Bali

This is a nice and fast pacing miniseries. Although the drama is tagged as romance, it must also be a comedy since there are the typical interruptions when they are about to kiss, funny sound effects, and also quite a few comical moments. There are not many intimate scenes but the lead couple’s interactions are cute and they developed a heartwarming slow-burning romance that comes about from the profound care , and later the love, that grew between them. The leading lady is lovely, smart, and kind. The male lead is poised and confident, but at the same time, he is caring and affable and he will do anything to keep her and everything to protect her. Enjoy it!

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My Lady General (2023) Is a very good romantic comedy set in a fictional historical time. This is a fun drama to watch with a leading couple that did a great job bringing their characters to life. The heroine female lead forces marriage upon a sickly guy in the Gu family but the antihero main lead takes his place hoping to heal and make the heroine fall in love with him. With a couple of exceptions, the supporting cast also did well in the performance of their characters but this drama really centers in the leading couple and it was a pleasure to watch as their love story evolves and the two becomes each other strong hold. Overall, this drama is very entertaining, enjoy it!

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This is a nice drama with a storyline that has been enacted by other actors but it is still a nice watch. The leading couple did well bringing their characters to life and, once all the misunderstandings are cleared and they get together, they performed their romantic relationship interactions nicely. The female lead, Su Qing (played by Long Yi Yi) has great medical skills in traditional Chinese and Acupuncture, but she is very naïve and aloof in matters of the heart which makes the romance plot a very slow burned one. The male lead, even without knowing that Su Qing was the woman that he wanted to be with, recognizes earlier on that he wants to be married to Su Qing which give the romance plot a heartwarming feeling as he becomes her protector. Su Qing has also her mischievous ways of turning the tables around on the antagonists. Although this mini drama is not perfect, it makes do for a quick nice watch while waiting for a better one to come.

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This is a great romantic comedy with a fantasy element (shape shifting), bizarre medical skills that, once the viewer disengages its brain, it becomes part of the far-fetched, over acted, and ridiculously funny comedic elements of a story that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at moments. The cast did a fantastic job bringing their characters to life and fusing the mixture of different genres (drama, slap-stick comedy, romance, action, suspense, and fantasy) to give the audience a very entertaining drama with a heart of gold. The drama is not perfect and it doesn’t adhere to just one artistic category but it is consistent in giving the viewer a steadfast love and relationship for a smart leading couple that perseveres through good and bad times, and two other couples from the supporting cast that come together to embrace the message on the title of the drama and, at the end of the day, they truly followed their hearts. Overall, this drama is not for an audience that likes to stick to one particular unadulterated category and is bothered by overacted comedy moments, strange or unusual fantasy, and a multi-genre plot; but, if the viewer is open minded and is looking for a drama with very interesting characters and great performances, this drama will surely deliver and entertains. Enjoy it!

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Meet Yourself is a magnificently well written slice of life drama where all main and supporting characters meet, heal, grow together, and ultimately, through some sometimes funny and always heartfelt interactions, each one of them find what is truly meaningful and important in their lives and move forward in pursuit of happiness. This drama, set in a village that anyone would like to live in, has one of the most mature, realistic, and genuine romance that, although is quite slow burned, one truly enjoy every moment the main couple is together and even how earnestly they love each other when they are apart; every moment and incident in their lives is meaningful. The leading couple has a beautiful, delicate, and fascinating chemistry. The supporting characters are so well casted and did such a fantastic job bringing their characters to life that many of them had the feel of a main cast. The drama has some quite slow moments that made me stop watching and rest from it but, the drama in general is so good that it lingered in my mind until the next day. Once I started watching again, I found myself immerse in the feelings, turmoil, sadness, thoughts, and happiness of the characters and the simplistic life and beautiful sceneries of the village. Episode 16 is hilarious how his father uses all kinds of antics to stop him from getting involved in the village and episode 26 melts the heart with the leading man’s love confession. Overall, this drama provides the viewer with great insights, smart leads, interesting supporting characters, day to day interactions of the fabulous village people, and the great performance of actress Wu Yan Shu, seasoned actress of theater, film and television, as the sassy, smart, innocently conniving, and very interesting Granny Xie. Enjoy it!

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Guess Who I Am is a good comedy with a nice romantic storyline. This drama has other genres mixed up within the comedy so there are episodes that offer mystery, thrill, romance, and overacted funny moments; and that’s where the plot fails. The cast did a very good job within every situation but the jumps between plots interrupted the flow of the stories. The characters, especially when they were all working together, were fun to watch, and the leading couple performed well together and has a nice funny, intellectual, and romantic chemistry. So, what is the problem with this drama? A group of six highly savvy and somewhat quirky individuals are tied together by the string of past tragedies in the leading couple’s lives and they find themselves in the web of the antagonist’s psychopathic plans. Later on, a seventh guy is added into the mixture and the drama turns into a mix of Mr. & Mrs. Smith partners with a Scooby-Doo’s flair. Somehow, even with the nonsensical and useless fantasy aspect of the show, the characters managed to bring about an entertaining drama with their chemistry and antics. Overall, even if no genre is fully developed, the drama is entertaining.
(P.S. This review makes as much sense as the drama itself!) 😉

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Spoiler Alert!

Sword and Fairy 1 is a very good adaption from the video game "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" based on the Chinese original story “Chinese Paladin”. The cast did a great job bringing their characters to life and most of the main characters were fantastic performing their roles. This is a fantasy wuxia with a beautiful romance story that, as many Chinese stories, fell prey to the fatidic concept that fate is immutable. Even though the leading couple has a very lovable chemistry and their love is faithful and steadfast, the fluidity of their romantic relationship was marred by the numerous separations. The lead female’s role, Zhao Ling Er, played by Yang Yu Tong, is a very sweet character but, because of that, her character doesn’t have the strong presence of a goddess. Even up to the last episode, she was hinting that she would be back when she had already accepted the fact that she was a sacrificial lamb. In the last interaction between the leading couple, it was the male lead who wailed in pain as she passively leapt into the abyss to kill the monster. There are three main characters that really did a very good job performing their roles: He Yu as the male lead Li Xiao Yao, Li Chuan as Liu Jin Yuan, and Xu Hao as Lin Yue Ru.
It must be said that the drama really has great choreography, beautiful settings and costumes, and cinematography. Overall, except for the ending, the drama is entertaining.

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The Matchmakers is a great drama that fuses the genres of comedy, melodrama, a fantasy element, mystery, and romance with a bit of nicely done action scenes. The cast did an excellent job bringing their characters to life and the leading couple, once they started working together, was fantastic in giving the audience a great comedy and romantic vibe. There were many supporting characters that carried the side storylines so well that they left a feel of also being main leads; that’s how well the cast worked on their enactment of unforgettable characters. Even the characters of the antagonists were written as to let the audience know their reasons without exerting any sympathy for them and their karmic ending. The drama is well written and directed; it also has great cinematography and a very nice soundtrack. The only thing that was a little disappointing was that, although the ending was a good one, it was too bland; a nice embrace would’ve done better! Overall, this drama is funny, has an intelligent and heartwarming leading couple, and plenty of well written memorable supporting characters that make the drama entertaining. Enjoy it!

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Pledge of Allegiance is a great dramatic wuxia with some comedy, mystery, intrigue, a nice slight romantic arc that doesn’t interrupt the flow of the main plot, and the greed of certain individuals that brings about the misery and troubled incidents to the main characters in the story. The drama has a stellar cast and, although it is fast paced, one gets to know the characters strengths and weaknesses as they interact and go through a very well developed character growth from beginning to end. The story is really about Li Wu/Fake Li Dong Fa (played by Leon Zhang) and Lu Zheng / Song Zhen (played by Chen Ruo Xuan). The plot on this drama is well written and the cast did a great job bringing their characters to life but the defining force in the drama are the leading men Leon Zhang and Chen Ruo Xuan that did a splendid job in their characterization of two very complex characters that formed a formidable and steadfast friendship even when it seemed they were losing hope and trust on each other. This drama will evoke all kind of emotions mostly due to the mesmerizing and poignant lives of the individuals involved in the emergence of a great story. The drama is truly entertaining, enjoy it

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Egg and Stone is a nice wuxia comedy with a cute and lighthearted romance. Although the plot is not solid and completely coherent, the drama’s comedy is well executed by a cast that seems to have enjoyed the fun ride bringing their characters to life; the actors seem comfortable acting farcical within this slapstick comedy. The drama is really funny and, even though the leading couple’s intimate scenes were uninspiring, their squabbling and their playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks are really funny and amusing. There are some heart fluttering and heartbreaking moments in the drama but, overall, this drama is an entertaining laugh-out-loud comedy. Enjoy it!

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This is a lighthearted and cute comedy with a super slow burned romance that works its way at the very end. The plot is not about the romance but the changes that the modern woman that transmigrated into the body of Su Jin Xia, the daughter of the Great General, (played by Gao Qiu Zi), and the social changes that she brings about for larger sized woman with the help of her husband, the young and new Emperor Qin Mo Lin, (played by Kepler). The leading couple has a very nice playful chemistry but lacks romantic expressions, especially Gao Qiu Zi as the leading lady. Although there are some funny cute moments, most of the intended comedy was through overly exaggerated facial expressions and awkward moments. If the drama would have gotten the leading couple together earlier, then Qin Mo Lin would have really shown his love for his larger sized Empress since his loving expressions were done nicely. Overall, the drama didn’t deliver proper comedy nor nice romance.

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Only Love You is a nice historical miniseries. It is about the love story between Jin Se, the demon fox Saintess (played by Zhao Qing), and Gu Yun Shen/General Yan Luo (played by Peng Chu Yue) that, due to Jinse’s responsibilities toward her clan, left Gu Yun Shen with a broken heart. Five years later, Jinsen, on her quest for revenge against those who hurt her clan, encounters Guy Yun Shen again who is now the powerful General Yan Luo. From then on, the former lovers find themselves fighting against a common enemy and, as they join hands and resolve prior misunderstanding, they rekindle their loving relationship and remain loyal through the end. The cast did a very good job bringing their characters to life and the leading couple has a very good chemistry. This drama is entertaining, enjoy it!

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This is a very good and entertaining drama. From here on, the rest of this review is full of SPOILERS! This drama is a television series derived from the Korean manhwa of the same name but, given that it is a spin off, it has its own plot. The drama is not about a showdown of powers that the water god Ha Baek (played by Nam Joo Hyuk) and the other involved gods have; it is a fantasy romantic comedy that focuses on the developing relationship between Ha Baek and his servant Yoon So Ah (played by Shin Sae Kyeong). Taken as a romantic drama between God and servant, and other insufferable gods, this drama was nicely done. The leading lady, Yoon So Ah, is a character that carries deep wounds from her dysfunctional parental upbringing and the water god, He Baek, comes to the human realm with a mission. Both leading characters clashed for been presumptuous and self serving given the nature of their backgrounds but, as they experience adversity, tantrums from Moo Ra/He Ra (played by Krystal Jung), a goddess from the Water Kingdom and Bi Ryum / Ahn Bin (played by Gong Myung) a wind god, jealousy, and their own misconceptions, they grow to understand each other and from then on, a steadfast and nice romance develops. Although there are too many stiffed facial expressions, a leading lady that spends most of the drama in tears, quirky characters to bring comedy forth, and a spoil brat that provides some antagonistic instances, at the end of the day, the leading couple has a happy ending and there is also a smart twist to one of the gods. As said before, the drama is entertaining, enjoy it!

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Untouchable Princess has a novel plot that could have made for a better developed miniseries but the drama doesn’t have much essence and, even though the cast acted accordingly, the developments happened too fast and almost out of sequence. One can tell that the subtitles are machine originated and it takes away from the dialogues. Not all is bad, the drama has some hilarious scenes, especially at the beginning that hinted comedy but as the drama advanced, there were too many nonsensical murder scenes. The blossoming romance is nice but it amounts to little romantic scenes and no intimate moments. The ending is cute and heartwarming.

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This quite short miniseries is a delightful romantic comedy with a hot-blooded male lead and a cute and mischievous leading lady. The drama is short so it has a fast paced evolution plot but the story is well developed and everything falls into place at the right time in the plot. The main cast did a good job bringing their characters to life but some of the supporting cast’s acting was exaggerated. The leading couple has great chemistry mostly because of the leading male whose facial expressions really get the audience to understand his emotions. The nice twist at the end explains why he was so fascinated with her and it really makes their love story credible and super cute. This miniseries is a breath of fresh air and it leaves the viewer with a great feeling at the end. Enjoy it!

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