It lives up to its title
It is a highly recommended short series to watch. My advise is take your time and enjoy the entire series. Each episode contributes to understanding the story. You may think by episode 9/10 things will be clear but trust us reviewers on this one that you need to not touch that fast forward button.Every cast did exemplary well portraying their role. Only thing I am unsure by ending is the relationship between Male lead and Ji Ye.
If you are looking for. Friday night binge series, this will be a great one.
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Box of Tissue Required
This started gloomy then became fun then ended in so much tears.I’m recommending that if you haven’t seen this series, 20 episodes is not too much to invest time on. You either like it or you don’t. Hang in there til episode 5 at least if the beginning is too slow for you. It gets better and then you’ll be hooked.
The ending left me bewildered and maybe someone can explain: she came back to the future and for a year have been dreaming of Goryo adventure. She sells perfume and the guy who looked like the Goryo astronomer came to her telling her what her last name means in Goryo time. Came across the museum and then realized she’s a reincarnation. Started crying. It ended with The portrait transitioning to Goryo period. That’s it. It’s not a happy ending folks, confusing ending to me.
Overall it is an excellent film - so enjoy.
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Seems unfinished
This movie started well and the CGI is awesome. The story is good except it seems like it’s incomplete. Why was Chiongmae brought to the palace, what happened at the swords game, what happened to the evil crown prince? So many questions. I feel like this movie is a preview to a great series.Love the costumes used.
If someone knows if this is a series or there’s a part 2 to the movie, kindly let me know. I would appreciate it.
Overall, this is a great movie with exceptional actors playing their part.
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Could have been written better
I was disappointed with season 1 and hope for season 2 to change my disposition. Major changes on a lot of cosmetic touches, lightened up on the back to back misery and hurdles of Jojo, Aunt changed her treatment on Jojo.What’s disappointing the most is season 1 written that the shield was to protect Sunho who Jojo supposedly love but season 2 betrayed that scene without any explanation. I like underdogs in a series to win the girl when the story flowed to it but this didn’t fit at all.
I also feel bad for Sunho’s current gf where he turned to after being dumped by Jojo. At the end, the way the story is conveyed, Sunho still couldn’t love her but will continue seeing her hoping one day he will. I felt like the girl didn’t value herself much to put up with that.
I skipped a lot and fast forwarded. To me, this didn’t bring a happy ending.
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This review may contain spoilers
Well buried plot
*series still airing so I am reserving edit and final review when the series is complete.Watching as paid subscriber of iQIYI
There is alittle spoiler but nothing major
After enjoying MJTY with Zhang Ling He playing the male lead, Qi Xiao Xuan I can't pass this series of course. He plays a totally opposite character here: serious and cold henced he is nick named Ice Cube by Hu Zi played by Jiang Long. Jiang Long has played a lot os support roles in the past so it is refreshing to see him on a lead role like this. He is portraying the role well so far.
I am halfway through the 36 episodes and I still cant guess what the real plot is in this story.
Theres so many twists and turns that I am unable to have a solid thought as to what is being planned and who actually is the REAL villain. Tho so many murders have been directed by female elder who looks so young, it still gives me the sense that somehow she has a righteous reason.
We get that Hu Zi is the tiger, and possibly Xiao Xuan is the crane but again, halfway through and I have no idea if Xiao Xuan is a mortal or a demon if he is a crane. His sect kills all demons without distinguising good or bad. Being a demon automatically means not good.
I like the friendship story here and glad that romance js light and not heavily focused on.
Let me praise casting and director and the actress herself who played the sister of Xiao Xuan- I truly hate her lol
The scene set and wardrobe are wonderful and fits the story well. You can telm production worked hard to make every scene remarkable and fitting.
Initial credit music is catchy and fun - I LOVE IT!
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Starts slow then awesome
I’ll edit this review once I complete the entire series. I just want to share something to those 📖reading📚 a review to decide if they’ll watch this or not.Granted it starts pretty slow and doesn’t grab your attention right away but by episode 5 you’ll be anticipating the next episode.
The story is far fetch but artistically entertaining. Most cast were pretty good with their acting and convincing.
I’m on episode 8 and the attachment between the leads is just starting so don’t expect any amazing fireworks right away. Story is being told in a slow manner and I didn’t mind it on this series.
The period costumes used is also interesting.
So far, by episode 8, it’s showed clearly that attachment even not bonded by label, is blind of gender distinction.
I can’t wait to watch all episodes. By episode 8 it’s still not clear how the relationship will progress. It’s one of those drama series that’s unpredictable
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This review may contain spoilers
Harem Drama
*The time I am giving this review, the series is still ongoing so I might edit this after the series ends.*Nothing typical with this series
This is a story of a lady who is carefree and vibrant, who has a doctor beau and then got entered by her mother in selection for a concubine for the Prince. Now, it is not typical young prince. He is an older prince with many adult sons who are mostly married and have numerous concubines.
The FL looks so much like the consort of this prince who died 30 years ago giving birth to the now heir and the selection is for a consort who looks like this dead consort for this aging prince.
This is where the drama starts that changed a carefree and vibrant lady into a woman trying to get out of a mess consistently.
There is not a lot of martial arts here, only one doing any is Huang You Ming who played the part of Lu Bei Yi (the doctor ex-beau of FL). Its very minimal martial arts.
As so the casts, I have seen ML Peter Ho in a lot of period series, and most times, he played a role of a carefree support character. I find his roles quite fitting for him. He seems to be a natural when it comes to those kind of roles. It closely resembles his role here but not to the full extent. I am actually confuse sometimes as to why his character was written to be a man who plays dumb but sometimes smart, and emotionally responds to certain situation in a way one would not expect or confusing. One sample is his son with his first wife being killed and he went berserk towards FL Lou Qing Lian but when his son with FL was miscarried at 8 months, he didnt investigate nor did he react anywhere like he did with 1st son (when this happens he was already in love with FL). When he found out his brother, the heir has something to do with it, he didn’t react towards his brother and was more focused that the 4th brother setting up this heir brother. Mind you, this heir brother did a lot of nasty things towards him. This made me confuse as to the way this chatacter was written. He even spent and risked a lot to keep this brother as the heir.
The rest of the story revolves around the harem, plots, tricks, friendship, enemies etc.
The rest of the characters and story is alright. It is interesting enough for me to keep watching. I love the first wife of ML. I think her character is the best in this series.
As to the artists playing the roles, I find nothing wrong with it. Most viewers are so used to seeing beautiful, young actors in a drama that when someone like Peter Ho plays the part, theres criticism bound to come up. I think he is a good actor and played his character well. Chemistry wise, its not exploding in chemistry but it is good enough.
The production part as in wardrobe and sets, all I have are positive words and compliments. One thing tho personally, I am not digging the FL's hairstyle by episode 15 (hehee its just my own taste). Don't expect grand palaces and sprawling mansions. But all the same, you can tell the sets in each scenes were done very creatively and efficiently.
One other odd thingbis the appearance of Madam De - the mother of ML who never appeared nor had a say before when FL was jnitially brought in the mansion then midway of the series was the hating on FL for lookingnlike thebold consort who she blames for the prince not visiting her anymore.
The background scene music is not that great for me. The credit music is alright but could have been better.
It is worth the watch I think. At least try 6 episodes and you can decide if it is for you.
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Learned, endeared, and appreciated
This series isn't the type of series I would have queued to watched. I started watching this because of Zhao Lusi. It dragged for me in the beginning and i found it to be different from a typical series I have watched. Regardless of the story or theme, seies usually flowed showing relevant scenes. If once in a while I come across a "so-so" series, it'll have irrelevant scenes thats added as a filler & didnt make sense to be added...like it was a waste of time. This series has a lot of scenes like conversations within family, colleagues or friends that we can say not necessary but actually helped carry the series.I found some comments here regarding romance in this series immature.
This series is not about romance. It is there but itll be slow and tho you know it is coming, it came towards the end - to me, it was placed perfectly.
It will be slow for viewers as they start watching it and you'll feel you are trying to hold on for something good but eventually you'll stick to it because you anticipate the next banter between husband and wife, talks between grandson and grandpa, naughty exchange of TouTou with her master, learning about Meng Mengs condition, techniques to help live, learn TCM, etc.
This series will guide viewers with open mind how to live better, and healthier. It is educational at the same time entertaining.
It is not a perfect series, but it is one that if you give it a chance, you will stay til the end.
The characters in this series evolved flawlessly and artists all did an exemplary job in each their roles. The casts meshed well with each other. Casting director deserved his paycheck for his work here.
Production was just awesome 👌 Location chosen were all 👏 that I cant help imagine the hardships production encountered.
Overall, it is a series I will highly recommend. Don't get impatient watching because by episode 10, you will pick up things you would try to help you live a better life even in a small way.
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Endearing
I find this short series endearing. The story contains or/& mentions bullying, mental issues, homophobia, family issues, crammed within 8 episodes of 30m each episode. Having done this, there are some issues that were left unanswered or unsettled like the confrontation with the father, the vagueness of the 2nd CP's relationship, and the suicide of one of the characters. The series felt rushed to me, or I may be just wanting more.🤷♀️If you are into jazz, you'll enjoy the pieces played here and the melding of pop and jazz towards the end.
I appreciate the production for a good wardrobe selections and not recycling for other scenes, scene set-up and props.
At first, I made a mistake that one of the main actor is the same one as 8 sense. This series has also same vibe as 8 Sense which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Recommend to any BL genre fans.
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Good Concept, Poor execution
I am not being fair for dropping this before watching the entire series so my review may not hold water.my POV: if there is no distinction between human and AI, what made the protagonist accept this AI when he is a recluse and introvert? The set setting is not matching the concept. AI is supposed to be aiding emotionally but so far, what I have seen was the AI being a physical help. The AI doesn't seem to be set with boundaries and has overflowing emotions - more than the human. The concept hooked me but lost me when I didn't see the execution matching the idea. I might have a preconceived notion of an AI that is clouding my judgment, so I may not be being fair.
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Refreshing Twist for a Historical Series
Bravo! This series conquered 2024 for Period/Comedy/Mystery/Fantasy drama series for me so far.Ding Yu Xi truly can shed tears tears with no qualms. Feng Man, WA Er, Zhang Yi Cong carried the comedic part well. Ding Jia Wen, Zhou Qi, Wei Zhe Ming, Ren Min, ang He Feng Tian eloquently played their characters. The rest of support actors did their parts well contributing to an adorable fantasy, period drama.
Most period drama seems to include romance to hike up ratings so I get more enthusiastic with series that did well without it. I am biased to mystery, period and fantasy series so having them all minus romance made ecstatic.
My only disappointment is not adding VM Shengguan (Ren Min) back towards the end.
Entire production did well with the scene sets, wardrobes, and props. Fight choreographies were done and executed well.
I watched this in iQIYI as a paid subscriber.
I highly recommend this series.
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Review is after second attempt to watch. My First attempt: 15 minutes through episode one and I was going to add this to my dropped list however, I read other viewer review first, and it convinced me to give it a second try.
This could have been a good one but.....
The director and film editor obviously didn't give their heart to this project. It reflects no care at all and that they did the bare minimum and collected their paycheck. The editing is horrible. Cut scenes were so obvious, and theres instances of camera not being focused or angled right. Theres scenes that were included that didn't make sense. Cheesy lines caused me to fast forward a lot. Awkward scenes are also included. And come on.... a threesome out of nowhere of people who works closely together???? I truly didnt see the necessity to add this to the story. Piano BGM was used too much in this series that it was hard to focus when hearing same BGM for almost every kind of scene. Wardrobe is off in some scenes and seemed like revolved within just 5 sets of outfits (I may have overcounted).
Ton Saran Anantasetthakul needs to take more acting class. Casting could have been done better; hardly any chemistry within the entire production casts.
This can be a construed as a mean review however this is my honest take for this series. I feel regretful because to me it is a good simple story that could have turned good if directed and edited better. As many negative things I noticed, I didn't drop watching it after my second attempt of watching because it has an "it" factor that kept me in my seat after I finished episode 1.
So give it a try, pass episode 1 and see if you wont finish it. I don't think it is enough for rewatch value tho.
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Surprisingly Nice
I don't normally watch short episode series loke this but seeing a short clip of it, I gave it a try and it is surprisingly nice and well done for a low budget series.The plot is good although it is confusing in the beginning however, patience is a virtue because it'll make sense as the story evolves.
I think if this series was thoroughly invested on and improved, it could have been a great series. It is already good now, so it can only be better if the narrative is explored more. Theres just one quirky part which was the handmaiden seemingly having powers but it was glossed over. It didn't even play any part during the time there were issues and problems that could have been solved by her power. That seems to be a hole left uncovered there.
The artists all did well. Good chemistry all around. Each one portrayed their role well. I think we will see more of the leading male actor more in the future. He has a potential.
The wardrobe is excellent as well as the production itself. I didn't notice any out of scene wardrobe. It seems attention to details were given to this series
I recommend this series for those who like light hearted, short series. To those like me who don't fancy short episodes, to me this is worth the patience.
Good work to the entire production.
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Typical Teenage Japanese BL
Review:Don't include story summaries as users have already read the plot summary.
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Actors - fine looking young lads
Acting - can be improved
A bit quirky acting
Do not post major spoilers as you'll just ruin the show for the readers who are thinking about watching the show.
'Do not add spoilers to the headline!
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Don't get your hopes up
Honest Feedback (Subjective Perspective):Translation: The low ratings are largely tied to poor translation quality. If budget is an issue, many fans would be willing to assist; just ensure they sign an NDA before starting the work.
Direction: The director’s influence is undeniable, and this project felt poorly paced. It dragged significantly, with the first real spark of excitement appearing only in Episode 9 of a 10-episode run.
Chemistry: Casting relies on budget and chemistry, with the final word coming from the director and producer. In my view, the leads had zero chemistry, making the casting choices quite baffling.
Production: This was the strongest area. The costumes, props, locations, and lighting were all excellent and met expectations.
The Plot: The premise is genuinely engaging—a "straight" man jumping between girlfriends before unexpectedly falling for a man is a compelling trope. However, an interesting plot requires a strong storyteller to turn it into a cohesive story.
Final Verdict: Despite the solid production values, I cannot recommend this series.
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