Reviews

Please note that this is my personal view and opinion, and I do not mean to insult anyone with a varying judgment

Falling into your smile was my first c-drama, giving it a very valuable place in my heart. I have rewatched this drama countless times, and it has been my comfort drama for years. That said, I won't be biased with my review.

As sweet and funny as this drama is, it is still extremely cringe. When I first watched it in 2023, I thought it was a masterpiece, but looking back, it's pretty corny. They made Tong Yao's entire personality revolve around the fact that she's short, petite, and childish, sure she got a few moments when she was seen as hardworking, willful, and caring, but its not comparable since Lu Si Cheng was painted as a responsible, cold-hearted, and nonchalant guy who doesn't soften on anyone, giving them a "father and daughter" type of relationship. Also, the power difference between them isn't slim; they weren't fair with the personalities at all. The actors' chemistry is nonexistent; Xu Kai had better chemistry with wang yi jun.

The plot was written really nicely, just not executed in the best way. They shouldn't have written her as the first female esports player or a girl living alone with a bunch of guys; it was honestly straight out of Wattpad. The empowerment of females in male-dominated fields was refreshing to see.

The soundtrack honestly wasn't Spotify-worthy, but it went with the fluffy theme of the show.

One thing i really liked was the relationship and dynamic of the ZGDX team, everyone's reaction to Ming's retirement, them welcoming Lu Yue back, them celebrating, helping K with his family drama, singing and drinking together, and noticing the small things about each other, which honestly gave them all a sibling-like relationship.

The cinematics here didn't even try; it felt more like we were watching a short drama, still, it was a smart choice to cast Xu Kai as Lu Sicheng and Zhou Ri Yan as Ai Jia.

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"What exactly have I been waiting on"

The Neighbor was an odd story of orphans, loss, and found family. A four-hundred-year-old missing treasure complicates the lives of Takeda and Setsu, but never overshadows the bonds being created.

Government worker Takeda Shunsuke lives in a “don’t ask, don’t tell” existence he has created. Orphaned at a young age, he refuses to create any new relationships. He asks no questions about others and expects the same courtesy in return. Though he tries to keep people at a distance he takes in a “gay, suicidal, drug addict.” Initially complaining about his octogenarian neighbor’s late-night singing, he eventually befriends Isumi/Sanada Setsu who believes she has waited 400 years for him to marry her. Takeda also forms a bond with a mute orphan who has created problems for the orphanage he’s been assigned to. For a guy who doesn’t want anyone close to him, he manages to take in all the strays in his vicinity.

A historian believed that Setsu was the missing “princess” from his uncle’s mountain village and knew where a four-hundred-year-old treasure of gold was hidden. He planned to take custody of her so that the remaining villagers and their heirs would receive the treasure after her passing. When Takeda worked to make Setsu’s vision come true he ran into a mountain of bureaucracy trying to “protect” Setsu though they’d never done a thing to help the older women in her 60 years of isolation.

Takeda’s life changed as he reached out to the people around him. In the process he and Setsu began healing their traumas and pain. The “treasure” was unimportant to Takeda and Setsu, yet each unearthed gifts worth far more than gold as they stopped waiting and started living.

24 June 2026

Trigger warning: Suicide

Genre/tag notes: This was not a Mystery or Investigation in the typical way. Takeda did some research to better understand Setsu to help her, but nothing like a treasure hunt or criminal investigation or mystery. This was a story of healing old wounds and creating meaningful relationships.

Acting note: Ogaki Tomoya played Takeda Shunsuke. I only say three cast listings for him.

Minor spoilery thought below:


















The “treasure” ended up being reminiscent to the treasure discovered in the old folk song “One Tin Soldier.”

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eu AMO quando o Liang Si Wei interpreta ML um tanto quanto ambíguo

Preciso dizer, eu AMO quando o Liang Si Wei interpreta ML um tanto quanto ambíguo e de caráter duvidoso hahahahah. Ele não é mau, mas também não é bonzinho. E eu acho que ele atua muito bem nesses casos, porque o personagem oscila e nos faz ter diversas emoções enquanto assistimos, e o sorriso dele de cafajeste faz qualquer uma sorrir hahahahahahah
Zhang Jin Yi está linda aqui, mas sua personagem é um tanto quanto burrinha para o meu gosto. E, cara, eu gosto muito do Yu Long interpretando papéis assim, não sou de acompanhar seus dramas porque acho cansativo que sejam quase todos com a sua parceira real, mas gostei muito do seu drama mais novo "The Forbidden Fruit Effect", então sabia que poderia esperar por um personagem bem diferente e realmente, o 2ML foi excepcional, é um lobo em pele de cordeiro e sua atuação foi muito boa durante o drama todo.

Muitas coisas me fizeram lembrar da premissa do "Debauchery", tanto que recomendei abaixo, e do novo remake Under the Grand Feast (Shengyan Zhi Xia | 盛宴之下) lançado no dia 22 de Abril de 2026 com o mesmo ator, Liang Si Wei e com a atriz Dai Qi Xuan, apesar de não chegar aos pés do original.

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Start Out So Brightly and Just Faded

From the first episode, my thoughts were, “What a beautiful drama this is going to be.” Don’t get me wrong it was beautiful. It dealt with what we all like…young love. Yes, those days in school with the boy you like and hoping one day that you will marry him. This drama led us down those wonderful days of senior year in high school. Getting ready for exams that will eventually get you into the college of your choice and then out into the real world. Yes, this is that story. A hidden gem of sorts that started off so well in those high school years but flounder when going to the adult years with a too swift wrap up. But don’t let me get ahead of myself.

The drama revolves around Qing Ye (Guan Xiao Tong) who was pulled out of high school during her senior year due to a family emergency, so she was taken back to her hometown. Talk about a change. This girl was used to the bustling city, her usual hangouts and friends, but when she found out she was leaving her thoughts were you’re taking me where? To a seaside town? To be with who? My aunt? To say she wasn’t shell shocked was putting it mildly after coming from her pampered lifestyle. She was devastated.

The room was not to her liking, no air conditioning, no decent bathroom, where was she to wash her clothes, the food needed to have less calories, I mean she was a hot mess! She knew she was not going to have the lifestyle she had back home, so she knew either deal with it or leave. So, she opted to leave and go to the hotel. Well, that didn’t go any better either. No air conditioning, the guy next door was always doing “live streams” so, she couldn’t sleep so she had no choice but to go back. After getting over her “prima donna” act, she realized she needed to make adjustments to this new way of life. Starting with trying to fit in.

After Qing Ye’s brief meeting with Xing Wu, she was realizing that she needed to get along with him because he was the glue that held everything together, from his mother to his grandmother, friends and the community, she saw he was the person everyone turned too.

Xing Wu was very likable and always did not “want to owe” anyone anything, especially money. He wanted to pay his own way no matter what. After a school altercation, not wanting to speak up for himself, he let the school expel him. Xing Wu had his own reasons for doing that, it was his father’s gambling debts and paying back all the money that was owed. His friend Shu Han (Jenny Zeng) knew of his situation and provided him with the necessary work to help him and his family. Qing Ye eventually learned about this and much more.

As Qing Ye became more immersed in the day-to-day with her aunt, grandmother, Xing Wu and friends she was realizing what a family was and true friends. She was growing to like Xing Wu. She saw how he had done so much to make her feel welcome knowing how her life was before she came there. He tried to make her as comfortable as possible. Fixing the bathroom, her room with air conditioning she saw the soft side of Xing Wu, her attitude began to change—they became closer.

Xing Wu found himself changing as well. He wanted to be better to be good enough to be with Qing Ye knowing her family background and her life. She was the influence that got him to go back to school. Opening up his trunk of hidden dreams and to once again make them a reality. Friendships grew. Old rivalries ended. New begins. Flourishing joys and love their senior year.

Yet, like all good things, they must come to an end. This was brought about by Qing Ye’s father. He had cleared up his situation, and he wanted to take her back. Qing Ye now had a mind of her own and was defensive against her father wishes of returning. Everything was said and done. She left the seaside town and all the friends, her aunt, grandmother but especially Xing Wu.

There was a lot of devastations that happen to the family with the burning down of the salon but, the death of the grandmother. She passed while Qing Ye had already left and Xing Wu did not tell her due to him wanting her not to feel obligated to come back. That was very sad. Xing Wu did not pass his exams either. Leading him to take them again, and he eventually pass.

Fast forward, to being adults. Yes, we skipped over those college years and went directly to working. Qing Ye was now working for a company outside of her father’s. She wanted to make her own way. This led her back to the seaside town she loved. But going back was not only for her company but for the two friends from school that were going to get married.

We, of course knew that they would miss each other due to Qing Ye needing to go back to her company to handle another project she had been working on. Xing Wu arrived late due to a flight delay. We see both her and Xing Wu as they pass each other in taxis. Hence let the "near misses" begin until we could not keep doing that, so it was now time to get these two to meet.

Xing Wu’s colleague wants him to meet his sister only to find out that Qing Ye would be there. At last. But it was a very lame first meeting after all those years apart. No excitement. No recognition of knowing each other. Just awkwardness for not only them but for the brother and sister who had to watch it.

They do finally become a couple. Qing Ye father was still in disagreement with them becoming a couple, but Xing Wu did pay him back and with interest for the money he gave them after Qing Ye left. I think he respected Xing Wu and he would eventually come around.

The sad part for me, we did not see them get married. Just Xing Wu giving a speech to a new class on behest of one of his teachers that helped him and asking him to do the same for his class. Too many repetitive flashbacks in the ending episodes.

For something that started out so strong and so well, while enjoyable in the beginning. overall, to me it was not dazzling but more of a shimmer….

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A PRIMEIRA METADE É RUIM E O FINAL DA SEGUNDA METADE FECHA MAL O PROJETO

A primeira coisa que eu preciso dizer sobre essa série é que ela tinha algo bom em mãos (o conceito) e conseguiu estragar. Eu ainda não me conformo com as escolhas de roteiro que foram feitas.


PONTOS POSITIVOS (o que eu gostei):

- Noh Go Jin é um ótimo personagem, o ator é excelente e sabe como demostrar suas emoções (menção honrosa para a peruca loira que ficou muito bem nele);
- A partir do episódio 8 a história tem uma virada de chave e começa a ficar mais interessante, o que difere bastante das outras séries que costumam começar bem e se perder no final. Aqui acontece o contrário, mas o final é bem decepcionante;
- Nessa segunda metade em que o projeto funciona a química entre os protagonistas flui bem.


PONTOS NEGATIVOS (o que eu não gostei):

- A primeira metade do projeto foi uma verdadeira tortura. A história, as cenas, as interações e todo o resto parecia muito fora do tom. Era como uma massa que não consegue dar liga de jeito nenhum;
- A relação inicial dos protagonistas é focada no ódio mútuo, mas exageraram nisso e por consequência pecaram em criar laços significativos entre os personagens;
- Noh Go Jin é uma pessoa dura e difícil, mas isso não justifica tudo que fizeram com ele. Dois errados não fazem um certo. Todo mundo se vingava dele de forma cruel e desproporcional;
- Ainda falando sobre o tópico acima temos a resolução dos conflitos nos episódios finais que foram patéticas. Não existe você começar a perdoar todo mundo e manter essas pessoas na sua vida. O roteiro passa a mensagem de que se você fez algo ruim para alguém (mesmo que não proposital e consciente) você tem que aguentar vingança, humilhação, traição e desrespeito constante dessas pessoas e ainda perdoá-las no final. Simplesmente terrível. O sócio dele que foi um personagem horrível tentando matar e acabar com o amigo, mas foi perdoado em nome de um "mal entendido". Isso não me desce. E eu ainda temos a Ma Eun Jeong que foi traíra desde o começo mas foi perdoada por sua história de vida triste. O roteiro escolheu o caminho mais lamentável possível para lidar com essas questões. E eu nem vou começar a falar das três amigas fofoqueiras que o objetivo de vida é acabar com a vida dele. Um chefe deve ter pulso firme e punir atitudes ruins, ele nunca esteve errado nisso;
- Lee Shin A é uma namorada terrível. No começo quando eles começaram a namorar as coisas funcionaram bem porque o núcleo deles de casal estava harmonioso, mas conforme as coisas foram acontecendo ela nunca conseguia apoiar e estar ao lado do namorado. Ela até o culpava. Essa necessidade de tornar as pessoas redentoras e "boas" no final foi um verdadeiro banho de água fria na história pois tornou bobo e superficial tudo que estava ao redor. A personagem era insossa em meio ao ritmo frenético que a história estava tomando (e não gostei dela ter ido para a empresa rival). A personalidade extremamente bondosa e caridosa dela a fizeram contrastar negativamente com o namorado, assim o fazendo se sentir sempre errado em tudo quando o problema era apenas sua personalidade difícil. Essa era a questão e não a forma com que ele lidava com as pessoas que erravam e os problemas.


Concluindo, eu considero essa obra insatisfatória na maior parte do tempo, mas alguns momentos no meio do caminho conseguem te entreter e divertir.

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É uma história que abraça a gente, porque acaba despertando lembranças da infância, das dificuldades e de tudo o que vivemos durante essa fase da vida.

Hoje, uma coisa que fica muito evidente para mim é que, muitas vezes, crianças e adolescentes não são tão valorizados quanto os adultos. Existe uma tendência de olhar para eles como se apenas precisassem seguir regras e viver da forma como os adultos esperam, sem considerar que também possuem sentimentos, sonhos e necessidades.

Na minha opinião, o drama retrata isso de uma maneira muito sensível. Cada episódio foi emocionante porque mostra o quanto dói ver crianças tentando o tempo todo, satisfazer as expectativas dos outros, deixando de viver aquilo que realmente desejam.

Eu acredito que existe um limite para tudo. É importante permitir que crianças e adolescentes vivam essa fase com criatividade, responsabilidade e alegria. Que possam descobrir do que gostam, encontrar seus próprios interesses e construir a própria identidade, sem carregar o peso das expectativas, dos sentimentos e das frustrações dos adultos e eu falo isso também pela minha própria experiência. Quando era criança, senti uma pressão muito grande e acabei assumindo responsabilidades que não eram minhas. Isso me fez amadurecer cedo demais, o que pode até parecer algo positivo, mas na realidade, não é. Cada fase da vida existe por um motivo e precisa ser vivida no seu tempo. E eu penso assim!!! Cada etapa tem seus aprendizados, suas descobertas e sua forma de enxergar o mundo e pular essas fases, não é NADA saudável, porque acaba que crescemos sem saber exatamente quais são os nossos sonhos, do que realmente gostamos ou quais são os nossos próprios desejos. Passamos tanto tempo tentando corresponder ao que os outros esperam de nós que, muitas vezes, deixamos de descobrir quem realmente somos.

É justamente isso que esse drama consegue mostrar de forma tão bonita. Ele nos faz refletir sobre a responsabilidade que temos na vida das crianças e dos adolescentes, mas também sobre a importância de permitir que eles cresçam com liberdade para serem quem são. Mesmo sendo uma história intensa e, em vários momentos dolorosa, ela abre a nossa mente e nos lembra que amar também significa respeitar o tempo, a individualidade e os sonhos de cada pessoa (inclusive se ela for uma CRIANÇA).

Para mim, essa foi a mensagem mais bonita do drama. Ele não fala apenas sobre infância ou adolescência, fala sobre como as marcas que carregamos nessa fase moldam quem nos tornamos na vida adulta e como podemos quebrar esse ciclo ao oferecer as crianças aquilo que muitos de nós não tivemos, que foi espaço para crescer, errar, sonhar e simplesmente viver cada fase da vida no seu devido tempo, sem pressão!

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Beautiful show

Good show.

Heartwarming.

Also, breathtaking & unforgettable.

Loved Seo Hae Joon & his character, too.

Good storyline. Well written & well directed.

You're still moved even after the show has ended.

Love. Kindness. Family. The beauty of them all makes your heart warm & joyful while watching the show.

Also loved Mama's selfless act in accepting Seulhee's proposal, which led to them 3's beautiful relationship.

At least for a while or for some time after watching it, you wouldn't want to start on another show, because nothing can compare to it.

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I’ve never cried this hard before

It’s been years since this drama came out but it didn’t catch my attention until today (yes, I’ve binge-watched the whole series lol).
Actually I wasn’t planning on watching it but I was bored and sometimes I just open netflix and play the first series that appear on the feed and this time was Move to Heaven.

I lost someone very important to me a few months ago and watching this series healed me some way.

I’m still crying and this review doesn’t make any sense but I’ve just finished watching it and it was heart wrenching but beautiful. The portrayal of loss and death and how they dealth with such difficult task as it is trauma cleansing … I don’t really have words right now to express how this drama has touched me but if you ask me if I recommend it, I do.

Just keep your tissues close 🫶🏼

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