Apurva

Not bad for a 36 episode drama! Better than some brainrot I have seen recently.

I like how even when things were not logical this drama tried to keep things interesting.

All over we had flawed characters, a plot centered around money that kept changing hands, a little bit of a major lunatic falling in love with a mild lunatic, and then come the family problems. Although it tried my patience a little, it does have some rewatch value for me. I don't know why I liked the leads so much, but they were entertaining.

Even though I liked the Seo Gang Ju and Lee Da Rim ending up together, I was hoping the writer had utilized the chemistry between Da Rim and Tae Hung a bit better. Why give us those moments on rooftops where they both seemed pretty cozy if they were just going to treat it as afterthought. This was one love triangle I wanted to play out well.

I am not a fan of the ML's parents, the father is deadbeat, he is also a crappy husband but then his wife isn't any better.

Ko Bong Hui [Da Rim's mother]: A better mother to Darim than she was to her other kids. As much as I don't like Charim and Murim, it is easy to understand where they are coming from. They could have had better attitudes when their mother was running around desperate for money, they could have all sat down and discussed this like adults.

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I avoided this because the poster made me think it was GL and I wasn't in the mood for it.

I didn't even recognize that it was Park Bo Young on the poster! I can't believe I almost missed this one. Because Park Bo Young happens to be one of favs.

Out of all her recent works, including Melo Movie and Daily Dose of Sunshine, I like this one better. The story was engaging, the characters interesting and multi-dimensional, and the drama was immersive. I rarely felt the need to skip any scenes.

This is what I like about some of these quality kdramas, everything is just right.

I did enjoy enjoy the story, the only reason I am not rating this 10 is that I felt that something was a bit missing, I can't place my finger on it, it could be the misunderstanding between the leads that wasn't very convincing, but then I think about the Mi Ji's turmoil and reject that notion.

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Showcases how emotionally manipulative parents can be quite well.

They explored not just romance but also workplace harassment, emotional manipulations by parents, a man's reactions to rejection, and so much more.

I did enjoy watching Yun Jin A and Seo Jun Hui's together. I did think Seo Jun Hui was bit of hothead at times. I just wish they communicated more. Things would have probably worked out better for them, had they both not just made decisions on their own, especially ones that affected both of them. I'm just glad it worked out.

I read the comments before watching and someone said that Yun Jin A let her mother control her actions and she did. This is what happens when you live in a family who for all intents and purposes seem to have treated you well, of course as long as they are controlling things. So even when you speak up for yourself, you are bound to feel guilty for disrespecting your parents. Yes, even though the child is never respected. The parents expectations become a cage that many get trapped in. In Yun Jin A's mom's case, she cared more about society and what people would thing completely overlooking her daughter's struggle. Her mother saying that if I can't even make this decision for my daughter then i might as well be a stranger. But strangers who had blood relation to your daughter treated her better than you did ma'am. So maybe you should act stranger, that'll make you a little kinder.

The drama again shed light on how workplace harassment is handled, and many time bullying is also handled this way. The offender usually gets together with the company to silence the victims voices or just try to throw everything under the rug so that their company's reputation remains pristine. The execution of this theme was also poorly handled. It turned out to be too confusing.

The ex who turned a stalker and harrased Yun Jin A also got off easy. I don't understand why victims are supposed to show compassion to offenders so that offenders should be able to live a guilt free life. Maybe they should live with the consequences of their actions, learn from them and hold on to those memories to remind them to never do these things again.

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I regret watching it. I regret watching all the episodes expecting it to get better at some point.

Sunny again tomorrow? Nope it is raining cats and dogs with only a day or two of sunshine. The characters and story are that bad. Now, I understand why these long-running dramas have such poor ratings. Who wants to watch, people being selfish assholes all the time?

Not me! It is so hard to find heartwarming dramas these days. This drama felt like I had acid-reflux. It had one woman so selfish that I wished that her parts in the drama would just disappear. She cared for no one and nothing, always hurting people to get what she wanted.

If you don't mind spoilers and have come so far, the reveal about Han Hee being the daughter happens in ep 112, in the last few minutes of that episode. Although Jin Hui tries to take revenge for how Han Hee was treated, it was a bit tame. I wanted more because we ahve 111 episodes of them treating her poorly and they don't stop at 111 but continue treating Han Hee poorly after that as well. So yeah, this is the drama that has made me want to take a step back from these longer-running dramas.

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Lacks depth, but worth the watch.

I have always been a fan of dramas that have these soft and gentle male leads so this was definitely worth the watch. Would I come back again? A bit doubtful, because I still have to rewatch some of the other dramas that I thought were wonderful. This one just didn't make the mark.

Why? A lot of reasons:
> First, the story was too focused on patriotism and not on the people. They needed to balance it out.
> Romance between the main leads: Started out good and watching the two interact was nice. But that's all it was nice. Even with the underlying issue, it felt as if there were no stakes in the main leads romance. It just did not feel as if it was deep enough.
> The secondary couple were a bit too hasty for my taste but I liked them well enough. The one thing that did bother me was how he screamed at her, I mean sure she does seem a bit immature, but was that really necessary? It became funny when in upcoming scene he called out Wu Si (ML) for shouting at him. That was a comedic scene but the former wasn't but these two scenes stood out to me the most.
> As much as I like Jin Han as a actor, in this drama, his face often had this expression as if he was about to cry.
> The plot was meh. Yeah, that's how i felt watching thing unfold. Even when the FL went on her investigative mission they felt like calm waters to me.

I went in this drama thinking it was going to be action-packed with deep romance theme, but it wasn't. I understand why the ratings are low now.

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Draggy as hell! The couple that you want to watch barely get enough screentime.

If you are someone who can't tolerate cheating couple getting back together, drop this one. I am someone who doesn't care for it either, i stuck around just for Kim Chung Ah and Goo Joon Hwi's story. I have to wonder the level of forgiveness the partner has to offer to have to live with such memories of betrayal.

Going in, you gotta keep your moral compass aside because it is just people committing crimes and doing cruel things to each other. S**cide, Drunk driving leading to a death, , framing another person for the drunk driving, cheating husband, bully who isn't remorseful but thinks she is the victim, and characters who abuse their power (mothers with money)

I don't believe that you have to forgive everything your elder people do just because of their age and relationship with you. (A forgiveness trend these longer dramas tend to have? Are the writers on something? They are sending out this drivel, a message that no matter what you do, you'll be forgiven. And this is one of the recent dramas. So regressive.)
How do people who treat others like trash deserve to be respected?
> Jin Woo's mother was a abusive mother-in-law, she abused a 18-year old who was struggling to live, she treated everyone around her like slaves, she abused her employees, and she framed people abusing her power.
> Joon Hwi's mother lost a son because of her choices but it took her years to wisen up and that too only after shifting the blame on everyone else but herself. Even when she found out the reason her son died, she continued to blame others instead of taking responsiblity.
> Moon Hae Rang: She finally gave her victim of bullying an apology, if you call it that.

I was here for Kim Chung Ah and Goo Joon Hwi and they were adorable. Although I am not sure the time apart in the final arc was a necessity, when they barely spent any time together but to each its own. But other than that, their break up was inevitable with the amount of secrets everyone had.

Even though Koo Jun Gyeom committed a crime, his acknowledgement of what he had done was far greater than the late realization his grown ass mother would ever have. I feel so bad for the child, he could have survived had he had help.

Some of the characters were very well-written, but the story was unnecessarily dragged. This could have been done in less than 50 episodes. The title does not suit the drama at all, because most of it was not beautiful and their lives were anything but wonderful. The story was regressive, draggy,

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Beautiful and heartwarming

I am swaying to the music of the drama in my mind as I write this review. It left that good of an impression. I'm not sure why I put watching this off for as long as I had, but I sure should have watched it long before.

Whenever someone says stranded on an Island, my mind goes to Oliver Queen. So, as i watching the first episode, I was wondering what she would have to deal with on that island.

The acting was good, the characters pretty decent, the story nice, and pacing was perfect. I wanted to see more of Mok Ha's life into the stardom, but it ended too soon.

They covered the intricacies of abuse so well. Looking at little Ki Ho or Mok Ha, no one could have thought that they were being abused by their parents and this is why so many of those heinous wild beasts that call themselves parents get away with it. The prosecutor's words were gold: "We have one parent lying to protect their kid, and we have another parent lying to punish their kid. Who do you think is the better parent?"

I'll miss the characters.

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Worth a one time watch

When the drama first started airing, I planned to watch it and even started on a few episodes. In the first episodes when Jin Na Young entered the frame and I thought she was so damn pretty but things went downhill soon after that. I watched a preview and it involved slapping someone, with Na Young acting like a lunatic, which made me loose interest even before i could get into the drama properly. So it was put on hold until 2-3 days ago.

Lately I have been watching longer dramas and the actors in this are pretty good, so i decided to give it a try. It seems decent for a one time watch, provided that you don't go in expecting reasonable behavior.

There were a lot of parallels to the drama Beauty and Mr. Romantic. The couples looked a lot similar. The romantic gateways were similar. The story about falling from grace due to a family member.

The worst of the lot are in the Jin family: A step-sister who is out to ruin her older sister who has done nothing to hurt her, a wicked stepmother who just feels no guilt cheating, (These two mother-daughter duo just enjoy screaming and causing nuisances all the time, so damn annoying) The father who cheated on his previous wife and had another family. The grandmother who accepted another family without batting a eye because the other woman had a "male" child to continue their crazy bloodline. Eck.

I didn't include the stepbrother in this list because he was better than the entire family excluding Su Ji of course. What irked me the most about the family was how much they enabled Na young's behavior. Even after everything she had done to her elder sister they chose to ignore it.

I liked how calm Su Ji was despite dealing with these lunatics. U Ri was just the balance she needed in her life to shake things up a bit in a nice way. They were adorable together.

Han Jin Tae was such a gaslighting jerk the entire time. The hell he put his wife through was just plain evil.

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Eun Soo and Soo Ho as a couple make it somewhat bearable.

So many things to say, very few of them good:
> There's not much to like about the drama apart from the two leads who are good together, that too if you get over Soo Ho being handsy in the club when they first met. He wouldn't take no for an answer and I am so glad Eun Soo reacted the way she did.
> Eun Soo's family was the only decent family in the lot. They weren't quick to judge, supported each other, and believed in each other. Their reactions seemed like something that would actually happen in reality and not the over the top manner in which the other families in this drama behave.
> It gets very repetitive. Mostly with women in the kitchen, while men, his father in particular lazes around and orders everyone. They tried to address this issue once or twice but nothing came off it. Soo Ho was the only one who helped out now and then.
> Spoiler alert!!! The entire story was built on dragging the obvious secret and Bitna and her grandmother treating people like shit. The title shouldn't have been "Still Loving You" it should have been "The High and Mighty Kim Bitna and Her Grandmother"
> I can't get over the haircut and I like short hair. The right haircut can make you look so good. That haircut barely looks good on anyone and still Eun Soo managed to look pretty with the high neck tops she wore. But other than that, it did nothing for her. It didn't accentuate her face. The longer hair made her look gorgeous. I guess the creators wanted to make her look dowdy for the role. But meh, another way they fumbled.
> The reason I dislike dramas like this a lot is that the criminals get off easy with only a pat on the back of their hands. Criminals should be punished, the punishement for crime should reflect the severity of the crimes, otherwise why don't you just give them an award for doing something cruel?

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Love the trio! I was at the edge of my seat for the entire drama.

It kept me engaged throughout, with every episode having me wonder who did it? There were so many familiar faces in this drama and all of them pros and they have only gotten better at acting. Such a powerful cast with every actor doing justice to their role.

Loved the dynamics between the trio, how respectful they were of each other and to each other.

Little things that bothered me:
> Apart from the crazy red eyes Do Han Joon sported now and then.
> Sometimes the music was too loud.
> I like Do Han Jaan, but his parents deserved far worse than they got.

I do enjoy watching kiss scenes, so i kept waiting for one, but alas,

However, that doesn't take away anything from this beautiful drama, their feelings for each other were so heartwarming that they were more than enough.

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Underrated as F! I feel warmth and love everytime I watch this. The chemistry is so good.

As I was watching the drama, I noticed how similar Xu Yan Shi to Duan Jia Xu. Both hardworking, trying to make up for their fathers' debts, caring and understanding partners. What's there to not like?

He could have been a little open with Xiang Yuan in the past, but he was in a very difficult position. Xiang Yuan wasn't a saint herself, she just went into her shell every time she came across something suspicious instead of openly discussing it.

I feel they were well-matched on all levels. Just so damn adorable. There was a time when I enjoyed stories with the constant push and pull between the leads, but I have outgrown it. This is the only drama where it doesn't get on my nerves that much. It is so good to see them finally make up their mind and be with each other.

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Beautiful and Talented Cast!

Actual review of the drama without comparison:
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There are lot of things to like, first being Jing Tian's performance as Jiang Si. Usually, I find it hard to see her as a character I just get stuck with her otherworldly beauty and find it so hard to get past that. After Wonderland of Love this is the second drama where I could see her as a person. I love Jiang Si as a character and how she navigates through the obstacles life put in her path.

As for Yu Jin in the drama, he is green flag so he is in my good books. He seems a bit goofy and silly at times and Zhang Wan Yi is the right choice for the character. However, I do hope to see Zhang Wan Yi grow as an actor. He was my fav in LYF season 2. His reactions sometimes often come across as too comical where they could be a little subtle.

Jiang Si and Yu Jin just seem to melt for each other, i love that and would like to see more such couples in drams instead of people not being considerate of each other. Jiang Si's father, brother and sister are lovable so is the niece. That drowning incident sure knocked some sense into the Zhan and it was very much needed.

The one thing that the drama got absolutely right was the casting. It was chef's kiss, the most powerful contenders were actors for Princess Rong Yang, Jiang Si, and Cui Xu.

The romances, if were to focus solely on the trajectory of the romances between the leads, and secondary couples it was quite heartwarming to watch. The ending was also satisfactory. I especially loved what Jiang Si did for Nanwu as a Saintess. In the book she didn't care for them that much.

My one point of contention with some cdramas is why do they want to humiliate the female characters with beatings even when they were not present in the books? This has recently happened with Blossoms where Dou Zhao got beaten and humiliated a couple of times, again with the slaps received by Jiang Si and the torture at the hands of Rong Yang, that didn't happen in the book. I as an audience derive no pleasure from things like these, who are these scenes catering to? What lunatic derives pleasure from watching this? That's not the correct way to deliver angst.

It seemed less like Si and Jin's story and more like Princess Rong Yang's temper tantrums. All the evildoers had the same script, they blamed everyone but themselves.

While some aspects of the drama worked, the story as a whole was a bit lacking.

My rant about why the drama isn't like the book:
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They could have turned it into such a nice script but so many lost opportunities.
Er Niu was a major character second only Si Jin, but he became such a underutilized prop.
When I first came across episode 1, I put it on hold because I would rather read the book to figure out why he killed her to have the drama leave it unexplained. Thanks to someone's comment I noticed that he still has his arrow nocked and wasn't the one who killed her. But the drama didn't execute the scene well, you can see when the arrow hits her, he puts his hands down as far as we can see the blurry figure. But later when the shot pans to him, he again is at the same position with the arrow nocked. So it can be a bit confusing! All in all, I'm glad he wasn't the one who killed her.
Another change that bothers me is Zhen Heng, it is hard to digest the fact that they gave us Zhen Heng who is combination of two characters father and son: Zhen Shicheng & Zhen Heng. It is upsetting because Zhen Shicheng was an absolute gem of a character and Zhen Heng was a decent one as well. The funniest part was always when he tired to push Zhen Heng together with Jiang Si and he wasn't having any of it only to fall in love at first sight when he saw her. I must admit the drama Zhen Heng is certainly likable and i am glad they changed his story with Princes Fuqing a little.
They cut back on lot of characters , far too many to mention but most primarily, Jiang Qian had two brothers one younger and one older. Jiang An Chen had one more brother who was born of a concubine but Jian Qiao was their daughter. Oh the empress dowager who was actually much more complicit in things compared to Rong Yang.
They watered down so many characters. The Emperor himself was so multifaceted, he did have the qualities they portrayed but he was also someone who loved to read novels in between memorials and then ended up having a cat as a pet.
So many plotlines just gone and most of them were messed up version.
They didn't need to kill Duer, Sang Qi, or Aman..

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Filled with annoying supporting characters. Some of the main characters are decent.

Old Madame Cheng is the worst so far, I felt like I'm watching a comedy drama instead of historical or political one. She is a such a annoying character. Her, the caretaker, and the aunt-in-law, make me feel like I wont be able to tolerate such silly and insipid characters throughout the show and If I am better off dropping this. Apart from the FL & her maid, there seem to be no sensible female characters. Wait, the cousin and the aunt who raised her seem like decent people. Now it seems like the cousin is gonna loose her way as well.

Xiao Yuan Yi should not have been a mother. The first thing she does when she comes home is "disciplines" her abused daughter. Yeah, why not, let's abuse her some more. That's what motherhood is all about. She gives me the ecks. I shudder thinking of little girls who only love their moms or desire a little bit of affection but have to deal with their authoritarian discipline. Only on 4th episode and she gets on my nerve. Not only is she not a good mother but also a poor teacher who doesn't understand what her pupil requires to learn.

I repeat what a horrible mother. She actually said let me beat you to establish my authority, how disgusting could she be. And then she has the guts to call her daughter cold. She has some screws loose for sure. She is fine with seeking comfort from her husband but can't see that her little girl needs comfort as well.

While her father seems to be an okay person, he always gives in to her mother. Whatever she does should be right and for her daughter's sake. They were fine maligning her in front of everyone, especially people who mocked and bullied her. I mean the story didn't even need other people to bully her when they have one of the strongest bully in their family.

The romance was under shadowed and mostly led by Ling Bu Yi. He fell first, he fell hard, and he stayed true. I know there's going to be a separation in part 2 but I'll deal with it when time comes.

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What a talented cast! I came here for Yang Zi but from episode 1 have been captivated by the actors.

What a talented cast! I came here for Yang Zi but from episode 1 have been captivated by the actors from the little ones to the grown ups. The child actors did just a great job portraying little Xiao Yao and Cang Xuan.

Was waiting for season 2 to drop so that I could watch it all together. It finally has, I watched the newly released episodes of Season 2 before coming here and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I still liked the characters but I didn't know who they really were and why they were doing things they were. So, coming to this season, I can say that Yang Zi has grown so much as an actor. From portraying the Jin Mi in Ashes of love to Xiao Liu in Lost You Forever she has mastered the art of acting like a man. Her mannerisms are so on point. It puts other actors pretending to be men at shame. Kudos to her!

My two cents on the characters so far:
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Xiao Yao / Wen Xiao Liu / Haoling Jiu Yao / Xiling Jiu Yao: The woman has abandonment issues that are well warranted. Despite all that it is clear that she has liked Shi Qi from the get go. He has always treated her well. I was a bit mad at him for not showing up with Xuan and Nian came to collect the antidote, but since then he has proven himself. He is like a healing balm that Xiao Yao needs.

Xiyan Cang Xuan / Mr. Xuan: I guess we are supposed to forget that he had Xiao Liu tortured for hurting A Nian or that he had her leg broken. Xiao Yao doesn't seem to care about these things and has faith in her brother, so who are we to hold grudges? Although I liked the little boy and girl who promised to be each other's confidantes, the grown up Xuan failed her. But since he has found out that she is Xiao Yao he has treated her great so no more complains about him.

Tushan Jing / Ye Shi Qi: I liked his gentleness and care for Xiao Yao. The only thing that he has against him is that he is sometimes seems too passive. You can't help but love him, what a kind and gentle soul. He seems like someone who'll take care of Xiao Yao. I can't believe people hate his character. Why? Because he is too nice? Aren't you just like his brother Hou then. But I do agree that is a little too slow in taking action, I mean so many of the things could have been avoided had he taken care of his brother and fiancé's affair long time ago. I mean it is not like he doesn't have a brain, he helped Xuan so much in background.

Xiang Liu / Fangfeng Bei: We all have a thing for bad boys and the character shouts bad boy in spades. However, every time Xiang Liu met Xiao Liu, Xiao Liu ended up with physical injuries. And no, it is not just the fang marks, but the forty whips and the broken leg. I mean do you want to be kicked by your partner and it is not some kind of roleplay where he'll be gentle but with actual malice? I wanted to ship these two because they look great together but I don't want Xiao Yao to suffer more. He reminds me a lot of the Novoland Sky Castle character, Feng Tian Yi.

Haoling Yi / A Nian: What a cringeworthy character. I wouldn't mind if they stopped adding such childish characters to great productions like this. Spoiled, not held accountable so keeps on bullying other people. Where's the humility? Her character improved a bit as she grew to care for Xiao Yao, but she is just a brat that you can't tolerate.

About who Xiao Yao should end up with?
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=> Tushan Jing. I see his faults, he just lets people bulldoze over him. But Xiao Yao is no angel. Following the story, the guy basically was drugged and abused. He did not have anyone to comfort him because he wouldn't speak to anyone about it. What's worse, had Xiao Yao been fully invested in the relationship she wouldn't have taken the easy way out. She should have cared that he was violated and now with the child has no option but to marry the woman who did that to him. I believe had she chosen to stick by his side, they could have figured things out.
=> I wouldn't have minded Xiao Yao ending up with Xiang Liu / Fangfeng Bei because he did give up one of his lives to save her, which was actually quite selfless. It wasn't even the only time he did something like this, he even took on the poisonous bug knowing what it meant. But what do you want Xiao Yao to do, even had there not been Tushan Jing, do you want her to throw herself at Xiang Liu at every turn, knowing full well that he is only going to reject her in brutal ways? What's more, his rejection would never be just verbal one, but also physically abusive one. Had he wanted he could have tried to be with her, but he did not really want that. He never dreamed of it because of who he was.

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