Nachtz

Yes, it really does seem quite empty, this thing that keeps her so attached to SML. As you said about making the story long, that's a fact. Honestly, I think it could have been resolved in basically 5 episodes, and the gap that would remain until the episode where she falls in love with ML could have been filled with things here and there. But unfortunately, inflating the story to create "clips" (which are mostly boring and completely irritating) has become standard in dramas.

Exactly, it also doesn't cross my mind why she likes him so much when the drama shows no dialogue or action to justify her attachment to him for years. Honestly, I don't know if my perspective changes either because I'm a man, and maybe just finding the guy handsome will make some women cling for years. And in the drama situation, this relationship didn't seem like it would work from the beginning

Thank you, I understand your frustration. I don't like her character either, but I'm trying not to hate her so I can finish watching it (and it's a little difficult, haha) 🤗

Let's say that up until episode 5-6 she has about 30-40% of the screen time and mentions and is almost always the central point, even more so for ML's side. From the mentioned episodes onwards, her presence decreases considerably, she's always indirectly mentioned because of her husband, who, when he appears, always ends up being the reason for his actions, etc. until episode 9 when she kind of returns for the whole episode. After that, I can't say it was the last episode I saw 😅

No, I know there's a second couple, but I'm saying that there might be that classic and annoying K-drama rivalry between two male leads for the female protagonist; it's just that I'm a bit tired of it. But I hope it's not what I'm thinking.

I saw the poster and got excited, I read the synopsis and thought it was interesting, I added it to my plan to watch list, then I see it has romance in the tag and there's a second ML without a second FL, it made me so incredibly discouraged lol

I'm currently at episode 2 and, after not watching a healing drama for quite a while I believe this genre resonates far more with those who have experienced tough times or phases of profound solitude.

Even if you haven’t gone through something painful just enduring loneliness alone can make this type of drama strike a chord with you. Which is precisely why I am so fond of this genre.

Having seen the initial two episodes I am already very eager to keep watching, which I realize is a challenge, for certain viewers regarding this drama. In my opinion those who resonate with this style of storytelling aren’t necessarily seeking to revisit or stir up past experiences but instead to engage with content they can emotionally relate to without pressure gradually finding healing as the plot unfolds.

I hope the upcoming episodes continue to be good, even knowing the drama was shortened. And yes… I think I might have written a bit too much 😅

The only FL drama I watched was The Imperial Coroner, and compared to that, she looks very beautiful here, although the plot of The Imperial Coroner makes sense that she doesn't look extremely attractive. It's a shame that this plot doesn't make me want to see her here :(

I'm watching episode 16 now, and I know there are obvious reasons for the other three protagonists to treat the female protagonist as a woman, even though she's disguised as a man, but it's very strange to see it, lol. I think that's my biggest problem with this drama so far. I think if the narrative had been conducted in a way that the protagonists actually treated her as a man, without having moments where they look at each other as if they were in love, but that ends up being "romantic" only for us who are seeing it in the third person, so it ends up being kind of unrealistic when placed in the situation that the drama is in, and in my view it ends up being a "plot hole". Anyway, I saw people saying that the protagonists already knew she was a woman, but in my head, the only person who would know would be Yue Xuan because he seems to be more expert in things like that compared to the other two. I saw a spoiler of when everyone discovers she's a woman. I think this is happening "late," but if they hadn't done it, I think it would have dragged on. Well, if it continues as it is now, it will be a solid 9 for me. (I think I wrote too much)

The character he plays in this drama is very good, his acting is also very good, but as mentioned above, after episode 7 his presence in the drama is quite low. It's worth giving it a try for what the drama is as a whole, and if you like wuxia, it's a real treat of the genre. If you watch a few episodes after episode 7 and don't like that he doesn't appear as much, I think you can stop watching because the moments he appears afterward aren't that many.

He's also my favorite character, but seeing him almost never appear after episode 7, and then after episode 28 he only appears for about 10 minutes on screen until the end, is quite disappointing.

With only two episodes left, I think the only thing keeping me from giving it a score higher than 9 is the fact that the character with the most potential ended up being completely sidelined after a certain point — I'm talking about Wu Xin. He was the character I enjoyed watching the most, both because of his personality and his backstory. He was a monk and genuinely a good person, but he also had a subtle, more complex side to him — small hints of ambiguity that made him even more interesting to follow. And honestly, one of the things I enjoyed the most was his sense of humor and the moments when he did something unexpectedly funny. I hope he gets more screen time in season two.

I'm in the middle of episode 3 and what I feel is that this drama is very funny 🤣, it's more like a sitcom, I hope it doesn't lose its quality by the end.

What I feel about this drama up to episode 22 is that after this, I’ll need to watch something where the main character isn’t annoying at times and is actually smart. There are moments when the protagonist acts like an idiot or says things that make no sense for the situation. I get that it’s for character development and all, but it’s stressful. I just hope he gets better later on.

Oh, I didn't know it could come out this year! I was unhappy because I thought it would come out in 2026. I still haven't finished Sword Snow Stride, I left it on hold at episode 16, and the feeling it gave me was like JOL, everything very focused and straightforward. Now I've discovered it was because of the writer. I think in about 7 months, when I've forgotten most of the JOL stuff, I'll give it another chance. I think I dropped it around episode 28, I don't remember the reason, but it wasn't because I didn't like it, I just can't remember. Anyway, that's it.

Yes, I completely agree. Of all the Chinese historical dramas I've watched (and didn't drop halfway through) that didn't have this problem of the writing changing between arcs, the only one was Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty (not that I know if there were multiple writing teams or if they changed, etc.). It's perfectly balanced and doesn't deviate in terms of writing, maintaining a constant pace, which is where most recent releases fail. As you said, they don't maintain the same impactful pace (because of the multiple writing teams) that they have at the beginning and carry it through to the end. This is a very complicated issue that goes beyond writing or pacing, but in general, that's how I think about it.

After reading your review, I realize I didn't miss anything. I watched up to episode 5 and saw that it wasn't going to be worth it. It's hard to watch the period dramas that are coming out lately. They all seem the same, just with different makeup lol. The only hope is to wait for the continuation of some and different scripts. Your reviews are always very good to read, thank you 😊

lol

holding your hand until the last 2 minutes which are graceful

Yes I agree with that