Yeah I'm sure... Problem is, they always do that too late... By that time, you have no shred of empathy left for them which makes their mere presence onscreen just unbearable.
Hmmm... 9 episodes in... So I think I can now give a final verdict to this show....
It's pretty conventional... The main issue is that this doesn't feel fresh... If you've got lots of Sageuks under your belt, this one doesn't reinvent the wheel...
There's nothing that stands out... neither the romance nor the plot.... The main villain is not compelling. It's no fun spending time with him AT ALL. He's just your typical antagonist which motivation we don't really understand. I guess by the end of the show, they're gonna show us why he's such an ass***** but I'm already fed up with him so by the time they explain anything, I probably won't care at all. In fact, I already don't.
OH! And I usual, the King is a useless lump of flesh that has no purpose except being manipulated by his evil minister.
The actors are doing their job well... No complain on that front... It's just that I've seen that type of story so many times that I just feel bored out of my mind... If at least they had made more scenes with our leads being in love I wouldn't have minded that much... But it doesn't work...
It feels more like they fall in love by episode X because the drama duration orders it, than us feeling they truly yearn for each other if that makes sense.
I'm not disappointed... I had no expectations...
But I still regret the time invested.
I'm still gonna finish this though.... for completion sake.
You deserved better... There's nothing more cruel than using a baby to lure its mother and then killing said mother when she is just trying to protect her young.
I think it's when she stripped away the brother aspect from her brain and replayed back there time together now…
Hmm... I'm not complaining about the way she handled the relationship when they were younger. I actually thought that on that front it was very in tune with how adults would react if this situation arose... It's more the way she decided to go out with him anyway in spite of not being in love with him as you pointed out in your comment...
For the "present" though... I'm not at the part where they go out together. Last episode I saw was episode 20. At that point, they've shown how they started to go out together when they were younger but in present time, only Li Wu has started to make move. She on the other hand is pretty much on the defensive. As to her feelings, the show hasn't shown yet the romantic feelings you're talking about... So I'll see if I feel the same as you by the time I reach the point where they show her genuinely having feelings for him because for now... It feels pretty much one sided to me... I can't ship them together.
I think it's when she stripped away the brother aspect from her brain and replayed back there time together now…
Hmm... I feel it was very badly executed on that front... But I'll let it go since I need to believe in their love story for the drama to work but yeah... Not the best execution for sure.
I don't really see where the FL's feelings switched for the ML. It's very clear how the ML fell in love with her but WHEN did that happen for the FL. There's a couple of scenes here and there that showed she realized he was very attractive (at least to her) but err... Love?
Currently rewatching the show for the 3rd time when I iron my clothes...
Still as good as the first time I watched it. Flawed? Yes, sure but still bringing all the feels 🥰🥰🥰
When a show is very loved, people who didn't like it tend to double down on the hate much more than if the show wasn't as loved.
Doesn't change the fact that after almost 2 years since it aired... The overall rating is still 9. Which means the show was loved not only when it aired but also by viewers who came later in spite of the top reviews and the comment section being pretty much negative.
People watch and judge for themselves and the conclusion is.... Some people didn't like it, but they're a very small minority. No point arguing with them in the comment section.
She’s pretty gray. Everything she did, she did for love. Whether you like her or not, I think it’s more on…
Ah yeah... No regrets? Well I guess I'm bound to dislike her then. It would have been great if her aim aligned with those of the Crown Prince, but since she basically has no qualms, I don't like her.
Plotwise, it does make things interesting... but character-wise I just loathe her.
About to finish episode 4, and... I have a question.
Am I supposed to like the SFL? I like that she's the type not bow down to fate and try to get control of her destiny, but the way she goes at it really irks me to the point of making me hate even having to look at her on my screen...
So err...
Does she get better later... Or is she still going to be this bloodthirsty until the end?
The little sister remained a fudging plot device until the very last minute. The show didn't even bother to feature her in the last ridiculous dance.
Started with a bang and ended with a whimper.. Sadly a staple of many K drama rom coms as of late... Which confirms the overall downward spiral of K dramas over the past few years... since the worldwide success of Squid Game.
It put K dramas on the world map but sadly the long time effect is a a steady but sure drop in quality: K Dramas have never looked better but paradoxically have never felt more bland. Blame it on American money. It literally corrupts everything it touches.
Lots of meh shows, very few outstanding ones... and that sadly seems to be the overall trend in K dramaland that long time fans have to get used to.
That's a 7 for me. The first half was wonderful, then it went downhill but it's mostly the last two episodes that made me say I couldn't give this a minimum of 8 which is what I would give to any show worth watching.
Good bye Dynamite Kiss, the kiss might have been dynamite... sadly the show was not.
Hope to see SML and SFL in a way better show next time. Their storyline was really completely butchered.
I actually had the same problem when I first started this show 3 years ago.
I ended up starting the novels... which for a variety of reasons I gave up at some points... but not because the novels weren't good.
Now.
Regarding the special effects: this series' really does look terrible... I'm not really sure since I consider myself pretty new to C dramaland but compared to most wuxias I've seen, it's the bottom of the bottom.
Wuxias overall post 2022 all look amazing. I can't vouch for earlier ones though so maybe that was the standard back then, but now it certainly isn't. Don't let this drama deter you from the genre.
I've decided to give this show another shot though... But I find myself having the same problem as before... which is mostly... not being able to really get into the story... So I'm taking this slow this time...
Hmm, I wouldn’t really call it karma... It felt more like the most natural outcome for her, given how the story…
Thank you!!!!
Well I guess I was hoping for some grand confrontation between Xi Guang and her but sadly it didn't happen... Well, you can't have everything I guess... Glad to know she got cheated on in the novel ^^ That's still a bit of karma. I just wish the friends cut her off altogether. I mean it's not like Ye Rong was ever truly a nice person towards Xi Guang but they all deliberately chose to overlook it since it seems she was a good friend to them...
I encountered the same situation in real life. I had a good friend to me, but once I really got to know her (about two years or so into our friendship, once she started to truly relax around me), I realized she was literally envious of everyone she thought was better than her and kept badmouthing them to me when they basically had done nothing. Every time they did something that made them stand out, she would made off-handed comments about how they did this or that to belittle her or something. Talk about being self centered.
In short, the only reason she was friends with me, was because in her head, I ranked below... I never viewed myself that way but she sure did... Let's just say that some "innocent comments" made her inner thoughts pretty clear.
Once I saw her true colors, I just made sure we drifted away naturally. No grand confrontation, I just made sure she was no longer part of my life.
I sure hope for her she changed though. That's one awful way of living your life. Lots of guys liked her because she was bright and really pretty. Met some of them years later... It was interesting to see their views had completely shifted.
Once I cut her out of my life, I lost a good chunk of friends that were part of the same group sadly, and since I'm not into social networks, I really don't know what happened after I left... But there must have been some serious dramas, otherwise I wouldn't have heard such "colorful comments".
On a side note, I never badmouthed her to others once I saw how she was... She was just a very pitiful, envious, and bitterly jealous person... But as far as I know, she didn't plot anything against anybody... That's a flaw in character and people can change. I just wasn't willing to stay until she did IF she did.
I'm not there yet but for those of you who watched the last episodes... Does Ye Rong get her karma in the end? I know the SML does but personally as infuriating as he is, I do think Ye Rong is the worst of the worst.
I just want to brace myself if there's nothing satisfactory on that front.
Well I'm really sorry... Ultimately... I think it's impossible to avoid all the comments talking about how disappointing this series turned out to be.
Can't really say where this started to go downhill... The SML character's trajectory took a weird turn at some point, the show forgot consistency, the sister was relevant only at the beginning and then she completely disappeared... and then they piled up the bad tropes on top of the bad tropes.
I'm not telling you to not watch this... Just brace yourself for the nosedive.
It's not that bad of a show. It's just okay... But given how terrific the start was, the second half's mediocrity just made made me regret investing a single minute in this show.
I think most people rated it badly because of that. As far as I'm concerned, I've just finished episode 13... so one episode left to go. I watched the entire series with Korean subs for learning purposes so at least it wasn't a complete waste of time... But if I had known I wouldn't have bothered.
If you go into it, knowing you're just getting into the mediocre Rom com standard in mind, I don't think you'll be disappointed. But don't expect tropes done right like in "Business Proposal"...
This started with tropes done right and then around the middle it turned to tropes done right AND wrong... and near the end turned into worst tropes EVER all piled up in a non-edible mess if that makes sense.
If you have no time to waste, I'd suggest, starting another show... But if you just want to pass the time, it's a good one time watch.
i don't understand people saying this show had potential...like it didn't have any, was very much cliche and predictable…
It was clichés done right at the beginning (a good example of clichés done right is Business Proposal) and then it became whatever it became...
There's nothing wrong with clichés and tropes, that's basically what what people are looking for in a rom com'... It's all about how you handle them though, and this show lost its way at some point.
Used to watched this show religiously weeks after weeks... Then spoiled myself the last two last episodes... It's been almost three weeks since they aired and I still can't bring myself to watch them... Well at some point I'll force myself to watch them since I've invested too much time to drop this but my God...
It was such a good show at the beginning and yet it ended up being yet ANOTHER 2025 K DRAMA DISAPOINTMENT.
Hopefully though, we're now in 2026, so I've got good hopes the 2025 curse has been lifted... This was the first year since I started my Asian drama journey over 20 years ago, that I actually watched more C dramas than K dramas... And my God, that is saying something, given how much K dramas have shortened their average length these past couple of years...
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It's pretty conventional... The main issue is that this doesn't feel fresh... If you've got lots of Sageuks under your belt, this one doesn't reinvent the wheel...
There's nothing that stands out... neither the romance nor the plot.... The main villain is not compelling. It's no fun spending time with him AT ALL. He's just your typical antagonist which motivation we don't really understand. I guess by the end of the show, they're gonna show us why he's such an ass***** but I'm already fed up with him so by the time they explain anything, I probably won't care at all. In fact, I already don't.
OH! And I usual, the King is a useless lump of flesh that has no purpose except being manipulated by his evil minister.
The actors are doing their job well... No complain on that front... It's just that I've seen that type of story so many times that I just feel bored out of my mind... If at least they had made more scenes with our leads being in love I wouldn't have minded that much... But it doesn't work...
It feels more like they fall in love by episode X because the drama duration orders it, than us feeling they truly yearn for each other if that makes sense.
I'm not disappointed... I had no expectations...
But I still regret the time invested.
I'm still gonna finish this though.... for completion sake.
You deserved better... There's nothing more cruel than using a baby to lure its mother and then killing said mother when she is just trying to protect her young.
For the "present" though... I'm not at the part where they go out together. Last episode I saw was episode 20. At that point, they've shown how they started to go out together when they were younger but in present time, only Li Wu has started to make move. She on the other hand is pretty much on the defensive. As to her feelings, the show hasn't shown yet the romantic feelings you're talking about... So I'll see if I feel the same as you by the time I reach the point where they show her genuinely having feelings for him because for now... It feels pretty much one sided to me... I can't ship them together.
(PS: Your profile: "Life is short but my Plan to Watch list is eternal" is also fudging real 😭😭😭)
Also, I've personally decided to rename He Yu "His Royal Hotness".
My God, this guy is so HOT, he's literally burning my screen. 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵
I want to be Esther Yu. Gimme a HOT guy like that who has eyes only for me.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
This type of dreamlike man only exists in Fantasies.😒😒😒
I don't really see where the FL's feelings switched for the ML. It's very clear how the ML fell in love with her but WHEN did that happen for the FL. There's a couple of scenes here and there that showed she realized he was very attractive (at least to her) but err... Love?
I'm not buying it at present...
Still as good as the first time I watched it. Flawed? Yes, sure but still bringing all the feels 🥰🥰🥰
When a show is very loved, people who didn't like it tend to double down on the hate much more than if the show wasn't as loved.
Doesn't change the fact that after almost 2 years since it aired... The overall rating is still 9. Which means the show was loved not only when it aired but also by viewers who came later in spite of the top reviews and the comment section being pretty much negative.
People watch and judge for themselves and the conclusion is.... Some people didn't like it, but they're a very small minority. No point arguing with them in the comment section.
Plotwise, it does make things interesting... but character-wise I just loathe her.
About to finish episode 4, and... I have a question.
Am I supposed to like the SFL?
I like that she's the type not bow down to fate and try to get control of her destiny, but the way she goes at it really irks me to the point of making me hate even having to look at her on my screen...
So err...
Does she get better later... Or is she still going to be this bloodthirsty until the end?
The little sister remained a fudging plot device until the very last minute. The show didn't even bother to feature her in the last ridiculous dance.
Started with a bang and ended with a whimper.. Sadly a staple of many K drama rom coms as of late... Which confirms the overall downward spiral of K dramas over the past few years... since the worldwide success of Squid Game.
It put K dramas on the world map but sadly the long time effect is a a steady but sure drop in quality: K Dramas have never looked better but paradoxically have never felt more bland.
Blame it on American money. It literally corrupts everything it touches.
Lots of meh shows, very few outstanding ones... and that sadly seems to be the overall trend in K dramaland that long time fans have to get used to.
That's a 7 for me. The first half was wonderful, then it went downhill but it's mostly the last two episodes that made me say I couldn't give this a minimum of 8 which is what I would give to any show worth watching.
Good bye Dynamite Kiss, the kiss might have been dynamite... sadly the show was not.
Hope to see SML and SFL in a way better show next time. Their storyline was really completely butchered.
I actually had the same problem when I first started this show 3 years ago.
I ended up starting the novels... which for a variety of reasons I gave up at some points... but not because the novels weren't good.
Now.
Regarding the special effects: this series' really does look terrible... I'm not really sure since I consider myself pretty new to C dramaland but compared to most wuxias I've seen, it's the bottom of the bottom.
Wuxias overall post 2022 all look amazing. I can't vouch for earlier ones though so maybe that was the standard back then, but now it certainly isn't. Don't let this drama deter you from the genre.
I've decided to give this show another shot though... But I find myself having the same problem as before... which is mostly... not being able to really get into the story... So I'm taking this slow this time...
Well I guess I was hoping for some grand confrontation between Xi Guang and her but sadly it didn't happen... Well, you can't have everything I guess... Glad to know she got cheated on in the novel ^^
That's still a bit of karma. I just wish the friends cut her off altogether. I mean it's not like Ye Rong was ever truly a nice person towards Xi Guang but they all deliberately chose to overlook it since it seems she was a good friend to them...
I encountered the same situation in real life. I had a good friend to me, but once I really got to know her (about two years or so into our friendship, once she started to truly relax around me), I realized she was literally envious of everyone she thought was better than her and kept badmouthing them to me when they basically had done nothing. Every time they did something that made them stand out, she would made off-handed comments about how they did this or that to belittle her or something. Talk about being self centered.
In short, the only reason she was friends with me, was because in her head, I ranked below... I never viewed myself that way but she sure did... Let's just say that some "innocent comments" made her inner thoughts pretty clear.
Once I saw her true colors, I just made sure we drifted away naturally. No grand confrontation, I just made sure she was no longer part of my life.
I sure hope for her she changed though. That's one awful way of living your life. Lots of guys liked her because she was bright and really pretty. Met some of them years later... It was interesting to see their views had completely shifted.
Once I cut her out of my life, I lost a good chunk of friends that were part of the same group sadly, and since I'm not into social networks, I really don't know what happened after I left... But there must have been some serious dramas, otherwise I wouldn't have heard such "colorful comments".
On a side note, I never badmouthed her to others once I saw how she was... She was just a very pitiful, envious, and bitterly jealous person... But as far as I know, she didn't plot anything against anybody... That's a flaw in character and people can change. I just wasn't willing to stay until she did IF she did.
I'm not there yet but for those of you who watched the last episodes... Does Ye Rong get her karma in the end? I know the SML does but personally as infuriating as he is, I do think Ye Rong is the worst of the worst.
I just want to brace myself if there's nothing satisfactory on that front.
Thanks in advance!
Can't really say where this started to go downhill... The SML character's trajectory took a weird turn at some point, the show forgot consistency, the sister was relevant only at the beginning and then she completely disappeared... and then they piled up the bad tropes on top of the bad tropes.
I'm not telling you to not watch this... Just brace yourself for the nosedive.
It's not that bad of a show. It's just okay... But given how terrific the start was, the second half's mediocrity just made made me regret investing a single minute in this show.
I think most people rated it badly because of that. As far as I'm concerned, I've just finished episode 13... so one episode left to go. I watched the entire series with Korean subs for learning purposes so at least it wasn't a complete waste of time... But if I had known I wouldn't have bothered.
If you go into it, knowing you're just getting into the mediocre Rom com standard in mind, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
But don't expect tropes done right like in "Business Proposal"...
This started with tropes done right and then around the middle it turned to tropes done right AND wrong... and near the end turned into worst tropes EVER all piled up in a non-edible mess if that makes sense.
If you have no time to waste, I'd suggest, starting another show... But if you just want to pass the time, it's a good one time watch.
There's nothing wrong with clichés and tropes, that's basically what what people are looking for in a rom com'... It's all about how you handle them though, and this show lost its way at some point.
It was such a good show at the beginning and yet it ended up being yet ANOTHER 2025 K DRAMA DISAPOINTMENT.
Hopefully though, we're now in 2026, so I've got good hopes the 2025 curse has been lifted... This was the first year since I started my Asian drama journey over 20 years ago, that I actually watched more C dramas than K dramas... And my God, that is saying something, given how much K dramas have shortened their average length these past couple of years...