Reviews

such a fun and unique dating show!!

firstly i really like the set up of the dating show. Normally all other dating shows are the same 1 island with 8 people on it that 'fall in love' and while that is fun it gets boring. I like the new fun concepts like blind date in bed. While the isolated cabin videos can be compared to normal dating shows I do still think they are different and engaging enough for you to watch without getting bored. Not to mention the supppeerrr funny hosts, i can't get enough of their jokes they are actually so real and make the best jokes. I'm so excited to see the next eps (i'm writing this while wiating for the new ep) >.<

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THIS WAS SO GOOD! MAJESTIC SERIES!

I love this series it was very good and GeminiFourth always so good. The story, plot, characters, ost especially sooo good, etc. 💯/10

I predicted that Kongdech would be the one to became priest of not Tanrak 😭😔 it turned out to ne true 😢💔

I could have liked a sad ending where Tanrak chose to be a priest and forgets about Barth but they always like good ending that bitter sad ending ones...

Special mention I really loved the ost so catchy specially the intro or opening song sooo goood the choir versio chills and the duo of Tanrak and Barth singing omgosh heaven sent like HEAVENLY 😇

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This was beautiful

I didn't plan to write a review for this serie bcz i felt i wouldn't find best words the express my thoughts and feelings, so this might be messy
I loved the show, every minute of it, the storytelling, cinematography, symbolism, the songs,, dialogues acting, everything was perfect, this is gemini fourth best acting performance, bcz i felt its tanrak and barth bought to live,

We watched the journey of both, the struggle between, love, life, and religion

Barth who was angry at god bcz of what he went through from his family, he couldn't let that anger go till he met his mom, one of best scene in serie btw, asking her of she loved him as she love god and she said the words he needed the most

Tanrak, who imo never wanted to be a priest even before barth coming into picture, to me he was seeking love, the family he lost, he found that in god, father and his friend, he lived his life on one goal and its to die and go to paradise, he didn't have any other dream or purpose in life, barth was the love he tried to fight, his battle against himself, his guilt and fear, we lived that with him throughout the serie, the scene when father hugged him after years to let go was heartbreaking, bcz it took him years and he never forgave himself but he never regretted his decision.

I want to praise acting once again, and everything about this show

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Started well, took some weird turns then became very mediocre

My Rating: 7.5/10

Review

I went into I Wanna Hear Your Song excited for the unique orchestra setting and the underdog story of a timpanist fighting for her place in a professional ensemble. The early episodes hooked me hard with that premise — the passion, the training bits, the classical music woven throughout, and the intriguing mystery layered on top. Kim Se-jeong brings a lot of heart to the role, and the OST and orchestral performances are definite highlights.

However, the show quickly shifts priorities. What starts as a compelling musical journey with thriller elements becomes a mystery-heavy drama where the orchestra setting fades into more of a backdrop. The romance and investigation take center stage, but they come with some frustrating character choices and pacing issues that many viewers seem to notice. I’ve watched over 450 dramas, so I can roll with tropes — but it doesn’t quite deliver on the emotional payoff I was hoping for from the musical arc. Solid performances and an interesting concept, but execution is uneven.

I would not recommend this one with so many better options. I got bored with it. There were a lot of things that were just annoying and frustrating in terms of things characters did. So, I would not watch it again.

Spoilers

The biggest letdown for me was how the underdog musician story got sidelined. We open with her determination to become a permanent part of the orchestra, some fun and quirky training moments, and real stakes around her belonging there. Then it almost immediately pivots hard into the murder mystery, and we barely see her musical growth or integration afterward. She ends up mostly on the sidelines, which means the later orchestra performances lack the satisfying emotional punch they could have had. I wanted her journey to stay central; instead, it feels like the writers used the orchestra world mainly as atmosphere. 

On the mystery side, it’s a decent whodunnit, but it has some logic gaps that became annoying. The stabbing incident felt obviously chaotic/self-defense/accidental from early on, so the prolonged guilt and suspicion around it dragged. The female lead’s excessive guilt complex (even over the death of a clearly nefarious character she only indirectly influenced) gets repetitive and frustrating. She also has important flashbacks revealing key details (including what looked like a kidnapping situation), but she only shares tiny fragments with others and doesn’t seem to piece things together proactively on her own. It makes her feel less smart and capable than the story needs her to be in a thriller.

Both leads also repeatedly throw personal safety out the window. Confronting suspects head-on, handing over weapons while accusing people of murder, and continuing risky behavior after already getting hurt — it’s classic “plot needs tension” decision-making that took me out of the story multiple times. We find out how the stabbing happened and that the conductor handed her the knife after attempting to rescue them. But, seriously, who runs down a slippery road in the rain with a knife pointed in front of you? Didn't we learn as children not to run with knives. I mean, I get it, she has some unknown person after her but pull the knife out when you can actually use it. Better yet give it to the guy who seems to be doing a lot better job of staying calm in chaos.

The male lead’s investigation style especially felt like throwing accusations at the wall hoping something sticks, which made the sleuthing less compelling. He was quite the thug. He just got of jail on suspicion of murder and is already holding conductor guy over a stairwell to get information.

Are they all stupid? They know CCTV is basically everywhere but they have confrontations even beat people up on camera and then try to lie to the police that they don't even know them. Like come on. I don't live in a country with cameras everywhere but I know better than to lie about things like that. They even offer to cover things up and lie for others to get what they want. So you are covering a crime and directly lying. That ought to end well for you.

The romance was another tricky element. It’s hard to fully buy his growing feelings while he still (at least partially) believed she viciously stabbed his brother. Even with the explanations given, the trust flip and emotional connection didn’t land as strongly as it needed to for me. She fell for him a bit too quickly after her ex cheated on her. It felt like she moved on from that lightening speed. And she liked this guy that was mostly stand offish and aloof with her. Did not seem to bother her a whole lot he, after knowing her a bit more, still thought she might just stab someone.

Overall, I get what the show was going for — trauma, guilt, hidden truths, and romance amid chaos — and it has some strong individual scenes thanks to the cast and music. But the imbalance between the promised musical underdog arc and the mystery, combined with character frustrations, kept it from being a standout. Many other viewers have noted the same issues with the sidelined orchestra elements, the reckless confrontations, the guilt trope, and the uneven mystery pacing.

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All the benefits with none of the downsides!

This was a colorful, snappy, office rom-com with enough steam to fog up your chic, librarian glasses!

I knew the leads had chemistry, but even I could not have predicted just how palpable the tension would be, nor how sultry the FLs could get. The looks they gave each other were downright devious and screamed: "Come hither, lover."

Lal and Wine were also intriguing on their own, both being capable, powerhouse career women, bearing the weight of their respective teams on their shoulders while struggling to value themselves.

While Wine was both intimidating and demanding, at the end of the day, she was just trying to do her job as best she could, and even got a little self-conscious about her reputation in the office. She wanted to express herself more and open up, but was afraid of changing/making herself a target again.

And Lal, while confident and quick-thinking, too easily put her health and happiness last on her list of priorities.

It was great to see them both grow and learn from/lean on each other.

And beyond that, the office politics and projects weren't just there for show. They contributed to and even pushed the plot forward.

I would also be remiss not to mention how they dared to go further, utilizing their office setting to highlight the real, underdiscussed struggles of women in the working world. How women have to perfectly conform to their boxes, dress just nice enough but not too nice, wear enough makeup to not look "tired" but not too much, and act polite enough but not too friendly, for the chance of maybe making it and maybe, just maybe, avoiding unwanted attention from their male colleagues. It's a delicate balancing act that shouldn't have to be attempted. And, related to this topic, it was so refreshing to see so many women supporting other women and making choices that were best for themselves rather than "going along to get along."

Really, a very relevant and thoughtful drama.

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Not as good as I expected from previous reviews

The plot/story was the weakest part of Love in the Clouds.

The secondary characters in this show were not interesting to me. I was not invested in the secondary plot lines at all.

I realize it is difficult to create an interesting villain, but the final villain was just simply a stalker, which isn’t very interesting. Also why didn’t they kill him when they had the chance in the last few episodes? Why wait until the tournament when they had a chance before?

The fact that the female leads adopted parents treated her so poorly was odd to me.

The back and forth “sacrifice myself for you” was the only main plot point between the two main leads. This was drawn out for too long.

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Li Shan Academy to the rescue in the 2nd half.....but still a Disappointment

“The First Jasmine” started out with a bang, and I really like the first half of the drama. I was captivated and the plot was moving at a pretty good pace. The first half focuses on setting the stage, introducing all the characters, development of romance and the revenge plot. The second half becomes more political and that’s where the drama falters. If it’s not for the Li Shan Academy arc in the second half, I might have dropped the drama, despite liking both Bai Lu and Cheng Lei as actors.


What I Like:
1. Smart leads - it’s always fun to watch smart main leads trying to outsmart each other, and guess the meaning behind each move. The first half of the drama was fun because Ye Li (FL) and Mo Xiu Yao (ML) are both introduced. Before they got together, it was interesting to see their interaction.

2. Revenge - Although Ye Li seems way too smart, it is without a doubt fun to see her try to take down all those who wronged her and her family. One by one, she seeks revenge, almost happening stealthily behind the scenes, while ML is trying to do the same.

3. Li Shan Academy arc - Without this arc in about ep 30, the second half of the drama would be a total bust. Everything about those few episodes was amazing - the story, the emotions, the acting and the romance. I cried during those few scenes, for ML, for FL and for everyone involved in Li Shan Academy.

4. Action scenes - this is a total surprise. I was not expecting fight scenes in a political revenge drama, but the few scenes they have are quite well-done. Ryan Cheng has a few fights that I was especially excited about.


What I have mixed feelings and don’t like:
1. Main romance - I know I am supposed to be in love with them. Their story is interesting, and their experiences together are supposed to make me fall in love with them individually and as a couple. Unfortunately, I was having a hard time connecting with them. It’s disappointing, because I am a romance lover. Aside from the angst and revelation/confession before the Lin Shan academy arc, I was lukewarm about the romance. I found Bai Lu and Ryan have decent chemistry, but not amazing enough to wow me.

2. Secondary romance - Can I even call it a secondary romance? The Prince Li and Ye Ying relationship is so blah. I would rather see Prince Li more as an obsessive ex-fiance and Ye Ying supposedly in love with this man, and wanting to be the wife to support him.

3. Acting - The acting is not bad, but it’s not amazing either. Bai Lu and Ryan performed to my expectations, and I have seen them done better in other dramas. Usually in dramas as such, I would be praising the veterans. But here, the veterans are also just OK, and no one really wows me. Is it the fault of the writing?

4. Court Politics - Unfortunately, this is the weakest theme and plot of the drama which took up most of the second half of the drama. The politics, though not complicated to understand, are not written in a way that excites me. There aren't any unique plot twists. The Prince Li revenge plot isn’t written well, and him as a character is rather boring. He was more interested as an obsessed ex-fiance than a political mastermind.

5. Characters - I think the biggest reason I am somewhat lukewarm about this drama is that I couldn’t quite connect with each character, especially the supporting characters. A drama can’t just rely on the male and female leads. You need compelling supporting characters (like beautiful green leaves to blossoming flowers). None of the supporting characters and backstories are interesting. I don’t feel happy or sad for them, because I don’t feel like their stories are written well. This is especially true with the 3 villains. Compared to other political dramas, villains fighting for power/throne have to be interesting, smart, and cunning enough for me to be invested in the whole political plot. But unfortunately, they are not shown this way.


I understand many viewers love “The First Jasmine” and it has a current high MDL rating of 8.4 right now. I think maybe not connecting to the characters is a “me” problem. However, the boring writing in the second half is a more objective criticism. It’s not a horrible drama, but a disappointing one when I quite enjoy the first half and the second half bores me. There are flashes of brilliance, but not enough to get a high rating. Because I enjoy the first half and the Li Shan academy arc, I am giving “The First Jasmine” a generous solid 8.0.


Drama Completed: 7/5/2026 Review #702

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True love's kiss is not enough to break the curse. Only loving yourself is.

This show is a delicate and messy exploration of how childhood trauma can affect people and impact their self-esteem and mental health even decades later, and it how hard it is to move on and relearn trust in both yourself and others.

The main character, Lee Dohoe, lives a suffocating life with an abusive father who manages a taekwondo gym in a small town, and his only ticket to freedom is studying hard to get into a top university. One day, a new boy named Shin Juyeong comes to the gym to train and the two boys quickly become each other's safe heaven. Unfortunately, life is not kind to either of them and they end up separating in a painful way. 12 years later, they end up meeting again and being trying to make sense of where they stand in each other's lives.

Dohoe is a purposefully messy main character. He went through so much trauma that his knee jerk reaction is to always ignore his problems and try to move on with his life by not thinking about them, and he does that by cutting all ties to his old life when he moves to Seoul. But complex trauma has a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it and, if left unaddressed for years, it will slowly spread through all areas of your life, leaving no choice but to either face it or give up and ruin yourself in the process. Juyeong is the unstoppable force that meets this immovable object. He acts an anchor to Dohoe, but that in itself is a double-edged sword: while his presence grounds Dohoe to a reality where he can see himself becoming happy, the circumstances in which they met make Dohoe scared of reliving and getting stuck in his painful past again.

Both characters go through a lot of inner conflict to understand who they are and what they're even allowed to want for themselves, and that heavily affects the way they interact with each other. The actors did really well in their roles, they had the necessary range to act in both the lighter and the more emotional scenes, and on top of that they had amazing chemistry with each other. The dialogue was also well utilized and provided several emotionally impactful scenes.

But the stars of the show were definitely the soundtrack and the production quality. The scenes were always beautifully shot and aesthetically pleasing, while also adapting to the level of impact the show wanted to evoke in the viewer. And the original soundtrack (sung by Gogang, Yu Ra, and Jo Hwanji) provided the perfect accompaniment to the wide range of emotions the characters went through over the course of their 12-year journey.

All that being said, one thing I didn't love about this show was the pacing. It felt very slow at points only to rush through very important plot and character arcs, which made the overall story lose some of its impact, as the viewer wasn't allowed enough time to sit with and unpack all the sudden reveals being discussed. The choppy editing worsened this, as several important scenes were stitched together in a dizzying supercut that required way more screen time and breathing room than they were given, causing some frustration while watching as you need to piece together what happened in the past and how it continues to affect the present.

Overall, this was one of the best Korean BLs I've watched, both for its technical quality (script, production, photography, acting) and in its ability to stick the landing on the emotional impact. The storyline was overall solid and provided enough nuanced exploration of the themes it wanted to address to rise above the rest. I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a more realistic portrayal of real life issues in your BL.

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Me surpreendeu muito ver uma atuação mediana da Zhai Xin Ran, principalmente depois de eu ter gostado tanto da química e sintonia dela com o Wang Chen Peng em "Wen Rou Ye Gu". Enquanto o Qiu Zhe Fu, apesar de eu já tê-lo visto em "Redemption" não me recordo exatamente de sua atuação. Mas não gostei da dublagem, principalmente nos beijos, os suspiros não eram nada coerentes com os beijos estranhos entre o casal protagonista.
Apesar da premissa ser uma que eu gosto: tio que é apaixonado pela noiva do sobrinho, ela que precisa engravidar para herdar a empresa e todo o caos entre filha ilegitima dissimulada falsa salvadora, esse drama é bem mediano.
A voz do Wen Zhi Cheng está muito grave aqui, não me recordo dela ser assim mesmo, e seu personagem é o típico canalha que favorece a falsa salvadora enquanto humilha e despreza a FL, mas sua atuação também foi bem ruim. E como o drama tem mais de 2 horas, tudo se torna bem saturado, apesar dos momentos fofos entre o CP.

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I KNEW IT

Bro, while I was watching the show, I kept getting flashbacks to another BL about Litchi and Summer. Lo and behold, when I checked the show's IMDb, it had the same director! They have such a specific style that I recognized it instantly. You know you have a clear artistic vision when it can be recognized across multiple pieces.

Gorgeous cinematography, love the actors, AND no dubbing! No hate to the teams that do dubbing, but hearing the raw coughing, sniffing, and breathing is so refreshing.

The official reaction videos with the actors are an absolute MUST-WATCH too. They offer so much insight into the show, the characters' choices, and the symbolism that can easily go over an international audience's head. Also, I have to thank the person doing the subtitles because they're genuinely hilarious.

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