Catalyst1999

Actually the business portion was used more to highlight office politics, which felt quite realistic. Taking credit for others' hard work and blaming mistakes on your team members. The part that was rather uncommon was the appearance of mentors.

Thank you for your excellent review of this gem of a drama 😊

I didn't think much of Elvis Han on Secret of Three Kingdoms, but he has certainly improved since then. Loved his performance in this drama, especially the chemistry between the leads 🔥 The way their relationship evolved was so organic and believable. It's true that real love stories actually begin after Happy Endings in fairy tales and romcoms.

Ahhh there's a pattern. Just like when there are too many perfect 5's on Google reviews, i always wonder if the reviewers were paid 😬

I can't believe the number of 10s given to this drama! If the show ended when the ambush in the desert took place, then those 10s make sense.

Your analysis is on point. Duanwu should have remained true to herself. Such a waste of Lusi's talents in the 2nd half.

Liu Yining's weaknesses as an actor were so clear in this drama. The director and writer did not play to his strengths.

The casting for the secondary characters was atrocious. Most of them could not act. I kept wondering how they allocated their budget. The main baddies were not scary at all, especially after the gangster boss's mask was removed. At least with mask on, there was a sense of mystery - not that it was hard to guess his identity 🤣🤣

Agree with the 2FL's husky voice. Very sexy and nice to listen to.

So many bits that are disappointing. Noble idiocy was a big one. I would want to know if my loved one was on the verge of death. The time you have left becomes much more important.

Wasted potential indeed.

Hahaha. That was a weird fling 😂

I wonder if there was a real Dan Tuo. His ending was so sad. Couldn't help crying 😢

Thank you for your review. I didn’t know it was based on a true story…I was wondering how the writer did the research. There were lots of details that didn’t seem to be cooked up. Agree that Guo Qilin was not the right fit. Fortunately we had Francis Ng and Jiang Qilin 😄

Thank you for your well-written review. For me, this drama was more compelling than Hospital Playlist (which i dropped). Loved the chemistry between the three leads and brilliant writing. Wished the subs were better as i couldn't understand the medical terms.

Very good performances all around. From the leads to the supporting cast and especially the patients. Couldn't hold back tears for some of the patients, and Li 😢

Just started Ep1 and was surprised that Sima Yi could kungfu 🤣🤣

Haha I was imagining three musketeers but ancient china version 🤣🤣

Oooh…real life romance 💕 Nice 🥰

Did you like the sequel? I’m taking a break from Sima Yi, but want to dive into Secret. Read on MDL just now that the author also wrote Longest Night in Changan, Luoyang and Wind Blows. Very excited!

What do you mean by Dumas take?

I was surprised that I could start enjoying a character who started off the show by slaying people in broad daylight 😬 Eventually I was looking forward to the drama just to watch him, more than Sima Yi.

Do you think it was historically accurate that he ordered Cao Pi to marry Lady Zhen, to motivate his favoured son to fight for supremacy? That had such devastating consequences on personal levels and for the nation.

Btw it was quite cool to watch the young Tan Jianci and Yu Shuxin in this drama. They were not memorable though 🤣🤣

I was hoping he would work again after resolving his agency issues 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Love, love, love this review. I started watching this drama cos it was in one of your lists, and i think you've recommended it in one of our exchanges. Read your review after completing the show yesterday. The additional info from history books provided more insight for me. Thank you, PBG.

My favourite arcs were the early ones due to the phenomenal Cao Cao. The overall cast was also strong but Cao Cao was just too charismatic 😄

Hmmm... you've made me curious. I'll have to play ZWY scenes in both dramas side by side to listen 😝

Now that Jeremy Xu is older hopefully we can hear his real voice in his future dramas 🤞

Interesting. You're right about RJL. He's very monotonous. Did CY use his own voice in MLC?

TJC showcased his amazing ability in a scene in Love Me Love My Voice. I dropped the drama but it wasn’t cos of him.

I didn’t realize that ZWY could change his voice. I'm usually too immersed in his characters to notice 😁

Another person who's very skilled in voice acting is Yu Shuxin. Just a shame that she used her baby voice in many of her works.

Hahaha I usually prefer the actors to voice their own work, but you’re right about RM. Maybe her voice will become more pleasant as she ages 😆

The one person I beg that the production gods do not ever dub is Jeremy Xu. But most of his works do not use his sexy voice

Good review, PBG. You're now my absolute favourite reviewer on MDL. Too bad you don't watch kdramas. Haha.

I'm in the love-story-of-minglan camp :D One of my favourite bits of that drama was the chemistry between Minglan and her grandmother. Ning and her Luo grandma didn't quite get to that level, possibly due to the writing and skill level of Ren Min.

Thank you for clarifying my confusion on the relationship between FL and LJX. There wasn't an actual scene that showed her falling out with him. Lots of lovey dovey and the cliff scenes.

You're also right about the disproportionate time spent being siblings affected my lens in viewing the main leads as a couple. Plus Ren Min was out of her depth. She was just not convincing as someone who's in love. Zhang Wanyi was carrying the romance weight almost on his own. When I compared this drama's romance with his recent Are You The One, the couple vibe with Wang Churan was stronger. Another negative - RM's baby voice was very annoying, but not sure how she could change that.

Overall it was still a pleasant watch. Eye candy ML and villain helped :P

Thank you for your revuew, PBG ♥️ I was on the verge of dropping this drama, but pushed through after reading your review. In the current cdrama draught (that's what it feels like to me), it turned out to be okay.

One of the better performances from RJL. Have not watched this FL before. Her acting improved as the drama progressed. Quite sad that they killed off the ML 😢

Excellent drama. Excellent review. So glad I followed your recommendation to watch.

Thought it was just another hotshot-teacher-makes-miracles show based on the title and poster. Boy, was I wrong 😆

Like you said, I should have stopped at Ep 29. But curiosity got the better of me 🤣🤣 Surely they could have left some of the couples together. There are happy-ever-afters in real life too.

Strong cast. Zhang Ruoyun was brilliant. The young actors have lots of potential.

Overall, a gem of a show ♥️

Your 2020 Drama Ranking list convinced me to give the drama a try, and it was a fun watch. Thank you for organising your recommendations into my go-to lists, PBG ♥