Good and Bad, Highs and Lows
It's very tropey and contrived.It's not a bad drama, but nothing blends well together, the characterisation for the leads isn't right, and instead of bringing something new or sticking to one story, it tries to do multiple things in one show. There's nothing that feels real or natural in terms of the romance either, and their relationship was rushed (no building friendship or romance), so it didnt feel like it was really going anywhere and I ended up disconnecting from the pairing. I also didn't like that the family issues weren't really dealt with.
What I did like... the lead's mum's relationship, ML's mother's awakening and healing, the mother team and the FL's place in it and relationships within that, and the FL's growth and the positive changes in her life.
I rated as high as I did because of what I did really like, and because there were some VERY good scenes, and some shows don't even have that, even some of the better shows that are consistent.
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This review may contain spoilers
Interesting Start Turned Trashy, then Grew A LOT Better.
I almost gave up on it lots of times, it started strong, but once it went to living as royalty, dynamics changed for the worse, and the aesthetics just felt trashy, especially combined with the theme tune, the awful bad-taste old-fashioned instrumentals and the level of advertisements. It all felt OTT and too camp for a while, and the politics were just boring.From around episode 8 things changed, and the show just got better and better. Pre-ep 8 seemed to be like the getting to know you stage, that was hit or miss, and it just dragged. I stayed so long purely because I'm a ZeeNunew fan. The later on in the show it was, the more natural and realistic the characters were and the better the music and story was, and by the last ep, ALL relationships, scenes and music was great. Episode 14 was VERY good, and felt like watching Cutie Pie, but more elevated and with even more connection.
Overall, it should probably get an 8, with the best and worst of the show, but given how good the best parts are (strongly rivaling the best of BL), I rate it an 8.5 instead.
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The CHEMISTRY!
Why have we not seen more of the hunky ML in dramas?!?!? He's one of the best-looking kdrama guys I've ever seen, AND he can put on an incredibly emotional performance. He's great with the cute little moody ML too. Hunky ML's adorableness kept me watching, and he had a cool work space set up and good pals. ...Then, when the leads got closer! 😱 🥵 I really felt like they were HOT for each other! ...Especially from when the smaller ML got drunk and spilled the beans.As much as I love the hunky ML and the chemistry, I only rate it an 8.5 because I didnt love moody ML, and not much happens in the show. It even felt unfinished, especially when the chemistry was top tier and they had only just gotten together.
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Other than the rapey-ness, a pretty good show
It's a clearly unfinished show that was getting better from the last episode.Gu Hai is too much of an aggressive brute when it came down to Bai Luoyin who tried to refuse his advances all of the time, and seemed to not want that kind of attention and affection, and that didnt change until the last episode.
Overall, it was a good show with a good feel and full of natural behaviour, it just would have been a lot better with much more reciprocation and taking a more gentle slower approach. There was no easing-in with the handling at all.
In terms of their romantic relationship, the only good episode was the last episode, because only then did Bai Luoyin not push Gu Hai away. It would have been rated much higher if it wasn't for the rapey-ness of the show. At the end of the day, Gu Hai took advantage of Bai Luoyin's feelings and took what he wanted, against Luoyin's wishes. Luoyin wanted it, and his body obviously responded to it, but he didnt give permission, because he wasnt ready, so Gu Hai should have respected that decision, and waited until Luoyin was comfortable with it all and happy to take and give, and both could fully enjoy the experience. Gu Hai's behaviour was selfish, abusive, and disrespectful, especially to start with, but it's like he thought that only penetrative sex could be considered pushing it too far, because it was only that that happened when Bai Luoyin accepted them as a couple, and in that case you could just write it off as just errors of a young and very immature relationship.
It was an interesting watch, with a real easy-going natural feel, and good rich characters, but some of the characterisation is very wrong, and it makes it an uncomfortable watch at times, so there are a lot of good scenes AND scenes to skip that you'd want to pretend dont exist on rewatch. It's a shame really, it had potential to be one of the best BL's around, but was ruined by immature brute masculine alpha behaviour.
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From WOW to Awful
Other than the visuals and music (always amazing), it starts off as a meh, but gets better and builds up to a "wow" in the first half.Then it takes a nose dive, everything is changed up and the chemistry is gone, it becomes boring, annoying and ridiculous. I wasnt feeling any of the supposedly sad or heartbreaking parts in the second half at all because it had all gotten too much.
For some reason, it changed again in the last few episodes, it felt like it was back to how it was supposed to be then and I enjoyed those episodes. I would bin most of the second half though.
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Can't Complete It
I have a bunch of problems with it at this point. I hate that the FL is trying her best to bring the ML down when we all know her feelings, and I hate how cold and aggressive the ML can be towards her, making her unsure of his true feelings and doubt his intensions, and I also hate that she didn't have the sense to ever question his behaviour as king, or the situation he was in, she just suddenly listened to the gossip and couldn't trust anything she heard or saw from the ML. Before she was cast out she believed things the right way, but then she got scared and was dumbed down. I also hate huge lies, deception and misunderstandings/miscommunication in most dramas between the main pairings, and there's a lot of that in this drama.As a CP they're a mess, I really like the chemistry and the intimacies, but with what is going on between them it all feels a little wrong. I even love how they can communicate with each other and have a whole conversation just with simple looks. It's such a shame that the story stops them from being one of the best couples.
There is a lot of politics as well, and it's incredibly boring, I've had enough of it, it feels never-ending.
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Not bad, but problematic
It has some very good songs, and are used very well, but there are only a few, there could be much more, they aren't so good that I feel like they're enough - some shows repeat the same great music and it works.The FL and ML arent a great romantic couple, they dont feel like they have a strong connection in that way, they just feel like good friends who share something special who care about each other and look out for each other. I feel like both of their acting is off in this too, I can't work out who the ML is trying to be, his character is a little all over the place, and I don't believe whatever the FL is trying to sell, as an actor in this role she feels very low to middle range and generic.
The 2ML overshadows the ML, he's a much stronger character, and he's much more likeable. Overall, the supporting cast are much more interesting than the main cast.
It loses impact in a lot of scenes because we could easily predict them or the characters know entirely what is coming already, so there are no nice or nasty surprises for anyone. EVERYONE knows too much, and that's one of the shows biggest mistakes if you ask me.
The show is too repetitive as well, just how many times do we have to watch the same thing again and again. The show keeps going in circles.. The case.. ok... bad.. all is fine. Repeat... The case.. ok.. bad... all is fine..... Repeat... We just keep watching alternatives of the same show again and again, only things get worse as time goes on, but we know what's going to happen and everything is predictable. Is this how it continues on until episode 16 (last episode)?
I'll stick it out for a bit but I don't know if I can make it until the end. Too many people know too many things, and the lack of a great relationship anywhere, or good strong well-developed (or likeable) characters, is making it all boring a lot of the time now.
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I've now finished it and I'm glad I stuck with it. I don't know what was going on making this show, the last five episodes are very good so I don't know why things were so bad (comparitively) prior to those episodes. Everything was fixed in those last episodes, the only thing that could have been stronger was the main relationship, but even that was a lot better than it had been.
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A Story of Aggression & Sexual Attraction, Not Love
I think one of the main reasons this rated so highly is because of the hotter scenes. They didn't really like each other because they didn't know each other, because they didn't trust each other to open up, be themselves and stop lying, they were just attracted to each other. They spent too long hating, then tolerating, and then just accepting the situation, before they even started to warm to each other and believe they could be a real relationship... Over twenty episodes of it.I think that if there was a lot less of the ML and FL as a pairing, the show would have been a lot better. The constant fights and complaints were ruining the show, it's all they did, it just kept going on and on, it was dragged out and boring. The leads together were immature and annoying until they started trusting each other.
Taking the pairing out of the equation, the show's strength was in the FL's journey, winning everyone over and really making something of herself, she did exceptionally well to rise as she did where she was. All of that was great. I also really liked the ML's friends and the pairing with one of those men.
The ending was good, one of the better ones, and it showed the leads looking like a normal couple, who actually liked each other and were just enjoying life, finally.
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I've Seen A LOT Better
- Before the very end of episode two -I think this might work alright for a young audience who like sports.
I'm not a fan of any sport, even hate some, but I've been able to enjoy and even love a few that have been full of different sports throughout the shows, so its not all because of my dislike for football. It's more to do with casting and characters choices (first and foremost).
I'm not a fan of Snape look and sound alikes (one of the ML's), but I could have gotten used to him if there was more to really like about the show at that point, which for me, there wasn't and he (like Snape) wasn't a likeable person either.
The other ML was too immature for me to like, and I don't like the Disney-channel-like acting of his with that character.
I think most of the other characters are alright, and the story is fine, but those two ML's get in the way and get on my nerves.
........
- Once you've through the first couple of episodes -
Episode three starts to feel more like a normal kdrama, things are lighter and everything and everyone are starting to fit better. There are a bunch of fun moments from then on and the relationship between the ML's is much better. There are even some good backing tracks played.
.......
Overall, it gets a lot better than when it started, but I did feel the need to keep skipping still throughout. The first two episodes were quite bad, I'd rate them a five or six out of ten. I came back to watch the show again purely because its a very short show anyway and I hate leaving things unfinished. I think the initial issue was the amount of things going against the show at the beginning, starting with all doom and gloom and negatives is a bold move, especially when we arent attached to anyone or anything yet. All of that is best further on in the show.
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An Easy-going Cute, Fun, and Hot Show FULL of Feelings
LOVE LOVE LOVE.Lots of affectionate looks and touches between the characters, brimming with emotion, and there's lots of playfulness.
It has a good pace, nothing is rushed, and the moments are so perfectly sweet alongside the great music that you can watch them again and again.
Chi Cheng is usually so sweet, caring, and gentle for his Dabao, and I love that he seems to adore and melt even for his Dabao's mischievious and moody sides.
Wu Suowei can't help but soften when his Chi Cheng looks after him, you can see that it really means a lot to him and he couldn't help but fall for him.
I love all of the moments they do something great for each other and we see how much it means to them and how much they love each other.
Beginning to end it's great, and I had the episodes on repeat.
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