Reviews

A Story of Youth, Family, and the Journey to Finding Oneself

Always Home (2025) is a drama that goes beyond the ups and downs of adolescence, while also portraying warm and meaningful family dynamics. Starring four main characters, Chen Huan Er, Jing Xi Chi, Song Cong, and Qi Qi, the drama takes viewers through their lives from high school and university to the early stages of adulthood.

The story begins when Chen Huan Er moves to a big city with her parents, where they live in the same neighborhood as the families of Jing Xi Chi and Song Cong. One of the drama's unique aspects is the close relationship between their parents, who have been friends since college. This creates a strong sense of family between the households. They help take care of each other's children when work keeps them busy and support one another whenever one of the families faces difficulties. This element adds something special that sets Always Home apart from typical school dramas.

Character Portrayals

Chen Huan Er

At the beginning of the story, Huan Er is portrayed as shy, insecure, and someone who does not have any close friends. After transferring to a new school, she begins trying to socialize despite her worries. Slowly, she finds true friends and comes to deeply value those friendships.
She tends to put other people's feelings before her own and is even willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the people she cares about. Although she is not an academically outstanding student, she becomes a source of motivation for her friends, encouraging them to be more courageous and continue growing.
Her tendency to always give in may stem from the loneliness she experienced in the past, making her extremely afraid of losing the people around her.

Jing Xi Chi

Xi Chi is an ambitious young man whose life revolves around soccer. Everyone believes that he is destined to succeed in the sport, but fate has other plans. An injury, along with his father's departure, forces him to give up on his biggest dream.
However, instead of remaining trapped in his disappointment, Xi Chi eventually finds a new path. From being the student ranked last in his class, he transforms into a hardworking and determined student who refuses to give up.
His character arc shows that failure is not necessarily the end. Sometimes, it can become the beginning of a new journey that is just as meaningful.

Song Cong

Unlike Xi Chi, Song Cong is a genius student who consistently ranks first in his class. However, university gives him a major reality check.
He has to accept the fact that his efforts to reclaim the top position only lead him to second place, defeated by a remarkably intelligent 15-year-old student who rarely even attends class.
Eventually, Song Cong learns to make peace with the situation. This does not mean giving up, but rather accepting that he cannot always be number one.
His character teaches an important lesson about humility and self-acceptance.

Qi Qi

Of the four main characters, Qi Qi is probably the most controversial. Many viewers may see her as selfish, while her mother may also come across as someone who constantly forces her own wishes onto her daughter.
However, from another perspective, Qi Qi's mother genuinely wants what is best for her daughter. She encourages Qi Qi to choose the humanities track because she believes Qi Qi's talent for writing is better suited to that path, and later pushes her toward studying law at university.
Even after Qi Qi rebels and switches to literature, her mother continues to support her by offering her the opportunity to study abroad.
Unfortunately, the conflict is not portrayed subtly enough. As a result, her mother's good intentions are often overshadowed by the impression that she is simply being controlling.

The Drama's Weaknesses

Despite its many strengths, Always Home also has several noticeable shortcomings.
Some conversations between the main group of characters feel stiff and unnatural, as if there is a certain awkwardness in the delivery of the dialogue.
Qi Qi is portrayed as someone who is selfish enough to distance herself from Huan Er simply because of Huan Er's closeness to Song Cong, which eventually causes Huan Er to distance herself from Song Cong as well. This feels excessive and makes it harder for viewers to sympathize with Qi Qi.
Qi Qi frequently forces her own wishes onto others, including pressuring Song Cong to become part of her social circle without properly considering his feelings.
There is a moment when Qi Qi claims that she changed herself for Song Cong, even though no one ever asked her to change. This makes her character come across as somewhat immature.
Qi Qi's mother is often portrayed as someone who imposes her wishes on her daughter. The characterization feels too black-and-white, which unfortunately prevents her genuine concern and desire to do what is best for Qi Qi from coming across clearly.
Although Qi Qi is presented as one of the main characters, her presence often feels forced, especially when compared to the other three leads. Personally, I felt that her position as a main character seemed to be driven more by her agency background than by the actual needs of the story, considering that her popularity was still relatively limited early in her career.

Conclusion

Always Home (2025) offers more than just a story about teenage romance. It successfully incorporates themes of family, friendship, and the struggle to face the harsh realities of life.
The main characters experience meaningful development, although the balance between them is not always consistent and some characters receive more attention than they perhaps deserve.
With its beautiful cinematography and touching storyline, this drama is worth watching for fans of school and family dramas. However, viewers who are particularly sensitive to unnatural dialogue or uneven character development may find certain aspects somewhat frustrating.
Overall, Always Home is a warm and heartwarming watch. It reminds us that home is not simply a place, but also the people who are always there for us.

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Hot kisses but lack of chemistry made me increase speed

I write a column on reddit comparing 2 short dramas adapted from the same source. I knew Fang Si Chang but Lu Ming was unfamiliar to me. I watched this drama after watching the first version. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this drama.

What I liked:
1. Visuals - Both Lu Ming and Fang Si Chang are good looking.
2. Kisses - Really good kisses.
3. Supporting characters - I really liked ML's best friend and FL's close colleague.
4. Confrontation - I really enjoyed the scene when FL confronted her father about his bad parenting.
5. Relationship reveal - Their private romance was dragged into the spotlight after a jealous colleague began spreading rumours about her. I liked how the relationship was revealed to their colleagues.

What I disliked:
1. Acting - I consider chemistry as a subset of acting and unfortunately there was zero chemistry between Fang Si Chang and Lu Ming. Their on-screen interactions seemed awkward. I also felt Lu Ming's ML was quite cold in comparison to Ye Yi Chen's ML. I also found Fang Si Chang quite bland in this role.
2. Romance - There were some kisses in the drama. However, the romance arc spent more time on the characters being in a fake relationship and because of the zero chemistry, the romance arc fell flat.
3. Antagonist - The jealous half-sister and colleague.

Favourite scene
When FL treated his wound

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Fundamentals are key

In a lot of ways, a story doesn't need to try and subvert a person's expectations on what is to be expected. Like a boxer with a good straight/jab, sometimes it's just as good to have the basics nailed down and done well to keep you interested and satisfied. And within Filing for Love, those fundamentals are well set in stone, and well executed on.

What might look like your standard Korean drama romantic comedy is more or less that. But where FFL excels is its ability to make the viewer care for the wider story, and feel satisfied in how it ultimately ends. In something like a romantic comedy that is most importantly portrayed by the two leads and how the writers make them come together, and there is no denying that the two leads in FFL do well. Shin Hae-su is by far the stand out here, but Gong Myoung as well has a great comedic ability that is buoyed by the first half of the series having a great pace in terms of scenarios of office politics and rule breakers. Team Three in general is well fleshed out in terms of their personalities and what they contribute to the team, and by the end, you care for them as much as you do the two leads.

Unfortunately, the secondary relationship between Hong Hwa Yeon and Kim Jae Uck does not pass the mustard as much as the leads do - mainly because both of them are nowhere near as compelling in terms of characters, or provide a reason to care other then their prior relationships with the main leads.

Even if this is a 'low' rating, this is about as glowing of a 7.5 as you can get. Will I watch this again and again? No, probably not. But I'm glad I did, because it goes to show that doing things well in service of a specific sub-genre is worth its weight in gold, especially in a world where writers and directors are trying desperately to subvert audience expectations in order to satisfy an ever-increasingly jaded watching public.

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Lowkey cringe but endearing

Watched on the FOD Short app with English subtitles!

I wouldn't say this was particularly good as there were definitely clumsy performances and writing/directing decisions, but it had an earnestness to it that made it an endearing watch. It was actually weirdly nostalgic because it pulls heavily from the hidden identity/gender bend stories that were all the rage 15-20 years ago but are quite rare now, and it honestly doesn't really do much different to update the concept to modern times either lol, except maybe the love interests here spend less time fretting about whether being attracted to Hikaru means they're gay and are more open to the possibility. The romance was on the subtle side, which I think ultimately worked since a lot of this drama leaned towards goofy and exaggerated. Not a must-watch by any means, but give it a shot if you want something short and sweet!

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predictable soap opera with surprisingly good acting

Not much to say about this one. It’s everything you’d imagine when you hear the term “soap opera”: family drama, scheming against each other, lots of crying, overreacting, screaming in slow motion, all sprinkled with a bit of history, politics, and social justice.

The message here is as straightforward as it gets.
The plot is basically the same three situations playing out in different contexts.
The production was pretty good, despite the costumes looking brand new and borderline fake (especially Phob’s uniform lmao).

But even though this series is nothing new, it was actually a pleasant watch. The main leads’ acting saved it from being boring. The tension between them, the yearning, the chemistry, somehow, it all felt natural. Even when dialogues were written awkwardly, they managed to sell it.

It’s a nice show for binging because sometimes a predictable soap opera with main leads who actually have chemistry is enough to be entertaining.

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A good balance of everything!

Honestly, the humor so well done there are couple of scenes which will live rent free in my mind. The ML is so adorable yet the action is done so well too. And the FL is very likeable on paper some scenes can sound cringey but her delivery is so good you just cant stop smiling. Also the chemistry between the ML and FL is done really well. I was also little worried about the being related plot but it provided lot of hilarious moments. The only complain i have is how the reveal of actual relative was handeled it is a *spoiler* so i wont talk about it. But it was very rushed and way way way too late. They could have gradually done it on earlier episode atleast let the audience catch it earlier on. That would have made the show so much better.
Overall, i still recommend it.

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Prepare-se para chorar, passar raiva e angústia.

A série começa com muitas cenas de ação que já me causaram um espanto (num bom sentido), não vai ser apenas um romance comum e isso já me deixou animado. Nunca vi tanta reviravolta na minha vida, acho que o roteirista pecou um pouco aí. Houve o desenvolvimento de 3 casais, vou elaborar um por um.
Porsche e Kinn: amo demais o desenvolvimento deles, mas acho que faltou diálogo na hora de resolver os problemas, nem tudo se resolve na cama. O arco da floresta, a luta final (eles com tesão de mil Anittas, nossa que homens), como são o casal principal, com certeza iriam ter o melhor desenvolvimento. Outra coisa que achei diferente até, eles sofreram com tudo, menos com homofobia, o pai do Kinn podia ser mentiroso, egoísta, ganancioso, cruel, sanguinário e tudo, menos homofóbico.
Kim e Porschay: não viraram um casal no final (até onde eu entendi né) graças a Deus. Porschay só se aproximou dele por interesse e depois se apaixona? Faça-me o favor, isso é trama para o principal, além de que todas as cenas deles juntos, o Porschay se mostrava apático, não sei se ai já é culpa do ator, mas ele demonstrar paixão não aconteceu em nenhum momento na minha perspectiva.
Vegas e Pete: A Des e a Graça, horrível, o roteirista comeu merda na hora de escrever isso aqui. Pete foi abusado e torturado e se apaixona por quem fez isso pra ele? Isso se chama síndrome de Estocolmo, a série tentou romantizar isso e falhou miseravelmente. Em La casa de papel, a Estocolmo "só" foi sequestrada e estava com dependência emocional além de grávida e não foi essa aberração que aconteceu aqui. Sinto muito, o Vegas deveria ter morrido na luta final. Quem gostou deles juntos é no mínimo doente.

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Workplace romance that started with a blind date. Great chemistry!

I write a column on reddit comparing 2 short dramas adapted from the same source. I was familiar with both main actor and main actress and since this version came out first, I watched this last weekend. I had mixed feelings about this drama but overall enjoyed it.

What I liked:
1. Romance - I must say I enjoyed watching their dynamics from boss-employee to fake couple and eventually true lovers. Their romance generated warmth. FL was shy but ML being affectionate is my favourite kind of ML. There was good amount of sweet and spicy scenes.
2. Acting - Both Mao Sheng Er aka Qu Xiao Xiao and Ye Yi Chen did well in their roles. Both characters came off as endearing. I consider chemistry as a subset of acting and I was sold by their characters' love story because of their good chemistry.
3. FL characterisation - She was timid and easily intimidated but I liked her. She wasn't cloying and too cutesy.
4. ML characterisation - I liked him the most after they cleared the misunderstanding.
5. Supporting characters - I really liked ML's father - he was very supportive of their relationship. I also liked ML's best friend - that trick at the club was amusing. I also liked FL's close colleague for being protective of FL.
6. Relationship reveal - Their private romance was dragged into the spotlight after a jealous colleague began spreading rumours about her. I liked how the relationship was revealed to their colleagues.

What I disliked:
1. Length - At almost 3 hours, I thought this drama was 30 minutes too long. The pacing was slow at the start of their awkward fake relationship but once a certain milestone was reached, the drama didn't feel draggy much.
2. Antagonist - I think there was a woman who tried to stake claim over ML but ML was firm with boundaries.

Favourite scene
When ML offered a piggyback ride to FL

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A great Kamen Rider to start out with!

I watched Kamen Rider ZEZTZ live from Tokusatsu's simulcast stream for the past year, which also happens to be my first Kamen Rider I've had the pleasure of watching live from beginning to end. Essentially, the show follows the main protagonist, clumsy and unlucky Baku Yorozu, who when he sleeps, can infiltrate dreams as his alter-ego, the sly secret agent Seven who works for the top secret agency known as CODE -- or at least, that's how the show begins. ZEZTZ plays fast and loose with not only morality, but with reality and trust. Even after the infamous mid-series reveal, there's almost always more secrets that are built up to be unraveled, and betrayals from every side.

Is it the best Kamen Rider? Probably not, but it's still really good. Is it the best Kamen Rider to start out with? There's definitely a case that can be made in favor for it.

Pros:
> Probably the best part about ZEZTZ is how it's shot. All of the fights are super creative and plays a lot with the camera angles in a way that feels both epic and surreal. Hands down, ZEZTZ definitely has some of the best fights in the series.
> All of the three main Riders are great. Baku/ZEZTZ is a compelling protagonist that is worth rooting for, especially with his split between his endearing "real" self and his alter-ego Seven. NOX, in my opinion, is a very well-crafted anti-hero/anti-villain Rider reminiscent of a lot of Heisei-era Riders with a good character arc (albeit one that could've benefitted from more time) and a super fun presence in part due to his sheer determination. The tertiary Rider, Dawn/Sieg, is probably one of the best characters in the show. Not only does he has one of the best arcs, but he also is the reason of some of the show's best scenes in general. Every scene with Dawn is a delight to watch.
> Sans a few moments of delivery that are particularly off, the acting is very good in this show.
> I liked the mid-series reveal. It's pretty contentious, but to me, it was perfect for kick-starting the second half of the series.
> The soundtrack, although a tad repetitive, is very very good. I really like the insert songs!
> ZEZTZ starts off strong and sticks the landing. All of the characters are resolved in a very satisfying way.
> ZEZTZ is very good at setting up and paying off, especially with the various mysteries that are set up throughout the show. It's a great show to binge!

Cons:
> Personally, I felt the plot started to fall off after Case 34 and especially after Case 38 -- not enough to hamper my enjoyment of the show, but enough to be noticeable. It does recover, although a bit too late for my liking.
> Most of the side-characters are fun, but they do run into some issues. A lot of their progress -- specifically, Fujimi and Nasuka's in particular -- often feels undermined, and while Nem is a good character, she could have done a lot more in the grand scheme of things.
> CODE, as a whole, feels a tad too underexplored for my liking, and the world-building around CODE, the Capsems, and the Nightmares could have been executed better -- especially considering how Capsems are the gimmick of this series.

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She Feared Him Most—Until He Became the One Who Protected Her with His Life.” ❤️‍?

Lost in the Midnight* was one of those short dramas where the ML completely held my attention. Lou Xiao is definitely not your typical sweet romantic lead. He is dangerous, unpredictable, intimidating, and honestly a walking red flag at times. Yet somehow, he also becomes the person I trusted the most to protect Si Yue.

Si Yue enters the Jian family under a false identity because she is desperately trying to save her brother, who is in a vegetative state. She is surrounded by people using her for their own purposes, and then she mistakenly believes the feared Lou Xiao is the man she is supposed to marry.

Talk about choosing the most dangerous man in the room. 😂

What I loved about Lou Xiao was that the drama never completely changed his personality just because he fell in love. He remained dangerous and intimidating. The difference was that his feelings for Si Yue slowly revealed another side of him.

At first, Si Yue is afraid of him—and she has every reason to be. But as the story progresses, the man she fears becomes the man who repeatedly stands between her and danger.

Lou Xiao knows Si Yue is hiding things from him. He knows she lies to him, and those lies hurt him because he wants to mean more to her than simply being someone she can use. Yet despite his anger and frustration, he continues protecting her.

That was what made his character interesting to me.

He doesn't suddenly become some gentle puppy because he falls in love. 😂 Lou Xiao loves intensely, possessively, and sometimes frighteningly. But when it truly matters, he is willing to put himself in danger for Si Yue.

For a man everyone is supposed to fear, his biggest weakness becomes the woman who was originally terrified of him.

I also really enjoyed the chemistry between the ML and FL. Si Yue isn't completely helpless beside such a strong ML. She has her own reasons for lying and hiding her identity, and watching Lou Xiao slowly realize how much she means to him made their relationship even better.

The ending was good, and I was happy that after everything these two went through, we were given a tender and satisfying ending rather than another tragic short-drama finale.

**BUT... I still have questions!** 😂

The ending felt a little too quick considering everything that happened before it. I wanted more explanation about what happened afterward, especially with Si Yue's brother and the consequences for everyone involved. I also wanted more time with Lou Xiao and Si Yue after all the secrets were finally exposed.

Give me ten more minutes! That's all I'm asking! 😂

I wanted to see Lou Xiao finally living without constantly fighting everyone around him and Si Yue being able to love him without another secret or enemy waiting around the corner.

Still, Lou Xiao made this drama worth watching for me.

He started as the man Si Yue feared the most and ended as the man willing to protect her with his life.

**Sometimes the most dangerous man in the room is also the safest place to stand—at least when you're the woman he loves.** ❤️

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FL success story, medical version

I have watched a lot of shows about strong female leads who bulldoze their opposition to achieve resounding success. It’s a premise I like, though I find that my overall enjoyment depends a lot on how nuanced the show is and how relatable the main character is. It’s obviously harder, but not impossible, to achieve such things in a short drama.

Given all that, I find this show to be roughly middle of the pack. The FL, Rong Zelan, is not only a medical genius, but she’s also a smooth talker and really tough- a good portion of the show is her putting bullies in their place. She is on a mission to right a great injustice, get revenge, and break through the not-so-invisible (frosted?) glass ceiling, all things I was happy to root for.

Like most other shows in this genre, the FL is overpowered and confident, and there’s little suspense as to whether or not she’ll succeed. This always runs the risk of being boring, but here I’d say it wasn’t too bad (only slightly, maybe). Partly because it's a short show so her endless successes don't drag on too long, and partly because righteous indignation is always on her side, so I mostly just felt satisfied watching her win. Plus, the first episode is really rough on her and I felt so sorry for her, the momentum of that sympathy pretty much carried me through the entire show in wanting her to succeed.

There is also a ML who is her love interest, but the show isn’t that much about him or about their romance. He has his own mission which isn’t even shown. Mostly he just shows up regularly to help her out and/or subtly hit on her. Personally I liked that the romance isn’t too played up and the focus is on her.

The villains are fairly one-dimensional and nothing special, but at least they are easy to hate. The pacing is pretty good in terms of moving from one arc to the next, disposing of villains in good time and bringing in the next. There are almost no side characters of note. However, the emperor is one of the more annoying I’ve seen. He’s on the more extreme end of being a dumb and impulsive royal who faces no consequences- his arbitrary sentences are treated more like a force of nature than somebody’s decision.

It’s not that clear until more than halfway through the show, but gender issues play a big role. The limitations placed on women are tied to several of the conflicts, as well as the FL's grand goal of shattering that frosted glass ceiling. I really liked this and she makes a great speech on it, too.

My biggest complaint might be that the medical stuff is pretty loosey goosey, especially in the second half. Some of it got so nonsensical that I almost wasn’t even offended any more- clearly they weren’t even trying to be medically sound. The teenage FL is also way more skilled than she has any right to be. I get that this is part of the fun, so we can feel good seeing everyone be impressed. But I’m sorry, surgery takes practice and training. And how can she be so confident about conditions and procedures that- setting aside her total lack of experience- have some natural risk to begin with?

For the acting, I thought it’s pretty good. I believed all the characters, and the leads had some good expressions. The child actress at the beginning did great. I like that the FL is not super pretty- she’s not bad looking, she just has more distinct features, which makes her feel more real. I had some confusion, though, with characters of different generations looking approximately the same age.

Costumes, sets, props, are all decent. For the music, I noted some nice background music, especially the piece with the violins/strings.

Overall this is a good show if you like the formula of strong FL kicking ass everywhere. I found it a casual and enjoyable watch but nothing too meaningful, and would probably have given it a 7 (“entertained but not a masterpiece”) if they hadn’t bungled some of the medical stuff so badly. It’s a show about medicine, they should at least try...

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





Happy ending, and the FL gets everything she wanted. The only slightly upsetting death is her friend partway through, though that’s not really made a big deal of. The show does remember to tie up the story with her family, though I had hoped to see more of it throughout since that was the source of my main emotional connection with the show and the FL.

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