Wonderful love story enhanced by the fantastic chemistry between the OTP and an awesome OST
I started this drama expecting a light romantic comedy but was pleasantly surprised by the emotional roller coaster ride towards the end. The comedic moments were certainly there, and there were many times when I laughed out loud. When I re-watched some scenes, I found myself already giggling and laughing before the scenes even began. This show was not perfect, but I like the writing because it managed to make me sympathize with the villains. I even shed tears for them, especially for Li Xun (Zhang Bo Ham) because they were portrayed so well by the actors, and no character felt one-dimensional.There were many kissing scenes, rare for C-dramas, and so nicely done (no stiff pecks on the lips for the leads)! I love how the male lead's natural reaction was always to kiss the female lead, and the skinship made the romance felt real. I enjoyed watching the interactions between the OTP, and the progression of their relationship. Some scenes unexpectedly became memorable to me, like the wedding dance and the arrow shooting ceremony.
Li Qian is now one of my favorite male lead characters because he was never foolish, even as he fell head over heels for Ming Yue. Throughout the challenges and hardships that they had to go through, he was thoughtful and smart. He was so devoted to Ming Yue and remained steadfastly committed to her and their love. Also, unlike the male leads in other shows, he makes it clear from the get-go, his lack of interest, and has no qualms about rejecting the second female lead. Plus, he had such good lines when it came to romancing his lady! Fang Yi Lun did a great job, playing the fine-looking, intelligent, fair, but initially emotionally unapproachable 9th prince. He was able to display a range of emotions when necessary in the various scenes. I hope to see him in more lead roles. He is multi-talented since he also sang some of the tracks for the OST. As for Ling Mei Shi, I believe this is her first lead role as well, and she shined as the cute, mischievous, and street-smart Ming Yue.
I was also impressed by Ni Han Jin. He is certainly sexy with a great body but it was his acting as Yun Si that kept me invested in his story with Ming Yue. One could feel his pain from losing his one and only so unfairly and understand why his broken heart drove him to desperate measures. I had less sympathy for Hui Xin and her obsessive unrequited love, but Zhou Zi Xin portrayed the lovely but conniving character well. Another character I liked was Si Kong Zhen, played by Dong Yan Lei. His bromance with the male lead provided many entertaining scenes, and his dedication to their friendship made for some heartwarming moments.
The OST made its way onto my regular playlist - that's how much I liked it! Overall the songs complemented the scenes so nicely, and the instrumental pieces fitted the moods well.
I rated the re-watch value pretty high since I will likely watch this show again when I am in the mood for romantic kiss scenes, hilarious moments, or heartbreaking tear-jecking parts.
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You may have heard that the second lead love interests are detestable and make you want to drop the drama, THIS IS TRUE. In the earlier episodes (ep 12-17 to be exact), you’ll want to rip your hair out. Personally, I’m used to seeing 2FLs who won’t take no for an answer and can’t back down so I could handle Qiao Hui Xin (2FL), but the 2ML Yun Si was completely unbearable. I tried so hard to refrain from skipping his scenes just to watch the story but MAN this guy needs help. You learn his story and can understand his predicament later but still, the guy needs to chill.
In my opinion, these second leads were mostly vexing in the first part of the drama but after a while they started to “grow” on me in a sense that I no longer hated them or got tired of seeing them, but actually felt bad for them and empathized with them. It’s like watching teenagers who really want something and will work hard to get it, maybe even use improper tactics to do so, but then everything is in vain. All they wanted was love, was it so hard to ask for? Yes. Fate toyed with them and put them through hell… But I really liked the way the characters “changed” or at least you got to see their feelings change in response to the situation, especially the second leads. They don’t just end as irritating characters, they have something more to them. Maybe what they’re doing right now is what they need, but after they calm down they’ll realize it goes against their original goal or feelings.
This drama is basically just a big fight for love; you see how people react when they have to marry someone they don’t want to marry, how people react when they can or can’t be with their loved one, what people will do for their loved one, etc… the list goes on. Some end up fortunate but some get the short end of the stick. Plot wise, I found it a little more simple than I expected and would have liked, but it’s okay. If you’ve watched The Eternal Love and Princess Silver, this drama is kind of like their baby, if they were to have one lol. You have rom-com components and loving couple of The Eternal Love, but the plot and character relationships/dynamics of Princess Silver.
Even if you can’t stand the main plot, you should really watch just for the sweet fluff between ML/FL. The way they react, the things they say, their STEAMY KISSES, and how could I forget sleepwalking Li Qian LOL. Is there a such thing as too MUCH kissing? Maybe XD. It’s seriously worth it even to just watch their scenes throughout. As for the acting, all of them were new to me but I think they did pretty great, especially the actress for Qiao Hui Xin and Li Xun's actors. Great portrayal of the inner turmoil and desire!
I think I over-hyped this drama (lol) but I would highly recommend this drama even though it makes your emotions go all over the place, sometimes makes your blood boil, and sometimes makes you wonder why you’re still watching or what you’re still expecting. Sure, it might just feel like a typical drama with a fight for romance, but if you empathize with the characters and think about how you might act in their position, you might find it more enjoyable. Would rewatch all the way through, even through those unbearable scenes, because I like the way the characters are written and shown. Hope you all give this a shot!
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Kisses here, kisses there, kisses everywhere
They kiss before they sleep. They kiss when they wake up. They kiss before they leave each other and kiss when they reunite. They kiss lightly, gently, reverently, passionately. All kinds of kisses. You name it , they did it all.There were major plotholes in the story. But who cares, I’m here to review the kisses! Oh and the male lead was a junior hyunbin!
Overall, a very enjoyable treat. There was angst but the kisses made up for it..
I hope this sets a precedent for all future cdramas. No more static goldfish kisses please. Thank you.
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Agreed with McGee i also think there were some parts that were either a little too cliché or doesn't make logical sense. Especially my feeling toward the ending, really mixed feeling, love the ending but also feeling weird about the ending, like why they must make ming yue (MY) sleep.... Doesn't make sense.
I like how they show us what the early married life supposed to be. Usually with other drama they just show us the happy part or the 'fight' part, not how the couple try to endure each other habit.
Overall: very good drama, refreshing to watch. But to re-watch i don't think so...
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This review may contain spoilers
This is one of those wonderful Chinese dramas that is low-budget, has fairly inexperienced actors as the leads, and is set in a historical period (supposedly). There is a political plot line, but it's mostly for show -- the actual scheming is paper-thin and fairly uninteresting. At the end of the day this drama is a vehicle for the leads to fall in love, kiss, and do all kinds of sweet things onscreen. There's no need to read more into it, because there's really nothing else to say. I liked the leads quite well. They were pretty green at times, but I felt like they did a good job with their characters and they had good chemistry onscreen. This isn't exactly a drama that requires extraordinary acting chops, either. Are you pretty? Are you NOT annoying? Can you fall in love with someone on-screen? Can you kiss well? Then you're ready! But all jokes aside, I did think they were quite entertaining and made the drama enjoyable.
This is not very emotionally moving, certainly isn't serious, has none of the intelligent plot lines that one might look for in a historical drama, and has a fairly low budget. But it's perfect for if you want to watch plenty of funny and sweet moments onscreen, just remember the power of the fast-forward button.
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Entertaining, romantic & funny.
I just stared watching Chinese dramas and because they are so long I would normally fast forward some unnecessary parts. But this drama keep me watching everything . It's hilarious! I love the FL she is a natural . The ML is super romantic but he didn't know it until he met her. I have never seen a Chinese drama where there are so many kissing scenes and I was really convinced that they are married and inlove. Kudos to this team for keeping it funny and solving issues especially when they first got married. I love that it's not like 63 episodes. Everything was necessary...will definitely rewatched.Was this review helpful to you?
CHD Romance at it's best
First the important stuff.....does it have a happy ending, for the ML/FL it does. ...YES !! If has just the right balance of comedy, angst, fight scenes, even a love triangle to have just watching to the end. Not too many plot holes, the acting really good. This will be in the rewatchable category for me, as it is primarily focuses on romance and has a happy ending.Was this review helpful to you?
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When will things make sense in historical cdramas?
I will be blunt honest that I actually came here just for chemistry and probably 'no breakup' BS....but in middle of drama I found this hypnotism quite interesting and slowly became unvested in story BUT seriously there are things which just blows off my mind.Well its historical drama heritage to make the childhood friend of ML into some sort of scheming unsightly lady...and also how can there be any historical drama without one scheming brother?
But alas, I can handle these things as my dao of heart is atleast that strong after watching much dramas.
******SPOILER********
BUT the twists in ep 25-28 were just too much...do you want me to believe that a general takes over whole army of his country in few months and could use it threaten another country with similar prowess??
I seriously can never understand female leads in these dramas...I don't know how much a person needs to show that he has hostile intentions towards her??
She already knew how how that 'pugu' guy kidnapped her brother and framed her 'husband' and also including the deaths of many people...he naturally shouted that he will not give up on her but I don't know why she could not understand the meaning?
Also when she decided to pretend to marry the 'pugu' guy then on what basis did she tried to do that? She did not even knew where ML was and how the heck can she marry another person while still being married? Atleast she needs to divorce first no?
I didn't knew what her plan was? After marrying her 'pugu' what she will do? Let's say he released her brother then what?
Would the whole Beixuan would see how the lady married to their kingdom was taken away that easily?
Also it really infuriates me when the 'pugu' guy was trying to make himself pitiful...like hell man!
Why even his soldiers were loyal to him? He killed his own soldiers for a woman? Tried to wage war for a single woman! So many people lost their lives just for a woman and then he tries to show how good is he? And what the hell was with his character development?
In just few hours he turned from a obsessed evil vile man to a selfless hero who is sacrificing all for his love...I literally was cursing at screen when the whole romantic song started in background and how FL cried for him...meh...you seriously want some pity? sorry I can't give any...
Okay I can understand that he was c*cked beautifully by FL's second brother and ML but still...using people's lives to deal with his shitty love life? that's too much you know? there was no political uphoven actually....all useless killing and political stability was due to the shitty past love relationship between 'pugu' guy and FL.
**********SPOILER END*********
Haah...finally some deep breath after ranting out my frustrations....
Anyways do come to watch this for chemistry and skinship...I was here till now due to skinship and chemistry...but then this drama again started to turn over and again ML being schemed and apparently losing powers cliche was started...so...
*haish*
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This review may contain spoilers
Though it starts off light & sweet, this story centered around Li Ming Yue and Li Qian, is worth watching especially when you get to see how the two grow to love each other. Li Qian seems a little standoffish, but the more he's around Li Ming Yue, the more we get to see of his personality. His brother, Ling Xun, is an interesting character torn between his family ties & obsession, I really appreciated his character more when he realized the cost in his actions were piling up & the worth in continuing. But Li Qian also had loyal friends, especially Si Kong Zhen. Would have loved to see more development for him & how one so young has such a deep understanding of others. This series had it's own bit of humor, cuteness and magic. Definitely worth watching. Was this review helpful to you?
You want kisses?? We've got kisses!
Okay, I admit it. I watched The Love by Hypnotic only because I enjoyed Fang Yilun’s performance so much in A Journey to Love. The show was also a much-needed lighter fare for me after the dark depths we had to go to in AJTL. And there were so many funny moments in the show.The Love By Hypnotic is light, sweet, and fluffy. It’s an enemies-to-lovers story done well. Alas, that’s probably the only thing I can praise it for. Its many storytelling and production flaws prevent me from giving it a higher score.
- The plot is often illogical and things happen to create angst or lovey-dovey things happen for our couple.
- The way Ming Yue uses hypnosis makes me uncomfortable.
- This kingdom is run on a shoestring budget. There's no maids, soldiers or eunuchs around and royal protocol is non-existent.
But, but ... its good points are really good.
- Fang Yilun's acting is on point, and he shows what a versatile actor he is; he handles the funny and serious scenes expertly.
- The kissing scenes are ... omg, the best I've seen and there are. so. many.
- The characters talk about sex. Yes, SEX. In a Chinese drama.
For one, it does romance REALLY well.
We journey with our reluctant couple as they first meet, fall in “hate” at first sight, develop affection for each other and eventually love. But they don’t stop there – they also talk about practicalities like initiating sex (imagine that), and living together as a married couple when you have different habits and personalities.
So yes, I highly recommend this drama despite its flaws. It can get frustrating at times, but it's still a good drama to relax to and to giggle over ;)
This is a summarised version of my lengthier review here: https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2024/01/26/love-by-hypnotic-review/
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Enchanting & Enticing production that will fill you w/ great laughter & Happiness. Highly Recommend!
Ahh~!! Where to start? I'm disappointed that it has ended since I had so much fun watching and laughing with this production. How I wish to have more episodes of them taking care of their kids while being chaotic. I felt robbed that they didn't have any kids for the entire 36 episodes.This drama has brought me excitement, irritation, sadness and pain but more so smile and laughter. It's unique story is maybe identical to other dramas out there but it has its own identity that sets it far different with others as well. It may not have the best plot and drama elements but it can surely cater to variety of people. I must say that it will be suitable for anyone who enjoys Chinese Period/costume drama generally.
Looking at how this drama was created you'll immediately know that it has a great budget backing it up and it was not wasted any one bit. From the location, production, artists, music and other elements that contributed to make this drama as it is now, I have nothing but high praises. It is well produced and lived up to my expectations indeed.
SPECIAL MENTION!!! The passionate, soft and tender kisses always ended me with nothing but jealousy. How can they be so in love? Ghadd!!! Be it shallow and torrid kisses they always made me left awestruck!
Story - 10, I initially thought of giving it a 9.5 since I felt like something is missing and felt that my satisfaction wasn't met entirely but the Final Episode did its magic and filled those empty spaces with great pleasure and satisfaction. This story had so much potential dramatic scene wise but they didn't completely dwell into that and focuses more on the fun and romance side of this drama and that made it extra special and unique.
Acting/Cast -10, FITTED PERFECTLY!! From Li Qian & MingYue's love-hate and passionate moments to YunSi & Aimaila's unfortunate and tragic fate to JinYu and Kanle's naughty and playful romance and to Li Qian, JinYu and Sikong's friendship everything just fell according to how they should be and It never felt lacking. Acting is an absolute Top Tier. God knows how I enjoyed and love the characters and actor of this drama.
Music - 10, I never read the English translations of the BGMs while it's playing but the Music of this drama is in a completely different level. The music are enticing and hypnotizing that I ended up going back and forth with each scenes just to make sure that i'm reading and understanding them wholeheartedly.
Rewatch Value - 10, I would definitely rewatch it IF given that I don't have anything to watch anymore. Cause this is such a precious production and I want to miss and enjoy it as much as possible every single time.
Overall - 10, It's Glory deserve every single piece of acknowledgement. I really hope that people who are contemplating to watch this drama can read and discover my review so that it can help them decide. Cause this drama truly brought so much fun moments and memories to me. A phenomenal and unique drama that can effortlessly put a big smile and let out hearty laughter's to everyone.
If you find my review helpful please let me know. Thanks~!!
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This review may contain spoilers
How does this have such high ratings?
I’ve made sighing into an Olympic sport because I must have done so a thousand times while watching this drama. Not only was it tedious but it also had an underlying message that didn't sit right with me. Firstly, I detest ditzy heroines who talk like babies; it's unappealing and cliche. Secondly, and despite it being the central theme, the hypnosis aspect was done poorly. No one should ever put another person under hypnosis without their consent. I could have overlooked it had it been done once or twice, however, the FL selfishly did it multiple times to the point I ended up hating her. Once I stopped caring about her then nothing else mattered. Not the romance or palace politics or the love triangle. I needed them gone.Was this review helpful to you?
