Reviews

Trauma =/= good drama

I've watched a couple a k-dramas over the last weeks and apparently I've forgot to say something about them.
So, about this one. I've watched this drama 7 days ago I think and I've already forgot a lot about it but here it goes.
One of the few dramas with a consistent plot. Usually you get a story that can happen no matter the background story. Here, it kinda needs this particular one, so that's a big plus. For the most part, obviously. A couple of things don't make sense and exist only to add drama and such.
Next, the acting. Amazing acting for the Male Lead. At the opposite pole, Female Lead sucks big time. Thinking a bit more, almost any other actress did a decent to phenomenal job, except the Lead one. The fact that she got maybe 2 scenes done ok, doesn't mean she's good. Yeah, sometimes (only sometimes) she looks kinda cute, but I prefer acting over looks.
Lets see, what next? Soundtrack. I don't remember exactly but I think it was something lousy/annoying.
I don't know what more to say. This drama will try and hit you at the feels. Its about trauma, how someone is affected and how they deal with it. Some reviewers think that trauma = carte blanche and they praise it and gave it top notes. I don't do that. I'm interested in the story and the acting, as one should be, no matter the subject. But I will say that you can go for this one. Mostly because the main Lead Actor carries this whose drama by itself as he's charismatic and his acting skills are quite good. Plus the second lead and a couple of supporting ones. Next to them, some of the ladies. Except for the Main Lead Actress.
I guess thats it. Have a lovely evening.

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A lot of wasted opportunities and unnecessarily draggy

This was recommended as one of a top tier Japanese drama but I kind of differ. It is a beautiful drama, with amazing cinematography and really fitting soundtracks. However, the drama was unnecessarily slow and the drama wasted the opportunity to tell a good compelling story of a hearing impaired person. Most of the time, the ML was engaging in self-pity and was a melancholic character. It did highlight some of his struggles when he slowly lost his hearing but I just don't really feel a lot for him most of his time. Perhaps, it was the limited emotions that Meguro Ren was able to portray for the character. His crying scenes just feel one-dimensional and I think his character needs him to be able to emote well for the drama to succeed. The FL actress was not great in crying scenes too. I watched another drama of hers and it seems to be so as it felt like she was constipated everytime she wants to cry, which is quite distracting everytime I want to invest myself to the tender moments of the drama.

I can't relate to their romance too. When they were highschool lovers, I can feel the attraction. But after they got back together again after ML lost his hearing, I feel that the FL love for him was pity rather than true love. The second ML was frustrating too as it doesn't make sense for him to give up on the FL and not do anything. He didn't fight for her love, he just gives up?? The only character that save the show was Haruo. He was such a comforting source for everyone and I am moved and convinced about his maturation.

Perhaps I would have appreciate the show more if I understand Japanese as I feel like I am not getting the nuances of the script as intended due to lost in translation, which was also highlighted by the writer that causes some controversy.

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Lovely romance of a married couple

So nice to see a romance start with a couple that is married and see them still in love and comfortable with each other. A nice change from the usual slow burn attraction that takes places over many episodes with a big dash of misunderstandings and jealousies.

And to make it better, there was a unique storyline behind the butterfly curse and the second couple was also interesting to watch! No super evil villain, just a little humour with a disgruntled father. No jealousies.

Loved both couples and their chemistry. The ladies were pretty and the men were handsome so watching this drama was a joy.

Do give this a go if you’re in the mood for romance right from episode 1.

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A drama that ages like fine wine

The first time I watched this drama, I was quite disappointed with the ending. How could someone as intelligent and brave as Feng Zhiwei just end her life like that? After all she went through, I thought it was a waste and a weird change of character. And for Ning Yi, after all his struggles, the ending felt like an empty goal achieved in becoming Emperor. But perhaps that is part of the story? Can an emperor be fated to have true love? Fast forward about 5 years and with all the things I have been through, watching this again I have a new understanding of this drama. If I look carefully, the seeds of Zhiwei's depression and ultimate decision to end things were sown throughout the drama.

It's hard to summarize this very long tale of 2 very multifaceted people fated to meet and fall in love but not to share a lifetime with each other. There's a lot of court/palace politics and drama that take a while to churn, but when things get going, they really come out in an exciting, satisfying fashion.

The production is beautiful - unmatched for me in recent years in C drama land. Great use of music - not overbearing. Some of the editing is uneven in parts, and the latter parts can be hard to watch for those wanting a happy ending. However, there is a tragic beauty in it as well that I can appreciate as I am getting older - although I would never want anyone in this day and age to suffer from depression as Zhiwei did.

Definitely worth the watch and re-watch. I haven't found a drama since quite like this one.

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Hopeful startup drama with some ambiguous romance

I am unsure why the hate for this drama. In my opinion, it was a pretty good drama that focus primarily on a start-up and slowly expanding and growing. But I guess even though there are some challenges that the startup faces that was depicted in the show, it's mostly a smooth journey, which you might need to take a pinch of salt, if you are watching this drama with a focus on the business side of the story. I think it's definitely way harder to build a startup than what is portrayed in the drama. But I guess the drama wants to give off that hopeful vibe that if you have a dream, you work hard and you can attain it eventually. I am not complaining though as Iife is already hard and this kind of feel good drama definitely makes life better.

There are also the focus on the romantic life of the FL, who is a career woman. There were moments that they kept emphasizing on her attraction with Kotori but I don't see that they are romantically attracted to one other as it felt to me that Kotori was more of a fatherly figure to her than a partner and this makes a lot of sense because she don't have a father. But the script was written in an ambiguous fashion about their relationship (most likely on purpose to keep audience suspense to their relationship) and I thought that the two characters pull off the ambiguity quite well. Suzaki's role is more like a silent supporter for the FL but I do feel that he is rather out of place in the show as he don't have a lot of scenes and sometimes I am not even convinced he is one of the ML. But I am happy that they got together eventually even though the pact they had for not loving each other is kind of cliche. It was a wasted opportunity that they did not manage to build up the storylines of side characters especially for Jiro and Megumi. Would love to hear more about their backstories. I feel like they are just there for the sake of being there.

Music was great but forgettable. But it fits the vibe of the show.

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My Mom who chose me

This drama is for those who are looking for a comedy that's not all romance... but rather an almost healing (surprisingly), yet enjoyable relationship of a family and their friends who are not your traditional pairings or tropes.

Don't come into this looking for your usual romantic development and fluff - you'll get very little of that. Why? Because this isn't a story about a mother and daughter finding their partners. It's about a mother and daughter learning about one another, growing with each encounter and conflict, and about the world of non-traditional families and just love as it exists.

I love that the characters in this drama reflect the reality of many situations - not everything is selflessness and 'strong & independent'. Each character has their flaws and strengths, quirks and stories. Each relationship built itself differently, and developed at its pace.

The timing of some of the relationships (romantic, friendships etc) can be confusing and there might be tiny plotholes because of how the focus is on the mom-daughter, but its easy to let go since it wrapped up the same way its relationships were meant to be - you can't assume what is to come! You can only hope and continue on with what you have now.

I do agree the ending is not the easiest to figure out, but I just had my understanding of it, and hope you do too!

A definite recommend from my side to people looking for a non-cliché driven drama that doesn't follow your usual formula with wonderful acting and interesting character dynamics.

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Feel good drama about love and navigating differences

This was my first foray into Jdrama and it has such a feel good vibe that makes you want to keep watching for more. The story is pretty straightforward. An delinquent outcast fell in love with a visual impaired girl at first sight. However, the ML chasing after the FL was not without it's challenges as they need to learn how to accomodate to each other's differences. But what I really appreciate from the show is that the FL's poor eyesight was not seen as a weakness and the drama did not fall too much into a web of constant self-pity like many dramas that portrays disabilities do. The two main lead did a pretty good job in their performance but the characters are not the most challenging to portray, so I can't give any higher than 7.5. The music was nice but was quite forgettable. Pacing wise was pretty good.

What I dislike:
- Don't understand how ML could fell in love with the FL so quicky. No explanation on that.
- Not a fan of Shishio and the FL sister's romance. Some things can't be forced but I guess the writer wants to give a happy ending for everyone.
- The twist at the end was kinda unnecessary.

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WOW !!!!

mba taeri gak usah diraguin si. aktingnya gila banget. terlalu bagus. aku langsung terpana. bikin penasaran tiap episode bikin pengen langsung lanjut ke eps berikutnya. kalo menurutku gak semenyeramkan itu si. ga ada yang terlalu gimana2. bagus banget. akting pemerannya juga bagus banget. ternyata bisa buat nangis juga. huhu. btw chemistry mbak taeri sm mas polisi bagus juga. kirain bakal berlayar taunya enggak heuheu. kalau di lihat dari jalan ceritanya seram si lebih ke terlalu kejam kenapa bisa ada kayak gitu. tapi semoga ini semua hanya karangan drama. ini kejadian nya kayak turun temurun gitu yaa

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Yes please watch it, it's worth all 24 episodes

As a remake, it fixes all all the problems that made Addicted subpar.

Stay With Me has complex (and likeable) characters, depth in its storytelling, and exceptional visuals.

Fundamentally, the narrative has so much potential because all of SWM's characters are carefully constructed to show how they are missing something in their lives.

Both Wubi and Suyu feel like they don’t truly belong to their families. And it is in the context of these circumstances that they realise: In a relationship that involves only them both, perhaps they can belong to each other.

Over the course of 24 delicate episodes, the series weaves a wonderful narrative on relationships and parental love, high school friendships and romance, and what it means to feel like one belongs. The episodes are easy to watch and draw you in quickly with heartwarming stories of their family life.

Despite the ambiguity in Wubi and Suyu’s relationship, the show drops plenty of hints to suggest the depth of their emotional bond, making it clear that the nature of their relationship isn’t that of mere buddies.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/08/26/stay-with-me-2023-bl-review/

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the kiss scenes are very satisfying

love is sweet was the drama I started watching because of riley wang. But when I started to watch this I fell in love with jiang jun and yuan shuai. The story line is good ?and I like the most was this couple I want to call this couple comedian couple because there are literally lot of scene where you will laugh your heart out like in one scene when jiang jun kick yuanshuai off the bad and in the office when the jiang jun do the octopus? dance. I like it very much. The ep 16 when yuan shuai was sick the most funny scene of luo yunxi for me. I have wath this drama 4 to 5 times now also I am not bored.

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Kisses, Kisses and More Kisses

I liked everything about this drama. The ML (Li Ge Yang aka Shen Shi Yi) and the FL (Ke Ying aka Sheng Xia), what a great couple! You will thoroughly enjoy watching these two together.

The story revolves around Sheng Xia who is a "kiss instructor" on dramas. She makes sure that when it comes to the kissing scenes that they are done right. It is the closest that she will get to her dream of becoming a star. As she is walking home a man stops her by just holding out a comic book to her. She takes it home and begins to leaf through it and is transferred into a "Mary Sue System" or virtual world of the comic book.

She does have an AI which is in the system called "Xiao Bai" that explains to her she entered the comic "She Runs, He Chases: The Fourth Prince's Beautiful, Young and Weak Wife" in which Sheng Xia was the female lead and Gu Yichen (First Prince) is her male lead. Being the female lead she is naturally immune to poison. She can cure all poisons in the world with a kiss. Xiao Bai tells her that her first kiss would have a binding effect. Her main task is to end up together with Gu Yichen, the male lead. After completing the task, she will then get a customized celebrity system which she will then enter the prime of her life. He then hands her a cell phone which has the "Mary Sue Store." This store she has to acquire her value coins which show up on her arm to be able to purchase items to do her task.

The system is based on dramatic and cliche plots, with love above all. To summon the system administrator, she has to snap her fingers and call Xiao Bai. To get out of the comic book she has to claim the male lead which in this case is the First Prince. But like the best laid plans there is always something that happens. As she was told by Xiao Bai her first kiss would have a binding effect, and she ends up kissing the villain, who is so fine, Shen Shi Yi. By her kissing him she changed the direction of the comic and inadvertently made the villain the male lead. Because these two were now bound together due to her kissing him and not the First Prince. Whenever Shen Shi Yi was poisoned, she would kiss him and take the poison out of him. In return, when Sheng Xia was in danger he would show up and save her.

Trust me, he had no problem kissing her all time. The first episode I swear he kissed her 4 times or more. But you could tell each time they were getting more intense with the kisses. You will be swooning for sure.

Xiao Bai does show up at various points to tell Sheng Xia that she has to keep the comic on track in order for her to return. She tries too but it is apparent that Shen Shi Yi is meant to be the male lead of the comic which does happen after the reboot. In order to do that, they both ended up dying but because it was a sacrifice of true love, they were allowed to do a reboot.

Prior to the reboot, Sheng Xia explained to Shen Shi Yi many things which made him understand that he was in a comic book world. But because of the reboot, Shen Shi Yi was now the male lead, and he was getting weaker from this reboot, she had to save him. As Xiao Bai told her in the beginning, she was to get together with the male lead and since Shen Shi Yi now was, she knew what she needed to do. She asks Shen Shi Yi to marry her, which he does. The next morning, she wakes up only to find Shen Shi Yi gone. She runs outside calling him and is sent back to the real world by the system. She completed her task.

Sheng Xia is totally devastated because she had found her one and true love and he was gone. She went back to the street where she encountered the man that had handed her the comic book and tried snapping her fingers to call Xiao Bai back, nothing. Crying endlessly on the street, you hear the footsteps of a man approaching and he says, "Respected user, the system has received the contents of your complaint. How can I be of service to you?" She turns around and yes, you know it is our man Shen Shi Yi. He says to her, "From now on you do not have to call Xiao Bai, anymore." They both are crying and yes, kissing like crazy! He told her he remembers what she said about him coming to her world and he said it took a lot of effort, but he was there for her.

In the very end, you see her waking up on a couch with a director and crew saying how good she was in her scene. Hence what Xiao Bai told her...she was now a female lead, celebrity in the prime of her life.

Again, good ending and it was just one of those rare gems that you just can sit back and binge watch in no time. Plus, the ML who I have seen in "Trick in Love" is definitely one man that is truly meant for historical dramas. With that flowing hair and looks you will thoroughly be caught up watching him. The FL, she is just cute as can be and she complimented the ML so well. I would like to see them in another drama together.

Truly one that you don't want to miss, get ready to swoon.

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One Of The Best Chinese Drama I’ve Seen

A beautiful story of these characters who are extremely broken and abandoned, desperately fighting to find that love and happiness.
Yang Zi, Deng Wei, Tan Jian Ci and Zhang Wan Yi, all did a phenomenal job portraying their characters.
The intertwined relationships of not two but four people, was captivating and not boring throughout the entire series. It is impressive how they successfully captured a great individual chemistry between the female lead and her leading men. I was mesmerized and invested in each of her relationships with all three men. I have my favorite and I’m hoping he will be her happy ending and that is Tushan Jing / Ye Shi Qi.
Deng Wei has found the role he was "born to play” which is an ethereal character. He is so beautiful that he sparkles and if he kisses you will sparkles and turn into a Deity. FYI, that kissing scene of him pulling her up, one of the sexiest I’ve seen in Cdrama. The scene with his grandmother passing away and him holding his “baby”. Without overly dramatic cry or reaction, he successfully pulled off a brilliant performance of someone who just felt lost all over again and abandoned. That’s great acting!
His character is the one that broke my heart into pieces.

I highly recommend this drama and looking forward to season two.

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Another good short drama, with complete concept with beginning-middle-end. We can see this is not really a low budget short drama. Even though it's only 14 ep with 35 min each, but we can say this made with love & story to tell.

Really interesting how they flip the concept of time travelling & what a poor Lu Yu An (YA). This story start in the future & with each time travelling Shen Bu Yan (BY) move backward in time instead just moving forward. So the first time meeting between BY & YA is actually the last time they met each other & the last meeting is actually the first time they met each other. So yeah, with all the knowledge & missing feeling of BY by YA, it's just pity her...

This drama tell story of BY that try to change the fate of YA. With each time travelling he tried his best to change the fate of YA, but instead changing it, I say he put everything just in the place where it's belong. And with the wheel keep going backward each time we got story to tell...

This time travel concept tell us that we can't really change what in the past, we can only learn & know what happen in the past. That's why, I kinda frustrated with BY actually. He a little bit slow in understand the concept of his time travelling, so he just waste so many valuable time to tell YA what she need to know about future. I mean YA obviously already told him, in the second time, at that time she still has memory of BY, how he not understand that he can't change the wheel of fate...? A little slow if I must say. Haha...

Overall this really one good short story that you may check out. Oh and btw, This is maybe the first time that I really like the performance of Zhang Ya Qin as YA... She played her good....

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