Reviews

Long may I stay by your side, where jade steps bloom with springtide

(This review is coming from someone who hasn't read the original novel)

I very rarely look at the name of the director when I'm watching a drama. I'm usually more interested in the actors, or the overall plot. But if I ever see Zeng Qing Jie as the director, I don't need to care about the actors or the plot at all. I'd simply watch the drama with zero hesitation.

Zeng Qing Jie is a magician with his directing. He has a knack for creating high production shots even on a tight budget. He relies on the resources he already has to make his dramas look good. The use of natural lighting is very prominent through out the entire drama and he uses it as a tool for the actual storytelling as well. Zeng really just knows how to make everything look pretty. And as shallow as this might sound, I really do like looking at pretty people. But it's not just the actors that look good, every shot and scenery is just so pretty that you're left in awe. There have been so many instances where I've had to rewatch certain scenes because I was too busy appreciating the beauty of the shot rather than paying attention to what the characters were saying. And there are so many more scenes that I keep coming back to because of how beautiful it was shot.

You can tell that as a director he has properly studied his actors. He knows what works well for them and uses that to his advantage. I dare to say that this is probably the best that these actors have ever looked in the drama and they have no one but Zeng to thank. Someone pointed out that when Linghe has to show extreme expressions on his face such as anger or disgust, it often clashes with his natural features and becomes more of a distraction. As the director, Zeng has understood this and found a way to work in Linghe's favor instead. It doesn't mean that Yan Zheng as a character is completely emotionless, they just found a more effective way for Linghe to display the same emotion without reducing his natural charm.

It doesn't matter if you have the most expensive and high quality paint, if you're not a good artist, your painting will never good. And I think the same applies here. I know I sound like a fanclub for Zeng Qing Jie, but I truly believe that you need a great director to deliver a great drama.

I really admire the amount of detail that has been put into Pursuit of Jade. I'm the type of person who enjoys analyzing things as I'm watching a drama. I can never stay quiet and I'm always pointing out small little things as I watch. So I absolutely love the fact that there are so many small details, references, parallels and easter eggs sprinkled across the entire drama.

Even something as small as the display of the episode numbers was put care into. Most drama just display the episode number in a generic font across a black background. And there's nothing wrong with that, since it neither adds or draws anything away from the drama itself. But I do have the appreciate the fact that they put time into designing it and making it look pretty. It just makes everything look so much more cohesive and I'm an absolute sucker for that.

I also absolutely loved that Changyu was just regular commoner. When it comes to period dramas, we're so used to both of the leads being noble and rich. So it was definitely refreshing to see our female lead living a normal, somewhat mundane life. Also just have to mention the winter setting throughout the first chunk of the drama. It just looks so ethereal and cozy, and the snow definitely looked realistic for once (we've been traumatized way too much with the fake snow).

I loved Changyu from the very beginning, she showed that you can still be feminine despite being strong and perceived as 'masculine'. She has never felt the need to fit into one box and shows that you can be both. Tian Xiwei herself is also naturally strong, but she also has that happy, girly charm which perfectly matches Changyu's personality.

I also really can't stop myself from mentioning the kid that plays Yu Bao'er. I usually don't care much about the acting of children in dramas, because they are just kids and you can't be expecting perfect acting from them at all times. But oh my god the kid who plays Yu Bao'er was absolute phenomenal.

Pursuit of Jade also makes you realize the true charm of a 40 episode drama. When you have so many episodes to build the plot, you can take your time to introduce and explore the characters. The first 15 something episodes are solely dedicated to Changyu, Yang Zheng and the main side characters. And since you've had the time to learn about them, you feel more attached to them as the drama goes on. You feel happy when they are happy, and you feel sad when they are sad.

Pursuit of Jade as a drama is an entire experience, I genuinely haven't this excited or engaged over a drama in ages. And I truly think that there are very few dramas that have release this year that could ever reach the level of this drama.

To everyone who actually read this entire review, thank you for taking the time to read all of my thoughts. And hopefully I've managed to convince you to give this drama a try.

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AN UNLIKELY ALLIANCE

The narrative opens with Fan Changyu, a bold and physically formidable butcher from a small town, who discovers a half-frozen, mysterious man collapsed in the snow. This individual, Xie Zheng, is a high-ranking noble and strategic genius who has been stripped of his status and is fleeing a 17-year-old conspiracy that destroyed his family. To conceal his identity and regain his strength, Xie Zheng enters into a marriage of convenience with Changyu. He assumes the role of her subservient husband, assisting in the management of her household and business, while she offers him protection from imperial assassins.

Fan Changyu is a refreshing subversion of the 'strong FL' trope. She is a literal pig butcher, physically powerful, loud, and pragmatic. Her strength isn't just a plot point; it's her identity. She wields a butcher's knife with terrifying competence, yet her vulnerability shines through in her 'fake marriage' with the male lead. On the other hand, Xie Zheng/ Yan Zheng, starting as a wounded, mysterious fugitive saved in the snow, plays the 'subservient husband' role while secretly plotting a 17-year- old revenge mission. This drama allows him to 'aura farm', maintaining a quiet, lethal dignity even when he is supposedly beneath the FL's social station. Another character that left a mark on this drama is Sui Yuanhai/ Qi Min, who is a standout as the obsessive, toxic prince. His performance provides a chilling foil to the healthy, supportive growth of the main leads. Yu Qianqian is a businesswoman who brings a layer of 'modern' ambition to the period setting. However, her storyline with the villainous Qi Min is often more compelling than her individual arc.

The drama’s visual style, under Director Zeng Qingjie, is its greatest strength. Instead of the flat filters common in recent dramas, it employs deep shadows and warm candlelight to create an authentic, inviting atmosphere in the Zhao family home and butcher shop. Bird's-eye and 360-degree dolly shots during the wedding and marketplace scenes lend the small town of Lin'an a cinematic scale. The snow appears heavy and cold, and the sets are convincingly worn, with scuffed floors and layered textures that suggest a world beyond the camera.

However, while the first 25 episodes are neatly 'movie-quality', the final stretch struggles to tie up its massive web of politics. The complexity of the '17-year-old massacre' is resolved with dialogue-heavy exposition ( the Prime Minister Wei's monologue) rather than organic storytelling. Despite being a 'progressive' drama, it falls into the trap of making every significant male character fall for the FL. (The introduction of the Li Family and the various princes. By episode 20, the focus shifts from Changyu's independence to a repetitive cycle of different men trying to 'protect' or 'claim' her, which slightly undermines her character's initial agency.) Lastly, the transition from a 'domestic slow-burn' to a 'war epic' is jarring. The transition scenes show Changyu heading to the battlefield. The gritty realism of the butcher shop is replaced by some noticeably cleaner, 'spotless' armor and faster-paced editing that loses the grounded feeling of the earlier episodes.

In conclusion, Pursuit of Jade is a visual odyssey that succeeds because of the chemistry between Tian Xiwei and Zhang Linghe. It is at its best when it focuses on the 'slow-burn domesticity' of the fake marriage and at its weakest when it tries to be a complex political thriller.

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Pointless and So Many Questions

I started this hoping for a good mini drama. What I got was a meaningless plot. I started to get so frustrated with the FL and the ML.
Why is the FL in those tacky "posh" clothes in Modern Day? Who is she? Why is she concerned about someone in the past? Why? We don't get an answer. If it had a greater theme/idea I would have been okay with it but nope, nothing.
What are they investigating? They're investigating something but it seems to be endless and pointless. What clued the ML into that house? Dunno.
Why does the FL ACT LIKE THAT?! She's like "I'm going to investigate!" but she wanders around endlessly and just gets in trouble.
Okay, the ML has a crush on FL I'm guessing???? Okay. But like there's no romance. There's just cliché physical closeness scenes. There's no reason for them to like each other.
I felt tired watching this. It's a shame I wanted to like it but I just couldn't.
NOTHING happens.

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Wonderful show

I was watching this along with another show that felt like a chore to drag myself through....but this!!!! It was amazing.
I was concerned as some reviews are quite negative and I was worried it too would drag like the other thing. But it didn't.

I'm not a huge fan of historical kdrama unless it has a magical/supernatural element (Alchemy of the Souls is one of my favourite shows ever) and this fit that preference. I chose it for the the supernatural element and to see Kim Jihoon play a goodie (i'd just finished a show where he was a very bad baddie). And I was excited to see Bo Na in it as I'd just watched her in the Starships Company Games thing and really liked her and of course I knew Yook SungJae from Goblin (and BtoB).

It was a nice surprise to see Kim YoungKwang as Gang Cheol so when he disappeared and SungJae became that character I expected to be disappointed, but I wasn't; the subtle change in his character was a testiment to SungJae's acting.

The bad guys were awful the good guys were great. The king was such a great and noble king (a first for me as they are usually not great in things), his wife, his son, YunGap's mother, the Monk and his flightly old charge, the guards and the head unech were all wonderful. Even those who were slghtly morally ambiguous came good in the end.

The fight scenes were good, the effects were satisfying. It was emotional (I cried a lot) and funny (the eunuch had me laughing out loud) and all the relationships were lovely. Yeo Ri and Gang Cheol had far better chemistry than when he was Yun Gap. Yun Gap's mother and the love she had for both versions of her 'son' and Yeo Ri was delightful. Gang Cheol and the king's friendship, the king and YeoRi's trust in each other, Gang Cheol and the head eunuch's banter....all were so well written and acted. And I found it a very satifying ending....everyone got what they deserved and you can't ask for more than that.

If I ever make it through all the things on my to watch list, i would definitely watch this again.

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watch pursuit of jade. A MUST WATCH CDRAMA! (˵˃ ᗜ ˂˵)

PURE PEAKNESS. MASTERPIECE. PEAK. AMAZING. HOLYYYY MASTERPIECE. IDK WHAT ELSE TO SAY EXCEPT FOR ALL GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS DRAMA. 😛😛😛😛 its so so so good i wouldve give it a 11/10 but the limit is 10/10 so.
THE VISUALS, CHEMISTRYYYYY, PLOT, ACTING, CINEMATOGRAPHY, VISUAL CHEMISTRY, STORYLINE, OSTS, DIALOGUES, FIGHT SCENES EVERYTHING IS PERFECT FOR ME.
deadass so glad they casted tian xiwei and zhang linghe. two of my very favs with a good script too??? yeah this is my top drama🙏🙏 NO ONE can play fan changyu better than TXW. SHES SOO SOO CUTE. same with ZLH. this is their best roles so far for me and their look/styling is EVERHTHINGGGG. 👅👅🤤
they need a second drama please☺️
side characters are fine shyts too even Wei Yan the uncle. (when i first saw qi min i might of tweaked...)
gongsun yin and princess royal is so cute and sweet man i wished they had more screentime. I WISH THERE WAS MORE EPISODESSSSSS.
im also in love with the ost 一念 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ the coin scene heh.... wow. also ep 17 the return of wu an hou HOLY AURA him with that accessory with his facecard GOSHHHSJAKSJSHJAJA ZHANG LINGHE SO U WANT ME TO DIE🫠🫠
i love fan changyu's fight scenes sm. all of it. how i love strong female leads. marquis and the marchioness🥹✌️
theres a lot of scenes with aura and chills.

im not gonna spoil anything but just know that I LOVE this drama🤫🤫 (if u havent watch it, WATCH!!!!)

and yeah🌚

晴天大老爷！晴天大老爷！🙇‍♀️
“我杀猪养你啊” 🐷

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Quite short but pleasant drama about how a modern girl ends up three hundred years in the past

“The Girl Ashigaru” is quite a short but pleasant Japanese drama about how a modern girl ends up three hundred years in the past. If I had to describe the drama in just one word, the first thing that comes to mind is “purity.” That’s the impression it left on me. And above all, it’s the purity of feelings from the main heroine, Yui. According to the plot, she’s an ordinary high school girl who doesn’t shine intellectually, studies poorly, but is cheerful and open with everyone. That’s exactly why almost all the characters in the film respond to her sincerity, and some even become “infected” by her purity and become better themselves. At the same time, there’s no direct moralizing or pushy “let’s all live in harmony” message anywhere. Yui simply becomes that ray of sunshine and a kind of guidepost in a dark world. Even though the time period is shown as harsh—dirt, hunger, battles, etc.—it’s easy to watch. Maybe because the episodes are short, and the director didn’t overload us with gloom and political games… Thanks to him for that. So the pacing isn’t dragged out—that’s a big plus. There’s romance, intrigue, and also comedic moments.

Another plus is the lack of excessive introspection in the characters; they don’t get distracted by secondary matters, but once they set a goal, they stubbornly strive to achieve it. As for the acting—I liked both the main and supporting characters.

Overall, I recommend this drama for watching.

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Strong start, weak ending

Initially, I was a bit hyped for this. The plot seemed interesting and the starting arc of the series kept me waiting for the continuation episodes.

If the series was mainly about the first arc of the story, I'd rate it a solid 8/10. The visual aspect is done well throughout the series. You can truly see the best sides of the main actors in this series.

The episodes in the first arc were well paced, established the characters well enough to keep me invested, and the tragic fate that befell her village was a good setup for the upcoming episodes.

For me it truly peaked in the episode where she beat the general in two strikes. After that, it went downhill. As others have mentioned, the quick rise in rank on the battlefield, made absolutely no sense. It makes even less sense that she would be placed into that position, even if it was a 'plot' by the opposing sides in the court.

I'm not gonna delve into the main plot, because while it was interesting to guess where it would lead in the beginning, the breadcrumbs you picked up throughout the series, just made it all bland.

I liked the portrayal of the king. He came of as a puppet king, which he acts out well.

Personally, I wanted it to actually focus more on her growth as a up and coming general.

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10/10 for me. Must watch drama.

All the male (excluding Lord Li) & female leads were excellent. Lord Li character wasn't interesting for me.

I rewatched the alter ending. After rewatching it I was little confused.

In post credit the alternate ending was - " If the jinzhou massacre wouldn't have happened 17 years ago , how the characters life would have been. " . In post credit the ending is the alternate ending of the current original life of the characters. So in "IF" condition -
[ #1 ] When Fan Changyu & Yu Qian Qian meet for the first time , they felt like they may know each other & they were maybe close friends in past life , &
[ #2 ] When Qi Min & Yu Qian Qian meet for the first time , Qi Min felt connection with her , but after seeing her he started vomiting , because Qi Min things maybe they are never fated to be together.
Both the "IF" conditions are alternate ending of the current life. So how they can feel connections with each other when they meet each other for the first time since it's their alternate current life only.

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Amazing series with spectacular acting with unique plot twist.

The Price of Confession is one of those rare dramas that completely takes over your mind and refuses to let go. The storytelling is bold, emotional, and beautifully layered, and every episode pulls you deeper into the characters’ lives. The acting is phenomenal every glance, every silence, every breakdown feels painfully real.

Spoilers ahead: Mo Eun’s death absolutely shattered me. Even though the story hints at tragedy, I kept hoping she’d find a way out. Watching her fight so hard, only to lose everything in the end, made the final episodes hit even harder. And the heartbreaking part is knowing that even if she had survived, the world was still ready to drag her back into jail. That level of emotional weight is what makes this series unforgettable.

The pacing is tight, the twists are shocking without ever feeling cheap, and the emotional tension never lets up. I finished it in just a few days because every episode left me needing answers. It’s powerful, beautifully acted drama that stays with you long after the credits roll.

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It Takes a Village to Stop a Terrorist Threat

There is a specific kind of drama I reach for when I need to decompress between the heavy ones. Not something I want to deeply dissect at 2am, but something warm and propulsive, the kind of show going down easy while still leaving you smiling at the credits. Heroes Next Door was exactly this for me. My second ensemble kdrama after Seoul Busters, I picked it up as a ten-episode palate cleanser before diving into something with more emotional weight. Ten episodes, roughly sixty to seventy minutes each, and Yoon Kye-sang in the lead. At that point, the decision practically made itself.

This is my third Yoon Kye-sang drama, and watching him play Choi Kang, a former JDD special forces operative turned insurance investigator quietly embedded inside an ordinary neighborhood, I kept thinking about how much range this man carries with such apparent effortlessness. His Chocolate character was a doctor who had walled off his emotions so thoroughly you almost forgot he had any. His character in The Winning Try was a tragic jester, a man who weaponized his laughter to keep everyone from seeing how broken he was inside. Choi Kang sits somewhere between both of those men, and watching Kye-sang navigate the balance within a single scene, from cracking up at his daughter’s kindergarten recital to flipping a switch and becoming the kind of man who neutralizes threats with terrifying quiet precision, is genuinely something to behold. Director Jo Woong reportedly cast him specifically because of his ability to hold coldness behind a warm smile, and as the drama unfolds, you see exactly what he meant. It is not something you teach an actor. Either you have it or you do not, and Yoon Kye-sang absolutely has it.

Jin Sun-kyu as Kwak Byeong-nam, the hardware store owner and former HID counter-terrorism operative who has also somehow been the neighborhood youth association president for thirteen consecutive years, brings an energy to this drama I did not see coming. I had not encountered his work before, but the bromance chemistry between him and Kye-sang is the beating heart of the whole show. Their dynamic carries equal weight in the action sequences and the comedy, and pulling both off simultaneously is a genuinely rare thing. My personal favorite among the leads, though, was Kim Ji-hyun as Jung Nam-yeon. Unfamiliar with her prior work, I was not prepared for how much she would hold my attention. She plays the Mammoth Mart owner and former youngest drill sergeant of Korea’s elite 707th Special Mission Battalion with a calm, measured precision I found completely addictive. Nam-yeon never raises her voice when she does not have to, and Ji-hyun understands exactly how much authority lives in stillness. Lee Jung-ha rounds out the core squad as Park Jeong-hwan, the engineering student and tech brain of the group. Fans of Moving will recognize him immediately, and his character here follows a similar trajectory of the earnest, capable young man with a genuinely good heart. He does it well, but I hope his post-military return brings roles with more complexity, so we get to see everything else he holds. Ko Kyu-pil as Lee Yong-hee, the cyber ops specialist and neighborhood martial arts director, completes the five with ease, functioning as the comedic engine alongside Jung-hwan while landing quieter emotional moments with unexpected grace. I will not list everyone in the Changri-dong neighborhood because we would be here all afternoon, but every single one of them earns their place in this story, and the ensemble feels genuinely lived-in rather than assembled by committee.

What surprised me most about Heroes Next Door was how seriously it treated its action sequences despite being, at its core, a comedy. The CQC choreography sits among the best I have seen in kdrama, and I say this as someone who has watched every single Ip Man film. The production clearly brought in professionals, and the result is action feeling grounded and viscerally satisfying rather than theatrical. The ten-episode structure keeps the pacing tight, with almost no wasted runtime, and the central conflict, Sullivan’s entire war against a system that failed his daughter, works because it roots its biggest threat in the simplest human grief. A father who lost everything.

But what I adore most about this drama is what happens between the action beats. The community garden squabbles, the parent-teacher conference chaos, Nam-yeon screaming at Byeong-nam because his EMP knocked out the neighborhood electronics and her freezer full of meat paid the price, Kang and Byeong-nam locked in a full debate over recycling bins. These moments made me wish, sincerely, for a quiet neighborhood slice-of-life spinoff with this exact cast. I would watch every single episode of it without hesitation. The ending also deserves its own moment of appreciation. Most kdramas reach for the moral high ground by letting the villain walk away with some form of forgiveness attached. Heroes Next Door does not take the easy road, and the closure it delivers respects both the villain’s internal logic and the story’s own code. One of the most satisfying endings I have witnessed in recent memory.

The production budget does not stay invisible throughout. The action choreography earns every compliment, but the explosion sequences are a different story. The CGI physics go rogue in several moments, noticeable enough to briefly pull you out of the scene, though none of it derails the overall experience. The audio works within its means far more elegantly. Two standout OSTs carry the heroic set pieces: Higher by Ha Hyun-woo and UDT by Lee Hyuk, both high-octane tracks syncing with the action beats almost perfectly, the kind of songs getting your adrenaline moving before you even register what is happening. The emotional scenes lean on piano soundscapes instead, and the choice works beautifully because this cast carries those moments entirely on their own. The sound production team clearly knew when to step back and trust their actors.

The flaws are real but minor in the grand scheme. Ten episodes is a condensed run, and some side plots feel glossed over as a result, with certain characters not receiving the development they deserve. Sullivan’s arc also wobbles in the later episodes, temporarily shifting him toward Bond villain territory before the finale pulls him back into something more human. The correction lands, but the detour registers. The biggest practical hurdle for international viewers, though, is the streaming situation. Heroes Next Door is an ENA and Coupang Play exclusive with no confirmed global release, meaning anyone outside South Korea has to work a little harder to find it. I find myself genuinely torn about flagging this as a flaw. The drama wears a distinctly Korean neighborhood texture throughout, the kind of cultural specificity global streaming demands sometimes sand down, and there is something I appreciate about it existing untouched. The recycling bin argument hits differently when you recognize exactly which Korean communal anxiety it is pulling from. But it also deserves a wider audience, and right now, fans outside Korea still have to hunt for it on their own.

If you have any way to track Heroes Next Door down, it is worth every bit of effort. It is warm, tight, funny, and quietly touching in all the right places. A neighborhood story with action movie bones and a community garden heart. And Yoon Kye-sang? He maintains his perfect record with me, a hundred percent satisfaction rate across every drama of his I have watched. Whatever he picks next, I will be there, front row, no questions asked.

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From the sublime to the ridiculous

I was such a fan of PoJ until episode 26. After that, it became so anticlimactic and unevenly paced, ending in complete makjang in the final battle, without a clear and satisfying explanation of past events, and perhaps the most awkward and stilted final cdrama moment in the alternate ending from the 2ML/main toxic villain.

How can a Cdrama do a complete 180 in terms of storytelling, tone, pacing, character development...? I am so confused as to how this happened. PoJ started off so beautifully with the first arc in Linan village. I was completely enraptured with our FL and ML, how she saved him, their back stories, and especially how their relationship developed. I loved the snowy landscape, the chill mountain village vibe, the cozy cooking scenes, the way they slurped the pork intestine noodle soups with relish, the intrigues here and there about what happened 17 yrs ago, and of course all the scenes with ZLH 😍. I loved how Changyue nursed XZ back to health, and how he was so understanding, observant, and caring. It was lovely.

Everything was moving along so well, even when he left to go back to the military camp, even when she went to look for him, and all that happened in between. Our MC was still in character, and their reunion at camp was so moving. Really on its way to being a masterpiece.

I was enthralled with how their story (and even the side stories!) developed at this point, and even more thrilled when she fought on the battlefield, defeating Shi Hu. The fight choreography was so memorable and so well done! And how she realized XZ was the marquis and how he whisked her off on horseback...that was truly the peak moment of this drama.

Sadly, after that, it kind of went off the path of masterful storytelling. I think this became obvious starting with her fight scene against General Changxin...actually it was more when she asked XZ who he would take on, Changxin or his psychopath son. Anyway, it just seemed out of character.

At this point onwards, there were so many unsatisfying moments and I was just so unhappy with how little time they gave to our MC together, and especially to XZ as marquis. This would have been so much better had it focused more on the MC’s romance rather than the toxic side couple’s, allowed the story about past events to unfold better (like maybe throughout the drama, instead of just unloading everything in the last couple of epis and even then it was still confusing and unclear), redeemed Uncle Wei (honestly, the real bad guy whose actions precipitated the tragedy from 17 years ago was Tutor Li who betrayed his friend circle, gossiping to the old emperor! I mean what kind of punishment did he get, he conspired with Qi Min too! So unbelievable and annoying), and kept the same tone & style with the cinematography. I just expected too much!

The Sublime:
-Linan Village arc
-ZLH 😍
-the music
-the villainous brothers’ auras
-Uncle Wei with the moustache

The Ridiculous:
-the ending
-how much time was given to toxic side couple’s romance (ugh!)
-Changyue defeating General Changxin
-Qi Min surviving the fall from the top of the fort (somehow I was shocked to find him in jail! )

It’s funny because as PoJ was airing and while I waited for later episodes (not knowing at the time how it would all turn out), I was rewatching earlier episodes and just enjoying their time in Linan and their reunion. I never could have predicted that I would feel so unsatisfied with the ending. I know one has to take the good with the bad, but at the end of it all, I was left wondering how much nonsense we the viewers can accept at the end of a drama despite an amazing beginning. I guess I can accept a lot because I’m giving it an 8.5, lol. Still, I can’t help but feel like I was played.

10/10 for ep 1-26
7.0/10 for ep 27-40

8.5 OVERALL

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