Reviews

A place of peace, warmth and laughter

Love this show so much already and the concept is 'chef's kiss'. Seonho back in variety, with his kindness, warmth and easy laughter is the best and his chemistry with 'chajumma', established through working with him on the The Tyrant, is such a pleasure to watch. The whole cast gets along really well and the elder villagers are so charming. Also, Seonho and Dino were incredibly sweet together. Can't wait to watch as all their relationships grow and deepen. If you are needing some peace, laughter and all around warmth, this is the show for you.
It drops every friday on Coupang Play and Viki.

Read More

Overall a very good show but with some very questionable scenes.

I really enjoyed this show. It has a fantastic cast and I really appreciate the ensemble nature of it. It is a bit weird in that at each character featured plays progressively a smaller role the farther the story goes, but I do enjoy that it isn't the typical 2 main characters with comic relief side characters. Most plot lines are good and each of the men and woman are different enough and have distinct dynamics that make them enjoyable.

The main negatives for me is that there is a lot of just artificially placed issues with many of the romances. Obviously you don't want smooth sailing but for me personally there are too many issues caused by complete failure in communication and unreasonable assumptions / idealism.

There are also 4 or 5 five scenes that are really despicable but played off as lighthearted or reasonable. They are minor enough in plot relevance which makes it annoying that they were even included. Examples include prolonging a forced abduction for brownie points, insane gaslighting, and just weird and callous behavior between family members.

Overall the show is very enjoyable, mostly due to the cast and production. The characters all have their unique elements and likeable. While some are close to being Mary Sues, most of them are more nuanced than a lot of other main roles portrayed in Chinese dramas.

Read More

Dropping only because of the female lead

The production of the series is quite well done and the plot is quite intriguing so far with a lot of mysteries to uncover. I'm also not adverse to stories that have misunderstandings or tragedies, but I do need to be able to at least like the main leads. In a second attempt to watch this, I just can't stand the female lead. All of the other characters are fantastic so far but because the female lead is a core character, it just isn't happening.

She had a tragic start to life but was fortunate enough to be saved by her master. Yet she acts like a spoiled brat who's overly obsessed with him. Although I'm totally fine with characters who start off ignorant and eventually grow into themselves, she is a different situation. She was raised by her master and grew up in a hidden sect... she should know better than to ignore his orders and the sect rules over and over again. She was also very aware how important the emperor was to her master. Yet her selfishness decisions not only caused her master and disciple brother to be almost beaten to death but almost immediately afterwards, she STILL decides to attempt to assassinate the emperor WHILE fighting her injured master in order to do so. Her annoying repetitive excuse and justification around her loyalty to him because he's her savior is just total bs. And not sure if this is due to the actress' acting skills or intentional but her character also feels narcissistic. While she is supposed to care about those around her, her face is consistently monotone.

It's quite unfortunate because I would definitely want to keep watching for the story and the rest of the characters (hence the higher score). But my dislike for the female lead is only going to be aggravating especially when it's already know how many of those around her treat her with sincerity... she's one of those characters who is totally undeserving.

Read More

my goodness i'm so obsessed with janjingjing

honestly, this episode was really really fun. The chemistry, the acting and just EVERYTHING. I feel like this episode did a great job introducing the characters while also showing that there’s so much more to the story coming later on. That’s what really captivated me from the beginning. You’re always thinking, “wait, what’s going to happen next?” “wholikes who?” “willshe say yes tobeing friends with benefits”

and I can’t forget how funny this show is because janhae reallyit so well. she's literally THE comedy herself LOLL. she's just being herself, and i can’t help but laugh every time she’s on screen. I’m also so in awe of jingjing. sheportrays the strict, troubled character so well, and when she’s drunk ... omg , she actually nailed that scene. you can clearly tell the difference of when she’s drunk, that there's another side of her that showsand she just pulls it off

i already love this series so much, and I’m really excited for what's more to come. I keep rewatching it and noticing more details every time. I’d definitely say give it a few episodes because I really think it’ll be worth your time!

Read More

I'm siding with the Primordial Force

This is officially the worst Cdrama I've ever watched. So bad I had to suffer my way through to the end to see how it turned out and, let me tell, it's a doozy. Whoever wrote this story needs help. Almost every character is blindly, obsessively in love with someone who will never reciprocate their feelings, but they remain masochistically loyal unto death, basically. Where do I begin?
FL is a pleasant, sweet, and simple minded girl who enters the cold, calculating, cruel and self-righteous world of the sects after her father dies. She follows her father's instructions and seeks out a cultivator who is the leader of the sect on Mt. Shu. She finds him as he is dying, and he hands ownership of the sect over to her, a teenage girl. Okay. His options were limited. She was there and alive which made her the best candidate.
She then travels to a second, more powerful sect, with an idea of becoming a member and finding the man she had developed a crush on just after the death of her father. He helped her out for a few days and then disappeared, but it was enough to make her young heart beat for him and him alone for the rest of the show despite some way better options. He, of course, was an immortal in disguise and the master of the sect she decides to join. During the entry tests for this sect, he literally tries to kill her by destroying the chain bridge she was crossing from one outrageously high cliff to another. Somehow, despite her fear of heights, she climbs to safety and misses her best chance to run for the hills. This was truly a crossroads in her life, that, had she been able to read the room, could have saved her an unfathomable amount of future torture and humiliation. Sect leaders who casually attempt to kill their recruits are not worth learning from.
And so she joins the cult. Here she makes many friends for the first time in her life, and her openness and naivete make her a favorite of many of her peers. She also has a friend outside, Dongfeng, who decided he must marry her after seeing her topless and always seems to show up exactly when she needs help. He's probably the best character in the story, but of course the FL can't bring herself to love anyone that could possibly love her back. He also has a grudge against ML for killing his father and his revenge becomes an issue between him and FL later on.
Despite a rough start in her discipleship, she eventually gains momentum and becomes the only disciple to our disaster of a ML. They live together in his floating courtyard called Loveless. ML severed his emotions as a young immortal and is basically a block of wood that somehow still invites the obsession of not just our FL but also his fellow immortal and raging psychopath, Zi Xun. Her lines are often pedantic but spoken with great feeling. She has no interest in justice or helping the people of earth. She only pouts and bewails ML's lack of affection for her. She also decides to kill FL and makes multiple attempts on her life. She is never held accountable for this in any way. Eventually, her obsession drives her to degenerate and become a demon.
Another peach of a character is Ni Man Tian. FL's peer and the most arrogant, awful, hateful person in this whole mess. She is a bully who never should have been allowed to stay in the sect, but the leadership there are completely blind to the injustices around them. They also bully and terrify and hold their heads high in their own self-righteousness. It's painful to watch.
Undergirding the whole show is the premise that FL is destined to be ML's "calamity." Their magic rocks tell them so. So there is a sense of impending doom always lurking in the background and growing and growing until the watcher wants to scream, "Just get it over with already!"
Eventually they do, but it's not a singular event so much as a spiral of events that includes FL risking all of the earth to save ML who isn't even nice to her. She, with the help of her trusty friends, collect these magical relics that can open a portal into a dimensional prison where the Primordial Force was locked up by a conspiracy of sect leaders a long time ago. Supposedly, this Primordial Force could destroy everything if unleashed. For the world built in this story, that would be a mercy. There is no real righteousness, no justice, no accountability. There are petty fights and endless accusations. There is scheming and bullying and greed and revenge. With a few exceptions. Those who don't harbor ill intentions tend to position themselves as martyrs every chance they get. FL and ML being the biggest examples. Even Dongfeng gives into this in the end and sacrifices himself for FL. In fact, nearly everyone she cares about sacrifices him or herself for her. Including the leader of the demon sect, Sha Qian, a consistently warm and supportive character towards FL who is blamed constantly for things he didn't do. His sect is a mess though and his commanders regularly disregard his orders and invite the hatred of the other sects.
So FL releases the Primordial Force, but he puts his power in her first. ML then sneaks in and seals the power inside of her so that she won't be able to defend herself from the relentless waves of torture and punishment that await her. FL puts on her martyr mantle and is taken for judgment at her sect. She refuses to give the true reason why she stole the relics and instead lies and says she conspired with the demon sect. Once again, they are blamed for something they didn't do. A long and boring story arc begins where FL is tortured relentlessly and cast into some kind of desert netherworld. Dongfeng saves her at the cost of his 5 senses and his life. Sha Qian opens the gate for her to get back to earth and exhausts all his power and withers up and dies.
FL lurks around the edges of her former sect, stealing glances at her beloved Master while looking sad. Her face was badly burned by Ni Man Tian during the torture saga and she wears a weird fabric leaf cluster over the burns. ML occasionally remembers FL fondly but when he finally sees her he speaks cruelly and orders her to be punished. At some point he locks her up and hopes that she will start to care less when the people she loves die. Her friends break her out after a few years and are immediately killed in front of her. She degenerates into a demon at this point, and the Primordial Force is unsealed. She takes over the demon sect for a short time and tries to annoy ML a bit before setting him up to kill her. He happily complies and then has BIG REGRET. As he holds her dead body, finally everyone who is still living feels bad for her.
The last scene is unthinkably cruel. ML resurrects FL by sacrificing his friend and fellow sect leader Mo Yan (who was a POS but human sacrifice is still really bad) WITHOUT HER MEMORIES. They live together in a simple cabin and he carries her around like a big doll puppet that occasionally wakes up and speaks like the old happy FL, the one whose life and dreams and loved ones hadn't yet been destroyed by him. WHO WROTE THIS?! WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS OKAY?!

Read More

Craziest shit I’ve ever seen (I. LOVE. IT!!!).

I’ve watched a lot of dramas, but this one takes the top spot. It’s like watching a car crash —you can’t look away. The story feels like it’s high on crack, but the acting, the pacing, and the atmosphere are so different and addicting compared to everything I’ve seen before. The kiss scenes, the yearning, the craving… amazing!

Is the story logical? No.
Is the communication the best? No.
Do I still think I’ll ever find a better drama? No.

This is a mix of dark romance, forced love, and the craving of the omegaverse, all in one. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it has something really special that I’ve never seen before.

It has left an empty hole in my heart. If anyone in the future finds something just as crazy and amazing as this show, I’d love to hear about it.

Read More

This show is a must watch [spoiler part is marked. Don’t worry]

I don’t know where to start. It’s a very good show. A heart touching show that put me on the verge of crying almost every episode (from middle to last). This show is emotional rollercoaster. At first it was fun, romance, and fantasy, but things takes another turn. It become more romance and more dramatic. Then it becomes more tense, with more drama. You feel more bad for each character. One second you are laughing another one you are crying. And what a good roller coaster. I didn’t like the show at first at all. It was very slow pacing and I was thinking maybe I quit it because it is not the genre that I like to watch but what a good choice that I finished it
Didn’t like two parts of the show which I say without spoiling:
1- who was the guy who send him back in time. Tbh they could remove the plot twist by whole and nothing would change. Or they should keep it with more details and more information. Just saying oh yeah he was he is not what I like. I guessed that at the start as well. But why is it like that. And why it is working. No explanation
2- this one is going to be a spoiler. Start of the spoiler:”
The girl who was send back in time changed her mother future and in the end we see how her mother is different by a lot. But she is still the same as she was. I can’t accept it. If your mother opinion/way of life changed then you won’t be the person who you are now. Specially physically. Because we can see that her mother turns into a thin, fragile woman but the girl her self is still like before”
End of spoiler

Read More

Swet as a lollipop

(... slightly bittersweet lollipop)

Even though recent years has prove improvement in BL production, Thai dramas tend to have a edge of mass product series with scenarios lacking more often than we would like.

It feels like "love you tacher" wasn"t the talk of the year but I was really positively surprised by the show. First let me say, we can tell that some aspects were a bit overlooked and are coming with easy cliché, a bit exagerated tantrum and unlikely situation. My deepest apology to Perth and Santa fans who are dedicated to show their support but the show is not perfect and I don't mean to hurt anyone's feeling.

But, this being said, this show does come as the nice surprise. I want first to talk about the nice visual aesthetics. I feel like whoever was in charge really had a good time and gave it his/her all. There is a strong colorful visual identity. It was a great idea to push the curser up there giving the show a special feeling we can immerse in everytime we start watching.

Then the scenario. I was just giving a look at the show to see what Perth was up to so really not coming there with special enthousiasm but then ... quite quickly I found my self truly appreciating it ... The characters are well written and they are very lovely. They tried to give enough a background and bounds that even second character fits nicely into the story. The scenario is nice and quite smooth with a good balance of tender laugh and more serious thema questionned. (And all in all, me, who was sure Santa would not be the kind of actor I appreciate, have been able to come to like him... and he does have a lovely smile)

As for me, Love You Teacher comes as one of Thai good production and lovely surprise this year.

Read More

Subjectively great but objectively not. Touched my soul but it’s not for everyone

A really heart warming show. It’s not that perfect show that I go everywhere and say watch it cause it’s masterpiece but during the show I really feel like it touched my soul. Really like the character development and how they became a better partner. It’s not a show that I recommend to everyone but if you are looking for a romance with some small romantic drama and character development it’s definitely for you

P.S: tbh it’s not a great show that I watch and say oh god what a plot or what a good twist. But it really got me. The 9.5 points I got to show is totally subjective because I feel like it touch my soul and emotion. I liked the show on and off at first and middle because objectively it’s not a great show. But when I finished it it felt just right. It wasn’t short that I say I missed it. It wasn’t long that I say it was boring. And the characters feels like humans to me. They are not perfect people. They do not look like they are perfect. They just feel like humans from my era. I can see that there might be a friend of me who have some faults in his relationship or have wrong view to the life just like one of the characters in the show

Read More