Reviews

OMG how is this so good!!!

I am relatively quite new to the bl genre and this show was largely my first bl series. I picked it at random without any knowledge or trailer to clue me in, and I was beyond pleasantly surprised! The characters feel so grounded and their chemistry so genuine that I completely binged this entire show in 2 days. Their interactions were so good that I kept replaying them and they even replayed in my mind when I was away from the screen. I spent 3 hours rewatching a 20 minute, basically uncut, raw emotional and relationship development scene between the two characters. 3 HOURS on a 20 MIN scene!!!!! Thats just how good the chemistry and artistry was. I was so pleasantly amazed by this show and the high its given me that I've been looking desperatly for some show to replace its absence with, with no luck yet. In the meantime I might just have to rewatch it again.

Read More

Simply one of the most exciting K-dramas of 2026

Fantastic acting from the whole cast! Heo NamJun especially won my heart; his eyes and eyebrows deserve acting credits of their own! The production, acting, writing and plotline were solid till the end. Okay, looking back and reflecting on the whole drama, there were definitely quite a few plot holes. But the acting and chemistry from the leads, and even the villain, kept me so sucked in that I managed to bypass all that as I was watching.
I loved every single episode, and the chemistry between the leads was phenomenal. I wished they’d star in another Rom-Com together. They could do an S2 of the show that focuses on the story of their past-life identities and how they navigated their new lives in the Joseon era!

Read More

better than i expected..

i honestly didn't expect much from this, but i ended up enjoying it. it's a really easy drama to get through, and i liked how calm and comforting it felt. it doesn't try to be anything huge, and i think that's part of its charm. i found myself looking forward to new episodes even when not much was happening.

my only real issue was the writing. the story had some really nice ideas, but it felt like it played everything a bit too safe. the middle episodes slowed down more than i wanted, and i wish some of the side characters had been given more to do. i kept waiting for the story to go a little deeper, but it never really did.

overall, i still had a good time with it. it's not a drama i'll probably rewatch, but i don't regret watching it either. it's just one of those shows that's nice while it lasts. not amazing, not disappointing... just a sweet and enjoyable watch.

Read More

Good counterpart to the Korean version

I liked how they changed some of the plot points; it made it a bit less predictable, and the changes fit the Japanese drama style better.
One thing that irritated me immensely, and is not exclusive to Japanese dramas, is how physically helpless and weak the female character was portrayed to be. Even in a scene fighting with another woman, she just lies there at some point and lets herself get choked. Or another scene where someone brings out a taser, she sees it, and all she proceeds to do is look shocked and only take one step back; like, run, the fuck!
But tbh for 10 episodes, the writing was definitely tighter than the 16 episodes for the Korean version. I also liked how the characters have more depth and grey areas, not just black or white; the female antagonist particularly was quite well written. Pretty good watch overall, but preferred the Korean version for the over-the-top drama factor, and better cinematography and eye-candy. Tho the Japanese version had better drama execution and was more realistic.

Read More

I liked the premise of the story and the OST

This is my first Korean BL. I liked the premise of the story and the OST - toxic and dark. I liked the opening sequence and let it play through in all 10 episodes because it really fit the theme of the show. I liked that each episode was between 20 to 30 minutes, so it moved along fairly quickly (although there were a couple of places I thought about fast forwarding). For a BL, the acting was pretty good and there were some outstanding moments. I thought Kim Yoon Sik was good most of the time and would be interested in watching him in the future. Also, I thought Seo Han Gyeol did an outstanding job at the end of episode 8 in her shocking reveal. There were two detractors: First, I did not find the character, Lee Chae Ha, appealing in anyway. I think it was his hairstyle because it made him look like a gawky 12 year old boy. Second, the male leads didn't look like they enjoyed kissing each other, so it was hard to stay in the story when that happened. Compared to other BLs I've watched recently, it was good.

Read More

Good watch, but feels incomplete...

Pretty good movie; the cinematography was beautiful and good acting from the leads. But it did feel incomplete despite being over 2 hours. We didn’t get to know the characters deeply, and some pain points did not seem resolved.
Like, what is their background? Their story? They both briefly mention their mothers, but that is about it. Does Sugiki ever get to become a world champion? Why was Liana so convinced she could not with him? … I am just left with many unanswered questions.
The movie felt more like an introduction than a resolution. Maybe there’ll be a part 2? Or maybe it’s just one of those movies that do not give you all the answers or the full story.

Read More

I got bored

I went into this series with zero expectations. I loved Winny and Satang in We Are, but I was dragging my feet when it came to this series because I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it. Why? I am not sure, because the summary makes it sound like something I would really be into. That being said, my gut feeling wasn't wrong.

Thinking about it, I think my main problem with the series was the fact that I never once felt like Wave/Davin was in danger. It felt like I was watching 10 1-hour-long slice-of-life episodes about a prince with amnesia & a hot-headed city boy falling in love, with side couples that got more than enough screen time. (I honestly didn't even care about the side couples.) There was no running or hiding or stress; it was just a couple of bad guys showing up only to be dealt with almost immediately. We don't see any of what the royal family was going through or how the rebellion was dealt with. Important things in my book that were just handled off-screen. Pheng running for village head was more stressful.

In my opinion, they spent way too much time on the side characters when they could have added actual conflict between the rebels and our main cast and Davin's family, and made the situation feel like something other than a mild annoyance.

I also didn't really believe the love between Wave & Lava. I did on Wave's end because he lost his memory & Lava is literally the one he's around all the time, & taking care of him. On Lava's end, it felt like it came out of nowhere & wasn't something that would have lasted a year of not talking to each other. I really don't think they are ready to get engaged after dating a few months and then not contacting each other for a year. I feel like it was just unrealistic that someone could wait for someone else that long without their feelings changing when the other person may get married. I will say it would have been interesting to see a Prince Lava lmao.

I don't have anything to really say about the chemistry other than I checked out during the NC scenes. I just wasn't interested. The kisses seemed okay; at least they weren't the worst I've seen by far.

The acting was probably the best thing about the series. The only complaint I have is that there was one scene where I felt Lava would have cried if he really loved Wave, and when he did cry at the end of the series, it just didn't look real.

It's disappointing because this plot had a lot of potential, but it felt like they were afraid to do anything that would push the age rating above PG-13.

Read More

Very well done, realistic

I really like this drama! The plot is the Crazyville ridiculous... The plot is about two middle class families resolving issues because a man left his wife and 2 sons to live with the wive's friend ... and have a daughter with her.
The 1st wife never officially divorced him, so when he died, there was a LOT of problems bc of the paperwork and gossip - his 2nd "wife" was shunned by the society bc she was not "the wife"

So anyways the plot is real, and the actors are mostly very good.
ML surprised e bc he started as a poker face, so boring, but since he met FL he is super charming smiley.
FL's mom is 10000% staunch narcissist but she is practical and gets things donw.
1st wife is bitter but a a good person, giving, nourishing, fair
1st wive's sons are ... wow younger is a hypocritical angry IMMATURE food, and older one is a nice guy but is under the spell of his wife Anaconda Mei, she curled up all around him and is suffocating him... making him do evil stuff with her...
FL is an honest decent person
and ML too. But - both are burdened by their moms, who are both materialistic and greedy. FL's mom is smart and ML's mom is dumb

So anyways, the relationship between ML and FL is quite healthy, so that is promising, they have excellent dialogues

In other words, THE SCRIPT IS NOT STUPID HERE :) RELAX AND ENJOY WATCHING

Read More

intriguing and intense, but could have been better

Korea has become known for its complex, intelligent, carefully crafted, and well-executed “who-done-it” mysteries. These stories require almost impeccably good plot development and writing - even more so when they add a science fiction element as they do here. When it works (“Flower of Evil”, “Mouse”, "My Perfect Stranger"), it can result in top quality TV. When it doesn’t, you end up with a convoluted mess.

This series falls somewhere in between. While intriguing and intense, it has a few notable plot holes and inconsistencies. They should also have done a lot more with the FL given that the character had some real potential to add a different dynamic to the story. At least they do a decent job with the parallel worlds concept and the way butterfly effects can result when someone crosses over to a world that is not their own.

Read More

very short series

Overall: I'm confused if there are only 5 episodes total because that did not seem like a final episode. Each episode is about 1 minute long. Available on https://bloomhd.com/series/2/watch/10 (no English subtitles, I used the Thai subtitles and then my phone camera/auto translate though not sure the subtitles helped me much).

There's no introduction, just dude A is in a locker room with dude B. Dude B says dude A is late and therefore must scrub the bathroom which he does. Then at the pool, dude A challenges dude B to swim laps. What happens is completely tropey. I didn't feel much chemistry between the two.

Read More

High Quality Wuxia

Well, this drama got all the ingredients to please me the most, maybe to be the best wuxia ever seen, thanks some good elements that I could feel even without start to watch.

The cast. Yang Yang is an excelent performer, I liked him a lot, and all the dramas I have seen before with him are backing my expectatives. I never forget his performance in old dramas like Whirlwind Girl, so simple, so patient, so wonderful, or Martial Universe, with a complete different role, but the same high level performance. I loved until more his character in The Inmortal Ascension, with superb fighting skills, and of course I was waiting to see him in this long awaited drama. Well, it hasn’t disappointed me, and I can easily say that this is his best performance in martial level; the choreography is incredible, without cgi or nonsense effects, all here is made with the actors prowess and the wirework, and the result is the best ever seen, I can’t deceiving myself. My favourite dramas are often pure wuxias, and Zhan Zhao Adventures is one of them.

Alen Fang, while his performance in martial skills is indeed wonderful, where it stands out the most is in playing tricks or deceiving people, hahaha. His character adds more “color” to the scenes, the dialogues, etc. It is funny to watch, the classical rogue who can achieve anything simply by talking, hahaha.

The female cast, I had average sensations. Zhang Ruonan was fine in her role and plays beautifully all the fighting scenes, but I feel that maybe her character could have been more developed; no clear goals, always following the others, without clear purpose. A lot different is the case of Zhang Yuxi; her performance as the Moon Envoy is really a highlight on the drama, and the plot of her revenge is somewhat incredible, pure wuxia, it has really surprised me. I have seen her in Love and Redemption and a little bit in Destiny and Saving, and I was not really convinced with her skills, but here is totally different and all her appearances are simply wonderful. It’s a shame that ahead episode 19 the character dissapears, a real shame. I praise her a lot, what a magnificent performance by this actress.

The martial choreography. I believe it was the strongest point of this drama. All of the cast was excellent in his/her performance, not only the mail leads but all the support roles. The fights are real, credible, and often are not in weapon based fights but rather in pure martial arts movements, sometimes bare knuckle, something that is not that common in wuxia, of course.

The amazing settings, the wonderfully crafted costumes, the magical filmed landscapes and scenarios, everythings works perfectly and adds an aura of quality that turns this piece into a little work of art, there are no doubt about it. Superb!

The lack of romance. This is something that fits perfect in this kind of fighting centered dramas. There’s no need of romance in each and every drama, always, of course, and in ZZA there are not nothing about it. The total Independence of the Moon Envoy character, with her motivations aside from nothing but revenge is something that I praised the most, there is no need to entangle certain romance around every female character.

Long story short, the series is amazing, very amusing, well crafted and I can’t do anything but recommend it. Thumbs Up!!!

Read More