A drama that makes my heart warm
Where do I begin. GOSH! Just came out of a rewatch and had to come here to praise this show. First off, I remember thinking this was a GL drama cuz kim min jae looked like a girl in the poster and only watched this cuz my girl park eun bin was in it just to find out this unfortunately was not a fruity drama😞On a more serious note though, this drama stole my heart on my first watch because it was so heartwarming and tender. The characters were so thoroughly fleshed out and the story, though simple in nature, had depth that a lot of dramas like it lack. You see a love triangle between friends in both the ml and fl's lives, and you get to see how they both deal with silently loving someone their friend is openly in love with. I loved watching them awkwardly get closer to each other, comfort and understand each other, and being the one to make the other smile during a hard time. This drama had me grinning at my screen in the middle of the night cuz of these two.
Warning! Jung kyung is annoying for a majority of the show, even more so during my second watch. Like she kept on hurting the dude who was so unconditionally in love with her just to cling to a guy who was never able to express his feelings for her because of how much baggage they got between them. It really felt like she was just destroying her relationship and friendship for no reason. However, I love how they didn't just make her character an evil jealous second fl, cuz the added depth to her character made me value her role in the show even more.
This show wasn't typical and it didn't take the easy route by following popular tropes. It made characters that felt real and stayed true to them. It isn't flashy, they are no plot twists, and if your impatient, it could even be boring, however, if your willing to sit and watch something heartwarming then you might be as moved as I was.
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No cuz it gets to a point...
The heavy makeup, the blood spitting every other episode, and the misunderstandings that just never get resolved...yeah you lost me with this one. The thing is I really was loving this drama for a good 15 episodes before I started questioning my sanity. I really tried to use xianxia logic or at the very least stick it out for my girl bailu, but I fear I am not a cdrama warrior, or at least not a xianxia one.First off, the CGI was good sometimes, other times it bordered on excessive and kinda jarring, but rly thats just my opinion. What is FACT however is the copious amount of makeup on the main leads faces ought to get someone fired and jailed for the crimes they committed against the audience and the actors. No cuz tell me why I'm watching a very cute romantic scene where ye xiwu is giving tantai jin a peck on the cheek but I get distracted cuz all of a sudden her lips look very chapped. COME to realize that very well might just be the makeup on his face transferring to her lips despite the peck being relatively light. that left me so flabbergasted I paused the show came back a day later cuz I needed 24 hrs to process that level of ridiculousness.
The only thing that bothered me more than the makeup, in fact, pmo to no end was the misogynistic trap called ye bingchan AND tian huan(dont get me started on this trifling b). Tbh, unfortunately I did not realize this was a misogynistic trap until I read the reviews for this show after deciding to drop it. No one has made my blood boil to such a dangerous degree. No cuz why was everyone dying BUT her. All the episodes during and after the dream had me praying on her downfall.
Anyway, bai lu ate up even though li susu was barely a character and rly just an idea of a fully fleshed out character. Luo yunxi ate up too even though he rly isn't my cup of tea. Deng wei... you r what I imagine an iphone face to look like(coming from someone who disagrees with the 'iphone face' rhetoric) but xiao lin was a cool character. PIAN RAN I LOVE YOU💕
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The ultimate married couple
GURLL Im not lying when I say zhang linghe was MADE to yearn. I saw SKP and the best thing before watching this(can u tell im obsessed with linghe), and I can confidently say pei wenxuan was the biggest simp. No cuz wdym she had you assassinated in your last life and the first thing you wanna do when you wake up is see her again😍I watched this show with no background info just knew my favorite actors jinmai and linhge were in it so I HAD to watch. Also this would mark my second historical cdrama and boy am i impressed. I usually stick with modern dramas because I'm not a huge fan of palace politics or being reminded women have little to no rights. However, I quite enjoyed our powerful, intelligent, gorgeous Grand Princess Li Rong. I loved how she stood on business and got shxt done while still being compassionate and forgiving. Watching her learn to accept wenxuan's love despite all the backstabbing and betrayals she's witnessed by the people around her was so beautiful. And rarely ever do I get to see a richer more powerful woman in historical romance dramas heck in the romance genre period.
That's only one reason out of a trillion that makes me LOVE this drama. The other being zhang linghe as pei wenxuan cuz YES SIR!! omg when the scene in the rain happened I was very genuinely screaming. Best scene in the entire show, cinematic truly. Storming out in the rain, running back just to yell at her "I love and I lost li rong"😭 i freaking love them so much
Their relationship is so refreshing to see play out on screen. You can tell their a married couple when their constantly bickering, but also looking out for each other(as allies, enemies, or lovers). They know each other and accept each other even when they believe they other to be in love with someone else. I really enjoyed watching their story unravel. They truly just complimented each other so well in this drama. Jinmai delivers an amazing performance as always, and linghe is proving to be the hottest man in cdramaland who can act the boots house DOWN(that rhymed didn't it)
But it wasn't only them making this show so good. The side characters and their actors really held it down. From the crown prince and his girl finding each other in a new life, to my favorite shangrong couple or HuaYa if you will(making ts up on the spot) the supporting cast really did their thing. We have yet to bring up Mr. Rongqing, heyu step on to the podium...
Ngl did not rly pay much attention to rongqing's character in the first half of the show despite him being a prominent character cuz I rly just saw him as the second male lead stopping my ship from sailing. But once SRQ dialed up the evil, something snapped with heyu. For some reason he just become hotter to me even though his character was being such a nuisance in the story. Anyway much of the girlies where saying that his character was getting to much screentime and was overshadowing linghe as if that is even possible), uhm idk...to each their own ig cuz for me I barely noticed him until he became so much more aggressive in wanting things to go his way.
The only thing that gets me with this show and with many a cdramas is were there's a lot of episodes, there's just a lot of plot that complicates things, confuses me, and lowkey makes me lose interest a bit, but ig that's something I'm gonna have to get used to. A lot of episodes means a lot of stuff will go down before the story reaches its happy ever after. Anyway, highly recommend, the storyline is so entertaining, the actors ate, and the plot didn't make me want to throw my device into a brick wall(just slam it shut with a bit of force).
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A masterpiece that tugs at your heartstrings and never lets go
This is the best drama of 2025 and top 5 kdramas for me. I was laughing one second, swooning the next, and crying the rest of the time. Maybe it's cuz I'm an immigrant's daughter that I related so much to the parents sacrifice for their children and their kids feeling the need to pay them back tenfold for all their sacrifices but these characters where just so well-written there is no possible way you can't feel for them. Every relationship in this show is executed perfectly and the character arcs r so satisfying(even captain a**hole got a good arc). Another great thing about this show is how smoothly it traverses through timelines. The past is just as relevant as the present; the parallels drawn leave me speechless at times.Ae sun and gwang sik's love affair alone had me wanting to give this show an Emmy. like wdym this man swam through an ocean for her. Park bogum plays this role excellently expressing how desperately and pathetically in love he is with ae sun. Selling her cabbages for her(cuz she's too shy and prideful to do it herself), reciting nostalgia because even though he can't give her everything he will memorize her favorite poem. Everything makes me just wanna cry cuz no man could ever love me this much.
The best character award has to go to Ae sun. The life she has LIVED. Living in a house she wasn't wanted, becoming so ambitious and prideful in respect for how her mother raised her, choosing love, experiencing loss, trading an old dream for her new one, loving her family so fiercely. If I continue I fear I will never stop.
The writers were in the room cooking with geum myong. What a complex yet transparent character. She is who she is because of how much her parents loved her. Her entire relationship with lee jun yeong's character(yeong beom) was executed so perfectly it gave me goosebumps. They were giving her parents love story a run for their money. Also bug props to IU for her representation of both characters in this one. She was the anchor in this show, a physical representation of the past and present. The way IU expresses her emotions is is satisfying. If she deserves to win all the awards for this.
Anyway watch the show. no actually watch the show cuz this changed my brain chemistry in irreversible ways and you need to experience the magic I witnessed. This is a straight MASTERPIECE
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