Reviews

What is a boyfriend?

Palm became such a flirt! I think that is such a great character development, especially as he really struggled with where he fits in Nueng’s life for the bigger part of the main series. And Nueng being whiny and sassy? Yes, please! I think it shows that he feels better now, he is not so worried and high strung as he was in the main series. The amount of absolutely iconic and hilarious lines we got in this two episode special is crazy! My favorites are probably "What is a boyfriend?" and "In many dramas, the lord makes the servant his wife." Palm being someone who watches dramas is not something I expected.

The historical part of the series is done well too. I like the fact that the two switched roles from how they were in the main series. Palm as a lord and Nueng as his servant is a combination I didn’t know I needed. I think Palm was enjoying that dynamic a bit too much. The death glares Nueng gave him were absolutely hilarious. I really enjoyed their bickering, even if it was mostly just the two of them being cute and taking petty jabs at each other.

I am really hoping this could be GMMTV opening the doors for a possible historical BL in the future. I am no expert, but I was still able to notice certain historical inaccuracies (mostly in what Nueng does that would absolutely not be permitted for a slave to do), so if they ever do decide to make a full historical series, I hope they at least try to not be so obvious with them.

Also, the side couple! I didn’t think we will get any new pairings, so getting a BL pairing in a historical setting was a nice surprise. And Palm and Nueng as the matchmakers were adorable! They showed so much joy and happiness for the other couple.

I really like the fact that the cinematography seems to match pretty well with the original series. I like how muted the colors are (or maybe it's more sepia toned) and that they kept the same overall vibe, especially during the present time. It really makes it seem like a continuation of the main series and not like a completely different, new series. I also like that they kept the bracelet as an important part of the storyline.

Pond and Phuwin pulled off their historical roles well. Their chemistry is amazing, not that I expected anything less.

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Funny and romantic mini-show with time-travel theme

OMG this is a funny and romantic mini- show. The storyline of time-/dimension travel isn’t exactly new but this has some twists that sets it apart from others. Only downside is that it has an open ending. But that might be a good thing because it means that there must be a second season in store for us at some point.
I have been following this couple and seen a large part of their work. I must say that they keep improving. The first productions were visibly low-budget but this one has the feel of a normal budget production - even if the fast pace and abrupt editing gives it away.
Character wise:
FL is a cute and kind woman who first encounters ML after he time-travels to modern time. ML is a fierce empirical guard to the presiding emperor who, in a fight with the Grand Perceptor, ends up time-traveling to modern time.
2ML is the Grand Preceptor who has a history with FL who now doesn’t remember him. He is strong and adamant in pursuing FL. He has even changed his face to look like ML.
The two men end up battling each other in order to get FL and a couple of other characters interfere and chaos breaks out.
Acting wise this is pretty good. All the actors do a good job with their character given the limited timeframe. Personally I really like Samael and Lilith because they make different kinds of stories.
So, if you like a fast paced mini-show - with fights and romance - this is definitely well worth watching.

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Popularity Contest With Racial Biases and Inconsistent Editing

I know every single person for the most part will be salty to some degree with the ending, but there is no denying the production company had a hand at why the results went the way they did. There was often extreme amounts of focus on certain contestants and almost nothing to showcase the others. My biggest confusion is probably contestants with very low levels of talent made it week after week, even one or two made it to the top 9.

I can't tell if this is what the industry is about or if this is just a fluke (RIP Fluke from Alpha Project XD) because the decisions were made by fans. I feel like one of the most talented contestants was racially profiled, we all know which one. It's something I've seen before, especially as someone who is a fan of Isbanky, a Thai actor who is mixed.

Giving Koreans an unbalanced advantage didn't seem like a big deal to me at first, but then I realized real fast their criteria for stars was vastly different from my own (US Fan). I think Korean fans will be quite happy with the results, but globally, I'm wildly curious how others feel about the deficit from some of the winners, versus the final pool of losers. There was at least three people in the losers group who could out sing, dance and perform four of the top nine. But maybe that's not the goal?

I possibly misunderstood the intentions of the show and I am getting it all wrong. Admittedly, I am not super deep in the K-Pop world. I think I also didn't realize there isn't much importance on singing well, I figured for most of these guys, that would be the base criteria and you'd get kicked out in the first weeks for not carrying a tune. I want to give this show another chance if it came back around, but for now it doesn't really fit my style.

Congrats to the winners either way, there is no denying that EVERYONE worked so incredibly hard. It's just many of the performers with natural gifts or talents were left behind, with only a few "They deserved top 9 for sure! Congrats" in the final ranking.

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misstep by misstep (watch ep 1, 2 and 10)

Overall: there was a solid premise here and I would like to see Man again but the writing/editing was lacking. I watched episodes 1-4, 10 and read through comments about episodes. Aired on YouTube, GagaOOLala and WeTV (depending on your country). Same production company as Lovely Writer.

Content Warnings: vomiting, harassment, sexism, non con picture/video taking, likely more

What I Liked
- the supportive friend group, talking about making your own destiny
- Pat pushing back on older people automatically deserving respect because of their age
- Pat almost punching that other dude who was harassing Pat
- a couple funny parts
- nice to see an established couple and Chot was great, that phone conversation in episode 10 was amazing, would have been even better as an in person conversation
- talking about getting a vasectomy is rarely mentioned and much appreciated
- NSFW scenes/kissing in episode 10 was fairly well done
- (neutral) has comedy sound effects (I really dislike the gulping noise that they use)

Room For Improvement
- the timeline/time skips, I dislike time jumps and the timeline here was pretty confusing, I think this took place over 5 years
- choppy parts (they get ready for a fancy event but then we never see them at the event? suddenly they are in a car?)
- the pacing was too slow, there are many scenes that could have been cut or shortened (toilet humor to start with),
- what do two attractive men see in Pat? I was hoping for some character growth but found it very lacking. He drinks too much in front of his boss and then does it again later? He is shocked by Jeng's declaration? He cries when confronting Jeng in episode 10? He cries several times at work, he argues with a client due to personal feelings, etc.
- Jeng bothered me at times as well, he doesn't get to tell another adult to stop drinking (and then bring him to a bar directly afterwards???), he was a bad boss, I was hoping to see some growth but he disciplined a subordinate in front of another subordinate, then somehow it appears that person was not moved to another team? And why on earth did Pat have to apologize to his harasser, he shouldn't have apologized even if he hit the dude. From an earlier episode, I thought Jeng would see he got those pictures and then apologize to Pat but that never happened. Jeng refuses to talk to Pat in episode 10 and goes back to sleep. Jeng had a decent plan in episode 10 but then months go by and he didn't implement it and instead did something that would make things even more of an HR headache...
- the side couple wasn't introduced well (I was never sure what their jobs were) and I wish Jen didn't have an (apparently nice) boyfriend because it made impossible for me to root for their relationship, also they took up too much time in episode 3, then randomly one of them has a new boyfriend???
- in episode 5 Pat (a character in a fictional BL series) says "bl couples profit off the identity of the LGBTQ community", I mean, they probably do but the queer community also benefits from bl series existing, many bl series are romcoms with happily ever afters instead of the normal tragic ending we get and maybe seeing two men end up happily together can change people's minds a little, it at least gives more exposure. And maybe it wasn't the creators intention but putting Zee and Nunew as the other couple insinuates that they are profiting off the LGBTQ community (when first of all they might even be part of that community for all I know) and I've heard they are major supporters of LGBTQ rights
- nonsense things, Jeng manages a restaurant and is a marketing manager?

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Will Update As I Watch More Episodes

This is my try in giving each section of Our Skyy 2 a review. Writing it after each part is done, mostly because my long term memory isn't that good. Ratings for previous part might change as I watch more parts.

1. Never Let Me Go (8.5 star)
I have to say that the transition from a bodyguard/boss story into a fantasy-themed one with reverse reincarnation is shocking! Maybe because they only have 2 episodes or about 100 minutes to make up the rule of the fantasy, give explanations on how it could happens, and not to mention the actual story in the past itself, the overall plot seems to be full of holes to me and lots of questions that left unanswered. But considering this is a special and the fact that I have bias for BL series, I'll just try to enjoy the overall theme and story without thinking much about the plot holes.

I could enjoy the historical theme more, if they explain or give rough descriptions on what time period they were reverse reincarnated to. Love the role reversal where Palm becomes the lord while Nueng is the servant and how the power dynamic is shifted according to their new roles. Love the moments where they talk about their plans for the future and when they have differing opinions, they can talk it out (although I think you would need to talk more than that especially discussing important matters like that). Also loves it that both Palm and Nueng shows they have each their own good and bad quality but they still stick to each other despite of that.

Side couples come as a surprise to me! Even though they only have a few minutes of screentime, apparently I was too invested in their story. I unexpectedly shed some tears when in the current era, Phum (Petch) and Kan (Kla) are boyfriends too. It feels like they got what they deserves, even when they couldn't be together in the past era.

2. Star in My Mind (7.5 star)
I know it will be full of lovey-dovey moments from the trailers and maybe that's why I was surprised when it delivers some really good lines about healthy relationship and trusts. Watch out for the little surprise at the end, they can make you suddenly feel warm and fuzzy inside! Overall, a good mini-series to binge-watch when you need mood booster

Side couples are there, although not as much as in NLMG (and not much interaction either!!!) Happy that Typhoon is implied to be able to move on but still being friends with Dao.

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Mnet at its finest, delivering some manipulative editing.

I’m not gonna lie, this was a fascinating watch. Trying to see all the shady business and tactics Mnet delivered, seeing viewers' different reactions depending on their knowledge of the industry and how Mnet works. What a ride it was. And behind all that mess was a bunch of talented trainees who could not breathe in the wrong direction, or they will be evil edited till their elimination.

This is probably the worst survival show I have seen from the production standpoint. The editing was atrocious - they gave us 10 takes of the same 2 moments from different angles and different speeds, while completely cutting out most of the performances. How can we judge the stages and trainees skills when we see the same smile or wink just repeated countless times?

Then there is the issue of evil editing. I’m not saying just exaggerating existing issues, I’m saying complete lies, like using footage from two different interviews and making it seem like they were both filmed about the same situation. Translating what foreign trainees say in a vague and misleading way to frame it as them being disrespectful. Making it seem as if teams had massive disagreements in the episode, when we could see them work just fine during the practice lives.

And I don’t even want to talk about the G versus K trainees concept - that was dumb, since the plan was to debut a mixed group. Mnet framed it as rivalry so hard, I’m not surprised Koreans went so strongly voting for Korean trainees - it seemed like a matter of pride for them with how it was presented in the initial episodes. Showing G trainees in a bad light, only “promoting” G trainees that are either Koreans just living in different countries, or been in Korea for years…

What’s more? The legal rigging votes. they knew exactly what info should be released when to make people mass vote for specific trainees out of fear of them not debuting. Just naming the 2 or 3 k-trainees’ ranks that went down - panic voting from the audience. Only showing the 3 trainees ranks based on ONLY G votes - panic voting.

All that said, I loved the kids so much. While I am sad we did not get many strong rappers, and literally barely any in the finale, I’m still more than happy with overall skills presented. Yes, some got into the show as a joke to make the public laugh, but in their case, I could see they truly put in the effort and tried to grow from this experience. The level of talent was high and honestly, one could randomly pick 9 trainees from top 18 to make a team, and every variation of it would make a strong debut.

The trainees had amazing friendships and I loved to see them support and encourage each other. We could see the most honest versions of them in the additional behind the clips mnet uploaded on youtube, and for these I am grateful.

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loved Zeke & Fifth (hope we get an official cut of their scenes)

Overall: I loved the sweet/flirty dynamic and natural chemistry/relationship with Zeke & Fifth. I really hope the writers don't add in some stupid cheating/miscommunication trope in their next series. I want to see these two deal with conflict (mostly external), communicate, and grow together, plus fluff and well done NSFW scenes :) My Story is the sequel to My Day minus one of the protagonists. Aired on Oxin Films YouTube channel, 10 of episodes about 45 minutes each.

Content Warnings: bullying, trans women/effeminate male stereotypes, manhandling, slap, held against will, beaten up, abusive ex and something major at the end of ep 9

What I Liked
- Zeke and Fifth had an enjoyable and realistic dynamic, their flirty banter was great and also both being interested in skinship/sex
- chuckled a few times like it's not 2 inches, it's 8 inches (however the innuendo should not overpower the plot which it does several times)
- cute moments like the cuddling
- calling out toxic masculinity regarding Drake (unfortunately then they were lovey dovey shortly afterwards with no shown character growth from Drake)
- supportive parents and friends
- discussing how sun block is important to protect from the sun not because you don't want your skin darker

Room For Improvement
- the mentality of one take was good enough, sometimes it was cute but it definitely felt low budget
- stereotypes with trans women and effeminate male characters, this is really disappointing to see, the maid outfit, the hypersexualization, the clown humor, I didn't laugh at any of this "humor" and it was featured a lot
- I skipped the main characters' scenes and wasn't really sure why, they just didn't hold my attention
- in episode 1 there was just 1 line and not responding to emails to explain the breakup, wish they gave a better/more fully developed explanation (update, in episode 5 we almost had too much explanation/time spent on it)
- thin plot, I love Chuk Chuk but this is the main plot for 2+ episodes???? if they couldn't come up with an engaging/fleshed out plot then better to have a shorter series such as 6 episodes and make those episodes really awesome
- some relationships moved super fast in the final episode
- choppiness, Fifth had all of a sudden left the house and was walking on the street? a character was in one country in the last episode and then suddenly in a different country?
- non realistic/logical things, Zeke had to be the photographer but then he modeled, so who was the photographer/it obviously wasn't important that he was the photographer
- educators asking students about their sexual positions, no thanks
- the amount of actual commercials (episode 1 starts 4min20s or past the intro at 7min)

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How great this could've been

I know, I know, writing a review at the halfway mark without knowing what comes next is wrong. But the fact that they've already messed it up till here makes me want to write one. I will update this review if things change.
So, here's my impression of the first 24 episodes.

I feel like they really could've had it all but I think they got lost somewhere trying to balance the scales.
I have read the novel, and might be a bit biased but LSS doing all sorts of things to go against TTJ when all she had to do was talk seems a bit excessive.

The scene when TTJ sees LSS lose it, right before she teleports is probably the only things that's kept me glued to my seat. Because that spit second when TTJ goes all solemn when let's out that painful scream tells you that he knows the feeling of losing everything, of being pushed to the brink of hate. The only things is he found solace in the evil because it gave him power to protect himself. He probably would've offed himself only if so many attempts at his life hadn't already been made. Like we saw in that dream, he wasn't alive because he wanted to, but because others wanted him dead so he stubbornly persevered on and kept himself alive.

They made TTJ more human, and I truly appreciate them for this. Here we can see him understand the feeling of love and then get betrayed in the worst way possible and Yunxi is just *chef's kiss*

But then what happened to them when they adapted LSS? She started off amazingly well as someone who was on a mission, with all her pain and suffering and just trying to survive and save TTJ. But then how did she get dumber and dumber as the story progressed? She's confused in her feelings and wants the spikes to form ASAP so that this can end. BUT on the other end, she's secretly helping XL break out of prison, completely unnecessary might I add, that will effectively dissolve all the previously formed spikes and take her back to square one?

And pleading for and taking YBS home on the very day that she's about to drung TTJ? Like really sis? She betrayed her husband for her so-called survival, showed off her affections with TTJ while being married to XL, but one smile and good talk with her and it's all water under the bridge. Her logic being that if she had everything then she wouldn't have turned bad but then isn't that the case with TTJ too? She saw him being betrayed time and again and almost lose his life to the people that were supposed to protect him but nope, he's gonna turn bad the moment he takes a misstep.

I kinda liked the novel LSS more, where she's living this life like a third-party, existing because of her mission and only showing kindness to the ones that were good to her. She gave no f's to YBS and even found out about her evil intentions and while she did love TTJ, she wasn't constantly hot and cold with him. And TTJ saw that, which was why he was always looking for ways to bind her to him because he knew that if she wants, she can go away and never come back. That desperation pushed him to madness.

I will watch this to the end because my god was that opening incredible. And I'm kinda still rooting for them despite the u-turns that they've taken. And YunLu is love so no way I'll leave halfway through.

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Peak level of conflicting feelings about this show.

It all went so well, until it did not. It’s hard to just ignore the issue that happened with the 23:00 team, since they dealt with it in the worst way possible. For the show that was created to give groups a second chance, to publicly shame them in this way was just gross. They could have easily given a written statement and moved on. So even if I loved the premise and many great elements, I cannot stop myself from feeling conflicted…

I love a show that focuses on the idols that struggle to shine in the oversaturated market. So much talent and potential is being wasted simply because their companies might be too small to fight against the bigger ones, or they are not that good with marketing, or the team debuted at the wrong time, not being able to secure their place. This show gives them hope and chance to gain more fans, so even if they won’t win, they will still be in a better position than they were before they joined the competition.

Another aspect I for sure enjoyed were the mentors/judges. We’ve got solid feedback, words or encouragement and some funny jokes and interactions. They were not acting mean for the purpose of creating a drama and I could feel they truly cared about these idols. Ryan S. Juhn crying over shirtless men will be remembered as the most iconic moment in the kpop industry. Dude was truly sobbing.

The performances were great. It’s sad we did not get to see all the first round stages in the episode and could only check them on youtube channel, but I understand the time restrictions. I also appreciate that even the eliminated teams could keep the new songs produced for them, even if some of the songs were of questionable quality…

That said, the new songs and the round with them are actually the beginning of the issues I had. First of all, the way they decided which team gets what song was painfully ridiculous and unfair. The songs themselves were not that great either. Close to none of them was memorable.

Another issue with the production were the benefits - what a useless thing. In many occasions the benefits from different rounds had a different value - one time they had exactly zero impact on the ranking, next time they changed it completely.

The first elimination? A freaking joke - how many “fake” rankings can they show before we get to the one that actually matters? They could have used that screen time to show more behind the scene moments.

Overall, it was a nice show with a meaningful idea behind it, but I think they had too many budget restrictions. They did what they could to make it work and the efforts are obvious. Them having such a strong reaction to 23:00 team “scandal” might have also been a panic mode to make sure the program does not suffer any losses.

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Interesting story with low production values

I just finished this and have some mixed feeling about it. I did enjoy the story that focused completely on the couple and flipped through the moments of their relationship from beginning to end. There wasn't a over reaching plot or outside forces bring drama into the story. It didn't focus just on pivotal moment but instead showed snippets that you could find in any couples daily life. You could see small changes but it wasn't big dramatic things that signaled a break up. So this felt a little different from the normal slice of life or the few shows that have the watching a couple through moments in their life story line.

When they do break up the story loses some of it cohesion because it is very hard to tell where we are in the story. They do alot of flashbacks and the flow of the story isn't done well enough to get exactly where they are in the story. I think if I had paid more attention to clothes the characters where wearing it might have help, but you shouldn't need to do that. By the end I think I had figured most of it out but I still felt confused while watching it.

The ending was a bummer since they didn't get back together although they parted on good terms. I did like that Kaoru and Ryo's problems focused on coming out and that sometimes it is a deal breaker. I will say the title and idea of the plastic bottle might have sound like an epic idea in their heads but it is pretentious and give the show a silly name that very few people are going to be drawn to.

The production values on this are abysmal. At first I couldn't hear the sound it was so low so I plugged in some noise cancelling earphones to later get my ears blowen out by the volume of regular talking and picking up things like putting a cup down on the table. Most if the show was filming in their room as well but that does fit well into the stories intimacy around the couple so I didn't mind as much. The acting was uneven but it wasn't horrible either for what I'm assuming new actors it was good enough.

This was an good watch if your looking for something outside of the norm and ok with something that feels like a small indie project without a lot of money put into it.

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Nothing new, but sweet and cute

I enjoyed this series, but to be honest, the story isn't exactly full of surprises.

The main reason I started watching this series is Shi Cheng Xuan, whom I noticed playing a minor supporting character in the History series. I remember thinking he was really cute and wished he would be the lead in a BL series. So this series is like a wish come true.

There are two couples in this story, and they are both likable. However, I wish there had been more nuances in the portrayal of Zheng Ze Shou. Prior to finding out about Fu Li Gong's crush on him, he seems to have some feelings for Fu too, but he also seems unable to accept what he has found out. It would actually make more sense for him to have been harboring some romantic feelings towards Fu, and the transition from his initial reaction to his acceptance of Fu's love could have been more natural.

As for the other couple, the development of their relationship is a little sudden (or did I watch a censored version?) as they duo are drinking one moment and then waking up beside each other the next moment. Again, they are a likable couple, but the development in their relationship is somewhat haphazard. At least there is a back story for Fu and Zheng, which makes them easier to relate to.

Perhaps focusing on the story of just one couple is enough (though I might melt if I see more scenes of the ridiculously cute Shi Cheng Xuan).

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Main Couple never fails to remind me I'm single!

Please Be at Ease Mr. Ling
It’s my first ever modern cdrama so bear with me. I think this cdrama is a pretty good series to pass time. I love the chemistry of main couple they’re so cute together!!! However, the way they got together to live in the same house at first is so weird for me. Like personally, I would never allow a complete stranger to live with me especially a man. Even if I owe that person and in risk of jail I would never, like bitch sue me! What can you do without evidence. But yeah since we need the plot to start I guess it’s okay LOL.

The series may have a couple of draggy mini arcs (SPOILER ALERT) like brother gatekeeping our lovely main gurl, Zhao Lusi for obv personal advantage (like ew backup, she got a cute bf), random child kidnapping, stolen rights to be the heir that was never corrected in the END. I endured it since Zhao Lusi and Liu Te are such lovely couple together.

Ack man I want my own Ling Yue please! I prefer him on casual attire than his redundant black suit tho. Also the supporting characters are chef’s kiss especially the eldest brother. He got a peak annoying yet cute sibling energy such a menace. The amount of kiss scenes and swoon worthy scenes here was enough to make me smile like a Cheshire cat and cry every time I remember my single ass and the fact that it's just fictional. Actors are so shippable I want them to date in real life!
Final Verdict / Rank: Likable Series, All Time Favourite (Worthy to Rewatch)

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Nice and romantic, but a little bit dragging towards the end

I haven't seen the original Koreans series, so I will not make any comparison or reference to that. At first, I kind of liked this drama. Flashback of childhood memories usually brings a nice, sweet mood to a series. Here we get to see some glimpse of this big sister/little brother kinda of relationship between Najai and Tofu. I know this is supposed to be a romantic comedy, but I still wished that the relationship between the two remained like that. I somehow didnt like the character of Kan (such a boring personality), but secretly wished that Najai and Kan would finally make it to the end, and let Tofu realize that his feelings towards Najai?jubjang were only sentimental childhood feelings. Ah, I was wrong.

I didn't quite like how the story goes. It seems like it was moving back and forth on the same issue (this is about work, partnerinh with Kiss). Another thing which annoyed me was having two love triangles happening at once surrounding the same couple (Najai and Kan). After episode 10, I skipped many scenes, and quickly moved the progress bar until I reached the end. However I must that the acting was superb. Newwie did his best as Tofu/Arlan_Xm while Pancake did so well portraying Najai with her unique, somewhat self-centered yet likable personalty. Namwaan Kanaporn also acted well as Kiss. Both Najai and Kiss had theie good and bad sides which were well portrayed in this series.

I also like the side stories of Maple and Mesa, as well as Priew dealing with her fling who happened to be her neighbour, but as I wrote earlier, I think the storyline was weak, or too cliche, however much I could still bear to watch it untuk the end

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A bit cliche but got a phenomenal main leads as an actors!

Romance of Tiger and Rose.
A really cute and fun af cdrama. The main couple is really cute together, although I wish they had more romantic scenes and their conflict seems pretty shallow. The plot has a lot of loopholes and can be cliche but amazing actors made me finished it. The maidservants chemistry with Han Suo and Chen Qianqian are top tier. I love all their bickering and kinda wished for more. Zhao Lusi is really a cute and promising actress while Ding Yuxi just made me want to have my own Han Suo! I’m basically smiling like a cheschire cat whenever he do swoon worthy scenes.
Final Rank: Likeable Series, All Time Favourite (Worthy to Rewatch)

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Legit will make you a madman by the amount of tears you shed and the amount of laughs you made.

Love Like Galaxy
This series is just one hell of a masterpiece. Legit will hook you till the end. This drama made me laugh, cry, and swoon and just made me feel so much emotion. The acting and the way the plot was written are just top-notch. Shout-out to the writers, they really did a fantastic job. Also, I love the way the action scenes are executed. Like I've seen some cdramas with obvious CGI, so this one's are such a treat for my eyes. I love the good old physical action scenes with gore stuff, hehehe.

I legit never skipped an episode because there's no over the top draggy arc. I'm really fussy when I watch a series, I tend to just usually skim through some scenes if I find them redundant and draggy to the obvious point of just making the series longer. However, with this one, the love story of the main lead is perfectly written and interlaced with all the happenings of the series. There's no all of a sudden sub-plot out of nowhere. The disappearance and reappearance of characters are justified, and their thoughts that lead them to do certain actions are perfectly executed, too.

Trust me with this, all of the actors are phenomenal. They gave one hell of justice to the characters they portrayed. Aside from the chemistry with the main couple, this drama is full of chemistry with other actors, too. It showed all sorts of love like platonic, family, love for a country, friendship, and even deep passion for achieving one's goal!

Lemme just tell you my faves pair-ups:
Qiqi and Shaoshang??? Chaotic! The 2 cutie loyal bodyguards stressing about Ling Buyi's Love Life??? Cuties, but def a massive headache, too! Yuan Shen and Ling Buyi ganging up on Lou Yao??? Chef's Kiss! EMPEROR AND THE TWO EMPRESS??? Iconic! GRANDMA CHENG AND HER BETROTHAL GIFTS??? Immaculate! Emperor stressing about Ling Buyi's love life (again)??? WILL NEVER NOT BE FUNNY!

Zhao Lusi will never fail to get me to start to watch her dramas. So far, this is my 6th series of hers. (whether or not I've watched those series from beginning to end is a discussion for another time, all I can say is I've religiously watched 4 out of 6 of her series from start to end) She's just so talented and will always have a chemistry with her co-actors. With this series, Zhao Lusi yet again delivered. She perfectly executed her role of Cheng Shaoshang. The playful and cute acting of hers will never fail to give me uwu she's just genuinely adorable. I don't find her acting as an immature kid and playful character, annoying or cringy at all. And trust me when I say she can be with anyone. Her chemistry with those 3 boys is just amazing! Damn I think she can be shipped with a wall, and I'll still swoon.

Leo Wu just captured my eye with his role in this series. Fyi, I watched him for the first time with this series, and I'm hooked. (Spoilers) The way his eyes change to a complete madman when he tortured Prince Yong and Marquis Ling are just crazy and his fighting scenes damn he hottie. I got chills watching those scenes. It gave me the anti-hero/psycho man vibe, and instead of being turned off, I actually love his character more. His character as Ling Buyi is so complex and yet well-written. I love how he stayed true to himself and was still goal-driven despite the consequences. His love for Shaoshang didn't change his aspirations, and that just didn't even disappoint me for one bit, I think it's really attractive. I love a goal driven man. (Nvm, the fact that I bawled my eyes during that cliff scene)

I super love how the love story of Shaoshang and Ling Buyi was a slow burn. Well I guess more on Niao Niao part but it actually made sense given her personality and girl even had a previous fiancee (though I think it's more platonic the way it ended scarred her still.) And damn I'm whipped for a simp man aka General Ling. I just love how he's just been there since day 1 for her??? Like when he backed out when she was already betrothed but still went out of his way to give her a comfortable life like (SPOILER) when he requested the Emperor to acknowledge Shaoshang to not be looked down on by his rival's family??? Damn son I need you in my life! And when he got his chance, he immediately grabbed it and worked his way to enter Shaoshang's heart. Boi was so patient and understanding. Never once did he use the guilt tripping card on Niao Niao to earn her affection. If not for the chubby right-hand man of his, Niao Niao would never know man's sacrifices. Although he did really make a big mistake of underestimating Shaoshang's love for him. I know he doesn't want Shaoshang and her family to suffer but our girl did try her best too, to communicate that she is willing to go to hell with him no matter what and make sacrifices too.

I think the time skip was necessary since Shaoshang needs the time to grow up and discover herself. I understand her with that decision, too. Like gurl legit builds high walls to defend her heart but Ling Buyi was persistent (I ain't complain abt that)… A lot of dramas for her to finally understand how to love and trust Ling Buyi…A lot of self-realization to finally accept that being one minded with future husband doesn't mean she's restricted of freedom…She actually grew up a lot and learned so much, she listened to all the advice about love just to be left once again when she tried her best. That's just sad knowing her background and insecurities. That's legit her childhood trauma all over again. The only difference is this time. She did her best to make him stay with her and begged not to be abandoned. So yeah, all I want to say is back off haters! Those dumb ppl who hate on my poor baby girl saying her decision to break off isn't necessary. Just don't understand her character at all.

Anyways, moving on. The comedic scenes in this series are very much appreciated and are very needed since I've started episode 1. The first few episodes got me hooked cause of Shaohang antics and the drama of her family just made me howl in laughter. It well-balanced the amount of tears I've shed when I watched how the relationship between Shaoshang and her mother started. Mommy issues just never fail to make my heartache, maybe since it strikes close to home.
Cheng grandma, General Cheng, Cheng Bros, Qiqi, 15 years old mischievous Shaoshang, Concubine Yu, and of course my ult fave the Emperor just never fails to throw me into fits of laughter.

The emperor is such a mood and will never not be funny. His bickering scenes with Concubine Yue just stole the scenes every time. Massive respect, too, for Concubine Yue. She's such a badass character and in a way similar to Shaoshang, seeing an actually contented and chill Concubine is so refreshing. Anyways, back to the emperor cause he deserves a whole novel. I just want to know his reaction to our main couple all the time. He's so invested in them more than running the country, and honestly, who can blame him??? I badly love how he just overreacts to anything related to Ling Buyi, and that's just gold since Ling Buyi deserves all the love he can get. (Spoilers) Although, I have the same sentiment as the Emperor. He deserved to be there at their wedding , but him making a whole tantrum about missing it is also such a golden moment.

The only thing I kinda wish this series explored more is showing Shaoshang's intelligence and talents and how it can actually help the new Empire they're building. And of course, I NEED A DAMN SCENE OF THEM, HAPPILY MARRIED!!! I felt so robbed with that one. Like, I don't mind that there are times that I want to nudge their head to give me a cute kiss scene, but I can guess I can still live with it. But omg, they dare not to give me a grand wedding scene! Like after all those preparations, struggles, and time wasted!!!!! Emperor, please make a decree of their wedding so you and I can witness it!!!

So yeah, I guess that's all. I don't really want to occupy the whole comment section, so all I can say is watch this masterpiece and see for yourself!
Final Verdict/Rank: Beloved Series, Ultimate Favourite (Worthy to Rewatch for nth times)

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