Reviews

Drama Vs. Manhwa

This was my first ever vertical drama, so I might not be good at this and be a little harsh. I only know about the ones you see as ads when scrolling or on a game. I also would like to point out, I read the manhwa not the novel, so I speak on the manhwa's half.

The big thing I have though, this should have never been a vertical drama. The whole thing came out to be around an hour and nine minutes. Which seems like a long time, but yet didn't seem like a long time to even scratch the surface.

Con(s):
1. A lot of the characters that were necessary (at least I feel) weren't there.
2. There were plot holes. It didn't explain how Taekin kept his phone, why the phone was wiped, why Taekin was involved with the teacher (who, BTW, in the manhwa was the older brother of the class vice president), and Taekin's sudden making of bread.
3. I didn't like the confrontation scene at all. The few punches that Heechan took in Taekin's body was not needed. In the manhwa, at least, he tried to avoid anything that would jeopardize Taekin for when he would eventually come back.

Pro(s):
1. The actors were good. They definitely captured their energy to a certain extent, and I definitely stayed for them.
2. I like how they made Taekin have at least one school friend, and that he didn't leave school. (He was bullied a bit harshly, hence why they thought the accident was on purpose).
3. It could be watched on its own if you never read the novel/manhwa. However, it would probably leave you with questions.

It was probably bound to have the plotholes and feel rushed (at an hour and nine minutes total). It's something, even after criticizing, I didn't hate. I would recommend you to watch it, because all in all, I was shocked we got a live adaptation. The drama does have its on perks in a way.

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This is one of those shows that, in my book, is a straight-up 1000 out of 10. A long time ago I heard a phrase that stuck with me: “Love is a neutral ground. It happens when one soul recognizes another, no matter who’s standing in front of you.” That’s exactly what this series is about. Love here isn’t tied to looks or the gender someone was born with. It’s about the heart and who it connects to.

What first drew me in was its unique and fascinating concept: a love that lasts through time, even as one of the characters reincarnates in a completely different gender. The show has this fairytale vibe, a mystical touch that grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go. It balances humor and romance beautifully, with a story that’s simple, easy to follow, and an absolute joy to watch.

But what really makes this series shine is the phenomenal acting from the entire cast, especially Daou, Offroad, Pond, and Xiang Pornsroung. Special mention goes to the young actor Udon Chayanon (Thong from Khemjira). Honestly, I can’t imagine anyone else playing San besides P’Daou. He was the perfect choice. He has the charm and elegance to embody a character who’s over a hundred years old, with old-fashioned values, and he managed to convey the doubts and struggles of someone who’s lived through so many changes. Watching San’s Journey, from his initial homophobia to finally accepting his love for Vee, was deeply rewarding. P’Daou is truly an incredible actor.

Vee isn’t a flawless character, but I love that he’s openly gay and unafraid to show what he wants. Offroad, with that radiant smile that could light up the whole universe, brings so much warmth. And the chemistry between Daou and Offroad is pure magic. Every scene they share is unforgettable. Pond, meanwhile, gave me a serious case of “second lead syndrome,” making me root for his character Third to find happiness too.

On top of all that, the production is solid and the soundtrack is wonderful. Highly recommended.

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A Good One Even for Non-Fans of Dating Shows

I'm not particularly a fan of dating reality shows and only tried this one on an impulse becuase the gimmick made me curious. I'm sure glad I did.

The struggles of these Gen Zers to get by without their devices is quite amusing and they treat us to a lot of gorgeous shots of the scenery in Southern France in early Spring. But what really makes this show stand out is a great cast featuring a diverse array of mostly likable “real” people who geniunely do want to find love. It helps that they don't go out of their way to create either villians or excessive drama through the editing .

Finally, they really lucked into a great character like Nanami, who really tugs on the heartstrings with her growth over the 10 days and provides an emotional resolution to the overall series. There are several other memorable characters as well and no one I truly disliked.

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Great Action, Strong Characters, but Villains That Fall Flat

Study Group opens with a strong first episode that immediately sets the tone for a fun and entertaining series. One of the aspects I enjoyed most was the recruiting process for the study group, which added an engaging dynamic to the story. The show also does a good job highlighting how people sometimes find themselves in situations where they must do things they may not necessarily want to do, simply because they feel they have no other choice.

Each member of the study group serves a clear purpose, and the series does a solid job of giving the characters moments to shine. Their development throughout the show contributes to the overall appeal and keeps the story engaging.

My main criticism lies with the villains. Unfortunately, I found them to be somewhat bland and one-dimensional. They lacked the uniqueness or depth that could have made them more memorable antagonists.

That said, the show still delivers where it matters most. The action sequences are well executed, the cinematography is impressive, and the character growth throughout the series is satisfying to watch. While the soundtrack has its moments, there were a few tracks that did not resonate with me as much as others.

Overall, I enjoyed the show. It’s important to approach it as a series meant purely for entertainment rather than something to take too seriously, just sit back and have fun with it.

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Heartwarming as expected, but some stories felt unfinished

Based on the description for this show, you’d already know you’re getting a heartwarming story of an incredible (real) woman who overcame obstacles to give young women a path out of poverty. So there’s really no need for me to go on and on about that. I cried a lot, the good kind of tears.

Clearly the show has a great story to work with, and it generally tells it well. But I still thought they could have done some things better with the narrative focus.

The show follows Zhang Guimei as she struggles to set up the school (funding, recruiting teachers and students, etc), then it follows the first class of students, and then it follows a second class of students some years later. So aside from Zhang Guimei herself, there are other characters whose stories you end up getting emotionally invested in.

I don’t know how much is dramatized and/or fictionalized, ie how many of these other characters are real. But I did end up caring a lot about them. In general this is a good thing, because it’s what makes this an interesting drama and not just a documentary.

I just wished they saw these stories through more and gave us more closure on each of them. It felt like a lot of them were just abruptly dropped and forgotten. I felt this way about the teachers and both batches of students. I wanted to continue their stories and find out what happens to them; but after their story arcs end, we might see them around but we don’t really know how they’re doing.

If the show wanted to tell several sets of stories with different characters, I think it would have been better to just move on fully each time. Seeing familiar faces around makes you want their stories to continue, and that is denied. Would it be that hard to give us a few scenes showing how the teachers have adjusted to their lives after several years? And I was happy to see Gu Yu return for the second set of students, but her story there also feels incomplete and unfinished as we are abruptly pulled away to follow Zhang Guimei’s declining health.

It’s not that Zhang Guimei herself isn’t interesting. She is, and I like that the show presents her not just as some sort of saint. Actually she’s shown to be very stubborn and sometimes difficult. I think some of her actions were actually quite questionable- like leaving a student to live outside in the cold and rain for weeks, thank goodness nothing happened to the girl (somehow it all gets painted as “good” for the girl... hrm). Either way, I sometimes found myself a little frustrated at Zhang Guimei, but I still like this realistic portrayal. You don’t usually get a legend without some difficult traits.

The acting is quite good, too. And the settings are pretty. It was filmed in Yunnan for some beautiful mountain scenery. There is a lot of speech in local dialect, making subtitles especially important.

Overall I’d say it’s a good show, but I came in expecting that based on the description. I think it would have been better if they followed some of the side characters’ stories more completely. Of course we don’t want to take away too much focus from Zhang Guimei, but if you make me invested in a side character’s story then I will be invested, that’s just how that works.

BTW, the CCP are heroes in this show and Zhang Guimei at some point uses CCP propaganda to motivate her students. That really did happen, so regardless of how you feel about the communist party, they are good guys in this show and be prepared for some loud CCP propaganda.

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





Zhang Guimei is still alive right now, so although the show’s final arc shows her struggling to continue despite declining health, nothing really big happens. Right before that, the story arc for the second set of students ends rather abruptly and left me wondering what happens to everyone- at least with the first set, we kind of knew- so actually I was a little disappointed with this ending. It felt incomplete. But I suppose the main hero is Zhang Guimei so it makes sense for the show to bring the focus back to her.

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One of the Best CDramas of 2025

For me, THE PRISONER OF BEAUTY has set the bar high for cdramas, it is one of the BEST Cdramas of 2025...From the magnificent cinematography, impressive sets and costumes, superb casting, relatable plot and story that is never dragging or boring nor is it annoyingly cloy or exaggerated and of course, 💯 chemistry of the ML and FL...LIU YU NING as the tall, imposing, manly and formidable General Wei Shao and SONG ZU ER as our ethereal, kind and intelligent Manman...Worlwide audiences were mesmerized and captivated with this cdrama...Kudos to the TPOB Team for coming up with this masterpiece, definitely worth rewatching...🥰

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I have no idea what I was supposed to be feeling...

...so I felt nothing.

There were very few good parts about this show, and they all involved Seo In Guk.

Most of the show, the "heroine" is dating imaginary men, so you don't really have anyone to cheer for. Plus, they all last for about 5 minutes and up to half an episode. The dating parts aren't even fun or watchable. It's just her showing different outfits and hairstyles, and the men being as cheesy as possible. So cheesy that even she hated it. The writer maybe thought it was going to be sort of a comic relief, but there was nothing comical about it and I just skipped through all of it as it had exactly ZERO percent affect on the story.

The second part of the show gets a little better, once we get to know Seo In Guk's thoughts because - Yay, finally a real person to cheer for.

I hated the acting of everyone here, even Gong Min Jeung who is usually really fun and often times a scene-stealer.

But the main character is just the worst, comparable to Dear X's female lead. The first thing we learn about her is she was working overtime so much that she left her boyfriend wait for her for hours at a restaurant on his birthday, and then makes it look like him breaking up with her was completely unnecessary and like he's the bad guy.
Whenever she does something wrong, it's someone else's fault, and it never changes throughout. At one point she gets on a bus to run away from a very polite Seo In Guk, and then blames him for not telling her the bus was going to Incheon.

All in all, I'm left baffled as to what the show was trying to tell, since there was barely any romance (with 'real life' people), no funny scenes (which are usually kept for second leads, but who even were second leads here?), no character development (or introduction even) and no lesson or theme conveyed.

All in all, I may be in the minority here, but do not recommend 3/10.

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I think this drama is truly wonderful. Whenever I started one episode, I couldn’t stop watching the next ones for hours. Everything related to the work of firefighters was presented in great detail — living far from family, the immense pressure, constantly risking their lives, and the possible physical and psychological consequences of every mission. At the same time, the work of doctors was portrayed in a very similar way. Not every case ends happily for the victims, and that was shown as well. The acting also deserves special praise — it was excellent. Both the main characters and the supporting actors did a fantastic job in their roles. You could truly feel the emotions they were portraying.

The entire series was carried out very smoothly and realistically. This also applies to the relationship between the main couple — Xu Meng Qin and Song Yan. From almost the very beginning, we can see that both of them still have feelings for each other, which show through their smaller and bigger actions. Despite that, their relationship develops gradually, and personally, I didn’t mind it at all. Considering their past — especially on his side — being cautious made sense. Over time, we increasingly saw the depth of their love for each other. Around one another, they radiated happiness and became the best versions of themselves. Another big plus for me is that once they entered a relationship, they faced problems together. There were no forced dramas meant to separate them or unnecessary arguments, and yet they were together for a long time throughout the series. Overall, Song Yan is a wonderful man. His family was also wonderful, and I watched most of their scenes with a smile on my face.

I was also incredibly happy when Qin finally started setting boundaries with her “parents” and eventually cut off contact with them. However, I was slightly disappointed when her “mother” suddenly changed her attitude and they reconciled, because I was hoping Qin would cut ties with them — especially with her — forever. In my opinion, she caused far too much harm and pain to everyone around her to suddenly sit at the table smiling together. It really irritates me that she faced no consequences for her actions after everything, but maybe I just have a different mindset.

Staying on the topic of family, I personally found the storyline of Meng Yan Chen disturbing. He was in love with her and tried to drive a wedge between her and Yan. After all, he was her brother (adoptive, but still). They were raised together as siblings from childhood into adulthood. She always treated him like a brother, yet he still wouldn’t let it go. His storyline with Ye Zi is also quite strange — starting from the fact that she looks like his sister, the one he had feelings for, and ending with the fact that toward the end it is hinted that they might have a future story together — after she falsely accused him of attempting sexual assault.

Aside from that, there are also a few points that I think could have been interesting but were only briefly introduced and never developed:
→ The military character (Lu Jie). I expected them to meet again since they talked about it, but it never happened, so I’m not entirely sure why he appeared in the first place. Though I did laugh at the scene where he thought Xu was his wife and called her that.
→ The storyline of Song’s mother. Honestly, I thought that as an adult he would try to find her and we would see some kind of confrontation — especially after the scene where, as a teenager, he went to her house with Xu and she looked at him.

A more personal complaint — or rather sadness. I loved the duo of Song Yan and Suo Jun, and Suo Jun’s departure really hit me. I was hoping that despite the distance they would keep in regular contact and that we would get many phone calls between them. It’s a pity that didn’t happen, although I’m glad we at least got one call that softened my heart.

And one funny little detail that I noticed. When Song Yan’s cousin ended up at the police station, Qin drove him there by car. Later, her “brothers” arrived and she went back with them in their car. To this day I’m still wondering what happened to her car that she left at that police station XD.

Lastly, I’ll mention Da Peng’s fate. I won’t go into too much detail here, but I’ll just say that I loved him from the very beginning. Together with Doctor Nan, they were my second favorite ship in the drama, so my heart broke into a million pieces and it took me quite a while to recover.

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The most insufferable love triangle.

K-drama rom/com writers should be banned from using love triangles in their stories for a few years. The love triangle in this show is so exhausting, insufferable, and time-consuming that it overshadows any positive aspects the show might have had.

Our Universe had everything it needed from the very first episode to become a decent show. A young ML and FL who, unfortunately, become the guardians of their nephew. She is looking for work, he finds a job with a famous photographer, and somehow all three end up living together under one roof. That’s it! If the story had stopped right here and just focused on these characters, the kid, and their working circumstances, things would have turned out for the best.

Instead, a second male lead and a parent is shortly introduced to pivot the show off a cliff. With these two new awful characters, the show forgot why viewers tuned in the first place. The pushiest love triangle I’ve seen recently, to the point you wouldn’t be mistaken if you thought 2nd ML was the main lead of the entire show. Then this terrible parent conveniently shows up, bringing even more problems. What a rat. No one watching this show came for this badly written melodrama. Everyone online is asking if we can return to the family storyline with no hope in site for five excruciating episodes. Big oof.

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absolutely incredible

la romance la plus douce et sincère que j'ai vu 🙏🏻

ce que j'adore c'est que c'est pas juste une romance basique qu'on voit tous dans beaucoup de dramas, il y a les problèmes des deux personnes à côté qui sont présent et qui apporte vraiment quelque chose comme dans la réalité, on ressent vrm les émotions à fond
www
"wen shuangjiang" 😭💗🤚🏻

"après toutes ces années, je n'aime toujours que toi"

- "mon père t'envoie pour prendre soin de moi ?"
- "non, je me suis porté volontaire "

peut on être aimé comme sang yan aime wen yifan pls 🙏🏻

mes critères sont : sang yan 😽☝🏻

wen yifan est mon personnage préféré et qui m'a le plus réconforter de tout les séries/drama que j'ai pu voir, ma femme finalement 🤭
sorry je te la pique sang yan

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Bored and Disappointed

I had no expectations going into this show. That being said, what the hell happened?

First off, the little things. The speed effects & CGI were bad, and the OST was way too loud at times. Also, was that last scene filmed in front of a green screen?

The first couple of episodes were alright, but by episode 5, I found myself doomscrolling while the show played in the background, and I started watching it at x2 speed just to get through it.

I lost count of the number of times I wanted to DNF this series, but I didn't because of Neo. Then they kill him unnecessarily. They could have saved him if they wanted to. Why was Mark trying to heal him while he was still impaled? If it was too late for healing once you pulled him off, turn him. And you can try to argue that they needed permission because they can't die afterward—bullshit. 1. I'm sure Tonkla would have chosen to live & 2. I'm sure taking their head off or piercing the heart, even without having "golden blood," would kill them. I thought about dropping the show after he was killed by Nakan (whom I was hoping to see him have a romance with), but at that point, there were only 3 episodes left, so I pushed through it.

The plot was also way too predictable. I should not have known that Thara was after Golden Bloods for her own personal gain, episode 1. That twist doesn't even get revealed until episode 10. Was anyone really surprised by this? Nakan wanting to take her down because she killed someone he loved was also not a surprise at all. The biggest surprise was that they actually killed Tonkla because he was the only good character in the whole show, and killing him off was just a stupid decision. They should have just gone with an enemies-to-lovers trope and at least tried to save their sinking ship a little instead of letting it capsize.

The world-building was very surface-level and made everything feel fake. The lore of vampires is never properly explained, but we have no idea what normal vampire abilities are because they are all treated as expendable. Not even the important ones are that impressive tbh. The Mortal Instruments did a better job building up its vampire world in its first book, and they are barely a part of it. To me, this was just lazy writing. Everything in the fantasy genre needs rules; this series took the pre-established rules we know and threw them out the window, and replaced them with nothing. That didn't make the vampires feel powerful and impossible to kill; it just left me as a viewer feeling like no one wanted to put any effort into building the world or writing it into the script, so they just gave us nothing.

I've liked Gawin's acting in the few things I've seen him in, but with this series, I didn't care for it. I believe that is largely down to the directions he was given and the script giving him very little to work with.

Besides Tonkla, because he was just a good self-sacrificing person, I didn't care about any of the characters, not even Dome, and I love AJ. I spent more time questioning Tong's IQ and common sense than I should have had to, and everyone else was just uninteresting. Mark was interesting as he slowly became more human, but not enough to draw any interest in me. I do wonder why Thara was so inhuman since she's drained multiple Golden Bloods. Wouldn't that have made her more human and feel some kind of guilt? Did something happen? Is it because of how old she is? How old is she really? Who was the first vampire, and how did it happen? These small things could have built the world up a little, but too little, too late.

NC scenes were probably the best part of the series, and I honestly only looked up from my phone if they were talking, but it wasn't enough to save the series. No matter how many they try to shove in there in the end. It felt like there was one or two in every episode after they "did it" for the first time.

Lastly, the sleeping beauty moment in the last episode? Please never do that again. Or if you are going to, make it make sense and don't half ass it.

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