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Recommended
Currently finished watching 6 eps. It was really funny. Ost lyrics was so hilarious and 2x -3x dying scene got me laughing so hard. There is also a lot of meta jokes and hidden references to some dramas. I really enjoyed it. I am loving fml's acting so much. For me supporting characters actings are really important. They tend to irritate me a lot. But here supporting characters acting are also good and they are also really funny. So far fml's character is consistent. I hope they don't change it. Drama is very novel coded. Like how I imagine novels transmigrated fml's to act. Overall I am enjoying everything. Looking forward to upcoming episodes.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
One of the Most Entertaining Watch in 2025!
If you need to understand what “A Dream within a Dream” means then you need to refer to the finale episode, because this drama is a complicated mesh of fatale screenwriting!In a complicated world where the female lead is destined to be killed by her lover, it would be obscure to be with the same guy. So, Song Xiao Yu’s logic is sound; she is a lesser known actress in the modern era who inevitably gets transported into the very fictional world where she plays the tragic female lead. Only her character is destined to be tortured by the male lead who is unforgivable and ruthless. Xiao Yu decides to escape the destined fate and thus begins a cat & mouse game. Since she knows the “Script”, she tries hundreds of methods to stay away from the villainous male lead, Nan Heng. Unfortunately, she keeps getting pulled into situations where she is pitted against Nan Heng, she can’t escape him or her fate. The main leads are hilarious and have a charm of their own. Song Xiao Yu is chaotic & eccentric; Nan Heng is perceived as a ruthless character but is majorly misunderstood. You slowly fall for both these characters, especially Nan Heng and there is no way out!
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https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2025/07/14/a-dream-within-a-dream-series-review/#more-1968
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This review may contain spoilers
Prepare tissues for the tears
This drama was just mwaah!! It was such an emotional roller coaster, at some point I think I cried through 4 consecutive episodes T-T.What I liked:
- An exemplary execution of the storyline. I liked that the comedy kept going until the end. Most dramas leave the comedy when things start to get serious and try to leave it to the final episodes. But in this drama, it broke through even when you're in the middle of crying. There's also the execution of the transmigration trope. I especially liked that repeated scenes were fast forwarded such that we didn't have to sit through every single detail again. It developed organically, in terms of being branded as witchcraft at the start, to prophecy somewhere in the middle (when the screenwriter joins) and everyone accepting that it truly is a scripted world. I also loved the butterfly cookie left for the audience that showed up when the charcters tried to deviate from the iconic scenes. This meant that they didn't just happen magically but as a sequence of actions taken, masterfully covering that plot hole. I also liked the palace drama, which I thought I would skip through, but I actually enjoyed every minute of it.
- The ML. This is the first drama I am encountering Liu Yu Ning, and he was just perfect for this role. Carrying three characters was not easy but he managed to execute them beautifully. The ruthlessness, cuteness overload, heartbreak, beinged wronged were just so on point. When his tears come, you also feel like crying with him. I also liked that his character was smart, not just taking everything at face value, especially when faced with his stereotype in the 'script'.
- The side characters development. Given that we only knew of the FL's POV from the start, since she only read about her scenes, it was amazing to see the side characters being developed. The liveliness of the FL's sister, the redemption of the emperor and 18th prince, and the Nightwalkers. Their antics made the drama so much more wholesome and made it so that driving the plot forward did not entirely rely on the ML and FL.
- The BGM and OST were perfect. Sometimes I focused on the BGM since the lyrics were so hilarious, that I had to rewind to catch what the characters had said in between.
What I did't like:
- The FL's character development. Because she was a self-proclaimed salted fish, I expected her to act like one, but she was too proactive. It would have been interesting to see what would happen if she took all measures to be locked in the house until the iconic scene setting passed. She was too stuck on the script to notice the changes around her, like her sister doing her own independent things, or Nan Heng not actively seeking her out as much as before. Even when confronted by the ML she still refuses to admit that things have changed. I was even screaming at my screen that she doesn't deserve the ML 😆. In a way, she was reduced to being the support character, where she brought change in others but not herself, kind of like a guide.
- Failing to redeem the SML. It felt so unfair that the emperor, the chancellor, the 18th prince (where were all the other princes BTW?), and even the shady screenwriter were redeemed yet everyone gave up on CGH. He aired his grievance of being pushed to fit in a small box of his preset character, but unlike the ML who had an alternate identity to explore change, nothing is really given to the SML to explore change as well. I feel like that there should have been even tiny thing to slightly change his mind, even at death, since not everyone can be perfect.
100% recommend to anyone looking for a cdrama to dive into.
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The Good:
— The Male Lead: Liu Yu Ning (who also had an impressive starring role in this year’s “The Prisoner of Beauty”), plays a misunderstood prince who’s hated by most of his family and caught between conflicting loyalties. He’s always interesting to watch as an actor and gives a layered performance here. Don’t miss his microexpressions — they reveal a lot about his character, who’s supposedly stoic, but really has a lot of emotions and inner turmoil simmering beneath the surface.
— The Second Male Lead: To describe his character arc would spoil important plot points, but Wang You Shuo delivers an impressive and wide-ranging performance. You’ll have a lot of feelings about his character, and it’s almost like you can see the workings of his mind playing out through his expressions.
— The Costumes: Many of the costumes are gorgeous and unique compared to other historical dramas. Whoever designed the tasseled hat and mask combination deserves a raise — it’s such a badass and mysterious look that makes the character who wears it instantly recognizable. In fact, all the martial artists’ makeup and styling stand out.
— The Action: Another highlight is the stylish action sequences. Many of the 1-on-1 fights in particular are like beautifully choreographed dances.
The Not-So-Good:
— The Beginning: I wasn’t feeling the first several episodes, which are a bit bizarre and almost seem like a different show than the rest of the series. I found the female lead’s antics irritating and the male lead cruel. Although that’s intentional; he’s supposed to be a stereotypical ruthless warlord type of character.
The story doesn’t really find its footing until episode 6, when it gets into more normal drama territory. The workings of the script and the FL’s desperate attempts to avoid (or kill) the ML become less of a focus as the requisite drama plot points play out, including love triangles, palace power struggles, and secrets and misunderstandings.
— The Female Lead’s Character Development: Li Yi Tong plays a modern woman who ends up inside the script of the costume drama she’s about to film. She has a lovely, expressive face and shows a lot of emotional range, but I never found her character very likable — partly due to how the role is written and partly due to the actress’s portrayal, which often comes across as affected and childish. The fake crying and pretend coyness aren’t cute or funny. Plus, her refusal to see that both the characters and plot are different than the original script makes it difficult to sympathize with or feel invested in her or her choices as a main character. While the characters around her change and grow, she's stuck in the same stubborn thinking and behavior through two-thirds of the drama.
— The Hit-and-Miss Humor: The parody of drama cliches and common tropes can be quite funny. The early episodes in particular are pretty over-the-top with character behavior and crazy events that viewers may or may not find humorous. (Side note: if you don’t find repeated accidental deaths and violence played for laughs to be amusing, maybe skip parts of episode 1; you won’t miss much.)
To sum up, it’s a flawed but entertaining story. The rocky start, a frustrating relationship between the leads (the friendships and rivalries are more interesting than the romance), and distracting music and sound effects that sometimes drown out the dialogue take some of the enjoyment out of the experience. But an intricate plot that sometimes feels like solving a puzzle and some unexpected twists keeps things interesting throughout the 40 episodes. I won’t comment on the ending except to say make sure to watch the post-credits scene closely!
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best
drama and everything is great, it makes me entertained. I'm too lazy to write long. In short, this drama is good.drama and everything is great, it makes me entertained. I'm too lazy to write long. In short, this drama is good.
drama and everything is great, it makes me entertained. I'm too lazy to write long. In short, this drama is good.
drama and everything is great, it makes me entertained. I'm too lazy to write long. In short, this drama is good.
drama and everything is great, it makes me entertained. I'm too lazy to write long. In short, this drama is good.
drama and everything is great, it makes me entertained. I'm too lazy to write long. In short, this drama is good.
drama and everything is great, it makes me entertained. I'm too lazy to write long. In short, this drama is good.
drama and everything is great, it makes me entertained. I'm too lazy to write long. In short, this drama is good.
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Very philosophical take on a story
First impressions: The transitions are fire. Also, I feel like there's going to be a lot of 4th wall breaking. Comedy is strong. The sound design is genius ngl. Seems very promising.TLDR; This show is extremely funny, whether it's from the comedic timing to the meta four-wall breaking. It's the result of if the characters from a fictional setting suddenly had awareness and started become sentient, which sounds scifi, but I promise it's not. Even though they basically tell you what happens in the story, it's not boring to watch the character interactions and story leading up to the main events. Acting is amazing, even with the side characters. Music is quite unique and fun to listen to. Rewatch value is a one-and-done for me.
Story: They really pulled all the stops of the historical romance tropes lool. What makes it funny is the way the track stops right when it swells to its climax, and the fl's dripping sarcasm of the fl, and the melodramatics of the 18th prince (yes, you read that right). The mood can change so fast and not clash with each other it's kinda insane. There's also character development. I will say, it seems really abrupt though, esp when it comes to the emperor. I also feel like there are some plot loopholes like the rule that the ml can’t physically harm fl even though it’s stated in the script that he kills her in the end.
Acting/Cast: I love the cadence of the 18th prince's acting it's so over-the-top. His laugh and mannerisms are so comical I can't.
Music: The music is so unserious and probably has the most variety of genres. There's like rap w/ traditional instruments in the same song and then also covers of classical pieces but w/ traditional instruments. Not to mention opera as well.
Rewatch value: It’s not particularly special enough for a rewatch imo, but I could rewatch for the comedy.
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Defying the Narrative with the Absolute Cheat Code: Ultimate Flow | When FLs logic has left the chat
"My only life philosophy is that, life is about staying still. If I can lie down, there's no way I'm sitting up." - Song Yimeng / Song XiaoyuHonestly, I don't know where or how to start my review of this drama. I’m torn on what to write. I get the logic behind the plots and the necessity of the conflicts, but they still frustrate me. No matter how hard I try to understand their reasoning, it still continues to annoy me. One thing I have realized is that it is truly tough to remain objective and impartial at all times—even when the reasons seem justifiable—because not all problems can be categorized as simply right or wrong. Sometimes, both sides have a point, and it comes down to us as viewers to choose which one we are going to support. All I want to say is, this show gave me such an intense viewer's dilemma that I was unable to decide how to ultimately feel about it.
The storyline was great! The first 10 episodes are effortlessly hilarious. While the script may seem like the usual metafiction trope at first, the more I watched, the more I realized how different it is from other dramas in the same genre. It features an innovative style of writing that I personally haven’t seen before. The writing made me laugh my ass off because of how absurd the scenes and sequences are, while simultaneously making me realize there are still many areas within the metafiction theme left to explore. This drama successfully ventured into those areas in a ridiculously comical, fresh, and new way.
The most questionable part of this story—and what I consider the ultimate plot hole—is the entire Li Shiliu trope. It started in Episode 6 and dragged on until Episode 23. While I understood the initial purpose of this plot point, I cannot fathom how they had the nerve to extend it for 18 episodes. I would have accepted it if it had lasted a maximum of 10 episodes, but 18? Who are they kidding? The Female Lead is supposed to be a modern-day person—someone who is typically portrayed as observant and sharp. So I can’t understand how the writers expected us to believe she was fooled by a mere mask that only covered part of the Male Lead's face. It is impossible to accept that she failed to recognize him through his eyes and voice alone, especially considering how many times he wasn't even wearing his oversized dark hat. I remember questioning the writers by Episode 9 and becoming genuinely annoyed by Episode 15 when the FL still hadn't realized who Li Shiliu truly was. It's one thing that this "can't recognize a half-masked man" trope even existed in this genre in the first place, but prolonging it that much was another. It really was an unbelievable stretch.
By Episodes 23-32, I was introduced to the most complex situation I have ever been in while drama watching. It was a mixture of frustration toward the FL for taking a significant amount of time to recognize Li Shiliu's true identity, and annoyance over her reaction after finding out the truth. I was conflicted about how to process this part, as I have already painted the FL as not discerning enough for not realizing who Li Shiliu was much earlier in the show. At the same time, I am torn because I also want to acknowledge and validate her feelings of betrayal and disbelief—that she was fooled—but I can't entirely do so because it's mainly her lack of discernment that caused it.
I understand that Li Shiliu was created because, without him, the FL (Song Yimeng) would not develop affection for and break her prejudice against the ML (Nan Heng). However, I just can’t help the urge to blame her; she wouldn't have been fooled if only she wasn't so complacent and had been more observant of the people and situations around her in the first place. She should have been doubtful and skeptical of the changes when Li Shiliu, who was non-existent in the original script, suddenly appeared. Instead, she just treated it lightly until it backfired on her.
The thing here is she's been overly self-trusting and confident that she knew everything; so when she finally learned the truth, I find it hard to validate her feelings no matter how hard I want to. I tried, but I simply wasn't able to empathize with her anger—gaslighting and painting the ML as bad for lying—because it wasn't the ML (Nan Heng/Li Shiliu) fault that her expectations wasn't met and the original script wasn't entirely followed.
On the contrary, I find it outrageous that she's mad and resents the ML for hiding his identity from her when she's been acting smart all this time, yet it took her 18 episodes to blow his disguise. I understand that her know-it-all attitude may seem reasonable because she knows the whole story's plot, but everything still boils down to the root cause of this issue, which is her inability to identify the similarities between Li Shiliu and Nan Heng. Like gurl! I want nothing of this self-inflicted drama of yours. lol
I have a lot more to say on this, but I'll summarize by saying: the fact that she's from the modern world yet fails to immediately notice the similarities between Liu Shiliu and Nan Heng is a massive flaw. I’m struggling to digest this. It drags the story down and, in my opinion, represents the biggest plothole in the series. It likely goes unnoticed by viewers who are just caught up in the romance or the visuals, but I simply can't ignore it. For a modern character to be that unobservant feels completely unrealistic.
Finally, down to the climax and ending. I was low-key very proud of Song Yimeng for overcoming that long emotional and dramatic slump. God knows how much of a relief it was when she finally came back to her senses—after spending almost 10 episodes pondering over everything—to fight back and counter the evil plan against them. I must say that I still love her being all cheerful, mischievous, and clever in comparison to her depress state.
One thing I am extremely satisfied with regarding this show is how they deal with the antagonist through the use of the greatest plot device—unlimited flow. Seeing them plan things out after a scene reset, failing, then coming back again and again stronger and more equipped was satisfying. It was an ending that was fitting for this story's crazy plot. Everything aside, I just want to state here how I find the scene between Song Xiaoyu and Nan Feng (the modern-day male and female leads) at the end utterly questionable, but I will let it pass for the sake of not ruining my mood for the show.
P.S. I don’t know whether to laugh or not, given how blatantly they hit us with the reason the show is called 'A Dream within a Dream' at the very end. Haha!
Story - 9.0, I actually loved it and was amazed by their take and how they navigated the metafiction trope. It honestly would have been perfect if they hadn't fumbled and ruined it with the 'modern-day FL can't recognize a half-masked ML' agenda, and the FL lashing out after finding out the truth—which happened because of her own incompetence and failed discernment. Aside from those points, everything else worked for me. I even loved the antagonist's (Chu Guihong) characterization. I usually hate the 'kind 2nd male lead turned villain' trope, but they set him up brilliantly.
Acting - 10, I’ve been thinking about the performances of the leads and the supporting cast, and I honestly can't find a "bad apple" among them. Perhaps it’s because the show has such a light, fun, and comedic vibe that I wasn't bothered by the acting at all. Since I went in expecting funny and ridiculous performances, I treated it more like an entertaining comedic skit than a heavy drama that needs to be nitpicked. All in all, the cast executed their roles in perfect alignment with their characterization and the show's energy. Additionally, while I’ve watched Li Yitong before, this is the first time I’ve fully appreciated her beauty. Her look—modern casual pants, a sleeveless crop top, a loose button-down long sleeves shirt, and messy hair—was an incredible combo. She looked gorgeous and truly stunning.
Music - 10, A job well done to the music team of this show! I love each song and gosh! I was squealing with excitement when they randomly used the 'A Journey to Love' OSTs. I was literally on the floor laughing out of mere shock and joy! I feel like they used it as an homage and also to make things fun, as some of the scenes have a similar vibe to AJTL. And come on, Liu Yuning is here! Totally love it!
Rewatch Value - 8.0, I’m giving it this rating because, although I enjoyed the drama, it frustrated me by challenging logic and narrative coherence. I don't appreciate how the writers sacrificed the FLs characterization just to make the plot work. It was a truly unwise and poorly executed move.
Overall - 9.0, I know I voiced some discontentment earlier. The logic behind the FL was questionable, sure, but the scenes were well-executed and kept the plot moving. It was an enjoyable watch, even if the lack of coherence hurt the female lead’s characterization once you look closely. On the other hand, I have to praise those smooth, impeccable transitions—the editing team nailed them.
IF you find my review helpful please let me know.
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What truly sets this drama apart for me is the balance between laughter and depth. One moment I’m laughing like a maniac (some scenes are just THAT hilarious), and the next, I’m clutching my chest from emotional whiplash. The cast deserves serious applause — especially Liu Yuning. His performance is magnetic. He switches between vulnerable, powerful, and completely chaotic so effortlessly that I sometimes forgot he was acting.
The cinematography and music also need a shout-out. Every scene looks like a moving painting, and the soundtrack (that Scarlet Heart BGM?? 😭) hits hard during all the right moments.
If you’re looking for something fresh, unpredictable, and full of heart, A Dream Within a Dream is a must-watch. It’s not just a drama — it’s an experience. And believe me, once you start, there’s no going back.
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1When good acting can’t save a bad Plot
After watching TPOB, my expectations were high - especially because of Liu Yu Ning’s amazing acting. But I realized that no matter how good the actors are, if the storyline is weak, the drama will still fall short. Honestly, it’s such a waste for this drama, though it somehow managed to get an overall rating of 8.5.While watching, there were some unexpected scenes that made me laugh a little, but as the story went on, I couldn’t figure out where it was headed. For me, the direction just felt lame and messy, which eventually led me to drop it. The story was also fast-paced with so many flashbacks that it sometimes felt confusing—or even boring.
It’s a shame, really, because the actors delivered great performances, the cinematography was beautiful, and the costumes were well done. Unfortunately, the storyline dragged everything down, making A Dream Within A Dream a missed opportunity.
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Tried to watch but it's just
It's comedy - Satire/parody type of movie, the gist is the female lead enters in the world of script and she's trying to change the story because she hates the main lead in the script, both of them are struggling to control themselvesbecause the sciptwriter is the one controlling the story of the script something like that maybe it's a good drama for laughs but not that kind of rewatchable or hard to move on.
Personally, i think this is a cringe mess.. good production n the ML story was intriguing, but the whole "comedy" thing ruined it for me.. definitely not my kind of comedy, I don't find it funny at all, just irritating.. n the annoying airhead FL character just makes it even worse..
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and i love the aesthetics
but certain eps are just mindless talking, as a kdrama watcher, 16eps are a drag, only a few deserve real 20eps, and lately 12eps are also pushing it
it's a sad reality, a good writing can fix anything, but these days people sell a plot which sounds great, they get the ep count, but they don't know how to fill it so usually flat side characters and mindless talks/actions to waste time
but they're too cute and i think this is the only time I can watch and stay through a cdrama xD
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Great start, then falls off
I'll watch anything with Liu Yuning so I was excited about this series, even though the 'falling into a script' trope is not my favorite. The first 10-15 episodes were so captivating; loved the Vicious Moonlight set and the costumes, especially Li Sixteen's. Ultimately dropped because the female lead showed no character growth and the plot didn't seem to be advancing. The plot also stopped making sense halfway through. Uncompelling relationship between Nan Heng and the female lead.Was this review helpful to you?
