Eleison

Oh, does she teach that kind of chemistry in her chemistry class? 😉😅

Also my guess on the low rating is that this drama scares people off with all the bureaucracy and math talk. The story itself, though, is well-told and very good. So, don't get scared off by all that--it really is a gem!

P.S. If you watch on Prime in the U.S., prepare yourself. The subtitles were not well-timed. One episode the subtitles were several seconds behind the talking THE ENTIRE EPISODE and it got confusing and super frustrating. Gave me an appreciation for subtitles that are so well done that you forget you're using them. Too bad they aren't better in this one.

So wait, is this an anime series I can watch (the OVA)? I'm not familiar with anime, really. Where can it be watched?

It's quite fun, actually. Built-in bestie.

Just got to get over being called "cute" when seen together your whole life and having people do the double take when they walk by. Sometimes people see you as a set instead of as individuals, but overall, minor cons offset by really good pros. 😉

I agree with this entire comment. I also felt he didn't live up to NIF2, but I was surprised by him here. He acted really well in this, and his comedic moments were my favorite.

😅 So true!

Kdrama sections can be pleasant, but I think they get more traffic/are more popular than Cdramas so they get more people visiting them and then also more contrarians/weirdos. Cdrama threads are often much more pleasant I've found recently!

Thank you! Appreciate you taking the time to respond!

I think so! He must be younger son of Man Man's grandfather.

Wait, so usually I see "gege" used as "brother" in Cdramas (and maybe just in the costume dramas? I can't remember. Haven't seen many modern ones); does it have other meanings? And what is its connection to Tang and Biao? I clearly don't know much, lol. 😅 Thanks for answering my questions! The only controversy I've noticed people complaining about (at least here on MDL) regarding Hidden Love is the age gap.

But let's be real, Wei Shao makes way more mistakes than Man Man just from an objective standpoint in this drama. She made some early on (and it sounds like she make another in 28 or 29, I haven't seen them yet), but he's been the one flubbing up since then (petty, needlessly jealous and suspicious, quick to assume, entitled, and bit dense at times, etc.). He's quick to apologize, though, and that's the important thing (and he does try to do better). 😉

Wow, this is interesting! Thank you! I know it was a thing in Europe and America until the late 1800's/early 1900's for cousins to marry, but they've never differentiated maternal/paternal families like that. So interesting! So it would have been "ew" for tang cousins to fall in love for much of China's history (like for siblings today?), but for the biao it was considered completely fine? Huh. (And what does the "CP" abbreviation stand for?) Again, fascinating--thanks for the info!

It is interesting how what people consider to be "romantic" changes with the changing cultural values of the time!

I have mixed feelings about this one. I wanted to see Xiao Zhan because I heard how he skyrocketed to fame and everyone loves him, but I don't think The Untamed would be my cup of tea since I don't watch danmei (or censored versions with danmei undertones). He did great in this, though! I liked that Tang San was often underestimated, but he always had a wealth of smarts and resources that offset his budding, not-yet-fully-realized spirit (no pun intended 😉).

I enjoyed the Seven Shrek Devils, and I could have watched their team fights and bonding over training over and over. The friendship and teamwork in this was certainly the highlight. Watching each person grow was what really eventually drew me in.

Some parts were lots of fun, and the world-building was super interesting. However, there were some extremely dorky/cheesy parts (like the time they started making music in the forest on their way to the competition, 🫣🤦‍♀️ the man-suit Yeti/Ape, the sandstorm being caused by the Desert Wild Beast (a Llama with a horn 😅), etc.), that made me laugh AT the drama, and, connected to this point, I honestly did have a bit of a hard time with the FL. Overall, I like the MC's devotion to each other, it was very simple and pure-hearted, and that I didn't mind at all. It's just that I felt like the actress playing Xiao Wu (she reminded me a lot of Tai Lee from Avatar The Last Airbender, actually; her hair and styling is even similar!) was acting in a stage play, and it felt overdone compared to everyone else, except maybe Ning Rong Rong and Ou Si Ke, who were also heavy on the overacting (actually, the cheesiness around his spirit worked for me, because they incorporated it into his growth and acknowledged it was embarassing. That made it make sense! But a lot of other dorky stuff just felt dorky). Xiao Wu also didn't look like a child, but she acted like an adult playing a child. It didn't land for me.

I also thought the ending felt very incomplete; it can't be watched on its own without a second season, and that's a bummer!

Also, I'm a big sucker for good BGMs, and these were... awful. Maybe three I liked, and the rest were so distracting I couldn't focus on the scene or they felt completely out of place for the vibe of many the scenes they were played for. The BGMs were definitely a miss on this one!

The pacing was decent; only a few early episodes before the team really assembled (with Ou Si Ke going on and on about his plays), did I start to get the urge to skip ahead.

Taken as a whole, enjoyable, but it definitely had its flaws!

😅😅😅

Wait, why the differentiation for which cousins could marry each other when they're all cousins? 🤔

My only issue with Prison Playbook was it made prison (and the prisoners) too cozy. I've never been to prison, but I think I can still say with confidence that it's probably nothing like that. 😅

The characters I prepared myself already for dying are Wei Liang, Bi Zhi and Wei Yan. But it's a Cdrama, so you never know. They seem to love killing beloved characters off.

Was Chen Pang good, then? In the drama he seems to be selfish and scheming from everything I've seen through Episode 26.

There are a lot of double standards out there like this. 😉 (I agree with you)

I don't know why the subs keep mixing it up. Is the word for cousin and brother/sister the same in Mandarin? I don't realize why they can't seem to get it right. 🤔