Reviews

i would NEVER recommend this to anyone

I rarely ever write reviews, but I just can't stop thinking about this K-drama, so here are my two cents:

Ji Sung is, undoubtedly, such a talented actor. His performance throughout this drama is outstanding and genuinely heartwarming. The way he acts when he forgets his memory actually had me awestruck. I also think it's worth mentioning that Cha Min-ho is such a well-performed character. He truly pissed me off, and when an actor can make you hate a character, you know they're good.

I think there are many things that this drama does well. For example, the acting is extraordinary, the plot had me hooked, and I enjoyed the friendships that were formed along the way.

However, I truly despised the way that the K-drama kept dragging on. It was almost insufferable. It took almost ten episodes for the ML to realize and come to terms with his reality. For most of the episodes, everyone had beef with the ML, and the ML didn't always accept the help he needed. Not to mention that he always seemed to lose when it came to Cha Min-ho. I kid you not, if it weren't for the fact that Ji Sung was the main actor, I would have dropped the show, despite being interested in the plot. That feeling of desperation, thinking that things will finally go in favor of the main character, actually drove me insane, and it became the thing I remember most about this show.

I also wish that we were able to see more of the relationships the ML formed with his cellmates because it's clear that most of the bonding happened offscreen.

I also think that the prosecutor should have been severely punished. Everything that guy did just to protect himself was insane, and then he had the audacity to call himself the ML's friend. How in the world did the ML not feel angry? Like, why did the writers decide that the prosecutor would suddenly feel remorse and come clean? The prosecutor should have done that from the start, and the ML shouldn't have waited for the prosecutor to confess on his own. This really irked me...

Despite all that, I am glad that I saw this K-drama. It was fun, and I did enjoy the show. I just wish it didn't make me feel so exasperated.

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Sweeter Than Some Of The Ratings Let On

I have no idea why this drama has such poor reviews. It wasn't mind blowing, but it wasn't bad either. I really liked the pace and the acting. Ha Young surprised me the most. As Go Eun Sae she was bright and fun to watch, and she and Jung Hae In had great flow together. It's not the typical pairing, but I loved them and how they progressed through the story.
Some people will say the premise is unrealistic and creepy. A woman loses her memory and a man she doesn't recognize shows up claiming to be her boyfriend, and yes, in real life that would be very creepy. Yet a lot of those same people will watch "You" and enjoy it, or watch Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon without blinking. It may not be your cup of tea, but I find the double standard ironic.
If you like romantic K-dramas that move at a moderate pace with funny, joyful, bright characters, you may like this one. The village and its people carry a lot of the charm. There are no random twists that derail the narrative, and it doesn't cut things short with a rushed ending. From episode one to episode twelve, the story and the characters stay focused on the same objective. It's a great way to close out the summer.
If you're looking for something faster and more intense, you're welcome to watch A Shop for Killers or something along those lines.
Happy watching.

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Watched for the Actors, Stayed for the Laughter

‎Wow the World is the perfect choice of variety show if you want something that entertains you. Honestly, I dove into this show blindly, with low expectations, just because I wanted to see Liu Yuning and Chen Xingxu in one frame. Plus, I was curious about Wang Yuwen after seeing the viral video of her and Zhou Ye gossiping, with Xingxu in the middle, at Tencent Video All-Star Night. So, this show really surprised me.
‎
‎The interesting thing about this show is that there are eight regular members, and most of them aren't that familiar with each other. Some of them didn't even know each other before. But they have to bond and connect because they will travel abroad together. It's interesting to see them bond and adapt to a new environment, new languages, new cultures, and new culinary experiences.
‎
‎I really want to give the biggest applause to the production team. I really appreciate them for the whole casting of the members of this show, because it's so perfect. Each member is unique and complements each other. The age range is diverse, but the harmony between them blends so well and feels well-balanced. Even Ouyang Didi (maybe controversial) is honestly a great addition as the youngest member. Her bond with Chen He is great and they're like brother and sister. Plus, it's nice to have another girl in the group, now we have Yuwen and Didi. Watching all of them is like watching a group of friends, and in the end, it feels like a family. They bonded really well.
‎
‎What surprised me the most is that each episode never fails to make me laugh. I honestly never laughed that much in my life, my cheeks literally hurt from laughing too much. After laughing, I also cried with them, especially during the episode when each member gave Gong Jun gifts.
‎
‎To sum it up, this show is entertaining, heartwarming, refreshing, and honestly, just pure chaos in the best way possible. And after finishing it, I admit that I'm having withdrawal symptoms. The only thing that consoles me is knowing that they all seem to stay in touch and remain good friends in real life.

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Love for You is the story of two children whose single parents live together. They are not married, but they live together, so the two children treat each other as brother and sister. Both of them feel deprived of love and care from their parents, which they find in each other. From then on, they take care of each other.

One day, the boy's father dies, and the girl's mother flees without telling anyone. The two children are left alone. The boy starts taking care of everything for her, from her education to her basic daily needs. Eventually, they fall in love with each other.

A few days later, he asks her to leave him because he is tired of her, and she leaves. A few years later, she comes back and tries to find out the truth about why he left her. Gradually, their relationship improves, but...

This is just a glimpse of the story.

As for my personal review, I think it is a cute love story with lots of ups and downs.

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Why?

I watched three episodes of this today, and when it got so bad that I found it further unwatchable I fast forwarded through the rest of the episodes, so yes, I have 'finished' this drama.

My question is basically why? Why do actors who have made great dramas in the past choose these awful scipts and agree to film such nonsense, why?

Jung Hae-in did some rather good stuff in the past, and at least in some roles believably bordered serious characters ('Snowdrop' P.D.) I wonder why is he not brave enough to USE his age instead of running from it by taking really serious roles?Dark roles, deep roles which I think he could play very well? Instead it's the second time after 'Love next door' where he chooses to try and preserve this 18-year-old puppy image somehow and in the most unbelievable ways? This time here it's even worse, and psychologically this drama makes exactly ZERO sense.

So he is the good guy, boxer, puppy type, and to earn money for his sick grandma (of course it's a 'good' motive why he becomes 'bad') he suddenly chooses to become a hardened criminal for 14 (!!!) years. And in hardened criminal I mean they imply the real stuff, beating people to death, killing people ruthlessly for money, as they say in drama: 'he was working like a machine'. He was the favourite of the mafia boss which implies A LOT of other things - let's see in reality someone like that is not only rutheless in beating and killing people, no, such people are also not exactly known as gentlemen towards women. (to describe it very carefully here).

I really started laughing out loud when then in the drama he gets a stupid stop motion kiss of the female lead in what was supposed to be a funny scene (which wasn't funny) and he goes all 'love next door' again, acting like a 12-year-old blushing and being shocked by a peck on the mouth? Someone with 14 years of THAT past they have written on that character, are you effin kidding me?? Someone like that in reality? Would have seen any brothel, prostitues you name it , and he would have done EVERYthing imaginable there and beyond. And then they try to pull this innocent boy thing AGAIN and trying to say he saved himself after decades ago he twice met a nice girl for some chat and flirting and he 'saved ' himself for her while the chances of even meeting her again were astronomicaly ZERO?

But the writers couldn't decide, could they? They wanted to sell the puppy image Jung Hea-in and they wanted the super dark, mega brutal mafia story with him as a leading gangster on the other hand? Yeah, that doesn't work for anyone who has let's say a quarter of their brain left working? Who is writing this nonsense?

Apart from that? The rest was bad too? It seemed to me like they had some AI-algorithm just randomly picking typical K-drama scenes and also randomly sticking them together no matter if anything in this story made any sense. 'Oh, we need a yellow-umbrella in the rain-scene, hmm, let's put it in ep. 7 I think'....'and we still didn't have the FL drunk, write that in ep. 8 somehow' - and so on.

And what bothered me most apart from all that (which is enough for miles already) is the stupid super heavy lighting all the time? Every single time especially the ML was on the screen there was GLARING light on his face, like having a headlight directly ON face? Adding to that he steadily had pink lipstick on? His character, really? A boxer who became a cruel and rutheless gangster is wearing lipstick all the time, in the countyside? Did they try to hide the fact that indeed Jung Hae-in's age is visible in his face? I LOVE that his face looks more mature, more serious, more masculine, and they did everything to blur any normal line out of that very handsome face with this ridiculous lighting and tons of makeup? WHY?

Same goes for the FL' s hair. The moment she wakes up in the hospital, mind you after she barely surivived a very bloody attack on her life, she gets up in the bed with pink lipstick on and with 'fresh from the salon'- weavy hair that (women know that) takes half an hour to style like that with her hair length. And it was like that all through the drama, her hair never looked like it would look naturally in the shown scenes. And I could go on and on.

To have this end in total absurdity? The 'bad' daddy kills himself (how nice of him then the son won't have to do it) and? Everyone is living happily ever after. It doesn't matter, again, that the ML's character WAS a serious criminal for 14 years and thus has commited tons of serious crimes? No, his then ( funnny idea here!) PROSECUTOR wife, is living happily with him, marrying him in the countryside, yippie. I think this drama is in the top 3 list of the most stupid things I have watched in the past 10 years easy, so congratulations on that.

While I really like Jung Hae-in in some of his past dramas, and I do think he is a good actor, I will not watch anything new with him anymore. As long as good actors don't realise their faces WIN with aging if they show it, I'm not interested anymore.

So to sum this up: If you like dramas with absolutey ZERO content, logic, storyline, chemistry and well, brains? Give it a try, otherwise, steer clear.

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Great Military Drama

I am really enjoying this military drama and I am a girl. It is not a military romance drama but focuses more on military advances in modern warfare, tactics, manoeuvres and the hero pushing past traditional soldiers with a strong resistance to change (such frustrating fuddy duddies).

The hero is mildly flawed with ambition for progress and has to work through his character to mature and deal with envious colleagues, too blinded by jealousy and bias against our brilliant hero.

I enjoy watching the missions given in which the hero’s handling of warfare is modern, different and progressive, outshining his opponents and upstaging the commanders who are still stuck in traditional warfare and its playbook. I keep waiting for episode 27 to air to watch the outcome of a tactical mission and how the hero will overcome odds to succeed.

This series has got me searching for more military dramas with similar coverage on warfare tactics and missions. There are a lot of romance dramas out there to whet the appetite of audiences who love romance and it is good that there is also a drama that offers something different, such as Wind-born Warriors. I am thoroughly enjoying this series.

The cast performances are good and there are some characters I want to punch, a good indication that the audience is involved. I would rewatch, definitely.

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9/10 HATED IT!!?? DONT RECOMMEND BUT EARNED EVERY BIT OF THAT 9

I watched this show because I loved them in The Princess Royal, so seeing them together again in a completely different genre was definitely an adjustment.

Now, my review is going to sound contradictory and maybe even a little confusing at first, but trust the process. Once you get the end, you’ll understand.

And yes, you read that rating correctly.

9/10.

I’m sure you’re wondering: How can you hate a show and still give it a 9/10?

Baby, cue the spoilers. 🚬🫩

We start with younger Qianxu and Yingtao. They’re kids playing together, studying, talking, supporting one another—you know, doing kid things. But even early on, we’re given glimpses into their completely different family dynamics.

Qianxu is raised in a home where love is suffocating and overbearing. He lives in the shadow of his dead brother and never really gets the opportunity to discover who he is.

There’s a small moment that becomes incredibly symbolic: Qianxu discovers that he likes the color red, but his parents insist that he doesn’t. They tell him he likes black.

Think about that.

This child isn’t even allowed to decide what color he likes.

That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about his upbringing.

Then we have Yingtao—fearless, bright, optimistic, opinionated and full of life. Naturally, these two form a strong bond.

Fast-forward to their teenage years. Qianxu’s mother takes him to another city, while Yingtao mourns the friendship and connection she lost.

And this is around the point where I started wondering whether I had accidentally signed up for emotional damage and trauma because BABAAYYYY…

I hated every second of this relationship.

I did NOT root for them.

But trust the process because eventually all of this starts making sense.

We have two completely different upbringings.

On one side, there’s Qianxu’s controlling, overbearing mother, who still hasn’t processed the grief of losing her first son and, because of that, has never fully acknowledged the son she’s currently raising.

On the other side, Yingtao has loving but extremely passive parents who sometimes come across as enablers. Yes, Yingtao receives plenty of love, but she was never really taught appropriate boundaries—and GIRL crosses them quite often. 🫩

Qianxu grows up in a home where he isn’t accepted for who he is. His home becomes suffocating, so naturally, he learns to avoid. When things become emotionally overwhelming, he runs.

And this is where the story became interesting to me.

Despite how much these characters irritated me, their family dynamics gave them dimension. Suddenly, I wasn’t watching some fantasy version of love that C-dramas can sometimes give us. I was watching two people whose childhoods shaped how they would eventually love as adults.

This drama forces you to look at how circumstances and choices create a domino effect.

What shapes us?

What do we yearn for?

What are we willing to sacrifice to protect the person we love?

And at several points I found myself asking:

Should this relationship even survive?

Because make no mistake—this relationship is TOXIC. 🚬🫩

Back to teenage Qianxu and Yingtao.

Yingtao eventually attends the same school as him.

First 🚩: Qianxu doesn’t acknowledge her after she came all that way to see him.

Eventually he realizes his mistake. He misses their friendship and begins inserting himself back into her life.

Fine. I’ll give teenage Qianxu a little grace. For some teenagers, reputation is everything.

They start getting close again, and this is where their family dynamics really begin colliding.

Qianxu’s mother has his entire life mapped out. Competitions. Academics. Future plans. The whole nine yards. She’s even trying to control who he spends time with, especially Yingtao.

Eventually Qianxu can’t take it anymore.

He and his mother have a FULL-BLOWN screaming match.

And let me give the actors their flowers here because that scene was beautifully executed. You could hear years of resentment pouring out from both sides.

Did that make me enjoy watching it?

Absolutely not. 🫩😩

The whole neighborhood can hear this fiasco unfolding. Yingtao and her parents are outside.

And what does Yingtao do?

SHE ENTERS THEIR HOUSE TO HELP HIM ESCAPE.

EXCUSE ME?! 🤨

Where were the adults?!

Why didn’t any of these grown people who could hear this child having a complete breakdown with his mother step in and try to diffuse the situation?

HER PARENTS INCLUDED.

Some viewers may see Yingtao as Qianxu’s safe place here.

I saw the beginning of a pattern of overstepping boundaries.

And baby, that wasn’t even the icing on the cake.

Qianxu goes to Yingtao’s house and her parents allow him to miss school for TWO WEEKS.

Again:

WHAT?!

Now Qianxu is out enjoying his newfound freedom. Yingtao’s father eventually wants to talk to him about his plans and offer some loving adult guidance because, despite everything happening at home, this kid is a math genius with an incredible future ahead of him.

Yingtao tries to stop her father from talking to Qianxu because she thinks he’ll become overwhelmed.

And that irritated me.

Her father is an adult. Qianxu is still a child. He still needs direction.

Yingtao has become so consumed with protecting Qianxu that she barely seems to know what SHE wants for her own life.

🚬🫩

I could list every infraction, but we’d be here all day. You really have to watch it unfold to understand how deeply this dynamic becomes embedded in their relationship.

Eventually things get worse, and Qianxu decides he wants to drop everything and study overseas.

But does he communicate those dreams to Yingtao?

Of course not.

Naturally, she’s hurt.

But girl…what exactly were we expecting from someone whose coping mechanism is avoiding difficult situations and running when life becomes overwhelming?

Then he leaves.

And doesn’t contact her for TWO YEARS.

Two. Whole. Years.

Now they’re adults and in college, so I’m sitting there thinking:

WHAT IS THE HOLDUP?! 🤨🚬🚬🚬

Meanwhile, Yingtao has not let him go. She’s basically on a wild goose chase for this man despite being ghosted.

And YES, by now I’m screaming at her too.

Eventually she catches him sneaking out of his house.

EXCUSE THE FUCK OUTTA ME?! 😱

You couldn’t call?

Couldn’t answer a message?

Couldn’t send a text?

But you’re HERE?!

Does Yingtao ask the obvious questions?

NOPE. 🙂‍↔️

She immediately comes up with explanations that satisfy HER, Qianxu basically lets her, they kiss, share their little moment—blah, blah, blah.

And guess what Qianxu does?

YUP.

GHOST. 👻🏃

At this point my dude is a smooth criminal.

Before disappearing, he tells her not to forget him.

Does Yingtao eventually move on?

Of course not.

She holds onto this man like he’s her emotional lifeline. 🫩😩

Fast-forward to adulthood.

Years have passed without a word from Qianxu. Yingtao has physically moved forward with her life, but emotionally?

Girl is still in an unofficial relationship with a man who isn’t even participating.

Then one day her friend finds out where Qianxu is and eventually gives her the information.

Tell me why Yingtao PACKS A SUITCASE and trucks her ass to another city looking for this man.

🧳🚬

And when Qianxu finally sees her?

HE RUNS AWAY FROM HER.

🤣🤣🤣

At this point, the whole thing has become annoyingly comical.

Eventually, after Yingtao has pushed and chased about as much as one human being possibly can, Qianxu realizes that he doesn’t actually want to lose her.

And FINALLY…

We get his side of the story.

This is where my entire perspective shifted.

Up until this point, I’m yelling:

LET HIS ASS GO!

He’s selfish.

He’s a terrible communicator.

He ghosts you every chance he gets.

Why are we still doing this?!

Then we learn what happened to Qianxu.

His family falls apart. He ends up staying with his cousin, someone he looks up to, but an unfortunate accident destroys their source of income. Qianxu suddenly has to shoulder the responsibility of helping support a family while attending university in Hong Kong.

His life went to shit.

And then he says something to Yingtao that changed how I interpreted almost everything that came before it.

He explains that if Yingtao had found him doing well, she would have eventually walked away.

But if he’d told her that he was suffering?

If she’d known about the poverty, hardship and responsibility he was carrying?

She would’ve dropped everything and climbed right into the gutter with him.

And that’s when I went:

😱

Because…

HE’S RIGHT.

He knows exactly who Yingtao is.

Now, we can argue that Qianxu should have told her the truth.

Normally, I’d agree.

But then I had to ask myself:

What would Yingtao have done with that information?

We’ve spent the entire drama watching the answer.

She is all-consuming when it comes to this man. She would’ve tried to fix everything. She would’ve inserted herself into his struggle. She would’ve put his problems before her own future.

And Qianxu knew that.

While he stayed away, Yingtao continued building a life for herself.

She accomplished things.

She progressed.

She became someone.

And Qianxu didn’t want her life to stop simply because his had gone to shit.

That realization completely changed how I viewed his sacrifice.

Through Yingtao’s eyes, he abandoned her.

Through Qianxu’s eyes, he let her go.

Not because he stopped loving her.

Because he loved her enough to accept that he might never have her if losing him allowed her to keep moving forward.

He was ashamed of the person he’d become. He didn’t want a relationship while his life was in that condition.

And…

I agreed with him.

🫩🚬

THIS is where the writers earned their stripes.

Because suddenly this wasn’t simply a frustrating romance anymore.

It was a coming-of-age story about how our childhoods shape the way we love, how circumstances alter the people we become, and how one decision can create a domino effect across multiple lives.

And then I realized something else.

These two had ultimately been sacrificing the same thing in opposite directions.

Yingtao loved Qianxu enough that she was willing to sacrifice her life for their love.

Qianxu loved Yingtao enough that he was willing to sacrifice their love for her life.

And THAT is when this damn drama got me.

😩🫩🚬

Do I think their relationship is healthy?

Absolutely not.

Would I personally want this kind of love?

HELL NO.

Did I spend most of the drama wanting Yingtao to leave his ass alone?

YES.

Did I spend the other half wanting Qianxu to learn how to communicate like a functioning human being?

ALSO YES.

But by the end, I had to respect them.

Yingtao loved Qianxu for who he was—not his potential, accomplishments, money or status.

And Qianxu loved Yingtao enough to risk losing the person he wanted most because he believed staying away gave her the best chance at building a life beyond his suffering.

Their happily ever after?

They earned it.

And that irritated the hell out of me because after spending almost this entire drama refusing to root for them…

I caught myself SWOONING during their happy moments. 🫣

The AUDACITY.

Then the ending had their adult selves essentially communicating with their younger selves, reflecting on who they had become and the journey that brought them there.

And that broke me.

Because how many of us wish we could sit across from our younger selves and explain:

You have no idea what’s coming.

The heartbreak.

The mistakes.

The choices.

The people you’ll lose.

The person you’ll become.

And somehow reassure that younger version:

We made it.

🥺

That symbolism was beautiful.

So yes.

After ALL that…

9/10.

Did I enjoy watching it?

Absolutely fucking not. 🫩🚬

Did it stress me from beginning to end?

YES.

Did I want to give this show a 3/10 at several points?

BABAAYYYY, the 3 was READY. 😭

But good storytelling isn’t always about giving me characters whose choices I agree with.

Sometimes it’s about making those choices believable.

This drama made me dislike these characters, question them, judge them, reconsider them, understand them and—against my will—eventually respect their love.

That’s why it gets a 9.

The writers earned every damn point.

Would I recommend it?

Hell no. 💅

We don’t need too many people voluntarily signing up for the same traumatic viewing experience. 🫩🚬

But I will give this drama its flowers.

It captured something painfully real about love: our decisions don’t exist in isolation. Our families, childhoods, fears, circumstances and sacrifices shape how we love—and sometimes the very thing we do to protect someone becomes the thing that hurts them.

Their love wasn’t clean.

It wasn’t healthy.

It definitely wasn’t the kind of romance I personally root for.

But I believed it.

And sometimes that’s the mark of a damn good story.

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Overall, this drama was actually quite enjoyable to watch. Personally, I never found it boring (although I do think the evil spirit storyline was stretched out a little), and I found the plot itself interesting. However, there were some things that could have been handled a bit better. Certain aspects had some plot holes, and especially the side storylines were often introduced and then simply dropped instead of being developed further.

I’ll start with the main couple - Park Seong A & Bae Gyeon U. First of all, I have to mention that they both became my favorite characters. I absolutely loved how she was so open, crazy, and positive, while he was her complete opposite. My heart melted whenever I saw him start experiencing genuine happiness around her - happiness he truly deserved. One slight negative for me is that we didn’t get to see enough of them during their genuinely happy moments, but their relationship was definitely the most enjoyable part of the drama. On the surface, it was a sweet first love without unnecessary arguments, but they still faced difficulties where both of them genuinely wanted what was best for the other person and wanted them to be happy.

I also want to stay on the subject of Bae Gyeon U for a moment. I think his family storyline could have been developed much better. As far as I remember, there was one really powerful scene where the hatred was shown, but afterward I really missed seeing more of his relationship with his parents. On top of that, he was still attending high school and wasn’t an adult, so how exactly was he living alone after his grandmother died? His grandmother’s death absolutely broke my heart, and I basically jinxed it myself because at the beginning of episode two I said to myself that I was afraid she was going to die - well, I made it to the end of episode two. And then there’s the character of Choi Hui-Na. Her storyline runs throughout the entire drama and honestly had a lot of potential. You know, something along the lines of: something terrible happened to her because of him, so now he puts up with her harassment and doesn’t want to allow himself to be happy. But the final resolution felt absurd to me and turned Bae Gyeon U into a pathetic martyr. If she was the one who caused the fire back then, why did she hate him so much? Why did she wish the worst possible things upon him? Why did he listen to her and keep answering her calls? Was she really doing all of this just because he took the blame for her? How does that make any sense?

Naturally, I have to move on to the Bong-su/Jang Yoon-boo storyline - the evil spirit. At first, I really liked him, and his scenes genuinely made me laugh. Over time, however, I started having mixed feelings about him, and I became increasingly annoyed whenever he wanted to take over Bae Gyeon U’s life. That irritation only became stronger once he actually did it. In the end, I think they stretched this storyline out a little too much and it could have been resolved sooner. Besides that, the storyline itself started losing its logic over time. How did he suddenly move from Bae Gyeon U’s body into Park Seong A’s body and then back into Bae Gyeon U’s body? The second time was supposedly in a dream, but couldn’t we have gotten some deeper explanation for how that worked? Also, if it was really that easy, they could have simply given him someone else’s body and let him live or sacrifice himself. Everyone would have been happy. On top of that, I found his romantic feelings toward Park Seong A slightly disturbing when I remembered that his soul was basically 13 years old.

I also want to stop for a moment and talk about the whole storyline involving spirits, shamanism, etc. I’ll admit that I know absolutely nothing about this subject, and this was the first drama I’ve watched with a plot like this. Personally, I really enjoyed it. Obviously, most of it was presented in a more comedic than dramatic way, but I had a genuinely great time watching it. I also want to give a special mention to Do Ryeong / “Flower Master,” because I absolutely loved his personality.

Pyo Ji Ho is a character who gave me some of the most mixed feelings I’ve had in a long time. On one hand, I liked him. He often brought a lot of humor to the drama and was generally a positive character. Especially when he became Bae Gyeon U’s amulet - I swear, that was one of my favorite moments in the entire drama. But on the other hand, he also had his irritating side: the attention-seeking, pick-me guy who desperately fought for the affection of a girl who had been showing him from the very beginning that she didn’t have feelings for him. Eventually, it just became exhausting (props to the evil spirit, who was literally the only one willing to say it out loud). I was hoping Ji Ho would eventually develop a romantic relationship with Cho Hye Ri, but unfortunately, he was written as a desperate guy until the very end.

Still on the subject of the students, I also have to say that I absolutely loved the Kim Jin Ung and Koo Do Yeon storyline. I’m still disappointed that it wasn’t developed further and that they didn’t get more screen time, because I found it absolutely hilarious how the delinquent started chasing after her because he thought she was the ghost of his dog (although I’m glad they ended up together). Kim Jin Ung himself also had a storyline that was introduced and then never developed - his family. What happened to his father and mother afterward? I know this storyline wasn’t important to the main plot, but if you’re going to introduce something like that, it would be nice to actually develop it later. They did something similar with Mo Beom’s bullying storyline. Why were those guys bullying him? And did they stop after the fight with the others? We have no idea.

The last character I’ll discuss is Yeom Hwa. She isn’t the typical villain that you simply hate. She has enough depth to her character that I often felt sorry for her - even though she pi*sed me off later :D. At the same time, I still think her character could have been developed much more. I would have loved to learn more about her past and, more importantly, what exactly she wanted to gain from the evil spirit. Did she want to bring her child back to life? Did she simply want to see her again? What exactly was her motivation and what was she trying to achieve? Because that actually matters.

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it wasn’t perfect, and sometimes it wasn’t even good, but it was fun.

my review contains five sections —
[1] the bad.
[2] the good.
[3] the ending.
[4] the couples.
[5] my conclusion.
(please be aware the whole review contains minor spoilers about the story and ending.)


[1] the bad.

the story was decent, but contrived. trying to keep track of the family trees was often difficult, which was frustrating. to make matters even more frustrating, there were characters that were eliminated or forgotten about on a whim. the side couples do not get any development whatsoever, but most (if not all) of the characters are underdeveloped so that’s unsurprising. it felt kind of like watching fanfiction, in the sense that sometimes it seemed like we were already supposed to know who the characters were because they were from some other work/story and were just being written into this historical drama. i suppose that has something to do with the series being adapted from a novel, though i don’t really like using that as an excuse for shoddy writing.

in that same vein, the dialogue was hard to sit through a lot of the time. sometimes it was awkward, sometimes it felt repetitive, sometimes it made very little sense. this didn’t help at all when trying to follow the familial connections. i usually give the benefit of the doubt in these cases, because i’m aware translations/subtitles are not always the most accurate, but even if i’m being generous i have to say that the dialogue was overall pretty clumsy.

also, i’ve seen some discussion about the acting and dubbing. personally, i found the acting to be okay at worst and fun to watch at best. the first half of the series is very light-hearted in tone (there are even sound effects for when something is supposed to be humorous/comedic), so i thought the over-the-top or weirder acting choices sort of matched that tone most of the time. the second half of the series does get more angsty and serious, and in those scenes the acting is definitely hit-or-miss. plus, the dubbing is noticeably bad, especially with Shaoyu’s character. but overall — idk, i think i’ve just seen worse acting than this.

the production and editing were also not great. though the effort and spirit were certainly there, the fight scenes and effects made me laugh and cringe at the same time. there was a scene where i could tell that the actors stopped acting just before a cut. i could even see the edges/clips of the actors’ wigs a lot of the time. this doesn’t necessarily take away from the story, but it does make many moments worse if you’re already on the fence about how to feel about a scene.

something of note is that the noncon scenes were presented in an uncomfortable/odd way. i think noncon in fiction can be compelling if done right, and i’m actually often partial to these kinds of toxic romances, but i don’t think this series does noncon well. not only does the noncon go nowhere and have no effect on the story whatsoever, but it also presents noncon in a way that’s “romantic” (sort of?) and in a way that makes it feel like a bandage for poor chemistry and writing.


[2] the good.

perplexingly, despite all of the above, i actually like this series. in fact, i often found myself enjoying it almost against my will. there was a weird charm to how off everything was; it reminded me of a few low-budget romance and comedy series i’ve seen, and even the naruto cosplay skits i used to watch when i was younger. a lot of the series feels like it’s held together with duct tape and string, and i (fondly) yelled “this is so dumb!” more times than i could count, and yet i still came away from the series with a positive feeling.

in this case, i think what made it easier to keep watching was: one, the lack of miscommunication; two, the sheer comedy of it all; and three, the characters (even as underdeveloped as they were).

personally, i find miscommunication to be the absolute bane of most romance stories, and i’ve only seen it done well maybe a handful of times. so, the fact that THESE characters, in this often SUPER contrived storyline, somehow managed to avoid the pitfalls of the worst miscommunication tropes is a MIRACLE. don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of scheming, lying, bluffing, betrayal, and jealousy surrounding the main pair from the very start, but none of it really lasts and some of it barely goes anywhere at all. this could certainly be considered a bad thing, but i’m personally putting it in the ‘good’ category.

the comedy is sometimes intentional (when the writing is clearly aiming to be fun/funny) and sometimes it’s accidental (when something unbelievably absurd is happening on the screen). either way, both the intentional and accidental humor of this series actually landed for me, for the most part. it made many scenes far easier to get through and overall made the episodes more enjoyable.

lastly, the characters were the highlight of the drama for me. they were underdeveloped, yes, and ridiculous sometimes, sure, but they were entertaining. the main leads, though they didn’t have the best chemistry of all time, still had some interesting scenes and the characters were fun to watch individually. there were also a lot of side characters that i genuinely liked: Su Yin, Que Siming, Jinbao and Zhaocai, Right Shadow and Left Shadow, even Li Gongxiang — they became like trusty companions to me; every time i saw them, i knew a scene would be easy (or at least easier) to watch. i didn’t like all of the characters, no, but i liked most of them; and because i liked them, i wanted to see how their stories ended.


[3] the ending.

the ending was all right. the villain was defeated, of course, and the couples lived happily ever after (2/3 of them at least?), but one thing that stood out to me was how bad i felt for Huaien’s mother at the end. i kind of wish her storyline/background had been woven into the plot a little bit better, but i could say that about almost all of the different storylines.

i feel like there were lots of unanswered questions (like how did Su Yin manage to tell Xiaoyu about the dahlia being important?) and lots of things that came up out of nowhere toward the end of the series (like Li Gongxiang’s connection to Huaien’s mother). also, some plot twists were better than others: for example, the issue of Li Gongxiang’s loyalty being unknown until Episode 11 was good! the weird red herrings regarding who Huaien’s father actually was were less good.

still, i was happy to see the light-hearted tone return in the last episode. the series bookending with the kites was really lovely and by far my favorite bit. a very sweet end, considering the serious tone of the second half.


[4] the couples.

the main couple: Zongzheng Huaien and Jin Xiaobao were… something. their relationship progressed rapidly, which isn’t always a bad thing (Semantic Error handles rapid progression with characters who start off as strangers very well), but in this case the characters were too one-dimensional and their initial interactions were too stiff for the rapid progression to feel natural. so, i didn’t love them, but i also didn’t hate them. my favorite thing about them was how their dynamic changed over time, from Xiaobao flirting with a cold and dismissive Huaien to Huaien being crazy about Xiaobao. i thought that was an interesting change, plus it fit their respective characters/storylines. it still could’ve been handled/written better, but i’ll take the wins where i can get them.

side couple #1: Que Siming and Jinbao could’ve been cute, if they had been developed in any way, shape, or form. individually, they were fun comic relief characters; together, there was the implication of something more; but their past was discussed like twice, their characters had precious little screentime, and their relationship progressed largely off-screen. there was an episode where Jinbao ran away from home (or maybe ran away from Siming?) for maybe one minute, and a big deal was made of it for about two scenes, but then we never found out why that happened or if it had anything to do with his relationship with Siming. truly a waste of a potentially sweet side story.

side couple #2: Su Yin and Zongzheng Shaoyu were barely anything at all. Shaoyu’s character was obnoxious and obviously in love with Yin, but Yin seemed to have no feelings for him whatsoever, and the few scenes they had together often ended with Yin dismissing or being angry at Shaoyu. i’m not really sure what the plan was there, or why they’re featured together in the intro sequence, because there was genuinely nothing between them in the series besides the one-sided feelings on Shaoyu’s part — and these feelings aren’t even addressed.

other notes: Huaien and Shaoyu were both jealous over Su Yin’s relationship with Jin Xiaobao, but that was kind of a red herring too. in my opinion, there wasn’t actually a love triangle there, at least not in the way that love triangles are usually presented. i can only think of like two or three times when i thought Su Yin might actually cross that romantic line; otherwise, he was a character that typically acted within the realm of chivalry and propriety, and he was always careful to treat Jin Xiaobao with respect and the appropriate amount of (familial) affection. that was part of the reason i liked him!


[5] my conclusion.

honestly, i doubt i’d rewatch this series, but i was able to stick with it despite my habit of dropping shows i get annoyed with, and that’s noteworthy. it was a lot of confusing family drama, a lot of cheesy moments, a lot of odd camera shots/angles, a lot of undercooked characters and plot points, a lot of questionable scenes and content… but it was also a lot of laughs, a lot of fond eye-rolls, and ultimately a lot of fun.

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