Affairs of a Drama Queen (2022)

Brilliant short show with lots of twist and turns

This is a brilliant short show. The storyline with an actress that ends up in the script she plays a part in is not new but what happens in this show is both different, interesting and exciting. Even if it is a romantic comedy/drama there really isn’t much romance but that doesn’t mean that love isn’t the fuel of the story.
Character wise this has a clever and mentally strong FL. I personally love that.
It also has multiple males circling around FL with the wrong (according to the script) male as the primary ML. He is supposed to be a villain but because of FLs interference he becomes the ML and the whole story starts to spin out of control making it necessary for FL to try and correct some of the things and get rid of the bad people.
Acting wise this is high quality in most parts.
I know some comments say that the show jumps a lot and scenes to connect the red line are missing, but I watched a version that was edited into one full “movie” and I didn’t feel the story being neither segmented nor rushed. If there is a season 2 at some point, I am definitely going to watch that too (there is an open ending).
So, if you like a short romantic comedy/drama with lots of twists and turns - and don’t mind the shortened format - this is definitely well worth watching.

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Nothing Wrong, Yet Nothing Right

I. Introduction
This is yet another transmigration-themed short-length drama. The FL was originally an 18th tier actress who landed a supporting role in a drama, which the FL complained had a terrible script, slow storyline, cheesy (dog-blood) plot, and strange personalities. The FL is sucked into the script, with the option to either portray the supporting role as written to its dead end or revise the storyline for a 'perfect ending' to return to her world. The FL starts by choosing the easy way out, i.e., playing the supporting role as a white lotus (pure outward appearances, muddy depths hidden underneath), before choosing to change the plot.

The drama relies heavily on tried transmigration tropes, e.g., the FL plagiarises famous works when she is forced to recite poetry, the FL utilises modern knowledge to perform artistic skill, the FL having to save the ML after they fall off a cliff. However, the scriptwriters managed to insert new twists, e.g., the FL pushes the ML into a pond despite knowing full-well he cannot swim, the bodyguard yeeting the ML and FL off the cliff, the ML being dressed as a maid while he recuperates secretly in the FL's home. The clever humour elevated the score to a 7, but there was not enough novelty to raise it higher.

II. Storyline/ Plot
The storyline isn't particularly original. The FL intended to play the white lotus role, inciting her older sister to kill her and thereby return her to her world quickly. However, her older sister refuses to play ball and commends the FL for her good taste. Because the elder sister treated her so well, the FL decides to forge a new storyline and tries matchmaking her sister with the Prince of Lin, whom the sister is in love with. The FL informs her sister that she would be joining the ML's camp, to which her sister is horrified as the Su family are the Prince of Lin's supporters. The FL begins to obliviously gather a collection of men, the way ripening fruit collects fruit flies. The FL's interactions with the ML appear to be completely misguided on the ML's part and accidental on the FL's part. Meanwhile, a secondary palace intrigue plot unfolds, and the FL is suddenly replaced by a doppelgänger. The FL is rescued and a body substitute is burned to death in her place. The FL's rescuers turned out to be beneficiaries of the FL's mother's grace, and surprise, surprise, the rescuers are all special cookies who assists the FL to return under a different identity to disrupt the plans of the villain (who is a really weak villain). The FL's sister randomly and unnecessarily dies at the hands of the villain and the FL quickly develops a plan to drive the villain insane. After the villain gets her comeuppance, the FL is suddenly kidnapped by the 8th prince to be gifted to the ML for his birthday. While escaping, the FL remembers that the ML is about to be poisoned by mushrooms and so she returns to meet him.

This synopsis is disjointed and incomplete, precisely how the drama is. It is as if someone sewed a garment and while the garment is technically fit for its purpose, there are many loose threads hanging on to the garment that have not been neatly incorporated or snipped off. The production theme decided to leave this with an open ending that cannot even be completed with fan fiction or fan edits.

III. Characters
XXN acts well as the spunky, witty FL. Admittedly, HL is playing a stone-cold ML but he singularly held on to a placid expression for all 26 episodes, even when he purports to miss her and when he finally sees her again. PQ once again plays a 'prince on a white steed' role, but I'm not exactly sure what purpose his character serves as it could easily be replaced by an unnamed male. The supporting cast either overacted or underacted, but that is to be expected in a lower-budget short-length drama. However, honourable mention should be given to GWX who plays the 8th prince Zhao Yinghe. Although he had very limited screen time, he definitely made the most of it and would have been interesting to watch if his character had more screen time in season 2.

IV. Production Aspects
This must have been one of the lower-budget dramas as the costumes and set are undeniably of cheaper quality. None of the FL or ML's outfits stood out for me. The music (what little we hear of it) was also a cheap jingle that highlighted this drama is not to be taken seriously.

V. Conclusion
It's an easy watch, if you just want something playing in the background while you are occupied with menial tasks. However, if you pay full attention to this, it may not hold your attention for very long.

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