Reviews

Don't watch if you're not a fan of sad endings

It's how things work out not in the same way yeah a bit different but in real-life not everyone gets a partner or a happy ending. The casting and acting was good but I feel like the storyline towards the ending could have been different. I understand why they got together after she came back after 10 years, they both were not dating each other atleast seriously and still loves each other, just things did work out. It was so sad and frustrating to watch that I skipped ep 7,8 and 9. I don't know if I did good or not anyways, Things could have definitely been better. It's just so sad that the teens who loved each other and found comfort in each other couldn't be together.
I feel like I dislike Seung-chan a bit, maybe if he hadn't recommended that part time to her, they would still be dating. The story was good at the starting but at the end it felt like bs and so sad that I couldn't even watch. Maybe Eun-A could have been as loyal as A-sol to even one of the twos
I read some of the reviews here and when I was watching the starting eps I felt like I would write thins contradicting to them but it's the same anyways just wanna say that the storyline could have had some improvement otherwise it was kinda good too

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Just enjoy it!!!

Seriously, I haven't genuinely belly-laughed at a KDrama in ages, but this one has me cackling.

Why can't we just accept that not every KDrama needs to be a masterpiece with some earth-shattering plot? Some can just be simple, pure entertainment for the moment – light, a little cliché, and totally fun with zero strings attached.

This show tells a hilarious story about a high school BL web novel writer whose stories weren't exactly setting the world on fire. Then, BAM! Four super hot teachers transfer to her school. She decides to use them as her muses, whips up a BL novel about them, and boom it blows up, giving her the big break she'd only dreamed of. Of course, this leads to a whole bunch of wild events, but I won't spill all the tea to avoid spoilers!

This show is a fun, simple watch that's easy to follow. It's not a BL itself, to clarify but it shows glimpses into the writers novel bringing her fictional stories to life on screen. It has a lighthearted, old-school comedy vibe, reminiscent of sitcoms but without the laugh track it's just you laughing out loud.

The show features a fun and interesting female lead. While her bob haircut might initially seem like a turn-off, it actually adds to her overall quirkiness, which feels intentional and works well.

You'll find plenty of high school drama, relatable friendships, and engaging teacher student interactions.

It ended beautifully and no there wasn't romance between the teacher and student.

In short, this show is definitely worth watching. It's a refreshing reminder of the fun, simple shows we've been missing.

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It's like watching a BL for Tofus, Bland and Pale.

I am not getting they hype of this show. I tried to endure and hoped that there must be something new that this BL can offer, but I just got disappointed. I think we have reached to a point where there are too much BLs getting aired. There must be something in this show that hits the spot of the new generation of BL fans, but coming from someone who has been a fan since 2006, I have seen similar plots and twists for a BL. Nothing is refreshing. The comedic timing is awful and forced. Chemistry is lacking too. Main characters lack personality because there's not enough back to story. It was just a free flowing BL, light to watch, but not worth to rewatch.

Music is good though.

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Good cast. Mid plot.

The best thing about this drama is the leads and that's about it. A misunderstanding went on for so long it got super annoying. I guess the trade off is that you get makeout scenes and stuff so I guess it'sworth it..?

The drama tried to show FL as a strong and somewhat smart person but her planning to escape was barely anything. At least she got ML to assist her in getting what she wants. Otherwise, she would not succeed. The nonsense toward the end ish was so unnecessary (her escape being foiled and ML being pissed...) that I gave up 17 minutes before the end of the drama. My dude never told her anything about how he feels toward her and the one time she tries to fish for something, he acted like an ass.

All in all, if you got time to spare and wants good chemistry but dumbassery that might piss you off, this could be the drama for you.

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best drama ive watched this month

I dont usually watch dramas that arent bl or gl related but ever since i watched this drama it got me hooked to jdramas! The storyline is just perfect! When i saw some reels about the plot it was so interesting the first time i saw it! So i decided to watch it and just finished it in one day, never skipped a scene or episode, hiyori's acting is just AMAZING, her crying moments also got me crying fr.
Also the funny moments just balances the whole drama in perfection!

Yui and daisuke are just SOOOO CUTE in this drama!!! Sano and Hiyori's chemistry is just right!!! I hope they get casted as a couple in a drama again!!!


Definitely a recommendation to those who likes watching jdramas and havent watched this yet.

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Pure chaos and I'm here for it

This drama is pure chaos from the beginning to end - therefore, don't take it too seriously, lay back grab the popcorn and enjoy this rollercoaster ride.
I love Wang Haozhen and Wang Ge Ge and they team up with an amazing cast. I think they all had a really good time being on set together and acting out this very funny drama.
There is sister spirit between the two FLs, I love a great friendship between FLs on screen. The men seem though but the FLs are dancing samba on their noses and loving every minute of it. FLs are ride or die best friends.
This is really an amazing drama which I look at differently than dramas where I expect some artistic refienery. The art her is in the dialogs, the plot and honestly - if there is an award for funniest lines in a drama: This one definitely would earn one.
A small employee is trying to guilt trip a FL and produces the weirdest succession of sentences leaving nothing but empty meaninglessness. I'd almost say this is Dada art :)
This drama will make you laugh and leave you feeling light-hearted and happy - which is why it is worth every second you spend watching it.

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You cry, I cry, we all cry

Well, this show was quite a ride. While watching, I could not tear my eyes away- glued to my screen, binging past bedtime every night. But by the time I came back the next day, I felt nervous and reluctant to resume.

So first, yes, it was riveting. I couldn’t look away. But that's partly because I was trying so hard to figure out what’s going on. This show is on the confusing side. Even after you figure out roughly how the world works (which took me approximately one muddled story arc), subsequent story arcs still manage to introduce more jumbled backstories and secrets revealed in tangled ways. It’s hard to keep track of everything, and sometimes it’s not clear what’s plot hole vs world building vs important clue.

That said, each time the reveals are finally out and the pieces come together (minus a few lost along the way), I did find each story to be interesting and touching. So I could also say, the plot is full of twists and turns and is constantly moving, which keeps things exciting.

It also yanks your emotions around on a leash, which brings me to the reason I felt nervous to watch. This show is just too absurdly tragic sometimes. eg people suffering out of selfless love, kind people forced into heartbreaking situations, etc. If you pull out of immersion for a bit, you might call it emotionally manipulative. The characters were constantly crying, and so was I.

The saving grace is that it is pretty clear how to feel. Everyone- me, the characters, other audience- could all feel bad together. This doesn’t totally make things ok, and tragic story following tragic story really does get tiresome. But the sense of commiseration helps a lot. Ji Ling is a good example: I badly wanted the best for this super likable, sympathetic character, and it made me so happy to see other characters step up for him.

So the show is emotionally taxing, but not in a frustrating way. It’s nice that the protagonists are mostly on the same page, with minimal miscommunications, while the ultimate villain is pretty clear-cut and evil. There are five actors listed in main roles and the show really does have five leads- they all have their own backstories, personalities, and goals, as well as different interlocking relations. I really like how this show is able to distribute the focus and maintain so many different kinds of positive relationships. The two romances are very sweet. There are also some very likable side characters.

By the way, the two foxes seem to be going for an alluring, seductive, and otherworldly vibe, especially at the beginning. This distinct character type does match the classic nine tailed fox, but I wasn’t sure I could take it from main characters that I have to watch the entire show. Luckily it dies down, I’d say within 10 episodes or so, as the foxes get down to business.

The show gets wilder towards the end. The plot gets whiplashed around a bit, sometimes via deus ex machina plot devices. For example, dramatic sacrifices are subsequently undone by some world mechanism that was never hinted at until now, repeat again and again. But the show is only a trim 29 episodes so you just get yanked around for a bit and then it’s over.

Acting-wise, I think people in general did a good job. I really like Tian Jiarui’s character and that might be why I think he did such a great job, so adorable. Ju Jingyi is very pretty, but I’ll be honest, her classic-beauty aura is just not my thing- eg the way she will slightly tilt her face from here to there, like she’s letting us admire it from different angles. It might be the director’s decision to capture a certain vibe. I also, sorry to say, think Yan An is too good looking that it’s distracting. I kept admiring his face rather than focusing on what his character is doing (I ended up really loving his character’s story, though).

But in general I wasn’t a huge fan of the styling. I think Joseph Zeng and Chen Duling have both looked better in other shows. All around the faces were too pale and smooth- even more unnatural than the normal Cdrama.

The cinematography is quite artistic (it’s a shame it came out right after Pursuit of Jade which still did better). The fighting is a good mix of CGI and performed choreography. I thought it’s done really well, both technique and choreo, and fun to watch. I really like how different demons and hunters have their own unique weapons, skills, and spells. This would make a super fun RPG.

But this show also really loves poses, wind machines, and thumping techno music. It actually worked on me a few times (ie I thought it was cool) but mostly I thought it was trying too hard. In fact, a lot of parts of this show are overly dramatic, like all the slow speech with lots of pauses, and the pretty-crying with a single tear. It sometimes made me cringe, just a little.

In general I liked the music (yes, even the techno!) The show tends to play soft and gentle tunes during the most dramatic or heartbreaking scenes, which turns out to be a sure formula to make me cry. The OST also played at all the right moments, to good effect.

Overall, I like this show because it’s emotionally engaging, has some really sympathetic and likable characters, and is just... riveting. It’s full of plot twists that kept me on my toes- in a steady haze of mild confusion, yes, but aside from some parts not quite adding up (perhaps it’d be clearer on a rewatch), things mostly straighten out into touching stories in which it’s clear who to root for. The excessive, nonstop tragedy gets a bit exhausting sometimes, and the overly dramatic plot whiplash towards the end is a bit much. But I guess the emotional manipulation worked on me, because even though I didn't particularly like the ending either, I felt so attached to the characters and story that I still walked away with a real soft spot for this show.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending is... confusing? It’s not as tragic as this director is known for, but that’s not saying much.

Throughout the story, likable side characters were getting killed off left and right, so it’s no surprise that this trend continues right up to the end, even adding in some of the main characters. I was honestly kind of immune to the tragedy at this point.

But it is all undone by time travel stuff. The time loop makes as little sense as it ever did in a Cdrama. For some reason Wu Shiguang is the only one who seems to remember “old reality”, and we get some scenes from "new reality" but not enough for a clear picture of the situation. The time travel allows many people who died to be alive again, but this never made me feel better, because with a different set of memories they’re pretty much just different people.

WuWu couple still gets to be together, but Wu Wanyan has no memory of him. As for Ji Ling and Lu Wuyi... ok, I have no idea what happened inside that star thing. But at the very end there is some scene of them living as normal humans and meeting again. I don’t know if it’s an alternate universe or reincarnation or what, but since they don’t have their old memories anyways, as far as I am concerned the Ji Ling and Lu Wuyi we followed through the story are gone. ...which is actually really upsetting. Like come on, after all that?

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“A Romance Built on Lies… That Feels Real”

My Romance scammer is actually very interesting in its own way, especially if you like something a little messy and different.

When I started this drama, I was really excited because finally I get to watch something where Junior and Mark are the main characters 🤍 And honestly, they did not disappoint. Their chemistry and the way their story developed made it easy to stay interested.

The story itself starts with two scammers, Tim and Yu, who enter relationships for money. But as everything goes on, feelings start getting real, and that’s where the problem begins 😭 What was supposed to be just a plan slowly turns into something emotional, and everything becomes complicated.

I also really enjoyed Yu and North’s side because their story feels more chaotic and funny, but at the same time, it still has its emotional moments. North especially is just unpredictable, and it makes their scenes fun to watch 😂 And from what I saw, Poon really fits his role well, which made it even better.

One thing I liked is that the drama doesn’t feel too heavy, but it still gives enough emotional tension to keep you watching. It mixes romance, trust issues, family pressure, and a bit of chaos in a way that keeps things interesting.

Overall, it’s not a perfect drama, but it’s definitely entertaining. It’s messy, a little dramatic, sometimes funny, and at times surprisingly emotional 💔
Short take: they came to scam… but ended up catching feelings 😭

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Wherein both main characters annoy a certified grump to the near-ruination of the series...

Duang With You is neither good enough to recommend without reservation nor terrible enough to warrant a scathing review. Per its cutomary business practice, Domundi has once again manifested a knack for pairing together cute actors whom BL fans will obsess over. Also per its customary business practice, Domundi has burdened another bright-eyed, eager duo with a script short on actual substance. Of course, well-crafted BL series can get by with minimal narrative substance. All they really need is some sort of idealized romance anchored by barely post-pubescent actors, sufficiently winsome and nubile, who exhibit good chemistry with one another. If the storyboard now and again spices up the whole affair with alluring NC scenes, then enough of the audience will swoon to guarantee a commercial success. Good news for the subset of BL fans who dote on couple pairs and just want to see cute boys kiss! Duang With You delivers more or less exactly those things, which means many reviews of this series will glow so brightly one might conclude it is the most brilliant series ever.

This review, however, was written by a certified grump who has grown jaded after consuming the genre for six years. I need more than a fluffy idealized romance: I crave a fluffy idealized romance that evinces some flair in the telling of the story and that makes more than token attempts at developing characters. Duang With You manages neither, which leaves me to deliver a tepid review of a tepid story with tepid characters. If you enjoy a bit of fluffy romance that you can enjoy with your brain switched off, Duang will likely keep you entertained. Sometimes that is all any of us need. We all of us have a few questionable choices listed among our sentimental BL favorites. So fine by me if Duang works for you. Should you, however, wish for any level of complexity, seek it elsewhere.

As far as the plot, Duang With You is a basic BL. That observation is not intended as a slight. I just mean the plot returns to the genre’s basic roots. There is no murder mystery to solve. No reincarnation twists. No one has swapped bodies. No one possesses supernatural powers. The world is not ending. The storyframe revolves around two young men, college students Duang and Qin, pursuing first-love. That back-to-(BL)basics set-up has worked plenty of times in the past, and the “opposites attract” storyline almost works here. Sadly, Domundi is too busy marketing its ubiquitous couple pairs to invest in quality screenwriting. As a result, episode after episode delivers scenes in which the boyish actors, sufficiently winsome and nubile, gaze adoringly into one another’s eyes. (To be fair, all of that frippery works well here most of the time. Credit to the boyish actors, winsome and nubile.) Nevertheless, in presenting so many instances of Duang staring with mindless devotion into Qin’s eyes—a blind devotion unwarranted by their actual level of human interaction—the series forefeits meaningful attempts to build either character (or their attraction) into more than a cardboard caricature. The best “basic BLs” work when the script delivers delightful characters with interesting lives. For me, the failings in character development, even more than the skimpy plot, prevent Duang With You from exemplifying the best that “basic BL” can be.

It is a problem if neither main character wins the viewer over. In this case, both Duang and Qin became stumbling blocks to my enjoyment. I never warmed to either. Duang is preternaturally ebullient. Qin, preternaturally sullen. Opposites, see? It could work. Maybe, it should work. Yet the relentless cheer of Duang quickly becomes tiresome. By contrast, Qin starts out tiresome. He never drops a gloomy mien. The characters were written this way—that is their schtick—so I am not knocking the performances. At the risk of redundancy, if you enjoy the evident chemistry between the actors, the whole series will likely work better for you than it did for me. A belated attempt to provide Qin’s taciturnity a backstory, one obviously calculated to induce viewer sympathy, fell completely flat for me. A nanny that horrible? Too stupid to be plausible. Even Qin, her ostensible victim, knew the story was absurd, saying at one point, "The nanny never bothered me. I just wanted a hug from my mommy." Well. Those were not his exact words, but they may as well have been. Yes, all that morose glumness stems from a sad childhood because his parents are as implausibly neglectful as Evil Nanny was implausibly hateful. Judging from the comments section, people who liked the series devoured these revelations as if they revealed profound secrets of the Universe. No. It was just hyperactive TV drama doing hyperactive TV drama things. Any character quirk that requires such over-the-top groundwork to justify simply strikes me as an effect in search of a cause. That is to say, the writer began with an idea: “I want a main character who is morose and sullen and silent,” then concocted a backstory to deliver the desired result. Small wonder Qin’s personality felt contrived from start to finish—his peculiarities were made to order for an “opposites attract” storyframe and simply come across as unnatural .

The boyish actors, winsome and nubile, gamely sell the quirks of their characters as they pretend to fall in love for the camera. Their effort makes Duang With You a serviceable BL. Ultimately, however, little distinguishes the final product from a host of other forgettable series starring other sets of boyish actors, sufficiently winsome and nubile, who also manifest compelling chemistry. Again, if that's all you need from your BL, you will enjoy Duang just fine. But for me? File this as the latest example of "watch, then forget." Next!

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Hilarious comedy

Wang CuiHua transmigrates into a drama she was tasked to improve, only to find herself cast as the villain in a Xia kingdom palace. Worse still, her character does not have a happy ending. Deeply in love with Prince Duan, she is instead offered to the emperor by her ambitious father, who hopes to climb the ranks through her.

The emperor is known to be a ruthless tyrant who does not hesitate to kill his consorts. Brought before him to serve, CuiHua is nearly cast aside and buried until she begs for her life. To her surprise, she discovers that he is also a transmigrator.

Armed with only a skimpy knowledge of the drama—having rushed through the script—she must now not only save herself, but also the emperor, who was assassinated in the original story. They begin to suspect that there may be other transmigrators as well. It is a precarious situation: both of them were villains in the original plot, surrounded by enemies. If others know the story, they would likely try to eliminate them. Worse still, as they plot their course, the story begins to change and deviate from the original, leaving them uncertain about what lies ahead.

This drama appears to be a remake of a similar 2025 production, which was rated much lower at 7.5 on MyDramaList. I nearly skipped it on iQIYI, as I usually avoid dramas rated below 8. Fortunately, a second search led me to this newer, better-rated version. Having not watched the earlier one, I cannot make a comparison. Also, the trope of being drawn into a play and becoming a character is all too familiar—another reason I almost passed on this drama. As it turns out, it is well worth watching.

The drama is both hilarious and comical, yet at the same time intense. At its core is a three-way power struggle among Prince Duan, the Empress Dowager, and the Emperor. The Emperor begins as the underdog. Transmigrated at a young age, he was raised by the Dowager as a puppet, with no real authority or military backing. In contrast, Prince Duan controls the military, while the Dowager dominates the court. The arrival of CuiHua, however, shifts the balance. With a capable strategist by his side, the Emperor finds himself in a more advantageous position. How it all unfolds keeps the tension high.

Wang Chu Ran's and Ryan Cheng's on-screen chemistry is excellent and carries the story effectively. While the second leads also perform well, Una Jingru You, a support lead, deserves special mention for convincingly portraying both male and female personas. She plays in one of the most heart-rending moments - the death of a comrade, who, longing to see better days for the kingdom, succumbs to illness on a snowy winter day before that hope can be realised.

The music, however, feels somewhat monotonous. Many tracks share the same sweet, sentimental tone and are not particularly memorable, though a couple do stand out does stand out a little more.

Overall, this is a well-produced drama—with lovely costumes especially for the main leads, realistic CGI, excellent acting, and an engaging power struggle. It is certainly worth the time: entertaining, intense, and filled with moments of genuine laughter.

I debated between an 8.5 and a 9, but ultimately decided on a 9.

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