Reviews

True Masterpiece

Set three years after the chaos of Naksu the soul shifter’s rampage, Jang Uk had risen from the dead and became the strongest man in the realm at the highest level of Hwansu, all thanks to the ice stone that had settled in his body. Now working as soul shifter slayer for the palace, Jang Uk came across an imprisoned young lady in Jinyowon as he slain a soul shifter who had went into hiding in the compound, and after pleading by the lady, he abided in making steps for her to escape the prison. Little did he knew, they would later be embroiled in a much deeper relationship that he could ever imagined, that would eventually unlock their past, present and future fate.

Now I get why this series had been such a hype. It truly was a real masterpiece that combined romance, grief, action, revenge, friendship, comedy and drama into one perfect balance.

I dont know if the actor purposely got thinner to portray the grief-stricken Jang Uk, but i really thought he looked severely gaunt here, which matches his character as someone who is losing sleep due to the great burden he had to carry as the ice stone wielder, with a soul empty due to the loss of his beloved half. However, his martial moves got fiercer, bolder and deadlier thanks to the ice stone, and nobody in the realm ever dared to cross him. Although I hated how he treated Jin Buyeon in the beginning, I get why the writer had to make him as such.

I totally love Jin Buyeon here. heck I rarely like physically weak female character, but Jin Buyeon’s daring acts just couldnt make me dislike her. Her relentless escapes, her daring move to strike a deal with her future husband, her extremely bold decision to ask Jang Uk to marry her, her unwavering acts of trying to comfort Jang Uk when he constantly pushes her away is truly another level. I love it when she gets sulky with Jang Uk and Maidservant Kim would reprimand her beloved Young Master for making Jin Buyeon mad or cry. The screenwriter did a real good number with this character and the actress is phenomenal.

I actually liked the portrayal of Jang Uk-Jin Buyeon as a couple more than Jang Uk-Mudeok, although i must admit both actresses had an astronomical level of chemistry with the ML and i actually had a hard time deciding. Both were of equal beauty and talent, and I truly love both. But Season 2 set a whole different setting and phenomena, and since it ended with great satisfaction, I just had to give it a higher rating.

And lets not forget the ever so unforgettable Crown Prince Go Won. His character intrigued me in season 1, and he’s even more charming in season 2 despite his ever so changing flags. This grey character, that seemingly need to choose the dark path for political survival but at heart so badly wanted to tread in the light path for a better kingdom had not for his evil master Jin Mu constantly corrupting his heart, is truly hard to despise. Ever since season 1, i had failed to hate this character even when he was bullying Jang Uk. And when they started to politely banter with each other, they become one of the amusing scenes i always enjoy. One of the reasons I don’t really fancy kdramas is they like to yell and scream during arguments just to show superiority, so I kinda appreciate it when I come across a show that has amicable mature banter that doesnt involve banshee-like screaming and yelling.

Oh man I love love love the couple Park Jin-Kim Yeon. Such a cute middle age couple that could make hearts flutter. And dammit they just had to make me shed useless tears for their almost deaths. Grrrrrr. By the end of season 1, i kinda gotten the drift that whenever marriage is mentioned, there would be chaos to ensue next. 3 supposed marriages were mentioned throughout season 1 and 2,, and yep, 3 chaos had occured that stopped the marriages from happening.

Basically there wasnt any that I could really complain with this show. Just watch it!

Read More

Beautiful set, enchanting plot

Xianxia drama with a less troupe-y plot and beautiful visuals from the cast, and set costumes. If you like Dilraba, this is a show to watch. Her styling was immaculate and the costumes were a visual treat, and her acting, IMO, just keeps getting better recently (the most recent drama I watched with her as a lead was LotTL

Pros:
- The acting by both leads, and their chemistry! The FL's loneliness, rage, sadness, yearning, love, resignation to fate, hope, joy etc wow Dilraba had a beautifully nuanced and measured portrayal of the range of emotions experienced by the FL. Same with the ML, have never watched shows by Arthur Chen but the contrast in emotions portrayed by him for the ML was an enjoyable watch.
- I actually liked the interaction between Jiang Ai and Bai San Xing haha they were cute. Feng Yi also provided much comedic relief, and the other scenes were he portrayed a more grounded/responsible/serious demeanor were an enjoyable contrast to watch.
- The OSTs! So beautiful and such a treat to listen to, especially 若能在你眼中!! Gets me in the feels everytime.
- The CGI used in the drama was beautiful and incorporated smoothly, which complemented the portrayal of the fantasy world that the drama was set in, and the sparkly magical skills that the characters had.

Cons:
- The lighting is harsh in certain angles, which reduces the immersiveness of the set (i.e., looks fake), and the CGI at the start was - somewhat campy looking.
- I...did not really feel much from the ML's acting...but to be fair his visuals are not appealing to me so maybe there is some bias there.
- I cannot take Miles Wei seriously in this role lol, his character was constantly oscillating between being a puppy for the FL, trying to seem nefarious and evil, supposedly being power hungry and then scheming to bring the ML down. The characterisation was not particularly strong or distinct which made it harder to feel for him. Still a visual treat to look at though, especially with all the beautiful set costumes. To be fair I might also be biased as I watched his other shows where he starred as predominantly green/beige flag ML characters without much grey area characterisation so...but yeah it did feel like there was room for improvement for the portrayal of the villain role (e.g. Qi Min in Pursuit of Jade where you hate him but you also felt for him).
- There was not a lot of background context to certain motivations, charactor relationships or even the background world building context so you have to suspend coherant logic for certain segments.
- Certain parts of the plot were a bit draggy, speedran through the second half just to know how they resolved it in the end. When that is the main motivating factor to finish a show, there is little rewatch value or memorable scenes which would I would want to watch again.

Read More

Sold Out on Logic

The biggest struggle I had with this drama is that the writing fails to create a believable or likable premise for both the story and its characters. While I can usually suspend disbelief for rom-coms, the setting here just defies logic in a way that’s hard to overlook.

For anyone who’s worked in a big corporation or any industry, it’s impossible to believe that one person could make every decision on their own. Yet, the female lead somehow manages to be the spokesperson, seller, R&D, QA, procurement, customer service, and delivery person all at once—completely unrealistic. And who wears 4-inch strappy heel sandals to the countryside? Not only are they impractical, but they’re also out of place and far from trendy.

The leads are all frustratingly self-centered and self-destructive, acting as though the rules don’t apply to them. Even the male lead, despite his good intentions, justifies questionable actions as 'helping' the female lead or the villagers. The female lead takes it up a notch—she’s ten times more frustrating and, honestly, hard to root for. As for the supporting male lead, he feels flat and one-dimensional, with motivations that don’t add up.

Between the unrelatable characters, the illogical setting, and the lack of charm or emotional connection, it’s hard to find anything to enjoy or stay invested in.

Read More

Only giving it 8 stars because it genuinely managed to annoy me every single episode.

This drama was genuinely entertaining, but also one of the most frustrating zombie dramas I’ve watched in a while. Half the time I was impressed, and the other half I was questioning how some of these characters survived longer than five minutes. It constantly felt like the show was rage baiting me on purpose.

First of all, the zombie makeup and effects were REALLY good. The zombies actually looked scary and realistic instead of looking like people who skipped sleep for three days. One thing that also surprised me was how fast the apocalypse escalated. Usually, in zombie shows, the government spends five episodes "evaluating the situation." Not here! By Day 2, helicopters were already in the air, shooting everything that moved. The efficiency was actually impressive.

Now let’s talk about the characters and their collective lack of survival instincts.

WHY do these people refuse to understand the concept of infection??? Bite = Bad. It’s not a personality change, it’s not a rough phase, they are literally turning into a zombie. Yet every time someone transformed, the others would stand there trying to talk emotionally to them instead of running away. Like yes, Shaila, that was your friend two minutes ago, but now she sees you as a snack. Please RUN.

And then there’s Fah. Oh my god, GURL MEET ME OUTSIDE.
The group already figured out that zombies attack based on sound, right? So when her phone started ringing, what does this genius do? Throw it away? Turn it off? NO ❤️ She runs around carrying the loudest object in Thailand while attracting fifty zombies and then runs straight back to her friends like: “Guys look!! I brought guests 😍”

Pao was another character that really frustrated me. I’ve seen people defend him by saying he was misunderstood or mentally unstable after losing his friends, and while I understand trauma affected him, the problem is that everyone in this drama lost someone. The apocalypse wasn’t easy for anyone. The P.E. team especially suffered because of the terrible decisions made around them. Characters like Gus, Korn, and Aek genuinely felt like people who were trying to survive logically, so seeing them pay the price for someone else’s stupidity was honestly painful.

Let’s talk about the "Patron" logic. This man didn't want to be immortal, but he didn't want his body to rot. So his big plan was to be a fresh, non-rotting corpse? Sir, what exactly is the vision here? Because from my understanding, you are still VERY dead. The logic is as rotting as the zombies should be.

And the ending honestly irritated me the most. After watching everyone fight tooth and nail to survive, the rescue was basically for Ning and her brother only. Meanwhile everyone else who had been suffering through this nightmare was just left behind. The whole disaster started because of Ning's mother’s lie and the experiments surrounding the serum, yet somehow they were treated like the chosen ones while everyone else was disposable. The drama barely shows what happens to the remaining survivors.

Out of all the characters, Boss (Phu) was honestly the only one I consistently liked. He actually used his brain, tried to understand situations logically, and behaved like someone who genuinely wanted to survive.

Anyways, If you’re looking for a show that makes you feel like an absolute genius compared to the characters on screen, ZOMVIVOR is for you.

Read More

Slice of Life with Cute Cells and Romance!

To tell you the truth, I haven't watched previous seasons of Yumi's Cells. Nevertheless, this season 3 still give complete feelings in overall feel, although I want more.

The story starts off with Yumi, a romance writer, who now having little romance emotions and feelings, finding inspiration to work on new project. Her romance emotional cells and other feelings cells have been either slept or freezed. It was until, she finally fell for someone again that her cells in town wakes up to work again.

Shin Sun Rok, a novel editor, was complete rational and followed logic when came to working and his work collegue. He was such introvert that he can be very relaxed home and fully charged with energy when he was alone in home activities. Nevertheless, his inner world and logic were shaken once he realized he fell in love.

As usual, I generally like the relaxed and clear cinematography of this slice of life drama. It is once again nice to see a drama that doesn't really have a villain. By saying so, we can still count Kim Ju Ho, another writer, as a little antagonist as he was such pursuer towards Yu Mi and Shin Sun Rok's love rival. The two men fight scene near end of episode 6 was funny. Well, there is no real harm done here.

The romance development in the last two episodes felt rushed after a steady slice of life scenes in earlier episodes. I wish there were few more episodes.

Nevertheless, I like that Shin Sun Rok no longer follow his strict logic. And Yumi finally get to marry, with their little cells surrounding.
Cells are the highlight of this drama for me. From Yumi's writer cell that is all logical to her romantic love cell are all endearing to me.
And yep I also like how Shin Sun Rok has additional cells such as his guardian cell and superman cell, work to get to conquer Yumi.

All in all, watching this drama is such a delight.
My score is 9/10.
P.S The drama ending ost is very nice too.

Read More

A nice adventure

Okkk...this is my dream come true drama. Every comic-drama fan has that one story they love and one actor they love and wish their paths crossed and he becomes the lead for it. This one's mine!

My entry to comic world was through Douluo Dalu (Soul Land). And my favorite actor since The Untamed, Xiao Zhan. And when you know HE is going to p,ay the lead role, what more to ask? 😁😁

The story was close enough to the comic and the effects were good, nothing looked fake. Production quality is good. The story does not lag. You can see feel character development quite well.

Cast wise, it was 8/10. They played their roles well. However, my one complaint would definitely be the age. The story follows young teenagers. And the cast was well, fully grown adults in their 20s and 30s. Do they go well together? Yes. But does it fit the original story? No. Then again, the acting was on point, so can't be sad.

Songs were good. Especially 'Youth on Horseback' (biased but duh! Obvious of Xiao Zhan 😏🤭)

If you love action and friendship and fantasy and magic all packed into one, this is it. Rewatch worthy of you are into the entire championship and leveling up thing. Ya, would recommend this adventure 👍🏻

Read More

Almost Perfect

I like to give 10/10 for dramas I like. I tend to be generous even if there are flaws. I really want to give this a 10, but can't because of two things.

First, what worked really well:
1) Sismance, or enemies to friends. The show is clear about how horrible it is to be in the harem--how the women have no choice but to backstab each other for survival. I love how the FL turns competitive consorts into friends. It was such a breath of fresh air to see women lift each other up, instead of the norm in c-dramas of women backstabbing each other.
2) Relationship between the FL and 2FL. Not only do they go from enemies to best friends, but I thoroughly enjoyed their joint scheming.
3) The FL saves the ML multiple times--whether it's his life, his heart, or his mind in becoming a good leader.
4) Female empowerment. The story always centers around the FL. Of course, the ML is also prominent, but she is the central axis. It was so satisfying to see an empress rule alongside her emperor. I also liked how she started the schools for girls.
5) The other strong female characters--even the ones you loved to hate.
6) A really great twist.
7) The scenery and sets are gorgeous.
8) The costumes are beautiful.
9) Even the villain is eye candy.


Why I couldn't give it a 10:
1) The ML was downright cruel in two separate incidents: when he punishes her by punishing her loved ones (the secret guards); and when he allows her to keep thinking that he is dead. She forgives him way too easily. Also, him drugging her was gross. I'm sick of male characters doing awful things to female characters supposedly because they are trying to protect them. The women shouldn't need protection FROM the men they love. There are ways to be good partners without doing messed-up things.
2) Death of Consort Xie and no mention of her in the present timeline. Did the death in the novel mean a death for her in real life? It would've been great to see her in the end, even briefly as another passenger on the subway.

If the two things above don't make you angry, I'd recommend the show.

Read More

A Familiar Stranger is one of those rare mini dramas that wastes absolutely no time. With 18 episodes running only 10–15 minutes each, the entire series is roughly the length of four or five standard episodes — yet it manages to pack in intrigue, twists, and tension.

What impressed me most was how tightly written the story is. There are no unnecessary side plots, no endless misunderstandings dragged out for filler, and no secondary romances competing for attention. Everything moves quickly and purposefully, making it dangerously easy to binge in one sitting.

The drama does use familiar Chinese drama tropes — face-swapping (think 'In Blossom') and politically forced marriages — but it executes them with enough intensity and momentum to keep things engaging.

Shen Qin is secretly involved with Prince Ning and is even pregnant with his child. However, political schemes and espionage force her into an imperial marriage decree with General Xiao HanSheng. Desperate to escape her fate, Shen Qin manipulates Shi Qi into exchanging faces with her in return for saving her sister's life.

When Shi Qi awakens, she finds herself wearing Shen Qin's face and standing in the General's residence on the very day of the wedding. The irony? General Xiao HanSheng is actually the man who once saved her life — the man she has quietly loved ever since.

Things quickly spiral from there. The General begins to suspect that his new bride is not really Shen Qin and is strangely similar to the woman he once loved. Meanwhile, Prince Ning starts obsessively pursuing the fake Shen Qin, believing she is still the woman with whom he had the illicit affair.

Naturally, nothing unfolds as simply as it first appears. Secrets pile upon secrets, loyalties shift, and several twists emerge along the way. The beauty of the short format is that the drama does not linger too long on any revelation — the story keeps moving at full speed.

I originally picked this drama purely out of convenience. I only had a couple of days left on my streaming subscription and wanted something short to squeeze in before jumping to another platform to continue my ever-growing watch list. I expected a quick filler watch — nothing more.

Instead, I found myself unexpectedly hooked. What began as a “just something short to pass the time” drama gradually drew me deeper into its twists and intrigue. Compact, fast-paced, and surprisingly addictive, this mini drama proves you do not need 40 episodes stuffed with filler to tell an engaging story.

Read More

Watch if you are a fan of Xiao Zhan

For background context, this drama was highly anticipated for me ever since the trailer came out for it because I am a fan of the original novel and Xiao Zhan. And the trailer combined with the OST really brought out the wow factor further. So while I enjoyed it in general because I am already a fan, it might not be as enjoyable to someone who does not have any prior understanding of the original novel, and I would recommend The Land of Warriors (2024) sequel instead.

Pros
- Stellar acting from Xiao Zhan, for each arc of his journey. It was a treat to see the progress of Tang San from his adolescence (maybe Xiao Zhan looked a little too mature for that segment, but the youthful exuberance he portrayed made it reasonable), to the period spent in Shrek academy and up till the final confrontation towards the end of the show. Be it moments of insecurity and loneliness in his childhood days, to his underlying commitment to justice, the dedication and protection of the FL, to his rage and pain at the antagonist that was charged with emotional intensity - every scene was a treat to watch.
- Evocative and highly complementary OSTs, it was an especially nice touch that some of the OSTs were sung by the cast members too (Xiao Zhan, Wu Xuanyi, Liu Run Nan).

Cons
- Not sure how much the budget for the drama was but....the set design looked quite shabby, and some costumes looked drab and run-down. Like it was to the point where the cast looked somewhat ludicrous,
- The plot is quite different from the original story, and while it was engaging enough, it felt abit jarring because there was not as much context provided within the show itself. So the changes in plot felt somewhat jarring and not cohesive to the story.
- Felt that the romantic chemistry between the leads was a bit lacking...but then again they were in the stage where it was more of a 'sibling' relationship so...perhaps it was more of a directorial decision and not about the acting skill.

Tldr, watch only if you like the leads or the original novel, and if you do not mind moderate changes to the plot. If not the production quality really leaves much to be desired at times and the watch time can be better spent elsewhere, lol.

Read More

Another disappointing general for Ryan Cheng

Another great story and cast ruined by horrendous acting of the female general. In both legend of the female general and here in shadow love - wrong casting, bad acting..I am sorry but generals do not act that way:

- you go into battle without a sword?
- unable to do minimal strategy? Freeze?
- wilting flower tactics? Really?
- wearing diamonds in a military camp?
- adolescent temper tantrums .. in a general?
- you want world peace but you immediately threaten a child with a sword?
- I see the obsession with ultra thin/ borderline anoerexic female actresses but doesn’t the director think it might be stretching it that the sword itself is almost as heavy as the woman?

And legions of men, warriors respect this and follow into war?

The rest of the cast are great. But this actress in shadow love and the one in female general are beyond disappointing.

These show are fantastically written- I love that we are seeing women as generals and leading armies - but can we make it at least believable?

Or is it on purpose? These actresses play generals that are not believable so we are subconsciously told that a female general could never happen…

Read More

Ultimate Rewatchable K-Drama

This is such a classic. I bet this was the start of most people's obsession with K-dramas and full proof that not every romance drama needs overly detailed and perfectly executed writing. Sometimes, all we need is a simple yet well-done romance that can make you laugh on the days when you need it.

I appreciate the comedy and the storyline. Though, despite rewatching it a thousand times, I still don't get why the background story is necessary.

It can make you cringe in the best way possible, and I'm a sucker for the boss x secretary trope. They have the best chemistry ever, to the point that I was hoping they'd get together in real life lol.

Read More