Reviews

I understand the hype

Tbh, had this show not turned up on Netflix, I probably wouldn't have watched it.

When the show 1st aired and the people were talking about it, I chalked up the conversations and excitement to fandom hype. I thought the people were lying because
a. I had tried watching Pit Babe before. A show that till date, somehow trickles its edits to my Twitter algorithm, and let's just say that it wasn't a good base to start from.

b. The show was unfortunately airing alongside another drama that I was watching/preoccupied with. One with a huge ship fandom who kept hyping and praising the drama when in truth, -and my opinion is truth in this case-, had a really bad plot and very mediocre acting.

Because of this, I unfortunately judged too soon, and perhaps too harshly, and chose not to watch it.

But then, I finished rewatching 'Khemjira' on Netflix and watched both seasons of 'The Believers' on the same platform. That sent me down a mini spiral where I wanted to explore more thrilling Thai stories based on religion. Thus, I gave this a chance. I am very glad that I did

What I Liked
1. The horror aspect - They said it was scary and meant it. Don't tell anyone, but I watched all the episodes during the day😅.

2. Religion/Folk Tradition/Occultism - I've recently learned that I find other religions fascinating. Not in a 'dig up the tombs in Egypt' type of fascination, but something more along the lines of 'what do they do in this religion, folk tradition, mythic, etc., that's different from what I know or have been exposed to in my religion and culture?

I know what Christianity says, I know Catholicism, and I know things from my culture's traditional beliefs. But how about Buddhism? Taoism? Hinduism? Korean shamanic practices? Chinese mythology? etc. I wanna know. And shows like this one give me a glimpse into it all. It's all so interesting. Scary, as all religions lowkey are, but oh so interesting.

3. Production Quality - *A hand of applause for everyone involved in the absolute masterpiece that was the cinematography*

4. Chemistry - So, when this aired, I saw on my feed fans complaining about how little NC was in this show. Especially considering the previous two BLs that this ship had been in. From those comments, I thought that that'd be to the detriment of the drama, but... I actually liked it. I feel like the fade-to-black scenes allowed them to build and show the sexual tension in this couple beautifully. I would like to highlight Pavel, especially in this one. He knows how to portray desire in his eyes really well.

PS. I am officially a fan of the Muscular Uke Association ( I always was, actually). Pavel and Poom (My Stand In & Love of Silom), for the win. Somebody direct me to more muscular Ukes. Actually, you know what, give me all the ships that go against the standard we are used to. Muscular ukes, shorter tops, age gaps with older ukes, etc. Give them all to me

What Could've Been Better/I Didn't Enjoy

1. All the doubts surrounding the occult angle of the murders - I made sense for Singha and Sey (they are the biggest culprits) to be doubtful of the ghosts in the beginning. I'd be doubtful too. However, after multiple episodes and run-ins with things they could not explain or see, straight-up evidence that there was something otherworldly connected to this case, their doubts felt annoying and frustrating. Especially with Sey constantly basically gaslighting Darin that he was imagining being haunted.

2. The plot from ep 9 - Things started getting shaky, and logic started leaving the building the minute Darin goes to pray in the very house that their team was investigating. With so many temples in Thailand, why choose the one place that's directly connected to an ongoing murder?

Why did the team members suddenly start doing things without informing at least one other person? Why go out by themselves? Why separate when tailing a suspect in abandoned areas? So many decisions did not make logical sense as we started heading to the climax of this story, which was more than a little disappointing.

The plot also felt slower from ep 11. The pacing till ep 10 had been fine, but something fell off after that.

3. King's characterization - It was so very inconsistent that I could not understand who he was supposed to be. A corrupt cop like his dad? An arrogant ex partner come to steal glory once more from the people he fucked over before? A jilted lover who wanted his ex back and was willing to do anything to get him back (even fram current ex's lover over trumped-up drug charges)? A good cop with an overbearing butthole of a dad? A misunderstood good guy? A combination of all? The man had so many switches in personality and end goals that I got whiplash.

4. Some of the acting could be better, especially in the more emotionally intense scenes.

Conclusion: While the show isn't perfect, it is far better than some of what we are exposed to out here. The romance, while not the focal point of the show, is very sweet. The show shines in its production quality, pacing in the 1st 8-10 episodes, and portrayal of the horror of occult practices.

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Over rated

The plotline was beautiful and had a lot of potential, but overall it felt a bit messy. The scenes didn’t flow well together, and some parts felt disconnected, which made it hard to fully enjoy. I also felt like there wasn’t enough description or development in certain moments, so some scenes didn’t leave much impact.

When it comes to acting, the actress did a really good job—especially because I’ve watched her dramas before and know how well she performs. The actor was decent too, but somehow the overall chemistry and the way everything was put together didn’t fully work for me.

In the end, I liked the idea of the story, but the execution wasn’t as strong as I expected, so I wouldn’t give it a full star rating.

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best drama ever watched

I don't know what Korean citizens say or think but this drama is worth to watch again and again. it deserve to get many celebrations and awards for their success 🎆 that they have got .. every thing about Perfect Crown is a visually stunning and emotionally engaging drama that captures viewers with its royal romance, beautiful cinematography, and strong performances. The chemistry between IU and Byeon Woo-seok adds depth and warmth to the story, making many emotional scenes memorable and heartfelt. The drama’s modern monarchy concept feels fresh and unique, while the elegant costumes, soundtrack, and cinematography create a luxurious atmosphere throughout the series.

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7 Stars for the Show 10 for Natsume

If I could do a rewatch that was just made up of cuts of Natsume scenes, this would be a weekly thing for me. I think Nao and Uehara are made for each other but I think Natsume was the better choice in general, with Diachu coming in at a close second (if we aren’t including season 1 characters). Side note: Who else was hoping for an Abe, Ota coupling? 
I think I liked this season better than the first because there were slightly less miscommunications and there was a bit more character growth on everyone’s part but I still wanted the smack Uehara for just not being able to share his feelings at all. 

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Park Hae Young, you're the best! Thank you for gracing us again with your talent! Go Youn Jung, Koo Kyo Hwan, you guys are the best! All the actors in this show are busy brilliant. Thank you very much for giving us a show that will be etched in our hearts for a long time.

This is life, this is adulthood, this is a very definiton of reality, we are all trying here.

We may cease to exist, but at least we have tried to be something else, someone fun, someone decent, and someone who tries.

Thank you so much, Park Hae Yeong.
Thank you so much Go Youn Jung.
Thank you so much Koo Kyo Hwan
Thank you so much Oh Jung Se
Thank you so much Han Sun Hwa
Thank you so much Kang Mal-geum
Thank you so much Park Hae Joon.
To all the casts, staff, directors, and everyone who worked so hard for this masterpiece.

Thank you so much, and see you all at Baeksang 2027.

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Fell flat at the finishing line

I picked this up cause i love Shin Hae Sun and i'm obviously going to watch her acting one more. In first episodes, the story didn't quite hook me but Gong Myoung was superb and that surprised me and kept me coming back. Story certainly felt refreshing at the start and tried to do something new, with solid comedy included.

I liked SFLs character, it's not usual to have MLs friend to be woman and i thought her character was also pretty unconventional but i just apphor how they've managed to butcher that unconventionality to cliched revengeful SFL character, i just don't care about her anymore.

SML was made bit too unlikable for me to switch my opinion at the point where he was switched up from that to misunderstood character. Now i just don't care about SML or SFL at all and since they have been getting increasing screen time, my interest just vanished on the drama.

The story seemed to be going in to direction to be commentary of the whole audit team and their work but somewhere along the journey the message just went out of the window and it turned it to the cliched rom-com story which might've been okay if it was like that from the start, now i just don't care enough to continue.

Both leads have done great acting wise but i don't think their story is enough anymore to keep me watching the last episodes.

Conclusion
Classic kdrama pitfall happened that start was decent and it just devolved into a mess at the latter parts, everyone is acting well but the story is just so meh, especially SML and SFL which just turned me off from this. If you go with expectations that this is cliched rom-com it might be good one time watch but don't let the start confuse you if you start this.

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We Are All Trying Here has become my all-time favorite drama

I don’t know what movies are to others. For me, movies are survival itself. My days are a loop: I wake up in the afternoon, I eat, I watch a film, and then I work. In the past, I would spend the rest of the day translating films. Now, I study cinema history and watch related films to write scripts for my channel, or I edit videos. When I need to rest, I play music or watch other films; then, I go back to work.

Evening comes. I go to the market and cook. I talk to my girlfriend. When she falls asleep, I watch a drama while eating. Then, I go back to work again. Time slips away—I eat, I watch, I work. In the morning, I talk to my girlfriend again, watch something else, and finally, I sleep. For 10 years, I have been living in this cycle—a routine that occupies about 29 days of every month.

Whenever my spirit sinks, it is usually films that provide the strength I need to keep living. K-dramas rarely give me that kind of profound, quiet strength, but We Are All Trying Here did. While Reply 1988 was my all-time favorite, We Are All Trying Here has now become my personal, all-time favorite.

I liked it from the very first episode, but I never expected the ending to be handled this perfectly. In episode 11, I was deeply impressed, but I didn't think they could wrap up every single character so beautifully in just one final episode. I was wrong. Every character stayed true to their purpose until the very end. The businessman remained a businessman; those between the artist and the entertainment world stayed right in that space; and the only true "artist" in the show stayed true to his convictions until the final moment.

Seeing this final part, I realized that Park Hae-young is not just a screenwriter—she is an artist who truly understands what it means to live. Even if Hwang Dong-man is the protagonist, the soul of this story lies with his brother, the poet Hwang Jin-man. She shaped this throughout every episode, and in the finale, it reached its true climax. The real climax of the story was found in the character who had the fewest scenes among the leads. One could say we felt the most poetic experience through a character who had stopped writing poems.

In the act of creating art, the hardest part is not telling people what you want to say, but knowing what not to say. Hwang Dong-man is a character who talks too much, but Hwang Jin-man is a character who never says anything unnecessary. In We Are All Trying Here, watching Hwang Dong-man feels like seeing myself, but watching Hwang Jin-man feels like seeing the person I want to become. It might be an impossible dream, but my life’s ambition is to become someone like him—someone who wants for nothing and who can live courageously in a corner of the world, defined entirely by his own meaning.

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Would have given it a 10/10 except for one thing.

All-time classic that contributed to the shaping of modern Korean culture. The winter jackets worn throughout the show can still be seen as the style of choice in Korea today, and this drama also contributed greatly to the "first snow of the year" trend. The two lead actresses, Choi Jiwoo and Park Solmi, will forever be timeless beauties. I am glad the audience of this show is able to see them at their peak whenever they watch this show. The OST is also very memorable, especially the song "my memory" by Ryu, and also the score they played every time something alarming or a twist came up. The show had such a great overall premise and story but a bit of a strange choice for the ending. This strange choice at the end is the only thing preventing me from giving the show a 10/10. It is a must-watch drama in my opinion.

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Almost PERFECT!

A story about a fictional monarchy is nothing new but it's overall execution made it standout. It's not perfect, but I had extreme fun, zeal and anticipation for every episode.

Thank you to all who made this drama possible. It will be one for the books!

Upsides:
* awesome cinematography
* amazing soundtrack
* well matched characters (profile) to actors (portrayal was on key)
* undeniable chemistry of the leads (and their assistants!)
* cohesive storytelling (the plots were clear in every episode)

Downsides:
* the last few episodes felt rushed (at least 2 additional episodes could have made the pacing consistent)
* more screen time could have been given to show the second ML/main villain's perspective
* a montage of the transition of government could have made the last episode smoother

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Rare Xianxia with a Happy Ending

A xianxia with a happy ending! Yay! Overreacting a bit? Maybe. But after watching xianxia and C-dramas with mostly bitter, bittersweet, ambiguous or slightly hopeful endings, it was refreshin to watch a C drama that had a happy ending for its 1st and 2nd couples.

But aside from its’ happy ending, L&D has an engaging story with a wide set of characters and villains (who range from petty and boring, irritable, irredeemable to even tragic).

L&D features Ni Ni as Ling Shee, a low ranking immortal that by fate or accient awakens the God of War (Jiu Chen) from his 50 thousand year slumber. She then becomes his servant and works at his palace in the celestial court as a maid. But Ling Shee’s happy days don’t last long because fate has darker plans for her…

Okay. This is what I can say about the story without spoiling it much.

The idea of the story and its’ execution is mostly good. Ni Ni as Ling Shee is great and charms the audience with her beauty and wit. Chang Chen is also stoic, strong and completely believable as God of War and they have very good chemistry. The others are well cast too.

Another great thing about L&D is its’ production value, which is superb. The costumes and sets for each realm are very well done and the props and make-ups for demons are great.

However, one thing that really stops me from rewatching it is the pacing. Even though the actors give very good performances, L&D really didn't need to be 60 episodes long. In fact, it can be broken down to three arcs and the second arc, which takes place in the human realm, is the longest (30 episodes). Sure, the story is interesting and actors do a very fine job of portraying the characters. But did it really need to be 30 episodes to finish what easily could have been 10 to 15 episodes? Basically, two major things happen in the second arc that determine the heroine’s fate. And in between these two tests, a lot of skippable drama happens; a lot of characters looking at each other either with doubt, longing, etc. Honestly, I had no problem with the first act because it managed to establish three things at a good pace: The world and the characters, the villains and the stakes, and the progression of the story. The 2nd act slows to almost a crawl and even with the actors’ talents you can’t stop noticing it. The 3rd act picks up the pace, but the editing could be tighter there as well.

I also had some issues with the ending and fates of some of the secondary characters. As I said before, L&D has a wide range of villains, one of which is a very irredeemable and nasty one. To its’ credit, L&D manages to use her very well for 90% of the drama. But in the last episodes, it dimishes her power and villainy and replaces her position as a major villain with a secondary character (who was a morally grey character before). In my opinion, it was unnecessary and seemed like a half-assed attempt at “seems like everything is going well for our main couple, so let’s ruin it for them!”

Despite it all, L&D has a definite on-screen happy ending and for that I give it a huge positive. However its’ unnecessary length and some plot choices near the end prevent me from giving this well-produced and acted xiancia a 8/7 or 9 rating.

Rating: 8/10

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