Fireworks of My Heart (2023)

Enduring Love Wins - And a Smoking-Hot Hero Helps!

Right off the bat, I chose this drama for Yang Yang. Despite some of the nasty remarks and reviews I read; I think he did a very good job with this character. The hesitation to trust, holding himself back, his sincerity. I loved Song Yan more than any other character. Yes, the camera has a love affair with Yang Yang, but he is talented in his own right - and we are the recipients of his good looks and his talents.

The ensemble was great. There was such chemistry between the firefighters - there was such chemistry between the family members - even the dysfunctional ones. Xu Qin's parents and her brother gave compelling performances. I don't think there was one character who wasn't convincing, and I loved the side couples a lot too.

The story itself was ok - the writers and the director scored pretty much on their telling of the bravery and commitment of these first responders and gave them all very human sides. Even the bystanders and general public were both as heroic and sometimes as disgusting as people can be in real life. I think there could have been a tad less action and more interaction between the individuals to develop their connections - but I appreciated the moments of sentiment and emotion. The most touching part for me was Dapeng's parents reading his letter. There was not a dry eye in the house (or mine either) - the raw emotion of every firefighter in that room was real and raw.

Wang Chu Ran scored as Xu Qin. Her character, in my opinion, was the most flawed of all. She managed to bring all of that dysfunction and insecurity to life. Xu Qin was an indulged, insecure, protected woman who understandably was so impacted by her upbringing and her own personality. She finally managed to stand on her own two feet and appreciate the love she had in Song Yan. It sure took her long enough! Best scene for me? When Zhai Miao dropped the bomb on what Xu Qin's mother had done to ruin Song Yan's career efforts and reality bit. Hard!

Some reviews said there wasn't any chemistry between the ML & FL. I don't agree. Although Xu Qin's feelings for Song Yan were a little conditional at first, Song Yan's love for Xu Qin was always obvious in his touch, tenderness and the way he looked at her. As their relationship grew and Xu Qin began to realize the true wealth of his love, her own feelings blossomed. It was an understated but intense love portrayed so well by these two actors. (On a purely superficial note, I do hope they are a couple in real life).

I didn't need a wedding to wrap the ending up - but we didn't need a crisis either. It would have been more satisfying to spend the time to wrap up the side-couples' stories a little better.

Rewatch? I'd gladly sit through 40 episodes again for Yang Yang.

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Old school trope, pretty good execution

Watch if you:

1. Enjoy firefighting/medical dramas like 9-1-1, Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19. Some portions seemed very much like these American series which were good, not a bad thing!


2. Don’t mind the old school trope about parental disapproval with an EXTREMELY toxic mother

Yang Yang and Wang Chu Ran were great together. The relationship was also felt more realistic than most dramas, with the speed and ‘closeness’, the sweetness. There wasn’t much of the ‘just-got-together-shyness’ which can be quite annoying or frustrating so this was refreshing!

The friendships in the station, at the hospital and outside were all super heartwarming to watch, I skipped some of the toxic mother parts but definitely did not skip any moments in the station!

FL was super annoying in the beginning with her weakness towards her toxic mom and even her job but her growth was so well executed, watching how she learnt to stand up for herself and also learning to love her job beyond it being just a career.

I did not appreciate the extend which they made the mom toxic and how dragged out that trope was but it was ok - skip 10s button available 😂 everything else made up for it so I would recommend a watch!

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Explosive Cdrama

The two leads do have chemistry. It's not as deeply rooted as one would like it to be, but there is some chemistry between the two leads. There is one scene where Xu Qin seems to be pouring her heart out and she was very much in character. However, SY has a very one-dimensional look that showed little emotion besides a frown here and there. If it were not from XQ I could not truly believe they had a deep connection in the past or present. Butttt there is room for character development with his emotions and connecting.

I am not a fan of either lead but I have seen their work.
Yang Yang - is great at frowning and looking serious and also confused. Yet he has a great smile when he decides to. However, it does not really add the emotion needed for some scenes with her. This is probably because his character has been hurt and does have a career that could possibly end his life as well as others at any given moment.
Wang Churan- is great at looking like she has not one emotion which is again, what her character calls for in the beginning.
She received little love growing up. She was probably traumatized. (You will later learn why she’s so obedient as an adult even when her best interests are at stake.) She does however show emotions when faced with the ml. That would make sense since she has only experience happiness while with him. Her character also calls for an empty shell of a person trying to reconnect with what made her smile so many years ago. I must say she has bodied that type of character and I’m sure it’s what the producers had in mind when they casted her for the role. She may need characters that take her away from her comfort zone.
So, my only concern would be their chemistry and not how they look with coworkers. I mean who smiles while trying to save a life. That would be awkward, I think.

It’s cute, funny, loving, calming, refreshing and enjoyable. It can make a great go to after a very intense series when you need something more calm and relaxing in the storytelling approach. Their love seems to be very meaningful to them both and that's always an interesting outlook.

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Ongoing 40/40tanuplm
47 people found this review helpful
Other reviews by this user 10
Overall10
Story10
Acting/Cast10
Music10
Rewatch Value9.0
yang yang is very famous in India

I'm in medical field....so I like the concept of doctors and firefighters..and also the concept of cooperation between medical and firefighters....and their dedication for serving the people.....although nobody here is interested in Chinese drama except yang yang...I love this drama❤️and his previous work specially glory of forces..his acting was so good... soldiers go through various hell like torture..they portrayed very well...glory of forces and who rules the world is damm famous here.....



Ughhhh.... This is the 2nd time this year that I just feel so d*mn tired after watching drama. If not for my Yang Yang, I already drop this after a few ep in.... The 5⭐️ score really just grace because of my Yang Yang, if not I don't know how much I gonna give this drama score.

This is also the 2nd time this year that I so d*mn tired with the characteristic of the FL. How much I wanna slap & shaking Xu Qin (XQ) for making such stupid decision. Yeah yeah I know that's how she raised by her evil mom her whole life. But I also wanna shake & punch Song Yan (SY) for let himself be degraded over and over by XQ mom. And SY did all







I am really shocked to see low-scoring reviews for this drama. It has everything you want. It has bromance, romance, and action. The acting is great. Both lead and support actors/actresses are nailing their parts. The pace of the drama is realistic. It is a modern drama, and as a result, nothing magically happens. It takes time for emotions to be developed and mature.
If you follow the pace of the drama, you will cherish every little development between the leads. I believe people who drop this drama or don't find it satisfying are the ones who are skipping along the episodes and missing important hints.
My advice is to take your time watching this drama, experience the lead's ups and downs with them, and you will have a magical time riding their emotional waves. This is a masterpiece.Read More


Love at first sight, reconcile 10 years later between two Individuals of Noble Profession.

It’s love at first sight for ML in their teenage years, both 19. FL reciprocate the love but wasn’t brave and strong enough to defy her family. She left him but her heart never love again. ML tried but FL’s family is powerful, influential and did some unscrupulous act to harm ML, leaving him broken. But he also never gave up on his love for her and he choose to never love again. Till they reconciled by accident 10 years later, she is a medical doctor and he is a firefighter. Fate and time and time they were brought together and their love for each other continues to grow. FL wants to pursue ML but she still struggles with lack of bravery and courage to break her family ties thinking she is indebted to them. She is an adoptive child and was grateful of her adoptive parents providing for her, hence she struggles with intense guilt, till she discovered what her adoptive mom has done to harm ML and their love for her is conditioned and not genuine. ML is also an adopted child by his uncle’s family. His own father was an alcoholic who died in accident and his mom abandoned him, however his adoptive family provides secure and healthy love allowing ML to grow up with a lot more courage and resilience, hence he understands FL struggles and wanted to be her strengths. The catalyst of their relationship happened from ep 25 onwards, due to a major earthquake, both learnt they can’t live without each other and reconciled finally. After that, the rest of the series, there will be a few more incidents involving change in FL’s adoptive brother and parents. I love that at least this drama didn’t make an ultimate villain out of FL’s adoptive family. It gave the audience a chance to learn how they can also change and reconciliation is possible. Both leads’ love strengthen over time and their passion in their profession continue to flourish.
Although the romance is the core, it’s not the only emphasis here, be prepared for the slow burn, but worth the wait as their romance from ep., 25 onwards is steaming hot!

Verdict:
A well written story of growth, finding your own voice and believing in love. Of all the other drama with firefighter as profession, I would say this is the best! With brotherly love, family values and love, relationship and character growth, as well as believable rescue mission. Of course strong message on the pride represented in the profession too.

Some thoughts:
Faithful love is hard to come by. It does feel that the story stemmed from showing the FL’s perspectives as victim and flaws in her character resulting in her needing ML more. ML is just purely one track mind and obsessed with her. That’s the only part I find unrealistic, ML’s obsession for FL, he can easily find another woman, but he didn’t as script requires. He just have eyes for her, and it does feel that his existence is a blessing for FL as he truly rescue her from her dysfunctional family and help her grow. As a viewer I can see that FL has strengths but was uncovered because of ML. As mentioned in the drama, at an earlier ep. 11, FL feels and said she doesn’t deserve him, and she will harm him as she is not brave enough, which is very insightful and true in some perspectives.
However as the story progresses, it shows her growth in character and strength, learning to attune to her own needs and learning to love, as well as learning to be an independent adult through various events and experiences of her profession. ML to me, written here was flawless, I may be bias as because he is Yang Yang. Lol! Although ML was slightly rebellious in young age, he grew to take responsibility for self, family and the profession he hold prideful of.
Both Yang Yang and Wang Chu Ran are a beautiful pair. Chemistry is great.

The drama does have a lot more emphasis on
The script is nothing new & dialogue is boring. The ONLY reason to watch this is for YY fans. If you are average YY fan then "You are my Hero" is similar to this but with way better characters & dialogue.

Nothing against the actors but you can only do so much with a boring script.
FL has no reasons to be so timid in front of the mom
FL has zero personality based on the script
Creepy bro has no reason to be so possessive of FL
ML is overly cold towards FL
FL's adoptive mom is a must skip
Only positive is the actual rescue parts. Very patriotic and something to be wished for actual rescue workers.


The comedy was also good and the FL finding out the truth was much needed. I'm happy I got spoilers from the novel readers on when the series would deviate or not, but though not the same issues as in the novel, SY did suffer extremely at the hands of the wicked witch and her connections and I'm proud of FL for growing a backbone and standing up to that crazy old bat! I do wish ZM made her kneel all the way though. Sorry not sorry.

The rescues for the most part were very realistic though I wish they used stunt doubles for many of those scenes instead of doing it themselves. I remember seeing the explosion balcony scene when it was leaked online last year after filming and it was nuts. Both natural disasters were alright, though I wish they used more expensive CGI for them. OSTs, costumes, sets and locations were all on point.

Cons: Though the wicked witch was a great antagonist, giving her a redemption arc unlike the novel was garbage. I felt it was just bad and the drama took a hit for that; because there was no way anyone who's done that much damage to other people should just be forgiven without any jail time that we saw. So in my head, I pictured after the last episode, she'll be found guilty and sent to prison.

The ridiculous propaganda and where they put it was really bad. Like who carries their brigade's flag to the scene of an earthquake? This ain't the Olympics. You're there to rescue people not parade around. And considering how often the speechifying occurred in the middle of really random conversations, you'd think they'd be a bit more knowledgeable in first aid like CPR. How is it that in a fire and rescue house, there're no paramedics or EMT's? Yet the fire department is responsible for crowd control which is the police's job. It was all very confusing. You have two different numbers for police and for the fire department. But when you need all three, then what happens?

Also very obvious that the aftershocks many times were done by the actual actors shaking themselves and the surgical equipment plus table. The typhoon seemed to just be like a bad flood instead of what really happens inside a typhoon/hurricane. It was like they could just drive when they wanted and the wind and rain would stop periodically. Like I mentioned above, CGI needs to be better. So that also bumped the score down.










Acting: Yang Yang never disappoints me so I may be biased there, whereas the FL at times does seem to fall flat with her emotions and how she portrays this, maybe its to generate the audience to sympathise with her more, etc however to me most of the time her facial expressions are very repetitive. Having said this she is not doing this poorly. Side characters so far plays really well especially the FL's mother whom legit plays the villain persona so well I hate seeing her on screen but that is because she plays that role so well.

.

FOMH has everything I want in a drama. Lively characters, strong character backgrounds, and chemistry. Plot wise it might now be new, but the casts are all very good in making the story alive and exciting, the dynamics between the firefighters and the families are all so refreshing and enjoyable to see. I just love how everything comes to life in this drama, and how no one in this seems awkward.

Character wise SY is a bit similar to YY's character in YAMG but here he's a bit more brash and clueless(?). Also if you are sensitive to evil mother in law trope, this has some of it, so maybe be prepared.

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What the hell is with the mum?!?

Fireworks of My Heart

Genre: Romance, Medical, Rescue
Episodes: 40
Streamed on: Viki:

Plot Summary:

The Firefighter and the Doctor where childhood sweethearts, but were torn apart by family members because of history. This is the story of how the Firefighter goes through hell and back to be worthy of the girl he loves, who in turn must find a way to say enough is enough to a manipulative mother… There’s a lot of natural disasters and action and medical shenanigans to distract you a lot from how hard it is to take the Doctors side, lol. I swear it’s actually quite a good drama.

Characters & Cast:

Yang Yang ⇒ Song Yan
Wang Chu Ran ⇒ Xu Qin / Meng Qin

Villains:
It’s the mother. In these types of dramas it’s always the mother or father. I feel like the dad was complicit too. But It’s the mum.

Best of OST:

Plucks at the heartstrings…
https://youtu.be/UxSag_q9R_Q?si=pVWxPEzUoCo6hru2

Oooh this is smooth…
https://youtu.be/-Fml9wJSjJc?si=7J6LK0I_-X9pmOaE

Almost every track in this OST, I think, is deliberately chill. Probably in order to bring you down from all of the suspense and action the show is packed with.
https://youtu.be/H93CHYBtHuQ?si=WcXpAHudBqlr9KSp

Gripes:

Ok, my gripes are specific to this drama I guess. Call me unfilial, but my god… There’s a line between showing your parents respect and listening to their every instruction. If my daughter grew up, and never pushed back on anything I asked, I feel like I will have failed her as a parent, because she can’t fight for what she wants, can’t think for herself, and might as well be a slave.

My other major gripe, is the false rape plot. I get it. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But it’s just evil, and I feel like it was brushed over pretty quickly. I saw how they tried to redeem her in the end, but it was just gross.

Re-watch:

Would I watch it again?
I wanna watch it again right now. It’s the closest thing to a Dr Romantic (Kdrama) I’ve seen in a C-drama. Are there more drama’s like this?

Would I watch it with my brother?
Yeah… It’s not really his bag, but everyone can enjoy this surely. I don’t think I’d manage to get him to watch it unless I snuck it in though

Would I watch it with my kid?
Career based drama’s are something I think my kid could benefit from. There are a lot of lessons she could take from this show.

Final Thoughts:

The atmosphere, the tension between the leads will get you hooked. The “action” with racing into dangers is addictive. This is a super fun watch that I think everyone could get behind. I don’t know what the Chinese term is, but I think in Korean it’s “makjang”? Either way, there’s plenty of that audacious behaviour in there as well.

Rating:

8.8/10

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inutilmente elefantiaco

un tipico drammone cinese, con tutti i tanti difetti e i pochi pregi del genere. sicuramente tra i pochi pregi c'è Yang Yang, sempre splendido sia come uomo che come attore. oddio, più come uomo che come attore.
la storia in sé è un concentrato di Cliché raramente visto altrove, inframmezzato da lunghissimi pipponi esaltanti il partito, il comunismo, il sacrificio, l'impegno, e compagnia bella. lo sopporto solamente perché, avendo guardato in precedenza un'infinità di spettacoli europei, ma soprattutto americani, a questi infiniti pipponi esaltanti il sistema di vita di un paese ci sono abituata.
gli attori tutti hanno dato una prova attoriale più che dignitosa, menzione d'onore per la madre della protagonista, talmente odiosa da suscitare limpulsi omicidi.
ho trovato però piuttosto stucchevole e il fatto che molti personaggi, ambigui o decisamente negativi per tutta la lunghezza del drama, ed è un dramma infinitamente lungo, negli ultimi episodi prendano la via della redenzione, in un modo o nell'altro. stucchevole.
un altro problema che ho riscontrato in questo show è la assoluta mancanza di verosimiglianza nelle sequenze di azione e mediche.
sono arrivata fino in fondo. capisco che probabilmente per molti questo non sarà un grande elogio, ma considerato il numero di drama che ho lasciato a due episodi dalla fine tutto sommato non è poi così male.

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Se a história não fosse tão arrastada!

Eu acho que Chinês tem mania de criar uma história tão arrastada, a série poderia ter metade dos capítulos e se tornaria perfeita. GENTE EU QUERO VER DESENVOLVIMENTO, não algo arrastado que parece que eu tô vivendo um ano assistindo, kkkk. Eu não tava aguentando mais e começava a pular várias partes que achava desnecessárias, kkk é tanto que o fato de eu ter pulado as mesma não me fez ficar perdida na história. Isso só demonstra que não precisava daquilo tudo pra desenvolver o drama.
Amei a química do casal, apesar de querer matar os personagens pelas indecisões em permanecer juntos. Sei que os dois sofreram, principalmente pela família, mas se o tempo não foi capaz de apagar o fogo, então ficassem logo juntos e pronto, kkkk.

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Certain moments stand out, making the entire experience truly worthwhile

Even though reviews of this title is quite diverse, All agree on some episode's perfection, some elevate sadness, some love, some brotherhood.

To me the first half of the show had more uniqueness and it was more immersive. As true as it is to say writers sacrificed some logic for the sake of love story, It's not a game changer. The more impressive things are the rescue scenes for example, They kind of remind of another drama, "You are my hero", both with impressive level of reality and emotions.
Opposite of what is said, The first half is pretty romantic in its own way, which is peeked in ep 10 and 11. and romance is not the only love you see in this series, Its Family and brotherhood love can sometimes brings tears to your eyes.
The seconds half makes little effort to elevate the state of characters which gets boring after a while, Its more like the story almost ended before we hit ep 30.

Even though this is not a fairytale and the love story sometimes gets too excessive, But Certain moments stand out, making the entire experience truly worthwhile.

P.S: to haters who don't like the series i like to say that the script had a problem wanting to show ML was always in love with FL, Which is not true or at least some dialogue could be interpreted this way. and that creepy brother was not in love With the FL Like you think, They were more or less psychologically ill because of their family (I ain't going in details so I don't spoil it). maybe a better ending would have shown the growth of their character above their abusive family, But we got that more or less.

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The story of the man who defies death until the very end

I rarely ever watch C-dramas mostly due to the length of the series but I came across this show via YT shorts and let's just say the leading man carried.

The story is basically about our high school sweethearts who are from different financial backgrounds that fall in love and rich mummy dearest doesn't find our ML Yan worthy. It's a tale of a messed up control freak of an adoptive mother who just wants a puppet daughter. But luckil our FL, Qin learns that she can stand on her own and fight for what she wants. She is selfish and very entitled sometimes and imo is the worst at opening up of the two but with some alcohol she can sure talk. Meanwhile, Yan is superman reimagined. The man survives everything nature throws at him somehow (I know if he died the series would end but still). He is so passionate and protective but is not the best at opening up (but the better of the two). Like you can trust him with your life but he can't trust you as easily. Rightfully so because of adoptive mumanger. But he does learn to trust and always fights for what he wants.

There is the weird brother loves adopted sister vibe but it's not explored but very much hinted. Everyone is connected somehow and this is tale of braving it all for what you want and believe in. There's some aspects in show I am not a fan of like how they helped the firefighters deal with their PTSD, how Song Yan's best friend's plotline was just cut off, how everyone of the firefighters basically gets one chance to live or they end up dead/injured, but Song Yan never suffers much in the line of duty, and the rushed ending, but it was a good watch. Why is Yan Chen always a S/A victim? Mans has it tough as is with his butterflies. There's a ton of what if relationships that aren't explored decently or even at all which I feel was a disservice. Also, adopted mother from hell's backstory when?? Anyway, I liked the firefighter's relationship a lot. True brotherhood if you ask me. RIP to our Da Peng.

An acting masterclass but Yang Yang and Wang Chu Ran (more credit to him because they had this man in high school uniform in his late 20s). Also, Mumanger (Chen Jin) because she had me hating her at hello. And S/O to the firefighting acting crew because they really were convincing as first responders.

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Extraordinary Journey of Love - Gem not to be miss

This is the story of journey of a man, who lost his love, and in 10 years journey try to do everything to be equal to her, to find his dream being shattered again and again by his in law. But instead of focusing on hatred and failure, he continue to hang on and inspired by his true love for her. They finally together after 10 year, but it really hard journey. From keep hurting him and destroy his future, at the end the mother in law see him bathing in rain happily after saving so many life including her thats so bad to him, finally she saw how noble this man he is, and admit it by saying proudly "He is my daughter boyfriend". So many people fill with hate, blaming others etc, but the way of love is the most beautiful.
You can also see Ye Zi who try to harm Yan Chen due to her love get rejected, but he choose to forgive her and let her go. And at the end during the typhoon, he saw her again, alone in the rain, stop people to go into the manhole. You can imagine if he press charge and let her go to jail, during the typhoon how many life will be lost?
And this drama also make me respect much, much more the fireman and ER doctor and team.....they maybe not rich, living by salary. But how noble they are, really admirable. Kudos to the writer who are able to make such beautiful story and the director who are able to make the story alive on screen, also all the actor and actress they play so beautifully, specially Yang Yang who play this complex character, he look so tough and frown al the time in the beginning (netizen said his acting bad) but i did not agree, that expression reflect the journey of a man that suffer a lot, having military background and firefighter, and then he more let the gentle side inside him out as he found his love again. Also Wang Chu Ran, fragile, but brave and also show her "spoiled part of rich girl" when she was with him. Watch it with open mind and heart, you will really love it....its journey of love that is so beautiful....ignore the rating, as there are so many people with hatred, they need to watch this drama properly actually

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It could have been better

I’m a little bit conflicted over this show. I had it on my watch list for a few months before finally taking a chance on it. 40 episodes felt like it was going to be a big commitment and I almost dropped it at episode 12 but when I got to episode 20 I was in too deep to stop.

I’ll start with the pros.

I really liked the ML in this. Especially when he was being playful and flirty. His chemistry with the FL really shone through in later episodes, I wish we could have had more scenes of them together like that, whether it be in flashbacks or in the present.

The brotherhood between all the firefighters was also fun to watch. Showing all sides of being a firefighter was interesting. The disaster situations showed a side of the firefighters and doctors that I didn’t really think of before. The fun back and forth between the ML and the 2nd instructor was enjoyable, I liked that bromance.

Now for the cons.

The brother sister relationship was creepy. I was trying to figure it out until it was confirmed and then it gave me the ick. I wish they portrayed that whole storyline differently. Also the relationship between the brother, and the college waitress annoyed me. I got a weird vibe from her from the beginning and I didn’t like how that played out. Would have been more interesting if the brother actually fell for the waitress and was put into the FL leads shoes.

I think what really bugged me was the FL character. One minute she was a door mouse and the next she was headstrong and outspoken. There were times when the ML lead described her as being jealous and spoilt, and that she was the one that wanted to do the crazy things when they were younger. I would liked to have seen more of that side of the character than the door mouse. The story is supposed to show her as a shell of herself and I think if they had shown more flashbacks with the main character in her younger days being a bit wild then I might have empathised with the character more. They were able to get the balance right with the ML, a serious captain with a cheeky rebellious side, but they never got there with the FL. As I mentioned already I thought the ML and FL had great chemistry, but the only time I liked her was when she was with him. Maybe that’s the way the writers and director wanted the story to go, I just wasn’t a fan of it.

Overall, it was a fun show that had me smiling, laughing, and also cringing at the cliches.

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The art of firefighting shown in a magical way but the girlies are so toxic?

I would really love to give this show a higher rating because the main male lead and entire firefighting unit were just the beautiful green flags we all need. Additonally, I just gained so much more appreciation for the firefighters. In that way I love this story and I would give it 10/10 but I had to bring it down a noch or two because of 90% of famale characters. Not only were they annoying for most of the times but also toxic as heck. The main girlie was down bad for more than a half of episodes and it made me so angry, ugh! But, I would still reccomend this show for the beautful portrayal of figerfighters, their hard work and magical bond. I shed many tears and laughs for them.

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