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No sword bites so fiercely as an evil tongue

A drama that surpassed my initial thoughts and let me adventure on the story a lot more than I expected. It has also been the first time I've enjoyed a wuxia drama so much after so many years, so this drama will hold a special place in my heart.

The story is more than what is shown. The difference between Li Xiangyi & Li Lianhua is also very big. Xiangyi was someone who wanted to help everyone, save them & being centered to only one thing, the martial world. He gave his all to be the best & find his senior's remaining's, only to later on to find that the senior hated him.
As for Lianhua, he is someone who learned more about the world, other than only martial, he learned how to cook, take care of his Lotus Tower, his dog, and also be free, not restricted by any laws, travel the world as he wanted. He had the ability to do everything he wanted to, he wasn't constrained anymore & not seen anymore as the first martial artist in martial world. He was just Li Lianhua, a simple human with the thought to do whatever he wants before dying by the poison. He as well made a friend, his first true friend, FDB. He was able to do everything he wanted to do.

As for the other characters in MLC, they were well written and really well portrayed by the actors & actresses. The biggest shock of the drama was that Lianhua's senior, Shan Gudao, was still alive and that he wanted to control the world. Shan Gudao hated Lianhua because he was never praised by their master & thought that Lianhua never cared about him, but that was never the case. It was really sad to see his senior go against him, but at the same time it was nice to see Lianhu'a revenge towards Gudao for killing his master and doing all those things towards him & the rest.

Also, as someone who hasn't read the novel & doesn't really know if they kept the same storyline, I really enjoyed the story a lot. It was a kind of story that wasn't dragged at all, the cases were really well analyzed which made me to anticipate the next case. Just like said above, I've enjoyed that drama a lot, the fights, the story, the emotions, the characters, the costumes, everything was well portrayed. It was a drama that I have never seen before with interesting plot, and also Cheng Yi made me enjoy the drama more and more.

If you are an enjoyer of costume dramas, resolving cases, non-romance then this one is for you.

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Tea does not judge itself, people judge the tea

As it's said in the chinese title 玉茗茶骨 (Yu Ming Cha Gu), the core of this story is about tea which it's plantations are ran by the family Rong, more exactly Rong Shanbao, but with appearance with Lu Jianglai, played by Hou Minghao, which is also his 1st billing drama, things start to evolve a lot more than expected.

Let me talk about the story first. As said above & since HMH is the billing for this drama, everything will have to involve him. It started really well, more than I actually expected and it was so well build, from his amnesia to him remembering stuff, to getting his title back up to a point where it got ruined by the intervention of YZ director. From episode 26 to 30 (even a bit of 31), that's when it all started to go down a bit 'cause of the changes he made. The Rong family's story should've ended a while ago, but he added extra scenes that made no sense at all and ruined the story by a lot. Later on, it was slowly recovered by the Duke Mansion's story which was really interesting to see the truth behind Lu Jianglai's (LJL) identity, which he has been always knew about, but he didn't care about it at all because, in the end, he never wanted to take part of it. Once he started to love Bao a lot , he gave up everything for her and even before.
His relationship with his brother was something I was looking up forward to a lot, but even tho it was a bit short, I still enjoyed it. In the end, I wish Bao's grandma was more lenient with her and to stop caring about tea plantation that much, but it's whatever it in the end.

As for acting, it was top notch. As a fan of HMH, who has been following him since Cambrian Period, till even this day, I was literally looking forward to every day to watch him act. My favorite scenes with him are totally in the first episode where he was first shown as Lord Lu, a ruthless magistrate, which is later on getting to realize his love for Bao (btw, they've fallen in love since ep1). Also, his scenes as Lu Fusheng we're so good and I'm glad that they didn't drag his amnesia to 15 episodes or so. It was solved pretty fast. During the time he was filming this drama, even tho he was sick, had stomach problems, these stuff weren't seen in the drama at all. You literally couldn't see it on his face when he was acting. So, I am really proud of his acting & especially for all his hard work on this drama, giving his all to get the best scenes.
As for the other actors, especially FL, I didn't really watch a lot of stuff from them, but I was really impressed by everyone who kept working hard and delivered.

Lastly, if you do want to watch Glory, try to look at the trailer first rather than reviews, because everyone has different views on how they "evaluate" it. But if I made you, even for a little bit, to watch it, then I am glad.

P.S.: Even tho I enjoyed it a lot while it was airing (as of 15th Jan 2026) for S-VIP, rewatching value for this would be 8*. I would simply do it only for HMH and the FL, while skipping other parts, especially Shanbao's grandma.

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Love is red... so is blood.

As someone who read the novel and it being one of their favorite novel, I've been excited about the drama since they released the trailer & now since it came out I can finally post my review about it. So let's go!

Love You Seven Times (七时吉祥) is adapted from the novel "Seven Unfortunate Lifetimes All Thanks to a Single Moment of Impulse (一时冲动，七世不祥) written by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang (九鹭非香). Love You Seven Times talks about an immortal God of War, Chu Kong, and Xiangyun who was a cloud, but got turned into a fairy and now she works at Yue Lao Pavilion. Their life intertwines by the red strings of fate by accident and that's when their lifetimes start.

Firstly, the order of their lifetimes were changed but this isn't such a big deal to be honest. Even so, before talking more about it, their 2nd lifetime is one of my favorite because, first even though Xiangyuan didn't liked this lifetime with Chu Kong she started to fall in love with him but she wasn't aware of it. That is why she kept on crying when she saw Chu Kong crying, she couldn't control herself at all. If you read the novel you'd see that her emotions are more deep than what we see in the drama. Second, the 2nd lifetime is the one that kind of marks Xiangyuan, which is really interesting to see for the future episodes.

Letting the novel beside, let's talk a bit about the drama and everything else shown until ep 10. The CGI is so well done, as expected from Stellar Pictures, and since the prod. company is the same one as "Love Between Fairy and Devil", SP, I loved that one scene where they added the OST of LBFAD. It was something that I didn't expected and caught me by surprise and made me remember of the days of LBFAD. An amazing feeling to see the prod. company still including past dramas in the current one's. Talking again about CBI, they are mesmerizing to the point it makes you feel like it might be true. Every effect there is so well done and I'm grateful that we got SP (Stellar Pictures) doing them.

Secondly, is time to talk about the actors. Ding Yunxi & Yang Chaoyue are perfect for their roles. As someone who has been following Ding Yunxi since "The Romance of Tiger and Rose" I knew that he would do a good job in expressing Chu Kong, and he did it. He nailed it. He is perfect for this role and I wouldn't change him to none else. As for Yang Choyue, this is my first drama seeing her as the FL. The only time I saw her was this year as well, during "Fireworks of My Heart" and I told myself that she better get a lead role since in FOMH she was cute & loved her a lot, and here she is. Since the beginning of "Love You Seven Times" she hasn't disappointed me at all and, besides that, I've been impressed a lot more with her acting & especially her crying scenes. She did such a well job and I am ready for tomorrow's new eps to see how she would do since that part is one of my favorite! I could talk hours and hours about their acting but we will stop here since I know these 2 would do such an amazing job.

Thirdly this is about the OST. Been listening A-Lin's OST "哀情記" (Diary of Sorrow/Grief Record) since they released it with the trailer 10months ago and been obsessed with it for quite a while. Once I found out that Faye & Liu Yuning would be singing for LYST, I immediately knew that the OSTs would be good. Sadly, I forgot who are the others who are singing the OST, but from what I heard they are good as well. I just know that Faye wouldn't disappoint us with an OST, neither Liu Yuning. They are just perfect for this drama and it shows. Also, just as Liu Yuning said in the OST ("Until the end of time") "I forgot who I was, it doesn't matter very much, I just want to follow behind you" & "No matter how difficult the road is, we will walk, together; with you by my side, the pain is nothing", they, Xiangyuan & Chu Kong, will face a lot of difficulties especially separation & pain, but since they always end together, side by side, it isn't nothing for them. They will always win in the end, because they had each other.

Lastly, I just want to say to those people who haven't read the novel, and even though you did, I hope you enjoy it because it is one of a kind drama where you could find almost everything you'd love. If you are an enthusiast of xianxia dramas/costume dramas, then this one is perfect for you. Even if you aren't one, this drama could still be found on your watchlist & might even binge-watch it (when it wraps). At the same time, this drama has a lot of angst so prepare your tissues before watching.

Anyways, this is all I had to say from a novel reader's perspective, but at the same time of a drama watcher's perspective. I could go and talk all the way about their other lifetimes & other things that happen in the novel, but I want those people who read these reviews to not get lots of spoilers and, instead, to get a pov of the drama before watching it. Like the title of this review "Love is red... so is blood", it is the best quote that could describe "Love You Seven Times" and the relationship between Xiangyuan and Chu Kong.

EDIT: dropped this series 'cause of some reasons, but for people who read this you still give it a try.

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Love goes through the stomach

As a fan of Tan Jianci, I've been looking forward to this drama since it's poster release but it finally came the day to watch & finish it. Just as the headline suggests, it's more of a drama where they do talk about food rather than the story itself. Even so, in the first 10 episodes the story IT'S THERE, but going onwards they are trapped in their little world where there are no accidents, no problems, just love & happy life.

This is not a bad thing, especially if you like these types of genre where you'd rather enjoy the plot/acting/OST without any issue between the male & female lead. Yes, some of the parts of the story are repetitive, especially after they found out about each other, but it's one of the dramas where you can relax and not make theories. It's simply a fluffy, stress-free and the perfect series to bask yourself in some romance.

Let's talk about acting & clothing. Seeing Jianci with a calming, sweet look & loving eyes gave me a shock. This is because the past roles he had required him to be more serious, to be more expressive and even "act as a bad guy". Even so, I never felt like his acting here was stiff and had non-expressions, but rather it gave me light to see him in a different way and that these types of dramas could suit him as well. Others could call him expressionless, but pretty sure the director wanted him to act in that way and not be as a serious man. As for his outfits, I wish they were more fresh, in the first few episodes and as years passed he would dress more formal and stuff. Speaking of the female lead, Zhou Ye, I've always saw her in movies/dramas that had her act her either sad or as "fluffy" girl. Her acting was nice, no reproval, but her clothing was so bad here. Why did they dress the female lead as a female in her 35+, when she was just in her 20's? She had some good clothing on some of the episodes but as we went further it kept getting bad.

Other than that, "Love Me, Love My Voice", is a drama that you can watch without any problems, be happy through all the episodes. For sure, it could've been better than this, but we take what they give us.

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Together like a compass

A drama that exceeded my expectations. As we usually know, a second season of a series could ruin the emotions, thrill given by first season but, as for me, season 2 of UTS (Under The Skin) made me like the drama even more and look forward to the story they will reveal in season 3.

Plot and story combine themselves really well together. As known already, the plot revolves around "finding" criminals & uncover the truth. But as for acting, it has been one of the aspects that made me shocked.

One of the most important scenes that made me go "WOOOW", scared and at the same time astonished was the episode 20 where they were trying to discover the crime about "Dragon and Phoenix bringing prosperity". He acted his role perfectly. The way his acting expressed multiple emotions throughout his explanations to the criminal. The smile, the laugh, the look, the screaming and especially the creepy smile at the end when he asked the criminal who should he replace the victim with and just said to replace her while looking in the mirror, made me think that he was indeed the criminal. This will be one of the scenes that I won't ever forget.

Besides this, the story & the plot wanted to unfold the friendship between Shen Yi & Du Cheng, and them being able to trust each other. This was possible throughout the end of the story. As said by Shen Yi, they are like a compass, something that cannot be separable from each other.

There is nothing more to say other than that UTS is a drama which made me really invested into it, especially since I'm not a fan of these genres of dramas. Can't wait to see what story they're going to reveal in season 3 since it has been confirmed that there's going to be one.
I really recommend you watching it and I am sure you won't regret it.

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