Ep6 .... I havent seen a mother as exploitive and as shameless as ML's in this series. She doesnt get the sacredness of her relationship with her son, she doesnt understand "love" , she probably sees a walking , talking money tree when she sees her son, that she can shake without any thought towards him..
No matter how fiercely the darkness prevails, light will always triumph in the end. - this quote sums up this drama
Finished watching Vendetta of An., finally This is one of the best dramas that has come out in 2025 year-end. I enjoyed watching every bit of it, craving for more episodes. I had so much to vent while watching, about humans acting worse than animals, and also wondered if living is so important that one would kill to live. . ML's side answered my question, they killed too , so that others lived , not for greed , not for power , but to bring peace to the realm. they killed only the garbage parading in human skin . .. they have mostly forgiven or protected innocents (even if they have done mistakes , unknowingly) . I loved and hated the deposed king. it took so much death and destruction for him to grow a pair! On the contrary though I started off being suspicious of his brother, i ended up admiring him in the end. He came out as being more compassionate , politically matured and more deserving of the throne , and i felt bad that he died in the end. Some of the moments felt so helpless, and i was worried ML's side wouldnt be able to succeed . and only a miracle would help them succeed - and that miracle is ML himself - the ending was so intense and he indeed strategised the win so brilliantly , and convinsingly!
I immensely enjoyed the series, no doubt about it! And I will follow the original author's works more closely. I think the author is immensely talented.
The drama captured the essence and presented it powerfully and convincingly. I loved the fast pace .my only grouse was, it needed more episodes to do justice to all that content (choppy editing didnt help) - in the later episodes i sometimes struggled with names /characters /context , when some references made by various character , more episodes would have given us more context , breathing space to catch up. the fast pacing though i loved was so fast that i found myself racing (albeight not as fast )playing catchup.... Otherwise good content , acting , direction ..... will revisit this series again..
I think, it is valid that he feels threatened. Tiemo is going to invade the land and kill the people. Mean while…
still one dont go around opening the gate for the enemy with ones own hands(which he literally did!!!) , unless you have a plan to defend it somehow , may be with deception. it was pathetic seeing him walking around like a zombie . if somehow he doesnt have a plan , he is not eligible to sit on that throne which ML and others save from tiemo. royal lineage or not. am impressed by his brother, he has great fighting skills, political maturity , compassion (more than a rulerneeds) , and discretion .... he would have made a better ruler, i wonder how younger one ended up on throne when the there is such a competent elder one ... (asking the xiaobing to protect the old shop keeper, asking xiaobing to not walk into fight/war when he has a family to protect - he could have ruthlessly used every one of them .. he didnt! what more you need - more ethical than his younger brother (deposed emperor)!!!
At Ep25 , i still feel , this should have been 50+ episode drama. it has so much meat and i feel so much chopping has been done to bring it down to 28 episodes
Ep25: either deposed emperor gone nuts or pretending to have gone nuts. he is following their orders to the T and helping bring down their defence and handing over chang'an on plate. his brother had a better chance of defending their kingdom. did he think the tiemos offer is better than his brothers chance to defend the kingdom? so disappointed in him
I started watching k drama many years ago(one of the 1st Asian dramas i watched) , have some real favorites dramas (whose episodes i rewatch sometimes!), but some where down the line i stopped enjoying them (the humor is something i found cringy and coundnt continue - even those dramas which ranked high- i couldnt watch!), Havent seen kdramas for a few years till "When the Phone rings" which i enjoyed immensely and then Bon Apetit - which i liked as well This series i watched it when it first released , but no idea why i dropped it after 1 ep. while rewatching i didnt particularly dislike it. infact am finding it good. Completed 2 Eps , hope this run continues
I was skeptical before starting this one, but it turned out to be surprising good ..still at ep3 ..but loving it.
If the series is any reflection on legal field and aspirants of korean politics, it is incredibly sad. I hope it is just exaggeration, and prosecutors and politicians are not that mean and cut throat , as to get someone in, to make it to that top
4 years and they didnt understand her. Not one backed her when ye rong accused her unfairly. Its only when feng…
They are jealous and evil. Yes not potrayed well in the show. Ye rong esp, nothing simple about her. She is a schemer. And can scheme even a dear friend for her benefit
i hate her college classmates. How they are so evil really. all of them lol
4 years and they didnt understand her. Not one backed her when ye rong accused her unfairly. Its only when feng confirms she picked thag phone they try to normalise and apologise. Even then i would keep away from all other than boss and feng.. rest all trash.. none worthy of a friendship
Yusen,I hope you become a surgeon again,I'm so sorryđź’”
One of my hopes os he would recover fully and goes back to his full time surgery. Someone that good should not have to loose a career that one is so good at, and has so much to contribute to tye world , due to a trash , that is FL's dads friends daughter
Super loving this show. One thing i have to point it out. Chinese stars need to take care of their fitness and health.. all look like bag of bones. Esp ML. He has a tired ness and fatigue etched into his eyes and being. He is my fav star , since finding yourself and Go Ahead. I would be sad if he loses any more weight in the anticipation his fans will love him more. I would rather he puts on more weight.same with FL and rest of cast.. also with other chinese stars. If the stars looked upon by younger generation are taking such unhealthy health trends , the future generations have to pay for this unhealthy trend. They would have a few generations condemed to bad health. I dont think any one us would love our fav stars less if they look a little more healthy. Its their acting chops that i would love to appreciate , not their unhealthy body stats or face card.
Ep12: All Zhuang had to tell FL is that he likes her, and he would have had a big chance. He had to blow it up with all that trash talk...🤦‍♀️... drama gives a lot of details that arent covered in book, esp confrontation between Zhuang and Ye rong after their friends wedding.. all these are good additions..gives a lot of clarity on whats going on ,on Zhuang/Rongs side.. its obvious ye rong is played a big gaMe in sabotizing her own childhood friend's happiness.
I like the trip to her grandparents house. It tells the story behind how she is so down to earth , caring and warm. Both her mother and grandparents are warm and caring , and down to earth which rubbed off on her..and she has none of the airs of the wealthy. She is raised to be a gem, is a gem
Ep10: it seems to me ,in zhuang and rong rong relationship, its rong rong who kept the ambiguousness from.her side, she seem to be his 1st love, and since he didnt know if she is with him or not..and will accept him or not may have caused his rejection of FL ...and his comment later on that " in such a state , the love will fizzle out" that he made when ye rong inquires him in the context of siliang and the guy pursuing her... in that entire discussion, it could be assumed they are actually talking about themselves... and the way ye rong blocks zhuang when they meet FL on the steps on ep10 clearing indicates.. she want to keep him blocked, though she knows he no longer likes her and likes the FL..
It bothers me when such underhanded methods are employed by ones own childhood friends.. she knows she didnt accept him earlier due to his family situation, and now he has moved on..and he has every right..by blocking his happiness , she is showing how ugly her heart is... For zhuang , ye rong is 1st love..for FL , zhuang is 1st love.. it looks like both didnt succeed in it.. poor guy..he seemed to have people gushing over his looks everywhere ,in college , in office..without any success in love.. i still think he is poor judge of character.. neither he understood his childhood friend, nor FL... had he understood, he would have run away from the 1st, and run towards the 2nd .. in one of the episodes he says , what do i have to give her... if he knew her , he would know that she would have accepted him with just clothes on his back and not a penny to his name.. thats her nature..and he is clueless , he didnt know this about her.. he didnt know the gem of a person she is, despite immense power and wealth, she is not the kind to hurt even an enemy..he ascribes all bad qualities to her..and i dont even know what got him to fall for her at the end of college .. her facecard?.. ML had time to access her (though he fell for her face card, and style of fighting for herself in the party), he judges her character correctly and ensures he doesnt loose her... with all that smartness, zhauang could access all the markets in the world and becpme a great investment banker but cant access the righteousness of the girl he fell for and protect her when she needed it.. he was poor monetarily before, he is still poor ,later on, due to poor judgement
my impressions based off novel : if Zhaung lost FL it is entirely his own doing. i feel he has a big chip on his shoulder, immense low complex feelings - his own personal struggles made him feel his self striving life was somehow better and FL's easy and casual approach inferior and downlookable.. (didnt she get into that college on her own merit!) - i wonder in their immese jeolousy of her wealth and privilages they assumed she got the seat via connections)
I feel in the 4 years none of her batch mates understood FL (including Zhaung as well as ML understood her real nature in the few months he spent working along side (though most of the time he was prejuidiced against her as well) - his comment (in her batchmates wedding in the context of rong rong, one is paper tiger and other is a real cub - and the cub is worried her showing claws to protect herself might have been excessing and hurting to other party - makes one wonder , even that prejudiced person can see her real nature in short time , than her supposed friends and dormmates- Also , none supporting the FL when she was wrongly accused makes it clear how superficial their friendship was - and not even Zhaung comes to her aid when she was wrongly accused by rong rong- he believes FL would take such a drastic and desparate measure like not passing an interview call , to ease her path towards him- is such hypocritical narsisssm on his part or may be FL's midadventure in proposing him caused him to believe that.
if he loved her , he would not have allowed his childhood friend attack her and insult someone he loves , constantly , and if he loved her , he should have come out openly, spell it out , not kept it in ambiguity. like how FL leads says , people in real love keep it open and honest - which both ML and FL were.. but not Zhuang , rong rong or Si liant (who also liked Zhuang!)-
also , zhuang was supposed to have looked at her with disgust when she first proposed him. that should be enough about his persona and attitute towards her- even if he didnt like her, he could have politely refused , dont have to be disrespectful, humiliating and look her down.
i would have wished she had accessed him correctly at that point and picked self respect over stupid infactuation and ,moved away- i dont hate her for continue to love him , though
just completed ep1, and then started reading the novel - hope it doesnt turn out to be a bad idea
my impressions based off novel : if Zhaung lost FL it is entirely his own doing. i feel he has a big chip on his shoulder, immense low complex feelings - his own personal struggles made him feel his self striving life was somehow better and FL's easy and casual approach inferior and downlookable.. (didnt she get into that college on her own merit!) - i wonder in their immese jeolousy of her wealth and privilages they assumed she got the seat via connections)
I feel in the 4 years none of her batch mates understood FL (including Zhaung as well as ML understood her real nature in the few months he spent working along side (though most of the time he was prejuidiced against her as well) - his comment (in her batchmates wedding in the context of rong rong, one is paper tiger and other is a real cub - and the cub is worried her showing claws to protect herself might have been excessing and hurting to other party - makes one wonder , even that prejudiced person can see her real nature in short time , than her supposed friends and dormmates- Also , none supporting the FL when she was wrongly accused makes it clear how superficial their friendship was - and not even Zhaung comes to her aid when she was wrongly accused by rong rong- he believes FL would take such a drastic and desparate measure like not passing an interview call , to ease her path towards him- is such hypocritical narsisssm on his part or may be FL's midadventure in proposing him caused him to believe that.
if he loved her , he would not have allowed his childhood friend attack her and insult someone he loves , constantly , and if he loved her , he should have come out openly, spell it out , not kept it in ambiguity. like how FL leads says , people in real love keep it open and honest - which both ML and FL were.. but not Zhuang , rong rong or Si liant (who also liked Zhuang!)-
also , zhuang was supposed to have looked at her with disgust when she first proposed him. that should be enough about his persona and attitute towards her- even if he didnt like her, he could have politely refused , dont have to be disrespectful, humiliating and look her down.
i would have wished she had accessed him correctly at that point and picked self respect over stupid infactuation and ,moved away- i dont hate her for continue to love him , though -
I think you’re reading the series emotionally, but judging it as if it were meant to be morally comforting —…
fantastic write up!!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your reading of the drama. which in all probability is how it should be read.
It is a wonderful drama, totally reeled me in, I understand whats going on , but still there are characters who sacrified themselves for greater good, the Chancellor Gao, Gu Yu ... they came out of the same system too, opressed by the same killer rules - kill or be killed , even in that moment they choose sacrifice because it will help bring peace to the realm , normalcy , decency , humaness.... ML and his side is killing to bring down people who led the realm to such a devastating chaos- turning humans to animals... animals first instinct is survival, and all those who choose to kill for their greed , survival , benefit are still animals... it doesnt matter they put some thought while attempting it
I havent seen a mother as exploitive and as shameless as ML's in this series. She doesnt get the sacredness of her relationship with her son, she doesnt understand "love" , she probably sees a walking , talking money tree when she sees her son, that she can shake without any thought towards him..
Finished watching Vendetta of An., finally This is one of the best dramas that has come out in 2025 year-end. I enjoyed watching every bit of it, craving for more episodes. I had so much to vent while watching, about humans acting worse than animals, and also wondered if living is so important that one would kill to live. . ML's side answered my question, they killed too , so that others lived , not for greed , not for power , but to bring peace to the realm. they killed only the garbage parading in human skin . .. they have mostly forgiven or protected innocents (even if they have done mistakes , unknowingly) . I loved and hated the deposed king. it took so much death and destruction for him to grow a pair! On the contrary though I started off being suspicious of his brother, i ended up admiring him in the end. He came out as being more compassionate , politically matured and more deserving of the throne , and i felt bad that he died in the end. Some of the moments felt so helpless, and i was worried ML's side wouldnt be able to succeed . and only a miracle would help them succeed - and that miracle is ML himself - the ending was so intense and he indeed strategised the win so brilliantly , and convinsingly!
I immensely enjoyed the series, no doubt about it! And I will follow the original author's works more closely. I think the author is immensely talented.
The drama captured the essence and presented it powerfully and convincingly. I loved the fast pace .my only grouse was, it needed more episodes to do justice to all that content (choppy editing didnt help) - in the later episodes i sometimes struggled with names /characters /context , when some references made by various character , more episodes would have given us more context , breathing space to catch up. the fast pacing though i loved was so fast that i found myself racing (albeight not as fast )playing catchup.... Otherwise good content , acting , direction ..... will revisit this series again..
This series i watched it when it first released , but no idea why i dropped it after 1 ep. while rewatching i didnt particularly dislike it. infact am finding it good. Completed 2 Eps , hope this run continues
If the series is any reflection on legal field and aspirants of korean politics, it is incredibly sad. I hope it is just exaggeration, and prosecutors and politicians are not that mean and cut throat , as to get someone in, to make it to that top
I like the trip to her grandparents house. It tells the story behind how she is so down to earth , caring and warm. Both her mother and grandparents are warm and caring , and down to earth which rubbed off on her..and she has none of the airs of the wealthy. She is raised to be a gem, is a gem
It bothers me when such underhanded methods are employed by ones own childhood friends.. she knows she didnt accept him earlier due to his family situation, and now he has moved on..and he has every right..by blocking his happiness , she is showing how ugly her heart is...
For zhuang , ye rong is 1st love..for FL , zhuang is 1st love.. it looks like both didnt succeed in it.. poor guy..he seemed to have people gushing over his looks everywhere ,in college , in office..without any success in love.. i still think he is poor judge of character.. neither he understood his childhood friend, nor FL... had he understood, he would have run away from the 1st, and run towards the 2nd .. in one of the episodes he says , what do i have to give her... if he knew her , he would know that she would have accepted him with just clothes on his back and not a penny to his name.. thats her nature..and he is clueless , he didnt know this about her.. he didnt know the gem of a person she is, despite immense power and wealth, she is not the kind to hurt even an enemy..he ascribes all bad qualities to her..and i dont even know what got him to fall for her at the end of college .. her facecard?.. ML had time to access her (though he fell for her face card, and style of fighting for herself in the party), he judges her character correctly and ensures he doesnt loose her... with all that smartness, zhauang could access all the markets in the world and becpme a great investment banker but cant access the righteousness of the girl he fell for and protect her when she needed it.. he was poor monetarily before, he is still poor ,later on, due to poor judgement
if Zhaung lost FL it is entirely his own doing. i feel he has a big chip on his shoulder, immense low complex feelings - his own personal struggles made him feel his self striving life was somehow better and FL's easy and casual approach inferior and downlookable.. (didnt she get into that college on her own merit!) - i wonder in their immese jeolousy of her wealth and privilages they assumed she got the seat via connections)
I feel in the 4 years none of her batch mates understood FL (including Zhaung as well as ML understood her real nature in the few months he spent working along side (though most of the time he was prejuidiced against her as well) - his comment (in her batchmates wedding in the context of rong rong, one is paper tiger and other is a real cub - and the cub is worried her showing claws to protect herself might have been excessing and hurting to other party - makes one wonder , even that prejudiced person can see her real nature in short time , than her supposed friends and dormmates- Also , none supporting the FL when she was wrongly accused makes it clear how superficial their friendship was - and not even Zhaung comes to her aid when she was wrongly accused by rong rong- he believes FL would take such a drastic and desparate measure like not passing an interview call , to ease her path towards him- is such hypocritical narsisssm on his part or may be FL's midadventure in proposing him caused him to believe that.
if he loved her , he would not have allowed his childhood friend attack her and insult someone he loves , constantly , and if he loved her , he should have come out openly, spell it out , not kept it in ambiguity. like how FL leads says , people in real love keep it open and honest - which both ML and FL were.. but not Zhuang , rong rong or Si liant (who also liked Zhuang!)-
also , zhuang was supposed to have looked at her with disgust when she first proposed him. that should be enough about his persona and attitute towards her- even if he didnt like her, he could have politely refused , dont have to be disrespectful, humiliating and look her down.
i would have wished she had accessed him correctly at that point and picked self respect over stupid infactuation and ,moved away- i dont hate her for continue to love him , though
if Zhaung lost FL it is entirely his own doing. i feel he has a big chip on his shoulder, immense low complex feelings - his own personal struggles made him feel his self striving life was somehow better and FL's easy and casual approach inferior and downlookable.. (didnt she get into that college on her own merit!) - i wonder in their immese jeolousy of her wealth and privilages they assumed she got the seat via connections)
I feel in the 4 years none of her batch mates understood FL (including Zhaung as well as ML understood her real nature in the few months he spent working along side (though most of the time he was prejuidiced against her as well) - his comment (in her batchmates wedding in the context of rong rong, one is paper tiger and other is a real cub - and the cub is worried her showing claws to protect herself might have been excessing and hurting to other party - makes one wonder , even that prejudiced person can see her real nature in short time , than her supposed friends and dormmates- Also , none supporting the FL when she was wrongly accused makes it clear how superficial their friendship was - and not even Zhaung comes to her aid when she was wrongly accused by rong rong- he believes FL would take such a drastic and desparate measure like not passing an interview call , to ease her path towards him- is such hypocritical narsisssm on his part or may be FL's midadventure in proposing him caused him to believe that.
if he loved her , he would not have allowed his childhood friend attack her and insult someone he loves , constantly , and if he loved her , he should have come out openly, spell it out , not kept it in ambiguity. like how FL leads says , people in real love keep it open and honest - which both ML and FL were.. but not Zhuang , rong rong or Si liant (who also liked Zhuang!)-
also , zhuang was supposed to have looked at her with disgust when she first proposed him. that should be enough about his persona and attitute towards her- even if he didnt like her, he could have politely refused , dont have to be disrespectful, humiliating and look her down.
i would have wished she had accessed him correctly at that point and picked self respect over stupid infactuation and ,moved away- i dont hate her for continue to love him , though -
It is a wonderful drama, totally reeled me in, I understand whats going on , but still there are characters who sacrified themselves for greater good, the Chancellor Gao, Gu Yu ... they came out of the same system too, opressed by the same killer rules - kill or be killed , even in that moment they choose sacrifice because it will help bring peace to the realm , normalcy , decency , humaness.... ML and his side is killing to bring down people who led the realm to such a devastating chaos- turning humans to animals... animals first instinct is survival, and all those who choose to kill for their greed , survival , benefit are still animals... it doesnt matter they put some thought while attempting it