Highly recommend!!!
I was not expecting this drama to become one of my favs of this year. From the very first episode I was laughing so hard. I was not expecting it to be this funny but the moment I saw credit roll on the screen in the middle of the episode, I knew it this was my type of drama. Their is no dearth of humour in this one. Quite a contrast and definitely a much needed relief from all the open/sad ending dramas and the serious ones that have been in vogue recently.Acting wise I am very impressed with Esther here. I think this type of role really suits her well. Though I loved her serious role as well (my journey to you) but she fits perfectly in these types of roles. Her chemistry with Ryan Ding is outstanding. After Moonlight this is their second collab and as expected they are amazing in their roles. Their interaction will make you laugh throughout the episodes. Production value from costume to CGI is top notch. I can re-watch this type of drama numerous times and would recommend it to all the reincarnation/transmigration genre fans to watch this one. Storywise if you were a fan of 'Romance of Tiger and Rose' then you would definitely like it. Even if you think the plot has been used so many times in webtoons or anime or in dramas I would still recommend you to watch this one for its amazing cast. Even if you are not the fan of the cast you should definitely watch it for its amazing comedy. You will not be disappointed.
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Liu Yunning and Zhao Lusi- I waited for this duo since the Long Ballad
I won't go as far as declaring it a masterpiece or the perfect drama of the year. Cdrama tends to go down the drain towards the second half most of the time which was the case here as well. Story wise, the premise was really good, though it depends on your personal preference for me I found myself skipping a lot especially in the second half. In the beginning it felt quite a mix of Novoland pearl and Princess Agent. The torturous life of FL and her evolution from a slave to an independent strong woman is what reminds me of the other two shows. Plus I am a sucker for a strong female sort of storylines hence I continued watching it despite everything. ML on the other hand looked like a jerk, snobbish and a typical cdrama ML but he was more than that. The more you watch the more you understand his pov. His own experience and the way he represented a life that was not full of roses to FL made his character more grounded. He never helped her in things or showed any affection to her, never bend his harsh rules for her or showed leniency whatever may come. His reasons were simple. 'You won't find kind hearted people out there so one should be strong enough not just physically but mentally as well to deal with a world like that without expecting someone's help.' That was the biggest contrast between him and the SML, who showed her a world full of kindness and goodness shit and what not. I understand him to some extent but would not agree with his ideologies of kindness returns kindness. This only works only in some cases but rest of the time it is pretty much what happens with FL during her business ventures in the beginning.Side cast in my opinion was not explored enough that I would find myself thinking about their characters. Except for another tomboy female (Shijie) I do not think there was anyone worth remembering. Her character though was strong and tried to portray an antagonist which people could sympathize with but she felt little extra at times and I couldn't feel much sympathy for her. Music was good and costumes were beautiful. l am Not a fan of CGI here they could have done better there but overall it was an intriguing drama. And obviously with one of my fav CPs. I wouldn't say it has much re-watch value but it is definitely a one time watch.
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Serious concept but no emotion
First of all the concept of the movie is pretty serious and giving it a low rating doesn't mean anybody takes it lightly. I don't know about the anime or manga from which it was adapted but I really didn't feel any emotions in this one. I didn't connect with any character. Acting wise it was okay...I guess...no one in particular from the main cast striked me as someone I would remember for long... however all the guardians in the movie were really good. I really don't know what kind of situation or pressure one goes through to even decide that this life is not worth living...but if I connect all that to this movie I didn't see anything that would make him take such a step. Or maybe they didn't show as much back story as it needed to connect to the viewers to understand and feel his pain for taking such measures. ML's family didn't look like a family in the first place. Everyone felt awkward around each other. Nobody really talked or behaved like a family member, no matter how estranged, there should be something to make the viewers believe that they were part of a family. Brother doesn't give a damn to explain anything or give more attention, spend more time or anything to ML even after the incident , yet he says he was there it was ML who didn't look. Except for his friend I don't think anyone felt close to ML and her role wasn't much to invest in either. You can give it a try but it was not my cup of tea. It felt it was missing the soul.Was this review helpful to you?
It is everything what we need in a revenge drama.
Song Hye kyo is a queen and she has proven this yet again especially after all those dramas that came before it and she was taunted for her acting. I felt her every emotion in this drama. Her pain, agony, guilt and her efforts to hold back her anger. It was a long journey for her character to achieve what she wanted and unlike many dramas where it all ends with revenge, I loved it that she felt remorse for everything. That makes a difference between a pure evil and a pure hearted human being. I couldn't hold back my tears in which she remembered her past when she was not involved in bullying.The story continues from where we left and it felt great to see karma hit all those bullies who made her life a living hell. But big applause to all the negative characters of this drama. Their acting was so good that I hated them to the core. It was satisfactory the way it ended. The music was great, cinematography was mesmerizing and as I said acting was top notch even those adorable kids.
Now that I have said all the good things, it's time for all the negative points.
First of all I felt no depth in all the negative characters. They were just pure evil. There was no grey side in them. I could understand if they had some traumatic past that turned them into this kind of people but we don't see anything that could explain their psychotic behaviour. The same goes for the man who killed ML's father. I mean the REASON!!! It was so dumb that I still cannot digest it. If he had some sort of past with him or anything along those lines I could atleast teeny tiny bit understand that behaviour but seriously 😒... Correct me if I am wrong but as far as I have read even Psychopaths don't kill someone who tries to save their lives. I dunno perhaps I was expecting little bit more from his story as he looked pretty interesting character and could add extra depth in ML's story. ML's character was fine and pure relief tbh whenever he came on screen it was like a fresh breath in all the dark and emotional mayhem of FL's life.
Another psychotic character was FL's mother. I just can't....sigh. Why just WHY was she so damn annoying. Not an ounce of love towards her very own child. What was the reason? Nothing! She just doesn't care at all. I really thought towards the end she might change. I thought when she will see her scars and all she would change just for once but ...nope no character development.
I didn't see any guilt in any negative character in this drama.
There is one more thing that I found really unnecessary and people might not agree with this. But I really want to point it out because it seems that it has become a trend in many Kdramas to have all those s*x scenes. I just don't see in what manner do they add anything in the storyline. Not that I find it bad or something but I am so tired seeing naked people in most of the western dramas these days already. Coming from an Asian family these kind of scenes are big no if you want to watch shows with your family. I love watching kdramas with my fam and just because of such scenes I just can't do that.
To conclude it all it is definitely one heck of a drama that you would not like to ignore. I am so happy that Song Hye kyo chose this role. She was amazing in this.
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YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS FOR SURE
The drama is pretty simple and family centric and writing too much about it will spoil the fun so I will write some bullet points for this one.- WELL ACTED: In comedy if actors are not good enough to express the right emotions then all the jokes fall flat pretty easily. All the actors had done a splendid job in the drama. Casting is superb.
-QUIRKY MUSIC: You would not expect such different choice of songs in historical dramas. Songs are really funny especially their lyrics. Suits the tone of comedy genre of the drama for sure.
-HISTORICAL COMEDY: I haven't seen this type of comedy drama in a while. It is very different from all the other shows. Think about all the funny moments actors would go through while shooting for a historical drama. Yup! that is what you will see here.
-FAMILY BOND: Very realistic portrayal of a family despite a comedy show. Everyday struggle, festivities, argument among siblings, mom's scolding, romance, emotional scenes...it has everything.
-ROMANCE: I really liked how they introduced all the male leads. All of them are different but so good with their respected partners that you would enjoy all of their interactions.
-NO BORING MOMENTS: Well it is COMEDY so obviously you won't feel bored even for a second. Even the elders will make you laugh so much. Sibling fights and their mom's constant nagging is really funny throughout the drama. All the misfortunes that male leads go through is really hilarious (I know it sounds wrong but you will get it after watching).
There are some slow scenes but they won't bother you that much.
If you are still hesitating to start this one then I would suggest you to just watch the first episode. You won't be able to stop after that :)
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Who the heck is writing this story
First impression: Very very questionable decisions taken by FL throughout the episodes that makes you wanna question whether the writer was high while writing the story or they think audience is pretty naive to accept it all.What irked me - being stalked for many years but still you (FL) won't share it with your family.
- No bodyguards even though you can easily afford some help.
- Walking alone on the streets at night despite danger to your life.
- FL doesn't ask police to help her but prefer to go to some secluded place.
- Instead of taking some evidence (like photos) she always leaves the scene and doesn't even confront her husband or friend.
What I liked- It is Jang Na Ra's genre.
- Loved the intensity of the show. Just first episode and everything is like bang boom boom.
- Suspense is really good the moment you think FL has figured out everything then things again go down the drain and everyone is sus again.(despite all those dumb decisions by FL you will be on the edge of your seats.)
- Actors are doing really good. Loving our 'Go back couples reunion.'
- No comments on storyline, too much is happening so it is little confusing to comment on it. Lets see how it will unfold, I have high expectations from Jang Na Ra. Show is watchable so far.
PS: The drama has created a web of twists and turns that it itself got entangled in it badly. Despite having amazing cast the storyline is really very bad. I am contemplating whether I should lose my remaining brain cells trying to understand the plot and continue it or just drop it now or wait till I hear that the plot has progressed well and it was not that bad after all. I doubt the latter though with each passing episode. This show could have been really very great if writers tried to do something different (we are all inundated with same type of plot already) and like sane people instead of justifying questionable decisions of actors, they could have made the story more realistic with some character growth. (sigh)
In conclusion I would suggest people : watch it at your own risk.
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WHATCH IT!!!
This drama is really very unique and I am not talking about the plot. We have seen many shows with similar plot (especially Japanese ones who are obsessed with this idea). But it is the way they interwoven the comedic aspects and the real life problems so subtly and effortlessly without imposing anything on viewers is really commendable. It has been a while since I enjoyed any Kdrama without yawning or feeling irritated with their stupid storylines. This show is definitely a breath of fresh air. The characters feel so real and relatable. Plus the comedy is not too much or too stupid. It balances out everything with the serious and emotional scenes that will bring tears in your eyes to all the banter of the main leads. Even the sub plot and the the rest of the cast is so enjoyable and fun to watch that you would either smile ear to ear or laugh your as* off through out the episode. I was little worried about the chemistry of the main lead but man... it is sizzling hot.Was this review helpful to you?
What a mess!
Ok first of all I had a huge expectation since I found out Seo Yea Ji and Sang Yeob would be there in the drama. I loved their acting in their earlier dramas so much. Save me and While you were sleeping are the best one among them. However this show...how should I put it...it had everything yet it was just so unsatisfactory that it was completely unbearable towards the end. My ques is what happened to the revenge part???? It became so weird in between that most of the time I was questioning the ultimate goal of Ra El and her fake mother. Unnecessary bickering, yelling, seducing and flashy outfits doesn't make the story compelling to viewers.Even the dialogues felt so boring...I mean who talks like that in real world? So much poetry! Ok I get it...its a drama it cant be real and blah blah blah...but it was so over the top that it was not making any sense. I was expecting more thrill and Revenge twist. What about her family? Just few flashbacks!! Thats it?? It was just Seo ye ji and park Byung Eun and his childhood trauma. So what!! Why should we care when he never really raised his voice against all the atrocities of his in laws and wife?? I must say it was pretty much ok till ep.10 but afterwards it was a pure mess. To all the people who really enjoyed this show I must say you guys really have a different taste altogether. I won't even bother to recommend this drama to anyone. Seo Yea Ji can do much better without this kind of scripts. Sigh! We really needed our queen back but not in these kind of stories.😑 Lee Sang Yeob's acting prowess was not even shown properly
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Good chemistry simple plot
This is a show that you should watch when you have nothing to watch in particular. You can just do your other chores while watching it in background. It is slowburn but pleasing especially in the beginning. There are all the normal tropes like family drama, sizzling chemistry, beautiful cast, foreign location, good score...yet it lacks in storyline. You will feel it after sometime. In the beginning you will be in trance the way FL and ML interact and believe me it is pretty real. Every little interaction, those subtle fidgeting moves and talking through eyes will definitely melt your heart but that is all. What lacked for me- I do not really connect with this sport (snooker/billiards ) first of all. For me it is a rich people's game like golf and I just don't feel any sports vibe from it. There is no adrenaline that you usually feel in this genre. Plus side cast is as usual pretty bland. They are there so that they can play the cupid for main lead. I was especially irked with FL's brother the way he was so obsessed with ML especially in the beginning, if they had put a bl tag I would have totally believed his actions in that way. Let me tell you NO BROTHER in this world would behave like that the way he was behaving. He was literally forcing the ship between his sis and ML. Anyway, you can give it a go to see the chemistry, or if you are the fans of main leads or just to enjoy beautiful location of Finland. There is nothing amazing or boring about it. It is a simple romantic drama with a touch of sports genre.Was this review helpful to you?
Not what I was expecting
After watching first few episodes all I can say is that the CGi, costumes, and over all production looks good but...when it comes to story...it lacks a lot. First of all the age difference is giving me weird vibes. I know it is xianxia and age doesn't really matter when we talk about all those immortals and stuff but man... I just can't think of the story with them being a romantic couple, especially after watching that little one with Yangmi's character. (He was amazing by the way). It would have worked great if they were just mentor and disciple...it doesn't have to be romantic to make it more interesting. Their chemistry look forced and Yangmi in her character looks like a beautiful mannequin without much expression, who is just there to look pretty and I am saying this despite being a big fan of Yangmi since ten miles of peach blossom. Gongjun to me has become a sort of actor who really struggles to outshine his earlier roles like the one from the world of honor. Partly it could be the direction or maybe the understanding of the character by the actor himself but I don't feel much emotions from him in any of his recently aired dramas. He looks handsome and all but his acting just doesn't look natural or believable. I am still waiting for him to get back to his game but this one is just okaish for me. Other characters in this drama are not bad but again not the best to keep me engaged. I found myself skipping most of the scenes. I sometimes think CGI looks all good but it takes away so much at the same time or perhaps they overdid it in this one. I am not sure if I would be continuing this drama and I am seriously worried for the other parts as well. This one atleast for me is one time watch at most.Was this review helpful to you?
