1
It is PERFECTION
MDL needs to add a once-in-a-lifetime rating of "11 stars" because this drama would be 11 stars in every category.Everything about this show is perfection. It's so perfect, I'm actually sad, because no show will ever be this good again. And the ending. THE ENDING!! I've never watched such a satisfying ending for any show. Ever. The ending was beyond satisfying. SO GOOD. (sorry for all the random shouting, but THE ENDING!! AHHH!!!)
1. Story: PERFECTION. 11 stars. I was on the edge of my seat with every episode, I never knew what was going to happen. Do you know how difficult that is with a time-slip? With a romcom? Every trope was used and subverted at the same time. I am in awe. And the dialogue? Chef's kiss. Perfection. No line wasted. This is the very first time I've ever watched a show and was glued to my screen every moment. So many twists and turns and plot threads to weave together. The biggest twist in my opinion is at the end of episode 2. If you're not addicted to this drama after the end of episode 2, I would be shocked. SHOCKED!
2. Acting / Cast: MORE THAN PERFECTION. ∞ stars (infinite). Whatever is past perfection, that's the main couple of this show. They united the world, including Knetz, and we are all actively rooting for them to have their own HEA. The behind the scenes clips are *almost* as addictive to watch as the show, that's how amazing their chemistry is.
And the acting is so beautiful. I was fully engrossed in a time-slip, fantasy romance. I believed every minute of it and the actors sold and served. UGH! I can't say enough. I've never seen anything like this in a Kdrama before, and I've watched a lot of Kdramas.
3. Music: PERFECTION. 11 stars. In case you didn't know, the lead actor actually sung the 5 ECLIPSE OST songs and they are now on my permanent top favorite playlist. The rest of the OST is so beautiful. Other standout songs for me on the soundtrack: 'Like A Dream' by MINNIE and 'Spring Snow' by 10CM. The rest of the songs are also beautiful and so good. But the 5 ECLIPSE songs and these two are perfection.
4. Rewatch value: MORE THAN PERFECTION. ∞ stars (infinite) While it was airing, I think I re-watched the earlier episodes every week, or more than once a week. I've never done that before. Not once. And, not just that, I didn't fastforward older episodes, I watched the whole dang thing each time. And I know I'll re-watch this drama often in the future because I already miss it so much. *cries*
5. Overall: MY FAVORITE KDRAMA OF ALL TIME: My other favorites include Healer, Alchemy of Souls, and Goblin if you want an idea of what this drama is up against. This one wins, hands down.
Seriously (and sorry, not sorry) but if you don't love this drama as much as I do, I'm not sure we can be friends.
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Top C-Drama Rom Com of all time
==Breakdown==Background plot - 40%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Excellent
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Excellent
Production value - Fine
This is just so, so good. I can't believe it's not on every favorite rom com list all over this site. The story was so fresh and innovative, the themes were outstanding, but the leads' chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS. Luckily, it was a romance-focused drama, which meant we were treated to a ton of scenes with them together (episode 16 being my favorite and the cutest). And since it was only 24 episodes, there were few draggy / filler parts. I usually fast forward about 60-70% of Cdramas and only ended up fast forwarding 10-15% of this one (all of which has to do with the eldest sister's storyline with the musician, those actors had zero chemistry but the storyline seemed interesting).
Again, I have to stress how electric the chemistry was between the leads. In my top 3 C-Dramas of all time, which for me includes:
1. Love Between Fairy and Devil
2. Till the End of the Moon
3. The Romance of Tiger and Rose
I'm already planning a re-watch.
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If I wanted to be devastated, I'd watch the news.
==Breakdown==Background plot / palace intrigue - 60%
Romance - 30%
Random comedy - 10%
Background plot - Fine
Romantic chemistry - Good
Misc comedy - Fine
Production value and direction - Good
Keeping it short, but the ending ruined the whole show. I was warned not to watch Ren Jia Lun's dramas, but this one looked interesting. And, yeah, I won't be watching any more of his shows.
He's EXCELLENT by the way. I mean, he is an incredible actor and so, so good in his role. Mesmerizing. But I don't have the emotional bandwidth to be devastated by something that's supposed to be escapist and entertaining. If I wanted to be devastated, I'd watch the news.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Definitely worth watching
==Breakdown==Background plot- 50%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 10%
Background plot - Good
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value and direction - Excellent
This is a very solid historical CDrama. The ML and FL had great chemistry and I watched their scenes. Some of the villain scenes I had to fast forward because they were extremely drawn out, but that's fine. I didn't miss anything, just the actors' performances.
Toward the end, the story of the other emperor and the princess of Susha storyline held my interest better than the main story line. I also felt the main villain's story wasn't as good as the actor who played the role. The actor was PHENOMINAL and had chemistry with everyone-- guards, extras, main characters, side characters, the emperors, his enemies. Literally everyone. This is my first time seeing this actor and I hope he gets a romantic ML part next time because watching his chemistry as a ML would be interesting...
I enjoyed this one and would recommend it.
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The main couple is 100% adorable
==Breakdown==Background plot - 50%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 10%
Background plot - Fine but overly dramatic at times
Romantic chemistry - Great
Misc comedy - Cute
Production value - Mid
I really enjoyed Wu Jun Ting in 'Time and Him are Just Right' and 'You are my Lover Friend.' To be honest, Wu Jun Ting was BY FAR the best part of 'You are my Lover Friend.' Thus, when I saw this released, I decided to watch it. It's by the same director as 'My Lethal Man,' which is in a similar vein to this drama. So: super ridiculous, over the top drama, with a great main couple, electric chemistry, and lots of slow motion.
Zhang Yishang was completely new to me but I really loved her in this drama. I don't know why she's not a huge actress. But I'll be looking up her previous dramas and looking out for her new ones.
Together, they were adorable. I kept waiting for a big misunderstanding and instead they were just super cute and sweet.
I liked this one. Great way to pass the time.
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This drama should be entitled: "Ji Sung runs places."
==Breakdown==Background plot - 60%
Romance - 30%
Misc comedy - 10%
Background plot - Good
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Great
Ji Sung runs in every episode. He runs down corridors and hallways; he runs on rooftops and in parking lots; he runs through a prison and a hospital ward. He ran a lot. I ended up skipping ahead every time he started to run because it was-- no lie-- at least 30 minutes of running over the course of 32 episodes.
THAT BEING SAID, this was quite a good show because the *only* scenes I fast-forwarded were those scenes. Ji Sung is absolutely brilliant as Dr. John. I think he's the best Kdrama actor, period. I will watch anything he's in just because he's in it because I know I'll enjoy his parts (at the very least). Lee Se Young is also always brilliant and her soulful performance was no surprise here. Their romantic chemistry was off the charts and it was a delight watching them together, fall in love. Ji Sung has this ability to stare at his co-star like he's a starving puppy and those scenes always give me the feels. I'm so glad I took the time to watch this one.
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Not terrible
==Breakdown==Background plot - 45%
Romance - 35%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Low stakes but also quite boring mostly
Romantic chemistry - Good
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good
I wish I liked Hwang Jung Eum's attempts at comedy more than I do. Her over the top acting choices during comedy scenes can be irritating and make me want to skip forward. That said, when she's more subtle in the heavier emotional scenes she does an absolutely stellar job. Since the show revolves around her character, it was a series of hits and misses with the show never quite finding a steady rhythm.
Park Seo Joon took a character that was pretty boring and made him someone to root for, which is a special kind of magic. I wish Park Seo Joon would go back to his rom-com roots. After seeing him in 'Kill Me, Heal Me,' 'What's Wrong with Secretary Kim,' and 'She Was Pretty,' I think his strength is rom com.
This was a character driven story, but even so the plot felt a bit empty and shallow.
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You have to know a few things before starting this
==Breakdown==Background plot - 50%
Romance - 25%
Misc comedy - 25%
Background plot - From absolutely brilliant to insensitive, lazy, and terrible
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good sometimes, other times lazy and harmful
Production value - Excellent
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU WATCH: Before you watch this, please take their depictions of mental illness unseriously. Do not watch this thinking they did at all a good job with the illnesses and disorders they portray (they did not). Most are horribly harmful stereotypes of very serious, layered, complex disorders (bipolar disorder, as an example). The depictions were lazy and harmful and bad and inauthentic. I somewhat blame the actors they picked for these roles who obviously did no homework before playing their "crazy" characters. But I also blame the director. The script, when taken on its own, is not bad.
The only exception to this was the ML's struggle with having multiple personalities (aka dissociative identity disorder). This was the only disorder somewhat portrayed with any sensitivity, and only because of the obvious work put in by the actor. Many scenes which should be considered absolutely heartbreaking are played for convenient and lazy comedy, and I understand why. However, the ML actor always seemed to save these scenes with his earnest, honest, and raw approach to portraying this struggling character.
Also, the FL screams. A lot. It's irritating.
MAIN REVIEW: This is so hard to rate. On the one hand, it's well-acted, the script is good, the music is excellent, and the chemistry is great between all the main players. On the other hand, it perpetuated harmful stereotypes about very serious illnesses, contributing to misinformation and perpetuating ignorance / harm.
I guess, if you can disassociate yourself (see what I did there?) from taking this at all seriously, then go for it. But please know, this is not an authentic or realistic depiction mental illness. It's really bad. In fact, it's demoralizing. And that makes me sad.
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Bad pacing and direction overshadow excellent performances and great chemistry between leads
==Breakdown==Background plot - 70%
Romance - 25%
Misc comedy - 5%
Background plot - boring
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - fine
Production value - Good
The direction choices often had me scratching my head. There were so many scenes of them walking, driving, moving from one room to another, making food, etc. with no dialogue. Like, why do we need to see her walking down a full flight of stairs? And him driving four blocks in silence?
Also, the background plot was boring and nonsensical. The best part of the drama were the very few scenes where the two leads actually shared screen time. This drama would've benefited from being half as long.
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Ding Yu Xi's back must hurt from carrying this drama
==Breakdown==Background plot - 30%
Romance - 50%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Fantastic
Romantic chemistry - So incredibly disappointing
Misc comedy - Fine
Production value - Really good
So, here's the thing. I liked Yang Chao Yue in The Double and Fireworks of My Heart, but she was really bad in this one. The chemistry in Love You Seven Times felt one-side (all Ding Yu Xi', none Yang Chao Yue). He tried really hard. Some of his longing looks mid-way through the drama got me in my feels. But Yang Chao Yue gave him nothing. She was the romantic chemistry equivalent of a brick.
The story here was quite good! And the production values were excellent. The romance aspect-- which was the main storyline-- fell flat because of the FL, and it was such a shame. :-(
I still like Yang Chao Yue and will look forward to her dramas, but maybe she's not capable of being a lead in a romantic drama.
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Nothing special
==Breakdown==Background plot / palace intrigue - 65%
Romance - 25%
Random comedy - 10%
Background plot - Meh
Romantic chemistry - Pretty good
Misc comedy - Good
Production value and direction - Really good. The set for the palace was the best I've seen.
I've now watched enough Cdramas to know when a drama is recycled and just another retelling of the same story. This one was very similar to so many others. After episode 20, I fast forwarded most of the episodes looking for something interesting. Episodes 29-31 are quite good. The rest were sluggish / meh.
Xu Kai was fantastic as usual. He's an AMAZING actor. His group of friends were great and fun. This show made me realize he's a great crier and his performance makes me forget I'm watching a TV show. It really choked me up this time.
Jing Tian was very likable in her role when she was bantering or joking. The only issue is she's not a believable crier and that reduced the watchability of her more emotional scenes, making them quite boring. For example, the resolution with her father lacked any impact due to her subpar skills during the scene. I'm not sure I would've noticed if Xu Kai's performance hadn't been so much better in comparison.
Overall, it's a fine watch to pass the time, especially if you're a Xu Kai fan.
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If you like cold, brilliant boy falling for earnest / kind girl, this is the drama for you
==Breakdown==Background plot - 45%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 15%
Background plot - Fine
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good
If you're looking for a drama where the boy (eventually a man) is cold and brilliant and secretly smitten with the upright, good girl (eventually a woman) then this is the one for you. It's *almost* the best in genre (that I've seen so far) and the chemistry between the main couple is chemistrying 100% of the time. Both the ML and the FML were masterful in their scenes together and the romance that takes place on screen felt authentic.
The problem was the story. Or rather, the story is problematic. Usually (interestingly enough) I can easily disassociate and watch a problematic story with no issue. But I felt like the writers took extreme measures (from the middle to the end) to have the ML mistreat the FML to such an extent, I couldn't root for them to be together in the end. I actually wanted her to walk away and leave him in the dust. All I needed was one begging scene, one scene where he crawls for her, something like in 'A Love So Beautiful' when Jiang Chen begs Chen Xiao Xi to give him one more chance, and then he's openly smitten from that point forward.
Unfortunately, the writers never gave it to us, Lighter barely apologizes to Princess, and thus I ultimately felt unsatisfied.
But if you don't need a groveling scene in these kinds of scenarios, you'll likely love this drama. It might become your favorite.
For the record, 'A Love so Beautiful' remains my favorite cold guy falling for kind girl show. If you have any other recs, please let me know!!
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The best part of this show was the female lead
==Breakdown==Background plot - 25%
Romance - 50%
Misc comedy - 25%
Background plot - Boring
Romantic chemistry - She was great, he was terrible
Misc comedy - Meh
Production value - Not great
This show was frustrating to watch, mostly because I loved the FL-- the character and the actress-- but watching the ML behave so entirely tepid for the entirety of the show was incredibly frustrating. I completely understood why the ML would've fallen for her as the storyline dictated. At first, I felt their chemistry and waited in anticipation for him to show *some* emotion. But ultimately, by the end of the show, the acting (and directing) choices for the ML's character were so bad. I believed her feelings for him; I did not believe he had any feelings for her.
The story was fine. Very typical and predictable. Production values were also fine. Secondary storyline was extremely boring.
I hope Jiang Zhi Nan gets a better acting partner in her new show. I'll keep an eye out for her future projects.
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Middle episodes are the best
==Breakdown==Background plot - 40%
Romance - 40%
Misc comedy - 20%
Background plot - Good
Romantic chemistry - Excellent
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Good
This show suffered from being too long. It should've been 16 episodes instead of 24.
The first 5 are repetitive and somewhat boring.
6-12 are REALLY GOOD. The ML does a really good job pining for the FL. His acting during these episodes made them super enjoyable.
13-end are repetitive again. There are a few fun moments sprinkled throughout, but nothing memorable.
Acting was fine. Story was fine, nothing special. I might re-watch 6-12. Then again, I might not.
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Worth it for Ryan Cheng's bombastic side-eye
==Breakdown==Background plot - 60%
Romance - 35%
Misc comedy - 5%
Background plot - Excellent in some parts, rushed and sloppy in others
Romantic chemistry - Excellent for second leads, tepid for main leads
Misc comedy - Good
Production value - Ranging from good to excellent
Ryan Cheng stole this one. Except a few crumbs stolen by Lester Lin, Ryan Cheng staged a heist and legit burgled the whole dang show.
THINGS I LOVED:
1) Every scene with Ryan Cheng (or Lester Lin) was captivating.
2) The fight scenes were awesome.
3) Cinematography and set design
4) Costumes
5) Background of story and set up of story
THINGS I DIDN'T LOVE:
1) I love Esther Yu and Zhang Ling He, but the script was not great and many of the scenes were waaaaaaaay to slow. By all accounts, Esther Yu and Zhang Ling He had good chemistry, but weren't given the scenes or the dialogue to demonstrate it. Their interactions were boring after a while (because of the pace and script), which was a shame because you could tell (with their expressions and eye contact) that they gave it their all.
2) Someone said in the comments that every scene was overly dramatic. I co-sign this statement. The panning to everyone's face to see their facial expressions and reactions would've been fine if it had been used as a device for one or two scenes, but it was waaay over used.
3) Not only was it slow, but the show had a huge amount of repetition, showing the same scenes over and over.
4) Also, this was weird: the show did this thing where they'd show a character once and then kill them (someone I'd never seen before or hadn't seen much of) and then do a flashback with that character for 20 minutes where we were apparently supposed to get to know them via a summary of their past and then feel sad about their current death. This never worked. I just fast forwarded these flashbacks after the 4th time this happened.
5) The second to last episode was absolutely nothing but exposition wherein the bad guy spent 45minutes telling us how he did it. That's just lazy storytelling.
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