Reviews

My first Thai GL! Off to a good start

Queendom is my very first Thai GL that I finished and I'm glad it was a good one!

The story has a fun premise: enemies to lovers also they swap bodies!

The rest of the drama is fun and it's cute. So cute and adorable. What I love about the main pairing is that they share so much casual intimacy that you'd expect from a new couple that I feel like not all Thai shows show.

The acting is good, especially considering they don't have THAT much experience yet. They had great chemistry.

The side couple is cute, too.

What REALLY bugged me were the last 1.5 episodes though. The story line was suddenly completely rushed, one of the major problems was resolved just like that and it just wasn't good writing. Since the story line isn't too complex, it's not tooo bad but still not good.

Overall, a very good beginning into Thai GLs, I'm excited to watch more!

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My favourite KDrama as of now

Wow, this was amazing from start to finish.

I have only heard of this Kdrama because everyone was mentioning the Queen for Mother's Day and I got curious. I love me a good family drama and this hit differently.

The storyline is intriguing, full of backstabbing and madness but also gentleness and motherly love that isn't only watched but can also be felt.

The cast did amazing, especially Kim Hyesoo's acting is outstanding. You did not doubt for a second that she would lay out her whole life to save the princes.

Sometimes, I didn't like some of the writing choices but I LOVED a lot of them. The love you were able to see between the characters made me cry regularly. The Queen shows strength when needed and shows vulnerability not as a weakness but as a part of her that makes her human. She truly is the epitome of kindness is strength. The people weren't lying when they said she was THE mother of all times.

It has now become my favorite Kdrama ever (besides Mr. Queen). I just rated the rewatch value low because I don't think I can handle crying this much again.

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NAILED IT

Mind you, when I first started this drama, I didn't know any of these actors or the webtoon itself. The only reason I gave it a chance was because I kept seeing it all over IG reels. But as I kept watching, I couldn't help but fall in love with all 4 of the main actors. They literally completed each other. Each character had a completely different personality, yet together they created the perfect chemistry XD

I honestly can't remember the last time a Kdrama got me this hooked. It made me feel every emotion possible: anger, sadness, happiness, frustration, and laughter. On top of that, the soundtrack is ridiculously addictive!

For those saying this drama is unrealistic... why watch a drama in the first place? Dramas and films are supposed to be a little unrealistic. If you only want realism, then just watch your own life unfold. What makes a drama satisfying is that it gives you the justice, revenge, and happy moments that don't always happen in real life, and this drama delivers exactly that!!

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Most boring chinese drama ever ?

This is definitely one of the most boring drama that i ever watched. It has nothing to offer.

1) first 4/5 epi was fine then went downhill to zero.
2) there is zero chemistry between leads they acted like siblings till almost 25 episodes and no romance at all till then and none around them felt anything more either...but suddenly aftr 5yrs they all acted like they liked each other blah blah
3) also we watch drama to cool off our life a little..get away from problems of life but instead this one had problems every epi one after another. Nothing but stress and palpitation
4) most episodes were just filler epis nothing was going on but just unnecessary yapping
5) their reunion was a big blahhh

There is somehow nothing, not even one i can say good about this drama....sorry not sorry

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Full of people leading others on the whole season

First off, I hated that we didn't pick up exactly where season one ended and just never touched on that again. So stupid. Season one I didn't mind too much, but season two was pretty damn bad. There was pretty little that I liked about this season. I'm glad it was shorter than the previous season because it was quite boring. The characters drove me crazy with all the stupid decisions they kept making. The plot lines they had this season were also just bad or just felt like a waste of time.

Everything with Brian felt really stupid in my opinion, especially since they were just going to bring Duk Goo back anyway. Bringing Duk Goo back also seemed so random, but I get why they did it. He's going to create so many world issues with the app ideas in his head. Just the lie/truth one is an awful idea.

The cousin and aunt still bothered me the whole time. Even when they became a bit better in the end, they still weren't good people, just had moments of kindness. I hated them,

Hye Young's whole thing with his dad was actually the most random thing ever. Why did it need to happen? It didn't. I don't get why he thought he was like his dad either...there was nothing that ever said or showed why he would think that way. He was the best character in season one, but this season made me not like him in moments too. Major props to him for sticking by Jo Jo all this time even when she couldn't ring his alarm, hug/kiss him or anything though. I was glad him and Jo Jo ended up together though because they were pretty cute.

Seon O was actually so useless and just straight up pointless in this season. He did nothing but cause problems and whine and treat his girlfriend like crap. I was really happy Jo Jo never gave him another chance because he just so annoying. Even at the end, he didn't love his girlfriend and still just kind of dragging her along. Girl needs to move on.

Jo Jo just annoyed me with how focused on her alarm she was rather than just trying to focus on her relationship with Hye Young. Girl just dragged him along for so long before showing any kind of love or even like towards him.

They should've just stopped at season one.

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Simple Tale as Old as Time

Yin Qi was sent to guard the border, after falling into a trap his brother, the Crown Prince set for him. 3 years later he receives a letter, bringing him back to the capital, not knowing it was another trap by his scheming brother, leading to his, and everyone else's demise, including the hostage prince, and childhood sweetheart Pei Yanzi
He travels back in time, and tries to change his future.

I would have liked more information on the Wolf King's tooth, that seems to have the magical power to turn back time, or jump to another universe? But this is, I feel, very heavily influenced for it's 8 episode time limit. Even just to have seen it more, for such a big plot device, it kind of was forgotten about slightly.

The sets, and costumes are however fair, and everyones wig is in place. So wardrobe and make up did a good job. For smaller budget shows, I have seen much worse.

The inclusion of women was also nice but I didnt really get the need for the GL plots. I think there was enough happening between the leads.

The antagonist Crown Prince, very much stole the show. He was abusive and pushed to within an inch of his own sanity, and that we got the more graphic sex scenes with him, I applaud the team for going for it, considering these actors are still chinese.
I would have liked to have seen more of his dynamics with others, esp his parents but again, only 8 episodes so they had to brush over it just to give an idea.

The leads themselves were fine together. They felt comfortable with each other, but I dont know if it was them, did they have voice actors dubbing them, or the editing of their voice to their lips, something felt off, and I couldnt work out what it was. It was as though the expression in their voice did not match their face. Like a voice on top of their acting. Unfortunately, it was most noticable during the more emotional scenes. When you would expect, a bigger outburst, and the face was showing that, but the voice was restrained. Now, that could just be, their royalty and stiff upper lip trying to come across but it felt like a slip up to me, it broke the immersion for me sadly, because it the inflection of the voice didnt match the facial muscles.

I was expecting more action, which is only shown in ep 1, and then not needed anymore. Both leads are supposedly expert swordsmen and then they dont use it. Not even in the final battle with the Crown Prince.

Overall, its not a bad show. It's fun little story you could watch over the weekend, because that's what it felt like. A pretty little short story about two ancient chinese gays, fighting for their ever after.

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Cute way to show off the tea

This was pretty cute. I like Milk and Love together a lot, so I was happy to see them in something else together. The premise was pretty cute too. I liked the going back in time thing so Pa could see and appreciate Ink's photography more. The greenscreen of this was so bad when they were looking at the photos on the computer. It was quite comical how bad it was. I think it's a cute way to show the sponsored tea though. Overall, it's cute but you can tell it was quite low budget.

This was really weird I can't lie. The whole thing of Maki being afraid of circle's was so strange, especially since it was because she was a werewolf or something or whatever that was. Dew and Tu have great chemistry together, so the actors were really the saving grace of this one. I only watched this show for Dew to begin with, but this one was a bit rough to get through. The tea sponsor was much more like how it is shown in a regular show in this one though compared to how in your face it was in some others.

I love EarthMix a lot! Absolutely adore them. That being said, this was not very good. The concept of them switching bodies to appreciate each other more is fine. The way they showed it was really strange though since it pretty much showed themselves anyway, I thought that was kind of stupid. I didn't blame Win for being suspicious of Korn because he was acting a little weird. The way they did the tea sponsor in this one was interesting. It was pretty different from what it usually is, so I thought that was cool.

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A Love Story that forgot to show the Love

I honestly didn’t find this to be a love story so much as a character study of Lu Feng’s deteriorating mental health. I felt absolutely no romance from any of the couples because we never actually got the journey of them falling in love—they were already sooooo in love and I was just left thinking, “why?”

The first thing that gave me serious ick was the main CP’s first time in ep 2 😣 Yichen was clearly scared and needed comfort, but Lu Feng took the whole thing in jest and forced himself on him (while crazy romantic music played, ugh). Even afterwards, when Yichen was shown to be distraught, Lu Feng made it all about himself, and since then I genuinely couldn’t understand why Yichen even remotely likes him.

So the show felt more like a case study of someone mentally unwell who harmed not only himself but everyone around him. The bipolar reveal also wasn’t handled well because it almost makes it seem like all bipolar people are like this, which isnt true :( I do appreciate that they at least acknowledged that something is wrong with him and that it needs attention.

The one time I felt emotional was in the last episode, when Lu Feng listens to the iPod and is reminded of who he used to be. That whole idea of coming home to yourself was actually kinda moving.

Other than that, the characters lacked depth and their reasoning was never really explored, which made it hard to connect with them. The actors did well with what they were given, but nothing much to write home about.

I’m all for red flags, but the forced scenes throughout the show and the way they were framed honestly just made me kinda queasy.

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Such an engaging historical fantasy romance series!!!

I usually have this issue where even if I start off loving a drama, I lose interest towards the middle or end. But oh. my. goodness. I thoroughly enjoyed this series!!! The characters were so lovable, the main romance was so refreshing, and the historical setting really came to life. I absolutely love historical fiction and fantasy, and when they come together I typically tend to be interested, which was why I gave this drama a try. After watching though, I completely fell in love with Net and JJ's phenomenal acting and chemistry. The intimacy they portrayed was impressive, and the way the plot unfolded kept me engaged with their love story. I will definitely rewatch this series, I would definitely recommend this series, and I can't wait to watch more from "NetJJ"

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Worth watching

Ok so this drama kept popping in my algorithm for a long time and I WAS LIKE WELL WILL WATCH IT SOMEDAY the]an i happen to watch WIFTY & ATC where the ML Zhou YiRan charismatic face, amazing acting and the ohh so handsome and calm vibes caught my eyes and here I am
I read some reviews(non spoiler) once and got a basic idea on what this drama gonna be so i went in with no expectations at all.
The name GENERATION TO GENERATION really is speaking for itself. The whole series is based on the thought process, rules and regulations & decisions taken my elders and there impact on upcomping gen.
Coming to the pacing: The first 5, 6 eps are too dammm fast. The world building, character intro is just tooo rushed. Than it begins to calm somewhat and the everything starts making sense. So patience is the key
Also the ep 30 - 33 are fast, choppy editing, personally a better reasoning for the story of aunt and her lover(especially) decisions could have been but it is what it is.
Other than that rest of the drama is nicely paced, well executed, storyline, cinematography, ost, visuals, emotions, acting, main leads, support leads all are amazing.
I wonder how would they would have made it had not for the 40 cap, choppy editing at parts and all.
Even after ep 6 its fast still and things are just falling a certain way. No waits, how to proceed? what to do? Till ep 10-12 then it does take the time and pulls the audience in well. The void is obvious in those initial extremely fast story building episodes. But by the end of the drama it was worth it.
The drama is interesting and sooo good.
So do give it a watch.
Also i binged watched cuz i just couldn’t help myself but watch, it had me hooked in a good way.

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Game of Pretend

Ashes to Crown takes a familiar rebirth premise and places it in the middle of court politics, military ambition, and the pursuit of a second chance. Chu Zhao, armed with memories of her previous life, refuses to be a victim of fate. Instead, she actively reshapes her future, stepping into the center of political turmoil rather than running from it. Along the way, she crosses paths with Xie Yan Lai, an overlooked illegitimate son whose life has been defined by neglect and limitations. Together, they rise through the ranks of power and influence, making this a story that promises both personal growth and political intrigue. Unfortunately, the execution never quite lived up to that promise for me.

From the very beginning, the drama felt more like a high-budget short drama than a full-length historical production. There is nothing wrong with short-form dramas, but Ashes to Crown often carries that same rushed, dramatic energy despite its longer runtime. The visuals contribute to that feeling. The palace set is drenched in shades of red to the point where it feels more like a carefully arranged studio backdrop than a living imperial court. Add to that the heavy beauty filters that leave everyone's skin looking porcelain-smooth and doll-like, and the overall presentation becomes more stylized than immersive. At times, I felt like I was watching an expensive wallpaper come to life rather than a historical drama.

The political storyline was where the cracks became impossible to ignore. Nearly every major political figure looks like they belong to the same graduating class, which made the court feel less like a seat of power and more like a group project gone terribly wrong. More importantly, the political logic often bends according to whatever the plot needs at a given moment. Characters frequently change their stance, goals, and beliefs based on personal feelings rather than consistent motivations.

One example perfectly captures my frustration. Chu Zhao leaves the young Emperor in the middle of a palace filled with enemies so she can visit her father, trusting Xie Yan Lai to protect him. Shortly afterward, Yan Lai abandons his post, hands an important token to his scheming brother, and runs off to protect Chu Zhao instead. The Emperor is essentially left unattended in what is supposed to be a deadly political environment. Moments like these made it difficult for me to take the political stakes seriously.

The drama also loves schemes. Normally, that would be a positive because I enjoy a good battle of wits. The problem is that Ashes to Crown stacks schemes on top of schemes until every setback eventually reveals itself to be part of Chu Zhao's master plan. After a while, every failure, every danger, and every apparent loss starts feeling like another inevitable reveal waiting around the corner. What should feel clever instead becomes repetitive and increasingly ridiculous. By the final episodes, I found myself rolling my eyes rather than feeling impressed.

The romance fares slightly better but still suffers from weak development. Xie Yan Lai's feelings for Chu Zhao are understandable. She changes his life, believes in him, and gives him opportunities no one else would. Chu Zhao's side of the romance, however, feels much less convincing. Her feelings seem to appear rather than develop naturally. One moment she is focused on securing her political position as Grand Princess, despite swearing not to marry or have children while holding the title, and the next she is openly flirting with Yan Lai to keep him by her side. The transition from strategic partnership to genuine love never feels properly earned.

Even the romantic scenes themselves often feel disconnected from the surrounding story. A typical sequence goes something like this: political conflict, dramatic confrontation, music stops, one character stands alone, the other approaches, they share a cute moment, and then everyone immediately returns to political chaos. Instead of feeling woven into the narrative, these scenes often resemble bonus clips inserted between plot developments. The chemistry is cute, but chemistry alone cannot replace emotional buildup.

The war sequences left me with similar feelings. Visually, they are beautiful. Narratively, they are surprisingly hollow. Battles feel brief, clean, and heavily staged. Sacrifices happen suddenly, characters appear exactly where they need to be, and resolutions often arrive through convenient plot developments. Even the final conflict loses much of its impact because events unfold in a way that feels more convenient than earned. The production clearly invested effort into making the battles look grand, but spectacle can only carry so much weight when the storytelling underneath feels thin.

That said, credit where credit is due: the soundtrack is fantastic. Almost every OST left an impression on me, and Liu Yu Ning's contributions were especially memorable. Long after finishing the drama, the music remained the one aspect I genuinely wanted to revisit.

In the end, Ashes to Crown was a drama that required determination and a generous amount of 2x speed for me to finish. The production places enormous emphasis on beauty, aesthetics, and presentation, but often neglects the logic, context, and narrative foundation needed to support them. Even as someone who enjoys romance, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it on that front because the relationship itself lacks the buildup necessary to make it truly compelling.

For me, this was a classic case of style over substance. Beautiful to look at, pleasant to listen to, but far less satisfying once you start asking the story to make sense.

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