Apurva

Hate it for the noble idiocy trope. Love it for the world building, the characters, & the actors.

For the first 15-20 episodes you will actually like the Bai Ju, he was somewhat a decent guy. He ensured that Shang Gu got a second chance at life, treated her like a loved one for first half of that second life. Then he disappears for 10,000 years. Yes, the time just randomly speeds up in this show. He splits into two bodies, the good part of him, Qing Mu wins over Hou Chi, the reincarnation of Shang Gu., treats Hou Chi like a goddess that she is. The part of him that was Bai Ju eventually takes over and then treats Hou Chi and their child like shit. "Worst Father Award"

I wanted to stop watching when Qing Mu was taken over by Bai Ju. The last thing the guy said to Bai Ju was "Be nice to Hou Chi" Guess what Bai Ju did? He was cruel, because he wanted to sacrifice himself.
The episodes from then on were just unbearable to watch and there is none of the Bai Ju loved in the first half left.
He begins by denying that he was ever Qing Mu to Hou Chi, who at the time was pregnant with their child.
He then decides to marry the woman he promised he would never looked at because Hou Chi/Shang Gu was the only one for him. He decides to trust that woman more than he ever trusted Hou Chi.
On the day of his marriage, when she confronts him (since they are still married), he divorces her in front of everyone. Not only that, allows her to get physically hurt, lets her father die in front of her, because it would have spoiled his grand plan of sacrificing himself.
He then neglects his child, while doing god knows what while the woman he claims to sacrifice his life for is in coma and now their child is being raised by the uncle (Tian Qi) who would actually have made a better partner for Shang Gu.
But does he cut off the connection completely? No, he tries to steal undeserved moments with them. Just let them go my dude! It was painful to watch.

The worst part of these sacrifices is the lack of trust, but i usually give it a pass because that's how these stories are structured, what I cannot get over is treating your partner cruelly.

Hou Chi died a sad death, betrayed by Bai Ju in all forms.

Edit: I forgot to mention a few things in the review before.

I was so upset for Hou Chi, that I forgot to talk about the environment they created for that child with the kind of choices they made.
Shang Gu once she woke up from her slumber was a good mother for a minute and then she had to go kneel in front of the deity for 500 years so they could have Bai Ju back. So, another 500 years of neglect for the child.
Sure, we can assume everything was hunky-dory once Bai Ju got back, but let's not lie and say they were both good parents for their child's first years of life.

The best part about this drama was the actors, they did such a good job in keeping my interest even though I wanted to give up. I did like the characters, they were pretty complex and not one-dimensional. I just feel sad for the child, makes me even wary of watching "The Last Immortal" but I need a few days to recover from this heartbreak and watch something light before even thinking of watching that.

I also held on till the ending because I wanted all that pain they suffered to lead somewhere and was glad to see that they did have the happy ending most people wanted.

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Wow! Why aren't people talking about this one more?

Initially when i saw the cast and roles, I thought that the twins would marry twins and that Chen Xing Xu was portraying both the Male leads, but thankfully that wasn't the case. This is the first time I was introduced to Luke Chen and he was amazing in the role of the third prince.

I also had a lot of assumptions before going into the shows, I thought that the ML played by Cheng XIng Xu would be pretty tame however his story arc was quite powerful compared to that of the Void third prince. His pairing with Landy Li was so fun to watch. The drama didn't have much physical intimacy or even kisses but it was plain to see the lead characters feelings for each others.

I do agree with a lot of reviewers and commenters, the drama has great beginning and ending arcs, however it drags a little in the middle with filler episodes. I like the 3 shards story arc, but it could have been better written. Once they fell in love with her, she just stashed them in places and expected them to stay there no matter how much time it would take for her to find and woo the next one.

And one thing that bothered me, the drama focused too much on forgiveness & sacrifice. Too many characters that shouldn't have been forgiven were forgiven, and unnecessary sacrifices were made for those.

Some Notable Characters:

Liguang Ye Tan
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Loved her right from the beginning. I like watching characters that are open about everything and say what they want. So I pretty much enjoyed watching her every time she was on the screen. She adored Qing Kui and it showed despite her trying to be a hardass at times. What I liked about Ye Tan is that even though she was envious of the way Qing Kui was treated, she never blamed Qing Kui for it. She knew the culprit was her father and she laid the blame right at his feet. Despite being treated like a prisoner all her life, having to hear cruel words from her father, she found it in herself to forgive him because he did all that to protect her. (Nope, still don't care for her father. She almost died quite a few times because of his negligence. When he used those harsh words, he gave others in his kingdom permission to treat Ye Tan poorly. She was starved most of the time, left to be eaten by animal once. People dared to do this because they knew that her father didn't care for her. Her relationship with You Qin was beautiful to watch.

Empyrean Xuan Shang / Shao Dian You Qin
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He was so damn adorable. From the get go, we could see how affected he was by Ye Tan. Once he realized that he liked Ye Tan, he never hid his feelings. He was honest about them, even when he turned her into a walnut and sewed her mouth shut. When he found out that Ye Tan was not Qin Kui, he kick up much fuss about it. He accepted her without creating any unnecessary drama that would be out of his character. He was consistently loyal to Ye Tan (Let's not mention that one shard who was promiscuous for his own good). Qing Kui would never have been a good match for him, she would have probably just gone along with everything he wanted and not changed his life much.

Liguang Qing Kui
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In the beginning, I was a little upset with her character, not because she was favored twin, but I always felt like she could have done so much more for Ye Tan. What upset me even more was that she was a bit hypocritical with Chao Feng / Third Prince, telling him that she disliked people who treated their family badly. However, she was fine treating her father (Emperor Liguang) well when he treated Ye Tan abysmally. This highlighted her privilege, since her father so clearly loved her, she could turn a blind eye to how he treated Ye Tan majority of the time. Ye Tan never blamed her, since she was imprisoned by her own family, treated poorly, she was glad to receive what little she received from Qing Kui. There could be more to the story, maybe she helped her sister a lot more than we got to see but it wasn't depicted so clearly. I did grow to like her character, especially after watching, "Immortal Samsara: Part 1" , where we have another set of twin sisters who were borne out of same root. It just made me look at her in a different way. Throughout their interaction Qing Kui had always been kind to Ye Tan. She always thought the best of Ye Tan and her ambitions of becoming the Demon of the Void. All their interactions were genuine. Even when the whole mix-up happened and she ended up in the void realm she could have blamed Ye Tan for trying to create a mess to get her out of her wedding she wasn't really against of. However, she was quite sane and even looked out for Ye Tan in her own way. So maybe Qing Kui was one of the reasons Ye Tan didn't loose her spirit even after spending 18 years in captivity.

Chao Feng / Third Prince
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The great liar, it was fun to watch him come up with crazy but believable stories to hoodwink Qing Kui, who easily fell for it. The crazy idiot, didn't even realize that he was creating a trap for himself and when he did realize he was quite happy to fall head over heels for Qing Kui. While he appeared quite dashing in many scenes, I do wish his character would have been more imposing and not often defeated by You Qin. I wanted to see them as equals.


Shao Dian Xiao Yi [Heavenly Emperor]
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The emperor, You Qin's father, was more of glory hound, who didn't really care about You Qin as his child. He just wanted to be known as the father of the great Empyrean who achieved the perfect celestial body and saved the world. Even the fix is not permanent, only for a few hundred thousand years, after which he might as well pop out another child to sacrifice, when he himself never had the guts to step up to the plate. Qing Kui was such a decent person and he seemed very happy when she died, that was quite disgusting to see. His expression of glee was present when he found out that You Qin made progress in his cultivation, not really caring that his son was going to die. A decent parent would have been worried about his child, he seemed elated. Its a wonder his wife tolerated him for so long. We all understand sacrifices are to be made, but he could have been a supportive and understanding parent to You Qin. What's more, he was the first one to be an obstacle in bringing You Qin back to life. Even when he came back to life, he just was selfish prick to everyone included.

I'm not a fan of open endings like these so I scrolled down to the comment sections and found this link. This helped ease of the anxiety the I felt after that ending. https://x.com/YoukuOfficial/status/1750867181745688650?s=20

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Had to Fast forward to finish it, the ML is the only saving grace

Zhang Si Nian (ML): The actor that portrays this character does very well with roles that feature him as a genius. But he was much better in Unforgettable Love (2021). The ML in the show was pretty nice but a bit slow on the uptake. Once he figured out that he was in love in the FL, he didn't play any games and tried his best to win her over.

Yun Shu (FL):
The Bad:
Childish character with annoying voice. I had to clench my teeth to keep going, because i just needed to know the entire story. I don't mind it when a character is a little bubbly, it makes things interesting, but Yun Shu was kind of unbearable. The ML looked better with Yun Shu's sister when they were all together in a frame.
The Good:
She was a nice person overall and also didn't play any games. She even reminded me of Shim Chung / Seo Hwa from The Legend of the Blue Sea even before she actually put on a mermaid costume.

It was an okay drama. Not worth a rewatch though.

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Missed its mark.

It had potential but ultimately didn't reach it. I never thought it would be a drama that would hit it out of the park, but I thought it might have some hidden depths. The drama started out good, they explored some issues in the beginning and I liked how understanding the ML was. He is clearly a green flag. But the story was very subtle and didn't leave much of an impression. The ML's brother and his wife were more interesting to watch as a couple.

Every week I tuned it expecting that something would happen that would break the linear path it was on, but it never got to it. So, I am a bit disappointed. But it did have the power to make me complete it so there is something there.

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Dou Zhao happens to be one of my fav FLs in both book and the drama!

Overall
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The first episode was so otherworldly, not just because of the stunning visuals but also because the story didn't flow well. The setup was too vague. And anytime anyone said anything it was poetry. I felt detached watching it and could only focus on the visuals while the story became the background. The first episode could have been executed better.

The second episode brought the drama back to the ground where I could connect with it. It was so easy to like Jiang Mei Sun [Duke of Ding] from the get go.

I knew going in that I was never going to like Wang Ying Xue, but honestly like all cheating spouses, Dou Shi Ying is the worst person to tolerate in the first 2 episodes. He just couldn't keep it in his pants. Zhao Gu Qiu, Dou Zhao's mother was a catch, such a beautiful and kind woman. Well there's no accounting for taste, to go from Gu Qiu to Ying Xue, what a sad fate, but well-deserved. I had hoped that Dou Zhao's mother could make it out alive but the betrayal was far too much for her. Anyways, their relationship was messed up at least in the second arc of the drama he grew a backbone.

For me, a drama that starts out with a knife at throat but ends with the couple in harmony is always much more enjoyable than a drama where a they start out nice and hurt each other because of love. I am glad the drama stuck to the book with this aspect, them being a sweet couple who cherished each other and considerate of each other was what attracted me to Dou Zhao and Song Mo's pairing.

The elder princess Lu De and her arc with Dou Shi Shu took me by surprise. If only he hadn't been so power-hungry, then he would have some shame and wouldn't have treated Dou Zhao's mother so poorly. I am not a fan of this character.

I wish we had seen Song Mo's sister, it might have changed the dynamics between Zhang Ru and Chen Jia, i started out thinking why and what's gonna happen to Song Mo's sister to being okay I love these two together in the drama.

What I like:
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The casting is so good! I was excited to see Meng Zi Yi and Li Yun Ri bring the lead characters to life. They both did a good a job. They fit the role.
Song Mo's uncle was such a impressive character! Nothing at all like his cowardly "father".
Dou Zhao's mother was such a pretty woman! I'm sure sad that she was only on screen for a first few episodes.
So far I love that they haven't added any unnecessary drama that wasn't there in the book between the leads. What I like about them together is that they are my comfort couple. They are so damn nice to each other! The drama has brought that to light for me.
I like the idea about both of them going back in time, even though Song Mo doesn't remember there is a possibility of him remembering it one day. That's not how it happened in books but that's a welcoming change for me.
Dou Ming is so damn adorable! I was willing to let go of my resentment of her from previous life so I did not see that ending for her.
Zhao Zhang Ru has also been a favorite of mine and she gets a lot of screen time which I am very happy about!
I didn't notice it the first time but Lu Zheng and Lu Ming are twins! I thought there was only one guy named Lu Zheng who popped up everywhere.

What I dislike: (Mostly stuff that has been messed up from the book)
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The Dou family was supposed to have this rich history that's just missing. The currently Dou family was supposed to be so big with a few branches and in-laws. It would have been fun to see Dou Zhao navigate through them on screen, she did it so well in the book! (And she was just a child when she did that! I feel that it is such a missed opportunity)
The entire dynamic between Dou Zhao, her father, Wang Ying Xue, and Dou Ming lacked depth. It is much more satisfying in the books where Dou Zhao is actually the one who has the upper hand throughout their interactions and not once does she suffer because of Wang Ying Xue or Dou Ming's shady tactics. The only time she fails is to save her mother's life.
Since the book is so long with 500+ chapters it is bound to miss a lot of things but because of this I felt that a lot of things were missing in the drama and I had to fill in the gaps with the story that I remembered. I wish there were more episodes, but again a lot of things have to be taken into consideration so can't really blame them.
I'm not a fan of the changes that have been made to the Yuan Tong / Ji Yong character. I did like him better in the book.

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Since it has Zhang Ling He, it is automatically on my watchlist. (Ep 1 to Ep 17)

The good:
The story has just begun and I am hoping that this will be another drama that I can add to my rewatch list. The beginning arc is not so great but I still like some of the characters.
The FL when possessed by that genie has the best visuals so far. Hoping to see her powers more in the future.
Mu Zhan Ting is the best character so far, he adds the much needed fun to the linear drama that lacks depth.

The bad: (I can ignore all of this if the story picks up by the end since it is my fav genre with a talented cast)
Zhang Ling He's character seems washed out for some reason.
The visuals are sadly lacking. They remind me of Ashes of love which came out in 2018. The lack is especially jarring because I am currently watching the Dashing Youth as well which has really good visuals. The genie looks so bad, the Last immortal's water condensing beast looked way better than this hastily put together genie.
What's more, since it Xianxia the visuals were one of the most important part of the drama.
Jing Tian is a gorgeous gorgeous woman and has that otherworldly look that makes it difficult for me to see her as a character. I can never forget that she is an actor. I liked her better in Wonderland of Love.

I don't know why I can't seem to get into this drama, does it really lack the depth? When it suddenly came out, I was so damn excited but now I just seem to skip through the scenes for the sake of it.

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Liu Meng Li is a beautiful and kind goddess!

The Best parts:
1. Liu Meng Li, what a beautiful, smart, and kind character. She was so damn good, I'm glad she got the happy ending. Happy endings don't necessarily need to have romance, although I do prefer it in my dramas. I prefer to watch women like this in dramas compared to ones that are hell bent on destroying their friends over a perceived insult or a man. They chose the right actress to play the role, she breathed life into that character.
2. Yun Tian He, another lovely character that steals your heart. I must say the writers did a beautiful job with these two characters. It was amazing how he always thought good of everyone and this is something that should be protected but we rarely do. We tend to scoff at such naivety, but that's what all of us need. The bitterness is just dragging us all down.

The Meh parts:
1. The story lacked depth and I skipped through lot of scenes just to focus on the scenes with the foursome.
2. The romance was very low key. I wanted to see more of it.
3. A shitshow of a sect that was ruled by corrupt people who called themselves the good people.
4. I loved Xuan Ying, hoped he had a better story arc though. He was gone just like that.
5. I tried to like Ling Sha but she is too damn frivolous. I also felt that maybe had another actress played this role, it would have turned out better. Someone with more charisma. I did like the actress in Blossoms but this character was not done right.

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Adorable! The kisses are lit!

The actors and the characters are such good fit. They all did such a good job on this one. The costumes are also so beautiful. This is tiny bite that I won't mind rewatching a few times. The lead couple were terrific and adorable. I wonder thought what he was doing down there for 100 years, would have liked seeing some flashback to the time he spent there.

I didn't take her being the demon realm's ruler seriously as there was barely any depth to that aspect of her character. It was supposed to be a light hearted drama and it did so damn well in the genre. The kissing scenes were done just right.

I read a review that this was Xianxia without Angst, and I thought okay I want to watch a adorable short & sweet romance like that. There was just a pinch of Angst that would have had me going for the Yin Mo Ting neck, but all is good since he did not end up consummating his relationship with Lin Qian Yu.

Nangong Xin Lan / Lin Qian Yu reminded me of Georgina sparks, the looks and the entire vibe she has going on for the drama.

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Brilliant Cast! Intriguing Characters! Worth the watch!

The best part about this drama are the leads, their witty & intelligent banter made me like them. In the beginning, I liked the ML more than the FL, because he was actually pretty kind and decent person. In comparison, the Fl was kind of foxy with her schemes. I also liked how ML was open in showing his affection and was very much in love with her. So, I was rooting for them & hoping that we would find out more about the FL as the show progresses so that I can like her. And she grew on me, at the same time I continued to like ML for who he was.

That changed midway, I started liking FL more because she was very consistent with her feelings and made better decisions than ML most of the time, not always, but majority of it. The ML wasn't bad either but his thinking was hampered by his need to choose a life away from the scheming. Their intelligence and strategies weren't to be questioned, but I questioned ML's feelings for her in the latter episodes. The ML feelings constantly wavered, in the beginning, he was quick to blame her and even nicked her neck drawing blood in a fight, this was when he claimed to love her. To be honest, he was the one who used her more to achieve his goals, and she didn't complain. Once his goals were achieved, he just refused to listen to her even knowing that what she said was valid. Even when he had concerns he refused to talk it out with her. The second disappointment was when she was sick and he found out too late. Even then, he didn't make much efforts for her. He always needed to be prodded by his soldiers to make a move on her & even then sometimes didn't. I don't much like MLs like that. The change in his character was so obvious. What was sad about their breakup in episode 29 was that even with how silent it was, it was violent, he treated her as if she had something to gain from asking him to be the crown prince, other than maybe a chance for him to survive longer. She is a warrior who was never really interested in the court & cared more about her soldiers. If it wasn't for him, her father and she would have probably come up with some other strategy to save their army from the likes of that cowardly & honestly silly emperor. Even with all the claims of loving her, his actions fell short.

Thank god for the final 10 episodes, ML was back to his earlier self where he seemed to care a lot about the FL. And I'm glad that it was that version of him that ended up with her. One thing you got to give the guy credit for, even though they fought a lot of time, he never once considered loving anyone else. Even when the emperor gave him a concubine, he was upfront and told her that he would never love her but all he could give her was the title of lady of excellency, Apart from that she couldn't have anything from him.

In contrast to the ups and downs between the leads, the relationship between the Tao Zi & Chang Er was very adorable and they were very consistent about each other throughout the drama. Chang Er was a warrior in his own right and still made sure to treat Tao Zi well. They understood each other.

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Had potential

The name Gen Z is just not well-suited for the drama. I disagreed with a lot of ways the things were handled by the grown ups in the drama. The whole concept of the drama was not for me. But I can say that the master-disciple relationship between the Xing Zheng and Sun Tou Tou had a lot of potential.

I'm not a fan of Tian Zhen and couldn't actually see him in favorable light once he left Sun Tou Tou drunk alone, where she almost drowned. He was too damn irresponsible at all times. Never stepping up when he made any mistakes, always allowing others to take the blame for him. Let's not forget that in order to alleviate his guilt about Meng Meng, he tried to keep her with him so that he could treat even knowing that it was beyond his expertise. I could only like him for the last part of the story because I chose to turn a blind eye to all of these things & because that's what Sun Tou Tou wanted.

I couldn't believe the way things ended for Meng Meng, what she needed was a therapist not Tian Zhen who wasn't capable of taking care of her. Her parents were even worse, trying to lock her up as if she was some monster. They all failed the poor child.

I didn't much care for how Ling Lan treated Sun Tou Tou, telling her to leave even without giving her the chance to prove that she wasn't guilty. Sun Tou Tou was a such a bright light throughout the drama, she was childish at times knowing that she would be kicked out even if she behaved, not really believing the whole thing about her being the descendant.

Zhao Lusi was the one who made the drama worth watching, her performance as an orphan who knew that she could be kicked out if she stepped one foot out of the line was marvelous. She is a joy to watch & it broke my heart every time she was blamed for things that weren't her fault. She got so used to it that she didn't hesitate in taking the blame & being selfless when she thought it would be better for her master's family.

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I was surprised to see Park Min Young & Song Kang Paired together.

I was intrigued by the actors playing the leads, which brought me here.

Ep 1: Having watched Cho Young Pil go crazy over weather forecast in Samdalri, I was happy to see another crazy forecaster in Shi Woo. I liked how he stood up to Ha Kyung when he knew he was right. I think him calling her out on her personal issues was a bit too much. Now, let's talk about the trashy ex. Moron got caught cheating, so he married the woman he cheated with. He took half of the expensive stuff as if it was his own, wants the FL to sell the apartment and split the costs (this maybe is fine, since they weren't married) But he wasn't remorseful about his actions at all. FL looked heartbroken when she caught him in the act. Gives me the eck!

Ep 2: What an horrible ex to have. Not only is he even a little bit apologetic, but he goes around flaunting his relationship with his new wife without even consideration for her feelings. Whenever him and his wife come on screen they spoil the whole watching experience for me. The leads have good chemistry together. I'm so glad that Ha Kyung finally spoke her mind. The guy didn't contribute to most of it. She was the one who paid for most of the stuff including the house they were living in. He wanted to go half when all he paid was for 7%. He had the guts to ask for those things after he cheated on her. So damn low. Shee Woo's ex isn't any better either. She keep pretending as if she is gods gift to the world.

Ep 3 to Ep 8: Both Shee Woo & Ha Kyung are gradually learning to trust each other. They are quite a few setbacks which include their idiot exes who can't seem to lie in the beds they made. Ki Joon is such a hypocrite, it was fine when he lived with Ha kyung before but he can't accept his wife's past because she lived with another dude before she got hitched to him. She isn't any better, why not be upfront about her past. I think she got together with Ki Joon because she thought he had money, but learning that he doesn't have much and that they both would have to work to earn a house for themselves seems to make her so uncomfortable. As if someone owes her a house. Now that they both have found out that their exes are dating each other, pretty sure they are going to go out of their way to tell them that they are wrong to be dating.

Ep 9 to Ep 16: This arc was very frustrating to watch. The leads kept dragging the same issue without resolving it. It was frustrating and painful to watch. Why suggest break up if you don't want to? You clearly have different ideas of what you want from life. One wants to be married the other doesn't. Why torture each other needlessly? Is there not going to be any resentment down the line? I was so upset with how Shee Woo was dealing with things that I wanted Ha Kyung to meet someone else at this point. Someone who wouldn't make her constantly doubt her worth. At the same time, I felt that Shee Woo was in need of a therapist. If after dealing with his issues he still felt the same way about marriage then that would have been more logical.

As much as I like them for a short arc, it wasn't that fun to watch. It was interesting but that's about it.

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All the couples are great!

I started this drama especially to watch Shin Hye Sun & Sun Hun together and they were so damn good. All the couples in the drama were so well-written. They were loyal to each other, cared for each other, and didn't give up on each other even during hardships. Many of them temporarily retreated but then came back strong in pursuit of their loved, which was so endearing.

I was bit afraid about the Sang Tae being a jerk to Mi Jung not just because of his dead wife but because of his chaotic family. There was that one instance in the beginning when he tried to put a wall between them, but it handled nicely by his father. His father was such a sensible person throughout the series. Apart from the part when the boys were hit on their calves, I really liked the way they handled parenting those kids. With so many of them under a small roof, it could have turned bad but they both handled it so well. Mi Jung's ex was deadbeat father even when he was given the chance to bond with them he always chose to be selfish. He had no business having more children who he might end up leaving in the future. I didn't like that Mi Jung held the children against him when he cheated. But looking at how the ex behaved majority of time, Mi Jung made the right decision. The kids wouldn't have grown up so well-mannered or even nice under his care.

Ho Tae & Soo Young were good for each other as well. Despite their past decisions, they grew up well. It was good to see Ho Tae growth from the thief who stole from his sister to a successful director.

All the parents in the drama were chaotic enough to give me a headache. From the parents in law who didn't want their son in law to move on, to the parents who thought their son were too good for the women they chose. That's the only part of the drama that I could do without.

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A funnier and more romantic version of the 2016 drama of the same name.

I watched this one first and liked it on the first go. As I was about to rewatch it, I discovered the 2016 drama, which is was watched for the first time, before rewatching this one. Both dramas have their appeal. Where the 2016 drama has more depth and sticks to the crime tone more, this one is more sillier and funny. The ML is both are very attractive, however, even that didn't much endear me to the 2016 drama, as it lacked romance. They dropped the ball on that one.

This 2023 version picked up that ball and gave us better romance, even balancing other genres well. This version clearly has a higher rewatch value for me. (Already seen it twice) Sometimes this silliness is just what we need in life to make us laugh. I liked certain aspects of this story better, especially the part about the FL being the one to loose a friend to murder. It just added more to her character.

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One of Park Seo Joon's best performances. And Kim Da Mi, never disappoints.

Jo Yi Seo was such a complex character that stole the show whenever she was on screen. It was honestly hard to look at anyone else with the kind of energy she brought to the table. There are things that I didn't like about her character, like her first instinct is to always look out for herself and who she values in a way that may harm others. She doesn't care about collateral damage at all. Initially, she is always intolerant of other beliefs and preferences (relatable for all I'm sure), saying cruel things to anyone who doesn't fit the mold. Which is quite surprising, since she is someone who doesn't fit it at all.
What I do like is, she does apologize and her apologies always appear sincere, even though they might be due to the scolding she has received from the ML. But what can you do, when your mother doesn't care about such things and just cheers you on no matter what you do. Even with her sociopathic tendencies, she had a little heart and she needed someone to guide her. While that be one excuse we can use to defend the character, its just that. Her character was fun to watch and kept things interesting.

Out of all the Park Seo Joon's Drama, this happens to be the one that I'm impressed the most with. It is easy to act all goofy, but the emotions he brought to his characters were simply great. His character was also pretty solid and someone who stuck to his beliefs no matter what. Surprisingly, he was one of the characters that was more open to change as well. What he didn't knew, he learned and wasn't ashamed of learning from someone younger that him.

The Romance:
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There were times when it seemed like it would be natural for Park Sae Roy and Oh Soo Ah to end up together, especially with the way he noticed only her even when Yi Seo was in the room and his stubborn insistence that the he liked Soo Ah, despite anything.

But being with Oh Soo Ah wouldn't have helped him achieve the success & revenge that he was so thirsty for. Without Yi Seo, he probably would have had a very hard time and might have taken additional years to achieve those goals. What Oh Soo Ah achieved through her years of patience is just as important. She was just as lonely as Sae Roy, so in a way, it seemed a bit sad that they didn't end up together. Rather than both of them spending their time apart and alone, they could have worked together, helped each other grow but they each made a choice that separated their paths, ultimately leading to different destinations.

Coming to Yi Seo, she was kind of saint when it came to the romantic aspect. She fell first and everything she did was for Sae Roy (Of course that doesn't negate the satisfactions she received from helping him achieve things no one else could). That is my problem with her romance arc. She was one that was more in love with him. It took him so many years to actually realize what he felt for her. While Yi Seo has sociopathic tendencies, she is not a full on sociopath. She has the capability of understanding & empathizing when taught. So, she must have felt the rejection time and again, especially when he chose to go to Soo Ah. Her pursuit of him was sometimes fun to watch and others just sad. The level of patience she showed for someone so young was commendable. But initially, her feelings were somewhat of a burden to Sae Roy. We did see him reject her, but from his face it was so easy to see he was conflicted and confused whenever she expressed her feelings.
Sae Roy needed to much prodding to come to his senses about his feelings for Yi Seo. Had there been a SML wo could have swayed Yi Seo a little, it could have been much more fun to watch. While Jang Geun Soo tried, he just was an adorable character that seemed a little too young for Yi Seo. Yi Seo was simply someone too old for her age. It was only before she was kidnapped when he was on a date with Sooh Ah that we were finally able to have a clear idea of his feelings for her. Even then, it took a kidnapping.

The worst part about this drama is the the final time skip to 4 years later. They just missed showing us the gradual growth not only regarding the romance but also the development of their brand (IC). It was such a missed opportunity. Even thought they had limited episodes to put that all in, they could have shown us bits and pieces of how things unfolded in those 4 years.

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A family of choice, abandoned by their mothers, raised by devoted fathers.

Relationship between the three friends who grew up together:
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From the get go, it was easy to see that Jian Jian clearly favored Ling Xiao over He Zi Qiu. She made Zi Qiu's life quite difficult and it made me a bit worried about what kind of man Zi Qiu would grow up to be, to always have to beg for affection. But thankfully, he turned out all right. Overtime, she outgrew the little jealously she felt about him becoming her brother and Zi Qiu's mother becoming her step-mother. But we could see that she took him for granted because he agreed to everything she wanted. And maybe that allowed him to have fun along with her, be a little naughty and forget that his mother left him to a stranger who could have treated him badly. Next, we have Ling Xiao, who was treated cruelly by his own mother, then later abandoned without much care. He had to grow up too early, compared to Jian Jian and Zi Qiu who were always lost in their own mischief. He was the mother of their friend group, who had look after both of them once he decided that they were his family. It was painful to see how life split the three apart, and for a moment I wondered if they would ever be the same.

The Best Fathers :
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Li Hai Chao: The best parent I have ever seen in any stories. Just how generous can a person be? There is nothing you can hate about him. He is made of all the good stuff in the world. Seeing that he lost his wife to childbirth, he could have become just as vile as Chen Ting and mistreated his child. But he was never that kind of person, he raised a daughter who was maybe a bit mischievous but all in all had a happy soul. He took in Zi Qiu and always treated ling Xiao well. He was both a mother and father to all three children who grew up to become the decent human beings they were. It was easy to see his genuine care for the children. He just eluded warmth. I was glad we had a character like that to balanced out the selfish mothers.
Ling He Ping: I wasn't a fan of him since he was more of an absentee father. Normally, it would have been understandable as he was the primary breadwinner of the family. But his absence resulted in the psychological trauma faced by his only living son who was neglected and mistreated by his mother. For far too long, He Ping humored Chen Ting at the cost of his child's mental health. I'm usually someone who is against violence and don't even tolerate excuses for slaps. But I didn't feel sorry when Chen Ting was slapped. What a poor excuse for a mother. Once she was out of the picture, Ling He Ping was finally focused on his child and became a decent father who started looking after his son.

Mothers who abandoned their sons:
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Chen Ting: What a horrible character. I wonder where the ideas for this character came from. I do hope people who have mothers like these have grown up at least as well adjusted as Ling Xiao or are holding on and trying their best to live their life. She first mistreats her son, then abandons him without looking back, she then goes on to marry someone else and have another child (wth was going on in her mind to have another one. She is not a mother material), has an injury so now all the adults in her life don't want to take care of her so Xiao has to, when he has no obligations to do so. But he is guilt tripped into doing so. Even after he has fulfilled his duty as her "son", she then forces him to stay with them for more years. When is able to get rid of her tentacles and come back to a place where he was happy, she finds it in herself to come play with his head. She is mad at the woman he loves, hates her because that woman cared more for Xiao than her selfish ass ever did, then she tries to set her son up on a date with another woman, as if that's not enough she tries to kill herself leaving behind a letter for Xiao to find. She never had any mercy on her son. (One of the ickiest characters I have come across)

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