Reviews

“This Drama Broke My Heart in the Most Beautiful Way

Oh gosh… I was literally bawling my eyes out while watching In Your Radiant Season. This drama didn’t just make me cry—it completely shattered my heart into pieces in almost every single scene of every episode.

The story is deeply emotional, beautifully written, and painfully real. Each episode carries its own weight, yet none of them ever feels boring. Instead, it pulls you deeper and deeper into the characters’ lives, making you feel every bit of their joy, pain, and longing.

Lee Sung-kyung and Chae Jong-hyeop truly delivered outstanding performances. They didn’t just act—they became their characters. Their emotions felt so raw and genuine that it was impossible not to cry along with them. Their chemistry was soft, heartfelt, and quietly powerful, making every interaction feel meaningful.

What makes this drama even more special is its side characters. They aren’t just fillers—they shine just as brightly as the main leads. Each relationship feels sincere and comforting, creating a sense of warmth even in the midst of heartbreak. Even when conflicts arise, none of the characters feel purely cruel or merciless, which adds a layer of humanity and realism to the story.

And of course… the OST. Every single track carries its own charm. Whether it plays during a heartbreaking moment or a gentle, happy scene, the music blends perfectly with the storytelling, amplifying every emotion. It’s the kind of OST that stays with you long after the episode ends.

In Your Radiant Season is not just a drama—it’s an emotional journey that quietly lingers in your heart, leaving behind a bittersweet ache you won’t forget anytime soon.

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A Promising Mix of Law and Yakuza — But the Bromance Fell Flat; Stayed for Machida

I’d been looking forward to this series for three very specific reasons. First, Machida Keita — he’s become one of my go-to Japanese actors lately. Even in a supporting role, he tends to steal focus, so my expectations were quietly high. Second, the genre mix: yakuza undercurrents, legal drama, detective work, a bit of action and moral ambiguity. That blend is very much my thing. And third, I was hoping for a solid dose of bromance — ideally a mentor – trainee dynamic with some emotional weight and unspoken loyalty.

On the first point, no complaints whatsoever. Machida delivers. His character, Mibu, is calm, restrained, slightly opaque, and written with enough moral ambiguity to keep things interesting. He’s not exactly squeaky-clean, but he’s compelling and, crucially, believable. That kind of stoic presence can easily fall flat, but here it lands.

The plot, though, sits somewhere around a 7/10. It’s watchable, occasionally gripping, but not something that completely pulls you under. One issue is emotional investment: I didn’t really care about the clients or victims in many of the cases. Some of them are morally dubious at best, which makes the whole “defence” angle feel a bit… unearned. You’re watching, you’re following, but you’re not exactly rooting for anyone. Still, it’s entertaining enough to keep going.

What really threw me off, however, is the structure. After ten episodes, the story feels oddly fragmented, almost as if it just… stops mid-thought. It’s unclear whether this is meant to lead into a second season or if something got lost in the editing. Either way, the lack of narrative closure is frustrating.

Now, the bromance — arguably one of the main selling points for me — was a mixed bag, leaning towards disappointment. I actually liked Kujo: composed, purposeful, clearly driven by something beneath the surface. There’s a sense that he’s playing a long game, and that works well.

But the dynamic with Karasuma didn’t click at all. And this is very much a “type issue” for me. I struggle with the trope of the inexperienced junior who immediately starts questioning, lecturing, and emotionally demanding things from a seasoned mentor. Karasuma comes across as whiny, entitled, and oddly confrontational for someone with very little standing. The constant moralising and need for validation just grated on me. Instead of a loyal, perceptive partner trying to understand his superior, we get someone who feels more like a disruption than support.

Ironically, the secondary bromance (with Mibu) had far more potential. There’s a quieter, more understated connection there — shared history, mutual understanding, minimal words. You get the sense that something significant happened between them, something that shaped their relationship. I would have happily watched more of that, but it remains underexplored.

All in all, it’s a solid, fairly engaging watch with a few standout elements — mainly the performances and the genre blend — but also some noticeable shortcomings in character dynamics and narrative payoff. I enjoyed it, even if parts of it didn’t quite land for me. If you’re into legal dramas with a yakuza edge and don’t mind a slightly uneven character setup, it’s definitely worth a try. And if there’s a continuation, I’d be curious to see where it goes — this story feels like it still has something up its sleeve.

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Some people are not meant to be.. and that's totally okay

The first part of Still Shining pulls you into a beautiful first love and than crashes you heart with the harsh reality of real life.

Both of the main leads did an amazing job portraying their charachers. The acting was truly phenomenal from both parts.

Both the ML and the FL had some questionable choices in this drama which made them feel real and made me really resonate with them. They both had their own struggles in life and they both made some mistakes.

But truly some people are just not meant to be together, no matter how much they love each other, their life just takes different paths and that's the sad reality of relationships.

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Powerplay and forgiveness

This was a great drama, it's nice for a change to have a drama that is not all fluffyness. And don't get me wrong, i love those, but something else once in a while is very welcome. The story was great, the only thing that bothered me a bit was the time shifts, they were a little bit confusing. That's why i gave it a 9/10.
The action scenes were very good. And it's very cool to see a girl wo can fight and good too!
The visuals were stunning and the music good.

Great acting by all the actors and amazing acting by Peat, he played all the moods perfectly, scared, lovesick, ruthless, devistated every single one was portrayed perfect.
Fort and Peat have amazing chemistry and their kiss/intimate scenes are perfect.
The girl couple had great chemistry too and the kissing scene in the pool was hot.

Definatly a must watch!

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A good production with a rushed and poorly developed romantic plot.

I liked the choice of lens used in the series, with that "serious drama" feel. In general, the series is well-produced and has great acting, but the main thing for me will always be the story, and the biggest mistake in the series is precisely its main point: The development of the romance:
😐 The development of the romance is too rushed! And because of this "rush," we can't connect with the story. At the beginning of episode 1, the protagonists don't even know each other, and by the end of episode 2, they've already gone through so many ups and downs that it gives the impression that the story is already over! And the bad thing is that we didn't even get the middle part, where the beginning of the relationship appears! So the impression is that we saw the beginning and the end of a romance movie... In other words: We didn't create any connection with the couple, and some romantic lines lose their meaning. It's like starting a romantic series halfway through! 😬

😭They skipped all the "First times" at the beginning of a relationship, so the romance became bland! We didn't get their first romantic dinner, their first night out together, the first time introducing themselves as "girlfriend" to their friends, the first text message exchange with that smiling face, their first weekend together, their first sexual encounter, nothing... They skipped all that. We only got their first kiss, but it was very quick, without them even knowing each other properly, and then they skipped months of their relationship, so their kiss NOW doesn't cause "butterflies in the stomach" anymore, because they've been together for months, so they've already kissed and had sex a lot... We just didn't see it. Everything now will have that air of "naturalness" and not the butterflies in the stomach of "wow, the protagonist is nervous because she's never done this before with her girlfriend, and since I'm waiting to see this in time, let's get nervous together and enjoy the scene"... Instead, they made a 2-minute music video with silent scenes of them being happy and skipped 3 months of their relationship.

Another bad thing is that romantic phrases and declarations lose their meaning. For example, Arisa says, "I can be myself with you," and in theory, the viewer should watch and think, "That's true! How romantic," but what we think is, "When were you 'yourself' with Lyla? I didn't see that... Is she being sincere or is it just lip service?"... Do you understand? If we haven't seen anything related to their relationship, we can't connect with those moments or get emotional. It becomes a loose phrase without depth, without a scene, and nothing to base it on. It's the same as her saying, "I already won a tap dancing contest."🤷‍♀️

🙄 Another thing I didn't like was Arisa's attitude. First, she decides that the 2-minute video (3 months of relationship) meant nothing and asks Lyla to disappear from her life; then, she decides it did mean something and insists on getting back together with Lyla. In other words: Arisa decides whether they are dating or not, and nothing prevents her from changing her mind again in two episodes. She's not being honest with Lyla! She could have just said she was confused and needed time to think. That it was better to break up. She didn't need to be a jerk and make Lyla feel used!

In one scene, she gets angry because of Lyla's "lie" and says, "I forgive you, but we'll never lie to each other again," and in the same episode, there's Arisa, lying to Lyla again and making a fool of her.
📢"But that's the story: Love conquers revenge. Arisa is using Lyla to get revenge, but then she will fall in love with her and give up on revenge"
👉Arisa WAS ALREADY Lyla's girlfriend, and WAS ALREADY in love with her when she decided to use her girlfriend to get revenge. So if in the end Arisa says: "I wanted revenge, so I decided to use you but ended up falling in love," she'll be lying! Because she already loved Lyla, she already knew she loved Lyla, she was already dating her, and even so she decided to use her.

Regarding the revenge, I also feel that the series is moving too fast, as if it were a fanfic where each chapter has to have several things happen to hook the viewer, but it's not as bad as the development of the romance.

Could my opinion change? Yes, definitely, but if they started development making so many mistakes, it will be difficult to reverse. My hope is that revenge will be good.

PS: The soundtrack also falters at times because it sometimes disappears completely out of nowhere. It's simply cut off, just like that...

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SO FUN

It was a bit draggy at some parts and I feel some scenes could’ve been cut (I zoned out), but overall, it was a fun show. I think the pace was fine, and how they first developed into friends first before progressing further made it all the more wholesome. I love the side characters as well. The first few episodes were stressful but I love that there was a need to grow and improve and not have the characters be perfect from the get go. The last arc was a little unnecessary in my opinion, but the final battle was outstanding and the ending was well worth it. Going full-circle was a joy. Would recommend (and already made a friend watch it lol)

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A glorious short drama

This short drama truly plays to its strengths. The rebirth aspect is used to shorten the time it takes to set up the villains and allies within the harem. Short dramas usually feel rushed to me, not so Glory Back. It truly feels like the screen writers and director condensed a harem drama to its most essential scenes. Glory Back benefits from focusing on the revenge story instead of more sprawling harem and state intrigue, though the hints are there. It is a well-played personal story of the FL finding out who harmed her and who is making a mess of the harem in the process.

The male leads are both devoted to the female lead and have their strengths. It is fun to not immediately dislike one over the other. It becomes clear, though, that only one can match the female lead's wit and personality. The progression of the relationships felt very organic.

The visuals are stunning and the production makes good decisions to use the budget they have. They make the harem look like a sprawling place.

Often I feel the last episodes of dramas (both short and standard) can be a real drop in quality, not so here. The very last episode was a bit too wholesome and progressive for the overall story, but that's just how Chinese Drama operate at this point (for good endings).

For a web series this one is simply so good and I am happy a second season has been teased. I would be so interested in this team doing a standard series harem drama.

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recommended watch

great show.
but don't watch the last 10-15 minutes.
because of the standard timetravel censorship.

Despite the restrictions it was niceley written. helping finish the FL's character arc.

story fit well together. there were some things that were rushed.(novel has 2000k chapters) but as someone who hasn't read it, they made the right choices.
the story showed how some people continuously pushed themselves back into the same pit, while others dares to bravely move forward.

the acting really shone in this one. comparing the actors at the start against the end can really show you how much they changed.
but this show does give some characters an ageless feel. they changed behaviorly but dont seem to have gotten older over those 10 years.

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So bad that it becomes frustrating

I have to admit I’m mostly finishing the series just for the sake of it, but I really didn’t like how the development of the main characters was handled. We don’t even really understand why they love each other.

I do think there is some chemistry between them, but the characters are so poorly written and the plot makes so little sense that it becomes frustrating.

I don’t understand the point of adapting a heterosexual work if it’s just to keep the same tropes and the same types of characters in a GL version without any real thought behind it.

Wannueung is particularly hard to tolerate, and I rarely say that about female characters, but this is really too much.

As for the side characters, like Wannueung’s best friend or Win’s ex, they feel completely useless. They add nothing to the development of the story, and even their relationships are uninteresting.

Overall, the series is poorly made and not very entertaining.

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Fun Subverted Harem Trope

This series is unexpectedly hilarious and I found myself looking forward to each episode..I usually hate the harem trope but was surprised at how they subverted it. The writing has a self awareness of all the classic drama tropes and it feels a bit like they are inviting us to be amused by how they can still be upended. Very self aware and doesn't try to be anything other than lighthearted. I genuinely like the ML he is no paragon of virtue but just a nice guy but still a guy. For a short drama his character has some depth. all in all I'm looking forward to the rest of the series .

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An interesting concept that I felt wasn't portrayed properly

Disclaimer

What I am writing here are my views and thoughts about this series. Some of you may not like it. That does not give you the right to try to come at me with your opinions on why this series should get a higher or lower score and why it is better/worse than I think it is. You have your own opinions, and I have mine. Kindly respect that.

Don't get me wrong – this series was addictive and had me coming back weekly every Tuesday and Wednesday, as I wanted to know what would happen next. The concept was interesting, as we found out, along with one of the main characters, the things that he forgot, as well as how and why he ended up this way. And I will admit that the way and reason why all of this occurred was a new and interesting concept to me because I personally did not accept it. I just personally felt that it wasn't portrayed in a proper way, and that's why it lost some marks with me. I mean, I know that it is only an eight-episode series, but still I felt that it was personally rushed at the end, as everything had to be revealed in that last episode.

I feel like I am in the minority with the acting of the actors, as I personally didn't have an issue with their acting skills. I mean, I have seen worse generally, and they just weren't that bad to me (I'm not saying that they were stellar either). They were okay. I am grateful that I decided to give this series a watch.

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A Must-Watch for all Chinese BL Fans!!!

I can't get over this one!!!

See, I knew right after watching the first episode that I had to let it marinate before watching! And five episodes out, I went back to it and wish I had been patient enough to wait for all nine episodes.

It is a good watch!

Don't even hesitate, get into it! And please don't skip after the first two episodes because let me tell you something, episode three is where it starts to hook you in!

I have so much to say about this show but I'll save it! You should watch it and see for yourself.

I'll just say one thing though - THE DETECTIVE AND THE INVESTIGATOR???!!! EXCUSE MEEE!!! Side romance that we didn't know we needed.

I haven't read the story, so I'm new to the whole thing but will definitely be reading it later.

Why are you still reading? Start the show already!!!!

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