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A Vast Improvement from the Previous Versions

This version was way better than the previous versions which looked extremely dated and where the leads weren’t drunk but just accidentally slept together because it was a dark room and they for whatever reason thought they were sleeping with their significant others. That was pretty contrived and thus unbelievable. At least in this one the leads ended up in bed together due to an excess of alcohol. That made a lot more sense than the previous versions.

Though Jiaxin was way too timid and naive, I really liked all the scenes between her and XiYi on the cruise ship and how the relationship evolved from there.

The story with Anna was ridiculous all the way around. From her suddenly abandoning her planned cruise with her boyfriend literally right before the ship left the dock. To him not telling her one word about his betrayal for more than four months, and the worst part her still wanting him after the betrayal. Honestly I don’t see how they still had a relationship after she abandoned him on the cruise ship. Being that Anna was a confident woman who already had a career abroad, I can’t imagine that she’d realistically still want to marry XiYi after learning he not only slept with another woman, but got that woman pregnant and married her. No matter the circumstances and her choices that precipitated those circumstances that led to the betrayal. It was ridiculous that she’d still want him after what he’d done.

Though I liked XiYi, he was an ass for cheating and an even bigger ass for not immediately confessing the truth to Anna. I liked Jiaxin but her constant long face over not having a future with XiYi got old pretty fast. In the beginning the dude DID NOT love her and was only with her because she was pregnant. I don’t think she thought through the consequences of staying pregnant . She just wanted to keep it because she wanted it but then when the reality set in she saw that the situation was a burden on everyone, which caused her unhappiness.

Also, the angst of the last 10 episodes could’ve been avoided by simple communication. Though there was some insecurity there, XiYi and Jiaxin were in a good place by episode 24. They were doing romantic things together, affectionate with each other on a regular basis and sleeping together. They were living like a real married couple. It made no sense that she would runoff in unreasonable anger after suddenly getting divorce papers from XiYi saying she’d have to give up all rights to their kid when he’d told her a couple of episodes before she’d be able to see the kid anytime she wanted. If she’d simply calmed down and realized how illogical the situation was, then showed XiYi the papers and confronted him like an adult it would’ve saved a lot of angst.

Also, I thought she was stupid for cooking for Anna when the latter lost her memory, then still being friendly with her after this woman told her that she was going to take back XiYi. What was even more ridiculous is Anna ended up at Jiaxin and XiYi’s wedding as a guest at the end of the series. This woman lied , destroying their relationship for three years and indirectly caused Jiaxin’s miscarriage and she was invited to the wedding? I don’t think so. I don’t care if she was Dylan’s sister. She had no right to be there after the trouble she’d caused.

The actors were great and had strong chemistry. The secondary couple worked as did the friends and family members. The story started to get repetitive and boring the last few episodes. With XiYi constantly running after Jiaxin and her repeatedly rejecting him, the exact same way, same words and all, along with Anna vowing to get XiYi back, a man who didn’t want her at all. It got tiring. In fact, towards the end of the series I started to to really despise Anna. I already didn’t care for her anyway after her prior antics but I hated her by the end of the series. And I began to get sick of Jiaxin and XiYi running after her.

Despite all the ridiculousness and annoying characters , this series was entertaining. Would I watch it again? Maybe certain parts but not the series as a whole.

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Cliche, but fun and engaging watch.

This series was your typical contract marriage storyline with the reason for the marriage being ridiculous to start and the leads being completely at odds with each other. You also have the annoying and creepy interlopers who try and win the leads for themselves and thus don’t know when to cut their losses and move on. But outside of the typical cliches this was actually very good.

First off, the leads had amazing chemistry. They did a great job making me believe everything they were going through, whether they were at odds with each other, playing jokes on each other or being completely in love, I bought it. They felt like a real couple.

Secondly, I like that both leads had their own lives and careers before and after they fell in love. Though they loved each other deeply, neither only lived for a relationship with the other, which is rare in a lot of these romance dramas. They both had their own career aspirations and goals, in addition to their desire to have a life together.

Third, the business story which was the foundation of the series was actually pretty good, which again is rare in these dramas. Yes, it was ridiculous that Alex would require XiXi and Yi Chen marry before the contract with Marry Me went into affect, but all the other storylines surrounding the business made sense and worked well.

Fourth, the secondary romance was cute and believable, which again is rare in these dramas. It didn’t feel forced and I actually enjoyed it immensely.

Lastly, the romance was cliche but was very well done. I liked that they did things to help each other from a genuine place, before and after they fell in love. I liked that despite all the struggles they went through they never broke up, but ended up working through the issues together. I liked Mo Zixin in the beginning, but he started to become creepy about halfway through the series. Never understood why he just didn’t ask XiXi out after he gave her a ride to the party in the first episode. His subsequent behavior bordered on being stalkerish and was very creepy, especially when he always seemed to pop up everywhere XiXi showed up. His whole purpose was ridiculous being that he’d come looking for her, deeming her the love of his life, due to her being kind to him when they were kids, which is a cliche I detest in these shows. And then there was XiWei who was the very cliche female who feels like the male lead was hers for the taking and that they belonged together even though he’d shown zero romantic interest in her in the 20 years they’d known each other. She was simply there to cause trouble. Though I must say, the trouble she caused was interesting and worked to push the story forward.

The show was not perfect, there were a few scenes and character decisions that didn’t make sense, but overall it was a really good series.

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Stalker behavior misrepresented as love

The high school interaction between the leads was cute. But once they went to college the ML essentially stalked the FL until she finally gave him a chance. Also, when the high school actors were switched out for actors playing their older college selves, the actors looked way too old to be college students.

Once in college the ML had no respect for the FL’s thoughts and feelings. He ruined her first day with the one guy she dated in college. And repeatedly called her, showed up at places where he knew she would be and followed her when she went home to visit family during her college breaks, even though she told him numerous times to get lost. She wasn’t even telling him this jokingly or encouraging his pursuit at all. Each time she told him to leave her alone she was very firm. But he continued to stalk her until she finally requited his “love”.

The FL lead’s BFF pathetically continued to be at the beckon call of the ML’s BFF because she liked him. Problem was she’d confessed to him in high school but he rejected her and continued to ignore her feelings when they got to college by asking her to help him pursue her class mates. He was extremely insensitive to her feelings for him and showed no interest in her until she started to open herself to other prospects. Something she should’ve done after he rejected her. At this point, I stopped watching. All of the romantic relationships were manipulative and toxic. I couldn’t root for any of them which is a shame because I actually thought the ML/FL’s relationship in high school had the potential to be interesting and romantic.

The only thing I really enjoyed about this series was the relationship between the FL and her BFF. They were true friends throughout high school and college. I enjoyed their interactions. I also thought the boyfriend the FL had in college was great. Their relationship has potential but of course was destroyed by the need to hook her up with the ML. The series as a whole had potential but was problematic due to the way the romances were presented.

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Epic Love Story with a Healthy Dose of Angst and Humor

When starting this series I thought, it would be mostly cliches and contrived plot lines. Though there was a little bit of that, you can’t have a romance drama without cliches, but the story worked so well that these instances were barely noticeable.

The series spent a lot of time focused on building the connection between Dongfang and Orchid, which set up a great foundation for their relationship evolving into love later in the series. Though Dongfang was brooding and morose, and on a mission of great importance, he couldn’t help but to become captivated by Orchid’s kind and cheerful energy.

The “mundane” of the everyday with he and Orchid of just chatting over a drink/meal to conflicts over everything from the history of the battle between Shuiyuntian and Canyan Sea, to eating breakfast, to the laziness that is sleeping in, made it fun to experience their world. Most especially when they were living at Arbiter Hall.

Moreover, Dongfang’s immersion in his hate for the fairies, which was fueling his most powerful magic (the hell fire), yet desire to feel, to love, to be with Orchid who was everything he should hate, was compelling to watch. As was Orchid’s metamorphosis from fun, yet immature girl, to a mature (yet still cheerful and light) and strong woman was also interesting. When Dongfang finally let go, allowing himself to embrace his love for her, he loved with intensity and a depth that was swoon worthy, and Orchid, despite her lightheartedness, matched that love with her own deep devotion and intensity.

The love story in this was epic because these two were are all in with their love for each other, even before they realized they were in love. And being all in meant they did some pretty extraordinary things for each other. Dongfang’s strength was incredible to watch. He went through it, constantly sacrificing, constantly enduring physical and mental angst, but always remained mentally strong.

The B and C stories, had good writing and tied in well with the main plot. I could not stand Lord Hao. His brand of love was the other extreme, which was obsession, an obsession that could have destroyed all three realms, but despite this I understood what drove his actions. Though the fairies were supposed to be the good guys, their community seemed to mostly be filled with bullies, hypocrites and intolerant a******. Orchid and Lord Changheng seemed to be the only truly good people in the community.

The series was well-written, but there were a couple of plot holes, sometimes the Xiyan curse only worked when convenient. Why did Lady Chidi end up in the mortal world after she sacrificed herself to save the fairies? Was that because she violated the rules a fate by saving Lord Hao from death? Did the thousands of years of warring between the Moon Tribe and the Fairies really start over someone getting dumped? Basically someone from the Moon Tribe getting dumped by a fairy? Crazy. SMH.

Really enjoyed all the relationships in this. They all had some complexity and thus were interesting and developed in a direction which was unexpected. I would’ve liked to have seen more of the Moon Tribe and it’s culture. Some intriguing things were revealed but not much time was spent on those things due to the story having to move forward.

The CGI in this was excellent as was the acting. Dylan Wang as Dongfang was the stand out though. The complexity of this character could’ve been lost on a lesser actor, but I think he handled it like a pro. Yu Shuxin was good as well, but she struggled, just a little, with some of the big emotional moments.

I thought the last 3-4 episodes dragged, I was not feeling Orchid pretending to have no memory of her previously life. Moreover there was too much time spent on Danyi’s family drama and Lord Hao living in a fantasy with Lady Chidi. It was painful to watch him living in a lie with her while she gradually became a soulless monster. I know that wasn’t the story but I would’ve liked to have seen Dongfang and Orchid deciding together to work to destroy Tai Sui, instead of secretly doing their own thing. I also really would’ve liked to have seen more of their reunion at the end. Perhaps them finally getting married or a fast forward to hundreds of years in the future with them living happily, but oh well.

Despite some of my qualms, I enjoyed this series immensely. It’s definitely worth the time to watch. It will be one I will rewatch often in the future.

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Good Crime Drama that sometimes suffers due to Lapses in Logic i.e. Lazy Writing.

What an interesting way to start a series with a cop whose mother is an imprisoned serial killer. However, someone is mimicking her kills, which brings mother and son back together after 20 years. There were so many layers that could be explored with this story, and some were. The ML struggling to reconcile the mother he remembered, who was kind and caring, with the monster she became. The monster that is his mother who despite her depravity seems to have true love and care for her son whom she wants to protect.

I found myself wanting to root for the mother, but just couldn’t get there because of her depravity in killing what was believed to be “innocent” men. And then there was the question of who was mimicking her kills and why? If the series had really zeroed in on these interesting themes this could’ve been an excellent show.

Unfortunately, the main character doesn’t live in a vacuum. He has a spouse and colleagues. All of whom had some contrived moments to push the story forward. Moments that could’ve easily been written in a way that would’ve organically driven the story rather than having people do incredibly stupid and unrealistic things. Despite these lapses in the storytelling this was a good series. There were some great twists and the acting was good. The way the series ended there is the possibility for another season. If there is a S2, I’d watch if nothing else but to learn what happened to Detective Choi.

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Borderland Almost Became Boredom-land

It can’t be denied that this season had it’s entertainment value but overall it didn’t add much to the overall series. The professor who was obsessed with the afterlife was a nice twist. However, having Usagi reverted to being more drawn to being with her dead father, a desire it seemed she resolved in S2, than embracing her new life with Arisu was disappointing. If the writers needed to get Arisu and Usagi back to the borderland there were some more interesting ways to do it than what was done.

The games in this were not nearly as interesting and intense as the games in previous seasons. In fact, most of the games didn’t seem to have high stakes at all. It was nice to see everything worked out in the end, and to know that some of the characters who survive the borderlands in previous seasons were alive and well and had made positive changes in their lives. With the lackluster stories that was this season, hopefully this is the last trip we'll be making to the Borderlands.

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Very Interesting Premise, but Convoluted Execution

Well acted thriller/crime drama, but the twists were a bit too much. So the husband, ML, who is a political front runner for town mayor, has an affair with his daughter’s teacher, which leads to her getting pregnant. The daughter and her best friend learns of the affair and attempts to blackmail the teacher for money. She tells the father who then hires a hitman to kill the blackmailer. The only thing is, his mistress, the teacher, fails to tell him who the blackmailer is. The daughter is murdered, and from there the story takes a lot of weird turns.

The premise was actually really interesting. But the fleshing out of what exactly happened and who was responsible got really messy and thus at times was difficult to follow. Perhaps this would’ve been better as a series. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. Your preferred genre of entertainment will determine if you’ll enjoy this. It is a very dark movie though, that doesn’t have any moments of light.

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Good story stalls due to less interesting ghost of the week focus

Loved the actors in this. Everyone had great chemistry but the story lacked energy. The ghost of the week storyline and the love story weren’t terribly interesting. The ghostbusters BFFs could be funny but were haphazardly thrown into the story and thus many times seemed out of place.

The show had some interesting plots to start ie the FL’s amnesia around her life and “death,” why the ML was estranged from his dad , the questions surrounding his mother’s death and the mysterious professor who obviously had a dark side. But they didn’t really lean into these story threads until nearly the end of the series. The ending tied things up nicely but went on and on , focusing much time on characters I didn’t care about. This wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t all that memorable either.

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Great premise, but would've worked better as a drama series

The leads had really nice chemistry and the story had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, being that it was a movie, it missed several beats and thus wasn’t as good as it could’ve been. Also, it was weird how the characters kept switching between speaking Filipino and English. I wish they’d stuck to speaking one or the other. It could get to be a bit too much when several characters would be talking at the same time. This happened frequently throughout, which again, could be annoying. Overall, this was alright. As stated in the review headline, I think this would make for a great drama series if done right.

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Ghost Whisperer meets Buffy the Vampire…eh ghost slayer….

…Well sort of. There are some minor similarities between this show and those two shows but a lot of differences too.

The FL is a dark, brooding real estate agent with mommy issues. Her real estate niche is that she exorcise vengeful ghosts in haunted houses then makes a profit when helping the owner sell those homes. In this mist of all this she meets the ML a ghost hunter con artist who turns out to be a true medium. At first they’re at odds but eventually team up to rid various dwellings of vengeful ghosts while unraveling the traumas and conspiracies of their intertwining pasts and present.

This show was an easy watch and works well mainly due to the cases of the week and chemistry between the characters. The underlying storyline with the ghost mom and the town gangster were passable but not enough drive intrigue in the series. I will say the antagonist in this was awful. Hated him. I was absolutely sick of him by the time he met his end late in the series. The acting was good. The FL/ML had good chemistry. It was obvious there were more feelings between them than friendship but the expression of those feelings were minimal at best. The description of this series genre as “romantic comedy” is grossly misleading. Southern if you’re looking for a love story in the midst of ghost slaying you won’t find it here. Still this was good series and thus worth watching.

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Nice Romantic Drama with some Surprisingly Well Placed Humor

The FL , a rough around the edges Geologist ,who loves the outdoors is poached from the adventures that is her work in the field, to take the place of her famous twin sister who’s vanished from her life of acting fame.

This had the typical storyline of the FL struggling with her new life but eventually settling in nicely to fame as well as a PR relationship with the ML, who surprisingly has a keen interest in geology himself. What sets this apart from other shows that have done similar storylines is the humor. These amusing moments happened at the most inopportune times which made them perfect in the context of the story.

The supporting characters were hilarious and had great chemistry with the leads. I enjoyed the FL’s team, especially her manager. Some of his facial expressions were spot on. Lol. The love story was organic and well paced. The leads had good chemistry. The push, pull, conflict and misunderstandings that eventually led to them getting together was entertaining.

However, once they got together there wasn’t much story. There were some really nice romantic moments, but essentially the series meandered along with the monotony of day to day life and love with some business “drama,” that was hardly drama at all, thrown in. The twin sister finally returned to potentially stir things up but instead brings with her a WTF moment when she reveals that their mom had died a year earlier unbeknownst to the FL. Very bizarre story twist which really was just drama for drama sake and not needed.

The inevitable exposure of the truth about the twin’s deceit and subsequent breakup of the leads made sense considering the situation. However, it wasn’t as explosive as it should’ve been. We were told rather than shown the impact. This made it difficult to feel the hurt and separation angst between the leads and thus failed to deepen my emotional investment in their journey. The other love story between the ML’s sister and right hand man didn’t work for me. Though they had chemistry, it was sibling chemistry not romantic chemistry. He looked too old for her and she was too immature for him. She was very young and should’ve enjoyed dating guys her age before settling down to marry and have a kid.

The series ending was rushed, leaving several storylines unexplained or making little sense, but I liked that it was only 22 episodes. Overall this wasn’t outstanding, but it was enjoyable and will make for a nice re-watch.

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Romance Takes a Backseat to the Monotony that can be Medical Research

This started off as an engaging show. The adventures in Lakanya served as a nice foundation for the romance to build between the leads. Moreover, the timing used to move the story to China was well orchestrated . Though I enjoyed the ML being utterly smitten with the FL at times he came off embarrassingly pathetic especially when he and her first got together. He became less desperate as the story progressed but could still be obsessive and stalkerish.

Nearly all the supporting characters could be annoying but they too mellowed out with time. Save for the FL’s nemesis who was nothing short of insufferable and cartoonish. The SML had potential but unfortunately the writers decided to turn him into an un ethical ass whose only excuse was mommy and daddy issues. SMH.

The series introduced characters that could’ve been integrated into the story in an interesting way but were promptly dropped without warning. There were storylines that could’ve been key to the overall plot that were dropped as well. The love and angst of the romance was at times good but got bogged down with the Huntington Disease plot. Though the ML was obviously deeply in love with the FL I found it hard to believe he’d give up his research on glioma and being a neurosurgeon both of which he was passionate about to go into the black hole that was researching a disease in which finding funding and finding a cure was futile.

The ending left me confused. Was the FL dead? Or in a long term care facility and thus unable to attended the conference on the breakthrough the ML had made with a drug to treat Huntington’s? The way she was framed in that last scene it looked as if it was the former. Either way it was sad.

The acting was good. The leads had nice chemistry but some awkward kisses. Not sure why that was, being as the actors heights matched well which should’ve made their close moments easier to pull off realism in those romantic moments. This started as an interesting love story but then became all about Huntington ‘s Disease. I can appreciate the writers going there, as it’s so rare for Asian dramas to address disease and imperfections but I much preferred the focus on the neurological activities and medical emergencies that arose with known and random patients

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Lies were the least of this love story’s problems

The business storyline in this was good. It had some nice layers. However, the SML’s involvement was over the top. Everything he did was about his obsession with the FL. It would’ve made more sense if greed was driving his behavior. But then again the writers did a good job at showing how creepy and insane he was so that kind of helped justify his actions.

One of the funniest moments in the series that probably shouldn’t have been was when he thought he was going to take the easy way out to prevent being arrested, by leaping to his death off a building, only to land on a huge air mattress which saved his life. He was immediately arrested and carted off to jail. Lol.

I liked that the ML wasn’t perfect. He was an amputee on the verge of being an alcoholic. His disability wasn’t focused on much to start, but did come into play a little more in the later episodes, adding depth to the romance. Speaking of which, the romance was a good story. I liked that the leads met by chance during a rock climbing excursion, connected, lost touch after that weekend together then happened to meet again two years later but under unscrupulous circumstances. The business conflict threatening to destroy any chance at them having a future provided nice conflict as did the crazy SML. Though I got sick of him in the last few episodes. Additionally the FL,, would frequently make foolish decisions which would cause unnecessary difficulties for her and the ML

Though the writing for the romance was strong, the problem was the leads. They had no chemistry. This was mainly due to the FL who I’m sorry to say is a horrible actress. Unlike Luo Yunxi, she had no charisma. She put no emotions into the character except when she was trying to cry. Her line delivery was flat. Many times it was almost as if she was just reading the lines off a piece of paper.and she infused no zest into her character, leaving the FL with no personality. As the series went on I found that she would’ve made a great cyborg in the Terminator movies. That’s how bad her acting was.

Overall the series was watchable. It wasn’t bad. It was just okay. I think if a better actress was cast as the FL it .would’ve improved the show tremendously.

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Similar to Love Between a Fairy and a Devil but falls short of matching its greatness

Luo Yunxi was compelling as Tantai Jin/Devil God, cold, cunning and aloof, yet deep down having a desire to feel and understand emotions. He went through hell “killing” his mother during child birth, being hated and abandoned by his father, only to be betrayed by those whom he thought cared for him most, then cruelly bullied throughout his childhood and early adult years. It could be understood why he embraced the darkness within and chose to destroy the world considering the viciousness he’d experienced within it. Then he met the *new* Ye Xiwu. She defended and protected him. She showed him kindness and taught him love. She challenged and angered him, but she always came back to him - ultimately changing him for the better.

Though the show explored an interesting journey of war, politics, love and layers of past/future lives/identifies of our leads and the supporting characters, the show fell short with the love story which was ultimately driving the overall arc on the show. It was clear that Tantai deeply loved Ye Xiwu. Not only did he tell her, he showed her in his actions. Ironically though Ye Xiwu did many things that would be deemed as loving for Tantai, her feelings were always questionable because her actions were direct by her mission. In the end I did believe she truly cared for him but the show took too long to make this clear.

The past/future/present lives of the characters gave wonderful insight, especially the past, into why these people became who they were. However, I found I enjoyed the present storyline the most when they were in the Kingdom of Sheng, especially when it came to the love story. There was a sexy flintiness between the leads that worked so well and I could see the cold walls crumbling within Tantai. I liked seeing the connection building between them string by string. The special effects were outstanding but the show never used that grandness to create epic and unforgettable moments, which I think it should’ve had considering the content. The only moment that came close to being epic was when Tantai killed Yue Yingxin and jumped off the boat into the river. It was such an unexpected moment that was well acted and written.

One thing that annoyed me about the show was the FL going to bed in gowns she’s worn all day, dangling earrings and elaborate head dresses. No way was she getting sleep with all that stuff on. lol.

The acting was great in this. The leads had really good chemistry. When their character got serious and close there was a heat between them that II wish we’d seen more of. The story was good, not great. The ending hurt and the very last scene was bizarre, but overall this was worth watching.

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Manipulation, Mystic and Romance makes for an Unpredictable and Intriguing Marriage Contract

Park Yeon-woo is a free spirit determined to live life on her own terms. So when her parents arrange for her to marry the “ugly old” master I figured some type of marriage contract would come out of the union. Imagine my shock when the “ugly old” master ended up being young and hot, then ends up keeling over on their wedding night. And that’s pretty much how this story went with some predictability but having a few great twists.

It’s always difficult for shows to do the fish out of water stories but the writers did well with this one. They addressed some of the bafflement Yeon-woo would have with living in the future without it overwhelming the story. Though the series was supposed to center around the marriage contract this element had little relevance to the overall story. It played no role in the drama and tension within the story, which actually worked. The game of chess between Tae-ha, Sang-mo and Hye-suk over the future of SH Seoul and SH New York generated enough tension and entertainment to keep the story interesting.

Moreover, the relationships between the friends, enemies , families and lovers was fun to watch. Though I didn’t care much for the stepbrother to start, he seemed like an annoying spoiled brat,. He actually turned out to be a good person whom I grew to enjoy. The villains had their “reasons”, but thankfully no one was at a mustache twirling level. Sang-mo could be nasty but she had some layers once her backstory was revealed. Though the story had its serious moments it also had some really funny comedic moments. The leads had great chemistry and the romance was well done. It started off as a slow burn but then built and built until it became swoonworthy.

The present’s tie to the past was done in a way where some found themselves in the same place while others had an alternative setup. The stories intertwined nicely in both timelines. The show did drag just a little in the last couple of episodes. At times it seemed like the writers were using filler until they were ready to move the story forward. I did think they kept present day Yeon-woo and Tae-ha apart a little too long in the final episode, but overall this was a really good show. The story, acting and chemistry of the characters was great. The love story was beautifull and the business shenanigans was entertaining. Its definitely worth watching and is a show I’ll rewatch in the future.

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