Cheeky Bee

It was okay. There were quite a few things I liked and quite a few things that I didn’t like.
The main problem for me was that the romance between the main characters felt forced. I think that might have been because of the female character.
She is bubbly, pouty and has a child like temperament. Her voice is very cutesy and the way she dresses is not very grown up.
The actress who portrays this role is very cute, very thin and very short.
All those things combined made me feel like I’m watching a 12 year old, which made the romance feel very weird to me.
I just couldn’t get into it and I felt no chemistry.

“For me, a good actor/actress can deliver a character that feels different in every role he/she portrays.“

I totally agree with you! I also think that type casting is a big problem. A lot of actors and actresses seem to be stuck in one type of role that they have to portray again and again. I still think that the characters they portray should feel different, but it can’t be easy.
A Good example is Park Shin Hey. The first drama I saw was You’re beautiful and I loved it, but after seeing her in some other series I got bored by the innocent, wide eyed, righteous characters she portrayed. No idea if it’s her acting skills or the directors being too unimaginative and lazy.

I’m in love with the student council president . I wanna hug him until he feels loved, keep him safe in my pocket and kick his mean old daddy where it hurts the most.

Thanks for the list! I love dramas that feature strong friendships.
I also like romance (bl, gl, hetero, I don’t care) if it’s well done and not cheesy, unrealistic or predictable. Unfortunately, I’ve had bad luck with finding romantic dramas I really like, so I’m going to switch to friendship and bromance. Your list is very helpful!
My favourite on your list is Guardian btw and I adore Killer and Healer as well.

Thanks for the review! It’s mostly how I felt watching the show as well and I haven’t read the comic either.
Honestly, I felt a little sorry for Shin Se Kyung . I think the biggest problem here was that her character was written poorly. Did her character get to be awesome in her job - no! Did she get to do anything remotely interesting after the first few episodes- no! Did the actress get the opportunity to show her skill- again I’d say no.
Instead the character had to be saved, wandered around without anything to do (like a lot), she cried (again, a lot), she was there so the other characters could fight and of course to cause Ha Baek to want to stay. Otherwise she had no real impact on the story.
I liked Ja Ya more than her which is weird.

Generally, there was too little character development.

I’ve seen the main leads and some of the other actors in other dramas and I think they are good actors. However the characters they had to act felt very superficial and flat.
I can’t even remember the female protagonists name... she was that boring and disappointing.
In the beginning she seemed interesting , she seemed tough, didn’t take any bullshit and had an interesting job. then suddenly she was downgraded and became what felt like a mere plot device. She was there to be saved and because they needed a reason for some of the characters to get into a fight. For a few episodes almost all her scenes were about that stupid land deal. And her job... well, I’d rather not talk about that disappointment .
I agree with you, stuff like that is definitely on the writers.

I agree. I had to stop watching BL because I couldn’t take it anymore. It was fun and cute at first but got old pretty fast. Especially the one dimensional characters and their „roles“ in the relationship.
In contrast this is so much more interesting . I hope there will be more like this!

Those videos of Jane made me feel physically sick. So scary. Stuff like that is what my parents used to warn me about.

That candy scene made me cry for the first time while watching this drama. My feelings were a mess. I also adored this arc in the Manhua. It's pretty awesome as well.
And like you said, they really managed to flesh out his character. I like it when characters aren't one dimensional - that gets boring pretty fast.
This is one of the subplots that I'd rate a 10 out of 10!

Thanks for the MV. I can understand how that made you curious. I really think that was one of the most powerful arcs in this drama. Still gives me shivers ...

@hello
I've never seen a violin scene but I'm already dreading it ;)

"that he composed some of the guqin pieces by watching Wang Yibo's hand movements. How cool is that!" That IS really cool! Agreed.

The flute was just one example for the little things that bothered me. I always get hung up on the details. Another example would be that cute black puppy dog wagging it's tail and running or "chasing" after Wuxian when he was a kid. Those vicious growling noises juxtaposed with the visual of that sweet puppy made me laugh so hard... I couldn't take it seriously.

Still the storyline is great enough that I'm watching it for the second time :)

@Joryenai
Maybe it's just me since I play the flute myself and I realized immediately that the movement of his fingers would never produce the sounds we heard.

Thanks for the information on the dizi and the video clips. They should officially make you a promoter of this show. You seem to always find the right links and clips.

If you liked the bromance, you could try Guardian. It’s rated lower, however the actors are simply amazing and much more professional. I enjoyed the story immensely.
I quite agree that the first half of the untamed wasn’t that engaging, but the second half was quite enjoyable at least in my opinion.

The main actors improve as well. In the beginning they seem a bit stiff, but they get much better later on.
Unfortunately some of the supporting actors don't and they tend to overact, but it's not that bad.

I loved the story and the MLs fit their roles perfectly, but I was really disappointed by how some details were done so sloppily. I don't even care about the low budget and special effects! Those were fine!
But some things could have easily been improved. For example Wei Wuxians flute... , it just looked ridiculous whenever Wei Wuxian was playing his flute because he wasn't even blowing over the mouthpiece and the movements of his fingers made no sense whatsoever.
Either don't show a close up or get someone to teach the actor the basics. Little details like that (and there were more) kept bothering me and stopped me from immersing myself into the drama properly.

Episode 39 did me in. The Xue Yang storyline forced me into one of the most intense expierences I had with this drama. I didnt't know what to think, what to feel, who to feel worse for,... That was really messed up! Especially that last scene with the candy really got to me.

I agree. When I started watching it, I wasn't so sure about the drama myself. However the second half is much more engaging and interesting. Moreover, I really liked the story itself. I wouldn't rate the drama 10 or 9 , though there are definetly moments that deserve a 10.

I have watched the series twice already and both times I enjoyed it immensely.
Of course it’s not perfect, there are some inconsistencies and the special effects could have been better, if they had a higher budget. But honestly, once I got into the story I didn’t even care anymore because the story is exciting and charming, the OST is wonderful and the two MLs won me over in a heartbeat :)
The ending is bittersweet and it made me shed a tear or two (or a hundred...) but it was worth it - at least to me :)

Honestly, the love that you feel in this drama is worth so much more than romance , kissing and what not in any regular drama. The actors are simply amazing! They made me fall in love with their characters. And anyway, showing love by kissing is for amateurs ;)

It’s not exactly two universes but something like that, so if you are not into fantasy , this might not be right for you. No comment on the ending though, sorry.

I’ve just finished watching it for the second time and I cried like I did the first time.