Reviews

A story of loss and letting go

This drama deals with loss and letting go. To me, this is the single line summary of the series. I will first write about the positives and negatives (my opinion!) and then how it made me feel.
Positives:
The drama tried to tackle the difficult issues of death, loss, despair, guilt, trauma and finally of letting go. A very complex set of subjects to deal with in the first place. This drama delves into super-natural and narual worlds to deal with it. It has main lead dead characters (who show up as ghosts) and also main lead alive characters. So it is a unique plot and a perspective which is uncommon. The story has quite a few very touching moments about guilt and letting go that was hard to watch as they brought out raw emotions on screen.
The drama does not put the same sex relationhisp at the center of the narrative. It is important but not the main focus. The subject matter is.
The actors playing Yoon Oh's and his mother's role did a phenomenol job. Also the actor playing the role of Mr. Yu. The rest of the team did an OK job, nothing special.
The OST's were good.
The produciton quality was also acceptable.
Negatives:
The story has many loop holes in terms of plot. It is a fantacy drama with ghots and humans and suspension of rational logic is necessary yet the execution of the supernaturals was sloppy. Even in this make believe world there needed to be more rationals of why certian things were happening and others were not. There was none given.
When the drama ended many issues were not resolved or unanswered, which in general is not bad. But for this show it left a feeling of incompleteness.
The chemistry between the main lead was not steller. The more convincing chemistry was between the mother and the son.
My feelings:
TBH, I have mixed feeling about this. I very much enjoyed some parts and others not so much. And the quantity seems almost equal. I appreciate the difficult subject matter. Many scenes brought tears to my eyes got me seriously thinking about loss and letting go. And I always enjoy a drama/movie which makes me think about things which I generally don't. So for that I laud this drama.
But the execution was lazy. This drama could have been far better if only a bit more attention were given to details and setting up the premises of the make believe world. One of the main lead's acting was average and that made the drama not such an enjoyable watch.
Also the ending wsa not quite well done. I do not want to give spoilers but the drama, in my opinion, did not need the last 2 minutes.
I must mention again how beautifully and convincingly the actors who played Yoon Oh and his mother's role played their characters. For their scenes only I can rewatch the drama.
So over all I say, watch it with caution. One can find beautiful moments and also can be supremely frustrated.

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CRIMINALLY SEXY ACTORS TO BLOW YOU UP WITH THIER TALENT!

So this is my 3 thai bl and MAN! this couple holds so much power , i still remember there scenes where so MINDBLOWING ! that made me to stop the show right there and go out to take some fresh air because they can make the room temperature go higher and higher ! OK! coming back to the plot i would say it has it uniqueness, cause for me kind of people who are new to thai bl and just watched some teen drama as a plot as their initial thai bl's , so for me the crime was a so different and unsettling cause all i thought was that these thai bl's are full teen drama . but this show gave a wider range to my thoughts and i would say it was a bit slow in between but all together its a nice crime bl to watch and coming back to square one their scenes where oh my god! being a hentai i loved it ! and yeah for me plot always come first so this was new and i personally adore thriller and the dark genre so yeah! it was good you can for sure go for it and have a nice time watching it !

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Interesting story with great acting but a little slow

The story is very good I enjoyed it very much also the actors did their best ,, I loved every character ,, there were no annoying female lead may be started goofy at first but then she grew up as a character on later episodes ,,, the male lead was the best ,, I loved every scene he was in ,, I did get bored a little in the middle because of some draggy episodes but not too long and there were some missing scenes that got me confused sometimes but overall the drama is really enjoyable to watch
it will get really sad in the second half and painful sometimes but that was the angst of the drama feeling what the male lead is feeling ,,,, I felt so emotional at the last episodes but is was really good
I hoped for more from the male lead's character ,, hoped he would do more to surprise everyone but he didn't not so much
I loved the second female lead more than any character in this drama because she was the best of the best of all of them
when I finished this drama I felt sad that's why I went to rewatch love and redemption again

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A gift for EXO-Ls

Finally, another reality show for EXO after a long time since the last one. I just hope Lay was part of it too. I just keep laughing and smiling the whole episodes. It's lovely to see every one of the members having fun and comfortable with each other. I've been EXO-L for years and knows how solid their bond on each other is, but this show let us see more of them, creating precious memories together.

EXO is the reason why I've been a KPOP fan today. I love them so much!! I would also like to thanks the people behind the filming and editing success of EXO Ladder because obviously they did an awesome job producing it.

To Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, DO, Kai and Sehun, thank you for being my huge source of happiness! I patiently waiting for your comeback. We Are One! EXO Saranghaja!

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A really heart warming story uwu

I had watched the movie before so this drama is actually a modified version of the movie. To be honest, the drama is much much better than the movie.The movie didn't have this much of story-telling and I felt there were a few scenes where I couldn't understand the reason or plot behind it.....but the drama was really amazing, the grandmas were so cute and the child actors did such a brilliant job!! And the main characters were relatable too and the story telling and set-up was smooth and amazing. Kim Seon Ho as good as always...osts were also pretty good...the dimple couple really melted my heart......overall definitely a recommendable drama <3.

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Totally Watchable & Enjoyable

Wow ... This drama was really good, and so well carried out.

There were a few things that just didn't add up:
1 . Why was P'Pha so a mystery, we didn't get to seem till the very last episode and then we are left hanging to see what happened.
2. The characters seem to have some unanswered questions, among all of them, Pok & Tong when does he come clean?
3. Sandee who looks so innocent but some how has a hidden agenda.
4. What was the deal between padok & Thanu?

Kit a man of few words, I had presumed that the dram was really about them, but I was so wrong this drama seemed to focus on wayu & thanu & p'pha (who is a ghost throughout the drama).

Mark, was really decisive in who wanted, but somehow there didn't seem to be any chemistry between them?

Storyline & Acting: This was your basic story line of guy meets guys and falls in love at sight, and the whole chase to get the guy. The characters throughout the drama was really well carried out, there wasn't a time where it dragged out or got boring. Each character was really good in there respective roles, although I feel that there should have been more screen time on Mark & Kit then on Wayu and his triangle of love!!

The ending has left a whole lot of unanswered questions and that is really the sad part of this drama.

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Disappointing modern love story inspired by a beautiful historical love story.

This drama is not the sequel of One and Only. It is another story with a new couple who is not the one from One and Only reincarnated. But it is good to have watched One and Only before. Because this drama makes a lot of references to the original story and it helps understanding the essence of drama and the state of mind of the two leads.

STORY:

A woman named Shi Yi created for herself a fantasized ideal man named Zhou Sheng Chen based on the main character of a movie she is working on and on historical informations she collected. She meets a Zhou Sheng Chen in real life who is not really like her fantasized one. She still falls for him trusting he is her destiny. The guy is a scientist very down to earth and logical and despite being from a rich family, he is not a typical heir of a conglomerate. He just wants to be a scientist.

I liked the first part where they are discovering each other and putting the cart before the horse. Because he has family pressure and because she is just head over heels for him. They looked very cute chasing each other from city to city and from China to Germany and back. There is also some kind of love triangles to spice it up. I liked that the FL is one to take initiative, be straightforward and send signals to the guy.

The second part when they are "official" is awkward. They have to discover the things they did not take the time to know beforehand. They really look good together but it is not sparkling chemistry. She is cute taking the time to make their relationship be the most normal one but he is so awkward that it is sometime cringe. These two in their everyday routine trying to get used to each other and to their life together, explaining things to each other, I thought is was lacklustre to the point I started losing interest.

They are also facing their respective families. Shi Yi's family is not complicated and it is rather fun. But ML's family is totally dysfunctional and even fckd up. It is clear that such a family does not exist in the modern world. They purposely took some crazy royal families you can see in historical cdrama and transposed to the modern world with no nuance at all. So the main couple meets the most opposition here from people who talk family but don't act like family.

In the last part, things take a fast pace as bad schemers are unveiled. It ends with an unexpected final showdown and our couple being "separated" for some time before the happy ending. I thought it was intense and emotional and a good final stretch with some action and a proper closure for most people good or not good. Our cute leads lives married happily ever after and the crown goes to the young crown prince.

CHARACTERS:
- Great ones: Shi Yi so lovely and patient with her bf/husband, the young crown prince
- Good ones: Zhou Sheng Chen the scientist who was a 30 something y.o. virgin, Driver (uncle Lin) MVP of the first part, Shi Yi typical loving Chinese parents, Grandmother typical nice grandmother who makes nice confusions and gives away secrets, the two distant cousins who look like lovers, Mei Dong Lin Mei Xing's dad.
- Silly ones: Mei Xing who did not know better, Zhou Wen Xing who did wrong thinking she was doing right, Tong Jia Ren who barked at the wrong trees and ended empty handed, Wang Man who loved a crow thinking he is a swan.
- Bad ones: Zhou Wen Chuan, Qin Wan the mother, the bad uncle.
- Underused: Xiao Yu Shi Yi best friend and Du Feng the cop. Their story should have been better developed.

OST:
Not so good. Repetitive with one style for one place of action and sound effects for the funny situation. I am really not fan of playing these songs at key moments. It is more disturbing the pace than helping the mood.

REWATCH VALUE:
Bai Lu and Allen Ren are not enough to save this drama. The cuteness of the main leads is not enough to make me rewatch (Also knowing that there is no real kiss) .

OVERALL: 7.5/10. I watched this as a part II and it is so so. I found it was cute but the family opposition and schemes from family members were quite badly told and silly. I don't get the demise of some characters when it was really not worth it and you have to put this on recklessness or crazyness. It also lacked entertaining situations. I will stick with the first Installment. In fact, this drama just managed to make me love One and Only more. Because it made its ending even more tragic and beautiful: There is no reincarnation. Love as much as you can when you still can.

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I love it but...

I watched this drama two times already, I used to watch this before but never get to finish... cause I was a kid, the drama is good and the acting is perfect for me! Although I want the politics to be more emphasized than the romance, but that will be dumb because I am watching a romcom in the first place. But, since this is one of the first kdramas I watched and adored, it holds a special place in my heart. I recommend this to people who like female cross-dressing, cute, and kind of cliche romance. It's fun to watch, politics is ok, too. Plus yoo-jung unnie is very pretty!

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Competent SP but over long

I watched this SP in preparation for watching Season 2 of Mikaiketsu No Onna. It was refreshing to watch an SP that matched the main series in terms of acting and story.
The story followed the template of the series well, with a strong focus on the two female leads. The SP opened with a scene described in a voice over as irrelevant but that turned out to be anything but.
The only flaw was the length. The culprit was obvious 15 minutes before the end, and much of the last 15 minutes was exposition that restated the obvious. Overall, a satisfactory warmup for Season 2

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PDA and sweetness off the charts!!

First of all, I don’t agree with most of the other earlier reviews. This is a very sweet drama, no-frills, yes a little typical, but it’s genuine and very touching. I didn’t like Forever and Ever or You are my glory- those two dramas were too hyped up and too fake.

The story, character and relationship development were all very good. It seems rather long with 41 episodes, I wasn’t bored until probably the last 10 episodes. It then got a bit repetitive. 41 episodes is too long for a rom-com, cos you can’t go any further with the comedy or the storyline. It would have been better to finish it off by 30. There were however many touching scenes which surprisingly made me cry!

The love story between Sheng Jing Chu and Cheng Liao was very sweet. The PDA and romance was off the charts :):):) Lots and lots of it! So unlike Forever and Ever which was SO HARD to come by, even though that couple was older and more matured? Yes the FL can be overly cute, but I didn’t find that annoying at all. The ML (he was one of the guys in Love O2O) yes he was stiff, but I believe that was the portrayal of his character.

I also particularly liked how the scenes from the GO competitions would change to virtual Kung-fu battle scenes! I enjoyed that very much! Good blend of comedy and some wrongdoings as well.

Ignore the other reviews. GO watch this for a lovely sweet drama :):)

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Rife with gaslighting

This started out okay but then the director and scriptwriter made some choices that not even Jasper's smile and Zhou Yu Tong's acting can save.

I found the ML's mood swings, especially when it comes to the FL's "work ethic", bewildering. I find it difficult to reconcile myself to the power differential between them. Furthermore, the ML seems to be withholding important information about his identity, and is making decisions for her (i.e. either through good intentions or through a lack of understanding) which end up making her life harder than it needs to be. If you are going to assert professional control over someone -- senior v junior -- then keep it to that. Stop making it personal and/or using personal information to manipulate the other party forcing them to come around to your way of thinking because you think it best.

How can the FL trust someone who takes away so many of her choices when it comes to self-determination. That is not love. This is an exercise in control. Furthermore, the FL started out well. Sure, she was a little frivolous, a little serious, has her pride -- who among us doesn't. And doesn't always make the best or smartest choices -- again, who among us does? But the systematic chipping away of her agency, making her look unprofessional - when she started out fine, and generally someone who is constantly on the back-foot -- apologising for herself? None of this is cool.

I don't watch dramas to get angry at chauvinistic nonsense. I see enough of that in real life. And if I wanted to watch people playing life or death games trapped by limited choices and circumstances I would watch Squid's Game. Not a drama that describes itself as a rom-com.

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I wish the drama would have been better !

The drama starts with a beautiful night scenery, martial art fight and music. The strong female lead character enters and the plot starts to fall down with intrigues that keep you hooked.... until episode 15-17.
Then there are a lot of holes in the plot, maybe due to the too many twists in the story, but lot of scenes unfold without making lot of sense and you can fast forward the drama and still understand everything.
Now, Leo Luo actes brilliantly as always .... his character is my favorite. Jing Chao was a bit disappointing though as I found his expression was the same whatever emotion he tried to demonstrate.

⚠️ ATTENTION HUGE SPOILERS !!! ⚠️

- It is so frustrating that Rong Le is not intrigued by her pay and flash backs. She never looked for her true identity (but 2/3 lines in the scenario) until Xiang takes initiative to find the truth after only one sentence she heard (“-“)
- Episode 15 - Long yue dies to allow the princess to escape, yet she doesn’t and so she died for absolutely nothing. Prince Li was literally 2min away on his horse yet ..... he never arrived while Rong Le is stopped by her brother, she is screaming, crying ...
- That scene when Xiang and Rong Le cry and fall asleep together and never talk about it ... is so weird. We know from that their relationship as viewers. But that scene isn’t well captured in the scenario.
- Rong Le knows martial arts and don’t hesitate to fight against dozens of men but don’t stand against 1 man when majesty’s life is threaten, nor to get rid of one of the main male leads
- Episode 40 - She knows how unhappy she was when she was forced to marry someone she doesn’t love ... yet she offers Ya Li to marry General Luo. Then Ya Li turns into a vilain that is completely out of character because she feels alone. She loves 1 then another one ... so weird.
- There are some politics intrigues but from a scene to another, wars are settled
- After the adultery episode, she comes suddenly comes back from Chen with Wi You and the warhorses and the matter is also settled just like that.
Episode 52 - princess comes back to southern land freed of all doubt of adultère because they came back with horses from Chen ! Just like that ...
- Episodes 56-57 are so frustrating. My heart aches for Emperor Qi. He is The real hero/victim is actually Emperor Qi! He never had anything, his mother never gave him love, and he lost the only person he ever loved ... while she hated him all along, he actually saved her multiple times and did everything in his power for her to be happy with the man she loves ! Yet, she doesn’t understand his actions while she can understand General Chou and Wu You ??‍♀️
And when did Ke arrive ? The only episode that actually made me cry is the last one .... for emperor Qi and love that Rong Le should have had for him all along ?

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DO YOU LIKE REVENGE?

If you like a drama filled with revenge, this is the drama for you. Every single episode has some form of it. Revenge was all over the place…the main couple, the side couple, the side/side couple, friends, fellow employees. It has love, hate, jealousy, violence, resentment, plot twists, oh, and did I mention revenge… The acting, writing, directing, producing all were excellent. I couldn’t stop watching it. One minute I was crying, the next I was angry, then I was rooting different characters on. This is a very heavy drama that maybe everyone wouldn’t like. At times my stomach was in a knot. It does not leave you feeling “happy and light hearted,” that’s for sure. If you decide to watch it, be ready to be put in a kind of anxious, sort of sad mood. All I can say is this is a must watch! One of the best revenge dramas I’ve seen, actually THE best.

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