Fairly predictable and not in a good way

Managed to finish episode 4 and decided I'll drop it there. This drama is pretty trope filled and looks to be very predictable.

ML is obsessively possessive and controlling even before any romantic connection is established. I wouldn't want him as a friend let alone as a partner for life.
SML is pathetically and relentlessly pursuing FL despite her repeatedly telling him they are just friends and will never be anything more. Neither of the men in this drama respect boundaries.
This particular drama seems to be following the script of the man with a trauma that magically is cured by the sunshine girl's appearance in his life. It's a trope that's way overdone and I wish more characters suffering mental health issues would instead head to therapy.
I try to give dramas a fair shot before I drop them, but I don't want to waste my time with this one as it seems too predictable and not engaging enough.

Updated: I did come back and finish the show after it's completed airing and my rating did improve for the show from a 3.5 to a 6.5
I swear it's like they switched writers half way through the series, it finally starts to pick up steam and when the leads FINALLY get close and then do get together, it starts to be funny, have cute moments and I end up laughing a lot. I wish they had that level of energy for the whole series, it really would have elevated it.

I think a lot of people probably dropped the drama well before it had a chance to redeem itself. If I hadn't committed myself to finishing this I would have dropped it again and missed out on some of the funniest things I've ever seen in a modern c-drama. I just wish the amazing scenes weren't so few and very far between.

This drama is one of those that is perfect if you want to watch clips of it on youtube, it will make you laugh but you don't have to wade through the endless hours it took to get to that one or two funny scenes.

ps. When the ML finally starts smiling, he has really cute dimples and his entire character changes for the better like a light switch, the difference was like night and day. I think this was a mis-step by the writer and if it had been a little more gradual and more noticeable it would have made the series MUCH more enjoyable for the audience.

Lire davantage

7 minutes of whatever that was

This is a series that is 7 minutes per episode, 4 episodes total.
There is a second season for some reason and I won't be watching it.

Each episode is 3 minutes or so of office politics and the rest is yummy looking food at very clean, tidy, fantastic, but not busy restaurants.

I'm not from S. Korea so I'm not sure if any of these places are real or not, but honestly it seems like these episodes are created as advertisement for the food cause she spends half the episode eating in a very gratuitous manner making it obvious how awful her job is but how amazing this food is and how that makes life liveable because of how delicious this meal is.

They make you leave a star, but honestly I'd give it -1 star for rewatch. There is some sort of story, so it does get some effort for acting and storytelling but for music ( I never noticed any) and for rewatching...that's a solid NO for me.

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Exactly what I needed

This light romcom was the perfect palate cleanser after watching more complex and heavy shows. Especially after watching a very heavy and angsty melo that ripped my heart to shreds over and over again for entire second half of it, I really needed the simple joy of a first love/college coming of age story.

If you're looking for something to be able to just relax and enjoy the flow, this is the show for you. This drama is equal parts adorable and squee with just a tiny amount of frustration that was very rarely needed to push the plot along.

I could have done without the GA character but her interferences did fuel greater efforts on the part of RC to win WW, so I'll give the writers a pass on her inclusion in the storyline. I've gotten used to having much more frustrating and annoying secondary females around Cdrama MLs so GA's attempts were almost comical in how ineffective they were and didn't detract too much from my viewing pleasure.

Lire davantage

Pretty good for a mini show

If you look around on youtube you can find the entire series compiled into one 2 hour movie length video.
It's actually pretty good for a short format drama even if it isn't a blockbuster, it's still worth the watch.
The plot is a pretty common idea: What if you could go back to a pivotal moment in your life and make completely different choices? Don't we all think about that from time to time?
What I like about this is that our FL decides from the moment she arrives to change things and goes from being meek and put upon, to being strong and fiery AF. She's seen what her future looks like, she doesn't like it, and she's going to make sure it changes for the better!!

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Not as good as it could have been

I don't understand why this drama has glowing reviews. There was a serious lack of romance, after a soft kind of breakup between the leads, he never really explains or asks forgiveness and somehow they just forget and forgive and are magically back together in the last bit of the last episode.

The toxic people barely get punished. An attempted sexual assault is pretty much glossed over, that bad guy doesn't go to jail, he just disappears from the show. The jealous and manipulative Qiao Xin who destroys the FL's life and work multiple times, suddenly has a change of heart after getting caught and just decides to be a better person. wtf? Barely any consequences for the bad people, but the good people suffered HUGE losses, financially, career wise, as well as personally.

Over all I found myself losing interest in the last 1/3 of the series and had to force myself to keep going to just see if it got any better. I wouldn't give this show any higher than a 6.5 maybe a 7 and I definitely won't be rewatching this. There are a lot better shows in this same genre.

Lire davantage

Interesting but confusing

I really like this series, but I have to say it is SUPER confusing after about the 11th episode. I can't keep track of who is related to who, who is from Azureland, who is loyal to who, who is a spy for who, and why on earth there are soooo many plots, counterplots, and why/how Azureland can be hidden and safe but there were so many people from Azureland living in a dangerous county instead??

I must say though, one of the things that keeps me going (despite how nothing makes sense in the series by the midway point) is just how often Luo Zheng smiles in this drama...dang that man can make a heart go pitter patter in 5 seconds flat.

My final thoughts...don't start this drama if you get frustrated by unanswered questions. Frequently there are things that I think the viewers should know that don't get answered until loooong past the normal amount of time. Then there are some things that just never get explained or answered. That can be frustrating. I was entertained and it technically had a HE, but I wasn't fully satisfied at the end of viewing this and I think that's what brought it from a higher rating down to a 7 or 8.

Lire davantage

A short format drama that's actually adorable

I watched this series in the all episodes meshed in one video format which made it a little over 3 hours viewing time. With a break for a snack and to stretch, I was able to watch it like a long movie and all in one morning. It makes a difference in the viewing experience in my opinion so please do search for it in that format to make it easier than endlessly clicking on next video next video, ect.

The height difference between the leads is a LOT so if you find that adorable, this one is for you!

The acting was actually not too horrible considering that this isn't a normal length drama and that the FL was not a seasoned actress, she actually ended up doing a pretty bang up job. The ML actor has been acting for a few years now but could still use a little bit more help, though it might be his character rather than his acting as I haven't seen any of his other work so I can't comment too much on that.

Now for review of the actual story part:

The SFL actually ends up being a pretty nice person later on in the show, which is rather unusual in these dramas as the writers tend to make them annoying and unbearable for waaaay too long, this writer managed to have her do her bad girl part in the early portion and then redeem and change for the better in the second half.

There is no love rival/triangle for the FL, though the ML thinks there is.

There is a childhood link between the leads but they fall for each other way before that's revealed.

The mother of the ML is an absolute GEM of a mom! The dad is so/so after his introduction...then makes a HUGE mis-step that made me hate him for a bit, before coming around in the final stretch and closes out the drama on a high note.

There's a third female love interest for the ML that is not ever even on his radar, he doesn't even recognise her on the first time seeing her after she is introduced to the audience. Don't worry, she doesn't have much of an impact or screentime before she's gone!

There is a lot to love about this series, it's not the most insanely great show I've ever seen...but it's actually a pretty good one for the genre of short format webseries. The story is sweet, short, and funny. Absolutely worth the three hours viewing time if you're interested in these types.

Lire davantage

Started out average only to get worse

The writer hinted at for a few episodes and then eventually brought in the clingy, super obsessed, pathetic, delusional, third wheel who was never in a relationship but chased after ML who had zero interest in her. In my opinion it killed the fluffy romcom vibe that this drama had going with it and tried to make it suddenly into a cut throat business drama with super low lead-in on that.

There were a few moments spread throughout the first 20 episodes that kind of hinted there would be a big sabotage moment for the company that ML owned but honestly it just took over the entire narrative and became the focal point and the reason behind the ML and FL breaking up, which went from cuddly "let's never break up" to crying hysterically while misunderstanding everything in one 24 hour period. FLs misunderstandings didn't even feel like the writer remembered the character he created, it felt very out of left field for her to react like that.

With only 4 episodes left you after the big drama in the company happens you don't even have to watch it to know how it will play out. First everything falls apart, then ML or FL will solve the crisis, then they overtake the villain and trap them in their own evil doing, then company is saved, main couple get back together, side couples reconcile and get together, parental relationship is mended due to an illness, weakness. or something and then happy ever after. Probably. End of the drama. Roll credits.

The problem is not that it's super predictable at this point, because some very predictable dramas are still entertaining, the problem is that there is a severe lack of fire and passion in the kisses between literally every single couple. I could say it was an actors problem if it was one or two actors, but this has 3 couples and ALL their kisses are statue kisses...this is a director making a bad decision problem.

Someone must have mentioned it to Chu De Jian. the director, in the last year or so, because I've seen 6 out of the 7 things he's done up until 2022 and only the very last one that he directed (that was released in 2023) had really good kisses, every single drama before that was statue kisses that barely registered as romance.

Lire davantage

When your boss literally is a pig

There's a difference between Western and Eastern ideas of what it means to call someone a pig. I believe over there it just in general means being lazy and maybe a bit of a glutton, over here well it's a lot meaner an insult.

So the basic premise of the story is that due to a curse on the family, their newborn son becomes a pig every night forever unless he gets a true love's kiss.

The story starts with our FL finding an abandoned tea cup pig in a bathroom and thinks someone was going to take it home and eat it, so she saves it and takes it home. The pov of her giving a bath to the pig and cuddling with it, is show again from the person trapped insides pov and omg that's too funny. The following morning, he returns to human form, in her bed...without clothing....oooops!

Their attempt to break the curse is met with some misunderstandings, but of course they overcome those eventually.

It's really a cute and short drama, easy to watch in an afternoon. It's not too deep because it's 12 little episodes, but I found it funny and enjoyable overall. The plot could have been a little better developed but then the show would have had to been longer format and I'm not sure they could have stretched that long enough for 30 minute episodes.

Lire davantage

If you're looking for a RomCom, this is more comedic than it is romantic

The focus of this drama is not on the romance, it's more about the comics, the aliens, and the adventure. They smooshed in the leads exploring romance literally in the last few episodes just so we'd all be crying at the parting.

The ending was really a what the heck moment . I'm not sorry I watched it. I gave it a generous 7.5 just because I happen to like sci-fi and I don't think there are enough of that in c-dramas. I'd love to see this more fleshed out and to see a second season but I'm not holding my breath.

The music was really what works for this drama and I'm surprised that it got so many touching song moments in one series.

Lire davantage

Could have been better but not unwatchable

This drama could have been done better with a more rapid growth of relationship and emotional maturity on the part of the ML character, he really had to have things explained to him repeatedly before he understood and changed. I blame the writers for repeatedly making male characters soooo out of touch with their feelings that it takes a brick to the head sometimes to break their shell open. (the first half of the drama especially!)

The actor and actress can only do as good as the script lets them do, and you can see the potential that XZL has an actor if he can just break out of these roles that don't suit his range. When he's paired with a good leading lady he can make it work, but this isn't his strong suit and when he's paired with a mediocre one it shows.

Thankfully the kisses were on fire because Bai Lu can match the energy of her co-stars intuitively and it makes them both give a better performance. Their chemistry towards the second half of the series picked up steam but kept getting knocked back down by the writers putting up ridiculous roadblocks.

Hey writers, we don't want to just see them get together and that is the end, we want to go on the first dates, we want to see them hold hands, we want to see them struggle to juggle work and romance balance...ie sometimes he is the boss and has the final say and sometimes he's your boyfriend and you are equals and how to make that work for you both happily. We want the mushy 15 minute dates you have to cram in to keep the romance going in between important business issues, staying up late together to finish one last big project before launch ect.

Give us the life that happens in between the "we are finally a couple" and the "I want to marry this person and have my happy ever after" finale.

My finale opinion is that this is a 6/10 that could have been a solid 8 or 8.5 if the first half hadn't had the FL start with zero experience and just jump into a random "relationship" because of nonsensical reasons that only made any sense if you thought about it from a plot point instead of "this is something real humans would do" point.

Lire davantage

It's not just about the game of Go or the Romance

This was an amazing show and I'm sorry I didn't give a try earlier. I was vaguely familiar with some scenes in the first few episodes so I must have seen clips when it first aired but for some reason never put it on my watchlist, maybe because I didn't know literally anything about the game of Go and I didn't think a 41 episode drama that centered around that would interest me?

Now I have actually watched it I have to say this is one of my favorite recent Cdramas in its genre. It really brings all the emotions out, there are times you are laughing, sometimes you're rooting enthusiastically, you find yourself immersed in their world effortlessly, when they suffer a loss, or a setback you feel it too.

Without posting a spoiler, there's the final 2-3 episodes that resonated with my personal experiences in life and I was expecting the final few episodes to be pure fluff but this dealt with something we will all to differing degrees deal with and I felt it elevated the show quite a bit to be realistic and not just fairies and pixie dust lalala happy ending for everyone....don't get me wrong, I love a good fluff drama, but this one, I felt, kept the spirit of the original intent from the first episode all the way to the very end. A great, realistic, and sweet romance between our leads dealing with life as it's thrown at them even if it's setting was heavy handed with some common c-drama tropes, somehow those never overshadowed the story and the real emotions.

To address the concerns about the drama focusing heavily on the game of Go, even if you know nothing about this game (like me), you will find the drama very interesting. There are times where the games are very important to the plot, but you aren't just watching two people put a white or black stone on the board...in the most intense moments, you are transported into a visual metaphor for the actions of the game. Sometimes it's an old style video game, sometimes it's two assassins battling it out, sometimes it's magical warriors fighting in a bamboo forest...each time is unique and manages to capture the essence of the emotions and the meanings behind the moves on the board. I really enjoyed that part and I love the writers for creating an opportunity to bring the game of Go to life in an interesting and new way.

There were several times where the sismance and bromance was strong in this drama. One thing that really stuck out for me was a few moments of real conversations between men about life, love, loss, and emotions. I like to see that expressed and shown more in dramas. Men have emotions just as much as women do, and it's healthy and good to show normal interactions...men don't always have to be smashed drunk out of their minds to open up to each other, sometimes you can sit across from each other and play a game of Go/chess or whatever and just talk to each other about life. It was amazing and I hope more dramas show men like that.

I would have given this show a perfect score except that I wish the writers would have dealt with Kao Ye a little differently, I felt his actions were undetected for too long and his very deep and overwhelming suffering wasn't seen by either his Shifu or his fellow apprentices or at least they didn't see it as something they need to make an effort to interfere or intercede with like they did when the ML had issues. The show wasn't about Kao Ye, so maybe that's why he was allowed to go into an inescapable spiral of obsession but his actions really had far reaching consequences and I wish someone had noticed him a little sooner. He was the root cause of his problems but still, I wish the writers had given him a little of a break once in a while.

Lire davantage

a not so simple slice of life drama that is well worth the watch

First I want to let people know that there should be a warning of some kind before you start the drama if you are depressed or suffer from SI, this is not a show you can probably safely watch. I think it could be very triggering for people if they have zero clue that there are multiple scenes dealing with those issues and not really any warning that it's going to happen before they start watching it. Literally the first scenes of the first episode starts and the final scene of the first episode ends with that issue.

This drama really was a small clip of a year in the life of these people, it made me feel like we were a part of their friend group by the end of the series. Very well done and I really felt connected with their lives, emotions, dreams, and pains.

Each episode is about an hour and 15 minutes long, but to me they sped past incredibly fast, so much that I needed to pause and take it all in instead of bingeing it rapidly like I normally do. There are only 12 episodes but there is so much story packed into each one that it feels like you've watched a movie and a half by the end of each episode.

There was only 2 things I felt could have been done differently. The first episode or two included some flashbacks that were a little confusing and I wondered it the whole show was going to be like that, jumping forward to the present and then a scene later jumping back. It wasn't like that, just they needed to fill in some of the background and that's what the writers chose to do, it did feel a little out of place at times but thankfully that feeling only lasted a brief time in the overall drama. The second thing was in episode 10 or 11, there was big fight between two different couples that was basically occuring at the same time. The director chose to jump from one scene to the other, one couple to the other. The two couples were fighting about different things, so it didn't make sense to me why they kept jumping so quickly back and forth. I had a hard time connecting emotionally with the feelings of the couples because I was trying so hard to figure out what was happening between each set. I think this probably didn't feel jarring or out of place for those who speak the language, but for those of us who have to read the subtitles and then look up at the character's faces to gauge the emotions ect, it felt there wasn't enough time to read and then look and then suddenly we were at the scene of the other couple. Maybe it was just me that had that problem but I did have to pause the big arguing scenes to break it down and figure out who was mad at who and why and if they were or weren't justified...that was a little bit that took me out of the drama and more focused on the editing choices.

Even with the heavy topic and the 2 editing decisions I might have chosen differently, I still have to give this a VERY high score and also highly recommend that you give it a try. It's worth the emotional investment in my opinion.

Lire davantage

The elephant in the room

I don't have a huge problem with people who have a big age difference falling in love with each other in real life as long as the relationship starts once they are both consenting adults and they don't have a prior relationship with an imbalance of power, ie teacher/student, family friend ect.
However, I think what works against this drama is the fact that the two leads are 20 years apart in age, there IS a power imbalance in their relationship, he is her boss, and the Female Leading Actress looks even younger than her character is supposed to be.

Shen Yue is 24 in the drama but looks like she's 16-18 years old and Jerry Yan is very handsome but he looks every minute of his 44 years of age. If he looked to be late 30s and she actually looked to be mid 20s, I believe the audience would have been more forgiving and not really spoken about it much...but the way it is, too many focused on that to the exclusion of everything else about the drama.

IF you can manage to get past all that, the drama itself isn't that bad. It has some good lessons about life, there's some good give and take between the couple, and though it's a bit too long it still manages to hold your attention for all 34 episodes.

I've watched this but I don't think I could rewatch it except in clips. I would give it a 7 and if they had managed to make Shen Yue look her age I probably would have given it a higher rating.

Lire davantage

Twins again...this poor guy seems to be stuck in the twin genre!

We're all adults who've seen more than one c-drama in this genre so we should be going into this knowing it's going to be what it sets out to be, a trope filled, fluff romance with a predictable but enjoyable plotline. I don't know what everyone is expecting but this is a middle of the road rom-com that is exactly what it sounds like it's going to be. Don't expect some artistic masterpiece, this is an enjoyable 24 episode worth of mindless entertainment and nothing more.
Luo Zheng has to have done at least 3 or 4 dramas about twins who swap identities in the last few years, I hope they let him break free soon but I got to say he's great at creating believable chemistry with every FL I've seen him paired with. He gives good skinship and looks either tender or passionate enough to make my heart skip a beat!

Lire davantage