Reviews

Lee Soo Hyuk Stole Every Scene

The best part of Lucky Romance for me was easily Lee Soo Hyuk as Choi Geon Uk, aka Gary Choi. His character was genuinely refreshing, charming, and unexpectedly adorable. I’m so used to seeing Lee Soo Hyuk play cold, mysterious, brooding characters with intimidating energy, so it was really nice seeing him in a lighter and more playful role for once. Gary had this awkward but sincere charm that made him stand out every time he was onscreen. Even his smaller mannerisms and expressions made the character lovable without trying too hard. Honestly, he brought a lot of warmth and personality to a drama that I otherwise struggled to stay invested in. A lot of my enjoyment came from his scenes because he naturally made things feel more entertaining and less repetitive.

Unfortunately, I really didn’t care for the overall story. The plot felt dragged out and repetitive after a while, and a lot of the conflict relied too heavily on misunderstandings, superstition, and forced romantic tension. The drama kept circling the same ideas without making the emotional development feel satisfying. I also found it hard to fully connect with the main couple because the relationship progression didn’t feel that natural to me. There were moments that were supposed to feel quirky or heartwarming, but instead they just felt overly exaggerated or predictable.

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great yet very devastating .....

this drama isn't for the faint of heart , didn't think I would like it at first but I was very wrong .
a great thriller with great emotional depth that kept us on edge till the very end even though the killer was revealed before the last episodes yet you kept going wanting to see justice served .

kang tae ju's character was very well written , he was willing to sacrifice everything for the truth and justice to be served even going as far to making an alliance with his school bully , man I thought they would be on the same side and set their difference aside for catching the serial killer , yet the ending was devastating , I truly hated when he had to leave town before catching the real killer to save his sister.

cha si yeong can't make my mind about his character yet for me he was a gray character it wasn't his intention to do wrong yet he aided the serial killer to escape jail all those years one way or the other and went as far as convicting innocent people to get credit , raise and his father's approval , he was a very despicable person for what he did in the little girl's case and no even giving her family a closure or an apology .

Gi Beom 's death was truly sad and devastating , didn't think it would end that way.
Gi hwan's character was quite rushed like we didn't get where did his obsession with stocking come from? and what really annoyed me is that he didn't get what he deserve he seemed to enjoy his time in jail and talking to tae ju .

the ending was truly devastating no one got what they deserve , the only who was being criticized was tae ju and that little girl's family never got justice for their daughter's death.

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Heeju is such an unlikable character. The fact that we don't know much about her dilutes whatever story they are telling.
At first I was so mad at her for making all this dumb decisions and following her bf so blindly. The next episodes do give us some backstory and context on why she did all of that but still it was frustrating to watch.

Heeju only survived all this due luck. Somehow she had Woogi's deep loyalty and her father finds her at the correct time and sacrifices his life for her. Woogi's initial loyalty can be chalked up to him having some brains and realizing the only way he could get some money is by being on her side but him trying to save her multiple times even after she made it clear that she didn't trust him...foolish af.
Her parents story was emotional though.

They tried to do a theme of how people get greedy and everything and it worked for a while with Heeju's mentality being no gold no life but then they kinda throw it away with Heeju going around saving everyone she doesn't trust and then crying that she just wants to live a normal life.
Maybe they were trying to do a nuanced take on greed and stuff but it just didn't work

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Doh Kyung Soo!

I can appreciate what this drama tackled topics that most dramas at the time avoided, and I can respect the effort to normalize conversations around trauma, mental illness, and healing. You can tell the drama wanted to say that people struggling mentally still deserve love, understanding, and support instead of being treated like they’re broken. Some moments genuinely handled loneliness, trauma, and emotional isolation really well.

Gong Hyojin’s acting...there were moments where her performance felt too exaggerated for the tone the drama was aiming for, especially in emotional arguments or scenes that were supposed to feel intimate and vulnerable. Instead of feeling natural, some reactions came across as theatrical, which pulled me out of certain scenes. I also felt like the execution of Ji Haesoo’s intimacy issues wasn’t handled as carefully as the writers probably thought it was. At first, it seemed like they were setting up a deep exploration of trauma and emotional fear, but later on it felt inconsistent and rushed. If anything, it sometimes came across like the writers overdid her avoidance of intimacy just to create a bigger contrast between her being “pure” and Jang Jaeyeol being known as a player and womanizer. Instead of naturally developing her healing process over time, the drama suddenly acts like she’s able to overcome years of fear almost overnight once romance fully kicks in. It made her progression feel more plot convenient than emotionally earned. I think the storyline would’ve worked better if they spent more time showing gradual trust, setbacks, discomfort, and realistic healing instead of resolving it so quickly.

The standout performance for me was easily Doh Kyung Soo as Han Kang Woo. He completely stole every scene he was in. The scenes where he had to portray pain, fear, loneliness, and emotional suffering were done incredibly well and felt effortless on his part. His expressions alone carried so much emotion without needing exaggerated dialogue. There was a naturalness to his acting that made his scenes hit harder than a lot of the main storyline for me. It’s honestly hard to believe this was one of Doh Kyung Soo’s earlier acting roles because he already showed so much control and emotional depth. He never looked like an idol trying to act. He felt fully immersed in the role from beginning to end.

Honestly, I found myself way more invested in Han Kang Woo’s scenes than the main romance. Doh Kyung Soo brought a level of sincerity and emotional realism that made his storyline unforgettable, and by the end, he was the main reason I kept watching.

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Girl Rules, where the first rule is don’t break your own rules.

That sentiment also goes for the writers too.

This was designed to be messy, and if you’re hoping to see good things with established ships, then for the most part expect to be disappointed. If you view GL from a more neutral standpoint and are looking for something different to the usual couples falling in love and ending up together, then this might be one to watch.

Each episode is written around a specific rule, and how each of the characters either breaks it, or show how they handle it. That aspect of the series is well written and directed, and credit should be given for that.

When writing, directing and producing a series like this, your first rule should be to research the content you are using, and the second is ensure you proof read it before using it, especially when using different writers for each episode. They clearly didn’t do this, and at one point they mixed up a gender expression with a sexual orientation, completely erasing bisexual identities in the process. They did reference pansexual, but with the lack of any butch mascs and other transitional gender roles, it leaves a bad taste. If you are going to write about LGBT+ issues, then proper research is essential, and good proof readers need to ensure mistakes like this don’t happen.

As for the plot, it focuses on three main couples, two are established ships, and a potential new pairing. In reality, it centers on one story focused around Namtam/Film, with the other two couples, Milk/Love and View/Mim, getting less attention and screen time, which hasn’t been received well in the fandoms.

There are three guest couples, one is a romantic couple who play Blossom’s owners in the plot, Kapook/Ciize who represent exes that interfere with Namtam/Film, and Emi/Bonnie who get involved in the messiness with Milk/Love.

The setting is split between their homes, work, vacations and nightlife. The work settings are a fashion house, production company and a photographer, that overlap with each other. The nightlife is mostly within a lesbian bar called Blossom, which shockingly has almost no butch representation at all.

It’s fast paced, with quick transitions between each sub-plot and high-octane music that changes frequently within each scene. That’s important, because this doesn’t follow the usual slow burn of a couple getting together, being torn apart by family tradition or homophobia but somehow ending up together anyway. In general, the music matches the messiness that unfolds, and that for me is the best part of this series, although others have expressed a dislike to it. Compared to other GL’s that lack the depth and emotion of the music, this one is on point. The OST reflects this, with upbeat tracks and decent beats.

There were some sound problems though, especially with the live music scenes and the screaming fans, which was largely distorted and lacked quality. In those episodes, I had to adjust the volume down quickly, or remove my earbuds.

Three of the established ships cross over, with Love hooking up with Namtan, Film hooking up with Milk, and to a certain extent, Emi trying to win over Love. For me, the writers missed an opportunity here. They had 12 episodes to completely screw with the ships, but all we got was one quick interaction with each that ended as quickly as they started. I would have liked to see more of these new pairings, and more involvement from Bonnie.

I understand why they didn’t though. They knew by messing with established ships that it would cause problems, which has already been shown with the series being received poorly within the fandoms. If you want something that has good kissing and love scenes, this is not a good choice. The focus is more on day to day lives rather than their intimacy.

Overall, it was a good first attempt at a more soap style GL, but the mistakes they made were poor. Trying to use the established ships meant they had to tread too carefully, when in reality we need to see the more realistic POV of messy lesbian and bisexual relationships, and the difficulties chasing straight girls. They have a good pool of actresses to choose from that are not already paired, and they should have used them. They need more butch and trans representation too.

It would have been better with more episodes, and to slow down the outcomes with more drama and more crossover of the ships. but maybe this was deliberate so they can carry on into a second series, although that seems unlikely. It has almost no re-watch value, because it doesn’t really have an overall storyline, although you might want to relive some of the specific drama scenes.

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my expectations and what I received

This might be by far the worst K-drama I've ever watched. I really liked the first season tho. What announced me was that the second season didn't pick up where the last scene of the first season ended,I was annoyed that we couldn't find out what happened in the museum (I think it was a museum).Also, the male lead turning into a second lead was very absurd and unnecessary.If this season had been at least as good as the first, it wouldn't have received such a bad review.At least it would have remained in our minds as an decent/good teen series, but unfortunately the screenwriter did a terrible job. By the way, I had set the rewatch value to 0.5, but the app says it needs to be at least 1. Anyway, so I'm reporting it here: I think the rewatch value should be 0/10.😬😐

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Eternal Spring that stays for a short time but leaves a lifelong impact.

It was a drama that that gently unfolded the delicate human emotions with its tender, soothing approach to hope, struggles, and beauty of living.

From the very first episode, the FL's character was really bothering me. Her rude behaviour and know it all outlook felt very unfitting and random. But I'm a sucker for good cinematography so I stayed for that, and trust me, it didn't disappoint.

Deok Hyeon, is a young diver fighting with the weight of dark his past and the uncertainty of his future. His quiet strength and vulnerable past made him instantly relatable, correlating with the universal struggle of finding one’s place in a world that often feels very overwhelming to speak out. On the other hand, Anna is quite spicy, radiant spirited girl. Her determination towards her swimming career showed how resilient she was. Her journey through her personal hardships and healing was portrayed so realistically that it will resonate deeply with anyone who has faced life’s unpredictable storms.

Most importantly, the cinematography was breathtaking! Each and every scene was meticulously shot capturing the serene beauty of nature, the unpredictable, calm nature of the turquoise sea and the subtle nuances of everyday life. The soft colour grading, the gentle waves of the sea, and the tranquil azure skies created a visual poetry that I LOVED very much!
Also them bonding over food was the best thing ever. They opened up gently and gradually. Sometimes it felt like the series brought the viewers into a world where every frame is like a dreamy painting, every note of music a soothing balm, and every character’s journey a heartfelt story of resilience and hope.

Now the dislikes, that fake cat was straight up bad. Couldn't they find a cutie catto on the island that they had to put a slow CGI cat. And sometimes the scenes were quite random that they didn't really made sense. Otherwise, it's forgivable for a 6 episode drama.

Overall , this was a short soothing drama that offered more than just entertainment—it provided a calm experience that touched my heart. If you're looking for a heartfelt story that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit amidst life’s challenges with beautiful cinematography then it is for you.

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MUST SEE and so damn close to the best C-Drama I've ever seen!

(I'll warn you when this review drifts into spoiler territory.)

My first C-Drama was RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE back during Covid. I consider it a 'long form' series which means more than 12 episodes, and it's still the best long form series I've seen out of over 30 series. BLOSSOMS SHANGHAI had the potential to beat it, but dropped the ball in the final episodes. Fortunately, the ball is merely a small marble.

I like to follow actors around, and RUYI's Xin Zhi Lei (Princess Jia) brought me to BLOSSOMS SHANGHAI. I've seen her play various roles, but her strength is duplicitous vixen. Or sweetheart serpent. In this story she's a WEAPON and deployed perfectly in each frame. This series should land her some great roles in the future.

Thanks to TO THE WONDER (best short form C-Drama I've ever seen) and INTERLACED SCENES, I also came to this series to see Ma Yi Li. Anything she's in is gold and she doesn't disappoint. She's full of her usual passion, emotion, and broken dreams.

I see from her many credits that Tiffany Tang is legend, but she's a new actress for me. She had absolutely no problem sharing the limelight alongside Xin Zhi Lei and Ma Yi Li. I particularly enjoyed when she delivered lines with food in her mouth, lol. I will try to watch some her work soon.

Anyone who is a fan of world class strong female leads MUST SEE this show. To have them all in one show is a WOW.

Also new to me was none other than our lead male playing Mr. Bao, Hu Ge. In this series he's doing his best to be the Chinese George Clooney. Hu Ge plays a local legend in Shanghai, a man that can survive anything.

He survives the roaring 90's stock market. He prospers in various businesses. Under the guidance of the charming Uncle Ye he can handle almost anything: except the three aforementioned women. And one I haven't mentioned yet.

(Entering light spoiler territory)

You see, Blossoms Shanghai is a highly unique and perfectly executed love quadrangle. But by 'perfectly executed,' I don't mean it's as lovey-dovey as you'd expect. Some consider this a serious shortcoming of the series. I actually found it refreshing, realistic, and poignantly moving for true love to be so unrequited all over the place.

Kind-hearted romantic C-Dramas have a way of pairing up all sorts of characters into couples at the end. Nobody leaves 'the prom' without a date.

But in BLOSSOMS, I felt for every woman who felt Mr. Bao was out of her reach -- just as -- I felt for Mr. Bao who had a woman (or two?) always out of his reach. Uncle Ye made a point of repeating that you can't mix business with pleasure, and man did this series slam that idea home.

Great credit is due to the legendary film director Wong Kar Wai and the cinematography. This claustrophobic series lurks behind behind walls, peeks thru windows -- and yet -- manages to put you alongside these characters as well.

You will not only love every lead in this series but outright adore every supporting character. I mean every one of them, including the cigarette guy. The depth to these characters is why the show takes about 5 or so episodes to get rolling.

These people become your family and you'll miss almost all of them at series end. I'm certain most of these actors will never look this good again. The camera work and lighting and staging and costumes and set design is off the map great.

I wasn't familiar with the period pop songs throughout but they added to the carefully crafted atmosphere. And I enjoyed the Morricone inspired moments in the soundtrack score.

So why not a perfect 10 score? (9.5 isn't bad, mind you!)

1. The story is (kinda) much ado about nothing. It's a soap opera of sorts, that focuses mostly on money instead of mating. So this series bounces people off each other instead of lips. I made up a term for this series: People Opera. And it's a really great People Opera. But at the end of the day, it's just a story about a man, a street, everyone on it and their country -- trying to grow in stature. As Tina Turner once said, "What's love got to do with it?"

2. The other shortcoming is that the story kinda chickened out at the end, in the romance sense. As great as the final goodbye was between Mr. Bao and Li Li in Ep 27, I felt these two had a little more to say to each other -- about each other -- and I felt cheated. I felt this broken heart's club needed a first kiss -- that was tragically their last kiss as well.

3. Also, the final shots of Mr. Bao in the fields with electrical transmission towers simply didn't land right for me. The way we saw Miss Wang slowly leave Huange Street -- chatting with the cigarette dude -- is really how Mr. Bao needed to leave the series. His buying land thing came off as flat and irrelevant.

4. Also, the show hinted that the new elevator operator was like a young Ah Bao and that Bao was transitioning into an Uncle Ye. Perhaps they should have pursed that literally, by Bao saying goodbye to that street and inviting the young man to join his land venture. By inviting the boy off that street that seems to destroy lives, it would be a sign that the one thing Bao doesn't recommend is becoming a Mr. Bao.

And now some picky stuff --

1. The story starts with a car accident, to explain the real world scars on Hu Ge's face he got from a tragic car accident that nearly killed him. But I didn't know that until deep in the series. And so I was confused as to why Bao's face had those scars in flashbacks the occurred before the story's car accident. These needed to either be digitally removed, or explained away regarding a childhood bully who beat him senseless. It was lazy and jarring to leave the scars there.

2. Li Li's last words to Bao are her name. She says 'Li Li' and then runs up some stairs. Huh? Normally her departure might have inspired him to say 'Li Li' as in he had something more to say to her. It demonstrated to me that as amazing as this goodbye scene was -- and totally worth rewatching -- WKW still didn't quite nail this scene as I suggested earlier. Like the scars, it was just sloppy.

3. The series starts slow. Despite the appearance of a frenetic pace, it introduces a ton of characters and it takes -- I don't know -- 5 to 7 episodes to become addictive.

OVERALL: drop what you're doing and watch BLOSSOMS SHANGHAI. It's an extremely special experience.

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A love that needs no labels, a love that dares to stay undefined.

Throughout the series, I had mixed feelings about the way the story was told. I found myself confused, endeared, longing, and melancholic, every emotion and scene burying deeper into me and leaving me with more questions than answers. The story itself is hard to relate and integrate into, yet, the characters add so much depth, flaws, nuance and vibrance to what would otherwise hold no form.

One of the asterstrokes of the story was Sumiko and Ryu's mother, both abandoned by family that ought to catch you when you fall, yet refusing to stay within the grasp of its pain. Their kindness, strength, refusal to diminish themselves even when it comes to being a mother, a wife, and a friend, refusing to give up love for their own self in the name of sacrifice truly settled down something deep within me.

Ryu and Yohan's relationship was so sheer, raw, unexplained and unapologetic. The team took such a brave yet dangerous step in deciding to leave most of their genuinity, closeness and tenderness hidden behind the scenes. And this is exactly what pushed us audience into the role of the society around them. We know they live together, we know they belong to each other in ways we'll ever be left guessing, we know they share a home- and that's all we know. Oftentimes, we look at snippets of people living next to us and carve out their life deciding we know enought about them to do so. Just like that, within this story, we are left to project our ideologies into their relationship, forcing it to fit within frames that were never meant to hold them.

We yearn for a conclusion, a label, a status, an answer. But, the series remains stubborn in not giving one. It dares us to fill in the gaps left behind while silently moving forward on its own terms with no remorse. And that's where it perfectly captures life and love. It flawlessly denies conformity and definitions, truly existing free within a literary utopia where to live together and create a home, you owe no one any explanations.

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I went in thinking its an independent story and only found out its a sequel almost half way through. Never watched Princess agent nor have I read the book. The start was really rough but I pushed through becuase the visuals look absolutely stunning. You can see they had a vision before going in. The story takes place in 4 different countries and each have a different aesthetic unique to them. The settings, the outfits and the stylings are gorgeous.
The earthy toned fits of Yen bei people against those red mountains, the flowy fabrics of womens skirt in biantang palace, the black icy cliffs in ximeng.... so much beautiful scenery.
As a whole the cinematography is something to die for. I wish I could put it all into words but unfortunatly Im not that great in describing imagiry. The only thing I didnt like was that it had too many close up shots where actors were looking straight into the camera. That was weird. But outside of that, loved everything else.

The script just sucks. First few episodes is spent on re telling what went down before the ice lake incident so its basically a rundown of princess agent. So much information is being fed to us without letting any of it sit and marinate. Like some stuff needed an episode atleast not 15 secondes....
The excessive amount of flashbacks in the beggining was annoying to watch. Its so patchy it feels like a collage.
Even later on when the story finally come back to now, it just jumps rather than flow. The pacing here was real weird.

I think they were a bit too ambitious and bit to much they couldnt chew. It was supposed to be an epic story with lots of ups and downs but what came out is a free falling melo drama.

Chu qiao was never believable as a general or a lover. Her real age shows. Its not her fault. She is acting her butt off but a miscast is a miscast. They shouldnt have casted a 17 year old to play her.

I wish there was no romance included. Their feelings develop so fast it comes out of nowhere. The age gap is weird and the actors have 0 chemistry. BORING

Speaking of boring .... Chu qiao and Juge yue are not anything to write home about individualy either. Actualy they are so boring that any other character washes them out in terms of intrigue. I couldnt care any less about these two characters endeavors. It might be becuase I havent watched PA but the " lets abolish slavery " thing was never realy palpable to me.

It also sucks how much plot armor these two recieve. They know everything all the time and always manage to be at the scene of the crime to play hero no matter where it is. They infiltrate the most highly guarded places of all countries back to back to back with ease. One day they're in biantang, next day at ximeng , next yaenbei. Its just ridiculous.

Its like time and distance are nonexistent concept in this story. Chu qiao and juge yue just teleport to places I assume.

Yan xun, Helian, general Huan Huan, chen ye were more interesting characters. They got to have an actuall character arc atleast no matter how annoying they were.

Also many scenes get repeated like people constantly dying and coming back to life or Yan xun getting married. How many time this guy wore grooms outfit in this drama I lost count.... it feels like we're going in circles.

The ending wasnt the best. Wasnt the worst either. In one hand Im happy that yan xun got his head out of his ass. Long live yen bei people and all. It was time the country got saved. Loved that bittersweet wedding scene. They had to submit to fate after all.
Also war is inevitable. Its nice to see everyone let go of thier resentments to unite. The ending battle scenes was so good.
On the other hand.......
That dreaming scenes?? Hated it.
Was it really neccessary to kill so many of??

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well well well

I gave it a rating only because of Eunwoo's handsome face; otherwise, it's not even worth rating 😃😓
I never understood why Bastol was chosen for the lead role; she's one of the worst actresses I've ever seen in K-drama history (and I'm not just talking about this role). Actually, the storyline is decent and the production isn't bad, but honestly, even though it's a series, the fact that it's so unrealistic isn't really my cup of tea. And unfortunately, what really made the series unwatchable was the lead actress. I'm not saying Eunwoo's acting was 10/10, of course; as I said, the female character gave me the ick😓. I have nothing against the actor who plays the character, of course he's an actor, he's doing his job, but I really didn't like it, sorry not sorry.

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Watched in one sitting!

Overall 8.5/10
🌟🌟🌟🌟

I really enjoyed watching each episode; it felt like art for real. So intriguing, I binged it in one day. Would I watch it again? Probably not... but it was very enjoyable rewatch value 5/10? story 8/10, casting and ost 10/10
I'm between giving the show a 9/10 or an 8/10, so I'll go with 8.5
The ending just made me feel like - "that was it?" all that build up for this? It felt like a bit of a shame, but also not a miss or bad ending. I would definitely recommend it if you enjoy mystery shows. This one has you watching it all in one go!
Shin Hye Sun again proved that she never disappoints with her acting!

TW// SELF-HARM; GRAPHIC VIOLENCE; ABUSE; GORE

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