Cykodramaqueen

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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I had high hopes :(

I had high hopes for this drama, because I like Wu Lei… unfortunately it failed to deliver.

I think WL has to try a more sophisticated role - where he is not shabbily dressed, sitting wide- legged , wearing slippers and just being sooo ech! His roles in modern dramas are just not great. I know he probably wants to portray his acting skills rather than use his looks for his roles, but honestly his past few dramas were a let down.

The storyline is alright- it’s a sports drama. The struggles you face as a player, rejection, pressure, switching fields; then as a manager (FL) how to deal with your boss, the players, financial aid etc.. The whole drama just fell flat, not much excitement and the chemistry was lacking. The leads relationship development took AGES .. and by ep25 I just lost interest! They were still not together yet lol.

I was struggling to even get to ep25, lots of fast forwarding and skipping. Side characters were bland, music was uninteresting. You can give it a try, as many reviewers are calling it a healing drama.

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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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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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Great acting, storyline doesn’t make sense

Then again, most things in drama land doesn’t make sense ;);)

It’s the kind of drama where the bad guy will win win win all the way to the last episode, then he will fall or get justice in just 10mins! Yeah, I hate dramas like this. There’s so much more could be done, build and focus on, but unfortunately the writing did not support the hype it’s receiving.

First 3 episodes I found annoying; 4-12 were riveting, interesting and intense; last 4 episodes were a bummer. This is mostly where a lot of scenes didn’t make sense. Both lead actors did a great job though! And the ending was wrapped up quite nicely. I didn’t really care for the other side couples and other storylines. Found them redundant and boring.

Watch if you must, just don’t get your expectations too high.

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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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Annoying FL but good storyline

I just finished this.. I would say second half is definitely better than the first half. Many opinions did not like the mystery/ crime aspect, but I actually found that more interesting and engaging.

The biggest issue I had with this drama was the FL. Had to have 3 pauses, could not binge watch in one sitting as I found her character too annoying. It’s not the actress’s fault.. it’s the writers. They tried to make her look like a late thirties woman? With comments like “she looks too young to be Hae-Ee’s mother” DID NOT HELP at all. I understand many productions use actors and try to write them younger or older… but in this case it backfired. Also- her character was TOO DARN annoying!! She talked wayyy too much, was too nosy trying to butt in and control every situation. The first half of the drama was just intolerable to watch… I only continued because I DID LIKE the storyline and found it engaging!

Some reviewers also commented on the FL’s dressing and hair- also not her fault but the writers and producers. I did not like her hair, and even though she is a working mum per say, having a tough life juggling the business, raising a daughter and taking care of her brother.. she could have been dressed better overall.

Everything else I quite enjoyed. The superstar teacher, the crazy mums pressuring their kids to study hard, the romance etc.. although there was this one scene where the FL came out of the door, and the ML was looking completely smitten by her ( I went ewww.. not likely! I’m ashamed to say but that was my first thought) The chemistry between the leads were mediocre, just couldn’t jive with it. The romance between the teens could have been explored more- did hae Ee really make Sun Jae wait for TWO years before giving her answer? That’s tough man!

Anyhow.. give this a try. It does get better after episode 9 ish.. The last episode was good, found myself tearing quite a bit. Just have a few pauses in between if you’re getting annoyed ;)

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More about friendship and life struggles

If you’re looking for romance, it’s not really prevalent in this drama. This one is more about friendship, life as a young adult with work struggles, and the side story of siblings in secondary school. The ML is a champion on the Shooting Team but there’s not much about the sport or the training aspect of it.

The romance was very slow burn. Both leads knew each other when they were kids, he moved away and met each other again 10 years later. First few episodes seemed like he was very attracted to her, but the dynamic changed to more brother-sister vibe. [Spoiler]Then it dragged all the way till Ep 18 where they only got together then ::):) [End spoiler] I’ve liked He Yu since My Fated Boy (which was great!) In this he acted well, according to script which made him rather childish. The FL was quite good too and quite pretty. There were two other “potential” couples, but no real romance progression per say.

Music OST wasn’t that fantastic for me.

Give this one a go.. at least it’s short and the storyline is good. Not much angst nor ridiculous plots lol :)

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