After watching Ep 2: it’s a disappointing start, tbh. Can’t believe I’m not enjoying it. I’ve to be honest with myself—even with Park Seo-joon and Won Ji-an there, their performances feel really poor. The character understanding is weak—especially Park Seo-joon as young Lee Gyeong-do. He literally messed it up: feels fake, doesn’t look like a teen at all, and the portrayal comes off forced. The supporting cast adds no value in these two episodes. The screenplay is weak too—no natural flow of scenes to hold you in. Everything feels rushed: their encounter, the way the bond develops—it’s unintentionally funny and very unnatural. It’s like “go by this, go by that,” with zero connection between the leads. That’s all I can think of right now. Toward the end of Ep 2, it did generate a bit of curiosity/conflict, which gave me a small push to continue. Okay, that’s it for now.
After finishing Episode 18: it’s kind of funny how the drama feels like it’s walking a tightrope. At times, it manages to hold my patience and give me something to look forward to; at other moments, it feels slightly absurd. It’s genuinely testing my sense of judgment. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this conflicted about a drama before—I can’t quite tell if I’m enjoying it or just watching it out of habit. But the fact that I’m still following it as it airs probably means I am invested.
That said, the drama does have a solid setup. There’s a good number of characters, and the dynamics between them are interesting and intriguing. The costume design is genuinely impressive, and visually, the show knows how to present itself well. However, the performances remain the weakest link. They’re not very promising so far and lack the depth needed to elevate the material. Another major drawback is the staging—most of the scenes play out in the same setting. The lack of two or three different narrative environments makes the screenplay feel static, and the unchanging atmosphere eventually becomes boring. This is where stronger performances could have compensated, but unfortunately, they don’t. The actors really need to step up their game.
At this point, I’m skipping quite a few scenes, yet I’m still watching to see where it goes. I’m hoping the upcoming episodes surprise me and change my perspective.
And honestly, part of what’s keeping me going is Rong Shan Bao. I think I’m mesmerised by her presence. Gulnezer Bextiyar is absolutely stunning, and her beauty undeniably adds to the viewing experience. She looks like a dream, so it’s completely justifiable that there’s a line of men ready to marry her 😄.
It’s going really well so far—fun, balanced, and surprisingly restrained with clichés. The performances are strong, the set design is brilliant, and the music fits the mood perfectly. The overall tone and direction feel confident and well-judged. What I’m enjoying the most is the character dynamics and how the relationships are gradually unfolding and shifting in a natural way. Nothing feels rushed or forced at this point. I just hope it doesn’t falter in the middle. For now, I’m genuinely looking forward to each new episode.
Many departments are genuinely top-notch. The story is strong, the characters are established brilliantly, and overall the drama starts on a very solid note. However, the editing severely lets it down—easily one of the poorest I’ve watched in recent times. Two or three episodes could have been easily reduced, and the final episode drags far more than it should. With tighter execution, it could have been made brilliantly, but instead it feels stretched and unfocused.
The VFX is another major drawback. The green-screen work is so poorly done that it becomes unintentionally laughable. Using green screen isn’t the issue—using it carelessly is. In today’s time, budget constraints can’t be used as an excuse for substandard execution. These small technical flaws slowly erase the overall experience.
The performances in the last episode feel noticeably forced. The characters are meant to be in their late 30s, yet neither their appearance nor their behavior reflects that. It doesn’t align with their established characterization—it feels as if the characters haven’t aged at all. The interactions with the child are especially awkward and unnatural, making those scenes feel staged. The episode would have worked much better if it had focused on the supporting cast we’re already familiar with. Instead, several scenes are stretched for five to six minutes simply to fill runtime. The lack of meaningful content becomes obvious, the pacing suffers, and what starts as conversation quickly turns monotonous.
I may sound a little harsh on the drama, but that’s largely because of the experience in the latter episodes, which pulled the rating down for me. A drama needs to start strong, hold its ground in the middle, and end on a powerful note that stays with you. Unfortunately, this one fails at the end. The last couple of episodes go totally flat— underwhelming. The final episode, in particular, disappointed me in almost every aspect.
That said, I did enjoy the drama, especially in the earlier episodes. It just didn’t meet the standard or potential I had hoped for, particularly considering how promising the beginning was. Rating: 7/10
A bad editor can make even a brilliantly made drama feel confusing at times, and Shine on Me unfortunately suffers from exactly that problem. The editing is noticeably weak. Scene transitions are poorly handled, and the flow between scenes often feels abrupt and disjointed, making it difficult to stay immersed in the story.
An editor’s job is to merge scenes within an episode so seamlessly that it feels like a continuous flow—like a calm sea where the beginning and end are almost indistinguishable. Sadly, this drama fails to achieve that.
One particularly baffling example is the text-messaging scene between Lin Yu Sen and Nie Xi Guang. Yu Sen is shown sitting in a car with his mother during the daytime, while Nie Xi Guang is simultaneously shown at night, taking photos of snow sculptures made in her likeness and live-texting him—with Yu Sen actively replying. Both characters are in the same country and interacting in real time, so how can such a basic continuity error make it into the final cut? This mistake falls squarely on the editor and the creative team. Including such a sequence shows a serious lack of attention to continuity and clarity in editing.
The production quality also feels compromised in several scenes. The background VFX in the group photo looks poorly done, and the skiing scenes are not up to the expected standard of direction. These may seem like small shortcomings, but together they do affect the viewing experience.
That said, this is just one aspect of the drama and has nothing to do with its overall quality. The writing is brilliant, and the performances are absolutely top-notch. As I’ve mentioned before, in 2025 this ranks among my top three Chinese modern dramas, alongside The Best Things and The First Frost.
Interestingly, I tend to become more critical after watching the episodes rather than during them. While watching, the drama draws you in effortlessly—and perhaps that’s the trick: don’t overanalyze while viewing if you want to fully enjoy the experience. I’m definitely looking forward to the upcoming episodes.
The drama is painfully slow. At times, it feels as if the screenwriter was half asleep while writing—or perhaps relied too heavily on AI. The performances are mostly average; no actor truly stands out as exceptional. That said, the costume design is absolutely stunning, and the music and cinematography are excellent, successfully immersing the viewer in the world of the drama. These elements are easily its strongest points. By Episodes 12, the story finally begins to pick up, which gives me some hope that it will continue in this direction. However, the plot device of the lead forgot his identity it needs to evolve and the behavior is completely out of character, this's frustrating. Even with memory loss, a person’s core personality shouldn’t change so drastically—this feels like a major loophole in the writing. Despite its many shortcomings, the drama is still quite enjoyable overall. I just wish the screenplay were sharper and the plot more engaging, with better pacing and stronger narrative choices.
After watching Episode 17: It's getting better and better, I think some genius mind wrote the dialogues and humor…
God promise, I didn’t know The Best Thing’s screenwriter & love o2o Screenwriter wrote the screenplay for this show. After posting my first comment, I was checking the cast and crew’s work and found out about it. This is crazy.
After watching Episode 17: It's getting better and better, I think some genius mind wrote the dialogues and humor of this show. All the nuances and subtleness needed for a family gathering are there — the conversations between cousins and close relatives are 100% on point. And the way the lead conversations are written, directed, and performed is an absolute joy to watch; it’s really top-notch in every department. It’s a slow burner with a semi-realistic touch, and I’m loving the way conversations are brought out by the actors. They’re looking sharp and truly shining in their characters. Yes, there is very little screen time for the supporting cast, but the way their characterization is handled, you never detach from them. In any situation, you instantly connect with them — that’s the genuineness of it. The way the supporting cast is written and played, it could honestly make another series on its own. The screenplay moves so smoothly that I have to give all the credit to the showrunner. What a fantastic show you’ve made. After The Best Thing, I think it’ll take the second place on my C-drama list of 2025.
The film’s bold attempt to intertwine existential AI questions with apocalyptic stakes falters in execution, resulting in a directionless narrative scattered with conceptual loopholes that undermine its thematic impact. In simple A high-conceptualized thought gone directionless in execution and riddled with loopholes.
I think I loved it… I don’t really know. My mood hasn’t been that great, so I think I ended up enjoying the cliché stuff more than I usually would. I’ll admit I’m a little biased because it has Ahn Eun-jin, whose performance I absolutely love. If I think about it critically, there are definitely a lot of loopholes and the ending felt rushed. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that, to be honest. But one thing I do know is that I found it quite enjoyable overall. And that laugh of Kong Ji-hyeok, with all the subtle facial nuances he adds, is absolutely hilarious.. It genuinely made the character more charming. Also, the end credit roll was surprisingly good, with a creative touch that I really appreciated. All in all, despite its flaws, it was an enjoyable watch. Good job.
The supporting cast adds no value in these two episodes. The screenplay is weak too—no natural flow of scenes to hold you in. Everything feels rushed: their encounter, the way the bond develops—it’s unintentionally funny and very unnatural. It’s like “go by this, go by that,” with zero connection between the leads.
That’s all I can think of right now. Toward the end of Ep 2, it did generate a bit of curiosity/conflict, which gave me a small push to continue. Okay, that’s it for now.
That said, the drama does have a solid setup. There’s a good number of characters, and the dynamics between them are interesting and intriguing. The costume design is genuinely impressive, and visually, the show knows how to present itself well.
However, the performances remain the weakest link. They’re not very promising so far and lack the depth needed to elevate the material. Another major drawback is the staging—most of the scenes play out in the same setting. The lack of two or three different narrative environments makes the screenplay feel static, and the unchanging atmosphere eventually becomes boring. This is where stronger performances could have compensated, but unfortunately, they don’t. The actors really need to step up their game.
At this point, I’m skipping quite a few scenes, yet I’m still watching to see where it goes. I’m hoping the upcoming episodes surprise me and change my perspective.
And honestly, part of what’s keeping me going is Rong Shan Bao. I think I’m mesmerised by her presence. Gulnezer Bextiyar is absolutely stunning, and her beauty undeniably adds to the viewing experience. She looks like a dream, so it’s completely justifiable that there’s a line of men ready to marry her 😄.
What I’m enjoying the most is the character dynamics and how the relationships are gradually unfolding and shifting in a natural way. Nothing feels rushed or forced at this point. I just hope it doesn’t falter in the middle.
For now, I’m genuinely looking forward to each new episode.
The VFX is another major drawback. The green-screen work is so poorly done that it becomes unintentionally laughable. Using green screen isn’t the issue—using it carelessly is. In today’s time, budget constraints can’t be used as an excuse for substandard execution. These small technical flaws slowly erase the overall experience.
The performances in the last episode feel noticeably forced. The characters are meant to be in their late 30s, yet neither their appearance nor their behavior reflects that. It doesn’t align with their established characterization—it feels as if the characters haven’t aged at all. The interactions with the child are especially awkward and unnatural, making those scenes feel staged.
The episode would have worked much better if it had focused on the supporting cast we’re already familiar with. Instead, several scenes are stretched for five to six minutes simply to fill runtime. The lack of meaningful content becomes obvious, the pacing suffers, and what starts as conversation quickly turns monotonous.
I may sound a little harsh on the drama, but that’s largely because of the experience in the latter episodes, which pulled the rating down for me. A drama needs to start strong, hold its ground in the middle, and end on a powerful note that stays with you. Unfortunately, this one fails at the end. The last couple of episodes go totally flat— underwhelming. The final episode, in particular, disappointed me in almost every aspect.
That said, I did enjoy the drama, especially in the earlier episodes. It just didn’t meet the standard or potential I had hoped for, particularly considering how promising the beginning was.
Rating: 7/10
An editor’s job is to merge scenes within an episode so seamlessly that it feels like a continuous flow—like a calm sea where the beginning and end are almost indistinguishable. Sadly, this drama fails to achieve that.
One particularly baffling example is the text-messaging scene between Lin Yu Sen and Nie Xi Guang. Yu Sen is shown sitting in a car with his mother during the daytime, while Nie Xi Guang is simultaneously shown at night, taking photos of snow sculptures made in her likeness and live-texting him—with Yu Sen actively replying. Both characters are in the same country and interacting in real time, so how can such a basic continuity error make it into the final cut? This mistake falls squarely on the editor and the creative team. Including such a sequence shows a serious lack of attention to continuity and clarity in editing.
The production quality also feels compromised in several scenes. The background VFX in the group photo looks poorly done, and the skiing scenes are not up to the expected standard of direction. These may seem like small shortcomings, but together they do affect the viewing experience.
That said, this is just one aspect of the drama and has nothing to do with its overall quality. The writing is brilliant, and the performances are absolutely top-notch. As I’ve mentioned before, in 2025 this ranks among my top three Chinese modern dramas, alongside The Best Things and The First Frost.
Interestingly, I tend to become more critical after watching the episodes rather than during them. While watching, the drama draws you in effortlessly—and perhaps that’s the trick: don’t overanalyze while viewing if you want to fully enjoy the experience. I’m definitely looking forward to the upcoming episodes.
That said, the costume design is absolutely stunning, and the music and cinematography are excellent, successfully immersing the viewer in the world of the drama. These elements are easily its strongest points.
By Episodes 12, the story finally begins to pick up, which gives me some hope that it will continue in this direction. However, the plot device of the lead forgot his identity it needs to evolve and the behavior is completely out of character, this's frustrating. Even with memory loss, a person’s core personality shouldn’t change so drastically—this feels like a major loophole in the writing.
Despite its many shortcomings, the drama is still quite enjoyable overall. I just wish the screenplay were sharper and the plot more engaging, with better pacing and stronger narrative choices.
It’s a slow burner with a semi-realistic touch, and I’m loving the way conversations are brought out by the actors. They’re looking sharp and truly shining in their characters. Yes, there is very little screen time for the supporting cast, but the way their characterization is handled, you never detach from them. In any situation, you instantly connect with them — that’s the genuineness of it.
The way the supporting cast is written and played, it could honestly make another series on its own. The screenplay moves so smoothly that I have to give all the credit to the showrunner. What a fantastic show you’ve made.
After The Best Thing, I think it’ll take the second place on my C-drama list of 2025.
If I think about it critically, there are definitely a lot of loopholes and the ending felt rushed. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that, to be honest. But one thing I do know is that I found it quite enjoyable overall.
And that laugh of Kong Ji-hyeok, with all the subtle facial nuances he adds, is absolutely hilarious.. It genuinely made the character more charming. Also, the end credit roll was surprisingly good, with a creative touch that I really appreciated.
All in all, despite its flaws, it was an enjoyable watch. Good job.