Reviews

I liked it, but the ending ruined it

I've been scrolling through comments, and noticed that some are disappointed with how the 'mystery' bit was over-advertised. Good thing for me, I didn't watch any of its advertisements and jumped straight into it, so I wasn't expecting much of a mystery in the series. The mystery, if any, really wasn't done well, so fortunately it isn't something that I was expecting or looking out for. I had already expected the 'twist' for the curse from miles away, not sure if anyone else did too.

What I liked, was how both MLs actually acted like their age, they cried their hearts out, they're irrational, stupid, and do idiotic things. But I love how their relationship developed, from hating and suspicion, to curious and trying to understand each other. As a person who always puts others before myself, I actually relate a lot to what the characters are going through.

I'm sure something's going on with the side couple, not sure yet since i'm only on ep7, but I'm hoping they'll manage to open up their hearts to each other, something that every character seems to struggle to do so, considering they are in such a prison-like school.

Ep9 - ok the side cpl is seriously lacking some bravery, but its fine i can wait for them - as for Akk, I've been reflecting on his actions, and honestly, I realised that what he's been doing is literally a crime, at least assisting in one. I originally thought his intention was to 'protect the school's honour as head prefect', but now it's obvious his motive is also to obtain the scholarship for university, and he has to get on the teacher's good side to do that. That is selfish behaviour, and he's essentially spreading lies and causing fear around school for personal motives. That's really not right.

For main the couple, I thought they could turn out really sweet after Akk sorts out his feelings, so far he hasn't done so even after Ayan bares his heart. Although I can't say they are a good couple, Ayan has his ulterior motives in wanting Akk to confess to his crimes, and he keeps forcing Akk to do so, not even attempting to understand or comfort him despite knowing how conflicted Akk feels. I also dislike how he loves jumping to conclusion and assuming Akk is always the perpetrator

Ep10 - yep the couples are finally set, and then tragedy descends of course - seriously why is the school expecting students to act like friggin investigators in a murder mystery, they're really not right in the head

Ep11 - i'm so triggered sorry Thua is a little bish how dare he tattle on their relationship, that's such a foul move - also did everyone get hit on the head and experience a 180 personality change in this episode??

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Another victim of the K-BL format

Nearly every Korean BL I watch has the exact same issue: not enough time. And this one is no exception. I was excited to watch this one as a fan of SF9, and was slightly disappointed to see such potential in a show that could never live up to it, due to the time limits that K BLs seem to always have.

Hanjoon has secretly been in love with his childhood best friend Yoojae for a long time now, but only truly realized it when he starts to get jealous that Yoojae is pursuing a girl. This brings out a lot of tension in their relationship, as both of them are quick to anger when it comes to issues with each other. It takes a long time for them both to realize that the reason they're always on edge with each other is because both of them are harboring more feelings than they thought, and neither of them know how to process it.

Each of these 15-20 minute episodes could have and should have been 45 min. There's a quick conflict in every episode, where the causes, conflict, and aftermath are never fully fleshed out. Plus, they attempted to give both characters complex family situations without having the time to do so properly. They either should have cut out some unnecessary conflicts to flesh out the characters, or lengthen the episodes to flesh out the conflicts. As is typical, there is truly no way to have multiple complex characters with multiple complex conflicts in a series with a total run time less than a movie. Frankly, a movie would have been better because at least it would have been one continuous storyline instead of 8 separate conflicts that they resolve in under 5 minutes. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by the acting of the main two. The tension and fights felt like real issues that 18-year-olds would have, and nothing about this show felt cheesy. A fun watch that I wouldn't recommend too highly.

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i wish i coul rewatch for the first time

have you ever watched a show that once you finish you feel a void inside and cry cause you know you’ll never find a show that will everr make you feel the same???? well, this show will make you feel exactlyy like that. The warp effect is like a thailandese version of glee BUTTT better and more serious. I loveee the way that they talk about things that happen normaly and are often taken as a taboo topic. It will make you see things in the perspective of both teenagers and adults and you will DEFINITELYYYY identify with at least one of the charavters!!!! It’s honestly sad that people overlook it cause it is not a bl but IM TELLING YALLL its one of the besttt gmmtv’s shows

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mth is not the best kdrama, its the best SHOW ever

move to heaven is definitely one of the shows that once you finish, you’ll feel a void because you know you will never watch such a perfect show for the first time again. Make yourself a favor and watch it cause the way they tell the stories will make you feel everything they want you to feel. This show has LGBTQ+ representation which makes me sooo happy, the representation feels sooo real. Sometimes queer characters are written in a way were they just feel from a children book written by a straigh woman but THISSS is just realistic and the acting just makes it perfect. also plus points for having hongseok from pentagon in the cast (stan pentagon)
overall: 1000000/10

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This KBL was a masterpiece!

Very recommended to watch it! I really love it and I still can't move on from this, this is my favorite Korean BL Drama forever! The plot was so intense and unpredictable, what a masterpiece! Great job!?

A little off about it is the broadcasting, I think that if you make 2 episodes per week that will be perfect because there's a lot of cliffhanger there and it will gain popularity because of assumptions and predictions of the drama but over all it's okay!

Love for love's sake is not just a normal bl but it was a masterpiece because of the story, cast and production. I hope for season 2 because the happy ending scenes was so short I need more episodes of them being happy together!??

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Not bad, just kind of boring

When I first started this, it didn’t blow my socks off, but I wanted to learn more about the characters and their stories. I enjoyed their character dynamics, and I liked Mhok.

My main complaint is the pacing. The plot was full of fluff and filler that wasn’t necessarily bad, but also wasn’t adding anything. It had a bunch of overdone tropes and cliches with just okay delivery. I liked all the characters, and they all felt grounded and well-rounded. There wasn’t much character growth, and a lot of it is crammed into the last episode. Eventually it just becomes mundane and expected, causing the episodes to drag on. 10 minutes off each episode would have helped a lot.

The acting here was MUCH better than Vice Versa. Mhok was probably my favorite part of the series. Sea did surprisingly well playing a blind character. Despite the acting upgrade, there were still times I didn't love them on screen. Overall the whole cast did well. The pairing between Night and Porjai worked really well, and by the end of the series they were my absolute favorites.

About the controversial breakup choice, I thought it actually made sense. Mhok and Day needed to grow up on their own and figure out where they stand as individuals. What annoyed me more through a good portion of the series was the mom character, who I found selfish and her writing kind of half-assed. Most of the time her actions made sense, but for a good part of the time she also worked as a plot device to add drama.

The production was nice, and I liked the use of a wide aperture for the blurry effect. It was a good touch. It had some good moments, but at some point I was just waiting for it to be finished. A decent watch, but didn't live up to the hype. I wouldn't recommend this to a friend, mainly because I would have trouble remembering its existence, but wouldn't advise them against watching it if they wanted to.

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A slice of life that left begging for more.

This show hooked me with it's idea of making famous celebrities do mundane normal people jobs.
And the moment I saw 'California' I was even more thrilled since it left me wondering, how would they(the celebs) fair in a North American setting.

I think what made me love this show even more was how the celebs interacted with the people. They talked a lot, giving insight on how life was in America and their upbringing to their success. It almost gave me American dream vibes, which is cool because America is often portrayed as this chaotic place in media.

This show is a must watch, I hope they do more international places in the future

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Little gem with really good actors, interesting characters, an exciting storyline and no fillers.

This is a great little gem with really good actors, interesting characters, an exciting storyline and no fillers. I liked this strong and sensible FL (a rabbit fairy) and this powerful and cunning ML. Their love story was heartwarming and even if the chemistry wasn’t off the roof, it was good enough for a short and mostly lighthearted story like this.
The short format was fitting and nothing felt rushed, although an open ending always will be somewhat abrupt. I hope there will be a season 2 one day.
So, if you love a good romantic fantasy show - with some twists and turns - this is definitely well worth watching.

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addicting, angsty, romantic journey of love and found family

I literally could not put this drama down. It just kept playing and playing, and I could not stop. It’s so addicting. Like, I have to watch til they’re back together again, which is only for a short time then they get separated, so, of course, I have to keep watching to see them reunited. The love story was AMAZING. Their chemistry was off the charts, and I was living for it.

Admittedly, there are some plot holes in the story, but it’s okay to just glaze over. Also, the characters are supposed to have such strong power, but when it comes to it, they get defeated somehow ??? And how was Suying that strong ??? Like I really wanna know what ms girl was on.

Yanhui definitely going down as one of my favorite female leads. Although she didn’t have that much power in the beginning, she still had a strong character. When she did get more powerful, she was such a girlboss. Sometimes, the power wasn’t powering, but I can forgive those parts for the final battle.

Tianyou is great too, but not as good as Yanhui. He would give up his life so many times, and he was an absolute sweetheart. My take on the stabby stabby controversy: he could’ve at least told her the plan. Like, I get he was clouded by his emotions, but anyone would be mad if they were stabbed. I’m glad he had a recovery arc.

Also, another thing that pissed me off so much was the Master Lingxiao person. Like, after what he did to Yunhui, everyone was defending him. I’m like ??? Were you there with us? Did you not see what happened?? I think she forgave him a little too easily because I would’ve definitely been okay if she went back and murdered him…. Just saying.

** major major spoilers **

Okay, so I KNOW that wasn’t the ending. Like, directors, let’s be so for real here. You could’ve added FIVE MINUTES to explain what happened. Since you didn’t, I’ll make one up for you. So, Tianyou finally finds Yanhui, who’s been reincarnated as a human with her memory intact. Over time, she can cultivate to immortality and they all live together happily ever after forever more. The end. See???? That’s not that hard now is it.

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What a beautiful drama

It’s a very beautiful drama everyone must watch it ,the direction ,the music ,acting ,plot everything was so superb. Lin Yi and Liu Haochun just acted so naturally and beautifully .The drama starts very beautifully with concept of time travel and then we come to know no thats nit it it was memory replacing thing and they were just dreaming .Though I would have preferred enter time travel plot over dream as I have seen similar thing in another drama ‘Legally Romance’ . But the drama was made really good with its turn and twists .Though the drama could have explore more on Xu Jinyang death plot but it didn’t .It was only thing I think can be done more . Nevertheless all the casts and leads did potray their characters perfectly .I would love to see them paired again in future.And at last drama did give meaning to the title of this drama ‘Derailment’ . It was always a pleasure to see that the title got its value .

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SENSATIONAL STORY AND PHENOMENAL ACTING

I could go on and on about this drama, and I will. But for now, all I want to say is that THIS IS MY COMFORT DRAMA. Yong Pil and Sam Dal's chemistry was so outstanding. Shin Hye Sun and Ji Chang work are two of the most impressive and versatile actors I have ever known, and they did justice to Yong-Dal relationship dynamic.

Both Yong Pil and Sam Dal's character individually are just as impressive as the couple. Yong Pil is such a green flag, I love how Sam Dal could always count on Yong Pil and how he never left her alone. This is true love right here.

As for Sam Dal, she's truly iconic. A woman who possessed great talents, worked hard to make her dreams come true and yet she had to find herself in order to heal her heart. She is unstoppable.

I also loved the slight contrast between their characters that, in my opinion, made them understand each other better. Their personalities fit together so perfectly, they truly redefined soulmatism.

The story is comforting and uplifting. It's all about healing and finding yourself. It's about being able to spread your wings and flying high, knowing that there are people who have your back and they will always catch you when you fall. This drama truly taught me so many things.

I could go on and on, but I need everybody to watch it!!

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A Merchant and Her Treasure

TLDR; A fun, cute, and surprisingly coherent minidrama with refreshing takes on the lead couple and quite an alright plot. Generally speaking, not bad at all.

Whump meter: ◭△△△△ (almost none).

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SHORT VERSION:

┊┊WHAT I LIKED:
►Unique FL with depth
►Cute, tsundere ML
►Endearing and refreshing couple dynamic
►Fun and quite thorough role reversal between the lead couple
►Palatable and rather restrained plot.
►Refreshing takes on standard plots
►Irredeemable villain + female villain
►Music, especially the end credits song
►Production quality was pretty good

┊┊WHAT I DISLIKED:
►Shallow worldbuilding.
►Rushed pacing (especially the end)
►Poor handling of more complicated themes shoved into the finale
►Every woman but the FL is evil/bad (and there barely are any women in general)
►Female villain is rather shallow

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LONG VERSION:

【!very mild SPOILERS below!】

►CHARACTERS:
LEADS:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Characters were fun and interesting, the best among them being the FL. She is strong, smart, and clever, written in a way I’ve not often seen before, much less in a historical setting. She’s a suave, money-oriented merchant who struggled a lot and is a bit too trusting of those around her. She’s cute and sweet in a way that feels mature, still keeping her dignity and flirty personality throughout the drama—a refreshing approach to the usual cutesy FL. She’s no damsel in distress, despite not being able to fight. She stands up for herself and what she believes, speaks her mind, takes initiative, protects those she loves, and uses her wits and skills to build her way up.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Then there’s ML, a suffered musician with a hunger for justice/revenge after extreme tragedy. He’s feisty, hot-tempered, and quite aloof. Sure, cold MLs aren’t anything new, but to me, the portrayal of him as more of a tsundere with an almost innocent longing to hope—his temper a mere wall he put up to keep himself from appearing weak and being taken advantage of—was endearing and refreshing. Despite his hard exterior, he’s kind and sensitive, caring deeply about his allies and living only to bring to justice those who wronged his people. He’s selfless, determined, and skilled in both fighting and music.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ In the end (or the beginning for the drama), two individuals who had everything taken from them unknowingly join forces to take down a heartless ruler. What starts as a rocky boss-worker relationship leads to an interesting love story. They took the common trope of the ‘cold man/warm woman’ and added layers to it that made it refreshing and engaging. IT doesn’t feel like there is much of an imbalance when it comes to skillset; FL is eloquent, clever, and charismatic, while ML is the skilled fighter/enforcer. They work together well as a power couple rather than protector/protectee (even though I’m inclined to say FL is quite protective of him). Then there’s the added layer of FL being the one to pursue ML, not in the ‘seduction’ kind of way, but in the ‘trying to win him over’ type of way (in the way men more commonly pursue women). Highly underrated dynamic, their moments together were adorable!

VILLAIN:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Then there’s the villain. I don’t think I’ve seen a villain quite like her yet. Aside from the fact that female villains are already hard to come by, she was a flavour of unhinged, cruel, and heartless that is uncommon, especially for Cdrama standards (and even more so for a minidrama). Thankfully, she went down like a true villain. Unfortunately, though, she didn’t get much development, so she was rather shallow. What little development she did get was at the very end and at the cost of a better narrative, so not only was it still little but also even annoying. It was a particular shame that her relationship and dynamic with FL wasn’t explored more; they hinted at it but didn’t deliver…

THE REST:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Side characters were rather underwhelming all around. ML’s subordinates were fine for comic relief and added some interesting moments plot-wise, but weren’t particularly interesting. Other antagonists were fine for what they were, none particularly memorable, but I also can’t be really upset since more attention for them would’ve definitely taken from the leads.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ One of the biggest downsides and something I honestly cannot excuse, especially not for a drama set in a matriarchy, is the sheer absence of relevant, much less decent female characters. Aside from FL, the only other prominent woman is the main villain, and that really is it. The lack of characters isn’t the issue since it’s a minidrama and less is more, but there’s only one decent woman in the entire drama. So much talk about feminism and equal rights, but they have only two female characters, one of whom is an irredeemable monster. I simply can’t overlook the sheer absence of women in a *matriarchy*.

►ACTING:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ All prominent actors had a good standard of quality. None stood out as particularly wow, but they didn’t take away either. I’d say the FL was the best; she seemed comfortable in her role and easily pulled off the cute side of her character while still keeping her cool and flirty attitude.

►STORY:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Honestly, surprisingly good. Yes, it has all the usual issues these short minidramas have, such as things breezing by and everything happening extremely fast, but I think in this drama, it is balanced in a way that makes enough sense. Sure, the leads go from enemies to lovers pretty quickly, which isn’t exactly realistic, especially not with all the bickering they did, but the relationship still progresses in a somewhat believable way, so it doesn’t feel like a random 180.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The overall story is rather simple: a revenge story for the ML and somewhat of a recovery story for FL. It isn’t that deep, and it keeps it that way (for the most part, anyway). One of the few minidramas I’ve seen that sticks more to what can work in such a short format (that being romance as the main arc) and leaves the rest to be more of a capsule for the romance rather than the main point of interest. Kudos for that!

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ On a less positive note, nearing the end of the drama, instead of focusing the last few episodes on finalizing arcs, wrapping up the story, and maybe doing a slightly longer epilogue, they decided to add another arc to the story, that arc being real-world politics (specifically, feminism). Though a nice idea and something they did mention a couple of times throughout the drama, its sudden addition forced into the finale of the drama felt unnecessary, to say the least. This forced them to introduce new characters and locations, give backstory to a whole bunch of characters, and have yet another final monologue, all for an honestly mediocre conclusion that left the main arcs feeling rather lacking (like, the main leads were kinda just there for the entire big conclusion all to leave room for a random new character and the villain ?).

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ What started as a simple story of ML taking revenge and FL restoring her life ended with them both basically single-handedly saving the world and fixing deep-rooted societal issues that span decades upon decades. Wholesome, yes, but also cheap. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but I’m merely confused as to why it was necessary in this drama and especially in this way. So much for the simple story.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ As for the portrayal of a matriarchy… Of course, I found it once again superficial and lacking. It’s definitely better than others I’ve seen, and it gets more of a pass because of its setup and backstory, that being not of a true matriarchy (spanning at least several years where laws, norms, etc. would be completely different), but rather a somewhat recent branch-off as a form of protest due to the discrimination women faced. The good thing, however, was that the drama focused more on the main couple within the matriarchy than the deeper social issues, something that worked in their favour.

►PRODUCTION:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Definitely one of the more passable minidramas. It’s by no means spectacular, but you can tell there was enough budget to get going, and it was used quite well. Shots are nice and meaningful too (like, surprisingly nice sometimes). Overall, pretty good!

►MUSIC:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I honestly enjoyed it! Worked well for the cutesy drama that it is and the ending song was very catchy!

►ANYTHING ELSE:
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ In the end, it's a short, enjoyable watch. The short length is both a good and bad thing for the drama. On one hand, with its current plot, any longer would’ve lowered the rating quite a bit, but with how alright the drama already was, I feel like had it been a bit longer, it could’ve as easily increased the rating by allowing more development for the overall story so it doesn’t feel quite as incomplete.

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◇ Was it what I was expecting? Yes, quite.
◆ Did it live up to its potential? Hm, kinda
◇ Would I watch it again? Definitely!
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Yes!

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Cringingly funny

I started watching because the algorithm brought it up and I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not going to lie....I spent a lot of time wondering why I was watching it. It was slow and a bit lame.

Let's be real here - Sky is a stalker. I've said it! Sitting outside someone's house every day isn't normal, especially when your crush clearly has no interest in you....but this is the BL world.

However....every so often, I can't stop laughing. Sky/Guy's jealous face makes me laugh as does his 'pouty toddler face'. He has such a lovely smile too! My favourite face is the utter disdain on Venus' face when I know he's thinking: what is he saying?' - about Sky. I also laugh as he desperately tries not to laugh in some scenes. Sometimes I don't know if I should laugh or cringe at some of the scenes.

Janus & Bom are fun and their NC scene took me (and Venus!) by surprise. Tonkla and Tong are a bit dull....but they are probably the most real: two busy people trying to keep their relationship from falling apart.

Venus and Sky's first NC scene was a bit more realistic than I expected, in some places! In fact, most of their NC scenes were way more realistic than I expected.

What I liked: Janus - he can be so full of angst one minute and then really funny the next. There's a particular scene in the last episode that made me laugh so much. He was like a crazy person.

Something else that made me laugh is Sky's weird contorted mouth when he was kissing - he didn't do it every time. It seemed to be when he was in an awkward position. I found it so funny that I'm laughing now as I think about it!

What I didn't like: Sky's over the top toddler behaviour when he didn't get what he wanted. Stop!

Overall, not the best BL drama I've seen but it was funny for so many reasons.

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