Reviews

Quite good but was a little draggy and slow

My Rating: 9.2

Ep 1 ~ 6: Loved it!
Ep 7 ~ 8: ARGHH NOT AGAIN?‍♀️
Ep 9 ~ 14: ?
Ep 15 ~ 16: ? WHAT THE ? ??

What I liked about QOT:
- The leads
- Aunt and Soo-Cheol
- OSTs

The Dislikes:
- Pace (It was too slow draggy and kept repeating itself like WHAT?!!)
- Plot (A bit not logical)
- The grandfather (He’s So Dumb and naive)
- Too much plot twist (Im tired of it)
- The villain
It was overall not bad, considering the great acting from the cast, but seriously the HUNDREDS of plot twists are making me very tired tbh. I feel like the writer gave the villains too much spotlight and they almost ALWAYS had the upper hand, its like is the villains were much of the main leads than the actual real leads.

Reason for 9/10: Made me quite happy for sometime, Loved the OSTs and Leads, The chemistry between all of the main leads was AWESOME! I like how Hae-In became much more open throughout the story, I liked the backstory for Eun sung as he didn’t have a loving family when he was young which is what made him to be so obsessed on getting Hae-in (Poor thing).

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kinda disappointing (and i have a lot to say about this show)

honestly had no expectations for this show and i'm a huge fan of yangmi so naturally i was looking forward to this show. i read reviews once the first few episodes were released and thought everyone was being a little bit too harsh like y'all were saying the age gap was weird and whatever and how she 'practically raised' him and stuff like that but i honestly thought the first few episodes were pretty solid and interesting enough to keep me wanting to watch the show. whoever is complaining about the age gap stuff are the same people who will giggle and support the couple if the man was the significantly older one while the female was the younger one so i'm not gonna talk about that. y'all just don't like older woman-younger man dramas LOL.

then in the middle of the show it started getting repetitive and it was like the same storyline was repeating over and over again, he saves her, she saves him etc etc. it was VERY boring and much different from how i expected the storyline to play itself out. the cgi, the fight scenes and the progression also started getting sloppy, then i found another show to watch and lost interest by the time tushan hong hong lost her memory so i just ended up skipping to scenes with yangmi only. didn't even watch the last 2 eps because i saw the ending on weibo anyway LOL

another thing is none of the characters were very engaging, probably because i didn't know much about them at all. the plots were very there and then based and none of them were given any character development. that being said, i dare say none of the love lines in this show had chemistry with each other except butai and that guard but well that didn't end well. the love lines weren't developed properly which is so unfortunate bc in the first few eps i thought yangmi and gongjun actually had chemistry, like the TENSION WAS THERE but it fizzled out so fast due to the lack of development in their love line (at some point they HAD to let tushan hong hong and dongfang yuechu have some moments but all of which i can't seem to remember except when he made the fake snow and the fireworks thing but that was in the earlier episodes if i remember properly. other than that they gave us crumbs, making it extremely hard for me to even see that they were even the main couple LOL.)

i do like the soundtrack and the costumes but other than that i find it hard to say anything positive about the show. they had an amazing cast but they wasted it with a horrible screenplay and i definitely feel like they could've done so much better. maybe i'm being too generous with the score but yeah!

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Despite the glamorous budget, the plot is...

Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red-Moon Pact aka Yue Hong is the first installment of the Fox Spirit Matchmaker trilogy. IQIYI and Stellar Pictures did spend a huge sum of money to produce the trilogy. While waiting for the release date, I kept searching for information on the manga's wikipedia site and also watched a tidbit of the anime. For your information, I've been waiting this show for a year and even kept fantasizing and imagining what the scenes in the show would look like. But my expectation is cut short when the actual release date is confirmed. Despite the stellar casts, aesthetic backgrounds, exquisite costumes, top-notch CGI, and high budget, the show falls short when it comes to the script. You can see just how disappointed I am. However, I don't want my one-year awaiting turns into a fruitless effort, so I keep pressing on until the final.
(For the synopsis, you can check it out at MDL main page or at justjacky's review. I'm not going to copy it down because this is gonna be a very long rant.)

The plot is simplistic, dull, and bland as if it were an exquisite cake without any icing on top of it. I don't feel any emotions out of the dialogues, instead I just keep a poker face and stare at my screen as if nothing had happened. Moreover, the script is full of typical cliches of a childish rom-com drama like are you injured, are you hungry, try my new dishes, it's late now-go back and rest, and blah blah blah. This cycle keeps repeating for countless times and soon becomes very repetitive. To me, it's like the parents nag to their child to oblige to the rules and do what he/she is supposed to do and not to meddle in someone else's business.

After searching the wikipedia once more, I only discover that the writers ATTEMPT to cram several little arcs into the show in order to prolong the story. However, it doesn't work out because the story becomes more underwhelmed, and those couples barely have screentime of their own. Somehow, I kinda feel that they always prioritize the main couple over the others.

Aside from the bad script, the show also suffers from choppy editing. The transition between every scene is done haphazardly even though the post-production team is given a one-year time. When a certain scene has reached the climax/pinnacle, it will zoom to another random scene which has nothing to do with the previous one. I personally feel that this absurd scene jumping hinders some of the audience to understand the story thoroughly, but all we can do is to ENDURE it!
(Note: The choppy editing is resulted by using panoramic screen instead of the normal green screen, claiming that they wanted to try using a new technology that never existed in other Chinese fantasy dramas.)

As for now, I'm going to explain every couple's arc and the rant will continue below. Here we go...
- Tushan Honghong and Dongfang Yuechu (Yang Mi and Gong Jun)
Honghong is the chief of Tushan and the eldest of the Tushan sister. Being a leader of the Tushan fox clan, she shoulders a lot of heavy responsibilities. She is cold, aloof, and can be authoritative. She has been acting cold because she fears of falling in love and is still guilty of what happened to Dongfang Luo, her childhood sweetheart. Yuechu is the descendant of the Dongfang family and has been hunted since he was younger. He is intelligent, mischievous, and a bit cunning. To him, Honghong is his life savior, and he can't help but to have a crush on her. Despite her objections, Yuechu relentlessly pursues Honghong and never gives up when she rejects her. The two of them have the same wish, which is to see humans and spirits live in harmony. In the process, he melts Honghong's cold heart and she decides to fall in love once more.

- Tushan Yaya and Aolai SanShao/Ah Lai (Cristy Guo and Wei Zheming)
Yaya is the deputy chief of Tushan and the second eldest of the Tushan sister. Yaya has a carefree and reckless personality, which is the reason why both of her sisters prefer to keep her dark of the truth, afraid that her recklessness will bring chaos to Tushan. Aolai Sanshao, disguised as Ah Lai the Poison Boy, is one of Honghong's friends who had been helping her to investigate the black fox. He has an easygoing, cheery, and cheeky vibe. As he spends his days in Tushan, he is attracted to Yaya's carefree nature while Yaya also admire Ah Lai's cleverness and courage.

- Bu Tai and Shi Kuan (Zhu Xudan and Yang Shize)
Bu Tai is the princess of Spirit-Master Kingdom. She is a nice person and also filial to her kingdom. She has a secret crush on her loyal spirit guard, Shi Kuan. She is the first person who confesses her love to a spirit under the Grief Tree. Her love is later reciprocated by Shi Kuan. Unfortunately, Bu Tai was assassinated by Guoguo as one of Shi Ji's schemes. Later, Shi Kuan ascends to the position of Spirit-Master Kingdom's new emperor.

- Lu Jianwen and Yan Rushan (Sebrina Chen and Mao Zijun)
Lu Jianwen is a new constable of the Yiqi Alliance. As far as I know, she is a justice-driven person. She gets entangled in the women abduction case alongside Yan Rushan, also known as Thousand-Faces Gentleman, who is Rongrong's former disciple. At first, they never see eye to eye, but soon they are drawn to each other and stage another love story.

- Yueti Xia and Hu Weisheng (Chen Duling and Zhang Linghe)
Yueti Xia is the descendant of the Yueti Family who possess Seven-Treasures Bark. She has a playful and mischievous nature. Hu Weisheng is the disciple of the Ximen Family who takes part in the Seven-Treasures Bark's hunt. He is a naive guy and clueless when it comes to love. After escaping life-and-death situations and spending time together, they realized each other's feeling and love blossomed between the two.

- Tushan Rongrong (Hu Lianxin)
Rongrong is the third chief of Tushan and the youngest of the Tushan sister. Rongrong is more mature and meticulous compared to Yaya. She is one of Honghong's trusted aids in accomplishing Honghong's missions.

- Shi Ji (Wen Zhenrong)
Shi Ji is the former chief of Tushan and also Honghong's sworn enemy. She is a cruel, manipulative, and egoistic woman. Guoguo is her personal informant.

As expected of the stellar casts, their acting is actually top-notch if it hadn't been the stupid script. All in all, most couples have bare chemistry and the only redeeming quality so far is the fifth couple. I actually like Gong Jun, but his acting as a hot-blooded youth is so-so to me. He's better off to psychopath/unhinged/murderous characters. This is my first time watching Yang Mi. I have to say that she acts as the stoic and cold leader too perfectly - not even a smile appears once. Even if she smiles, it feels rather forced. Somehow, they have master-disciple dynamic or worse mother-son relationship. I keep feeling that Honghong looks like a mom nagging to her child to obey her, seriously?

And what's with the amnesia trope? Logically speaking, after sacrificing the Love Seed, Honghong should've forgotten both Yuechu and Dongfang Luo, but why does she only forget Yuechu? Very illogical, right? Anyway, this shitty trope is played for ten episodes until I'm fed up with it. In other words, it can be simplified as a push-and-pull game.

Another thing is that Yuechu suddenly has a crush on Hong Hong after being raised in Tushan for 16 years!! What on the earth is going on? If Yuechu were still a child, it was more understandable. However, he has grown into a teenage boy and suddenly falls for Honghong at the first sight. It's weird, isn't it?

The villain is too one-dimensional and boring. Unlike JOL Season 2 which has unpredictable villain, this show exposes too much of her true intention to usurp the 6 realms. They should've made her more mysterious to captivate the audience, but hell no! Every time her scenes pop up, I'll remind myself that an I-will-kill-Honghong-and-rule-over-the-six-realms sentence would spurt out of her mouth lol!

Don't get me started at the ending! It's a forced happy ending and the most ABSURD one! It's obviously a sad ending for every couple. However, they make it looks like they've entered an alternate universe and got together with their loved ones. Also, the last scene of the main lead doesn't make any sense. I just can't work out what the writers are thinking about. And we don't need the extra clip either!

Don't expect good fighting scenes - there are only hand-waving gestures and everything is done. I know using CGI in a fight scene is not a bad idea, but they need to combine with weapons too.

OSTs and BGMs are okay-ish, but not enough to hook me up.

I'm settling at the score 7.5. I DON'T recommend this show and will never rewatch again unless I need some brainless antidote after tiring out myself. I feel sorry for the whole assembles of casts who have obviously tried their best, but who knows this is going to be a flop?

For those who are casted in Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Zhu Ye and Wang Quan arcs, I'll wish you all the best and hope you won't suffer the same fate as Yue Hong does. This is the end of my rant and good luck!

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Just....

I want a season 2 just to see how rge kids have grown up ik not everything about the serie was good but still you should watch it. the cast wad good also and I want to see the relationship with Ina and the dancing dude don't mind me I always forget the names oops like their life is so interesting also the couple and their 5y old I wanna see them get married after he came back after literally 5 years the end was hard breaking but also filled with love I also wanna see if ook don't eat will marry the sauna dude I just need to know ok GIVE ME A SEAZON 2!!!

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My Lovely Ryu Sun Jae and Im Sol

I have never written reviews of any kind. I've just read reviews and I swear I'm not those who tell that this is their first review for ppl to read their review. This is actually my first review and yes, I am writing this because its been so long since a kdrama made my heart throb so hard. I experienced all kinds of emotions while watching Lovely Runner. The last time I felt this was like 2 years back or something when I just started watching kdramas like Hwarang, Itaewon Class and Familiar Wife. Recent dramas like King The Land, Doctor Slump was just all copy paste of the same storyline. Have u ever watched masterpiece dramas like Secret (Ji Sung), True Beauty, Kill me Heal me (YESS I'M A JI SUNG FAN). These dramas are examples on how to make a perfect drama. Lovely Runner too adds to this list as it brought me solace during my tough times. I swear I'm still crying right now while writing this as I think about those moments which brought me peace during my exam stress. I finished watching the 16th episode today, 1 hour back and I am swooning with their osts right now. This drama was perfect with perfect visuals and nostalgic osts (N.Flying - Star, Eclipse - You & I, Eclipse - Sudden Shower, Deundeun Man - Super Ultra Man, UMJI (엄지) - May I Love You, Jong Ho – A Day, Jaeyeon (재연) – Monologue, 10 cm - Spring Snow, Minnie - Like a dream). Byeon Woo Seok and Kim Hye Soo were perfect for this drama and they had such amazing names Ryu Sun Jae (sounds ?) and Im Sol (omg its sooooooooo cute). Its my first time seeing Byeon Woo Seok like this. I have seen him in different dramas before like in Record of Youth. Though I never remembered him until I checked through his drama list determined to find out where I've seen him because his face was a common face in different dramas as a support role. Actors like Kim Min Gi, Hwang Min Hyun, Kang Ki Young, N (VIXX) were ppl I knew were bound to success. But I actually never expected Byeon Woo Seok ever in a role like this and he's actually fucking handsome (u gotta watch this one) . Btw talking about Hwang Min Hyun, Byeon Woo Seok resembled Hwang Min Hyun a lot in the drama. At first when I saw Lovely Runner's trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgSynGkuo0k), I almost vomited (not literally) from the cringe scenes where she fangirls him. But then this drama after 2-3 weeks was all over my insta feed. So I thought of giving this a watch, trust me apart from some cringe scenes this drama was the best. I jumped, screamed, cried, laughed. When I just read about Byeon Woo Seok's hard works and struggles for this drama and his comment on his sudden success, I became more proud of him. He was destined for this role.

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I liked it!

It is very fast paced. I hadn't seen a Chinese miniseries before but I like this series so I looked into them and found out they are hugely profitable and are making a lot of money for studios in China so more and more studios are making them. The acting was extremely good the lead actor knows what he is doing and does it very well. The other actors are also really good. The plot twist was unexpected and I liked it a lot. I read that there is possibly a season two coming and the episodes will be longer probably since it is a really big hit on Douyin so im happy about that. I will definitely watch season two.

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Disappointing, Boring With Useless Love Triangle

I watched it because of the face card of most of the cast members have and with some expectation for a plot twist. But turns out, with the existing love triangle and unsatisfactory cast for murderer, it's just too boring for me.

Kang Ha was the center of the story, who should exposed and taking a revenge for his twin brother's murderer starting with transfer to a prestigious high school. But as the episode goes by, Kang Ha was distracted from his original plan and entangled with a useless love triangle with Jaeyi and Rian.

I hate the way this drama make most of the characters pretending to be adults cuz it's just too dramatic as if they had been living in their 30-40. I hate how arrogant the characters behave too, like how can u act like that with people whose been with u since u were a child? I don't blame Yoon Hera characterization fir acting that way.

Well, besides the lacking, I still love the handsome cast and the stunning cinematography.

I don't regret watching it but if there's season 2, I really hope it can fulfill my expectations.

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amazing ?

Au XVIIIe siècle à Pékin, au cours de la 6e année du règne de l'empereur Qianlong, Wei Ying Luo entre dans la Cité interdite en tant que brodeuse pour enquêter sur la vérité derrière le viol et le meurtre de sa sœur aînée. Croyant que la garde impériale Fuca Fuheng est le principal suspect, Ying Luo s'approche intrigante de sa sœur, l'impératrice Fuca Rongyin, et est transférée pour travailler comme sa femme de chambre. Prenant rapidement goût à l'attitude intelligente et courageuse de Ying Luo, l'impératrice au bon cœur lui apprend à lire et à écrire et devient son bienfaiteur, tandis que Fuca Fuheng tombe amoureux d'elle et soutient son enquête. Réalisant que les frères et sœurs Fuca sont innocents du crime, Ying Luo porte son attention sur les autres personnes présentes dans le palais dans l'espoir de retrouver l'auteur du crime, tout en protégeant l'impératrice des conspirations du harem, à mesure qu'elle gravit les échelons. (Source : MyDramaList) Modifier la traduction

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Cringy and stereotyped

I picked this up because of the high rating on MDL, but it was truly a torture to get through each episode, maybe because im not into romance drama. I thought it would be like Eternal Love type of show, where theres love story and there’s action. Nope. It’s all about love baybehhh. It’s a struggle (for me!) to bear the incessant proximity moments between the two leads, which most of them don’t even make sense. There’s so many of them within the 5 episodes and it grew cringier and cringier each time that i can no longer stand it after the 5th ep. The way they fall in love was also too sudden and rushed, and maybe because im not in the ‘target age group’, the stereotype beautiful, flawless skinned men for the stonecold indifferent thousands-year-old god of war falling for the bubbly naughty trying to act cute girl kinda gets old. Nope. Not my cup of tea.

If youre like me who prefer action with adorable love story interlaced in between those action, then you might wanna skip this. It’s a totally cheesy cringy love story with mediocre action (yeah its one of those shows with hands waving around spitting internal powers out while hanging and rolling and spinning on wires kind of action, not the actual fight choreograph with physical contact at all) for the first 5 ep. If youre like me, then dont waste your time on this like I did.

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Excellent documentary

A touching and healing documentary, Thanks to the genius director ZhangZhehan!Chinese talented actor and singer Zhang Zhehan’s first directorial documentary, “August,” premiered on YouTube on April 14, 2024. The film tells the story of his self-healing journey after experiencing a horrific cyber media violence. In August 2021.a massive wave of public opinion suddenly swept in, fueled by false information and malicious distortions on the internet, shattering his career and personal life. He chose to bravely face everything and embarked on a self-healing journey. Along this journey, he listens to the sounds of the heaven and earth, listens to strangers’ stories, and listens to the pain and love within himself.

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