An Uncommon Yet Intrigue Story
A Dream within a Dream" isn't your typical drama, especially if you prefer straightforward plots and immediate resolutions. Those accustomed to shorter series or narratives where every conflict has a clear-cut ending might find this one challenging to fully appreciate or even understand.Many viewers mistakenly categorize this drama as a story primarily focused on intrigue, power struggles, or romance. While elements of these might be present, they aren't the central theme. Instead, the core of "A Dream within a Dream" lies in its unique exploration of a script's world gradually altering due to external influences. This intervention causes each character to evolve, inevitably forcing the narrative itself to adapt and shift.
These subtle transformations aren't always obvious at first glance, requiring careful attention to fully grasp. However, as the drama unfolds, every event meticulously builds towards a powerful climax, where the ultimate direction of the "script" is determined by the very characters living within it.
This is certainly not something you come across often, which is why I call this drama one-of-a-kind.
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Funny and dramatic with great characters
At the beginning of this drama I thought it would just be a light and fun drama, but throughout the story we get to know each character better and their sad and dramatic stories that go far beyond what is presented to us at the beginning by the script that the protagonist knows. This drama is without a doubt one of my favorites, it was perfect.Just watch it!🥹🤌🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷
No começo desse drama achei que seria somente um drama leve e divertido , mas ao longo da história passamos a conhecer melhor cada personagem e suas histórias tristes e dramáticas que vão muito além do que nos são apresentadas no início pelo roteiro que a protagonista conhece. Esse drama sem dúvidas está nos meus favoritos , foi perfeito . Apenas veja !
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This review may contain spoilers
BEST CDRAMA OF THE YEAR HANDS DOWN
10/10!The drama started strong, got a bit draggy in the middle but ended off really REALLY strong (satisfactory good endings are rare in cdrama - for me, as it's my opinion of course).
Probably one of the few cdramas that I liked from beginning right through to the end.
2025 is truly LYN's year eh..
(possible spoiler about ending below..)
Hope the other directors/screenwriters will learn a lesson or two from the success of this drama - YOU DON'T HAVE TO KILL EVERYONE TO MAKE A GOOD ENDING.
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Will Keep You Hooked!
I have never had so much fun watching a drama as I did with this one. It has such a high entertainment value!From the moment the female lead wakes up inside the script, the comedy begins. Then with the intro of the male lead who has a villainous portrayal in the story also creates quite an intriguing as well as comical pairing with the female lead with their antagonistic nature.
There are moments where you will find characters being annoying or frustrating but everything is worth it. Especially the angst. Maybe except a couple episodes, the story was quite fast paced and there was always a lot happening. Every episode ending makes you crave for more and more!
There are many cool plot twists towards the ending and the writer director must have had a lot of fun with those scenes.
Besides the comedy that was entertaining, I also loved the action. The costumes, set designs, and OST are also super incredible. The supporting cast also get really great dialogues and elevated the show as well.
Unpredictability is especially the best aspect to the drama. Especially if you can avoid the spoilers.
I highly recommend this drama even if this genre isn't your favourite.
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Not Your Typical Historical Drama, and That’s a Good Thing
I can understand why some viewers might struggle with this drama at first. I almost dropped it myself after the opening episode. Coming straight from The Prisoner of Beauty, I needed a moment to recalibrate and get used to the idea of transmigrating into a scripted fictional world where FL is playing a scripted character. (But I stayed because I really enjoyed "Extraordinary You" and the synopsis sorta reminds me of that)I am glad I stayed with it, because what followed was an unexpectedly rewarding experience. The writing stood out as carefully constructed, with intrigue layered throughout and clever use of chaos and misunderstanding, particularly around the masked hero, Li Shi Liu. That storyline alone kept me invested, showing how well the narrative was planned from the very beginning.
It would not be fair to compare this drama directly with TPOB. Although the two may appear to belong to the same genre, they operate on very different aesthetics and tones. Where TPOB has a certain grandeur, this series succeeds through sharp storytelling, playful twists, and its distinctive thematic approach.
I would encourage viewers to approach it with an open mind, rather than holding on to rigid expectations of what a historical drama should look like. If you do, you will discover a work of striking creativity. For me, it was thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. Oh and dont forget to watch extra scenes after the end credits on the last episode.
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A Fake Promise
The first part of the drama was very entertaining. The comedy was fresh, the chemistry between the cp and the whole cast was pretty nice. The directing is really the only thing that is actually impressive tho, the shots were different and brave especially for a cdrama, very innovative, the action scenes were beautifuly filmed too which is something that rare to see in cdramaland now.In term of acting, it wasn't bad at all but nothing was that incredible to witness.
Li Yi Tong did good, but when you look at her acting in « Royal Nirvana », you can see the radical difference when it comes to having her in a drama where she can display the depth of her skills or not. Here, she tried her best, but I don't think she portrayed her character the best she could have, some of her scenes felt forced or maybe one dimensional ...
Liu Yu Ning definitely improved again, still showing his ability for range when it comes to acting but you could clearly see how his skills lack depth and strong incarnation.
The writing after 20 eps went downwhill pretty fast, which was very disapointing. The ideas were good, the execution was immature.
The main and strong theme of the drama being the generic "mary sue" role freeing herself from that narrow minded narrative turned into a strong will or direction to make the ml the most pitiful possible. How come the work around the fl didn't get the same dedication?
It turned so forced, it was very hard for me to find the drama interesting during the 2nd part of it.
The main character's development was poorly done; the writing didn't emphasize enough her need to be straightforward and selfish to literally stay alive, AKA chosing herself instead of entertaining the idea of having to sacrifice for her love, for her family, for everyone else but herself, instead they made her seem like ruthless. At the same time, they made the ml seen as the most pitiful, deep down so kind and nice despite everything that happened to him, which ultimately blocked any attempt to showcase any real gray areas for his character, which would have been more realistic when it comes to psychology...
The last part of the drama was completely meaningless, nothing was really interesting to watch, and the conclusion felt flat. They turned the last segment of the drama the story of the ml's life and focussed on his relationship with his father.
The fl became a supporting character, and it's quite baffling when you consider the drama's introduction, which promised us to see her reinvent the character's position in the story, challenging stereotypes etc, clearly it was a fake promise LOL.
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watch for the laughs and fluff but not for the plot
The first few episodes of the drama is actually really funny. It made me anticipate the next few episodes! After watching multiple of the "go into script" dramas I felt quite familiar with what she was experiencing. The usual denial of the plot, the attempts to make changes and slowly figuring out the rules. It began well however midway I realised the progression stopped. Song yi meng (SYM) stopped making significant changes to the plot. She also didnt spend much effort to analyse the changes taking place. Honestly the first major change where instead of Nan Heng it was LSL who saved her from the fire, should have made her question the flow but this was looked over until much later on. Anyway after awhile until ep 30 it became quite draggy and I was just waiting for Nan Heng's redemption. This was another point for 30 eps SYM continued with her prejudice of Nan Heng even though he was outright helping her and literally crying multiple times in front of her. Until ep 29, where suddenly in 2 episodes everyone's opinion of Nan Heng just changed overnight...so....this part i felt like they could have built it up and developed it much better. Because Nan Heng faced injustice for sooo many episodes so the turn over wasn't very satisfying.The ending definitely went in a way that I did not expect. Although the progression was messy but it was an interesting take. However all these dramas never give us enough of the modern world time as well. A 5 min cookie video after credits for the modern world is just :(((( I was very curious about Nan Feng's side of the story as well. Unfortunately it was not really explained.
The villains were just really stubborn and annoying. I have nothing more to say they are just annoying. Not really the smart kind of villain just jealous kind.
--- ACTING ---
Hats off to Liu YuNing, omg he really managed to shine in this drama. All his scenes and expressions were really so interesting to watch and his character had alot of story to allow him to portray different types of emotions and expressions. Honestly since I knew the ending is happy in the modern world the deaths didnt really feel very sad to me so instead i was admiring his acting for every death scene. It was really good and he makes it look so good on camera. I feel this drama really gave him the opportunity to showcase his skills.
I think Li YiTong was also okay but her character was not developed well so I feel she didnt get as much opportunities. It felt like a very one dimensional character. I feel like the makeup artist didnt give her justice with the overlining of the lips cause it was too obvious in all the episodes >< I enjoyed watching her comedic scenes though at the start it was really funny.
--- OVERALL ---
In terms of plot, I felt like it was a decent drama, but its definitely not for the plot. For the romance yes, there are many cute moments between the leads. Its a funny drama but it has its flaws so good to watch with not much thoughts. There are many things we start to question while watching but most of them are ignored "since its just a script". But definitely for LYN's acting its a really good watch I CRIED EVERYTIME HE CRIED.
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Another thing I didn't like is that all ths female heroines written for stupid ultra left feminists to please idiotic minds and cultivate hate towards men. All the male characters turned into masochists and trash, female heroines just wipe their feet over them each communication scene between genders.
I'm completely sure that there is kind of template of "female inquiry", that marketers created for producers, screenwriters and scenarist. Thats the reason all the heroes suck when it comes to integrity and continuity of characters. Like it written by AI.
I'm sorry, that such poor scenario and poor directing (in terms of quality of female actors perfomance) has such high rating. It means that people turned into undiscriminating consumer already.
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A Literal Masterpiece Romantic Comedy that is a critique at the usual tropes found in dramas.
Leaves you thinking long after.With fighting against your own fate at its core: When I first saw the trailer for A Dream Within a Dream, I didn't think it was going to be as serious and thought provoking as it ended up being. I just thought it was going to be a simple, little nice romantic comedy that would keep me laughing and be an easy watch. While it is still that it is also so much more and so much deeper. I love how it took most of the tropes we are used to seeing in Asian dramas and turned them on their head. I will give two examples: the ML always saving the FL. Most of us love that trope because it shows how much the ML loves the FL which we also saw with Nan Heng and Song Yimeng. But I think some of the lengths the ML's go thru to protect the woman they love can be ridiculous & extremely dangerous as highlighted here. Another trope always used in dramas is the villainous sister the FL always has. ADWAD really turns that around while Song Yiting may actually seem like she is in the beginning there is so much more to her, and I really loved the relationship between the Song sisters. I loved the whole Song family. Nan Heng's family was way more complicated but, in the end, I also ended up loving the relationship that grows between Nan Heng and Nan Rui in the last episodes. It was gold! Loved Nan Rui's development.
Speaking of complicated characters let's get to the FL in this moment: Song Yimeng: She wasn't the typical submissive FL that falls on the ML's feet right away. No, she was independent, fiesty, brave, stubborn, irritating, sweet, funny, loyal to those she loved, protective etc. Many people had big problems with her character because she wasn't the usual submissive FL to the ML. Nopes! She had a temper and often used extreme cruelty to push the ML away. To me her actions made perfect sense. Especially gathering his first actions towards her and what she knew of him before actually meeting him. I think SYM also represented those who are very prejudiced and judgmental when it comes to someone. Sometimes that stubbornness doesn't allow people to see who others are. Prejudice is very hard to get over. Until something changes their perspective like it happened with Yimeng,. I loved her journey how she learns to see Nan Heng for who he really is, let's go of her initial prejudice and just gives into her love for him. It wasn't an easy journey, but it was worth it in the end. I loved her from the get-go, she could be frustrating at times, but I loved her development this is what I like seeing in my FL's. Li Yi Tong was excellent in this role. After ADWAD I'll make sure to follow her other dramas.
Nan Heng, the villainous ML, or was he? great job from the writer in showing him thru SYM's eyes at first. Then slowly peeling back his layers to show us who he really is an emotionally damaged hero who will fight for those he oves. Kudos to the script writer for giving Yimeng the same journey she gave us with Heng as viewers. NH also represented that character that perfectly depicts fighting against one's fate. Death and gloom befall him???? nah! He'll do what he has to, to ensure that doesn't come to him or to the woman he loves. He's always meant to be seen as a heartless, ruthless prince? nah! He'll slowly show everyone who he is at his core. I loved that about him. I've seen Liu Yuning in other dramas, but I have to say Nan Heng has been his best character up to date! It will be so hard to top him. The care and love that LYN played him with is hard to reciprocate. He showed what an amazing and versatile actor he is. Loved, loved him in this.
Proudly enjoyed his chemistry with LYT too. They were matched perfectly esp in the comedic and dramatic scenes.
The supporting characters were all written so well and had a big role to play. The cast were all excellent in their roles.
I adored how ADWAD was also a critique how some characters become larger than life and sometimes the route in which the writers want to take them doesn't work anymore. Some writers are too stubborn to take that journey with their characters and often stick to their guns of the original plan. Hence why so many tv shows, books, video games etc end up going wrong in the end. ADWAD had their characters fighting against this retmhic and in the end they win. I wish more writers would realize it's better to go where the characters take you than ending up with an end that makes no sense at all and pissing off the audience.
As to why I say A Dream Within a Dream makes you think because some of the tropes and themes, plot points used by writers are used to make us think differently about a character or a certain scene etc. I think all of us were left coming up with many theories after the episodes aired for that reason. The post credit scene in ep 40 was particularly mind blowing. I'd say it will have fans talking for days even months!
All in all, I give ADWAD a 10/10 and it has reached my top dramas of all time. Seriously so good and worthy of watching more than once. Highly recommended. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, I cursed some characters, adored others. So hard to move on from.
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Kind of funny, sometimes
A Dream Within A Dream starts out a comedy. It’s set up to satire its own medium because the entire premise involves the female lead falling into a third-rate script.Some jokes are just the occasional quip- eg “we definitely won’t die jumping off this cliff”. But more structurally, some mysterious force keeps pushing the characters to behave a certain way or act out certain “iconic” scenes. As the real story playing out doesn’t quite match the script, some of these “iconic” scenes are twists on the original, while others are just forced against the characters’ will.
At first I thought these scenes were funny, spot on in making fun of over-the-top shows. But after a while, I started to find them annoying. Not only did they get old, but they were also getting in the way of the real story.
And unfortunately, beyond this comedic element, there isn’t much to make this show stand out.
The FL, Song Yimeng, is a bit annoying. She’s got some typical protagonist traits (brave, wants to do the right thing, etc) but she’s just not that likable. A little dumb, a little mean, and not that special.
Song Yimeng’s prejudice against the ML gets frustrating when it persists in the face of all reason. I could never tell if she was actively trying to push him away (fearing their inevitable tragic fate together), or just throwing a temper tantrum each time. I had a hard time believing the former because of an obvious logic hole: either fate can be changed or it can’t, running away vs trying to change it together would be equally (in)effective.
The ML, on his end, somehow keeps coming back to her. I have no idea why he is so devoted. Sure, she was nice to his alter ego, but- aside from the prejudice highlighted by that whole setup- that attraction didn’t seem founded on much either. Overall, I had a hard time feeling invested in their relationship. It simply didn't develop properly.
On the flipside, while we all feel sorry for the ML, “no” means “no”, it doesn’t mean “try harder over and over”. His behavior is not quite restraining order level, but would still be considered extremely annoying IRL.
That aside, the ML is more likable and interesting than the FL. But. The extent to which he is mistreated and misunderstood by everyone around him, and the extent to which he is able to stay a “good guy” in the face of it all, is somewhat ridiculous.
That’s the thing, though. This show has its obvious satire, clearly marked, but it also has plenty of cheesiness and cliché outrageous plot elements in its “real” story. I could never tell if these were satire or actual cheese. I guess I’ll just give it the benefit of the doubt and call it more subtle satire.
There are some likeable side characters. I especially like those three goofballs running the Nightwalkers. I’ve seen Riley and Li Qing in other shows and they were perfect picks. The Type A sister is unique and sadly relatable… I know too many go-getters in real life and found her hilarious (except that one scene). She is not that likeable sometimes, but hey, neither are we. Unfortunately, her relationship seemed a little toxic, making it hard to get behind.
There are also various other fun and interesting characters who get decent screen time. They maintain some of the comedy that otherwise seems to fade as the show goes on, but are far from enough to save it.
The villains are less interesting. By the end when it gets a more unique spin, I had stopped caring. I think the plot started out ok, but somewhere around the fall of one cliché villain and the rise of another, I lost interest.
The acting is all-around quite good. Liu Yuning has lots of fans praising him to the moon in reviews. I agree, he is a good actor with a good range of expressions, but I thought everyone else did well too.
The music is pretty good, though there are some unhinged (unofficial?) pieces that I can’t believe they spent time recording. Costumes are very pretty, settings not bad, no money skimped on extras. And the fight choreo is quite good and well executed- not something I always say! But all these production level things can’t save a lackluster story, or the fact that by the end I was really slogging to finish.
In spite of it all, I do appreciate that they address the transmigration directly in the last 6 or 7 episodes. Too many shows just plop characters into a new setting and call it done. In this case, at first I was rolling my eyes because the FL jumps right in without any question or confusion. But by the end it becomes a central plot element and thematic focal point. Did it always make sense? Of course not, but better than nothing.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
I consider this show a comedy (even though it’s not quite by the end), so of course it has a happy ending. We get about half an episode of little skits showing everyone’s happy life together.
As for how we get there… all the script rules just get handwaved away. The world of the script comes to life, and she stays in it- it’s a forceful happy ending where all the complications are bulldozed over.
Of course, it doesn’t have to make sense, since they pull you out another level after that. I guess this is supposed to be the thoughtful, creative aspect of the show, that makes us contemplate reality and the Chuang-tzu butterfly dream. If only I still cared by then.
The scriptwriter showing up near the end got some hate, but I thought it was funny. A last-minute villain out of nowhere, a heroic character (Papa Chu) who is revealed to bad, is exactly the kind of cheap trick these scriptwriters often pull. This one literally put himself in there and tried to make it happen.
But in the end, the final villain is more like the SML, who objects to his fate as a supporting character. Well, that I can understand. However, his gradual descent into madness against all reason made no sense and was out of character. I couldn’t get behind him as a villain and instead lost interest.
If only that were the worst character development in this show, but that credit has to go to the emperor. His 180 from completely abusive and extremely stupid father (kudos to the actor for that sadistic little smile) to World’s Best Dad made my head spin. Huh?
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This review may contain spoilers
You most probably won't get bored
STOP the OST IS SO PEAK WHATI really like this drama, its so...unexpectedly expectable if you know what I mean...it has the perfect blend of comedy and emotion
Plus some eye candy is not a bad thing either; the second leads are sooo shippable as well. Did not get the Riley Wang hype during Back From the Brink maybe because I intensely disliked watching it but after this, he's going up there on the list lmao
I think this is my first Li Yitong proper romance drama where I haven't died halfway. She's so good yet some of them scripts are so crap that she barely has any well rated dramas on MDL. Glory of Special Forces was really good but it wasn't really romance oriented. Warm on a Cold Night? Eye candy. Good cast. Dropped/on-holded because I couldn't do it anymore. And don't get me started on whatever that mess of Sword and Beloved was because that was the most disastrous of them all. Credit to A Dream within a Dream now then for presenting my first successful watch of a Li Yitong romance drama *cue the applause*
Liu Yuning doesn't disappoint in his acting, and all the side characters were so necessary, not that type of random-ahh 'just stuck you in there because the space next to the ML and FL is really empty' type thing. There were a lot of misunderstandings, and the FL sticking to the storybook plot like glue and being the opposite of 'open mindeu' when it came to Nan Hong, and that Emperor who to me got off too easy in my opinion but OH WELL. Promise you won't get bored by watching it tho, as I said in the beginning. Happy ending was also a very good decision :)
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Dream Within A Dream is A Dream Come True
After being disappointed by quite a few dramas this year..this finally matched up to all my expectations..This as such a joyous watch..
I thought it will be a serious drama but ended up such a comedy and a mixed bag of everything..
There was comedy, action , hate, resentment, love, betrayal, angst....everything in a watchable way which doesnt push one into a depressive mood...the other leads also had enough screen time without overpowering the leads..
The costumes very superb..production quality is very good..
I usually feel drained after binge-watching but this draamas really uplevelled my energy
Some of the bgm & characters reminded my of Journey to Love..and also redemption for Qui Liang from Prisoner of Beauty..
A very balanced and a magical watch..
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