Reviews

Started off well and then, became repetitive and dull.

[I respect other reviewers and their individual choices. There are plenty of dramas out there to suit every taste. Direct your support or lack of to the drama itself. If you support this drama, good for you and please continue to. Please write your own good reviews. If you do not support this drama, please also write your own review. We are reviewers. Not personal attackers. We review. We do not attack. Reserve your opinions for your reviews and not for the reviewer who is responding to the drama itself and not to other external aspects. I am responding to this drama that I have watched and I am not personally attacking any actor or actress in real life as I do not know them at all and have no grudges against them. It is all based on this particular drama only/ this particular reel life only.]

I thought that this drama would be a cute, slice-of-life drama and for starters, it was. I truly enjoyed the first 5 episodes and I looked forward to more hilarious episodes. However, after episode 8 or so, things started to go downhill. Upon reaching episode 12, I knew that I could not continue.

What I Liked (at first):
- I liked Bai Ma Shuai. He was the mega rich and yet, very earnest worker.
- I liked the plots (at first).
- The soundtrack at the beginning of the drama was catchy.
- There was slice-of-life parts which made me laugh and made me tear as I empathized with the characters who were struggling/ going through a hard time in life and at work.

What I Eventually Disliked:
- The characters showed little growth/ development. For example, Fan Si Si was most boring. All she wanted to do was to knock off and to do as little as possible. I felt that this actress was not a good one either as she was pretty stiff in her acting and she did not showcase anything "wow". Similarly, many of the characters in the drama were stilted and lacked interesting character growth/ development. They went round and round, round and round, over and over again. It was painful after awhile.
- There was nothing much to look forward to in each episode. At times, I felt that the episodes were fairly disjointed.
- The 1st group in the company kept on trying to eliminate the 3rd group in the company and that was about it. The 1st group's attempts were futile but nothing worth the watch.

[I respect other reviewers and their individual choices. There are plenty of dramas out there to suit every taste. Direct your support or lack of to the drama itself. If you support this drama, good for you and please continue to. Please write your own good reviews. If you do not support this drama, please also write your own review. We are reviewers. Not personal attackers. We review. We do not attack. Reserve your opinions for your reviews and not for the reviewer who is responding to the drama itself and not to other external aspects. I am responding to this drama that I have watched and I am not personally attacking any actor or actress in real life as I do not know them at all and have no grudges against them. It is all based on this particular drama only/ this particular reel life only.]

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A story that became disappoint after half-way

Where to begin, I knew from get go this is going to be a serial killer drama. The drama starts off incredible, we as a third could see our hero aka lee sung min, a innocent kind driver is going to get in trouble as soon as he agrees to take Yeon sook aka the serial killer as a customer and drive him to destination which is four hours away.

Spoilers ahead please be warned, I cannot describe why I gave such low rating without telling any of it.

After watching many kdramas, at that point, I thought it will be typical drama, where driver will eventually find out something is wrong with the customer through clues here and there, simultaneously police will come across some victim and figure out who is the serial killer eventually, and the goal would be to catch the culprit, while our meek hero will save the day by becoming strong. I thought it would be typical plot, but it wasn't like this at all.

From the get go, the villain jokingly admits he is a serial killer to the point he seriously reveals he is indeed a killer all by himself. And he threatens our hero and tells him he needs to stow away to another country before police finds out what he did, so the hero must drive his taxi till the destination point because he doesn't know how to drive a car himself. He reveals all the details of his life, how he killed, whom he killed and everything. Which for me felt impressive. At that point I knew this take on serial killer Kdrama is very different and unique. The drama felt fresh and kept me on toes.

That's first five episodes, it felt different and incredible.

But what comes later is utter disappointment.

Just when I was thinking wow a Kdrama about a serial killer with different kind of script and not the routine writing we usually see in other dramas felt like fresh air of art. But it quickly became a typical writing style from them on.

The hero becomes damn foolish to the point because of his selfishness and dumbness alone kills three people. But I wasn't disappointed yet. Fine who is to say a hero should never be dumb. His character from the beginning of this drama has been portrayed as a weak mindset. So I can understand, even though he made stupid decision, it still felt like a decision the character would make. He wasn't totally selfish because the villain threatened him. So even three people got killed , we can understand the hero had no choice.

By the time hero and villain had finally reached the destination where the villain wanted to stow away, the serial killer reveals to hero he had killed his daughter and not only that he also shows hero the beheaded head of his daughter. The head which he hid in a trolley and made hero carry all the way by threatening him if he won't drive taxi he will kill his daughter and if he does reach the destination in time he will spare his daughter. But now we know that didn't happen. He tells hero he purposely picked his taxi for ride, because he wanted to feel the joy of knowing the hero can never win and save his daughter. He then stabs our hero and escapes.

The villain kills countless of people, and let me tell he doesn't just physically kill people, he tortures them mentally which is even more brutal than the actual act of killing. He mocks their death and all because the villain is someone who doesn't feel any emotions and he got a weird ability where he doesn't feel pain at all even if he is stabbed. Yes, he literally doesn't feel pain.

After this our hero somehow survives, a big twist comes later on who is actually involved in this killing spree, which is actually a great twist, but moving on our hero sets out to revenge. I mean come on that is the only sensible thing to do. The hero lost his daughter, that psycho murdered his daughter which even can't be called a father's worst nightmare. It is even brutal than that. Due to what happened to the daughter, the wife of hero kills herself.

The hero finally catches the villain, but you think as an audience finally our hero can avenge his daughter death, please be as good as the glory drama revenge, no no it should be even better, but hell no, the dumbass police of every Kdrama nightmare comes again. the stupid police ruins everything. Not only that, you think after all this time the hero will become strong and clever, no the villain still tortures the hero by kidnapping his daughter in law as well. He once again puts hero through all that agony and the daughter in law escapes, but hero is unaware and assumes she is dead because he knows the villain is too cruel to leave her alive, but the police interrupt, stop the hero and say "don't kill him and go to jail, you should be good person, think of the family you left".

Are you serious, dude if something like that actually happened in real life, no family would ever say stop, all that time the police ignored pleas of the victims and dismissed under context there is no proof , telling them to bring evidence, for once if the police believed the victims none of the killings would have happened, but now when the hero is getting revenge, the police became highly functional and actually follow the law all of a sudden.

All in end, there is no actually satisfaction end to this drama, the villain has a wife who gives birth to a male son, which you would think as audience won't he also turn into a serial killer when he grows up because the villain literally says his father is also similar to him. So yeah apparently it genetics. You think the villains wife, for all sins his husband has committed would have ounce of empathy and asks forgiveness and aborts the baby. Look I am all against innocent children getting effected, but god all through the series the villain asks for a baby boy because he knew his child will eventually become like him. For greater good some hard decisions to be made. The wife not only doesn't apologize, but tells our hero she will never forgive him or her husband for making her go through that. She literally says that to a man who her husband has killed his daughter and made his wife to commit to suicide.

The villain even though gets caught at the end and gets sentenced correctly, the hero is also sent to jail for seeking revenge on the villain. I mean come on dude, the writers when it came to the villain they are like let's be so creative, but when it came to hero they all became straight and arrow. The hero literally saw 10 lives of hell in while being alive.

There is no proper revenge, police are incompetent till the end, even if villain is sentenced it doesn't make any satisfactions as he lacks emotions and pain. even if you kill villain he will lose life but will not feel pain. And you send the hero aka the actual biggest victim to jail when he is been through that much torture. The only thing good about this drama is the villain is actually perfect, he is clever, sadist and is always ten steps ahead and the writing around villain itself is very creative, other than that it is no good.

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YOU Must Be the First Priority!

Most everyone has been told that you should always think of others first and yourself second. To do otherwise is considered “selfish.” However, this is putting the cart before the horse, for what good can you possibly be to anyone if you don’t take care of yourself? It took me 30 years to realize this truth, and I saw much of my old self in Jung Da Eun.

The series focuses on mental health and the illnesses that many people suffer, and sadly, suffer in silence. Much of the world still has many stigmas and dogmatic beliefs in those who suffer from mental illnesses. Psychiatry is still a relatively new science, and like a fledgling science, it’s still trying to work out many of the kinks.

Jung Da Eun is a very capable nurse who’s transferred from Internal Medicine to the Mental Health ward. This is partly because she’s a nurse with a big heart. She loves caring for others. However, when a patient she is closest to ends his life in suicide, she blames herself for not doing more. This event is only a catalyst to something much deeper that has been festering within Jung Da Eun for years. She’s always been a pleaser, sacrificing her own desires and needs for someone else’s. While this may seem like a noble way to live, it isn’t. Sacrifice means to give up something to gain something else. The ultimate goal is to help yourself AND the other person!

I, myself, was a pleaser for years. How people perceived me, from parents to teachers to friends and people in relationships meant everything to me. This is a losing battle because you never find what you truly need outside of yourself. It’s an impossibility. Once I learned how to love and appreciate myself, and make that my priority, only then did I learn how to set boundaries, to take care of myself, and then be able to help others. Set your own feet first. You cannot give what you do not have.

As Jung Da Eun goes through deep depression, she starts off denying that there is anything wrong with her. Why? Because to admit that something is wrong would mean that everything she believes herself to be (her whole identity) would be a farce. Of course, this is the mental story she tells herself, even though it’s completely untrue. This is something that everyone does. We identify so much with the mental projections of who we believe ourselves to be, that we feel as though we’re lost without it. Of course, this is all a part of the delusion; the lies we tell ourselves.

Just as the body becomes ill with diseases, so too, does the mind. All disease (dis-ease) stems from the same core problem: lack of love for yourself. Unfortunately, much of psychiatry attempts to deal with the symptoms rather than the cause. The same can even be said of physical ailments as well.

The series does a wonderful job of pulling back the layers of mental illness and shining the spotlight of awareness on them. We see parents refusing to believe that something is wrong because they take it as a negative reflection on themselves. Children in the west believe that parents owe them everything. Parents in the east believe that children owe them everything. Both are wrong and equally abusive and unhealthy. What you end up having are spoiled children and overbearing parents. And yet, some parents have the courage to admit that they cannot help their children, and out of love, they find someone who can. Just as when your car breaks down, you don’t deny that there is something wrong or even that your level of “expertise” prevents you from fixing it. So, you find an expert; a mechanic.

We see some intriguing storylines involving the staff of nurses at the hospital. Dr. Song has a sister who suffers from schizophrenia, and the prejudice involved when she tries to move into an apartment building. Nurse Min suffers from extremely low self-esteem, largely due to her mother’s abuse. It takes a tremendous amount of persistence from Dr. Hwang to start viewing herself differently and to also take a stand and end the cycle of abuse from her mother. Remember, if you remove either the abuser or the person being abused from the equation, abuse can no longer exist.

Another component of the show is finding and doing what you love. Most people don’t realize how vastly important this is, and why it’s also a necessary one when demonstrating how much you love yourself. So many people are told what they can do or what they can’t do, largely by those who have no clue themselves. It’s the blind leading the blind. Never let anyone tell you what you can or can’t do. Ignore and refrain from listening to anyone who attempts to meddle with your life. After all, it’s YOUR life, and whenever you give your power away, you cannot blame the other person for why your own dreams didn’t work out.

This series was on par to some degree with “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” which in some ways, was a better show as it seemed to delve much deeper into the psyche of people. However, that doesn’t make this show any less powerful or compelling as we see that a mental breakdown can literally happen to anyone at any point in time. The key, however, is to recognize that most events are nothing more than catalysts for revealing something that has been festering within. Again, this is why loving and taking care of yourself MUST be your number one priority! Only then will you be far more likely to recognize when something is off within yourself, and you will be in a far better position to deal with those events when they occur.

Bo Young Park continues to be one of my favorite actresses. She is a master of tapping into any emotion or feeling that the role requires, and she really does give us a complex character who may be glowing on the outside but is quietly suffering within. We also feel her despair as she finds herself a patient, and why hitting rock bottom is always a blessing. There’s only one way left to go: up!

This an important series to watch, not only for people to hopefully begin to prioritize themselves but also to recognize that most people with mental illnesses are not a threat to others, any more than someone with cancer or some physical disease. While the world has a long way to go, this series demonstrates that a daily dose of sunshine provides us with hope.

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Kiyoi's character development

Honestly, this is so much better than the previous season. We get to know more about Kiyoi and become more annoyed with Hira (lol). I can understand Kiyoi's POV with how Hira acts. It can be really annoying and frustrating to tell him all over again that Kiyoi is not a god that he should worship. Honestly, If I were Kiyoi, I might have dumped Hira if he continued to act like I was a certain god from above. There's nothing wrong with showing your love for someone, but sometimes, it is kind of frustrating to see that someone treats you as a perfect human being. People make mistakes. We all have imperfections. Overall, I really enjoyed this sequel. I haven't watched the movie yet but I am looking forward to their character development <3

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Putting everything to their rightful place

I had this drama in my watchlist for God knows how long, but I somehow managed to force myself to watch it and thank goodness I did.

First off, let's talk about the thing that caught my eye from the very beginning and i.e the CINEMATOGRAPHY. And oh god! I can't tell you guys how blessed my eyes were after watching this angelic mixture of insane camera shots and that ethereal lighting placement. And to continue it throughout the entire show must not have been an easy feat.
Well the second thing on my list would be the story. And let's be honest the story wasn't something record breaking or exceptional. I have watched many dramas with more complex and dramatic plots but what rather makes this drama really phenomenal is its execution. But hey ! Don't get me wrong I'm not saying the story isn't interesting but rather that the show follows a single stem of main plot and gives us with a constant branched flowers of entertainment which I personally couldn't get over with.

But if this still isn't enough for you to spare some time for this show then trust me the acting of this army of good-looking cast (yeah you heard me right hehe) has it all of what you'll ever need. But what really had me in awe was the acting of Kim Hye soo and oh lord !! where were her other other dramas ,where was she till now . She really has my respect for her acting .Every little scenes of her were admirable but fav ones were those crying scenes yes those crying scenes(heh funny).

Tbh , there is still a lot more to write but I really am a busy person (I'm not) so I'll stop . Well then, I'll take my leave and hope you guys have a wonderful day ahead ..
XOXO

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Damn it was good

This drama is one of the reasons my standards got high on searching BLs.
Really the main two did their best and the scenes were OMG yo i kept drooling 😭
Plot was nice and simple
I love how the characters were developed and portrayed the emotions and all !
Also both four of them were very well played the roles and the steamy scenes were Oh My Goodness “it was good, VERY GOOD”

Overall the drama is very beautiful
The actors look so handsome and cool
The difference in the character personality is well delivered

I give 10:10
This increased my standard now im searching for dramas the same !

Love in the air FTW ♥️

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What a waste of potential

It's disheartening to see that this tv show had the potential to be among the greatest in the genre. But,...

While the writer(s) had great ideas obviously, they struggled to put them onto the screen in a manner that would be visually and emotionally pleasing, especially in the first 25 episodes, those could have been condensed into 10 or even fewer, resulting in a significantly improved viewing experience in my opinion.

*** SOME SPOILERS AHEAD ***
Establishing a strong connection between the audience and the main characters is usually achieved through the gradual development of chemistry between the two leads. Unfortunately, due to a lot of misunderstandings and sufferings, going back and forth many times, repetitiveness, particularly in the early stages but even later on in the show, this bond between the characters felt almost non-existent to me, it felt like it's there only to satisfy purpose of the plot, not real genuine romance.
I understand that these choices were driven by the demands of the story, but they should have done it in a much better way.

There are many plot holes, lazy writing, characters are mostly one dimensional without real depth, some parts felt so unnecessary dragged, like the first half of the show, and some felt rushed esp. towards the end, un-logical time jumps (they are mortals but they live for 500 years without aging a bit, Yue Ya was a child but after 500y she is still teenager) and so on.
*** THE END OF THE SPOILERS ***

Story: 6.0
I have a feeling that It's as if the writer initially conceived the ending of the story, the last ten episodes in particular which are the best part of the show, and then added the remaining parts of the narrative to fit around that initial great idea. Unfortunately, they didn't manage to execute it in the most effective manner.
Even though few parts were amazing but because overall feeling, 6 is the highest I can give.

Acting: 8.0
Main leads did a good job with the given material and the others were pretty convincing too.

Music: 7.0
Music is ok.

Re-watch: 1.0
Once is enough.

Conclusion:
It's shame to see such untapped potential. A skilled storyteller and director could have worked wonders with the material, turning it into a masterpiece. Unfortunately, the show's narrative structure and execution became a missed opportunity to create something truly remarkable.

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NOTHING LIKE BETTER DAYS AND MY BLOOD AND BONESV IN A FLOWING GALAXEY

This drama is NOTHING like Better Days and My Blood and Bones in a Flowing Galaxy 9I highly recommend you all watch it; it is so good and is underrated) it's more like the comedy series " Where there is dark there is also light " The comedy and how the main lead actress acts throw off the whole point. it's not a bad show it's just not a good show either.

The acting is not bad but the direction is bad. this show could have been pointing out so many stereotypes and problems but they chose to go the comedy route....

Better Days did badly when it first came out believe it or not. it wasn't until recently that many people started watching it. many storywriters don't trust that "controversial" shows or series will due well.

a lot of c-dramas like these happen a lot where they try to "cute" everything to get the audience to watch the show. But the people who are actually into the plot never fully like the show/movie.

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Toxic Adaptation Removes The Fun.

An unsettling adaptation from both the manga or the Japanese movie. The comedic elements that make the manga and movie work, get twisted oddly in this melodramatic re-imagining. The plot and characters (especially the secondary and tertiary characters) are all over the place and poorly written. I only got through these 10 episodes by watching at 2x the speed and fast-forwarding in addition to that.

General Spoilers below.
There is so much toxicity in this series. Everyone treats Anda like sh*t and emotionally manipulates him. He's always made to feel like he should say sorry when other people are the ones out of line. Parents are abusive (forcing him to do entertainment work when his stage fright is so bad that he can faint or get fevers) and his brother is massively controlling and secretly installs a gps tracker on his phone. Ryou does become supportive eventually but before then his actions are disturbing.

The way Ryou forcibly removes Anda's shirt to make him "prove" he isn't a girl is so wrong. And he NEVER apologizes, instead turns what happens in that scene into a way to coerce Anda into doing a photoshoot with him- knowing it's going to trigger his anxiety but wanting to make him "conquer" it, which is also the wrong way to go about that (and Ryou doesn't apologize for that either). Ryou non-consentualy kissing Anda repeatedly when he's sleeping is uncomfortable enough in the Japanese movie but at least they try to keep the tone light and only do quick pecks on the lips; though it's tasteless, it's kept as a joke. In the series, Ryou very seriously fully makes out with Anda's lips while he's dead asleep and it is flat out creepy.

The makeout scene in Ep 6 part 4 and love scene in Ep 7 part 3 are passionate (though the characters have drunk a lot for the first one). Sadly, that's the best thing to say about this series.

There's more that is uncomfortable/unsettling, silly, or frusterating with this series, but I don’t want to waste any more time on it so I'm ending my review here.

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Didn’t expect this much sweetness

To those who hesitate to watch the drama, im here to say GO On Try it ♥️ you will gonna love
So much sweetness even my teeth got cavities 🫶🏻
I didn’t expect much but the drama turns our so sweet and fluffy
The actors have done their job well and how they portrayed the emotions and all are very good!
I really enjoyed the drama and all the sweet moments
Its really a good drama to watch to make yourself relax a bit..
I recommend everyone to watch it for a little candy and sugar!
Well don’t expect things like love in the air but the sweetness is thr

Overall I enjoyed well
I kept smiling throughout the drama
Its nice and lighthearted

Give it a try
Wouldn’t get disappointed <3

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NOT MY CUP of TEA

This drama is way too serious.

Give me a break, I only watch stuff to be entertained not to see the male lover murder his female partner and repeat ad nauseum via reincarnation. *Rolls eyes* Journey of Chongzi, I'm looking at ya!

Light-hearted stuff like The Melee Mage, and Fights Break Sphere (2023) I highly approve. Depressing, sad, overly melodramatic crap like Fights Break Sphere (2018), The King's Avatar, The Longest Promise, and The Last Immortal can all go to hell!

The reason I'm even giving this 3 stars instead of 1 because kudos it's Tencent visual effects magic.

The other thing I didn't like the FL lead is too strong, the story is SOLELY about her. Here the ML is just her accessory! I hate this kind of crap. BUT if we look at Princess Agents, the story was very much about the ML as much as the FL. Zhao Liying is the only female lead I highly approve for female-centric dramas because her TV series always give importance to the ML as well! Zhao Lusi and co can all go to hell. I swear I will never watch another Xiao Zhan nor Zhao Lusi drama ever again...

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Gong Jun, Enough said

I will watch anything that has Gong Jun in it, as he’s my favorite Chinese Actor along with Johnny Haung.
This might sound biased because I love Simon so much but his acting here was so good if I do say so myself. I also liked the FL’s character so much, our marketing genius plus she wasn’t a woe is me character.
There was absolutely nothing I liked about the 2nd FL, she was such an incredibly bland character and for the life of me couldn’t understand what Jian saw in her but to each their own.
The way they glossed over that peace loan incident just so the FL and Gao Yi can reconcile was baffling, no matter how you look at it, his actions or even inaction if you may resulted in the death of her father, I know he didn’t kill her father but he might as well have IMO.
The last part of the drama didn’t make much sense honestly, the FL valued trust above everything especially after everything she went through and the MLs characterization has always been open when it comes to business matters especially acquisitions why then did he hide it from the FL? it was for just no other reason than to have more episodes and the drama can have their dramatic moment but it ended up cheapening the main characters IMO & it was a shame.
Overall I enjoyed the drama and I recommend

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