Michelle Topham

in foramine terrae habitabat *hobbitus: nec foedum, sordidum madidumque foramen, nec extremis lumbricorumatque odore caenoso impletum, nec etiam foramen aridum, inane, harenosum, in quo nihil erat ad considendum aut
edendum aptum; immo foramen-hobbitum, ergo commodum.

Hahahaha, I just checked out the first page to see how much I remembered from 5 years of Latin decades ago. Ye Gods, some of that must have stuck as I could understand a fair amount of the first page.

And NO, I have no plans to read it :)

Plus, I write about Cdramas, K-dramas, anime etc for a living. So there's not a CHANCE I can finish a huge percentage of shows I start watching as I'm writing about them. I'd never sleep :)

9,000 percent agree. Honestly, getting very tired of 30-plus episode dramas. They have to be exceptionally well-written/acted to hold my interest nowadays.

That's why I have so many wuxia and historical dramas that I'm nowhere near finishing as my interest just ran out of steam after about Episode 25 :)

Plan on watching more contemporary C-dramas with fewer episodes going forward -- or short dramas with 15-38 minute episodes (there are actually some good ones), as their scripts are usually tighter written without all the extraneous b.s. we have to struggle through with a 40 episode historical drama.

EDIT: Oh and I read somewhere that around 60% of Chinese viewers don't finish a huge number of dramas they start watching (so it's not just us :). They're just too long. You'd think these production companies would have learned by now and shortened them in response. But no. It's all about making as many episodes as possible to milk advertisers for more cash.

Ooh don't share your opinion. If it goes against the herd mentality, you'll become a leper. :)

Glad to see it hasn't changed. Dropped it at the start of Ep 2, as it looked like that's exactly where it was heading (nothing in it remotely new - just the same tropes with different actors).

Yep. Still makes no sense. But the website owners will do what they will do. ROTFL.

Actually studied Latin for 5 years in high school (mandatory in high school in the UK at that time).

5 YEARS, and all I remember is Amo, Amas, Amat, Amamus, Amatis, Amant - Conjugation of the verb 'To Love'.

Been sooooooooooo helpful in my adult life. :) And no, wouldn't recommend reading Tolkien in Latin - ROTFL.

Love these little touches in the drama though. I think so many people don't realize that many of the Chinese know as much about western culture as we do, and admire so much of it. Sadly, most westerners aren't the same about Chinese culture.

It's doing decently on YouTube internationally too. For a Cdrama that didn't get any promotion outside China. Over 207, 000 views for its first episode so far. Well worth it tho. My favorite Cdrama of 2025.

'Remake' makes sense as a tag, as it's a remake of the original 2006 Japanese drama He Who Can't Marry, but you're correct 'MDL remake' doesn't really make sense? Or am I too missing something?

Episode 10, when that happens, is so good. It doesn't move the story forward that much, but the episode is worth every single second of watching.

The dialogue is superbly written. So many subtle conversations, but with either hilarious or incredibly touching meanings. I've repeated many scenes in the first 10 episodes, just to hear them again and again. Haven't enjoyed the writing in a C-drama this much in ages.

LOL yep. His facial expressions are brilliant. Whoever trained him did a fabulous job.

In my 3 decades of watching Asian dramas, I've only ever bought about 10 dramas on DVD/Blu ray, and only ever downloaded/screen grabbed about 4 more.

But I now plan on screen grabbing every episode of this when it's over, so I can save it to an external drive. That way, if it ever disappears off WeTV, I can still rewatch it to my little heart's content :)

Love, love, love everything about this.

It didn't damage anything though. And their friendship isn't fragile. They've worked together for years, so they know what Yu Yu is like. Hence why they didn't argue with him when he'd made up his mind. He will have been like this 100 times before.

But it was Lin Sa's idea to ask Dr. Gu to talk to him instead, and it worked.

Xia Xiao also knew he had turned down the contract because of her being harassed, even though he made up an excuse about "the client not wanting a home". She's not stupid. That's why she went to him a second time to ask him not to turn it down.

None of these are stupid people. They understand him quite well, and they know why he behaves the way he does. They also know how to deal with him :)

I love the dynamic between all of them. They work together well and they get the job done superbly, while also being careful about each other's feelings. Even Yu Yu does that, even if it initally looks like he doesn't.

Haven't seen the original, but this one is excellent. Will probably watch the original when I'm done with this, as it's my favorite C-drama of 2025. Phenomenal ensemble cast too (there isn't a weak character, they're all integral to the plot, and beautifully acted by all of them), and lovely locations around Shanghai/sets. Can't recommend this enough. Will be so sad when it ends.
Happy to see you recommend the J-drama :)

LOL, it's in every single episode.

Long time since I've seen a dog THIS good on film. ROTFL. Hope he got many bones/treats in his salary.

Average dramas on MDL are rated high because there's usually an idol "actor" starring in them. The highest quality dramas are rated low either because a) the actors are older or b) NO idol "actor" in them :)

Once you know that, and have been caught out a couple of times watching high-rated dramas that are literal trash, it's easy to pick the dramas to watch and those to avoid. :)

And yep, IMO, this one is worthy of an 8.3 to an 8.6 easily. It's exceptional in every respect.

Yes, all over the world. I bought my subscription while back home in the U.S., but it works just the same in Europe where I currently live.

And it's a fabulous deal. I paid $53 for the first year when I first got it (new subscribers always get a good deal) - so about $4.50 a month. YOUKU has even better deals -- I paid $29 for the first year, and they have a slew of excellent dramas too.

Plus they both have donghua (Chinese anime) and boatloads of entertainment shows/documentaries. You can get a cheap first month too, if you just want to pay monthly (although that's a lot more expensive overall).

Easiest way to subscribe is just download the apps and then pay thru Google Play (they make it difficult to subscribe other ways). Then you can watch it either via the app or via browser once you've logged in.

EDIT: -- Checked, and YOUKU's subscription for first-timers is currently $28.99 for the first year -- 50% off their regular price. So, for $2.41 a month, you get a MASSIVE number of shows :)

He's also someone you feel sorry for, as he covers up his insecurities with the way he speaks, although she's already figured that out :)

And he often does try to be kind, but because he's so clumsy about it as he tries to protect himself, because he doesn't want to feel embarrassed when someone says "Thank you", it backfires on him.

Overall, I think he's a wonderfully written character, and an incredibly nice, kind person. If he'd just stop protecting himself so much.