The Cage he built with Love : This a familiar story for all vertical junkies, I wanted to watch the new Cheng Cheng/Xiang Yunjie 90's HK romantic comedy, ended up clicking on a different link when my attention was distracted by an alluring thumbnail with the same actor, was caught in the vortex, 2 hours later : no regrets, this was very dumb but very fun in a so-bad-it's-good way, bro has a sister complex the size of Mt Everest (and a scent fetish ??) so when he learns that meimei shares no blood with him (I guess she was switched at birth ? It's never explained) his mental dam cracks and in the cage she goes, to be pampered like a prized poodle by day and banged senseless by night. She tries but doesn't break Rule N° 1 (never leave the cage) until he gets amnesia, her ticket to freedom. There is green tea scheming but by some miracle, no secret baby (yay !), some grovelling (double yay !) and at some point she realizes that what matters was not the cage but the love they made along the way, and he realizes that his canary needs to fly like an eagle and he has to be the wind supporting her (lots of avian metaphors), the SML also becomes unhinged and kidnaps her but too late, ML caged her first, he got dibs, and takes a gunshot for her so he can get his last minute full redemption, and buy her too much pinapple cake (I'm half convinced the drama was entirely produced as an advert for the cake shop). The end ! Loved it, not sure I would watch again but I laughed a lot.
Till Death and Forever After : exciting revenge thriller, it's a republican variation of a plot I can't seem to get enough of : the "Tear Night" one where FL is killed by her fiance and family, and decides after being reborn to jump in the arms of the powerful man who kidnapped and assaulted her in her previous life, because she saw him avenge her and kill himself Romeo & Juliet style after her death. Sometimes she's literally caged (uguu), sometimes he's the one reborn (unhinged Liang Si Wei version) and sometimes he's a puppy at heart like in this one. I think this is also a cousin of the Qi Chen Yan/Shi Xing romance where she's an actress and marries her enemy. It's a sleek, satisfying watch, probably not the most memorable version of the story (I forgot about it pretty fast until some clips reminded me of it), but if you're in the mood for a good revenge story with a sour-turned-sweet devoted husband you could do much worse. Wang Zi Jia is the highlight of the cast.
OMG, On wedding night, my sister and I went into the wrong bridal rooms : I watched the Zhang Xuan/Zha Yi Chen version of this fluffy modern rewrite of the "Wrong Carriage Right Groom" plot (Cdrama do looove their sister brides swap plots). The story doesn't really make sense, and I was a bit annoyed that the biggest conflict was about what kind of trophy wife the pampered sister wants to be (it's not like learning table manners and doing some yoga and flower arrangement is the end of the world...), very "First World Problems", but overall this was a very fun watch, perfect for the holiday season, all the leads were good and had chemistry, and productions values were impressive (so many cute outfits !).
Only For You /My Sweet Dog Husband is a Clingy Person : This needs a page, it should be trending. It's not the first time I've seen a drama turning the tables on the transmigration plot and making the aware FL the villainess of the story, but this take was outstanding. Li Yaya is amazing as a burned out wife who just wants to keep her sweet marriage from being destroyed by a rando with a "chosen one" complex (kinda like Yuka in 12 Kingdoms who believed she was worthier than Youko to be the hero) and Min Jie is delicious as a Wife Guy who just wants to spoil her. The show is hilarious, the SFL is using every trope she can think of to move the plot in her direction but our MC is not having any of it, and becomes creative to handle her (at some point they are using her as an aphrodisiac, it's hysterical). It is also quite naughty, it feels like a legit sex comedy at times, and the dialogue is golden. Make yourself a favor and watch it, it's a gem.
He coaxed his poor little darling : I can't put my finger on why this show felt so good to watch in spite of all the horrible stuff going on. Maybe it's because the Monte Cristo revenge plot works everytime, maybe it's Zhai Yi Ying's great performance ? She doesn't have an easy role, Mercedes never had a chance, and here even if she doesn't marry her enemy her lover doesn't explain what is going on, so she can't take control of her fate. And yet the actress made the most of it, and to be honest I think she carried the entire thing (the male cast is okay but unremarkable). She brings so much to the table : energy, charm, spunk, grace, she lits up every scene she's in, and makes a character that spends the entire drama being a pawn in the hands of the men in her life interesting and moving. I do have one big gripe : what's up with all these angst fests that have a last-minute twist ending with no redemption arc ?? They never gave the leads a chance to finally talk about the crazy sh*t that happened to them and what they did to each other, so frustrating.
His On-Call Heiress/Are You Divorced Yet : hey it's the dude who was a snake demon in a sister bride swap vertical ! He's cute, he looks a bit like Li Hong Yi (so, believable as the FL's next mistake after her wedding to a dumbass). He's very young though, it's hard to take him seriously as a CEO, but we're not here for seriousness in this drama we are here for 1) the spice and 2) the cheese, both of prime quality. I mean, the green tea bitch goes to HOMEWRECKER ACADEMY. I'm dead, this is peak. I was wondering if the drama was going to stay entertaining for three hours, but IT DID. The plot is Prince of Beijing Circle flavored (FL hires a gigolo to get back at cheating hubby, of course he's some royalty CEO addicted to her) but this time it's all about social media wars, spilling the tea in dramatic press conferences, the ML trying to blackmail the FL into a lot of things (sex, a divorce, sex, a relationship, more sex) cheating bastards being hilariously obnoxious and having meltdowns (the actors are hamming it up, it's super entertaining) and maybe love among the chaos. Strongly rec this if you want a sexy, entertaining cheese-fest.
Mr. Fu, I have continued your life : light, cute and quick romance about a sickly heir played by Shen Hao Nan who can't survive without a cute cultivator's kisses played by Zuo Yi. Cute outfits, vivid colors, the usual gimmicks, not very memorable but enjoyable, perfect if you want to take a break between melos.
No MDL page : - He Aged Overnight When I Left : I watched it by mistake thanks to a link error and was morbidly fascinated by it, it was pretty absurd and bad, I think this is inspired by the cryo ZZD tearjerker, the big bro was played by a terrible actor doing weird things with his jaw, lead actress had a grating laugh, her FL had zero depth, in what world do you want to marry/have kids with the elder bro of your ex you want to cut all ties with, ew x100 (watch me discover another vertical that does this well with a better ML and eat my words), I rooted for the sleazy ex sadly because he was played by a much better actor who had actual onscreen charisma, and his character had some layers. No idea if it will be ever on MDL : not a big loss.
I will admit that I have not watched a xianxia yet, as fantasy has never really interested me, even in my native…
I am a big time fantasy lover so xianxia is one of my fave genre and they do require a more significant investment (you have to keep track of all the subplots, magical rules, etc.), but I find this one very newcomer friendly !
This sounds intriguing.....what's the spice factor on this one...mild, medium or hot?
I watched it a while ago so I don't remember that well, and now my rating for spice has been ruined by verticals lol. It's more a romantic comedy than anything if that can help.
But you still gave it an 8, so the story must be pretty good, since the spice turned out to be bland after all.…
That's exactly it for the story, and I won't say it turned bland exaclty, it's just that the sexual tension stays....tension, without the pay-off shown in the first scene. I think it's still worth it as a solid love story and light thriller.
I started this drama a year back and binge watched till 35 or so eps...but Hao Chen irritated me so so much that…
He is ! I think the pay-off of the main relationship is worth it but I'm biased, I was very invested in the FL's story (also it was one of my first Cdramas so everything still felt new and magical).
- He Aged Overnight When I Left : I watched it by mistake thanks to a link error and was morbidly fascinated by it, it was pretty absurd and bad, I think this is inspired by the cryo ZZD tearjerker, the big bro was played by a terrible actor doing weird things with his jaw, lead actress had a grating laugh, her FL had zero depth, in what world do you want to marry/have kids with the elder bro of your ex you want to cut all ties with, ew x100 (watch me discover another vertical that does this well with a better ML and eat my words), I rooted for the sleazy ex sadly because he was played by a much better actor who had actual onscreen charisma, and his character had some layers. No idea if it will be ever on MDL : not a big loss.