still a redeemable and relevant queer narrative!
considering the two parts of the film as a whole, i do think it is redeemable as a queer work despite the excessive, melodramatic nature of it.as one of the only few explicit chinese queer works of its time, a round trip to love has quite a bit of literature available on it. the main sentiment both among viewers and academics seems to be that the film points to the impossibility of queer love due to a heteronormative society and class differences through narratively blocking every opportunity where this relationship could work. however, that was not at all my understanding of the film. we must pay attention to just how the relationship collapses and not only that it does collapse.
the above popular framing reduces the central tragedy of the film to “censorship” not allowing positive depictions of queer love (not a thing), heteronormative kinship structures, class division, family pressure, and so on. most of these are absolutely relevant to how the relationship between lu feng and cheng yi chen took shape. however, i think the film clearly depicts the destruction as directly caused by lu feng’s masculinity. if you follow the emotional logic of and the dialogue within the narrative, what causes the central rupture isn’t societal pressure (which existed since the beginning of their relationship) but how lu feng’s masculinity fails to be otherwise.
the first part of the film shows us intimacy between lu feng and cheng yi chen is possible because lu feng is willing to change, to be kinder, softer, more vulnerable and considerate just to be worthy of cheng yi chen’s time and affection. during college or even when they meet five years after, lu feng continues to be sexually transgressive (on the basis of mutual affection) yet is always met with rejection from xiao chen (on the basis of his aggression and use of force).
the second part of the film is a lot darker as lu feng interprets xiao chen’s decision to end things as a challenge to his power, his masculinity. i do agree that it is quite a rough watch to see their relationship take an uncomfortable turn when lu feng decides to kidnap, rape, and humiliate xiao chen as a part of “taking revenge;” however, rather than being a political statement about the “impossibility of queer love” by the creator, i think these scenes are clearly portrayed as destroying the conditions under which love could exist at all. it is not romanticized nor is it sexualized. the revenge arc is only lu feng’s masculinity taken to the extreme. we see that his willingness to change collapsed in the absence of any reassurance of xiao chen’s affection for him, as well as in the presence of a direct threat to his masculinity. we see that, even though he once loved him, lu feng can no longer relate to xiao chen except through domination and harm.
love can survive separation or misunderstandings or societal norms (see: part one) but it cannot survive a man tethered to hegemonic masculinity (see: part two). this is, to me, exactly what the film wants to say. the ending, as well as all of the melodramatic impossibilities of this love, is a testament to this. in the end, after all the harm done, love can no longer exist. you cannot go back to be in a relationship with someone who harmed you in this way, and neither can you go back to the person you have harmed in this way. the mutual sacrifices throughout the film point to their devotion for each other but in the end, xiao chen survives his sacrifice while lu feng does not. so, how can one say it was not the rape, the abuse, the kidnapping by the party with more power in the relationship in every sense of the word, but it was the external factors of class division and conservative parents that made this love impossible? we simply cannot. because even when xiao chen made the choice to follow his mother’s last wish and have a traditional family, we can see it was in fact shaped by the absence of lu feng as a dependable partner.
to me, the film does a great job at critiquing gender in masculinity’s inability to process rejection, entitlement, conflation of love with control, and so on. lu feng, without access to xiao chen, resorts to violence, showing us their relationship would not have worked even in the absence of any familial or societal pressures. so, i think there is a logical narrative reason maybe not to the level of violence depicted but to the incentive for its existence. what the creator wants to say in part two is not much different than how it was set up for us in part one. violence, domination, masculinity is what annihilates love.
Was this review helpful to you?
An explosive mix that will steal your heart
I was already really excited for this drama since the cast was announced (I'm a fan of Cha Eun Woo, Park Eun Bin and Bae Nara and I can find all three of them in the same drama?!) but this series exceeded all my expectations!From the start to the end, this drama captivated my attention and never let it go. Super funny and absurde interactions alternate with memories of deep wounds, intense action scenes and heartfluttering moments
Also, this is honestly the first series with only 8 episodes that I find complete and not rushed.
They used the time they had available in the best way possible, not only to solve the story and consolidate the bond between the main characters, but also to create amazing comic timing and a sustained pace that locks you in.
Even if the rithm is so fast, there are still beautiful poetic moments that convey not only the growth of the characters, but their vision of life, their ideals and leave us an heartwarming general sensation.
All the actors (each one of them was perfect for the role), their chemistry, the music, the photography, the screenplay, the editing, the setting and their looks made this series so enjoyable and unique.
I could try to explaind to you the special charm that this series has, but the only way to really understand it is watching it.
All of this can be described only with one word: The Wonderfools
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Honest opinion
If I'm gonna tell myself that this is purely fictional, then I might actually like it a lot. It’s funny, cute, romantic, and comforting in many ways. However, even if it’s fiction, I still see the story as somehow realistic. The life they’re trying to show, along with the lessons and virtues they want to convey, are things that genuinely happen in real life.The act of taking things slowly, trying to understand people, and not being afraid to ask for help when you need it — those are all beautiful messages.
What I personally struggled with was how they approached Sun’s trauma and condition, which seems heavily inspired by DID and age regression. If someone you deeply love experienced something like that in real life, wouldn’t you continuously seek proper professional help until you reached a clearer understanding of what was happening? Going to the hospital once or twice doesn’t really feel enough. Handling it mostly by yourselves, testing hypotheses with friends, and relying on trial and error felt unrealistic for such a serious condition.
I think that’s why it threw me off. The conflict itself felt realistic, but the way they dealt with it felt unrealistic just to keep the romcom vibe. I’m not really sure if that came from the novel itself or just from the series adaptation.
On the lighter note, no questions when it comes to PerthSanta’s dedication, chemistry, and performance. They really carried the emotional side of the story beautifully.
Also, after reading reviews, I noticed that most people genuinely loved this series. So maybe this is just me being honest about how I personally experienced it. It’s probably just not my cup of tea… and maybe I’m also just not naturally fond of children in real life.
Was this review helpful to you?
plot twist for the sake of plot twisting..
I'm probably the only person unable to appreciate this drama.is probably all on my side but I just can't.
This drama looks perfect on paper but I just can't get into it and I don't know why.
There is everything :Good actors, ,Nice costumes ,Good fighting scenes ,A decent looking plot, nice visuals, good CGI.
But I just can't feel involved.
The first episodes are basically an Agatha Christie story. Our protagonists find themselves in a house and have to solve a mystery.
Each of them is basically lying or conceiving their identity which also serves as a "plot" twist I guess.
Something that is putting me off is the fact that they try too hard to be cool and "modern".
"Modern" sounding music is nothing knew to xianxia but this techno music piercing my ears in fighting scenes is really putting me off.
They also really push about the Fox demons being sexually alluding. We get it.
So far the only scene I really liked was the one where our "Pinocchio" finds out he's not a real boy.
Man, that scene was heart wrenching.
Maybe I am still in my mourning period after finishing "till the end of the moon"😅 and need to take a break.
New characters keep spawning from nowhere bringing along their somber backstory and adding some "mystery" and it's starting to be irritating.
So far I'm on episode 12, trapped in this "catching the stone" timeline which looks like an escamotage to only further push the romance.
Maybe I'm bored because there is no real sense of urgency. Technically nobody is really aware about what the dragon god wants, there is no danger. These people are all demon hunters but we never see The demons outside the main cast do anything. We went basically no where. So far we saw the first house, the sect, the moon and this phantasy world.
These " inside the stone" episodes are boring, complicated and sometimes non sensical.
I'm done. Dropping this on episode 15.
They are adding plot twists for the sake of plot twisting.
Was this review helpful to you?
Good watch
C.First of all, before anything, shout out to Natthew (Nawin) for being the most adorable batshit-crazy idiot scene-stealer!!! This character deserves to be in more than just two episodes!!! I'd gladly watch a whole series with him in it!! And TBH he'd be my favourite character if it wasn't for Film (Charn) ~~~And oh my god!!!! Charn stole my whole heart, mind and soul!! The complexity of the character was brilliant!!! Film was amazing!! This is the first drama I ever watch for the two leads, -haven't seen To sir, with love yet, but i plan to- and he was magnificent!!! ~~~
Loved the creepy smile with hollow stare! Like you're so weird, mate! But I don't feel grossed out, instead you got my whole attention now!
He was just too fucked up, the way he switches from evil revenger to sassy flirty with Tinn was very remarkable.~~~~
On the other side, there are a few plot holes here and there, and Tinn was the weakest Taekwondo Sabomnim I've ever seen, I feel like I could beat his ass easily even with my very humble skills, and the whole 5th EP does not exist for me, just deleted it from my memory 😂
I would give it a 10 because I enjoyed it as much but I could not turn a blind eye from the things that didn't make sense, they were just too many to ignore.~~
The series definitely deserves all the hype, and I'm glad I waited to binge watch it, highly recommended ~~~~
Was this review helpful to you?
Same ol'
Same with the previous installments it's a 10 mins kissing scenes for random couples.Stories are less crazy in this season, and episodes are much longer than the original 2-3 mins in the previous seasons.
My favourite is Idol secret kiss, because it was the most natural and emotionally expressive, I know it's weird to say that but some other episodes has FLs kissing with their mouths shut, if that's not screaming awkward, I don't know what is.
This show is basically kisses, if you are not comfortable kissing another person on camera, just don't take the job.
I'm not saying they have to french kiss to look appealing, but at least don't make it look awkward, because literally there is nothing else to do here except kissing.
That been said I think it's an upgrade from the previous ones because it's longer and the ideas/stories are better ~~
Was this review helpful to you?
great show
It was a very nice and good show. It was funny and interesting. 100% worth watching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All of them did a great job!!!!!The concept was quite new and interesting, bringing together people from different countries was a great idea !!!!!!!!!!! I think it's very good to have more shows like this one :)
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Loss, Growth, & Finding Yourself
Loved this show so much! Losing a loved one and trying to find yourself afterward carries the plot. Not just for the brother main character, but the manager, and world wide star.So happy both couples got to be together, love the supportive friendships, and the reinforcement that focusing on work doesn't mean saying goodbye to love.
Sea did amazing coming in as someone that prefers the shadows and loving what he does. Being comfortable enough to perform, create music HIS way, and fall for the man of his dreams was fantastic.
Love the emotion, power, and calm that this story created. It's not fast, rushed, or toxic - just cute and relatable.
Was this review helpful to you?
Better Than Bond
Being a Bond fan, I must say Namkoong Min's portrayal of NIS Agent Han Ji-hyuk is outstanding. I draw the comparison because this is the type of agent Ian Fleming projected in his original novels. Stoic, cool. and professional , not the aloof style you see in many Bond movies. Agent Han is a flawed man with demons of past missions and childhood trauma, but remains locked in on the task.. Great acting and a superb storyline coupled with amazing action scenes rival "007".Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
messy romance - intended audience: the rich
you will NOT catch me feeling sorry for a chaebol heir, legitimate or not !overall there are some parts i liked but majority of it was a miss for me. i understand that huiju lacked the most important thing about their fantasy monarchy society, which is the status, but if you take it away, she is still RICH ASF! the stakes are low as hell. even without any titles, she can still be immensely successful on her own (which she is) and can still benefit from her family’s money (which she definitely does.) there’s not that much to gain in marrying the crown prince in the first place, so the plot was loose and uninspiring. like poor ppl exist in this monarchy brah 😬 i think it would’ve been more impactful if huiju came from literally nothing and helped i-an dismantle the monarchy bc she knows how ineffective title and status is when she is at the bottom of the barrel in both status and property, but that’s just me !
there were some inconsistencies as well:
- huiju is crass and bold and upfront bc of her having to fight for recognition amongst rumors of her illegitimacy (but be so fr why would u still care abt that past high school lol) so her personality is strong and she does whatever she wants / YET she gets flustered by i-an and during talks of producing an heir🙄 she doesn’t seem the type of be off-put by a passionate kiss lol why are we painting her this way??
- i-an was bold and mischeivous in the beginning and how he was introduced to us / BUT he is still a stickler for the rules as a royal. like pick one? lol
- WHAT was the point of making jeongwoo the sweet childhood friend who had a crush on huiju only to subvert that trope and make him a fucking murderer 😭 if he wasn’t trying to kill people, he would’ve been the top choice as huiju’s love interest and i think that’s why they randomly decided to nuke him LMAO. i was definitely rooting for him bc he seemed more likable than i-an. i did appreciate the styling choices (wearing black) after he “committed” to his villain arc lol
i also didn’t really vibe w huiju. aside from being insanely rich, she was just bratty and always yelling at people who were under her, which—i’m all for girlboss shit but why make her insufferable? huiju wants to take advantage of the royal title because she knows how important it is in this society but she’s also perpetuating the class divide at the same time, using her status being part of a conglomerate family—whether illegitimate or not, you could be the legitimate daughter of a laundromat keeper and it would NOT be better lmfao
also lowkey hated the two secretaries getting together lmfao. the romance and silly awkward scenes was cute but they did NOT need to be together imo lol
anyway, i do love the cast individually (wooseok is my kdrama bias if you will) and i love iu, and i have newfound interest in steven noh and seungyeon but this was just… idk chaebol slop idk how to describe it. like only rich ppl would enjoy stuff like this i guess idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Was this review helpful to you?
Still Processing How Bad It Is
From the first two episodes alone, I knew this drama was going to be a form of viewer torture—I just didn’t realize how bad it would get. It felt like everyone, from the writer to director to the actors, forgot how to do their jobs.If you value your time, do yourself a favor and skip this drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
He An Lian Duì Xiang Xian Hun Hou Ai Le
0 people found this review helpful
It needn't be that long
I watched a longer version that is 3hrs long, and I don't think it needed to be that long.After 2 hours we basically got everything and reached the happy end, all jealousy scenes were conducted and every secret from the past was spilled so there is nothing to keep the story going for the next hour.
Also the story has nothing much going on to begin with, just two very rich pair with some wounds from the past and childhood trauma that will be magically cured through each other as it should and that's it, we don't even have family disagreement or any sibling/work drama, literally nothing.
Not saying it's all bad, just a simple 1 and half hours would be more than enough to show everything perfectly.
The cast was good, I however couldn't see much chemistry between the leads, and tbh WHZ here was so bad, I like him generally but here he has shown almost no emotions at all, and as everyone said he was very monotonous, the FL was cute and that's it her character had some questionable moments, but overall she was ok.
Will i recommend it? Ummm probably, I won't.
Was this review helpful to you?
Confusing Drama
I blame the director(s) for this drama. It took at least 20 episodes before I even began to understand this fiasco. If shown in an understanding manner and not in jumping from one confusing scene to the next, this could have been a decent drama. Now that I understand what is going on, I will continue watching on how this plays out. If not for the fact there isn't any really good wuxia dramas out at this time that, watching 2 episodes a day is no grievance. I love Allen Ren, but the dramas he has accepted recently have done him no justice in the last couple of years. At least he is smiling or carrying a pleasant expression, but it downplays his talent. He is just going through the motions with no commitment to his craft. I thought twice before starting this because Mr. Ren is not immersed in any character lately.Was this review helpful to you?
Super intense and intellectually stimulating.
A psych thriller that constantly challenged my assumptions. Every character felt like a suspect at some point, had me questioning motives and piecing together clues. The show’s strength was in its layered storytelling, moral complexity, and the way it blurred the lines between guilt and innocence. I was especially impressed by the acting especially Shin Ha-kyun and how naturally the characters embodied their roles. Its writing, performances, and ability to keep me engaged from start to finish.Was this review helpful to you?
Never a dull moment in this long drama.
What stood out most to me was the depth of the characters even the villains goid/bad often felt human and worthy of sympathy. The acting & costumes were great, every character, good or bad, evolved over time Ruyi left the biggest impression on me. Her extraordinary patience, emotional discipline, resilience, and discernment. Unlike many drama protagonists, she never transformed into a revenge driven character despite everything she suffered. I found the Emperor deeply disappointing as the story progressed. At first he seemed loving and decent, but over time his ego, lust and insecurity eroded the relationship that mattered most. Overall this series was emotionally rich, psychologically layered but deeply human.Was this review helpful to you?
