Reviews

Slice-of-Life Drama - Women Power and the Friendliest and Most supportive female characters ever!

As many have reviewed and commented, “New Life Begins” is a special drama. A drama that is full of positivity, humor, lovely sismance, hilarious bromance and friendships. In fact, the drama has so many cool, independent and friendly female characters that I actually feel slightly weird watching it. I kept on expecting something bad is going to come from the left field and derail this happy choo choo train. This is what happens when I watch too many C-dramas with too many evil and jealous second female leads.

I was skeptical to try this drama out because comedies are a hit-or-miss to me. I am not a fan of over-the-top and slapstick comedy. I am glad I gave it a shot. The comedic moments are funny and not overly dramatic. I really had a great time watching it and laughing with and at the characters. It’s rare to see such a big cast with so many characters that you love. I want to hang out with all of them.

“New Life Begins” is more of a slice-of-life drama than a romance. In fact, the main romance is so slow-burn that I was getting a little bit disappointed. Curb your expectations if you think you will get many sweet and fluffy scenes. Even though the main leads are a couple for a very long time, they act like friends for most of the drama. I wish they would sprinkle some more sweetness throughout the drama, and not wait till the last 5 episodes.

But if you are into female friendships, sismance and strong women, this is the drama for me. There are many female characters with very distinct and interesting personalities. You will surely find someone to root for. This is a drama about girl power. I actually want to see more of the female business owners and not only the restaurant. The drama talks about some sort of Women Chamber of Commerce, a school, postpartum mother’s care and education, martial arts academy teaching self-defense, etc. But these are not shown but only mentioned in passing. I hope they have cut down on some of the palace politics and fight for the crown, and spend more time on the different kingdoms and businesses. The drama changes its lighthearted tone to a more serious tone in the middle and it lasts too long.

The political plot is nothing special, if you’ve seen enough Chinese historical drama. We have princes fighting for the King’s attention and for the crown, the King trying to balance the power of all the princes, and sad childhood and background stories of growing up in the palace. The best part is probably the interesting personalities of the princes and their bromance.

The acting is pretty good. I was worried I might not like the female lead, but she turns out to be smart and very likable. I actually enjoy Bai Jing Ting’s scenes when he is at home and acts all shy and awkward. Unfortunately, I don’t get the princely charisma from him.

This is a perfect drama to watch to relieve stress. Nothing is too serious or angsty, and there’s plenty of humor. You will definitely find someone you like and want to root for. We have a collection of amazing and supportive women in this drama.


Other Random Observations:
1. Did they sneak in a same-sex couple in this drama?
2. 7th Prince and his wife have so few scenes, but their shy and awkward personalities are a scene stealer for me. They are so cute!
3. It’s my personal pet peeve, but I don’t like the way Tian Xi Wei (FL) speaks. Her speech is choppy and sounds like she’s mumbling a few words out instead of complete sentences.
4. I am glad the actors use their own voices, but the post-production dubbing is just OK.
5. Love all the food scenes!


Completed: 12/17/2022 - 500th drama!

Read More

Barbie and Ken dolls on a beach zzz....

What is this show and why did it get a 2nd season? Why the too high rating? I just finished the 1st episode and the numerous colorist remarks left a bad taste in my mouth. One dude said something to the effect that he liked one of the girls because she had white skin that made her seem pure as the driven snow. Ick! Everybody is dolled up to the max just sitting pretty in Chanel wearing cc cream 10 shades lighter than their natural skin tone. Major pass. This was worse than Love Island U.S.A. and that's saying something! Fake plastic people trying to look pretty for the camera, that's it. Imagine the most interesting thing contestants have to say about themselves is that they workout. You can't get more superficial than this!

Read More

Overrated, so dragging and boring

Seriously who wrote the script? So foolish , completely ruined story, complete nonsense. Waste of time, i eagerly waited for months but this is all I see. Now I get it why Naksu jumped into lake ,cause she don't want to live to watch season 2.Naksu is smart enough .you should have atleast considered season 1 before making this,I got nothing from this show now, no love , no sense, FL acting seriously was she acting, I thought she is bystander.i haven't seen any comedy , if you think we should laugh at those jokes oh comeon what's wrong with your humour sense.Why such dragging, I am loosing interest in season 1. Don't go for season 2. Why villans always win, boring. I loved season 1 , now I lost interest completely, dropping it .what are they doing childplay?what kind of story is this? Female lead is like"I AM UNBEATABLE BEAUTY" but she is unbearably annoying, I never saw any expression on her face, why they took her in first place, go and learn acting then comeback. Firstly , they could have wrapped the show with good ending in season 1 itself instead of spoiling story. Ruined the show.

Read More

Terrible

Si buscas un buen drama, no lo veas, realmente es un sin sentido, empieza como light drama pero los plot twist son totalmente absurdos, y no el absurdo del tipico drama de fantasia, absurdos a nivel drama.
No es el tipo de "Stron female lead" , matan a los personajes mas carismaticos, todo mundo muere y mata sin una logica, creo que quisieron darle una trama interesante y no supieron como. Ni el final tuvo un nexo coherente entre las idas y venidas del tiempo.....
El villano termina con mejor final que el resto de personajes adorables e inocentes que murieron sin una razón logica, mucha matanza y golpes a mujeres sin justificacion....

Read More

Watch and make your own judgement!!!

I’ve decided to write a review for the first time because I want to point out some things I’ve read in some bad reviews.

Before anything Toh is not a stalker, I repeat TOH IS NOT STALKER!!!
PS: Nobody is saying that stalking behaviour is cute and I’m definitely not romanticising it.
BUT TOH IS NOT A STALKER!!!
A stalker is a person who persecutes or harasses somebody with unwanted and obsessive attention.
Toh never did that to Nuea. He has always kept his distance. Toh is a collector and the fact that he has photos of Nuea on his walls is not weird, unless we are now all agreeing that fans who have photos of their favourite idol all over their walls are weird, because that is who Toh is, a fan who adores his favourite idol. Toh has a crush and sees Nuea as somebody he can never reach, like a fan sees his/her idol.

Yes him collecting food may be weird to some people (to me it was not and also I just saw it as an exaggeration of his habit since we are in a comedy type of series) but I still don’t think is weird enough to say he should seek a therapist or he should go to a psychiatric hospital. I mean people are literally depicting Toh as if he was a freaking criminal, like come on! How does him collecting things make him a criminal? (I truly want to know)

And to the person who wrote that Toh’s friends encourage his habit: that sentence lets me know you didn’t watch the series unless we didn’t watch the same series.
Toh’s friends call him out multiple time on his behaviour, and even find a way later to help him get rid of it. But that doesn’t mean they are going to reject him, that doesn’t mean they are going to blame and judge him every chance they get. I mean they are his FRIENDS, even though they call him out they are still going to be by his side and support him, that’s how true friendship works, didn’t you know?


Now, I’ve read a lot of people who said Nuea loving Toh is not realistic, « why would a man like Nuea love a man like Toh? » they ask. my question to the people who ask that stupid question is WHY NOT?
Guys I know we live in a very superficial world. But wether you like it or not wether you believe it or not there are people like Toh (considered by society as weird, outcast, awkward, etc) who date people like Nuea (considered as hot, popular, etc). Yes it may not be the norm/majority but IT DOES EXIST!!!
And is funny how the series just depicted what those people usually go through. I mean people literally are MAD when the hot guy goes for the un polar and weird. And that’s exactly what I saw in those bad reviews.
Nuea dating and loving Toh is totally realistic. Just because you can’t date somebody seen as socially « weird, awkward » that doesn’t mean nobody on this planet earth can. There are people who can see BEYOND the superficiality. Again it may not be the norm but it does exist, so get over yourself!
Another thing I want to point out is a review I read that said something like feminine gays are a stereotype. Now I don’t know in what type of world does that person lives in but I’m pretty sure feminine gays exist and they are not a stereotype they are just who they are.
what I understood from that review is that Toh and his friends shouldn’t have been put at the center. Because yes those type of characters are usually on the side and are used as comedic relief. But now that they are the centre, for some people that’s shouldn’t have happened, they shouldn’t have been the lead and let alone be the main interest of people like Nuea because again « not very realistic » (?, please get out of your superficially bubble)


Anyway I have so many things to say, I wish I could take my time and dissect each and every points made in those bad reviews but I’ll just end with this:
WATCH AND MAKE YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT!!
This series is not for everyone I get that, but don’t watch it thinking just a certain type of people deserve love.
Yes you may feel the cringe, yes you may feel the embarrassment but again this is a comedy and that is how it is supposed to be. The embarrassment is part of the series.
My overall rating for this series is definitely 10/10. I can even give it 100/10, that’s how good it is to me.
Everything is perfect, the acting, the producing, the writing, the directing, the storyline, the kiss scenes, the sad scenes, the hilarious scenes, etc. EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT!!!
This is by far my favourite series from all the bl series I’ve ever watched. I've already watched it 7 times and I’m planing to watch it again and again and again
I’ll admit is also because I love to see Billy and Seng act ??

Read More

Entertaining and Boring

The story itself is good, and i loved that a lot of romantic scenes were original, that is, there were not many clichés that we usually see in Asian dramas.
It was very entertaining until they got together, after that it just became really boring, until it got entertaining again when her mother went to the hospital, then they broke up and it got really upsetting... The ML knows FL mother is in the hospital and instead of going there to give his support, he goes to work with his ex?! It's true that he couldn't do anything for her mother, but he could just be there to give his support to his girlfriend.
But somehow all the other characters talk about this as if the FL is the wrong one and the one that had a rushed attitude?!!! Like the ML is the victim??!! This really made me angry. But then ML admitted to be wrong and understood FL reasons, so it's okay.
The ending was okay, but not good, i think it ended too quickly and i wish i could see more of them, like their wedding.
(also hated the fact that it looks like they cut some scenes in half and there's that feeling there's more to see)

Read More

Well detailed, top notch, no bad ending , a must watch.
The characters were like they where born for the roles, I really enjoyed the fact that they put in their all.
I would advise more of this type of genre, it was a job well done.





















Well detailed, top notch, no bad ending , a must watch.
The characters were like they where born for the roles, I really enjoyed the fact that they put in their all.
I would advise more of this type of genre, it was a job well done.

Read More

It's really worth seeing.

I have seen all 3 seasons. It is a series that leaves you in suspense, eagerly waiting to see what happens in the next episode. Actors play exceptionally well.
Watching the first episode, I didn't understand anything, initially I wanted to stop watching, but it left me with many questions which answers were given to me along the way.
When Min Seol-a died, it really made me think that Dan-te and Seo-jin killed her, but no, Yoon-hee did it, I understood that he didn't do it on purpose, but if I were Suryeon, I wouldn't have been able to forgive her, but chose to lie to me all this time...
Then Logan it was sports teacher Ho-Dong (he was the only teacher who didn't annoy me).I think Du-ki made me hate the Hwayeong Middle School I can't forgive him.
All the adults in Hera Place who died have been revived, but Min Seol-a when? I still had hope that she would appear...Then dying one by one AGAIN, I dashed my hopes. I thought it would have a happy ending where Dan-te and Seo-jin would go to prison, their children and all the other children who were a bully to correct their mistakes. Ro-na and Seok-Hoon be happy, Min Seol reappear and live with Su-ryeon...

Read More

Light and fun feminist alternate reality

This drama exists in a fantasy version of history where everyone’s a feminist, the men are curiously timid and disinclined to exert their power, and women overcome patriarchal structures with laughable ease. You just have to accept that from the jump, and then you will have a great time with this show.

It’s light all the way through with a lot of humor, and even when it touches on serious issues (such as intimate partner violence) they get resolved quickly and happily. Despite the marketing of this as a romance, the focal point of the narrative is the female empowerment arc and the sisterhood that develops between the women. The romance arcs are secondary (the main romance gets fully put on ice for about 20 episodes straight), but when the show does get to it, it’s done well. The couples are very rootable and there are some happy and thriving single women, as well. The cast is fantastic all around.

Recommended if you can just go along for the ride and not take it too seriously.

Read More

What a cute drama

It had everything to be another classic marriage contract drama, but it wasn't just that! From the first episode we could see that it would not be just another drama in which the main characters began to create their relationship with a contract.
Is it a cliche drama? Of course it is!! However the way the story develops makes this serie into something different and much better. Throughout the drama, we get to see how Xi Xi and Si Chen grow as people and realize that there are things much more important than money and work. I love the fact that this story doesn't lose its way and focuses a lot on the main couple and everything that involves them. Family, friends and even those who didn't really need to be there (I didn't even have characters I didn't like *cough cough) made the romantic story much more interesting and fun to watch. The ending was super cute!! Will there be another season?? I hope so, because I really loved the chemistry of the main actors and I hope to see them together again on TV.

Read More

Warm & sweet latte on a winter day

Definitely SUPER cute and lovely and funny!

I really has a lot of fun with this web drama. It's so short but is enough to fall in love, I swear, sooo lovely!

The characters is one super energetic and another more introvert and I really love this kind of couples. In this drama we have a cute and pure romance, don't have a big plot, just four episodes of just their feelings. One of them was very hurt in a previous relationship so now is afraid to love again, that's something that happens a lot, we know. And the other is confused by her first love for a girl.

Till now we don't have a lot GL kdramas yet, so please give a chance for this one! You can find it on YouTube!

Read More

NOT A REVIEW, BUT READ ANYWAY

Please bring this drama back to life. Two great MLs and all the cast and crew have put their heart and soul into this drama. Not to mention all the funding. It looks like a great drama, so it would be such a shame to keep it buried. It's a unique plot and the fans and the entertainment community and businesses all suffer from this unnecessary political and military interference. I hope that others would come to the defense of this potentially high scoring series!

-------------------------------------------FILLER-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FILLER------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read More

Stop promoting animal cruelty!

Immediately dropped it after the cat scene. I'm so sick of it! When will we finally stop promoting animal violence and cruelty in media.










(abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz ABC DEF GHI JKL MNO PQRS TUV WXYZ !"§ $%& /() =?* '<> #|; ²³~ @`´ ©«» ¤¼× {} abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz ABC DEF GHI JKL MNO PQRS TUV WXYZ !"§ $%& /() =?* '<> #|; ²³~ @`´ ©«» ¤¼× {} abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz ABC DEF GHI JKL MNO PQRS TUV WXYZ !"§ $%& /() =?* '<> #|; ²³~ @`´ ©«» ¤¼× {} abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz ABC DEF GHI JKL MNO PQRS TUV WXYZ !"§ $%& /() =?* '<> #|; ²³~ @`´ ©«» ¤¼× {} abc def ghi jkl mno pqrs tuv wxyz ABC DEF GHI JKL MNO PQ )

Read More

Best adaptation ever.

this series has been in my plan to watch list for a long time, Since I had huch that this one is gonna be good. I definitely doesnt want to watch this partially, now second season about to come out I had to complete it. now i saw the mdl score im kind of mad this series deserve score over 9 honestly.
Story :
written by a fucking genius mangaka, then pictured and directed nicely as adaptation.
first of all the games, mechanism of the game is really good split in every each category spades, clubs, diamond, and hearts
spades games of physical and survival. diamond game of wits, hearts game of psychology, clubs games of balance of other three categories. each categories game difficulties pictured in numbers with the hardest numbers games showed with number 10, though too bad no aces game were showed since ace could be the hardest or the easiest. each game are meaningful on their own as a test if the player are worthy to lives longer, based on categories and numbers. unlike other death game that forces to have casualties, each game surprisingly fair there is actually a way for everyone to survive and hints to it. but of course not so easy.
spoiler alert if there are players of course there are dealers which revealed later on, both sides plays with their lives at stakes, really interesting.
Characters :
how work for every series, yet I pretty much like everyone. each one progressed on their own and has reasons to survive on their own each pictured really well not too long yet understandable. you'll care about every characters, every player will have regrets such as "things could have been better" as they plays every game and grow as a character.
Music :
its pretty much subjective for me, music fits well with the intensity even though none are really memorable. music fits, not too loud for you to have jump scare, thats it need to be for a good music in a mystery series for me.
Rewatch :
this is what so special, I believe you can watch this series multiple times as many as you want, especially if you are a locked-room mystery fan, there is so much solution in every game you can try to find the hints yourself. the characters that plays the game may or may not get the hints but there always is a way, spoiler alert especially in game 7 of heart.
INTP people I see you. you'll definitely love this series.

Read More

so average!

I've started to watch this in between other dramas, and though it's quite entertaining, it's still mediocre... The FL looks mediocre, she hardly has any acting skills, and the ML, though handsome and all, is overdoing it most of the time. Dont get me wrong, they r both handsome, but so forgettable, nothing to get someone's attention. I might keep watching it since i have no other option at present, but it's NOT ENGAGING, i skip a lot of the boring scenes. The tropes are there, but it's not this that puts me off - just the general impression.
Watch it if you're a fan or super-bored.

Read More