Daytimel

Potential but ultimately failed

This drama had potential, but ultimately failed to deliver on almost every front.

📍Characters

Let’s start with the characters. Most of them were flat and one-dimensional, making it hard to stay emotionally invested. Supposedly emotional moments, like the loss of Mei Lin's parents, felt empty, because we never saw who they were or why their absence should matter to us. It was impossible to care about her journey.

Ironically, Luomei, who had very limited screen time, was far more engaging than the lead. She brought more intrigue and depth in just a few scenes than Mei Lin managed in the entire show. I honestly wish she had been the protagonist. The only other standout was the actor Liu Xue Yi. His performance was exceptional and carried several scenes that otherwise would have fallen flat.

📍Story

The drama’s concept was good in theory, but poorly executed. The pacing was all over the place. Early episodes built tension only to deflate it a couple of episodes later, robbing the story of momentum.

What made it especially frustrating was how much potential the main characters had at the beginning. We were introduced to a red flag male lead and a badass assassin out for revenge, characters that actually sparked interest. But instead of developing them further, the drama stripped them of their edge way too soon. They either turned into something completely different or simply lost their drive. It felt like the characters we were initially promised just… disappeared. That loss was noticeable and honestly kind of sad.
The middle section was particularly tedious, almost nothing happened, and we were bombarded with scenes centered on side characters like the emperor and his young concubine, or the villain and his love interest. Their stories added little to the main plot and took up far too much screen time. It was frustrating and felt like filler.

By the end, the story veered into chaos, with characters dying left and right for no real reason. It felt dramatic for the sake of being dramatic, completely unnecessary and devoid of emotional impact, especially since there had been no meaningful development leading up to it. They did wrap up the ending fairly well though.

📍Production

The OSTs were fine, but nothing memorable. The cinematography, however, was beautiful, and the casting seemed promising at first. Unfortunately, these strengths weren’t enough to make up for the lack of compelling storytelling and character depth.

✨️ Final thoughts

In the end, it was a disappointing experience that wasted a good concept and a talented cast on weak writing and direction.

Read More

Pretty packaging with nothing inside

Plain, one-dimensional leads. The male lead being expressionless the whole time. The female lead being a man her entire time having no problems switching back to being a woman... and I thought "Lost You Forever" was bad. Flat villains with no real threat. No angst, no tension. The only character I genuinely liked was Chu Zhao, and even he was ruined just to give the main couple problems. The chemistry between the leads was okay but nothing special. They felt almost like the same person, just with one being shy and the other not. Nothing exciting, no development, no real communication.

The story had a good idea with the soldier troops, but they were barely used, maybe for two episodes at most. The rest was unnecessary extras, a complete waste of potential. If you are telling a story about a female general, then do her justice, because honestly, what did we even see? All the reveals were boring and completely deflated the tension. We expected big moments, but they delivered nothing. Characters stayed the same from beginning to end, with no growth. They could have at least added some angst, especially since the male lead seemed to like the female lead from the very beginning when she was still disguised as a man, but they even dropped that thread. The pacing was decent, but too many things felt unnecessary.

The script felt like it was written for children. We never even got to hear the male lead’s inner monologue about the female lead. Instead, they gave us focus on the second male lead, which made no sense if they wanted us to root for the main couple. On top of that, they shamelessly tried to copy scenes from "The Untamed", which I hated. And jokes on them, even with an emotionally constipated male lead, he will never come close to Lan Zhan.

The ending was rushed and unsatisfying, turning the second lead into a villain without properly leading to that moment. Everything was too black and white.

The OSTs and BGMs were excellent. Cinematography was okay, not the best but definitely not the worst. Casting felt off to me. Zhou Ye did not convince me as the female lead, I think an unknown actress might have fit better. Cheng Lei was fine, but his acting bored me. The real standout was Zhang Kangle, who was amazing in every scene he had, though that might just be my personal bias.

In the end, this drama felt like a waste of time. I think I need to stop expecting more from Qian Shan Cha Ke’s works. On the surface, she always presents a shiny feminist character, but she never follows through in a meaningful way. It’s like a beautiful book cover hiding empty pages inside. Pretty packaging with nothing inside

Read More

Ultimately a letdown

The concept of showing past and present moments side by side had promise, and the cinematography and OST were beautifully done. However, the pacing dragged so much that I felt I could’ve started from episode 20 and still gotten the full picture. The character development lacked depth, and the female lead remained emotionally flat throughout. While the male lead had charm, he felt too idealized, like he was written solely to support the female lead’s arc. It made him less believable and took away from his character's individuality.

The leads had some chemistry, but many of their scenes felt forced rather than organic. The uncle subplot wasn’t convincing, and the sudden murder twist near the end felt like a rushed device to push Wen Yifan toward growth. Side characters were forgettable, and the grandpa had more screen time than necessary, without contributing meaningfully to the story.

Casting-wise, this drama could have hit harder with different choices. As much as I like Bai Jingting, I didn’t fully buy him as Sang Yan. Someone like Victor Ma (Sang Yan from Hidden Love) could’ve brought more energy and emotional nuance to the role, he would’ve absolutely nailed it. The female lead also lacked emotional presence, which made it hard to feel invested in her journey.

The ending offered some closure, though most of the final episode was just a recap of earlier scenes.
Overall, a visually appealing drama with a few interesting elements, but let down by uneven writing, flat performances, and missed potential.

Read More

Missed Opportunities

What I liked:

🪷 Beautiful costumes for the leads
🪷 Gorgeous OSTs and BGMs
🪷 Chen Ye’s arc

What I struggled with:

The leads:
⚫️ Both leads lacked character development. They remained the same throughout, just falling in love. Their personalities felt flat and one-dimensional making it hard to connect with them.

The villains:
⚫️ Mo Li's motivations weren’t fleshed out enough, which made it difficult to see him as a real threat. Zhen Yu was even harder to take seriously as a villain.

Second lead couple:
⚫️ Chong Zhao was at least consistent, while Bai Xi’s characterization felt uneven. At first, she had almost no distinct traits beyond her devotion to Zhen Yu. Later, when she "found herself," she underwent such a drastic shift that it felt like she became a completely different person rather than evolving naturally.

The eternals:
⚫️ Their decision-making was frustrating at times, often jumping to extreme actions without much thought. It made some moments hard to take seriously.

The demon lord’s sidekicks:
⚫️ They didn’t add much depth to the story.

The romance:
⚫️ I didn’t feel much chemistry between the leads, which made their relationship hard to invest in. The second leads had a little more spark, but still not enough to be memorable. There was one particular kiss scene, Fan Yue’s farewell while Bai Shuo was crying, that just felt off.

Pacing and writing:
⚫️ The pacing was okay, but the frequent scene repetition made some episodes feel stretched. I watched at 2× speed and didn’t miss anything, which says a lot about how often things were recycled.

⚫️ The script relied heavily on repetition, not just in dialogue but in story structure. The same patterns played out over and over, which made things boring.

⚫️ Almost every character introduced died except the leads, making the entire journey feel pointless.

OSTs:
⚫️ The music was beautiful, but it was overused to the point that even the best tracks started to lose their impact. Some placements felt odd, with multiple songs stacked back-to-back, which took away from their emotional weight.

Worldbuilding and production:
⚫️ The world had a lot of potential, but it felt too empty. The leads’ costumes, while stunning, stood out so much that they sometimes felt out of place compared to the rest of the cast. Some props also looked artificial, which affected the watch.

Casting:
⚫️ The casting wasn’t the strongest. Some performances stood out, Dai Lu Wa as Fu Ling was a good choice, and Chang Hua Sen really gave his best effort as Chong Zhao.

The ending:
⚫️ In the last moments, the show claimed everyone got revived, but since they were never actually shown, it felt unconvincing.

⚫️ It felt rushed, packing too much into the final episode without giving enough explanation or closure.

Final thoughts:
✨️ This drama had the potential to be great, and there were definitely some strong elements, but it felt like a lot of opportunities were missed. With more consistent writing and character development, it could have been something really special.

This is just my personal view though 😊

Read More

Too many plots

First of all the things I liked about this drama:

◇the Ha family before the time-travel
◇portrayal of deaf people and their struggles
◇Cheong-Ah as a character
◇Eun Gyeol as a child and teen
◇the relationship between Eun Gyeol and Choi Hyun before the time-travel

Now to the things I did not like. They tried to put in as much plots, subplots and storylines as possible to make it shiny, the problem was though, that the quality dropped because of it. It's like trying to learn 5 languages... you will be mediocre at all of them instead of choosing one and using it perfectly instead. So what was this drama trying to be? A story about a boy who is a CODA? A story about music, passion, teenage dreams? A time-travel story?
After choosing that, they again had to choose on which character they wanted to go with. Eun Gyeol? Lee Chan? Cheong-Ah or even Eun Yoo? It was all over the place and like that, the story was half-heartedly executed. And even with all those plots, subplots and storylines... it was still boring. It was predictable and not a special drama to remember in the future.

There were characters without a real purpose and who did not even get introduced properly, like the people who would dine at grandmas. And then there was Eun Gyeol who I felt like was carrying the whole drama. The screenwriters must have realized this too because in the last 2 episodes, his character got cheesier and out of character lines.

The characterization of Lee Chan was not the best either and he was one of the main leads. In his old form, he is way different character-wise and this is not something that can be explained with age or trauma. Old and young Lee Chan were 2 completely different people and I couldn't put them together. Also the casting of Choi Hyun/master. All 3 actors were so different from eachother... it was just not good.

The ending was not executed well either. Eun Gyeol and Eun Yu arrived in the present and it had no consequences. The parents didn't recognize Eun Gyeol and Eun Gyeol himself got all his memories from his first life. It just felt like lazy writing.

I was trying to find reasons to love this more, but sadly I couldn't.

Read More

Overhyped

We have the typical hyper-competent lead with no real flaws, who somehow still gets deceived by his senior and, surprise… dies in the end. His supposed character development mostly happened off-screen. LXY repeatedly claimed that he wasn’t the same person anymore, but I honestly didn’t see any real change. I don’t understand why the writers expected viewers to root for a protagonist whose growth they never actually showed. As a result, he was very boring to me.

FDB was a cute character, but the lack of balance in his dynamic with LXY made their interactions feel flat. Their relationship was fine, just nothing memorable. And the fact that FDB got deceived by LXY more than half of the time didn’t help.

The villains were one-dimensional, and for some reason the show thought inserting an evil laugh at every turn was a good idea. After a while, it became unintentionally funny instead of threatening.

I liked DFS, but he also suffered from being written as another one-dimensional character.

The core concept wasn’t new, just a detective story, yet after three cases it became very repetitive. The writers used the same formula over and over again, and by episode 30 the story already felt complete. The pacing was draggy, and there wasn’t much narrative payoff for sticking with it.

Overall, I didn’t feel that any of the characters went through meaningful development. They simply weren’t flawed enough for growth, which again made them feel one-dimensional.
To be fair, the cases themselves were initially clever and fun, but that enjoyment faded once the structure repeated too often.

The ending didn’t leave any emotional impact on me either.

The OSTs were fine but forgettable, though I will say the cinematography was gorgeous.

All in all, a pretty disappointing watch for me, especially considering how much hype surrounded it.

Read More

Confusion and Disappointment

From Jiang Xue Ning being the main focus and driving force of the story, she somehow turned into a side character in her own narrative, constantly needing to be saved. After just a few episodes, it became clear that Xie Wei had taken over as the true focus, which felt strange, considering it was Jiang Xue Ning who was supposed to be reliving her life and changing her fate. Instead, she ended up as a puppet, repeatedly rescued and used by Xie Wei.

Both Jiang Xue Ning and Xie Wei were repeatedly labeled as “evil,” yet that never truly showed in their actions or personalities. It’s a classic case of inconsistent characterization, where the audience is expected to simply accept what they’re told without actually seeing it play out.

Jiang Xue Ning had genuinely great options when it came to her love interests, but sadly, she chose the worst one, the manchild who believes he can control a woman. If I had to sum up how I felt about Xie Wei, it would be: The Ick. If the word “Ew” were a person, it would be him. Forcing her to kiss him, kicking his own son when he doesn’t get what he wants… but hey, not evil, right? Haha.

The villain was painfully one-dimensional and practically nonexistent for the first 30 episodes, which completely deflated any sense of tension from the start. There was never a real sense of danger for the main characters either, since Xie Wei was portrayed as this overly competent lead who could survive anything. The other villains never felt like an actual threat.

Side characters like Zhang Zhe, Yan Li, You Fangyin, and Jiang Xue Hui were the true highlights of this drama for me. Honestly, I wish they had been the leads, but I guess we can’t have everything we want, right?

I didn’t feel much chemistry between Jiang Xue Ning and Xie Wei either, probably because their romance only started developing after episode 30—and with Xie Wei being the definition of a manchild, it didn’t help. Why do writers keep doing this?

The concept and premise of the drama are fine, but the execution fell flat. Right from the start, we’re told that this is a fictional story being rewritten, which immediately removes all tension. On top of that, introducing us to Jiang Xue Ning as someone who had already gone through her toughest times as an empress and made countless mistakes made it difficult to emotionally connect with her. How are we supposed to empathize with a character whose past we only see through brief snippets? The same goes for Xie Wei; by the time I actually started to understand their backgrounds and motivations, the drama was already nearing its end.

The pacing was also questionable. The last ten episodes were the only truly important ones. Honestly, you could have skipped everything before episode 30 and still followed along just fine, and that’s truly disappointing.

The OSTs were the saving grace of this drama. Other than that, it didn’t have much going for it. The casting didn’t convince me either. I’m not sure Bai Lu can handle these kinds of complex lead roles, and the same goes for Zhang Linghe.

Last but not least, I genuinely don’t understand how this drama is being called the best of 2023. It’s disappointing and confusing at the same time.

Read More

Classic feminist rags-to-riches tale

This drama was a moving and engaging ride, full of characters with real growth and development. From start to finish, it delivered emotional moments, tension, and satisfying resolutions that made it very enjoyable to watch.

📍 Female Lead

The female lead Hwa Zhi was really good, strong, determined, and inspiring. The only fault I found was that she was a bit too perfect, which became slightly boring after a while. Still, I loved seeing her struggles, her drive, and everything that made her who she was. She carried most of the emotional weight in the story, especially in her interactions with the male lead.

📍Male Lead

The male lead was fine, but he often felt like a side character. I didn’t enjoy the actor’s performance as he showed almost no expression, which made some scenes feel awkward. Overall, he didn’t give much to the story, leaving the female lead to do almost all of the work.

📍Villain

The villain was interesting and nuanced. Watching the king become worse and worse over time was compelling, and the angst was very well done. I was worried the family wouldn’t reunite at times, which kept me invested, and I was very happy when he finally died.

📍 Side Characters

The side characters were wholesome and lovable. You found yourself rooting for everyone. Mrs. Jin impressed me the most as she went from one of the most annoying characters to one of my favorites. Their development added warmth and depth to the story. And the family aspect was everything.

📍 Story & Pacing

The story was well-structured, a classic feminist rags-to-riches tale with satisfying character development. Hwa Zhi’s role in taking over family matters and helping everyone was particularly enjoyable. The pacing was generally good, though the last few episodes dragged slightly. Still, they were necessary for closure, and the ending with everyone reunited felt perfect.

📍 Production & Technical Aspects

Cinematography was good and a bit different from most dramas, which I really liked.
OSTs and BGMs were nice, though nothing particularly memorable.
The audio was a little uneven at times as dialogues were sometimes too quiet sometimes too loud, screams were cut off, or there was only background noise without music, which felt off.

📍 Acting

The female lead actress delivered an excellent performance.
The male lead actor was weak and had limited expression.
The actress who played Aunt Qin was not convincing and the other actors gave outstanding performances overall.

✨️ Final Thoughts

This drama is everything what "Blossom" hoped to be. Very good and moved me a lot. It conveyed a wide range of feelings 🥹 and offered a story with meaningful characters and growth. The adventure, struggles, and triumphs of the characters made it a truly enjoyable watch. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a heartfelt, well-developed drama about family and everything about being human.

Read More

Masterpiece

The leads were truly out of the ordinary, not the usual kind, not clichéd, and without a patriarchal pattern. Yet, they remained incredibly strong, distinctive, and undeniably cool, with chemistry that went through the roof.

The drama featured all kinds of side characters, each making the watch even more interesting. They weren’t just there for the sake of it; they had their own arcs and developed as characters. No one felt one-dimensional, they were real, essential, and added to the plot as they should.

The angst and tension were definitely present, though I felt the villain was a bit lacking. However, the well-executed angst helped overshadow that shortcoming.

When it came to chemistry, it wasn’t just about the leads, everyone had chemistry with everyone, and it worked so well!

The concept and idea were amazing! What I loved most was that this was a story about a female protagonist, and no character could take that away from her. She remained the focal point, as she should be. The female lead was incredible, and the spotlight was rightfully hers.

The characters did develop, but for the most part, the leads stayed true to themselves without a major "I changed for the better" moment. Furong though had the best character development and I actually appreciated that a lot.

The pacing, structure, script, and dialogues were simply chef’s kiss! Absolutely nothing to complain about there.

The OSTs and BGM were fantastic, and the cinematography was breathtaking, the world felt so lively and real. The casting was also spot-on.

And I really, really loved the ending. Wrapping it up with an episode full of comedy and heartwarming moments was genius. One of the most underrated aspects of this drama was its comedy, it truly glued the characters and the overall storyline together.

I cried, I laughed, and I felt every moment of this drama, I am truly grateful for it. This was a truly beautiful watch that I will never forget. I will miss Shen Li, Xingzhi, and every character in it. What a masterpiece! 🥰

Read More

Old fashioned snooze fest

What worked for me ✨️

✨️The premise of the story, the deal where whoever lost would leave their job, added a nice twist to the setup.

✨️Ji Yuheng as a character kept me invested for awhile

✨️The second couple, Rao Jing and Zhao Fanggang, had great chemistry and fun banter.

✨️Zhao Fanggang’s development: he went from being the character I disliked most in the beginning to my absolute favorite by the end.


What didn’t work for me ❌️

❌️ The workplace conflict was deflated and poorly executed. There was no real shock or suspense, just a flat reveal.

❌️ The main leads were boring together and lacked chemistry. Honestly, I wish the second couple had been the leads.

❌️ The third couple added nothing, unnecessary screen time.

❌️ The OST was forgettable

❌️ Old-fashioned stereotypes: marriage being “necessary” and 27 already being considered “too old.”

❌️ Ji Yuheng's obsession with his high school crush felt creepy and unrealistic. Never dating anyone else, never moving on, that’s a trope I truly dislike. (Also they managed to say that Tang Yu Hui's love was obsession but not Yu Heng's?)

❌️ Xiao Ning had no real character traits beyond being annoying, judgmental, and inconsiderate. Zero accountability made her unlikable.

❌️ Her childish, snobbish friend was just as bad, acting superior while actually being the worst.

Read More

More in the future please!

📍Characters:

Daon is a character you get to know very little about.
Sungyeon is a cute lead, but he's too perfect to feel real, which takes away from his impact.
Jaemin was an okay villain, but again, you don't get to know much about him. He felt too one-dimensional.
Soo Hyun was the most interesting character out of all of them and had the best entrance, in my opinion. The actor really stood out.
The chemistry between Soo Hyun and Daon was stronger, but I still loved that the main leads ended up becoming a healthy couple.

📍Story:

There was no real character development for the lead characters, and their one-dimensional approach made it hard to care about them. Only Soo Hyun seemed to go through some change, I think.
I really liked the pacing of this drama and how they revealed new information at the end of each episode, it made it fun to watch.
The script and dialogue were simple but effective. They did the best with the limited time they had, though it definitely could have been better.

The ending was sweet, but I cringed so hard when they revealed that the leads had known each other since they were teenagers. I absolutely hate that trope and think it should never be used again!

📍Production:

There were no memorable OSTs or BGMs.
The cinematography was good.
The casting was okay overall. Especially Kim Jun Seo, who played Daon, did not deliver a strong performance in my opinion. Cha Jung Woo, who played Soo Hyun, was definitely the highlight.

✨️Final thoughts:

I loved to see a BL Kdrama with more than one lead. I hope we will get more in the future ❤️

Read More

Good Start but that's it!

✨️ Good parts:

• the concept and core idea had strong potential and a solid foundation
• not boring in terms of pacing choices
• parts of the OST and background music were beautiful
• the cinematography and costumes were pretty and they really tried
• the casting choices suited the roles and the actors fit their characters

❌️ Bad parts:

• no layered writing regarding the plot
• lots of one-dimensional characters
• boring storyline with no meaningful stakes
• story is 99% focused on the male lead, leaving everyone else underdeveloped
• male lead is omnipotent, flat, and has no real development
• inconsistent male lead (emotionally unstable then suddenly enlightened)
• the only fully fleshed out character was the main lead everyone else got forgotten for some reason
• weak female characters overall (female characters reduced to cooking, serving roles or just falling in love)
• plot holes throughout the story
• main conflict relies on childish miscommunication tropes
• random side characters become more important than the actual main group
• everyone loves the male lead, even the villains
• basically male lead x everyone
• weak villains
• main villain introduced too late
• important scenes lose all tension
• bad or pointless reveals
• incomplete character arcs
• new characters added without proper introduction
• existing characters get forgotten and dropped
• ending rewinds time and makes everything that happened feel pointless

Overall, this drama looks and sounds nice, but its wasted potential, weak male and female characters, and overpowered male lead make it a frustrating watch.
Expected more from Teng Ping but it is what it is.

Read More

Beautiful but Unnecessary

These three words basically sum up how I felt throughout the entire watch.

📍Main Leads:

Nice to look at, but too surface-level. You feel absolutely nothing for them emotionally. They had great chemistry, though.

📍Side Characters:

The side characters got more screen time than the leads, which really annoyed me. I still can't believe we spent more time with the sister and her husband than with the main couple. And after them, Ansu and Song Mo’s brother took over. Like, why?

📍Angst / Tension:

There was none.

📍Concept / Idea:

It started off great, but they completely lost me after the time skip. Where was the red string that was supposed to guide us through the story? It had no impact at all. The fact that Dou Zhao and Song Mo got reincarnated didn't change the story one bit. They could've skipped that part entirely, and nothing would have been different. That was a big mistake, and part of why the leads left no real impact.

📍Character Development:

Yes, the characters changed and overcame their fears, but it didn’t matter because you didn’t care about them.

📍Pacing / Structure:

The structure was okay, but the pacing was way too slow. Almost nothing happened throughout the entire series, making the drama pretty boring.

📍Script / Dialogue:

Some interesting dialogue, but a lot of missing pieces. It felt like trying to finish a puzzle without all the pieces, no satisfying conclusion.

📍Ending:

It was okay, but again confusing, especially the part with the daughter finding out about multiple versions of "Blossom".

📍OSTs & BGMs:

Nothing memorable here.

📍Cinematography:

Visually stunning, but often wasted on unnecessary scenes.

📍Casting:

Good, but underutilized.

✨️Final Words:

All in all, this could have been something great, but they messed it up. A beautiful yet unnecessary drama, and ultimately a waste of time.

Read More