All Rise

I had no expectations coming into this drama.. I just wanted to watch something that’s not too demanding.. Unexpectedly, this was good.. Nothing innovative or fresh and I don’t think that was the intention either.. It sticks to familiar conventions and still works..

I think it’s important to understand that this is not a romance story but a legal drama with a robust, character driven competitive narrative through and through, with a touch of romance and undeniable chemistry and instinctive spark between the main leads.. It also had one of the most mature relationships I saw from characters in this age group in dramas.. No unnecessary jealousy, love triangles, outside interference or forced tensions.. This had all the good vibes I needed at the time..

The characters here feel deeply and love wholeheartedly.. They are good, not flawless but always trying to be decent, to be good to those they care about even when they could be selfish, because their futures are at stake here..

Special shoutout to He Lan Dou.. She was really good.. Her character Guo Xiao Yu was one of my favorites.. Hu Xian Xu and Zhou Yi Ran were good too.. I liked how Hu Xian Xu brought his character, Jiang Chen to life.. There were a lot of small nuances in his character traits that made him feel real.. This is my first drama of both of them.. I was waiting for his upcoming drama Undercover Auto Genius because of Wang Ying Lu, but now I have one more reason to watch it I guess..

There were a few things that bugged me but I just want to bring up one here.. They were part of a Talent Hunt Program, essentially a competition to get a job.. They kept saying elimination, elimination but none of them actually got eliminated.. The first one was forced out because he cheated and the rest quit by their own choice.. That took the edge out of the competition, which was the core theme of the story.. I mean, we all knew who the finalists would be but they didn’t have to go so easy on the others..

Overall, it is a pretty decent watch.. I would have loved to see another 6 episodes, showing what their lives were like after the competition ended.. The ending might feel vague but I think it’s fairly clear that they both got the job and stayed together at the firm.. Still they could have done a better job with that..

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Probably the most Underrated/unknown drama of 2025

love it its so good i would have rated it even higher if they give us more for the side couples like they were cute but they didn't give us anything for them
the main lead already got me from the start
This the type of couple that can make me smile just by being on screen together
i really like all of the actors/characters pretty much
my fav is the fl she is great she was a lot more cold in the start but you will get why she was like that
Not like how they just make characters cold without any reason at all
and the character development was good to
This is actually the best workspace drama i have watched and i guess rivals to lovers to i guess
also i love the outro ost i never skip it
i don't write long review so that's all for now ty for reading hope you will give it a try and hope you like it

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Solid legal drama

Things I loved

1 That it was a legal drama. Not only I love them but the competition theme speaks to me as I adore competition shows.

2 The actors. I won't single anyone since I found all good and while I won't check any other dramas from them, I would watch them with joy if they are part of one.

3 The characters. I loved how all of them found their purpose and decided to fight for it. I loved the relationship between them, no unnecessary angst and rivalry but rather respect and sane ambition.

4 The ending. I see many complain about the ending, but I thought it was good, realistic and not truly open.

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Ending disappointed some but not necessarily true.

How is it a non romance category drama? It def has subtle bittersweet love guys. Though it's not the main focus, but it surely givess you butterflies. Almost each character has their own little part of love story. And it's neither overwhelming nor underwhelming. Just perfect!

Though the whole drama is filled with legal cases and legal jagron, that can't ppssibly be a complain because that's exactly what it's genre is. And on other side, this drama is basically about educating people of their basic rights and common laws.

The faces are fresh and young. Worth a try!

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im sorry why doesn't this get a high rating?

This is the first time I've watched a C drama without a single episode or minutes skipped. I usually get bored easily when watching C drama. But in this drama, even when the characters are yapping, I still watch all of it. Lmao sorry for me yapping, but this is really the first time I've been like this.

Btw, I really like Hua Xian Xu's acting. I don't know why, but his expressions look very natural, and he's really good at capturing micro-expressions. I fell in love with him in this Chinese drama. His character is a whole green forest. I guess that's because it was written by a female author🤷‍♀️

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Rating pls rise!

I actually finished watching this ages ago, but seeing how underrated it is still hurts a little. The story mainly focuses on the workplace, with romance taking a back seat; but honestly, it works. The relationship develops naturally through their day-to-day interactions, which is something I really appreciate. It made me look forward to each new episode. As for the competition aspect, it was pretty obvious from the start who the favorites were.

Acting- and chemistry-wise, they’re good, even though this was my first time seeing both actors. The OST isn’t particularly memorable, but I’d still rewatch this from time to time just for the ML and FL scenes. They’re seriously cute and adorable when they're in love!

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A good legal drama about aspiring young lawyers who find their individuality along the way.

All Rise is a legal modern drama about a group of interns (6 aspiring lawyers) competing for a job at an elite law firm. They were assigned to the team and worked together on various cases presented to them by their mentors. Each assignment will be graded, and whoever receives the highest score at the end will get the job.

There were several funny scenes as they got to know each other, but also some moments of competition. I like He Lan Dou, who plays the Guo Xiao Yu character, who is funny, caring, and charming among the interns.

The chemistry between the FL/ML is cute. Hu Xian Xu played Jiang Chen, and Zhou Yi Ran played Ren Jia Tong, and both did a good job.

Synopsis: A group of legal interns enters a high-stakes battle for the ultimate job offer. In this fierce jungle of competition, they must discover the truly fulfilling opportunities that resonate with their lives.

My Reviews:
1. Acting: 7.5
2. Script: 7.5
3. Music/OST: 7.5
4. Production Quality: 7.5
5. Cinematography: 7
6. Rewatchable: 8

Overall Rating: 7.5

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My Rival My Love

Hidden gem of 2025. I didn’t have any idea about this drama at first. Got c-drama slump since the first frost.
One day, I casually opened X and saw a short video about Jing Chen, and it made me curious.
I decided to watch it — and it’s soooo good.

The story about Chinese law, the friendships, and the love interest between Jiatong and Jiang Chen is really enjoyable. I know romance isn’t the main focus, but it’s enough for me to see how their relationship develops from strangers, to friends, to rivals, and finally to lovers (I assume they’re a couple because of the last kiss in the final episode haha).

I know the ending is vague since we don’t really know who was chosen, and suddenly batch 2 of the program gets announced. But I assume they both got accepted into the law firm, work as a team, and date outside office hours.

I think one season is enough. If there’s a season 2, I don’t think it would be as interesting to watch again. I’m not sure how they could continue the story with the same actors (the leads must come back!), unless they return as supervisors for the program.

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An Inspiring Show for Those Who Aspire to Become Lawyers

Before I begin my review, I want to say happy new year to all of you and hope that 2026 is going to be another great year for C-drama world with lots of fantastic new releases waiting to be promulgated when the time is ready. I also hope that all of fellow watchers stay healthy and safe as we weave into the long-awaited new year. For this new year, I decide to kick off my journey by watching “All Rise”, which seems pretty absurd to me. If you want to know why, check my review below.

“All Rise” is an original-script-based drama which centers around the journey of how to become good lawyers. In this show, we’re going to see how the story unfolds as it is interpreted by several POVs of the characters – the no-nonsense workaholic Ren Jiatong, the enthusiastic rookie Jiang Chen, the blithe and loyal bestie Guo Xiaoyu, the astute chaebol lady Yan Fei, the desperado of the year Li Ke, the hardworking Huang Yue, and lastly Wang Lu (his appearance is too short to make an impression for me). Aside from them, some senior lawyers are also involved in the story including the unrequited couple Song Yifan and Bai Xiao, the group’s senior brother Zhou Nian, Jiang Chen’s dad, Director Zhuang, and etc.

Based on what I can construe from the script, I feel that it is written quite well in terms of urban working life and how teamwork looks like (I can relate with this case the most because teamwork is arduous with my lazy bums of friends and it’s always me who have to carry the whole group). In addition, it also shows how the law in China works and what acts that must be applied should the parties undergo legal path – unfortunately, it is festooned by a plethora of law jargons, none of which I can decipher well (a minus point for me – however, since I’m not a law-ish person, I can only let the show flows naturally, sigh).

To be honest, the cast is consisted of mostly new actors, where I can only recognize Hu Xianxu, Zhou Yiran, He Landou, and Huang Shengchi. In my opinion, all of them have done well and embody each character seamlessly. I want to give a thumbs-up for Zhou Yiran who manage to capture the essential points of Ren Jiatong’s character. Ren Jiatong is quite similar to me when it comes to personality – workaholic (believing that work should be done until burning the midnight oil), guarded against others (due to her dad’s accident), huge desire of winning, lonely and have no one to rely on emotionally. Her budding romance with Jiang Chen is so-so at best, as I’m more invested in Zhu Zhisheng’s two-timing against Guo Xiaoyu lol. Meanwhile, I also love the awkward relationship between Lawyer Song and Lawyer Bai – they seem to be going in circles but never get the chance to stay together.

As far as I can discern, production quality is a tad of nice (I don’t know the exact budget, yeah, but it’s maybe a lower one) among a bunch of mediocre dramas. OSTs are good too, especially “Circles” by Li Tianzi.

Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say that I don’t complete the whole drama and still stuck in ep 17 because I’m just too lazy to continue (those jargons really create a headache for me). However, if you do have keen interest in law, this might be a good show for you for they will show how the full law procedure of solving an issue with ruthless precision. But still, it’s a 10/10 for me because I don’t want their hard work go in waste. I guess that’s all I can say, goodbye and happy watching!!!

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An incredible law related drama from an aspiring lawyer.

This is my first time writing any type of comment on here, but I truly believe this drama deserves one from me. As an aspiring lawyer myself, this drama was just perfect in terms of legal terminology and knowledge—I genuinely learned so much from it. But beyond the legal aspects, the drama itself deserves its flowers.

Each character (even the “bad” ones) was incredibly well written. They all had their own strengths, weaknesses, and moments of growth and change. The plot and overall story were also very well planned. The past few dramas I’ve watched all felt rushed nearing the end, but this drama absolutely nailed the ending, even with the cliffhanger.

Although many say this cliffhanger spoils the drama, I would argue the opposite. It’s the type of cliffhanger where you can still guess the ending, so it doesn’t really affect the overall story. One main complaint I’ve seen is how the drama loses its “competitive” storyline as it progresses, which I think is a valid point. However, I don’t believe it negatively impacts the story as a whole. I won’t go into too much detail, but the decisions made by each character felt very realistic, even when I personally didn’t agree with them.

Another aspect that was absolutely amazing was the acting. Every actor and actress played their role beautifully. Despite leaving certain things unresolved (the rent situation, the FL’s mom, etc.), I don’t think it takes away from the overall drama.

So, to quickly summarize: amazing drama, story, characters, plot, and even OST. If you’re someone interested in law, I would very very highly recommend it—and even if you’re just someone who enjoys workplace-type dramas, I would recommend it as well.

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A welcome surprise and a great watch

All Rise was a very pleasant surprise and a great watch. This show had it all: good storylines, good young actors complimented by very experienced older actors and a premise that was refreshing in its execution.

One aspect I liked immensely was the human aspect was allowed to shine through for a change. Although the young lawyers were all driven, with some more than others, even the most driven embraced their private lives ie willing to consider a relationship and develop friendships.

Another aspect for me was the younger generation learning the cold hard realities of the workplace. We saw our young characters wanting to be independent, willing to correct their errors or take on advice provided by their seniors promptly.

Interestingly, we see the juxtaposition between the Gen Z need to collaborate up against getting the job done ie being pitted against one another. This mechanism was used to show our characters how to transition from being creative to the importance of innovation ie how to deliver results.

Were there annoying characters? Yes. Two to be exact. However, the story is bigger than them.

Showing the work ethic and challenges and relationships amongst the senior lawyers was well done too. I enjoyed their storylines as much as the younger cohort’s and there was a cross over as well regarding relationships in the workplace.

The legal cases undertaken were interesting and the solutions often simple, based on exhaustive research - as it actually is in the real world. At 24 episodes, the Chinese tv producers are starting to show they can make very good shorter dramas.

All in all, All Rise was a great watch and it would seem another season is on the way. This is probably my pick for best show of 2025.

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