Pops-BN

So, I have some questions and an alternative theory...

So, the movie "once upon a crime" is to initiate a come back ? Or will she only take very few roles ?

Try "a date with the future". The FL is strong and bold. She knows what she wants and is ready to fight for it. The first episodes show her shamelessly trying to flirt with the ML while advancing in her work as a journalist.

Because it's partly funded by the chinese government as long as it highlights a specific job, career and values.
You can also notice that the basic outplan is very similar when tackling those same subjects.
For the firefighters, we find a girl being saved by a man she kind of fall for or that she met years ago, their reunion thanks to or because of work, their struggles to understand each other, how the man firefighter is trying to reject the girl because his job can be deadly, and how they end up together to bring the best out of each other.

The list of cdrama about firefighters : "Birght eyes from the dark", "Fireworks of my heart", "A date with the future" (the closest one to "bright eyes" in terms of plot), "The Flaming Heart", ...

Between 2020 and 2022 we had like 4 cdrama about athletes in the diverse range of ice skating : "To Fly With You", "Skate Into Love", "My Unicorn Girl", "To Our Dreamland of Ice".
Same with soldiers ("You are my hero", "My Dear Guardian"), lawyers, doctors, ...

I have a crazy conspiracy theory about GZY's mother.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more it would make sense about his mother. What if she was the og Anonymous, so on a level higher than Mei. But she fell pregnant. And then, as any other wufeng or women felt so trapped. She was a bird in a cage in the Gong's residence but a mere chesspiece in Wufeng. Worse, she had a baby who was able to have the freedom she so longed for. So she poisons herself leading to GYZ being premature and prone to cold.

Then, for Anonymous, what if instead of one person it's all or a few wufeng's assassins who are using this terrifying identity to break heavoc. There are other wufeng members who came into the Gong residence that are still playing the long game. A mystery as legendary is much more terrifying and easy to draw chaos than just accomplishing the wufeng's missions.
Even better, it would be interesting if some either died but might also have survived the Death Oath with the back hill so happen to switch sides...

They were allies and now they are slowly evolving as ennemies while still being under Wufeng's orders. They are on differents sides in the Gong residence. At first it was a great opportunity to fulfill their missions while "helping" each other. But Shangguan Qian has made and is still making very clear that she is using FL to accomplish her mission, even if it means to kill her. I feel like FL would prefer sisterhood but is mature and smart enough to understand how cunning and cruel Shangguan Qian can really be.

I feel like it's on purpose too. Again, she seems to make a silly mistake in order to actually gain more. Did she really gave the medical record ? How is she going to use it to benefit her ?

SGQ is bold and takes risky moves because she can be overconfident. The warning of GSJ about the chess piece can be foreshadowing their relationship together. He seems to have the upper hand but in the end, she will have more. However, by acting smart she can forget to be wise.
But YWS stays quite mysterious and is constantly adapting. Indeed, it always gives us the feeling she is going with the flow and seems rather silly by making mistakes. But, in the end, we never really know what she is really up to. Her relationship with GZY is also hard to define because she seems confused instead of sure of herself.
Plus, what do we do about the hints she found about Anonymous or Wulji. Is she going to use it ? It can also be interesting.

The more we go in the story, the more hints we get about Yun Wei Shan being much more than just Chi.
I feel like she either lie about her actual level or she purposely sabotaged herself to be on the Chi level instead of more.
Here are the few hints I see :

* "I don't kill the innocent" > Prepared to not compromised on this despite her restrictions as a Chi assasin from Wufeng. She seems to have the skills but do not wish to use it unless in a corner (the mud fight, her worrying about the true Yu Wei Shang she is replacing, her trying to protect or to have sisterhood, ...)
* The teacup drank then reversed when done in the same way the Raven do (ep4 mid) > show mannerism for being in contact with Raven while drinking tea but it should have happen very few times. So, why adopt such mannerism or even how ?
* Her trainer ready to free her at the end > obviously a lie but it shows how perseverant and willing she is to gain her freedom back. I also feel she understood very quicly that ranking higher will not help her gain her freedom but instead drag her even more to the bottom with more killings, more secrets so more reasons to eliminate her
* Getting caught on purpose to strike more opportunities > It's shown in the first episode with the poisons test. She first drink the poison, pusposefully getting wrong, then only does she take the medecine. Why ? Because the medecine only works if she drinks the poison. If she had taken the medecine only, she would have been poisoned or receiving toxins. Her strategy is then about making silly and confusing mistakes (drinking poison) in order to gain more (empathy, attention, ... = medecine). If she had gone first for attention or empathy, she would have been very suspicious in the eyes of Gong Zi Yu.

She knows what she is doing and hers plans are either very well crafted OR she is smart and skilled enough to act quick and fast without much planning...

This drama growns on you. I didn't have much expectations and just knew Lee Yoo Mi would deliver great acting.
Mental health and universal values from sport hits home. The journey from acknowledging how hurt you are in order to face it, and how complicated, tough and confusing it's to grow out of it, is well represented.
I also love how they show that being mentally hurt is as painful than physical pain and can be very frustrating to handle. For athletes who are used to push further their limits (physical and mental) in order to fit in toxics standards, it's going to be very interesting how they will stand up for themselves and ask for respect of their own limits.
I'm also looking forward to learn more advices and life lessons from this drama.

Wan Peng is a great actress but lack some recognition, botch in China and internationnaly.
Esther Yu is pretty popular, both in China and internationnaly, because of her unexpected path to popularity, her funny personnality and her great sense to pick popular and quality shows/dramas/tv-reality.

After debuting as an actress, she tried to be an idol. She participated as a contestant in Youth with you 2 (similar to produce 101 but made in China) with Lisa from Blackpink (as a coach). She ended up making it in the final group THE9 in 2nd place.
She has a very different personnality as a funny-drama-queen and really shone, not only with skills but also with her interesting personality, in the competition.
To the point that she was an assistant to help the male trainees in the Youth with you 3.
The success of the show helped her gain even more recognition and popularity. Plus, she has a knack to make funny things that are easy to spread as memes and short videos.

She is forced to accept the wedding because he is threatening her.... However, who said he had the upper hand and would get what he wants ? She is ready to outsmart him and she already did with what happens in ep 6 and 7 !
So glad she don't have to be with him after her scheme !

The subtitles can be confusing but you do understand what is going on and what they talk about. Sometimes, it just oddly sounds as if someone tried weird philosophical poetry and kind of failed... but you still get the message

I do agree that the budget and CGI can be limited for MangoTV historical dramas. However, for this ongoing drama there are great efforts regarding all the matters you mentionned. Plus, the realization is well done and have an aesthetic (I love some great focus on details). So, give it a chance ! You might like it ;)

I fell in love with the plot driven by the characters, their feels and needs and the risks they are ready to take to prove themselves.

My only ranting concerns OYX :
From the beginning to the end Ouyang Xu blames women while taking advantage of them. He is helped by them but it's always women's fault at the end of the day.
But, it just proves how women are struggling because of people prejudiced like him. It was an interesting take to always see him be completely unaware or ungreateful of women's true abilities, personnalities, and sacrifices.

I think it refers to the snake in the story between Eve and Adam. It would make sens seeing the title and how Lee Rael acts as a snake to get every cards in her hands. She is manipulating everyone to drive and steer away from their little Eden.

Looking like Eve but truly being the snake...

It's really satisfaying to be on the "villain" side !

I'm loving the vibe and the acting. It's a great show about autism being realistic in the daily life of our extraordinary attorney Woo. And I'm really looking forward to more whales stories.
Don't miss out on such a great and comforting kdrama !

So far, the plot and the directing are not as similar as Something in the rain (the korean version) and are much more light hearted and feel good. It's refreshing ! Except for some scenes, I don't feel like watching again the same drama :)
But I'm wondering how all the very intimate and intricate drama within the family and the found family will develop. Or even if the focus will be more on the couples ?
I would love a balance between the intimacy and bonding found in "Go ahead" and the original korean version while keeping a warmheartead tone with minimised dramas.
Just hoping but that would be lovely !

He didn't really want to kill her. He wanted her to bow, so to accept him as her master and possibly future husband. However, she signed the indicment to stay true to her beliefs, freedom and childhood love. So, the crown prince is just a selfich jerk used to people bowing and obediently following his plans. Jin never really did so and even facing the possibility of death, she chose to stand up for herself (in quite a weird and angst way but for a meticulous person it kind of makes sense how she cuts the possibility to "bow" (=to submit) to the crown prince or to let her loved ones save her)

1. Very happy ending
2. No love triangle and angst (a bit for the second main leads but it stays quite clear)
3. One misunderstanfing (but quickly resolved)
4. All the time ^^ I've never seen such a touchy feely couple so the serie make us feel they belong together from the get go

Lmao, as english is not my first language I had to google dahyum thinking it was a weird reference to the TWICE's member 😂