Draagon

I felt lukewarm about this drama overall, but there is one scene that has really stuck with me. It's in episode nine, and with the combination of the content (dealing with family issues), the dialogue, the emotions expressed, and the composition / camera-work, it's probably one of the most beautiful and memorable I've seen in a drama period. Even after finishing watching, my mind keeps wandering back to that scene. (Especially the way Wan Biao goes up to Tian Ai at the end and their ensuing back-and-forth -- just perfection).

More than anything else, though, its the BGM that really made it stand out to me: the song 矢誌 by 曾淑勤. It made me look up the album, which has also lead to a lovely song that's quickly become one of my favorites: 愛 在山谷迴盪. Look those songs up on YT if you're interested! The songs are really good and different from typical drama OSTs.

Anyway, just wanted to share in case anyone else happened to love that scene as much as I did. If the whole drama had followed along the lines of that scene's atmosphere and care, I would've liked it a lot more.

Episode 12 was on fire! What a great climatic episode. All the dominoes are falling down into place now. I'm so glad we finally got to hear part of Luo Yu Qi's backstory, and his confrontation with Luo Jun was just heart-breaking.

I overall liked this drama, but there was something about it that didn't grab me perse and made me really anticipate the next episode and have that "just one more" feeling. It probably doesn't help that I'm not real big into sci-fi type stories, and adding that to the premise (a time travel story that basically just adds a small twist to a basic love story), I didn't really feel invested in what was happening.

I liked the story, thought it was well-planned, and the explorations of grief and depression were good, but putting those parts together into the whole just didn't wow me. I wanted some parts to be expanded on, for them to be the essence of the drama instead of constantly going back and forth to further the main lead's eternal angst.

That being said, I understand why so many people enjoy it. The production value was high, the actors did a great job portraying multiple personalities, and the story was wrapped up giving a complete, if not totally satisfactory, conclusion. The OST was also amazing, and I've enjoyed adding some of the main songs to my playlist.

Yeah, I used to be really into makjang as well, the more outrageous, the better. After seeing a good handful, though, it does get old, huh? Life is Beautiful is a must watch, even if the story-lines outside of the male leads are a bit lack-luster in comparison. (They made the secondary romance story super conservative, rigidly following outdated gender roles, probably to combat the controversial nature of the main one). Regardless, it's a great watch.

The growth of family relationships are probably my favorite part of weekend dramas, with the long-paced romance coming second. I love how longer dramas give characters time to really grow and learn from their mistakes in an organic way.

Nice article! There are many good family dramas on here. From this list, I've enjoyed My Husband Got a Family (nice development of family dynamics and the growth of the female lead's relationship with her mother-in-law is fantastic), and My Father is Strange (good beginning, excellent middle, poor ending). Smile, You has also been on my list for years. Family's Honor and Five is Enough sound interesting as well, maybe I'll watch them someday.

Some other weekend dramas I've enjoyed are: New Tales of Gisaeng (makjang romance on steroids, a wonderful indulgent pleasure); Ojakgyo Brothers (again, the female lead and male lead's mother's relationship development is superb); and finally Life is Beautiful, one of the best family dramas ever made if only for the fact it was focusing on a BL relationship back when that was a real rarity in Asian drama land. (There were even articles blaming the drama for the spread of AIDS/HIV in Korea, which shows you what a different mindset and understanding people had at the time). It's a story of how love and understanding for another can conquer any societal prejudices and how you should put love (for family, for friends, for every person) above all else.

Yeah, that was one of the jarring scenes, but I was more referring to the ice-bath home abortion Zhao Jun's mom tried to have. They were playing catchy, fun music in the background like it was some kind of light-hearted scene, but trying to have an abortion that way is super dangerous, so I felt presenting it that way was really pretty inconsiderate.

Not quite as entrancing as season one, but still kept me interested and gripped pretty much the whole time. I think watching the two seasons in conjunction as a marathon might be the best way to go about it or else the small details just fly under the radar and are forgotten (by me, personally) too easily.

Still great characters and commentary on the imperfections of society, though, and how it takes hard work and grit to keep society running on its best ideals and principles instead of slipping down the easy road of corruption.

This drama was a mixed bag. There were some parts that it did really, really well. For example, expounding on character's backstories and how they came to be in their current situation. This relates to the theme of the drama, which is definitely that every person comes with their own backstory no matter how currently broken/thriving they are, and you shouldn't judge without the complete picture.

At the same time, there was a lack of connection between the past and the present. They would present these really heartbreaking past scenes, then cut to the present and not have any commentary or reflection from the character. The past and the present just kind of existed parallel to each other without really intersecting enough for it to be meaningful. It had a great lead up, but a pretty lacking execution.

Also, there were some scenes that just made me feel outright uncomfortable and were really out of place. To say more would be spoilers, but there's one scene in particular that just had me scratching my head and wondering why they would choose to portray such a serious topic in this way.

I liked the main characters and felt everyone, even the child actors, even the foreign actors(!), did a really great job, but it wasn't enough to make up for what it was lacking in the end.

I really enjoyed this one and flew through it pretty quickly. Chris Wu acted just spectacularly; he's really improved a lot since his first few drams, and now I can't wait to see more of his acting. Ivy Shao was also really good, especially her crying scenes, they moved me a lot. Usually, characters crying over romance situations don't elicit a reaction from me, but hers was really well done.

I liked the flow of the story and didn't mind the extension like a lot of people seemed to. I enjoy stories more that delve into what happens after the main couple gets together, I feel that lends a more realistic approach to the story. There were some unrealistic plot points and a lot (a lot, a lot) of cliché situations and tropes sprinkled within, but the acting was done with such sincerity and genuineness that it didn't bother me as much.

I was also touched by the evolution of the characters and felt like they did a good job exploring various themes such as moving on from grief, what makes a family (blood, loyalty, or something more), and the tricky balance between love for your family and romantic love; touching on just how much you should give and take in each instance. Taiwanese dramas are just so good at taking a central theme and really exploring all facets of its application.

This was definitely a fun watch, though the beginning genre is much different from how it ends. It reminds me a lot of Two Weeks, another one of Lee Joon Ki's dramas -- fast-paced, well-put-together story, and addicting to watch (you always want to go immediately to the next episode), great actors and actresses. (I would say the first half is like Two Weeks, the second half more like Come and Hug Me).

At the same time, also like Two Weeks, it's missing a certain specialness or unique aspect that makes it stick out from other dramas. It's fun to watch through once, but there's not really anything particularly outstanding. I'll remember it for the fun ride, but there's nothing to draw me back into rewatching. I do wish they had delved more into certain issues and that the conflict had been resolved differently.

To be honest, I was ready to drop this drama around episode 12-ish. I felt like they kept rehashing the same plotlines and dialogues every few episodes, and the "romance" plotline was definitely the weakest part of this drama. This is not a drama you should watch if you want a good romance.

However, after the Chinese Civil War started, things got serious real quick, and I couldn't stop watching. Actually, I could stop, but only because I could only stomach one or two episodes a sitting because the events were so heavy. The second half of this drama deserves a 9 or 10 score, especially Weber Yang's performance as Jiang Wei Cheng -- just absolute perfection.

I learnt a lot from watching this drama. It's my first TW historical, and while it definitely has a different feel than K-historicals, it seems to stick a bit more faithfully to actual events and takes fewer liberties with the facts, which was really appreciated in the last third when they got to Taiwan and White Terror started.

This is a story about how characters are shaped by events out of their control. Thus, the characters were definitely the strongest part of this drama. They were very real, almost painfully real, full of bad habits and flaws, but also beautifully filled with love and loyalty for the people around them. If you like character-driven dramas, this is one you shouldn't miss for sure.

(According to the Korea Herald) - It was fined for sexually inappropriate scenes its early episodes (the FL inappropriately touching the ML and a guy running around naked with inappropriate censoring).

Nice article ^^ I like watching Taiwanese dramas because I feel like they do a really good job of balancing specifically exploring certain themes with having satisfying character arcs. Plus, they're usually not afraid to "go there" and will have characters die or really bad things happen without having to tie everything up in a pretty bow at the end. It's more about showing the process than leading to a happy conclusion. And sometimes they even go beyond the typical conclusion (like having the main couple fall in love) and even show the consequences/what happens after the supposed fairy tale ending. I feel like they tend to be a bit more realistic than other country's dramas because of that. Also, I second Misunderst0_od on the no dubbing part!

Some recs I would add to the list are Murphy's Law of Love, My Queen, A Thousand Goodnights, and The World Between Us.

Yeah, it's kind of shocking how many violation warnings the stations are getting in such a short time period. TVn got one too with "It's okay to not be okay"

I mean, I feel like it's obvious through the viewers eyes because we have all this extra information, but thinking about the clues he has to work with, what a leap it would be to just suddenly accept that time travel exists and time travelers are infiltrating your world. I think him putting it together piece by piece instead of just leaping to conclusions makes sense, especially considering he's not really an "impulsive and acts rashly" type character, more of a "takes a step back and ponders" type.

Running it through a translator:
SBS aired "The King: Eternal Monarch" program on May 9, 2020,
Broadcasting violations of Article 47 (indirect advertising) (1) 3 and (2) 3 of the Regulations on Broadcasting Review were broadcast and received "warning" by the Korea Communications Commission following the decision of the Korea Communications Standards Commission to impose sanctions.

I felt really annoyed and disappointed at the end when they added in the detail that Li Ya Jun was from Indonesia! Why do the big bad/psychotic characters have to be foreigners? Either they're from a Western country and are evil, empathy-lacking white guys or they're from Southeast Asia and are mental women.

I really dislike this trope because I feel like it takes away from addressing exclusively Taiwan society and its underlying issues. It instead ends up laying part of the blame on immigrants. While that could be true in reality, if you're making a drama about a certain country's issues, then I don't think you should bring in immigrants unless that was the message/what they were exploring from the outset. Rather, they just tacked that detail in there. It didn't add anything meaningful to the story at all. Should have just left her as Taiwanese.

I'm so glad to see Taiwan making these more serious, issues-based dramas. I feel the way they tackle societal issues is done in such a thoughtful and profound way. While this drama didn't capture my heart quite the same way The World Between Us did, it did have a fantastic take on the issue it was exploring with many viewpoints explored, as well as delivering an overall well-developed plot and characters.

The first half I felt was a bit bland, and while there were some plot points that took me by surprise, it felt a little too formulaic. But the second half really came through and shined (with the exception of one very small detail added in that quite disappointed me), especially with the message it evoked in the last episode -- it was very touching and meaningful. All the actors also did a wonderful job portraying their characters, especially the male lead Joseph Chang.

Also, if you watch this on Netflix, make sure to watch through the credits! They have BTS scenes and interviews with the cast at the very end that really add a lot to the detail and thought that went into making the drama.

This the first time I've ever watched a drama as it aired, so that was an interesting experience. I think it was a good choice for this drama too because without being limited to two episodes a week, I think I would've dropped it.

The first third was quite uninteresting and meandering (ep 1~8, I'd give a score of 4), the second third was surprisingly good with some deeply emotional scenes and interesting commentary on social status in Korea (ep 9~12, I'd give a 7), and finally, the last third was a mish-mash of throwing any plot point possible against the wall and going with what stuck easiest without thinking about expanding on the story as a whole (ep 13~16, back to 4 maybe even 3). As many others have commented, there was a severe lack of character growth throughout this entire series, which heavily impacted the last third.

The best part of this drama was its actors, hands down. The final scene with Ji Chang Wook and Kim Yoo Sung had me smiling just because I like them as actors, not because of any lasting impression the drama left on me. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this drama, but I highly praise most of the lead/support actors for the hard work and effort they put into their otherwise shallow characters and storylines.

I was pleasantly surprised by this adaptation. I think out of all the ones I have watched (which isn't all of them, but a fair amount), this one ranks close to the top, only beaten out by Fall in Love at First Kiss, the TW movie adaptation.

What I liked most about this adaptation is how they didn't make Zhi Shu such an unbearable jerk, and instead did a good job of showing him slowly melting his barriers and falling for Yue Qing. Instead of being a cold, off-standish genius, he resembled more of a real teenage boy who isn't used to being pushed and prodded in the way Yue Qing does. He felt like a real human than a caricature.

I really liked Yue Qing in this one too, but I usually like the Kotoko in all the stories, so that's not really a big surprise. Her earnest nature and the way she keeps going forward despite what happens to her are qualities I always admire.

Overall, I had fun watching this. It still suffers from the same problems and plodding plotlines that all the adaptations of this story do, the original story itself being inherently flawed, but this one was like eating popcorn -- light and easy.