DramaloverPanda

Beautiful visuals with horrendous story writing

Oh man has this become a bore. I have hung on for 10 episodes expecting it to pick up once the plot got its momentum but it has not and I do not have it in me to keep trying anymore. This show is about an obsessed ghost that attached himself to one woman and followed all of her reincarnations until one was finally able to remember him and he can kill her as revenge for her having killed him in her past life. This gets a bit messy when he finds himself drawn to this woman that is so much like the version of her he fell in love with. We have seen this same premise done over and over again lately so this show brings nothing new to your screen.

First, the cinematography and production teams did a great job as this is a beautiful drama to watch and the main couple is stunning. But that does not make up for the unremarkable story. The reincarnated lovers is something that has been seen a lot lately, as well as enemies to lovers. I have no problem with either of those tropes if the story is told well and keeps me engaged but this just does not do that. The characters are boring, both in modern time and in the Joseon period, there is no chemistry between the two to make you believe they are lovers and no engrossing story to keep you interested in how they end up. The show keeps regurgitating the same past story over and over again as if you have the memory of a peanut and can't recall what was seen the previous episode. And the snippet they repeatedly show jumps around in time and isnt even interesting or complete so seeing it over and over again is fatiguing as the viewer. They flash back frequently to their past life but not in order of events so even three quarters into the show they have not actually given you any information beyond what you found out in the first episode.

Then you have modern times which started a bit more interesting but has no focus either. The female lead is an amazing firefighter but only for the first two episodes, then she becomes some weak damsel in distress. The male lead takes over the body of a famous actor who has landed an important part in a drama but then that plot is dropped as well. A rival actor tries to run down the female lead and then is killed in a car accident which is ruled as suicide because of a note with no investigation. The problematic second female lead is just there to be obnoxious and comes and goes as the writers seem to need her to push the plot. So many storylines that are picked up and then abandoned. It's just all a jumbled up mess with no clear or logical direction which most viewers could put up with if the main couple had amazing chemistry but they do not, even the kiss seemed like he was kissing a dead fish!

Even the acting is not great. I loved the male lead in Shooting Stars but here he is lifeless and dull. His actor alter ego was annoying but far more interesting and that unfortunately only lasted for about 15 minutes of screen time. The biggest issue however is the female lead. I don't know if it is the character or the actress that sinks this for me but either way she really tanks the show. Her reactions either feel far too much or far too little and she shows no affection toward the male lead at all. The main antagonist, whom really does not present himself until about episode 10 is easy to hate but there is not enough reasoning for me to believe that this person would hang around for 1500 years for revenge.

Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

edit: after having skimmed the last 4 episodes I am completely confident in my earlier review and highly recommend you skip this one

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Finally! The much awaited special episode to finally see these two get to actually be happy together. But wait. In true Jack and Joker fashion, their happy ending must be hard fought for as they encounter an old villain that is set on taking them down. Now the group of friends that have yet to change their circumstances are thrust into another dangerous situation.

If I were to break down the universe in this series I would say that these characters live in a place that is primarily run by gangs and fear. In a poor small village the commoners struggle to just make it from day to day without being harassed or exploited by those who have more power. This special picks up where the series left off with Jack and Joker teaching at the school they opened for the children of the village, Save was made the new boss of the debt collectors in the area with Hope as his help, Tattoo and Aran make money where they can with inventions, and Hoy is still a driver. Not much has changed for these characters except that Boss Alice and his goons are no longer violently suppressing them. His absence however does not erase the fact that many of these people still owe money. While Save is trying to collect without violence and make a change for the better within the debt collecting scene he is only able to really impact the few around him as many other gangs aren't too far away and greed and corruption is wide swept and hard to eradicate. Even Rose mentions how her father and the head horsemen still play the games that mess with peoples lives. So what we see is this very small part in our characters lives that makes a minute difference in the world around them.

That being said, I found this special to be better acted by many of the side characters than I did in the series. And thankfully the over the top comedy is absent in this episode and instead has more natural interactions making most of it more palatable. We did see a lack of emotions where I thought there should be like in the proposal which felt a little flat as well as in the last section where everyone was so accepting of a death without tears or questioning it especially without a body. But other scenes were spot on. I actually liked the affectionate and silly interactions between Jack and Joke and their emotional scenes in the later half did a good job of breaking your heart. Hoy also was much more tolerable in this episode and his grief and anger were spot on. Tattoo and Aran were also fun to watch with their easy back and forth and comfort around each other.

But lets talk about what could have been done better. The rescue plan here is just as poorly thought out as all the heists done in the series. The characters going in with a half baked plan and expecting the viewers to suspend belief. First how did they get their 'weapons' in when they were waved with a metal detector? Carbon's escape from prison was so poorly explained but also I have such a hard time even understanding the character that is one dimensional evil. In the series he threw a child to kill her and here he attracted the group to try and get revenge for going to prison. What was the goal? To kill them all? Just one? To make Jack miserable? His goal is confusing to me. Even then I can ignore all this and just accept that they all walked into a trap and since their planning was poor it is easy to believe that they ended up in the worst possible position and they are all hurt so badly in the end. But after this scene the drama just ignores the injuries. Aran who was stabbed is now fine. There are no bruises on any of the characters, Jack's leg was so badly hurt that he couldn't get up to help Joke but is walking around fine two days later. Could we not have at least bandaged them?

Now lets talk about the wedding. This is the biggest part of the plot that most people have a problem with. I can agree with all the views in other reviews. But I will say that grief is different in everyone. Jack was barely holding himself together and if he needed this make believe wedding to not lose it entirely then I can see how the people that love him would go along with it. I think it would have been more easily accepted if they had made it a dream sequence. For example if Jack passes out from the grief and stress and dreams of the wedding he never got to have. But by adding the doll they ended up making it creepy. You can see how sad all the guests are but like pointed out by others, were they just watching Jack kiss a doll? There is being supportive and allowing a friend to grieve and be crazy so as not to also lose him to the sadness and then there is allowing delusion to go too far.

Also the very last scene where Joke gets up. Now we are not told how much later this scene takes place but there is no way he survived without medical help. He was shot twice and the blood on his shirt shows that at least one of those shots went in his stomach. And if he woke up much later and is more healed he would be very weak and have a hard time getting up normally. But he somehow survived and yet Carbon who only fell into the water was said to have had his body found. So how did he die? Could he not swim? What would make the seemingly more able bodied one die but the seriously injured one survive?

Putting logic aside I still find that I mostly enjoyed this. It had me in tears and willingly being blind to the obvious flaws much the same as the series did. Such is the magnetism of Yin and War. I look forward to a second season.

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Super women vs. useless men

I was really hoping to love this show and get the same emotions that I got when watching Strong Woman Do Bong Soon since this is a spin off of that show. Unfortunately I do not get any of the same emotions and it does not arouse much of my interest. Comparing the two is inevitable since this is marketed as a spin off and even has a brief appearance of the original couple. What drew people in was the amazing chemistry that the parent show had. The three main characters in it had unbelievable chemistry that left you often laughing or swooning effortless. The episodes never felt long and the story was well managed and paced.

This show, however, does not meet any of that same criteria. It also does not focus on Nam Soon either. The focus of this show is centered around the 3 generations of women in this family that are strong. But some of the principles you learned about the gift in the parent show is ignored in this show. Even overlooking that aspect Nam Soon is essentially a super hero while all of the men around them are reduced to ridiculous and useless characters that carry no significance at all. It is practically an extreme feminist reversal of gender roles. Then you have the love triangle with the main antagonist, who carries most of the interest in this entire show, and the 'good guy' cop who both fall in love with Nam Soon. Personally I don't see the chemistry in either pair. You are just told by the writer that these men like her but as a viewer you have no idea why since she behaves like a middle school girl and shows no interest toward either man either. There is nothing about their interactions that convince you that any of these characters really like each other which could primarily be because the story follows so many different characters that there is not enough screen time for them to get you invested as a viewer. The mother has more screen time than Nam Soon whom the show is named for.

The story line and pacing for this show is also poorly done and not well flushed out leaving you often bored. You will find yourself wanting to skip significant portions fairly often. Personally I think that all the scenes with her grandmother could be completely removed and instead could have been used to better acquaint you with the main triangle. I have continued to watch up until episode 12 and have found myself utterly bored with this. I will most likely finish this by skimming the last few episodes just to get the gist of how it ends.

I do not recommend this if you have seen Strong Woman Do Bong Soon but if you are going into this never having seen the prior then you may find it more interesting. Just go in with low expectations.

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When a show is made purely to capitalize on actors popularity and the plot doesn't matter

It actually pains me to see these actors in this poorly produced drama. This show premise has a lot going for it. Two brothers, Fadel and Bison, are hitmen due to their traumatic past leading them down a path of revenge and carnage but find themselves entangled with two persistent and magnetic men that begin to melt their cold exterior and make them wish for a different road. Kant, who meets Bison by chance during a one night stand, is forced into trying to expose the brothers in order to erase his own shady past to protect his younger brother. In his pursuit of Bison and evidence to damn him he enlists the help of his best friend Style to seduce Fadel and pave an easier open for Kant to sneak his way in. While not originally aware of who Fadel really is, Style pursues and wins over Fadel with his tenacious heart. But trouble brews when the brothers realize they have been played leading to a crossroads of how to handle their lovers as their anger and their heart are at war.

With a strong idea and competent actors this series should have been a home run. Unfortunately this show fails to realize any of its potential. From the beginning it is hard to believe that Fadel and Bison are in fact professional hitmen. The pair are likeable and entertaining but the poorly planned and executed 'jobs' and the lack of backstory do not give them credibility as professional killers. Instead the show focuses only on the chemistry and relationship between the pairs without creating any true coherent plot line. It becomes solely about the 4 main leads love story using flimsy story arcs to move the story forward and each arc is more ridiculous than the last. You have to completely abandon any logic to get any enjoyment out of this show. From professional hitmen that don't know how to cover their tracks, to kidnapping in pure daylight with no attempt at secrecy, to prison time that looks like college. Nothing about this drama made sense or was realistic.

Shot with a very small cast this show appears as low budget often with the characters being the only four to appear on screen. Budget wasn't even afforded for enough extras in the hospital or public areas to make any of the story feel real. Even the acting began to feel over the top. Not even the NC scenes were able to save this as they became cringey to watch the further into the story you get. Sadly I do not recommend this show and suggest you use your valuable time on something else and wait for better projects from these actors.

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A second chance romance that promises us a scheming male lead with a clever liar of a female lead. A stunning pair that lie and scheme their way into a marriage for love or benefits but come to learn that lies will always find their way to the surface. This story promises swoon worthy leads, witty schemes, and romance that will always push them back together. Except it never delivered. The calculating and meticulous leads spend the majority of the story being led by their noses by forces that create doubt and misunderstandings with ease delving their already shallow relationship into a territory where I began to root against them.

The start of this drama really pulls you in with its ruthless precision to the narratives each character has crafted and then the ultimate fall out when the lies come to light. But then the story takes a nose dive and instead of the banter and chase we expected as the leads find their way back to each other we are instead forced to watch the endless business meetings and constant doubt that is easily pushed onto the characters from outside forces that show just how shallow their understanding of each other really is. Personally I don't watch a lot of work or business related dramas as I find them boring so after the half way point of this drama I began skimming episodes.

An overall beautiful drama that is acted well but lost its grit from the beginning.

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A promising story that spans two generations of heroes where their stories interlock and the previous generations choices push forward the new generation as they step in to adulthood. This could have been a truly great story where new heroes unravel past truths and relive old mistakes with new choices but the poorly written script relied too heavily on action and beauty and not enough on plot cohesion and direction.

There is quite a lot I find lacking in this drama starting with the costuming. Some costumes look great while others are just plain silly. Many of the hairstyles, specifically for most the women, I did not like. I also found the lighting lacking. Everything is well lit, yes, but its so monotone and lifeless because it lacks contrast. There are many scenes where the intensity could have been felt more through better lighting choices that allow for mood building. Instead every scene is always well lit, even the dark scenes. It makes the cinematography feel amateurish. The way the scenes are cut together also lacked a proper flow and was often jarring. Overall the quality felt low even though you could clearly see it was not low budget.

The actors did an okay job though I felt they lacked chemistry and the script often let down with obscure truths and fine details just magically being something they happen to know from an old childhood memory. It always seemed like our two leads just happened to know everything at all times. The timeline felt really muddled to me as well because we weren't given enough background about the older generation. It was always snippets and the same flashbacks but little information and even less emotional build up to allow us as the viewers to care about them. Pingshu was often at the center of every episode but barely seen in the series so I found it very hard to connect with the point of it all. She also never aged, even though all her friends did and she supposedly had only recently passed away. So much of the story is built on the older generations choices but we werent given enough information or time to care about them.

There is also almost no world building done. You are told over and over again that Jianghu is a dangerous place but not what it actually is and what the difference between it and the 'outside' world are. The martial arts are great and most the characters are amazing, until the plot needs them to lose. Then simple moves take them out easily. They never really explain the different sects or why they are all even at the same sect to train. And what really let this drama down was the lack of backstory. The older generation is so prevalent to the narrative but mostly ignored, the previous battles are so relevant to the current problems but not explained properly, and then our female lead is set on this impossible pedastool for no reason. In the beginning she mostly comes off as lazy but is loved by everyone, then she shows her skills and she is amazing but narrow minded though the story wants you to think she is broad minded.

Not one character has any growth in this series., thats a lie Lingbo did have some small development. I did not like any of them to be honest though. The 6 sects of course think they are righteous but are really hypocritical. Every person under the 6 sects is completely fine with murdering without evidence, capital punishment for perceived wrongs. Whats even the point of all these sects anyway when none of them are out actually helping people? The entire drama is filled with small minded, greedy, self serving characters.

Overall, I truly liked this in the first ten episodes but as it progressed I found myself losing interest. Even the ending scene lacked any true emotion even though most the new generation was happy and present.

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the silliest of stories but with the funnest leads

This drama feels like it is held together with old glue someone found hidden in a garage that is barely sticky anymore. Relying on short bursts of comedy and likeable, attractive leads this drama is a bit of a disaster. I'm not sure what hex this show put on me though because I sat through the entire thing and I'm not completely sure why. It's like watching one of those bad sitcoms on TV where its a trainwreck but somehow you find yourself invested in at least one character so you come back again and again just to see what happens.

Manman is hired by Princess Aliya to end her unwanted engagement to the first Prince but Manman instead finds herself entangled with him instead. While originally intending to get away as quickly as possible, Manman accidentally discovers a link to her mother from inside the palace and while chasing that lead she ends up falling for the Prince entangling herself not only with him but also the second Prince. When jealousy and greed start to take center stage, ManMan and Prince Jin must work together.

The positive is that most the lead protagonists do a good job and I enjoy the chemistry and silliness of the three pairs of couples. The scene direction and camera angles are fairly pleasing. The drama is clearly low budget but the costumes and sets felt fitting for the story they were trying to tell. The music is fine and the acting is mostly okay.

Let me first address the male wigs, because come on, they were downright awful and so noticeable and I'm not sure if that was a wig problem, a makeup problem, or a lighting problem. But it was a problem and so distracting. The editing was also very abrupt most the time with scene endings and jumps. The Noble Consort was also miscast. She looked younger than the person that plays her son and was portrayed so cartoonishly greedy and cruel that she never passes as a believable character.

But, in all honesty, the plot and writing is really what just does this story in. The execution is so poor and completely reliant on the viewer having to believe the most ridiculous things just to make the story work. Unless you want to pick this up as a pretty drama to turn your brain off to then spend your well earned free time watching a better drama. Which can literally be anything but this.

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Best short drama I have seen

I went into this not knowing what to expect but so pleasantly surprised by it. If you look at this drama as the low budget short drama that it is then it really pulled off so much. The production was great from the choice of locations, the camera angles, the colors, the outfits. Everything chosen added to the overall experience. The acting was also very good. There was no instance where I thought that these were new actors because they never appeared nervous on screen. Their characters showed through well and fit the story. The soundtrack is also one of my favorites.

If there is anything that takes away stars it is only the storyline. But that is mostly because of the short nature of the drama that things had to progress quickly and leave out details to fit the length. But even though some things can be a bit unbelievable it was still done extremely well within the constrictions. There is a clear motive for any of their actions so you never felt lost. Honestly I would love to see the story expanded for a longer drama with the same actors.

I've seen a lot of asian dramas and quite a few short and low budget ones; this is my favorite among them. Well worth the watch and it will only take a couple hours since the episodes are only about 10 minutes long each.

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if you like your female lead consistently dumb

A completely unserious, beautifully styled drama with transmigration. To be honest what interested me in this drama is Liu Yu Ning and his latest string of enjoyable dramas. His presence in this drama does not disappoint as the misunderstood but also ruthless male lead. His character development and the unraveling of his story are so enjoyable to watch that I was riveted to the screen every time he was on it. What starts as a comedic parody slowly unravels into a dramatic tale of misunderstandings defining a person and their struggle to escape the cage placed around them. And then it stays there for a long time. One misunderstanding after the next with absolutely no growth or sense in the characters.

The story revolves around Song Yi Meng that is a mediocre actress paired with an exceptionally popular and high maintenance male lead in a historical drama. While reading she is transported into the world of the script and forced to play out her character's devastating role. With her knowledge of the script she skimmed through and her steadfast desire to avoid the same miserable fate that is written for her character she does everything in her power to change the story and escape her fate. But the rules inside the script are different and major scenes will always be played out no matter how much she changes.

The story is told from both the female and male lead's perspective so as the viewer you know how misunderstood and villainized the male lead is and how incredibly biased and naive the female lead is which leads to a very frustrating watch. To be honest I keep waiting for the female lead to figure out how wrong she is so that I can actually like her but halfway through the drama and I still can not stand her character. She is determined to not have the miserable fate that is written for her character and I can sympathize with that plight but she has no character development or situational awareness. She always sees the male lead as the villain no matter what is revealed about him to her. My dislike of her likely stems from my obvious more interest in the male lead, Nan Heng, and my knowledge as the viewer of his actual character and struggles. While I know she doesn't know that yet I still get incredibly frustrated watching her continuous mistreatment of him and lack of character progression.

Satire style comedy is also not often in my wheel house so the comedy does not always hit here for me. I love Nan Heng and his band of martial arts brothers and their interactions and even the references to other popular works but there are many times where the comedy feels more cringe to me. Also the drawn out miscommunication and misconceptions does begin to feel tiresome. The overly ridiculous Eighteenth Prince and obnoxiously biased and cruel Emperor also make this a bit difficult to continue watching but I think once the truth is revealed it will make up for the frustrations. Liu Yu Ning carries this show on his shoulders with his gripping portrayal of Nan Heng and his desperate fight to survive.

Having seen well into three quarters of the drama and the female lead, Song Yimeng, is still behaving with the same misplaced and blatantly ignorant aggression toward the Nan Heng makes this something I can no longer recommend. The plot feels glacial and goes in circles with her making one stupid decision after another. Skip this drama and pick a better one.

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the kind of show that makes you want to call home

This heartwarming and uplifting show will take you on a fun and chaotic ride back home and the people that know you best. The story follows three sisters as they return home to their small town in Jeju as they try to run from troubles and end up finding themselves again in the people they left behind.

Their hometown is full of chaotic and sometimes frustrating people but they are also the ones that know them best. The togetherness and small town family is heartwarming to watch. You watch as the girls are forced to confront the problems they were trying to run away from and find their way back to themselves and happiness. The acting from the entire cast is superb. This show also showcases a bunch of green flag men in these women's lives which is so fun to watch. I especially love the friendship of the 5 best friends that grew up together.

I did find certain parts frustrating to watch, primarily the story line about Yoong-sil's father but I could also sympathize and see in his character a realistic portrayal of grief. I do wish there had been more of an ending for the main perpetrator of the series but you were still shown that her acts were exposed so I guess that is enough.

All in all this is a fun watch that had me laughing and smiling and ultimately wanting to make a trip back home.

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Spicy in all the right ways

I started this show not really knowing what to expect and that first scene was a huge surprise! Especially for a show from S. Korea. And as I watched the more I enjoyed this. It was tastefully done, oh man did the cinematography crew blow it out of the water, and had a well written and executed story. This is one of those shows you start on a whim and quickly realize it was something you did not know you needed.

Definitely marketed more toward the female viewer this show follows two female lead best friends in their early thirties as they navigate sex, love, and relationships. One friend is anti-relationships and only wants sex partners while the other has been in a five year relationship but is wondering if it is giving her everything she needs. These woman feel real and their predicament will hit home for many other woman. The podcast that the show centers around where the woman work also brings in many very real feelings and stigmas surrounding sexual pleasure for women.

The show did a fantastic job of keeping you engrossed while also not making you feel like you are watching a XXX movie. If I had to complain about anything it is that the cast is too perfect, the men are all dreamy and everyone has the perfect body. But really is the eye candy that big of a complaint? It also in a way superficially explores relationship building here since the primary focus is finding pleasure for the women. This is not a long show so it was an easy watch.

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I picked this up wanting something fun to watch and this was perfect for that. The viewing experience is a lot like watching a comic, especially with the added sound effects and occasional pop art so in some ways you don't take this show too seriously. It is mostly light hearted with fun characters and dialogue that keeps you smiling and giggling in every episode. The production and cinematography was done well and the OST was cute. The actors all executed their roles very well and were mostly enjoyable to watch. Min Hyuk is the cutest male lead I have ever seen; every scene with him was so cute or funny and kept me smiling from ear to ear. But the actor wasn't just comic relief, he also carried his emotions so well with his gaze that you felt those smoldering looks while watching. The chemistry between the two leads was great.

What knocks off points for me were two things: first there were 3 characters I really disliked and did not see the purpose of them even being present in the story and the second is the tonal shift in the storyline toward the end. I'll explain better.

First the 3 characters I really disliked were Hee Ji who was Gook Doo's girlfriend in the beginning of the show, Kwang Bok who was one of the 'leaders' for the gang that was after Bong Soon, and Oh Dol Pyo who was the head of the Strategy Department. The girlfriend was there only to showcase Bong Soon's one sided crush but then her personality and actions irked me as there was no reason for any of it since that sub plot did not move the story along in any way. The last two characters were played by the same actor and I truly hated both. The gangster was just meant to be a ridiculous punching bag but since there were so many other gangsters that were all silly as well then this character was not needed. And Mr. Oh was brought in later in the series just to create a weird conflict within the Strategy Department for Bong Soon as well as be another comedic relief but again the character was just annoying and unneeded.

Now the story line. This show did try a little hard to mesh a couple genres together. It is a rom com/ comic super hero/ mystery thriller/ comedy all in one. In a lot of ways the writers made this work quite well. Where they faltered was from about episode 11-15 when the climax of the mystery thriller was beginning to really set in. While the story progressed well with the mystery part it was the constant scene shifts to unimportant characters and comedy scenes that felt so jarring that I was annoyed. I ended up skipping portions here of the gangsters side storyline and the parents in favor of just seeing the main plot and characters.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this show and highly recommend it especially if you are looking for a cute romance or a show to get you giggling.

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Did we watch the same thing?

I was reading other reviews after having finished this and am honestly wondering if I even watched the same thing as many of the other reviewers. I watched season one of Sweet Home a couple months ago so this show was newer to me than for those that watched it 3 years ago when it first came out, still I was excited when I saw a second season coming since the first left on a cliff hanger.

The first season was not shy about killing people off and I was actually frustrated that almost all my favorite characters had died while the ones I did not like; the selfish and useless ones, were the ones that survived. All the trailers for this season had Hyun Soo as the focus so I expected to find him as the main focus. But he was not, nor were any of the other survivors from season one. The show honestly did not have a main focus at all, it started so many subplots and answered not one by its conclusion making this this season only a prequel for the next season which is utterly frustrating. Kdramas are rarely given second seasons let alone third seasons mostly because they are able to complete full stories in the typical 16 episodes. SO having a second season that did absolutely nothing for the show feels odd.

The acting here was fine and the actors did great with the script they were given but from episodes 4-8 I found myself fast forwarding through more than half the episodes out of boredom. They decided to focus on new characters which would have been fine had they picked a couple but they jumped and skipped to what felt like irrelevant characters that you never had any time to build any attachment for so their scenes were just boring. The only two characters that seemed to stand out from the new bunch were Chan Young and Chief Ji, as well as the psycho doctor. But again, there was the beginning of a subplot with no follow through or conclusion so all you are left with is confusion and questions. I suppose that is what they want so you will pick up the next season but it does not make for a good show.

My advice would be to wait and watch this with season 3 when it comes out and you might find this more appealing but if you watch it now you'll be frustrated and annoyed. Characters you were attached to from last season are either sidelined or killed in ridiculous ways, the monsters go from being interesting and unique to carbon copies of each other that look like blobs of cement, and there is a one year time jump and nothing is explained about that year. Just wait to watch this when they decide to give you an actual story and not this weird in between.

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Did we even watch the same thing?

I am utterly flabbergasted at the high rating for this show. I went into this thinking it would be a light-hearted and fun love story with a side of palace politics and power struggles. What I ended up watching was a show with ridiculous characters and nonsensical plot that circled around the frustrating love story of the two main characters. I am under the impression that Xu Kai fans are what has inflated the rating for this show because the drama itself is not worth watching.

To address Xu Kai; I actually liked him in this drama and thought his acting was done much better than I have seen in many of his other works. He had great chemistry with Jing Tian and the other male cast members in his army. His stage presence is great and he pulls off the carefree soldier that is being forced into his role of royalty. Jing Tian also acted her role well according to how she is written. I did not like the character very much but she was acted well and the chemistry between the two helped tremendously. The character herself was just frustrating and I often times wanted Li NI to just give up because she was not worth it.

But having two great main actors will not make a show great if it is written and directed poorly. And that is exactly what this is. It is so poorly written that it is laughable. Almost all of the characters are cartoonish in their representations of their roles. The main lead's father that becomes the emperor is spineless and ridiculous. He acts and reacts in ways that are childish. His two older brothers are witless and ambitious but just plain dumb. The writer of this show obviously does not have a firm understanding of politics because the way this drama moves in circles with with nonsensical reasoning for their moves and countermoves. Every villain that is introduced, and there are quite a few, are one dimensional characters making decisions based on one specific desire and the people around them just follow along as if that person is not dumb. And these actors were even directed to make the most ridiculous facial expressions that make them cartoony to portray evilness.

I was already struggling to get through this after the main leads father, whom you can not convince me is a person that could have ever held power, became emperor. Even if he was a puppet king he was so ridiculous that I could no longer watch scenes with him in it. Then came the tedious and LONG storyline where the female lead is angry that the Li Ni did not save her useless Young Master. I could have gotten past it and said it was her grief reacting but it went on for soooo long. When they finally find that cute and watchable area where the two are clearly in love you have the intrusion of the love scorned Young Master returning as a villain but in a way that made absolutely no sense. Did no one ask where he had been for months? No one questioned anything and just let him back to lead the army with authority higher than Ying even though she was very close to the general. The forced wedding episode was unbearable to watch for its nonsense. Move on and you have the female lead then forcing the unwilling male lead to become crown prince in order to marry her. It is one ridiculous plot point to another with no connecting strings or firm reasoning for their actions.

The only reason I am giving this a 5 is because the costumes are pretty, the main actors do well, and the OST is nice. But the CGI is horrible, the rest of the acting is bad and the story line is ridiculous.

I really just can't tell you enough to please skip this drama.

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from perfectly unhinged to sheer nonsense

A short drama with an unhinged and ruthless female lead that cares for nothing else except her revenge. After being brutally discarded for her 'family' to earn a purity plaque and lift their rank she is given a new face by a powerful ally that comes upon her and makes her way back into the very family that killed her. Dismantling their influence from within our female lead manages to take them down one by one with seemingly little effort.

Short dramas in general have a much faster pacing format than normal dramas but this puts even that normalcy to the test. Moving at lightning speed, the story takes you unto the Liu household and topples each member systematically with ease and brutal satisfaction. But it fails to build a complete story or believable characters. The perfectly unhinged female lead, Wan Qing, has very little background information given to explain her initial sacrifice and then nothing to really give credit to her later revenge build up. You see her steal from and then abandoning her savior so where does she get the skills and network to pull off her schemes before he finds her again 3 years later? Then her massacre of the family becomes swift but with such little believability that you find yourself just sitting back and enjoying her truly insane enjoyment over the whole thing. Until suddenly the show shifts and you are instead scratching your head trying to figure out exactly what you are watching.

Our male lead if the powerful but silent backing that is only there to save her again and again as she recklessly throws herself into danger but you don't see how he really adds anything. He is a high ranking official that is set on bringing down the Liu family for its corruption but no screen time is given to his skill, network, or grievances to explain his whys. The pair do have plenty of chemistry so I found that all the plot holes could be easily ignored until, again, the shift in the story happened.

Our villains here are one dimensional and stupidly easy to fool and manipulate. The son Wan Qing marries is just a drug addict with a bottle permanently attached to his hand and no other personality trait other than sniffing it. The mother is clever enough to embezzle money, control a kidnapping ring, and fool her husband but easily falls for the simplest tricks. The father is shown as just being greedy, lustful, and obsessive. But, sure, we can believe that they massacred an entire family and carried out their corruption by being pawns of the big bad. Now enter the big bad's story line. And this is when the show loses me. For all the enjoyment I got from the beautiful visuals and our female lead's one track revenge journey was snuffed out in a single episode where I truly though I had accidentally clicked on a different drama. The trek to the end of the drama from here really does not improve and just gets more and more ridiculous.

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