Warren Moore

Half-way through the show the character's personalities become unrecognisable.

My Boss

Genre: Romance, Legal
Episodes: 36
Streamed on: Viki

Plot Summary:

Cheng Yao is sick of the misogynistic legal partners she has had to deal with until now and prompted by serendipity, leaves her job for her dream firm. Qian Heng has stress induced insomnia and thinks that returning to his old apartment will help him sleep. Turns out the apartment has been rented out to both of our protagonists and we’ve entered the forced shared living trope. The cherry on top is that he ends up being her boss at the new law firm.

Characters & Cast:

Main Characters:

Chen Xiao Yun ⇒ Cheng Xi
Li Jun Xian ⇒ Wu Jun
Zhang Ruo Nan ⇒ Cheng Yao
Cheng Xing Xu ⇒ Qian Heng

Best of OST:

I might revisit this, the show probably left me with such a bad taste that even the OST seems meh, but I didn’t find any track particularly amazing.
https://youtu.be/t_rPqffmEm0?si=GnpbUwj01Gk16zYn

Gripes:

Okay, I thoroughly enjoyed this show, up until they ended up in a relationship. At that point I found that the characters turned into completely different people. The cute bubbly FL turned in a block of stone. Ultimately, I feel like yes, the ML needed some reckoning for his past behaviour. But they took it too far. I’m just going to say it, feminism came into the second half of this drama and ruined it.

Re-watch:

Would I watch it again?
No, this had so much potential. It could have been the What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim of Cdrama, but it dropped the ball.

Would I watch it with my brother?
Definitely not his style of drama, but I wouldn’t recommend it even if we added dragons.

Would I watch it with my kid?
Maybe, to scare her off relationships and get her to be more career driven.

Final Thoughts:

This drama was so cute in the first half, got angsty and feminist in the second, and got almost unwatchable towards the end. I’m more disappointed than if this had just been a bad drama to begin with. I feel catfished. Even though this drama has a happy ending for our couple, even that is tainted with the ick of feminism gone too far.

Rating:

5.5/10

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The amnesia cake is a lie!

Please Feel At Ease Mr. Ling

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Episode Count: 24
Streamed on: Viki

Main Characters:

Zhao Lu Si as Gu An Xin
Liu Te as Mr. Ling

Plot Summary:

An Xin accidentally runs over Mr. Ling one stormy night, and both because he seems to have lost his memories, and also because she can’t afford to cover his hospital bill, she decides to take him home an care for him until he recovers.
As the pair grow closer, a convoluted chain of events conspire to keep the pair apart.

Characters & Cast:

Gu An Xin: Our female lead is a thrifty ex-adopted child of a rich tycoon. She aspires to be a webcomic artist, while doing odd jobs to survive.

Mr. Ling: Our male lead is also adopted, and also to a rich tycoon. He is incredibly smart and successful, and also overly paranoid about threats to his life… ok maybe justifiably paranoid.

There are other characters; The hot female bodyguard. The doctor friend. The third-wheel love rival that wont take no for an answer. The incestuous brother. Too many to mention, and not really worth mentioning in depth.

Best of the OST:

One of my favourite things is when the lead actor/actress puts a track on the ost.
https://youtu.be/N8GT2q7XNCo?si=X9IvwDSx3WHGQyLp

And I find this track has a haunting beauty to it
https://youtu.be/6Jt2f29R_D0?si=YgJ1nLROEU1s148I

All in all, it’s quite a chill OST for such a crazy plot.
https://youtu.be/WeDBJt-Upwk?si=k2M-n8hE4U6FgxmE

Pacing & Flow:

The romance progresses at a nice pace. The rest of the story…WHIPLASH

Final Thoughts:

I love love. So I was here for the romance. I’m also very forgiving of a lot of content. So I would say I enjoyed this enough to say I got what I was looking for. (Plus Zhao Lusi is pretty 😊)

That being said, unless you’re a fan of Zhao Lusi, or maybe really like crazy convoluted plot-lines and plot-holes big enough to drive a bus through, I wouldn’t really recommend this drama.

Rating:

4.5/10

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I wanted a little more...

You Are My Hero

Streamed on: Viki

Plot Summary:

Years after a heist thwarted by a SWAT agent, a victim (a doctor) meets the SWAT agent again. In her mind the person who saved her and the person in front of her are polar opposites, and they she doesn’t recognise him for quite a while, in his eyes, this is the girl of his dreams. Medical and criminal shenanigans ensue.

Best of OST:

This duet is really nice

https://youtu.be/jTDkohYOo1A?si=ov2wFPO-uMcCAXM4

The OST was ok, with only one track that stood out to me.

https://youtu.be/vy3NtAkjiLI?si=roaDopN8f2A0b0tX

Gripes:

I might be the minority in this one, but I didn’t really feel the chemistry between the main leads. I’d buy them as friends, but not so much as lovers. There were a few too many flashbacks. And the second couples ML needed to be killed off early in the show. I’ve never seen a more frustrating character (That statement is hyperbole). It might not be the drama’s fault. I came looking for something similar to “Fireworks of My Heart” and this wasn’t it.

Re-watch:
Would I watch it again?
Not by myself. There’s better dramas in my opinion that would scratch the itch.

Would I watch it with my brother?
Nah, he’d get bored.

Would I watch it with my kid?
I might watch it with my kid, but I don’t know if she’d make it through 40 episodes.

Final Thoughts:

The drama was ok. The chemistry between the leads could have been better, the romance didn’t romance enough and the drama elsewhere didn’t feel intense enough. But it wasn’t a stressful watch and it had a happy ending. I’m not angry I watched it.

Rating:

6.6/10

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Squee

Hidden Love

Genre: Romance
Episodes: 25
Streamed on: Netflix

Plot Summary:

From middle-school admiration, to high school first love, to college romance and true love, Hidden Love tells the story of a girl that falls in love with someone 5 years older than her and waiting until the time is right, and he falls for her, to realise that love.

Characters & Cast:
Chen Zhe Yuan ⇒ Duan Jia Xu

Zhao Lu Si ⇒ Sang Zhi

Best of OST:

I mean, what a bop! Not mention FL singing. Grade A playlist bait.
https://youtu.be/ZOavfADzOto?si=QA4XEba5k7qUJ0k5

And the FL strikes again!
https://youtu.be/w9u9JjXZLCc?si=-abbFgRHBzSbOQUf

Ugh, this track is so good!
https://youtu.be/Ays2i9p6vL8?si=CwFNPQpCyX9q2Z_k

I though about leaving this song off of the list, then I was dancing to it and thought again!
https://youtu.be/5kgqFqvGBYY?si=2z1sEy8VzSwFUK_a

I already feel my blood pressure dropping and peace returning to the force when I play this… and I don’t even like star wars…
https://youtu.be/-bmzHdkcTJ4?si=g_pA7E8Q6XKpQYkt

Overall this OST was a masterpiece that didn’t miss. It set the tone so well.
https://youtu.be/4eUlNiuyQUE?si=ZjXDnzvbjXKQsLMo

Gripes:

I don’t have any gripes with this drama. Everything kind of made sense, even the conflicts were reasonable. I wish it were longer and we could spend more time with them as a couple.

Re-watch:

Would I watch it again?
Yes. It’s so good. I'm re-watching it now... with the First Frost

Would I watch it with my brother?
No, I don’t think he’d let me make him watch it.

Would I watch it with my kid?
Yes. I’d have to wait some years. Or do it soon. It might be pushing it. I don’t want to encourage the age gap romance with my kid… but also I think it deals with some interesting topics to discuss with her… Also it’d be nice to watch this again 😂

Final Thoughts:

What a lovely story. I love love. I love this drama. From the cast to the OST this drama was near perfection.

Rating:

9.7/10

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People lose their s!@# over girl who plays video games...

Falling Into Your Smile

Genre: Romcom, Gaming

Episodes: 31

Streamed on: Netflix

Plot Summary:

A girl plays video games. Girl is pretty good at video games. Good enough to join an esports team. Everyone loses their shit for about 30 episodes because a girl is playing video games. There’s also shared living and romance plot in there too.

Characters & Cast:

Main Characters:

Cheng Xiao ⇒ Tong Yao
Xu Kai ⇒ Lu Si Cheng
Zhou Yi Ran ⇒ Ai Jia
Rachel Wang ⇒ Chen Ji Yang

Best Of OST:

The OST seemed a bit meh, but it did it’s job trying to hype up during the times of tension and evoke emotion at the appropriate times, it’s just that nothing was particularly outstanding…

https://youtu.be/KhtaaH6-R8M?si=aoEWC4ozloCmFK5M

Gripes:

Netizens. They Suck. Also, I get "don't be a sleezy piece of shit", but I don’t understand feeling responsibility to fans… I guess I never will. Given that they kind of realise the short life span of an esports career, I think that they should have encouraged finishing school first.

Re-watch:

Would I watch it again?
Nah, not for me.

Would I watch it with my brother?
Nah, not for him

Would I watch it with my kid?
Hell no. I don’t care how much they romanticised it, I don’t think playing video games competitively is a healthy thing.

Final Thoughts:

Here’s the thing… I’m not that into video games. But I feel like the drama You Are My Glory did this theme so much better than this. I guess I think that it’s hard to revolve a story around competitive gaming and keep my attention. Maybe cut the gaming down and make it a 20-24 episode drama.

Rating:

6/10

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I... I don't get it...

Love O2O

Genre: Romance, Gaming
Episodes: 30
Streamed on: Netflix

Plot Summary:

Boy and Girl are good gamers. Boy and Girl are both popular. Boy meets girl, and decides he wants her, basically gets her in a couple of seconds. I guess the plot revolves around how other people can’t mind their own business? I don’t know what I watched…

Characters & Cast:

Yang Yang ⇒ Xiao Nai
Zheng Shuang ⇒ Bei Wei Wei

Best of OST:

There was an OST…
https://youtu.be/PpRM1t-FD2o?si=dKQr_pJhtJ59vILE

Gripes:

It was hard to come up with a take away for this movie. People need to mind their own business. I don’t know. I felt like there was no real struggles for the couple to overcome. The ML just solved issues as they arose. It felt like watching one of those isekai anime where the protagonist is way to OP, and so, you lose interest in the show pretty quick. Boring. I guess I’m trying to say that my main gripe with the show was that I was bored.

Re-watch:

Would I watch it again?
Nope

Would I watch it with my brother?
Nope

Would I watch it with my kid?
Nope

Final Thoughts:

It can’t possibly be the case that everyone is in other peoples business that much. I feel like this has to be exaggerated. I mean—people have their own shit to deal with. Also, I get product placement but nobody’s gaming on laptops like that. What didn’t frustrate me about this drama bored me. Maybe the movie version does a better job.

Rating:
5.5/10

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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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An unlikely couple meet uncanny circumstances

Put Your Head On My Shoulder

Genre: RomCom, Coming of Age, Slice of Life

Episode Count: 24

Streamed on: Netflix

Plot Summary:

Situ Mo is an artsy college girl, and Gu Weiyi is a extremely intelligent science major. As the two near the end of their college careers, uncanny circumstances end up forcing the pair together.

Characters & Cast:

Situ Mo is on the verge of completing her college degree as a finance major, but has always wanted to try advertising. In an unrequited love for many years, she is finally starting to wise up to his antics and become independent… until along comes…

Gu Weiyi is an extremely intelligent, independent, and anti-social science major. All he wants is to do his research and experiments and live life doing what makes him happy, until one day he meets Situ Mo, and suddenly, there’s one more thing that makes him happy.

Best of the OST

There’s this little diddy…
https://youtu.be/wsG_mpjIU-g?si=79W7isGqr0CLjBh1

This get’s stuck in your head too…
https://youtu.be/LDig9z8mMZc?si=YdjKiSfmJQD8jbBw

Aside from these two catchy tunes, I didn’t find the OST to be particularly amazing, but it suited the drama well enough.
https://youtu.be/1_P23XRh-DY?si=Da3cRZ_RIlU6LV_Q

Review:

Put your head on my shoulder was written well enough for what it was. Coming of age romances aren’t really my thing. It might be because I’ve aged out of them, mostly it’s because I don’t think love will work out if you haven’t established yourself and the couples are two young.

There was a lot of instances where the ladies treated the men in really crappy ways, but instead of consequences, or apologies, it’s left to the men to come crawling back. This didn’t really sit well with me, maybe I’m the problem, maybe it was supposed to be humorous. Instead it came off as misandry from the writers.

Mostly the drama is about coming of age, navigating relationships, and finding and doing what you love, rather than living for your parents. And, while it takes a little too long to get there, the dramas conveys its messages well.

The drama is well paced, falling short only in a couple of areas. It takes a little too long for the relationship to get started. The only other issue is the time skip, which is a trope that needs to be put away. The writers need a new trick.

Final Thoughts:

This is a fluffy, low stress romcom that deals with issues of first love, first relationships, and navigating the hurdles that comes with those situations. It’s an opposites attract romance that you can turn your brain off to an enjoy.
If you enjoy college romance, female empowerment, and light fluffy romances, this drama is probably worth a watch.

Rating:

6.4/10

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Nanananananana na Bunny Girl!

Streamed on: Viki

Plot Summary:

Apparently based off a video games, our story takes place on a magical continent where people gain powers from defeating and absorbing powerful spirits. The main character is born with the rare gift of 2 spirits, and after meeting a bunny girl…

https://youtu.be/eQndIPCv4Z0?si=2bk4hWCj7eDFh7Wd

Sets out on a journey to get stronger and learn about his mysterious origins, finding friends and maybe love along the way.

Best of the OST:

There aren’t any stand out tracks for me on this OST. That said, there isn’t anything I would say was particularly terrible either.

https://youtu.be/74aCcIL7P5A?si=Jswgxe9SZYV4YZzI

Re-watch:

Would I watch it again?
Probably not, I’m not a multiple season re-watcher.

Would I watch it with my brother?
Yeah, I watched it with my brother, his notes was he needed a break between the actor changes in the second season.

Would I watch it with my kid?
At this stage in her life, I find it hard to be in the same room as my kid. All she wants is social media. I think if she gave it a chance she would like it, but as a moody 12 year old I don’t think it’s happening.

Final Thoughts:

I’m going to leave my final thoughts pending on this one. It was ok, but it was just the first season, and I believe I should take it as a whole experience.

Rating:

6.6/10

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The unofficial sequel to Love Game In Eastern Fantasy

Plot Summary:

Chu Li is a finance major that somehow shifty’s her way into becoming a book editor, Zhou Chan is an author. Actually they’re online friends that have developed crushes on each other but neither of them knows the others identity at first and they butt heads constantly. Shenanigans abound.

The Second leads for me is actually the better relationship to follow. But they don’t get the screen time for it to feel satisfying. Which is fair since it’s not really their story.

Esther Yu, as Chu Li is an adorable well meaning and competent book editor. Ding Yu Xi, as Zhou Chuan is an arrogant, proud and dumber than his success would lead you to believe author.

Best of OST:

Esther Yu on the OST. Cute… 😍
https://youtu.be/4thQ92s26BU?si=IGNrJmEEiEkV_7Fc

Overall, this drama doesn’t really have a comprehensive OST, relying a lot on the above track. But it gets the job done.
https://youtu.be/dghP0XCF8eI?si=YF2Rj5uYXcDSV6SY

Gripes:

The pacing is a bit slow, I would have liked to have spent more time with the relationships, but the story got bogged in the minutia of the publishing industry, which I guess is exactly what they were going for.

Re-watch:

Would I watch it again?
Yeah, it’s cute enough, but I’d probably be skipping through a lot of it.

Would I watch it with my brother?
I might be able to convince him to watch it as a sequel to “Love Game In Eastern Fantasy”, but this is exactly the type of show he avoids watching.

Would I watch it with my kid?
I think when my daughter get’s older, I’d like to watch it with her, if only for showing her that this is a possible career path.

Final Thoughts:

The drama was cute, the romance was satisfying, but the publishing industry remains kinda boring.

Rating:

7.6/10

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A really fun romcom...

Plot Summary + Gripes + Final Thoughts

Once we get married was a really fun romcom. The story started off with a thoroughly unlikeable male lead really abusing his power and money to take advantage of a naive girl. So originally I didn’t really feel the rom part of the romcom at first.

The many hilarious clashes between the two keep you going until you start to see the male leads character slowly change due to the female leads influence. And once their romance begins, all starts to feel right with the world.

I’m glad that the story didn’t spend too much time placing the family at the centre of the drama. It feels like they were there to drive certain elements of the plot forward and then the ones that remained were supportive.

The second couple was really fun too, though I’ve never understood the whole “fear of marriage because my parents marriage didn’t work out” thing.

The love rivals were super annoying, so I guess they played their part well. The Yandere female rival should have faced some consequences, it left a sour taste. And the Childhood friend love rival stayed around for far too long, like dude, know when to let go… maybe, you know, after finding out she was already married.

There was plenty of steamy chemistry between the leads once the ship finally did sail, and most importantly (for me) we get a happy ending.

Best of OST:

The track that stuck out to me the most on the OST was…
https://youtu.be/hlu1inKjH9E?si=s2SaKQ0JVzHJCoud
Probably because it was always played in the happy moments and cemented the good mood.

Overall the OST wasn’t standout, but wasn’t by any means bad. It cohesively married the show.
https://youtu.be/82riujykma8?si=xuDgo143fw6ex1PE

Rating:

7.6 / 10

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A nice comfort drama...

Plot Summary:

Jing Jing is a celebrity that finds herself needing to prove that she is competent in the video game that she endorses. She finds someone to tutor her, who turns out to be her first love. From video-games, to acting sets in the middle of the desert, to launching rockets into space. This pair will help each other and find true love.

Best of the OST:

This track pretty much carries the OST for the entire drama:
Fireworks of Stars -- Performed by Liu Yuning
https://youtu.be/5TZmZ8h0QU4?si=zMqGrhe5IyZUuSHt

The OST isn’t comprehensive, and doesn’t quite hit greatness, but it goes along lovely with the drama.

Gripes:

Okay, so the premise of this show is wild. If I see that a famous person likes the video game I like, it doesn’t matter how good they are at it. Netizens suck.
Also at some point, the plot went from this video game thing to an advertisement for the Chinese space agency. Luckily they cover a lot of it up with cheesy romance.

Re-watch:

Would I watch it again?
This is a nice comfort drama. There’s a little bit of angst in the middle but I can rush through that on a re-watch.

Would I watch it with my brother?
I could try to convince him, but I think as soon as that gaming part is over, he would be done with it.

Would I watch it with my kid?
I think this would be a good drama to watch with my daughter.

Final Thoughts:

If you can look past the extreme Chinese nationalism (fair enough, it’s a C-drama), the crazy premise of the need for the couple to meet each other, and the nothing-burger argument that made no sense in the middle, the rest of this drama is absolutely delightful. A warm and fuzzy romance that keeps you wanting more.

My Rating:

8.2/10

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