Reviews

This drama is so slept on. It is so good!

As an avid cdrama watcher, this drama was insane!! It is completely slept on and being overshadowed by others, and it is such a hidden gem!

I wanted to first bring up the chemistry. OH MY LORD the chemistry. The FL and ML talk with their eyes, both of their eyes oozing love for one another; this level of acting is insane. Truly applause for Ci Sha and Ren Min, their acting was exceptional. The way the loved each other, cared for one another makes this pair one of my favorite couples out of the 100+ cdramas I have watched. I have seen many people complaining about Chen Yanyun looking to old or favoring the second ML, but honestly, I cannot get over the chemistry between the two. The love that CYY has for his wife, the stability even when he is angry, the maturity, makes him the best husband out of them all. Their love , the way their eyes soften when they are around each other, the way their body gravitates to one another, alone made this show worth the watch.

Even without them being together in the start of the show wasn't a problem, after all watching our FL, a character who is genuinely smart and crafty, make her way through the capital was enticing. I love how even after marriage she wasn't made some dumb character who fades into the back, she remained sharp throughout, and CYY loves her for it! Again just Ren Min did this role so well!

On to the plot, overall it was coherent, and made sense. It was a bit cliche, but interesting nonetheless. The emperor was a great character, watching him actually become smart instead of some puppet child emperor, schemeing with CYY and Ye Xian was very fun to watch. That reminds me, I loved CYY and Ye Xians developing friendship, they went from strangers fighting over the same girl, to truly people who relied on each other in battle, their relationship was heartwarming to watch (especially towards the end; I started crying, they did care for each other in a way).

For those of you wondering about the ending, it is a happy ending so don't worry (well relatively happy...). Like many others, I did wish for more from the ending, some closure on how everything ended, how is the court, the people, but the rest of the show truly makes up for it.

To all of you reading this review, WATCH THIS DRAMA! IT IS SO GOOD!

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The twist felt underwhelming—it had the potential to be so much more

but the chemistry btw the leads was point on. I really dont understand why the chemistry in non romance hits better than that of rom ones. really loved the leads, plot was plotting till the *** comes up. damn the twist could have been better. i know
the twist sure was creative but felt underwelming compared to the buildup. overall it was worth it you should try this i was avoiding it bcz i know the situation of ml i know it was revealed in 1st epi but it didnt really impacted the story much and helped to build an absolutely beautiful chemistry btw the leads. loved it😘

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Amazing Storyline and then went downhill in the Last 5 episodes

I know the storyline is gonna end up like this. Premonitions on certain characters and telling their ending before hand. But seriously, it looks like in lacks a 1 or 2 episodes to sum it fully up. Imagine solving a puzzle for 40 episodes and solving it in 30 seconds. That's it? That's the ending.

The storyline the build-up is good,but seriously you could've done it better. I had to log in and rate this because it disappointed me too much. I had to double check if that is the last episode. Such an amazing drama wasted because of the ending. If I were me I should've stopped watching at EP 35.

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Fun, Cute and Real

Although the episodes are short and there are not many of them, what struck me the most is how real it is. Of course, the comic effect was sometimes off the roof, but I found the story (including inner monologues) most relatable. The ever-present question "is she really flirting with me or is she just straight?", the uncertainty of it all was just *chef's kiss*. And I always applaud using the word "lesbian" because so often writers just do not want to deal with it. I am not the biggest fan of time skips but I did not mind this one although I would love to see some more development. My biggest complaint is that it is just too short but there is another season, which I hope explores the themes that were not expanded here. And the OST! It accompanied me all week.

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Simple and okay

Quite simple , short and sorted series. Like it can make you feel that the series is short and simple just by it's simple portrayal of the story. Last scene was quite a bit off, coz we couldn't get a proper ending like did he went back home next day from flight or what happened after that kiss between them? Are they together or no? But yeah a story which revolves around the world of two ppl who are passionate about their chosen careers and they falls for each other, isn't it very sorted ? Btw the huwan should have made him more expressive about his feelings, it would have been nice. well yeah a good simple watch.

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Pinocchio and the Sorcerer's Stone

Veil of Shadows is a continuation of Guo Jingming's heavily stylized and obsessive exploration of what lies beneath the painted skin. All of the characters in this fantasy mystery romance have multiple identities and layers of hidden darkness and compulsions beneath the veneer of their distractingly gorgeous and alluring personas. Two nine-tailed foxes and a few demon hunters converge on Wei Manor, closing in on the elusive nine-tailed fox demon Xiao Wei—an icon of Guo Jingming's Painted Skin universe.

The first Wei Manor arc brings together the four main characters: the two fox demons, Lu Wuyi and Wu Wangyan, and the demon hunters, Li Jing and Wu Shiguang. This was my favorite arc—a murder mystery in a manor shrouded in secrets, where everyone has hidden motives, fixated on a fox demon, a debt, and an entanglement that should have been extinguished lifetimes ago. I was deeply moved by the Dragon Deity's story and his immense loneliness and profound sacrifice.

The mind-bending second arc, the Starstone Illusion Realm, is a fantastical reimagination of Pangu's myths of creation. It is the arc where I was most invested in all four main characters. I know that Li Jing and Wuyi are supposed to be the main CP of this story, but I found it difficult to buy into this wildly unreal romance between Pinocchio and the sorcerer's (oracle) stone. In both arcs, they fall in love too suddenly. By contrast, I far more enjoyed how initial conflict and distrust blossomed into so much more between Wu Shiguang and Wu Wangyan. I was surprised by Zeng Shunxi and Chen Duling's chemistry—it is the first time I have truly felt him "click" with any of his costars. I have never been a fan of either of their acting, but their portrayals here are convincing and memorable.

Despite her stunning looks and commanding screen presence, Ju Jingyi lost me with her contrived and affected line delivery and that oddly robotic "seductive" tone. That said, this is her best showing in recent years, and I did see many glimpses of the Ju Jingyi I used to like quite a bit. Tan Jiarui had so many roles to play that he had the hardest job. I think he pulled off the two that mattered really well and moved me with the depth of his longing and profound isolation. None of his many other roles, however, were fleshed out enough in the writing to make more than a cursory impression.

As often with Guo Jingming's productions, this is overambitious, tries too hard to be sad and profound, is inspired by too many complex ideas, and is littered with too many plot twists that don't marinate well. I was not amused at how the narrative built up anticipation—"only a dragon can slay a dragon"—only to have it end in a single unwilling stab. The fabulous Wang Duo was completely wasted as Chiwen.

The narrative really nosedives when it decides to indulge in time loops, something the writer and editors clearly do not have the attention to detail or patience for. Killing off characters only to revive them over and over only works the first time. After that, it is a predictable snooze-fest that made me want to drown myself in all the gorgeously contrived crocodile tears. The drama does live up to its genre—in that it is so fantastically incoherent that it is clear even the writers gave up. The final epic "save the world" confrontation couldn't even save the drama.

In a final act of vain preening, the director treats us to a cosplay orgy clearly meant to remind us of how cool and distinct each character he crafted is. Thus, everyone is magically and inexplicably revived in the finale for a final fashion parade cum showdown across time and dimensions, and all logic collapses bombastically. In all the melee, they forgot to give us closure between the four main characters. Like us, they are either left clueless or wondering what the hell happened. This drama starts so promisingly only to conflate spectacularly into something so grandiose that the writers didn't know how to end it. The ending is either everything you imagined it to be or nothing at all.

While I am squarely in the nothing at all camp, I am still willing to rate this an 8.0/10.0 even though 7.5 is probably more fair because I am really tickled by the idea of Pinocchio romancing the stone. Only a Guo Jingming would have the audacity to come up with something like that. It's just too bad he really wasn't able to deliver well on the idea.

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A Beautiful Yet Painful Story

I started watching A Splendid Match because of a TikTok edit I saw online, and I needed something new and different. Cisha really did justice to the character of Lord Chen, and I’m definitely open to watching more of his shows from now on.

One moment in the show that made me bawl my eyes out was Ye Xian’s death. I cried and cried because his death was so painful. All he ever wanted was acceptance from the world, and he finally got it at the cost of his life. It was beautifully written and one of the most emotional parts of the entire series.

My only issue with the show was the ending. I felt like something was missing, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I just didn’t like the ending as much as I hoped I would. I really wish they had properly honored Ye Xian’s character after everything he did for the kingdom and for the king. He sacrificed so much, and I wanted to see some form of recognition or tribute to give viewers closure and consolation for his character.

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I Felt A Lot!

This story covers familiar territory, but I still found it tantalizing. It captured me from the beginning to the end. It is mainly due to the mesmerizing impersonations from the actors and actresses, in particular the main protagonists. They kept the ‘slow-burn’ of their relationship just at the simmer stage with it never boiling over – until it was time for it to do so. I just loved the way they kept us entertained and engrossed until we were able to find out who they were. The build-up was such that we really did want to know about them. The overall splendor of this series is its consistency. It never wavered from its intent. Sure, it takes a long time for their relationship to develop but because these guys seem to make it feel fast, it was. And, given the time frame they were in, we understood their hesitancy. Slow-burn series will work if you have the right actors and a great screen chemistry and good dialogue. And this had all three. They were just on the cusp of developing a strong relationship when the series threw in a gut punch that I did not think it needed to. That is what diminished the impact of this series. A standard cliche twist, completely unnecessary.

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