Reviews

A story about the power of mutual love and trust

Only when you have the power to move mountains, can you change your fate. That's what the old man tells our FL. She desperately wants to avoid the mistakes from her previous life. And so she embarks on a journey to conquer the intimidating ML, a man who became so obsessed with revenge it ruled his every choice, action, and thought, and save the kingdom along with her loved ones. This story is really good. Chemistry between the actors (leads and supporting) was absolutely top notch. I didnt give it a ten because of various plot holes, and near the end I wasn't really feeling the villain or their motivations. I got bored until we got our time skip and then I was invested again. They take the time to neatly tie up loose ends, which I really appreciate. I thought the FL was awesome, I loved her character. She is smart, witty, driven and determined. She cherishes her friends and allies, going to great lengths to lend a hand when they are in need. She even has compassion for the antagonists.

One of the reasons I've rated 9.5 instead of 10 is because of the antagonist themselves. Some of them are alright but one in particular I had a big issue with. His motivation was flimsy and actually didn't make a lot of sense. But I can forgive that because of all the good things about this show. The ending felt kinda rushed but also made me a little bored.

Other than that, I thought the show was well-written and performances were spectacular across the board. I'm always a fan of time travel fix-it dramas, and while this one isn't as good as the princess royal (in my opinion), it's still really good, and has probably the best ending out of any chinese drama I've seen to date.

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Hyenas do their job

Plot and Storyline
The storyline revolves around Jung Geum-ja, a scrappy, cunning lawyer who will do whatever it takes to win a case, and Yoon Hee-jae, a polished, highly competent attorney who prides himself on his elite status. Their opposing personalities and strategies create a fascinating dynamic as they clash and collaborate in a world rife with corporate corruption, personal vendettas, and moral dilemmas.

The drama does a stellar job balancing intense courtroom battles with personal growth arcs. It’s more than just a legal drama—*Hyena* delves into themes of ambition, loyalty, and the blurred lines between justice and personal gain.

Performances
Kim Hye-soo delivers a standout performance as the resourceful and fearless Jung Geum-ja. Her portrayal of a morally ambiguous character is both refreshing and empowering. Ju Ji-hoon, on the other hand, shines as the arrogant yet vulnerable Yoon Hee-jae, perfectly complementing Kim Hye-soo's fiery presence. Their chemistry is magnetic, oscillating between rivalry and romance, keeping viewers hooked.

Highlights
1. **Complex Characters**: The depth and layers of the protagonists make them relatable and intriguing.
2. **Tight Pacing**: The drama moves briskly, with twists that keep viewers on their toes.
3. **Visuals and Production**: From the sleek office settings to the dramatic courtroom scenes, the cinematography is polished and engaging.
4. **Romantic Tension**: The relationship between Geum-ja and Hee-jae adds a compelling dimension to the drama, blending humor and intensity.

Weaknesses
While *Hyena* is an overall excellent drama, some subplots could have been explored further. Additionally, a few of the legal cases feel slightly rushed, leaving less room for deeper emotional impact.

Final Verdict
*Hyena* is a thrilling watch for fans of legal dramas and character-driven stories. With its sharp writing, powerhouse performances, and an electrifying mix of rivalry and romance, it stands out as a unique entry in the K-drama world. Whether you’re drawn to courtroom drama or fiery character dynamics, *Hyena* will leave you thoroughly entertained.

Rating: 3.5/5

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This is for adult viewers or people who want more than just fantasy

This is a romance between races, but also tragic story of self-sacrifice. Most folks will hate the ending, but for me it was a world better than The Love Between Fairy and Devil!
From the first episode I was spell-bound. Considering I am not a big fan of fantasy this was one of the best I had seen in general and the best of 2024. Why? Consistent production. Great editing. Fun costumes, awesome color palette. Solid acting. Good story and interesting characters. Music and the lyrics! But what beats Burning Flames and Love Game for me was complex subtext of this story. The whole idea of animosity between two groups is nothing new but I have not seen anything like this before. I admit I only saw 350+ dramas, but this script was smart inside out. I was raised during the era of post-communist regime in the country where we could not openly speak of the tragedies and terror around us, so we developed an artistic, metaphoric way of communicating our observations, dissent and longings. I loved this drama because of how it spoke to that. If you are looking for an easy, HE romance, nah. Skip it. If you want a good story that is visually beautiful and filled with wisdom - give it a try.

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A great rebirth drama

Lacking time to write a full length review, I will just simply say that this one is worth watching for any fans of Chinese period dramas. It’s an idol drama to be sure, but it maintains all the beats and elements that have made any excellent C period drama of yore stand out in the sea of period dramas from any country.

Rebirth dramas have been popular lately, and I think this one balances that fantasy aspect with realism quite well. It’s grounded in Ming dynasty aesthetics and politics, which helps that side of the story work much better than say that of The Story of Kunning Palace. The romance side is done quite organically, with the tremendous help from a director with solid vision to tell that story with palpable tension and believability. My only small gripe is that the character of Song Han just didn’t work for me - he seemed to me an unnecessary villain in a story already complex enough with various antagonists.

Ultimately, gripe aside, of all the Chinese romance period dramas to pick from this year, this one reigns supreme for me.

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Everything is great especially the costumes

Worth the hype, worth the watch everyone played and executed their parts excellently.

The female lead and the male lead have very great chemistry, the supporting characters were on point too.

I was pained when one of the twins died and FL younger sister died. I really hoped she would have a better ending but it makes sense though because in other for FL to change her fate, she had to die. Her marriage was one of the things that caused it.

The costumes made it even more worth watching.

Including it in my top 3 best historical drama of 2024.

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Not bad at all

I quite enjoyed this mini series. This one was done decently with a pretty complete, more detailed story than the usual mini dramas.

The Good

The plot was decent here and kept me engaged throughout the show. I appreciated that the love triangles were kept to a minimum and our main couple was the focus throughout. No real evil love rivals and annoying childish characters. It was a more mature romance as they recognized and acted on their feelings pretty early on. Definitely lighter on the tropes but a couple were thrown in (not the annoying fall into a kiss ones). The acting was also good here especially from our main leads. This almost felt like I was watching a fuller length drama. The production was standard for a modern drama but it had a nice OST. Oh and this has lots of romance and kisses. A very green flag couple.

The Bad

Wished some of the characters could have been fleshed out more but with this being a mini series, they were limited on time to do that. Also, it’s not a new story as it’s an older woman/younger man trope. Some may not like it. It also had the bad parents tropes which sometimes gets tiring.

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JCOC!

This drama is great for the love part only.

Type is an a-hole, self centered, egotistical, moul fouthed, jerk, douchebag, hypocrite kinda guy. I hope I write all of them that represent Type character, because the actor is so awesome on portraying it, or better, the writer!

The plot is spicy for some, full of TW for sure.

The one thing that make me stay to watch it is the way the director make the scene, especially the lovey dovey scene so perfect, you want to play back just to watch and get the feels.

In the end, Type is a great love to Tharn.

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Could Have Been Better.. Should Have Been Better..

Face Me is another attempt at medical crime thriller drama that had the potential to stand out but it falls short due to the lazy screenplay and narrative.. The whole concept felt off at the beginning.. Even the initial cases failed to create any real pull towards the story.. The dialogues were not that great.. I guess thats why the initial episodes felt boring..

Lee Min ki and Han Ji Hyun both delivered good performances but I felt they are far better actors and they were underutilised in Face Me.. Especially Lee Min Ki.. Han Ji Hyun is a lively character.. I hope she does a historical drama soon..

Lee Yi Kyung was also good in his role.. 2024 has been a great year for him.. Marry My Husband and Face Me.. And even Marry YOU.. He is showing his range and gaining more attention as well..

They could have made the scene where the real culprit is revealed much more dramatic.. It should have been a goosebumps moment.. I mean imagine realizing the person who killed your father and tried to kill you.. The culprit you have been looking for / hiding from is right in front of your eyes about to operate on you.. And you only realise this as you are slipping into unconsciousness.. If only they had made it more edgy or exhilarating..

I actually think Face Me is a better drama than what the ratings and comments indicate.. I guess the rating is below 8 because most of them were expecting some romance even if it's not the main focus.. And also they were expecting something more dramatic i guess?? What were they expecting?? A killer who changes his/her face after every murder??

Overall the drama was good.. The ending didn’t feel rushed.. And the conclusion hinted at a romance between the leads.. Which was nice.. However I would have loved it if they had explored that a bit more.. What harm would an extra 15 minutes in the final episode have done??

P.S.. The subtitles were poor again.. What will it take for them to hire someone skilled to handle the subtitles properly??

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Worth the Hype, Really

Saw this drama release on Youtube but didn't watch it because of the unremarkable name. It wasn't until people went wild that I decided to give it a try. Definitely don't think it was a waste of time.

'Blossom' is a drama adaptation of a web novel with the same name (let me side track for a moment: can we please start having more original content?). In my opinion, making a good adaptation of a written novel has its pitfalls that not many people talk about. Things like script arrangement, storyline fidelity, character development are all impacted when you have to cut a novel down to fit the number of episodes. When it's a smaller novel with a simpler storyline, it's manageable. We've seen successful examples like Hidden Love (143 chapters). Longer novels or those with complex storylines suffer a bit because there is a decision that needs to be made: a) cut material, b) leave it but speed everything up, or c) go off the rails and make the drama 'loosely' adapted. An example of a more successfully adapted drama is Love Like Galaxy which chose to elongate the drama series to have sufficient time for story telling. Blossom like a couple of other dramas this year successfully avoids a lot of those pitfalls.

However. what makes Blossom stand out from other C-dramas this year was the subtlety of the acting and the characters decision making. The FL who experienced rebirth was not immediately this all powerful character with a golden finger. The ML who was adept in martial arts also wasn't all knowing and has his fatal flaw of impatience and acting out of impulse when it comes to his family. Meng Zi Yi, as an actor, had to walk the fine line of smart but not all powerful and makes mistakes but not dumb. Easy to describe but hard to execute. We've seen countless examples where the FL is almost too OP for the villains or too dumb/naive to be considered the main lead. Meng Zi Yi did a fantastic job portraying a strong FL who has a good noggin on her shoulders. Li Yun Rui, similarly, had to tread the fine line of powerful but human in addition to a fatal flaw of a lot of C-drama MLs: the curse of the stone block. All too many times we've have MLs that portray strong = no facial emotion besides ocassional anger. Li Yun Rui did a stunning job in portraying himself as a ML who was strong yet capable of emotions. In the beginning of the drama, expecially with his encounters with FL, Li Yun Rui showcases an array of emotions: resolve when deciding to take revenge on his uncle's killers, trust in FL, betrayal when he believed FL to have betrayed him, admiration when he slowly gets to know FL, and later being completely smitten. Each emotion was subtly different from each other and cannot be confused with a similar emotion.

That being said, the chemistry between the leads was off the hook. I truly was invested in their romantic development as a couple. It did not seem artificial and there was a palpable tension between them when they become more and more attracted with each other. Both ML and FL were attracted to each other. It wasn't just ML or FL's one sided pursuit of the other. That one scene where ML asks if FL truly wanted to get married to her fiance nearly took me out. Though it was a tropey kabedon, there was nothing forceful about it. FL wasn't some helpless lass trapped by this charismatic man there to force her to love him. I think that's definitely something that I appreciate about Li Yun Rui's portrayal of ML's love for FL. It never felt forceful. While I cannot tell if it was because of his acting or if his features weren't as sharp (like pointy sharp, not intelligent sharp), but Li Yun Rui's Song Mo was a gentle protector. Swoon~

So then here are my nitpicks... I think that the character list was a tiny bit too expansive. Because it was adapted from a 523 chapter novel, there are bound to be arcs and loads of characters. While I can see how they add depth to the story and create the illusion of mini arcs the ML and FL go through to get stronger, I think taking some of these characters out wouldn't have changed much of the main plot line. Examples of minor characters that I'd probably cut out (based on their role in the drama): the Crown Princess (1-2 eps), the Grand Princess (2-4 eps), Zhao Zhang Ru (5-9 eps), Official Mu (eh, this is an iffy one to cut; 2-3 eps). Regardless, I think they've already done a fantastic job at making the script concise and well developed. Another nitpick was the villains' endings... They were all pretty whitewashed. While I could see that the script writers wanted to give the characters a sense of depth, the sudden change in tone when portraying them made their individual demises a bit lackluster. Several characters had revealed or suggested that they fell in love. Others had off screen deaths. It was a little unsatisfactory because the ending was ever so slightly rushed. You can tell it was rushed starting from the moment ML's poison was revealed because at that point, things started to focus less on ML and FL and how they solve things and more about the plot from a narrator's point of view. Going from the characters' personal perspectives to a narrator's perspective definitely saved story telling time but it made the drama less immersive because it makes the characters seem more like storybook characters and not people.

All in all, it was still a fantastic drama. Personally, I might even choose Blossom over 'The Double', 'In Blossom', 'Blossoms in Adversity', 'The Rise of Ning', 'The Princess Royal', and 'The Story of Pearl Girl'.
Don't come after me, it might just be the post-drama emotions, but I really really really loved Li Yun Rui's portrayal of ML. I asked for romance and I got romance. Most importantly, I got the happy ending I didn't get from 'The Double' and 'The Story of Pearl Girl'. I'm tempted to include 'A Journey to Love' but the ending kinda fits with the genre of old-timey, Hong Kong TVB-esque wuxia.

TLDR: Really loved this drama. Worth the time. Other dramas listed above were good watches too. If I had to pick a similar drama I liked that was less political intrigue-y but won't make you cry, it would be 'The Autumn Ballad'.

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Great start, alright end but most important, good chemistry

I am a massive fan of Zhang Chu Xuan & have seen Xie Yu Wang in another drama with spicy scene at the start. Was curious to see how this pair work on screen so I clicked play.

What I liked:
1) FL characterisation - I love that FL Jiang Yu Yang is not work that is common in cdramaland (businesswoman, designer). She is an actress who has a crush on voice actor. I like that she acts her age because I dislike childlike & childish FL.
2) Acting - Zhang Chu Xuan was excellent in her role here. She has great chemistry with Xie Yu Wang who gave a subdued performance of a CEO in love.
3) Romance - The flirting at the start was so sweet. That role play was hot. There is good amount of skinship though I wish there were more kisses.
4) Supporting characters - I like FL's best friend, Fu Yi Ze, ML's mother, FL's grandfather & ML's assistant. I was surprised when ML's assistant showed his emotions in a hospital scene almost at the end.

What I disliked:
1) Villain - I notice that many villains in vertical shot drama tend to be women scorned due to rejection of ML. This archetype is tiring me. The heinous attacks villain did on FL were shocking.
2) FL's action - I dislike FL's action towards villain once she was drugged. I understand the wrath but to leave a woman in a known vulnerable situation just doesn't sit well with me.

Favourite scene
When FL & ML flirting on the phone at the start of drama

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The abridged version

I was optimistic about the Japanese remake when it was first announced, but was left disappointed. The Japanese are usually more comfortable with dealing with sensitive topics in shows and I hoped they would do justice to Kai's. (Sky from the Thai version) trauma. They did not. The actor did well attempting it, but the writing did not allow the story to come to fruition. There in lies my big. problem with this show. This is like reading the abridged version of a novel you really like; all of the major plot points are there, but none of the emotional stuff that made you fall in love with the characters. For me it really comes down to the writing of the show. They condensed 14 50 minute episodes into 8 25 minute episodes. There was no it could really compete with the original. The actors did a good job. I really though Arashi was closer to the book version.

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