Reviews

Character-driven drama with campy humor and titillating romance

Plot Summary:
Zheng Shu Yi (Bai Lu) is a pretty, brilliant and hard-working 25-year-old reporter who hopes to write the front-page article of the Financial Vision magazine for at least the 9th time. And her ticket to scoring the latest cover article is to land an interview with the CEO of a venture capital company, 27-year-old Shi Yan (Dylan Wang), who, as it happens, has taken an interest in her, insisting the magazine send her to interview him.

Before that happens, her boyfriend dumps her for a girl surnamed Qin whose uncle owns impressive cars with impressive plate numbers. Having found out that Shi Yan has a niece with a surname of Qin and that he owns a roll royce with an an imposing plate number, Shu Yi concludes that her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend is the niece of Shi Yan.

Armed with a desire to use her rejection as fuel to succeed in her career as well as with her dream of upgrading the online version of Financial Vision magazine, Shu Yi pursues Shi Yan to get him to agree to a series of interviews for the online magazine. That is, as she makes herself believe. But might she be harboring some other reason for pursuing the handsome aloof bachelor?

For some mysterious reason of his own that will be revealed later, the cold CEO, who would have likely spurned such advances from any other girl, humored Shu Yi. Frequently thrown in each other's company due to the interviews as well as their jobs, they develop a deeper bond that propels them into a rocky journey of growth necessary to bring about a lasting and happy relationship where honesty and effective communication prevail.

Review:
This drama is character-driven thus requires a good understanding of the characters to be thoroughly appreciated. Skipping scenes would jar one's ability to be drawn into the characters and understanding them. In addition, skipping scenes could make one miss the campy spoofing feel throughout the drama, such as Shu Yi's pursuit of Shi Yan, the blind-leading-the-blind attempts of Shu Yi's cocksure but clueless best friend to give her advice, Shi Yan's seeming ability to hear Shu Yi's thoughts which could be a device to show they are on the same wavelengths, the phone conversations that everyone in the room can hear, the phone interruptions, the over-the-top riding clothes and many more. Those who recognize the campy humor in these situations would laugh. Those who don't would grumble.

Therefore, if you skip scenes or don't pay attention to the story, don't blame the writer or director if you can't find, much less understand, the plot.

This drama does not describe characters by having somebody directly point out that, say, Shu Yi is brilliant or that Shi Yan is a visionary. The drama SHOWS the audience, another reason skipping scenes is a no-no.

Shu Yi is not the conventional sensible-can-do-no-wrong cdrama female lead. She is smart, kind, friendly, playful, a good sweet daughter, hard-working, cannot be bribed and stays cool when a conniving work rival plays dirty tricks against her. But having been pampered by her parents, she is spoiled, self-centered and not above using people to attain her goals. Most of all, the drama shows her tendency to lie, causing her to do things contrary to what she feels and to make excuses to avoid facing up to the consequences of inappropriate actions.

It is intentional that Shu Yi sometimes throws ethics to the wind. Those who think smart people never do stupid things have unrealistic expectations of people. A lot of intelligent people make unwise decisions. Shu Yi's ethical lapses are part and parcel of the story which is unique to one particular reporter who does some things she should not do. So, complaints about degrading her profession are terribly misplaced. It is highly improbable that the drama would make viewers think reporters do this sort of thing all the time. In fact, that's why this story is told - it deals with a unique character.

I understand why Bai Lu bravely took on this role. Shu Yi would have been a challenge to portray because not doing her right could have made her obnoxious. I was amused at her flaws, scrapes and outrageousness, indicating Bai Lu portrayed her well.

Shi Yan is another complex character. The viewers' first impression of him is his stoic demeanor which is likely the amalgamation of his reserved and taciturn nature plus his upbringing and grooming to take over a company that would have made him resolute about appearing proper and older than his age at all times. The business scenes show how intelligent, competent and forward-thinking he is by letting us see how he handles meetings with business associates and how he chooses business partners. For example. he concurs with a startup's philosophy to put quality of technology ahead of production. These scenes also show the challenges he faces from senior executives who undermine his capability to lead the company due to his youth and inexperience. To delineate his sincerity in helping startups, the drama shows us that through thick and thin, he stands by a struggling chip producer he has been helping to establish. He gets personally involved in the chip industry and time and again defends his company's stand to finance the startup.

The business scenes also show how compatible the leads are in terms of interests and values. They are both hard-working. Shi Yan's passion to give back to society by helping startups is matched by Shu Yi's passion to make a contribution to society by creating an online version of her company's magazine that would allow more people access to information about finance. They both agree in doing the right things such as when Shi Yan, with Shu Yi's support, refuses to work with a corrupt battery manufacturer.

As he gets to know Shu Yi better, Shi Yan unlocks other parts of his personality - his thoughtfulness and dependability, his gentle and caring nature, his jealousy and his vulnerability that he only shows in her presence. Reserved by nature, Shi Yan's love is shown through his actions - making sure Shu Yi has eaten or has a ride home, even cooking for her. He is a natural nurturer, the best person who can help a spoilt girl in her journey to maturity.

This drama also shows how lack of communication can exacerbate couple issues. This is another hurdle the leads must face and overcome. Those who are intently watching would actually welcome a rift between the leads to knock some sense into Shu Yi. She has a lot of growing up to do and Shi Yan is prepared to take that journey with her as long as she wants to. All he wants is to love her, if she wants that love. What hurts him, more than the thought that she used him, is the thought that she loves another man. He is heartbroken as he muses, "what you wanted was never me". Though it devastates him, he loves her too much to force her to be with him while she is unsure of her feelings. So he lets her go and gives her space and time to sort her feelings out.

One of the things I admire about this drama is how subtle it showed Shu Yi's growth. She was self-centered before she met Shi Yan. She treated her ex-boyfriend like a driver, choosing to do an interview rather than celebrate his birthday with him. When he broke up with her, it was her pride more than her heart that was hurt. Shi Yan's unselfishness must have rubbed off on her. When she received her bonus, the first thing she thought of was to buy her parents gifts. When Shi Yan blocked her, she did not try to make excuses for what she did as what a spoiled child would have done. She felt guilty and remorseful thus felt resigned to losing him. She remembers Shi Yan's loving care and was ready to talk to him in person. When she saw him with another girl, she most probably took that as punishment for what she did and accepted the heartbreak. When news of Shi Yan's shareholders broke out, she first thought of Shi Yan's feelings instead of the effect the news would have on her online magazine. When she finally broke down, she did not care that her fierce work rival was there to witness her anguish. She did not whine or complain about her heartache but got sick due most probably to intense mental and psychological pain.

But the starkest manifestation of Shu Yi's growth was that, when her relationship with Shi Yan stabilized, she stopped lying.

Finally, to complete this multi-dimensional characterization of Shu Yi and Shi Yan, one needs a good idea of the world they're living in. Their friends, families, work, hobbies and other activities provide that additional dimension to their world.

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Wonder when it will end.

The leads were beautiful in looks and chemistry, The comedic moments within the series were just enough to ease the seriousness of the moving plots and subplots. The romantic scenes were palpable. However, the momentum of the drama started to drag at points and had scenes that felt like fillers to broaden the episode count. This definitely could have been accomplished much cleaner within 30-35max episodes. The push and pull of emotions as well as temperament between the ML and FL blended well in revealing how they learned from each other and also stopped being as abrasive as they once were. The OST was okay but didn't leave any lasting effect on the scenes. All in all, it is a solid series with beautiful production that can drag but is worth the watch.

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It's a good drama, rather solid in terms of narrative construction, but maybe it doesn't close the story very well, forcing quite a lot in the last episodes, it doesn't have the same evocative power of a drama like the remarkable "Sad Love Story (2005)" for example, but it can count on a really formidable cast, the female characters are excellent in their complementary nature (moreover two beautiful actresses!).
Personally I struggle a bit with the temporal collocation of some events, but no big deal.
In my humble opinion, I love so much the so called " old dramas" there is certainly more courage and more melodramatic strength than the contemporaries, but I also understand that these peculiarities can leave some viewers a bit sceptical,
for what it's worth my personal rating is 8/10

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So Very Disappointing

I loved series 1, It was cute and quirky, and I have been waiting excitedly to see their relationship develop and grow.
Sadly series 2 is more or less a repeat of S1, but way worse. There is zero development and growth and absolutely no chemistry between the main characters.

Considering Minato and Shin have now been together for 3 months, they appear to be in exactly the same place that we left them at the end of series 1. Minato has a hissy fit every time Shin gets any where near him, and runs away screaming, while Shin stands about looking like a wooden plank. Shin isn't even allowed to use Minato's first name!

The whole series goes on like this for every episode until it becomes extremely annoying and boring.
Later there is a horribly contrived "accident" that is utterly pointless and adds nothing to the story. It is lazy writing and I have to wonder if even the script writer was bored by this point!
Overall a disappointing story I blame the script writer and the director.
... :~(

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BEST CHEMISTRY EVER

This truly is one of the best dramas I've ever seen .
The romance between the two leads is so beautifully portrayed.the performance of the two wonderful lead actors truly captivate the audience.their depiction of awkwardness in the beginning of a relationship and how they slowly fall in love with each other is just breathtaking to watch .
The music and the visuals accompanying their story truly takes us on a romantic journey .
On top of the amazing story and performance by the leads. it's such a realistic portrayal of the culture of the Korean society.this is real life .unlike many kdramas which chooses to focus only on the fluffy side ,this drama chose to show the rough real side of society.the workplace harassments that women face and the pressures placed by asian parents .as an asian I can truly relate to the FL's situation .this truly is the story of the FL's growth with the help and support of the ML .
It was a wonderful experience to watch .truly takes u on a journey

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DIFFERENT BUT GOOD NONETHELESS

There was an evident difference in the latest season, from the cinematography, music, cgi/vfx and overall direction- and in my opinion thats what made season one so original and just so fun to watch. From the first episode of season 2, it just felt like watching a whole other drama - the charm of the first season wasn't entirely there. S1 had amazing cinematography and OST that added the hype and uniqueness to the project. The monsters were actual PEOPLE in suits and makeup and then altered with vfx whilst S2 was mainly cgi. Not to be dramatic but it felt like the art was gone lol. Season 2 just reminded me of a typical
military action thriller...

The second instalment seemed to go toward a different narrative as we're are no longer in the residential building, we get to meet new characters, some interesting and some... not so much. The crazy doctor and the little girl were the most compelling to the storyline and hopefully we will see more of them in the next season. We see a lot of military involvement and though they add a great perspective to this pandemic, it just got boring having them on my screen most of the time. There were also too many throwaway characters which i personally didn't care for, and instead wished they gave some more screen time to Hyun su (you know, the main character??) It would've been interesting to see his connection with the little girl and his overall struggle to survive in the world as monster who had very human emotions.

The the last few episode is where it seemed to pick up, i had no idea what was going on.. there's people that made into monsters is that how this pandemic started? What was the crazy doctors role in this?? There were a lot of unanswered questions which made me very excited for the S3

The original cast done amazing reprising their role and i cant wait to see more of them (as MAIN character hopefully)

ALSO the amount of bare booty's i've seen in episode 2.... i was flabbergasted.

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I want to recommend this to literally everyone.

I got into K-dramas recently, just in the last year or two, and every time I watch one there is always that drama that plays within the drama (a la Business Proposal) that makes fun of dramas like this. All the tropes are there, but the way they magnificently lean into some and break others is masterful. This is definitely a typically structured melodrama, but the earnestness in which it was created shines through, making this one of my all time favorites.

As for rewatch value, I started this drama as 10 episodes had dropped, and in anticipation of the last two, watched and rewatched this for a week.

Cons:
1 - In my opinion, the costuming/fashion choices do not lend to this drama. I don't know whether they had to make this on a budget, or they didn't have many sponsors, but it doesn't strike me as elegant styling. Perhaps there was a reasoning for it, but I found the ML suits to be Ill-fitting or not made from the best materials, they did nothing for his figure. I compare it to Park Yeon-jin's outfits in The Glory. When you look up most dramas, there are blog dedicated to their styling, there isn't much for this drama.

2 - It can sometimes be just a tad cringey. Specially the male lead. But I forgive it, because I find him also to be terribly endearing throughout the drama.

Pros:

1 - Pacing - Because it's only 12 episodes, this flies past. And unlike other dramas, the obstacles shift throughout episodes. There is no handwringing about the same things throughout the story. I really enjoyed that.

2 - Chemistry - the two main leads do an amazing job of carrying the entire show, especially the female lead. She is so outstanding in her performance. She is sincere and funny. Her range is incredible. And the male lead doesn't AT ALL try to skate by on his looks. He doesn't mind looking foolish at times, using his whole face to act (I love Lee Soo Hyuk, and maybe the directors force him to do so, but he always just has a "model face" on.)

3 - Supporting characters - I love almost all of them (except for her father but I shan't spoil it) they were brilliant and almost everyone got their just desserts.

4 - Trope breaking

Damsel in distress - this is my favorite broken trope. She is in distress in the first episode (which is most people's least favorite) but that last act shows her thorough shift. She carries herself so well throughout the rest of drama and it is around her that people gravitate. She is the general and conductor for the revenge, and knows what is happening most of the time.

Amnesia - Not in the "oh I lost my memory" but in the "you've shown me a million times who you are, but I'll conveniently forget every time you give me new information." There is NONE of this. The two leads make the decision early on to completely trust each other. And they absolutely do. It's delicious and SO satisfying to watch as they deftly handle everyone that tries to manipulate them

Terrible in-laws - this is another great broken trope, and the sister-in-law especially (especially in contrast to the ex-SIL). (Just as an aside, her face during the scene at the department store gave me major j-hope vibes, and she was my favorite from then on)

5 - Proper ending - This one is my absolute favorite in terms of endings. It is so simple and perfectly packaged Probably because the story is rather straight-forward but when things get complicated in fantasy-style drams (like The King Eternal Monarch) or difficult relationships (like CLOY), the writers feel their endings cannot be simple. I don't think those two have happy endings at all, they are so depressing to me, but this one was perfect.

I hope everyone watches this drama giving it a bit of grace because clearly they weren't expecting it to do well, but this a sneaky good drama and I wish they had more of a budget to play with. But perhaps we wouldn't have gotten my favorite new actress as a leading lady out of it!

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A totally different feel from the original sweet home

I loved sweet home 1 even though the effects could be improved. Sweet home 1 had more original monsters that can describe the greed of each human. Now, the 'monsters ' look more like robots, zombies and what the aliens in an avengers movie would look like. This series was more psychological and not as suspensful and fast as season 1.
This season doesnt seem to really continue from the first except for the girl in season 1 looking for her bro, the firefighter kickass girl from season 1 and the 2 male leads from the first season that had hardly any roles in this season.

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Shocked

I gave my rating and I wasn’t going to write a review but I am too shocked at some of the low ratings. I gave this 10/10 and it’s one of my favorite series. At the time of this writing, I have watched this series 3 times and I’m sure there will be more.

There are many reasons why I love this:
- Visuals - Net is gorgeous and James is beautiful. Put them together and, wow.
- Net and James can both ACT. Net has one of the most expressive faces I have ever seen. I could feel exactly what he was feeling.
- This series hits EVERY EMOTION.
- As the title alludes to, the bedroom scenes are plentiful and steamy. Episode 6 is especially great. Meow.
- The cinematography was outstanding. The beach scene with their silhouettes was absolutely stunning.
- True love triumphs over every obstacle.
- Loyal friends are invaluable.
- The bad guys get what they deserve.
- The music was spot on.

Don’t let the reviews dissuade you from watching. Decide for yourself.

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Not bad but I expected better

Sweet home was a lot more than I expected, and a lot less at the same time!

I was expecting this to be a character based drama and I got a lot more action than I was expecting, and I loved it! Having said that, there were a lot of things they rushed, forgot or just decided to not talk about.
The story, while a 10/10 is nothing new, good Vs Evil, survival horror... we've seen this before. Human behavior in a fight-or-flight situation, how malicious people can be to survive = nothing new there. Cliffhangers at the end of episodes weren't even that angsty, but there is something about this drama that draws you in, gets you to want to watch the next episode!

I hope they can maintain this level for the second season

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Searching Alien

The story is about a woman who made contact with a UFO when She was a child. As She grows up, her eyes can see something that other people can't see, such as aliens. After that, She managed to find the truth about what was happening and found a strange sect where they recognized themself as a part of a church. But actually, it's not because they are doing a ritual that doesn't make sense. That's where Her journey started.

At first, it's gonna be quite slow but when it reaches the end of the episode it's gonna be quite interesting when the truth is being discovered.

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A slow burn, second chance romance with business maneuverings as backdrop.

So I finished Here to Heart more than a week ago. This drama had been in my watchlist for some time already, but I finally gave it a go because I just needed more of Zhang Han and Janine Chang after The Four. It's good overall, there were many heart-touching scenes – between lovers, sisters, parent-child, and friends. It also showed aspects of the corporate world, such as the business competition, maneuvering and strategizing. However, there were really frustrating moments, some parts dragged on more than they should, and there were some annoying characters, but I expected these after reading some reviews (I guess I have prepared myself).

What really shines for me is the cast, especially Zhang Han as Zhan Nan Xian and Janine Chang as Wen Nuan, who brought their characters to life, not to mention they have great chemistry! They have sweet and passionate moments together, but I can also feel the push and pull, and the tension between them. They showed a certain depth in their acting, and they're very good in the emotional and crying scenes.

My other favorite characters are: Zhu Lin Lu (Jing Chao), a friend who truly cares and is there for Wen Nuan during some of the lowest points in her life; Wen Rou (Zhou Qi Qi), a loving and supportive sister, loyal to Wen Nuan and one who would defend her and speak her mind; and Gao Fang (Ji Xiao Bing), Zhan Nan Xian's confidante, one who truly understands him and gives the right advice at the right time.

One character that I dislike is Yi Xin (Jenny Zhang), who is scheming, manipulative, and insecure (in terms of her background and relationship with Nan Xian) even though she is successful and famous. But I must admit, she is not all bad, and she has some moving scenes in the drama, such as those with her father.

The soundtrack is good! While watching this, there were days that I had last song syndrome of the opening and ending songs.

Final Verdict: You need patience to watch this drama, but if you like melodrama and slow burn, second chance romance, with business maneuverings as backdrop, then go watch this.

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The ending was not what I wanted it to be but it was fine. I wish they could put more screen time to other supporting role like Prince Lianzuo and Madam Ruo as a prop to them for being helpful. The Main Leads should know their contributions.

The production of this drama.... There was weird sound in the background for first few episodes which thankfully disappeared as the shows went on. There was other review that this drama was filmed in 2019 but only get to be released this year bcs some parts had to be cut. Well it showed.

The romance kind of awkward at the start because FL loved 2ndML but later had to accept she was the only one who fought for the relationship (although 2ndML fools actions to save her didn't really help lmao) whereas ML didn't care about FL and didn't trust her at the start but soon developed feelings for her as she support and help him that showed her to be a kind and smart woman. But he was annoying too when he spent time(not sleep) with other woman after they fought. Their love story wasn't all that to me bcs he still slept with other women (which I get it) when they separated for a while. FL was smart but at the end I think she was more toned down?

The OST part in the intro of the song.... I am not fond of it.

Now for the second couple, which was 2ndML and the ML's younger sister, yunxue. I want them to hv happy ending so bad 😭 they had been together through tough times as friends and yunxue's unwavering support toward 2ndML made him opened his heart to her but it just so sad for 2ndML that their HEA was soooo close but tragedy happened.

Maybe it's just me but it kinda bugged me that FL resting face look so sullen, I would say. Myb bcs of the hairstyle (before she changed it to one like the coin on the forehead) contributed to it.

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