Cykodramaqueen

Melodrama with some sports and romance elements

This started off quite well; it had a lot of promise and I liked it better than 2521 ( which I dropped at Ep 14) It’s not a rom-com, that’s why I say it’s a melodrama- which means there’s a lot of crying, relationship problems, unresolved past issues and wait... more crying.

The FL is an ex-national team badminton player. She “ran away” for three years because of an incident and has never resolved it. The ML is a promising badminton player who had been hiding behind his sister’s shadow his whole life and is desperate for his parents and the world’s attention. Both found solace and comfort in each other, and eventually love starts to develop. They are quite cute together, and there is some skinship ;) but it’s not the centre of the storyline.

You have your typical side couples, side teammates who initially hate you, treat you badly then after a long while start to stand up for you and encourage you. Some issues with the writing and characters eg the coach. Head coach and assistant coach are pretty incompetent- very old school kind of training, not encouraging nor inspiring. [Spoiler: Male doubles team- one player pushed his partner to the floor, grabbed his racket to hit the shuttlecock. Umm.. I don’t think that kind of play is EVER allowed on the court. End spoiler]

Initially rated it a 8/10, now dropping it to a 7.5. It’s getting kinda slow and draggy. Let’s see how it develops and ends. ;)

Update: Ending was a nice wrap up of all characters. I still didn’t like the mother: it remained quite draggy throughout the last 5 episodes which was unfortunate. I did complete it but ff here and there.

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More of a healing drama

I don’t like storylines where a person is falsely accused of some misdeed or misconduct, and the public suddenly turns against them so fast without concrete evidence and without knowing the full story, quick to judge. And the victim has no way to vindicate herself- I which I find incredulous it being 2024 with all its advance tech etc…

Anyhow, so ya. That’s how the story goes for our FL to run away back to her hometown. It’s very much a healing drama, so there will be lots of crying. I would say the main underlying ripple here would be the issue of unforgiveness, which involves not only the main leads but the families as well. The comedy and supporting cast are not too bad, I was able to watch without ff too much ;)

The romance and chemistry is not so evident. So if you’re looking for that then you will be disappointed. Both actors did a great job though, and I’ve like Ji Chang Wook since Healer, but his other dramas after were not so promising.

All in all this was a pretty good watch. Just get ready those tissues!

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A sports drama with some romance

I like both Gina Jin and Wang Anyu, so I started this drama with a higher expectation. In terms of production and cinematography - it’s a good production. Voices are not dubbed and the quality is good. It’s an older woman younger man theme, with 7 years difference in age. She is his personal coach, he is the athlete striving to win and get into the national team.

The sports aspect was interesting and engaging enough. It shows how he trains, his struggles and obstacles he has to overcome; his relationship with his teammates and opponents etc. She as his personal coach did not do very much in terms of “training” but there was one scene where she shows herself doing some Pilates which I liked! Her role basically was more encouraging and guiding him in his path.

As for the relationship aspect, I found this disappointing. His character was really childish, pouty and throwing tantrums. I’m glad at some point he manned up and started taking the lead, but it was short-lived only for a few episodes. It then went back to being childish. So it didn’t quite jive w me. I preferred the characters in Why Women Love which is also Gina Jin with another ML. There were some nice kissing and PDA scenes after they got together ;)

Overall, it was a good watch. No silly tropes or typical CEO boss type themes, which I’m glad!!

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The more I watch, the more annoyed!!

OH MY #^##^^!!! It’s got all the annoying elements- lack of communication✔️ SO MANY misunderstandings✔️ FL going to male love rival for help instead of talking with her husband✔️ Push and pull✔️ Stupidity✔️

Sigh... it started off well. You have the usual overbearing CEO, accidental falls and kisses, FL gets tricked and then of course the contract marriage. It was kinda cute and there were loving and caring moments, but then it started getting sour and pure angst after episode 10. Too much of the push and pull factor. They would seem to be progressing in the romance, even have kisses and PDA, then the next day it would be back to square one of pretending, bickering and being cowards. One step forwards two steps back. Serious lack of communication, can’t understand.

Gu Xixi (FL) is the most annoying character. One minute she’ll be loving towards Yin Sichen, the next she’ll be cold and uncaring. And she’s always so nice to Mo Zixin (love rival) who clearly likes her oblivious to the fact that her husband is unhappy about it. Even after she confesses she loves Yin Sichen, MZ is still crossing boundaries giving her flowers and bubble tea in front of her husband in their home! And she accepts it willingly!!! Dumbfounded. To the scriptwriter, please don’t write stories like this anymore.

I haven’t finished this yet, but I’m already screaming at the screen a lot. Lol...
Update: after finishing this, I still stand with what I wrote. More typical and annoying scenes towards the end. All in all, the script could have been written much better. There’s a lot of PDA , so just skip and FF the annoying scenes ;)

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Too long and draggy

45 episodes!! Wayyyyy too long... it was fine until around episode 15, then it just became repetitive going in circles, same ol same ol... towards the end it got a little more interesting.

ML is your CEO, typical but not so typical. He’s not that bossy or domineering, and he treats the FL well. He fell in love at first sight, and he was very focused on her throughout. No silly break ups, and they had rather good communication and discussed their problems and issues. The only thing I didn’t like was how he patted her head, pinched her cheeks and pulled her ears. What is she, your pet???! Kissing scenes were quite nice. Oh, and I couldn’t stand his dressing and outfits. Some were quite classy, but generally was eewwww.

FL was good- good character, not short nor stupid. Independent, clever, pretty and tall! Her character and development was quite well done as well.

SML was so annoying... this is the typical 3rd party where he can’t give up nor move on and kept trying to harass her. Bai Xioman was another irritating/ annoying/ infurioating character. Every time she came on screen I just forwarded all her scenes!

Btw, I skipped A LOT, a lot a lot a lot! Yes it was that boring. I think 25-30 episodes would have suffice.

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Ignore the negative reviews!

Don’t know why some reviewers are hating this so much? Maybe they were “hired” to spread bad reviews lol. I personally am enjoying it very much.

He Yan is the female lead- from young she had to grow up as a boy to so-called replace her stepbrother because he was sickly ? Not quite sure why, but she grew up strong and proved herself worthy and smart and became a renowned general. True the first episode was very quick to explain the background story- how she was “late” to help with the battle and her mentor was killed. She wanted to explain the situation to the palace but was poisoned and blinded, and eventually killed. However, she was saved by her master (I believe the one who taught her martial arts and how to fight) and now she wants to get revenge and start over, having to train and rise up to the ranks of General again.

I LIKE THE PLOT! It’s very good, and there’s a good balance of conspiracy, humour (amongst the other recruits in the training camp), romance (for sure!) and fight scenes. I must say, the unfolding of the plots are moving very fast, which I kinda like. Not like how Cdramas always dragggg it out till after 19 episodes before the big reveal. The ML is hot (not gonna lie haha) he has a death stare that will melt your heart! He accidentally finds out he is a she already in Ep 4. Their chemistry is sizzling!

It’s a definite highly recommended so far, and I’m wishing they release all the episodes now so I can BINGE WATCH!! :):):)

Update after completion:
The last two episodes were a tad disappointing after completing this. Too much screen time was given to Chu Zhao who tried to manipulate the king to marry He Yan to him. Instead, they shld have focused more on the final battle scenes, the strategies and the tragedies. Yeah, so the ending left a sort of unsatisfactory taste of what could be a great great drama!

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Frustrating YET AGAIN!

I’m writing this review at 1.00am... you can imagine my frustration after just finishing Epi 24 and needing to get this off my chest! ;(

The relationship between Xu Qingyao and Mo Lingzhe started off interesting. She was already engaged and had been with her boyfriend for ten years. She then catches her bf cheating on her, that’s when Mr Mo comes into the picture. He finds her intriguing and interesting, but she needed time to sort things out w her fiancé. So he relentlessly chases her in a subtle way, always being there for her, advising her and accompanying her when she was hurt or needed help. He was really present.

Eventually, she breaks off her engagement realising that they already had problems and they were not a good match. Later on she finally realises that she started to have feelings for MLZ and finally decides to stop running away and be with him. Yay!! Or so I thought... they get together in episode 16, and it was a nice confession scene. And then... of course. An introduction to a new character- Tang Xi which is MLZ ex gf (they broke up 8 years ago!) FYI, I can’t understand why these exes must come back into the picture after umpteen years and be all bitchy wanting to get their man back. This is where it all becomes frustrating. Although MLZ doesn’t entertain the ex, and XQY is seemingly quite understanding, I felt he was treating her much worse now that they are together than when he was pursuing her. After they start their relationship, he is more distant , cold and unavailable.

[Spoiler: For example, when tang xi sang with their band the song she wrote for him, and XQY left, he shld have run after her and comforted her. Instead he just continued playing and expected her to just wait for him. Another incident is when he received a phone call and went to work to meet Tang Xi leaving their band dinner, but not explaining to XQY why or who he is going to meet. During an important interview for XQY to get a promotion, MLZ took the opportunity to humiliate, insult and degrade her in front of all the judges / heads of department and the CEO of the company. He did that to point out that she was not suitable for that position, but was more suited for another role in the company. However, his treatment of her in the room was just too harsh and too cruel. And the last straw was when he stood her up for dinner because he rushed to take his ex to the hospital. It’s funny how ppl don’t check their phones or can’t feel the vibrate mode? In this day and age where communication is SO AVAILABLE, and yet they don’t communicate End spoiler]

The whole relationship development just seemed unbalanced and just... weird. The other couples were... meh! I liked the idea of young guy with older successfully woman, but Xu Wei was just a silly little puppy doing all the chores and cooking for her. (If you like younger guy older woman themes, try My Fated Boy. It’s much better) I did like Fang Qi- I thought she is very pretty, and flexible! I read she trained as a classical dancer thus the split on the sofa and superb foot arch! As for the 3rd couple... OH SO ANNOYING. Lin Sin Yu is constantly falling down.. and whining. Sheesh... just fast forwarded most of her scenes.

Now for the OST, the one song for their intro is horrible. Didn’t like it at all. No memorable song in the drama. Sorry to say, this is not a recommended watch. Let’s hope these Chinese drama writers improve on their writing and storylines.

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Too slowww and draggy

I know many reviewers are loving this drama. The whole setting and storyline is great. The acting is fantastic. The delivery.. uhm, this is where it gets draggy. Walking in slow motion like 0.5x speed, 3 different angles of sitting on the bench, or in the kitchen… sigh. Typical kdrama style.

I’m glad Lee Sung Kyung is diversifying her roles, away from the usual romcoms, but I didn’t really like her in this role. Did she pull it off? Yes! Kim Young Kwang also delivered his role well. Maybe 12 episodes would have been better? The general mood was just depressing. I was fast forwarding too much the last few episodes. The ending was realistic, but a happy one ;) No real memorable song in the OST, which is a shame.

It’s a melodrama, real slowwww; so just be prepared before starting this. I will say it’s better than The Interest of Love ;);)

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Boring ending

What started out really interesting, became mundane, repetitive, dragged on and dull at the end. Which is really sad because I like the ML

The FL had serious issues with her acting. Always looking annoyed with the same expression, and just couldn’t carry the role. So sorry to the actress but it was just very flat and no chemistry with the ML. 2nd couple were quite forced as well, no real connection there.

The storyline is the most basic, poor girl rich boy, mother gives her money to break up, which she accepts!! That’s what made it interesting, but the remaining episodes could not live up to any excitement or interest. Was this production on a budget? The friend’s restaurant always had NO customers, and their wedding at the end had no one else attending??!! The final episode was a bore.

Very harsh, so sorry. It could have been so much better. :(

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Not too bad ;)

Hmm.. some mixed reviews here. It started off quite interesting, some slapstick humour, some unexpected twists in the plots but somehow ended up to be a normal typical kdrama with lots of melancholic soppy scenes.

There will be some characters you will just hate: for me they were Seung Hi aka the mistress and the Dr Cha’s MIL!! For seung hi- she was in the US for 15 years? Couldn’t she just forget about In-Ho and find another man of her own? She wanted a father figure to her daughter and he was the best choice? Sheesh… and how she was just adamant until almost the end got me all riled up. The MIL was just trash. Used her daughter-in-law, but didn’t want to let her son save her; used her to evade taxes and treated her like a slave cleaning and cooking.

It’s not a romance drama, so don’t expect anything of that sort. Many didn’t like the ending as they wanted Dr Cha to get together with Dr Roy; but in all reality I also couldn’t see that happening. The ending is definitely a realistic and good one imo. The last few episodes were a bit of a drag- the mother being ill and all… became too soppy and boring.

Should you watch it? Yes I think so.. but I did ff quite a bit as well ;)

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Second half is better- more romance! But then...

This is actually one whole drama, don’t know why MDL split it into Part 1&2.

But yes.. finally this second half has way more relationship development of our two leads Ling Buyi and Cheng Shaoshang. I’m also liking the character development of both of them, learning to adjust to each other’s character and desires; openly communicating and apologising where necessary. And of course I love how Ling Buyi professes his undying love for her in such magnanimous ways :):):) and we get two very sweet, innocent, on screen kiss ;) Gosh the way Wu Lei looks so intently into her eyes.. it’s so dreamy :):)

And we also get justice! Yes for all the bitchiness we the audience had to put up with.. some justice has been served!

However.. sigh. Towards the end the storyline gets more morbid, and unfortunately our main couple did not do so well. And I’m finding it boring :(:( The essence of this whole drama is about revenge and unforgiveness, which is truly sad. The ending is a happy one though. And I should point out that the violence during the fight scenes are very graphic for a Chinese drama.

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A MUST WATCH!!

This is a MUST-WATCH Kdrama!! Every episode gets more and more interesting and gripping (I’ve binge-watched until Epi 18! ><.. update: now completed!)

I’m not one who fancies Korean fantasy dramas, I don’t really care for goblins/ magic etc.. I didn’t finish Goblin, Tale of the Nine Tailed, Korean Odyssey... but this one has captured my undivided attention!!! :):):)

The storyline is riveting, each episode gets better and better, and the character development is so good! It probably reminds me of The Lord of the Rings (there’s one scene where all the mages were arguing about the Ice stone, it’s like when they were arguing what to do with the One Ring).

The only small dissatisfaction I have is the FL Jung So Min. As Mudeok she is fine (which is her primary role) but as the Shadow Assassin she doesn’t quite pull it off. Even with her serious trying-to-be-ruthless expressions, mehhh, it didn’t quite cut it for me. However, she pulled it off quite well for the final episode. Every other cast member was fantastic!! I especially love the love triangles!! 🤣❤️

A definite on your watchlist!!

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Sorry not a 10 :(

Please don’t hate me... lol. Seeing majority of all the other reviews are 8.5 and above! I honestly cannot give it THAT much credit.

First of all the actors: Yang Yang - visuals (hell yeah!) He looks good, good, good! Especially the desert scene coming out of the jeep ;) Kissing- nicely done! :) As for Dilraba, it’s my first drama watching her. To be honest I don’t really fancy her, or think she’s all that great. Her voice was a little high pitched, but her acting was quite ok. She looked really good in that red dress ;) however her character as an actress was just too unbelievable ie she was just too kind and sweet. Their chemistry was hmm ok... it seemed a little fake and forced. But the kiss and bed scenes were nice and hot to watch ;) Also their marriage was a little too good to be believable - no arguments or disagreements, so perfectly suited in humour and understanding, and everyone loved them. A bit far fetched. The romance development at the beginning was quite nice.

As for the storyline, I didn’t mind the gaming segment. It was just sad you don’t see the characters from the first half in the second half at all! The few episodes on the aerospace and Yu Tu’s job was boring, albeit the writers probably wanted to educate the audience about China’s progress in this field. And the episodes about Guan Zai being ill etc.. was completely redundant in my opinion. I skipped most of it.

I did like Yu Tu’s formal proposal, literally teared during that scene. It was quite different and very meaningful. Not a 10 for me, but definitely worth watching. It’s one of the better ones this year ;)

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SO BORING :(

I was shocked to see so many good reviews. Did we watch the same show??

The romance wasn’t that romantic. The first half was more interesting with them having underlying feelings for one another but their status would be questionable because of her background. After that, yeesh. The kisses were terrible and to be honest, GXF was like two different people. He’s the “Living Devil”- ruthless and merciless. But with her he’s like a puppy and trying to be comical... doesn’t quite match.

All the politics and power struggle - I did not even bother to watch. It was ff all the way. The other couples- boring. The comedy- boring. Music- boring. Sure yes- three women speaking up, fending for themselves, being successful in their careers etc... maybe it could have been better with 20 episodes? ;)

From Epi 21 I skipped to 26-27.. then to 40. Haha... just wanted to see the end. Even skipping that many episodes, I can still understand the final episode. Goes to show how much they dragged out the storyline. If you’re looking for a good historical drama, I would recommend Who Rules The World. That was really good:)

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Gripping and disturbing

Gripping? YES!! It’s one of those where you have to binge watch. I waited for quite awhile to watch both seasons at one go. Also, you have to be in the right frame of mind (ready to watch a revenge drama) to fully appreciate it.

Disturbing because the scenes are quite graphic. It’s rated 18+ and has lots of vulgar language, sex scenes, and multiple violent scenes including using hot curling iron and domestic abuse. Most of these scenes I had to fast forward, because I myself couldn’t stand to watch. I couldn’t understand why and how those bullies could get away with it; plus the home room teacher who just slaps the victim multiple times in the staff room! I read that this drama was based on a true story. I’m not sure how justice was carried out, but if it was not, the police and education system in Korea need to buck up!!

The two actors that stole the show imo were Lee Do Hyun and Shin Ye Eun. LDH played the ML, a young doctor who lost his father in a very tragic way. Haunted by the perpetrator, he was living in hell and wanted to help the FL (song Hye kyo) with her revenge plan. He managed to pull off a variety of personalities in this drama- the professional doc, the caring and protective man and (this is the best part!) the devil in him who will seek revenge and dreams of killing the murderer. His acting was top notch!

Shin Ye Eun played the teenage Park Yeonjin, who is the ring leader of the 5 person bully gang. I read that the director chose this actress because of her smile, and man was he spot on! Her eyes and smile in the most eerie and condescending manner gave me the chills just watching her! Her acting was just right, unlike Lim Yi Jeon who played the adult Yeonjin, whom I felt overacted wayyy too much. In fact the 5 gang bullies were quite ridiculous and overacting most of the time imo. Too much cursing, shouting and throwing rich kid/ can’t get my way tantrums.

Another character I liked was Ha do Yeong, the husband of Yeonjin. He in all his sophistication did everything right- gave her many chances to repent, and be remorseful of her past actions- but all he saw was the devil in his wife. I’m glad he had a happy ending.

The production and music background was just fantastic! Very modern and updated, chic and sophisticated. The music is like those you will find in US dramas, extremely compelling and draws you in. There were times where the plot became quite predictable, whereby the good guys “always win” and even when it seems they were losing, they were somehow one step ahead. Haha..

It’s a very good recommended watch. Again, be in the right frame of mind when you start this. The first episode is the most difficult as it has 90% of the bullying school scenes. :)

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