L13

This is the trashiest, most stereotypical lakorn premise I've read in ages. I will be seated.

I’ll never understand why people on this site love Pyo Yejin so much, or why they always express their love through unearned comparisons to others. She’s a pretty and talented girl, don’t get me wrong, but she’s definitely not “outperforming” the rest of the cast with her acting or her looks as people claim relentlessly in the comments of every drama she’s in.

You do realise that all three of these actors are very handsome and arguing over which one is most or least attractive is ridiculous because that's a matter of personal preference, I hope.

Well, the synopsis leaves out approximately 97% of the plot of the webnovel/manhua it's based on.

I've been missing meaty, dramatic sageuks that don't foreground romance in recent years. Politics, investigation, amnesia, great. And Seo Inguk is a charismatic actor who can do a lot with a role like that IMO. This looks really promising!

Do you think actresses should retire at 30?

Losing her husband is not an excuse for being a useless narcissistic parent who sabotages her child's life and burdens everyone around her with her unreasonable demands and tantrums.

I'm on ep. 5 and I have absolutely no sympathy for Xia Jie's mother. She's a selfish, emotionally manipulative monster to her daughter and I'm supposed to feel bad for her because her husband died? Lady, it's been over 10 years; get a fucking grip and stop suffocating your child. XJ's superiors at work are garbage too and I can't wait for her to find a way to circumvent their infuriating sexism and condescension.

Also I'm more interested in Yang Shu and Zhao Jiwei, who seem introspective and thoughtful, than in Li Dawei, who's reckless and arrogant. I hope he gets some character development quick and the other two also get their own story arcs.

The biggest news for me here is that OCN are still making/airing dramas. I thought their production department had been absorbed by tvN? This is good news if true, though, because tvN only have so many drama slots in their weekly schedule and they already make their own stuff, so I thought OCN-style crime dramas would be squeezed out. It was so nice to have a dedicated channel that would be airing 1-2 crime/action/mystery dramas at all times.

I hate this trope where the FL is too indecisive, self-sacrificial, considerate or whatever to reject the unwanted advances of some random scrub, so he becomes her boyfriend even though she has no interest in him, but she has zero consideration for the feelings of the one person she likes and can be mean to him and jerk him around without ever questioning her actions. It's such an old-school dynamic and it always makes me root against the main couple. If the protagonist doesn't actually put in any effort to be happy with the person she loves and keeps ignoring her feelings, why should I care about them?

Sounds kinda interesting and I like Kim Yoojung, but they need to get a real actor for the male lead role, jeez. Kwak Dongyeon, who was also in Love in the Moonlight, or Lee Jaewook, Yoon Chanyoung, Kim Minjae... all in her age range. Song Kang is a very handsome man, but it sounds like this role will require charisma and the ability to project a badass aura.

I know Nana's true love is Damai, but if we're not getting a cottagecore lesbian side couple from them, I really want to see her with Xiaxia. They both deserve something nice and their interactions are so natural and stress-free. Fingers crossed it happens at some point!

It’s a very languid and mature romance, which I love. The leads understand and appreciate each other, and are each other’s confidant in the village, so there’s some real emotional intimacy building up between them, but because they’re in different places in life, there’s a line between them they’re very aware of and they are careful not to cross it. Bu their feelings are slowly growing to the point where they’ll have to go for it. (This is as of episode 21.)

His character in Go Ho Squid is quite interesting and it’s another well directed drama, but sadly the FL represents the worst of cdrama (childish, annoying, clingy and delusional to the point of stalking, stupid, basically all the hits) and is impossible to care about.

What is this drama about? The synopsis is not very helpful.

DID I OR DID I NOT CALL IT 10 EPISODES IN?

https://kisskh.at/737913-it-s-like-a-bean-in-a-pod#comment-11528587

(Paragraphs #3 and #4.)

Tang Lian's death just felt so sudden, anticlimactic and pointless that I kept waiting for him to jump out of the coffin or something and yell "surprise." But that... didn't happen? He's just dead now? Without saying goodbye to anyone, including the girl he's in love with, and without really accomplishing anything significant in his final moments? He just fought some random assassins out in the boonies by himself? Like... 'kay. I know that's how death works in real life, but it felt jarring.

And then everyone moved on in five minutes' time, telling themselves that it's sad he's gone, but he would have wanted them to keep doing whatever Xiao Se told them to do for the sake of his political power games that none of them even understand (except for Ye Ruoyi), therefore ignoring Tang Lian's death is actually the best way to honour him... very convenient.

And so now they're planning a big party for Xiao Se? Fine, whatever, let's go.

On an unrelated note, I've been trying to like Qianluo because I hate it when people pile on the few female characters in a cdrama, but in this episode every time she appeared on screen it was to give Xiao Se a proprietary look while he was speaking and it really got on my nerves. Surely they can find something for her to do other than than stare at Xiao Se like a middle schooler? Or if not... don't bother showing us those moments?

Episode 26 was kind of an abrupt fall in enjoyment for me.

This is refreshingly irreverent and fast-paced compared to most cdramas, and the main couple is quite funny and likeable. Zhaonan/Sanmei is the rare cdrama heroine who doesn't annoy me at all, and Liu Xuanming is a great foil to her as a conceited himbo who acts tough but is actually very weak to Sanmei's charm.

Some of the secondary characters are quite good too, like Qimeng and the three spies from Muxi. I like the princess/assassin subplot too.

I think My Uncanny Destiny succeeds at something another ongoing historical romantic cdrama, Unchained Love, tries but fails to do, which is use bloody court intrigues as a humorous backdrop for a lighthearted romance. (Unchained Love doesn't get the tone right and ends up being callous and detached IMO.)

I gotta say, though, that in 8 episodes I've seen more toilet gags than in all the other cdramas I've watched combined.

But… the ending should influence the rating…