Reviews

Homophobia corrodes everything it touches… and abuse does too.

This series has left me thinking a lot of things... It was an interesting mix of sweetness and toxicity. Not my cup of tea, but interesting nonetheless.

Lu Feng: He’s the strongest character, and I liked his determination and his unapologetic “screw the world, screw homophobes” attitude. He never hid himself, but his obsession with Xiao Chen overshadowed everything. Growing up with abusive parents and enduring constant rejection left him scarred, but trauma isn’t an excuse to harm the person you claim to love. He’s a walking black flag. Yes, he eventually changed for the better, but if I were Xiao Chen, I’d never date him again. No redemption arc can erase the damage he caused.

Xiao Chen: The personality most crushed by homophobia. Weak‑minded, overly complacent, and raised in a seemingly perfect family until prejudice tore it apart. His father died without ever accepting him, and his mother forced him into a sham marriage to meet her expectations. Both parents left without truly embracing who he was, which is heartbreaking. He wanted love but also wanted to please his parents, and that conflict wrecked his mind. Despite enduring homophobia and Lu Feng’s Novichok‑level toxicity, he survived when many would have given up. Still, he never prioritized himself, even when it meant sacrificing his own happiness. Points for being a dutiful son, but at what cost?

Yi Chen: Not a bad brother. He clearly loves Xiao Chen and accepted him more than their parents did, even if he struggled at first. His slip‑ups—like lying with good intentions, were forgivable. Stronger in spirit than Xiao Chen, he managed to build a healthy relationship despite parental homophobia. Honestly, he was the luckiest of them all.

Qin Lang: Pure boyfriend material. Handsome, considerate, and the green flag this series desperately needed. He handled homophobia with firmness but also empathy, recognizing parents sometimes need time to adjust. Always supportive of Yi Chen, though I wish he’d had more screen time to balance out the sadistic mess of the main couple.

The homophobia arc felt raw and honest. But once the torture arc began, everything collapsed. I still don’t understand why Xiao Chen didn’t send Lu Feng straight to jail. Then again, you can’t force people to leave toxic environments, even if it’s for their own good. And please can we retire the tired “I don’t like men, only you” cliché?

The recovery and redemption arc was rushed, and it felt like the mental health struggles were treated far too lightly.

Conclusion: I wish the series had focused more on the second couple. Xiao Chen endured far too much, while Lu Feng’s determination and independence don’t excuse his cruelty. Trauma and mental illness should never be used as a shield for abuse. The series desperately need disclaimers. That said, the acting was excellent, the cast delivered love, fear, and hate with intensity. If I ever rewatch this, I'll definitely skip a couple of episodes and pretend they never happened.

Also, I'd like to add that If you take morals too seriously, skip certain episodes, or even the entire series, the main couple is as toxic as Novichok. It will set off every moral alarm.

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Good show for what it is

This show was pretty cute for what it was. You can definitely a lower budget show. I thought it was cool that it talked about and showed some of the good and bad things that go on behind the scenes in the idol world. Hyeon Jae and Su An were cute together, but I cared more about Jaemin and Khun's story. The back and forth of Hyeon Jae and Su An got a little boring pretty quickly. Jaemin and Khun were the more interesting couple to me from the start. I liked seeing their relationship grown into what it was. I feel like we got to see more from them emotionally as well. Jaemin was my favorite character out of everyone so that could also be why I favored his couple. I thought the chemistry was good between the two couples as well. I liked the show overall and thought was pretty enjoyable.

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Satisfyingly mild thriller/mystery ,but cold female lead. Happy Ending but romance is meh

This isn't a drama you're going to want to watch twice because once the mysteries are revealed there's no unknowing ! I may have missed some key points, but the math kinda got away from me as there were 3 "boyfriends"/ fiancé in a VERY short time frame (1 year? ). This was a big plot problem for me until the end where they reveal just what her relationship was with each man. Still, it's alot of men to be involved with in such a short time span, especially when you consider the addition of the detective-making the number of men she is involved with 4 (+her childhood friend#5!)
That aside; the suspense was well done. The female lead is incredibly skeletal. Her arms, legs & hip bones are so obviously underfed & at times her hip bones actually protrude against her clothing. Besides that, Her character could have been done better, but over all they made it work. The romance felt forced. It really left me : "meh"
I didn't feel chemistry between the leads & the kisses were lackluster -blame it on the cameraman/angle ?
The female lead's character is odd. She let's things happen to her. [Like the kisses- she's ok if he kisses her & ok if he doesn't-no desire, no heat].They show you alot about her, that explains ALOT & yet she's not written for us to like her. [trying hard not to spoil too much of the plot !] .So when they fully explain the death of boyfriend #1, I felt my already lukewarm attitude toward her get even more tepid. When we get the full explanation behind boy friend # 2, it didn't really actually give an explanation that worked for me (relationship wise). Boy Friend/Fiancé #3 's relationship with the female lead also had me taking yet another step back from the female lead. In the end I viewed her as just another attractive female who resented her looks & looked down on the men who were attracted to her. As for being a "siren", the men were shallow in what they wanted from her, but the story is less clear in answering just how much "luring" the female lead did. I struggled throughout the drama with my ambivalence over the female lead's relationship with boyfriend #1 & #3 . So when she reacted (again) pretty much exactly as she had with boyfriend # 1 ,with the final romantic relationship (in the drama), I felt justified in thinking that she's no heroine & she certainly never showed true character growth. I did NOT like the point they drove home at the end about the usage of the word "siren". They throw some feminist message in that's just an excuse for her selfishness. Let's be honest; what she did & what she cared about, was not any different from the other people in her life whom she considered "bad" & "wrong".
The end was "happy" ? she gets what she wants. but you have to conceed: she attracts a certain type of guy, which begs the question: whose actually the siren !?

The OST; had too many songs sung in English that were repeated too often (some were just bad to listen to musically).

Dumb stuff: sign in parking garage : "Praking"
WHY are there no airbags in the very new looking cars ?
Policemen carrying guns (I didn't think that was normal)

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Awful writing

I am so sorry I love Boss and Noeul so much, but I do not understand why they chose to do this show. This show wasn't very good at all. I think they are better than something like this. The show was very cringe, but that's not the whole reason I thought it was bad. The story of them getting together wasn't the greatest, but my biggest issue was the three side love stories got so little screentime that I'd forget they were even a thing until we got the brief little glimpses that we did.
Tai and the coffee shop dude (I don't even know his name) had maybe two scenes so I didn't care about that at all. Tee was just a bully and a stalker, so I'm glad the guy he liked never gave into him. Again, though they had so little screentime that if it were going to turn into something, there wouldn't be enough time shown to develop anything. Tian at the end talked about how he didn't want to be sleeping around anymore and they even showed us a moment where it seemed like he may have been kind of dating someone again, except we didn't see any of that (other than their breakup) and we didn't see how he reached that point at all. They also introduced that hotel worker guy as someone potentially for him but that didn't go anywhere either.
The writing in this was just so bad. I just kept thinking that Boss and Noeul were too good for this show the entire time I watched it. I tuned in every week but couldn't ever get into the show really. The actors all did great with the script they were given, there were some genuinely funny moments, and the spice was great (ofc bc it's BossNoeul), but overall, I just think even a show like this could've been better than it was. It said to be continued at the end, so we'll see if I like the next season/special ep better.

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Started Strong, Ended Up Going Nowhere

The drama started off really well and had me hooked. But as the story unfolded, it honestly felt like everyone was just... searching for a ghost without any real logic.

My biggest issue was how the characters kept making the most frustrating decisions. The FL knew she was in danger, yet she constantly insisted on handling everything alone. Girl, why are you walking into that huge creepy house by yourself? ans when you know that so many people died there uh 😭

The investigation also felt repetitive. They spent almost the entire drama searching for clues, old newspapers, books, and the ghost's name. It was just searching... searching... and more searching. The worst part? Some of the biggest "discoveries" happened way too conveniently. They built up so much suspense, only for important answers to come from the simplest conversations.

The folklore aspect had so much potential, but I don't think it was written very well. The ghost manipulating the leads made sense, but the execution didn't. There were so many moments where I just kept asking, "Why are they doing it like this?" Even the ghost literally giving them a page number felt ridiculous.

Another thing that annoyed me was the lack of communication. One character literally knew almost everything about the ghost and kept quiet for no good reason while another spent half his life searching for answers. Just... tell him?? So many problems would've been solved if people actually talked to each other.

episodes 9–12 especially dragged for me. Instead of moving the mystery forward, it started feeling repetitive and overdramatic.

That said, I did enjoy the production quality. The possession scenes were well done, and I also liked the backstory involving the grandmother and father. Those parts were honestly more interesting than the main investigation.

Overall, I wasn't bored, but I was definitely disappointed. It kept me watching, yet by the end I was left wondering, "What was actually happening?" The premise was interesting, but I think the writing could've been much tighter. With a better script, this could've been an amazing supernatural thriller.

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Fresh and unique genre with stunning visuals

The first parts were kind of slow to me i would say it become really really fun from ep4.5/5 ish. Loved Ep5 and Ep6 so much i would say the highlight of this show to me.

Storywise, it is good for me but i didn't really like how the plot twists were too overdone to the point it kind of deducted points from me abit. I loved the grandma plot twist so much. The arc for the crown prince was the main plot of this drama right? But i feel like the reason for his anger was too weak considering how he was cursing and killing everyone . He was THAT angry because his father killed him and because he wanted to be a king? What about the other princes that was killed by him, why weren't they THAT angry too? It was questionable for me. I feel like the other people in the story were more wronged than him, hence they should be the bigger villain, no? The story felt like it was spinning at one point i was so confused i had to pause a couple of times. Were they doing too much, idk tbh. But, i really loved, saenggang and gucheon's backstory which were key plot points to the story. The story for the other spirits were also very fun.

Acting wise, it's mixed for me. The king and the queen dowager absolutely killed it with their performance. The creepy vibe that Jang Youngnam carried along with her acting was phenomenal. But for the leads, gucheon and saenggang, i find their acting in the early episodes abit weak and unconvinving but luckily midway through they became pretty good.

Chemistry wise, although there were barely any romance, i feel like they were the strong points of this drama that made me stay. I really loved gucheon and saenggang's dependency on each other. I loved that they were willing to risk their lives for each other , it was kind of romantic haha.

Cinematography was stunning, and absolutely gorgeous. They managed to bring that creepy and haunting aura so well to the screen. I also enjoyed the CG very very well.

Maybe, cause i'm a sucker for well done sageuks, despite the negatives i still find this show good enough to rank 9.5. A good enough plot, engaging story, strong acting, a hard to not ignore chemistry, mindblowing visuals both from the cast and also the cinematography, strong scoring. I also loved the spirit storytelling, the shamanism and all. Most of all ggeomeoksalli the cute creature. A solid drama.

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Compassion, Faith, and Love— Perfectly told.

It's so rare to find a story that leaves nothing but gratitude when it ends, a story told with so much sincerity that every moment felt real. Living in a predominantly Catholic country, it resonated with me in a way I've never expected, did not ask to choose between faith and love.Instead, it invited reflection on compassion, humanity, and the kind of love that understands before it judges. Most BL series leave me hoping for another season, but this one left me with peace. It felt complete, exactly as it was meant to be. maybe some stories are not meant to be longer they're just simply meant to be remembered 🥹. Best BL for mah boys GemFourth!!

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don't drop drama by reading reviews..!!

those who watched and enjoyed xianxia(fantasy drama ) before ,this is a must watch drama for them...and its one of the best drama...im sure if you start watching, you are gonna love it ...dont drop drama judging reviews ,,not everyones thoughts are same ,you watch a few episode and choose yourself,,,,in either way ,cdrama basded on wuxia and xianxia needs a bit patience,,,if you can be patient and complete ,you wont never be dissapointed to any drama ,,,,for this drama you just watch 4 ep then you decide to continue or drop...! the drama is not for beginner of fantasy world!

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I wasn't expecting The East Palace to be THIS good

I finished this drama in just 2 days because I seriously couldn't stop watching. I only started it because this is Nam Joohyuk's comeback drama after military service. His last drama was back in 2023, and finally seeing him back in 2026 already made me excited. Turns out I got way more than I expected.

I honestly thought I was just going to enjoy it because of the cast, but this drama ended up being so much better than I imagined. I knew it was directed by the same director as Bulgasal, but I still wasn't expecting it to be this good. The whole evil spirit hunting inside the palace was done so well, every episode kept the tension high and I could never predict what would happen next. The cinematography was absolutely insane too. It honestly reminded me of Sweet Home, but somehow even more beautiful.

What I loved the most was how the story kept tricking me. I was so convinced the Queen Dowager was the real villain because of everything surrounding the pond spirit. Then they dropped another twist with the King and the Crown Prince and I genuinely didn't see that coming at all. Every time I thought I had figured things out, the drama proved me wrong.

In the middle of all that darkness, Ggeomoksali ended up being one of my favorite characters. Even though he survives by absorbing Yang energy from humans, he was honestly so adorable. Seeing him always sticking close to Gucheon added just enough cute moments without ruining the serious atmosphere.

I also spent the whole drama preparing myself for a sad ending because this kind of story usually ends that way. Instead, they gave us an open ending that clearly leans toward a happy one. Watching Gucheon and Saeng Gang begin their journey together to break the ancient chain connecting Gucheon with Gwimae actually left me smiling instead of heartbroken.

Now the only thing I'm upset about is the fact that it's only 8 episodes. This world and these characters deserve so much more. I really hope they give us a season 2 because I'm already missing this drama. And shout out to Nam Joohyuk for such a great comeback. Waiting three years was completely worth it, and I honestly couldn't have asked for a better drama to welcome him back.

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Don't be fooled: ML is not the main character, ML is barely in the show.

The ML had not but almost 10 minutes of screentime episode 5. Every episode has been the exact same amount of screentime for him as well. I'm so done with this show favoring the fl who's being an absolute b word to him, complaining, being a snob and having 0 facial expressions getting ALL the screentime and plot revolving around her, over the ml actually doing anything at all. This is getting a 6 from me, I should know better than to trust mdl comments in hopes the show will get better... lol but it isn't at all.

Don't advertise Nam Joo Hyuk on the poster and trailer if he isn't even the main character. Every plot point has been about her but she's insufferable, and I'm not exaggerating that. I've never seen him in anything before and wanted to besides 25-21 because I know how it ends, but the guy isn't even here besides getting grilled by the fl. It's getting irritating and tiring, fast.

The Guest is great, but I feel the writers are horrible at writing tolerable female characters that don't b*tch and moan at the ML for absolutely no reason when they're trying their best, as shown with this show (I'm no curser, but that's how strongly this fl is annoying me).

All style, no substance. Nothing is explained when events occur and it's an absolute mess. Cgi nothing burger fest. Poor poor development and 2D characters to boot. I waited a long time for this in gleeful anticipation, but am deeply disappointed. I think this was written as a full length series but got cut short to 8 episodes, I'm not kidding you NOTHING makes any sense and you're not sure what you're watching.

Waste of a show. Roh Yoon Seo should be on the cover solely by herself, because that's all this show is, and she can't act to save her life. I bet my life on it that she has over 80% of the scenes, which would've suited it if you actually had originally advertised her as the lead so we'd know what we were signing up for, but this was misrepresented badly to draw viewers in with the lead Actor.

ML is here to be the FL's punching bag for everything and nothing more. This feels more like watching a so called "girl boss", but instead let's make her be rude to everyone around her and excuse it for being a "strong female lead."


The acting in it is quite bad too from most parties from leading roles to side characters, there's a couple actors here and there who did well, but it feels like B acting 90% of the time. It's very second-hand embarrasment to watch if I'm being completely honest. I'm wincing at the performances.


Skip on this if you don't want to waste your time. It's an incoherent mess and misleading in it's advertisement of what we originally saw of the show and how they marketed it, which is completely wrong and cheap to do.

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Don't watch if you don't like being left on a eternal cliffhanger

I'M PISSED!

Before I get into why I'm pissed, the OST was good, and the acting was fantastic.

I really liked Arisa & Kraam, while I couldn't stand Anan.

I did really hate the cheating, but Kraam and May as characters I still liked. They just have very poor judgment. I may have hated Anan, but I don't like that to happen to anyone.

I also really didn't understand May's logic with some of her treatments. I'm not getting into Joey because I don't know enough, but why did she never try to drain the infection out of Jack's leg? Why was it never elevated above his heart? She drained a blood clot that honestly would have been better left alone because it was far enough away from the heart that she could have just let the body absorb it naturally, but no, let's do that and do NOTHING for the infected leg. After a certain point, the leg should have just been cut off, but that was never considered either because why would it be!?

Now then; WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ENDING!? I'm assuming they planned on doing a season 2, but it never happened because the actor for Kraam, Beam, passed away. Understandable that they didn't want to continue the project. I'm not mad about that.

I'm mad because I don't understand what the fuck happened.

The writing for this series started really strong, but it seemed like once it got to the mystery aspect of the story, it started to crumble. The foreshadowing didn't connect with what we are being told at the end. Which was honestly a little of nothing. The whole time I kept thinking some Island spirit was trying to cleanse the Island of sin since we kept focusing on the wrongs the characters committed. But that's not it? I'm still not sure because we don't really know anything about Kraam's dad, who seems to be like the fake Professor Lin.

I also think some kind of loop is happening. As Kraam went through the gate as a baby, he can't leave the Island; he goes back through the gate, maybe leaving his baby on the other side. Does this baby belong to both worlds? Will it be able to leave the Island? Is Kraam part of both worlds?

This other world is clearly an alternate universe, but did the same tsunami hit in both worlds? If so, why isn't the Island completely submerged? And as for the other world, Joey: is he alive in this world because he died in the other? Are only people who died in this world? Will Jack be there? Can you only travel through the gates if your other self is dead? Wait, Joey knew Kraam, so that means there would have been a version of Kraam in this world, but how is that possible if this was the world Kraam was originally from?

Also, how did Kraam not drown? Not once, but twice, he should have drowned, but didn't. At first I thought that at least his father was a merman and he could actually breathe underwater or something, but we never see how he gets out of the truck in the beginning & he just wakes up near the end like he wasn't breathing while unconscious underwater. Why didn't he drown? What more is going on? Is it because he went through the gate, or does it have something to do with him? I'm assuming him since his mother died not long after passing through the gate.

Honestly, trying to figure out anything in this show gives me a headache. The point is, they didn't explain anything to us and left us on a massive cliffhanger. It's sad, but if I had known this was how it was going to end, I never would have watched it. I don't like unanswered questions or cliffhangers, and that's all this series left me with.

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An Above-Average Fantasy Drama That Knows How to Entertain...

Reborn Rookie (2026) is an enjoyable fantasy drama that blends comedy, corporate politics, sports, and family relationships into an easy-to-watch package. it succeeds in delivering enough humor, emotional moments, and engaging performances to keep viewers invested. Its greatest strength lies in its entertaining premise, although the execution occasionally falls into familiar K-drama conventions.

The story is good but it become predictable in some episodes by repetitive conflicts and predictable twists, which makes it stretchy at times. Although the body-swap concept provides plenty of entertainment early on, the series occasionally plays it too safely instead of exploring its full potential.

Despite these shortcomings, Reborn Rookie remains an enjoyable watch. Its blend of comedy, family drama, and personal redemption offers enough heartfelt moments to enjoy the series.

Reborn Rookie is a pleasant fantasy drama elevated by strong lead performances, but with predictable storytelling and uneven pacing prevent it from reaching its full potential, it remains an entertaining choice for viewers who are looking for a light, inspirational series with a mix of humor and heartfelt emotion.

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