Qi Meng Ling (2025)

Not Cute. Not Soft. Just Vengeance.

Dear viewer, if you came here for fluff, butterflies, and soft romance… wrong exit. Missed it by miles.

This story is, at its core, a blunt showcase of the ugliness of human nature. It isn’t pretty, and more unsettlingly, it often doesn’t feel exaggerated. The drama never flinches from showing cruelty as it is.The whole thing gave me The Glory vibes, even though the plots are nothing alike. Same oppressive atmosphere, same moral rot, same “something is deeply wrong here” feeling. And yes, probably the unhinged FL too.

We follow a revenge-driven FL who survives a brutal massacre orchestrated by her own so-called family and proceeds to dismantle them piece by piece. Credit where it’s due—the writers did an excellent job crafting this family, because every single member inspired genuine disgust. Watching them fall felt less like triumph and more like grim inevitability.

The ML exists mostly in the margins of her story, acting as a quiet, shadowy supporter. His presence is subtle to the point of near invisibility, but it works. This is her story, her descent, her reckoning. I actually appreciated that he wasn’t another lovesick, simping puppy (though those have their time and place and are well enjoyed). There’s something deeply appealing about a male lead who supports from afar, steps in only when necessary, respects her strength, and trusts her to walk her own path. That said—his presence definitely amps up in the second half, and somehow the man’s lone tear moments absolutely sent me. I don’t know why, but every time he teared up in silence I was cackling. Tragic? Yes. Effective? Probably. Unintentionally funny? Extremely.

The FL herself is… frustrating, unpredictable, and captivating? More than once, I doubted she had what it took to take these people down. And yet—she did. Again and again. Unhinged? Absolutely. But she delivered, yet not without ML's help.

Once the first major revenge arc wraps up, though, the vibe shifts slightly—around episode 15 you can feel the story recalibrating. It loosens the chokehold quite a bit, the dynamics start changing, and the second half leans more into character interplay rather than pure vengeance mode, and while the intensity doesn’t disappear, it takes on a different shape. Whether that works for you will probably depend on how attached you were to the pure revenge momentum.

The characters are intriguing and also comically dumb at times, which made the watch weirdly fun. It’s over-the-top, fast as hell, logic goes missing regularly, the budget is clearly limited, wig lines are doing the most, and the dubbing sometimes said “nah” to lip-syncing. Very classic mini-drama behavior.

Still, despite all that—or maybe because of it—the show is intense, dramatically unrestrained, and undeniably entertaining. It doesn’t aim to be elegant. It aims to leave a mark. And, against all odds and tonal expectations, our leads actually get a happy ending.

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Bloody REVENGE with a mere HINT of Romance

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Revenge with a capital 'R' and romance with a lowercase 'r' is the theme of this minidrama. The main protagonist is the FL and the the 'boogeyman' ML is mostly a shadow following her around to provide 'slight' assistance. This is especially true in the first portion of the drama which focuses on her personal revenge as opposed to uncovering the masterminds behind the scenes.

Negatives:
🚫 Short length requires break-neck speed and waving hand over details of the past
🚫 Some revenge is shown in detail and some, the end is left hanging in the end offscreen
🚫 There is no ACTUAL kiss between the leads (personally not a negative but for many I know this IS so listing here)
🚫 Typical last second ending

Positives:
✅️ Nietzsche
✅️ A take no prisoners style FL who isn't afraid of mass manipulation
✅️ Multiple layers of character stories told through lines of dialog and brief flashbacks
✅️ Unhinged OTT acting at it's finest (beyond more than just the leads)

IMPORTANT considerations:
🌸 This FL gets her hands dirty and her schemes may have you wonder if the is the same or possibly becoming worse than her object of revenge.
🌸 You must be able to overlook such things as full facial change and later a character having a 'full skin suit'..
🌸 Background information is given out scarcely and sprinkled unevenly. There is a LOT left unsaid which leaves the viewer either frustrated that 'nothing makes sense' if they can't make logic jumps with 2 lines of dialog episodes apart; OR wishing the story were longer so that the show could be more fully fleshed out and characterized.
🌸 This is pure entertainment value with MANY actual flaws, some seemingly in place because of the sheer nature of the scope of work limiting how the novel could be adapted.
🌸 The show provides PLENTY of scenes presented for 'shock value' but does not actually utilize on-screen rape and/or miscarriage - there are scenes of force and violence against woman as well as men.
🌸 If anything could possibly cause someone who is clapping their hands along with the mayhem to sigh it might be the switch-over from 'act 1' to 'act 2' as my personal reaction was: '....And suddenly there's comedy? The stare wide-eyed mouth open for flies, head cocked to the side, can't believe it sort...' Then... 'Omg I can't... This girl isn't acting unhinged but just plain off her rocker 🤣🤡'

🔥Final Rating: 9/10🔥
This is HEAVILY weighted for enjoyment factor and scenes I feel will leave a lingering impact on my mind.
I greatly enjoyed the style of acting the actors were asked to portray, though the ML with his single tear drop was, in my opinion, a 'choice'.
The music was 🤷‍♀️ - it was background music and it fit the scenes
I doubt I will ever rewatch this show in its entirety again, but if clips came up on my screen or if someone were already watching, I'd sit down and rewatch parts.

I paid for the Express Pass and do not regret it.

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