Cioran

Chinese dramas always leave you wanting more at the end. I can’t remember ever being fully satisfied with a finale. Luckily, we at least got some nice kisses and a beautiful love scene earlier on.
For me, the strongest part of the show was the main leads. They were absolutely stunning together and the chemistry between them was electric. All in all, a really great drama.
Quick tip: As for the subtitles, you can download the free Copyfish program, it does a pretty decent job with Chinese subs. The downside is that you basically have to manually crop/screenshot the lines to translate them, so watching a 15-minute episode takes way longer. Still, you can always just translate the most important lines and skip the rest.

It’s a happy ending, but the happiness comes literally in the last minute of the series.

All episodes are available here, but without English subtitles.
Chinese-only version: https://nnyy.in/dianshiju/20258808.html

All episodes are available here, but without English subtitles.
Chinese-only version: https://nnyy.in/dianshiju/20258808.html

I watched it on a Chinese website. There are only Chinese subtitles. I can send you the link if you're interested.

For me, those tropes just don’t hit the same anymore. They feel way too repetitive and not fresh at all. A bit of awkwardness and embarrassment is totally understandable (and can even be cute) especially on early dates, but in this case, at least for me, that charm was missing. FL and ML already had plenty of chances to get to know each other a little. They work together after all, but I still don’t really feel like their relationship has made any meaningful progress. They just seem so stiff and uncomfortable around each other.
Honestly, the part I liked most from today’s episode was their conversation on the bench after FL’s mom attacked. That felt real and actually moved their connection forward a bit.

Those ML and FL dates were so cringey, awkward, and honestly pretty unsuccessful. ML does the rich-guy cliché: takes her to a luxury boutique and buys her expensive dresses. FL takes him to an amusement park to rediscover their inner child. She gets whipped cream all over her mouth, he melts completely and falls even harder for her. Can there be more overused date ideas in K-romcoms? These are grown adults who already spent a passionate night together and are going to have a baby… and yet we get this childish nonsense and painfully shallow dialogue. I know romcoms allow some embarrassing moments, but there were just way too many cringey scenes here. I hate feeling second-hand embarrassment for the characters.

I finished all the episodes. And it remains pretty intense and serious right until the very last one.

Hope this is the last time Ying Du dies… but on the other hand, the actor looks so beautiful dying in his beloved’s arms 🥺
So, what are your first impressions of How Dare You? I’m thinking about starting it.

I think we might have misunderstood each other 🙂 When I said ‘pretty painless to watch’ I meant it’s actually very easy to watch, no heavy emotions or frustration. Sorry if it sounded negative! Ancient Bracelet is still my favorite though, the couple there is on another level 🔥

This drama really reminds me of Dominion and Devotion. The whole fake-eunuch trope, plus that constant undercurrent of sadness and melancholy that’s pretty much in every scene.
Both actresses absolutely nail the cross-dressing role. There’s a real depth to both series that most mini-dramas just don’t have. I’m really hoping the ending won’t be as mentally crushing as Dominion and Devotion was… fingers crossed.
But damn, what a strong start.

We don’t know that for sure yet, but it’s hard to imagine it being anyone else unless there’s some unexpected plot twist.

Ancient Bracelet is better and has a way more electrifying couple, but this drama is also pretty painless to watch.
From the newer ones, I recommend Shall We Dance. It probably has the most depth out of these three dramas (yes, it has that childhood friends-to-lovers trope that many people hate, but in this story it actually has some psychological justification and it’s even quite touching). Plus the main leads are excellent. Completely fresh, unfamiliar faces who don’t just look good but can actually act.

It’s not bad in my opinion, but it’s not exactly memorable either.
The fact that FL has to piece the truth together herself while everyone hides it from her does get frustrating. By now she’s been reborn three times already, and each "new" life comes with more knowledge about the secrets everyone else is keeping. The main villain is also pretty obvious from early on. Still, the acting is solid, even if there’s no real sizzling chemistry between the leads.
Visually the drama is gorgeous and the male lead in particular is extremely good-looking. I've really liked this actor ever since "Grab Your Love".

No, there isn’t really a lot of heavy misunderstandings or deep hurt here.
This drama keeps a lighthearted, almost comedic tone the whole time, so you won’t find any truly painful scenes or frustrating, drawn-out miscommunications. Even when the FL and ML are temporarily on “enemy” terms, it’s mostly playful bickering and funny teasing rather than real hatred or resentment. Overall, it’s just a fun, breezy watch with zero emotional trauma, perfect for relaxing viewing.

Nice to see you here! 😊 This drama is such a hidden gem. Everything just clicks. Whether the main couple is kissing or fighting, they look absolutely amazing on screen. I really hope we’ll get to see this actor as ML more often from now on. The FL is super charming too.

I agree. There have been FLs with much more squeaky, ear-grating voices than this one.

Great chemistry between ML and FL. Lots of sweet, romantic scenes with the couple. FL is a bit childish and has that baby-like voice, but the actress manages to make her character more adorable than annoying. So far, so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un7S4EicHe0

Unfortunately, something really didn’t work for me here. I didn’t like a single character in this drama and I wasn’t rooting for anyone. For my taste the characters were way too extravagant and perverse, but in a completely unappealing way. Everyone felt like the titular Sharp Blade in the Snow, too cold, too heartless to ever take their side. For me characters can have a broken moral compass as long as the actor manages to make that fate-crushed person believable and compelling through their performance. In this drama that just didn’t happen. And then there’s the ending, which raises way more questions than it answers. It’s been a long time since any drama left me this confused after watching it.