Reviews

PURELY BEAUTIFUL~

An innocent storied-beautiful masterpiece.
This was such a meaningful drama.

I felt like home watching this one. It was so calming.

Fang MuYang....Fang MuYang..... had the entire drama together. We all need a Fang MuYang in our lives. I mean, he's flawed. Yes. But he's like the one in a million.

The stroy was just amazing. It just thought me so many things in the most subtle way possible.
I'm so moved with the message this drama passed on to me,you and all of us.
The drama, makes me realise how important the present is, how important patience and persistence is and nevertheless how importance family ties are relationships are.

And yes. Speacial mentions are the MEN IN THIS DRAMA.

ALL MEN IN THIS DRAMA AS ABSOLUTE GEMS from Fei Mingde to Fei Ting to Qu Hua to Fang Qianyuan to Fang MuYang.... they were such amazing husbands, amazing individuals.
These characters with the other female ones gave deeper meaning to this drama. I genuinely appreciate the casting.

And yes, Chen Feiyu did wonders with this drama. I was flat a hundred times for his smile. And Sun Qian was cute tooo.

For me, the story, the casting all were a blast.


Please please please watch it. You WILL love it.

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Nostalgia mains served with a side of morality and a sweet romance desert

This is a nostalgic review of the birth of modern China and the principles that underpin it. I found it an interesting watch, not least because I can remember the fall of the Gang of Four and the change of direction that followed it. It was a time when the West and China began to reconfigure their relationship.

The drama takes place across four years and illustrates the changing times very clearly. If you were ever in doubt about what direction China was trying to move in, then this drama makes it abundantly clear. It is a sanitised version of history, preserving the sincerity and showing that if you stray from the intended path, either physically, mentally or morally, you will deservedly crash and burn. But then, that’s not just a theme/style for Chinese drama, it’s pretty universal imo. All countries have the tendency to sweeten the difficulties of the past for a bit of uplifting propaganda. It’s called nostalgia.

All the hallmarks of a Chinese romance drama are there. It sticks close to a semblance of reality; moves at a tortoise pace; has modest but determined women; soft and supportive men; lots of family drama; plots that leave you in no doubt of what the outcome will be at any given moment; clear lines of demarcation between the goodies and the baddies, who without fail will either reform or get their deserved comeuppance.

But within that accepted norm, this one offers some good performances. Especially by Arthur Chen and Sun Qian, who serve up a very credible and sweet romance. The rest of the cast also do their bit and I particularly liked the performance of Kong Lin as Mu Yang and Mu Jing’s mother.

Aside from a slow moving middle section which almost had me giving up, this worked well. Unfortunately, the delicious humour at the start faded out not to return. I think a little more leavening would have lifted that doughy middle section and made for easier digestion. The rating that I’m giving it is not so much about my own taste, but more how it sits in comparison to others in the genre.

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Just randomly watching Dramas of this ML.

Definitely like this one.

The scale of the problems are not country level, which is pretty good for me. Because I'm kinda overloaded by saving the country, wanting to become the king, war against another country themes. So yeah...



I liked the FL and the ML characters. They use their brains and know how to scheme correctly. They look like proper adults who really fit their roles.



The family matters on the FL side are also decent. I like that they showed how no matter what they are family and that, in some way, they really care for each other. I like the FL sisters, their family power struggle did carry the show at the beginning.



I'm also satisfied with the ending.

A wedding ceremony for the couple would have been icing on the cake, but alas. At least they ended up with each other.

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hyunjin we love you so much

highlights:

i think hyunjin was characterized beautifully as a first-time struggling mother. her sister. who functionally doubled as her mother died, leaving whj with a baby at a time when she JUST graduated from college and was struggling to even find work. everything she did was perfectly reasonable for someone in that position. she had a baby and was a temp contract worker, of course, she threw herself into the job in hopes of getting hired permanently. she needs MONEY to provide for the baby as a SINGLE mother? delusionals wanted her to be a single housewife becausing apparently raising a child is free? actually if she did that, the tatecels would have attacked her for starving wooju and leeching off of his and taehyung's money. she can't ever win with the mdl freaks. anyway, she cared about wooju so very much, and every minuscule expression on the actress's face proved it. (roh jeongui is just a brilliant actress.)

from her side, the story with the sml also makes sense. she's always given up everything she wanted to give space to other people, as an orphan, she's never been able to own anything herself. she finds out that the man she gave up in college actually wanted her too, yes of course, she's going to be into it. she went out with him a few times, realized this man was from a different point in her life, and didn't fit into her current life, and shut it down. ultimately, the only problem with this was that it occurred in ep 10 of a 12 ep show, and if they condensed the timeline into something more reasonable (or added more episodes to flesh out her endgame) it would have been truly perfect.

sun taehyung's storyline was also amazing. his background as an orphan, someone abandoned by the only family he'd ever known, and how that impacted his ability to connect with hyunjin and wooju was written so well. bae in hyuk is also an incredible actor; i think i might have cried with him in that episode where he finds out his brother left him to protect him from his abusive father. him slowly falling in love with hyunjin and wooju, creating a family of his own, learning that he can also love and BE loved by others, that his childhood wasn't his fault, everything about taehyung resonates with me so much.

also the baby is cute too. there's that.

lows:

the romance. what were we doing, genuinely?

i said that the sml line made sense from hyunjin's side, and it did. however, it made no sense from the sml's side. he has no personality aside from liking hyunjin, we barely know anything about him, and that makes his love of her so shallow. and they dragged it from episode 2 to episode 10 so they definitely could have thrown in at least one hj-centered trait. he's so generic webtoon ceo it hurts the eyes. again, it would have been perfect if they either shortened his arc OR developed him as a character. what's worse is that is that sml is a full-blown stalker in episodes 9-10, randomly showing up at hyunjin's house and also threatening taehyung like his abusive dad is somehow his fault, and sabotaging taehyung at every turn. and then in episode 12 we completely forget that. sml is overly kind again, supportive of taehyung as hyunjin's boyfriend, he's invited to wooju's birthday, and everyone loves him?? actually it's not even a case of split personality, it's everyone in-universe treating the stalker behavior as perfectly normal, including hj and th?? please address the gray trunk in the room.

the main romance is adorable (two sad people finding each other always is), but it's sprinkled through until episode 10, when they finally get together. the last two episodes do make it worth it, however.

watch if: you're normal about women, you can enjoy interesting characters even if they're not mother theresa incarnates, you don't care about romance

don't watch if: you admire andrew tate in any way, you're there for the baby, you hate working moms, you think mothers should kill themselves for their children, you get really invested in male characters and start projecting on the fl, boy moms in general stay away. roh jeong eui should legally be allowed to * some of you

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Yall saying this is not.... you're wrong.

Listen, I will always respect erroneous opinions. But this drama brought me (and thousands of X users) back to the binge-watching K-drama life!

For the first time in years, I finished a drama in less than three days. I don't know what y’all watched, or why you're saying the acting was bad or that there was no chemistry, because OMG my soul left my body several times watching this. I laughed out loud, I felt nervous, and I even felt pretty myself—if that makes any sense. Let me tell you, I was the first to feel disappointed when I found out what this drama was about. What do you mean AI-created boys you date in a virtual game?
I also wasn't sure about the Seo In‑guk and Jisoo pairing, but I found myself hyping them up as if my life depended on it.
I'm 27 years old—why am I crying over this beautiful tall man who yearns every time he breathes?

Seo In‑guk redefines longing—the waiting, the hope. I've never felt more desperate for a character to be loved. Jisoo's acting felt so natural that some of y’all are calling her weird and plain. Girl can act, and she has this drama to prove it. Their chemistry was overwhelming. At times I literally paused the show just to thank myself for giving this a chance.

After I finished Boyfriend on Demand, I remembered why it's so hard for me to find a boyfriend in real life: the standards, baby.
-Rom-coms are back.
-Longing, yearning, one-sided beef.
-He fell first. He fell harder.
-Not your typical boring clichés.

And more objectively speaking, Boyfriend on Demand is a fantasy rom-com. Don’t come here expecting an incredible storyline—there’s nothing life-changing about it. It’s simply an enjoyable drama: funny, romantic, and full of cameos that, honestly, are the least important part.

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The Demon Sect Was the Real Star

For me, Zhou Yiran completely stole the show as Mu Qing Yan. He was cunning, manipulative, and always scheming, yet you could still feel that he was good at his core. His character was easily the most compelling part of the drama.
I liked the female lead at first, but I was disappointed that she never truly separated herself from the sect or from her aunt’s shadow. Her aunt lived boldly and freely without regret, while Cai Zhao always seemed tied to that legacy instead of forging her own path.
You Guan Yue and Shangguan Hao Nan brought great comedic moments that added some much-needed fun to the story.
Honestly, the demon sect characters were far more entertaining than the supposedly righteous sect. At times the righteous side felt pretentious, and I couldn’t help thinking the drama might have been even better if it focused more on the demon sect.

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Worth your time, great chemistry, interesting new kind of story

I've just completed this drama and I totally loved it.
I've seen dramas of FL + ML before but I did not recognise the ML in the teaser. He is such a versatile actor and I am at awe how he can change from "I'm a poor puppy, protect me please" to "I'm a psycho and I might eat your liver just because I can". (he doesn't say that don't worry.)
I am surprised how the story turned out to be about empowering women and changing the game. So refreshing! Writers, please give us more of this kind of stories.
If you're tired of the damsel in destress then this is absolutely for you.

There is a lot of slow burning romance and I mean burning hot romance, the chemestry is absolutely there. The way it is shot there must have been a big enough budget. Clothes, costumes, everything seems high end and elaborated as you can see right in the opening scene.
The main leads are amazing but all the other cast members were great, too.
Some are added for a bit of humour, fun and warmth and I really appreciate the writing of this story - also because of this.

The ending is super nerve-wracking and I am happy they found a good enough ending.
I don't want to spoiler the end so I'm not gonna write much about it. I was hoping for a different kind of ending but in line with the writing it makes absolutely sense. So, cudos to the writers.

Of course, I whole heartedly recommend this drama and I'll probably rewatch it.

The snippet that worked as a teaser to go search this drama was from Kalos TV, "My game, My rules."

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Could not feel connected with the characters emotions at all. Felt so dead and soulless.

This was one of my most anticipated dramas, but turned out to be such a let down...?.
The overall vibe: mildest c-drama plot I’ve ever seen, especially for this genre. It was really hard to continue watching, so I dropped it. I was pushing through with my willpower to watch 5 more episodes b/c I kept gas lighting myself that it would get better based on some other review, but it didn’t. And I just decided not to waste my time, since it got so boring and slow.

Story: the only somewhat decent plot at the beginning was the story with Bing Zhu and his sister, Tan’er. Hong Ye’s backstory is so overdone. I didn’t complete the drama so I never got to confirm if Ning an really was Xiao Yao. But I’ve never truly appreciated reincarnation plot lines.

I never felt the spark between the ML and FL. I’m not sure if it was the acting, but there was no chemistry. Honestly the acting was off for both leads. Since I know that Tan Song Sun and Hou Ming Hao are good actors based off the others dramas I watched, I was surprised. Firstly, Hong Ye seems to always have the same expression and his demeanor is always neutral. Which made it s hard to connect with the characters. I Never felt excited during the fight scenes or blushing in the “romantic” ones. Tan Song Yun’s character is meant to be childish but witty. She is both, and does both. But some people found her acting was not good enough or that she isn’t a good fit for historical/wuxia/xianxia c-dramas; I honestly blame this on the production team and the director. Whoever was the director probably made the final cut and was clearly okay with how Hou and Song Yun acted, even if it wasn’t the best.

There was nothing to root for. Everything felt cliche. The cliff fall scene ?. 10 episodes in, they haven’t done a good job at creating the central problem/villian. I can see that the emperor is an antagonist and that the hatred between the demons and humans is a problem. But idk, the way the plot was carried out wasn’t it. There were no stakes. No one was actively trying to bring the two sides together. If they’re setting up this plot that Xiao Yao will bring calamity bc of her identity, they didn’t do it well enough. How would she even do that?

and then there’s that self claimed immortal fairy too. will they involve the immortal world into the plot too? I think they should have chosen one strong plot line and developed it in depth.

Xiao Yao is supposed to be both demon and human. She has minimal talent for demonic arts, her fire technique can be a distraction at most. How would the world turn upside down for her?
They made her sound so special but didn’t create her character intricate enough.

Hong Ye’s character is honestly boring.
I could not connect with any of the characters on an emotional level, couldn’t feel their sadness or happiness.
Idk what they were trying with this drama, but it felt like a bunch of loose plots thrown into a pot, bad character building. Trying so hard to be complex but failing to focus in.

My review may have sounded vague, but I think they didn’t give us enough to review. Sry if what I wrote is just as half-a**ed as the drama. I’m dropping this drama b/c I feel no excitement in continuing, and honestly I wouldn’t even persevere for the actors ( I do love them though✌️).

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When Tears Meet Laughter - Love, Hope, and Resilience Together

From the very first seconds, I felt completely drawn into the story, as if I were living the characters' lives myself. That immediate sense of immersion, where the emotions of the characters feel real and personal, is what makes a movie truly exceptional. When a film can make you forget the distance between screen and life, it has already succeeded in connecting with the viewer on the deepest level.

The story is heartbreaking and uplifting, raw and tender. In the first minutes, I found myself tearing up, then laughing from the belly, then tense, then relaxed, then crying again, only to laugh again and, at moments, cry and laugh at the same time. Every emotion is palpable: fear, joy, pain, suffering, and unexpected delight coexist naturally, just as they do in life. The male lead shines with humor, positivity, and humanity, showing that laughter can be a form of resistance, a way to survive hardship without losing hope. Knowing that the story is inspired by real-life events makes every moment even more poignant, emphasizing the fragility and beauty of human life.

“Let’s rock the sun together.” This line captures the warmth, humor, and companionship at the heart of the film. Yet Viva La Vida is more than optimism: it is a meditation on life’s fragility, its unpredictability, and the unexpected moments that can completely change our path. It teaches that hope is a choice, and faith in life, in its surprises and tiny miracles, can sustain us even in the darkest times. Life’s value is not measured by its ease or duration, but by how fully we live and how deeply we connect. It celebrates resilience, humor, compassion, and the courage to continue when the future is uncertain.

The filming, editing, writing, and acting are superb. Not a single frame or word is wasted. Despite its heavy themes, the movie remains sweet, funny, and deeply human. Pain and laughter, despair and hope, are interwoven seamlessly. It is a celebration of life in all its complexity, a reminder to cherish every fragile, fleeting moment.
Viva La Vida is not just a story about illness or survival, it is a story about living, loving, and embracing the unpredictable, beautiful miracle of life. A truly moving, inspiring, and unforgettable film.

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Great show, definitely worth watching!

Haven’t done many reviews on MDL, so be warned, there are spoilers!!!


This was such a wonderful show! it currently ranks top 2 for me so far this year. I loved the acting from both leads, they were phenomenal. The angst is the story felt real and justified. The dilemma between Cai Zhao picking her family over Mu Chingyan was so well done, and the fact she may still pick MCY in a life or death situation was very apparent. Even if it seemed like Cai Zhao was never chasing Mu Chingyan, I like the fact they made her say it herself. She admits that she could not do as much for MCY as he has done for her. But at the end of the day, both their love runs deep.

Maybe I’m just stupid, but I didn’t quite catch why Mu Chingyan persisted to practice the Ziwei method? I mean, I just think that he gave up because of Cai Zhao, but I guess he was so persistent because he wanted the Li Sect to unify with the others without facing prejudice?


oh my days, the last episode was a rollercoaster. I fully believed TWICE that Mu Chingyan was dead for. I was throwing my laptop and everything, but I’m glad it ended the way it did. Even though something felt missing by the end. Maybe it’s just the way c-dramas are, but all the blood spitting and being throw around, all of that just for them to recover fully felt a teeny bit unrealistic. For a good minute I thought the happy ending was just a dream, or the afterlife after MCY died and maybe Cai Zhao ended her life too...
but I prefer happy endings so let’s not go there!

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A little boring but not inherently bad

I knew what I was getting myself into when starting this. It seemed like one of those indie type filmed movies, where there’s plenty aesthetic shots, minimal dialogue, lots of symbolism and silent messages passed through every little move and interaction.

But, it was very boring in the beginning. 1 hour into the movie and it feels like nothing has happened. Strangely enough, it wasn’t the type of boring where you didn’t want to continue the movie but just like, anticipation type of boring if that makes sense. They’ve already set up what the story is about and you’re excitedly waiting for the big reunion to happen between the two main characters just like the daughter. But the beginning and first 1 hour of the movie was so extremely slow, I didn’t know what to wait for anymore lol.

Overall though, it was a cute little movie. The relationship between the mother and everyone else in the movie was very well put together. Although everything starts from the daughters point of view, when you think back on the movie, it really was the mothers POV instead.

Bittersweet, not dramatic at all, very quiet and emotional movie. Felt like I was watching real people on my screen, maybe that’s why it was a bit boring as well lol. That doesn’t inherently mean its bad but if you’re looking for an exciting wlw movie, this would probably bore you. Regardless, I liked it. The two separated yearners barely had screentime although the movie was supposed to be about them but now when I think about it, maybe it wasn’t about them at all. Rather, it was about the mother finally finding some peace within herself to start living the life she had been denying herself for so long. Its a pretty deep movie. If you’re into that type of genre, then you’ll probably like it!

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Production team must have been very happy to have that much content worth several reunion episodes

This sequel to Single's Inferno Season 5 feature a reunion of the cast members. Three episodes are typical reactions episodes with the cast being splitted into 3 groups according to what was their most relevant storylines. It also provides some answers to the aftermath of the main show. Are the "couples" formed on the island now together ? The remaining episodes features dinner and trip with part of the cast as a last get together, to wrap up the overall experience.

Overall, it is very entertaining to watch. As somebody that truly enjoyed the Season 5, I'm very satisfied with the reunion episodes. If I totally expected / hoped the outcome for most of the couples highlighted, I had also so much fun watching the cast react to the episodes. It was cathartic, hilarious but also cringe and awkward, all in the best way.

I would recommend this to people that have enjoyed Season 5 of Single's Inferno. It does not revolution the genre of reunion episodes and the budget is pretty minimalist, but it is also very fun and enjoyable to get back in touch with the participants and to see where the various relationships stand. Some might be disappointed by the outcome, but it was not the case for me. With a bit more of innovation and budget, as well as better organization to make sure everyone of the cast can participate to the full process, it could have been even better.

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Do not recommend for people with trauma

Caution: triggering words ahead!

I don't want to write a negative review but feel I should warn anyone who still might consider watching this. I have some traumas from some people close to me having suffered bad things happen to them (for privacy reasons won't go into details). It has led me to be sensitive to certain subjects and react sometimes pretty strongly when getting in contact with content that has these subjects in them. So, because I reacted very extremely to some scenes in this drama, if you have any similar traumas for example people you care about that have suffered or you yourself have suffered, I don't recommend watching this drama.

The drama is pretty much a depiction of all kinds of possible bad things that could happen to one woman back in the day. I don't know if their intention was to leave viewers with some kind of a message to not give up no matter how hard it gets... it doesn't really turn out like that. The story gets more and more depressing and ends in depression. The last seconds two of the three main leads are still there and give each other a depressed smile after life had crushed them but they kept going. Did not find it inspiring at all, just a slap on the face. At the beginning of the story you're still hopeful for something good to come at the end, like often in dramas the main characters go through ordeals and trials only to ultimately conquer at the end. Nope. If still breathing counts as conquering, then yes, but I don't think they looked very triumphant: both of their spouses dead, one of them lost their child on top of losing a whole lot more during her whole life.

The story focuses mainly on the FL. She is oppressed first by her father and the societal norms for women, then by her colleagues and their distrust in women as professionals, then her fiance who says one thing but does the other giving empty promises, then by a foreing enemy who kidnapped her, then by her husband and his first wife and his mother who all do evil things to her, until finally she almost dies, survives, has had enough and gets a chance to leave everything behind. However, the drama doesn't show her getting a happy ending after all the suffering; she does get to continue in the profession she loves and help people which I guess is the closest to happiness she can get. Also, the other ML appears in front of her at the last seconds of the drama but we are never shown if they ever manage to be together or if she is so traumatized and broken that she is unable to ever be happy with anyone.

And when it comes him, his wife was the most loyal, faithful, kind, goodhearted, wonderful wife he could've ever asked for, yet he never loved her back. So he is a douchebag, pining after another woman instead of being grateful for his wife who went blind from one eye from crying when he was kindapped and imprisoned by the enemy and had one of her legs crippled after bowing down so much in front of the statue to pray for his safe return. Still he doesn't love her at all but clearly states that he only ever loved the FL of the drama. Am I supposed to be happy he appears in front of FL at the end? No, I am not, she'd be better off alone without any of these guys in the drama! Also, this man dumped his responsibilities and the whole empire on his pre-teenage son after the death of this loyal wife leaving to look for the FL. Seriously? The boy is probably not even 13 yet, maybe like 10 or 11 years old, and he just lost his mother, and now the father leaves his son all alone to sit on the throne while he goes to have fun with the love of his life? Not a good guy. Bad husband, bad father.

These are not the reason, though, why I don't recommend to watch the drama, but the reason is the following: There are disturbing scenes in this drama where FL is subjected to attacks and violence when a guy tries to forcibly "take her" and then stops and pretends like he wasn't really going to hurt her, and then later an old lady tries to cut her private body parts and then tries to kill her, and then later she is ultimately subjected to even r*pe by the other ML. Thankfully they don't show everything too clearly since it's a Chinese drama (censorship) but still the r*pe scene was enough to have me experience an extreme trauma reaction. I screamed loudly at the screen several times like I went mad with rage. I have never had such a bad reaction to a drama I watched. The r*pe scene comes after this ML had already behaved more and more horrendously toward the FL. I could have still stomached all the rest of that and not have it affect me so deeply but that scene was too much for me and has left possibly a permanent mark on me.

I am grateful they make it clear in the drama that even marital r*pe is r*pe all the same since during that scene she is already his Noble Consort. However, I resent that they depict the FL as being quite all right after she had just had a bit of a cry. Basically a day or a few days later she is already quite calm and sitting around and talking as if nothing happened and as if she has no trauma whatsoever. She would have physical injuries from him forcing himself on her while holding her down, and she would have deep psychological trauma to the point that she could not stand being touched by him again but would flinch, draw back and probably shake from terror any time he even came into the room. She would feel disgusted by him. So in this drama the depiction is not done well enough, but it belittles the huge physical and emotional suffering a woman experiences when she is r*ped.

Moreover, what is absolutely unforgivable is that they later have the FL pretend to forgive the ML who r*ped her and have intercourse with him several times, even if she does it to survive. This is just so wrong I have no words for it. Basically she gets repeatedly r*ped because it's not consensual: she does not want to do it but has to in order to stay alive since she is now a prisoner for life, so in a way she concents to it, but just to save herself. To make matters worse she of course gets pregnant, at which point they have the nerve to turn the story into a lovestory again! FL and r*pist ML are now happily and lovingly waiting for the arrival of a baby because now the FL actually forgives him for everything, as if the baby magically solves her psychological trauma from being r*ped by him and solves all the marital problems and the bad attitude, the temper and the behavior of the husband ML. All of a sudden, she is not in danger anymore from him and doesn't have to force herself anymore just to survive. Suddenly, she is not traumatized at all, but radiating with pregnancy joy and he magically turns to Mr. Good Husband all of a sudden and starts to treasure her again. Nasty! Hideous! How dare they?!! As far as I know, usually r*ped women do not feel happy about a pregnancy at all, instead, it makes what they've been through even more tormentous. This aspect being muddled in the drama yet again belittles the suffering of a r*ped woman. Yes, yes, I know, women back then had to do what they could to survive, but at the very least they shouldn't depict the FL and ML like a happy couple that has gotten over their "little disputes and small issues". Very disturbing.

I wish the ML actor had never taken such a horrible role, he is quite a good actor and usually I've liked his other roles but what on earth was he thinking to take on this role? Wanted to expand his reportoire and play a bad guy? Not a good choice. There are other ways of exploring a challenging role than to take on the role of a r*pist to prove what a great actor you are for being able to pull that off. Many MLs will take on a role as a bad guy but there is a delicate balance that has to be maintained so as to not go too far in a role to make the viewers feel so sick that they will feel repelled by them later. Bad guy role where a character is killing folks and being ruthless can still be pulled off. Bad guy role where a character is physically abusive towards women, walking on thin ice, but still, can be pulled off without losing the audience permanently if played carefully. But there is a line that - when crossed - can be too much for the viewers for the actor to be able to come back from it. I personally would have adviced ML not to take such a role since I've been his fan. Now I feel conflicted. Hopefully, with time, I'll be able to get pass this, forget and not attach his face to the face of an evil guy, even if fictional.

Without the horrible scene I would've given the story and the drama better ratings, but there's a line that got crossed for me here. I've seen other dramas where women had traumatic experiences and had been harassed or even r*ped but I didn't have such a strong reaction to those. I think it's because in those other stories a bad guy is a bad guy all the way, so you are prepared to see him being evil, but the character in this story is first depicted to be a loving and kind person who then slowly decends first into a nasty person and then from that to a full on beast whose erratic mood swings from one moment to another are volatile and who completely loses himself in a narcissistic illusion where everything revolves around him. In his mind, he never does anything wrong, it's everyone else who is bad, and even if he admits to doing something wrong, he brushes if off thinking he should be forgiven fast just after he says "don't take it to heart, don't be mad at me anymore" as if it never happened. Dude's a psychopath or something.

Then he is magically cured of his insanity and narcissim by the arrival of the news that the FL is pregnant. If I have to pick one good part of the story, then it's that he comes to his senses realizing he is not a good enough emperor and finally apologizes to his brother for what he put him through. However, this also kind of makes it more glaringly obvious that the drama belittles the r*pe, yet again. ML gets a deadly condition, courtesy of his psycho Empress wife, then says that it is retribution for what he has done. At that point I thought, okay, he has now realized how evil he has been towards the FL. But no, he says the retribution is from him allowing his Empress wife to poison Empress Dowager and doesn't even mention what he did to FL! He did say a few apologetic words right after r*ping FL, but that was nowhere near adequate repentance nor aknowledgment of how horrific it was what he had done to her. Now, since he is at deaths door, he feels the need to repent and makes up with his brother, which is kind of a moving moment, except that he never mentions his deadly condition being retribution for hurting his own wife who he claimed to love but then r*ped because he thought she had been with another man. Sick pervert; who does that?!! Good riddance!

Watched to support Liu Shi Shi, Huang Xuan and Wu Lei (who only appears at the very end of the very last episode for only one minute) but unfortunately I now wish I hadn't watched it. Yes, yes, pretty accurate depiction of what it was like for women back then (and in some aspects even nowadays), but I just felt sick to my stomach every time I saw that ML after the r*pe and kept wishing someone would murder him brutally. I don't think it's good for my mental health to have such violent thoughts!

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