if it wasn’t for the leads, i wouldn’t have watched

So I know everyone loved this drama... but even though the leads’s chemistry was great, I didn’t like the fact that the female lead was treated more like an object than a human being by everyone...
Like the male lead who pretends to have raped her so that she would be too ashamed to go back to her home and his dad would feel satisfied... and yet, he didn’t understand why she was so angry at him (even if he didn’t really rape her, he should have told her from the beginning, I felt heartbroken for her when she thought he raped her ; I don’t even get how she could fall in love with him after that or how the male lead couldn’t see what he did wrong ; he obviously thought that there was no real problem since he didn’t really rape her)
Or the fact that everyone at the camp had no problem with the fact of kidnapping an innocent girl and organizing her forced marriage/rape and they would even make jokes about her wedding night.
Or his adoptive mother who would even contribute to this whole rape thing by preparing aphrodisiac for her and yet, the writers present her as a good woman and this anecdote as being funny.
Or the ex-wife of the male lead who would go slap her whenever she wanted.
Even the male lead would sometimes be really rude to her, apart from the « let’s let you think I raped you » : like when he splashed water on her because she was becoming mad thinking her ex-fiancé was dead, and they present it like he was just reasoning her ; or when he was mad because she had tried to exchange her marriage with another girl and he asked « how could you try to marry me to someone I didn’t like? » (seriously ? So you can marry her against her will but she can’t do the same to you ? ») or when he kissed her against her will at the beginning before their marriage because she insulted him and refused to marry him. To be honest, even Mike’s charm and performance couldn’t make me like his character, even though they try to present him as a hero

So basically, I felt annoyed because everyone was persecuting the female lead at some point, even being accomplices of forced marriage/rape, and yet, they have the nerve to blame her when she would try to escape or indirectly cause the male lead to be hurt. And when she gets persecuted by the chief of the camp or by the evil girl, no one defends her. And yet, the writers try to present these characters as good people.

So overall, the female lead is treated like an object ALL ALONG, with no one, and certainly not the male lead, having any consideration for her feelings, or respect for her, even physically. And yet, the show found plenty of excuses to pretend the situation was okay.
The fact that she fell for him when thinking he had raped her (he didn’t even say he was sorry, whether it was for supposedly raping her, or having lied about it and let her cry in despair for that ; when he first let her think they slept together, he even got surprised and annoyed by her being upset), kept her detained, yelled at her, splashed water on her, got annoyed whenever she would be upset about the situation, is clearly à Stockholm syndrom and yet, the show presents it as being okay : I mean, how many times in the show did she wake up next to him, half-naked, thinking « oh crap, he fucked me while I was asleep again ». AND WE’RE SUPPPOSED TO BE OKAY WITH THAT ?!
(seriously, why do Asian people think a woman can love a man who would rape her ?)

I know everyone loved this but I couldn’t force myself.
The whole « bandit » thing was actually original and the fact that the male lead kidnapped her to marry her wasn’t detestable either but I feel like the writers could have exploited this differently and still keep the chemistry between the leads.

I feel this is really a pity because the leads have a super good chemistry and their love scenes are really cute but the whole context really annoyed me as the writers presented it like it was okay and this stopped me from really enjoying the lakorn, even feeling irritated most of the time. I kept watching it only for the leads, who are two of my favorite actors and who had an awesome chemistry. I’m glad to know they’ll soon have another drama where Mookda’s character will actually dominate the situation (at least, if they follow the original drama). And I hope to see them again someday in other dramas, sweeter ones. And I also hope to see Mookda facing Anisa Nugraha (Krachao) again someday and giving her plenty of slaps because I REALLY hated how she would keep slapping her whenever she wanted and I want my revenge ! (I know the actress isn’t to blame for that but now, whenever I see her, I can’t her but hate her)

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Boring and not very well written

So it seems they tried to make a mix of melodrama, social struggles and folklore musical... And honestly, this doesn't mix very well.
It's like trying to mix a big mix of sugar and salt : this just doesn't work and the genres are too different. The music and songs may be very beautiful but you don't see why they felt the need to add these. Maybe this is to strengthen the idea that they're doing a social life/slice of life story and therefore they implement an element that is typical to the thai culture, but like I said, trying to make it both musical and slice of life doesn't mix well.
Another thing : waaaaaaaaaaaay too many characters. If most of these characters were treated as supporting or minor characters, then maybe this wouldn't be so bad : but that's precisely the problem. Almost all of the characters are treated as protagonists, with a particular backstory. As a result, this just makes waaaaaaaaaay too many stories to follow, with everyone having a specific connection to each other and I honestly couldn't remember everything (and it seems the screenwriter has a thing for the "long-lost-relative" trope --'). Moreover, the characters' plot lines were pretty stereotypical, cliche, uninteresting and predictable. Again, such stereotypical and melodramatic tropes do not match well in a lakorn that pretends to be a social slice of life lakorn.
Also : the female lead. Damn it, she's so boring and useless. The lakorn obviously tries to present her as strong and persistent, but come on, she just seemed impulsive and stupid. When she and her family fall victim to the evil company and their gangsters, when she should try to be careful and think before acting, she just runs straight like a buffalo against the people of this big corporation who are powerful, ruthless and resourceful. Male lead always had to help her and this was also a pretty boring trope.
Their love story : it just didn't make sense. You don't really see why he would fall for such a useless idiot. As for her, you don't see when and how she eventually fell for him when she first hated him. Their love story feels forced and unnatural.
And finally : too long. I just don't see why there was a need to make it more than 35 episode for something that could have been easily reduced to 16 episodes.

So, you can watch it for some of the actors and the nice music but that's all.
Othewise, it's pretty worthless

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OMG, this was sooooooo bad, i couldn’t even laugh about it or just simply brush it off like I do sometimes with my guilty pleasures…
The whole story had been done and redone, but no sense in the writing : it seems the writers could absolutely not fit logic in this, such as the fact that so many people would be tricked by the switching of two little girls that no one would know for 20 years except the birth mom, but no one would listen to her, the fact that amnesia has conveniently hit real heiress just when her aunt decides to switch little girls for basically no reason…
Not to mention the fact that it’s waaaaaaaaay too long for what this is, that this goes around in circles, and is full of plenty of frustrating situations, such as the fact that many characters would unfairly and stupidly blame the female lead for things that had absolutely nothing to do with her
Wow, I’m a huge fan of Li Qin but even she couldn’t save this whole mess

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Before watching this, I hadwatched the 2019 version and I just LOVED IT ! I thought it was a mix of realism and simplicity and of melancholic, mysterious beauty ! Luo Zhi was an amazing female lead, realistic but intriguing ! And I loved all of the other characters and their building and also their acting (especially the male lead !)
Then I watched the movie, which was actually very good but in a similar yet different style.
And finally, I watched 2021 version, without expecting much because I felt that after liking the first so much, I wouldn’t be able to like it the same way than the other (moreover, I really dislike the two main actors, especially the male lead : I don’t see what’s so good about him)
And I felt even more disappointed when I watched it. How should I say… it’s good but not that much because it’s like they deliberately exaggerate everything. Luo Zhi’s silent love for Huainan becomes some sort of weird obsession here, like a teenager’s crush on a celebrity (on the first episodes, it was pretty ackward to see how all of those scenarios she would imagine between her and the male lead). Her quiet, insightful, mature personality becomes somewhat a mix passive and weird here and I feel like the actress is partly to blame.
Sheng Huainan kind and smart yet flawed becomes boring with self-righteous narcissistic complex whose greatest trouble in life is to be so perfect that he can’t get himself to the level of the common people that he pities and wants to help so much and it’s just so annoying how his self-righteous personality ends up hurting others just because he can’t get himself in their shoes. And we’re supposed to feel sorry because « oh poor he, he’s so perfect that they all idolize him instead of seeing him as a human being ». Moreover, he’s incredibly stupid and influençable compared to the original who would actually quickly realize his mistakes. Once again, I feel like the actor is to blame : I say this whole feeling very sorry for all his fans but I don’t see any charisma or talent in Hu Yi Tian and he’s definitely one of the reasons why his character becomes so annoying here, being clearly inferior here to Zhao Shun Ran in 2019 who is less famous than him.
Also, all of the other characters are exaggerated and lose the realism they had in the 2019 version, becoming stereotypes, especially the girls who become some crazy psychopaths (nice representation of my gender here, I don’t feel insulted at all 😓). I feel like the only female character here who was attaching here was Jiang Bai Li who was such a crybaby in 2019 but is someone much stronger and joyful here.
And the multiple subplots they add just makes the plot heavier. Also, there’s way too many episodes for what could easily be reduced and then go to the essential instead of going around in circles.
So to make it short : too long, too many useless subplots, most of the characters are annoying, stereotypical and nonsensical, a writing that tend to overdo it and the lead actors just make me want to slap their bad acting in their faces.
So I don’t get why they made this second version after the 2019 which was just PERFECT and perfectly conveyed the feelings of the novel, while this one totally fails. If you separate it from the novel and the 2019 version, it’s just another romantic idol drama like any other, with nothing extraordinary. It’s cute but no more and if you compare it to the 2019 version, or even to the movie version, it s clearly lacking and seems to have missed the point of the story.

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Unexpectedly Astonishing

It took a while to REALLY start... and slowly but surely, we become addicted before realizing it

I threw myself into it without much expectation: a classic Thai adultery story, nothing very interesting (generally, this type of lakorn rhymes with frustration). I only watched for the actor Pae. The only point that intrigued me a little was a bit of the trailer and the synopsis which seemed to evoke an "exchange" between the two couples at the heart of the story, seeming to imply that the two cheated partners would turn to each other. So like many, I started this to kill time, not watching with much focus at first (didn’t even start right away after it’s release : waited for a few episodes to be released and briefly and barely watched some extracts at first) And after about ten episodes, like many, I slowly but surely became addicted : the story takes a little time to really get going, but when it's done, you get caught up in the pace. There is never a dull moment, the story never falls into the cliché or the predictable, and the evolution of the characters is fascinating to follow (especially that of the two heroes, especially since we ask ourselves the question until the end: will they end up happy together as we hope, stay with their unfaithful spouses or separate from them but remain alone?).
Observing the evolution of the characters and of the events feels not only breathtaking for the viewer but also interesting, as the tables slowly but surely turn for the main characters. Seeing the villains receiving their karma felt ESPECIALLY good, as it was nicely written, and didn’t fall in the usual cliches (the Nang rai being raped or the male villain ending up paralyzed…). Seeing Praekaew, the female lead transforming from a naive, rich heiress to a strong and smart woman who was ready to fight for herself and to punish the villains who wronged her was especially interesting. I also liked the fact that she wasn’t completely annoying and stupid at first : naive and a bit dumb but nevertheless, the viewer kinda feels pity for her as it is obvious that she isn’t completely stupid, but has a kind and loving heart and treats those she loves especially well, making us feel like she really doesn’t deserve such betrayals, as she’s just a bit ignorant of the outside world, having been really protected by her loving mother. So her evolution doesn’t feel too sudden or out of place when she learns of her husband’s betrayal.
I’d say, the best asset of this drama is the beautiful relation between Praekaew and Naewprai : not only it is very intriguing for the viewer who wonder nonstop what’s gonna happen between them but their relationship feels very mature and also pure, as there’s no ambitiguity, no mutual use. Just two adults getting unexpectedly closer in their miseries. It also felt satisfying for the viewer to see their traitors of spouses realizing they were losing their partner to someone more deserving.
And last but not least : the ending. Through the whole drama, everyone was worried and wondering about the same thing, what would the ending. Since this series was obviously not following the original novel (thank God for that, as the original novel is incredibly boring), we were all worried that the ending would leave us in unsatisfied or frustrated. And damn, we were wrong !
The drama is original, full of rhythm, unpredictable and the actors offer an explosive performance!

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Could have been sooooooooooo much better…

It was nice…
The idea was really good…
But I don’t know, there’s something missing…
The biggest problem is that there’s no real surprise or climax, especially for someone who’s used to watch Thai dramas… whether it is about their past lives or their current lives… the characters, what they were in the past, what happened to them, what happens to them in their current lives.
What’s worse is that there is no real conflict, no real opposition or trial for the main leads… maybe the screenwriters consider that what happened to them in the past is the conflict/opposition/trial… but it doesn’t feel so for the viewer who can guess what happened in their previous lives because first, the synopsis doesn’t make a big mystery of it and second, for any experienced viewer of Thai drama, it’s quite predictable.
Moreover, despite the good premise, there is no real chemistry or spice in the romance of the leads : they fell for each other in the previous life, had a tragic ending and that’s it ; in this lifetime, they meet again, he does remember her before even meeting her, and does everything to conquer her, she eventually loves him and remembers their past life… and that’s about it. You’re no sure what leads them to fall for each other, you don’t really feel any depth in their romance. It’s like they’re just following a script, it doesn’t inspire any feeling to the viewer.
the characters in general lack of consistency and mainly show no character growth. What’s also a bit of a pity is that there are some characters of their past lives who were really interesting and didn’t have such a good ending and we wished we would have seen them in their current life, but no, not even a guest appearance to comfort us
So in short words, this had a big potential, but the potential was very poorly exploited
However, if you want some romance, reincarnation, historical setting and some good karma, this is still a nice thing to watch

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Objectively speaking, it's not that good, and yet I strangely really enjoyed it.
The story itself is pretty stereotypical. A house full of ghosts, secrets and conflicts under the ancient era of Thailand. Some deaths that wait to be granted justice, karma that needs to be paid, identities that need to be cleared and fights that need to end with one winner and one loser...
And yet, the writing and setting succeed in making it somehow fascinating, bewitching as we unravel the secrets of the house of Marques Thammanurak, "Tham", and his family : his mother, KhunYing Khae who's constantly fighting with her daughter-in-law that she never approved, his wife Sroi, beautiful but obviously evil scary and, her children Santhit and Saengjan, a pair of cruel twins and Butsabong, a pretty, innocent orphan girl and servant that KhunYing Khae cherishes for some unknown reason and who gets caught in their fights. Within the house, there are two names that often come back : Ratree, Khun Tham's wife who died a long time ago, but most important, Malee, a mistress of Khun Tham who died drowning with her baby and whose ghost is haunting the place. Malee's name in particular seems to raise a lot of conflicts and contradicting stories
When Saengjan's fiancee, Kuea, comes back from his studies abroad, he quickly becomes fascinated, even obsessed, with the mysteries behind this house. His fascination may come from his love at first sight for beautiful Butsabong. He then decides to secretly investigate, along with Butsabong who somehow starts to feel that her background may be related to the secrets of the house, especially to Malee.
So the viewer unravels the mysteries of this family with these two. Although it is actually quite easy to guess what happened in the past, but just like Kuea and Butsabond, we find ourselves caught and bewitched by the mysterious atmosphere, and eager to find out the details of the past and how the conflicts between the two sides of the house will conclude.
One of the things that I liked the most is that most of the characters reveal us many sides. They would not be pure evil or pure good. Most of the villains would reveal themselves to have a part of goodness : for example, even Sroi will sometimes inspire us pity for some of the things she went through and make us feel that she may not have turned so bad, if it wasn't for Khun Ying's mistreatment and snobbism towards her or her obsessional love towards her husband (that you will eventually hate even more than her, trust me). Sroi is someone who can be very generous and loving and mainly desired being with the man she loved : but she is ruthless and cruel to those she considers her enemies, failing to see the line between right and wrong. However,it will be clear for the viewer that her karma, sufferings and the hell she eventually fall into are mostly the result of her own actions.
Another example would be the children of Sroi, Saengjan and Santit. Although they first appear evil, you eventually realize that they're mostly victims of their parents' karma and that they mainly lacked proper guidance. Trust me, you will eventually feel great pity for these two. I also want to give a great praise to the actress praising Saengjan who did a stunning job despite her very young age. She becomes more attaching when you see her falling in love with the male lead, not realizing his true identity, thinking he's a simple peasant, and revealing a new side of her, cute, loving, smiling, unlike the jealous, violent and aggressive girl we had seen until now.
Even the "good" characters will not be flawless : two good examples would be KhunYing Khae, Sroi's mother-in-law, and Malee, the vengeful ghost haunting the house. It is sometimes quite hard to decide whether we should be or not on KhunYing's side. Most of the time, we feel she's been quite cruel towards Sroi and unfairly judged her simply based on her background and personal prejudices. But on the other hand, when you see how quickly Soi's love for Khun Tham turned her evil, you can't help but wonder if Khun Ying was really wrong in her judgement towards Sroi ... Anyway, it is sometimes hard to tell if we should like or despise Khun Ying. There's also Malee herself : Malee is probably the character that you will pity the most in the story as she clearly had good reasons to become a vengeful ghost, after all the awful things and injustices she went through not long before her death. However, when her vengeance later involves some innocent characters, one in particular, you can't help but blame her, despite knowing her sufferings.
Also, I like the fact that in this industry of thai entertainment that tends to promote rape culture, this lakorn definitely points rape as a sin, something despicable, even it is done in the name of "love" and that rapists should expect a retribution.
Nevertheless, I admit that the story does have some flaws
I'd say the biggest flaw is the lead couple, the main characters, Kuea and Butsabong. First, Butsabong. Butsabong is clearly there only to fulfill the purpose of a nang ek : being beautiful, innocent, inspire pity to the viewer for all the bullying she goes through the villains' hands yet never saying a bad word against them and having the "lucky halo" of the female lead. No blaming on the actress though : Aheye is very young but I think she did very good with what she had, despite having a very passive role, the kind of role that is actually the hardest to play (to play a passive character and make it natural, not boring or annoying is very hard). She's very cute and graceful, and the rare scenes where she gets possessed by Malee's ghost were also great and prove she is totally able to play more than a one-dimensional, stereotypical female lead. Nevertheless, her character is still very boring and cliche. Her natural acting succeeds in not making her intolerable like it would be with some. However, I think it is a great flaw that the writers so obviously didn't bother giving a real personality to that female lead, except being endlessly kind, even to her bullies. Next to her, her rival, the nangrai, Saengjan, seems much more interesting or attaching
Her male lead, Kuea, isn't much better. Although his interest for her family helps the story move on, it can be hard to understand why he feels this need to investigate the personal affairs of a family that is barely anything to him. Like I said, we can suppose it originates from his love for the female lead, but at first, it seems more about him simply being noisy or curious about others' personal affairs. But I think we can let that one pass as it serves the story. However, just like the female lead, our male lead lacks real personality and character. Just like her, he's obviously only there to be the male lead, serve as a romantic interest of the female lead, investigate with her the mysteries of the story (and also being one of the ultimate victories of the female lead against the nang rai, Saengjan). Also, I was kinda surprised at first to see Tee Thanapon, the actor, so unnatural and boring. But then, like I said, this kind of passive part is actually the hardest to act, so come to think of it, it is actually not surprising that he had a hard time playing this. Finally, the two characters being quite bland and boring, their love story is the same : you feel no chemistry between these two and their love for each other seems forced, obviously being only to fulfill the purpose of being there, as you don't see where it comes from. Compared to that, it is quite easy to root for Saengjan ending up with Kuea rather than Butsabong. Her story with him seems much more intriguing and her love to him is much more touching, as like I said previously, it reveals a new side of Saengjan. Besides, you can't help but feel a bit of grudge towards as he's supposed to love only Butsabong yet it sometimes seems that he's been flirting with Saengjan, leading her on and giving her fake hopes
Another thing : the writing gave the impression that the reason why Malee was so angry at Khun Tham was not because he had raped her and made her his wife against her will, and being overly jealous and possessive of her in the name of "love" (a behaviour that reminded of a lot of traditional male leads from old lakorns, except it was clearly presented as wrong here and not making excuses like it does in lakorns), but because of the sado-masochistic games he put her through. I felt like the writers had inserted this trope because they somehow feared that in this industry full of rape culture, viewers would feel like having done what many male leads had done wasn't enough to justify Malee's anger and hatred against Khun Tham as a vengeful ghost. But I thought this was useless, kinda clumsy and indirectly doing a disservice to one of the morales of the story that rape is wrong, no matter the "love".
So, in conclusion : A good writing, interesting characters, and a beautiful setting. Some little flaws, of course, but that I think can easily be overlooked. Like I said, I think that the biggest flaw is the lack of personality and chemistry of the lead couple. This can also be a bit predictable (especially with all the big spoilers that I gave you, sorry about that 😅). There are some other little flaws that I can’t mention because the website doesn’t allow me that many written characters 😅)
However, if you can overlook these last two flaws, I think this can be quite enjoyable to watch. Maybe not the hit of the year but you can still have a good time to watch, especially if you like drama, conflicts and ghost stories.

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Not bad, even VERY good, but could have been better, especially when you compare to the original

So I watched the original after hearing about the reunion between Michael and Mookda (I loved their pairing in Mathurot Loghan, even though I didn’t really like the drama). And because I absolutely LOVED it, I had high expectations for this one, since it even included one of my favorite ships.
And overall, I was actually a bit disappointed… I wouldn’t say it was bad, it was even nice but this wasn’t epic, and it could have been much better.
The writing, setting was not very subtle, even sometimes vulgar. For example, Dao’s tricks and fights with Rosita and his family were mostly based physical or childish pranks, not using real wits (for example, the fight at the hospital : in 2011 when Dao knew Songkran was coming and pretended they had attacked her one-sided by stuffing flowers into her mouth in a smart move... but here, her « move » was a bit involontary as they were already holding her when Songkran came in without warning. Also, this made it much less funny.
The pacing was sometimes too fast : I mean, in the third episode, Songkran already fell in love for good with Dao because she saved his son... which is not very good to me, because I prefer when he gradually fell in love with her for her personnality
Also, Dao's seducing is less... subtle than in the 2011 version which is too bad because with Mookda's sex appeal, they could do much better.
The writers also made plenty of changes compared to the original that were unneeded, even annoying or cliche :
- Kran’s brother in law who became a vulgar, sexual molester who married his wife for money. This was useless to the plot, and that kind of character is very cliche (moreover, the actor always plays this kind of character). Compared to the original where the brother in law was a funny imbecile who made the viewer laugh very much, and even turned attaching when he comforted his nephew, this change was not needed.
-Jan’s character who became the annoying, jealous sister. She spent most of the drama crying over Songkran not loving her, even though she barely knew him, and even though it was obvious he was never sincere with her ; and during the last bit, she turned into a jealous b***. Again, compared to the original when she had gone through a great character development/growing, this is disappointing. It's quite a pity because I had loved her growth in the original, and seeing her bonding again with her father and grow more mature. Here, she's very selfish, self-centered, materialistic and shallow
-the ex-wife returning and causing troubles. SERIOUSLY, IS THERE ANY BIGGEST CLICHE ?!
-the nang rais. Again, they all had a good character development in the original and this is gone here. Rose’s final repentance which made her attaching to the viewer is gone and the actress isn’t great either, I remember that the previous actress succeeded in being funny and natural despite a difficult part (the usual mean girl), so the Rose who was actually a comical character and eventually attaching disappears here to become quite ridiculous (moreover, the costumes they gave her made her look like a 5-years-old kid and it was hard to think she was a model and Songkran’s ex-girlfriend) ; mad, delusional, crazy Marin who became a villain due to traumatic experiences turned into a jealous, seducing, mistress (the actress did a great job, though, no blaming on her) and nice Ingjan turned into a pathetic, self-pitying jealous brat and a useless, annoying nang Rai (I don’t even see why they felt the need to make her a villain only for a part of the last episode, since it didn’t even impact the plot). I also didn't like the fact that once again, rape is used as a trope to punish the nang rai, even before she did anything wrong, and the real trauma implied by rape was rape or the fact that this was what mlay have been her turning point was overlooked
- the villains received a different kind of karma here, that was again very cliche, even though it was satisfying (the adulterous couple of villains who end up with the main killed by his wife and the mistress disfigured by thrown acid by his wife ? Cliche. The cheated wife who was a bitch and ends up in prison after that ? Cliche. And the male lead’s evil family who loses their wealth and company in the hands of a traitor and repents after that ? Again, cliche).
- Most important point : the supporting characters receive much less screen time (some might as well be absent) and as I said and will repeat, are much less attaching, for many reasons. Modaeng and Ou’s chemistry is no longer here, and Gigi and Aoey barely exist and are uninteresting. We don’t feel any real development, especially in their relationships. Again, one of of the strongest points of the original was the supporting characters but they totally failed about this here
I know, I compare it a lot to the original. But even when you don’t compare it to the original, this isn’t that great. As I said, a lot of cliches and writing pretty vulgar, stereotypical.
However, don’t make me say what I didn’t say : this isn’t unwatchable, I personnally like it a lot and I think a lot will. This eventually makes you laugh. You are still touched by Songkran’s devoted love and efforts towards Dao (which is no less than in the original and even reserves a few surprises). Mookda and Michael’s chemistry is still there, which saves the whole drama. Most of the actors did a great job : I was surprised to see Mike’s talent for comic scenes and he’s still as good as always to play the man in love ; Mookda is so great when she plays a fierce and seducing woman, and even better to play the woman in love ; a great BRAVO also to the actress playing crazy Marin : she was so good at being a scary bitch 😂 !
Finally, seeing Songkran’s family receive their lesson and repenting was quite satisfying : I really liked how the drama focused on the importance of family love, showing that it overcomes love of money (the scenes with Dao’s family were very touching, despite annoying Ingjan ; Songkran’s family also turned touching in the end). Also, Dao’s bound with Orca, Songkran’s son, was especially moving, even more developed than in the original.
Also, the last episode is very satisfying for the fans of this ship but also for the fans of Mathurot Loghan : I couldn’t help but notice a few ironical winks to ML, as three actors reunited to here played a completely opposite yet symetrical situation to their characters in ML
-explanation/SPOILERS : Phutarit, who used to play the villainous foster father of Michael (Songkran here) in ML who absolutely wanted Michael to get Mookda (Dao here) pregnant to shame her ; in here, he acts as Dao’s doting father, a completely different character (so when you remember how his character would treat her in ML, it feels funny to see him act as her father who’s crazy about her) ; but here, when she eventually turns pregnant of Songkran, he is first despaired, being an overprotective father who doesn’t like his new son in law and this is quite funny when you know that pregnancy between the two actors’ characters was what his character wanted in ML 😂; I can’t help but think of it as a wink to Mathurot Loghan where the three actors used to play
By the way, also a great bravo to the actor who played Dao’s father. They played together in ML and he was so hateful to her and for the viewers ; here, it feels like a little revenge because he plays her doting father ; moreover, they had an incredible chemistry when acting as the father and daughter who were very close. The actor is great for every aspect of the character : the angry father towards irresponsible and selfish Jan, the doting father towards Dao who was so like him and caring towards him, the mad owner who got robbed, the funny, grumpy, playful old man you could only like, the father who would be despaired for his daughters when they would feel hurt
In short, this is far from being as good as the original but it’s still good, nice to watch for the two leads and touching scenes of the family.

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Well, I my review is probably useless since there is a lot on this classic Chinese drama.
But hey, I'll go anyway.
So, let's be clear: I loved it. The mix of humor, romance and realism make it a spicy cocktail that I love. But I would say that the biggest asset of this drama is clearly our two leads, whether it's the fictional relationship between them, the crazy chemistry between the two actors or even simply the two actors separately. The mix of complicity, teasing and devotion between Jiang Jun and Yuan Shuai is just a real delight and we love to see these two confront each other, bicker, reconcile, have fun, kiss... Obviously, Luo Yun Xi and Bai Lu are on an equal footing in their acting performance and the chemistry between them perfectly reflects the relationship between two teasing childhood friends.
However, there are a few flaws in this relationship that I will come to later.
I will now come to the plot: what I like is that it is simple but realistic, referring to the workingplace without doing too much but is not boring, being full of rhythm. The supporting characters are (almost) all interesting.
BUT : there are still some flaws in this drama that prevent me from giving it the 10/10 that I REALLY wanted to give it.
At the very beginning, I mentioned the bubbly relationship between the main characters. But while as I said, this relationship is the drama's biggest asset, it's not without flaws. Thing is, Yuan Shuai's devotion to Jiang Jun is often at the border of a controlling overprotectiveness, especially in the first 10 episodes when he does everything to keep her out of his company because he thinks 'she doesn't have the strength necessary and wants to protect her, and so basically he bullies her to prevent her from working at his place. Not to mention the fact that the guy somehow manages to makes her move out and even finds ways to make her move in right next to his place. In short, even though his devotion was adorable, his overprotective side and his habit of trying to control her life and to bully her supposedly to protect her were quite infuriating (it all depends on your tolerance). While we thought we had gotten rid of this after the first 10 episodes, it comes back running around episode 21-22 (something like) but the writing tries to make it pass with the female lead punish him (okay, I admit, this part was really fun) but it comes way too late and fails to catch up with the mistake made for some reason I'll explain.
Also, the tropes of "I use crazy methods to make her be my neighbor" and "I bully her because I love her" have been used and abused, and have long been out of trend in an increasingly feminist society, so people should think twice before using these ! Also, although I love Jiang Jun (because I just can't hate a character played by Bai Lu), I think that although the drama tries to present her as a strong and smart woman, she's often in "damsel in distress" situations where she needs the male lead or second male lead to come save her. Even when it was for her father's case, they still had to take care of it. I think it would have been beyyer for the writers to make her a bit stronger and more resourceful, and give her situations where she saves herself instead of relying on others. Another trope which is no longer in trend and would have been dispensable. This is also what makes that when Jiang Jun "punishes" Yuan Shuai for having kept her in the darkto protect her, although it is fun, it is not enough to make up for the mistake : with Jiang Jun constantly needing others protecting her and never proving her own strength by herself, this "consolation" that they try to offer us for his bad methods of protection does not manage to make up for this.
Then the supporting characters. I mentioned they were almost all interesting and they were. I would say what is best about them is the fact that they are all constantly evolving. BUT there are still two characters in particular who are exceptions to this : the second couple in the story, Xu Li, Jiang Jun's best friend (played by Xiao Yan) and Xiao Chuan, the hero's cousin (played by Wang Yi Lun). Clearly, the intention of the writers was for us to be as attached to them and their story as we were to the leads. But this is a total failure, and believe me, I'm not the only viewer to feel that way. There are plenty of reasons but I would say the most important is that their story is uninteresting, childish, boring, even annoying. When we all see your the nonsense that Xu Li is ready to do to conquer Xiao Chuan (like working at the convenience store when he goes), when she barely met him... well, it's embarassing (clearly, even if I love this drama, feminism takes a blow here). Also, she and Xiao Chuan (well, especially her) are pretty childish, which makes them kind of annoying. To continue, the two actors don't have any chemistry, don't especially show any acting talent here, and their characters aren't particularly likable or attachng, since they're so immature and kindavstupid. The problem is that these two have a lot of screentime, a screentime that the viewer will basically skip out of boredom. So if these two had much less screentime the drama, it would have been better.
Finally, one last point that REALLY left me disappointed. I say it again, a point that I like in the drama is the constant evolution of the supporting characters. But there's one in particular that gives me the feeling of a piece of food stuck in my throat, because it's so frustrating and poorly exploited. As in any good romance drama, our male lead has a rival, Du Lei. His rival who wants to defeat him professionally, who has a complicated and difficult past which explains why he became manipulative and cold, and who gets close to the heroine to use her against Yuan Shuai but ends up getting sincerely attached to her and even falls in love with her. During the first 30 episodes, his evolution was fascinating to follow but also touching: to see his difficult childhood which allowed us to better understand him, to have pity on him without approving him, to see him slowly change and reevaluate himself after spending time with Jiang Jun, finally realizing his toxic xays, his past faults, seeing him work as a duo with Yuan Shuai to help Jiang Jun and do justice. There was even a cute little bromance profiling between him and Yuan Shuai. ANYWAY : the guy was the one who had evolved the most since the beginning of the drama and I loved it, to see how this character had freed himself from the toxicity in his life and seemed to move towards peace and happiness.
And there, tragedy : the last 6 episodes. This last arc of six episodes which, frankly, brings nothing to the plot, is even rather useless and above all, ESPECIALLY, makes a COLOSSAL throwback to the character. We had taken 100 steps forward since the beginning of the drama, he suddenly takes a 1000 steps backwards. This guy who had managed to get rid of his manipulative and cold personality thanks to Jiang Jun suddenly becomes a crazy and obsessive psycho precisely because of his love for Jiang Jun. Damn, what a waste...it left me incredibly frustrated for the character who made me feel incredibly sorry because the harsh, cold environment he grew up in, with no love and warmth.

And so, it's for these reasons that even if I love the drama, I can't give it a 10/10 but I have to take away two good points.
This drama is nevertheless a classic: I recommend it to those who love romance and comedy without angst or anything complicated, and more particularly Bai Lu and Luo Yun Xi who shine here.
But for feminists who want a strong and smart female lead who doesn't need anyone's help and a male lead who leaves some space to the female lead, who hates some of the stereotypes mentioned above... uh, go your way, no kidding.
However, we can tolerate these flaws for the rhythm of the plot, the relationship and the awesome chemistry between our two main characters.

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Nice but Could have been better

There are good things, that make it nice to watch
-interesting plot
-plenty of new happenings, a good rythm, the story is always moving forwards and we never get bored
-characters who are interesting because they are neither entirely black or white and they all evolve (except one, but I’ll come to that later), especially the « villains » : their growth is very interesting to follow. They’re all very different and somehow relatable
- good casting
-i have a crush for the setting in the show business world : it’s super interesting to see how they work, what kind of new roles they would get

…But there are some less good things that make the drama not so good
-plenty of cliches, that include these annoying tropes we don’t want to see anymore : everyone bullied the female lead, she gets framed and saved, the male lead starts off as a jerk (he was reallyyyyyyyyyy annoying) but later comes as a nice guy and all, all of the girls of the drama who are after the female lead for some reason
-the female lead herself : the actress is not even so good, but that’s not the main problem, it’s the character. She’s incredibly naive, never really evolves, never has any character growth. Every time she gets bullied or framed, someone has to save her ass again and again. And yet, she always falls again in the trap and gets bullied again and again. She’s neither smart nor strong, or mature and she doesn’t change through the whole drama. You don’t get why everyone is so obsessed with her
-The repetitive plot : to see her get accused wrongly, to see her fight for no reason with the male lead, again and again… at some point, that was really annoying to see the same trope used over and over
-there are some plot situations that feels very frustrating. The biggest how everyone cornered her in the end to guilt her into giving her kidney (or something like that) to the kid :I hated how everyone was trying to force her, with different means, for different reasons. I get it, the parents and the public wanted her to save the kid. But whether she wanted to do so, to risk her own health to save the kid that her mom had after abandoning her, it was her business, no one had the right to tell her what she should or should not do. What I hated even more is how they were basically coercing her into doing this : no one thought of asking her nicely (except Zuo Zuo, who had started as a spoiled brat ; can’t believe she showed more sense than the others), no one considered she had the right to say no and no one thought of considering her feelings or comforting her (I mean, come on, she never received her mom’s care and suddenly, she had to help her mom’s other kid who had received it ; that’s harsh !) ; they just either confronted her on live tv, so that her whole career would be jeopardized if she said no, or told her « you must help him ». I can’t help but think this was way too arbitrary and unfair on her. The female lead often annoyed me and made me feel she deserved being bullied for being so stupid but this time was too much. I also disliked how those who had done this for other reasons than the kid’s health were not good responsible for this : basically, her biggest rival spread the word of what’s happening and her suitor because she can no longer stand that the male lead like. But this was something that often happened : whenever some people would do her wrong, they wouldn’t really (or at all) be punished, and that felt very frustrating.
This is only an example : there are plenty of situations that feel very frustrating because they don’t make sense, are unreasonable or unfair and make you just wanna throw your laptop through the air when watching (there’s also the fact that you don’t get why her mom had to be mean to her when seeing her again and pretend she didn’t acknowledge her, if not only she knew the female lead was her daughter and if it wasn’t because she feared her daughter would jeopardize her new family/status : just WHYYYYYYYYYYY !). We couldn’t help but feel like the screenwriters wanted to insert these tropes and not care if that made sense.

So, in short terms, it was nice to kill time… but it could have been much better, hadn’t they used such annoying cliches, tropes and hadn’t made the female lead such an annoying doormat

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You can watch if you’re not picky and if you have time to kill… but don’t expect much

Mostly, Bitches backstabbing everywhere willing to use everything, including sex
There are too many characters which can very easily make the viewers confused and doesn’t grant much screentime and development to characters who are already not very attaching or consistent… the actors are not awesome but o f can not blame with such characters
Overuse and repetition of the same plots again and again (how many do these girls take out their phones to film some other girl doing a secret thing or to threaten some other girl ? I would need at least two more other hands to count ; or how many times did Kong think he finally discovered Wine’s secret only to discover there was more ? How many did they break up only in tears to get back together ; how many time was there a new affair/love relationship ? How many new scandalous news ? And the worst : how many times did the winner of the contest change due to some scandal being revealed in the latest episodes ? That was the most ridiculous of all)
The dirty tricks that the female characters make them very unattaching, even annoying, even though it seems the screenwriters try to make them look cool. And for the girls who are supposed to be the « nice ones », they’re pretty boring and their acting is quite flat (and as I said, their characters don’t have enough consistency)

Overall, it seems that the creators tried to imitate some American series with all the dirty tricks, love and sex intrigues, dirty secrets but failed miserably at it because they made it overall boring

I watched it for two of my favorite actors and because I occasionally like watching bitches fighting but that isn’t enough to make me think this is good
Also, I must say : this show does not give a good picture of us women

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Full of cliches

I seriously wonder if this wasn’t written with the sole purpose of filling a timeline or to promote the actors
The story is full of cliches and therefore boring and predictable.
- poor, hardworking girl full of dignity and handsome, popular, rich heir trying to get to her level
-rich, pretty spoiled childhood friend of the male lead who likes him and therefore becomes stupidly jealous of the female lead
-the fact that she eventually admits she didn’t really like him and finds comfort with the male lead’s rival who first had an unrequited love for the female lead
-the rich brat’s friend who does plenty of nasty things in the name of helping her rich brat’s friend but is actually secretly (or so they pretend : it’s obvious for an experienced viewer) sabotaging both her friend AND the female lead out of jealousy
-the annoying dad or grandfather who opposes the leads’ relationship because the girl is poor and finds flaws with her even when she’s wronged and tries to arrange him a marriage
Moreover, the writing is nonsensical. There’s no real triggering factor to the story :they enter college but that’s about it.
Plenty of their actions don’t really make sense : for example, why do they, at some point, make a crusado about fixing the relationship between both of their seniors, played by Chen Yi Han and Luo Zheng ? NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS, KIDDOS, IF YOU HAVE SO MUCH FREE TIME, GO AND STUDY !
Or the fact that the second male lead agreed to the second female lead’s request to « distract » the female lead from the male lead because she somehow used her brother’s business and his career. Hum, really ? You wanna make me believe that A college student can use her older brother’s business for her love affairs ? And that a superstar who got nothing to do with this s*** would just gladly accept ? Alright then, rich heirs’ ways of spending time…
The female lead eventually, always conquers everyone with her « bravery » and her kindness but to the viewer, it kinda feels flat as she really has nothing special. Moreover, she always comes out perfectly of every situation, without almost doing anything, as if the show tries to present her as a Supergirl we’re supposed to admire but again, it feels flat and you don’t get why everyone is crazy about her, even girls.
Also, even the dialogues and writing feel so cliche. Obviously, the screenwriter didn’t try to make it original.
So you can watch for some of the actors who have gained some fame today and we’re still pretty unknown when this dramas was released (which makes it one of their first) but that’s it. Don’t expect anything grandiose. Even more annoying is that the so obvious dubbing and the over use of image filtering makes it hard to enjoy the actors’ performances

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I consider the lead couple as the only real flaw

This drama is actually really, really good… a strong and smart female lead who has quite a temper, a lot of attaching characters (even the villains eventually grow on the viewer), each having a personal and interesting story. I especially like the fact that none of them is all black or white, but even when they start off as bad people, they reveal some qualities. Also, the intrigue never stops : we always have some new event, something going, which gives a good pace to the plot
I’d say my favorite point is how the female lead slowly but surely wins over everyone around her, especially her students with her wits and character. She may first appear as the usual brainless tomboy but the viewer quickly realizes she’s far from being ordinary.
Unfortunately, the story has a big flaw that stops it from being as good as it should be : the lead couple. The male lead, played by Zhang Zhe Han, could be very annoying : cold, insensitive, narrow-minded, he doesn’t start off as very likeable. But that could be brushed off once he blinds with Ban Shu, if it wasn’t for what I call his indecisiveness. his remaining attachment (sometimes close from obsession) to his dead lover first appeared as romantic but eventually became annoying and frustrating as it lingered through the whole drama, eventually making the female lead suffer and making the viewer feel that Ban Shu was just a substitute/consolation prize. This became even worse when his dead lover was actually revealed not to be dead : I could totally understand why he felt a duty towards her, especially after everything she’s been through, but it was especially annoying how this subplot lingered almost until the last episode, made us feel that he wasn’t really sure who, between the ex and the new lover, he now loved. The fact that he seemed to realize how much he loved Ban Shu only when he was about to lose her made this all the more frustrating. I also find it quite insatisfying that it was due to the ex-lover retrieving her memory that they were finally together. Moreover, this happened only towards the last episodes and I feel that if they had done sooner, and made the male lead clearer about his feelings would have felt better. What didn’t help is that just like a lot of other viewers, I had a big preference for the second male lead (even though I was happy about who he ended with the end and how he ended with her).
I feel obliged to specify : I do not blame the actor Zhang Zhe Han. In the rare scenes where his character had to express big emotions (his character was after all supposed to be poker face), he did a very good job.
So, in other words, I feel like if they had handled the lead couple in another way, this drama could have been really perfect (or almost).
Nevertheless, it’s still REALLY a good watch.
Another good point is that this drama had a lot of actors who weren’t much known back then but who would eventually famous actors, even stars and it’s interesting to see them when they were at their beginnings and some of them were actually still kids (ex : Zhang Zhe Han, Gavin Gao, Dilraba, Zhang Xue Ying, Guan Xiao Tong, Merxat, Jiang Yi Yi, Sun Yi, Wang Shuang, Zhang Yi Jie…)

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Some good and not so good : a potential not fully exploited

Being a fan of the novel and the Taiwanese drama, I was very excited when I learned that there would be a Chinese drama. The actors were all unknown to me, so I was watched their previous dramas. The only one who really worried me was Zhang Xue Ying, whom I had seen in a rather thankless role in Fifteen Years of Waiting For Migratory Birds. I thought she didn't have what it took to convey the grace and complexity of the character.
And to be honest, she proved me completely wrong: Zhang Xue Ying is fresh, graceful, natural and touching in this role and she is now one of my favorite actresses. I even find her superior to her predecessor, Barbie Xu who was very imposing but did not give off enough emotion for a woman in love, unlike Zhang Xue Ying who remains strong but nevertheless accessible to the viewer because she notably shows more passion and naturalness. . Moreover, she has very good chemistry with her partner Qin Jun Jie who plays Ou Chen.
Qin Jun Jie is also a pleasant discovery of this drama. Many compared him to Peter Ho, his predecessor, by saying he was less good. But let's be honest, Peter Ho was just AMAZING in this part and it's hard (almost impossible) to reach such a level, especially in the same part. In addition, the scriptwriters sought to soften his character, which makes it impossible for Qin Jun Jie to act exactly like Peter Ho and to fully exploit his acting. So There's no need to compare him to Peter Ho. Qin Jun Jie is touching and natural, and he has a promising future.
But although I have nothing to reproach Qin Jun Jie for his representation of Ou Chen, i do have something to say about the representation that the screenwriters made of the character.
The story is originally rather dark and the three main characters have a bit of a twisted side (Xia Mo with her coldness, Ou Chen with his possessiveness and scary temper and Luo Xi with his manipulative side). The Taiwanese drama had managed to convey this atmosphere full of tension, with characters who had been abused or neglected by their parents and still bore the scars of it.
But here, we don't find that tension or that touch of madness in them: the setting is full of bright colors and Ou Chen’s character was softened and we don’t really feel the lack of love and the loneliness he suffered, which is supposed to explain his obsessive love for Xia Mo. Terrible mistake because the character of Ou Chen is incredible because he has a ruthless and crazy side, especially with Xia Mo and here they make him lose what characterizes him the most . In addition, the evolution and the final redemption that the character goes through at the end loses its meaning here since it is much less important and unexpected because of him being softer.
In addition, the scriptwriters used a different chronological sequence from the novel and the drama: they just told the events in the order of the chronological sequence, a simpler solution but more boring for the plot, whereas the novel and the Taiwanese drama had revealed to us what happened with flashbacks, giving the viewer a sense of suspense and mystery that makes you want to know what happened between the characters and provides a sense of climax when everything is finally revealed.
But we find none of that in the scenario of the new version. Neither the mystery, nor the tension, nor the touch of madness of the characters. Besides, I don't see the fake angelic appearance of Luo Xi that he has in the novel but, it was already the case in the Taiwanese version which also rathered to focus on his cunning side (a choice that I don’t necessarily approve but okay). In addition, they added a lot of useless subplots that weigh down the story (like Fang Jin Hua, resentful journalist whom they try to present to us as attaching despite her villainous side, without succeeding). The whole thing frankly turns melodrama (I really have the impression that they were inspired by Korean makjongs which I hate) and it's more boring than anything else (ex: when we see Ou Chen following Xia Mo everywhere just to annoy Luo Xi).
Finally, the staging choices are not always terrible either: either they are ordinary, or they are clichés (ex: the rain when Ou Chen confronts Xia Mo in his old house : seriously ? 😓), or just plain badly done with too much slow motion or bad background music choices that don’t seem to have anything to do with the scene (ex: we often have soft and soothing music for a sad or tense scene and the result is weird).
Also, Huang Sheng Chi who plays Luo Xi lacks a little of natural (but I find that it was also the case of Huang Xiao Ming, his predecessor), especially when we compare him to his partners but after all,he is young and far from being bad: in short, he has potential.
In summary, this version of a brilliant and original story is nice to watch, and introduces us to a patch of very good actors, but it's not epic either because of the screenwriting choices that were made. It's even less awesome compared to the Taiwanese version, but it's still nice to watch.
In itself, it's worth a 6/10 but I put a 7/10 for the actors that I was happy to discover and because this story holds a special place in my heart.

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A stain Ruining a drama that could have been AWESOME !

And I could have absolutely LOVED this drama. A beautiful and intriguing love story between the two leads, various and interesting characters, an intense plot, full of twists and turns (especially since I have a weakness for Chinese historical dramas) and a WONDERFUL male lead as we girls dream to find in reality (while knowing that we won't) played by a fair and charismatic actor.
BUT there is a little problem : no, in fact, it's a big problem that prevents me from fully enjoying the love story that is at the heart of this drama.
And there, I take the risk of being murdered by the fans of the said problem (yeah, because this problem has fans): and yes, I am talking about Angelababy, alias Plastic-Face, main actress of the drama ( hence the gravity of the problem). No, it's not for her face which seems very fake that I don't like her. This is for her lack of emotion throughout the drama. Angelababy falls far short behind her partner Wallace Chung when it comes to conveying emotions through her acting. Yet her character had incredible potential: if we separate the character from the actress, Ping Ting is a strong, intelligent, determined and charming woman who sees her world turned upside down by her encounter with the hero. But Angelababy fails to portray Ping Ting's strength, charm, or inner struggle between those she's always been loyal to and the one she falls in love with. And then I can imagine SO many actresses who would have done a better job than her, despite being less famous.
Yeah, I'm not afraid to say it: I think here Angelababy was chosen more for her fame than her acting skills, and in my eyes, she ruins the drama.
I can't even console myself by telling myself that we may one day have a remake with an actress at the height because the drama is based on a novel to which he was VERY unfaithful (and for some reason, I prefer the scenario from the drama to that of the novel)
Go ahead, Angelababy fans: you can slash me now 🤕

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