Reviews

If you want action with heavy drama, you should watch this!!

One of the best thai dramas that I have watched. Tawan best boy HUHUHUHU, if I were him I would never forgive Bua for lying and getting in his revenge. I kinda hate the fl cuz it takes 11 episodes for her to confess that she is the fake witness and I hate how she manipulate (i dunno if the word gaslighting is the right term) Tawan especially when she got angry when Tawan do a background check on her lol. But on the other hand, her backstory is sad so I tried my best to understand her situation (in the end I cant, it took me days to finish this drama cuz of fustration about her decisions). Kinda sad that they dont have anyone to rely on that made her brother do these kind of bad things just for them to survive. She should also go to prison for obstruction of justice or for being an accessory

Aside from that, the actor who portrayed Petch, hmmm I dont know if he is supposed to act like that but for me, he doesnt fit to be an antagonist HAHAHA. When he gets angry, he looks stupid, and he cries with no tears lol. But for the other characters, they did well.

I am also happy that ex-cop/Dech didnt die. He is one of my favorite character, I like how he is observant and quick-witted. I love how he bring Tawan back to his senses (gets blinded by love, rupok mo tawan).

All in all I like the story, but I am dissatisfied with the ending of Tawan and Fon meeting by the ocean.

I watched this after watching lipgloss spy, and I can say is Boy really suits this kind of character cop/revengeful person because of his strong features. He also have good chemistry with the fls he has paired with.

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Life Lessons, Humorous

From strangers to contract marriage to lovers. Sounds cheesy? Yeah, that’s how I felt initially. Yang Mi partners with Xu Kai? I couldn’t visualize them together. As I intended to skip this drama, the philosophy of the male lead – The Pareto Principle – caught my attention. And then I saw a clip of Yang Mi looking homely with her wide frame glasses and no make-up, my interest was piqued. It turned out better than I had expected.

The Pareto principle states that 80% of the results we get in life are determined by 20% of our decisions. This principle can greatly guide our life so that we are not so bogged down by unnecessary demands that may make life miserable. It has become the alternative title The 80/20 Rule of Love. Unfortunately, the principle has not been explored further apart from some brief mentions by the male lead at the beginning.

This drama is about a 28-year-old ex-financier, Yang Hua (Xu Kai), who lives like a hermit with his parents. His mother constantly nags him to get married. One day he crosses path with Qin Shi (Yang Mi), a 34-year-old single and ambitious lawyer working in a law firm where she claims to be a married woman for a promotion. With that white lie, now she needs a man to act as her husband. Yang Hua comes in handy. At the same time, Yang Hua is fed-up with his mother’s relentless nagging, so he needs a girlfriend to keep his mother off his back. Meeting Qin Shi helps him resolve this need, at least for now. To ensure no one takes advantage of the other, they sign a contract, and get married. It turns out they are made for each other, supplementing, and complementing each other. Yang Hua helps Qin Shi in avoiding disasters with his savvy financial knowledge, and in getting the promotion she desires.

Qin Shi is a good lawyer, talented in her sharp rebuttals when faces challenges. In the office and the legal circle, she is shrewd, eloquent, and intelligent. But in private, she is vulnerable, disorganized, and insecure. Yang Hua comes to see this side of Qin Shi and realizes she is a girl who needs love and care. He falls in love with her. For Qin Shi, she falls for Yang Hua too because he respects her and treats her gently and kindly. What initially a contract marriage is now a romance in brew. In front of Qin Shi, Yang Hua feels like a little boy, each wanting to protect the other.

As always, Yang Mi is beautiful and elegant. She makes a very believable Qin Shi with her gutsy style and at the same time, very sophisticated and sensual. However, Yang Mi’s acting is confusing at times. For example, she acts so cozy with her boss, purring at her (her boss) to get her way, and yet she can become so scared of the same boss in an instant and totally loses herself. When she’s with her ex-boyfriend, she seems to be still in love with him with her body language, though later the relationship becomes clearer. I don’t know if this is meant to be because of the writing, or because of Yang Mi’s own interpretation of the character. I feel she may have overacted, at the same time, underacted with her lack of facial expressions.

Xu Kai’s acting here is acceptable. As the hermit Yang Hua, Xu Kai’s styling is rather down to earth, dull and stiff. Though I found it hard to visualize the two as love birds initially, their chemistry is not that bad, and becomes somewhat interesting later.

Both actors use their own voices in dubbing. Standalone, Yang Mi’s voice is quite nice. But here, I find her voice too high pitched and child-like. It takes many episodes to feel more comfortable with her voice. Xu Kai’s voice is low, soothing and a bit uncertain, quite well fit for the subdue Yang Hua character. The OSTs are beautiful, fitting appropriately with the ups and downs of our characters and the mood of the story.

My Verdict

When famous stars like Yang Mi and Xu Kai are chosen for a drama like this, the actors are being scrutinized more thoroughly, and the demand on them is higher than on other less famous actors - something fans have to accept. Both Yang Mi and Xu Kai are not too bad for their roles. Though initially I couldn’t envision them to be the one true pair, I do enjoy the story especially after episodes 24 or so when the couple grows stronger together. The character development is at times inconsistent. This has to do with the writing, but Yang Mi’s acting doesn’t help. Xu Kai is acceptable, acting as a rather boring character. The overall cast is quite well chosen and believable.

There are many life lessons in the story – The Pareto Principle, how to enjoy defeat, forgive others to forgive oneself, win or lose is just temporary, losing is not scary but helps one see one’s deficiency so that the next time, one can become stronger, etc. It is a mature drama, funny, humorous, ironic and paradoxical.

It is refreshing to watch a drama with a strong female lead and a subdue male lead. In fact, most of the women in the story are strong one way or another, and realistic. For romance buffs, there are plenty of real kissing scenes between Yang Mi and Xu Kai. The couple do separate for a brief period of time for growth that makes their eventual reunion stronger.

A fun watch. Recommended!

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A melancholically beautiful, heartbreaking and heartwarming tearjerker! + Underrated!

This series needs to be higher rated! The series is beautiful in terms of story and values despite its melancholic approach. It's a heart-breaking yet heart-warming series that teach us the values of life and grief. What's more, it makes us believe in eternal love even though the time of the couple is painfully short.
In terms of character development, the series shows a complete picture how love develops a person silently yet does not change that person. Koichi is still Koichi, Micchan is still Micchan but they become better versions of themselves - love and being loved.
Regarding casting, Komiya Rio and Inoue Sora excellently and vividly depict Koichi and Micchan. It's not exaggerating to say withouth Rio and Sora, the series wouldn't have been that successful and tearjerking. Chemistry overflowers and very good acting skills.
The director/ screen writer also did their best in telling us a story that is not just heartbreaking but heartfelt.
Please don't miss it!

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Sunbaenim !!!

Definitely,it's a very cute series.I love the way they created this story,plus the whole cast did an amazing job.The personality of the main character was very profound and I enjoy the way he was put on that role.You can gain so many lessons in this series.Please watch and I'll promise you'll enjoy it.It can give you mixed emotions while watching it.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Good watch.

The reason why i watched this drama is the ML, i was waiting for a long time for this modern drama of xu kai, and i kinda liked it.
Some may say the plot wasnt up to the mark, but what i have to share is that:
I really did enjoy watching this drama. As opposite to the trailer, this drama presents a lot of office politics and stuff, (which in my opinion hasnt been clearly portrayed in the trailer).
If you are bingewatching, good for you, coz the way every episode ends on clifhangers,oh man! I had a hardtime waiting.
Definitely toward the end of the show , things could have been better. Not a fan of last minute reconcilations so...truthfully speaking ...it hurts when such lovely couples get separated.
All those lovey-dovey things in the trailer....goes by without much focus in the actual drama , they mostly talk work almost all the time.
But i did have a good share of laugh and giggles , and i would totally agree to that.
The way the office politics is portrayed seems so real and i specially love the dynamic relationship Qin Shi has with her colleague Li Dai, i mean i just find it amazing, how they tease and taunt each other but stand united when need be.

I love the character of Yang Hua, he's awesome. 1000x thumbs up (those who have watched the drama will understand ;)
Some people have raised the issue that ...he should've been more persistent and shouldnt have let go Qin Shi so easily, but i beg to differ.
Like he himself mentioned "he didnt wanted to be an excuse". All he wanted to hear from Qin Shi was her confession. Anyway
Qin Shi is a strong independent woman. We all know ..
What i didnt like was the parallel story of mei mei, i mean , i find the character of mei mei in exact contrast to that of qin shi(both strong independent working women but totally different ideologies in marriage matters). That is to say one is exact opposite to the other, where one is afraid of taking risks, and the other is constantly taking risks (i cant believe how could she put up with qin wen yu for so long . She should have divorced him the 1st time she caught him cheating, why tolerate?)
How qin shi was so apprehensive about her own marriage is totally understandable, she grew up in a family with so many relationship issues, its normal for a person to become the way she was.

The climax disappoints me because, the whole purpose of divorce was sidelined, by their 5 minute rushed up reconcilation in the end. Matter-of-factly, qin shi never actually confessed her love to yanghua. I think in this...writers should have done something. I mean there were so many ways, to move toward a more satisfying ending , but sadly they didnt give it much thought , or maybe there was more of it . A lot of people have said that, they had to cut a lot of scenes, to make it fit in the 40 E thing... maybe there is more.....i really really hope it gets out eventually(if there is)......it just feels a bit iffy.
I mean there are scenes that abruptly end, for example , the night yang hua was playing video games in qin shi's room. He said he wanted to ask something , which we never got to hear, and then we find him playing videogames after a while .
There are a lot of similar instances. Also the ending scene . All they do is hug and then BAM!!!! Problem solved , they reconcile, without qin shi ever confessing her love , so ultimately, it was Yang Hua , who came backmto qin shi AGAIN!!.

Like I mentioned before, i feel that the teaser was totally inappropriate, wrt the content of drama. Its like they combined all the lovey-dovey scenes into a trailer, just like that. It hardly had enough office related stuff, which i found misguiding . From the initial teaser, it appeared to be more on the romantic side, given the title as well. I believe this is why a lot of people are discontent with it .

But in my opinion :
I feel that the story was really good as far as the story progression is concerned . It kept me hooked up. Obviously the divorce in E36 was heartbreaking, it was necessary though. Think with the perspective of real life for once.... what yang hua did was something anyone would do. It was necessary. And No! He isnt rude with FL. After getting to know about Qin Shi's true feelings though li dai, Yang hua was constantly present on screen expressing his love for qin shi.
But but but ..... its just the ending that i didnt like.
Firstly, we never hear Qin Shi confessing her love to yanghua, which is really sad.
Secondly, their reconcilation was delayed to the last 5 minutes.
Thirdly, i feel there should have been more of communication between the leads , toward resolving their differences, near the end .
And lastly , THEY SHOULD HAVE MADE a TIME LAPSE OF 1 YEAR OR SO, TO SHOW Qin Shi and YANG HUA HAPPILY MARRIED , WITH YANG HUA WORKING , you know like , THEIR LIFE AFTER REAL MARRIAGE, and YANGHUA'S CAREER FINALLY TAKING OFF FOR GOOD. Stuff like that.
I think that could have been a better ending.

Another thing, i didn't like is the time frame of the drama .

2 years is too less to become what qin shi has become in cheng and hui
And 7 years relationship with tao junhui is just too much.
In my opinion, they should've made it more like 5years relationship with tao junhui & atleast 4 to 5 year history of working at the firm.
And near they end ...there's a time gap of 7 months .... i believe its too much. It should be like 3 months (that should suffice).

There were sad, happy, exciting , competitive, relaxing , soothing....and many more moments in this drama . I wouldn't say it was the best ive ever watched , coz truthfully speaking, i was expecting better from this drama. It wasn't that
spectacular, i was hoping it'd be. But i relly liked it , wish we had more Qin shi and Yang Hua screen time but...on end note ..i liked it.
You know what..... I'll give it a thumbs up

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Came for the arranged marriage trope, stayed for the feminism

Initially I only started this show because I like Bai Jing Ting and the romantic pairing in this fall in love after getting arranged married. But as I watched this I realized that the focus of the show wasn't on romance but rather on showing the beauty of female friendships which I really loved.

This show can somewhat be considered a harem drama because it focuses on the wives of princes. Many of them are married to the same man. harem dramas are synonymous with toxic relationships & women harming each other all in a bid to assert their position as the legitimate, head wife. But this is where new life begins flips the script.

Women in the show recognise that the system pits them against one another when really their circumstances are because of their husbands. They form strong bonds with each other, support and uplift one another. Their characters exist independently outside of the marriage. They're real people with personalities, thoughts, opinions, flaws, ambitions and with their female friends they achieve their dreams, they achieve the freedom they crave and live their lives as they please.

In these Palace dramas its common to see the princes be ambitious but their wives are often relegated to tertiary characters with no life of their own. But Li Wei, along with the other women have their own ambitions independent of their husband' political ambitions but ambitions that regardless impact the politics of the country in a meaningful way.


I really enjoyed the show and the characters and they will be dearly missed.

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The shock factor was there!!!!

i wanted to watch something small and happy before i went to bed and it was on my watch list so i did that. right off the bat i felt the worst feeling in my gut. i connected the dots why the main character was narrating from the future so immediately i thoughht things were gonna get bad, i didnt read the description because its what i dont do often, but i cried 90% of it and the main i felt for shin is a pain i can not describe anything ever. the actors did amazing and i truly want to give both the actor shin (james) the biggest warming hug ever because he deserves it. the shock factor was there, it was all there. you never really see any dramas or shows in general showcase mental illness like depression, self harm, and so on. i indeed was right feeling the gut grenching bad feelings from the start but i did not know it was going to be this bad. i can tell most of the time or infer what may happen but oh my god. i just had to express my feelings on here about it. the ending absolutely broke me (again!) and i love when dramas end right where you have to fill all the gaps by yourself but this one. it felt, i honestly dont know how to describe. im just putting words together and such because its almost 4am but i just need to talk about this.

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It pains me beautifully

This is the second time I write a review.

No one can explain about the supernatural thing happened in Eternal Yesterday, so I will just believe that the "miracle" that has never been used by Mitchan is working once he wished for having Koichi by his side. My friend called it "The Power of Love". I stick with that terms. Mitchan's affection moved Koichi. The man come back alive from dead because Mitchan, whose love is overflowing for him, had not ready yet to be left behind.

Everytime Mitchan called Koichi "a living corpse", I know that this young man realized that his boyfriend is dead because Mitchan is a smart kid, has quite proper knowledge about medical stuffs, but he could not accept it yet. For him, as long as Koichi is with him, it doesn't matter.

Wrapped with unusual supernatural phenomenon, the story itself is like a metaphor about grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. We can clearly see Mitchan's denial-depression phase. He tried to keep Koichi that is supposed to be no longer there anymore. This consumed him, made him feel uncomfortable, anxious, overprotective, restless, all the negative emotions. Until he accepted it.

Sigh. I was waiting for Mitchan to cry his heart out, to grief, to mourn for his loss, and he finally did it. I believe that Mitchan needs it to let go.

When we lost our loved one and finally accepted it, it doesn't mean we are not sad anymore. That's what Mitchan's Father trying to say: "You don't need to force yourself to heal". And Mitchan learned to live with his sadness.

The background story about how the two teenagers are actually longing for being loved the most by people around them, and find it in each other are so beautiful. We need one, only one, who loves us the most. And yes, it's a miracle when the feeling are mutual.

I have watched Komiya Rio's works before (Cinderella Complex; Takara & Amagi). He nailed this one! He doesn't let us think about him as his previous characters. Koichi is gentle, patient, cheerful, but he can blow up once he is frustrated and Rio performed this emotion very well.

This is the first time I've seen Inoue Sora on screen seriously. Before, I watched him in Abema, but that show is, you know ಠಿ⁠_⁠ಠ. Let me remind you to pay attention to his eyes while watching Eternal Yesterday everytime his inner voice takes part. His eyes are brilliant! It shows Mitchan's emotion clearly without words (because Mitchan is rarely talked, most of his emotional dynamics is told from his POV's narration).

When I thought the story is already sad enough, I was wrong. Wait until you listened to the music scores, also... The OP and ED soundtrack. Added with the drama's title, it is actually a full package of spoiler :')

I give the rewatch value 9.5/10 because I already rewatched it for more than 5 times already and still crying over it. I'll keep rewatching in my free time until I can not cry anymore.

Anyway, since this drama stimulates sadness and grief, if you think you cannot handle it, it's better not to even try reading any spoiler. From my experience, the comments on social media about the story of this drama series are also full of emotions. So, please understand your limit.

I had a good 8 weeks following this series. For all the tears that have rolled down my cheeks while watching this, I must say that this series will stick with me for a long time.

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