Reviews

Does blood relation make you actually a family?

Shoplifters is one of those movies that deserve a spot on every must-watch movie list; it's a great example of how Japan is the pioneer of cinematic storytelling. This movie took me through so many emotions and really defined the meaning of family.

The film addresses many societal issues, but it presents them in such a way that they exist in a grey area. It’s difficult to label the characters’ actions as entirely wrong, yet they can’t be deemed right either. For instance, when they decide to keep the little girl It’s saying it’s not a kidnapping if you don’t ask for a ransom. It’s similar logic to how Osamu justifies stealing to Shota, telling him it’s OK if it’s not someone else’s property and that items in a store don’t belong to anyone yet.

Though the characters in the movie are not blood-related and each one has their own backstory of hiding, lying, damaged and frightened, they create a warm, cozy family, making the best of things from day to day. The dynamic between them is so warm and beautiful that it makes you wonder if you could choose your family, could you actually be happy? Does blood relation make you actually a family? This is exactly the theme in this movie. As a viewers, we witness their crimes but also see the genuine love they share as a family, which makes it challenging to condemn them. Perhaps, this is what the movie wants us to notice: that sometimes certain things are very much a grey area and it is difficult to differentiate the right from wrong!

Also, the movie dives deep into a part of society we don’t see often: the marginalized community, the poor who don’t have enough money to even eat, yet they have still have so much warmth and love for each other.

"Shoplifter" is a delicate work painted with so many details, moments, smiles, and is deeply intelligent.In term of acting, the actors did a phenomenal job in portraying these characters, giving them so much depth in their humanistic storytelling, and I have strong admiration towards Sakura Ando; she delivered such a strong performance in this role, with so much depth and layers. This is one of those movies that you will never see and nobody would be able to recreate. The last few minutes of the movie still haunt me; it left me with a profound sense of loss as if I myself lost a family I found.

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Muito bom até certo ponto

Gostei muito, principalmente do começo.
A primeira metade do dorama foi muito boa: as coreografias de luta estavam incríveis, e os personagens já tinham um vínculo muito legal de acompanhar.

Gostei muito do U Jin. Achei que ele seria um personagem mais chato, mas a relação de bromance dele com o Geon U foi muito boa de acompanhar. Eles formam uma dupla que se complementa bem.

O Geon U é um querido, uma pessoa genuinamente boa. Mas isso também me incomodou, porque esse traço dele acaba atrapalhando a história em vários momentos. Ele era bom até com quem claramente não merecia.

Ele enfrentava os capangas e não matava ninguém, o que fazia com que eles tivessem que lutar contra os mesmos inimigos várias vezes. Isso acabou contribuindo para a morte de aliados, pessoas que talvez estivessem vivas se esses capangas tivessem sido eliminados ou, no mínimo, incapacitados desde o início.

Fiquei muito frustrada com a segunda metade da história. Não é legal quando os vilões se dão bem, ainda mais quando isso acontece porque os protagonistas insistem em manter uma integridade que, na prática, só piora a situação.

Eles evitavam matar a qualquer custo, e isso acabou resultando na própria queda deles e de quem estava ao redor. Ser bom é importante, mas também é preciso avaliar os prós e contras de cada situação.

Também gostei dos outros personagens do grupo, o vovô, a menina e os dois amigos. A dinâmica entre todos é interessante, funciona bem. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, sinto que faltou inteligência nas decisões. Eles provocavam um vilão poderoso e o vespeiro dele e simplesmente voltavam à rotina como se nada tivesse acontecido. Ficavam completamente expostos e nunca pareciam ter um plano B, C ou D etc

O que mais me incomodou foi o fato de continuarem na mesma casa mesmo depois de mexer com um mafioso. E não era por falta de dinheiro, o vovô tinha recursos suficientes para garantir um esconderijo, um plano de fuga ou alguma forma de proteção. Ainda assim, eles agiam como se não houvesse risco algum de serem encontrados.

As mortes foram bem pesadas e impactantes, e foi triste ver tantos personagens morrendo. Mas, sinceramente, ficou a sensação de que muito disso poderia ter sido evitado com mais preparo e estratégia.

No geral, a história foi mais frustrante pra mim do que qualquer coisa. Nem sei se vou assistir a segunda temporada, pois sinto que vão insistir nesse erro de ter piedade com quem não merece.

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It goes downhill from here

Such a fan of the first season. Went in flabbergasted with most of the main characters' developments. Dropped at the last arc.

1. The good:
- Most of the stories are intriguing and thrilling.
- The acting is still solid across the board, including the guest stars. Pei Xi Jun becomes even more likeable.
Memorable arc characters included: The Coroner, Dugu Xia Shu (probably my favourite fumbling character of this series), Coroner's wife and mother, Hermit in Mo's Inn (suited Li Wen Han to a tee), Song A Mi, Shi Zi Xun (for the ridiculousness of this character and story), and Yunding's crazy cult leader.
- iQiyi's budget increase is so obvious with this production value.
- Good team dynamic.

2. The bad:
- The writing is uneven. Some stories are exciting, some are drags.
- I stopped caring about the series as it progressed and couldn't tolerate it any longer towards the end. I dropped the last story.
- The characters' gradual assassinations: Sun Wu Ming becomes a morally grey half-ass with debatable intelligence and detective skills. Ying Dao has nothing going on.

3. The ridiculous:
- The superhuman Lu Ling Feng. His HP recovering rate in season one raised my eyebrows, but still acceptable. But this season, my god.
- The overreaction and holier-than-thou attitudes of the royals.
- The child actors and characters acting prodigal and unchild-like (last arc).
- The Rhino pretty-boy, overly-confident, manipulative sect commander who also has superhuman abilities like Lu Ling Feng. The scenes of these two muscleheads are also ridic.
- The god of medicine who can cure anything Fei Qiao. (Still a likeable comedic source.)

Anyway...
- Favourite: Coroner's Death
- Good: Mara's Defeat, Drunk in Yunding
- 50/50: Mo's Inn in the Snowstorm, Rhino, Shangxianfang Letter
- Skipped: Qianzhong Dock, The Provider

Conclusion: Positive-to-mixed

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Good action scenes but messy writing…

This drama was a whole rollercoaster ride!!!
First, despite the slow and somewhat boring set-up at the beginning, we got a solid first fightinf scene with Gold Bunny in that warehouse where everyone got splattered with paint! i loved the scene where Bogum is fighting inside this cage-like structure that moves around. And then, when the scit department was set up and we got all the ex-olympic athletes in one team solving crime was really fun. The found family aspect was really fun and the way they all fought together and supported each other was really fun too!

However, I soon started to get annoyed really fast with the drama. It started when Hanna suddenly jumped on that truck to bring them all down but got caught and stored in a container to be shipped out into the pacific ocean. I was like “are you really THAT stupid????”

Even before that there were some minor plot holes that had me wondering why and how things turned out like that…

Then, after the tunnel episode, the drama kept getting more and more annoying, boring and unbelievable.
It kept on going from trying to find trucks or containers to trying to find suspicious people to trying to find traitors to trying to find drugs etc etc. It was confusing and frustrating and all the messiness stressed me out.

Also, almost every main character had visual and hearing impairment. I was so sick of seeing the main leads constantly getting dizzy and hearing a high-pitched tone in their ears like COME ON!!!! Was there nothing else you could have thought of??

Not just the messiness of the plot stressed me out but also of some of the characters:

1. Ji Hanna: Apart from her badass gun skills she was getting on my nerves sooo much! she always looked like she was dead inside. And I hated it how she treated Dong-Ju in the beginning. I seriously was not rooting for them. I was shipping him with Drugmon 😂😂😂

2. Min Ju-Yeong: He was the worst written villain ever! We didn’t really understand what his motive was other than greed. Like I get it, one of the aspects of this drama is to show how greed can turn someone into a monster but I feel like it takes more than grees to be able to cold-heartedly kill hundreds of people and even children. I was looking forward to get to see some past trauma or injustice that he experienced but all we saw is how he was studying for an exam as a customs officers and got beaten up bcs he accidentally saw Oh Dollar’s crimes. But he then accepted him into his gang… other than that we didn’t see anything about his past or his possible motives… After that I was really disappointed by the writing of the characters

3. Drugmon’s past: I actually loved Drugmon’s character. I think she was the best written character in this show. Because I loved her so much I wished she had had a better writing for her childhood. It absolutely made 0 sense that the parents who adopted her were soooo addicted to drugs!!!! Before being able to adopt, couples have to go through a lot of tests like mental and health tests. Drug addicts would immediately be uncovered in that case. Also why would drug addicts want to adopt a child???? And then go all the way from America to Korea to do so! Also in order to adopt you need a lot of money but this couple looked like bums and their house looked really bad!!! This was one of the worst cases of background information on character’s past life I have ever seen…

4. Cho Panyeol: This commissioner annoyed the fck out of me!!!! This is all I am gonna say! The punch he got from Dung-Ju was so satisfying 😂

Then, apart from the badly written characters, the numerous (6) product placements were literally the cherry on top! I have NEVER EVER seen so many product placements in one drama!!! the most was The King and even that “only” had 3! But this drama had 6 if I didn’t forget anything: kopiko, nescafe, eggdrop, heart-shaped chicken-kimchi stuff, The probiotic drink and the weird health drink… like… wtf???

Lastly, the en of the drama was kinda messy too, at least when we consider the way that Min Ju-yeong ended up: Who killed him? and why? and how? Also, tbh I wish the police would have left him get killed by the Yakuza! Thats what he deserved, to suffer a long painful death and not being kept alive and fed in a prison…

Well the drama had some good things too:

1. Park Bogum! Do I have to say more? My favorite actor, and he did such a great job in this drama too! I basically kept watching just for him 😂😅😅🫠🫠🫠

2. Kiss scenes: Ok the kiss scenes were HOTTTT!!!! and Park Bogum is a GREAT kisser!!! but in this drama he was literally on fire!!! I have never seen him kiss like that omg!!!

3. Funny scenes: especially the captain and Dong-Ju were hilarious af!!! His screaming was so unhinged I was laughing all the time 😂😂😂

4. Drugmon: I loved her!!!! She was badass and hot and smart and actually she had a good heart. I knew it from the first scene I saw her in and how disgusted she was when she saw the traces of the abused women. That was the moment I was rooting for her 😍😍😍 I am so glad about her ending! At least they got one thing right!

5. Leo: The Korean-Russian mafia boss was LEGENDARY!!!! I wish he was the main villain of this drama and not Min Ju-yeong… I loved him from beginning to end too and I loved his relationship with Drugmon! They were literally like Bonnie and Clyde in Korea! 😂😂😂

6. The OST: the soundtrack was basically better than the drama itself 😂😂😂

7. As mentioned before the fight scenes and also the found family aspect were one of the highlights.

In conclusion you should watch it if you like action and if you are a fan of Park Bogum. If you dont care much about Park Bogum (how dare you!) or if you don’t like action or police dramas then this drama is not for you!

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The complexity of human feelings

I’ve been on a marathon of classic J-dramas, and of course Love Generation was on the list.
I watched this drama right after finishing other classics like Tokyo Love Story, Asunaro Hakusho, and Long Vacation.

Watching Love Generation gave me the same feeling as the others. I think there’s something about classic dramas from the ’90s and early 2000s—the atmosphere always carries this sense of familiarity, warmth, and even nostalgia for something I never actually lived through, but somehow wish I had. It feels like a time when everything moved more slowly, when time itself had more quality, when relationships felt real and close. Technology wasn’t as present in everyday life, and people had to go to each other’s houses just to talk—or make plans in person simply to spend time together.

I think classic dramas really capture that feeling well, and Love Generation is no exception. It follows a very similar storytelling style and narrative structure to other rom-coms from that era. There are no villains or major dramatic incidents—just people living their everyday lives, dealing with misunderstandings, tangled emotions, and confusion.

I don’t really agree with the criticism people often make about this and other dramas from that time—that “nothing happens” and everything could be solved with a simple conversation. I mean, maybe it could—but that would ignore how complex human emotions and behavior actually are. It’s normal to be prideful, and when we’re upset, we don’t always want to listen to the other side. In that sense, I actually think older dramas do a better job portraying the complexity of relationships, both romantic and platonic.

That’s very present in Love Generation. The story introduces two people who seem completely opposite, but are actually quite similar: Teppei and Riko. They clash at first, constantly bickering, but even through all their petty fights, they slowly start to understand each other—and eventually fall in love, in a classic enemies-to-lovers trope.

Some people felt that the romance was forced, especially on the male lead’s side. It’s not always easy to grasp a character’s feelings when we’re not inside their head. But I was able to pick up on the subtle development of Teppei’s feelings for Riko thanks to Kimura Takuya’s performance. He has a very distinctive way of expressing emotion through his eyes, half-smiles, and body language.

In the middle of the show, he seems unsure because of his past feelings, but it gradually becomes clear that Sanae was more of an idealized version of love for him—someone who never showed her flaws and always seemed perfect, almost like a porcelain doll. And that’s exactly why Teppei put her on a pedestal. Of course he loved her, but it was a more innocent kind of love—the kind that comes from not really knowing the other person’s complexity or seeing all sides of them.

At the beginning, I honestly couldn’t stand Riko because of how selfish she could be. But that’s exactly what makes the story work: Teppei falls in love with her for who she truly is, despite all her flaws, her rough edges, and even her more unpleasant traits. He embraces her humanity—her imperfections—and chooses to love her anyway. He even explains this to Sanae, saying that with Riko, he could be himself. No matter how much they fought, he always wanted her close.

To me, that’s the main contrast the show is trying to make: idealized, youthful love versus real love. Idealized love is beautiful—full of smiles and light, happy moments. But real love is about staying, about caring for the other person even when things aren’t going well, when both people are aware of their flaws and go through frustrations, losses, failures, and doubts together.

Teppei and Riko’s love may not be glamorous or picture-perfect, but that’s exactly what makes it feel so human.

That said, I definitely had moments where they both frustrated me—mostly Riko, I’ll admit. Even so, I was still rooting for them until the end. I won’t lie, though—I also got frustrated with the writers for relying too much on repeated misunderstandings instead of moving things forward. I think the drama would have been stronger with just 10 episodes, cutting scenes like the earring, the amusement park, the coworker subplot. It started to feel repetitive, and the ending dragged a bit. At one point, it honestly felt like Teppei had to practically beg in his knees just to be heard by Riko, which really irritated me.

But in the end, that also reinforces her character. It often felt like she loved him more than he loved her, so the story ends up showing that he loves her just as much—enough to go to great lengths for her.

Overall, it’s a great show, and I genuinely loved watching it. Aside from the stress of the last two episodes, it’s a drama that really stayed with me, and I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon.

As for the weaker points, besides what I already mentioned, the soundtrack didn’t quite work for me. The theme song felt too melancholic and didn’t really match the tone of the drama—I would have preferred something different. Another weak point was the use of the glass apple. It’s there visually, but it feels somewhat random. While it helps build a visual identity, it doesn’t really serve a clear narrative purpose, except for a small connection near the end. Even then, it doesn’t feel like there’s a strong reason for it to be an apple specifically (unlike in Death Note or Boys Before Flowers, where apples have a clearer symbolic or linguistic meaning). I thought about it quite a bit but couldn’t come up with a solid interpretation—if anyone knows, I’d love to hear it.

Despite these small issues, it’s still a really good drama. If you enjoy that era and you’re a fan of Kimura Takuya, this one is absolutely a must-watch.

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We're talking about a series from 10 years ago. This is for a bit of healthy retro flair. From the start, we empathize with this "poor" hostess whose boyfriend cheats on her with a colleague. If that weren't enough, her mother dies, and after her funeral, she also discovers she has a young stepfather. Bomb start.
At the heart of it all is the dispute over this dumpling restaurant.
We'll find out why the mother got married and what her relationship was with this boy with a troubled past.
The first part is more interesting, then it loses its luster.
The soundtrack is so-so, but I enjoyed "What to do," sung by Henry Lau.

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A universal true love story, very funny true rom com - great script and even well done acting

Super cute, realistic, and very funny story of true love. A true rom-com.
>>>> I recommend this drama to anyone - straight or not, young or old, first timers or married for 100 yrs. <<<<<

The drama shows what true love looks like, acts like and thinks like...... It is true love between two very kind nice people.

It is filmed in a really fun and creative way too. The music is fantastic. Camera is so creative. That scene when the water bottle drops from Kurosawa's hand, outside of the restaurant...
SUCH REAL DETAILS, filmed and acted so well, it is so endearing and so funny too

This is a rare jdrama that has good acting :)
The script is great. This is a story of true love as it is in real life, to normal nice people. It is sexy in good taste, it is caring without soapy, it is very very very GENUINE and realistic and HEALTHY. It does not have false prudishness like most straight kdramas have, and it does not have overdone lewdness and twisted sexuality - esp. associating s.x with violence and games - like so many BL dramas have.

This drama is a super cute story of true love. So different than most BL dramas which honestly are too lewd or playing games. This drama too has a very common plot of a convinced gay male who runs into a closeted gay male and kinda shocks him and cajoles him into it, however, it lacks the sexualization and predatory feeling that so many BL dramas have.

This drama is UNIVERSAL, you could play it with straight or any other ppl too.
Kurosaw is so sensitive, caring, attentive, honest, and gentle yet sexy, he is a true love that anyone - straight or gay - could only dream about, as ppl like this are very rare.
The same for Achi, he is so honest, self aware, brave in stating his feelings, and extremely caring and kind too. The two have found each other, the cats of the same kind :) kind honest ppl.

Also, I was thinking, the only way to produce such a great Japanese male lover, so sophisticated, sensitive, caring, considerate, gentle, hot like Kurosawa was to make him gay. If Kurosawa was into women, he might have not been this caring all the time bc it is just not how you treat women in a sexist society.... most likely, it would have been a lot harder to keep the equality between the lovers. Sad but true :)
Also, I was thinking, the only way to produce such a brave shy person like Achi in Japan was to make him gay. If he were a woman, he would probably suffer from inferiority and self repression to some degree. He is free to be brave and to express bc he is male, that is my educated guess.

But - the love between them is portrayed in UNIVERSAL way - love between two PEOPLE. Straight relationships could benefit from this story so much.

The plot is actually a mimic on the common straight plot from kdramas - a popular charmer suave guy falls in love with a clumzy insecure not-popular shy loser chick who is KIND good person. In the straight context, this plot is super sexist. The female is the dumb one and the male is the smart one who runs her life bc she is so incompetent she cannot survive on her own. Such dramas glorify the man as the "higher" one.

In this gay drama, the main protagonist is an insecrure clumzy unpopular shy target of love.
But this drama is a twist on that, and how it is done is so ... well done. The drama does not put anyone down, nor does it make the "more suave" person more "interesting" or "higher" in status. The suave guy who is pursuing him is popular yet genuinely kind, decent, honest person. And the shy guy is not dumb or ignorantly unaware... The shy guy is smart, observant, self reflective, and proactive.
Truely they are equals.

As for acting, Kurosawa is perfect. That actor might be gay or bi in real life. Achi actor is .. hm.. sometimes it is obvious he is pretending. Is the actor a straight person in real life? he was acting scenes with a woman a lot more naturally.

I would encourage everyone to read the review that is on the top o MDL reviews, by TangYang. It says it all :) I just filled in some holes.

This drama reminds me of BL kdrama Heesu from Class 2 which talks about two gay male high schoolers in love and one of them getting out of the closet. Heesu drama also has positive female models and female friends and straight friends and does not portray life as "planet inhabited by gay males" as most BL dramas do. Hessu drama is balanced, just like this drama.

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A good supernatual, detective, costume, arc-series first season

It's been a while since I found a good series in this particularly category. Reminds me a bit of "Justice Bao". How I used to love "Justice Bao" when I was younger.

1. The good:
- The stories are interesting and full of mysteries. One arc/story consists of several episodes that gives time for story-telling and -development. Different arcs offer different tastes and feels.
- The characters are well-introduced and -developed throughout the season. Even the side characters are memorable and well-acted.
- The choreography, the set designs, the visual effects, the world-building.

2. The so-so:
- I don't remember any OST from this. But I think the music serves its purpose and deliver good viewing experience.

3. The bad:
- Nothing I can think of really. Maybe its rewatchable value? Maybe after I have forgotten about it? But I can just remember the main plots immediately (cue: it's memorable). Rewatching will definitely lessen the thrills and excitement.

4. The ugly:
- Be warned of the following seasons.

Conclusion: Solid series that stands on its own. (No wonder iQiyi keeps on pumping out season after season. It's basically a staple, everyone-pleaser there.)

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Top Tier Chemistry

There are two different endings, so go ahead and choose which one to watch yourself! If you love the full emotional spectrum—crying, sadness, and heartwarming moments—then just stop at Episode 40. But if you’re a happy-ending person, keep going with the special episode afterward. Personally, I think both endings are great in their own way! The chemistry between Dilraba and Chen Feiyu is absolutely incredible—the two leads acted so well, it’s pure delight and swoon-worthy from start to finish! Their skinship is on point both on-screen and off-screen, never over-the-top or forced. I really want to see them star in another series together (a modern one would be perfect too). I honestly don’t want this to end here! The supporting cast is also fantastic—Wei Zheming plays the villain so annoyingly well, his performance is superb. Zhang Li looks stunningly beautiful and sharp. The production is gorgeous in every scene, and the CGI is mind-blowingly good.

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A story of true love for EVERYONE, straight or gay; great script - and voila! well acted too

Super cute, realistic, and very funny story of true love. A true rom-com.

A rare jdrama that has good acting.
The script is great. This is a story of true love as it is in real life, to normal nice people. It is sexy in good taste, it is caring without soapy, it is very very very GENUINE and realistic and HEALTHY. It does not have false prudishness like most straight kdramas have, and it does not have overdone lewdness and twisted sexuality - esp. associating s.x with violence and games - like so many BL dramas have.

>>>> I recommend this drama to anyone - straight or not, young or old, first timers or married for 100 yrs. <<<<<

The drama shows what true love looks like, acts like and thinks like......

A super cute story of true love. So different than most BL dramas which honestly are too lewd and/or playing games. This drama too has a very common plot of a convinced gay male who runs into a closeted gay male and kinda shocks him and cajoles him into it, however, it lacks the sexualization and predatory feeling that so many BL dramas have. This drama is UNIVERSAL, you could play it with straight ppl too.

The plot is actually a mimic on the common straight plot from kdramas - a popular charmer suave guy falls in love with a clumzy insecure not-popular shy loser chick who is KIND good person. In the straight context, this plot is super sexist. The female is the dumb one and the male is the smart one who runs her life bc she is so incompetent she cannot survive on her own. Such dramas glorify the man as the "higher" one.

In this gay drama, the main protagonist is an insecrure clumzy unpopular shy target of love.
But how it is done is so ... well done. It does not put anyone down, nor does it make the "more suave" person more "interesting" or "higher" in status

I would encourage everyone to read the review that is on the top of MDL reviews, by TsangYang. It says it all :) I just filled in some holes.

This drama reminds me of BL kdrama Heesu from Class 2 which talks about two gay male high schoolers in love and one of them getting out of the closet. Heesu drama also has positive female models and does not portray life as "planet inhabited by gay males" as most BL dramas do. Hessu drama is balanced, just like this drama.

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I tried. It failed.

Pretty privilege is real. I watched this all because Dilireba is so pretty. (Chen Feiyu, on the other hand, somehow, gives me all the icks because of how much he looks like Wu Yifan. Their looks are popular, I guess. Reading his and his family's dramas doesn't help either.)
Back to Dilireba, because she's so pretty, deep down, I really wanted her to have a decent acting project. And...

1. The good:
- The cinematography.
- The set designs.
- The costumes.
- Feng Yi. Yes, the acting is so-so. But his character stood out to me. I found myself looking forward to his scenes. I even read parts of the novels with him in it.
- Liu Yuning's song. And that "Ai Cunzai" douyin from Dilireba.
- I discovered the online community (and discourses) of Chinese drama viewers! It's full of dramas. So many new words and jargon. The majority of the fans are blindly diehard. Most of the anti fans are beyond foul-mouthed and toxic. Constant data reporting, ranking, comparing, glazing, keyboard fighting, dragging, and juvenille competing. I love being a spectator to all of it!

2. The bad:
- One-dimensional Wei Zhe Ming. Why they love to cast him or give him projects where he plays the obsessive but one-track minded male character is beyond me. He could have played a decent, motivated villain that ultimately fell from grace. But nope, commercialised dramas are lazy.
- Another Mary Sue x Gary Sue that left me wanting to root for no one, but an imaginary villain/ess. Stereotypical Dilireba.
- It gets progressively worse as I've seen from online reactions.

3. The ugly:
- The acting. My God.
As long as Dilireba continues with one-dimensional, flower vase, Mary Sue projects like this, she'll never be known for anything but her looks. Maybe that's what she aims for.
Chen Feiyu's acting is mostly neck-to-neck with Dilireba: superficial and cringy. I always expect nothing from a typical idol-drama OP "military general" because I'm always given nothing. Wait, I had a few chuckles reading comments saying how bad-ass and genius his fight scenes in episode 7 or 8 were. I like how we all have different perspectives.
- The plot and the characterisation. Yikes.
Maybe this is the reason why the acting is so bad because the plot and the characters have nothing going on. Maybe both Dilireba and Chen Feiyu aced their performances based on the script they were given.
I found it most amusing that fans of Dilireba, Chen Feiyu and the series went on great lengths to write and explain the plot, the characters, the symbolism, the set designs, etc. Only to prove how badly this series failed to delivery any of those aspects.

Conclusion: Empty eyecandy.

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One of the Best Fantasy Romances in a Long Time!!

It is a blessing if you find someone who loves you selflessly, without any expectations!!

The story leans more towards self discovery rather than just romance. Two individuals from different walks of life meet, connect with each other, face impossible situations and ultimately fall in love. One is a mortal, whilst the other is a spirit. The chances of them falling in love is a rarity. Starring Dilraba Dilmurat & Arthur Chen in lead roles, “Love beyond the Grave” is a love story that challenges time, tide and extends beyond that. Dilraba stars in never-seen-before role, as the Sovereign of Spirits; rather cold hearted and ruthless, she rules the Void with an iron fist. Arthus stars as Duan Xu, a young general who is trying to find his standing, so he can win over the territories seized by their enemy empire. They meet under unexpected circumstances and gravitate towards each other. Their romance is fraught with struggles, yearning and absolute longing.

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2026/04/17/love-beyond-the-grave-series-review/#more-2385

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Sharp at First, Then It Blurs

I went into The Glory for the tension, and to be fair, the first half absolutely delivers.

At its core, it is a story of survival within a hostile household, where every alliance feels temporary and every word carries more than it reveals. The setup is tight, the atmosphere is heavy, and the Zhuang household really does feel like a rogues’ gallery. There’s intrigue, controlled hostility, and just enough mystery to keep you leaning in.

For a while, it works.

Emotionally, the drama feels most alive through Ruan Xiwen. Wen Zhengrong brings an intensity that anchors the story, and Chen Duling holds her own well, quiet on the surface, but with enough edge underneath to make Hanyan compelling to watch. Together, they give the first half real weight.

But once that central narrative peaks, something shifts, and not in a good way.

Schemes begin to repeat and motivations start to blur, turning what once felt calculated into something increasingly convenient. The tension no longer builds; it stalls, giving the impression of complexity without real progression. You’ll need a solid suspension of disbelief, because in the second half the plot logic starts working only when it needs to.

The central pairing doesn’t quite bridge that gap either. On paper, Hanyan and Yunxi should carry a restrained, strategic tension, but in execution, it never fully translates. There’s a lot of stillness, a lot of quiet exchanges, but not enough emotional undercurrent to make it cutting. Instead of tension, it often feels like distance.

Xin Yunlai’s performance doesn’t quite help in that regard. His character should have been a strong counterbalance, but the restraint is pushed so far inward that it barely registers, flattening the dynamic instead of giving it the edge it needed.

In the end, The Glory is like a blade drawn with precision, raised high… but never quite brought down.

7/10. Strong concept, gripping first half, and solid performances (especially from the older cast), but weakened by a loss of narrative control and an ending that doesn’t fully commit to the impact it was building toward.

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This is def. one of the best cdramas I've watched. An absolute 100000000000/10. From the storyline to martial arts part to friendship and romance, everything were well-made. As someone who is very picky in romance and FL, this is sooo far the only series of which I've never ever feel any annoyance towards the FL or any female character in leads' side (I love how capable they were). To think that I even cried in romance part likeee omg I've become a diff. person. The martial arts was also one of the best I've seen. Muyu and Changhe duo was sooo underrated, they def. have good chemistry and them fighting side by side was one of the fave from this series.

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