Roxyone03

I already loved Bai Lu and Xu Kai after seeing their great chemistry in The Legends both on and off-screen, but I love them even more now after watching this drama. It's a shame they had to delete some of the anticipated romantic scenes, but I don't feel it detracted much from their story. You could still feel and see the love between them regardless even if the romance wasn't the main focus of this drama. The fact that Bai Lu and Xu Kai are the actual singers for the ost that plays during Xie Xiang and Yanzheng's scenes together made it even better as well. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite pairings in dramaland and individually they are great actors in their own right. The whole cast should be applauded to be honest, everyone was great. This drama as a whole was really good.

No worries, you made sense and I agree with everything you said! I can understand why this drama could be unpleasant for some viewers to sit through and watch because everyone is constantly stuck in a negative situation and doesn't do anything about it until much later. But like you mentioned, it definitely has qualities that viewers can understand and relate to. It clearly shows us that change, while we may know it's needed, can be very difficult for some of us to achieve, especially when not everyone is openly outgoing, blunt, or courageous. All the characters in the story are aware that the situations they're in are wrong or detrimental to their well-being, yet struggle to take the needed steps to get out of it. Instead, they continue to stay passive, ignoring the pain they're in, even going as far as pretending things are okay when they aren't.

In real life, it's easy for someone to give an opinion on a bad situation you're in and say "you need to do these things to make everything better for yourself" as if it's a simple fix, when it actually depends on many factors such as an individual's own character, ability, and motivation to get it done. Everyone has different values, experiences, and personalities. Sometimes there are things we can't bear to lose or don't want to let go, hence why in this case, Akira kept pretending things were okay at both her workplace and in her relationship despite feeling burdened and hurt. Taking action doesn't always mean things will automatically get better though, just like how you mentioned Akira's confrontation with her boss fell to deaf ears. But despite her first failed attempt, it was still a step in the right direction because she finally stood up for herself and it was the beginning of her own personal growth.

And while I was annoyed by Kyoya and his ex sticking through the drama and getting along with Akira at the end, mainly because I felt bad for what she was put through for so many years, it did show a somewhat realistic scenario where not everyone can just disappear from our lives just because we want them to and it's up to you on what kind of relationship you want to have with them. In this case, Akira chose the higher road in order to help Shuri get back on her own two feet again, Shuri chose to accept for her own sake, and they ended up having a neutral/somewhat friendly relationship. That in itself takes great character and showed what kind of amazing person Akira is. I know that definitely wouldn't have been me xD lol oh well.

First let me start off by saying... this is one big example of false advertisement. From the soft pink drama poster to the happy intro song with everyone smiling, they really made it seem like this was going to be a happy romance drama, and that Zhang Bin Bin was going finally to get the girl and a happy end since hes the main lead, but then they said "Oh wait, this is Zhang Bin Bin", then killed off the whole idea in the final moments lol I feel robbed.

I started watching this for the cast, as a longtime fan of Ariel Lin and Zhang Bin Bin, and as expected they were perfect as their characters, but ultimately it's the story writing and direction that failed them. The beginning was great and held my interest, we could see that Bu Qi was quite intelligent and despite her homeless upbringing and having no skills in martial arts, she could use her street smarts to keep herself alive. But as the story progressed, it seemed like the writers decided to throw that good quality of hers out the window and instead made her very naive and reckless. Whatever intelligence she had was gone. She was always trying to run away or do things without thinking about the consequences or how they affected others, especially in the second half of the drama. They also turned Chen Yu into a flake, always juggling his loyalty to the annoying emperor with his relationship with Bu Qi and would constantly cause misunderstandings, leading to more unnecessary drama. I also think having the main leads split apart for a long time was detrimental to the story. After awhile, the only character I felt entertained by was Dong Fang Shi and had his character not been around to stir things up, I probably would've dropped this drama a long time ago.

The last quarter of this drama and the final episodes cemented my disappointment altogether. I'm not sure why it was decided that the final episode should be one giant massacre, but I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. From what I've heard, that's not what happened in the novel and I'm not sure why they thought it was a great idea to have such an extreme ending. I wonder if the cast was laughing their heads off after filming that whole scene because it was just them dying left and right, one after another lol it was bad. And as for whether Chen Yu was still alive or a figment of Bu Qi's imagination, at that point, I just didn't care anymore. But I will say I was most annoyed seeing the emperor and Liu Qing Wu getting a happy end out of the whole cast since they're the ones I disliked the most. Nevertheless, while this wasn't the greatest drama, I was still happy to see Ariel Lin make a comeback since it's been so long. Hopefully Ariel, Zhang Bin Bin, and Austin Lin can get the better dramas they deserve in the future.

That's understandable, it's definitely a drama that requires a lot of patience because pretty much all the characters are flawed and it unfortunately takes quite awhile for them to start making positive changes for themselves. The ex situation is frustrating to watch, I personally thought they were going to end it in the early eps, but this drama focused on everyone including the ex, so neither she or Kyoya disappeared from the story.

Today I saw it’s been fully subbed, so I think you might just be in luck. It’s a shame that many good jdramas are left unwatched and unsubbed though since there’s not many subbers available unlike with kdramas.

They should add the color red, some flames, and maybe add some horns on Da Ya for the poster of this drama because this is not some light, fluffy romance like the poster is trying to convey, this show makes you want to flip tables out of frustration. I'm only half way through, but don't know if I should just wait until it finishes airing to continue since I can already sense the long impending train wreck ahead.

After watching this drama, I have to say, even though I was looking forward to seeing how Akira and Kosei would become a couple, I was so disappointed with her long-time boyfriend Kyoya. Akira was a saint for putting up with the fact that his ex has been living at his place for so many years and putting their relationship in limbo to the point where they couldn't move in together nor get married. Even if he wasn't cheating on her, his avoidance on fixing the issue was cowardly. I think my heart actually hurt watching Akira cover up for him at the gathering of her past co-workers, not to mention seeing him watching her do it, knowing very well that she's still protecting him despite everything. The scenes showing how Kyoya and Akira became a couple were sweet, especially knowing her rough childhood and what he meant to her, so it was just disappointing to watch him hurt her the way he did. I would've been rooting for him if he hadn't kept messing things up. As the story progressed though, I didn't care for his character at all and I wasn't a big fan of everyone, including his ex, getting along at the end.

Seeing people both in and outside the work place constantly taking advantage and walking all over Akira was difficult to watch. Even more so to see her just take it all in and run herself to the ground while pretending everything is ok. There was an episode where she was on the verge of breaking down, but she was running around non stop, burying herself into her work, smiling, all while humming "If you're happy if you know it clap your hands" and I felt the way they filmed that whole scene was very powerful. That's why I like how Kosei was easily able to see through the fake smile she constantly wore and they were able to open up to each other over time. Even if they were bickering at times, they could also have mature conversations even if they didn't always agree with each other.

Overall it was a decent watch. Aragaki Yui never disappoints, but this isn't one of my favorite works from her. For viewers who are looking for a full-on romance drama, this isn't the best choice since the relationship between Akira and Kosei doesn't really take form until the final episodes. You see signs of it as the story progresses, but even then it's not much. This is definitely not a fluffy romantic drama.

I've been stalling to watch the final 5 episodes because I'm sad I've reached the end. This drama has been so good, probably one of the best I've seen in awhile. I don't think there was any scene wasted and with a length of 70+ episodes, that's not an easy feat. I knew I could always count on my girl Zanilia Zhao to pick a good drama lol

Also, I think this drama made me see Feng Shao Feng in a new light as an actor. I've seen a couple of his dramas before and thought his acting was decent, but he really impressed me this time around. I felt he was very invested in his character and while it was a bonus seeing him work with his wifey, he really brought Ting Ye to life.

I definitely agree. Even though there is a lot of cruelty shown within the families, it's not over the top crazy, but like you said believable. Greed, manipulation, favoritism, rivalry, etc are all themes that transcend this story's time period and although some viewers might not like seeing all the mistreatment in this drama, I personally find it interesting to see how everyone comes up with different strategies to overtake each other, especially Ming Lan. All their mind games are entertaining to watch, even if some of the characters' actions make me want to flip a table lol

Thanks for letting me know, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds. I've just recently passed the 20 ep mark and it's still very entertaining. Sounds like it's not going to be one of those dramas that resorts to adding an overload of fillers just to make the 70+ episode count.

Same here, I really love the way this was filmed and how the cast is portraying their characters. I haven't skipped any scenes myself because even if it isn't full of action, I'm actually interested in their discussions. So far I can tell it's very well-written and also well-paced.

I'm only 11 episodes in and there's already a whole slew of people who deserve a special spot in a death note lol Aside from the cruelty and unfairness that seems to be a constant in the story so far, I am really enjoying this and I'm glad I gave it a chance even after reading comments about it being boring. I can see why some viewers might feel it's too slow, but I think this pace is necessary to build up the characters' origins, especially when there's 70+ episodes. I love the way it is filmed and how Ming Lan, despite appearing passive and naive, can stun everyone with her intelligence when the time calls for it. So far I'm impressed and I'm looking forward to seeing how all the characters will change in the future.

First off.. about the final episode's ending credits... did anyone else die laughing at how stiff Choi Jin Hyuk was while everyone was happily singing along to the ost? He looked like he did not want to be in that room and wanted nothing to do with that whole situation. Any kind of fan service, even with Song Ha Yoon, was out of the question LOL

Jokes aside, Choi Jin Hyuk and Song Ha Yoon were great as the main leads, but for me, the story line is what made it difficult to keep watching at times. The beginning was way too cringey, I almost dropped it right there lol But aside from that, the story itself was all over the place, a lot of the medical aspects didn't make sense, and like many dramas, communication would've saved us all the issues between the main leads which took up the majority of the drama. But when they did get together, they were very cute. I loved their height difference and how they weren't giving "deer in headlights" faces during their kiss scenes and actually pulled off real kisses like an actual couple. On the downside, I felt like the "we met when we were kids, so it must be fate" concept they suddenly threw in towards the end of the drama was unnecessary and too forced. They were already "fated" enough as it was by crossing paths more than once over a span of years, so I don't think they needed to keep piling more reasons as to why they were a destined couple.

I also felt disappointed with the way they handled the antagonists at the end, everyone seemed to get off easy after what they did to the main leads. They just spun the doctor's character around to saint mode and let him carry on treating Ma Sung and Ma Sung's aunt barely got any real punishment. Also, for the magnitude of hate Ki Beum received from Hyung Joon's fans over his death, it seemed nobody went after Kim Beom Soo once it was revealed he was the real culprit. He was freely walking around multiple times with no fans in sight going after him. I think that was more of a filming blunder, more than an issue with the writing though.

Exactly! Once I started I couldn't stop and watched even more eps after posting my original comment. Now I have more reason to be mad at myself for caving, I am in too deep lol

Yeah, it's one thing to wait for a drama to be subbed, but it's another to wait when the drama is actually really good and you like the whole cast. I became addicted already lol

I told myself I wouldn't watch this until it had way more episodes out and subbed, but then I caved and binged through 10 episodes lol This is what happens when they have my faves Ariel and BinBin as the leads. I really like Xing En's role as well, she is killing it as Mo Ruo Fei

While the 1st season still remains superior in my opinion, I did really enjoy seeing another season of Xiao Tan and Lian Cheng. Both leads continued to show their great chemistry as a couple and their costumes as well as the sets/scenery locations were much better than the previous season. The story progression was a bit slow though and I felt like after 20 episodes, nothing significant had really happened yet. Events repeated in the new dimension and they brought in some flashbacks from season 1 to tie occurrences together, but I was hoping the story would've continued more from where they left off 1st season and given us more answers. Seems they really wanted to make a 3rd season though, so I guess all of that will have to wait.

But I have to say... it breaks my heart that they made Tan Er and Yi Huai such pitiful characters for the sake of the main leads' love story both times, especially in this season. They really had Yi Huai alive at the end this time, but delusional to the point of hallucinating his lost love. It's not like either of their hearts changed, they both truly loved each other and it's a shame they lose each other every time. Since they're set in making a 3rd season, then they should at least give them a happy ending for once. Yi Huai and Tan Er deserve to be happy too. I felt really bad for Yi Huai, especially when they showed him after all the scenes of the main leads' being happily married and celebrating, while he was alone suffering.

My faves Ariel and Vin as main leads is enough to look forward to watching this drama. I haven't read the novel or anything, but.. I hope Vin gets the girl for once! I'm tired of feeling bad for his characters lol Haven't seen Ariel in a historical drama in a long time, so this should be good

I'm already at episode 40 and likely going to just watch to the end at this point, but even from around the 20th episode, I felt myself gradually losing interest. It started out great and I liked how the story was progressing, but over time something changed; the main leads slowly disappeared from the episodes while other characters started getting way more screen time than I would've liked. I get that everyone has their own background/relationships and that this story is focusing on the business rivalries as well, but I would've liked to see more going on with the main leads, maybe some more fashion shows, less scheming, etc. I'm not sure how it compares to the novel, but this drama turned out a lot different than I expected. I was looking forward to seeing Jin Han as a lead with my girl Zhao Li Ying, especially since they were previously rivals in Princess Agents, and they do have great chemistry when they're together, but they've become a phantom couple while Ning Wei Kai and Grace are taking over.

You too? Well, at least I know I'm not the only one that was having a bad time getting past episode 38. I didn't even bother to look up the ending because I completely lost my interest in the story and ended up moving onto something else. I really wanted to like this, but it was quite disappointing, which is a shame because I do like the male lead and actress in their other works.