The Post Production Editing Was Distracting
It got better the sadder it got and I'm sure that says something about me as a viewer. I enjoyed the last three episodes because they had to tone down the excessive amount of sound and visual effects used in the first half of the series to match the more serious tone of the second half. I hope Baipor and BamBam get another chance to shine in a true drama together. Their chemistry was good and I think they proved it is something they can do.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Mostly really really good. But when it's bad it's really bad.
First off, let's focus on the positives. The two leads, Bail Lu and Allen Ren, are really good, renewing their quirky chemistry from One and Only only this time in a romance that doesn't have societal and imperial forces blocking them from marriage. The two characters are both 'different' from normal FL & ML characters and both are likely somewhere on the autistic / ADHD spectrum. Both characters are extremely high-functioning, but also each has quirky issues. Ren's character, Zhou Sheng Chen, in particular has quirks that at time feel close to debilitating. But strangely, both characters are immediately drawn to each other and fit perfectly together in complementary ways that just 'work' for their characters. This builds into a slow-paced but incredibly solid love story between two souls that, per the premise of One and Only being their 'past life', seemed destined to finally be together.Ren has a difficult role to play, being a very different sort of character that is not always easy for the audience to empathize with. He mostly does an outstanding job though perhaps overplays it a bit at times. Some of that may be the fault of the script and direction, though.
Bai Lu's character is also quirky but at least is a little more conventional. She absolutely nails it as this Shi Yi really feels like a modern incarnation of past life Shi Yi. Outwardly sweet, shy and endearing, yet quietly extremely talented and intelligent. The show is by far the most enjoyable to watch when Bail Lu is on-screen. She is able to bring elegance and grace when needed in one scene and goofy cute silliness in the next and she's always so 'real' with her portrayals because she never overacts. An absolute queen of micro-expressions.
The rest of the cast is solid though I can't really call out any outstanding performances since most of the supporting characters just didn't get a lot to do in the story even though they presented as potentially having more to show. The SML character of Mei Xing, played by Ci Sha, has the only other important story arc, as it is implied that he is also reincarnated from the One and Only timeline. He seems clearly to be the modern life of the psychotic prince Liu Zi Xing who was just awful and caused so much pain for past-life Zhou SHeng Chen and Shi Yi in O&O. Past life Xing brutally tortured and killed ZSC and motivated Shi Yi to take her own life in order to follow ZSC. So this 'modern' Xing has a lot of past life sins to atone for and pay penance for. After initially looking like he, as in the past life, also might become bizarrely obsessed with Shi Yi, eventually shows that he's not going to be the same in this life. He holds true as the most loyal of friends to modern life Zhou Sheng Chen. And eventually finds his way to realizing that he loves Chen's younger sibling. His loyalty and faithful service to ZSC is his atonement for the injustices he committed to past-life ZSC. His acknowledgement of his love for Chen's sister Zhou Wen Xing is atonement for his dismissal of the love that Qi Xing Hua had offered in the past life. And the pain he endures as he has to watch Wen Xing's life slip away from him is his penance to endure in this life. If the whole 'next life' premise of these two stories is to be accepted, then one has to believe that in a future life, Mei Xing and Wen Xing will finally be able to be happy together.
So the acting performances were solid and those two main romance arcs, one ultimately happy and the other sad but perhaps hopeful for the next life were overall good. The production values are all excellent. Some beautiful cinematography, great on-point wardrobes and costumes and beautiful sets. Oh, and really nice musical soundtrack as well. What's not to like?
Well ... just a couple of things. For the most part, when the story is moving forward with the quirky but steady romance, it works well and is very intelligently scripted. But whenever the story decided to add an 'exciting drama event' .... it is just a disaster. In those scenes, suddenly characters just start behaving incredibly stupid and bizarrely, seemingly on purpose to just make the drama event as crazy bad as possible. This happens 3 times in particular.
****SPOILERS****
In one scene, Mei Xing, who is very drunk, is being driven back by side character Lin Fei along a highway. Some 'bandits' stand out on the road holding clubs, with the apparent intention to rob passing vehicles. So what does Lin Fei do? First, he slows gradually to a halt. He could easily have kept up speed and simply dared the thugs to jump out of the way. Or he could have thrown the car into reverse to get away and then turned around to leave easily. But no. for no apparent reason he stops. And then he makes it worse by STEPPING OUT OF THE CAR????? That made absolutely zero sense. He should have stayed in the car and called police. And driven away. So both he and Mei Xing end up getting beaten by the thugs (who of course it turns out were actually sent there by the villain of the story but that's irrelevant to just how stupid this scene played out). The whole scene just drops your jaw as you watch it, wondering how any human could be that stupid. Yes, the plot wanted a scene where the villain had some thugs beat up Mei Xing. Fine. But it could have easily, EASILY have been done without looking comically stupid and contrived like this.
Later, in another 'important' scene, Shi Yi and Wen Xing are sitting in a boat with a boatman paddling them slowly along the canal during a festival. Fine. Then, when they decide it was time to go back, for some inexplicable reason both girls stand up in the boat. Naturally Shi Yi falls into the water. Naturally Shi Yi can't swim. UN-naturally, THE BOATMAN CAN"T SWIM EITHER!!! This forces the chronically ill Wen Xing to have to jump into the water to save Shi Yi. This event puts Shi Yi into a coma for a bit and dramatically worsens Wen Xings already poor health. The 'event' was important to the story. But how it played out was just so silly and contrived. It just, again, seems like any half-decent writer could have written that scene so it would play out more realistically.
Another event that I won't go into too much detail is the 'acute appendicitis' event that again, makes no sense. This gets glossed over with no appendectomy occurring which makes no sense. But whatever. Magic medicine made it go away?
The last major plot event that was just bizarre to watch play out is near the end of the series: Through a combined sequence of just incredibly bizarre behaviors and stupid decisions by multiple characters, the 'villain' o f the story, Zhou Wen Chuan, manages to take Shi Yi hostage and ends up hurting both her and Zhou Sheng Chen seriously in a just totally silly sequence. The end result is Shi Yi falls into a coma. And this leads into by far, the WORSt 2 episode stretch of the whole series. Basically both episodes 28 and 29 are utter garbage. Shi Yi spends nearly all of it in a coma and all the other characters act bizarre and strange and the whole thing just drags incredibly slowly. All you can do is grit your teeth and wait for Shi Yi to finally wake up, which finally happens in Episode 30. At that point, seeing Bai Lu again is like fresh air and at least gives a decent 'bounce back' to end the series. But man, both episodes 28 & 29 are so bad they nearly ruined the entire series for me. They are just shocking poorly written after the first 27 episodes had been mostly very well written. They are just full of things, both little and large, that just make no sense because people simply do not really act or do things in the way these episodes portrayed.
I haven't read the books so I can't say whether these 'drama events' are better, more intelligently told in the book or not. But these events were played out just shockingly bad in this show. They really felt like some drunk college freshman in drama club wrote and directed them. And that was so at odds with the way the rest of the show was written.
Okay. That's a lot of complaints about what amounts to 2 full episodes and parts of 2 others. Aside from those bad bits, I found the rest of the series quite enjoyable and do give it a 'thumbs up'. I do think the show is more enjoyable for folks who endured the painful, beautiful tragedy of One and Only. So that may be an impediment for some viewers. But if you have that behind you, Forever and Ever is mostly a much deserved pleasant treat to watch. Just grit your teeth through the above cringe parts.
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Easy to watch
Maybe I set my expectations too high seeing that they made three seasons. Maybe I am just not in the mood for this type of comedy nowadays. Not that it's bad, just that it's not everyone's cup of tea. It is very Korean style light-hearted comedy which can be cheesy at times. But aside from the comedy, it does have a darker thriller plot.My biggest takeaway is the feeling that, for Lee Je Hoon, this is not work, this is his hobby lol. Specifically during the voice phishing arc.
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This review may contain spoilers
Incredible cast
The cast is incredible. Ren Su Xi's acting is so natural as usual. I looked forward to Wang Xiao who did not disappoint. I was also curious about Ye Zu Xin. I don't think his voice is that suited for this role, it sounded like he was purposefully making his voice sound deep and low. But his acting is solid. Lan Xi Ya's role is very limiting, but she did a good job. I haven't watched any of Dong Qing's dramas, but her performance in this one really impressed me. Her breakdowns were really captivating even though it's another situation where the male counterpart can't keep up. During her highlight scenes, I didn't feel like her brother managed to act out his character's very complicated emotions. I'm confused if they purposefully wrote the brother the way they did.Otherwise, the only criticism I have of this drama is that: it's a drama that makes me feel like a lot is happening, yet nothing is happening at all. The suspense is definitely there, but somehow the plot feels like it's moving kind of slow. The open ending and how short the show was definitely contributed to this feeling. I think Chinese dramas should stick to their roots and film everything in one go. Please don't torture me with cliff hangers.
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Happy to watch this one
I don't understand this low rating. I really enjoyed this drama! Super interesting to watch! Romantic, mature, realistic! A true story! I was happy to watch it! Next ep is better than last one.Não entendi essa baixa avaliação. Eu gostei muito desse drama! Super interessante de assistir! Romântico, maduro, real! Uma história de vida! Fiquei feliz por assistir! 💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
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Overstyled Emotion That Doesn’t Always Land
Tasty Florida has a very specific vibe and aesthetic, but the execution often leans a bit too heavily into drama for its own good. While it tries to build emotional and romantic tension, a lot of it comes off as overly dramatic, especially considering the subject matter.The story itself is simple, and at times it feels like it’s stretching moments or reactions beyond what they naturally need to be. Instead of letting quieter or more grounded scenes breathe, the drama tends to amplify emotions, which doesn’t always feel earned. That makes it harder to fully connect with what’s happening on screen.
On the positive side, the visual style and atmosphere are decent and help set the tone. The actors also do a fair job with what they’re given, but the writing doesn’t always support their performances enough to make the emotional beats hit properly.
Overall, Tasty Florida feels like a drama that is trying a bit too hard to be impactful, but ends up feeling more exaggerated than emotionally deep.
Verdict:
A short watch with an interesting setup, but too overly dramatic to feel fully engaging.
Rewatch Value:
None — not something you’d really go back to.
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Hurts More Than It Satisfies
Duty After School Part 2 continues the intensity of the first part and, honestly, it’s hard to stop watching once you start. The tension stays high, the stakes feel even heavier, and there’s still that emotional pull that keeps you invested all the way through.There’s a lot to like here. The drama still does a good job with its characters, and a few of them are genuinely very lovable—you naturally get attached to them without even realizing it. The acting is solid overall, and while it’s not flawless, it’s more than enough to carry the emotional weight of the story. Even when things get messy or frustrating, it never really loses your attention.
But this part definitely leans more into frustration than enjoyment at times. Without going into spoilers, the direction the story takes—especially toward the end—feels like it builds up a lot of emotion only to leave you a bit drained and unsatisfied. It’s the kind of ending that doesn’t fully land the way you want it to, even if you understand what they were going for.
And that’s probably the biggest issue: it’s not that it’s bad, it’s that it feels a bit emotionally incomplete. You’re left caring about these characters, but not fully getting the payoff you were hoping for.
Still, despite that, it’s impossible to say it wasn’t engaging. Even during the frustrating parts, you’re still watching, still curious, still emotionally involved—which says a lot about how gripping the series is overall.
Verdict:
An intense and emotional continuation that stays engaging throughout, but ends on a frustrating and slightly unsatisfying note.
Rewatch Value:
Moderate — maybe once or twice, mainly for the characters and emotional moments, but not something you’d revisit often.
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Chaos, Youth, and Tension
Duty After School Part 1 is one of those dramas that pulls you in pretty quickly and keeps you there. With its mix of sci-fi tension and high school dynamics, it could have easily fallen flat—but instead, it turns into something genuinely engaging and, at times, surprisingly emotional.One of its biggest strengths is definitely the characters. It’s easy to get attached to a few of them—they feel real, and their reactions to everything going on around them make sense. And yes, there are some frustrating or “annoying” characters, but honestly… it works. They’re teenagers thrown into an extreme situation, and not everyone is going to act brave or rational. In that sense, the writing actually feels pretty grounded.
The show also does a solid job with its overall production. The acting is convincing, the OST fits the tone well, and the special effects are better than expected, especially for a drama like this. It all comes together to create a tense atmosphere that keeps you invested from episode to episode.
That said, the drama isn’t perfect. While you do grow attached to certain characters, it feels like the show misses opportunities to go deeper. A bit more background, more personal moments, or even small backstories could have made the emotional impact hit even harder. You care—but you can feel that there was room to care even more.
There are also a few frustrating moments along the way, but nothing major enough to take away from the overall experience. They come and go without really damaging the story.
In the end, Duty After School Part 1 is a strong and enjoyable watch. It balances tension, emotion, and realism in a way that keeps you hooked, even if it doesn’t fully explore everything it sets up.
Verdict:
A gripping and emotional drama with strong characters and solid production, held back slightly by a lack of deeper character development.
Rewatch Value:
High — especially for the characters you grow attached to.
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Behind the Mask Lies Missed Opportunities
Ms. Incognito starts off with a pretty interesting idea—secrets, hidden identities, a bit of mystery—and to its credit, it doesn’t always go the predictable route. A lot of the time, the characters feel like they’re actually a few steps ahead, which keeps things engaging and makes the story feel a bit smarter than expected.At the same time though, that consistency isn’t always there. There are moments where situations feel like they could’ve easily been avoided or anticipated, which takes away from the tension a bit. It creates this push and pull where the drama feels clever in some scenes, then slightly frustrating in others.
The pacing is also a bit uneven. Some parts flow well and keep you hooked, while others drag longer than necessary. Ironically, for a story that sometimes stretches certain conflicts, it also feels like it could’ve benefited from being a bit longer overall—especially to properly develop certain aspects.
The romance, in particular, feels underdeveloped. It’s there, but it never fully grows into something you can really get invested in. A bit more focus and build-up would’ve made a big difference and added more emotional weight to the story.
The characters are still enjoyable to follow, and the cast does a solid job with what they’re given. Even when the writing isn’t at its strongest, the performances help keep everything grounded and watchable.
Visually, the drama is clean and polished—nothing that really stands out, but it fits the tone and does its job well.
Overall, Ms. Incognito is a good, easy watch with some genuinely interesting moments, but it doesn’t quite reach its full potential. It had the pieces to be something more memorable, but settles somewhere in the middle instead.
Verdict:
A solid watch if you’re in the mood for something light and mildly intriguing, just don’t expect a fully fleshed-out story.
Rewatch Value:
Low — more of a one-time watch unless you’ve got nothing else lined up.
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basic story but still bad in general
it was bad tbh I really wanted to watch it because of tlefirstone and I was really excited, but as soon as I started it i already felt disappointed, also why put literal sexual harassment in the show, I know it’s kinda normalized in bls and I really don’t get why and that goes for every bl. What’s up with the 81 episodes and then also 1min long, why not make episodes that go 40 minutes - 1 hour it would have been much easier to watch , it was such a hard watch in general the only thing that got me through it was tle & firestone.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This has everything I am looking for in a drama....great story, acting and skinship. A FL who that every female can relate to from her insecurities about her weight, to her struggle at work. Those issues both pull her down and is a catalyst for her road to change. Her belief that you can do anything you believe you can, builds up her courage and makes her into a person with a positive attitude and a can-do determination. This drama is also heavy on the romance, with many funny moments....which what I like. Lots of action with mixed martial arts and lovely males bodies to admire while they are doing their thing. Mr. Dripping with Sexy is so handsome and amazingly in shape....a serious athlete! The story is adorable, uplifting and inspirational. Will watch again and highly recommend
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This review may contain spoilers
The story & acting was good.It wasn't what I was expecting since the app I watched it on had it labeled as romance. I initially thought it was BL or possibly a bromance, but it's neither. It's just a decently written bodyswap story with a happy ending. A little choppy in places due to the nature of vertical dramas, but was still entertaining. Worth at least one watch.
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An Unpolished Gemstone from 2010
I gave it a try because I noticed this was an earlier work by the same screenwriter who wrote 'The Goblin' and 'The Glory'. Despite some rough edges this show has a very likable natural charisma.This came out in 2010-2011 and is a Cinderella story with a supernatural angle thrown in. Note that the supernatural side doesn't get revealed until well into several episodes. It then drops away and only reappears much later. It works.
Some of the commentary in the dialogue was seriously blunt talk about class differences and issues with marriage between the humble classes and the elite few. Later Cinderella stories I've seen toned it down from what's here.
The bad is the acting (or perhaps we should blame the directors?) which at times is horrible with the actors screaming out lines and bellowing (and to top it off when they shriek the sound cracks or breaks - poor quality sound). Very off-putting. And then even my first time through the rough transitions and dropped or mishandled threads are very noticeable. What saves the production, as flawed and dated as it is, is it has a lot of heart. I found myself ignoring the bad acting and getting so engrossed in the story that the full hour episodes flew by.
Given this came out in 2010 and the screenwriter later followed up with such polished work as Goblin and Glory (among others) it seemed often that there were story twists and scene situations that she was experimenting with and that later were used by her (and other screenwriters) very successfully in better executed productions.
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A satisfying drama
I wasn’t expecting much from this series, but it exceeded my expectations. Both the ML and FL were surprisingly compelling as two lonely souls undergoing the stresses of modern life and managing somehow to cope. These two are surrounded by other eccentrics–in particular a male cross-dresser who’s included and embraced by the people in the neighborhood. I was blown away by the fact that this character is portrayed as human and likable–not as a monster to be rejected and despised. This drama is funny, well-acted, and poignant. The only negative is the last episode which rushed the ending, leaving a number of plot points dangling. Other than that–a very satisfying drama.Was this review helpful to you?
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She didn't care, why should I?
Things I liked1 The acting of the ML. he's a great actor and he deserved a better partner, a better story, a better ending.
Things I disliked
1 The FL. She didn't convey any feelings and I'm not sure if it was her acting or the story that didn't work. Probably both, but I still think she was the weak link.
Things I hated
1 The ending. What exactly did they want to convey? I've seen dramas with sad endings that delivered but here there was nothing to like. The FL was an awful character and let me tell you something: she never loved him. That simple. but that wasn't the thing that irritated me the most. It was him giving her the possibility to come find him in the future. For what? to ruin his life? Unbelievable. This was a bad ending if I've seen one and no, I didn't cry, I wasn't moved. I was mad.
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