of holes and the ship is sinking but omg ill sink with it what a fun ride thank you p'kla.

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12 Episodes That Felt Like A Hard Year

This show dragged the audience through an arduous mountain climb, then pushed us off a cliff at the end...

Let's start with the positives. The plot was original, with a thoughtful way to push the main leads into each others' orbits. The acting was good, including the "villains". Fan Fan's dad, for instance, was deplorable so the character was well acted.

The chemistry between the main leads was acceptable. It wasn’t amazing but it didn't distract me at all. I don't recall the music at all, which probably means it was also acceptable.

The enfing was so rushed. And while finding out that Fan Fan was actually a calculating genius was gratifying, it didn’t change that we had to watch him be a sniveling pushover for 11 episodes. And that was very hard to watch.
Same with Bei Lu Qing. It's great that he actually cared about and wanted to fight for Fan Fan. But we had to watch him be a cold @sshole for 11 episodes. And who we watched them be for 11 episodes is who they are to us. A narrated wrap up episode doesn’t change that.

And what about Bei Lu Xin? She seemed genuinely in love with her brother, and we never addressed that.

So anyways, the show was pretty good. Interesting moments, very annoying moments. I won't likely rewatch at all. But I'd recommend BL lovers to watch.

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I was so sad it ended!

This drama was absolutely amazing. The acting was fantastic, the plots and storylines were fantastic. I didn’t feel the need to binge it and I didn’t feel bored during any part of it. This may have been the first drama I’ve watched without skipping ANY scenes at all. that’s a pretty big feat considering how much filler there can be in some of these cdramas.
This drama is definitely very female-centric and the FMC is incredibly intelligent and a great fighter. MMC assists her and is also very knowledgeable but not a fighter. unlike typical cdrama dynamics, he’s more of a scholar. I loved how level headed and patient he was with her.
The focus of this drama is definitely not the romance. it focuses heavily on mysteries and building a fantastic plot and storyline. That being said, I loved the romance that we get little bits of. The biggest reason why I rated this 9/10 instead of a whole 10/10 is because towards the end, the leads treat each other in ways that we don’t see throughout the whole show. There’s some sudden romance that feels very jarring. Add to that the strange arguments and conflict and it felt a bit out of place.
Nevertheless, I loved this drama and can definitely see myself rewatching it!

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Inner palace scheming of just the right amount

Glory Back is an imperial harem story that focuses almost exclusively on struggles in the inner palace. The characters are mostly concubines and those in their orbit. Inner palace intrigues are not something I find particularly interesting; I consider them mostly just variations on a theme. But I thought this show did a pretty good job. The schemes are not groundbreaking but they’re intricate and interesting, and the show manages to build out characters and stories that I care for with just the right amount of runtime.

Feng Qing, the primary main character, is one of those smart and capable FLs who metes out justice while protecting those around her. I liked her. I thought she is written and acted perfectly to show how the attitude and abilities of a capable empress would transfer over to this new context of a maid. She has almost no adjustment period, and I did not miss it. She just slides into her new role and gets to work.

Feng Qing is calm, collected, and confident, and as schemes big and small twirl around her, there isn’t much suspense as to whether or not she’ll succeed. I’ve found other shows with overpowered main characters boring, but here I didn’t. I think this is partly because things still don’t always go her way- she panics, she has to improvise, she uses expediencies, and afterwards she has to scramble to undo the damage. And also partly because her inner thoughts are narrated- which goes a long way in humanizing an OP character, and also helps us feel closer to her as we understand what she’s thinking. In general we get many characters’ inner thoughts in this show, which I think smooths out the story a lot.

Feng Qing is not particularly interested in romance for awhile, and I likewise did not miss it until it showed up. But many people seem disturbed that the emperor, who is a love interest, has a harem and uses it too. Of course this is historically sound, but it can be hard for a modern audience to understand and accept. Unlike most other shows with harems, here the emperor’s relationship with the FL is built up into something you’re supposed to care about, with challenges and development. So you have to believe that somebody who sleeps around his harem is also capable of emotional depth, sincerity, and genuine attachment to our protagonist. His attitude towards his other consorts is rather ambiguous (does he care for them? Enjoy their company? Tolerate them? Treat them as his duty?) so depending on how you fill in that blank, you might find it more or less jarring.

Personally for me, I’d rather a show be more historically accurate than try to twist things to fit modern values (those so-devoted-they're-monogamous emperor MLs in other shows, for example, always felt a little forced to me). I still struggled with this relationship a little- cognitive dissonance and all- but ultimately I fell for it. I really enjoyed their scenes together and watching the rebuilding of their relationship.

But harem aside, I still felt the show could have done better with this aspect. The rear palace was never about love, so the late empress’s alluded-to love for the emperor is a bit out of place, and I never quite understood their former relationship. Also, the emperor is not as eloquent as Feng Qing, and a lot of his lines are wasted on generic vapidities. The show could have done a better job building out their past, twisting the knife of regret, and showing the relief of getting a second chance. Their setup has so much promise, and Feng Qing’s lingering resentment but sense of moving on is so well done, that it’s too bad the script doesn’t follow through.

On the villain side, the rear palace is a pit of vipers so mostly Feng Qing gets to clean up shop. The show's setting is a time and place with little mercy, but she still has compassion and a conscience, so she does her best to only hurt those who deserve it. I was pretty happy with the villains and conflicts, although towards the end the final villain gets a bit cartoonish.

As for side characters, there are some that are likeable and/or interesting but nobody I was so attached to that I wish they got more screentime. It’s not a long show so there aren’t too many extra characters to keep track of.

The pacing of this show is quite good. It moves along at a decent clip without feeling disjointed, and is able to tell a complete story with many story arcs- didn’t feel like a short drama at all- while still not taking too long to watch. There is a little bit of wasted time here and there but only a minimum. The ending is also fine. I’ve gotten so used to speeding up shows, but I actually did a lot of rewinding in this one, mostly because some of Feng Qing’s lines are so good that I couldn’t resist watching them again.

The acting is quite good, with a solid performance by the lead actress as well as several others. The costumes are nice, the cinematography decent, and I also really liked the music, both OST and BGM. The only thing that feels kind of low budget is some of the SFX, like when they try to show a knife drawing blood.

Overall I quite like this show, with its easy-to-root-for FL, limited stress, and perfect length of runtime. I also do like the relationship- I think it’s unique that this show tries to do a “true love” thing with an emperor but without overturning the system, even though this is what bothered many people. And even though, within those confines, it still could have been done better.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





This show has a happy ending. Things mostly work out for everyone you’d like. There are some people throughout the show that I felt sorry for and are killed, but again, it’s a time and place with little mercy. There are also some side characters who seem like they could have been more developed (like that prosecutor who is clearly a female masquerading as a male) but it’s not too big a deal.

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Cute...But Nothing Special

I'll be honest, it took me a LONG time to get throught this drama. I found the main character so aggrivating and childish and I just got intense second hand embarrassment from everything he did. I also found the acting a bit stilted in the beginning, and the weird sound effects drove me nuts. But literally everyone was raving about how amazing this show is. So I pushed through to finish. Obviously there must be something I was missing.

And honestly? No. Not really, in my opinion. The show is exactly what it tells you it is. There's nothing unique about it. It's not rewriting the BL landscape. It's a perfectly fine, perfectly cute, perfectly serviceable standard university BL. I do think the acting and character dynamics got a little bit better later into the story. But I never stopped finding Duang cringe.

I enjoyed it but the inflated rating is undeserved, in my opinion. It's fun, it's fine. It's pretty mid, if I'm honest.

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