Reviews

After watching a disappointing Princess Agent I was skeptical about this drama because the main characters are not that good looking but after reading postive reviews about this drama I thought I would give it a try. And wow am I blown away it's completely hilarious and very light hearted. The last time I have laughed this hard was go princess go! The female main characters double personality is hilarious and she pulls it off so well. It's very believable and hilarious. The love between the 2 main characters are so sweet and keeps me completely interested in the series. Everything else is mediocre and repetitive in storyline about palace drama. I also have never seen any Chinese drama focus ofnmental illness too. This is a first time that a mental illness like dissociative identity disorder had been used in such a big part of a Chinese drama. Great job!

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An excellent drama all around. Total emotional investment in all of the characters to the end - just cried at the end then felt I had sipped a half of cup of water. Allhough I have given a high rating I feel cheated -- it is a story that deserved at least closure which was absent. In my heart I believe it was a drama that has a planned season 2 -- which could be successful if the same actors or actresses can continue in their roles. The cinematographyt was excellent and stage sets were perfect. I would rewatch because the story ws complex and attention to detail in the story telling is important to maintain a flow at some points. I usually rate dramas lower when there is an incomplete feeling at the end or a rushed ending. However, even with this feeling it was just a tremendous experience that I looked forward to each day. I will miss it and I will wait for the 2nd part if it is every produced- hopefully with the same quality.

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Prominent Woman follows the life of Woo-Hee, a magazine editor that struggles with her relationships. Throughout the five episodes, the difficulties between her personal and professional life become more noticeable as she attempts to salvage her own integrity to carry on with the career and life that she has built for over the nearly thirty years she has been alive.

While this synopsis may sound like it leads into a great series, Prominent Woman falls prey to empty narrative and aimless characters, making it almost a pointless drama to watch. From beginning to end, it sets up the illusion that something remarkable may happen with Woo-Hee and the characters around her, but it ultimately fails in providing any sort of substance.

The show has Woo-Hee go through a seemingly ordinary life, the entertainment of which hinges entirely on empty relationships and half-wrought interactions. While watching this series, I couldn't help but ask myself constantly, "What's the point?" - nearly pleading with Prominent Woman to give me any shred of a story or character arc.

Prominent Woman tries to stand out by making a statement that everyone has problems, but one must learn to love themselves and overcome. However, this point is so buried within the horrible story direction that I could hardly figure out what the point was until the very end.

Overall, I don't think this series has much to offer. It is short, so you don't lose much by checking it out, but I truly believe there is nothing in Prominent Woman that has any clout.

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This was my first BL experience and it was extremely disappointing. I think what little actual video was shot with an iPhone, but I could be wrong about that. The big issue here is that only a tiny bit of footage was actual video. The rest was just pictures with the actors voices in the background. It was really weird. Storywise, it was very simple, about two boys who are friends, and are attracted to each other. A female friend that likes one of them is thrown into the mix, as is a former friend, in flashbacks. I thought it was rather boring. The whole thing is only around 20min long, so at least it wasn't a lot of wasted time.

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Very clever, very clever indeed!
The film is subtle, has an unmistakable lightness, no nudity and sex scenes, just a few kisses and hugs. That is the idea behind "Yes or No" to make it understand if it impacts, introduce an opinion without being invasive, the protagonists are incredible, the chemistry in the cameras freight was the best.
"Yes or No" talks more about this journey to meet, first love, among other things. The plot is not so unique for this type of film, but that's how the story is told, in ways that are curious and exciting.
It's funny, but throughout your mood there is a very big prejudice of acceptance on the part, and humor is just a way of trying to make people understand that we are different and because of that our choices are also. The film is not set in a happy fantasy world where a homosexual statement is found with open arms. He manages to address several issues affecting lesbian youth, but mostly with a subtle and light touch. Highlights for them, Aom Sucharat Manaying (as Pie) and newcomer Tina Supanard Jittaleela (as Kim). Highly recommend!

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It is definitely one of the best among mystery/sci-fi genre in K-drama world. With the short length of the drama, the story was very tight and well-paced throughout the drama. Only the first episode was a bit confusing because it introduced the characters and set up the plot. The fact that it could manage to show and link the two parallel timelines in each episode, without exposing any major plot for the future, is very impressive, salute to the writer.

Story wise, it is definitely my cup of tea - bromance and sci-fi and thriller - kind of present and future linked together in a way. The bromance is real and epic and you can feel both brothers' emotions when they are fighting hard for the other. The twists and turns are quite unpredictable that makes you keep guessing. Romance-wise, I quite liked Woo-jin and Jung-yeon's chemistry. Although they had little chance to develop it further, their romance is quite fresh and innocent, amidst the mystery and dark happenings around them.

Acting-wise, everyone played their characters very well. Although I have never had much interest in Yeo Jin-goo in his earlier dramas, this character Woo-jin, kind of made it for me. He portrayed Woo-jin as a 20-something boy with a burden to carry but also with a boyish charm. And for Gong Seung yeon, it is my first drama watching her and I think she portrayed the three characters very well and I am looking forward to see her in next dramas. And lastly, Kim Kang-woo, as a more experienced actor than the other main leads, nailed his character perfectly. Although he seemed more mature and calm and calculative, compared to his younger counterpart which makes sense after all since so many years have passed, sometimes he was as wild and crazy as his younger self. As for the villains, I have nothing much to say. They served their roles throughout the story.

As it is a mystery genre that usually becomes a bit boring for a second watch, I don't think I will watch it anytime soon.

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Truly a fun watch! I wish I knew Korean; it would have made a major difference because the sub-titles were good and even excellent at times. Great dialogue because the writer/writers showed "lived" experiences. Sometimes though I found the conversation between that actors not in-sync with the acting. Timing difficulties?
Overall, the acting was good and, for me, the stand out performances were Kim Nam Gil, Lee Gi Young, Kim Jung Eun, and Lee Seo Jin. The positives, negatives that are normally in people are well acted in this drama. Am now looking for dramas/movies with them in it.
Regret am only seeing this 11 years after it came out. Congratulations to everyone for a job well done!

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Don’t dread the ending, enjoy the journey!

Princess Agents has most definitely been my favorite drama of 2017. I have been waiting for a long time to write this review and many a times I almost gave into the urge to gush about it to everyone but unlike some impatient little boogers, I decided to wait for the drama to completely air first. I'm glad I did.

Even though, Princess Agent's story remained interesting from start to finish, it was the cast and characters that were the essence of the show.
Everyone who knows me, knows that I for one have a lot of love for my lady badasses and Chu Qiao was the definition of a badass. She was brilliant, witty, an excellent fighter, loyal to the bone and fully determined in her beliefs. Nobody could boss her around and she always stuck to what she thought was right. Watching Zhao Zanilia on-screen has always been a pleasure. She's such a versatile actress and her effortless elegance along with her sincere charisma never fails to make her acting seem extremely natural. I loved Chu Qiao so much and her fighting scenes always blessed me with these unexpected bursts of adrenaline rush that left me jumping around in excitement.

One thing I absolutely hate in Chinese dramas are the robotic and emotionless male leads that are perfect in every way and while, YuWen Yue started off as being cold and aloof, he soon began to win hearts with his unadulterated devotion towards our girl. He's someone who's not afraid to express his honest feelings and show his vulnerable side and that is what made him so endearing. Lin Geng Xin put out the acting of his life and was able to easily deliver YWY's innermost emotions without having to do much. The chemistry between Chu Qiao and YWY was simply electric.
Princess Agents was Kung Fu made sexy and these two characters communicated their every feeling with it. Every time these two were in a room together the temperature rose a few considerable degrees until everything felt hotter and a lot more sensual.

However, even though I was wholeheartedly rooting for YuWen Yue, my love for Yan Xun wasn't insignificant in any way. Dou Shawn brought to life, with his stunning acting, an unforgettable character. His transition from a reckless, know-no-better, kind-hearted prince to a cruel and blinded by vengeance duke was heart breaking. No matter what he did, it was so hard to truly hate Yan Xun because he was a man shaped by the scars of his life; someone slowly losing grasp of the humanity that defined him and it was all just such a shame. With his sharp eyes and an even sharper jawline Yan Xun slayed the hearts of the viewers without even trying.

Normally, I despise love triangles. Primarily because I'm almost always more inclined towards one of the male leads and then all the romantic scenes with the other just piss me off. However, deciding between Yan Xun and Yuwen Yue was such a hard thing to do because they were both fully committed towards their love for Chu Qiao. Whenever my heart was cheering one of them on, there came fluttering a scene with the other man that melted by insides. Chu Qiao had significant history and a strong bond with both of them and by the end of the show, I was almost praying for YX to mess up in some way so she could go to YWY.

Another actress whose work needs to be commended is Li Qin. She played the role of the extremely annoying, holier than thou, too stupid to live princess and played it in such a way that she was still tolerable till the end. Chun'er, time and time again made me want to bang my head with the wall. Not only was she extremely naive and selfish, she always ended up making a tragedy out of herself. She had everybody bend over backwards to save her worthless ass from her own mistakes and then she chose to blame others for her failures. All of her schemes always failed and it ended in her being utterly humiliated. So it was only because of the brilliant acting that by the end of the show the watchers still harbored some sympathy for her. Li Qin is undeniably talented and her portrayal of some scenes often left me open mouthed.

Backed by stunning visuals, a hauntingly good soundtrack and a gripping plot-line, Princess Agents was a treat throughout. It had me waking up at 7 am every morning because I wanted to see the new episode as soon as the subs were released. It had me watching entire episodes in raw form just because I was too impatient to know what happened next and it had me wishing away my weekends because I had no episode to look forward to then.

All in all, this review clearly shows how much I loved this drama so you must be wondering why then, did I not give it a solid 10? That is where we address the elephant in the room. Up until most of the show, I was willing to give it a 10 without a second thought and then came the outrageous ending.

The drama ends with the worst cliff hanger in Asian Drama history with absolutely nothing resolved. It's like the thing that you've been looking forward to throughout 67 episodes finally appears and when everything is at its peak, the show ends and your celebratory moment is snatched away from you. However, it would've been all okay if a second season with the same cast had been confirmed. Then this horribly disappointing finale would've been converted to a powerful episode that filled one with anticipation for the next season but that is not the case. The news for the second season is muddy at best and there's a high chance that the actors for the show will be changed out.

That is what makes millions of viewers so angry and devastated because this seems like a huge injustice. A disrespect to the drama, the actors who worked their ass off and the viewers who had been wholly attached to the story. What we wanted was closure but instead it was like we were handed the short end of the stick. The last few episodes were filled with unnecessary filler trash and the writers cramped everything into the finale, shoved all of it under a rug and dusted their hands with it.

This is the reason why this show could have been something phenomenal but ended up having its head cut off due to poorly planned decisions made on the behalf of the Princess Agent's team. Just like in the show the foul actions of an insecure King ruined the lives of many, the reckless actions of the drama creators eradicated many hopes.

I myself felt betrayed. The ending was like a personal offense and all the hours invested into the drama suddenly felt wasted. In that moment I wanted to give it a 4/10 rating out of rage, which is why I completely understand the low reviews and the hate comments. Once you see the ending, slowly you start to judge the entire show and downplay everything about it. All the things that seemed so great before, start to leave a sour taste in the mouth. However while I understand it, doesn't mean I would do the same myself because even if I had known beforehand the way it was going to end, I would have still chosen to watch the show. Because upon further thinking I realized that for me being on this journey with these amazing characters and creating a bond with all of them, alone was a great experience and discrediting the whole show just because of the ending seemed unfair.

So if you're considering watching it, don't dread the result rather enjoy the process.

Good Luck!

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I wish I could give it a higher rating, but I just can't. It started off promising, but then the story turned into a complete mess of bad story arc choices and pacing, with irrelevant side characters given way too much screen time at the expense of main characters. Also, the end makes you feel completely cheated.



The romance was... messy. It was as if the production team couldn't decide what they were trying to film-- an historical political drama, or a romance drama, and kept flip-flopping between the two. I felt like I was watching an half-arsed political drama half the time with irrelevant characters who don't contribute to Chu Qiao's storyline at all, and an underdeveloped love triangle between Chu Xiao, Yan Xun, and Yuwen Yue the other time.



The title "Legend of Chu Qiao" is pretty much a lie. There's hints at CQ having an incredibly interesting backstory, but that's shoehorned in at random times and isn't revealed until way too late, and never utilised to make an interesting story. CQ has very little agency, and the story isn't even about her bringing down the institution of slavery. It's first about her under the command of YWY, then her under the command of YX, and trying to outsmart a bunch of YWY/YX-related people want to kill her.



Her relationship with YX could've been one of the strongest emotional arcs, and while to some extent I did think it worked, it could have been much stronger. I found CQ's romance with YWY very underdeveloped and flat for the majority of the drama, although it started off okay, and got better near the end.



In terms of acting and characters, Dou Xiao (Yan Xun), Li Qin (Chun'er), and Niu Junfeng (Yuan Song) stood out to me the most. It probably helped that their characters had complete arcs, and had significantly changed from the start to the end. DX completely stole the show for me, and his portrayal of YX from a happy-go-lucky princeling to a person filled with hate was amazing. I wouldn't say CQ didn't have a character arc, but her storyline felt like one befitting a supporting character rather than the main character-- as such, I found ZLY's performance adequate, with a few great emotional scenes, but didn't wow me in the same way as DX or LQ. In the same way, I thought Lin Gengxin was watchable, but there were no real 'wow' moments for me.



Another highlight would be Deng Lun (Xiao Ce) whose foxy prince was amazing, but unfortunately, under-utilised.



The music was great, but I don't think I'll be rewatching this drama again. There's just way too much I'll have to fast-forward through.

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