Kannadin

There's a couple of major caveats which is they don't tell us what becomes of the original Shen Qin who is now in the body of Shi Qi's older sister.

The girl's been imprisoned literally for over 10 years, her life stolen, can't go back to being the daughter of the Prime Minister, yet the drama doesn't care to explain what happens after she got out apart from showing her throwing tantrums.

The show doesn't explain who is mummy guy either. He's the dude who swaped faces and he thanked the fake Shen Qin so there must be some form of deal there, or he's some sort of special being with some special powers, yet we only see that he's been stabbed without any explanation of who he was in the first place, how he met the fake Shen Qin and so on...

Finally, I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about the older sister. I have absolutely NO empathy for her, given what she's done yet, the show wants us to be happy about Shi Qi's final hallucination of her sister being happily with Prince Ning who NEVER gave a shit about her. Talk about a toxic couple. Can't really understand her character, can't relate, can't empathize.

I had some empathy for her at the beginning in spite of her terrible actions but I ended up having more empathy for the sleazeball of Prince Ning than her.
Must be terrible to have some saseng fan clinging to you that way...

Anyway for all these reasons, that's an 8.5 and won't be more.

I think it lacked at least 1 episode of 20 to 30 minutes ( based on Viki's 8 episodes release) to properly explain everything even in a somewhat very rushed way given the format.

I don't know how it fares compared to other WEB dramas though but personally I was pleasantly surprised.

Final rating 8.5

That's not what she's saying. There's a downhill trend there. Not all are bad, but a lot are.

Among the list you mentioned I watched a couple included Haunted Palace and Head Over Heels and both were mid imho.

Also mentioning "amazing drama" by Disney + is really interesting because it just goes to show, people who have come to K dramas later are not necessarily aware of how much the industry has changed over the past 20 years.

I haven't watched Light Shop but Moving, A Shop for Killers and Judge from Hell all featured amount of graphic violence that was just not part of K dramas before.

You'd only see that in K movies. When I started to watch them 20 years ago, there were thrillers sure, but even in a scene featuring a guy threatening another with a knife, the knife would be blurred. The only really violent one I can remember was the drama Voice, but that one actually came out on OCN , a now dead channel, absorbed by tvN if I'm not mistaken, which used to specialized in gritty thrillers, WAY later in 2017. They were literally selling the fact that they were making 19+ shows... (which also explained why they tanked on the long run, in my opinion but I digress)

Yet, now we're supposed to swallow the same amount of graphic violence that western shows have when what drove lots of us to K dramas was the fact that there was less sex, nudity and graphic violence than in Western shows.

Aema which features sex scenes is another example of the Americanization of K dramas. There used to be a time when nudity or sex were suggested, good directing and good storytelling let the viewers know what happened without resorting to graphic scenes for shock value.

Resorting to graphic violence, sex or nudity is a stapple of lazy Western slop that literally mentally attack viewers for shock value instead of creating emotions organically through proper storytelling.
And that's not talking about how people become just numb and desensitized to violence in general.

That's not to say everything is bad, but LOTS of them have become mid. It's the same slop after slop with the occasional great, just like in Western media. Sometimes you get something that is truly amazing, but then the show takes a nose dive near the end, or they choose to milk the cow until the last drop of milk with additional useless seasons: See Squid Game, Sweet Home, or Hellbound.

Multi seasons shows are increasingly being introduced... First create a great season to get people hooked and then add some additional seasons to keep your audience paying the subscription until they will inevitably drop it because they ultimately are gonna get tired of their characters going round in circles and the plot going nowhere.

Everything looks good, but their stories feel flat. It's not great, not bad, just stuck in the middle... and if the audience doesn't complain about it, well I guess that's what we all deserve. I'm personally just not gonna bother anymore.

Again, that's not to say that there's not some great shows out there, but overall K dramas are going downhill and personally I'm tired of filtering the slop from the great. We all don't have that much free time to accept to waste it on drama slop. When I FINALLY stumble upon a show that looks very interesting, for instance... Moving? WELL What do I get? A guy having his eyeball taken out.

Because OF COURSE this series needed all that violence to be good. They couldn't do without because that's the type of disgusting slop Western audience have been fed for the past 30 years and since South Korea wants to seduce that audience, instead of catering to THEIR audience, that's what they're now selling us.

I stand corrected. I know neither Liu Yi Jun nor Tong Yao.
Surprised that Cheng Lei didn't get a lead role immediately after My Journey to You, but I guess since C drama actors always have 100 upcoming dramas lined up, he must have signed for it before filming MJTY.

Just saw the trailer...

Seems to me like this one's been shelved for a while and since Cheng Lei is in it ( CHENG LEIIIIIIIIIIIIII) and he's all the rage now, they've finally decided to release it...

But he's obviously not the ML based on the trailer...

The genre is SO not my jam...

But whatever, Cheng Lei's in it. My Cheng Lei's obsessed self is going to watch it with an open mind.

Mo Li is not coming out any time soon, so gotta watch anything he stars in, waiting for him to grace my eyes with Queen Bai Lu.

So I have no time at present to start Shadow of Love and I needed my Cheng Lei dose.

First time watching a web drama. Honestly since most of them are really short, I never bothered since to me it screams "low budget" and "not worth my time".

BUT What can I do? I've been a sucker for this actor since "My Journey to You" and since everybody was saying good words about that one I started it.

Well, this is... surprisingly VERY GOOD. For such a small series the directing is sleek and the actors are great. Watched the 8 episodes Viki version.
The story is really addictive... Would have been interesting to have a longer version of it...

Cheng Lei is smiling a lot... I enjoyed this younger dorky version of him but I do prefer when he's all serious and brooding... Still, as usual he stole the show every time he was onscreen.

Yeah I'm biased but who wouldn't be?

Well err... It's a bit too "above my tolerance level"... I think I'll never be in the right mindset then.
Hopefully they'll do another drama together.🙄

I think it has more to do with which dramas you've already watched. I stayed away from them for years because the few I'd tried to watch were either ending in tragedy or just weren't for me... But one day I stumbled upon Love Between Fairy and Devil and for me that was the game changer.

I haven't watched that many pure historicals ( I watch costume dramas but my favorite genre is fantasy) so far so my only recommendation would "Love like the Galaxy" as of now. I've watched others lots of people loved but which didn't resonate with me as much. Honestly this discussion is reminiscent of another... I must have answered you on the same topic a while ago.

I'm also currently watching "The Double"... I'm watching many series at the same time at present so it's been a while I haven't been back to it but this is the most amazing drama I've seen in like forever. Very intense. Which is why I can't binge it... But it's not a light comedy.

I've heard lots of good word regarding The Long Balad which will probably be my next stop.

Anyway I'm sure you can easily find a costume drama you'd like because they really tackle all genres with beautiful cinematography and costumes on top.

Just check that list: https://kisskh.at/list/3EEVm9b3

and check out whichever C dramas are at the top of the list. MDL is also made for that.

OH You know the end of a Scent of Time!
I did ask about a detailed answer on the show's page 2 days ago but nobody has answered yet...

If you could tell me in details what this terrible ending is about, I'll be really grateful ^^

Thank you in advance!

Well as I've spoiled myself the end...

SPOILER:

It's not that they don't get together. Basically Xue Jiao wakes up in the hospital, goes to the company she quit and see Zhi Hua. She learns that he just basically quit his job and she catches up to him in the elevator which shakes. By the power of C drama, she catches his hand in order to not fall but just as she is about to let go, he squeezes her hand and holds firm, and they look at each other.

So he remembers the dream and she remembers as well. SO I guess the show is telling us that ok, it was all a dream BUT now that they both remember it, they're gonna be able to make smarter choices for the next 10 years and turn things around.

The only issue is that, they haven't lived through 2024 to 2034 so I guess turning everything around is impossible, but they're sure going to try. Also the ex is a good for nothing and is probably not gonna change his ways, which is probably the only satisfying thing in this mess given the ML's best friend is not magically revived. He's 6ft under. Fortunately we didn't spend that much time with him to get too attached.

Still a shitty ending. Basically it's relatively OK-ish on the romance front but both main characters have lost their status, company, and all of their achievements of the past 10 years which is REALLY frustrating especially since the drama is all about how they basically made something of themselves.

I still argue the show is cute (though the kisses suck) and worth your time. Just forget the last 10 minutes.

If you're prepared mentally, I think it's an easier pill to swallow... At least that's how I see it. I still have 3 episodes left given how slow Viki has been with this show, but since I already know what to expect, I'm not too angry about it... contrary to people who got "pleasantly surprised" 2 weeks ago.

OH! It was already on my mental "To be watched list"... Won't watch it before next year though... Too many dramas I want to watch before.

Which drama was it? I can't recognize it with just the initials.

I agree with most of your comment but I do disagree regarding the C dramas overall.

Basically it depends on what you're watching.

If you're watching a Historical or anything Fantasy related, the Chinese are the best. There's just no competition with SK. Never was.

The biggest issue is when we deal with Modern dramas which tackle real Societal problems. Chinese censorship just prevents any form of deep societal criticism. It's not in China that you're gonna have a movie like Silenced, which literally led to changing laws.

That also explains in my opinion, why China produces so many Romance, which are basically mostly safe, censorship wise, and way less dramas set in Modern times. Of course there's also the very strong anti-Japanese propaganda that is honestly very jarring.

Hopefully, SK realizes their industry is going down the drain before it's too late.

Looks to me that Korean are trying to get more shares on the American market, not the other way around. Sure Americans are throwing their money in, but if their dramas are going downhill it's Koreans' own fault as far as I'm concerned.

As much as I'm not a fan of how severe censorship is in China, you've got to acknowledge they protect their own culture and ways of telling stories. They cater to their own market and if other countries enjoy their content, they're happy about it but they don't go out of their way to seduce a new market by trying to appeal to Western audience.

Same with Japan. They have their animes and J dramas, which appeal to Japanese people and while J dramas are not necessarily very popular outside their frontiers, albeit for a few exceptions, animess are. If it wasn' t for international fans, animes would probably have stayed in Japan given how little effort they deploy to export their cultural content.

But look at what Korea does...
Lately most of their dramas have no substance whatsoever. Filmography is top notch, it looks good, lots of money in but their stories no longer have soul. Not all dramas... but most of them. Truly sad.

Whilst are mostly agree with your societal comment though, I won't engage in political talks and stick to dramas.

I'd say it's way less romance centered but according to those who read the novel, there's actually more romance in the drama.

I think it depends on whether you've really watched the drama or just watched snippets of scenes from the main characters.

Honestly lots of people loved it, and lots of people hated the drama, seems like there's really no middle, but all comments I read agreed that the chemistry between the mains was really good. Your comment is actually the first one I see complaining about the chemistry between the leads.

Personally I thought the way they showed how their relationship evolved was pretty organic especially since the ML was pretty much stoic most of the time at the beginning, so when he finally just cracked a smile because of the FL's antics, I was going crazy.

If you've only watched a couple of scenes here and there, I would advise to really watch the drama properly... But if you started the show and couldn't get into it, well can't help it I guess.

LOTFG does require a HUGE amount of suspension of disbelief... It also has some jarring plot holes. I loved the shows but I totally get why some people wrote rant after rant about it because it's not like they're wrong in what they're complaining about... BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT nobody complained about the romance part... ( apart from those who didn't like the show and thought there was too much romance).

I still think the show is good personally... I just can't connect with it emotionnaly (see comment below), but I can't really pinpoint why this is not giving me the "feels" if you see what I mean.

Yeah that's why I posted my comment... I wanted to know if there were some like minded people. It's not that the show is bad per say... But for instance Legend of the Female General had way less skinship and still the romance felt stronger to me... Maybe it's the transition from "He wants to kill her" to "He loves her" that didn't work for me...

There's just that little spark that just never ignited. I know what I'm supposed to feel, but I just don't.

I think the plot is very interesting and well written though, but since I can't really connect with the characters it leaves me indifferent. It's a weird feeling I rarely experience.

I can objectively say the show is good but on the other side I can't connect with it on an emotional level...

Was really excited in the beginning but sadly can't like this show as much as everyone. There's lots of skinship but it doesn't make my heart flutter either.

Shi Qian Lu is a sore thumb that also has too much screentime.

Still a solid show but it won't become a favorite... Right now ( episode 20 since I'm watching Viki releases) I'm fluctuating between 8 and 9 depending on which episode I'm watching.

Honestly there's not a lot to complain about... but something is not clicking for me.

Ep 20 is out on Viki...

Well I was psychologically prepared that the last episodes weren't the best (not mentionning the ending) but still. Seems like the last 3 episodes might be more annoying that I anticipated so for my own sanity, I think I'm gonna wait for them all to be available on Viki before binging them .

Thank God I'm not the only one who thinks that.