Reviews

Very healing/comforting!

I honestly don't even know where to begin with this drama. At first, I started it for Li Yunrui, who is one of my favorite actors. But I honestly loved the entire cast and ensemble of characters. (LOVED seeing Bian Tian Yang in this drama, as he was in Generation to Generation and also When I Fly Towards You. Absolutely adored his character, Hao Cheng, in this drama as well). This drama honestly feels like one huge hug and as if a warm blanket is being draped over your shoulders.

While the pace of this drama is definitely a bit slow, especially throughout the first few episodes, it is so worth it! The gradual development of Qing Ye's character, for example, was so great to see. At first, I wasn't sure if I was going to love her character, as she comes off as very spoiled and bratty, especially when she first arrives in Zhazhating. I didn't love how she treated Xing Wu's mother, nor how she continuously complained about her living conditions. It wasn't what she was used to, sure, but I just didn't love the way she went about it. However, as the drama goes on, you see how Qing Ye slowly starts to adapt to her new environment and how she starts to warm up to the residents of the small coastal village. We see her go from absolutely hating ZhaZhaTing and wanting absolutely nothing to do with it to being reluctant to leave.

She grows attached to the residents, especially her new friends and of course, Xing Wu. The residents of this small coastal village are so lovable (well, most of them) and I just love how they eventually dote on Qing Ye, especially Teacher Zhu, Shanxi, and Ma Yu Fen. I loved the three aunties' friendship and how their support for one another never faltered, not even for one second.

Qing Ye is someone who, in my opinion, had clear goals when she had first arrived to Zhazhating, but after spending more and more time there, her goals suddenly begin to become a bit unclear. I absolutely loved how her character develops, as she learns to become more appreciative of the smaller and simpler things in life, and that even the smallest moments in life can be quite memorable. I absolutely adore her character, and I love that she marches forward and goes after what she wants in her career and for her future, even if her father doesn't necessarily approve.

Speaking of her father, I really disliked him throughout this entire drama, especially when he forced her to go back to Beijing with him and thought that her attachment to Zhazhating was ridiculous. He was so selfish and didn't care what Qing Ye thought. He really only did what he thought was best, and it didn't matter what Qing Ye thought. I loved that Qing Ye didn't back down on her decision to not study abroad and instead apply to a local university in Beijing. She goes on to work at a prestigious company and even spearheads a lot of her own projects there. She becomes successful in her own right, and her intelligence, determination, and hard-working nature really shine through.

As for Xing Wu, I honestly felt so much for him. He is someone who is carrying so many burdens on his shoulders, even at a young age. It was heartbreaking to learn about his past trauma and how his dad was a horrible person who physically abused his mother and verbally abused him as well. It was also heartbreaking to learn about how he had so much going for him when he was in high school, had a dream to become a pilot, and was extremely talented and intelligent. But, everything went downhill when his father gambled off all the money that his mother had. I absolutely despised his father and how much trouble that he caused for them. Xing Wu may appear to be cold and "rebellious," but he actually has a heart of gold and will do anything to protect the ones he loves. He tries to lessen his mother's burdens and works extremely hard every single day, even if he is extremely exhausted and doesn't take care of himself that well. Xing Wu, even at a young age, tries to take on everything by himself and tries to appear strong for both his mother and grandmother. Xing Wu, at his core, is a protector and a provider. He does everything he can to make life more bearable for those he cares about.

At the same time, though, he carries a lot of emotional baggage and bottles all of it inside. He is guarded and closed off, and doesn't want to appear "weak." He wants to be someone people can rely on. At the start of the drama, he is yet to heal from the tragic events of the past. When Qing Ye shows up, he just wants her to go home and never come back. But, as time goes on, Xing Wu slowly starts to warm up to Qing Ye and becomes very protective and starts to care deeply for her. I love how he was able to overcome his trauma and heal from it, with his loved ones by his side. That scene where he hugs Qing Ye after his house got burnt down was devastating. It was truly the first time that we see Xing Wu let his guard down completely and let out all his pent-up emotions. He finally allows himself to be comforted, and I thought that scene was both equal parts heartbreaking and also touching.

While the slow burn between Xing Wu and Qing Ye was excruciating, I absolutely loved seeing their relationship develop as time went on. That's not to say I didn't scream at my computer, begging for them to confess. I absolutely adore them together, and I honestly kind of liked that they didn't start dating until they were both adults. I think that those five years apart allowed them to really work on themselves as people and also figure out what they really want in life. I also think that it allowed them to also focus on their careers and make a name for themselves.

Their constant almost meetings did drive me nuts though, I will admit. But, it made their reunion scene all that worth waiting for. I loved that everyone in this drama got their happy ending, and the found family trope in this drama is just fantastic as well. The constant support and love of their families and other residents of Zhazhating made my heart so incredibly warm. I also loved that Shu Han and Meng Ruihang, characters that could've easily come in between Xing Wu and Qing Ye's relationship, instead were supportive in the end. I absolutely loved that! The ending of this drama was absolutely perfect, but I just wish that we got to see more of Xing Wu and Qing Ye actually being a couple. I'm still glad we got some cute moments between them though <3 The friendships in this drama were just so immaculate and absolutely adorable! I also love how resilient these characters are, because no matter how many hardships they go through, they always find a way to overcome them and come out stronger, even if the journey to get there is rough.

There's honestly so much more that I could say, but I will say one last thing: I will think about this drama for a while, and I think it's one that will stick with me forever <3 Please take me back to Zhazhating immediately!! This drama has definitely become one of my comfort cdramas for sure <3 This drama will forever hold a special place in my heart. I already miss these characters so so so so much! One of my absolute favorite dramas of the year for sure!

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I finished it. I wish I could say it was worth it.

I went into this as a FortPeat fan — genuinely invested in their dynamic, their chemistry, the particular way they work together. Yesterday was announced as darker, Peat's character described as a black flag. I was open to that. The first three episodes gave me reason to stay.
Then the kidnapping arc happened, and something shifted that I couldn't shift back.
There's a line for me between dark romance and something else. A toxic dynamic where both people have psychological agency, mutual pull, even obsession — I can engage with that. What I can't frame as romance is one character imprisoned, distressed, stripped of choice, while the other brings in a therapist not to get help but because surely something must be wrong with someone who stopped loving him. That's not darkness I find compelling. That's a portrait of abuse dressed in the language of devotion.
What makes it worse is the narrative decision to explain Kelvin's behaviour through mental illness. I want to be careful here because I think the intention may have been to add complexity — and Kelvin being the first toxic BL character to actually go to therapy is, on paper, interesting. But the execution does something I find genuinely harmful: it uses BPD and depression as a reason for his actions, which both stigmatises those diagnoses and quietly absolves him. The implication becomes he couldn't help it, and he can be fixed. Neither of those things is true to how these illnesses actually work, and neither should be used to explain away abuse. If you're going to bring mental illness into a story this seriously, you owe it the honesty of showing it as an ongoing process — not a plot device that gets resolved by a time jump.
The ending felt like a bad joke to me. Veir's forgiveness is framed as emotional maturity, as living in the present. Maybe there's something philosophically interesting in that framing. But the series didn't earn it — not with this story, not with what Kelvin actually did, and not with a resolution that skips the hard part entirely.
FortPeat still perform. That part I won't take away from them. But something recalibrated after this, and I'm still sitting with what that means.

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Better Than Expected

I started watching this drama on a whim and ended up loving it. It gave off the vibe of early 2020s kdramas, largely because the writer mixed comedy and drama so well. The highlights were the acting and chemistry of the main cast (the core four), the intriguing plot, and the ending.
However, the story telling it self isn't flawless. There are a few minor issues, and some of the casting choices regarding the supporting and guest characters were questionable. Overall, it was an enjoyable watch from start to finish.
I'd recommend this drama to anyone who has been missing good justice dramas.

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A SATISFYING WATCH

I made this account especially for this drama because I wanted to write a review.

This might be the most satisfying K-Drama I've watched in a good while. The male actors slaps are so therapeutic that I cannot express in words. The rage I would feel in each episode but the ending always satisfied me.

One thing that was a miss was Yeri's storyline. I do believe that there might be instances where male teacher could be falsely accused for SA but in this day and age where perpetrators are almost always trusted upon rather than the victims the execution could've been better especially if they showed us that she was actually assaulted by her teacher from foreign high so we could understand her better.

The juvenile offender guy might be the most ANNOYING kid I've seen and his ending was so satisfying. As an Asian kid the ep with the mom and their constant pestering to be a doctor hit so close to home and it was the only ep I cried in.

Inspector Im Harim's screams were so satisfying. I've seen some mixed reviews about her character but personally I loved her. I also believe the romance sub-plot was not necessary but its not like it was character defining or something. She was so goated anyways.

Overall it was a solid drama and I stood up in my room and applaused after finishing it.

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Palace Schemes & Satire: Not Perfect, But Enjoyable

I watched this on YouTube and it was hard to understand because the English translations were most likely AI. From what I could gather, this is a transmigration drama where the FL transmigrates into the role of a widow whose family was wrongfully accused of murdering her husband. She has a rough start at the beginning, but slowly acclimates and uncovers palace schemes that have huge implications on past events.

Given that the subtitles aren't the best for this, the storyline felt choppy, but I enjoyed the basic storyline and appreciated the satirical tones and light politics. It's only a total of an hour and a half, so it was easy to watch without feeling like I wasted my time. A huge drawback is that the ending isn't conclusive and it insinuates a next season, but I don't know if we will get one.

Overall, I thought this was an okay watch that was a light in between while watching more serious dramas.

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Overrated drama for such high rating.

I dont know why the drama got so high rating maybe purely because of Xiao Zhan. I like him since Untamed but this drama is the epitome of pure bad writing.
I though after 10 years of training the MC would be intelligent, calculative and patient. But even on first dozen of episode, so may scene that purely carried by his plot armor.
1st scene: He points out suspicious people to the unknown person (presumably the heroin), is stupid enough, you need to hide your claw as it is even the person you meet for the first time.
2nd scene: His weapon was luckily taken by benefactor if not he would already be killed by the Marquis
3rd scene: The enemy Qu something, attendant of Marquis was killed of screen as simple as that? Revenge not satisfied for the audience.
4th scene: He thought others are stupid, so carelessly shows his scar to the Marquis son? Please help me with the dumbness.

These are the 4 scenes that i recalled at the top of my head, i dont know whether i can perservere to watch until the end, the dumbness and pure plot armor is gripping me. Actually the rating might be 4/12, but i give low to balace all the nonsence high rating, as if never watch any drama with intelligent character!

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Superb love story

Absolutely loved this drama from beginning to end. Never a dull moment and loved every character. Chen Lei is phenomenal and brings it in every way. He is soft and sweet and yet still brings the amazing hard core side as well. He has an amazing range. The FL I didn’t start off loving but she grew on me as it went on. By the end I totally loved her. The whole story came along nicely and had some great plot moments that had me gasping and screaming at the screen. Gotta love that! It hit all the great emotions. It didn’t have any ridiculous plot holes or frustrations that make you overly mad. This was definitely a great watch.

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A surprisingly good horror

I don't really watch horror as I get scared easily and prefer thriller.i actually got to know about it from tiktok through a movie narration.just when I heard about them having extra people than when they arrived at that place I was sold.it specifically kind of reminded me of another which i really like.
I had my doubts on the guy who supposedly cleaned cropses before.i couldn't really remember them properly except for lieutenant choi.
The poster itself gives away the story of the movie
"He who sheds others blood will not return
Not even his soul"
And the only one who survived the whole massacre was jang.though he got blinded and heavily traumatized,his fate seems way nicer than the previous survivor whose body is seemingly burned
Unlike the others jang also hadn't committed any killing and at the end he was blind,so he couldn't even see the ghost for her to use him and since choi died he was the only one left,so maybe he is spared.
The island itself is a trap,when a troop arrives didn't timelines merge all at once,the French, American army men and even the previous batch of Korean soldiers appointed at r-point.tge woman is probably the source of all the hallucinations and the violence, craziness that emerges in the soldiers out of the blue.when all things are done i.e most of the troops are killed and the rescuers arrive they find no body, nothing anywhere in r-point.showcasing the end of the trap for this batch of soldiers but surely this loop will continue as choi's voice is seen sending distress signals.and just like with the previous survivor jang would ask them not to go and they would still send soldiers and those soldiers would go through the same thing.

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