Reviews

Everyone Needed Therapy, Especially the Foxes

📝 Review

(WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I’m Not Saving You from Any Emotional Damage)

This was one of those dramas that immediately grabbed my attention because the premise sounded cool.

Then Lee Dong Wook appeared on screen and suddenly my objectivity left the building.

The story follows Lee Yeon as he continues searching for the reincarnation of the woman he loved centuries ago, and quickly spirals into mythology, ancient grudges, family wounds, supernatural politics, and enough emotional suffering to keep everyone busy for sixteen episodes.

The FL is intelligent, capable, and actively involved in uncovering the mysteries surrounding her own life, while the ML carries centuries of grief and devotion that shape nearly every decision he makes, creating a romance built on fate, memory, and impossible waiting.

The supporting cast and side relationships add humor, heart, and emotional depth, making the world feel much larger than the central romance alone.

These types of dramas tend to rely heavily on their mythology and lore, and this one is no exception.

The folklore elements were some of my favorite parts of the entire show. Every supernatural creature, legend, and mythological reference helped make the world feel rich and lived-in rather than existing solely for plot convenience.

By the middle/end, I was fully invested in both the romance and the family dynamics.

Especially the family dynamics.

Because Kim Bum's Lee Rang spends most of the drama throwing wrenches into everyone's plans while simultaneously making you increasingly concerned for his emotional well-being.

He's not really the main villain.

He's more like a professionally trained troublemaker operating on unresolved trauma and questionable decision-making.

And somehow it works.

The gatekeeper and her husband were also fantastic. Every scene involving them added charm, humor, and a nice break from the constant supernatural disasters unfolding elsewhere.

My brain: invested in Korean mythology.

My emotions: repeatedly manipulated.

My snacks: mysteriously disappearing every episode.

One thing I appreciated was that the series kept moving. It didn't feel padded with endless filler episodes or unnecessary detours. There was always another mystery, another reveal, or another piece of lore waiting around the corner.

In the end, I finished feeling entertained, emotionally satisfied, and slightly concerned about how much I enjoyed watching immortal fox people ruin each other's lives.

And somehow… it worked.

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I’ve already fallen off the cliff. Let me hit bottom and move on.

One reason The Lord of the Rings trilogy remains one of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time is that it was filmed continuously, allowing audiences to stay connected to the same actors who embodied their characters so convincingly. That continuity helped make the story believable and immersive.

Unfortunately, Ever Night Season 2 suffers from the exact opposite problem.
Everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong. At times, it felt as if I were watching an entirely different production with a different writing team. Having not read the novel, I can only judge what appeared on screen, and the second season felt completely out of sync with the first. While I understood the importance of the Hao Tian Maiden and her role in the story, it often seemed that every other character existed merely to serve a temporary purpose before being discarded. Characters who were carefully developed in Season 1 became little more than sketches on a drawing board.
The pacing didn’t help. The dialogue was often excessively long and painfully dull, leaving me frequently reaching for the fast-forward button. Episodes stretched simple story points into lengthy conversations, while endless flashbacks accompanied by dramatic music became repetitive and exhausting. At times, I felt trapped in a cycle of déjà vu rather than moving forward with the story.
Then there were the casting changes.
Replacing so many actors made it difficult to reconnect with characters I had spent 60 episodes getting to know. The most jarring change was replacing Arthur Chen with Dylan Wang. I understand there were scheduling conflicts, but Ning Que was the heart of the series. Arthur Chen had made the role his own, and despite Dylan Wang’s efforts, the emotional connection was never the same.

The portrayal of Sang Sang was even more problematic for me. Watching Ireine Song appear as the childlike Sang Sang in Season 1 and then seeing her suddenly presented as a grown woman and wife in Season 2 created an uncomfortable disconnect. The transition simply wasn’t convincing. A more mature casting choice might have helped bridge that gap. Instead, the character often appeared emotionally frozen in time. Whether it was the writing, the direction, or the performance itself, Sang Sang spent much of the series looking lost, helpless, or detached. Her emotional range seemed limited to smiling, crying, getting angry, and repeating the cycle. Rather than evolving, she felt trapped by the script, and I found myself feeling sorry for both the character and the actress.

As for the ending, perhaps my disappointment stems from expecting something different. The entire season seemed to suggest that hope, redemption, and light were waiting just beyond the horizon. Instead, characters died, lost limbs, lost their sanity, and suffered one tragedy after another. By the end, I found myself asking: where was the heart that made Season 1 so compelling?
Of all the series I’ve watched, this was one of the most difficult to finish. Watching it felt like running a marathon barefoot—painful, exhausting, and something I endured more out of determination than enjoyment.

The contrast between the two seasons could not be greater. Season 1 soared to incredible heights; Season 2 fell off a cliff. If there are plans for a third season, I’m not sure I want to follow. I’ve already fallen with this story, just let me hit the bottom and move on.

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Healing takes time and it’s about care, patience, love, and support.

PerthSanta really made me understand why they are so loved. The chemistry and acting was just on point from both of them. Santa had a more difficult task as he had to portray practically two characters, but I didn’t feel that Perth was behind him — on the contrary. After all, the one who is closest to Solar is Pobmek, and the dramatic weight that the character carries is big.

The support, care, patience and love that we see among the characters here is very beautiful. It’s exactly what a person who’s suffering with any type of mental health need. I was scared seeing the sinopse but they did the age regression thing respectfully and with a lot of care. The flashbacks from the main lead's pasts was a nice move too. It makes us understand their actions more and it also connects perfectly to the present and gives more depth to their present moments. They felt meaningful and not only random scenes. I love it! I loved the OST too! Very cute.

Despite the praises, I have to say that the characters completely ignoring therapy for Solar bothered me a bit. I know it's fiction but seeing the characters do everything to help Solar get better, do all sorts of crazy things—except taking him to therapy sessions—was a bit hard for me to a certain point. I asked myself “Why are they ignoring that?” but eventually I accepted. There were a few other points that I had to close an eye too like Solar forgiving his father too quickly and the school allowing Pobmek to teach even though he doesn’t have a teaching license and everyone accepting that 😂 but well…fiction I guess.

Overall, Love Your Teacher was a very cute and beautiful serie. I got emotional, I smiled, cried, and loved following the story of love, friendship, and companionship between our main leads. It’s not a perfect BL but I think there’s some good points here that deserves more attention.

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What am I expecting??

The simplicity of this series carries such deep emotions. This is why I fell in love with JBL, and honestly, it's been a while since I last felt this way about one.
I fell in love with it in the first episode, then slowly fell out of love after two or three episodes. But then I stopped and asked myself: What exactly was I expecting from this series?
The characters are literally in their late 30s. So what was I expecting? Fluff? Pick-up lines? Cringey romantic moments?
And that's when I fell in love with it all over again.
This series is not for everyone. As I've mentioned before, this isn't your usual fluffy, student-themed BL. This is real life. There's very little fantasy in it. Instead, it hits hard with themes like midlife crises, the struggle between choosing stability or happiness, the pain of slowly losing people through death, falling apart, and of course, love and marriage—especially as a queer person.
So yeah, it's not for everyone, but I'll definitely recommend it to all of you.
Bye and peace

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It was alright. The ost was pissing me off though, I felt like all the music except that one Yena song felt out of place to the situation it was being placed in. It was also strange how they did not give Boyfriend on Demand that much flack in the end, I thought they would pull a "None of this is real and thats the problem" but they never really did so it was a bit strange. There was also quite a bit gen ai use in the scenes which was ironic considering they're editers for webtoon artists. Overall though it was a rather light hearted drama with some good comedic moments.

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Rude FL ~ the name or this drama should have been "Spring Cooking & Eating".

Wtf. How to invest money and time in such mediocre drama, nothing interesting, sparkle, inspiring. The only thing you can say is lovely is the visuals of the ML and the seaside, the nature.

She, FL, is so rude, a jerk, entitled and act like a toddler... how a masculine man can accept such a toddler girl.
for example.. she is unhappy that she was saved with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and that she has a boyfriend?!?! how he dare to do that... wtf. ... is she mentally retarded? is this how a woman behaves in korea?

The drama is about cooking and eating?! 90% of time is about cooking. 90% about FL rudeness and the rest about life.

So mediocre and time waste.

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Acting is great! Plot has it's pros/cons but overall a good watch

This plot line is very reflective of it's original source and you can tell it's based off a novel. It keeps you interested and intrigued throughout with it's twists/turns and it's unexpected surprises around every corner. The plot is deep, well though out, and quite intricate. There's these little details they've snuck in there that I didn't know until I rewatched some episodes and I really appreciated the thought that went into those moments. I've been watching a lot of short dramas lately so the depth and intricacy of a long drama was refreshing. However, that's also the downside of this drama. The plot in the middle lost it's steam a bit. While the beginning was cute, had multiple comedic moments that I really enjoyed, and moved along at a good pace, the middle tbh was quite slow/boring for me and I legit fell asleep at one point. They spent way too much time on that netherbeast section and I was over it at that point. I couldn't wait to get to the last third of the drama. They tried to maintain some of the initial comedy but as expected, as the storyline got more serious, the comedic moments because fewer and fewer. ML, FL, and all the other actors were all very good and I enjoyed their acting a lot. I don't have anything to be critical of the actors themselves, mostly a plot thing. Worth a watch!

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After watching this, I'll be a lot more careful about what I wish for?

Just completed watching this one and honestly, I'm so glad I randomly stumbled upon it while looking for my next watch. The concept immediately caught my attention, and since I've always had a soft spot for Taiwanese BLs, I decided to give it a try. Safe to say, I don't regret it at all.

What drew me in the most was how unique and fun the premise was. I'm exactly the kind of person who stays awake at 3 a.m. thinking about random "what if" scenarios, so a story revolving around wishes and shooting stars was right up my alley 🫣✨
In fact, after watching this series, I'm pretty sure I'll be a lot more careful about what I wish for 🥹

Going into it, I expected a light fantasy romance and nothing more. The concept felt playful, so I definitely wasn't prepared for any real angst. That's why when the story started dropping hints about what was actually happening, I literally had to pause and scream, "WHATTT???" 😭 I genuinely could not believe it. The shift caught me completely off guard and made me even more invested in the story.

What surprised me even more was the ending. I was convinced they were heading toward a typical cliché conclusion, but they ended up taking a different route, and I really appreciated that. It wasn't perfect. The ending did feel a bit rushed. But at this point, rushed endings are almost a trademark of Taiwanese BLs, so I've learned to make peace with it 😅

One thing I absolutely have to praise is the directing, especially in the final episode. There was something about the way those last scenes were shot that just elevated everything. Even if the ending felt a little rushed, the directing made it memorable, and honestly, the last episode ended up being my favorite because of it 🤌🔥

Overall, Wishing Upon The Shooting Star was a pleasant surprise. It starts off as a fun fantasy story, throws in emotions you don't see coming, and leaves you thinking long after it's over.

If you're into fantasy dramas and want something a little different, I'd definitely recommend giving this one a chance ❤️

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A second watch review

The series is just as good as I remember so I've kept the score the same. Although there are plenty of crime series out there, this one shines for multiple reasons:

-- The lineup of actors are fantastic and they all mesh really well together. The bonds between the group is weighed heavy but this is also why it feels real.
-- Although the series revolves mostly around the mystery of a violent crime, almost each episode just slowly peels off one layer of the unknown at a time with great pacing.
-- There are many times I really want to reach into the screen to grab the arrogant and young male lead... and just shake him really hard. His actions and mentality were so irking but you will eventually empathize with him as his past unravels and as he learns to face himself.
-- Although the situations feel quite depressing at times as you are introduced to many individuals with some heavy and complex trauma that they live with, it also manages to create a nice wrapping of warmth. Our "darker" male lead will also give you quite a few laughs just because of who he is.
-- Although a tad gruesome at times maybe for some, there isn't an over-dramatization of crime scenes. It isn't one of those that tries to play CSI but it still respects common sense. I really appreciate this actually. It didn't need any of the unnecessary addition for it to be intriguing.

My only nits are that they sometimes repeat flashback scenes a little too much but this is probably needed if you aren't binge-watching. And as mentioned above, the young lead just irks you quite often with his personality for quite some episodes but also as mentioned, he does make up for it well. Highly recommended for those who enjoy crime dramas without all the showy aspects. Even at a second watch, I still didn't feel the need to speed up any of the episodes.

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Not what I expected

I really didn't expect the game plot and how they would meet. I thought it was such a cool concept. Then suddenly the plot changed and it started to be based off construction. I didn't mind it at first, but for me, it slowly became more boring and complicated with the addition of the plot about her father and the ML. I miss having the game as the plot. I really did like the romance of the couple. both of their actings were really good, but I just hated the additional argument they had and felt as if it was too excessive. Due to the fallout of their relationship, I had to force myself to finish the series. The ending was a nice touch, but I do not think I could rewatch it again.

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The idea was great but …

First I need to say I really wanted to give this show a chance, but it sadly didn‘t work for me. The idea of the story was really great, like going back in time to fix and change the way you life went. I liked that a lot. Sadly the writing couldn't finish where they started it, and the villain was too simple and one-dimensional.

But I need to say I liked the main couple; they both did a good job, and the chemistry was there; I could feel it. I think the biggest issue was the music and intensity that never went away. There were some scenes that weren't that dramatic, but the music always sounded like the world would end. So at one point I was just annoyed by the music and felt nothing.

The worst scene for me was when Armin got shot. Like, how could he survive a shot in the heart and also have no scar, nothing, like it never happened? What the hell? That sends me completely off.

The ending was underwhelming, and I was just happy when I finally finished it.

I think the idea was great and the acting as well, but the writing just didn‘t work, so everything fell apart at some point, sadly.

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