Onuta

Updated after Episode 26

The drama started on a strong and rather dramatic note, with a promising premise that immediately caught my attention. Unfortunately, from around episode 10 onwards, the story begins to drag, gradually becoming consumed by domestic and family trivialities. What initially seemed to be developing into an engaging central story becomes predictable, polished, yet surprisingly uneventful.

An excessive amount of time is spent on household routines and supporting characters rather than advancing the main plot. Entire scenes are devoted to trivialities, often with remarkable enthusiasm considering how little of consequence is actually being said.
I also find the female lead rather flat, both in terms of characterisation and performance. As another reviewer has already pointed out, there is surprisingly little emotional complexity in her feelings towards a man she was initially meant to marry. More importantly, I feel absolutely no chemistry between the two main leads, which makes it even harder to become invested in their relationship.

The characters I found most interesting were Zhao Xing Tang, the male lead’s first wife, whose actress, as always, absolutely nails her villainous roles, and the female lead’s parents. Unfortunately, I found most of the remaining characters rather one-dimensional and forgettable. Many of the secondary characters feel underdeveloped, as if they are there mainly to move the plot forward, yet the plot itself rarely goes anywhere meaningful.

There are also rather too many convenient coincidences. Whenever the story needs two people to meet, overhear something, or appear somewhere at precisely the right moment, fate appears to be working rather unrealistically hard. The female lead, in particular, is repeatedly saved or helped by someone who happens to appear at exactly the right moment, which makes her seem more like someone who takes advantage of opportunities conveniently presented to her than someone who truly earns her successes through her own efforts.

The investigation sections and court politics feel rather weak, to the point that the household trivialities almost begin to look appealing by comparison. The drama seems to be pulling itself in too many directions, leaving the whole thing feeling rather scattered.

The directing, costumes, and overall production are good, and individual scenes are often beautifully executed. In that sense, it is certainly a well-made drama about the routines and trivialities of ordinary household life. Everyday life can be fascinating when its ordinary moments reveal something meaningful about the characters or the human condition. Here, however, everyday life becomes too everyday: too much family, too many domestic details, and too little story.

What began as a promising drama now feels, to me, like a compelling story buried beneath an impressive mountain of beautifully directed nothingness. By this point, the story has become too scattered and too uneventful in any meaningful sense for me, while the female lead simply isn’t compelling enough to keep me invested. It has also become increasingly predictable where the story is heading. For these reasons, I’ve decided to drop it.