Love That Defies All Odds
A beautiful drama with stellar acting on all fronts. I was hesitant to watch this at first, but I couldn’t get away from it. When I finally committed, it was done in two days.The storyline is fresh and well-executed. I feel like every episode was intentional, lacking fillers and tropes. Even when they (mild spoiler) lose their memories temporarily, it didn’t feel like a cop out. It made sense and pushed the plot—and their love—even farther into what was a truly, beautifully-done finale with a very satisfying happy ending.
The two leads were phenomenal together, with excellent physical chemistry and scene chemistry. They truly were perfect for their roles and deliver them perfectly.
Truly a brilliantly executed drama that is a must add to your list.
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Wasted Potential for this One
For the sake of William Chan, who I love, and the start of this drama, which was excellent, I gave it all I have, but I'm dropping this one. I may pick it up again in the future, but I can't seem to force my way through."A Date with the Future", despite its many strengths, falls prey to the C-Drama pitfall of poor pacing. I have never been so disinterested in subplots in my life. Specifically, the third couple's scenes always left me skipping, and the male lead in that pairing is bland both as a character and an actor, plus he's incredibly selfish. Not sure why we were meant to root for him.
The firefighting aspect was excellent, both the plot and the cast of firemen and the super lovable dogs, but 25 episodes in, and I just can't seem to finish. The leads have great chemistry and a great relationship, but even their relationship seems to have hit a plateau. Their characterizations were well done, but the slowness of writing did them a disservice in my opinion.
In general, this type of a show needed some type of driving force, something exciting and gripping, and it just didn't deliver. It's a big bummer, and probably a very unpopular opinion, but there it is.
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Failed to Meet its Potential
I so wanted to love this. But… goodness… I’m dropping it. It’s got potential but failed to rise to it.First of all, The ML is amazing. Song Wei Long blows it out of the water with Jiang Xu. His acting is amazing. Jiang Xu, in many ways, is such a cliche character and yet I love him. He is strong, just, loyal, determined, and gentle with the ones he cares about. He treats the FL with so much respect and tenderness. I adore his character. ALSO BIGGIE HERE… When he discovers ladies trying to mess with FL, he actually holds them immediately accountable… a Cdrama miracle. Addirionally, the supporting cast is good. - Many a good Cdrama have been ruined but a crappy supporting cast. This isn’t the case here. I love the four nobleman friends, the FL’s BFF/cousin, the FL’s dad, etc. Even the antagonists are well acted and well-written.
But those things can’t save this train wreck of messy writing, incoherent plot lines, and an absolutely insufferable female lead.
Bao Sheng En’s acting is underwhelming—if not overtly bad—and leaves much to be desired. Her choice to fall into the Cdrama pitfall of the baby voice (thought we’d outgrown that in Cdramas) here also does her a disservice. Don’t get me started on her actions. She is so oddly written. One on hand, they want you to see her as a strong woman who protects her family. On the other hand, they want to make her a chronic—and I mean CHRONIC—damsel in distress who is literally incapable of getting herself out of situations. When compared to the ML, she falls very short.
This drama falls prey constantly to cliches and tropes that we’ve grown tired of. I literally rolled my eyes so many times in the first ten episodes. The cliches are used as the only thing moving plot forward, leaving the pacing so odd. This show has a strange ability to speed up all the wrong plots and slow down all the wrong plots. It is infuriating.
I love Song Wei Long, but this is the second drama of his this year I’ve had to drop. Save yourself the watch. Go watch “Prisoner of Beauty” instead. It just finished airing and is well worth your time.
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And just like that, 2025 is off to a great start!
“Love Scout” has set the bar so high for 2025. I felt like 2024, in my opinion, was a year of drought for good dramas (with “Lovely Runner” and “Blossom” as two huge exceptions), but this right here gives me so much hope!This show was a masterpiece romcom. What a story, and what a cast! The character development in our FL was heart-wrenching but oh so beautiful, and when the healing came, I wept with joy. This drama should be the golden standard for writing conflict in a couple. The situation came, and they took a break (not a break up) until she was ready to handle it. Then, they were stronger than ever.
The cast was awesome! Our two leads? Phenomenal… and with AMAZING chemistry. The ML’s daughter, Byeol? Absolutely the most lovable kid. Our second ML and FL? So adorable and so easy to root for in their subplots. And the quirky office staff? Well, same here. This was a great ensemble that delivers a solid performance.
The journey of healing shines so brightly through every bit of the show, and the writers give us an ending that truly does wrap everything up so beautifully. I was quite literally squealing like a little kid during some of those moments.
If for any reason at all you’re hesitating to watch this one, do yourself a favor and pull the trigger. “Love Scout” is a gem and making my all time favorites list.
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Highly Disappointed
Couldn’t finish. Gave it all I had, but I just couldn’t finish.I can’t exactly put my finger on one specific thing that made this drama weak. But, in general, it falls flat. The tropes are painful. The acting of the female lead is somewhat grating. The random plot twists are inane.
Raphael is the one bright star, but he can’t save it.
Bummed out, but I won’t be finishing it. It had great potential, but it was poorly executed. Definitely don’t recommend.
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Another hit for this summer!
What can I say? This was phenomenal. I am still in shock because it’s been years since I watched so many good historical dramas in a row (for me “Prisoner of Beauty”, “First Night with the Duke”, “Coroner’s Diary”, now this).“Legend of the Female General” lives up to its name. Do you have to let the suspension of disbelief kick in for them to think she’s a man? Heck yes. But honestly, I got used to it. I’m a big Mulan fan so this was so down my alley. This show has a stellar cast, excellent production quality, and great writing.
He Yan and Xiao Jue are a couple for the ages. They go up in the same league as the Dou Zhao/Song Mo couple and Qiao Man/Wei Shao couple (“Blossom” and “Prisoner of Beauty” respectively). Their chemistry is on point and their fierce determination to fight for each other is beautiful. Even when misunderstandings threaten them, they resolve it quickly and are stronger than ever. The kiss scenes were well done so I would have liked to see more of them, but, for once, I didn’t mind the slow burn. It felt natural and captivating to watch.
Don’t get me started on some of the most beautifully executed battle scenes I’ve seen in a long time.
This makes three dramas to make my all time favorite list in the last five months—which has never happened. Don’t sleep on this one. Cheng Lei, Zhou Ye, and the rest of the cast delivered a masterpiece.
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Could this be a sleeper hit?
Final Review (episode 8, 11/26/25):Dropped but still a pretty good show. Just not for me. Honestly I’m not even gonna go ahead write a review because I don’t think it’s fair to be negative. It’s not a bad show. It just lacks the umph to get me through the last half, and I feel bad for our ML who deserves the world. The quirky and fantastical feeling is gone, and I’m mostly just frustrated and unengaged. That’s pretty much it.
Could this be a sleeper hit in the last few months of 2025? Initial Review (episode 6, 11/12/25).
Wholesome. Funny. Fantastical. Romantic. “Spirit Fingers” has its flaws, but wow… its strengths are many. This is an adorable coming of age romcom with all sorts of fresh elements making it feel new and exciting.
Pros:
• Ensemble Cast. Its cast is just amazing. You’ll fall in love with all of the Spirit Fingers club members. Our leads are well written, and our ML is an absolute psycho… a lovable crazy psycho lol. He has made me laugh so hard.
• A fun plot that just gives a fantastical, quirky feeling that keeps you coming back. The romance is sweet and engaging. In fact, there’s multiple couples to root for.
Cons:
• Our two FLs are driving me crazy now. Seriously, ladies… you both have two AMAZING men absolutely hung up on you and you’re both stringing them along. As of episode 6, I’m getting pretty annoyed with this.
• We have an awesome ML, but I would love to see him fleshed out a bit more.
Pumped for the second half.
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Falls Very Short
I wanted to love this drama with all that was within me. This era of Chinese history fascinates me, and “Fall in Love” is one of my favorite Asian dramas of all time.It has stuff going for it. Great costuming, an intriguing plot, SHAWN DOU , etc. But the romance is so appallingly annoying that I couldn’t bring myself to finish. I’m so sad about it. But the constant misunderstandings and even the willingness of both characters (especially especially especially the FL) to hurt the other is more than I can take. The toxicity borders on abuse, and the absolute lack of logic is maddening.
I was going to keep trying, but I soon found out that it wasn’t going to get better until the very end, and I wasn’t willing to watch twenty more episodes of it. It falls prey to poorly executed tropes and far too drawn out angst. The writing is infuriating.
It’s a no for me.
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The Spring Romcom We Needed
Initial Review on 3/30/25. (Will post concluding thoughts after finale):I came into this show with low expectations. The reviews have been unfavorable here on MDL. To be honest, I started it expecting to drop it.
What I’ve found instead is an absolutely charming romcom. It’s a gem so far! I can’t understand its 7.9 rating right now. In my opinion… The humor is spot on, the chemistry with the leads is spot on, the storyline is spot on. “The Potato Lab” manages to dance around romcom tropes while bringing enough newness to the table that I’m fully engaged. The cast is lovable and quirky, and I’m looking forward to each episode. So far, it hasn’t dragged in this first half. I am hoping to see this quality continue moving forward in the second half.
Fingers crossed.
Final Thoughts (4/9/25);
IGNORE THE HATERS ON THIS ONE. It’s a gem. It is a romcom that quite simply romcoms. It was a great watch. I had an absolute blast. From stellar acting from our leads to almost crying literally tears to going back to laughing my head off like the beginning of the show—the second half serves up a solid solid show.
The character development of our leads was especially impressive to me. They are flawed but both of them learned to work on themselves in order to be together. Even when things fall apart, they handle it within about one episode, and I was honestly shocked by how well it was handled. It reminded me of what we were given earlier this year in “Love Scout”—heck yes for communication.
Give this a watch. It was so so fun and romantic too.
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Failed its Potential
I almost quit this one about 8 episodes in, but I decided to keep trying because I’m in between shows and I love Ryan Ding. I thought things were looking up after that. We finally saw some chemistry with the leads. The ML was finally getting likeable… Etc. But, ultimately… I couldn’t.I’m at ep. 23 and I can’t bring myself to finish. The plot has changed into the day to day aspects of their job; the villains who were compelling in the first half are nowhere to be seen. The actions of the ML are odd, and I just don’t get them. Not to mention, we finally found out the backstory… and it’s just ridiculously unbelievable. Overall, I’m bummed, but it’s gonna be a no from me.
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