Sam

Fast Forward Romance

This is one of those dramas that would have perhaps benefitted from a longer run of 16 episodes.. Or maybe that’s just my wishful thinking as someone who enjoys Jung So-min and Choi Woo-shik. As it stands, the drama feels too rushed for its own good. It jumps from one story beat to the next so abruptly that even with my “tolerant glasses” on for JSM and CWS, I found myself frowning at the screen more often than not.

Story & Execution
The premise is simple: The FL’s long-term boyfriend (and legal husband) cheats on her and dumps her. On top of that, she ends up financially strapped. She then wins a conditional prize that requires her to be married, and through a series of coincidences, she ropes the ML into pretending to be her newly-wedded husband. Conveniently, he shares the same name as her awful ex. He agrees due to his own motives. Eventually we learn that she happens to be his childhood first love. From there, the plot hits every standard rom-com checkpoint: fake marriage setup, sentimental flashbacks, family power struggles, and the inevitable conflict-resolution loop.

Unfortunately, the writing never gives these beats room to breathe. The pacing is so compressed that character development feels superficial. Important moments appear and disappear before we can invest in them.

Tropes & Weaknesses
The childhood-first-love trope is especially tired here. It’s hard to tell if the ML genuinely loves the FL as she is now, or if he’s simply clinging to nostalgia. It’s a trope that’s been used to death in K-dramas, and as it is, here it adds little beyond eye-rolling predictability.

The secondary romance is barely a romance at all. The connection between the second leads feels forced, like a bullet point on writer-nim’s checklist. The cheating ex overstays his welcome by at least six episodes. Although he faces consequences, he doesn’t actually grow. Meanwhile, the “mystery” behind the ML’s parents’ accident is so predictable that it borders on parody. Nothing else in the supporting cast or subplots stands out in a meaningful way.

Performances
The two leads are the saving grace. Even when they’re just average, their average is still better than many others’ best. I finished the drama solely because of them. Without them, I would have dropped it by episode three despite being a completionist. They make their rather bland characters, Me-ri and Woo-ju, at least somewhat charming. Ironically, they shine more individually than as a couple. The lack of chemistry is probably another casualty of the rushed execution.

Overall
It’s a meh drama, somewhere between forgettable and mildly watchable. Despite the two leads’ earnest efforts, the show never finds its footing. It wobbles, stumbles, and ultimately crashlands. Sadly, it’s one for the red side of my entertainment ledger.

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I don’t get it

Ok, this is my opinion..No hate on anybody

I know I’m a bit late to the party. I was strangely reluctant to first watch this drama (because I was afraid of being disappointed if it did not turn out to be as good as everybody said it was) and then I was hesitant to post my thoughts about it; mainly because I couldn’t understand why I was “not impressed”. (For some reason, I kept remembering Superman saying to Steppenwolf, “Not Impressed”).. anyhoo..

The show ticks so many boxes.. it has a perfect recipe of a perfect romance. Really good looking ML, quite pretty FL, supposedly swoon worthy romance, all the usual tropes, etc. But for me, something was missing. And I still don’t know what. May be it’s a case of it’s not the show, it’s me.

There seem to be polarized views on the kid playing young Zhao Lusi. It didn’t bother me much. Probably because I was prepared for it. And ML during that phase really treated her as an elder brother. Did not creep me out. I wasn’t a fan but I also didn’t find it gross.

I just couldn’t get the romance between ML and FL. I understand she had a crush. But it takes a lot for a crush to transform into once in lifetime kinda love. And I really didn’t get that feeling from our leads. The drama tried to sell that, but I just couldn’t buy. I don’t get why he gets attracted to her. Is it just because when she takes care of him, he suddenly sees her in a different light? If that, then I somehow don’t see it as love. It’s gratefulness at best and selfishness at worst. I don’t want to believe that he always had a specific soft spot for her (even though it is hinted.. he keeps just his and her photo from the graduation ceremony). That would feel weird because in my eyes it’d make him a creep. She was pretty young at that time. So no, I don’t want to believe that. Then I really hit a wall there… why?

It was easier for me to see how her fascination with her brother’s friend progressed to a crush. Those who have older siblings or cousins would know, how your sibling’s one friend seemed like a perfect specimen back when the puberty hit. So I get it. What I don’t get is why that progresses into this forever kind of love? Granted at such an young age, all the emotions are extra bright. But I find it difficult to accept that none of the other friends in her widening circle capture her interest? If they made her fall for him after they meet again, it might have made more sense. They could have shown how the new encounters slowly remind her why she had a crush on him, and I’d have accepted that.

I really like Zhao Lusi. She has the looks and the skills. But somehow in this drama, she appeared a bit stiff. IMO it’s on the director. Same with Chen Zheyuan. I don’t think he is a great actor but he is not bad either. He gets the job done. But here somehow he looked .. I dunno.. bored?!? Personally, I didn’t see their chemistry which is driving people nuts. But yeah they were effortlessly together. I give you that.

One thing that was like a sour note for me was in their bid to show her as an apple of her family’s eye, they treated the bro rather shabbily. Her mum-n-dad were very much about her but mostly treated the big bro like an unwanted adopted child. To be honest again it could be just me. But I hate it when in dramas, parents treat main leads’ siblings more favourably. Similarly I hate it when parents are so darn biased in favour of main leads. I dinna find it cute, I dinna find it funny. I was second hand annoyed for her bro.

The drama is polished. It looks good, OST is not bad either. I just didn’t get hooked onto it the way I expected after the reviews. My expectations were way up there. But at the end I was underwhelmed. I just couldn’t see the “wow”.

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Pretty Plates; Plot on a Diet

Aesthetically pleasing visuals and good looking leads minus plot and character development gives us Bon Appetite, Your Majesty.

If I had adjusted my expectation going into it, I might not have felt let down. Due to all the hype and buzz the show created on the internet, my expectations were way up there. The show did not deliver.

There is no plot to begin with. Because of that, there is no development for any character. Every character is a two dimensional version of themselves. It makes for rather a bland and spiceless (pun intended) rom-com. Rom part of the rom-com is missing, and the com part is okayish.

The visuals are aesthetically pleasing. Cooking and dishing scenes are fun to watch. Plus, we get a good looking pair as leads. They also play the parts assigned to them pretty alright, just not enough to make for a memorable show. Again, with practically no story to begin with, they have no way of showing much acting skills. Yoon ah has been doing similar roles for ever. So she effortlessly strolls through it. Lee Chae Min may have potential. He does his part well too, but I did not find anything extraordinary there. I think he may get better with time as he gains more experience. There was a lot of hype about their “sizzling” chemistry. I found it underwhelming. For me, it was like watching two good looking people in a frame. There was no particular spark. So when their inevitable kiss happened, it was no big deal for me. Meh..Kang Han na plays the same pretty, petty, plotting antagonist. No big challenge for her.

I loved Yoon Seo ah’s Gil Geum. She made me lol with her twitchy nose and unique bulldog like abilities. Innocent, faithful and loyal Gil Geum was like a breath of fresh air.

The music is alright. Costume and production are what you can expect from a Netflix show.

It’s not a bad show if your expectations are adjusted. Mine were not. So it turned out to be an underwhelming watch for me.

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Translated Well, Written Thin

“Can This Love Be Translated?” is a mixed bag for me. Some things worked, some things left me with question marks about the intent behind them. I kept oscillating between ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ) and ( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;) ??
Overall though, I had a good time.

Story
It’s not a deep story. A struggling actress (FL) meets a polyglot (ML) abroad, gets smitten, and they part ways. An accident boosts her popularity, she signs up for a travel diary show with a foreign rising star (SML), lo and behold - the ML is hired as their translator. He is emotionally closed off, she is very openly interested, and after a lot of push and pull (plus some unnecessary secrets), they end up together.
Is there much substance? No.
Is it particularly engaging on its own? Heck, no.

Characters
Cha Mu-hee and Joo Ho-jin carry the drama. She’s insecure and prone to self-flagellation; he’s hyper-rational to the point of rudeness. She is smitten with him; he is not interested at all. This reversed dynamic is refreshing and a welcome change from the usual ML-chasing-FL trope. Both make assumptions, stick to them, and unintentionally fuel the conflict. Their flaws actually work for the story.

Hiro, unfortunately, is pure wasted potential. What could have been a genuinely compelling character is reduced to a forced love triangle that doesn’t even form a proper triangle. The third line barely exists. Everyone else, also unfortunately, feels undercooked. The secondary romance adds nothing, The emotional weight rests almost entirely on the leads, and the drama wobbles because of it.

Strengths
The biggest strength is the lack of tropiness. Refreshing, honestly. The cinematography and production are lovely, and the dialogue lands well even in translation.

Performances are solid. Go Youn-jung shines as Mu-hee, making her relentless pursuit endearing rather than creepy. Kim Seon-han’s Ho-jin is sharp and practical, and their contrasting personalities create charming chemistry (though Mu-hee carries most of it).

Weaknesses
Unnecessary plot points. Since there isn’t much story to begin with, the drama pads itself with twists and secrets to stretch across 12 episodes. The final twist is especially underwhelming. Ho-jin’s mother’s track isn’t irritating, but it begs the question: what does it actually achieve? And Ho-jin and Ji-seon’s confrontation toward the end…what was the point, other than ticking a romance drama checklist box? Eh.

Also, certain repetitiveness. It’s like they all have short term memory losses. The push and pull between the OTP as well as with Hiro, is the same rinse and repeat over and over again.

Overall
This drama wants to be thoughtful but settles for pleasant. It’s uneven, padded, and carried almost entirely by its leads. But as a laid back, low stakes watch for a lazy Sunday afternoon, it does the job.

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A Mess Dressed as a Drama

Some dramas know that they want to be teen rom-coms and some know they want to be supernaturals. When a drama doesn’t know what it wants to be, you don’t get a genre blend.. you get a mess. Head Over Heels is that mess.

Story
The drama starts with an interesting premise: a young shaman falls in love with one of her customers at first sight. There is a catch though - he is plagued by misfortune, and worse, he is destined to die in 21 days. She promises to save him. The obstacles are compelling on paper. He turns out to be her new classmate, and he utterly despises shamans. With the help of her loyal best friend, she manages to save him.

That is the core story. Unfortunately, around the halfway mark, the drama seems to lose faith in its own premise. Instead of deepening the existing conflict, it pivots in an entirely new direction - one that exists mainly to give the leads ample opportunity to engage in self-sacrificing noble idiocy.

Things I Sometimes Liked:
Characters:
 Sung-ah is mostly likeable. Her best friend Ji-ho is consistently likeable. Gyeon-u is a mixed bag. The various shamans are a confused lot who can’t seem to decide whether they are powerful or not.
Yeom-hwa, who in my opinion deserved a painful death, is handed a convenient redemption arc that is forced down our throats. The second antagonist, Bong-su, also receives a wholly undeserved free pass. More on that later.

Performances:
 I sometimes liked some performances. With the arguable exception of Cha Kang-yoon, almost every performance feels uneven - so much so that it feels like watching two different dramas spliced together.


Cho Yi-hyun clearly has range, but the drama wastes a golden opportunity to show a teenager leading a double life: dreamy student by day, formidable shaman by night. While she does an uneven but passable job, Choo Young-woo does not. His Gyeon-u is painfully one note. Whether he is playing Gyeon-u or Bong-su, very little changes.
 Even Kim Mi-kyung comes off more robotic than stoic, and Choo Ja-hyun’s Yeom-hwa is flat throughout.

Lore:
 The lore is interesting (when it makes sense).


Things I Did Not Like:
Script
This is one of the most confused scripts I’ve seen in recent memory. It leans heavily in one direction at the beginning, then pulls a classic switcheroo midway through. It’s irritating.
 And the loopholes.. oh dear. They are large and plentiful. Because of them, the drama feels like it has dissociative personality disorder.

Lack of Accountability for Characters’ Actions
This is my biggest issue with the drama. Characters are repeatedly absolved of horrific actions simply because they have tragic backstories.

Yeom-hwa commits a staggering list of despicable acts: she keeps on cursing an innocent child for money, curses an old woman’s soul to hell to drive that child toward suicide, creates an evil deity for reasons the script never bothers to explain, and ultimately causes the death of her adoptive mother. Her solution to her own mistakes? A murder-suicide. Oy!
And for all this, she walks away scot-free, framed as a tragic figure deserving sympathy because she lost a child in the past. Apparently, that loss justifies destroying someone else’s. A wardrobe change and a sad smile are apparently all it takes to earn forgiveness. No thanks.

Bong-su. Yes, he was a child soldier who died an undeserved and untimely death. Let’s assume he has no control over his murderous urges. Even so, the undisputed fact remains: he kills 99 innocent people. He willingly tries to kill the ML and wants to trap the FL in some half-world dream state. And then - boom - because the FL decides he is “innocent,” he gets a free pass and an upgrade straight to heaven.

Where is the accountability? What happened to the principle that forgiveness is earned, not handed out like candy?

Lore
Even with my near-zero understanding of shamanism and its rules, it’s obvious that the lore in this drama works or stops working, purely to stretch the story to 12 episodes. It bends, flips, and contradicts itself constantly. It’s ridiculous.

Performances
The unevenness of almost all the main performances only amplifies the script’s problems.

Noble Idiocy
The two leads repeatedly hide crucial information from each other “for the other’s own good.” Their incessant attempts to die for each-other gets tiring pretty soon. Yikes.

Overall
Head Over Heels mistakes suffering for depth and redemption for resolution. Its inconsistent script and uneven performances only magnify the story’s flaws. Without consistency or accountability, the drama drains its own story of meaning and impact. This has landed on the red side of my entertainment ledger.

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Royal Drama, Scriptwriter’s Favorite Child, and Everyone Else

The Princess Royal is a compelling but deeply uneven drama. At its best, it delivers sharp political intrigue, emotionally intelligent romance, and one of the most solid male leads in recent memory. At its worst, it bends its own logic and sacrifices narrative balance to overindulge a character who does not earn the sympathy the script desperately wants us to feel.

Story
It’s another nostalgic trip to the past: a royal power couple, thoroughly miserable, die due to political betrayal and poor life choices. At least one of them wishes for a second chance, and, generously, half the cast gets one too. What follows is a cycle of fixing old mistakes, making new ones, uncovering conveniently hidden secrets, and reacting to past events with fresh “insight.”
It’s a good story, engaging enough, but hardly a groundbreaking one.

Characters
Princess Li Rong and her long-suffering husband Pei Wenxuan get the coveted do-over. Fortunately, they’re both intelligent, competent adults who actually learn from past mistakes and tackle problems together which in itself is a rare miracle. PWX is easily one of the better MLs in recent dramas. He is consistently supportive, deeply devoted, and capable of something revolutionary called critical thinking. Li Rong, meanwhile, upgrades from mistrustful royal strategist to full-fledged diplomatic powerhouse. Very satisfying.

Su Rongqing gets a second chance - lucky for him, disastrous for everyone else. The drama tries to sell him as a tragic, misunderstood soul - white Cinderella wardrobe, sad violins, the whole package - but let’s be real, he’s evil. Maybe a victim once, but now he’s the mastermind of betrayal, murder, and moral gymnastics, all while whining about his “love” for Li Rong and setting most of her traps himself. He’s not tortured; he’s a delusional, self-righteous killer with a full-blown victim complex. No amount of sad music can save him.

The supporting cast lives comfortably in various shades of grey and black, with the notable exception of Qin Zhen Zhen. As for the real villains? The Emperor and Empress - one an insecure ruler, the other a spectacularly selfish excuse for a mother.

Acting
Zhang Ling He and Zhao Jin Mei - hands down, in that order. These two are the reason the drama works at all. ZLH delivers a performance miles away from Kunning Palace, nailing Pei Wenxuan’s quiet cunning and fundamental decency with astonishing ease. His screen presence alone accounts for most of my positive viewing experience.

Zhao Jin Mei matches him beat for beat, making an authoritative, coldly pragmatic Princess Li Rong not just palatable but genuinely lovable. You root for them instinctively. Frankly, I’d watch an entire drama of just these two thinking their way out of problems.

And now for my controversial take on Chen Heyi’s Su Rongqing: just… no. Maybe he’s a good actor. I’ll reserve judgment until Mysterious Lotus Casebook or Fated Hearts eventually make it off my TBW pile. But here? I’m not impressed. His performance cycles through the same tired, droopy expressions and melancholic smiles as if permanently accompanied by an invisible violin. Unfortunately, it drags down more than a few scenes.

What makes it worse is the script’s apparent obsession with elevating SRQ at Pei Wenxuan’s expense. Several of PWX’s moments from the novel were reportedly reassigned, and the result is painfully familiar.. think Harry Potter films where Hermione gets all the clever ideas, leaving Ron and Harry to play supporting roles.. To manufacture SRQ’s “tragedy,” the drama tells us how brilliant PWX is instead of showing us, while handing precious screen time to a performance that simply doesn’t justify it. If the goal was to inspire sympathy for SRQ, it failed - spectacularly, at least for me. ZLH manages to shine through the script’s neglect, quietly proving his acting chops

The rest of the supporting cast largely does its job. Consort Rou, however, is a mystery. One moment she’s unhinged, the next she’s gloating, followed immediately by a smug smirk, as if she’s auditioning for three different characters at once. Was the director so busy cueing SRQ’s emotional violin that they forgot to ask her to pick a lane?

Screenplay & Script
A full-blown Leaning Tower of Pisa, except less charming and far more irritating. Su Rongqing is unmistakably the scriptwriter’s cherished golden child, while everyone else might as well be fostered extras. Even in the finale when tension should peak, we’re forced to sit through extended montages of his wistful smiles and tragic reminiscing.
His exit is the final indulgence: a glorified self-impalement on PWX’s sword that frames him as noble, untouchable, and conveniently unaccountable. He dies undefeated, unconquered, and entirely unpunished because heaven forbid the narrative deny him one last self-aggrandizing victory.

OST
Brilliant.

Overall
Not a bad drama… if you fast-forward through half of SRQ’s endless pity party and self-congratulatory melodrama. Do I have to? Apparently, yes. Do I wish I didn’t? Absolutely. Skip the indulgence, and what’s left is genuinely good, but choppy, uneven, and an enormous squandered opportunity.

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Lack of Communication : Real Main Character of the Drama

Some Chinese Xianxias - with all the immortal mumbo jumbo - should take a leaf out of Korean drama books and wrap up in 12 or maximum 16 episodes. Eternal Love of Dream is one of those.

I’m super late to the party. I watched this drama 2-3 years after it came out. Normally, I’d watch it and move on. But a few things in this drama irked me so much, that I had to take my frustration out.

Feng Jiu and Dong Hua were introduced to us in TMOPB. ELOD borrowed the characters from TMOPB, but the track is entirely different. The track solely focuses on Jiu and Dong Hua’s story, but it’s a reboot from their original one. The issue is there is not much of a story. It’s a collection of tropes and consequently, scenes. There are four parts, initial meeting, his tribulations in the mortal realm, hers and the final battle with the main villain, Miao Lou, who is just there. The drama does not clearly answer what she is after or what her motivations are. Very two dimensional and therefore entirely forgettable. The ongoing conflict between her and Dong Hua feels unnecessary and adds nothing to anyone’s character development.

As usual, the CGI leaves something to be desired. It’s not the worst, nor is it the best. The costume, production are also per the norm. Nothing memorable. On a personal note, I have no idea how any of those in the Tai Chen palace manage to get any sleep, with no doors and constant bright light. It’s mostly an eternal sunshine of the bright day there. The background score is so-so.

Now the characters and actors. Vengo Gao’s Dong Hua is fun to watch - well most of the times. VG captured Dong Hua’s smug superiority and mischievous nature quite well. As for the character, barring some very questionable and arbitrary decisions, it’s an alright character. Since from the beginning he supposedly outclasses every single person around him, there is no room for growth for him. The only change is he falls in love. That would have been more impactful if they had shown his weariness and aloneness born out of long years and being the best at everything. He remains the same through out and that makes him boring to me.

FL Bai Feng Jiu. What do I even say there. Oh mercy! Her childishness did not annoy me per se; after all she is pretty young by their immortal standards. But her character remains exactly that way until the last 10 min. What’s the point of any drama if the characters do not either evolve or devolve? I like Dilraba. She is extremely pretty and can act well. But in this drama, if you replace her with any xyz actress, it would not make an iota difference. Her presence is that ordinary. Her inner self when she transforms into a fox is so cringe that I was second hand embarrassed.

Almost all the supporting characters exist only to either assist or hinder the main characters. So none of them have engaging stories, even when they have their own romance track. One noteworthy character, for me, was Yan. His impatient, young and funny demon deserved so much better than the whiny, superficial Ji Heng. I truly felt sorry for him.

I don’t get this weird obsession some C-dramas have with infantilizing the FLs. Here DH’s treatment of Jiu was such that at times their intimate scenes felt like cradle robbing to me - they were uncomfortable to watch. Why is a fully grown woman, goddess, or immortal suddenly not adult enough to deserve the same explanations the ML freely gives his buddy? Conversely, why can’t the FL share the reasons behind her erratic—and frankly foolish—behavior with the ML, especially when he asks, yet she has no trouble explaining it to secondary or even tertiary characters? People, just talk. If even 50% of the time you spend on inner monologues is spent on talking with the other person, 90% of the idiotic conflicts and misunderstandings can be avoided. There is more to romance than accidentally falling in bed and kissing. RME. This drama could have been 20 episodes long, had the leads just communicated with each other. Why two supposedly grown adults need a translator just to explain their actions to each other is truly beyond me.

It could have been a truly delightful drama. DH had been so lonely for so long. A slip of a woman slowly brought him out of his shell and showed him the bright side of immortality. Jiu went beyond her infatuation and truly understood the man behind the perfect immortal whom everybody had put on a pedestal. There was so much potential. But ELOD only used the same old tropey formulae that it ended up being an entirely forgettable watch. Utterly disappointing!

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Balderdash

Nonsensical story. I don’t necessarily have an issue with the concept that the ML can only be cured by FL’s kiss. I saw it as a farce so I could take that ridiculous concept without flinching (a lot). But the extremely cliched scenes had me rolling my eyes so much that I ended up giving myself an head ache. The same old oh-so-ditzy-but-good-at-heart FL, cold-successful-CEO-ML, showing-out-of-nowhere-SFL, SML who has to be ML’s stepbrother, evil step mother, faithful assistant. Same cliched scenes with cheating ex and friend, same engagement party, same accidental kisses, same mother, same everything. I could count hundred such things. It’d be a bit tiring to type it all though. Oy vey..

It’s low budget. The budget shows in the wardrobes, sets, production.. everywhere. You can even see the concealer underneath the ML’s eyes. And I don’t get why some male, Chinese actors are so thin. Like they are not “lean”, they are thin to the point where the clothes hang on them. It’s ridiculous. The ML probably weighs 5 milligrams more than your standard scarecrow.

If you can look past FL’s overacting at times and ML’s lack of acting at different times, the actors did what they could. And that and it’s shortness are the only good things can say about this drama.

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Slice of life rom-com where life is as smooth as butter

This drama is not at all bad. If you have just finished something intense or serious, this can be used as a palette cleanser. Because this is as far from intense as I am from Mars. Life is smooth for all the characters. They are either successful or on the path to be successful or rich.

This is not necessarily bad. After a hard week, you can unwind with this drama since it does not need you to think. And sometimes that’s all you want to do. You don’t want to think.

The drama needs you to switch off the thinking part of your brain. I didn’t get how they all kept their immaculate appearances after spending 10 hours in surgery or how they managed to go on dates or meet friends during work day. To be fair, they didn’t show that they were work days. . For all I know there could be 250 weekends in that drama land. But since the logical part of my brain was switched off, it didn’t make any difference, I could just roll with it.

The drama has kisses galore. So no lack of skinship but somehow I wasn’t a goner for their chemistry. The ML was too tall for the FL. Similar height difference between the leads did not bother me in “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” with the same FL who was tiny beside the ML. But here I found it a bit jarring. Plus their height difference kept noticeably changing. So anytime they kissed while standing, my brain couldn’t stop counting the boxes the FL had to stand on for that kiss. Not every pair with a huge height difference is cute for me. I feel that the FL casting could have been different. She did an alright job playing her part but something was off. While the ML’s kisses were hot, the FL seemed to just tolerate those. They were not goldfish kisses. But it looked like he was into the kisses while she was not. May be just me?!?!

I also don’t know what’s with the too bright make-up. It was unnatural and unrealistic. Especially on ML who sometimes looked a bit waxy. Also, no idea how the law in China works but I know that paralegals or legal assistants do not call themselves lawyers. Here the FL and people around her sometimes referred her as lawyer. Or may be it was a mistake in the subtitles? Dunno. Weird. The humour was sometimes too forced. The cluelessness of the cousin was funny at first but it was stretched until it became an eye roll. Like dude, you are at least 24-25. You see two people in constant close proximity with each other, staring in each other’s eyes. You see them going to and from each other’s apartments at all hours of the day and you still do not get it? This forced obtuseness is somewhat dragging.

For me the huge plus point for the drama was that everybody actually acted their ages. There was no fake cutsie behaviour or FL talking in a fake baby voice and tone. That is an instant turn off for me. The SLs were not only annoying pieces of baggage. They had their own story. And for some reason I was tickled by the fact that ML’s uncle got together with FL’s bestie. Like ha.. once they marry, she’d become ML’s aunty and FL’s aunt-in-law.. lol.

Overall I enjoyed watching it. Even with all the flaws, it’s a fluffy romance with no hardships, no betrayals, no separations, no toxic relationship. Who cares if it also has no story? I’d have watched something else if I was after something complex.

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Watched. Smiled. Forgot.

Spring Fever is as substantial as cotton candy and as deep as a teaspoon. If you expect deep meaning or a strong, layered story, you’ll be utterly disappointed. But if, like me, you go in expecting a few giggles and nothing that lingers afterward, you’ll probably have a good time.

Story:
An unjust scandal forces an ethics teacher to take a substitute position on a remote island. She faces false and damaging allegations, and to add insult to injury, her parents stop her from taking action - largely for their own selfish reasons. She meets a tough guy, they fall in love, everything works out, and they get their HEA.

See? Depth of a teaspoon.

What I Liked:
— Ahn Bo-hyun’s handsomeness and dimples - The drama does objectify him to some extent, but shallow me couldn’t bring myself to mind too much. He does what’s required of him and does it well.
— Lee Joo-bin as the ethics teacher - She looks great and carries her role well. To be honest, neither lead has had to exert themselves much. Their roles don’t challenge them; they coast through it without any fuss.
— Cho Yi-jun’s fanboy lawyer - The president-of-the-fan-club lawyer is funny. His dynamic with Jae-gyu isn’t central to the plot, but he fits nicely into the story.
— Cinematography - Absolutely beautiful. It genuinely made me want to book a ticket to South Korea.
— Light humour (at times) - Some jokes land very well. Jae-gyu declaring himself Bom-shik’s Appa and Yoon Bom as his Eomma is ridiculously funny. Their absurd “custody battle” makes you laugh.

What I Didn’t Like
— The overdone focus on Jae-gyu’s physical strength - We get it. He’s Hercules reincarnated. The first few times are amusing. By the tenth time, it is just eye-roll inducing.
— Unnecessary romances - Since the main romance isn’t strong enough to carry 12 episodes, we get a secondary one that adds absolutely nothing. It feels like filler. It could easily have stayed enemies-to-friends; it didn’t need to become enemies-to-lovers. Especially since the male half of that pair is basically a doormat.
— Han-gyul and Se-jin - Meh.
— The parents - Just overall terrible parents who can’t be trusted to have their kids’ backs. They prioritize professional and social image over their children’s well being. Jae-gyu’s sister abandons her son, expects Jae-gyu to give up his dreams and raise him, and then has the audacity to bargain over selling the piece of land their good-for-nothing father left them. Give that woman an award for Worst Sister and Mother of the Year.
— Lack of chemistry - There isn’t much chemistry between the ML and FL. He looks handsome, she looks pretty, but beyond that, their romantic scenes feel flat. No butterflies.
— The other teachers - 
Do they even teach any classes?

Overall
Despite this long list of complaints, my rating stands because I went in with realistic expectations. I knew what I was signing up for. It’s a shallow, lighthearted rom-com.

The drama does not take itself seriously at any point — you shouldn’t either. You watch it, you forget it, and you move on.

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Right as “Rain”

I went with some expectations since the trailers look good. I will just say that it did not disappoint me. The show has not dragged; it has kept moving. The action scenes are captivating. The chemistry between ML and FL is mature. Rest of the actors are doing their jobs quite well. Music is good too. So what’s not to like?

This drama is set in the world of the rich where most of them are jerks. People go to any lengths to get what they want, money is the ultimate goal, and getting somebody killed is as easy as stepping in a cow pie on a ranch. Our leads have their reasons for entering this world and staying there. ML is a bodyguard of our FL.

For me , Rain’s calm, controlled but deadly bodyguard is a treat to watch. It’s not a surprise that his action scenes are fantastic. His quiet tone of voice and understated performance does the trick here. And him in those suits is the cherry on the top. The man looks good, I tell ya. In the show he doesn’t smile much, (well, given the story line it’d be odd if he did smile a lot) so that one brief smile of his on the pier is just.. I (gasp) melted, jinjjayo. He may not be conventionally good looking, but he is handsome and he has the presence.

In comparison, Kim Ha Neul’s Wan-Soo is not consistent, as in, she oscillates between ok to not so ok. She is quite graceful but at times, she comes across as a robot rather than stoic. On the other hand, I am really loving Jung Gyu-Woon here. He has captured Yong-Gook’s brokenness, deep layers and arguable sincerity perfectly. YG is a serial cheater which should get him beaten by a blunt object but you can’t help but pity him. I am passionately hating the baddies and that shows what good jobs they are doing.

With two episodes left I really hope they wrap it well. K-dramas have a tendency of fizzling out in the finale. I’d change my ratings if that happens.

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A Rom-Com, Body-Snatched by Sageuk

“The First Night With The Duke”…. The title sounds like a Mills & Boon knockoff and, honestly, it is tacky. The drama itself isn’t - but it is deeply confused. It starts on one note and escalates into something completely different. I didn’t hate it, but I was very aware of the wasted potential. With 16 episodes, this could’ve been a much better ride.

Story
This is a time travel transmigration drama. A lonely college student wakes up as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her supporting character in a romance novel. She’s not mad about it, since she’s now the adored daughter of a rich magistrate’s family. Her plan is to lie low and watch the Cinderella romance unfold. Naturally, this fails spectacularly. The hero becomes obsessed with her instead. She spends first half of the drama aggressively trying to push him toward the intended heroine. Chaos (and fun) ensues.

Unfortunately, the fun clocks out early. Midway through, the leads declare their love and the drama appears to be possessed. A completely different show takes over. By the end, you’re left wondering if you just watched a rom-com, a sageuk, or a melodrama having an identity crisis. The tonal shift is so abrupt it causes whiplash, and just when you adjust, it’s over. Hence: should have been 16 episodes.

Characters
Yi Beon (Prince Gyeonseong) has a fearsome reputation and the focus of a bulldog with a bone. After a drunken one night stand and a morning escape, he falls hard and refuses to let go. This part of the drama is genuinely delightful, gleefully mocking every K-drama cliché. Despite the scary rep, Yi Beon is pure MacDreamy.

Sun-Chaek starts off refreshingly unbothered. She has an ONS, says goodbye at dawn, and dedicates herself to matchmaking the ML with the would-be FL, for purely altruistic reasons. Her Joseon era cocktail experiments are a highlight and frankly more consistent than the plot.

The side characters include: a scheming would-be FL, a mean girl, faithful sidekicks, a doting family, a jackass king, and a queen mother who cannot mind her business. New characters are introduced purely to drag the drama into sageuk territory. Sun-Chaek’s family, however, is excellent and deserves its own spin-off.

Actors
Ok Taec-yeon looks great, fights well, and romances effortlessly. The role doesn’t challenge him; he’s on cruise control. His deep voice deserves its own fan club.

Seo-Hyun is uneven. She’s solid in lighter scenes but falters in emotional confrontations. Certain angles make her look distractingly like Park Eun-bin, which doesn’t help, especially since she doesn’t quite match Taec-yeon.

The supporting cast does its job. Seo Bum-jun’s lipstick does not. Ji Hye-won nails the mean girl energy, while Han Sol-kwon’s innocent act fools absolutely no one. Poor Lee Tae-sun is dropped into the story midway and tasked with carrying a tonal shift no actor could save.

What bothered me
Accountability simply does not exist here. Characters commit treason, attempt murder, and nearly wipe out entire families — and walk away with wrist slaps and future HEA potential. The Heuksa clan should have lost their heads, not just their jobs. Serving justice is not cruelty.

Also, 12 kids? seriously???

One thing I actually liked (besides Ok Taec-yeon)
The drama resolves the fate of the original Sun-Chaek. Unlike many time travel dramas that pretend the displaced character never existed, this one actually ties up that loose end. Credit where it’s due.

Overall
It starts as a fun rom-com and ends as a confused wannabe sageuk. The transition is messy and abrupt. Not a total waste of time, but not something I’d drop another drama to watch either.

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Infernal Justice Done Right

The Judge from Hell turned out to be unexpectedly therapeutic for me. I don’t know what that says about my psyche, but I caught myself grinning every time “The Judge” handed down her scorching, supernatural justice. Oopsie? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Story & Script:
Lady Justitia is a demon who decides whether sinners go to actual hell or the knockoff version. Then she messes up and gets punished by being yeeted to the topside (a.k.a. Earth). Her one-way ticket home? Send 10 murderers to hell within a year. Fail, and she’s permanently banished from Hell. She ends up possessing the body of a murdered judge, and that’s where the fun begins. The Judge from Hell tracks her journey from icy, no nonsense demon judge to someone capable of making decisions with feelings. There’s also a serial killer mystery woven through the story which fits surprisingly well with the rest.

The story is solid and uses its lore cleverly. The script is tight… mostly. It does wobble around the 2/3 mark. Honestly, this drama should’ve been 10 or 12 episodes, max. There are a couple of unnecessary tracks. And the romance? Meh. It works as a catalyst for Justitia’s growth, sure, but it didn’t have to be romance. Swap the love interest for, say, a kid or an old lady with a cat, and nothing major changes.

Actors & Characters:
Let’s be real. Park Shin Hye owns this drama. Completely. Her portrayal of Justitia in Kang Bit Na’s body is chef’s kiss good. No spoilers, but every time she delivered hell’s justice, it was cathartic in the same way Taxi Driver is, just with extra demon spice. Her manic glee practically jumps out of the screen, and her action scenes? So much fun. Also, Kang Bit Na’s wardrobe deserves its own fan club.

Meanwhile, Kim Jae Yeong as Han Da On… well, he is okayish. A bit bland. To be fair, the ML is basically a side character but he still did not grab my interest the way PSH did.

The supporting cast does what they’re supposed to, especially Arong and Mando. Lee Kyu Han, though.. maybe dial it down just a smidge? Tae Gyu’s permanently raised eyebrow made him feel more like a snooty drama queen than a chilling psychopath.

Overall:
The Judge from Hell is a wickedly good time. It’s stylish, cathartic and powered almost entirely by Park Shin Hye’s demonic brilliance. Hell of a ride (pun intended)!

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Total Fluff and a Comfort Watch

This drama can be a good palette cleanser if you recently watched something heavy. This drama is unabashedly a fluffy romance. All you need to do is forget logic and not compare it with others in the genre.

I proudly own that I am shallow. Eh. Whatever. The USP for me was the handsomeness of the ML. I loved his initial broody stares and overall menacing aura in the first half more than his lovesick puppyness in the second half. I did not hate it. But his presence in the first half was more commanding IMO. SWL is a one good looking dude, no argument there. He also has a presence. It all worked really well for his Prince of Danbei (I’m pretty sure I messed up the spelling). His costumes were not too stylish but suited him well. His fight scenes were well performed. I didn’t think there were any deep moments that got him to flex his acting chops. Don’t get me wrong. He did well with what was given to him. But then he anyway always does that. The drama did not make him go an extra mile.

One request though. Please please please let him lose that plum lipstick. Initially I had a hard time focusing on anything other than his lips. Believe me, it was not as naughty as this sounded. It was distractingly unnatural. His handsomeness was undermined by that ridiculous lip colour. I got used to it. But boy, was it weird!

Our FL was exactly what you’d expect to see in a fluff. Playful, smart, a paragon of goodness whom everybody loves. She and BFF were a funny pair. Once I got over her bunny ear hair style, I was good. She was cute with the usual and the annoying and the silly and the unrealistic and totally blech baby voice (but nothing compared to Esther Yu. Esther is my yardstick against which I measure all the baby voices. Bao Shengen does not come close. No hate on EY. I adored Orchid in LBFAD). Anyhoo. What in the name of hairpins was that hair style? It looked like a cross between pastry and bunny ears. Once I got over those, I enjoyed her Ming Tan. Her rich girl behaviour without any snootyness was adorable to me.

Side couples. The side couples is the next best thing, you guys. They are funny, precious and have good chemistry (well at least one of them is)

There were scenes which made me LOL. There were some scenes which made me RME. But I knew what to expect going into it. So it did not disappoint me. I was entertained and that’s all I wanted there, that and I wanted me some SWL handsomeness. Thus I mark this one with the green ink in my entertainment ledger.

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Surprisingly Captivating

This drama caught me off guard. I didn’t even realize that I was binging. I was more than halfway through it before I even realized that I was watching the episodes one after the other.

The surprising part is, until the very end, nothing cataclysmic happens. There are no twists, no sudden surprises (or shocks). It’s almost like watching people live their lives. I understand the frustration some people had as this drama is not action packed with flaring robes and gravity defying jumps. But even then it grabbed my interest like a marching band. For this review, when I started to think about what all had happened in the drama, I realized that it was nothing much. But then why did I liked this as much as I did?!

The answer is lead characters. The FL, Lady Gao, was one of the most capable female leads I have seen recently. She is compassionate but not a push over. She is young but not naive. She understands the other side’s perspective, has enough empathy. But that does not blind her to the interest of her family. She is a badass, but not in a bratty, tantrumy, sarcastic way. She sees through people and situations, takes time to understand everything and then finds a way of the least resistance, like water - no pun intended. What I liked was how she meant it when she said she understands why her in-laws would hate her. And why her husband would keep her at an arm’s distance, she didn’t just say it, she showed it with her actions. But at the same time, she does not hesitate to tell her husband when she is displeased with his actions or when her foolish mother in law tries to undermine her marriage. The character was brilliant. She did what she wanted, got done what she wanted, but was not self absorbed.

And then our ML. OMG. Lord Wei is a total teddy bear. He is so patient with her, yet so petty when he is jealous. Even when he seems spellbound by her beauty, he does not devolve into an alpha hole who is cruel because he can’t face his emotions. He is not a man-child. He has a solid, like pretty solid, reason to be wanting to eradicate FL’s clan. But he also is emphatic enough to understand her predicament. It’s a one sided enemy-to-lovers drama. She never thinks he is her enemy. His enmity lasts just long enough. It doesn’t drag. Most of the drama is them developing their mutual understanding and finding love. A really good job by both the actors.

I loved the ML’s gang. The four musketeers and the advisor were just cracking funny. Their loyalty was strong enough to allow them to keep their personal hatred aside and accept her Ladyship because their Lord accepts her. I loved it. There is usual humour which is sometimes unfunny. But at least for me, it did not grate. There are usual grey characters, usual black characters, usual white characters, villains with a boohoo stories I did not care about. Oh, my mommy and daddy didn’t love me, so let me be a psychotic social climber or a family-killer. Like dudes, get over it. Don’t justify your nastiness with some sob story. At least own it.

My one gripe was with the climax. It came out of nowhere and escalated from 0 to 100 in no time. It was like the studio told the team to create some drama and then cut their budget. No spoilers but some deaths in the end did not make sense. They did not fit organically. It was more like the writers were ticking boxes for the studio who were like, why should everybody be happy, let’s kill off a few to jerk some tears. And that’s the reason of my imperfect rating. Senseless sadness for the sake of it.

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